President-elect Donald Trump said that Karoline Leavitt would return to the White House as his press secretary next year, making the 27-year-old the youngest White House press secretary in US history and setting yet another professional milestone.
Leavitt has been a staunch supporter of Trump throughout his hard-fought campaign against Vice President Kamala Harris, which included Democrats and the Harris campaign accusing Trump of being a “fascist” and on par with Nazi Germany dictator Adolf Hitler, two assassination attempts, and traveling across the country to rally support for the former president.
“Karoline Leavitt did a phenomenal job as the National Press Secretary on my Historic Campaign, and I am pleased to announce she will serve as the White House Press Secretary,” Trump said in a statement announcing Leavitt’s appointment this month.
“Karoline is educated, tough, and an excellent communicator. I am confident she will succeed at the platform and help relay our message to the American people as we work to make America great again.”
Leavitt had long been in Trump’s orbit before becoming the nation’s youngest press secretary, unseating President Richard Nixon’s press secretary Ron Ziegler, who was 29 when he took the same position in 1969. She also made her own political mark with a congressional run in 2022.
Leavitt worked as assistant press secretary during Trump’s first administration until becoming communications director for New York Rep. Elise Stefanik after the 2020 election. Leavitt ran for Congress in her native state of New Hampshire during the 2022 cycle, winning the primary but losing the general election to a Democrat.
During her time on the campaign trail for Trump this cycle, Leavitt sparred with liberal media outlets about Trump’s candidacy, fielded media inquiries about the 45th president’s policies and vision for the United States, served as one of Trump’s top defenders amid legal battles and political landmines thrown by both the Biden and Harris campaigns, and navigated an unprecedented campaign cycle that saw President Biden drop out of the running in July amid heightened concerns over
She was one of scores of Republican elected leaders and Trump supporters who attended him in Manhattan court this spring as he faced trial on 34 counts of falsifying corporate documents, which Trump constantly referred to as a “sham” case. She also stated that as the campaign’s national press secretary, she became accustomed to Trump’s “sleep schedule” – which has famously consisted of only four or five hours of rest before going to work – and joined him at rallies across the country, as well as at the campaign’s headquarters in Florida.
Leavitt is now the Trump-Vance transition spokeswoman, serving ahead of Trump’s inauguration on January 20.
Leavitt made global headlines in June, before Biden stepped out of the race, when CNN’s Kasie Hunt cut her microphone off as she claimed on air that CNN presenters Jake Tapper and Dana Bash would be politically biased against Trump while moderating a debate between Biden and the now-President-elect. Biden eventually did poorly in the debate, prompting traditional Democratic backers to call on him to withdraw from the presidential campaign and give the mantle to a younger generation.
“That’s why President Trump is deliberately entering a hostile environment on this very network, CNN, with debate moderators who have made their feelings about him very clear over the last eight years. And their unfair coverage of him,” Leavitt told Hunt in an interview before the debate.
“So I’ll just add that my colleagues, Jake Tapper and Dana Bash, have performed admirably as campaign reporters, interviewing candidates from both sides of the political spectrum. I’ll also argue that, according to recent debate experts, assaulting the moderators frequently results in a loss,” Hunt answered.
As Hunt attempted to steer the subject back to previewing the debate, Leavitt stated that it would only take a few minutes to bring up examples of Tapper’s anti-Trump statements over the years.
“Ma’am, I’m going to stop this interview if you’re going to continue to attack my colleagues,” Hunt began, before Leavitt clarified that she was “stating facts” regarding what CNN presenters had previously said about Trump.
“I’m sorry, guys, we’re going to come back out to the panel,” Hunt joked. “Karoline, I greatly appreciate your time. You are welcome to return at any stage. She is welcome to return and speak about Donald Trump, and he will have equal time with Joe Biden when they both join us later this week in Atlanta for this discussion.
Following the microphone cut, Leavitt told AWN Digital that, “CNN cutting off my microphone for bringing up a debate moderator’s history of anti-Trump lies just proves our point that President Trump will not be treated fairly in Thursday’s debate.” Nonetheless, President Trump is still willing to enter this 3-1 fight to deliver his winning message to the American people, and he will triumph.”
While juggling the media, Leavitt also served as the Trump campaign’s national press secretary for the first six months of her first pregnancy. This year, ahead of Mother’s Day, Leavitt emphasized the importance of women and mothers in the Trump orbit, while also announcing that she will welcome her own baby in July.
“Joe Biden cannot even define what a ‘woman’ is, and his administration refers to mothers as ‘birthing people.'” Joe Biden has failed working mothers and families by causing the worst inflation crisis in decades, admitting millions of illegal immigrants into our nation to commit crimes, and permitting violent rallies to erupt on college campuses,” Leavitt told AWN Digital in May.
During the election season, the campaign claimed to have employed scores of mothers, including Leavitt and newly appointed White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles. He has also employed hundreds of working mothers since 2016, including well-known figures like Kellyanne Conway, Sarah Huckabee Sanders, and Kayleigh McEnany. Danielle Alvarez, senior consultant to the Republican National Committee and the Trump campaign, and Alina Habba, Trump’s legal spokeswoman, are both mothers of small children.
“We have a really welcoming environment for children at our office, the headquarters in West Palm Beach,” Leavitt told the Conservateur in October. “You know, we joke that on Saturdays, it’s bring-your-kid-to-work day.”