Karoline Leavitt to Leave White House Press Secretary Job at End of August

Karoline Leavitt is done briefing reporters. President Trump announced Wednesday on Truth Social that his press secretary will leave the job at the end of August, citing her decision to prioritize her two young kids over the demands of the West Wing.

"Our wonderful White House Press Secretary, and one of my most trusted aides, Karoline Leavitt, will be departing her role at the end of the month so she can spend more time with her beautiful young children and family, a decision I totally understand and respect!" Trump wrote, according to multiple outlets including CBS News, NBC News and Fox News.

Trump said Leavitt will become one of his "top outside advisors" and "an influential voice within the Republican Party" as the GOP heads into the November midterms. He called her "one of the best White House Press Secretaries in the History of the Office."

Leavitt confirmed it herself in a lengthy post on X. She gave birth to her second child, a daughter named Viviana, in May, and returned from maternity leave in July, according to NBC News and the Daily Signal. She has a two-year-old son as well.

"The truth is since returning to the White House after the birth of my daughter, I have felt in my heart that I cannot be the best mom my two young children deserve while devoting the constant time, energy, and attention required of the White House Press Secretary — and that is why I have ultimately made the bittersweet decision to depart the White House and embark on a new chapter in my life," she wrote.

She called the job "the honor and adventure of a lifetime" and thanked Trump for letting her speak on his behalf from the podium. NBC News noted she's one of only eight women to ever hold the job, and became the first press secretary to have a child while serving in the role.

The Independent flagged that Leavitt has held only one press briefing since coming back from leave, roughly eight weeks after her daughter's birth. That's a thin schedule for someone in a job built around daily public combat with the press.

Leavitt, 28, took the podium at 27, making her the youngest White House press secretary in American history. Before that she was an assistant press secretary and speechwriter during Trump's first term, then communications director for New York Republican Rep. Elise Stefanik. She ran for a U.S. House seat in New Hampshire in 2022, winning a contested GOP primary before losing to Democrat Chris Pappas. She joined Trump's 2024 campaign as national press secretary after a stint with the pro-Trump group MAGA Inc.

Her tenure was defined by combative briefings and open hostility toward what she repeatedly called a biased press corps. Her office took over managing the White House press pool from the White House Correspondents' Association last year and briefly barred the Associated Press over its refusal to use the term "Gulf of America," according to the BBC. Supporters praised her for staying disciplined and aggressive on message; critics accused her of stonewalling and playing favorites with friendly outlets.

Reaction from Republicans was uniformly warm. Florida Sen. Rick Scott called her decision "one to be admired," and Interior Secretary Doug Burgum praised her as "a fearless voice for the President's agenda," according to the Daily Signal. No Democratic officials were quoted reacting to her departure in the available coverage.

Neither Trump nor Leavitt said who will replace her. Newsweek floated several internal candidates: principal deputy press secretary Harrison Fields, communications director Steven Cheung, senior official Taylor Rogers, assistant press secretary Liz Huston, and longtime aide Margo Martin. None have been confirmed or publicly discussed by the White House as of Wednesday.

The Independent reported that Leavitt's exit came a day after the Justice Department's Office of Legal Counsel issued a memo arguing the president can claim executive privilege over communications with "private advisers" if those talks relate to his decision-making. That would potentially apply to Leavitt's new outside role. No other outlet in this set connected the memo's timing to her departure, and neither Trump nor Leavitt referenced it in their statements, so any link between the two events remains speculative rather than established.

The open question now is who takes the podium in September, and whether Trump picks a continuity hire from his existing team or someone new entirely.