Overview
- Leavitt announced on Wednesday that she will step down at the end of August and said she is leaving to spend more time with her two young children.
- President Trump praised Leavitt and said she will remain an outside adviser and an influential voice in Republican politics after leaving the West Wing.
- The White House says Leavitt was not on the aircraft involved in the July Turkey 'decoy plane' episode, but Iran’s embassy in South Africa has promoted an unverified theory linking that incident to her exit.
- News coverage is sharply divided: critics accuse Leavitt of repeated falsehoods — including a widely disputed claim about $50 million in U.S. spending on condoms in Gaza — while supporters praise her outreach to independent and social-media outlets and her access-driven approach to the briefing room.
- Inside the administration there is a scramble to vet and name a successor with weeks to go before the midterms, a gap that officials and advisers warn could complicate Republican messaging on the campaign trail.