Newly appointed White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt hit back at a New York Times journalist after he compared US President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Leavitt called journalist Peter Baker a “left-wing stenographer” after he drew comparisons between Trump’s handling of press access and Putin’s media crackdowns.
The exchange unfolded on X after veteran reporter and former Moscow correspondent Peter Baker criticised the administration’s decision to take control of the White House press pool and exclude Associated Press reporters from key events, including access to the Oval Office and Air Force One.

The shake-up comes amid growing friction between the Trump administration and media outlets. Just last week, AP journalists were removed from the president’s trip to Mar-a-Lago and Miami after refusing to use the White House’s preferred term, “Gulf of America,” instead of the Gulf of Mexico.
Baker took to social media on Tuesday to express his concerns, likening the Trump administration’s move to Kremlin tactics.
“Having served as a Moscow correspondent in the early days of Putin’s reign, this reminds me of how the Kremlin took over its own press pool and made sure that only compliant journalists were given access,” he wrote on X.
Leavitt swiftly fired back with a clown emoji, followed by a sharp rebuttal.
“Give me a break, Peter,” she responded.
She pointed out that “moments after” Baker’s X post, Trump had invited journalists into the Oval Office for nearly an hour of questions. Leavitt dismissed Baker’s concerns as “hysterical” and defended the White House’s decision as a necessary change to an outdated system.
She then took a direct jab at Baker and the wider media landscape, posting on X she said, “Gone are the days where left-wing stenographers posing as journalists, such as yourself, dictate who gets to ask what.”
For decades, the White House Correspondents’ Association (WHCA) has determined press access, deciding which journalists could cover the president most closely. However, that changed earlier this week when Leavitt announced the administration would now take full control of the selection process.

“A group of DC-based journalists, the White House Correspondents’ Association, has long dictated which journalists get to ask questions of the President of the United States. Not anymore,” Leavitt said.
She called the move a step towards fairness.
“Today, I was proud to announce that we are giving the power back to the people,” she said. “Moving forward, the ‘White House Press Pool’ will be determined by the White House Press Team.”
Leavitt assured that traditional outlets would not be excluded but insisted that access decisions would now rest with the administration.
Baker responded with another sharp critique, suggesting the move was designed to silence tough questioning.
“Every president of both parties going back generations subscribed to the principle that a president doesn’t pick the press corps that is allowed in the room to ask him questions,” he wrote. “Trump has just declared that he will.”
He vowed that professional journalism would continue as usual.
“None of this will stop professional news outlets from covering this president in the same full, fair, tough and unflinching way that we always have. Government efforts to punish disfavoured organisations will not stop independent journalism,” Baker said.

“The United States is not Russia by any means, and any comparisons risk going too far… But for those of us who reported there a quarter century ago, Mr Trump’s Washington is bringing back memories of Mr Putin’s Moscow in the early days,” Baker wrote.
A New York Times spokesperson also criticised the White House’s new approach.
“The White House’s move to handpick favoured reporters to observe the president — and exclude anyone whose coverage the administration may not like — is an effort to undermine the public’s access to independent, trustworthy information about the most powerful person in America,” the newspaper said in a statement.