White House press briefing as US and Israel’s war with Iran continues

[0:02] good afternoon everyone under the leadership of president donald j trump the rogue iranian [0:15] terrorist regime is being absolutely crushed 47 years of tolerating and enabling the world's [0:22] leading state sponsor of terrorism are over iran's murderous terrorist leaders are paying for their [0:28] crimes against america and they are paying in blood since 1979 the terrorist iranian regime [0:36] has actively and intentionally facilitated the killings of americans they chant death to america [0:43] and fund other radical terrorists who attack our country and are seeking to destroy western [0:50] civilization itself these terrorists seized our embassy and took 66 americans hostage in tehran [0:57] they slaughtered 241 u.s service members with a truck bombing in beirut they killed and maimed [1:04] hundreds of american service members in iraq and this is just a small fraction of their blood-soaked [1:10] record prior leaders have been too weak and ineffective to address this threat some like [1:16] barack hussein obama even sent pallets of cash that ultimately financed this terrorist crusade [1:23] against the united states and our people while signing stupid and naive deals that put iran on [1:29] the path of developing nuclear bombs after years of endless appeasement and empty statements from [1:35] politicians on both sides of the political aisle in this town president trump is finally the man of [1:42] action president trump is holding these monsters accountable and permanently extinguishing their [1:48] nuclear ambitions future generations of americans will look to this moment as the moment where the [1:55] specter of a nuclear arm iran armed iran ended at the beginning of operation epic fury launched last [2:03] weekend president trump laid out clear objectives to the american people on what the u.s military seeks [2:09] to accomplish through these major combat operations number one destroy the regime's deadly ballistic [2:16] missiles and completely raise their missile industry to the ground number two annihilate the iranian [2:22] regime's navy and so far we have destroyed more than 20 iranian ships including their top submarine last [2:29] night using a torpedo for the first time since world war ii there is not a single iranian ship underway in [2:36] the arab arabian gulf straight of hummus or the gulf of oman number three operation epic fury will ensure [2:43] the regime's terrorist proxies in the region can no longer destabilize the region or the free world and [2:50] attack our armed forces and thus far iran's proxies are hardly putting up a fight number four this [2:57] mission will guarantee that iran can never obtain a nuclear weapon it's safe to say that thus far [3:04] operation epic fury has been a resounding success american forces have struck more than 2 000 targets [3:11] destroying hundreds and hundreds of ballistic missiles launchers and drones as the department of [3:17] war said this morning we expect to have complete and total dominance over iranian airspace in the [3:22] coming hours clearing the skies for our brave warriors to continue achieving these noble and long [3:28] sought-after objectives there's been a lot of misreporting and intellectual dishonesty from the american [3:34] media on why president trump decided to launch this operation so let me remind you operation midnight [3:41] hammer which took place last june obliterated iran's three major nuclear sites yet the terrorist iranian [3:48] regime has remained fully committed to rebuilding its nuclear program how do we know this because iran [3:55] has pursued this path of war and violence despite president trump dispatching two of his top and most [4:01] trusted negotiators to engage in exhaustive and good faith negotiations to try and reach a deal [4:08] and the world knows this president's preference is always peace and diplomacy first look no further [4:14] than the eight additional global fought conflicts he has ended in the past year as proof unfortunately [4:21] the terrorist iranian regime refused to negotiate in good faith they chose this path of violence and [4:27] destruction and they are reaping the consequences of their horrible decision the regime did what they [4:33] always have done they lied they delayed they tried to string the united states of america along they [4:40] wanted to buy themselves time to continue building ballistic missiles and other deadly weaponry that [4:45] could harm our u.s personnel and troops in the region and to continue aggressively pursuing their unacceptable [4:52] nuclear ambitions u.s negotiators offered a lit to lift crippling sanctions on iran and even provide [4:58] nuclear fuel to iran at no cost to support a civil nuclear power program they additionally had the [5:05] opportunity to accept u.s support as an investor in potential projects to develop peaceful nuclear energy [5:11] together under a mutually agreed upon framework yet in response iran would have to forfeit their enrichment [5:19] capacity once and for all but iran rejected they accepted none of these generous and unprecedented [5:25] offers by the united states simply put they refused to say yes to peace and their refusal made clear [5:33] that their number one priority was building a nuclear weapon with which to threaten the united states of [5:39] america again the country they have been chanting death to for nearly five decades let me state this again [5:46] clearly iran rejected the path of peace because the terrorists in charge of this regime wanted to build [5:52] nuclear weapons to use against americans and our allies president trump made the determination a [5:59] courageous determination and decision that the path the united states was on with iran had only one [6:05] outcome massive death and destruction at the hands of a nuclear armed terroristic regime that path of [6:13] death and destruction and threats against the american people have ended with operation epic fury operation [6:20] epic fury has forged a new path that will better ensure the security of the united states and our [6:25] people the terrorists made a bet that president trump would be like many of his predecessors that he [6:31] would just talk and he would refuse to enforce his clear red lines but that has proven to be a catastrophic [6:38] error in judgment when president trump makes a threat and i have reiterated that threat many times from [6:44] this podium to all of you over the past year president trump does not bluff the president's words are backed [6:51] up by the mightiest warriors in the world who possess the most sophisticated capabilities this world has ever [6:57] known 49 and counting of the most senior iranian regime leaders including the supreme leader have [7:03] already been wiped off the face of the earth make no mistake killing these brutal brutal terrorists is good [7:10] for and makes the world a much safer place i want to also extend our prayers and condolences to the [7:18] families of the six u.s military service members who have been lost in operation epic fury these heroes [7:25] represent the very best among us they laid down their lives in defense of our country and we will never [7:31] forget their legacy or their sacrifice as the president said we grieve for these american patriots and their [7:37] families as we continue the righteous mission for which they gave their lives president trump intends [7:43] to attend the dignified transfer of these american heroes to stand in grief alongside their families [7:50] i understand the department of war is working on scheduling this transfer and we will provide [7:54] updates at the appropriate time finally to the trump administration is also doing everything within [8:00] our power to protect americans in harm's way since the launch of operation epic fury more than 17 [8:06] 1500 americans have safely returned home from the middle east with over 8 500 american citizens returning [8:15] home to the united states just yesterday alone if you are a u.s citizen in the middle east looking to [8:20] return to the united states the secretary of state asks that you please register with the state department [8:26] at step dot state dot gov the state department will identify where you are and provide travel options [8:33] directly to you the administration is already rapidly chartering flights free of charge and booking [8:39] commercial options which we expect to become increasingly available as time goes on and the success of this [8:45] mission further comes to fruition i know the president and secretary of state rubio have been in touch as [8:50] well with our allies in the region directly about this problem making it clear that it is a priority of the united states of america [8:58] to bring every american home the trump administration will not rest until every american is home safely [9:04] and until the terrorist threat from iran has been completely destroyed with that i'll take your [9:09] questions eric why don't you kick us off today thank you for being here hi it's great to be here as [9:14] you mentioned iran's regime its leadership has largely been decimated do we have a sense right now who [9:20] who is actually calling the shots in iran and we're also hearing reports that the supreme leader's son [9:26] may be named his successor do you have any more information about that i just had a quick follow-up [9:30] as well sure we've seen those reports as well of course and this is something that our intelligence [9:34] agencies are closely monitoring uh in looking at we the truth is we'll have to wait and see the [9:40] president has said repeatedly that the the objectives of operation epic fury are the four military objectives [9:46] that i laid out for you previously to destroy iran's navy to destroy their ballistic missile capacity to [9:53] ensure their proxies in the region can no longer harm americans and to also ensure that they can never [9:57] obtain a nuclear weapon as for what comes next for iran the president has said of course it's a good [10:03] thing for the united states to want freedom for the iranian people and ultimately we hope that freedom [10:08] rests in their hands we've seen the muslim nations coming under fire as well president trump's vision for [10:13] the region has been to bring the arab and muslim nations to the table together abraham accords obviously with [10:19] israel if this regime topples could we see a new day in the region and really a new middle east come [10:24] out of this when the dust settles well though the greatest deterrent to true and long-lasting peace in [10:31] the middle east has always been the rogue iranian terrorist regime and our arab and arab and gulf gulf [10:37] partners in the nation admit that as well as of course our close friend and ally israel we have seen [10:43] all of the arab partners in the region come together during this time on the phone with president [10:48] trump many of them commending him for this bold and brave action to protect american troops and [10:53] our bases in the region that are housed in many of these arab and gulf states and i know that many [10:58] of these regional partners are contributing their air defense capabilities as well jordan bahrain [11:04] saudi arabia the uae qatar kuwait and the president continually uh continues to be engaged with all of [11:10] them welcome garrett i also have to feel humor me um axios i think was the first report this morning this [11:15] phone call between the president and prime minister netanyahu saying that netanyahu had given the us [11:20] this information about where the ayatollah would be and that he'd be with these deputies on saturday [11:24] how important was that information in the president making the decision to strike where and when he did [11:30] i think it was important with respect to the timeline but i think the president prior to that phone call [11:36] had a good feeling that the iranian regime was going to strike the united states assets and our [11:41] personnel in the region and the president was faced with a choice does the united states of america use [11:47] our military and our capabilities to strike first to take out this threat that has been threatening [11:53] our country and our people for 47 years or is he going to as commander-in-chief sit back and watch as [11:58] the rogue iranian regime attacks our people in the region that's obviously an unacceptable decision for [12:05] the second choice there is unacceptable to the president which is why he made this decision [12:10] as for where the ayatollah was going to be that obviously had an impact on the timeline of the [12:16] operation but not quite the president's decision in its entirety and then on the way the public is [12:20] viewing this we were sitting here last week i asked you the president was going to make this [12:23] a big part of the state of the union if he felt like he had to sell the possibility that he'd do [12:27] strikes like this we're now five days on he hasn't done kind of the traditional speech to the nation [12:32] part of it does the president believe the country supports the actions that he's taken so far in iran [12:38] i think he does and i think the president knows the country is smart enough to read past many of [12:42] the fake news headlines produced by people in this room that this action was unjustifiable again this [12:48] is a rogue terrorist regime that has been threatening the united states our allies and our people [12:54] for 47 years and the american people are smart enough to know that and they've also been smart [12:59] enough to listen to the president himself not just over the past year in the second term but during [13:05] his first term as president and also for the past 40 years of his life this is a president who has [13:10] been remarkably consistent on this issue that iran can never obtain a nuclear weapon and the president [13:16] tried peace through diplomacy exhaustively and extensively he and his team gave it their best go [13:22] and the president ultimately came to the termination of that peace was not a pursuable path the iranian [13:27] regime they want death they want destruction they want to kill americans and that's unacceptable to this [13:33] president it's intolerable to him as commander-in-chief jackie thank you caroline um obviously seeing the [13:39] update from the state department on the 17 500 americans that have already come back including some 8 [13:44] 000 just yesterday there are still 6 000 that are looking to get out as i understand it and just in [13:51] the context of what you just told garrett about the president's decision on a timeline if he had [13:55] decided to do this strike before receiving you know the specific intelligence about the meeting on [14:00] saturday should there have been more done in advance of the strikes to try to get those americans in [14:07] the region resources and information to get home before day three of the war there was many signs put [14:14] out by the state department and i wish that everyone in this room would report on them the secretary of [14:19] state issued level four travel advisories dating back to january for many of the these countries in the [14:25] region on january 14th the u.s mission to saudi arabia advised personnel and americans to exercise [14:31] increased increased caution and limit non-essential travel to any military installations on february [14:37] 11th the u.s department of state consular affairs shared a list of countries with level four do not [14:43] travel advisories you can't be much more clear than that do not travel to these following countries [14:50] on february 23rd the u.s embassy in lebanon ordered non-emergency government personnel and family [14:55] members to leave lebanon due to safety risks and we helped them do that on march 2nd the state [15:00] department urged u.s citizens to depart lebanon immediately and with respect to iran on february [15:06] 27th the secretary designated iran as a state of sponsor of wrongful detention and stated no americans [15:13] should travel to iran for any reason and again on february 27th the u.s ambassador to israel warned [15:20] americans to leave iran and they provided travel advisory alerts through the u.s embassy in jerusalem [15:26] so the state department was all hands on deck on advising extreme caution and do not travel alerts [15:32] to americans in the region with respect to the americans who are still in the region now [15:36] again the state department is asking that they register at the website so they can directly identify [15:41] you and we are actively and rapidly working to charter flights there is some commercial flights that are [15:47] taking off intermittently from these countries and we plan to get americans on board as quickly as [15:53] possible again free of charge to them and we have some additional measures that i think will be [15:57] announced in the coming days again i can also reiterate from the president's perspective this [16:01] is something he's brought up directly with our allies and partners in the region that we expect their [16:06] help in getting americans home and we will do that and we will not rest until every single american [16:11] is returned home safely thank you and then one follow-up just on how people might be experiencing this [16:15] at home with respect to the economy um and the cost of oil spiking is there a need to start those navy [16:25] escorts in the strait of hormuz now to sort of blunt the impact to people and also because spain is a [16:31] member of the eu does that at all put a wrinkle in the president's plan for a trade embargo with them [16:38] with with respect to spain i think they heard the president's message yesterday uh loud and clear and [16:44] it's my understanding over the past several hours they've agreed to cooperate with the u.s military [16:50] and so i know that the u.s military is coordinating with their counterparts in spain but the president [16:55] expects all europe all of our european allies of course to cooperate in this long sought-after [17:01] mission not just for the united states but also for europe to crush the rogue iranian regime that again [17:06] not only threatens america but also threatens our european allies as well with respect to oil prices [17:11] in the economy here at home of course this is something that secretary besant secretary wright [17:17] the national economic council of energy that is led by governor burke secretary bergam excuse me [17:23] has been long working on in well in advance yesterday president trump announced the u.s [17:27] development finance corporation will provide political risk insurance at a very reasonable price [17:33] for crude carriers and cargo ships operating in and around the gulf and as you pointed out jackie the [17:38] president said if necessary and when appropriate the u.s navy will begin escorting tankers through the [17:44] strait of hermuz i think it speaks to why this action was so necessary that ultimately the energy [17:51] industry is going to benefit from the president's actions with respect to iran because iran will no [17:56] longer be controlling uh the strait of hermuz and restricting the free flow of energy which as you [18:02] all know controls 20 percent of the world's global uh oil supply sure thanks caroline the president [18:08] said yesterday there wasn't time to make evacuation plans because this all happened so quickly given [18:14] how critical the president has been of the chaotic evacuation from afghanistan by the last administration [18:22] five years ago why wasn't there more of a focus on evacuation plans from the middle east that could [18:29] have been at least put in place ready to go before the strikes this weekend again i just laid out for you [18:35] that there have been plans in place and that the state department has been very clear to the american [18:40] people traveling within this region not to travel to these regions we gave notices to leave immediately [18:47] the countries where these americans were within and unlike the previous administration we actually [18:52] have a number we actually have identified the number of people in the region who have requested help [18:58] we are in direct contact and engagement with them and you have to keep in mind there's a few thousand [19:03] people who have requested assistance to come home in comparison to the millions who we understand are [19:08] in the region so we will we will help every single american who wants to come home uh if they're making [19:13] that request of the state department americans who called the state department hotline as recently as [19:18] last night were being told we can't help you you have to make your own plans well the line was updated and [19:24] i expect every single person in this room to report on that accurately so that information can be relayed [19:30] appropriately to your audiences and to the american people i think as journalists you all have a [19:34] responsibility to let them know that the line has been updated accordingly with the proper guidance [19:40] because i saw many people in this room very quick to do selfie videos with the line yesterday but not [19:45] so quick to report on the corrected message today so that is something the administration quickly worked [19:50] to address and we have fixed that problem however we're also pointing to people to the website again to [19:55] register so that we know exactly where you are so when there are commercial flights moving into that [20:01] area when there are chartered flights moving into that area we can get americans on planes as quickly [20:06] as possible do you have any details on how many charter flights have been able to get out of the region [20:10] so far with americans on board i don't have an exact count for you but i know that we're working on [20:15] chartering many flights as soon as we were doing it yesterday we're doing it again today [20:20] uh and i don't you should not expect us to detail exactly when these flights are taking off for [20:25] obvious reasons the iranians have shown that they are not going to hesitate to target civilians in the [20:32] region which is completely intolerable but for safety and security reasons we're not going to be [20:36] broadcasting when flights full of americans are going to be taking off obviously danny um at the top [20:43] you said that the iranian regime is being absolutely crushed can you explicitly say then whether or not [20:50] regime change is a goal of president trump's operation the goals of this operation have been [20:55] made very clear danny and the president has said them in his speech when he launched this operation [21:01] and released that video in the middle of the night to all of you and to the world the stated military [21:06] objectives of operation epic fury are as follows eliminate iran's ballistic missile threat destroy [21:12] their naval capability disrupt missile and drone production infrastructure sever their pathway and end [21:18] their pathway to nuclear weapons and i can report as you all saw from the pentagon today that thus far [21:24] this operation has been remarkably successful again we're moving towards complete and total control of [21:30] iranian airspace we have continuous 24 7 operate strike operations ongoing we've had more than 2 000 [21:38] targets that have been struck nearly 2 000 munitions have been employed the first 24 hours of this campaign [21:44] were described nearly as twice the scale of the 2003 shock and awe campaign and we've seen that our the [21:52] the enemy the iranian rogue regime their retaliatory strikes against the united states and the threat [22:00] reduction has reduced significantly if you look at the iranian ballistic missile launches they're down 86 [22:06] from day one levels so while the united states military continues to increase its complete dominance [22:13] over this rogue regime they are weakening day by day is not a phrase that you would want to use again [22:20] operation epic fury i just detailed the goals and objectives of this very quickly but obviously [22:27] as the president has said numerous times do we want to see iran being led by a rogue terrorist regime no [22:33] of course not so any day the united states of america is taking out a terrorist is a good day for [22:37] our country and a good day for our people given that point that you just make about the united states [22:43] i wouldn't mind seeing the the government overthrown certainly president trump has talked about [22:48] wanting to see iranians overthrow the government has the president considered at all kind of how he [22:53] views a u.s role if any in iran post-conflict i think it's something the president is actively [22:58] considering and and discussing with his advisors and his national security team but again right now [23:04] the focus minute by minute hour by hour day by day is on ensuring the the quick and effective success of [23:11] operation epic fury sure go ahead i want to ask you about the u.s munitions i don't even know who's [23:17] speaking because i wasn't looking at you i want to ask you about the u.s munitions stockpile president [23:23] trump posted on truth social on monday that the u.s still has a good supply of weapons but that we [23:29] still uh we're not where we need to be what does he mean by that and does president trump then want to [23:35] ask on congress to pass a supplemental to increase funding for missile interceptor systems like the ones [23:41] being used to defend u.s bases in the middle east from iranian missiles i don't have any updates for [23:47] you on congressional asks from the president as you know under this president we have significantly [23:52] increased our defense budget which is a good thing for the united states for our national security and [23:56] for protecting our homeland with respect to munitions ammunition weapon stockpiles the united states of [24:02] america has more than enough capability to not only successfully execute operation epic fury but to go much [24:09] further we have weapon stockpiles in places that many people in this world don't even know about [24:14] however the president in that post was pointing out that unfortunately we had a very stupid and [24:19] incompetent leader in this white house for four years who gave away many of our best weapons for [24:25] nothing for free to another country very far away by the name of ukraine so the president was pointing [24:30] out how that was an unwise decision but nevertheless don't doubt the strength and the might of the american [24:35] military and i will also add president trump has rightfully been calling on defense contractors in [24:40] this country to rapidly and aggressively produce american-made weapons because they are the best in the [24:46] world and the president always likes to get things done as quickly as possible and so he's been quite [24:52] vocal in his efforts to try to speed up our defense industry to protect our homeland [24:57] go ahead uh caroline uh could you tell us about the president's current thinking about ground troops [25:06] and and whether they could be used if they were to be sent into iran what would they be used for [25:11] what's the situation well they're not part of the plan for this operation at this time but i certainly [25:17] will never take away military options on behalf of the president of the united states or the commander-in-chief [25:21] and he wisely does not do the same for himself i know there's many leaders in the past who like to [25:27] take options off of the table without having a full understanding of how things could develop so again [25:31] it's not part of the current plan but i'm not going to remove an option for the president that [25:36] that is on the table sean did the united states air strike at girls elementary school and kill 175 [25:42] people not that we know of sean and the department of war is investigating this matter and i would just [25:48] tell you very strongly the united states of america does not target civilians unlike the rogue iranian [25:54] regime that targets civilians that kills children that has killed thousands of their own people in [26:00] the past several weeks and uses uh propaganda quite effectively and unfortunately many people in this [26:05] room have fallen for that propaganda so i would caution you from pointing the finger at the united [26:10] states of america when it comes to targeting civilians because that's not something that these armed [26:15] forces do reagan thanks caroline to the iran conflict the save act for the focus of the news cycle [26:22] is the save act still a priority for the administration absolutely just provide an [26:27] update on the administration's talks with congress to get the save act through save act is absolutely [26:32] still a priority for this president and the administration the the focus of course of much [26:37] of the president's time right now is on ensuring the success of operation epic fury but the president [26:43] can walk and chew gum at the same time and he's very much continuing to focus on the issues that matter [26:48] here at home for the american people including the passage of the save act including on bringing [26:53] down the cost of living which is why you'll see the president in about an hour and a half at the rate [26:57] payer protection pledge roundtable where he will be sitting with big tech companies with ai companies [27:03] who are building in communities across the country and have pledged to pick up the cost of the electricity [27:09] tab in these small towns and communities across the country which is a great thing for american consumers [27:14] so you'll be hearing from the president directly on this very important domestic agenda item later [27:19] this afternoon and it's something that he mentioned in his state of union address so check it off the [27:24] list as another promise made and kept by this president sure go ahead thanks caroline i just wanted to get [27:29] back to uh danny's uh question so those four objectives that you read out do not explicitly include [27:37] the regime shape if those objectives were achieved and the islamic republic still existed would that be [27:46] an acceptable outcome that's a hypothetical question that i'm not going to engage in again right now the [27:51] president and the commander-in-chief are focused on executing the success of operation epic fury which we [27:57] are do so we are already doing so in a very tremendous and impressionable way steven thank you caroline [28:03] two questions um the trump administration reported reportedly is considering arming kurdish uh forces [28:10] in the hopes of inspiring a popular uprising in iran could you comment on that report i could comment [28:15] on the fact that the president has held many calls with partners allies and leaders in the region [28:21] in the middle east he did speak to kurdish leaders with respect to our base that we have in northern iraq [28:28] uh but as for any report suggesting that the president has agreed to any such plan is completely false and [28:35] should not be written president trump was saying yesterday that he is okay with someone from within [28:42] taking over in iran he spoke about how venezuela he saw as a successful model where delcy rodriguez [28:49] took over and had a better relationship um iran's president is ashkian uh he took office in 2024 as a [28:57] relative reformer he's part of a three-man council now replacing the supreme leader does president [29:02] trump see him as a potential successor who is more pliable again that's another hypothetical and i [29:07] haven't spoken to the president about this specific individual so i don't want to get ahead of him of [29:11] him on any assessments that should be made caroline thank you um yesterday the president acknowledged [29:18] that well that oil prices will be a bit high um as for gas prices here in the u.s what is the admin [29:24] doing right now to counter that i mean should they skyrocket is there a plan to help you know americans [29:29] right now with those higher gas prices and then a second question um on the rash that was on the [29:35] president's neck the white physician said it was a preventative skin cream that he was using but why is [29:40] the president using this cream is what what are they trying to prevent to your second question i don't [29:46] have anything additional to add to the physician statement that we provided to all of you on those [29:50] questions but i know the statement said that the redness on the neck will dissipate within the next [29:55] couple of weeks to your first question about oil prices thank god we have a president who has exuded [30:01] american energy dominance over the past year an administration that is wholeheartedly focused on [30:07] keeping prices stable as best as we can of course this operation is temporary to protect the homeland [30:14] but crude oil prices did fall yesterday they remain stable today after the president announced steps to [30:19] ensure the stability in global energy markets again those include the dec offering reasonably priced [30:25] political risk insurance and the potential for the u.s navy to provide protection for the flow of energy [30:30] through the state uh through the strait of humus it is the president's belief and his economic team's [30:36] belief that the economy continues to be very strong it's robust and will be able to weather any of [30:41] the temporary impacts of operation epic fury john thanks a lot caroline uh just to follow up to that [30:49] the timeline for making the strait of humus safe for oil tankers to transport their oil through the [30:57] strait what is that timeline and what can the president do to speed up that timeline i don't [31:02] want to commit to a timeline but certainly it's something that is being calculated actively by both [31:07] the department of war and the department of energy they're working very closely both secretaries are in [31:13] all of the briefings on this subject with the president and this is again something they're monitoring and if and [31:19] when necessary u.s the united states navy will provide assistance to escort oil tankers through the [31:24] strait sure in the blue thank you thank you you're not in blue andrew go ahead yeah thank you well i [31:33] guess you are sort of you had mentioned about the commercial aircraft being used for the evacuation [31:40] what about the use of military aircraft would that happen in conjunction with correct or subsequent to [31:47] that is something that is definitely uh underway uh and of course we're going to use that in [31:52] conjunction we want as many planes whether they're chartered commercial or military uh taking americans [31:58] out of the middle east and returning them safely home so yes andrew go ahead you're welcome [32:04] you listed a long list of grievances against the iranian government going back to the takeover of the [32:12] embassy in 79 uh barracks bombing etc but no one from the administration has laid out imminent threat [32:25] that was supposed to be taken care of by this and the rationales offered by say secretary rubio the [32:33] president's national security advisor said that the threat was retaliation against american [32:38] uh interests from uh iran after and after israeli strikes the president says it's his it was his own [32:47] feeling that iran was going to attack why is it that across the administration you can't say what the [32:55] imminent threat against the united states was that required us to launch this and also prime minister [33:02] starmer told parliament today that his reason that he didn't allow the use of british bases [33:08] was that he was not satisfied that there was a lawful basis and a viable thought-through plan [33:16] was there an attempt to provide the uk government with a legal basis for these strikes and a viable [33:23] thought-through plan to the first question i completely reject the premise of your question [33:28] you have had the president of the united states the secretary of war the chairman of the joint chiefs [33:34] the vice president of the united states the secretary of state and now i am out here today [33:38] to explain to you exactly what led the president to make the decision to launch operation epic fury and [33:45] president trump does not make these decisions in a vacuum this decision to launch this op your [33:50] operation was based on a cumulative effect of various direct threats that iran posed to the united states [33:57] of america and the president's feeling based on fact that iran does pose an imminent and direct threat [34:03] to the united states of america based on the fact that they are the world's leading state sponsor of [34:08] terrorism based on the fact that they were rapidly and aggressively building up their ballistic missile [34:16] missile program to give themselves immunity within their country alongside their navy so that inside [34:22] their country they could continue to create nuclear weapons and nuclear bombs which would of course pose a risk [34:29] to americans in the region and even americans one day here at home and then another point on this is [34:35] the president found that through these extensive exhaustive failed negotiations with iran that they [34:41] were hell-bent on death and destruction so again the president was not going to be just another [34:46] president on a very long list who sat back and stood by and passed the buck of this direct threat [34:53] to the next administration the president had a feeling again based on fact that iran was going to [34:58] strike the united states was going to strike our assets in the region and he made a determination to [35:03] launch operation epic fury based on all of those reasons and i would like the media to actually report [35:08] on all of them rather than just picking sound bites from one person in this administration and saying oh [35:14] they're contradicting the other person no again these decisions are not made in a vacuum they are made [35:19] by the president's feeling that iran was going to strike the united states and our assets in the region [35:25] and he was not going to sit back and watch that happen the determination was made that the [35:29] president was going to strike first alongside israel and that has obviously been proven to be the right [35:34] decision and an effective one at that libby libby go ahead thank you caroline a two-part question [35:42] for you first has the president spoken with the family members of those u.s service members that were [35:46] killed second given what you've outlined throughout this entire briefing i mean the united states has [35:51] sunk a bunch of navy ships we've hit all of these targets what can americans expect the goal to be [35:57] now that his victory given we've even taken out iran supreme was a goal again victory will be [36:06] determined by the commander-in-chief once the goals and the objectives that we have repeatedly laid out [36:11] are fully realized again we just in the in the next few hours we'll be achieving that dominance over [36:16] the skies which means the united states military will be raining missiles and weapons down on iran to hit [36:23] these specific targets that have been identified as crucial to take out by the department of war [36:31] john thank you so much caroline uh has the u.s posture changed in regard to a nuclear north korea [36:36] given the latest strikes on iran and the fact that the stated goal is to make sure that iran is not a [36:42] nuclear country i don't have any change in position uh with respect to north korea today thank you a quick [36:48] follow-up uh there's been reports that ali khamenei's son has been elected as the next supreme leader [36:52] does the administration think that he is a part of the same regime as his father would they like [36:58] people in the country to uprise or rise up and get him out of there's reports he's been elected or [37:04] that he's assuming to be elected one of the likely options pardon me what was that that he's one of [37:09] the likely options or that he has been elected okay so we'll wait to confirm until someone actually [37:15] you just mentioned that the president is going to attend the dignified transfer for these families [37:20] given what secretary hegseth said this morning is it the position of this administration that the [37:24] press should not prominently cover the deaths of u.s service members no it's the position of this [37:30] administration that the press in this room and the press across the country should accurately report [37:35] on the success of operation epic fury and the damage it is doing to the rogue iranian regime that [37:41] has threatened the lives of every single american in this room if the iranian regime had their choice [37:46] they would kill every single person in this room and so we can all be very grateful that we have [37:51] an administration and that we have men and women in our armed forces who are willing to sacrifice [37:56] their own lives for the rest of us in this room and for every american across the country and for every [38:01] troop that is based in the middle east that's what these except was complaining that it was front page [38:05] news about these six service members who were killed that's not what the secretary said caitlin and [38:10] that's not what the secretary meant and you know it you know you are being disingenuous there is not [38:14] we've never had a secretary of defense who cares more get through where tragic things happen it's [38:19] front page news i get it the press only wants to make the president look bad yeah as you know we [38:23] cover the debts of u.s service members under every president the press does only want to make the [38:27] president look bad that's a that's a fact especially you no listen to me especially you and especially cnn [38:35] and the secretary of defense cares deeply about our war fighters and our men and women in uniform he [38:40] travels all across this country to meet with them to connect with them and your network has hardly ever [38:46] probably reported on that you also had the chairman of the joint peace uh chiefs uh chairman [38:51] kane who's a brave patriot standing alongside the secretary at the pentagon this morning again [38:56] expressing his condolences to these families and i just told you that the president of the united [39:00] states will be attending their dignified transfer so please so please making the president look bad [39:06] that's showcasing that and we expect you to cover that as you should we expect you to cover that as [39:11] you should caitlin but you and your network know that you take every single thing this administration [39:17] says and tries to use it to make the president look bad that is a an objectable fact i don't think [39:22] covering true deaths is trying to make if you're trying to if you're trying to argue right now that cnn's [39:27] overwhelming coverage is not negative of president donald trump i think the american people would tend to [39:32] agree and your ratings would tend to disagree with that as well go ahead thank you so much [39:39] on the school on the school strike back to that for a minute i understand that the u.s does not [39:44] target civilian infrastructure that's what you said can you say that there's any evidence right [39:48] now that it was not a u.s strike and then also you didn't mention israel and that is there any [39:53] assessment about israel's potential likely you know role in that if at all again the department of war [39:59] is currently investigating this matter but again i will reaffirm that the department of war [40:04] and the united states armed forces do not target civilians as does the iranian regime who kill and [40:09] execute their own people christian two on two separate issues caroline first what can you tell us [40:16] about the military operation in ecuador and then secondly is the president considering invoking the defense [40:23] production act to boost munition stockpiles while we are in this conflict it's not something i've [40:29] heard the president consider but as you know the president has been in a pretty direct correspondence [40:34] and public correspondence with defense contractors asking them to aggressively speed up their [40:40] manufacturing of american-made weapons which again are the best in the world with respect to ecuador i [40:45] would point you back to the statement released by the u.s southern command on march 3rd ecuadorian and u.s [40:51] military forces launched operations against designated terrorist organizations these operations are a [40:57] powerful example of the commitment of partners in latin america and the caribbean to combat the [41:02] scourge of narco-terrorism and together we are taking decisive action to confront narco-terrorists who [41:08] have long inflicted terror violence and corruption on citizens throughout the hemisphere and with on [41:13] that i would also add that this weekend i'm pleased to announce the president will welcome the heads of [41:18] state from 12 nations across our western hemisphere in miami florida on saturday the point of this [41:24] newfound latin america summit is to promote freedom security and prosperity in our region the following [41:30] countries will be in attendance argentina bolivia chule costa rica the dominican republic ecuador el [41:38] salvador honduras panama paraguay trinidad and tobago and maybe some others as well and the president will be [41:46] speaking with the leaders of this country who have really formed a historic coalition to work [41:50] together to address criminal narco-terrorist gangs and cartels encounter illegal and mass migration [41:56] into not only the united states but the western hemisphere which remains a key and top priority [42:01] of this president thank you very much everyone and you'll see the president yourselves in an hour