US President Donald Trump announced that White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt will step down at the end of August. According to Trump, Leavitt asked to leave the position so she could devote more time to her family and two young children.
In a statement announcing her departure, Trump said he understood and respected her decision, adding that Leavitt would remain one of his top outside advisers and an influential voice in the Republican Party ahead of the midterm elections.
"Karoline has been a real leader in the White House" and "has done a phenomenal job," Trump wrote, also praising her work during his 2024 re-election campaign. He described Leavitt as one of the best White House press secretaries in the history of the office and thanked her for "a job well done."
Leavitt, 28, began her career in national politics during Trump's first term. She joined the first Trump White House as an intern in 2018 and subsequently worked in the presidential correspondence and press offices, eventually serving as an assistant White House press secretary. After Trump left office, she became communications director for Republican Rep. Elise Stefanik of New York.
In early 2024, Leavitt joined Trump's presidential campaign as national press secretary. After winning the November 2024 election, Trump announced that month that he had selected her to serve as White House press secretary. When she took office in January 2025 at the age of 27, Leavitt became the youngest White House press secretary in US history.
Leavitt explained her decision in a post on X, writing that serving as White House press secretary for the past year and a half had been "the honor and adventure of a lifetime." She said she was deeply grateful to Trump for entrusting her with the responsibility of speaking on his behalf and communicating his administration's record to the American public.
Leavitt also spoke candidly about the personal challenge of balancing the demanding position with motherhood after giving birth to her daughter in May.
She said becoming a mother to another child while holding one of the world's most demanding jobs had been both extraordinarily rewarding and challenging. Since returning to the White House from maternity leave, she said, she had increasingly felt unable to be the mother her two young children deserved while also giving the constant time, energy and attention required of a White House press secretary.
That realization, Leavitt said, ultimately led her to make the "bittersweet decision" to leave the White House and begin a new chapter in her life.
