President Donald Trump has announced that White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt will leave her post at the end of this month.
Trump wrote on his social media platform: Karoline will now be one of my top outside advisors, and an influential voice within the Republican Party.
He added that she is one of his most trusted aides and expressed understanding and respect for her decision to focus on her family.
Leavitt, who is 28, returned to work last month after welcoming her second child, a baby girl, with husband Nicholas Riccio, and is mother to a two‑year‑old son. She said on X that the role had been "the honor and adventure of a lifetime" and that she could not provide the best motherhood while fulfilling the demanding duties of Press Secretary. She described her decision as bittersweet.
Before her tenure as Press Secretary, Leavitt served as an assistant press secretary and speechwriter during Trump’s first presidency, and later as communications director for U.S. Representative Elise Stefanik. She ran unsuccessfully for Congress in New Hampshire in 2022, winning the Republican primary but losing the general election to Democrat Chris Pappas.
She has been a spokesperson for the pro‑Trump fundraising group Maga Inc. and was the national press secretary for Trump’s 2024 campaign.
The White House has not named a successor to Leavitt, leaving the position vacant until the end of August.
