NATIONAL NEWS

Former press secretary Karoline Leavitt lands her next gig: Fox News contributor

Oct 5, 2026, 7:19 AM

FILE - The then White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt speaks at the daily briefing at the Wh...

FILE - The then White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt speaks at the daily briefing at the White House in Washington Tuesday, Jan. 28, 2025. (AP Photo/Ben Curtis, File)
Credit: AP Photo/Ben Curtis

(AP Photo/Ben Curtis, File)

NEW YORK (AP) — Former White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt has found her next chapter: She is heading to Fox News.

Leavitt will serve as an on-air contributor beginning Nov. 1, the network said Monday.

“Karoline’s firsthand experience in the White House and on the presidential campaign trail gives her a distinct understanding of today’s political landscape,” said the network’s CEO, Suzanne Scott.

For her part, Leavitt, in the same statement, said she looked forward “to bringing my unique perspective from my experience as White House Press Secretary, along with the same energy and candor that defined my tenure, to Fox’s millions of viewers across their many platforms.”

Leavitt, now 29, was the youngest person to hold the role of press secretary. When she left at the end of August, President Donald Trump described her as one of his “most trusted aides.” At the time she said she wanted to spend more time with her two children. Her second child, Viviana, was born in May, and she has a two-year-old son.

Leavitt is not the first of Trump’s press secretaries to join Fox. Kayleigh McEnany joined in 2021 and remains at the network. And Dana Perino, former press secretary for President George W. Bush, is a political commentator at the network.

Trump, meanwhile, has hired several Fox News personalities to key jobs in his own administration, chief among them Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth.

Trump has an increasingly thorny relationship with the network, whose key commentators have long given him favorable coverage. He has expressed frustration with Fox coverage choices as recently as Sunday when he bemoaned what he said was the network’s lack of coverage of his rallies.

“Sad to see that Fox & Friends (Sunday) is not covering our packed house and incredibly enthusiastic (beyond!) Rally that took place in Ohio last night, or the ones in Alabama, Texas, or Oklahoma over the past two days,” he posted on his Truth Social platform. “They were all sold out, with thousands of people trying to get in, and are absolutely phenomenal, better than ever!”

“Remember, Fox tried this act once before, and almost went out of business (and always right before an election!). That can happen again!” Trump wrote. He also criticized the recent firing of longtime Fox financial journalist Maria Bartiromo.

The comments came as Trump is embroiled in an increasingly bitter standoff with news outlets whose coverage displeases him, capped by his recent efforts to ban CNN, MS NOW and Politico from White House grounds and also to keep CNN out of broadcast pool assignments. A judge has issued a temporary restraining order against the ban, and a hearing is scheduled for Thursday as the news outlets seek relief pending a final resolution of the case.

Before becoming White House press secretary, Leavitt served as press secretary for Trump’s 2024 presidential campaign.

She also, at age 25, made an unsuccessful bid for Congress in 2022 from her home state of New Hampshire.

National News

FILE - Anti-data center demonstrators protest at the Pennsylvania state Capitol, Oct. 6, 2026, in H...

Associated Press

Democratic political group launches new push to shape AI agenda ahead of 2028

DENVER (AP) — A Democratic political organization is announcing a new effort to shape how to talk with voters about artificial intelligence, deepening its investment on an issue that an increasing number of party leaders believe creates a stark contrast with President Donald Trump’s opposition to regulating the powerful technology. Tomorrow Together was one of […]

30 minutes ago

A banner with a portrait of President Donald Trump is seen hung outside the Department of Justice, ...

Associated Press

Trump’s Justice Department faces a new era of scrutiny under a Democratic-led Congress

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Justice Department has functioned for nearly two years as an extension of the White House, unchecked by a Republican-controlled Congress as it pursued investigations into President Donald Trump’s enemies, fired waves of career employees and defended administration stances that judges across the country repeatedly deemed legally dubious. Now, sweeping Democratic gains […]

31 minutes ago

Sen. Chris Van Hollen, D-Md., speaks during a panel at Crooked Con at the Walter E Washington Conve...

Associated Press

Van Hollen to challenge Schumer for Senate Democratic leader, saying voters ‘called for change’

WASHINGTON (AP) — Democratic Sen. Chris Van Hollen of Maryland said Thursday that he will run for Senate Majority Leader in the next Congress, setting up a challenge to Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer after the party swept to power in the midterm elections. Van Hollen said in a statement that “the American people called for […]

3 hours ago

Mississippi Democratic Senate candidate Scott Colom gestures at an election event in Jackson, Miss....

Associated Press

Trump praises Democrat Scott Colom for showing up to Mississippi rally and courting MAGA supporters

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump on Thursday heaped praise on Mississippi’s Sen.-elect Scott Colom for courting some of his hardcore MAGA supporters in the final days of the midterm election campaign, a rare example of the Republican president showing admiration for a Democrat. When the president traveled to Corinth, Mississippi, last month to campaign […]

4 hours ago

Associated Press

Chinese dissident who admitted spying for Beijing in the US gets no jail time

NEW YORK (AP) — A member of New York’s Chinese dissident community who admitted spying for five years on his fellow activists on behalf of the Chinese government avoided prison time at his sentencing Thursday in Manhattan federal court. Yuanjun Tang, 69, an outspoken critic of the Chinese Communist Party for over three decades, was […]

4 hours ago

FILE - Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton addresses anti-abortion activists at a rally outside the S...

Associated Press

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton has finalized his divorce, lawyer says, ending 38-year marriage

AUSTIN (AP) — Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton has finalized his divorce from his wife, Angela, one of his lawyers said Thursday. It comes nearly a week after Paxton, a Republican, lost his U.S. Senate race by double digits to Democrat James Talarico in one of the most expensive contests of the midterm elections that […]

6 hours ago

Former press secretary Karoline Leavitt lands her next gig: Fox News contributor