“Shall we keep her? I think we’ll keep her,” the president, 79, said while speaking to reporters on Tuesday, March 31
President Donald Trump suggested White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt may be the reason behind “bad publicity” he receives.
Speaking to reporters in the Oval Office while signing an executive order on Tuesday, March 31, Trump, 79, launched another attack on the press, before turning his attention to Leavitt, 28, who is expected to go on maternity leave next month as she welcomes her second child.
Referencing the 2024 presidential election, he said, “I got 93% bad publicity, some people say 97, but between 93 and 97. A person that gets 97% of bad … maybe Karoline’s doing a poor job, I don’tnow.”
Trump then turned to address Leavitt directly, telling her, “You’re doing a terrible job.”
PEOPLE understands the comments were made as a joke, as noted by a White House representative. The president went on to ask reporters, “Shall we keep her? I think we’ll keep her,” before continuing to acknowledge the “bad press” he receives.
“But, I get 93-97% bad press, fake press, all fake. I won in a landslide. When you get 93-97 bad stories, bad press, and you win in a landslide, you know what that says? People don’t believe the press,” added the president, who was elected with 49.8% of the popular vote, without providing a source for his figures.
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Trump regularly mentions Leavitt — the youngest White House press secretary in history — while speaking to reporters. In October, he made headlines after abruptly pivoting to his press secretary while answering a question about his international diplomacy as he departed Israel.
“How’s Karoline doing? Is she doing good?” Trump asked reporters of her job performance. “Should Karoline be replaced?”
When the group expressed support for her, Trump assured that replacing her would “never happen.”
As a reporter started to ask another question, Trump continued of Leavitt: “That face… and those lips, they move like a machine gun.”
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Trump made similar comments about Leavitt during an August interview with Newsmax, PEOPLE previously reported.
“She’s a star, and she’s great. I don’t think anybody has ever had a better press secretary than Karoline. She’s been amazing,” Trump told host Rob Finnerty.
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Leavitt worked as Trump’s national press secretary during his 2024 presidential campaign, earning the coveted White House press secretary role when Trump took office for his second term in January 2025.
Leavitt also made headlines earlier this week after news agency Agence France-Presse (AFP) reportedly deleted a photo of the press secretary with her son and a turkey after being “made aware” that the White House found it “unflattering,” PEOPLE previously reported.
The news outlet denied that the White House asked for it to be taken down, telling PEOPLE it was only removed because the quality of the photo did not meet AFP’s standards.