Donald Trump’s press secretary has said “evil forces” were working against him during his presidential election campaign.
Karoline Leavitt said she saw this “first-hand” in 2024 and that she believes “spiritual warfare” is taking place in America.
During an interview with the Christian Broadcasting Network, Ms Leavitt – who is at 27-years-old, the youngest White House press secretary ever – also spoke of her “guilt” at being away from her eight-month-old son, Niko, while she is at work.
Ms Leavitt spoke of the difficulty of juggling her career and motherhood, but said she always tries to come home for Niko’s bedtime.
Ms Leavitt’s role hosting the daily press briefings has turned her into a lightning rod for criticism from those who take umbrage with her no-nonsense approach at the podium.
Credit: CBN News
But her pithy retorts to journalists from Left-wing media organisations have made her a hero among Mr Trump’s supporters.
The president himself strongly backs Ms Leavitt, a former Republican Congressional candidate, and said last week she is “knocking them dead”.
She attended a Catholic high school in Lawrence, Massachusetts followed by Saint Anselm College in New Hampshire on a softball scholarship.
“I certainly believe in spiritual warfare. And I think I saw it first-hand, especially throughout the campaign trail with President Trump. And I think there certainly were evil forces.”
Karoline Leavitt says she prays before press briefings – Andrew Harnik/2025 Getty Images
Referring to the attempt on Mr Trump’s life, she added: “And I think that the president was saved by the grace of God on July 13th in Butler, Pennsylvania, and he’s in this moment for a reason.”
Ms Leavitt said that on the mornings she does the daily press briefing, she spends hours talking to the president and his senior advisors to understand their take on current events.
But just before she goes to the briefing room, she holds a group prayer to steady herself.
“I think that team prayer before is just a moment to be silent and still and ask God for confidence and the ability to articulate my words, knowledge, prayer, protection, and it is a nice moment to reset,” she said.
“It’s the last thing I do before I go out there, and then it just gives me the confidence to do a briefing.”
Ms Leavitt’s clashes with the Left-wing media have been turned into memes and celebrated by Maga supporters: during one exchange about former president Joe Biden’s pardons, she quipped to CNN’s Kaitlan Collins: “You’re a reporter, you should find out.”
In the interview, Ms Leavitt said that she knew what Left-wing outlets like MSNBC were going to ask because their questions were “predictable”.
Taking aim at legacy media outlets, Ms Leavitt said during the 2024 election, US voters “sent out a very strong message” that “we don’t listen to you”.
In more personal comments, Ms Leavitt said that working in the White House there were often “hard days and long days and tiring days but every day is a good day”.
Of her busy lifestyle, in which she gets around five or six hours of sleep a night, she insisted: “As President Trump says, when you love your job and you love your life, you don’t need to sleep much.”
Ms Leavitt says there are often ‘hard days and long days’ working in the White House – JIM WATSON/AFP
However she did admit to a “sense of guilt” at not being able to spend more time with her baby Niko that she shares with her husband Nicholas Riccio, 59, a property developer.
She said: “Saying no when you have to say no to take care of your family is something I’ve had to learn the hard way in a very short amount of time. I try to make it home for bedtime during the week.”
Ms Leavitt paid tribute to her hard-working, blue collar parents who did not go to college and instilled the value of hard work into her from a young age.
She said that being the White House press secretary put to bed the “fallacy” that Mr Trump does not surround himself with strong and intelligent women. The president’s chief of staff is Susie Wiles, the first woman to hold the role.
As Ms Leavitt saw it, “God had a plan” when she lost the election for a US House seat in New Hampshire’s 1st district in 2022 as it led to her getting her current job.
Donald Trump speaks to reporters alongside Ms Leavitt on Air Force One on Jan 27 – MANDEL NGAN/AFP
Out of all of Mr Trump’s policies, tackling illegal immigration was the one that meant most to her, Ms Leavitt said.
She was especially moved by the Laken Riley Act which orders ICE to detain migrants charged with theft-related crimes.
It was inspired by the murder of 22-year-old Laken Riley, a nursing student who was killed while out jogging in January 2024 in Augusta, Georgia.
The killer, 26-year-old José Antonio Ibarra, a Venezuelan migrant who was in the US illegally, had previously been arrested for theft but was released.
Ms Leavitt said: “I’ve watched as the president has… taken out a lot of time to know these mothers who have lost their children (to migrant crime).
“As a mother myself I cannot imagine anything like that happening, especially at the hands of someone who should have never been in the country in the first place.”
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