The Four: A Complete Look At Donald Trump’s White House Press Secretaries And Where They Are Now (Updated 2024)

The question of "how many press secretaries did Donald Trump have" is more complex than a simple number, but the definitive answer for his first term (2017–2021) is four. The rapid turnover and dramatic tenures of these officials—Sean Spicer, Sarah Huckabee Sanders, Stephanie Grisham, and Kayleigh McEnany—became a defining feature of the Trump White House, symbolizing a significant shift in the relationship between the administration and the media. This article, updated for December 2025, provides a comprehensive look at the four individuals who held the powerful and often controversial role, detailing their time at the podium and their current high-profile careers, including a sitting Governor.

The White House Press Secretary serves as the primary spokesperson for the President and the executive branch, a high-pressure job known for its daily press briefings. Under President Trump, this role evolved dramatically, moving away from the daily, televised briefings that were a staple of previous administrations. Each of the four press secretaries brought a distinct style and navigated unique challenges, from Sean Spicer's combative early days to Stephanie Grisham's unprecedented tenure without a single formal briefing.

The Four Press Secretaries: Biographies and Tenures (2017-2021)

The Trump administration's communications team saw a high degree of turnover, but only four individuals officially held the title of White House Press Secretary during the first four-year term. Their combined tenures reflect a period of intense media scrutiny and a fundamental change in how the administration communicated its message.

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• 1. Sean Spicer
  • Born: September 23, 1971 (Manhasset, New York)
  • Tenure: January 20, 2017 – July 21, 2017
  • Key Role: The first Press Secretary for the administration, known for his combative style and frequent, viral clashes with reporters in the James S. Brady Press Briefing Room. He also briefly served as the Acting White House Communications Director.
  • Post-White House Career (Updated 2025): Spicer published the memoir The Briefing: Politics, The Press, and The President and has since become a political commentator, media consultant, and host of his own television show, Spicer & Co. on Newsmax. He also notably appeared on Dancing with the Stars.
• 2. Sarah Huckabee Sanders
  • Born: August 13, 1982 (Pine Bluff, Arkansas)
  • Tenure: July 21, 2017 – June 28, 2019
  • Key Role: She was the third woman to hold the position. Her tenure was the longest of the four, but it was marked by a dramatic decline in the frequency of formal press briefings, which eventually ceased altogether for months.
  • Post-White House Career (Updated 2025): Sanders achieved the highest political office of any of the former press secretaries, serving as the 47th Governor of Arkansas since January 10, 2023. She is the first woman to hold the office and the daughter of former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee.
• 3. Stephanie Grisham
  • Born: July 23, 1976 (Colusa, California)
  • Tenure: July 1, 2019 – April 7, 2020
  • Key Role: Grisham holds the unique distinction of having served as Press Secretary for nine months without holding a single formal White House press briefing. She also concurrently served as the White House Communications Director and Chief of Staff to First Lady Melania Trump.
  • Post-White House Career (Updated 2025): She resigned from the administration on January 6, 2021, following the Capitol attack. She later published a tell-all memoir, I'll Take Your Questions Now: What I Saw at the Trump White House, and has become a frequent media commentator on political affairs.
• 4. Kayleigh McEnany
  • Born: April 18, 1988 (Tampa, Florida)
  • Tenure: April 7, 2020 – January 20, 2021
  • Key Role: McEnany was the only press secretary during the administration to promise a return to daily briefings, though the practice remained inconsistent. Her style was characterized by a staunch and unwavering defense of the President and his policies.
  • Post-White House Career (Updated 2025): She is a prominent political commentator and media personality, currently serving as a co-host of the midday panel show Outnumbered on the Fox News Channel.

The End of the Daily Briefing: A New Communications Model

The role of the White House Press Secretary has historically been defined by the daily televised press briefing, a ritual that provided a direct, unfiltered conduit between the administration and the public. During the Trump administration, this tradition was dramatically curtailed, fundamentally altering the media landscape and the power of the press secretary position.

The decline began under Sarah Huckabee Sanders, whose tenure saw a noticeable drop in the frequency of briefings before they stopped altogether in March 2019.

The most drastic change occurred during Stephanie Grisham’s nine-month tenure. She completely abandoned the podium, opting instead for interviews on conservative media outlets and statements issued directly from the White House. This unprecedented move essentially neutered the traditional function of the Press Briefing Room.

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While Kayleigh McEnany did revive the practice, the briefings remained sporadic and often served more as a platform for the administration’s messaging rather than a back-and-forth exchange with the press corps. The move shifted the primary source of information from the Press Secretary to the President himself, often via his use of social media and impromptu press gaggles.

High Turnover and Overlapping Roles: The Communications Team

While only four people held the title of Press Secretary, the overall communications structure saw much higher turnover. It is important to distinguish the Press Secretary from the White House Communications Director (WHCD), a separate, more strategic role that often overlapped with the Press Secretary's duties during the Trump years.

For instance, both Sean Spicer and Stephanie Grisham held both roles concurrently at different points. Spicer held both titles at the start of the administration, and Grisham was the Press Secretary and WHCD for her entire tenure.

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The WHCD position saw a number of high-profile, short-lived appointments, including the famously brief tenure of Anthony Scaramucci, who served for only 11 days in July 2017. This constant shuffling of senior staff, including Hope Hicks and Bill Shine, further contributed to the perception of instability and a constantly shifting communications strategy within the administration.

The Fifth Press Secretary: Looking Ahead to 2025

The question of "how many press secretaries did Trump have" gained a new dimension following his victory in the 2024 presidential election. In a move that continues the administration's trend of appointing young, media-savvy communicators, President-elect Donald Trump announced his choice for the next White House Press Secretary: Karoline Leavitt.

Leavitt, who previously served as the press secretary for the 2024 campaign and worked in the White House Press Office during the first term, is set to become the youngest person in U.S. history to hold the position. Her appointment signals a continuation of the aggressive, rapid-response communications style favored by the former President, ensuring the role will remain a central and highly scrutinized part of the executive branch.

The Legacy of the Trump Press Secretaries

The four press secretaries of the first Trump term—Spicer, Sanders, Grisham, and McEnany—each left an indelible mark on the office. Their collective legacy is not just one of high turnover, but of a fundamental redefinition of the job itself. They navigated an unprecedented media environment where the President often bypassed the traditional media gatekeepers entirely, communicating directly with the public.

Their careers post-White House—from a sitting Governor to high-profile cable news hosts—demonstrate the enduring political visibility and career springboard the role provided, regardless of the controversies faced while in the Briefing Room. The evolution of the role, from a daily press conference to an often-absent or purely messaging-focused function, remains one of the most significant changes to the White House communications apparatus in modern history.

The transition from Sarah Huckabee Sanders to Stephanie Grisham, which saw the complete cessation of the daily briefing, is often cited as the low point for the traditional function of the office. Conversely, the high-profile nature of the job, even with its challenges, has ensured that all four former press secretaries remain influential figures in Republican politics and media today, a testament to the power of the Trump brand.