Civilization
Karoline Leavitt owns White House press room
Karoline Leavitt delivered her first White House press briefing yesterday, and owned the room from the beginning.
Yesterday, Karoline Leavitt went from Trump campaign spokeswoman to White House Press Secretary, and gave her first-ever press briefing. To some, she represented a breath of fresh air – especially in contrast to Jen Psaki (“circle back”) or Karine Jean-Pierre. To others, she represented a blast of cold water in the face with a fire hose. Either way, her appearance and delivery sent an unmistakable message. The real teacher has come back into the classroom – and she’s taken her ruler down.
Karoline Leavitt opens
Reportage for this story comes largely from The Gateway Pundit, with stories by Jim Hoft, Christina Laila, Cullen Linebarger, and Jordan Conradson – who attended for TGP. Conradson posted this panoramic video of the White House Press Room before her arrival, saying she “drew a crowd.”
Opening day for Trump White House briefings drew a crowd pic.twitter.com/jPcNdZveMH— Jordan Conradson
(@ConradsonJordan) January 28, 2025
When Karoline Leavitt entered, she declared:
President Trump is back, and the Golden Age of America has most definitely begun.
BREAKING:@karolineleavitt enters the White House press briefing room for her first press conference
“President Trump is back, and the Golden Age of America has most definitely begun.” pic.twitter.com/SFMxUAwJU3— Jordan Conradson(@ConradsonJordan) January 28, 2025
She started out pleasantly enough, announcing the five appointees the Senate has confirmed thus far:
- Secretary of State Marco Rubio,
- Secretary of Defense Pete Hetseth,
- Director of Central Intelligence John Ratcliffe,
- Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem, and
- Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent.
She also summarized the 300 Executive Orders President Donald J. Trump had signed by then. (He’s still at it!) But she also gave a hard-hitting statement to the Senate – and the people – about the extraordinary actions Trump is taking:
It is imperative that the Senate continues to confirm the remainder of the president’s well qualified nominees as quickly as possible. As you have seen during the past week, President Trump is hard at work fulfilling the promises that he made to the American people on the campaign trail. Since taking the oath of office, President Trump has taken more than 300 executive actions secured nearly $1 trillion in US investments, deported illegal alien rapists, gang members, and suspected terrorists from our homeland and restored common sense to the federal government. I want to take a moment to go through some of these extraordinary actions.
On day one, President Trump declared a national emergency at our southern border to end the four-year-long invasion of illegal aliens under the previous administration. Additionally, President Trump signed an executive order to end catch and release and finished construction of his effective border wall. By using every lever of his federal power, President Trump has sent a loud and clear message to the entire world. America will no longer tolerate illegal immigration, and this President expects that every nation on this planet will cooperate with the repatriation of their citizens. As proven by this weekend, when President Trump swiftly directed his team to issue harsh and effective sanctions and tariffs on the Colombian government, Upon hearing they were denied a U.S. military aircraft full of their own citizens who were deported by this administration within hours, the Colombian government agreed to all of President Trump’s demands, proving America is once again respected on the world stage. So to foreign nationals who are thinking about trying to illegally enter the United States. Think again. Under this president, you will be detained and you will be deported every day, Americans are safer because of the violent criminals that President Trump’s administration is removing from our communities.
On January 23, ICE New York arrested a Turkish national for entry without inspection who is unknown or suspected. On January 23, Ice San Francisco arrested a citizen of Mexico unlawfully present in the United States, who has been convicted of continuous sexual abuse of a child aged 14 years or younger. ICE St. Paul has arrested a citizen of Honduras who was convicted of 4th degree criminal sexual conduct with a minor . ICE Buffalo arrested a citizen of Ecuador who has been convicted of rape. ICE Boston arrested a citizen of the Dominican Republic who has a criminal conviction for second degree murder. This criminal was convicted of murder for beating his pregnant wife to death in front of her five year old son. And ICE St. Paul also arrested a citizen of Mexico who was convicted of possessing pornographic material of a minor on a work computer. These are the heinous individuals that this administration is removing from American communities every single day and to the brave state and local law enforcement officers, CBP and ICE agents who are helping in the facilitation of this deportation operation. President Trump has your back, and he is grateful for your hard work. On the economic front, President Trump took immediate action to lower costs for families who are suffering from four long years of the Biden administration’s destructive and inflationary policies.
President Trump ordered the heads of all executive departments and agencies to help deliver emergency price relief to the American people, untangle our economy from Biden’s regulatory constraints, and end the reckless war on American energy. President Trump also signed sweeping executive orders to end the weaponization of government and restore common sense to the federal bureaucracy. He directed all federal agencies to terminate illegal diversity, equity, and inclusion programs to help return America to a merit-based society . President Trump also signed an executive order declaring it is now the policy of the federal government that there are only two sexes, male and female. Sanity has been restored.
.@PressSec @KarolineLeavitt’s first opening statement (1/2): “Good afternoon, everybody. How are we? Good to see all of you. It's an honor to be here with all of you. A lot of familiar faces in the room, a lot of new faces, and President Trump is back and the golden age of… pic.twitter.com/2IMxFhYe8R— Curtis Houck (@CurtisHouck) January 28, 2025
That was merely a bucket of cold water in the face. Next – without missing a beat – she turned on the fire hose:
Before I take your questions, I would like to point out to all of you once again, have access to the most transparent and accessible President in American history. There has never been a President who communicates with the American people and the American press corps as openly and authentically as the 45th and now 47th President of the United States. This past week, President Trump has held multiple news conferences, gaggled on Air Force One multiple times and sat down for a two-part interview on Fox News, which aired last week. As Politico summed it up best, Trump is everywhere again, and that’s because President Trump has a great story to tell about the legendary American revival that is well underway. And in keeping with this revolutionary media approach that President Trump deployed during the campaign.
The Trump White House will speak to all media outlets and personalities, not just the legacy media who are seated in this room because according, according to recent polling from Gallup, Americans trust in mass media has fallen to a record low. Millions of Americans, especially young people, have turned from traditional television outlets and newspapers to consume their news from podcasts, blogs, social media, and other independent outlets. It’s essential to our team that we share President Trump’s message everywhere and adapt this White House to the new media landscape in 2025.
To do this, I’m excited to announce the following changes will be made to this historic James S. Brady Briefing room where Mister Brady’s legacy will endure. This White House believes strongly in the First Amendment. So it’s why our team will work diligently to restore the press passes of the 440 journalists whose passes were wrongly revoked by the previous administration. We’re also opening up this briefing room to new media voices who produced news-related content and whose outlet is not already represented by one of the seats in this room. We welcome independent journalists, podcasters, social media influencers and content creators to apply for credentials to cover this White House, and you can apply now on our new website, http://whitehouse.gov/newmedia.
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. My team will review the applications and give credentials to new media applicants who meet our criteria in past United States Secret Service requirements to enter the White House complex. So, in light of these announcements, our first questions for today’s briefing will go to these new media members whose outlets, despite being some of the most viewed news websites in the country, have not been given seats in this room.
#NEW — @PresSec @KarolineLeavitt announces new changes to White House Briefing Room, including using what had been staff-seats in the front for "new media."
“Before I take your questions, I would like to point out to all of you once again, have access to the most transparent… pic.twitter.com/hL3IfWr7vs— Curtis Houck (@CurtisHouck) January 28, 2025
The link Karoline Leavitt mentioned goes to a contact form that asks for basic identifying and contact information. This includes one “primary social account.” Perhaps the White House Press Office intends to review content and followership before issuing press passes.
(Gasp!) Well! We never!
That, of course, is not how White House correspondents have traditionally gotten press passes. In large part, the White House Press Corps has co-opted new members. Furthermore, anyone challenging The Narrative, loses his press pass – as happened to 440 “new media” reporters. The mere restoration of those 440 passes must have the Old Line White House correspondents weeping and gnashing their teeth. And to see alternative media given a pathway to apply for a pass? Zounds! What’s the Press Room coming to? Sarah Brady, who pressed for gun confiscation ever since her husband James (namesake of the room) took a bullet to the forehead during the attempt on Ronald Reagan’s life, must surely be spinning in her grave.
And that was only the beginning. One reporter tried to blame Trump for the sharp increases in the price of eggs – during the Biden administration. Karoline Leavitt was having none of that:
Q. You mentioned the inflation executive order that the president signed. But egg prices have skyrocketed since President Trump took office. So, what specifically is he doing to lower those costs?
A. Really glad you brought this up, because there is a lot of reporting putting the onus on this White House for the increased cost of eggs. 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 sleeping, I’m not so sure, egg prices increased 65 percent.
REPORTER: Egg prices have skyrocketed since President Trump took office. So what specifically is he doing to lower those costs?
LEAVITT: When Joe Biden was in the Oval Office or upstairs sleeping — I'm not so sure — egg prices increased 65 percent pic.twitter.com/4ev8A4N4ew— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) January 28, 2025
Inevitably the questioning turned to immigration. As Jordan Conradson observed:
Other members of the press were nasty, asking the same questions repeatedly and badgering Leavitt. Notably, the leftist reporters were filibustering with multiple questions in a row and shouting over other reporters as she tried to move on, which are both violations of the leftist White House Correspondent’s Association’s guidelines on decorum. They also asked redundant questions that were undeserving of responses and pressed her with questions on multiple unrelated topics, more violations of the so-called rules.
For example, NBC’s Peter Alexander – whose behavior is a major disappointment – asked redundant questions about who is a criminal alien. Immediately after he finally sat down, ABC’s Mary Bruce asked the nearly identical questions. These videos show how Leavitt dealt with each:
Details on the immigration issue
At issue: Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has been arresting many who committed violent, even atrocious, crimes beyond the simple fact of unlawful entry. They are the prime targets, but not the only targets. ICE will also pick up unlawful entrant whom its agents run across in their dragnet for the worst criminals.
But Alexander, Bruce, and other legacy reporters sought to distinguish between those guilty of unlawful entry only, and those guilty of other crimes besides. That is a false distinction, and the Trump administration will no longer make it. What they will do, and are doing, is to go after the violent ones first, because they pose the immediate threat. That does not mean that the “non-violent” ones get a free pass on unlawful entry.Karoline Leavitt made this abundantly clear, as ICE Director Tom Homan did in interviews before and after the election.
Reaction to Karoline Leavitt
Reaction to Karoline Leavitt, like reaction to Trump himself, was predictable. MSNBC accused the new Press Secretary of “offer[ing] unfortunate advice” regarding Trump’s temporary spending freeze. The Office of Management and Budget announced that freeze on Monday (January 27). But Judge Loren AliKhan of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia has slapped an administrative stay on the freeze, and has scheduled a hearing for February 3 on a motion for a temporary restraining order. National Council of Nonprofits v. Office of Management and Budget, 1:25-cv-00239.
Said Leavitt on the subject:
It is a temporary pause and the Office of Management and Budget is reviewing the federal funding that has been going out the door. … I also spoke with the incoming director of OMB this morning and he told me to tell all of you that the line to his office is open for other federal government agencies across the board. And if they feel that programs are necessary and in line with the president’s agenda, then the Office of Management and Budget will review those policies.
MSNBC’s Steve Benen used words like “scandal” to describe the President’s action, and accused Leavitt of advising people to call a non-officeholder for advice.
If that’s the legacy media’s best, then neither Karoline Leavitt nor Donald Trump need worry. By the way, the court – after the press conference – has limited the scope and duration of the stay.
However, because an administrative stay in this case blocks executive action—a consideration that is not to be taken lightly—the court will limit its duration to only the few days it will take for expedited briefing and a hearing. It will further limit the scope of the administrative stay to OMB’s direction that agencies “pause . . . disbursement of Federal funds under all open awards,” so that it is tailored to Plaintiffs’ concern that a lapse in existing federal funding will cause irreparable injuries to recipients and their programs.
That should answer Mr. Benen’s question. Should, but likely won’t. MSNBC is, after all, MSNBC. Besides, the freeze declaration itself is likely part of a “flood the zone” strategy Team Trump seems to be implementing.
In keeping with that, watch for the Trump administration to issue more Executive Orders, and more memoranda, for Karoline Leavitt to brief the press about.
Terry A. Hurlbut has been a student of politics, philosophy, and science for more than 35 years. He is a graduate of Yale College and has served as a physician-level laboratory administrator in a 250-bed community hospital. He also is a serious student of the Bible, is conversant in its two primary original languages, and has followed the creation-science movement closely since 1993.
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