For Karoline Leavitt, the most difficult part of serving as President Donald Trump’s press secretary was not dealing with reporters. It was leaving her young children at home.
Leavitt, the youngest person ever to serve as White House press secretary, announced in August that she was leaving the position. In a Tuesday episode of the “Hang Out with Sean Hannity” podcast, she discussed stepping back from her role in the Trump administration so she could focus on her family.
“Being a working mom was the hardest thing I’ve ever had to do in my life,” she said.
Leavitt, 28, has two children with her husband, 60-year-old real-estate developer Nicholas Riccio.
She said to Hannity that the challenge of balancing career and motherhood started soon after the birth of her first child in July 2024. On the same day she brought her son, Niko, home from the hospital, Leavitt watched on live television as Trump survived an assassination attempt in Butler, Pennsylvania. Just days after giving birth, she returned to work as the Trump campaign’s national press secretary.
“As a three-day postpartum woman, that was very traumatic, and I had a choice to make,” Leavitt said. “I had producers calling, ‘Can you come on TV and talk about this?’ And I felt as though I owed it to the president to do that.”
Leavitt said becoming White House press secretary did not make balancing work and family any easier.
‘I could not keep doing this’
Leavitt told Hannity that the demanding schedule of the role began to affect her 2-year-old son.
“I would leave for the White House very early in the morning, and he would cling to my leg as I would walk out the door, and we would have to hide him sometimes so that I wouldn’t have to break his heart again,” she said. “And sometimes I would drive to the White House in silence, like, ‘I don’t know if I can do this anymore.'”
After welcoming her daughter, Viviana, in May, Leavitt said she understood that a change was needed.
“The president deserves someone in that job who can give it their all 24/7,” she said. “And after having two kids, I just realized I couldn’t.”
Leavitt said Trump “couldn’t have been kinder” about her choice to leave the White House.
“It was the hardest decision I’ve ever had to make because I loved my job and I love the president and our team and I believe so much in what he’s doing,” Leavitt said. “But, as he jokes, I do love my kids more, and you know, I realize they need me home right now, especially during these young years.”