Rhona Graff is a long-standing executive assistant to

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 ...

and senior vice-president of the

Trump Organization 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, he served as the 45th president from 2017 to 2021. ...

. She worked at

Trump Tower Trump Tower is a 58-story, mixed-use condominium skyscraper at 721–725 Fifth Avenue in the Midtown Manhattan neighborhood of New York City, between East 56th and 57th Streets. The building contains the headquarters for the Trump Organiza ...

in New York City for nearly thirty years prior to Trump's election to the United States Presidency, and has been described as Trump's 'gatekeeper'. Following Trump's election to 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 ...

, Graff continued to handle his arrangements outside official engagements.

Early life and education

Graff grew up the daughter of Carl Graff and Elsie Ratner Graff in the

Queens Queens is the largest by area of the Boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City, coextensive with Queens County, in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. Located near the western end of Long Island, it is bordered by the ...

borough of

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

. She holds a master's degree in psychology and education from

Queens College Queens College (QC) is a public college in the New York City borough of Queens. Part of the City University of New York system, Queens College occupies an campus primarily located in Flushing. Queens College was established in 1937 and offe ...

Career

In 1987, Graff heard of a job vacancy at Donald Trump's business and successfully applied for it. She has since held the positions of assistant to the president and senior vice-president within the Trump Organization, handling a large quantity of Trump's business activity and acting as occasional spokesperson. She has also appeared alongside Trump on NBC television show '' The Apprentice'' and has been a judge on ''

Miss Teen USA Miss Teen USA is a beauty pageant that has been run since 1983 by the Miss Universe Organization for girls aged 14–19 years old as of January 1st of the competition year. They must be US citizens, and cannot have been married, pregnant, or ...

''. Graff has been nicknamed "Trump's right hand". John Catsimatidis has similarly remarked, "If I really wanted to whisper something in his ear, I would probably go to Rhona". In a 2004 interview with ''Real Estate Weekly'' Graff stated, "Everybody knows in order to get through to him they have to go through me, so they are always on their best behavior". She has been a contributor to ''Inside Tennis'' magazine.

Trump presidency

Since Trump's assumption of the US presidency, Graff reportedly communicated with Trump through his former White House assistant Madeleine Westerhout and former Deputy Chief of Staff, Katie Walsh. Graff's name came to the attention of Congressional investigators of

Russian interference in the 2016 United States elections The Russian government conducted Foreign electoral intervention, foreign electoral interference in the 2016 United States elections with the goals of sabotaging the Hillary Clinton 2016 presidential campaign, presidential campaign of Hillar ...

in August 2017 following reports that she appeared to be referred to by name by music publicist Rob Goldstone in an email to Trump's son,

Donald Trump Jr Donald John Trump Jr. (born December 31, 1977), often nicknamed Don Jr., is an American businessman and political activist. He is the eldest child of U.S. president Donald Trump and his first wife Ivana. Trump serves as a trustee and exe ...

, concerning the then-upcoming Veselnitskaya meeting in Trump Tower in June 2016, when Goldstone wrote: "I can also send this info to your father via Rhona, but it is ultra sensitive so wanted to send to you first". Goldstone also emailed Graff herself in July 2015, appearing to offer to help set up a meeting between Trump and Russian President

Vladimir Putin Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin (born 7 October 1952) is a Russian politician and former intelligence officer who has served as President of Russia since 2012, having previously served from 2000 to 2008. Putin also served as Prime Minister of Ru ...

Post-Trump Presidency

Graff was a witness for the prosecution in ''The People of the State of New York v. Donald J. Trump'', the criminal case in which Trump was charged with 34 felony counts of falsifying business records to conceal payments made to the pornographic film actress Stormy Daniels to ensure her silence about a sexual encounter between them. Trump was found guilty of all 34 counts.

Personal life

Graff lives in New York. In 1993, she married New York City's former Commissioner of Transportation, Lucius Joseph Riccio, in a ceremony performed by New York City Mayor David N. Dinkins at the

Plaza Hotel The Plaza Hotel (also known as The Plaza) is a luxury hotel and condominium apartment building in Midtown Manhattan in New York City. It is located on the western side of Grand Army Plaza, after which it is named, just west of Fifth Avenue, ...

, which was then owned by Donald Trump.

References