Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt Briefs Members of the Media, Mar. 5, 2025

Hello everybody. How are we? I apologize for my tardiness. It's quite the newsy day, and I was with the president talking about that news, so I look forward to taking your questions on it. But first, I want to talk about President Trump's historic and incredible speech last night. The American people and the entire world watched President Trump powerfully lay out how he's renewing the American dream in a record-breaking joint address to Congress, and Americans loved what they heard. According to a CBS YouGov survey, an overwhelming 76 percent of those watching approved of President Trump's speech last night. The president spoke about how he's taken more than 400 executive actions on his key promises. The expectations were high, and President Trump is exceeding them. According to brand new polling from the Daily Mail, President Trump has never been more popular as his approval ratings are reaching historic highs. More Americans believe America is headed in the right direction than the wrong direction. Everyday Americans love this president because he tells it like it is, no matter what, and he did that last night. President Trump level set with the American people on the economy and exposed how badly Joe Biden screwed it up by causing the worst inflation crisis in four decades. President Trump was honest about where we are while making clear that help is on the way. As the president declared last night, he will make America affordable again. Last night, you also saw who motivates the president to work so hard. Everyday Americans, who President Trump shined a spotlight on last night in his speech. From Mark Fogle, who President Trump was finally able to reunite with his family, and his beautiful 95-year-old mother after being detained in Russia. To Peyton McNabb, whose heart-wrenching story motivated President Trump to end men in women's sports. And to Allison and Lauren Phillips, the mother and daughter and sister of Lakin Riley, who President Trump honored by signing the Lakin Riley Act to ensure her name will live on forever. In other amazing and surprise moments, President Trump honored the life of Jocelyn Nungaray, who was brutally murdered by illegal alien gang members. He ensured Jocelyn will never be forgotten by renaming a national wildlife refuge in her home state of Texas to honor her life. And in one of the greatest surprise moments of the night, DJ Daniel, an incredible 13-year-old boy who is beating brain cancer, saw his dreams fulfilled by President Trump when he was made an honorary Secret Service agent. And finally, after nearly four years, President Trump delivered justice for the families of the 13 American heroes who were killed at Abbey Gate in the Biden-botched Afghanistan withdrawal, which was one of the worst humiliations in the history of our country. President Trump announced that we have detained Mohammed Sharifullah, the monster who was responsible for that horrific attack, and he was delivered to Dulles Airfield earlier this morning. On his first day in office, President Trump's national security team across the federal government prioritized intelligence gathering to locate this evil individual. President Trump's team shared intelligence with regional partners such as Pakistan, who helped identify this monster in the borderland area late last month. Mohammed confessed to his crimes related to Abbey Gate and other attacks in Russia and Iran as well to the Pakistanis. And U.S. law enforcement officers traveled to Pakistan over the weekend, where he again confessed his crimes to the FBI. As President Trump said last night, this killer will now face the swift sword of American justice for these atrocities right here on United States soil. Joe Biden was responsible for this botched withdrawal, and he had three years to find this evil terrorist, and he didn't even try to get the job done. But President Trump campaigned on behalf of and grew very close to the Gold Star families. He promised them accountability, and last night he kept his promise. He spoke to those Gold Star families yesterday ahead of his speech in an incredibly heartwarming call to share this incredible news. And as President Trump asked in his speech last night, how could anyone possibly be opposed to any of this action that he is taking? Well, apparently the modern day Democrat party could. The behavior of Democrats last night was completely disgraceful and demonstrated how severely out of touch they are with the American public. It was the most shameful moment in the history of presidential addresses in that beautiful chamber. And what was supposed to be a unifying moment for our country, Democrat members of Congress instead screamed at the President of the United States, who was just overwhelmingly reelected by their constituents, walked out of the chamber, and worst of all, they disrespected the American people. Democrats didn't stand to keep men out of women's sports. They couldn't even clap for a girl who got her head smashed in by a man on a volleyball court. Democrats didn't stand for an innocent and beautiful child who is surviving brain cancer. They opposed eliminating taxes on tips in Social Security. They didn't stand in favor of cutting taxes for hardworking Americans. They couldn't even clap for two mothers whose daughters were killed by illegal aliens. One of the only things that could get Democrats off their feet last night was cheering for Ukraine, not for America. Last night was a very clarifying moment for our country. Democrats exposed themselves as the party of insanity and hate, the party that wants to put America last. They've allowed their Trump derangement syndrome to stop them from celebrating America and our people, and we will not allow them to forget that. And it's not just the Democrat Party. The mainstream media still doesn't get it. Last night, MSNBC's Nicole Wallace disgustingly looped in a 13-year-old boy with brain cancer into an attack on the president over January 6th. And CNN's first chyron out of the speech called it divisive. President Trump wasn't divisive. The Democrats were. And CNN was proven wrong by their own viewers, 69% of whom in a post-speech poll said they had a positive reaction to the president's speech. It's sad and frankly pathetic that Democrats and liberals in the legacy media continue to allow their hatred for the president to override their love for our country. But nevertheless, the president will continue to unify this nation through policies that are grounded in common sense and that uplift all Americans. We have an individual in our new media seat today, Mary Margaret Olihan, who is The Daily Wire's first ever White House correspondent. Congratulations, Mary Margaret. The Daily Wire was founded 10 years ago by Ben Shapiro. The Daily Wire now has over 1 million paid subscribers, a monthly network reach of 138 million, and has evolved into a leading conservative multimedia giant. They are now the fifth largest podcast network in the world and home to some of the top-ranked shows. With that, I will take your questions and, Mary Margaret, why don't you kick us off? Thank you so much, Caroline. It's good to be here. Thanks. So I have two questions, if that's okay. The first one last night and the second on May. You talked about behavior from Democrat lawmakers, a lot of disruptions, and I just wanted to kind of go back to that. We saw Democrat lawmakers not stand for Lincoln Riley, for Pete McNabb, or the son of a slain police officer and 13-year-old cancer survivor. What are the optics of that nationally, just in terms of not just the people who were in the room last night, but across the nation? And also, was President Trump expecting this type of behavior when he was crafting his speech? So I gave a quote to one of the media outlets in this room yesterday that Democrats behaving like children would be the least surprising thing of the night, and unfortunately, that quote did turn out to be true. I think the President and everyone, frankly, was surprised by the Democrats refusing to stand for, not the President's policies, because frankly, we expected that, but for the everyday Americans who President Trump was shining a light on their stories. Mark Fogle, for instance, an American schoolteacher who was detained by the Russians, President Trump freed him. If Joe Biden had done that, they all would have been on their feet, but because it came from President Trump, they weren't. So we think it's very sad, but we're very proud of the President today, and the American people are the people that this President cares about most, and the reviews are in, and everybody loved his speech. Thank you. And then on Maine, we know that the Governor of Maine has really pushed back against the President's executive order saying that boys should not be in girls' sports. I spoke with a lawmaker from Maine this morning who told me she'd been censured by state lawmakers for calling a man and speaking up on this. What is the next move in the White House in this battle to protect the integrity of women's sports? Yeah, well, the Department of Education has sued the state of Maine. As you know, there's ongoing litigation. The President has made a commitment to ensure that states are being held accountable if they continue to allow men in women's sports, which he believes is an egregious violation of taxpayer dollars. And so that fight continues, and the President won't back down. Again, this is a common sense policy. 80% of the American people, including more than 60% of Democrats, do not want men in women's sports. So the President will stand by this commitment. Thank you. Gabe, good to see you in here. Good to see you, Tamara. A couple questions. One, can you confirm that the President held talks with the big three automakers today, speaking about potentially delaying tariffs? I can confirm, and I'm glad that you asked, because the President sent me out here with a statement directly from him on this. I saw it was reported earlier today by Bloomberg News, and he wanted me to share this with all of you. We spoke with the big three auto dealers. We are going to give a one-month exemption on any autos coming through USMCA. Reciprocal tariffs will still go into effect on April 2nd, but at the request of the companies associated with USMCA, the President is giving them an exemption for one month so they are not at an economic disadvantage. So the three companies that he spoke to are Stellantis, Ford, and General Motors. They requested the call. They made the ask, and the President is happy to do it. It's a one-month exemption. The President just posted on social media that he has spoken with Prime Minister Trudeau. He says he's not satisfied with what the Prime Minister has said when it comes to fentanyl, but less than 1%, as you know, less than 1% of the fentanyl seized last year was in the northern border. What else does Canada need to do? Well, the President did just put out a statement on his call with the Governor, Justin Trudeau, as he calls him, of Canada, and he said that he was not pleased. As you said, he said it's not good enough. He told Prime Minister Justin Trudeau that directly. The call ended in a somewhat friendly manner, as the President said, but he's not going to stop standing up for the American people. And to answer your question directly when it comes to fentanyl, for the last four years, unfortunately, our neighbors to the north and the south, Canada and Mexico, respectively, have allowed America to be a dumping ground, not just for illegal aliens, but for illegal, poisonous, deadly fentanyl, which is now the number one killer of young people in this country, aged 18 to 34. Through the northern border in Canada, in the last fiscal year alone, there was enough fentanyl seized to kill 4.8 billion people, and that number is up 2,050 percent from 2023, the year before. So there's been more than a 2,000 percent increase in illegal fentanyl seizure at the northern border. Why? Because Canada is allowing that fentanyl to come to the United States. The President sees these numbers. He thinks about the lives that are lost. And everybody in this room, I'm sure everybody watching at home, everybody across the country knows someone in our lives who has been killed at the hands of this deadly poison. There needs to be repercussions for that. The President feels very strongly about it. I just told you, last year alone, there was a 2,000 percent increase in illegal fentanyl. You're asking me for what the President's justification is for these tariffs. It's not up to you. You're not the President, Gabe. And frankly, I think it's a little bit disrespectful to the families in this country who have lost loved ones at the hands of this deadly poison. If you talk to them, and this President has, they are grateful that they finally have a President who is standing up to both Canada and Mexico, and most importantly, to China as well. The President added an additional 10 percent tariff on China, because this deadly poison is being produced in that country. It's being distributed through our neighbors, and there needs to be consequences for that, period. Peter. Thank you, Caroline. If the U.S. has a long-standing policy that we do not negotiate with terrorists, then why is the U.S. now negotiating directly and for the first time ever with Hamas? Well, when it comes to the negotiations that you're referring to, first of all, the special envoy who's engaged in those negotiations does have the authority to talk to anyone. Israel was consulted on this matter. And look, dialogue and talking to people around the world to do what's in the best interest of the American people is something that the President has proven is what he believes is a good faith effort to do what's right for the American people. Is it just about the hostages, or are they also talking about the President's plan to take over now? These are ongoing talks and discussions. I'm not going to detail them here. There are American lives at stake. I would defer you to the Department of State for further details, but I'm not going to get into those talks here at this podium. We know that some officials here were miffed that Zelensky showed up last week without a suit for his meeting in the Oval Office. But Elon Musk never wears a suit. He did last night. So what is the dress code? Well, Elon Musk wore a suit last night. I'm sure you saw it. If he's spooked by Zelensky, is Zelensky getting kicked out? No, I don't think so. I'm just pointing out that he did wear a suit last night. And I think the President liked that very much. And he looked great. Speaking of the President, he just passed me a note while I'm standing here. He wanted me to hold this up. This is the poll that I cited, the CBS YouGov poll that shows that 76% of those who watched the President's speech last night approved of his speech. And so it goes to my earlier point that I made in my monologue about how incredibly sad it is that we have a modern-day Democrat Party who is so severely out of touch with the American public. This is a great poll. The ultimate poll, though, came on November 5th when the President won by an overwhelming margin that he spoke about last night. Democrats weren't happy to hear that either. Weijia. Thank you, Caroline. Back on tariffs, last night President Trump said there will be a little disturbance, but we're okay with that. Can you put a dollar figure amount on how much the average American family should expect to pay as this disturbance? And why should Americans be okay with that when so many are already struggling to pay the bills? Well, first of all, last night the President told the truth, and he was realistic, and he level-set with the American people. And I think, frankly, it's very refreshing, and everybody in this room should be very grateful that we have a President who tells the truth about the reality of the economic situation that we are in, unlike the previous President who lied to everybody's faces, saying inflation was transitory, saying it was under control, saying that the border was secure, when none of that was true. So the President is being frank and honest. And the American people elected this President to have monumental reform and change, including rebuilding our manufacturing base in this country, standing up to foreign nations who have been ripping off our country for decades. And that requires a little bit of disruption. That requires a lot of effort and work that this President is focused on doing. With that said, as the President said last night, his administration is wholeheartedly committed, of course, to ending the inflation nightmare caused by the Biden administration. Look at the deregulation efforts. Look at the President's push last night in his speech for Congress to pass tax cuts, to end taxes on Social Security and overtime pay for hardworking Americans, end taxes on tips. We need Congress to get that done, because that's gonna put more money back into the pockets of the American people. And I didn't even mention energy. Look at the President's approach and focus on unleashing the might of our energy industry. We know that's the number one driver of inflation. He's been slashing back a lot of the burdensome regulation from the previous administration to unleash our energy industry here at home, which will drive down costs. He said he is committed to making America affordable again. He did it in his first term, and Americans can trust him to do it again. The President Trump has made clear, Cameron, that he loves tariffs, but the stock market does not. How does he factor that into his decision making? Well, the President does love tariffs. He said it's one of his favorite words of the English dictionary. And he believes in tariffs because they'll ultimately make America rich again. They're gonna raise revenue. They're gonna help us pay down our debt. Most importantly, they're gonna bring American jobs here back home. So I think for folks on Wall Street who may be concerned, look at what this President did for you in his first term. Wall Street boomed. Stock market boomed. The President expects that to happen again. But most importantly, Main Street is going to boom. And that's why the President has this whole-of-government economic approach, which includes tax cuts, tariffs, regulation cuts, and an energy industry that will bring down costs for American consumers. Sure, Monica. Thank you, Caroline. You mentioned not one Democrat senator voted to protect women's sports from males. Not one Democrat congressman or congresswoman stood to applaud or support protecting women's space and sports. At the President's joint session to Congress last night, as you articulately mentioned in the beginning, so I'm wondering what message is that sending to not only young women who are competing in these sports across the country, but also to the parents of these young girls? Yeah, I think the message that Americans should take away from last night is that they have a President in the Oval Office who is committed to doing what's right for them, especially women and girls across the country. And I think it's very ironic, thank you for bringing up the point about women, that Democrat women were wearing pink to support our fellow females, yet they couldn't stand, again, for a young woman who was almost killed and severely injured by a man on the volleyball court. They couldn't stand for the mothers of two beautiful young women whose lives were taken tragically at the hands of illegal people. So you can't say you're the party of women and then support men and women's sports and not stand up for basic law and order and immigration reform that will protect women in this country. That's what President Trump is doing. He's the president for women. Lindsey, good to see you. Thank you, Caroline. Good to see you. China said yesterday that they're ready for any kind of war with the U.S. because of these tariffs that have been placed on them. And a Chinese spokesperson also said that the tariffs would not lead to a resolution of U.S. concerns about fentanyl originating in China. Can you speak to how the administration is planning on responding to that? Well, I think Secretary Hegseth has responded to that this morning. He said that America will always be prepared to defend itself, especially under the leadership of this president in the Oval Office. And that certainly remains true. Again, when it comes to tariffs, the president has been very tough on China, not just now with 20% and more with the reciprocal tariffs that will hit on April 2nd. But look at what he did in his first term. There were billions of dollars worth of tariffs that he implemented on China. And it's quite telling that the previous administration did not rescind those tariffs because they realized the value that they had in not only deterring China, but also raising revenue here in the United States. Rachel. Thanks, Caroline. Just a quick follow-up, two quick follow-ups on tariffs. The president mentioned a little disturbance during his remarks yesterday. The CEO of Target says that consumers will likely see prices go up on everything from strawberries to bananas to avocados. How long should Americans expect to pay higher prices? Are we talking a week, a couple of days, a few months? Again, I don't have a crystal ball, but what I can assure the American people is that this president and this administration is doing everything they can. And I would remind you and everybody else in this room that it's because of the previous administration's economic policies that Americans were left with record high inflation. Inflation throughout Joe Biden's entire 48 months in office was at or above 3%. It hit record highs, as you know. And there's a whole list of what the Biden economic disaster this president was left to clean up. It's been a month, but he's working hard every single day to do just that. Just one quick follow-up on the carve-out. Sorry to cut you off there. The U.S. imported $43 million worth of eggs from Canada. I know you mentioned some of the exemptions when it comes to automakers. Will there be any other carve-outs, including for eggs? We know prices are soaring for Americans. The president is open to hearing about additional exemptions. He always has open dialogue and he'll always do what's right, what he believes is right for the American people. But again, as for the egg crisis in this country, the president is wholeheartedly committed to ensuring we're increasing our egg supply and we're also bringing down cost. And Secretary Rawlings has been all over this issue. She comes from an agricultural background and family. That's why she's leading that very important department. She wrote an amazing op-ed in the Wall Street Journal. She's been all over the media talking about her plan. She has a real plan. The president endorses it. And he even gave her an off-the-prompter shout-out last night to say, Brooke, I'm counting on you. It's an important issue. And this White House is working with Secretary of Agriculture every single day to address this issue. Sure, Jordan. Thanks, Caroline. So what does it say that the Democrats, while they couldn't stand for Americans or stand for victims, they stood for war and clapped for war and clapped for five more years of war? Yeah, the president addressed that last night, I think, when he called out Senator Elizabeth Warren and said that, again, as I said in my opening speech, very telling that the Democrats refused to clap for American people and American interests and American priorities. But they did clap for the country of Ukraine, which, by the way, the president's working very hard to end that war. So Democrats should be applauding him for actually doing something about it. A follow-up on that, if I can. You've spoken recently about how what happened in the Oval Office last week gave Americans an inside look into behind the scenes discussions with Zelensky. Is this how he treated Joe Biden and just treated him disrespectfully and received billions of dollars? Well, it's a very interesting question. I don't know if anybody in here asked the previous, my predecessor who stood at this podium about that. But there was a report from NBC News that President Biden also got increasingly frustrated with President Zelensky when he was handing out blank checks and President Zelensky kept asking for more. Joe Biden was quite frustrated with that. So, again, as I've said repeatedly, Friday revealed the frustrations that this administration has had in closed-door negotiations with the Ukrainians. However, President Zelensky did put out a statement yesterday, which we believe is a positive step forward. And National Security Advisor Mike Waltz has been talking to his Ukrainian counterparts. And so we're in the midst of this and we'll see what happens next. Caitlin. Thanks, Caroline. I have two questions. One on the reprieve that is being granted to these three automakers for one month on the tariffs on Canada and Mexico. How did the president settle on one month? The reciprocal tariffs will go into effect on April 2nd. And he feels strongly about that, no matter what, no exemption. So that's where the one month comes from. Does he expect them to be able to shift production within a month? He told them that they should get on it, start investing, start moving, shift production here to the United States of America, where they will pay no tariff. That's the ultimate goal. And on the conversations between the White House and the Ukrainians and the letter that President Trump revealed last night that he got from President Zelensky, Director Ratcliffe said today that the president has paused also intelligence sharing with Ukraine. Is that temporary or is that permanent? I believe what the National Security Council told me in regards to that was that they paused or they are reconsidering the funding for Ukraine, as you saw, the pause on the funding. As for intelligence matters, I would refer you to either the National Security Council or the CIA. But they're considering lifting or reinstating the military aid to go into Ukraine, which they paused. Again, it's a pause for a review. Follow up on that. Sure. The president read parts of the letter that he received last night from President Zelensky. Can you give us a sense of when President Trump now plans to sign that minerals deal after receiving that letter? Those talks are happening as we speak. I just saw the National Security Advisor. He's working very hard on it. I believe he was going into the Oval Office to give the president an update on where this stands. But again, the president is committed to a peace deal. He wants to see this war end. And I think that President Zelensky's message, which he also shared on X as well, is a positive sign in the right direction. The president also said that the United States was reclaiming the Panama Canal. The president of Panama this morning, or at some point today, said that President Trump was lying. Wanted to get your response to that. And also curious if the president had a reason for not specifically mentioning BlackRock last night when he was praising the company that is buying canals or ports around the Panama Canal. Yeah, I'm not sure if Panama has seen what's going on with their own canal. But as you just mentioned, BlackRock is now interested in investing and taking over the two ends of the port, which is very important, because the president was very vocal several weeks ago about the need to ensure that China is not controlling the Panama Canal. This is a very important place for the United States of America. We also saw that the Panama Canal lifted fees on our U.S. naval ships that are going in and out of the canal. That's a win for the United States of America. And the president will continue to ensure that the Chinese government, the CCP, cannot be infiltrated in the Western Hemisphere, and certainly not in the Panama Canal, which is a very important place for our country. Dasha. The president continues to call the prime minister of Canada, Justin Trudeau, governor of Canada. I'm curious what he means by that and if there are any plans that are moving forward with trying to make Canada the 51st state. And I have a follow-up on the economy as well. Sure. Well, the president put that in his true social account, or his true social post earlier today. He feels strongly that it would be very beneficial for the Canadian people to be the 51st state of the United States. They wouldn't be paying for these tariffs. They'd have much lower taxes if they were part of our great country. You know, on the economy, you and I traveled the country during the campaign. This is an issue that so many voters decided to cast their ballots on, and they voted for President Trump. He has started to have that realistic conversation with the American people, that disturbance comment last night. But I'm curious if you can be real with Americans right now as all of these factors are playing out. Are things potentially going to get worse before they get better? Look, I've now been asked and answered this same question just given to me in different verbiage of three different times. And I will answer it again in an effort of transparency to the American people because this is an important issue and the American people, this president understands that it is. And again, that's why in his joint address to Congress last night, he addressed this issue with a realistic and honest approach. He talked about what this administration is doing to unleash American energy and to make America affordable again. And this administration is wholeheartedly committed to doing it. And I would remind the American public that the first term record of this president speaks volumes. That's why they reelected him because they know that he can fix our broken economy. And it's very, very broken from the previous administration. Stephen. Thank you, Caroline. I've got two questions on press access, the other on fentanyl and tariffs. Sure. On press access, your predecessor, Corinne Jean-Pierre, presided over many novel press access restrictions. Criticized the recent changes to the press pool made by your office. She said in an interview, quote, what we're looking at is what North Korea is doing. What's your response to that? And can you say anything to allay concerns that unfavorable coverage will be punished in this new press pool system? I think that's the same individual who said from this podium numerous times that the commander-in-chief was mentally and physically up for the job, which we knew was a lie. Many people in this room knew it was a lie. Many of you were admonished for asking questions about that truth. And so when it comes to truth and transparency, this administration, this White House is setting the example. This president is taking far more questions than his predecessor, Joe Biden, did on a daily basis. And that will continue. And on fentanyl and tariffs, fentanyl produced largely in China has killed 334,000 Americans over five years. According to CDC data, that's about one in every thousand Americans. President Trump has cited this for applying new tariffs to Canada, Mexico, and China. But in addition to China's talk about being ready for any kind of war, they said yesterday, the foreign ministry said that, quote, the fentanyl issue is a flimsy excuse to raise U.S. tariffs and, quote, U.S., not anyone else is responsible for the fentanyl crisis. So what's the response to China that the talk of fentanyl is just an excuse for tariffs? And what does that say about the resolution? Well, of course, the country that is getting very rich off of distributing this deadly poison to American citizens is going to say that. Again, the president knows where the American people stand on this issue. Fentanyl overdoses, Dasha brought up all of us campaigning all across the country. They talked about inflation. They also talked about the border, the illegal immigrants that were pouring through, but also these deadly drugs. And again, the president keeps in mind those families every single day when he is making these tough decisions. But it's a necessary decision, and he's no longer going to allow the United States of America to be a dumping ground for illegal immigrants and for illegal drugs that are killing our nation's people. This is the number one leading cause of death in our country, and there needs to be action taken to ensure that that cannot continue. Thank you very much, guys. We'll see you later.