Press Secretary Leavitt and Vice President Vance Hold a Press Briefing - 01/08/26

[0:00] and will always uphold law and order in the United States of America. [0:05] The deadly incident that took place in Minnesota yesterday [0:08] occurred as a result of a larger, sinister left-wing movement [0:12] that has spread across our country, [0:15] where our brave men and women of federal law enforcement [0:17] are under organized attack. [0:20] Right now, Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers [0:23] are facing a 1,200% increase in assaults, [0:27] a 3,200% increase in vehicle rammings, [0:33] and an 8,000% increase in death threats. [0:37] ICE agents are faithfully enforcing federal law [0:40] to protect the safety of the American people [0:43] by removing criminal illegal aliens from our country, [0:46] which is exactly what nearly 80 million Americans [0:50] elected President Trump and Vice President J.D. Vance to do. [0:54] Radicals in the Democrat Party [0:56] are furious over this. [0:57] They don't want our border-secured [1:00] or criminal illegal aliens being removed. [1:03] As a result, Democrats are impeding [1:05] immigration enforcement operations daily, [1:08] creating extremely heightened and dangerous circumstances [1:11] that make it nearly impossible [1:13] for the men and women of law enforcement [1:16] to simply do their jobs. [1:18] Democrats are calling to defund [1:20] federal law enforcement agencies [1:22] who are protecting public safety. [1:24] And Democrats are calling to abolish ICE [1:26] and defund the public safety. [1:27] Thank you. [1:27] That will never be allowed to happen [1:31] under this president and vice president. [1:33] The Trump administration will redouble our efforts [1:36] to get the worst of the worst, [1:38] criminal illegal alien killers, rapists, [1:41] and pedophiles off of American streets. [1:44] The Department of Homeland Security [1:46] will continue to operate on the ground in Minnesota, [1:48] not only to remove criminal illegal aliens, [1:52] but also to continue conducting [1:54] door-to-door investigations of the rampant fraud, [1:57] that has taken place in the state [1:59] under the failed and corrupt leadership [2:01] of Democrat Governor Tim Walz. [2:04] Taxpayers have been ripped off [2:06] to the tune of billions of dollars [2:08] in this one state alone. [2:10] And that is going to end, [2:12] and people are going to be held accountable. [2:15] The Trump administration has activated [2:16] thousands of federal agents, [2:18] doubled the number of U.S. attorneys [2:20] in the DOJ office in Minneapolis, [2:22] and surged resources to hold fraudsters accountable [2:25] and demand justice for law-abiding, [2:27] American taxpayers, and citizens across our country. [2:31] And that's what brings the Vice President [2:33] out here with me today [2:34] to discuss all the Trump administration is doing, [2:37] and to make an additional important announcement [2:39] on this front. [2:40] So please, Mr. Vice President, [2:42] will be joining us now. [2:48] Thank you. [2:49] Mr. Great. Well, good afternoon, everybody. [2:51] And I want to echo some of what Carolyn said [2:53] about what we're doing to combat the rampant fraud [2:56] that exists in our immigration system, [2:58] thanks to failed politicians, [3:00] and thanks to people who allowed the American taxpayer [3:02] to be taken advantage of for far too long. [3:05] I think it's important to understand [3:07] why this matters to the American people. [3:09] I am a father of three young kids, a lot of kids, [3:13] a lot of people in my generation. [3:16] What is that going on there? Is that normal? [3:18] The Press? [3:20] Mr. CNN installed this broken camera [3:22] just to throw me off my game, but it's not going to work. [3:24] So here's the simple fact here. [3:28] If you're a young parent struggling to afford childcare [3:32] in the United States of America, they will not be able to afford child care. [3:33] There are programs that we have to make it easier [3:36] for your kids to get in daycare, [3:37] for your kids to get in preschool. [3:39] Those programs should go to American citizens, [3:42] not be defrauded by Somali immigrants and others. [3:44] Make it hard for you to get the access [3:47] to the resources you need. [3:48] But number two, making it easier for people [3:51] who shouldn't even be in this country [3:52] to fleece the United States and our taxpayers to begin with. [3:56] We have actually activated a major interagency task force [4:01] to make it possible to get to the heart of this fraud. [4:03] We have Department of Agriculture resources [4:05] that are focused on SNAP fraud [4:07] so that people who need food benefits can get them, [4:10] but illegal aliens and other fraudsters don't. [4:13] We have over 1,500 subpoenas [4:15] that the Department of Justice has issued [4:17] to get to the heart of the fraud ring. [4:19] We've done almost 100 indictments, [4:21] mostly Somali immigrants, but also a few others. [4:24] And of course, we're looking in with broad investigatory authority [4:27] to a number of the instances of wrongdoing [4:31] that we've seen in Minneapolis. [4:33] We also want to expand this. [4:35] We know that the fraud isn't just happening in Minneapolis. [4:38] It's also happening in states like Ohio. [4:40] It's happening in states like California. [4:42] And so what we're doing in order to help coordinate [4:45] this remarkable interagency effort [4:47] from the Trump administration, [4:48] but also to make sure that we prosecute the bad guys [4:52] and do it as swiftly and efficiently as possible, [4:55] is we are creating a new assistant attorney general position [4:59] who will have nationwide jurisdiction [5:02] over the issue of fraud. [5:03] Of course, that person's efforts will start [5:06] and focus primarily in Minnesota, [5:08] but it is going to be a nationwide effort [5:10] because, unfortunately, the American people [5:12] have been defrauded in a very nationwide way. [5:15] I want to thank a couple of people for their cooperation, [5:17] in particular, Pam Bondi, our attorney general, [5:19] first of all, for getting a lot of resources to Minneapolis [5:22] to start to investigate and prosecute this fraud, [5:25] really at an industrial scale. [5:27] We've never seen fraud like this in the history of our country. [5:30] Pam has been doing a great job to get the resources there [5:32] to uncover it. [5:33] But, importantly, creating a job like this [5:36] often takes months, sometimes even longer. [5:39] When we realized that we needed [5:41] this associate attorney general position, [5:43] Pam got this person up and running in about a week. [5:45] We're going to make the nomination, [5:47] hopefully, in the next few days. [5:48] We'll obviously let you guys know who that is when we do it. [5:51] I've talked to Senate Majority Leader John Thune, [5:53] who has promised me swift confirmation for this official, [5:55] but this is the person who is going to make sure [5:58] that we stop defrauding the American people. [6:02] Here's one final thing I'll say about this. [6:04] I've heard a lot of people say that we need a special counsel [6:06] to investigate fraud in the United States of America. [6:09] I actually agree, and that's what this position does. [6:12] It has all the benefits, all the resources, [6:15] all the authority of a special counsel, [6:17] but with two crucial differences. [6:19] Number one, it will be run out of the White House [6:21] under the supervision of me and the President of the United States. [6:24] And number two, it's actually constitutionally legitimate. [6:27] As you guys may know, the special counsel statute [6:30] has some major constitutional questions. [6:32] When we get the bad guys, we want to make sure [6:34] we get them permanently, and they don't have [6:36] some legal technicality they can get out of, [6:38] which is why we set it up as an associate attorney general. [6:41] I'll take some questions, but I want to make [6:43] just one final observation here. [6:44] When I was actually walking out here, [6:48] somebody sent me a photo of a CNN headline [6:51] about what happened in Minneapolis. [6:53] And this is the headline, I'm just going to read it. [6:55] Outrage after ICE officer kills U.S. citizen in Minneapolis. [7:00] Well, that's one way to put it, and that is the way [7:03] that many people in the corporate media [7:05] have put this attack over the last 24 hours. [7:08] And I say attack very, very intentionally [7:11] because this was an attack on federal law enforcement. [7:14] This was an attack on law and order. [7:15] This was an attack on the American people. [7:18] The way that the media, by and large, [7:20] has reported this story has been an absolute disgrace, [7:24] and it puts our law enforcement officers [7:26] at risk every single day. [7:28] What that headline leaves out is the fact [7:30] that that very ICE officer nearly had [7:33] his life ended dragged by a car six months ago, [7:37] 33 stitches in his leg, so you think maybe [7:39] he's a little bit sensitive about somebody [7:41] ramming him with an automobile. [7:43] What that headline leaves out is that that woman [7:46] was there to interfere with a legitimate [7:48] law enforcement operation in the United States of America. [7:51] What that headline leaves out is that that woman [7:53] is part of a broader left-wing network to attack, [7:57] to dox, to assault, and to make it impossible [8:00] for our ICE officers to do their job. [8:02] If the media wants [8:03] to tell the truth, they ought to tell the truth [8:06] that a group of left-wing radicals have been working [8:09] tirelessly, sometimes using domestic terror techniques [8:12] to try to make it impossible for the President [8:14] of the United States to do what the American people [8:17] elected him to do, which is enforce our immigration laws. [8:20] The President stands with ICE. [8:22] I stand with ICE. [8:23] We stand with all of our law enforcement officers, [8:26] and part of that is recognizing that you people [8:29] in the media, not everybody in this room, [8:31] but many people in this room, have been lying, [8:33] lying about this attack. [8:35] She was trying to ram this guy with her car. [8:39] He shot back. [8:41] He defended himself. [8:42] He's already been seriously wounded in law enforcement [8:44] operations before, and everybody who's been [8:47] repeating the lie that this is some innocent woman [8:50] who was out for a drive in Minneapolis when a law [8:52] enforcement officer shot at her, you should be ashamed [8:54] of yourselves, every single one of you. [8:56] Questions? [8:57] Thank you, Mr. Vice President. [8:58] I wanted to read a quote from Tim Walz earlier today. [9:01] He said, when things looked bleak, it was Minnesota's [9:03] first that held the line for the nation on July 3rd, 1863, [9:07] and I think we may be in that moment now. [9:09] Can you comment on his rhetoric and Mayor Jacob Frye [9:12] and whether they want to see unrest in Minneapolis? [9:15] Mr. Well, that's very tough rhetoric from a guy [9:17] who just quit because his fraudulent activities [9:19] have been uncovered. [9:20] Look, Tim Walz is a joke. [9:21] His entire administration has been a joke. [9:23] The idea that he's some sort of freedom fighter, he's not. [9:26] He's a guy who has enabled fraud and maybe, in fact, [9:28] has participated in fraud. [9:30] That's what this new assistant attorney general position [9:32] is going to find out. [9:33] I don't care what Tim Walz says. [9:34] I care about getting to the bottom of this fraud [9:36] for the American people, and I care about enforcing [9:38] the nation's immigration laws. [9:40] That's what we're going to stay focused on. [9:42] The Press Sir? [9:43] The Press I have a related question here. [9:45] I mean, Democrats have accused ICE of murder. [9:47] They've said they're targeting Americans. [9:49] They've told ICE to get the F out of Minnesota. [9:51] This is going to stoke the fire against ICE agents, [9:54] and you're talking about ICE agents right now [9:56] being concerned about them. [9:57] What, if anything, is the administration going to do [9:59] to make sure these folks are protected during these [10:01] protests? [10:02] Should DHS sort of revisit their procedures here? [10:06] I mean, nobody wants to see an American killed. [10:10] Are there changes that need to be made to make sure [10:12] something like this doesn't happen again? [10:14] Mr. Look, first of all, of course nobody wants [10:16] an American citizen to be killed. [10:18] This is absolutely a tragedy, but it's a tragedy [10:20] of the making of the far left. [10:22] They have radicalized a very small segment of the [10:25] population, taught them that ICE agents are [10:27] engaging in wide-scale violation of people's rights. [10:31] What are ICE officers doing? [10:32] What ICE officers are doing is deporting the [10:35] millions of criminal aliens that were let in during [10:37] the Biden administration. [10:38] So, number one, we have to say, as a matter of [10:41] leadership, and I would appreciate if the Democrats [10:43] would join me on this, let's be honest about the [10:45] fact that we have way too many illegal aliens in this [10:47] country. [10:48] Our ICE officers should be supported in doing their job. [10:51] You're trying to actually marshal the far-left [10:54] lunatic fringe to engage in doxing, to try to make it [10:59] impossible for them to enforce the law, and in [11:01] some cases, actually to engage in acts of violence. [11:02] You're trying to engage in acts of domestic [11:04] terrorism against our law enforcement officers. [11:06] When you talk about different plans, different [11:08] protocols, different policies, I forget exactly [11:10] how you asked the question. [11:11] Here's the simple fact. [11:12] What we're going to do is make it easier for the [11:15] American people's administration to enforce [11:17] the American people's law. [11:19] And that means that Democrats have to stop [11:22] rallying the mob against legitimate law enforcement [11:25] operations, and that means that we are going to get [11:28] tougher, and that's what this AAG position is about. [11:30] We're going to get tougher at the people who are going to be [11:32] defrauding the United States by inciting violence [11:37] against our law enforcement officers. [11:39] That's one of the things that we're going to do. [11:40] We've already started that work at the Department of [11:42] Justice, but we're going to keep on doing it, and this [11:44] new AAG position is going to kick that into high gear. [11:47] The Press. [11:48] The Press. [11:49] Mr. Vice President Vance, you just suggested that this [11:51] woman who was killed, Renee Goode, is part of a broader [11:55] left-wing network. [11:57] Who do you think is behind this broader left-wing network? [12:00] Mr. Well, it's one of the things we're going to have [12:02] to look at. [12:03] The way that I put it, when somebody throws a brick at an [12:05] ICE agent, or somebody tries to run over an ICE agent, who [12:08] paid for the brick? [12:09] And who told protesters to show up and engage in violent [12:12] activity against our law enforcement officers? [12:15] You see, just with this most recent terrible incident in [12:19] Minneapolis, you see friends of this woman's or other people [12:22] who are eyewitnesses saying basically that she was there to [12:25] engage in obstruction of a legitimate law enforcement [12:28] operation. [12:29] How did she get there? [12:30] How did she learn about this? [12:31] There's an entire network, and frankly, some of the media [12:34] are participating in it, that is trying to incite violence [12:37] against our law enforcement officers. [12:39] It's ridiculous. [12:40] It's preposterous. [12:42] And part of our investigatory work is getting to the bottom [12:44] of it. [12:45] Who's funding it? [12:46] Who's supporting it? [12:47] Who's cheerleading it? [12:48] And of course, if there's a legal activity related to that, [12:51] we're going to get to the bottom of that and prosecute it [12:53] where we can. [12:54] The Press. [12:55] The Press. [12:56] The Press. [12:57] The Press. [12:58] The Press. [12:59] The Press. [13:00] The Press. [13:01] Well, you were talking about very specific facts of these [13:03] events. [13:04] When an investigation is just beginning, are you preempting a [13:08] thorough investigation by drawing such conclusions? [13:11] And have you received any information beyond the videos [13:14] we've seen publicly about this individual's per-specific acts [13:19] that has informed your point of view? [13:21] Mr. Well, first of all, the Department of Justice is going [13:23] to investigate this. [13:25] The Department of Homeland Security is already [13:27] investigating this. [13:28] But the simple fact is, what you see is what you get in this case. [13:31] you have a woman who is trying to obstruct a legitimate law enforcement operation. Nobody [13:36] debates that. You have a woman who aimed her car at a law enforcement officer and pressed on the [13:41] accelerator. Nobody debates that. I can believe that her death is a tragedy while also recognizing [13:46] that it's a tragedy of her own making and a tragedy of the far left who has marshaled an [13:51] entire movement, a lunatic fringe against our law enforcement officers. I think what is clearly [13:58] happening here, and it's going to keep on happening unless the Democrats wake up and say, [14:01] you know what? You don't have to agree with our immigration policies. You don't have to agree [14:05] with what the president or the vice president believe about immigration enforcement, but why [14:09] don't you take this to the ballot box? Why don't you vote? Why don't you organize? Instead, what [14:14] some of them are doing, what some of them are doing is encouraging people to get violent with [14:19] our law enforcement officials. It's disgraceful and it's got to stop. Just to follow up on that [14:25] question, and again, thank you for taking questions, Mr. Vice President. There's clearly [14:28] a lot of people out there who are saying, well, I don't know what to do. I don't know what to do. [14:28] There's clearly a lot of emotion in Minnesota across the country over this incident. You're [14:32] calling Renee Good a deranged leftist. There's been heated rhetoric that we've also heard from [14:37] officials. What responsibility do you and the president have to diffuse some of the tension [14:41] that we are seeing play out in Minnesota, bring down the temperature as this investigation is [14:46] unfolding? What we have a responsibility to do is to protect the people who are enforcing the law [14:51] and protect the country writ large. Whether you're a Democrat or Republican, you deserve to have the [14:55] people's laws enforced in the United States of America. [14:58] Now, again, I'm not happy that this woman lost her life. I'm not happy that this woman was there at a [15:05] protest violating the law by interfering with a law enforcement action. I think that we can all [15:10] recognize that the best way to turn down the temperature is to tell people to take their [15:14] concerns about immigration policy to the ballot box. Stop assaulting and stop inciting violence [15:20] against our law enforcement officers. That's the best way to take down the temperature. [15:24] And we're not, look, we're not going to give in to terrorism. [15:28] We're not going to be just talking about this right now. [15:29] We're going to talk about what's happening around the country tonight as the world is [15:34] taking a stand on this, and that's exactly what's happening. People trying to antagonize, to commit [15:38] acts of violence. They throw bricks at them. Sometimes they shoot at them. Sometimes they dox [15:41] them, sometimes they go to their place of residence and harass their families. This is classic [15:46] terrorism. [15:47] And we cannot say that when, when, when a far left fringe is inciting violence against our brave law [15:54] enforcement officials, that we're no longer going to enforce the law. That's rewarding the very people [15:58] is a new assistant attorney general who is going to prosecute and investigate this stuff even more [16:03] and even more aggressively than before yeah thank you thanks for taking my question um so the head [16:10] of minnesota's investigations agency says that the u.s attorney's office has essentially cut off [16:15] the state investigations agency's access to the investigation what is the precedent for that and [16:21] why shouldn't the minnesota officials on the ground have access and evidence to work on [16:25] this investigation first of all i wish the state officials in minnesota would investigate why you [16:30] have so many people who are using their vehicles and other means to actually interfere with a [16:35] legitimate law enforcement operation the precedent here is very simple you have a federal law [16:39] enforcement official engaging in federal law enforcement action that's a federal issue that [16:43] guy is protected by absolute immunity he was doing his job the idea that tim waltz and a bunch of [16:49] radicals in minneapolis are going to go after and make this guy's life miserable because he was [16:54] doing the job and he was doing the job and he was doing the job and he was doing the job and he was [16:55] that he was asked to do is preposterous the unprecedented thing is the idea that a local [17:01] official can actually prosecute a federal official with absolute immunity i've never seen anything [17:06] like that it would get tossed out by a judge so what i'd like minnesota to focus on is the real [17:10] issue that they're encouraging people minneapolis officials are encouraging people to commit [17:16] violence against ice officials it's ridiculous it's got to stop go ahead mr president thank you [17:21] you said earlier that there's a knife wing [17:25] to attack to docs to assault and make it impossible for ice officers to do their job [17:31] you told my colleague just now that there's an investigation [17:35] going on into that network yep so if everything that you say is true how does being part of that [17:43] network justify being shot well being part of the network doesn't justify being shot but ramming [17:51] an ice officer with your car that's what justifies being shot it's not a good thing by the way but [17:55] when you force somebody to do something that's not going to be a good thing for you you're going to [17:57] to engage in self-defense, it's almost a preposterous question. I'm not saying that [18:02] funding some of this stuff justifies capital punishment. Nobody would suggest that. The reason [18:08] this woman is dead is because she tried to ram somebody with her car and that guy acted in [18:13] self-defense. That is why she lost her life. And that is the tragedy. Now, there may be other [18:19] violations of the law and other penalties that are associated with those violations of the law. [18:25] For example, if you are funding violence against our law enforcement officers, I'm not a prosecutor. [18:31] My guess is that's not the sort of thing that earns capital punishment, but it should sure as [18:35] hell earn you a few years in prison if you're funding the effort to try to assault our law [18:40] enforcement officers. I'm sorry, guys. What's going on here? You guys are meant to report the [18:47] truth. How have you let yourself become agents of propaganda of a radical fringe that's making it [18:53] harder for us to enforce our laws? [18:55] You just asked me a question that presumed that the reason why this woman died is because she was [19:00] engaged in legitimate protest. She tried to run somebody over with her car and the guy defended [19:05] himself when that happened. Next question. I said next question. [19:10] Mr. Vice President, I mean, you presumably watched the video yourself. There's not the [19:14] slightest doubt in your mind, having viewed it, that the victim, you still believe that she [19:22] deliberately tried to ram him despite seeing this video? [19:25] Look, I don't know what it's in a person's heart or in a person's head. And obviously, [19:29] we're not going to get the chance to ask this woman what was going on. What I am certain of [19:33] is that she violated the law. What I'm certain of is that that officer had every reason to think [19:37] that he was under very serious threat for injury or, in fact, his life. What I'm certain of is that [19:44] she accelerated in a way where she ran into the guy. I don't know what was in her heart and what [19:51] was in her head, but I know that she violated the law and I know that officer was acting in [19:55] that way. And so that's it. Raise an interesting point, though. Look, if people want to say that we [19:59] should have a legitimate debate about, you know, what was she really doing, right? Was she panicking [20:04] when she drove into this officer or was she actually trying to ram him? That's a that's a [20:08] reasonable conversation. What's not reasonable is for so many of you to plaster all over the media [20:14] that this was an innocent woman and that the ICE agent committed murder, which is what many of you [20:19] have said explicitly and some of you have said implicitly. That's what I have an objection to. [20:24] The idea. [20:25] That this was not justified is absurd. And I think everybody knows it in their heart. [20:29] Yeah. [20:29] Mr. Vice President, following up on taking down the temperature, it seems like [20:34] political violence is ratcheting up and riots could be around the corner. What steps does the [20:39] administration have planned to try to unite America? Average people on both political sides [20:43] are so tired of fighting with each other. And I think all the journalists in this room could agree [20:47] with me that we don't want to be part of the problem. Do you have any do you have any words [20:52] to unite America? [20:53] You know, I know you don't want to be a part of the problem, [20:55] and I think that's true of a lot of you. I'm not sure it's true for everybody because the reporting [20:59] over this has been one of the biggest scandals I've ever seen in media. I've never seen a case [21:04] so misrepresented and misreported when you have a guy who was defending himself and is now being [21:09] treated by as some sort of federal assassin by so many of the people in this room. But what I first [21:14] of all, let me say about about crime. You mentioned violence. One of the things we're proudest about [21:19] is that you saw violent crime over the last year dropped by 20 percent. Why is that dropped by 20? [21:24] Is it because we're attacking our law enforcement officers or is it because we in [21:28] the administration are empowering our law enforcement officers to enforce the law? I [21:32] think that's one of the ways you take down the temperature is you make people feel more secure [21:36] and safe in their person and property. That's why we care so much about protecting our law [21:40] enforcement, because it accrues to the benefit of the entire national community. I think that we can [21:46] absolutely talk about the ways in which, you know, we can we can try to we can lower the temperature [21:54] in a reasonable and rational way. Again, I'm happy to talk with any congressional Democrat or any of [22:00] you about our immigration policy, about why I think it's necessary, about why I think it's in [22:04] the best interest of the country, about why the president of the United States was elected to [22:08] actually enforce the border for the first time in at least four years. So here's the problem. [22:13] That's not the debate so many people are having. They are actively covering for people who are [22:19] committing acts of violence against federal law enforcement. It is preposterous. The way to take [22:24] down the temperature is to stop it have your debates about policy attack me attack the [22:28] president united states don't attack our law enforcement officers they are trying to do the [22:33] job the american people demanded that they do that that they are not policy actors they are enforcing [22:40] the law they should be treated with a modicum of dignity and respect and the fact that they're not [22:45] is why incidents like yesterday happened the one final point i'll make about this is look there [22:50] there's a part of me that feels very very sad for this woman not just because she lost her [22:55] life but because i think she is a victim of left-wing ideology what young mother [23:01] shows up and decides they're going to throw their car in front of ice officers who are enforcing [23:06] legitimate law you've got to be a little brainwashed to get to that point to where [23:10] you're willing not not just to protest that's fine not peacefully protest but throw your vehicle [23:17] in front of legitimate law enforcement officers and drive your car and [23:20] them to get to that point you have to be i think radicalized in a very very sad way [23:27] i certainly wish that she hadn't got there i know there's an ice officer right now who very much [23:31] wishes he was not put in the position where he had to fire a gun to defend his own life [23:36] thank you mr vice president what's your message following on that what's your message [23:41] to the leaders in minnesota the governor of minnesota the mayor of minneapolis to calm down [23:48] the situation on the ground on the streets what's your message to them what's your message to them [23:50] to the leaders in minnesota the governor of minnesota the mayor of minneapolis to calm down [23:50] your message also to those protesters who saw that video in a completely different way than [23:56] you saw that video well first of all i think if you watch every angle of that video um there is [24:02] one angle where if you squint you can maybe tell yourself that it's not clear what happened but [24:08] when you look at all angles of that video it is very clear that her vehicle went right for the [24:13] guy she actually collided with him and then that's of course when he fired his shots that's obvious [24:19] okay so what i'd say to the protesters is by all means protest peacefully but make this about [24:24] ideas make this about disagreement with our policy don't use your protest as a justification or an [24:31] encouragement for people to go and incite violence and participate in violence against our law [24:36] enforcement officials to the people on the ground in minneapolis meaning that the local officials in [24:40] minneapolis from tim wallace on down i'd say look why can't you just disagree with a given piece of [24:48] immigration policy [24:49] without turning law enforcement into the enemy and what i mean think about for example a criminal [24:56] law where a police officer goes and arrests somebody because they violated a criminal law [25:01] if you're mad about that go and protest the politician who passed that law don't attack [25:06] the police officer who's just doing their job we had a wide open border under joe biden i happen [25:11] to think it's a good thing the president united states has closed it down if you think that's a [25:14] bad idea criticize this administration for a policy decision don't attack the police officer [25:19] don't attack our people for enforcing the law because i guarantee you go to ice there are black [25:24] people and white people there are democrats and republicans they are patriotic americans [25:29] who are trying to enforce the law attack me lay off of our ice agents [25:34] yeah in the blue all the way yeah thank you mr president um you called on tim wallace to resign [25:39] can you lay out the case as to why he should step down well look i think tim wall should resign [25:44] because it's very clear either that he knew about the fraud in minneapolis he knew about the welfare [25:49] fraud or at the very least he looked the other way i mean this is not this is not like lex luther [25:56] right this is not movie villain fraud this is the lowest iq possible fraud this is we're going to [26:03] take kids or sorry we're going to take the absence of kids and set up a daycare center [26:09] where there are no children and we're going to call our early childhood education center [26:13] the quality leering center by the way if you can't spell learning maybe you shouldn't be in [26:20] the early childhood education but people got rich off of this we know that there were schools who [26:26] either had no enrollment or at least they overstated their enrollment tim waltz either [26:31] it was unbelievable incompetence or he was in on the fraud that's one of the things we're going to [26:35] get to the bottom of sir thank you mr vice president can you explain the difference between [26:41] this associate attorney general and a special counsel and do you envision this being a permanent [26:46] position or having more of a limited scope well it's going to be permanent until we get [26:51] to the bottom of this we're going to get to the bottom of this we're going to get to the bottom [26:51] of what's going on so i think it's going to last for at least the remainder of the administration [26:55] what's different about it from a special counsel is if you remember the jack smith case where the [27:00] special counsel was found unconstitutional one of the big issues there is that that person was not [27:05] an appointed person completely aside from all the other issues that the person was a lunatic and [27:10] that the case had no merit there was a fundamental constitutional issue which is that he had not been [27:15] appointed by the president and he had not been confirmed by the united states senate an assistant [27:21] or excuse me an assistant attorney general what that's going to allow us to do is appoint this [27:26] person have them confirmed by the senate that's one difference the more substantive difference [27:30] is that this person is going to be part of a very broad interagency white house that's being led [27:35] from the president of the united states on down and that's going to give them the resources the [27:39] access to material and information to make this person more effective i think a lot of people [27:44] have asked how are you really going to get to the heart of the fraud we've been asking [27:48] ourselves that question for the past couple of months and we think [27:51] this is the critical piece at the department of justice to to really ramp this fraud investigation [27:56] into high gear in the red tie yeah vice president vance i wanted to ask what's your message to far [28:03] leftist agitators who feel emboldened to obstruct ice activity in minnesota and around the country [28:08] well i think they shouldn't feel emboldened because now they have an assistant attorney [28:11] general who is going to prosecute and investigate their fraud and their violence more aggressively [28:16] than it has ever been investigated in the united states of america we are doing so much [28:21] to try to find the financing networks and the domestic terrorism networks that legitimate [28:27] this violence that fund this violence and then of course engage in the violence these people should [28:31] not feel emboldened because they have for the first time maybe in american history an administration [28:36] that is not going to tolerate political violence of any kind from anywhere yeah we are clear today [28:43] that the entire weight of the federal government is behind these ice agents and this ice agent in [28:51] ground does that mean that they are not looking into this ice agent at all they are just focused [28:56] on the woman who is in the car what what is the investigation if the federal government has [29:00] already determined that its weight is behind this ice investment so what do you mean when you say [29:04] investigation do you mean investigation of the shooting yesterday or of the fraud that's [29:08] happening in minneapolis okay look dhs as i understand it has an investigation already ongoing [29:13] i know that other organs of our government are looking at this so yes there is certainly an [29:17] investigation that's happening right now uh but but as part of the broad [29:21] or fraud investigation a lot of what we're doing with the department of justice has already [29:25] started we've got over 1500 subpoenas we've got people this morning actually we're going door to [29:30] door to actually knock on some of these fraudulent care centers these fraudulent social services [29:35] organizations to get to the bottom of what's going on there so the investigation in some ways has [29:39] already been ramping up into the anti-fraud element for at least a few weeks what we're [29:44] trying to do is supercharge it and make sure there's a designated person within the department [29:48] of justice who completely controls that particular [29:51] focus just to follow up on that mr vice president uh on the agent is he still on duty or has he been [29:59] placed on leave uh on administrative leave and what really was the target of the operation on [30:04] wednesday of the ice operation on wednesday well first of all it was a legitimate law enforcement [30:08] operation we were going door to door to try to find criminal illegal aliens and deport them from [30:12] the united states of america because if you come to our country illegally in violation of our [30:16] immigration laws then we have the mandate and in fact we have the legal duty to [30:21] enforce those immigration laws whether he's been placed on administrative leave i don't know the [30:25] answer to that question i'd refer to the department of homeland security and they can follow up i will [30:29] say look i would appreciate everybody saying a prayer for that that agent look in the past six [30:33] months he has been hit twice by a motor vehicle one time the first time it led to over 30 stitches [30:40] and very serious injuries to his legs this is a guy who's actually done a very very important [30:45] job for the united states of america he's been assaulted he's been attacked he's been injured [30:50] because of it he's been killed he's been killed he's been killed he's been killed he's been killed [30:51] he deserves a debt of gratitude and i think the media prejudging and talking about this guy [30:56] as if he's a murderer is one of the most disgraceful things i've ever seen from the american media [31:00] vice president what is your specific role in the future of venezuela and i'm wondering could you [31:06] confirm reports that the director of national intelligence tulsi gabbard was kept out of the [31:11] planning for the operations because of her past concerns about military involvement in venezuela [31:15] so i've heard a couple of things one that i was kept out of the planning for the venezuela [31:21] tulsi was kept out of the planning for venezuela operations that's completely false look [31:26] we're all part of the same team and one of the things that is really amazing about that operation [31:30] is that we kept it very tight to the senior cabinet level officials and related officials in [31:35] our government and we kept this operation secret for a very long time i'm very proud of that i [31:40] think it suggests i think it suggests that the team works very well together looking ahead what [31:44] is my role look my role is going to be whatever the president asks me to do um well every single [31:51] day i'm chairing the meeting that we do on this among white house principles to talk about next [31:56] steps to try to ensure that venezuela is stable and as the president has directed us to do to [32:00] ensure that the new venezuelan government actually listens to the united states and does what the [32:05] united states needs it to do under our country's best interests so i'm going to be as involved as [32:10] the president wants me to be so far that's been very involved and i'll keep on doing that so long [32:15] as the president asked me to do it even even beyond the war powers sorry we'll go [32:21] purple and then we'll go whatever that is all right okay uh are there any indications you [32:27] talked about the network are there any indications that the uh the lady who was shot i know there are [32:32] different reports from there her her wife said they were new to the area um are there any [32:36] indications she may have been a paid agitator and maybe that there are others that were brought to [32:41] the area um considering everything that's going on in minneapolis i wouldn't say that she was [32:45] paid i don't have the evidence to say that one way or the other what i do know is that she was [32:48] violating the law and if you just look at the eyewitness accounts that [32:51] they were saying she was there to prevent the enforcement of the law she was trying to [32:55] obstruct a legitimate law enforcement operation that much is obviously clear the rest of it of [33:01] course is part of the reason why we investigate this stuff yeah mr vice president even beyond [33:05] what the war powers resolution today congress has bucked president trump on issues like tariffs are [33:12] you concerned that president trump is losing his grip on republicans in the congress and what are [33:17] you going to do about it no i'm not concerned at all first of all you know we talked to some of the [33:21] people who voted in favor of the war powers act and i think they're going to vote the wrong way in [33:26] my view on this resolution today much of their argument was based more on a legal technic [33:27] technicality than any disagreement of policy if you look at the people who actually voted every [33:31] single one of them have supported the administration's plan second of all as the [33:34] president i believe himself has already said every president democrat or republican believes the war [33:40] powers act is fundamentally a fake and unconstitutional law it's not going to change [33:44] anything about how we conduct foreign policy over the next couple of weeks the next couple of months [33:49] and that that'll continue to be how we approach things because [33:51] if we don't do anything about it we'll be dead [33:56] so we are seeing regarding iran we are seeing the protests in iran these days the cities are [34:00] begging for help from the u.s and israel naming street in the city after president trump it seems [34:06] there is an opportunity here that may not come again will the united states [34:10] sense by the citizens of iran and if israel decides to strike again the nuclear sites in [34:15] iran is the u.s expected to take part well look we certainly stand by anybody who's engaged in [34:19] peaceful protests anybody who's trying to exert their rights for free association and to have their [34:22] has heard. Obviously, the Iranian regime has a lot of problems. And as the President of [34:25] the United States has said, the smartest thing for them to have done, it was true two months [34:29] ago, it's true today, is for them to actually have a real negotiation with the United States [34:35] about what we need to see when it comes to their nuclear program. I'll let the President [34:39] speak to what we're going to do in the future, but we certainly stand with anybody across [34:43] the world, including the Iranian people, who are advocating for their rights. I'll take [34:46] just a couple more questions. [34:47] The Press Thank you very much, Mr. Vice President. [34:52] Concerned in Venezuela, how would you assure the Caribbean region that they will remain [34:57] a zone of peace? Because some member states in the region are concerned. [35:01] Mr. Well, look, the President had a very productive phone call with the President [35:05] of Colombia yesterday, and we continue to talk at all levels of government with a number [35:09] of our friends in the Caribbean region. I actually think this is really good for peace [35:13] in the Caribbean, because when you take away a major source of illegal cartel revenue, [35:18] which is the cocaine trade, the fentanyl trade, other sources of illicit drugs, you're going [35:22] to actually remove the power of one of the main destabilizing forces in Latin America [35:28] and in the Caribbean. I really do think, look, we say it all the time, this is the President [35:32] of Peace. One of the ways that you establish peace in your own hemisphere is to make it [35:36] clear that the United States is going to be respected, that the United States is willing [35:40] to take power away from criminal cartel organizations and give it to legitimate governments. That's [35:46] how we see the future of the Western Hemisphere, and we think it's going to be much more peaceful [35:50] than it was certainly under Joe Biden. [35:52] I'll take one more question. Go ahead. [35:53] Q Mr. Vice President, thank you. On Greenland, do you have a message for European [35:54] leaders? Many in Europe reject the idea that the island could be for sale. [35:55] MR. Well, first of all, Secretary Rubio, I believe, is meeting with the leaders of [35:56] Denmark and Greenland next week, I want to say it is, but maybe it's the week after that. [36:11] We'll continue to deliver some of these messages in private, some of them in public, but I [36:16] guess my advice to European leaders and anybody else would be to take the President of the [36:20] United States seriously. [36:21] What has he said? [36:22] THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES [36:23] Thank you, Mr. Vice President. [36:24] First of all, I want to say a few words about Greenland. Set to the side the crazy overreactions [36:26] that I've seen from the press and from certain people in Europe. What has the President said? [36:30] Number one, Greenland is really important, not just to America's missile defense, but [36:34] to the world's missile defense. Number two, we know that there are hostile adversaries [36:39] that have shown a lot of interest in that particular territory, that particular slice [36:43] of the world. So what we're asking our European friends to do is to take the security of that [36:48] land mass more seriously, because if they're not, the United States is going to have to [36:52] do something about it. [36:52] What that is, I'll leave that to the President as we continue to engage in diplomacy with [36:57] our European friends and everybody on this particular topic. And again, thank you all [37:00] for listening. Thanks for taking questions. And I just ask you, look, this is politics, [37:05] and often Republicans get in arguments with the press about things, and I understand that. [37:12] I think it's really irresponsible for you guys to go out there and imply or tell the [37:17] American people that a guy who defended himself for being rammed by an automobile is guilty [37:23] of murder. Be a little bit more careful. We're going to talk about toning down the temperature, [37:27] which I know the President wants to do, and I certainly want to do. One of the ways we [37:30] tone down the temperature is to have a media that tells the truth. I encourage you all [37:34] to do that. God bless you. [37:35] Happy New Year, guys.