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Blonde Trump aide is dark horse to be next press secretary... but her mascara-streaked meltdowns and hours locked in an office with 'TikTok Jack' mean White House staff are desperate for the president not to do it

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Ibbetson, R., & Nieto, P. (2026, November 11). Blonde Trump aide is dark horse to be next press secretary... but her mascara-streaked meltdowns and hours locked in an office with 'TikTok Jack' mean White House staff are desperate for the president not to do it. Daily Mail. https://www.dailymail.com/news/article-16281999/trump-caroline-sunshine-press-secretary.html?ns_mchannel=rss&ns_campaign=1490&ito=1490

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Daily Mail · collected 2026-11-11 · by Ross Ibbetson, Phillip Nieto

Quick Summary

Donald Trump is considering appointing Caroline Sunshine, a 31-year-old former campaign aide, as the next White House press secretary. However, previous colleagues report that Sunshine had emotional breakdowns and was often absent during her last stint working for Trump in his 2024 campaign. Despite these issues, Bill Pulte, a powerful Trump aide, recommended Sunshine to Trump at a recent dinner, citing her improved TV performances. However, Trump's chief of staff, Stephen Miller, reportedly dislikes Sunshine and has reservations about her appointment due to her past criticisms of the administration’s policies, particularly regarding the war in Iran.
Written by AI on 2026-11-11, from this article's own text only (the story summary below draws on all the coverage).

AI analysis

Story summary

Caroline Sunshine, a 31-year-old former campaign aide, is being considered as a dark horse candidate to replace Katie Zacharia as White House press secretary. However, her past behavior during Trump's 2024 campaign has raised concerns among current staff. During the campaign, Sunshine broke down in tears and locked herself in her office for hours at a time, sometimes with her then-boyfriend Jack Advent, who was nicknamed "TikTok Jack" by President Trump. Bill Pulte, the Federal Housing Finance Agency director and powerful Trump aide, reportedly pushed Sunshine's name to the president over dinner at Mar-a-Lago recently. Despite her rocky history, some close to Trump believe she could be a strong contender for the role due to recent high-profile actions, such as demanding Susie Wiles' resignation live on Fox News shortly before Wiles quit.

Written for “Blonde Trump Aide Press Secretary Rumor” on 2026-11-11, grounded in this article and the 0 other(s) covering the same event.
Why this leaning score
The model judged this article politically coded and scored it -0.35, but all 3 of its quote(s) are attributed speech - words the article quotes from someone, not the article's own narration, so the score is not published.
Written under an earlier scoring contract, which gave a paragraph rather than checkable quotes. Re-analysing this article replaces it.
Leaning score withheld for article 143642: attributed speech only · logged 2026-11-11

Story

Blonde Trump Aide Press Secretary Rumor
Politics · 1 article(s) covering the same event.

Compared with similar articles

This article reads unscored and hedges 4% of its claims. Each row says how that neighbour differs.
NBC News
Hedges 2 of 12 claims Outlet record 72/100
“The articles describe different events related to staffing changes in Trump's administration.”
The Guardian
Leans right Hedges 0 of 3 claims Outlet record 65/100
“The articles discuss different potential staffing changes in Trump's administration and do not describe the same specific appointment or incident.”
Daily Mail
Hedges 1 of 13 claims Outlet record 69/100
“Article A discusses Trump's announcement about replacing Susie Wiles with Stephen Miller as Chief of Staff, while Article B talks about Caroline Sunshine potentially becoming the next press secretary.”
The Independent
Hedges 1 of 17 claims Outlet record 59/100
“Article A describes Trump offering Dana White the press secretary role, while Article B discusses potential candidates for the position, mentioning Caroline Sunshine as a possible replacement.”
The Independent
Leans strongly right Hedges 4 of 24 claims Outlet record 59/100
“Article A discusses Trump sharing a cartoon about Dana White as press secretary, while Article B talks about Caroline Sunshine being considered for the position of press secretary. These are different events.”
ABC News (US)
Hedges 0 of 1 claims Outlet record 67/100
“The articles discuss different aspects of Trump's political acumen and potential staffing decisions, not the same specific incident.”
New York Post
Hedges 1 of 24 claims Outlet record 66/100
“The articles discuss different individuals (Katie Zacharia and Caroline Sunshine) seeking or being considered for the press secretary position.”
The Independent
Hedges 0 of 20 claims Outlet record 59/100
“The articles discuss different individuals being considered for the role of White House press secretary.”
Daily Mail
Hedges 2 of 42 claims Outlet record 69/100
“The articles discuss different individuals (Katie Zacharia and Caroline Sunshine) in relation to the Press Secretary role.”
The Independent
Hedges 1 of 19 claims Outlet record 59/100
“The articles discuss different individuals and their potential or past roles as press secretary, not the same specific incident.”
How this article was measured signals, leaning charts, publisher record, byline, topics and claims

Signals How these are calculated →

Claims extracted
54
sentences that state something as happening or true
Uncertain
4%
2 of 54 hedged ("reportedly", "may", "according to")
Leaning
withheld
no quote in the article backed the model's score
Publisher signals
69/100
Daily Mail's corrections and hedging, across everything collected from it. Not a measure of accuracy.
Outlets on this story
1
Politics
Same framing elsewhere
1
articles that frame the event the way this one does
Analyzed 2026-11-11 · how these are computed

How this is being covered How these are calculated →

Article leaning vs. publisher reliability
Source leaning vs. consistency

Publisher

Daily Mail · 10451 article(s) · 24 correction(s) detected
Running correction rate · 24 correction(s)

Who wrote this

Ross Ibbetson
24 article(s) here · 1 carrying a prediction
Her then-boyfriend Jack Advent, 23, the producer Trump nicknamed 'TikTok Jack' who ran the campaign's TikTok videos, would sit in her office for hours when he was back in West Palm Beach, the source said.
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The MAGA old guard backs deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller and federal housing chief Bill Pulte, either of whom would mark a major break from Wiles' tightly run operation.
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Phillip Nieto
39 article(s) here · 1 carrying a prediction
Her then-boyfriend Jack Advent, 23, the producer Trump nicknamed 'TikTok Jack' who ran the campaign's TikTok videos, would sit in her office for hours when he was back in West Palm Beach, the source said.
Donald Trump announced his White House chief of staff Susie Wiles will be replaced with his top adviser Stephen Miller.
He told the New York Times he was absolutely willing to accept the result, and said he would rather cut deals with Democrats than spend his last two years in office vetoing their bills.
In May, the Daily Mail broke the story of Miller's ex-wife, Emily Moreno, accusing him in court filings of scalding her with hot water, holding a gun to her head and hitting her.
Brown will serve out the final two years of Vance’s term.
‘Today, I’m thrilled to announce the official opening of the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool,’ the president said from a platform at the foot of the memorial, adding that he was giving ‘serious thought’ to rebranding it the ‘Trump Reflecting Pool.’ He said the announcement would land on Tuesday and that Interior Secretary Doug Burgum would ‘have a lot of fun’ making it, then delivered the tag: ‘Now, I’m only kidding.’
Take Daily Mail's quiz and find out Donald Trump will hand out pardons to everyone who has worked in his administration, down to his most junior White House staffers, if Democrats seize Congress on Tuesday.
The blue-collar coalition that powered him to the White House in 2016, and stuck with him through 2020 and 2024, may finally be breaking.
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Also by Phillip Nieto
Nothing else under this byline is closely related to this article, so these are simply their most recent.
All 39 articles by Phillip Nieto →

Topics

Federal Housing Finance Agency Fox News Mar-a-Lago White House the Daily Mail

Subjects

Trump PERSON · 13× Sunshine PERSON · 7× White House ORG · 4× Caroline Sunshine PERSON · 3× Miller PERSON · 3× Wiles PERSON · 3× Donald Trump PERSON · 2× Karoline Leavitt PERSON · 2× Katie Zacharia PERSON · 2× the Daily Mail ORG · 2×

Narrative

The former Disney Channel actress, who starred in Shake It Up (pictured), worked as a press assistant in Trump's first-term White House Caroline Sunshine seen attending the 2012 Do Something Awards Jack Advent (left), nicknamed TikTok Jack by Trump, was her boyfriend during the 2024 campaign Caroline Sunshine at the White House in 2018 when she was working as a press assistant One source recalled a workday when Sunshine never appeared at the office, only for colleagues to spot her on television.
framing: assertive · carried by 1 article(s) · first seen 2026-11-11
Her then-boyfriend Jack Advent, 23, the producer Trump nicknamed 'TikTok Jack' who ran the campaign's TikTok videos, would sit in her office for hours when he was back in West Palm Beach, the source said.

Claims (54 extracted, 2 hedged)

Donald Trump is being urged to make a former campaign aide his next press secretary, but ex-colleagues say she had a rocky time the last time she worked for him. asserted
she → urge → him
Caroline Sunshine broke down in tears on the President's 2024 campaign, vanished for hours and locked herself in her office, sometimes with her boyfriend, and was not invited to join the White House team after Trump won re-election, former colleagues have told the Daily Mail. asserted
colleagues → break → Mail
Now Sunshine, 31, has emerged as a dark horse to replace Katie Zacharia as White House press secretary, who managed just five days in the job after succeeding Karoline Leavitt. asserted
who → emerge → Leavitt
Bill Pulte, the Federal Housing Finance Agency director and powerful Trump aide, pushed her name to the President over dinner at Mar-a-Lago this past weekend, a source close to Trump told the Daily Mail. asserted
source → push → Mail
The dinner came days after Sunshine demanded Susie Wiles's resignation live on Fox News, barely 24 hours before the chief of staff dramatically quit. asserted
chief → come → staff
Describing Sunshine's previous tenure working for the President, one former colleague said: 'Breakdowns in the bathroom, breakdowns in her office, kind of walking around the office with mascara running down her face, and something was obviously wrong, but no one really knew what or how or what was going on.' asserted
what → describe → face
The press secretary vacancy has sparked open lobbying at Mar-a-Lago, much of it through intermediaries, the source close to the president said. asserted
source → spark → president
Sunshine was not at the president's club in Florida this weekend, but Pulte raised her name in front of Trump, Wiles's replacement as chief of staff Stephen Miller and others. asserted
Pulte → raise → staff
Donald Trump is being urged to make former campaign aide Caroline Sunshine (pictured at the White House Correspondents' dinner in 2018) his next press secretary asserted
Trump → urge → 2018
But ex-colleagues say she had a rocky time the last time she worked for the president. asserted
she → say → president
'You know who'd be so good as press secretary? asserted
who → know → secretary
Caroline Sunshine,' Pulte told the president, according to the source. uncertain
Pulte → tell → source
Trump replied: 'You think so? asserted
You → reply → ?
She does a good job on TV, but she says bad things about me. asserted
she → do → me
She's been doing better lately.' asserted
She → do → ?
Trump turned to Miller, who told him: 'Yeah, she's been doing good on TV recently.' asserted
she → turn → TV
Miller takes a dimmer view in private, our source said: 'Stephen hates her. asserted
Stephen → take → her
Whenever her name comes up in the Oval, he piles on. asserted
he → come → Oval
Miller replaced Wiles as chief of staff on Monday. asserted
Miller → replace → Monday
He has been contacted for comment. asserted
He → contact → comment
Sunshine is working the job from a distance through people with Trump's ear, the source said. asserted
source → work → ear
'She keeps trying to find people to bring her up. asserted
She → keep → her
But Sunshine has spent months criticizing Trump's war in Iran, including in appearances on CNN. asserted
Sunshine → spend → CNN
That culminated last Wednesday on 'Jesse Watters Primetime,' when she called for Wiles to resign. asserted
Wiles → culminate → Primetime
'Susie Wiles needs to resign,' she told Fox host Watters. asserted
she → need → Watters
'She needs to offer her resignation to the president before he has to ask for it. asserted
he → need → it
'I think it was a dumb move on her part. asserted
it → think → part
I don't understand what her end game is,' a source said. asserted
source → understand → ?
She had spared Trump on election night, telling Fox: 'Tonight was not a failure for the president. asserted
Tonight → spar → president
Tonight was his base saying, "We still like you, we just don't like the direction that you're taking us in."' asserted
you → say → us
The former Disney Channel actress, who in 2010 starred in the sitcom Shake It Up, worked as a press assistant in Trump's first-term White House and as press secretary for Vivek Ramaswamy's presidential bid. asserted
who → star → bid
Bill Pulte (left) is said to have been lobbying Trump to give Sunshine the role As such, she has emerged as a dark horse to replace Katie Zacharia (pictured) as White House press secretary She joined Trump's 2024 campaign as deputy communications director at its headquarters in downtown West Palm Beach, Florida. asserted
She → say → Beach
But former colleagues said her crying in the office became a source of concern, with one saying they personally saw her in tears 'at least two to three' times, in the bathroom and in her office. asserted
they → say → office
Staff who checked on her asked whether the trouble was personal or work-related, but she did not want to open up, the source said. asserted
source → check → her
Her then-boyfriend Jack Advent, 23, the producer Trump nicknamed 'TikTok Jack' who ran the campaign's TikTok videos, would sit in her office for hours when he was back in West Palm Beach, the source said. asserted
source → nickname → Beach
Advent spent much of the campaign on the road filming the president, and colleagues rated his work. asserted
colleagues → spend → work
'He produced good metrics that people were happy with,' one said. asserted
one → produce → that
Sources said Sunshine locked herself in her office for hours on multiple occasions, sometimes with Advent, when they believe she should have been working. asserted
she → say → Advent
'I'd love to know what she was up to. asserted
she → love → what
I can't say I know because the door was locked,' one said. asserted
one → say → ?
…and 14 more, not listed.
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