'We're Cooked': Karoline Leavitt Slammed for Insisting Donald Trump's 'Main Priority' Is Doing Construction on White House Ballroom

Karoline Leavitt's defense of Donald Trump's $250 million White House ballroom construction remains strong.

The White House press secretary faced criticism following her Thursday, October 23, press briefing after insisting the East Wing renovations are Trump's "main priority" in terms of projects at the Executive Mansion in Washington, D.C.

Leavitt was tackled with questions from reporters about concerns surrounding Trump's major renovations just two days after claiming outrage about the construction was "fake."

"In addition to the ballroom and the Rose Garden patio, is the president looking at any other renovations or significant kind of projects here at the White House?" one reporter asked Leavitt during Thursday's press briefing.

In response, the press secretary stated: "Not to my knowledge, no, but he's a builder at heart, clearly, and so his heart and his mind is always churning about how to improve things here on the White House grounds. But at this moment in time, of course, the ballroom is really the president's main priority."

A clip of Leavitt's response quickly went viral online, causing widespread debate about the White House spokesperson's words.

"Not the government shutdown. Not rising prices of everyday goods. A ballroom. We’re cooked," one critic complained while listing other things they think Trump should be focused on, while another person ridiculed, "She even says it with a straight face. A ballroom while people can't afford to eat."

"While millions risk losing SNAP benefits in a shutdown you downplay, Leavitt, Trump's out here blowing $250M on a vanity ballroom, priorities so twisted they make Marie Antoinette look frugal," a third individual expressed, while a fourth snubbed: "Of course it is — building a shrine to himself should take precedence over everything else in the world."

Someone else argued that Trump's ballroom project "is the least of our worries" of "all the crazy things Trump is doing."

"It keeps him out of bigger trouble," they claimed. "It might actually be good for us if he is focused there instead of taking his sociopathic rage out on us: randomly selecting Democratic cities to invade, or increasing tariffs by 100 percent on random countries whose leaders are too socialist for his taste, or deciding which of his critics to indict next."

One MAGA supporter defended Leavitt's remarks while accusing critics of missing the point of what she was saying.

"You clipped the first part of her statement out. Why? This is lying by omission. She specifically was talking about construction projects," the fan argued.

The viral clip even caused an online spat between the White House and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer — who re-shared the video via X alongside the caption: "Honestly, you can’t make this s--- up."

The White House's rapid response account clapped back at Schumer, claiming he had a "demented mind" while ranting, "you're a scumbag and a liar, Chuck — but everyone already knows that. She was answering a question specifically about construction projects on the White House grounds."