White House press secretary Sean Spicer wouldn’t confirm reports on Tuesday that his role could be changing but acknowledged the press office wants to hire additional staffers and improve how it gets the president’s message out.
“We are always looking for ways to do a better job articulating the president’s message and his agenda,” Spicer said. “We’ll continue to have those discussions internally. When we have an announcement of a personal nature, we will let you know.”
Trump’s communications director, Mike Dubke, resigned last month. On Monday, there were new reports that Spicer could leave the press secretary position and take on another role at the White House and that people were being interviewed for his job.
“Look, it’s no secret we’ve had a couple vacancies including our communications director … We’ve been seeking input from individuals as far as ideas they have,” Spicer said. “We’ve been meeting with potential people that may be of service to this administration.”
In recent weeks, there have been fewer daily on-camera briefings than at the beginning of the administration. On Monday, the White House again held an off-camera gaggle for reporters, which meant Spicer’s comments could be reported but the audio and video couldn’t be aired.
Discussing the White House communications strategy, Spicer said, “We’re going to do we can to communicate our message.”
“We have a tremendous respect for the first amendment, your ability to do your job and report and seek out ideas. And we are going to work with you. I think the briefing is one aspect of what we do,” he said.
Spicer pointed out that White House press aides answer questions from reporters throughout the day, separately from the briefing.
“We are here really early in the morning and really late at night, available to all of your questions whether it is email or in person,” he said. “This is one avenue to do that.”
