Who could replace Karoline Leavitt as White House press secretary? Trump reportedly weighs press overhaul

After White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt announced she would step down to spend more time with her family, several names quickly emerged as potential successors. But President Donald Trump may retool the White House press operation rather than name a direct replacement, Rob Crilly at the Washington Examiner reported Aug. 13. 

“Karoline Leavitt has been one of the top performers in the Trump administration, making it almost impossible to replace the press secretary when she leaves at the end of the month,” Crilly wrote. “Which is why President Donald Trump knows there is only one man for the job: himself.”

Two sources told the outlet that Trump plans to place greater emphasis on administration surrogates promoting his agenda in television appearances while continuing his frequent, informal exchanges with reporters. 

“Speculation about the next press secretary is all wrong,” a former Trump official told the Examiner. “It is not the role you think it is when he has reporters in every day and is talking to them on the phone.”

As Zeale News previously reported, Trump announced Aug. 12 that 28-year-old Leavitt, the youngest White House press secretary in history, would leave the position at the end of August to spend more time with her children. She gave birth to her second child in May and recently returned from a 12-week maternity leave. Trump said Leavitt would continue to work as one of his “top outside advisors, and an influential voice within the Republican Party” heading into the midterms.

CatholicVote Vice President of Advocacy Joshua Mercer praised Leavitt’s performance and said her decision reflected the demands of the position.

“Karoline Leavitt has been a fantastic White House spokeswoman,” Mercer said in a statement to Zeale News. “The joke in Washington is when something goes wrong, or you didn't get that promotion, you leave town and go ‘spend more time with your family.’ But Karoline has a young baby at home, and the job of presidential spokesperson is all-engrossing. She made the right call.”

Mercer said reports about the administration’s plans suggest Trump is considering more than simply appointing a new press secretary. 

“It sounds like President Trump is not just looking for a replacement for the role of White House press secretary, but also trying to improve overall messaging to emphasize how the Trump administration and Republicans in Congress have delivered major wins for the American people, as we head into the midterm elections,” he explained.

“We welcome this new focus,” Mercer continued. “Just this last week, the Trump administration announced that it had revoked 175,000 visas from foreign nationals for fraud, crime, and threats to national security. And they also issued a final rule cutting off Medicaid funding for sex-rejecting procedures on children.”

“Wins like that deserve the spotlight as voters head to the polls in 82 days,” he added.

>> CMS ends federal Medicaid, CHIP funding for ‘sex-rejecting’ procedures on children <<

Jason Miller, a longtime Trump communications adviser, has already quietly returned to the White House as an unpaid special government employee to help the administration promote its accomplishments ahead of the midterms, according to the Examiner. Miller could temporarily fill some of Leavitt’s responsibilities, Crilly wrote, but he is unlikely to become press secretary permanently. 

Crilly identified several names circulating in media reports and political circles as possible replacements: former Trump attorney Alina Habba, White House Principal Deputy Press Secretary Anna Kelly, CNN commentator Shermichael Singleton, U.S. Chief of Protocol Monica Crowley, CNN commentator Scott Jennings, Breitbart Washington bureau chief Matthew Boyle, and former Arizona gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake.

Habba is leading early betting in prediction markets, while Kelly is effectively next in line and the leading internal contender, according to the Examiner. Sources nevertheless downplayed the possibility that Kelly would receive the position. 

Crilly cautioned, however, that any names “being floated in the media are simply the result of speculation rather than knowledge. Or of possible candidates talking themselves up.”

The job, Crilly wrote, is not simply about effectively communicating the President’s positions and White House policies. It also demands “behind-the-scenes skills of building relationships with journalists, knowing when to dish out favors, and the dark arts needed to kill bad stories.”

The White House’s handling of Leavitt’s maternity leave could provide a model for the restructured press operation. Crilly said the operation did not “grind to a halt” without Leavitt, even though she did not have a direct temporary replacement. Instead, senior figures and Cabinet secretaries periodically led briefings while Trump continued speaking regularly with reporters in the Oval Office. 

“The gist from a dozen people inside or connected with the administration,” Crilly wrote, “is that no one should get too caught up in speculating who might be the next press secretary.”