Melania Trump has announced her first major appointment in preparation for her return as first lady, selecting a longtime Trump loyalist as her chief of staff.
Hayley Harrison, who previously served in the East Wing during Donald Trumpโs first term and joined the Trumps in Florida after they left the White House, has been named to the role, DailyMail.comย reportedย on Friday.
Both Hayley and her husband, William โBeauโ Harrison, were White House staffers during the Trump administration and accompanied the former president and first lady to Mar-a-Lago for their post-presidency life. The Harrisons were notably aboard Marine One with the Trumps as they departed the White House on January 20, 2021.
The couple has remained closely tied to the Trumpsโ inner circle and continues to be on the payroll. According to Federal Election Commission reports, both Hayley and William were paid by Trumpโs Save America PAC for their work with the former president. Hayley earned a monthly salary of $8,000 to $10,000, while William received a similar amount until November 2023, when he received his final payment from the PAC, DailyMail.com noted.
In the announcement of Harrisonโs appointment, her longstanding loyalty was emphasized. Donald Trump, meanwhile, has maintained a similar pattern of staffing his team with loyalists ahead of his second term.
โHayley Harrison has been appointed as First Lady Melania Trumpโs Chief of Staff,โ Melaniaโs office posted to the X platform.
Melania Trump announces Hayley Harrison will be her White House chief of staff.
— Martin Walsh (@martinwalsh__) November 22, 2024
Hayley worked for Melania in her first tenure as first lady and at Mar-a-Lago pic.twitter.com/u3paaUHVl5
โMrs. Harrison has maintained an integral role and exceptional leadership on the First Ladyโs team over the past seven years. She has a strong understanding of White House operations, and as Chief of Staff, Mrs. Harrison will oversee and manage the East Wingโs team while strategically liaising with other parts of government,โ the statement continued.
Harrison, then known by her maiden name DโAntuono, served as Director of Operations in the East Wing during Donald Trumpโs first term. She later married William โBeauโ Harrison, a low-level West Wing staffer.
Following their time in Washington, the Harrisons relocated to Florida to work at Mar-a-Lago, where Hayley continued to assist Melania Trump and William worked for Donald Trump. William โBeauโ Harrison notably oversaw the logistics of the Trumpsโ move from the White House to their Palm Beach estate.
Both Hayley and William Harrison were involved in the federal investigation into classified documents found at Trumpโs Florida residence.
Meanwhile, Donald Trump is continuing to round out his team, and his latest pick โ former Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi โ as U.S. attorney general is causing some concerns on the left.
Political scientist Jason Johnson on Thursday called Bondi a savvy legal operator who can advance Trumpโs agenda during an appearance on MSNBCโs โThe Beat With Ari Melber.โ Johnson also said that Bondiโs expertise in areas like immigration enforcement makes her a โdangerous and effective pick.โ
โPam Bondi is exactly what I was saying in the last segment that we should all fear because sheโs competent. We may not agree with her ideologically, but she actually knows how to do this job. So if anyone on the Democratic side or anyone who cared about liberty or justice was thinking, well, maybe Matt Gaetz will screw this up and thatโll give us some time,โ Johnson said.
He noted Bondiโs aggressive stance on immigration enforcement and educational policies to indicate how she might perform as U.S. attorney general.
โShe knows what sheโs doing about immigration. Remember, Florida is one of those states thatโs been very aggressive about migrants and deportation and moving people to different states and everything else like that,โ Johnson said before referencing Floridaโs laws affecting students on campuses and the manipulation of education funds.
โFlorida has enacted all sorts of rules and laws to curtail students and what they can do on campuses and finding legal justifications for manipulating education money. She is a dangerous and effective pick and thatโs, frankly, worse than what we would have got with Matt Gaetz, even with the deplorable moral background that he has,โ Johnson added.
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