Trump to Omarosa Manigault: You're Hired

As expected, Omarosa Manigault, a contestant on the first season of President-elect Donald Trump's NBC reality show The Apprentice, has joined the White House.

She will be assistant to the President and director of communications for the Office of Public Liaison, the Trump transition team said Wednesday, counting her among "the first wave of additional members of the White House staff." Manigault parlayed that first-season appearance into appearances on subsequent Apprentice shows and other reality and talk fare.

That wave comprised, in addition to Manigault:

Marc Short, assistant to the President and director of legislative affairs; John DeStefano, assistant to the President and director of presidential personnel; Josh Pitcock, assistant to President and chief of staff to the Vice President; Keith Schiller, deputy assistant to the President and director of Oval Office operations; George Gigicos, deputy assistant to the President and director of advance; Jessica Ditto, deputy assistant to the President and deputy communications director; Raj Shah, deputy assistant to the President and deputy communications director and research director; Bill Stepien, deputy assistant to the President and political director; Jen Pavlik, deputy assistant to the President and deputy chief of staff to the Vice President; John McEntee, special assistant to the President and personal aide to the President.

"These individuals will be key leaders in helping to implement the President-elect's agenda and bring real change to Washington," said incoming chief of staff Reince Priebus. "Each of them has been instrumental over the last several months, and in some cases years, in helping the President-elect."

John Eggerton

Contributing editor John Eggerton has been an editor and/or writer on media regulation, legislation and policy for over four decades, including covering the FCC, FTC, Congress, the major media trade associations, and the federal courts. In addition to Multichannel News and Broadcasting + Cable, his work has appeared in Radio World, TV Technology, TV Fax, This Week in Consumer Electronics, Variety and the Encyclopedia Britannica.