When Karoline Leavitt, the new White House press secretary, entered the James S. Brady briefing room, it was a sight to behold. The room was filled to the brim, a scenario seldom seen.
Journalists were squeezed in like sardines, with no elbow room to write. ‘This is epic,’ said one. ‘I think I might faint.’
After a long slumber during the Biden years, many of the reporters today suddenly appeared ready to pounce.
For Leavitt, at age 27 the youngest White House press secretary in history, the stakes of her first briefing could not have been higher.
Ramping up the pressure, the most important member of her live nationwide audience – the president himself – was watching closely on TV.
In the past, some of those who have attempted this political mission impossible – speaking for Donald Trump in Washington – have stumbled badly.
Her predecessors, such as Sean Spicer, who was famously parodied on Saturday Night Live, and Anthony Scaramucci, who only lasted 10 days as White House communications director, had faced tumultuous times.
However, on this evidence, Leavitt will last many ‘Scaramuccis’.
Indeed, in her first appearance, a new MAGA star was born.
Karoline Leavitt’s debut in the briefing room attracted such attention that it was a memorable event. The room was abuzz as she stepped into the challenging role on Tuesday.
Ramping up the pressure, the most important member of her live nationwide audience – the president himself (pictured here with Leavitt on Air Force One) – was watching closely on TV.
Journalists were squeezed in like sardines, with no elbow room to write. ‘This is epic,’ said one. ‘I think I might faint.’
Under a sustained assault from the media, Leavitt was polished, professional, confident and gaffe-free, presumably to the chagrin of some of her left-wing inquisitors.
She calmly dispatched dozens of questions and demonstrated that she had the facts at her fingertips.
Only once did she resort to her predecessor Karine Jeane-Pierre’s notorious catchphrase – ‘I can’t get ahead of the president’ – to avoid answering an inquiry.
President Trump, always with an eye for how events appear on television, must have realized he chose wisely.
At 1.05pm Leavitt walked into the briefing room from behind a sliding blue door.
‘Good afternoon everyone, how are you?’ she said sunnily. ‘Good to be with all of you.’
She started by displaying on two screens a rogues’ gallery of ‘heinous’ rapists, murderers and pedophiles who have been arrested and deported in Trump’s first days.
Leavitt went on to hit every big MAGA note, declaring ‘sanity has been restored,’ and that ‘Trump is everywhere again.’
Then, she hit the ‘legacy media’ where it hurt, announcing that the row of briefing room seats nearest her own lectern, usually occupied by White House staff, would now be filled by ‘new media’ outlets.
Social media influencers and content creators will be able to attend her briefings, she said.
So will over 400 journalists who had their passes removed by the Biden administration.
Social media influencers and content creators will be able to attend her briefings, Leavitt said. (Pictured: Reporters at Leavitt’s first briefing).
A murmur went round the already packed room as the briefing room regulars wondered where the newcomers will stand.
Leavitt went on to turn the tables on the media, saying that she would be holding them to account.
‘I commit to telling the truth from this podium every single day,’ she said. ‘I hope that you will hold yourselves to the same standard.’
She said lies had been told during the previous administration ‘to your faces in this very room.’
At 1.14 pm, she took her first question, which came from the political website Axios and it focused on the Chinese AI startup company DeepSeek, which shocked Wall Street on Monday by releasing a new product that triggering a $1 trillion sell-off of US tech stocks.
She batted concerns away with ease, declaring that there was nothing to worry about because President Trump would achieve ‘AI dominance’ for America.
Many of the subsequent questions were on Trump’s announcement that he is pausing federal grants to assess whether the money is going to DEI programs.
‘I have been asked this question four times now…,’ said Leavitt. But, unlike some of her predecessors, she did not lose her cool. She was still smiling.
As a TV reporter suggested sneaking into the US was a ‘civil crime,’ she quickly corrected him. ‘It’s a federal crime,’ she said.
Another implied that half of the illegal immigrants arrested so far under Trump’s administration are not criminals, she corrected again.
‘All of them’ were criminals because they ‘broke our laws,’ she said, again with a smile.
Under a sustained assault from the media, Leavitt was polished, professional, confident and gaffe-free, presumably to the chagrin of some of her left-wing inquisitors.
She batted concerns away with ease, declaring that there was nothing to worry about because President Trump would achieve ‘AI dominance’ for America.
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When CNN asked about firings at the Justice Department, Leavitt responded by quoting an obscure legal precedent that allows Trump to ‘fire anyone he wants.’
And when it came to the price of eggs, she blamed former President Joe Biden for the ‘mass killing of 100 million chickens.’
In another shot at the ex-president she added; ‘Joe Biden was in office, or upstairs sleeping, I’m not sure.’
No one is slacking in the White House now, particularly not the new press secretary, Leavitt claimed, warning that she will work at ‘breakneck speed.’
‘I hope you are all ready to work very hard,’ she told the journalists.
By the time she had finished some of those in the room were eating out of her hand.
‘You look great,’ one question began. ‘Thank you,’ said Leavitt.
President Trump has found his new TV star.
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