Karoline Leavitt's face says it all as she breaks cover after her shock resignation

By ROSS IBBETSON, ASSOCIATE EDITOR Published: 18:58, 14 August 2026 | Updated: 19:26, 14 August 2026 Karoline Leavitt appeared forlorn as she accompanied Donald Trump just hours after announcing she will quit the White House at the end of the month in a move that stunned Washington. The press secretary joined the President as he headed to New York to speak at a police academy on Friday.  Leavitt stood and watched as Trump addressed reporters at Joint Base Andrews as the pair prepared to board Air Force One. She put on her best poker face as the press pack jostled around her boss but when she walked up the stairs to the aircraft she glanced back down toward the photographers, her face appearing to betray a sense of loss. Leavitt had just 24 hours earlier announced that she would leave the White House so that she could devote her time to her young family, a decision understood to have frustrated Trump who had begged her to stay on. The press secretary is among the President's closest confidantes and was expected to play a central role in the midterm campaign - with the election less than three months away. Leavitt, 28, had returned from maternity leave just last month after the birth of her daughter in May, her second child in the space of two hours. She returned to the White House early at the insistence of the President, sources told the Daily Mail. No replacement for Leavitt has been announced, although Trump's former lawyer Alina Habba is the odds-on favorite with the bookmaker.  Karoline Leavitt appeared forlorn as she accompanied Donald Trump just hours after announcing she will quit the White House in a move that stunned Washington White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt boards Air Force One at Joint Base Andrews, Maryland, on August 14, 2026. Trump is on his way to Garden City, New York, to speak at the Nassau County Police Academy Center for Training and Intelligence before continuing to Bedminster, New Jersey, to spend the weekend at his golf club Donald Trump speaks to the press as White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt looks on Leavitt looks on as US President Donald Trump speaks to the press before boarding Air Force One at Joint Base Andrews Leavitt admitted it was a 'bittersweet decision' calling it 'the most rewarding yet challenging season of my life, to say the least.'  'The truth is since returning to the White House after the birth of my daughter, I have felt in my heart that I cannot be the best mom my two young children deserve while devoting the constant time, energy, and attention required of the White House Press Secretary – and that is why I have ultimately made the bittersweet decision to depart the White House and embark on a new chapter in my life,' she wrote on X. Trump posted on Truth Social it was 'a decision I totally understand and respect', calling Leavitt 'one of the best White House press secretaries in the history of the office.' The President said Leavitt would remain a 'top outside adviser' and an 'influential voice' at the top of the Republican Party as the White House gears up for crunch midterm elections in November. Leavitt is known for her tenacity at the podium in the White House briefing room, frequently mirroring the behavior of her boss in attacking 'fake news' journalists and dishing out tongue lashings to any reporter who dares to cross the administration. She entered Trump's orbit in 2018 during the first administration, first as a presidential writer and then as an assistant White House press secretary. Leavitt worked as communications director for New York representative Elise Stefanik, a close Trump ally, from 2021 to 2022. She joined Trump's re-election campaign as a national press secretary in 2024 and was announced as White House Press Secretary on his return to the Oval Office. Leavitt, speaks to the members of the media, after disembarking Marine One, before boarding Air Force One Leavitt looks on as US President Donald Trump speaks to the press Leavitt (2nd-L) prepares to board Marine One on The Ellipse near the White House en route to Joint Base Andrews If Leavitt does return to work, she is likely to have her pick of high-profile roles in Republican politics, conservative media and political communications. Leavitt has two-year-old son Niko and three-month-old daughter Vivi with her real estate developer husband Nicholas Riccio, 60, who she married in January last year. Leavitt’s resignation comes just two weeks after one of her top deputies Abigail Jackson left the White House for the private sector.