Transcription
No. [Music] A welcome, welcome back. Yeah, welcome back. Took me 7. Here you [Music] She, thank you. Bring your fire, my friend. BR fire. I don't know, do you see the edge? I don't know. [Music] Show.
Good afternoon, everybody. Good afternoon. How are you? Good. Let my staff get settled. Uh, there's a lot of news today, so I look forward to taking your questions. Good to see you. Um, and I have some updates for you as well. Later today, President Trump will address the Business Roundtable’s quarterly meeting, where he will tout his pro-growth economic agenda and answer questions before more than 100 of our nation’s leading CEOs. In fact, it’s the largest attendance ever for this event because Business Leaders are so eager and encouraged by President Trump’s return to Washington.
This follows President Trump’s Roundtable yesterday with the Technology CEO Council here at the White House, where he met with key leaders in the technology industry. And last night, President Trump also held an official swearing-in ceremony in the Oval Office for Shawn Karin, who is now the 28th director of the United States Secret Service. Shawn demonstrated unbelievable bravery under gunfire in Butler, Pennsylvania, this past July when an assassin tried to kill President Trump. As someone who got to know Shawn personally throughout the campaign last year, I can say unequivocally that there is nobody better suited for this important role.
Following the confirmation of Labor Secretary Lori Chavez-DeRemer last night, the Senate has now confirmed 21 of President Trump’s well-qualified cabinet-level nominees, far outpacing the previous administration.
Looking ahead, tomorrow the president will welcome Taoiseach Micheál Martin of Ireland for the annual White House White House Shamrock ceremony. And Thursday, President Trump will welcome the NATO Secretary General for a working meeting and lunch on the economy.
February’s jobs report was good news for America, particularly our manufacturing sector. The manufacturing sector gained 10,000 new jobs in just one month under President Trump. This rebound was led by the automobile sector, where we saw 9,000 new auto jobs created already. That is the most auto jobs added to the economy in 15 months. This was a complete turnaround from the Biden Administration, where we were losing an average of 9,000 manufacturing jobs per month last year. Reuters is out with a report that a number of companies are now looking at expanding their presence or bringing their businesses into America because of President Trump’s policies.
And just moments ago, before coming out here, I saw another report by Reuters, uh, revealing that Merck has opened a $1 billion facility at its North Carolina site. This is just the latest pharmaceutical company to boost its U.S. manufacturing in lieu of President Trump’s tariffs. This announcement follows Eli Lilly’s plans to invest at least $27 billion to build four new manufacturing plants here in the United States. And Pfizer has also said it’s considering moving their manufacturing overseas, right here to the United States of America. As the president has said over and over again, when we purchase products made in the USA, the profits stay here, the revenue stays here, and most importantly, the jobs stay here.
And despite the globalist mainstream media’s attempts to worry consumers, President Trump will not repeat the trend of past American presidents who broke broke their promises to the American public and smiled while they stuck a knife in the back of American workers and shipped their jobs overseas. Our country has lost more than 5 million jobs in more than 90,000 factories due to devastating globalization over the last three decades alone. North Carolina lost 300,000 manufacturing jobs, including 60% of its furniture manufacturing jobs in the years following NAFTA. And in Michigan, globalist policies destroyed 250,000 jobs, including 40% of the auto industry, which again we know is clawing back because of President Trump’s action already. These are harrowing statistics that represent countless towns and families who have been completely destroyed. But the America last globalist era is ending under President Trump. He will no longer allow our country and our workers, our hardworking American families, to be ripped off.
On another very important, uh, issue for the president, he continues to work hard to secure the border. If you missed it yesterday, CBP launched an enhanced mobile app with a new feature, the “Intent to Depart,” which offers unlawfully present aliens or those aliens whose parole has been revoked an orderly and defined process to notify the U.S. government of their intent to depart the country. The CBP app strengthens our mission to secure the border and provides illegal aliens with a straightforward way way to leave now before facing much harsher consequences later. A new report from Bloomberg just found that the number of aliens trying to reach our country by traveling through the jungle to Central America dropped a whopping 99% last month. And this follows the incredible news that illegal border crossings plummeted last month as well, down 94% at our Southern border from last February under the Biden Administration. As President Trump made clear during his historic address to Congress, we must finish this job and continue to carry out the largest deportation campaign in American history. And that is why the president fully endorses the continuing resolution that is before Congress and was negotiated by Speaker Johnson. He is encouraging all Republicans to vote yes on this clean CR, which freezes funding at current levels and will prevent the Democrats from getting their long-awaited government shutdown vote. Voting against the CR will hurt the American people and kill the incredible momentum that President Trump has built over the past 51 days.
Lastly, before I take questions, I would like to commend The Washington Post, who I believe is in the room today. According to a new report from Axios, The Washington Post is overhauling their newsroom structure. It appears that the mainstream media, including the Post, is finally learning that having disdain for more than half of the country who supports this President does not help you sell newspapers. It’s not a very good business model. And that’s why we have people in our new media seat. And today we have Saagar Enjeti, who is the host of Breaking Points, a popular political YouTube news and podcast show that has racked up nearly 1 billion views on YouTube and several hundred million podcast downloads since its launch in June 2021. He’s also a former member of the White House Correspondents’ Association but is now a part of the thriving Independent Media. We’re very happy to have you with us here today. Why don’t you kick off our briefing?
Thank you. Really, really appreciate you having me, Caroline. Uh, a couple of questions for you if I may. First is first on the stock market. So currently it’s the 25th anniversary today of the dot-com bubble crash. Uh, there’s a lot of concern for a lot of Americans right now about the state of the economy. President Trump has refused to rule out a recession. Secretary Lutnick, however, has told us there will not be one. So can the White House just tell and assure Americans today that there’s not going to be a recession?
Well, there’s a lot to unpack there, so let me start by saying that first of all, when it comes to the stock market, the numbers that we see today, the numbers we saw yesterday, the numbers we saw will see tomorrow are a snapshot of a moment in time. And as President Trump has said, and I’m here to echo the remarks of of this President, of this White House, we are in a period of economic transition. We are in a period of transition from the mess that was created under Joe Biden in the previous administration. Joe Biden left this country in an economic disaster. Several statistics to point out: the delinquency rate on credit card loans increased 63% under Joe Biden, hitting a near 12-year high under Joe Biden. All net job growth went to foreign-born Americans. Real wages declined by 1 and a half percent under Joe Biden. And as we all know, in this Administration continues to combat prices, soared more than 20% under Joe Biden because of his reckless spending and economic policies. So we are in a period of transition from that economic nightmare under a president who had no idea what he was doing, never held a private sector job in his life, into a golden age of American manufacturing under a businessman and a dealmaker-in-chief and President Donald J. Trump, who will be implementing, is implementing the formula that we know works. Look at President Trump’s results in his first term. If people are looking for certainty, they should look at the record of this President. That’s why the American people re-elected him back to this office. And look at everything that President Trump has already done and his team has already done in just 51 days: the massive efforts to deregulate, tax cuts which we need Congress to pass, the Trump economic agenda, the Trump tax cuts which will unleash economic growth. And the President also addressed this directly. I will point out as well, uh, when you look at what he said on Air Force One, uh, and he said he wants the American people to have so much money in their pockets they don’t even know what to do with it. That’s the intent of this Administration, and we’re working very hard every day on that goal.
Second question on the CR. So President Trump came out today being a primary challenge against Congressman Thomas Massie. Congressman Massie’s been a supporter of Doge; he’s been a supporter of Make America Healthy Again. What kind of message is this White House sending against a congressman who’s sticking up for principles that he’s long held, um, in the chamber and voting against the continuing resolution and its pending?
I think the president has made it very clear that he believes it’s critical, uh, for conservatives and Republicans and frankly all members of Congress to get behind this continuing resolution to keep the government funded. The president wants to continue the momentum that he has built over the last 51 days, uh, in order to keep the government funded. We got to keep moving with these deportations, um, and he believes that everybody needs to get on board with this bill. He’s been active in this process; he’s been making calls to get this over the finish line, and we’re urging every Republican and Democrats, too, uh, to do what’s right for the American public to prevent a government shutdown.
Just the last question here on Mahmud Khalil. Does the administration believe that it needs to charge a green card holder with a crime to be eligible for deportation?
Well, uh, in fact, Secretary Rubio, uh, reserves the right to revoke the visa of Mahmud Khalil, and I’m glad you brought this up. Under the Immigration and Nationality Act, the Secretary of State has the right to revoke, um, a green card or a visa for individuals who serve, um, or are adversarial to the foreign policy and national security interests of the United States of America. And Mahmud Khalil was an individual who was given the privilege of coming to this country to study at one of our nation’s finest universities and colleges, uh, and he took advantage of that opportunity, of that privilege, by siding with terrorists—Hamas terrorists who have killed innocent men, women, and children. This is an individual who organized group protests that not only disrupted, uh, college campus classes and harassed Jewish American students and made them feel unsafe on their own college campus but also distributed pro-Hamas propaganda flyers with the logo of Hamas. That is what the behavior and activity that this individual engaged in. And I have those flyers on my desk; they were provided to me by the Department of Homeland Security. I thought about bringing them into this briefing room to share with all of you, but I didn’t think it was worth the dignity of this room to bring that pro-Hamas propaganda. But that’s what this individual distributed on the campus of Columbia University. And this Administration is not going to tolerate individuals having the privilege of studying in our country and then siding with pro-terrorist organizations that have killed Americans. We have a zero-tolerance policy for siding with terrorists, period.
Peter Doocy.
Thank you, Caroline. Uh, so you said that the Dow dropping and dropping and dropping is a period of transition. You’re sure nobody here at the White House short of the Dow?
No. I don’t think so.
Okay. Uh, but is there any concern here that it’s going to be harder to ask, uh, certain federal workers to retire if they look at their retirement accounts and they’re getting robbed every day?
Well, I’m glad you brought up workers because that’s exactly who President Trump is looking out for with his America First Trade policy and his America First economic agenda. And if you look at, uh, there’s great indication to be optimistic about where the economy stands. And the American people, investors, CEOs, small business owners, but most importantly, workers should bet on President Trump because his tariff policies, what he envisions is reciprocity, fair trade practices where American workers are put first and are no longer ripped off by foreign countries all over this world.
President Trump says he’s going to buy a Tesla today. Did he buy it? And when is the last time he drove a car?
That’s a very good question. I have heard the president remark that he misses being able to drive, that luxury of driving his own vehicle, although the Beast is nice. But he is going to be viewing a Tesla that is making its way to the White House complex now. I can confirm, uh, perhaps the press pool today will have an opportunity to witness this, uh, very exciting moment later this afternoon, um, but, uh, Tesla, Tesla is on its way here now, um, and we’ll see if the president, uh, likes it when he checks it out.
So they’re bringing him a Tesla to look at, and if he likes it he’s just going to buy it?
No. He’s intent on, he’s, uh, definitely going to buy one, but he’ll take a look at it when it gets here later this afternoon.
Full retail?
Yes. Full market market price.
Kelly.
Can we talk about Canada? Uh, what is the status of President Trump having a conversation with Mark Carney? Uh, we have seen the president use the term “Governor” to refer to Justin Trudeau. Will that moniker also go to Mr. Carney going forward? And is the decision to increase the tariffs, is that based on a specific economic metric that he looked at? Is it impulse? How would you describe his reaction to Canada’s?
The president has not yet spoken to Mr. Carney, not till, um, not since I checked, which was just moments ago, um, but certainly his phone is always open, um, to to leaders who wish to speak with him. As for the tariffs, the president made his position on this quite clear with the statement that he put out, um, and it was a retaliatory statement due to the escalation of rhetoric that we’ve seen out of Ontario, Canada. Uh, the president saw the Premier Doug Ford make an egregious and insulting comment threatening to shut down electricity for the American people, for hardworking American families. Uh, he made that threat; the president saw that and has an obligation and a responsibility, um, to respond, um, accordingly, um, and in and represent the interests of the American people. So he has made the decision to add a 25% tariff, uh, so now steel and aluminum tariffs will come into effect tomorrow at the rate of 50%, and our steel and aluminum industries have have actually applauded these tariffs because again they know it’s going to grow their industry here; it’s going to allow them to export more steel that is made right here in the United States with American workers.
“Egregious and insulting” are your words here, but that’s what many Canadian leaders have said about the actions President Trump has taken toward Canada. And what do you think the timeline is for speaking to Mr. Carney because normally the Pres—a sitting president speaks to a close ally very quickly when there’s, uh, new leadership?
Well, the president, uh, is again responding to the fact that Canada has been ripping off the United States of America and hardworking Americans for decades. If you look at the rates of tariffs across the board that Canadians have been imposing on the American people and our workers here, it is egregious. In fact, I have a handy-dandy chart here, uh, that shows not just Canada, uh, but the rate of tariffs across the board. If you look at Canada, since you brought it up, American cheese and butter, nearly 300% tariff. You look at, uh, India, 150% tariff on American alcohol. You think that’s helping Kentucky bourbon be exported into India? I don’t think so. 100% tariff on agricultural products from India. Look at Japan tariffing rice 700%. President Trump believes in reciprocity, and it is about dang time that we have a president who actually looks out for the interests of American businesses and workers. And all he’s asking for at the end of the day are fair and balanced trade practices. And unfortunately, Canada has not been treating, uh, us fa—very fairly at all over the past several decades.
To the woman in the purple, because I saw you were making a face at my previous, uh, answer. So what’s going on?
Well, I actually, I, I have a couple questions. Um, at the core of pro-Palestinian protests on college campuses and elsewhere is a demand to end the war in Gaza, a goal that this Administration actually supports and has pursued. So why did, why has not, has this not been acknowledged or highlighted?
Because these colleges, uh, and these protests have again, uh, put out Hamas propaganda. The flyers that have been distributed, uh, call for violence. The flyers that have been distributed have the logo of an organization that has held Americans hostage, that murdered innocent babies, that murdered men, women, and children. They are a designated foreign terrorist organization, and we are not going to tolerate non-citizens, foreigners who come here on a visa, uh, engaging in such behavior, siding with terrorists. And the Secretary of State reserves the authority to revoke, uh, the the green card or the visa of an individual who serves at as an—who actually it says right here, “reasonable grounds to believe that the alien’s presence or activities in the United States would have potentially serious adverse foreign policy consequences to the United States.” And I think siding with Hamas makes that quite clear. Secretary Rubio exercised that authority, uh, and we fully believe that we are going to move forward with more arrests, as President Trump previewed in his statement yesterday.
Also, thanks. Are there conversations between the administration and the Canadians going on over this tariff because the Ontario premier says the next step is to cut off electricity to the U.S.?
And the president put out a statement after seeing those comments and said that it would be, uh, there would be grave consequences imposed on Canada if they think about shutting off electric for the United States of America and our citizens. And the president is also, um, determined to ensure that we are depending on American electricity, not the electricity production of foreign nations, including our allies in Canada. As for conversations, there is continued correspondence between the president’s team, particularly Secretary Lutnick, and the Canadians as well.
In the market reaction, how do you, how do you sell to the American people then, after they’re looking at what’s happening in the markets this week and say that the tariff policy long-term is something good?
Well, just think about what the tariff policy long-term will do for our country. I think, uh, many of us probably grew up in small towns. I know at least I did. And the Main Street in my small town looks a heck of a lot worse than it probably did decades ago before I was alive, at least, uh, my parents and grandparents tell me so. And I know many Americans feel that same way. What the president envisions for this country is for the United States of America to be a manufacturing superpower, uh, where there are American factories and businesses owned by Americans producing goods that we are exporting to the rest of the world. Those revenues will stay here; it will increase wages for people here in our great country; it will ensure our national security; and it will boost the morale of the American people to have thriving industries again. Think about Detroit, Michigan, um, think about North Carolina, as I mentioned, that used to have a thriving furniture industry that no longer exists because of the globalist trade policies of previous and past administrations. And the American people gave the president a tremendous opportunity to restore American greatness and, uh, restore our manufacturing dominance, and he’s intent on doing just that.
John Cardillo.
Two questions for you. First on the CR. You put up on the screen the president’s message to Republicans to support this continuing resolution. Is there outreach to Democrats because what we’ve seen since the beginning of the fiscal year is that in order to get a continuing resolution you need bipartisan support and you need compromise?
Well, right now, uh, we are focused on House Republicans and on the House because that’s the first step, as you know, John, uh, and so the president has engaged in correspondence with House Republicans, uh, whipping votes and getting them to a yes, which I, uh, understand has been pretty successful this morning thus far, um, and so again the president is encouraging Republicans especially, but again, as I said, all members of Congress to vote to continue funding this government so we can continue the business of the American people, which, which elected President Trump to do.
And then on financial markets, we’ve seen this decline yesterday; we see it today as well. It seems that the read on the president’s policies is one in which they do not have confidence in his trade tariffs policy; they do not have confidence in what the president said to Fox News over the weekend that he didn’t rule out the idea of a recession. What is your read in terms of the decline that we’ve seen over the last week and a half in financial markets?
Well, I think there’s actually a lot of reason to be confident, and many people do feel confident. Just look at the nearly $2 trillion in private investment that this president has secured. Look at the comments made by the CEO of Apple, one of the biggest companies in this world, who said that he is bullish on the future of American innovation under the leadership of President Trump. Look at CEO confidence. According to the Conference Board measure of CEO confidence in Q1 2025 under the leadership of this President, it jumped to its highest level in 3 years, from cautious optimism to confident optimism. Um, if you again look at the $2 trillion in investments from some of the biggest companies in the world, look at the jobs report last Friday, as I also cited in my opening remarks. Uh, Fox Business reported that Trump sees a manufacturing boom in the first Q1 jobs report of his second term. Look at the auto jobs that have already poured back into America. We added 9,000 new auto jobs. Those are sticky jobs; those are good-paying jobs. That’s 9,000 American families who will now be able to live the American dream because of the policies of this Administration. You also look at small business optimism. The NFIB put out a report this morning: small business optimism, uh, continues to be far higher than it ever was under the previous administration. There’s a lot of reason to be optimistic, and again, the American people, uh, CEOs and people on Wall Street and on Main Street should bet on this President. He is a dealmaker; he is a businessman, and he’s doing what’s right for our country. He wants to restore wealth to the United States of America.
Michael.
Good to see you.
Hey, Caroline.
Thank you. Uh, two questions if I may. Uh, will the, will the administration be providing any relief to states affected by the Ontario power terar—
Well, the president has made it very clear that Canada would be very wise not to shut off electricity, uh, for the American people, uh, and we hope that that does not happen. As for what would happen, uh, if that does take place, I’ll leave it to the president to make those decisions.
Does President Trump share the Justice Department’s concern over rising egg prices and possible collusion of big eggs?
Well, we definitely, we definitely do share the concerns of the American people when it comes to, um, the price of eggs. However, good news: the average cost of a dozen eggs is actually down, um, since Secretary Rollins and President Trump announced their plan. It’s down a $1.85, so that’s good news on the cost of eggs. And as we know, under the Biden Administration, egg prices went up 22%. This is another example of an economic mess that President Trump inherited, and the Secretary of Agriculture and the president are focused on fixing it. Secretary Rollins put out a five-point plan, a four-point plan rather, um, to address this crisis, and she has been honest and realistic with the American people, as this Administration always is. It will take about 3 to 6 months to get the egg supply back to where it should be, um, but she’s focused, and this Administration is focused on doing that every day.
Karen.
Thanks, Caroline. Um, just back on the markets, you said that that what we’re seeing this week, right now on Wall Street, is a snapshot of a moment in time, but does the president think he bears any responsibility for the turmoil in the stock market this week?
Look, the president, uh, is unwavering in his commitment to restore American manufacturing and global dominance, and I think he doubled down on that this morning with his new statement, uh, and the tariffs that will be implemented tomorrow on steel and aluminum. And he has said recently he’s not looking at the market. He said you can’t really watch the stock the stock market.
But all of the gains since election day have been erased in the S&P 500. At what point, how far do stocks have to fall before the president considers it a factor and and changes course?
Again, as I just said, the president will look out for Wall Street and for Main Street just like he did in his first term, and, uh, people on Wall Street and Main Street should bet on this president. He’s doing what’s right for this country.
Nick.
Good to see you.
Good to see you. Thank you, Caroline. So, um, is the president prepared, like what we saw with Congressman Massie, to, um, pressure other Republican lawmakers into supporting this continuing resolution?
Well, he is very much, as I said, engaged in this process. He’s been making calls to lawmakers on Capitol Hill, uh, and I think his statements against, uh, Congressman Massie speak for themselves, um, and I will let the president put out any additional statements if he chooses to, but he fully expects all House Republicans to vote for this continuing resolution.
And just to follow up, can we, uh, start anticipate seeing more of the President weigh in on upcoming 2026 races like we saw this morning?
I’m not sure about that. I’m not even sure if I’m allowed to speak about that from this podium. I would check in with our outside political team for guidance on future races and the president’s involvement.
Elena.
Thank you. I want to ask about some comments Elon Musk made yesterday. Yesterday he said that there is $500 to $700 billion in waste, fraud, and entitlement spending. He called it, quote, “the big one to eliminate.” Earlier this month he also referred to Social Security as a Ponzi scheme. Should Americans expect changes, big changes to Social Security and Medicare?
President Trump has been unequivocally clear on this: he is going to protect Social Security and Medicare benefits and Medicaid, uh, for hardworking Americans who paid into these entitlement programs and deserve those hard-earned benefits. And unfortunately, the mainstream media has taken Mr. Musk out of context. I saw a Bloomberg headline that our team actually worked on getting updated, sted, and fixed because it was so wrong, uh, and it took Mr. Musk out of context. What he was specifically referring to cutting, uh, was the waste and the fraud and abuse that does exist in these programs. According to an IG report from the Social Security Administration, there’s more than $70 billion of fraud in the Social Security program alone that we know of, um, and so the president will continue to protect these programs for hardworking Americans, and actually cutting the waste, fraud, and abuse out of these programs will protect it for hardworking Americans.
Respectfully, he said around $500 to $700 billion; there was no evidence to claim that. And also, if that is the case, that would represent more than a third of what Social Security paid out last year, maybe 20% of Social Security and Medicare. Again, if you read his full quote, he said, “We think so.” It’s an estimate based on what he’s seen. He’s not saying definitively; he’s saying that’s what Doge suspects and thinks, and that’s exactly why Doge was created: to ensure that we are investigating the fraudulent spending, the wasteful abuse across our federal government. And I would remind everybody in this room that 77% of the American people support this effort by Elon Musk and Doge to identify such waste, fraud, and abuse.
Go ahead.
Thanks, Caroline.
You’re welcome. Um, if we could just step back for a second, when President Trump last addressed the BRT when he was on the campaign trail, his big push was on tax cuts. He’s going there today as he’s proposing tax hikes in the form of tariffs, and I’m curious, he’s not doing—why he’s prioritizing that over the tax cuts.
He’s actually not implementing tax hikes. Uh, tariffs are a tax hike on foreign countries that again have been ripping us off. Tariffs are a tax cut for the American people, and the president is a staunch advocate of tax cuts, as you know. He campaigned on no taxes on tips, no taxes on overtime, no taxes on Social Security benefits. He is committed to all three of those things, and he expects Congress to pass them later this year.
I’m sorry, have you ever paid a tariff? Because I have. They don’t get charged on foreign companies; they get charged on the importers. And ultimately, when we have fair and balanced trade, which the American people have not seen in decades, as I said at the beginning, uh, revenues will stay here, wages will go up, and our country will be made wealthy again. And I think, think it’s insulting that you’re trying to test my knowledge of economics, uh, and the the decisions that this president has made.
I’m now regretting giving a question to the Associated Press.
Mary.
Go ahead, Caroline.
I have two of those. Okay. The first one was on Russia-Ukraine. I know Special Envoy Wiof said yesterday that, uh, Zelensky apologized in his letter to Trump. Can you share any more about that letter and what else might be interesting from it that we don’t know?
Yes, the president did reference that letter, as you’re saying, uh, in his joint address to Congress, um, and I do have an update. Um, as you know, Secretary of State Rubio and our national security adviser Mike Waltz have been negotiating with the Ukrainians, uh, today in Saudi. They will be providing in a full readout of that meeting, uh, very soon, um, but I can assure you and everybody here and the American people that the news we’ve received from that meeting throughout the day and the president has been briefed on, um, is positive. This meeting has been productive. I will let Secretary of Rubio and our national security Secretary of State Rubio and our national security adviser, um, speak to the specifics of what has taken place today when they are ready to do so when the meeting concludes.
Lindsay.
Go ahead.
The president has said this is the first of many arrests like this. Does the administration have a rough estimate of how many arrests you’re planning to make similar?
I don’t have an estimate. I do know that DHS, based on very good intel that they have gathered at the direction of the president’s executive order, um, which made it very clear to the Department of Homeland Security, um, that engaging, as I said, an anti-American, anti-Semitic, pro-Hamas, uh, protest will not be tolerated. So, um, since the president signed that executive order and since Secretary of Known, uh, has taken the oath at DHS, um, they have been using intelligence, um, to identify individuals on our nation’s colleges and universities, on our college campuses, who have engaged in such, uh, behavior and activity, and especially illegal activity, um, and so I don’t have a readout on how many arrests will come, but I do know that DHS is actively working on it. And I also know that Columbia University has been given the names of other individuals who have engaged in pro-Hamas activity, uh, and they are refusing using to help DHS identify those individuals on campus. And as the president said very strongly in his statement yesterday, he is not going to tolerate that, and we expect all America’s colleges and universities to comply with this administration’s policy.
Jasmine.
On Canada, after all of these threats to increase tariffs or turn off electricity, I wonder, does this Administration still consider Canada to be a close ally of the United States?
Well, I think Canada is, uh, a a neighbor; they are a partner; um, they have always been an ally; perhaps they are becoming a competitor now, um, but as the President also laid out in his Truth Social post today, he believes that Canadians would benefit greatly from becoming the 51st state of the United States of America. And I actually looked into some of the research about the cost of living, uh, in Canada, and the cost of living is much higher than it is here in the United States of America. The average cost of a home in Canada is much higher, uh, in Quebec, um, the highest tax rate for an income of $150,000 or more is 53.3%—more than half of Canadians’ incomes, they are being taxed on. So the president has made it clear that he believes Canadians would be better served economically, militarily, uh, if they were to become the 51st state of the United States of America.
Reagan.
Thank you, Caroline. A week ago, Attorney General Bondi said a truckload of FSTE files had been delivered to her office from the SDNY. When can we expect those files to be released to the public?
I would defer you to the Department of Justice. I don’t have a timeline here.
Do you have any update on the JFK files?
Um, I don’t at this moment. Again, I would defer you to our DNI Director Tulsi Gabbard and also the Department of Justice. I know that they are working on that diligently as the president requested them to do.
Christian.
Thanks, Caroline. Two questions. Since we’ve been talking a lot about tariffs, have there been any updates on standing up the External Revenue Service to collect revenue from there?
Well, we need reciprocal tariffs to go into effect first, and as you know, the president will be rolling those out on April 2nd. And then the next start of that process is collecting that revenue to ultimately create the External Revenue Service, which Secretary Lutnick is working very hard on and is quite enthusiastic about, if you have noticed from his media interviews.
Can the president do that through executive action, or will it require legislation?
Well, the president already signed an executive order to direct the Secretary of Commerce to establish the External Revenue Service, or at least to identify ways in which it can be done. I would refer you to the Department of Commerce for more on specifics on that.
Um, sure, in the back.
Thank you. Very—I have a few questions on South Korea and North Korea. First question: as you know, South Korean President Yoon has been released from illegal detention. What is the reaction of the United States as an ally? Is there a possibility of a summit with President Trump when President Yoon returns? Second question on North Korea: North Korea launched the politic miss—several ballistic missiles into the West Coast yesterday. Uh, what is the White House’s reaction on this?
Sure. Yes. I’ll start with your question on North Korea. Uh, we condemn these actions, and we call on North Korea to stop their unlawful and destabilizing actions. As for South Korea, the U.S. and, um, Republic of Korea’s alliance is ironclad, and the Trump Administration remains in close contact with our South Korean counterparts as we work together to promote a free and open Indo-Pacific.
You didn’t answer that release of Presid—from—
I don’t have anything on that, but I can certainly check in with the National Security Council and get back to you.
Um, sure. Good to see you. Um, Mary. Many are concerned about the validity of President Biden’s official actions and also his pardons of the possible criminal actions of individuals such as his family members and Liz Cheney, as information is emerging that many of his official actions were auto-signed, uh, possibly even the pardons, and without his knowledge or consent. Uh, does the White House have any information available currently that Biden was actually the one that approved and signed those pardons? And second question: will a DOJ investigate whether President Biden’s cognitive decline allowed unelected staff to push through radical policy and pardons without his knowing approval?
I don’t
Fox Family, who did lose a cameraman, Craig Savage, who passed away at 61 years old, uh, recently. A very tragic death. An individual who was a great man and covered this building, um, for many many years. So the entire press office, the Communications office here, wants to express our condolences with his family and also with Fox News. I'll see you guys later.