Karoline Leavitt holds a White House press briefing.
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NewsTranscript
00:00Hello, everybody.
00:04Good afternoon.
00:06Happy Monday.
00:07Happy St. Patrick's Day.
00:08I see a lot of us are very festive and now we're green.
00:11Peter Doocy, I like it.
00:13First today, I want to address the devastating tornadoes and storms that have impacted many
00:18states throughout the South and the Midwest.
00:22As of this morning, more than 40 innocent lives have been lost and many communities
00:27have been totally destroyed.
00:29The president has been actively monitoring the situation and the Trump administration
00:33is engaged with governors and local officials to restore affected communities and livelihoods.
00:40Everyone impacted is in our prayers and President Trump is fully prepared to assist state and
00:45local officials as they recover from the horrific damage.
00:50The president has had a very busy weekend, making our country and the world a much safer
00:56place.
00:57President Trump ordered decisive military action against the Houthi terrorists in Yemen.
01:02These Houthi terrorists have engaged in piracy, violence, and terrorism against American ships
01:08for years under the Biden administration, costing billions of dollars and putting innocent
01:14lives at risk.
01:16Joe Biden's pathetic weakness invited these unacceptable attacks, but there's a new sheriff
01:21in town and his name is Donald Trump and the world is officially on notice.
01:27America has a commander-in-chief whose peace through strength approach is unwavering and
01:32should not be tested.
01:34As the president said, no terrorist force will stop American commercial and naval vessels
01:39from freely sailing throughout the world.
01:42Houthi terrorists and their Iranian backers should not cross President Trump again, and
01:47the president has made that clear today.
01:50On another important matter, President Trump signed a proclamation invoking the Alien Enemies
01:55Act regarding the invasion of the United States by the foreign terrorist organization Tren
02:01de Aragua.
02:02At the president's direction, the Department of Homeland Security carried out a counterterrorism
02:07operation deporting nearly 200 violent Tren de Aragua terrorists, which will save countless
02:13American lives.
02:15Thanks to the great work of the Department of State, these heinous monsters were extracted
02:20and removed to El Salvador where they will no longer be able to pose any threats to
02:25the American public.
02:27Tren de Aragua is one of the most ruthless terrorist gangs in the world, and they are
02:33responsible for some of the most heinous crimes that have occurred in our nation's history
02:38in recent years, including the savage murders of beautiful Lakin Riley and Jocelyn Nungre.
02:46President Trump promised Lakin and Jocelyn's families during his campaign that he would
02:51demand justice for their beautiful girls, and that's exactly what he did.
02:56As the president acknowledged during his inaugural address on January 20th, he pledged to invoke
03:02this act, and he has no higher responsibility than to defend our country from threats and
03:08invasions.
03:10President Trump will continue his historic efforts to seal the border and prevent these
03:14illegal invaders from coming here in the first place.
03:17As the New York Times acknowledged over the weekend, President Trump's policies are working.
03:24Here's how the Times summed it up.
03:26Illegal crossings at the U.S.-Mexico border are down to their lowest level in decades.
03:32Once crowded, migrant shelters are empty.
03:35Instead of heading north, people stranded in Mexico are starting to return home in bigger
03:40numbers.
03:41The border is almost unrecognizable from just a couple of years ago, when hundreds of thousands
03:46of people from around the world were crossing into the United States every month in scenes
03:50of chaos and upheaval.
03:53This is the Trump effect in action, and again, those are the words from the New York Times.
03:57We didn't need a border security bill.
03:59We just needed President Trump.
04:02All of these actions taken together are contributing to a wave of optimism about the direction
04:06of our great country.
04:08According to brand new polling from NBC News, more registered voters say the United States
04:13is heading in the right direction than at any point since early 2004.
04:19Americans support President Trump's common-sense approach that's getting our country back on
04:24track in record time.
04:26Meanwhile, the President's critics can't say the same.
04:29That same new NBC poll also found that the Democrat Party has reached an all-time low
04:35in popularity.
04:37It turns out, when you let your hatred of President Trump get in the way of doing what
04:41is best for America, the people reject you.
04:45Who would have thought?
04:46Joining us today in our New Media seat is Kelly Meyer.
04:49She is a White House correspondent with NewsNation.
04:53NewsNation started in 2021 and is one of America's fastest-growing cable news networks, with
04:57a focus on news for all of America.
05:00It's part of a larger ecosystem, Nexstar, which is home to NewsNation, the political
05:05website The Hill, the broadcast network The CW, and local Nexstar stations.
05:10With that, kick us off, please, Kelly.
05:12Thank you, Caroline.
05:13What do you say to Americans who want safe streets but are concerned due process is being
05:21violated?
05:22The President is using every lever of his executive authority and his constitutional
05:27authority within the bounds of the immigration laws of our country to ensure that our streets
05:32are safer for law-abiding American citizens.
05:35And this administration is focused on detaining, arresting, and deporting illegal criminal
05:40aliens.
05:41And as you saw this past weekend, the President used his authority under the Alien Enemies
05:45Act to deport foreign terrorists.
05:48Tren de Aragua is now a designated foreign terrorist organization.
05:53And as I said, there were nearly 200 Tren de Aragua members who were sent to El Salvador
05:58this weekend.
05:59Countless lives will be saved because of this action.
06:02And if you talk to the families, the Angel families, as I mentioned, Blake and Riley
06:06and Jocelyn Nungre, they understand the grave cost of life at the hands of these illegal
06:12terrorists.
06:14And the President is proud to deliver on that promise for them.
06:17And just to follow up on that, this will be challenged later today in the courts.
06:21Does the President, you know, does this allow him to defy the court order without having
06:27this – the checks and balances and the separation of power?
06:31No.
06:32This administration acted within the confines of the law, again, within the President's
06:36constitutional authority and under the authority granted to him under the Alien Enemies Act.
06:41We are quite confident in that and we are wholly confident that we are going to win
06:45this case in court.
06:46Peter.
06:47Thank you, Caroline.
06:48If you guys can't send 200 Tren de Aragua terrorists at a time to El Salvador, where
06:54are you going to send them instead?
06:56It's a very good question.
06:57You'd have to ask the courts and the people on the left who are trying to fight this administration
07:02for doing the business that this President sought out to do, which is to deport these
07:08foreign terrorists.
07:09And we're very grateful to President Bukele and to El Salvador for accepting these heinous
07:13monsters where they will face justice.
07:16And if these guys are terrorists at war with the United States, is President Trump considering
07:21anything more lethal to address them than just sticking them on a plane somewhere else?
07:26Well, it sounded like you had a little bit of curiosity in the premise of your question,
07:30so I want to address it.
07:32These are designated foreign terrorists.
07:34The President signed a proclamation on February 20, 2025, designating TDA as a foreign terrorist
07:42organization that was in consultation with the Attorney General and the Secretary of
07:46Treasury that was pursuant to 8 U.S. Code 1189.
07:51The President has the right to do that.
07:53And I think nobody would argue that Tren de Aragua should be designated a foreign terrorist
07:57organization.
07:58So if you want to have that argument, I'm happy to do it.
08:01These are heinous monsters, rapists, murderers, kidnappers, sexual assaulters, predators who
08:07have no right to be in this country, and they must be held accountable.
08:10And something different.
08:12There is now a member of the European Parliament from France who does not think the U.S. represents
08:17the values of the Statue of Liberty anymore.
08:20They want the Statue of Liberty back.
08:22So is President Trump going to send the Statue of Liberty back to France?
08:27Absolutely not.
08:29And my advice to that unnamed, low-level French politician would be to remind them that it's
08:36only because of the United States of America that the French are not speaking German right
08:40now.
08:41So they should be very grateful to our great country.
08:44Kelly.
08:45Is the administration prepared to give the court what it wants in terms of the time of
08:50the flights that departed that went to El Salvador and some of those details that the
08:55judge is asking for in trying to determine the timing?
08:58Clearly, the five named individuals were not deported in compliance.
09:03But looking more broadly, wanting to know about the timing of flights and so forth.
09:08Because the verbal order did say turn around the flights if there's an issue.
09:11So is the administration prepared to provide that information?
09:14I'm prepared to provide it right now.
09:16All of the planes that were subject to the written order, the judge's written order,
09:21took off before the order was entered in the courtroom on Saturday.
09:25And the administration will, of course, be happily answering all of those questions that
09:29the judge poses in court later today.
09:31And for people who have due process questions about making certain that there wasn't anyone
09:37who was swept up who did not meet the criteria that you laid out, is there a way for the
09:42administration to provide more detail about how that was determined, who the individuals
09:47were that met this deportation order?
09:51Yes, I can assure the American people that Customs and Border Patrol and ICE and the
09:55Department of Homeland Security are sure about the identities of the individuals who were
10:00on these planes and the threat that they pose to our homeland.
10:04They take this incredibly seriously.
10:06They are putting their lives on the line to deport these designated terrorists from our
10:11country and they should be trusted to do that.
10:13And that's exactly what the American people elected this president to do.
10:17Go ahead.
10:18Thanks, Caroline.
10:19Just to follow up on that then.
10:20So you're saying definitively you can – that the administration can prove everyone that
10:23was put on those flights in El Salvador was either a member of Trinidad-Agua, MS-13, or
10:29some other entity?
10:30Yeah.
10:31We've already provided the breakdown in the effort of transparency about the 261 illegal
10:35aliens who were deported.
10:37137 of those were deported under the Alien Enemies Act.
10:41One hundred and one of those were Venezuelans removed via Title VIII, which as you know
10:45are just regular immigration proceedings.
10:47And 23 of them were MS-13 Salvadorian gang members.
10:51There were also two MS-13 ringleaders as part of that group of 23 who President Bukele particularly
10:58expressed his gratitude for their return so he can demand justice in his home country.
11:03Jennifer.
11:04Just follow up.
11:05What criteria, though, other than, say, tattoos or maybe being in the wrong place at the wrong
11:11time, are they using to determine that someone is actually a member of one of these organizations?
11:18Intelligence and the men and women on the ground in the interior of our country who
11:22are finally being allowed to do their jobs.
11:24Their hands were tied under the previous administration, and as I said, they take their jobs very seriously.
11:30They should be trusted and respected by the American public with this operation.
11:35And of course, as I said to Kelly, the administration will provide all details to the questions
11:41that the court poses.
11:42Jennifer.
11:43One more follow-up on that.
11:44Can you say how much the U.S. is paying El Salvador to imprison these Venezuelans?
11:50And then a different question on Russia.
11:52I was wondering if you could give us an update on the ceasefire negotiations, and is there
11:56anything you can share on the list that Putin gave, passed along to President Trump for
12:01the things he's requesting?
12:02Sure.
12:03To your first question, it was approximately $6 million to El Salvador for the detention
12:08of these foreign terrorists.
12:11And I would point out that is pennies on the dollar in comparison to the cost of life and
12:16the cost it would impose on the American taxpayer to house these terrorists in maximum security
12:21prisons here in the United States of America.
12:24And I would echo the message of our Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, who expressed his gratitude
12:29to President Bukele and El Salvador's government for their cooperation in this deal.
12:35As for Russia, as you know, the President announced last night on Air Force One on his
12:38return from his very busy weekend in Florida that he will be speaking to President Putin
12:44tomorrow.
12:45I won't get ahead of those negotiations, but I can say we are on the 10th yard line of
12:49peace, and we've never been closer to a peace deal than we are in this moment.
12:54And the President, as you know, is determined to get one done.
12:57Caroline?
12:58Sure.
12:59Kaitlan.
13:00I have two questions for you, one on the flights.
13:01But first on the President's post overnight, saying that he is – that the pardons that
13:05were issued by President Biden preemptively to members of the January 6th committee, that
13:10they're now null and void.
13:12Have attorneys here at the White House told President Trump that he has the legal authority
13:16to undo a pardon simply because it was signed by autopen, as he said?
13:21The President was begging the question that I think a lot of journalists in this room
13:25should be asking about whether or not the former President of the United States, who
13:29I think we can all finally agree was cognitively impaired – I know it took people some time
13:34to finally admit that, but we all know that to be true, as evidenced by his disastrous
13:39debate performance against President Trump during the campaign.
13:42I digress on that.
13:44But the President was raising the point that did the President even know about these pardons?
13:49Was his legal signature used without his consent or knowledge?
13:54And that's not just the President or me raising those questions, Kaitlan.
13:58According to the New York Post, there are Biden officials from the previous White House
14:02who raised those questions and wondered if the President was even consulted about his
14:06legally binding signature being signed onto documents.
14:10And so I think it's a question that everybody in this room should be looking into because
14:14certainly that would propose perhaps criminal or illegal behavior if staff members were
14:20signing the President of the United States autograph without his consent.
14:23But I think Biden is on the record talking about issuing preemptive pardons to these people.
14:28But was he aware of his signature being used on every single pardon?
14:32That's a question you should ask the Biden White House.
14:34Is there any evidence on that that he wasn't aware of it?
14:36You're a reporter.
14:37You should find out.
14:38Sean.
14:39I have a question on the timeline of the flights.
14:41You keep talking about the judge's written order, which hit the docket Saturday night
14:45at about 7.26 p.m., but he issued a verbal order before that at about 6.45 and 6.48 p.m.
14:51based on the court hearing – a verbal order from the bench.
14:55Does the White House feel the need to comply with a verbal order from this judge?
14:59Again, as I said, all of the planes subject to the written order of this judge departed
15:05U.S. soil, U.S. territory before the judge's written order.
15:09But what about the verbal order, which, of course, carries the same legal weight as a
15:13written order and said for the planes to turn around if they were –
15:16Well, there's actually questions about whether a verbal order carries the same weight as
15:20a legal order – as a written order, and our lawyers are determined to ask and answer
15:25those questions in court.
15:26Sean.
15:27Hey.
15:28So on Friday, the President suggested at length that it should be illegal to criticize judges,
15:33but he has repeatedly criticized judges who rule against him, and Elon Musk is calling
15:37for impeachment of judges who have opposed the administration.
15:41So how are those two things not in conflict?
15:43I have not heard the President talk about impeaching judges.
15:46I know you mentioned Mr. Musk's tweet, but I have not heard the President of the United
15:50States ask that.
15:51Mary.
15:52Hey.
15:53Thanks, Caroline.
15:54I wanted to ask about this video I saw this morning set to the tune of, I believe, closing
15:57time about deportations of illegal migrants.
16:00What's the strategy behind the White House's videos they've been putting out on this,
16:04and can you kind of talk us through the thinking on these videos?
16:07Sure.
16:08I think the White House and our entire government clearly is leaning into the message of this
16:14President, and we are unafraid to double down and to take responsibility and ownership of
16:19the serious decisions that are being made.
16:21The President was elected with an overwhelming mandate to launch the largest mass deportation
16:27campaign in American history, and that's exactly what he is doing.
16:31And to this very day, we are now, I think, 56 or seven days into the administration by
16:36my count, the President still receives an overwhelming public support for the policies
16:42that he is enacting.
16:43So we are unafraid to message effectively what the President is doing on a daily basis
16:49to make our community safer.
16:51And the specific video you referenced, I think it sums up our immigration policy pretty well.
16:56You don't have to go home, but you can't stay here.
16:58Caroline.
16:59Go ahead.
17:00Thanks, Caroline.
17:01I have two questions.
17:02First, will President Trump put sanctions on Russia if the talks on Tuesday don't go as
17:06hoped?
17:07And secondly, have any illegal immigrants self-deported through CBP home yet?
17:11To your first question, it's something the President has floated and certainly he's willing
17:15to do if necessary.
17:16I don't have anything to read out, and I would never get ahead of the President on such a
17:20serious decision.
17:21To your second question about the CBP home app, I would have to check in with the Department
17:25of Homeland Security.
17:27But it's a great question, and we're very proud to repurpose this app, which the Biden
17:31administration abused to facilitate the mass illegal entry of illegal immigrants into our
17:37country.
17:38It was like a fast pass at Disneyland.
17:39That's not happening under this administration.
17:41We are encouraging illegal immigrants to actively self-deport to maybe save themselves from being
17:48in one of these fun videos.
17:49Caroline.
17:50Sure.
17:51John, good to see you.
17:53After President Trump strafe-bombed the Houthis yesterday, he said that if they retaliate,
17:59he was going to personally hold Iran accountable for that.
18:03Holding them accountable, what would that look like?
18:07Well, I would defer you to what the President put out this morning, John, where he said
18:11very clearly, I will read it, let nobody be fooled.
18:14The hundreds of attacks being made by Houthi, the sinister mobsters and thugs based in Yemen
18:19who are hated by the Yemeni people, are all created by Iran.
18:23Any further attack or retaliation by the Houthis will be met with great force, and there is
18:28no guarantee that the force will stop there.
18:31Iran has played the innocent victim of rogue terrorists from which they've lost control,
18:36but they haven't lost control.
18:37They are dictating every move, giving them the weapons, supplying them with money, and
18:42highly sophisticated military equipment, and even so-called intelligence.
18:46Every shot fired by the Houthis will be looked upon from this point forward as being a shot
18:51fired from the weapons and leadership of Iran, and Iran will be held responsible and suffer
18:56the consequences, and those consequences will be dire.
18:59That is a statement from the President of the United States just moments ago.
19:03I have nothing additional to share, but our message to Iran is you better take this President
19:08seriously, and I think the Houthis learned that the hard way this past weekend.
19:12As I said in my opening remarks, there's a new sheriff in town, and this President is
19:15not just going to sit on his hands and allow terrorists to launch attacks on commercial
19:21vessels and U.S. naval ships.
19:23Those actions will not be tolerated.
19:25Sure, Edward.
19:27Yeah, thanks.
19:28Caroline, on the economy.
19:29So after mostly a down week last week in the economy, you've been very vocal as well as
19:35the other Cabinet members about how we're in a transition and about how this economic
19:40transition is a plan, a long-term plan for tariffs on this.
19:44How concerned is the President that the markets and Americans, for lack of a better term,
19:48will freak out over these tariffs and be concerned about a long-term plan?
19:51Sure.
19:52I think I've been asked this question and answered this question respectfully, Edward.
19:56We are in a period of transition.
19:58The President has made that clear.
20:00He also has made his belief in tariffs and what they will do for our great country clear,
20:04restoring wealth back to our country.
20:06And if you look at the President's first-term economic formula, massive deregulation, tax
20:11cuts, lowering the cost of living with an energy boom, which the American people can
20:15expect soon.
20:17Wall Street and Main Street should both be assured by what President Trump did in his
20:21first term.
20:22It's the exact same formula.
20:24In fact, I would argue it's even better this time around.
20:26And if you look at some of the economic indicators in the last week, the latest CPI report last
20:31week beat expectations.
20:33Inflation is cooling.
20:34Core inflation dropped for the first time in four months.
20:37The national average of the price of gas is down 42 cents from one year ago.
20:41And there was also a new report out this morning about wholesale egg prices.
20:45They continue to fall.
20:47A dozen eggs are now $3.10 cheaper since January 24th.
20:52First, that's a 47 percent decrease overall.
20:55So I think the American people do have great reason to be optimistic about this economy.
20:59And as I've said repeatedly, it continues to be true.
21:02The administration has a whole-of-government effort to fix the economic mess created by
21:07Biden.
21:08So the President has pointed to that April 2nd tariff deadline, so to speak.
21:12Is the tariff back-and-forth sort of done now?
21:15Is – we're just all looking towards April 2nd?
21:17Well, I think the President would tell you that all options are always on the table,
21:22and he's always ready to respond if he feels the United States is being unfairly treated
21:27by our allies and also our competitors around the world.
21:30But, yes, the April 2nd day is a big day for the country, as the President has said.
21:36Reciprocal tariffs will go into effect.
21:38We'll have more details on that as the date nears.
21:40But our entire trade team – Secretary Lutnick, Secretary Besant, the Vice President – has
21:46been quite involved in these talks and discussions as well about what that will look like.
21:50And the President, as you always do, you will hear from him directly on it.
21:55Deborah Saunders.
21:56How are you?
21:57Hi.
21:58How are you doing?
21:59Good.
22:00Thanks.
22:01A former pardon attorney, Elizabeth Boyer, believes she was fired for refusing to sign
22:04off on a move to restore gun rights to actor Mel Gibson.
22:08DOJ's Todd Blanche says no.
22:11But I want to know, is the administration dedicated to restoring gun rights to felons
22:16who served their times?
22:17I ask this because I've talked to people who were pardoned.
22:19They felt that was important.
22:21Of course, this isn't necessarily for a pardon.
22:24What is the President's thinking on this issue?
22:26Sure.
22:27After you've served your sentence, should you have gun rights?
22:29It's an important question.
22:30It is one I have not spoken to the President about on his views, but I will take it to
22:35him this afternoon.
22:36I will tell him you asked, and we will get you an answer.
22:39You're welcome.
22:40Jonathan.
22:41Thanks a lot, Caroline.
22:42A question for you regarding the administration complying with judges' orders.
22:47I want to ask about an administration spokesperson whose the borders are, Tom Homan.
22:53He was on Fox News.
22:54We love Tom Homan.
22:55And he was talking about the deportations, and he said the following.
22:59He said, we're not stopping.
23:01I don't care what the judges think, which seems to me, just reading that, that you don't
23:07care what orders come from the federal bench.
23:11Is that the case?
23:12Can you clarify that, please?
23:13Well, I think since you just quoted Tom, I'll quote Tom.
23:16He said, I don't care what the judges think, but I can assure you that the administration
23:20is complying with the court order.
23:22And as I've said repeatedly from this podium, all of the flights that were subject to the
23:27judges' written order departed before the written order, and we are prepared to make
23:31that case in court later this afternoon.
23:35Reagan.
23:36Yes.
23:37And then if I could, on Russia.
23:38The President, as you pointed out, Caroline, made some remarks on Air Force One coming
23:41back from Florida.
23:42And he seemed to indicate that the conversation tomorrow concerns essentially dividing up
23:48assets, dividing up territory associated with the war in Ukraine.
23:53Has President Zelensky given President Trump that authority?
23:58Is that what is going to take place tomorrow?
24:00Well, as you know, the President and his entire national security team have been engaged directly
24:05with President Zelensky and the Ukrainian team.
24:09And that has been part of the discussion between the President's team and the Ukrainians.
24:14As for where those lines will be drawn or any specifics, I am not going to get into
24:18that from this podium.
24:20It would be unwise for me to get ahead of the President's call with President Putin
24:24tomorrow.
24:25But again, I can assure you, in the effort of transparency, as this President always
24:29does, you will hear from him or one of us directly after that phone call tomorrow.
24:33Reagan.
24:34Thank you, Caroline.
24:35There's a lot of focus on the judicial branch right now.
24:38The President has about 40 judicial appointments that he could make at this moment.
24:42Do you have an update on what the timeline would look like for those judicial appointments?
24:47And does the President have a list of potential nominees that he's going to make?
24:50I do not have an update on a timeline, nor do I have a list, but I can certainly have
24:54our team gather that for you and provide it.
24:57You're welcome.
24:58Can I follow on Caroline?
24:59Sure.
25:00Go ahead.
25:01Thank you, Caroline.
25:02Sure.
25:03Hi, Caroline.
25:04Go ahead.
25:05So the President is visiting the Kennedy Center this afternoon to attend a board meeting.
25:08He is.
25:09A question about what happened a few weeks ago.
25:11The Kennedy Center got bomb threats targeting a performance by Xingyun Performing Arts,
25:15which is an American company showcasing China before communism.
25:19This company has been targeted, unfortunately, by the CCP for years.
25:23I'm wondering if this administration has a response to this, and also as the President
25:29is putting an emphasis on arts and culture.
25:32What's the administration's message to potentially foreign state actors who are trying to disrupt
25:36that in the U.S.?
25:37Don't disrupt it.
25:38This administration will take that very seriously and hold you accountable.
25:42We obviously condemn any violence or threats of violence against American institutions.
25:47And the President will be traveling to the Kennedy Center later this afternoon.
25:50I look forward to going with him.
25:52As you know, he is now the chairman of the board of the Kennedy Center, where he hopes
25:56to restore arts and culture that embrace American tradition.
26:01Don't disparage it, as we have unfortunately seen over the past several years.
26:05The President will be doing a tour of the center.
26:08In his business developer mind, I'm sure he will make some recommendations on how the center
26:12itself can be improved, but also will be discussing perhaps some future plays and musicals
26:19and theatrical programs that the center will be hosting under his new leadership
26:24and the board's new leadership.
26:26Daniel.
26:28Will the President be discussing with Putin tomorrow the future of Volodymyr Zelensky?
26:34Sort of a follow-up to John's question.
26:36Again, I've been asked and answered this question now.
26:38I'm not going to get ahead of the President's discussion tomorrow.
26:40But after the phone call takes place, I can certainly provide a readout.
26:43Daniel.
26:44Caroline, thank you so much.
26:46You mentioned earlier in the briefing that you guys are at the 10-yard line of peace.
26:49Given the amount of progress that you've made in such a short amount of time,
26:53is that an indictment of the previous administration's foreign policy stance?
26:57And is it just more proof that you need to talk to people to sort of get things done?
27:00I think so.
27:01I think the previous administration is the reason this war began.
27:04As President Trump often says, this war would have never started if he were still in office.
27:09It only started because of the incompetence and the weakness of the previous administration.
27:14And President Trump is very proud of the progress that he and his team have made
27:17in such a short amount of time.
27:19And hopefully tomorrow that progress will move forward.
27:22Sure.
27:23Thanks.
27:24There have been some media reports just in the last few hours
27:27that the administration has decided to withdraw from the International Center for the Prosecution
27:32of the Crime of Aggression Against Ukraine,
27:35which is designed to hold Putin accountable for war crimes.
27:40Are you able to confirm that?
27:42And if that has occurred, why has that occurred?
27:44I'm not able to confirm it because I have not heard that.
27:47I will caution.
27:48I know there have been many inaccurate and misleading reports from Reuters lately,
27:52so I would caution anybody taking that seriously.
27:55But I can check in and get back to you.
27:57Rachel.
27:58Thanks, Caroline.
27:59Is it the President's belief that the Justice Department should be investigating members
28:02of the January 6th Select Committee?
28:04Is he directing the DOJ to do that?
28:06As the President made it very clear in his address on Friday, I believe some of you were there.
28:09I was there.
28:10He made his vision for what he would like to see of the Department of Justice very clear.
28:16But he said that he has appointed great people in Attorney General Pam Bondi
28:19and also in our FBI Director Kash Patel to do what they think is best for our justice system
28:25and to stop the weaponization of justice that we saw under the previous administration
28:29against not just President Trump but his supporters as well.
28:32We want to restore the Department of Justice to an institution that focuses on fighting law
28:37and order and crime and putting real criminals behind bars,
28:40not targeting Americans because of their religion or their political speech.
28:44We saw that under the previous administration, and it's unacceptable to this President.
28:48And just to follow up really quickly on just Homan's comments from earlier,
28:51a few weeks ago in the Oval Office, the President said he will always abide by the courts.
28:55We heard what Tom Homan said earlier today.
28:57So I'm only asking just to be clear for the American people.
29:00It is the administration's belief that you feel like you are bound to comply by the judge's orders?
29:05We are complying with the judge's orders.
29:07A question on the storms.
29:08Sure.
29:09What role does the President see for FEMA with these storms?
29:12States handling their own disasters.
29:14Is he planning to change how the federal government responds to these storms?
29:17There hasn't been a change yet.
29:19That doesn't mean there couldn't be in the future.
29:21But as of right now, the President, the entire administration, are actively monitoring the storms, as I said.
29:26In fact, before I came down here, there was an email note in my inbox from the Department of Homeland Security
29:31on what they are actually doing state by state across the board.
29:34So rest assured, Secretary Nome and her team is on it,
29:37and I would defer you to the Department of Homeland Security for any further details.
29:40One more question.
29:41The President referenced power plants with a conversation with Vladimir Putin.
29:45What is he referring to with power plants?
29:47What does that mean?
29:48There is a power plant that is on the border of Russia and Ukraine
29:51that was up for discussion with the Ukrainians,
29:53and he will address it in his call with Putin tomorrow.
29:55The nuclear plant?
29:56Correct.
29:57Yes.
29:58Caroline?
29:59Do you have a question?
30:00Yes.
30:01Okay.
30:02I wanted to ask you if you would be releasing more granular data
30:05about the people who were sent to El Salvador this week,
30:09particularly will you be releasing their names?
30:11I don't believe so because of the privacy concerns at this point in time.
30:15That doesn't mean we won't eventually.
30:17I would defer you to the Department of Homeland Security for more details on the individuals on the flights,
30:22but we have been incredibly transparent in giving you the breakdown of the numbers
30:26and also some of the crimes committed by these heinous criminals and individuals,
30:29kidnapping, sexual abuse of a child, robbery, aggravated assault on a police officer.
30:35I would remind everybody in this room that Trende Aragua is a foreign terrorist organization
30:40operating within the United States of America
30:43because the previous administration allowed them to invade our country.
30:46These are monsters who tortured, raped, and murdered a 12-year-old Jocelyn Nungre.
30:51They murdered 22-year-old nursing student Lakin Riley.
30:54They led a multi-state sex trafficking operation involving smuggling women into the United States,
31:00holding them in stash houses in Louisiana, Florida, New Jersey, Texas, and Virginia,
31:05and forcing them into prostitution.
31:07They kidnapped and murdered a 33-year-old woman in Texas.
31:10They sexually and physically assaulted a woman and her daughter in Wisconsin.
31:14They conducted a mass shooting in Illinois.
31:16They peddled untraceable ghost guns across New York City,
31:20took over an Aurora, Colorado apartment complex where they kidnapped and tortured victims.
31:25And by the way, many of you in the mainstream media said that didn't happen.
31:28It turned out that it did, and because of the effective immigration policies of this administration,
31:33those foreign terrorists were detained, and they are no longer operating on American soil,
31:38and we have President Trump to thank for that.
31:40We'll see you guys later at the Kennedy Center. Thanks so much.