Stephanie Grisham

She was a press aide to Donald Trump's 2016 presidential campaign, and then a member of the presidential transition team. As Press Secretary, she was the first White House press secretary in American history to hold no press conferences, instead opting for interviews on conservative news outlets. Grisham assumed the role of chief of staff to the First Lady on April 7, 2020.

On April 7, 2020, it was announced that Grisham left her role as White House Press Secretary and returned to the East Wing to serve as Melania Trump's chief of staff, effective that same day.

White House press secretary and as White House communications director from July 2019 to April 2020. During her time as the White House Press Secretary she did not hold a briefing. She has served as Chief of Staff and Press Secretary for the First Lady of the United States, Melania Trump since 2020, and previously as Press Secretary from 2017 to 2019.

In July 2019, Grisham replaced Sarah Sanders as White House press secretary and White House communications director Grisham's appointment was announced by Melania Trump via Twitter on June 25, 2019. The June 28, 2019 Annual Report to Congress on White House Office Personnel listed Grisham as "Assistant to the President and Deputy Chief of Staff for Communications for the First Lady", with an annual salary of $183,000.00.

On September 5, 2019, the Washington Examiner published an opinion piece written by Grisham and her deputy Hogan Gidley entitled, "The Washington Post' s lost summer." The authors asserted the Post had not reported on several Trump accomplishments that the paper actually did report. In one instance, the piece linked to a Post story entitled "Trump becomes first sitting president to set foot into North Korea" as the authors asserted the paper had not reported the event.

On September 23, 2019, when asked by the hosts of Fox & Friends if the White House planned to resume its daily press briefing, Grisham said "not right now... I mean, ultimately, if the president decides that it's something we should do, we can do that, but right now he's doing just fine. And to be honest, the briefings have become a lot of theater. And I think that a lot of reporters were doing it to get famous. I mean, yeah, they're writing books now. I mean, they're all getting famous off of this presidency. And so, I think it's great what we're doing now."

On October 24, 2019, while again appearing on Fox & Friends, Grisham defended Trump's description of "Never Trump Republicans" as "Human scum". When asked if Trump should apologize, Grisham said "No, no, he shouldn't. The people who are against him and who have been against him and working against his [agenda] since the day they took office are just that. It is horrible that people are working against a president who is delivering results for this country and has been since day one. And, the fact that people continue to try to negate anything he's been trying to do and take away from the good work he's doing on behalf of the American people, they deserve strong language like that."

On October 26, 2019, in response to criticism of President Trump by his former chief of staff Gen. John F. Kelly (Ret.) Grisham stated: "I worked with John Kelly, and he was totally unequipped to handle the genius of our President."

On November 13, 2019, during the testimony of William B. Taylor Jr., Grisham commented that the impeachment inquiry against Donald Trump was a "sham hearing" that is "not only boring, it is a colossal waste of taxpayer time & money."

In December 2019, Grisham defended President Trump's implication that former congressman John Dingell was in hell. She described Trump as a "counter-puncher" who was "under attack."

The United States Office of Special Counsel stated that Grisham violated the Hatch Act of 1939 following a complaint by Senator Tom Carper. Grisham was accused of using her official Twitter account on July 11, 2018, to tweet out Trump's campaign slogan. Violation of the act is not a crime, but a workplace guideline, and the agency responded by sending Grisham a warning letter.

After Trump's January 2017 inauguration, Grisham was named deputy press secretary for Sean Spicer in the West Wing of the White House.

In March 2017, First Lady Melania Trump moved her over to the East Wing. A former White House colleague said that the president regretted losing Grisham to the first lady's office because of Grisham's loyalty and skill at handling the press while acting as his traveling press secretary. During that time, she built relationships with many reporters at events. Despite losing Grisham as part of his own staff, President Trump said he was satisfied that the first lady would "be in good hands". Grisham was described by several sources who had worked with her previously as being "highly competent" and "self-aware"; some suggested that she enjoyed "trolling the press."

In September 2015, Grisham worked as a press coordinator for Pope Francis's visit to Philadelphia as an independent contractor.

Circa August 2015, Grisham started working as a press aide to Donald Trump's 2016 presidential campaign. She helped arrange his campaign stops in Phoenix and around the state and region throughout the primary, a role that quickly expanded to include his rallies around the U.S. Grisham was on state payroll until May 2016, when she took an unpaid leave from the Arizona House of Representatives to work on Trump's campaign.

Shortly after midnight, December 5, 2015, Grisham was arrested again in Phoenix, Maricopa County, Arizona for driving without her headlights and suspicion of driving under the influence; thus violating her probation. Grisham failed to appear at her court hearing on January 19, 2016, whereupon the judge issued a warrant for her arrest. Afterwards, Grisham pleaded guilty. In July 2016, she was ordered into a treatment program and to pay nearly $1,600 in court costs and fines.

After Republican Mark Brnovich defeated Horne in the 2014 GOP primary, Grisham worked as a spokesperson for the Arizona House of Representatives Republican caucus. She revoked the Arizona Capitol Times's press credentials hours after their reporting that the House speaker, David Gowan, had traveled at state taxpayers' expense during his campaign for Congress. Reporters refused to comply, and Gowan rescinded the order.

On January 9, 2013, Grisham was pulled over for speeding in Gilbert, Maricopa County, Arizona. The officer observed Grisham's signs of intoxication, and she failed a field sobriety test. Grisham denied consuming any alcohol, but said she had taken a Xanax 90 minutes earlier and a Zoloft the prior night. A blood test revealed Grisham's blood alcohol content to be .105 percent, which is above the .08 legal limit in Arizona. She also was found to be driving on a suspended license since August 2012 for failure to answer a traffic citation. In August 2014, Grisham accepted a plea bargain agreement that reduced the charge to misdemeanor reckless driving, plus two years of probation. She returned to court twice for failure to pay the $779 in fines and failure to complete a Mothers Against Drunk Driving program.

In 2012, Grisham also worked for Mitt Romney's 2012 presidential campaign.

Circa 2011 to 2014, Grisham served as spokeswoman for Tom Horne after he was elected Arizona attorney general. She witnessed the Execution of Joseph Wood and controversially claimed that the two hour ordeal had been "quite peaceful" despite contrary observations.

From 2008 to 2010, Grisham worked as a spokeswoman for the Arizona Charter Schools Association. There she met Tom Horne, Arizona's superintendent of public schools.

Grisham was the spokeswoman for AAA Arizona in 2007, but was fired within a year after being accused of cheating on expense reports. Grisham was fired from a subsequent job at ad agency Mindspace over plagiarism charges, copying AAA material verbatim into her client's web page.

Later in 2004, she subsequently married Todd Grisham, a KOLD sportscaster. They divorced in 2006.

Grisham began voting in Arizona as a registered Democrat in 1997.

As Stephanie Ann Sommerville, she married Danny Don Marries in Nevada on April 7, 1997. They met at Mesa State College in Grand Junction, Colorado. They had a son in June 1998, and her husband joined KOLD-TV as a news anchor in Tucson, Arizona, on the day after their son's first birthday. They divorced in 2004.

She moved with her mother to East Wenatchee, Washington, where she graduated from Eastmont High School in 1994. Her mother has since moved to Nebraska, where she is known as Ann Schroder.

Stephanie Ann Grisham (née Allen; born July 23, 1976) is an American White House official who served as the 30th