Melania Trump’s senior aide to replace Sarah Sanders

Stephanie Grisham, a top aide to First Lady Melania Trump, will be the next White House press secretary and communications director.

Melania Trump announced the news on Twitter on Tuesday. “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,” she wrote

Story Continued Below

Grisham, who serves as the first lady’s deputy chief of staff and communications director, had long been seen as the leading candidate for the job. Grisham won the trust of both the president and the first lady after working on Trump’s campaign, his transition team and as a deputy to then-press secretary Sean Spicer before moving to the East Wing. Since going to work for the first lady, Grisham has emerged as a fierce advocate for Melania Trump, pushing back on negative stories about her both behind the scenes and in public.

The outgoing White House press secretary, Sarah Huckabee Sanders, announced earlier this month that she planned to step down at the end of the month and return to her home state of Arkansas, where she is seriously considering eventually running for governor.

Trump had been considering several candidates to replace Sanders, but aides said he was inclined to choose a woman for the role, as well as somebody he knew well. That made Grisham an obvious choice. Grisham has been working at the White House for the entirety of Trump’s time in office. And since Grisham moved to the East Wing, Trump has frequently joked about stealing her back, a White House official said.

“I’m sad to leave the WH, but so happy to leave our team in such great hands. Stephanie will do a phenomenal job. Proud to have another mom and a great friend in this role,” Sanders wrote on Twitter.

Grisham takes the helm at a tumultuous period for the Trump administration that has been frequently marked by tensions between the White House and the press. It has been more than 100 days since Sanders held a formal, televised briefing, an approach advocated by the president, who grew to detest the longstanding tradition. Instead, Sanders mostly takes questions from reporters on the White House driveway after doing interviews on cable news networks.

Sanders also came under intense criticism for her unequivocal defense Trump and for sparring with reporters. Public attention particularly focused on Sanders after the release of special counsel Robert Mueller’s report, which said Sanders acknowledged her claim that “countless” FBI officials told her they were pleased with Trump’s move to fire FBI chief James Comey was a “slip of the tongue” and not based on facts. Sanders later insisted that the thrust of the comment was accurate.

That glare is expected to extend to Grisham, who has a much lower profile and isn’t a frequent presence on television.