Muslim in the White House

I am a hijab-wearing Muslim woman––I was the only hijabi in the West Wing

––and the Obama administration always made me feel welcome and included.

I was hired, straight out of college, to work at the White House

and eventually the National Security Council.

My job there was to promote and protect the best of what my country stands for.

I spent much of 2016 watching with consternation as Donald Trump

vilified our community. Despite this––or because of it––I thought I should try

to stay on the NSC staff during the Trump Administration

in order to give the new president and his aides,

a more nuanced view of Islam, and of America's Muslim citizens................

I lasted eight days  :-[

I notified Trump’s senior NSC communications advisor, Michael Anton

of my departure, since we shared an office : He looked at me and said nothing.

It was only later that I learned he authored an essay under a pseudonym,

extolling the virtues of authoritarianism and attacking diversity

as a “weakness,”

and Islam as “incompatible with the modern West.”.