White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt balked at a handful of questions posed by the media during Wednesday's press briefing regarding the anti-ICE riots that have spiraled in Los Angeles, including remarking that one prompt was "stupid" before quickly moving on.
"Quick question, so if there were peaceful protests on Saturday for the military parade, President Trump would allow that," one reporter asked Leavitt on Wednesday afternoon.
"Of course, the president supports peaceful protest. What a stupid question," Leavitt shot back before taking another question from another reporter.
The press briefing comes after riots broke out in Los Angeles on Friday in response to federal law enforcement officials converging on the city to conduct immigration raids.
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt speaks during a daily press briefing in the Brady Press Briefing Room at the White House on Jun. 11, 2025, in Washington, DC. (Getty Images)
Reporters peppered Leavitt with a handful of questions regarding planned upcoming deportation efforts nationwide, and how the administration plans to handle any potential future riots in response to ICE raids, as well as another question on the riots that Leavitt quickly dismissed as a "disingenuous attack."
"Everything that we've seen so far with the president's response to the LA protests, there is criticism that seems to suggest that the president responded the way he did because it was a deliberate, calculated attempt to sort of shift focus away from his feud with Musk. How would you respond to that idea?" another reporter asked.
"That the president responded to the LA riots, condemning the violence … That's an incredibly disingenuous attack," Leavitt responded.
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A law enforcement officer works to put out a fire during a protest in Compton, Calif., Saturday, Jun. 7, 2025, after federal immigration authorities conducted operations. (Ethan Swope/AP Images)
Leavitt continued in her response that Trump saw footage first-hand of rioters targeting federal law enforcement officials such as ICE, before making the decision to activate the National Guard over the weekend.
"The president saw images of Border Patrol and ICE agents being hit with rocks and Molotov cocktails. He saw vehicles being burned to the ground with illegal aliens flying foreign flags. And that's what prompted the president to have this response that has clearly worked," she continued.
Riots broke out in the city after local leaders such as Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass and Gov. Gavin Newsom denounced the raids in public statements while offering words of support for illegal aliens in the state.
Police officers stand amid tear gas during a protest against federal immigration sweeps in downtown Los Angeles, California, U.S. Jun. 8, 2025. (REUTERS/Daniel Cole)
Trump announced Saturday that he was deploying 2,000 National Guard members to help quell the violence, bypassing the governor, who typically activates the National Guard. The move sparked Newsom to file a lawsuit against the Trump administration for efforts to allegedly "federalize the California National Guard," while Democrats across the nation have attempted to pin blame for the violence on Trump's activation of the National Guard while characterizing the anti-ICE riots as "peaceful" demonstrations.
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"And I would add, the governor and the mayor need to actually do more. I know Gavin Newsom had a big address to the nation last night. … We haven't seen action. California has been a mess for years because of the incompetence of Gavin Newsom. So, the president was responding to that only," Leavitt continued.
House Republicans reacted to President Donald Trump (left) and Elon Musk fighting on social media. (Reuters/AP)
MUSK SAYS HE REGRETS SOCIAL MEDIA POSTS TARGETING TRUMP: 'THEY WENT TOO FAR'
The riots unfolded in Los Angeles the day after Trump and former Department of Government Efficiency leader Elon Musk traded public barbs over the "big beautiful bill," which is sweeping legislation that aims to fund Trump's agenda.
Musk attempted to rally lawmakers to "kill the bill" on Tuesday, arguing it was an "outrageous, pork-filled Congressional spending bill is a disgusting abomination."
The pair's relationship appeared to be shattered as they traded repeated public barbs. Musk, however, posted to X on Wednesday that he regretted "some of my posts about President @realDonaldTrump last week. They went too far."