President Donald Trump‘s White House press secretary, Karoline Leavitt, has turned her focus away from briefing the world’s media in order to try her hand at influencing, teaming up with a famed TikTok creator to offer a sneak peek inside her favorite spaces at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.
The 27-year-old New Hampshire native, who was appointed to the prominent role by Trump at the start of his second presidency, served as an intern during his first term in office—and therefore has a unique knowledge of the many rooms inside the property.
However, the mother of one, who welcomed a son with husband Nicholas Riccio in July 2024, admitted during a video interview with TikTok star Kate Mackz for her popular “Running Show” that she does have a favorite room, noting that it’s not the spacious office she was given when she was assigned to her new position.
After introducing herself to Mackz’s followers, Leavitt guides the content creator down a stretch of road inside the White House compound that is known as Pebble Beach, noting that it is “where all of the press hang out.”
Opening up about what it’s like to work within the administration, Leavitt describes her role as a “dream come true,” before breaking down what her job really entails.
“My job is to relay the president’s message and his agenda and his views and feelings to the American people through the press,” she explains.
She then shows off the exterior of the White House, describing it as “beautiful” and explaining that it is “where President Trump and the first family live,” before pointing to the front entrance of the West Wing.
Taking Mackz through the doors, she leads the influencer to what she describes as her “favorite” place in the White House: the historic James S. Brady briefing room, where she regularly holds press conferences and fields questions from members of the media.
“It’s historic,” she says of the space. “It’s quiet right now but typically, on a briefing day, you walk in here and it will be packed with journalists from all across the world who show up to the briefings to ask me questions.”
After Mackz voices her surprise at how much smaller the room seems in person when compared to the video footage that is regularly broadcast around the world, Leavitt explains that almost everyone she has taken in there has the same reaction.
“That’s the initial reaction of everyone who comes in here,” she says. “It’s way smaller than you would imagine.”
Leavitt then hints at one of her own personal goals over the next four years, revealing: “We need to make [the briefing room] bigger, so we can allow more voices in.”
As for how she preps for a briefing, Leavitt says that she “prays to God” before stepping out to the podium, describing it as a “moment to ground myself and level set.”
Ahead of that, however, the press secretary notes that a great deal of research and work goes into her briefings, explaining that she and her team “read the news, consume everything” to make sure they are aware of every possible topic that journalists might raise.
Additionally, she talks to the president “multiple times” before she “takes the podium, to fully understand what he’s thinking and feeling” so she can properly relay those sentiments to the public.
Moving on to her office, which is “just a few steps away” from the briefing room, Leavitt goes through the “lower press” area, introducing the “front lines of the White House press shop” and then pointing out the desk that she once occupied when she was serving as assistant press secretary.
Inside her personal office, Leavitt reveals that she has filled the space with personal mementos, pointing to a wall that has been decorated with three framed images: a photo of her posing with President Trump, a picture taken of her with her son at the senior staff swearing in ceremony, and a snap taken during her first press briefing.
Elsewhere, Leavitt has a large glass-fronted cabinet filled with various pieces of Trump campaign memorabilia, including several of his MAGA baseball caps and some pairs of spare shoes.
The budding political powerhouse also has a corkboard above her desk where she keeps a number of different mementos, including a photo of her son aboard his first Air Force One flight and a signed image of herself posing with some seventh graders who came to the White House for a visit.
She also has a print out of “a meme I love” that shows a man rejecting a brain being offering to him and saying: “No thanks. I won’t be needing that. I believe everything the legacy media shows.”
“We want critical thinking around here,” Leavitt points out.
Speaking about her rise from intern to White House press secretary, she describes it as a “full circle” moment, noting that she finds her career path “crazy” to believe.
“It’s crazy, I mean it has come completely full circle,” she says. “Every day when I come into work, I try to remember what a blessing it is to work in this building. And to remember the policies we are implementing are truly impacting so many lives.
“Don’t forget, it’s the people’s house, it belongs to the American taxpayer and the American public. This place is not for the president, it’s not for the people that work here; it’s for the American people. Which is why you see tours almost every single day, because it belongs to all of you.”
Leavitt and Mackz continue the tour of the White House by heading back outside, only to bump into “The White Lotus” star Jason Isaacs, who is thought to have been visiting while in Washington, D.C., to attend the White House Correspondents’ Dinner.
“You never know who you’re going to see at the White House,” Leavitt jokes, before pointing out “the president’s Tesla,” yet another sign of his very close relationship with the company’s CEO, Elon Musk.
“This is the president’s Tesla, which he has told staff so generously that we are allowed to drive if we wish to take it out,” she reveals. “I haven’t taken him up on the offer, but maybe I will soon.”
The final stop on the tour is the South Court Auditorium in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building, which is typically used for interviews, press conferences, and presidential appearances.
Charlie Lankston is the executive editor at Realtor.com. She previously worked at DailyMail.com as the associate editor covering news, celebrities, travel, lifestyle, and the British royals. In 2019, she was part of the DailyMailTV team that won a Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Entertainment News Program. Charlie earned a B.A. in English literature and theatre studies from the University of Warwick and an M.A. in newspaper journalism from City University in London. Originally from London, she has been based in New York City for 10 years.
