Trump gives Karoline Leavitt a glowing assessment on her job as press secretary: ‘We’re very proud’
President Donald Trump gave high marks to his 27-year-old press secretary Karoline Leavitt at the start of his first formal press conference Tuesday.
Trump, who is known for heaping extravagant praise on members of his cabinet – even before souring on many of them during his first term – ran through some of the VIPs in attendance at the start of his press conference with Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu.
He began with Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff, telling him ‘what a job you’ve done.’ He thanked national security advisor Mike Waltz ‘for working so well with us.’
Trump said Secretary of State Marco Rubio was on the phone ‘listening to every single word that we say, and he’s going to be great,’ and offered ‘congratulations’ to Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent.
But it was when he got to Leavitt when Trump gushed in personal terms.
‘Karoline has been doing a great job. She’s really probably talked about more than anybody here,’ Trump quipped.
‘She’s done a fantastic job. And thank you very much, Karoline,’ Trump added. ‘We’re proud of you.’
‘But we’ll only be satisfied when all of these problems are solved and we have the team to solve them,’ Trump said, shortly before outlining a stunning plan to ‘take over’ the Gaza strip and turn it into the ‘Riviera of the Middle East.’
‘She’s done a fantastic job,’ President Trump said of his new press secretary, Karoline Leavitt
Leavitt has held two press briefings so far, as her boss continues to flood the zone – holding essentially three press conference on Tuesday alone.
At her first briefing, the youngest ever White House press secretary told reporters ‘I can assure you that you’ll be hearing from both him and me as much as possible.’
Leavitt has clashed with members of the mainstream media during her early briefings, making a point of calling on friendly conservative outlets and designating a seat in the briefing room for them that had previously been used by White House staff.
Trump praised Leavitt and members of his cabinet at a press conference where he called for the U.S. to ‘take over’ the Gaza strip, a territory that has been levelled by Israeli bombardment
She was a seasoned TV commentator before she took the job, and already worked in Trump’s White House press shop during his first term.
She has also taken time to ‘gaggle’ with reporters after conducting Fox news TV hits on the North Lawn of the White House. Enthralled online fans dubbed her the ‘grim reaper’ after one TV interview takedown.
Even with all the efforts to talk up members of his team, one person Trump forgot to single out at first was Vice President JD Vance. ‘Please, vice president, stand up,’ Trump said at the start of a question-and-answer period after praising the other members of his team.
Although she has exerted control over the briefing room, Leavitt has had a few stumbles. A federal judge cited one of her online posts when considering a restraining order to block a Trump administration freeze on trillions of funds of federal spending.
Trump had four press secretaries during his first term. His last one, Stephanie Grisham, never held a briefing, and ended up endorsing Vice President Kamala Harris at the Democratic convention.
