Baba UmarWashington DC — The White House has accused US media of attempting to "sabotage" US President Donald Trump's foreign policy accomplishments, saying while the world leaders were "coming to Washington DC for help", the "left-wing media" was busy rooting against Trump's pursuit of peace.
"It should not be lost on anyone in this room that world leaders are coming right here to Washington DC for help," White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt told reports on Tuesday, a day after Trump's meetings with the leaders of Ukraine and several European countries.
"While previous presidents have travelled halfway around the world to apologise for America, President Trump stands up for America, and he has firmly restored America's status as the undisputed leader of the free world."
Leavitt said the media's "negative and outright false coverage" of Trump's summits with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Alaska and his foreign policy achievements remains unchanged.
Leavitt asserted that "left-wing media" have actively opposed the Trump's peace efforts, viewing his dialogue with Putin as legitimising him.
"From the beginning of this entire process much of the left-wing media has been actively rooting against the President of the United States in the pursuit of peace. Initially, the media ridiculously claimed that President Trump was somehow beholden to Russia for even agreeing to have a face to face discussion with President Putin inside of the United States. [They] said President Trump was making a grave mistake by legitimising Putin. They were aghast that President Trump would treat another world leader like a world leader," Leavitt charged.
She claimed media unfairly criticised the Trump-Putin summit in Alaska, where no final agreement on Ukraine was achieved.
"The so-called experts in the foreign policy establishment, whose record is nothing but endless wars, trillions of wasted taxpayer dollars, and dead Americans have the nerve to try and lecture President Trump, who has solved seven global conflicts in seven months about peace."
Hopes for a breakthrough in the Russia-Ukraine war have risen after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and several European leaders met in Washington on Monday with Trump, who met with Putin in Alaska last week in what the White House has hailed as a "productive" summit.
"We also saw yesterday the president of Ukraine and all of the other major leaders of Europe fly across the Atlantic Ocean to meet President Trump at the White House because of the progress that was made and that if you ask the media failed meeting, but it was not," the White House Press Secretary said, adding Americans' trust in the mass media "is at the lowest point."
She said diplomacy requires nuance and alleged some outlets were undermining peace efforts by misreporting facts about Trump's international engagements.
"Diplomacy is a delicate process, and instead of reporting the facts about what is happening here at this White House and what is happening between this president and other leaders around the world, many outlets in this room continue to try to actively undermine the president and sabotage the efforts towards peace."
No boots on ground
Leavitt, meanwhile, affirmed the US won't deploy troops to Ukraine, but may aid in coordinating security guarantees.
"The President has definitively stated US boots will not be on the ground in Ukraine, but we can certainly help in the coordination and perhaps provide other means of security guarantees to our European allies," Leavitt said.
She stated Trump instructed his security team to devise a suitable framework for enduring peace via security assurances.
"The president understands security guarantees are crucially important to ensure a lasting peace," said Leavitt, adding that Trump mandated coordination with European allies and sustained talks with Ukraine and Russia.
Regarding air support as a security guarantee to Kiev, Leavitt stated it's "an option, and a possibility," as the president mentioned in an interview with Fox News, during which Trump also said that Ukraine's hopes of joining NATO and regaining the Crimean Peninsula are "impossible".
She also confirmed the US is working with Moscow and Kiev to arrange a Putin-Zelenskyy meeting.
"I can assure you that the United States government and the Trump administration is working with both Russia and Ukraine to make that bilateral happen," she said.
