Karoline Leavitt Advises Trump on Her Replacement
Karoline Leavitt is out of the White House press secretary chair and still advising Donald Trump on who takes it. That is the odd part.
Karoline Leavitt is out of the White House press secretary chair and still advising Donald Trump on who takes it. That is the odd part. Most people leave a job and stop shaping the hire that replaces them. She is not most people. She said so on her last official day.
Leavitt told Fox & Friends she has been privately advising Trump on his successor. She said there is no shortage of applications. She said there are many capable people who want the job. She said she has given Trump her advice on the qualities the next press secretary should have. She said she will keep helping until he decides.
She also said the decision is his. It has to be. The press secretary and the president spend a lot of time together. It has to be someone he trusts fully. She said she knows he will make the right decision at the right time.
The White House has not named a replacement. Officials say the search is ongoing. Some names have floated in public reports. CNN contributor Scott Jennings has been mentioned as an early favorite. White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles has looked at potential replacements. No front-runners have been confirmed.
Until a permanent pick is made, press briefing duties will rotate among top officials. That is what happened when Leavitt was on maternity leave. It will happen again. The president will keep taking calls and issuing statements in the meantime.
Leavitt is 29. She became the youngest White House press secretary in modern history. She served for more than 19 months. She is stepping aside to focus on her two young children. She has a two-year-old son and a four-month-old daughter. She called the move bittersweet.
She is not leaving Trump. She is moving to his super PAC, MAGA Inc., starting in September. She will remain a top outside adviser. She said she will continue to serve the president on the outside.
When asked what advice she would give her successor, she said the most important thing is understanding Trump’s unique role in shaping the message. She said Trump is his own best spokesperson. She said she and White House Communications Director Steven Cheung often joke that Trump is the true communications director and press secretary at the White House.
This is not a normal handoff. Most outgoing press secretaries leave and let the new person find their own footing. Leavitt is staying in the room, just not in the building. She will help pick the person who will stand where she stood. That is rare. It is also practical. Trust matters more than polish in this job.
Markets do not care about press secretaries until they do. Then they care a lot. A change in White House communications can shift how policy lands, how fast it lands, and how the street reads it. The timing of this announcement is late August. Midterms are in November. The White House is in campaign mode. Messaging is the weapon.
I have seen this pattern before. A key communications role turns over right before a big political test. The outgoing person stays close. The incoming person is vetted for loyalty and message discipline. The president keeps control of the narrative. The market watches for signals on taxes, spending, and regulation. The signal is often the tone, not the detail.
Leavitt said there is a list. She would not name names. She said she has a say in the qualities the person should have. She said the president knows what he wants. That is the part that matters. The president knows what he wants. The list is long. The choice will be narrow.
What remains unknown is the name. What remains unknown is the timing. What remains unknown is how the rotation of briefings will work in practice. The White House has not said. The search is ongoing. The decision is Trump’s.
Leavitt said she will miss the press. She said it in a small gaggle outside the West Wing. She said it on television. She said she is grateful to Trump for believing in her. She said she is ready to spend more time with her children. She said she will still be around.
The market will watch the next move. Not for the name. For the tone. For the speed. For the way the next voice carries the message. That is where the risk lives. That is where the opportunity lives.