Donald Trump's White House has confirmed that press secretary Karoline Leavitt will step back from her role in Washington next week when she gives birth to her first child, but no single replacement has been named to front briefings in her absence.
After a curious few days for Leavitt, 28, who only this week told reporters she was 'not part of the president's political team anymore' when pressed about Trump's stance on a Virginia redistricting referendum. Her unexpected answer, and the timing of her maternity leave announcement, have fuelled speculation in Washington about her standing with the president and whether she will return to the podium in the same role.
Leavitt is one of the youngest figures to serve as White House press secretary for Trump, promoted as a loyalist willing to go head to head with a sceptical press corps and defend some of Trump's more incendiary Truth Social posts, including one threatening to 'obliterate' Iran. Her appointment was widely read as a sign that Trump wanted a combative presence in the briefing room, steeped in his political style and unflinching under fire.
According to POLITICO's White House bureau chief Dasha Burns, later backed up by an official White House confirmation, Leavitt will take temporary leave to care for her newborn, with the decision disclosed publicly on 26 December. Rather than naming a formal acting press secretary, officials say the administration will rotate senior figures to handle briefings and on-camera questions while she is away.
Burns reported that Vice President JD Vance, selected Cabinet members, or even Trump himself could be called on to field questions in Leavitt's place. Behind the scenes, the communications shop will be run by communications director Steven Cheung, who is expected to lean on Leavitt's existing team, including Pat Adams, Anna Kelly, Kush Desai, Abigail Jackson, Liz Huston, Taylor Rogers, Davis Ingle, Allison Schuster, Olivia Wales, Micah Stopperich, Ellie Acra, Georgia O'Neil and Kieghan Nangle.
That structure, while not unprecedented in a White House that often sidesteps convention, leaves a conspicuous gap. The administration has offered no clear indication of who will become the public face of daily briefings, or whether Trump prefers the flexibility of sending out different surrogates rather than elevating a single stand‑in.
Questions over that choice sharpened after Leavitt's remarks on Wednesday. Asked why Trump did not spend more time on Truth Social urging Virginians to vote against a redistricting referendum, she declined to engage.
'That's a question that's political by nature. As you know, I'm not part of the president's political team anymore,' she told one reporter, before stressing that she sits 'at the White House as a government employee.'
Pressed again, she offered a familiar defence. 'Look, the president has a lot on his plate, a lot on his schedule,' she said, noting that Trump did host a telephone call the night before the vote and had since made his position on the result clear. It was a technical answer that nonetheless underlined her distance from Trump's campaign operation.
Trump's Temperament and the 'Borrowed Time' Warning
Political scientist Christopher Lee believes that distance may be more than bureaucratic tidiness. Speaking to the Irish Star, he argued that Leavitt is on 'borrowed time' with Trump and compared her situation to that of former press secretary Sean Spicer, whose tenure unravelled as he became a late-night punchline.
'When Sean Spicer became the joke, almost from the jump, Trump felt they were laughing at him,' Lee said. He suggested the rupture with Leavitt may already have started, pointing to the now-notorious 'Jesus meme' episode, in which Leavitt reportedly advised Trump to say a doctored image was fake and Trump replied that he thought he looked like 'a doctor.' The account, while colourful, remains one interpretation of a much-discussed online moment.
Lee argued that Leavitt's constant need to defend Trump's more provocative Truth Social posts has left her exposed. He highlighted a 31 March exchange in which Trump, during a press availability, said Leavitt was doing a 'terrible job' and theatrically asked whether they should 'keep her,' later insisting he was joking. 'It's telling and is part of his MO in firing disposable staff,' Lee said, noting that Trump has used similar humour before dismissing aides.
Karoline Leavitt gaggles with the press for the last time before her baby girl arrives!
— Margo Martin (@MargoMartin47) April 24, 2026
“I know all of you have the President’s phone number personally, so I have no doubt that you won’t have a shortage of statements and news from this building while I’m gone” @PressSec 🤣🇺🇸 pic.twitter.com/TunqaU3p6S
Leavitt's Future Under Trump Still Unclear
Leavitt retains one quality Trump appears to prize. 'What keeps Leavitt in her role is her readiness to confront the press directly,' Lee said, portraying her as a willing combatant in a daily war of words. At the same time, he warned that there is 'always a breaking point for Trump,' whether because he loses interest or because media pushback makes his spokesperson, and by extension the president, look 'weak, unintelligent and out of her depth.'
Lee's assessment is blunt. 'That is why my honest opinion is that Leavitt exists on borrowed time,' he concluded. There has been no such language from the White House itself, which has framed her departure as a temporary maternity leave and given no indication that she is being pushed out.
Nothing has been confirmed regarding any move to replace Leavitt permanently, and there is no official suggestion she has been fired or asked to resign, so any claims about her long-term future should be treated with caution. What is clear is that when the baby arrives next week, the most visible defender of Trump's White House will step away from the lectern and others will have to absorb the heat in her place.
