Sarah Huckabee Sanders’ tenure as White House Press Secretary will come to a close at the end of this month, President Trump said in a tweet Thursday.
“After 3 1/2 years, our wonderful Sarah Huckabee Sanders will be leaving the White House at the end of the month and going home to the Great State of Arkansas,” Trump tweeted.
“She is a very special person with extraordinary talents, who has done an incredible job!”
Trump added that he hoped Sanders would run for the governorship of Arkansas, a position once held by her father, Mike Huckabee.
Sanders is one of the few White House staffers who have served for the entirety of the Trump administration. She began her White House tenure as the Principal Deputy Press Secretary under Sean Spicer, but took over the top job in July of 2017 when Spicer resigned rather than report to Anthony Scaramucci, who’d been named White House Communications Director.
Scaramucci only lasted 11 days in the West Wing, but his decision to promote Sanders left a lasting impact on relations between the Trump administration and the press.
During her one year and 336 days as press secretary, the longstanding practice of holding a daily press briefing came to an end after months of contentious exchanges with reporters.
On the occasions when Sanders did brief the press, those sessions were frequently delayed until just before the President was due to speak at an event, giving her a reason to duck out of the room after as little as 20 minutes.
Her credibility as a reliable spokesperson took a hit after it was found that she’d lied about President Trump’s relationship with adult film actress Stephanie Clifford, better known as Stormy Daniels.
The release of the Mueller Report did her reputation no favors, either, as it showed that she’d admitted to lying to the press in the wake of Trump’s decision to fire former FBI Director James Comey.
Asked to say a few words during a White House event on job opportunities for people with criminal records, Sanders said working in the Trump administration has been an honor and “the opportunity of a lifetime.”
“I could not be prouder to have the opportunity to serve my country and particularly to work for this president,” she said.
“I’ve loved every minute of it, even the hard minutes.”
The White House did not respond to a query as to who would replace Sanders, but it is widely expected that her job will pass to Hogan Gidley, her principal deputy and a fellow Arkansan.