White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt erupted during a tense briefing as reporters repeatedly questioned the administration about the newly surfaced Trump–Epstein files. The exchange quickly escalated, with Leavitt accusing the press of spreading misinformation and politicizing sensitive documents for “media theatrics.”
The confrontation comes amid renewed scrutiny over Epstein-related records and their possible political implications. As reporters pushed for clarity on Trump’s alleged connections, Leavitt fired back with sharp rebuttals, defending the President and calling the media’s narrative “deliberately distorted.”
#KarolineLeavitt #KarolineLeavittLive #KarolineLeavittBriefing #LeavittOnEpstein #EpsteinFiles #JeffreyEpsteinFiles #KarolineLeavittStatement #LeavittPressBriefing #KarolineLeavittUpdate #KarolineLeavittControversy #PressSecretaryLeavitt #EpsteinNarrative #WhiteHouseBriefing #LeavittVsReporters #BreakingWHUpdate
~HT.410~ED.194~PR.152~
The confrontation comes amid renewed scrutiny over Epstein-related records and their possible political implications. As reporters pushed for clarity on Trump’s alleged connections, Leavitt fired back with sharp rebuttals, defending the President and calling the media’s narrative “deliberately distorted.”
#KarolineLeavitt #KarolineLeavittLive #KarolineLeavittBriefing #LeavittOnEpstein #EpsteinFiles #JeffreyEpsteinFiles #KarolineLeavittStatement #LeavittPressBriefing #KarolineLeavittUpdate #KarolineLeavittControversy #PressSecretaryLeavitt #EpsteinNarrative #WhiteHouseBriefing #LeavittVsReporters #BreakingWHUpdate
~HT.410~ED.194~PR.152~
Category
🗞
NewsTranscript
00:00Good afternoon, everybody. I brought a very special guest with me today, as you
00:05can see, Secretary McMahon. So I will begin my remarks. She's going to speak
00:09and then we'll take some questions. She'll take questions and I'll take
00:12questions from you as well. First off, yesterday First Lady Melania Trump and
00:17Second Lady Usha Vance traveled to Marine Corps Air Station New River and
00:21Camp Lejeune in North Carolina, where they spent the day meeting with students,
00:26educators, military families, and United States Marines. Both the First Lady and
00:31Second Lady were grateful for the warm welcome and remain deeply committed to
00:36supporting military families and the communities that serve our great nation.
00:40May God bless all of them. In economic news, the September jobs report showed the
00:45American economy remains strong, with 119,000 new jobs added, more than double
00:52expectations. These gains came after the summer passage of President Trump's
00:57historic tax cuts and multiple big trade deals with countries around the world.
01:02In particular, construction jobs surged by 19,000 in September, the largest monthly
01:09gain in a year. Nearly all of this solid monthly job growth came from the private
01:14sector and went to Americans rather than foreign-born workers, the opposite of what
01:20we saw under the previous administration. Inflation also remains under control and
01:25wages are up by 3.8 percent over the year for American workers because of
01:30President Trump's pro-growth policies. In fact, real wages are on pace to
01:36increase roughly twelve hundred dollars for the average worker this year under
01:40President Trump. This is a complete reversal of the failed Biden era when we saw
01:45inflation skyrocket to nine percent, causing private sector workers to see
01:50their wages decline by approximately three thousand dollars. We know that
01:55Americans are still hurting from the four decade high inflation caused by Joe
01:59Biden and the Democrats. But President Trump is making significant progress to
02:04fix this, and he will not stop working until he saw solves it. As the President
02:10recently stated, he is never satisfied. For example, President Trump's policies are
02:14working to make Americans Thanksgiving more affordable this year, from their
02:19commute to the dinner table. Nearly 100 million Americans are expected to
02:24drive next week to spend time with loved ones for the holiday. And thanks to
02:28President Trump's drill baby drill agenda, the national average price of a
02:32gallon of gas on Thanksgiving Day is projected to be at the cheapest price since
02:38the COVID pandemic in 2021. President Trump is bringing down gas prices and
02:43providing significant savings to American families at the pump. And again, we expect
02:48those prices to continue to decline. According to the American Farm Bureau
02:52Federation's annual survey, cooking Thanksgiving dinner will also cost less
02:57this year than it did last year and is down about five percent overall. The average
03:02price for a staple of the meal, a 16 pound frozen turkey, is down more than 16 percent
03:09from last year, which will provide critical savings for families and their
03:13budgets. President Trump's entire economic agenda is aimed at putting more money back
03:19into the pockets of hardworking Americans. That's why he signed the largest
03:24middle tax tax cuts in history into law from no tax on overtime, no tax on tips to
03:30no tax on Social Security. And according to a new study from Piper Sandler, which is out
03:35this week, tax filers can expect an extra $1,000 bump to their tax refund next year
03:42and what could be a record breaking tax refund season. So there is more good news
03:47to come. We know these refunds will make a huge difference for Americans to help
03:51pay down their bills and use towards life's expenses. In other news this week,
03:56President Trump took a significant step toward delivering on a core campaign
04:00promise to finally close the Department of Education. To shrink the bloated federal
04:06bureaucracy, the Department of Education just entered into new interagency
04:10agreements with four agencies. The Departments of Labor, Interior, Health and
04:15Human Services and State. These agencies will now ensure the delivery of legally
04:20required programs while also refocusing them to better serve students. This
04:25common sense action brings the Trump administration much closer to finally
04:29returning education where it belongs at the state and local level, not in
04:34Washington, D.C. The Democrats reckless 43 day government shutdown did manage to do
04:40one valuable thing. It proved that America does not need a federal Department of
04:45Education. During the longest shutdown in history, the Department of Education
04:50furloughed 90 percent of its staff and America's education system was not impacted
04:56whatsoever. Schools stayed fully open across the country. Students attended
05:02class and received normal in-person instruction and our wonderful teachers
05:06received their paychecks uninterrupted. The Democrats government shutdown made it
05:11painfully obvious that American families do not need the Department of
05:15Education. Since its creation in 1979 during the Carter administration, the
05:21Department of Education has spent over three trillion taxpayer dollars without
05:26improving student achievement. Despite peer pupil spending having increased by
05:31more than 245 percent since the 1970s, math and reading scores are down in public
05:38schools. In fact, the most recent nation's report card from 2024 showed that
05:4313 year olds math scores are the lowest they've been in decades and their reading
05:47scores are the lowest since testing began more than 30 years ago. It's clear
05:52that throwing more money at a broken system does not work. And that's why
05:56President Trump appointed the amazing leader behind me, our Secretary of
06:01Education, Linda McMahon, who is making these monumental changes at the direction of
06:05the president. We're very grateful to have you here today to talk about these
06:08changes and then take some questions. Hopefully folks in this room will have some
06:12questions on the very important topic of education. So please, Mr. Secretary.
06:15Thank you. Thank you much, Caroline. It's really a pleasure to be here with you
06:20today and thank all of you for being here as well. My purpose here is to speak
06:25directly to the American families, not just you, but to the American families, about
06:30the work this administration is doing in education to reverse our national
06:34decline with a hard reset of our educational system. That reset was a top
06:39campaign promise from President Trump to send education back to the states and in
06:44Washington's micromanagement of education once and for all. This week we took the
06:50most decisive steps thus far to make good on this promise to you. We have linked six
06:55groundbreaking partnerships with other federal agencies to delegate education
07:00department programs that are redundant with existing programs at Labor, State,
07:04Interior, and HHS. These interagency agreements to cut our own bureaucratic bloat are a
07:11key step in our efforts to shift educational authority from Washington, D.C. to your state
07:16education agency, your local superintendent, your local school board, entities that are
07:22accountable to you and we encourage parents to always be involved. Cutting federal
07:28bureaucracy is never a popular move among D.C. insiders. A chorus of anti-Trump voices have
07:35come out of the woodwork to complain that we are defunding education, harming
07:40students, or acting without a plan. This could not be further from the truth. The
07:46majority of Americans across the country handed to President Trump the popular
07:50vote precisely because they have seen the brokenness of a top-down education
07:56system run by the federal government. They're painfully aware that only three out of
08:00ten students can read proficiently at their grade level. They know that college
08:05students are collectively 1.7 trillion dollars in debt and less than half of
08:10college graduates get a job that actually uses the degree which they studied so hard
08:16to get. They see more teachers than ever before leaving the profession due to
08:21burnout over regulation and lack of autonomy in the classroom. Anti-Trump voices are
08:27stirring up fear that returning education to the states is a draconian action. When
08:33Americans hear that we are shutting down the department but given no other
08:38details, 51 percent oppose it. But when those same Americans are informed of our
08:44plans to preserve important elements of our work and other federal agencies and to
08:49maintain the K-212 funding that is distributed to the states, that number
08:55flips to an even greater majority at 56 percent. They support returning
09:01education to the states and breaking up the bureaucracy. That's because the
09:05Department of Education is a pass-through entity. It doesn't educate a single
09:11student. The money it sends to states for education can be sent directly without
09:16waste. The Democrats government shutdown proved that without a doubt now I'll
09:21reiterate what you said that the Department of Education was not necessary during
09:26the shutdown. Now this is what I've seen already on my 50 state tour that I've
09:31embarked on. Educators are innovating in their schools. States are customizing
09:36their budgets and standards and post-secondary institutions are planning for the
09:41economy of the future. But we're not leading them. They are informing us. That's why our final
09:47mission as a department is to fully empower states to carry the torch of our
09:53educational renaissance. Education is local. It should be overseen locally by
09:59those who best know local needs. We're not ending federal support for education. We
10:05are ending federal micromanagement and paving the way for education renewal
10:10through state reforms like school choice, the science of reading, and restoring the
10:16right priorities in higher education. President Trump promised to send
10:21education back to the states and we're keeping that promise. America's next
10:25generation will look back on the work we've carried out thankful for an
10:29education system that prioritizes students over bureaucracy. Thank you.
10:35Well thank you very much Madam Secretary and we'll take some questions for the
10:38secretary if you have them. Elizabeth why don't you start?
10:41Thank you for joining us. You announced the partnership to move some functions of the
10:46education department to other agencies. Are you talking to members of Congress about
10:50codifying this so that it lasts beyond the administration? Yes we started our
10:54conversation and thanks very much for asking that because we have been some
10:58reports that Congress is in the dark on this. That's clearly not true. We've been
11:02talking to probably I've talked to dozens of members of Congress to explain to
11:06them exactly what we're doing to bring them up to speed and to say to them look when we
11:11have completed some of these transfers that we that are working incredibly
11:16well then we will be looking to Congress to codify those. Make them permanent.
11:21Brian. Thank you Secretary McMahon. What is the update on the negotiations with Harvard? I know the
11:27President has publicly pointed to you as somebody who's worked on that. I think
11:31you've talked about that at length but I'd like to understand where are things with
11:34those negotiations with Harvard this time? They're ongoing negotiations and we feel I feel very
11:39comfortable that we are getting close to having those negotiations finalized. It's
11:44been an open door conversation all along.
11:47Deanna.
11:48Hello, Mrs. Secretary. The President recently posted about establishing a federal
11:53standard for AI. Do you know if the administration has a view on the use of AI for
11:59students in schools? And Caroline, do you know if the President personally uses AI?
12:03I don't think so. You can handle that. I've never witnessed it so I can't attest to that.
12:10Well, I do think AI is going to need guardrails but I have witnessed AI firsthand. I was at the Alpha
12:17School in Austin, Texas and the first two hours of every day in that school students are learning
12:23through AI. They have their headsets on, they're in front of their screens and the AI is really acting
12:27as like an individual tutor for those students, allowing those students that can progress faster
12:31to do that. Those who need a little catch up, it refeeds information to them and so after those two
12:38hours of learning, you know, the basics of what they're doing in their curriculum that day, then
12:43they spend the rest of the day, I mean they have good recess and all of that time, but then they spend
12:46the rest of the day in what are called life skills and they're actually using the information that
12:51they've learned this morning. So I've seen some AI in action that is really proven quite beneficial.
13:00Michael. Thank you Caroline. Secretary McMahon, as the education department continues to pare down,
13:05can you talk about taxpayer services like charter school grants and how the department will continue
13:13to assist kids with special needs? Well, we are going to make sure that there's no interruption in
13:18making, in getting that grant money out the door. I mean, you know, that money is, it comes from
13:23Congress, it's appropriated by Congress and we legally are obligated to do that and the transitions
13:28we're starting to make, our first programs that went over to the Department of Labor, that was a few
13:35weeks ago, we actually signed the first interagency agreement which we accomplished under the authority
13:40of the Economy Act. We transferred grants for WIOA and for the Perkins Act and the really good news is
13:50that the Department of Labor has a much more sophisticated system, technology system and grant
13:57and grant fulfilling system than the Department of Education does. As a matter of fact, our executive
14:04manager that went over with that group over to Labor said he would compare what the Labor
14:10system is to educations, educations like held together by bubblegum that is not connected to
14:16any other part. So we were able to get those grants out the door more smoothly and states have actually
14:21better access for those systems than they do at the Department of Education. So that's a, that's a real
14:26bonus. Okay, take a couple more. Carrie, go ahead. As part of the diversity, equity and inclusion new
14:34regulations that came out from the administrations, a lot of schools, whether high school or even higher
14:40education is concerned, some of them are defying these new administration policies, even apparently
14:46according to a new report. I'm sorry, I can't hear you. As far as the, there's been a new report from the
14:50administration saying that half of medical schools are defying the administration when it comes to DEI
14:56policies. What type of action will the administration take for these schools that are defined in
15:02the DEI policies? Well, certainly the president has been very clear and the Department of Education
15:08has taken measures to make sure that as schools are developing, you know, their policies or if they
15:14have open DEI offices, they're closed or DEI regulations and rules are stripped, you know, from their programs.
15:22And so that will continue. Great. We'll take one more. Go ahead. Thank you, Caroline. Secretary McMahon,
15:29my question is, since you said three out of 10 students are literate with regard to their reading
15:36capacity, would now the states help to improve those numbers since you have gone back to the states?
15:44Well, what we are finding, uh, that the states that are making great progress, it's through their own
15:50innovation. It's not coming from the Department of Education. I think the Department of Education
15:55is really misunderstood about what our function is. We don't teach one student. We have nothing to do
16:00with the curriculum that are in any states. We are a pass-through pathway from money that's appropriated
16:06by Congress to get, you know, to the states. But what we have seen in those states that have taken that
16:10initiative and they are embracing the science of reading and returning that into their school programs,
16:16Louisiana has done it, Mississippi. They call it the Mississippi miracle because they were like,
16:21I think, bottom or next to last in reading proficiency in Mississippi. And now they're like middle of the
16:26pack, which has been a really big jump. Florida has, Iowa has, Tennessee. So, but these are innovations
16:32that are done at the state level. This is not anything we're dictating. And that's why I'm saying
16:36returning education to the states where they really are already leading in their education endeavors.
16:42And 90 percent of their budget they provide. The federal government only provides 8 to 10 percent
16:48of the budget for education. So let's make sure that that grant money that's coming from the federal
16:53government is getting in their hands as efficiently as possible and getting to students. We don't want
16:58teachers having to spend their time and money in regulatory compliance. There was, there was one
17:05superintendent chief who said to me that they had done some calculation in their state and that for
17:11every dollar that went into the classroom in a grant 47 cents was spent in regulatory compliance.
17:17So let's get the money into the hands of our students and our teachers. Let's raise the level of
17:22education. The other thing I'll do and I'll quickly wrap up for you is this 50 state tour that I'm have
17:29embarked on. We've done about 14 states. We've shut down a little bit during the shutdown. But what I am doing
17:36is visiting different kinds of schools, grammar schools, middle schools, high schools, micro schools, private
17:42schools, charter schools, the whole gambit. And in the end my goal will be as we step away and fully deliver
17:50education back to the states is to provide them with a best practices toolkit of all of the things that I have
17:56seen around the country to say, hey, this is working. Check with these superintendents. Check with these governors.
18:03And you know what I found a little bit is that governors are a little competitive. So it's
18:07it's kind of nice to give some of these best practices out there. It'll work because it's
18:11already working. If we leave it with the people who are closest to the students, the president
18:16believes, as do I, the best education is that that's closest to the child and parents involvement
18:23is critical to the success. Awesome. Thank you so much. Thank you so much. I appreciate your comment today.
18:29Thanks for your great work. And she's a busy lady. So we'll let her get back to work.
18:34All right. Thank you again. Well, let's get to it. You guys were so calm with her. I wish you were
18:41that calm with me. We'll kick off with our new media seat as always. Javier, why don't you start us
18:46off and then we'll get to the rest of the room. Go ahead. Thank you very much. My name is Javier Negri.
18:49I'm from Spain. I'm the owner of the biggest media platform in hispanic politics with brands like La
18:56Grecha Diario, Ida TV, or 2H and Plus or Visegrad in Spanish. And I'm happy to be here. Thanks for
19:03supporting the new media. Also in the Hispanic community, we try to fight against medias like
19:10Telemundo, Invisión, CNN, or NBC News that are spreading fake news and attacking the ICE operations.
19:18We'll premiere this Sunday the Real America's Voice, the right new show, the first Hispanic show
19:23against communism and world culture that is promoted by people like George Soros to bring communism all
19:29over the world like happened in New York. I have two questions for you, if you don't mind. In Mexico,
19:35the young people is protesting against President Sheinbaum. They think she's doing nothing against
19:40the cartels. Sheinbaum used the police to attack them, young people, kids, girls, and she's attacking
19:46journalists like me in a country where 150 journalists have been killed in the past years. The USA legacy
19:54media is attacking President Trump for his comments about the fake news media while they are not publishing
20:01anything about the murder of journalists in Mexico. Why do you think they stay silent about the
20:08murder of journalists in Mexico and the attacks on businessmen like Ricardo Salinas? And my second
20:14question is, Trump said he has a plan for the narco state of Venezuela. Does he have a plan for Mexico
20:20where, according to Stephen Miller, the cartels are controlling governments and territories?
20:26Sure. Well, thank you, Javier, for the question. And thank you again for being here. We're proud to have
20:30new media voices in the briefing room. As for President Sheinbaum and the President's relationship
20:36with Mexico, I will tell you that we have seen historic strides from President Sheinbaum and her
20:42administration in Mexico when it comes to cracking down on the cartels. They have been incredibly
20:47cooperative with the President's efforts at our southern border to crack down on illegal immigration
20:53and also the illegal trafficking of drugs at the southern border. Now, the President is very interested in
20:58taking additional measures against the drug cartels. He's been very clear about that.
21:03He's spoken about it. And this is a promise that he made to the American public. And so his national
21:08security team is discussing these options all of the time. And on the campaign show, the President
21:13promised to take on the cartels. He has taken unprecedented action to do so. And he has left
21:19additional options at his disposal on the table. So those are only decisions that the President can make.
21:24What about the silence of the legacy media about the murders of journalists in Mexico? 150 journalists
21:32have been killed in the past years. Yeah, well, it's certainly something I wish the media would
21:36report on more. And it's something that this administration absolutely condemns. I can't speak
21:40for the media, but I can speak for the President. That's not something he wants to see. Thank you.
21:45Sure. Thank you, Caroline. Is there anything that Mayor-elect Mamdami could say tomorrow that would
21:52ease the President's concerns about his future leadership in New York? Look, I don't want to speak
21:57for the President or get ahead of this meeting that we are currently working on tomorrow for tomorrow.
22:02As you saw, the President put out a statement tomorrow that the Mayor-elect will be coming to the Oval
22:07Office. And so our teams are arranging those details. I won't get into the President's thinking on it. I think
22:13you'll all hear from him directly. I also think I will just add it speaks volumes that tomorrow
22:19we have a communist coming to the White House because that's who the Democrat Party elected as
22:23the mayor of the largest city in the country. I think it's very telling, but I also think it speaks
22:28to the fact that President Trump is willing to meet with anyone and talk to anyone and to try to do what's
22:35right on behalf of the American people, whether they live in blue states or red states or blue cities
22:40in a city that's becoming much more left than I think this President ever anticipated in his many
22:47years of living in New York himself. Nancy.
22:50The Press. Thanks, Caroline. This morning, President Trump accused six Democratic lawmakers of
22:55seditious behavior punishable by death. Just to be clear, does the President want to execute members
23:01of Congress? No. Let's be clear about what the President is responding to
23:06because many in this room want to talk about the President's response, but not what brought the
23:12President to responding in this way. You have sitting members of the United States Congress
23:20who conspired together to orchestrate a video message to members of the United States military,
23:26to active duty service members, to members of the national security apparatus, encouraging them to
23:33defy the President's lawful orders. The sanctity of our military rests on the chain of command. And if
23:40that chain of command is broken, it can lead to people getting killed. It can lead to chaos. And that's
23:47what these members of Congress who swore an oath to to abide by the Constitution are essentially encouraging.
23:53We have 1.3 active duty service members in this country. And if they hear this radical message from
24:01sitting members of Congress, that could inspire chaos, and it could incite violence, and it certainly
24:05could disrupt the chain of command. These three members of Congress, I will also add, knew exactly
24:11what they were doing. You look at Alyssa Slotkin. She's a former member of the CIA. Mark Kelly was a
24:17captain in the U.S. Navy. Maggie Goodlender was a naval officer. And notably, she was also, she is also the
24:22wife of Joe Biden's national security former advisor, Jake Sullivan. And so these members knew what they were
24:29doing. They were leading into their credentials as former members of our military, as veterans,
24:34as former members of the national security apparatus to signal to people serving under
24:39this commander in chief, Donald Trump, that you can defy him and you can betray your oath of office.
24:45That is a very, very dangerous message message. And it perhaps is punishable by law. I'm not a lawyer.
24:52I'll leave that to the Department of Justice and the Department of War to decide.
24:55But the president has frequently, but Carolyn, can I just follow up? The president
24:59and the vice president, for that matter, have accused the other side of encouraging
25:03political violence. Isn't that exactly what the president is doing when he says that members of
25:08Congress should be killed? Why aren't you talking about what these members of Congress are doing
25:12to encourage and incite violence? They are literally saying to 1.3 million active duty service members
25:19not to defy, to defy the chain of command, not to follow lawful orders. Every single
25:26illegal order, which is they are saying, but they're suggesting they're suggesting, Nancy,
25:31that the president has given illegal orders, which he has not. Every single order that is given to this
25:36United States military by this commander in chief and through this command chain of command,
25:40through the secretary of war is lawful. And the courts have proven that this administration
25:45has an unparalleled record at the Supreme Court because we are following the laws. We don't defy
25:51court orders. We do things by the books. And to suggest and encourage that active duty service
25:58members defy the chain of command is a very dangerous thing for sitting members of Congress to do.
26:03And they should be held accountable. And that's what the president wants to see.
26:06Thank you. Ambassador Mike Huckabee had a meeting with Jonathan Pollard, a former U.S. citizen who
26:14was convicted and spent three decades in jail for selling state secrets to Israel. Did the White
26:19House know that that meeting was going to happen? Does the administration condone it?
26:23Ms. The White House was not aware of that meeting, but the president stands by
26:27our ambassador, Mike Huckabee, and all that he's doing for the United States and Israel.
26:31You said that the president was going to do what was right for U.S. citizens,
26:36regardless of whether they lived in blue or red states. I'm curious if there's any chance
26:42in tomorrow's meeting with mayor-elect Mamdani that he will be able to convince the president to
26:48abandon that promise to cut off federal funding to New York City.
26:52Look, Phil, we'll see how the meeting goes tomorrow and I'll let the president speak for himself. Natalie.
26:56Thank you, Caroline. What did the president mean when he called reporter Peggy?
27:00Ms. Look, the president is very frank and honest with everyone in this room. You've all seen it
27:06yourself. You've all experienced it yourselves. And I think it's one of the many reasons that the
27:11American people reelected this president, because of his frankness. And he calls out fake news when
27:16he sees it. He gets frustrated with reporters when you lie about him, when you spread fake news about
27:22him and his administration. But he also is the most transparent president in history. And he gives all of
27:28you in this room, as you all know, unprecedented access. You are in the Oval Office almost every
27:34day asking the president questions. And so I think the president being frank and open and honest to
27:39your faces rather than hiding behind your backs is frankly a lot more respectful than what you saw in
27:44the last administration, where you had a president who lied to your face and then didn't speak to you
27:49for weeks and hid upstairs and didn't take your questions. So I think everyone in this room should
27:53appreciate the frankness and the openness that you get from President Trump on a near daily basis.
27:59And as a follow-up, the Washington Post just reported that the Coast Guard has
28:05stopped considering. I'm calling on Bloomberg. Go ahead.
28:06Caroline, thank you. Two questions for you. The New York Times is reporting
28:11that the administration is now sending a U.S. official to the G20. They are sending Mark Dillard.
28:20Can you just can you confirm if that is true and then also explain the shift and I'd be happy.
28:25I'd be happy to explain because there is not a shift. The United States is not participating in
28:30official talks at the G20 in South Africa. I saw the South African president running his mouth a little
28:36bit against the United States and the president of the United States earlier today. And that language
28:40is not appreciated by the president or his team. The ambassador or the representative of the embassy in
28:48South Africa is simply there to recognize that the United States will be the host of the G20.
28:53They are receiving that send off at the end of the event. They are not there to participate in
28:58official talks despite what the South African president is falsely claiming. On Ukraine,
29:03there have been reports that President Zelenskyy said, you know, he's looking to look at the plan that
29:11there's been reports about the Trump administration proposing a plan. Can you just give an update on where
29:15Russia Ukraine stands and does the president's plan to speak with Zelenskyy anytime soon or when
29:22can you expect? So I'm happy to provide an update. I've seen quite a bit of reporting on the latest
29:26with Russia Ukraine. So let me clarify and give you guys the truth on where it currently stands.
29:32President Trump has made it very clear since day one and even on the campaign trail that he wants
29:37to see this war come to an end. He has grown increasingly frustrated with both sides of this war,
29:42Russia and Ukraine alike for their refusal to commit to a peace agreement. But nevertheless,
29:47the president and his national security team are steadfast in seeing this war come to an end to end
29:52the killing and deliver on the president's promise. Special Envoy Witkoff that Marco Rubio have been
29:58working on a plan quietly for about the last month. They've been engaging with both sides, Russia and Ukraine
30:05equally to understand what these countries would commit to in order to see a lasting and durable peace.
30:12That's how you get to a peace negotiation, right? That's how it worked with Israel with respect to
30:17Israel and Gaza and all of the Arab countries in the Middle East. That's how we accomplished that
30:22historic agreement, which the UN, by the way, voted to commit to and accept this week, which was a huge,
30:27monumental moment. So they have been engaged with both sides and these talks are continuing. As always,
30:35I'm not going to litigate the details of this plan as it's ongoing and it's in flux. But the president
30:40supports this plan. It's a good plan for both Russia and Ukraine. And we believe that it should be
30:46acceptable to both sides and we're working very hard to get it done. And I'll also add, I know
30:50Secretary Driscoll did meet with President Zelensky today. We spoke with him. He's very optimistic
30:55following that meeting. And so again, we are having good conversations with both sides with respect to
31:00ending this war. Sure. Go ahead.
31:02The Press on Ukraine. You said this is a good plan. So according to our sources, this proposal demands
31:09major concessions from Ukraine and doesn't demand much from Russia. So was Russia involved in drafting
31:16this? Your understanding is wrong. Have you read the full plan?
31:18The Press on Ukraine. You haven't. The Press on Ukraine.
31:20The Press on Ukraine. Yes. The Press on Ukraine. So if you can give details, maybe.
31:22The Press on Ukraine. You've read reporting from one side of the war. And so I want you to understand that
31:26the administration has talked equally with both sides. You have seen President Trump engage directly
31:32with both President Putin and President Zelensky. Likewise, his national security team has as well.
31:37In fact, Special Envoy Witkoff and Secretary Rubio met with some of the Ukrainians just in the past week
31:43to discuss this very plan. And so just like you saw with respect to Israel and Gaza, we are hearing out
31:49both sides of this war to understand what can you commit to to end the war. And that's ultimately how
31:56we are going to get to an agreeable solution. That's what the President has directed of his team.
32:00I know there's a lot of criticism out there and a lot of doubters, but I would just remind you
32:04of the historic success that this President and his team accomplished in the Middle East. We believe
32:08that is possible with Russia and Ukraine, and we're hoping and working very hard to achieve that.
32:14Stephen. Could you provide a little more context on what to expect tomorrow
32:20with the Momdani meeting? Will it be in the Oval Office or is it going to be open at least
32:24partially to the press? I don't have any more details to read out for you
32:29on the meeting quite yet, Stephen. I know it's of great interest to you and the New York Post,
32:33but we'll keep — maybe if it opens, we can commit to letting you in.
32:39Sure. Go ahead. Thank you, Caroline. It came up yesterday
32:42during a confirmation hearing for the President's pick to lead the CFTC that the CFTC currently has
32:48zero Democrat commissioners, whereas usually it's had two or more.
32:53Does the President plan to appoint Democrats to financial regulators like the CFTC and SEC,
32:58or does the President feel that there shouldn't be Democrat leadership at those agencies consistent
33:03with the administration's move earlier this year to remove Democrats from the FTC and other agencies?
33:08I'm going to be completely honest. I haven't spoken to the President about the FTC — CFTC in quite some
33:14time, but I'm happy to check in with our Presidential Personnel Office and see if there's any updates that we can
33:18provide you there. Thank you. Thank you, Caroline. Last week on Fox News,
33:23President Trump said that we've had a lot of problems with the French. How would you describe
33:28the current relationship between France and the U.S.? The relationship remains very strong.
33:34President Trump speaks quite frequently with Emmanuel Macron. I think they have a good working
33:39relationship. But the President is not shy to point out when he has disagreements with world leaders as
33:44well. And he's done that with respect to Mr. Macron as well. Deanna. Deanna, go ahead.
33:51Carolyn, there are reports that Qatar is acting as a mediator in the Ukraine peace process.
33:56Can you confirm that? And why did Trump — why did the President choose that country?
34:00I'm not going to get into further details other than what I previously shared, which I think was quite
34:04a bit of information. Brian.
34:05Thank you, Caroline. Two questions. We were talking about four earlier in this briefing,
34:10about the President's orders. You were going back and forth about what the ad said and what it
34:15said. My first question is — The ad?
34:17The advertisement that the Senate Democrats were featured in. So the first question is,
34:22no matter what the order is — it could be to any administration official, military or otherwise — no
34:27matter if legal experts might think it's illegal, does the President expect those Cabinet members,
34:33administration officials to go ahead with those orders regardless of any outside thinking or experts?
34:38The President expects his Cabinet officials and the administration to follow the law
34:42and to demand accountability and hold people accountable for their dangerous rhetoric. And
34:47I would just add that if this were Republican members of Congress who were encouraging members
34:52of the military and members of our United States government to defy orders from the President and
34:57from the chain of command, this entire room would be up in arms. But instead,
35:02it is the other way around. And I think that's quite telling. I'm going to let you all go because the
35:06President — excuse me — I appreciate the encouragement this morning, this afternoon,
35:14but President Trump is about to meet in minutes with Israeli hostages who this administration freed.
35:22And so I'm going to go up to that meeting and you will hear more about that later. Thank you.
35:26Subscribe to One India and never miss an update. Download the One India app now.
Be the first to comment