White House press secretary Sarah Sanders is leaving the Trump administration at the end of June, President Donald Trump announced Thursday.
Sanders became the administration’s deputy press secretary after Trump took office in 2017 and was later promoted to press secretary after Sean Spicer left the role. She was the third woman to hold the position after the Clinton administration’s Dee Dee Myers and the Bush administration’s Dana Perino.
“After [three-and-a-half] years, our wonderful Sarah Huckabee Sanders will be leaving the White House at the end of the month and going home to the Great State of Arkansas,” Trump wrote on Twitter. “She is a very special person with extraordinary talents, who has done an incredible job!”
After 3 1/2 years, our wonderful Sarah Huckabee Sanders will be leaving the White House at the end of the month and going home to the Great State of Arkansas….
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 13, 2019
“I hope she decides to run for [g]overnor of Arkansas,” the president continued, citing a position Sanders’ father, Mike Huckabee, once held. “Sarah, thank you for a job well done!”
….She is a very special person with extraordinary talents, who has done an incredible job! I hope she decides to run for Governor of Arkansas – she would be fantastic. Sarah, thank you for a job well done!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 13, 2019
Sanders was well known for her contentious briefings with the White House press corps, although the administration has not held a briefing in over two months.
CNN’s Jim Acosta accused Sanders of struggling with the truth during one particularly heated briefing, to which Sanders responded, “I don’t have any problem with stating facts. … I know that’s probably something you do have a problem with, but we don’t.”
Reporters rallied behind Sanders, however, when comedian Michelle Wolf mocked her appearance and her alleged lies during the 2018 White House Correspondents Dinner. (RELATED: WH Correspondents Avoid Asking Sanders About Michelle Wolf Routine)
Trump did not indicate what Sanders’ next move will be or if the White House has chosen a replacement.
The Daily Caller has reached out to the White House for comment.