The youngest White House press secretary in history is leaving the briefing room at the end of August to join MAGA Inc., citing the demands of raising two children under three, but promising supporters she is not going away.
Karoline Leavitt broke the news Friday evening outside Air Force One, telling reporters she would leave her post and move to the Trump-aligned super PAC where she once served as spokesperson before joining the 2024 campaign. The flight to Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, where President Trump was headed to rally for Sen. Darline Graham's full-term Senate bid, doubled as Leavitt's final official outing aboard the presidential aircraft.
"You guys will still see me all the time," Leavitt told reporters, signaling she intends to stay squarely inside Trump's political orbit even after handing over the podium.
Leavitt was 27 when she took the job at the start of Trump's second administration in January 2025, making her the youngest person ever to hold the title. She returned from maternity leave in mid-July after the birth of her daughter in May. She and her husband, New Hampshire real estate developer Nicholas Riccio, also have a son born in July 2024, meaning both children are still in preschool.
Leavitt framed her departure in personal terms, not political ones. Just The News reported that she pointed to the collision between the most demanding job in communications and the reality of two babies at home.
"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."
She told reporters she would miss the White House job, "but I love my kids even more."
That candor is worth noting. Washington careers are littered with officials who cite "family time" as cover for a firing or a forced exit. In Leavitt's case, the timeline backs up the claim: she gave birth weeks ago, came back to work almost immediately, and is now stepping away before the midterm cycle reaches full intensity. The move to MAGA Inc. keeps her in the fight without the around-the-clock pressure of the West Wing podium.
Leavitt is not the only senior staffer to leave the White House ahead of the midterms. Legislative director James Braid recently departed as well, part of a broader shuffle as the administration repositions for November.
Trump made clear Friday that the departure was amicable, and that filling the vacancy would not be a problem.
"I will tell you this, and Karoline will tell you this, I have never seen so many job applications in my life."
Before boarding Air Force One, the president added a simpler line: "I'm gonna miss her."
Trump said Leavitt would continue working with the White House as one of his "top advisers" and called her an "influential voice within the Republican Party." That language tracks with the MAGA Inc. role. Breitbart reported that the super PAC has accumulated more than $350 million in campaign funds ahead of November's midterms, giving Leavitt a well-funded platform to keep pressing the administration's message outside the formal White House structure.
Leavitt herself said her "fight" against the Democratic Party would not end once she vacated the post. For a 28-year-old who has already held the most visible communications job in American government, the move looks less like a retreat and more like a lane change.
The White House has not named an immediate successor. Trump described the search as ongoing and signaled the decision would be difficult, given the volume of interest.
CNN conservative commentator Scott Jennings and Katie Miller, wife of White House deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller, have been mentioned as candidates under consideration. The New York Post also floated Margo Martin as a possibility. None of the reported candidates have publicly confirmed interest or received a formal offer based on available reporting.
The vacancy will draw intense attention. Alina Habba recently denied she was in the running for the press secretary role, a sign of how quickly speculation swirls around any opening at the podium.
Whoever takes the job will inherit a briefing room that Leavitt reshaped with a combative, fast-paced style. She stepped into the role younger than any predecessor and managed the podium through a second Trump term that has generated no shortage of contentious exchanges with the press corps.
The broader administration continues to manage personnel changes as midterm season approaches. Internal White House dynamics have drawn scrutiny on multiple fronts this year, and the press secretary vacancy adds another high-profile slot to the board.
Leavitt's return to MAGA Inc. reunites her with an organization she knows well. She served as the super PAC's spokesperson before moving to Trump's 2024 campaign, and her familiarity with the operation should shorten the ramp-up time considerably.
With $350 million reportedly on hand, MAGA Inc. is positioned as the dominant outside spending vehicle for Republican midterm efforts. Adding a former press secretary who spent a year and a half as the public face of the Trump White House gives the PAC a communicator with built-in name recognition and media relationships, exactly the kind of asset that matters in a cycle where every House and Senate race will be nationalized.
Trump has already signaled that the midterms are central to his agenda. He has acknowledged the 22nd Amendment bars a third term, making the midterms the clearest measure of whether his coalition can sustain its strength beyond his own candidacy. Leavitt's move to MAGA Inc. fits that calculus: keep the sharpest messengers in the field, even if they leave the building.
Friday's rally in Myrtle Beach, Leavitt's last ride on Air Force One, was itself a midterm play, with Trump stumping for Sen. Graham's bid to win a full term for her late brother's seat. The event underscored how tightly the White House is linking its personnel moves to the November map.
Leavitt leaves the podium on her own terms, with a job waiting and a president publicly vouching for her future. Washington does not always let people exit that cleanly. The fact that she managed it says something about both her standing inside Trump's circle and the seriousness of the family calculus she described.
A mother of two toddlers decided the briefing room could wait. The fight, she made clear, will not.
