(CNN) It's not that President Trump was excited about his first foreign trip. He complained to friends beforehand it was going to be too long; he just wasn't looking forward to it. Besides, he was "in a pretty glum mood" when he left, according to one source who speaks with the President.

Instead of celebrating a victory lap after touring the Middle East and meeting with the Pope and European leaders, Trump returned to the continuing controversy over Russia. He was preoccupied with legal issues and staff problems as the controversy placed his son-in-law, and senior adviser, Jared Kushner, as part of a counterintelligence investigation. Sessions with lawyers are nothing new for this litigious ex-businessman; but with infinitely higher stakes, this was different.

One source says Trump has complained privately about his White House counsel Don McGahn, well known as a specialist in campaign finance law. But his inside counsel has nothing to do with his personal defense, anyway -- and so he was expected to meet with his go-to attorney, Marc Kasowitz. His longtime lawyer, two sources say, is going to become what one called the "supervisor" of Trump's outside legal team. He'll be the Trump whisperer, adds another, "not the guy interacting with [special counsel Robert] Mueller."

"Allowing a special counsel to happen was idiocy," says one ally, who may be channeling the President's thinking. "Special counsels never end well." Never mind that Trump's own firing of FBI Director James Comey -- and his repeated attempts to get administration appointees to end the matter -- began the chain of events that led to the Mueller appointment. If anyone wanted to stop the President, it didn't happen. Maybe they agreed with Trump that the Democrats would support the move?

After the President moved to fire the FBI director, one outside adviser says he told Trump flat-out that the timing was crazy. "If you had fired him on Day One, it would be a whole different atmosphere," he told the President. "Doing it five months in made no sense."

So Trump returns to the White House this week just as he left -- lonely, angry and not happy with much of anyone. The presidency, Donald Trump is discovering, is not an easy or natural fit.

"He now lives within himself, which is a dangerous place for Donald Trump to be," says someone who speaks with the President. "I see him emotionally withdrawing. He's gained weight. He doesn't have anybody whom he trusts."

The question, he adds, is whether Trump will understand the enormity of what he faces or will instead "be back to being arrogant and stubborn." He will have to realize that "all this trip really did was hit the pause button."

And only for a moment. Trump comes home not only to an escalating Russian mess and an uphill fight over health care, but also to an important decision about the next FBI director. The President had warmed to the idea of former Sen. Joe Lieberman for the post, but Congress didn't. So as he was leaving for his first foreign trip he told friends Lieberman was out.

In the wake of the Lieberman debacle, one source with knowledge says that the President even made New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, with whom he still chats, an offhand, polite, non-offer for the top FBI job, saying something like so-you-don't-want-it-right? Christie reportedly demurred, listing the reasons why it wouldn't work -- among them that neither person needed the hassle it would cause. In a way, it was pure Trump -- the President flattering the man, whom he once fired but still consults.

There is some hope, says one ally, that the President will now be forced to settle down. "He only really listens when he's down in the dumps."

And what do his friends say? Some complain he's getting bad advice -- legal and political. "No one is giving him the landscape -- this is how it works, this is what you should do or not do. And no one has enough control -- or security -- o do that," says one. But that begs the question, of course, of whether a sitting president should actually need to be told that he ought not try to interfere with a federal counterintelligence investigation.

Trouble is, even if President Trump is listening, he's getting conflicting advice: The outsiders with whom he speaks after-hours aren't, by and large, big fans of his staff. No wonder, according to one source, that Chief of Staff Reince Priebus checked in with him after he spoke with the President -- no doubt to keep an eye on what Trump is thinking, or saying.

There are those telling the President to move on from the insularity of his original cast of characters. "Step up and forget the Forever Trumpers," one ally says he told the President. "Now you need the best professionals."

But that misses one key point: Trumpworld is run by Trump. Mistakes are made by Trump. And all of this is powered by this singular view on the Russia crisis, says one ally: that Trump believes he has no responsibility for any of this political trauma, that it is created by the mainstream media concocting conspiracies where none exist:

Which is exactly what he brazenly asked his ex-FBI director, his director of national intelligence and the head of the National Security Agency to do. It's what he would have done at the Trump Organization. And if they refused, he would have fired them. As he did Jim Comey.

There is this storyline about Donald Trump, one longtime Trump watcher says, that he's a loyal guy. That he sticks with his old friends and defends them and supports them. "You have it all wrong," he says. "Trump is not loyal, except to his family. He can be solicitous and ingratiating. But if there's a moment you are not useful, forget it, you're done. No matter what you have done for him." Consider: Rudy Giuliani, Paul Manafort, Chris Christie.

And one more thing to keep in mind about the President, adds an ally. He's a disciple of Roy Cohn, the take-no-prisoners New York attorney. "When you're in trouble, you double down, triple down and quadruple down. At the end of the day," he says of Trump, "it's the only way to fight he knows."</s>Image copyright Black Rock Group Image caption Mike Dubke was something of an outsider in the White House

The White House communications director has resigned only three months after being hired by President Donald Trump.

Mike Dubke, an experienced Republican strategist, was hired in March to revamp the White House media strategy.

As part of the shake-up, White House press secretary Sean Spicer will reportedly hold on to his position, but there will be fewer media briefings.

The reshuffle follows reports of disarray in the White House communications team.

Russia inquiry expands to Trump lawyer

Mr Dubke tendered his resignation on 18 May and is leaving on good terms, according to Axios News, a politics website which first reported his exit.

Image copyright Reuters Image caption Rumours have been swirling that White House press secretary Sean Spicer could be replaced

White House Chief of Staff Reince Priebus said Mr Dubke had agreed to stay on until Mr Trump returned from his trip to the Middle East and Europe on Saturday.

"Mike tendered his resignation just before the President's historic international trip and offered to remain onboard until a transition is concluded," said Mr Priebus.

"Mike will assist with the transition and be a strong advocate for the President and the President's policies moving forward."

According to news website Politico, Mr Dubke, 47, provided few details on his departure in an email to friends.

"The reasons for my departure are personal," he wrote, "but it has been my great honor to serve President Trump and this administration.

"It has also been my distinct pleasure to work side-by-side, day-by-day with the staff of the communications and press departments.

"This White House is filled with some of the finest and hardest working men and women in the American Government."

Analysis - BBC North America Reporter Anthony Zurcher

Mike Dubke was an outsider hired to bring focus and discipline to the Trump White House communications operation. After just three months on the job, he's back on the outside again.

In the vast scheme of things, whether Dubke willingly quit or was forced to resign isn't all that important. Despite his title, it's difficult to gauge how much influence he ever had with the president.

What's worth noting is that the first change in what could be a larger White House shake-up has come in the communications department, with rumours of further reorganisation imminent.

This lends credence to earlier reports that the president views his administration's ongoing difficulties as a messaging problem, and not one of policies or management.

If that's the case, it appears the new message will be delivered with bare knuckles.

Old campaign hands, like the pugnacious Corey Lewandowski, are being considered for White House jobs and the president could be hitting the road for more unscripted big-venue rallies with his supporters.

It would mark a return to the campaign tactics that won Mr Trump the presidency - where every stumble or controversy was countered aggressively, political decorum and tradition be damned.

'War room'

President Trump is reported to have been frustrated with White House messaging amid congressional and FBI investigations into whether his campaign officials colluded with an alleged Kremlin plot to help him win the presidency.

He recently raised the idea of scrapping the daily news briefing altogether and holding one himself every fortnight.

According to Axios, Mr Trump plans to follow through on that plan by taking more questions directly from the media.

Press Secretary Sean Spicer - who made a return to the media podium on Tuesday - will reportedly hold fewer on-camera briefings.

"I think the president is very pleased with his team and he has a robust agenda," Mr Spicer told reporters during a 20-minute press conference.

"Ultimately the best messenger is the president himself," he added.

"He's always proven that," said Mr Spicer, "that he is the best messenger not just for what he wants to articulate but that the American people resoundingly chose him as their president - because he understands the frustrations and concerns and values of the American people and he is probably the best person to communicate that".

White House rallies to Kushner's defence

How Trump's Russia trouble unfolded

Image copyright Reuters Image caption Corey Lewandowski, former campaign manager for Mr Trump, was spotted leaving the White House on Monday

Mr Dubke, who previously worked as senior partner for Republican political advertising company Crossroads Media, was not part of the Trump campaign and was not seen as a loyalist.

The White House has not named a successor for Mr Dubke.

However, Corey Lewandowski, former campaign manager for Mr Trump, was spotted leaving the White House on Monday.

Image copyright Twitter Image caption President Trump's tweet on Tuesday morning

Mr Lewandowski was forced out in June last year amid reports of a power struggle with Jared Kushner, Mr Trump's son-in-law and a senior White House adviser.

However, Mr Kushner is now reportedly under scrutiny as part of the FBI's investigation into alleged Moscow influence that is engulfing Mr Trump's fledgling presidency.

According to reports, the combative Mr Lewandowski could rejoin the administration soon to lead a White House "war room" to counter the narrative that Mr Trump is too close to Russia.

The fight-back strategy could include hiring more lawyers to handle the allegations, according to reports.</s>(CNN) It's not that President Trump was excited about his first foreign trip. He complained to friends beforehand it was going to be too long; he just wasn't looking forward to it. Besides, he was "in a pretty glum mood" when he left, according to one source who speaks with the President.

Instead of celebrating a victory lap after touring the Middle East and meeting with the Pope and European leaders, Trump returned to the continuing controversy over Russia. He was preoccupied with legal issues and staff problems as the controversy placed his son-in-law, and senior adviser, Jared Kushner, as part of a counterintelligence investigation. Sessions with lawyers are nothing new for this litigious ex-businessman; but with infinitely higher stakes, this was different.

One source says Trump has complained privately about his White House counsel Don McGahn, well known as a specialist in campaign finance law. But his inside counsel has nothing to do with his personal defense, anyway -- and so he was expected to meet with his go-to attorney, Marc Kasowitz. His longtime lawyer, two sources say, is going to become what one called the "supervisor" of Trump's outside legal team. He'll be the Trump whisperer, adds another, "not the guy interacting with [special counsel Robert] Mueller."

"Allowing a special counsel to happen was idiocy," says one ally, who may be channeling the President's thinking. "Special counsels never end well." Never mind that Trump's own firing of FBI Director James Comey -- and his repeated attempts to get administration appointees to end the matter -- began the chain of events that led to the Mueller appointment. If anyone wanted to stop the President, it didn't happen. Maybe they agreed with Trump that the Democrats would support the move?

After the President moved to fire the FBI director, one outside adviser says he told Trump flat-out that the timing was crazy. "If you had fired him on Day One, it would be a whole different atmosphere," he told the President. "Doing it five months in made no sense."

So Trump returns to the White House this week just as he left -- lonely, angry and not happy with much of anyone. The presidency, Donald Trump is discovering, is not an easy or natural fit.

"He now lives within himself, which is a dangerous place for Donald Trump to be," says someone who speaks with the President. "I see him emotionally withdrawing. He's gained weight. He doesn't have anybody whom he trusts."

The question, he adds, is whether Trump will understand the enormity of what he faces or will instead "be back to being arrogant and stubborn." He will have to realize that "all this trip really did was hit the pause button."

And only for a moment. Trump comes home not only to an escalating Russian mess and an uphill fight over health care, but also to an important decision about the next FBI director. The President had warmed to the idea of former Sen. Joe Lieberman for the post, but Congress didn't. So as he was leaving for his first foreign trip he told friends Lieberman was out.

In the wake of the Lieberman debacle, one source with knowledge says that the President even made New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, with whom he still chats, an offhand, polite, non-offer for the top FBI job, saying something like so-you-don't-want-it-right? Christie reportedly demurred, listing the reasons why it wouldn't work -- among them that neither person needed the hassle it would cause. In a way, it was pure Trump -- the President flattering the man, whom he once fired but still consults.

There is some hope, says one ally, that the President will now be forced to settle down. "He only really listens when he's down in the dumps."

And what do his friends say? Some complain he's getting bad advice -- legal and political. "No one is giving him the landscape -- this is how it works, this is what you should do or not do. And no one has enough control -- or security -- o do that," says one. But that begs the question, of course, of whether a sitting president should actually need to be told that he ought not try to interfere with a federal counterintelligence investigation.

Trouble is, even if President Trump is listening, he's getting conflicting advice: The outsiders with whom he speaks after-hours aren't, by and large, big fans of his staff. No wonder, according to one source, that Chief of Staff Reince Priebus checked in with him after he spoke with the President -- no doubt to keep an eye on what Trump is thinking, or saying.

There are those telling the President to move on from the insularity of his original cast of characters. "Step up and forget the Forever Trumpers," one ally says he told the President. "Now you need the best professionals."

But that misses one key point: Trumpworld is run by Trump. Mistakes are made by Trump. And all of this is powered by this singular view on the Russia crisis, says one ally: that Trump believes he has no responsibility for any of this political trauma, that it is created by the mainstream media concocting conspiracies where none exist:

Which is exactly what he brazenly asked his ex-FBI director, his director of national intelligence and the head of the National Security Agency to do. It's what he would have done at the Trump Organization. And if they refused, he would have fired them. As he did Jim Comey.

There is this storyline about Donald Trump, one longtime Trump watcher says, that he's a loyal guy. That he sticks with his old friends and defends them and supports them. "You have it all wrong," he says. "Trump is not loyal, except to his family. He can be solicitous and ingratiating. But if there's a moment you are not useful, forget it, you're done. No matter what you have done for him." Consider: Rudy Giuliani, Paul Manafort, Chris Christie.

And one more thing to keep in mind about the President, adds an ally. He's a disciple of Roy Cohn, the take-no-prisoners New York attorney. "When you're in trouble, you double down, triple down and quadruple down. At the end of the day," he says of Trump, "it's the only way to fight he knows."</s>Washington: The White House poured cold water on suggestions of a transatlantic rift Tuesday, saying US President Donald Trump and German Chancellor Angela Merkel "get along very well."

After Merkel seemed to question the durability of the US-EU alliance under Trump, urging Europeans to "take our destiny in our own hands," White House spokesman Sean Spicer tried to scotch talk of any problems.

Spicer said that during a recent trip to Europe, Trump had "reaffirmed the need to deepen and improve our transatlantic relationship."

The White House also insisted that Merkel's view of a more strategically independent Europe was not incompatible with Trump's demand for more European defense spending.

Spicer described Trump's personal relationship with Merkel as excellent.

"They get along very well," said Spicer. "He has a lot of respect for her."

"He views not just Germany but the rest of Europe as an important American ally."

"I think the relationship that the president has had with Merkel, he would describe as fairly unbelievable."</s>White House communications director Michael Dubke has resigned. Dubke offered his resignation on May 18th, prior to the president's overseas trip to the Middle East and Europe. He is still working at the White House and has not set a departure date yet.

Dubke, 47, had been a behind the scenes player, who helped manage the White House communications strategy, including the aftermath of President Trump's firing of FBI Director James Comey. Before joining the White House in February, he had been a Republican strategist, and founder of Crossroads Media.

Dubke's resignation could be the forerunner of a larger staff shake up in the administration. Reports have circulated that Trump may bring in trusted former aides including one time campaign manager Cory Lewandowski and David Bosse, as the White House struggles to deal with an FBI investigation into possible Trump campaign ties to Russia.

The latest twist involves the President's son-in-law, and senior adviser Jared Kushner, who reportedly tried to set up back channel contacts between the Trump team and Moscow.

Trump is also struggling with his legislative agenda.

Among the changes reportedly being contemplated is a diminished role for White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer, including fewer televised briefings.

But the challenges any White House communications team will face were made evident when the President took to Twitter Tuesday morning, targeting NATO ally Germany:



"We have a MASSIVE trade deficit with Germany, plus they pay FAR LESS than they should on NATO & military. Very bad for U.S. This will change."



And once again Trump implied the Russia investigation was nothing but an attempt by Democrats to change the subject from their defeat in November:



"Russian officials must be laughing at the U.S. & how a lame excuse for why the Dems lost the election has taken over the Fake News," Trump tweeted.



As long as Trump maintains control of his Twitter account, he will remain his own communications director.</s>White House communications director Mike Dubke has resigned after only three months on the job.

Dubke told POLITICO newspaper that he submitted his resignation on May 18, which was accepted by President Donald Trump, but offered to stay on the job through Trump's recently completed overseas trip.

No reason was given for the move.</s>WASHINGTON (AP) — A top White House communications staffer has resigned as President Donald Trump considers a major staff overhaul amid intensifying inquiries into his campaign’s dealings with Russia.

The departure of Michael Dubke, Trump’s communications director, comes as aides and outside advisers say Trump has grown increasingly frustrated by allegations of Russian meddling in the 2016 election and revelations of possible ties between his campaign and Moscow.

Trump tweeted Tuesday: “Russian officials must be laughing at the U.S. & how a lame excuse for why the Dems lost the election has taken over the Fake News.”

Dubke wrote in a statement that it had been an honor to serve Trump and “my distinct pleasure to work side by side, day by day with the staff of the communications and press departments.”

Dubke offered his resignation earlier this month, White House counselor Kellyanne Conway told The Associated Press on Tuesday, but offered to stay on during the president’s first foreign trip. His last day has not yet been determined.

White House chief of staff Reince Priebus thanked Dubke in a statement and said Dubke had “offered to remain onboard until a transition is concluded.”

“Mike will assist with the transition and be a strong advocate for the president and the president’s policies moving forward,” he said.

A Republican consultant, Dubke joined the White House team in February. The position had gone unfilled after campaign aide Jason Miller — Trump’s original choice for communications director — backed out of the job in December before the president’s inauguration. Dubke founded Crossroads Media, a GOP firm that specializes in political advertising.

Dubke is the latest White House staffer to leave the administration as scrutiny intensifies over contacts Trump staffers may have had with Russian government officials during the campaign and transition.

It’s unclear whether other staff moves are imminent. Trump has entertained bringing his former campaign manager, Corey Lewandowski, and former deputy campaign manager, David Bossie, more formally back into the fold. And both Lewandowski and Bossie visited the White House on Monday night, according to a person familiar with the meeting, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss a private get-together.

Bossie told “Fox & Friends” that the Trump administration has reached out to him but hasn’t offered him a job yet.

“They have talked to many people, including me,” Bossie said. He later added: “It’s an ongoing conversation, and that’s a fair way to put it.”

In an interview on Fox News on Tuesday, Conway said Dubke “made very clear that he would see through the president’s international trip, and come to work every day and work hard even through that trip because there was much to do here back at the White House.”

Dubke’s hiring was intended to lighten the load on Sean Spicer, the White House press secretary, who had also been handling the duties of communications director during Trump’s first month in office. Trump has privately and publicly pinned much of the blame for his administration’s rough start on the White House’s communications strategy.

While overseas, Trump’s longtime lawyer, Marc Kasowitz, joined a still-forming legal team to help the president shoulder the intensifying investigations into Russian interference in the election and his associates’ potential involvement. More attorneys with deep experience in Washington investigations are expected to be added, along with crisis communication experts, to help the White House in the weeks ahead.

The latest revelations to emerge last week involved Trump’s son-in-law and top aide, Jared Kushner. Shortly after the election, Kushner allegedly discussed setting up a secret communications channel with the Russian government to facilitate sensitive discussions about the conflict in Syria.

The intent was to connect Trump’s chief national security adviser at the time, Michael Flynn, with Russian military leaders, a person familiar with the discussions told the AP. The person wasn’t authorized to publicly discuss private policy deliberations and insisted on anonymity.

Flynn handed in his resignation in February after it was revealed he misled top White House officials about his contacts with Russian officials.

A senior administration official said Kushner was keeping his head down and focusing on work after the foreign trip. The official said Kushner was eager to share what he knows with Congress and other investigators. The official was not authorized to publicly discuss private thinking and spoke on the condition of anonymity.

The disclosure of the back channel has put the White House on the defensive. Just back from his nine-day trip to the Middle East and Europe, Trump dismissed recent reports as “fake news.”

Trump also has renewed his criticism of Germany following Chancellor Angela Merkel’s suggestion that her country needs to adopt a more independent stance in world affairs.

Trump posted a tweet Tuesday saying “we have a MASSIVE trade deficit with Germany, plus they pay FAR LESS than they should on NATO & military. Very bad for U.S. This will change.”

Associated Press writers Catherine Lucey and Jill Colvin contributed to this report.</s>The departure of Michael Dubke, Trump's communications director, comes as aides say Trump has grown increasingly frustrated by allegations of Russian meddling in the 2016 election and revelations of possible ties between his campaign and Moscow.

"It has been my great honor to serve President Trump and this administration," Dubke wrote in a statement. "It has also been my distinct pleasure to work side-by-side, day-by-day with the staff of the communications and press departments."

Dubke's last day has not yet been determined.

A Republican consultant, Dubke joined the White House team in February after campaign aide Jason Miller — Trump's original choice for communications director — withdrew from the White House team. Dubke founded Crossroads Media, a GOP firm that specializes in political advertising.

Dubke is the latest White House staffer to leave this administration as scrutiny intensifies over contacts Trump staffers may have had with Russian government officials during the campaign and transition period.

White House counselor Kellyanne Conway told The Associated Press on Tuesday that Dubke resigned before Trump left for his international trip earlier this month, suggesting that his departure is not linked to any pending shake-ups.

But his departure raises questions about whether previous Trump loyalists are headed to the White House. Trump has entertained formally bringing back his former campaign manager, Corey Lewandowski, and former deputy campaign manager, David Bossie.

Bossie told Fox News' "Fox & Friends" that the Trump administration has reached out to him but hasn't offered him a job yet.

"They have talked to many people, including me," Bossie said. He later added: "It's an ongoing conversation and that's a fair way to put it."

In an interview on Fox News on Tuesday, Conway said Dubke "made very clear that he would see through the president's international trip, and come to work every day and work hard even through that trip because there was much to do here back at the White House."

Dubke's hiring was intended to lighten the load on Sean Spicer, the White House press secretary, who had also been handling the duties of communications director during Trump's first month in office. Trump has privately pinned some of the blame for his administration's rough start on the White House's communications strategy.

While overseas, Trump's longtime lawyer, Marc Kasowitz, joined a still-forming legal team to help the president shoulder the intensifying investigations into Russian interference in the election and his associates' potential involvement. More attorneys with deep experience in Washington investigations are expected to be added, along with crisis communication experts, to help the White House in the weeks ahead.

The latest revelations to emerge last week involved Trump's son-in-law and top aide, Jared Kushner. Shortly after the election, Kushner allegedly discussed setting up a secret communications channel with the Russian government to facilitate sensitive discussions about the conflict in Syria.

The intent was to connect Trump's chief national security adviser at the time, Michael Flynn, with Russian military leaders, a person familiar with the discussions told the AP. The person wasn't authorized to publicly discuss private policy deliberations and insisted on anonymity.

Flynn handed in his resignation in February after it was revealed he misled top White House officials about his contacts with Russian officials.

The disclosure of the back channel has put the White House on the defensive. Just back from his nine-day trip to the Middle East and Europe, Trump dismissed recent reports as "fake news."</s>(CBS News) – White House Communications Director Mike Dubke is out, CBS News has confirmed.

The move comes as the role of President Trump’s senior adviser and son-in-law Jared Kushner is also under FBI scrutiny for his alleged establishment of a back-channel of communications with the Kremlin during the transition.

The most recent staff shakeup was anticipated before Mr. Trump left for his overseas trip as the administration fell under a series of missteps including reports that Mr. Trump had divulged classified information to Russian officials at a White House meeting.

CBS News’ Major Garrett previously reported that a change in the White House communications team was coming due to Mr. Trump’s frustrations with the direction of his agenda.

“Things can’t keep going the way they are,” a senior Trump administration official told Garrett.

Dubke was originally brought in to be communications director when White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer was asked to focus on the briefing job and drop the time-consuming obligations of the job. The communications director oversees the White House messaging and promotes its agenda.

Dubke has no attachment to Mr. Trump and has always been something of an outsider. He’s not a Trump loyalist and did not work for the campaign. The White House has also not provided a name of who will be replacing Dubke’s role.

Dubke had originally replaced Jason Miller, who declined to accept the the White House job shortly after he was tapped to lead the communications office in December. Previously, Dubke served as a partner for the political advertising group Crossroads Media, which describes itself as “the premier Republican media services firm.” Dubke also led the Virginia-based Black Rock Group, a strategic communications and public affairs firm.

Spicer is expected to lead the daily briefing later Tuesday afternoon where he is likely to face questions into Dubke’s departure.</s>U.S. President Donald Trump’s communications director, Mike Dubke, is set to leave after three months in his White House post, White House adviser Kellyanne Conway said on Tuesday.

“He has expressed his desire to leave the White House and made very clear that he would see through the president’s international trip,” White House adviser Kellyanne Conway said in an interview on Fox News, referring to Trump’s first overseas trip to the Middle East and Europe that ended on Saturday.

Dubke, a communications firm owner who was brought into the Trump administration in March, resigned May 18 though he has not set a last day on the job and is leaving on good terms, according to Axios News, which first reported his departure citing a senior administration official.

Explainer: Trump’s shared secrets with Russia: The fallout, and what we know so far

His departure comes amid White House plans for a larger strategic shake-up to tackle head-on allegations involving communication between Russia and Trump’s presidential campaign, including a “war room” to combat mounting questions and multiple probes.

According to administration officials and persons close to Trump, the president plans to bring in new aides to the White House, adding experienced political professionals including Trump’s former campaign manager.

The changes may also include more lawyers to handle the Russia probe as part of the effort to tackle a scandal that has threatened to consume Trump’s young presidency.

Other potential changes are also expected to the White House communications office, according to Axios, including fewer on-camera briefings with White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer. Trump will also take more questions directly from the media, it reported.

In a tweet early on Tuesday, Trump shot back against the Russia probes, writing: “Russian officials must be laughing at the U.S. & how a lame excuse for why the Dems lost the election has taken over the Fake News.”

Conway, on Fox News, also played down persistent rumors that Spicer, who has been pilloried on comedy shows, was on his way out. She said he would be back at the podium to brief reporters on Tuesday.

Spicer served with White House chief of staff Reince Priebus when both worked at the Republican National Committee.

Priebus and White House adviser Steve Bannon have been laying the groundwork for the new “war room” that will also involve Trump’s son-in-law and senior adviser Jared Kushner, sources told Reuters.

Dubke oversaw the White House communications office, which ran press and other outreach efforts. His appointment earlier this year came after Trump’s previous choice, Jason Miller, declined the top communications job.
Michael Dubke resigns as President Trump's White House Communications Director after three months on the job.