WASHINGTON— Press secretary Karoline Leavitt made her debut in the White House briefing room, where she defended President Donald Trump’s plans to slash federal spending and its mass deportation efforts.
Leavitt, who at 27 years old is the youngest person to serve as White House press secretary, faced repeated questions on the decision to unexpectedly freeze federal aid on Monday night. She argued that this was what Americans expected when they elected Trump and that these latest actions by his administration are simply fulfilling a promise.
“That’s what this pause is focused on, being good stewards of tax dollars,” she said.
Leavitt said the pause on federal aid is “not a blanket pause on federal assistance and grant programs” and repeatedly insisted that it will not apply to individual assistance. When asked directly if she could assure no individual on Medicaid would lose coverage, she said, “I’ll check back on that.”
Medicaid payments appeared frozen Tuesday as access to online portals was blocked across the country. The Medicaid websites manage the federal health funds used to help provide coverage to nearly 80 million people in the U.S.
Following the briefing, Leavitt posted on X that the Medicaid systems taken down after the pause would be back online shortly.
When pressed about what specific programs would be affected, Leavitt said she had not seen the entire list of impacted programs from the White House Office of Management and Budget but would soon provide it.
Leavitt also previewed a shift in the Trump administration’s approach to press operations by inviting independent and new media journalists and social media content creators to produce news-related media.
The announcement, delivered to a packed room, promises to upend traditional norms inside the James S. Brady briefing room that have privileged legacy media outlets for years.
Precedent dictates that the first question of the briefing goes to The Associated Press. This time, Leavitt began by offering the first question to Mike Allen of Axios, who occupied a seat in the room typically reserved for the press secretary’s staff. Her second question went to Matthew Boyle of Breitbart, seated by Allen’s side.
Leavitt said these seats would be available to new media reporters going forward, holding out a well-placed perch to outlets not previously accommodated in the seating assignments for reporters and correspondents attending the daily briefings and news conferences. Trump’s campaign leveraged a similar strategy when it made use of podcasts and nontraditional media — which he has credited with helping him earn support from younger Americans — in a bid to reach a larger share of the vote.
“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,” Leavitt said Tuesday. “We will ensure that outlets like yours, Axios, and Breitbart, which are widely respected and viewed outlets, have an actual seat in this room every day.”
Leavitt also invited applications from independent journalists and others, creating what she called “news-related” content, and promised to work to restore more than 400 White House press passes, which she said had been revoked under the previous administration.
“Whether you are a TikTok content creator, a blogger, a podcaster, if you are producing legitimate news content, no matter the medium, you will be allowed to apply for press credentials to this White House,” she added.
Leavitt took questions from reporters seated far in the back of the room, telling them, “I hear you. The back row hasn’t gotten much attention in the last four years, so I’m happy to answer your question,” she said.
(Allen notably told Vanity Fair two weeks ago: “We beg our reporters to never go to a White House press briefing … That’s a good chunk of your day lost.”)
Also in the audience were correspondents Natalie Winters of Bannon’s War Room and Brian Glenn of Right Side Broadcasting Network. Over 47 minutes, Leavitt called on 20 outlets, according to an unofficial count by National Journal’s George Condon. This included questions from the major broadcast, wire and print outlets, as well as The Grio and conservative Daily Caller.
The effect was a startling shift aimed at immediately drawing a contrast with the prior administration, continuing a week of shock and awe for the new White House.
Leavitt opened the briefing with an announcement “just shared with me in the Oval Office from President Trump directly” about the mysterious unexplained drone sightings off the coast of 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,” Leavitt said.
Asked about NBC News’ reporting that nearly half of immigrants arrested on Sunday did not have criminal records, Leavitt said that criminals should be “the priority of ICE, but that doesn’t mean that the other illegal criminals who entered our nation’s borders are off the table.”
She later added that individuals overstaying their visas would be subject to deportation too.
Questioned about the firing of career Justice Department prosecutors who worked on Special Counsel Jack Smith’s investigations of Trump, Leavitt said Trump is “the executive of the executive branch, and therefore he has the power to fire anyone within the executive branch that he wishes to.”
Leavitt also told reporters that they would hear from her and Trump “as much as possible,” though she did not offer specifics on exactly how often.
Trump, who has taken dozens of questions from reporters in the Oval Office, on Air Force One, and during other opportunities since taking office last week, is “the best spokesperson that this White House has,” she said.
This article was originally published on NBCNews.com
