Trump appoints Indian-American Raj Shah to key position in Communications team

US President Donald Trump on 12 September 2017 appointed Indian-American Raj Shah to a key position in his Communications team.

The White House said in a statement that Shah will serve as Deputy Assistant to the President and Principal Deputy Press Secretary. Formerly, Shah was serving as Deputy Assistant to the President and Deputy Communications Director.

Trump also appointed Hope Hicks as his Communications Director. Earlier, Hicks was serving as Assistant to the President and Interim Communications Director.

Other appointments at White House includes

Assistant to the President and Senior Advisor for Strategic Communications: Mercedes Schlapp, a Fox News contributor and columnist for The Washington Times.

Director of Strategic Response: Steven Cheung, who previously served as Special Assistant to the President and Assistant Communications Director.

About Raj Shah

• 32-year-old, Shah is one of the handfuls of Trump’s aides who were given a post in the White House within hours of him being sworn in as the 45th President of the United States. Trump was sworn in as President on 20 January 2017.

• Shah was Director of Opposition Research in the Republican National Committee (RNC) before moving to the White House.

• His parents are from Gujarat, who migrated to the US in the 1980s.