Welcome to the latest installment of Washington Secrets, your user guide to the capital’s politics. Today, we have the juice on who will stand in for White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt when she goes on maternity leave.
President Donald Trump will lose his “machine gun lips” in May when Karoline Leavitt, his press secretary, goes on maternity leave, vacating the lectern while she has her second baby.
The result is rampant speculation about who might replace one of Trump’s most effective officials.
Tricia McLaughlin, the glamorous and punchy spokeswoman at the Department of Homeland Security, has frequently been cited by administration officials as the best equipped to stand in. Her Fox News appearances have won rave reviews, and she has, after all, been well and truly tested in recent weeks amid a series of crises.
But Secrets can reveal that Leavitt will not have a stand-in. Instead, her role will be covered by a rolling cast of big hitters.
“Marco [Rubio] will get up,” she told Secrets in the comfort of her White House office, where a log fire burned against the winter cold. “So too will the Vice President. There will be special guests.”
Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Vice President JD Vance are two of the biggest names in an administration built of cabinet secretaries picked in part for their prowess on television. Any appearances they make will trigger comparisons and more intrigue about which will emerge as the strongest contender for the 2028 Republican presidential nomination.
Secrets will leave headlines about 2028 auditions to others. But that it will take such important figures to fill in is a reminder of how the youngest press secretary in history — Leavitt is still only 28 — has been one of the breakout stars of the Trump administration.
“She is so impressive,” cooed one first-time visitor to the Briefing Room on Tuesday. “And you could see her face toughen when she got a question she didn’t like.”
Minutes earlier, Leavitt had ended the briefing by rolling through a list of the administration’s achievements after being asked one time too many about ties between Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick and Jeffrey Epstein.
Her take-no-prisoners approach made her an indispensable figure during the last months of the election campaign.
She famously managed only four days of maternity leave when she had her first baby, named Niko, in July 2024, hurrying back on to the airwaves after the attempted assassination of Trump at a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania.
Lara Trump, the President’s daughter-in-law, shut down any suggestions that Leavitt could be replaced during a recent interview, citing how she handled her first pregnancy.
“Karoline Leavitt is a machine. She’s incredible. And she’s going nowhere,” Lara, Eric Trump’s wife, told Fox News. “We’re all going to be watching as Karoline Leavitt absolutely schools the fake news media while she’s probably eight and nine months pregnant.”
She also played down any idea that there would be a permanent replacement.
“I’ve seen some stories out there … who’s next in line? Nobody’s next in line. It’s Karoline,” Leavitt said.
Other names in the mix were NewsNation host Katie Pavlich, former Trump adviser Kellyanne Conway, Fox News host Laura Ingraham, and Monica Crowley, Trump’s protocol chief and former Fox News contributor.
You are reading Washington Secrets, a guide to power and politics in D.C. and beyond. It is written by Rob Crilly, who you can reach at [email protected] with your comments, story tips, and suggestions. If a friend sent you this and you’d like to sign up, click here.
Lunchtime reading
Compass Coffee had Starbucks-size ambitions. Here’s how it unraveled: Compass has long been the preferred purveyor of caffeinated drinks for Secrets. And its empty coffeeshops are a cause for sadness. Its downfall was not just the pandemic and a hollowed-out city center.
Why Netanyahu raced to Washington over Iran: This was a preview of Wednesday’s meeting, but still well worth reading: “Netanyahu appears to believe this moment is unique — that Iran is weaker than it has been in years: economically strained, internally divided, and strategically exposed after recent regional confrontations. In his assessment, a limited agreement would squander a rare opportunity to alter the regime’s trajectory, particularly at a time of unprecedented U.S. military presence in the region.”
