Fact Check: Did top Dems misrepresent Karoline Leavitt's ‘main priority’ quote about WH ballroom?

WASHINGTON, DC: During a press briefing on Thursday, October 23, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt commented on some of the Donald Trump administration’s priorities, particularly regarding the White House renovation. 

Now, top Democrats in both the Senate and the House of Representatives are being accused of taking one of her statements, "the ballroom is really the president’s main priority," out of context. So, let's find out the truth behind it. 

Claim: Karoline Leavitt said the ballroom project is Trump's main priority 

The House Democratic Caucus’s official account on the social media platform X (formerly Twitter) posted a five-second clip of Karoline Leavitt saying only, “At this moment in time, of course, the ballroom is really the president’s main priority.” 

“So, Trump’s MAIN priority is a $300 MILLION ballroom? Not lowering costs. Not saving health care. Not reopening the government. Got it,” the post's caption read. 

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries also posted the trimmed five-second clip on X, using it as the basis for an anti-Donald Trump message similar to the House Democrats’ tweet. 

He wrote, "The Trump administration just declared that erecting a ballroom is the President’s main priority. Meanwhile. The cost of living is way too high and the Republican healthcare crisis threatens millions of Americans."

Similarly, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer made an X post on Friday that did not include any video, but carried the same message as the five-second clip.

“‘At this moment in time, of course, the ballroom is really the president’s main priority.’ It’s hard to wrap your mind around it because of how callous it is. But that’s what White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt actually said. Out loud. To press. Proudly,” Schumer tweeted.

Fact Check: Democrat leaders selectively misused Karoline Leavitt's statement

Notably, the five-second clip shared by the Democratic leaders excluded the question asked by a reporter regarding the ongoing White House renovation. 

“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?” a reporter asked Leavitt during the Thursday briefing. 

“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,” Leavitt replied.

In response to Schumer’s statement, the White House's Rapid Response 47 account wrote, “This has already been debunked, Chuck,” going on to criticize Schumer and post the context of Leavitt’s remark. 

“She was answering a question specifically about construction projects on the White House grounds,” the account wrote in response to a similar tweet made by Democratic Congresswoman Jasmine Crockett.

The press secretary also used the phrase “main priority” at another moment of the same briefing.

When asked about Trump’s stance on H-1B visas, she said, “The president’s main priority has always been to put American workers first and also to strengthen our visa system,” thereby proving that the claims made by Democratic leaders were misleading. 

Backlash over demolition of White House's East Wing 

As part of Donald Trump's new ballroom project, the East Wing of the White House was demolished on Monday. 

After images of the demolition surfaced, historic preservation groups, several lawmakers, and social media users immediately criticized the move.

Following the backlash, the White House issued a statement defending the demolition, saying the new ballroom is a privately funded addition meant to “echo the storied history of improvements and additions by presidents to the executive residence.”