A first-time mom and President Trump’s redoubtable White House press secretary, 27-year-old Karoline Leavitt makes both jobs look easy.
She’s been spotted in her office typing with one hand and feeding baby Nicholas – nicknamed ‘Niko’ – with the other.
Niko’s even had his first Air Force One trip, where the nine-month-old spotted crawling around the presidential plane while his mom joined President Donald Trump for a gaggle with the press.
And, when Niko can’t be with her, Leavitt FaceTimes him and her 59-year-old husband – also named Nicholas Riccio – to stay in touch with the men in her life.
‘Lots of face time on the road, for sure,’ Leavitt told Daily Mail in an interview on Friday ahead of Mother’s Day.
‘Although my son is too young to understand the technological advantage of FaceTime, so he just likes to grab the phone and eat it. I still enjoy it.’
Sunday will mark Leavitt’s first Mother’s Day as a mother. She’ll be spending it with her husband and son, ‘barring any unforeseen events in the news cycle,’ she joked.
We spoke in her West Wing office, shortly after she finished the day’s press briefing, which she ended with a reminder to those watching: ‘Don’t forget to call your mom this Sunday.’
Karoline Leavitt works in her West Wing office while feeding nine-month-old Niko
Leavitt, the youngest person ever to hold the press secretary job, is winning accolades for her ability to balance the 24/7 needs of her high-profile position with the 24/7 demands of an infant.
In front of the press pack, she rarely appears frazzled – and, in her signature blazers and pristine dresses, often does it all without so much as a bright blonde hair out of place.
Her young Republican female fans have dubbed her ‘Mom Boss’.
‘Super mom,’ Margo Martin, special assistant to the president, agreed recently.
As for the boss, President Trump says she’s ‘a big star’, jokingly pleading with Leavitt this week: ‘Don’t ever leave us.’
He doesn’t have to worry. She says she’s not going anywhere.
‘Absolutely not,’ she said.
Though, she confesses that while she finds being political role model to other women is ‘humbling’, her ‘favorite job of all’ is being a mom.
‘I’m very blessed to have this job, and I love my job as press secretary, but my favorite job of all, and my top priority is my job of being a mother, and I have learned quickly how to prioritize my time,’ she said.
She also leans on her ‘village’ of people: her own mother Erin, her father Bob, and her husband Nicholas, who is a real estate developer, among them.
‘It’s challenging,’ she admits but advises other young women: ‘You can do it. Lean on your support system and prioritize your number one job, which is to be be the best mom you can be.’
She sounded cheerful but slightly tired when she spoke with the Mail on Friday, wrapping up another long week in the West Wing.
President Donald Trump and press secretary Karoline Leavitt on Air Force One
Karoline Leavitt, husband Nicholas Riccio and baby Niko in front of the West Wing
Karoline Leavitt, center, points out President Donald Trump has hired many strong women, including Susie Wiles, the first women to serve was White House chief of staff (pictured at Leavitt’s right)
Also helping Leavitt are the moms who served as press secretary before her – particularly Kayleigh McEnany, 37, who had a young daughter while working in Trump’s first White House, and Sarah Huckabee Sanders, 42, the mom-of-three who went on to become governor of Arkansas.
‘I have really soaked up their wisdom like a sponge, particularly when it comes to learning how to balance this incredibly demanding job with being a mom, and I still don’t know how now-Governor Sanders managed to do it all with three children,’ Leavitt said.
She shares some of the advice both women gave her: ‘Prioritize time and make it home for bedtime… I try to do that as much as I possibly can, and make that a priority.’
Leavitt will especially enjoy family time this Sunday for, on Monday, she leaves with the president on a trip to the Middle East, where they are due to make stops in Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates.
‘I’m very much looking forward to joining the president on this historic trip to the Middle East, and again, very blessed to know my my beautiful baby will be safe and sound with his father. But of course, I will miss him dearly, and will be giving him lots of love this weekend before I depart.’
Little Niko has already enjoyed more experiences than he’d ever be able to remember in his mom’s 100 days on the job: he’s joined her at commission meetings and at the White House Easter Egg Roll. And of course, on that Air Force One ride. He was a happy, bouncing baby when the Daily Mail met him coming off the plane with Leavitt.
‘He’s the happiest baby in the world. I’m very blessed, and I love him so much,’ Leavitt said.
‘He’s at the age now where it’s very difficult to fly with him, because he wants to crawl around everywhere and move around. It was much easier when he was a newborn, and I was bringing him with me everywhere on the campaign trail. But he did have his first Air Force One plane ride, and he was a very active boy on that.’
Leavitt credits Trump for help in being able to handle motherhood and the Washington press corps, which can be an equally demanding creature.
She points out that the president has a history of hiring strong, working mothers – including Susie Wiles, 67, his chief of staff and the first woman to serve in that position. She has two daughters.
‘Being a working mother in this role would not be possible without President Trump and his encouragement,’ Leavitt said. ‘He has empowered so many working women.’
It runs in the family.
Trump’s First Lady Melania managed her own business ventures while raising their son Barron. First Daughter Ivanka Trump was a highly successful businesswoman as she raised her three children. Lara Trump, wife of the president’s son Eric, has balanced a high-profile TV gig and two small kids. And youngest Trump daughter Tiffany, an attorney by trade, is about to become a first-time mom with husband Michael Boulos.
‘I wish her the best, and we’ll be praying for her and Michael. They’re an amazing couple, and they’re gonna have a beautiful baby, and she’ll be a great mom,’ Leavitt said.
‘You know, look at the other women in President Trump’s life, his daughters, his daughter, Ivanka, of course, is an amazing working woman. And Lara Trump is incredible. And of course, our beautiful First Lady, as the President said yesterday, has been a phenomenal mother to their son, Barron. And so great examples all around in the Trump family.’
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt balances double duty: on the phone for work while with son Niko and husband Nicholas Riccio at the White House Easter Egg Roll
‘Don’t forget to call your mom this Sunday,’ Karoline Leavitt told reporters at her Friday briefing
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt speaks with President Donald Trump in the Oval Office as Kid Rock stands by
Leavitt hasn’t paused in her upward trajectory since she went from being an intern in the first Trump administration, to working on Capitol Hill and on her own close – but ultimately failed – congressional campaign.
She joined the Trump team again during the 2024 presidential race, helping him win her home state of New Hampshire before taking on the role of national press secretary.
Leavitt traveled across the country while pregnant and returned to work four days after giving birth to her son.
She and Nicholas Riccio married a few days before Trump was inaugurated and set up their new home in Washington D.C.
But her roots and her family are never far from her mind.
Because one other thing she’ll be doing on Mother’s Day is calling her own mom ‘to tell her that I love her. In fact, I’ve been telling all of my staff today, as a mom, there’s nothing better than feeling love from your child.’
‘So I told all of my staff that their weekend assignment is to call their moms and tell them how much they love them.’