Karoline Leavitt Was on 'Borrowed Time' Before Leaving White House Press Office, Analyst Claims

Karoline Leavitt is stepping down as White House press secretary at the end of August, a move President Donald Trump confirmed on Wednesday, even as a political analyst previously argued that she was on 'borrowed time' long before the announcement.

The departure of the 28-year-old, who became the youngest person ever to serve as White House press secretary when she took the role at 27, comes amid online speculation about whether factors beyond her stated desire to spend more time with her family contributed to the decision. No evidence has emerged establishing that internal tensions forced her departure.

Leavitt only recently returned from maternity leave after giving birth to her second child, daughter Viviana, on 1 May, and she framed her exit as a family-first decision. In announcing what she called a 'bittersweet decision,' Leavitt said that since returning to the White House, she had felt she could not be the mother her two young children deserved while devoting the necessary time to the job.

Trump, for his part, praised her as 'one of the best White House Press Secretaries in the History of the Office' and said she would remain one of his top outside advisers and an influential voice within the Republican Party ahead of the midterm elections.

Analyst Points to Karoline Leavitt Missteps That Left Her on Borrowed Time

But some commentators had questioned Leavitt's standing even before her resignation. Christopher Lee, a political scientist and veteran Democratic communications strategist, reportedly told Mirror US earlier this year, shortly before Leavitt's maternity leave, that three incidents had already put her on shaky ground.

He drew a parallel to Sean Spicer, whose tenure he argued deteriorated after he became, in Lee's words, 'the joke' and, by extension, risked making Trump the subject of ridicule. Lee singled out the 'Jesus meme' episode, in which Leavitt reportedly advised Trump to claim a doctored photo was fake, only for Trump to quip he thought he looked like 'a doctor.'

He also flagged Leavitt's defence of Trump's Truth Social post threatening to 'annihilate' Iran and his widely criticised attack on Barack Obama earlier this year. Each episode, Lee argued, risked making the press secretary, and therefore Trump, appear 'weak, unintelligent and out of her depth.'

Lee also pointed to Trump's own remark on 31 March, when the president jokingly told Leavitt, 'You're doing a terrible job,' before asking reporters, 'Should we keep her?' and immediately answering, 'I think we'll keep her.' The remarks came as Trump complained that he had received overwhelmingly negative media coverage.

Lee noted that Trump has a pattern of dismissing serious comments as jokes while simultaneously testing loyalty. 'There is always a breaking point for Trump,' he said, adding that Leavitt 'exists on borrowed time.' There is no evidence, however, that Trump's March remarks were connected to Leavitt's decision to resign nearly five months later.

Leaked Video Fuels Karoline Leavitt Exit Speculation

Complicating the narrative is a leaked video that appears to show Leavitt in a tense exchange with Natalie Harp, a close Trump adviser and former TV host. According to an interpretation attributed to lip-reader Nicola Hickling, Leavitt appeared to ask, 'Are you sure?' with Harp replying, 'We don't like it.'

Hickling further interpreted Harp as saying, 'There's going to be an announcement as soon as possible, okay?' and, 'This has now happened twice.' What exactly they were discussing remains unclear, and there is no verified evidence linking the exchange to Leavitt's resignation. The footage has nevertheless fuelled online speculation about the circumstances surrounding her departure.

Trump has not announced a replacement, and the timing places the White House communications operation in transition less than three months before the November midterm elections. Leavitt had remained one of Trump's most visible and combative public defenders throughout his second administration.

Her departure also comes as the administration faces scrutiny over a separate security episode involving Trump's covert aircraft switch during a reported Iranian threat in July, when journalists and some White House personnel were reportedly not informed that the president had transferred to another aircraft. Reuters noted the controversy while reporting Leavitt's departure.

For now, both Trump and Leavitt have publicly characterised the departure as amicable and driven by her desire to spend more time with her family. Leavitt called her time in the role 'the honor and adventure of a lifetime,' while Trump said he understood her decision and praised her performance.

Yet the combination of Lee's earlier analysis, the leaked video and Trump's own 'terrible job' quip has fuelled speculation about whether other factors played a role. No independently verified evidence has established that Leavitt was pushed out or that the cited incidents contributed to her resignation.

For now, the confirmed account remains the one offered publicly by Leavitt and Trump. She will leave the White House at the end of August to spend more time with her family while continuing to serve as an outside adviser to the president.