Insiders at the White House share how Karoline Leavitt excelled in a challenging role in the Trump administration, with approval from a former aide to Clinton.

The press secretary of Donald Trump is garnering acclaim for possessing the unyielding discipline and sheer determination needed to occupy – and retain – one of the most challenging roles in the White House.

Karoline Leavitt, at the age of only 27, has firmly established herself as a formidable presence in the second Trump administration, holding the distinction of being the youngest press secretary in history.

Her ascent has been characterized by a steadfast dedication to Trump’s communication strategy – a quality that has earned her commendation from the president and even some grudging respect from his adversaries.

Even Joe Lockhart, a former press secretary for President Bill Clinton, has acknowledged Leavitt’s effectiveness.

‘If you were to grade her on the conventional wisdom of the job she gets an F. If you would grade her on the current criteria, pleasing Donald Trump, she gets an A-plus,’ Lockhart said to the Wall Street Journal.

‘They’re always only speaking to their own people. They do not care about the rest of us, because they don’t need those people to keep Republicans in charge.’ 

According to former White House press secretary Ari Fleischer who served under George W. Bush, ‘The most noticeable thing I can tell about her is she is in the Oval Office with the president for much of the day. And I say that because she speaks Donald Trump fluently.

‘She knows his ins and outs. She knows what to say, what not to say. And she’s comfortable.’ 

The New Hampshire native’s defining moment came in July 2024, just days after giving birth to her son. 

While tending to her child, a would-be assassin’s bullet grazed Trump’s ear during a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania and Leavitt made a stunning decision to return to work just four days later. 

‘The President literally put his life on the line to win this election,’ she later explained. ‘The least I could do is get back to work quickly.’

She’s the sixth working mother in a row to hold the post. 

Such fierce devotion shows why Trump has entrusted her with one of the most grueling roles in Washington. 

In the few weeks since stepping behind the lectern, she has proven to be a quick-witted and unflappable spokesperson, batting down hostile questions from the press with a mix of sharp precision and biting, dismissive comebacks. 

‘So you’re asking a hypothetical based on programs you can’t even identify?’ she scoffed at one White House reporter, setting the tone for how she intends to manage the often-adversarial press corps.

Her no-nonsense approach has sparked both admiration and criticism, but those who know her best say she thrives in high-pressure situations. 

Under Leavitt’s watch, the traditional press briefing format has been radically restructured. 

She has made it clear that legacy media will no longer be prioritized, opening up the briefing room to influencers, TikTokers, independent journalists, and conservative content creators. 

Leavitt started the question period in her very first briefing by calling on the outlets Axios and Breitbart News, saying that non-traditional outlets would play a bigger role going forward in the White House. 

‘I believe the best way to be successful at my job is to listen to [President Trump] as much as possible and hear every word he says publicly, and then to talk to him privately about his thinking, so I can articulate his message as effectively as possible,’ Leavitt said about her role. 

The shift has not been without controversy. The Associated Press was barred from several White House events after refusing to adopt Trump’s rebranding of the Gulf of Mexico as the ‘Gulf of America.’ 

When the AP protested, Leavitt was unmoved. 

‘It is a privilege to cover this White House,’ she told reporters. ‘It is a fact that the body of water off the coast of Louisiana is called the ‘Gulf of America,’ and I’m not sure why news outlets don’t want to call it that. But that is what it is.’

Her unapologetic stance has drawn the ire of traditional news organizations and press freedom advocates. 

‘It’s alarming that the Trump administration would punish AP for its independent journalism,’ AP executive editor Julie Pace stated. The White House Correspondents’ Association called the move ‘a textbook violation of the First Amendment.’

Leavitt, however, remains steadfast in her approach. ‘We will call you out when we feel that your reporting is wrong or there is misinformation about this White House,’ she warned in one of her earliest press conferences.

Despite her controversial handling of the press, Leavitt has garnered significant support among Trump loyalists, who see her as a fierce warrior against media bias. 

‘Overall, I think she’s killing it,’ said Sean Spicer, Trump’s first spokesman who lasted six months in the role during Trump’s first term. ‘Admittedly, I’m a little jealous.’

Trump himself described her as ‘a star is born’ at a recent White House event. 

Navigating the Trump presidency also requires an unparalleled ability to anticipate his impulses, translate his off-the-cuff remarks into policy statements, and control the media narrative. 

Leavitt’s defenders argue that it is her ability to channel Trump’s voice so effectively which is exactly what makes her an asset in this unprecedented White House. 

Leavitt’s rise to prominence began with a political awakening in college. 

A former athlete at Saint Anselm College, a liberal arts school in Manchester, New Hampshire, she pivoted from sports to politics. 

She played on the softball team and graduated in 2019 with a bachelor’s degree in politics and communication, the first in her immediate family to earn a college degree, working her way into Trump’s first administration through sheer persistence. 

Leavitt ‘quickly learned it wasn’t athletics I was interested in. It was politics, public service, news,’ she told a county Republican group in New Hampshire in 2022 as she explored running for Congress.

She wanted to be a reporter, and even worked for local TV station WMUR, but ultimately was ‘glad I didn’t continue down that path, working on the dark side.’

She wanted to get involved in the political process. Trump was the inspiration to her.

In his first term, Leavitt applied for a White House internship and was ‘stunned’ to be accepted. She worked in the correspondence office, where she wrote letters in the president’s name.

Afterwards she moved to Kayleigh McEnany’s press team, where she quickly became a trusted deputy.

‘I was immediately impressed by her evident drive and her genuinely positive demeanor,’ McEnany, now a co-host of Fox News Channel’s Outnumbered, said.

‘Karoline is sharp, professional, and enterprising, and I knew that I wanted to hire her on the spot.’ 

Her ascent continued post-2020, working as communications director for Rep. Elise Stefanik, where she played a key role in reshaping the GOP’s messaging after January 6. Stefanik was one of Trump’s staunchest defenders in the House.

‘It was clear from day one, when I hired Karoline, she was going to have a very bright future and be on a rocket ship,’ Stefanik said to WSJ. 

Leavitt still maintains, as does Trump, that the 2020 election was stolen from him despite the findings of courts, independent watchdogs and Trump’s then-attorney general. 

Leavitt later ran for Congress in 2022, losing in the general election but proving her ability to hold her own in national politics.

Insiders say that despite her congressional loss, her experience on the campaign trail made her even more formidable in handling aggressive media scrutiny. 

Leavitt was national spokesperson for Trump’s campaign, traveling and aggressively promoting his policies and defending him during frequent TV appearances. She did the same during the transition after Trump was reelected. 

‘Karoline is smart, tough, and has proven to be a highly effective communicator,’ Trump said. ‘I have the utmost confidence she will excel at the podium, and help deliver our message to the American people as we Make America Great Again.’ 

Trump is known for cycling through press secretaries at breakneck speed with at least four in his first administration although he frequently prefers to engage directly with the public, from his rallies, social media posts and his own press briefings.

Trump’s first press secretaries, Sean Spicer and Sarah Huckabee Sanders, were known for quarreling with reporters. 

Another, Stephanie Grisham, never held a briefing. Her successor, Kayleigh McEnany, often lectured the news media during her appearances in the White House press briefing room. 

Others in the communications department had the briefest of stays – the most infamous being Anthony Scaramucci who lasted just 10 days in his role as White House Communications Director.

But Leavitt’s ability to match Trump’s combativeness and loyalty may ensure her longevity in the role – and not just as another spokesperson but as the face of the new MAGA sisterhood and rising conservative star.