Ja'Ron K. Smith (born July 29, 1982) is an American political advisor. He served as a

Deputy Assistant to the President The Executive Office of the President (EOP) comprises the offices and agencies that support the work of the president at the center of the executive branch of the United States federal government. The EOP consists of several offices and agenci ...

and deputy director of the

Office of American Innovation The Office of American Innovation (OAI) was an office within the White House Office created by the Trump administration on March 27, 2017. History The purpose of the office was to "make recommendations to the President on policies and plans th ...

for

Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who served as the 45th president of the United States from 2017 to 2021. Trump graduated from the Wharton School of the University of Pe ...

from April 2019 to November 2020. Smith had previously served in the administration as a Special Assistant to the President for Legislative Affairs from June 2018 to April 2019 and Special Assistant to the President for Domestic Policy from February to June 2018. He also served as the director of urban affairs and revitalization from the beginning of the Trump administration in January 2017.

Early life and education

Smith is a native of

Cleveland Cleveland ( ), officially the City of Cleveland, is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located in the northeastern part of the state, it is situated along the southern shore of Lake Erie, across the U.S. ...

Ohio Ohio () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Of the fifty U.S. states, it is the 34th-largest by area, and with a population of nearly 11.8 million, is the seventh-most populous and tenth-most densely populated. The sta ...

. Smith's father worked in the construction industry during summers and as a snow-plower in the winters. Smith's mother was addicted to

crack cocaine Crack cocaine, commonly known simply as crack, and also known as rock, is a free base form of the stimulant cocaine that can be smoked. Crack offers a short, intense high to smokers. The ''Manual of Adolescent Substance Abuse Treatment'' calls ...

and left the family for three years before eventually getting off the drug and returning to work at a gas station. Smith attended the Immaculate Conception School before being offered a football scholarship from

St. Peter Chanel High School Saint Peter Chanel High School was a Catholic high school located in Bedford, Ohio, United States, from 1957 to 2013. The school was closed by the Cleveland Catholic Diocese following a drastic, decreasing trend in enrollment. Building St. Peter ...

Bedford, Ohio Bedford is a city in Cuyahoga County, Ohio, United States located to the east of Cleveland. The population was 13,074 at the 2010 census. It is an eastern first ring suburb of Cleveland. Geography Bedford is located at . It is a first ring subu ...

. During his high school football career, Smith was teammates with

Bam Childress Brandon "Bam" Childress (born March 31, 1982) is a former gridiron football wide receiver. He was signed by the New England Patriots as an undrafted free agent in 2005. He played college football at Ohio State. Childress was also a member of t ...

and

Steve Cargile Steven Glenn Cargile (born June 2, 1982) is a former American football safety in the National Football League for the Dallas Cowboys, Denver Broncos, Cleveland Browns and New York Giants. He played college football at Columbia University. Early y ...

. Smith says he was recruited to play football by

John Carroll University John Carroll University is a private Jesuit university in University Heights, Ohio. It is primarily an undergraduate, liberal arts institution accompanied by the John M. and Mary Jo Boler College of Business. John Carroll has an enrollment of 3, ...

, but instead attended

Howard University Howard University (Howard) is a private, federally chartered historically black research university in Washington, D.C. It is classified among "R2: Doctoral Universities – High research activity" and accredited by the Middle States Commissi ...

, studying Finance and Economics. Smith then earned a

Master of Divinity For graduate-level theological institutions, the Master of Divinity (MDiv, ''magister divinitatis'' in Latin) is the first professional degree of the pastoral profession in North America. It is the most common academic degree in seminaries and divi ...

from the

Divinity School.

Career

While in college, Smith worked as an intern for Congressman

J. C. Watts Julius Caesar Watts Jr. (born November 18, 1957) is an American politician, clergyman, and athlete. Watts was a college football quarterback for the Oklahoma Sooners and later played professionally in the Canadian Football League. He served in t ...

. Smith also worked for South Carolina Senator

Tim Scott Timothy Eugene Scott (born September 19, 1965) is an American businessman and politician serving as the junior United States senator from South Carolina since 2013. A member of the Republican Party, Scott was appointed to the U.S. Senate by Go ...

and then-U.S. Rep.

Mike Pence Michael Richard Pence (born June 7, 1959) is an American politician who served as the 48th vice president of the United States from 2017 to 2021 under President Donald Trump. A member of the Republican Party, he previously served as the 50th ...

. In August 2018, Smith's role in the

White House The White House is the official residence and workplace of the president of the United States. It is located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D.C., and has been the residence of every U.S. president since John Adams in 1800. ...

was highlighted during questioning of

Kellyanne Conway Kellyanne Elizabeth Conway ( née Fitzpatrick; born January 20, 1967) is an American political consultant and pollster, who served as Senior Counselor to the President in the administration of Donald Trump from 2017 to 2020. She was previousl ...

Jonathan Karl Jonathan D. Karl (born January 19, 1968) is an American political journalist and author. Karl has covered every major assignment in Washington, D.C., including the White House, Capitol Hill, the Pentagon, and the U.S. State Department, and has r ...

on ABC's '' This Week'' regarding the number of Black people that the Trump administration has in senior roles. It emerged that Smith was the highest-ranking Black aide in the

White House Office The White House Office is an entity within the Executive Office of the President of the United States (EOP). The White House Office is headed by the White House chief of staff, who is also the head of the Executive Office of the President. The s ...

. ''CNN Digital Expansion'' ran a "who is" piece later that week. On November 6, 2020, Smith announced in a statement posted on

Twitter Twitter is an online social media and social networking service owned and operated by American company Twitter, Inc., on which users post and interact with 280-character-long messages known as "tweets". Registered users can post, like, and ...

that he had left his post following the

2020 United States presidential election The 2020 United States presidential election was the 59th quadrennial presidential election, held on Tuesday, November 3, 2020. The Democratic ticket of former vice president Joe Biden and the junior U.S. senator from California Kamala Ha ...

.
References

Living people
Trump administration personnel">Living people"> References

Living people
Trump administration personnel 1982 births American political consultants People from Cleveland African-American people Howard University alumni Ohio Republicans {{US-gov-bio-stub