Ross Worthington

Ross Philip Worthington (born August 1988) is an American speechwriter who has served as the White House director of speechwriting since 2025.

Worthington graduated from Brown University in 2011. He worked for Newt Gingrich's 2012 presidential campaign as his deputy communications director and co-wrote a book with Gingrich in 2013. In December 2016, Worthington was hired as a speechwriter for president-elect Donald Trump. With Vince Haley, he co-wrote several of Trump's speeches in his first term, including the 2018, 2019, and 2020 State of the Union Addresses. Worthington worked for Trump's 2024 presidential campaign and helped him prepare for debates.

In January 2025, Trump named Worthington as the White House director of speechwriting.

Ross Philip Worthington was born in August 1988.^[1] He graduated from Brown University in 2011.^[2]

Worthington served as the deputy communications director for Newt Gingrich's 2012 presidential campaign.^[3]

In December 2016, Politico reported that Worthington had been hired as a speechwriter for president-elect Donald Trump.^[4] In the Trump administration, he and Vince Haley proposed the idea of cities chartered on federal land.^[5] With Haley, Worthington assisted Stephen Miller and Rob Porter in writing the 2018 State of the Union Address.^[6] Haley and Worthington co-wrote the 2019 State of the Union Address—with Miller working to develop the speech in Trump's voice^[7]—and the 2020 State of the Union Address.^[8] Worthington helped draft the speech that Trump delivered prior to the January 6 Capitol attack;^[9] he was subpoenaed by the House Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol^[9] and testified before the committee by April 2022.^[10]

By January, Haley and Worthington were on the payroll for Trump's 2024 presidential campaign.^[11] They largely wrote Agenda 47, Trump's agenda that includes provisions expanding presidential authority.^[12] Worthington helped Trump prepare for his debate with president Joe Biden,^[13] as well as with vice president Kamala Harris,^[14] and helped write the Republican National Committee's platform.^[15]

In January 2025, Politico reported that Trump had named Worthington as the White House director of speechwriting.^[3] With Haley, he co-wrote Trump's inaugural address^[16] and Trump's speech to a joint session of Congress.^[17]

In an article for The Federalist in 2014, Worthington criticized liberalism on university campuses.^[8] During his deposition by the House Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol, he stated that he believed the January 6 Capitol attack was a "protest that got out of control."^[2]

Worthington co-wrote Breakout: Pioneers of the Future, Prison Guards of the Past, and the Epic Battle That Will Decide America's Fate (2013) with Newt Gingrich.^[8]