Karoline Leavitt lost it on several reporters during her press briefing on Friday, starting with a reporter who asked her about Donald Trump’s meme coin
Karoline Leavitt claimed that Donald Trump is “abiding by all conflict of interest laws” when it comes to his meme coin he’s encouraging people to buy, snapping at a reporter who dared to ask whether or not investing in the coin was a waste of money.
The president launched a meme coin, $TRUMP, and has been encouraging people to invest in it, incentivizing them with the prospect of winning a dinner with him this month.
One reporter demanded to know why the president was planning to host such a dinner, leading to Leavitt’s conflict of interest comment, which seemed to answer the question the reporter was alluding to.
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“The president posted another add this week for his Trump meme coin. The group that’s running that coin is encouraging people to buy in order to win a dinner this month with the president,” Andrew Egger began, addressing the press secretary. “Why is the president planning to attend a dinner for the top investors in this coin?”
“The president is abiding by all conflict of interest laws,” Leavitt responded. “The president has been incredibly transparent with his own personal financial obligations throughout the years. The president is a successful businessman, and I think, frankly, it’s one of the many reasons that people reelected him back to this office.”
Egger followed up by informing Leavitt that there were several individuals who are investing in the coin in order to influence the president’s views — they see it as an “opportunity,” Egger explained.
“There was a logistics company this week that said they would buy $20 million in the coin in order to advocate for free trade between the U.S. and Mexico,” he said. “If buyers are buying for that reason, are they wasting their money?”
Leavitt’s response was short and snippy, a precursor for her attitude during the rest of the briefing, during which she snarkily slammed reporters and got heated with them on several occassions as they asked about the wars in Ukraine and Gaza and Trump’s sweeping tariffs — specifically, the deal that was recently made with the U.K. and about the potentially lowered tariff rates against China.
“I can assure you, the president acts with only the interests of the American public in mind, putting our country first and doing what’s best for our country, full stop,” she said. “That’s his intention, and that’s what he’s focused on.”
Leavitt slams reporters hinting at Trump’s corruption
During another portion of the press briefing, Leavitt slammed a pair of reporters who asked questions about a potential conflict of interest the president had when it came to certain policies — including the sale and operation of the meme coin, for one
“Let me get to the premise of your question that both of you have raised,” Leavitt began. “I think it’s frankly ridiculous that anyone in this room would even suggest that President Trump is doing anything for his own benefit.”
“He left a life of luxury and a life of running a very successful real estate empire for public service — not just once, but twice,” she scathingly stated.
“And, again, the American public reelected him to this White House because they trust he acts in the best interest of our country and putting the American public first,” she continued. “This is a president who has actually lost money for being president of the United States.”
She then went on to rail against the reporters again, stating, “I don’t remember these types of questions being asked of my predecessor about a career politician who was clearly profiting off of this office. That is not what President Trump does, and this White House holds ourselves to the highest of ethical standards.”
Leavitt slams reporter
Leavitt also slammed a reporter who dared ask her why the Trump administration was dismantling an the Consumer Product Safety Commission, attempting to educate her on how the U.S. government works in a demeaning manor.
“Yesterday, the administration appears to have started dismantling the Consumer Product Safety Commission. This is the federal agency, the independent one, that does recalls and is responsible for product safety. Does the administration not believe that it’s important to keep toys and cribs — you know, you’re a young mom — off of the market?” a reporter asked.
“It’s a federal agency within which branch?” Leavitt snarkily asked her in response. “It’s the executive branch,” she answered herself. “Who’s the head of the executive branch? The president of the United States.”
“But what about Congress?” the reporter could be heard struggling to ask over Leavitt’s scathing response. “He has the right to fire people within the executive branch. It’s a pretty simple answer,” Leavitt said before moving on to the next reporter.
