This Is What Karoline Leavitt Is Like In Real Life

During her time as the White House press secretary for Donald Trump's second term in office, the world has come to know Karoline Leavitt. She's shown herself to be a hardline right-wing stalwart and devout Trump supporter, as well as someone who often dons some strangely inappropriate ensembles and baffling frumpy frocks. However, she's proven time and again that she's not simply riding the Trump bandwagon for clout and political exposure. In reality, she's been a MAGA groupie since day one, and used the divisive rhetoric he's popularized to fuel her political ambitions.

It is undeniable that Leavitt has had an incredible amount of ambition since she was young, and getting involved in politics was almost inevitable for her. Born in August 1997, Leavitt was only 19 when Trump took office for the first time and his campaign had a deep impact on her during her time at Saint Anselm College in New Hampshire. While a student, she wrote an op-ed for the college paper, The Crier, and expressed some of the same criticisms of the supposed left-wing bias in media that would become her trademark. "Say what you want about Donald Trump. He is certainly not perfect, but he is without question running against not only a crooked candidate but the crooked and biased media as well," Leavitt wrote in August 2016. 

It's possible this sort of aggressive stance on the media earned her a job as the assistant White House press secretary under Kayleigh McEnany. After Trump was defeated in 2020, she secured a job a communications director for New York Rep. Elise Stefanik. The politician later told Politico, "Karoline said she caught the fire in the belly," during that time, which pushed her toward her next pursuit.

In 2021, Karoline Leavitt struck out on her own and made an attempt at claiming a political office when she ran for Congress in New Hampshire. When she began her campaign, she was just 23 years old and deeply determined. In a profile piece for Politico, published in April 2025, Steve Bannon reflected on her grassroots efforts, sharing, "She wasn't perfect. She had a lot of rough edges." But Bannon explained that her unpolished populism was something that struck a chord. Leavitt managed to raise $100,000 within days of announcing her campaign, and by aggressively courting hardcore MAGA voters, Leavitt managed to pull off an upset and secure the Republican nomination.

Tim Baxter, a Republican politician whom Leavitt beat out in the primary, explained that she simply knew how to play the game almost intrinsically. "All these people had all this experience, but Karoline, out of the gate, had the best understanding of what she needed to do... and how to win," Baxter told Politico. Despite being defeated by Democrat Chris Pappas, her impressive efforts caught Trump's eye, and earned her a place in his inner circle.

Now, Leavitt is one of the people closest to the president – and has proven several times that she's downright Trump-obsessed. It seems that what you see is largely what you get with Leavitt, when it comes to her MAGA devotion. Additionally, it seems that Trump has faith in her as well. "Karoline is smart, tough, and has proven to be a highly effective communicator," Trump told Newsweek in November 2024, when announcing she was his pick for press secretary. "I have the utmost confidence she will excel at the podium, and help deliver our message to the American people."