Ja'Ron Smith
{{Short description|American political advisor, member of the Trump administration}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=August 2020}}
{{Infobox politician
| name = Ja'Ron Smith
| image = Ja'Ron K. Smith (cropped).jpg
| office = Deputy Director of the Office of American Innovation
| predecessor = Position established
| term_start = April 2019
| term_end = November 6, 2020
| president = Donald Trump
| 1blankname = Director
| 1namedata = Jared Kushner
| successor = Position abolished
| birth_date = {{birth date and age|1982|7|29}}{{cite web|url=https://www.politico.com/story/2019/07/29/playbook-birthday-jaron-smith-1439050|website=Politico|title=BIRTHDAY OF THE DAY: Ja'Ron Smith, deputy assistant to the president|date=July 29, 2019}}{{cite news|url=https://www.cleveland.com/open/2019/10/cleveland-native-jaron-smith-guides-president-donald-trumps-urban-policy.html|first=Sabrina|last=Eaton|newspaper=The Plain Dealer|title=Cleveland native Ja'Ron Smith guides President Donald Trump's urban policy|date=October 2, 2019}}
| birth_place = Cleveland, Ohio, U.S.
| death_date =
| death_place =
| party = Republican
| education = Howard University (BBA, MDiv)
}}
Ja'Ron K. Smith (born July 29, 1982) is an American political advisor. He served as a Deputy Assistant to the President and deputy director of the Office of American Innovation for Donald Trump from April 2019 to November 2020.{{Cite web|url=https://trumpwhitehouse.archives.gov/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/July-1-2020-Report-FINAL.pdf|title=Annual Report to Congress on White House Personnel 2020|date=2020-06-26|via=National Archives|work=whitehouse.gov|access-date=2020-11-24}}{{Cite news|url= https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/jaron-smith-black-trump-white-house-b1652592.html|title= Ja'Ron Smith, highest-ranking Black Trump adviser, has left the White House |author-link=Jeremy Diamond (journalist)|first=Griffin |last=Connolly|work=The Independent|date=2020-11-07|access-date=2020-11-24}} 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.{{Cite news|url=https://trumpwhitehouse.archives.gov/briefings-statements/president-donald-j-trump-announces-appointments-executive-office-president/|title=President Donald J. Trump Announces Appointments for the Executive Office of the President|date=February 9, 2018|access-date=August 20, 2018|via=National Archives|work=whitehouse.gov|language=en-US}}{{Cite web|title=Domestic Policy Council, Staff Announcements {{!}} Federal Relations|url=https://www.washington.edu/federalrelations/2017/01/05/domestic-policy-council-staff-announcements/|website=www.washington.edu|date=January 5, 2017 |language=en|access-date=August 20, 2018}}{{Cite web|title=Ja'Ron K. Smith {{!}} Trump Town|url=https://projects.propublica.org/trump-town/staffers/ja-ron-k-smith|website=ProPublica|date=March 7, 2018 |language=en|access-date=May 17, 2020}}{{Cite web|url=https://trumpwhitehouse.archives.gov/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/July-1-2019-Report-FINAL.pdf|title=Annual Report to Congress on White House Personnel 2019|date=2019-06-28|via=National Archives|work=whitehouse.gov|access-date=2020-11-24}}{{Cite news|url= https://trumpwhitehouse.archives.gov/presidential-actions/president-donald-j-trump-announces-appointments-executive-office-president/ |title=President Donald J. Trump Announces Appointments for the Executive Office of the President|date=June 6, 2018|access-date=August 20, 2018|via= National Archives |work= whitehouse.gov |language=en-US}} He also served as the director of urban affairs and revitalization from the beginning of the Trump administration in January 2017.{{Cite web|title=Trump supporters giving away thousands of dollars at events in black communities: report|url=https://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/480464-trump-supporters-giving-away-tens-of-thousands-of-dollars-at-events-in|last=Bowden|first=John|date=January 29, 2020|newspaper=The Hill|language=en|access-date=May 17, 2020}}
Early life and education
Smith is a native of Cleveland, Ohio.{{Cite web|title=Domestic Policy Council, Staff Announcements|url=https://www.washington.edu/federalrelations/2017/01/05/domestic-policy-council-staff-announcements/|website=Federal Relations|date=January 5, 2017 |language=en|access-date=May 18, 2020}}{{Citation|title=Ja'Ron K. Smith 12.13.19.| date=December 13, 2019 |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qo4Kb0OzuSk|language=en|access-date=May 18, 2020}} 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 and left the family for three years before eventually getting off the drug and returning to work at a gas station.{{cn|date=August 2020}}
Smith attended the Immaculate Conception School before being offered a football scholarship from St. Peter Chanel High School in Bedford, Ohio. During his high school football career, Smith was teammates with Bam Childress and Steve Cargile. Smith says he was recruited to play football by John Carroll University, but instead attended Howard University, studying Finance and Economics.{{Cite web|title=Cleveland native Ja'Ron Smith guides President Donald Trump's urban policy|url=https://www.cleveland.com/open/2019/10/cleveland-native-jaron-smith-guides-president-donald-trumps-urban-policy.html|last1=Eaton|first1=Sabrina|date=October 2, 2019|website=Cleveland.com|language=en|access-date=May 17, 2020}} Smith then earned a Master of Divinity from the Howard University Divinity School.{{cn|date=August 2020}}
Career
While in college, Smith worked as an intern for Congressman J. C. Watts. Smith also worked for South Carolina Senator Tim Scott and then-U.S. Rep. Mike Pence.{{cn|date=August 2020}}
In August 2018, Smith's role in the White House was highlighted during questioning of Kellyanne Conway by Jonathan Karl on ABC's This Week regarding the number of Black people that the Trump administration has in senior roles.{{cite news |first=Isaac |last=Stanley-Becker |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2018/08/13/a-black-adviser-in-trumps-west-wing-kellyanne-conway-is-stumped/ |title=A black adviser in Trump's West Wing? Kellyanne Conway is stumped. |newspaper=Washington Post |date=August 13, 2018 |access-date=August 14, 2018}} It emerged that Smith was the highest-ranking Black aide in the White House Office.{{Cite web|title=Ja'Ron K. Smith, the White House's highest ranking African-American staffer. – Friends of the African Union|date=December 13, 2019 |url=https://friendsoftheafricanunion.com/potus45-whdompolicy-jaron-k-smith/|language=en-US|access-date=May 17, 2020}} CNN ran a profile piece on Smith later that week.{{cite web|first1=Abby|last1=Phillip|first2=Betsy|last2=Klein |url=https://www.cnn.com/2018/08/16/politics/jaron-smith-white-house/index.html |title=Black in the White House: Meet Ja'Ron Smith |website=CNN |date=August 16, 2018 |access-date=August 16, 2018}}
On November 6, 2020, Smith announced in a statement posted on Twitter that he had left his post following the 2020 United States presidential election.{{Cite tweet|user=jaronsmith04|number=1324839895735635980|date=6 November 2020|title=https://twitter.com/jaronsmith04/status/1324839895735635980|url=https://twitter.com/jaronsmith04/status/1324839895735635980|access-date=2020-11-07|website=Twitter|language=en}}{{Cite news|date=November 7, 2020|title=The highest-ranking Black Trump adviser has left the White House|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/jaron-smith-black-trump-white-house-b1652592.html|access-date=November 7, 2020|newspaper=The Independent|language=en}}[http://advancingopportunity.org/press-releases/the-announcement-of-caos-new-executive-director-jaron-smith/]. {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210513152512/http://advancingopportunity.org/press-releases/the-announcement-of-caos-new-executive-director-jaron-smith/|date=May 13, 2021}}
References
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{{Trump Executive Office}}
Category:First Trump administration personnel
Category:American political consultants
Category:People from Cleveland
Category:21st-century African-American people
Category:Howard University alumni
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