White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt will be departing her role at the end of this month to spend more time with her young children, President Trump announced Wednesday.
Mr. Trump, writing on social media, called it “a decision I totally understand and respect!”
Ms. Leavitt has a 2-year-old son and a daughter who was born in May.
“Karoline will now be one of my top outside advisors, and an influential voice within the Republican Party, as we work to defy History, and conclusively win the Midterm Elections,” Mr. Trump wrote.
Ms. Leavitt, 28, is the youngest person in history to hold the job of White House press secretary. She’s occupied the role since the start of Mr. Trump’s second term.
During that time, she reshaped the briefing room by creating a new media seat for nontraditional outlets, often calling on those journalists first, and employed a well-prepared and at times combative style that mirrored her boss’s.
Previously, she served as an assistant White House press secretary to Mr. Trump in 2020 and as communications director for Rep. Elise Stefanik, New York Republican.
She worked as a spokeswoman for the MAGA Inc. super PAC and as press secretary for Mr. Trump’s 2024 campaign.
“Karoline has been one of the best White House Press Secretaries in the History of the Office. Thank you, Karoline, for a job well done!” Mr. Trump wrote.
The president, who often takes questions from the media at public events, did not name a successor for the press secretary role.
In her own post, Ms. Leavitt called her decision to leave “bittersweet.”
She said she could no longer be “the best mom my two young children deserve while devoting the constant time, energy, and attention required of the White House Press Secretary.”
She called serving as press secretary the honor and adventure of a lifetime, and said she would remain engaged as a foot soldier for Mr. Trump, the MAGA movement and the Republican Party.
“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,” she said on X. “My fight is entering a new phase, but it is far from over.”
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