Karoline Leavitt unveils huge shake-up for White House reporters in her first briefing as Trump’s press secretary
President Donald Trump’s new press secretary Karoline Leavitt announced a shake-up for White House reporters in her highly-anticipated first briefing on Tuesday.
The 27-year-old who made history as the country’s youngest press secretary scolded traditional media for ‘losing trust’ and said millions of Americans are instead looking to other outlets for their news.
‘We know for a fact that there have been lies that have been pushed by many legacy media outlets in the country about this president, about his family and we will not accept that,’ she stated. ‘We will call you out when we feel your reporting is wrong or there is misinformation about this White House.’
She announced that two seats usually reserved for White House staff would become ‘new media’ seats – and those individuals would get to ask the first questions.
Traditionally the wire service, the Associated Press, gets the first question – while the White House Correspondents’ Association dictates which outlets get which seats in the James S. Brady Press Briefing Room.
‘Starting today this seat in the front of the room, which is usually occupied by the press secretary’s staff, will be called the “new media” seat,’ she said. ‘My team will review the applications and give credentials to new media applicants who meet our criteria and pass United States Secret Service requirements to enter the White House complex.’
On Tuesday, Axios’ Mike Allen got the first question followed by Matthew Boyle, the longtime political correspondent for Breitbart, the right-wing outlet that was previously led by Trump strategist Steve Bannon.
Leavitt also announced that the Trump 2.0 administration would restore the press passes of 440 whose passes were ‘wrongly revoked’ by the Biden administration.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt held her first briefing Tuesday and kicked it off with huge changes to how she’d conduct briefings
The White House briefing room was packed with press for the first briefing of press secretary Karoline Leavitt, 27, the youngest press secretary in history
‘We welcome independent journalists, podcasters, social media influencers and content creators to apply for credentials to cover this White House,’ she said.
Throughout the briefing Leavitt called on reporters from a variety of outlets – including the AP, which got the third question, CNN’s Kaitlan Collins, NBC’s Peter Alexander, as well as the Daily Caller’s White House correspondent Reagan Reese – who was seated in the back row of the briefing room.
Early in the briefing she called on Brian Glenn, a reporter for the conservative outlet Real America’s Voice, who’s the boyfriend of key Trump Congressional ally, Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene.
At the top she made some news – explaining that the mysterious drones spotted flying over New Jersey were authorized to conduct ‘research’ and didn’t represent a foreign threat.
She also showed off photographs of illegal immigrants who had been deported and what previous crimes the White House said they committed.
Asked later about the Trump administration’s deportation strategy, she said that every immigrant in the country illegally was a criminal.
‘All of them,’ she said. ‘Because they illegally broke our nation’s laws and therefore they are criminals, as far as this administration goes. I know the last administration didn’t see it that way so it’s a big culture shift in our nation to view someone who breaks our immigration laws as a criminal but that’s exactly what they are.’
When it was the AP’s turn to address the new press secretary, the reporter asked the same question of Leavitt that was given to previous press secretaries: would she pledge not to lie to the American people.
‘I commit to telling the truth from this podium every single day. I commit to speaking on behalf of the president of the United States. That is my job,’ she answered. ‘And I will say it’s very easy to speak truth from this podium when you have a president who has implemented policies that are wildly popular with the American people – and that is exactly what this administration is doing.’
Press secretary Karoline Leavitt shared photographs of deported illegal immigrants that listed the previous crimes that they committed
She also showed off a graph that showed a decrease in news consumption from traditional media
Reporters raise their hands throughout the White House briefing room during press secretary Karoline Leavitt’s first briefing of the second Trump administration
‘It’s correcting the lies and the wrongs of the past four years,’ she continued. ‘Many of the lies that have been told to your faces in this very briefing room.’
‘I will not do that,’ she promised. ‘But since you brought up truth-speak, I would like to point out, while I vow to provide the truth from this podium, we ask that all of you in this room hold yourselves to that same standard.’
Leavitt was also asked if reporters should expect a daily or near daily press briefing.
‘It is a good question. So look, the president, as you know, is incredibly accessible,’ she answered, pointing to the flurry of gaggles Trump has participated in since being sworn-in last Monday, including a 60-minute back-and-forth in the Oval Office on Inauguration Day.
‘I don’t think the previous office holder would be able to pull such a thing off,’ she said, making a dig at 82-year-old Biden. ‘So look, the president is the best spokesperson that this White House has. And I can assure you that you will be hearing from both him and me as much as possible.’
Leavitt insulted Biden again when she was asked about egg prices – as the avian flu is forcing farmers to kill millions of chickens.
Trump’s chief campaign promise was to bring down food and fuel prices, with American voters upset with Biden and the eventual Democratic nominee, Vice President Kamala Harris, for inflation in the post-COVID-19 pandemic era.
‘I would like to point out to each and every one of you that in 2024, when Joe Biden was in the Oval Office – or upstairs in the residence sleeping – I’m not really sure, egg prices increased 65 percent in this country,’ Leavitt said.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt gives her first White House briefing eight days into the new Trump administration
Karoline Leavitt said that two seats usually reserved for White House staff would go to ‘new media’ outlets – with those outlets kicking off Tuesday’s briefing. Axios and Breitbart were the first two chosen
She blamed the higher costs on the ‘inflationary policies of the last administration.’
‘As far as the egg shortage, what’s also contributing to that is that the Biden administration and the Department of Agriculture directed the mass killing of more than 100 million chickens – which has led to a lack of chicken supply in this country, therefore a lack of egg supply, which is leading to this shortage.’
She urged the Senate to push through Trump’s nominees, including Brooke Rollins to lead the Department of Agriculture, to better assist this problem.
Most of the briefing was dedicated to the Office of Management and Budget memo to freeze federal financial assistance.
Leavitt grew frustrated when question after question was dedicated to the issue.
‘I have not been asked and answered this question four times,’ Leavitt complained. ‘To individuals at home who receive direct assistance from the federal government, you will not be impacted by this federal freeze.’
ABC’s Mary Bruce had asked about programs like Meals on Wheels, which could be impacted because the funding doesn’t directly come from the federal government.
Leavitt also couldn’t say whether Medicaid was included in the freeze.
‘I’ll check back on that and get back to you,’ she told reporters.
Leavitt is the country’s youngest press secretary and the eighth woman to hold the position – a number that has ticked up in the last two administrations.
Three out of the four press secretaries Trump hired in his first term were women – Sarah Huckabee Sanders, now the governor of Arkansas, Stephanie Grisham and Kayleigh McEnany.
Both of President Joe Biden’s press secretaries were also women – Jen Psaki and Karine Jean-Pierre.
Leavitt, a New Hampshire native, interned for Fox News and worked under McEnany as an assistant press secretary during the first Trump administration.
She ran for Congress in 2022, hoping to knock off Democratic Rep. Chris Pappas in the state’s 1st Congressional district.
Karoline Leavitt became a new mom on July 10 – three days before the assassination attempt on her boss, former President Donald Trump, in Butler, Pennsylvania and days before the Republican National Convention. She returned to work shortly after having her first child
Karoline Leavitt became a new mom at the height of the 2024 presidential campaign where she served as a press secretary for candidate Trump. He announced on November 15 that she would serve as the first press secretary of his second administration
Leavitt won the Republican primary – but fell to Pappas in the general election.
In January 2024 she became a national press secretary for the Trump campaign.
On November 15, 2024, Trump announced that Leavitt would be the first White House press secretary of his second administration.
She gaggled with reporters on board Air Force One but waited to brief until eight days into the administration – a slightly longer delay than Psaki, who briefed on inauguration day, or Sean Spicer, who famously declared Trump had the ‘largest audience to ever witness an inauguration – period’ on January 21, one day into the new administration.
Leavitt is married to real estate developer Nicholas Riccio and became a first-time mother amid the 2024 campaign – on July 10 – just days before Trump was shot at the Butler, Pennsylvania rally and ahead of the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee.
