Thread: Former 'Apprentice' star Omarosa Manigault Newman to leave White House

Former 'Apprentice' star Omarosa Manigault Newman to leave White House

By Vanessa Williams December 13 at 11:21 AM

Omarosa Manigault Newman, the former reality TV star who followed President Trump into national politics, has stepped down from her post as director of communications at the White House Office of Public Liaison.“Omarosa Manigault Newman resigned yesterday to pursue other opportunities.

Her departure will not be effective until Jan. 20, 2018. We wish her the best in future endeavors and are grateful for her service,” press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders wrote in an email.

Manigault Newman was one of few high-profile African Americans to support Trump during his campaign last year and was one of the most visible black aides in his administration.

[ From March: Omarosa Manigault is in Trump’s White House because of her loyalty. But what is she doing there? ]

But her White House role was unclear. She struggled to help Trump build a relationship with African Americans, who have consistently given the president low approval ratings.

Manigault Newman also frequently clashed with her colleagues inside the White House, reportedly using her friendship with Trump to ignore the chain of command.

Longtime black Republicans also chafed at Manigault Newman’s White House post, arguing that she was not a true member of the party. Before Trump entered the presidential race, she was backing Democrat Hillary Clinton.

Manigault Newman became a breakout star in the first season of Trump’s “Apprentice” franchise by playing the role of a backbiting villain who would kneecap other contestants in her quest to win. She did not take the top prize, but she became a favorite of Trump, who invited her to participate in subsequent iterations of the show.

She brought that confrontational persona to the political arena, fiercely defending Trump against accusations that he was racist and sexist.

During the campaign last year, she elicited ire and eye-rolls when she predicted in an interview on “Frontline”that Trump would win and that “every critic, every detractor will have to bow down to President Trump.”

During the past several months of the Trump administration, she has engaged in public spats with African American groups, including the Congressional Black Caucus, grass-roots activists and black journalists. She also was criticized for promising that Trump would provide additional funding to struggling historically black colleges and universities — which didn’t quite materialize. The presidents of those institutions gained little other than a highly publicized meeting with administration officials in February, which included a photo op with Trump in the Oval Office.

In April, Manigault Newman, an ordained minister, married John Allen Newman, at the time pastor of a church in Jacksonville, Fla., at Trump International Hotel in downtown Washington. The wedding was initially slated to take place in Florida but was relocated because of undisclosed “security concerns.” Trump did not attend the wedding.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/...e-white-house/

Omarosa tripped White House alarms after being fired: report

Omarosa denies there was a dramatic confrontation at the White House

By Dan Merica, CNN
Updated 10:14 AM ET, Thu December 14, 2017

(CNN)Omarosa Manigault Newman, the White House aide whose resignation was announced on Wednesday, denied reports that she left the White House after a dramatic confrontation with White House chief of staff John Kelly.

Speaking with ABC on Thursday morning, the former reality television star claimed that she resigned after a conversation with Kelly in the Situation Room and did not confront him during a White House Christmas Party or try to get into the White House residence to ask President Donald Trump about her dismissal.

Manigault Newman repeatedly denied reports of a dramatic confrontation between with Kelly, calling them "100% false."



Omarosa to leave White House


The United States Secret Service, in a surprising move on Wednesday evening, also denied reports that they physically escorted her out of the White House.

"Reporting regarding Secret Service personnel physically removing Omarosa Manigault Newman from the @WhiteHouse complex is incorrect," the Secret Service Twitter account tweeted. "The Secret Service was not involved in the termination process of Ms Manigault Newman or the escort off of the complex. Our only involvement in this matter was to deactivate the individual's pass which grants access to the complex."

U.S. Secret Service

✔@SecretService


Reporting regarding Secret Service personnel physically removing Omarosa Manigault Newman from the @WhiteHouse complex is incorrect.
3:08 PM - Dec 13, 2017

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17h
U.S. Secret Service
✔@SecretService

Reporting regarding Secret Service personnel physically removing Omarosa Manigault Newman from the @WhiteHouse complex is incorrect.

U.S. Secret Service

✔@SecretService


The Secret Service was not involved in the termination process of Ms Manigault Newman or the escort off of the complex. Our only involvement in this matter was to deactivate the individual's pass which grants access to the complex.
3:08 PM - Dec 13, 2017

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Manigault Newman claimed on ABC that she still had access to parts of the White House and that deactivating her pass only applied to a small portion of the complex.

White House press secretary Sarah Sanders announced on Wednesday that Manigault Newman, one of Trump's most high-profile African-American supporters, would resign her role as the top communications official at the White House Office of Public Liaison and leave on January 20, 2018, one year to the day after Trump took office.

It is unclear whether the former reality TV star will have access to the White House complex in the future. A source with knowledge of the situation tells CNN that Omarosa is not expected back on the grounds, despite what appears to be an agreement to pay her through her separation date in January.

Trump, who once famously fired her on his NBC show "The Apprentice," tweeted praise for Manigault Newman on Wednesday and thanked her for her service.

"Thank you Omarosa for your service! I wish you continued success," he said.

Donald J. Trump

✔@realDonaldTrump


Thank you Omarosa for your service! I wish you continued success.
3:58 PM - Dec 13, 2017

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But Manigault Newman's time in the White House had been wearing on many, according to multiple sources who tell CNN that her departure was a long time coming. Though she predated Kelly in the administration, sources say when the retired Marine general took over in July, her role began to feel ill-defined.

"They showed her the door because she was not performing," the source with knowledge said, adding that Manigault Newman never made it to the residence during her conversation with Kelly but did suggest that she wanted to appeal to Trump.

It was her loyalty and friendship with Trump -- something that was fostered during the 2016 campaign -- that kept her there for longer than anyone expected, one source added.

Manigault Newman did hint at conflict with Kelly in her ABC interview, calling his style "militaristic" and saying she "stands out" because she is the only African-American women at the table. She also suggested that some in the White House were jealous of her access to Trump.



Trump stays on message during controversial civil rights museum visit


"Certainly, I had more access than most and people had problems with that," Manigault Newman said. "People had problems with my 14-year relationship with this President. But I have always been loyal to him."

Manigault Newman last traveled with Trump to the Mississippi Civil Rights Museum in Jackson on Saturday. But according to a White House official, Manigault Newman has had no access to Trump for months and was considered to be a nonstop problem in the West Wing.

Both Kelly and former chief of staff Reince Priebus wanted to let Manigault Newman go, a former White House official told CNN, adding that many in the White House had little idea what she did.

"Many of her colleagues are elated by today's news," the former official added.

And in a nod to a possible future book deal, Manigault Newman hinted that she had a dramatic tale to tell about the first year in the Trump White House.

"There were a lot of things that I observed during the last year that I was very unhappy with, that I was very uncomfortable with," she said. "Things that I observed, that I heard, that I listened to."

She declined to expand upon them because she is technically still employed by the White House.

"When I have a chance to tell my story, Michael, (it's) quite a story to tell ... I have seen things that have made me uncomfortable, that have upset me, that have affected me deeply and emotionally, that have affected my community and my people and when I can tell my story, it is a profound story that the world will want to hear," she said.

CNN's Jim Acosta contributed to this report.

http://www.cnn.com/2017/12/14/politi...use/index.html