Youngest ever WH press officer Karoline Leavitt eschews tradition in first briefing

Karoline Leavitt told reporters Donald Trump is opening up the briefing room to bloggers, podcasters and social-media influencers, as he seeks to challenge the mainstream media’s dominant role.

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt speaks to reporters. Picture: AFP.

President Trump is opening up the White House briefing room to bloggers, podcasters and social-media influencers, as he seeks to challenge the dominant role that mainstream news outlets play in coverage of the nation’s capital.

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt, speaking at her first briefing since Trump took office, said the president would restore more than 400 press passes that were revoked during the Biden administration. The White House is also opening up new seats at the front of the briefing room for new media outlets.

“The Trump White House will speak to all media outlets and personalities, not just the legacy media seated in this room,” Leavitt said, encouraging all independent journalists who create news-related content to apply for credentials through a new government website.

In the 46-minute briefing, Leavitt declined to say how often she would answer questions from the press, calling Trump his best spokesman. Past presidents have held briefings most weekdays.

Leavitt called on reporters in the back of the room, and in the aisles, many of whom work for right-leaning news sites.

In an indication that Trump himself will lead the administration’s communications efforts, Leavitt read a statement from the president about last year’s spate of mysterious drone sightings in New Jersey. Trump said the drones were authorised to be flown by the Federal Aviation Administration, adding that many were flown by private individuals for recreational purposes. “This was not the enemy,” the president said.

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt answered questions about the Trump administration’s decision to suspend federal aid to several assistance programs. Photo: Roberto Schmidt/AFP/Getty Images

The briefing room aisles were packed with reporters and photographers on Tuesday, with a journalist at one point asking, “Is this a fire hazard?” The White House invited reporters from Axios and Breitbart News to ask the first questions, eschewing the tradition of starting the briefing with questions from the Associated Press.

Karoline Leavitt speaks to reporters. Picture: AFP.

Tuesday’s briefing was a first for Leavitt, who at age 27 is the youngest press secretary in White House history. She served as a press aide during Trump’s first term and then ran for Congress in 2022 in New Hampshire, where she grew up.

In her race, she won the Republican primary but lost the general election to Rep. Chris Pappas by roughly 8 percentage points. She declined to run in 2024, instead joining the Trump campaign as national press secretary. She became a regular on cable news throughout 2024, fiercely defending Trump. She gave birth to her first child in July and planned to take a maternity leave but cut it short days after coming home from the hospital when an assassin’s bullet grazed Trump’s ear in Butler, Pa.

Leavitt deflected questions about the pause in federal aid grants as well as when and how Trump would implement tariffs, often repeating what Trump has said publicly.

Asked several times if a broad and far-reaching White House order pausing hundreds of billions of dollars in federal grants, loans and other financial-assistance programs would affect Medicaid, Leavitt said, “I’ll check back on that and get back to you.”

Some states reported on Tuesday that they were unable to tap federal Medicaid funds, even as the White House sent a memo to Capitol Hill saying that programs such as Medicaid would continue without pause. About an hour after the briefing ended, Leavitt posted on X that the “White House is aware of the Medicaid website portal outage.” She said no payments have been affected and that it should be “back online shortly.”