Press Secretary Leavitt takes questions on Iran

[0:00] Great questions, and I will answer them. Let's level set on where we are. As you all saw yesterday, President Trump announced an extension of the ceasefire. He's maintaining and generously offering a bit of flexibility to a regime who has been completely tarnished because of Operation Epic Fury. There's obviously a lot of internal division. This is a battle between the pragmatists and the hardliners in Iran right now, and the president wants a unified response. And so as we await that response, there's a ceasefire with the military and kinetic strikes. [0:30] But Operation Economic Fury continues, and the effective and successful naval blockade continues as well of ships and vessels that are moving to and from Iranian ports. We are completely strangling their economy through this blockade. They're losing $500 million a day. The Karg Island is completely full. They can't move oil in and out. They can't even pay their own people as a result of this economic leverage that President Trump has inflicted over them. [0:58] So he's satisfied with that as we await their response, and we will see. The president has not set a firm deadline to receive an Iranian proposal, unlike some of the reporting I've seen today. Ultimately, the timeline will be dictated by the Commander-in-Chief and the President of the United States. [1:13] Who was in charge in Iran and who the administration is even negotiating with? [1:19] Well, we obviously know who we're negotiating with because our negotiating team has sat down with those individuals in person. But obviously, there's a lot of internal fraction and internal division, which, again, just proves the effectiveness of Operation Epic Fury in the first place. [1:34] Their regime and many of its leaders for nearly five decades have been wiped off of the face of planet Earth. [1:41] So, again, the president's offering them a little bit of flexibility because we want to see a unified proposal to the president's very strong proposal. [1:49] And he's made his red lines very clear. Again, the United States maintains control over this situation, leverage over the Iranian regime. [1:57] Not only have they been significantly weakened and obliterated militarily, but they are losing economically and financially every single moment that passes with this blockade. [2:07] So, the president is going to continue to lead the free world, to run the United States of America as we await the Iranian response. [2:15] Thanks a lot, Caroline. Two questions. What's the ultimate goal of this blockade? [2:20] Is it indefinite? And is the ceasefire that's in place right now also indefinite? [2:26] Look, again, I'm not going to set a timetable for the president. He has not done that, and I won't. [2:31] I know there's been some anonymous sourced reporting that there was maybe a three to five-day deadline. That is not true. [2:38] The president has not set a deadline himself. Ultimately, he will dictate the timetable. [2:43] And, again, he is satisfied with the naval blockade, and he understands that Iran is in a very weak position, and the cards are in President Trump's hands right now. [2:55] On the issue of Virginia redistricting, if he weighed in this afternoon, raising concerns about, why didn't he campaign more actively against this referendum? [3:05] Why not spend time on true social, encouraging people to vote no before the vote, then raise concerns after? [3:14] That's a question that's political by nature. As you know, I'm not part of the president's political team anymore. [3:20] I do sit here at the White House as a government employee. [3:24] Look, the president has a lot on his plate, a lot on his schedule. [3:27] He did host a telephone call prior to the election the night before, but he's made his position on the result of this election clear to all of us. [3:36] Mary Bruce. [3:37] The president is not setting a deadline with this ceasefire right now, but this war has already gone on longer than he said it would initially. [3:44] How long should Americans be prepared for this war to go on? [3:47] Look, I think President Trump ultimately will dictate the timeline, and he will do so when he feels is in the best interest of the United States and the American people. [3:56] So in the same day, the president said that he doesn't want to extend the ceasefire and the bombs would start falling after the end of the ceasefire. [4:07] And unilaterally, he declared that the ceasefire would be extended indefinitely. [4:12] Iranian state media are openly mocking the president of the United States and saying we didn't even request the extension of the ceasefire. [4:19] What's the response from the president of the United States? [4:22] The response is you guys all see a lot of different messaging coming out of Iran, a lot of different rhetoric and language from them. [4:31] I would caution you to take anything that they say at face value. [4:34] What we've seen is that what they say publicly is much different than what they concede to the United States and our negotiating team privately. [4:41] I've said that repeatedly to all of you in the news media, and you should take our word. [4:44] Another topic. There's been some reporting about a possible bailout for Spirit Airlines. [4:50] Can you update us on those talks, and why does the administration think it's a good investment to buy into a bankrupt airline? [4:57] Well, I understand the airline is bankrupt because the previous administration blocked the merger, which was probably not a wise move. [5:04] Obviously, this is something the Commerce Department and the president are tracking. [5:09] I don't have any updates or announcements, but the aviation industry is very important to this president. [5:14] In this White House, millions of Americans depend on it. [5:17] We want to see the best possible outcome, but I don't have any announcements today. [5:22] Thank you so much, Caroline. [5:23] So, how long is the president willing to wait for the Iranians to come to the table, and does he trust the Iranians to come to the table? [5:32] Again, I've now been asked this question a few different times, a few different ways. [5:36] I'm not going to set a deadline. [5:37] A lot of the negotiations are, it seems, public statements that we've seen from the president come on true social and the Iranians on X, a lot of back and forth there. [5:47] But did the president's true social post throughout the day ahead of these negotiations have a negative impact on negotiations? [5:54] I think look at where we are right now. [5:56] The president chose to extend the ceasefire because it's Iran who needs to get their acts together. [6:02] The United States and President Trump have been very clear in our demands and our red lines and what we need to see in the best interest of the American people and our country and our allies from the very beginning. [6:12] So, the short answer to your question is not. [6:14] Does the White House have an understanding at this point of who inside of Iran will have the final sign-off on a deal? [6:23] The White House and our intelligence community certainly has a good understanding. [6:28] However, we want to see a unified response and a unified proposal. [6:33] To the previous question's point, you see a lot of different messaging on social media from many people within the regime. [6:41] And a lot of that public nonsense is not what we hear from them privately. [6:44] But, again, we want a unified response and that's what the president is awaiting. [6:50] Again, I'll leave our intelligence community and the president to decide. [6:53] Nick, go ahead. [6:54] Thank you, Caroline. [6:54] Does the White House have a response to the DOJ's indictment of the SPLC as well as the allegations that donated funds were used to actually fund the very hate groups and racist groups that it denounced? [7:08] Yeah, I saw the indictment yesterday. [7:10] I saw the acting attorney general and FBI director do a press conference on it. [7:14] It was quite shocking to me to learn of the egregious violations of the law of the Southern Poverty Law Center was committing. [7:21] And I think that's a story that should be on the front page of every newspaper in this country because they've obviously been duping their supporters and the American taxpayers for far too long. [7:30] It's a criminal organization, clearly. [7:32] And that's not our DOJ saying that or Todd Blanche saying that. [7:37] That's a grand jury indictment saying that. [7:39] That's a good one. [7:39] That's a great one. [7:40] Thank you. [7:41] Thank you. [7:42] Thank you. [7:45] Thank you. [7:45] Thank you.