Karoline Leavitt to Make First Appearance as the Youngest White House Press Secretary in Press Briefing

Karoline Leavitt, the youngest person to serve as White House press secretary, will make her debut in the briefing room on Tuesday.

Her first briefing is scheduled for 1 p.m. ET.

The James S. Brady Press Briefing Room witnessed confrontations between spokespeople and reporters during President Donald Trump’s first term. Trump, a Republican, utilized the space frequently himself especially during the coronavirus pandemic.

Leavitt, at 27 years old, has not disclosed the frequency of her planned press briefings yet. Trump had four press secretaries in his initial administration – Sean Spicer, Sarah Huckabee Sanders, Stephanie Grisham, and Kayleigh McEnany. Grisham chose not to conduct any briefings, whereas the others were actively engaged in addressing the press.

Leavitt was a spokesperson for Trump’s campaign and transition, and he said she did “a phenomenal job” when he announced in November that she’d be his White House press secretary.

“Karoline is smart, tough, and has proven to be a highly effective communicator,” he said then in a statement. “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.”

Previously, the youngest press secretary was Ronald Ziegler, who was 29 when he took the position in 1969 in Richard Nixon’s administration.

Grisham was arguably the nation’s least visible press secretary in modern history, not holding a press briefing during nine months on the job. While she made occasional appearances on the Fox News Channel, she preferred to tape her interviews in a studio to avoid having to speak to reporters who gather on the White House driveway to interview officials after they appear on TV via cameras set up outside the executive mansion.

The White House press secretary typically serves as the public face of the administration and historically has held daily briefings for the press corps.

Trump disrupted those norms in his first term, preferring to serve as his own chief spokesperson. While he was president from 2017 to 2021, he frequently preferred to engage directly with the public, from his rallies, social media posts and his own briefings.

At a news conference this past August, Trump was asked if he’d have regular press briefings in his new administration. He told reporters, “I will give you total access, and you’ll have a lot of press briefings, and you’ll have, uh, from me.”

When it came to a press secretary, he said: “Probably they’ll do something. If it’s not daily, it’s going to be a lot. You’ll have more than you want.”