00:00Not that I'm aware of, that doesn't mean they don't exist, but I was just talking with the
00:04president and our national security team.
00:06I wasn't made aware of any conditions, but if they exist, I'm happy to provide those.
00:10Which White House official made the decision to bar the AP reporter from the Oval Office
00:15and the diplomatic reception room last night?
00:17Well, first of all, let me just set the record straight.
00:19It is a privilege to cover this White House.
00:22It's a privilege to be the White House press secretary.
00:30Okay, that solves that problem.
00:35On the commitment by President Trump, he said that he and President Putin agreed to visit
00:39each other's respective nations.
00:41Are there any preconditions that President Trump has that President Putin must do before
00:46he goes and meets with him, withdrawing some forces, withdrawing all forces, anything like
00:50that?
00:51Not that I'm aware of, that doesn't mean they don't exist, but I was just talking with the
00:54president and our national security team.
00:56I wasn't made aware of any conditions, but if they exist, I'm happy to provide those.
01:00And on the president himself, he styles himself as this master negotiator.
01:04He is now deploying these negotiations, saying that they start immediately.
01:08We did hear from the defense secretary, Pete Hex, today saying that NATO membership is
01:13not realistic for Ukraine and neither is returning to pre-2014 borders.
01:17Aren't they giving away bargaining chips before these negotiations even started?
01:21Again, I haven't talked to the president about Ukraine's NATO membership, and he appointed
01:26several individuals to negotiate.
01:28On his behalf, he's directly involved in these negotiations as well.
01:32And I'm sure if you ask him that question in the near future, when you're able to, he'll
01:35give you an answer.
01:36I just don't want to get ahead of him on it.
01:37And finally for you, which White House official made the decision to bar the AP reporter from
01:42the Oval Office and the diplomatic reception room last night?
01:45Well, first of all, let me just set the record straight.
01:48It is a privilege to cover this White House.
01:50It's a privilege to be the White House press secretary.
01:53And nobody has the right to go into the Oval Office and ask the president of the United
01:57States questions.
01:58That's an invitation that is given.
02:00And there are hundreds of outlets on this campus.
02:03Many of you in this room who don't have the privilege of being part of that pool every
02:07single day and getting to ask the president questions.
02:10We reserve the right to decide who gets to go into the Oval Office.
02:14And you all have credentials to be here, including the Associated Press, who is in this briefing
02:18room today.
02:19But isn't it retaliatory in nature, is the argument, because the reason that the AP was
02:24barred, which they said was because they're not using the phrase Gulf of America, they're
02:27using Gulf of Mexico in line with their standards.
02:30And so the question here is, is this setting a precedent that this White House will retaliate
02:34against reporters who don't use the language that you guys believe reporters should use?
02:38And how does that align with the First Amendment commitment that you were just talking about?
02:41I was very upfront in my briefing on day one that if we feel that there are lies being
02:47pushed by outlets in this room, we are going to hold those lies accountable.
02:51And it is a fact that the body of water off the coast of Louisiana is called the Gulf
02:56of America.
02:57And I'm not sure why news outlets don't want to call it that, but that is what it is.
03:02The Secretary of Interior has made that the official designation in the Geographical Identification
03:08Name Server.
03:09And Apple has recognized that.
03:11Google has recognized that.
03:12Pretty much every other outlet in this room has recognized that body of water as the Gulf
03:16of America.
03:17And it's very important to this administration that we get that right, not just for people
03:20here at home, but also for the rest of the world.
03:26Okay, that solves that problem.
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