President-elect Donald Trump announced on Wednesday the “first wave of additional White House staff” who will assist incoming White House Chief of Staff Reince Priebus and his deputy, Katie Walsh, in running the day-to-day operations of the West Wing.

Bill Stepien, a former deputy chief-of-staff to New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (R) who was fired over his role in the Bridgegate scandal, will serve as Trump’s White House policy director. And Omarosa Manigault, a former contestant on Trump’s reality TV show “The Apprentice,” will be director of communications in the Office of Public Liaison, according to a statement.

Keith Schiller, Trump’s longtime bodyguard, will occupy a newly created position as director of Oval Office operations. It was unclear Wednesday what Schiller’s new job will entail, and a Trump transition spokesman did not respond to questions from The Huffington Post about Schiller’s responsibilities. But in putting the former New York City police officer on his White House payroll, Trump risks alienating career members of the Secret Service, the elite law enforcement agency that protects the president and his family.

Stepien is another pick likely to raise eyebrows in Washington. As deputy chief-of-staff to Christie in 2013, Stepien was allegedly aware of top Christie staffers’ plans to shut down traffic lanes in Fort Lee, New Jersey, in a bizarre scheme to punish the town’s mayor for refusing to endorse Christie. The massive traffic jam created by the lane closures paralyzed Fort Lee, and late last year, two Christie aides were found guilty of committing fraud in the case. Stepien’s attorney claims he played no role in the plot.

Three longtime aides to Vice President-elect Mike Pence were also named to top White House positions. Marc Short will serve as director of legislative affairs, while Josh Pitcock, a former chief of staff to Pence in Congress, will be the incoming vice president’s chief of staff. Jen Pavlik, who served as director of operations in the Indiana governor’s office, will be Pence’s deputy chief of staff.

“These individuals will be key leaders in helping to implement the President-elect’s agenda and bring real change to Washington,” Priebus said in a statement. “Each of them has been instrumental over the last several months, and in some cases years, in helping the President-elect.”

Also on Wednesday’s list were John DeStefano, who was named director of presidential personnel; George Gigicos, Trump’s current director of advance, who will continue to play that role in the White House; noted Republican opposition researcher Raj Shah, who will serve as research director; Jessica Ditto, who was named deputy communications director; and John McEntee, who will serve as the personal aide to the president.</s>A decade after deriding her as irresponsible and dishonest, Donald Trump has hired the controversial reality star-turned-political operative Omarosa Manigault to advise him in the White House. The incoming Trump administration announced Wednesday afternoon that Manigault will serve as assistant to the president and director of communications for the office of public liaison.

The hire marks the latest twist in the former Apprentice contestant's longstanding relationship with her reality television boss. Manigault was a prominent surrogate for Trump during the campaign, helping organize a meeting between Trump and several black pastors in 2015. Last year, she served as the vice-chair of the National Diversity Coalition for Trump, a grassroots network of nonwhite Trump supporters unaffiliated with the campaign. In July, Manigault officially joined the Trump campaign as the director of African American outreach, overseeing an outreach effort that was frequently criticized for relying on stereotypes of black communities. She currently serves as a member of Trump's transition team.

Despite Manigault's extensive work for his campaign, Trump hasn't always had the highest opinion of her. In a 2004 interview with Playboy, Trump said that she was "difficult for people to handle" during her time on The Apprentice and that she was a far better reality TV villain than he had expected. "I couldn't believe she was lying on camera like she was," he said. "She's got a problem or something.

When asked if he would ever serve as a business reference for Manigault, Trump said that he would not recommend her for an executive position, but that he "might serve as a reference for her to be on a soap opera." He added, "She's wonderful on TV, and she gets ratings. I just wouldn't necessarily want her running my church."

Manigault's new gig won't be her first time working for a presidential administration. She previously worked in the Clinton administration, where, according to People, she was fired from four different jobs in a two-year span. The experience didn't seem to sour Manigault on Democrats: Before Trump jumped into the race, she eagerly voiced her support of Hillary Clinton.

But once her former boss entered the fray, it didn't take long for Manigault to change her tune and her party. "Every critic, every detractor, will have to bow down to President Trump," she told PBS's Frontline last year in an interview before the presidential election. "It is the ultimate revenge to become the most powerful man in the universe."</s>CLOSE Former "Apprentice" star and Trump campaign surrogate Omarosa Manigault is reportedly joining Donald Trump's White House staff. Wochit

Omarosa Manigault at Trump Tower on Jan. 2, 2017 in New York. (Photo: EDUARDO MUNOZ ALVAREZ, AFP/Getty Images)

Omarosa Manigault, the famously combative Apprentice contestant fired three times by Donald Trump, has been hired, as she hint-predicted earlier, for a job in the Trump White House.

No one should be surprised, even though she's a former Democrat and the epithet most often associated with her is "the arch-villain of Season 1."

Smart, sharp and loyal to President-elect Trump, Omarosa, 42, made it clear starting on Nov. 8 that she expected to get a White House position. She was spotted at Trump Tower on Monday.

On election night, she told The Hollywood Reporter that Trump asked her if she was "ready to come with me to Washington." A few days later, she tweeted a picture of herself with a poster of Trump. "My last briefing as senior adviser to #realDonaldTrump for campaign," the caption read.

(Omarosa typically goes by just one name; it's not clear if that's what her White House hard pass will read.)

According to a statement Wednesday by the Trump transition team announcing a group of 11 new hires, Omarosa is going to be focused on public outreach as an assistant to the president and director of communications for the Office of Public Liaison.

President Obama's version is called the Office of Public Engagement, with a job description featuring idealistic verbiage about transparency and inclusion, listening to the public and bringing in new voices for the president to hear.

More practically, it's the office that coordinates public speaking engagements for members of the administration and the executive office of the president.

In the Obama White House, that office was headed by Valerie Jarrett, his old friend and confidante from Chicago and one of the outgoing administration's longest-serving powerbrokers. Jarrett was the person Omarosa compared herself to in describing her relationship to Trump even before he won in November.

As his biggest fan from the earliest Apprentice days, Omarosa became an enthusiastic supporter of his presidential hopes, took charge of outreach to African-American voters, and joined the executive committee of the transition team that announced her hiring.

"As Donald says, I am his Valerie Jarrett," said Manigault during a one-on-one-interview at a business conference for multicultural women back in June.

Omarosa has worked at the White House before, in the Clinton administration in the office of Vice President Al Gore. She's a church pastor, possesses a Ph.D. in communications, and is an undisputed self-marketing whiz. She is certainly the most famous previously unknown castmember to come out of the Apprentice.

But she's also famous for clashing with practically everyone on the show at one time or another. Like Trump, she was often unfiltered, with little patience for anyone she considered a fool.

Among ex-Apprentice contestants who know her, she gets mixed reviews. Kwame Jackson, who was the second-to-last-man standing on Season 1, said appointing her to direct African-American outreach is "like appointing Benedict Arnold to lead the Revolutionary Army."

But she has her fans, besides the most important one, Trump himself.

"Omarosa grew up a fighter her entire life, she's not going to back down," said Bowie Hogg, 38, a conservative Texan Trump supporter who competed on Season 1. "She's always going to give her opinion; it's one of her strengths and sometimes it can hurt her. She's always prepared to be the villain."

CLOSE Omarosa Manigault, a Trump advocate and former 'Apprentice' contestant, told a New York newspaper that the president-elect already has a list of people who voted against Trump. USA TODAY NETWORK

Read or Share this story: http://usat.ly/2hTWU0P</s>One of the most hated reality television contestants of all time is getting a new gig. A few months ago, many people in the political media bubble used to laugh when hearing about such idea. The joke is now on the naysayers. President-elect Donald Trump has hired 42-year-old Omarosa Manigault to be his Assistant to the President and Director of Communications for the Office of Public Liaison. This role will be similar to the one played by Kal Penn during the first year of the Obama administration.

Penn resigned twelve months after getting the gig and returned to acting. Fans of Omarosa are hoping that her path will be different. Some of her critics think she will not last long because she held different titles in the Clinton White House and did not perform well and was very unpopular with other staff members.

Politically speaking, the Ohio native has been all over the map. She was a huge Obama supporter and campaigned for him in 2008 and 2012. Omarosa often talked about her pride to see Obama get elected twice. In November 2014, she started pushing Hillary Clinton on social media saying that she was excited and ready to campaign for her.

However, things changed in June 2015 after Trump announced his candidacy. She then stopped mentioning Clinton in a positive light. She also took her Trump advocacy everywhere she could.

In recent months, the TV personality made her support for Trump known to all and went to several talk shows to promote the real estate mogul. Here is what she said during one of most eyebrow-raising moments: “Every critic, every detractor, will have to bow down to President Trump. It is the ultimate revenge to become the most powerful man in the universe.”

The comments that were featured in a documentary from PBS “Frontline” were mocked at the time because Trump was behind in the polls and they appeared to be over the top. Omarosa is now having the last laugh.

All jokes aside, the new hiree has more political experience than her boss and many colleagues in the future administration.</s>President-elect Donald Trump announced on Wednesday the “first wave of additional White House staff” who will assist incoming White House Chief of Staff Reince Priebus and his deputy, Katie Walsh, in running the day-to-day operations of the West Wing. Bill Stepien, a former deputy chief-of-staff to New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (R) who was fired over his role in the Bridgegate scandal, will serve as Trump’s White House policy director. And Omarosa Manigault, a former contestant on Trump’s reality TV show “The Apprentice,” will be director of communications in the Office of Public Liaison, according to a statement. Keith Schiller, Trump’s longtime bodyguard, will occupy a newly created position as director of Oval Office operations. It was unclear Wednesday what Schiller’s new job will entail, and a Trump transition spokesman did not respond to questions from The Huffington Post about Schiller’s responsibilities. But in putting the former New York City police officer on his White House payroll, Trump risks alienating career members of the Secret Service, the elite law enforcement agency that protects the president and his family. Stepien is another pick likely to raise eyebrows in Washington. As deputy chief-of-staff to Christie in 2013, Stepien was allegedly aware of top Christie staffers’ plans to shut down traffic lanes in Fort Lee, New Jersey, in a bizarre scheme to punish the town’s mayor for refusing to endorse Christie. The massive traffic jam created by the lane closures paralyzed Fort Lee, and late last year, two Christie aides were found guilty of committing fraud in the case. Stepien’s attorney claims he played no role in the plot. Three longtime aides to Vice President-elect Mike Pence were also named to top White House positions. Marc Short will serve as director of legislative affairs, while Josh Pitcock, a former chief of staff to Pence in Congress, will be the incoming vice president’s chief of staff. Jen Pavlik, who served as director of operations in the Indiana governor’s office, will be Pence’s deputy chief of staff. “These individuals will be key leaders in helping to implement the President-elect’s agenda and bring real change to Washington,” Priebus said in a statement. “Each of them has been instrumental over the last several months, and in some cases years, in helping the President-elect.” Also on Wednesday’s list were John DeStefano, who was named director of presidential personnel; George Gigicos, Trump’s current director of advance, who will continue to play that role in the White House; noted Republican opposition researcher Raj Shah, who will serve as research director; Jessica Ditto, who was named deputy communications director; and John McEntee, who will serve as the personal aide to the president.</s>A decade after deriding her as irresponsible and dishonest, Donald Trump has hired the controversial reality star-turned-political operative Omarosa Manigault to advise him in the White House. The incoming Trump administration announced Wednesday afternoon that Manigault will serve as assistant to the president and director of communications for the office of public liaison.

The hire marks the latest twist in the former Apprentice contestant's longstanding relationship with her reality television boss. Manigault was a prominent surrogate for Trump during the campaign, helping organize a meeting between Trump and several black pastors in 2015. Last year, she served as the vice-chair of the National Diversity Coalition for Trump, a grassroots network of nonwhite Trump supporters unaffiliated with the campaign. In July, Manigault officially joined the Trump campaign as the director of African American outreach, overseeing an outreach effort that was frequently criticized for relying on stereotypes of black communities. She currently serves as a member of Trump's transition team.

Despite Manigault's extensive work for his campaign, Trump hasn't always had the highest opinion of her. In a 2004 interview with Playboy, Trump said that she was "difficult for people to handle" during her time on The Apprentice and that she was a far better reality TV villain than he had expected. "I couldn't believe she was lying on camera like she was," he said. "She's got a problem or something.

When asked if he would ever serve as a business reference for Manigault, Trump said that he would not recommend her for an executive position, but that he "might serve as a reference for her to be on a soap opera." He added, "She's wonderful on TV, and she gets ratings. I just wouldn't necessarily want her running my church."

Manigault's new gig won't be her first time working for a presidential administration. She previously worked in the Clinton administration, where, according to People, she was fired from four different jobs in a two-year span. The experience didn't seem to sour Manigault on Democrats: Before Trump jumped into the race, she eagerly voiced her support of Hillary Clinton.

But once her former boss entered the fray, it didn't take long for Manigault to change her tune and her party. "Every critic, every detractor, will have to bow down to President Trump," she told PBS's Frontline last year in an interview before the presidential election. "It is the ultimate revenge to become the most powerful man in the universe."</s>The 42-year-old former Apprentice star will be “the assistant to the President and Director of communications for the Office of Public Liaison focusing on issues such as community outreach,” according to CNN.

Omarosa served as Trump‘s director of African-American outreach during his Presidential campaign.

This isn’t the first time she’s worked in the White House, as she previously served in the office of former Vice President Al Gore during Bill Clinton‘s administration.</s>One of the most hated women in reality television history is teaming back up with the man that made her famous.

Omarosa Manigault-Stallworth has accepted an offer to join President-elect Donald Trump as a public liaison leader. She had hinted at her hiring for a while, though. After Trump was elected, she told the Hollywood Reporter that Trump asked her if “ready to come with me to Washington.”

Omarosa’s position will focus on public outreach as an assistant to the president and director of communications for the “Office of Public Liaison,” which President Obama called the “Office of Public Engagement.”

Omarosa famously touted her previous White House experience while appearing on the first season of The Apprentice. She previously worked in the offices of Vice President Al Gore during the Clinton administration. Former Apprentice costar, Kwame Jackson, who was the runner-up of the first season, and who also family clashed with Omarosa which led to his firing, is not a fan of the hire. He described hiring Omarosa to reach out to the African-American community is like “appointing Benedict Arnold to lead the Revolutionary Army.”

Good luck, Omarosa! You might need it.</s>NEW YORK (KXAN) – A reality TV villain has an official job at the White House. President-elect Donald Trump announced that former The Apprentice contestant Omarosa Manigault will be the new Assistant to the President and Director of Communications for the Office of Public Liaison.

Manigault was one of 11 job announcements made by the president-elect on Wednesday. “These individuals will be key leaders in helping to implement the President-elect’s agenda and bring real change to Washington,” said incoming White House Chief of Staff Reince Priebus.

“Omarosa” became a household name after her 2004 appearance in the first season of The Apprentice. She appeared a second time on the show in 2008’s Celebrity Apprentice.

This won’t be the first time Manigault will have worked in an administration; she worked in the office of then-Vice President Al Gore during the Clinton Administration.
• Marc Short, Assistant to the President and Director of Legislative Affairs
• John DeStefano, Assistant to the President and Director of Presidential Personnel
• Josh Pitcock, Assistant to President and Chief of Staff to the Vice President
• Keith Schiller, Deputy Assistant to the President and Director of Oval Office Operations
• George Gigicos, Deputy Assistant to the President and Director of Advance
• Jessica Ditto, Deputy Assistant to the President and Deputy Communications Director
• Raj Shah, Deputy Assistant to the President and Deputy Communications Director and Research Director
• Bill Stepien, Deputy Assistant to the President and Political Director
• Jen Pavlik, Deputy Assistant to the President and Deputy Chief of Staff to the Vice President
• John McEntee, Special Assistant to the President and Personal Aide to the President</s>Former reality star Omarosa Manigault jumped from being an OJT on The Apprentice to a key player in the administration of Donald Trump. She was previously the Director of the African-American Outreach during the billionaire’s campaign for presidency.

Now, Omarosa will be the director for communication at the Office of Public Liaison. She will also serve as an assistant to Donald Trump.

According to USA Today, the division can be likened to the Office of Public Engagement under the present Obama administration. Her counterpart today would be Valerie Jarrett and she will be in charge of coordinating and facilitating any public speaking engagement not just that of the president, but of his cabinet officials as well.

In June last year, Omarosa quoted Donald Trump as saying that she’s going to be the president-elect’s Valerie Jarrett.

Omarosa will also be tasked to keep her ear on the ground for the public pulse, as well as making sure Donald Trump is kept abreast of the current public situation.

Us Weekly noted that while this would be a first for Donald Trump, Omarosa is a veteran in the affairs at the White House. She had worked with Vice President Al Gore during former president Bill Clinton’s administration, which would explain why she expressed support for Hillary Clinton back in 2014.

However, she moved on to take a position at the campaign of her former boss during The Apprentice days. Omarosa also made a bold prediction in September last year about Donald Trump winning the presidential race.

“[His critics] will have to bow down to President Trump,” she had declared during a TV interview. “It’s everyone who’s ever doubted Donald, who ever disagreed, who ever challenged him. It is the ultimate revenge to become the most powerful man in the universe.”

CNN, citing a source from Trump’s transition team, reported that Omarosa will “focus on public engagement.”

Just like her stint on The Apprentice, Omarosa working as an assistant for the upcoming president drew mixed reactions. She burned a lot of bridges when she was on the reality show, and she also displayed her lack of regard for others when it comes to pursuing her ambitions.

Her no-holds-barred attitude, as well as her propensity to speak her mind resonated with the billionaire that he continued to mentor Omarosa even after firing her from the reality show.

Whatever her faults, Omarosa does have the necessary chops to join Trump’s White House staff. Aside from having worked with Vice President Al Gore as the Deputy Associate Director of Presidential Personnel, she has a Master’s Degree in Communications from Howard University, and currently pursuing her Ph.D. She is also a pastor who secured her preacher’s license in 2011 and was ordained a year later.

Among those who lauded her appointment was Bowie Hogg, who was part of the original batch of apprentices in the show.

“Omarosa grew up a fighter her entire life, she’s not going to back down,” he told USA Today. “She’s always going to give her opinion; it’s one of her strengths and sometimes it can hurt her. She’s always prepared to be the villain.”

Her combative nature was perhaps why former vice president Al Gore had to transfer her to two divisions during her stint in the White House. Cheryl Shavers, the former Commerce Department undersecretary for technology, described Omarosa as very “disruptive.” She was asked to leave the office immediately since a “woman wanted to slug her.”
Trump nominates Omarosa Manigault, former contestant on The Apprentice, as an assistant to the president and director of communications for the Office of Public Liaison.