Download Subtitles for Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt Briefing

Hello everybody. >> Good afternoon. Thank you for your patience as always. Let's begin with some scheduling announcements for the remainder of President Trump's very busy week. Today at 300 PM, President Trump will host a Black History Month reception in the East Room of the White House. I know many of you will attend and we will see you up there. Tomorrow, President Trump will host a Board of Peace meeting at the Donald J. Trump Institute of Peace, where he will announce that member states have pledged more than five billion dollars towards the Gaza Humanitarian and Reconstruction efforts and have also committed thousands of personnel to the International Stabilization Force and local police to maintain security and peace for Gazins. Tomorrow afternoon, the president will travel to the great state of Georgia where he will visit two local businesses and give a speech on his efforts to make life affordable for working people. On Friday, President Trump will host a working breakfast with governors in the East Room here at the White House. And on Saturday night, President Trump and the first lady will host the annual governor's dinner. Next, I'd like to provide an update on the economy. We're seeing promising signs every day that 2026 is going to be a record successful year for the American people, just as President Trump promised them. The January jobs report shattered expectations, highlighting how the president's progrowth economic agenda is fueling American prosperity. The economy added 172,000 new private sector jobs to kick off the year. That's more than two and a half times economist predictions. The labor force participation rate went up while the unemployment rate fell. The prime age labor force participation rate is now at its highest since 2001. Most importantly, 100% of all job creation under President Trump continues to be in the private sector. This is truly remarkable. That's 615,000 private sector jobs that have been added in President Trump's second term thus far. These are real working people. These are real American families who will be living out their American dream. Meanwhile, federal government employment has shrunk to its lowest level since 1966, saving taxpayers 29 billion dollar annually. And all of the net job growth under President Trump has gone to nativeborn Americans, ending the disgraceful pattern under Joe Biden of job gains going to non-citizens and illegal aliens. Additionally, on inflation, the new CPI report is even more proof of the progress made by President Trump. Despite all of the doom casting from the so-called experts, the president has managed to utilize powerful tariffs to secure trillions of dollars in investments into our country and rebalance our trade deals while simultaneously cooling inflation. Year-over-year inflation fell to 2.4% in January, beating expectations again and marking the lowest level since May. Core inflation, the best measure of inflation, dropped to its lowest level in nearly five years. Meanwhile, real average hourly earnings for all private sector workers rose in the month of January, which means more money is going back directly into people's pockets. After only one year of President Trump back in office, real earnings for all private sector workers have outpaced inflation by nearly $1,400, earning back roughly half of the $2,900 they lost under Joe Biden when 40-year high inflation was stealing Americans purchasing power. President Trump's policies are and will continue to allow Americans incomes to go further for bills, retirement, and achieving the American dream. A key part of the American dream is buying a home. It's and that is finally becoming more affordable under this president. This past week, it was announced the annual mortgage cost for a new home has fallen by $4,000 so far under President Trump after rising by roughly $15,000 under Joe Biden. As a result, mortgage affordability has reached a 4-year best following recent bold action by the president to make home ownership more attainable for American families, not large Wall Street corporate institutional investors. At the same time, national median rates rents have fallen to a 4-year low and have declined for six consecutive months. The annual rental cost for a new rental unit has fallen nearly $100 so far under President Trump after rising more than $3,000 under Joe Biden. And many are crediting that to the president's deportation efforts to remove illegal aliens from our communities and therefore from housing that should be used for American citizens. At the grocery store, the price of eggs, dairy, cheese, fresh fruit, apples, oranges, potatoes, tomatoes, and butter have fallen since President Trump took office. And he is continuing to fight for even lower prices at the grocery store for the American consumer. At the gas pump, fuel prices are down by almost 10% over the past year. The average national price for a gallon of regular gas is now less than $3 and is approaching $2.70 in some states and much lower than that. In many states across the country as well, we've seen in several states gas is under $2 a gallon. And at the pharmacy, prescription drug prices are down over the past year with even more price relief ahead for American patients thanks to President Trump's most favored nation drug pricing deals and the great health care plan, which he is calling on Congress to pass as soon as possible. What President Trump wants Americans to understand is that this is only the start and the best is yet to come. The historic success that we have seen since he took office is just the beginning of enormous growth and opportunity that we are about to witness and I know the president looks forward to hitting the road and being with the great people of Georgia tomorrow to talk about just this. So with that today, I know there's a lot of news. I will open it up to take your questions and we're going to start as always with our new media seat, the great Michael Graham from Inside Sources. Thank you for being here, Michael. >> Thank you for having us and uh thanks to from our 200 newspaper partners around the country. So, you mentioned gas, but we didn't mention natural gas. And back where you live, your friends and family are paying among the highest prices for natural gas to heat their home and for electricity generation, the number one source of power across New England. The cheap gas is in Pennsylvania, the two highest places to buy gas in the country, New York City and Boston. The problem is the blue states will not allow the gas to travel to produce electricity or to reach customers. When President Trump first came back in office, there was some talk him and Governor Hokll in New York possibly reaching a deal. When will consumers in the Northeast feel relief from President Trump's energy uh policies [clears throat] and what can he do about state objections to expansion of infrastructure? Then I have a quick followup. >> Sure. Absolutely. Well, the president has promised all Americans across the country and in particular in the Northeast where we do face much higher costs of electricity and of energy unfortunately uh because of the Democrat policies in the area. From the federal government's perspective, the president and the National Energy Dominance Council, Secretaries Wright and Bergam are doing all we can when it comes to federal permitting. The drill baby drill agenda is obviously underway. The president has made a huge push for more fossil fuels in this country. Uh you look at what he did last week with respect to coal. Coal truly keeps the lights on in this country. We learned that in the recent winter storms. However, there's only so much that can be done at the federal level. That's why the president has called on blue state governors to participate in this energy dominance agenda uh including governors in New England in the northeast by contacting Governor Hokll directly to get this Constitution pipeline underway. This is not only going to bring down the cost of energy in the Northeast, it's also going to support job growth uh and and energy affordability uh and more opportunity for workers in the Northeast. And I just have a a quick statistic uh here on energy that I found fascinating and it's obviously true because I'm saying it up here. Red states with Republican legislators currently enjoy lower average retail electricity prices than blue states with Democrat legislatures. Uh and that's exactly why the president is calling on all blue state governors uh across New England and the northeast to get on board. Let's bring prices down for all Americans whether they live in a red or a blue state. So right down the street from your alma mada san college talk about building an ice facility uh that's causing a lot of political aida in New Hampshire and for the Republican governor Kelly Aayat seems to be some miscommunications argued on both sides. Even Republican supporters of Trump who live in the town say we're not sure we want this. What's your message to the folks in New Hampshire about this proposed ICE facility? >> The message is that uh illegal immigration while the border is secure is still a problem across our entire homeland. uh in the previous administration allowed nearly 20 million illegal aliens from countries all over the world into our country and the president and secretary gnome have done a phenomenal job at deporting uh nearly 3 million illegals have left the country either through deportation or self-deportation under the over the past year. Uh but obviously there are a lot more illegal alien criminals left in our homeland. That includes in New England. Uh there are many within our communities in New Hampshire, uh in Maine, and definitely in Massachusetts, and in the Boston suburbs that need to be arrested, detained, and deported back to their home countries. Um and so the president and Secretary Gnome and I know ICE are engaged with local governors across the whole country, including in New Hampshire, to open more detention facilities. This is an unfortunate consequence of the previous administration's border invasion um that the president has thankfully put a stop to. But of course, we still need to grapple with the illegal alien criminals who are here, and that requires more detention space. >> Thank you, Michael. Garrett >> um on Iran. I'm not asking you for like military secrets here, but can you [laughter] >> can you can you share >> unless you want to give them um can you share a little bit about the president's thinking on whether or not to strike Iran, who he's talking to, what information he's consuming, and why a strike might be necessary on a nuclear program he says was obliterated by the last US strike. >> Well, there's many reasons and arguments that one could make uh for a strike against the uh against Iran. Uh the president had a very successful operation as commander-in-chief with operation midnight hammer as you know as you just said uh totally obliterated Iran's nuclear facilities. Um the president has always been very clear though with respect to Iran or any country around the world. Diplomacy is always his first option and Iran would be very wise to make a deal with President Trump and with this administration. Uh he's talking to many people of course his national security team first and foremost uh and you know who the members of that team are uh and this is something obviously the president takes seriously he's always thinking about what's in the best interest of the United States of America of our military of the American people. Um and that's how he makes decisions with respect to military action of any kind. >> And on the flip side of that he's got the State of the Union speech next week. if he is going to take military action, does the administration believe it's important to sort of convince the American people, sell the American people? Will we hear something about that in the State of the Union to make the case for why something like that might be necessary to risk American lives? >> Look, again, I'm not going to engage in a hypothetical. Good try, Garrett. But I you can't catch me there. I will say with respect to the State of the Union, you'll be hearing more about what is to come from the president's speech very soon at the appropriate time. It is going to be a very good and powerful speech, so everyone should tune in. Ed, >> Caroline, thank you. I got two questions for you. Sure. Um, about Independence Hall in Philadelphia. Um, the administration's decided to appeal a judge's ruling that in essence was trying to put the slavery displays back, arguing that the federal government believed it had the power to dissemble and disassemble historical truths when it has some domain over historical facts. The judge said it does not. The administration said that you were planning to uh put up a updated interpretive materials and provide a fuller account of the history of slavery uh at Independence Hall. What more was the administration or is the administration planning to add? >> I'm not familiar with this specific instance, Ed, to be honest with you, but I will check in with the appropriate people who are overseeing this and we'll get you a more firm answer. >> One other question then. Yesterday in his statement about Jesse Jackson, the president said, "Despite the fact that I'm falsely and consistently called a racist by the scoundrels and lunatics on the radical left, Democrats all, it was always my pleasure to help Jesse along the way. Where or when does the president believe he's been falsely called racist?" >> You're kidding, right? [laughter] >> I will pull you plethora of examples. So, I'm going to get my team in that room to start uh going through the internet of radical Democrats throughout the years, Ed, who have accused this president falsely of being a racist. And I'm sure there's many people in this room and on network television across the country who have accused him of the same. In fact, I know that because I've seen it with my own eyes. And the president very much looks forward to having a event later this uh afternoon at 3 pm to celebrate Black History Month and to talk about how his policies are advancing opportunity and prosperity for all Americans through uh record tax cuts through the Trump accounts that all Americans can access regardless of race. These are a great thing for the next generation of Americans. The president has also awarded hundreds of millions of dollars in additional funding to strengthen educational outcomes at historically back black colleges and universities across the country. Uh again, the president is protecting the hardearned benefits of the 2.4 million black veterans who honorably served in our nation's armed forces by reducing the black backlog of veterans waiting for their VA benefits uh and for their home loans through the veteran uh Department of Veterans Affairs. So, there is a lot this president has done for all Americans regardless of race, and he has absolutely been falsely called and smeared as a racist, and I'm happy to provide you those receipts, and we gladly will right after this briefing. Uh, Jennifer, go ahead. >> U, you mentioned the 5 billion in pledges for the Board of Peace. Will we be able to get a breakdown of which countries are providing each of those pledges and which countries are are providing troops? >> Sure, we're happy to provide that breakdown. And I'm also happy to provide the list of countries that will be attending tomorrow. I know it's more than 20 countries. I know there's a lot of interest in that. I'll spare myself reading you the list of 20 countries from the podium, but we will provide it. And the president will be opening the meeting tomorrow with remarks and will sort of formally be chairing the meeting at the beginning before he departs uh for Georgia tomorrow. >> And then on the sewage spill, the sewage pipe that broke on PTOAC, can you give us an update on the federal government's response? and officials have told CBS that some of that aging infrastructure is a concern that this particular pipe wasn't even of the most urgent concern. Do you know if the government is is looking into which other pipes could be at at risk of of collapsing? Well, the next step in this process is for uh any of the three local jurisdictions involved, whether that's the Commonwealth of Virginia, the state of Maryland and Governor Moore, or the District of Columbia to step forward and to ask the federal government for help uh and to ask uh for the Stafford Act to be implemented here so that the federal government can go and take control of this local infrastructure that has been abandoned and neglected by Governor Moore in Maryland for far too long. In fact, it's no secret uh that Maryland's water and infrastructure are have been in dire need of repair. Uh their infrastructure has received a nearly failing grade in the 2025 report card from the American Society of Civil Engineers. This is the same grade they've received uh five years earlier. There has been no improvement under the leadership of Governor Moore. He's clearly shown he's incapable of fixing this problem, which is why President Trump and the federal government are standing by to step in. Uh, and for all of the environmentalists in the room and across the District of Columbia, let's all hope and pray that this governor does the right thing and ask President Trump to get involved because it will be an ecological and environmental disaster uh if the federal government does not step in to help. But of course, we need the state and local jurisdictions to make that formal request. That's part of the legal process to move forward. Follow >> Peter. >> So, you said that any of the three Democrats just need to ask. A few minutes ago, Maryland's Governor Wes Moore Wow. >> asked. He said, "If the president wants me to ask nicely, our response is this. Please, Mr. President, do your job." >> To which I say, "I'll ask the president and we will provide you with the next steps." But in all seriousness, the federal government has been preparing plans. We've the White House has been in contact uh with FEMA, with the Army Corps of Engineers, with the Environmental Protection Agency. Again, we've been standing by. This is a problem we want to fix, not just uh for the federal government, but for everyone who lives in the District of Columbia, including all of you. So, you're welcome. >> To your point about that, there are a lot of events coming up for America 250. The president wants people from all over to come to the nation's capital. Is he worried that by the summer, the Ptoic River will still smell like poop? >> He is worried about that, which is why uh the federal government wants to fix it. and we hope that the local uh authorities will cooperate with us in doing so. >> Steve, >> what will the5 billion dollars be used for in in board of peace and will that be sort of a down payment for much more money? >> You'll be hearing more about that tomorrow at the meeting. If you recall at the first meeting when we were in Davos, uh Jared Kushner did provide a very detailed PowerPoint presentation for the vision of Gaza, the reconstruction and the humanitarian efforts. of course providing local security on the ground. That will be part of the discussion tomorrow is how can we maintain uh security. Uh first you must uh achieve security to get to prosperity which is sort of the second part of this plan. So you'll be hearing more about that tomorrow. But I would just point out $5 billion worth of investment. We're talking about reconstructing Gaza. I remember when those words came from the president's lips uh in the East Room many months ago and all of you in the press were bewildered at how the president uh could have such an ambitious goal of rebuilding Gaza which is obviously a place that has been just turmoiled by violence and chaos for many many years but we are well underway in doing that and it's a historic accomplishment for this president. >> Secondly, is the president seeing seeing enough progress in the Iran talks to let negotiations go a little further? Where do things stand after yesterday's talks? I I think you heard uh from the administration and the State Department yesterday that there was a little bit of progress made, but we're still very far apart on some issues. I believe the Iranians are expected to come back to us uh with some more detail in the next couple of weeks and so the president will continue to watch how this plays out. >> Follow up on that. Thank you, Caroline. On on these Iran uh talks, I mean, how much time is the president willing to give it before he is seriously maybe considering military action? Is he willing to give it that full two weeks? And has he given the Iranian officials a deadline on when he wants to see a deal? >> It's a fair question, Rachel, but I'm not going to set deadlines on behalf of the president of the United States from up. >> And just one more on the shutdown. Um, we're now in this partial shutdown um over uh DHS funding. Has the president personally spoken to the Democratic leaders in Congress? Can we expect to see them at the White House to try to make a deal on this? >> Uh, not to my knowledge. He hasn't had any direct conversation or correspondence with Democrat lawmakers recently. It doesn't mean he's not willing to. I'm just not aware of any conversations that have taken place. I do know the White House uh and the president's representatives have been in direct conversations with both Democrats and Republicans, but of course, Democrats are the reason that the Department of Homeland Security is currently shut down. Um they have chosen to act against the American people for political reasons. Uh, and now we have FEMA workers, the men and women of the United States Coast Guard, men and women of TSA who keep our airports moving, who will be working without paychecks, uh, for no good reason other than the Democrats wanting to pick a fight with Donald Trump. And the president thinks that is irresponsible and despicable. He wants the government to be open. We've been engaged in good faith negotiations with Democrats. Last night they sent over a counter proposal that frankly was very unserious and we hope they get serious very soon because Americans are going to be impacted by this. >> Sure. >> Thanks Caroline. Um President Trump has talked about a forthcoming executive order on voter ID. Is there more details you can provide about for that and can you talk about any steps that you're taking to overcome core challenges that you've kind of faced in this area before on voting? Well, as the president said in that truth social post, he's discussing and exploring legal options for a potential executive order with respect to voter ID, but this is something he's made very clear he wants Congress to get done. The Save America Act is a common sense piece of legislation that has now passed the House of Representatives to ensure that voter ID is a requirement in the United States of America. This is a common sense policy that nearly 90% of the country agrees with. You need an ID to go and and purchase alcohol. You need an ID to go to the library and check out a book. Uh and so the president thinks you should have an ID to vote in our nation's elections. And I know the vast majority of Americans agree with him on that. And he wants Congress to move and move quickly to get it done. >> Thank you so on on Cuba. You know, it's increasingly being described as a humanitarian crisis. Can what is a successful outcome for the US that the US wants to see in Cuba? Is there anything less than regime change that would be considered success? >> I think as Secretary Rubio has articulated and the president himself, we obviously want to see uh flourishing and prosperous democracies all over the world. Uh especially in our own hemisphere. Uh I'm not dictating any actions the United States may take to get there. Uh but I of course that's in the United States best interest to have Cuba be a truly free and prosperous democracy. Unfortunately, right now that is not the case. They are uh a regime that is falling. Their country is collaps collapsing and that's why we believe it's in their best interest to make very dramatic changes very soon. Um and we'll see what they decide to do. >> Sure. >> Thank you so much. Uh following up on Gaza, this $5 billion, who exactly would be in charge of managing this this money? Would that be the president himself making the final decisions on how these funds are are spent? >> It will be the board of peace which the president is of course the chairman of but all of the member parties I believe will have votes on the funding and then of course there is that technocratic layer underneath the official board of peace with the member countries that will be making decisions as well. So, uh, if you just go back and look at the first event that we had where we sort of unveiled the structure of the board of peace, um, that structure remains in place and they'll be overseeing the funds that will be announced tomorrow for their reconstruction and humanitarian efforts. >> Sure. >> Another question on that board of peace announcement. You mentioned uh there will be the announcement of who comprises that international stability force. How soon will that force be deployed? And have all of the regional partners, all of the regional countries signed off on the makeup of that force? I don't have a timeline for you today, but again, I'm sure you'll hear more about this tomorrow. So, >> you'll join us at the event. Deanna, >> thanks Caroline. Two questions. First, the president has talked a lot about housing affordability and several countries that are facing housing shortages, including Canada, for example, have imposed a ban on noncitizens, like foreigners, um, from buying their houses. Do you know if that's a strategy that the president would be willing to deploy? Uh well, first of all, the president is obviously committed to deporting illegal aliens from our country and those who are not lawfully present in the United States, which he has done at a record pace, which has led to the falling of rents, as I pointed out in my opening remarks. Uh secondly, the president has recently announced that he is fighting for a ban uh on institutional investors in Wall Street billionaire corporations um from buying up single family homes that should be lived in in his opinion by American families. We know this is going to have a remarkable in impact uh on the housing market and on prices and supply and demand for the American consumer and the American family. And then thirdly, the president is also expediting permitting as fast as we possibly can uh to build more homes to increase supply to obviously bring down the cost of of of home ownership and and purchasing homes for the American people. And then also, as I mentioned as well, we do see mortgage rates falling. So, all of this is is combining to make housing more affordable in this country. There's still a lot more to do. Uh the president is still digging his way out of the mess that was created uh by Joe Biden's administration and jacking up mortgage rates and jacking up housing costs. Uh but we do see very positive trends in this direction. And the president wants the United States to be a nation uh of owners, not renters. He wants families to live in homes, not institutions and big corporations. Michael >> Ukraine, Caroline, secondly on Ukraine. Yesterday, Zalinski said in an interview that he doesn't he says that it's not fair that the president is saying that Ukraine has to make concessions. He's saying this publicly and not Russia. Has the president seen these comments? And when the president says that Ukraine has to make concessions, is he referring to giving up Dunbos? >> I think the president would respond to that by saying he does not think it's fair that thousands of Ukrainians are losing their lives and Russians too in this deadly war. And that's why the president and his team have committed a tremendous amount of time and energy in bringing this war that is very far away from the United States of America. But nevertheless, this is a president of peace and so he's committed a tremendous amount of time and energy to bringing this war to an end. Just yesterday, there was another round of trilateral talks between the US, Russia, and Ukraine. Uh there was meaningful progress made uh in both parties, both sides agreed to update their respective leaders and to continue to work towards a peace deal together. So there will be another round of talks in the future, but I think the president views this entire situation as very unfair, not just for Russians and Ukrainians who have lost their lives, but also for the American people uh and the American taxpayer who were footing the bill for this war effort before President Trump put a stop to it. And I would just remind uh remind everyone around the world that the United States is still selling weapons to NATO that are then being sent to Ukraine in their defense of their freedom uh in their borders. >> Michael Caroline, Russia is reportedly joining Iran for joint naval exercises in the Gulf of Oman this week. Has the president issued any kind of warning to Russia or even China not to involve itself if the US decides to strike Iran? >> Uh not to my knowledge, no or not that I would dictate from this podium. I wouldn't reveal the president's private conversations with world leaders uh with respect to that. Again, when it comes to Iran, uh the president uh has a decision to make and he will do that and I'm not going to broadcast what that decision may be ahead of him. >> President Barack Obama, Caroline, was recently asked if aliens are real. He says they're real, but he hasn't seen them. President's daughter-in-law, Laura Trump, told Miranda Divine of the New York Post that the president has a prepared speech on this issue that he prepares to deliver at the right time. Is that true? And [laughter] does the Trump administration believe aliens are real? >> Well, a speech on aliens would be news to me. That sounds very exciting, though. I'll have to check in with our speech writing team. Uh, and that would be of great interest to me personally, and I'm sure all of you in this room and apparently former President Obama, too. So, we'll keep you posted on that. Tyler, >> Caroline, um the White House has touted uh an unprecedented amount of cooperation with counties in Minneapolis after uh the negotiations with Tom Hman. Are those written or verbal deals with the sheriff? Um how many have agreed to cooperate on immigration enforcement who previously refused to do so? >> Yeah, the last time I spoke with Mr. Hman, which was just a few days ago, he assured us that nearly every single county in the state of Minnesota has agreed uh to notify ICE when they are releasing criminal illegal aliens from their jails. This is an unprecedented level of cooperation that we have not seen. Uh it has led to not only cooperation uh to detain illegal aliens in Minnesota, uh which just this past week, I have looked at the list, they've detained some very heinous people who none of you would want living in your communities. uh but has also led to a much more calm situation on the ground. We've also seen and you've seen this with your own eyes play out. Uh the local police and the state police have now cooperated in the arrests of left-wing agitators and criminals who are unlawfully obstructing immigration enforcement in their efforts. So this is a huge win. Uh and again the president sent Mr. their home into Minnesota to uh do a job and he has done it well and I think the situation on the ground proves that. >> Are those like written agreements that they've been signed by various officials in the state? >> These are agreements that have been made by state and local officials uh in the federal government and we are seeing that cooperation play out every single day. Uh these counties are notifying ICE when they are releasing criminal illegals from their jail and we do know that they are arresting left-wing agitators who are impe unlawfully impeding law enforcement. There's video to show that them show it yourself. You can view it with your own eyes. >> John, >> thank you. >> The uh you mentioned two things. DHS closed and the Save Act IDs. Both of these could get solved in 15 minutes if Senate leader John Thoon simply got rid of this phony 60 vote closure rule and got 51 votes and that would be the end of it because everyone in this room knows if the Democrats take over they'll get rid of that rule in 90 minutes. They already tried it one time and the two two Democratic senators that stopped it are no longer there. Mansion and Cinema. President Trump is backing a lot of these senators for reelection and yet they will not get rid of the 60 vote closure rule which is holding everything up. What is the president's position on John Thoon in the Senate finally getting rid of this so this legislation can get moved? >> Well, the president has a good relationship with Senate Majority Leader John Thun. They keep in very close contact and they work together all of the time. I hear your passion and your voice and I know it's shared by many Americans across the country including the president himself. He wants to see the safe act voted and he's expressed that uh both publicly to all of you the American people but also privately in his conversations uh with Senate Majority Leader Thoon and many other members of Congress as well. >> Yes, Rav. Go ahead. Good to see So JB Pritzker just recently signed uh the bill the law went into effect in January and it's supposedly going to allocate about 2.5 billion to illegals to go to college and financial aid um in the state of Illinois. What is the White House's reaction to this? Illinois is already by 2027 they're supposed to have a $3 billion deficit. What's your reaction to that? >> Yeah, we'll have to take a look at that. Uh I would say the president certainly thinks that Governor Pritsker is not doing a very good job of managing his state as evidenced by the not only the waste, fraud and abuse uh but also the crime in the city of Chicago that unfortunately Governor Prit Pritsker has refused to pick up the phone call phone and and call the White House and ask for help on uh which is something his residents want him to do but he refuses to do for political reasons. As for the specific money, we'll take a look and get you an answer. You're welcome, John. Thanks a lot, Caroline. Two questions. One is about the president's trip to Georgia tomorrow. If you can provide some additional information about that, why northwest Georgia uh was chosen for this particular trip, for instance. >> Sure. Uh well, Georgia is obviously a very important state to the president and to the Republican party. Uh and the president loves the people of Georgia. He'll be touring, like I said, a steel facility. And then he'll also be stopping by another local business. And he will be giving remarks on affordability, on the economy, on all of the great economic news that I just shared with you earlier. He'll be meeting and greeting with everyday Americans. Uh, and that's what the president loves to do, to get out across the country. Uh, and he's spoken about his intention to, uh, go across the country a lot more, and obviously tomorrow's trip is evidence of that. And then secondly, uh, last week, as you know, big event that took place in the Roosevelt room, the president announcing that the EPA has repealed these [snorts] federal limits on emissions for cars, trucks, and power plants. And in the president's presentation, he mentioned that American families will save $2500 for a new car or truck. Where is the promise coming from automakers that they're going to pass along their savings to those families all across the country? >> It's a great question, John. That was an economic analysis that was provided to the president and I'm I'd be happy to provide that to you. Uh so you can take a look yourself, but I'm glad you brought up the president's announcement last week because this is one of the largest deregulatory actions ever taken uh in the United States of America. And overall, it's going to save our country. $1.3 trillion dollar uh in regulatory regulatory burdens um that have really done nothing for our country, nothing for our environment, nothing for our economy. In fact, this announcement received widespread and bipartisan praise. I think I recall seeing the editorial board of the Washington Post of all places even commending the president and administrator Zelden for this historic action last week. So there's no doubt it is going to save the American consumer money and I'd be happy to provide that specific economic analysis to you. >> Sure. In the middle. Go ahead. >> Yes. >> Thank you. Uh Governor Moore in Maryland signed a bill that is ending the law enforcement cooperation with ICE and by doing that a lot of local sheriffs are not happy and in fact they met today in Annapolis to come up with a legal action. What is the message of the White House to those sheriffs and to the residents of Maryland? Well, first of all, it's another despicable action by Governor Wes Moore. Why would you prevent your state and local law enforcement from cooperating with federal law enforcement? If you just ask them, to your point, if you ask sheriff across the country, if they want to have that level of cooperation and coordination with the federal government, of course they do. It makes their jobs easier. It keeps them out of hostile and dangerous environments. It allows them to detain illegal alien criminals who have committed heinous crimes in our country. uh with with um the most safe circumstances possible. So, the president of course continues to always stand on the side of law enforcement and this is another just horrible and frankly political action taken by Governor Wesmore and unfortunately the people of his state are going to reap the consequences of it. >> Sure. >> Thank you, Caroline. Um, President Trump just said on True Social that it would be a big mistake for the UK to hand over control of Chagos Islands to Maitius, but the State Department earlier this week has said the US does support that handover. So, does this post now suggest that the US does not or that Trump uh, President Trump had changed his mind on this? >> The post should be taken as the policy of the Trump administration. It's coming straight from the horse's mouth. When you see it on Truth Social, you know it's directly from President Trump. That's the beauty of this president and his transparency and and relaying uh this administration's policies to all of you and to the rest of the world. >> Go ahead. >> There's been a series of walkouts from public school students uh that have been sort of provoked by uh number of public school administrators. Uh what are your thoughts on this? What's the administration's thoughts on this? Will they be taking any actions on these walkouts against ICE? Uh, look, I think obviously the president and the administration support the First Amendment rights of all American citizens and if they're peacefully protesting, um, then that that's their constitutional obligation and right and responsibility to do so. Of course, the administration also wants to see American school children in school uh, learning and educating. And I think it does speak to uh, the left-wing bias that is unfortunately very present uh, in our nation's public school system. And it's something that uh Secretary McMahon has been working very hard to root out of our public school system by ensuring that local governance and local control uh takes place over our nation's public schools and that parents and educators closest to students uh have a a greater say over curriculum and academia in our country. >> Take a couple more. Go ahead. >> Thank you, Caroline. Uh the Vatican announced earlier today that they would not be joining the Board of Peace initiatives over concerns that it could potentially compete with the United Nations over handling crisis conflicts. What's the White House's response to that? >> Yeah, look, we saw that. I think it's deeply unfortunate. Uh I don't think that peace should be partisan or political or controversial. Uh and of course the administration wants all those who were invited to join the Board of Peace to join because again the Board of Peace is overseeing the reconstruction of a territory that has been plagued with violence, with bloodshed, with poverty for far too long. And this president has a very bold and ambitious plan and vision to rebuild and reconstruct Gaza, which is well underway because of the Board of Peace. this is a a legitimate organization where there are tens of of member countries from around the world. Um, and we think that's an unfortunate decision >> in the back. Sure. Caroline, >> I'll go to both of you. Sure. >> Go ahead and then Jake, you can go. >> Caroline, can you tell me um is there an update regarding the tariff rate checks uh that the White House has promised? I don't have an update for you on timeline, but I know that it's something that the president and his economic team continue to very seriously discuss. >> Thank you, Carolyn. I've got two questions. Uh, first, does the president see some sort of religious or prophetic component to the unfolding developments in the Middle East? >> Um, I haven't spoken to him about that particular perspective, uh, to be honest with you. But of course the president wants peace for all people of all faiths all around the world and that's part of his his push uh to create peace in the Middle East which he has done successfully. >> And my second question is as this popularity rises around the world um and especially in regions where he's invested so much effort in promoting peace and ending wars. Uh do you think we might be watching the emergence of a global MAGA movement? [cough] Is this something that the president has has uh discussed at all? Well, I don't know, Jake, but I sure hope so. >> Take a couple more. Go ahead. >> Sure. >> I wanted to ask you about Iran. As the US military builds up uh around Iran, is President Trump coordinating war plans with Israel so that if he does decide to strike that Israel be a part of those strikes? >> Uh, look, I don't have any specifics on the president's recent conversations with Israel. As you know, Prime Minister Netanyahu was just here at the White House last week or the week before. Uh, but again, with respect to Iran, there was some progress made yesterday. There are still a lot of details to discuss uh and we'll continue to to see how this plays out. You know, the United States government of course is is always in close communication and correspondence with the state of Israel and that starts right at the top with the president and Prime Minister Netanyahu themselves. >> One more. Go ahead. >> Last week we saw the underlying affidavit for the search warrant that was executed in Fulton County and there was not any mention in that document about foreign election interference in the 2020 election. I'm wondering if DNI Gabbard has uncovered that in Georgia or in Puerto Rico where we know her team was sent as well. >> I don't have any updates for you on that today. I would defer you to uh the director's office herself. >> Two questions. One, on the pres on the president's schedule today, it says he has signing time. What is he signing today? Are we expecting executive orders or actions? Uh that's the first question. And then second, uh the Wall Street Journal is reporting that a US arm sale package for Taiwan is in limbo. Um, can you just confirm this reporting slash offer any additional comment? And how concerned is the administration that if a if an arms deal with Taiwan went through that this could disrupt the China US uh trade truce? >> Sure. Well, I haven't read the full Wall Street Journal report. I will just say with respect to an arms sale to Taiwan, I don't have any announcements or updates on that for you today. Uh and to your first question about what the president will be signing, he will be signing an executive order uh which you will all be hearing about later this afternoon and you will see him in one hour at the Black History Month reception. We'll see you there. Thank you.