Karoline Leavitt Is Leaving the White House - but She Isn't Leaving Trump's Orbit

Caption: Official portrait of White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt. Credit: White House Office of the Press Secretary, via Wikimedia Commons, public domain.

Karoline Leavitt, 28, will leave her job as White House press secretary at the end of August after saying she wants to spend more time with her young family. President Trump announced the departure Aug. 12, but Leavitt is expected to remain in his political orbit as an outside adviser.

Why She Is Leaving

Leavitt said the decision was about her family. She had her second child, a daughter, in May and recently returned to work. ‘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,’ she said.

The Role She Keeps

Rather than a clean break, Leavitt is expected to stay in Trump’s political orbit. Trump said she would remain an outside adviser and influential Republican voice. That keeps one of the administration’s best-known communicators in his circle even as she steps out of the daily briefing room.

A Record-Setting Tenure

Leavitt, now 28, became the youngest White House press secretary in history when she took the podium at 27 at the start of Trump’s second term. Her frequent, high-profile briefings and heavy television presence made her a recognizable face of the administration well beyond Washington.

The Open Question at the Podium

The White House has not yet announced who will replace her, or who will fill in during any interim. Her exit at the end of the month leaves one of the most public-facing jobs in the administration open.

References: CBS News