Karoline Leavitt to Leave White House Press Secretary Role
President Donald Trump announced Wednesday that White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt will leave her position at the end of the month, citing her desire to spend more time with her family.
In a post on Truth Social, Trump said Leavitt, 28, would continue working with him as an outside adviser and remain an influential Republican voice ahead of the midterm elections. The White House has not announced who will succeed her as press secretary.
Leavitt confirmed her departure in a statement on X, thanking Trump and her White House colleagues. She said she plans to remain a public advocate for the Make America Great Again movement and the Republican Party.
She explained that after returning to work following the birth of her daughter Viviana in May, she concluded that she could not meet both the demands of the press secretary role and the needs of her two young children. Leavitt described her service as a privilege and said she would continue supporting the administration during the remainder of Trump’s term.
Leavitt’s political career began in 2018 when she served as a White House intern in the Office of Presidential Correspondence while attending Saint Anselm College in New Hampshire. She later became communications director for Republican Representative Elise Stefanik of New York.
Leavitt subsequently ran for Congress in New Hampshire but lost to Democratic incumbent Chris Pappas. She then joined Trump’s third presidential campaign and worked as a spokesperson for the pro-Trump super PAC MAGA Inc. In January 2024, she became the campaign’s national press secretary.
Leavitt gave birth to her first child, Niko, in July 2024. According to CNN, she returned to work four days later after the attempted assassination of Trump in Butler, Pennsylvania. She later became the youngest person ever to serve as White House press secretary.