White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt has found herself in hot water after firing off a “your mom” response to a reporter asking a serious question about Donald Trump’s next meeting with Vladimir Putin.
The 28-year-old aide was branded “childish” after HuffPost journalist S.V. Dáte texted her last week asking who decided that Trump and Putin would hold their next sit-down in Budapest. Leavitt’s reply? “Your mom did.”
Moments later, White House Communications Director Steven Cheung chimed in with the same line: “Your mom.”
We should all reply to all Karoline Leavitt’s posts with “your mom…”.
After all, she legitimized it.
And isn’t imitation the greatest form of flattery? pic.twitter.com/q7EWgxrKz1
— Joanie rebels 🌊 🇺🇦🐸- Demilitarize the Police . (@JoanieReb) October 21, 2025
The exchange came after Trump revealed he’ll meet Putin again following their tense Alaska summit in August, which failed to produce a peace deal to end Russia’s war in Ukraine. The president said the next meeting will happen in Budapest, the city where the 1994 Budapest Memorandum was signed. The pact promised to protect Ukraine’s borders in exchange for giving up nuclear weapons. Russia shattered that agreement with the 2014 invasion of Crimea and again with the full-scale assault in 2022.
Given that history, the reporter’s question wasn’t exactly out of line. But Leavitt’s middle-school comeback stunned political observers.
Critics piled on immediately, calling her tone “immature” and “unprofessional.” One user on X asked, “Are you a press secretary or a 5-year-old?” Another user wrote, “If you worked for a corporation, you’d be fired for this. You’re supposed to be a bridge between government and the media — not a troll.”
Instead of backing down, Leavitt doubled down. She posted screenshots of the text exchange to X, and addied an expletive-laced follow-up.
After the reporter asked, “Is this funny to you?” Leavitt shot back: “It’s funny to me that you actually consider yourself a journal. Your are a far left hack who nobody takes seriously, including your colleagues in the media, they just don’t tell you that to your face. Stop texting me your disingenuous, biased, and b——- questions.”
Leavitt captioned her post with her own explanation: “For context, S.V. Dáte of the Huffington Post is not a journalist interested in the facts. He is a left-wing hack who has consistently attacked President Trump for years and constantly bombards my phone with Democrat talking points.”
She wasn’t done. “Just take a look at @svdate’s feed,” she ranted. “It reads like an anti-Trump personal diary. Here is my full response to his ‘inquiry.’ Activists who masquerade as real reporters do a disservice to the profession.”
The fiery defense only made things worse. Critics accused her of embarrassing the administration and failing at her basic duty. “You actually posted this thinking it made you look good?” one person wrote. “This is why record numbers of Republicans are leaving the party.”
Even conservatives weren’t impressed. One self-described lifelong Republican said: “Regardless of his timeline or previous interactions (and I tend to not like the HuffPo by default), this was a reasonable question asked in a reasonable manner. And you acted like a clown.”
Another agreed, pointing to the dark symbolism of Trump choosing Budapest: “Negotiations in Budapest? The place where Ukraine gave up its nukes for false promises. That name doesn’t inspire trust — it screams betrayal.”
Despite the uproar, Leavitt never answered the original question: Who actually picked Budapest?
And with that silence, the “your mom” saga might just say more about this White House’s media strategy than any official statement ever could.
