Washington, DC: US president Donald Trump, while talking about the bad publicity he has been getting, joked about firing his White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt.
While speaking to reporters in the Oval Office, Trump laughed it off, saying that he would keep her, as reported by ANI.
“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.
Most of the press coverage he gets is negative, the US president said, accusing the media of publishing fake articles.
“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.
In the past, Trump had vociferously heaped praise on Leavitt. At the Women’s History Month Event, he had 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.
Relations between the press secretary and reporters have not been great in recent times. On October 20, Leavitt hit back at a Huffington Post reporter, calling him a “left wing hack”.
She shared a screenshot of her exchange with the journalist, alleging that his messages resembled an “anti-US President Donald Trump diary.”
During a press briefing 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, the Republican leader has replied: “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.”
