As Karoline Leavitt steps away on paid maternity leave, the White House turns to four guest hosts—including Vice President JD Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, and Dr. Mehmet Oz—to handle the Brady Briefing Room. Their ap
The Brady Briefing Room used to be where President Donald Trump’s administration met the press on schedule—at least most days. before it became an arrangement he controlled tightly. Lately, the interactions have been pared back to once a week. The people who do show up are often those who work for him or cheer him on. or those he can keep within reach.
When Karoline Leavitt. Trump’s press secretary. went on paid maternity leave. he found himself doing what he has done often since he shifted from rally stages to the Oval Office: assigning the hard parts of the job to whoever is available. In this case, other staffers were pulled in to brief reporters he despises. What started as a workaround quickly grew into a first-of-its-kind habit.
Leavitt’s absence led to a series of guest hosts. So far. Trump has assigned four of them—each stepping into a role that. until now. has typically belonged to the press secretary alone. The vice president. the secretary of state. the secretary of the Treasury. and the administrator of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services have all appeared to face the press in place of Leavitt. marking the first time any person in those positions has conducted a routine briefing on the president’s behalf. It’s a reversal of the usual hierarchy of who does what in Washington.
The contrast gets sharper when you remember what that room has held in the past. Alexander Haig. then the secretary of state. once famously shouted “I’m in control here” after the attempted assassination of Ronald Reagan on March 30. 1981. Substituting for the press secretary. though—cabinet-level officials and the vice president taking what is normally a lower-profile assignment—was “unheard of” until this administration.
And the names make it clear the White House isn’t trying to lower the temperature. It’s trying to steer the narrative, even if that means turning the briefing into something more like a succession of set pieces.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio appeared as the first substitute anchor on May 5, 2026, staying in the room for approximately 49 minutes. The tone was oddly careful from the start: he opened the door to the briefing room “a crack. ” drew a laugh as he pretended to sneak in. delivered a short announcement. and then took questions.
Rubio was professional, defended the president, and covered a wide range of subjects. The list was broad enough to feel like a tour through every open folder on the administration’s desk: the War Powers Act. the war in Iran. the Strait of Hormuz. Russia. the pope. China. Cuba. Venezuela. the economy. and the price of gas. He also joked that he should use a laser pointer to choose which reporters could ask him a question.
Where Rubio stood out most wasn’t in the coverage—it was in the moment he turned reflective. Speaking about American history, Rubio said, “I think in the U.S., we’re not perfect. Our history is not one of perfection, but it’s still better than anybody else’s history. As we come upon this 250-year anniversary. I think we have a lot to learn and be proud of in our history. It is one of perpetual and continuous improvement where each generation has done its part to bring us closer to fulfilling the vision that the founders of this country had upon its founding.” The piece of the briefing that followed that statement didn’t sound like the routine defense typical of press rooms; it sounded like a departure.
But even that steadiness didn’t keep the briefing from exposing the administration’s central tension. Rubio said, “The war is over,” and claimed, “Operation Epic Fury is concluded. We achieved the objectives of that operation.” The statement has “haunted the administration since he uttered it. ” with the room’s questions never far behind.
There were other sharp edges too. Asked about the Strait of Hormuz, Rubio said the U.S. just wanted the situation to be “the way it was.” The problem, as the briefing itself implicitly underscored, is that it was that way before Trump started the war.
Rubio’s time ended with a mix of praise and friction. When a reporter shouted “Welcome to the White House” after Rubio described the room as “chaos,” the moment landed as both a joke and a reminder of how much the briefing room has become performative under this White House.
Two weeks later, Vice President JD Vance walked into the room on May 19, 2026. He lasted approximately 55 minutes. Where Rubio had a careful style, Vance came in with a different kind of energy—one that the briefing made feel like an audition for a job he already holds.
Vance’s most repeated line tracked the same theme that Rubio had offered: “The war is over. ” and “Operation Epic Fury is concluded.” But he added his own insistence that the administration could still reset something broader. He covered China, fentanyl, Iran, Russia, AI, the pope, the anti-fraud task force, Rep. Ilhan Omar, immigration, the southern border, Jan. 6, Charlie Kirk, and what the briefing described as other “non-issues.” He also praised a reporter’s “beautiful cross necklace.”.
Then came the message that made the room feel like it was being pushed forward rather than answered. Vance told reporters the president was “locked and loaded” and ready for Iran. adding. “The president is willing and able to go down that pathway if we have to.” He also repeated the claim that the administration had an opportunity “to reset the relationship that has existed between Iran and the United States for 47 years.”.
The briefing’s contradictions came through in the specific policies Vance said the administration would seek in a ceasefire “where we’re trying to get a negotiated settlement that gets the American people the things that we need for our national security.” Vance listed those “things” as no nuclear weapons for Iran and free travel through the Strait of Hormuz—and then the briefing pointed out what Vance did not emphasize: that those conditions had already been part of the situation before Trump began the war.
If Rubio’s performance was described as the best guest hosting so far. Vance’s was described as condescending and uneven. The briefing recounted that he oozed condescension and assumed superiority. Even his “most honest moment” came in the shape of a kind of admission about how little he intended to do: when asked a question. he said. “I’m a politician. Maybe I won’t even answer the one that you asked. but I will try at least to answer one question.”.
He also repeated the line about chaos and denounced former President Joe Biden on several occasions. The briefing notes that he told so many lies about the war in Iran it would be easier to count how often he told the truth—“if he had ever done so.”
Vance’s appearance also included remarks that signaled how he views the political ecosystem around the president. He praised Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton as someone who “is going to be a great senator for the people of Texas.” He claimed he loved incumbent Sen. John Cornyn but said Paxton “was there for the president. ” arguing that if someone is “out of step with the president of the United States. that’s not a good place to be politically.”.
The pattern—the briefing’s thread of praise, deflection, and repetition—continued with Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent.
Bessent appeared on May 28, 2026, staying in the room for approximately 31 minutes. He began with a wry smile and told the press corps it was “a pleasure to be there” and described his appearance as a dress rehearsal for testifying before Congress. The briefing said the joke fell flat, and Bessent pressed on anyway.
Unlike Rubio and Vance, Bessent’s focus felt narrower and more technical at the edges: he spent much of his time talking about Trump accounts, taxes, 401k’s, digital currency, and interest rates. He did, however, answer questions about Iran, AI, Cuba, and antifa.
His tone toward Trump was what the briefing highlighted most. Bessent said, “President Trump is a great American who has endured more than 10 years of nonstop harassment and weaponization from the federal and state government actors.”
He also criticized a Washington Post article about the administration’s attempt to put Trump’s face on the $250 bill. One reporter responded quietly with a line that captured the mood of the room: “He’d be better on the $3 bill.”
Bessent’s “most honest moment” came when he was asked about ambition. A reporter noted that both the vice president and the secretary of state had already appeared as guest hosts and asked if his presence meant he was running for president in 2028. Bessent replied, “No. I think it just means they’ve run out of things on the food chain.”.
His performance also carried its own claims that landed badly. The briefing cites as Bessent’s biggest lie his assertion: “What we’ve seen is actually oil prices are down about 10 percent in May. … We could see prices come down very quickly.” It also points to Bessent’s statement. “With the Iranian government we did not have regime change. but we changed the regime. ” described as his worst moment.
He may have won the room’s relief simply by ending his time: the briefing called his “best moment” when he left.
Then the guest-host experiment took its most jarring turn.
Dr. Mehmet Oz appeared on June 2, 2026, for approximately 39 minutes. He walked into the room sounding like Jack Woltz in “The Godfather. ” and told the press corps that talking to them was “like I’m talking to a classroom.” His opening leaned heavily into subject matter the briefing said included Obamacare. ACA fraud. Turkey. the World Cup. the Trump prescription website. hospice care. COVID mandates. Medicare and Medicaid fraud. forced vaccinations. and pharmaceutical manufacturing.
For the first 10 minutes, Oz delivered an opening statement described as sounding like it had been written to “put Trump to sleep in a Cabinet meeting before he took questions,” and the briefing said it provided few answers. He also “preached” and then moved into a wide list of issues.
In the room, Oz offered praise that felt oddly disconnected from the confrontation that normally shapes a briefing. The briefing recorded his “biggest lie” as: “It is it is an embarrassment that during COVID we allowed ideology and fear to dictate healthcare policy.” It questioned whether he was referring to Trump’s handling of COVID. and said the statement “made no sense” unless he meant something else.
It also captured the moments that made his appearance feel like theater rather than accountability. The “funniest moment” included Oz praising Bessent’s “dry humor. ” saying Rubio is “just an earnestly funny person. ” and then—after that—adding. “JD was spectacular.” The “worst moment” came as Oz said he was stunned at how healthy Trump is. adding. “That amount of energy and that amount of mental acuity does not exist in a vacuum.”.
When asked why the president keeps going back for more medical checkups, Oz offered an explanation that sounded like it belonged to a late-night monologue: “I think he likes the results. He does really well. He aces the test every single day.”
By the time Oz left, the briefing’s final question wasn’t about the facts he presented—it was about what the White House has decided the briefing room is for now.
The reporting frames it as an “unnerving and dreadful task” to assess the guest hosts. and it puts Leavitt at the bottom of the list. It says Leavitt is “the worst press secretary I’ve covered since I walked into that briefing room for the first time in 1985. ” and argues that her replacements—except for Rubio—were worse. That sweeping judgment. along with the details of what each substitute host chose to emphasize. made one thing hard to ignore: the president is no longer relying on a single messager. He is rotating roles that signal loyalty, control access, and repeat the administration’s preferred lines.
The question now is how far it goes, and how soon the White House will “cancel” the reality show.
At the center of the room’s recent performances is the war narrative. Rubio and Vance both insisted that “The war is over. ” and both pointed to “Operation Epic Fury is concluded. ” with objectives achieved. Yet the briefing returns again and again to what those claims were built over: a Strait of Hormuz “the way it was” and demands like no nuclear weapons for Iran and free travel through the Strait of Hormuz—conditions described as already existing before Trump started the war.
When a vice president ends his briefing saying the president is “locked and loaded” and ready to go down the pathway if needed, the contradiction isn’t subtle. It’s embedded in the language used on the podium—again and again.
The guest hosts have now offered a glimpse. in the briefing’s telling. into possible future GOP leadership and into who might carry forward Donald Trump’s “legacy.” But for the reporters who have to sit through the performances. the stakes feel closer and more immediate: it’s the press room’s purpose that keeps getting rewritten. one substitute after another—starting with Leavitt’s maternity leave and ending with a Cabinet-level reshuffle that has turned a routine briefing into something that resembles an ongoing audition.
White House Brady Briefing Room Karoline Leavitt Donald Trump Marco Rubio JD Vance Scott Bessent Mehmet Oz U.S. politics press secretary Iran Strait of Hormuz Operation Epic Fury