At 29, Leavitt leaves as the youngest person ever to serve as White House press secretary. She is also the first person to give birth while holding the position.
Leavitt described her departure as “bittersweet,” saying she had found it difficult to balance motherhood with a job that required constant availability.
“I love this job so much,” she told NewsNation on Thursday. “I believe so much in the president and everything he’s working to accomplish here, so it was one of the most difficult decisions I’ve ever had to make.”
President Donald Trump announced Leavitt’s departure on Aug. 12, saying she would become one of his top outside advisers and an influential voice within the Republican Party as he works toward the 2026 midterm elections.
Trump has not yet announced her replacement.
Leavitt said Trump had supported her decision to leave the White House and described him as “supportive all the way.” She said her decision reflected the demands of the position, which she described as requiring a press secretary to be available “literally 24/7.”
“The briefings and what I just did on TV is 10%. Ninety percent of it is taking all of your calls,” she said, referring to the workload involved in the position.
Her departure marks the end of a tenure that was closely associated with the Trump administration’s aggressive communications style.
Leavitt frequently clashed with journalists during White House briefings, accusing some reporters of political bias and challenging questions she considered hostile to the administration. Her supporters, meanwhile, praised her for consistently defending Trump’s policies and remaining aligned with his messaging.
Leavitt also oversaw changes to the White House press operation. In February 2025, her office took control of the White House press pool, removing organizational responsibilities from the White House Correspondents’ Association. The administration also temporarily barred the Associated Press over its refusal to adopt Trump’s preferred name, “Gulf of America,” for the Gulf of Mexico.
Before becoming press secretary, Leavitt had already built a political career closely tied to Trump.
She worked as an assistant press secretary and speechwriter during Trump’s first administration before becoming communications director for Republican Rep. Elise Stefanik. In 2022, she ran unsuccessfully for Congress in New Hampshire after winning the Republican primary.
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She later became a spokesperson for MAGA Inc., a pro-Trump political organization, before joining Trump’s 2024 presidential campaign as national press secretary.
During her tenure at the White House, Leavitt also took roughly seven weeks of maternity leave after giving birth to her daughter in May. She returned to the role in July but subsequently decided she could not devote the time required by the position while being the mother her two children needed.
On her final day, Leavitt said her experience in the White House had been “the adventure of a lifetime.”
