White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Friday she will be going on maternity leave before the birth of her second child, telling reporters at the White House, “As you can see, I’m about ready to have a baby any minute.”
Leavitt, 28, said, “I will see you guys very soon. I know you’ll be in very good hands with my team here at the White House,” and added, “And I know all of you have the president’s phone number personally.” The White House has not named an official replacement for her or said how long she will be out, though Vice President JD Vance may occasionally hold press conferences there while she is away.
The timing lands differently for Leavitt than it might for most aides in Washington. She is already the mother of a boy born in July 2024, and in summer 2024 she returned to work on Donald Trump’s campaign just days after that child’s birth. Her return then was hastened by the assassination attempt against Trump on July 13, 2024, a moment that put her back in the campaign orbit almost immediately.
That history makes her latest leave notable not because it is unusual for a working parent to step away before childbirth, but because Leavitt has already shown how quickly she can be pulled back into political work. She is the youngest person ever appointed to the press secretary post, and she is married to Nicholas Riccio, a real estate developer. For now, the White House is leaving the job open-ended, and the next question is not whether she will return, but how the briefing room will function until she does.