Details About Karoline Leavitt & Her Husband That Have Everyone Side-Eyeing Their Marriage

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt has frequently raised eyebrows over her questionable fashion choices and her Donald Trump-like lack of filter and levels of pettiness. However, it's her marriage to wealthy developer Nicholas Riccio that has raised the most questions about Leavitt over the past few months. The couple first met in 2022 during a fundraising dinner amid Leavitt's failed congressional campaign in New Hampshire. Despite the more than three-decade age gap between them, they still sparked a romance.

Their relationship moved quickly, with the pair getting engaged in December 2023 and welcoming their first baby, a son named Niko, in July 2024. Leavitt and Riccio wound up finally tying the knot in January 2025, just a few days before Trump's second inauguration. Since then, Leavitt has not shied away from sharing glimpses of her personal life and her family on social media. Although that hasn't kept some critics from pointing out a few potential red flags and questionable aspects of their marriage.

Apart from the remarkable age difference — which is even larger than the massive age gap between Trump and his wife, Melania Trump — Leavitt and Riccio's romance has also gotten some side-eye for Leavitt's devotion to her boss. Leavitt serves as Trump's mouthpiece to the press, and her appreciation for the president borders on uncomfortable at times. Additionally, Riccio's own self-made success has made some question just how much their marriage is about money rather than actual romance.

One thing that has drawn more heat than anything in Karoline Leavitt's marriage to Nicholas Riccio is the sizable differences in their ages. Riccio is 32 years older than Leavitt, having just turned 60 in 2025. This makes Riccio five years older than Leavitt's mom, Erin. However, Riccio is younger than her dad, Bob, but not by much. Bob turned 65 in May 2025, making Ricco only five years younger than her own dad.

And the age gap is not something that has gone unnoticed by Leavitt. The press secretary made an appearance on "The Megyn Kelly Show" in February 2025, and admitted that she and Riccio have "a very atypical love story." Leavitt also admitted that the differences in their age made her hesitant to pursue a romance when they first met, but when she moved past that she discovered a wonderful partner. "He's incredible," Leavitt marveled. "He is my greatest supporter, he's my best friend and he's my rock. He's built a very successful business himself so now he's fully supportive of me building my success in my career."

There is one man in Karoline Leavitt's life whom she's shown unwavering devotion to: President Donald Trump. Meanwhile, her beloved husband has largely stayed in the background, quietly supporting her behind the scenes. In fact, Leavitt showed off her office in April 2025 to influencer Kate Mackz, and revealed that she only has a handful of photographs on her walls. One of the photos — showcased in an ostentatious golden frame — shows Leavitt standing with Trump, while several other photos show the press secretary with her son at her first White House press briefing. Notably absent from Leavitt's office are photos of her husband, Nicholas Riccio.

Looking at her social media activity, Riccio is often nowhere to be found in her posts. However, according to Leavitt, this is simply because Riccio doesn't want his personal and private life broadcast to the public. "He doesn't have social media and he's an introvert," Leavitt explained to her Instagram followers (via The Daily Mail). "I respect his privacy on here."

She still seems fairly obsessed with Trump, and it seems to go beyond respecting Riccio's privacy. Back in May 2025, Margo Martin, Trump's communications advisor, posted a photo to X showing Leavitt bottle feeding her baby boy while working on a computer, showing how she balances work and motherhood. Weirdly, if you look behind Leavitt, there's a small cut-out photo showing her standing side-by-side with Trump, seemingly taped to the wall.

One lingering rumor that Karoline Leavitt can't seem to shake is the suggestion that she married Nicholas Riccio for his money. Much in the same way that people have speculated that Donald Trump's marriage to Melania Trump is a business arrangement more than a romantic relationship, it's been suggested that Riccio's millions are what attracted Leavitt to him in the first place.

Riccio is something of a rags to riches story, and he prides himself on being a self-made millionaire. Riccio managed to pull himself out of poverty and near homelessness, and set out to become a real estate tycoon. He did so by buying up dilapidated and outdated properties in Hampton Beach, New Hampshire, and renovating them into modernized, high-end homes. He began transforming the face of the city and enticing families to move in, thus revitalizing the community and netting himself a tidy profit.

As of 2025, Riccio's net worth allows for the pair to enjoy a rather lavish lifestyle, and some seriously expensive ensembles. While she praised Riccio for being supportive of her work at the White House, many critics also point out that they met at an event that was organized to raise money for her ill-fated congressional campaign. This means their romance was sparked as part of a transactional interaction from the very beginning.