Amid worsening scandals facing the Trump administration, White House communications director Mike Dubke is to step down. US media said he tendered his resignation before the president's recent foreign trip.
Image: Reuters/K. Lamarque
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Mike Dubke quit his post as communications director at the White House just three months after being hired by US President Donald Trump. He tendered his resignation on May 18 but agreed to stay on until after Trump returned home from his foreign foreign trip to the Middle East and Europe, US media said.
"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," he wrote in an email to friends and associates, cited by the Washington Post.
Trump: 'no collusion' with Russia
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White House adviser Kellyanne Conway explained the resignation in an interview on Fox News later in the morning.
"He has expressed his desire to leave the White House and made very clear that he would see through the president's international trip," she said.
Analysts have suggested that, as an outsider, Dubke may not have gelled with other longer-serving Trump officials.
US media reported that Trump is increasingly frustrated at the White House's response to media reaction to his administration's first 100 days in office.
Donald Trump on Germany: Top quotes
The US president has offered praise and dished out criticism of Germany. Whether describing the chancellor as "the greatest" or claiming Berlin owes "vast sums of money" to the US, here are his most memorable quotes.
Image: picture-alliance/NurPhoto/C. May
The good, the bad and the ugly
US President Donald Trump has offered both candid praise and unabashed criticism of Germany and its policies. From calling German Chancellor Angela Merkel "possibly the greatest world leader" to describing her open-door refugee policy as a "catastrophic mistake," here are his most memorable quotes regarding Germany.
Image: picture-alliance/NurPhoto/C. May
'Greatest'
"Germany's like sitting back silent, collecting money and making a fortune with probably the greatest leader in the world today, Merkel," Trump said in a 2015 interview with US news magazine Time.
Image: Picture alliance/AP Photo/M. Schreiber
'Very bad'
"The Germans are bad, very bad ... Look at the millions of cars they sell in the US. Terrible. We'll stop that," Trump said during a NATO leaders summit, according to German news magazine Der Spiegel, which cited sources at the alliance's meeting.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/AP/E. Vucci
'Something in common'
"As far as wiretapping, I guess, by - you know - [the Obama] administration, at least we have something in common, perhaps," Trump said in March during a press conference with Merkel. He was referring to his unproven allegations that ex-President Barack Obama tapped his phone. There was widespread anger in Germany in 2013 when it was revealed the US National Security Agency tapped Merkel's phone.
Image: Picture alliance/R. Sachs/CNP
'Illegals'
"I think she made one very catastrophic mistake and that was taking all of these illegals (sic), you know taking all of the people from wherever they come from," Trump said in a joint interview published by German daily Bild and British newspaper The Times, referring to Merkel's open-door policy for refugees fleeing war and persecution.
Image: Getty Images/S. Gallup
'Germany owes vast sums of money'
"Despite what you have heard from the fake news, I had a great meeting with German Chancellor Angela Merkel. Nevertheless, Germany owes vast sums of money to NATO and the United States must be paid more for the powerful, and very expensive, defense it provides to Germany," Trump said in a two-tweet statement after meeting with Merkel for the first time in March 2017.
Image: Picture alliance/dpa/L. Mirgeler
'Turning their backs'
"The people of Germany are turning against their leadership as migration is rocking the already tenuous Berlin coalition," Trump tweeted in the midst of a row within the German goverment. He went on to claim that: "Crime in Germany is way up. Big mistake made all over Europe in allowing millions of people in who have so strongly and violently changed their culture!"
Washington insiders say Trump is now planning a larger strategic shake-up of his administration to tackle the Russia scandal allegations, including the launch of a "war room" to answer difficult questions about multiple investigations.
The Reuters news agency cited Trump administration officials as saying the president plans to bring in his former campaign manager.
Axios said Tuesday that other changes would see White House Press Secretary Sean Spice make fewer on-camera briefings, after being mocked on several US comedy shows since Trump took office. The news site speculated that Trump would likely take more questions directly from the media.
