Outgoing White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt has received a guest invitation from ABC's "The View," a move that comes as the network's parent company Disney wages a First Amendment lawsuit against the FCC over government pressure on the show.
An ABC source confirmed to CNN that the network extended the invite for Leavitt to appear as a guest, not as a co-host or in any official on-air capacity. The distinction matters because the Daily Mail ran a headline claiming Leavitt was in "secret talks to join TV's most controversial show," a framing that overstated the nature of the outreach. ABC's invitation amounts to standard booking practice: "The View" routinely tries to land political newsmakers, and a departing press secretary fits that mold.
Leavitt announced her surprise departure from the Trump White House earlier this month. She has not yet publicly said whether she will accept, decline, or is still weighing the invitation. President Trump has not yet named her successor.
On Thursday, Leavitt gave what was billed as her final interview as press secretary on Fox & Friends. The show aired a video montage of her tenure at the White House podium and paid tribute to her run. She responded warmly.
"Good times. Great memories."
She told the Fox hosts that she plans to spend "more time with my kids", she has a two-year-old and a four-month-old, and intends to "serve the president on the outside" and "cheer him on over the next two years." Leavitt said she will return to work at MAGA Inc., the Trump super PAC where she previously served as a spokesperson.
Later that day, she held a farewell press gaggle at the White House. Her tone surprised some in the room.
"I'll miss you guys. I know that's probably not something anyone would expect me to say, but obviously it's been great working with all of you."
The warmth stood in contrast to her combative reputation at the podium, a reputation Fox's own montage highlighted. But Leavitt's departure has opened a transition question that the White House has yet to answer: who takes the lectern next?
The guest invitation arrives against a complicated backdrop for ABC and its parent company. Disney filed a First Amendment lawsuit roughly the week of August 18 challenging what it described as FCC maneuvers against its local station licenses. The suit claims the government's "escalating pressures" have forced "The View" to become "more circumspect in booking political candidates."
The FCC, which CNN described as "Trump-aligned," has been pressuring ABC and Disney on multiple fronts. Among them: a probe into "The View" over alleged "equal-time" violations tied to candidate interviews. The federal rule requires broadcasters to give competing political candidates comparable airtime, a regulation that has teeth when applied to stations holding valuable broadcast licenses.
Leavitt, however, is not a candidate for any office. That distinction means the FCC's equal-time cloud does not hang over a potential appearance by her. For ABC, booking a former press secretary as a guest carries far less regulatory risk than sitting down with an active candidate, a calculus that likely made the invitation easier to extend.
The broader picture is harder to ignore. A major media company is suing a federal agency, claiming government pressure has chilled its editorial choices on a daytime talk show. Whether one views that pressure as legitimate regulatory enforcement or as political retaliation depends largely on which side of the aisle one sits. But the fact that Disney felt compelled to put the claim in a federal complaint says something about how ABC perceives the current environment.
"The View" begins its new season in September with all six co-hosts returning. The show occasionally features guest hosts, a rotating chair that creates tabloid speculation every cycle. The Daily Mail's breathless framing of Leavitt's situation fed that speculation, but the ABC source's clarification to CNN drew a clear line: this is a guest booking, not a casting decision.
For Leavitt, an appearance on "The View" would put her in front of an audience that skews heavily away from the conservative base she spent months defending from the White House podium. The show's co-hosts have not been shy about challenging Republican guests. Whether Leavitt sees that as a risk or an opportunity may determine whether she accepts.
Meanwhile, the question of who will replace her as press secretary remains open. The White House has considered alternative briefing formats, and several names have surfaced in the early jockeying. One prominent contender, Alina Habba, has already ruled herself out.
Leavitt left the podium on her own terms, with kind words for the press corps and a plan to keep working for the president from outside the building. If she does sit down on "The View," she will do so as a private citizen, free to speak her mind without the weight of an official title, and without the FCC looking over ABC's shoulder.
That alone might make her the most relaxed guest the show has booked in years.
