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Leavitt exits White House
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt announced she would step down from the role at the end of the month, and President Donald Trump said she was leaving so she could “spend more time with her beautiful young children and family.”
“will leave the Trump administration at the end of the month to spend more time with her young family”
Leavitt, 28, said in a social media post that “the constant time, energy, and attention required of the White House Press Secretary” made it impossible for her to be “the best mom my two young children deserve.”
Trump said Leavitt would become “one of my top outside advisors” and an “influential voice within the Republican Party” as the administration looks ahead to the midterm elections in November.
The AP reported that Leavitt will leave the Trump administration at the end of the month, and that she recently returned to the White House podium after the birth of her second child, a daughter named Viviana, in May.
Replacement and political timing
NBC News reported that Trump might not name a permanent replacement for Leavitt until after the November midterm elections, with an administration official saying the president intends to replace her but is “in no hurry to do so.”
The New York Times described Jimmy Fallon’s reaction to Leavitt’s White House exit, saying Trump had been “caught off guard” by her decision to step down.
In Atlanta, NBC News quoted House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., calling for “dramatic” Supreme Court reform and saying the court has become “basically a subsidiary of the MAGA Republican Party.”
NBC News also said Democrats are gathering to finalize their 2028 presidential primary calendar, setting the stage for a wide-open contest to succeed Trump and chart a path as voters oscillate between progressive and more moderate candidates.
Broader White House agenda
Beyond the press office shake-up, NBC News said the Defense Department plans to replace the USS Abraham Lincoln, one of two aircraft carriers in the Middle East, and that military leaders privately raised concerns inside the Pentagon and the White House about low morale and widespread fatigue among service members on extended deployment to support the Iran war.
“plans to replace the USS Abraham Lincoln”
The Guardian reported that the White House released a memorandum from Donald Trump to Pete Hegseth ordering a change in the construction of the USS Doris Miller, a Ford-class aircraft carrier known as CVN-81, to replace the electromagnetic aircraft launch system with steam catapults.
The Guardian also said Centcom posted what it called a “fact check” on social media on Thursday, labeling six recent reports about a mental health crisis onboard the USS Abraham Lincoln as “false” or “misinformed.”
In the same NBC News package, Jeffries said he would push for Supreme Court reform if Democrats flip the House come November, and he called for overturning the court’s Citizens United decision, which allows unlimited spending on elections by outside groups.
