Karoline Leavitt to depart White House at end of month

Karoline Leavitt, the youngest White House press secretary in U.S. history, will leave her post at the end of the month, President Donald Trump said on Wednesday. She will remain an outside adviser to him.

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“Our wonderful White House Press Secretary, and one of my most trusted aides, Karoline Leavitt, will be departing her role at the end of the month so she can spend more time with her beautiful young children and family, a decision I totally understand and respect,” Trump wrote in a Truth Social post.

Leavitt, 28, who has held the job since Trump returned to office for the second time in 2025, has been one of the president’s fiercest defenders in his second term. Trump praised her on Wednesday as a “a real leader” and “one of the best White House Press Secretaries in the History of the Office.”

Prior to this role, Leavitt worked on Trump’s 2024 presidential campaign as his national press secretary and later became his assistant White House press secretary during his first term. She also previously served as communications director for Rep. Elise Stefanik, R-N.Y.

Leavitt thanked Trump for “so many extraordinary opportunities” in a statement on Wednesday, saying “the past year and a half has been the honor and adventure of a lifetime.”

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“Being a mother and welcoming a new baby while working in one of the most demanding jobs in the world has been the most rewarding yet challenging season of my life, to say the least,” she said in the statement.

“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.”

Trump has had more complicated relationships with former White House press secretaries, including Kayleigh McEnany and Sean Spicer, both of whom he has publicly criticized.

Leavitt returned to her role last month after taking maternity leave for the birth of her second child, Viviana, in May.

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Trump did not announce who will succeed Leavitt.