White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt announced Friday she is leaving her post to spend more time with her two young children, a departure President Trump praised even as he joked about feeling jilted.
Leavitt told reporters during a trip to South Carolina that the visit would be her last in her current role. She will return to MAGA Inc., the Trump-aligned super PAC where she worked before joining the 2024 presidential campaign. NBC News first reported that her new position would be at the super PAC, though Leavitt has not yet disclosed her specific title there, the Washington Examiner reported.
Trump announced the resignation on Truth Social, calling Leavitt "one of my most trusted aides" and offering a send-off that left no ambiguity about where she stands with the boss.
"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!"
At a South Carolina rally with Sen. Darline Graham Nordone, Trump delivered the news to the crowd with his usual flair. He told the audience he had "just learned she loves the baby more than she loves Donald Trump," adding, "and I'm very angry with her." The line drew the reaction he wanted, a laugh, not a grievance.
Leavitt's tenure at the podium was bookended by motherhood. She gave birth to her first child in 2024, then cut her maternity leave to just a few days after the assassination attempt on then-candidate Trump in Butler, Pennsylvania. That decision, rushing back to work while most new mothers are still adjusting to life with a newborn, earned her loyalty points inside Trump's orbit that few staffers can claim.
She had her second child earlier this year. The decision to step away now, with the midterm election cycle approaching, suggests she weighed the demands of the job against the reality of raising two small children and chose family. In a political culture that often treats parenthood as a talking point rather than a lived constraint, Leavitt appears to have meant it.
Leavitt is not disappearing from the president's circle entirely. She posted on social media that she would remain a top advisor to the president from outside the White House. And she will attend the Republican National Committee's midterm convention as part of the presidential staff before fully transitioning to MAGA Inc.
Leavitt's departure follows that of White House legislative director James Braid, another senior staffer who left ahead of the midterms. Staff turnover before a midterm cycle is routine in any administration, but two high-profile exits in quick succession will draw attention from a press corps eager to frame every departure as dysfunction.
Standing in front of Air Force One on Friday, Trump told reporters the volume of interest in the job has been extraordinary.
"I will tell you this, and Karoline will tell you this: I have never had so many job applications in my life. They all want that job. They love that job. She has made that job very glamorous."
When reporters pressed him on a potential successor, Trump offered one name: Scott Jennings. "Scott Jennings is good," he said. Jennings is a conservative radio host and CNN senior political contributor, a combination that would bring media fluency and an instinct for combat to the briefing room.
Whether Jennings has formally applied or been offered the position remains unclear. Trump's comment could be a genuine signal or simply a president enjoying the speculation. Either way, the remark put Jennings at the front of a public conversation about who fills one of the most visible jobs in Washington.
The administration has been navigating a demanding stretch on multiple fronts. Trump recently called off a planned strike on Iran after Tehran sought a diplomatic resolution, a decision that required careful public messaging. Whoever takes over the podium will inherit a press corps that treats every briefing as an adversarial proceeding.
Trump's praise was not perfunctory. By his own account, Leavitt turned the press secretary job into something people compete for rather than endure. That framing matters. The position has chewed through occupants in prior administrations, leaving some diminished and others forgotten. Leavitt, by contrast, leaves on her own terms, with the president publicly crediting her for elevating the post.
Her path from MAGA Inc. to the campaign trail to the White House briefing room, and now back to the super PAC, traces the tight orbit of Trump-world staffing. Loyalty is the currency, and Leavitt accumulated it by showing up when it counted, including days after giving birth during a campaign crisis in Butler.
That kind of commitment also carries a cost. The president himself acknowledged as much, even through a joke. When a mother of two says she needs to be home more, and the president of the United States responds by calling her one of the best press secretaries in history, the departure is as clean as Washington allows.
The broader question now is whether the administration can maintain the same combative, confident posture at the podium during a midterm season that will test every message. Trump has asserted direct control over major policy decisions in recent months, and the next press secretary will need to match that energy in front of cameras daily.
Leavitt's return to MAGA Inc. also positions her inside the political operation that will shape Republican midterm strategy. She moves from defending the administration's record to helping spend money on it, a lateral shift that keeps her influence intact while giving her the flexibility that two young children require.
Meanwhile, the administration continues to project strength on the international stage. Trump has pushed back forcefully against leaks and media narratives he views as undermining national security, and whoever steps behind the podium next will carry that fight forward.
A mother chose her kids. The president thanked her and moved on. Washington could stand to see more exits handled this well.
