Karoline Leavitt said Thursday that leaving the White House after 20 months as President Donald Trump’s press secretary was “very bittersweet,” as she prepares to spend more time with her children while continuing to advise Trump from outside the administration.
By yourNEWS Media Newsroom.
Karoline Leavitt marked her final day as White House press secretary Thursday by reflecting on the demands of the job, her relationship with the press corps and her continued support for President Donald Trump as she prepares to move into an outside advisory role.
Leavitt, who became the youngest White House press secretary in U.S. history, spoke with reporters on the North Lawn driveway after serving in the position for 20 months.
“It’s very bittersweet,” Leavitt told reporters. “I‘ll miss you guys. I know that’s probably not something anyone would expect me to say, but obviously it’s been great working with all of you.”
She said the public-facing portion of the role — including televised briefings and interviews — represents only a fraction of the work required behind the scenes.
“And I think people don’t realize about this job — the briefings and what I just did on TV is 10 percent. Ninety percent of it is taking all of your calls at five in the morning and eleven p.m. at night, and I won’t really miss that. But I will miss working with you guys every day,” Leavitt said.
Trump announced earlier this month that Leavitt would leave the administration to spend more time with her young children, Nicholas and Viviana.
She is expected to return to MAGA Inc., although her precise title has not been publicly announced, and will continue serving as a top outside adviser to Trump.
Leavitt said reporters should still expect Trump himself to remain heavily involved in communicating directly with the media while the White House searches for her replacement.
She said she expects the president to continue taking reporters’ calls and providing statements on a regular basis.
Asked what advice she would offer the next press secretary, Leavitt said she would reserve specific guidance for a private conversation with her successor.
She did, however, identify what she considers the most important principle of the job: recognizing that Trump is his own most effective communicator.
“I think it’s most important in this job to understand that President Trump is his own best spokesperson, and we joke, Steven Chueng and me, that he is the true communications director and press secretary here at the White House, and just understanding that, knowing that, and believing in the mission,” Leavitt said.
She said her effectiveness in the position also came from personally believing in the administration’s agenda.
“I mean, I think you guys can all see: I believe so much in my heart about what this president is doing every day, the policies he’s enacting,” she continued.
Leavitt’s departure closes a tenure that began after Trump returned to the White House and followed her earlier role as one of his most visible campaign spokespeople.
She said representing Trump publicly had been one of the defining responsibilities of her career.
“It’s been an honor to speak on behalf of him and to understand his thinking and to relay it to all of you, but also to the country over the past 20 months, and then again before that on the campaign,” Leavitt told reporters.
Although Thursday marks the end of her formal role inside the White House, Leavitt emphasized that she is not stepping away from Trump’s political operation.
“And I’ll still be around. I’m gonna just go to the other side so I can spend some more time with my kids,” she said.
Her transition will allow her to remain involved with Trump while stepping away from the round-the-clock responsibilities of serving as the administration’s principal public spokesperson.
Leavitt’s final comments underscored both sides of that transition: relief at leaving behind the constant early-morning and late-night demands of the job, and an emotional attachment to the reporters and White House staff she worked with daily.
For Leavitt, the departure is therefore less a complete exit from Trump’s orbit than a shift in roles — from the podium and daily press operation to an outside position that will give her more time with her family while keeping her involved in the president’s political and communications strategy.
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