OAN Staff Addie Davis
12:03 PM – Tuesday, May 5, 2026
Secretary of State Marco Rubio is expected to give a White House press briefing on Tuesday while Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt is on maternity leave.
Following the shooting at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner on April 25th, Leavitt, who is pregnant with her second child, postponed her planned maternity leave to address the press.
This marks the second time her maternity plans were disrupted, as she returned to work just days after the birth of her first child on July 10, 2024, following the July 13, 2024 assassination attempt on President Donald Trump in Butler, Pennsylvania.
No single individual was announced to temporarily replace the press secretary during her absence. While speaking with reporters previously, Leavitt said they would be in good hands with her team.
Rubio will be speaking with the press at 3:00 p.m. ET, following developments in the Strait of Hormuz with the advent of Project Freedom, which seeks to facilitate safe passage for commercial vessels through the waterway.
Earlier on Tuesday, Secretary of War Pete Hegseth and General Dan Caine, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, also gave a joint press briefing providing updates on the mission, framed by President Trump as a “humanitarian gesture” to help nations uninvolved with the conflict.
The secretary of state leading the press briefing comes in the wake of a multitude of jokes online highlighting the numerous tasks and roles Rubio has been elected to fill in the Trump administration. Artificial intelligence images and videos have depicted him in jest in a variety of positions, including as the leaders of foreign nations.
Video footage surfaced online of Rubio recently taking on the duties of DJ at a wedding, further adding to the ongoing gag.
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