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Stephanie Grisham, new White House press secretary, bruised in tussle with North Korean security

By BIANCA QUILANTAN

Stephanie Grisham, the new White House press secretary, was bruised in a scuffle with North Korean security officers after they tried to block American reporters from accessing a meeting between President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.

After Trump’s historic first steps into North Korea, North Korean officials shoved and tried to block the press from a meeting room where Trump and Kim talked privately, The Associated Press reported.

The scuffle intensified as North Korean guards tried to physically prevent members of the U.S. press pool from entering the room inside the Inter-Korean House of Freedom, on the southern side of Panmunjom in the Demilitarized Zone. The Secret Service also intervened.

In what looked like a chaotic scene outside the meeting, Grisham was recorded saying, “Go, go,” as she pushed a North Korean official aside to try to create a path to let reporters into the meeting. She also shouted, “Stop, let go,” while others in the background shouted, “U.S. pool.”

Grisham, a top aide to first lady Melania Trump, replaced Sarah Huckabee Sanders on Tuesday, also taking on the role of President Trump’s communications director. She is now the lead public spokeswoman for both the first lady and the president.

During her time in the East Wing, Grisham has become a fierce advocate for Melania Trump. She is known for pushing back on negative stories and has chastised journalists for what she has called tabloid-style coverage of the first lady.

Grisham has stepped into her new roles during a period of friction between the White House and the press. Sanders, her predecessor, last held a formal televised press briefing more than 100 days ago, and was known for sparring with reporters while strongly defending the president.