Karoline Leavitt, 28, is the youngest White House Press Secretary in history and a prominent figure in the Trump Administration. Despite her fame, she keeps her private life mostly private. She is married to Nicholas Riccio, 32 years her senior, and they have a son, Niko, with a second child expected in May 2026. Leavitt often struggles with balancing her demanding job and motherhood.
Born on August 24, 1997, in Atkinson, New Hampshire, Leavitt grew up helping at her parents’ ice cream stand and attended Central Catholic High School. She credits her Catholic education for instilling discipline, faith, and public service values. Leavitt studied at Saint Anselm College on a softball scholarship, played outfield, founded the Saint Anselm Broadcasting Club, volunteered at the New Hampshire Institute of Politics, and wrote for the college newspaper. In 2016, she published an opinion piece defending Donald Trump and criticizing liberal media bias.
Leavitt first worked at the White House as an intern in the Office of Presidential Correspondence in 2018. She later served as assistant press secretary under Kayleigh McEnany. After Trump lost the 2020 election, she became Rep. Elise Stefanik’s Communications Director and ran for Congress, winning the Republican primary but losing the general election. During Trump’s 2024 campaign, she served as National Press Secretary.
In 2025, at age 27, she became White House Press Secretary, breaking the previous record held by Ronald Ziegler during Nixon’s presidency. Trump praised her as “smart, tough, and highly effective.”
Leavitt met Riccio in 2022 and described their relationship as “a very atypical love story.” They married on January 4, 2025, shortly before Trump’s inauguration. Despite returning to work soon after giving birth, she strives to spend quality time with her son and values her family deeply. She credits her husband’s support for enabling her career success and acknowledges the challenges many working mothers face.