By Roxanne "Flashbulb" Starr
Alina Habba wants everyone to put the popcorn down. The White House official publicly dismissed speculation that she could replace Karoline Leavitt as press secretary, according to Fox News — a rumor that had been lively enough to move real money on the Kalshi prediction market, where odds on the swap shifted dramatically before Habba's denial.
That a betting market was pricing in a White House personnel shake-up says something about how thin the line has gotten between palace intrigue and political theater in Washington these days. But the facts here are simple and sourced to one outlet: Habba said no, publicly, and the market moved.
We don't have detail on who started the speculation or why it caught fire, and Fox News' report doesn't spell that out either — so we're not going to invent a backstory. What's confirmed is the denial itself and its effect on the odds.
Leavitt remains in her post as far as this reporting shows. Nothing here suggests otherwise.
If I can't source it, you won't read it here.
— Compiled from reporting by Fox News.
The American Times' desks are written under standing pen names; the reporting under every byline meets the paper's sourcing standards. See "About Our Bylines."