White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt will leave her post by the end of August, President Donald Trump announced on Wednesday. Leavitt, who is 28 years old, holds the distinction of being the cnbc.com. Her departure comes less than a month after she returned to the White House following maternity leave for the May 1 birth of her daughter, Viviana. She and her husband, real estate developer Nicholas Riccio, also have a two-year-old son named Nico.
Karoline Leavitt to Step Down as White House Press Secretary
In a social media post on X, Leavitt described the challenges of balancing family and public service, stating that being a mother and welcoming a new baby while working in one of the most demanding jobs in the world had been the most rewarding yet challenging season of her life, to say the least, according to CNBC. She added that since returning, she felt she could not be the best mother to her two young children while devoting the constant attention required of the press secretary, calling her choice a bittersweet decision to embark on a new chapter.
Transition to Outside Advisor and Midterm Strategy
Although she is leaving her official administration post, Trump announced in a Truth Social post that Leavitt will become one of his top outside advisors. In that role, she will work with the Republican Party and serve as an influential voice to help win the upcoming midterm elections in November. Trump praised her tenure, stating that she had been one of the best White House Press Secretaries in the history of the office, according to Deadline.
Harrison Fields, Trump’s former principal deputy press secretary, praised her communication style, noting that she spoke Trump fluently
and knew how to feed the media beast in a successful way that played to the president’s audience, as reported by CBC. During her time in the administration, Leavitt frequently appeared on Fox News and other conservative outlets to champion the president’s agenda while criticizing Democrats and the mainstream media.
Media Relations and Background
Leavitt’s tenure encompassed nearly two full years of Trump’s second term after she entered the White House following his January 2025 return. Previously, she served as a national press secretary on Trump’s 2024 presidential campaign, worked as a spokesperson for the MAGA Inc. super PAC, and was a press assistant during the final year of Trump’s first term. She also worked as communications director for New York Republican Rep. Elise Stefanik and won a 10-way Republican primary in 2022 before losing a House race in New Hampshire against Democratic Rep. Chris Pappas.
During her time as press secretary, Leavitt and communications director Steven Cheung altered the administration’s interactions with the press corps. The administration bypassed the independent White House Correspondents’ Association to hand-pick journalists for the press pool and established a new media
seat in the briefing room for podcasts and digital outlets. During her maternity leave, administration figures including Vice President JD Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent occasionally led the briefings, while President Trump has not yet named a successor for the role.
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