If you typed “Karoline Keavitt” into your search bar, don’t worry — you’ve got the right person, just a slightly different spelling. The correct name is Karoline Leavitt (pronounced LEV-it, like “level” without the “el”), and as of August 12, 2026, she’s all over the news for a major reason: she’s stepping down from one of the most visible jobs in American politics. This article covers her full story — where she grew up, how she got to the White House, who she’s married to, what she’s worth, and what’s happening right now.
Quick Answer: Karoline Leavitt (born August 24, 1997) served as the 36th White House Press Secretary under President Donald Trump starting January 2025. She became the youngest person ever to hold the role and announced her departure on August 12, 2026.
Background: Who Is Karoline Leavitt?
Karoline Leavitt grew up in Atkinson, a small town in New Hampshire. Her family wasn’t political royalty or Washington insiders — her parents, Bob and Erin Leavitt, ran an ice cream stand in town, and her father also operated a used truck dealership in nearby Plaistow. She was the youngest of three children and, by her own account, started working at the family business early in life.
She went to Central Catholic High School in Lawrence, Massachusetts — a private Catholic school — where she played softball well enough to earn recognition as an Eagle-Tribune All-Star in both 2014 and 2015. That athletic ability later got her a scholarship to college. She’s described her Catholic upbringing as a major influence on how she thinks, what she values, and her overall approach to public life.
People search for Karoline Leavitt because she made history as the youngest White House Press Secretary ever when she took the role in January 2025 at age 27. She became a daily face on television, standing at the podium in the Brady Briefing Room and speaking on behalf of President Trump’s second administration.
Latest Update
🔴 Breaking — August 12, 2026: Karoline Leavitt is leaving her role as White House Press Secretary at the end of this month.
President Donald Trump announced on his Truth Social account on Wednesday, August 12, 2026, that Karoline Leavitt would be leaving the White House at the end of August. His post described her as “one of my most trusted aides” and said she was stepping away to spend more time with her family.
Leavitt herself confirmed the news on X (formerly Twitter), writing that since the birth of her second child she felt in her heart she could not be the best mother her two young children deserve while keeping up with the demands of the Press Secretary role. She called the experience “the honor and adventure of a lifetime.” She gave birth to a daughter on May 1, 2026 — her second child — and had only returned to the White House podium on July 16, 2026, after about six weeks of maternity leave.
Trump added that Leavitt would become “one of my top outside advisers” and an active voice for the Republican Party heading into the November 2026 midterm elections. No replacement has been named publicly as of the time this article was written. Leavitt is one of only eight women in U.S. history to have served as White House Press Secretary.
Full Profile
| Full Name | Karoline Claire Leavitt |
| Date of Birth | August 24, 1997 |
| Age | 28 years old (turns 29 on August 24, 2026) |
| Birthplace | Atkinson, New Hampshire, USA |
| Hometown / State | Atkinson, New Hampshire |
| Religion | Roman Catholic |
| Spouse | Nicholas Riccio (married 2025) |
| Children | 2 — a son (Niko, born July 2024) and a daughter (born May 1, 2026) |
| Parents | Bob Leavitt (father) and Erin Leavitt (mother) |
| Education | Central Catholic High School (graduated 2015); Saint Anselm College, BA in Communications and Political Science (graduated 2019) |
| Height | Not confirmed in official or verified sources |
| Net Worth | Estimated around $3 million (varies by source — see Net Worth section below) |
| Official Role | 36th White House Press Secretary (January 2025 – August 2026) |
Family and Early Life
Growing up in Atkinson, Leavitt was the youngest of three children. Her parents ran a seasonal ice cream stand and a truck dealership — real small-business life. Her Catholic faith, shaped by her years at Central Catholic High School, has stayed central to how she talks about herself publicly, especially around family and her sense of purpose.
Education
After high school, she attended Saint Anselm College in Goffstown, New Hampshire, on an NCAA Division II softball scholarship. She gave up the sport by her sophomore year to focus on politics and media, and while there she founded the college’s first broadcasting club, interned at WMUR-TV and Fox News, and studied abroad at John Cabot University in Rome. She graduated in 2019 with a BA in Communications and a minor in Political Science.
Career Path
Right out of college, Leavitt got an internship in the White House Office of Presidential Correspondence during Trump’s first term. She worked her way up to associate director of that office and then became an Assistant White House Press Secretary in June 2020 under Kayleigh McEnany — a notable role for someone in their early twenties.
After Trump lost the 2020 election, she became Communications Director for Republican Representative Elise Stefanik of New York. In 2022, she ran for New Hampshire’s 1st Congressional District herself but lost in the Republican primary. That loss didn’t sideline her — she joined MAGA Inc., Trump’s super PAC, as a spokeswoman, and then became the National Press Secretary for his 2024 presidential campaign.
When Trump won the 2024 election, he named Leavitt as his White House Press Secretary in November 2024. She started the role officially on January 20, 2025, Inauguration Day. She held the post for roughly 19 months before her August 2026 departure announcement.
📌 Notable First: Karoline Leavitt is the youngest White House Press Secretary in U.S. history. She was 27 years old when she took the role in January 2025.
Spouse and Partner
Leavitt is married to Nicholas Riccio, a real estate developer. They met in 2022 during her congressional campaign in New Hampshire. They married in 2025. Riccio is significantly older than Leavitt — he is 60 years old. In a February 2025 podcast interview, she described him as her greatest supporter, best friend, and a very hands-on father. Riccio has a reported real estate portfolio that includes vacation rental properties, apartments, and motel assets in Hampton Beach, New Hampshire.
Children
The couple has two children. Their son, Nicholas Robert Riccio — nicknamed Niko — was born in July 2024. Their daughter was born on May 1, 2026. Leavitt announced the second pregnancy on Instagram around Christmas 2025, sharing an ultrasound photo. Balancing two young children with the demands of the Press Secretary role is what she cited as the central reason for stepping down in August 2026.
Net Worth
Net worth estimates for Leavitt vary quite a bit depending on the source. Celebrity Net Worth puts her personal net worth at around $3 million, factoring in her government salary of approximately $195,200 per year. Other outlets have estimated higher figures when combining her media presence and her household situation alongside her husband’s real estate portfolio, which is separately estimated at $10 million or more. Her own financial disclosures from her 2022 congressional campaign showed minimal personal assets at that time, so the current figures largely reflect post-2025 income and household wealth. No single figure is officially verified — treat all estimates as approximations.
Religion
Leavitt is a practicing Roman Catholic. She attended Catholic schools from high school through college and has spoken publicly about how her faith shapes her worldview, including her stance on certain social issues. She has called motherhood “the closest thing to Heaven on Earth.”
Height
Leavitt’s exact height has not been confirmed in any official or reliably verified source. Any figure you see online should be treated as unconfirmed.
Social Media
Karoline Leavitt is active on X (formerly Twitter): @KLeavitt45. She also has an Instagram account where she has shared personal and professional updates, including her pregnancy announcement in late 2025.
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Wrap-Up
Karoline Leavitt’s path is worth knowing about. She went from a small-town New Hampshire family business to the White House podium before her 28th birthday — not through family political connections, but through junior roles, consistent loyalty, and smart positioning over several years. Her story shows how quickly someone can move through political communications when they stay close to the right network and don’t make public mistakes.
The August 12, 2026 departure announcement surprised many people. She’d only returned from maternity leave weeks before. Her reason was personal and direct: two young children and one of the most demanding communications jobs in the world couldn’t both get her full effort at the same time. Whether she returns to a front-facing political role is unconfirmed — but at 28, with deep ties to the Trump political machine and a national profile, it’s hard to imagine this is the end of her public story.
And for anyone who found this page by searching “Karoline Keavitt” — you had the right person, just a different spelling. The correct name is Karoline Leavitt, and her Wikipedia entry is filed under that spelling if you want to cross-reference anything here.
Smith Andrew is the Founder and Editor of BiographyCabal. He researches, writes, and edits accurate, engaging, and well-researched biographies of celebrities, entrepreneurs, athletes, influencers, politicians, and other notable public figures. Committed to factual reporting and quality storytelling, Smith ensures every article is reader-focused, informative, and based on reliable sources, helping readers discover the lives, careers, and achievements of influential people around the world.