Kayleigh McEnany tapped as new WH press secretary; Mark Meadows reportedly behind comms team shakeup

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Kayleigh McEnany, the national press secretary for President Donald Trump’s 2020 campaign, has been named as the new White House press secretary, with Stephanie Grisham returning to the East Wing.

A graduate of Harvard Law School, McEnany is known as a vocal defender of Mr. Trump. She becomes the president’s fourth press secretary — before Grisham, there was Sarah Sanders, who was preceded by Sean Spicer.

Grisham, who never briefed the press at the podium, is returning to the East Wing to serve as first lady Melania Trump’s chief of staff and spokeswoman.

“I am excited to welcome Stephanie back to the team in this new role,” the first lady said in a statement. “She has been a mainstay and true leader in the Administration from even before day one, and I know she will excel as Chief of Staff. I appreciate all that Lindsay Reynolds did over the past three years, and wish her well in her future endeavors.”

Mrs. Trump notes that Lindsay Reynolds, her chief of staff for more than three years, resigned earlier this week “to spend time with her family.”

“I continue to be honored to serve both the President and First Lady in the Administration,” Grisham said in the statement. “I will stay in the West Wing to help with a smooth transition for as long as needed.”

It’s unclear whether McEnany might bring back the daily press briefings, which had devolved into little more than verbal confrontations with the Trump-hating media.

There were additional changes to the White House communications team, coming just over a week after Mark Meadows formally resigned as a congressman to begin his new role as chief of staff.

More from Politico:

Alyssa Farah, deputy assistant to the Secretary of Defense for Media Affairs and former press secretary for Vice President Mike Pence, will be the White House’s director of strategic communications. Farah also served as the communications director for the arch-conservative House Freedom Caucus under Meadows, the caucus’s former chairman.

Filling out the reshuffled White House communications team will be Ben Williamson, Meadows’ former chief of staff and communications director, who will be Trump’s senior communications adviser.

Axios reported last week that Meadows had privately discussed replacing Grisham with McEnany or Pentagon spokesperson Alyssa Farah.

Grisham told Axios at the time: “Sounds like more palace intrigue to me, but I’ve also been in quarantine. If true, how ironic that the press secretary would hear about being replaced in the press.”

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