Melania Trump has announced her first major appointment in preparation for her return as first lady, selecting a longtime Trump loyalist as her chief of staff.
Hayley Harrison, who previously served in the East Wing during Donald Trump’s first term and joined the Trumps in Florida after they left the White House, has been named to the role, DailyMail.com reported on Friday.
Both Hayley and her husband, William “Beau” Harrison, were White House staffers during the Trump administration and accompanied the former president and first lady to Mar-a-Lago for their post-presidency life. The Harrisons were notably aboard Marine One with the Trumps as they departed the White House on January 20, 2021.
The couple has remained closely tied to the Trumps’ inner circle and continues to be on the payroll. According to Federal Election Commission reports, both Hayley and William were paid by Trump’s Save America PAC for their work with the former president. Hayley earned a monthly salary of $8,000 to $10,000, while William received a similar amount until November 2023, when he received his final payment from the PAC, DailyMail.com noted.
In the announcement of Harrison’s appointment, her longstanding loyalty was emphasized. Donald Trump, meanwhile, has maintained a similar pattern of staffing his team with loyalists ahead of his second term.
“Hayley Harrison has been appointed as First Lady Melania Trump’s Chief of Staff,” Melania’s office posted to the X platform.
https://twitter.com/martinwalsh__/status/1860081717501214732
“Mrs. Harrison has maintained an integral role and exceptional leadership on the First Lady’s team over the past seven years. She has a strong understanding of White House operations, and as Chief of Staff, Mrs. Harrison will oversee and manage the East Wing’s team while strategically liaising with other parts of government,” the statement continued.
Harrison, then known by her maiden name D’Antuono, served as Director of Operations in the East Wing during Donald Trump’s first term. She later married William “Beau” Harrison, a low-level West Wing staffer.
Following their time in Washington, the Harrisons relocated to Florida to work at Mar-a-Lago, where Hayley continued to assist Melania Trump and William worked for Donald Trump. William “Beau” Harrison notably oversaw the logistics of the Trumps’ move from the White House to their Palm Beach estate.
Both Hayley and William Harrison were involved in the federal investigation into classified documents found at Trump’s Florida residence.
Meanwhile, Donald Trump is continuing to round out his team, and his latest pick — former Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi — as U.S. attorney general is causing some concerns on the left.
Political scientist Jason Johnson on Thursday called Bondi a savvy legal operator who can advance Trump’s agenda during an appearance on MSNBC’s “The Beat With Ari Melber.” Johnson also said that Bondi’s expertise in areas like immigration enforcement makes her a “dangerous and effective pick.”
“Pam Bondi is exactly what I was saying in the last segment that we should all fear because she’s competent. We may not agree with her ideologically, but she actually knows how to do this job. So if anyone on the Democratic side or anyone who cared about liberty or justice was thinking, well, maybe Matt Gaetz will screw this up and that’ll give us some time,” Johnson said.
He noted Bondi’s aggressive stance on immigration enforcement and educational policies to indicate how she might perform as U.S. attorney general.
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“She knows what she’s doing about immigration. Remember, Florida is one of those states that’s been very aggressive about migrants and deportation and moving people to different states and everything else like that,” Johnson said before referencing Florida’s laws affecting students on campuses and the manipulation of education funds.
“Florida has enacted all sorts of rules and laws to curtail students and what they can do on campuses and finding legal justifications for manipulating education money. She is a dangerous and effective pick and that’s, frankly, worse than what we would have got with Matt Gaetz, even with the deplorable moral background that he has,” Johnson added.
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