Mercedes Schlapp, the White House director of strategic communications, is leaving the White House to join the Trump campaign. “Thrilled to be joining the President’s re-election campaign! @realDonaldTrump is the best fighter for the American people we have ever had and he will be re-elected!” Schlapp tweeted Monday.
Schlapp’s sudden resignation comes just days after Stephanie Grisham, the new White House press secretary and communications director, joined the West Wing. Schlapp was rumored to be at odds with Grisham, but sources told the Washington Examiner’s Steven Nelson that speculation of a conflict was disproportionate.
Schlapp joins Trump campaign
Trump’s re-election campaign manager, Brad Parscale, announced that Schlapp will join the campaign Monday. Parscale said that Schlapp, who is Cuban-American and speaks fluent Spanish, will help with strategy and Latino outreach. “We are good friends and it’s great to have another die-hard @realDonaldTrump supporter!” Parscale tweeted.
President Donald Trump also lauded Schlapp and welcomed her to the campaign. Trump said he was “so thankful for a “fantastic job” done. “I am excited to announce that @MercedesSchlapp will soon be joining our Campaign. She feels so strongly about our Country & its future. We are setting records in so many ways, & we will keep it going. Mercedes has done a fantastic job within the Administration & I am so thankful!” Trump tweeted.
Schlapp joined the White House in 2017 as a senior adviser for strategic communications. Her departure Monday came on Grisham’s first full day of work as press secretary.
Shakeup
Schlapp’s departure comes amid a shake-up in the White House communications staff. Grisham replaced Trump’s long-serving press secretary, Sarah Huckabee Sanders, last week, and she will take on the role of communications director as well.
Grisham made a strong statement this weekend while accompanying Trump in North Korea. The new press secretary won praises from journalists when she jostled with North Korean security officials who were blocking reporters from viewing the historic meeting between President Trump and Kim Jong Un on Sunday, when Trump became the first president in American history to set foot in North Korea.
Grisham, who worked for the Trump campaign in 2016 and joined the East Wing as first lady Melania Trump’s spokeswoman in 2017, has a reputation for toughness and devotion to the first family. It’s not clear how she will re-shape the press secretary role — Sanders was blamed by journalists for taking a more adversarial approach with the press — but many expect that Grisham will bring a similar combativeness.
Rumored clash
The Examiner reported last month that Grisham will be sharp with unfair reporters and “people in the administration doing what they shouldn’t.” In that vein, sources told the Examiner last month that Grisham was planning to fire Schlapp, who was reportedly considered for Grisham’s role, over leaks.
Grisham’s pro-Trump sympathies may have put her at odds with Schlapp, a former George W. Bush staffer. Schlapp is married to Matt Schlapp, the founder of the American Conservative Union, which hosts CPAC each year. The timing of Schlapp’s departure certainly lines up with speculation that Grisham was planning to fire the “Bushie.”
But both women have denied that there were any tensions, and several sources told the Examiner that the rumors were overblown. Schlapp said that she had been planning an exit for some time and that it was a “logical transition” for her to leave after two years.
“I am sad to see her go, but she will be helping me transition into my new role, and I look forward to working with her in the future,” Grisham told the Examiner.
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