White House communications boss Alyssa Farah exits in bow to Trump's defeat

WASHINGTON — Alyssa Farah resigned as White House communications director on Thursday, in one of the first high-profile staff departures since President Donald Trump’s loss in the November election.

She said in a statement she is leaving her post in order to “pursue new opportunities” but did not describe her next steps in detail. Farah’s last day is Friday, according to a White House official.

Farah’s departure comes as Trump has refused to concede to President-elect Joe Biden and few other advisers have announced their departures. White House staff typically begin to search for new jobs and leave during the lame-duck period after an election.

Farah, 31, joined the West Wing in April during a staff reshuffle at the behest of White House chief of staff Mark Meadows whom she previously worked for in Congress. She began serving at the White House as press secretary for Vice President Mike Pence before going to the Pentagon last September as a top spokeswoman.

Farah called her service in the Trump administration “the honor of a lifetime” and said she was “deeply proud” of the defeat of the Islamic State caliphate, Middle East peace agreements, tax cuts and the development of a coronavirus vaccine.

Her plan to depart was reported earlier by The Washington Post.