Jimmy Fallon thinks he knows why Donald Trump, 80, may need a whole team to replace outgoing White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt.
“Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt is on her way out,” Fallon said on The Tonight Show Tuesday. “But I read that instead of replacing her with one person, Trump might use a rotating cast of officials to handle press briefings, which is code for nobody wants that job.”
The president is considering having Cabinet officials and other senior administration figures rotate through White House press briefings for an “indefinite period,” CNN reported.
One senior White House official told CNN that Trump “genuinely doesn’t know who to pick and has expressed zero urgency” about finding a replacement.
The administration already tested a similar arrangement during Leavitt’s maternity leave from April through July, when officials including Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio stepped behind the podium.
Leavitt, who became the youngest White House press secretary in history when she took the job at 27 in January 2025, announced earlier this month that she would leave at the end of August to spend more time with her young family.
The Daily Beast revealed last week that CNN conservative commentator Scott Jennings, 48, is the frontrunner to replace her.
Jennings, one of Trump’s most vocal defenders on CNN, has declined to publicly say whether he wants the job. He reportedly met with White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles about the position even before Leavitt announced her departure.
But his appointment is far from certain. Trump has indicated that he would prefer another woman to take over the podium after Leavitt leaves.
Fallon also took aim at Trump’s sinking poll numbers, citing a new survey that put the president’s approval rating at 33 percent.
“I mean, most people like to drop a few for the summer, but this is pretty bad,” he joked.
The late-night host then turned to concerns about the ongoing war with Iran after the poll found a large majority of Americans worried that the conflict could become endless.
“The only things we want to be endless are shrimp at Red Lobster and seasons of Grey’s Anatomy,” Fallon said.
