White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt has opened up about her “unusual” marriage to real estate investor Nicholas Riccio—revealing the “challenging” moment she told her parents that she was in a relationship with a man 32 years her senior.
Leavitt, 28, who is the youngest White House press secretary in history, shared a glimpse inside her romance with Riccio, 60, during an appearance on the New York Post’s “Pod Force One” podcast, detailing how her friendship with the businessman first blossomed into a romance.
Host Miranda Devine began the conversation by grilling New Hampshire native Leavitt about the “unusual” age gap between the couple, asking: “Could you not find boys your own age who are as mature?”
“Honestly? No,” the mother of one—who welcomed her son, Niko, in 2024—responded with a laugh, while conceding that the age gap between herself and her husband is “very unusual.”
She then gushed about the way in which their romance began, explaining that she met her “amazing” husband while she was campaigning for the U.S. House of Representatives in New Hampshire’s 1st District.
“We met during my congressional campaign,” Leavitt recalled. “A friend of mine who owns a restaurant is also a mutual friend of my husband’s, and he invited my husband to my event at his restaurant, and we met. We were acquainted as friends for quite some time, but then of course we fell in love.
“And here we are today, we’re married with a beautiful baby, and he is just an amazing guy.”
While Leavitt fell head over heels for Riccio—whom she wed in January 2025, days before President Donald Trump‘s inauguration—she admitted that her parents, Bob and Erin, weren’t quite so thrilled with the relationship at first.
“It’s definitely a challenging conversation to have at first,” she said of the moment she revealed the news of her romance to her mother and father. “But then once they got to know him and saw who he is as a man and his character and how much he adores me, I think it became quite easy for them.
“And now, we’re all friends. I mean, it’s a typical family relationship. And my husband has such respect for my parents and the way that they raised me. We all have a lot of fun together when they come to visit.”
Leavitt noted that Riccio is “very introverted” and likes to remain very much behind the scenes, describing him as an “incredibly hands-on father” to their son.
Riccio’s dedication to raising Niko has been a huge support to Leavitt, who has been busy navigating the “very challenging” dynamic of balancing her career with motherhood.
That delicate balance has come with its upsides, however, including being able to introduce her son to the president, who she said has been incredibly “kind” to her family.
“He’s very good with children. He likes children,” she said. “I think he’s fascinated by them and he’s very cute with them. He’s always very nice to my son.”
Although Riccio prefers to shy away from the spotlight, his relationship with Leavitt has faced brutal scrutiny in the months since she made her debut in the White House press room on Jan. 28.
Leavitt has previously hit back at critics of her age-gap marriage, while praising her husband for enabling her to pursue her own career, having already built up his own empire.
During a March interview with former Fox News host Megyn Kelly, the White House press secretary admitted that the age gap between herself and Riccio had initially made her reluctant to pursue a romance, but insisted that it is no longer a consideration in their marriage.
“I mean it’s a very atypical love story, but he’s incredible. He is my greatest supporter, he’s my best friend, and he’s my rock,” she explained.
The budding political heavyweight went on to praise her husband’s success in the real estate industry, noting that the multimillion-dollar property empire he had built before they met enabled him to support her as she chased her dreams.
“He’s built a very successful business himself, so now he’s fully supportive of me building my success in my career,” she said.
“He’s the father of my child, and he’s the best dad I could ever ask for. And he is so supportive, especially during a very chaotic period of life.”
Riccio, who experienced homelessness in his youth, managed to build himself an estimated net worth of around $6 million, which he was able to use to help fund his wife’s failed campaign for a seat in the U.S. House of Representatives.
Beyond that, Leavitt said, her husband’s property business also gave him the freedom to take care of things at home, enabling her to throw herself fully into her work in Washington, DC.
“I say, ‘I walked into your life and it’s been a circus ever since,’ but God bless him, because he’s fully on board,” she joked.
The couple went Instagram-official in 2023, when Leavitt posted a flick of Riccio proposing to her, alongside the caption: “I get to marry the man of my dreams. I feel SO overwhelmingly BLESSED. Thank you God.”
They went on to welcome a son on July 10, 2024, with Leavitt calling it the “best moment of her life.”
“It’s true when they say there’s nothing comparable to the love you feel for your child,” she wrote on Instagram at the time.
“My heart has grown bigger than I ever imagined possible. Babies are the ultimate blessing and I’m bursting with gratitude for our beautiful, happy, healthy boy.”
Leavitt hails from a similar area of New Hampshire as her husband—who has become something of a local legend in the area, thanks to the work he has done to try to revitalize the poorest areas by buying up abandoned homes and renovating them.
Riccio was raised in New Hampshire by his parents, Anthony and Marilyn, who divorced when he was just a young child.
He hopped between homes following their separation, until he ended up living on the streets at the age of 18.
“When I was 19 or 20, I would call my buddies to go over [to] their houses to watch a game just so I could take a shower,” he previously revealed to The Portsmouth Herald.
Riccio put himself through college by stocking shelves at a grocery store and borrowing money, eventually graduating from Plymouth State University.
It was then that his interest in real estate was first fueled.
The businessman—who often opted to sleep in his car when he couldn’t afford to pay rent—took a real estate course in 1990 and fell in love with the building world. He opted to turn his interests to New Hampshire’s Hampton Beach when he realized how many properties in the area were in desperate need of rejuvenation.
He recalled to the Sunday Herald in 2005 that he and his mother were out for a drive in Hampton Beach when they came across M Street, a long stretch of properties that had fallen into a state of severe disrepair over the years—leading to some of the structures being condemned.
Riccio knew almost immediately that he wanted to make the street his legacy—but without the funds to buy up the entire street straight away, he had to start small.
He pushed his finances and managed to pull together enough money to buy just one of the buildings. And thus began his real estate portfolio.
According to property records, there are currently 10 homes registered under his company’s LLC. Nine are in New Hampshire, and one is in West Virginia.
The homes were all built in the late 1900s and cost Riccio anywhere from $5,500 to $400,000 each.
In 2023, one of the New Hampshire properties made headlines when it erupted into flames. The cause of the fire was never determined; however, it was reported that the property suffered extreme water and fire damage.
According to Riccio’s company website, Nautical Beach Properties aims to help guests “enjoy” the sunshine and sparkling water nearby.