Free Republic

Incoming first lady Melania Trump has yet to publicly name her senior White House staff, raising questions about whether the positions have been filled amid uncertainty about the Trump family’s role in the administration. The lack of announcements from the president-elect’s transition team is notable given that Melania Trump is not moving to Washington, D.C., right away and speculation abounds about the role Ivanka Trump will play in her father’s White House. There has been no chief of staff, communications director or social secretary named for the East Wing. And the chief of staff and social secretary positions are particularly...

Ivanka Trump will reportedly have an office in an area of the White House typically reserved for the first lady after her father becomes president. The reports come amid speculation as to what part Donald Trump’s eldest daughter will play in his administration. Ms Trump has been an influential figure throughout the campaign and transition process, and it emerged last week that she would be taking a leave of absence from the Trump Organisation, where she is an executive vice president, and moving to Washington along with her husband Jared Kushner, who serves as one of his father-in-law’s closest advisers....

WASHINGTON — First Lady Michelle Obama is staging picture-perfect photo ops on her tour of China — but back home, her East Wing office is fraught with tension and anxiety, according to a new insider account. Her office “can be a confining, frustrating, even miserable place to work,” writes former White House press assistant Reid Cherlin in an article in The New Republic. “Jealousy and discontentment have festered, as courtiers squabble over the allocation of responsibility and access to Mrs. Obama, both of which can be aggravatingly scarce,” he continues. Michelle Obama has a strong approval rating (69 percent in...

WASHINGTON Well, at least one part of the White House is heeding calls for new blood. Not only is the pastry chef quitting this week, a close look at the first lady's office shows that she has replaced her entire high command after five years in charge of the East Wing. Laura Bush is now on her second chief of staff, Anita McBride. She is on her second projects and policy director, Sonya Medina. She is on her third press secretary, Susan Whitson. She is on her second social secretary, Lea Berman. On the residence staff, she is on her...