Karoline Leavitt to step down as White House press secretary

Karoline Leavitt, will leave her role as White House press secretary at the end of the month, US President Donald Trump said Tuesday.

Leavitt is one of the best-known faces and most ardent defenders of the MAGA movement.

Trump said in a post on his Truth Social platform that Leavitt was stepping down to "spend more time with her beautiful young children and family," adding that it was "a decision I totally understand and respect!"

Who is Karoline Leavitt?

Leavitt, now 28, who took on the job in January 2025 aged 27 at the start of Trump's second term in office, has been the youngest-ever White House press secretary.

She recently returned from parental leave after giving birth to her second child, a daughter, in May. She also has a 2-year-old son.

After initially wanting to be a journalist, Leavitt soon entered politics. She joined the White House press office during Trump's first term, working under then-spokeswoman Kayleigh McEnany.

After Trump lost the 2020 presidential election to Joe Biden, Leavitt worked for the office of Congresswoman Elise Stefanik, a highly loyal Republican supporter of Trump.

Leavitt later unsuccessfully ran for a seat in the House of Representatives in 2022.

She also worked as a spokesperson for MAGA Inc., a super PAC supporting Trump, before joining his successful 2024 campaign.

'The honor and adventure of a lifetime' — Leavitt

In a post on X, Leavitt waxed lyrical about her period in the job.

"Serving as the White House Press Secretary over the past year and a half has been the honor and adventure of a lifetime," Leavitt wrote.

"I am incredibly grateful to President Trump for granting me so many extraordinary opportunities, such as working in the West Wing and spending countless hours in the Oval Office, flying around the world and meeting foreign leaders, and traveling across our beautiful country and meeting Americans from all walks of life."

She said her "bittersweet decision to depart the White House" was due to the difficulties of combining motherhood with the demands of the White House position.

Leavitt: A devoted defender of Trump

Leavitt, who Trump says will remain "one of my top outside advisors, and an influential voice within the Republican Party," has been a key figure in promoting the president's ideology and views, sometimes stretching the truth to do so.

Her very first press conference, on January 28, 2025, was notable for her false claim that $50 million (€43.4 million) in US taxpayers' money had been earmarked to buy condoms in the Gaza Strip.

Since then, she has staunchly defended Trump's hard-line policies while deflecting questions such as those concerning the president's ties with the sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

She was also known for denigrating mainstream media outlets in line with Trump's hostile attitude to reporters who gainsay him.

Her devotion has brought her consistent praise from the president, who has now called her "one ‌of the best White House Press Secretaries in the History of the Office."