Stephanie Grisham, the spokeswoman for first lady Melania Trump, has been announced as the replacement for former White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders.
In President Trump’s circle, Stephanie Grisham has proven her loyalty — for years. She’s regarded as an enforcer for the Trumps.
Few in Trump’s White House have a history with him that dates as far back as Grisham’s. For nearly two years, she served as communications director for first lady Melania Trump. A few weeks ago, she received a promotion to her deputy chief of staff for communications and has become one of the more powerful figures in the ever-evolving Trump White House. In the summer of 2015, she was a lowly press wrangler on Trump’s campaign.
During the campaign she developed a good relationship with the president, and that’s carried through,” White House press secretary Sarah Sanders says. “She has developed a great amount of trust from both the president and the first lady, which is a pretty high commodity here,” Sanders adds. “There aren’t a lot of people who have a lot of regular interaction with both of them.”
When did Sarah Sanders leave?
On June 13, President Donald Trump announced that Sanders was leaving the administration. She had been with the White House since Trump’s inauguration, and had taken over the duties of press secretary after Sean Spicer’s resignation in July 2017.
Who is Stephanie Grisham?
Grisham has been with Melania Trump since the campaign. She had been considered one of the most likely candidates to replace Sanders.
A source close to the Trump administration told the Daily Wire“Grisham is pure Trump,” adding “she holds down the East Wing with ease and has no loyalties to any faction within the Republican Party. Members of the first family love her and know that she is fiercely dedicated and loyal.” She was also described by that source as a “favorite of Trump loyalists.”
According to the Washington Post, Grisham was also a driving force between Trump’s decision to fire former-deputy national security adviser Mira Ricardel.
Prior to joining Trump’s team, Grisham had worked for Sen. Mitt Romney’s (R-Utah) presidential campaign in 2012.
What happened now?
On Tuesday, Melania Trump tweeted “I am pleased to announce @StephGrisham45 will be the next @PressSec & Comms Director! She has been with us since 2015 – @potus & I can think of no better person to serve the Administration & our country. Excited to have Stephanie working for both sides of the @WhiteHouse. #BeBest“
In response, Sanders tweeted that she thought Grisham would be “an incredible asset to the President and the country.”
