Karoline Leavitt has described meeting her husband, Nicholas Riccio, as a kind of “campaign trail” love story. She has openly talked about how a mutual friend first brought them together while she was running for Congress in New Hampshire.

How they first met

Leavitt met Nicholas Riccio in 2022 while she was campaigning for a U.S. House seat in New Hampshire’s 1st District.

A mutual friend who owns a restaurant in New Hampshire invited Riccio to a political event where Leavitt was speaking, and that is where they were first introduced.

  • The setting was a campaign event at a restaurant owned by a mutual friend.
  • She has said they were “acquainted as friends” at first before anything romantic developed.

From friends to romance

After that first event, Leavitt and Riccio stayed in touch and remained friends for a while.

Over time, that friendship “blossomed into a romance,” as she has put it in interviews and social media posts.

  • She has described it as a “very atypical love story” but emphasized that he became her greatest supporter and best friend.
  • Their relationship became public when she shared their engagement photos and called him “the man of my dreams.”

Key details about their relationship

Leavitt and Riccio have a 32‑year age gap, something she has acknowledged is “very unusual” but says works for them.

They married in January 2025, shortly before Donald Trump’s second inauguration, and they share a son, Niko, born in July 2024.

  • Riccio is a New Hampshire–based real‑estate investor and developer.
  • Leavitt has said his established career allowed him to be very present and supportive during her political rise.

Simple answer

They met at a New Hampshire campaign event in 2022, hosted at a restaurant owned by a mutual friend, where Leavitt was speaking and Riccio had been invited as a guest.

Meta description: Wondering how Karoline Leavitt met her husband? The youngest White House press secretary first met real‑estate investor Nicholas Riccio at a New Hampshire campaign event in 2022 through a mutual friend.

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