Karoline Leavitt didn’t get a formal sit-down, a public rollout, or even much buildup before landing one of the most visible jobs in Washington.
Instead, she got a casual aside on a phone call.
Speaking Thursday night at a Turning Point USA event at George Washington University, the White House press secretary recounted how President Donald Trump informed her she would take on the role — in what she described as “the most anti-climatic thing ever.”
“About a week after the election, we were on the phone about something, the president and me, just chit-chatting,” Leavitt said.
“And it was the most anti-climatic thing ever. He goes, ‘Oh, by the way, you know, you’re going to be the White House press secretary, right?’”
Her response: “Oh, okay.”
Trump quickly moved on.
“And he said, ‘So about that other thing, what do you think about that? What should we do? What should we say?’”
“That was it. That’s how I got the job,” she said.
Leavitt emphasized there was “no pomp and circumstance,” calling the moment “true Donald Trump fashion” and noting that “there really wasn’t a process.”
At the time, she had been working as a spokesperson on Trump’s 2024 campaign after losing her congressional bid in New Hampshire.
“I thought, I hope I’ll get a job. I don’t know if I will,” she said.
Leavitt, who gave birth to her son in July 2024, is currently nine months pregnant with a daughter — adding another layer of intensity to a role she says began with little more than an offhand comment.
