Former Fox News co-president Bill Shine has only been White House deputy chief of staff for communications for less than a week, but he’s already becoming one of Donald Trump’s closest confidants. “Trump absolutely loves the guy,” a Republican close to Trump and Shine told me. Sources familiar with the relationship said Trump was effusive about Shine’s production of the much-hyped prime-time rollout of Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh on Monday night. “Shine brought in all new lights,” a person briefed on the production said. “He gave Trump what’s called a ‘downlight.’ Trump’s a little fat, but that made him look younger.”

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The ascent of Shine, who was ousted from the network for his handling of its myriad sexual harassment scandals, has intensified speculation in the West Wing that the president’s long-suffering chief of staff and nemesis, John Kelly, will soon be departing. Kelly opposed the hiring of Shine and has seen his role continue to be diminished, sources said, sometimes in humiliating ways. “They’ve basically stopped telling Kelly when meetings are. People leave him off the calendar,” one administration official told me. “When he finds out, he storms into the room and is like, ‘What’s going on?’” A Republican close to the White House told me that Trump hopes Shine’s expanding role will encourage Kelly to quit. “Trump is too chickenshit to fire Kelly himself,” the source said. The strategy is reminiscent of the president’s decision to hire Anthony Scaramucci as communications director in July 2017 to drive out then-chief of staff Reince Priebus. “This is a more subtle version of Scaramucci,” an outside adviser to the White House told me.

Unlike Scaramucci, however, Shine is keeping his head down. Republicans who have spoken with Shine say he’s quietly looking under the hood of the White House’s messaging operation. The administration official said that Shine thinks Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders is doing “O.K.,” but he eventually wants to bring in someone with “more energy.” (In June, CBS reported that Sanders was planning on leaving the White House by the end of the year.)

The most significant beneficiary of Shine’s growing portfolio is Trump’s unofficial press secretary: Sean Hannity. “Sean is very happy. Bill Shine is his best friend,” said a Republican who spoke with Hannity after Shine’s hiring. Hannity has already seemingly benefitted from Shine’s appointment. Shine timed Kavanaugh’s announcement to the start of Hannity’s 9 P.M. Fox News show, in part to reward Hannity with monster ratings that a huge news event generates. (Trump announced Neil Gorsuch’s nomination at 8 P.M.) “Everyone at the White House knew this was about Sean’s ratings,” the Republican told me. Hannity has also been working behind the scenes to get Shine elevated to chief of staff. One source who spoke with Hannity said Hannity was bad-mouthing Kelly. “Hannity said Trump really can’t stand Kelly,” the source said. “He’s fed up.” (The White House didn’t respond to a request for comment.)