White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt is stepping down to rejoin the Trump-aligned super PAC MAGA Inc., telling the public she wants to be a better mother to her two young children.
Leavitt confirmed the move Friday during a trip to South Carolina for a rally with Sen. Darline Graham Nordone (R-SC), telling reporters the visit would be her last in the role. President Trump, standing in front of Air Force One the same day, praised the outgoing spokeswoman and floated conservative commentator Scott Jennings, a CNN senior political contributor and radio host, as a possible successor. The Washington Examiner reported that Leavitt will return to MAGA Inc., where she worked before joining Trump's 2024 presidential campaign, though she has not yet revealed her new title at the organization.
The departure marks the end of a tenure defined by loyalty under pressure. Leavitt gave birth to her first child in 2024 and cut her maternity leave to just a few days after Trump survived an assassination attempt in Butler, Pennsylvania. She gave birth to her second child earlier this year and is now leaving the most visible communications job in Washington to prioritize her family.
Trump announced Leavitt's resignation on Truth Social, calling her "one of my most trusted aides." His post on the platform went further:
"Karoline has been one of the best White House Press Secretaries in the History of the Office. Thank you, Karoline, for a job well done!"
At the South Carolina rally, Trump struck a lighter tone. "I just learned she loves the baby more than she loves Donald Trump, and I'm very angry with her," he told the crowd. The line drew on the personal relationship between a president who prizes loyalty and a staffer who demonstrated it repeatedly, including by returning to work days after giving birth during a campaign crisis.
Leavitt, for her part, posted on X that she would remain "a top advisor to [the president] on the outside," signaling she has no intention of leaving Trump's orbit. NBC News reported that her new position will be at MAGA Inc., the super PAC that serves as the primary outside vehicle for Trump's political operation. She will also attend the Republican National Committee's upcoming midterm convention alongside presidential staff, as previously reported when her departure was first announced.
Just The News reported that Leavitt's resignation takes effect at the end of August 2026. In explaining her decision, she was direct about the tradeoff.
"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."
That kind of candor is rare in Washington, where departures are usually wrapped in vague talk about "new opportunities" or "the next chapter." Leavitt named the cost plainly: two small children and a job that consumes every waking hour. Few parents in either party would fault the reasoning.
Her willingness to step away voluntarily, rather than being pushed, also stands in contrast to the usual churn of White House staff shake-ups. This was not a firing dressed up as a resignation. Trump's public praise, his joke at the rally, and his Truth Social tribute all pointed in the same direction: a departure on good terms, with the door open for future work. The transition to MAGA Inc. keeps Leavitt inside the political infrastructure that matters most heading into the midterm cycle.
With Leavitt on her way out, the question of who stands behind the podium next has already started generating attention. Trump, fielding reporters' questions in front of Air Force One on Friday, offered one name: "Scott Jennings is good."
Jennings is a conservative radio host and CNN senior political contributor known for defending Republican positions on a network where that can be a lonely assignment. Trump did not commit to the pick, and Jennings has not publicly confirmed or denied interest. But the mention alone was enough to put him at the front of a field Trump described as unusually crowded.
"I will tell you this, and Karoline will tell you this: I have never had so many job applications in my life," Trump said Friday. "They all want that job. They love that job. She has made that job very glamorous." Early speculation has also centered on other figures with close ties to the administration, though Trump has not narrowed the field publicly beyond his Jennings comment.
The volume of applicants says something about what Leavitt built. The White House press secretary job has always carried prestige, but it also carries enormous risk, one bad briefing can define a career. That so many people want the role after watching Leavitt handle it suggests she raised the position's stock rather than diminished it.
Leavitt's path through Trump's political world has been unusually compressed. She worked at MAGA Inc. before joining the 2024 presidential campaign team, then moved into the White House as press secretary. Now she returns to the super PAC, completing a loop that keeps her inside the infrastructure most likely to shape the 2026 midterms and whatever comes after.
The move also reflects a broader pattern in the Trump operation: key personnel rotate between official government roles and outside political organizations, maintaining influence without the constraints, or the grueling schedules, of West Wing life. For a mother of two young children, that tradeoff is not abstract. It is the difference between seeing your kids at breakfast and not seeing them at all. The White House itself has been undergoing changes on multiple fronts, and Leavitt's departure adds another transition to an administration entering its midterm stretch.
Leavitt has not disclosed what her title at MAGA Inc. will be. She has not said whether the role will involve public-facing media work or behind-the-scenes strategy. What she has said, that she will remain a top outside advisor to the president, suggests the relationship is far from over.
Several open questions remain. No timeline has been set for naming a successor. It is unclear whether Jennings or any other candidate has formally interviewed. And the administration's internal dynamics heading into a midterm year will shape how much latitude the next press secretary gets to define the role.
Washington burns through spokespeople the way most offices burn through printer paper. Leavitt left on her own terms, for a reason most Americans understand without a press release. That alone sets her apart.