How Much Money Does Kayleigh McEnany Make As Trump's Press Secretary?

White House Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany has her work cut out for her, to say the least. As the fourth press secretary to serve in President Donald Trump's administration, McEnany came to the podium just before the coronavirus pandemic hit, according to The New York Times. McEnany took over the job from First Lady Melania Trump's former Press Secretary, Stephanie Grisham, who came on after Sarah Huckabee Sanders. Sanders moved back to her home state of Arkansas in 2019 after two years in the role.

Although Huckabee Sanders and former Grisham both had jobs in the White House before taking the gig, McEnany "was a relative newcomer to the White House offices," according to Distractify.

Despite McEnany's lack of experience, she has an impressive background that includes a 2010 bachelor's degree from Georgetown University, as well as a 2016 graduate degree from Harvard Law School, per The New York Times.

In between her time at Georgetown and her acceptance into law school, McEnany worked at Fox News, but she ended up leaving due to an interesting reason we'll get to later. 

So how much does McEnany make at her new job? We reveal the reported figure after the jump.

Before completing her law degree, Kayleigh McEnany worked as a producer on former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee's Fox News show, per The Washington Post. Although the news outlet had nothing but positive things to say about McEnany, it wasn't putting her in front of the camera, which is what she supposedly wanted.

"I think one of the reasons that Kayleigh went on to law school was because she didn't see she was going to have an on-air opportunity at Fox anytime soon," Huckabee told The New York Times.

If Huckabee is right, then she has found the perfect job as President Donald Trump's press secretary because she is regularly on-camera. So what does this perfectly suited job pay?

It's actually easy to find out because the U.S. government submits an annual salary report for White House employees. The 2019 report stated Sarah Huckabee Sanders' salary as $183,000, although McEnany might not be making that exact figure as Sanders also worked as an assistant to President Donald Trump.

However, it's probably a safe assumption that McEnany is making something very close to this in her new role. Cha-ching! 

Some people might be surprised to learn that Kayleigh McEnany worked at CNN as a paid commentator before moving to Fox News. What's even wilder? During a segment for CNN, McEnany called then-Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump out for "racist" remarks, a sentiment she has since come to regret. "For about the first four weeks of the election, I was watching CNN, and I was naively believing some of the headlines that I saw on CNN," she revealed during a May 2020 White House press briefing, per The Hill. "I very quickly came around and supported the president. In fact, CNN hired me."

Interestingly enough, when McEnany left the network in 2017, she had positive things to say. "I have enjoyed my time at CNN," she tweeted in part. 

It's not clear how much a political commentator for CNN makes, although there is information out there about the salaries of Fox News analysts. Per The Hollywood Reporter's 2019 review of eight Fox News contributor salaries, the low was $31,336, and the high was $569,423. We don't know if McEnany freelanced for CNN or worked at the news organization full-time, or whether CNN's salaries are comparable to Fox News'. 

As for McEnany's time producing former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee's Fox News show, a producer at the network averages an $88,132 salary, according to Glassdoor. 

Now that we've shared some background on Kayleigh McEnany's earning power, let's examine what she was supposedly like before launching her career. 

McEnany's professor at Georgetown University, Peter Manseau, provided some compelling context in an essay for The New Republic, which mainly discussed the press secretary's early ties to Evangelicasim and Christianity in politics. However, Manseau also shared a few anecdotes about McEnany as a student, writing, "I haven't talked to Kayleigh McEnany since she was in my memoir-writing class at Georgetown a dozen years ago. My first thought upon hearing in April that she had become President Trump's new press secretary, shortly before her thirty-second birthday, was that it wasn't much of a surprise. When I knew her, she was an intern for the Bush White House and had already worked for Hannity & Colmes on Fox News. Noticeably more driven than many of her peers, she seemed bound for success at the intersection of media and politics."

He added, "In our limited interactions, I found McEnany to be pleasant, smart, and sincere."

No matter how you might feel about McEnany, it sounds like she was set for success.