--- title: Karoline Leavitt to Step Down as White House Press Secretary description: Trump said Leavitt will depart to spend more time with her family, but will also become one of Trump's "top outside advisors" canonical: https://time.com/article/2026/08/12/Karoline-Leavitt-to-step-down-white-house-press-secretary-Donald-Trump/ author: Philip Wang article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2026-08-12T20:22:21.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-12T21:21:06.392Z article:section: Politics og:title: Karoline Leavitt to Step Down as White House Press Secretary og:description: Trump said Leavitt will depart to spend more time with her family, but will also become one of Trump's "top outside advisors" og:url: https://time.com/article/2026/08/12/Karoline-Leavitt-to-step-down-white-house-press-secretary-Donald-Trump/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt45a7f5139a210a16/6a7cd35e3c19f06fac238d50/GettyImages-2286677276.jpg?branch=production&width=2400&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: GettyImages-2286677276.jpg og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Karoline Leavitt to Step Down as White House Press Secretary twitter:description: Trump said Leavitt will depart to spend more time with her family, but will also become one of Trump's "top outside advisors" twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt45a7f5139a210a16/6a7cd35e3c19f06fac238d50/GettyImages-2286677276.jpg?branch=production&width=2400&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Karoline Leavitt to Step Down as White House Press Secretary ## Video: Karoline Leavitt, Youngest White House Press Secretary, Makes Her Debut in the Briefing Room [Watch (HLS stream): Karoline Leavitt, Youngest White House Press Secretary, Makes Her Debut in the Briefing Room](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/Ef89jJ8V.m3u8) (5:39)  _Published 2025-01-28. White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt, the youngest person to hold that office, made her debut Tuesday in the first White House briefing of Donald Trump's second term in office._  by [Philip Wang](https://time.com/author/philip-wang/)  ## Philip Wang Aug 12, 2026 8:22 PM UTC  White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt speaks during a press briefing in the Brady Briefing Room of the White House in Washington, DC, on July 23, 2026. White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt speaks during a press briefing in the Brady Briefing Room of the White House in Washington, DC, on July 23, 2026.SAUL LOEB–AFP via Getty Images  by [Philip Wang](https://time.com/author/philip-wang/)  ## Philip Wang Aug 12, 2026 8:22 PM UTC [Karoline Leavitt ](https://time.com/collections/time100-next-2025/7318825/karoline-leavitt/)will step away from her position as White House Press Secretary at the end of this month, President Trump announced on Wednesday. In a Truth Social [post](https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/posts/117084211457388624), Trump said Leavitt, 28, will depart her role to spend more time with her family. Leavitt [gave birth](https://www.instagram.com/p/DYCkTFqEl43/?hl=en) to her second child Viviana in May. “Karoline will now be one of my top outside advisors, and an influential voice within the Republican Party, as we work to defy History, and conclusively win the Midterm Elections,” Trump added. It is unclear who will replace Leavitt as White House press secretary. TIME has reached out to the White House for comment. Leavitt thanked Trump and the White House team in a [lengthy post ](https://x.com/karolineleavitt/status/2087625708554100999)on X, and added that she will remain “a vocal advocate for MAGA and the Republican Party. ” “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,” Leavitt said. “It has been a privilege to serve alongside so many accomplished and impressive people, and I look forward to cheering them on over the next two and a half years,” she added. Leavitt has worked for Trump since 2018, beginning as a White House intern in the Office of Presidential Correspondence while a student at Saint Anselm College in New Hampshire. She briefly worked as Communications Director for Republican Rep. Elise Stefanik, one of the top House Republicans from New York, and later launched a failed congressional campaign in New Hampshire against Democratic incumbent Chris Pappas. After losing her campaign, Leavitt joined Trump’s third presidential campaign, working as a spokesperson for his super PAC, MAGA Inc. In January 2024, she became national press secretary for Trump's presidential campaign. She gave birth to her [first child Niko](https://www.instagram.com/p/C-jOTfbSYuc/?img%5Findex=1) in July 2024, [four days](https://www.cnn.com/2026/07/16/politics/karoline-leavitt-maternity-leave-briefing) before returning to work following the first assassination attempt on Trump in Butler, Pennsylvania, according to CNN. Karoline Leavitt, Youngest White House Press Secretary, Makes Her Debut in the Briefing Room ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/article/2026/08/12/Karoline-Leavitt-to-step-down-white-house-press-secretary-Donald-Trump/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/article/2026/08/12/Karoline-Leavitt-to-step-down-white-house-press-secretary-Donald-Trump/"},"headline":"Karoline Leavitt to Step Down as White House Press Secretary","datePublished":"2026-08-12T20:22:21.000Z","dateModified":"2026-08-12T21:21:06.392Z","description":"Trump said Leavitt will depart to spend more time with her family.","url":"https://time.com/article/2026/08/12/Karoline-Leavitt-to-step-down-white-house-press-secretary-Donald-Trump/","keywords":["Trump Administration","News Desk","White House"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt45a7f5139a210a16/6a7cd35e3c19f06fac238d50/GettyImages-2286677276.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Philip Wang","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/philip-wang/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt45a7f5139a210a16/6a7cd35e3c19f06fac238d50/GettyImages-2286677276.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"GettyImages-2286677276.jpg","caption":"","creditText":"SAUL LOEB–AFP via Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/trump-administration/","name":"Trump Administration"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/article/2026/08/12/Karoline-Leavitt-to-step-down-white-house-press-secretary-Donald-Trump/","name":"Karoline Leavitt to Step Down as White House Press Secretary"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"Karoline Leavitt, Youngest White House Press Secretary, Makes Her Debut in the Briefing Room","description":"White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt, the youngest person to hold that office, made her debut Tuesday in the first White House briefing of Donald Trump's second term in office.","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/Ef89jJ8V/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2025-01-28T20:31:43.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/Ef89jJ8V.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/article/2026/08/12/Karoline-Leavitt-to-step-down-white-house-press-secretary-Donald-Trump/","duration":"PT5M39S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/article/2026/08/12/Karoline-Leavitt-to-step-down-white-house-press-secretary-Donald-Trump/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```