Trump wants the world to see his softer side. That was the message from the White House this week as press secretary Karoline Leavitt praised him as “a humanitarian with a big heart.”
She said it with a straight face while announcing that Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff and Ambassador Mike Huckabee are heading into Gaza to check food and aid distribution.
“President Trump is a humanitarian with a big heart,” Leavitt told reporters. “That’s why he sent special envoy Witkoff to the region in an effort to save lives and end this crisis.”
Not everyone agreed with her. Critics brought up how Trump has treated others in the past — mocking disabled people, threatening immigrants, and always attacking anyone who disagrees with him.
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One user wrote, “It appears Trump’s Dementia Hallucinations have infected Leavitt.” Another said, “A humanitarian with a big heart… who wants to reopen Alcatraz, send immigrants to third world countries they’ve never been to, mocks disabled people… Get real.” Someone asked, “How do they fucking lie like this with a straight face?” Another added, “Well, to minors!” And one said, “The fact she can say it with a straight face is an indictment of her own soul.”
Still, the White House is moving ahead. Leavitt said Witkoff and Huckabee will meet with local Gazans, inspect aid sites, and report back to Trump after the visit. The goal, according to her, is to deliver more food and come up with a final plan for getting aid into the region fast.
Trump says the United States will set up new food centers in Gaza with help from Israel. But he made it clear that Israel will be in charge of those sites — to “make sure the distribution is proper.”
The move comes just days after Trump publicly broke with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. While Netanyahu claimed there is “no starvation” in Gaza, Trump saw the same images everyone else did — malnourished children, desperate crowds, and people dying trying to reach food trucks.
“There is real starvation in Gaza — you can’t fake that,” Trump told reporters. “The children in Gaza look very hungry.”
But even with that, Trump is backing a food group many say is making things worse. The Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, or GHF, is a private Israeli-backed organization that both the U.S. and Israel are funding. But people have died just trying to reach their distribution points.
Now Democratic lawmakers are demanding action.
Senator Chris Van Hollen and others sent a letter to Secretary of State Marco Rubio asking the Trump administration to cut all U.S. funding to GHF. They want the White House to go back to working with the United Nations, which has years of experience delivering aid in war zones.
“The current system is putting lives at risk,” the senators warned.
Still, the White House isn’t backing off. A senior U.S. official told CBS News that $30 million in aid will be released “in the next day or so.” That money is going to GHF.
“We support GHF,” the official said, “but we’d support any other method that gets food to people safely and without Hamas interference.”
Featured image via Screengrab
