Karoline Leavitt Admits Trump’s Demands Are Straining Her Marriage After Returning to Work 3 Days After Giving Birth
Karoline Leavitt may be the youngest White House press secretary in American history, but folks online say her job under Donald Trump has her personal life aging in dog years.
The 28-year-old has been on the clock for more than 300 days, grinding through the chaos of Trump world and giving up more than sleep.
In a sit-down interview, Leavitt revealed that being the president’s spokeswoman has forced her to sacrifice precious time with her 60-year-old real estate developer husband, Nicholas Riccio, and accept a life where nothing — not even a quiet dinner — is guaranteed.
Leavitt recently opened up about how impossible it is to maintain date nights and a predictable home life while working for a man whose schedule changes faster than a TikTok trend.
The New Hampshire native wakes up at 5 a.m., hits the gym, and monitors an endless loop of cable news chyrons before diving into a day that could be derailed at any moment by a foreign policy surprise or a last-minute Trump appearance.
She admitted to the Daily Mail that the constant upheaval has made her emotionally guarded, sharing that canceled plans — including three separate summer mini-vacations — have left her with “PTSD” about setting up experiences with her husband and her son.
“Honestly, I have PTSD about making plans, so I just don’t,” Leavitt said. ‘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.”
Even so, she tries to ground herself in motherhood, saying her goal is to get home to her one-and-a-half-year-old son, Niko, to “cook dinner and go through the bedtime routine and be a mom.”
But she’s honest about the limits, summing it up, “But that’s part of the job, and it’s what makes it fun and challenging and keeps every day new. And it’s, you know, it’s temporary. We’re one year down. We got three to go.”
But sympathy was in short supply.
Many Daily Mail readers zeroed in not on her workload, but on the 32-year age gap between her and her husband — a topic that’s followed the couple since their January 2025 wedding.
One commenter scoffed, “Oh poor poor diddums, my heart bleeds for your dilemma.”
Another didn’t buy her explanation at all, writing, “Lying Leavitt is at it again. Lying about where her PTSD comes from. And we know it’s not from dinner plans.” A third person reminded her of the age gap. “Her husband will be 70 when the kid is 10???? This is so grosssss!!! Creepy.”
Leavitt admitted that breaking the news that her husband is five years older than her 55-year-old mother, Erin, was “definitely a challenging conversation,” recalling that it “initially rattled her parents.”
Things calmed down only after they “got to know him and saw… his character and how much he adores me.”
Still, the internet kept the couple under a microscope.
Recently, a photo of Riccio playing with their son in bed went viral because his head was cropped out entirely, leading to jokes that she was hiding her husband due to criticism about his age. Leavitt brushed it off, saying he simply prefers to stay “behind the scenes.”
The roasting continued anyway about her PTSD about not being able to spend time with her family because of her position in the administration, with one person quipping, “No to worry lady. He’s getting his, just not necessarily with you nowadays.”
Despite all the chatter about what her husband might be up to when she’s not around, her loyalty to Trump is one thing nobody can seriously question.
Leavitt began working for Trump in 2019 as a presidential speechwriter, then rose to assistant press secretary. But the moment that truly stunned insiders came right after she and her then-fiancé welcomed their son in July 2024. Just three days after giving birth, she rushed back into the chaos as Trump was shot on July 14 — a moment insiders say pulled her straight out of maternity recovery and back into full crisis mode. By November, she was installed as his 2024 campaign’s national press secretary, and in January 2025 she was promoted to the youngest White House press secretary in history, juggling newborn motherhood and one of the most demanding jobs in politics
The 47th president reportedly calls her a “superstar,” making her the butt of many jokes because of their closeness.
Trump on Karoline Leavitt: “She’s become a star. It’s that face, it’s that brain, it’s those lips, the way they move.” pic.twitter.com/zs19RrEuWU
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) August 2, 2025
That devotion was scrutinized again when she downplayed Trump’s recent MRI, saying only that it was part of a “routine physical exam,” fueling criticism that she shields the president more than she serves the public.
One commenter took it further, tying her political allegiance to her personal patterns, writing, “Daddy issues trump surrounds himself with young, attractive blondes. This makes himself feel young. He is as dumb as they are.”
In the end, Leavitt’s reality reads like a cautionary tale for anyone thinking proximity to power comes cheap. Between the canceled trips, the social media taunts, the age-gap commentary, and the nonstop demands of defending Trump, she’s living the full cost of the job — as she put it, just “part of the job.”
