White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt, the youngest person to hold that office, made her debut Tuesday in the first White House briefing of Donald Trump's second term in office.
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00:00Good afternoon, everybody.
00:02How are we?
00:04Good to see all of you.
00:05It's an honor to be here with all of you.
00:07A lot of familiar faces in the room, a lot of new faces.
00:10And President Trump is back, and the golden age of America
00:15has most definitely begun.
00:16The Trump White House will speak to all media outlets
00:20and personalities, not just the legacy media
00:23who are seated in this room.
00:25Because according to recent polling from Gallup,
00:27Americans' trust in mass media has fallen to a record low.
00:33Millions of Americans, especially young people,
00:36have turned from traditional television outlets
00:38and newspapers to consume their news from podcasts, blogs,
00:42social media, and other independent outlets.
00:45It's essential to our team
00:47that we share President Trump's message everywhere
00:50and adapt this White House to the new media landscape in 2025.
00:55To do this, I am excited to announce
00:57the following changes will be made
00:58to this historic James S.
01:00Brady Briefing Room,
01:01where Mr. Brady's legacy will endure.
01:04This White House believes strongly in the First Amendment,
01:07so it's why our team will work diligently
01:10to restore the press passes of the 440 journalists
01:14whose passes were wrongly revoked
01:15by the previous administration.
01:18We're also opening up this briefing room
01:19to new media voices who produce news-related content
01:23and whose outlet is not already represented
01:26by one of the seats in this room.
01:28We welcome independent journalists, podcasters,
01:31social media influencers, and content creators
01:34to apply for credentials to cover this White House.
01:38And you can apply now on our new website,
01:41whitehouse.gov slash new media.
01:45Starting today, this seat in the front of the room,
01:49which is usually occupied by the press secretary's staff,
01:52will be called the new media seat.
01:55My team will review the applications
01:57and give credentials to new media applicants
01:59who meet our criteria
02:00and pass United States Secret Service requirements
02:03to enter the White House complex.
02:05And before I turn to questions,
02:06I do have news directly from the President of the United States
02:10that was just shared with me in the Oval Office,
02:13from President Trump directly,
02:15an update on the New Jersey drones.
02:17After research and study,
02:19the drones that were flying over New Jersey in large numbers
02:22were authorized to be flown by the FAA
02:26for research and various other reasons.
02:29Many of these drones were also hobbyists,
02:32recreational, and private individuals
02:34that enjoy flying drones.
02:36In time, it got worse due to curiosity.
02:40This was not the enemy.
02:43A statement from the President of the United States
02:46to start this briefing with some news.
02:47And with that, I will turn it over to questions.
02:49Thanks, Caroline.
02:51A question that we've asked your predecessors
02:52of both parties in this job.
02:54When you're up here in this briefing room
02:56speaking to the American public,
02:57do you view yourself and your role
02:59as advocating on behalf of the President
03:02or providing the unvarnished truth
03:04that is not to lie,
03:05not to obfuscate to the American people?
03:08I commit to telling the truth from this podium
03:10every single day.
03:11I commit to speaking on behalf
03:13of the President of the United States.
03:15That is my job.
03:16And I will say it's very easy to speak truth from this podium
03:18when you have a President who is implementing policies
03:22that are wildly popular with the American people.
03:25And that's exactly what this administration is doing.
03:27It's correcting the lies
03:29and the wrongs of the past four years,
03:31many of the lies that have been told to your faces
03:33in this very briefing room.
03:35I will not do that.
03:36But since you brought up truth-seek,
03:38I would like to point out,
03:39while I vow to provide the truth from this podium,
03:42we ask that all of you in this room
03:44hold yourselves to that same standard.
03:46We know for a fact there have been lies
03:48that have been pushed by many legacy media
03:50outlets in this country about this President,
03:53about his family.
03:54And we will not accept that.
03:56We will call you out when we feel that your reporting
04:00is wrong or there is misinformation
04:02about this White House.
04:03So, yes, I will hold myself to the truth,
04:05and I expect everyone in this room to do the same.
04:07And, Carol, I just have a substantive question.
04:09Yesterday, the White House Office of Management
04:11and Budget directed an across-the-board freeze
04:16subject to individual assistance,
04:17we understand, to federal grants.
04:19It's caused a lot of confusion around the country.
04:22How does that uncertainty service the President's voters?
04:25Well, I think there's only uncertainty
04:27in this room amongst the media.
04:28There's no uncertainty in this building.
04:29So, let me provide the certainty
04:31and the clarity that all of you need.
04:33This is not a blanket pause on federal assistance
04:37and grant programs from the Trump administration.
04:40Individual assistance, that includes —
04:42I'm not naming everything that's included,
04:44but just to give you a few examples —
04:46Social Security benefits, Medicare benefits,
04:49food stamps, welfare benefits —
04:52assistance that is going directly to individuals
04:55will not be impacted by this pause.
04:58And I want to make that very clear to any Americans
05:00who are watching at home who may be a little bit confused.
05:03And the reason for this is to ensure that every penny
05:06that is going out the door is not conflicting
05:08with the executive orders and actions
05:10that this President has taken.
05:12So, what does this pause mean?
05:13It means no more funding for illegal DEI programs.
05:16It means no more funding for the Green New scam
05:19that has cost American taxpayers tens of billions of dollars.
05:24It means no more funding for transgenderism and wokeness
05:28across our federal bureaucracy and agencies.
05:30No more funding for Green New Deal
05:32social engineering policies.
05:34Again, people who are receiving individual assistance,
05:38you will continue to receive that.