White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt was criticized after she shared a text exchange she'd had with Huffington Post reporter S.V. Dáte in which she gave a laughably juvenile response to his question about who chose Budapest for President Donald Trump's now-canceled meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Trump announced last week that he and Putin planned to meet in Budapest within two weeks to discuss the war in Ukraine. A preparatory meeting between U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov had been scheduled for this week, but the White House said the two instead spoke by phone and that an in-person meeting was no longer “necessary.”
Trump reportedly raised the idea of a Budapest meeting during a phone call with Putin, a day before hosting Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy at the White House.
According to some accounts, that conversation became heated, with Trump allegedly urging Zelensky to cede parts of the eastern Donetsk and Luhansk regions as part of a potential deal with Moscow. But Zelensky has consistently maintained that Ukraine cannot surrender any of its remaining territory there, warning that Russia could use the region to stage future attacks.
With this info in mind, Dáte texted Leavitt to point out that Budapest was the site of Russia's 1994 promise that it would not invade Ukraine and questioned who had suggested the culturally insensitive location:
"Is the president aware of the significance of Budapest? In 1994, Russia promised, in Budapest, not to invade Ukraine if it gave up the nuclear weapons it inherited when the Soviet Union dissolved."
"Does he not see why Ukraine would object to that site? Who suggested Budapest?"
Leavitt—like a teenage edgelord—responded:
"Your mom did."
When Dáte replied, "Is this funny to you?" she added:
"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, they just don't tell you that to your face."
"Stop texting me your disingenuous, biased, and bulls**t questions."
Leavitt then took to social media to call Dáte out—apparently convinced her response made her look even remotely professional:
"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."
"Just take a look at @svdate ’s feed, 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."
You can see her post and the text exchanges below.
@PressSec/X
Dáte followed up with this response:
"Feel better now? Now can you answer the question? Please and thank you."
You can his post below.
In a separate thread, Dáte said Leavitt is "tossing out ad hominem attacks, hoping to discredit me and HuffPost," adding that he'd been a professional journalist "for a dozen years before she was even born."
After outlining his years of career experience, he added:
"People like Ms. Leavitt keep tossing around 'objectivity' as if that means reporters are not permitted to use their expertise and their experience to describe what’s going on." ...
"Ms. Leavitt may not like my questions. That’s fine. I have a right and a responsibility to ask them. This is still America."
Leavitt was criticized for her childish response.
Trump endorsed a ceasefire proposal supported by Kyiv and European leaders that would freeze the war along the current front line. Moscow has repeatedly rejected such plans, instead demanding the full withdrawal of Ukrainian forces from the Donbas.
While Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said the idea had been raised with Russia “repeatedly,” he stressed that “the consistency of Russia’s position doesn’t change.”
On Tuesday, European leaders issued a joint statement with Zelenskyy, asserting that peace talks should begin with a freeze along existing battle lines and accusing Moscow of not being “serious” about ending the war.
Trump and Putin last met in Alaska in August. That summit produced no tangible outcomes. The White House’s decision to abandon plans for a second meeting appeared aimed at avoiding a repeat of that event.
