Staff Reports
When HuffPost correspondent S.V. Dáte texted White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt asking whether President Trump understood the significance of holding a meeting with Vladimir Putin in Budapest, Leavitt answered with a blunt, perfectly on-brand reply: “Your mom did.”
Dáte pushed back, asking whether she thought the answer was funny, and Leavitt doubled down—calling him a “far left hack” and telling him to stop sending what she called disingenuous, biased questions. The exchange was posted publicly by Leavitt, and it quickly exposed the old media’s inability to accept being ridiculed for its relentless partisan framing.
This wasn’t juvenile playground behavior; it was a necessary smackdown of a press corps that believes it is above consequences. Team Trump’s communications staff, including spokesman Steven Cheung, leaned into the moment and owned the trolling, much to the delight of Americans tired of sanctimonious journalists who masquerade as impartial.
Context matters: the questioners were fretting over Budapest because of the 1994 Budapest Memorandum and its ugly aftermath, but reporters immediately pivoted from a policy question to moral preening and got roasted for it. The White House’s cheeky response cut through the sanctimony and reminded the country who actually works for the public.
Predictably, the mainstream outlets gasped and declared the behavior beneath the office, while plenty of Americans cheered a press secretary who refuses to be lectured by partisan activists. The Daily Beast and others fulminated about decorum, proving once again that the establishment press cares more about its own feelings than about fair coverage.
Patriots who are tired of being lectured by a self-appointed media elite should take heart: standing up, fighting back, and refusing to accept smug, biased questions is exactly what bold leadership looks like. Let the press have its tantrums—hardworking Americans understand real accountability when they see it, and this administration answered back instead of apologizing.
