In this June 11, 2019, photo, White House press secretary Sarah Sanders talks with reporters outside the White House in Washington. President Donald Trump announced on June 13, Sanders is leaving her job as press secretary at the end of June. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

In this June 11, 2019, photo, White House press secretary Sarah Sanders talks with reporters outside the White House in Washington. President Donald Trump announced on June 13, Sanders is leaving her job as press secretary at the end of June. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

(AP) – White House press secretary Sarah Sanders will be leaving the Trump administration at the end of the month.

President Donald Trump announced the news on Twitter Wednesday. He says Sanders will be returning to her home state of Arkansas and has not immediately named a successor.

Sanders is one of the president’s closest and most trusted White House aides and one of the few remaining who worked on his campaign. Her tenure was marked by a breakdown in regular White House press briefings and questions about the administration’s credibility.

Special counsel Robert Mueller’s revealed that Sanders admitted to investigators that she had made an unfounded claim that “countless” FBI agents had reached out to express support for Trump’s decision to fire FBI Director James Comey in May 2017. </s> President Trump announced Thursday on Twitter that White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders will be leaving her position at the end of the month.

"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 said. "She is a very special person with extraordinary talents, who has done an incredible job! I hope she decides to run for Governor of Arkansas - she would be fantastic. Sarah, thank you for a job well done!"

The president has not yet named a replacement for the position.

The 36-year old Sanders, the daughter of former Arkansas Republican Gov. Mike Huckabee, worked on her father’s presidential campaign during the 2016 Republican primary until he dropped out of the race. She then joined the Trump campaign and, subsequently, the Trump administration as a White House communications aide. She was promoted to White House press secretary in 2017, after the president’s first top spokesman, Sean Spicer, resigned from the position.

If she chooses to follow in her father's footsteps the seat for governor opens up in 2022.

Throughout her tenure at the White House, Sanders has come under fierce criticism from members of the press for being dishonest on the president's behalf during press briefings that were often contentious and emotional. Eventually, the press secretary stopped giving daily briefings altogether.

Sanders did not immediately respond to request for comment.

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This is a developing story. Check back for updates. </s> Sarah Huckabee Sanders has been promoted to press secretary in the Trump White House's latest shakeup. (Source: CBS News)

New York financier Anthony Scaramucci has been formally named White House communications director and Sarah Huckabee Sanders has been promoted to press secretary in the Trump White House's latest shakeup.

The announcement came during the first White House press briefing since the appointments were announced Friday morning and just hours after the resignation of White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer.

Trump says in a statement read by Sanders that he's "grateful" for departing press secretary Sean Spicer's "work on behalf of my administration and the American people."

Copyright 2017 KSLA. All rights reserved. The Associated Press contributed to this report. </s> White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders will be leaving the Trump administration at the end of June, President Donald Trump announced Thursday afternoon.

"She is a very special person with extraordinary talents, who has done an incredible job," Trump tweeted.

The Trump administration has largely done away with formal press briefings, instead answering questions before cameras spontaneously on the White House driveway.

The last formal press briefing by Sanders was on March 11.

Sanders pushed back on a report last year that said she had planned to leave the Trump administration by the end of 2018. In June 2018, she tweeted that she loved her job and was honored to work for the president.

Trump explained Thursday that Sanders would be returning to her home in Arkansas and he hoped that she would run for governor one day, saying "she would be fantastic."

"Sarah, thank you for a job well done." </s> WASHINGTON (AP) — The Latest on changes to the White House communications staff (all times local):

New York financier Anthony Scaramucci has been formally named White House communications director and Sarah Huckabee Sanders has been promoted to press secretary in the Trump White House’s latest shakeup.

Trump says in a statement read by Sanders that he’s “grateful” for departing press secretary Sean Spicer’s “work on behalf of my administration and the American people.”

He adds: “just look at his great television ratings!”

Scaramucci also is addressing reporters at the White House. He calls Spicer “a true American patriot” and says he hopes Spicer “goes on to make a tremendous amount of money.”

Outgoing press Secretary Sean Spicer says that he chose to resign from his position to give incoming communications director Anthony Scaramucci a fresh start.

Spicer says during a brief phone conversation with The Associated Press following his announced departure that, “we’re at the point where” the president “could benefit from a clean slate.”

He says he felt it would be best for Scaramucci to be able to build his own operation “and chart a new way forward.”

Spicer is also complimenting Scaramucci, a New York financier and frequent defender of the president who was a staple at Trump Tower during the president’s transition.

Spicer says of Scaramucci’s hiring: “It’ll be great, he’s a tough guy.”

White House press secretary Sean Spicer says it’s been “an honor” and “privilege” to serve President Donald Trump and the country.

Spicer resigned Friday in protest over the hiring of a new White House communications director.

He says in a tweet that he will continue his service through August.

One person with knowledge of the situation said Spicer objected to the hiring of New York financier Anthony Scaramucci’s lack of qualifications for the communications role. The person spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the personnel matter publicly.

White House deputy press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders will be conducting an on-camera briefing on Friday afternoon, following White House press secretary Sean Spicer’s resignation.

Spicer announced his departure after President Donald Trump hired a new White House communications director, ending his rocky six-month tenure as Trump’s top spokesman.

Sanders has been handling most of the briefing duties in recent weeks, and most briefings have been off-camera. The last on-camera White House briefing was held on June 29.

White House chief of staff Reince Priebus says he supports incoming communications director Anthony Scaramucci “100 percent.”

His comments come moments after White House press secretary Sean Spicer resigned over Scaramucci’s hiring.

Priebus and Spicer spent years working closely together at the Republican National Committee. Priebus has also reportedly opposed hiring Scaramucci for various administration positions.

Priebus told The Associated Press that he and Scaramucci are “very good friends.” He says it’s “all good here” at the White House.

White House press secretary Sean Spicer is resigning his position, according to two people with knowledge of the decision.

One of those people said Spicer is quitting because of objections over the appointment of a new White House communications director, New York financier Anthony Scaramucci.

The people with knowledge of the decision insisted on anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the personnel matter publicly.

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• Racist receipt? Waiter gets stiffed on tip, but that’s not worst part </s> Jim WATSON / AFP | White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders speaks to the media outside the West Wing of the White House in Washington, DC, on May 23, 2019

White House press secretary Sarah Sanders, whose tenure was marked by a breakdown in regular press briefings and questions about the administration's credibility, will leave her post at the end of June, President Donald Trump announced Thursday.

"She's a warrior," said Trump, who announced her departure on Twitter shortly before calling Sanders on stage at an event at the White House. "We've been through a lot together, and she's tough, but she's good."

Trump did not immediately name a replacement.

The Republican Sanders, who is 36 and has three young children, has drawn fire from the White House Correspondents Association for ending daily briefings, with Trump preferring to take questions himself from reporters and command the White

House stage.

The last briefing was 94 days ago, but Trump answers questions from reporters on a near-daily basis, including two extended sessions with them on Wednesday.

Sanders called the job "the honor of a lifetime."

"I've loved every minute, even the hard minutes," she said, her voice trembling with emotion. "I have three amazing kids and I'm going to spend a little more time with them."

Sanders evolved into a senior adviser and confidante of the president, one who is regularly brought into senior-level meetings.

Speculation immediately turned to whether Sanders might run for governor of Arkansas, a position once held by her father, Mike Huckabee.

"If we can get her to run for the governor of Arkansas, I think she'll do very well," Trump said. </s> White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders will step down from her post by the end of the month, according to President Donald J. Trump.

Trump made the announcement via Twitter on Thursday afternoon.

“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,” he tweeted. “She is a very special person with extraordinary talents, who has done an incredible job! I hope she decides to run for Governor of Arkansas - she would be fantastic. Sarah, thank you for a job well done!”

Sanders is the daughter of Mike Huckabee, who served as the 44th governor of Arkansas from 1996 to 2007.

Speaking with NBC News, Sanders did not say whether she would take another job in Arkansas or run for governor. But she stressed that she will “continue to be one of the most outspoken and loyal supporters of the president and his agenda.”

She has served as Trump’s press secretary since July 2017 and had an adversarial relationship with the media.

Last summer, Sanders slammed CBS News for reporting she planned to leave her post by the end of the year. “I love my job and am honored to work for @POTUS,” she tweeted. </s> WASHINGTON — White House press secretary Sarah Sanders will leave her position at the end of the month, capping a tumultuous tenure as the President’s chief spokeswoman in which she largely redefined the position.

Announcing her departure on Twitter, President Donald Trump said Sanders will return to her home state of Arkansas and floated the possibility of a gubernatorial run for the White House press secretary.

“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 said.

In private conversations in recent weeks, Sanders has floated running for governor in her home state of Arkansas, according to two people familiar with the talks. Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson was re-elected just last year, so unless he steps down early — or is appointed to something — the governor’s office in Little Rock isn’t open until January 2023.

She has told colleagues and friends that she thinks running for office would be a good next move for her, instead of taking a television job upon her departure. </s> White House press secretary Sarah Sanders, a fierce loyalist of U.S. President Donald Trump who evolved into one of his closest advisers, will leave the job at the end of June to return to her home state of Arkansas, Trump announced on Thursday.

Sanders, who has worked with Trump since the early days of his unconventional run for office and became a national public figure in her own right, is the latest in a long line of senior advisers to leave the White House.

The 36-year-old often compared the antics of the press to the behaviour of her three young children and had largely backed Trump's dismissal of the news media as "the enemy of the people."

She called the job "the honour of a lifetime."

"I've loved every minute, even the hard minutes," Sanders said at a White House event, called onstage by Trump to a standing ovation, her voice trembling with emotion. "I have three amazing kids and I'm going to spend a little more time with them."

Trump described Sanders as "a warrior."

"We've been through a lot together, and she's tough, but she's good," he said.

Sanders for governor?

Sanders evolved into a senior adviser and confidante of the president, one who is regularly brought into senior-level meetings.

In announcing her departure on Twitter, Trump suggested Sanders should run for governor of Arkansas, a position once held by her father, Mike Huckabee.

....She is a very special person with extraordinary talents, who has done an incredible job! I hope she decides to run for Governor of Arkansas - she would be fantastic. Sarah, thank you for a job well done! —@realDonaldTrump

Sanders replied to Trump's tweet not long after, expressing her appreciation for the president and the chance to work with him.

I am blessed and forever grateful to <a href="https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@realDonaldTrump</a> for the opportunity to serve and proud of everything he’s accomplished. I love the President and my job. The most important job I’ll ever have is being a mom to my kids and it’s time for us to go home. Thank you Mr. President! <a href="https://t.co/wHNnq06AMg">https://t.co/wHNnq06AMg</a> —@PressSec

Trump, who has seen almost a complete turnover in his press and communications teams, did not immediately name a replacement.

His first press secretary, Sean Spicer, resigned abruptly after six months, having become the butt of late-night comedy lampoons for his blustery and fact-challenged arguments for Trump.

Sanders had been Spicer's deputy and initially had a less combustive approach with journalists. But her fiery defences of her boss drew criticism.

In 2017, Sanders told reporters she had heard from "countless members of the FBI" who wanted Trump to fire his former FBI director James Comey — an assertion she later cast as a "slip of the tongue" during special counsel Robert Mueller's probe.

She burns facts and then she uses that ash to create a perfect smokey eye. - Comedian Michelle Wolf

Her relationship with the press became particularly strained a year ago, after a comedian hired by the White House Correspondents' Association for its annual dinner mocked her appearance and penchant for spinning the truth as Sanders sat nearby at the head table.

"She burns facts and then she uses that ash to create a perfect smokey eye," comedian Michelle Wolf said.

In the months afterward, she was asked to leave a restaurant in Lexington, Va., because of her association with the Trump administration.

No more daily briefings

Over time, Sanders retreated from the lectern, frustrating reporters by ending the long tradition of daily press briefings. Trump preferred to take questions himself from reporters and command the White House stage, and relegated Sanders and other staff to appearances on television to defend his policies.

Sanders's last press briefing was 94 days ago, but Trump answers questions from reporters on a near-daily basis, including two extended sessions with them on Wednesday.

Sanders became a popular figure at Trump rallies, sought after for selfies by his supporters. In November, at his final rallies ahead of the congressional elections, Trump invited her on stage to speak briefly to the cheering crowds.

Sanders has long been rumoured as a future gubernatorial candidate in Arkansas. The current governor, Republican Asa Hutchinson, began his second and final four-year term in January. The state's next regular gubernatorial election would be in 2022.

"Arkansas is a very red state. The Huckabee name carries a lot of weight there, and if she ran, I can't think of anyone that would have a chance of beating her," said Alice Stewart, a Republican strategist in Washington who is from Arkansas and worked for Huckabee while he was governor, and then on his presidential campaign.

"The Republicans in Arkansas would welcome her back with open arms. They applaud the work she's done."
White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders announces she will resign at the end of June.