Donald Trump jokes about firing Karoline Leavitt, but ultimately says he will keep his White House press secretary. Photos: X.
US President Donald Trump on Tuesday (local time) jested about mulling if he should keep his White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt or fire her.
Trump, while speaking to reporters in the Oval Office, laughed it off, saying that he would keep her.
“We have to straighten out our media. People don’t believe the media. And to finish, I got 93% bad publicity. Some people say 97, but between 93 and 97. A person that gets 97% of bad stories, maybe Karoline’s doing a poor job, I don’t know. She’s my rep… you’re doing a terrible job. Should we keep her? I think we’ll keep her,” he said.
Trump said that most of the press coverage he gets is negative.
“But I get 93 to 97% bad press, fake press, all fake. I won in a landslide. When you get 93 to 97% bad stories, bad press, and you win in a landslide, you know what that says? People don’t believe the press. And when people don’t believe the press, that’s a very bad thing for our country,” he said.
Trump has vociferously heaped praise on Leavitt. Earlier at the Women’s History Month Event, Trump said that she does a fantastic job.
“The youngest and perhaps the best, White House press secretary in history, does a fantastic job, Karoline. She keeps me straight. She keeps you, no, sir, you can’t do that. You can’t do this. I can’t do anything. Life would be so much more exciting, wouldn’t it? Thank you, Karoline. Great,” he said.
The Trump administration maintains a tough relationship with the reporters as Leavitt is known for her jabs towards them.
On October 20, for example, Leavitt hit back at a reporter, calling him a “left wing hack” and that he is not a journalist.
Leavitt shared a screenshot of her exchange with the journalist, alleging that his messages resembled an “anti-US President Donald Trump diary.”
On August 11, 2025, during a press briefing, Trump was asked, “The question is this. You’re building the big beautiful ballroom. Could we build a big, beautiful briefing room?” To this, he said, “I don’t want to do that. I don’t want you to be comfortable. So no, I don’t want to make life comfortable.”
(With inputs from ANI)
Zubair Amin is a Senior Journalist at NewsX with over seven years of experience in reporting and editorial work. He has written for leading national and international publications, including Foreign Policy Magazine, Al Jazeera, The Economic Times, The Indian Express, The Wire, Article 14, Mongabay, News9, among others. His primary focus is on international affairs, with a strong interest in US politics and policy. He also writes on West Asia, Indian polity, and constitutional issues. Zubair tweets at zubaiyr.amin
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