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Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt Briefs Members of the Media, Mar. 11, 2025 — Transcript

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0:00how are
0:01you good I let my staff get settled uh
0:04there's a lot of news today so I look
0:06forward to taking your questions good to
0:08see you um and I have some updates for
0:10you as well later today president Trump
0:12will address the business roundt
0:14quarterly meeting where he will tout his
0:17progrowth economic agenda and answer
0:19questions before more than 100 of our
0:21nation's leading CEOs in fact it's the
0:24largest attendance ever for this event
0:27because Business Leaders are so eager
0:29and encouraged by President Trump's
0:31return to Washington this follows
0:34president Trump's Roundtable yesterday
0:36with the technology CEO Council here at
0:38the White House where he met with key
0:40leaders in the technology industry and
0:42last night president Trump also held an
0:45official swearing in ceremony in the
0:47Oval Office for Shan Karin who is now
0:49the 28th director of the United States
0:52Secret Service sha demonstrated
0:54unbelievable bravery under gunfire in
0:57Butler Pennsylvania this past July when
0:59an assassin tried to kill President
1:01Trump as someone who got to know Shawn
1:04personally throughout the campaign last
1:05year I can say unequivocally that there
1:08is nobody better suited for this
1:10important role and following the
1:13confirmation of labor secretary Lori
1:15Chavez deror last night the Senate has
1:17now confirmed 21 of President Trump's
1:20well-qualified cabinet level nominees
1:22far outpacing the previous
1:25administration and looking ahead
1:27tomorrow the president will welcome the
1:29t-a mial Martin of Ireland for the
1:32annual White House White House Shamrock
1:35ceremony and Thursday president Trump
1:37will welcome the NATO Secretary General
1:39for a working meeting and lunch on the
1:43economy February's jobs report was good
1:45news for America particularly our
1:48manufacturing sector the manufacturing
1:51sector gained 10,000 new jobs in just
1:53one month under President Trump this
1:56rebound was led by the automobile sector
1:58where we saw nine ,000 new auto jobs
2:01created already that is the most Auto
2:04jobs added to the economy in 15 months
2:07this was a complete turnaround from the
2:09Biden Administration where we were
2:11losing an average of 9,000 manufacturing
2:14jobs per month last year Reuters is out
2:17with a report that a number of companies
2:19are now looking at expanding their
2:21presence or bringing their businesses
2:23into America because of President
2:25Trump's policies and just moments ago
2:27before coming out here I saw another
2:29report by Reuters uh revealing that MC
2:32has opened a $1 billion facility at its
2:35North Carolina site this is just the
2:37latest pharmaceutical company to boost
2:40its us Manufacturing in lie of President
2:42Trump's tariffs this announcement
2:44follows Eli Lily's plans to invest at
2:47least 27 billion to build four new
2:49manufacturing plants here in the United
2:51States and fizer has also said it's
2:53considering moving their manufacturing
2:56overseas right here to the United States
2:58of America as the president has said
3:01over and over again when we purchase
3:04products made in the USA the profits
3:06stay here the revenue stays here and
3:08most importantly the jobs stay here and
3:11despite the globalist mainstream media's
3:13attempts to worry consumers president
3:15Trump will not repeat the trend of past
3:18American presidents who broke their
3:19Promises to the American public and
3:21smiled while they stuck a knife in the
3:23back of American workers and shipped
3:26their jobs overseas our country has lost
3:29more than 5 million jobs in more than
3:31990,000 factories due to devastating
3:34globalization over the last three
3:36decades alone North Carolina lost
3:39300,000 manufacturing jobs including 60%
3:42of its furniture manufacturing jobs in
3:45the Years following NAFTA and in
3:47Michigan globalist policies destroyed
3:50250,000 jobs including 40% of the Auto
3:53industry which again we know is clawing
3:56back because of President Trump's action
3:58already these are harrowing statistics
4:00that represent countless towns and
4:02families who have been completely
4:04destroyed but the America last globalist
4:07era is ending under President Trump he
4:10will no longer allow our country and our
4:12workers our hardworking American
4:14families to be ripped
4:16off on another very important uh issue
4:19for the president he continues to work
4:21hard to secure the Border if you missed
4:24it yesterday CBP launched an enhanced
4:26home mobile app with a new feature the
4:29intent to depart which offers unlawfully
4:32present aliens or those aliens whose
4:34parole has been revoked an orderly and
4:37defined process to notify the US
4:39government of their intent to depart the
4:41country the CVP home app strengthens our
4:44mission to secure the border and
4:46provides illegal aliens with a
4:48straightforward way to leave now before
4:51facing much harsher consequences later a
4:54new report from Bloomberg just found
4:56that the number of aliens trying to
4:58reach our country by traveling through
5:00the jungle to Central America dropped a
5:02whopping
5:0499% last month and this follows the
5:07incredible news that illegal border
5:09crossings plummeted last month as well
5:11down
5:1294% at our Southern border from last
5:15February under the Biden
5:17Administration as president Trump made
5:20clear during his historic address to
5:21Congress we must finish this job and
5:24continue to carry out the largest
5:26deportation campaign in American history
5:29in that is why the president fully
5:31endorses the continuing resolution that
5:33is before Congress and was negotiated by
5:36Speaker Johnson he is encouraging all
5:38Republicans to vote Yes on this clean CR
5:42which freezes funding at current levels
5:44and will prevent the Democrats from
5:46getting their long-awaited government
5:47shut down voting against the CR will
5:50hurt the American people and kill the
5:52incredible momentum that President Trump
5:54has built over the past 51 days and
5:58lastly before I take questions I would
6:00like to commend The Washington Post who
6:02I believe is in the room today according
6:04to a new report from axios The
6:06Washington Post is overhauling their
6:08Newsroom structure it appears that the
6:11mainstream media including the post is
6:12finally learning that having disdain for
6:15more than half of the country who
6:16supports this President does not help
6:18you sell newspapers it's not a very good
6:20business model and that's why we have
6:23people in our new media seat and today
6:25we have sarar anetti who is the host of
6:27breaking points a popular iCal YouTube
6:30news and podcast show that has racked up
6:32nearly 1 billion views on YouTube
6:35several hundred million podcast
6:36downloads since its launch in June 2021
6:39he's also a former member of the White
6:41House correspondence Association but is
6:43now a part of the thriving Independent
6:45Media we're very happy to have you with
6:47us here today why don't you kick off our
6:49briefing thank you really really
6:50appreciate you having me Caroline couple
6:53of questions for you if I may first is
6:55first on the stock market So currently
6:57it's the 25th anniversary to day of the
7:00bubble crash uh there's a lot of concern
7:03for a lot of Americans right now about
7:04the state of the economy president Trump
7:06has refused to rule out a recession
7:08secretary lutnick however has told us
7:10there will not be one so can the White
7:12House just tell and assure Americans
7:13today that there's not going to be a
7:15recession well there's a lot to unpack
7:17there so let me start by saying that
7:18first of all when it comes to the stock
7:20market the numbers that we see today the
7:22numbers we saw yesterday the numbers we
7:23saw see we'll see tomorrow are a
7:25snapshot of a moment in time and as
7:28president Trump has said and and I'm
7:29here to Echo the remarks of of this
7:31President of this white house we are in
7:33a period of economic transition we are
7:36in a period of transition from the mess
7:39that was created under Joe Biden in the
7:41previous administration Joe Biden left
7:43this country in an economic disaster
7:46several statistics to point out the
7:48delinquency rate on credit card loans
7:50increased 63% under Joe Biden hitting a
7:53near 12year High under Joe Biden all net
7:56job growth went to foreign born
7:58Americans real wages declined by 1 and
8:01half% under Joe Biden and as we all know
8:04in this Administration continues to
8:05combat prices soared more than 20% under
8:09Joe Biden because of his Reckless
8:11spending and economic policies so we are
8:13in a period of transition from that
8:15economic nightmare under a president who
8:17had no idea what he was doing never held
8:19the private sector job in his life into
8:22a golden age of American manufacturing
8:24under a businessman and a dealmaker and
8:26Chief and president Donald J Trump who
8:29will be implementing is implementing the
8:32formula that we know Works look at
8:34president Trump's results in his first
8:36term if people are looking for certainty
8:38they should look at the record of this
8:40President that's why the American people
8:42reelected him back to this office and
8:44look at everything that President Trump
8:46has already done and his team has
8:47already done in just 51 days the massive
8:50efforts to deregulate tax cuts which we
8:53need Congress to pass the Trump economic
8:56agenda the Trump tax cuts which will
8:58unleash econom iic growth and the
9:00President also addressed this directly I
9:02will point out as well uh when you look
9:04at what he said on Air Force One uh and
9:07he said he wants the American people to
9:08have so much money in their pockets they
9:10don't even know what to do with it
9:12that's the intent of this Administration
9:13and we're working very hard every day on
9:15that goal second question on the CR so
9:17president Trump came out today in a
9:19primary challenge against Congressman
9:21Thomas Massie Congressman massie's been
9:22a supporter of Doge he's been a
9:24supporter of make America healthy again
9:26what kind of message is this White House
9:28sending against a congressman who's
9:30sticking up for principles that he's
9:31long held um in the chamber and voting
9:34against continuing resolution and it's
9:35pending I think the president has made
9:37it very clear that he believes it's
9:39critical uh for conservatives and
9:41Republicans and frankly all members of
9:43Congress to get behind this continuing
9:45re re resolution to keep the government
9:47funded the president wants to continue
9:49the momentum that he has built over the
9:52last 51 days uh in order to keep the
9:54government funded we got to keep moving
9:56with these deportations um and he
9:58believes that everybody needs to get on
9:59board with this bill he's been active in
10:01this process he's been making calls to
10:03get this over the finish line and we're
10:05urging every Republican and Democrats
10:07too uh to do what's right for the
10:09American public to prevent a government
10:11shutdown just a last question here on
10:12Mahmud Khalil does the administration
10:14believe that it needs to charge a green
10:16card holder with a crime to be eligible
10:19for deportation well uh in fact
10:22secretary rub re Rubio uh reserves the
10:25right to revoke the Visa of mmud Khalil
10:28and I'm glad you brought this up under
10:30the immigration and nationality act the
10:32secretary of state has the right to
10:34revoke um a green card or a Visa for
10:37individuals who serve um or are
10:40adversarial to the foreign policy and
10:42National Security interests of the
10:43United States of America and mmud khil
10:46was an individual who was given the
10:48privilege of coming to this country to
10:50study at one of our nation's finest
10:53universities and colleges uh and he took
10:56advantage of that opportunity of that
10:58privilege by fighting with terrorists
11:00Hamas terrorists who have killed
11:02innocent men women and children this is
11:05an individual who organized group
11:07protests that not only disrupted uh
11:10college campus classes and harassed
11:12Jewish American students and made them
11:14feel unsafe on their own college campus
11:17but also distributed pramas propaganda
11:20Flyers with the logo of Hamas that is
11:23what the behavior and activity that this
11:25individual engaged in and I have those
11:28flyers on my desk they were provided to
11:30me by the Department of Homeland
11:31Security I thought about bringing them
11:33into this briefing room to share with
11:34all of you but I didn't think it was
11:36worth the Dignity of this room to bring
11:38that pramas propaganda but that's what
11:40this individual distributed on the
11:42campus of Columbia University and this
11:44Administration is not going to tolerate
11:46individuals having the privilege of
11:48studying in our country and then siding
11:50with pro-terrorist organizations that
11:52have killed Americans we have a zero
11:55tolerance policy for siding with
11:57terrorists period Peter D
12:00Thank You Caroline uh so you said that
12:02the Dow dropping and dropping and
12:04dropping is a period of transition
12:06you're sure nobody here at the White
12:07House short of the
12:09D no I don't think so okay uh but is
12:13there any concern here that it's going
12:15to be harder to ask uh certain federal
12:18workers to retire if they look at their
12:21retirement accounts and they're getting
12:24ropped every day well I'm glad you
12:26brought up workers because that's
12:27exactly who president Trump is looking
12:29out for with his America First Trade
12:32policy and his America First economic
12:34agenda and if you look at uh there's
12:37great indication to be optimistic about
12:40where the economy stands and the
12:41American people investors CEOs small
12:44business owners but most importantly
12:46workers should bet on President Trump
12:48because his tariff policies what he
12:50envisions is reciprocity fa Fair Trade
12:53Practices where American workers are put
12:56first and are no longer ripped off by
12:57foreign countries all over this world
12:59president Trump says he's going to buy a
13:01Tesla today did he buy it and when is
13:05the last time he drove a car that's a
13:08very good question I have heard the
13:09president remark that he misses being
13:11able to drive that luxury of driving his
13:13own vehicle although the Beast is nice
13:16but he is going to be viewing a Tesla
13:18that is making its way to the White
13:20House complex now I can confirm uh
13:22perhaps the Press pool today will have
13:24an opportunity to witness this uh very
13:26exciting moment later this afternoon um
13:29but Tesla Tesla is on its way here now
13:32and we'll see if the president likes it
13:35when he checks it out so they're
13:36bringing him a Tesla to look at and if
13:38he likes it he's just going to buy no
13:40he's intent on he's uh definitely going
13:43to buy one but he'll take a look at it
13:44when it gets here later this afternoon
13:46full
13:46retail yes full market price Kelly can
13:50we talk about Canada uh what is the
13:53status of President Trump having a
13:54conversation with Mark Carney uh we have
13:57seen the president use the term Governor
13:59to refer to Justin Trudeau will that
14:01moniker also go to Mr Carney going
14:04forward and is the decision to
14:07increase the tariffs is that based on a
14:10specific economic metric that he looked
14:12at is it impulse how would you describe
14:15his reaction to candidates the president
14:17has not yet spoken to Mr Carney not till
14:20um not since I checked which was just
14:22moments ago um but certainly his phone
14:25is always open um to to leaders who wish
14:28to speak with him as for the tariffs the
14:30president made his position on this
14:32quite clear with the statement that he
14:34put out um and it was a retaliatory
14:37statement due to the escalation of
14:39rhetoric that we've seen out of Ontario
14:41Canada uh the president saw the premier
14:43Doug Ford make an egregious and
14:46insulting comment threatening to shut
14:48down electricity for the American people
14:51for hardworking American families uh he
14:53made that threat the president saw that
14:55and has an obligation and a
14:57responsibility um to respond um
15:00accordingly uh and in and represent the
15:02interests of the American people so he
15:04has made the decision to add a 25%
15:06tariff uh so now steel and aluminum
15:09tariffs will come into effect tomorrow
15:11at the rate of 50% and our steel and
15:14aluminum Industries have have actually
15:16applauded these tariffs because again
15:18they know it's going to grow their
15:19industry here it's going to allow them
15:21to export more steel that is made right
15:24here in the United States with American
15:26workers egregious and insulting are your
15:29words here but that's what many Canadian
15:30leaders have said about the actions
15:32president Trump has taken toward Canada
15:34and what do you think the timeline is
15:36for speaking to Mr Carney because
15:37normally the Pres a a sitting president
15:40speaks to a close Ally very quickly when
15:42there's uh new leadership well the
15:44president uh is again responding to the
15:47fact that Canada has been ripping off
15:49the United States of America and
15:51hardworking Americans for decades if you
15:54look at the rates of tariffs across the
15:56board that Canadians have been imposing
15:58on the American people and our workers
16:00here it is egregious in fact I have a
16:03handy dandy chart here uh that shows not
16:05just Canada uh but the rate of tariffs
16:08across the board if you look at Canada
16:09since you brought it up American cheese
16:11and butter nearly 300% tariff you look
16:15at uh India 150% tariff on American
16:19alcohol you think that's helping
16:20Kentucky bourbon be exported into India
16:23I don't think so 100% tariff on
16:25agricultural products from India look at
16:27Japan tariffing rice
16:30700% president Trump believes in
16:32reciprocity and it is about dang time
16:35that we have a president who actually
16:37looks out for the interests of American
16:39businesses and workers and all he's
16:41asking for at the end of the day are
16:43fair and balanced Trade Practices and
16:45unfortunately Canada has not been
16:47treating uh us fa uh very fairly at all
16:50over the past several decades to the
16:52woman in the purple because I saw you
16:54were making a face at my previous uh
16:56answer so what's going on
17:00well I actually I I have a couple
17:02questions um at the core of prop
17:05Palestinian protests on college campuses
17:07and elsewhere is a demand to end the war
17:09on Gaza a goal that this Administration
17:12actually supports and has pursued so why
17:14did why has not has this not been
17:17acknowledged or highlighted even because
17:19these colleges uh in these protests have
17:21again uh put out Hamas propaganda the
17:25Flyers that have been distributed call
17:28for violence the Flyers that have been
17:30distributed have the logo of an
17:32organization that has held Americans
17:34hostage that murdered innocent babies
17:37that murdered men women and children
17:39they are a designated foreign terrorist
17:42organization and we are not going to
17:44tolerate non-citizens foreigners who
17:47come here on a Visa uh engaging in such
17:50Behavior siding with terrorists and the
17:52Secretary of State reserves the
17:54authority to revoke uh the the green
17:57card or the Visa of an individual who
18:00serves as an um who actually it says
18:03right here reasonable grounds to believe
18:05that the aliens presence or activities
18:07in the United States would have
18:08potentially serious adverse foreign
18:11policy consequences to the United States
18:13and I think citing with Hamas makes that
18:16quite clear secretary Rubio exercised
18:18that Authority uh and we fully believe
18:20that we are going to move forward with
18:22more arrests as president Trump
18:24previewed in his statement
18:25yesterday thanks go ahead so are there
18:28conversations between the administration
18:30and the Canadians going on over this
18:32tariff because the Ontario Premier says
18:34the next step is to cut off electricity
18:36to the US and the president put out a
18:38statement after seeing those comments
18:40and said that it would be uh there would
18:43be grave consequences imposed on Canada
18:46if they think about shutting off
18:47electricity for the United States of
18:49America and our citizens and the
18:51president is also um determined to
18:54ensure that we are depending on American
18:56electricity not the electricity
18:59production of foreign Nations including
19:01our allies in Canada as for
19:03conversations there is continued
19:05correspondence between um the
19:06president's team particularly secretary
19:09letnik and the Canadians as well and in
19:11the market reaction how do you how do
19:13you sell to the American people then
19:14after they looking at what's happening
19:16in the markets this week and say that
19:18the Tariff policy long term is something
19:20good well just think about what the
19:22Tariff policy longterm will do for our
19:24country I think uh many of us probably
19:27grew up in small towns I know at least
19:28at least I did in the main street in my
19:30small town looks a heck of a lot worse
19:32than it probably did decades ago before
19:34I was alive at least my parents and
19:36grandparents tell me so and I know many
19:38Americans feel that same way what the
19:40president envisions for this country is
19:42for the United States of America to be a
19:44manufacturing superpower uh where there
19:47are American factories and businesses
19:49owned by Americans producing Goods that
19:51we are exporting to the rest of the
19:53world those revenues will stay here it
19:55will increase wages for people here in
19:57our great country it will ensure our
20:00national security and it will boost the
20:02morale of the American people to have
20:04thriving Industries again think about
20:06Detroit Michigan um think about North
20:08Carolina as I mentioned that used to
20:10have a thriving Furniture industry that
20:11no longer exists because of the
20:13globalist trade policies of previous and
20:16past administrations and the American
20:18people gave the president an a
20:20tremendous opportunity to restore
20:22American greatness and uh restore our
20:25manufacturing dominance and he's intent
20:27on doing just that
20:29John Caroline two questions for you
20:31first on the CR you put up on the screen
20:33the president's message to Republicans
20:36to support this continuing resolution is
20:38there Outreach to Democrats because what
20:41we've seen since the beginning of the
20:42fiscal year is that in order to get a
20:45continuing resolution you need
20:47bipartisan support and you need
20:48compromise well right now uh we are
20:51focused on House Republicans and on the
20:53house because that's the first step as
20:54you know John uh and so the president
20:56has engaged in correspondence with House
20:58Republicans um whipping votes and
21:01getting them to a yes which I uh
21:03understand has been pretty successful
21:04this morning thus far um and so again
21:07the president is encouraging Republicans
21:09especially but again as I said all
21:11members of Congress to vote to continue
21:14funding this government so we can
21:15continue the business of the American
21:17people which elected president Trump to
21:19do and then on financial markets we've
21:21seen this decline yesterday we see it
21:23today as well it seems that the read on
21:28the president policies in is one in
21:30which they do not have confidence in his
21:32trade tariffs policy they do not have
21:35confidence in what the president said to
21:36Fox News over the weekend that he didn't
21:39rule out the idea of a recession what is
21:41your read in terms of the decline that
21:43we've seen over the last week and a half
21:46in financial markets well I think
21:48there's actually a lot of reason to be
21:50confident and many people do feel
21:51confident just look at the nearly $2
21:53trillion in private investment that this
21:56president has secured look at the
21:58comments made by the CEO of Apple one of
22:01the biggest companies in this world who
22:03said that he is bullish on the future of
22:06American innovation under the leadership
22:08of President Trump look at CEO
22:10confidence according to the conference
22:12board measure of CEO confidence in q1
22:152025 under the leadership of this
22:17President it jumped to its highest level
22:19in three years from cautious optimism to
22:22confident optimism um if you again look
22:25at the $2 trillion in investments from
22:27some of the biggest companies in the the
22:28world look at the jobs report last
22:30Friday as I also cited in my opening
22:33remarks uh Fox Business reported that
22:35Trump sees a manufacturing boom in first
22:38F's jobs report of his second term look
22:40at the auto jobs that have already
22:42poured back into America we added 9,000
22:45new auto jobs those are sticky jobs
22:47those are good paying jobs that's 9,000
22:50American families who will now be able
22:52to live the American dream because of
22:54the policies of this Administration you
22:56also look at small business optimism the
22:58NFI B put out a report this morning
23:00small business optimism uh continues to
23:03be far higher than it ever was under the
23:05previous administration there's a lot of
23:07reason to be optimistic and again the
23:09American people uh CEOs and people on
23:12Wall Street and on Main Street should
23:13bet on this President he is a dealmaker
23:16he is a businessman and he's doing
23:18what's right for our country he wants to
23:20restore wealth to the United States of
23:22America uh Michael good to see you hey
23:25Caroline thank you uh two questions if I
23:27may uh will the administration be
23:29providing any relief to States affected
23:32by the Ontario power tarff uh well the
23:34president has made it very clear that
23:36Canada would be very wise not to shut
23:38off electricity uh for the American
23:41people uh and we hope that that does not
23:43happen as for what would happen uh if
23:45that does take place I'll leave it to
23:47the president to make those decisions
23:49does President Trump share the Justice
23:50Department's concern over Rising egg
23:53prices and possible collusion of big
23:56egg well we definitely
23:59we definitely do share the concerns of
24:01the American people when it comes to um
24:04the price of eggs however good news the
24:06average cost of a dozen eggs is actually
24:08down um since secretary Rollins and
24:10president Trump announced their plan
24:12it's down a185 so that's good news on
24:15the cost of eggs and as we know under
24:18the Biden Administration egg prices went
24:20up
24:2122% this is another example of an
24:23economic mess that President Trump
24:25inherited and the secretary of
24:27agriculture and the president presid are
24:28focused on fixing it secretary Rollins
24:31put out a fivepoint plan a four-point
24:33plan rather um to address this crisis
24:36and she has been honest and realistic
24:38with the American people as this
24:39Administration always is it will take
24:41about 3 to six months to get the egg
24:43supply back to where it should be um but
24:45she's focused and this Administration is
24:47focused on doing that every day Karen
24:50thanks Caroline um just back on the
24:51market you said that that what we're
24:53seeing this week right now on Wall
24:54Street is a snapshot of a moment in time
24:56but does the president think he bears
24:58any responsibility for the turmoil in
25:00the stock market this week look the
25:02president uh is unwavering in his
25:04commitment to restore American
25:06Manufacturing in global dominance uh and
25:08I think he doubled down on that this
25:10morning with his new statement uh and
25:12the tariffs that will be implemented
25:14tomorrow on steel and aluminum um and he
25:17has said recently he's not looking at
25:19the market he said you can't really
25:21watch the stock the stock market but all
25:22of the gains since election day have
25:24been erased in the S&P 500 at what point
25:27how far do stocks have to fall fall
25:28before the president considers it a
25:30factor and and changes course again as I
25:32just said the president will look out
25:34for Wall Street and for Main Street just
25:36like he did in his first term and uh
25:38people on Wall Street and Main Street
25:39should bet on this president he's doing
25:41what's right for this country Nick good
25:43to see you good to see thank you
25:45Caroline so um is the president prepared
25:47like what we saw with Congressman Massie
25:50to um uh pressure other Republican
25:53lawmakers into supporting this
25:55continuing resolution well he is very
25:57much as I that engaged in this process
25:59he's been making calls to lawmakers on
26:01Capitol Hill uh and I think his
26:03statements against uh Congressman Massie
26:05speak for themselves um and I will let
26:08the president put out any additional
26:09statements if he chooses to but he fully
26:11expects all House Republicans to vote
26:14for this continuing resolution and just
26:15to follow up can we uh start to
26:17anticipate seeing more of the President
26:20weigh in on upcoming 2026 races like we
26:23saw this morning um I'm not sure about
26:26that I'm not even sure if I'm allowed to
26:27speak about that from this Podium U I
26:29would check in with our outside
26:31political team for guidance on future
26:33races and the president's involvement
26:35Elena thank you I want to ask about some
26:37comments Elon Musk yesterday made
26:39yesterday he said that there is 500 to
26:41700 billion dollars in waste and fraud
26:44and entitlement spending he called it
26:46quote the big one to eliminate earlier
26:49this month he also referred to Social
26:50Security as a Ponzi scheme should
26:52Americans expect changes big changes to
26:55Social Security and Medicare president
26:57Trump has been unequivocally clear on
26:59this he is going to protect Social
27:01Security and Medicare benefits and
27:03Medicaid uh for hardworking Americans
27:05who paid into these entitlement programs
27:08and deserve those hard-earned benefits
27:10and unfortunately the mainstream media
27:11has taken Mr musk out of context I saw a
27:14Bloomberg headline that our team
27:16actually worked on getting updated and
27:18fixed because it was so wrong uh and it
27:21took Mr M musk out of context what he
27:23was specifically referring to cutting uh
27:25was the waste and the Fraud and Abuse
27:27that does exist in these programs
27:30according to an IG report from the
27:31Social Security Administration there's
27:33more than $70 billion of fraud in the
27:36Social Security program Al alone that we
27:38know of um and so the president will
27:40continue to protect these programs for
27:42hard working Americans and actually
27:44cutting the waste Fraud and Abuse out of
27:45these programs will protect it for
27:47hardworking Americans respectfully he
27:49said around 500 to 700 billion dollars
27:52there was no evidence to claim that and
27:54also if that is the casee that would
27:56represent more than a third of
27:58what Social Security paid out last year
28:00maybe 20% of Social Security and
28:02Medicare again if you read his full
28:03quote he said we think so it's an
28:06estimate based on what he's seing he's
28:08not saying definitively he's saying
28:09that's what Doge suspects and thinks and
28:12that's exactly why Doge was created to
28:15ensure that we are investigating the
28:17fraudulent spending the wasteful abuse
28:19across our federal government and I
28:22would remind everybody in this room that
28:2377% of the American people support this
28:26effort by Elon Musk in and Doge to
28:28identify such waste Fraud and Abuse go
28:30ahead thanks Caroline for you're welcome
28:33um if we could just step back for a
28:34second when President Trump last
28:36addressed the brt when he was on the
28:38campaign Trail his big push was on tax
28:41cuts he's going there today as he's
28:43proposing tax hikes in the form of
28:46tariffs and I'm curious why he's
28:48prioritizing that over the tax cuts he's
28:51actually not implementing tax hikes uh
28:54tariffs are a tax hike on foreign
28:56countries that again have been ripping
28:58us off tariffs are a tax cut for the
29:01American people and the president is a
29:03staunch advocate of tax cuts as you know
29:06he campaigned on no taxes on tips no
29:08taxes on overtime no taxes on Social
29:11Security benefits he is committed to all
29:13three of those things and he expects
29:15Congress to pass them later this year
29:17I'm sorry have you ever paid a tariff
29:18because I have they don't get charged on
29:21foreign companies they get charged on
29:23the importers and ultimately when we
29:25have fair and balanced trade which the
29:27American people have not seen in decades
29:30as I said at the beginning uh revenues
29:32will stay here wages will go up and our
29:35country will be made wealthy again and I
29:37think think it's insulting that you are
29:38trying to test my knowledge of Economics
29:41uh and the the decisions that this
29:42president has made I'm now regret giving
29:45a question to the Associated Press Mary
29:47go ahead carine I have two of those okay
29:49the first one was on Russia Ukraine I
29:52know special Envoy wiov said yesterday
29:54that uh zinsky apologized in his letter
29:56to Trump can you sh share any more about
29:58that letter and what else might be
30:00interesting from it that we don't know
30:01yes the president did reference that
30:03letter as you're saying uh in his joint
30:05address to Congress um and I do have an
30:08update um as you know Secretary of State
30:10Rubio and our national security adviser
30:12Mike Waltz have been negotiating with
30:14the ukrainians uh today in Saudi they
30:16will be providing a full readout of that
30:18meeting uh very soon um but I can assure
30:22you and everybody here and the American
30:24people that the news we've received from
30:25that meeting throughout the day and the
30:27president has been Brea on um is
30:29positive this meeting has been
30:30productive I will let Secretary of Rubio
30:33and our national security Secretary of
30:35State Rubio and our national security
30:36adviser um speak to the specifics of
30:39what has taken place today when they are
30:40ready to do so when the meeting
30:41concludes Lindsay go
30:46ahead uh the president has said this is
30:48the first of many arrests like this does
30:51the administration have a rough estimate
30:53of how many arrests you're planning to
30:55make similar I don't have an estimate I
30:57do know that DHS based on very good
31:00Intel that they have gathered at the
31:01direction of the president's executive
31:03order um which made it very clear to the
31:05Department of Homeland Security um that
31:07engaging as I said uh an anti-American
31:10anti-semitic pramas uh protest will not
31:13be tolerated so um since the president
31:15signed that executive order and since
31:17Secretary of known uh has taken the oath
31:19at DHS um they have been using
31:22intelligence um to identify individuals
31:24on our nation's colleges and
31:26universities on our College campuses who
31:28have engaged in such uh behavior and
31:31activity and especially illegal activity
31:34um and so I don't have a readout on how
31:36many arrests will come but I do know
31:37that DHS is actively working on it and I
31:39also know that Columbia University has
31:41been given the names of other
31:43individuals who have engaged in pramas
31:45activity uh and they are refusing to
31:48help DHS identify those individuals on
31:50campus and as the president said very
31:52strongly in his statement yesterday he
31:54is not going to tolerate that and we
31:56expect all America's colleges and
31:59universities to comply with this
32:01administration's policy
32:05Jasmine um on Canada after all of these
32:09threats to increase tariffs or turn off
32:11electricity I wonder does this
32:12Administration still consider Canada to
32:15be a close Ally of the United States
32:18well I think Canada is a a a neighbor
32:21they are a partner um they have always
32:23been an ally perhaps they are becoming a
32:25competitor now um but as the President
32:27also laid out in his truth social post
32:29today he believes that Canadians would
32:31benefit greatly from becoming the 51st
32:33state of the United States of America
32:36and I actually looked into some of the
32:37research about the cost of living uh in
32:40Canada and the cost of living is much
32:42higher than it is here in the United
32:44States of America the average cost of a
32:46home in Canada is much higher uh in
32:48Quebec um the highest tax rate for an
32:51income of 150,000 or more is
32:5453.3% more than half of Canadians
32:57incomes they being taxed on so the
32:59president has made it clear that he
33:00believes Canadians would be better
33:02served economically militarily uh if
33:05they were to become the 51st state of
33:07the United States of America Reagan
33:10Thank You Caroline a week ago attorney
33:12general Bondi said a truckload of FD
33:14files had been delivered to her office
33:16from the sdny Y when can we expect those
33:19files to be released to the public I
33:20would defer you to the Department of
33:21Justice I don't have a timeline here do
33:23you have any update on the JFK files um
33:25I don't at this moment again I would
33:27defer you to U our dni director Telsa
33:30gard and also the Department of Justice
33:32I know that they are working on that
33:33diligently as the president requested
33:35them to do Christian thanks caring two
33:38questions since we've been talking a lot
33:39about tariffs have there been any
33:41updates on standing up the external
33:43Revenue Service to collect revenue from
33:45there well we need re reciprocal tariffs
33:48to go into effect first and as you know
33:50the president will be rolling those out
33:51on April 2nd and then the next start of
33:53that process is collecting that Revenue
33:55to ultimately create the external
33:57Revenue Service which secretary lutnick
34:00is working very hard on and is quite
34:02enthusiastic about if you have noticed
34:03from his media interviews the president
34:05do that through executive action or will
34:07it require legislation well the
34:08president already signed an executive
34:10order to direct the Secretary of
34:12Commerce to establish the external
34:13Revenue Service or at least to identify
34:15ways in which it can be done I would
34:17defer you to the Department of Commerce
34:18for more ons specifics on that um sure
34:22in the back thank you very much I have
34:26on South K and northa station as you
34:30know South Korean president has been
34:33released from illegal detention what is
34:37the reaction of the United States as an
34:41ally is there a possibility of summit
34:45with President Trump when President new
34:49returns second Cas on nor Korea North
34:53Korea launched the bistic miss several
34:56bistic missiles into the West Coast
35:00yesterday uh what is the White House's
35:03reaction on this sure yes I'll start
35:06with your question on North Korea uh we
35:08condemn these actions and we call on
35:10North Korea to stop their unlawful and
35:12destabilizing actions as for South Korea
35:15the US and um Republic of Korea's
35:18Alliance is Ironclad and the Trump
35:20Administration remains in close contact
35:22with our South Korean counterparts as we
35:24work together to promote a free and open
35:27window
35:29specific question you didn't answer that
35:32release of South Kore president
35:36from um I don't have anything on that
35:39but I can certainly check in with the
35:40National Security Council and get back
35:42to you um sure good to see you um PR
35:45secretary many are concerned about the
35:47validity of President Biden's official
35:49actions and also his pardons of the
35:52possible criminal actions of individuals
35:54such as his family members and Liz
35:55Cheney as information emerging that many
35:58of his official actions were Autos
35:59signed uh possibly even the Pardons and
36:02without his knowledge or consent uh does
36:04the White House have any information
36:05available currently that Biden was
36:08actually the one that approved and
36:09signed those Pardons and second question
36:11will a doj investigate whether President
36:14Biden's cognitive decline allowed
36:16unelected staff to push through radical
36:18policy and pardons without his knowing
36:20approval I don't know the answer to that
36:22question but I can check in with our
36:23folks here who may know the answer to
36:25that question and get back to you Dasha
36:27Dasha go ahead you did a great job
36:29articulating the vision that President
36:31Trump has for what his tariffs he
36:33believes his tariffs can do in terms of
36:35BR jobs back to the United States I
36:37asked you last week about how much
36:39Americans might need to buckle up for
36:41some short-term pain a conversation that
36:43with the president and treasur secretary
36:45Scott bessent I've had with the people
36:47I'm wondering what is the how high is
36:51the pain threshold for president Trump
36:53and for this white house as you watch
36:56some of the turbulence in the stock
36:57markets as you field concerns from
36:59businesses and potentially see some of
37:01those approval ratings drop in the short
37:03term how much is he willing to stomach
37:06that and will he stay committed to his
37:08vision for tariffs even as uh all of
37:10this comes up well the president has
37:12been working hard every single day to
37:14alleviate the pain that was inflicted by
37:16the previous administration through
37:18massive deregulation through drill baby
37:20drill as we like to call it uh
37:22unleashing the might of our energy
37:24industry which we know will ultimately
37:26drive down costs for consumer here at
37:28home and again as I mentioned the
37:30president is intent on signing tax cuts
37:33for the American people to put more
37:35money back into their pockets which will
37:36ultimately unlock consumer confidence
37:39and again I'll reiterate the president's
37:41words uh in layman's terms as he does
37:43best um the president wants the American
37:45people to have so much more money in
37:47their pockets they don't know what to do
37:48with it that's the goal of this
37:49Administration through tariffs through
37:52tax cuts um through deregulation and
37:55through unleashing the potential of our
37:56energy industry I have two more quick
37:58notes before I wrap up um April 28th I
38:01can confirm that the Philadelphia Eagles
38:04will be here at the White House to
38:05celebrate their Super Bowl victory I
38:07know there was a lot of fake news about
38:09an invitation that wasn't sent or was
38:11sent we want to correct the record we
38:13sent an invitation they enthusiastically
38:15accepted and you will see them here on
38:17April 28th um and lastly on a sad note I
38:20would like to express our condolences to
38:22Fox News um and to the entire Fox Family
38:25who did lose u a cameraman uh Craig
38:28Savage who passed away at 61 years old
38:31uh recently a very tragic death an
38:33individual who was a great man and
38:35covered this building um for many many
38:38years so the entire press office the
38:40Communications office here wants to
38:41express our condolences with his family
38:44and also with Fox News and I'll see you
38:46guys later perhaps you'll see the
38:47president in a Tesla later this
38:48afternoon have a good one

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