Trump says White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt to leave post

Trump says White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt to leave post

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt will step down from her position at the end of the month, President Donald Trump has announced. Leavitt, whom the president called one of his "most trusted aides", will depart from her role to spend time with her young children and family - "a decision I totally understand and respect", Trump wrote in a social media post. "Karoline will now be one of my top outside advisors, and an influential voice within the Republican Party," he added. Leavitt, 28, took the job as White House Press Secretary last year - becoming the youngest person to ever have the role. It was not immediately clear who will replace her. Leavitt welcomed her second child, a baby girl, with husband Nicholas Riccio in May. She also has a two-year-old son. She returned to work from maternity leave last month. She wrote on X following the president's announcement that her job has been "the honor and adventure of a lifetime". "The truth is since returning to the White House after the birth of my daughter, I have felt in my heart that I cannot be the best mom my two young children deserve while devoting the constant time, energy, and attention required of the White House Press Secretary - and that is why I have ultimately made the bittersweet decision to depart the White House and embark on a new chapter in my life," she continued. She is the second longest-serving press secretary in either of Trump's administrations, following only Sarah Huckabee Sanders. It is unclear who will now become Trump's sixth chief spokesperson across his two administrations. During Leavitt's roughly seven-week maternity leave earlier this year, a series of senior Trump administration figures took the podium including Vice-President JD Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, and Secretary of the Interior Doug Bergum.