Who is Madeleine Westerhout, President Trump's low-key gatekeeper and personal secretary?
Trump’s comments set off a firestorm of speculation over social media about the identity of this mysterious gatekeeper to the president. By all indications, she is Madeleine Westerhout, Trump’s 27-year-old personal secretary.
The Irvine, California native graduated from the College of Charleston in South Carolina in 2013 with a bachelor degree in political science.
![]({"default":{"load":"default","w":"80","h":"80","src":"//img-s-msn-com.akamaized.net/tenant/amp/entityid/AApJko4.img?h=799&w=799&m=6&q=60&o=f&l=f&x=331&y=623"},"size3column":{"load":"default","w":"62","h":"62","src":"//img-s-msn-com.akamaized.net/tenant/amp/entityid/AApJko4.img?h=624&w=624&m=6&q=60&o=f&l=f&x=331&y=623"},"size2column":{"load":"default","w":"62","h":"62","src":"//img-s-msn-com.akamaized.net/tenant/amp/entityid/AApJko4.img?h=624&w=624&m=6&q=60&o=f&l=f&x=331&y=623"}})
© Instagram de Madeleine WesterhoutAfter graduation, Westerhout moved to Washington, D.C., where she briefly worked as a fitness trainer before taking a job as an assistant to Katie Walsh, the chief of staff for the Republican National Committee, according to employment records.
The RNC job set her on a path of right-wing politics that eventually led her to President-elect Trump’s transition team.President Trump's personal secretary Madeleine Westerhout stands outside the Oval Office and watches the annual White House Easter Egg Roll on April 2. (Andrew Harnik / AP)
Westerhout joined the team shortly after the 2016 election as a general adviser and became particularly close with Trump’s first chief of staff Reince Priebus.
She was given the moniker “elevator girl” because she was frequently seen escorting visitors at Trump Tower to the then-President-elect’s office. By some accounts, she’s the most photographed woman ever in the 58-floor Midtown skyscrape
After the transition, Westerhout joined the administration as an “Executive Assistant to the President.”
She has kept a low profile since and is rarely seen in public. She nets $95,000 a year as Trump’s executive assistant, according to a May 2017 White House salary compilation.
![a girl standing in front of a building: Trump secretary Madeleine Westerhout walks with White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders outside the White House on June 1, 2018. (Andrew Harnik / AP)]({"default":{"load":"default","w":"80","h":"53","src":"//img-s-msn-com.akamaized.net/tenant/amp/entityid/BBMTLTa.img?h=533&w=799&m=6&q=60&o=f&l=f&x=898&y=208"},"size3column":{"load":"default","w":"62","h":"42","src":"//img-s-msn-com.akamaized.net/tenant/amp/entityid/BBMTLTa.img?h=416&w=624&m=6&q=60&o=f&l=f&x=898&y=208"},"size2column":{"load":"default","w":"62","h":"42","src":"//img-s-msn-com.akamaized.net/tenant/amp/entityid/BBMTLTa.img?h=416&w=624&m=6&q=60&o=f&l=f&x=898&y=208"}})
© Andrew Harnik / AP
Trump secretary Madeleine Westerhout walks with White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders outside the White House on June 1, 2018. (Andrew Harnik / AP)
While Priebus and Walsh are long gone from their respective posts, Westerhout apparently relishes her reputation as Trump’s reliable interlocutor.
“Oval Office Gatekeeper ;)” she tweeted in response to a reporter’s tweet announcing her White House position in January 2017.
No comments:
Post a Comment