Trump’s Press Secretary Spent a Semester at an American University in Rome.
Before becoming the youngest White House press secretary in U.S. history, Karoline Leavitt spent time far from Washington, studying in Rome as part of a semester-abroad programme at John Cabot University.
The detail, recently highlighted by Italian media, adds an unexpected Roman chapter to the biography of one of the most visible figures in Donald Trump’s second administration. Long before daily press briefings and political clashes with the U.S. media, Leavitt experienced student life in the Italian capital, attending courses at the American liberal arts university located in Trastevere.
John Cabot University is known for attracting U.S. students seeking an international academic experience while remaining within an American educational framework. For Leavitt, who later built her career in conservative politics and communications, the semester in Rome offered exposure to a very different political, cultural and social environment from the one she would later navigate in Washington.
Details about the period remain limited, but her time at JCU places her among the many American students who have passed through Rome before entering careers in politics, diplomacy, journalism and international affairs. The experience is often described by alumni as formative, not only academically but personally, offering a first encounter with Europe’s institutions, history and political complexity.
The revelation has sparked curiosity in Italy, where interest in U.S. politics remains high and American universities in Rome play a quiet but influential role in shaping future decision-makers. While Leavitt is now known for her combative style at the White House podium, her Roman semester serves as a reminder that global careers are often built through unexpected detours.
For Rome’s international academic community, it is also a small but telling confirmation of the city’s role as a crossroads, even for figures who will later find themselves at the very centre of global power.
