Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt Briefs Members of the Media, Oct. 6, 2025

Hey, Steve, how are you? Glad you're so excited to see me today. All righty. Good afternoon, everybody, and happy Monday. Let's get to it. And we'll begin with a few scheduling announcements. Today, President Trump will be hosting the Canadian Prime Minister, Mark Carney tomorrow for a working meeting here at the White House. On Thursday, the president will host his eighth cabinet meeting alongside his incredible team. Also on Thursday afternoon, President Trump will host the president of Finland, Alexander Stubb, for a working meeting here at the White House. The president also wanted me to relay his congratulations to Japan for electing their next prime minister, a highly respected person who also happens to be the first female to hold the position for our great ally. While President Trump continues to negotiate peace deals, meets with world leaders, and celebrates the 250th birthday of our United States Navy, as you saw he and the first lady do just yesterday, Democrats, unfortunately, are continuing to play political games. And we are now in day six of the Democrat federal government shutdown. Millions of American federal workers are under enormous financial stress as a result of wondering how they will pay their bills and take care of their families. If the Democrats do not vote to open the government tonight, federal workers will not receive their next full paycheck. Additionally, the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children will run out of federal money very soon. This program provides vouchers to buy infant formula, fresh fruits and vegetables, and other healthy foods for low income families. It can be easily fully funded if Democrats simply vote tonight to reopen the government. Also, our incredible military service members who risk their lives to preserve and defend our country are now working without pay and will miss their next paychecks if this Democrat shutdown does not end. Tonight, the Republican backed clean and nonpartisan funding bill fully funds this important food aid program, gets our troops paid, and reopens the government. So all of this begs the question, what is the Democrat ongoing shutdown truly about? The sad truth, we believe is that the Democrats intentionally shut down the government and are inflicting this pain on American citizens to try and demand free health care for illegal aliens. Of course, this is an indefensible and truly radical policy to be in favor of, let alone to use as the primary reason to shut down the United States government. So the Democrats and their allies are desperately lying about their true motivations. We have to set the record straight with the facts so the American people understand what's really at play here. House Republicans passed a clean and nonpartisan funding bill to keep the government open and ensure our troops and other hardworking Americans are paid. Every single House Democrat except one voted against this clean and nonpartisan funding bill. Senate Republicans have subsequently tried to pass this same clean funding bill four separate times and they will do so again tonight to fully pass it to be sent to the President's desk for signature. And the President is ready to sign this bill to reopen the government as soon as it is sent to his desk. Yet every single Senate Democrat except three have voted against this clean and nonpartisan funding bill. The Democrats current position is that the only way the American government can reopen is is if illegal aliens can get free health care. Don't take my word for it. Just look at what's inside of the Democrats proposal to reopen the government. Their funding proposal would result in nearly $200 billion spent on health care for illegal aliens and other non citizens over the next decade. To put this in perspective, $200 billion is enough money to fund the entire Children's Health Insurance Program which provides health insurance to low income children and women. Under the Democrats proposal, the millions of illegal aliens who improperly were granted asylum and paroled under the Biden administration would once again be allowed to receive Medicaid benefits. It does not end there. The Democrat proposal would also require Medicaid to pay more for emergency care provided to illegal aliens than it does for American patients who are disabled, elderly or children. When someone shows you who they are, believe them. The Democrat Party has unfortunately closed our government. Costing Americans their jobs, threatening our military readiness, harming our economy and causing chaos. All to help the illegals who broke into our country. Instead of holding illegal aliens accountable and removing them from our country, which is what this administration is trying to do every day. The Democrats want to give them the free benefits paid for by the American taxpayer. Democrats in 2025 are four illegal aliens first and Americans last. This is the reality we are unfortunately facing right now in Washington D.C. president Trump and Republicans will not give in to these radical demands. The President and Republicans have a sacred responsibility to serve and protect the interests of their constituents, the American people. That's why we are backing a clean and nonpartisan funding bill with no strings attached to reopen the government. Democrats should do what they did 13 separate times under Joe Biden and vote for this exact same type of funding bill. Now the Senate will vote tonight for the fifth time to reopen the government on the sixth day of this shutdown. All we need are an additional five Democrat Senators to end this madness and vote for the clean funding bill to reopen the government. If you are an American watching at home right now. Call your Democrat senators and tell them to do the right thing and end this shutdown. With that, I will take your questions. Here in our new media seat today, we have Elizabeth Mitchell from the Daily Signal. Elizabeth, thanks for being here and please kick us off. Thank you for having me. I have two questions. First, President Trump told reporters yesterday that firings of federal employees are taking place right now in which departments have people already been fired from their federal jobs due to the shutdown? The president was referring to the hundreds of thousands of federal workers who have been furloughed as a result of this federal government shutdown. Both here at the White House and across the entire federal government, at agencies across the board, there are federal workers who are staying home. Many of them work in the White House. You know them, some of them sit just behind me at those desks. They are unable to show up to work right now because the Democrats chose to shut the government down. And so we're already unfortunately seeing the consequence of this. And then, of course, the Office of Management and Budget is continuing to work with agencies on who, unfortunately is going to have to be laid off if this shutdown continues. And Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. Said the FDA was required by federal law to approve the new abortion pill last week. Is the administration considering steps to undo this in lights of requests from pro life Congress members and organizations? Ms. I think Secretary Kennedy and the Department of Health and Human Services, as I addressed in the briefing last week, were following the law and we will continue to do so. As I said last week as well, it's not an endorsement of this drug by any means. It's just a law that they were following. Jennifer, the we heard you say that you want people to call their Democratic senators. Is the president calling Democratic senators himself? Can you say what he's doing today to resolve the shutdown? Ms. Yep. I was just in the Oval Office. He was on the phone with Speaker Johnson. He's also spoken with the Senate majority leader, who are in touch with, of course, moderate Democrats and Democrats across the board who we understand hopefully want to do the right thing by their constituents to reopen the government. So the president is being kept very well apprised of the ongoing shutdown on Capitol Hill. And, of course, his position is very clear. There's nothing to negotiate, just reopen the government and then we can talk about all the important issues facing our country. So he hasn't called specific members of Congress? Ms. Not to my knowledge, no. And then on the Affordable Care act, is he willing to give more, to share more on what he'd like to negotiate on the Affordable Care act later. Is he willing to say specifically what he would like in when missing? Look, the president is definitely committed to fixing and improving our health care system. You saw it again last week when he had one of the largest pharmaceutical companies in the world coming into the Oval Office and promising to lower drug prices by 200, 300, 100% in many cases for various types of drugs for American patients. That is a huge fix to a broken system that has been ripping off the American people for far too long. So the president is very committed to this, but right now we need to reopen the federal government, and the president is remaining very firm in that position. Katherine, if the vote fails in the.

Senate today to reopen the government, would that trigger layoffs?

Ms. Look, again, we hope that the vote will not fail because this administration wants to reopen the government. We don't want to see people laid off, but unfortunately, if this shutdown continues, layoffs are going to be an unfortunate consequence of that. Is there a timing for when that would happen? Well, look, we'll see how the vote goes tonight. And can you confirm, is the White House floating a proposal to cap Obamacare subsidies by denying them to new enrollees? Ms. I have not seen a proposal like that, Emily. Thanks, Caroline. The president said yesterday he was considering a phase two approach to Venezuela. Is the president considering US Foods on the ground or any kind of support of overthrowing Maduro? I won't get into any specific proposals that are being considered by the president and his national security team, but I think we've been pretty transparent and clear in the administration's view of the illegitimate Maduro regime, and the president has taken very unprecedented, tough action to end the illegal trafficking of illicit drugs into our country from Maduro's illegitimate regime. Caroline? Danny, go ahead.

Thanks, Caroline. The French government has collapsed again for the fourth time in a year, and I was just wondering if there's any concern in the White House about the kind of ongoing political crisis there. Any thought about whether President Trump's good friend, President Macron, should either call elections or even resign over that?

Ms. Well, I can tell you the White House and the National Security Council are very much aware of this situation, but I think it would be imprudent of me to weigh in on French internal politics from the podium, so I will reserve comment on that behind you. Yes.

What is President Trump's expectations for talks today and I guess this week in Egypt, and is there a new timeline that president is giving all sides to reach an agreement?

Ms. Yes, there are technical talks happening right now in Egypt amongst special envoy witkoff and Jared Mr. Kushner, as well as their respective parties from all sides. What we saw take place on Friday, and I have not commented on that from the podium yet, is truly remarkable. You've seen all sides of this conflict agree that this war needs to end and agree to the 20.4 framework that President Trump proposed. It's an incredible achievement and the administration is working very hard to move the ball forward as quickly as we can. The president wants to see a cease fire. He wants to see the hostages released, and the technical teams are discussing that as we speak to ensure that the environment is perfect to release those hostages. They're going over the lists of both the Israeli hostages and also the political prisoners who will be released, and those talks are underway and the president is very much on the ball and is being apprised of this situation.

The president given a Sunday evening deadline, obviously, the negotiations have extended that, I imagine. What is that new deadline? Does the president have a timeframe in mind to see this phase implemented?

Ms. Well, the Sunday evening deadline was to hear back from Hamas on the proposal one way or another. And of course, on Friday, Hamas put out a very clear statement in the president's view that that they accept the president's framework, and that's why those technical talks are now underway. But again, we want to move very quickly on this and the president wants to see the hostages released as soon as possible. Steve, how long do you expect those technical talks to last? Caroline I don't want to draw a red line up here, Steve. Of course, it's very important, as I just mentioned, that we get this done quickly. That's how the president's team feels so we can get some momentum, get the hostages out and then move to the next part of this, which is really ensuring that we can create a lasting and durable peace in Gaza and ensure that Gaza is a place that no longer threatens the security of Israel or the United States.

What do you expect to be on.

The agenda for the president's meeting with.

The prime minister of Canada tomorrow? Ms. I'm sure trade will be a topic of discussion tomorrow and all of the other issues that are facing both Canada and the United States. I know the president looks forward to having that discussion with Carney in the Oval Office. Kate. Thanks, Caroline.

I have two questions on the layoff of federal workers, potentially. The president said yesterday that Democrats will be to blame. Federal workers lose their jobs. Historically, though, in past shutdowns, workers have been furloughed, but they have not been laid off en masse. So wouldn't that be the president's call.

To lay people off? As I've said repeatedly, Caitlin, this conversation about layoffs would not be happening right now if the Democrats did not vote to shut the government down. And as I also said last briefing as well, we are $37 trillion in debt and the government is not receiving any cash. So someone has to look at the balance sheet and be good stewards of the American taxpayer dollar, and layoffs are an unfortunate consequence of that. Well, as I'm telling you now, this administration is focusing on checking the balance sheet and ensuring we're doing the right thing by the American taxpayer. And again, these conversations about layoffs would not be happening in the White House today if not for the Democrat shutdown. And they have a choice to change that. They have another opportunity tonight to do the right thing to reopen the government.

Joey Sorry, my second question. A federal judge over the weekend that the president had appointed to the bench in his first term in office basically argued that he could not deploy other states National Guards to Portland, basically said that it was untethered, his argument to what was actually happening on the ground which local officials in Portland have said that the National Guard is needed there.

Ms. With all due respect to that judge, I think her opinion is untethered. In reality and in the law. The president is using his authority as commander in chief, US Code, which clearly states that the president has the right to call up the National Guard in cases where he deems it's appropriate. And if you look at what has happened in Portland, Oregon for more than 100 nights, I was talking to our law enforcement team about it this morning. For more than 100 days, night after night after night, the ICE facility has been really under siege by these anarchists outside. They have been disrespecting law enforcement. They've been inciting violence. We saw, again, a guillotine rolled out in front of this federal building. And so the president wants to ensure that our federal buildings and our assets are protected, and that's exactly what he's trying to do. And ultimately, in the case in Los Angeles, that judge ruled in the Ninth Circuit that that panel of judges ruled that those troops could remain and that the president was well within his authority to do so. So we are appealing that decision. As you know, we expect a hearing on it pretty quickly, and we're very confident in the president's legal authority to do this. And we' Confident we will win on the merits of the law.

But no local officials that you can point to that have said we need the National Guard, because I spoke to the police chief of Portland last week. He said that the president's claims just don't match up with what's happening on the ground.

Ms. I would encourage you as a reporter to go on the ground and to take a look at for yourself because there's been many members of the press not press in this room, but independent journalists, some of whom will be inviting to the White House very soon to share their stories because they have been in the middle of these riots and they have witnessed the anarchy that is taking place night after night. It's on video. You should play it on your show. You have a great opportunity in primetime on CNN to show your audience. Yeah, but you're probably talking to partisan Democrat officials who are opposed to everything, everything this president does. You should also ask the people who live in Portland. We've actually heard from many members of the community who have said that this is complete civil disobedience. It's a mess, it's been loud, it's been troubling for neighbors in the community who are just trying to live peacefully. And these people are not there to peacefully protest. They are there to cause mayhem and havoc. Yeah, Caroline, Steven, go ahead. Thank you, Caroline.

Two questions. First, do you have a reaction to reports that thousands of Cuban troops are deployed alongside Russia, fighting in Ukraine? And on a very different matter, the president last week floated in an interview with our colleague Daniel from One America, a rebate for tariffs of up to $2,000 per person. Is that plan contingent on the Supreme Court's upcoming ruling on the legality of the tariffs, and is the White House preparing for legislation to make that happen?

Sure. On the first point, I have not seen that report, Stephen, but I'll check in with our national security team after this, and we'll get you an update to your second point about the tariff rebates. I think it's an idea that the president has discussed and floated with his team of advisors, but no decision has been firmly made at this point in time. Why don't we go to the back? Owen, good afternoon. Good afternoon.

A few days ago, President Trump demanded Jay Jones of Virginia get out of the race for condoning political violence in a text message against a Republican politician a few years ago. He hasn't left the race. He hasn't dropped out. What's the president's reaction?

Well, as you know, I'm not at liberty to discuss political races from the podium. I think the president himself made his position very clear. And I think anyone could agree the messages that were sent by this Democrat nominee for attorney general in Virginia are really shocking, alarming, and completely unacceptable. He was threatening to kill his opponent and his opponent's children. And that type of rhetoric has zero place in our country. And the president was absolutely right to condemn that. One more, please. Sure, go ahead.

Thank you. The Democrats have questioned and scrutinized the president's comments about using potentially the military, American cities as training grounds for the military. And when you look at Portland, Chicago, local and state officials say that their local law enforcement is able to handle the situations. These protests on the ground. The president says that Portland is burning, using that as justification for the National Guard in Portland. But when you look here in Washington, D.C. the president just last week said it is now a completely safe city and there are still National Guard members on the streets that are not involved in ICE activities. Can you provide the justification for the White House here in Washington, D.C. why the National Guard members continue to be out on the streets?

Because Washington, D.C. has invited the National Guard here. Why? Because the mayor is doing the right thing, unlike mayors in other cities like Portland, as Caitlin and others have pointed out, who refuse to see that there are positive results from when local law enforcement works with federal law enforcement to do the right thing on behalf of their citizens. And Washington, D.C. is no doubt a safer city right now, today than it was a few months ago when President Trump started this initiative to make D.C. safe again. And the National Guard is still here because the president and the mayor agree that it's a good thing for the city, just like you're seeing in Memphis, for instance. We'll have National Guard deployed to Memphis. We have federal agents who are on the ground working with state and local law enforcement. The state police in Tennessee are part of this effort. The local metropolitan police in Memphis are part of this effort. State and local law enforcement and federal law enforcement should be working together. And it's a shame that, that we see in some cities across the country that their mayors are just simply refusing to cooperate because they don't like Donald Trump. And that's what this boils down to. And I don't think any American would disagree that Chicago needs more law enforcement reinforcements, that they need more resources. Look at this headline from over the weekend. At least 30 people shot during the weekend in Democrat run Chicago. Five of them were killed in one weekend. This is completely unacceptable. And the president wants to make American cities safer and he's willing to work with anyone to do it.

If the courts allow you to ultimately send in the National Guard into Chicago and Portland, do Democrats not have reason to be concerned that there are long term plans by this administration to keep US Military or the National Guard in American cities like what we are seeing here in Washington?

Why should they be concerned about the federal government offering help to make their cities a safer place? They should be concerned about this. They should be concerned about the fact that people in their cities right now are being gunned down every single night. And the president, all he's trying to do is fix it. And there has been a complete smear campaign by the Democrats and the media, quite frankly. I was reading Political Playbook this morning, one of the most inside the Beltway newsletters you can find, and you guys are framing this like the president wants to take over the American cities with the military. The president wants to help these local leaders who have been completely ineffective in securing their own cities. And we have already seen there's a positive formula for that. Look at Washington, D.C. the murder rate has declined significantly. Our streets are safer. People who live here feel safer. All of you in this room, I know you do, you just won't admit it. And it's a proven system that works. And the president wants to make America cities safe again. And I don't think there's anything wrong with that.

Thank you, Caroline. Questions, if I may, because the mayor wants them. Michael, these talks in Egypt, if Hamas does agree to relinquish power and give it up sea power to this transitional, technocratic government, if that does happen, would the Trump administration then recognize a Palestinian statement?

Ms. Look, I don't want to get ahead of the technical talks right now, Michael. They're extremely sensitive. They're taking place again as we speak. And there's a lot of there's many things to discuss. Of course. This is hopefully, we expect and we hope going to be one of the greatest peace deals this world has ever seen. And the Trump administration is working diligently and working very hard to get there. And as I said Friday, all terms agreed. We have the Arab countries who are working with us. Of course, Israel has been incredible in cooperating with the president's plan and agreeing to it. And we're very hopeful and we expect that to continue.

Caroline, you tweeted about this over the weekend.

Thank you. I was going to you in the blue shirt and tie.

Thank you, Caroline. You're welcome to the Daily Mail. Today, the Supreme Court declined to hear Ghislaine Maxwell's appeal will Trump rule out granting her clemency? Is that something the White house is considering?

Ms. It's not something I've heard discussed, and we don't comment on clemency requests that may or may not have been made, but I'm certainly not tracking that one at this point in time.

Caroline Jordan, thank you, Caroline. So we're talking about these radical groups in Portland and Chicago. I know the president has spoken about potentially going after George Soros with RICO charges and for funding all of this violence. Has there been any update on that? And also, is the administration looking into the other nonprofits, maybe taking away their 501C3 status for funding this violence? One more question.

Sure. The financial backing of these groups, particularly Antifa, is certainly something the administration is looking into aggressively, and the federal government has never really been mobilized or tasked with doing that. So we're kind of kick starting that into gear. The FBI is working on it alongside the White House's Homeland Security Task Force. We have our intelligence community looking into this as well, and even the secretary of treasury is involved with these matters since they are financial in nature. And we will continue to get to the bottom of who is funding these organizations in this organized anarchy against our country and our government. It's a question the American people have been begging the answer for for many years, and we're committed to uncovering it. And when we do, I'm sure you'll be one of the first people to know separately.

Caroline, thank you. Thank you so much. So Gaza, under the president's plan, is going to be governed by a transitional governance of a technocratic, apolitical Palestinian committee committee made up of qualified Palestinians and international experts. Given how radicalized the Palestinian population is in Gaza and in the west bank, can you offer some insight or guidance into who are some of these Palestinians that are going to be considered for leadership roles in Gaza and where you're going to be fighting them? And do you have any names?

Ms. We're not quite there yet, Jonathan. The president believes peace is possible in Gaza, and that's why he presented this detailed and comprehensive plan. The first step of that is securing a ceasefire and releasing the hostages. And then those conversations about ensuring a durable and lasting peace can continue. But what do you need to have peace in a region like Gaza that's been war torn for far too long? You need security guarantees and you need good governance, and so those will be two of the priorities that this administration is focused on.

If I may, the president has said he wants the government to reopen this week in a deal. What's going to happen by the end of the week if there's no deal? What's the White House prepared to do?

No deal with what to reopen the government. Ms. Look, as I said, unfortunately, there's going to be a lot of pain inflicted. There already is on the American public, on our troops who are not being paid again, on women and young children who depend on critical food assistance. We hate to see this and in fact, the Office of Management and Budget is trying to do everything they can to find funds to get out the door for these vulnerable populations in our country. Again, we shouldn't be having to do that. The Democrats have a chance to change course tonight. I believe the vote is taking place at 6:30 and we urge Democrat senators to vote to reopen the government and to do the right thing. Thanks, guys.