
Karoline Leavitt gets fiery and doubles down after press questions alleged ‘white genocide' in South Africa
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt clashed with an NBC News correspondent over whether a video displayed by Donald Trump in the Oval Office during a meeting with South Africa 's president contained evidence of a ' genocide ' against white people is taking place in South Africa.
During Thursday's briefing, NBC News reporter Yamiche Alcindor pointed out to Leavitt that a video Trump forced South African President Cyril Ramaphosa to watch during their meeting did not, as the president claimed, show a 'burial' site for South African farmers, but instead depicted white crosses meant to represent slain farmers.
Alcindor attemped to point out that the dozens of crosses displayed in the video shown at the White House were actually in honor of one slain couple, and were not representative of a real number of killings. Leavitt wasn't having it.
'It's unsubstantiated that that's the case,' Alcindor told Leavitt.
'No, it's true that--', Leavitt said, looking momentarily confused before rejecting the reporter's premise. 'The video showed image of crosses in South Africa about white farmers that have been killed and politically persecuted because of the color of their skin.'
Hashtags

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


The Guardian
4 hours ago
- The Guardian
Trump warns Musk of ‘very serious consequences' if he backs Democrats
Donald Trump warned Elon Musk on Saturday that he faces 'very serious consequences' if he funds Democratic candidates following the pair's epic public bust-up this week. The warning, delivered in an interview with NBC News set to broadcast on Sunday, follows days of feuding and threats after Musk called Republicans' budget legislation an 'abomination'. Trump told interviewer Kristen Welker his relationship with the tech mogul was over and warned Musk against choosing to fund Democrats after spending close to $300m in support of Trump's re-election last year. 'If he does, he'll have to pay the consequences for that,' Trump told NBC News. 'He'll have to pay very serious consequences if he does that,' he added. Trump was also asked if he had any wish to repair his relationship with Musk. 'No,' he said. Asked if he thought their relationship was over, he said, 'I would assume so, yeah,' and had no plans to speak with his erstwhile sidekick. 'I'm too busy doing other things,' Trump said, adding: 'I have no intention of speaking to him.' But he predicted that the spat had helped to unify the Republican party around him, saying the 'party has never been united like this before. It's never been. It's actually more so than it was three days ago.' Musk's opposition to the Republican budget bill, formally the 'one big beautiful bill act', would not, he predicted affect its passage through Congress. The bill narrowly passed the House and is now under consideration in the Senate. However, some conservative Republicans share Musk's concerns about the need for significant spending cuts and are considering making changes. The bill extends Trump's 2017 tax cuts and includes new spending for border security and the military. Republicans aimed to offset these costs with cuts to programmes such as Medicaid, food stamps and green-energy tax credits. Projections from the Congressional Budget Office and independent analysts indicate that the bill would add between $2.3tn and $5tn to the deficit over the next 10 years. White House officials contend that the economic growth generated by tax cuts will offset the increased spending. Still, Trump told NBC he is 'very confident' that the bill will pass the Senate before 4 July. 'I think, actually, Elon brought out the strengths of the bill because people that weren't as focused started focusing on it, and they see how good it is,' Trump said. 'So in that sense, there was a big favor. But I think Elon, really, I think it's a shame that he's so depressed and so heartbroken.' And he accused Musk of being 'disrespectful to the office of the president'. 'I think it's a very bad thing, because he's very disrespectful. You could not disrespect the office of the president,' he said. Sign up to This Week in Trumpland A deep dive into the policies, controversies and oddities surrounding the Trump administration after newsletter promotion Earlier, Musk deleted a post from X, the social media platform he owns, that asserted links between Trump and disgraced US financier Jeffrey Epstein. Probed on the inflammatory post, Trump said: 'That's called 'old news', that's been old news, that has been talked about for years. Even Epstein's lawyer said I had nothing to do with it. It's old news.' Musk has also retracted a threat to begin 'decommissioning' SpaceX's Dragon spacecraft used by Nasa to ferry astronauts and supplies to the International Space Station. That came after Trump suggested he might cancel SpaceX's federal contracts. On Saturday, the president said he hadn't given the subject any more thought. 'I'd be allowed to do that,' he said, 'but I haven't given it any thought.' Earlier on Saturday, JD Vance told interviewer and comedian Theo Von that Musk was making a 'huge mistake' going after Trump, but downplayed Musk's attacks as being made by an 'emotional guy' who got frustrated. 'I hope that eventually Elon comes back into the fold. Maybe that's not possible now because he's gone so nuclear,' the vice-president said. But he reasoned: 'Look, it happens to everybody. I've flown off the handle way worse than Elon Musk did in the last 24 hours.' 'I actually think if Elon chilled out a little bit, everything would be fine,' Vance added. David Smith contributed reporting


NBC News
5 hours ago
- NBC News
Trump says he thinks the government has a ‘very easy case' against Kilmar Abrego Garcia
President Donald Trump on Saturday said that it wasn't his decision to bring Kilmar Abrego Garcia, a Maryland man who was mistakenly deported to El Salvador, back to the U.S. to face federal charges, saying the 'Department of Justice decided to do it that way, and that's fine.' 'That wasn't my decision,' Trump said of Abrego Garcia's return in a phone call with NBC News on Saturday. 'It should be a very easy case' for federal prosecutors, the president added. Trump added that he did not speak with Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele about Abrego Garcia's return, even though the two men spoke about Abrego Garcia during an April meeting in the Oval Office. His remarks came after Abrego Garcia arrived back in the U.S. on Friday and was charged in an indictment alleging he transported people who were not legally in the country. The indictment came amid a protracted legal battle over whether to bring him back from El Salvador that escalated all the way up to the Supreme Court. Abrego Garcia's family and lawyers have called him a family man, while Trump and his administration have alleged that he is a member of the gang MS-13. The case drew national attention amid the Trump administration's broader push for mass deportations. After Abrego Garcia's deportation, lawyers for the Trump administration said he was deported in an ' administrative error,' as Abrego Garcia had previous legal protection from deportation to El Salvador. Still, the Trump administration did not attempt to bring Abrego Garcia back, even as the Supreme Court ruled that it had to ' facilitate ' his return to the U.S. Democrats, including Sen. Chris Van Hollen, D-Md., had for weeks said that Abrego Garcia was denied due process when he was detained and deported, arguing that he should have been allowed to defend himself from deportation before he was sent to El Salvador. Trump on Saturday called Van Hollen, who went to visit Abrego Garcia in jail in El Salvador in April, a 'loser' for defending the man's right to due process. 'He's a loser. The guy's a loser. They're going to lose because of that same thing. That's not what people want to hear,' the president said about Van Hollen. 'He's trying to defend a man who's got a horrible record of abuse, abuse of women in particular. No, he's a total loser, this guy.' On Friday, Attorney General Pam Bondi alleged that Abrego Garcia 'was a smuggler of humans and children and women. He made over 100 trips, the grand jury found, smuggling people throughout our country.' In a statement Friday, Abrego Garcia's lawyer called Bondi's move 'an abuse of power, not justice.'


The Independent
6 hours ago
- The Independent
Katie Miller, Stephen Miller's wife, in a ‘tricky situation' after Musk and Trump's falling out
Katie Miller, the wife of White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller, recently departed from the Trump administration to work for Elon Musk, days before the spectacular falling out between President Donald Trump and the billionaire. The 33-year-old Miller was one of Musk's first hires as he established the Department of Government Efficiency and began reducing the federal workforce. She left the administration alongside him last week. Like Musk, she was designated as a 'special government employee' during her time in government, which allowed her to work for Musk and Trump, as well as in the private sector, simultaneously. Miller even helped to set up the departing press conference in the Oval Office featuring Musk and Trump, according to The Wall Street Journal. Musk and Trump's relationship fell apart in public on Thursday, with Musk unfollowing Stephen Miller on X. Friends of Miller told the paper that she was in a difficult position between Trump and Musk. 'Katie Miller was a critical reason DOGE was able to get off the ground and deliver massive cuts to waste, fraud, and abuse for the American people,' White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt told the outlet. This isn't the first time that Miller has been caught in the crossfire of a Trump feud. Miller also worked for then-Vice President Mike Pence when Trump began attacking him for not aiding him in his attempt to overturn the 2020 election towards the end of his first term. However, at the time of the January 6, 2021, Capitol riot, she was on maternity leave. In December last year, Miller became one of the first DOGE staffers announced by the then-president-elect. However, her work at DOGE soon became the catalyst for disagreements with the White House, where top Trump aides argued that she hadn't sufficiently convinced Musk to work alongside the administration. Top administration officials told The Journal that she often spoke on behalf of Musk, issued orders about what agencies should do, and how the government's work should be communicated. Officials were concerned about her continuing work for P2. However, she left the firm after The Journal published an article about her work there. She then also departed the White House to work for Musk, just before the blowup between the billionaire and the president. Miller has been described as having endless energy and as being fiercely protective of her husband. Current and previous co-workers told The Journal that she could go from charming to abrasive. Those who know her told the paper that she has a 'YOLO' tattoo on the inside of her lip. Miller has at times worked for clients while lobbying the government, simultaneously addressing government issues. She quickly rose through the ranks after being hired in 2015 by Republican U.S. Sen. Steve Daines of Montana. Former Daines aide Jason Thielman told The Journal that 'Everything was always at full speed, full throttle.' 'Sometimes, she just exhausted people, and they gave her what she wanted,' he added of her battles with reporters. She joined the Department of Homeland Security during Trump's first term before working for Pence. It was during her time at DHS that she met Stephen Miller. 'Every Trump White House had its divisions, but she was always willing to go to bat to protect the VP's prerogatives,' Pence's Chief of Staff Marc Short told the paper. Following the insurrection, Stephen Miller kept working for Trump, and she remained in Pence's office. While she was placed on Pence's postpresidential payroll, partly because she needed healthcare, according to Pence's advisors, his office subsequently severed connections with her after Stephen Miller began working with then-President Trump. He continued to target his former vice president. After joining the Republican consulting firm P2 Public Affairs following Trump's 2021 departure from office, she subsequently became the top point of contact between Musk and the 2024 Trump campaign. She often joined Musk at events and then began advising Robert F. Kennedy, who later became Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare, now known as Secretary of Health and Human Services. Pence opposed Kennedy's appointment, and in January of this year, Miller took aim at her former boss, saying that he only had 'family values' when it was 'politically expedient' and called him a 'footnote of American history.'