NEWSAlina Habba's Bedminster Sighting Fuels Press Secretary Rumors After Karoline Leavitt Announces Exit From Trump Administration
Alina Habba was spotted dining near Donald Trump at his Bedminster Golf Club.
Aug. 19 2026, Published 5:33 a.m. ET
Alina Habba is back in President Donald Trump’s orbit just as the White House press secretary rumor mill heats up.
Trump spent the weekend at his Bedminster Golf Club in New Jersey, where he was seen dining with Ivanka Trump. Nearby, Habba, one of Trump’s former personal attorneys and most visible TV defenders, was also spotted dining.
Alina Habba’s appearance came as speculation grew over Karoline Leavitt’s replacement.
The timing drew attention because Habba is among the names being floated to replace outgoing White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt, who announced last week that she will leave the role at the end of the month.
A Familiar Donald Trump Defender
Alina Habba publicly praised Karoline Leavitt following her decision to leave the press secretary role.
Habba, 41, publicly praised Leavitt after the resignation news, calling her “perfection” and writing that whoever “gets that podium next better come ready for a fight they have big shoes to fill.”
Habba was a regular defender of Trump during his 2024 campaign and later moved through the administration. Trump attempted to make her U.S. attorney for New Jersey, but she was never confirmed by the Senate, and a federal appeals court later ruled that her position was unlawful. She later resigned and was announced as a “Senior Advisor to the Attorney General for U.S. Attorneys.”
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The TV-Ready Trap
An expert questioned whether Alina Habba had the experience needed for the White House briefing room.
“Trump doesn’t really ‘audition’ press secretaries,” said Christopher Lee, founder of Foresight Strategic Advisors. “He sees them doing interviews with friendly news outlets (Newsmax, Fox News, OANN) and he thinks that's all a press secretary does.”
Lee said choosing a press secretary primarily because that person performs well on television is “the first mistake.”
“The White House press room isn’t the friendly confines of the Fox News studio in New York or Washington, D.C.,” he said. “It is, in fact, a small, somewhat cramped room in the White House where there are people searching for the truth of a story, an accurate comment from the White House on a particular issue or insights into the events of the day that are driving the news cycle.”
Alina Habba or Scott Jennings?
Scott Jennings was also considered a possible contender for the White House press secretary position.
Habba is not the only rumored contender. CNN commentator Scott Jennings has also been reported as a possible choice.
“Alina Habba nor the other reported choice, Scott Jennings, possess the skills or experience needed to handle that room,” Lee said.
“Both are great at being ‘defenders’ of the president in a setting like CNN where you can get away with some seriously irrational opinions,” he added.
“But when the press is circling on you, as Leavitt found out, your credibility as a spokesperson isn’t about being ‘camera-ready’,” he continued. “It’s about being calm, rational and semi non-combative when questions you don’t want to answer or are afraid to answer honestly come at you like a Tomahawk missile.”
