Alyssa Farah


Alyssa Alexandra Farah is an American political advisor, currently serving as White House Director of Strategic Communications and Assistant to the President. Farah previously served as Deputy Assistant to the Secretary of Defense for Media Affairs and the Press Secretary for the United States Department of Defense from 2019 to 2020. Farah also served as press secretary for U.S. Vice President Mike Pence and Special Assistant to President Donald Trump from October 2017 to September 2019, succeeded by Katie Waldman.

Early life and education

Farah was born on June 15, 1989 in Los Angeles. Her father Joseph Farah, who is of Syrian and Lebanese descent, is a journalist who was executive news editor at the Los Angeles Herald-Examiner before moving to Northern California to become editor of The Sacramento Union in 1990. He later founded WorldNetDaily, a far-right publication. Her mother, Judy, is a Sacramento-based journalist who has written for HuffPost, the Associated Press, and Comstock's Magazine. Farah is of Lebanese and Syrian descent.
Farah earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Journalism and Public Policy from Patrick Henry College.

Career

Farah began her career as an intern for Congressman Tom McClintock. She then worked as the communications director for the Freedom Caucus in the U.S. House of Representatives serving under chairmen Jim Jordan and Mark Meadows. She previously worked as the communications director for Congressman Mark Meadows. Farah previously worked as an associate producer on The Laura Ingraham Show.
While serving as Press Secretary to the Vice President, she traveled with Mike Pence on several trips, domestic and foreign.
At age 30, Farah was the youngest Pentagon Press Secretary in history.
In April 2020, it was reported that Meadows, now Trump's Chief of Staff, has considered bringing Farah on as a White House Press Secretary. She joined the White House Office as the White House Director of Strategic Communications on April 7, 2020.