Karoline Leavitt gave her first press conference from the White House and issued a transcript. Well done! We no longer have to wade through random video clips of press conferences and listen to the fake news spin what they say. We can read it for ourselves!
Here’s a 16 minute excerpt that I edited of her first press conference. They covered LOTS of ground so this is worth your time. I’ve also included links to posts I’ve written in the past to explain some of the topics if you want more information.
MS. LEAVITT: President Trump is back, and the Golden Age of America has most definitely begun.
The Senate has already confirmed 5 of President Trump’s exceptional Cabinet nominees: Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, CIA Director John Ratcliffe, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent.
Since taking the oath of office, President Trump has taken more than 300 executive actions; secured nearly $1 trillion in U.S. investments; deported illegal alien rapists, gang members, and suspected terrorists from our homeland; and restored common sense to the federal government.
On day one, President Trump declared a national emergency at our southern border to end the four-year-long invasion of illegal aliens under the previous administration. Additionally, President Trump signed an executive order to end catch and release and finish construction of his effective border wall. America will no longer tolerate illegal immigration. To foreign nationals who are thinking about trying to illegally enter the United States, think again. Under this president, you will be detained, and you will be deported.
Every day, Americans are safer because of the violent criminals that President Trump’s administration is removing from our communities.
On the economic front, President Trump ordered the heads of all executive departments and agencies to help deliver emergency price relief [end inflation] for the American people, untangle our economy from Biden’s regulatory constraints, and end the reckless war on American energy.
He directed all federal agencies to terminate illegal diversity, equity, and inclusion programs to help return America to a merit-based society.
President Trump also signed an executive order declaring it is now the policy of the federal government that there are only two sexes: male and female. Sanity has been restored.
The Trump White House will now speak to all media outlets and personalities, not just the legacy media who are seated in this room, because according to recent polling from Gallup, Americans’ trust in mass media has fallen to a record low. Millions of Americans, especially young people, have turned from traditional television outlets and newspapers to consume their news from podcasts, blogs, social media, and other independent outlets. [Like Tierney’s Real News!]
We welcome independent journalists, podcasters, social media influencers, and content creators to apply for credentials to cover this White House. And you can apply now on our new website, WhiteHouse.gov/NewMedia. [You too can apply if you want!]
I have news directly from the President of the United States that was just shared with me in the Oval Office — an update on the New Jersey drones: After research and study, the drones that were flying over New Jersey in large numbers were authorized to be flown by the FAA for research and various other reasons.
Many of these drones were also hobbyists — recreational and private individuals that enjoy flying drones. In time, it got worse, due to curiosity. This was not the enemy. [In other words, the Biden administration just wanted to scare you into believing that, as I said.]
QUESTION: Thank you very much. Karoline, does the president see anything fishy about DeepSeek AI, either its origins or its cost? And could China’s ability to make these models quicker, cheaper affect our thinking about expanding generation data centers, chip manufacturing?
MS. LEAVITT: Sure. The president was asked about DeepSeek last night on Air Force The president said that he believes that this is a wake-up call to the American AI industry. The last administration sat on their hands and allowed China to rapidly develop this AI program. President Trump believes in restoring American AI dominance, and that’s why he took very strong executive action this past week to sign executive orders to roll back some of the onerous regulations on the AI industry. And President Trump has also proudly appointed the first AI and crypto czar at this White House, David Sacks. The president is confident that we will restore American dominance in AI.
BTW - I commit to telling the truth from this podium every single day. I commit to speaking on behalf of the president of the United States. That is my job. We know for a fact there have been lies that have been pushed by many legacy media outlets in this country about this president, about his family, and we will not accept that. We will call you out when we feel that your reporting is wrong or there is misinformation about this White House. I will hold myself to the truth, and I expect everyone in this room to do the same.
QUESTION: The White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB) directed an across-the-board freeze on federal grants. It’s caused a lot of confusion and uncertainty around the country.
MS. LEAVITT: Well, I think there’s only uncertainty in this room amongst the media. There’s no uncertainty in this building.
So, let me provide the certainty and the clarity that all of you need. This is not a blanket pause on federal assistance in grant programs from the Trump administration. Individual assistance, that includes Social Security benefits, Medicare benefits, food stamps, welfare benefits — assistance that is going directly to individuals will not be impacted by this pause.
And I want to make that very clear to any Americans who are watching at home who may be a little bit confused about some of the media reporting: This administration — if you are receiving individual assistance from the federal government, you will still continue to receive that.
So, what does this pause mean? It means no more funding for illegal DEI programs. It means no more funding for the Green New Scam that has cost American taxpayers tens of billions of dollars. It means no more funding for transgenderism and wokeness across our federal bureaucracy and agencies. No more funding for Green New Deal social engineering policies. Again, people who are receiving individual asintan- — assistance, you will continue to receive that.
There’s also a freeze on hiring, as you know; a regulatory freeze; and there’s also a freeze on foreign aid. DOGE and OMB have actually found that there was $37 million that was about to go out the door to the World Health Organization. DOGE and OMB also found that there was about to be 50 million taxpayer dollars that went out the door to fund condoms in Gaza. That is a preposterous waste of taxpayer money.
“The American people elected President Trump to be the president of the United States and gave him a mandate to increase the impact of every federal dollar. This memo requires federal agencies to identify and review all Federal financial assistance programs and supporting activities consistent with the president’s policies and requirements.”
QUESTION: Two questions on deportations, if I may. President Trump had said on the campaign trail that he would deport pro-Hamas students who are here on visas.
MS. LEAVITT: The president is open to deporting individuals who have broken our nation’s immigrations laws. So, if they are here illegally, then certainly he is open to deporting them. And if you are an individual, a foreign national, who illegally enters the United States of America, you are, by definition, a criminal AND you are subject deportation. We want to deport illegal criminals, illegal immigrants from this country. But the president has said that criminal drug dealers, the rapists, the murderers, the individuals who have committed heinous acts on the interior of our country and who have terrorized law-abiding American citizens, absolutely, those should be the priority of ICE. But that doesn’t mean that the other illegal criminals who entered our nation’s borders are off the table. If they broke our nation’s laws, yes, they are a criminal.
QUESTION: On stripping security details for figures like John Bolton, Pompeo, Brian Hook. Senator Tom Cotton said that he’s seen the intelligence and the threat from Iran is real for anyone who played a role in the Soleimani strike. Is the president open to reconsidering his decision?
MS. LEAVITT: The president was asked and answered this yesterday, and he was firm in his decision, despite some of the comments that you had referenced. And he’s made it very clear that he does not believe American taxpayers should fund security details for individuals who have served in the government for the rest of their lives. And there’s nothing stopping these individuals that you mentioned from obtaining private security.
QUESTION: Does the president intend to permanently cut off funding to NGOs that are bringing illegal foreign nationals to the country, such as Catholic Charities [and LIRS]?
MS. LEAVITT: I am actually quite certain that the president signed an executive order that did just that, and I can point you to that.
QUESTION: President Trump issued an executive order on increased vetting for refugees in visa applications. Part of that order was considering an outright ban for countries that have deficient screening processes. Has the president considered yet which countries might fall into this category? Are countries like Afghanistan or Syria under consideration for a full ban?
MS. LEAVITT: Yeah. So, the president signed an executive order to streamline the vetting for visa applicants and for illegal immigrants in this country who are coming, of course, from other nations.
QUESTION: Karoline, two questions for you. One on the freeze in federal funding. Who advised the president on the legality of telling government agencies that they don’t have to spend money that was already appropriated by Congress?
MS. LEAVITT: Well, as the OMB memo states, this is certainly within the confines of the law. So, White House Counsel’s Office believes that this is within the president’s power to do it, and therefore, he’s doing it.
QUESTION: The administration fired several inspectors general without giving Congress the 30-day legally required notification that they were being fired. And then, yesterday, we saw several prosecutors — I believe 12 — fired from the Justice Department who worked on the investigations into the president. As you know, they are career prosecutors; therefore, they are afforded civil service protections.
MS. LEAVITT: So, it is the belief of this White House and the White House Counsel’s Office that the president was within his executive authority to do that. He is the executive of the executive branch, and, therefore, he has the power to fire anyone within the executive branch that he wishes to.
There’s also a case that went before the Supreme Court in 2020: Seila Law LLC, v. the Customs — the [Consumer Financial Protection] Bureau. I would advise you to look at that case, and that’s the legality that this White House has rested on. [If they bring lawsuits against us] we will win in court.
QUESTION: So, you’re confident that if they bring lawsuits against you — those prosecutors who were fired…
QUESTION: President Trump ended funding for UNRWA and also designated the Houthis a foreign terrorist organization. Both were decisions that the previous administration had reversed. So, here’s my question: Will there be an investigation into who gave the previous administration this terrible advice?
MS. LEAVITT: As for an investigation, I’m not sure about that, but it’s not a bad idea.
QUESTION: Can you give us an update on the president’s plan for his tariff agenda? He’s alluded to both the potential for tariffs for Canada and Mexico but also China to take effect on February 1.
MS. LEAVITT: Yeah. The February 1st date for Canada and Mexico tariffs still holds.
QUESTION: And what about the China 10 percent tariff that he also had mused about last Tuesday going into effect on the same date?
MS. LEAVITT: Yeah, the president has said that he is very much still considering that for February 1st. All I can point you to is what the president has said on this front: the February 1st date for Canada and Mexico and also the China tariff that he has discussed. He rejected the 2.5 percent universal tariff. He said that was a little bit too low. He wants it to be higher.
The president has made it very clear, again, that he expects every nation around this world to cooperate with the repatriation of their citizens. And the president has also put out specific statements in terms of Canada and Mexico when it comes to what he expects in terms of border security.
QUESTION: The president has promised to extend the tax cuts from the previous term. And will the new Treasury secretary be leading those negotiations with the Hill, as Mnuchin did during the first administration?
MS. LEAVITT: The president is committed to both tax cuts and spending cuts. And he has a great team negotiating on his behalf, but there’s no better negotiator than Donald Trump, and I’m sure he’ll be involved in this reconciliation process as it moves forward.
QUESTION: Karoline, the president has directed that the United States will build this Iron Dome.
MS. LEAVITT: Yes, the executive order directed the implementation of an Iron Dome.
QUESTION: Can you clarify for a sec what you were saying before on Medicaid? It wasn’t clear to me whether you were saying that no Medicaid would be cut off. Obviously, a lot of this goes to states before it goes to individuals and so forth. So, are you guaranteeing here that no individual now on Medicaid would see a cutoff because of the pause?
MS. LEAVITT: I’ll get back to you.
QUESTION: Thanks a lot, Karoline. As you know, in the first week that the president was in office, signed an executive order as it relates to birthright citizenship — trying to eliminate that. Now, 22 state attorney generals have said that this is unconstitutional. A federal judge has just agreed with their argument. What’s the administration’s argument for doing away with birthright citizenship?
MS. LEAVITT: The folks that you mentioned have a right to have that legal opinion, but it is in disagreement with the legal opinion of this administration.
This administration believes that birthright citizenship is unconstitutional, and that is why President Trump signed that executive order. Illegal immigrants who come to this country and have a child are not subject to the laws of this jurisdiction. That’s the opinion of this administration. We are prepared to fight this all the way to the Supreme Court if we have to.
QUESTION: The president’s commitment to the NATO defense Alliance, is it as strong as the prior administration? Is it the same as when he served as president in his first term in office?
MS. LEAVITT: As long as NATO pays their fair share. And President Trump has called on NATO Allies to increase their defense spending to 5 percent. You actually saw the head of NATO at Davos last week on Bloomberg Television saying that President Trump is right and if Europe wants to keep itself safe, they should increase their defense spending.
QUESTION: President Trump just got back from North Carolina and California meeting with victims of natural disasters. There’s the two-year anniversary of the East Palestine, Ohio, toxic train derailment. Does the president have any plans to go visit the victims of that toxic spill or just visit in general?
MS. LEAVITT: What I can tell you is that President Trump still talks about his visit to East Palestine, Ohio. That was one of the turning points, I would say, in the previous election campaign, where Americans were reminded that President Trump is a man of the people. And he, as a candidate, visited that town that was just derailed by the train derailment — no pun intended — and he offered support and hope, just like I saw the president do this past week.
It was a purposeful decision by this president, on his first domestic trip, to go to North Carolina and to California to visit with Americans who were impacted by Hurricane Helene and also by the deadly fires — a red state and a blue state, both of which feel forgotten by the previous administration and the federal government. That has now — that has now ended under President Trump. He will continue to put Americans first, whether they’re in East Palestine, in Pacific Palisades, or in North Carolina.
QUESTION: On California, could you please clarify what the military did with the water last night, as referenced in the president’s Truth Social post?
MS. LEAVITT: The water has been turned back on in California, and this comes just days after President Trump visited Pacific Palisades and, as you all saw, applied tremendous pressure on state and local officials in Pacific Palisades, including Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass, to turn on the water and to direct that water to places in the south and in the middle of the state that have been incredibly dry, which has led to the rapid expansion of these fires.
QUESTION: So, could you clarify what the military’s role was, where the water came from, and how it got there?
MS. LEAVITT: Again, the Army Corps of Engineers has been on the ground in California to respond to the devastation from these wildfires. And I would point out that just days after President Trump visited the devastation from these fires, the water was turned on. That is because of the pressure campaign he put on state and local officials there, who clearly lack all common sense.
And I will never forget being at that round table with the president last week and hearing the frustration in the voices of Pacific Palisades residents who feel as though their government has just gone insane. Before President Trump showed up on the scene, Karen Bass was telling private property owners that they would have to wait 18 months to access their private property.
So, this administration, the president and his team that’s on the ground in California — Ric Grenell, who he has designated to oversee this great crisis — will continue to put pressure on Karen Bass and state and local officials to allow residents to access their properties. This is a huge part of it. These residents want to take part in their own clearing out of their properties. They should be able to do that. It’s the United States of America. What happened to our freedom? Clearly, it’s gone in California, but not anymore under President Trump.
QUESTION: When it comes to immigration, there is this southern border focus. What happens to those who have overstayed their visas? That is part of the broken immigration system. In 2023, there was a report by the Biden administration, the Homeland Security Department, that said overstays of visas were three times more than usual. Will there be a focus on the overstays for visas as well?
MS. LEAVITT: If an individual is overstaying their visa, they are therefore an illegal immigrant residing in this country, and they are subject to deportation.
QUESTION: You mentioned the inflation executive order the president signed, but egg prices have skyrocketed since President Trump took office. So, what specifically is he doing to lower those costs for Americans?
MS. LEAVITT: Really glad you brought this up, because there is a lot of reporting out there that is putting the onus on this White House for the increased cost of eggs. I would like to point out to each and every one of you that, in 2024, when Joe Biden was in the Oval Office — or upstairs in the residence sleeping; I’m not so sure — egg prices increased 65 percent in this country. We also have seen the cost of everything, not just eggs — bacon, groceries, gasoline — have increased because of the inflationary policies of the last administration.
As far as the egg shortage, what’s also contributing to that is that the Biden administration and the Department of Agriculture directed the mass killing of more than 100 million chickens, which has led to a lack of chicken supply in this country, therefore a lack of egg supply, which is leading to the shortage.
So, I will leave you with this point. This is an example of why it’s so incredibly important that the Senate moves swiftly to confirm all of President Trump’s nominees, including his nominee for the United States Department of Agriculture, Brooke Rollins, who is already speaking with Kevin Hassett, who is leading the economic team here at the White House, on how we can address the egg shortage in this country. As for costs — I laid out the plethora of ways that President Trump has addressed saving costs for the American people over the past week. He looks forward to continuing to doing that.
Thank you, guys, so much. I’ll see you soon.
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