Trump Names Will Scharf As New White House Counsel

President Donald Trump on Sunday named staff secretary Will Scharf to White House counsel, the top legal adviser for the White House.

The president said Scharf will start on Sept. 1 and replace current White House Counsel David Warrington, who is taking a job in the private sector. Scharf, like Warrington, served as the president’s personal lawyer before working in the White House.

“I know Will well! He previously represented me in numerous cases, including at the Supreme Court, during the Biden Administration’s corrupt and illegal campaign of Weaponization,” the president wrote.

“Will is Tough, Strong, and Smart! He also loves our Country, and respects the Law. Will Scharf will do a great job as White House Counsel!”

In his role as staff secretary, where he oversees administrative work in the White House, Scharf’s most public-facing job is to shepherd executive orders through the signing process in the Oval Office, giving the president a brief description of each order before he signs.

Scharf also serves as chair of the National Capital Planning Commission, a panel that oversees federal development projects in Washington — a key focus of the president during his second term. Trump, who appointed multiple members of his administration to the commission, has used it to scrutinize renovations of the Federal Reserve building under the tenure of former Chair Jerome Powell, who Trump criticized regularly for not lowering interest rates.

The commission also approved the president’s plans to build a massive ballroom at the White House, which involved demolishing the East Wing, a project that has been the subject of an ongoing legal battle.

While working on Trump’s legal team before he took office for a second term, Scharf mounted an unsuccessful run for Missouri attorney general in 2024. He served as an assistant U.S. attorney in the Eastern District of Missouri from 2020 to 2022.