Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt Briefs Members of the Media, Apr. 1, 2025

Hello, everybody. Good afternoon. How are we? Good. Good to see you all. I want to start today by addressing the US army soldiers who went missing while conducting a mission to repair and tow an immobilized tactical vehicle in Lithuania in the early hours of March 25. Tragically, three soldiers were found deceased in Lithuania yesterday, and it pains me to confirm that today the fourth soldier was also found deceased. The President, the Secretary of Defense, and the entire White House are praying for the victim's friends and family during this unimaginable time. This is another stark reminder of the selfless sacrifice of our brave military men and women who risk their lives around the world every day to keep us safe. God bless them. On another note, at our southern border, there is more massive news. Southwest border crossings in March fell to the lowest level in American history, down 94% from March of last year under President Biden, when 137,000 illegal aliens poured across our wide open southern border. Thanks to President Trump's leadership, Border Patrol agents are now back to doing the jobs they signed up for, securing the border, rather than serving as travel agents for illegal aliens. The Los Angeles Times captured the Trump effect on the border with a recent article. Their headline read, california Mexico border once overwhelmed, is now nearly empty with so few migrants coming into the US, they wrote. Shelters that once served migrants have completely closed. Deportations of illegal aliens who threaten the safety of the American people are also continuing at a rapid pace. Over the weekend, the United States military transferred a group of 17 violent criminals from the Trend, Aragua and and Ms. 13 terrorist organizations to El Salvador. And an illegal alien who was released by the Biden administration into our country was just arrested in Georgia and charged with the horrific killing of Camellia Williams, a mother of five and grandmother. The suspect has now been indicted on charges of malice murder, felony murder, aggravated assault, rape, aggravated sexual battery, and necrophilia, which, for those who don't know, necrophilia is a sexual obsession with a corpse. This suspect was ordered to be removed in July 2023, but the Biden administration allowed him to stay. This case represents the ruthless murderers, rapists and pedophiles who Joe Biden and Democrats let into our country over the past four years through our southern border. They should have never been here in the first place. Keep this in mind the next time you see Democrats protesting future illegal alien removals from our country. President Trump is focused on fulfilling his greatest to keep the American people safe and to defend our country from violent invaders. Looking ahead to tomorrow, April 2, 2025, will go down as one of the most important days in modern American history. Our country has been one of the most open economies in the world and we have the consumer base, hands down, the best consumer base. But too many foreign countries have their markets closed to our exports. This is fundamentally unfair. The lack of reciprocity contributes to our large and persistent annual trade deficit that's gutted our industries and hollowed out key workforces. But those days of America, beginning tomorrow being ripped off are over. American workers and businesses will be put first under President Trump, just as he promised on the campaign trail. The President's historic action tomorrow will improve American competitiveness in every area of industry, reduce our massive trade deficits, and ultimately protect our economic and national security. President Trump's economic vision is rooted in common sense. America will offer companies the lowest taxes, energy costs, regulations if they make their products right here in the United States and hire American workers for the job. It's simple. If you make your product in America, you will pay no tariffs. We have already seen a number of the largest companies in the world respond to this economic approach. For example, Project Stargate led by Japan based SoftBank and US based OpenAI and Oracle announced a $500 billion private investment in the United States based artificial intelligence infrastructure. Apple announced a $500 billion investment in US manufacturing and training. Nvidia announced it will invest hundreds of billions of dollars over the next four years in U.S. based manufacturing. And the Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company TSMC announced a $100 billion investment in U. S based chips and manufacturing. These are just a few of the investment announcements that have already been made. And it is clear that President Trump's America first approach is already working. In our new media seat today is Mark Halperin, the co founder and editor in chief of Two Way, a new live video platform that builds communities around interactive conversations with leaders and content creators from every subject area. They have over 37.5 million video views, over 3.6 million watch time hours since the platform began just last year. This is new media in its truest sense, allowing the people to ask questions, make comments and be an active part of engagement on the most important issues facing the country and our world. With that, Mark, please kick us off and welcome to the briefing room.

Thank you Caroline, appreciate it. I'll ask you a question about tariffs and then one from one members of our community.

Sure.

About education. It's perceived by some that companies or countries, if they change their policies either before tomorrow or after tomorrow, can have the President alter what he's planning for that country or that sector. Is that a possibility? And if so, what factors does the president consider in making those changes?

Ms. Well, the ultimate change for these companies and these countries, Mark, will happen when they decide to do business in the United States of America. And as I just laid out, they will face no tariffs at all if the these companies choose to invest here in the United States and to move their production and their manufacturing here to the United States as well. As for tomorrow, the president will be addressing the decades of unfair trade practices that have ripped our country off and American workers off. It has hollowed out our middle class, it has destroyed our heartland. And the president is focused on reshifting our global economy to ensure that America is once again the manufacturing superpower of the world.

So if they do something today or later in the week, that's a pledge for future activity, would that be good enough potentially to ALTER the policy?

Ms. Again, the President has been looking at the very unfair trade practices of the past. Certainly the president is always up to take a phone call, always up for a good negotiation, but he is very much focused on fixing the wrongs of the past and showing that American workers have a fair shake.

So if someone calls after tomorrow and says, hey, I'm ready to make a change, he'd be open to that.

Ms. The President is always open to taking calls.

Okay, a question from one of our community members. Katie Reeves is a schoolteacher in Wisconsin. She's Taught K through 8 in public, independent, private and private schools. And here's what she wanted me to ask you. She says, I see the elimination of the Department of Education as an excellent first step in the improvement of our school system. Do you see any further role the federal government can take beyond this, possibly in promoting the expansion of voucher programs or reducing the influence that teachers unions hold over our schools?

Well, first of all, I want to thank Katie for her service to our country and our nation's children. Being a teacher is the most noble profession that we believe one can have. And the president said in his remarks when he signed the executive order to dismantle the Department of Education that he loves our teachers. And in part, this order is to empower our teachers to have greater decision making in the classroom. Nobody knows our nation's children and our students better than our teachers who are with them every single day. As for the federal government's role, to get to the heart of Katie's question, the president has made it clear to Linda McMahon that that we need to find other places within our federal government for critical programs regarding education, Pell grants, Title IX lawsuits, et cetera, civil rights lawsuits, all of that are critical functions special needs programs, nutrition programs. But there are other places throughout the federal bureaucracy where those things can happen and work. The Department of Education has been a very bloated bureaucracy. We spent trillions of dollars on this department, and for what? Our children are worse off as far as education goes today than they were when this department originated. And that's very concerning to the president.

Two issues she cited are those priorities for the president, school education choice, vouchers and diminishing the role of teachers unions.

Ms. The president is very supportive of both of those things, particularly when it comes to school choice. He has said that school choice is the civil rights issue of our time, and he wants every child, regardless of zip code, socioeconomic status, how much money their parents have to be able to go to the school of their choosing that best suits their educational needs. And he is going to empower state and local leaders to make those decisions on behalf of our nation's children. Thanks for being here, Mark.

Jeff, just changing subjects for one second. The administration has expressed a complete confidence in how all the deportation flights to El Salvador were conducted. But now that the administration has conceded that there was an error of one Salvadorian national, will there be any reviews conducted? And does the president express any thoughts on the one error that was disclosed in court last night?

Ms. Well, first of all, the error that you are referring to was a clerical error. It was an administrative error. The administration maintains the position that this individual, who was deported to El Salvador and will not be returning to our country, was a member of the brutal and vicious MS.13 gang. That is fact number one. Fact number two, we also have credible intelligence proving that this individual was involved in human trafficking. In fact, number three, this individual was a member, actually a leader, of the brutal MS.13 gang, which this president has designated as a foreign terrorist organization. Fact number four is that foreign terrorists do not have legal protections in the United States of America anymore, and it is within the president's executive authority and power to deport the these heinous individuals from American communities. It is a promise he campaigned on. It is a promise he is keeping and every single person in this room should be grateful for that, considering especially MS.13 is very prevalent and prominent here in the District of Columbia, in Maryland and in Virginia. And the President, the attorney general, everyone who has been involved in these operations is focused on eradicating these criminals and terrorists from our communities.

The vice president said he was a convicted member of Ms. 13. What evidence is there to back that up?

Ms. There's a lot of evidence and the Department of Homeland Security and ICE have that evidence and I saw it this morning. Steve, has the President fully made up his mind on the level of tariffs imposed tomorrow?

We keep hearing about a 20% flat rate.

Ms. The President said last night he has made a decision in a determination. I was with him in the Oval Office earlier and he is going to announce that decision tomorrow. I don't want to get ahead of the President. This is obviously a very big day. He is with his trade and tariff team right now perfecting it to make sure this is a perfect deal for the American people and the American worker. And you will all find out in about 24 hours from now. And are the car tariffs going to go into effect on April 3rd as scheduled, correct? Yes, they will. Okay. And last thing, would you like to.

Respond to the Chinese military drills around Taiwan?

Yes, I would. As a matter of fact, the National Security Council briefed me on this this morning and they said that the President is emphasizing the importance of maintaining peace in the Taiwan Strait, encouraging the peaceful resolution of these cross strait issues, reiterating our opposition to any unilateral attempts to change the status quo by force or coercion. That is directly from the national security advisor, just for you, Steve Holland of Reuters. Monica, thank you so much. Caroline. Elon Musk this week revealed that Doge found that the Biden administration issued over 2 million Social Security numbers to illegal aliens, found 20 million dead people marked as alive in the Social Security system. Has the White House confirmed these numbers with Elon and is the White House looking into correcting this? Ms. I'm not sure about those specific numbers that Mr. Musk cited. I can tell you what the Social Security Administration has said themselves, according to an inspectors general's report that was conducted last year showing there was nearly $80 billion worth of fraud in this program. We know for a fact there are individuals who are should not be receiving benefits on the Social Security rolls and this administration is focused on cleaning out the waste, fraud and abuse in every agency, but particularly in to make it stronger for our taxpaying, law abiding citizens who deserve these entitlements and programs. Because you did bring up Doge, I do want to tout the incredible efforts that have been made at the Environmental Protection Agency and Administrator Lee Zeldin is just doing a tremendous job just yesterday and today it will be going into effect. He announced that taxpayers will be saved $8 million in annual lease costs by moving staff out of the 323,000 square feet of space that the EPA currently occupies, which is completely unnecessary. Yesterday, Administrator Zeldin also announced he will be shutting down a museum that the Biden administration built to tell a selective story about the EPA's history and climate change. It was a real pat on the back to President Biden. And guess how much American taxpayers paid for it? $4 million for this museum that I think only 1,000 visitors sold last year alone. And it will cost American taxpayers $600,000 per year to operate this museum. Well, it's not going to exist anymore. We're going to save taxpayers those critical funds. And administration Administrator Zeldin is very proud to announce that. And just at EPA alone and the cuts that they have made, they've saved taxpayers more than $22 billion in wasteful grants in spending.

Peter thank you, Caroline. When the president goes down to Florida on the weekends, does he ever hear from there are so many retired folks down in Florida. Does he ever hear from any retired Americans who are stressed about these wild swings in the stock market because of the tariff uncertainty and they're sitting there on fixed income or living off a 401k and they don't know how much money is going to be left?

Well, certainly they are legitimate campaigns concerns and the president takes those concerns very seriously and he's addressing them every single day. And tomorrow's announcement is to protect future generations of the senior citizens you mentioned. It's for their kids and their grandkids to ensure that there are jobs here in the United States of America, for their children to live the American dream just like they presumably did. And as for their worries about their 401 s, their Social Security, I just addressed Social Security. This president is always going to protect protect it for our taxpaying senior citizens. As for their 401s, look at what President Trump did for you in his first term. He is working on implementing that economic formula every single day by lowering inflation, lowering energy prices, massive deregulatory efforts, while simultaneously effectively implementing tariffs. And they'll hear more about that announcement tomorrow.

And you said that the president right now is with the trade and tariff team. They are very confident that this is all going to work.

Work.

But what if they're wrong?

Ms. They're not going to be wrong. It is going to work. And the president has a brilliant team of advisors who have been studying these issues for decades. And we are focused on restoring the golden age of America and making America a manufacturing superpower. And again, Peter, I would point you to the investments that have already trickled into this country. And the president hasn't even made his tariff announcement yet tomorrow. There have been billions of dollars in private investments from around the world pouring pouring into American communities. What does that look like for those watching at home, for the people you mentioned worried about their own economic circumstances? It means more jobs in your communities, which means more money, more investments, more money in your pocket. That's what the president is committed to. And I would be remiss if I didn't mention the President's commitment to tax cuts, which we are counting on Congress to do, especially on Social Security.

And one more Are the special elections today a referendum on the President? Ms.

I think the first of all, as you know, I'm a government employee now, so I'm not very much allowed to comment on elections that are taking place. That's something to get used to, having just been on the campaign trail for quite some time. But the president is the leader of the America first movement and the MAGA movement, and that was made very clear on November 5th when he received nearly 80 million votes. I could also say that it is the constitutional right of every law abiding American in these places where these elections are being held to vote and every American should exercise their constitutional rights. Sure. Thanks, Carolyn. A few questions about this deportation case. First, I wanted to clarify something that you said to Jeff a few minutes ago. You said you'd seen evidence that this man was a convicted gang member. In what court was he convinced convicted and for what? This individual was an MS.13 ringleader. This individual was also engaged in human trafficking. And I'm glad you brought up this point again, because I would like to point out that if you just saw the headline from the Insane failing Atlantic magazine this morning, you would think this individual was father of the year, living in Maryland, living a peaceful life. When that couldn't be further from the truth. They didn't even mention in the title of that article or even in the first paragraph that this individual is an illegal criminal who broke our nation's immigration laws. He is a leader in the brutal MS.13 gang and he is involved in human trafficking. And now MS.13 is a designated foreign terrorist organization. Foreign terrorists have no legal protections in the United States of America, and this administration is going to continue to deport foreign terrorists and illegal criminals from our nation's entire but a judge ordered that he should remain in this country. So are you saying that it is okay to ignore a judge's ruling if you don't like it who does that judge work for? He's an immigration judge. It was an immigration judge who works for the Department of Justice at the direction of the Attorney General of the United States whose name is Pam Bondi, who has committed to eradicating Ms. 13 from our nation's interior. And let me tell you why we've made this commitment. Ms. 13, may I remind each and every one of you is a brutal and vicious gang. They raped and strangled a 20 year old autistic woman to death in Maryland. They hacked four people to death with machetes in a park on Long Island. They have kidnapped, sexually tortured and shot a teenage girl in Texas after she insulted them. Allegedly killed and mutilated a 17 year old girl in Virginia, stabbing him 16 times and cutting off his hands. They beheaded and cut out the heart of a man in Washington D.C. they raped and murdered a 13 year old girl in California. They sex trafficked a slew of young girls, including one who was just 12 years old. Raped an 11 year old girl in Brooklyn while her brother was in the room. Sex trafficked a 13 year old in Maryland and Virginia, miles away from this White House, even beating her 26 times on her backside with a baseball bat. Pressured homeless New Yorkers to undergo unnecessary surgery such as spinal fusion in order to bolster their fraudulent lawsuits. These are vicious criminals. This is a vicious gang. And I wish that the media would spend just a second of the same time you have spent trying to litigate each and every individual of this gang who has been deported from our country as the innocent Americans whose lives have been lost at the hands of these brutal criminals, we maintain our position and very strongly so. Jennifer, one more on the tariffs. Can you say what the latest thinking is on the start date? I know you were just in the Oval. Are they all going to take effect this week on the reciprocal tariffs and whenever they start, is that enough time for companies and everyone involved to adjust to that start date? Ms. My understanding is that the tariff announcement will come tomorrow. They will be effective immediately and the President has been teasing this for quite some time. As you know, he's talked a lot about April 2 as Liberation Day in America. It would be taking place today if not for April Fool's Day. But tomorrow will be the day and he's been talking about it for a while and as a result, you've seen these companies make commitments to investing right here in the United States. Jasmine, thank you so much. I wonder, back on tariffs, what if any, market indicators is the White House looking for to see if this tariffs plan is successful down the line. Well, look, the president has been asked and answered this question about the stock market and whether he's watching it. And I've said, and he has said the market is a snapshot in time. Yesterday, Dow futures were up, and there's been a lot of talk about the market, and it was up yesterday. So, look, the president wants to ensure that all Americans make out well, particularly Main Street. That's the focus of these tariffs. But as I've said repeatedly, just like they did in just like they were in his first term, Wall street will be just fine. Shelby, thanks. A bipartisan pair of senators sent a letter to the president today arguing that the recent strikes in Yemen are emboldening the Houthis and saying that Congress has not authorized war war against them. Is the administration planning to consult with Congress at some point or going forward regarding the strikes and any response on the letter? Ms. Well, I would absolutely reject Congress's claims. Who made those claims in Congress? Senator Jeff Merkley and Rand Paul. Okay. Well, I would absolutely reject those claims. These Houthi strikes have been incredibly successful. Last time I was at this podium, there were more than 100 successful strikes. There have now been over 200 successful strikes against the Houthis. Iran is incredibly weakened as a result of these attacks. And we have seen they've taken out Houthi leaders, they've taken out critical members who were launching strikes on naval ships and on commercial vessels. And this operation will not stop until the freedom of navigation in this region is restored, which is a critical principle. And this president stands behind our Defense Department, who's doing a tremendous job. Is the White House going to confer with Congress going forward on this? Ms. I would have to ask our team here at the White House, but the president is well within his authority, as is the secretary of Defense. Again, these are defensive strikes. The Houthis have been launching attacks on US Naval vessels and commercial ships for quite some time. Go ahead, Caroline. The pause on the Canadian and Mexican tariffs, the fentanyl tariffs that's set to expire tomorrow, is the president considering extending extending that pause? Ms. Look, I will let the president speak on the specifics of the tariffs tomorrow. But as for fentanyl, we have seen this has certainly caused a national security crisis here in the United States. Fentanyl continues to be the number one killer of young people in this country, and the president is very much focused on that. Deanna. Thank you, Caroline. The president recently signed an executive order on making DC Safe and beautiful on the campaign trail, he talked about making New York great again. Does he have any plans on establishing a similar task force? Has he been pressuring Governor Hochul in any way in his conversations about New York and lowering crime? Ms. Well, he has been in correspondence with Governor Hochul quite a bit on the issue of crime, also on the issue of congestion pricing and so many other issues that are facing New Yorkers. He wants New York to clean up their streets, just as he does here in Washington, D.C. he also speaks to Mayor Adams as well. So he's engaged with state and local leaders across the entire country to ensure they're doing their part to help American citizens in each and every state, regardless of if it's a red state or a blue state. And then another question on Russia. Yesterday, the Russian government said that their new goal is 160,000 conscripts for the war. Has the president seen that number and does he have any response, given his recent conversations on peace talks? Ms. Well, I can tell you what the president said last night, and that is he is frustrated with leaders on both sides of this war. He wants this war to end. There are men that are dying on both sides and it's been going on for far too long. Our team continues to be engaged with the Russians as we are with the Ukrainians, and the president continues to be very, very much engaged on this topic every single day. Caroline, the president said over the weekend that he couldn't care less if prices went up on foreign cars because people buy more American cars. There's been consensus from a lot of economists that these tariffs could raise prices on other goods as well. Is the president comfortable with Americans on Main street paying more because of these tariffs? Ms. The president is doing everything he can and this entire administration is doing everything we can to bring down the cost of living in this country, an inflation mess that was fueled by the previous administration's reckless spending, overburdensome regulations that this administration is focused on slashing every single day. I just read you a statistic just from the Environmental Protective Agency alone. We're saving taxpayers money that's ultimately going to drive down inflation, and we're unleashing the might of our energy industry, which will bring down prices and as well to the heart of your question, because this is very important to the American people, you should trust what this president did for you in his first term. He effectively utilized tariffs while driving down inflation. It was a record low 1.4% when he left office, and he's focused on getting back to that. It's unfortunate the previous administration left us in this mess. Representative Anna Paulina Luna left the Freedom Caucus over there, left support for a bill that would allow new parents to proxy vote around 12 weeks around the birth of their baby. Does the president support that bill? Ms. I'm not sure. I haven't actually talked to the president about that bill, but I certainly can and can get a take on if he supports it or not. Thank you. And one more the DC Circuit ruled last week that the DC Circuit ruled last week that the president can fire holdover Biden appointees of independent agencies. Will this ruling impact empower President Trump to dismiss more federal employees? Ms. Well, the President has given the responsibility to his Cabinet secretaries to hire and fire at their respective agencies, and they reserve that right. You saw the secretary of Health and Human Services announced more layoffs today. This is all part of the administration's effort for a mass reduction in force in the federal bureaucracy here in Washington, D.C. to save American taxpayers money. As for agencies within the president's executive authority, the president retains that right. And we've seen there have been bureaucrats at some of these agencies that have been trying to act independent. They need to remember who they work for. It's the executive of the executive branch. You look at the United States Institute of Peace, for example, there was a little bit of a standoff with bureaucrats over there who didn't want to realize who they work for, and that is Donald Trump. And President Trump is focused on streamlining these agencies to save American taxpayers money, and he has every right to do that. Caroline? Caroline, sure, go ahead.

Thanks, Caroline. In Gaza, the bodies of 15 rescuers have been found in their sort of ambulances where they were apparently killed by Israeli forces. Just wondering if the White House is going to be calling on Israel to investigate that and to try and avoid similar casualties involving rescue workers future.

Ms. Well, as for the specific situation you just mentioned, I'll talk to the president about it and our national security team. What I can tell you is what I've spoken with the president on, he very much remains committed to backing Israel, and it was only because of this president and his team's leadership that we had a temporary cease fire in Gaza that we were able to bring many hostages home. And the president made it very clear to Hamas, you get the hostages out, all of them, or there will be held to pass pay. And Hamas is certainly witnessing what it feels like for all hell to be paid. And the president supports Israel's right to defend itself.

Is progress at all on a ceasefire at the moment, as far as the president is concerned.

Ms. The president and his team continue to be engaged on this every single day. Sure, go ahead, Sarah. So I'm just wondering related to that, if you have an approximate date for the President's first foreign trip. I think there was a little confusion yesterday about what month he was talking about and then will he need a cease fire to be in place or closer, either in Gaza or in Ukraine before that takes place? Ms. The President will be heading to Saudi Arabia in May. As for specific dates and details, we will be reading those out to you as soon as we possibly can. I know our teams are working on the details of that trip. And then again, as for a cease fire, the President has made it clear that's what he wants to see in Russia and Ukraine, and his team continues to be engaged on it every day. Kelly, signal, you said case closed yesterday. Do you as that case was closed, do you have anything that you can share about what was learned, how this can be avoided in the future, any sort of findings from that investigation? Ms. The case is closed and the President continues to have confidence in his national security advisor. Caroline yes. Kelly, please. CAROLINE so the President has and I'll come to you after the president I'm glad you're so eager to ask a question.

It's Liberation Day.

Yes, it is, Caroline. The president has said four countries and companies will eat the cost of tariffs. In his speech on Inauguration Day, he said, quote, instead of taxing our citizens to enrich other countries, we will tariff and tax foreign countries to enrich our citizens. Right. So then why did he have to tell the domestic automakers not to raise prices? Well, that was a private conversation that was had. I'm not sure if that comment was made or was not made, but as for what the President said in his Inauguration Day speech, he's absolutely correct. A tariff will be a tax on these foreign nations, these foreign companies. And if they want to be absolved of that tariff, then they can come here to the United States of America to do business, bring their jobs here. Edward, go ahead. Thank you.

So Canadians have been negotiating with the commerce secretary over the trade, the tariffs. How many companies are mutually talking with the US to or countries are mutually talking with the US to lower tariffs?

Ms. I don't have a specific number, but I can tell you there have been quite a few countries that have called the president and have called his team in discussion about these tariffs. But again, there's one country the President cares most about and it's the United States of America. In doing what's best for the people who elected him to this office to restore their jobs, their wealth and their prosperity. I'm looking at the clock. I have a hard out today. Excuse me. I have a heart out today because I'm actually heading over to the State Department with the first lady of the United States. She will be delivering remarks at one o' clock this afternoon at the 19th International Women of Courage Award ceremony with our great Secretary of State, Marco Rubio. That starts at one. This is the fifth year Mrs. Trump is participating and standing with brave women leaders who embody American values abroad. And the first lady in her remarks today will highlight the profound connection between the love and car courage that will be shown by this year's honorees. I encourage everybody to tune in at one o' clock, and then we'll see you all tomorrow for Liberation Day. Thanks, guys.

Thanks, Caroline.

Thanks, Caroline. Yeah.