All posts tagged "karoline leavitt"

Knife fight in the West Wing as scramble to replace Karoline Leavitt gets ugly

The race to replace Karoline Leavitt has morphed into a knife fight, with Trump-world sources trashing the contenders and a one-time frontrunner sunk by his own words, the Daily Mail reported Friday.

CNN commentator Scott Jennings had the job if he wanted it, sources told the outlet, after dining with chief of staff Susie Wiles. But White House staff surfaced what he wrote on the day of the Capitol riot in 2021, when Jennings said Trump had caused the insurrection with lies about the election being rigged. Disgraced former Rep. Matt Gaetz amplified it, posting that Jennings for press secretary was a bad idea.

And Trump insiders noticed.

Jennings apologized for those comments in 2024, but that didn't help, and neither did his defense of Sen. Mitch McConnell during the senator's long absence from Congress. A source familiar with Trump's thinking told the Mail the president was turned off by both, then quoted him.

"And the president also did say, 'Look, he's doing great for us on CNN. Maybe he's more valuable there," the source said.

Trump's former personal attorney Alina Habba has also fared poorly in the sweepstakes.

She told a conservative podcaster she would take the job if asked, but a source put her chances at zero percent, saying Trump feels she has flamed out at the opportunities he has already given her.

"Habba has a lot of connections within the White House, but the president is uninterested in giving her another job," a source told the Mail.

Other contenders include Roma Daravi, the Kennedy Center's public relations chief and a first-term alumna, who has been posting clips defending Trump since Leavitt announced her exit. Caroline Sunshine, a former campaign aide turned cable pundit, has drawn similar notice. Even so, neither has generated much interest from the president, a source said. One adviser called Sunshine disloyal over her criticism of last year's strikes in Iran.

Sunshine hit back at the remarks.

"White House officials are spending their days tracking my TV hits, tweets, and hairstyles? Perhaps if the White House was 100 percent focused on correcting the fake news about the President, he'd be getting better press. Get back to work," she sneered.

Leavitt, who stepped down Aug. 27 after announcing she wanted more time with her two young children, is now at Trump's political operation and advising him on her own replacement. Sources said there is no rush and no decision, and that the post could sit empty until after November.

That vacancy was conspicuous Friday, when Trump announced he was banning CNN, MS NOW and Politico from the White House with nobody at the podium to explain what the ban actually means. Jennings, meanwhile, remains on CNN, where colleagues have repeatedly cornered him over his Trump defenses.

Trump loyalist bolts from White House job amid growing exodus: report

A White House staffer who has been with President Donald Trump since the first administration left his job, adding to a growing exodus.

CBS News White House reporter Jennifer Jacobs posted on X on Tuesday that White House deputy assistant to the president and press adviser Pat Adams departed on Monday.

Politico described Adams as the "former right hand" for Karoline Leavitt, who left her job as White House press secretary last month.

According to Jacobs, Adams was good at "behind-the-scenes" organizing, including wrangling White House Cabinet secretaries, such as Secretary of State Marco Rubio.

"Rubio tends to reject staff prep before public appearances, and didn't want to waste time on it before his guest briefing [on] May 5 while Karoline Leavitt was on maternity leave," Jacobs wrote. "Adams, who managed the press team in Leavitt's absence, roped Rubio into it."

Adams met Leavitt when they were both junior staffers during Trump's first term, Jacobs reported. Adams helped Leavitt launch her run for Congress in New Hampshire, which she lost, before returning to the White House with her, Jacobs added.

According to reporting by The Daily Beast, Adams has worked as Trump's special assistant, his presidential writer, and as an associate director of strategic communications during the 2020 campaign.

The Daily Beast also noted other high-level White House departures during Trump's second term. White House spokesperson Abigail Jackson, senior policy strategist Emily Underwood, cabinet affairs director Lea Bardon and media affairs director Sonny Joy Nelson all left the Trump administration this year.

Just last month, the announcement of Leavitt's departure was followed by the deputy national security adviser Andy Baker and legislative affairs director James Braid leaving, according to The Daily Beast.

Paige Willey, the deputy assistant to the president for economic policy and deputy director of the National Economic Council, announced her departure last week, The Daily Beast added. The loss of top White House staffers comes on top of the departures of high-level staff from other departments under Trump as well, including the Pentagon and the Justice Department.

'Chock-full of lies': Karoline Leavitt's invite to popular talk show spurs uproar

Veteran Democratic political strategist Julie Roginsky tore into ABC's "The View" and its decision to invite former White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt.

In a Saturday Substack article, Roginsky discussed how "The View" announced that Karoline Leavitt had been invited to join the show as a guest for its new season this fall. Most of Roginsky's ire was directed at the show's network, ABC, which also runs "Jimmy Kimmel Live!" and is owned by Disney.

"Has ABC completely lost its mind?" Roginsky wrote. "This booking is a disgrace and ABC should cancel it before it beclowns itself any further."

Roginsky said that inviting Leavitt onto "The View," which has also hosted Vice President JD Vance, overlooks her work as Trump's White House Press Secretary. Roginsky wrote that Leavitt mostly marked that tenure with lies.

"This is not evidence of balanced journalism," Roginsky wrote. "It is an editorial decision to give a national platform to a political operative whose public record is chock-full of lies."

Roginsky noted that Leavitt said she plans to "serve the president on the outside" now that her time as press secretary is over.

"In other words, we can expect more of the same from her when ABC platforms her in the coming months," Roginsky wrote. "More lying, more obfuscation, more gaslighting, all in service of the president."

The main beef that Roginsky had with Leavitt was her claims that Trump's tax-and-spending bill "does not add to the deficit," that Trump's tariffs "are a tax cut for the American people," and that a Maryland father deported to El Salvador was a "foreign terrorist."

However, Roginsky blasted "The View" for having her on despite "being a show by and for women," and pointed out "Leavitt's excuse for Trump snapping 'Quiet, Piggy!' at a female journalist was that he was being 'respectful' of the press corps."

Disney is notably suing the FCC after it ordered the media giant's eight television stations to file their broadcast license renewals ahead of schedule. FCC Chairman Brendan Carr, who was installed by President Donald Trump, has been accused of bullying Disney and ABC, especially after "Jimmy Kimmel Live!" and its guest hosts have come under fire from the administration for mocking the president.

Powerful White House insider demands 'grownup' take over as Trump's press secretary: CNN

White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles has reportedly made clear her new criteria for picking a new press secretary.

On Thursday, CNN senior White House correspondent Kristen Holmes reported that Wiles has laid out what she's seeking in the person she hires to replace outgoing Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt, who will leave at the end of August.

"One of the things that I was told by a number of sources is that Wiles has said that she is looking for a 'grownup,' somebody who understands the job and is also professional in that job," Holmes said. "It's one thing to just stand at the podium and attack, but they also want somebody who can work with reporters behind the scenes to actually try and shape the narrative."

Leavitt announced earlier this month that she's leaving her role to focus on her family. CNN conservative pundit Scott Jennings has been reported as an early favorite, and he reportedly met with Wiles about the job over the weekend.

"I'm told this came at the request of the White House," Holmes said about Wiles' meeting with Jennings. "This really was, for all intents and purposes, a preliminary meeting. This was the two of them meeting face-to-face for the first time as Susie Wiles is really starting this process to find a new press secretary."

Holmes reported that the decision of who will replace Leavitt will be up to Wiles and President Donald Trump. Wiles' meeting with Jennings was her "laying out exactly what she wanted from a press secretary and introducing herself to Jennings," Holmes said.

"There's a belief in the West Wing that she backs Jennings," Holmes added. "But I did get some pushback from that, essentially saying it was too early to determine that the chief of staff had backed anyone."

Wiles is asking, "Can he do all the closed-door legwork that has made Karoline so effective? No one knows," Holmes said. "It's not so much about Jennings. It's so much about Karoline Leavitt leaving, and again, the critical role she has played."

Trump insiders secretly sabotaging Scott Jennings' shot at replacing Leavitt: report

Allies of President Donald Trump are trying to "derail" conservative commentator Scott Jennings' chances of winning the press secretary job.

According to a Thursday article by the New York Post, Trump's "fiercest allies" are trying to ruin Jennings because of his longstanding ties to his mentor, Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY). Trump is still trying to fill the post that White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt will vacate at the end of the month.

"It's not going to be him," an anonymous source close to the administration told The Post.

The Post noted that Jennings met with White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles this past weekend, but a senior administration official said that no clear favorite has emerged for the job.

"It's an open book," the senior administration official said. "There are no favorites or preconceived ideas."

However, reporting by The Post framed the indecision as Trump insiders trying to sabotage Jennings' chances over his ties to McConnell. Jennings, a Kentucky native, has talked about his relationship with McConnell in light of the senior senator's extended absence.

The Post also noted that Jennings aligned himself with McConnell's position about holding Trump responsible for the violence at the Capitol on January 6. Jennings wrote a CNN op-ed declaring, "Trump caused this insurrection with his lies and conspiracy theories about the election process being rigged."

When The Post reached out to Jennings for comment, he responded with a gif of Patrick Swayze's character from the 1989 film "Road House," with the caption, "Opinions vary."

Jennings recently took the Trump position when responding to Sen. Jon Ossoff's comments about how the president prefers to "travel with Natalie Harp" instead of doing his job. In a fiery CNN debate, Jennings insisted that Harp doesn't deserve to be attacked because she doesn't have a public-facing role, but he refused to denounce Trump's attacks on women, including female reporters.

Harp herself has emerged as a possible dark-horse candidate for Leavitt's job, and insiders have also said that Trump would prefer to hire a man for the job, while others report that Trump wouldn't mind holding off on hiring until after the midterms.

Trump weighs press secretary shakeup with new hiring rule in mind: report

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."

White House aide hurls 'vile' slur at podcaster over Karoline Leavitt question: report

A White House aide responded to a request for comment from The Daily Beast by describing one of its podcast hosts with a slur.

In a Friday article about the "vile" slur, The Daily Beast reported that White House Communications Director Steven Cheung lashed out at Joanna Coles, who co-hosts Inside Trump's Head with biographer Michael Wolff. The Daily Beast had reached out to Cheung for a comment on a story about outgoing White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt.

According to The Daily Beast's reporting, Cheung wrote, "Joanna Coles is a r— who has no idea what goes on in the White House." Cheung didn't respond when The Daily Beast reached back out to let him know it would be writing a story about his response.

The Daily Beast reached out to the White House for a comment on a podcast episode hosted by Coles and Executive Editor Hugh Dougherty in which they discussed the departure of Leavitt and other West Wing staffers, including the White House counsel, the deputy national security adviser, and one of Leavitt's deputy press secretaries.

"There's two elements to this story. There's the personal, and there's, I think, if you want to call it the institutional," Dougherty said. "And it's no doubt about the personal here. Karoline Leavitt was not enjoying herself."

Dougherty noted that Leavitt didn't accompany President Donald Trump to Turkey for the NATO summit, which served as the backdrop for the now widely reported decoy plane story. He said Leavitt's absence "raised a few eyebrows with people that she had come back after just a month, and people kind of assumed she would be on this trip."

Explaining the institutional element, Dougherty said, "Look at the timing of this. We are inside the 90-day stretch to the midterms. It's when, once we tick past Labor Day, then really the whole country is going to be focused on what happens on November the 3rd, and we know what's going to happen."

Dougherty explained, "If the polls are right, it's going to be a blue wave that's going to be so unpleasant if you are in the West Wing, if you are Karoline Leavitt, if you are the other people who are leaving."

The Daily Beast noted that Cheung also attacked Coles in April, when she questioned Trump's alleged weight loss. Cheung wrote on X that Coles was "a piece of s—, clearly suffering from a debilitating case of Trump Derangement Syndrome rotting her pea-sized brain." Coles clapped back by calling out Cheung for using recycled statements.

Top Trump handler's grip slips as she battles health scare: report

One of President Donald Trump's closest aides has been losing her pull with him, according to reports on Friday.

Chief of Staff Susie Wiles, who has reportedly often been a voice keeping some of Trump's worst impulses under control, has been losing her grip over the president, insiders told The Daily Beast.

"Much of the credit for the more disciplined Trump 2.0 has gone to White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles, but her influence over the president is said to be waning, especially since she kept up a heavy workload while being treated for early-stage breast cancer, which was diagnosed in March," The Beast reported.

Wiles and White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt have often been the ones to speak up against Trump and say "no."

In an explosive Vanity Fair story in December, Wiles referred to Trump as having an "alcoholic's personality," saying he has carried himself as though there is "nothing he can't do."

The concerns about Wiles come as Trump's White House sheds staff at a striking pace. Four aides have resigned in recent weeks, and more departures are expected. On Friday, deputy national security adviser Andy Baker, a close ally of Vice President JD Vance, became the latest to announce his exit. Baker, who had a hand in earlier negotiations with Iran, leaves with that war still raging.

The turnover has outpaced the early stretches of the Bush, Obama and Biden administrations, according to one analysis. Wiles herself was reported earlier this year to be weighing the November midterms as an off-ramp, frustrated by Trump's promotion of Bill Pulte to acting director of national intelligence, though she denied that friction with the president was driving her out.

Wiles has not given a public update on her health since disclosing her diagnosis. The Beast also reported that Trump may not replace Leavitt.

Kaitlan Collins traps Scott Jennings with one line about the Trump job he won't deny

CNN's in-house conservative commentator Scott Jennings was chided about being the frontrunner to replace the outgoing White House press secretary.

During a Thursday evening appearance on CNN, Jennings was again asked directly whether President Donald Trump or his administration had reached out to him about taking over for Karoline Leavitt, who announced on Wednesday that she's leaving her role as White House press secretary.

Jennings was asked about it on Wednesday night, when he was on the roundtable for CNN NewsNight. He told guest host Lulu Garcia-Navarro, "No," he didn't plan on taking the job, but that hasn't kept him from the murmurs about Leavitt's possible replacement. The prediction market Kalshi even has him as the frontrunner.

CNN anchor Kaitlan Collins decided to ask again on Thursday evening if the White House had reached out about the job. This time, Jennings danced around the question.

"I don't really have anything to say about it other than, I mean, I would get to see you every day," Jennings told Collins, who frowned and seemed to mull over the answer. "And I would think you'd be happy about this."

"I already see you every day," Collins responded.

"Not really. We see each other one or two days a week, but can you imagine every single day getting to go to work where I am?" Jennings said.

"Okay, but that's not a no," Collins said.

Jennings was joined on the segment by Democratic political commentator Paul Begala. Collins jokingly turned to him and said, "I'm not going to ask you because I already know the answer to that."

Still, Begala offered his two cents by describing the role of White House press secretary as "a thankless job, and I don't wish that on anybody. I especially don't wish it on Scott because he's my friend." Collins laughed at the comment while Jennings smiled.

Jennings has been a CNN contributor since 2017 and previously advised Mitch McConnell's campaigns. He was also a special assistant to George W. Bush.

'Wild card' aide who prints Trump's articles emerges in press secretary race: report

Speculation over who could replace White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt is intriguing gamblers, who are betting on wild-card picks.

According to reporting by The Daily Beast, the prediction market Kalshi is taking bets on who will replace Leavitt. President Donald Trump's devoted aide, Natalie Harp, has recently emerged as a "wild card" pick, but CNN conservative pundit Scott Jennings remains the frontrunner, The Daily Beast wrote.

Jennings is leading with a 29 percent chance of landing the job, The Daily Beast reported on Thursday. Jennings appeared on CNN NewsNight on Wednesday night, and guest host Lulu Garcia-Navarro put the suggestion to him directly.

Jennings said "no," and pivoted to praising Leavitt, calling her "maybe the greatest White House press secretary in the last 30 years, at least." Fellow CNN commentator Bakari Sellers chimed in, saying, "Democrats are afraid of Scott Jennings becoming press secretary. There you go. Now you've got the job."

White House Principal Deputy Press Secretary Anna Kelly followed in second place at 17 percent, and Trump's former legal spokesperson Alina Habba sits at 16 percent. MAGA commentators have supported the idea of appointing Habba. Former GOP congressman and convicted fraudster George Santos wrote in a Thursday evening post on X, "I freaking love her energy."

Below them, Kalshi has stacked up a field of dark-horse contenders. Among them is Natalie Harp, the 35-year-old personal aide who prints out articles for Trump to read and posts on his behalf on Truth Social, according to The Daily Beast. Kalshi gives her a 5 percent chance, which means a $100 bet on Harp would pay out roughly 20-to-1, about $2,000, if she's picked.

Harp's inclusion is notable given her low public profile, The Daily Beast noted. She is not active on social media and has never spoken publicly about her White House role.

Other long-shot names include White House Assistant Press Secretary Liz Huston, longtime Trump adviser Jason Miller, Don Jr.'s wife Lara Trump, Communications Director Steven Cheung, and Roma Daravi, a public relations executive at the Kennedy Center, per The Daily Beast.