Karoline Leavitt's Cringe Defense Of Trump's Pet Project Only Fuels The Haters
Karoline Leavitt has been in Donald Trump's orbit since she was a White House intern in 2018, and the two seem to have developed a tight bond, to the point of Leavitt indicating she's one of Trump's favorites. As White House press secretary, Leavitt is apt to use her platform wherever possible to compliment Trump's decisions. However, her boss seems to have been an unfortunate influence in some ways, like when Leavitt's Trump-like lack of filter results in nasty clashes with the media. Another of these disputes occurred in March 2026 after The New York Times pointed out various shortcomings in Trump's ballroom design. Leavitt lashed out, denouncing the article's authors and their credentials. "President Trump and his lead architect have built world-class buildings around the world," she declared on X.
The New York Times takes an architectural look at the coming White House ballroom and finds there is a lot of ornamental stairs to no where and faux windows with bathroom stalls behind them pic.twitter.com/I26COu1b3t
— Sam Stein (@samstein) March 29, 2026
While some people agreed with Leavitt's take, others ridiculed her approach. More than one person posted a picture of Trump's gold-encrusted Oval Office, and sarcastically turned Leavitt's "world-class" comment into an insult. "And they all look tacky. All that fake gold," another griped. "It will cost a fortune to renovate when Trump is gone."
However, as The New York Times article pointed out, the biggest issues with the project aren't related to gilded décor. The massive addition risks dwarfing the original part of the structure, and it has some odd details, like dizzying amounts of columns and a design that doesn't facilitate traffic flow. "Stairs to nowhere and you're so f***ing pathetic you're defending it," snarked one X commenter.
Leavitt's stances revolve around loyalty to Trump
While Karoline Leavitt may have beef with The New York Times about its recent article, her relationship with CNN has been even more contentious. During the 2024 presidential campaign, Leavitt got booted off CNN when she talked over a host and cast doubt on the journalistic integrity of some of the network's staff. However, that was all in the past in March 2026. "CNN data guru reveals Trump's base is expanding with 100% approval from MAGA Republicans," Leavitt posted on X.
Once again, Leavitt's praise for Trump opened the door to derision. "You all said CNN is fake news. Why don't you make up your mind?" one poster remarked, with many others chiming in with similar sentiments. Less than two weeks later, the same analyst whose reporting Leavitt referenced in her post, Harry Enten, made an appearance on the network to highlight how low Trump's polling numbers were across the political spectrum, so it's likely that Leavitt's warm feelings faded quickly.
The press secretary has had a similarly see-sawing relationship with CNN's Kaitlan Collins. While Leavitt did help out Collins during a trip to Saudi Arabia, things weren't so rosy between the two women in March 2026. "We expect you to cover [the story] as you should, Kaitlan, but you and your network know that you take every single thing this administration says and tries to use it to make the president look bad," Leavitt contended to Collins (via the Daily Beast.)