Meet Trump’s newest sidekick… the unassuming lawyer behind the stacks of executive orders who’s become a star
Donald Trump had just signed five executive orders on Air Force One as he flew home from Miami when he turned proceedings over to the White House staff secretary to give traveling journalists a rundown of their contents.
And as Will Scharf, 38, stood in the gangway, setting out details of a memo to establish an iron dome missile shield over the United States, something revealing happened.
The president leaned towards his press secretary, Karoline Leavitt, and whispered: ‘He’s very good.’
‘He’s a star,’ she replied.
If Trump is the main attraction, the commander-in-chief and the leading man of the White House, he has found his sidekick in an unassuming former prosecutor and Missouri attorney general candidate.
Scharf’s predecessors in the role carried out their work in obscurity, shuffling papers behind the scenes. But he has been thrust into the limelight, appearing beside the Resolute Desk in the Oval Office when Trump is signing orders.
Like a chamberlain at a royal court, Trump has employed him to announce each leather-bound executive order before it is placed on the desk for the ceremonial squiggle of his Sharpie
It began in impromptu style on inauguration day as the president looked around for an MC in front of a rally crowd: ‘Why don’t you say what I’m signing?’
Will Scharf, White House staff secretary, briefs reporters on Air Force One about the president’s latest executive orders as Donald Trump watches
The president made his appreciation clear: ‘He’s very good,’ he whispered to Karoline Leavitt, his press secretary, as they stood in the cramped gangway
And since then he has become a key character in the second season of the Trump show.
When Trump left for his first trip around the country, Scharf was at his side every step of the way, joining the president when they appeared in the press cabin to announce those new executive orders.
It marks an extraordinary moment in the spotlight for a low-key lawyer, who rose through Trump world without the flashy exuberance of other aides.
The staff secretary’s role is to manage the papers that the president needs to see, coordinating the drafting of memos and statements as they move around the White House.
It gives Scharf an overview of every step of policy formulation. And it has sometimes been a stepping stone to the top of the legal ladder—the politicians and lawyers who have held the post include Brett Kavanaugh, the future Supreme Court justice under President George W. Bush.
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said the role ‘kept the paper flowing’ making it one of the most important yet underrated jobs in building
‘Will Scharf is an extraordinarily intelligent, respectful team player who is wholeheartedly committed to doing what’s right for the president and for the team,’ she told DailyMail.com.
‘Everybody who knows Will Scharf loves Will Scharf, including me. He has proven to be magnificent at his job.’
Scharf, 38, is a follower of the English Premier League team Wolverhampton Wanderers
He is now a common sight when Trump signs executive orders
Scharf became a familiar sight at Trump events during the past two years … if you knew where to look.
He could be spotted behind the scenes at press conferences at Trump Tower and the president’s Bedminster golf club in New Jersey, a sign that the former federal prosecutor was taking an increasingly important role in Trump’s legal team.
Yet it would also be easy to miss him, as he blended in to the background.
His unassuming demeanour matches his English Premier League team.
Not for him the glamor of a Manchester City or Chelsea. Instead he follows the workmanlike Wolverhampton Wanderers, the legacy of a year living in the United Kingdom when he was eight with his English mother and father who worked in the steel industry.
A Princeton and Harvard Law School alumnus, he cut his political teeth with Eric Greitens, when he won the race to become governor of Missouri in 2016.
During the first Trump administration he worked on the Supreme Court confirmations of Kavanaugh and Amy Coney Barrett.
And in 2023 he launched his own political career, announcing a run for Missouri attorney general. However, he lost out to the Republican incumbent.
At around that time, he and Newsweek senior editor Josh Hammer co-founded ‘Jews Against Soros’, taking aim at Democratic donor and philanthropist George Soros. A favorite target of conservatives, part of their aim was to show their criticism was not based on antisemitism.
‘Why don’t you say what I’m signing?’ – how it all began on inauguration day
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From there he joined Trump’s legal team, working on elements of the New York hush money case and the presidential immunity question.
‘Will is a highly skilled attorney who will be a crucial part of my White House team,’ said Trump when he tapped him for the role in November.
‘He has played a key role in defeating the Election Interference and Lawfare waged against me, including by winning the historic immunity decision in the Supreme Court.’
On Sunday, as the president flew on Air Force One to the Super Bowl in New Orleans, the president signed a proclamation declaring Feb. 9 to be ‘Gulf of America Day.’
He invited press into the presidential cabin to witness the moment.
Eagle-eyed viewers will have noticed that for once Scharf was not at his side, handing over the binder. The staff secretary had given up his place on the trip so that another member of his team could enjoy the Super Bowl.
