WASHINGTON — Thursday marks Karoline Leavitt’s last day on the job, after a historic 20-month run as the youngest press secretary in White House history.
Leavitt caught up with reporters on her last day on the driveway on the North Lawn of the White House, telling them it is “bittersweet” to depart her post.
“It’s very bittersweet,” Leavitt told reporters. “I‘ll miss you guys. I know that’s probably not something anyone would expect me to say, but obviously it’s been great working with all of you.”
“And I think people don’t realize about this job — the briefings and what I just did on TV is 10 percent. Ninety percent of it is taking all of your calls at five in the morning and eleven p.m. at night, and I won’t really miss that. But I will miss working with you guys every day,” she added.
Leavitt said she is sure President Donald Trump will continue to field calls from reporters and give them statements daily until a replacement is found.
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Leavitt said she would give advice privately to an eventual successor, when asked if she had words of guidance or counsel for the next press secretary.
“I think it’s most important in this job to understand that President Trump is his own best spokesperson, and we joke, Steven Chueng and me, that he is the true communications director and press secretary here at the White House, and just understanding that, knowing that, and believing in the mission,” she said.
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“I mean, I think you guys can all see: I believe so much in my heart about what this president is doing every day, the policies he’s enacting,” she continued.
Trump revealed earlier this month that Leavitt would be departing the position to spend more time with her young children, Nicholas and Viviana. Leavitt will also return to MAGA Inc., but her title is not yet clear, at least publicly. She will also serve as a top outside adviser to Trump.
“It’s been an honor to speak on behalf of him and to understand his thinking and to relay it to all of you, but also to the country over the past 20 months, and then again before that on the campaign,” she told reporters.
“And I’ll still be around. I’m gonna just go to the other side so I can spend some more time with my kids,” she added.
