President Donald Trump is in no hurry to appoint a successor to departing White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt, but the vacancy has already sparked a scramble among ambitious MAGA allies eager to land the high-profile position.
Leavitt announced on August 12 that she would leave the White House to spend more time with her two young children, Nico, 2, and four-month-old Viviana.
Since her departure on August 27, the administration has not named a replacement.
Among the names circulating inside the West Wing are CNN commentator Scott Jennings, acting US Attorney for the District of New Jersey Alina Habba and former Fox Business host Maria Bartiromo.
Other potential candidates include White House Principal Deputy Press Secretary Anna Kelly, senior Trump campaign adviser Danielle Alvarez, and former first-term staffers Roma Daravi and Caroline Sunshine.
Leavitt has not gone far. She has joined Trump’s political operation, MAGA Inc., and is now serving as a sounding board as the president considers who should succeed her.
The open position has triggered an unofficial contest among would-be press secretaries, with West Wing officials taking note of several people who appear to be promoting themselves for the job.
‘A lot of people are pitching themselves,’ a Trump adviser said, pointing to CNN commentator Scott Jennings and Trump’s former personal attorney, Alina Habba, as two people who have openly expressed interest.
Caroline Sunshine, 31, a former 2024 Trump campaign aide, regularly appears on Fox News and CNN to weigh in on White House actions
White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles and Karoline Leavitt have been advising the president on who to select as the next press secretary
The Daily Mail was first to report that Jennings had dinner with White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles shortly after Leavitt revealed her plans, making him an early favorite.
Sources told the Mail that Wiles was encouraging Jennings to take the job and that the position could be his if he wanted it. That assessment changed after White House personnel revisited some of the CNN commentator’s previous remarks about Trump.
Soon after reports suggested Jennings might become the next press secretary, his past criticism of Trump’s actions surrounding January 6 began circulating among White House officials.
‘President Donald Trump caused this insurrection with his lies and conspiracy theories about the election process being rigged against him,’ Jennings wrote in a CNN op-ed published on the day of the 2021 Capitol riot.
Former Congressman Matt Gaetz shared a screenshot of the article’s headline and wrote: ‘Scott Jennings for press secretary is a bad idea.’
Trump allies took note of Gaetz’s warning.
‘There’s no bad blood between the two, just wouldn’t be workable given his last comments,’ a Trump-world insider said of Jennings’s prospects.
Jennings later apologized for his earlier comments about Trump. In a 2024 op-ed for the Los Angeles Times, he wrote: ‘I was wrong.’
Scott Jennings poses with Trump aboard Air Force One as the president holds up a picture of the pundit’s book about the commander-in-chief
Jennings’s close relationship with Senator Mitch McConnell, an outspoken Trump critic, has also done little to strengthen his bid.
Jennings recently defended McConnell’s extended absence from Congress while the senator recovered from health problems linked to a fall and pneumonia.
An insider said that defense further weakened Jennings’s chances.
‘Trump was turned off by the McConnell stuff and his past comments on January 6,’ a source familiar with the president’s thinking told Our News Outlet.
‘And the president also did say, “Look, he’s doing great for us on CNN. Maybe he’s more valuable there.”‘
Jennings declined to comment.
Habba, meanwhile, has also put her name forward, according to several sources. She currently serves as acting US Attorney for the District of New Jersey.
Acting US Attorney for New Jersey Alina Habba, Trump’s personal lawyer, has also been floated within the West Wing as a potential replacement for Leavitt
Although Habba said in mid-August that she was ‘not in the running for any job,’ she also made clear that she would accept the position if asked.
‘Of course I would do it,’ she told conservative commentator Benny Johnson.
‘Habba has a lot of connections within the White House, but the president is uninterested in giving her another job,’ one source said.
‘He kind of feels like she has flamed out at the opportunities he’s given her in the past. So I would say there’s like a zero percent chance of that happening.’
A spokesperson for Habba did not respond to Our News Outlet’s request for comment.
Former Fox Business host Maria Bartiromo has also emerged as a possible contender, according to multiple sources, following her unexpected departure from the network.
Bartiromo left Fox after more than 12 years in early September, just days after Leavitt’s exit.
Bartiromo and Trump have a friendly rapport. She has interviewed the president numerous times, and he has routinely praised her reporting on social media
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The New York Times reported that Bartiromo allegedly shared internal Fox material with the White House after network executives questioned election-related claims Trump made during a White House address in July.
The Daily Mail contacted her lawyer for comment.
Although discussions about Bartiromo joining the administration have circulated through the West Wing, sources said it remains unclear whether she has met with anyone about the position.
People familiar with the search have also identified several figures who appear to be auditioning for the role.
Roma Daravi, vice president of public relations for the Kennedy Center and a veteran of Trump’s first term, has posted videos defending the president since Leavitt announced her departure.
Those efforts have attracted attention within Trump’s orbit, as have the activities of Caroline Sunshine, the former Disney Channel actress who starred alongside Zendaya before moving into politics.
Sunshine began her political career as an intern for Kevin McCarthy and later joined the first Trump White House in 2018, quickly securing a position as a press office assistant.
The 31-year-old has since become a familiar face on CNN, where she forcefully defends the president during panel discussions and posts on X about his policy successes and sense of humor.
‘They are auditioning, but the president has not expressed real interest in either of them,’ a source said, adding that this was ‘apparent to everyone in the White House.’
One Trump adviser advised against choosing Sunshine, accusing her of having been ‘disloyal’ in the past and citing her criticism of the US-Israel strikes in Iran in 2025. ‘I don’t agree with President Trump’s decision tonight,’ Sunshine wrote on X at the time.
Sunshine rejected the speculation in a statement to Our News Outlet: ‘White House officials are spending their days tracking my TV hits, tweets, and hairstyles? Perhaps if the White House was 100 percent focused on correcting the fake news about the President, he’d be getting better press. Get back to work.’
Roma Daravi, a former Trump aide during his first term and current spokeswoman for the Kennedy Center, is thought to be angling for the press secretary role, sources shared
Senior 2024 Trump campaign adviser Danielle Alvarez is also rumored to be among the names of possible Leavitt replacements
Trump could also turn to someone already working within his political operation, sources noted.
Danielle Alvarez, a senior adviser on Trump’s 2024 campaign and spokeswoman for Freedom 250, has been mentioned as another possible choice.
White House Principal Deputy Press Secretary Anna Kelly is also under consideration. She served as Leavitt’s top deputy and took on additional responsibilities during Leavitt’s maternity leave earlier this year.
Kelly has not held a briefing, but previous administrations have often promoted from within when a press secretary departs. That was true for Biden spokeswoman Karine Jean-Pierre and Trump’s first-term press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders.
Despite the growing list of names, people close to the president say Trump does not feel pressured to act because he has yet to settle on the right candidate.
‘There’s no rush,’ a Trump adviser told Our News Outlet. ‘Right now, he has not made a decision.’
Several Trump insiders have even questioned whether the administration needs a permanent replacement, pointing to the president’s frequent media appearances from the Oval Office, aboard Air Force One and during his travels.
‘He’s going to be on the road a lot, and when he’s on the road there are no briefings in general,’ another Trump-world insider said, predicting fewer formal briefings between now and the midterm elections.
The sources said any successor would need to be someone Trump can spend considerable time with, since serving as spokesperson for the president is a demanding, around-the-clock assignment.
‘Look and loyalty matter to the president,’ one insider said, adding that the job is expected to go to a woman, while cautioning that Trump can change his mind.
The eventual appointee will also need the confidence and combativeness to confront the press, which White House officials often label ‘fake news.’
Karoline Leavitt’s top deputy, Anna Kelly, is also a name that has been floated for the role
The next press secretary will inherit an administration that has just barred CNN, MS Now and Politico from the White House grounds, accusing the outlets of publishing ‘fake’ reports. The new spokesperson will be expected to defend that position and challenge the media at short notice.
The administration describes itself as the ‘most transparent in history.’ It previously barred the Associated Press from the White House press pool last year, before a federal judge ordered that the outlet’s access be restored.
While members of Trump’s Cabinet are prepared to conduct briefings in the meantime, the president said during a recent trip to Ireland that he ‘may have developed’ a choice for press secretary.
Several Trump insiders questioned that claim, with one saying the president was merely ‘riffing’ and had not made a final decision.
‘The president will choose the best candidate for the job,’ White House Communications Director Steven Cheung said in a statement.
‘There are no announcements at this time. In the meantime, cabinet secretaries and administration officials will continue to hold briefings.’
Replacing Leavitt will be a considerable challenge. Her ability to speak fluent Trump and her political instincts earned widespread praise during her tenure as the youngest press secretary in White House history.
‘Karoline will be hard to replace,’ Republican strategist Brooke Singman of Watchtower Strategy told Our News Outlet. ‘People often forget that Karoline was once a politician herself.
‘That political experience gave her unique skills and perspective at the podium that you don’t necessarily get from someone whose career has been entirely in communications.’
Whoever Trump ultimately chooses, he appears in no rush to make the call. Insiders say the position could remain vacant until after the November elections.
