Karoline Leavitt
Publicly pressuring Senate Majority Leader John Thune to pass the SAVE America Act before August 7, confirming an imminent new tariff regime replacing expiring duties, and serving as lead messenger framing Iran strikes as leverage for a deal.
Karoline Leavitt is simultaneously running the administration's messaging on three of its most consequential fronts: Iran, tariffs, and a legislative standoff with her own party's Senate leader.
On Iran, she is the lead public voice framing ongoing U.S. military strikes as leverage, telling reporters Iran "continues to talk to the United States" and wants a deal because it is "suffering devastating blows." She previewed and defended Trump's July 16 primetime address on election integrity and Iran, urging networks to air it and insisting its contents would be "backed by facts and evidence" while teasing that "nobody knows yet what President Trump will ultimately say." When JD Vance dismissed Iran's $9 billion insider-trading accusation against advisers Kushner and Witkoff as propaganda, Leavitt reinforced the dismissal, citing "extremely strict ethical guidelines."
On trade, she confirmed an imminent tariff announcement to replace the expiring 10% Section 122 surcharge, as the administration prepares a new USTR-developed regime targeting roughly 60 trading partners including India and Pakistan. Her earlier branding of Amazon's plan to display tariff costs as a "hostile and political act" is now central to a class-action suit alleging Amazon forwent tariff refunds to appease Trump.
On Capitol Hill, Leavitt is publicly pressuring Senate Majority Leader John Thune to pass the SAVE America Act before the August 7 recess, warning that Trump's patience is running out. Thune shot back that she should "get on the phone and get the votes" and blamed Democrats, not Republicans.
She also confirmed protecting U.S. AI leadership as a top administration priority ahead of Xi Jinping's September 24 White House visit. And she handled routine cleanup: announcing that Trump's teleprompter operator was placed on unpaid leave over alleged speech betting on Kalshi, distancing the White House from pay-to-play pardon lobbying by saying Trump finds it "detestable that anyone would even attempt to profit off pardons," and condemning actor Mark Hamill over an AI-generated image of Trump in a grave. She promoted the bipartisan 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act after Trump abruptly cancelled its Capitol signing ceremony, framing it as cutting red tape and limiting institutional investors from buying single-family homes.
On their plate
Leavitt is the administration's lead messenger on Iran, framing ongoing U.S. military strikes as leverage for a negotiated deal. She says Iran "continues to talk to the United States" and wants a deal because it is "suffering devastating blows." She also previewed and defended Trump's July 16 primetime national address on election integrity and Iran, urging mainstream networks to air it.
Leavitt confirmed an imminent tariff announcement to replace the expiring 10% Section 122 surcharge. The administration is preparing a new USTR-developed regime targeting roughly 60 trading partners including India and Pakistan. Her earlier branding of Amazon's tariff-cost display plan as a "hostile and political act" now figures in a class-action suit alleging Amazon forwent tariff refunds to appease Trump.
Leavitt is publicly pressuring Senate Majority Leader John Thune to pass the SAVE America Act before the August 7 recess, saying Trump's patience is running out. Thune pushed back, telling her to "get on the phone and get the votes" and blaming Democrats rather than Republican dissent.
Leavitt confirmed protecting U.S. AI leadership as a top administration priority ahead of Xi Jinping's September 24 White House visit to discuss trade, security, and AI. She is positioning the administration's stance going into that summit.
Leavitt announced Trump's longtime teleprompter operator Gabriel Perez was placed on unpaid leave over alleged betting on Trump speeches via Kalshi, stressing "extremely strict ethical guidelines." She backed JD Vance's dismissal of Iran's $9 billion insider-trading accusation against advisers Kushner and Witkoff as false propaganda. She also distanced the White House from pay-to-play pardon lobbying, saying Trump finds it "detestable that anyone would even attempt to profit off pardons."
Key relationships
Leavitt backed Vance's dismissal of Iran's $9 billion insider-trading accusation against advisers Kushner and Witkoff, calling it false propaganda and citing strict ethical guidelines.
Leavitt is publicly pressuring Thune to pass the SAVE America Act before August 7, warning Trump's patience is running out; Thune fired back that she should get the votes herself and blamed Democrats.
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