Betting favorite to succeed Karoline Leavitt says she’s ‘not in the running’ for White House press secretary job

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Former acting US attorney for New Jersey Alina Habba dismissed speculation Wednesday that she’s the front-runner to succeed departing White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt – calling it “fake news” – despite being the betting favorite to land the job. 

“Flattered by the Kalshi odds, but I’m not in the running for any job,” Habba wrote on X. 

She continued, “However, if I’m getting a new one, I’d love for one of these anonymous sources to let me know first.”

“Fake news remains the undefeated champ…well…until I come at them,” Habba added.  

Prior to her post, Habba had the best odds on Kalshi of being tapped for the White House press secretary role. 

Bettors on the popular prediction market platform gave her a 35% chance of succeeding Leavitt. 

Habba’s odds dropped to 24% in the hours after her post — and was surpassed by conservative CNN pundit Scott Jennings (30%) as the betting favorite. 

White House principal deputy press secretary Anna Kelly has a 13% chance of landing the gig, according to Kalshi users. 

Habba gained fame as one of President Trump’s defense lawyers, giving passionate televised appeals on his behalf to journalists during the criminal and civil trials before his second term.  

She briefly worked in the West Wing last year as a counselor to the president before Trump appointed her the top prosecutor in New Jersey.

Leavitt is departing her post at the end of August to spend more time with her family, Trump announced last week.