Karoline Leavitt, the White House press secretary under the leadership of President Donald Trump, found it hard to go back to work after welcoming son Nicholas “Niko” Robert Riccio in July 2024.
The 28-year-old — who announced on December 26 that she and husband Nicholas Riccio, 60, are expecting their second baby, a girl — previously spoke about balancing her personal and professional life as Trump campaigned for the presidency last year.
In an October 2024 interview with The Conservateur published less than two weeks before the 79-year-old was elected to the White House, Leavitt said she “had a feeling that I would be the type of person who would want to get back right away” when it came to work.
As she watched Trump’s rally in Pennsylvania on July 13 and saw the Apprentice alum take a bullet to the ear, she recalled, “I looked at my husband and said, ‘Looks like I’m going back to work.’” Her son was just three days old at the time.
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“I felt compelled to be present in this historic moment,” she told the publication.
Leavitt admitted that leaving a baby at home “does break your heart,” adding: “It’s incredibly challenging emotionally, physically, spiritually. It would have been a lot easier for me to respectfully decline this job offer and enjoy this past year in the peace and comfort of my previous job.”
However, she added, “I know I’m doing it for a bigger cause — to win this election.”
When Niko grows up, the political spokesperson said she plans to tell him what she did for the current administration, explaining, “My hope in all this is, when I tell Niko one day all that I did when he was in my belly and around the time he was born, he’ll be proud of his mom.”
In Leavitt’s Instagram announcement last week, she shared a photo of a sonogram alongside a onesie that says, “Baby Sis.” She became the first pregnant press secretary in U.S. history.
Instagram/Karoline Leavitt
“The greatest Christmas gift we could ever ask for – a baby girl coming in May 2026,” she wrote. “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,” she continued. “I am also extremely grateful to President Trump and our Chief of Staff Susie Wiles for their support, and for fostering a pro-family environment in the White House. 2026 is going to be a great year and I am so excited to be a girl mom!”
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