Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt Briefs Members of the Media, Mar. 17, 2025

Hello, everybody. Good afternoon. Happy Monday. Happy St. Patrick's Day. I see a lot of us are very festive in our green. Peter Doocy. I like it. First today, I want to address the devastating tornadoes and storms that have impacted many states throughout the south and the Midwest. As of this morning, more than 40 innocent lives have been lost and many communities have been totally destroyed. The President has been actively monitoring the situation, and the Trump administration is engaged with governors and local officials to restore affected communities and livelihoods. Everyone impacted is in our prayers, and President Trump is fully prepared to assist state and local officials as they recover from the horrific damage. The President has had a very busy weekend making our country and the world a much safer place. President Trump ordered decisive military action against the Houthi terrorists in Yemen. These Houthi terrorists have engaged in piracy, violence and terrorism against American ships for years under the Biden administration, costing billions of dollars in putting innocent lives at risk. Joe Biden's pathetic weakness invited these unacceptable attacks. But there's a new sheriff in town and. And his name is Donald Trump. And the world is officially on notice. America has a commander in chief whose peace through strength approach is unwavering and should not be tested. As the President said, no terrorist force will stop American commercial and naval vessels from freely sailing throughout the world. Houthi terrorists and their Iranian backers should not cross President Trump again, and the President has made that clear today. On another important matter, President Trump signed a proclamation invoking the Alien Enemies act regarding the invasion of the United States by the foreign terrorist organization Trend. At the President's direction, the Department of Homeland Security carried out a counterterrorism operation deporting nearly 200 violent trend terrorists which will save countless American lives. Thanks to the great work of the Department of State, these heinous monsters were extracted and removed to El Salvador, where they will no longer be able to pose any threats to the American public. Public Trend Aragua is one of the most ruthless terrorist gangs. Gangs in the world. And they are responsible for some of the most heinous crimes that have occurred in our nation's history in recent years, including the savage murders of beautiful Lakin Riley and Jocelyn Nungre. President Trump promised Lakin and Jocelyn's families during his campaign that he would demand justice for their beautiful girls. And that's exactly what he did. As the President acknowledged during his inaugural address on January 20, he pledged to invoke this act. And he has no higher responsibility than to defend our country from threats and invasions. President Trump will continue his historic efforts to seal the border and prevent these illegal invaders from coming here in the first place. As the New York Times acknowledged over the weekend, President Trump's policies are working. Here's how the Times summed it up. Illegal crossings at the U. S. Mexico border are down to their lowest level in decades. Once crowded migrant shelters are empty. Instead of heading north, people stranded in Mexico are starting to return home in bigger numbers. The border is almost unrecognizable from just a couple of years ago when hundreds of thousands of people from around the world were crossing into the United States every month in scenes of chaos and upheaval. This is the Trump effect in action. And again, those are the words from the New York Times. We didn't need a border security bill, we just needed President Trump. All of these actions taken together are contributing to a wave of optimism about the direction of our great country. According to brand new polling from NBC News, more registered voters say the United States is heading in the right direction than at any point since early 2004. Americans support President Trump's common sense approach. That's getting our country back on track in record time. Meanwhile, the the President's critics can't say the same. That same new NBC poll also found that the Democrat party has reached an all time low in popularity. It turns out when you let your hatred of President Trump get in the way of doing what is best for America, the people reject you. Who would have thought? Joining us today in our new media seat is Kelly Meyer. She is a White House correspondent with News Nation. News Nation started in 2021 and is one of America's fastest growing cable news networks with a focus on news for all of America. It's part of a larger ecosystem, Nexstar, which is home to NewsNation, the political website, the Hill, the broadcast network, the CW and local Nextstar stations with that. Kick us off please, Kelly. Thank you, Caroline. What do you say to Americans who want safe streets but are concerned due process is being violated? Ms. The president is using every lever of his executive authority and his constitutional authority within the bounds of the immigration laws of our country to ensure that our streets are safer for law abiding American citizens. And this administration is focused on detaining, arresting and deporting illegal criminal aliens. And as you saw this past weekend, the President used his authority under the Alien Enemies act to deport foreign terrorists. Trend. Aragua is now a designated foreign terrorist organization. And as I said, There were nearly 200 trend members who were sent to El Salvador this weekend. Countless lives will be saved because of this action. And if you talk to the families, the angel families, as I mentioned, Blake and Riley and Jocelyn Nungray, they understand the grave cost of life at the hands of these illegal terrorists. And the president is proud to deliver on that promise for them. And just to follow up on that, this will be challenged later today in the courts. Does the president, you know, does this allow him to defy the court order without having the checks and balances and the separation of power? Ms. No. In fact, this administration acted within the confines of the law, again within the president's constitution, constitutional authority and under the authority granted to him under the Alien Enemies Act. We are quite confident in that and we are wholly confident that we are going to win this case in court. Peter thank you, Caroline. If you guys can't send 200 trend Aragua terrorists at a time to El Salvador, where are you going to send them instead? That's a very good question. You'd have to ask the courts and the people on the left who are trying to fight this administration for doing the business that this president sought out to do, which is to deport these foreign terrorists. And we're very grateful to President Bukele and to El Salvador for accepting these heinous monsters where they will face justice. And if these guys are terrorists at war with the United States, is President Trump considering anything more lethal to address them than just sticking them on a plane somewhere else? Ms. Well, it sounded like you had a little bit of curiosity in the premise of your question, so I want to address it. And these are designated foreign terrorists. The president signed a proclamation on February 20, 2025 designating TDA as a foreign terrorist organization. That was in consultation with the attorney general and the secretary of Treasury. That was pursuant to 8 U.S. code 1189. The President has the right to do that. And I think nobody would argue that Trend Aragua should be designated a foreign terrorist organization. If you want to have that argument, I'm happy to do it. You these are heinous monsters, rapists, murderers, kidnappers, sexual assaulters, predators who have no right to be in this country and they must be held accountable. And something different. There is now a member of the European Parliament from France who does not think the US Represents the values of the Statue of Liberty anymore. They want the Statue of Liberty back. So is President Trump going to send the Statue of Liberty back to France? Absolutely not. And my advice to that unnamed low level French politician would be to remind them that it's only because of the United States of America that the French are not speaking German right now. So they should be very grateful to our great country. Kelly, is the administration prepared to give the court what it wants in terms of the time of the flights that departed that went to El Salvador and some of those details that the judge is asking for in trying to determine clearly the five named individuals were not deported to but looking more broadly, wanting to know about the timing of flights and so forth, because the verbal order did say turn around the flights if there's an issue. So is the administration prepared to provide that information? Ms. I'm prepared to provide it right now. All of the planes that were subject to the written order the judge's written order took off before the order was entered in the courtroom on Saturday. And the administration will, of course, be happily answering all of those questions that the judge poses in court later today. And for people who have due process questions about making certain that there wasn't anyone who was swept up who did not meet the criteria that you laid out? Is there a way for the administration to provide more detail about how that was determined, who the individuals were that met this deportation order? Ms. Yes. I can assure the American people that Customs and Border Patrol and ICE and the Department of Homeland Security office are sure about the identities of the individuals who were on these planes and the threat that they pose to our homeland. They take this incredibly seriously. They are putting their lives on the line to deport these designated terrorists from our country, and they should be trusted to do that. And that's exactly what the American people elected this president to do. Go ahead. Thanks, Caroline. Just to follow up on that, then, so you're saying definitively you can that the administration can prove that everyone that was put on those flights in El Salvador was either a member of trend Naragua, Ms. 13 or some other entity? Yeah, we've already provided the breakdown in the effort of transparency about the 261 illegal aliens who were deported. 137 of those were deported under the Alien Enemies Act, 101 of those were Venezuelans removed via Title 8, which, as you know, are just regular immigration proceedings. And 23 of them were MS.13 17 gang members. There were also two MS.13 ringleaders as part of that group of 23 who, President Bukele particularly expressed his gratitude for their return so he can demand justice in his home country. Jennifer, what criteria, though, other than, say, tattoos or maybe being in the wrong place at the wrong time, are they using to determine that someone is actually a member of one of these organizations, intelligence and the men and women on the ground in the interior of our country who are finally being allowed to do their jobs. Their hands were tied under the previous administration and as I said, they take their jobs very seriously. They should be trusted and respected by the American public with this operation. And of course, as I said to Kelly, the administration will provide all details to the questions that the court poses. Jennifer, one more follow up on that. Can you say how much the US Is paying El Salvador to imprison these Venezuelans? And then a different question on Russia. I was wondering if you could give us an update on the cease fire negotiations and is there anything you can share on the list that Putin gave passed along to President Trump for the things he's requesting? Ms. Sure. To your first question, it was approximately $6 million to El Salvador for the detention of these foreign terrorists. And I would point out that is pennies on the dollar in comparison to the cost of life and the cost it would impose on the American taxpayer to house these terrorists in maximum security prisons here in the United States of America. And I would echo the message of our secretary of State, Marco Rubio, who expressed his gratitude to President Bukele and El Salvador's government for their cooperation in this deal. As for Russia, as you know, the president announced last night on Air Force One on his return from his very busy weekend in Florida that he will be speaking to President Putin tomorrow. I won't get ahead of those negotiations, but I can say we are on the 10th yard line of peace and we've never been closer to a peace deal than we are in this moment. And the president, as you know, is determined to get one done. I have two questions for you. One on the flights, but first on the president's post overnight, saying that the pardons that were issued by President Biden preemptively to members of the January 6th committee, that they're now null and void. Have attorneys here at the White House told President Trump that he has the legal authority to undo a pardon simply because it was signed by auto pen, as he said? Ms. The President was begging the question that I think a lot of journalists in this room should be asking about whether or not the former president of the United States, who I think we can all finally agree was cognitively impaired. I know it took people people some time to finally admit that, but we all know that to be true, as evidenced by his disastrous debate performance against President Trump during the campaign. I digress on that, but the president was raising the point that did the president even know about these pardons? Was his legal signature used without his consent or knowledge. And that's not just the president or me raising those questions, Kaitlyn. According to the New York Post, there are Biden officials from the previous White House who raised those questions and wondered if the president was even consulted about his legally binding signature being signed onto documents. And so I think it's a question that everybody in this room should be looking into because certainly that would propose perhaps criminal or illegal behavior if staff members were signing the president of the United States autograph without his consent, is on the record talking about issuing preemptive pardons to these people. Ms. But was he aware of his signature being used on every single that's a question you should ask the Biden White House. Do you have any evidence on that that he wasn't aware of it? Ms. You're a reporter. You should find out. Sean, I have a question on the timeline of the flights. You keep talking about the judge's written order, which hit the docket Saturday night at about 7:26pm but he issued a verbal order before that at about 6:45 and 6:48pm based on the court hearing, a verbal order from the bench. Does the White House feel the need to complain with a verbal order from this judge? Again, as I said, all of the plaints subject to the written order of this judge departed US Soil, US Territory before the judge's written order. But what about the verbal order, which, of course, carries the same legal weight as a written order and said for the plains to turn around if they were? Ms. Well, there's actually questions about whether a verbal order carries the same weight as a legal order as a written order, and our lawyers are determined to ask and answer those questions in court. Sean hey, so on Friday, the president suggested at length that it should be illegal to criticize judges, but he has repeatedly criticized judges who rule against him. And Elon Musk is calling for impeachment of judges who have opposed the administration. So how are those two things not in conflict? Ms. I have not heard the president talk about impeaching judges. I know you mentioned Mr. Musk's tweet, but I have not heard the president of the United States ask that. Mary hey, thanks, Caroline. I wanted to ask about this video I saw this morning set to the tune of, I believe, closing Time, about deportations of illegal migrants. What's the strategy behind the White House's videos they've been putting out on this? And can you kind of talk us through the thinking on these videos? Ms. Sure. I think the White House and our entire government clearly is leaning into the message of this president and we are unafraid to double down and and to take responsibility and ownership of the serious decisions that are being made. The president was elected with an overwhelming mandate to launch the largest mass deportation campaign in American history and that's exactly what he is doing. And to this very day, we are Now, I think, 56 or seven days into the administration by my count, the president still receives an overwhelming public support for the policies that he is enacting. So we we are unafraid to message effectively what the president is doing on a daily basis to make our communities safer. In the specific video you referenced, I think it sums up our immigration policy pretty well. You don't have to go home, but you can't stay here. Go ahead. Thanks, Caroline. I have two questions. First, will President Trump put sanctions on Russia if the talks on Tuesday don't go as hoped? And secondly, have any illegal immigrants self deported through Syria CBP home yet? Miss to your first question, it's something the president has floated and certainly he's willing to do if necessary. I don't have anything to read out and I would never get ahead of the president on such a serious decision. To your second question about the CBP Home app, I would have to check in with the Department of Homeland Security, but it's a great question and we're very proud to repurpose this app which the Biden administration abused, to facilitate the mass illegal entry of illegal immigrants into our country. It was like a fast pass at Disneyland. That's not happening. Under this administration we are encouraging illegal immigrants to actively self deport to maybe save themselves from being in one of these fun videos. Carolyn? Sure. John, good to see you. After President Trump strafe bombed the Houthis yesterday, he said that if they retaliate, he was going to personally hold Iran accountable for that. Holding them accountable. What would that look like? Ms. Well, I would defer you to what the president put out this morning, John, where he said very clearly, I will read it. Let nobody be fooled. The hundreds of attacks being made by Houthi, the sinister mobsters and thugs based in Yemen who are hated by the Yemeni people are all created by Iran. Any further attack or retaliation by the Houthis will be met with great force. And and there is no guarantee that the force will stop there. Iran has played the innocent victim of rogue terrorists from which they've lost control. But they haven't lost control. They are dictating every move, giving them the weapons, supplying them with money and highly sophisticated military equipment and even so called intelligence, every shot fired by the Houthis will be looked upon from this point forward as being a shot fired from the weapons and leadership of Iran and and Iran will be held responsible and suffer the consequences, and those consequences will be dire. That is a statement from the president of the United States just moments ago. I have nothing additional to share, but our message to Iran is you better take this president seriously. And I think the Houthis learned that the hard way this past weekend. As I said in my opening remarks, there's a new sheriff in town and this president is not just going to sit on his hands and allow terrorists to launch attacks on commercial vessels and US Naval ships. Those actions will not be tolerated. Sure. Edward. Yes, thanks, Caroline. On the economy, so after mostly a down week last week in the economy, you've been very vocal as well as other cabinet members about how we're in a transition and about how this economic transition and there's a plan, a long term plan for tariffs on this. How concerned is the president that the markets and Americans, for lack of a better term, will freak out over these tariffs and be concerned about a long term plan? Ms. Sure. I think I've been asked this question and answered this question respectfully, Edward. We are in a period of transition. The president has made that clear. He also has made his belief in tariffs and what they will do for our great country clear, restoring wealth back to our country. And if you look at the president's first term economic formula, massive deregulation, tax cuts, lowering the cost of living with an energy boom, which the American people can expect soon, soon, Wall street and Main street should both be assured by what President Trump did in his first term. It's the exact same formula. In fact, I would argue it's even better this time around. And if you look at some of the economic indicators in the last week, the latest CPI report last week beat expectations. Inflation is cooling. Core inflation dropped for the first time in four months. The national average of the price of gas is down 42 cents from one year ago. And there was also a new report out this morning about wholesale egg prices. They continue to fall. A dozen eggs are now $3.10 cheaper since January 24th. That's a 47% decrease overall. So I think the American people do have great reason to be optimistic about this economy. And as I've said repeatedly, it continues to be true. The administration has a whole of government effort to fix the economic mess created by Biden. So the president has pointed to that April 2nd tariff deadline. So to speak. Is the tariff back and forth sort of done now? We're just all looking towards April 2nd. Well, I think the president would tell you that all options are always on the table and he's always ready to respond if he feels the United States is being unfairly treated by our allies and also our competitors around the world. But yes, the April 2nd day is a big day for the country. As the president has said, reciprocal tariffs will go into effect. We'll have more details on that as the date nears. But our entire trade team, Secretary Lutnick, Secretary Besant, the vice president has been quite involved in these talks and discussions as well about what that will look like. And the president, as you always do, you will hear from him directly on it. Deborah Saunders, how are you? Fine. How are you doing? Good, thanks. Hardin attorney Elizabeth believes she was fired for refusing to sign off on a move to restore gun rights to actor, not Goodson. DOJ's Todd Blanche says no, but I want to know is the administration dedicated to restoring gun rights to felons who serve their times? I asked this because I've talked to people who were pardoned. They felt that was important. Of course, this isn't necessarily for a pardon. What is the President's thinking on this issue? Surely you've served your sentence, should be left on running. Ms. It's an important question. It is one I have not spoken to the President about on his views, but I will take it to him this afternoon. I will tell him you asked and we will get you an answer. You're welcome, Jonathan. Thanks a lot. Carolina, a question for you regarding the administration complying with judges orders. I want to ask about an administration spokesperson whose the boarders are he was on Fox News we love Tom Homan and he was talking about the deportations and he said the following. He said we're not stopping. I don't care what the judges think. Which seems to me just reading that, that you don't care what orders come from the federal bench. Is that the case? Can you clarify that please? Well, I think since you just quoted Tom, I'll quote Tom. He said I don't care what the judges think, but I can assure you that the administration is complying with the court order and as I've said repeatedly from this podium, all of the flights that were subject to the judge's written order departed before the written order and we are prepared to make that case in court later this afternoon, Reagan and then if I could, on Russia, the president, as you pointed out, Caroline, made some remarks on Air Force One coming back from Florida, and he seemed to indicate that the conversation tomorrow concerns essentially dividing up assets, dividing up territory associated with the war in Ukraine. Has President Zelensky given President Trump that authority? Is that what is going to take place tomorrow? Ms. Well, as you know, the president and his entire national security team have been engaged directly with President Zelensky and the Ukrainian team, and that has been part of the discussion between the president's team and the Ukrainians. As for where those lines will be drawn or any specifics, I am not going to get into that from this podium. It would be unwise for me to get ahead of the president's call with President Putin tomorrow. But again, I can assure you in the effort of transparency, as this president always does, you will hear from him or one of us directly after that phone call tomorrow. Reagan, thank you, Caroline. There's a lot of focus on the judicial branch right now. The president has about 40 judicial appointments that he could make at this moment. Do you have an update on what the timeline would look like for those judicial appointments? And does the president have a list of potential nominees that he's founding? Ms. I do not have an update on a timeline, nor do I have a list, but I can certainly have our team gather that for you and provide it. You're welcome. Sure, go ahead. Sure. So the president is visiting the Kennedy City Century this afternoon to attend a board meeting. A question about what happened a few weeks ago. The Kennedy center got bomb threats targeting a performance by Shenron Performing Arts, which is an American company showcasing China before communism. This company has been targeted, unfortunately, by the CCP for years. I'm wondering if this administration have a response to this. And also as the president is putting an emphasis on arts and culture, what's the administration's message to potentially foreign state actors who are trying to disrupt that in the US don't disrupt it. This administration will take that very seriously and hold you accountable. We obviously condemn any violence or threats of violence against American institutions. And the president will be traveling to the Kennedy center later this afternoon. I look forward to going with him. As you know, he is now the chairman of the board of the Kennedy center, where he hopes to restore arts and culture that embrace American tradition. Don't disparage it. As we have unfortunately seen over the past several years, the president will be doing a tour of the center in his business developer mind. I'm sure he will make some recommendations on how the center itself can be improved, but also will be discussing perhaps some future plays and musicals and theatrical programs that the center will be hosting under the his new leadership and the board's new leadership. Daniel, will the president be discussing with Putin tomorrow the future of Volodymyr Zelenskyy, sort of a follow up to John's question. Ms. Again, I've been asked and answered this question. Now, I'm not going to get ahead of the president's discussion tomorrow, but after the phone call takes place, I can certainly provide a readout. Daniel Caroline, Caroline, thank you so much. You mentioned earlier in the briefing that you guys are at the 10 yard line of peace. Given the amount of progress that you've made in such a short amount of time, is that an indictment of the previous administration's foreign policy stance and is it just more proof that you need to talk to people to sort of get things done? Ms. I think so. I think the previous administration is the reason this war began. As President Trump often says, this war would have never started if he were still in office. It only started because of the incompetence and the weakness of the previous administration. And President Trump is very proud of the progress that he and his team have made in such a short amount of time, and hopefully tomorrow that progress will move forward. Sure. Thanks. There have been some media reports just in the last few hours that the administration has decided to withdraw from the International center for the Prosecution of the Crime of aggression against Ukraine, which is designed to hold Putin accountable for war crimes. Are you able to confirm that and if that has occurred, why has that occurred? Ms. I'm not able to confirm it because I have not heard that. I will caution, I know there have been many inaccurate and misleading reports from Reuters lately, so I would caution anybody taking that seriously, but I can check in and get back to you. Rachel, is it the president's belief that the Justice Department should be investigating members of the January 6 select committee? Is he directing the DOJ to do that? Ms. As the President made it very clear in his address on Friday, I believe some of you were there. I was there. He made his vision for what he would like to see of the Department of Justice very clear. But he said that he has appointed great people in Attorney General Pam Bondi and also in our FBI Director, Kash Patel, to do what they think is best for our justice system and to stop the weaponization of justice that we saw under the previous administration against not just President Trump, but his supporters as well. We want to restore the Department of Justice to an institution that focuses on fighting law and order and crime and putting real criminals behind bars, not targeting Americans because of their religion or their political speech. We saw that under the previous administration and it's unacceptable to this president. And just to follow up really quickly on just Homan's comments from earlier a few weeks ago in the Oval Office, the president said he will always abide by the courts. We heard what Tom Homan said earlier today. So I'm only asking just to be clear clear for the American people. It is the administration's belief that they will that you feel like you are bound to comply by the judge's orders. Ms. We are complying with the judge's orders. Question on the storm. Sure. What role does the president see for FEMA with these storms? He's talking about getting rid of FEMA states handling their own disasters. Does he plan to change how the federal government responds to these storms? Ms. There hasn't been a change yet. That doesn't mean there couldn't be in the future. But as of right now, the president, the entire administration are active monitoring the storms, as I said. In fact, before I came down here, there was an email note in my inbox from the Department of Homeland Security on what they are actually doing state by state, across the board. So rest assured, Secretary Noem and her team is on it. And I would defer you to the Department of Homeland Security for any further details. One more question. The president referenced power plants with a conversation with Vladimir Putin. What is he referring to with power plants? What does that mean? Ms. There's a power plant that is on the border of Russia and Ukraine that was up for discussion discussion with the Ukrainians, and he will address it in his call with Putin tomorrow. The nuclear plan, correct? Yes. Carolyn, do you have a question? Yes. Okay. I wanted to ask you if you would be releasing more granular data about the people who were sent to El Salvador this week, particularly will you be releasing their names? Ms. I don't believe so because of the privacy concerns at this point in time. That doesn't mean we won't eventually. I would defer you to the Department of Homeland Security for more details on the individuals on the flights, but we have been incredibly transparent in giving you the breakdown of the numbers and also some of the crimes committed by these heinous criminals and individuals kidnapping, sexual abuse of a child, robbery, aggravated assault on a police officer. I would remind everybody in this room that trend Aragua is a foreign terrorist organization operating within the United States of America because the previous administration allowed them to invade our country. These are monsters who tortured, raped and murdered a 12 year old Jocelyn Nungre. They murdered 22 year old nursing student Laken Riley. They led a multi state sex trafficking operation involving smuggling women into the United States, holding them in stash houses in Louisiana, Florida, New Jersey, Texas and Virginia and forcing them into prostitution. And they kidnapped and murdered a 33 year old woman in Texas. And they sexually and physically assaulted a woman and her daughter in Wisconsin. They conducted a mass shooting in Illinois. They peddled untraceable ghost guns across New York City, took over an Aurora, Colorado apartment complex where they kidnapped and tortured victims. And by the way, many of you in the mainstream media said that didn't happen. It turned out that it did. And because of the effective immigration policies of this administration, those foreign terrorists were detained and they are no longer operating on American soil. And we have President Trump to thank for that. We'll see you guys later at the Kennedy Center. Thanks so much. Thanks, Caroline.