The White House press secretary has officially traded the podium for the pacifier, giving birth to her second child.
Karoline Leavitt announced on social media that Viviana, or ‘Vivi,’ was born on May 1.
‘She is perfect and healthy, and her big brother is joyfully adjusting to life with his new baby sister. We are enjoying every moment in our blissful newborn bubble,’ the mother of two wrote on Instagram.
Viviana is the 28-year-old’s second child with her husband, Nicholas Riccio, 60. Leavitt thanked everyone who reached out to their family during her pregnancy.
‘I truly felt them throughout the entire experience. God is Good.’
The lead spokeswoman is now on maternity leave from her post with the Trump administration to spend time with her infant daughter.
Following the announcement of her newborn, the focus now shifts to how things will operate without her at the White House.
In a move that highlights the unconventional nature of this White House, there will be no formal replacement for the press secretary while she focuses on her new arrival.
Instead, the White House plans to use a ‘tag-team’ approach to handle the daily media grind. Politico reports that the Vice President, various Cabinet members and possibly even the President himself could take turns briefing the media.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt has officially traded the podium for the pacifier, giving birth to her second child
The mother of two already has a son, Niko, who was born in July 2024
Leavitt has said several times that this administration is a ‘family-friendly’
The 28-year-old with her husband, Nicholas Riccio, and their son Niko. She is now on maternity leave from her post with the Trump administration
Riccio and Leavitt at the 2026 White House Correspondents’ Dinner last month
Riccio and Leavitt at the 2025 Easter Egg Roll on the South Lawn of the White House
A very pregnant Leavitt ducked for cover during the dinner as an active-shooter threat was neutralized. She returned to work for a press briefing later that week, saying that it would ‘hopefully be her last’ before she gives birth
When she announced her pregnancy in December, Leavitt said, ‘My husband and I are thrilled to grow our family and can’t wait to watch our son become a big brother’
Leavitt revealed in December that she was pregnant with a girl.
She and Riccio had their first son, Niko, in July 2024.
In an Instagram post sharing the news, Leavitt wrote that her second child is ‘the greatest Christmas gift we could ever ask for.’
‘My husband and I are thrilled to grow our family and can’t wait to watch our son become a big brother,’ Leavitt wrote. ‘My heart is overflowing with gratitude to God for the blessing of motherhood, which I truly believe is the closest thing to Heaven on Earth.’
Leavitt also thanked President Trump, saying he and Chief of Staff Susie Wiles have fostered ‘a pro-family environment in the White House.’
‘2026 is going to be a great year and I’m so excited to be a girl mom,’ she concluded.
Since becoming the face of the White House last year, Leavitt’s marriage to Riccio, a real estate developer, has raised eyebrows due to their 31-year age gap.
In March, Leavitt admitted they have a ‘very atypical love story’, and said they first met when she unsuccessfully ran for Congress in New Hampshire in 2022.
‘A mutual friend of ours hosted an event at a restaurant that he owns up in New Hampshire and invited my husband,’ Leavitt told Megyn Kelly at the time.
‘I was speaking. We met and we were acquainted as friends. And then we fell in love.’
Leavitt and her husband, Nicholas Riccio, 60, had their first son, Niko, in July 2024
Leavitt described her second pregnancy as ‘the greatest Christmas gift we could ever ask for’
Leavitt thanked President Trump when she announced her second pregnancy
The press secretary said the President and his Chief of Staff have fostered ‘a pro-family environment in the White House’
Following the announcement of her newborn, the focus now shifts to how things will operate without her at the White House
Leavitt and Anna Kelly pose at a Trump event
In November, Leavitt told the Daily Mail in an exclusive interview that her marriage had been put under strain by the demands of being the White House press secretary
When The Megyn Kelly Show host asked if there had been any thought in her mind of ‘I can’t date him, he’s 59 and I’m 27?’, Leavitt confirmed that she had dealt with initial doubts about how the age gap would impact the relationship.
‘Yes, of course. I mean, it’s a very atypical love story, but he’s incredible,’ she gushed. ‘He is my greatest supporter, he’s my best friend and he’s my rock.’
Back in November of last year, Leavitt told the Daily Mail in an exclusive interview that her marriage had been put under strain by the demands of being the White House press secretary.
She joked that she had PTSD around making plans for date nights with her husband because of how frequently she has to cancel them, and said she now ‘just doesn’t’ try to make the plans.
‘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,’ she said.
‘Definitely, it’s very difficult to make plans in this job,’ she continued. ‘My husband and I had three different mini weekend getaway vacations this summer. All three got canceled due to foreign policy events.’