Love it or Leavitt
Plus, Dems' shrinking path in the Senate, Trump gets the Led out, and remembering Dimitri Sotis.
On Tuesday newly-minted White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt held her first briefing.
I covered Leavitt’s New Hampshire congressional campaign in 2022 when she challenged Democratic Rep. Chris Pappas. Her campaign caused a stir in the House Republican Conference after then-Conference Chair Elise Stefanik endorsed her over GOP strategist Matt Mowers in the primary. Mowers had the support of then-Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy and was seen as the safe choice against Pappas.
Just a month shy of her 24th birthday when she launched her campaign, Leavitt was coming off a short stint in the press shop for Trump 1.0 and an even briefer stint in Stefanik’s congressional office. As I wrote at the time, Leavitt was “running on a far-right platform offering plenty of red meat for conservative voters. She makes regular appearances on Steve Bannon’s podcast, supports Trump’s election conspiracy theories, and in the closing weeks, has trashed McCarthy on Tucker Carlson’s show.” When I asked her if the 2020 presidential election was rigged, Leavitt said, “President Biden is the president of the United States, unfortunately.” She won the primary, but lost the general election.
That loyalty to Trump has served her well as she’s now the youngest White House press secretary in history and she hopes to bring the same disruptor attitude to the James Brady Press Briefing Room.
Leavitt promised to elevate “new media” outlets like independent content creators, podcasters, social influencers and others in nontraditional media in the White House during the first briefing.
Leavitt said:
“It’s essential to our team that we share President Trump’s message everywhere and adapt this White House to the new media landscape in 2025.”
Leavitt even designated seats for representatives of the “new media” however, the premium spot was first occupied by Beltway journalism fixture Mike Allen, the co-founder of Axios and veteran of the Washington Post, New York Times, TIME, and Politico. Allen, as memorably profiled by Mark Leibovich in the 2010, is the pinnacle of D.C. access journalism. He was granted the first question of the new administration.
This was not on the same level on former Press Secretary Sean Spicer’s Day 1 blistering assertion that Trump’s first inaugural drew “the largest audience ever to witness an inauguration, period, both in person and around the globe, period,” but it was just as telling. Like the transactional president they’re serving, the White House press shop was promising expanded access, but instead rewarding the folks who play the game the right way in their eyes.
This is just the first of what I hope will be many briefings, so I don’t want to completely write off this change as more of the same. The White House has said it received more than 7,400 applications to fill those “new media” spots and I hope those are filled with more diverse voices from different platforms to help clear up some of the confusion surrounding the new administration’s policies. For now, I’m just happy journalists have an opportunity to ask questions, even if the answers aren’t as satisfying.
At the end of the day, with as many questions Trump’s “shock and awe” executive actions have raised in his first two weeks, then I got only two words for you: Trump White House press briefings: must-see-TV, to paraphrase the ever-quotable Charles Barkley.
For Peters’ Sake
Originally appeared in National Journal on Jan. 28.
Democrats’ path back to the Senate majority just got a whole lot harder with the Sen. Gary Peters’ (D-MI) surprise retirement announcement this morning.
“After three terms in the House and two terms in the Senate, I believe now is time for me to write a few more paragraphs in my current chapter and turn over the reins. I will therefore not seek reelection in 2026,” the two-term chairman of the DSCC said in a video statement Tuesday morning.
The newly open seat will now be a prime pickup opportunity for NRSC Chairman Tim Scott and tilt an already favorable Senate map further into Republicans’ hands. Democrats need to net four seats to flip the upper chamber and they’ll have to defend seats in Colorado, Georgia, Michigan, and New Hampshire. Democrats’ best pickup opportunities are in Maine and North Carolina.
Holding Michigan was going to be an uphill hold for Democrats in the best of circumstances. President Trump carried the Wolverine State in two of his successful campaigns, posting his strongest result last year.
Peters’ retirement opens the floodgates to a highly competitive field. 2024 SEN nominee Mike Rogers (R) came within a point of beating Sen. Elissa Slotkin (D-MI) in the race last year to succeed former Sen. Debbie Stabenow (D-MI), and could run it back. Republicans cited Rogers’ difficulties keeping pace with Slotkin’s prolific fundraising as a key factor in the race. If he can sort out his finances in what is expected to be an incredibly expensive campaign cycle, he would be a formidable opponent.
Also waiting in the wings is Rep. John James (R-MI 10). A two-time Senate nominee who lost to Peters by a point five years ago, James gave up his statewide dream and won two terms in a battleground House seat. The third statewide try could be the charm for James in the newly open seat with key legislative victories under his belt, if he doesn’t toss his hat in the open gubernatorial race instead. Michigan Republicans also mentioned former Reps. Peter Meijer (R) and Fred Upton (R) as names to watch.
On the Democratic side, term-limited Gov. Gretchen Whitmer (D) said she is not running for the Senate, according to the Detroit News. Rep. Haley Stevens (D-11), state Attorney General Dana Nessel (D), state Senate Majority Whip Mallory McMorrow (D), and newly-minted Michigan resident and former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg could also run.
There are plenty of unknowns in Michigan this morning, but what is certain is that campaigning will be extremely expensive. With open races for governor, Senate, secretary of state, attorney general, and up to three competitive House seats, the final price tag could pass 10 figures.
Trump Plays Immigrant Song
Originally appeared in National Journal on Jan. 27.
Federal officials ratcheted up immigration enforcement across the country during President Trump’s first weekend in the White House.
After promising mass deportations on his first day in office, Trump’s Justice Department launched a multiagency immigration enforcement operation in Chicago. “Immigration and Customs Enforcement said in a statement on Sunday night that it had made 956 arrests on Sunday,” according to the New York Times.
The pressure from the White House to crack down on undocumented immigrants has put chief executives in the states on notice, especially after Trump made gains across a wide swath of the electorate. Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker (D) told CNN on Sunday that he would cooperate with federal authorities in arresting undocumented immigrants convicted of crimes, but would not use state law enforcement to conduct raids on families. Illinois shifted 3 points toward Trump in 2024 and Pritzker is a leading candidate to succeed Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL) if he retires.
There’s no such middle ground for leaders in many red states. The GOP supermajority in Tennessee under Gov. Bill Lee (R) is kicking off a special session today to enhance Trump’s hard-line immigration policies.
Republican lawmakers are proposing legislation that would create the “Centralized Immigration Enforcement Division within the state's Department of Safety to coordinate with the Trump administration on its plans for a crackdown on undocumented immigrants,” according to Axios Nashville. The proposal would also “make it a felony for local leaders to vote in favor of so-called sanctuary policies that protect undocumented immigrants.”
The increased enforcement is a high-risk, high-reward gambit for Trump and those governors. On one hand, he’s making good on a key campaign promise and a top issue set for voters. But the rapid escalation could lead to mistakes and harsh enforcement against non-criminal immigrants caught in the administration’s wide net. It’s not just Dr. Phil, the TV personality and Trump supporter, capturing the deportations on camera in the short term. Images of I.C.E. agents separating families again could be politically damaging for Trump in the long term.
Quick takes
Not a whole lot of concern from Republicans about the president’s “pen-and-phone” strategy.
The elephant is the official symbol of the Republican Party, and supine is the party’s official position when it comes to President Trump. Most Republicans met Trump’s pardons of nearly all the people charged in connection to Jan. 6 with a shrug. His embrace of executive orders to circumvent Congress was similarly waved away. The most public break in the ranks came when Sens. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) and Susan Collins (R-ME) voted against advancing Fox News host Pete Hegseth’s nomination as secretary of Defense. Both parties are struggling to mount any sort of resistance to the new administration.
Reads that made me smarter
Ashley Parker is a keen observer of This Town and her first dispatch from The Atlantic is a great slice of social realpolitik. The current currency of the realm “among a class of Extremely Beltway types—the name droppers, the strivers, the media gossips” as Parker writes, is “Donald Trump’s threats to exact revenge on his enemies.” With Trump promising retribution, “where the scope of his intentions remains nebulous, many of Trump’s known critics have unofficially divided into two adjacent camps: those … who have real reason to be alarmed by the president’s threats and are quietly taking steps to protect themselves and their family, and those who are loudly—and often facetiously—chattering about how Trump and his posse might throw them in a gulag.” What a town.
In memoriam
I wanted to end this week’s dispatch with a note remembering my friend Dimitri Sotis. His distinctive warm voice led WTOP’s evening news for nearly two decades, guiding listeners through local news like storms, crime, sports and the local news that doubled as national news from the nation’s capital: election coverage, Senate confirmations, and the latest from the White House.
I first met Dimitri a couple years ago when he started having me on his show to talk politics and the news of the day. In the last year he had me on more frequently and between segments we got to know each other. I learned about his love for his ancestral Greece and commitment to Washington’s football team through the lean years. I got to share some of the biggest moments on the campaign trail with him. He would immediately put anyone at ease, making each interview feel like it was just the two of us talking about the day instead of a broadcast.
His sudden death shocked me. I was texting with him Friday night about Pete Hegseth’s confirmation, and apologized for not being able to hop on the radio to analyze with him in real time. We made plans to call in later this week and we both wished each other a happy weekend. On Saturday he was found unresponsive in his home. WTOP’s Neal Augenstein has a very poignant obit for him here. I’ll be keeping Dimitri’s family, friends, and colleagues (he didn’t differentiate between the three) in my thoughts.