Trump appoints Raj Shah as Principal Deputy Press Secretary

By Little India Desk | September 13, 2017

United States President Donald Trump has appointed Raj Shah as the Deputy Assistant to the President and Principal Deputy Press Secretary. His nomination comes days after Trump decided to appoint Manisha Singh, another Indian-American, as the Assistant Secretary of State, Economic and Business Affairs.

Hope Hicks, one of Trump’s trusted lieutenants who previously worked as Assistant to the President and Interim Communications Director, has now been appointed as the President’s Communication Director.

“Raj Shah will serve as Deputy Assistant to the President and Principal Deputy Press Secretary,” the White House said in a statement.

Shah was one of the people who arrived at the White House just hours after the swearing-in ceremony of Donald Trump as the 45th President of the United States. Along with Hicks and Eli Miller, Shah was identified as one of the three West Wing Power Player in the White House in April 2017.

Who is Raj Shah?

Shah was born in 1984 to Indian parents of Gujarati origin. His father was an engineer who grew up in Mumbai before moving to the US in the 1970s, while his mother, a dentist, hails from Kutch. Shah was born and raised in Connecticut and completed his schooling from Brien McMahon High School.

After earning his Bachelor’s degree in 2006, he worked as the Director of Opposition Research in the Republican National Committee. He was also a co-founder of America Rising, a right-leaning political organization that produces opposition research on Democratic candidates. He headed the team that carried out opposition research in the Republican National Committee in 2016, and collected information against Hillary Clinton, the Democratic candidate who stood against Trump in the presidential election. Shah rallied all the anti-Clinton campaign that was launched in the run up to the elections.