Karoline Leavitt's resignation left Trump flat-footed with no plan to replace her as press secretary: official

The White House does not intend to name a replacement for Karoline Leavitt when she steps down as press secretary at the end of this month, a White House official told The Independent, leaving the most visible lectern in American politics without a permanent occupant less than three months before the midterm elections.

The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss internal personnel deliberations, said the White House will instead continue offering reporters briefings from senior administration officials such as Vice President JD Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, all three of whom took turns in the briefing room during Leavitt's maternity leave.

Leaving the role vacant, even temporarily, would be an unusual choice. Every administration in the modern era has moved quickly to install at least an acting press secretary, in part because the position carries responsibilities beyond the televised briefing — coordinating with agency communications shops, staffing the president on foreign trips, and serving as the formal point of contact for the White House Correspondents' Association.

As for who might some day take on the role, Anna Kelly, the principal deputy press secretary, is the most senior official in the press shop below Leavitt and has increasingly represented the administration on television and radio, particularly on foreign policy.

But the president notably bypassed Kelly, a veteran Republican communications operative, when Leavitt stepped away for a time earlier this year.

Other potential successors whose names have been mentioned on prediction markets and social media include failed Los Angeles mayoral candidate and ex-reality television villain Spencer Pratt, ex-Trump attorney Alina Habba, CNN conservative pundit Scott Jennings, former news anchor and failed Arizona political candidate Kari Lake, and podcaster Katie Miller, the latter of whom served as then-vice president Mike Pence's press secretary for a time during Trump's first term.

A report from the New York Post also suggested the press secretary role could be filled by White House Communications Director Stephen Cheung, Breitbart News longtime bureau chief Matthew Boyle, or former White House deputy chief of staff Taylor Budowich.