Melania Trump cuts bloated first lady payroll from Michelle Obama days

Melania Trump has significantly reduced the number of aides on government payroll in the first lady’s office compared to former first lady Michelle Obama. (Reuters)

Melania Trump is embracing a more active and public schedule as first lady – but she still runs one of the leanest East Wing operations in recent history.

According to a Fox News analysis of White House personnel reports, Melania Trump has significantly reduced the number of aides on the first lady's office payroll in comparison to her predecessor, Michelle Obama.

During then-President Barack Obama’s first year in office, 16 people were listed working for Michelle Obama, earning a combined $1.24 million a year.

This year, just four people were listed working for Melania Trump as of June. Their salaries totaled $486,700.

Melania Trump staff salaries

• Lindsay B. Reynolds -- $179,700.00 -- assistant to the president and chief of staff to the first lady
• Stephanie A. Grisham -- $115,000.00 – special assistant to the president and director of communications for the first lady
• Timothy G. Tripepi -- $115,000.00 – special assistant to the president and deputy chief of staff of operations for the first lady
• Mary‐Kathryn Fisher -- $77,000.00 – deputy director of advance for the first lady

• Source: June 2017 report to Congress on White House personnel

The details are contained in an annual report the White House sends to Congress showing the names, positions and salaries of all its personnel. Both the Obama and Trump administrations acknowledged several additional staffers beyond those listed in the report with the term “first lady” in their titles. But even counting all those employees -- 24 for Michelle Obama and nine for the current first lady -- Melania Trump's office is relatively small.

It's an approach her spokeswoman says is intentional.

“As with all things that she does, she is being very deliberate in her hiring, focusing on quality over quantity,” communications director Stephanie Grisham said in an email. “It is important to her that the team is a good fit for what she wants to accomplish as first lady, and that everyone works well together. She also wants to be mindful and responsible when it comes to taxpayer money.”

MELANIA TRUMP SLAMS IVANA FOR CALLING HERSELF FIRST LADY

This year, just four people were listed working for Melania Trump as of June. Their salaries totaled $486,700. (REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst)

While the 2009 annual report listed 16 staffers for Michelle Obama, her press secretary said at the time the staff actually included 24 people. A 2009 FactCheck.org story said Obama’s 24 aides might have broken records.

“That may indeed be the largest of any first lady, but Hillary Clinton, with 19 staffers, and Laura Bush with at least 18 and perhaps more, weren’t far behind,” FactCheck.org said.

Michelle Obama staff salaries

• Susan S. Sher -- $172,200.00 -- assistant to the president and chief of staff to the first lady
• Jocelyn C. Frye -- $140,000.00 -- deputy assistant to the president and director of policy and projects for the first lady
• Camille Y. Johnston -- $102,000.00 – special assistant to the president and director of communications for the first lady
• Melissa E. Winter -- $102,000.00 – special assistant to the president and deputy chief of staff to the first lady
• David S. Medina -- $90,000.00 – deputy chief of staff to the first lady
• Catherine M. Lelyveld -- $84,000.00 director and press secretary to the first lady
• Frances M. Starkey -- $75,000.00 – director of scheduling and advance for the first lady
• Trooper Sanders -- $70,000.00 -- deputy director of policy and projects for the first lady
• Jennifer R. Goodman -- $62,000.00 – deputy director of scheduling and events coordinator for the first lady
• Alan Fitts -- $60,000.00 – deputy director of advance and trip director for the first lady
• Dana M. Lewis -- $60,000.00 – special assistant and personal aide to the first lady
• Semonti M. Mustaphi -- $52,500.00 – associate director and deputy press secretary to the first lady
• Kristen E. Jarvis -- $50,000.00 – special assistant for scheduling and traveling aide to the first lady
• Tyler A. Lechtenberg -- $45,000.00 – associate director of correspondence for the first lady
• Joseph J. Boswell -- $40,000.00 – executive assistant to the chief of staff to the first lady
• Deilia A. Jackson -- $36,000.00 – deputy associate director of correspondence for the first lady 

• Source: July 2009 report to Congress on White House personnel

Grisham told Fox News this week there are nine people working in the East Wing under Melania Trump, a few more than listed in the annual report.

According to those personnel reports, Melania Trump’s staffers include a chief of staff, a communications director, a deputy chief of staff and a deputy director of advance.

Michelle Obama’s staff included those same positions and a slew of others: additional press aides, a director of policy and projects, a personal aide, a traveling aide and a director of correspondence.

Michelle Obama’s office did not return a request for comment.

But the larger staff is likely due in part to Michelle Obama entering the East Wing with a more aggressive agenda and embracing initiatives like her Let's Move! child obesity campaign.

During the first few months of the Trump presidency, Melania Trump and son, Barron, remained in New York as he finished the school year.

But she has noticeably ramped up public activity in recent weeks, including hosting a roundtable discussion on the opioid crisis and traveling with her husband to tour the destruction of hurricanes and meet with the victims of the Las Vegas massacre.

“She is more like a Pat Nixon or a Bess Truman than a Hillary Clinton or a Michelle Obama,” Andrew Och, a first lady historian who was a producer for the C-SPAN's “First Ladies: Influence and Image” series, said of Melania Trump.

During then-President Barack Obama’s first year in office, 16 people were listed working for Michelle Obama, earning a combined $1.24 million a year. (REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque)

Och noted that there is no formal job description for a first lady and each one defines their role. Melania Trump, he said, does not come from the world of politics and “clearly does not feel the need for the larger staffs that her predecessors have had.”

The first lady’s office isn’t the only place in the White House where the Trump administration has trimmed staff positions. When the White House personnel report was released in June, Forbes reported 110 fewer employees under Donald Trump than Barack Obama and said the projected four-year savings resulting from the cuts could be more than $22 million.