congress when you fire those charged with fraud. >> how are we? it is an honor to be here with all of you. a lot of new faces. president trump is back and the golden age of america has most definitely begun. the senate has already confirmed five of president trump's exceptional cabinet nominees. secretary of state marco rubio, defense secretary pete hegseth, cia director john radcliffe. , and treasury secretary scott bessent.

it is imperative that the senate continues to her confirm nominees as quickly as possible. as you have seen during the past week president trump is hard at work fulfilling the promises that he made to the american people on the campaign trail. since taking the oath of office president trump has taken more than 300 executive actions, secured nearly $1 trillion in u.s. investments, deported illegal alien rapists, gang members, and terrorists from our homeland, and restored common sense to the federal government. i want to take a moment to go through some of these extraordinary actions. on day one president trump declared a national emergency at our southern border to end the four-year-long invasion of illegal aliens under the previous administration. additionally, president trump signed an executive order to end catch and release and finish construction of his effective order wall.

by using every lever of his federal power president trump has sent a loud and clear message to the entire world. america will no longer tolerate illegal immigration. and this president expects that every nation on this planet will cooperate with the repatriation of their citizens. as proven by this weekend, when president trump swiftly directed his team to issue harsh and effective sanctions and tariffs on the colombian government upon hearing they were denied a u.s. military aircraft full of their citizens who were deported by this administration. within hours the colombian government agreed to all of president trump's demands, proving america is once again respected on the world stage. so, to foreign nationals who are thinking about trying to illegally enter the united states, inc. again. under this president you will be detained and you will be deported. every day americans are safer

because of the violent criminals that president trump's administration is removing from our communities. on january 23 ice new york arrested a turkish national who was a known or suspect terrorist. on january 23 ice san francisco arrested a citizen of mexico unlawfully present in the united states who has been convicted of continuous sexuaabuse of a child aged 14 years or younger. ice st. pa has arrested a citizen ofonduras who was convicted of urth degree criminal sexual conduct with a minor. ice buffalo arrested a citizen ecuador who has been convicted of rape. ice boston arrested a citizen of the dominican republic who has a criminal conviction for second-degree murder. this criminal was convicted of murderor beating his pregnant wife to death in front of her

five-year-old son. ice st. paul also arrested a citizen of mexico who was convicted of assessing pornographic material of a minor on a work computer. these are the heinous individuals th this administration is removing from american communities every sile day and to the brave state and local law enforcement officers and ice agents who are help in the facilitation of this operation president trump has your back and he is grateful for your hard work. on the economic front, president trump took immediate action to lower costs for families suffering from four long years of the biden administration's destructive and inflationary policies. president trump awarded the heads of all executive departments and agencies to help deliver emergency price relief to the american people. untangle our economy from biden's regulatory constraints, and end the reckless war on american energy.

president trump also signed sweeping executive orders to end the weaponization of government and restore common sense to the federal bureaucracy. he directed all federal agencies to terminate illegal diversity, equity, and inclusion programs to help return america to a merit-based society. president trump also signed an executive order declaring it is now the policy of the federal government that there are only two sexes, hollande female. sanity has been restored. before i take your questions i would like to point out to all of you once again, have access to the most transparent and accessible president in american history. there has never been a president he communicates with the american people and the american press corps as openly and authentically as the 45th and now 47th president of the united states. this past week president trump has held multiple news

conferences, gaggle don air force one multiple times, and set down for a two-part interview on fox news which aired last week. as politico summed it up, trump is everywhere again. and that is because president trump has a great story to tell about the legendary american revival that is well underway. and in keeping with this revolutionary media approach that president trump deployed during the campaign, the trump white house will speak to all media outlets and personalities. not just the legacy media who are seated in this room. because according to recent polling from gallup american's trust in mass media has fallen to a record low. millions of americans, especially young people, have turned from traditional television outlets and newspapers to consume their news from podcasts, blogs, social media, and other independent outlets. it is essential to our team that we share president trump's message everywhere and adapt

this white house to the new media landscape in 2025. to do this i'm excited to announce the following changes will be made to the briefing room, where mr. brady's legacy will endure. this white house believes strongly in the first amendment, so that is why our team will work to restore the press passes of the 440 journalists whose passes were wrongly revoked by the previous administration. we are also opening up this briefing room to new media voices who produced news-related content and whose outlet is not already represented by one of the seats in this room. we welcome independent journalists, podcasters, social media influencers, and content creators to apply for credentials to cover this white house. you can apply now on our new website,

whitehouse.gov/newmedia. starting today this seat in the front of the room, which is usually occupied by the press secretary's staff will be called the newmedia seat. i team will review the applications and give credentials to newmedia applan who meet our criteria and pass secret service requirements to enter the white house complex. in light of these announcements our first question for today's briefing will go to these newmedia members whose outlets, despite being some of the most-viewed news websites in the country, have not been given seats in this room. before i turn to questions i do have news directly from the president of the united states that was just shared with me in the oval office. from president trump directly, an update on the new jersey drones. after research and study the drones that were flying over new jersey in large numbers were authorized to be flown by the faa for research and various other reasons. many of these drones were also hobbyists, recreational, and private individuals that enjoy

flying drones. in time it got worse due to curiosity. this was not the enemy. a statement from the president of the united states to start this briefing with some newsprint with that i will turn it over to questions and we will begin with our new members, mike allen from axios, mike, white -- why don't you go ahead? >> does the president see anything fishy about deep-sea, its cost origins? and could china's ability to make these models cheaper affect our thinking about expanding generation data centers? sec. leavitt: sure. the president was asked about deepseek last night when he cackled for the third of fourth time throughout the weekend with members of the traveling press corps. the president believes this is a wake-up call to the american ai industry. the last administration sat on their hands and allowed china to rapidly develop this ai program

president trump believes in restoring american ai dominance. that is why he took strong executive action this week to sign executive orders to roll back some of the onerous resignations -- regulations. president trump has appointed the first ai and crypto czar, david sachs. very knowledgeable on this subject and his team is here working every day to ensure american ai dominance. as for the national security implications, i spoke with nsc this morning. i have an update how will share with you. >> is their fear that the u.s. has fallen behind? and how would the president make sure u.s. stays ahead? sec. leavitt: the president is confident we will restore american dominance in ai. >> thank you to you and president trump for giving voices to media outlets that represent millions of americans. the thing i would add -- i have

a two-per question for you. can you expand upon what steps the white house is going to take to wring more voices, not less? which is what our founder, andrew by part, believed in? into this room? sec. leavitt: as i said in my opening statement, it is a priority to honor the first amendment. it is a fact that americans are consuming the news media from various different platforms, especially young people. as the youngest press secretary in history i take pride in opening up this room to newmedia voices to share the president's message with as many americans as possible. in doing so we will ensure that outlets like yours, axios and breitbart, which are widely respected, have a seat in this room every day. we also encourage anybody in this country, whether you are a tiktok content creator, a blogger, a podcaster, if you are

producing legitimate news content, no matter the medium, you will be allowed to apply for press credentials. as i said earlier, our newmedia website is whitehousetop drop/newmedia. -- whitehouse. gol [speaking foreign language] [speaking foreign language] -- .gov/newmedia. >> you laid out some of the actions president trump had taken. can we expect that pace to continue as the first 100 days moves along here and beyond that? sec. leavitt: absolutely. there is no doubt president trump has always been the hardest working man in politics. i think that has been proven over the last week. this president has signed more than 300 executive orders. he has taken historic action. i gag old board air force one to

mark the first 100 days of this administration last friday. first hundred hours, rather. this president did more in the first 100 hours than the previous president did in the first 100 days. president trump, you can expect for him to work at this breakneck speed. i hope you are ready to work really hard. i know we are. >> when you are up here in this briefing room speaking to me about the public you view yourself and your role as advocating on behalf of the president or providing the unvarnished truth that is not polite, not to obfuscate to the american people? sec. leavitt: i commit to telling the truth from this podium every day. i commit to speaking on behalf of the president. that is my job. i will say it is very easy to speak truth from this podium when you have a president who is implementing policies that are wildly popular with the american people. that is exactly what this administration is doing. it is correcting the lies and wrongs of the last four years.

many of the lies that have been told to your faces in this briefing room. i will not do that. i would like to point out while i vowed to provide the truth, we ask that all of you in this room hold yourself -- yourselves to this standard. you know there have been lies pushed by many legacy media outlets about this president, about his family, and we will not accept that. we will call you out when we feel your reporting is wrong or there is misinformation about this white house. so, yes, i will hold myself to the truth and i expect everyone in this room to do the same three -- same. >> the office of management and budget directed across the board, we understand federal grants. it caused a lot of confusion around the country. headstart providers, among services to homeless veterans. you know, medicaid. states are having trouble accessing the portal.

can you help us clear up some of the confusion and give certainty to folks? how does that uncertainty service the president's voters? sec. leavitt: i think there is only uncertainty amongst the media. let me provide the certainty and clarity all of you need. this is not a blanket clause on federal assistance and grant programs from the trump administration. individual assistance that includes -- i'm not naming everything included, but just to give you a few examples -- social security benefits, medicare benefits, food stamps, welfare benefits, assistance that is going directly to individuals will not be impacted by this pause. i want to make that very clear to any americans who are watching at home who may be confused about some of the media reporting. this administration, if you are receiving individual assistance, you will continue to receive that. however, it is the responsibility of this administration to be good stewards of taxpayer dollars.

that is something president trump campaigned on. that is why he has launched the department of government efficiency, who is working alongside omb. that is why omb sent out this memo last night. the president signed an executive order directing omb to do just this. the reason is to ensure that every penny going out the door is not conflict with the executive orders and actions that this president has taken. what does this pause mean? means no more funding for illegal dei programs. no more funding for the green scam that has cost american taxpayers tens of billions of dollars. it means no more funding for transgender is him -- change gender -- transgenderism. again, people receiving individual assistance, you will continue to receive that. president trump is looking out for you by issuing this pause because he is being a good steward of your taxpayer dollars. >> how long is this pause going

to last, and how is the trump administration recommending organizations that rely on federal funding make payroll, pay their rent in the meantime? sec. leavitt: it is a temporary pause and the office of management and budget is reviewing the federal funding going out the door. again, not for individual assistance, but for all of these other programs. i also spoke with the incoming director of omb this morning and he told me to tell all of you that the line to his office is open for other federal government agencies across the board, and if they feel programs are necessary and in-line with the president's agenda and the office of management and budget will review those policies. i think this is a very responsible measure. the past four years we have seen the biden administration spend money like drunken sailors. it is incumbent upon this administration to make sure that every penny is being accounted for honestly. >> why impose this pause with so

little notice? why not give organizations more time to plan for the fact that they are about to lose -- in some cases really crucial federal funding? at least for a period of time? sec. leavitt: it was the executive order that the president signed. there is also a freeze on hiring and a freeze on foreign aid. this is incredibly important to ensure that this administration is taking into consideration how hard the american people are working. and their tax dollars matter to this administration. just during this pause doge and omb found there was $37 million about to go out the door to the world health organization. which is an organization that president trump with the swipe of his pin no longer wants the united states to be a part of. that would be in line with the president's agenda. doge and omb also found there was about to be $50 million to

fund condoms in gaza. that is a preposterous ways -- waste of money. that is what this is focused on, being good stewards of taxpayer dollars. >> does this affect meals on wheels or disaster aid? sec. leavitt: this does not affect funding going to americans. >> is there a list of who is affected and how much money is affected? how do these organizations know if they are having their funding frozen? secondly, could you just clarify , is the end goal of this to essentially challenge congress or to prove that the president can withhold federal funding? in other words, is this an attempt to pick a fight to prove he can do this? sec. leavitt: absolutely not. as it says right here in the memo, the american people elected president trump to be the president of the united states and gave him a mandate to increase the impact of every federal dollar this requires

federal agencies to identify and review all financial assistance programs supporting activities consistent with the president's policies and requirements. the american people get president trump a mandate on november 5 and he is just trying to ensure that the tax money going out the door in this bankrupt city actually aligns with the will and priorities of the american people. >> welcome. you look great. you are doing a great job. talked about transparency. some of us in this room know how transparent president trump has been the last five or six years. my question is, do you think this latest incident with the president and columbia is indicative of the global, powerful respect they have for president trump moving forward? not only to engage in economic diplomacy, but also world peace? sec. leavitt: absolutely. i will echo the president -- the answer the president gave on air

force one when he was asked a similar question by one of your colleagues. this signifies peace through strength is back, and this president will not tolerate illegal immigration into america's interior. and he expects every nation on this planet, again, to cooperate with the repatriation of their citizens who illegally entered into our country and broke america's laws. as you saw, the colombian government quickly folded and agreed to all of president trump's demands. flights are underway once again. >> two questions on deportations. president trump had said he would deport pro-hamas students here on visas. on his first day in office he signed an executive that said the u.s. must ensure that admitted aliens present in the u.s. do not air hostile activities for the citizens, government, institutions, or founding principles. should we take this executive

order as trump saying he would be open to deporting those students who are here on visas but hold pro-hamas sympathies? sec. leavitt: the president is open to deporting the individuals who have broken our nation's immigration laws. if they are here illegally then certainly he is open to deporting them. that is what this administration is hard at work doing. we receive data from dhs and ice every single day. from what we hear on the ground ice agents are feeling incredibly empowered because they actually have a leader in this building who is supporting them in doing their jobs they were hired to do, which is to detain, arrest, and deport criminals who have invaded our nation's borders. >> just following up on the question on immigration. president trump in 20 said the following about illegal immigration. he said, they are going back home where they belong and we start with the criminals. nbc news has learned ice arrested 1179 undocumented

immigrants, more than half of them appear to have no prior criminal record besides entering the country illegally. is the president still focused exclusively -- which is a civil crime, not criminal. sec. leavitt: it is a federal crime. >> he said he was going to focus on those violent offenders first. his violent offenders no longer the predicate? sec. leavitt: the president has said countless times on the campaign trail -- i have been with him at the rallies. he is focused on launching the largest mass deportation operation in american history of illegal criminals. if you are a foreign national who illegally enters the united states of america, you are by definition a criminal. >> not exclusively. to be clear, violent criminals do not receive precedence in terms of the deportations taking place? sec. leavitt: two things can be true at the same time. want to deport illegal criminals, but the president has said that of course the illegal

criminal drug dealers, the rapists, the murderers, the individuals who have committed heinous acts on the interior of our country and who have terrorized law-abiding american citizens absolutely does should be the priority of ice. but that doesn't mean the other illegal criminals are off the table. >> let me ask you a separate question about the confusion that still exists as it relates to the freeze or pause. as an trump ran one of the key pile -- key policy items was he was going to lower the cost of everything. in many of the cases it seems some of these moves could raise prices for real americans on everything from low income heating, childcare programs. will nothing the president is doing here raise prices on ordinary americans? sec. leavitt: what particular actions are you referring to? >> the low income heating program, for example. there is no clarity, so i could

refer to a lot of them. could you tell us that liheap is not one of them? sec. leavitt: you are asking a hypothetical based on programs you cannot identify job -- identify? >> let's do it together for americans at home. medicaid, is that affected? sec. leavitt: i gave you a list of examples. social security, medicare, food stamps will not be impacted by this federal pause. i can get you the full list after this briefing from the office of management and budget. but i want to address the cost-cutting. that is certainly very important and cutting the cost of living in this country. president trump has taken historic action over the past week to do that. he signed a memorandum to introduce emergency price relief for american families. i can walk you through those. he also repealed many biden administration regulations. we know over the past four years american households have been essentially taxed 55 thousand

dollars in regulations from the previous administration. -- 55 thousand dollars in regulations from the previous administration. the regulation is a big deal. when it comes to in -- energy, the sun -- the president signed an executive order which is going to make america energy dominant. you know that energy is one of the drivers of inflation, so that is why the president wants to increase our energy supply. the trump energy boom is incoming and americans can expect that. >> some of the confusion i think may be with his paws on federal funding. you have made it clear you are not stopping funds that go directly to individuals, but there are organizations that pass along a benefit. meals on wheels, for one. they provide meals for 2.1 million seniors. what is the message from the president to americans that are concerned this is going to impact them directly, even if the funding is not coming

directly to their wallet? sec. leavitt: i have now asked and answered this question four times. individuals at home that receive direct assistance from the federal government, you will not be impacted by this federal freeze. omb just sent out a memo with q&a to clarify some of the questions and answers all of you are asking me right now. again, direct assistance will not be impacted. i have been asked about this memo. there is many other topics of the day. >> what about going to another organization and trickling down? sec. leavitt: direct assistance will not be impacted. we will provide that list as it comes to fruition, but omb is focused on analyzing the federal government's spending, just what the american people elected president trump to do. >> of 3500 arrests ice has made so far, can you tell us the numbers? how many have a criminal record versus those who are in the

country illegally? sec. leavitt: all of them, because they illegally broke our nation's laws. i know the last administration did not see it that way, so it is a big culture shift. that is exactly what they are. >> they all have a criminal record? sec. leavitt: if they broke our nations laws, yes, they are criminal. >> stripping security details for figures like john bolton, pompeo, hook. senator tom cotton said he has seen the intelligence and the threat from iran israel for everyone who played a role. he was concerned it would not just impact those individuals, but their family, innocent bystanders, anyone near them when they are in public. is the president open to reconsidering his decision? sec. leavitt: the president was asked and answered this yesterday and he was firm in his decision. he has made it very clear that he does not believe american

taxpayers should fund a security details for individuals who have served in the government for the rest of their lives. there is nothing stopping these individuals from obtaining private security. that is where the president stands on it. >> is there any concern that this decision might jeopardize the administration's ability to hire the best advisors for these kinds of positions in the future? sec. leavitt: no. i have talked to the presidential personnel office who have told me there is such an influx of resumes that it is overwhelming. there is no lack of talent for the trump administration. >> would he take any responsibility if anything happened to these people? sec. leavitt: the president was asked and answered this yesterday. i would refer you to his comments. the back row has not gotten much attention in the last four years. i'm happy to answer your question. >> does the president intend to cut off funding for ngos bringing illegal foreign nationals to the country, such as catholic charities?

sec. leavitt: i am quite certain that the president signed an executive order that did just that. >> president trump issued an executive order on increased bedding for refugees and visa applications. part of that order was considering an outright ban for countries that have deficient screening processes. as the president considered which countries might fall into this category? are countries like afghanistan under consideration? sec. leavitt: the president signed an executive order to streamline the vetting for visa applicants and for illegal immigrants in this country coming from other nations. it also directed the secretary of state to review the process and make sure that other countries around the world are being completely transparent with our nation in the individuals they are sending here. the secretary of state has been directed to report to the president. i have not seen that report yet. we have only been here for a few days. >> on the freeze in federal

funding, who advised the president on the legality of telling government agencies they don't have to spend money? that was already appropriated by congress? sec. leavitt: as the omb memo states, this is certainly within the confines of the law. the white house counsel's office believes this is within the president's power, and therefore he is doing it. >> so they disagree with lawmakers who say they don't have the power to freeze this funding? sec. leavitt: i would point you to the language in the memo. >> on friday night the administration fired several inspectors general without giving congress the required notification. i think only two were left at dhs and the doj. yesterday we saw several prosecutors fired from the justice department who worked on the investigations into the president. as you know, they are career prosecutors. therefore they are assert -- are afforded civil service protections. how is the president deciding which laws to follow and which ones to ignore? sec. leavitt: it is the belief of this white house that the

president was within his executive authority to do that. he is the executive of the executive branch, and therefore has the power to fire anyone within the executive ranch he wishes to. there is also a case that went before the supreme court in 2020 i would advise you to look at that case, and that is the legality of white house is resting on. >> are you worried that if they bring lawsuits that they will succeed? sec. leavitt: we will win in court. >> did he personally direct this, given they worked on the election interference investigation? sec. leavitt: this was a memo and the president is the leader of this white house, so yes. >> congrats on the podium. president trump ended funding for unwra and designated the who

these as terrorists. will there be an investigation into who gave the previous administration this terrible advice? sec. leavitt: that is a very good point. i have not heard discussions of such an investigation, but it would not be a bad idea, even that there who these certainly are terrorists. they have launched attacks on u.s. naval ships across this world, so i think it was a wide -- wise move to designate them as a terrorist group and i think it was a foolish decision by the previous administration. it is not a bad idea. >> thank you for the question. can you give us an update on the president's plan for his tariff agenda? you spoke about this yesterday and there are a couple of dates coming up. on february 1 he has alluded to a potential tariff for canada and mexico, but also china to take effect on those days. what is he thinking about that? sec. leavitt: he was asked and answered this question this weekend when he took a lot of

questions from the press and he said the february 1 date for canada and mexico still holds. >> china also going into effect? sec. leavitt: the president said he is considering that for february 1. >> terrace on pharmaceuticals, as well as semiconductor computer chips, steel, aluminum, and copper. what is the timeline on those? sec. leavitt: when the president talked about that yesterday that was not a new announcement that was within a presidential memorandum he signed one of his first days in the white house on his america first trade agenda. there is more details in there. as far as the date, i don't have a specific date, but the president is committed to implementing terrace effectively. >> he also was asked about a universal tariff. should we understand that these tariffs would add up?

you might have countries with specific tariffs, he might have sectoral tariffs like on pharmaceuticals, as well as a potential universal tariff on top of that? would he stack those or would one take precedence over another? sec. leavitt: the february 1 date for canada and mexico, also the china tariff he has discussed, he rejected the 2.5% tariff. he said that was too low. i will leave it to him to make any decisions on that front. >> what the mexicans and canadians have done so far, do you have any news on whether that has met the bar? sec. leavitt: i will not get ahead of the president on advocating to foreign nations on what they should or should not do. to get away from these tariffs the president has made it clear that he expects every nation around this world to cooperate with the repatriation of their citizens, and the president has put out specific statements in terms of canada and mexico when it comes to what he expects in terms of order security. we have seen a historic level of

cooperation from mexico, but as far as i am still tracking, february 1 is still on the books. >> a quick programming note and then a question on taxes. should we expect to see you here every day how frequently will these pref readings be? -- these press briefings be? sec. leavitt: the president is incredibly accessible. first day here you get a 60-minute press conference with the leader of the free world while he was signing executive orders. that is pretty impressive. i don't think the previous officeholder would be able to pull such a thing off. look, the president is the backs -- best spokesperson this white house has. i can ensure you will be hearing from him and be as much as possible. >> the question about tax cuts. the president has promised to extend the tax cuts from the previous term. as the president support corresponding spending cuts, as some republicans have called for?

and will the new treasury secretary be leading those negotiations with the hill? sec. leavitt: the president is committed to tax cuts and spending cuts, and he has a great team negotiating on his behalf. but there is no better negotiator than donald trump and i'm sure he will be involved in this reconciliation process as a moves forward. >> the announcement being made last night on the iron dome, it said the president had directed that the united states will build this iron dome. when you read the executive order it seemed short of that. it asked for a series of studies and reports back. and you tell us whether the president has directed this, and if he is concerned on this issue, why the suspension's we saw listed by omb included so many different nuclear programs, nonproliferation programs, programs to lend down nuclear weapons, and so forth? sec. leavitt: when it comes to

the iron dome the executive order directed the implementation of the iron dome. it also, as you said, directed research and studies to see how the united states can go about doing this. particularly the department of defense. it comes to the other question you asked about those specific programs, again, i would say this is not a ban. this is a temporary pause and freeze to ensure all of the money going out from washington, d.c. is aligned with the president's agenda. as the office of management and budget has updates on what will be kick started once again i will provide those to you. >> can you provide what you were saying on medicaid? it wasn't clear to me whether you were saying no medicaid would be cut off, obviously a lot of this goes to states before goes to individuals and so forth. are you guaranteeing that no individual on medicaid would see a cut off because of the pause? sec. leavitt: i will check back

on that and get back to. >> as you know, in the first week the president was in office, signed an executive order as it relates to birthright citizenship, trying to eliminate that. 22 state attorney general's have said that this is unconstitutional. a federal judge has just agreed with their argument. what is the administration's argument for doing away with birthright citizenship? sec. leavitt: the folks you mentioned have the right to have that legal opinion, but it is in disagreement with the legal opinion of this administration. this administration believes birthright citizenship is unconstitutional. that is why president trump signed that order. illegal immigrants who come to this country and have a child are not subject to the laws of this jurisdiction. that is the opinion of this administration. have already appealed the lawsuit that was filed against this administration and we are prepared to fight this all the way to the supreme court if we

have to because president trump believes this is a necessary step to secure our nation's borders and protect our homeland. >> on foreign policy, if i may, the president's commitment to the nato defense alliance, is it as strong as the prior administration? is it the same as when he served as president in his first term? sec. leavitt: as long as nato pays its fair share, and president trump has called on nato allies to increase their spending to 5%. you actually saw the head of nato in dabo's last week saying president trump is right. if europe wants to keep itself safe they should increase their defense spending. i should add there was no greater ally to our european allies and president trump in his first term. the world, for all nations, in europe, and here at home, was safer because of president trump's strength through peace diplomatic approach. >> it is great to finally be

called on in the briefing room. i appreciate that. no president trump just got back from north carolina and california reading with victims of natural disasters. there is the two-year anniversary of the east palestine train derailment. does president trump have any plans to visit? sec. leavitt: no plans that i can read out for you here. if that changes i will keep you posted. what i can tell you is that president trump still talks about his visit to east palestine, ohio. that was one of the turning points, i would say, in the previous election campaign, where americans were reminded that president trump a man of the people and he as a candidate visited that town that was just derailed by the train derailment -- no pun intended. he offered support and help. just like i saw the president do this past week. it was a purposeful decision on his first domestic trip to go to north carolina and california, to visit with americans impacted i hurricane helene and also by

the deadly fires. red state and a blue state, both of which feel forgotten by the previous administration and the federal government. that has now ended under president trump. he will continue to put americans first, whether they are in east palestine or north carolina. >> on california, could you clarify what the military did with the water last night, as reference to the president's true social post? sec. leavitt: the water has been turned back on in california. as you all saw, the president applied tremendous pressure on state and local officials in pacific palisades, including los angeles mayor karen bass, to turn on the water and direct that water to places in the south and in the middle of the state that have been incredibly dry, which has led to the expansion, the rapid expansion, of these fires. >> could you clarify what the military's role was, where the water came from, and how it got

there? sec. leavitt: the army corps of engineers has been on the ground in california to respond to the devastation from these wildfires. i would point out that days after president trump visited the devastation from these fires the water was turned on. that is because of the pressure campaign he took two officials there who clearly lack all common sense. i will never forget at that roundtable with the president last week and hearing the frustration in the voices of pacific palisades residents who feel as though they government has just gone insane. before president trump showed up karen bass was telling private property owners they would have to wait 18 months to access their private property. this administration, the president and his team on the ground, will continue to put pressure on karen bass and state and local officials to allow residents to access their properties. these residents want to take

part in their own clearing out of their properties. should be able to do that. it is the united states of america. what happened to our freedom? >> welcome to the briefing room. several questions. will minority-serving institutions, colleges and universities, have those moneys held back temporarily at this moment? sec. leavitt: i have not seen the entire list because this memo was just sent out. i will provide you all what the dates as we receive them. >> also, when it comes to immigration there is a southern border focus. what happens to those who overstay their visas? that is part of the system. in 2023 there was a report by the homeland security department that says overstay's are three times more than usual. will there be a focus on the overstay's for visas as well? sec. leavitt: if a person is an

illegal immigrant in this country they are subject to deportation. >> as we are dealing with anti-d.e.i. efforts we understand this administration is thinking about celebrating black history month. have you got any word on that? anything you can offer to us? sec. leavitt: as far as i know this white house intends to celebrate and we will continue to celebrate american history and the contributions that americans, regardless of race or creed, have made to our country. and america is back. >> real quick, you mentioned the inflation executive order the president signed, but egg prices have skyrocketed since president trump took office. what specifically is he doing to lower those costs for americans? sec. leavitt: really glad you brought this up, because there is a lot of reporting that is putting the onus on this white house for the increased cost of eggs. i would like to point out to each and everyone of you that in 2024 when joe biden was in the oval office, or upstairs in the residence sleeping, i'm not

sure, egg prices increased 65% in this country. we also have seen the cost of everything -- not just eggs -- they can, groceries, gasoline -- have increased because of the inflationary policies of the last administration. as far as the egg shortage, what is also contribute into that is the biden administration and department of agriculture directed the mass-killing of more than 100 million chickens, which has led to a lack of supply in this country, which is leading to the shortage. i will leave you with this point. this is an example of why it is important that the senate moves swiftly to confirm all of president trump's nominees, including his nominee for the department, brooke rollins, who is already speaking with kevin hassett, who is leading the economic team here at the white house on how we can adjust the egg shortage in this country. as for costs, i laid out the ways president trump has addressed saving costs for the american people over the past week.