April 30, 2025 • 27 mins
At just 26 years old, Karoline Leavitt became the youngest White House Press Secretary in U.S. history. In this episode, she shares how growing up in a small New Hampshire town, and how her family life shaped her work ethic, how college sparked her political curiosity and the pivotal moment that led her to Washington. From interning at the White House to serving as Communications Lead for President Trump’s campaign, Karoline walks through the experiences that helped her find her voice and navigate the national spotlight. She also opens up about balancing motherhood with one of the most demanding roles in politics — and what it really felt like to make history. Whether you're interested in politics, leadership, or the path to high-stakes communication roles, this conversation offers a rare look behind the scenes of one of the youngest and most talked-about figures in modern American politics.
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Speaker 1 (00:05):
Caroline love it, welcome to post her on high.
Speaker 2 (00:07):
Thank you for having me.
Speaker 1 (00:08):
I'm so excited to be sitting down with you. I
feel like this has been a long time in the
making and I'm just so excited. So Caroline and I
are currently in Washington, d C. We just went for
(00:29):
a walk around the White House grounds and now we
are sitting here in the South Auditorium. How are you feeling.
Speaker 3 (00:36):
I'm feeling great. I am feeling excited to join you.
I think what you do is amazing, it's different, it's cool,
it's new, and happy to sit down with you.
Speaker 1 (00:44):
Well, you are juggling a lot, as I'm sure a
lot of you guys know that are watching or listening.
Caroline is the Press Secretary of the United States, and
I just have to add in that she is the
youngest press secretary in history. You're also a new mom. Yeah.
Show is centered around movement. What role does movement currently
(01:04):
play in your life? Because I know you were an
athlete growing up.
Speaker 3 (01:07):
I was an athlete growing up. I played sports my
entire life. I went to college on an athletic scholarship
to play softball, and working out and fitness has always
been a big part of my life. Unfortunately, with the
demands of this job and new motherhood, fitness and my
personal time has been kind of put on the back burner.
But any moment I can to get out and to
(01:29):
move I do. Especially now, my new favorite exercise is
taking long power walks with my baby and pushing him
in the stroller. And he loves to go out on walks.
He's so observant, he loves to look at the trees
and the birds, and now being in the city, he
loves it. So that's kind of the movement in my
life right now is with my son and being outside
and bringing him on long walks.
Speaker 1 (01:51):
You grew up in New Hampshire. Can you tell us
a little bit about your upbringing and maybe what young
Caroline was like.
Speaker 2 (01:56):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (01:56):
Sure, So I grew up in a small tie town
in New Hampshire, very rural, working class, blue collar. My
family owned small businesses in the town, an ice cream
shop and a chuck dealership, which my dad and family
still run, and so it was just typical middle class
America upbringing in a great town and community. I have
(02:18):
two older brothers, so we were always outside playing and
playing sports. And then I went to college in New
Hampshire as well, and that's where I fell in love
with politics. But growing up as a young girl, I
always was enthralled with the news and would read the
newspaper as a young child, wanted to watch TV and
watch the news, which is not very typical for most
young kids. And so I think it was my destiny
(02:41):
to be working in this media and news world that
I'm obviously now in.
Speaker 1 (02:46):
I mean, you definitely seem like you are made for it,
and I'm excited for everybody today to learn your story
because it truly is so interesting and I feel like
for women listening, it's very empowering and motivational. It's interesting
knowing that you grew up in a family that you
that wasn't political, but you did always love reading the news. Yes,
do you think you always saw yourself going into politics
(03:07):
or when you were younger in high school playing softball,
playing sports, did you potentially see yourself pursuing a different career.
Speaker 3 (03:14):
I saw myself pursuing a career in maybe broadcast journalism.
In fact, my mom has home videos of my brothers
and me pretending to be sports broadcasters and pretending to
work for ESPN and sharing the news stories of the
day on our little old home video camera. I'm like
aging myself. But growing up in the nineties and early
two thousands, right, you had the home video cameras, and
(03:35):
so my mom still has those tapes. And I always,
again loved reading the newspaper, and I had a curiosity
about the world and the world around me. So when
I was in high school and then college, I pursued
opportunities writing for the school newspaper, starting a broadcasting club.
Speaker 2 (03:50):
Like I was just always always had a.
Speaker 3 (03:52):
Curiosity, an innate curiosity about the world and what was happening.
Speaker 1 (03:56):
I think what's so interesting about you two is not
only are you the youngest press secretary ever at twenty seven,
but at twenty five, you were the youngest nominee for
congressional office in major party history. So growing up, were
you always one of those kids that was hypermotivated.
Speaker 3 (04:12):
Yes, I would say, And I grew up in a
small business family that was entrepreneurial and worked really hard.
I think that work ethic was just part of our
household and think it led me to where I am now.
Speaker 1 (04:24):
When your parents were running the ice cream stand and
the truck dealership, did you pick up shifts.
Speaker 3 (04:29):
Oh yes, my first job in life was scooping ice cream,
and my mom we hired a lot of my friends,
so my girlfriends and I, who are still my best
friends to this day, would all work together, long days,
long shifts, scooping ice cream in the summer sun. But
it was some of my best memories from life and
a lot of fun.
Speaker 1 (04:47):
What would you say was your parents' parenting style?
Speaker 3 (04:50):
Discipline was a reality in the household, but also a
lot of love and support and pushing us to be
the best we could, but high expectations, right, Like my
dad always had a say in growing up. The parents
go to work and the kids go to school. We
were not allowed to miss school even if we didn't
feel well. Like you get up and you go to school,
(05:12):
and the parents get up and go to work. So
it was an amazing childhood. And I'm very blessed to
have parents who are still together. They've been married more
than thirty five years, and you know, they had humble beginnings,
but they've worked very hard and they're very supportive of
course to this day, of everything that I've done in
my life thus far.
Speaker 1 (05:28):
I mean, they must be so proud of you.
Speaker 2 (05:30):
I think they are.
Speaker 1 (05:31):
Let's talk about you discovering your political spark. I loved
hearing that you really came into yourself in college, Like
college was a very pivotal time in your life, right. Yeah.
Speaker 3 (05:40):
So I went on a softball scholarship, but quickly learned
it was politics was the game that I was most
interested in playing, and so I gave up the softball
team after two seasons because I wanted to throw myself
in as many academic opportunities as possible. I studied abroad
in Italy, which was an amazing time of life. But
I started the broadcasting club and I wrote for the
(06:01):
school newspaper. I worked at the local news station in
New Hampshire WMRTV and did weekend shifts working in the newsroom.
And I just tried to seek out every opportunity. And
then I applied for the White House internship as well,
which led me to working for President Trump in his
first term here about eight years ago or so, which
is amazing to think how it's come full circle. But
(06:21):
it was in college that I certainly learned I enjoyed
politics and enjoyed debating, and enjoyed reading about different perspectives
and really was fascinated by this entire political world.
Speaker 1 (06:34):
When do you feel like in college you really found
your voice, Because I feel like the hardest thing about
being a college student is not only figuring out what
you believe in, but then figuring out how to vocalize it.
So let's talk about that coming of age for you.
Speaker 3 (06:47):
Yeah, and certainly as a Republican and as a young
conservative on college campuses, you are in the minority. It's
just the reality of the age we live in, and
so I feel as though it can be more difficult,
especially for conservatives like myself, to have that courage to
voice your opinion when you're in the minority. But I
always just had the courage and felt very strongly about
(07:09):
my views and opinions and wrote about them in the
school newspaper, raised my hand in class and made it
well known amongst the class and my peers. You just
have to have courage, And I've found that courage is contagious,
and when you speak up and speak your mind about
how you feel, it often inspires others around you to
do the same. And so I just did it.
Speaker 1 (07:28):
When you first started writing articles for the newspaper and
you started the broadcast club on campus, you were writing
some bold political pieces. I wrote one of them down.
One of the titles of your articles was why Donald
Trump keeps on winning? Outside of just that article, when
you first published your first kind of opinion piece in
the school newspaper or maybe spoke about it in the
(07:50):
journals and in the broadcast club, were you nervous to
press the submit button or were you excited to maybe
get your ideas out there.
Speaker 3 (07:57):
I was excited and enthusiastic about it. I don't recall
being nervous. Maybe I was at the time, but I
felt strongly about those opinions.
Speaker 1 (08:05):
Did you ever cause a stare on campus? There were
a few stories, Okay, give us story.
Speaker 3 (08:10):
There were a few controversies, and there were certainly professors
that were very liberal and did not agree with me
or the opinions that I held, And I made that,
you know, quite known. It's not an easy thing to do,
as again a young conservative on campus, but I did it.
Speaker 1 (08:23):
How did your peers initially react, and maybe how did
your teammates react?
Speaker 3 (08:27):
Always with positivity, you know, I never had any bad
encounters or anything like that.
Speaker 1 (08:44):
You went on to intern for Trump during his first term.
How did you get the internship.
Speaker 3 (08:49):
I literally applied on White House doc of and filled
out the application. It was very long and lengthy. I
frankly did not expect I would have been chosen. I
was studying in Rome, Italy, when I received the email
from the White House saying I was accepted into the
program for that following summer. I'll never forget, you know,
(09:09):
receiving that email and what a surprise it was. And
of course I enthusiastically said yes and moved to Washington
several weeks later and took the internship, you know, with
my best foot forward and showed up early and stayed late.
And then it led to a full time job. So
I finished my senior year of school and then moved
back to Washington and was here as a full time employee.
Speaker 1 (09:31):
It's amazing. Do you remember walking into the White House
on your first day of that internship.
Speaker 2 (09:35):
I do.
Speaker 3 (09:36):
I do remember exactly where I was. I remember the
red blazer that I wore. I recently gave it up
because she was so old and tired. But I do
remember that first day and feeling like, Wow, this is
amazing that I'm you know, working at the White House.
Speaker 1 (09:50):
What was it about President Trump? That you were so
inspired by in those early years. Was there a message
of his that you really resonated with that you were like,
I want to work for him.
Speaker 3 (09:58):
Yeah, the America First message, which continues to be his
core principle to this very day, and that resonated with
me again growing up in a middle class family who
worked very hard. There's a saying called the Forgotten men
and Women, which I think is very real in our country.
A lot of people feel left behind by the political establishment.
And President Trump was the first politician in a very
(10:20):
long time to really speak to the heart of those
men and women, many of whom I grew up with.
And that was my worldview and perspective, and his message
really resonated with me from initially his twenty sixteen campaign,
as you pointed out, for my OpEd at that time,
which led me to want to work here.
Speaker 1 (10:36):
And you went from interning at the White House and then,
as you said, getting offered a full time job when
you were working under the former White House Press Secretary, Kaylee,
did you ever think to yourself, this is a job
I could see myself doing.
Speaker 2 (10:48):
Gosh, I'm sure I did.
Speaker 3 (10:51):
I was just in the moment in that job trying
to do my best and support her in the role,
and it was really imperative for me to have that experience.
Look looking back now in hindsight, how critical it was
to come in here in this term on the first
day being the press secretary, understanding how the office works
and what the staff should look like. That institutional knowledge
(11:11):
that I came in with was so critical, and I'm
very grateful for that experience.
Speaker 1 (11:15):
It is so important to have that foundational kind of background.
And it's fun now knowing, I'm sure with some of
the people that you work with, kind of looking at
them and being like, this could be you one day,
so like, soak it all in right, right for sure?
What do you think is one thing that you learned
from Kaylee's time and your time working with Kaylee?
Speaker 2 (11:31):
Yeah, preparation is key. She prepared a lot. I know.
Speaker 3 (11:34):
I've spoken to many of my predecessors in this role
who told me preparation is everything, and it absolutely is.
I mean, on briefing days, every day, I'm here very early,
reading the news, absorbing it from every newspaper. Literally, I
read the physical newspaper, I read obviously whatever is popping online,
and then watching all of the cable networks to get
a full understanding of what the news cycle is for
(11:57):
the day. And then sometimes I feel like an internal
investigative reporter. I go to all the policy experts in
the building and the President himself to understand his feeling
on it, what the administration is saying, what are we
doing about the particular news of the day, and how
I can put my best foot forward to message it
on behalf of this building.
Speaker 1 (12:16):
Do you feel like as a press secretary like most
of your day to day is spent learning and understanding
what's going on and figuring out the right ways toward
things when you're in the briefing room.
Speaker 3 (12:27):
Definitely, my day is being a sponge and absorbing as
much knowledge and information as I can. And the new
cycle changes not just every day, but every hour. There
are new stories popping and breaking, and we are the
White House. We have to respond to everything across the country,
and so it's a lot to absorb and it's a
(12:49):
new challenge every day.
Speaker 2 (12:50):
You never know what the next day we'll bring.
Speaker 1 (12:51):
It's an exciting job in that way, and you're showing
that you can thrive in chaos, absolutely right. It's like
there's always so much going on, new things happening everything
they I agree. So I'm curious about this because you
went from working under Kayley to then running your congressional
campaign where you had to become your own voice. Right,
What was it like going from being on the communications
(13:13):
team to then being your own voice? Like? Was that
a pivot for you? Did you feel like it was
a big leap?
Speaker 3 (13:19):
Yeah, And in many ways it was almost more difficult
being my own voice because when you are a candidate
yourself or your name is on the ballot, you have
to make decisions about what you want to say. What
do your stakeholders want you to say, what does your
family believe, what do your constituents want in need? What
does the media expect that you're going to say? And
(13:39):
so there's a lot of different perspectives you have to
take into account, then make a decision, and then message it.
Whereas now as the spokesperson for the president, he's the
decision maker and I'm just here to effectuate that message
and to drive it home. And so in many ways,
it's actually easier to be a spokesperson for someone else
than for yourself. And I've found that be a quite
(14:00):
interesting trajectory, if you will, from going from running for
Congress myself to now working on behalf of another individual.
Speaker 1 (14:08):
But I do feel like doing both gives you confidence
in a way that somebody that hasn't had that experience
speaking for themselves, like yeah, wouldn't have.
Speaker 3 (14:18):
It was critical experience and I'm so glad I did it,
and I learned so much about myself and politics as well,
and I don't regret the experience at all. In many ways,
I'm grateful that I lost the election because it shut
that door, but it opened this one. And you know,
I probably wouldn't be sitting here if not for that
election and the way it turned.
Speaker 1 (14:38):
Out, right, I mean, it is so true, like when
one door closes in another door or bins. During that time,
I'm sure it was your first time dealing with press,
right and people having positive and negative views on you,
So it's kind of an opportunity to thicken your skin
before you're on this now massive stage at the White House.
Speaker 3 (14:53):
Yes, you gotta just learn how to block it out
and not care what people think or say you. You're
always going to have someone who dislikes you no matter
what you do, So I think just staying authentic to
yourself and staying grounded is so important and I definitely
learned that firsthand on the campaign.
Speaker 1 (15:11):
Trail as a press secretary or even you know, when
you were in the running. How did your inner circle change?
How do you decide who is kind of a safe
space for you? Does it become much smaller?
Speaker 3 (15:22):
In many ways, I've always had a smaller close circle,
if you will. My best friends are still my best
friends from high school. I have very close friends and
confidance here at the White House, my colleagues, and we're
very blessed to have an amazing team. Many of us
worked on the president's campaign together, so when he won,
we all came in and so we have close relationships
(15:43):
and bonds, which is very important and also quite rare
in this city to have colleagues who you truly like
and want to be with every day. And I'm very
grateful to have that here at the White House. But
of course, now my whole life has changed being a
wife and a mother, and so my family is my
rock and who I spend the most of my time
with as life progresses. That's the change of life. And
(16:05):
it's a beautiful season right now.
Speaker 1 (16:07):
It is so nice having that family as your backbone,
right and you know, the thing that you get to
go home to, definitely grounding you throughout every everything thing. Yeah, okay,
So you went from your congressional campaign trail to then
being the lead of Trump's communication team for his twenty
twenty four campaign. Did that feel like an actual progression
for you? And how did you end up kind of
getting that that role.
Speaker 3 (16:28):
So I was the national press secretary on the campaign,
and I was hired initially by actually who's now my
current boss, Taylor Buttowitch. He's our deputy chief of staff
here at the White House, and he's amazing and a
good friend, and he hired me to start helping the
president's campaign effort. And it was an incredible experience and
(16:49):
amazing traveling around the country, going to rallies and speaking
on behalf of the president through amazing times and also
some very dark times. I was with him in a
courthouse and he was reeled against. I was with him
through some trials and tribulations and a lot of adversity,
but the President prevailed.
Speaker 2 (17:07):
And now here we are.
Speaker 1 (17:08):
And you were doing it while pregnant, which is the
wildest thing to me. What was the most pivotal moment
for you where you felt like you really had to
step up into your role.
Speaker 3 (17:26):
There were so many moments, but definitely after the first
assassination attempt on the President's life in Butler, Pennsylvania, which
was just a life changing moment, a historic moment. The
whole world watched the former president and at that time,
possibly the future president almost lose his life by millimeter.
(17:47):
And I had just given birth to my child actually
a few days prior when I watched it on television,
and that was a moment where I realized, this is history.
Speaker 2 (17:58):
This is a.
Speaker 3 (17:59):
Crazy pivotal time in our nation's history, and when you
see something like that for someone you work for, and
it impacted my colleagues and the whole campaign and the
whole country of course was shook by that image of
the president standing up, blood dripping down his face, saying fight, fight, fight.
No matter how you feel about Donald Trump, that is
(18:20):
an iconic, historic, solemn moment in our nation's history. And
that was very impactful, I think for all of us
on the campaign, and it kind of made us all
pull ourselves up from our bootstraps and want to work
even harder and fight even harder to win, and it
really created a camaraderie amongst the campaign about what we
were up against and how critical it was to win
(18:43):
the election.
Speaker 1 (18:44):
How soon after giving birth did you go back to work?
Speaker 2 (18:49):
Several days?
Speaker 3 (18:50):
Which I wasn't expecting, but in light of what had
happened to the president, I almost felt a responsibility to
go back to work and back on television. So I
had a student set up in my home so I
was able to easily go downstairs and do a quick
TV hit and then of course attend to my child,
and then went back to the office as soon as
I could, and brought my baby to the office with me.
(19:11):
He was always with me throughout the entire duration of
the campaign and just made it work.
Speaker 1 (19:19):
Talk about a moment in time for your son as well. Right,
spending his first days on the campaign trail at the
White House, I mean, and he has.
Speaker 2 (19:26):
No idea what's going on. He's just happy to be
with his mom and daddy.
Speaker 1 (19:30):
Right.
Speaker 3 (19:31):
Someday, I hope he'll look back at all of these
photos of him and his mom and he'll be very proud.
Speaker 1 (19:36):
What's so cool about you and about that story and
your July twenty twenty four is that you really are
showing women that you can have a rigorous job and
you can also be a great mom. You know when
you can do both, And I think it's so important
for people to be able to see for you during
that time, like how did you manage? I know you're
bringing your baby to work, but that can be incredibly challenging,
(19:59):
right when sometime the work almost has to take priority
in a way, especially when it's like you're doing a
service for the United States.
Speaker 3 (20:06):
It's an incredible challenge and it's something I still face
to this very day, having to deal with that balance
of wanting to be the best you can in your
job and being the best mother that you possibly can
as well. And it takes a lot of sacrifice and
a lot of prioritization of time and sometimes means saying
no to commitments because you have to be home for
(20:28):
bedtime and that's okay, And having a good support system
is so incredibly important. It's certainly a challenge, and again
I'm not perfect at it. It's something I'm dealing with
every day.
Speaker 1 (20:39):
But you do make it look so easy. So I'm curious, Like,
I mean, your outfit, you always look great the outfits
are incredible, seriously, like you do, you'll hear making it
look so effortless. I had one of my family friends
was like, ask her how she never looks tired, And
I was like, I don't know if I should ask
her that because she's definitely tired, right, and she's gonna say,
I'm very, very tired after work, Like is what does
(20:59):
your day look like? Are you able to turn off? Ever?
Speaker 3 (21:02):
I try to at night, you know, I go home
and immediately go into mom mode and we do bedtime
as a family, eat dinner as a family, bathtime, book reading,
and you know, put the baby down, and then I
try to take time after that for myself to you know,
do what I need to do to get a good
night's sleep. And I do try to prioritize sleep because
(21:24):
it's critical to focus and getting up and ready and
then wake up early and the next day begins.
Speaker 1 (21:32):
Right, and also like be a mom, but also squeeze
in time to be with your husband. I know, what
does date night look like? As the Press Secretary of
the United States, Yeah, they're.
Speaker 2 (21:40):
Few and far between.
Speaker 3 (21:41):
Yeah, we recently had one at the Kennedy Center and
we went to a show we went to dinner after
and it was amazing. But date nights often are including
our baby. Right now, we just love being together as
a family, the three of us. It's our safe place,
our happy place, and so we spend a lot of
time with the three of us at home, going out
for walks and going out to dinner as well.
Speaker 1 (22:02):
That makes so much sense. I feel like those are
the moments you look forward to the most, especially as
a new mom.
Speaker 2 (22:06):
Yes, and just savor every second.
Speaker 1 (22:09):
As we've said multiple times during this interview, you are
the youngest Press secretary in US history. It's so wild
that you are not only doing one of the hardest jobs,
but you are also making history while doing it. What
does that mean to you? Like when people say that
to you, what feeling does it evoke?
Speaker 3 (22:25):
You know, when you're in the moment in something, it's
I think it's a little bit hard to digest. So
I'm not so sure that I have to be honest.
I'm just trying to do my best every day, putting
my best foot forward and executing on the job that
I have. And it's a great responsibility. I'm certainly aware
of that, and I take it very seriously, and so
(22:46):
we just keep working hard and keep chugging.
Speaker 1 (22:49):
Do you remember getting the call from the President to
be his press secretary?
Speaker 2 (22:54):
Of course, where were you?
Speaker 1 (22:55):
What's the story.
Speaker 3 (22:56):
I was in our home in New Hampshire and we
had a phone conversation, and you know, he had told
me in that conversation, you're going to be my you know,
my White House spokesperson.
Speaker 2 (23:06):
I'm sure of it. Let's make it happen.
Speaker 3 (23:08):
This was about a week after the election, and so
I obviously said thank you and yes, called my family
to let them know, and then a statement went out
a few hours later, and in that moment, it was
definitely life changing.
Speaker 1 (23:21):
For sure. Everybody sees your podium moments, but what is
something behind the scenes that you wish you could show people.
Speaker 2 (23:27):
It's a good question.
Speaker 3 (23:28):
I think our incredibly cordial relationships with the media. It's
hostile sometimes and we make it known when we disagree
with their reporting or when there are inaccuracies, and we
I think we should to hold the media accountable and
make sure that they're accurately representing the administration and pushing
the truth out there. But we also have good working
(23:50):
relationships with them. We try to work with them in
good faith, and we expect them to do the same.
And so I think, you know, people who see the
briefings may not understand that the media are like our colleagues.
We work with them on a day to day basis
to shape stories on behalf of the president.
Speaker 1 (24:04):
When people are just viewing the briefings, they're like everybody's fighting,
everybody's screaming. But at the same time, yet it's like
you're just people. You're all here at the White House
in DC to do your job exactly. So I've interviewed
Dana Prino and one of the things that we were
talking about was advice that she's gotten and received from
past Press secretary. So I'm curious for you, like, what
(24:25):
is the best advice you received before stepping into the role.
Speaker 3 (24:29):
Some of the best advice I received was from Dana,
who's one of my predecessors and has become a mentor
and she's just an amazing, lovely person. And she said,
there's no shortcut for preparation. And we talked a lot
about preparation before I stepped into the role and what
it looked like for her. And I've emulated some of
those strategies in terms of reading everything, and having meetings
(24:52):
with policy staff and having meetings with my team to
really get a full graphs on the news cycle before
I take the podium.
Speaker 1 (25:00):
Outside of preparation for upcoming press secretaries or people that
you know will be in the role after you. What
is something that you would say to them?
Speaker 2 (25:08):
Oh, gosh, ask me that question in four years. I
don't know yet.
Speaker 3 (25:13):
I'm still in the thick of it, still learning and
try to do my best. But I think again, the
best advice I can give is, you've got to be
on top of the news cycle and have a close
relationship with the president or the principle that you're speaking
on behalf. You have to get inside their head and
understand their thinking in order to most accurately articulate what
they want you to say and what the administration in
the White House believe. You got to really know the
(25:35):
person you're speaking on behalf of. You have to really
understand how they think and feel.
Speaker 1 (25:39):
What is your relationship with President Trump? Look like?
Speaker 2 (25:41):
It's great.
Speaker 3 (25:42):
He's a great boss to work for. He's fun, he's hilarious,
one of the funniest people I've ever met. He's a
great sense of humor and He's incredibly kind and he's
a great listener, and I'm very honored to work for him.
Speaker 1 (25:56):
I feel like one story that I heard that I
loved was after the first attempt at assassination, didn't he call
you and instead of asking, instead of talking about what
had just happened to you, he called you and was.
Speaker 2 (26:08):
Yes, yeah.
Speaker 1 (26:08):
He like, how was your baby?
Speaker 2 (26:09):
Yeah yeah.
Speaker 3 (26:11):
Around that time after the assassination attempt and dr it
was the mist of the Republican Convention, so he was
incredibly busy. I had obviously just had my son, and
he and the first lady called to make sure I
was okay and to talk about the baby. And he
was incredibly kind and gracious and continues to be to
this day. And something most people may not realize about
(26:31):
the President, as he has not just hired me as
a young working mom, but there are tons of working
moms and dads in the West Wing and at the
White House, and he empowers us to do both. And
I think that's quite admirable for the President of the
United States to encourage working families so much.
Speaker 1 (26:48):
Final question for you is knowing what you know now?
What is something that you would tell your younger self
oh boy.
Speaker 2 (26:54):
Just keep going, just keep working.
Speaker 1 (26:57):
I love it well. Thank you so much, Caroline. This
was seri amazing.
Speaker 2 (27:00):
Yes, thank you for having me.
Speaker 1 (27:09):
M hmm
Caroline love it, welcome to post her on high.
Speaker 2 (00:07):
Thank you for having me.
Speaker 1 (00:08):
I'm so excited to be sitting down with you. I
feel like this has been a long time in the
making and I'm just so excited. So Caroline and I
are currently in Washington, d C. We just went for
(00:29):
a walk around the White House grounds and now we
are sitting here in the South Auditorium. How are you feeling.
Speaker 3 (00:36):
I'm feeling great. I am feeling excited to join you.
I think what you do is amazing, it's different, it's cool,
it's new, and happy to sit down with you.
Speaker 1 (00:44):
Well, you are juggling a lot, as I'm sure a
lot of you guys know that are watching or listening.
Caroline is the Press Secretary of the United States, and
I just have to add in that she is the
youngest press secretary in history. You're also a new mom. Yeah.
Show is centered around movement. What role does movement currently
(01:04):
play in your life? Because I know you were an
athlete growing up.
Speaker 3 (01:07):
I was an athlete growing up. I played sports my
entire life. I went to college on an athletic scholarship
to play softball, and working out and fitness has always
been a big part of my life. Unfortunately, with the
demands of this job and new motherhood, fitness and my
personal time has been kind of put on the back burner.
But any moment I can to get out and to
(01:29):
move I do. Especially now, my new favorite exercise is
taking long power walks with my baby and pushing him
in the stroller. And he loves to go out on walks.
He's so observant, he loves to look at the trees
and the birds, and now being in the city, he
loves it. So that's kind of the movement in my
life right now is with my son and being outside
and bringing him on long walks.
Speaker 1 (01:51):
You grew up in New Hampshire. Can you tell us
a little bit about your upbringing and maybe what young
Caroline was like.
Speaker 2 (01:56):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (01:56):
Sure, So I grew up in a small tie town
in New Hampshire, very rural, working class, blue collar. My
family owned small businesses in the town, an ice cream
shop and a chuck dealership, which my dad and family
still run, and so it was just typical middle class
America upbringing in a great town and community. I have
(02:18):
two older brothers, so we were always outside playing and
playing sports. And then I went to college in New
Hampshire as well, and that's where I fell in love
with politics. But growing up as a young girl, I
always was enthralled with the news and would read the
newspaper as a young child, wanted to watch TV and
watch the news, which is not very typical for most
young kids. And so I think it was my destiny
(02:41):
to be working in this media and news world that
I'm obviously now in.
Speaker 1 (02:46):
I mean, you definitely seem like you are made for it,
and I'm excited for everybody today to learn your story
because it truly is so interesting and I feel like
for women listening, it's very empowering and motivational. It's interesting
knowing that you grew up in a family that you
that wasn't political, but you did always love reading the news. Yes,
do you think you always saw yourself going into politics
(03:07):
or when you were younger in high school playing softball,
playing sports, did you potentially see yourself pursuing a different career.
Speaker 3 (03:14):
I saw myself pursuing a career in maybe broadcast journalism.
In fact, my mom has home videos of my brothers
and me pretending to be sports broadcasters and pretending to
work for ESPN and sharing the news stories of the
day on our little old home video camera. I'm like
aging myself. But growing up in the nineties and early
two thousands, right, you had the home video cameras, and
(03:35):
so my mom still has those tapes. And I always,
again loved reading the newspaper, and I had a curiosity
about the world and the world around me. So when
I was in high school and then college, I pursued
opportunities writing for the school newspaper, starting a broadcasting club.
Speaker 2 (03:50):
Like I was just always always had a.
Speaker 3 (03:52):
Curiosity, an innate curiosity about the world and what was happening.
Speaker 1 (03:56):
I think what's so interesting about you two is not
only are you the youngest press secretary ever at twenty seven,
but at twenty five, you were the youngest nominee for
congressional office in major party history. So growing up, were
you always one of those kids that was hypermotivated.
Speaker 3 (04:12):
Yes, I would say, And I grew up in a
small business family that was entrepreneurial and worked really hard.
I think that work ethic was just part of our
household and think it led me to where I am now.
Speaker 1 (04:24):
When your parents were running the ice cream stand and
the truck dealership, did you pick up shifts.
Speaker 3 (04:29):
Oh yes, my first job in life was scooping ice cream,
and my mom we hired a lot of my friends,
so my girlfriends and I, who are still my best
friends to this day, would all work together, long days,
long shifts, scooping ice cream in the summer sun. But
it was some of my best memories from life and
a lot of fun.
Speaker 1 (04:47):
What would you say was your parents' parenting style?
Speaker 3 (04:50):
Discipline was a reality in the household, but also a
lot of love and support and pushing us to be
the best we could, but high expectations, right, Like my
dad always had a say in growing up. The parents
go to work and the kids go to school. We
were not allowed to miss school even if we didn't
feel well. Like you get up and you go to school,
(05:12):
and the parents get up and go to work. So
it was an amazing childhood. And I'm very blessed to
have parents who are still together. They've been married more
than thirty five years, and you know, they had humble beginnings,
but they've worked very hard and they're very supportive of
course to this day, of everything that I've done in
my life thus far.
Speaker 1 (05:28):
I mean, they must be so proud of you.
Speaker 2 (05:30):
I think they are.
Speaker 1 (05:31):
Let's talk about you discovering your political spark. I loved
hearing that you really came into yourself in college, Like
college was a very pivotal time in your life, right. Yeah.
Speaker 3 (05:40):
So I went on a softball scholarship, but quickly learned
it was politics was the game that I was most
interested in playing, and so I gave up the softball
team after two seasons because I wanted to throw myself
in as many academic opportunities as possible. I studied abroad
in Italy, which was an amazing time of life. But
I started the broadcasting club and I wrote for the
(06:01):
school newspaper. I worked at the local news station in
New Hampshire WMRTV and did weekend shifts working in the newsroom.
And I just tried to seek out every opportunity. And
then I applied for the White House internship as well,
which led me to working for President Trump in his
first term here about eight years ago or so, which
is amazing to think how it's come full circle. But
(06:21):
it was in college that I certainly learned I enjoyed
politics and enjoyed debating, and enjoyed reading about different perspectives
and really was fascinated by this entire political world.
Speaker 1 (06:34):
When do you feel like in college you really found
your voice, Because I feel like the hardest thing about
being a college student is not only figuring out what
you believe in, but then figuring out how to vocalize it.
So let's talk about that coming of age for you.
Speaker 3 (06:47):
Yeah, and certainly as a Republican and as a young
conservative on college campuses, you are in the minority. It's
just the reality of the age we live in, and
so I feel as though it can be more difficult,
especially for conservatives like myself, to have that courage to
voice your opinion when you're in the minority. But I
always just had the courage and felt very strongly about
(07:09):
my views and opinions and wrote about them in the
school newspaper, raised my hand in class and made it
well known amongst the class and my peers. You just
have to have courage, And I've found that courage is contagious,
and when you speak up and speak your mind about
how you feel, it often inspires others around you to
do the same. And so I just did it.
Speaker 1 (07:28):
When you first started writing articles for the newspaper and
you started the broadcast club on campus, you were writing
some bold political pieces. I wrote one of them down.
One of the titles of your articles was why Donald
Trump keeps on winning? Outside of just that article, when
you first published your first kind of opinion piece in
the school newspaper or maybe spoke about it in the
(07:50):
journals and in the broadcast club, were you nervous to
press the submit button or were you excited to maybe
get your ideas out there.
Speaker 3 (07:57):
I was excited and enthusiastic about it. I don't recall
being nervous. Maybe I was at the time, but I
felt strongly about those opinions.
Speaker 1 (08:05):
Did you ever cause a stare on campus? There were
a few stories, Okay, give us story.
Speaker 3 (08:10):
There were a few controversies, and there were certainly professors
that were very liberal and did not agree with me
or the opinions that I held, And I made that,
you know, quite known. It's not an easy thing to do,
as again a young conservative on campus, but I did it.
Speaker 1 (08:23):
How did your peers initially react, and maybe how did
your teammates react?
Speaker 3 (08:27):
Always with positivity, you know, I never had any bad
encounters or anything like that.
Speaker 1 (08:44):
You went on to intern for Trump during his first term.
How did you get the internship.
Speaker 3 (08:49):
I literally applied on White House doc of and filled
out the application. It was very long and lengthy. I
frankly did not expect I would have been chosen. I
was studying in Rome, Italy, when I received the email
from the White House saying I was accepted into the
program for that following summer. I'll never forget, you know,
(09:09):
receiving that email and what a surprise it was. And
of course I enthusiastically said yes and moved to Washington
several weeks later and took the internship, you know, with
my best foot forward and showed up early and stayed late.
And then it led to a full time job. So
I finished my senior year of school and then moved
back to Washington and was here as a full time employee.
Speaker 1 (09:31):
It's amazing. Do you remember walking into the White House
on your first day of that internship.
Speaker 2 (09:35):
I do.
Speaker 3 (09:36):
I do remember exactly where I was. I remember the
red blazer that I wore. I recently gave it up
because she was so old and tired. But I do
remember that first day and feeling like, Wow, this is
amazing that I'm you know, working at the White House.
Speaker 1 (09:50):
What was it about President Trump? That you were so
inspired by in those early years. Was there a message
of his that you really resonated with that you were like,
I want to work for him.
Speaker 3 (09:58):
Yeah, the America First message, which continues to be his
core principle to this very day, and that resonated with
me again growing up in a middle class family who
worked very hard. There's a saying called the Forgotten men
and Women, which I think is very real in our country.
A lot of people feel left behind by the political establishment.
And President Trump was the first politician in a very
(10:20):
long time to really speak to the heart of those
men and women, many of whom I grew up with.
And that was my worldview and perspective, and his message
really resonated with me from initially his twenty sixteen campaign,
as you pointed out, for my OpEd at that time,
which led me to want to work here.
Speaker 1 (10:36):
And you went from interning at the White House and then,
as you said, getting offered a full time job when
you were working under the former White House Press Secretary, Kaylee,
did you ever think to yourself, this is a job
I could see myself doing.
Speaker 2 (10:48):
Gosh, I'm sure I did.
Speaker 3 (10:51):
I was just in the moment in that job trying
to do my best and support her in the role,
and it was really imperative for me to have that experience.
Look looking back now in hindsight, how critical it was
to come in here in this term on the first
day being the press secretary, understanding how the office works
and what the staff should look like. That institutional knowledge
(11:11):
that I came in with was so critical, and I'm
very grateful for that experience.
Speaker 1 (11:15):
It is so important to have that foundational kind of background.
And it's fun now knowing, I'm sure with some of
the people that you work with, kind of looking at
them and being like, this could be you one day,
so like, soak it all in right, right for sure?
What do you think is one thing that you learned
from Kaylee's time and your time working with Kaylee?
Speaker 2 (11:31):
Yeah, preparation is key. She prepared a lot. I know.
Speaker 3 (11:34):
I've spoken to many of my predecessors in this role
who told me preparation is everything, and it absolutely is.
I mean, on briefing days, every day, I'm here very early,
reading the news, absorbing it from every newspaper. Literally, I
read the physical newspaper, I read obviously whatever is popping online,
and then watching all of the cable networks to get
a full understanding of what the news cycle is for
(11:57):
the day. And then sometimes I feel like an internal
investigative reporter. I go to all the policy experts in
the building and the President himself to understand his feeling
on it, what the administration is saying, what are we
doing about the particular news of the day, and how
I can put my best foot forward to message it
on behalf of this building.
Speaker 1 (12:16):
Do you feel like as a press secretary like most
of your day to day is spent learning and understanding
what's going on and figuring out the right ways toward
things when you're in the briefing room.
Speaker 3 (12:27):
Definitely, my day is being a sponge and absorbing as
much knowledge and information as I can. And the new
cycle changes not just every day, but every hour. There
are new stories popping and breaking, and we are the
White House. We have to respond to everything across the country,
and so it's a lot to absorb and it's a
(12:49):
new challenge every day.
Speaker 2 (12:50):
You never know what the next day we'll bring.
Speaker 1 (12:51):
It's an exciting job in that way, and you're showing
that you can thrive in chaos, absolutely right. It's like
there's always so much going on, new things happening everything
they I agree. So I'm curious about this because you
went from working under Kayley to then running your congressional
campaign where you had to become your own voice. Right,
What was it like going from being on the communications
(13:13):
team to then being your own voice? Like? Was that
a pivot for you? Did you feel like it was
a big leap?
Speaker 3 (13:19):
Yeah, And in many ways it was almost more difficult
being my own voice because when you are a candidate
yourself or your name is on the ballot, you have
to make decisions about what you want to say. What
do your stakeholders want you to say, what does your
family believe, what do your constituents want in need? What
does the media expect that you're going to say? And
(13:39):
so there's a lot of different perspectives you have to
take into account, then make a decision, and then message it.
Whereas now as the spokesperson for the president, he's the
decision maker and I'm just here to effectuate that message
and to drive it home. And so in many ways,
it's actually easier to be a spokesperson for someone else
than for yourself. And I've found that be a quite
(14:00):
interesting trajectory, if you will, from going from running for
Congress myself to now working on behalf of another individual.
Speaker 1 (14:08):
But I do feel like doing both gives you confidence
in a way that somebody that hasn't had that experience
speaking for themselves, like yeah, wouldn't have.
Speaker 3 (14:18):
It was critical experience and I'm so glad I did it,
and I learned so much about myself and politics as well,
and I don't regret the experience at all. In many ways,
I'm grateful that I lost the election because it shut
that door, but it opened this one. And you know,
I probably wouldn't be sitting here if not for that
election and the way it turned.
Speaker 1 (14:38):
Out, right, I mean, it is so true, like when
one door closes in another door or bins. During that time,
I'm sure it was your first time dealing with press,
right and people having positive and negative views on you,
So it's kind of an opportunity to thicken your skin
before you're on this now massive stage at the White House.
Speaker 3 (14:53):
Yes, you gotta just learn how to block it out
and not care what people think or say you. You're
always going to have someone who dislikes you no matter
what you do, So I think just staying authentic to
yourself and staying grounded is so important and I definitely
learned that firsthand on the campaign.
Speaker 1 (15:11):
Trail as a press secretary or even you know, when
you were in the running. How did your inner circle change?
How do you decide who is kind of a safe
space for you? Does it become much smaller?
Speaker 3 (15:22):
In many ways, I've always had a smaller close circle,
if you will. My best friends are still my best
friends from high school. I have very close friends and
confidance here at the White House, my colleagues, and we're
very blessed to have an amazing team. Many of us
worked on the president's campaign together, so when he won,
we all came in and so we have close relationships
(15:43):
and bonds, which is very important and also quite rare
in this city to have colleagues who you truly like
and want to be with every day. And I'm very
grateful to have that here at the White House. But
of course, now my whole life has changed being a
wife and a mother, and so my family is my
rock and who I spend the most of my time
with as life progresses. That's the change of life. And
(16:05):
it's a beautiful season right now.
Speaker 1 (16:07):
It is so nice having that family as your backbone,
right and you know, the thing that you get to
go home to, definitely grounding you throughout every everything thing. Yeah, okay,
So you went from your congressional campaign trail to then
being the lead of Trump's communication team for his twenty
twenty four campaign. Did that feel like an actual progression
for you? And how did you end up kind of
getting that that role.
Speaker 3 (16:28):
So I was the national press secretary on the campaign,
and I was hired initially by actually who's now my
current boss, Taylor Buttowitch. He's our deputy chief of staff
here at the White House, and he's amazing and a
good friend, and he hired me to start helping the
president's campaign effort. And it was an incredible experience and
(16:49):
amazing traveling around the country, going to rallies and speaking
on behalf of the president through amazing times and also
some very dark times. I was with him in a
courthouse and he was reeled against. I was with him
through some trials and tribulations and a lot of adversity,
but the President prevailed.
Speaker 2 (17:07):
And now here we are.
Speaker 1 (17:08):
And you were doing it while pregnant, which is the
wildest thing to me. What was the most pivotal moment
for you where you felt like you really had to
step up into your role.
Speaker 3 (17:26):
There were so many moments, but definitely after the first
assassination attempt on the President's life in Butler, Pennsylvania, which
was just a life changing moment, a historic moment. The
whole world watched the former president and at that time,
possibly the future president almost lose his life by millimeter.
(17:47):
And I had just given birth to my child actually
a few days prior when I watched it on television,
and that was a moment where I realized, this is history.
Speaker 2 (17:58):
This is a.
Speaker 3 (17:59):
Crazy pivotal time in our nation's history, and when you
see something like that for someone you work for, and
it impacted my colleagues and the whole campaign and the
whole country of course was shook by that image of
the president standing up, blood dripping down his face, saying fight, fight, fight.
No matter how you feel about Donald Trump, that is
(18:20):
an iconic, historic, solemn moment in our nation's history. And
that was very impactful, I think for all of us
on the campaign, and it kind of made us all
pull ourselves up from our bootstraps and want to work
even harder and fight even harder to win, and it
really created a camaraderie amongst the campaign about what we
were up against and how critical it was to win
(18:43):
the election.
Speaker 1 (18:44):
How soon after giving birth did you go back to work?
Speaker 2 (18:49):
Several days?
Speaker 3 (18:50):
Which I wasn't expecting, but in light of what had
happened to the president, I almost felt a responsibility to
go back to work and back on television. So I
had a student set up in my home so I
was able to easily go downstairs and do a quick
TV hit and then of course attend to my child,
and then went back to the office as soon as
I could, and brought my baby to the office with me.
(19:11):
He was always with me throughout the entire duration of
the campaign and just made it work.
Speaker 1 (19:19):
Talk about a moment in time for your son as well. Right,
spending his first days on the campaign trail at the
White House, I mean, and he has.
Speaker 2 (19:26):
No idea what's going on. He's just happy to be
with his mom and daddy.
Speaker 1 (19:30):
Right.
Speaker 3 (19:31):
Someday, I hope he'll look back at all of these
photos of him and his mom and he'll be very proud.
Speaker 1 (19:36):
What's so cool about you and about that story and
your July twenty twenty four is that you really are
showing women that you can have a rigorous job and
you can also be a great mom. You know when
you can do both, And I think it's so important
for people to be able to see for you during
that time, like how did you manage? I know you're
bringing your baby to work, but that can be incredibly challenging,
(19:59):
right when sometime the work almost has to take priority
in a way, especially when it's like you're doing a
service for the United States.
Speaker 3 (20:06):
It's an incredible challenge and it's something I still face
to this very day, having to deal with that balance
of wanting to be the best you can in your
job and being the best mother that you possibly can
as well. And it takes a lot of sacrifice and
a lot of prioritization of time and sometimes means saying
no to commitments because you have to be home for
(20:28):
bedtime and that's okay, And having a good support system
is so incredibly important. It's certainly a challenge, and again
I'm not perfect at it. It's something I'm dealing with
every day.
Speaker 1 (20:39):
But you do make it look so easy. So I'm curious, Like,
I mean, your outfit, you always look great the outfits
are incredible, seriously, like you do, you'll hear making it
look so effortless. I had one of my family friends
was like, ask her how she never looks tired, And
I was like, I don't know if I should ask
her that because she's definitely tired, right, and she's gonna say,
I'm very, very tired after work, Like is what does
(20:59):
your day look like? Are you able to turn off? Ever?
Speaker 3 (21:02):
I try to at night, you know, I go home
and immediately go into mom mode and we do bedtime
as a family, eat dinner as a family, bathtime, book reading,
and you know, put the baby down, and then I
try to take time after that for myself to you know,
do what I need to do to get a good
night's sleep. And I do try to prioritize sleep because
(21:24):
it's critical to focus and getting up and ready and
then wake up early and the next day begins.
Speaker 1 (21:32):
Right, and also like be a mom, but also squeeze
in time to be with your husband. I know, what
does date night look like? As the Press Secretary of
the United States, Yeah, they're.
Speaker 2 (21:40):
Few and far between.
Speaker 3 (21:41):
Yeah, we recently had one at the Kennedy Center and
we went to a show we went to dinner after
and it was amazing. But date nights often are including
our baby. Right now, we just love being together as
a family, the three of us. It's our safe place,
our happy place, and so we spend a lot of
time with the three of us at home, going out
for walks and going out to dinner as well.
Speaker 1 (22:02):
That makes so much sense. I feel like those are
the moments you look forward to the most, especially as
a new mom.
Speaker 2 (22:06):
Yes, and just savor every second.
Speaker 1 (22:09):
As we've said multiple times during this interview, you are
the youngest Press secretary in US history. It's so wild
that you are not only doing one of the hardest jobs,
but you are also making history while doing it. What
does that mean to you? Like when people say that
to you, what feeling does it evoke?
Speaker 3 (22:25):
You know, when you're in the moment in something, it's
I think it's a little bit hard to digest. So
I'm not so sure that I have to be honest.
I'm just trying to do my best every day, putting
my best foot forward and executing on the job that
I have. And it's a great responsibility. I'm certainly aware
of that, and I take it very seriously, and so
(22:46):
we just keep working hard and keep chugging.
Speaker 1 (22:49):
Do you remember getting the call from the President to
be his press secretary?
Speaker 2 (22:54):
Of course, where were you?
Speaker 1 (22:55):
What's the story.
Speaker 3 (22:56):
I was in our home in New Hampshire and we
had a phone conversation, and you know, he had told
me in that conversation, you're going to be my you know,
my White House spokesperson.
Speaker 2 (23:06):
I'm sure of it. Let's make it happen.
Speaker 3 (23:08):
This was about a week after the election, and so
I obviously said thank you and yes, called my family
to let them know, and then a statement went out
a few hours later, and in that moment, it was
definitely life changing.
Speaker 1 (23:21):
For sure. Everybody sees your podium moments, but what is
something behind the scenes that you wish you could show people.
Speaker 2 (23:27):
It's a good question.
Speaker 3 (23:28):
I think our incredibly cordial relationships with the media. It's
hostile sometimes and we make it known when we disagree
with their reporting or when there are inaccuracies, and we
I think we should to hold the media accountable and
make sure that they're accurately representing the administration and pushing
the truth out there. But we also have good working
(23:50):
relationships with them. We try to work with them in
good faith, and we expect them to do the same.
And so I think, you know, people who see the
briefings may not understand that the media are like our colleagues.
We work with them on a day to day basis
to shape stories on behalf of the president.
Speaker 1 (24:04):
When people are just viewing the briefings, they're like everybody's fighting,
everybody's screaming. But at the same time, yet it's like
you're just people. You're all here at the White House
in DC to do your job exactly. So I've interviewed
Dana Prino and one of the things that we were
talking about was advice that she's gotten and received from
past Press secretary. So I'm curious for you, like, what
(24:25):
is the best advice you received before stepping into the role.
Speaker 3 (24:29):
Some of the best advice I received was from Dana,
who's one of my predecessors and has become a mentor
and she's just an amazing, lovely person. And she said,
there's no shortcut for preparation. And we talked a lot
about preparation before I stepped into the role and what
it looked like for her. And I've emulated some of
those strategies in terms of reading everything, and having meetings
(24:52):
with policy staff and having meetings with my team to
really get a full graphs on the news cycle before
I take the podium.
Speaker 1 (25:00):
Outside of preparation for upcoming press secretaries or people that
you know will be in the role after you. What
is something that you would say to them?
Speaker 2 (25:08):
Oh, gosh, ask me that question in four years. I
don't know yet.
Speaker 3 (25:13):
I'm still in the thick of it, still learning and
try to do my best. But I think again, the
best advice I can give is, you've got to be
on top of the news cycle and have a close
relationship with the president or the principle that you're speaking
on behalf. You have to get inside their head and
understand their thinking in order to most accurately articulate what
they want you to say and what the administration in
the White House believe. You got to really know the
(25:35):
person you're speaking on behalf of. You have to really
understand how they think and feel.
Speaker 1 (25:39):
What is your relationship with President Trump? Look like?
Speaker 2 (25:41):
It's great.
Speaker 3 (25:42):
He's a great boss to work for. He's fun, he's hilarious,
one of the funniest people I've ever met. He's a
great sense of humor and He's incredibly kind and he's
a great listener, and I'm very honored to work for him.
Speaker 1 (25:56):
I feel like one story that I heard that I
loved was after the first attempt at assassination, didn't he call
you and instead of asking, instead of talking about what
had just happened to you, he called you and was.
Speaker 2 (26:08):
Yes, yeah.
Speaker 1 (26:08):
He like, how was your baby?
Speaker 2 (26:09):
Yeah yeah.
Speaker 3 (26:11):
Around that time after the assassination attempt and dr it
was the mist of the Republican Convention, so he was
incredibly busy. I had obviously just had my son, and
he and the first lady called to make sure I
was okay and to talk about the baby. And he
was incredibly kind and gracious and continues to be to
this day. And something most people may not realize about
(26:31):
the President, as he has not just hired me as
a young working mom, but there are tons of working
moms and dads in the West Wing and at the
White House, and he empowers us to do both. And
I think that's quite admirable for the President of the
United States to encourage working families so much.
Speaker 1 (26:48):
Final question for you is knowing what you know now?
What is something that you would tell your younger self
oh boy.
Speaker 2 (26:54):
Just keep going, just keep working.
Speaker 1 (26:57):
I love it well. Thank you so much, Caroline. This
was seri amazing.
Speaker 2 (27:00):
Yes, thank you for having me.
Speaker 1 (27:09):
M hmm
Host
Kate Mackz
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