WASHINGTON – President-elect Donald Trump announced Friday that he will select Karoline Leavitt as White House press secretary.
“Karoline is smart, tough and has proven to be a very effective communicator,” Trump said in a statement. “I have every confidence that she will excel on stage and help deliver our message to the American people as we: Make America Great Again.”
Leavitt served as his campaign’s national press secretary during this election cycle, and she has served as spokesperson for the transition team since Election Day.
“Thank you, President Trump, for believing in me. I am humbled and honored,” Leavitt said in a post on “Let’s MAGA!”
In a message to
“It was the honor of my life to speak on behalf of President Trump and this historic campaign,” she said in the post. “I will never forget the feeling of joy when the race was officially called, standing backstage with the hardest working team in politics. In that moment, all the blood, sweat and tears were instantly worth it.”
Earlier on Friday, Trump named Steven Cheung as his new communications director. Cheung held the same title during Trump’s 2024 presidential campaign.
Leavitt has defended Trump’s rhetoric, saying during an Election Day interview on NBC News NOW, “when it comes to the alleged dark rhetoric, he’s talking about the reality in this country right now,” pointing to the number of Americans that said she felt the country was going in the wrong direction.
As campaign press secretary, Leavitt has also repeatedly embraced Trump’s criticism of the media as “fake news.”
Leavitt ran for Congress in New Hampshire in 2022 and lost to the incumbent Democratic Rep. Chris Pappas. Leavitt served as assistant press secretary during Trump’s first term.
This article was originally published on NBCNews.com
