Alyssa Farah, press secretary for the Department of Defense, will soon be officially named director of strategic communications in the White House. Farah succeeds Mercedes Schlapp and Hope Hicks, the first holder of this office, which was created by President Trump in late 2016.
In Farah, 31, the President will have someone who has spent most of her adult life assisting top conservative politicians in Washington.
She served as communications director to the House Freedom Caucus under chairmen Jim Jordan and Mark Meadows, who is now the incoming White House chief of staff.
She went on to serve a stint as press secretary for Vice President Pence before assuming her current position at the U.S. Department of Defense.
Farah is the daughter of legendary conservative publicist and editor Joe Farah, founder of the website WorldNetDaily.
The director of strategic communications works closely with the communications director. Created in 1969 during the Nixon administration, the position of White House director of communications has traditionally been the architect of the President’s public relations.
Among notables who have held the job are journalists David Gergen (under Presidents Ford and Reagan) and Pat Buchanan (Reagan), and TV news figures George Stephanopoulos (Clinton), and Nicole Wallace (Bush 43).
John Gizzi is chief political columnist and White House correspondent for Newsmax. For more of his reports, Go Here Now.