President Donald Trump dined at the White House on Wednesday night with Fox News Channel star Sean Hannity, former Fox executive Bill Shine and newly installed White House communications director Anthony Scaramucci to discuss overhauling the West Wing staff and his political strategy, a senior White House official said.
The private dinner comes as Trump is contemplating major changes inside his White House, empowering Scaramucci to reimagine his communications strategy.
The president and his new aide solicited advice from Hannity and Shine over a meal in the Blue Room that was described by the senior White House official as social.
Hannity hosts one of Fox’s highest-rated programs and is one of cable television’s staunchest Trump boosters. Shine was a longtime lieutenant to the late Roger Ailes, former Fox chairman and CEO, and served as co-president of Fox News until resigning this spring amid the sexual harassment scandal involving Ailes and ousted anchor Bill O’Reilly.
Scaramucci, a former Fox contributor, is close to both men and is seeking their counsel about reorganizing the communications operation, the senior White House official said, though it is unclear whether Shine would ever consider taking a formal role in the administration now that he has left Fox.
News of the dinner was first reported by Ryan Lizza of The New Yorker.
(c) 2017, The Washington Post · Philip Rucker
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