Karoline Leavitt Raised the Bar for All White House Press Secretaries to Come

Tim O'Brien-Opinion : Aug 13, 2026
PJ Media

...And finally, there are those values that she has pointed to as the drivers for her decision to step down from her current role at the White House—her family. Not only does she articulate conservative values well, but she lives those values. She's the real deal, and this decision is proof of that. Her work has been consequential for a whole nation, and yet she was able to have enough perspective to know that at the end of the day, there are two people to whom she is their entire world. And she's decided not to let them down.

[PJMedia.com] The contrast could not be more stark. Arguably the worst White House press secretary in the history of the position, Karine Jean-Pierre, was followed immediately by one of the best, if not the best, in Karoline Leavitt. (Screengrab image: via CNN News 18)

Because of my profession, I've intensely studied every single White House press secretary, the good and the bad, for the past few decades, and based on my own observations, I have to give it to Leavitt. No press secretary has represented a force of nature like President Donald Trump so effectively. You don't manage a boss like that, and yet, you can't let him roll over you. Otherwise, you're doing him no favors. She was probably the only one on the planet able to strike that balance the way she did.

By the same token, the level of vitriol, hostility and outright dishonesty the news media has weaponized against the Trump administration in its second term is unlike any I've ever seen. It's so far out of bounds on a daily basis that just about every member of the White House Correspondents' Association should be sued for malpractice. That group long ago abandoned any pretense of journalistic professionalism.

When a Democrat controls the White House, they are propagandists and stenographers for the administration. When a Republican is in the White House, they are apparatchiks for the opposition party. And when Trump is in the White House, they are nothing less than a massive knot of venomous snakes.

Add to all of this the day-to-day demands of serving in leadership of the largest superpower in the world, with an overwhelming number of domestic and foreign relations challenges to deal with 24/7.

Welcome to Karoline Leavitt's world. No press secretary before her had to deal with a news media hoard like this, and none could have handled it with the same combination of grace and assertiveness.

Pardon me for blending style with substance here, but with Leavitt, to ignore the whole package is to undersell her strengths and her ability to use them.

Leavitt has a supercomputer for a brain. She's been able to absorb, process, and compartmentalize every conceivable issue and question she might have to face. She's been able to internalize all of it, and through her own behind-the-scenes work, process it all in collaboration with Trump himself and everyone in the administration.

While I am not privy to specific stories of Leavitt in private meetings within the administration, I know enough to know what's involved. Privately, she's likely had to push back on competing interests trying to influence both her and the president on issues and messaging. She's also likely had to hold her own ground with the president himself on how some topics should be addressed and handled. It's like being a lion tamer.

This is the pressure cooker in which she has had to operate even before she's had to face the press. By the time she's stepped up to the podium in that briefing room, she's made sure to know every question she might face completely. She's had every key message and response internalized and sometimes memorized. More often than not, she hasn't needed to memorize, because she seems to be so much in sync with Trump. She has had this innate ability to know exactly what to say because she knows exactly what Trump would say in just about every situation. The best communicators are able to get inside the heads of those they represent, and she's the poster child for this.

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Leavitt is brass-knuckles tough. She's the perfect fit for Trump, because while she is completely respectful of him and his agenda, once she's outwardly facing, she seamlessly adopts a Trump-style toughness that comes up pretty close to the energy and sometimes the combativeness of the man she speaks for... Subscribe for free to Breaking Christian News here

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