White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt is leaving the briefing room to return to Trump's super PAC, MAGA Inc., saying she wants to be a better mother to her two young children.
Leavitt, 28, broke the news during what she said would be her final trip in the role, a Friday visit to South Carolina for a rally alongside Sen. Darline Graham Nordone. She told reporters aboard the trip that the position's demands had become impossible to square with raising a toddler son and an infant daughter born in May. The Washington Examiner reported she will leave by the end of the month and transition to MAGA Inc., the pro-Trump super PAC where she worked before joining the 2024 presidential campaign.
President Trump confirmed the departure on Truth Social, calling Leavitt "one of my most trusted aides" and praising her record in terms that left little ambiguity about his view of her tenure:
"Karoline has been one of the best White House Press Secretaries in the History of the Office. Thank you, Karoline, for a job well done!"
At the South Carolina rally, Trump struck a lighter tone. He told the crowd he had just learned the news and delivered the line with a grin.
"I just learned she loves the baby more than she loves Donald Trump, and I'm very angry with her."
Leavitt became the youngest White House press secretary in history when Trump returned to office in January 2025. She gave birth to her second child, a daughter named Viviana, in May. AP News reported that Leavitt recently returned to work after that birth but quickly concluded she could not sustain the pace.
In a statement, Leavitt described her time at the podium as "the honor and adventure of a lifetime" but said her heart told her something had to give:
"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."
This is not the first time Leavitt shortened personal time for the job. In 2024, after giving birth to her first child, she cut her maternity leave to just a few days when then-candidate Trump faced an assassination attempt in Butler, Pennsylvania. That willingness to sprint back earned loyalty inside Trump's orbit, but it also underscored the toll the role takes on a young parent.
The decision stands out in a Washington culture that rarely rewards officials who voluntarily step away from power. Leavitt is not being pushed out. She is walking away from one of the most visible jobs in American politics because she decided her kids come first. That used to be an unremarkable priority. In today's political environment, it reads almost as a countercultural act.
Trump's broader inner circle has been a subject of intense interest as the administration looks toward the midterms, and Leavitt's exit opens a significant vacancy at a moment when the White House communications operation matters more than usual.
Leavitt is not disappearing from the political stage. Fox News confirmed she accepted an offer to return to MAGA Inc., the super PAC aligned with the president. She had worked there before joining the 2024 campaign team, and the move puts her back in familiar territory, outside the White House but inside the machine.
"You guys will still see me all the time," Leavitt told reporters, signaling she intends to remain a visible surrogate. On social media, she posted that she would stay "a top advisor to the president on the outside." Her exact title at MAGA Inc. has not been disclosed.
Trump echoed that framing on Truth Social, writing that Leavitt "will now be one of my top outside advisors, and an influential voice within the Republican Party, as we work to defy History, and conclusively win the Midterm Elections." She will also join the presidential staff for the Republican National Committee's upcoming midterm convention, even after her formal departure from the White House.
The rally in South Carolina where the announcement landed was itself part of the administration's midterm push. Trump traveled there to appear with Sen. Graham Nordone, a visit that fits the broader pattern of the president rallying support for key Republican Senate candidates heading into a competitive cycle.
Standing in front of Air Force One on Friday, Trump fielded questions about who would take over the briefing room. He offered one name unprompted.
"Scott Jennings is good."
Jennings is a conservative radio host and CNN senior political contributor, a combative on-air presence who has sparred regularly with liberal panelists. The New York Post reported that Margo Martin has also been mentioned as a possible candidate and that the search remains "an open book."
Trump made clear the position is attracting interest. "I will tell you this, and Karoline will tell you this: I have never had so many job applications in my life," he said. "They all want that job. They love that job. She has made that job very glamorous."
One RealClearPolitics podcast noted that Trump's own accessibility to the press, he famously gave out his personal phone number to reporters, has at times complicated the traditional press secretary role. Panelist Carolina Lumetta observed that Trump "didn't like Karoline Leavitt and Steven Cheung screening his calls," a dynamic that may shape what the president looks for in a successor.
No formal offer has been extended to Jennings or anyone else, and Trump gave no timeline for naming a replacement. The vacancy leaves the White House without its primary spokesperson at a moment when the administration is ramping up its midterm messaging, a gap that will test whether Trump's own media presence can carry the load alone.
Before boarding Air Force One, Trump kept it simple: "I'm gonna miss her."
Leavitt's departure also comes during a period of broader personnel movement across the Trump administration. Former DHS Secretary Kristi Noem has been discussing her own political future, and the administration continues to make aggressive moves on enforcement priorities, including recent high-profile ICE removals that have kept the White House communications shop busy.
Leavitt described her feelings about leaving as "bittersweet." But she added a line that cut through the usual Washington exit-interview boilerplate.
"But I love my kids even more."
Washington chews through young staffers. It rewards the ones who never leave the building, who treat sleep as optional and family as something to get back to eventually. Leavitt held the most visible communications job in the country at 28 years old, performed it through two childbirths and an assassination attempt, and then decided her children deserved a mother who was present, not just employed.
In a city that confuses proximity to power with purpose, choosing your kids over the podium is the clearest kind of statement a person can make.
