White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt, 28, will leave her position at the end of August, President Donald Trump announced Wednesday via Truth Social. Leavitt, who has held the role since Trump returned to office in January 2025, cited the demands of the job and her wish to spend more time with her two young children as the reason for her departure.
Karoline Leavitt to Depart White House Press Secretary Role at End of August
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt, 28, will leave her position at the end of August, President Donald Trump announced Wednesday via Truth Social. Leavitt, who has held the role since Trump returned to office in January 2025, cited the demands of the job and her wish to spend more time with her two young children as the reason for her departure.
Trump described Leavitt in his Truth Social post as 'one of my most trusted aides' and said she was leaving 'so she can spend more time with her beautiful young children and family, a decision I totally understand and respect.' He added that she would become one of his 'top outside advisors, and an influential voice within the Republican Party.'
Leavitt explained her decision in her own social media post, stating: '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.' She described the decision as 'bittersweet.'
Leavitt had recently returned from a leave of absence following the birth of her second child, a daughter, in May. According to NBC Connecticut, she also has a two-year-old son. According to The Guardian, she delayed her parental leave in order to deliver the administration's first on-camera response to the White House Correspondents' Dinner shooting in April, and returned to work in July.
Both sources note Leavitt was the youngest person to hold the press secretary role, having been 27 when she first took the position. According to The Guardian, she also became the first expectant press secretary in history after announcing her pregnancy in December of the prior year.
Before joining the Trump White House, Leavitt served as a press aide during Trump's first term, then as communications director for New York Republican Rep. Elise Stefanik, according to NBC Connecticut. She also worked as a spokesperson for MAGA Inc., a super PAC supporting Trump, and ran unsuccessfully for Congress in New Hampshire in 2022, winning a 10-way Republican primary before losing to incumbent Democratic Rep. Chris Pappas.
During her tenure, Leavitt was involved in several notable controversies. The Guardian reports she attempted to take control over which outlets served in the White House press pool, a move rejected by the White House Correspondents' Association. Her team introduced a 'new media' seat at the White House, frequently occupied by conservative commentators. She was also named as a defendant in an Associated Press lawsuit after her press team blocked the outlet from the press pool, reportedly in retaliation for the AP's refusal to refer to the Gulf of Mexico as the 'Gulf of America,' according to The Guardian.
According to The Guardian, Leavitt defended the Trump administration's handling of matters related to Jeffrey Epstein, stating during a press briefing that emails tying Trump to Epstein 'prove absolutely nothing other than the fact that President Trump did nothing wrong.' The Guardian also describes an exchange in which Leavitt called a reporter 'a leftwing hack' during questioning about an ICE-related shooting in Minneapolis in January 2026, though the same source notes she declined to endorse adviser Stephen Miller's characterisation of another shooting victim as a 'would-be assassin,' describing that death as a 'tragedy.'
According to The Guardian, Leavitt drew criticism in July after comments on Fox News in which she said Gen Z voters were used to 'getting everything handed to them,' a statement she subsequently walked back by saying her critics had misconstrued her remarks and that many Gen Z Americans were 'hardworking, entrepreneurial, and deeply patriotic.'
NBC Connecticut notes that Leavitt briefed from the White House press room less frequently than some recent predecessors, with Trump primarily deploying her to Fox News and other conservative outlets. Trump's previous press secretaries included Sean Spicer, Sarah Huckabee Sanders, Stephanie Grisham — who never held a briefing — and Kayleigh McEnany. According to The Guardian, Sanders served for almost two years, making her Trump's longest-serving press secretary across both terms.
No successor to Leavitt has been named, according to both sources.
Where sources differ
- The two sources differ slightly in their characterisation of Leavitt's tenure: NBC Connecticut describes her as 'one of the most visible advocates of Trump's MAGA movement,' while The Guardian notes she 'faced frequent criticism for amplifying misinformation and curbing press freedom,' framing her record in more critical terms.
- No successor to Leavitt as White House Press Secretary has been identified or announced in either source.
- The sources do not detail the specific timeline or format of Leavitt's planned role as an outside advisor.
- The outcome or current status of the Associated Press lawsuit in which Leavitt was named as a defendant is not established by either source.
- Neither source provides comment from reporters or media organisations beyond the White House Correspondents' Association regarding Leavitt's overall tenure.
- The sources do not specify when exactly within August her final day will be.
- NBC Connecticut — original — by The Associated Press
- The Guardian US — by Shrai Popat
Read the original at NBC Connecticut