Mercedes Schlapp leaves White House: rumors of tension wit

Mercedes Schlapp

Mercedes Schlapp was the White House Director of Strategic Communication and unexpectedly resigned Monday, coincidentally [or not] on the first full day in which Stephanie Grisham, the new White House Press Secretary, began her first day in Washington.

White House Director of Strategic Communications Mercedes Schlapp abruptly resigned Monday on the first full day White House Press Secretary Stephanie Grisham worked from Washington.

The Washington Examiner said that last month, sources close to the administration revealed that Grisham had plans to fire Schlapp if she had the chance, but the reason for Schlapp's unannounced departure is unclear.

Schlapp worded for the George W. Bush White House and is married to Matt Schlapp who is chairman of the American Conservative Union, the organization that hosts CPAC conferences annually. Both she and Matt are frequent guests on Fox News.

Three sources told the Washington Examiner in May that Grisham believed Schlapp was responsible for self-serving leaks and likely would fire her shortly after taking office. However, nearly a dozen people who know both women, denied any open tension.

One of the original sources said they later learned an ally of Schlapp's had spread the story of a looming clash, in an apparent bid to derail Grisham.

“Stephanie is not the type who would go in and start firing people. That's not how she's wired. I think it's dramatically overblown,” one former White House official said.

Stephanie Grisham

The new White House Press Secretary began her work over the weekend and also as communications director. She went with the President to Japan and South Korea and got into a pushing match with North Korea journalists who were boxing out American press to get photos of President Trump's historic visit into North Korea with Kim Jong Un. She previously worked two years as spokeswoman to first lady Melania Trump.

A supporter of Grisham's told the Washington Examiner last month that they expected her to take a sharper approach to “reporters being unfair” and “people in the administration doing things they shouldn’t."

The supporter imagined Grisham “basically being the president's press and political secret service — if you need to shiv someone, you do it.”

Neither Grisham nor Sanders responded to media questions about the situation.


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