Transcript: White House Press Briefing on Boulder Attack, Migrants & Elon Musk

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There is nothing mysterious about that, and we’d like to see the Washington Post update their headline accordingly. This is clearly trying to intentionally manipulate the minds of Americans, and I think the American people understand why there’s been a fentanyl drop.

In our office, we responded to this inquiry, we provided a whole host of the reasons that fentanyl seizures at the southern border have dropped, and the Washington Post refused to run them. That’s despicable.

Economic Updates

In other news, positive economic reports continue to flood in. Inflation dropped to 2.1 percent in April. Personal income increased 0.8 percent in April. So inflation is down and wages are up. That’s almost triple the expectations and against the doubts of nearly everyone in this room.

And we also saw the largest monthly decline in the trade deficit on record as a result of President Trump’s very powerful tariffs.

Lastly, the price of eggs has dropped more than 61 percent since President Trump took office in January. I remember my very first briefing, I was asked about the cost of eggs. The reporter tried to insinuate it was this administration’s fault, even though he’d only been here for a few days or weeks. It was a result of the previous administration’s terrible policies, and in record time, this president has fixed that problem that he inherited from Joe Biden, and now egg prices have dropped 61 percent since this president took office.

There’s a lot of good news, and I’m sure you have a lot of questions, so let’s get to them. We have Just the News in our new media seat today, Amanda Head. Thank you for being with us. Why don’t you kick us off?

REPORTER: Sure. Thank you so much. There is a disturbing trend of anti-Semitism turning into terrorism, of course, the Boulder, Colorado incidents that you just mentioned, the two Israeli embassy staffers who were murdered, Pennsylvania governor’s mansion with the Jewish governor inside getting set on fire. Does the president consider this domestic terrorism, and as such, are there official alerts to law enforcement, BOLOs, task forces, things like that?

KAROLINE LEAVITT: The president has made it very clear, as he said in his statement yesterday, that yes, these anti-Semitic acts of violence do qualify as terrorism, and he does not want to see terrorism or violence of any form taking place in the United States of America, and as for specifically anti-Semitic terrorism and anti-Semitic acts of violence and those that are targeting Jewish Americans, this administration has done more to combat that violence than any administration in history, and one incident is one too many, and I think, frankly, that’s something the previous administration was not willing to say. This president will stand up for Americans of all religions, of all faiths, of all creeds, and we will continue to look at policy measures and actions that we can take, in addition to the actions that have already been taken to curb this anti-Semitic violence, and to Jewish Americans at home, across the country, this president has your back.

REPORTER: On another issue, back in February, Secretary Kennedy created a commission to re-examine the childhood vaccine schedule, but there are still states outstanding, like California, Connecticut, Maine, that are not allowing any religious exemptions for kids not only to go to school, but to participate in sports and extracurricular activities. Would the president want to see religious exemptions allowed across all 50 states, and how do you enforce that, especially with states like California, that are already defying the president on the men and women’s sports agenda?

KAROLINE LEAVITT: Generally speaking, I know the president supports religious exemptions for families when it comes to vaccinations. As for the instances in those specific states, I’ll have the administration and the White House look into it and see what executive action, if any, we can take on that front. Thank you.

Hurricane Preparedness

REPORTER: Good afternoon. We’re now in hurricane season, and obviously there is great concern every year about the potential for that. Can you speak to how the president is planning to have the level of support, should it be needed, to be as it has been with a reduction in the workforce, and is he still comfortable with Administrator Richardson, who had talked, whether joking or not, about not being aware of a hurricane season for this country? What is the president’s level of briefings on what may be required? If you could give us kind of an overall update on that.

KAROLINE LEAVITT: Sure. Well, of course, we know that we are into hurricane season now, and I know FEMA is taking this seriously, contrary to some of the reporting we have seen based on jokes that were made and leaks from meetings. But Secretary Kristi Noem and the FEMA leadership are all over this. They are committed to ensuring that federal resources and tax dollars are there for Americans in need, and the president continues to review requests for emergency aid and carefully considering them.

However, this president has made it clear we’re not going to enable states to make bad decisions with federal tax dollars and then have the federal government later have to bail these states out. We want to see states be responsible with their tax dollars to do as much as they possibly can, and then the president will deeply and thoughtfully consider any requests for federal aid that come to his desk.

And I think some of the media reporting we’ve seen on this is, frankly, sloppy and irresponsible. There are serious people who are taking this issue seriously, starting with the president himself, who, as you know, on his first domestic trip back in office, visited both North Carolina and California, both of which were, of course, hit by natural disasters when he wasn’t even president. But he took ownership of that and visited those places and those people immediately.

It’s serious business, Kelly, and I’m not going to engage in such fodder with a question like that.

Trade Negotiations

REPORTER: Thank you, Karoline. Reuters was reporting that there is a letter that is meant to be sent to other countries which would give these countries a deadline of Wednesday to produce their best offer on the trade matter. Why does the administration feel the need to send this letter? And I have one more follow-up on trade.

KAROLINE LEAVITT: I can confirm the merits and the content of the letter. USTR sent this letter to all of our trading partners just to give them a friendly reminder that the deadline is coming up. And they are in talks, Ambassador Greer, Secretary Bessent, Secretary Lutnick are in talks with many of our key trading partners around the globe, as you know, Brian, I know the Wall Street Journal has covered this quite heavily. And they continue to be engaged in those discussions. And this letter was simply to remind these countries that the deadline is approaching and the President expects good deals and we are on track for that, I will emphasize.

REPORTER: On the trade side, though, the deal with the United Kingdom, there was this idea of a reprieve on the auto tariffs. Is the President looking to do another similar deal on the sector-by-sector reduction tariffs? Or is this more going to be deals related to the reciprocal tariffs that were announced months ago?

KAROLINE LEAVITT: Well, as I’ve said previously from the podium and the President has discussed as well, each country has unique advantages, unique challenges to it based on their markets and what they export to us and what we export to them. And so that’s why the President smartly advised his trade team to engage in tailor-made deal-making. And we saw that with the United Kingdom and we will see that with other countries as well.

Russia-Ukraine and Iran

REPORTER: Does the President support the Senate moving forward with the bill imposing heavy sanctions on Russia?

KAROLINE LEAVITT: Look, the President has spoken about his position on sanctions on Russia. He has smartly kept this as a tool in his toolbox if necessary. But I think the Senate and everyone on Capitol Hill respects the President as the Commander-in-Chief for a reason. And as you know, Russia and Ukraine engaged in direct talks yesterday. That was at the encouragement of this President when he spoke to both leaders of both countries via phone just a couple of weeks ago.

And so I would just like to remind everybody how far we have come in just four months. I mean, it was inconceivable last year at this time for Russia and Ukraine to be engaged in direct talks. And it’s because of the President’s insistence and determination to get this war to an end that these countries sat down yesterday. So he’s willing to use sanctions if he needs them. And the Senate and Capitol Hill understand that the President is the Commander-in-Chief and he’s leading United States foreign policy as he should.

REPORTER: And on Iran, the President said that the U.S. would not allow for any uranium enrichment. The proposal offered to the Iranians reportedly allows for low levels of enrichment. Can you explain that discrepancy?

KAROLINE LEAVITT: I’m not going to comment on alleged details of the report. We’re not going to negotiate through the media out of respect for these ongoing discussions and negotiations that Special Envoy Witkoff is leading. The President made his position very clear on True Social last night. In fact, it couldn’t be any more clear. And I would reiterate that’s his position. Special Envoy Whitkoff sent a very detailed and acceptable proposal to the Iranian regime that the President hopes they will accept. And if not, they will face grave consequences, as the President himself has reiterated.

NATO Summit and Netherlands

REPORTER: A couple of things if I may. Firstly, can you confirm whether or not President Trump is going to be going to the NATO summit in The Hague later this month?

KAROLINE LEAVITT: I can confirm he will be going to the NATO summit, yes.

REPORTER: Great, thanks. Another question on the Netherlands in fact. Just wondering if you have any reaction to the collapse of the Dutch government there after the anti-EU and anti-Islam leader Geert Wilders, who’s been described as a Dutch Trump, pulled out of the government there.

KAROLINE LEAVITT: I don’t have a comment on that, but certainly we should and we will and we will get you one, okay?

NASA Nomination

REPORTER: Thanks, Karoline. I wanted to ask, a couple days ago the President announced that he was withdrawing the nomination of Jared Isaacman to lead NASA, citing a thorough review of prior associations. I wondered why did this review happen just now after the nominee was so far into the process? And can you explain the President’s thinking on who he might choose?

KAROLINE LEAVITT: The President reserves the right to nominate individuals to key administration posts. He also reserves the right to remove those individuals if he chooses, just like he reserves the right to fire anybody in the executive branch that he wants. And so a new replacement for NASA will be announced very soon, as the President himself said.

REPORTER: Was there something in particular that came up that caused the President concern with this nomination?

KAROLINE LEAVITT: The President wants to ensure that all of his nominees are aligned fully with the America First mission of this administration. And again, he will be announcing a replacement very soon.

U.S.-U.K. Trade Deal

REPORTER: Thank you, Karoline.

KAROLINE LEAVITT: You’re welcome. I can’t see you all the way back there. Sorry.

REPORTER: There you go. So it’s been just about a month since Prime Minister Starmer and President Trump announced that the U.S. and U.K. had reached a trade deal, or at least a framework for a deal. Now there are at least some conservative MPs in London who are complaining that Parliament has not yet seen the text of any deal. So I’d like to ask you from this side of the pond, is there a text

REPORTER: There’s most definitely text with this deal. There is language that this side has seen. You’ll have to ask the U.K. Parliament why they haven’t seen it from their own government. I obviously can’t answer that question.

REPORTER: Karoline, one more on Ukraine, please.

KAROLINE LEAVITT: Sure, go ahead.

REPORTER: On Ukraine, it’s been a couple of days since Ukraine made that audacious drone strike on Russian airfields. The President hasn’t said a word about it, and usually he’s not shy about making his thoughts known on the war or any other subject. What have you heard from him on this audacious drone strike? Is he surprised? He said that Zelensky didn’t have the cards when they met in the Oval Office a few months back. Does Zelensky possibly have some cards that the President hadn’t known about?

KAROLINE LEAVITT: Look, the President’s thinking on the Russia-Ukraine war as it stands, I spoke to him about it just this morning, is he remains positive at the progress that we’ve seen. Again, he urged both leaders to sit down and talk directly with one another, and they did that. Russia handed over a memorandum of peace or a peace plan or a suggestion of one, I understand, to the Ukrainian side. They also agreed upon the exchange of prisoners or hostages from each other’s countries. So he remains positive about the progress that we’re seeing, but he also is a realist, and he realizes these are two countries that are at war and have been for a long time because of his predecessor’s weakness and incompetence. So he’s working hard to solve this conflict, and that’s where his mind is right now on it.

Jonathan, go ahead.

JONATHAN: Thank you. Same topic, just to put a finer point on it. Does President Trump approve of Ukraine’s decision to strike nuclear-capable bombers in Russia?

KAROLINE LEAVITT: I would like to let the President speak on that himself. And just to follow up, the President does not want to see this war prolonged. He wants the fighting to stop, he wants people to stop dying, and he wants this to be solved at the negotiating table. The reason he is so deeply involved and has spent so much time and effort on this war is because he hates to see people dying. Again, these are not Americans that are being killed. These are Russians and these are Ukrainians. This is a war very far away. But this President truly cares about peace, and that’s what he wants to see.

REPORTER: What is President Trump doing to ensure that a similar internal drone attack doesn’t happen here in the U.S., given this was done at pretty low cost, very stealthily? You know, it obviously raises questions about our own security, particularly for U.S. aircraft here.

KAROLINE LEAVITT: It absolutely does. And that’s why the President nominated Secretary Hegseth and has approved some of the changes that have been made at the Pentagon to ensure that we have the most lethal fighting force in the world, and that the United States military is the best, the biggest. That’s why he wants the one big, beautiful bill to be passed, because it increases our defense spending. It’s why he also launched the announcement of the Golden Dome, to prevent from missile strikes and attacks in the future. And the President has a full understanding, I can tell you, because I’ve spoken to him about it, about the future of warfare and how drones are a big part of that. And I will not get ahead of our policy team, but I think you can expect to see some executive action on that front in the very near future. Kaitlin?

Budget and Deficit Concerns

KAITLIN: Two questions for you as well. On the big, beautiful bill, you said recently that it is, quote, blatantly wrong to say that it adds to the deficit. You essentially said that an estimate from the Congressional Budget Office and other scorekeepers you believe are wrong. But Republicans like Ron Johnson and Rand Paul disagree. They are saying that it will add to the deficit. That is their concern. Is the White House’s position that those two Republican senators are, quote, blatantly wrong?

KAROLINE LEAVITT: It is. Those senators, it’s not news that they disagree with this President on policy. And the President has vocally called them out for it, and for their not having their facts together. I would add the Congressional Budget Office has been historically wrong. In fact, they predicted the Trump tax cuts from the President’s first term in 2017. Their prediction was wrong by half a trillion dollars. Those tax cuts had nearly a half trillion dollars more revenue than the Congressional Budget Office scored. And I would also point out, I don’t think many people know this, there hasn’t been a single staffer in the entire Congressional Budget Office that has contributed to a Republican since the year 2000. But guess what? There have been many staffers within the Congressional Budget Office who have contributed to Democrat candidates and politicians every single cycle since. So unfortunately, this is an institution in our country that has become partisan and political. And we are very confident in our own economic analyses of this bill. There is $1.6 trillion in savings. And our Office of Management and Budget Director, Russ Fott, is a fiscal hawk. He is well known in this city for being a well-respected fiscal hawk. He has tools at his disposal to produce even more savings. And as you know, the White House will be sending our rescissions package to Capitol Hill today.

Immigration and Security Concerns

KAITLIN: And on immigration, the other day the Homeland Security Secretary said, and I’m quoting her now, that an illegal alien threatened to assassinate President Trump and highlighted in his arrest a man has now admitted to framing him, saying that he wrote the letter that the DHS Secretary Christine Noem posted online. Last I checked before I came to the room, that post was still up from DHS. Does the White House expect them to issue a clarification or a correction on that front?

KAROLINE LEAVITT: We can ask the Department of Homeland Security and get back to you. Jeff?

International Trade Relations

JEFF: Karoline, is the United States putting pressure on China to release its hold on rare earths that are hurting car companies and technology companies now that require that for their products? And is that pressure working?

KAROLINE LEAVITT: Well, I can assure you that the administration is actively monitoring China’s compliance with the Geneva trade agreement. I know the United States, on our end, we have complied with the terms that we set. And our administration officials continue to be engaged in correspondence with their Chinese counterparts. And as you all know, and I know there’s a lot of interest in it, there will be a leader to leader talk very soon. And when that happens, as always, we will let you know.

JEFF: Also, Asia, does the White House have a reaction to the results of the election in Korea?

KAROLINE LEAVITT: Yes, we do. In fact, let me find it here for you. It should be somewhere in here. We do not, but I will get you one, Jeff.

REPORTER: Thanks, Karoline. Two questions on trade. Is this letter that was sent to trading partners a sign that the president isn’t satisfied with the pace of these negotiations? Is he trying to light a fire under these talks now?

KAROLINE LEAVITT: Well, look, the president has been very direct to our trading partners in his conversations with foreign leaders directly that they need to cut deals with the United States of America. The tariff agenda of this president, he believes very strongly in it. And as you’ve all seen, he’s unafraid to use tariffs to protect our industries and protect our workers. But he wants to see these tailor-made deals be signed. And I will tell you, of course, I never want to be the one negotiating with the press about these internal discussions and deliberations. But our team, who is deeply involved in this, sees these deals moving in the right direction. In fact, Ambassador Greer is in Paris right now meeting with many of our trading partners.

REPORTER: We should still expect this flurry of deals in the next 36 days. And the plan is still for those full tariffs to go back into effect on July 9th?

KAROLINE LEAVITT: The plan is for the announcement of these deals to be made very, very soon.

Yes.

REPORTER: Sure. Thank you, Karoline.

KAROLINE LEAVITT: You’re welcome.

REPORTER: So Governor Whitmer confirmed that she spoke with President Trump about the possibility of pardoning the plotters against her kidnapping case. She didn’t give us an idea of what the president’s reaction was about. Do you have any information about what he said?

KAROLINE LEAVITT: Well, I won’t reveal the president’s private discussion unless he gives me liberty to. But I will reiterate what he said publicly when he was asked by one of the journalists in this room in the Oval Office a couple of weeks ago about the pardons. He said it’s something he would look at. Nothing more, nothing less.

REPORTER: When it comes to the leader-to-leader coalition with China this week, what is the president’s expectation of this call? Is he looking for concrete outcomes out of this? Or is he looking for kind of warm relations as these trade talks are ongoing?

KAROLINE LEAVITT: Well, President Trump and President Xi have shared a respectful relationship throughout the years. And again, I won’t get ahead of the president on that call. But as always, after, you’ll hear directly from the president or from myself or someone else here at the White House.

Addressing Anti-Semitism and Campus Violence

REPORTER: Karoline, thank you. I want to get back to the anti-Semitic behavior that’s been going on on college campuses, as well as recently in Colorado. The president, as you know, has the White House Faith Office, the Religious Liberty Commission, as well as the Anti-Task Force on anti-Christian bias, which includes anti-Semitism. From a whole-of-government perspective, and the president’s already mentioned how he hates these kinds of acts that have been going on, can these entities and these agencies work together with the president to put out a proactive campaign to help people stop the hate?

KAROLINE LEAVITT: I think the president himself has been leading on this, Kelly, and has been incredibly clear in his rhetoric that he is not going to tolerate such hate or behavior in the United States of America. And you will see that rhetoric being followed up by action from the Department of Justice, who is seeking to prosecute these cases to the fullest extent of the law. And I know the attorney general and the FBI director were very quick to call this what it was, targeted terrorism. And there was some, I think, criticism from the media and at least pundits I saw on television saying, are they too quick to jump here? No. They see the facts and they reveal those to the American people and they’re transparent. And I think, frankly, that’s a breath of fresh air from what we experienced in the previous administration.

REPORTER: Are there programs that they can put in place to campaign against this kind of violence to actually take the whole approach and say, we want to get ahead of you? If you’re thinking it, don’t do it. And if you’re going to do it, sit down and talk to someone within the faith office, within the Religious Liberty Commission, as well as the task force.

KAROLINE LEAVITT: Yeah, surely. It’s a good idea and I’ll pass it along to them.

Questions About Biden Pardons

REPORTER: Thank you, Karoline. When you look at these last minute Biden pardons, the big ones, Biden siblings, Fauci, January 6th committee. Most of the big ones have the same very neat signature. We would expect that probably to be the auto pen. There is one that looks different. It looks authentic. In fact, if you look at the last name, it almost looks like the president was having a hard time spelling his last name there. Is this White House of the opinion that the only pardon that would count is one that the president signed himself?

KAROLINE LEAVITT: Very interesting. Very interesting props. If you want to bring them to my office later so I can take a closer look, I would like to do that. The president is making a good point when he discusses the usage of the auto pen. Who was running the country for the past four years? Perhaps those documents were signed with the auto pen, something that I believe the Department of Justice is looking into. As you saw, Ed Martin made an announcement at the Department of Justice this morning to launch an investigation because the American people deserve answers.

REPORTER: Is there any concern that this president, who won the election on a promise to fix the economy and close the border, that focusing and scrutinizing these Biden pardons is looking into the past instead of looking forward?

KAROLINE LEAVITT: I think in comparison to the amount of time this president has spent on securing the border, on fixing our economy, I just read out for you an entire list of accomplishments, economic accomplishments. Look at the border numbers. Look at the time and effort he’s divulged into solving the global conflicts abroad. It pales in comparison, but it still nevertheless is a very important issue. It was a huge issue that sent the president back to this White House. The Americans saw with their own eyes a mentally incompetent president, and they want answers for that, and the president believes they should have.

Elon Musk’s Comments on Spending Bill

REPORTER: Something that just dropped, Karoline, how mad do you think President Trump is going to be when he finds out that Elon Musk said, “I’m sorry, but I just can’t stand it anymore. This massive, outrageous, court-filled congressional spending bill is a disgusting abomination. Shame on those who voted for it. You know you did wrong. You know it.”

KAROLINE LEAVITT: Look, the president already knows where Elon Musk stood on this bill. It doesn’t change the president’s opinion. This is one big, beautiful bill, and he’s sticking to it.

National Security Council Reorganization

REPORTER: The National Security Council was reorganized, or some staffing changes were made, the Friday before Memorial Day. I’m hoping you can explain sort of the new structure, what the structure is of the National Security Council, what the goal is in terms of staffing levels. You know, what is the new National Security Council mode?

KAROLINE LEAVITT: Well, as with everything, this White House, it is a top-down approach. The president is here. He is present. He’s not an auto pen like the previous president was. He’s very much involved in literally every policy discussion and decision that takes place. And we felt it was best to reorganize the National Security Council to respond to that top-down approach that we have here in this White House and to streamline the efficiency and the effectiveness of the National Security Council. And I would add that Secretary of State Rubio and now National Security Advisor Rubio is doing a tremendous job at leading the National Security Council. He knows the president. He understands where the president is on these issues. He’s great to work with here at the White House. I can tell you that. I appreciate seeing him a lot more in the building. And he and the president and the entire National Security Council, who’s made up of great patriots who love this country, are doing a tremendous job on the many conflicts around the world that this administration inherited.

REPORTER: Is there a goal for the staffing level, like a number of people who would be in this National Security Council?

KAROLINE LEAVITT: We just want the National Security Council to be as efficient as possible. And if staffing needs are necessary, I’m sure Secretary Rubio would not mind hiring people if necessary. But again, we’ve been working with them day in and day out, and they’re chugging along and doing great work.

U.S.-Poland Relations and Ukraine

REPORTER: Thank you, Karoline. Two questions, if I can. When Trump got involved himself in the presidential election in Poland by supporting conservative candidates who ultimately won, what does it mean for the future U.S.-Polish relations? What’s likely to change?

KAROLINE LEAVITT: Well, I believe the president is obviously pleased to see the result of the Polish elections. He met with Karol Nawrocki, if I’m pronouncing that correctly.

REPORTER: Nawrocki.

KAROLINE LEAVITT: Nawrocki. OK, thank you. I appreciate your insight on that. He met with him at the White House, and he told him, you’re going to win because you support common sense. And he supported strong borders in Poland. He supported an end to the woke, radical DEI stuff that we’ve seen, not just here in the United States, but really take over Europe and, frankly, the whole world. He was very outspoken about that. And I was reading the reports about how the Polish people felt about this man, and they felt like he was putting the needs of Poland first. And that’s a very refreshing feeling, one that we know very well here in the United States of America. So, as you know, the United States and Poland have always had a very deep and strong relationship, friendship. They’re a great ally. And I know the president continues to look forward to working with them.

REPORTER: We have one more on Ukrainian drone attack on Russia. Was President Trump informed in advance by Ukraine that the attack is coming?

KAROLINE LEAVITT: He was not.

REPORTER: Karoline. I want to go back to the issue of anti-Christian bias, as well as the issue of anti-Semitic issues. Senator Grassley just put out a report saying that the files, FBI files, that show that the Catholic group targeting was way more

REPORTER: …prevalent within the FBI during the Biden era than was previously shown, as far as former FBI Director Christopher Wray was putting out there during congressional testimony. Can you discuss here what President Trump would like to see in terms of consequences within the FBI, as far as those who were involved? Also, the second question, if the DOJ finds that the auto pen was used by President Biden, should those actions that were used with the auto pen, should they be null and void?

KAROLINE LEAVITT: I’m not going to get ahead of the Department of Justice’s investigation into the usage of the auto pen. Again, the question is not, was the auto pen used? It’s whether or not the President of the United States knew it was being used, and if not, who was using it in his name, which is clearly illegal behavior.

Foreign Policy and Administration Relationships

REPORTER: Thanks, Karoline. One on foreign policy, one domestic, if I can.

KAROLINE LEAVITT: Sure.

REPORTER: Just speaking to the President’s Truth Social post about Iran recently, saying that there will be no uranium enrichment, is he saying that that’s a red line for him, or no?

KAROLINE LEAVITT: I already answered this question, and the President’s been very clear about where he stands on that.

REPORTER: Okay, and then on domestic, there is a report that Laura Loomer met with the Vice President today. Can you speak to her relationship with the administration, and if she’s informally advising in any way?

KAROLINE LEAVITT: She is not. I know she met with the Vice President. As for what was discussed in that meeting, I would defer you to his team.

Anti-Semitism and China Policies

REPORTER: Thanks, Karoline. I have one question on anti-Semitism, one question on China. So for years, radical leftists and Islamists have been calling to so-called globalize the intifada. Do you believe this is a call for violence against Jews, and do you think these attacks on Jews around our country is what globalizing the intifada looks like?

KAROLINE LEAVITT: I don’t want to speak to the merits of those claims without looking into them, but as I said, any violence against Jewish Americans will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.

REPORTER: Also, Secretary of State Rubio made an announcement saying he’ll be revoking visas of certain Chinese students, including those with connections to the Chinese Communist Party. Does that include sons and daughters of politicians, presidents, and chairmen?

KAROLINE LEAVITT: Again, Secretary of State Rubio has the right to revoke visas, and he made the announcement that the State Department will begin to aggressively revoke those visas of Chinese students who are in our country, namely those with Chinese Communist Party ties, or those who could be a threat to our national security and the interests of the United States.

Gaza Humanitarian Crisis

REPORTER: Thank you. There are now reports that Israeli forces are firing on Palestinians trying to get aid from the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation. Up to 20 people, according to the Red Cross, have arrived to the hospital that they’ve set up with gunshot wounds, have died from them. Is this administration aware of these, and, I mean, what is being done to address this situation?

KAROLINE LEAVITT: The administration is aware of those reports, and we are currently looking into the veracity of them, because, unfortunately, unlike some in the media, we don’t take the word of Hamas with total truth. We like to look into it when they speak, unlike the BBC, who had multiple headlines. They wrote, Israeli tank kills 26, Israeli tank kills 21, Israeli gunfire kills 31, Red Cross says 21 people were killed in an aid incident, and then, oh, wait. They had to correct and take down their entire story, saying, we reviewed the footage and couldn’t find any evidence of anything. Oh, okay. So, we’re going to look into reports before we confirm them from this podium, or before we take action, and I suggest that journalists who actually care about truth do the same to reduce the amount of misinformation that’s going around the globe on this front.

REPORTER: Can you talk about the change in the leadership of the organization? What does that mean going forward, and why so early on is this happening?

KAROLINE LEAVITT: What organization?

REPORTER: Why the humanitarian foundation?

KAROLINE LEAVITT: Well, look, this was a creative idea that the president called for, to get aid into the region. These people were desperate and starving, and the president didn’t like seeing imagery of that, and he wanted to ensure that aid was brought in with the approval of Israel, for understandable reasons. We will never forget the brutal attack on October 7th, and, again, this is something that the previous administration was unwilling to put the time and effort into doing.

Immigration and Agricultural Workforce

REPORTER: Thanks a lot, Karoline. I want to bring it back to the way you began your briefing, talking about the president’s mass deportation program and his priorities. 40% of crop farm workers in the U.S. are undocumented, and that’s according to the agriculture department. Do they have a carve-out in terms of the president’s mass deportation program?

KAROLINE LEAVITT: The president and the Trump administration have been very clear. If you are in the country illegally, you are subject to deportation.

REPORTER: Is there any concern that, given that large number, if that number is correct, 40% of crop farm workers being undocumented, that that could impact the food supply here in America if those individuals that obviously help pick crops all across the country are deported en masse?

KAROLINE LEAVITT: Again, this administration is focused on deporting individuals who are in our country illegally. It’s something we have to do. We cannot allow the previous administration’s invasion of our country of illegal immigrants to continue. We just can’t have it. And this is a law and order president. As for our farmers and their concerns, they have a president who has their backs and listens to their concerns and hears them, but we also have a legal pathway to come to this country and work specifically for agricultural work. So there’s a legal way to do it, and we encourage that legal pathway, and we’re currently working on strengthening our legal immigration system for that reason.

Maha Report Concerns

REPORTER: Thank you, Karoline. I just wanted to follow up on your statement last week regarding the Maha report. You said that there was, you said, I understand there were some formatting issues with the Maha report that are being addressed, and that report will be updated. We also understand that since that, there have been some citations that came about, there’s citations of studies that either did not exist or did not back up the report’s conclusions. So when you were referring to formatting errors, is that what you’re talking about, or was it, so could you just explain that?

KAROLINE LEAVITT: Yep, that’s what I was talking about. There were formatting errors, and those errors were updated by the proper policy components here at the White House, and a new report was issued. So exactly what I said took place.

Pride Month Discussion

REPORTER: Good to see you.

KAROLINE LEAVITT: Good to see you.

REPORTER: Congresswoman Mary Miller suggested that changing Pride Month to Family Month. I would personally like to see maybe a Nuclear Family Month. Some people are saying, let’s get a Veterans Month. Does the president have any plans on making a proclamation, or is it just going to be June this year?

KAROLINE LEAVITT: Well, there are no plans for a proclamation for the month of June, but I can tell you this president is very proud to be a president for all Americans, regardless of race, religion, or creed.

Sanctuary Cities and Immigration Enforcement

REPORTER: Thank you, Karoline. Colorado passed insured protections for illegals one month before the terrorist attack this weekend. Two questions. Why did the DHS remove the sanctuary cities list that it had published, which was ordered by the president? And then what is the administration going to do to further crack down on sanctuary jurisdictions to prevent attacks like what happened in Colorado?

KAROLINE LEAVITT: Sure. The Department of Homeland Security will be issuing a new list of sanctuary cities, an accurate list of sanctuary cities. As for what we’re doing to crack down, the president has signed various executive orders and has directed the attorney general to prosecute state and local officials who are not complying with federal immigration authorities, and most importantly, federal immigration law.

Tariffs on Steel and Aluminum

REPORTER: So does the president take calls from foreign leaders on the tariffs on steel and aluminum? Does he still intend to double them tomorrow morning?

KAROLINE LEAVITT: The president will be signing that executive order today, and steel and aluminum tariffs will be going to 50%. Yes.

REPORTER: So no way he’s going to change, or he’s going to be suspended?

KAROLINE LEAVITT: He made that announcement in Pennsylvania, and he plans to deliver on that promise to Pennsylvanians.

REPORTER: Thank you, Karoline. So a Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson today said that the U.S. imposed harmful measures like new chip controls and pledging to revoke Chinese student visas. So are the Chinese the victims in this trade back and forth?

KAROLINE LEAVITT: Look, I don’t think anyone is the victim. These are two strong countries, and as I said, the president has a good relationship with China’s president and leader, and that discussion will take place later this week.

REPORTER: And what other authorities is the president looking at for tariffs should the decision in the appeals court not go his direction?

KAROLINE LEAVITT: Well, right now, his tariffs remain in effect. We spoke at length in my briefing last week about that decision that came down from the international trade court, which has been put on pause because the president absolutely does have the authority to implement tariffs and to declare a national emergency for our crippling trade deficit. He could always have the power to use Section 202 or Section 301 as well to impose tariffs if he deems necessary, especially Section 202 tariffs, which are sectoral, as you know, to protect our critical supply chains here at home.

REPORTER: Thanks, Karoline.

KAROLINE LEAVITT: You’re welcome.

REPORTER: You’ve got U.S. business leaders begging for certainty. So why did the president suddenly decide to hike tariffs on steel and aluminum again?

KAROLINE LEAVITT: You also have U.S. business leaders begging to meet with this president and begging to come to the White House to talk to him because they know that he is a negotiator-in-chief, that he’s making good deals on behalf of the American worker and the steel worker, in particular when it comes to the steel and aluminum tariffs, which he discussed in his speech at length at Pennsylvania and the need for them.

And I would just add, I was at that speech on Friday with the president, and there were 2,000 steel workers and their families in the room, many of them wearing their hard hats. I spoke to one backstage who said this is the greatest thing that has happened for that community in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, in 60 years, because this is a president who doesn’t just talk the talk. He walks the walk, too, and he’s delivering on his promises to bolster our steel and aluminum industries in this country and to protect those jobs, if not for this president. That steel plant in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, would have closed. Those jobs would have been lost. And the president saved that company, he saved those jobs, and he’s saving that community. And that’s the intention of the steel tariffs, which he will sign later this afternoon.

KAROLINE LEAVITT: Thank you very much, everyone. We’ll see you later.

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