White House Communication Director Mike Dubke has "expressed his desire to leave the White House," presidential counselor Kellyanne Conway confirmed Tuesday morning, while responding to reports that Dubke had resigned his post.
"[He] made it very clear that he would see through the president's international trip and come to work every day and work very hard through that trip, because there is much to do back here at the White House," Conway said during a Fox News' "Fox and Friends" interview.
Conway said she did not know Dubke before he came on as communications director in February, but said he "worked hard here."
But people leave "on their own volition," Conway said, as "they find working 18 hour days in different environments are maybe what's not best suited for them."
Early Tuesday, Axios confirmed that Dubke was leaving, and that he'd actually resigned his post on May 18, before the president's trip to Europe and the Middle East.
Conway noted that there have been many stories about shakeups at the White House, and many of them have been false.
"The very first time I was ever asked about somebody being pushed out of the White House was on Jan. 23," Conway said. "We had been here three whole days. There has been a story a minute about that. It's easier to cover that than earning the finer points of healthcare reform and tax reform and infrastructure and ISIS and retreat."
Conway also on Monday confirmed Axios' report that Press Secretary Sean Spicer is expected back at his podium on Tuesday, but did not confirm that there will be fewer briefings.
Axios reported that Spicer will do fewer on-camera briefings, and that Trump will be doing more of the official talking for the White House.
"There will always be White House briefings," Conway said. "As have you seen, we have had cabinet secretaries and other administration officials going up to the podium. The issues they are working on are actually part of the news of the day, and that's going very effectively as well. Not every briefing has to be on camera, either."
The presidential counsel also on Tuesday defended President Donald Trump's senior adviser and son-in-law Jared Kushner, telling Fox that from the beginning, he has said he's willing to share 'any information that he has with Congress, with the FBI."
Kushner is under fire for reports that he had discussed establishing a back channel to communicate with Russia, but Conway said such back channels are "the regular course of business."
"I think it's very important to recognize that the president has expressed full confidence in Jared Kushner, and also went on to note considerable progress and the very large important portfolio that Jared oversees here at the White House," Conway continued about the senior adviser, who is married to Trump's daughter Ivanka.
"At the end of this month he will be hosting another major meeting with the heads of tech companies," Conway said. "Obviously, the relationships that Jared was able to establish during transition helped develop this phenomenal international trip that they just came back from."
However, she would not confirm a Fox News report that claims Russians reached out to Kushner, not the other way around.
"I cannot comment on any of that because there is no reason to, frankly," Conway said. "We know that there has been many news reports very recently that had the facts wrong. If you go back to a couple weeks ago, you will notice that one paper in particular three times in a row relied upon information that was immediately batted down as false. This entire thing is just a rush to judgment."
Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
© 2024 Newsmax. All rights reserved.