President Donald Trump criticized Fox News on Sunday. By Monday, the network had announced a hire straight from his political orbit: Karoline Leavitt, the former White House press secretary who spent months defending him from the podium.
Fox said Leavitt will join as an on-air contributor on Nov. 1. She will appear on its news programs and its opinion programs alike.
That start date falls two days before the Nov. 3 elections. Trump is pressing his party’s case in the closing days of the campaign, and Leavitt will make her network debut during that stretch.
Leavitt is 29 years old. When Trump appointed her, she became the youngest person ever to serve as White House press secretary.
She left the job in August. Her second child was born in May, and she took maternity leave before announcing her departure, saying she wanted to spend more time with her young children.
Leavitt did not frame the exit as a retreat from politics. On her way out, she said she would “remain a vocal advocate for MAGA and the Republican Party.”
The Fox job lets her keep that pledge from outside Washington. Leavitt and her family have moved back to her home state of New Hampshire.
Leavitt said she would bring viewers “the unique perspective and candor that defined my tenure with the Trump administration.”
Suzanne Scott, the CEO of Fox News Media, addressed the hire in a statement the network released with its announcement.
“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.
The timeline stacks up quickly. Leavitt’s second child arrived in May, she left the White House in August, Fox announced her hiring Monday, her contributor role begins Nov. 1, and the elections arrive Nov. 3.
As press secretary, Leavitt quickly earned a reputation as a forceful defender of Trump.
She regularly challenged reporters in the briefing room and aimed criticism at mainstream news coverage of the administration.
Trump took note of her delivery in public remarks. He praised her rapid-fire speaking style, saying her lips “move like a ‘machine gun.’”
Her proximity to the president gave her another role as well.
Leavitt served as a direct source of information for the same reporters she frequently clashed with, and those reporters could turn to her for answers even as she took aim at them.
Fox has hired from that office before. Kayleigh McEnany, who handled White House briefings during the closing months of Trump’s first term, joined the network as a contributor in 2021.
She now co-hosts “Outnumbered” and has a Saturday show.
Dana Perino, who served as press secretary under President George W. Bush, has been with Fox since 2009.
Personnel have moved between the network and Trump’s circle in both directions. Former administration communicators have joined Fox, and Fox figures have joined the administration.
Trump tapped Fox personalities Pete Hegseth, Sean Duffy and Mehmet Oz for senior administration posts. His daughter-in-law, Lara Trump, hosts a weekly program on the network.
Prime-time hosts Sean Hannity and Jesse Watters are outspoken defenders of the president, and their shows anchor the network’s evening schedule.
Administration officials also appear regularly on Fox programs.
Those ties have not stopped Trump from attacking the network over its coverage. Last week, he accused Fox of airing “a completely negative narrative.”
He added that “MAGA, and REAL Patriots, will never like Fox!”
Trump renewed his criticism Sunday. He targeted “Fox & Friends” and objected to the network’s decision to take Maria Bartiromo off the air.
Leavitt’s hiring adds another veteran of Trump’s inner circle to a Fox lineup that already includes McEnany and Perino, both former press secretaries.
