Madeleine Elise Westerhout (born October 8, 1990) is the former Director of Oval Office Operations at the

White House The White House is the official residence and workplace of the president of the United States. Located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue Northwest (Washington, D.C.), NW in Washington, D.C., it has served as the residence of every U.S. president ...

from February to August 2019. Prior to that, from 2017 to 2019, she served as the Personal Secretary to

U.S. President The president of the United States (POTUS) is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president directs the Federal government of the United States#Executive branch, executive branch of the Federal government of t ...

Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who is the 47th president of the United States. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he served as the 45 ...

. She was fired on August 29, 2019, after Trump learned she had shared details of the Trump family and Oval Office operations with reporters during an off the record dinner earlier that month.

Early life

Westerhout was born in

Newport Beach, California Newport Beach is a coastal city of about 85,000 in southern Orange County, California, United States. Located about southeast of downtown Los Angeles, Newport Beach is known for its sandy beaches. The city's harbor once supported maritime indu ...

, and grew up primarily in

Irvine, California Irvine () is a Planned community, planned city in central Orange County, California, United States, in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. It was named in 1888 for the landowner James Irvine. The Irvine Company started developing the area in the ...

. She studied at the College of Charleston in

Charleston, South Carolina Charleston is the List of municipalities in South Carolina, most populous city in the U.S. state of South Carolina. The city lies just south of the geographical midpoint of South Carolina's coastline on Charleston Harbor, an inlet of the Atla ...

, receiving a BA degree in

political science Political science is the scientific study of politics. It is a social science dealing with systems of governance and Power (social and political), power, and the analysis of political activities, political philosophy, political thought, polit ...

in 2013. After her graduation, she moved to

Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

, and worked as a fitness trainer in the Pure Barre gym of Carrie Rezabek Dorr.

Career

In the 2012 presidential election, Westerhout worked for the campaign of

Mitt Romney Willard Mitt Romney (born March 12, 1947) is an American businessman and retired politician. He served as a United States Senate, United States senator from Utah from 2019 to 2025 and as the 70th governor of Massachusetts from 2003 to 2007 ...

. In 2013, she worked for candidate John R. Kuhn in the Republican primary for the special election in South Carolina's first congressional district. Later that year, she interned for Congressman John Campbell. In the summer of 2013, Westerhout began working for the

Republican National Committee The Republican National Committee (RNC) is the primary committee of the Republican Party of the United States. Its members are chosen by the state delegations at the national convention every four years. It is responsible for developing and pr ...

and the Republican Party Organizing Committee. From January 2015, she worked as an assistant to RNC chief of staff Katie Walsh. On January 19, 2017, Donald Trump's transition team announced that Westerhout would serve as special assistant and executive assistant to the President. A June 2018 release of White House salary data revealed that Westerhout was paid US$130,000 for the position. She was promoted to Director of Oval Office Operations on February 2, 2019, at US$145,000 annually. Trump often referred to her as "my beauty." In February 2019, Westerhout called a leak of Trump's schedule a "disgraceful breach of trust." On August 29, 2019, she was fired after it was revealed that she had shared details about Trump's family and White House operations to reporters – reportedly while intoxicated – at an off-the-record dinner. ''Politico'' reported she was fired because she boasted of having a better relationship with Trump than his daughters did, and that she said Trump disliked being photographed with daughter Tiffany Trump because he considered her overweight. Two days later, Trump posted a tweet in which he cited Westerhout's "fully enforceable confidentiality agreement" but clarified that Westerhout "is a very good person and I don't think there would ever be reason to use it." In the same tweet, Trump claimed that Westerhout "called me yesterday to apologize, had a bad night. I fully understood and forgave her!" On May 9, 2024, under subpoena, she testified during the Trump hush money case about her time working at the White House, stating that checks were delivered to the White House by Trump Organization employees to be signed by Trump.

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Westerhout, Madeleine 1990 births 21st-century American women civil servants College of Charleston alumni Living people People from Irvine, California People from Newport Beach, California Personal secretaries to the president of the United States First Trump administration personnel Washington, D.C., Republicans South Carolina Republicans

Early life

Career

Bibliography

See also

References

External links