The betting favourite to become Donald Trump’s next official mouthpiece is a former beauty queen, singer, and self-described dog obsessive who posts photos of her pets on social media.

But Anna Kelly, 29, is also a Trump loyalist who shares the President’s propensity to attack perceived media enemies such as journalists asking difficult questions in her current role as deputy to outgoing White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt.

Leavitt, 28, is stepping down at the end of August in order to spend more time with her family, Trump announced on social media on Wednesday. “Karoline will now be one of my top outside advisors, and an influential voice within the Republican Party,” he added. Leavitt gave birth to a second child in May.

She wrote on X: “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.”

Leavitt’s departure leaves big shoes to fill. She was the only one of Trump’s four White House press secretaries to serve more than a year and not be fired, gaining a reputation as one of the President’s favourites.

That affection was reflected in a warm note from Trump marking Leavitt’s exit with praise for a “phenomenal job” – although some of his comments about her drew charges of inappropriateness. The President once told reporters her face and lips “move like she’s a machine gun”.

Kelly has a long record in politics despite her age. Born and raised in the Washington suburb of Fairfax, to a businesswoman mother and mortgage broker father, the lifelong Republican has described her household as “politically outspoken”.

In 2012 when she was in her mid-teens, she started working as a campaign intern for a local Virginia Republican Committee. She studied political science at Auburn University in Alabama and has spoken about her efforts to boost student engagement with politics.

But Kelly also found time to enter and win the Miss State Fair contest in Virginia in 2018, where she sang hits by soul singer Aretha Franklin. Kelly also posted clips online of her singing Jennifer Holliday’s “I am Changing” in another beauty contest.

While studying for a master’s in political management at George Washington University, she became communications director for the Wisconsin branch of the Republican National Committee, the organisation that manages the party’s activities across the US.

There followed a role as communications director for Wisconsin Congressman Derrick Van Orden in 2023, when she defended him in a scandal over swearing at teenagers visiting the Capitol in Washington.

Kelly then moved on to become national press secretary for the Republican Party and began her current role when Trump returned to the White House in January 2025. She has since joined him at major events such as the summit with President Xi Jinping in China this year.

The young spin doctor’s public output is a mix of cosy posts on social media featuring her friends and rescue dog, Remi, and statements backing her boss’s hardline positions on media, migration and international affairs.

Kelly has been quick to adopt Trump’s trademark “fake news” phrase and habit of insulting interlocutors, such as labelling The Hill’s White House correspondent Niall Stanage a “left-wing opinion writer hack”.

Following the recent migrant crisis in Spain, Kelly warned that “far-left, globalist policies, including enabling mass migration” could lead to the “demise” of European countries. She has also leaned into Trump’s bellicose comments on Iran, telling reporters: “Iranian people welcome the sound of ​bombs because it means their oppressors are losing.”

However, the current deputy press chief does not have universal support. One Republican grandee told the she “needs more polish despite being a former pageant contestant”. An administration official said Kelly was “good on TV, but I wouldn’t say she could completely fill Karoline’s shoes”.

But in the spirit of her past life as a performer, Kelly appears to be revelling in the spotlight. In a recent interview with radio programme The Clay Travis & Buck Sexton Show, she said her role in the White House was “so exciting and we are having so much fun”. She added: “We are winning every single day.”

Several other candidates are being mooted if Kelly does not get the job. Front-runners include Trump’s former attorney Alina Habba, the bellicose White House communications director Steven Cheung, and Republican political strategist Scott Jennings.

Gamblers on online prediction market Kalshi are also tipping exutive assistant to the president, Natalie Harp – who reportedly vets his late night social media posts – former White House deputy communicaitions director, Roma Daravi, and Trump’s daughter-in-law, Lara Trump.