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| Pursuant to clause 12A of Rule 1, the chair declares the House in recess, subject to the call of the chair. | ||
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Today in the U.S. House, lawmakers are considering resolutions to repeal Biden administration rules on rubber tire emissions and appliance energy conservation. | |
| Votes have been scheduled for 4 p.m. Eastern this afternoon. | ||
| Under the Congressional Review Act, Congress can vote to disapprove any federal rule within 60 days of issuance. | ||
| Also, lawmakers are still negotiating a federal government funding bill. | ||
| Current funding expires after March 14th. | ||
| Watch live coverage of the House when members return here on C-SPAN. | ||
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| Democracy in real time. | ||
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Live now to the White House, where Press Secretary Caroline Levitt is briefing reporters the day after President Trump's address to Congress. | |
| 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. | ||
| Lindsay, good to see you. | ||
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unidentified
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Thank you, Caroline. | |
| Good to see you. | ||
| So, speaking of tariffs, 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 Hagseth 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. | ||
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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 in 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 a little bit. | ||
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unidentified
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Just a 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 costs. | ||
| And Secretary Rollins 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, you know, 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 the Secretary of Agriculture every single day to address this issue. | ||
| Sure. | ||
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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, you know, 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. | ||
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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. | ||
| So 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 Rockliffe 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. | ||
| So they're considering lifting the or reinstating the military aid going to Ukraine, which they paused this year. | ||
| Again, it's a pause for a review. | ||
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unidentified
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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. | ||
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unidentified
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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 Commission. | ||
| 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. | ||
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unidentified
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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. | ||
| Caroline, 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 re-elected 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, one on press access, the other on fentanyl and tariffs. | ||
| Sure. | ||
| On press access, your predecessor, Karen 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 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, the 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. | ||
| Dasho 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. | ||
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unidentified
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Thanks, Caroline. | |
| Thank you. | ||
| Do we know what autobrands are actually ? | ||
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C-SPAN wants you, our viewers, to have a voice in the White House briefing room. | |
| If you have a question for Press Secretary Caroline Levitt, then send us an email to whQuestions at c-span.org. | ||
| Be sure to include your first name and city and state, and you might hear your question asked at the next briefing. | ||
| Texas Congressman Sylvester Turner has died, his death coming just months after he won the Texas 18th Congressional District race to replace former Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee after she died this past July. | ||
| Sylvester Turner was the mayor of Houston, Texas for eight years, and he served 27 years in the Texas House. | ||
| He reportedly was in attendance at President Trump's address to the nation on Tuesday. | ||
| Houston's current mayor, John Whitmire, has said, We've lost an outstanding public official. | ||
| No one will be able to step into Sylvester's shoes and carry on his duties because there was only one Sylvester Turner. | ||
| Representative Turner was 70 years old. | ||
| Mr. Speaker, on this historic day, the House of Representatives opens its proceedings for the first time to televised coverage. | ||
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| Is this Mr. Brian Lamb? | ||
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|
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Your gift today preserves open access to government and ensures the public stays informed. | |
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| And thank you. | ||
| A lengthy speech last night. | ||
| Here's the 30,000-foot view of what the major themes from last night's speech. | ||
| ABC News reporting on matters of the economy and focus on that, saying that Mr. Trump said the focus on how to defeat inflation will be on reducing the cost of energy and taxpayer savings through Doge. | ||
| Mr. Trump meanwhile offered a defense of his tariffs against Canada, China, and Mexico. | ||
| Reuters picking up the foreign policy aspects of last night's speech, saying Mr. Trump said he received that letter earlier in the day from the Ukrainian president saying he was ready to sign a proposed critical minerals deal. | ||
| Mr. Trump also said the mastermind of a 2021 bombing during the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan had been detained. | ||
| The Washington Times this morning, focusing on the speech discussion and topics when it comes to immigration, saying the president also took credit for, quote, swift and unrelenting action on immigration, noting that the border crossings are down significantly from last year. | ||
| He promised to keep America's border secure. | ||
| And the Washington Post, focusing on the Democratic reaction to last night's speech, saying that Representative Al Green got the night off when an inauspicious start by hollering at Mr. Trump and refusing to back down, with House Speaker Mike Johnson ultimately having him removed from the chamber. | ||
| Democrats also held up signs that said things like Musk steals and false in response to Mr. Trump's claims. | ||
| That's just some of the themes from last night. | ||
| We'll talk about more and show you more as we go throughout the course of the morning. | ||
| No guest, but we're going to focus on you and you can make comments on last night's address by the president. | ||
| 202748-8000 for Democrats. | ||
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| And Independents, 202748-8002. | ||
| You can text us at 202-748-8003 and post on our social media sites. | ||
| Joining us also this morning through the course of the morning is John McCartle to give you some highlights from last night's speech. | ||
| Morning, Pedro. | ||
| You went through some of the themes of the speech there. | ||
| Let me give you the speech by the numbers. | ||
| And first, it's the length of this speech, notable because it was the longest annual presidential address ever at this point at about a little few seconds under 100 minutes. | ||
| Let me show you the C-SPAN chart so you can see a comparison to the length of previous presidential first addresses. |