00:00The National Governors Association is removing a meeting with President Trump from his agenda
00:05because only Republicans were invited. Is the White House reconsidering inviting Democrats or
00:10do you think Republicans are still going to show up? Like where does that stand now?
00:14No, look, I just spoke with the President about this. It is a dinner at the White House. It's the
00:19people's house. It's also the President's home. And so he can invite whomever he wants to dinners
00:24and events here at the White House. I believe Governor Moore was invited last year and he
00:29did not show up to the dinner last year. Nobody reported on it. But again, the President
00:34has the discretion to invite whomever he wants to the White House and he welcomes all those
00:37who received an invitation to come. And if they don't want to, that's their loss.
00:41And on Ghislaine Maxwell, is the President going to rule out a pardon for her? In her testimony
00:49deposition yesterday, her legal team seems to be making a case again for a pardon from the President.
00:55Again, this is not something I've discussed with the President recently because frankly,
00:58it's not a priority. He's focused on many of the issues that the American people are dealing
01:03with and providing solutions to those issues. So I haven't spoken with him recently. Last
01:08time we did speak about it, he said it's not something he's considering or thinking about.
01:12Go ahead. Bloomberg.
01:13Thanks, Caroline. Secretary Lutnick today was testifying on the Hill and he said that he
01:19had visited Epstein's Island in 2012 with his wife and children. And that's after he said that he had cut ties with Epstein.
01:26And the Justice Department documents show that he was in contact with Epstein
01:31through 2018 over messages. So does the White House stand behind Secretary Lutnick right now?
01:37Or given what he has said today, has there been any shift in how the White House is viewing
01:43Secretary Lutnick's performance?
01:44No. Secretary Lutnick remains a very important member of President Trump's team.
01:48And the President fully supports the Secretary. I will just point out that there are a lot of wins in
01:54the news this week that people in this room have not asked about because you continue to ask questions
01:58about the same subject. So let me point them out for you. Again, on Friday, the Dow shattered 50,000
02:02for the first time ever. This week, the American Society of Plastic Surgeons came out in opposition
02:08to gender mutilation surgeries for children. They are the first major medical group to do so.
02:13A federal appeals court today, nobody asked about that, just upheld the Trump administration's policy
02:18of detaining illegal aliens, validating the strong measures that have driven illegal crossings to
02:23historic lows, and sent a crystal clear message that under President Trump, if you enter the country
02:29illegally, you will be detained and removed. The murder rate, again, not a single question about
02:34this, has plunged to a 125-year low as crime falls across the board, thanks to President Trump's
02:41crime crackdown. We also saw this week national median rents have fallen to a four-year low,
02:46following six consecutive monthly declines, and mortgage affordability has surged to a four-year
02:52high. Home ownership is the core foundation principle of the American Dream, and I will
02:58repeat that mortgage affordability this week surged to a four-year high, but not a single of mention
03:03of that in this briefing room today. And again, this came out last Friday, but for an unprecedented
03:08ninth straight month, there were zero illegal border crossings at the southern border. So we're going to
03:13get back to business. The president is very busy today, and you will see him all tomorrow at the
03:17event in the East Room touting his administration's energy policy.
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