WASHINGTON — White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt’s Wednesday announcement that she’s leaving her role stunned many insiders — who immediately began buzzing about who might replace her behind the briefing room lectern.
Journalists widely regarded Leavitt, 28, as an effective spokesperson for President Trump, whose policies she championed with crisp delivery and conviction. She used her most visible forum to frequently dispense news items in a welcome change of pace from her Biden-era predecessor.
The New Hampshire native seemed so steady in the role that many thought she could serve throughout Trump’s second term — making her decision to step away spark intrigue into the US government’s next top spokesperson.
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt announced Wednesday that she will depart her role at the end of August. Allison Robbert/UPI/Shutterstock
Leavitt cited an interest in spending more time raising her two young children — including Niko, 2, and three-month-old Vivi — and is expected to remain a close adviser to the president.
Trump wrote in a statement that Leavitt was among his “most trusted aides” and was “one of the best White House Press Secretaries in the History of the Office.”
Sources within and close to the administration told The Post that early front-runners for the role are believed to include Alina Habba, the former acting US attorney for New Jersey, and Breitbart Washington Bureau Chief Matthew Boyle.
Leavitt gained praise from journalists for her clear delivery and dispensation of news. REUTERS
Habba gained fame as one of Trump’s defense lawyers, giving passionate televised appeals on his behalf to journalists before his return to power. She briefly worked in the West Wing last year as a counselor to the president before Trump appointed her the top prosecutor in New Jersey.
In addition to having significant experience as a Trump spokesperson and a polished look, her selection would follow Trump’s first-term pick of another attorney, Kayleigh McEnany, as press secretary. McEnany was regarded as successful in defending Trump and presenting his policies.
Former interim US attorney for New Jersey Alina Habba is widely seen as a top contender. Luiz C. Ribeiro for New York Post
Breitbart Washington Bureau Chief Matt Boyle is among the options being discussed. Breitbart
Boyle, meanwhile, is a favorite among well-connected Trump allies who recognize the dogged Breitbart scribe’s fiery but steady presence in the conservative media ecosystem.
Trump knows Boyle by name and has given him many interviews, including a recent Oval Office sitdown. His experience with investigative work targeting public figures and close coverage of the Trump movement convey working knowledge of how to manage — and mitigate — PR challenges.
Other contenders could include former White House deputy chief of staff for communications and personnel Taylor Budowich, who departed that role last September to return to the private sector, and current White House communications director Steven Cheung.
Budowich aided early-term messaging strategy and was the force behind a shake-up last year in the White House press pool, which increased the number of outlets able to attend smaller events with the president, such as in the Oval Office, while overriding decades-old deference to the press corps.
Taylor Budowich, a former White House deputy chief of staff, is considered a possible successor to Leavitt. Getty Images
White House communications director Steven Cheung could wear two hats and assume the role. Bloomberg via Getty Images
Cheung already serves some of the functions of the role, including regularly meeting with journalists to dispense information. But he has not sought out opportunities to brief reporters on camera, including during Leavitt’s recent maternity leave.
Also subject to heavy speculation are Katie Miller, a former aide to Elon Musk at DOGE and the wife of deputy chief of staff for policy Stephen Miller, as well as principal deputy press secretary Anna Kelly and US chief of protocol Monica Crowley, a former journalist who regularly interacts with the president.
Miller hosts a podcast on which top officials regularly appear. Her husband, when asked about wife Katie after a TV hit on Wednesday, smiled but declined to answer reporters’ questions.
The Kalshi betting market featured wild swings as gamblers digested the news.
Longtime Trump adviser Jason Miller at one point placed second to Habba, before fading as major bets were placed, vaulting Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy’s wife, Fox News personality Rachel Campos-Duffy to 65% likelihood, before failed Los Angeles mayoral candidate Spencer Pratt took the lead.
Katie Miller, who served as press secretary to Vice President Mike Pence during Trump’s first term, is another possibilty. AP
Principal deputy press secretary Anna Kelly is also in the mix. X/@AnnaKelly47
Miller has worked alongside Trump since serving as a spokesman during his 2016 campaign. He recently was reported to be joining the White House after working in the private sector. But Miller, despite being a trusted adviser, has not sought the position in the past.
Campos-Duffy and Pratt would constitute dark horses.
Trump’s decision not to immediately announce a successor opens the door to another option: the temporary use of senior officials to provide more sporadic briefings.
Vice President JD Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent previously led briefings — as has Trump himself.
