Rob Porter

Robert Roger Porter (born October 25, 1977 ) is an American lawyer and former political aide who served in the first Trump administration. He was White House Staff Secretary from 2017 until his resignation in 2018, when domestic abuse allegations from both of his former wives came to public attention. Since 2025, Porter has been Chief Global Affairs Officer for Coupang, a Fortune 150 U.S. technology company headquartered in Seattle, Washington.

Early life and education Porter was born in Boston and grew up in Belmont, Massachusetts, and Washington, D.C. Porter's mother Ann Porter (née Robinson), who died in May 2017, was Faculty Dean of Harvard's Dunster House dormitory. After graduating from high school, Porter interned in the United States Senate.

He attended Harvard University, where he studied government and was elected President of the Harvard Republican Club and Chair of Harvard Students for Bush. After his freshman year at Harvard, he began a two-year stint as a missionary for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in London, England.

Porter was subsequently a Rhodes Scholar, studying Political Theory at the University of Oxford, He served as Editor-in-Chief of the Harvard Journal of Law & Public Policy, a student-run publication focused on conservative and libertarian legal scholarship. Porter was also a Lincoln Fellow at the Claremont Institute, a conservative think tank dedicated to statesmanship and political philosophy.

Political career

Following law school, Porter clerked for the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. In 2014, Porter became Chief of Staff to Senator Orrin Hatch. In that role he drafted the President's executive orders, vetted official documents requiring a presidential signature, and briefed the president daily on a range of issues. He was also credited with a lead role in crafting Trump's first State of the Union address in January 2018.

Porter resigned from his position at the White House on February 7, 2018, following public allegations of spousal abuse, and was succeeded on an acting basis by Derek Lyons. After his departure, Porter continued to advise Trump on policy issues. Trump told aides he wanted Porter to return to the White House, commenting that excessive media criticism due to his proximity to the President had left Porter unable to defend himself publicly. The Wall Street Journal published a pro-Trump opinion article by Porter in March 2019, arguing that despite his protectionist orientation Trump could "advance the cause of free trade more consequentially" than previous presidents. and the White House directed Porter not to testify in September 2019.

Coupang In 2023, Coupang appointed Porter as an advisor for external affairs, with a portfolio including global investments, cross-border trade, and U.S. government relations. In 2025, Porter became the company's Chief Global Affairs Officer, leading teams across North America, Asia, and Europe. In 2009, he married Jennifer Willoughby in Cambridge, Massachusetts; Porter filed for divorce from Willoughby in Virginia in 2013. In February 2018, Willoughby and Holderness made allegations in an online British tabloid, DailyMail.com, that Porter had been abusive during their marriages. The story produced significant media coverage given scrutiny of the Trump White House. While various outlets published a photo of Holderness with a black eye that she said she took to document alleged abuse; she later admitted that this claim was false and that in fact Porter had taken the photo.

Porter denied his ex-wives' claims but resigned from his position at the White House on February 7, 2018, stating, "These outrageous allegations are simply false.... I have been transparent and truthful about these vile claims, but I will not further engage publicly with a coordinated smear campaign."

Porter had been dating White House Director of Communications Hope Hicks at the time of his resignation in 2018.