Photo: Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post via Getty; John Moore/Getty
Madeleine Westerhout, PresidentDonald Trump‘s personal assistant, reportedly resigned on Thursday after the commander in chief discovered she had shared “private details” about his family during an off-the-record dinner with journalists.
According to theNew York Times, 28-year-old Westerhout had worked for the president since the very beginning of his administration. The newspaper described her departure as “abrupt and unexpected.”
Sources toldCBS Newsthat she had attended a dinner with reporters in Berkeley Heights, New Jersey while the president, 73,was on vacation in the stateearlier this month.
Madeleine Westerhout.TIMOTHY A. CLARY/AFP/Getty
Citing White House salary information released in July,CNBCreported that Westerhout made $145,000 per year after being promoted to director of Oval Office operations in February — making her one of the highest-paid White House staffers.
Before her time in the Trump administration, Westerhout previously worked for the Republican National Committee and on Mitt Romney’s 2012 presidential campaign, theTimesreported.
According to the newspaper, the president was wary of her at first, and Westerhout reportedly cried from unhappiness over his victory on election night in 2016. CBS reported the same detail, citing Tim Alberta’s bookAmerican Carnage.
“She was a spy from day one who sought to use her proximity to the president to curry favor with his detractors,” one former official told CBS.
The outlet reported that the New Jersey dinner was “not the first time she has been gossiping with reporters present.”
However, a former senior White House official defended Westerhout to CBS and denied the report that she had cried after Trump’s victory.
“I was with her that night, I never saw her cry,” the former official said.
Westerhout joinsa long list of Trump administration stafferswho have left or been fired throughout his time in office.
source: people.com
