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unidentified
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Catch Washington today, weekdays of 5 p.m. and 9 p.m. Eastern. | |
| Listen to C-SPAN programs on C-SPAN Radio, anytime, anywhere. | ||
| C-SPAN, Democracy Unfiltered. | ||
| Next, White House Press Secretary Caroline Levitt answering questions about a court order compelling the Trump administration to work to bring back a Maryland man who was mistakenly deported to El Salvador. | ||
| Kilmar Obrego-Garcia was removed from the U.S. under the Alien Enemies Act of 1798. | ||
| This week, the Supreme Court ordered the government to facilitate his return. | ||
| Good afternoon, everybody. | ||
| Happy Friday. | ||
| As you all know, the president is currently undergoing his routine and long-scheduled physical at Walter Reed Medical Center, and we will have a readout from the White House physician. | ||
| Last night, Cassina Carolina arrived back safely in the United States after being detained in Russia for more than a year. | ||
| Since Inauguration Day, President Trump and his team have secured the release of more than 40 detained Americans abroad. | ||
| This is more than half of the number of Americans released by Joe Biden in four years, and President Trump has brought these Americans home in 80 days. | ||
| This administration will continue to work hard to bring Americans home from around the world. | ||
| As I've said before, and I will say it again today, everybody in this room has access to the most transparent and accessible president in American history. | ||
| The cabinet meeting yesterday was further proof. | ||
| President Trump asked each secretary to provide an update to all of you and the media on the critical work they are doing at their respective agencies to deliver on his agenda. | ||
| And according to new reporting from the Washington Times, who I believe is in this room today, President Trump answered nearly 100 questions from the press, all of you, during his first three open press cabinet meetings this year. | ||
| That's nearly 20 times the number answered by Joe Biden in cabinet meetings during his entire four years in office. | ||
| In more excellent economic news that was released yesterday, the Consumer Price Index report showed inflation fell to 2.4% in March, smashing expectations for the second straight month in a row. | ||
| This marked the first drop in consumer prices dating all the way back to the COVID pandemic. | ||
| Prescription drug prices saw the largest monthly decline on record. | ||
| Prices for airfare, used vehicles, and car insurance all decreased as well. | ||
| And energy prices fell 2.4% in March, driven by plummeting gas prices around the country. | ||
| Also yesterday, House Republicans answered President Trump's call to move forward the budget resolution and officially set the stage for the passage of one big, beautiful bill. | ||
| The American economy will boom after this bill is passed and the rest of the president's pro-growth agenda goes into effect. | ||
| The largest tax cuts and deregulation in history, coupled with our energy industry unleashed and renegotiated trade agreements that put America first, are the ultimate formula to usher in the golden age of America. | ||
| On that note, more than 75 countries have now reached out to the Trump administration, eager to address the trade issues that have exploited America and hurt our workers in the process. | ||
| The phones have been ringing off the hook to make deals. | ||
| And these countries wisely heeded President Trump's warning not to retaliate. | ||
| And as a result, they were rewarded with a 90-day pause and substantially lower reciprocal tariff rates during this period so potential solutions can be achieved. | ||
| Past presidents just willingly accepted the failed status quo on trade that ripped off our workers and our companies. | ||
| But that's not who this president is. | ||
| He creates his own leverage and negotiates deals better than anyone else who has sat in the Oval Office before him. | ||
| And that process is currently underway. | ||
| On another matter, the deadline for registration under the Alien Registration Act is today. | ||
| All foreign nationals present in the United States longer than 30 days must register with the federal government. | ||
| Failure to comply with this is a crime, punishable by fines, imprisonment, or both. | ||
| As President Trump and Secretary Noam have both said, if you register and you leave now, you choose to self-deport. | ||
| You may have the opportunity to return later legally. | ||
| But if not, you will be arrested, fined, deported, never to return to our country again. | ||
| The Trump administration will continue to enforce our nation's immigration laws. | ||
| We will not pick and choose which laws to enforce. | ||
| We must know who is in our country for the safety and the security of our homeland and for all American citizens. | ||
| I also have a note from the First Lady to share with you on this Friday. | ||
| On Tuesday this week, First Lady Melania Trump celebrated the advancement of the Take It Down Act in the House Energy and Commerce Committee. | ||
| The important legislation passed the committee with bipartisan support. | ||
| And as you may remember, the President talked about this bill in his address to a joint session of Congress last month. | ||
| The First Lady remains dedicated to her championing child well-being, ensuring that every young person can thrive, and of course, championing her Be Best agenda. | ||
| We urge Congress to swiftly pass this important legislation. | ||
| Here in our new media seat today, we have Jordan Berman. | ||
| Jordan is a social media content creator and influencer and a lawyer who grew up following Breaking Down the News from a Neutral Perspective. | ||
| Jordan is the host of her own podcast called Unbiased Politics, where she dissects the top stories from the week from a legal perspective. | ||
| Jordan focuses on bringing back real journalism from a nonpartisan perspective and has mastered explaining complex legal decisions to a mass audience in the short-form context. | ||
| Her two biggest platforms are TikTok and Instagram, where she has roughly half a million followers on each. | ||
| With that, please kick us off, Jordan. | ||
|
unidentified
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Thank you. | |
| As you know, yesterday the House has a SAVE Act, and many married women, soon-to-be-married women, are concerned that the new voter ID requirements may inhibit their access to the polls. | ||
| What assurances can you give women voters in America to ease their concerns? | ||
| Sure. | ||
| Well, the SAVE Act, as you mentioned, was passed by the House yesterday. | ||
| This is the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility Act. | ||
| I believe I'm getting that correct. | ||
| And this act is a common sense measure. | ||
| It would require proof of citizenship for voting in our elections. | ||
| The Democrats have been fear-mongering about this bill, have been saying that married women, if their name has changed, they didn't change it on their identification, would not be able to vote. | ||
| That is a complete fallacy. | ||
| There are outlines in the bill about how to avoid that. | ||
| The President very much supports a common sense solution to ensuring that only citizens can engage in our elections. | ||
| This is critical to improving the integrity of our elections and also the trust that American citizens need to have in our electoral process. | ||
| So the President supports this bill, and that is a myth that has been proven wrong by the text of this bill. | ||
| And I believe some of the co-sponsors of the bill have been very vocal in addressing that. | ||
| And certainly, I myself, as a married woman, would not stand before this podium if the president did not support such a common sense measure. | ||
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unidentified
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Thank you. | |
| For my next question, I actually want to give a voice to the American people. | ||
| I sourced a question from one of my listeners. | ||
| Her name is Bryn. | ||
| She is from Oregon. | ||
| And she asked, what, if any, plans do you have, the administration, for the money that will be generated by tariffs imposed on foreign goods? | ||
| How will the administration facilitate the development of American industries when many critical components, labor parts, etc., are much cheaper and more feasible from foreign entities? | ||
| It's a great question from your listener, and I want to thank her for submitting it to you to ask. | ||
| That's the part of the new media seat is so that everyday Americans across the country have a voice in this room. | ||
| So thank you again for being here. | ||
| Thanks for the question. | ||
| The President's point about his trade and tariff agenda is to bolster our manufacturing industries here in our country, to bring down the cost of living here in our country, and to ensure that we are maintaining critical supply chains here in America. | ||
| We cannot be dependent on countries like China if we want this country to be strong and wealthy. | ||
| So the President wants to restore wealth to America by shoring up these jobs here at home, which will result in good paying jobs and higher wages for the American public. | ||
| And so Americans should trust in that process. | ||
| He effectively implemented tariffs in his first term while driving down the cost of living in this country, and that's what he's focused on doing against. | ||
| Thank you. | ||
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unidentified
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As a follow-up question, can I just ask, are there any specific ideas that the administration has as to what that revenue, specific tariff I'm sure will be used for? | |
| Yes, to the heart of your question, the President has spoke about the trillions of dollars that he expects in revenue from tariffs and how we can use it to pay down our debt and to ensure that we are no longer faced with a crippling national debt in the trillions that is going to bankrupt our nation for future generations. | ||
| So that money coming back home will make America in the green rather than in the red, which any small business owner across the country, I believe, can appreciate. | ||
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unidentified
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Thank you so much. | |
| Thank you. | ||
| Kelly. | ||
| Tomorrow there will be negotiations between the United States and Iran through a month. | ||
| What are the President's chief goals for that and is he satisfied with how Iran is responding to this? | ||
| They don't want direct face-to-face negotiations, instead sort of old school shuttle diplomacy where they're in separate rooms and messages are passed back and forth. | ||
| So is the president comfortable with the arrangement there and what is the chief objective? | ||
| Well I have spoken to both the president and also his national security team who will be engaged in these discussions. | ||
| These will be direct talks with the Iranians and I want to make that very clear. | ||
| I also spoke to the president just last night about his goal when it comes to Iran and he has reiterated repeatedly to all of you publicly and also privately to his team here at the White House his ultimate goal and the ultimate objective is to ensure that Iran can never obtain a nuclear weapon. | ||
| The president believes in diplomacy, direct talks, talking directly in the same room in order to achieve that goal. | ||
| But he's made it very clear to the Iranians and his national security team will as well that all options are on the table and Iran has a choice to make. | ||
| You can agree to President Trump's demand or there will be all hell to pay and that's how the president feels. | ||
| He feels very strongly about it. | ||
|
unidentified
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And can you update us on Mr. Witkoff in Russia and what's happening with direct communications with Vladimir Putin? | |
| I can confirm that Mr. Witkoff is in Russia to have direct communications with the Kremlin and with Vladimir Putin. | ||
| This is another step in the negotiating process towards a ceasefire and an ultimate peace deal in Russia and Ukraine. | ||
| As these negotiations are ongoing, I obviously will not get ahead of the president or his team, but I think the president has been quite clear that he's been continually frustrated with both sides of this conflict and he wants to see this fighting end. | ||
| He wants the war to end. | ||
| We believe we have leverage in negotiating a deal, a peace deal, and we're going to use that leverage. | ||
| And the president is determined to see this through. | ||
| Thanks, Carolyn. | ||
| President Trump has said China wants to make a deal on tariffs. | ||
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unidentified
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The president says he has a great relationship with Chinese President Xi. | |
| Willing to speak with him directly. | ||
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unidentified
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Why doesn't the president just pick up the phone and get this ball going? | |
| All of the things the president just said are true. | ||
| The president, as I said from the podium just a few days ago when I was up here, would be gracious if China intends to make a deal with the United States. | ||
| If China continues to retaliate, it's not good for China. | ||
| The United States of America is the strongest, best economy in the world, as evidenced by the more than 75 countries who have called the administration immediately to cut good deals. | ||
| So the president wants to do what's right for the American people. | ||
| He wants to see fair trade practices around the globe, and that's his intention and his goal. | ||
| So is he waiting for China to make the first move here? | ||
| I'm not going to comment on communications that are happening or may not be happening or either way. | ||
| We'll leave it to our national security team to get these discussions underway. | ||
| And as always, in the effort of transparency, we will provide updates moving forward. | ||
| But the president has made it very clear he's open to a deal with China. | ||
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unidentified
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Why is he optimistic that China's going to make a deal or wants to make a deal? | |
| If they're not talking, where's that optimism? | ||
| He's optimistic. | ||
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unidentified
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Why would any of our allies work with us to isolate China in a trade war if we're treating friend and foe alike? | |
| You'll have to talk to our allies who are reaching out to us. | ||
| The phones are ringing off of the hooks. | ||
| They've made it very clear they need the United States of America. | ||
| They need our markets. | ||
| They need our consumer base. | ||
| You saw Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in the Oval Office with the President saying that he was going to bring down all of their monetary tariffs and their non-monetary tariff trade barriers as well. | ||
| We've heard from South Korea. | ||
| We've heard from Japan. | ||
| The President has spoken to Vietnam. | ||
| We have Italy coming to the White House next week. | ||
| There's a reason for that, Sean, and it's because they need the United States of America and our business model and our markets to survive. | ||
| And the President is using that leverage to our advantage. | ||
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unidentified
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Aboard Air Force One heading to Miami, President Trump answered questions from reporters. |