Karoline Leavitt (00:01):
Good afternoon, everybody. How are we? It's a newsy day indeed. And last night we saw the very best of America. After spending nearly 300 days aboard the International Space Station, Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams are back on earth. These two incredible astronauts were only supposed to be up there for eight days, but because of the Biden administration's lack of urgency, they ended up spending nine months in space. Joe Biden's lack of courage to act boldly and decisively was a big reason why Butch and Suni did not make it back until yesterday. But President Trump doesn't waste time. Immediately after taking office, president Trump directed Elon Musk in SpaceX to rescue these brave astronauts alongside NASA. The President also called the acting administrator of NASA and told her to bring the astronauts home as soon as possible. As acting administrator, Janet Petro said herself yesterday, "Per President Trump's direction, NASA and SpaceX worked diligently to pull the schedule a month earlier."
(01:09)
The President looks forward to welcoming Butch and Suni to the Oval Office when they are recovered. This historic mission brings new meaning to President Trump's promise to always look out for the forgotten man and woman. On another important matter, yesterday, President Trump and President Putin spoke about the need for peace and a ceasefire in the Ukraine War. Both leaders agreed this conflict needs to end with a lasting piece and also stress the need for improved bilateral relations between the United States and Russia. President Trump also spoke with President Zelensky this morning to align both Russia and Ukraine in terms of their needs and requests. As President Trump has said repeatedly, the precious lives and money that both Ukraine and Russia have been spending in this war would be better spent on the needs of their people. This terrible conflict would have never started with President Trump in charge, but he's determined to end it once and for all.
(02:05)
President Trump also promised maximum transparency and a commitment to rebuild the trust of the American people in our intelligence community. Part of that promise was to fully release previously classified records related to the assassination of Former President John F. Kennedy, and he made that happen yesterday. This historic release consisted of approximately 80,000 pages of previously classified records that are now published. The records are available to access either online at archives.gov/JFK or in person accessible to the American people at the National Archives in College Park, Maryland. Records that are currently only available for in-person viewing are being digitized and will be uploaded in the coming days. On another note, positive economic data continues to pour in showing the immediate impact of President Trump's pro-growth agenda. After suffering a steep decline in the final year of the Biden administration, the manufacturing sector came roaring back in February. Industrial production surged in February, these are new numbers, at a greater three times rate than the expectations to its highest ever recorded level.
(03:19)
And President Trump's laser focus on massive deregulation and unleashing our domestic energy industry is leading to stabilities for Americans bottom line. As Newsweek summed it up today, gas prices are plummeting under President Trump. And the Trump administration continues to make American communities safer through our ongoing mass deportation campaign of illegal alien criminals. Yesterday, FBI director Kash Patel announced the agency captured another fugitive from its 10 most wanted list, securing the extradition of Francisco Javier Roman-Bardales, a key senior leader of the brutal MS-13 gang, and the brave men and women of ICE also arrested a number of dangerous aliens across the country in recent days. You will see them on this screen. ICI San Francisco just arrested a citizen of Guatemala, convicted of sexual battery. ICE New Orleans arrested a citizen of Ecuador, convicted of rape in Suffolk County, New York. ICE Atlanta arrested a citizen of Mexico, convicted of assault by strangulation. ICE Dallas arrested a citizen of Mexico, convicted of assault with a firearm and rape with a foreign object. ICE Houston arrested a citizen of Guatemala, convicted of indecent sexual contact with a child in Texas.
(04:39)
These are heinous criminal alien monsters who the previous administration allowed to flood into our country. And every time President Trump and his team deport one of them, our country becomes safer. Finally, before I open it up to questions, I want to tout how successful our efforts have been in filling out President Trump's administration. There have been a record number of 281 Senate confirmed nominations already with another 280 in process. Here at the White House, OPM and GSA, we have filled 100% of the total number of slots, and this is a record number of placements in the first 58 days of any administration and a testament to the caliber and the sheer quantity of talented people who want to work for President Trump to make America great again.
(05:28)
Here in our new media seat today, we have Katie Pavlich. Katie is the editor of Townhall.com, which is a subsidiary of Townhall Media. It's a leading conservative news and opinion outlet based right here in Washington, D.C with writers and journalists reporting around the country. Last year, Townhall Media had 60 million unique users and 1.4 billion page views with a broad reach on a number of social media platforms. With that, Katie, please kick us off.
Katie Pavlich (05:56):
Thank you, Karoline. Really appreciate it.
Karoline Leavitt (05:57):
Sure.
Katie Pavlich (05:57):
Thank you. So given the back and forth with this US District Judge and the administration's use of the Alien Enemies Act, does the President plan to send new and additional flights of Venezuelan gang members, now designated as foreign terrorists, from the US to El Salvador or elsewhere? Can Americans expect to see those flights sometime soon?
Karoline Leavitt (06:15):
Americans can absolutely expect to see the continuation of the mass deportation campaign that has been successfully led by this President, Secretary of Homeland Security, Kristi Noem, and also our Secretary of State, Marco Rubio. Since you brought up the judges, I would like to point out that the judges in this country are acting erroneously. We have judges who are acting as partisan activists from the bench. They're trying to dictate policy from the President of the United States. They are trying to clearly slow-walk this administration's agenda, and it's unacceptable. As the President said last night, we will continue to comply with these court orders. We will continue to fight these battles in courts, but it's incredibly apparent that there is a concerted effort by the far left to judge shop, to pick judges who are clearly acting as partisan activists from the bench in an attempt to derail this President's agenda. We will not allow that to happen.
(07:13)
And not only are they usurping the will of the President and the Chief Executive of our country, but they are undermining the will of the American public, tens of millions of Americans who duly elected this President to implement the policies that are coming out of this White House.
Katie Pavlich (07:28):
And then one more question, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said yesterday that he was united with Democrats and working against Americans who "Their attitude is, I made my money all by myself. How dare your government take my money from me? Or, I built my company with my bare hands. How dare your government tell me how to treat my customers?" What does the President's response to this given his upcoming tax agenda and need to work on Capitol Hill?
Karoline Leavitt (07:51):
Well, we certainly hope that Democrats all of a sudden are for more money in the pockets of the American public. The President has made it incredibly clear that he is committed to tax cuts, he is committed to passing a big reconciliation package later this year, ending no taxes on tips, taxes on overtime, no taxes on Social Security for our hardworking seniors. And we encourage everybody on Capitol Hill to support that when it comes to the finish line, especially Democrats who clearly need a boost from the American public right now, their approvals are at an all-time record low. Thanks for being with us, Katie. Gary?
Gary (08:24):
I have one other question, but I want to follow up on Katie's question actually. You said the mass deportation campaign would continue, but she asked about the flights specifically. Will those flights to El Salvador continue while this case is being appealed?
Karoline Leavitt (08:35):
We don't have any flights planned specifically, but we will continue with the mass deportations. And I would just like to point out that the judge in this case is essentially trying to say that the President doesn't have the executive authority to deport foreign terrorists from our American soil. That is an egregious abuse of the bench. This judge does not have that authority. It is the opinion of this White
Karoline Leavitt (09:00):
House and of this administration, and that's why we're fighting this in court, and it's very, very clear that this is an activist judge who is trying to usurp the President's authority. Under the Alien Enemies Act, the President has this power, and that's why this deportation campaign has continued. And this judge, Judge Boasberg, is a Democrat activist. He was appointed by Barack Obama. His wife has donated more than $10,000 to Democrats, and he has consistently shown his disdain for this president and his policies, and it's unacceptable.
Speaker 1 (09:33):
You took me right where I wanted to go about the idea that these people are all foreign terrorists, but Judge Boasberg was originally appointed by George W. Bush and then elevated by Barack Obama. I just feel like I should clear that up.
Karoline Leavitt (09:41):
Well, let me just say something to that effect, Garrett. 67% of all of the injunctions in this century have come against which president? Donald J. Trump. Let me say that again, 60% of the injunctions by partisan activists in the judicial branch have come against President Donald Trump, and 92% of those have been from Democrat-appointed judges. This is a clear concerted effort by leftists who don't like this president and are trying to impose or slow down his agenda.
Speaker 1 (10:14):
So given that, do you think it's a good use of Congress's time and the president's political capital to try to impeach and remove a federal judge, which would take 67 votes you're unlikely to get in the Senate?
Karoline Leavitt (10:25):
Well, look, the president has made it clear that he believes this judge in this case should be impeached, and he has also made it clear that he has great respect for the Chief Justice John Roberts, and it's incumbent upon the Supreme Court to rein in these activist judges. These partisan activists are undermining the judicial branch by doing so. We have co-equal branches of government for a reason, and the President feels very strongly about that.
Speaker 2 (10:49):
What options does the president have to… He says he's going to follow court orders, he wouldn't defy a court order, but he's raised these concerns about these judges acting in such a partisan way. What option does he have to ensure that his agenda continues to move forward while this is ongoing and the judges appear to be trying to just block and delay and impede?
Karoline Leavitt (11:10):
Well, you're right. They are trying to block, delay and impede. This is lawfare. The president is no stranger to it. He faced it in his campaign, and this is a continuation of the lawfare that President Trump faced as a candidate, and he's now unfortunately facing as a president. Clearly, these partisan activists in the judicial branch didn't get the memo on November 5th when the American people overwhelmingly re-elected this president to continue with mass deportations. So White House counsel and the Department of Justice are working on this. They're appealing these cases, and we will continue to use the full weight of the White House counsel's office and the President's team of lawyers to fight this in court because we know we will win even if we have to go all the way to the Supreme Court.
Speaker 2 (11:50):
One more on PDA, Andy McCarthy said in an interview with Hugh Hewitt, he certainly agrees with what the president is trying to do with the Alien Enemies Act, but he's not sure that the law is completely on his side. He cites some previous Supreme Court rulings dealing with enemy combatants in wartime, says that even they have a right to challenge their detention in court. He raised concern also that while TDA has been designated as a terrorist organization, these individuals hadn't been prosecuted for terrorism. So my question is, will the President ask Congress potentially to declare war on these cartels for the invasion that he's talked about so that he's on stronger legal footing?
Karoline Leavitt (12:31):
Well, we absolutely disagree with the legal opinion of the individual that you mentioned. We would not have moved forward with this if we didn't believe the president. This was within the president's executive authority to continue with this mass deportation effort under the authority provided to him under the Alien Enemies Act. And when you read the act as I did last time at the podium, a predatory incursion is absolutely what has happened with Tren de Aragua. They have been sent here by the hostile Maduro regime in Venezuela and the president immediately upon taking office designated TDA as a foreign terrorist organization, and under this act, it is within the president's authority to deport these terrorists.
(13:10)
And anybody trying to defend these terrorists who have now been sent off of American soil should talk to the families of the individuals who these heinous monsters have killed and have raped. If you talk to those families, they are so heartened by the president's decision to take tough action and to use his executive authority, something that no other president has been willing to do because President Trump does what he says he's going to do, and he's deporting these foreign terrorists from American soil to secure our homeland, and he's within his rights to do that. Jennifer.
Speaker 3 (13:41):
On Tesla, very quickly on Tesla, there's a website that's trying to dox Tesla owners across the country and saying they're only going to take down personal information when people show that they've sold their cars. What's the administration going to do about that?
Karoline Leavitt (13:53):
I haven't seen that website, but we certainly think it's despicable, the violence that has taken place against Tesla, the company, its employees, and also just Americans who have chosen to drive an electric vehicle. Many of them are Democrats by the way. Democrats were big supporters of Tesla and of electric vehicles until Elon Musk decided to vote for Donald Trump. So we would like Democrats to also come out and condemn this heinous violence that we have seen, and I believe the Attorney General has said she's investigating these incidents as acts of domestic terrorism. Jennifer
Speaker 3 (14:23):
On Ukraine, can you say, is the White House going to pause foreign military aid or intelligence sharing with Ukraine as Russia says it's pushing for? And then I have a follow-up on the Federal Trade Commission.
Karoline Leavitt (14:35):
Sure. When it comes to Ukraine, I do have a statement for you from the National Security Advisor and also the Secretary of State. First, I'd like to reiterate what the president said earlier following his call with President Zelensky this morning. He said he just completed a very good telephone call with President Zelensky. It lasted approximately one hour. Much of the discussion was based on a call made yesterday with President Putin in order to align both Russia and Ukraine in terms of their requests and needs. We are very much on track, and I will ask Secretary of State, Marco Rubio and Mike Walz to give an accurate description of the points discussed. That statement will be put out shortly while I have that statement for you right here, bear with me as I read it.
(15:16)
Today, President Trump and Ukraine's President Vladimir Zelensky had a fantastic phone conversation. President Zelensky thanked President Trump for a productive start for the work of the Ukrainian and American teams in Jeddah on March 11th. The meeting of the senior officials from both nations significantly helped in moving toward ending the war. President Zelensky thanked President Trump for the support of the United States, especially the Javelin missiles that President Trump was first to provide in his efforts towards peace. The leaders agreed Ukraine and America will continue working together to bring about a real end to the war, and that lasting peace under President Trump's leadership can be achieved. President Trump fully briefed President Zelensky on his conversation with Putin and the key issues discussed. They reviewed the situation in Kursk and agreed to share information closely between their defense staffs as the battlefield situation evolved. President Zelensky asked for additional air defense systems to protect his civilians, particularly Patriot missile systems, and President Trump agreed to work with him to find what was available, particularly in Europe.
(16:20)
The two leaders also agreed on a partial ceasefire against energy. Technical teams will meet in Saudi Arabia in the coming days to discuss broadening the ceasefire to the Black Sea on the way to a full ceasefire. They agreed this could be the first step toward the full end of the war in ensuring security. President Zelensky was grateful for the president's leadership in this effort and reiterated his willingness to adopt a full ceasefire. President Trump also discussed Ukraine's electrical supply and nuclear power plants. He said that the United States could be very helpful in running those plants with its electricity and utility expertise. American ownership of those plants would be the best protection for that infrastructure and support for Ukrainian energy infrastructure. President Zelensky also thanked President Trump for continuing to push humanitarian concerns, including the exchange of prisoners of war. He noted they had just had a successful exchange and thanked the president for his leadership on that.
(17:16)
President Trump also asked President Zelensky about the children who had gone missing from Ukraine during the war, including the ones that had been abducted, and President Trump promised to work closely with both parties to help make sure those children were returned home. They agreed all parties must continue the effort to make a ceasefire work. The presidents noted the positive work of their advisors and representatives, especially Secretary Rubio, national Security Advisor, Mike Waltz, Special Envoy Kellogg, and others. The presidents instructed their teams to move ahead with the technical issues related to implementing and broadening the partial ceasefire. The presidents instructed their advisors and representatives to carry out this work as quickly as possible. The presidents emphasized that in further meetings, the teams can agree on all necessary
Karoline Leavitt (18:00):
… aspects of advancing toward lasting peace and security. That is a lengthy statement that was just given to me, so thanks for bearing with me. Our office will of course provide this after. And as you know, as I just pointed out in the statement, the President's team of negotiators and national security experts will be heading to Saudi again later this week to continue working on in ironing out the details. But I would just like to emphasize we have never been this close to peace and it's only because of President Trump that we are here. I think a couple of years ago, as you all reported on the war, it was incomprehensible to have a partial ceasefire in this conflict. And today, that is true because of the leadership of this President. Mary?
Rachel (18:39):
You said they agreed to closely share information between their defense staffs. Does that mean all intelligence sharing will continue? So the White House is rejecting Russia's request to pause that?
Karoline Leavitt (18:50):
Intelligence sharing in terms of defense for Ukraine will continue to be shared. Mary?
Mary (18:54):
Thanks, Karoline. I have two questions. One on the United States Institute of Peace and then on the Supreme Court, if that's okay?
Karoline Leavitt (19:00):
Sure.
Mary (19:01):
So on the United States Institute of Peace, this is a little bit wild, I understand the old president refused to leave. After he was removed from his position, he barricaded himself in his offices, had to be escorted out by police, left the building without Wi-Fi, telephones, elevators, and more, and is now telling media that DOGE broke in and illegally removed him. So can you comment on this sequence of events and specify did DOGE illegally enter?
Karoline Leavitt (19:27):
I'm really glad you brought this up, Mary. We were made aware of this story by individuals at DOGE, at Elon Musk's team and also at the State Department who were unable to access this building, and it became very clear that there was a concerted effort amongst the rogue bureaucrats at the United States Institute of Peace to actually physically barricade themselves essentially inside of the building to prevent political appointees of this administration who work at the direction of the President of the United States to get into the building.
(20:02)
There was a piece in the Daily Caller, thank you for sharing the truth on this, about what happened. Staff contacted the NPD in an attempt to prevent DOGE personnel from entering. They barricaded the doors, they also disabled telephone lines, internet connections, and other IT infrastructure within the building. They distributed flyers internally, encouraging each other to basically prevent these individuals from accessing the building. I use this to say this is what DOGE and this administration is facing. It's a resistance from bureaucrats who don't want to see change in this city. President Trump was elected on an overwhelming mandate to seek change and implement change and this is unacceptable behavior.
Mary (20:46):
Thank you. And just really quick on the Supreme Court. I know it's been almost three years now since the leak of the draft Dobbs opinion to Politico actually, a leak which sparked protesting outside the homes of the justices and even brought on one attempted assassination attempt. I know Justice Alito said that it made the justices targets for assassination, but yet the Supreme Court has not tracked down any leaker. Does the White House have interest in finding out who that leaker was and can you comment on that at all?
Karoline Leavitt (21:11):
I know generally speaking, the President has an interest in finding leakers and he believes it's unacceptable and it's the position of this administration, you've seen the Secretary of Homeland Security has taken tough action at her agency. Leaking is unacceptable to this President and to the leaders across the board in this Cabinet, especially when it puts people in harm's way. Sure.
Speaker 4 (21:30):
Thank you, Karoline. A mom whose daughter was forced to change in a locker room with a biological male at school filed a complaint with the DOJ. How will the Trump DOJ deal with violations of President Trump's orders protecting women and girls like this?
Karoline Leavitt (21:43):
I would defer you to the Department of Justice on that specific case, but the president has made it incredibly clear, it is the policy of this administration that there are only two genders, male and female, only two sexes rather, male and female, and that we are not going to tolerate such behavior by men pretending to be women. The President will continue to strongly stand for the rights of women and girls, not just in sports and on athletic fields, but also in private spaces like locker rooms and bathrooms. Sure. Go ahead.
Speaker 5 (22:13):
Thank you. On the FTC, two quick questions. Can you explain the President's thinking in his decision to fire the two Democratic commissioners, especially given that Mark Meador is on track to be confirmed next week and there would be Republican majority? My biggest question is, why now?
Karoline Leavitt (22:27):
Sure. Because the time was right to let these people go and the President absolutely has the authority to do it and they were given ample notice in a letter that I believe your outlet reported on. So it pretty much explains exactly why this administration chose to let those individuals go.
Speaker 5 (22:42):
Is the ultimate goal to get this to the Supreme Court to try to overturn the 1935 president?
Karoline Leavitt (22:46):
The goal was to let these individuals go. If we have to fight it all the way to the Supreme Court, we certainly will. Rachel?
Rachel (22:52):
Back to those deportation flights to El Salvador, can the administration provide any more details on how authorities determine that each of those men were in fact members of a gang? And if the White House can publish images, photos, videos of those men, why can't the administration just release basic information, like their identities and names?
Karoline Leavitt (23:10):
We are not going to reveal operational details about a counterterrorism operation, but what I can assure you, as I said on Monday, we have the highest degree of confidence in our ICE agents and our customs and border patrol agents who have committed their lives to targeting illegal criminals in our country, particularly foreign terrorists. And they had great evidence and indication. They have the highest degree of professionalism and they were 100% confident in the individuals that were sent home on these flights and in the President's executive authority to do that.
Rachel (23:41):
Just to follow up, I know in the last briefing you've cited privacy concerns as a reason why the administration may not be able to reveal the identities. What exactly are the privacy rights of immigrants who were deported that the administration says were dangerous enough to be sent to El Salvador and sent in a prison?
Karoline Leavitt (23:57):
Again, as I just said, we're not going to reveal the operational details of a counterterrorism operation for quite obvious reasons. We're trying to combat terrorism here in the United States of America. Jeff?
Jeff (24:07):
If I could ask something else about the phone call yesterday. There was a couple different readouts from the Kremlin and the US on a couple of different points, one was energy and infrastructure. The US statements said energy and infrastructure, the Kremlin said energy infrastructure. What is your understanding of what the actual substance of that disagreement was? Then I have one other question on that.
Karoline Leavitt (24:28):
I would defer you to the readout that was provided by the White House. That's our understanding and that's the truth.
Jeff (24:33):
And if I could ask a question about the judge as well, how does a president define a bad judge? Is it just someone who disagrees with him?
Karoline Leavitt (24:40):
No.
Jeff (24:40):
And is that a dangerous president in this case? Because this is a temporary ruling from Judge Boasberg that he could ultimately rule in your favor. Is he setting up a standard here for calling for the impeachment of a judge who may ultimately rule on your side?
Karoline Leavitt (24:54):
No, it has nothing to do with disagreeing with the President on policy. It's with disagreeing with the constitution and the law and it's trying to usurp the authority of the executive branch of this country. It's having baseless reasoning for these injunctions and it's a clear effort by these judges to slow roll this president's agenda. And if you just look at the injunctions that this president has faced, deporting foreign terrorists from our homeland, hiring and firing of Executive branch employees when the President is the executive of the executive branch. You also see an injunction by a partisan activist judge when it comes to the Secretary of Defense trying to determine the readiness of our troops and the qualifications of our troops and our armed forces. Does a single district court judge really have more authority over the commander-in-chief and the Secretary of Defense to determine who should serve in our United States Armed forces? Absolutely not. Anyone who has taken a basic civics lesson can understand that and it's ridiculous lawfare that we are witnessing. And it's-
Jeff (26:01):
The President said he supports… I'm sorry, the President said he respects the chief justice here. Does he respect him specifically on this case and this opinion or respects him overall? And has he spoken to any other Supreme Court justices about it?
Karoline Leavitt (26:15):
The President respects Chief Justice Roberts overall. He just expressed that to me in the Oval Office, but it's also quite clear that the Supreme Court needs to rein in these judges who are acting as partisan activists and they are undermining the judicial branch and it's a dereliction of duty on their behalf. Deanna?
Jeff (26:33):
And how would you rein them in?
Karoline Leavitt (26:33):
Deanna, go ahead.
Deanna (26:34):
Thank you so much, Karoline. On the call with Zelenskyy, did they discuss the minerals deal at all? Is that back on the table? And what do the Ukrainians have to do to get that back on the table and then one on the Russia call as well?
Karoline Leavitt (26:45):
Again, I just provided a very lengthy readout of the call that was provided by the Secretary of State and the National Security Advisor, and now we have moved beyond the economic minerals deal. We are at a place of peace. We're at a partial ceasefire and we're moving towards a full ceasefire and
Karoline Leavitt (27:00):
… cease-fire and a long-standing peace in this conflict. And that's great news for the American public.
Speaker 6 (27:04):
The Kremlin readout mentioned that Trump and Putin spoke about potential U.S.-Russia hockey games, and the Kremlin readout also said that Russia wanted the U.S. To stop U.S. intelligence and U.S. funding to Ukraine. The president has said that that conversation did not happen. Just wondering if you can get us any more clarity on that, and also, again, if it's energy infrastructure, or if it's energy and infrastructure, because I think there is a big difference between that.
Karoline Leavitt (27:32):
Again, as for the readouts of the call, I would defer you to ours. And when it comes to the topic of hockey, it did come up. However, we're more interested in securing a peace deal than scheduling hockey games right now.
(27:44)
Sean?
Speaker 7 (27:46):
Hey, about the deportation flight, so was it the president himself who directed the planes to stay in the air after the judge ordered them to turn back?
Karoline Leavitt (27:54):
The president invoked the Aliens Enemies Act with a proclamation, which then directed the Department of Homeland Security and the Department of State to move forward with the plan of action. And as I said yesterday, all of the planes that were subject to the judge's written order took off before the order was submitted in court. I was asked and answered that question multiple times yesterday.
(28:15)
Kate, go ahead.
Speaker 8 (28:17):
Is the president still considering pressuring Russia with sanctions or tariffs to try to get a full ceasefire? And is there any kind of deadline or timeline that the White House has in mind for when that pressure might ramp up?
Karoline Leavitt (28:28):
Again, the president had a nearly two-hour long call with President Putin yesterday. We provided a readout of that call, and we have his negotiating team heading to the Middle East this week to continue these discussions in regards to sanctions and any other details, I'm not going to give a readout of those from this podium.
Speaker 8 (28:44):
And on TikTok, is Oracle the leading contender for a deal? And would the U.S. back a deal that keeps TikTok's algorithm and the underlying technology still in Chinese hands?
Karoline Leavitt (28:53):
As President Trump does so well, we don't get ahead of ourselves when we are in the midst of the art of the deal. So when the president and this team are ready to announce a deal on TikTok, which is a high priority for the president, we will make that known. I've seen that reporting, but I'm not going to comment on it just yet.
(29:09)
Sure, go ahead.
Speaker 7 (29:10):
Thank you Press Secretary Leavitt. Some prominent Trump supporters have been making the case that Derek Chauvin deserves a pardon. They argue that he did not receive a fair trial. Joe Biden and other Democrats actually implied that he was guilty while the trial was going on. BLM rioters had these jurors under immense threat and pressure, mainstream media, frankly, many news outlets here today are complicit here. They chose to ignore the autopsy report. They chose to ignore the full body camera footage. They decided to slander Derek Chauvin as a racist cop instead.
(29:40)
Does the administration believe Derek Chauvin received a fair trial, and will they consider a pardon moving forward?
Karoline Leavitt (29:45):
The president has been asked and answered this question. He said it's not something he's considering at this time.
(29:49)
Philip?
Speaker 9 (29:50):
Thank you. Two questions first, just a follow-up on the readouts from those calls. When it comes to the discrepancies between the U.S and Russian readout of that call between President Trump and Putin, is it the President's assessment is something that's getting lost in translation, or does he believe that the Russians are trying to play games here?
Karoline Leavitt (30:08):
Nope. The president believes in his team that put the readout out, and he also put his own out on Truth Social. We've been incredibly transparent about all of the president's calls with foreign leaders, and again, I would defer you to the readout.
Speaker 9 (30:19):
And then following up on --
Karoline Leavitt (30:20):
Michael.
Speaker 10 (30:21):
Thank you Karoline. The White House said yesterday that gas prices across the U.S. Have fallen for the fourth straight week, 34 states now seeing gas under $ 3 a gallon. This limited ceasefire with Ukraine regarding oil refineries, energy, will that affect gas prices here in the U.S.?
Karoline Leavitt (30:39):
Well, it's certainly the president's hope that gas prices will continue to fall, and he's working every single day to ensure that we do. As you just mentioned, there's been very encouraging data, inflation is cooling, and gas prices are falling. The president has established a National Energy Dominance Council, and it's ultimately the president's goal, and this administration is working hard on it every single day, to increase our energy production right here in the United States of America, to have a Trump energy boom like we saw in our first term, which will not only lead to lower fuel prices here at home, but also lessen the rate of inflation that was created by the previous administration.
Speaker 10 (31:13):
One more on Tesla Karoline. Tim Walz, Governor Walz saying last night, he frequently checks Tesla's stock, in doing so, to quote, "Give me a little boost during the day." How should Americans view politicians who take pride in the downfall of an American car company?
Karoline Leavitt (31:29):
I think that's quite sad, but I think Governor Walz is living a sad existence after his devastating defeat on November 5th.
(31:38)
Reagan, go ahead.
Speaker 11 (31:38):
Thank you Karoline. Across the country, Tesla cars are being lit on fire, dealerships are being shot up, Molotov cocktails are being used. There was a website posted yesterday that shared the addresses of private Tesla owners, and reportedly have Kash Patel's information on it. AG Bondi has called this acts of domestic terrorism.
(31:58)
Does the White House have any indication that this is some sort of coordinated movement, or that it's being funded by some outside group? And do you know if the investigation by the DOJ is being investigated as incidents of organized terror?
Karoline Leavitt (32:10):
I believe the Attorney General has made her comments clear on that. She is investigating these events as acts of domestic terrorism, and we fully condemn them. And as I said earlier to Jackie's question, we think it's despicable what is happening to not just this American company, but also their innocent employees, and again, innocent Americans who drive these vehicles, we condemn it wholeheartedly.
(32:32)
Sure.
Speaker 12 (32:33):
More than 24,000 workers and 18 agencies are in the process of being reinstated; what is your message to these workers, and can you assure them they won't be fired again as the administration directs agencies to do more layoffs?
Karoline Leavitt (32:46):
Well, the administration is complying with the court's order. Again, as I have spoken about repeatedly, we think it's despicable that we have judges acting as judicial activists, partisan activists, trying to dictate who the President of the United States, the executive of the executive branch can hire and fire. We have never seen anything like this. We are fighting this in court, and we will continue to fight it all the way to the Supreme Court if we have to.
(33:12)
And as for federal employees, it's been the very common-sense position of this president and the administration that bureaucrats here in Washington D.C. need to show up to the office just like the rest of America.
(33:24)
Middle-class Americans, from doctors, to business owners, to teachers, to law enforcement officers have to show up to their offices every single day. And the president has made it a clear priority that people in this city have to do the same. And we also continue to be committed to reducing the scale of our workforce, and to reducing the size of our federal bureaucracy here in Washington D.C. to save taxpayers money.
(33:48)
Annie, go ahead.
Speaker 13 (33:48):
Thanks so much. In the statement that you read, you referenced the president's interest in helping return Ukrainian children to their parents, to their families. There's an organization that provides intel and information about those children that, their aid has been cut, it's a Yale University program that used foreign aid, and I'm curious if as part of this new thinking with Ukraine, that aid might be unfrozen?
Karoline Leavitt (34:16):
I have no updates about that or that specific program at this time.
(34:19)
Karen?
Speaker 14 (34:20):
Thanks, Karoline. Just to follow up on your answer to the question on the minerals deal, you said that the White House has moved beyond the minerals deal. What does that mean, is that no longer on the table?
Karoline Leavitt (34:30):
Nope. It means the minerals deal was that first set of framework that you all saw in that very public meeting with President Zelensky and President Trump in the Oval Office. We are now focused on a long-term peace agreement.
(34:40)
As you know on that deal, or that meeting between President Zelensky and President Trump, the Ukrainian president at the time wasn't talking about a greater peace deal. We are now at that place where we are talking about that. So we've moved beyond just the economic minerals deal framework, and we're looking at a lasting ceasefire. Right now. We're at a partial ceasefire, but again, the president is sending his highly skilled, intelligent, and experienced team to Saudi Arabia later this week to continue fighting for peace in this conflict. And I would just reiterate one more time, we have never been closer to peace than we are today.
(35:13)
Thank you very much, everybody. We'll see you later.
