Karoline Leavitt: Trump’s glamorous new press secretary who was kicked off CNN

The 27-year-old mother-of-one, who is one of the president-elect’s ‘most trusted confidantes’, will be the youngest person to hold key role

Copy link
twitter
facebook
whatsapp
email
Copy link
twitter
facebook
whatsapp
email
Karoline Leavitt won plaudits in the MAGAsphere when she was kicked off CNN for launching a tirade against one of its hosts.
The encounter will have primed her for her new job as White House press secretary, which will almost certainly involve daily tussles with reporters.
Announcing her new job on Friday, Mr Trump said: “Karoline is smart, tough, and has proven to be a highly effective communicator. I have the utmost confidence she will excel at the podium, and help deliver our message to the American people as we, Make America Great Again.”
Aged 27, the mother-of-one will be the youngest person to hold the role in history. She is two years younger than Richard Nixon’s press secretary Ron Ziegler was when he was appointed in 1969.
Ms Leavitt became the youngest female nominee for US Congress when she ran an unsuccessful campaign in New Hampshire in 2022. After she missed out by 15,000 votes, Ms Leavitt went on to join the Trump campaign.
The rising Republican star adjusted to the gruelling campaign schedule of four hours’ sleep a night throughout her pregnancy.
The mother-of-one demonstrated her fierce bite when she clashed with Kaisie Hunt, the CNN presenter, in June.
During the tussle, she claimed the upcoming presidential debate between Mr Trump and Mr Biden would be a “hostile environment” for Mr Trump and that moderators Jake Tapper and Dana Bush had been “biased” against him in the past.
In the fiery exchange, Ms Hunt told Ms Leavitt she would have to cut the interview “if you continue to attack my colleagues”.
Moments later Ms Hunt ended their conversation.
Weeks later, Ms Leavitt showed her dedication to the job after she jumped back on air four days after going through a difficult labour to deliver her son.
Ms Leavitt had just returned from hospital and was watching Mr Trump’s rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, when gunman Thomas Crooks fired a volley of bullets at the former president, one of which grazed his ear.
“I looked at my husband and said, ‘looks like I’m going back to work’”, Ms Leavitt told The Conservateur, a website for conservative women.
“The president literally put his life on the line to win this election,” she added. “The least I could do is get back to work quickly.”
Days later she received an “incredibly warm and kind” phone call from Mr Trump checking in after her birth.
Mr Trump then passed the phone to his wife, Melania, and the pair “talked about how wonderful it is to be a mother to a boy”.
Ms Leavitt added: “They spoke about their love for Barron, and the president cracked a joke: ‘We have a little boy, but he’s not so little now!’”
As Trump campaign national press secretary Ms Leavitt became a firm fixture of the media circuit, often going on TV and radio to defend her boss.
Ms Leavitt has been next to Mr Trump’s side throughout the campaign, accompanying him to Manhattan Criminal Court for his “hush money” trial, appearing ringside at a UFC fight with Dana White and touring the country to attend rallies.
Just four days after giving birth to her son Nicholas, the MAGA loyalist styled her platinum blonde hair, fixed her makeup and went back on camera to address the first attempted assassination.
“Karoline is one of the most trusted, inner circle confidantes of the former and future president”, Sebastian Gorka, who is reportedly one of two names being considered as Mr Trump’s deputy national security adviser, told The Telegraph.
He added: “You can tell this by how she is trusted with some of the most important announcements regarding the new Cabinet.”
The new role marks an astronomical career jump for Ms Leavitt, who in January 2021 shared a picture of herself posing in the Oval Office, describing herself as a “proud former spokesperson”.
“It’s been the honour of my life to serve president Trump and meet so many incredible people along the way,” she wrote at the time.
The glamorous press secretary’s Instagram page is filled with shots you might expect on any 20-something’s social media page.
But between pictures of her showing off her honed physique on the beach and snaps of her newborn dressed as a chicken for Halloween, Ms Leavitt is seen clutching designer handbags on Trump Force One and posing in the Oval Office.
One video from July 2022 shows her at a gun range shooting a barrage of bullets with what appears to be a semi-automatic weapon, alongside the caption: “@joebiden come and take it”.
Ms Leavitt, who previously worked at an ice cream stand and at a used truck and car dealership, kickstarted her political career when she chose to skip a college football game to fill out her application for a White House intern role.
She got the job and joined the office of presidential correspondence after graduating from Saint Anselm College in New Hampshire.
She then went on to join the communications team under former press secretary Kayleigh McEnany, Mr Trump’s fourth and final press secretary of his administration.
After Mr Trump’s defeat to Joe Biden in 2020, an election Ms Leavitt still proclaims was stolen, she went on to work for New York representative Elise Stefanik, who has been given the UN Ambassador role in Mr Trump’s Cabinet.
Copy link
twitter
facebook
whatsapp
email