President Trump’s press secretary, Caroline Leavitt, is now getting fact-checked by Fox News over Trump’s sudden cave-in on the trade war. Speaking on the White House driveway, Leavitt defended Trump’s 90-day pause on most tariffs, accusing the press of being ignorant and naive.

“Many of you in the media clearly missed the art of the deal,”
Leavitt said. “You failed to see what President Trump is doing here.”

But according to Fox News, what Trump is actually doing is backing down. Fox Business correspondent Charles Gasparino explained what really forced the pause.

“I support my president,” Gasparino said, “but that’s not what happened here.”

He pointed to the bond market panic overnight—spiking yields on the 10-year and 30-year bonds—signaling that global investors were dumping U.S. debt.
And who was selling? According to major money managers Gasparino spoke with:

Japan, the largest foreign holder of U.S. treasuries after China

Possibly China, but primarily Japan and others

A mass sell-off means investors are losing confidence in the U.S. economy and in the administration’s ability to negotiate credible deals. That, Gasparino said, forced Trump into the 90-day reprieve.

Back to Leavitt—she insisted Trump had handled the trade war masterfully and pointed to “dozens of countries calling the White House” desperate to make a deal.

“The entire world is calling the United States, not China,” she claimed.

But as Gasparino bluntly noted:

“We have no deals. Nobody has committed to anything. And Trump paused the tariffs anyway.”

Leavitt then insisted Trump was “playing the long game,” describing him as a champion of American workers surrounded by a “fantastic” trade team.
Gasparino wasn’t buying it.

“Let’s be clear—this decision can’t be divorced from what happened last night.
The plumbing of the economy was imploding. That’s why we have a 90-day freeze.”

Even though a treasury auction later in the day was healthy, Gasparino emphasized the underlying danger:

“If people are unloading your treasuries—especially Japan—it’s game over.”

This is not the first time Caroline Leavitt has been publicly undercut by Fox News. Earlier this year, Fox anchor Jacqui Heinrich pressed her on Trump’s false claim that U.S. automakers love his tariffs. The American Automotive Policy Council had issued a statement contradicting that narrative, warning that Trump’s new tariff structure would dramatically raise costs on automakers and consumers.

Watch Leavitt’s reaction—rapid blinking, visible discomfort—as Heinrich continues:

“Are you expecting a recession this year?”

Leavitt dodged, talking instead about Trump wanting to “restore America as the manufacturing superpower of the world.”

But the facts tell a different story:

Under President Biden, U.S. manufacturing hit an all-time high.

Under Trump, manufacturing has fallen, and thanks to this trade war chaos, it’s expected to fall even further.

Trump had been banking on tariffs forcing overseas companies to move production to the U.S. But companies won’t make massive investments if they think tariffs might be temporary—and now Trump has proven exactly that by pausing and softening them.

In effect, Trump has undermined his own strategy.

Across the globe, the biggest complaint about Trump’s economic leadership is his instability—that the U.S. government cannot be trusted because Trump’s policies change rapidly and unpredictably.
Now Trump has reinforced that criticism, and all Caroline Leavitt can do is attempt to spin it—while even Fox News is openly fact-checking her.

She’s also being blamed for tanking the stock market simply by speaking publicly about it earlier this week. Just keep an eye on the Fox News stock ticker.

Leavitt has insisted:

“Countries are falling over themselves to reform unfair trade practices because they respect President Trump.”

Meanwhile, the U.S. has just experienced one of the worst economic shocks in recent history—over $10 trillion in American wealth wiped out in a single week.

And Trump? He went golfing and bragged about winning a tournament at his own golf course.

“It’s good to win.
Did you hear I won?”

It’s like bragging about being endorsed by your own campaign manager.

So much winning.

With tens of millions of Americans watching their retirement accounts collapse, Trump celebrated a golf trophy. Perhaps a simple “fore!” warning would’ve allowed Americans to pull their savings out of the market before Trump hit them in the head with a golf ball.

A top YouTube comment from a veteran summed it up perfectly:

“Leavitt is an insult to one’s intelligence.”

I look forward to your thoughts on the White House press secretary getting fact-checked—by Fox News.

I’m David Schuster.
Thanks for joining.