Outgoing White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt confirmed she will join the Trump-aligned MAGA Inc. super PAC after leaving her post at the end of August, keeping her firmly inside the president's political orbit ahead of November's midterms.
Leavitt broke the news to reporters Friday evening outside Air Force One before boarding a flight to Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, where President Trump headlined a rally for Sen. Darline Graham. She called the trip her last official outing as press secretary but made clear she was not disappearing from public life.
"You guys will still see me all the time," Leavitt told reporters Friday.
She did not say what her title at MAGA Inc. would be. But the move is a homecoming of sorts. Leavitt served as a national spokeswoman for the super PAC before joining Trump's 2024 presidential campaign, and before that she worked as an assistant press secretary in the Trump White House and as communications director for Rep. Elise Stefanik, Fox News reported when she first joined the PAC.
MAGA Inc. is reportedly sitting on more than $350 million in campaign funds heading into the November midterms, a war chest that gives Leavitt a significant platform to keep fighting for Republican candidates even without a White House badge.
Leavitt, 28, announced roughly a week and a half before Friday's confirmation that she would step down at the end of August. She cited the demands of the job after the birth of her second child earlier this year. She had returned from maternity leave in mid-July but decided shortly afterward that she could not sustain both roles.
In her departure announcement, Leavitt was direct about the tension between the briefing room and motherhood:
"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."
She also said her fight against the Democratic Party would not end once she left the podium. Her move to MAGA Inc. makes good on that promise in concrete terms, and on a timeline that puts her in the middle of the midterm campaign season.
Leavitt told reporters she plans to join the president on the midterms campaign trail, including a September GOP convention in Dallas. That schedule suggests her transition from government employee to political operative will be nearly seamless.
The president has not been shy about his regard for Leavitt's performance. After her departure announcement, Trump said she would remain one of his "top outside advisors" and called her an "influential voice within the Republican Party," particularly focused on winning the midterms.
On Truth Social, Trump went further, writing:
"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!"
As for her replacement, Trump signaled Friday that interest in the job has been overwhelming. He told reporters the decision would be difficult, given the volume of applicants.
"I will tell you this, and Karoline will tell you this, I have never seen so many job applications in my life."
The White House had not named a successor at the time Leavitt made her announcement. But two names have surfaced as top contenders: Scott Jennings, the conservative radio host and CNN senior political contributor, and Katie Miller, wife of White House deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller. Trump himself has called Jennings "good" when asked about the search.
Leavitt's exit is not happening in isolation. The White House has seen a string of high-profile staff changes in recent weeks. Legislative director James Braid announced his own departure just weeks before the midterms, and other senior officials have rotated out of the building this summer.
The pace of turnover has drawn attention, though the administration has framed each move as either a promotion or a natural transition. Trump, for instance, recently tapped White House counsel Samuel Adkisson for a federal judgeship, and deputy national security adviser Andy Baker left for the private sector.
In Leavitt's case, the framing is straightforward: she is not leaving Trump's world. She is moving to a different corner of it, one with a $350 million budget and a midterm election calendar that starts in weeks.
Leavitt's career arc has been unusually fast. She ran for Congress in New Hampshire's 1st Congressional District at 25, losing to Democratic incumbent Rep. Chris Pappas in a race where she would have been the youngest woman ever elected to the House. She pivoted to MAGA Inc., then to the 2024 campaign, and then to the youngest-ever White House press secretary appointment, all before turning 28.
Now she returns to the super PAC side of the operation, older by a few years and with a West Wing tenure on her résumé. Whether her next chapter involves another run for office, a permanent role in Trump's political infrastructure, or something else entirely remains an open question. For now, the Breitbart headline captured her own framing of the move: she is not going anywhere.
In Washington, the people who leave government and stay in the fight are often more effective than the ones who stay behind a desk. Leavitt seems to understand that, and so does the president who keeps finding ways to keep her close.
