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The 28-year-old White House press secretary said her demanding schedule has forced her to cancel three family vacations
Brendan RasciusIn New YorkMonday 24 November 2025 21:54 GMTComments
CloseWhite House reporters should be grateful Trump berates them and called female reporter 'piggy,' Leavitt says
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White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said she’s developed post traumatic stress disorder while working under President Donald Trump.
But the source of her distress isn’t reporters, despite their unending barrage of queries about the day’s headlines. Instead, it’s her grueling schedule, which has caused her to spend long hours away from her family, she told The Daily Mail.
“Honestly, I have PTSD about making plans, so I just don't,” the 28-year-old griped to the outlet about arranging time off with her husband, 60-year-old real estate developer Nicholas Riccio. “It's very difficult to make plans in this job.”
“My husband and I had three different mini weekend getaway vacations this summer. All three got canceled due to foreign policy events,” she said, adding, “We just roll with it. If there's a night where I happen to become free, then we take full advantage of that as a family.”
Leavitt, a New Hampshire native and Saint Anselm graduate, has rapidly climbed the ranks in Republican politics. She began her career interning at Fox News in 2016 before serving in the communications office during Trump’s first term. In January, she made history by becoming the youngest-ever White House press secretary.
open image in galleryWhite House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said her job has left her with PTSD due to the time spent away from her family. (Reuters)In her 10 months on the job, she’s developed a reputation for hosting no nonsense press briefings and demonstrating her fierce loyalty to Trump — often in the face of difficult questions. In the past week, she was pressed to respond to the president’s statements appearing to call for the death of Democratic lawmakers and his labeling of a female reporter as “Piggy.”
She’s the fifth person to serve as the Republican president’s top media defender, with most of her predecessors — including Sean Spicer and Kayleigh McEnany — lasting in the position less than one year.
Determined to stick around for longer than her forerunners, she says she begins working before the sun comes up — and often stops long after it sets, she told the outlet.
“On briefing days,” she said, “I come straight to the gym here…Usually, on briefing days, the first one in the West Wing.”
When not at the press room podium, she said she’s flipping through newspapers, monitoring screens airing cable news and placing calls to Cabinet members — or Trump himself.
“I mean, being press secretary, especially for President Trump, is a 24/7 job,” she said. “Even when I'm home, I spend a lot of time on the phone or checking the news.”
Still, she noted that Trump and White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles have pushed her to spend time with her family.
“I leave at a more reasonable hour than people may think,” she said, “Because that's sort of the line I've drawn to get home and cook dinner and go through the bedtime routine and be a mom.”
open image in galleryThe 28-year-old is the youngest-ever White House press secretary. (AP)
open image in galleryDuring an interview last week, she admitted her marriage to her husband, who is more than three decades older than her, is “unusual.” (AFP via Getty Images)During an interview with Pod Force One last week, Leavitt also spoke about another source of trauma: the assassination attempt on Trump in Butler, Pennsylvania in 2024.
“Obviously that’s very traumatic for anyone, but especially a post-partum mom, you know my emotions were running really high,” she told podcast host and New York Post columnist Miranda Devine.
In the same interview, Leavitt addressed the 32-year age gap she has with her husband, Nicholas Riccio, which she admitted was “unusual.”
When Devine asked her, “Could you not find boys your own age, who are as mature?” the press secretary replied, laughing, “Honestly, no, if you want to know the truth.”
“He is amazing,” she said of Riccio. “He’s a self-made man, which I respect... He’s built his career, so he’s in a place where he can support me in mine.”
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