JD Vance UNEXPECTED Entry Into Karoline Leavitt’s Presser, slams reporters — Trump News Live

[0:00] three leaders to finally bring this conflict to an end but this administration has really used [0:05] every lever has taken every measure to to achieve peace through a diplomatic solution [0:11] and i think the president of the united states getting in the room with the president of russia [0:16] sitting face to face rather than speaking over the telephone will give this president the best [0:21] indication of how to end this war and where this is headed another question on something that [0:25] happened yesterday but i wanted to get the white house response a judge ruled that the grand jury [0:30] transcripts in delaine maxwell's case should not be released what's the white house response to that [0:37] and you plan to appeal and what do you tell president trump supporters who want that information released [0:43] we think that decision is unfortunate of course we move to unseal that information because the [0:47] president has said he wants to see credible evidence released as for the appeal process i would defer you [0:52] to the department of justice for that great thank you so much caroline we are learning that president [0:57] trump spoke with ukrainian president zelinski i was curious if you can share any more details about [1:02] their call and did zelinski give president trump any red lines any non-starters ahead of the summit on [1:08] friday look i don't want to reveal the private conversations between the president and president [1:12] zelinski but what i can tell you is that the president has deep respect for all parties that are [1:18] involved in this conflict and are trying to bring this conflict to an end after special envoy whitkov [1:23] returned from his meeting with president putin in russia his first phone call was to president [1:28] trump and president trump's first phone call was to president zelinski and to our friends in europe [1:33] to keep everybody in the loop about where the united states can see moving the ball forward to end [1:39] this conflict and so we continue to be very much engaged with president zelinski and the ukrainians but [1:45] also our allies in europe as well and then just one more for you um how does the president measure [1:50] success coming out of this meeting the president at times has suggested that it might be tapping him [1:56] along is he prepared to walk out of this meeting if he senses that food is not serious about ending [2:02] this war i think i just answered that question for you and what the goal and the expectation of the [2:06] meeting is and i won't jump ahead of any hypotheticals and i'll leave it to the president to speak to all of [2:11] you after the meeting which i'm very confident he will steve optimistic that a deal will emerge from [2:16] this meeting or is he simply going to listen i think this is a listening exercise for the president [2:21] look only one party uh that's involved in this war is going to be present um and so this is for [2:27] the president to go and to get again a more firm and better understanding of of how we can hopefully [2:33] bring this war to an end how did you settle on alaska as the site for this so there were some other [2:38] sites being discussed this is like it was a midpoint between the two meters there were many sites [2:43] discussed but of course alaska is a state within the united states of america so the president [2:49] is very honored and looks forward to hosting president putin on american soil is there a joint [2:55] news conference plan or will the president have a solo one what sort of scheduling yeah the mechanics [3:01] and the scheduling steve are still being ironed out uh for friday we're working with our russian [3:06] counterparts to put those plans into action and of course we'll keep you all apprised on the [3:11] logistical details of friday as soon as we get them charlie the president said podium yesterday [3:16] twice that he was planning to go to russia was that a verbal slip up or does he actually plan to go to [3:22] russia perhaps there are plans in the future to travel to russia and on friday the president will [3:27] be meeting with the russian president vladimir putin in alaska as you know phil last week the [3:34] president said the ceo of intel was highly conflicted saving to sight uh his past investment with chinese [3:40] companies that were doing business from the chinese military yesterday he called his meeting with that [3:45] ceo a success so what can you tell us about what the intel ceo said to president trump that changed his [3:52] mind the president put out a statement that you cited phil i will leave it at that he shared his thoughts [3:58] on that meeting and how it went and for any further comment on that i'll leave it to him to make [4:03] will the bureau of labor statistics continue to put out monthly job reports well look what i'll tell [4:09] you about the bureau of labor statistics i believe that is the the plan and that's the hope and that [4:14] these monthly reports will be data that the american people can trust as you know the bureau of labor [4:20] statistics has made massive revisions after the last several point points reports that they have put out [4:27] and there has certainly been a decline in the quality and the reliability of data coming from the [4:32] bureau of labor statistics and there's been an increase in revisions and this president and the [4:37] administration is finally tackling this problem that so many have talked about and the president [4:42] is actually doing something about it we need to restore new leadership that we can trust as you [4:46] know the president has appointed someone new to take over the bls and so we need to look at the means [4:51] and the methods of how the united states is acquiring this very important data and all of that is going to be [4:56] done and the goal of course is to provide honest and good data for the american people to make very [5:02] important economic decisions on mike thank you caroline two questions if i may the president has [5:08] talked about land swaps between russia and ukraine vladimir kuhn says he wants russia to hold on to [5:14] russian occupied territory in eastern ukraine is the white house at all concerned about the messaging that [5:19] potential potentially giving over uh or allowing for russia to maintain its occupied territory in [5:26] eastern ukraine what that might say to other u.s adversaries like china look right now the president [5:32] of the united states uh has done more to end this war than his predecessor joe biden who allowed this [5:39] war to take place this war don't forget uh happened at the result of the weakness and the incompetence [5:45] of the previous administration and so the president inherited this conflict and he is determined to [5:51] end it and it's a very complex and complicated situation as for the details of the plans that [5:58] have been kind of tossed back and forth i won't get into those and i will let the president of the united [6:02] states discuss those plans with the president of russia with our european allies and the president of [6:07] ukraine uh zielinski himself as well sure go ahead in the green thank you thank you very much [6:14] as far as the police and security operations do you speak up is there a timeline do we know what [6:20] success looks like and is it going to last longer than 30 days and also is there going to be an [6:25] immigration enforcement aspect to this um so can you speak up a little bit the air conditioning is [6:33] bumping in here for all of you today after yesterday's heater so we've got to stock up you're [6:37] welcome go ahead is there a timeline for the security uh operations here in dc and also is there going [6:43] to be an immigration component to this and what would that look like look if law enforcement [6:48] officers encounter a criminal in this city and they are an illegal alien of course the appropriate [6:55] measures to detain and deport that individual will be taken as they should no city should be a sanctuary [7:01] for anyone other than law-abiding american citizens and that's been the that has been the position of [7:08] this administration since day one as for the timing we will reevaluate and reassess and make further [7:14] decisions after this 30-day period is up but within these 30 days our entire focus is making sure that [7:21] this is the most efficient operation possible and that we are removing as many criminals from the streets [7:27] and we are cleaning up dc as best as we can and working with the metropolitan police department to do [7:33] that i know the mayor just spoke several minutes ago i was watching her on television and she said [7:39] that an increase of law in law enforcement officers on the streets will be helpful to deter crime in [7:45] this city and we look forward to working with these brave men and women of the metropolitan police [7:49] department to remove criminals off of our streets and to keep law-abiding citizens in the district safe [7:55] josh thank you uh the president uh waiting on j pal again today you might have seen uh he said that [8:01] he's considering allowing a major lawsuit against powell to proceed because of the [8:05] horrible engrossing confident job he is like can you tell us about that what lawsuit is he talking [8:10] about he's considering a lawsuit and i won't speak or on it any further i will allow the president to do [8:16] that himself that's what the president is saying discussions with it about with anyone about this [8:26] or is this just like what how advanced is this right now at this moment in time the [8:31] president is considering a lawsuit against the fed and i will leave it to him to comment further on [8:35] it tamara we talked about sorry very quickly yesterday we talked about the uh the invidia [8:40] chips deal the president has struck him as well the amd the 50 stake that will go to the government [8:45] give any detail on how that came about the president did he ask for 20 percent from invidia did he make [8:50] the same 20 percent ask to amd and or is this something the administration is looking to do with [8:56] other either chips or products you know going forward is the model that wants to build on it [9:01] well look right now it stands with these two companies perhaps it could expand in the future [9:07] to other companies i think it's a creative idea and solution the legality of it the mechanics of [9:12] it is still being ironed out by the department of commerce and i would defer you to them for any [9:15] further details on how it will actually be implemented but again this was another idea of the president and [9:21] his brain trust on his trade team to try to you know get good deals for the american people and [9:26] the american taxpayer did you see the report that china is discouraging use of the h20 to some [9:31] companies since we're reporting that overnight there was private dive and said to companies not banning [9:37] the chip and urging them to steer away from it i wonder if you have any response to that i haven't read [9:40] the report i will and we'll get you a comment on it tamara thank you um last week the the meeting [9:46] with putin was sort of described potentially as an opportunity for a deal now it's a feeling out is [9:52] there uh has there been a shift in expectations within the white house or an effort to temper [9:57] expectations about what success looks like for this meeting i mean look i think both can be true [10:02] right the president has always said he wants a peace deal he wants to see this war come to an end [10:07] but this bilateral meeting is a bilateral meeting between one party in this two-party war right you [10:13] need both countries to agree to a deal the president is accepting this bilateral meeting [10:18] with putin on friday and i will let him speak further to it after it concludes about [10:22] you know how he felt it went also completely unrelated topic um regarding the president's [10:29] efforts in washington dc do you have any specifics about how homeless people will be dealt with [10:35] where they would be moved to what what does this look like i do yes and it's an important question [10:40] so thank you for raising it the metropolitan police department with the support of the new [10:46] federal agencies who have been surging on the streets of the district of columbia are going to [10:50] enforce the laws that are already on the books here in washington dc for far too long these laws have been [10:56] completely ignored and the homelessness problem has ravaged the city so dc code 22 1307 and dc municipal [11:05] regulation 24 100 give the metropolitan police department the authority to take action when it [11:11] comes to homeless encampments encampments so homeless individuals will be given the option to leave their [11:17] encampment to be taken to a homeless shelter to be offered addiction or mental health services and if [11:23] they refuse they will be susceptible to fines or to jail time again these are pre-existing laws that are [11:29] already on the books they have not been enforced which is part of the reason for this nationalizing [11:35] of the federalizing of the national guard to bring in this assistance for law enforcement while we are [11:42] targeting criminals and trying to remove criminals off of the streets we also want to make dc safe and [11:47] beautiful and that remove involves removing mentally disturbed individuals and homeless encampments as [11:53] well so we will be using these regulations and code that already exists to clean up our streets and [11:58] we've already had great success not many of you picked up on this but the united states park [12:03] police has actually done remarkable work in terms of removing homeless encampments from the city since [12:08] the president signed this executive order in march 70 homeless encampments have been removed by the [12:13] u.s park police there are only two homeless encampments remaining in dc federal parks under the national [12:20] park services jurisdiction and the removal of those two remaining camps is scheduled for this week so the [12:25] u.s park police will be leading this effort alongside mpd just very quickly he had talked in one of the [12:30] social media posts about moving them very far outside of the city is that off nope it's not off we're [12:37] exploring how we could do that but again homeless shelters uh offered addiction and mental health [12:43] services uh or jail if they refuse are the options on the table right now and we'll continue to explore [12:49] that option thank you so much caroline uh president zelensky said moments ago that he thinks russia is [12:55] preparing for a new offensive uh on at least three different areas of the front line is this something [13:01] that you could confirm based on u.s intelligence and if the president sees that putin is indeed planning [13:08] major new offensive or moving troops would he call off the meeting on friday i'm not in a position to [13:14] confirm or deny or comment on that intel at this time monica thanks caroline um my question involves [13:19] russiagate a whistleblower alleges that then congressman adam schiff approved leaking classified [13:25] information to smear president trump's image during the russia scandal does the president plan to [13:30] investigate adam schiff and would what would accountability look like if more information [13:35] confirms this report the president has already said he wants to see adam schiff held accountable for the [13:40] countless lies he told the american people in relation to the russia gate scandal i brought tulsi gabbard [13:46] out to this podium to talk to you about all of that and this administration is taking accountability [13:51] very seriously as for this new fbi whistleblower report i understand cash patel last night declassified [13:57] a 302 fbi document showing that a whistleblower who is a democrat a career intelligence officer who worked [14:05] for democrats on the house intel committee for more than a decade repeatedly warned the fbi [14:10] in 2017 that then rep adam schiff had approved leaking classified information to smear [14:17] then president donald trump over the russiagate scandal this is obviously a bombshell whistleblower [14:24] report hopefully more people in this room will cover it as such and i have a quote from the fbi [14:29] director for all of you he has said this for years certain officials used their positions to selectively [14:35] leak classified information to shape political narratives it was all done with one purpose to [14:40] weaponize intelligence and law enforcement for political gain those abuses eroded public trust [14:45] in our institutions the fbi will now lead the charge with our partners at doj and congress will have [14:51] the chance to uncover how political power may have been weaponized and to restore accountability that's [14:57] what the administration is focused on and hopefully we'll see some more media reports on this [15:02] whistleblower allegation if this were reversed if this were uh if this were allegations against the [15:09] president or any of these cabinet officials i'm sure everyone in this room would cover it as such [15:13] elizabeth go ahead thanks carolyn after yesterday's action to federalize the dc police [15:18] is the president still interested in working with congress to end the home rule act something [15:23] he's talked about in the past senator mike lee has a bill on it is that something he's still [15:26] interested in the president is very much still interested in working with congress to address [15:31] many of the issues that have plagued washington dc such as the cashless bail policy which has been a [15:36] complete disaster for the city juvenile delinquency is another major problem in the city that congress [15:42] can address so i know congress is on recess right now when they get back to work to washington this [15:47] president looks forward to having these conversations with our friends on capitol hill so we can work with [15:52] them to make dc safe and beautiful again and again we encourage democrats to join us in this effort [15:57] perhaps their approval ratings would move up a little bit if they did i saw a new poll today democrat [16:02] approval rating is at an all-time low 32 percent if they could just stand by the basic notion of law [16:07] and order perhaps they would see that tick up a bit and we welcome them to do that dasha thanks [16:12] caroline president trump yesterday at this podium indicated this so has a nato secretary general mark [16:18] rooted that in order for peace to happen it is very likely that ukraine will have to see some land [16:25] to russia zelensky has repeatedly said no land for peace that's not going to happen has this [16:31] administration communicated to zelensky that he's going to have to change that position look i [16:35] appreciate your asking that question in a different way than your colleague michael in the [16:39] back i don't want to get into the details of these negotiations and these discussions that have taken [16:44] place out of respect for where we are right now and i'll let the president speak on it further if [16:48] he wishes to more about israel um i know the president has had a call with prime minister netanyahu [16:54] recently netanyahu is planning to seize the remainder of gaza city what is the administration's [17:00] position on this move by israel's government look this is an incredibly complex and complicated war [17:08] that again was inherited by this president by his predecessor joe biden october 7th was one of the [17:14] worst days in history we saw innocent people slaughtered murdered kidnapped by hamas terrorists [17:21] this administration has taken extensive time and effort and resources since inauguration day in january [17:28] to end this conflict we have given many flexible arrangements backed by israel to hamas and [17:35] unfortunately hamas has never agreed looking ahead i will let the president speak on where he sees this [17:42] going but this is of course an incredibly complex and complicated situation the administration has made [17:49] our goal clear we want to see this conflict end we want to see the hostages released and we've tried [17:54] the president and his national security team have given extensive effort in time to doing that [17:58] with how israel has used those those resources and the assistance that you've provided look i'll let [18:02] the president speak on the further actions that israel may or may not be taking good to see you [18:08] good to see you as well caroline thank you the correct one is expressing interest that friday's [18:12] meeting will move beyond just terms to end the war um into improving bilateral relations there's talk [18:18] over uh how they're interested in potentially restoring direct flights between russia and the united states [18:22] is president trump open to those kind of peripheral conversations or is this directly focused on [18:27] ending the war in ukraine i think this uh conversation on friday is focused on ending the war in [18:33] ukraine as far as the president's perspective goes of those conversations i think the president is [18:38] interested in having but his main priority right now is ending this war and to stop the killing that [18:43] has gone on for far too long you're welcome in the back go ahead yeah two questions on the economy so [18:50] first we've had small businesses tell us that it's not foreign exporters who are eating the tariffs it's them [18:57] and they've held off on raising prices but soon they're going to have to raise prices what is the [19:02] white house's message to them the white house's message to our small business owners across the [19:06] country is you have never had a better ally or friend or supporter in this white house than [19:12] president donald trump who is a businessman himself who understands your concerns and who wants to [19:17] restore wealth back to our country through the powerful use of tariffs and that's what he's focused on [19:23] doing while simultaneously driving down costs you have to remember we are six months into this [19:29] administration and we had a president who had no business experience had no idea what he was doing [19:35] and who funneled billions of wasteful spending dollars into our economy which created the worst [19:40] inflation crisis in a generation now this president is focused on tackling inflation deregulating cutting [19:47] costs cutting red tape to make it easier for small business owners to thrive and again the economic [19:53] indicators show that we are moving in the right direction in january when this president showed [19:58] up to the white house the six month annualized core inflation rate was 3.7 percent today six months [20:04] later the six month annualized core inflation rate is 2.4 percent so we are trending in the right [20:10] direction moving forward since president trump took office for another six months inflation will be [20:16] tracking at 1.9 percent at this trajectory you look at grocery prices they fell energy prices fell fuel oil fell [20:23] ship fares fell propane fell butter margarine eggs non-prescription drugs you go through the list of [20:29] items that are falling and then i would also point to that report this morning showing that small business [20:34] optimism has reached a five-month high so look we inherited an economic mess from the previous [20:40] administration but this administration is focused on fixing it every day and part of that is signing the [20:46] largest tax cuts into law to put more money back into the pockets of these small business owners just on [20:51] the bls they collect the inflation data obviously if the jobs data is not reliable should americans [20:57] trust the inflation data well look the jobs data has had massive revisions we want to ensure that all [21:02] of the data the inflation data the jobs data any data point that is coming out of the bls is trustworthy [21:08] and is accurate which is why the president has restored new leadership at the bls [21:13] sure go ahead yeah okay um all right thank you um so uh gavin newsom has said that california [21:20] is going to sue in response to the government's demand for a billion dollars from ucla uh over the [21:25] doj's anti-semitism findings newsom has called this extortion and ransom so i'm wondering what the white [21:32] house's response is to newsom on ucla bring it on gavin this administration is well within its legal [21:39] right to do this and we want to ensure that our colleges and our universities are respecting the first [21:45] amendment rights and the religious liberties of students on their campuses and ucla has failed to [21:51] do that and i have a whole list of examples that i will forward to gavin newsom's press office [21:56] uh if he hasn't seen them himself brett thanks caroline uh what was the reason that president [22:02] trump chose to move on from billy long as irs commissioner look i think the president wants to [22:07] see billy long as the ambassador to iceland as you know that is where he will be headed and the [22:13] president loves billy long and he thinks that he can serve the administration well in this position [22:18] for now secretary scott besson will be the acting irs commissioner timeline for announcing a new pick [22:24] um thank you um thank you go ahead but then in the back yes go in the back first okay sure thanks [22:31] caroline um one foreign policy and then one domestic question if i may um there are roughly 30 000 [22:39] children from ukraine who have reportedly been abducted and are kind of dispersed around russia they've been [22:44] showing up on these websites for adoption is their return a red line for the president in any deal [22:51] ending the war the administration is aware of these reports i don't want to set red lines for the [22:57] president on his behalf from this podium however the president did encourage ukraine and russia to speak [23:03] directly to one another in terms of these humanitarian issues and we have seen progress you have seen [23:10] prisoners of war swapped between these two countries as a result of these direct talks as well as children [23:16] and that remains a concern but it's one that russia and ukraine need to iron out together which is [23:21] why this president has encouraged them to speak okay and then if i can um the dc action real quick [23:27] the president said yesterday that this is a model federalizing the national guard that could be used [23:32] to combat really high rates of crime in other cities like chicago la baltimore um what sort of [23:39] authority would he have to deploy forces like that absence the home rule act look the president [23:45] is speaking about what he'd like to see take place in other cities around the country right now this [23:50] administration is focused on making dc safe and beautiful again when the time comes we'll talk [23:55] about that but i will note that the president wants to see all of our nation's cities be safe [24:00] but i think starting with our nation's capital is a great place to begin and it should serve as a model [24:06] for the rest of the country just to bind up a few of the dc things because a lot of them have been asked but [24:12] in talking with congress about potential changes to the home rule whatever else would he also push the [24:16] house to finally pass dc's budget so that it has access to all that money that it does need for [24:22] policing for schools and for other services here in the city yes and as you know he has done that [24:26] he put out a statement calling on the house to take up the senate's legislation and he stands by that [24:31] position let me take you back to something from last month you guys announced the president was [24:35] diagnosed with chronic venus insufficiency after his legs were seen swelling um how is he being [24:41] treated for that and while you were up front about uh those health issues curious if the white house [24:49] would be willing to let us speak with his physician directly about those health issues i know there [24:54] were a lot of concerns about the last white house not making the physician available would the physician [24:59] be available in this case i don't want to make that commitment on behalf of the physician but it's [25:03] certainly something we can look into and explore out of the effort of transparency because unlike the [25:08] previous white house there is nothing to hide you guys see this president working around the clock [25:14] literally 24 7 all of the time and um i will be happy to look into that request at least get an [25:20] update on how he's being treated for the swelling legs and for the hands and the other issues look you [25:24] see the president every day he's moving he's working he's continuing there have been no adjustments [25:29] made to his lifestyle i have two questions uh one on dc but on the meeting on friday does the president [25:35] plan to meet with putin one-on-one yes that's part of the plan and as for the other mechanics and [25:40] logistics i will let our team speak to that when they're ironed out and on what's happening in dc [25:45] with the federal takeover what we've heard from the mayor and the police chief is that their [25:49] understanding is there has been no change in the leadership structure in the white house's view who [25:53] is in charge of the mpd right now if you read the executive order it will tell you the leadership [25:59] structure is as follows we plan to work with the metropolitan police department but ultimately the chain [26:04] of command is as such the president of the united states the attorney general of the united states [26:09] our dea administrator terry cole who is now serving ahead of the chief of the metropolitan police [26:15] department they will be working together nope terry cole as you heard from this briefing room yesterday [26:20] is in charge of the metropolitan metropolitan police department and he's working with the chief [26:26] to ensure that law enforcement officers are allowed to do their jobs in this city [26:29] caroline yeah thanks caroline i know you said earlier the hope is to maintain monthly job reports [26:35] but the president's new nominee for bls commissioner ej antoni recently told fox business that the bls [26:43] should suspend issuing monthly job reports and only issue quarterly reports until the jobs data [26:49] methodology is corrected so does the president disagree with that assessment that his nominee is [26:54] severe or suspending these monthly job reports a real option i think he floated the idea of possibly [27:01] suspending until they can get the crane broke out under joe biden's incompetent leadership but president [27:07] trump is determined to try and end this war and stop the killing as the president has said over and over [27:14] again his strong preference will always be for peace and partnership whenever those outcomes can possibly be [27:21] achieved there is no leader in the world right now who has been more committed to preventing wars or ending them [27:28] than president donald trump just look at what took place here at the white house last friday when president trump [27:34] hosted the azerbaijan president and armenian prime minister and got the two leaders to sign a historic [27:40] joint declaration for peace ending a decades-long conflict that disrupted the region and claimed countless lives [27:47] in other news we continue to see positive economic reports across the board today's cpi report revealed [27:54] that inflation beat market expectations once again and inflation remains stable overall inflation has run [28:02] at a 1.9 average annual pace in president trump's first six months in office prices for everyday goods [28:10] continue to decline energy prices fell in july including gasoline which is down nearly 10 percent [28:17] over last year and propane which is down two and a half percent over last year as well egg prices fell [28:24] once again in july and are down 20 percent since president trump took office shelter inflation the largest [28:31] contributor to overall inflation is at its lowest level since october of 2021 wage growth for american [28:39] workers is beating inflation once again as inflation declines this administration continues to be [28:45] wholeheartedly committed to putting more money back into the american people's pockets american real wages [28:51] are up 1.3 percent over last year and have increased each month since president trump took office and small [28:58] business optimism according to this morning's report has also reached a five-month high ignore the panikins [29:04] and trust in president trump that is our motto here at the white house the america first economic agenda is [29:10] working on another matter yesterday president trump took bold action to finally restore law and order [29:17] right here in our nation's capital the president declared a crime emergency in the district of columbia [29:23] federalized the dc police department and mobilized the dc national guard to end violent crime in our [29:30] nation's capital as part of the president's massive law enforcement surge last night approximately 850 [29:38] officers and agents were surged across the city they made a total of 23 arrests including multiple other [29:44] contacts last night these arrests consisted of homicide firearms offenses possession with intent to distribute [29:52] narcotics fair evasion lewd acts stalking possession of a high capacity magazine fleeing to elude in a [30:01] vehicle no permits driving under the influence reckless driving and a bench warrant a total of six [30:08] illegal handguns were seized off of district of columbia streets as part of last night's effort [30:14] this is only the beginning over the course of the next month the trump administration will relentlessly [30:19] pursue and arrest every violent criminal in the district who breaks the law undermines public safety [30:25] and endangers law-abiding americans president trump will not be deterred by soft on crime democrats and [30:31] media activists who refuse to acknowledge this rampant violence on our streets he is going to make [30:38] our nation's capital the most beautiful and safe city on earth just as he promised on the campaign [30:44] trail staying on the topic of public safety the trump administration continues to shatter records on border [30:50] security according to brand new numbers released this morning from customs and border patrol illegal [30:56] crossings have fallen to all-time lows once again here were the records set in july again these numbers [31:03] were released this morning the lowest monthly nationwide encounters ever down nearly 90 percent from the [31:10] monthly average under the biden administration the lowest monthly border patrol apprehensions nationwide [31:16] ever smashing the previous record set the prior month in june the lowest monthly southwest [31:22] border apprehensions ever the lowest daily apprehension average ever the lowest single day apprehensions ever [31:30] and for the third straight month there were zero illegal aliens released into the country let me [31:36] repeat that remarkable statistic for the third month in a row not a single illegal alien was released by [31:42] the trump administration into the united states of american america this is historic under president trump [31:48] this border is the most secure it has ever been when you fortify the border when you restore deterrence [31:54] and when you empower border patrol agents and our brave men and women in uniform to actually do their [32:00] jobs to enforce our laws like this president has this is the incredible result and in the interior of our [32:08] country criminal illegal aliens continue to be arrested and removed here are some of the criminals [32:14] arrested by ice in just the last few days ice buffalo arrested an illegal alien from jamaica convicted of [32:21] attempted murder ice buffalo also arrested an illegal alien from ecuador convicted of leaving the scene of an accident [32:28] resulting in death ice houston arrested an illegal alien from mexico convicted of manslaughter [32:36] ice newark arrested an illegal alien from mexico convicted of the sexual assault of a minor [32:42] ice dallas arrested an illegal alien from mexico convicted of assault causing bodily injury [32:48] and already the trump administration has arrested more than 300 000 illegal aliens in 2025 again more than [32:56] 300 000 illegal alien criminals have been arrested in the interior of our country in the first six [33:03] months of this administration and despite many false reports in the media nearly 70 percent of these arrests [33:12] have been criminal aliens with criminal charges or prior convictions this is success all around this [33:19] is removing the most dangerous public safety threats from america's communities and returning these [33:24] individuals to their home countries so there's been success all around i'm sure you have a lot of [33:28] questions today i'm happy to get to them so let's get started and as always we'll start with our new media [33:33] seat who is our podcast host today benny johnson benny why don't you kick us off and thanks for being here [33:38] thank you caroline as a dc resident of 15 years i lived on capitol hill i witnessed so many muggings [33:45] and so much theft i lost track i was carjacked i have murders on my ring camera and mass shootings [33:52] i witnessed a woman on my block get held up at gunpoint for 20 dollars and my house was set ablaze [33:59] in an arson with my infant child inside and so to any reporter that says and lies that dc is a safe [34:06] place to live and work let me just say this thank you thank you for making the city safe because no [34:12] parent should have to go through what my family went through having the fire department rip open [34:17] their door to save their infant child and so thank you for your work on securing this city my question [34:22] to you is this nancy pelosi has attacked the president for deploying the national guard to the city [34:32] saying that it is to cover for his incompetence hillary clinton has also attacked the president [34:36] for securing the city of washington dc i'd like to get your response to nancy pelosi and hillary [34:41] sure well first of all benny i'm so sorry that happened to you and your family there have been [34:46] unfortunately far too many victims of crime in this city and i know the majority of residents in [34:51] the district of columbia agree with you in fact a new poll from the washington post i was reading this [34:56] morning this was released in may of 2024 so it's quite funny how many of you in the media agreed with what [35:03] the president was saying yesterday but now once the president says it many of you are disagreeing [35:08] with him but this poll released by the washington post found that 65 of district residents think [35:15] crime is an extremely serious or a very serious problem and this was up from 56 last year so the [35:23] concern that you share with so many other residents in the district of columbia is real and that's why [35:28] this president is taking action to address it to get to the heart of your question i think it's despicable [35:32] that democrats cannot agree that we need more law and order in a city that has been ravaged by [35:37] violence crime murders property theft this should be a win winning issue for all americans i don't [35:45] understand it's just anything president trump does the democrats want to disagree with i think the [35:50] president would love to work with democrats on this issue to bring law and order to america's cities but [35:55] unfortunately they have failed and that's why he's taken this historic action to federalize the national [36:00] guard and as you're seeing from last night's numbers we already have seen success we are removing [36:05] violent offenders we are arresting criminals and we are removing drugs and firearms off of the streets [36:10] of the city to make it safer for all of its residents just a very quick follow-up to that given the heroic [36:15] actions of a member of this administration just a few blocks from this building will the president [36:20] consider giving the presidential medal of freedom to big balls i haven't spoken to him about that [36:27] but perhaps it's something he would consider i'll ask him and get back to you betty thanks for being [36:31] here game thank you caroline regarding the uh the president trump's summit on friday why not invite [36:40] ukrainian president zelensky to that summit i know the president said yesterday that he planned to speak [36:44] with him right after the summit and even before but why not invite zelensky and whose decision was it to [36:49] not invite him was the president or was it president putin well this meeting came about because the [36:54] president of russia asked the president of the united states to meet through his special envoy [36:59] steve whitkoff who as you all know traveled to russia to have a conversation with putin at his request [37:05] and so the president is agreeing to this meeting at the request of of uh president putin and the goal [37:12] of this meeting for the president is to walk away with a better understanding of how we can end this war [37:17] and the president said at this podium yesterday when he joined all of you in the room that he hopes in [37:22] the future there can be a trilateral meeting with these three leaders to finally bring this conflict [37:27] to an end but this administration has really used every lever has taken every measure to to achieve [37:35] peace through a diplomatic solution and i think the president of the united states getting in the room [37:40] with the president of russia sitting face to face rather than speaking over the telephone will give [37:45] this president the best indication of how to end this war and where this is headed and another question [37:50] on something that happened yesterday but i wanted to get the white house response a judge [37:55] ruled that the grand jury transcripts in delaine maxwell's case should not be released what's the [38:01] white house response to that and you plan to appeal and what do you tell president trump supporters [38:07] who want that information we think that decision is unfortunate of course we move to unseal that [38:12] information because the president has said he wants to see credible evidence released as for the appeal [38:17] process i would defer you to the department of justice for that great thank you so much caroline [38:22] we are learning that president trump spoke with ukrainian president zelinski i was curious if you can [38:26] share any more details about their call and did zelinski give president trump any red lines any non-starters [38:33] ahead of this summit on friday look i don't want to reveal the private conversations between the [38:37] president and president zelinski but what i can tell you is that the president has deep respect for all [38:43] parties that are involved in this conflict and are trying to bring this conflict to an end after [38:48] special envoy whitkov returned from his meeting with president putin in russia his first phone call [38:53] was to president trump and president trump's first phone call was to president zelinski and to our friends [38:59] in europe to keep everybody in the loop about where the united states can see moving the ball forward [39:04] to end this conflict and so we continue to be very much engaged with president zelinski and the ukrainians [39:11] but also our allies in europe as well and then just one more for you um how does the president [39:16] measure success coming out of this meeting the president at times has suggested that it might be [39:21] tapping him along is he prepared to walk out of this meeting if he senses that food is not serious about [39:28] ending this war i think i just answered that question for you and what the goal and the expectation of [39:32] the meeting is and i won't jump ahead of any hypotheticals and i'll leave it to the president [39:36] to speak to all of you after the meeting which i'm very confident he will steve [39:40] optimistic that a deal will emerge from this meeting or is he simply going to listen i think [39:45] this is a listening exercise for the president look only one party uh that's involved in this war [39:50] is going to be present um and so this is for the president to go and to get again a more firm [39:56] and better understanding of of how we can hopefully bring this war to an end caroline how did you settle [40:01] on alaska as the site for this so there were some other sites being discussed this is like it was a midpoint [40:07] between the two years there were many sites discussed but of course alaska is a state within [40:13] the united states of america so the president is very honored and looks forward to hosting [40:18] president putin on american soil is there a joint news conference plan or will the president have a [40:24] solo one what sort of scheduling yeah the mechanics and the scheduling steve are still [40:29] being ironed out uh for friday we're working with our russian counterparts to put those plans into [40:34] action and of course we'll keep you all apprised on the logistical details of friday as soon as we [40:39] get them charlie the president said podium yesterday twice that he was planning to go to russia [40:45] was that a verbal slip up or does he actually plan to go to russia perhaps there are plans in the [40:50] future to travel to russia and on friday the president will be meeting with the russian president [40:55] vladimir putin in alaska as you know phil last week the president said the ceo of intel was highly [41:02] conflicted saving to sight uh his past investment with chinese companies that were doing business [41:07] for the chinese military yesterday he called his meeting with that ceo a success so what can you [41:13] tell us about what the intel ceo said to president trump that changed his mind the president put out a [41:19] statement that you cited phil i will leave it at that he shared his thoughts on that meeting and [41:25] how it went and for any further comment on that i'll leave it to him to make will the bureau of [41:30] labor statistics continue to put out monthly job reports well look what i'll tell you about the [41:36] bureau of labor statistics i believe that is the the plan and that's the hope and that these monthly [41:41] reports will be data that the american people can trust as you know the bureau of labor statistics has [41:47] made massive revisions after the last several point points reports that they have put out and there [41:54] has certainly been a decline in the quality and the reliability of data coming from the bureau of [41:58] labor statistics and there's been an increase in revisions and this president and the administration [42:04] is finally tackling this problem that so many have talked about and the president is actually doing [42:08] something about it we need to restore new leadership that we can trust as you know the president has [42:12] appointed someone new to take over the bls and so we need to look at the means and the methods of how [42:18] the united states is acquiring this very important data and all of that is going to be done and the goal of [42:23] course is to provide honest and good data for the american people to make very important economic [42:29] decisions on mike thank you caroline two questions if i may the president has talked about land swamps [42:35] between russia and ukraine vladimir says he wants russia to hold on to russian occupied territory in eastern [42:42] ukraine is the white house at all concerned about the messaging that potential potentially giving over [42:48] uh or allowing russia to maintain its occupied territory in eastern ukraine what that might say [42:54] to other u.s adversaries like china look right now the president of the united states uh has done more [43:00] to end this war than his predecessor joe biden who allowed this war to take place this war don't forget [43:08] happened at the result of the weakness and the incompetence of the previous administration and so [43:13] the president inherited this conflict and he is determined to end it and it's a very complex and [43:20] complicated situation as for the details of the plans that have been kind of tossed back and forth [43:25] i won't get into those and i will let the president of the united states discuss those plans with the [43:30] president of russia with our european allies and the president of ukraine uh zielinski himself as well [43:36] as well sure go ahead in the green thank you very much um as far as the policing and security operations [43:43] did you speak up is there a timeline do we know what success looks like and is it going to last longer [43:48] than 30 days and also is there going to be an immigration enforcement aspect to this um so [43:56] can you speak up a little bit the air conditioning is bumping in here for all of you today after [44:01] yesterday's heater so we've got to stock up you're welcome go ahead is there a timeline for the [44:06] security uh operations here in dc and also is there going to be an immigration component to this and [44:11] what would that look like look if law enforcement officers encounter a criminal in this city and [44:18] they are an illegal alien of course the appropriate measures to detain and deport that individual will [44:23] be taken as they should no city should be a sanctuary for anyone other than law-abiding american citizens [44:31] and that's been the um that has been the position of this administration since day one as for the timing [44:37] we will re-evaluate and reassess and make further decisions after this 30-day period is up [44:43] but within these 30 days our entire focus is making sure that this is the most efficient operation [44:49] possible and that we are removing as many criminals from the streets and we are cleaning up dc [44:55] as best as we can and working with the metropolitan police department to do that i know the mayor just [45:01] spoke uh several minutes ago i was watching her on television and she said that an increase of law [45:06] in law enforcement officers on the streets will be helpful to deter crime in this city and we look [45:12] forward to working with these brave men and women of the metropolitan police department to remove [45:17] criminals off of our streets and to keep law-abiding citizens in the district safe josh thank you the [45:22] president uh weighed in on jay powell again today he might have seen uh he said that he's considering [45:28] allowing a major lawsuit against powell to proceed because of the quote horrible and grossing confident [45:33] job he is like can you tell us about that what lawsuit is he talking about he's considering a [45:37] lawsuit and i won't speak or on it any further i will allow the president to do that himself [45:43] the administration is considering suing the fed chair over this renovation that's what the president is [45:47] saying has he had discussions with it about with anyone about this or is this just like what how [45:54] advanced is this right now at this moment in time the president is considering a lawsuit against the [45:59] fed and i will leave it to him to comment further on it tamara we talked about sorry very quickly [46:04] yesterday we talked about the uh the nvidia chips deal that the president has struck him as well the [46:09] amd the 50 stake will go to the government give any detail on how that came about the president [46:14] did he ask for 20 percent from nvidia did he make the same 20 as to amd and or something the [46:20] administration is looking to do with other either chips or products you know going forward it's a [46:26] model that wants to build well look right now it stands with these two companies perhaps it could [46:31] expand in the future to other companies i think it's a creative idea and solution the legality of it [46:37] the mechanics of it is still being ironed out by the department of commerce and i would defer you to [46:41] them for any further details on how it will actually be implemented but again this was another [46:45] idea of the president and his brain trust on his trade team to try to you know get good deals for [46:51] the american people and the american taxpayer did you see the report that china is discouraging use of [46:56] the h20 to some companies since we're reporting overnight there was private data that said the [47:01] companies not banning the chip and urging them to steer away from it i wonder if you have any response [47:05] to that i haven't read the report i will and we'll get you a comment on it tamra thank you um [47:11] last week the the meeting with putin was sort of described potentially as an opportunity for [47:15] a deal now it's a feeling out is there uh has there been a shift in expectations within the white [47:22] house or an effort to temper expectations about what success looks like for this meeting i mean look [47:27] i think both can be true right the president has always said he wants a peace deal he wants to see [47:32] this war come to an end but this bilateral meeting is a bilateral meeting between one party in this [47:38] two-party war right you need both countries to agree to a deal the president is accepting this [47:43] bilateral meeting uh with putin on friday and i will let him speak further to it after it concludes [47:48] about you know how he felt it went and also completely unrelated topic um regarding the [47:55] president's efforts in washington dc do you have any specifics about how homeless people will be dealt [48:00] with where they would be moved to what what does this look like i do yes and it's an important [48:06] question so thank you for raising it the metropolitan police department with the support of the new [48:12] federal agencies who have been surging on the streets of the district of columbia are going to [48:16] enforce the laws that are already on the books here in washington dc for far too long these laws have [48:22] been completely ignored and the homelessness problem has ravaged the city so dc code 22 1307 and dc [48:30] municipal regulation 24 100 give the metropolitan police department the authority to take action [48:37] when it comes to homeless encampments encampments so homeless individuals will be given the option [48:43] to leave their encampment to be taken to a homeless shelter to be offered addiction or mental health [48:48] services and if they refuse they will be susceptible to fines or to jail time again these are pre-existing [48:55] laws that are already on the books they have not been enforced which is part of the reason for this [49:00] nationalizing of the federalizing of the national guard to bring in this assistance for law enforcement [49:07] while we are targeting criminals and trying to remove criminals off of the streets we also want [49:11] to make dc safe and beautiful and that remove involves removing mentally disturbed individuals and [49:18] homeless encampments as well so we will be using these regulations and code that already exists to clean [49:23] up our streets and we've already had great success not many of you picked up on this but the united states [49:28] park police has actually done remarkable work in terms of removing homeless encampments from the [49:33] city since the president signed this executive order in march 70 homeless encampments have been [49:38] removed by the u.s park police there are only two homeless encampments remaining in dc federal parks [49:45] under the national park services jurisdiction and the removal of those two remaining camps is scheduled [49:50] for this week so the u.s park police will be leading this effort alongside mpd just very quickly he had [49:55] talked in one of the social media posts about moving them very far outside of the city is that off no [50:02] it's not off we're exploring how we could do that but again homeless shelters uh uh offered addiction [50:09] and mental health services uh or jail if they refuse are the options on the table right now and we'll [50:14] continue to explore that option thank you so much president zelensky said moments ago that he thinks russia [50:21] is preparing for a new offensive on at least three different areas of the front line is this something [50:27] that you could confirm based on u.s intelligence and if the president sees that putin is indeed [50:33] planning major new offensive or moving troops would he call off the meeting on friday i'm not in a position [50:39] to confirm or deny or comment on that intel at this time monica thanks caroline um my question [50:45] involves russi gate a whistleblower alleges that then congressman adam shift approved leaking classified [50:51] information to smear president trump's image during the russia scandal does the president plan to [50:56] investigate adam shift and would what would accountability look like if more information [51:01] confirms this report the president has already said he wants to see adam shift held accountable for [51:06] the countless lies he told the american people in relation to the russia gate scandal i brought tulsi [51:11] gabbard out to this podium to talk to you about all of that and this administration is taking [51:16] accountability very seriously as for this new fbi whistleblower report i understand cash patel last [51:22] night declassified a 302 fbi document showing that a whistleblower who is a democrat a career [51:29] intelligence officer who worked for democrats on the house intel committee for more than a decade [51:34] repeatedly warned the fbi in 2017 that then rep adam shift had approved leaking [51:41] classified information to smear then president donald trump over the russi gate scandal this is [51:48] obviously a bombshell whistleblower report hopefully more people in this room will cover [51:52] it as such and i have a quote from the fbi director for all of you he has said this for [51:58] years certain officials used their positions to selectively leak classified information to shape [52:03] political narratives it was all done with one purpose to weaponize intelligence and law enforcement [52:08] for political gain those abuses eroded public trust in our institutions the fbi will now lead the [52:14] charge with our partners at doj and congress will have the chance to uncover how political power [52:19] may have been weaponized and to restore accountability that's what the administration [52:24] is focused on and hopefully we'll see some more media reports on this whistleblower allegation if [52:30] this were reversed if this were uh if this were allegations against the president or any of [52:36] these cabinet officials i'm sure everyone in this room would cover it as such elizabeth go ahead [52:40] thanks carolyn after yesterday's action to federalize the dc police is the president still [52:45] interested in working with congress to end the home rule act something he's talked about in the past [52:50] senator mike lee has a bill on it is that something he's still interested in the president is very much [52:54] still interested in working with congress to address many of the issues that have plagued washington dc [53:00] such as the cashless bail policy which has been a complete disaster for the city [53:04] juvenile delinquency is another major problem in the city that congress can address [53:09] so i know congress is on recess right now when they get back to work to washington this president [53:13] looks forward to having these conversations with our friends on capitol hill so we can [53:17] work with them to make dc safe and beautiful again and again we encourage democrats to join us in this [53:22] effort perhaps their approval ratings would move up a little bit if they did i saw a new poll today [53:28] democrat approval rating is at an all-time low 32 percent if they could just stand by the basic notion of law [53:33] and order perhaps they would see that take up a bit and we welcome them to do that dasha thanks [53:38] caroline president trump yesterday at this podium indicated this so has a nato secretary general mark [53:44] rooted that in order for peace to happen it is very likely that ukraine will have to see some land [53:51] to russia zelensky has repeatedly said no land for peace that's not going to happen has this [53:57] administration communicated to zelensky that he's going to have to change that position look i appreciate [54:01] your asking that question in a different way than your colleague michael in the back i don't want [54:05] to get into the details of these negotiations and these discussions that have taken place [54:10] out of respect for where we are right now and i'll let the president speak on it further if he wishes [54:15] to more about israel um i know the president has had a call with prime minister netanyahu recently [54:21] netanyahu is planning to seize the remainder of gaza city what is the administration's position on this [54:27] move by israel's government look this is an incredibly complex and complicated war that again [54:34] was inherited by this president by his predecessor joe biden october 7th was one of the worst days [54:41] in history we saw innocent people slaughtered murdered kidnapped by hamas terrorists this [54:47] administration has taken extensive time and effort and resources since inauguration day in january [54:54] to end this conflict we have given many flexible arrangements backed by israel to hamas and [55:01] unfortunately hamas has never agreed looking ahead i will let the president speak on where he sees this [55:08] going but this is of course an incredibly complex and complicated situation the administration has made [55:15] our goal clear we want to see this conflict end we want to see the hostages released and we've tried [55:20] the president and his national security team have given extensive effort in time to doing that [55:23] with how israel has used those those resources and the assistance that you've provided look i'll let [55:28] the president speak on the further actions that israel may or may not be taking good to see you [55:34] good to see you as well caroline thank you the curriculum is expressing interest that friday's [55:38] meeting will move beyond just terms to end the war um into improving bilateral relations there's talk over [55:44] how they're interested in potentially restoring direct flights between russia and the united states is [55:48] president trump open to those kind of peripheral conversations or is this directly focused on [55:53] ending the war in ukraine i think this uh conversation on friday is focused on ending the war in [55:59] ukraine as far as the president's perspective goes those conversations i think the president is [56:04] interested in having but his main priority right now is ending this war and to stop the killing that [56:09] has gone on for far too long you're welcome in the back go ahead yeah two questions on the economy so [56:16] first we've had small businesses tell us that it's not foreign exporters who are eating the tariffs [56:23] it's them and they've held off on raising prices but soon they're gonna have to raise prices what is [56:28] the white house's message to them the white house's message to our small business owners across the [56:32] country is you have never had a better ally or friend or supporter in this white house than president [56:38] donald trump who is a businessman himself who understands your concerns and who wants to restore [56:44] wealth back to our country through the powerful use of tariffs and that's what he's focused on doing [56:50] while simultaneously driving down costs you have to remember we are six months into this [56:55] administration and we had a president who had no business experience had no idea what he was doing [57:01] and who funneled billions of wasteful spending dollars into our economy which created the worst [57:06] inflation crisis in a generation now this president is focused on tackling inflation deregulating cutting [57:13] costs cutting red tape to make it easier for small business owners to thrive and again the economic [57:19] indicators show that we are moving in the right direction in january when this president showed [57:23] up to the white house the six month annualized core inflation rate was 3.7 percent today six months [57:30] later the six month annualized core inflation rate is 2.4 percent so we are trending in the right [57:36] direction moving forward since president trump took office for another six months inflation will be [57:42] tracking at 1.9 percent at this trajectory you look at grocery prices they fell energy prices fell [57:47] fuel oil fell ship fares fell propane fell butter margarine eggs non-prescription drugs you go through [57:54] the list of items that are falling and then i would also point to that report this morning showing that [57:59] small business optimism has reached a five-month high so look we inherited an economic mess from the [58:06] previous administration but this administration is focused on fixing it every day and part of that is [58:11] signing the largest tax cuts into law to put more money back into the pockets of these small business [58:16] owners just on the bls they collect the inflation data obviously if the jobs data is not reliable [58:22] should americans trust the inflation data well look the jobs data has had massive revisions we want to [58:27] ensure that all of the data the inflation data the jobs data any data point that is coming out of the bls [58:33] is trustworthy and is accurate which is why the president has restored new leadership at the bls [58:37] uh sure go ahead yeah okay um all right thank you um so uh gavin newsome has said that california [58:46] is going to sue in response to the government's demand for a billion dollars from ucla uh over the [58:51] doj's anti-semitism uh findings newsome has called this extortion uh and ransom so i'm wondering what [58:58] the white house's response is to newsome on ucla bring it on gavin this administration is well within [59:04] its legal right to do this and we want to ensure that our colleges and our universities are respecting [59:11] the first amendment rights and the religious liberties of students on their campuses and ucla [59:16] has failed to do that and i have a whole list of examples that i will forward to gavin newsom's press [59:21] office if he hasn't seen them himself brett thanks caroline uh what was the reason that president trump [59:28] chose to move on from billy long as irs commissioner look i think the president wants to see billy [59:34] long as the ambassador to iceland as you know that is where he will be headed and the president loves [59:40] billy long and he thinks that he can serve the administration well in this position for now [59:45] secretary scott besson will be the acting irs commissioner i'm wondering for announcing a new pick [59:51] thank you go ahead but then in the back yes go in the back first okay sure thanks caroline um [59:58] ladies one foreign policy and then one domestic question if i may um there are roughly 30 000 [1:00:05] children from ukraine who have reportedly been abducted and are kind of dispersed around russia [1:00:09] they've been showing up on these websites for adoption is there return a red line for the president [1:00:15] in any deal ending the war the administration is aware of these reports i don't want to set red lines [1:00:22] for the president on his behalf from this podium however the president did encourage ukraine and [1:00:28] russia to speak directly to one another in terms of these humanitarian issues and we have seen [1:00:34] progress you have seen prisoners of war swapped between these two countries as a result of these [1:00:40] direct talks as well as children and that remains a concern but it's one that russia and ukraine need [1:00:46] to iron out together which is why this president has encouraged them to speak okay and then if i can [1:00:50] add on the dc action real quick the president said yesterday that this is a model federalizing the [1:00:56] national guard that could be used to combat really high rates of crime in other cities like chicago l.a [1:01:03] baltimore what sort of authority would he have to deploy forces like that absence the home rule act [1:01:10] look the president is speaking about what he'd like to see take place in other cities around the [1:01:14] country right now this administration is focused on making dc safe and beautiful again when the time [1:01:20] comes we'll talk about that but i will note that the president wants to see all of our nation's [1:01:25] cities be safe but i think starting with our nation's capital is a great place to begin and it should [1:01:31] serve as a model for the rest of the country just to bind up a few of the dc things because a lot of [1:01:36] them have been asked but um in talking with congress about potential changes the whole moon whatever else [1:01:41] would he also push the house to finally pass dc's budget so that it has access to all that money [1:01:46] that it does need for policing for schools and for other services here in the city yes and as you [1:01:51] know he has done that he put out a statement calling on the house to take up the senate's [1:01:55] legislation and he stands by that position let me take you back to something from last month [1:01:59] you guys announced the president was diagnosed with chronic venus insufficiency after his legs were [1:02:04] seen swelling how is he being treated for that and while you were up front about those health issues [1:02:13] i'm curious if the white house would be willing to let us speak with his physician directly about [1:02:19] those health issues i know there were a lot of concerns about the last white house not making the [1:02:23] physician available would the physician be available in this case i don't want to make that commitment [1:02:27] on behalf of the physician but it's certainly something we can look into and explore out of the [1:02:31] effort of transparency because unlike the previous white house there is nothing to hide you guys see [1:02:37] this president working around the clock literally 24 7 all of the time and i will be happy to look [1:02:45] into that request can we at least get an update on how he's being treated for the swelling legs and for [1:02:49] the hams and the other issues look you see the president every day he's moving he's working he's [1:02:53] continuing there have been no adjustments made to his lifestyle i have two questions uh one on dc [1:02:59] but on the meeting on friday does the president plan to meet with putin one-on-one yes that's part of [1:03:04] the plan and as for the other mechanics and logistics i will let our team speak to that when [1:03:09] they're ironed out and on what's happening in dc with the federal takeover what we've heard from [1:03:13] the mayor and the police chief is that their understanding is there has been no change in [1:03:17] the leadership structure in the white house's view who is in charge of the mpd right now [1:03:22] if you read the executive order it will tell you the leadership structure is as follows we plan to [1:03:27] work with the metropolitan police department but ultimately the chain of command is as such the [1:03:31] president of the united states the attorney general of the united states our dea administrator terry [1:03:37] cole who is now serving ahead of the chief of the metropolitan police department and they will be [1:03:42] working together nope terry cole as you heard from this briefing room yesterday is in charge of the [1:03:47] metropolitan metropolitan police department and he's working with the chief to ensure that law [1:03:53] enforcement officers are allowed to do their jobs in this city caroline yeah thanks caroline i know you [1:03:58] said earlier the hope is to maintain monthly job reports but the president's new nominee for bls [1:04:03] commissioner ej antoni recently told fox business that the bls should suspend issuing monthly job [1:04:11] reports and only issue quarterly reports until the jobs data methodology is corrected so does the [1:04:17] president disagree with that assessment that his nominee is severe or suspending these monthly job [1:04:23] reports a real option i think he floated the idea of possibly [1:04:27] suspending until they can get the crane broke out under joe biden's incompetent leadership but [1:04:33] president trump is determined to try and end this war and stop the killing as the president has said [1:04:39] over and over again his strong preference will always be for peace and partnership whenever those [1:04:45] outcomes can possibly be achieved there is no leader in the world right now who has been more [1:04:51] committed to preventing wars or ending them than president donald trump just look at what took place here at [1:04:57] the white house last friday when president trump hosted the azerbaijan president and armenian prime [1:05:03] minister and got the two leaders to sign a historic joint declaration for peace ending a decades-long [1:05:10] conflict that disrupted the region and claimed countless lives in other news we continue to see [1:05:16] positive economic reports across the board today's cpi report revealed that inflation beat market [1:05:22] expectations once again and inflation remains stable overall inflation has run at a 1.9 average annual pace [1:05:31] in president trump's first six months in office prices for everyday goods continue to decline energy [1:05:38] prices fell in july including gasoline which is down nearly 10 percent over last year and propane which is [1:05:45] down two and a half percent over last year as well egg prices fell once again in july and are down 20 [1:05:52] percent since president trump took office shelter inflation the largest contributor to overall inflation [1:05:59] is at its lowest level since october of 2021 wage growth for american workers is beating inflation once again [1:06:08] as inflation declines this administration continues to be wholeheartedly committed to putting more money back [1:06:13] into the american people's pockets american real wages are up 1.3 percent over last year and have [1:06:20] increased each month since president trump took office and small business optimism according to this [1:06:25] morning's report has also reached a five-month high ignore the panicans and trust in president trump [1:06:32] that is our motto here at the white house the america first economic agenda is working on another matter [1:06:38] yesterday president trump took bold action to finally restore law and order right here [1:06:43] in our nation's capital the president declared a crime emergency in the district of columbia [1:06:49] federalized the dc police department and mobilized the dc national guard to end violent crime in our [1:06:56] nation's capital as part of the president's massive law enforcement surge last night approximately 850 [1:07:04] officers and agents were surged across the city they made a total of 23 arrests including multiple other [1:07:10] contacts last night these arrests consisted of homicide firearms offenses possession with intent to distribute [1:07:18] narcotics fair evasion lewd acts stalking possession of a high capacity magazine fleeing to elude in a vehicle [1:07:27] no permits driving under the influence reckless driving and a bench warrant a total of six illegal handguns were [1:07:35] seized off of district of columbia streets as part of last night's effort this is only the beginning [1:07:41] over the course of the next month the trump administration will relentlessly pursue and arrest [1:07:46] every violent criminal in the district who breaks the law undermines public safety and endangers law [1:07:52] abiding americans president trump will not be deterred by soft on crime democrats and media activists [1:07:59] who refuse to acknowledge this rampant violence on our streets he is going to make our nation's capital [1:08:05] the most beautiful and safe city on earth just as he promised on the campaign trail staying on the [1:08:11] topic of public safety the trump administration continues to shatter records on border security [1:08:17] according to brand new numbers released this morning from customs and border patrol illegal crossings have [1:08:23] fallen to all-time lows once again here were the records set in july again these numbers were released [1:08:30] this morning the lowest monthly nationwide encounters ever down nearly 90 percent from the monthly average [1:08:36] under the biden administration the lowest monthly border patrol apprehensions nationwide ever smashing [1:08:43] the previous record set the prior month in june the lowest monthly southwest border apprehensions ever [1:08:50] the lowest daily apprehension average ever the lowest single day apprehensions ever and for the third [1:08:57] straight month there were zero illegal aliens released into the country let me repeat that remarkable [1:09:03] statistic for the third month in a row not a single illegal alien was released by the trump administration [1:09:09] into the united states of american america this is historic under president trump this border is the most [1:09:15] secure it has ever been when you fortify the border when you restore deterrence and when you empower [1:09:22] border patrol agents and our brave men and women in uniform to actually do their job [1:09:27] to enforce our laws like this president has this is the incredible result and in the interior of our [1:09:34] country criminal illegal aliens continue to be arrested and removed here are some of the criminals [1:09:40] arrested by ice in just the last few days ice buffalo arrested an illegal alien from jamaica convicted [1:09:47] of attempted murder ice buffalo also arrested an illegal alien from ecuador convicted of leaving the scene [1:09:54] of an accident resulting in death ice houston arrested an illegal alien from mexico convicted of manslaughter [1:10:01] ice newark arrested an illegal alien from mexico convicted of the sexual assault of a minor ice dallas [1:10:09] arrested an illegal alien from mexico convicted of assault causing bodily injury and already the trump administration [1:10:16] has arrested more than 300 000 illegal aliens in 2025 again more than 300 000 illegal alien criminals [1:10:25] have been arrested in the interior of our country in the first six months of this administration and [1:10:31] despite many false reports in the media nearly 70 of these arrests have been criminal aliens with criminal [1:10:40] criminal charges or prior convictions this is success all around this is removing the most dangerous [1:10:46] public safety threats from america's communities and returning these individuals to their home [1:10:51] countries so there's been success all around i'm sure you have a lot of questions today i'm happy to get [1:10:56] to them so let's get started and as always we'll start with our new media seat who is our podcast host [1:11:01] today benny johnson benny why don't you kick us off and thanks for being here thank you caroline as a dc [1:11:06] resident of 15 years i lived on capitol hill i witnessed so many muggings and so much theft i lost [1:11:13] track i was carjacked i have murders on my ring camera and mass shootings i witnessed a woman on my [1:11:20] block get held up at gunpoint for 20 dollars and my house was set ablaze in an arson with my infant child [1:11:27] inside and so to any reporter that says and lies that dc is a safe place to live and work let me just say [1:11:34] this thank you thank you for making the city safe because no parent should have to go through what [1:11:40] my family went through having the fire department rip open their door to save their infant child [1:11:45] so thank you for your work on securing this city my question to you is this nancy pelosi has attacked [1:11:52] the president for deploying the national guard to the city uh saying that it is to cover for his [1:11:59] incompetence hillary clinton has also attacked the president for securing the city of washington dc i'd [1:12:05] like to get your response to nancy pelosi and hillary sure well first of all benny i'm so sorry that [1:12:09] happened to you and your family there have been unfortunately far too many victims of crime in this [1:12:14] city and i know the majority of residents in the district of columbia agree with you in fact a new [1:12:20] poll from the washington post i was reading this morning this was released in may of 2024 so it's quite [1:12:27] funny how many of you in the media agreed with what the president was saying yesterday but now once the [1:12:31] president says it many of you are disagreeing with him but this poll released by the washington post [1:12:37] found that 65 of district residents think crime is an extremely serious or a very serious problem and [1:12:45] this was up from 56 last year so the concern that you share with so many other residents in the district [1:12:52] of columbia is real and that's why this president is taking action to address it to get to the heart of [1:12:56] your question i think it's despicable that democrats cannot agree that we need more law and order in [1:13:02] a city that has been ravaged by violence crime murders property theft this should be a win winning [1:13:09] issue for all americans i don't understand it's just anything president trump does the democrats want [1:13:15] to disagree with i think the president would love to work with democrats on this issue to bring law and [1:13:20] order to america's cities but unfortunately they have failed and that's why he's taken this historic action [1:13:25] to federalize the national guard and as you're seeing from last night's numbers we already have [1:13:29] seen success we are removing violent offenders we are arresting criminals and we are removing drugs [1:13:35] and firearms off of the streets of the city to make it safer for all of its residents just a very [1:13:39] quick follow-up to that given the heroic actions of a member of this administration just a few blocks [1:13:44] from this building will the president consider giving the presidential medal of freedom to big balls [1:13:50] uh i haven't spoken to him about that um but perhaps it's something he would consider i'll ask him [1:13:56] and get back to you betty thanks for being here gabe uh thank you caroline regarding the uh the president [1:14:02] trump's summit on friday why not invite ukrainian president zelensky to that summit i know the president [1:14:09] said yesterday that he planned to speak with him right after the summit and even before but why not [1:14:13] invite zelensky and whose decision was it to not invite him was the president or was the president [1:14:18] well this meeting came about because the president of russia asked the president of the united states [1:14:22] to meet through his special envoy steve whitkoff who as you all know traveled to russia to have a [1:14:29] conversation with putin at his request and so the president is agreeing to this meeting at the request of [1:14:36] president putin and the goal of this meeting for the president is to walk away with a better [1:14:41] understanding of how we can end this war and the president said at this podium yesterday when he joined [1:14:46] all of you in the room that he hopes in the future there can be a trilateral meeting with these three [1:14:52] leaders to finally bring this conflict to an end but this administration has really used every lever has [1:14:58] taken every measure to to achieve peace through a diplomatic solution and i think the president of [1:15:05] the united states getting in the room with the president of russia sitting face to face rather than [1:15:09] speaking over the telephone will give this president the best indication of how to end this war and where [1:15:15] this is headed and another question on something that happened yesterday but i wanted to get the [1:15:18] white house response a judge uh ruled that the grand jury transcripts in delaine maxwell's case [1:15:24] should not be released what's the white house response to that and you plan to appeal and what [1:15:31] do you tell president trump supporters who want that information released we think that decision is [1:15:36] unfortunate of course we move to unseal that information because the president has said he wants to see [1:15:41] credible evidence released as for the appeal process i would defer you to the department of justice for [1:15:46] that great thank you so much caroline we are learning that president trump spoke with ukrainian [1:15:50] president zelinski i was curious if you can share any more details about their call and did zelinski [1:15:56] give president trump any red lines any non-starters ahead of this summit on friday look i don't want to [1:16:01] reveal the private conversations between the president and president zelinski but what i can tell you is that [1:16:06] the president has deep respect for all parties that are involved in this conflict and are trying to [1:16:12] bring this conflict to an end after special envoy whitkoff returned from his meeting with president [1:16:17] putin in russia his first phone call was to president trump and president trump's first [1:16:22] phone call was to president zelinski and to our friends in europe to keep everybody in the loop about [1:16:27] where the united states can see moving the ball forward to end this conflict and so we continue to be [1:16:33] very much engaged with uh president zelinski and the ukrainians but also our allies in europe as [1:16:39] well and then just one more for you um how does the president measure success coming out of this [1:16:44] meeting the president at times has suggested that it might be tapping him along is he prepared to walk [1:16:50] out of this meeting if he senses that food is not serious about ending this war i think i just answered [1:16:55] that question for you and what the goal and the expectation of the meeting is and i won't jump ahead of [1:17:00] any hypotheticals and i'll leave it to the president to speak to all of you after the meeting which i'm [1:17:05] very confident he will steve optimistic that a deal will emerge from this meeting or is he simply going [1:17:10] to listen i think this is a listening exercise for the president look only one party uh that's involved [1:17:16] in this war is going to be present um and so this is for the president to go and to get again a more [1:17:22] firm and better understanding of of how we can hopefully bring this war to an end there were many [1:17:35] sites discussed but of course alaska is a state within the united states of america so the president [1:17:41] is very honored and looks forward to hosting president putin on american soil is there a joint [1:17:47] loose conference plan or will the president have the solo one what sort of scheduling yeah the [1:17:53] mechanics and the scheduling steve are still being ironed out uh for friday we're working with our [1:17:58] russian counterparts to put those plans into action and of course we'll keep you all apprised on the [1:18:03] logistical details of friday as soon as we get them charlie the president said podium yesterday twice that [1:18:09] he was planning to go to russia was that a verbal slip up or does he actually plan to go to russia [1:18:14] uh perhaps there are plans in the future to travel to russia uh and on friday the president will be [1:18:19] meeting with the russian president vladimir putin in alaska as you know phil last week the president [1:18:27] said the ceo of intel was highly conflicted saving to sight uh his past investment with chinese companies [1:18:33] that were doing business from the chinese military yesterday he called his meeting with that ceo a success [1:18:38] so what can you tell us about what the intel ceo said to president trump that changed his mind the [1:18:45] president put out a statement that you cited phil i will leave it at that he shared his thoughts on [1:18:50] that meeting and how it went and for any further comment on that i'll leave it to him to make [1:18:55] will the bureau of labor statistics continue to put out monthly job reports well look what i'll tell you [1:19:01] about the bureau of labor statistics i believe that is the the plan and that's the hope and that these [1:19:06] monthly reports will be data that the american people can trust as you know the bureau of labor [1:19:12] statistics has made massive revisions after the last several point points reports that they have put [1:19:19] out and there has certainly been a decline in the quality and the reliability of data coming from the [1:19:24] bureau of labor statistics and there's been an increase in revisions and this president and the [1:19:29] administration is finally tackling this problem that so many have talked about and the president is [1:19:34] actually doing something about it we need to restore new leadership that we can trust as you know the [1:19:38] president has appointed someone new to take over the bls and so we need to look at the means and the [1:19:43] methods of how the united states is acquiring this very important data and all of that is going to be [1:19:48] done and the goal of course is to provide honest and good data for the american people to make very [1:19:54] important economic decisions on michael thank you caroline two questions if i may the president has [1:20:00] talked about land swaps between russia and ukraine vladimir says he wants russia to hold on to russian [1:20:06] occupied territory in eastern ukraine is the white house at all concerned about the messaging that [1:20:11] potential potentially giving over or allowing for russia to maintain its occupied territory in eastern [1:20:18] ukraine what that might say to other u.s adversaries like china look right now the president of the united [1:20:25] states uh has done more to end this war than his predecessor joe biden who allowed this war to take [1:20:31] place this war don't forget uh happened at the result of the weakness and the incompetence of the [1:20:37] previous administration and so the president inherited this conflict and he is determined to end it [1:20:44] and it's a very complex and complicated situation as for the details of the plans that have been kind [1:20:50] of tossed back and forth i won't get into those and i will let the president of the united [1:20:54] states discuss those plans with the president of russia with our european allies and the president of [1:20:59] of ukraine uh zielinski himself as well sure go ahead in the green thank you thank you very much [1:21:06] um is there a timeline do we know what success looks like and is it going to last longer than 30 days [1:21:15] and also is there going to be an immigration enforcement aspect to this um so can you speak [1:21:23] up a little bit the air conditioning is bumping in here for all of you today after yesterday's [1:21:27] heater so we've got to stock up you're welcome go ahead is there a timeline for the security [1:21:33] operations here in dc and also is there going to be an immigration component to this and what [1:21:37] would that look like um look if law enforcement officers encounter a criminal in this city and [1:21:44] they are an illegal alien of course the appropriate measures to detain and deport that individual will [1:21:49] be taken as they should no city should be a sanctuary for anyone other than law-abiding american citizens [1:21:57] and that's been the um that has been the position of this administration since day one as for the [1:22:02] timing we will reevaluate and reassess and make further decisions after this 30-day period is up [1:22:09] but within these 30 days our entire focus is making sure that this is the most efficient operation [1:22:15] possible and that we are removing as many criminals from the streets and we are cleaning up dc as best [1:22:21] as we can and working with the metropolitan police department to do that i know the mayor just spoke [1:22:28] several minutes ago i was watching her on television and she said that an increase of law in law enforcement [1:22:33] officers on the streets will be helpful to deter crime in this city and we look forward to working [1:22:39] with these brave men and women of the metropolitan police department to remove criminals off of our streets [1:22:44] and to keep law-abiding citizens in the district safe josh thank you uh the president uh weighed in [1:22:50] on jay powell again today he might have seen uh he said that he's considering allowing a major [1:22:54] lawsuit against powell to proceed because of the quote horrible engrossing confident job he is [1:23:00] playing can you tell us about that what lawsuit is he talking about he's considering a lawsuit and [1:23:04] i won't speak or on it any further i will allow the president to do that himself [1:23:08] that's what the president is saying discussions with it about with anyone about this or is this [1:23:19] just like what how advanced is this right now at this moment in time the president is considering [1:23:24] a lawsuit against the fed and i will leave it to him to comment further on it tamara we talked about [1:23:29] sorry very quickly yesterday we talked about the uh the nvidia chips deal the president has struck [1:23:34] it as well the amd the 50 percent stake will go to the government give any detail on how that came [1:23:39] about the president said he asked for 20 percent from nvidia did he make the same 20 percent ask to amd [1:23:45] and or is this something the administration is looking to do with other either chips or products [1:23:51] you know going forward is this a model that wants to build on it well look right now it stands with [1:23:55] these two companies perhaps it could expand in the future to other companies i think it's a creative [1:24:00] idea and solution the legality of it the mechanics of it is still being ironed out by the department [1:24:05] of commerce and i would defer you to them for any further details on how it will actually be implemented [1:24:10] but again this was another idea of the president and his brain trust on his trade team to try to [1:24:16] you know get good deals for the american people and the american taxpayer did you see the report that [1:24:20] china is discouraging use of the h20 to some companies since we're reporting that overnight [1:24:26] there was private data that said to companies not banning the chip and urging them to steer away [1:24:30] from it i wonder if you have any response to that i haven't read the report i will and we'll get you [1:24:34] a comment on it tamra thank you um last week the the meeting with putin was sort of described [1:24:40] potentially as an opportunity for a deal now it's a feeling out is there uh has there been a shift in [1:24:47] expectations within the white house or an effort to temper expectations about what success looks [1:24:51] like for this meeting i mean look i think both can be true right the president has always said he wants [1:24:56] a peace deal he wants to see this war come to an end but this bilateral meeting is a bilateral [1:25:02] meeting between one party in this two-party war right you need both countries to agree to a deal the [1:25:07] president is accepting this bilateral meeting uh with putin on friday and i will let him speak further to [1:25:13] it after it concludes about you know how he felt it went and also completely unrelated topic um [1:25:20] regarding the president's efforts in washington dc do you have any specifics about how homeless [1:25:26] people will be dealt with where they would be moved to what what does this look like i do yes and it's [1:25:31] an important question so thank you for raising it um the metropolitan police department with the [1:25:36] support of the new federal agencies who have been surging on the streets of the district of [1:25:41] colombia are going to enforce the laws that are already on the books here in washington dc for far [1:25:47] too long these laws have been completely ignored and the homelessness problem has ravaged the city so dc [1:25:53] code 22 1307 and dc municipal regulation 24 100 give the metropolitan police department the authority to [1:26:01] take action when it comes to homeless encampments encampments so homeless individuals will be given the [1:26:08] option to leave their encampment to be taken to a homeless shelter to be offered addiction or mental [1:26:14] health services and if they refuse they will be susceptible to fines or to jail time again these are [1:26:20] pre-existing laws that are already on the books they have not been enforced which is part of the reason [1:26:25] for this nationalizing of the federalizing of the national guard to bring in this assistance for law [1:26:32] enforcement while we are targeting criminals and trying to remove criminals off of the streets we also want to [1:26:38] make dc safe and beautiful and that remove involves removing mentally disturbed individuals and [1:26:44] homeless encampments as well so we will be using these regulations and code that already exists [1:26:49] to clean up our streets and we've already had great success not many of you picked up on this but the [1:26:54] united states park police has actually done remarkable work in terms of removing homeless encampments [1:26:59] from the city since the president signed this executive order in march 70 homeless encampments have been [1:27:04] removed by the u.s park police there are only two homeless encampments remaining in dc federal parks [1:27:11] under the national park services jurisdiction and the removal of those two remaining camps is scheduled [1:27:16] for this week so the u.s park police will be leading this effort alongside mpd just very quickly he had [1:27:21] talked in one of his social media posts about moving them very far outside of the city is that off no it's not [1:27:28] off we're exploring how we could do that but again homeless shelters uh uh offered addiction and mental [1:27:35] health services uh or jail if they refuse are the options on the table right now and we'll continue to [1:27:41] explore that option thank you so much president zelensky said moments ago that he thinks russia is [1:27:47] preparing for a new offensive uh on at least three different areas of the front line is this something [1:27:53] that you could confirm based on u.s intelligence and if the president sees that putin is indeed [1:27:59] planning major new offensive or moving troops would he call off the meeting on friday i'm not in a [1:28:05] position to confirm or deny or comment on that intel at this time monica thanks caroline um my [1:28:10] question involves russiagate a whistleblower alleges that then congressman adam shift approved [1:28:15] leaking classified information to smear president trump's image during the russia scandal does the [1:28:21] president plan to investigate adam shift and would what would accountability look like if more [1:28:27] information confirms this report the president has already said he wants to see adam shift held [1:28:31] accountable for the countless lies he told the american people in relation to the russiagate scandal [1:28:36] i brought tulsi gabbard out to this podium to talk to you about all of that and this [1:28:41] administration is taking accountability very seriously as for this new fbi whistleblower report i [1:28:46] understand cash patel last night declassified a 302 fbi document showing that a whistleblower who is a [1:28:54] democrat a career intelligence officer who worked for democrats on the house intel committee for more [1:28:59] than a decade repeatedly warned the fbi in 2017 that then rep adam shift had approved leaking classified [1:29:08] information to smear then president donald trump over the russiagate scandal this is obviously a bombshell [1:29:16] whistleblower report hopefully more people in this room will cover it as such and i have a quote from [1:29:20] the fbi director for all of you he has said this for years certain officials used their positions to [1:29:26] selectively leak classified information to shape political narratives it was all done with one purpose [1:29:32] to weaponize intelligence and law enforcement for political gain those abuses eroded public trust in [1:29:37] our institutions the fbi will now lead the charge with our partners at doj and congress will have [1:29:43] the chance to uncover how political power may have been weaponized and to restore accountability [1:29:48] that's what the administration is focused on and hopefully we'll see some more media reports on this [1:29:54] whistleblower allegation if this were reversed if this were uh if this were allegations against [1:30:01] the president or any of these cabinet officials i'm sure everyone in this room would cover it as [1:30:05] such elizabeth go ahead thanks carolyn after yesterday's action to federalize the dc police is the [1:30:10] president still interested in working with congress to end the home rule act something you've talked [1:30:15] about in the past senator mike lee has a bill on it is that something he's still interested in the [1:30:19] president is very much still interested in working with congress to address many of the issues that [1:30:24] have plagued washington dc such as the cashless bail policy which has been a complete disaster for the [1:30:30] city juvenile delinquency is another major problem in the city that congress can address [1:30:35] so i know congress is on recess right now when they get back to work to washington this president [1:30:39] looks forward to having these conversations with our friends on capitol hill so we can [1:30:43] work with them to make dc safe and beautiful again and again we encourage democrats to join [1:30:48] us in this effort perhaps their approval ratings would move up a little bit if they did i saw a new [1:30:53] poll today democrat approval rating is at an all-time low 32 percent if they could just stand by the basic [1:30:59] notion of law and order perhaps they would see that take up a bit and we welcome them to do that dasha [1:31:04] thanks caroline president trump yesterday at this podium indicated this [1:31:08] so has a nato secretary general mark rooted that in order for peace to happen it is very likely that [1:31:15] ukraine will have to see some land to russia zelensky has repeatedly said no land for peace that's not [1:31:21] going to happen has this administration communicated to zelensky that he's going to have to change that [1:31:26] position look i appreciate your asking that question in a different way than your colleague michael in [1:31:31] the back i don't want to get into the details of these negotiations and these discussions that have [1:31:35] taken place out of respect for where we are right now and i'll let the president speak on it further [1:31:40] if he wishes to more about israel um i know the president has had a call with prime minister netanyahu [1:31:46] recently netanyahu is planning to seize the remainder of gaza city what is the administration's [1:31:52] position on this move by israel's government look this is an incredibly complex and complicated war [1:32:00] that again was inherited by this president by his predecessor joe biden october 7th was one of the [1:32:06] worst days in history we saw innocent people slaughtered murdered kidnapped by hamas terrorists [1:32:13] this administration has taken extensive time and effort and resources since inauguration day in january [1:32:20] to end this conflict we have given many flexible arrangements backed by israel to hamas and [1:32:27] unfortunately hamas has never agreed looking ahead i will let the president speak on where he sees [1:32:34] this going but this is of course an incredibly complex and complicated situation the administration [1:32:40] has made our goal clear we want to see this conflict end we want to see the hostages released [1:32:45] and we've tried the president and his national security team have given extensive effort in time to [1:32:49] doing that with how israel has used those those resources and the assistance that you've provided look [1:32:54] i'll let the president speak on the further actions that israel may or may not be taking good to [1:32:59] see you good to see you as well caroline thank you the president is expressing interest that [1:33:04] friday's meeting will move beyond just terms to end the war um into improving bilateral relations [1:33:09] there's talk over uh how they're interested in potentially restoring direct flights between [1:33:13] russia and the united states is president trump open to those kind of peripheral conversations [1:33:17] or is this directly focused on ending the war in ukraine i think this uh conversation on [1:33:22] friday is focused on ending the war in ukraine as far as the president's perspective goes [1:33:28] those conversations i think the president is interested in having but his main priority right [1:33:32] now is ending this war and to stop the killing that has gone on for far too long you're welcome [1:33:38] in the back go ahead yeah two questions on the economy so first we've had small businesses tell us that [1:33:45] it's not foreign exporters who are eating the tariffs it's them and they've held off on raising prices but [1:33:51] soon they're going to have to raise prices what is the white house's message to them the white house's [1:33:56] message to our small business owners across the country is you have never had a better ally or [1:34:01] friend or supporter in this white house than president donald trump who is a businessman himself [1:34:07] who understands your concerns and who wants to restore wealth back to our country through the [1:34:12] powerful use of tariffs and that's what he's focused on doing while simultaneously driving down costs [1:34:19] you have to remember we are six months into this administration and we had a president who had [1:34:24] no business experience had no idea what he was doing and who funneled billions of wasteful spending [1:34:29] dollars into our economy which created the worst inflation crisis in a generation now this president is [1:34:35] focused on tackling inflation deregulating cutting costs cutting red tape to make it easier for small [1:34:42] business owners to thrive and again the economic indicators show that we are moving in the right [1:34:47] direction in january when this president showed up to the white house the six-month annualized core [1:34:52] inflation rate was 3.7 percent today six months later the six-month annualized core inflation rate is [1:34:59] 2.4 percent so we are trending in the right direction moving forward since president trump took office for [1:35:06] another six months inflation will be tracking at 1.9 percent at this trajectory you look at grocery prices [1:35:12] they fell energy prices fell fuel oil fell ship fares fell propane fell butter margarine eggs non-prescription [1:35:19] drugs you go through the list of items that are falling and then i would also point to that report [1:35:24] this morning showing that small business optimism has reached a five-month high so look we inherited an [1:35:30] economic mess from the previous administration but this administration is focused on fixing it every day [1:35:36] and part of that is signing the largest tax cuts into law to put more money back into the pockets [1:35:41] of these small business owners just on the bls they collect the inflation data obviously if the jobs [1:35:46] data is not reliable should americans trust the inflation data well look the jobs data has had [1:35:51] massive revisions we want to ensure that all of the data the inflation data the jobs data any data [1:35:57] point that is coming out of the bls is trustworthy and is accurate which is why the president has restored [1:36:02] new leadership at the bls uh sure go ahead yeah okay um all right thank you um so uh gavin newsom has [1:36:10] said that california uh is going to sue in response to the government's demand um for a billion dollars [1:36:15] from ucla uh over the doj's anti-semitism uh findings newsom has called this extortion uh and ransom so [1:36:23] i'm wondering what the white house's response is to newsom on ucla bring it on gavin this administration [1:36:29] is well within its legal right to do this and we want to ensure that our colleges and our universities [1:36:36] are respecting the first amendment rights and the religious liberties of students on their campuses [1:36:41] and ucla has failed to do that and i have a whole list of examples that i will forward to gavin newsom's [1:36:47] press office if he hasn't seen them himself brett thanks caroline uh what was the reason that [1:36:53] president trump chose to move on from billy long as irs commissioner look i think the president [1:36:59] wants to see billy long as the ambassador to iceland as you know that is where he will be headed [1:37:04] and the president loves billy long and he thinks that he can serve the administration well in this [1:37:09] position for now secretary scott besson will be the acting irs commissioner timeline for announcing a [1:37:15] new pick um thank you go ahead but then oh in the back yes go in the back first okay sure thanks [1:37:23] caroline um one foreign policy and then one domestic question if i may um there are roughly 30 000 [1:37:31] children from ukraine who have reportedly been abducted and are kind of dispersed around russia [1:37:35] they've been showing up on these websites for adoption is their return a red line for the president [1:37:41] in any deal ending the war the administration is aware of these reports i don't want to set red lines [1:37:48] for the president on his behalf from this podium however the president did encourage ukraine and [1:37:54] russia to speak directly to one another in terms of these humanitarian issues and we have seen [1:38:00] progress you have seen prisoners of war swapped between these two countries as a result of these [1:38:06] direct talks as well as children and that remains a concern but it's one that russia and ukraine need [1:38:12] to iron out together which is why this president has encouraged them to speak [1:38:15] and then if i can um the dc action real quick the president said yesterday that this is a model [1:38:22] federalizing the national guard that could be used to combat really high rates of crime in other [1:38:27] cities like chicago l.a baltimore um what sort of authority would he have to deploy forces like that [1:38:34] absence the home rule act look the president is speaking about what he'd like to see take place [1:38:39] in other cities around the country right now this administration is focused on making dc safe and [1:38:44] beautiful again when the time comes we'll talk about that but i will note that the president wants [1:38:50] to see all of our nation's cities be safe but i think starting with our nation's capital is a great [1:38:56] place to begin and it should serve as a model for the rest of the country just to bind up a few of the [1:39:01] dc things because a lot of them have been asked but um in talking with congress about potential changes [1:39:06] to the home rule whatever else would he also push the house to finally pass dc's budget so that it has [1:39:11] access to all that money that it does need for policing for schools and for other services here [1:39:16] in the city yes and as you know he has done that he put out a statement calling on the house to take [1:39:20] up the senate's legislation and he stands by that position let me take you back to something from [1:39:24] last month you guys announced the president was diagnosed with chronic venus insufficiency after his [1:39:30] legs were seen swelling how's he being treated for that and while you were up front about those health [1:39:39] issues curious if the white house would be willing to let us speak with his physician directly about [1:39:45] those health issues i know there were a lot of concerns about the last white house not making the [1:39:49] physician available would the physician be available in this case i don't want to make that commitment on [1:39:53] behalf of the physician but it's certainly something we can look into and explore out of the effort of [1:39:58] transparency because unlike the previous white house there is nothing to hide you guys see this [1:40:03] president working around the clock literally 24 7 all of the time and i will be happy to look into [1:40:11] that request can we at least get an update on how he's being treated for the swelling legs and for [1:40:15] the hands and the other issues look you see the president every day he's moving he's working he's [1:40:19] continuing there have been no adjustments made to his lifestyle i have two questions uh one on dc but [1:40:25] on the meeting on friday does the president plan to meet with putin one-on-one yes that's part of the [1:40:30] plan and as for the other mechanics and logistics i will let our team speak to that when they're ironed [1:40:35] out and on what's happening in dc with the federal takeover what we've heard from the mayor and the [1:40:39] police chief is that their understanding is there has been no change in the leadership structure [1:40:44] in the white house's view who is in charge of the mpd right now if you read the executive order [1:40:49] it will tell you the leadership structure is as follows we plan to work with the metropolitan [1:40:54] police department but ultimately the chain of command is as such the president of the united [1:40:59] states the attorney general of the united states our dea administrator terry cole who is now serving [1:41:04] ahead of the chief of the metropolitan police department they will be working together nope terry [1:41:10] cole as you heard from this briefing room yesterday is in charge of the metropolitan metropolitan [1:41:15] police department and he's working with the chief to ensure that law enforcement officers are allowed to [1:41:20] do their jobs in this city caroline yeah thanks caroline uh i know you said earlier the hope is to [1:41:25] maintain monthly job reports but the president's new nominee for bls commissioner ej antoni recently [1:41:32] told fox business that the bls should suspend issuing monthly job reports and only issue quarterly [1:41:39] reports until the jobs data methodology is corrected so does the president disagree with that assessment [1:41:45] that his nominee is severe or suspending these monthly job reports a real option i think he floated [1:41:52] the idea of possibly suspending until they can get the crane broke out under joe biden's incompetent [1:41:58] leadership but president trump is determined to try and end this war and stop the killing as the [1:42:04] president has said over and over again his strong preference will always be for peace and partnership [1:42:11] whenever those outcomes can possibly be achieved there is no leader in the world right now who has been [1:42:17] more committed to preventing wars or ending them than president donald trump just look at what took [1:42:23] place here at the white house last friday when president trump hosted the azerbaijani president and [1:42:28] armenian prime minister and got the two leaders to sign a historic joint declaration for peace ending a [1:42:35] decades-long conflict that disrupted the region and claimed countless lives in other news we continue to [1:42:41] see positive economic reports across the board today's cpi report revealed that inflation beat market [1:42:48] expectations once again and inflation remains stable overall inflation has run at a 1.9 average annual pace [1:42:57] in president trump's first six months in office prices for everyday goods continue to decline energy [1:43:04] prices fell in july including gasoline which is down nearly 10 percent over last year and propane which [1:43:11] is down two and a half percent over last year as well egg prices fell once again in july and are down [1:43:18] 20 percent since president trump took office shelter inflation the largest contributor to overall inflation [1:43:25] is at its lowest level since october of 2021 wage growth for american workers is beating inflation once again [1:43:33] as inflation declines this administration continues to be wholeheartedly committed to putting more money back [1:43:39] into the american people's pockets american real wages are up 1.3 percent over last year and have increased [1:43:46] each month since president trump took office and small business optimism according to this morning's report [1:43:52] has also reached a five-month high ignore the panicans and trust in president trump that is our motto here [1:43:59] at the white house the america first economic agenda is working on another matter yesterday president [1:44:05] trump took bold action to finally restore law and order right here in our nation's capital the president [1:44:12] declared a crime emergency in the district of columbia federalized the dc police department and mobilized [1:44:19] the dc national guard to end violent crime in our nation's capital as part of the president's massive [1:44:25] law enforcement surge last night approximately 850 officers and agents were surged across the city they made a total [1:44:34] of 23 arrests including multiple other contacts last night these arrests consisted of homicide firearms [1:44:41] offenses possession with intent to distribute narcotics fair evasion lewd acts stalking possession of a [1:44:49] high capacity magazine fleeing to elude in a vehicle no permits driving under the influence reckless driving [1:44:57] and a bench warrant a total of six illegal handguns were seized off of district of columbia streets [1:45:04] as part of last night's effort this is only the beginning over the course of the next month the trump [1:45:09] administration will relentlessly pursue and arrest every violent criminal in the district who breaks [1:45:15] the law undermines public safety and endangers law-abiding americans president trump will not be deterred [1:45:21] by soft on crime democrats and media activists who refuse to acknowledge this rampant violence on our streets [1:45:28] he is going to make our nation's capital the most beautiful and safe city on earth just as he promised [1:45:35] on the campaign trail staying on the topic of public safety the trump administration continues to shatter [1:45:41] records on border security according to brand new numbers released this morning from customs and border [1:45:47] patrol illegal crossings have fallen to all-time lows once again here were the records set in july again these [1:45:54] numbers were released this morning the lowest monthly nationwide encounters ever down nearly 90 percent [1:46:01] from the monthly average under the biden administration the lowest monthly border patrol apprehensions [1:46:07] nationwide ever smashing the previous record set the prior month in june the lowest monthly southwest [1:46:14] border apprehensions ever the lowest daily apprehension average ever the lowest single day apprehensions ever [1:46:22] and for the third straight month there were zero illegal aliens released into the country let me repeat [1:46:28] that remarkable statistic for the third month in a row not a single illegal alien was released by the trump [1:46:34] administration into the united states of american america this is historic under president trump [1:46:40] this border is the most secure it has ever been when you fortify the border when you restore deterrence [1:46:46] and when you empower border patrol agents and our brave men and women in uniform to actually do their [1:46:52] jobs to enforce our laws like this president has this is the incredible result and in the interior of our [1:47:00] country criminal illegal aliens continue to be arrested and removed here are some of the criminals [1:47:06] arrested by ice in just the last few days ice buffalo arrested an illegal alien from jamaica convicted of [1:47:13] attempted murder ice buffalo also arrested an illegal alien from ecuador convicted of leaving the scene of [1:47:20] an accident resulting in death ice houston arrested an illegal alien from mexico convicted of manslaughter [1:47:28] ice newark arrested an illegal alien from mexico convicted of the sexual assault of a minor ice dallas [1:47:35] arrested an illegal alien from mexico convicted of assault causing bodily injury and already the trump [1:47:41] administration has arrested more than 300 000 illegal aliens in 2025 again more than 300 000 illegal alien [1:47:50] criminals have been arrested in the interior of our country in the first six months of this administration [1:47:57] and despite many false reports in the media nearly 70 percent of these arrests have been criminal aliens [1:48:05] with criminal charges or prior convictions this is success all around this is removing the most [1:48:11] dangerous public safety threats from america's communities and returning these individuals to [1:48:16] their home countries so there's been success all around i'm sure you have a lot of questions today [1:48:21] i'm happy to get to them so let's get started and as always we'll start with our new media seat [1:48:25] who is our podcast host today benny johnson benny why don't you kick us off and thanks for being here [1:48:30] thank you caroline as a dc resident of 15 years i lived on capitol hill i witnessed so many muggings [1:48:37] and so much theft i lost track i was carjacked i have murders on my ring camera and mass shootings [1:48:44] i witnessed a woman on my block get held up at gunpoint for 20 dollars and my house was set ablaze [1:48:51] in an arson with my infant child inside and so to any reporter that says and lies that dc is a safe place [1:48:58] to live and work let me just say this thank you thank you for making the city safe because no [1:49:04] parent should have to go through what my family went through having the fire department rip open [1:49:09] their door to save their infant child and so thank you for your work on securing this city my question [1:49:14] to you is this nancy pelosi has attacked the president for deploying the national guard to the city [1:49:24] saying that it is to cover for his incompetence hillary clinton has also attacked the president [1:49:28] for securing the city of washington dc i'd like to get your response to nancy pelosi and hillary [1:49:33] sure well first of all benny i'm so sorry that happened to you and your family there have been [1:49:38] unfortunately far too many victims of crime in this city and i know the majority of residents in the [1:49:43] district of columbia agree with you in fact a new poll from the washington post i was reading this [1:49:48] morning this was released in may of 2024 so it's quite funny how many of you in the media agreed with [1:49:55] what the president was saying yesterday but now once the president says it many of you are disagreeing [1:50:00] with him but this poll released by the washington post found that 65 of district residents think [1:50:07] crime is an extremely serious or a very serious problem and this was up from 56 last year so the [1:50:15] concern that you share with so many other residents in the district of columbia is real and that's why [1:50:20] this president is taking action to address it to get to the heart of your question i think it's despicable [1:50:24] that democrats cannot agree that we need more law and order in a city that has been ravaged by [1:50:29] violence crime murders property theft this should be a win winning issue for all americans i don't [1:50:37] understand it's just anything president trump does the democrats want to disagree with i think the [1:50:42] president would love to work with democrats on this issue to bring law and order to america's cities but [1:50:47] unfortunately they have failed and that's why he's taken this historic action to federalize the national [1:50:52] guard and as you're seeing from last night's numbers we already have seen success we are removing [1:50:57] violent offenders we are arresting criminals and we are removing drugs and firearms off of the streets [1:51:02] of the city to make it safer for all of his residents just a very quick follow-up to that [1:51:06] given the heroic actions of a member of this administration just a few blocks from this building [1:51:11] will the president consider giving the presidential medal of freedom to big balls [1:51:16] uh i haven't spoken to him about that um but perhaps it's something he would consider i'll ask him [1:51:22] and get back to you betty thanks for being here gabe uh thank you caroline regarding the uh [1:51:28] president trump's summit on friday why not invite ukrainian president zelensky to that summit i know the [1:51:34] president said yesterday that he's trying to speak with him right after the summit and even before but why [1:51:39] not invite zelensky and whose decision was it to not invite was it the president or was it president [1:51:44] well this meeting came about because the president of russia asked the president of the united states [1:51:48] to meet through his special envoy steve whitkoff who as you all know traveled to russia to have a [1:51:54] conversation with putin at his request and so the president is agreeing to this meeting at the request of [1:52:02] president putin and the goal of this meeting for the president is to walk away with a better [1:52:07] understanding of how we can end this war and the president said at this podium yesterday when he joined [1:52:12] all of you in the room that he hopes in the future there can be a trilateral meeting with these three [1:52:18] leaders to finally bring this conflict to an end but this administration has really used every lever has [1:52:24] taken every measure to to achieve peace through a diplomatic solution and i think the president of [1:52:31] the united states getting in the room with the president of russia sitting face to face rather than [1:52:35] speaking over the telephone will give this president the best indication of how to end this war and where [1:52:41] this is headed and another question on something that happened yesterday but i wanted to get the [1:52:44] white house response a judge ruled that the grand jury transcripts in jelaine maxwell's case should not [1:52:51] be released what's the white house response to that and you plan to appeal and what do you tell [1:52:58] president trump supporters who want that information released we think that decision is unfortunate of [1:53:03] course we move to unseal that information because the president has said he wants to see credible [1:53:07] evidence released as for the appeal process i would defer you to the department of justice for that [1:53:12] rachel thank you so much caroline we are learning that president trump spoke with ukrainian president [1:53:17] zelinski i was curious if you can share any more details about their call and did zelinski give [1:53:22] president trump any red lines any non-starters ahead of this summit on friday look i don't want to reveal [1:53:27] the private conversations between the president and president zelinski but what i can tell you is that [1:53:32] the president has deep respect for all parties that are involved in this conflict and are trying to [1:53:38] bring this conflict to an end after special envoy whitkoff returned from his meeting with president [1:53:43] putin in russia his first phone call was to president trump and president trump's first [1:53:48] phone call was to president zelinski and to our friends in europe to keep everybody in the loop [1:53:53] about where the united states can see moving the ball forward to end this conflict and so [1:53:58] we continue to be very much engaged with president zelinski and the ukrainians but also our allies in [1:54:04] europe as well and then just one more for you um how does the president measure success coming out of [1:54:09] this meeting the president at times has suggested that it might be tapping him along is he prepared to [1:54:16] walk out of this meeting if he senses that food is not serious about ending this war i think i just [1:54:21] answered that question for you and what the goal and the expectation of the meeting is and i won't jump ahead [1:54:26] of any hypotheticals and i'll leave it to the president to speak to all of you after the [1:54:30] meeting which i'm very confident he will steve optimistic that a deal will emerge from this meeting [1:54:35] or is he simply going to listen i think this is a listening exercise for the president look only one [1:54:40] party uh that's involved in this war is going to be present um and so this is for the president to go [1:54:46] and to get again a more firm and better understanding of of how we can hopefully bring this war to an end [1:54:52] there were many sites discussed but of course alaska is a state within the united states of america so [1:55:06] the president is very honored and looks forward to hosting uh president putin on american soil [1:55:12] is there a joint news conference plan or will the president have the solo one what sort of scheduling [1:55:18] yeah the mechanics and the scheduling steve are still being ironed out uh for friday we're working [1:55:23] with our russian counterparts to put those plans into action and of course we'll keep you all apprised [1:55:28] on the logistical details of friday as soon as we get them charlie the president said podium yesterday [1:55:34] twice that he was planning to go to russia was that a verbal slip up or does he actually plan to go to [1:55:40] russia perhaps there are plans in the future to travel to russia and on friday the president will be [1:55:45] meeting with the russian president vladimir putin in alaska as you know phil last week the president [1:55:53] said the ceo of intel was highly conflicted saving to sight uh his past investment with chinese companies [1:55:59] that were doing business with the chinese military yesterday he called his meeting with that ceo a [1:56:03] success so what can you tell us about what the intel ceo said to president trump that changed his mind [1:56:10] the president put out a statement that you cited phil i will leave it at that [1:56:14] he shared his thoughts on that meeting and how it went and for any further comment on that i'll [1:56:20] leave it to him to make will the bureau of labor statistics continue to put out monthly jobs reports [1:56:26] well look what i'll tell you about the bureau of labor statistics i believe that is the the plan [1:56:30] and that's the hope and that these monthly reports will be data that the american people can trust [1:56:36] as you know the bureau of labor statistics has made massive revisions after the last several points points [1:56:44] reports that they have put out and there has certainly been a decline in the quality and the [1:56:48] reliability of data coming from the bureau of labor statistics and there's been an increase in [1:56:53] revisions and this president and the administration is finally tackling this problem that so many have [1:56:58] talked about and the president is actually doing something about it we need to restore new leadership [1:57:02] that we can trust as you know the president has appointed someone new to take over the bls and [1:57:07] so we need to look at the means and the methods of how the united states is acquiring this very [1:57:12] important data and all of that is going to be done and the goal of course is to provide honest and [1:57:18] good data for the american people to make very important economic decisions on michael thank you [1:57:24] caroline two questions if i may the president has talked about land swamps between russia and ukraine [1:57:29] says he wants russia to hold on to russian occupied territory in eastern ukraine is the white house at [1:57:35] all concerned about the messaging that potential potentially giving over uh or allowing for russia [1:57:42] to maintain its occupied territory in eastern ukraine what that might say to other u.s adversaries like [1:57:47] china look right now the president of the united states uh has done more to end this war than his [1:57:54] predecessor joe biden who allowed this war to take place this war don't forget uh happened at the result of [1:58:01] the weakness and the incompetence of the previous administration and so the president inherited [1:58:06] this conflict and he is determined to end it and it's a very complex and complicated situation [1:58:13] as for the details of the plans that have been kind of tossed back and forth i won't get into those [1:58:18] and i will let the president of the united states discuss those plans with the president of russia [1:58:23] with our european allies and the president of ukraine uh zielinski himself as well sure go ahead in the green [1:58:30] um so can you speak up a little bit the air conditioning is bumping in here for all of you [1:58:52] today after yesterday's heater so we've got to stock up you're welcome go ahead is there a timeline for [1:58:58] the security uh operations here in dc and also is there going to be an immigration component to this [1:59:03] and what would that look like look if law enforcement officers encounter a criminal in this city and [1:59:10] they are an illegal alien of course the appropriate measures to detain and deport that individual will [1:59:15] be taken as they should no city should be a sanctuary for anyone other than law-abiding american citizens and [1:59:23] that's been the um that has been the position of this administration since day one as for the timing [1:59:29] we will reevaluate and reassess and make further decisions after this 30-day period is up but within [1:59:35] these 30 days our entire focus is making sure that this is the most efficient operation possible and that [1:59:42] we are removing as many criminals from the streets and we are cleaning up dc as best as we can and working [1:59:49] with the metropolitan police department to do that i know the mayor just spoke several minutes ago i was [1:59:55] watching her on television and she said that an increase of law in law enforcement officers on the [2:00:00] streets will be helpful to deter crime in this city and we look forward to working with these brave men [2:00:06] and women of the metropolitan police department to remove criminals off of our streets and to keep [2:00:10] law-abiding citizens in the district safe josh thank you uh the president uh weighed in on j-pal again [2:00:17] today i think you might have seen uh he said that he's considering allowing a major lawsuit against [2:00:21] powell to proceed because of the quote horrible and grossing confident job he is like can you tell [2:00:26] us about that what lawsuit is he talking about he's considering a lawsuit and i won't speak or on it [2:00:32] any further i will allow the president to do that himself the administration is considering suing [2:00:37] the fed chair over this renovation that's what the president is saying has he had discussions with it [2:00:42] about with anyone about this or is this just like what how advanced is this right now at this moment [2:00:48] in time the president is considering a lawsuit against the fed and i will leave it to him to [2:00:52] comment further on it tamra we talked about sorry very quickly yesterday we talked about the uh the [2:00:57] nvidia chips deal the president is talking about as well the amd the 50 stake that will go to the [2:01:02] government do you have any detail on how that came about the president said he asked for 20 [2:01:07] percent from nvidia did you make the same 20 as to amd and or something the administration is looking [2:01:13] to do with other either chips or products you know going forward is this a model who wants to build [2:01:19] on well look right now it stands with these two companies perhaps it could expand in the future [2:01:25] to other companies i think it's a creative idea and solution the legality of it the mechanics of it [2:01:30] is still being ironed out by the department of commerce and i would defer you to them for any further [2:01:33] details on how it will actually be implemented but again this was another idea of the president and [2:01:39] his brain trust on his trade team to try to you know get good deals for the american people and the [2:01:44] american taxpayer did you see the report that china is discouraging use of the h20 to some companies [2:01:50] since we're reporting that overnight there was private data that said to companies not banning the [2:01:55] chip and urging them to steer away from it i wonder if you have any response to that i haven't read [2:01:58] the report i will and we'll get you a comment on it tamra thank you um last week [2:02:04] the the meeting with putin was sort of described potentially as an opportunity for a deal now it's [2:02:09] a feeling out is there uh has there been a shift in expectations within the white house or an effort [2:02:15] to temper expectations about what success looks like for this meeting i mean look i think both can [2:02:19] be true right the president has always said he wants a peace deal he wants to see this war come to an [2:02:25] end but this bilateral meeting is a bilateral meeting between one party in this two-party war right you [2:02:31] need both countries to agree to a deal the president is accepting this bilateral meeting [2:02:36] with putin on friday and i will let him speak further to it after it concludes about you know [2:02:41] how he felt it went also completely unrelated topic um regarding the president's efforts in [2:02:47] washington dc do you have any specifics about how homeless people will be dealt with where they [2:02:53] would be moved to what what does this look like i do yes and it's an important question so thank [2:02:59] you for raising it the metropolitan police department with the support of the new federal [2:03:04] agencies who have been surging on the streets of the district of columbia are going to enforce the [2:03:09] laws that are already on the books here in washington dc for far too long these laws have been completely [2:03:15] ignored and the homelessness problem has ravaged the city so dc code 22 1307 and dc municipal regulation 24 100 [2:03:25] give the metropolitan police department the authority to take action when it comes to homeless [2:03:30] encampments encampments so homeless individuals will be given the option to leave their encampment [2:03:36] to be taken to a homeless shelter to be offered addiction or mental health services and if they [2:03:42] refuse they will be susceptible to fines or to jail time again these are pre-existing laws that are [2:03:47] already on the books they have not been enforced which is part of the reason for this nationalizing of [2:03:53] the federalizing of the national guard to bring in this assistance for law enforcement while we are [2:04:00] targeting criminals and trying to remove criminals off of the streets we also want to make dc safe [2:04:05] and beautiful and that remove involves removing mentally disturbed individuals and homeless encampments [2:04:11] as well so we will be using these regulations and code that already exists to clean up our streets [2:04:16] and we've already had great success not many of you picked up on this but the united states park police [2:04:21] has actually done remarkable work in terms of removing homeless encampments from the city [2:04:26] since the president signed this executive order in march 70 homeless encampments have been removed by [2:04:31] the u.s park police there are only two homeless encampments remaining in dc federal parks under the [2:04:37] national park services jurisdiction and the removal of those two remaining camps is scheduled for this [2:04:42] week so the u.s park police will be leading this effort alongside mpd just very quickly he had talked in [2:04:48] one of the social media posts about moving them very far outside of the city is that off nope it's [2:04:54] not off we're exploring how we could do that but again homeless shelters uh uh offered addiction and [2:05:01] mental health services uh or jail if they refuse are the options on the table right now and we'll [2:05:06] continue to explore that option sure thank you so much caroline uh president zelensky said moments ago [2:05:11] that he thinks russia is preparing for a new offensive uh on at least three different areas [2:05:17] of the front line is this something that you could confirm based on u.s intelligence and if the [2:05:23] president sees that putin is indeed planning major new offensive or moving troops would he call off the [2:05:29] meeting on friday i'm not in a position to confirm or deny or comment on that intel at this time [2:05:34] monica thanks caroline uh my question involves russiagate a whistleblower alleges that then congressman [2:05:40] adam schiff approved leaking classified information to smear president trump's image during the russiagate [2:05:46] scandal does the president plan to investigate adam schiff and would what would accountability look [2:05:51] like if more information confirms this report the president has already said he wants to see adam [2:05:57] schiff held accountable for the countless lies he told the american people in relation to the russiagate [2:06:02] scandal i brought tulsi gabbard out to this podium to talk to you about all of that [2:06:06] um and this administration is taking accountability very seriously as for this new fbi whistleblower [2:06:12] report i understand cash patel last night declassified a 302 fbi document showing that a [2:06:18] whistleblower who is a democrat a career intelligence officer who worked for democrats on the house intel [2:06:24] committee for more than a decade repeatedly warned the fbi in 2017 that then rep adam schiff had approved [2:06:32] leaking classified information to smear then president donald trump over the russiagate scandal [2:06:39] this is obviously a bombshell whistleblower report hopefully more people in this room will cover it as [2:06:45] such and i have a quote from the fbi director for all of you he has said this for years certain [2:06:50] officials used their positions to selectively leak classified information to shape political [2:06:55] narratives it was all done with one purpose to weaponize intelligence and law enforcement for [2:07:00] political gain those abuses eroded public trust in our institutions the fbi will now lead the charge [2:07:06] with our partners at doj and congress will have the chance to uncover how political power may have [2:07:12] been weaponized and to restore accountability that's what the administration is focused on and hopefully [2:07:17] we'll see some more media reports on this whistleblower allegation if this were reversed if this were [2:07:25] if this were allegations against the president or any of these cabinet officials i'm sure everyone in this [2:07:29] room would cover it as such elizabeth go ahead thanks carolyn after yesterday's action to federalize [2:07:35] the dc police is the president still interested in working with congress to end the home rule act [2:07:40] something you talked about in the past senator mike lee has a bill on it is that something he's still [2:07:44] interested in the president is very much still interested in working with congress to address many [2:07:49] of the issues that have plagued washington dc such as the cashless bail policy which has been a complete [2:07:55] disaster for the city juvenile delinquency is another major problem in the city that congress [2:08:00] can address so i know congress is on recess right now when they get back to work to washington this [2:08:05] president looks forward to having these conversations with our friends on capitol hill so we can work [2:08:10] with them to make dc safe and beautiful again and again we encourage democrats to join us in this effort [2:08:15] perhaps their approval ratings would move up a little bit if they did i saw a new poll today democrat [2:08:20] approval rating is at an all-time low 32 percent if they could just stand by the basic notion of [2:08:25] law and order perhaps they would see that tick up a bit and we welcome them to do that dasha thanks [2:08:30] caroline president trump yesterday at this podium indicated this so has a nato secretary general mark [2:08:36] rooted that in order for peace to happen it is very likely that ukraine will have to see some land [2:08:43] to russia zelensky has repeatedly said no land for peace that's not going to happen has this [2:08:48] administration communicated to zelensky that he's going to have to change that position look i [2:08:53] appreciate your asking that question in a different way than your colleague michael in the [2:08:57] back i don't want to get into the details of these negotiations and these discussions that have [2:09:01] taken place out of respect for where we are right now and i'll let the president speak on it further [2:09:06] if he wishes to more about israel um i know the president has had a call with prime minister netanyahu [2:09:12] recently netanyahu is planning to seize the remainder of gaza city what is the administration's [2:09:18] position on this move by israel's government look this is an incredibly complex and complicated war [2:09:26] that again was inherited by this president by his predecessor joe biden october 7th was one of the [2:09:32] worst days in history we saw innocent people slaughtered murdered kidnapped by hamas terrorists [2:09:39] this administration has taken extensive time and effort and resources since inauguration day in january [2:09:46] to end this conflict we have given many flexible arrangements backed by israel to hamas and [2:09:53] unfortunately hamas has never agreed looking ahead i will let the president speak on where he sees this [2:10:00] going but this is of course an incredibly complex and complicated situation the administration has made [2:10:06] our goal clear we want to see this conflict end we want to see the hostages released and we've tried [2:10:12] the president and his national security team have given extensive effort in time to doing that [2:10:15] with how israel has used those those resources and the assistance that you've provided look i'll let [2:10:20] the president speak on the further actions that israel may or may not be taking good to see you [2:10:26] good to see you as well caroline thank you the president is expressing interest that friday's [2:10:30] meeting will move beyond just terms to end the war um into improving bilateral relations there's talk over [2:10:36] how they're interested in potentially restoring direct flights between russia and the united states [2:10:40] is president trump open to those kind of peripheral conversations or is this directly focused [2:10:45] on ending the war in ukraine i think this uh conversation on friday is focused on ending [2:10:50] the war in ukraine as far as the president's perspective goes those conversations i think the [2:10:55] president is interested in having but his main priority right now is ending this war and to [2:11:00] stop the killing that has gone on for far too long you're welcome in the back go ahead yeah two [2:11:07] questions on the economy so first we've had small businesses tell us that it's not foreign exporters [2:11:12] who are eating the tariffs it's them and they've held off on raising prices but soon they're going [2:11:18] to have to raise prices what is the white house's message to them the white house's message to our [2:11:23] small business owners across the country is you have never had a better ally or friend or supporter [2:11:29] in this white house than president donald trump who is a businessman himself who understands your [2:11:34] concerns and who wants to restore wealth back to our country through the powerful use of tariffs and [2:11:40] that's what he's focused on doing while simultaneously driving down costs you have to remember we are [2:11:47] six months into this administration and we had a president who had no business experience had no [2:11:51] idea what he was doing and who funneled billions of wasteful spending dollars into our economy which [2:11:57] created the worst inflation crisis in a generation now this president is focused on tackling inflation [2:12:04] deregulating cutting costs cutting red tape to make it easier for small business owners to thrive [2:12:09] and again the economic indicators show that we are moving in the right direction in january when [2:12:15] this president showed up to the white house the six month annualized core inflation rate was 3.7 [2:12:21] today six months later the six month annualized core inflation rate is 2.4 [2:12:26] so we are trending in the right direction moving forward since president trump took office for another [2:12:32] six months inflation will be tracking at 1.9 percent at this trajectory you look at grocery prices they [2:12:38] fell energy prices fell fuel oil fell ship fares fell propane fell butter margarine eggs non-prescription [2:12:45] drugs you go through the list of items that are falling and then i would also point to that report [2:12:50] this morning showing that small business optimism has reached a five month high so look we inherited an [2:12:56] economic mess from the previous administration but this administration is focused on fixing it every [2:13:02] day and part of that is signing the largest tax cuts into law to put more money back into the pockets [2:13:07] of these small business owners just on the bls they collect the inflation data obviously if the [2:13:12] jobs data is not reliable should americans trust the inflation data well look the jobs data has had [2:13:17] massive revisions we want to ensure that all of the data the inflation data the jobs data any data [2:13:23] point that is coming out of the bls is trustworthy and is accurate which is why the president has restored [2:13:28] new leadership at the bls um sure go ahead yeah okay um all right thank you um so uh gavin newsom has [2:13:36] said that california uh is going to sue in response to the government's demand um for a billion dollars [2:13:41] from ucla uh over the doj's anti-semitism uh findings newsom has called this extortion uh and ransom so [2:13:49] i'm wondering what the white house's response is to newsom on ucla bring it on gavin this administration [2:13:55] is well within its legal right to do this and we want to ensure that our colleges and our universities [2:14:02] are respecting the first amendment rights and the religious liberties of students on their campuses [2:14:07] and ucla has failed to do that and i have a whole list of examples that i will forward to gavin newsom's [2:14:13] press office uh if he hasn't seen them himself brett thanks caroline uh what was the reason that [2:14:19] president trump chose to move on from billy long as irs commissioner look i think the president wants [2:14:25] to see billy long as the ambassador to iceland as you know that is where he will be headed and the [2:14:31] president loves billy long and he thinks that he can serve the administration well in this position [2:14:36] for now secretary scott besson will be the acting irs commissioner timeline for announcing a new pick [2:14:43] thank you go ahead but then in the back yes go in the back first okay sure thanks caroline um [2:14:49] um one foreign policy and then one domestic question if i may um there are roughly 30 000 [2:14:57] children from ukraine who have reportedly been abducted and are kind of dispersed around russia [2:15:01] they've been showing up on these websites for adoption is their return a red line for the president [2:15:07] in any deal ending the war the administration is aware of these reports i don't want to set red lines [2:15:14] for the president on his behalf from this podium however the president did encourage ukraine and [2:15:20] russia to speak directly to one another in terms of these humanitarian issues and we have seen [2:15:26] progress you have seen prisoners of war swapped between these two countries as a result of these [2:15:32] direct talks as well as children and that remains a concern but it's one that russia and ukraine need [2:15:38] to iron out together which is why this president has encouraged them to speak [2:15:41] and then if i can um the dc action real quick the president said yesterday that this is a model [2:15:48] federalizing the national guard that could be used to combat really high rates of crime in other [2:15:53] cities like chicago la baltimore um what sort of authority would he have to deploy forces like that [2:16:00] absence the home rule act look the president is speaking about what he'd like to see take place [2:16:05] in other cities around the country right now this administration is focused on [2:16:09] making dc safe and beautiful again when the time comes we'll talk about that but i will note that [2:16:15] the president wants to see all of our nation's cities be safe but i think starting with our nation's [2:16:20] capital is a great place to begin and it should serve as a model for the rest of the country just to [2:16:26] mind up a few of the dc things because a lot of them have been asked but um in talking with congress [2:16:31] about potential changes to the home rule whatever else would he also push the house to finally pass dc's [2:16:36] budget so that it has access to all that money that it does need for policing for schools and for [2:16:41] other services here in the city yes and as you know he has done that he put out a statement calling [2:16:45] on the house to take up the senate's legislation and he stands by that position let me take you back [2:16:50] to something from last month you guys announced the president was diagnosed with chronic venous [2:16:55] insufficiency after his legs were seen swelling how is he being treated for that and while [2:17:02] you were up front about uh those health issues curious if the white house would be willing to [2:17:08] let us speak with his physician directly about those health issues i know there were a lot of [2:17:13] concerns about the last white house not making the physician available would the physician be available [2:17:17] in this case i don't want to make that commitment on behalf of the physician but it's certainly something [2:17:21] we can look into and explore out of the effort of transparency because unlike the previous white house [2:17:27] there is nothing to hide you guys see this president working around the clock literally 24 7 [2:17:33] all of the time and i will be happy to look into that request at least get an update on how he's [2:17:39] being treated for the swelling legs and for the hands and the other issues look you see the president [2:17:43] every day he's moving he's working he's continuing there have been no adjustments made to his lifestyle [2:17:49] i have two questions uh one on dc but on the meeting on friday does the president plan to meet with [2:17:54] putin one on one yes that's part of the plan and as for the other mechanics and logistics i will let [2:18:00] our team speak to that when they're ironed out and on what's happening in dc with the federal takeover [2:18:04] what we've heard from the mayor and the police chief is that their understanding is there has been no [2:18:08] change in the leadership structure in the white house's view who is in charge of the mpd right now [2:18:14] if you read the executive order it will tell you the leadership structure is as follows we plan to [2:18:19] work with the metropolitan police department but ultimately the chain of command is as such the [2:18:23] president of the united states the attorney general of the united states our dea administrator terry [2:18:29] cole who is now serving ahead of the chief of the metropolitan police department and they will be [2:18:34] working together nope terry cole as you heard from this briefing room yesterday is in charge of the [2:18:39] metropolitan metropolitan police department and he's working with the chief to ensure that law [2:18:45] enforcement officers are allowed to do their jobs in this city caroline yeah thanks caroline i know you [2:18:50] said earlier the hope is to maintain monthly job reports but the president's new nominee for bls [2:18:55] commissioner ej antoni recently told fox business that the bls should suspend issuing monthly job [2:19:03] reports and only issue quarterly reports until the jobs data methodology is corrected so does the [2:19:09] president disagree with that assessment that his nominee is said there or suspending these monthly job [2:19:15] reports a real option i think he floated the idea of possibly suspending until they can get the crane [2:19:21] broke out under joe biden's incompetent leadership but president trump is determined to try and end this [2:19:28] war and stop the killing as the president has said over and over again his strong preference will always be [2:19:35] for peace and partnership whenever those outcomes can possibly be achieved there is no leader in the world [2:19:41] right now who has been more committed to preventing wars or ending them than president donald trump just [2:19:48] look at what took place here at the white house last friday when president trump hosted the azerbaijan [2:19:53] president and armenian prime minister and got the two leaders to sign a historic joint declaration for [2:19:59] peace ending a decades-long conflict that disrupted the region and claimed countless lives in other news we [2:20:07] continue to see positive economic reports across the board today's cpi report revealed that inflation [2:20:13] beat market expectations once again and inflation remains stable overall inflation has run at a 1.9 [2:20:22] average annual pace in president trump's first six months in office prices for everyday goods continue to [2:20:29] decline energy prices fell in july including gasoline which is down nearly 10 percent over last year [2:20:36] and propane which is down two and a half percent over last year as well egg prices fell once again [2:20:43] in july and are down 20 percent since president trump took office shelter inflation the largest contributor [2:20:50] to overall inflation is at its lowest level since october of 2021 wage growth for american workers is [2:20:58] beating inflation once again as inflation declines this administration continues to be wholeheartedly [2:21:03] committed to putting more money back into the american people's pockets american real wages are up 1.3 [2:21:10] percent over last year and have increased each month since president trump took office and small [2:21:15] business optimism according to this morning's report has also reached a five-month high ignore the [2:21:21] panicans and trust in president trump that is our motto here at the white house the america first economic [2:21:27] agenda is working on another matter yesterday president trump took bold action to finally restore law and [2:21:35] order right here in our nation's capital the president declared a crime emergency in the district of [2:21:40] columbia federalized the dc police department and mobilized the dc national guard to end violent crime [2:21:48] in our nation's capital as part of the president's massive law enforcement surge last night approximately [2:21:55] 850 officers and agents were surged across the city they made a total of 23 arrests including multiple [2:22:02] other contacts last night these arrests consisted of homicide firearms offenses possession with intent [2:22:09] to distribute narcotics fair evasion lewd acts stalking possession of a high capacity magazine fleeing to [2:22:18] a lewd in a vehicle no permits driving under the influence reckless driving and a bench warrant [2:22:25] a total of six illegal handguns were seized off of district of columbia streets as part of last [2:22:30] night's effort this is only the beginning over the course of the next month the trump administration [2:22:36] will relentlessly pursue and arrest every violent criminal in the district who breaks the law [2:22:41] undermines public safety and endangers law-abiding americans president trump will not be deterred by [2:22:48] soft on crime democrats and media activists who refuse to acknowledge this rampant violence on our streets [2:22:54] he is going to make our nation's capital the most beautiful and safe city on earth just as he [2:23:01] promised on the campaign trail staying on the topic of public safety the trump administration continues [2:23:07] to shatter records on border security according to brand new numbers released this morning from customs [2:23:12] and border patrol illegal crossings have fallen to all-time lows once again here were the records set in [2:23:19] july again these numbers were released this morning the lowest monthly nationwide encounters ever down [2:23:26] nearly 90 percent from the monthly average under the biden administration the lowest monthly border [2:23:31] patrol apprehensions nationwide ever smashing the previous record set the prior month in june the [2:23:38] lowest monthly southwest border apprehensions ever the lowest daily apprehension average ever the lowest [2:23:46] single day apprehensions ever and for the third straight month there were zero illegal aliens released [2:23:52] into the country let me repeat that remarkable statistic for the third month in a row not a single [2:23:58] illegal alien was released by the trump administration into the united states of american america this is [2:24:04] historic under president trump this border is the most secure it has ever been when you fortify the border when [2:24:10] border when you restore deterrence and when you empower border patrol agents and our brave men and women [2:24:17] in uniform to actually do their jobs to enforce our laws like this president has this is the incredible [2:24:24] result and in the interior of our country criminal illegal aliens continue to be arrested and removed [2:24:31] here are some of the criminals arrested by ice in just the last few days ice buffalo arrested an illegal [2:24:37] alien from jamaica convicted of attempted murder ice buffalo also arrested an illegal alien from [2:24:43] ecuador convicted of leaving the scene of an accident resulting in death ice houston arrested an illegal alien from [2:24:50] mexico convicted of manslaughter ice newark arrested an illegal alien from mexico convicted of the sexual assault [2:24:59] of a minor ice dallas arrested an illegal alien from mexico convicted of assault causing bodily injury [2:25:06] and already the trump administration has arrested more than 300 000 illegal aliens in 2025 again more than [2:25:14] 300 000 illegal alien criminals have been arrested in the interior of our country in the first six [2:25:21] months of this administration and despite many false reports in the media nearly 70 percent of these arrests [2:25:30] have been criminal aliens with criminal charges or prior convictions this is success all around this is [2:25:37] removing the most dangerous public safety threats from america's communities and returning these [2:25:42] individuals to their home countries so there's been success all around i'm sure you have a lot of [2:25:46] questions today i'm happy to get to them so let's get started and as always we'll start with our new media [2:25:51] seat who is our podcast host today benny johnson benny why don't you kick us off and thanks for being here [2:25:56] thank you caroline as a dc resident of 15 years i lived on capitol hill i witnessed so many muggings and [2:26:03] so much theft i lost track i was carjacked i have murders on my ring camera and mass shootings i witnessed [2:26:11] a woman on my block get held up at gunpoint for 20 dollars and my house was set ablaze in an arson with my [2:26:18] infant child inside and so to any reporter that says and lies that dc is a safe place to live and work [2:26:25] let me just say this thank you thank you for making the city safe because no parent should have to go [2:26:31] through what my family went through having the fire department rip open their door to save their infant [2:26:36] child and so thank you for your work on securing this city my question to you is this nancy pelosi has [2:26:43] attacked the president for deploying the national guard to the city uh saying that it is to cover for [2:26:51] his incompetence hillary clinton has also attacked the president for securing the city of washington dc [2:26:57] i'd like to get your response to nancy pelosi and hillary sure well first of all benny i'm so sorry [2:27:01] that happened to you and your family there have been unfortunately far too many victims of crime in [2:27:06] this city and i know the majority of residents in the district of columbia agree with you in fact [2:27:12] a new poll from the washington post i was reading this morning this was released in may of 2024 [2:27:18] so it's quite funny how many of you in the media agreed with what the president was saying yesterday but [2:27:23] now once the president says it many of you are disagreeing with him but this poll released by the [2:27:28] washington post found that 65 of district residents think crime is an extremely serious or a very [2:27:36] serious problem and this was up from 56 last year so the concern that you share with so many other [2:27:43] residents in the district of columbia is real and that's why this president is taking action to address [2:27:47] it to get to the heart of your question i think it's despicable that democrats cannot agree [2:27:52] that we need more law and order in a city that has been ravaged by violence crime murders property [2:27:58] theft this should be a win winning issue for all americans i don't understand it's just anything [2:28:05] president trump does the democrats want to disagree with i think the president would love to work with [2:28:10] democrats on this issue to bring law and order to america's cities but unfortunately they have failed [2:28:14] and that's why he's taken this historic action to federalize the national guard and as you're seeing [2:28:19] from last night's numbers we already have seen success we are removing violent offenders we are [2:28:24] arresting criminals and we are removing drugs and firearms off of the streets of the city to make it [2:28:29] safer for all of his residents just a very quick follow-up to that given the heroic actions of a [2:28:34] member of this administration just a few blocks from this building will the president consider giving [2:28:39] the presidential medal of freedom to big balls i haven't spoken to him about that but perhaps it's [2:28:46] something he would consider i'll ask him and get back to you betty thanks for being here gabe thank [2:28:51] you caroline regarding the uh the president trump's summit on friday why not invite ukrainian president [2:28:59] zelensky to that summit i know the president said yesterday that he planned to speak with him right [2:29:03] after the summit and even before but why not invite zelensky and whose decision was it to not invite [2:29:08] it was the president or was it president putin well this meeting came about because the president of [2:29:12] russia asked the president of the united states to meet through his special envoy steve whitkoff who [2:29:17] as you all know traveled to russia to have a conversation with putin at his request and so [2:29:23] the president is agreeing to this meeting at the request of of president putin and the goal of this [2:29:30] meeting for the president is to walk away with a better understanding of how we can end this war and [2:29:35] the president said at this podium yesterday when he joined all of you in the room that he hopes in [2:29:40] the future there can be a trilateral meeting with these three leaders to finally bring this conflict [2:29:45] to an end but this administration has really used every lever has taken every measure to to achieve [2:29:53] peace through a diplomatic solution and i think the president of the united states getting in the room [2:29:58] with the president of russia sitting face to face rather than speaking over the telephone will give [2:30:03] this president the best indication of how to end this war and where this is headed another question on [2:30:08] something that happened yesterday but i wanted to get the white house response a judge ruled that [2:30:13] the grand jury transcripts in delaine maxwell's case should not be released what's the white house [2:30:19] response to that and you plan to appeal and what do you tell president trump supporters who want that [2:30:26] information released we think that decision is unfortunate of course we move to unseal that [2:30:30] information because the president has said he wants to see credible evidence released as for the appeal [2:30:35] process i would defer you to the department of justice for that great thank you so much caroline [2:30:40] we are learning that president trump spoke with ukrainian president zielinski i was curious if you [2:30:44] can share any more details about their call and did zielinski give president trump any red lines any [2:30:50] non-starters ahead of the summit on friday look i don't want to reveal the private conversations between [2:30:55] the president and president zielinski but what i can tell you is that the president has deep respect for [2:31:01] all parties that are involved in this conflict and are trying to bring this conflict to an end [2:31:06] after special envoy whitkov returned from his meeting with president putin in russia his first [2:31:11] phone call was to president trump and president trump's first phone call was to president zielinski [2:31:16] and to our friends in europe to keep everybody in the loop about where the united states can see [2:31:21] moving the ball forward to end this conflict and so we continue to be very much engaged with [2:31:27] president zielinski and the ukrainians but also our allies in europe as well and then just one more [2:31:32] for you um how does the president measure success coming out of this meeting the president at times [2:31:37] has suggested that it might be tapping him along is he prepared to walk out of this meeting if he [2:31:43] senses that food is not serious about ending this war i think i just answered that question for you and [2:31:48] what the goal and the expectation of the meeting is and i won't jump ahead of any hypotheticals and i'll [2:31:53] leave it to the president to speak to all of you after the meeting which i'm very [2:31:57] confident he will steve he optimistic that a deal will emerge from this meeting or is he simply going [2:32:02] to listen i think this is a listening exercise for the president look only one party uh that's [2:32:07] involved in this war is going to be present um and so this is for the president to go and to get [2:32:13] again a more firm and better understanding of of how we can hopefully bring this war to an end [2:32:18] there were many sites discussed but of course alaska is a state within the united states of america so [2:32:32] the president is very honored and looks forward to hosting uh president putin on american soil [2:32:38] and lastly is there a joint news conference plan or will the president have the solo one what sort [2:32:43] of scheduling yeah the mechanics and the scheduling steve are still being ironed out uh for friday we're [2:32:49] working with our russian counterparts to put those plans into action and of course we'll keep you all [2:32:54] apprised on the logistical details of friday as soon as we get them charlie the president said podium [2:32:59] yesterday twice that he was planning to go to russia was that a verbal slip up or does he actually plan [2:33:05] to go to russia perhaps there are plans in the future to travel to russia and on friday the [2:33:11] president will be meeting with the russian president vladimir putin in alaska as you know [2:33:15] phil last week the president said the ceo of intel was highly conflicted saving to sight [2:33:22] his past investment with chinese companies that were doing business for the chinese military yesterday he [2:33:28] called his meeting with that ceo a success so what can you tell us about what the intel ceo said to [2:33:34] president trump that changed his mind the president put out a statement that you cited phil i will [2:33:39] leave it at that he shared his thoughts on that meeting and how it went and for any further comment [2:33:45] on that i'll leave it to him to make will the bureau of labor statistics continue to put out monthly job [2:33:51] reports well look what i'll tell you about the bureau of labor statistics i believe that is the the plan [2:33:56] and that's the hope and that these monthly reports will be data that the american people can trust [2:34:02] as you know the bureau of labor statistics has made massive revisions after the last several [2:34:09] points reports that they have put out and there has certainly been a decline in the quality and [2:34:13] the reliability of data coming from the bureau of labor statistics and there's been an increase [2:34:18] in revisions and this president and the administration is finally tackling this problem that so many [2:34:24] have talked about and the president is actually doing something about it we need to restore new [2:34:28] leadership that we can trust as you know the president has appointed someone new to take over [2:34:33] the bls and so we need to look at the means and the methods of how the united states is acquiring this [2:34:37] very important data and all of that is going to be done and the goal of course is to provide honest [2:34:44] and good data for the american people to make very important economic decisions on [2:34:48] thank you michael thank you caroline two questions if i may the president has talked about land swamps [2:34:53] between russia and ukraine vladimir says he wants russia to hold on to russian occupied territory in eastern [2:35:00] ukraine is the white house at all concerned about the messaging that potential potentially giving over [2:35:06] or allowing for russia to maintain its occupied territory in eastern ukraine what that might say to other [2:35:12] u.s adversaries like china look right now the president of the united states uh has done more [2:35:18] to end this war than his predecessor joe biden who allowed this war to take place this war don't forget [2:35:26] happened at the result of the weakness and the incompetence of the previous administration and so [2:35:31] the president inherited this conflict and he is determined to end it and it's a very complex and [2:35:38] complicated situation as for the details of the plans that have been kind of tossed back and forth [2:35:43] i won't get into those and i will let the president of the united states discuss those plans with the [2:35:48] president of russia with our european allies and the president of ukraine uh zelinski himself as well [2:35:55] sure go ahead in the green thank you thank you so much as far as the police and security operations [2:36:02] is there a timeline do we know what success looks like and is it going to last longer than 30 days [2:36:07] and also is there going to be an immigration enforcement aspect to this um so can you speak [2:36:15] up a little bit the air conditioning is bumping in here for all of you today after yesterday's [2:36:19] heater so we've got to stock up you're welcome go ahead is there a timeline for the security uh [2:36:25] operations here in dc and also is there going to be an immigration component to this and what would [2:36:29] that look like um look if law enforcement officers encounter a criminal in this city and they [2:36:36] are an illegal alien of course the appropriate measures to detain and deport that individual [2:36:41] will be taken as they should no city should be a sanctuary for anyone other than law-abiding american [2:36:48] citizens and that's been the that has been the position of this administration since day one [2:36:54] as for the timing we will reevaluate and reassess and make further decisions after this 30-day period [2:37:00] is up but within these 30 days our entire focus is making sure that this is the most efficient [2:37:06] operation possible and that we are removing as many criminals from the streets and we are cleaning [2:37:12] up dc as best as we can and working with the metropolitan police department to do that [2:37:18] i know the mayor just spoke several minutes ago i was watching her on television and she said that an [2:37:23] increase of law in law enforcement officers on the streets will be helpful to deter crime in this [2:37:29] city and we look forward to working with these brave men and women of the metropolitan police [2:37:33] department to remove criminals off of our streets and to keep law-abiding citizens in the district safe [2:37:39] josh thank you uh the president uh weighed in on jay powell again today he might have seen uh he said [2:37:45] that he's considering allowing a major lawsuit against powell to proceed because of the [2:37:49] quote horrible and grossly incompetent job he is like can you tell us about that what lawsuit is [2:37:53] he talking about he's considering a lawsuit and i won't speak or on it any further i will allow [2:37:59] the president to do that himself the administration is considering suing the fed chair over this [2:38:04] renovation that's what the president is saying has he had discussions with it about with anyone about [2:38:10] this or is this just like what how advanced is this right now at this moment in time the president [2:38:15] is considering a lawsuit against the fed and i will leave it to him to comment further [2:38:19] on it tamara we talked about sorry very quickly yesterday we talked about the uh the nvidia [2:38:24] chips deal the president has struck him as well the amd the 50 stake will go to the government [2:38:29] do you have any detail on how that came about the president said he asked for 20 [2:38:33] percent from nvidia did you make the same 20 percent ask to amd and or this is something the [2:38:38] administration is looking to do with other either chips or products you know going forward it's a [2:38:44] model that wants to build on well look right now it stands with these two companies perhaps it [2:38:49] could expand in the future to other companies i think it's a creative idea and solution the [2:38:54] legality of it the mechanics of it is still being ironed out by the department of commerce and i would [2:38:58] defer you to them for any further details on how it will actually be implemented but again this was [2:39:03] another idea of the president and his brain trust on his trade team to try to you know get good deals [2:39:09] for the american people and the american taxpayer did you see the report that china is discouraging use of [2:39:14] the h20 to some companies since we're reporting that overnight there was private data and said to [2:39:19] companies not banning the chip and urging them to steer away from it i wonder if you have any response to [2:39:24] that i haven't read the report i will and we'll get you a comment on it tamra thank you um last week [2:39:29] the the meeting with putin was sort of described potentially as an opportunity for a deal now it's a [2:39:35] feeling out is there uh has there been a shift in expectations within the white house or an effort to [2:39:41] temper expectations about what success looks like for this meeting i mean look i think both can be [2:39:45] true right the president has always said he wants a peace deal he wants to see this war come to an [2:39:51] end but this bilateral meeting is a bilateral meeting between one party in this two-party war right you [2:39:57] need both countries to agree to a deal the president is accepting this bilateral meeting with putin on [2:40:03] friday and i will let him speak further to it after it concludes about you know how he felt it went [2:40:08] and people also completely unrelated topic um regarding the president's efforts in washington [2:40:14] dc do you have any specifics about how homeless people will be dealt with where they would be [2:40:20] moved to what what does this look like i do yes and it's an important question so thank you for raising [2:40:25] it um the metropolitan police department with the support of the new federal agencies who have been [2:40:31] surging on the streets of the district of columbia are going to enforce the laws that are already on [2:40:36] the books here in washington dc for far too long these laws have been completely ignored and the [2:40:42] homelessness problem has ravaged the city so dc code 221307 and dc municipal regulation 24100 give the [2:40:51] metropolitan police department the authority to take action when it comes to homeless encampments [2:40:57] encampments so homeless individuals will be given the option to leave their encampment to be taken to a [2:41:03] homeless shelter to be offered addiction or mental health services and if they refuse they will be [2:41:08] susceptible to fines or to jail time again these are pre-existing laws that are already on the books [2:41:14] they have not been enforced which is part of the reason for this nationalizing of the federalizing of [2:41:20] the national guard to bring in this assistance for law enforcement while we are targeting criminals and [2:41:27] trying to remove criminals off of the streets we also want to make dc safe and beautiful and that [2:41:32] remove involves removing mentally disturbed individuals and homeless encampments as well [2:41:38] so we will be using these regulations and code that already exists to clean up our streets and we've [2:41:42] already had great success not many of you picked up on this but the united states park police has [2:41:47] actually done remarkable work in terms of removing homeless encampments from the city since the president [2:41:52] signed this executive order in march 70 homeless encampments have been removed by the u.s park police [2:41:58] there are only two homeless encampments remaining in dc federal parks under the national park services [2:42:04] jurisdiction and the removal of those two remaining camps is scheduled for this week so the u.s park [2:42:10] police will be leading this effort alongside mpd just very quickly he had talked in one of his social [2:42:14] media posts about moving them very far outside of the city is that off no it's not off we're exploring how [2:42:21] we could do that but again homeless shelters uh offered addiction and mental health services [2:42:29] or jail if they refuse are the options on the table right now and we'll continue to explore that option [2:42:33] sure thank you so much caroline uh president zelensky said moments ago that he thinks russia is preparing [2:42:39] for a new offensive uh on at least three different areas of the front line is this something that you [2:42:45] could confirm based on u.s intelligence and if the president sees that putin is indeed planning [2:42:52] major new offensive or moving troops would he call off the meeting on friday i'm not in a position to [2:42:57] confirm or deny or comment on that intel at this time monica thanks caroline um my question involves [2:43:03] russiagate a whistleblower alleges that then congressman adam schiff approved leaking classified [2:43:09] information to smear president trump's image during the russia scandal does the president plan to [2:43:14] investigate adam schiff and would what would accountability look like if more information [2:43:19] confirms this report the president has already said he wants to see adam schiff held accountable [2:43:24] for the countless lies he told the american people in relation to the russiagate scandal [2:43:28] i brought tulsi gabbard out to this podium to talk to you about all of that and this [2:43:33] administration is taking accountability very seriously as for this new fbi whistleblower report [2:43:38] i understand cash patel last night declassified a 302 fbi document showing that a whistleblower who [2:43:45] is a democrat a career intelligence officer who worked for democrats on the house intel committee [2:43:51] for more than a decade repeatedly warned the fbi in 2017 that then rep adam schiff had approved [2:43:58] leaking classified information to smear then president donald trump over the russiagate scandal [2:44:05] this is obviously a bombshell whistleblower report hopefully more people in this room will cover it [2:44:11] as such and i have a quote from the fbi director for all of you he has said this for years certain [2:44:16] officials used their positions to selectively leak classified information to shape political [2:44:21] narratives it was all done with one purpose to weaponize intelligence and law enforcement for [2:44:26] political gain those abuses eroded public trust in our institutions the fbi will now lead the charge [2:44:32] with our partners at doj and congress will have the chance to uncover how political power may have [2:44:38] been weaponized and to restore accountability that's what the administration is focused on and [2:44:42] hopefully we'll see some more media reports on this whistleblower allegation if this were reversed if [2:44:49] this were uh if this were allegations against the president or any of these cabinet officials i'm sure [2:44:55] everyone in this room would cover it as such elizabeth go ahead thanks carolyn after yesterday's action [2:45:00] to federalize the dc police is the president still interested in working with congress to [2:45:05] end the home rule act something you talked about in the past senator mike lee has a bill on it is that [2:45:09] something he's still interested in the president is very much still interested in working with congress [2:45:14] to address many of the issues that have plagued washington dc such as the cashless bail policy which [2:45:20] has been a complete disaster for the city juvenile delinquency is another major problem in the city that [2:45:25] congress can address so i know congress is on recess right now when they get back to work to [2:45:30] washington this president looks forward to having these conversations with our friends on capitol hill [2:45:34] so we can work with them to make dc safe and beautiful again and again we encourage democrats to [2:45:40] join us in this effort perhaps their approval ratings would move up a little bit if they did [2:45:44] i saw a new poll today democrat approval rating is at an all-time low 32 percent if they could just stand [2:45:50] by the basic notion of law and order perhaps they would see that tick up a bit and we welcome them [2:45:54] to do that dasha thanks caroline president trump yesterday at this podium indicated this [2:46:00] so has a nato secretary general mark rooted that in order for peace to happen it is very likely [2:46:06] that ukraine will have to see some land to russia zelensky has repeatedly said no land for peace that's [2:46:13] not going to happen has this administration communicated to zelensky that he's going to [2:46:17] have to change that position look i appreciate your asking that question in a different way than your [2:46:22] colleague michael in the back i don't want to get into the details of these negotiations and these [2:46:26] discussions that have taken place out of respect for where we are right now and i'll let the [2:46:31] president speak on it further if he wishes to more about israel um i know the president has [2:46:36] had a call with prime minister netanyahu recently netanyahu is planning to seize the remainder of gaza [2:46:41] city what is the administration's position on this move by israel's government look this is an [2:46:48] incredibly complex and complicated war that again was inherited by this president by his predecessor [2:46:55] joe biden october 7th was one of the worst days in history we saw innocent people slaughtered murdered [2:47:02] kidnapped by hamas terrorists this administration has taken extensive time and effort and resources [2:47:10] since inauguration day in january to end this conflict we have given many flexible arrangements [2:47:17] backed by israel to hamas and unfortunately hamas has never agreed looking ahead i will let the [2:47:24] president speak on where he sees this going but this is of course an incredibly complex and complicated [2:47:30] situation the administration has made our goal clear we want to see this conflict end we want to [2:47:35] see the hostages released and we've tried the president and his national security team have given [2:47:40] extensive effort in time to doing that with how israel has used those those resources and the [2:47:44] assistance that you've provided look i'll let the president speak on the further actions that israel may [2:47:49] or may not be taking good to see you good to see you as well caroline thank you the president is [2:47:54] expressing interest that friday's meeting will move beyond just terms to end the war um into improving [2:48:00] bilateral relations there's talk over uh how they're interested in potentially restoring direct [2:48:04] flights between russia and the united states is president trump open to those kind of peripheral [2:48:08] conversations or is this directly focused on ending the war in ukraine i think this uh conversation on [2:48:14] friday is focused on ending the war in ukraine as far as the president's perspective goes those [2:48:20] conversations i think the president is interested in having but his main priority right now is ending [2:48:25] this war and to stop the killing that has gone on for far too long you're welcome in the back go ahead [2:48:32] yeah two questions on the economy so first we've had small businesses tell us that [2:48:37] it's not foreign exporters who are eating the tariffs it's them and they've held off on raising [2:48:43] prices but soon they're going to have to raise prices what is the white house's message to them [2:48:47] the white house's message to our small business owners across the country is you have never had [2:48:52] a better ally or friend or supporter in this white house than president donald trump who is a businessman [2:48:58] himself who understands your concerns and who wants to restore wealth back to our country through the [2:49:04] powerful use of tariffs and that's what he's focused on doing while simultaneously driving down costs [2:49:11] you have to remember we are six months into this administration and we had a president who had no [2:49:16] business experience had no idea what he was doing and who funneled billions of wasteful spending dollars [2:49:22] into our economy which created the worst inflation crisis in a generation now this president is focused [2:49:28] on tackling inflation deregulating cutting costs cutting red tape to make it easier for small [2:49:34] business owners to thrive and again the economic indicators show that we are moving in the right [2:49:39] direction in january when this president showed up to the white house the six month annualized core [2:49:44] inflation rate was 3.7 percent today six months later the six month annualized core inflation rate is [2:49:51] 2.4 percent so we are trending in the right direction moving forward since president trump took office [2:49:58] for another six months inflation will be tracking at 1.9 percent at this trajectory you look at grocery [2:50:03] prices they fell energy prices fell fuel oil fell ship fares fell propane fell butter margarine eggs [2:50:11] non-prescription drugs you go through the list of items that are falling and then i would also point to [2:50:15] that report this morning showing that small business optimism has reached a five-month high so look we [2:50:21] inherited an economic mess from the previous administration but this administration is focused on fixing it [2:50:27] every day and part of that is signing the largest tax cuts into law to put more money back into the pockets [2:50:33] of these small business owners just on the bls they collect the inflation data obviously if the jobs [2:50:38] data is not reliable should americans trust the inflation data well look the jobs data has had [2:50:43] massive revisions we want to ensure that all of the data the inflation data the jobs data any data point [2:50:49] that is coming out of the bls is trustworthy and is accurate which is why the president has restored [2:50:54] new leadership at the bls uh sure go ahead yeah okay um all right thank you um so uh gavin newsom has [2:51:02] said that california uh is going to sue in response to the government's demand for a billion dollars from [2:51:08] ucla uh over the doj's anti-semitism uh findings newsom has called this extortion uh and ransom so i'm [2:51:15] wondering what the white house's response is to newsom on ucla bring it on gavin this administration is [2:51:22] well within its legal right to do this and we want to ensure that our colleges and our universities [2:51:27] are respecting the first amendment rights and the religious liberties of students on their campuses [2:51:33] and ucla has failed to do that and i have a whole list of examples that i will forward to gavin newsom's [2:51:39] press office if he hasn't seen them himself brett thanks caroline uh what was the reason that [2:51:45] president trump chose to move on from billy long as irs commissioner look i think the president [2:51:51] wants to see billy long as the ambassador to iceland as you know that is where he will be headed [2:51:56] and the president loves billy long and he thinks that he can serve the administration well in this [2:52:01] position for now secretary scott besson will be the acting irs commissioner i'm running for announcing a [2:52:07] new pick thank you um thank you go ahead but then in the back yes go in the back first okay sure thanks [2:52:15] caroline um one foreign policy and then one domestic question if i may um there are roughly 30 000 [2:52:22] children from ukraine who have reportedly been abducted and are kind of dispersed around russia [2:52:27] they've been showing up on these websites for adoption is there return a red line for the president [2:52:33] in any deal ending the war the administration is aware of these reports i don't want to set red lines [2:52:40] for the president on his behalf from this podium however the president did encourage ukraine and [2:52:46] russia to speak directly to one another in terms of these humanitarian issues and we have seen [2:52:52] progress you have seen prisoners of war swapped between these two countries as a result of these [2:52:58] direct talks as well as children and that remains a concern but it's one that russia and ukraine [2:53:03] need to iron out together which is why this president has encouraged them to speak [2:53:07] the dc action real quick the president said yesterday that this is a model federalizing [2:53:14] the national guard that could be used to combat really high rates of crime in other cities like [2:53:20] chicago l.a baltimore um what sort of authority would he have to deploy forces like that absence [2:53:26] the home rule act look the president is speaking about what he'd like to see take place in other [2:53:32] cities around the country right now this administration is focused on making dc safe and beautiful [2:53:37] again when the time comes we'll talk about that but i will note that the president wants to see all [2:53:42] of our nation's cities be safe but i think starting with our nation's capital is a great place to begin [2:53:48] and it should serve as a model for the rest of the country just to mind up a few of the dc things because [2:53:53] a lot of them have been asked but um in talking with congress about potential changes to the home [2:53:58] moon whatever else would he also push the house to finally pass dc's budget so that it has access to all [2:54:04] that money that it does need for policing for schools and for other services here in the city [2:54:08] yes and as you know he has done that he put out a statement calling on the house to take up the [2:54:12] senate's legislation and he stands by that position let me take you back to something from last month [2:54:17] you guys announced the president was diagnosed with chronic venus insufficiency after his legs were [2:54:22] seen swelling um how is he being treated for that and while you were up front about uh those health [2:54:31] issues curious if the white house would be willing to let us speak with his physician directly about [2:54:37] those health issues i know there were a lot of concerns about the last white house not making the [2:54:41] physician available would the physician be available in this case i don't want to make that commitment on [2:54:45] behalf of the physician but it's certainly something we can look into and explore out of the effort of [2:54:50] transparency because unlike the previous white house there is nothing to hide you guys see this [2:54:55] president working around the clock literally 24 7 all of the time and i will be happy to look into [2:55:03] that request at least get an update on how he's being treated for the swelling legs and for the [2:55:07] hands and the other issues look you see the president every day he's moving he's working he's [2:55:11] continuing there have been no adjustments made to his lifestyle i have two questions uh one on dc but [2:55:17] on the meeting on friday does the president plan to meet with putin one-on-one yes that's part of the [2:55:22] plan and as for the other mechanics and logistics i will let um our team speak to that when they're [2:55:27] ironed out and on what's happening in dc with the federal takeover what we've heard from the mayor and [2:55:31] the police chief is that their understanding is there has been no change in the leadership structure [2:55:36] in the white house's view who is in charge of the mpd right now if you read the executive order it [2:55:41] will tell you the leadership structure is as follows we plan to work with the metropolitan [2:55:46] police department but ultimately the chain of command is as such the president of the united [2:55:50] states the attorney general of the united states our dea administrator terry cole who is now serving [2:55:56] ahead of the chief of the metropolitan police department they will be working together nope terry [2:56:01] cole as you heard from this briefing room yesterday is in charge of the metropolitan metropolitan [2:56:07] police department and he's working with the chief to ensure that law enforcement officers are allowed to [2:56:12] do their jobs in this city caroline yeah thanks caroline uh i know you said earlier the hope is to [2:56:17] maintain monthly job reports but the president's new nominee for bls commissioner ej antoni recently [2:56:24] told fox business uh that the bls should suspend issuing monthly job reports and only issue quarterly [2:56:31] reports until the jobs data methodology is corrected so does the president disagree with that assessment [2:56:37] that his nominee is severe or suspending these uh monthly job reports a real option i think he floated [2:56:44] the idea of possibly suspending until they can get the crane broke out under joe biden's incompetent [2:56:50] leadership but president trump is determined to try and end this war and stop the killing as the [2:56:56] president has said over and over again his strong preference will always be for peace and partnership [2:57:03] whenever those outcomes can possibly be achieved there is no leader in the world right now who has been [2:57:09] more committed to preventing wars or ending them than president donald trump just look at what took [2:57:14] place here at the white house last friday when president trump hosted the azerbaijani president and [2:57:20] armenian prime minister and got the two leaders to sign a historic joint declaration for peace ending a [2:57:27] decades-long conflict that disrupted the region and claimed countless lives in other news we continue to [2:57:33] see positive economic reports across the board today's cpi report revealed that inflation beat market [2:57:40] expectations once again and inflation remains stable overall inflation has run at a 1.9 average annual pace [2:57:49] in president trump's first six months in office prices for everyday goods continue to decline energy [2:57:56] prices fell in july including gasoline which is down nearly 10 percent over last year and propane which [2:58:03] is down two and a half percent over last year as well egg prices fell once again in july and are [2:58:10] down 20 percent since president trump took office shelter inflation the largest contributor to overall [2:58:17] inflation is at its lowest level since october of 2021 wage growth for american workers is beating [2:58:24] inflation once again as inflation declines this administration continues to be wholeheartedly committed [2:58:30] to putting more money back into the american people's pockets american real wages are up 1.3 percent over [2:58:37] last year and have increased each month since president trump took office and small business optimism [2:58:43] according to this morning's report has also reached a five-month high ignore the panikins and trust in [2:58:49] president trump that is our motto here at the white house the america first economic agenda is working [2:58:55] on another matter yesterday president trump took bold action to finally restore law and order right [2:59:01] here in our nation's capital the president declared a crime emergency in the district of columbia [2:59:07] federalized the dc police department and mobilized the dc national guard to end violent crime in our [2:59:14] nation's capital as part of the president's massive law enforcement surge last night approximately 850 officers [2:59:22] and agents were surged across the city they made a total of 23 arrests including multiple other contacts [2:59:29] last night these arrests consisted of homicide firearms offenses possession with intent to distribute narcotics [2:59:37] fair evasion lewd acts stalking possession of a high capacity magazine fleeing to elude in a vehicle [2:59:45] no permits driving under the influence reckless driving and a bench warrant a total of six [2:59:52] illegal handguns were seized off of district of columbia streets as part of last night's effort [2:59:57] this is only the beginning over the course of the next month the trump administration will relentlessly [3:00:03] pursue and arrest every violent criminal in the district who breaks the law undermines public safety [3:00:09] and endangers law-abiding americans president trump will not be deterred by soft on crime democrats and [3:00:15] media activists who refuse to acknowledge this rampant violence on our streets he is going to make [3:00:22] our nation's capital the most beautiful and safe city on earth just as he promised on the campaign [3:00:28] trail staying on the topic of public safety the trump administration continues to shatter records on border [3:00:34] security according to brand new numbers released this morning from customs and border patrol illegal [3:00:40] crossings have fallen to all-time lows once again here were the records set in july again these numbers [3:00:47] were released this morning the lowest monthly nationwide encounters ever down nearly 90 percent from the [3:00:53] monthly average under the biden administration the lowest monthly border patrol apprehensions nationwide [3:00:59] ever smashing the previous record set the prior month in june the lowest monthly southwest [3:01:06] border apprehensions ever the lowest daily apprehension average ever the lowest single day apprehensions ever [3:01:14] and for the third straight month there were zero illegal aliens released into the country let me [3:01:19] repeat that remarkable statistic for the third month in a row not a single illegal alien was released by [3:01:26] the trump administration into the united states of american america this is historic under president [3:01:32] trump this border is the most secure it has ever been when you fortify the border when you restore [3:01:38] deterrence and when you empower border patrol agents and our brave men and women in uniform to [3:01:43] actually do their jobs to enforce our laws like this president has this is the incredible result and in the [3:01:51] interior of our country criminal illegal aliens continue to be arrested and removed here are some of [3:01:57] the criminals arrested by ice in just the last few days ice buffalo arrested an illegal alien from jamaica [3:02:04] convicted of attempted murder ice buffalo also arrested an illegal alien from ecuador convicted of leaving the [3:02:11] scene of an accident resulting in death ice houston arrested an illegal alien from mexico convicted of [3:02:18] manslaughter ice newark arrested an illegal alien from mexico convicted of the sexual assault of a minor [3:02:26] ice dallas arrested an illegal alien from mexico convicted of assault causing bodily injury and already the [3:02:32] trump administration has arrested more than 300 000 illegal aliens in 2025 again more than 300 000 illegal [3:02:42] alien criminals have been arrested in the interior of our country in the first six months of this [3:02:47] administration and despite many false reports in the media nearly 70 percent of these arrests have [3:02:56] been criminal aliens with criminal charges or prior convictions this is success all around this is [3:03:03] removing the most dangerous public safety threats from america's communities and returning these [3:03:07] individuals to their home countries so there's been success all around i'm sure you have a lot of [3:03:12] questions today i'm happy to get to them so let's get started and as always we'll start with our new media [3:03:17] seat who is our podcast host today benny johnson benny why don't you kick us off and thanks for being here [3:03:22] thank you caroline as a dc resident of 15 years i lived on capitol hill i witnessed so many muggings and [3:03:29] so much theft i lost track i was carjacked i have murders on my ring camera and mass shootings [3:03:36] i witnessed a woman on my block get held up at gunpoint for 20 and my house was set ablaze in an [3:03:43] arson with my infant child inside and so to any reporter that says and lies that dc is a safe place [3:03:50] to live and work let me just say this thank you thank you for making the city safe because no parent [3:03:57] should have to go through what my family went through having the fire department rip open their [3:04:01] door to save their infant child and so thank you for your work on securing this city my question to [3:04:06] you is this nancy pelosi has attacked the president for deploying the national guard to the city [3:04:16] saying that it is to cover for his incompetence hillary clinton has also attacked the president [3:04:20] for securing the city of washington dc i'd like to get your response to nancy pelosi and hillary sure [3:04:26] well first of all benny i'm so sorry that happened to you and your family there have been unfortunately [3:04:30] far too many victims of crime in this city and i know the majority of residents in the district of [3:04:36] columbia agree with you in fact a new poll from the washington post i was reading this morning this [3:04:41] was released in may of 2024 so it's quite funny how many of you in the media agreed with what the [3:04:47] president was saying yesterday but now once the president says it many of you are disagreeing with [3:04:52] him but this poll released by the washington post found that 65 percent of district residents think crime [3:05:00] is an extremely serious or a very serious problem and this was up from 56 percent last year so the [3:05:07] concern that you share with so many other residents in the district of columbia is real and that's why [3:05:12] this president is taking action to address it to get to the heart of your question i think it's despicable [3:05:16] that democrats cannot agree that we need more law and order in a city that has been ravaged by violence [3:05:22] crime murders property theft this should be a win winning issue for all americans i don't understand [3:05:30] it's just anything president trump does the democrats want to disagree with i think the [3:05:34] president would love to work with democrats on this issue to bring law and order to america's cities but [3:05:39] unfortunately they have failed and that's why he's taken this historic action to federalize the national [3:05:44] guard and as you're seeing from last night's numbers we already have seen success we are removing [3:05:49] violent offenders we are arresting criminals and we are removing drugs and firearms off of the streets [3:05:54] of the city to make it safer for all of its residents just a very quick follow-up to that [3:05:58] given the heroic actions of a member of this administration just a few blocks from this [3:06:02] building will the president consider giving the presidential medal of freedom to big balls [3:06:09] i haven't spoken to him about that but perhaps it's something he would consider i'll ask him and [3:06:14] get back to you betty thanks for being here gabe thank you caroline regarding the uh [3:06:20] president trump's summit on friday why not invite ukrainian president zolensky to that summit i know the [3:06:26] president said yesterday that he wanted to speak with him right after the summit and even before [3:06:30] but why not invite to lens canton's decision was it to not invite was the president or was it president [3:06:36] well this meeting came about because the president of russia asked the president of the united states [3:06:40] to meet through his special envoy steve whitkoff who as you all know traveled to russia to have a [3:06:46] conversation with putin at his request and so the president is agreeing to this meeting at the request of [3:06:53] of president putin and the goal of this meeting for the president is to walk away with a better [3:06:59] understanding of how we can end this war and the president said at this podium yesterday when he [3:07:04] joined all of you in the room that he hopes in the future there can be a trilateral meeting with these [3:07:09] three leaders to finally bring this conflict to an end but this administration has really used every [3:07:16] lever has taken every measure to to achieve peace through a diplomatic solution and i think the [3:07:22] president of the united states getting in the room with the president of russia sitting face to face [3:07:27] rather than speaking over the telephone will give this president the best indication of how to end [3:07:32] this war and where this is headed another question on something that happened yesterday but i wanted to [3:07:36] get the white house response a judge ruled that the grand jury transcripts in delaine maxwell's case [3:07:42] should not be released what's the white house response to that and you plan to appeal and what [3:07:49] do you tell president trump supporters who want that information released we think that decision [3:07:54] is unfortunate of course we move to unseal that information because the president has said he wants [3:07:58] to see credible evidence released as for the appeal process i would defer you to the department of justice [3:08:03] for that rachel thank you so much caroline we are learning that president trump spoke with ukrainian [3:08:08] president zelinski i was curious if you can share any more details about their call and did zelinski [3:08:14] give president trump any red lines any non-starters ahead of this summit on friday look i don't want to [3:08:19] reveal the private conversations between the president and president zelinski but what i can [3:08:23] tell you is that the president has deep respect for all parties that are involved in this conflict [3:08:29] and are trying to bring this conflict to an end after special envoy whitkov returned from his meeting [3:08:34] with president putin in russia his first phone call was to president trump and president trump's first [3:08:40] phone call was to president zelinski and to our friends in europe to keep everybody in the loop [3:08:45] about where the united states can see moving the ball forward to end this conflict and so [3:08:50] we continue to be very much engaged with president zelinski and the ukrainians but also our allies in [3:08:56] europe as well and then just one more for you um how does the president measure success coming out of [3:09:01] this meeting the president at times has suggested that it might be tapping him along is he prepared to [3:09:08] walk out of this meeting if he senses that food is not serious about ending this war i think i just answered [3:09:13] that question for you and what the goal and the expectation of the meeting is and i won't jump [3:09:18] ahead of any hypotheticals and i'll leave it to the president to speak to all of you after the meeting [3:09:22] which i'm very confident he will steve optimistic that a deal will emerge from this meeting or is he [3:09:27] simply going to listen i think this is a listening exercise for the president look only one party uh [3:09:33] that's involved in this war is going to be present um and so this is for the president to go and to get [3:09:39] again a more firm and better understanding of of how we can hopefully bring this war to an end [3:09:44] caroline how did you settle on alaska as the site for this so there were some other sites being [3:09:49] discussed but this is like it was a midpoint between the two years there were many sites discussed but [3:09:54] of course alaska is a state within the united states of america so the president is very honored and [3:10:00] looks forward to hosting uh president putin on american soil last thing is there a joint news conference [3:10:06] plan or will the president have the solo one what sort of scheduling yeah the mechanics and the [3:10:12] scheduling steve are still being ironed out uh for friday we're working with our russian counterparts [3:10:17] to put those plans into action and of course we'll keep you all apprised on the logistical details of [3:10:22] friday as soon as we get them charlie the president said podium yesterday twice that he was planning to [3:10:28] go to russia was that a verbal slip up or does he actually plan to go to russia perhaps there are plans [3:10:34] in the future to travel to russia and on friday the president will be meeting with the russian [3:10:39] president vladimir putin in alaska as you know phil last week the president said the ceo of intel [3:10:46] was highly conflicted saving to sight uh his past investment with chinese companies that were doing [3:10:51] business for the chinese military yesterday he called his meeting with that ceo a success so what can you [3:10:57] tell us about what the intel ceo said to president trump that changed his mind the president put out a [3:11:03] statement that you cited phil i will leave it at that he shared his thoughts on that meeting and [3:11:09] how it went and for any further comment on that i'll leave it to him to make will the bureau of labor [3:11:15] statistics continue to put out monthly job reports well look what i'll tell you about the bureau of [3:11:20] labor statistics i believe that is the the plan and that's the hope and that these monthly reports [3:11:25] will be data that the american people can trust as you know the bureau of labor statistics has made [3:11:31] massive revisions after the last several point points reports that they have put out and there [3:11:38] has certainly been a decline in the quality and the reliability of data coming from the bureau of [3:11:42] labor statistics and there's been an increase in revisions and this president and the administration [3:11:48] is finally tackling this problem that so many have talked about and the president is actually doing [3:11:52] something about it we need to restore new leadership that we can trust as you know the president has [3:11:56] appointed someone new to take over the bls and so we need to look at the means and the methods of how [3:12:02] the united states is acquiring this very important data and all of that is going to be done and the [3:12:06] and the goal of course is to provide honest and good data for the american people to make very [3:12:12] important economic decisions on michael thank you caroline two questions if i may the president has [3:12:18] talked about land swaps between russia and ukraine vladimir kuhn says he wants russia to hold on to russian [3:12:24] occupied territory in eastern ukraine is the white house at all concerned about the messaging that [3:12:29] potential potentially giving over uh or allowing for russia to maintain its occupied territory in eastern [3:12:36] ukraine what that might say to other u.s adversaries like china look right now the president of the united [3:12:43] states uh has done more to end this war than his predecessor joe biden who allowed this war to take [3:12:49] place this war don't forget uh happened at the result of the weakness and the incompetence of [3:12:55] the previous administration and so the president inherited this conflict and he is determined to end [3:13:01] it and it's a very complex and complicated situation as for the details of the plans that have been kind [3:13:08] of tossed back and forth i won't get into those and i will let the president of the united states [3:13:12] discuss those plans with the president of russia with our european allies and the president of ukraine [3:13:18] uh zielinski himself as well sure go ahead in the green thank you thank you as far as the police [3:13:25] and security operations do you speak up is there a timeline do we know what success looks like and [3:13:31] is it going to last longer than 30 days and also is there going to be an immigration enforcement aspect [3:13:38] to this um so can you speak up a little bit the air conditioning is bumping in here for all of you [3:13:44] today after yesterday's heater so we've got to stock up you're welcome go ahead is there a timeline for [3:13:49] the security uh operations here in dc and also is there going to be an immigration component to this [3:13:55] and what would that look like look if law enforcement officers encounter a criminal in this city and they [3:14:02] are an illegal alien of course the appropriate measures to detain and deport that individual will be [3:14:07] taken as they should no city should be a sanctuary for anyone other than law-abiding american citizens [3:14:14] and that's been the that has been the position of this administration since day one as for the timing [3:14:21] we will reevaluate and reassess and make further decisions after this 30-day period is up but within [3:14:27] these 30 days our entire focus is making sure that this is the most efficient operation possible and that [3:14:34] we are removing as many criminals from the streets and we are cleaning up dc as best as we can and [3:14:40] working with the metropolitan police department to do that i know the mayor just spoke several minutes [3:14:46] ago i was watching her on television and she said that an increase of law in law enforcement officers [3:14:51] on the streets will be helpful to deter crime in this city and we look forward to working with these [3:14:57] brave men and women of the metropolitan police department to remove criminals off of our streets and to [3:15:02] keep law-abiding citizens in the district safe josh thank you uh the president uh weighed in on jay [3:15:08] powell again today he might have seen uh he said that he's considering allowing a major lawsuit against [3:15:13] powell to proceed because of the quote horrible engrossing confident job he is like can you tell [3:15:18] us about that what lawsuit is he talking about he's considering a lawsuit and i won't speak or on [3:15:24] it any further i will allow the president to do that himself the administration is considering [3:15:28] suing the fed chair over this renovation that that's what the president is saying [3:15:32] has he had discussions with it about with anyone about this or is this just like what how advanced [3:15:38] is this right now at this moment in time the president is considering a lawsuit against the [3:15:43] fed and i will leave it to him to comment further on it tamra we talked about sorry very quickly yesterday [3:15:48] we talked about the uh the nvidia chips deal the president is struggling as well the amd the 50 [3:15:53] stake will go to the government do you have any detail on how that came about the president said he [3:15:58] asked for 20 percent from nvidia did you make the same 20 percent ask to amd and or is this something [3:16:04] the administration is looking to do with other either chips or products you know going forward is this [3:16:10] a model that wants to build on it well look right now it stands with these two companies perhaps it could [3:16:15] expand in the future to other companies i think it's a creative idea and solution the legality of [3:16:21] it the mechanics of it is still being ironed out by the department of commerce and i would defer you [3:16:24] to them for any further details on how it will actually be implemented but again this was another [3:16:29] idea of the president and his brain trust on his trade team to try to you know get good deals for [3:16:35] the american people and the american taxpayer did you see the report that china is discouraging use of [3:16:40] the h20 to some companies since we're reporting that overnight there was private [3:16:44] data that said to companies not banning the chip and urging them to steer away from it [3:16:48] i wonder if you have any response to that i haven't read the report i will and we'll get you a comment [3:16:52] on it tamara thank you um last week the the meeting with putin was sort of described potentially as [3:16:58] an opportunity for a deal now it's a feeling out is there uh has there been a shift in expectations [3:17:05] within the white house or an effort to temper expectations about what success looks like for [3:17:09] this meeting i mean look i think both can be true right the president has always said he wants [3:17:14] a peace deal he wants to see this war come to an end but this bilateral meeting is a bilateral [3:17:20] meeting between one party in this two-party war right you need both countries to agree to a deal the [3:17:25] president is accepting this bilateral meeting with putin on friday and i will let him speak further to [3:17:31] it after it concludes about you know how he felt it went also completely unrelated topic um regarding the [3:17:38] president's efforts in washington dc do you have any specifics about how homeless people will be dealt [3:17:44] with where they would be moved to what what does this look like i do yes and it's an important question [3:17:50] so thank you for raising it the metropolitan police department with the support of the new federal [3:17:56] agencies who have been surging on the streets of the district of columbia are going to enforce the [3:18:01] laws that are already on the books here in washington dc for far too long these laws have been completely [3:18:07] ignored and the homelessness problem has ravaged the city so dc code 22 1307 and dc municipal regulation [3:18:15] 24 100 give the metropolitan police department the authority to take action when it comes to homeless [3:18:22] encampments encampments so homeless individuals will be given the option to leave their encampment [3:18:28] to be taken to a homeless shelter to be offered addiction or mental health services and if they refuse [3:18:34] they will be susceptible to fines or to jail time again these are pre-existing laws that are already [3:18:39] on the books they have not been enforced which is part of the reason for this nationalizing of the [3:18:45] federalizing of the national guard to bring in this assistance for law enforcement while we are [3:18:52] targeting criminals and trying to remove criminals off of the streets we also want to make dc safe and [3:18:57] beautiful and that remove involves removing mentally disturbed individuals and homeless encampments as [3:19:03] well so we will be using these regulations and code that already exists to clean up our streets and [3:19:08] we've already had great success not many of you picked up on this but the united states park police has [3:19:13] actually done remarkable work in terms of removing homeless encampments from the city since the president [3:19:18] signed this executive order in march 70 homeless encampments have been removed by the u.s park police [3:19:24] there are only two homeless encampments remaining in dc federal parks under the national park services [3:19:30] jurisdiction and the removal of those two remaining camps is scheduled for this week so the u.s park [3:19:35] police will be leading this effort alongside mpd just very quickly he had talked in one of his social [3:19:40] media posts about moving them very far outside of the city is that off nope it's not off we're exploring how [3:19:47] we could do that but again homeless shelters uh uh offered addiction and mental health services uh or jail if [3:19:55] they refuse are the options on the table right now and we'll continue to explore that option [3:20:00] sure thank you so much caroline uh president zelensky said moments ago that he thinks russia is preparing [3:20:05] for a new offensive uh on at least three different areas of the front line is this something that you [3:20:11] could confirm based on u.s intelligence and if the president sees that putin is indeed planning [3:20:18] major new offensive or moving troops would he call off the meeting on friday i'm not in a position to [3:20:23] confirm or deny or comment on that intel at this time monica thanks caroline my question involves [3:20:29] russiagate a whistleblower alleges that then congressman adam schiff approved leaking classified [3:20:35] information to smear president trump's image during the russia scandal does the president plan to [3:20:40] investigate adam schiff and would what would accountability look like if more information [3:20:45] confirms this report the president has already said he wants to see adam schiff held accountable for [3:20:50] the countless lies he told the american people in relation to the russiagate scandal i brought tulsi [3:20:55] gabbard out to this podium to talk to you about all of that and this administration is taking [3:21:00] accountability very seriously as for this new fbi whistleblower report i understand cash patel last [3:21:05] night declassified a 302 fbi document showing that a whistleblower who is a democrat a career intelligence [3:21:13] officer who worked for democrats on the house intel committee for more than a decade repeatedly warned the [3:21:20] fbi in 2017 that then rep adam schiff had approved leaking classified information to smear then [3:21:28] president donald trump over the russiagate scandal this is obviously a bombshell whistleblower report [3:21:35] hopefully more people in this room will cover it as such and i have a quote from the fbi director [3:21:40] for all of you he has said this for years certain officials used their positions to selectively leak [3:21:45] classified information to shape political narratives it was all done with one purpose to weaponize [3:21:50] intelligence and law enforcement for political gain those abuses eroded public trust in our [3:21:55] institutions the fbi will now lead the charge with our partners at doj and congress will have the [3:22:01] chance to uncover how political power may have been weaponized and to restore accountability that's [3:22:07] what the administration is focused on and hopefully we'll see some more media reports on this [3:22:12] whistleblower allegation if this were reversed if this were uh if this were allegations against [3:22:19] the president or any of these cabinet officials i'm sure everyone in this room would cover it as [3:22:23] such elizabeth go ahead thanks carolyn after yesterday's action to federalize the dc police is [3:22:28] the president still interested in working with congress to end the home rule act something you've talked [3:22:33] about in the past senator mike lee has a bill on it is that something he's still interested in the president [3:22:37] is very much still interested in working with congress to address many of the issues that have [3:22:42] plagued washington dc such as the cashless bail policy which has been a complete disaster for the [3:22:47] city juvenile delinquency is another major problem in the city that congress can address so i know [3:22:53] congress is on recess right now when they get back to work to washington this president looks forward [3:22:58] to having these conversations with our friends on capitol hill so we can work with them to make dc [3:23:03] safe and beautiful again and again we encourage democrats to join us in this effort perhaps their [3:23:07] approval ratings would move up a little bit if they did i saw a new poll today democrat approval rating [3:23:13] is at an all-time low 32 percent if they could just stand by the basic notion of law and order perhaps [3:23:18] they would see that tick up a bit and we welcome them to do that dasha thanks caroline president trump [3:23:24] yesterday at this podium indicated this so has a nato secretary general mark rooted that in order for peace to [3:23:30] happen it is very likely that ukraine will have to see some land to russia zelensky has repeatedly said [3:23:38] no land for peace that's not going to happen has this administration communicated to zelensky that [3:23:43] he's going to have to change that position look i appreciate your asking that question in a different way [3:23:47] than your colleague michael in the back i don't want to get into the details of these negotiations [3:23:52] and these discussions that have taken place out of respect for where we are right now and i'll let [3:23:57] the president speak on it further if he wishes to more about israel um i know the president has [3:24:02] had a call with prime minister netanyahu recently netanyahu is planning to seize the remainder of gaza [3:24:07] city what is the administration's position on this move by israel's government look this is an [3:24:13] incredibly complex and complicated war that again was inherited by this president by his predecessor joe [3:24:21] biden october 7th was one of the worst days in history we saw innocent people slaughtered murdered [3:24:28] kidnapped by hamas terrorists this administration has taken extensive time and effort and resources [3:24:36] since inauguration day in january to end this conflict we have given many flexible arrangements [3:24:43] backed by israel to hamas and unfortunately hamas has never agreed looking ahead i will let the [3:24:50] president speak on where he sees this going but this is of course an incredibly complex and complicated [3:24:56] situation the administration has made our goal clear we want to see this conflict end we want [3:25:01] to see the hostages released and we've tried the president and his national security team have given [3:25:06] extensive effort in time to doing that with how israel has used those those resources and the assistance [3:25:11] that you've provided look i'll let the president speak on the further actions that israel may or may not [3:25:16] be taking good to see you thank you the president is expressing interest that friday's meeting will [3:25:23] move beyond just terms to end the war um into improving bilateral relations there's talk over [3:25:28] how they're interested in potentially restoring direct flights between russia and the united states [3:25:32] is president trump open to those kind of peripheral conversations or is this directly focused on ending [3:25:37] the war in ukraine i think this uh conversation on friday is focused on ending the war in ukraine as far [3:25:43] as the president's perspective goes those conversations i think the president is interested [3:25:48] in having but his main priority right now is ending this war and to stop the killing that has gone on [3:25:53] for far too long you're welcome in the back go ahead yeah two questions on the economy so first we've had [3:26:01] small businesses tell us that it's not foreign exporters who are eating the tariffs it's them and they've [3:26:07] held off on raising prices but soon they're going to have to raise prices what is the white house's message [3:26:12] to them the white house's message to our small business owners across the country is you have [3:26:17] never had a better ally or friend or supporter in this white house than president donald trump who is [3:26:23] a businessman himself who understands your concerns and who wants to restore wealth back to our country [3:26:30] through the powerful use of tariffs and that's what he's focused on doing while simultaneously driving [3:26:36] down costs you have to remember that we are six months into this administration and we had a [3:26:41] president who had no business experience had no idea what he was doing and who funneled billions of [3:26:46] wasteful spending dollars into our economy which created the worst inflation crisis in a generation now [3:26:52] this president is focused on tackling inflation deregulating cutting costs cutting red tape to make [3:26:59] it easier for small business owners to thrive and again the economic indicators show that we are moving [3:27:05] in the right direction in january when this president showed up to the white house [3:27:08] the six-month annualized core inflation rate was 3.7 percent today six months later the six-month [3:27:15] annualized core inflation rate is 2.4 percent so we are trending in the right direction moving forward [3:27:21] since president trump took office for another six months inflation will be tracking at 1.9 percent [3:27:27] at this trajectory you look at grocery prices they fell energy prices fell fuel oil fell ship fares fell [3:27:34] propane fell butter margarine eggs non-prescription drugs you go through the list of items that are [3:27:39] falling and then i would also point to that report this morning showing that small business optimism has [3:27:45] reached a five-month high so look we inherited an economic mess from the previous administration but [3:27:51] this administration is focused on fixing it every day and part of that is signing the largest tax cuts [3:27:56] into law to put more money back into the pockets of these small business owners just on the bls they [3:28:01] collect the inflation data obviously if the jobs data is not reliable should americans trust the [3:28:07] inflation data well look the jobs data has had massive revisions we want to ensure that all of [3:28:12] the data the inflation data the jobs data any data point that is coming out of the bls is trustworthy [3:28:18] and is accurate which is why the president has restored new leadership at the bls [3:28:21] uh sure go ahead yeah okay um hi thank you um so uh gavin newsom has said that california uh is going to [3:28:30] sue in response to the government's demand um for a billion dollars from ucla uh over the doj's [3:28:36] antisemitism uh findings newsom has called this extortion uh and ransom so i'm wondering what the [3:28:42] white house's response is to newsom on ucla bring it on gavin this administration is well within [3:28:48] its legal right to do this and we want to ensure that our colleges and our universities are respecting [3:28:55] the first amendment rights and the religious liberties of students on their campuses and ucla [3:29:00] has failed to do that and i have a whole list of examples that i will forward to gavin newsom's press [3:29:05] office if he hasn't seen them himself brett thanks caroline uh what was the reason that president trump [3:29:12] chose to move on from billy long as irs commissioner look i think the president wants to see billy [3:29:18] long as the ambassador to iceland as you know that is where he will be headed and the president loves [3:29:24] billy long and he thinks that he can serve the administration well in this position for now [3:29:29] secretary scott besson will be the acting irs commissioner i'm wondering for announcing a new [3:29:33] pic thank you go ahead but then in the back yes okay sure thanks caroline um one foreign policy and [3:29:44] then one domestic question if i may um there are roughly 30 000 children from ukraine who have [3:29:50] reportedly been abducted and are kind of dispersed around russia they've been showing up on these [3:29:54] websites for adoption is there return a red line for the president in any deal ending the war the [3:30:02] administration is aware of these reports i don't want to set red lines for the president on his behalf [3:30:08] from this podium however the president did encourage ukraine and russia to speak directly [3:30:14] to one another in terms of these humanitarian issues and we have seen progress you have seen [3:30:19] prisoners of war swapped between these two countries as a result of these direct talks as well as [3:30:26] children and that remains a concern but it's one that russia and ukraine need to iron out together [3:30:30] which is why this president has encouraged them to speak okay and then if i can um the dc action real [3:30:36] quick the president said yesterday that this is a model federalizing the national guard that could [3:30:41] be used to combat really high rates of crime in other cities like chicago la baltimore um what sort [3:30:49] of authority would he have to deploy forces like that absence the home rule act look the president [3:30:55] is speaking about what he'd like to see take place in other cities around the country right now this [3:31:00] administration is focused on making dc safe and beautiful again when the time comes we'll talk about [3:31:05] that but i will note that the president wants to see all of our nation's cities be safe but i think [3:31:11] starting with our nation's capital is a great place to begin and it should serve as a model for the rest [3:31:16] of the country just to mind up a few of the dc things because a lot of them have been asked but um [3:31:22] in talking with congress about potential changes to home rule whatever else would he also push the [3:31:26] house to finally pass dc's budget so that it has access to all that money that it does need for [3:31:32] policing for schools and for other services here in the city yes and as you know he has done that [3:31:36] he put out a statement calling on the house to take up the senate's legislation and he stands by that [3:31:41] position let me take you back to something from last month you guys announced the president was [3:31:45] diagnosed with chronic venous insufficiency after his legs were seen swelling how is he being treated for [3:31:51] that and while you were up front about uh those health issues curious if the white house would be [3:31:59] willing to let us speak with his physician directly about those health issues i know there were a lot [3:32:05] of concerns about the last white house not making the physician available would the physician be [3:32:09] available in this case i don't want to make that commitment on behalf of the physician but it's [3:32:13] certainly something we can look into and explore out of the effort of transparency because unlike the [3:32:18] previous white house there is nothing to hide you guys see this president working around the clock [3:32:24] literally 24 7 all of the time and um i will be happy to look into that request can we at least [3:32:30] get an update on how he's being treated for the swelling legs and for the hands and the other issues [3:32:34] look you see the president every day he's moving he's working he's continuing there have been no [3:32:38] adjustments made to his lifestyle i have two questions uh one on dc but on the meeting on friday [3:32:44] does the president plan to meet with putin one-on-one yes that's part of the plan and as for the other [3:32:49] mechanics and logistics i will let our team speak to that when they're ironed out and on what's [3:32:54] happening in dc with the federal takeover what we've heard from the mayor and the police chief is [3:32:58] that their understanding is there has been no change in the leadership structure in the white [3:33:02] house's view who is in charge of the mpd right now if you read the executive order it will tell you [3:33:08] the leadership structure is as follows we plan to work with the metropolitan police department but [3:33:13] ultimately the chain of command is as such the president of the united states the attorney general of [3:33:18] the united states our dea administrator terry cole who is now serving ahead of the chief of the [3:33:24] metropolitan police department they will be working together nope terry cole as you heard from this [3:33:29] briefing room yesterday is in charge of the metropolitan metropolitan police department [3:33:34] and he's working with the chief to ensure that law enforcement officers are allowed to do their jobs in [3:33:38] this city yeah thanks caroline uh i know you said earlier the hope is to maintain monthly job reports [3:33:45] but the president's new nominee for bls commissioner ej antoni recently told fox business that the bls [3:33:53] should suspend issuing monthly job reports and only issue quarterly reports until the jobs data [3:33:59] methodology is corrected so does the president disagree with that assessment that his nominee is [3:34:04] said there or suspending these monthly job reports a real option i think he floated the idea of [3:34:11] possibly suspending until they can get the crane broke out under joe biden's incompetent leadership [3:34:16] but president trump is determined to try and end this war and stop the killing as the president has [3:34:23] said over and over again his strong preference will always be for peace and partnership whenever those [3:34:29] outcomes can possibly be achieved there is no leader in the world right now who has been more committed to [3:34:36] preventing wars or ending them than president donald trump just look at what took place here at the [3:34:41] white house last friday when president trump hosted the azerbaijan president and armenian prime minister [3:34:47] and got the two leaders to sign a historic joint declaration for peace ending a decades-long conflict [3:34:54] that disrupted the region and claimed countless lives in other news we continue to see positive economic reports [3:35:01] across the board today's cpi report revealed that inflation beat market expectations once again [3:35:07] and inflation remains stable overall inflation has run at a 1.9 average annual pace in president trump's [3:35:16] first six months in office prices for everyday goods continue to decline energy prices fell in july including [3:35:24] gasoline which is down nearly 10 percent over last year and propane which is down two and a half percent [3:35:31] over last year as well egg prices fell once again in july and are down 20 percent since president trump [3:35:38] took office shelter inflation the largest contributor to overall inflation is at its lowest level since [3:35:45] october of 2021 wage growth for american workers is beating inflation once again as inflation declines this [3:35:53] administration continues to be wholeheartedly committed to putting more money back into the american [3:35:58] people's pockets american real wages are up 1.3 percent over last year and have increased each month since [3:36:05] president trump took office and small business optimism according to this morning's report has also reached a [3:36:11] five-month high ignore the panicans and trust in president trump that is our motto here at the white house the [3:36:18] america first economic agenda is working on another matter yesterday president trump took bold action to [3:36:25] finally restore law and order right here in our nation's capital the president declared a crime [3:36:31] emergency in the district of columbia federalized the dc police department and mobilized the dc national [3:36:38] guard to end violent crime in our nation's capital as part of the president's massive law enforcement surge [3:36:44] last night approximately 850 officers and agents were surged across the city they made a total of 23 arrests [3:36:53] including multiple other contacts last night these arrests consisted of homicide firearms offenses [3:37:00] possession with intent to distribute narcotics fair evasion lewd acts stalking possession of a high [3:37:07] capacity magazine fleeing to elude in a vehicle no permits driving under the influence reckless driving [3:37:15] and a bench warrant a total of six illegal handguns were seized off of district of columbia streets [3:37:22] as part of last night's effort this is only the beginning over the course of the next month the [3:37:27] trump administration will relentlessly pursue and arrest every violent criminal in the district who [3:37:32] breaks the law undermines public safety and endangers law-abiding americans president trump will not be [3:37:39] deterred by soft on crime democrats and media activists who refuse to acknowledge this rampant violence on [3:37:45] our streets he is going to make our nation's capital the most beautiful and safe city on earth just as [3:37:52] he promised on the campaign trail staying on the topic of public safety the trump administration [3:37:58] continues to shatter records on border security according to brand new numbers released this morning [3:38:04] from customs and border patrol illegal crossings have fallen to all-time lows once again here were the [3:38:10] records set in july again these numbers were released this morning the lowest monthly nationwide encounters [3:38:17] ever down nearly 90 percent from the monthly average under the biden administration the lowest monthly [3:38:23] border patrol apprehensions nationwide ever smashing the previous record set the prior month in june [3:38:30] the lowest monthly southwest border apprehensions ever the lowest daily apprehension average ever the [3:38:37] lowest single day apprehensions ever and for the third straight month there were zero illegal aliens [3:38:44] released into the country let me repeat that remarkable statistic for the third month in a row not a single [3:38:50] illegal alien was released by the trump administration into the united states of american america this is [3:38:56] historic under president trump this border is the most secure it has ever been when you fortify the border when [3:39:03] you restore deterrence and when you empower border patrol agents and our brave men and women in uniform to [3:39:09] actually do their jobs to enforce our laws like this president has this is the incredible result and in the [3:39:17] interior of our country criminal illegal aliens continue to be arrested and removed here are some of [3:39:23] the criminals arrested by ice in just the last few days ice buffalo arrested an illegal alien from jamaica [3:39:30] convicted of attempted murder ice buffalo also arrested an illegal alien from ecuador convicted of leaving [3:39:37] the scene of an accident resulting in death ice houston arrested an illegal alien from mexico convicted of [3:39:44] manslaughter ice newark arrested an illegal alien from mexico convicted of the sexual assault of a minor ice [3:39:52] dallas arrested an illegal alien from mexico convicted of assault causing bodily injury and already the trump [3:39:59] administration has arrested more than 300 000 illegal aliens in 2025 again more than 300 000 illegal alien [3:40:08] criminals have been arrested in the interior of our country in the first six months of this [3:40:13] administration and despite many false reports in the media nearly 70 percent of these arrests have been [3:40:22] criminal aliens with criminal charges or prior convictions this is success all around this [3:40:28] is removing the most dangerous public safety threats from america's communities and returning these [3:40:33] individuals to their home countries so there's been success all around i'm sure you have a lot of [3:40:38] questions today i'm happy to get to them so let's get started and as always we'll start with our new media [3:40:43] seat who is our podcast host today benny johnson benny why don't you kick us off and thanks for being here [3:40:48] thank you caroline as a dc resident of 15 years i lived on capitol hill i witnessed so many muggings and so much [3:40:55] theft i lost track i was carjacked i have murders on my ring camera and mass shootings i witnessed a woman [3:41:03] on my block get held up at gunpoint for 20 and my house was set ablaze in an arson with my infant child [3:41:11] inside and so to any reporter that says and lies that dc is a safe place to live and work let me just [3:41:18] say this thank you thank you for making the city safe because no parent should have to go through what [3:41:24] my family went through having the fire department rip open their door to save their infant child [3:41:29] and so thank you for your work on securing this city my question to you is this nancy pelosi has [3:41:35] attacked the president for deploying the national guard to the city saying that it is to cover for [3:41:43] his incompetence hillary clinton has also attacked the president for securing the city of washington dc i'd [3:41:49] like to get your response to nancy pelosi and hillary sure well first of all benny i'm so sorry that [3:41:53] happened to you and your family there have been unfortunately far too many victims of crime in [3:41:58] this city and i know the majority of residents in the district of columbia agree with you in fact a [3:42:04] new poll from the washington post i was reading this morning this was released in may of 2024 [3:42:10] so it's quite funny how many of you in the media agreed with what the president was saying yesterday [3:42:15] but now once the president says it many of you are disagreeing with him but this poll released by the [3:42:20] washington post found that 65 of district residents think crime is an extremely serious or a very [3:42:28] serious problem and this was up from 56 last year so the concern that you share with so many other [3:42:35] residents in the district of columbia is real and that's why this president is taking action to address [3:42:39] it to get to the heart of your question i think it's despicable that democrats cannot agree that we need [3:42:45] more law and order in a city that has been ravaged by violence crime murders property theft this should [3:42:51] be a win winning issue for all americans i don't understand it's just anything president trump does [3:42:58] the democrats want to disagree with i think the president would love to work with democrats on [3:43:02] this issue to bring law and order to america's cities but unfortunately they have failed and that's [3:43:06] why he's taken this historic action to federalize the national guard and as you're seeing from last [3:43:11] night's numbers we already have seen success we are removing violent offenders we are arresting [3:43:17] criminals and we are removing drugs and firearms off of the streets of the city to make it safer for [3:43:22] all of his residents just a very quick follow-up to that given the heroic actions of a member of [3:43:26] this administration just a few blocks from this building will the president consider giving the [3:43:31] presidential medal of freedom to big balls i haven't spoken to him about that but perhaps it's [3:43:38] something he would consider i'll ask him and get back to you betty thanks for being here gabe [3:43:42] uh thank you caroline regarding the uh the president trump's summit on friday [3:43:49] why not invite ukrainian president zelensky to that summit i know the president said yesterday that he [3:43:53] planned to speak with him right after the summit and before but why not invite zelensky and whose [3:43:58] decision was it to not invite him was it the president or was it president putin well this meeting came [3:44:03] about because the president of russia asked the president of the united states to meet through his [3:44:08] special envoy steve whitkoff who as you all know traveled to russia to have a conversation with [3:44:13] putin at his request and so the president is agreeing to this meeting at the request of of [3:44:20] president putin and the goal of this meeting for the president is to walk away with a better [3:44:25] understanding of how we can end this war and the president said at this podium yesterday when he joined [3:44:30] all of you in the room that he hopes in the future there can be a trilateral meeting with these three [3:44:36] leaders to finally bring this conflict to an end but this administration has really used every lever [3:44:42] has taken every measure to to achieve peace through a diplomatic solution and i think the president of [3:44:49] united states getting in the room with the president of russia sitting face to face rather than speaking [3:44:54] over the telephone will give this president the best indication of how to end this war and where this [3:44:59] is headed and another question on something that happened yesterday but i wanted to get the white [3:45:02] house response a judge ruled that the grand jury transcripts in delaine maxwell's case should not [3:45:09] be released what's the white house response to that and you plan to appeal and what do you tell [3:45:16] president trump's supporters who want that information released we think that decision is unfortunate of [3:45:20] course we move to unseal that information because the president has said he wants to see credible [3:45:25] evidence released as for the appeal process i would defer you to the department of justice for that [3:45:30] great thank you so much caroline we are learning that president trump spoke with ukrainian president [3:45:35] i was curious if you can share any more details about their call and did zielinski give president [3:45:40] trump any red lines any non-starters ahead of this summit on friday look i don't want to reveal the [3:45:46] private conversations between the president and president zielinski but what i can tell you is that [3:45:50] the president has deep respect for all parties that are involved in this conflict and are trying to bring [3:45:56] this conflict to an end after special envoy whitkoff returned from his meeting with president putin in [3:46:01] russia his first phone call was to president trump and president trump's first phone call was to [3:46:07] president zielinski and to our friends in europe to keep everybody in the loop about where the united [3:46:12] states can see moving the states can see moving the ball forward to end this