(TNND) — White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt pushed back on reporters asking if President Donald Trump is leveraging his position for profit.

A reporter at the White House briefing on Friday asked why Trump was planning to attend a dinner this month with top investors in his meme coin.

Another asked if Trump planned business meetings during his upcoming Middle East trip.

Leavitt said she found it “frankly ridiculous” to suggest Trump is doing anything in his official capacity to benefit himself.

“He left a life of luxury and a life of running a very successful real estate empire for public service not just once but twice,” Leavitt said. “And, again, the American public reelected him back to this White House, because they trust he acts in the best interest of our country and putting the American public first. This is a president who has actually lost money for being president of the United States. I don't remember these same type of questions being asked of my predecessor about a career politician who was clearly profiting off of this office. That is not what President Trump does, and this White House holds ourselves to the highest of ethical standards.”

Trump is visiting Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar next week.

Leavitt said he’ll be seeking “cooperative relationships” and “commerce and cultural exchanges” in place of “extremism.”

Trump also plans to meet with U.S. troops in Qatar.

Leavitt touted the newly announced trade deal with the United Kingdom.

She said American companies would gain “unprecedented access to the U.K. markets.”

And she said the deal will offer billions in new opportunities for American farmers, ranchers and producers.

Trump agreed on Thursday to cut tariffs on U.K. autos, steel and aluminum. But the 10% baseline tariff on U.K. products would remain.

“All of this happened because of President Trump's implementation of powerful tariffs to end the era of economic surrender and rebalance America's trading agreements,” she said.

Leavitt said Trump is committed to the baseline 10% tariff.

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer will meet in Switzerland this weekend with Chinese economic officials.

Trump has suggested that he’s open to lowering the tariffs on Chinese imports from 145% to 80%.

“The president has said, and he's right, China needs the United States of America. They need our markets. They need our consumer base,” Leavitt told reporters.

Leavitt said Trump won’t bring down Chinese tariffs without concessions from China, however.

Trump on Friday morning said via social media that he was “OK” if Republicans in Congress move to slightly increase taxes on the rich. But Trump said that’s probably not what GOP members should do.

Leavitt said Trump “personally would not mind paying a little bit more to help the poor and the middle class and the working class in this country.”

But she said the president’s main goal is to extend and expand the 2017 tax cuts via the reconciliation bill working its way through Congress now.

Leavitt struck a positive tone when asked for Trump’s reaction to Pope Leo XIV’s past social media posts that were critical of some Trump actions or policies.

“The president made his reaction to Pope Leo's announcement yesterday very clear. He is very proud to have an American pope,” Leavitt said. “I think it was a surprise to everyone. ... But it's a great thing for the United States of America and for the world, and we are praying for him.”

Leavitt said Trump is seeking a fast de-escalation in the fighting between India and Pakistan.

She mentioned the Trump administration wants to pay illegal immigrants to self-deport, saying it would save taxpayers money.

“If illegal aliens make the right decision here and submit their intent to depart through the CBP Home app and pass extensive vetting, they will be temporarily deprioritized for ICE detention and enforcement action before their scheduled departure,” she added.

First Lady Melania Trump secured a $25 million investment in her husband’s 2026 budget request to provide housing and support for youth transitioning out of foster care.

Leavitt said there was no operational impact when the air traffic control system that guides planes in and out of the Newark, New Jersey, airport went down overnight for the second time in two weeks.

She blamed the glitch on preexisting telecom and software issues.

“DOT and the FAA are working to address this technical issue tonight to prevent further outages, as well as install new fiber from Newark airport to Philadelphia,” she said. “And the goal is to have the totality of this work done by the end of the summer. I want to add that this outage at Newark airport speaks to why the secretary of transportation yesterday made a massive announcement in investing in our aviation safety, in our telecom system.”

Trump fired Librarian of Congress Carla Hayden – a move decried by congressional Democrats.

When asked about that firing, Leavitt said that Hayden “did not fit the needs of the American people.”

“There were quite concerning things that she had done at the Library of Congress in the pursuit of DEI and putting inappropriate books in the library for children,” Leavitt added.