Dec. 1, 2025 - The Benny Show - Benny Johnson
01:07:08
Participants
| 
| Speaker | Time | Text |
|---|---|---|
| And here's Minnesota. | ||
| Republicans are making it clear that this widespread fraud happened on Tim Waltz's watch, and he should own it. | ||
| It started with emergency COVID money, and it went on for years. | ||
| 50 people have been convicted, 78 are charged. | ||
| The suspects are concentrated in Minnesota's Somali community. | ||
| And since the Somalis have grown into a powerful political voting bloc, Minnesota Democrats, particularly Governor Tim Waltz, are accused of turning a blind eye to the fraud. | ||
| One attorney involved in the case reportedly said the state ignored all the red flags. | ||
| It was like someone was stealing from a cookie jar and they kept refilling it. | ||
| An account for the Department of Human Services, representing 480 members, posted on X. Tim Waltz is 100% responsible for massive fraud in Minnesota. | ||
| Tim Waltz systematically retaliated against whistleblowers. | ||
| This is a cascade of failures leading up to Tim Waltz. | ||
| The Republican House speaker and candidate for governor says the fraud exploded with Waltz in office. | ||
|
unidentified
|
He has said that he takes responsibility for putting people in jail, but he's never apologized to the taxpayers. | |
| He's never taken accountability of saying this has happened on his watch. | ||
| And he's pushed it aside until I, as Speaker of the House, established the Fraud Prevention and Agency Oversight Committee this legislative session, and it has finally drawn national attention. | ||
| The alleged fraud hits hard in three areas: a program called Feed Our Families, meant to provide meals to poor families during COVID, a housing program, and a program for autistic children. | ||
| The claim is that people were setting up bogus companies or claiming to provide services that were never delivered. | ||
| In the case of autistic children, the allegation is that parents were getting a kickback for claiming their child was autistic and getting aid for treatment. | ||
|
unidentified
|
Not a yes, sir, not a follower. | |
| Fit the box, the mold, have a scene Oh yeah, take a number I was lining me before the thunder Thunder, thunder Lightning and the thunder | ||
| There's nine of them. | ||
| Yeah. | ||
| is yeah Personally, I'm like, we have four in our lives, and select that story. | ||
| And if you pick up the story, you can pick up the story. | ||
| Maybe we can get them this one. | ||
| Maybe we can get them this one. | ||
| What? | ||
| What? | ||
| Okay, I'll take it out, thank you. | ||
| Okay, I'll take it out, thank you. | ||
| Can we close the door? | ||
| Is that cut? | ||
| Oh, you like it? | ||
| I love it. | ||
| Yeah, that's great. | ||
| I love it. | ||
| That's what you're right. | ||
| No, I love it. | ||
| Yeah. | ||
| That's why it is. | ||
| That's great. | ||
| Thank you. | ||
| Okay. | ||
| Incredible. | ||
| Thank you for being here. | ||
| Great. | ||
| Yes. | ||
| you're welcome. | ||
| I'd like pleasure. | ||
| Thanks for coming. | ||
| I'm so happy. | ||
| You're welcome. | ||
| You're welcome. | ||
| Fortunately, I've been working for a while now. | ||
| Thank you, Thank | ||
| you, Thank | ||
| you, Thank you. | ||
| Is there a lock here? | ||
| Is there a lock here? | ||
| Thank you. | ||
| Throw it up. | ||
| Thank you. | ||
| My favorite is Jackie and I. | ||
| Thank you. | ||
| It's the. | ||
| it's yeah | ||
| Thank you, Thank you, Thank | ||
| you, Thank | ||
| you, Thank you. | ||
| Thank you. Thank you. | ||
| I can get a list yet. | ||
| I don't know. | ||
| I don't know. | ||
| I think it's like a lot of fun. | ||
| Yeah, I had clocks for curve seriously. | ||
| But I also want more. | ||
| But that's I mean that's the other day. | ||
| Yeah, I guess okay. | ||
| I would have the idea of that. | ||
| So keep right by a lot of like that all the time. | ||
| Right. | ||
| I mean, it's like that. | ||
| It's not just like that. | ||
| It's been really sick. | ||
| I don't know. | ||
| I don't know. | ||
| I like it. | ||
| It's like, great. | ||
| Some are you? | ||
| Yeah. | ||
| I'm like, just be sure you get that. | ||
| This is a feature. | ||
| This is a feature. | ||
| It's a feature. | ||
| Whatever you're right. | ||
| Yeah. | ||
| So there you go. | ||
| There you go. | ||
| I like that. | ||
| I'm going to use that feature. | ||
| It's a feature. | ||
| Yeah, you can't question it. | ||
| I don't know. | ||
| I don't. | ||
| know. | ||
| Thank you. | ||
| This one's not square. | ||
| Yeah. | ||
| I'll see you next time. | ||
| Good afternoon, everybody. | ||
| I apologize for my tardiness. | ||
| We had some technical difficulties, as you can see, but I think we are ready to rock. | ||
| So, let's get to it. | ||
| I'll begin this week with some scheduling announcements for President Trump's very busy week ahead. | ||
| Tomorrow, President Trump will host his ninth cabinet meeting of the year alongside his incredible cabinet, who continue to deliver for the American people at a record pace. | ||
| Later in the afternoon tomorrow, the president will make an announcement in the Oval Office on his initiative to create Trump accounts to give the next generation of Americans a jumpstart on savings. | ||
| It will be a very exciting announcement indeed, especially for all of the parents across the country with young children and babies. | ||
| On Thursday, President Trump will host the presidents of the Republic of Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of Congo to sign the historic peace and economic agreement that he brokered. | ||
| On Thursday night, the President and the First Lady will celebrate one of America's greatest traditions: the lighting of the national Christmas tree on the ellipse. | ||
| And on Friday, President Trump will attend the FIFA World Cup final draw at the Kennedy Center. | ||
| You all will be seeing and hearing from the president every day this week. | ||
| So, you have me today, and then he will take on the rest of the week himself. | ||
| Next, I would like to address the horrific tragedy that took place in our nation's capital that last week. | ||
| A foreign terrorist that the Biden administration failed to properly vet ambushed two members of the West Virginia National Guard who were honorably serving here to keep their residents and visitors of Washington, D.C. safe. | ||
| U.S. Air Force Staff Sergeant Andrew Wolf was severely wounded in the attack and remains hospitalized while he continues to fight for his life. | ||
| Tragically, U.S. Army specialist Sarah Beckstrom died of her wounds. | ||
| She was just 20 years old. | ||
| President Trump and the entire White House are praying for Andrew's full recovery at the request of his parents and their personal phone call with the president over the weekend. | ||
| And we are keeping Sarah's family and friends in our prayers during this unimaginably difficult time. | ||
| Sarah and Andrew represent the very best of America, two young patriots who were willing to put on the uniform and risk their lives in defense of their fellow Americans. | ||
| Both of them truly embody the profound words spoken by Jesus Christ in the gospel. | ||
| Greater love has no one than this, to lay down one's life for one's friends. | ||
| Sarah and Andrew are heroes, and we will never forget their sacrifice. | ||
| That means ensuring the monster responsible for this atrocity is prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law and faces the most severe punishment possible. | ||
| It also means reckoning with why this atrocity was allowed to happen in the first place so that it may never occur again. | ||
| Here are the facts. | ||
| The terrorist who was gunned down, who gunned down American soldiers blocks away from the White House in an ambush was an Afghan national who was flown into our country by Joe Biden's administration in September 2021 in the chaotic wake of their botched withdrawal from Afghanistan, one of the most embarrassing moments in the history of our great country. | ||
| Joe Biden's historic failure in Afghanistan continues to haunt this country and our men and women in uniform. | ||
| Not only did this surrender lead to a suicide bombing that killed 13 American heroes in Kabul, but now National Guard troops were shot on U.S. soil by the same kind of enemy. | ||
| We continue to live with the deadly consequences of Joe Biden's horrific leadership. | ||
| Nearly 100,000 Afghans were recklessly released into the United States with little to no vetting. | ||
| There was no regard for the disorder and violence that this would unleash on American communities and American culture. | ||
| Reportedly, thousands of these strangers and unknown individuals were flagged to the Biden administration for national security, public safety, and fraud concerns. | ||
| But the terrifying truth is that the Afghanistan debacle is just a small part of Democrats' complete and total betrayal of the American people during the Biden years. | ||
| The tragedy that we just witnessed the day before Thanksgiving is a reminder that untold thousands of terrorists, gang members, and criminals were invited into our country and remain here to this very day. | ||
| The border is now secure, thanks to President Trump, but the threat in our interior remains real and urgent. | ||
| These public safety threats are already inside our land. | ||
| And President Trump was elected on a promise to find and remove them. | ||
| And he has already taken significant steps and made significant progress towards fulfilling this promise. | ||
| But there is more work to be done because President Trump believes that he has a sacred obligation to reverse the calamity of mass unchecked migration into our country. | ||
| As a result, the Trump administration is now actively reexamining all of the Afghans imported into the country by Joe Biden. | ||
| Any individual who threatens our national security or our citizenry will be subject to removal. | ||
| President Trump has already permanently paused migration of foreign nationals from third world countries that pose a very high risk to the United States. | ||
| For too long, past American presidents supported self-destruction, self-destructive immigration policies that allowed foreigners who outright hate our country and have no interest in assimilating into our culture. | ||
| they've allowed these individuals to flood peaceful American communities. | ||
| This disastrous approach has drained our welfare program, driven up the cost of housing, suppressed wages, and jeopardized the safety of law-abiding American citizens. | ||
| In fact, according to a new bombshell report from the New York Times, Somalian migrants in Minnesota have defrauded nearly $1 billion in taxpayer-funded benefits under Democrat Governor Walt's leadership. | ||
| President Trump is putting an end to this dangerous America-last approach. | ||
| His position is rooted in common sense. | ||
| In the wake of last week's atrocity, it is more important than ever to finish carrying out the president's mass deportation operation. | ||
| America cannot allow millions upon millions of unvetted illegal aliens to be rewarded with amnesty after they broke our nation's laws to come here. | ||
| They must go back to their home countries. | ||
| It is also essential to immediately address the massive fraud and corruption that has been going on for decades in other aspects of our immigration system, most notably when it comes to asylum claims. | ||
| Millions of people who have come here under false pretenses are told blatant and told blatant lies now enjoy temporary legal status. | ||
| President Trump is ending this scam as well. | ||
| And I would point out that the Democrats have tried to block this administration from doing so at every turn with lawsuit after lawsuit. | ||
| The hard truth is that even when it comes to our legal immigration system, past presidents have failed to ensure that all prospective citizens love America, will add value and contribute to our communities, and will assimilate into our culture. | ||
| Leaders have a duty to defend and advance the interests of their own people, not foreign nationals. | ||
| Leaders also have a duty to preserve the integrity and character of our nation's national identity. | ||
| That is why President Trump is more committed than ever to fully restoring American sovereignty by keeping our borders secure, removing all illegal alien invaders, and rebuilding a legal immigration system that makes sense and benefits our country. | ||
| President Trump has no higher responsibility than to defend our homeland and our people, and he will never waver in doing so. | ||
| With that, I will open it up to questions and will lead today with Isabel Brown, who is in our new media seat. | ||
| She's a very popular face on television these days. | ||
| She's built a great independent media podcast and platform with the Daily Wire, and I appreciate your being here, Isabelle. | ||
| Thank you. | ||
| Thank you, Caroline. | ||
| I appreciate it and appreciate the briefing. | ||
| Many Americans, in light of these recent events that you just mentioned, are starting to say that we are being invaded as a country, culturally and logistically, when it comes to immigration. | ||
| And we know that immigration without assimilation is indeed invasion. | ||
| So given the recent remarks from Vice President Vance on a college campus about dramatically reducing legal immigration to address some of this crisis and President Trump's Truth Social post last week about individuals who may be non-compatible with Western civilization, are there any conversations happening or plans being made behind the scenes for the administration to implement at least a temporary immigration moratorium, for example, in light of what the American people might be calling for? | ||
| So Isabelle, it's a great question. | ||
| I think I spoke a little bit to the heart of your question in my opener there. | ||
| I would add that the Trump administration has done more to limit migration, both illegal and legal, than any administration in history. | ||
| And I'll just walk you through some of the actions that we have taken thus far. | ||
| Number one, the Trump administration issued a travel ban for 19 countries, including Afghanistan. | ||
| Special immigrant visas, which is a legal pathway to get here, which we know many Afghans have utilized to come into the country, have now been paused since the tragic shooting last week. | ||
| Refugee admissions were suspended for Afghans from this administration on day one, and refugee admissions into the country right now are essentially at zero, with the exception of Afrikaners fleeing persecution in South Africa. | ||
| The State Department has also heightened their scrutiny and vetting of all visas and have revoked visas, as you know, for those who do not align with our country's national interests. | ||
| The Secretary of State has the right to do that, and we've taken unprecedented action to do just that. | ||
| We are also now pausing all asylum adjudications for additional vetting as well. | ||
| And so additional actions I don't have to read out for you today, but I would just remark that the president has made tremendous progress on this front. | ||
| And it's why it's so crucial that we not only secure the borders, which the president did in record time. | ||
| We have zero illegal aliens entering into the country month after month, but we also are taking a look at those who are already in the interior of our country and removing them if they are here illegally and also taking a look at these visas. | ||
| Again, having a visa in the United States is not a right, it is a privilege. | ||
| And the Secretary of State, if you are deemed contrary to our country's foreign national interests, has the right to revoke that privilege. | ||
| Thank you. | ||
|
unidentified
|
Gabe. | |
| Caroline. | ||
| Excuse me. | ||
| Regarding Venezuela, the president said yesterday that Secretary Hegset had denied that that second strike, the reported second strike, on an alleged drug vote on September 2nd. | ||
| The Secretary said to the president that that didn't happen. | ||
| But to clarify, I just wanted to clear this up. | ||
| In his social media post, Secretary Hegset didn't go into details about that strike. | ||
| He just said U.S. operations in the area were lawful, and he said that the story and media reports were fabricated. | ||
| So to be clear, does the administration deny that that second strike happened or did it happen and the administration denies that Secretary Hegset gave the order? | ||
| The latter is true, Yabe. | ||
| And I have a statement to read for you here. | ||
| President Trump and Secretary Hegseth have made it clear that presidentially designated narco-terrorist groups are subject to lethal targeting in accordance with the laws of war. | ||
| With respect to the strikes in question on September 2nd, Secretary Hegseth authorized Admiral Bradley to conduct these kinetic strikes. | ||
| Admiral Bradley worked well within his authority and the law, directing the engagement to ensure the boat was destroyed and the threat to the United States of America was eliminated. | ||
| And I would just add one more point to remind the American public why these lethal strikes are taking place, because this administration has designated these narco-terrorists as foreign terrorist organizations. | ||
| The president has a right to take them out if they are threatening the United States of America and if they are bringing illegal narcotics that are killing our citizens at a record rate, which is what they are doing. | ||
| And under the previous administration, there was enough fentanyl into our country to kill every American man, woman, and child many times over. | ||
| And so that's why you've seen a drastic difference in this administration's policy with respect to the last. | ||
| And it's one of the many reasons the American public re-elected this president and support this Secretary of War in conducting these strikes. | ||
|
unidentified
|
To clarify, Admiral Bradley was the one who gave that order for a second strike. | |
| And he was well within his authority to do so. | ||
|
unidentified
|
A separate question. | |
| The president several days ago said it was his intention to pardon the former president of Honduras, who was a convicted drug trafficker. | ||
| And yesterday on Air Force One, the president said that if someone sells drugs in that country, that doesn't mean you arrest the president and put him in jail for the rest of his life. | ||
| How is that different than what the administration is accusing Benezuela's Nicolas Maduro? | ||
| You're cherry-picking the president's statement a little bit yesterday, as he also said yesterday. | ||
| The people of Honduras have highlighted to him how the former president Hernandez was set up. | ||
| This was a clear Biden over prosecution. | ||
| He was the president of this country. | ||
| He was in the opposition party. | ||
| He was opposed to the values of the previous administration, and they charged him because he was president of Honduras. | ||
| There were some other egregious facts that came out during this trial, and I would encourage you to report on them. | ||
| His court-appointed lawyer was only given three weeks to prepare for trial. | ||
| He shared that his conviction was lawfare by the leftist party, who quote, struck a deal with the Biden-Harris administration. | ||
| Hernandez has highlighted there was virtually no independent evidence presented, and many of his conviction was based on testimony from many admitted criminals who hoped that cooperating would reduce their own penalties. | ||
| So the president heard the concerns from many people, as he does, and he's, of course, within his constitutional authority to sign clemency for whomever he deems worthy of that. | ||
| Jackie. | ||
|
unidentified
|
Thank you, Caroline. | |
| Following from Gabe's question, you said that the follow-up strike was lawful. | ||
| What law is it that allows no survivors? | ||
| The strike conducted on September 2nd was conducted in self-defense to protect Americans in vital United States interests. | ||
| The strike was conducted in international waters and in accordance with the law of armed conflict. | ||
|
unidentified
|
And then on this pardon for the Honduran president, does it at all undercut the administration's messaging? | |
| While you have these congressional Republicans defending the strikes on the narco-terrorists and then a pardon for a convicted drug trafficker, does that make it more difficult for your members to defend your administration's policy? | ||
| I don't think so, Jackie. | ||
| I think that President Trump has been quite clear in his defense of the United States homeland to stop these illegal narcotics from coming to our borders, whether that's by land or by sea. | ||
| And he's also made it quite clear that he wants to correct the wrongs of the weaponized Justice Department under the previous administration. | ||
| And Ouija, I'll call on you because I think we're wearing matching blazers today. | ||
|
unidentified
|
Good mind. | |
| Thank you, Caroline. | ||
| So just to be clear, to clarify on Jackie and Gabe, did Admiral Bradley order that second strike because there were still survivors after the initial strike? | ||
| Again, as I read for you, Admiral Bradley worked well within his authority and the law. | ||
| He directed the engagement to ensure the boat was destroyed and the threat of narco-terrorists to the United States was completely eliminated. | ||
|
unidentified
|
Was the initial order from Secretary Hague says everyone be killed? | |
| And did that come from President Trump? | ||
| I saw that quoted in a Washington Post story. | ||
| I would reject that the Secretary of War ever said that. | ||
| However, the President has made it quite clear that if narco-terrorists again are trafficking illegal drugs towards the United States, he has the authority to kill them. | ||
| And that's what this administration is doing. | ||
|
unidentified
|
Danny MRI because President Trump yesterday said that he would release the results of his MRI. | |
| Is that happening right now? | ||
| It is happening right now. | ||
| As part of, and this is a summary from the president's physician, and we will release it right now. | ||
| I think my team has it teed up for all of you. | ||
| I'll read it for you and then you'll get it physically as well. | ||
| As part of President Trump's comprehensive executive physical, advanced imaging was performed because men in his age group benefit from a thorough evaluation of cardiovascular and abdominal health. | ||
| The purpose of this imaging is preventative to identify any issues early, confirm overall health, and ensure the president maintains long-term vitality and function. | ||
| President Trump's cardiovascular imaging was perfectly normal. | ||
| No evidence of arterial narrowing, impairing blood flow, or abnormalities in the heart or major vessels. | ||
| The heart chambers are normal in size, the vessel walls appear smooth and healthy, and there are no signs of inflammation or clotting. | ||
| Overall, his cardiovascular system shows excellent health. | ||
| His abdominal imaging is also perfectly normal. | ||
| All major organs appear very healthy and well perfused. | ||
| Everything evaluated is functioning within normal limits with no acute or chronic concerns. | ||
| In summary, this level of detailed assessment is standard for an executive physical at President Trump's age and confirms that he remains in excellent overall health. | ||
| Again, we will provide that to you. | ||
| I think that's quite a bit of detail. | ||
| And in the effort of transparency, the president promised it last night and we have delivered today. | ||
| So there you go. | ||
| Danny. | ||
|
unidentified
|
Thanks, Caroline. | |
| Just going back to Venezuela. | ||
| Can you confirm that President Trump is going to be hosting a meeting of his national security team in the Oval Office today on Venezuela? | ||
| And what are they going to discuss? | ||
| Are they hoping to reach a kind of final decision on that? | ||
| Out of the effort of transparency, I will confirm that the president will be meeting with his national security team on this subject and on many matters. | ||
| He meets with his national security team quite often. | ||
| He's the commander-in-chief. | ||
| It's part of his responsibility to ensure that peace is ongoing throughout the world. | ||
| I'm definitely not going to detail the specifics of a meeting between the president and his national security team that's taking place in the Oval Office, but I'm happy to confirm that meeting is taking place for you. | ||
|
unidentified
|
Can you tell us, is there still the position on whether troops, U.S. troops on the ground is a possibility there? | |
| I know you've answered that before, but what's the current in Venezuela? | ||
| I think my previous answer stands there's many options at the president's disposal that are on the table, and I'll let him speak on those. | ||
| Ed. | ||
|
unidentified
|
Thanks, Caroline. | |
| The U.S. announced a trade framework deal with the United Kingdom on pharmaceuticals, where they will pay 25% more and the savings theoretically will go back to American consumers. | ||
| What guarantees are in that that that savings will in fact go back to the American consumer and not be sucked up by the company? | ||
| I'm going to be honest with you, Ed. | ||
| I'll get you the answer to that question after the briefing. | ||
|
unidentified
|
The American Rescue Plan, you know, so funded a number of universal income. | |
| Cush will get you that answer, right, my trade guy over here. | ||
| The American Rescue Plan funded a number of universal basic income programs. | ||
| Now Cook County, Illinois is extending that program into 2026 with $7.5 million of taxpayer money. | ||
| What does the White House think about that? | ||
| I'll also get you an answer on that after I'm wrapping up. | ||
|
unidentified
|
Go ahead. | |
| Sure. | ||
|
unidentified
|
And then in the interest of transparency, does the White House support releasing the Department of Defense's video of those September 2nd strikes on his military votes? | |
| And also, separate topic on presidential pardon power. | ||
| Why did the president commute the sentence of David Gentile recently? | ||
| He's a private equity executive. | ||
| He served 12 days out of a seven-year sentence. | ||
| Prosecutors said he defrauded $1.6 billion with thousands of victims, including veterans, farmers, teachers. | ||
| Why was he put in? | ||
| To your first question, that's definitely not a decision for me to make. | ||
| I would defer you to the Department of War. | ||
| It's also probably a decision for the president himself to make. | ||
| As for your second question with respect to that pardon, he issued a commutation for Mr. Gentile, who's the former CEO and co-founder of GBP Capital Holdings. | ||
| Unlike similar companies, GBP paid regular annualized distributions to its investors. | ||
| In 2015, GBP disclosed to investors the possibility of using investor capital to pay some of these distributions rather than funding them from current operations. | ||
| Even though this was disclosed to investors, the Biden Department of Justice claimed it was a Ponzi scheme. | ||
| This claim was profoundly undercut by the fact that GBP had explicitly told investors what would happen. | ||
| At trial, the government was unable to tie any supposedly fraudulent representations to Mr. Gentile. | ||
| In short, again, this is another example that has been brought to the president's attention of a weaponization of justice from the previous administration, and therefore he signed this commutation. | ||
|
unidentified
|
So say that these people were defrauded. | |
| I just read you a very detailed summary of why the commutation was made. | ||
| Sure. | ||
| In the middle with the red tie. | ||
| Andrew, go ahead. | ||
|
unidentified
|
In wake of Congresswoman Marjorie Jill's early resignation, reports last week indicated that other House Republicans might consider doing the same. | |
| Does the president have any concerns in light of those reports about other House Republicans potentially leaving early as well as the other announced retirements that we saw in the last couple of days? | ||
| Look, I think the president maintains very good relationships with the vast majority, maybe with the exception of one or two. | ||
| I think many in this room know who I'm referring to. | ||
| Very good relationships with members of Capitol Hill within the Republican Party. | ||
| And the president clearly is the unequivocal leader of the Republican Party. | ||
| I think it was a recent CNN poll that actually showed that more than 90% of Republicans continue to support President Trump as the leader. | ||
| So he maintains very good relations, as does his entire team here at the White House. | ||
| And of course, we have a very slim margin in the House, and the President wants that to continue. | ||
| Andrew, go ahead. | ||
|
unidentified
|
Sure. | |
| First one, the Venezuela strike. | ||
| You said that that second strike was in full accordance with the law of armed conflict, but the Navy's own manual of law of war says that specifically firing on survivors from a wrecked vessel is an example of a war crime that's forbidden under U.S. law and the law of armed conflict. | ||
| So how was that second strike in following law of armed conflict and then second immigration? | ||
| Again, Andrew, I would reiterate to you: the strike was conducted in international waters and in accordance with the law of armed conflict. | ||
| And since somebody asked about Congress and it's sort of related to Venezuela, I also want to add that Secretary Hegseth spoke with members of Congress who may have expressed some concerns over the weekend. | ||
| And there have also been 13 bipartisan briefings to Congress on the Venezuelan strikes. | ||
| There have been a number of document reviews for members of Congress to review the classified DOJ Office of Legal Counsel opinion and other related documents. | ||
| 29 senators and 92 representatives have reviewed those documents, which is about two-thirds of those are Democrat members. | ||
| And they have been made available to all 100 senators, all 435 members of the House, and to general counsels of the relevant committees on a bipartisan basis for their review. | ||
|
unidentified
|
During your top row, you said, and I quote, leaders also have a duty to preserve the integrity and character of our nation's national identity. | |
| Can you explain what you mean by our nation's national identity and integrity and character? | ||
| And how would refugees, people coming from warbling places who are seeking a safe haven in America, like many of our forebears in this room, not add to our nation's integrity and character of our national identity? | ||
| I'll tell you what does not add to our nation's character and integrity is refugees who come here under the alleged plight of asylum and fleeing persecution and then come to the United States to abuse our system and rip off American taxpayers. | ||
| And as I pointed out, the New York Times, to their credit, it was about six months too late, but they did write about how Somali immigrants in Minnesota have been ripping off American taxpayers. | ||
| In fact, 86 people have been charged in a rampant and widespread fraud scheme spanning multiple programs in Minnesota. | ||
| Of those 86, 78 of those people are Somali, 91% of them charged. | ||
| So far, 59 of those people have been convicted for their roles in fraud plots that have stolen $1 billion from taxpayers. | ||
| In one scheme, and this is egregious, a nonprofit and its affiliates with these Somali migrants claimed to have fed tens of thousands of American children during the pandemic. | ||
| They were reimbursed for those meals by taxpayers. | ||
| However, federal prosecutors found that almost all of those meals were never even delivered to hungry children. | ||
| In fact, those organizations' leaders spent the money on houses, luxury cars, and real estate in Turkey and Kenya. | ||
| Another scheme involved hundreds of organizations who were reimbursed for services that were supposed to help people at risk of homelessness. | ||
| Once again, those services were never provided. | ||
| All of this has happened under Democrat leadership in a Democrat-run state where these refugees, these migrants are coming to the United States. | ||
| They are abusing our system. | ||
| They are draining our resources that should be going to law-abiding, taxpayer-funded, tax-paying Americans. | ||
| And this president is not going to put up with it anymore. | ||
| Rachel. | ||
|
unidentified
|
Thank you, Caroline. | |
| Just to follow back up on the Washington Post reporting, so much of the concern from Democrats and Republicans is focused on the survivors. | ||
| Why won't the administration either confirm or deny or reveal whether or not there were survivors after that initial first strike? | ||
| And what imminent threat would two survivors pose who were clinging presumably to the wreckage of that boat? | ||
| Again, as I said, I think you guys are sort of not listening fully to the statement I've provided. | ||
| Admiral Bradley worked well within his authority and the law, directing the engagement to ensure the boat was totally destroyed and the threat to the narco-terrorists to the United States was eliminated. | ||
| And for any further questions about his thinking, I would defer you to the Department of War. | ||
| I obviously wasn't in the room for the answer. | ||
|
unidentified
|
Just to follow up, Caroline, just on the administration's policy when it comes to survivors, was there a change in policy after this strike on September 2nd? | |
| The Washington Post is reporting that these two survivors were killed after a second strike, but then in October, two people were rescued and returned to Colombia and Ecuador. | ||
| So was there a decision that was made to handle survivors differently after these strikes? | ||
| Not to my knowledge. | ||
| No. | ||
| Steve? | ||
|
unidentified
|
The president confirmed that he spoke to the Venezuelan leader. | |
| Are you trying to negotiate this departure? | ||
| Is there an asylum deal underwork? | ||
| President, as you know, last night on Air Force One, he said, I don't want to comment on that, but I did speak to him in the effort of transparency. | ||
|
unidentified
|
So there you go. | |
| You got your confirmation. | ||
| I'll let him speak further if he wishes to on the details of that conversation that took place. | ||
|
unidentified
|
Steve Witkoff is headed to Moscow. | |
| How close are you to some sort of Ukraine agreement? | ||
| I think the administration feels very optimistic. | ||
| Obviously, you've seen, Steve, that the president's entire team, including Special Envoy Witkoff and Secretary Rubio and the Vice President and the President himself, Secretary Hagseth as well, have been working so hard on this effort and they all really want to see this war come to an end. | ||
| And so just yesterday, Sunday, I believe that was yesterday, they had very good talks with the Ukrainians in Florida. | ||
| And now, of course, Special Envoy Witkoff is on his way to Russia. | ||
| This is sort of the shuttle diplomacy that you've seen from this administration play out, where we speak equally with both sides. | ||
| We've put points on paper. | ||
| Those points have been very much refined. | ||
| But as for the details, I will let the negotiators negotiate. | ||
| But we do feel quite good. | ||
| And we're hopeful that this war can finally come to an end. | ||
| Stephen. | ||
| Thank you, Caroline. | ||
| I've got a question about Ukraine and then another clarification about immigration changes that are happening. | ||
| On Ukraine, President Trump very briefly yesterday said that corruption issues there were not helpful to the peace process following the resignation on Friday of President Zelensky's top aid Andrei Jermek. | ||
| We were told from your podium in the prior administration that, quote, there is no indication that there's been any kind of widespread corruption involving U.S. resources in Ukraine. | ||
| What is the Trump administration's view of corruption issues in the wake of Irmek's resignation? | ||
| How is that impacting these folks? | ||
| Well, look, I think the president has made it quite clear, as he said last night, corruption is never helpful. | ||
| And he does not want to see American tax dollars taken advantage of, which is why he has stopped the endless checks that were being written by the previous administration to fund this war. | ||
| The United States is selling weapons to NATO that are being sent to Ukraine. | ||
| That's a very different thing than the American people writing blank checks to a war effort very far away. | ||
| It does not degrade the administration's determination to see this war come to an end, but I think it exemplifies the president's desire to always put the American people and the American taxpayer first. | ||
| On immigration, you mentioned or you emphasized that there would be a review of Afghans who were resettled here under the previous administration. | ||
| There's a lot of changes happening right now to asylum and screen card holders. | ||
| What should the 2 million people with pending asylum claims or the roughly million people from the 18 other countries of concern know about what's going on in the review? | ||
| What's the status of all these other people? | ||
| They're essentially paused for review. | ||
| And the Department of Homeland Security is taking this very seriously because we are not going to allow soldiers like we saw in American streets last week to be gunned down at the hands of these foreign nationals who had the privilege of coming to the United States of America. | ||
| And unfortunately, this is not the only example of a dangerous Afghan who was let in by Joe Biden, who went on to harm the American people. | ||
| There was an Afghan national who was led into the country under the Biden administration through Operation Allies Welcome, who shot and wounded two Fairfax, Virginia police officers during a routine traffic stop. | ||
| He was killed by return fire after declaring, I should have served with the explicit Taliban. | ||
| Two Afghan nationals were given legal status by the Biden administration as well, who were arrested and prosecuted for plotting a terrorist attack in Oklahoma just before Election Day in 2024. | ||
| We all remember that. | ||
| They possessed hundreds of rounds of ammunition and had pledged their allegiance to ISIS. | ||
| There was also an Afghan national who was on the terror watch list who was apprehended by Border Patrol in 2024, but then he was released into our country by the Biden administration. | ||
| Again, let's just highlight the absurdity of that. | ||
| Border Patrol apprehended a terrorist, and then the Biden administration, because of their lax policies, still allowed him to come into the United States of America. | ||
| I think everyone in this room, whether you want to admit it or not, does not want that individual living alongside you in your American neighborhood. | ||
| And that individual was later arrested again after being allowed to live in the U.S. at large for over a year. | ||
| Another one, a criminal illegal alien from Afghanistan, was arrested by ICE in 2025, convicted of second-degree assault, was previously allowed to stay in the country by the Biden administration. | ||
| I have several more examples here. | ||
| I'm happy to provide them to anyone in this room. | ||
| John. | ||
|
unidentified
|
Thank you, Caroline. | |
| First of all, happy Thanksgiving to you and your young family. | ||
| Hope you enjoyed it. | ||
| I have two questions unrelated. | ||
| The first, back to Afghanistan. | ||
| My son and I walked by the horrific shooting less than one hour before it happened. | ||
| So for anybody that's here, this thing's real. | ||
| You outlined all of these unvetted Afghans that were let in by Biden. | ||
| We just had one the other day that was going to blow up a DHS building. | ||
| Can you be specific on what the Trump administration is doing now to re-vet those that are here so that we don't get a repeat of what we had Wednesday night? | ||
| Sure. | ||
| I can tell you two top-level things, and I would defer you to DHS for more of the specifics, as of course, they are leading this effort. | ||
| And I can assure you, Secretary Noam is on the ball. | ||
| I've spoken with her and her team, and they have an all-hands-on-deck effort to having resources go towards this. | ||
| But we have paused all asylum adjudications. | ||
| And then, of course, the special immigrant visas, which we know many Afghans utilize to come into the country under the Biden administration, have also now been paused. | ||
| And I would just point out one more time that the Biden administration was responsible for the original sin that led to this tragic killing last week, the botched withdrawal from Afghanistan. | ||
| He was responsible for Operation Allies Welcome, which is something that this White House and the people behind this podium in the last administration fully and wholeheartedly embraced. | ||
| And they assured the American people there would be no risk or no harm to them. | ||
| And as I just laid out for you in those many examples, that unfortunately and tragically has not turned out to be the truth. | ||
| Just ask the families of these two brave National Guardsmen, one who is no longer with us and one who continues to fight for his life. | ||
| So I know the president is wholeheartedly focused on this effort. | ||
| And I think unfortunately these events do remind us why it's so important that the president's mass deportation operation continues. | ||
|
unidentified
|
With that, the White House today launched a new fake news portal, which I found interesting. | |
| What is your objective with that ultimately? | ||
| And are you going to name the news networks? | ||
| And are you also going to name some of the correspondents, some which may be here today? | ||
| Yes, we are. | ||
| I'm glad you noticed, much to the dismay of some of your colleagues in the room, John. | ||
| And I think it goes to our original promise on day one to hold the media accountable because unfortunately, and we deal with this all day, every day around here, there are so many fake stories that are unfortunately written that have inaccurate characterizations of meetings that took place. | ||
| And it's all based on anonymous sourcing. | ||
| And, you know, the standard for journalism, unfortunately, has dropped to such a historic low in this country. | ||
| And again, we deal with it every day, where you can have an anonymous source who has no idea what they're talking about, zero credibility, call up a reporter in Washington and say, hey, I heard this. | ||
| And then the next thing you know, it's on the front page of the New York Times. | ||
| It's really incomprehensible. | ||
| We appreciate the journalists, some of those who are in this room who do reach out for comment, who try to get things right. | ||
| And there are some that remain. | ||
| But overwhelmingly, the fake news that we see pumped out of this building on a day-to-day basis, it's honestly overwhelming to keep up with it all and to constantly have to defend against these fake news and these attacks. | ||
| And I will point out one fake news story over the weekend before I let you all go from the New York Times that took about one-third of the president's daily calendar and his daily schedule and said that he's doing less than he did in his first term or he might not be fit for the job. | ||
| That is unequivocally false. | ||
| And it's deeply unfortunate that this story was written by the same outlet and the same reporter who wrote this. | ||
| Biden is doing 100% fine after tripping while boarding Air Force One. | ||
| Oh, same outlet, same reporter who wrote that President Trump is not fit for the job. | ||
| Are you kidding me? | ||
| You all see him almost every single day. | ||
| He is the most accessible president in history. | ||
| He is taking meetings around the clock. | ||
| Another one, Biden declared, quote, healthy and vigorous after his first presidential physical. | ||
|
unidentified
|
Hmm. | |
| I don't see headlines like that too often about this president. | ||
| Again, same reporter, same outlet who wrote falsely over the weekend that President Trump is not fit for the job. | ||
| I can assure you, he absolutely is. | ||
| You all see that with your own eyes on a daily basis. | ||
| And the president's physician has now given you all three detailed reports on the state of the president's health. | ||
| So with that, I will leave you all and we'll see you tomorrow. | ||
| Thank you. | ||
|
unidentified
|
Thank you. | |
| Wrong answer. | ||
| Be nice. | ||
| I'd hate to have to come back here. | ||
| From the speeches to the baits, Benny sharp like a blade. | ||
| Cutting through the lies, watch the truth cascade. | ||
| With the warrior's heart, this man never fades. | ||
| You know it's prime time when Benny invades. | ||
| From saving the nation to stories untold. | ||
| The Benny shows a storm, see the truth unfold. | ||
| Stay in the loop, let freedom take hold. | ||
| Salt in all the lips, soul never slow. | ||
| It's the benny show where the truth gon' be. | ||
| Faith and freedom on your TV screen. | ||
| Stand up strong, battle through the night. | ||
| The benny shows here, bringing liberty to light. | ||
| Liberty to light. | ||
| Bringing liberty to light. | ||
| Liberty to light. | ||
| Bringing liberty to light. | ||
| From the speeches to the baits, Benny sharp like a blade. | ||
| Cutting through the lies, watch the truth cascade. | ||
| With the warrior's heart, this man never fades. | ||
| You know it's prime time when Benny invades. | ||
| From saving the nation to stories untold. | ||
| The Benny shows a storm, see the truth unfold. | ||
| Stay in the loop, let freedom take hold. | ||
| Salting all the lips, soul never sold. | ||
| It's the benny show where the truth gon' be. | ||
| Faith and freedom on your TV screen. | ||
| Stand up strong, battle through the night. | ||
| The Benny shows here, bringing liberty to light. | ||
| Bringing liberty to light. |
Export Selection