President Donald Trump’s press secretary Karoline Leavitt gave her final “gaggle” to reporters before starting her maternity leave as she prepares to welcome her second baby.
“This will likely be my last gaggle for some time,” Leavitt, 28, said on Friday, April 24, per multiple media outlets including USA TODAY, AFP and UPI. “As you can see, I’m about ready to have a baby any minute, so I will see you guys very soon.”
Leavitt continued, “I know you’ll be in good hands with my team here at the White House. And I know all of you have the president’s phone number personally, so I have no doubt that you will have no shortage of statements and news from this building while I’m gone.”
Leavitt, the youngest press secretary in U.S. history, announced in December 2025 that she and husband Nicholas Riccio, who is 32 years her senior, are expecting their second baby together. The pair welcomed son Nicholas “Niko” Robert Riccio in July 2024. Leavitt notoriously started working on Trump’s 2024 reelection campaign within days of giving birth.
“The greatest Christmas gift we could ever ask for — a baby girl coming in May 2026,” Leavitt revealed via Instagram at the time. “My husband and I are thrilled to grow our family and can’t wait to watch our son become a big brother. My heart is overflowing with gratitude to God for the blessing of motherhood, which I truly believe is the closest thing to Heaven on Earth.”
Leavitt has been vocal about her significant age-gap romance in the past, calling her husband her “best friend” and her “rock” while acknowledging that their relationship is atypical.
“He is my greatest supporter, he’s my best friend and he’s my rock,” Leavitt told former Fox News host Megyn Kelly in March 2025 of the 60-year-old real estate developer. “He’s built a very successful business himself so now he’s fully supportive of me building my success in my career.”
She added, “I mean it’s a very atypical love story but he’s incredible. He’s the father of my child and he’s the best dad I could ever ask for. And he is so supportive, especially during a very chaotic period of life… I say, ‘I walked into your life and it’s been a circus ever since,’ but God bless him because he’s fully on board.”
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Leavitt met her husband when she was running for Congress in New Hampshire. (She ultimately lost to Democrat Chris Pappas.)
“A mutual friend of ours hosted an event at a restaurant that he owns up in New Hampshire and invited my husband,” she explained. “I was speaking. We met and we were acquainted as friends. And then we fell in love.”
The Trump administration has yet to announce Leavitt’s replacement while she is on maternity leave.
