Bill Shine, White House communications director and assistant to the president, has resigned. White House press secretary Sarah Sanders said in a statement that Shine, previously the co-president of Fox News, submitted his resignation to President Trump on Thursday night. He will serve as a senior adviser to Mr. Trump’s 2020 campaign.
Friday is his final day in the White House, according to a White House official.
“Serving President Trump and this country has been the most rewarding experience of my entire life,” Shine said in a statement. “To be a small part of all this President has done for the American people has truly been an honor. I’m looking forward to working on President Trump’s reelection campaign and spending more time with my family.”
Mr. Trump said in a statement that Shine “has done an outstanding job working for me and the administration.”
“We will miss him in the White House, but look forward to working together on the 2020 presidential campaign, where he will be totally involved,” Mr. Trump said. Sanders called it a “big loss for the administration, but a huge gain for the President’s reelection campaign.”
Brad Parscale, the campaign manager for Mr. Trump’s reelection campaign, called Shine “an incredible professional” and praised his “wealth of experience from cable news and the White House.”
Shine’s sudden resignation comes the week after an article in The New Yorker detailed the ties between Mr. Trump and Fox News. He joined the Trump administration in 2018.
Shine did not accompany the president to Hanoi, Vietnam, for his summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.
Trump campaign chairman Brad Parscale released a statement welcoming Shine shortly after news of Shine’s resignation became public.
“Bill Shine is an incredible professional and will bring insight and talent as we build a world-class campaign. He is a gifted communicator, strategic thinker and brings a wealth of experience from cable news and the White House. The President’s re-election effort just got stronger,” Parscale said.
Shine worked to improve communications in the White House, and spearheaded the confirmation process for Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh, who faced accusations of sexual assault.
Shine, who helped build Fox News into a cable news juggernaut at the right hand of the network’s founding executive, Roger Ailes, resigned from the network in May 2017. A close ally of Ailes, Shine was accused in lawsuits of helping his boss cover up allegations of sexual harassment, although he was never directly accused of any wrongdoing and has denied the accusations. According to a lawsuit filed by Ailes accuser Julie Roginsky, Shine “kept Ailes’s conduct secret and enabled it.”
Shine continued to receive a payout from Fox News after he resigned of roughly $15.4 million in severance pay and bonuses, according to federal financial disclosure documents. Shine received an $8.4 million severance payment, with roughly $3.5 million in bonus options due in 2018 and 2019.
— Kathryn Watson contributed to this report
