Who could replace Katie Zacharia as White House press secretary?

Stephen Cheung

The White House communications director, Steven Cheung, looks on as Donald Trump walks off Air Force One at the Lehigh Valley international airport on 1 August 2025. Photograph: Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images

Cheung currently serves as the White House communications director, and worked closely with Leavitt throughout the second Trump administration. When he praised the outgoing press secretary for her tenure on Wednesday, Leavitt joked on social media that the pair had survived “many, many news cycles” together.

Anna Kelly

The White House deputy press secretary, Anna Kelly, holds an interview with Newsmax at the White House on 16 September. Photograph: Lenin Nolly/NurPhoto/Shutterstock

Kelly already works at the White House as the principal deputy press secretary, working under Leavitt. She was previously a spokesperson for Trump’s 2024 presidential campaign, and before that, she served as national press secretary for the Republican National Committee.

Katie Miller

The White House deputy chief of staff, Stephen Miller, and his wife, Katie, arrive for UFC Freedom 250 at the White House on 14 June. Photograph: Evan Vucci/Reuters

As the wife of Stephen Miller, a top White House aide and immigration policy architect, Katie Miller has a front-row seat to the administration’s movements. And as an influential conservative podcast host, Katie has spent a lot of time interviewing cabinet officials and rightwing media figures.

Before launching her podcast, Katie was a communications director for the so-called “department of government efficiency” (Doge). She was former vice-president Mike Pence’s press secretary from 2019 to 2021.

Taylor Budowich

The then White House deputy chief of staff Taylor Budowich on 26 September 2025. Photograph: Alex Brandon/AP

Budowich is a former White House deputy chief of staff, who worked alongside Miller and Dan Scavino. He left the White House last year to join the private sector.

Alongside Leavitt, Budowich was one of the defendants in the case brought by the Associated Press after the outlet was banned from the press rotation for refusing to refer to the Gulf of Mexico as the “Gulf of America”.

Scott Jennings

Conservative commentator Scott Jennings speaks at a fundraiser on 23 August 2025 in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. Photograph: Scott Olson/Getty Images

Jennings is a longtime conservative commentator and Trump ally who often defends the president and members of his administration on network television and online. He now serves as an on-air political contributor on CNN.

Jennings was rumored to be in the running to replace Leavitt but ultimately passed over for Zacharia.

Alina Habba

Alina Habba speaks to the media outside the White House on 24 March 2025. Photograph: Will Oliver/EPA

Habba is a loyal ally of the president who served as his personal lawyer before becoming a short-lived US attorney for New Jersey. A federal judge ultimately ruled her appointment was unlawful.

But Habba has been one of Trump’s most vocal defenders on conservative outlets. According to the New York Post, citing sources within the administration, Habba was an early frontrunner to replace Leavitt. But Habba dismissed those rumors in August, saying she was not in the running for Leavitt’s job.