0:05

Caroline love it, welcome to post her on high.

0:07

Thank you for having me.

0:08

I'm so excited to be sitting down

0:10

with you. I feel like this has been a long time

0:12

in the making and I'm just so excited.

0:25

So Caroline and I are currently in Washington,

0:28

d C. We just went for a walk around the

0:30

White House grounds and now

0:32

we are sitting here in the South Auditorium.

0:35

How are you feeling.

0:36

I'm feeling great. I am feeling excited

0:38

to join you. I think what you do is amazing, it's

0:40

different, it's cool, it's new, and

0:42

happy to sit down with you.

0:44

Well, you are juggling a lot,

0:46

as I'm sure a lot of you guys know that are watching

0:48

or listening. Caroline is the

0:51

Press Secretary of the United States, and

0:53

I just have to add in that she is the youngest

0:55

press secretary in history. You're

0:58

also a new mom. Yeah. Show

1:00

is centered around movement. What role

1:03

does movement currently play in your life?

1:05

Because I know you were an athlete growing up.

1:07

I was an athlete growing up. I played

1:09

sports my entire life. I went

1:11

to college on an athletic scholarship to play

1:13

softball, and working out and

1:15

fitness has always been a big part of my life.

1:17

Unfortunately, with the demands of this job

1:20

and new motherhood, fitness

1:22

and my personal time has

1:24

been kind of put on the back burner. But any

1:27

moment I can to get out and to move

1:30

I do. Especially now, my new favorite

1:32

exercise is taking long power

1:35

walks with my baby and pushing him in the

1:37

stroller. And he loves to go out on walks.

1:39

He's so observant, he loves to look at

1:41

the trees and the birds, and now being in the city,

1:43

he loves it. So that's kind of the movement

1:45

in my life right now is with my son and

1:48

being outside and bringing him on long

1:50

walks.

1:51

You grew up in New Hampshire. Can you tell us

1:53

a little bit about your upbringing and maybe what

1:55

young Caroline was like.

1:56

Yeah.

1:56

Sure, So I grew up in a

1:59

small tie town in

2:01

New Hampshire, very rural, working

2:03

class, blue collar. My family owned

2:05

small businesses in the town, an ice

2:07

cream shop and a chuck dealership, which

2:10

my dad and family still run,

2:12

and so it was just typical middle

2:14

class America upbringing in

2:16

a great town and community. I

2:18

have two older brothers, so we were always outside

2:20

playing and playing sports. And then I

2:23

went to college in New Hampshire as well, and

2:25

that's where I fell in love with politics. But

2:27

growing up as a young girl, I always

2:30

was enthralled with the news and would

2:32

read the newspaper as a young child, wanted

2:34

to watch TV and watch the news, which

2:36

is not very typical for most young kids.

2:39

And so I think it was my destiny

2:41

to be working in this media

2:44

and news world that I'm obviously now in.

2:46

I mean, you definitely seem like you are made for

2:49

it, and I'm excited for everybody today to

2:51

learn your story because it truly is so interesting

2:53

and I feel like for women listening, it's very

2:55

empowering and motivational. It's interesting

2:58

knowing that you grew up in a family that you that wasn't

3:01

political, but you did always love

3:03

reading the news. Yes, do you think you

3:05

always saw yourself going into politics

3:07

or when you were younger in high school playing

3:10

softball, playing sports, did you potentially

3:12

see yourself pursuing a different career.

3:14

I saw myself pursuing a career in

3:16

maybe broadcast journalism. In fact,

3:18

my mom has home videos of my brothers and

3:20

me pretending to be sports broadcasters

3:23

and pretending to work for ESPN

3:25

and sharing the news stories of the day

3:27

on our little old home video camera. I'm

3:29

like aging myself. But growing up in the nineties

3:32

and early two thousands, right, you had the home video

3:34

cameras, and so my mom still has

3:36

those tapes. And I always, again

3:39

loved reading the newspaper, and I had a

3:41

curiosity about the world and the

3:43

world around me. So when I was in high school

3:45

and then college, I pursued opportunities

3:47

writing for the school newspaper, starting

3:49

a broadcasting club.

3:50

Like I was just always always had a.

3:52

Curiosity, an innate curiosity

3:55

about the world and what was happening.

3:56

I think what's so interesting about you two is not

3:59

only are you the youngest press secretary

4:01

ever at twenty seven, but at twenty

4:03

five, you were the youngest nominee for congressional

4:05

office in major party history. So

4:08

growing up, were you always one of those kids

4:10

that was hypermotivated.

4:12

Yes, I would say, And I grew up

4:14

in a small business family that was

4:17

entrepreneurial and worked really

4:19

hard. I think that work ethic was just part

4:21

of our household and think it led

4:23

me to where I am now.

4:24

When your parents were running the ice cream

4:26

stand and the truck dealership, did

4:28

you pick up shifts.

4:29

Oh yes, my first job in

4:31

life was scooping ice cream, and

4:34

my mom we hired a lot of my friends,

4:36

so my girlfriends and I, who are still my best friends

4:38

to this day, would all work together, long

4:41

days, long shifts, scooping ice cream in the

4:43

summer sun. But it was some of my best

4:45

memories from life and a lot of fun.

4:47

What would you say was your parents' parenting

4:49

style?

4:50

Discipline was a

4:52

reality in the household, but also

4:54

a lot of love and support

4:57

and pushing us to be the best

5:00

we could, but high expectations,

5:02

right, Like my dad always had a say

5:04

in growing up. The parents go to work

5:06

and the kids go to school. We were not allowed

5:08

to miss school even if we didn't feel well.

5:11

Like you get up and you go to school, and the parents

5:13

get up and go to work. So it was an

5:15

amazing childhood. And I'm very blessed to have

5:17

parents who are still together. They've been married more

5:20

than thirty five years, and you know, they

5:22

had humble beginnings, but they've worked very hard

5:24

and they're very supportive of course

5:26

to this day, of everything that I've done in my life thus

5:28

far.

5:28

I mean, they must be so proud of you.

5:30

I think they are.

5:31

Let's talk about you discovering your political

5:33

spark. I loved hearing that

5:35

you really came into yourself in college,

5:37

Like college was a very pivotal time in your life,

5:40

right. Yeah.

5:40

So I went on a softball scholarship,

5:43

but quickly learned it was politics was

5:45

the game that I was most interested in playing,

5:48

and so I gave up the softball team after

5:50

two seasons because I wanted to throw myself in

5:52

as many academic opportunities as possible.

5:54

I studied abroad in Italy, which was an

5:56

amazing time of life. But I

5:58

started the broadcasting club and I wrote

6:01

for the school newspaper. I worked at the local

6:03

news station in New Hampshire WMRTV

6:05

and did weekend shifts working in the newsroom.

6:07

And I just tried to seek out every opportunity.

6:10

And then I applied for the White House internship as

6:12

well, which led me to working for President

6:14

Trump in his first term here about

6:16

eight years ago or so, which is amazing

6:19

to think how it's come full circle. But it

6:21

was in college that I certainly learned I

6:24

enjoyed politics and enjoyed

6:26

debating, and enjoyed reading

6:28

about different perspectives and really

6:31

was fascinated by this entire political

6:34

world.

6:34

When do you feel like in college you really found

6:36

your voice, Because I feel like the hardest thing about

6:38

being a college student is not only

6:41

figuring out what you believe in, but then figuring

6:43

out how to vocalize it. So let's

6:45

talk about that coming of age for you.

6:47

Yeah, and certainly as a Republican

6:50

and as a young conservative on college campuses,

6:52

you are in the minority. It's just the reality

6:54

of the age we live in, and

6:57

so I feel as though it

6:59

can be more difficult, especially for conservatives

7:02

like myself, to have that courage to voice your opinion

7:04

when you're in the minority. But I always

7:06

just had the courage and felt very strongly

7:09

about my views and opinions and wrote about

7:11

them in the school newspaper, raised my hand in class

7:13

and made it well known amongst the

7:15

class and my peers. You just have

7:18

to have courage, And I've found that courage is

7:20

contagious, and when you speak up and speak your

7:22

mind about how you feel, it often

7:24

inspires others around you to do the same. And

7:27

so I just did it.

7:28

When you first started writing articles

7:31

for the newspaper and you started the broadcast

7:33

club on campus, you

7:35

were writing some bold political pieces. I wrote

7:38

one of them down. One of the titles of your articles

7:40

was why Donald Trump keeps on winning? Outside

7:43

of just that article, when you first published

7:46

your first kind of opinion piece in

7:48

the school newspaper or maybe spoke about

7:50

it in the journals and in the broadcast club,

7:52

were you nervous to press the submit button

7:55

or were you excited to maybe get your ideas

7:57

out there.

7:57

I was excited and enthusiastic about

7:59

it. I don't recall being nervous. Maybe I

8:02

was at the time, but I felt strongly about

8:04

those opinions.

8:05

Did you ever cause a stare on campus? There were

8:07

a few stories, Okay, give us story.

8:10

There were a few controversies, and there

8:12

were certainly professors that were very liberal

8:14

and did not agree with me or

8:16

the opinions that I held, And I made that, you

8:18

know, quite known. It's not an easy thing to do,

8:20

as again a young conservative on campus, but I

8:23

did it.

8:23

How did your peers initially react,

8:26

and maybe how did your teammates react?

8:27

Always with positivity, you know, I never

8:30

had any bad encounters

8:32

or anything like that.

8:44

You went on to intern for Trump during

8:46

his first term. How did

8:48

you get the internship.

8:49

I literally applied on White House

8:51

doc of and filled out the application.

8:54

It was very long and lengthy. I frankly

8:56

did not expect I would have been chosen.

8:59

I was studying in Rome,

9:01

Italy, when I received the email

9:03

from the White House saying I was accepted

9:05

into the program for that following summer.

9:08

I'll never forget, you know, receiving that email

9:10

and what a surprise it was. And of course

9:12

I enthusiastically said yes and moved

9:15

to Washington several weeks later and took

9:17

the internship, you know, with my best

9:19

foot forward and showed up early and stayed

9:21

late. And then it led to

9:23

a full time job. So I finished my

9:26

senior year of school and then moved back to Washington

9:29

and was here as a full time employee.

9:31

It's amazing. Do you remember walking into

9:33

the White House on your first day of that internship.

9:35

I do.

9:36

I do remember exactly where I

9:38

was. I remember the red blazer that I wore. I

9:40

recently gave it up because she was so old

9:43

and tired. But I do remember

9:45

that first day and feeling like,

9:47

Wow, this is amazing that I'm you know, working

9:49

at the White House.

9:50

What was it about President Trump? That you were so

9:52

inspired by in those early years. Was there a

9:54

message of his that you really resonated with that

9:57

you were like, I want to work for him.

9:58

Yeah, the America First message,

10:00

which continues to be his core principle

10:02

to this very day, and that

10:05

resonated with me again growing

10:07

up in a middle class family who worked

10:09

very hard. There's a saying called the Forgotten

10:11

men and Women, which I think is very real in our country.

10:14

A lot of people feel left behind by

10:16

the political establishment. And President

10:18

Trump was the first politician in a very

10:20

long time to really speak to the heart of

10:22

those men and women, many of whom I

10:25

grew up with. And that was my worldview and

10:27

perspective, and his message really resonated

10:29

with me from initially his twenty sixteen

10:31

campaign, as you pointed out, for my OpEd at

10:33

that time, which led me to want to work

10:35

here.

10:36

And you went from interning at the White House and then,

10:38

as you said, getting offered a full time job when

10:40

you were working under the former White House

10:42

Press Secretary, Kaylee, did you ever

10:45

think to yourself, this is a job I could see myself

10:47

doing.

10:48

Gosh, I'm sure I did.

10:51

I was just in the moment in that job trying to do

10:53

my best and support her in the role, and

10:56

it was really imperative

10:58

for me to have that experience. Look looking back now

11:00

in hindsight, how critical it was to

11:02

come in here in this term on the first

11:04

day being the press secretary, understanding

11:07

how the office works and what the staff should

11:09

look like. That institutional knowledge that

11:12

I came in with was so critical, and I'm very grateful

11:14

for that experience.

11:15

It is so important to have that foundational

11:18

kind of background. And it's fun now knowing,

11:20

I'm sure with some of the people that you work with, kind

11:22

of looking at them and being like, this could be you one day, so

11:24

like, soak it all in right, right for sure? What

11:26

do you think is one thing that you learned from Kaylee's

11:29

time and your time working with Kaylee?

11:31

Yeah, preparation is key. She

11:33

prepared a lot. I know.

11:34

I've spoken to many of my predecessors in this role

11:36

who told me preparation is everything,

11:39

and it absolutely is. I mean, on briefing

11:41

days, every day, I'm here very

11:43

early, reading the news, absorbing

11:45

it from every newspaper. Literally,

11:48

I read the physical newspaper, I read

11:50

obviously whatever is popping online, and

11:52

then watching all of the cable networks to get

11:54

a full understanding of what the news

11:56

cycle is for the day. And then sometimes

11:59

I feel like an internal investigative

12:01

reporter. I go to all the policy

12:03

experts in the building and the President himself

12:05

to understand his feeling on it, what

12:08

the administration is saying, what are we doing

12:10

about the particular news of the day,

12:12

and how I can put my best foot forward to message

12:14

it on behalf of this building.

12:16

Do you feel like as a press secretary like most

12:18

of your day to day is spent

12:21

learning and understanding what's going on and

12:24

figuring out the right ways toward things

12:26

when you're in the briefing room.

12:27

Definitely, my day is being

12:30

a sponge and absorbing as

12:32

much knowledge and information as I can.

12:35

And the new cycle changes not just every

12:37

day, but every hour. There are new stories

12:39

popping and breaking, and we are the White

12:42

House. We have to respond to everything

12:44

across the country, and so it's

12:46

a lot to absorb and it's

12:48

a new challenge every day.

12:50

You never know what the next day we'll bring.

12:51

It's an exciting job in that way, and you're

12:54

showing that you can thrive in chaos, absolutely

12:56

right. It's like there's always so much

12:58

going on, new things happening everything they I agree.

13:00

So I'm curious about this because you went from

13:03

working under Kayley to then running

13:05

your congressional campaign where you had to

13:07

become your own voice. Right,

13:10

What was it like going from being on

13:12

the communications team to then being

13:15

your own voice? Like? Was that a pivot for you?

13:17

Did you feel like it was a big leap?

13:19

Yeah, And in many ways it was almost

13:21

more difficult being my own

13:23

voice because when you are a candidate

13:26

yourself or your name is on the ballot, you

13:28

have to make decisions about what

13:30

you want to say. What do your stakeholders

13:33

want you to say, what does your family believe, what

13:35

do your constituents want in need? What

13:37

does the media expect that you're going to say?

13:39

And so there's a lot of different perspectives

13:41

you have to take into account, then make a decision,

13:44

and then message it. Whereas now as

13:46

the spokesperson for the president, he's the decision

13:48

maker and I'm just here to effectuate

13:50

that message and to drive it home.

13:53

And so in many ways, it's actually

13:55

easier to be a spokesperson for someone

13:57

else than for yourself. And I've found that be

14:00

a quite interesting trajectory, if you

14:02

will, from going from running for Congress

14:04

myself to now working on behalf

14:06

of another individual.

14:08

But I do feel like doing both gives you confidence

14:12

in a way that somebody that hasn't had that experience

14:15

speaking for themselves, like yeah, wouldn't have.

14:18

It was critical experience and I'm so glad I

14:20

did it, and I learned so much about myself

14:22

and politics as well, and I

14:25

don't regret the experience at all. In many

14:27

ways, I'm grateful that I lost the election

14:29

because it shut that door, but it opened

14:32

this one. And you know, I probably

14:34

wouldn't be sitting here if not for that

14:36

election and the way it turned.

14:38

Out, right, I mean, it is so true, like when one door closes

14:40

in another door or bins. During that time, I'm

14:42

sure it was your first time dealing with press,

14:44

right and people having positive and negative

14:47

views on you, So it's kind of an opportunity

14:49

to thicken your skin before you're on this now

14:51

massive stage at the White House.

14:53

Yes, you gotta just learn

14:56

how to block it out and not

14:58

care what people think or say you.

15:00

You're always going to have someone who dislikes you no matter

15:02

what you do, So I think just staying authentic

15:04

to yourself and staying grounded

15:07

is so important and I definitely learned

15:09

that firsthand on the campaign.

15:11

Trail as a press secretary or even you know, when

15:13

you were in the running. How did your inner circle

15:15

change? How do you decide

15:17

who is kind of a safe space for

15:19

you? Does it become much smaller?

15:22

In many ways, I've always had a

15:24

smaller close circle, if you will.

15:26

My best friends are still my best friends from high

15:28

school. I have very close

15:31

friends and confidance here at the White House,

15:33

my colleagues, and we're very blessed to

15:35

have an amazing team. Many of us worked

15:37

on the president's campaign together, so

15:40

when he won, we all came in and so

15:42

we have close relationships and bonds, which

15:44

is very important and also quite rare in

15:46

this city to have colleagues who you

15:48

truly like and want to be with every day. And I'm very

15:50

grateful to have that here at the White House. But of

15:52

course, now my whole life has changed

15:55

being a wife and a mother, and so my

15:57

family is my rock and who

16:00

I spend the most of my time with

16:02

as life progresses. That's

16:04

the change of life. And it's a beautiful season right

16:06

now.

16:07

It is so nice having that family

16:10

as your backbone, right and you know, the thing that you

16:12

get to go home to, definitely grounding

16:14

you throughout every everything thing. Yeah, okay, So

16:16

you went from your congressional campaign trail to

16:18

then being the lead of Trump's communication

16:21

team for his twenty twenty four campaign. Did

16:23

that feel like an actual progression for you? And

16:25

how did you end up kind of getting that that

16:27

role.

16:28

So I was the national press secretary on

16:30

the campaign, and I was hired

16:32

initially by actually who's now

16:35

my current boss, Taylor Buttowitch. He's our

16:37

deputy chief of staff here at the White House, and he's

16:39

amazing and a good friend, and he

16:41

hired me to start helping

16:43

the president's campaign effort.

16:46

And it was an incredible experience

16:49

and amazing traveling around the country, going

16:51

to rallies and speaking on behalf

16:53

of the president through amazing times

16:56

and also some very dark times.

16:58

I was with him in a courthouse and he was

17:00

reeled against. I was with him through

17:03

some trials and tribulations and a lot of adversity,

17:05

but the President prevailed.

17:07

And now here we are.

17:08

And you were doing it while pregnant, which is the wildest

17:10

thing to me. What

17:21

was the most pivotal moment for

17:23

you where you felt like you really had to step

17:25

up into your role.

17:26

There were so many moments, but definitely

17:30

after the first assassination

17:32

attempt on the President's life in Butler,

17:34

Pennsylvania, which was just a life

17:37

changing moment, a historic moment.

17:39

The whole world watched the former president

17:42

and at that time, possibly the future

17:44

president almost lose his life by millimeter.

17:47

And I had just given birth to my

17:49

child actually a few days prior when

17:52

I watched it on television, and

17:54

that was a moment where I realized, this

17:56

is history.

17:58

This is a.

17:59

Crazy pivotal time

18:01

in our nation's history, and

18:04

when you see something like

18:06

that for someone you work for, and it impacted

18:09

my colleagues and the whole campaign and

18:11

the whole country of course was shook by that

18:13

image of the president standing up,

18:16

blood dripping down his face, saying fight, fight,

18:18

fight. No matter how you feel about Donald Trump,

18:20

that is an iconic, historic,

18:23

solemn moment in our nation's history. And

18:25

that was very impactful, I think for

18:27

all of us on the campaign, and it kind

18:30

of made us all pull ourselves up from our

18:32

bootstraps and want to work even

18:34

harder and fight even harder to win, and

18:36

it really created a camaraderie amongst

18:39

the campaign about what we were up against

18:41

and how critical it was to win

18:43

the election.

18:44

How soon after giving

18:46

birth did you go back to work?

18:49

Several days?

18:50

Which I wasn't expecting, but in light

18:52

of what had happened to the president, I almost

18:54

felt a responsibility to go

18:56

back to work and back on television. So

18:59

I had a student set up in my home

19:01

so I was able to easily go downstairs

19:03

and do a quick TV hit and then of course attend

19:06

to my child, and then went back to the

19:08

office as soon as I could, and brought my

19:10

baby to the office with me. He was always

19:12

with me throughout the entire duration

19:15

of the campaign and just

19:18

made it work.

19:19

Talk about a moment in time for your son

19:21

as well. Right, spending his first days

19:23

on the campaign trail at the White House,

19:25

I mean, and he has.

19:26

No idea what's going on. He's just happy to

19:29

be with his mom and daddy.

19:30

Right.

19:31

Someday, I hope he'll look back at all of these photos

19:33

of him and his mom and

19:35

he'll be very proud.

19:36

What's so cool about you and about that story

19:38

and your July twenty twenty four is that

19:41

you really are showing women that you can

19:43

have a rigorous job and

19:45

you can also be a great mom. You know when you can do

19:48

both, And I think it's so important for people to be able

19:50

to see for you during that time,

19:52

like how did you manage?

19:55

I know you're bringing your baby to work, but that

19:57

can be incredibly challenging, right when sometime the

20:00

work almost has to take priority

20:03

in a way, especially when it's like you're doing a service

20:05

for the United States.

20:06

It's an incredible challenge and it's something

20:08

I still face to this very day, having

20:11

to deal with that balance of

20:14

wanting to be the best you can in your job

20:16

and being the best mother that you possibly

20:18

can as well. And it takes a lot

20:20

of sacrifice and a lot of prioritization

20:23

of time and sometimes means

20:25

saying no to commitments because you have to be

20:27

home for bedtime and that's okay,

20:30

And having a good support system is so incredibly

20:33

important. It's certainly a challenge,

20:35

and again I'm not perfect at it. It's

20:37

something I'm dealing with every day.

20:39

But you do make it look so easy. So

20:41

I'm curious, Like, I mean, your outfit, you

20:43

always look great the outfits are incredible,

20:45

seriously, like you do, you'll hear making

20:47

it look so effortless. I had one of my family

20:49

friends was like, ask her how she never looks tired,

20:52

And I was like, I don't know if I should ask her that because

20:54

she's definitely tired, right, and she's gonna

20:56

say, I'm very, very tired after work, Like

20:58

is what does your day look like? Are you able to turn

21:01

off? Ever?

21:02

I try to at night, you know, I

21:04

go home and immediately go into mom

21:06

mode and we do bedtime as a family,

21:09

eat dinner as a family, bathtime,

21:11

book reading, and you know, put the

21:14

baby down, and then I try to

21:16

take time after that for myself

21:18

to you know, do what I need to do to

21:20

get a good night's sleep. And I do

21:22

try to prioritize sleep because

21:24

it's critical to focus

21:27

and getting up and ready and then wake

21:30

up early and the next day begins.

21:32

Right, and also like be a mom, but also squeeze

21:34

in time to be with your husband. I know, what does date

21:36

night look like? As the Press Secretary of the United

21:39

States, Yeah, they're.

21:40

Few and far between.

21:41

Yeah, we recently had one at the Kennedy

21:44

Center and we went to a show we went to dinner after

21:46

and it was amazing. But date

21:48

nights often are including our baby. Right

21:50

now, we just love being together as a family,

21:52

the three of us. It's our safe place,

21:55

our happy place, and so we spend

21:57

a lot of time with the three of us

21:59

at home, going out for walks and going

22:01

out to dinner as well.

22:02

That makes so much sense. I feel like those are the moments

22:04

you look forward to the most, especially as a new

22:06

mom.

22:06

Yes, and just savor every

22:09

second.

22:09

As we've said multiple times during this interview, you are

22:11

the youngest Press secretary in US history.

22:14

It's so wild that you are not only

22:16

doing one of the hardest jobs, but you

22:18

are also making history while doing it.

22:21

What does that mean to you? Like when people say

22:23

that to you, what feeling does it evoke?

22:25

You know, when you're in the moment in

22:27

something, it's I think it's a little bit

22:30

hard to digest. So I'm

22:32

not so sure that I have to be honest.

22:34

I'm just trying to do my best every day,

22:36

putting my best foot forward and

22:39

executing on the job that I have. And

22:41

it's a great responsibility. I'm certainly

22:43

aware of that, and I take it very seriously,

22:46

and so we just keep working hard

22:48

and keep chugging.

22:49

Do you remember getting the call from

22:51

the President to be his press

22:53

secretary?

22:54

Of course, where were you?

22:55

What's the story.

22:56

I was in our home in New Hampshire and

22:58

we had a phone conversation, and you

23:01

know, he had told me in that conversation,

23:03

you're going to be my you know, my White House spokesperson.

23:06

I'm sure of it. Let's make it happen.

23:08

This was about a week after the election, and

23:10

so I obviously said

23:12

thank you and yes, called my family to let

23:15

them know, and then a statement went out a

23:17

few hours later, and in that moment,

23:19

it was definitely life changing.

23:21

For sure. Everybody sees your podium moments,

23:23

but what is something behind the scenes that

23:26

you wish you could show people.

23:27

It's a good question.

23:28

I think our incredibly

23:30

cordial relationships with the media.

23:33

It's hostile sometimes and

23:36

we make it known when we disagree with their reporting

23:38

or when there are inaccuracies, and we

23:40

I think we should to hold the media accountable

23:43

and make sure that they're accurately representing the

23:45

administration and pushing the truth out there.

23:48

But we also have good working relationships

23:51

with them. We try to work with them in good faith, and we

23:53

expect them to do the same. And so I

23:55

think, you know, people who see

23:57

the briefings may not understand that the media

23:59

are like our colleagues. We work with them on a day

24:02

to day basis to shape stories on behalf

24:04

of the president.

24:04

When people are just viewing the briefings, they're like everybody's

24:07

fighting, everybody's screaming. But at the same time, yet

24:09

it's like you're just people. You're all here at the White

24:11

House in DC to do your job

24:13

exactly. So I've interviewed Dana Prino

24:16

and one of the things that we were talking about

24:18

was advice that she's gotten

24:21

and received from past Press

24:23

secretary. So I'm curious for you, like, what

24:25

is the best advice you received

24:28

before stepping into the role.

24:29

Some of the best advice I received was from Dana,

24:32

who's one of my predecessors and

24:34

has become a mentor and she's just an

24:36

amazing, lovely person. And

24:39

she said, there's no shortcut

24:41

for preparation. And we talked a lot about preparation

24:44

before I stepped into the role and what it looked

24:46

like for her. And I've emulated some of those strategies

24:49

in terms of reading everything, and

24:51

having meetings with policy staff

24:53

and having meetings with my team

24:56

to really get a full graphs on the news

24:58

cycle before I take the podium.

25:00

Outside of preparation for upcoming

25:02

press secretaries or people that you know will

25:04

be in the role after you. What

25:07

is something that you would say to them?

25:08

Oh, gosh, ask me that question

25:11

in four years. I don't know yet.

25:13

I'm still in the thick of it, still learning

25:15

and try to do my best. But I think again,

25:17

the best advice I can give is, you've got to be

25:19

on top of the news cycle and have a close relationship

25:22

with the president or the principle that you're

25:24

speaking on behalf. You have to get inside their head

25:26

and understand their thinking in order to most

25:28

accurately articulate what they want

25:30

you to say and what the administration in the White

25:32

House believe. You got to really know

25:35

the person you're speaking on behalf of. You have to really

25:37

understand how they think and feel.

25:39

What is your relationship with President Trump?

25:41

Look like?

25:41

It's great.

25:42

He's a great boss to work for. He's

25:45

fun, he's hilarious, one of the funniest

25:47

people I've ever met. He's a great sense of humor

25:50

and He's incredibly kind and

25:52

he's a great listener, and I'm

25:55

very honored to work for him.

25:56

I feel like one story that I heard that I

25:58

loved was after the first attempt

26:01

at assassination, didn't he call you and

26:03

instead of asking, instead of talking about

26:05

what had just happened to you, he called you and was.

26:08

Yes, yeah.

26:08

He like, how was your baby?

26:09

Yeah yeah.

26:11

Around that time after the assassination

26:13

attempt and dr it was the mist of the Republican

26:15

Convention, so he was incredibly busy.

26:18

I had obviously just had my son, and

26:20

he and the first lady called to make

26:22

sure I was okay and to talk about the baby.

26:25

And he was incredibly kind and gracious and

26:27

continues to be to this day. And something

26:30

most people may not realize about the President,

26:32

as he has not just hired me as a young working

26:34

mom, but there are tons of working

26:37

moms and dads in the West Wing and

26:39

at the White House, and he empowers us

26:42

to do both. And I think that's quite

26:44

admirable for the President of the United States

26:46

to encourage working families so much.

26:48

Final question for you is knowing what you

26:50

know now? What is something that you would tell your

26:52

younger self oh boy.

26:54

Just keep going, just keep working.

26:57

I love it well. Thank you so much, Caroline.

26:59

This was seri amazing.

27:00

Yes, thank you for having me.

27:09

M hmm