Karoline Leavitt recalls Trump offering her White House press secretary job in post-election call

WASHINGTON, DC: Karoline Leavitt, the White House press secretary, said that Donald Trump offered her the job in a casual phone call shortly after the election. She described the process as informal, noting it didn’t follow the usual selection procedure.

Leavitt spoke about her career path at a Turning Point USA event with Erika Kirk at George Washington University. She explained how she moved from running for Congress to a high-level job in the Trump administration after working on multiple campaign projects.

Leavitt says there was no formal process for the role

“There really wasn’t a process,” Leavitt said, noting that she had been serving as national press secretary during Trump’s campaign after losing her congressional race.

“I worked as the national press secretary on the president's campaign. And I fell into that role after the loss of my congressional race,” she explained.

She initially joined the pro-Trump super PAC MAGA Inc. as a spokeswoman after being contacted by someone involved with the campaign. “I said, ‘heck, yeah,’” she recalled.

Later, campaign official Susie Wiles asked her to serve as the campaign’s spokesperson. She accepted and stayed with the campaign through election day.

“And so I served with the president throughout the whole campaign, all of the trials, literally and figuratively speaking, the trials in courtrooms and rallies all around the country,” Leavitt said.

Trump offered press secretary job in brief post-election call

Leavitt said she was uncertain whether she would receive a role in the administration after Trump’s win.

“And so after we won and we knew we were going to the White House, I thought, hmm. I hope I’ll get a job. I don’t know if I will.”

She recalled Trump joking during the campaign about her joining him in Washington. “The president made a couple of funny comments to me on the campaign. Like, if we win, you’re coming with me, right?”

About a week after the election, Trump made the offer during a phone call. “He goes, ‘Oh, by the way, you know you’re going to be the White House press secretary, right?’” Leavitt said.

“I said, ‘Oh, okay,’” she added, noting that Trump quickly moved on to another topic during the same call.

“That’s how I got the job. So there was no pomp and circumstance. He just said it, and here we are. True Donald Trump fashion,” she said, adding that the brief call marked the final step in her transition from campaign work to a senior White House role.