White House denies Iranian claim that Strait of Hormuz closed, cites ‘uptick’ in traffic

[0:00] good afternoon everybody good to see all of you here today before i discuss the ceasefire with [0:08] iran i have a quick update from the first lady of the united states yesterday marked the very first [0:14] conviction under the take it down act landmark legislation that first lady melania trump played [0:20] an instrumental role in getting passed that protects victims from non-consensual ai generated [0:26] sexually explicit images cyber stalking and threats of violence this is a huge achievement for the [0:32] first lady and i know the president is very proud of his wife's efforts in getting this critical [0:37] legislation passed to protect america's youth so we thank the first lady for her efforts and we hope [0:42] that others will report on this historic conviction yesterday with respect to the two-week ceasefire [0:48] announced by president trump last night this is a victory for the united states of america that the [0:54] president and our incredible military made happen from the very beginning of operation epic fury [1:01] president trump stated this would be a four to six week military operation to dismantle the military [1:07] threat posed by the radical islamic iranian regime thanks to the unbelievable capabilities of america's [1:15] war fighters the united states has achieved and exceeded those core military objectives in just 38 days [1:23] the u.s military destroyed iran's defense industrial base crushing the regime's ability to manufacture [1:29] weapons that they and their proxies use to maim and kill americans and terrorize the world iran's [1:36] ability to build and stockpile ballistic missiles and long-range drones has also been set back by years [1:43] compared to where it was six weeks ago prior to the launch of operation epic fury we destroyed the vast [1:49] majority of iran's ballistic missiles launcher vehicles and long-range attack drones through more than 450 [1:56] strikes on ballistic missiles and approximately 800 strikes on iran's drone launching units and storage [2:03] facilities in total more than 13 000 targets across iran were struck again this is in the matter of just [2:12] 38 days meanwhile the iranian naval navy was completely annihilated the united states [2:19] destroyed more than 150 naval vessels in total including 16 entire classes of iranian warships despite [2:28] once being the largest undersea force in the middle east iran now has zero submarine vessels 97 of iran's [2:37] once massive inventory of more than 5 000 naval mines has also been targeted and destroyed iran's air [2:44] forces are functionally and operationally irrelevant at this point after the united states maintained total [2:50] air dominance over their country for weeks on end to underscore the significance of this before [2:56] operation epic fury the iranian naval air force would fly between 30 to 100 flights per day today [3:04] that number is zero iran's ability to fund and support its terrorist proxies has been greatly reduced [3:11] at this point iran can no longer distribute weapons to its proxies in the region and most importantly iran [3:18] will not be able to acquire nuclear weapons prior to the start of this successful operation iran was [3:25] aggressively expanding its short-range ballistic missile arsenal through these weapons and its navy [3:31] iran was attempting to build a military build-up around their country that would pose an imminent and [3:36] existential threat to the united states military assets in the middle east our allies in the region [3:42] and ultimately the free world iran was pursuing this dangerous and aggressive strategy for one reason [3:48] to hold the entire world hostage to its terrorist ambitions the iranians aim to use their expanded [3:55] military capabilities as a shield around their country to continue achieving their ultimate goal [4:00] internally building nuclear bombs but their murderous and evil plans have been blown up [4:06] quite literally and figuratively along with their military their nuclear program and most of [4:11] their senior leadership including the former supreme leader ayatollah ala kamani their commanding [4:18] control structures were also massively disrupted after being struck more than 2 000 times many of [4:24] their remaining leaders are paralyzed in fear and no longer enjoy the freedom to move around their [4:29] country freely and meet openly thanks to the unmatched excellence of our warriors at the direction of the [4:35] commander-in-chief the world has just witnessed a historically swift and successful military [4:41] triumph president trump started operation epic fury with strategic military objectives and the united [4:47] states has clearly achieved them as we mark this progress we also remember and honor the 13 american [4:54] heroes who laid down their lives in this noble effort i know president trump and our grateful nation honors [5:01] their ultimate sacrifice and we will never forget them may god bless their families the valiant valiant [5:07] efforts of all of our incredible service members created maximum leverage for the president of the united [5:13] states allowing he and his leadership team to engage in tough negotiate negotiations over the past couple of [5:19] weeks that have now created an opening for a diplomatic solution in long-term peace in the middle east the [5:25] president's maximum pressure and the leverage created by the success of operation epic fury led to the iranian [5:32] regime asking for and ultimately agreeing to a ceasefire proposal with the united states iran could no longer [5:39] tolerate being bombed or taking the gamble of what was to come following president trump's 8 pm deadline last night [5:47] iran has agreed to open the strait of her moose and as the president said we have received a proposal [5:52] from the iranians that has been determined to be a workable basis on which to negotiate i've seen a [5:58] lot of inaccurate coverage today from the media about these negotiations and these plans already [6:03] so let me be clear and correct the record the iranians originally put forward a 10-point plan [6:09] that was fundamentally unserious unacceptable and completely discarded it was literally thrown in the [6:14] garbage by president trump and his negotiating team many outlets in this room have falsely reported on [6:21] that plan as being acceptable to the united states and that is false with the president's deadline fast [6:27] approaching and the united states military completely decimating iran with each passing hour the regime [6:33] acknowledged reality to the negotiating team they put forward a more reasonable and entirely different [6:39] and condensed plan to the president and his team president trump and the team determined the new [6:44] modified plan was a workable basis on which to negotiate and to allow align it with our own 15-point [6:51] proposal the president's red lines namely the end of iranian enrichment in iran have not changed and [6:59] the idea that president trump would ever accept an iranian wish list as a deal is completely absurd [7:06] the president will only make a deal that serves in the best interests of the united states of america [7:10] and he is a negotiating team will focus on this effort over the next two weeks so long as the [7:16] strait of her moose remains open with no limitations or delays these extraordinarily sensitive and [7:22] complex negotiations will take place behind closed doors over the course of the next two weeks i would [7:28] strongly advise the media against running with narratives that have no basis in fact what iran [7:33] says publicly or feeds to all of you in the press is much different than what they communicate to the [7:38] united states the president and his team privately never underestimate president trump's ability to [7:44] successfully advance america's interests and broker peace president trump has a proven track record [7:50] of achieving good deals on behalf of the united states and the american people and he will only [7:55] accept one that puts america first with that i will take your questions today i'm sure you have a lot [8:00] of them in our new media seat we have shane harris with the amac news line shane thank you for being [8:05] here why don't you kick us off yeah thanks for having me caroline i have two questions for you first [8:09] following the president's announcement of the ceasefire if this is indeed the end of hostilities [8:13] in iran what is the president's message to the american people about what was it achieved for [8:18] our country through operation epic fury sure i think i just laid out a significant portion [8:23] of that in my opening remarks six weeks ago the president looked the american people in the eye [8:27] directly and he told them that he launched this operation to take out the imminent threat that was [8:32] posed by iran and that threat has now been greatly destroyed their navy their missiles their defense [8:38] industrial base and their desire and their plan to build a nuclear bomb inside their country [8:44] is no longer going to be allowed can no longer happen thanks to the remarkable success of operation [8:49] epic fury over the course of the last 38 days that has been absolutely achieved and now we're moving [8:54] into the next phase of this which is a negotiating period to put some fine points on this and to [8:59] hopefully broker an agreement that can achieve long-term peace in the middle east yeah and then second [9:04] what is the president's message to american seniors who have a much higher voter participation rate [9:09] and they're likely to be a key swing vote in the midterm elections well the president loves our seniors [9:14] across the country and as you know the president signed the one big beautiful bill the working [9:19] families tax cut last year which greatly reduced taxes on social security for our seniors in fact [9:25] thanks to the working families tax cut nearly 90 percent of seniors will no no longer pay tax [9:30] on their social security that's a huge win for our seniors and also for our middle class and working [9:35] families across the country with the no tax on tips provision and the no tax on overtime next week is [9:41] tax week you'll hear a lot from the president about how his policies have benefited the american people [9:45] and i'm proud to report that the president will be traveling next week to the great states of nevada [9:50] and arizona to tout this historic accomplishment over the course of the next week thank you for being here [9:55] shane gabe caroline iranian state media is saying that iran has now closed off the straight-of-form moves [10:02] today in response to israeli attacks on lebanon what's the white house response to that and just [10:07] listed many military successes i understand that but strategically how is the administration arguing [10:14] that iran does not have more economic leverage than now than it did before the start sure well with [10:21] respect to the first reporting out of iranian state media the president was made aware of those [10:26] reports uh before i came to the podium that is completely unacceptable and again this is a case [10:31] of what they're saying publicly is different privately we have seen an uptick of traffic in the straight [10:36] today and i will reiterate the president's expectation and demand that the straight of her moose is [10:42] reopened immediately quickly and safely that is his expectation it has been relayed to him privately [10:49] um that that is what's taking place in these reports uh publicly are false caroline the president [10:53] yesterday threatened that a whole civilization would die if a ceasefire deal wasn't reached understanding [10:59] that iranian leaders have previously said death to america but why is it appropriate for the [11:04] president of the united states to use that kind of language when talking about civilian targets [11:10] and was the president mocking islam by signing off his true social post over the weekend [11:14] praise be to allah wouldn't that antagonize muslim allies across the world well i understand the [11:20] questions about the president's rhetoric but what the president cares most about is results and in [11:25] fact his uh very tough rhetoric and his tough negotiating style is what has led to the result [11:31] that you are all witnessing today iran publicly acknowledging uh last night that they have agreed [11:37] or that they wanted this ceasefire with the united states because they no longer could tolerate [11:41] being bombed by our very powerful and lethal military and that they have committed to the reopening of [11:46] the strait of her moose which the president will hold them accountable for and it's something the [11:50] administration is closely monitoring in real time danny should the world not take his word seriously [11:56] the world should take his word very seriously and understanding that the president is always [12:00] most interested in results and it was the iranians who backed down not president trump he said that [12:06] they would face very grave consequences as you just laid out by the 8 pm deadline if they did not [12:10] agree to reopening the strait of her moose and what did they do last night they agreed to reopen the [12:15] strait of her moose danny thanks thanks carly um would president trump like to see lebanon included [12:21] in this peace deal as you know there's been increased israeli uh strikes on lebanon today with [12:25] dozens of casualties there sure lebanon is not part of the ceasefire that has been relayed to all [12:31] parties involved in the ceasefire as you know prime minister netanyahu put out a statement last [12:36] night in support of the ceasefire in support of the united states's efforts and he's also assured the [12:41] president they'll continue to be a helpful partner throughout the course of the next two weeks [12:44] is there any thought though that the president might like to see lebanon included at a future [12:49] date given that it seems to be causing or potentially undermining the iran ceasefire again [12:55] this will continue to be discussed i am sure between the president and prime minister netanyahu [13:00] the united states and israel and all of the parties involved but at this point in time they're [13:04] not included in the ceasefire deal jeff thank you caroline will the u.s take part in talks with [13:10] iran and islamabad on friday i can announce that the president is dispatching his negotiating team [13:17] led by the vice president of the united states jd vance special envoy whitkoff and mr kushner to [13:22] islamabad for talks this weekend the first round of those talks will take place on saturday morning [13:28] local time and we know we look forward to those in-person meetings what role does the president see [13:33] for the u.s in monitoring or helping with the straight of her moose going forward the president [13:39] commented on that this morning we're going to continue to monitor it very very closely we will [13:44] be helpful in any way that we can but we fully expect iran to do this and the president has made [13:48] that quite clear as well it's again as his statement said last night this ceasefire is subject to [13:55] the safe reopening of the straight of her moose again this was just determined last night we understand [13:59] things take time but that's the president's expectation and he will hold everyone to it [14:05] sure in the green blazer thank you thank you sure and then in front of you but andrew you can go [14:10] ahead all right you're not wearing a green blazer i am actually wearing a little brown to me but go [14:18] fair enough so uh regarding the president's rhetoric when the u.s invaded iraq in 2003 george w bush [14:26] uh said in a message to the iraqi people that the military campaign was directed quote against the [14:33] lawless men who rule your country and not against you yesterday the president threatened to destroy [14:41] iran's civilization the entire civilization not the iranian government but the iranian civilization [14:48] the iranian people the u.s has been a moral leader for most of its history by fighting wars against [14:56] other governments not against civilizations how can the president claim that america can ever have [15:04] the moral high ground if he's threatening to destroy civilizations and not casting wars as fights against [15:12] other governments and you're i think you should take a look at the actions of this president over [15:16] the course of the past six weeks and the actions of our brave men and women in our united states military [15:22] who have taken out uh... the military essentially taken out the military of a rogue islamic regime [15:28] that has chanted death to america for 47 years that has killed and maimed thousands of american [15:34] soldiers over the course of the last five decades the president absolutely has the moral high ground [15:39] over the iranian terrorist regime and for you to even suggest otherwise is frankly insulting [15:44] with all due respect caroline with all due respect go ahead there is uh just given what we've we've [15:51] seen in lebanon today and the increased attacks from israel is there any concern that netanyahu is trying [15:58] to kill the ceasefire the president spoke with prime minister netanyahu last night uh and in that private [16:03] conversation prime minister netanyahu relayed exactly what he said to the world publicly that he supports [16:08] the president uh and israel remains a key ally and partner to the united states they've been a tremendous [16:13] partner over the course of the past six weeks and we thank them for their heroic efforts as well [16:18] um and the president um had that conversation last night and that was uh relayed to the world publicly [16:24] as well reagan go ahead thank you caroline i have a question for you on iran and then a question on the [16:30] dignity act as well um on iran it's been reported that the ceasefire was struck after the involvement [16:36] of two unlikely factors jd vance and china what role did those parties play in striking a deal [16:42] well vice president vance has played a very significant and a key role in this since the [16:47] very beginning of course he's the president's right-hand man he is the vice president of the [16:51] united states he's been involved in all of these discussions and as i just announced he'll be leading [16:56] this new phase of negotiations in islamabad later this week with respect to china there were conversations [17:04] that took place between top levels of our government and china's government the president has great respect for [17:11] president xi and a great working relationship with him and and with that country and he looks [17:17] forward to visiting china in just a few weeks on the dignity act it's getting a fresh push through [17:23] congress uh it would give some illegal immigrants in the country a path to citizenship what's the [17:29] white house's position on this legislation and would the president sign it if it made it to his desk [17:33] honestly reagan i haven't spoken to the president about the legislation um but i will have that [17:38] conversation and we'll get you our formal position on it as soon as we can you're welcome go ahead [17:42] the president suggested in here this morning that he would support a children of u.s and on [17:47] adventure to charge tolls for ships going through the street does the president believe that the [17:53] u.s should earn revenue from the straight of where he was going forward it's something it's an idea the [17:58] president has floated as you know uh and it's something that will continue to be discussed over the [18:03] course of the next two weeks but the immediate priority of the president is the reopening of the [18:07] strait without any limitations whether in the form of tolls or otherwise and on the highly enriched uranium [18:13] has iran given the administration any indication that it would simply turn over the enriched uranium [18:20] or is this an expectation the president has that he would have to send in ground troops in order to do [18:25] that this is on the top of the priority list for the president and his negotiating team as they head [18:30] into these next round of discussions and as i said in my opener that is a red line that the president is [18:35] not going to back away from uh and he's committed to ensuring that takes place uh we hope it will [18:41] be through diplomacy have they given any indication that they would turn it over they have they are [18:46] yes trevor the latest news out of iran is that the air defenses have been uh activated in several [18:52] cities including isfahan and the explosions have been hurting who is bombing iran right now [18:58] were those reports just as of a few minutes ago yeah okay so obviously i'll have to go back and check [19:04] with the national security team i'm standing out here with all of you but i will do that and we [19:07] will get you an answer okay just on the civilization uh question that we've been talking about and i [19:12] would just add to that point again i haven't seen these reports i'm not verifying them not that i [19:17] don't trust you trevor but i want to go back and check with the experts here at the white house [19:21] i would just say and i would echo what the vice president said this morning this is a fragile truce [19:26] ceasefires are fragile by nature we've seen this with respect to the 12-day war with iran and israel [19:31] last year it takes time sometimes for these ceasefires to be fully effectuated and one of the [19:37] results of operation epic fury was we completely dismantled iran's command and control center which [19:42] makes it difficult for them to pass messages up and down the chain and so we we understand that i [19:48] would caution a little bit of patience but of course we want to see the ceasefire uh effectuated and [19:53] abided by by all parties as quickly as possible thank you and the american presidential [19:57] administrations going back to ronald reagan have said this formulation about nuclear war that a [20:02] nuclear war cannot be won and must never be fought is that still the view of this administration [20:07] given the president's comments about civilization i have no change in our view on that policy [20:14] i'm just given the gravity of what he said yesterday what was your understanding of what he [20:19] meant when he said i'm this civilization is going to be eliminated i think it was a very very strong [20:26] threat from the president of the united states that led the iranian regime to cave to their knees and [20:32] ask for a ceasefire and agree to reopening the street of her moose so it was a very strong threat [20:37] that led to results and as the secretary of war stated at the pentagon this morning it was not an [20:43] empty threat by any means the pentagon had a target list that they were ready to hit go on at 8 pm last [20:50] night if the iranian regime had not agreed to open the straight which they did and i think that's [20:54] something we should all be grateful for united states is a moral leader in the world given that [20:58] he was asked this exact same question by your colleague andrew in the back and i think again [21:02] the insinuation by anyone in this room um that iran somehow has the moral high ground over the united [21:08] states of america is insulting considering the atrocities that they have considering the atrocities [21:13] that they have committed against our people and our military over the past five decades john john go [21:21] ahead thanks a lot caroline two questions for you one has to do with a statement a joint statement put [21:26] out this morning by some of america's european allies our nato allies and in that joint statement they [21:32] said regarding the strait of hormuz our governments will contribute to ensuring freedom of navigation in [21:39] the strait of hormuz what's the administration's reaction to that joint statement does that smooth [21:44] things over when the president meets with nato secretary general a little bit later this afternoon i have a [21:50] direct quote from the president of the united states on nato and i will share it with all of you they [21:54] were tested and they failed and i would add it's quite sad that nato turned their backs on the american [21:59] people over the course of the last six weeks when it's the american people who have been defunding [22:04] their defense as you know president trump will be meeting with secretary ruta in a couple of hours [22:09] here at the white house and i know he looks forward to having a very frank and candid conversation with [22:13] him and secondly uh in regards to this conflict 38 days as you pointed out president trump has said [22:20] that there's been regime change has that regime change led to more freedoms for the iranian people [22:27] i think that's a question that's being asked a little bit too early john and and we hope that is [22:32] the case um but it's something that has yet to be seen caroline on this question of tolling by the iranians [22:40] in the strait of hormuz i've heard you talk about a number of red lines the president has in this [22:45] negotiation but i haven't heard you say that iranian tolling in the strait of hormuz is a red [22:50] line would it be acceptable to the united states at the end of all this if the iranians are able to [22:56] charge tolls in the strait of hormuz i think the president was very clear and simplistic in his [23:01] language last night in his truth social post where he said that this ceasefire is subject to [23:07] of the free safe and immediate reopening of the strait of hormuz that's very plain language and it [23:12] should be taken at face value carrie carrie go ahead without limitation including tolls yes carrie [23:20] quick follow-up on the atonement why would the u.s uh allow iran to collect tolls uh from the strait [23:25] of hormuz that's not something that we've opposed for a number of years now again that's not something [23:30] we've said that we've definitively accepted the joint venture is something that was proposed by the [23:35] president but he was very clear in his statement last night he wants to see the strait reopened [23:40] immediately without limitation and that's something we're going to hold them to [23:45] second question on family and friends in iran i myself am iranian and i've been talking to them [23:50] through the blackout one of my family members yesterday said goodbye to me so what message should [23:56] we be sending iranians when they message me saying what should they be doing right now how should they [24:00] stay safe because they really don't know what to do i think the president's main priority and my [24:07] main priority as his spokeswoman is to make sure that clear messages are sent to the american people [24:12] of course which is my job today with respect to the iranian people the president you know has taken [24:19] out the imminent threat that was posed by their military to the united states to our allies in the [24:23] region to our forces in the region and of course as the president has long said he hopes that iran will be [24:30] a country of peace of prosperity and we're moving into this next round of negotiations to hopefully [24:35] come to an agreement with this new regime that will create long-term stability in the middle east [24:42] we have said that they should stay inside of their homes and also take back their country so how [24:48] there's a contradiction there so how do you address that again we're moving into this next round of [24:52] negotiations with the remnants of the regime and those that we are speaking with now to hopefully reach [24:58] a place of peace long term for the region and that includes the iranian people as well in the blue go [25:05] ahead thank you the white house issued uh posted the statement from the iranian government that [25:11] passage in the strait will be coordinated with iran's armed forces as of today who controls the [25:16] state of straight apartments again this these statements were put out 12 hours ago we expect that [25:22] the strait will be opened immediately as i've said earlier we have seen an uptick in traffic in the [25:28] strait and it's something that we are monitoring minute by minute hour by hour as the days go on [25:34] who controls the strait right now one on the deportations of iranian officials on the negotiations [25:43] are there still security concerns about vice president's advance being part of these peace talks [25:48] steve whitkov jerry kushner and then two given the ongoing deportation of general soleimani's niece [25:54] does the trump administration plan to deport more relatives or people in the families of [25:59] iranian officials that are in the u.s certainly anyone who is here fraudulently i know i understand [26:04] one of the individuals who their visa was revoked by secretary rubio and they were deported by ice [26:10] they had a fraudulent asylum claim that's against the laws of the united states so anyone who is here [26:14] illegally or fraudulently is subject to our nation's immigration laws and will be removed from our [26:19] country and i know this continues to be a top priority for the state department working in [26:24] conjunction with the department of homeland security with respect to the safety of the vice president [26:29] we fully trust the united states secret service to do their job to keep the vice president and [26:34] the president's negotiating team safe they do a tremendous job and we fully trust them to do that [26:40] in the back go ahead [26:42] the president said cuba is next what's the message to the american people regarding cuba and what can cubans [26:48] expect in relation to the statement well look i think when president trump said that and he later [26:53] clarified after making that statement that he meant the cuban regime is bound to fall the country is [26:59] very weak they're in a very weak position economically obviously financially uh the cuban people are fed up [27:06] with their government as they should be and these talks and discussions continue to happen at the [27:11] highest level of our government i don't have any updates or announcements for you with respect to cuba [27:15] policy today thank you caroline secretary hexa said this morning that u.s troops would be sticking [27:23] around can you expound upon that what we should expect from u.s troops in theater for the next two [27:29] weeks and beyond i would defer you to the pentagon for any specifics on on assets that have been in [27:35] place in the middle east but take the secretary at his word and also the president has reiterated this [27:40] as well in his own words that we're not going to move anything immediately again this is a two-week [27:45] ceasefire where we hope at the end and we expect at the end we'll have a good agreement between the [27:50] united states and iran but in the meantime we're going to ensure that our military is always at the [27:55] ready of the commander-in-chief a couple more in the back thank you thank you on nato i'll take your [28:02] question thank you caroline on nato can you tell me is the united states still considering withdrawing [28:08] from nato is that still a possibility it's something the president has discussed and i think it's [28:12] something the president will be discussing in a couple of hours with secretary general ruta [28:16] and perhaps you'll hear directly from the president following that meeting later this afternoon thank [28:20] you everyone