Karoline Leavitt resigned as White House press secretary on Aug. 12, causing concerns about Republican messaging for the midterm and reflections on the White House’s broader relations with the press.
She made the “bittersweet decision” to spend more time with her daughter Viviana, who was born in May. NBC News reported that Leavitt will be returning to MAGA Inc.
MAGA Inc. is a pro-Donald Trump super PAC founded in Sept. 2022. Its focus is to raise funds for Trump and candidates aligned with him. The group is not legally allowed to coordinate with campaigns directly.
Leavitt joined Trump’s transition team during the 2024 presidential election as national press secretary.
Multiple spokespeople for the White House said President Trump is not in a rush to fill the role, which raises questions about how it could affect the midterm elections in November.
The White House press secretary serves as the main point of communication between the president and the media. That includes ensuring communication coming out of the White House is consistent and on message.
Alexandra Middlewood, department chair for political science and Model UN faculty adviser, said the importance of the role historically has shifted with the growth of social media.
“It is still the official messaging coming out of the administration,” Middlewood said. “They are expected to toe the line of whatever the president and his advisors expect that messaging to be.
“They are also kind of the first, for lack of a better phrase, line of defense for the administration to the press. I don’t want that to sound as adversarial as it does, but it has become that adversarial.”
President Trump’s contentious relationship with the press is a widely known characteristic of his first and second terms.
On Feb. 25, 2025, Leavitt announced the White House would choose who would be a part of the White House press pool. Previously, press outlets were chosen by the White House Press Association, which operates independently of the White House.
The changes to the White House press pool raised concerns about maintaining an independent press to report on the administration’s actions. It also aligns with the press secretary’s responsibility to “show them (the administration) in as good of a light as possible,” Middlewood said.
Positive public perception of the president is important during midterm election years. Political parties that control the presidency often struggle in midterm elections.
Leavitt’s resignation creates worries for Republican candidates, due to the lack of centralized messaging during historic low approval rates for President Trump.
The Sunflower reached out to the WSU chapter for Turning Point USA and the WSU Young Democrats for comment on Leavitt’s resignation. Due to scheduling conflicts, members of each organization sent statements via email.
Mason Fouquet, vice president of TPUSA at WSU, said his statement does not reflect the opinions of the organization.
“It’s highly commendable that Karoline Leavitt is choosing to step away from her White House role to focus on her family,” Fouquet said. “Politics has a way of consuming people, and it takes a special heart to recognize that family comes first.
“Regardless of political affiliation, I have a lot of respect for anyone who is willing to put those they love ahead of a prestigious, powerful position. Time with family is an immense blessing and it should be cherished as such.”
WSU Young Democrats President Jenna Ghant sent the following.
“Her departure is relatively surprising in an administration historically marked by high senior staff turnover,” Ghant said. “Karoline Leavitt’s tenure places her among the administration’s longer-serving press secretaries, behind Sarah Huckabee Sanders.
“While she remains one of the President’s lackeys who fiercely defends the administration’s detrimental and oppressive agenda, the position is notoriously demanding for anyone. Her tenure accelerated the marginalization of traditional, highly credible news organizations by sidelining legacy outlets like The New York Times and NBC in favor of partisan commentators, online influencers and figures subject to federal scrutiny regarding foreign (Russian) influence operations, such as Tim Pool. Maybe, Leavitt is resigning to focus on her reportedly fraught relationship with her 61-year-old husband (32 years her senior). Perhaps, defending an adjudicated rapist and Epstein confidant day-in and day-out is far more tiring than reporting the truth.”
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Karoline Leavitt’s resignation creates questions for White House communications strategy – thesunflower.com
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