USA TODAY National
NEW YORK − She left testy exchanges with reporters in the rearview. The White House Press Briefing Room is in the past. It seems that her close relationship with President Donald Trump is, too.
After leaving the first Trump White House for Fox News, Kayleigh McEnany became a star at the cable network where she once interned.
The mom-of-three is now adding a new role as host of a two-hour program "Saturday in America" (10 ET) which premieres Sept. 20. McEnany, 37, will continue to helm "Outnumbered" alongside Harris Faulkner, Emily Compagno with two additional rotating hosts: a female panelist and "#OneLuckyGuy."
"For Fox to give me this opportunity to bring the news on Saturdays, it's a huge responsibility," McEnany says from a Fox News HQ cafeteria Sept. 17 in Manhattan. "There's a lot of seriousness. We're going to have fun when the news cycle warrants that."
Her first guest is no surprise: McEnany's former White House employee and current White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt, who's chosen to adopt her onetime boss's combative style with traditional media outlets.
The show's first episode will also pay tribute to Charlie Kirk, the conservative wunderkind and Turning Point USA founder who was shot and killed on Sept. 10 in Utah.
Charlie Kirk was man of 'kindness' and 'compassion,' Kayleigh McEnany says
There was a text from Kirk – an old friend – around 6 p.m. Sept. 9 when McEnany looked down at her phone while guest hosting "The Five" on Fox. Kirk had sent a message about his family. McEnany said she planned to tell him about "Saturday" the next day. Then Kirk was gunned down.
"I was so excited to share with him. Never got to send that text," McEnany says. "When I stepped back and thought about, 'What's the legacy of Charlie Kirk? What would he want me to say?'"
"He would want me to say he loved the Lord. I know he is with the Lord," McEnany adds. "I know that, I know that, I know that, I know that he is with the Lord right now and that was central to Charlie Kirk's being."
After Kirk's death, another national debate is taking place: Critics believe he trafficked in views that promoted racism, homophobia, antisemitism and other forms of bigotry. McEnany has a different take.
"Show me where he was hateful. If you really looked at the breadth of Charlie Kirk's work, you will see when he engaged with a question, he always knew behind that was a questioner that he loved deeply," McEnany said. "That he cared about – that he cared about that person's soul – with kindness, with compassion."
Kayleigh McEnany wants to highlight civil discourse on 'Saturday'
On "Saturday in America," McEnany wants to highlight civil discourse – which Kirk supporters insist he channeled – with a potential guest list that spans the political zeitgeist. McEnany would like to invite everyone from MAGA Republicans to moderate Sen. John Fetterman (D-Pennsylvania) and New York mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani, a democratic socialist.
"When I say all across the spectrum, I mean from folks like Mamdani to people who are traditional conservatives," McEnany says. "How do we get through these trying times? By talking together, talking civilly," she continues. The Florida native was first hired at Fox after graduating from Georgetown University and studying overseas at Oxford.
At the network, she started as a production assistant before rising to associate producer of "The Mike Huckabee Show." Later, McEnany attended Harvard Law School, also working as a commentator on CNN.
"I have loved – I wouldn't use the word so much, debate – but discourse that I had at Harvard Law School with people who thought very different than me," McEnany says. After leaving CNN in August 2017, she was named national spokesperson at the Republican National Committee and by 2020, McEnany was hired as White House Press Secretary.
"It is a moment in time where you are literally living history, but it's a moment that, for me, was meant to be during that time period, the year 2020," she says. While critics say she hawked Trump's misinformation about the COVID-19 pandemic and more, the MAGA fanbase loved her confrontations with reporters (she told CNN's Kaitlan Collins in one fiery exchange, "I don't call on activists.")
The job is one she doesn't seem to miss.
"I'm happy where I'm at, I absolutely love the Fox family and love that I get to see my children," McEnany says. She welcomed her third child Avery Grace with former MLB player husband Sean Gilmartin in June.
Trump's 'milktoast' jab
On Fox, during former President Joe Biden's only term in office, McEnany's relationship with Trump cooled. He slammed her in a May 2023 post on Truth Social, calling her milquetoast, or feeble, after she reported on Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis' 2024 primary campaign for president.
"Kayleigh 'Milktoast' McEnany just gave out the wrong poll numbers on FoxNews. I am 34 points up on DeSanctimonious, not 25 up. While 25 is great, it’s not 34," Trump wrote. "She knew the number was corrected upwards by the group that did the poll. The RINOS & Globalists can have her. FoxNews should only use REAL Stars!!!"
McEnany downplayed rift rumors. "That's water under the bridge. It is what it is. I'm about what's best for this country, the future of the country," she says. "I don't take things personally. If I did, I never would have existed in politics and in media."
"So I correspond with the president when I think the story merits it but largely, he's leading the country in the free world and I'm doing my thing at Fox News, so I would say it's a friendly, cordial relationship," McEnany adds.
In Fox's eyes, though, she is a real star. On her show, McEnany will welcome Trump's new Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt, McEnany's "heir apparent" as one colleague coined the 28-year-old when she was announced as first guest. "I think her as the first guest is really important because of her heart, because of her faith and especially at this time, there's just heaviness that's come over our country," McEnany says.
"When I see Karoline's tenure at the White House, I see someone who's bringing the same accountability that I brought – evidence-based accountability – but I know she loves the American people, and you can see that she has a sunny, optimistic disposition, even when it's tough to go out there and answer questions," McEnany maintains.
Both MAGA fan favorites, Leavitt is also known for her tense moments with traditional press that have elicited cheers from their base: "You're a reporter, you should find out," Leavitt told CNN's Collins in March.
Maybe in Leavitt, a young mom, she can see her past self and Leavitt is able to see what's next – a possible post-White House home.
"What is core to my being is not my politics, that's just not. What is core to my being is my faith and the fact that I'm at a place that lets me be my authentic self," McEnany says of her employer. "I've never been told what to say. I just share my heart. It's the only place I'd ever want to be."
On Sept. 20, McEnany will see a new future of her own: Her own show, on her own terms, on Fox News.
(This story was updated to add new information.)
Contributing: Zac Anderson
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Kayleigh McEnany's Trump era is in the past. Now, she has a new Fox News show.
Reporting by Jay Stahl, USA TODAY / USA TODAY
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