Before 27-year-old Karoline Leavitt became the youngest ever White House press secretary, she was already doling out brutal advice on how to survive an executive branch job.
‘Your boss is not your friend,’ Leavitt dished in a newly resurfaced training video. ‘You are not your boss’ top priority,’ she also warned.
Leavitt was tapped by the conservative think tank The Heritage Foundation to appear in one of its Project 2025 videos, intended to train political appointees going into a second Trump administration.
The video appears to have been filmed before Leavitt joined Trump’s presidential campaign in January 2024 and after she unsuccessfully ran for Congress.
She was interviewed by the conservative Leadership Institute’s Chris Hayes – not the MSNBC host – on the topic of ‘The Art of Professionalism.’ The Daily Beast resurfaced the video this week, labeling it a ‘Secret MAGA Training Video.’
Leavitt had served in the first Trump administration as an assistant press secretary under press secretary Kayleigh McEnany, before working on Capitol Hill for Trump ally, GOP Rep. Elise Stefanik, and then launching an unsuccessful bid for a New Hampshire House seat.
‘There will be many a times where you are working in an administration and there are very high pressure situations in my experience,’ she recounted.
Leavitt recalled how she and the White House press team would spend 7 a.m. to 1 p.m. briefing McEnany ahead of her taking the podium – only for those preparations to be derailed by breaking news or a statement from Trump.
Before she became White House press secretary, Karoline Leavitt was already giving blunt advice on how to survive a high pressure executive branch job, a newly resurfaced Heritage Foundation training video shows
‘Those were some of the most high pressure moments of my life, knowing that the White House press corps was out there going to berate my boss on something that we had not covered throughout the day,’ Leavitt said.
‘And rather than get stressed out, cry or have a negative emotional response, you have to pull yourself up from your bootstraps. You have to be prepared. You have to execute in that moment,’ she continued. ‘And you have to be there to support the people that are counting on you to do your job.’
Leavitt pressed that nothing prepares an aide for a White House job more than preparation itself.
‘And if you fail to prepare for those moments, prepare to fail,’ she warned.
Leavitt also had frank advice on how to deal with bosses.
‘First of all, your boss is not your friend,’ she said. ‘OK, so don’t try to be friends with your boss. You work for your boss, and that’s very important to remember too, especially in an administration.’
‘And also don’t pester your boss with things that are unnecessary to bring to your attention,’ she added.
Leavitt impressed upon future political appointees to look for answers themselves first, before asking their bosses a question.
The undated training video featuring White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt resurfaced this week thanks to a report in the Daily Beast. The video was originally published by ProPublica in August 2024 and had ‘Project 2025’ on its title screen
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt (right) speaks to Chris Hayes, who worked for the conservative Leadership Institute (left), about ‘The Art of Professionalism.’ The video appears to have been made before Leavitt joined the Trump campaign in January 2024
‘I can tell you there is nothing more annoying than having people come to you with things that are completely unnecessary,’ she said.
‘You are not your boss’ top priority,’ Leavitt warned.
The future press secretary, who President Donald Trump refers to as a ‘star,’ was also clear that colleagues should be treated with respect.
‘You remember the colleagues that helped you fondly and you remember the colleagues that weren’t so helpful not so fondly,’ she said.
‘Your colleague today could be your boss tomorrow,’ Leavitt also reminded the audience.
She also told future Trump 2.0 employees that they should be grateful for the opportunity.
‘It is really an honor to work for our federal government,’ she said. ‘Don’t forget that your salary comes from the good, hard-working taxpayers across the country. Don’t ever take a day for granted and continue to move up the ladder.’
‘And remember everyone you meet in the workplace will help you get to another place someday. So nurture your relationships, cherish the people you meet on this journey,’ she advised. ‘It won’t last forever.
‘No administration does, of course, this is a democracy,’ she said. ‘So enjoy it while you have it.’
The training video was originally leaked to and published in full by ProPublica last August, ahead of the 2024 election, when ‘Project 2025’ was a controversial campaign topic.
A White House spokesperson did not immediately respond to the Daily Mail’s request for comment.
