Washington, April 5 It wasn't a formal interview, but just a casual conversation with US President Donald Trump when he offered Karoline Leavitt the position of White House Press Secretary, an interaction she describes as "true Donald Trump fashion."
Leavitt recounted the story at a Turning Point USA event on Thursday at the George Washington University about being chosen for one of the most high-profile jobs in the White House.
"About a week after the election, we were talking on the phone about something, the president and me, just having a casual conversation," Leavitt said.
"And it was the most anticlimactic thing ever. He said, 'Oh, by the way, you know, you're going to be the White House press secretary, right?'" Leavitt recalled the conversation with Trump.
Leavitt served as a press aide and speech writer for Trump during his first administration. She unsuccessfully ran for Congress in New Hampshire's First District.
Trump, she said, moved on to discuss other issues with her after mentioning her selection as the White House Press Secretary.
"And he said, 'So, what do you think about that other thing? What should we do? What should we say?'"
"That's how I got the job," she said.
There was "no fanfare or ceremony," Leavitt said, describing the moment as "true Donald Trump fashion."
After losing the Congressional election in New Hampshire, Leavitt had worked closely with Trump's 2024 election campaign as its spokesperson.
She had joined Trump's Super-PAC (political action committee) MAGA Inc as its spokesperson when Susan Wiles, the current White House Chief of Staff, offered her the position of campaign spokesperson.
"So, I joined the super PAC as his spokesperson, and then months later, when the campaign really started to gain momentum, Susan Wiles called and offered me the job as the campaign spokesperson, which I readily accepted," Leavitt said.
"She's (Wiles) my boss to this day, and she is amazing. So, I worked with the president throughout the entire campaign. All of the trials, literally and figuratively, the trials and courtrooms and rallies all around the country," she said.
Speaking earlier this week to the media, Trump claimed his media coverage is between 93 per cent and 97 per cent negative.
"A person that gets 97 per cent of bad... maybe Karoline is not doing a good job, I don't know," before telling her directly, "You're doing a terrible job."
"Should we keep her?" asked Trump to a group of reporters. "I think we will keep her," he added.
This is not the first time that Trump has joked about Leavitt.
In October last year, Trump had asked the members of the press how Leavitt was doing in the role of the press secretary.
“How’s Karoline doing? Is she doing well? Should Karoline be replaced,” he asked, and immediately assured that he would never replace her.
“That face … and those lips, they move like a machine gun,” Trump said.