Karoline Leavitt will step down as White House press secretary at the end of August, Donald Trump announced.

The US president revealed her departure on social media, saying Leavitt was leaving “so she can spend more time” with her family. The 28-year-old gave birth to a daughter, Viviana, in May, and returned from maternity leave last month.

The departure of Trump’s most prominent spokesperson comes with his approval rating at a historic low as voters express discontent over rising prices and a war in Iran that has no end in sight.

Trump said Leavitt, who became the youngest person to serve as White House press secretary on his return to office in January 2025, “will now be one of my top outside advisors” in a post on his Truth Social platform.

Leavitt wrote on X: “The truth is since returning to the White House after the birth of my daughter, I have felt in my heart that I cannot be the best mom my two young children deserve while devoting the constant time, energy, and attention required of the White House Press Secretary – and that is why I have ultimately made the bittersweet decision to depart the White House and embark on a new chapter in my life.”

Leavitt served Trump as a press aide during his first term in the White House. She ran for Congress in 2022 as the Republican nominee for New Hampshire’s first congressional district but lost the race.

She joined Trump’s 2024 ​campaign ​and was transition ​spokeswoman before Trump selected ​her to ‌be White House ​press ​secretary. At 27 she was younger than Ronald Ziegler, who was 29 when he was Richard Nixon’s spokesperson.

A devout Christian, Leavitt, wearing a cross necklace, and her team would hold a short group prayer before she walked into the briefing room to face reporters. The briefings rarely strayed off message or made headlines but did keep factcheckers occupied. For example, her claim that “tariffs are a tax cut for the American people,” was rated false by Politifact.

In a smooth delivery with few verbal stumbles, Leavitt zealously defended the president while berating Democrats and the “fake news” media. In her first appearance on the podium, she described Trump as “the hardest-working man in politics” with “wildly popular” policies responsible for a new “golden age”.

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/aug/12/karoline-leavitt-resigns

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Military families and Congress members are sounding the alarm about an intensifying mental health crisis onboard the USS Abraham Lincoln, as its 5,000 sailors and marines endure a record-breaking deployment at sea tied to the war with Iran.

Two leading specialist military papers, the Navy Times and Stars and Stripes, are reporting that there have been multiple attempts by sailors to jump overboard as poor conditions and mental stresses on the Lincoln reach the breaking point. The crew is in its ninth month at sea, and has spent 250 days consecutively without making land – a record for an aircraft carrier in modern times.

Worried families vented their anxieties about loved ones onboard the Lincoln at an emotional town hall meeting with navy leaders in San Diego last Thursday, Stars and Stripes reported. One spouse among the 200 or so family members said that her husband had texted her that day saying “he hopes he doesn’t wake up tomorrow”.

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/aug/12/uss-abraham-lincoln-overboard-extended-deployment

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mx4iFThAPvY

Surely Donald Trump wouldn't try to sneak off Air Force One in Turkey.

He would.

And don't call me Shirley.

SCAREPLANE takes Trump and his administration into the world of the classic 1980s disaster-movie spoof: panicked passengers, incompetent officials, political sycophants, airborne chaos and one increasingly ridiculous attempt to get the President onto another plane.

Fasten your seatbelts. It's going to be a stupid flight.

SCAREPLANE is an AI-generated work of political parody and satire from Mr. Newberger's AI Funnies. The events depicted are fictional and created for comedic purposes.

If you enjoy the Funnies, please LIKE, COMMENT and SUBSCRIBE. It helps enormously.

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APOLOGIES FOR THE WRONG SPELLING OF "THE TRUTH" IN THE TOON AT TOP.....