SAEDNEWS: After the announcement of the upcoming Trump–Putin meeting in Budapest, a Huffington Post reporter asked why this city was chosen. The White House spokesperson replied mockingly, “Because your mom picked it!” — a response widely criticized for its disrespectful tone toward the media.
According to the political desk of SaedNews, the White House spokesperson gave a shameless and disrespectful response when asked by a Huffington Post journalist who had selected Hungary as the host for the upcoming meeting between Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin.
Following the announcement of the future meeting between U.S. President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin in Budapest, the capital of Hungary, a simple question from a Huffington Post reporter sparked a crisis between the White House press office and the media.
The incident began when, after Trump stated that his meeting with the Russian president would take place in Budapest, the Huffington Post asked a White House spokesperson:
“Why was Budapest chosen?”
The official White House response was unexpectedly insulting.
Karoline Leavitt, the White House Press Secretary, replied briefly:
“Your mom chose it!”
Moments later, Steven Cheung, the White House Communications Director, repeated the exact same phrase:
“Your mom!”
When the reporter asked Leavitt if she considered her response a joke, she replied more harshly:
“It’s more ridiculous that you consider yourself a journalist. You’re a biased, radical leftist with no credibility. Even your media colleagues don’t take you seriously— they just don’t say it to your face. Stop sending me these partisan, stupid questions.”
In response, Huffington Post sarcastically wrote that it was “devastated by such replies” and, out of fear of further escalation, would refrain from asking additional questions for now.
This incident comes as many analysts consider the choice of Budapest as the venue for the Trump–Putin meeting to be highly symbolic and controversial. The city is tied to one of the most significant historical moments in relations between Russia, Ukraine, and the West—a moment that has now become one of the most failed security commitments of the century.
The question raised by the journalist referenced the famous 1994 Budapest Memorandum, in which Ukraine surrendered its nuclear arsenal in exchange for assurances from Russia, the United States, and the United Kingdom to respect its territorial integrity.
In U.S. media circles, the hostile and mocking response from White House spokespersons is being interpreted as a sign of the Trump administration’s disdain for critical media, reminiscent of the rhetoric used during Trump’s first term.
Some social media users said this reply was “perfectly in line” with the administration’s broader approach toward critics, sarcastically adding:
“So this is American diplomatic courtesy—very fitting for the Trump administration.”
Trump himself has repeatedly had insulting confrontations with critical journalists and has clashed verbally with reporters from CNN, ABC, and The New York Times, even banning some of them from entering the White House.
