Grisham stepping into new role
Ex-press secretary to work for the first lady
Grisham has been absent from the administration’s response to the coronavirus outbreak.
WASHINGTON – Stephanie Grisham stepped down as White House press secretary to return to the East Wing as chief of staff to first lady Melania Trump, according to a White House statement Tuesday.
Grisham spent less than a year in the post without ever holding a news briefing. Her predecessor, Sarah Sanders, scrapped the regular briefings that had been customary to the job throughout Republican and Democratic presidential administrations dating back to Herbert Hoover’s, according to historian Martha Kumar. The first televised news briefings took place under Bill Clinton’s administration.
Grisham is expected to begin her role with the first lady immediately, according to a statement from Melania Trump that announced the change. Grisham’s replacement will be announced in the coming days. Grisham said she would remain in the West Wing “to help with a smooth transition for as long as needed.”
The East Wing statement said the first lady’s previous chief of staff, Lindsay Reynolds, resigned this week to spend time with her family.
Grisham has been absent from the administration’s response to the coronavirus outbreak, self-quarantining after coming into contact with members of a Brazilian delegation who tested postive for COVID-19 at the president’s Mar-a-Lago resort in Palm Beach, Florida.
The announcement comes amid a staff shake-up at the White House, which includes President Donald Trump’s new chief of staff, Mark Meadows, and last week’s departure of deputy communication director Jessica Ditto.
Grisham dismissed media reports last week that Meadows considered replacing her with Trump campaign press secretary Kayleigh McEnany or Pentagon spokeswoman Alyssa Farah.
“Sounds like more palace intrigue to me, but I’ve also been in quarantine,” she told Axios. “If true, how ironic that the press secretary would hear about being replaced in the press.”
Trump named Grisham as his third press secretary last June, replacing Sanders, who returned to her home state of Arkansas.
Grisham, an Arizona native, has a long history with the Trump family and is known for her loyalty to them, particularly the first lady. She’s one of the few remaining White House staffers who worked on Donald Trump’s presidential campaign in 2016. After Trump was elected, she went to the White House to work as a deputy to Trump’s first press secretary, Sean Spicer.
On the campaign trail, Grisham helped arrange political stops for Trump around Arizona and the Southwest, a role that expanded to include Trump rallies around the country. Grisham worked on Mitt Romney’s campaign for president in 2012.