US Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt revealed she is expecting her second child, making her the first pregnant US Press Secretary in US history. The announcement was made on Instagram the day after Christmas, with the 28-year-old Leavitt revealing she is expecting a baby girl in May 2026. “My husband and I are thrilled to grow our family and can’t wait to watch our son become a big brother,” she wrote. “My heart is overflowing with gratitude to God for the blessing of motherhood, which I truly believe is the closest thing to Heaven on Earth.” She also thanked the Trump administration for its “pro-family environment in the White House,” and stated that she is “so excited to be a girl mom!”
Leavitt and her husband, Nicholas Riccio, have a son, Nicholas “Niko” Robert Riccio who was born in July 2024. Much has been made of Leavitt’s 32-year-age gap with her husband, who is 60. “I mean it’s a very atypical love story but he’s incredible,” she said in a previous interview. “He’s the father of my child and he’s the best dad I could ever ask for. And he is so supportive, especially during a very chaotic period of life… I say, ‘I walked into your life and it’s been a circus ever since,’ but God bless him because he’s fully on board.”
The announcement did elicit speculation of what that means for Leavitt’s post as US Press Secretary and who would fill her shoes if she stepped away for maternity leave. Lara Trump, however, dismissed any idea of replacing Leavitt. “Karoline Leavitt is a machine. She’s incredible. And she’s going nowhere. I have seen stories of people saying who’s next in line. Nobody is next in line. It’s Karoline. She can do everything,” said Trump.
Leavitt was also pregnant while working on President Trump’s presidential campaign in 2024, something Trump alluded to. “She did this, by the way, during the Trump campaign,” asserted Trump. “She was pregnant and delivered her son Niko, and was back to work within a couple of days, on television fighting to ensure that President Trump got elected.” Leavitt delivered her son just three days before an assassination attempt in Butler, PA nearly took presidential candidate Trump’s life. “I looked at my husband and said, ‘Looks like I’m going back to work,’” she told The Conservateur in 2024.
She did admit the difficulties of going to work while leaving a young baby at home. “It’s incredibly challenging emotionally, physically, spiritually. It would have been a lot easier for me to respectfully decline this job offer and enjoy this past year in the peace and comfort of my previous job. I know I’m doing it for a bigger cause — to win this election.”
