The Administration · Out the door
Former White House Press Secretary Out the door
The youngest White House press secretary in history, Leavitt spoke for President Trump for 19 months before leaving in August 2026; the job has been empty since her successor was removed after five days.
Why they left: She announced on August 12, 2026 that she was leaving at the end of the month to spend more time with her two young children. 1 Now: She returned to the pro-Trump super PAC MAGA Inc. and became a Fox News on-air contributor starting November 1, 2026. 2 3
Karoline Leavitt was born in Atkinson, New Hampshire, in 1997 and studied communications at Saint Anselm College, graduating in 2019. 7 She interned at Fox News during the 2016 campaign while still in college. 3 After graduation she joined the White House correspondence office in President Trump's first term and became an assistant press secretary in 2020. 7 When that term ended she worked as communications director for Rep. Elise Stefanik of New York. 1
In 2022 she ran for Congress in New Hampshire. She won a 10-way Republican primary but lost the general election to the Democratic incumbent, Rep. Chris Pappas. 1 She then became a spokesperson for MAGA Inc., a super PAC that supports Trump, and in 2024 she was the national press secretary for his campaign. 1 7 Trump named her White House press secretary in November 2024, and she took the post on January 20, 2025. 7
At the White House she was the youngest person ever to hold the job. 1 She created a seat in the briefing room for what the White House calls new media, and her office took control of which outlets join the press pool. 4 7 The Associated Press sued her and two other officials in February 2025 after its reporters were barred from pool events over the name of the Gulf of Mexico. 8 The AP reported that she briefed from the press room less often than some recent predecessors. 1
Leavitt gave birth to her second child in May 2026 and returned to the podium, but in August she said she could not meet the demands of the job and of her family at once. 1 Her last day was August 27, 2026. 2 Trump said she would remain one of his top outside advisers. 1 The post then sat empty until October, when Katie Zacharia held it for five days, and it is vacant again today. 5 9
What happened while Karoline held the post.
Held her first briefing. She said $50 million had been set aside for condoms in Gaza, a claim reporters traced to a misread grant for HIV prevention in Mozambique. 7
The White House barred Associated Press reporters from press pool events after the AP kept using the name Gulf of Mexico. 8
The AP sued Leavitt, Taylor Budowich and Susie Wiles in federal court in Washington, citing the First and Fifth Amendments. 8
Judge Trevor McFadden ordered the White House to lift the restrictions on the AP while the case proceeds; an appeals court later put most of that order on hold. 8
CBS News reported that she moved back into the press secretary's traditional West Wing office and took on some of the duties of departing deputy chief of staff Taylor Budowich. 10
The White House stopped reporters from walking into the Upper Press area, where her office sits, without an appointment. 6
Announced she would leave at the end of the month. 1
Worked her final day as press secretary. 2
What critics, courts or investigators have said, and the answer given. An allegation is not a finding.
The Associated Press alleged in its lawsuit that the White House punished it for its editorial choices by shutting its reporters out of the Oval Office and Air Force One. A district judge sided with the AP in April 2025; in June 2025 an appeals panel voted 2-1 to let the White House keep most of the restrictions during the appeal. 8
Their side: The White House appealed the district court ruling and defended its right to choose who enters small spaces such as the Oval Office. 8
According to Wikipedia's account of her amended campaign filings, her 2022 congressional campaign disclosed in January 2025 that it owed $326,370, including about $200,000 in donations above the legal limit that had not been returned. 7
Their side: No public response found.
Trump posted on Truth Social that UFC CEO Dana White has been offered the press secretary job and asked him to bring fighters along. Neither White nor the White House has responded, and it is unclear whether the offer is serious.
President Trump is blaming Fox News for Republicans losing the House and Senate, even as the network's own election-night commentators largely defended him.
File checked Nov. 13, 2026. Something wrong or out of date? Tell the desk.
