White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt drew immediate scrutiny on 30 March after openly declaring that Iranian leaders who 'strung' the United States 'along in negotiations' had paid for it with their lives.
The remarks came during an afternoon briefing at the James S. Brady Press Briefing Room, amid day 31 of Operation Epic Fury, the joint US-Israeli military campaign against Iran that began on 28 February 2026. Leavitt was fielding questions about whether the Trump administration was negotiating with a legitimate Iranian leadership after Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei was killed in the opening wave of strikes, along with dozens of other senior officials.
