Karoline Leavitt expected to leave White House press secretary role
Developed over time first seen 2 months ago
Karoline Leavitt is expected to leave her post as White House press secretary at the end of August, after President Donald Trump announced the decision on Truth Social. Reports say Leavitt, 28, intends to spend more time with her two young children following her return from maternity leave. She has served in the role since the start of Trump’s second administration and has been described as the youngest person to hold the position.
No successor had been formally named at the time of the reports. Coverage has identified several people as possible candidates, including principal deputy press secretary Anna Kelly, commentator Scott Jennings and Alina Habba, although these names largely reflect media and social-media speculation rather than a confirmed White House shortlist. Some reports also suggested the administration could again use a rotating group of senior officials for press briefings while a permanent replacement is chosen.
- Leavitt is due to leave the press secretary role at the end of August.
- She cited a wish to devote more time to her young children.
- The White House had not publicly confirmed a successor.
New here? Start with this
The White House press secretary is the president’s main spokesperson for reporters. The role involves explaining the administration’s policies, answering questions at regular briefings and responding to major events.
Karoline Leavitt has held the post during Donald Trump’s presidency and has been one of the administration’s most visible public figures. A change in the role can matter because the next press secretary will help shape how the White House presents its decisions and deals with scrutiny from the media.
Full account
Karoline Leavitt, the 28-year-old White House press secretary, is expected to step down from her role at the end of August, only weeks after returning from maternity leave. According to reports, she informed colleagues on Wednesday that she intends to leave the post to devote more time to her two young children, prompting immediate speculation in Washington over who might take her place at the briefing room lectern.
The announcement echoes the arrangement used earlier in the summer when Leavitt was away on leave. Rather than appoint a temporary stand-in, the White House rotated senior officials through press briefing duties, including Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Vice President JD Vance, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services administrator Dr Mehmet Oz. Some observers now expect a similar rotating cast of administration figures to front briefings rather than a single permanent successor being named straight away.
Reaction from within Republican circles has already begun. Sean Spicer, who himself served as Trump's press secretary during his first term, suggested any successor would need to have an established rapport with the president, given how central the role is to shaping the administration's public message on policy and personnel. Spicer confirmed he would not be putting himself forward for consideration again. Attention has also turned to Alina Habba, a former personal attorney to Trump and prominent campaign surrogate who was widely tipped for the job after his re-election. Habba turned down the role at the time, saying she felt she could contribute more elsewhere, and went on to serve as counsellor to the president before a brief and contentious spell as interim US attorney for New Jersey — an appointment later ruled unconstitutional, after which she resigned and took up a senior advisory post to the attorney general.
Betting markets and industry chatter currently point elsewhere, however. Habba, once considered an early favourite, has reportedly slipped to third place in wagering on the site Kalshi, behind conservative commentator Scott Jennings, a CNN contributor and former aide to President George W Bush who was said to have been in the running back in 2024, and Anna Kelly, Leavitt's principal deputy press secretary. Kelly has represented the White House in media appearances during Leavitt's absence but has not yet taken a formal turn behind the briefing room podium, leaving her positioning — like that of the other contenders — a matter of speculation rather than confirmation.
Where outlets differ
Both supplied source reports are drawn from the same outlet, Fox News Digital, and are near-identical in content and structure, so there is no meaningful divergence in facts or emphasis to compare between them.
Neither source has yet confirmed a named successor; both frame the story around speculation, betting-market positioning and precedent from Leavitt's maternity-leave cover arrangements rather than any official White House statement on a replacement.
More coverage
- Fox News — Scramble for Karoline Leavitt's replacement ensues with just weeks until Trump's spokesperson exits
- Daily Mail — Karoline Leavitt expected to leave White House press secretary role
- AOL — Scramble for Karoline Leavitt's replacement ensues with just weeks until Trump's spokesperson exits
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Originally published by Daily Mail as “Karoline Leavitt caught in uncomfortable truth after gushing Trump resignation post”.