Ten years ago, Karoline Leavitt was a college intern at Fox News.
On November 1, she goes back as an on-air contributor. In between, she became the youngest White House Press Secretary in American history, and then she walked away from the job because her family came first.
Leavitt, now 29, served as the 36th Press Secretary from January 2025 until the end of August. In May, she and her husband Nick welcomed their second child, a daughter named Viviana. A few months later, she told the President she was stepping down.
"The truth is since returning to the White House after the birth of my daughter, I have felt in my heart that I cannot be the best mom my two young children deserve while devoting the constant time, energy, and attention required of the White House Press Secretary," she wrote.
It's a sentence plenty of working mothers will recognize, and she was in one of the most visible jobs in the country when she said it.
President Trump backed her all the way. He called her "one of my most reliable associates" and "a true leader" who did "a phenomenal job." She left with nothing but praise from the President, and she remains one of his senior outside advisers.
The Beltway press treats every departure from this White House as a sign of chaos. Leavitt's exit gave them nothing to work with.
Now she has a role that fits the life she chose. Contributors share their views across a network's lineup; they don't stand at a podium every day or answer the phone at midnight. Leavitt will be part of Fox News programming without the round-the-clock demands of the briefing room.
Fox News Media CEO Suzanne Scott announced the hire on Monday. "Karoline's firsthand experience in the White House and on the presidential campaign trail gives her a distinct understanding of today's political landscape," Scott said. "We look forward to her providing our audience with authentic and sharp insight across all FOX News Media platforms."
Fox viewers already know her well. She was a regular presence on the network throughout the 2024 campaign and her time as Press Secretary.
"I am grateful for the opportunity to continue appearing on Fox News Channel as an official member of the extraordinary team at FOX News Media," Leavitt said.
Her former colleagues were just as happy. "Karoline is one of the best and most effective communicators around," said White House Communications Director Steven Cheung, who has run the press team's day-to-day operations since she left. "Everybody at the White House is thrilled she has this opportunity to speak to the FOX News audience about President Trump's successful agenda and highlight all the hard work this Administration has done for the American people."
She's following a familiar path. Dana Perino, George W. Bush's Press Secretary, joined Fox in 2009 and has been a fixture there ever since. Kayleigh McEnany joined in March 2021 and was co-hosting "Outnumbered" within weeks. On the other side of the aisle, Jen Psaki went from the Biden White House to MSNBC in 2022, and Bill Clinton's first Press Secretary, Dee Dee Myers, went to CNBC back in 1995.
Leavitt stands out because of what she did at the podium. She turned the daily briefing into must-see television. Reporters came in with gotcha questions and left with answers they hadn't planned for. The White House still hasn't named her replacement, and whoever takes the job will be measured against her.
She grew up in New Hampshire, went to work for Donald Trump, and became the youngest Press Secretary the country has ever had. Then she went home to her kids.
On November 1, she'll be on air at Fox News, the network where she started as an intern ten years ago.