RESOLVING THE LEDGER
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White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt takes questions during a press conference at the White House in Washington, D.C., on July 16, 2026. —Li Yuanqing—Xinhua/Getty Images
During her time behind the White House podium, departing Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt has gained a reputation for her sharp retorts to reporters, an echo of President Donald Trump’s contentious relationship with the press .
Leavitt will step down from her role at the White House at the end of the month to spend more time with her family, Trump announced on Wednesday—”a decision,” he said in a Truth Social post , “I totally understand and respect!” He added that she “will now be one of my top outside advisors, and an influential voice within the Republican Party.”
In her own social media post on Wednesday, Leavitt called the White House Press Secretary role “the honor and adventure of a lifetime” and went on to thank the President.
“Most of all, I am thankful to the President for entrusting me with the distinct privilege of speaking on his behalf at the White House podium,” she said. “I have relished holding the liberal media accountable and ensuring the American people hear the truth about President Trump’s successes.”
Here are some of the most notable moments of Leavitt going head-to-head with the press in the year and a half she has served in her role.
When she said she regretted giving a question to The Associated Press
During a press briefing in March 2025, Leavitt had a heated exchange with Josh Boak, a reporter at The Associated Press, after he asked why Trump was prioritizing “tax hikes in the form of tariffs” rather than the tax cuts he vowed to enact while he was campaigning during the 2024 election.
“He’s actually not implementing tax hikes. Tariffs are a tax hike on foreign countries that, again, have been ripping us off,” Leavitt replied. “Tariffs are a tax cut for the American people, and the President is a staunch advocate of tax cuts.”
Boak pushed back by saying: “I’m sorry, have you ever paid a tariff? Because I have. They don’t get charged on foreign companies; they get charged on the importers.”
Leavitt responded by arguing that tariffs would be beneficial for Americans, before adding that Boak was being “insulting.”
“I think it’s insulting that you’re trying to test my knowledge of economics, and the decision that this President has made,” she said. “I now regret giving a question to The Associated Press.”
When she said a reporter asked a “stupid question”
At a White House press briefing in June 2025, NOTUS reporter Jasmine Wright asked Leavitt to “clarify what kind of protest President Trump does support or find acceptable.” The question came after Trump had issued a warning to potential protesters ahead of the upcoming military parade in the nation’s capital: “For those people that want to protest, they’re going to be met with very big force.”
Leavitt said that Trump “absolutely supports peaceful protests. He supports the First Amendment,” but added that “he does not support violence of any kind.”
Wright then asked whether the President would allow peaceful protests the day of the military parade in the nation’s capital. Leavitt shot back: “Of course the President supports peaceful protests. What a stupid question.”
When she abruptly ended a press briefing after a question about the Commerce Secretary’s Epstein ties
In February, Leavitt abruptly ended a White House press briefing after a reporter asked whether the White House supported Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick . The question came after Lutnick said earlier that same day in front of a Senate panel that he had visited the private island of the late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein in 2012—despite the fact that he had previously claimed to have ended his relationship with Epstein years before.
Leavitt responded by saying that the Commerce Secretary is “a very important member of President Trump’s team” and that Trump “fully supports” him. She then slammed the journalists in the room for their questions.
“I will just point out that there are a lot of wins in the news this week that people in this room have not asked about because you continue to ask questions about the same subject so let me point them out for you,” Leavitt said, before she began reading off other news that the Trump Administration was celebrating as victories, including recent stock market results.
“So,” she said when she finished, “we’re going to get back to business. The President is very busy today and you will see him all tomorrow at the event in the East Room touting his Administration’s energy policy.” She then walked off the stage.
When she accused a journalist of being a “leftwing activist”
During a press briefing in January—just a week after Renee Nicole Good was shot and killed by a federal immigration agent—The Hill columnist Niall Stanage asked Leavitt a question about ICE’s tactics. He cited then-Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem ’s claim that ICE officers are “doing everything correctly.” He went on to list statistics that 32 people died while in ICE custody in 2025 and more than 170 Americans were detained by the agency last year, before referencing Good’s death.
“How does that equate to them doing everything correctly?” he asked Leavitt.
Leavitt replied: “Why was Renee Good unfortunately and tragically killed?”
When Stanage clarified whether she was asking him for his opinion, she replied in the affirmative.
“Because an ICE agent acted recklessly and killed her unjustifiably,” he said.
“Okay, so you’re a biased reporter with a leftwing opinion,” Leavitt said. “Because you’re a leftwing hack. You’re not a reporter, you’re posing in this room as a journalist. And it’s so clear by the premise of your question. And you and the people of the media who have such biases but fake like you’re a journalist—you shouldn’t even be sitting in that seat.”
“You’re pretending like you’re a journalist, but you’re a leftwing a...
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