00:00Hey, good afternoon everyone. Could you hear our amen in there? We just said a
00:06little loud prayer as a team. In this Holy Week, President Trump and the First
00:10Lady are joining in prayer with Christians celebrating the resurrection
00:14of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. On Wednesday, the president will host an
00:18Easter lunch in the East Room with faith leaders across the country to celebrate
00:23Holy Week. With respect to the ongoing major combat operations in Iran, Operation
00:29Epic Fury is moving ahead successfully and according to plan. With each passing
00:34day, the United States military is increasing its advantage over the
00:37terrorist Iranian regime. More than 11,000 enemy targets have been struck to date,
00:44each strike further crippling the regime's offensive and defensive capabilities and
00:49creating more leverage for the United States and our allies. Compared to the
00:53start of the operation, Iran's ballistic missile and drone attacks are down by
00:58roughly 90%. The United States is also decimating the Iranian regime's Navy. We
01:04have destroyed more than 150 of their naval vessels so far, including 92% of their
01:11largest vessels. The Iranian Navy has no vessels operating in major regional water
01:16rays and no ability to project naval power, which is why they've been assessed as
01:21combat ineffective. Our military continues to obliterate Iran's defense industrial base,
01:28with nearly 70% of their missile, drone, and naval production facilities and shipyards
01:34damaged or destroyed thus far, significantly reducing their ability to pose future threats
01:40in the region. U.S. and Israeli joint forces control the skies and have asserted air dominance
01:46over Iran, completing more than 11,000 successful combat flights thus far.
01:52The trend remains clear. The United States is conducting more intense, targeted strikes with
01:58devastating combat power with each passing day to destroy the threat posed by the Iranian terrorist
02:04regime, as President Trump sought out to do a month ago. It's no surprise that we are seeing the
02:10remaining elements of the regime become increasingly eager to end the destruction and come to the negotiating
02:16table while they still can. Despite all of the public posturing you hear from the regime and false
02:22reporting, talks are continuing and going well. What is said publicly is, of course, much different than
02:28what's being communicated to us privately. As a result, President Trump issued a 10-day pause to postpone
02:35planned strikes on Iranian power plants and energy infrastructure. This remains a truly once-in-a-generation
02:41opportunity for the regime to make a good deal with the United States, permanently abandon their nuclear
02:47ambitions, and stop acting as the world's leading state sponsor of terrorism. If the Iranians reject
02:53this golden opportunity, the greatest military in the history of the world continues to stand by to provide
02:59President Trump with every option available to ensure this regime continues to pay a grave price.
03:06One way or another, Iran will no longer have the credible ability to threaten the United States
03:12or our allies, which is, of course, the overall objective admission the President
03:16set out when he launched Operation Epic Fury. Unfortunately, even as President Trump is working
03:23hard every single day to protect the United States from foreign enemies, Democrats on Capitol Hill have
03:28failed to do the same here at home by keeping the Department of Homeland Security unfunded.
03:34Over the past six weeks, Democrats in Congress have pushed our air travel system to its breaking
03:39point and inflicted massive pain on Americans with their reckless political games. 500 TSA officers
03:45quit their jobs. Thousands more were calling out sick at record rates due to the lack of pay.
03:51This resulted in security wait times exceeding three hours at major airports across the country,
03:57creating nightmares for millions of Americans. Overall morale among TSA staff plummeted as well.
04:03All of this creating an unacceptable heightened security risk. Because of the Democrats unwillingness
04:09to do their basic job of funding DHS, President Trump determined that these circumstances constituted
04:14an emergency compromising American security. That's why last week he accordingly signed a presidential
04:21memorandum directing the Secretary of Homeland Security to work with the Director of the Office of Management
04:27and Budget here at the White House to use those funds with a reasonable and logical nexus to TSA operations,
04:34to provide TSA employees with the compensation and benefits that would have accrued to them,
04:40but for the Democrat-led DHS shutdown. This bold and necessary action by President Trump will ensure
04:47our TSA workers receive their hard-earned paychecks. It should not have come to this point,
04:52but President Trump will always do what's right by the American people, and he found a way to do that
04:57to get TSA paid. Ensuring that these federal workers who perform critical public safety responsibilities
05:03can feed their families, pay their rent, and show up to work is something the President was honored to do.
05:08But this moment should be an eye-opening one for the American people. Let's be clear about what is
05:14happening. Democrat members of Congress are more than happy to put your safety at risk because they oppose
05:20the President's administration and his administration's efforts to enforce our nation's immigration law.
05:26Democrats refuse to fund ICE because they want millions and millions of illegal aliens to pour
05:31into the country just like they were under the Biden administration. They want murderers and rapists
05:36and thugs to remain in your communities rather than be removed by ICE and Border Patrol agents.
05:42The Democrats created this mess. They are the reason for long lines at airports and tens of thousands of
05:48employees going without pay. Once again, President Trump is cleaning up their mess because he cares
05:53more about the American people than destructive, petty, partisan politics. With that, I will take your
05:59questions today. Here in our new media seat, we have Wid Lyman. Thank you for being here, and why don't
06:03you
06:03kick us off? Thank you. Happy Easter. Thank you. You as well. Two questions for you. Thank you. There are
06:08some
06:08concerns the administration is starting to change its position on deportations, border enforcement,
06:13possibly asylum policies. What would you say to Americans that are somewhat concerned that the
06:18shift has happened? Sure. Well, while there has, of course, been a change in leadership at the
06:23Department of Homeland Security with former Senator, now Secretary Mullen, joining the President's
06:28Cabinet, I can assure the American people there has not been a change in policy. It has always been the
06:33policy of this President and this administration to deport the worst of the worst illegal alien criminals from
06:39our communities. That's something I know Secretary Mullen remains wholeheartedly committed to doing.
06:44And it's something that is overwhelmingly popular with the American people. And it's something that
06:48is necessary to protect our homeland and to prevent deaths of Americans in our country. Just last week,
06:55Sheridan Gorman, a young woman in Chicago, was shot and killed on the street walking with her friends
07:00outside of her university by a legal alien from Venezuela who had no right to be here in the first
07:06place.
07:07And it's despicable that Democrats are currently defunding the department that's responsible for
07:12removing illegal aliens like that. And I would also add it's despicable that the lack of coverage of
07:18this young woman's case of her life and the way that it was tragically cut short. I saw a survey
07:24over
07:24the weekend that I'd like to bring to all of your attention. This is the media coverage of the case
07:28of
07:29Sheridan Gorman. You have ABC News has spent one minute and 19 seconds between two days when this
07:36case was first alerted. You have CBS, two minutes and one second. You have NBC, 23 seconds spent on the
07:44life of a young, beautiful American woman whose life was taken short by an illegal alien who should
07:50have never been here in the first place. When we are in the middle of a battle on Capitol Hill
07:54with a
07:55major political party, the Democrat Party, who wants to defund the agency that is responsible for
07:59protecting Americans. I think her life was worth more than 23 seconds on cable television. And I
08:05think the people in this room have a responsibility to report on cases like this because it just
08:10exemplifies why the president believes so strongly in deporting illegal aliens from our communities.
08:14And thank you for the question. Dasha, go ahead.
08:17Carolyn, I have two questions, one on Iran and one on DHS funding. On Iran,
08:22the president has said that the administration is talking to a new and more reasonable regime.
08:28How confident are you that they are legitimate and have enough grip on power? Marco Rubio said
08:34earlier that he's not sure and it's not clear whether they will be in power. So are you also talking
08:39to
08:40other factions? As the president is trying to make a deal, how do you ensure that you're making a deal
08:44with the people who can accidentally implement it? Well, that's part of the ongoing process that's
08:48taking place and the ongoing negotiations. Of course, anything that they say to us privately
08:52will be tested and we will ensure that they are being held accountable to their word. And if they
08:57are not, the president has laid out the military consequences that the Iranian regime will see
09:02if they don't hold true to the words that we are hearing privately behind the scenes.
09:06When the president says more reasonable, again, these folks are appearing more reasonable
09:11behind the scenes privately in these conversations than perhaps some of the previous leaders who
09:15are now no longer on planet Earth because they lied to the United States and they strung us along in
09:22negotiations. And that was unacceptable to the president, which is why many of the previous
09:26leaders were killed. So again, this is another historic opportunity for Iran to do the right thing,
09:31to rid themselves of their nuclear ambitions and to come to a deal with this president and the
09:37administration. Or again, they will see the grave consequences of the United States Armed Forces,
09:42which they are continuing to see every day throughout this operation.
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