Ahmad Austin Jr.May 5th, 2026, 5:20 pm

Secretary of State Marco Rubio joked with the press Tuesday that he’d been told which reporters to avoid during a White House briefing.

Rubio held the briefing Tuesday afternoon to provide updates on the U.S.’s various international affairs. Throughout the briefing, Rubio repeatedly requested some grace from the press corps as he didn’t have everyone in the room memorized like a press secretary would. Because of this, Rubio asked reporters to identify themselves when called upon.

At one point in the briefing, Rubio had a question about the seating arrangements in the Briefing Room.

“Are you guys all the TV people?” Rubio asked as he motioned to front row of correspondents. One of them told him that was not the case.

“Go ahead. I’m sorry, go,” Rubio continued. “I’m learning. They gave me a little map — I don’t know where I put it — of the people here. Some of you had, like, red Xs. I’m kidding, that’s not true.”

For the press corps, it was a moment of levity in what’s often a contentious environment with full-time Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt. During her briefings, Leavitt has routinely gone after the media for its coverage of the Trump administration, and has even singled out reporters by name while citing her issues with specific reports.m

Among Leavitt’s most frequent targets is CNN correspondent Kaitlan Collins. The two have had numerous brawls over the coverage from both Collins herself and the network as a whole.

Watch above via Fox News

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