White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt touted President Donald Trump‘s executive efforts in office and slammed former President Joe Biden’s previous administration during her first briefing Tuesday.
Leavitt, the youngest White House press secretary in the nation’s history at 27, took several questions without a binder full of notes to guide her answers, a stark departure from her Democratic predecessor, Karine Jean-Pierre.
The confident display from the new presidential spokeswoman marked a new era after Biden’s carefully crafted tenure.
Journalists in the tightly packed James S. Brady Press Briefing Room questioned Leavitt about a wide range of topics, including immigration, federal funding, and lowering grocery prices for the American family.
Here are the top takeaways from Tuesday’s press briefing.
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Leavitt asked for clarification on federal funding freeze
The president’s surprise decision to pause federal grant funding upended most of Washington as lawmakers, nonprofit organization executives, and state leaders sought clarity on which programs the order applied to.
Leavitt was repeatedly asked during the briefing to give more explanation on how this would affect everyday people.
“This is not a blanket pause on federal assistance and grant programs from the Trump administration,” Leavitt said. “Individual assistance that includes — I’m not naming everything that’s included, but just to give you a few examples — Social Security benefits, Medicare benefits, food stamps, welfare benefits, assistance that is going directly to individuals will not be impacted by this pause.”
On Medicaid, however, Leavitt claimed she would have to get back to the press about whether funding would be paused or not.
In a statement posted to social media after the press briefing, Leavitt said Medicaid payments are still being processed and sent despite reports that portals in multiple states are experiencing outages.
The memorandum from acting Office of Management and Budget Director Matthew Vaeth was meant to identify key areas where funding can be eliminated, the press secretary said.
“It means no more funding for illegal DEI programs,” Leavitt said. “It means no more funding for the Green New Scam that has cost American taxpayers tens of billions of dollars. It means no more funding for transgenderism and wokeness across our federal bureaucracy and agencies.”
When asked about organizations that send funding to people, such as Meals on Wheels, Leavitt said again that direct assistance would not be affected.
“OMB just sent out a memo to Capitol Hill with Q&A to clarify some of the questions and the answers that all of you are asking me right now,” she said. “Again, direct assistance will not be impacted.”
New media will be welcomed at the White House
With a new administration, apparently, come new media being welcomed into the White House.
Leavitt began the press briefing by mentioning the rising impact of podcasters and nontraditional media outlets during the 2024 campaign season.
Due to their reach to millions of people, the press secretary said a new government website has been launched to allow these media personalities to apply for press briefings.
“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,” Leavitt said. “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.”
Leavitt also gave the first questions to new media outlets Axios and Breitbart News as an example of the increased access they will receive. She also said the seat in the front of the briefing room, which is usually occupied by the press secretary’s staff, will be called the new media seat.
“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, WhiteHouse.gov/newmedia,” Leavitt said.
Trump White House blames Biden for rising egg prices
With Trump in power, Democrats have repeatedly slammed the president over skyrocketing egg prices due to the bird flu.
In response to a Washington Examiner question, Leavitt used the moment to defend her boss from the criticism.
“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 in the residence sleeping — I’m not so sure — egg prices increased 65% in this country,” Leavitt said.
“We also have seen the cost of everything, not just eggs, bacon, groceries, gasoline, have increased because of the inflationary policies of the last administration,” she continued. “As far as the egg shortage, what’s also contributing to that is that the Biden administration and the Department of Agriculture directed the mass killing of more than 100 million chickens, which has led to a lack of chicken supply in this country, therefore lack of egg supply, which is leading to the shortage.”
The rise in bird flu cases has caused farmers to slaughter millions of chickens, which has increased egg prices. Eggs are reportedly twice as expensive as they were in the summer of 2023, the Associated Press reported.
Trump gives an explanation on random New Jersey drones
In her debut at the press briefing room, Leavitt read about a statement from Trump giving an update on the sightings of mysterious drones in New Jersey last year.
“After research and study, the drones that were flying over New Jersey, in large numbers, were authorized to be flown by the FAA for research and various other reasons,” Trump’s statement reads. “Many of these drones were also hobbyists, recreational and private individuals that enjoy flying drones. … In time, it got worse. Due to curiosity, this was not the enemy.”
In December 2024, Trump accused the Biden administration of not being forthcoming on the multiple sightings of drones.
“The government knows what is happening,” Trump said at the time. “Look, our military knows where they took off from. They know where it came from and where it went. And for some reason, they don’t want to comment, and I think they’d be better off saying what it is. Our military knows, and our president knows. And for some reason, they want to keep people in suspense.”
Leavitt touts Trump’s crackdown on illegal immigration
At the beginning of her remarks to the press, Leavitt repeatedly touted Trump’s achievements, including signing an executive order declaring a national emergency at the southern border, an order to end catch-and-release immigration policies, and another order to finish construction of the border wall.
As Leavitt spoke, she was surrounded by two posters that featured the mug shots of migrants in the United States illegally.
“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,” Leavitt said. “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.”
Leavitt was also asked about the deportation of nonviolent migrants, to which she repeatedly claimed their illegal entry into the U.S. was a crime.
“If you are an individual, a foreign national, who illegally enters the United States of America, you are, by definition, a criminal, and so therefore you are subject to deportation,” she said.
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After more questioning, Leavitt gave more clarification on the priority for the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
“Two things can be true at the same time,” she said. “We want to deport illegal criminals, illegal immigrants from this country, but the president has said that, of course, the illegal criminal drug dealers, the rapists, the murderers, the individuals who have committed heinous acts on the interior of our country and who have terrorized law-abiding American citizens, absolutely, those should be the priority of ICE.”