*White House Press Secretary Cuts Briefing Short Amid Grilling Over Houthi Leak*
*Washington, D.C.* – White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt abruptly ended a press conference on Wednesday after facing tough questions about the leaked government discussions regarding a planned strike on the Houthis in Yemen.
The briefing, the first since the explosive *Signal* chat scandal broke, lasted just under 25 minutes. Leavitt spoke for less than 10 minutes before taking a handful of reporter questions and then quickly departing.
"Speaking of the vice president, I hear he's going to be speaking any moment now. I would hate to counter-program the vice president of the United States," Leavitt said before wrapping up. "You will also hear from the president at 3 p.m. honoring Women’s History Month… and then again at 4 p.m. when he talks about tariffs. Plenty of time for more questions. Sorry it’s a bit shorter today, guys," she added before stepping away from the podium.
Observers on social media quickly noted her sudden exit.
"Karoline Leavitt got scared and just ran off the stage after getting grilled by reporters about the *Signal* chat," one X user wrote.
Another added: "Karoline Leavitt practically ran out of that press conference after getting hammered by reporters."
During the briefing, Leavitt touted President Trump’s efforts to attract foreign investment, framing it as part of his mission to restore America as a "manufacturing superpower." She also confirmed that Trump would later announce new tariffs targeting the auto industry.
However, the focus quickly shifted to the bombshell report in *The Atlantic*, which revealed that Editor-in-Chief Jeffrey Goldberg had been accidentally added to a high-level *Signal* group chat where administration officials—including Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, National Security Advisor Mike Walz, and Vice President JD Vance—discussed potential military action against the Houthis. Screenshots of the messages, including attack plans, were published in the article.
Leavitt dismissed the report as a "sensationalized story from the failing *Atlantic* magazine" and insisted no classified information had been leaked. She also stated that Walz, who mistakenly added Goldberg to the chat, had taken responsibility, and an investigation was underway.
"If the story proves anything, it proves that Democrats and their propagandists in the mainstream media know how to fabricate, orchestrate, and disseminate a misinformation campaign quite well," Leavitt said.
She went further, attacking Goldberg—a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist who has interviewed figures like Barack Obama—as an "anti-Trump hater" and a "registered Democrat." Leavitt also referenced Goldberg’s past support for the Iraq War, suggesting it discredited his reporting.
Goldberg has previously drawn Trump’s ire for a pre-election article alleging the former president admired Adolf Hitler, citing accounts from ex-staffers, including Gen. John Kelly, Trump’s longest-serving chief of staff.
The press secretary’s combative tone and early exit underscored the administration’s struggle to contain fallout from the leak, even as she sought to redirect attention to the president’s upcoming policy announcements.
Comments
Post a Comment