Overview
- Leavitt said, "the ballroom is really the president's main priority" in direct response to a question about construction projects on the White House grounds.
- Prominent Democratic accounts, including the House Democratic Caucus and Hakeem Jeffries, shared a five-second clip without the reporter’s question, framing it as the president’s overall priority.
- PolitiFact rated the broader claim false, and Lead Stories and CNN’s fact-checks likewise concluded the social-media portrayal was misleading.
- A White House account posted the full transcript and emphasized that Leavitt was addressing renovation plans, pushing back on posts from figures such as Chuck Schumer.
- Reporting notes demolition of the East Wing began this week to make way for a new ballroom that the administration says is privately financed, while the truncated clip continued to rack up millions of views on X.