Who will be Trump’s Next Press Secretary?

perspective on President Trump and the question of what kind of person would he like to

be as next press secretary. Hogan was the press secretary for the Trump campaign, as well as the deputy White House press secretary under Sarah Hottby Sanders and Hogan, you're one of just a handful of people who stood at the podium as a press secretary and briefed for Donald Trump right. Well, I'm correct. One thing, Mark, under Stephanie Grishon and K. L. McKenay, so three, okay,

133 different. Who also a young staffer named Caroline Levitt was on a junior level at the time as well. So I have seen them come and seen them go much like the chiefs of staff that they've been building as well. But the constant is Hogan Giddly, what worked towards the question of what kind of person

there may be what person President Trump will want to be a replacement press secretary. Assuming he picked someone, I still think he may not. Talk about why he liked Caroline so much. What did Caroline do in the job that so please, President Trump, because no one disputes the notion that for him, she was a fantastic press secretary.

Trump likes a fighter. There's no question about that. He didn't want someone flailing around acting in the silica, of course. She was surgical in the way she took down the press. Often incorporating things that are most certain.

They had conversations about prior to her going out and addressing the media. When you spend time around the principal, in this case, the president of the United States, you pick up his mannerisms, you pick up his cadence, you pick up his thought process, the words he likes to use. She was really good at taking that and then utilizing those gifts he had, impackaging them

and he answers she would give to the press. So she didn't take any mess or any nonsense from them. She's well aware of the surroundings, because 98 percent of those people didn't vote for Donald Trump. They sure don't like Caroline Levitt.

But she also did the audience. Was it just Donald Trump, although that's the audience of one that a press secretary should care about. She also realized the American people needed information and she packaged that in a way that was conducive to sound bites, but also digestible by the people.

“I think she did an outstanding job with all of that.”

One last thing I think you don't see, I think is vital, and Sarah had this as well. Kaylee, just some degree, and that is, the president has to trust you. He has to trust you to let you into very significant meetings, to have off the cuff conversations,

to confide in you things that may never see the light of day, and know that you're going

to hold them and not regurgitate them accidentally or go running your mouth behind his back. He's really good at that and gain that trust that you can tell, by the way, he reacted to her departure. So you got to have his trust to be able to be invited to the meetings.

But I think there are two other things I want to run by you that I think she had, that the next press secretary should have if it's going to be someone the president likes and wants. One is, he acts to like you to be around, he has to like you personally, he has to be happy when you're in the room, because he doesn't like most people, and he can decide who

comes to the meetings. He wants someone around who he's happy to see. Is that a fair? I'm glad you said that, because there's one I wrote with some notes before this thinking of myself.

I wonder what these attributes are.

“You have to drive that you're candid, okay?”

You have to be in a room with them, and they like you being there for the jokes they bounce off of you, for the serious tone and tender or information they're going to give. You have to want to work with that person, and nowhere is that more obvious than with someone like Donald Trump, who likes to have people around him, they get along with it. There's nothing wrong with that.

Not the mentioned fact, she does a good job, but yes, and then there's a third trait which

is related to the other two, which is she gets good input in these meetings. In other words, when he includes her, she's not just sitting there silent, she's weighing in in a way that he found productive. Another great point, something I wrote down as well, which is the information you give him has to pan out to be true every once in a while as well.

More instincts in your advice, if it works out for him, then you do bank up some credibility with him too, and he relies on you in times of crisis, in times of serious decision-making, to see what you think about it notoriously. Donald Trump pulls the road.

“You've talked about this before, he will often say, "What do you think about this, Hogan?”

What do you think about this, Steven Miller, what do you think?" But the ones he really cares about learning their answer from. The Carolina Lab that's the Sarah Sanders, and I would argue myself and Steven Miller in that category too, it's because you have been with him a while, he's seen you operate, he trusts you, but he also understands you actually know some things.

Now he, at the end of the day, is the one who got the votes, no one voted for me. They voted for him, so he makes the decision, but being able to trust your counsel, not

Okay, here's another trait, no denying it, and this applies to men and women.

The present likes attractive people around him. Yeah, central casting, as he would say, in mannerism, he would use. He is so adapt at knowing what the American people kind of want, whether it be his show, whether the apprentice, it was a wild success and hit, whether it be building, he puts, aesthetics matter to him, I could give you a bunch of stories, but you know, I was at Marlato at the

pool one time, and I saw him over there folding the towels and explaining to the staff, the towels should look this way, this is what class, make it fold this way. I see him with a black sharpie going through Marlato, if there's a chip on the raw iron, he will color it in with a black sharpie, he'll tell him to go back and paint it and make

it, but if there's something that night, they don't have time to paint it.

He wants to make sure things look good, that also applies, not just to his properties and to him, but to his staff as well, how you come across to the American people, because he knows if you don't have an aesthetic that is pleasing all the time, fairly or unfairly, people just don't listen to you, so I think he picks people that are good in that role for that reason.

Another thing Caroline has, that I think he'll also look for, running it by you, his consistency. You look at, you know, most White House park territories have good days and bad days. Caroline, to me, from the podium on TV, extremely consistent, and he looks for that, because the president, and again, this is not unique to him, but if you do nine for ten, and you

“say, well, that's what Steph Curry shoots from the Frithor line, he's like, no, no, I need”

ten for ten.

Well, he likes ten for ten, of course, I think he understands a nine for ten, nine every

once in a while, but notice the athletes he talks about, that he likes and reveres, or ones that were at the top of their game, they were the most consistent. They were the ones who performed night in and night out, a day in and day out. Caroline, I think, was one of those, and look, not because I've known Sarah Sanders since she was 19, and I work for her father, but I think Sarah was one of those two.

You face an onslaught of negativity and anger from so many people in that role, you have to navigate that, I'm sure we'll probably get to it, but being able to do that, and then still perform consistently, I think, is an attribute that is necessary for longevity in that position. Yeah, and then the last trade, and then I want to move to some of the other aspects of

the job, because it's not just standing at the podium in briefing. Yeah, loyalty, whether when she ran for Congress, when she was press secretary, when she was in the more junior jobs, there's not a minute where Donald Trump wondered, is Caroline

“Levitt loyal to me, my agenda, me personally, and that's a trade he's going to value, right?”

Oh, absolutely, people talk about all the time, loyalty goes both ways there, he appreciates her and is loyal to her, she appreciates him, she's loyal to him, and he rewards that type of relationship. I think that's been very well documented, but someone like Caroline, early on people thought she's too young for this, she was a press secretary on the campaign, she's not going to

get this job, and I think she got it, grew into it in a way. I think she was ready on day one and did outstanding from the podium on day one, but inevitably when you get more knowledge and more information, it hones your skill, your abilities are much sharper as the time went on, and that was proven to be the fact with her at the podium, but it all started with the fact that there was some loyalty there and that relationship

will get you through some difficult times, and of which rather there are many in the outcomes.

“Another trade he likes is someone who can be a star on TV, right?”

When she goes and does a fox hit, she's treated like a star, she's not treated like some, she'll have to be a press person, she's treated like a star, and that's another trade I believe he enjoys. Absolutely, it goes back to the central casting thing we were talking about before, I think he values someone that can withstand the onslaught that you will inevitably get by those

who hate this administration, handle it with an affable nature, with a tenacity, a willingness to fight back, all the while looking poised, all the while looking crisp, clean, sharp, and articulating the message he wants you to articulate, that's all part of being a star, handling the press, the press of life, the press, the scrutiny. It's one of the most forward-facing jobs in administration, if not the most forward-facing,

it's also the one where they travel around DC and find you and take pictures of you in weird spots and awkward situations, it's like, you're a celebrity, people following the ones in Hollywood Boulevard and checking them out and showing up in the pages of TMZ, it's the

are scrutinized, you have to look the part and I think she did that. Another thing I think she did that the president really appreciates is not just from the podium, not just on TV, she manages the relationship with the media, she talks to reporters a lot, someone her age with the obligations of motherhood, etc., she's extremely available to the White House Press Corps, giving quotes, managing her staff to give quotes, and the relationship

is, there's a lot of tension to it, as there always is, maybe more, probably more with this

administration. But I believe the president values the press secretary who also can keep the relationship positive as positive as it can be and in his favor and she's done that as well. It's vital and it's a part of the job that no one really sees and I don't even know the president really sees or understands that part of it, not that he didn't get the whole landscape,

but every day those people are not on your door coming into your office, telling you stories they have that are negative or nasty toward the president, or good, that's right much

“rarer obviously, but still, you have to be able to answer questions and help shape stories”

reporters appreciate access. This administration gives more, I would argue that any administration, history, the first administration did the same thing, those relationships, you know, I hate to say this because 94% of the news coverage is negative by most measurable statistics and data. They'd be a lot worse if you weren't able to handle those relationships and cultivate them.

You see that in the briefing room because there is a certain healthy level of respect between some of those reporters in there and Caroline led at moments of levity. They laugh and joke around with each other, Sarah was able to do that too. You have charm, it is an undervalued attribute, she had that and building those relationships I think is paramount to being successful in that position.

And as much as the president has a kind of a tense relationship with the media, I know he values the fact that they like Caroline, they do laugh at her jokes, they do feel certain warm towards her more than most Republican press secretaries. Well, yeah, but why is that? Because he also has that kind of relationship.

He's exactly right. As much as he hates the press and hates the reporters, he hates them too. He still thinks if you get them in a room, they'll laugh with them, they'll joke with them. Yeah. Keep in charm them.

Caroline can do the same thing and he likes seeing that version of himself dealing with the press to brilliantly say fully accurate. So who does that lead? This your explanation of what he wants guides my theory. He's going to lead the job open.

They don't do daily briefings when they need a briefing. But some administration officials do it. He'll get through the midterms and then he'll bring try to get her to come back because the job description that you've laid out, there's no one who fits all that. Well, I will tell you, interestingly enough, when I got some little inside stories here,

you don't want to say these for my memoirs, but I'm going to drop some dimes on your go ahead. Show here. When Stephanie got the job, Stephanie kept telling the press when they would ask for when you're going to do a briefing, she would say, well, when I get studied up and I'll learn

I'll go to the podium and I kept pulling her aside and saying, do not say that.

First of all, you've been in the White House three years.

So what else do you need to know? You used to work in the West Wing. That's weird.

“Second of all, sooner or later, you're going to say, have you not learned anything yet?”

Like how long does it take you, right? You're walking yourself into a bus all, remember. The last 90 days of Sarah's time as press secretary, she didn't brief either because Donald Trump called us to the room and said, you know what, I'm so sick of these people, they lie about all the time.

I'm sick of them attacking you, Sarah, you know what, effort, I'm going to do it. I'm going to keep talking to the press, don't you do any briefings? So I told Stephanie, you brief when the president tells you to brief, that's the answer, because then it's up to him to do it, and quite frankly, that's the truth. So in times of crisis, he may want to go out in just a regular day's worth of news.

He may want you to go out, it doesn't matter. He makes those calls. I think that's a pretty significant distinction, because as you just said, you don't brief every day, but when the president wants you about there, that's when it happens. And you've got to do well.

I look at these names, very talented people, Monica Crowley, Scott Jennings, you. I look at these talented people, and I say, it's the president ready, particularly before the midterms, to turn it over. You're different because you've done it before, so I really shouldn't include you.

These people who've never been at the podium, that's the heart of the job.

That's the most visible, and it's not easy, as you know, and I just think there's no name

“I've seen with the exception of people who've briefed before, who I think the president”

will say, yeah, let's throw them out there and see if they can do it. Yeah, but I think, as I talked about the scene parts, there are some unseen parts I kind of want to unpack too. Yeah. Yeah.

In our office politics is hard enough in the private sector, try the White House, where everyone

a sentence to be put in there, whatever it is, you want to be thought of well.

The management of, not just expectation for the job out, but inwardly to say, all right, which of the staffers do I know are problematic right now and are on the outs, and which ones can I deal with today, but also I don't want to offend anybody, because I'm going to need briefings on this topic later, even though the president's mad at that person, how do I navigate in our office politics there?

You have to be willing to do that. I don't want to say names, but there were some who would come to me and say, I don't want to do that. I'm as high ranking as they are. I'm like, right, but that particular person you're talking about is also related to

“the president, and they're not going anywhere, so you need to figure out a way to work with”

them. That's an unseen part. Also you have a pretty large staff, probably one of the biggest in-the-west wing itself. How do you work together with them and manage the calm side, which is the behind-the-scenes, the preparation for events, things like that, versus the nanosecond response, press

side of it. Sarah was really adept at doing both of those things. She was the one who ran the entire communication to organization. Stephanie was, was her own thing, as I mentioned, I don't know how Caroline did it, but it seems like she has her hand in a lot of things, because also, if you notice, the Sarah's

of the world, the carolines of the world, they also have relationships with cabinet secretaries, and those cabinet secretaries lean on the calm shop, too, to prepare them to go out in the world and to have arguments with press, too.

“That through line matters in this particular position, so you have to run things, I think, behind”

the scenes in a way that, while each person does it differently, there's a management skill

that I think is very unique to have that's second to know their job on the face of the

plan. Yeah, and the president, I think, double back to one of the points, but emphasize it based on the way you said about the cabinet. He needs a press secretary who's a superstar who's as famous and as visible and as liked by the base, as a cabinet secretary, because that means the cabinet secretaries respect

the press secretary, and that means that they can do the job even better, because I have the confidence not just the president, the vice president, but of the cabinet. Certain level of respect, that was where we've not touched on yet, that matters a lot here and I'll tell you, we were in a bilateral meeting, I'm going to say in France, be a rich France, I think, and this is a meeting where you have a head of state, you know, prime minister

or president of the nation, and Donald Trump and you each have a handful of staff to think on big the country is, you know, you have the subsequent, you know, level of staff. He went into one of those meetings and I was in there, but I wasn't in the meeting. After the meeting he was furious, because there were no press people in the room, where's my press person?

That was a tell to me that said he wants a press person he trusts by his side in these meetings all the time. And also gives you a level of gravitas, gives you a level of power with cabinet secretaries who are in that meeting to negotiate trade deals or to negotiate peace or some type of massive global conversation.

He wants you there to make sure you can articulate the press, but he also wants you there because he likes to see people that he knows can handle who are stars, who have his back as I just talked about, who respects the trust, the loyalty. He likes that in a room, and if cabinet secretaries see the president treating you that way, then they inevitably have the same love, so of the names that have been floated,

which ones do you take to be the most likely the president will choose if he picks someone. I knew you're going to ask me something like this. I don't know which ones are our best suited because I don't know the people individually all that well.

“I think Scott would be great in that position.”

I think Monica Crowley, a friend of mine from the first administration and in the private sector as well. She's amazing and smart could do that job and are asleep, you know, a lot of good comes with that job, but there's some bad too. Not everyone comes out looking like Shanova.

I'd say it's been the case with a couple of those folks here where that building. All right, last question, then off the top of your head, write the want to add, help wanted, what's the job description and really forget the job description. What are the traits that the ideal candidate for this position will be what?

It will be a fighter, there will be a workhorse, a non-stop job is a never-ending job.

with the president of item one as well. I think someone who understands the gravity of the position, they're not just there to get some show later on, they're not just getting there to get Instagram views, they're there to do a job for the president and for the American people and there's some what selfless in the role.

“I think those are some key points, I don't think the president knows who we want, so this”

is an unknowable thing, but you've just heard a job description and an insight into the president's wishes for this position, you haven't heard elsewhere, yes sir. One thing he doesn't want is something that I have that I can't fix. I've heard college, he hits spread, one more thing I meant to do it even I was concluding. You and I talked about this, he probably would prefer a woman over a man, right?

I think at this point his presidency, I think that's less of a thing, but I do think he prefers that, yes.

“Why does he prefer a woman over a man to breathe for him?”

I think this is a guess and something I'll read a long time ago, I read this in an article

before I went to the White House in 2017, he trusts women more, because men are always

scheming for their own positions and they're always trying to scheme to take him out in some way. I don't know if that's true, I'm just adding that to the conversation, but I think also on camera, you have someone like that aesthetically pleasing, someone that kind of trump likes to do things differently as well.

“He likes to put his own path and every time a reporter says to me, "You know, in a normal”

White House," and I said, "You stop right there.

Don't use the word "normal here," meaning Donald Trump was the first president putting a woman

a mother in the office, Sarah Sanders, then Kaylee was a mother. Of course now, with Caroline. So it's definitely was, too. So these are things that are different than past presidents, I do think there's a level of how light to do things differently, everybody else had old men, I'm going to do it

a little bit differently. Yeah. Hogan, thank you. Very great. Of course, there have been other women presser attorneys for other presidents, but...

Yes. Not in the session. Yes. Hogan, thank you, very good. That's Jay Hogan, Giddly.

Thank you all for watching.

Next up, Mark Calprin, as always, follow us on Instagram, follow us on YouTube, listen to us

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