President Trump Shakes Up Communications Staff

Former New York hedge-fund investor Anthony Scaramucci will take over 35-person team.

President Donald Trump shook up his communications team on Friday following months of frustration, installing a top campaign fundraiser as its director and accepting the resignation of press secretary Sean Spicer, one of the White House’s most recognizable faces.

In a long-simmering staff shuffle, former New York hedge-fund investor Anthony Scaramucci will take over a 35-person team that has often struggled to push through a message amid fast-moving events and a steady stream of tweets from a president who relishes the reach of social media.

Mr. Spicer’s deputy, Sarah Huckabee Sanders, will succeed him in the job, putting her behind the lectern for daily press briefings that, on days they are televised, command audiences rivaling those of TV soap operas.

The moves cap the rise and fall of Mr. Spicer and underscore the president’s deep dissatisfaction with his communications team and his willingness to take action to fix it. The changes also point to divisions in the White House, where top officials clashed over Mr. Scaramucci’s hiring.

His appointment was backed by Jared Kushner, the president’s son-in-law and senior adviser, and opposed by Reince Priebus, the White House Chief of staff, according to people familiar with the matter.

Mr. Scaramucci’s hiring unsettles, at least in the short term, a West Wing chain of command that has been beset by constant competitions for power. Mr. Scaramucci said he would be reporting directly to Mr. Trump.

Until now, the communications team was largely under the influence of Mr. Priebus, who had stocked it with Republican National Committee aides who worked for him when he was party chairman. By installing Mr. Scaramucci in the job, Mr. Trump is in essence diluting Mr. Priebus’s power base.

The new appointment also strengthens the position of Mr. Kushner, presumably giving him a new internal ally.

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