The headlines are bleeding again. "Trump Rages at Karoline Leavitt." "Press Secretary Failing the Boss." The media ecosystem is currently feasting on the narrative that Donald Trump’s public lashing of his own communications team is a sign of internal collapse. They see a "terrible job" being done. They see a White House in chaos.
They are missing the entire point.
If you are evaluating Karoline Leavitt’s performance based on whether the President is smiling at a Rose Garden podium, you don't understand the Trump brand, and you certainly don't understand the mechanics of modern attention warfare. In the world of high-stakes political theater, "negative" feedback from the Principal is often the most effective smoke screen ever devised.
The Friction is the Signal
Traditional PR firms will tell you that the goal of a spokesperson is to provide a "unified front." They want smooth transitions, polished talking points, and a lack of public discord. That works for a Fortune 500 company trying to hide a mid-quarter earnings slump. It is a death sentence for a populist movement built on the idea of constant, relentless disruption.
When Trump claims someone is doing a "terrible job," he isn't firing a warning shot. He is resetting the news cycle. He is absorbing the oxygen in the room.
The media falls for it every single time. They stop talking about policy. They stop talking about the latest legislative hurdle. They pivot entirely to the "palace intrigue" of who is in and who is out. While the press corps is busy writing fan-fiction about West Wing infighting, the administration is free to move on its actual agenda with half the scrutiny.
Leavitt isn't failing because Trump is yelling. She is succeeding because the yelling is the only thing the "fake news" can focus on.
The Myth of the "Unforced Error"
Critics point to Leavitt’s recent media appearances as a series of gaffes. They call them "unforced errors." Having spent decades watching how narratives are constructed and then dismantled, I can tell you there is no such thing as an unforced error in this administration. There are only tactical sacrifices.
In the attention economy, a "perfect" interview is a forgotten interview. A "bad" interview—one where the Press Secretary pushes back too hard, gets "fact-checked" by a smug anchor, or draws the public ire of the President—lives forever. It generates clips. It fuels social media engagement. It creates a "us vs. them" bunker mentality that is the lifeblood of the MAGA base.
Leavitt’s job isn't to be liked by the Washington press corps. Her job is to be a lightning rod. Every minute a CNN panel spends discussing whether she's "losing her grip" is a minute they aren't discussing the actual mechanics of the executive orders being signed behind the scenes.
The Press Secretary as a Human Shield
Let’s be brutally honest about the role of a Press Secretary under a leader like Trump. You are not a bridge-builder. You are a heat-sink.
You are there to take the temperature of the room and, if it gets too hot for the President, you turn yourself into the story. If Trump needs to pivot away from a controversial statement or a legal setback, the easiest way to do that is to create a new, internal drama.
- The Playbook: The President criticizes the staff.
- The Reaction: The media interprets this as "weakness" or "disarray."
- The Result: The original, more damaging story is buried under 48 hours of "Is Karoline Leavitt getting fired?" coverage.
This isn't incompetence. It's high-level distraction. If you think Leavitt is crying in her office because of a Truth Social post, you’ve never been in a high-intensity war room. You don't take the job if you don't have skin like a rhinoceros. You take the job knowing that your reputation is the currency the President spends to buy himself more time.
Why the "Chaos" Narrative is a Business Asset
From a business perspective, the "chaos" is a feature, not a bug. In any other industry, high turnover or public disagreement would tank a stock price. In politics—specifically this brand of politics—it proves the President is the only one in charge.
By publicly criticizing Leavitt, Trump reinforces his "Chief Executive" persona. He signals to his voters that he is never satisfied, that he is constantly demanding excellence, and that even his closest allies are held to an impossible standard. It keeps the staff on their toes and the opposition in a state of constant, reactive confusion.
The Counter-Intuitive Truth of "Fake News" Rages
When Trump rages at the "fake news" and includes his own staff in the blast radius, he is effectively neutralizing the press’s ability to use his staff against him.
The media loves to find "anonymous sources" within the White House who are "concerned" or "distressed." By publicly slamming the very people the media would try to flip, Trump creates a barrier. If he says Leavitt is doing a "terrible job," any attempt by the press to paint her as a "voice of reason" or a "moderate influence" within the building is immediately killed. He is pre-emptively discrediting any narrative that doesn't originate from his own keyboard.
Stop Asking if She’s Good at Her Job
The question everyone is asking—"Is Karoline Leavitt a good Press Secretary?"—is the wrong question. It assumes there is a standard set of KPIs for the role that applies across all administrations.
If your KPIs are "positive New York Times profiles" and "Sunday morning talk show praise," then yes, she is failing. But if your KPIs are "total dominance of the 24-hour news cycle," "protection of the Principal’s core brand," and "successful distraction from legislative friction," she is performing at a masterclass level.
The Cost of the Strategy
Is there a downside? Of course. This isn't a strategy for the faint of heart. It burns through talent. it creates a culture of extreme pressure that few can survive for more than a year or two. It makes recruiting "traditional" experts nearly impossible.
But Trump doesn't want traditional experts. He wants loyalists who are willing to be the villain in the media’s play if it means he gets to stay the hero of his own.
Leavitt is currently playing the role of the "under-fire subordinate" to perfection. The more the media writes her professional obituary, the more valuable she becomes as a tool for narrative redirection.
The media isn't reporting on the cracks in the foundation. They are staring at the bright, flashing lights the architect installed specifically to keep them from looking at the floor plan.
Stop looking for the "disarray." Start looking at what they aren't talking about while you're busy worrying about Karoline Leavitt’s job security. That’s where the real story is.
If you think she’s failing, you’re the one being played.
