US President Donald Trump announced on Twitter that press secretary Sarah Sanders will be leaving his administration at the end of June.

The news came after Sanders had held no press briefings since March, 94 days ago. Trump has been issuing his own statements, often via Twitter, in addition to meeting with individual news organizations for interviews and answering reporters' questions himself rather than through his press secretary.

Trump initially made the announcement in a tweet but followed this up with a public show of support. He stood side by side with the outgoing press secretary and declared: "We've been through a lot together, and she's tough, but she's good."

After Trump described her as a "warrior," Sanders said the job had been the "honor of a lifetime."

"I've loved every minute, even the hard minutes," she said. "I have three amazing kids and I'm going to spend a little more time with them."

A run for governor? 

The president had earlier on Thursday tweeted: "After 3 1/2 years, our wonderful Sarah Huckabee Sanders will be leaving the White House at the end of the month and going home to the Great State of Arkansas."

He also endorsed her for state governor, a position her father, Mike Huckabee, once held.

Trump also wrote: "She is a very special person with extraordinary talents, who has done an incredible job! I hope she decides to run for Governor of Arkansas — she would be fantastic."

Mueller report questions

Over the last three months, regular White House press briefings effectively ceased and Sanders gave interviews to channels such as Fox News instead. 

Her credibility came into question with the release of special counsel Robert Mueller's report into Russian interference in the 2016 election campaign.

The report showed that Sanders admitted to investigators she had made an unfounded claim about "countless" FBI agents reaching out to express support for the president's decision to fire FBI Director James Comey in May 2017. 

jsi, jm/rg (Reuters, AP)

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