White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt used her first briefing Tuesday to announce a halt to $50 million in condom shipments to Gaza, unveil sweeping changes to media access, and clashing with liberal reporters — a dramatic departure from the Biden White House.
“We are correcting the lies and the wrongs that have been committed over the past four years. Lies told to you from this podium. I commit to telling the truth from this podium every single day,” Leavitt said.
“We ask that all of you in this room hold that same standard. We know there have been lies pushed by legacy media outlets in this country about this president, about his family.”
“We will not accept that,” she said. “We will call you out.”
Take a look —
My absolute favorite mic drop moment from press conference was when Karoline Leavitt completely destroyed KJP and the Legacy Media’s lies to their faces:
"We are correcting the lies and the wrongs that have been committed over the past four years. Lies told to you from this… pic.twitter.com/hS9RZg3UDl
— Benny Johnson (@bennyjohnson) January 28, 2025
At 27-years-old, Leavitt is the youngest press secretary in U.S. history.
In her first announcement, she revealed that the newly established Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) — run by billionaire Elon Musk — discovered “$50 million taxpayer dollars that went out the door to fund condoms in Gaza.”
“That is a preposterous waste of taxpayer money. So that’s what this pause is focused on, being good stewards of tax dollars,” Leavitt declared from the podium.
The announcement came alongside major changes to the White House press corps, including a new front-row “new media seat” for digital outlets and plans to restore 440 press passes revoked under the Biden administration.
“Millions of Americans, especially young people, have turned away from traditional television outlets and newspapers to consume their news from podcasts, blogs, social media and other independent outlets,” Leavitt said, citing recent Gallup polls showing record-low trust in mainstream media.
The Trump administration also blocked a $37 million payment to the World Health Organization after cutting ties with the body on Trump’s first day back in office.
A federal judge temporarily blocked Trump’s temporary pause on federal loans and grants late Tuesday, marking the second judicial intervention in a week after another judge ruled his executive order to end birthright citizenship “blatantly unconstitutional.”
The briefing room changes preserved the traditional 49 seats while adding new spots for outlets like Axios and Breitbart. An array of right-wing media personalities attended, including representatives from Gateway Pundit, Real America’s Voice, and Steve Bannon’s War Room.
“It is a fact that Americans are consuming their news media from various different platforms, especially young people,” Leavitt said.
“As the youngest press secretary in history, thanks to President Trump, I take great pride in opening up this room to new media voices to share the president‘s message with as many Americans as possible,” she said.