Hope walks slow...

Trump slow-walks effort to replace Hope Hicks

With the communications director due to leave this week, Trump is poised to take greater control over White House messaging.

By NANCY COOK and ANDREW RESTUCCIA

White House communications director Hope Hicks is leaving the West Wing this week, but there’s little urgency to fill the position and prospects have cooled for the rumored contenders.

That means President Donald Trump, who views himself as his own best strategist, is poised to at least temporarily fill the void left by one of his most trusted advisers.

“He’s his own comms director, so there’s not really a need,” said one former administration official.

Trump often has a handpicked successor ready to go weeks or even months before his top aides depart. The president, for instance, long ago lined up candidates to take over the State Department, National Economic Council and the National Security Council.

But that has not been the case with Hicks, who joined Trump’s campaign in 2015 and has served as a dogged defender during his presidency. In the president’s mind, nobody can fill Hicks‘ shoes, according to two senior administration officials.

Trump has cycled through four communications directors in the span of 14 months. (In contrast, President Barack Obama had five communications directors over his eight years in office, while President George W. Bush had four.) One former White House official said the communications director job in this White House is second only to the chief of staff in terms of stress and pressure.

Without a clear favorite, the position could remain vacant or be filled by a temporary stand-in, such as top adviser Kellyanne Conway.

If Trump does take greater control of his own communications, there is a concern among some officials that it could distract from the other parts of his job, or create more confusion. Although the president is a master brander and marketer of his own image, he has been less adept at putting forth a singular, controlled message on White House policy — on everything from his support of the $1.3 trillion spending bill to his positions on gun control, the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program or rolling back Obamacare.

Hicks, in particular, was adept at translating Trump’s instincts and messaging into more concrete prescriptions for other White House staffers, former campaign officials and surrogates, thanks to the three years she spent working side by side with the president.

Hicks’ announcement late last month that she was stepping down set off a frenzy inside the White House, with senior aides pushing their preferred candidates for the job. But administration officials are casting doubt that either of the two most-talked-about candidates — White House Director of Strategic Communications Mercedes Schlapp and Treasury Department spokesman Tony Sayegh — will get the job. There is a feeling among several officials that Trump already would have given it to one of them if he felt so inclined, since they already work for the administration.

Schlapp is seen inside the White House as chief of staff John Kelly’s preferred choice. But multiple administration officials said Kelly is unlikely to hold much sway with Trump when it comes to filling the communications director job, given the ongoing uneven relationship between Kelly and the president.

Sayegh, for his part, has at least one influential fan: Hicks herself, who allies say was impressed with Sayegh’s help on the messaging of tax reform. But it’s unclear how hard Hicks has pushed Sayegh to Trump. One administration official said Sayegh, who worked from the White House to assist the press team during the tax reform debate, could join the West Wing in another communications role.

Trump’s early favorite for the job, former Fox News executive Bill Shine, has informed the president that he’s not interested in the position.

Also dimming the prospects for a quick replacement — White House officials have not yet put in place a formalized process to find Hicks’ successor, keenly aware that Trump will be the final decider. Aides believe press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders and her team can cover the more traditional duties of a communications director in Hicks’ absence, even if they can’t replicate her tight relationship with the president.

“Bringing in someone else will not make it better. Raj, Sarah, and Mercy all have their own functions and are doing it well,” said a senior administration official, referring to principal deputy press secretary Raj Shah, Sanders, and Schlapp.

Hicks, according to the two people close to her, is planning to leave the White House this week, though one of the people noted she’ll “never leave Trump’s orbit completely.” Hicks did not respond to a request for comment, nor did a White House spokesman.

Conway is emerging as a top candidate for the job, but most likely on an interim basis. Two administration officials said her close relationship with Trump makes her a shoo-in for the position.

“If Kellyanne wants it, she’ll get it,” one of the administration officials said.