WH Press Secretary Katie Zacharia holds first conference

[0:00] Good morning. [0:04] I am so honored to work for President Trump [0:08] and the American people as the new White House press secretary. [0:14] I want to thank President Trump for his trust [0:18] that he has placed in me. [0:21] I have wanted to work for him for a very long time. [0:27] I'm looking forward to working with each of you as well, [0:31] especially as we are in the middle of the midterm blitz [0:35] with energy and excitement never seen before [0:39] in the history of midterms thanks to President Trump. [0:43] Just look no further than last night in Youngstown, Ohio, [0:47] where President Trump delivered another blockbuster rally [0:53] out on the trail. [0:54] The arena was overflowing with enthusiasm [0:57] as thousands came out to support President Trump, [1:01] as well as special guest Jake Paul [1:03] and football legend John Gruden. [1:07] The President also announced the Department of War [1:10] has officially selected Cleveland, Ohio [1:13] as the new home for the U.S. Navy's [1:16] submarine component repair center. [1:19] This massive 46,000-square-foot facility [1:24] will manufacture, repair, and maintain key parts [1:28] for virtually all new and existing submarines. [1:33] This is historic. [1:35] Everyday Americans are showing up in droves [1:37] to attend these rallies because of President Trump's [1:41] America First agenda of lower taxes, higher wages, [1:48] and one of my favorite, secure borders. [1:53] But it doesn't stop there. [1:55] President Trump is planning to hold rallies in Alaska, Arizona, [2:01] Montana, where I will be with him, and Georgia, [2:06] building off of the incredible momentum generated [2:10] over the last several days from his stops in Tennessee, [2:14] New York, Texas, and Nebraska. [2:17] He is an energetic President. [2:20] Attendance is at record highs as enthusiastic, [2:24] hardworking Americans are lining up and packing arenas [2:28] to support President Trump and Republicans. [2:34] It's not hard to see why. [2:37] President Trump is fighting and delivering for American workers [2:41] every minute of every day. [2:46] Real wages are up 1.2% since President Trump took office, [2:51] with average annual earnings outpacing inflation by $800. [2:57] Under Biden, real wages fell nearly 4%, [3:01] with the average private sector workers' annual purchasing power [3:05] declining by nearly $3,000 annually. [3:10] President Trump is the first president in modern history [3:14] to actually lower prescription drug prices, [3:18] delivering the biggest drop in 63 years. [3:23] President Trump has created more than 1 million private sector jobs [3:27] in his second term, [3:29] including nearly 112,000 factory construction jobs [3:33] and 72,000 manufacturing jobs this year alone. [3:38] And thanks to President Trump, [3:40] we are once again bringing back American energy dominance, [3:44] because energy security is national security. [3:50] President Trump secured the biggest oil deal in world history, [3:56] delivering the U.S. majority control [3:58] of more than 65 billion barrels of proven oil reserves in Venezuela. [4:05] He had a historic one-day war, [4:07] and now we have a booming economy [4:10] and a great relationship with Venezuela. [4:14] The U.S. achieved record domestic oil and gas production in 2025 [4:20] and record crude and petroleum product exports in 2026. [4:25] Building off of his historic boom in energy production [4:29] in the first 15 months of this administration, [4:31] we have secured trillions of dollars in new investments, [4:35] trillions of dollars, [4:37] including $1.4 trillion from the United Arab Emirates, [4:41] $600 billion from Apple and $340 billion from Amazon. [4:47] No other president could have gotten these deals done. [4:51] Just weeks ago, President Trump announced [4:53] that Mesabi Metallics will build [4:56] a massive $15 billion steel complex in Iowa, [5:02] the largest steel plant ever built in the United States. [5:07] This facility, a historic facility, [5:11] will create 1,750 new permanent jobs [5:16] and support up to 6,000 construction jobs [5:19] and generate an estimated $95 billion in economic output. [5:27] In addition, President Trump and Endural announced Arsenal 2, [5:32] the biggest American shipyard push since World War II in Maryland. [5:37] This new facility will create about 3,100 direct jobs [5:41] and support more than 11,000 indirect jobs. [5:47] President Trump also unveiled [5:48] a South Korea energy investment package [5:51] of up to $200 billion in the United States. [5:55] This is an amazing deal. [5:57] This includes as much as $120 billion [5:59] to build eight large-scale nuclear power plants, [6:05] something we've needed as the United States [6:07] and something President Trump promised on the campaign trail [6:10] and something President Trump is delivering on, [6:12] just like he delivers on every promise. [6:17] In addition to that, we will be, we will be doing, [6:21] he has, there is $54 billion tied to the Alaska LNG pipeline [6:27] and terminal to service the Pacific Rim [6:30] and sell fuel to our allies, [6:33] as well as $22.3 billion [6:36] for a six-gigawatt natural gas power facility in Texas. [6:41] Not only is the Trump administration bringing in trillions of dollars [6:45] to invest throughout the country, [6:47] but we are also protecting your tax dollars [6:50] by addressing fraud head-on. [6:53] Since taking office, [6:54] the Trump administration has uncovered [6:56] over $260 billion of fraud, [7:01] stopped $72 billion of fraud annually [7:05] through administrative actions, [7:07] and recovered $58.9 billion [7:10] through indictments, settlements, [7:12] and civil monetary penalties. [7:16] Above all, President Trump is working [7:19] to secure the Western Hemisphere for centuries to come. [7:25] President Trump signed an unprecedented agreement, [7:28] giving the United States lasting control [7:32] over security interests in Greenland. [7:35] President Trump has used the power of tariffs [7:38] to stop China from producing fentanyl precursor chemicals. [7:44] The fentanyl killed many of our citizens, [7:47] and he is hard at work in ensuring that that won't happen. [7:51] And here at home, [7:52] fentanyl trafficking across the southern border is down 56 percent, [7:58] and fentanyl-linked deaths plunged 22 percent [8:01] in a single year because of President Trump. [8:05] This is a president and administration [8:08] that is looking out for you, [8:10] the American people, [8:11] and I'm thrilled to officially be part [8:15] of this incredible journey together. [8:18] And with that, I will take your questions. [8:23] Here in our new media seat, [8:25] we have Nick Gilbertson from Breitbart. [8:27] Nick Gilbertson from Breitbart. [8:28] Hi, Katie. Welcome to the briefing room, [8:30] and congrats on the new position. [8:32] One of the things that your predecessor, [8:33] Caroline Leavitt, did is open this room up [8:35] to more voices, not less. [8:38] At Breitbart, that's something our founder, [8:40] Andrew Breitbart, certainly believed in, [8:42] and whether that's adding this new media seat, [8:44] adding new media voices to the pool. [8:46] Can you tell us what you plan to do [8:48] to continue to ensure that new media voices [8:51] continue to be heard here at the White Nose? [8:53] Yeah, well, firstly, my predecessor, [8:55] Caroline Leavitt, did an incredible job, [8:57] and I completely agree with the choice of new media seat. [9:01] We are absolutely going to keep it, [9:03] and we're going to expand on it to the extent possible. [9:06] We love new media, and we want to be able to embrace it. [9:10] Absolutely. And then just to follow up, too, [9:12] you did touch on presidential travel. [9:14] The President's been all over the place, [9:16] and you kind of laid out his schedule [9:17] over the next couple days. [9:18] But is it only going to intensify here [9:21] in the next couple of weeks, up to midterms? [9:23] Absolutely. You can expect more of the midterm blitz. [9:27] Just now, we've added Kentucky, [9:30] and we have a few other stops as he goes down to Florida. [9:34] So it'll be Georgia, Kentucky, and Florida. [9:37] Katie. [9:39] Hello. We will take Peter Ducey. [9:41] The Press. Thanks, Katie. [9:42] Nice to meet you. [9:44] You're starting as White House Press Secretary [9:47] three weeks before a midterm cycle [9:49] that President Trump himself says [9:51] will be very tough for Republicans. [9:54] Is your job, just to speak about White House matters, [9:58] or is it to make things less tough for Republicans [10:01] in the midterms? [10:02] Well, but Peter, I get to do what I was doing [10:06] on the outside already, which was hoping to amplify, [10:10] multiply, and expand upon President Trump's incredible agenda [10:13] for the American people. [10:15] And what I hope to do in this position [10:17] is to take that into an official capacity [10:20] and only build on, only amplify, and only multiply, [10:23] to the extent possible, all of the wins [10:26] he's making for Americans. [10:28] For Americans to understand how much has changed [10:32] in this brief period of time, [10:33] what he's been able to accomplish, [10:35] my goal is to be able to communicate that [10:37] in complete tandem with the President, [10:40] as he is his own best spokesperson, [10:42] and will absolutely be leading the way with that. [10:46] The Press. [10:47] And I want to ask you a policy question. [10:49] Has the U.S. stopped sharing intel with Ukraine? [10:53] I'll have to get back to you on that. [10:54] The Press. [10:55] The Press. [10:56] Ms. Alina Shirazi. [10:57] The Press. [10:57] Ms. Yes. [10:58] The Press. [10:59] Ms. Alina Shirazi. [11:01] The Press. [11:02] The Press. [11:02] The Press. [11:04] Ms. Hi. Congrats on the job, first of all. [11:05] And I have two questions for you, if I can. [11:08] First of all, on Kimberly Gilfoyle, [11:10] the Daily Mail has been reporting on her since last year. [11:13] The President said yesterday to reporters [11:15] that he is considering firing her. [11:17] Do you know a timeline for that? [11:19] And also, potentially, [11:21] who could be on the short list to replace her if he does? [11:24] Ms. We have asked Ambassador Gilfoyle to resign. [11:28] She has been a wonderful asset to the team, [11:30] and we wish her well. [11:32] Okay. [11:33] Second question for you, if I may, a personal question. [11:37] Your family is in California. [11:39] Your husband, you have four children. [11:42] I'm wondering how you manage, [11:44] how are you going to manage that? [11:45] Caroline Levitt left because she wanted to spend more time [11:48] with her family. [11:48] And also, did she give you any advice [11:50] on how to handle this job? [11:53] And the people in this room? [11:54] Ms. Well, first of all, [11:55] I want to give my husband an amazing shout-out. [11:58] We have four kids, ranging from 12, 10, 8, and 6. [12:02] Three of them are boys, so we have a handful. [12:04] And I adore my family. [12:06] I love them. [12:07] They are my priority. [12:09] They, I love being with my kids. [12:11] The idea of not spending evenings with my kid, [12:14] kids are, is completely unacceptable. [12:17] So my president, or excuse me, my husband, that's a good one. [12:22] My husband is out here, is out here for the week [12:27] because we have two birthdays in our family, [12:28] and we are very, very protective [12:30] of celebrating birthdays as a family. [12:32] So he brought the entire crew out here. [12:34] Bless him, it's a lot. [12:36] And we will be moving out here. [12:38] And as far as your second question is, [12:41] yes, Caroline has been an incredible support. [12:45] She gave me great and wonderful feedback on how to balance. [12:48] I think this job is not one you necessarily balance. [12:52] And I would love to share that in my career, [12:55] I stayed home with my kids from 2014 to 2020 [12:58] in the process of having them. [13:00] And then when I started working again, [13:02] I was able to integrate them into my life. [13:04] There are many photos of which are not public, [13:06] of the kids and I at Fox Bureau, [13:09] where they are sitting with me in the pod before a hit. [13:11] So I intend to, to the extent possible, include my family, [13:15] include my kids in my work. [13:18] Though my work will be demanding, [13:19] they will always be a priority. [13:21] And I President Trump is the most family friendly [13:24] president we've ever had. [13:26] He has hired more women with families. [13:28] And the fact that he knew I had four kids [13:30] and he knew that this job would be demanding [13:32] and still places trust in me shows [13:35] that I know I'm capable of being able to step up to that. [13:38] So thank you for that question. [13:39] In fact, I am going to end it because President Trump [13:42] is heading out to Marine One [13:44] for our historic trip to Alaska. [13:46] And we can ask him all of the questions out there. [13:50] So thank you so much. [13:51] The Press has come back on Friday. [13:52] The Press has come back. [13:54] The Press has come back. [13:55] The Press has come back. [13:56] The Press has come back. [13:58] The Press has come back. [13:59] Did the President speak with Ambassador Guilfoyle? [14:00] The Press has come back. [14:01] And that's what I will answer. [14:02] I'll leave it there. [14:04] The Press has come back on Thursday. [14:05] The Press has come back. [14:06] The Press has come back. [14:07] The Press has come back. [14:08] Do you want to speak Russian to buy diesel? Will the diesel come into the States?