Top White House officials gave a bizarre response to a journalist this week after being asked who selected the location for Donald Trump’s upcoming meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
On Thursday, the US president announced that he will soon meet with Putin in Budapest, Hungary, to discuss potential efforts to end the war in Ukraine.
The choice of location has sparked questions, particularly because Putin is wanted by the International Criminal Court (ICC) for alleged war crimes.
Hungary, however, is reportedly withdrawing from the ICC and is unlikely to act on any arrest warrant against the Russian leader, according to the Associated Press.
White House officials’ “your mom” response
When HuffPost reached out to the White House to ask who selected the meeting venue, Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt reportedly replied: “Your mom did.”
According to the outlet, White House Communications Director Steven Cheung followed up with a similar message: “Your mom.”
HuffPost then asked Leavitt whether she believed her reply was appropriate.
She allegedly fired back with an insult, saying: “It’s funny to me that you actually consider yourself a journal [sic]. You are a far-left hack who nobody takes seriously, including your colleagues in the media.”
Leavitt reportedly continued, accusing the journalist of asking “disingenuous” and “biased” questions, adding: “Stop texting me your … bulls*** questions.”
White House defends the response
White House spokesperson Taylor Rogers defended the unusual response, insisting it was “more than appropriate.”
Rogers told The Independent: “The individual who received these texts is not a real reporter, they’re a Democrat activist.
"As a result, the response they received was more than appropriate.
"The White House press team fields hundreds of serious requests every day from actual reporters, we don’t have time to waste on partisan hacks.”
Cheung later reposted a message about the exchange on X (formerly Twitter) but did not add further comment.
Escalating White House rhetoric
The comments come amid a noticeable escalation in rhetoric from the Trump White House in recent days.
Appearing on Fox News last week, Leavitt claimed that the Democratic Party’s “main constituency” includes “Hamas terrorists, illegal aliens, and violent criminals.”
She said: “They don’t stand for anything except catering to their far-left base, which includes antisemites, Hamas terrorists, illegal aliens, and violent criminals who they want to let off freely to roam in American streets.”
The reported exchange between the White House press team and HuffPost has since gone viral, with critics calling it unprofessional and hostile, while others see it as a reflection of the increasingly combative tone of US politics heading into the next election cycle.