Meet Karoline Leavitt, the 27-year-old CNN frontrunner to become Donald Trump’s press secretary

She’s been kicked out of CNN for calling it a “hostile environment,” outed journalists for negative reporting, and at 27 is already a veteran of the Trump administration.

Now Karoline Leavitt finds herself in pole position as Donald Trump’s White House press secretary following his election victory.

Multiple figures in the Trump world said she had impressed the former president and was a favorite to become the public face of a future administration.

“She talks to everyone, not just Fox News, but goes on TV and receives incoming messages, which is a big part of the job, and then she hits back and is a very, very effective messenger,” said a Trump confidante . granted anonymity to discuss personnel issues.

“The president trusts her and trust is everything with him.”

Leavitt attended a Miami Heat game at the Kaseya Center in Florida last year

Karoline Leavitt is the front-runner to become Donald Trump’s White House press secretary

No one knows who Trump will choose. And since his election victory last week, a number of other figures have brought themselves into the picture.

Trump’s lawyer Alina Habba suddenly appeared in the news this week as a contender, much to the surprise of the newly elected president’s circle.

Reports cited her fiery defense of Trump during his many legal battles and ease in front of the camera as putting her in the fray.

Still, her sudden emergence as a candidate raised eyebrows in Trump World, which knows the best way to get locked out of a job is to jockey for it.

In contrast, Leavitt has kept a low profile in recent weeks.

Meanwhile, there is no shortage of other possible names, both inside and outside the campaign.

Former consultant Bryan Lanza (who has told friends he has other plans), CNN analyst and flamethrower Scott Jennings and political pundit Katie Pavlich have all been mentioned as possible candidates.

Then there is Steven Cheung, who as campaign communications director was the first point of contact for reporters seeking comment. But he is a rare presence on television and is believed to be more likely to occupy an off-camera position.

And senior advisor Jason Miller received praise for managing the messaging.

But a friend of Trump told DailyMail.com that Leavitt’s age meant she was much better suited to the tough 14-hour days expected of a press secretary.

“And Trump likes the way she takes messages on CNN and then hits back,” he said. “She’s a star.”

Trump lawyer Alina Habba suddenly emerged as a candidate for the job this week, despite not having previously worked in communications

CNN anchor Kasie Hunt shortly before Leavitt’s lockdown

After working in the Trump White House, Leavitt ran for election in New Hampshire’s 1st congressional district but lost to the Democratic incumbent.

Leavitt, seen here second from the right next to lawyer Alina Habba, was a well-known presence in the New York courtroom where Trump was tried earlier this year

The Trump campaign declined to comment and Leavitt declined an interview request.

But she already has a resume full of relevant experience.

She knows her way around the White House. Like many younger members of the press shop, she initially went to work in the Office of Presidential Correspondence, where she helped process and respond to incoming mail, after graduating from Saint Anselm College in New Hampshire.

From there, she joined the communications team under press secretary Kayleigh McEnany toward the end of Trump’s first term.

When he left office, she went to work for high-profile New York Rep. Elise Stefanik before running for Congress in New Hampshire, the state where she grew up scooping ice cream in her parents’ store.

Her bid to become the youngest woman ever in Congress fell 15,000 votes short in the 2022 midterm elections, when an expected red wave failed to materialize.

Within weeks, she was part of the Trump fold again, joining an allied group before joining the campaign itself earlier this year, and quickly becoming a fixture on television despite being pregnant with her first child.

That didn’t detract from her fiery, bomb-throwing style.

Leavitt appears on Fox News with her former White House boss Kayleigh McEnany

Leavitt (far left) on stage with key members of the Trump world on the night of the New Hampshire primary in Nashua, including Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, Eric and Lara Trump, Sen. Tim Scott and former presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy

In June, she clashed with CNN host Kasie Hunt, who took her off air after they argued over whether the network’s journalists could be neutral moderators in the upcoming debate.

Leavitt said the debate would be a “hostile environment” for Trump, and that moderators Jake Tapper and Dana Bash had been “biased” against him in the past.

“Ma’am, I am going to stop this interview if you continue to attack my colleagues,” Hunt said.

After another back and forth, Hunt ended their conversation and the camera stopped abruptly.

Two weeks later, Leavitt and her husband Nick became parents to baby Nicholas, without realizing that the election was about to enter its most tumultuous period yet.

“I had just brought my newborn baby, my three-day-old baby, home from the hospital,” she said The curatora website for conservative women.

“And I said, ‘I’m going to turn on the television today and watch the meeting.’

The date was Saturday, July 13. A day later she answered questions on television again.

“The president literally risked his life to win this election,” she said. “The least I can do is get back to work quickly.”