White House Baby Boom: Press Secretary Leavitt Departs for Maternity Leave

There will not be any replacement for Leavitt, but she announced that the press will continue getting updates from her team.

"How are you?" an excited press asked her as she walked towards the crowd.

After her usual gaggle with the press outside the White House, Leavitt concluded, "Finally, on a personal matter, this will likely be my last gaggle for some time. As you can see, I'm about ready to have a baby any minute. So I will see you guys very soon. I know you'll be in very good hands with my team here at the White House, and I know all of you have the president's phone number personally, so I have no doubt that you will have no shortage of statements and news from this building while I am gone. So we'll see you guys this weekend. Thank you."

Leavitt is married to Nicholas Riccio, a New Hampshire-based real estate developer. The couple married in January 2025, just before US President Donald Trump's second inauguration. They welcomed their first child, a son named Niko, in 2024.

The White House is witnessing a baby boom after the conservative Republican party's takeover.

At least four women with close ties to the White House are pregnant, including second lady Usha Vance, Leavitt and Katie Miller, who is married to White House deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller. White House deputy chief of staff James Blair and his wife, Sam, were expecting a baby in March, as reported by Fox News.

Leavitt told Vanity Fair in its report published on December 16, 2025, "The president doesn't give a crap if you're a man or a woman. He just wants you to be good at your job."

The comment seems at odds with the CEO of Turning Point USA, Erika Kirk's orthodox views on women. Erika's late husband, Charlie Kirk was a galvanizing force for conservatives. US President Donald Trump told Fox News that Charlie was like a "son" to him.

Kirk encouraged women to prioritise motherhood over career. "As a woman you are meant to be the guardian of your home -- to be the helpmate of your husband," CNN quoted her as saying. "When I met Charlie - that was it, I could care less about the career," she said at Turning Point's Young Women's Leadership Summit in 2024.

US Vice President JD Vance also seemed to propagate the same idea. "I want more babies in the United States of America," Vance said at a March for Life rally last year, as reported by Time Magazine on January 21.

His wife, Usha, is pregnant with fourth child, a boy due late July.

Usha is an experienced litigator in a variety of industries. She also earned her bachelor's degree from Yale University and a master's degree from the University of Cambridge. However, Vance chose to speak about his wife's faith.

"Now, most Sundays, Usha will come with me to church. As I've told her, and as I've said publicly, and as I'll say now in front of 10,000 of my closest friends, do I hope, eventually, that she is somehow moved by the same thing that I was moved by in church? Yeah, I honestly do wish that because I believe in the Christian gospel and I hope eventually my wife comes to see it the same way."

Vance is also an outspoken pro-natalist. He has sounded the alarm on declining birthrates, branded Democrats as "childless cat ladies" and "anti-family and anti-child," and called Americans' lack of desire to have children as a "civilizational crisis," as reported bhy Time Magazine.

As Trump administration has branded 'wokeness' as 'foolish', Secretary of War Pete Hegseth faces allegations of being sexist and racist. Per a New York Times report on March 27, Hegseth blocked the promotion of four Army officers to be one-star generals, a highly unusual move that has prompted some senior military officials to question whether the officers are being singled out because of their race or gender.

Two of the officers targeted by Hegseth are Black, and two are women on a promotion list that consists of about three dozen officers, a list of overwhelmingly white men, senior military officials said. It is exceedingly rare that a one-star list draws such intense scrutiny from a Secretary of War. Hegseth has said repeatedly that he is determined to change a culture corrupted by "foolish," "reckless", and "woke" leaders from previous administrations, as per The New York Times.

When egged on to give a remark on the situation, Leavitt defended Hegseth, saying he was "doing a tremendous job restoring meritocracy throughout the ranks at the Pentagon, as President Trump directed him to do."

Trump himself has displayed gendered brusqueness on several occasions. When The New York Times produced a detailed, data-driven report on Trump showing signs of ageing, he responded by calling the female reporter who co-wrote the story "ugly." The male reporter, who co-wrote the story, Dylan Freedman, found no mention, CNN noted. Trump had said "quiet, piggy" to another female reporter earlier.

In February this year, Trump chided another female reporter associated with CNN calling her "the worst reporter" and scolding her for not smiling. "She's a young woman -- I don't think I've ever seen you smile. I've known you for 10 years. I don't think I've ever seen a smile on your face," he remarked sardonically.

- ANI