Donald Trump's New Press Secretary Comes With A White House History

Welcome to the new addition! A new White House press secretary was announced on Tuesday, June 25, after former White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders announced on June 13 she would leave the position. According to a tweet shared by first lady Melania Trump, Stephanie Grisham will be taking over as the new White House press secretary and also assuming the role of White House communications director. Who is Stephanie Grisham? The new press secretary has a history in the White House.

Melania Trump's tweet said, "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."

Grisham is one of the longest-serving Trump White House staffers, joining the White House with the president's inauguration in 2017. She has served as the communications director for Melania Trump for the last two years. Before that, Grisham was deputy press secretary for Sean Spicer and one of Trump's early Arizona staffers. Her previous political roles have included working on Mitt Romney's 2012 campaign, and a previous role as a spokesperson for the Arizona House of Representatives Republican caucus back in 2007.

According to CNN, Grisham is one of the people who has been with the Trump administration longer than anyone else in the White House. Dan Scavino, the White House director of social media and assistant to the president, is the only other person who shares that milestone — they have both been with Trump since the early days of his presidential campaign in 2015. Grisham's also been known to take the offensive against criticism of the Trumps. In a 2018 CNN op-ed, Grisham responded to criticism that Melania didn't know what it meant to be a first lady, writing, "Of course, absurdity abounds in the media's coverage of our first lady. Reports focus on the trivial and superficial, rather than the deeper issues facing our country that the she has tirelessly worked to address."

Grisham is also vocal champion of the first lady's "Be Best" campaign focused on children's well-being, online safety, and opioid abuse, and often posts about it on her Twitter.

Grisham will be the third White House press secretary in the Trump administration. The first was Spicer, who served as press secretary in 2017 and resigned after opposing the appointment of Anthony Scaramucci as communications director (Scaramucci himself made it only 10 days with the administration). The second was Sarah Huckabee Sanders, who left on better terms. After announcing on June 13 that she would leave her position and return to her home state of Arkansas, Sanders said she will "continue to be one of the most outspoken and loyal supporters of the president and his agenda," and called the job the opportunity of a lifetime. She said she hopes to be remembered for her "transparency" and "honesty," words that were mocked on social media.

It remains to be seen how Grisham differs from Spicer and Sanders when it comes to handling the press. Stay tuned.