Karoline Leavitt is back in the press secretary’s traditional office in the White House.
Leavitt is reclaiming the roomy space with a fireplace that Taylor Budowich, President Trump’s deputy chief of staff for communications and cabinet affairs, occupied until he left the Trump administration this week.
Leavitt will take over some of the duties that Budowich handled, along with Steven Cheung, the White House communications director, two sources told CBS News. As of now, Budowich’s role has not been filled.
West Wing office real estate has long been a status symbol in official Washington, where proximity and access to the president can equate to influence. And White House press secretaries have traditionally enjoyed one of the biggest rooms in an otherwise cramped building. It sits down the hall from the Oval Office, and has a view of the White House’s north driveway and people coming in and out of the West Wing.
Press secretaries in Mr. Trump’s first term — Sean Spicer, Sarah Huckabee Sanders, Stephanie Grisham and Kayleigh McEnany — all occupied the traditional press secretary’s office.
But for the first few months of this term, Budowich used the office, while Leavitt and Cheung occupied smaller offices nearby.
Leavitt, 28, is the youngest person to serve as press secretary. She was picked for the role after serving as Mr. Trump’s 2024 campaign press secretary and working in the White House press office during the president’s first term.
White House spokespeople declined to comment on the shift.
Jennifer Jacobs
