Press Secretary Leavitt's sharp exchange with White House reporter goes viral

Karoline Leavitt, 27, became the youngest White House press secretary in U.S. history when she gave her first briefing on January 28, 2025, breaking Ronald Ziegler's record (age 29 in 1969)

On May 5, 2025, Leavitt told a reporter asking about balancing motherhood and work: "My son is none of your business. Shame on you for trying to score cheap points," sparking over 1 million views on social media

In January 2026, Leavitt called The Hill's Niall Stanage a "left-wing hack" and "biased reporter" after he cited 32 ICE custody deaths, 170 wrongfully detained U.S. citizens, and the shooting death of Renee Good by an ICE agent

On March 11, 2025, Leavitt told Associated Press reporter Josh Boak "I think it's insulting that you are trying to test my knowledge of economics" and "I now regret giving a question to the Associated Press" during a tense exchange over Trump's tariffs

On June 11, 2025, Leavitt responded to NOTUS reporter Jasmine Wright's question about peaceful protests by saying "What a stupid question," then treated New York Times reporter David Sanger more respectfully on a similar follow-up

Leavitt dismissed The Independent's Andrew Feinberg's question about Trump joking about canceling elections by saying "Andrew, were you in the room? No you weren't. I was in the room," refusing to directly address the democratic implications

The Trump White House announced in March 2025 it would take control of the briefing room seating chart from the White House Correspondents Association, with Leavitt stating new media voices would get priority access

The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker documented Leavitt's pattern of targeting media, including defending the February 2025 ban of Associated Press reporters from White House events over refusing to call the Gulf of Mexico the "Gulf of America"

White House Communications Director Steven Cheung, known for his combative style mirroring Trump's approach to media, works alongside Leavitt to implement the administration's confrontational press strategy