Cliff Sims
{{Short description|American entrepreneur, author, and former official}}
{{Infobox officeholder
|name=Cliff Sims
|image=Cliff Sims headshot.jpg
|office=Deputy Director of National Intelligence for Strategy and Communications
}}
Clifton David Sims is an American entrepreneur, author and former senior White House and United States Intelligence Community official. He served as Special Assistant to the President and Director of White House Message Strategy, and later as Deputy Director of National Intelligence during the first Trump Administration. Team of Vipers, a memoir of his time serving in the White House, was a New York Times bestseller.
Personal life and education
Sims grew up in a deeply religious household and is the son and grandson of Baptist ministers.{{Cite web |date=2019-02-14 |title=Q&A: Former Trump aide Cliff Sims describes clash of his faith and politics while working in the White House |url=https://www.deseret.com/2019/2/14/20665849/q-a-former-trump-aide-cliff-sims-describes-clash-of-his-faith-and-politics-while-working-in-the-whit |access-date=2022-10-24 |website=Deseret News |language=en}}
He was a college basketball point guard{{Cite news |last=Flowers |first=Scott |date=November 5, 2003 |title=EOCC tips-off season Thursday |work=The Southeast Sun |url=https://www.southeastsun.com/sports/article_832aea7a-d7c6-5f7c-b025-fbb086d58088.html |access-date=October 24, 2022 |archive-date=October 24, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221024210751/https://www.southeastsun.com/sports/article_832aea7a-d7c6-5f7c-b025-fbb086d58088.html |url-status=dead }} and received an Associate of Arts degree from Enterprise-Ozark Community College and a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Alabama.{{Cite web |url=https://www.bizjournals.com/birmingham/c/get-to-know-the-2020-top-40-under-40/11825/cliff-sims.html |access-date=2022-10-24 |website=www.bizjournals.com}}
Sims and his wife, Megan, adopted a son from Colombia.{{Cite web |title=Cliff Sims on Instagram: "For the first time I'm able to introduce you all to my son, Shepherd Yustin Sims. Shep just turned three. He loves his "pelota" (ball), playing outside, ice cream, and most of all his mama. He's perfect. đŸ¥°" |url=https://www.instagram.com/p/CGFQlq5BQmc/ |access-date=2022-10-24 |website=Instagram |language=en}}
Career
= Yellowhammer News =
Sims founded Yellowhammer News, an influential Alabama-based, politically conservative news organization consisting of YellowhammerNews.com, a daily radio show,{{Cite web |last=Release |first=Press |date=2015-03-13 |title=Yellowhammer to launch syndicated radio show hosted by Cliff Sims |url=https://yellowhammernews.com/yellowhammer-to-launch-syndicated-radio-show-hosted-by-cliff-sims/ |access-date=2022-10-24 |website=Yellowhammer News |language=en-US}} and a syndicated radio news network,{{Cite web |last=Release |first=Press |date=2015-08-31 |title=Yellowhammer expands, launches statewide radio news network |url=https://yellowhammernews.com/yellowhammer-expands-launches-statewide-radio-news-network/ |access-date=2022-10-24 |website=Yellowhammer News |language=en-US}} with Sims serving as chief executive officer.
According to The Atlantic, Sims "broke high-profile state politics stories," including a series of investigative pieces that ultimately led to the resignation of Alabama Governor Robert Bentley.{{Cite web |last=Plott |first=Elaina |date=2019-01-28 |title=An Obscure White House Staffer's Jaw-Dropping Trump Tell-All |url=https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2019/01/obscure-white-house-aide-writes-stunning-trump-tell-all/581416/ |access-date=2022-10-24 |website=The Atlantic |language=en}}
In August 2015, Sims interviewed{{Citation |title=Cliff Sims interviews Donald Trump on Yellowhammer Radio | date=21 August 2015 |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4AtBxhm2yYs |language=en |access-date=2022-10-24}} then-presidential candidate Donald Trump on his radio program ahead of Trump's Mobile, Alabama campaign rally.
Sims later took a leave of absence as CEO of Yellowhammer to join the Donald J. Trump for President campaign as a communications advisor based in Trump Tower.{{Cite web |last=Release |first=Press |date=2016-09-28 |title=Cliff Sims joins Trump campaign as advisor, takes leave of absence as Yellowhammer CEO |url=https://yellowhammernews.com/yellowhammers-cliff-sims-takes-leave-absence-joins-trump-campaign-advisor/ |access-date=2022-10-24 |website=Yellowhammer News |language=en-US}} He did not return as CEO after Trump's election, but rather sold his ownership stake in the company upon accepting a position in the White House.{{Cite web |last=Koplowitz |first=Howard |date=2017-04-03 |title=Trump staffer Cliff Sims selling Yellowhammer for $250K |url=https://www.al.com/news/2017/04/cliff_sims_yellowhammer_news_c.html |access-date=2022-10-24 |website=al |language=en}}
= White House =
After Donald Trump's inauguration, Sims joined the White House staff as Special Assistant to the President and Director of White House Message Strategy.{{Cite web |last=Release |first=Press |date=2017-01-19 |title=Yellowhammer's Cliff Sims accepts senior communications job in Trump White House |url=https://yellowhammernews.com/cliff-sims-accepts-senior-communications-job-trump-white-house/ |access-date=2022-10-24 |website=Yellowhammer News |language=en-US}}
According to The Atlantic, he shared "an uncommonly close relationship" with Trump. Axios reported that he "forged one of the stronger personal relationships with the President."{{Cite web |last=Swan |first=Jonathan |date=2018-05-08 |title=Mike Pompeo to install Trump loyalist at State Department |url=https://www.axios.com/2018/05/08/cliff-sims-mike-pompeo-to-install-trump-loyalist-at-state-department |access-date=2022-10-24 |website=Axios |language=en}} Former White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders wrote in her memoir that Sims was "the author of the 'script' she delivered at each daily briefing."{{Cite web |date=2020-09-06 |title=Speaking for Myself review: Sarah Sanders writes one for the Trump team |url=http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/sep/06/speaking-for-myself-review-sarah-huckabee-sanders-donald-trump |access-date=2022-10-24 |website=the Guardian |language=en}}
He was also a "key figure" in the administration's successful efforts to pass the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017, regarded as Trump's signature legislative achievement.
Politico reported that Sims clashed frequently with some of his White House colleagues who joined the administration from the Republican National Committee, "making enemies with the more 'establishment' staffers in Trump's factionalized White House."{{Cite web |title=Trump campaign veteran leaving White House communications office |url=https://www.politico.com/story/2018/05/08/cliff-sims-leave-white-house-573728 |access-date=2022-10-24 |website=POLITICO |date=8 May 2018 |language=en}}
In May 2018, Axios reported that Sims was "expected to join Mike Pompeo's State Department as a senior adviser to the Secretary." While in the White House, Sims led communications for Pompeo's Senate confirmation. However, Sims never assumed the position and instead exited the administration. Then-White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders issued a statement saying, "We hated to see him resign."{{Cite web |date=2018-06-25 |title=What's going on with Cliff Sims? |url=https://www.aldailynews.com/whats-going-on-with-cliff-sims/ |access-date=2022-10-24 |website=Alabama Daily News |language=en-US}}
= ''Team of Vipers'' =
In January 2019, St. Martin's Press published Sims's memoir, Team of Vipers: My 500 Extraordinary Days in the Trump White House, which spent several weeks on the bestseller list.{{Cite news |title=Hardcover Nonfiction Books - Best Sellers - Books - March 3, 2019 - The New York Times |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/books/best-sellers/2019/03/03/hardcover-nonfiction/ |access-date=2022-10-24 |issn=0362-4331}}
Publishers Weekly wrote that "Sims's vivid portrait of Trump shrewdly balances admiration with misgivings, and his intricate, engrossing accounts of White House vendettas and power plays have a good mix of immersion and perspective."{{Cite web |date= |title=Team of Vipers: My 500 Extraordinary Days in the Trump White House by Cliff Sims |url=https://www.publishersweekly.com/9781250223890 |access-date=2022-10-24 |website=www.publishersweekly.com}} Time called it "a juicy pro-Trump tell-all."{{Cite magazine |title=Cliff Sims Aims for the 'Team of Vipers,' But Inadvertently Hits Trump |url=https://time.com/5512122/team-vipers-review-donald-trump-cliff-sims/ |access-date=2022-10-24 |magazine=Time |language=en}}
According to ABC News, although Sims "painted a harshly negative portrait of many who served the president, his book was generally positive and admiring of Trump himself."{{Cite web |title=Former Trump staffer who penned tell-all book and sued the president, back working on Republican Convention |url=https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/trump-staffer-penned-book-sued-president-back-working/story?id=72568745 |access-date=2022-10-24 |website=ABC News |language=en}}
Still, Trump lashed out at Sims, tweeting that the book was "based on made up stories and fiction."{{Cite web |url=https://twitter.com/realdonaldtrump/status/1090244651578204160 |access-date=2022-10-24 |website=Twitter |language=en}} A legal dispute ensued, with the Trump campaign accusing Sims of violating a non-disclosure agreement{{Cite web |url=https://twitter.com/michaelglassner/status/1090249001746747392?lang=en |access-date=2022-10-24 |website=Twitter |language=en}} and Sims accusing the president of seeking to impede his First Amendment rights.{{Cite web |last=Sullivan |first=Kate |date=2019-02-12 |title=Ex-White House aide Cliff Sims sues Trump over nondisclosure agreements {{!}} CNN Politics |url=https://www.cnn.com/2019/02/11/politics/cliff-sims-trump-silencing-nda-white-house-aide/index.html |access-date=2022-10-24 |website=CNN |language=en}}
The lawsuits were later dropped and Trump tapped Sims to lead messaging and speechwriting for the 2020 Republican National Convention, including personally writing remarks for the president's children.
Axios reported that Sims "has not only made peace with Trump but been brought back into the fold as an outside adviser on various initiatives," and noted that he "is a close ally of the president's eldest son Donald Trump Jr., the president's daughter Ivanka and son-in-law Jared Kushner, and Trump's close aide Hope Hicks."{{Cite web |last=Swan |first=Jonathan |date=2020-10-02 |title=Cliff Sims returns to the Trump administration |url=https://www.axios.com/2020/10/02/cliff-sims-returns-trump-administration |access-date=2022-10-24 |website=Axios |language=en}}
= Office of the Director of National Intelligence =
In 2020, Sims rejoined the Trump Administration as Deputy Director of National Intelligence for Strategy and Communications, a top adviser to Director of National Intelligence John Ratcliffe, with a portfolio focused on "Intelligence Community communications matters and interfacing with the White House."
He reportedly played a role in the decision to locate United States Space Command at Redstone Arsenal in his native Alabama, with The Washington Post reporting he "advocated for the move with both the White House and the Pentagon."{{Cite news |title=Trump administration decides on Alabama as new home for Space Command |language=en-US |newspaper=Washington Post |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/space-command-huntsville-alabama/2021/01/13/01e0d90c-55d2-11eb-89bc-7f51ceb6bd57_story.html |access-date=2022-10-24 |issn=0190-8286}}
In a late-Trump Administration "China crackdown," Sims said in a statement that the Office of the Director of National Intelligence was "delivering a necessary mindset shift from the Cold War and post-9/11 counterterrorism eras to a focus on great power competition with an adversarial China."{{Cite web |last=Allen-Ebrahimian |first=Jonathan Swan,Bethany |date=2020-11-15 |title=Scoop: Trump plans last-minute China crackdown |url=https://www.axios.com/2020/11/15/trump-plans-last-minute-china-crackdown |access-date=2022-10-24 |website=Axios |language=en}}
Sims was awarded The Director's Exceptional Achievement Award upon his departure "in recognition of superior accomplishment and valuable service to the mission of the Office of the Director of National Intelligence."{{Cite web |url=https://twitter.com/cliff_sims/status/1352721841715097600 |access-date=2022-10-24 |website=Twitter |language=en}}
= Telegraph Creative =
Sims was named chief executive officer of Telegraph Creative, a corporate marketing, advertising and branding firm based in Birmingham, Alabama.
The Birmingham News reported that Telegraph Creative received "a federally funded contract worth just under $1 million" with the Alabama Department of Early Childhood Education.{{Cite web |last=Powell Crain |first=Trisha |date=2019-09-18 |title=Ex-Trump staffer's AL company gets $999K ed contract |url=https://www.al.com/news/2019/09/ex-trump-staffers-alabama-company-gets-999k-education-contract.html |access-date=2022-10-24 |website=al |language=en}}
The Birmingham Business Journal reported that Sims had begun a multi-million dollar, 19,200-square-foot real estate development project in downtown Birmingham to house the headquarters of Telegraph Creative.{{Cite web | title= Lakeview warehouse to be redeveloped for prominent Birmingham firms |url=https://www.bizjournals.com/birmingham/news/2020/02/25/lakeview-warehouse-to-be-redeveloped-for-prominent.html |access-date=2022-10-24 |website=www.bizjournals.com}}
= U.S.-China Commission =
In 2024, Speaker Mike Johnson named Sims to the United States–China Economic and Security Review Commission.{{Cite web |last=Allen |first=Mike |date=2024-02-06 |title=Cliff Sims, Trumpworld China hawk, named to U.S.-China commission |url=https://www.axios.com/2024/02/06/cliff-sims-china-us-relations-commission |access-date=2025-04-29 |website=Axios |language=en}} Sims was appointed to a two-year term.{{Cite web |title=Cliff Sims {{!}} U.S.- CHINA {{!}} ECONOMIC and SECURITY REVIEW COMMISSION |url=https://www.uscc.gov/commission-members/cliff-sims |access-date=2025-04-29 |website=www.uscc.gov}}