Panicked White House holds Disaster Press Conference

Summary

The MeidasTouch Podcast Summary: "Panicked White House Holds Disaster Press Conference"

Release Date: March 17, 2025

In this intense episode of The MeidasTouch Podcast, hosts Ben, Brett, and Jordy Meiselas delve deep into a bewildering and chaotic press conference held by Caroline Levitt, Donald Trump's chief propagandist. The trio dissects Levitt's unprepared and confrontational responses, highlighting the deteriorating state of the White House's communication strategy and the broader implications for American democracy.

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1. Introduction to the Press Conference

The episode opens with the hosts setting the stage for what unfolds as a disastrous press conference led by Caroline Levitt. They emphasize the gravity of the situation, describing Levitt as both “unprepared” and “sloppy”, while promoting Donald Trump's “fascist agenda”.

Notable Quote:

“Donald Trump's chief propagandist, Caroline Levitt just gave a disastrous press conference at the White House. She was unprepared, she was sloppy, and she was promoting Donald Trump's fascist agenda while being both sloppy and unprepared.”
— Ron Filipkowski [00:04]

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2. Biden's Pardons Under Scrutiny

Levitt was pressed on Trump's claims about voiding former President Biden's pardons. According to Trump, Biden used an autopen, suggesting he didn't consent to these pardons, including those related to the January 6 committee members.

Notable Quote:

“Does the White House feel the need to comply with a verbal order from this judge? Again, as I said, said all of the plains subject to the written order of this judge...”
— Caroline Levitt [10:36]

However, Levitt's response was evasive and speculative, raising questions about the legality and awareness surrounding Biden's actions.

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3. Withdrawal from the International Center for the Prosecution of Crimes against Ukraine

The United States' sudden decision to withdraw support from an international center aimed at prosecuting Russian crimes in Ukraine was another focal point. Levitt failed to confirm the reports, attributing them to “inaccurate and misleading reports from Reuters”.

Notable Quote:

“I will caution anybody taking that seriously. But I can check in and get...”
— Caroline Levitt [02:56]

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4. Alien Enemies Act and Concentration Camps in El Salvador

A particularly alarming segment involved Levitt discussing the invocation of the Alien Enemies Act to detain Venezuelan gang members, allegedly sending them to concentration camps in El Salvador. When questioned about the criteria for such detentions, Levitt's response relied solely on “intelligence”, offering no concrete evidence or due process safeguards.

Notable Quote:

“What criteria though, other than say tattoos or maybe being in the wrong place...”
— Caroline Levitt [03:33]

Filipkowski sharply criticizes this stance, highlighting the absence of due process and comparing the treatment of detainees to “ISIS style videos”.

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5. Comments on France and the Department of Justice (DOJ)

Levitt addressed international relations by mocking a French politician's criticism of the U.S., asserting America's indispensability in preventing the French from speaking German. Additionally, she claimed the Trump administration aims to “restore the Department of Justice to an institution that focuses on fighting law and order and crime”, implying a crackdown on political dissent.

Notable Quotes:

“So is President Trump going to send the Statue of Liberty back to France? Absolutely not...”
— Caroline Levitt [05:09]

“We want to restore the Department of Justice to an institution that focuses on fighting law and order and crime...”
— Caroline Levitt [06:19]

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6. Blaming Biden for Putin's Invasion of Ukraine

Levitt shifted blame for the ongoing conflict in Ukraine squarely onto former President Biden, suggesting that Trump's leadership would have prevented the war from starting. This narrative attempts to undermine Biden's foreign policy legacy by framing it as the catalyst for international conflict.

Notable Quote:

“I think the previous administration is the reason this war began. As President Trump often says, this war would have never started if he were still in office.”
— Caroline Levitt [08:14]

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7. Criticism of Judicial Independence and Elon Musk's Stance

When discussing judicial independence, Levitt controversially linked criticism of judges to calls for impeachment, mentioning Elon Musk's tweets as an example. This conflation undermines the principle of judicial autonomy and encourages authoritarian interference in the judiciary.

Notable Quote:

“Judges who rule against him. And Elon Musk is calling for impeachment of judges who have opposed the administration.”
— Caroline Levitt [14:57]

Filipkowski rebukes this stance, emphasizing the importance of respecting judicial decisions regardless of political disagreements.

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8. Alina Haba's Controversial Statements

Levitt introduced another propagandist, Alina Haba, who boasts about her work combating “human extortion, human trafficking”. However, attention is drawn to Haba's previous association with Andrew Tate, a figure convicted of sex trafficking and exploitation of minors, casting doubt on her credibility and the administration's integrity.

Notable Quote:

“One of my focuses of my portfolio is human extortion, human trafficking...”
— Alina Haba [16:00]

Filipkowski confronts Haba's past associations, questioning the authenticity of her statements and the motives behind her advocacy.

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9. Conclusion and Takeaways

The hosts wrap up the episode by reiterating the dangers posed by the current administration's actions and rhetoric. They emphasize the erosion of democratic norms, the misuse of legal mechanisms for political gain, and the unchecked power wielded by propagandists like Levitt and Haba. The episode serves as a rallying call for listeners to remain vigilant and uphold the values of democracy and justice.

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Final Thoughts:

This episode of The MeidasTouch Podcast offers a scathing critique of Caroline Levitt's press conference, highlighting significant concerns about the Trump administration's approach to governance, international relations, and the rule of law. Through incisive analysis and passionate commentary, the Meiselas brothers underscore the imperative to defend democratic principles against authoritarian tendencies.

Join the MeidasTouch Community: Stay informed and engaged by tuning into new episodes every Tuesday and Friday morning, and catch live video discussions every Monday and Thursday night on the MeidasTouch YouTube channel.

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Note: The timestamps correspond to the transcript segments and provide context for the quoted statements.

Transcript

[Caroline Levitt]

Like your favorite travel guide, T Mobile's network knows all the spots because T.

[Ron Filipkowski]

Mobile helps keep you connected from the heart of Portland to right where you are on America's largest 5G network. Switch now keep your phone and T Mobile will pay it off at the $800 per line via prepaid card. Visit your local T Mobile location or learn more@t mobile.com keepandswitch up to 4 lines via virtual prepaid card. Last 15 days qualified unlock device credit service port in 90 plus days device knowledgeable carrier and timely redemption required Card is no cash access. It expires in six months. Donald Trump's chief propagandist, Caroline Levitt just gave a disastrous press conference at the White House. She was unprepared, she was sloppy and she was promoting Donald Trump's fascist agenda while being both sloppy and unprepared. Here she was asked a question about Donald Trump claiming to void all of former President Biden's pardons, including pardoning people who are part of the January six committee, because according to Donald Trump, former President Biden used an auto pen and did not give consent to any of the pardons himself. Listen to how Caroline Levitt responds.

[Caroline Levitt]

Let's play it dirt if the president was even consulted about his legally binding signature being signed onto documents. And so I think it's a question that everybody in this room should be looking into because certainly that would propose perhaps criminal or illegal behavior if staff members were signing the president of the United States autograph without his consent, is on the record talking about issuing preemptive pardons to these people. But was he aware of the of his signature being used on every single pardon? That's a question you should ask the Biden. Is there any evidence on that that he wasn't aware of it? You're a reporter. You should find out. Sean, I have a question on the.

[Ron Filipkowski]

Arrogant and totally unprepared there and what a unhinged conspiracy, but a conspiracy that is typical of Donald Trump. Next up, Caroline Levitt, Donald Trump's chief propagandist, is asked about the United States withdrawing from the International center to for the prosecution of crime against Ukraine, which investigates Russia's crimes against humanity, including raping and murdering and kidnapping Ukrainians. The United States was the biggest supporter of this international center. It's now being widely reported that the Trump regime to help Putin, is pulling the United States out of that international center support. Here's what Caroline Levitt said. Let's play it.

[Caroline Levitt]

Sure.

[Ron Filipkowski]

Thanks.

[Caroline Levitt]

There have been some media reports just in the last few hours that the administration has decided withdraw from the International.

[Ron Filipkowski]

Center for the Prosecution of the Crime.

[Caroline Levitt]

Of Aggression against Ukraine, which is designed.

[Ron Filipkowski]

To hold Putin accountable for war crimes. Are you able to confirm that?

[Caroline Levitt]

And if that has occurred, why has that occurred? I'm not able to confirm it because I have not heard that. I will caution, I know there have been many inaccurate and misleading reports from Reuters lately. So I would caution anybody taking that seriously. But I can check in and get.

[Ron Filipkowski]

Back to you again. Unprepared, sloppy and very, very dangerous. Here Caroline Levitt is asked, what criteria is the Trump regime using when it invokes the Alien Enemies act to take so called gang members who are Venezuelan and send them to concentration camps in El Salvador and then make these brutal ISIS style videos where they are treating these human beings like trash. What's the standard? How do you know that they're actually gang members if you're not giving people due process rights? And here's what she says. Let's play the clip.

[Caroline Levitt]

What criteria though, other than say tattoos or maybe being in the wrong place.

[Ron Filipkowski]

At the wrong time, are you, are.

[Caroline Levitt]

They using to determine that someone is actually a member of one of these organizations? Intelligence. And the men and women on the ground in the interior of our country who are finally being allowed to do their jobs, their hands were tied under the previous administration. And as I said, they take their jobs very seriously. They should be trusted and respected by the American public with this operation. And of course, as I said to Kelly, the administration will provide all details to the questions that the court poses.

[Ron Filipkowski]

Jennifer, that's her response. Oh, just, just intelligence, you know, just trust us. Just trust Donald Trump when he says someone's a gang member, that they're a gang member. It's not like Donald Trump doesn't lie about everything. And by the way, videos that they're making of treating human beings like absolute trash, I mean, to me, as I said, they're like ISIS style videos. And I want to be very clear about my position. Gang members need to have the book thrown at them. I am a law and order person. Gangs, people who commit crimes need to be brought to justice. Absolutely. We have processes in the United States called due process though, where we don't just pick people off the street, say they're gang members and throw them into concentration camps in that are run by authoritarians. I don't know. That's, that's something that I believe in and the Supreme Court has previously believed it. Then Caroline Levitt attacks France. Here, play this clip.

[Caroline Levitt]

Something different. There is now A member of the European Parliament from France who does not think the US Represents the values of.

[Ron Filipkowski]

The Statue of Liberty anymore. They want the Statue of Liberty back.

[Caroline Levitt]

So is President Trump going to send.

[Ron Filipkowski]

The Statue of Liberty back to France?

[Caroline Levitt]

Absolutely not. And my advice to that unnamed low level French politician would be to remind them that it's only because of the United States of America that the French are not speaking German right now. So they should be very grateful to our great country.

[Ron Filipkowski]

Kelly, hear what she said. She goes, the French would still be speaking German if it wasn't for the United States. I mean, I guess after the United States declares trade wars on people, on countries like France and Canada, and then these other countries stand up for themselves, then the Trump regime says, you should be more grateful for us engaging in trade wars against you. So utterly despicable. Then here, Caroline Levitt talks about how we want the DOJ that focuses on fighting law and order. They want to fight law and order. A nice Freudian slip right here. Let's play it.

[Caroline Levitt]

We want to restore the Department of Justice to an institution that focuses on fighting law and order and crime in putting real criminals behind bars, not targeting Americans because of their religion or their political speech. We saw that under the previous administration and it's unacceptable to this president.

[Ron Filipkowski]

And just to follow, Caroline Levitt then brags about how Donald Trump is now the chairman of the Kennedy Center. Trump fired everybody from the Kennedy center, made himself the chairman and replaced it with a MAGA board. And here she is saying, like, look how great it is. We're gonna bring the real culture back to the Kennedy Center. Here, play the clip.

[Caroline Levitt]

The president will be traveling to the Kennedy Cent later this afternoon. I look forward to going with him. As you know, he is now the chairman of the board of the Kennedy center, where he hopes to restore arts and culture that embrace American tradition. Don't disparage it. As we have unfortunately seen over the past several years, the president will be doing a tour of the center in his business developer mind. I'm sure he will make some recommendations on how the center itself can be improved, but also will be discussing perhaps some future plays and musicals and theatrical programs that the center will be hosting under his new leadership and the board's new leadership.

[Ron Filipkowski]

Democratic Congressmember Robert Garcia says donations are plummeting, shows are canceling, staff are fleeing. But yes, I'm sure Trump will fix it by booking the MAGA musical of Ted Nugent and Chris Rock. Next, Caroline Levitt on Putin's invasion of Ukraine. She blames it on former President Biden and says it's actually Biden's fault. No, it's Putin's fault. And Trump enables Putin play this clip.

[Caroline Levitt]

Caroline, thank you so much. You mentioned earlier in the briefing that you guys are at the 10 yard line of peace. Given the amount of progress that you've made in such a short amount of time, is that an indictment of the previous administration's foreign policy stance? And is it just more proof that.

[Ron Filipkowski]

You need to talk to people, sort.

[Caroline Levitt]

Of get things done? I think so. I think the previous administration is the reason this war began. As President Trump often says, this war would have never started if he were still in office. It only started because of the incompetence and the weakness of the previous administration. And President Trump is very proud of the progress that he and his team have made in such a short amount of time. And hopefully tomorrow that progress will move forward.

[Ron Filipkowski]

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[Caroline Levitt]

You keep talking about the judge's written order, which hit the docket Saturday night about 7:26pm but he issued a verbal order before that at about 6:45 and 6:48pm based on the court hearing, a verbal order from the bench. Does the White House feel the need to comply with a verbal order from this judge? Again, as I said, said all of the plains subject to the written order of this judge, departed U.S. soil U.S. territory before the judge's written order. But what about the verbal order, which of course carries the same legal weight as a written order and said for the plains to turn around if they were? Well, there's actually questions about whether a verbal order carries the same weight as a legal order as a written order, and our lawyers are determined to ask and answer those questions in court. Sean. Hey.

[Ron Filipkowski]

So on Friday, then Caroline Levitt says, oh, don't you love those fun videos that we're making of the migrants? Ha ha ha. Don't you like our fun videos? She goes, so we're encouraging people who are here illegally to self deport themselves. Or she goes, or maybe you'll find yourself in one of those fun videos. Here, play this clip.

[Caroline Levitt]

Biden administration abused to facilitate the mass illegal entry of illegal immigrants into our country. It was like a fast pass at dis. That's not happening. Under this administration, we are encouraging illegal immigrants to actively self deport to maybe save themselves from being in one of these fun videos.

[Ron Filipkowski]

Sure, John, good to Absolutely despicable that she's referring to these videos as fun videos. As I've said, they look like ISIS videos. And the fact that they're being produced by the American regime, it's not a government by the people for the people. It's by the bullies for the billionaires and for the fascists. This is the video from the official White House rapid response account. And then Trump posted this video. This is official White House videography right here where they show the migrants that they sent to El Salvador to put in concentration camps in El Salvador. And the videos show the El Salvador police force or military being fairly brutal with these people. Play this clip. And again, let me make my position clear again. The train de Iraq, the gangs, they absolutely should be fully prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. We don't want gangs in the United States. We don't want criminals in the United States. Throw the book at them, deport Them. There is a process for that. There are laws on the books. Donald Trump declared a phony war against Venezuela to invoke the war powers of a dictator. These war powers have only been invoked before in the War of 1812, World War I and World War II. So Trump saying this Venezuela war requires that he be a war leader and then pick whoever he wants based on what? Tattoos and Trust me, bro. And then send people to concentration camps in El Salvador. I'm sorry, that just. That doesn't sit right with me. And I'd like to see these gang members locked up, thrown in jail, but you have to go through a process to make sure they're actually the gang members and they've actually committed crimes. Call me old fashioned, but I believe in the United States Constitution is a thing and that you don't just get to, you know, you just go get to say, oh, you're a gang member, you're a gang member, and then just send them to concentration camps. Um, then a reporter to Levitt says, I think this reporter frames it, frames it correctly. So you're saying criticizing judges is illegal, but all Donald Trump and Elon Musk are doing are attacking judges, like, every day and saying that judges should be impeached and the judges who rule against Trump aren't real judges. Here, play this clip.

[Caroline Levitt]

Hey. So on Friday, the President suggested at length that it should be illegal to.

[Ron Filipkowski]

Criticize judges, but he has repeatedly criticized.

[Caroline Levitt]

Judges who rule against him. And Elon Musk is calling for impeachment of judges who have opposed the administration. So how are those two things not in conflict? I have not heard the president talk about impeaching judges. I know you mentioned Mr. Musk's tweet, but I have not heard the President of the United States ask that, Mary.

[Ron Filipkowski]

Then Fox loses its audio and has to cut away. Play the clip.

[Caroline Levitt]

And many communities have been totally destroyed. The President has been actively monitoring the situation and the Trump administration is engaged. Governors leading in.

[Ron Filipkowski]

All right, so we're having some clearly technical problems there. We're doubling up on the audio circuit. We will get. Then Donald Trump has his other chief propagandist, Alina Haba, go on Fox. And she brags about she's dealing with her own personal portfolio that deals with human extortion and human sex trafficking. Play this clip.

[Caroline Levitt]

Yeah, yeah. And actually, one of my focuses of my portfolio is human extortion, human trafficking and labor and cyber and finance extortion. That has happened because of these individuals bringing minors, bringing women, bringing individuals over the border, and then seeing them get tortured. And the facts that she mentioned, those are just public ones. I assure you, what I've been briefed on is so severely disturbing that if America knew just 10% of it, they would be happy to have these individuals out. They are a danger to our society and they have no business being in this country.

[Ron Filipkowski]

So. Oh, really, Alina Haba, because this is a video of you and Andrew Tate from a few months ago, From January of 2025, where you seem to praise Andrew Tate, who was arrested for engaging in sex trafficking and trafficking minors abroad. And he's made statements where he basically brags about trafficking people. I mean, we hear him on audio saying how he takes girls and women and doesn't pay them and then sells the. And then I won't go into. But anyway, here's Alina Haba fawning over Andrew Tate to play this clip. Hey.

[Caroline Levitt]

Hello, Alita. Hi. Nice to meet you. I'm a big fan.

[Ron Filipkowski]

Well, nice to meet you. I'm a fan. You're the one saving Trump. You're doing more important work than me.

[Caroline Levitt]

America. America, not just Trump. And I agree with everything you just said. And I think that you're. Our anger is the same that President Trump has for our country, and the time is now for us to stop being wimps. I think that's exactly the right sentiment. And I also have to say that I sympathize with you because I think you go through a lot of the same. Show me the person. I'll find the crime that President Trump has gone through and, well, that's the.

[Ron Filipkowski]

Trump regime for you. Despicable stuff going on at the White House. Hit subscribe. Let's get to 5 million subscribers. And thanks for watching. Watching. Can't get enough Midas? Check out the Midas plus substack for ad. Free articles, reports, podcasts, daily recaps from Ron Filipkowski and more. Sign up for free [e-mail].