Karoline Leavitt made the White House press secretary job the most watched podium in America.
But Leavitt is stepping down from her role as Press Secretary at the end of the month.
And Donald Trump said four words about CNN analyst Scott Jennings that sent the Left into a frenzy.
Trump’s Stamp of Approval Changes Everything
“Scott Jennings is good.”
That four-word line from Trump – delivered to reporters on August 21 – was not a throwaway comment.
Within 48 hours, the entire Washington press corps was treating Jennings as the frontrunner.
Because they know how Trump works.
When the president calls you “good,” that’s the interview.
Behind the scenes, the story was already written.
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White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles – arguably the most powerful gatekeeper in Trump’s orbit – had already sat down with Jennings at Mastro’s Steakhouse at the White House’s request.
Multiple senior staffers told CNN they believe Wiles has already made her pick.
“He’s competent and good on TV,” one senior White House official said of why Wiles showed interest.
That’s not a job description – that’s a job offer waiting on paperwork.
The Audition Nobody Asked For But Everyone Watched
He’s been auditioning on national television in real time.
When clips of Jennings defending White House aide Natalie Harp went viral, he didn’t wait for a call.
According to Politico, he sent those clips directly to senior White House staffers – then reached out to arrange the Wiles meeting himself.
That’s a man who wants this job and knows exactly how to show it.
On his radio show Monday, Jennings didn’t equivocate, didn’t hedge, didn’t present “both sides” the way his CNN colleagues would.
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He declared flatly that America won.
“Has Iran built a nuclear weapon? No. Has Iran defeated the United States military? No. Has it driven the United States Navy out of the Strait of Hormuz? No,” he said.
Why This Pick Would Be Brilliant
Wiles told CNN she wants a “grown-up” – someone who can do more than trade jabs at the podium, who understands how to manage a communications operation and quietly shape what stories get told.
Jennings has done this his entire career.
He ran Kentucky politics for two decades before TV made him famous.
He was a special assistant to President George W. Bush.
He’s the founding partner of RunSwitch Public Relations, one of Louisville’s top PR firms.
He didn’t become a CNN fixture by accident – he built a track record and a contact list that most press secretaries would kill for.
And unlike most of the other names floating around this race, Jennings has spent nine years studying the enemy up close.
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He knows how CNN producers frame questions before the segment starts.
He knows which liberal talking points are rehearsed and which ones collapse under a single follow-up.
That’s exactly what Susie Wiles is looking for – someone who knows where all the traps are because he’s been stepping over them for a decade.
The Shoes Are Enormous
Karoline Leavitt didn’t just hold the press secretary job – she redefined it.
She took the podium at 27 years old and turned it into a cultural moment.
She blew the briefing room open – independent journalists, podcasters, and social media creators got a seat at the table that the legacy press had guarded for decades.
She was unflappable, sharp, and she never gave liberal reporters the “gotcha” moment they were hunting for every single day.
Trump called her “one of the best” press secretaries in history when he announced her departure, and he wasn’t exaggerating.
Jennings himself said it best on CNN’s State of the Union: “Karoline Leavitt has been one of the best press secretaries in the modern era.”
Whoever steps into that briefing room next carries that legacy on their back.
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The Left is already panicking.
Salon ran a piece calling the Jennings pick Trump’s “final coup” – their words – warning that a conservative who spent years inside CNN’s own building would be uniquely dangerous at that podium.
They’re right to be scared.
Trump is about to put a man in the briefing room who has memorized every trick the mainstream media uses to trap Republicans – and has been deflecting them on live television for nearly a decade.
That’s not just a press secretary.
That’s a weapon pointed directly at the people who spent the last ten years lying to you about Donald Trump.
Sources:
- Donald Trump, remarks to reporters, August 21, 2026.
- Kristen Holmes, “Scott Jennings emerges as early favorite to replace Karoline Leavitt,” CNN, August 20, 2026.
- Howard Koplowitz, “Potential next Trump White House press secretary defends president with scorching hot take,” AL.com, August 25, 2026.
- David Marcus, “Karoline Leavitt’s lasting legacy is opening the White House to indie press,” Fox News, August 2026.
- Scott Jennings, The Scott Jennings Show, Salem Media, August 24, 2026.
- Salon staff, “Scott Jennings as press secretary could be Trump’s final coup,” Salon, August 22, 2026.
