Karoline Leavitt is sharing a special nod to her husband, Nicholas Riccio, as she stands down from her post as President Donald Trump’s press secretary.
In an interview with NewsNation’s Morning America Thursday, her last day in the White House, 29-year-old Leavitt sent an on-air message to her husband, thanking him for his support while she has pursued a demanding career in Washington.
“He has been just an angel and a blessing to me and my kids,” she said of her husband, who is 32 years her senior.
“Really has given up a lot to move to D.C., a town he’s unfamiliar with and took a step back from his own career to be here for me and support me,” she told anchor Markie Martin.
She concluded with a sweet six-word send-off: “Thank you, honey. I love you.”
open image in galleryLeavitt, who has served as press secretary since Trump returned to power in January 2025, announced earlier this month that she would leave her post to spend more time with her family, which reportedly came as a shock to Trump’s team.
She will rejoin MAGA Inc. ahead of the November midterms.
Leavitt addressed her decision to step down in her Thursday interview, saying that having a second child, Viviana, in May made her realize she needed to be more present as a mother. She and her husband welcomed their first child, Nicholas, in July 2024.
“They are very young,” she said of her children. “This is a very impressionable time. And of course, we never get these years back with our young kids.”
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open image in gallery“Welcoming my daughter into this world in May, your heart changes as a mom,” she continued. “Only mothers understand that. And I just prayed on it and talked to my husband night after night about what to do and you know I love this job so much…And sometimes in life you just can’t have it all at the same time. And I realize I’m at that moment in my life right now.”
Leavitt, the youngest White House press secretary in history, met her husband, a real estate developer, in 2022. They were engaged a year later. The pair married just two days before the president’s second inauguration.
The 29-year-old has previously addressed her 32-year age gap with her husband, telling The Megyn Kelly Show in 2025 that they had an “atypical love story, but he’s incredible.”
So far, the president has not named Leavitt’s successor, though several names have been floated as possibilities, including CNN commentator Scott Jennings, White House communications advisor Margo Martin and deputy press secretary Anna Kelly, among others.