Following the news that she is expecting her second child, followers of Karoline Leavitt has been doing a deep-dive into the controversial White House press secretary’s personal life.
And by the sounds of some responses, many have been blindsided by the revelation that she and her husband, businessman Nicholas Riccio, share a pretty almighty age gap.
For those who missed it, 28-year-old Leavitt – right-wing leader Donald Trump’s official media representative – took to Instagram on Boxing Day (26 Dec), to reveal that she is pregnant for the second time.
Sharing a photo, she gushed: “The greatest Christmas gift we could ever ask for – a baby girl coming
“My husband and I are thrilled to grow our family and can’t wait to watch our son become a big brother. My heart is overflowing with gratitude to God for the blessing of motherhood, which I truly believe is the closest thing to Heaven on Earth.”
Leavitt announced her second pregnancy last week (Instagram/@karolineleavitt)
The political advisor added: “I am also extremely grateful to President Trump and our Chief of Staff Susie Wiles for their support, and for fostering a pro-family environment in the White House. 2026 is going to be a great year and I am so excited to be a girl mom!”
Leavitt and real estate developer Riccio are already parents to a 17-month-old son, Nicholas ‘Niko’, named after his father.
The couple tied the knot in January 2025 – days ahead of Republican frontman Trump’s second inauguration – after announcing their engagement over a year prior, in December 2023.
As we say, however, news of their family’s incoming addition has set tongues wagging for a number of reasons, with some social media users only just discovering that Leavitt and Riccio were born 32 years apart.
“I recently discovered [that Karoline Leavitt] is only 28 and, my gosh, she looks older than myself and my wife in our 40s,” one X (formerly Twitter) user penned this week. “I was shocked she is in her 20s.”
The couple already share a one-year-old son (Instagram/@karolineleavitt)
Another user added: “I didn’t know that 27 year old Karoline Leavitt’s husband is 62 years old. That would be like me being with a 90 year old.”
With a vomit emoji, a third hit out: “How did I not know that Karoline Leavitt’s husband is more than TWICE her age.”
Using the same emoji, a fourth continued: “I was today years old when i found out that the year karoline leavitt started kindergarten as a tiny little girl her future husband was 37 years old.”
Another went on to confess: “I still can’t get over Karoline Leavitt, the WH press secretary, marrying a dude in a shotgun wedding who was 50 when she graduated high school and will be 77 when their son graduates from high school.”
Her cross-generational marriage isn’t something that the political spokesperson has ever shied away from, however.
Speaking previously to the Daily Mail, Leavitt revealed she’d met her husband during her congressional campaign.
The couple were born 32 years apart (Instagram/@karolineleavitt)
“A mutual friend of ours hosted an event at a restaurant that he owns up in New Hampshire, and invited my husband,” Trump’s right-hand woman recalled.
“I was speaking, and we met and we were acquainted as friends, and then we fell in love.”
Admitting she did harbour some initial reservations, Leavitt continued. “It’s a very atypical love story, but he’s incredible. He’s my greatest supporter, he’s my best friend. He’s my rock.”
She issued a similar sentiment when catching up with Pod Force One podcast host Miranda Devine last year, when she was questioned over their ‘unusual’ 32 year age gap.
After Devine asked her, ‘Could you not find boys your own age?’, Leavitt candidly confessed: “Honestly no, if you want to know the truth. But he’s amazing. We fell in love, and here we are today.
“We’re married with a beautiful baby. He’s just an amazing guy.”
Leavitt described Riccio as a ‘hands on’ father (Instagram/@karolineleavitt)
Of Riccio, she added: “He’s introverted, unlike me. He stays behind the scenes, he’s very private, which I respect. He’s a self-made man, with a successful real estate business back home.
“He’s build his career, and so, he’s in a place where he can support me in mine.”
Leavitt continued to gush: “So, he’s an incredibly hands-on father. He and my son are the best of friends.”
Karoline Leavitt slams Vanity Fair for ‘disingenuous’ article after Trump administration portraits go viral
The White House Press Secretary has issued a brutal response to the hotly-debated piece
Donald Trump’s press secretary, Karoline Leavitt has accused Vanity Fair journalists of being ‘disingenuous’ after sharing a controversial collection of super close-up portraits online.
For those who missed it, the fashion mag arranged a shoot this week with a number of the President’s senior administration members, including 28-year-old Leavitt, as well as Chief of Staff, Susie Wiles, Secretary of State and Vice President, JD Vance.
The mission of the right-wing get-together was to reflect on the first 12 months of Trump’s second stint in the Oval Office. Sharing the portraits on Instagram, the publication wrote in the caption: “In the past year, Trump and his team have expanded the limits of presidential power, unilaterally declared war on drug cartels, imposed tariffs according to whim, sealed the southern border, achieved a ceasefire and hostage release in Gaza, and pressured NATO allies into increasing their defence spending.”
Susie Wells is amongst those to be photographed (Christopher Anderson/Vanity Fair)
Despite the caption somewhat buttering-up the group’s ‘achievements’, the article itself tells a totally different story.
Filled with candid interviews from Trump’s close-knit team, the bombshell piece subtly implies that relations behind the walls of the White House aren’t quite as amicable as they seem.
Alongside shocking quotes – the majority of which allegedly given by Wells – the piece included a collection of official portraits which differ greatly to others we’ve seen in the past.
As opposed to positioning each sitter beside a historical painting, behind a desk or close to an American flag, the photographer since identified as Christopher Anderson chose to get up close and personal.
Famed for his signature zoomed-in style of portraiture, Anderson managed to capture every crease, pimple, make-up smudge and ingrown hair in his images – much to the amusement of some left-leaning onlookers, who joked that the mag had done the group ‘dirty’.
Seemingly the most hotly-discussed image was of media boss Leavitt, with critics claiming to have noticed several puncture marks around her mouth and putting them down to lip injections – though, this theory hasn’t yet been confirmed.
“This is the meanest photo I’ve ever seen,” one X user wrote, whilst another asked of the press sec: “Did she not notice the camera was 2 inches from her face? Why did she let them do this?”
As we say, however, whilst Leavitt hasn’t yet addressed her headline-hitting headshot, she has spoken out against the outlet’s team of writers, claiming they warped the quotes given to fit a specific narrative.
The claim was firstly made by Susie Wiles, who accused Vanity Fair reporters of changing the context of her words, after she was said to have described Trump as having an ‘alcoholic’s personality’.
Journalist Chris Whipple – the man responsible for the piece – also claimed Wiles accused VP, Vance of having been a ‘conspiracy theorist for a decade’.
Leavitt has since slammed the piece as ‘disingenuous’ (Demetrius Freeman/The Washington Post via Getty Images)
She went on to slam the article as a ‘hit piece’, claiming ‘significant context’ was disregarded by editors, who hoped to ‘paint an overwhelmingly chaotic and negative narrative’ about her team.
Reiterating these allegations, Leavitt told press outside the White House today (17 Dec): “This is, unfortunately, another example of disingenuous reporting, where you have a reporter who took the Chief of Staff’s words wildly out of context – did not include the context of these conversations.”
She went on to add: “Further, I think the most egregious part of this article was the bias of omission that was clearly present.
“We see a lot of this when dealing with the media everyday.”
Leavitt went on to allege of the press: “You will leave out important context, leave out comments and facts.
“You know, many people in this building spoke with that reporter, and those comments were never included in the story – probably because it didn’t push this false narrative of chaos and confusion that the reporter was clearly trying to push.”
The photos have sparked quite the debate online (Christopher Anderson/Vanity Fair)
In response, Whipple told CNN that ‘everything’ included in the article was ‘on the record’, adding: “I recorded every interview.”
Published 09:56 19 Dec 2025 GMT
Donald Trump just made major change to weed laws in US
The Republican leader signed the executive order to reclassify marijuana on Thursday (18 December)
Donald Trump just signed-off on a huge change to a US drug law.
On Thursday (18 December) the 79-year-old US president signed an executive order that would reclassify marijuana as a less dangerous drug and open new avenues for medical research.
Essentially, the switch would move marijuana away from its current classification as a Schedule I drug, alongside the likes of heroin and LSD.
Instead, it would sit in the Schedule III category with ketamine and some anabolic steroids – however, this doesn’t mean marijuana would be legalised as some individual states have done.
It does mean though, that it could change how the drug is regulated and reduce a hefty tax burden on the cannabis industry.
Trump said in the Oval Office: “I’m pleased to announce that I will be signing an Executive Order to reschedule marijuana from a Schedule I to a Schedule III controlled substance with legitimate medical uses.
Donald Trump just signed an executive order to reclassify cannabis (Getty Stock Image)
“This reclassification order will make it far easier to conduct marijuana-related medical research, allowing us to study benefits, potential dangers and future treatment.”
He added: “It’s going to have a tremendously positive impact.”
It’s also important to note that the change still need to go through the Drug Enforcement Administration’s (DEA) formal rule-making process.
If it does, it would make for a landmark decision and one of the most significant federal changes to marijuana policy in decades.
According to Reuters, it could ‘reshape the cannabis industry, unlock billions in research funding and open doors long closed to banks and investors’.
Similarly, the Justice Department under Trump’s Democratic predecessor Joe Biden proposed reclassifying marijuana to a Schedule III substance.
However, Trump has not had completely open encouragement from across his party for the move and some Republicans have spoken out in opposition to any changes.
For example, as reported by Fox News, a group of lawmakers sent a letter to Trump on Thursday urging him to not to make the change.
The move has been met with backlash from some Republicans (Getty Stock Image)
They argued that reclassifying marijuana would send the wrong message to America’s young people.
The group penned in their letter: “We write to urge you to oppose rescheduling marijuana, a harmful drug that is worsening our nation’s addiction crisis. Reclassifying marijuana as a Schedule III drug will send the wrong message to America’s children, enable drug cartels, and make our roads more dangerous.”
But, the US president told reporters at the White House: “We have people begging for me to do this, people that are in great pain for decades.
“I don’t want it, okay. I’m not gonna be taking it. But a lot of people do want it. A lot of people need it.”
He added though that this ‘in no way sanctions its use as a recreational drug – has nothing to do with it’.
Trump warned: “It’s never safe to use powerful controlled substances in a recreational manners, and especially in this case. So unless a drug is recommended by a doctor for medical reasons, just don’t do it.”