Stephanie Grisham
Former White House press secretary Stephanie Grisham on CNN's "New Day."Screenshot via CNN
  • Stephanie Grisham said that she and a group of former Trump officials will meet next week to discuss how to stop Trump.
  • Grisham has said she believes Trump will seek reelection in 2024.
  • "I'm ready to roll up my sleeves and do what I can," she told CNN.

More than a dozen former Trump officials are planning to meet next week to discuss how to stop former President Donald Trump as he continues to "divide our country," former White House press secretary Stephanie Grisham told CNN on Thursday.

"I can say that next week, a group of former Trump staff are going to come together, administration officials are going to come together, and we're going to talk about how we can formally do some things to try and stop him, and also the extremism, that kind of violence and rhetoric that has been talked about and continues to divide our country," Grisham said.

"I've been watching this past year as the president continues to manipulate people and divide our country because he has a fragile ego, and that's all there is to it," she added.

Grisham did not disclose the names of the former Trump officials that she plans to gather with, but said there are roughly 15 of them, including both junior and senior staffers.

Grisham said the effort started with a few former administration officials chatting about Trump's persistent lies about the 2020 election, then doing outreach to others, holding Zoom and conference calls, and brainstorming ideas on how to formalize the discussions.

"It's going to culminate into this meeting next week and we'll go from there," she said. 

Since leaving office, Trump remains a major figure in the Republican party and has teased another presidential run in 2024. He continues to push the lie that widespread voter fraud stole the 2020 election from him.

Grisham previously said that she believes Trump will seek reelection in 2024 and she wants to ensure that he doesn't take office again. 

"I'm really hoping for a good fight in 2022. I'm ready to roll up my sleeves and do what I can. And I'm really excited to get with these former Trump officials and do some great things," Grisham told CNN Thursday.

Grisham worked for Trump's 2016 presidential campaign before serving in multiple roles under his administration. She was former first lady Melania Trump's press secretary, then became White House press secretary and communications director. She left that post in April 2020 and returned to work for Melania Trump as chief of staff until her resignation last year in the wake of the Capitol riot.

Since leaving the White House, Grisham has been critical of Trump and published a bombshell memoir last year that dished about her time working for him and painted him in a negative light. Trump has pushed back on her claims and criticisms, calling her "very angry and bitter" in one statement.

"Stephanie didn't have what it takes and that was obvious from the beginning," the former president told The New York Times in September.

 

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