10
Loading video...
By Gabe Whisnant and Jesus Mesa
0
Share
Newsweek is a Trust Project member
See more of our trusted coverage when you search.Prefer Newsweek on Googleto see more of our trusted coverage when you search.
President Donald Trump announced Wednesday that Karoline Leavitt will step down as White House press secretary at the end of the month.
Trump made the announcement in a post on Truth Social. He said Leavitt is leaving to spend more time with her children and family, calling it "a decision I totally understand and respect."
Leavitt, 28, will move into an outside advisory role, Trump said. He described her as "an influential voice within the Republican Party" as the party works to hold Congress in the midterm elections.
Read More on Politics
Her departure immediately raises questions about who Trump could tap to become the next face of his administration. While Trump had not announced a successor as of Wednesday, potential candidates are likely to emerge from within the White House communications operation or from trusted figures in his broader political orbit.
Scott Jennings, the combative CNN commentator known for his sharp defenses of Trump on air, has emerged as a frontrunner for the role, according to The Daily Beast, which cited sources familiar with the situation. Jennings previously served as a special assistant to President George W. Bush and later advised Senator Mitch McConnell before becoming a fixture on cable news and one of Trump's most reliable defenders.
...
Harrison Fields, the former White House principal deputy press secretary, has also been viewed as a possibility. Elevating a former deputy to the top role would provide continuity for the briefing operation and allow the administration to retain an experienced spokesperson familiar with the White House press corps. Anna Kelly has since taken over as principal deputy press secretary following Fields' departure.
Other possible contenders include White House Communications Director Steven Cheung, a longtime Trump adviser and spokesman known for his combative defense of the president, and Taylor Rogers, a senior communications official who previously worked on Trump's campaign. Assistant press secretary Liz Huston and longtime Trump aide Margo Martin, one of the president's closest communications advisers, could also be considered for a promotion.
Katie Miller and Kari Lake also stand out as two prominent contenders. Miller, the wife of Stephen Miller, Trump's deputy chief of staff for policy, brings extensive experience in Republican communications and Trump-world messaging, having served in the first Trump administration and remained a visible defender of the president's agenda. Lake, meanwhile, combines decades of television journalism experience with a close political alliance with Trump, having served in a senior role at the U.S. Agency for Global Media.
Trump has occasionally favored loyalists with strong television and media credentials, meaning an outside selection from conservative media or the broader MAGA movement cannot be ruled out. However, White House press secretaries have traditionally been drawn from within the administration's communications team, making an internal promotion the more likely path.
Karoline Leavitt Replacement Odds: What Prediction Markets Say
Prediction markets currently list White House Principal Deputy Press Secretary Anna Kelly as the favorite to succeed Leavitt, with Kalshi putting her chances at roughly 19 to 23 percent. Jennings follows closely at around 17 percent, ahead of Kennedy Center Vice President of Public Relations Roma Daravi at 14 percent. Habba, an early frontrunner, has since slipped to around 12 to 13 percent.
Related Video
00:21
Leavitt Announces Her ‘Last Gaggle’ As She Prepares for Maternity Leave
White House Communications Director Steven Cheung and senior Trump communications aide Jason Miller round out the field, with each at high single-digit odds. Natalie Harp, a former One America News anchor and vocal Trump supporter, is also in the mix at around 13 percent. Elizabeth Pipko, a model who began her political career with Trump's 2016 campaign, has served as the Republican National Committee's national spokeswoman since 2024. Her odds currently stand at around 4 percent.
Karoline Leavitt Resignation: Why She's Leaving the White House
In a lengthy post on X, Leavitt said her decision to leave the White House stemmed from the challenge of balancing the around-the-clock demands of serving as press secretary with raising her two young children. While she described the role as "the honor and adventure of a lifetime," she said she ultimately concluded she could not devote the necessary time and attention to both the job and to her family.
Though departing the administration, Leavitt said Trump had asked her to continue serving as an adviser outside the White House and pledged to remain "a vocal advocate for MAGA and the Republican Party," adding that her political "fight is entering a new phase, but it is far from over."
Related Story
Karoline Leavitt Was Trump’s Real Decoy Plane
Leavitt, who recently returned to her post after having her second child in May, worked as a spokesperson for MAGA Inc., a super PAC supporting Trump, before joining his 2024 campaign staff. In 2022, she ran for Congress in New Hampshire, winning the Republican primary before losing to incumbent Democratic Representative Chris Pappas.
During Trump’s first presidential term, Leavitt worked as a press aide in the White House press office. She went on to become communications director for New York Republican Representative Elise Stefanik.
Karoline Leavitt's Timeline in the White House
Leavitt became the youngest White House press secretary in history when Trump named her to the role in November 2024. She has held the position since his inauguration in January 2025.
Praised as one of the most consistent and effective appointments of Trump’s second administration, Leavitt leaves the White House as one of its most successful appointees. Her tenure stands in stark contrast to Trump’s first term, when the press secretary’s office was among the administration’s most tumultuous posts, marked by frequent turnover, public clashes and competing voices.
She held her first briefing on January 28, 2025, spending about 47 minutes taking questions from the White House press corps about a federal grants freeze and the administration’s early deportation efforts. She also quickly clashed with the legacy media, opening the briefing room to new voices and announcing that podcasters, social media influencers and independent content creators would be able to apply for credentials to cover the White House.
...
Her early pledge was to be a visible, frequent presence at the podium, breaking from the binder-heavy briefing style of past secretaries. She also ditched the traditional notes binder her predecessors relied on, including Sean Spicer, Sarah Huckabee Sanders, Kayleigh McEnany and Karine Jean-Pierre.
A Columbia Journalism Review piece months later described her as someone who "frequently sparks outrage — not just from the left, but from traditional conservatives as well," and who remained "openly disdainful of journalists she views as adversarial" while cultivating access with MAGA-aligned outlets.
Leavitt was also named as a defendant in Associated Press v. Budowich, a lawsuit the AP filed in February 2025 after the White House barred its reporters from the press pool over the outlet's refusal to adopt "Gulf of America" in place of "Gulf of Mexico" following Trump's January 2025 executive order renaming the body of water.
That combative approach became a hallmark of her tenure, one Trump repeatedly praised. In his Wednesday post, he called Leavitt “one of my most trusted aides” and said she had been “a real leader in the White House,” crediting her with “fighting for Justice, Liberty, and Freedom” throughout his 2024 campaign and second term.
Karoline Leavitt Resignation: How Trump, JD Vance and Cabinet Officials Reacted
Leavitt's departure drew an outpouring of praise from across the administration, with several Cabinet officials and senior aides marking the moment on social media.
Vice President JD Vance led the tributes, writing that Leavitt handled one of the hardest jobs in the administration with "grace, wit and a smile on her face." He said he was grateful for her work defending the president's agenda.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who filled in for Leavitt at the podium during her maternity leave, struck a similar note, calling her role in the administration "pivotal" and wishing her family well in their next chapter.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent went further, describing Leavitt as "a fighter who has never backed down." He added that he respected her decision to prioritize her family.
...
Others focused on her performance under pressure. FBI Director Kash Patel thanked Leavitt directly, saying she handled the job "with strength and clarity." White House Communications Director Steven Cheung called her "the best teammate," praising her loyalty and adding that her exit was not goodbye but "see you down the road."
Senior adviser Stephen Miller framed her departure in broader terms, saying Leavitt had been a role model to young women across the country and predicting her story was "just beginning."
Attorney General Todd Blanche credited her with lifting morale inside the West Wing, calling her "tough as nails" and one of the president's most loyal allies.
White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles offered the most personal tribute of the group, calling Leavitt "extraordinary" and crediting her with an "unmatched ability to deliver the President's message."
What Comes Next for Karoline Leavitt
Trump's press secretaries have taken very different paths after leaving the podium, and Leavitt's own history suggests she is unlikely to leave politics behind. Sarah Huckabee Sanders left the job in 2019, spent three years out of government and then won the Arkansas governor's race in 2022.
Kayleigh McEnany moved straight to Fox News, while Sean Spicer turned to television and corporate consulting. Stephanie Grisham took a very different route, breaking with Trump, writing a critical memoir and becoming one of his most vocal Republican critics.
Leavitt appears to be following the Sanders path rather than the Grisham one. Trump said she will become one of his "top outside advisors" and "an influential voice within the Republican Party" as Republicans work to hold Congress in the midterms, keeping her firmly within his political orbit rather than leaving it behind.
Contact Newsweek editors on this story: Sam Wilson, Anna Commander
View 0 Comments
Submit Correction
View Editorial & AI Guidelines