so ric grenell is in ns will lead to ensure that will continue.two, ric grenell is in venezuela to ensure all u.s. detainees in venezuela or return home. that is his mission and i will provide a readout after this trip. >> reporter: can you tell us if anyone has approached the white house or the president about pardoning or commutations? >> press secretary leavitt: i have not been a part of those discussions if they have, i am not sure if they have but i will not speculate pardons that may or may not happen. to my awareness the answer is no. just in. >> reporter: friends at reuters are saying the president made a decision on canada and mexico tariffs and whether they want to do it by march 1st. can you confirm that? >> press secretary leavitt: i saw that report and it is false. i was just with the president in the oval office, and i can confirm that tomorrow the february 1st deadline to president trump put into place with a statement several weeks ago continues. the president will be implementing tomorrow a 25% tariffs on mexico, 25% tariffs on ca

leavitt: i can confirm that ric grenell is in venezuela. ric grenell is going to venezuela or is in venezuela with two immediate directives from the president. one, ric grenell has been instructed to identify, place, and ensure that repatriation flights of nicaraguan members of nationals who have broken our laws will land in venezuela. as i said at the podium a few days ago, we expect every nation on the planet to cooperate with the repatriation of our citizens. ric grenell is in venezuela to ensure that all u.s. detainees in venezuela are returned home. that is his mission and i will provide a read out the trip. >> can you tell us if anyone has approached the white house or the president about pardon or commutation? sec. leavitt: i have not been a part of those discussions and i won't speculate on potential pardons that might happen. to my awareness, the answer is no. just in? >> at reuters they've reported that the president has made a decision on the canada mexico tariffs and whether they want them on march 1. can you confirm that? sec.

so i can confirm that ric grenell is in venezuela today. i can confirm that ric grenell is going to venezuela or is in venezuela with very two immediate directives from the president of the united states. number one, ric grenell has been instructed to identify a place and ensure that repatriation flights of tren de aragua members of venezuelan nationals who have broken our nation's laws will land in venezuela. as i said at this podium a few days ago, we expect every nation on this planet to cooperate with the repatriation of our citizens. and so ric grenell is in venezuela to ensure that can continue. and number two, rocÍo nahle is in venezuela to ensure that all u.s. detainees in venezuela are returned home. that's his mission. and i will provide a readout after this trip on bob menendez. >> can you tell us if anyone has approached the white house or the president about a pardon or commutation? >> i have not been part of those those discussions. if they have, i am not sure if they have, but i won't speculate on potential pardons that may o

and presidential envoy ric grenell who has done a fantastic job for me over the years he was ambassadortastic so two and a half weeks ago over 100 mile-per-hour winds transformed the palisades fire and other areas, too into absolute infernos of death and destruction and this is already the most expensive natural disaster they say in american history. that's pretty amazing. the numbers are going to be staggering. most importantly we have to get it built and hopefully find as few people as possible. we have already too many too many. 28 at least they say. we're going to work very hard with the mayor, the governor, the supervisor and everybody. and get the resources behind you. we have some amazing people and we have some amazing fighters for things like this. i also had the concept best developers in the country. i had so many calls from developers and they want to come in. they don't want anything. they want to come in and help and they really know how to get things done and get things built. i would ask that the local officials, because we're going to wave just about essentially wave al

presidential envoy ric grenell who has done a fantastic job for me over the years, he was ambassador to germany and was fantastic. 2.5 years ago over 100 mile-per-hour winds formed the palisades fire and other areas too into infernos of death and destruction and this is already the most expensive natural disaster they say in american history. that's pretty amazing. the numbers will be staggering. most important we we have to get it built and hopefully find people as possible. we already have too many. 28 at least they say. we are going to work very hard with the mayor, the governor, the supervisor, everybody command get the resources behind you. we have some amazing people and amazing fighters for things like this. i also have the concept of getting some of the best developers in the country -- i had so many calls from developers and they want to come, they don't want anything, they just want to help and they know how to get things built. i would ask the local officials -- we will essentially waive all federal permits and have you go very quickly because the federal permit can take 1

so this administration, the president and his team that's on the ground in california, ric grenell, who he has designated to oversee this great crisis, has and will continue to put pressure on karen bass and state and local officials to allow residents to access their properties. this is a huge part of it. these residents want to take part in their own clearing out of their properties. they should be able to do that. it's the united states of america. what happened to our freedom? clearly it's gone in california, but not anymore. under president trump. april. >> caroline, welcome to the briefing room. thank you. um, several questions. one on the pause. um, will minority serving institutions, preferably colleges and universities. >> uh. >> have those monies held back temporarily at this moment? >> again, i have not seen the entire list because this memo was just sent out. so i will provide you all with updates as we receive them. okay. >> awesome, awesome. secondly, um, when it comes to immigration, there is this southern border focus. what happens to those who've overstayed their visas?

so this emaciation, the president and his team, and is on the ground in california, ric grenell, who designated to oversee this great crisis, will continue to put pressure on karen bass and state and local officials to allow residents to access their properties. this is a huge part of it. these residents want to take part in their own clearing out of their properties. they should be able to do that. it is the united states of america states of america but what happened to our freedom. it is going in california. april. back welcome to the briefing room. will minority serving institutes perfectly co-students have those monies temporarily at this moment. >> secretary leavitt: this memo was just sent out i will provide you all with updates as we receive them. >> awesome. when it comes to immigration, there is a southern border focus. what happens to those who overstate their thesis. that is part of the immigration system. 233, there was a report by the biden administration, home security and said over state pieces three times more than usual. will there be a focus on the overstates for v

but others like ric grenell, concern me in perms of potential for conflict of interest, how will you work to ensure that state maintains its authority and encouragee administration to conduct a full vetting competitive potential conflicts of interest and assure there ises clarity of alignment. >> this is a valid question. every of envoys that have been named so far someone that i have worked with in the past, expect of special envoy is important, most successful, it sits on a complex issue with a defined goal, and expression of presidential priority, sudan for example. special envoy, and job he has done there, to the fact that we have an ambassador and other diplomatic presence there. the way that will work, how i -- they work for president in world nation coordination with us. people that will be focused on this like a laser, they need to doo so not in coordination with department of state, subject matter expertise, say you reach an agreement, you need the technical support necessary, we have a ray of experts this w department that will help achieve that and will involve other eleme