Leavitt Unable to Answer Major Question: Is Iran a Regime Change War?

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt flailed when repeatedly asked.

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt appeared unable to answer a repeated question during her briefing Wednesday: Is Iran a regime-change war or not?

As President Donald Trump and his administration give shifting explanations of the U.S. decision to join Israel in bombing Iran over the last five days, Leavitt was asked what he really believes.

“You said the Iranian regime is being absolutely crushed. Can you explicitly state then whether or not regime change is a goal of President Trump?” AFP reporter Danny Kemp asked.

“The goals of this operation have been made clear, and the president has said them in his speech,” Leavitt replied. “The stated military options of Operation Epic Fury are as follows: eliminate Iran’s ballistic missile threat, destroy their naval capability, disrupt missile and drone production infrastructure, sever their pathway and end their pathway to nuclear weapons.

“Thus far, this operation has been remarkably successful,” she continued, refusing to comment on whether regime change is indeed a goal. “Again, we’re moving towards complete and total control of Iranian airspace.”

Q: "You said the Iranian regime is being absolutely crushed. Can you explicitly state then whether or not regime change is a goal of President Trump?"Leavitt: "The goals of this operation have been made clear and the president has said them in his speech." pic.twitter.com/edfxXlLro1— The Bulwark (@BulwarkOnline) March 4, 2026

Q: "You said the Iranian regime is being absolutely crushed. Can you explicitly state then whether or not regime change is a goal of President Trump?"Leavitt: "The goals of this operation have been made clear and the president has said them in his speech." pic.twitter.com/edfxXlLro1

Another reporter followed up on Leavitt’s remarks. “Those four objectives that you laid out do not explicitly include regime change. If those objectives were achieved and the Islamic Republic still existed, would that be an acceptable outcome?”

“That’s a hypothetical question that I’m not going to engage in,” Leavitt replied, still refusing to answer the question.

Q: "If those objectives were achieved and the Islamic Republic still existed, would that be an acceptable outcome?"Leavitt: "That's a hypothetical question that I'm not going to engage in." pic.twitter.com/EueslrGRnO— The Bulwark (@BulwarkOnline) March 4, 2026

Q: "If those objectives were achieved and the Islamic Republic still existed, would that be an acceptable outcome?"Leavitt: "That's a hypothetical question that I'm not going to engage in." pic.twitter.com/EueslrGRnO

That the White House press secretary can’t—or refuses to—answer whether the U.S. has embarked on another regime-change war in the Middle East is astonishing, given that the U.S. has been bombing Iran for five days now.

In his video message Saturday, Trump appeared to characterize his end goal as regime change, telling Iranians after he bombed their country: “Take over your government. It will be yours to take.”

On Tuesday, however, Trump appeared to acknowledge that despite the U.S. killing Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, his plan could totally fail, and the Iranian regime could elect another hard-liner to take Khamenei’s place.

Kristi Noem Caught Trying to Spin Story on Toddler Detained by ICE

The homeland security secretary desperately wants to avoid the stories of all the kids in ICE detention.

Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem was caught in a white lie Wednesday about a toddler detained by ICE.

At a House Judiciary Committee hearing, Democratic Representative Ted Lieu showed Noem a picture of a young toddler named Amalia who was detained by ICE, and asked the secretary if Amalia committed a crime. Noem replied, “No, she did not. She is with her family.” 

“The reason she’s with her family is because she almost died in ICE detention until folks brought a lawsuit forcing her release,” Lieu said. 

Lieu: I am going to show you another picture. It is of a toddler that ice also detained. Let me ask you, did she commit a crime?Noem: No, she did not. She is with her family.Lieu: The reason she is with her family is because she almost died in ice detention until folks… pic.twitter.com/R3XSjdqKU8— Acyn (@Acyn) March 4, 2026

Lieu: I am going to show you another picture. It is of a toddler that ice also detained. Let me ask you, did she commit a crime?Noem: No, she did not. She is with her family.Lieu: The reason she is with her family is because she almost died in ice detention until folks… pic.twitter.com/R3XSjdqKU8

Noem’s answer ignored the long ordeal that Amalia’s family had to deal with. Her parents, Kheilin Valero Marcano and Stiven Arrieta Prieto, worried that their 18-month-old daughter might die while being held with them at Texas’s Dilley Immigration Processing Center, known for its unsafe and unsanitary conditions despite the fact that ICE uses the facility to detain families. 

While she was healthy when she arrived at the facility, Amalia quickly became sick with pneumonia, Covid-19, RSV, and other serious respiratory issues and was taken to a children’s hospital in nearby San Antonio, Texas. Days later, she was discharged from the hospital after she showed improvement from intensive oxygen treatment. 

She was then sent back to Dilley, despite doctors warning that she was at high risk of infection, and guards there denied her prescribed medication that she was supposed to take every day. Lawyers filed an emergency petition in federal court to have her released, but it took nine more days in Dilley before she was released.  

Noem thought she could get away with saying that Amalia was safely back with her family, but the full story is that being detained by ICE nearly killed her, and only legal action got her released and able to take the medicine she needed. Noem’s stewardship of DHS and the president’s mass deportations have led to widespread misconduct, abuse of immigrants, and even death in some cases. Little Amalia is one egregious case among many that Noem ignores. 

Texas Republicans’ Gerrymandering Hilariously Backfires in Primaries

Democratic voters are fired up.

Given the many scandals that have enveloped this country since President Donald Trump began his second term, it’s easy to forget one of the first: Big Don’s call to gerrymander districts in Republican-held states in order to create more congressional seats for the GOP.

Fortunately for Democrats, the president is so unpopular right now that even new districts specifically drawn for Republicans may swing left.

Veteran political strategist Tom Bonier noted Wednesday that Democratic primary voters exceeded their Republican counterparts in four of the five Texas districts that the state legislature redrew last year.

One of these is District 28, which is located on the southwest tip of Texas, and where Democrats outvoted Republicans four to one.

Four to one! The turnout highlights a Southern, largely Hispanic enthusiasm for Democratic candidates that simply wasn’t there during the last presidential election. In Zapata County, also part of district 28, Bonier found that Democratic primary turnout was 143 percent the number of votes Kamala Harris won in 2024.

“It’s hard to overstate how rare it is to see Dem turnout in a midterm primary election exceeding that of a presidential election,” Bonier wrote.

These voters are also mobilizing despite a pronounced funding gap, which will only inspire more Democratic hope........

© New Republic