Karoline Leavitt Unleashes FURY on Ilhan Omar & Democrats For Their "Violence-Inciting Rhetoric"!
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00:00Peter.
00:01Thank you, Caroline.
00:02Are any officials here preparing to fight Democratic lawmakers in the streets?
00:07Absolutely not.
00:08And thanks for the question.
00:10Some elected Democrats are so steamed about Doge, Congresswoman LaMonica McIver says we
00:15are at war, Ilhan Omar says we might actually see somebody get killed, and Chris Van Hollen
00:20says we have to fight this in the Congress, we have to fight this in the streets, so what
00:24now?
00:25And may I just point out, if you heard that type of violent, enticing rhetoric from our
00:30side of the aisle, from Republican leaders on Capitol Hill, I think there would be a
00:34lot more outrage in this room today.
00:36It's unacceptable, the comments that have been made by these Democrat leaders, and frankly,
00:40they don't even know what they're talking about.
00:43Because President Trump was elected with a mandate from the American people to make this
00:46government more efficient.
00:48He campaigned across this country with Elon Musk, vowing that Elon was going to head up
00:53the Department of Government Efficiency, and the two of them, with a great team around
00:57them, were going to look at the receipts of this federal government and ensure it's accountable
01:00to American taxpayers.
01:02That's all that is happening here, and for Democrat officials to incite violence and
01:06encourage Americans to take to the streets is incredibly alarming, and they should be
01:10held accountable for that rhetoric.
01:11It sounds like something that they are most concerned about is Doge engineers with access
01:16to Treasury systems.
01:17Can you clarify, do the Doge engineers have read-only access to these systems?
01:21So they are not allowed to write new code?
01:23No.
01:24They are not, okay.
01:25No.
01:26And then one more thing, NBC is reporting that some of the illegal immigrants that we've
01:29seen rounded up and arrested are not being deported, they're being released with ankle
01:35or wrist monitoring devices, or they have to check in on the phone.
01:38So is the administration arresting more people than you have room for?
01:42I have seen the reports, and I'm glad you brought it up because we want to address it.
01:46There have been a total of 461 illegal aliens.
01:50This is of this morning, when I got this information from DHS, that have been released
01:54from custody of the more than 8,000 that have been arrested since President Trump was inaugurated.
01:59It's less than 6%, and there are reasons for their release.
02:02Some of the factors include a lack of significant likelihood of removal in the foreseeable future,
02:07lack of detention availability, which is something this president and this administration has
02:11been incredibly vocal about.
02:13We are doing everything we can to deport and detain illegal immigrants, but we need Congress's
02:18help to increase funding for border patrol and for ICE to increase detention capability
02:22in our facilities, and then other serious medical conditions have also been the reasons
02:27for some of the release of these individuals.
02:28But none of them have final deportation orders.
02:31Many of them are probably contesting their immigration status.
02:33I'd refer you to DHS for more details, but I did get that information because I knew
02:37it would be a question.
02:38So thank you.
02:39Sure.
02:40Yes.
02:41The president and you here again today have made clear, given the devastation, you think
02:44Palestinians have no choice but to leave Gaza and go elsewhere.
02:47But Palestinians say this is their home.
02:48They don't want to go.
02:49The president last night said he's willing to use the military if necessary.
02:53Is the U.S. prepared to remove Palestinians from Gaza by force?
02:57The president is prepared to rebuild Gaza for Palestinians and all people in the region,
03:02peace-loving people who want real economic development and opportunity in the region.
03:07This is a region that has been controlled by Iranian-backed terrorists, Hamas, who have
03:11brutalized not just Israelis but Palestinians too.
03:14It is because of Hamas that you see those images on that screen, that Gaza has become
03:18a demolition site because Hamas launched that brutal attack on Israel on October the 7th.
03:23And so again, I would stress, President Trump wants to ensure that this can be a place where
03:27all people can live in peace.
03:30He is a peacemaker-in-chief.
03:31He made that very clear in his first term.
03:34And as for how that will be accomplished, the president and his team are talking with
03:37our allies in the region to consider next steps.
03:40But should the American people be prepared to see U.S. military on the ground fighting
03:43a ground war against Hamas?
03:44Again, the president has not committed to U.S. troops in the region.
03:47But it is an option.
03:48I have said that the president has not committed to that yet.
03:51Garrett, great to see you here today.
03:54On Gaza, the president has spent basically his entire public career criticizing foreign
03:58entanglements, nation-building, sending American troops to fight abroad, particularly in the
04:03Middle East.
04:04This plan seems like it could ultimately involve all of those things.
04:08Can you explain this reversal and how building and owning Gaza squares with America First
04:13foreign policy?
04:14I would reject the premise of your question that this forces the United States to be entangled
04:19in conflicts abroad.
04:20The president has not committed to putting boots on the ground in Gaza.
04:24He has also said that the United States is not going to pay for the rebuilding of Gaza.
04:28His administration is going to work with our partners in the region to reconstruct this
04:33region.
04:34Take a step back, Garrett, because this is an out-of-the-box idea.
04:38That's who President Trump is.
04:39That's why the American people elected him.
04:42And his goal is lasting peace in the Middle East for all people in the region.
04:47And as I said in my opening remarks, we've had the same people pushing the same solutions
04:52to this problem for decades.
04:54And it's been made very clear to the president that the United States needs to be involved
04:59in this rebuilding effort to ensure stability in the region for all people.
05:03That does not mean boots on the ground in Gaza.
05:05It does not mean American taxpayers will be funding this effort.
05:08It means Donald Trump, who is the best dealmaker on the planet, is going to strike a deal with
05:12our partners in the region.
05:13Can I follow up?
05:14Because he did not rule out American troops in Gaza last night.
05:16Are you doing that now?
05:17I am saying that the president has not committed to that just yet.
05:20He has not made that commitment.
05:21And you know that.
05:22And on the foreign partners, the Jordanians, the Egyptians, the Saudis have already panned
05:26this plan.
05:27What foreign partners, if any, have expressed any interest in being part of it?
05:29Well, the president has said he's been socialing this idea for quite some time.
05:33He's been thinking about this.
05:34He said in his remarks last night this was not a decision or an announcement that he
05:38takes lightly.
05:39And the president has already spoken to the president, al-Sisi.
05:42In fact, that was his first foreign leader call.
05:45He's meeting with the king of Jordan, King Abdullah, next week.
05:47He spoke with the king of Bahrain.
05:49He spoke with the crown prince of Saudi Arabia.
05:52And he has made it very clear, he's been very vocal, that he expects our partners in the
05:56region, particularly Egypt and Jordan, to accept Palestinian refugees temporarily so
06:01that we can rebuild their home.
06:03I'd like to show you some images of Gaza that were taken.
06:06Fox News aired this.
06:08That is, as they put it, an apocalyptic scene in Gaza.
06:12This is an uninhabitable place for human beings.
06:15Do you really think that families can live their dream in a region that looks like this,
06:20with no running water, no electricity?
06:23And the special envoy to the president, Steve Whitkoff, recently traveled to Gaza, as you
06:26all know.
06:27And he came back with images that he showed the president of the dire situation here.
06:31And the president made this decision with a humanitarian heart for all people in the
06:36region.
06:37Dasha.
06:38Caroline, you said the president has been working on this idea for a while behind the
06:41scenes now.
06:42Is there a written plan based on the president's proposal for Gaza?
06:46And if so, when was it drafted and who had a hand in that?
06:49The plan was written in the president's remarks last night, as he revealed it to the world
06:52and to the American people.
06:53And his team are continuing to be engaged on this effort.
06:56I saw the national security advisor this morning.
06:58He has a very busy day of calls.
07:00And they will, again, continue to engage with our partners that include Steve Whitkoff
07:03as well.
07:04Mary.
07:05Two questions for you on the news of the day.
07:07So how is today's executive order going to impact the 2028 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles?
07:13For example, would a man who thinks that he's a transgender woman be allowed to compete
07:17as a female on U.S. soil?
07:19It's a very good question.
07:21And the president has actually mentioned this, that he does expect the Olympic Committee
07:25and the NCAA to no longer allow men to compete in women's sports.
07:30And I think the president, with the signing of his pen, starts a very public pressure
07:34campaign on these organizations to do the right thing for women and for girls across
07:38the country.
07:39Again, this is an incredibly popular position.
07:42There have been many notable female athletes who have had the courage to speak out against
07:46some very powerful institutions in this country.
07:48They deserve to have a voice and a say.
07:49The president is bringing their voice to the highest level at the White House this afternoon,
07:53and he expects these organizations to comply with this federal executive order that he'll
07:57be signing today.
07:59And on media coverage of this executive order and the topic in general, what's the White
08:03House's view of framing that calls men transgender females or similar rhetoric coming from organizations
08:09like the ACLU and GLAAD?
08:11Well, it's been very clear.
08:13The policy of this administration is that there are only two sexes, male and female.
08:18Pretty simple.
08:19Brian Glenn.
08:20Yes.
08:21USAID has gotten a lot of attention in the last couple of days with some of these bizarre
08:26things that we've been – taxpayers have been funding.
08:30Now it looks like there are a couple media outlets that have been dragged into this conversation
08:35as far as USAID funding as well.
08:37Does the president have any comment on that?
08:40So upon coming out here to the briefing room, I was made aware of the funding from USAID
08:46to media outlets, including Politico, who I know has a seat in this room.
08:51And I can confirm that the more than $8 million taxpayer dollars that have gone to essentially
08:55subsidizing subscriptions to Politico on the American taxpayer's dime will no longer
08:59be happening.
09:00The DOJ team is working on canceling those payments now.
09:03Again, this is a whole-of-government effort to ensure that we are going line by line when
09:09it comes to the federal government's books.
09:11And this president and his team are making decisions across the board on do these receipts
09:17serve the interests of the American people?
09:20Is this a good use of the American taxpayer's money?
09:22If it is not, that funding will no longer be sent abroad, and American taxpayers will
09:26see significant savings because of that effort.
09:30I'd like to give some love to the back row.
09:32I've heard that, unfortunately, they haven't been called on in years past.
09:35So Reagan, why don't you go ahead?
09:37Thanks, Caroline.
09:38The WHA announced that comedian Amber Ruffin, who has called the president a toddler with
09:42his pants pulled down, will be the entertainment for this year's correspondence dinner.
09:47Does the White House have a reaction to this choice, and will the president be attending
09:49the dinner this year?
09:51Definitely an interesting choice.
09:52I have the president's invitation on my desk.
09:55I have the invitation for myself on my desk as well.
09:57I haven't talked to the president about it.
09:59When he makes his decision, I will let you all know.
10:01But definitely an interesting choice of the comedian.
10:04I'll talk to the boss about it and see what we decide.
10:06Sure.
10:07Go ahead.
10:08Caroline, in the back.
10:09Yes.
10:10Yes.
10:11On the executive order set to be signed today, you said that this won't be enforced.
10:12Can you spell out for citizens and the public how exactly the administration plans to enforce
10:13this, even at a local level?
10:14And on top of that, there are human rights groups who support this.
10:15What is your response to that?
10:25I think kids have already been exposed to discrimination, especially young women and
10:29girls who have been forced to shower in locker rooms with biological men, who have been forced
10:34to compete on playing fields with biological men, which is incredibly unfair and unsafe
10:40and, again, an incredibly unpopular policy with the American people.
10:45As for the actions that this executive order takes, I already laid those out at the beginning
10:47of the briefing.
10:48I'm happy to give you a copy of this fact sheet so you can let your audiences across
10:52the country know.
10:53What is your message to folks who don't comply with this?
10:55They should, because it's going to be federal law in about an hour and a half.
10:58So your colleague to your right, to my left.
11:00Yes.
11:01Taylor with Spectrum News.
11:02You talked a bit about Doge.
11:03Elon Musk is currently a, quote, special government employee who also owns companies that have
11:08billions of dollars in federal contracts.
11:10You said earlier this week that he has abided by all applicable federal laws.
11:14But what steps is the Trump administration taking to address that conflict of interest?
11:18The president was already asked and answered this question this week.
11:21And he said, if Elon Musk comes across a conflict of interest with the contracts and the funding
11:25that Doge is overseeing, then Elon will excuse himself from those contracts.
11:29And he has, again, abided by all applicable laws.
11:32In the back left.
11:33Go ahead.
11:34Trade advisor Peter Navarro, when asked about the external revenue service today, said,
11:37quote, we're going to collect a lot of tariff revenues, we're going to get tax cuts out
11:41of it.
11:42Is it the official position of the White House that tariffs will lower taxes for Americans?
11:47President has always been clear that he believes tariffs are a tax on foreign nations and he's
11:50committed to cutting taxes for the American people here at home.
11:54He also believes tariffs are a great revenue raiser for this country.
11:57And that's exactly why he has committed to the creation of the external revenue service,
12:02which I think is a phenomenal idea.