The pig is leaving the trough....

Sarah Sanders: White House press secretary to resign

From BBC

White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders will be leaving her post at the end of June, President Donald Trump has announced.

The pig....

Mr Trump tweeted that Mrs Sanders would be returning to her home of Arkansas after more than three years on the job.

"She is a very special person with extraordinary talents, who has done an incredible job," Mr Trump wrote.

She started out as deputy press secretary before replacing Sean Spicer in the top post in July 2017.

Mrs Sanders, 36, has been a fierce defender of the president, famously saying that God "wanted Donald Trump to become president".

At a White House event on Thursday, Mr Trump described Mrs Sanders as "a special person, a very very fine woman".

She said her time in the administration was "the honour of a lifetime".

"This is something I will treasure forever," she said. "I'm going to continue to be one of the most outspoken and loyal supporters of the president."

The mother-of-three said she was looking forward to spending more time with her children as she transitioned into a new role outside the White House.

"She's a warrior, we're all warriors, we have to be warriors," Mr Trump added.

The president did not name a replacement press secretary.

Mrs Sanders had a combative relationship with the media, often repeating her boss' allegation of fake news.

But White House press conferences have become increasingly rare during her tenure.

Her last media briefing was held on 11 March - 94 days ago.

Mrs Sanders held fewer briefings than any of the preceding 13 press secretaries, according to the American Presidency Project.

Mr Trump has opted to take charge of his own media relations by making impromptu remarks to journalists on the South Lawn of the White House when he departs on the presidential helicopter Marine One for various engagements.

Mrs Sanders' time in the post was not without controversy, and she was accused of making false claims to journalists.

After Mr Trump fired FBI Director James Comey in May 2017, she told reporters she had "heard from countless members of the FBI that are grateful and thankful for the President's decision".

But she told special counsel Robert Mueller, during his investigation into whether the Trump election campaign had colluded with Russia, that this claim was "a slip of the tongue" that was "not founded on anything".

In April last year, Mrs Sanders was ridiculed by the host when she attended the White House Correspondents' Dinner.

Comedian Michelle Wolf likened the press secretary to the matronly but terrifying disciplinarian in the TV adaptation of Margaret Atwood's dystopian novel, The Handmaid's Tale.

But the host was criticised even by some liberals for making a joke about the press secretary's make-up.

She said: "She burns facts and then she uses that ash to create a perfect smokey eye.

"Maybe she's born with it, maybe it's lies. It's probably lies."

Last June, Mrs Sanders dismissed rumours that she would be stepping down.

Mrs Sanders is the daughter of Mike Huckabee, who served as the governor of Arkansas from 1996 to 2007.

In his tweet announcing Mrs Sander's pending resignation, Mr Trump wrote that he hoped she would run for the same position.

"She would be fantastic," he said.