Melania Trump cuts bloated first lady payroll from Michelle Obama days

Melania Trump has significantly reduced the number of aides on government payroll in the first lady’s office compared to former first lady Michelle Obama.  (Reuters)

Melania Trump is embracing a more active and public schedule as first lady – but she still runs one of the leanest East Wing operations in recent history.

According to a Fox News analysis of White House personnel reports, Melania Trump has significantly reduced the number of aides on the first lady's office payroll in comparison to her predecessor, Michelle Obama.

During then-President Barack Obama’s first year in office, 16 people were listed working for Michelle Obama, earning a combined $1.24 million a year.
This year, just four people were listed working for Melania Trump as of June. Their salaries totaled $486,700.

Melania Trump staff salaries

• Lindsay B. Reynolds -- $179,700.00 -- assistant to the president and chief of staff to the first lady
• Stephanie A. Grisham -- $115,000.00 – special assistant to the president and director of communications for the first lady
• Timothy G. Tripepi -- $115,000.00 – special assistant to the president and deputy chief of staff of operations for the first lady
• Mary‐Kathryn Fisher -- $77,000.00 – deputy director of advance for the first lady

• Source: June 2017 report to Congress on White House personnel

The details are contained in an annual report the White House sends to Congress showing the names, positions and salaries of all its personnel. Both the Obama and Trump administrations acknowledged several additional staffers beyond those listed in the report with the term “first lady” in their titles. But even counting all those employees -- 24 for Michelle Obama and nine for the current first lady -- Melania Trump's office is relatively small.
It's an approach her spokeswoman says is intentional.
“As with all things that she does, she is being very deliberate in her hiring, focusing on quality over quantity,” communications director Stephanie Grisham said in an email. “It is important to her that the team is a good fit for what she wants to accomplish as first lady, and that everyone works well together. She also wants to be mindful and responsible when it comes to taxpayer money.”

This year, just four people were listed working for Melania Trump as of June. Their salaries totaled $486,700.  (REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst)

While the 2009 annual report listed 16 staffers for Michelle Obama, her press secretary said at the time the staff actually included 24 people. A 2009 FactCheck.org story said Obama’s 24 aides might have broken records.
“That may indeed be the largest of any first lady, but Hillary Clinton, with 19 staffers, and Laura Bush with at least 18 and perhaps more, weren’t far behind,” FactCheck.org said.

Michelle Obama staff salaries

• Susan S. Sher -- $172,200.00 -- assistant to the president and chief of staff to the first lady
• Jocelyn C. Frye -- $140,000.00 -- deputy assistant to the president and director of policy and projects for the first lady
• Camille Y. Johnston -- $102,000.00 – special assistant to the president and director of communications for the first lady
• Melissa E. Winter -- $102,000.00 – special assistant to the president and deputy chief of staff to the first lady
• David S. Medina -- $90,000.00 – deputy chief of staff to the first lady
• Catherine M. Lelyveld -- $84,000.00 director and press secretary to the first lady
• Frances M. Starkey -- $75,000.00 – director of scheduling and advance for the first lady
• Trooper Sanders -- $70,000.00 -- deputy director of policy and projects for the first lady
• Jennifer R. Goodman -- $62,000.00 – deputy director of scheduling and events coordinator for the first lady
• Alan Fitts -- $60,000.00 – deputy director of advance and trip director for the first lady
• Dana M. Lewis -- $60,000.00 – special assistant and personal aide to the first lady
• Semonti M. Mustaphi -- $52,500.00 – associate director and deputy press secretary to the first lady
• Kristen E. Jarvis -- $50,000.00 – special assistant for scheduling and traveling aide to the first lady
• Tyler A. Lechtenberg -- $45,000.00 – associate director of correspondence for the first lady
• Joseph J. Boswell -- $40,000.00 – executive assistant to the chief of staff to the first lady
• Deilia A. Jackson -- $36,000.00 – deputy associate director of correspondence for the first lady 

• Source: July 2009 report to Congress on White House personnel

Grisham told Fox News this week there are nine people working in the East Wing under Melania Trump, a few more than listed in the annual report.
According to those personnel reports, Melania Trump’s staffers include a chief of staff, a communications director, a deputy chief of staff and a deputy director of advance.
Michelle Obama’s staff included those same positions and a slew of others: additional press aides, a director of policy and projects, a personal aide, a traveling aide and a director of correspondence.
Michelle Obama’s office did not return a request for comment.
But the larger staff is likely due in part to Michelle Obama entering the East Wing with a more aggressive agenda and embracing initiatives like her Let's Move! child obesity campaign.
During the first few months of the Trump presidency, Melania Trump and son, Barron, remained in New York as he finished the school year.
But she has noticeably ramped up public activity in recent weeks, including hosting a roundtable discussion on the opioid crisis and traveling with her husband to tour the destruction of hurricanes and meet with the victims of the Las Vegas massacre.
“She is more like a Pat Nixon or a Bess Truman than a Hillary Clinton or a Michelle Obama,” Andrew Och, a first lady historian who was a producer for the C-SPAN's “First Ladies: Influence and Image” series, said of Melania Trump.

During then-President Barack Obama’s first year in office, 16 people were listed working for Michelle Obama, earning a combined $1.24 million a year.  (REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque)

Och noted that there is no formal job description for a first lady and each one defines their role. Melania Trump, he said, does not come from the world of politics and “clearly does not feel the need for the larger staffs that her predecessors have had.”
The first lady’s office isn’t the only place in the White House where the Trump administration has trimmed staff positions. When the White House personnel report was released in June, Forbes reported 110 fewer employees under Donald Trump than Barack Obama and said the projected four-year savings resulting from the cuts could be more than $22 million.

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Pres. Trump Vows to Give More Support to Hurricane-Ravaged Puerto Rico

President Donald Trump meets with Governor Ricardo Rossello of Puerto Rico in the Oval Office of the White House, Thursday, Oct. 19, 2017, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

President Trump vowed to give more support to hurricane-ravaged Puerto Rico.
During a meeting with Governor Ricardo Rosello at the White House Thursday, the president said the situation was difficult, but there are tremendous assets on the island.
He said essential supplies have been delivered, including food and generators to assist those without power.
He also praised the military, FEMA, and first responders for their rescue and recovery efforts.
Rosello thanked the president for his quick response, and talked about the short and long term needs of the island going forward.

 

 

 

 

UC Santa Cruz College Republicans meeting disrupted by leftist protesters, three arrested

Protesters disrupted a College Republicans meeting at UC Santa Cruz.  (CampusReform)

Leftist protesters interrupted a College Republicans meeting Sunday night in the library at the University of California, Santa Cruz, calling members “fascists,” “racists” and “white supremacists” during a lengthy demonstration that ended in three arrests.

WARNING: VIDEO CONTAINS GRAPHIC LANGUAGE

Though the College Republicans initially offered to speak to the protesters, those demonstrating refused to leave and demanded instead the Republicans end their meeting. One person in attendance, a Democrat, stood up, however, and defended his right-leaning fellow students.
“I immediately stood up and confronted them,” Phil Leonard told Fox News. “I was the only one to stand up and confront them.”
The school’s director of news and media relations, Scott Hernandez-Jason, expressed disappointment in the episode.
“It’s unfortunate and disappointing that a few students disrupted their meeting and refused repeated requests to leave,” Hernandez-Jason told Fox News in an email. “UC Santa Cruz vigorously supports our students’ rights to peacefully and lawfully assemble.”
The demonstration came about when a far left activist found out the College Republicans were meeting on the ground floor of the library – in a small rectangular room with one entrance and bad cell service – and posted the details to a UCSC Facebook group with nearly 20,000 members, Leonard said.
“They put out a dog whistle for any crazy or deranged person to stop white supremacy,” Leonard said.
A core group of three protesters, joined by a few others, showed up, shouting chants such as “No Trump, no KKK, no fascist USA!”
Leonard said one protester looked at him and told him: “Your existence is a disturbance to every marginalized person in this country.”
“You don’t know who you’re talking to,” he said he responded. “First of all, I’m a registered Democrat. I’ve never voted for a Republican in my life, and I’m here speaking for ideas which is what you’re supposed to do at a college.”
Leonard, a fourth-year politics major, said he started going to College Republican meetings last May when he was working on a piece for his moderate campus publication, City on a Phil, and he started bringing Democrat friends along with him. Leonard said the behavior particularly affected him because he’s Jewish, and he immediately connected the actions of the protesters – seeking to shut down free speech -- with the actions of the Nazis.
“That’s literally how fascists think,” he said. “This kid is literally a fascist.”
Soon, students studying in the library began to complain. A librarian entered and, at one point, asked the College Republicans to leave in an attempt to de-escalate the situation. The group refused, however.
One protester bolted from the room and started running up and down the library stairs shouting about “Nazis” and “white supremacists.”
“I didn’t know who that nutty chick was, but her fliers were all over the school, so when I said her name, she flipped out,” Leonard said. “She flipped out even more when I told her I voted for her [for the Student Union Assembly election].”
When the librarian returned with her boss, the protesters accused her of being a white supremacist. The campus police were eventually called, but the demonstrators still refused to stop the disruption. A black officer showed up and the protesters responded by explaining racism and white supremacy to him, Leonard said.
“Almost all the people in the library, mostly liberal at this point, started getting upset with them, and laughing at them and telling them to leave,” Leonard said. “The whole school and the whole library turned against them.”
Despite attempts by the police to negotiate a peaceful conclusion, Leonard said the protesters insisted on being arrested.
They got their wish. The trio of students were arrested for disturbing the peace, failure to disperse, unlawful assembly and trespassing, Hernandez-Jason said.
Leonard posted video of the incident to the same UCSC Facebook page the protest organizer originally used to plan the demonstration. Other campus groups, many of them liberal, put out statements condemning the actions of the disrupters, Leonard said.
“If there was a social stigma against College Republicans, that stigma is gone now,” Leonard said. “Basically everything the protesters wanted, the exact opposite happened.”

What to know about Frederica Wilson, Florida Democrat who criticized Trump

Rep. Frederica Wilson, D-Fla., sparked President Donald Trump’s public feud with a Gold Star family after she accused him of making an “insensitive” remark to the soldier’s widow.

Wilson said Trump told Army Sgt. La David Johnson’s pregnant widow that he “knew what he signed up for…but when it happens, it hurts anyway.” Johnson was killed earlier this month during an attack in Africa.

But Wilson has often voted against legislation that would help veterans and their families, according to a vote-tracking website.

What is the feud between Wilson and Trump?

Army Sgt. La David Johnson and three other service members died in an Oct. 4 attack in Niger. Islamic militants ambushed the soldiers.

U.S. Army Sgt. La David Johnson was among four special forces soldiers killed in Niger, West Africa on Oct. 4, 2017.  (Reuters/U.S. Army Special Operations Command handout)

Wilson said she was riding with Myeshia Johnson, the soldier's widow, as they went to Miami International Airport to meet his body when Trump called. The president said Johnson “knew what he signed up for … but when it happens, it hurts anyway,” Wilson said.
The congresswoman called the remark “so insensitive” during an interview with WPLG-TV.
The fallen soldier’s mother, Cowanda Jones-Johnson, told the Associated Press Wednesday that the congresswoman’s account was correct.
Trump denied Wilson’s claims in a tweet Wednesday.
“Democrat Congresswoman totally fabricated what I said to the wife of a soldier who died in action (and I have proof). Sad!” he tweeted.
FAMILIES OF FALLEN HAVE MIXED EXPERIENCES WITH TRUMP, IF ANY
White House press secretary Sarah Sanders called Wilson’s criticism “appalling and disgusting” and accused her of “politicizing” the issue. She said the call wasn’t recorded but other White House officials, including chief of staff General John Kelly, were present during the call.
But Wilson hasn’t backed away from her claim and later said that Myeshia Johnson told her Trump “didn’t even remember his name.”
"I was stunned when I came to work, when I saw what a member of Congress was doing, listened in on a phone call from the president," Kelly said Wednesday.
"It stuns me that a member of Congress would have listened in on that conversation…I thought at least that was sacred," he said.
A spokeswoman says Wilson had no comment on Kelly's remarks about her Thursday.

What has Wilson’s voting record on veteran’s issues been?

VoteSmart.org, a site that tracks voting records, shows that Wilson hasn’t supported several measures that would have helped veterans and their families – including financially.
Specifically, she opposed a measure that would have given the families of four soldiers who were killed in Afghanistan in 2013 death and burial benefits.
TRUMP SAYS DEM REP 'FABRICATED' ACCOUNT OF CALL TO SOLDIER'S WIDOW, HAS 'PROOF'
She has also opposed measures to reform the embattled Department of Veterans Affairs.

Rep. Frederica Wilson, D-Fla., greets then-President Barack Obama after he arrived in Miami in 2012.  (Reuters/Larry Downing)

And Wilson has voted against measures multiple times that would ensure veterans and their families would still receive benefits despite government shutdowns.

What else do we know about Wilson’s political career?

A former elementary school principal, Wilson was elected to Congress in 2010. She previously served in the Florida State Senate from 2002-2010 and the State House of Representatives from 1998-2002.
Her House of Representatives website lists several issues of concern, including education, gun violence, health care, immigration and jobs.
When it comes to Social Security, Wilson says that she "will vote against any measure to privatize the program, cut benefits, or increase the eligibility age."
This year, Wilson voted against the Republican health care bill.
In February 2015, she sponsored a bill that was introduced on what would have been Trayvon Martin's 20th birthday. The bill called for the House to press "any State legislature to reject or repeal Stand Your Ground legislation."

Rep. Frederica Wilson, D-Fla., has stood by her claim that President Donald Trump made insensitive remarks to Myeshia Johnson, the widow of a slain soldier.  (Reuters/Afolabi Sotunde)

What about her personal life?

Her husband, Paul Wilson, died in 1988 after their three children were born, according to a Miami Herald profile.
In addition to her three children, Wilson also has five grandchildren, her House bio says.
She’s also spoken several times about her attire, specifically her penchant for wearing unique hats.
"It all started with my grandmother, whose name was Frederica also. She wore hats and gloves. I just wanted to be like her, so I started wearing hats. I just like to dress up, I guess, and I got that from her," Wilson told Roll Call in 2012.
“I’ve never counted, but I've been wearing them almost 30 years,” Wilson told Politifact in 2010. "It's almost like a fetish. ... I have hundreds.”

Trump: Media 'going crazy' with Wilson's 'total lie' about phone call

In a tweet late Thursday, President Donald Trump accuses a Florida congresswoman of lying in her account of a phone call between Trump and the widow of a U.S. service member recently killed in Africa.

The same tweet also asserts that news organizations have been “going crazy” with U.S. Rep. Frederica Wilson’s version of the story.

“The Fake News is going crazy with wacky Congresswoman Wilson(D), who was SECRETLY on a very personal call, and gave a total lie on content!”
The president’s tweet came hours after Chief of Staff John Kelly made an emotional speech at the White House, saying he was “stunned” to learn that Wilson had been listening in when the president spoke with Myeshia Johnson, widow of U.S. Army Sgt. La David Johnson -- one of four American soldiers killed in Niger nearly two weeks ago.
Wilson, a Democrat, was with Johnson's family when Trump called to offer condolences. The congresswoman said Trump had told the widow that "you know that this could happen when you signed up for it ... but it still hurts."
Johnson's aunt said Trump showed "disrespect" to the soldier's loved ones.
Wilson on Thursday said Trump disrespected Johnson’s widow with his comments during the phone call.
In comments to the White House press corps, Kelly defended Trump and said he was "stunned" by the criticism of Trump's condolence call to the sergeant's family. Kelly accused Wilson of "selfish behavior."
Kelly also told reporters that the president had expressed his condolences "in the best way that he could."
Wilson gave a cryptic response when Miami television station WSVN-TV caught up with her Thursday, repeating a phrase she said her mother told her when she was a child. Wilson said: "The dog can bark at the moon all night long but it doesn't become an issue until the moon barks back."

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AG Sessions Testifies On Comey, Russia Probe

Attorney General Jeff Sessions is sworn in before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Capitol Hill in Washington, Wednesday, Oct. 18, 2017. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

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Attorney General Jeff Sessions testified before the Senate Judiciary Committee, saying he stands by his recommendation to fire former FBI Director James Comey.
During Wednesday’s testimony, Sessions said he does not believe people fully understand the significance of the mistake Comey made during the bureau’s investigation into Hillary Clinton.
Sessions was also grilled about the on-going Russia investigation, confirming he has not been interviewed by Special Counsel Robert Mueller.
He denied allegations that he met with Russian officials to discuss the president’s campaign.
Sessions also refused to answer questions regarding private conversations he has had with President Trump.
The attorney general said the DOJ will take appropriate actions to look into the Obama administration’s approval of a controversial 2010 uranium deal with a Russian firm.
This comes after reports the FBI knew as early as 2009 that a Russian nuclear firm was engaged in a racketeering scheme designed to expand Moscow’s atomic energy business on U.S. soil.
The Obama administration’s committee on foreign investments gave approval for the firm to buy Canadian mining company Uranium One, which controlled 20 percent of America’s uranium.
Members of that committee included Eric Holder and Hillary Clinton, whose husband collected millions of dollars from Russian officials interested in the deal.