President Donald Trump is telling advisers he wants a man to replace outgoing White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt, according to NOTUS.
Trump has told close advisers he would prefer a man for the job after four female press secretaries across his two terms, two anonymous sources familiar with the conversation told the outlet. The pick would be meant to head off comparisons with Leavitt, who plans to leave the White House at the end of August, according to reporting by NOTUS.
Trump has shown interest in Scott Jennings, a conservative media pundit widely reported to have been the frontrunner for a bit. One source told NOTUS that Trump is not sold on the idea, however. Ari Fleischer, who served as press secretary under President George W. Bush, has also been floated, according to NOTUS.
The reporting adds a new wrinkle to a search that has quietly consumed the West Wing since Leavitt announced last week that she would step down at the end of the month, which was just a month after she returned from maternity leave. She cited a desire to spend more time with family and plans to stay on as an outside senior adviser.
Trump has said he is in no rush to fill the role, according to one source who spoke to NOTUS. Instead, the White House could lean on the rotating briefing format used during Leavitt's maternity leave from late April to July, when Vice President JD Vance and Cabinet members such as Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent took the podium.
Another dark-horse candidate has surfaced inside the West Wing. A person close to the White House predicted that the attention swirling around Trump's devoted aide Natalie Harp could push her into the job.
"She was on OANN," the source said, referring to her time as a host on the One America News Network. The source added that the media is going to "make her press secretary."