White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders is leaving her post within the Trump Administration at the end of the month, the president announced Thursday.
Trump delivered the news on Twitter and said that Sanders will be returning to her home state of Arkansas. He did not name who would be replacing her.
“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," President Trump wrote. "Sarah, thank you for a job well done!”
According to CNN, Sanders has had private conversations in recent weeks in which she's insinuated that she may be running for political office. According to two people who are familiar with the discussions, she's considering running for governor of Arkansas. Although the current governor, Asa Hutchinson, was re-elected in 2018 and his seat will not be vacant until 2023, the language used in the president's announcement provides room for speculation.
Sanders worked in the communications department of Trump's 2016 presidential campaign before succeeding Sean Spicer as press secretary in 2017. She has been the subject of widespread criticism since assuming the post, marked by the frustrating relationship between her and the White House press corps, and her vague, factually incorrect information about the president and the controversies that surround him.
Sanders has also appeared to purposefully thwart communications between the White House and the press, particularly since she's discontinued the once-daily ritual of conducting press briefings. CNN notes that her resignation arrived on the 94th consecutive day without a White House briefing.
Her close relationship with Trump and her role as the chief White House communicator prompted investigators under special counsel Robert Mueller to interview her. During the closed-door meeting, Sanders reportedly admitted to giving the press misinformation when she claimed: "countless members of the FBI" had lost faith in former FBI director James Comey.
