Karoline Leavitt, the former White House press secretary who stepped down at the end of August, is joining Fox News as an on-air contributor, the network announced Monday, Oct. 5, 2026 — roughly 24 hours after President Donald Trump spent part of his morning blasting that same network on Truth Social.
Leavitt, 29, begins Nov. 1 and will offer commentary and analysis across Fox News Media’s platforms and programs, the network said.
“Karoline’s firsthand experience in the White House and on the presidential campaign trail gives her a distinct understanding of today’s political landscape,” Fox News Media CEO Suzanne Scott said in a statement. Leavitt, in her own statement, said she plans to bring the vantage point she gained as press secretary, along with the energy and candor she showed in the job, to the network’s millions of viewers.
A Rally Snub and a Fox Feud
The timing is awkward. On Sunday, Oct. 4, Trump, 80, griped that the Sunday broadcast of “Fox & Friends” had skipped his Ohio rally the night before, along with events he held in Alabama, Texas and Oklahoma over the previous two days, while other outlets covered them, in his telling, enthusiastically. “It’s the old undercurrent at FoxNews!” Trump wrote in the post.
In the same message, he turned to the exit of Fox Business host Maria Bartiromo, asking who makes decisions at the network. Bartiromo was reported to have been fired after telling the White House that Fox executives had instructed anchors not to promote the president’s election conspiracy claims — an account her lawyer disputes, with a promise of clarity about her sudden departure.
The complaints did not start there. On Sept. 30, Trump said MAGA supporters and what he called real patriots would never like Fox, accusing it of repeating a completely negative narrative and giving too much airtime to Democrats who criticize him.
From the Briefing Room to Fox
Leavitt was the youngest press secretary in U.S. history, holding the podium from the first day of Trump’s second term after serving as national press secretary for his 2024 presidential campaign. She became known for aggressive defenses of the president’s record and for the occasional clash with reporters in the James S. Brady Press Briefing Room. The job paid an annual salary of $195,200.
Trump announced her departure in an Aug. 12 Truth Social post, saying she was leaving so she could spend more time with her young children and family, a decision he said he understood and respected. He added that she would become one of his top outside advisers and an influential Republican voice heading into the midterm elections. Leavitt said at the time that balancing motherhood and a new baby with one of the most demanding jobs in the world had been the most rewarding and most challenging stretch of her life, and that she would always remain a vocal advocate for MAGA and the Republican Party.
After leaving the West Wing, she was announced as an adviser to Trump’s super PAC, MAGA Inc., and as a source of outside counsel to the president. Whether the Fox role alters that arrangement is unclear. Leavitt is married to Nicolas Riccio, 60, a real estate developer; the couple have two children, son Niko, born in 2024, and daughter Viviana, born in May.
A Well-Worn Path for Press Secretaries
Trading the briefing room lectern for a television set is hardly unusual. Kayleigh McEnany, who served as press secretary in Trump’s first term, became a Fox News co-host. Dana Perino, press secretary under President George W. Bush, is a Fox News commentator and host. Jen Psaki, former President Joe Biden’s first press secretary, left the role in May 2022 and now hosts the MS NOW primetime program “The Briefing With Jen Psaki.” Tony Snow made the trip in reverse, hosting “Fox News Sunday” before taking the White House job in 2006 under Bush.
Fox personalities had been nudging Leavitt toward the network for weeks. During a Sept. 17 appearance on Sean Hannity’s show, the Fox News host floated a title for a hypothetical Leavitt program — “The Briefing With Karoline Leavitt” — and asked how she liked the sound of it. Leavitt thanked him and said she would keep joining his show whenever he wanted.
Before Washington, Leavitt ran for a U.S. House seat in New Hampshire in the 2022 midterms, losing to Democratic Rep. Chris Pappas. She remains a close ally of Trump, who has yet to name anyone to replace her at the lectern.
Sources:
https://www.thedailybeast.com/karoline-leavitt-gets-new-job-on-fox-news/
https://www.foxnews.com/media/karoline-leavitt-joins-fox-news-contributor-leaving-white-house-press-secretary-role
https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/politics-news/karoline-leavitt-former-white-house-press-secretary-fox-news-rcna601627
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/karoline-leavitt-fox-news/