The Daily Signal - Karoline Leavitt Opens Up About Life Story, Relationship With Donald Trump

Episode Date: March 29, 2025

In a special episode of "The Signal Sitdown" filmed at the White House, Leavitt opens up about her relationship with President Donald Trump, her political upbringing, and how the president is garnering record support with young voters. At just 27 years old, Leavitt is tasked with communicating Trump’s priorities to the American people, oftentimes through testy exchanges with the adversarial corporate media in the White House briefing room. "I don't think anyone could anticipate having this job," Leavitt told The Daily Signal. "Certainly, one may hope for it, but you never really know if it will happen." These days, Leavitt makes headlines sparring with journalists, but once upon a time, she thought she might become one. "I always was enthralled with the media and news growing up," Leavitt said. "Always thought I wanted to be a reporter, actually on your side of the table, and covering the news." That started to change, however, when Trump burst on to the political scene. "2016 was the first election I was actually eligible to vote in, and I cast my ballot in the New Hampshire primary for Donald Trump," Leavitt recalled. Listen to find out what happens next: The Daily Signal cannot continue to tell stories, like this one, without the support of our viewers: https://secured.dailysignal.com/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

At Desjardin, we speak business. We speak equipment modernization. We're fluent in data digitization and expansion into foreign markets. And we can talk all day about streamlining manufacturing processes. Because at Desjardin business, we speak the same language you do. Business. So join the more than 400,000 Canadian entrepreneurs who already count on us. And contact Desjardin today.

We'd love to talk, business. Welcome to the Daily Signal podcast weekend edition. I'm Virginia Allen and today I am thrilled that we are bringing you a very special conversation. My colleague, the Daily Signal's Bradley Devlin, recently had the opportunity to go to the White House and sit down with White House press secretary Carolyn Levitt. They discuss what it's really like working with President Trump. We hope you enjoy this conversation with Bradley Devlin and White House Press Secretary. Carolyn Levitt, welcome to the Signal Sit Down. Thank you. It's good to be with you. Of course. And thank you for having us in the view. That's right. It's gorgeous. Yes. We talk shop a lot in the briefing room, but we have this opportunity to talk to you,

and I wanted to talk to you about your life story. You are the youngest person to serve as White House Press Secretary. Yes. Growing up, did you know that this was going to be a goal of yours? Did you know that you were going to be political in this way? I don't think anyone could anticipate. having this job. Certainly one may hope for it, but you never really know if it will happen. But I always was enthralled with the media and news growing up. I always thought I wanted

to be a reporter actually on your side of the table and covering the news. And then I was enthralled with politics when I got to college and just took advantage of a bunch of opportunities. But being Gen Z, 2016 was the first election, I was actually eligible to vote in. And I cast my ballot in the New Hampshire primary for Donald Trump. And, um, I was, you know, I was a Ever since, I've found myself working for him in various different capacities and then served as the spokeswoman on this most historic campaign in 2023 through 2024. And here we are. It's been a miraculous journey and I'm just very grateful for the opportunity. Yeah. Tell us a little bit about your relationship with the president. Sure.

We see him obviously in front of the cameras. But the first time that you met President Donald Trump, when was that? What was that like? Oh, gosh. Actually, ironically, I asked the president. president a question when I was a student at St. Anselm College way back in 2016, and there was an event with, I think, NBC News on my college campus at the time, and I was one of the students chosen to ask him a question, which is very ironic when you think about how it's come full circle. Now I'm taking questions for him. But the first formal meeting, I honestly don't remember when it took place, probably when I was a candidate for Congress when I ran in that campaign,

I'm sorry, I worked in his White House in the first term, so I was around him, but when I ran for Congress and then after working on his Super PAC, and then, of course, our relationship grew closer, working for him directly on the campaign, and now here at the White House. And he's a great boss. He is a great person. He really cares about his staff. He's very uplifting, and he's a lot of fun to work for. And he seems like such a relationships-oriented person, a relationships-oriented leader. For sure. We see that, I think, on display every day in this administration.

Take us behind the scenes, your conversations with the president. What's the nature of those conversations? Is he always asking about you and your family? I mean, what type of questions does he ask of you? Yeah. No, he is a great conversationalist, first of all, a great storyteller. I've had many dinners sitting with him and just listening to his life stories. I'm sorry, interrupt, but what is his favorite story to tell?

Oh, man, there's so many. There are so many great stories. that he has. I mean, he's lived a miraculous life. And every once in a while, I'm reminded, especially when we are traveling and we're at Trump Tower or some of his amazing properties, that, you know, this was Donald Trump before he was President Trump. So what a great figure, an icon to work for. But he's just great. And he's super uplifting and funny. He's hilarious. Literally one of the funniest people I've ever met. And we're having a lot of fun. That's great. And it's, you know, I remember when kind of the,

I was always a Trump supporter, but when the scales kind of fell off from my eyes was realizing how badly the last generation of politicians had gone about, you know, just squandering our American inheritance with forever wars in the Middle East and such. That was the big one for me, the disasters in Iraq and Afghanistan prior to his first administration. Do you ever have a moment where you, did you have a moment where you realized that you were MAGA? Because I feel like that's a conversion. version moment. Yeah, no, it is. So I actually wrote an editorial in the school newspaper when I was in college, and the title of it was why Donald Trump just keeps on winning.

And this was when he was in that 15 or 17-person primary. A lot of people were doubting him at the time. But I believe his, particularly his economic message really resonated with me. I grew up in a middle-class, blue-collar family, small business owners. My parents, neither of them went to college. And so I watched them work very hard for everything that they earned. for my brothers and me. And growing up in that environment

informed, I think, my perspective of the world and hearing the president really speak for the forgotten man and woman, right? The American worker, which continues to be his message to this very day, really resonated with me and my family, and I wrote about it back then. And so I think from the very beginning,

I realized that this was an outsider, not a politician, a businessman, like the people I grew up with, who see the world in a very common sense way. And that's how I knew I was a supporter of President Trump. How you knew you were MAGA. I was MAGA, yes. Ultra MAGA, as many say.

Ultra MAGA. Sometimes dark MAGA, depending on the day if you get enough sleep. You know, small business owner, family, my family, small business owners, they are conservative and they are MAGA people. They remember the days of Ronald Reagan, though. And you and I kind of sit on the older side of Gen Z right between the middle. They call it zillennials sometimes. You're working for someone who's going to be remembered as our generation's Ronald Reagan. What type of pressure does that add to the job? I mean, is it you sit there and you think to yourself, wow, I mean, we have a really

amazing opportunity to cement this coalition that the president, by sheer force of will and determination has formed over these past eight years. It is a truly historic time in our nation's history and in the world's history. The president is making decisions that impact people's lives every day. He is solving two major global conflicts that broke out under the previous administration. He is implementing massive economic policy through tariffs, which are going to be, as the president has said, a liberation for our country. We are no longer going to be sold out to globalist interests around the world. Jobs are going to come back home.

He's doing so many historic things. It's just an honor to be a part of it. And sometimes we move so fast around here. We move at Trump's feed. We work so hard. We're constantly working and grinding and moving to the next thing, especially on the communications team because the news cycle changes so frequently. But every once in a while, we do try as a team to smell the roses, if you will,

literally and figuratively in the rose garden, to just remember the moment that we're in. And I'm very confident. I know that when these four years are over, the world and the country will be a much better place because of President Trump. Yeah, you might not like this joke, but I've been telling people, I miss Joe Biden because that means I didn't have to work past 3 p.m. But with you guys, we are around the clock. That's right.

My last question for you, the president has made massive inroads, not only with the working class, that gets a lot of attention in it. As it should. Yeah. But massive inroads with young people, with Gen Z, this communication strategy, reaching Gen Z voters. Yeah. I mean, to lead that, what has been your successes there?

what has been the challenges to really tap into this young voter base who, from early age, is brainwashed with liberal propaganda? Well, first of all, the president loves young people, and he wants to see young people succeed. I think that's part of the reason he had the, I have the honor of serving as his press secretary, and he gave me this job. He's spoken publicly about it, how many people told him that I was too young to have this position, and he told me, you're not. When I was 21, I was building buildings in Manhattan, and I've been.

believe you can have this job. So the president believes in the young people of this country, the future generations, the next generation of leaders, and he wants to leave the country better off for us and for our children and our grandchildren. And you have to love what you do and who you're working for in order to really be good at it. And that's why the president is implementing policies that are going to help young people for generations to come. Caroline Levitt. It's been a pleasure. You too. Thank you for coming on the single sit down. I appreciate it. We are going to leave it there for today, don't forget to hit that subscribe button so you never miss out on brand new shows from the Daily Signal podcast every weekday. Catch top news in 10 right here

in this podcast feed. Keep up with the news that you care about in just 10 minutes every weekday morning. And every weekday afternoon, catch Victor Davis Hansen's podcast for The Daily Signal, where he gives analysis on one big news story or policy issue that's driving the day. And go deep with us every single weekend for the Daily Signal podcast interview edition. If you like what you hear, would you take a minute to let us know by leaving a comment? We love hearing your feedback. Thanks again for being with us today. We'll see you next time.

The Daily Signal podcast is made possible because of listeners like you. Executive producers are Rob Louis and Katrina Trinko. Hosts are Virginia Allen, Brian Gottstein, Tyler O'Neill, and Elizabeth Mitchell. Sound design by Lauren Evans, Mark Geinney, John Popp and Joseph von Spakovsky. To learn more or support our work, please visit DailySignal.com.