BREAKING NEWS :TRUMP APPEARS TO REVEAL A NEW WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY — WASHINGTON BUZZES

Donald Trump needs a new White House press secretary.

Washington already has plenty of suggestions.

Karoline Leavitt will step down at the end of August, ending a roughly 19-month tenure that made her one of the longest-serving press secretaries of Trump’s two presidencies.

Her departure is official.

Her replacement is not.

Trump announced on August 12 that Leavitt would leave the White House so she could spend more time with her two young children. Leavitt, who recently returned from maternity leave after giving birth to her second child in May, described the decision as “bittersweet.”

She will not disappear from Trump’s political operation.

Trump said Leavitt will remain one of his top outside advisers and an influential Republican voice as the party approaches the November midterm elections.

Leavitt likewise said she intends to remain involved in the MAGA movement and Republican politics.

That makes the transition somewhat unusual.

Trump is losing the person who speaks for him daily from inside the White House.

But he is not losing Leavitt as a political adviser.

What he has not done is name the person who will inherit the briefing-room podium.

And that distinction is important because much of the current reporting consists of names being discussed, not candidates formally confirmed by the White House.

Among those mentioned are Alina Habba, White House press official Anna Kelly, CNN conservative commentator Scott Jennings, White House communications director Steven Cheung, Katie Miller, Breitbart Washington bureau chief Matthew Boyle and former White House deputy chief of staff Taylor Budowich.

Fox News also reported that senior White House adviser Stephen Miller has been mentioned in speculation, although much of the attention around the Miller family has centered on his wife, Katie.

When Stephen Miller was asked about the possibility of Katie taking Leavitt’s job, Fox reported that he did not answer verbally and instead smiled toward the questioner.

That is enough to generate Washington speculation.

It is not an endorsement from Trump.

Nor is it evidence that Katie Miller has been offered the position.

The same caution applies to most of the names circulating.

No official White House announcement has identified a shortlist.

Trump has not publicly said he has narrowed his decision to Habba, Jennings, Kelly or anyone else.

And Leavitt’s departure announcement contained no information about her successor.

That leaves two separate questions.

Who would Trump choose if he wants another permanent press secretary?

And does he necessarily want the job to operate exactly as it did under Leavitt?

The second question became more interesting during Leavitt’s maternity leave.

Rather than relying exclusively on one substitute spokesperson, the White House put senior administration figures directly behind the podium.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio briefed reporters.

Vice President JD Vance followed him.

Other officials also took turns appearing before the press corps.

The arrangement gave reporters something they do not normally receive from a traditional press secretary.

Instead of asking a spokesperson to relay what the secretary of State or vice president thought, journalists could question those officials directly.

It also gave the officials themselves unusually visible platforms.

The Washington Post described the Vance and Rubio briefings as opportunities for two potential future Republican presidential figures to demonstrate their contrasting political and communication styles.

That experiment has fueled speculation that Trump could leave the press-secretary role vacant temporarily and continue rotating Cabinet officials and senior advisers through the briefing room.

Fox reported that some people around the discussion expect such an arrangement to be considered.

But “some predict” is not the same thing as an administration plan.

There is currently no public White House statement saying Trump has decided against appointing a permanent successor.

So the rotating-briefer theory should be understood as a plausible option created by precedent—not a decision already made.

If Trump chooses a conventional permanent successor, Sean Spicer believes one qualification will matter more than almost anything else.

Trust.

Spicer, Trump’s first White House press secretary in 2017, told Fox News that he expects the next press secretary to be someone who already has a strong relationship with the president.

His reasoning is straightforward.

The press secretary does not merely read prepared statements.

The person has to understand how Trump thinks, know his position on rapidly changing controversies and speak with enough authority that reporters believe the answer reflects the president himself.

That argument fits Leavitt’s tenure.

Reuters described her as one of Trump’s most trusted aides and noted that her success with Trump came partly from her ability to communicate his political instincts and combative approach toward the media.

It also explains why many of the people being mentioned are already familiar figures within Trump’s orbit.

Alina Habba may be the clearest example.

Habba spent years as one of Trump’s personal lawyers and television defenders before joining his second administration.

She initially served as counselor to the president and was later installed as interim U.S. attorney for the District of New Jersey.

That appointment ultimately became a major legal controversy.

After Habba’s temporary tenure expired, the administration attempted to keep her in control of the New Jersey office through a series of personnel moves.

Federal courts rejected that arrangement.

The Third Circuit concluded in December 2025 that Habba was unlawfully serving as the top federal prosecutor and disqualified her from supervising cases.

Habba then stepped down.

Attorney General Pam Bondi moved her into another DOJ position as Senior Advisor to the Attorney General for United States Attorneys, a national role involving federal prosecutors around the country.

That is her current government position.

So descriptions of Habba as still running the New Jersey U.S. Attorney’s Office are outdated.

Her potential appeal as press secretary is obvious.

Few people outside Trump’s immediate family have defended him as aggressively and consistently on television.

She is accustomed to hostile questioning.

She understands his legal and political battles.

And she already served as a public surrogate before joining the administration.

Fox reported that Habba was considered for press secretary after Trump won the 2024 election.

At the time, she said she was flattered but believed she could be more useful in other roles.

Whether she thinks differently now is unknown.

The White House has not announced that she is seeking the job.

Anna Kelly represents almost the opposite approach.

Rather than moving a nationally recognizable Trump surrogate into the press office, Trump could promote from within the communications operation.

Kelly entered the administration as a deputy press secretary after serving as national press secretary for the Republican National Committee.

The White House’s January 2025 personnel announcement identified her as part of the incoming press team.

By 2026, Fox described Kelly as Trump’s principal deputy press secretary and reported that she had taken a more visible role in media appearances during Leavitt’s maternity leave.

That gives Kelly an advantage other contenders may not have.

She already works inside the machinery she would potentially inherit.

She knows the reporters.

She knows the communications staff.

She knows the rhythms of the White House.

And she would not require Trump to bring an outside personality into one of the most sensitive communications jobs in government.

But there is an obvious difference between television interviews and running the Brady Briefing Room.

Fox noted that Kelly had not yet conducted a full formal White House press briefing from the podium at the time it reported on the succession speculation.

That makes her a logical institutional candidate.

It does not yet make her a tested replacement for Leavitt’s briefing style.

Scott Jennings would represent a much more dramatic choice.

Unlike Kelly, Jennings does not currently work for the Trump administration.

He is a senior political commentator at CNN and has become one of the network’s most visible conservative voices.

His frequent panel appearances routinely put him in confrontations with Democratic commentators and critics of the administration.

Trump has publicly praised him, and Fox reported that Jennings had also been considered for the press-secretary position after the 2024 election before Leavitt received the job.

That history made his name particularly believable when the vacancy opened.

Jennings has also done little to kill the speculation.

CNN host Kaitlan Collins asked him directly on August 13 whether he had heard anything from the White House about replacing Leavitt.

Jennings did not say that he had.

He also did not firmly rule himself out.

Instead, he joked that becoming press secretary would allow Collins to see him every day.

When Collins pointed out that this was not a denial, the exchange ended without Jennings clarifying his status.

That is entertaining television.

It is not confirmation that Jennings has been offered the job.

Some reports have described him as a frontrunner, and prediction markets have moved his odds around substantially.

Neither of those facts establishes Trump’s decision.

Prediction-market prices measure what traders think will happen.

They do not reveal a confidential White House personnel process.

Even claims based on anonymous sources that someone is “leading” should therefore be separated from what Trump himself has publicly said.

So far, Trump has said nothing publicly identifying Jennings as his preferred replacement.

Steven Cheung may be a less flashy but structurally obvious possibility.

Cheung currently serves as White House communications director and has worked closely with Trump’s political operation for years.

He led communications for Trump’s 2024 campaign before moving into the senior White House role.

Cheung and Leavitt together helped reshape how the second Trump administration deals with the press.

Reuters noted that the administration took greater direct control over presidential press access, changed the traditional press-pool structure and created a briefing-room position for newer media such as podcasts, newsletters and digital outlets.

That means Cheung already has enormous influence over the communications strategy a new press secretary would be expected to execute.

The question is whether Trump prefers him in front of cameras or behind the broader communications operation.

The two jobs overlap.

They are not identical.

A White House communications director manages strategy across the administration.

The press secretary has to stand at the podium and defend that strategy in real time.

Cheung has historically operated more heavily in the first role.

Katie Miller brings yet another type of résumé.

She previously served as press secretary and communications director for Vice President Mike Pence during Trump’s first administration and later held communications positions inside the second Trump administration before moving into conservative media.

She therefore combines experience inside a vice-presidential press operation with familiarity with Trump’s current political coalition.

Her marriage to Stephen Miller also makes her deeply connected to one of the president’s most influential advisers.

But again, being repeatedly mentioned online or in political coverage does not establish that Trump is considering her personally.

The same applies to Matthew Boyle and Taylor Budowich.

Fox identified both as names being floated.

Boyle runs Breitbart’s Washington bureau and therefore would represent a choice from conservative media.

Budowich has worked in senior Trump political and White House positions and would represent another move from within the broader Trump organization.

Neither has been publicly announced as a finalist.

That uncertainty may persist longer than usual because Trump does not necessarily need a traditional press secretary in the same way previous presidents did.

Trump frequently functions as his own chief spokesperson.

He speaks to reporters outside the White House.

He conducts lengthy interviews.

He posts directly to Truth Social.

He calls journalists personally.

And members of his Cabinet routinely communicate his positions on television.

That reduces the extent to which all White House communication has to flow through one podium.

Leavitt still mattered enormously because she coordinated, defended and translated Trump’s message.

But the president himself remains the administration’s dominant communicator.

That gives him more flexibility in choosing what comes next.

He could select another young communications professional and maintain the structure Leavitt built.

He could choose a television combatant such as Habba or Jennings and make the briefing itself even more confrontational.

He could promote someone like Kelly who already knows the operation.

He could move Cheung from strategic communications into the podium role.

Or he could experiment with rotating Cabinet officials and advisers, using the briefing room less as the venue for one spokesperson and more as a platform for the officials directly responsible for different subjects.

Each choice would say something different about what Trump wants from the remaining years of his presidency.

And the timing matters.

Leavitt is departing roughly two months before the November midterms.

Trump explicitly said she will continue helping Republicans from outside the White House as they attempt to retain congressional power.

Her successor will therefore arrive during an intense political period.

The White House will be defending Trump's record.

Republicans will be campaigning to keep the House and Senate.

The Iran conflict and its economic effects remain major issues.

Immigration enforcement remains central to the administration.

And Trump is involved in continuing battles over executive authority, federal courts and domestic policy.

A new press secretary will have very little introductory period.

That makes Spicer’s emphasis on an existing relationship with Trump especially plausible.

Someone who already understands the president’s priorities can move into the role with less time spent learning how Trump communicates.

But there is no formal requirement that Trump follow that advice.

And there is another reason to be cautious about treating every name as equally credible.

Washington succession stories naturally attract self-promotion, allies floating allies and speculation driven by betting markets or social media.

A person appearing on a list does not necessarily mean the White House asked that person about the job.

A candidate refusing to rule himself out does not mean Trump has made an offer.

And someone being an effective television surrogate does not necessarily mean the president wants that person running the daily press operation.

Scott Jennings is a good example.

He has the television profile.

Trump likes him.

He has been discussed publicly.

He declined to give a clear answer when asked about the job.

All of those things make him a plausible candidate.

None establish that he is the next White House press secretary.

The same is true of Habba.

She has Trump’s trust and enormous experience defending him publicly.

But she also holds a new Justice Department advisory position, and neither Trump nor DOJ has announced that she will leave it.

Kelly may have the cleanest institutional path because she is already inside the press operation.

But Trump frequently values outside media presence and personal chemistry as much as traditional succession.

Cheung already controls much of White House communications.

But moving him could require replacing him in another critical role.

And a rotating arrangement could eliminate the immediate need to choose among any of them.

That is why the strongest headline at this stage is not that Trump has identified Leavitt’s replacement.

He has not.

It is that a genuine vacancy has opened in one of Washington’s most visible jobs and several different models for filling it are competing at the same time.

There is the loyal surrogate model represented by Habba.

There is the internal promotion model represented by Kelly.

There is the television combatant model represented by Jennings.

There is the communications strategist model represented by Cheung.

And there is the possibility that Trump decides the traditional model itself is unnecessary and continues putting senior officials directly before reporters.

Leavitt’s maternity leave showed that the last option is operationally possible.

Rubio and Vance both conducted substantial briefings during her absence.

But it also showed why a permanent press secretary exists.

Cabinet secretaries have departments to run.

The vice president has other responsibilities.

They can answer questions in their areas of expertise, but White House reporters ask about everything from economic policy and personnel decisions to presidential scheduling and breaking controversies.

A dedicated press secretary centralizes those answers.

Leavitt became unusually effective at that function from Trump’s perspective because she combined access to the president with an instinct for the aggressive media style he prefers.

Reuters reported that her approach, together with Cheung’s, changed the administration’s relationship with the press by increasing White House control over access and elevating nontraditional media outlets.

The next person will inherit that system.

Whether he or she continues it unchanged is another question.

Leavitt also leaves with unusual longevity by Trump-era standards.

Fox calculated that by the end of her tenure she will have served about 19 months, second among Trump press secretaries only to Sarah Huckabee Sanders, who served roughly 23 months during his first administration.

Trump’s first term was characterized by rapid turnover in the job.

Sean Spicer left after roughly six months.

Sanders lasted much longer.

Stephanie Grisham held the title without conducting a formal briefing.

Kayleigh McEnany served through the final portion of Trump’s first term.

Leavitt gave the second administration a more stable communications presence.

That makes her departure more consequential than a routine staff change.

Trump is not simply replacing a spokesperson.

He is deciding how he wants the White House to communicate during the final major midterm election of his presidency and, after that, during the political transition toward 2028.

The names being discussed provide clues.

They do not provide the answer.

Habba is plausible.

Jennings is plausible.

Kelly is plausible.

Cheung is plausible.

Katie Miller, Boyle and Budowich have also been mentioned.

But there is currently no public evidence that Trump has reduced those possibilities to a formal shortlist.

Nor has the White House confirmed that the position will necessarily be filled immediately.

So the succession story should remain exactly what it is:

A developing personnel decision.

Not a completed one.

What is established is that Karoline Leavitt will leave at the end of August.

She will remain in Trump’s political orbit from the outside.

Trump has praised her as one of his most trusted aides.

And the press operation she leaves behind has already demonstrated that it can function temporarily with Cabinet officials and senior administration figures taking turns at the podium.

What remains unresolved is who will own that podium permanently.