LAS VEGAS —
Donald J. Trump
has shaken up his presidential campaign for the second time in two
months, hiring a top executive from the conservative website Breitbart
News and promoting a senior adviser in an effort to right
his faltering campaign.
Stephen
Bannon, the executive chairman of Breitbart News LLC, will become the
Republican campaign’s chief executive, and Kellyanne Conway, a senior
adviser and pollster for Mr. Trump and his running mate, Gov. Mike Pence
of Indiana, will become the campaign manager.
Paul
Manafort, the campaign chairman, will retain his title. But the
staffing change, hammered out on Sunday and set to be formally announced
Wednesday morning, represents a demotion for Mr. Manafort.
The
news, first reported by The Wall Street Journal, was confirmed early
Wednesday by Ms. Conway in a brief interview, but she rejected the idea
that the changes amounted to a shake-up.
“It’s
an expansion at a busy time in the final stretch of the campaign,” she
said, adding that Mr. Manafort and his deputy, Rick Gates, would remain
in their roles.
“We met as the ‘core four’ today,” Ms. Conway added, referring to herself, Mr. Bannon, Mr. Manafort and Mr. Gates.
The
people briefed on the move said that it reflects Mr. Trump’s
realization that his campaign was at a crisis point. But it indicates
that the candidate, who has chafed at making the types of changes his
current aides have asked for even though he had acknowledged they would
need to occur, has decided to embrace his aggressive style for the
duration of the race.
Both
Mr. Bannon and Ms. Conway are close with Robert and Rebekah Mercer, the
father-and-daughter conservative donors who have become allies of Mr.
Trump and are funding a “
super PAC” that is working against Hillary Clinton.
