The White House confirmed that the United States “does intend to seize the oil” aboard a tanker currently positioned off the coast of Venezuela. Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said the administration is already engaged in the required legal procedures, emphasizing that “there is a legal process for the seizure of that oil and that legal process will be followed.”
The announcement marks a major escalation in the U.S. posture toward Venezuela’s energy exports and comes amid heightened tensions between Washington and Caracas. Officials did not specify the origin of the oil, the ownership of the tanker, or how soon the action might take place.
#BreakingNews #Venezuela #OilTanker #USPolitics #PressBriefing #KarolineLeavitt #WhiteHouse
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The announcement marks a major escalation in the U.S. posture toward Venezuela’s energy exports and comes amid heightened tensions between Washington and Caracas. Officials did not specify the origin of the oil, the ownership of the tanker, or how soon the action might take place.
#BreakingNews #Venezuela #OilTanker #USPolitics #PressBriefing #KarolineLeavitt #WhiteHouse
Join this channel to get access to perks:
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NewsTranscript
00:00Hello, everybody. Good afternoon. Hello. Some new faces in here today. As we approach the end of the year, it is a great time to reflect on how much progress our country has made under President Trump's bold leadership.
00:16Given the complete mess that President Trump inherited from Joe Biden and radical left Democrats in Congress, what this administration has accomplished since January 20th has been nothing short of remarkable.
00:30While most politicians promise big on the campaign trail and break those promises once they get into office, President Trump promised big and has delivered even bigger.
00:41On the economic front, after inheriting the worst inflation crisis in over four decades, President Trump's pro-growth policies are making tremendous progress to make America affordable again.
00:53Under the painful Biden years, inflation reached a record high 9% and devoured Americans' purchasing power. In President Trump's term thus far, inflation has dropped to an average of just 2.7%, marking critical progress.
01:09The Trump administration is working hard every single day to bring down the cost of living through bigger paychecks and lower prices.
01:17Real wages are finally on the rise again and on pace to increase to roughly $1,200 for the average American worker this year.
01:26To put that into perspective, real wages declined by almost $3,000 under the Biden administration.
01:34That means Americans right now are on track already to make up one third of the $3,000 in lost wages under Joe Biden.
01:42There's much work to do, but this has already been significant progress.
01:46President Trump has also delivered resoundingly on his promise to end Joe Biden's insane war on American energy and make sure our country has reliable and affordable energy produced right here at home.
02:00As a result, the nationwide average for regular gas just fell to its lowest level in nearly five years.
02:07According to data from GasBuddy released on Monday, average gas prices have now dipped below $3 per gallon in 37 states, below $2.75 per gallon in 22 states, and below $2.50 per gallon in five states.
02:22Just a few years ago, we saw record high-priced gas of nearly $5 per gallon.
02:28American families faced constant pain at the pump, and those costs caused the price of everything else to go up as well.
02:35In fact, the average cost for a gallon of regular gas in the country was the most expensive price during a presidential term in U.S. history under Biden's disastrous leadership,
02:45even with them recklessly draining our strategic reserves to try and artificially decrease prices.
02:51But thanks to President Trump, those days are long behind us.
02:55In the months ahead, Americans can expect prices to fall even further.
03:00We know that when gas gets cheaper, everything else gets cheaper, too.
03:04And that's what this president is focusing on.
03:07Americans can also expect another boost to their bank accounts in the months ahead, as 2026 tax refund season is upon us after the holidays,
03:15and it's projected to be the largest ever thanks to President Trump's passage of the One Big Beautiful bill.
03:22According to recent analysis from Piper Sandler, when Americans filed their taxes early next year, their refunds could be about one-third larger than usual, or roughly an extra $1,000 per filer.
03:35That is money straight into the pockets of the American people.
03:39It's only because of President Trump and Republicans' leadership that Americans will now pay no tax on tips over time in Social Security.
03:48President Trump and Republicans believe hardworking Americans deserve to keep more of their hard-earned money.
03:54But Democrats, on the other hand, every single one of them voted against these massive tax cuts.
04:00So remember that the next time Democrats try to talk about affordability.
04:04Democrats don't have a single clue about how to make America more affordable.
04:09They just spent the last four years creating the very affordability crisis that President Trump is fixing right now.
04:15And if given the chance of power ever again, the Democrats will implement those same policies and jack inflation right back up to where it was.
04:24Finally, at the border, President Trump has restored America's sovereignty and made our country safe again.
04:30This is the single greatest and fastest national security victory in modern American history, and it's not even close.
04:37The latest preliminary numbers released from the month of November show we have the most secure border in our nation's history.
04:44This is a remarkable achievement.
04:47November encounters came in even lower than the previous historic low in October, if you can believe it.
04:53There were only 30,367 total encounters nationwide.
04:59That's lower than the previous record set in October.
05:03And for the seventh consecutive month, U.S. Border Patrol released zero illegal aliens into the United States.
05:12Let me repeat seven months of zero illegal aliens being released into our country.
05:18This is a historic achievement, and it's one that every law abiding American citizen should be grateful for.
05:24At this point in 10 months under President Trump's unmatched leadership, we've seen less apprehensions overall than we saw in just one month under Joe Biden.
05:33Again, let me repeat, in 10 months under President Trump, we've seen less apprehensions at the southern border than we saw in one month under the previous president.
05:43Again, remarkable results.
05:45All in all, the economy is back on track and ready to boom over the next three years.
05:50Biden's inflation crisis is over.
05:52Prices are coming down.
05:53Wages are rising.
05:54The border is fully secure.
05:56And America's best days are to come.
05:59President Trump has kept his word and delivered for the American people over the past year.
06:03And he will not stop fighting, as you heard from him directly this week, until our country and every state in this country is better than ever before.
06:11So with that, I will take your questions today.
06:13I know there's a lot of news.
06:14We'll start with our new media seat.
06:16Mr. Bolling, it's great to see you here.
06:18He's of Real America's Voice.
06:19He's also the host of EDGE, his interview and commentary podcast.
06:23Please, Eric, why don't you kick us off?
06:25Caroline, thank you very much for this and inviting me to the new media seat.
06:28As you point out, affordability prices, it strikes me energy prices have been coming down aggressively since President Trump's second term,
06:37approaching $55 a barrel for oil, gasoline, as you point out, under $3 a barrel nationally, first time in five years.
06:44By the way, that $55 a barrel of oil is about half of the peak under the last four years in the last administration, half the price.
06:51Wholesale prices come down, yet affordability crisis.
06:55A lot of the folks in this room, a lot of legacy media, some of the people in the front row, seem to want to call this an affordability crisis right now,
07:02forgetting the fact that over the last four years prior, we hit 9% inflation.
07:07Wages, as you point out, have more stagnant at best, sometimes had dipped.
07:12That's a real affordability crisis there.
07:14But they weren't really calling it that then.
07:17You point out how President Trump is changing the affordability in America.
07:21But how will he ensure that the legacy media doesn't flip the script and change it so that they're using affordability as their word, their idea,
07:32versus what the American people who know much better?
07:35Yeah. Well, it's a great question, Eric, and it's a point of frustration for the President and for myself, I will say.
07:40That's part of the reason I just kicked off this briefing today, setting the record straight with facts about the economic mess that the President inherited from his predecessor, Joe Biden.
07:50And he's focused on digging our country and our economy out of that hole every day.
07:55Things are getting better, and they will continue to.
07:58And President Trump understands better than any politician in this city the pain that the American consumer has been feeling for years now because of the last administration's policies.
08:07You heard him in the great Commonwealth of Pennsylvania this past week campaigning and talking to these voters, saying, I was elected to fix this problem, and I am fixing it.
08:18Don't forget who created it, and that's the Democrats.
08:20And I think when you hear the President talk about affordability, he's saying the Democrats are the greatest con artists in history because they are now trying to claim ownership of an issue that they created.
08:31And every data point and every economic metric does, in fact, show that the economy is improving.
08:37And so I do wish more people would report on those facts.
08:40I do wish that more people would remind the American public how we got here and why.
08:45It does not mean this President is discarding the feelings of the American people.
08:48He gets it better than anyone, which is why his entire administration has been focused on the issue of the economy and energy prices since day one.
08:56If I may follow up, it's reported that around 10,000 commercial driver's license operators have been pulled by your transportation secretary department.
09:07Will the President apply that same metric?
09:10The reason was they don't, the operators weren't speaking or reading English to a level that was safely, people thought they would safely be able to operate trucks on our roadways.
09:20It's estimated in California around 40% of Uber drivers, Uber and Lyft drivers don't speak English proficiently and the numbers 45% in Minnesota.
09:30Will this same rule or metric apply to the gig economy like Uber and Lyft?
09:35So I don't have any announcements on further regulations, if you will, from the Department of Transportation with respect to this issue.
09:43However, I will just reiterate the Trump administration's position is that truck drivers, particularly those driving big rigs on our nation's road and highways,
09:53who have a great responsibility to keep the American public and their fellow citizens safe, should be speaking English and should have an ability to read English proficiently.
10:02I think that's a very common sense policy to have. And we've unfortunately seen in the Department of Transportation has uncovered and is actively working to fix these state sponsored commercial trucking driving life driver licenses,
10:15which we're going to people who are not qualified to be driving these massive trucks on American roads and they're endangering the lives of our fellow citizens.
10:23We've unfortunately seen many vehicle accidents across the country where people have lost their lives because of drivers that were just simply unqualified.
10:31to be driving these trucks. So I know this is something DOT and Secretary Duffy take very seriously.
10:36Peter.
10:37Thank you, Caroline. Based on the way that things stand right now, is Operation Southern Spear about drugs or is it about oil?
10:47What I will tell you, Peter, is that the Trump administration is focused on doing many things in the Western Hemisphere.
10:55The President has taken a new approach that has not been taken by any administration for quite some time to actually focus on what's going on in our own backyard.
11:04And there are two things that are very important to this administration. Number one, stopping the flow of illegal drugs into the United States of America, which we know has killed hundreds of thousands of Americans.
11:16The President promised on the campaign trail that he would demolish the foreign terrorist organizations and drug cartels around the world, especially right here in our own hemisphere.
11:26And you have seen that he is delivering on that promise with respect to the oil and what happened yesterday.
11:31The Department of Justice requested and was approved for a warrant to seize a vessel because it's a sanctioned shadow vessel known for carrying black market sanctioned oil to the IRGC, which you know is a sanctioned entity.
11:44So the President is committed to stopping the illegal flow of drugs into our country.
11:49He's also fully committed to effectuating this administration's sanction policy.
11:53And that's what you saw and the world saw take place yesterday.
11:56And because you said the President is trying to do a lot of things at once, he talks a lot about how he thinks the way to bring down prices for everything would be to bring down the cost of energy.
12:06Would he use this seized Venezuelan oil to try to help Americans with affordability here in the United States?
12:16Well, what I can tell you right now, the vessel has been seized, as you know, and the Department of Justice did that in conjunction with the Coast Guard and the Department of War.
12:26The vessel is currently undergoing a forfeiter process right now.
12:30The United States currently has a full investigative team on the ground on the vessel and individuals on board the vessel are being interviewed and any relevant evidence is being seized.
12:40With respect to the oil, that's a different issue.
12:43As you know, Peter, the vessel will go to a U.S. port and the United States does intend to seize the oil.
12:49However, there is a legal process for the seizure of that oil and that legal process will be followed.
12:54And just my last one on this.
12:55If President Trump launches a bigger military campaign in the Caribbean, is he jeopardizing a possible Nobel Peace Prize?
13:04Look, the President has proven over the past year that he is more than worthy of the Nobel Peace Prize.
13:10I think he's been nominated for it nearly 100 times this past year, which is definitely a record.
13:16He's solved, I think, nine conflicts around the world we are up to now.
13:21He's actively working on the Russia-Ukraine war, which is the big one as we speak, and has been over the past year.
13:28With respect to any additional action in Venezuela, I'm definitely not going to get ahead of the President or the United States military.
13:34Mary.
13:35It now seems all but certain that the Obamacare subsidies will expire at the end of the year.
13:40It means more than 20 million Americans are now bracing for their health care costs to soar.
13:45Is the President prepared to let this happen, or is he going to step in?
13:49The President is prepared to take action on health care, and he wants Republicans on the Hill to do the same.
13:54As you have seen, Senate Republicans put forth their own legislation earlier this week.
13:59As for the subsidies that are set to expire, I would like to remind you and everybody at home why this is on the brink of happening.
14:07Democrats wrote Obamacare. They passed it without a single Republican vote, and then they ballooned it with these expensive COVID subsidies that completely distorted the health insurance market.
14:19And then they doubled down, extending those subsidies and setting their own expiration date right now in 2025, which the administration is obviously well aware of.
14:28And we are working, the President is working with his health care policy team here at the White House, as well as Republicans on Capitol Hill, to find a solution.
14:36He said he's working to find a solution. He wants to see a solution to lower health care costs.
14:40He does.
14:41But these subsidies are expiring at the end of the year. So what is the plan, and what is he going to do to put this in place in the next two, three weeks?
14:49Ms. You'll hear more from the President and from the White House on that very soon. As for wanting a solution to lower health care costs, I'm glad you said it, because the President is doing just that.
14:59He has made unprecedented progress towards lowering health care costs in this country and drug prices. He's secured numerous Most Favored Nation drug price deals, with many more to come.
15:09As you know, the one big, beautiful bill, the working family tax cut, significantly expanded access to health savings accounts for those on Obamacare.
15:17Again, a Democrat-written program, an approved program, which has led to higher health care costs in this country.
15:24So it goes back to the issue of affordability. Democrats are now pretending they want a solution to this issue, but they created the problem.
15:32The President and Republicans are currently coming up with creative solutions and ideas to lower health care costs for the American people, and you'll continue to hear more from them on that.
15:41And they're going to do that before these subsidies expire?
15:43MS. I just said you're going to continue to hear more from the President and Republicans on this issue, I'm sure.
15:48Sure, Bloomberg, go ahead.
15:49Hi, thanks, Caroline. The President said he was going to be holding a call with the leaders of Thailand and Cambodia.
15:55Have those calls taken place? Is there a root-out you can share?
15:58MS. The President has not yet engaged in those calls, and when he does, I'm sure you'll hear from him directly, as you always do,
16:04after foreign leader calls or from somebody here at the White House.
16:07I do know, with respect to the conflict in the peace deal in Thailand and Cambodia and some of the conflicts you've seen arise,
16:14reports of that in the press over the past couple of days, the President addressed it in Pennsylvania.
16:19The administration is obviously tracking this at the highest levels and is very much engaged.
16:24I spoke with Secretary Ruby about it this morning.
16:26And will senior U.S. officials be meeting Saturday with European and Ukrainian officials to discuss the peace plan?
16:34MS. Look, we, the United States and the Trump administration,
16:38continues to be very much engaged in trying to bring the Russia-Ukraine war to an end.
16:43The President had a call with the Europeans yesterday.
16:46His Special Envoy Witkoff and his team continue to talk with both sides literally as we speak.
16:52If there is a real chance of signing a peace agreement, if we feel like those meetings are worthy of someone on the United States' time this weekend,
17:01then we will send a representative.
17:03It's still up in the air whether we believe real peace can be accomplished and we can truly move the ball forward.
17:08The President is extremely frustrated with both sides of this war, and he is sick of meetings just for the sake of meeting.
17:15He doesn't want any more talk. He wants action. He wants this war to come to an end.
17:19And the administration has spent more than 30 hours this, just in the past couple of weeks,
17:25meeting with the Russians and the Ukrainians and the Europeans and speaking with them as well.
17:29So, we'll see about the meetings this weekend and stay tuned.
17:33The Press is President Zelensky's latest proposal that was sent over yesterday.
17:37MS. He's aware of it, yes.
17:39Ed.
17:40Thanks, Caroline. So, the Fed Chairman, the President says that he's interviewing candidates.
17:44So, I just want to be clear. So, the pick has not been locked in, and could we get an announcement before Christmas?
17:50MS. I know every business outlet in the world is just chomping at the bit for a scoop or something on this Fed chair announcement.
17:58I'm not going to get ahead of the President. I know there's been a lot of reports about potential meetings this week with potential candidates.
18:05Look, as always, this is a decision the President himself is going to make.
18:09And I know there's a lot of reporting out there from anonymous sources who claim to know something.
18:14I would wait and see what the President himself does and announces.
18:17And I certainly won't be the one to get ahead of him on that.
18:20The Press on the economy. Can I see about a point?
18:21MS. Michael. Go ahead.
18:22The Press on the economy. Ms. Caroline, on the next Fed chair, does the President have an expectation that his pick will lower interest rates next year to his liking?
18:28MS. I think the President has been quite clear about what he believes the Fed should be doing, which is lowering interest rates.
18:34I know there was a quarter point reduction this past week, and the President was pleased to see that.
18:39But he thinks more should be done.
18:41Philip.
18:42The Press on these advanced NVIDIA H200 chips, why is the President willing to allow China to have access to one of America's chief technological advantages?
18:53MS. Look, I will tell you just a couple of things.
18:55The President put out his own statement on this, which I do think highlights his exact thinking.
19:00What you see from the President on True Social is most of the time what you hear from the President behind closed doors privately.
19:07He told President Xi that we will — NVIDIA will only be shipping H200 products to approved customers in China to allow — under conditions that will allow for continued, strong national security.
19:19The administration continues to maintain a strict export control regime, and we are ensuring that the Blackwell chip and other advanced technologies stay right here in America.
19:29And these H200 chips will only be sent to China after undergoing a security inspection here in the United States.
19:36Elizabeth.
19:37Thank you, Caroline.
19:38New York City, Mayor Alex Dora Mondani put out a video recently telling immigrants in New York City they have the right to stand up to ICE.
19:45Are you concerned this will inspire New York City residents to resist ICE operations?
19:50And what will the Trump administration do if this happens?
19:52The Trump administration is definitely concerned about the rise in violence and attacks and physical threats that we have seen against our brave men and women who wear the ICE uniform.
20:03Again, these are agents who are just simply doing their jobs.
20:07They are enforcing our nation's immigration laws.
20:09And we've seen more than a 1,000 percent increase in violent attacks on them and their families.
20:14They've been doxxed.
20:15They've been harassed.
20:16Many of them have been physically assaulted and attacked.
20:19So we condemn that wholeheartedly.
20:22I know the administration has done a lot to protect our ICE agents.
20:25And the President stands firmly behind them in conducting these enforcement operations.
20:30And there's a lot of talk from Democrat politicians in New York.
20:34But the Trump administration will continue to do our jobs in every state.
20:37And that's to remove illegal aliens and public safety threats from American communities.
20:42Secretary Leather.
20:43Secretary Leather.
20:44Secretary Leather.
20:45Sure.
20:47I'll go to the gentleman who's very eager and then to you.
20:50Thank you so much.
20:51Obviously, Jasmine Crockett, who the President has openly criticized, just entered Texas's Senate race.
20:54I asked Mike Johnson, who said that Texas largely supports the President.
20:59Crockett, on the other hand, says that Trump is an example of extremism.
21:03She says that the — she says that her support is a referendum on Trump.
21:08I'm curious to get your thoughts on this.
21:09Has Trump made any statements since she's been — since she's announced her candidacy?
21:14Not to my knowledge, as you know from the White House podium.
21:17As a government employee, I'm not privy to comment on future elections.
21:21But I do think the President has made his thoughts on Ms. Crockett quite clear.
21:25And I do believe he thinks she is wholly unqualified for the office that she is seeking.
21:30Joey.
21:31Yeah, thanks, Caroline.
21:32A federal judge today ordered the immediate release of Kilmar Abrego-Garcia from ICE detention.
21:37Does the White House have a response to that?
21:39And does the administration plan to appeal that decision?
21:43Absolutely.
21:44In the White House, the administration opposed this activism from a judge who is really acting
21:49as a judicial activist, which we've unfortunately seen in many cases across the country.
21:54Abrego-Garcia is present in our country illegally.
21:57He is a proven human trafficker.
22:00He is a proven gang member.
22:02The administration has evidence of that.
22:04And as you saw from the Department of Homeland Security, they issued a statement saying they'll
22:08continue to fight this legal battle in court.
22:10Caitlin.
22:11There are two questions.
22:12I have one on Venezuela to follow up.
22:13But first on affordability, since we were talking about the economy at the beginning.
22:17If the economy is as strong as the President has said it is, then why is he telling parents
22:22two weeks before Christmas that they should only buy two or three dolls for their children?
22:25Look, what the President is saying is that if we want products made right here in America,
22:30if we want them to be made from American small businesses, which is a large part of the reason
22:35the President has effectively implemented tariffs, then we're going to have better quality products right here in the United States.
22:42Maybe you'll pay a dollar or two more, but you will get better quality and you'll be supporting your fellow Americans by buying American.
22:49And that's what the President was saying.
22:50Again, with respect to affordability, every economic metric, Caitlin, and I wish you would report more on it,
22:56does in fact show that the economy is getting better and brighter than where it was under the previous administration.
23:02I will repeat, inflation as measured by the overall CPI has slowed to an average 2.5 percent pace.
23:09Real wages are increasing roughly $1,200 for the average worker.
23:13Gas prices are down in almost every single state across the country.
23:17Again, in 22 states, it's below $2.75.
23:21You look at the tax cuts, those are going to go into effect next year.
23:24So the best is yet to come.
23:26The President is digging our country out of the economic hole that the previous administration put us in,
23:31and that's what he's talking about.
23:32The Press is a year ago, as you know, and grocery prices have been up.
23:36So we've covered the economy, but there's mixed signals in terms of what that looks like.
23:40Inflation is down from where it was.
23:42As measured by the overall CPI, it has slowed to an average 2.5 percent pace.
23:46This is down from what the President inherited.
23:49The President inherited 2.9 percent in January.
23:52Today it's at about 2.5 percent.
23:54So we're trending in the right direction with more to come.
23:56And I would remind you, when President Trump left office in his first term,
23:59inflation was 1.7 percent.
24:02And the previous administration jacked it up to a record high 9 percent.
24:06So again, in 10 months, the President has clawed us out of this hole.
24:09He's kept it low at 2.5 percent.
24:11And we believe that number is going to continue to decline,
24:14especially as energy and oil prices continue to decline as well.
24:18It wasn't high under Biden.
24:20Well, nobody reported on it being high under Biden.
24:22My predecessor was standing at this podium.
24:25But now you want to ask me a lot of questions about it, which I'm happy to answer.
24:28But I will just add, there's a lot more scrutiny on this issue from this press corps than there was.
24:33Well, in the previous administration said that, too.
24:37My predecessor stood up at this podium and she said inflation doesn't exist.
24:41She said the border was secure and people like you just took her at her word.
24:44And now those were two utter lies.
24:46Everything I'm telling you is the truth backed by real factual data.
24:50And you just don't want to report on it because you want to push untrue narratives about the President.
24:54Go ahead.
24:56I'm not going to take your call.
24:58Go ahead.
24:59Is the White House optimistic about the upcoming redistricting vote in Indiana and what happens if it fails?
25:05We'll see how the vote plays out.
25:06That's a political matter and, frankly, a legal one.
25:08And I won't comment on it here.
25:10Brian.
25:12Thank you, Caroline.
25:13I'm going to go back to the Fed.
25:14I have two topics I want to address with you.
25:15The first one on the Fed.
25:16The President did say yesterday that he was meeting with Kevin Warsh.
25:19This is your favorite story in the world, Brian.
25:21It is.
25:22It is.
25:23It is our favorite story.
25:24The President said yesterday he was meeting with Kevin Warsh to talk about the Fed chair, an interview for a Fed chair role.
25:28Can you just say how that interview went with him?
25:31I won't comment on private meetings without the President's approval to do so.
25:34Okay.
25:35And the second thing is on the Netflix Warner Brothers deal.
25:39The President did address this also yesterday.
25:40He said that he believes that the sale of CNN should be attached to that deal with Netflix or with Paramount if anything happens down there with them.
25:50Can you just explain what the President is planning to do going forward to continue to make that case similar to what he made yesterday?
25:56Well, I think the President's comments yesterday about the sale of CNN and new leadership is evidenced by my exchange with the CNN reporter in this room.
26:03Their viewership has gone down.
26:05Their ratings has declined.
26:07And I think the President rightfully believes that network would benefit from new ownership.
26:12With respect to this deal, he has great respect for both companies who are bidding against one another.
26:17And I won't weigh in any further than that.
26:20In the back.
26:21Go ahead.
26:23I have two questions.
26:24I wasn't calling on either of you, but I'll take both your questions and then to you.
26:27Go ahead.
26:28Thank you very much.
26:29I have two questions.
26:30One is South Korea and one on Japan.
26:31First question.
26:32The recent U.S. and South Korea trade fact sheet made no mention of agricultural products.
26:41Does the United States want to completely open its rice and beef market to South Korea?
26:51Second question on Japan.
26:52China is using its military power to surround Okinawa, Japan.
26:57Is the United States concerned about the military conflict between China and Japan?
27:05And what action will the United States take in?
27:10Okay.
27:11To your first question on South Korean beef export to South Korea, I will check with our trade team,
27:17and we will get you an answer on that.
27:19To your second question with respect to Japan and China, the President has a phenomenal relationship
27:25with the new Prime Minister of Japan, as you know.
27:28He was pleased to meet her when we went to Asia a couple of months ago, and they have spoken a few times since.
27:35They continue to be engaged with one another, and Japan is a great ally of the United States,
27:40as evidenced by their personal relationship in our continued trade relations with Japan.
27:46With respect to China, the President also has a good working relationship with President Xi,
27:51which he believes is a good thing for our country, and he believes that the United States should be in a position
27:56to have a good working relationship with China while maintaining our very strong alliance with Japan.
28:01Go ahead.
28:02Yesterday, President Trump, while speaking about drug production in Colombia,
28:06he said that the President of Colombia better wise up or he's going to be next.
28:11What was he meaning exactly?
28:14And the other thing is that President Gustavo Federal of Colombia responded to that statement
28:19by issuing a formal invitation to President Trump to go to Colombia
28:23and to see firsthand how the authorities in Colombia are fighting against drugs.
28:28Do you think that President Trump would consider that?
28:30Well, that's very interesting. I hadn't heard the news about that invitation.
28:33I will let the President speak directly to it on whether or not that's something he would entertain.
28:39But as for his comments yesterday towards President Petro,
28:42he has been saying some very alarming and, frankly, insulting things towards the United States of America,
28:47and the President doesn't like it. Yes, in the blue.
28:50Carolyn? Yes, go ahead.
28:52Thank you. The President has been spotted out and about a number of times with bandages on his hands.
28:57Could you please explain what that is about? Secondly, he noted on True Social the other day that he had aced three cognitive tests.
29:04Could you please clarify when those tests took place?
29:07I can do that at a later date. I obviously don't have that in front of me.
29:10The President has spoken about that quite extensively throughout the years.
29:14As for the bandages on the hand, we've also given you an explanation for that in the past.
29:18The President is literally constantly shaking hands. The Oval Office is like Grand Central Terminal.
29:24He is meeting with more people than any of you even know about on a daily basis.
29:28He's also on a daily aspirin regimen, which is something his physical examinations has said in the past as well,
29:34which can contribute to that bruising that you see.
29:37Thank you, Caroline. Back to that oil tanker.
29:41Just wanted to know, was this a one-off or is it safe to say the administration is taking a more active look at the oil industry in Venezuela,
29:50whether targeting other oil ships or perhaps Venezuelan oil production facilities in Venezuela?
29:57Well, I won't broadcast any future actions from the administration,
30:01but I will just reiterate that the Trump administration is executing on the President's sanction policies
30:07and the sanctioned policies of the United States.
30:09And we're not going to stand by and watch sanctioned vessels sail the seas with black market oil,
30:15the proceeds of which will fuel narco-terrorism of rogue and illegitimate regimes around the world.
30:20Andrew.
30:21The Press.
30:22Thank you, Caroline. Two for you.
30:24First, when the President announced the Farm Relief Program the other day,
30:30Secretary Rollins afterwards, right out there, told us that the program would be paid for.
30:36by the Commodity Credit Corporation, an existing program.
30:40The President keeps saying that it's being paid for by tariff revenue.
30:44Why does he keep saying that if the Secretary who's running the program says that's not the case?
30:49And also about his doll comments from the other night.
30:53The President's a billionaire.
30:55He's probably the wealthiest person to ever serve as President.
30:58Is it a good look for him to be telling parents,
31:02oh, you can, you should only buy, you know, two or three dollars for your kids
31:07when he's one of the wealthiest people in the country running the government?
31:10Do you think the people in that room in Pennsylvania who the President was speaking to
31:13don't know the President's a billionaire?
31:15I think that's a very well-established fact.
31:17And actually, I think it's one of the many reasons they reelected him back to this office,
31:21because he's a businessman who understands the economy and knows how to fix it.
31:26And he's doing it right now just like he did in his first term.
31:30Sure, go ahead. To the gentleman behind you, Andrew. Yes, go ahead.
31:35Go ahead.
31:36Thank you, Caroline. On Gaza, we heard the President say yesterday
31:40that the Board of Peace members are going to be announced early next year.
31:44What is the administration doing to move the parties in the region closer
31:49toward phase two of his peace plan for Gaza?
31:52Sure. Well, first of all, I would be remiss if I didn't highlight
31:55what a success it is that 10 months into the President's administration,
31:59you're asking me about a peace plan in Gaza,
32:02because that's a legitimate reality on the ground right now in the region.
32:06And it's only because of this President's leadership that that was able to take place,
32:10that all the living hostages were returned,
32:12all but one body of the deceased hostages has been returned.
32:16And we're still, of course, working on the last one.
32:18As for this next phase of the peace process,
32:20there is a lot of quiet planning that's going on behind the scenes right now
32:24for phase two of the peace deal.
32:26And when the United States is ready to make those announcements public on the Board of Peace,
32:30the ISF, and the Palestinian technocratic government,
32:34we will be making those announcements at the appropriate time.
32:37But the reason that, you know, the negotiators and the teams on the ground
32:41have been rather quiet about this is because I spoke with them this morning.
32:45They are trying to be deliberate and thoughtful about this.
32:48Peace in Gaza, in the Palestinian Strip is something — the Gaza Strip, rather —
32:54is something that people have been trying to accomplish for 70 years.
32:58So, you know, this is a complex problem,
33:00and this administration wants to be very thoughtful about it,
33:03and we want to ensure an enduring and lasting peace.
33:06And when those announcements are ready, they will be made.
33:08I mean, maybe the leaders too, Jedi.
33:10Hey, hey, that's great.
33:12Sure.
33:13The Press there were reports that Vladimir Putin called Maduro today
33:16to reform — free from his support.
33:17I wanted to ask if it was concerning to the president
33:19that Putin has given such a warm embrace of Maduro.
33:22wojewel venus.
33:23I don't think that would be concerning
33:25to the president at all, no.
33:26I'll let him speak off on it for a—
33:27The Press there was law chiefs.
33:28Have you spoken to Putin about that?
33:29I mean, he has not spoken to President Putin today,
33:31and I understand that call took place this morning.
33:33So, the answer is no.
33:35I have a question about the ACA, but just first, very quickly, clarifying Caitlin's question.
33:41You acknowledged that CPI in January when you took office was 3%, and in September, the last month for which we have data, it was also 3%, so inflation.
33:50No, it's 2.5%.
33:51Not in September, it was 3%.
33:53It's 2.5%. The average CPI right now, I have it in front of me, in President Trump's first eight months in office,
33:59inflation as measured by the overall consumer price index has slowed to a 2.5 average pace.
34:04This is down from the 2.9% inherited in January.
34:08The Press. January is one month, so you're about it.
34:10The Press. Okay, can I ask you about the ACA really quickly?
34:13There are a number of plans that are floating around on the Hill right now having to do with these premium subsidies that are about to expire.
34:20Which plan does the White House support?
34:22Again, I have told you now a few times that the President and Republicans will continue to unveil creative ideas and solutions to the healthcare crisis that was created by Democrats.
34:34And I know Chuck Schumer is putting up a vote today.
34:36This is a political show vote.
34:38Chuck Schumer is not sincerely interested in lowering healthcare costs for the American people.
34:44He's putting this vote on the floor knowing that it will fail so he can have another talking point that he can throw around without any real plan or action.
34:51If Chuck Schumer actually wanted to lower healthcare costs, I'm sure the President would welcome him and his entire Democrat caucus to a legitimate coordination on the President's policies of bringing down drug prices, these most favored nation deals.
35:08Why hasn't Chuck Schumer ever come out in support of those?
35:10Those are going to legitimately, they already are, lower drug prices for the American people and not a word from Chuck Schumer on it.
35:17So I think that just proves this is completely political.
35:19I think the President considers the seizure of the oil tanker as effectuating the administration's sanction policies, which I've already discussed previously.
35:40The Press on potential invasion or potential land strikes in Venezuela aligned with the President's supporters, the MAGA base.
35:49Does it risk the potential for a prolonged war and U.S. troops involved in that?
35:54Prolonged war is definitely not something this President is interested in.
35:58He's been very clear about that.
36:00He wants peace.
36:01He also wants to see the end of illegal drugs being trafficked into the United States and taking the lives of hundreds of thousands of Americans across our country.
36:10And he's thinking about that every day here at the White House.
36:13With every drug vote that is taken out by this administration, we are saving thousands of lives by deterring those drugs and stopping those drugs from flowing into our country.
36:23You will all see the President tonight.
36:30He'll be making remarks at the Congressional Christmas Ball, which will be taking place here at the White House.
36:35And later this afternoon, he will be signing some congressional bills and executive orders that we, as always, will keep you apprised of.
36:42Thanks, guys.
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