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The 'MAGA' Survivor —Can Karoline Leavitt Break the One-Year White House Press Secretary Jinx?

These four MAGA supporters served as a White House Press Secretary to President Donald Trump before Karoline Leavitt.

By Reni Damien

Karoline Leavitt is the current White House press secretary for President Donald Trump. She was appointed as press secretary during his second term in 2025.

She has been in the role longer than some of Trump’s previous press secretaries from his first and second terms as president. She is now set to go on maternity leave ahead of her due date.

There is speculation about whether Trump would use this opportunity to either fire or replace Leavitt. The rumors arose after he recently joked about firing her while complaining about “97 percent publicity,” which was a false statistic.

According to The Daily Beast, Trump was also asking the press whether they thought she was doing a poor job, which brings up another important question: Is that what Trump thinks of Leavitt? Could her maternity leave end with a permanent departure from the White House?

Although there is little insight into that yet, this isn’t the first time Trump would fire a press secretary. Take a look at the former White House press secretaries who previously served under Trump during his presidencies.

Kayleigh McEnany

Kayleigh McEnany was the 31st White House press secretary who served under Trump in 2020. She was at the center of controversy in 2020 when she suggested that the press was reportedly taking Trump’s COVID-19 disinfectant comments out of context. The comments quickly went viral on social media, sparking backlash against her and his administration.

Before joining the Trump administration, she was reportedly at odds with Trump, at times questioning his views and referring to his remarks as “racist and inauthentic.” She transitioned from criticizing him to eventually working for him.

After his term officially ended in 2021, she left her role as press secretary but continues to be a political commentator.

Stephanie Grisham

Stephanie Grisham held two roles during Trump’s transition to the presidency in 2016. She was given the roles of press secretary and White House communications director, a position now held by Steven Cheung.

Unlike McEnany, Grisham had been a MAGA supporter since 2015, when Trump had just begun campaigning for president. However, she did not remain in the role of press secretary for long. In 2017, after Trump’s transition was complete, she was hired by first lady Melania Trump as her press secretary.

Grisham’s tenure in the role was relatively short-lived. She served the first lady until 2021 and left her position following the Capitol riot. She later became a critic of the president.

Sean Spicer

Sean Spicer was Trump’s first White House press secretary. Spicer had long been involved in politics outside his role as a White House official. However, he was also reportedly involved in multiple controversies before and during his tenure in the Trump administration.

While other press secretaries saw eye to eye with Trump at times, Spicer’s relationship was more complicated. Although he remained loyal to MAGA after his appointment, there were several clashes between him and Trump.

Their disagreements reached a point where Spicer criticized Trump on social media when he disagreed with him. This back-and-forth lasted 182 days until Spicer resigned on July 21, 2017. He did so because he strongly disagreed with Anthony Scaramucci being appointed communications director at the time.

Sarah Sanders

To fill the position left by Spicer, Sarah Sanders stepped in as the next press secretary. Before her promotion, she was the deputy press secretary. Sanders served as press secretary from 2017 to 2019.

She was often at the center of controversy because of her press briefings. She also reportedly admitted to making inaccurate claims about FBI support when Jim Comey was fired. But that wasn’t the reason she left her role.

Sanders announced her departure from the White House in June 2019. She left to dedicate more time to family and pursue a political career. That resulted in her becoming the 47th governor of Arkansas in 2023.

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