THE MESSAGE? "WE HATE MEXICANS":

White House press briefings, in steady decline even before the partial government shutdown, have now ground to a halt as a prolonged power struggle among President Donald Trump's aides leads to a muddled messaging strategy, people familiar with the matter say. [...]

No one has emerged as the clear leader among Sanders, Bill Shine, Kellyanne Conway or Mercedes Schlapp, leading to deep divisions among one of the administration's most fractious departments and causing a void for a coverage-obsessed president.

The communications team has also drawn the ire of dozens of senior staffers, including Trump at times, who have blamed them for failing to blunt PR missteps and allowing them to turn into full-blown disasters.

The inner workings of the communications team were described to CNN by 11 current and former White House officials who requested anonymity in order to speak candidly.

In a West Wing where proximity to the President translates into power, the four senior communications aides -- Sanders, Shine, Conway and Schlapp -- can often be found where Trump is.

All four were present for a relatively mundane hurricane briefing in October. Three -- Shine, Sanders and Conway -- were back again during his interview with two Washington Post reporters in later November. And all of them were seated along the wall of the Situation Room during Trump's first, second and third meetings with Democrats during the partial government shutdown.

Mick Mulvaney, who replaced John Kelly as chief of staff earlier this year, has made clear to staff that he has no desire to curb access to Trump, as his predecessor did.

But despite the constant presence of four senior communications officials, their colleagues say it has not helped form a coherent message.

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