Stephanie Grisham: What we know about Donald Trump's new press secretary

She has a record of defending scandal-hit politicians and is a close confidante of US first lady Melania Trump.

Stephanie Grisham has been named as Donald Trump's new press secretary - the third person to take on the role during his time as US president.

Here, Sky News looks at what we know about the woman recently described as "Melania's enforcer".

She is a close ally of Melania Trump

The US first lady announced on Twitter that Ms Grisham, her spokeswoman since March 2017, would succeed Sarah Huckabee Sanders as White House press secretary.

Mrs Trump tweeted that she and her husband could think "of no better person to serve the administration and our country".

"Excited to have Stephanie working for both sides of the White House," she added.

Ms Grisham has been quick to defend Mrs Trump from controversy, including when the first lady wore a jacket with the words: "I really don't care, do u?" during a trip to a migrant child detention centre in Texas.

"It's a jacket. There was no hidden message," Ms Grisham said at the time. "After today's important visit to Texas, I hope the media isn't going to choose to focus on her wardrobe."

Ms Grisham's record with Mrs Trump prompted the Washington Post to call her "Melania's enforcer" in a profile written in December.

She will continue serving as Mrs Trump's spokeswoman while working as press secretary, as well as taking on a third role of White House communications director.

She is fiercely loyal to Donald Trump

Ms Grisham has worked with Mr Trump since he launched his presidential bid in 2015 and is one of the few campaign officials still at the White House.

She worked directly for the US president after he took office in January 2017 as deputy press secretary in the West Wing.

In March that year, she was chosen to run communications for the first lady and relocated to the East Wing.

But Ms Grisham's new role did not stop her defending the president.

In June 2017, when Mr Trump tweeted that MSNBC host Mika Brzezinski was "bleeding badly from a facelift", Ms Grisham was quick to defend his remarks.

"When her husband gets attacked, he will punch back 10 times harder," she said in a statement on behalf of Mrs Trump.

Following her appointment as press secretary, Mr Trump praised Ms Grisham for doing a "fantastic job" with his wife, adding: "The first lady loves her, thinks she's been, you know, just incredible. She's very talented."

The president also appeared to suggest relations with the media would be less contentious than with Ms Sanders, who regularly sparred with reporters and abruptly ended White House briefings.

"She actually gets along with the media," Mr Trump said of Ms Grisham.

The new press secretary will jump straight into her new role on Wednesday by joining the US president on a trip to Japan and South Korea, which includes meetings with the leaders of China and Russia.

She has defended scandal-hit politicians

Before joining Mr Trump's campaign, Ms Grisham worked in Republican politics in Arizona as a spokeswoman and communications adviser for elected officials facing scandals.

She was the press aide to speaker of the Arizona House, David Gowan, when he set off a contentious fight with journalists over access to the House chamber in 2016.

Ms Grisham also handled press for the attorney general of Arizona, Tom Horne, when it was alleged that he essentially ran his 2014 re-election campaign out of his official office while paid by taxpayers.

She aggressively defended Mr Horne, denying that his staff had violated laws that ban campaigning using public money.

Ms Grisham also worked as part of Mitt Romney's 2012 presidential campaign.

She has the backing of the outgoing press secretary

Ms Sanders has spoken highly of Ms Grisham, telling the Washington Post last year that she had "developed a great amount of trust from both the president and the first lady".

"There aren't a lot of people who have a lot of regular interaction with both of them," Ms Sanders added.

The outgoing press secretary, who will finish in the role on Friday , said her replacement will "an incredible asset to the president and the country".

"I'm sad to leave the White House, but so happy our team will be in such great hands," she tweeted.

"Stephanie will do a phenomenal job. Proud to have another mom and a great friend in this role!"