Donald Trump’s administration has been rocked by the seismic departure of White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt months before the midterm elections.
With the president’s popularity tanking over soaring prices and the war in Iran, Trump has now lost one of his most effective defenders as he desperately tries to convince voters of his achievements.
Trump made the announcement on Truth Social on Wednesday, in a post that immediately reverberated across Washington.
“Our wonderful White House Press Secretary, and one of my most trusted aides, Karoline Leavitt, will be departing her role at the end of the month so she can spend more time with her beautiful young children and family, a decision I totally understand and respect!” he wrote.
The president added that Leavitt would remain one of his “top outside advisors, and an influential voice within the Republican Party, as we work to defy History, and conclusively win the Midterm Elections.”
But the loss of yet another woman from his inner sanctum—and one who has spent the past 18 months sparring with the White House press and going to war with Trump’s critics—is a major blow to Trump’s White House operation.
In a statement issued after the president’s announcement, Leavitt, 28, explained that “being a mother and welcoming a new baby while working in one of the most demanding jobs in the world has been the most rewarding yet challenging season of my life, to say the least.”
“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 — and that is why I have ultimately made the bittersweet decision to depart the White House and embark on a new chapter in my life,” she said.
“I will always remain a vocal advocate for MAGA and the Republican Party,” she added.
“Our country is facing an existential threat from an increasingly extremist Democrat Party that seeks to destroy everything great about America, and I believe it is incumbent upon all of us who care about this country to fight back against that threat. My fight is entering a new phase, but it is far from over.”
Leavitt has been with Trump for years, but has taken a noticeably lighter workload since she returned from maternity leave a few weeks ago.
She worked in his first administration, writing constituent mail before transitioning to the press office.
She later worked for New York Congresswoman Elise Stefanik and ran as an unsuccessful congressional candidate in New Hampshire, where she met her husband, 60-year-old real estate developer Nicolas Riccio. The couple have two children, Niko, born 2024, Viviana, born in May this year.
But she was only 27 when she became Trump’s White House press secretary, making her the youngest woman to ever occupy the role.
Adored within MAGA circles, the conservative firebrand quickly became a quintessential Trump communicator: combative, disciplined, and ready to take the fight to the media on his behalf.
But critics will likely remember her as one of the most prolific purveyors of Trump’s falsehoods to ever take the White House podium.
Fact checkers repeatedly caught her making claims that did not withstand scrutiny, from declaring that “tariffs are a tax cut for the American people” to insisting that $50 million in taxpayer money had been earmarked for condoms in Gaza.
As tributes poured in from MAGA world on Wednesday, others took a different tone.
“She knows she won’t be able to spin what will happen in November,” quipped one political observer on X, a reference to the midterm elections when many Republicans expect they will lose control of Congress.
“I’m sure it’s just a coincidence that Karoline Leavitt resigned as White House press secretary after being an unwitting decoy on Air Force One,” said another, a reference to Trump leaving top aides and cabinet officials with members of the press on a plane that was being targeted by Iran while he escaped to a safer aircraft.
Trump, on the other hand, often referred to Leavitt as “a superstar”. During a bizarre interview last year, the 80-year-old even gave her a new moniker: “Machine Gun” Leavitt.
“When she gets up there with that beautiful face and those lips that don’t stop - ‘op-op-op’, like a little machine gun,” he said, making bizarre sound effects.
Trump’s post on Wednesday was far more presidential.
“Karoline has been one of the best White House Press Secretaries in the History of the Office,” Trump concluded. “Thank you, Karoline, for a job well done!”
