Trump names White House communications chief, press secretary from campaign staff

US President-elect Donald Trump has selected two veterans of his first term and campaign to run White House communications and face a mostly adversarial media he has labelled the “enemy of the people.”

Steven Cheung, who ran his media relations for the campaign, has been appointed Assistant to the President and Director of Communications, while the high-visibility job of Press Secretary has gone to Karoline Leavitt, who was the campaign’s national press secretary, according to Trump’s announcements on Friday.

Cheung worked during Trump’s first term as a Special Assistant to the President and Director of Strategic Response in charge of dealing with challenges and planning responses to upcoming issues.

He joined Trump’s campaign as its spokesperson, known for acerbic statements. He also addressed the media directly on behalf of Trump, such as during his trial in a Manhattan court in the hush money case.

The 27-year-old Leavitt, who was an assistant press secretary in Trump’s first term, ran for Congress in 2022 from New Hampshire but was defeated.

“Karoline is smart, tough, and has proven to be a highly effective communicator,” Trump said.

As the youngest person to take on the job, Leavitt will be the face of the Trump administration, appearing on TV during daily White House press briefings and when speaking to the media during Trump’s travels. She will face a media that is often hostile and answer for Trump’s actions and statements.

Leavitt was one of the campaign spokespersons and made several TV appearances sparring with journalists.

On the other hand, Cheung’s work as the head of communications will mostly be behind the scenes, planning and running media relations, setting strategy and policies, and overseeing speechwriting.

According to media reports, Cheung, 42, was in the Trump campaign’s inner circle with managers Susan Wiles (now appointed Trump’s chief of staff) and Chris LaCivita.

After working on campaigns for various Republicans for president and governor, he honed his verbal skills at the Ultimate Fighting Championship, a mixed martial arts promoter, where he was the communications director.

Cheung joined Trump’s campaign for the Republican nomination in 2016 as the director of rapid response and moved with him to the presidential campaign and then to the White House, where he ultimately rose to the same job in 2017.

He left the White House in 2018 and started his own company, which was retained by the Trump campaign for the 2020 race.

After several other assignments advising in various races, he returned to the 2024 Trump campaign.

He spent a significant part of his time with the Trump campaign trying to put out fires sparked by Trump’s outbursts, such as calling his opponents “vermin” or claiming illegal migrants “poisoned the blood of the nation.”

He also issued several insulting statements, often personal, against Trump’s opponents and against the media.