LIVE: White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt Holds Press Briefing (March 25)

Good afternoon, everybody. Good afternoon. Good to see all of you. Thanks for coming today, as always. We're going to start with some scheduling announcements. This evening, President Trump will deliver remarks at Union Station for a political dinner. Tomorrow morning, the President will host the second Cabinet meeting of the year and the 11th Cabinet meeting of his second term. And later tomorrow afternoon, the President will host a Greek Independence Day celebration in the East Room. On Friday, the President will celebrate National Agriculture Day alongside nearly 1,000 farmers who are coming in from across the country for the first event of the season on the South Lawn — so pray for good weather — to highlight the President's successful policies in support of America's farmers, including efforts to lower input costs, open new trade markets, bolster the farm safety net, double the death tax exemption, end taxes on rural property loan interest, and create rural opportunity zones. Also, I'm pleased to announce that President Trump's meeting — a long-awaited meeting with President Xi in China — will now take place in Beijing on May 14th and 15th. First Lady Melania and President Trump will also host President Xi and Madam Peng for a reciprocal visit in Washington, D.C., at a later date to be announced this year. Turning to the ongoing military operations in Iran, the United States military continues to decimate the terrorist Iranian regime's offensive and defensive capabilities. Just over three weeks in, it's abundantly clear that Operation Epic Fury has been a resounding military triumph. More than 9,000 enemy targets have been struck to date. Compared to the start of the operation, Iran's ballistic missile attacks and drone attacks are down by roughly 90 percent. The United States is also annihilating the Iranian regime's navy. We have destroyed more than 140 of their naval vessels, including almost 50 mine layers. This is the largest elimination of a navy over a three-week period since World War II. Again, let me reiterate, this is the largest elimination of a navy on the face of the planet in a three-week period since World War II. We are systematically dismantling Iran's defense industrial base, which will prevent future threats to the region. Our military also remains laser-focused on eliminating the regime's threat to the free flow of energy through the Strait of Hormuz. Over the weekend, we dropped several 5,000-pound bombs on an underground facility used to store equipment, including anti-ship cruise missiles and mobile missile launchers positioned along the coastline of the Strait. Our military efforts grow more successful with each passing day, steadily degrading Iran's ability to terrorize merchant ships. For all of these reasons, we are very close to meeting the core objectives of Operation Epic Fury, and this military mission continues unabated. From the outset, President Trump and the Department of War estimated it would take approximately four to six weeks to achieve this critical mission. Twenty-five days in, the greatest military the world has ever known is ahead of schedule and performing exceptionally. Day by day, the Iranian regime is being crippled, and their ability to threaten the United States and our allies is being significantly weakened. Their ambitions of building a nuclear weapon have also been crushed to an even greater degree than they were in Operation Midnight Hammer in June 2025. That's why you're beginning to see the regime look for an exit ramp. They recognize they are being crushed, their ability to attack American and ally forces, as well as their ability to defend their own territory is dwindling, literally hour by hour. Following President Trump's powerful threat on Saturday evening, it was made clear to the United States that Iran wanted to talk. President Trump is willing to listen. As President Trump announced on Monday, the United States has been engaged over the last three days in productive conversations, which led the President to temporarily instruct the Department of War to postpone planned strikes against Iranian power plants and energy infrastructure only. The remaining elements of the Iranian regime have another opportunity to cooperate with President Trump, permanently abandon their nuclear ambitions, and cease actively threatening America and our allies. But the President's preference is always peace. There does not need to be any more death and destruction. But if Iran fails to accept the reality of the current moment, if they fail to understand that they have been defeated militarily and will continue to be, President Trump will ensure they are hit harder than they have ever been hit before. President Trump does not bluff, and he is prepared to unleash hell. Iran should not miscalculate again. Their last miscalculation cost them their senior leadership, their Navy, their Air Force, and their air defense system. Any violence beyond this point will be because the Iranian regime refused to understand they have already been defeated and refused to come to a deal. Here at home, we are now on day 40 of the Democrats' shutdown of the Department of Homeland Security. Democrats in Congress are forcing American travelers to wait in hours-long lines at airports across the country, robbing TSA officers and other federal workers of their hard-earned paychecks that they use to feed their families, and causing billions of dollars in damage to our economy. A father of three recently told CBS News that he felt he had no other choice but to quit his job as a TSA officer and find other work as the Democrats' shutdown of DHS continues. This is the quote from the father, and I encourage everyone to listen. I think the hardest thing is seeing the struggle that my wife was going through and not trying to bring more stress to her, the father of three said, but seeing her cry every night, how am I going to feed my family? How am I going to survive? For the Democrats in Congress, the cruelty of this shutdown is the point. Nearly 500 TSA officers have quit since the Democrats' shutdown began. President Trump, to alleviate this pressure, made the decision to send some of our amazing ICE agents to help alleviate that stress and address the long wait times. And for all of the critics of this solution a few days ago when it was proposed by the president, it is yielding results. Wait times have improved since ICE arrived, and they are doing everything in their power to help their fellow federal service members. But it's important to take a step back and remember why is this even happening in the first place? For nearly six weeks, Democrats in Congress have kept DHS shut down because they care more about illegal aliens than American citizens. You have Democrat elected representatives in states across the country who are willing to inflict massive pain on their own constituents to fight for illegal aliens who broke our nation's laws to come here. In recent days, we saw the deadly consequence of this deranged policy of Democrat open borders and an illegal alien first agenda. A beautiful 18-year-old girl, Sheridan Gorman, she was shot and killed in Chicago last Thursday morning while walking in a park with friends. The suspect in custody for murdering her is a Venezuelan illegal alien who was caught and released at the border by the Biden administration in May of 2023. Why would the Biden administration catch and release a Venezuelan illegal alien? That is not happening anymore under this president. But there are still tens of thousands, if not millions, of these illegal aliens in our country who seek to do harm to innocent Americans like this beautiful young woman whose family will now never be the same because of her death. To make matters even worse, this monster was also released from local custody again after a shoplifting arrest where? In the sanctuary city of Chicago in June of 2023. Again, another innocent American citizen had her life stolen from her because Democrats embrace reckless open border policies and reckless sanctuary city policies which put criminals back into American communities. How many more Americans have to die before the Democrats end this madness? President Trump's position is very clear. He wants the federal government opened. He wants the Department of Homeland Security funded, and he wants the Democrat shutdown to end immediately. The president will also continue to call on Democrat leaders in sanctuary cities and states like J.B. Pritzker, where this young beautiful girl was murdered, to cooperate with ICE and stop releasing illegal alien criminals into American neighborhoods. It is for the safety of every American citizen, including all of the people in this room. With that, I will take your questions, and here in our new media seat today, we have Gabe Fleischer. Thanks, Caroline. Two questions. Thanks, Gabe, for being here. Thank you. I have two questions for you. First, if the war in Iran continues past this current round of peace talks and with thousands of troops on their way to the Middle East, is there a point, either a number of ground troops or a number of days, at which the president will consider seeking authorization from Congress? Well, as you know right now, that formal authorization from Congress is not necessary because we're currently in major combat operations in Iran. The Department of War and the president, as I said, estimated about a four- to six-week timeline for the full completion of these military combat operations. We're, again, on day 25 today. And as a courtesy, nevertheless, the administration did notify Congress, the Gang of Eight, ahead of the launch of the operation 25 days ago, and we've also had our top national security officials go to Capitol Hill to brief lawmakers, again, out of courtesy and out of respect for them. So, at this moment, it's unnecessary, but of course, the president and this administration will always abide by the law. Gabe. Do you want to have a follow-up? Yes. Sure. Go ahead. Thank you. Second question. In my reporting, I speak a lot to young voters, many of whom voted for President Trump for the first time in 2024, hoping to have no more wars and to have lower prices. Now, with the war taking place and with gas prices going up, I'm curious what President Trump's message would be to those voters who kind of swung into his coalition in 2024, but maybe don't feel the administration's going as they had expected. President Trump is doing this for you. He's doing this for young people so that we are no longer threatened by a rogue terrorist regime in the Middle East that seeks to kill the brave men and women who serve in our country in the Middle East, many of them young people themselves, young men and women who serve this country honorably in uniform and have been threatened, killed, and maimed by the rogue Iranian terrorist regime for 47 years. President Trump finally had the courage to step up and do what's right by our national security, our homeland security. As for the temporary short-term fluctuation in gas prices, the president has said once these combat operations are over, this administration is going to continue to unleash American energy dominance. We're continuing to do that every day, and we're going to see prices at the pump go back down just as we have over the past year because of this president. And don't think for one second if that the Democrats had their way, gas prices would be as they were under the previous administration, the Biden administration, record highs. This president is keeping them as low as he can during this short-term combat operation, and they're going to go right back down when this is over. Gabe. Thank you, Caroline. Just within the past few hours, Iranian state TV has said that Iran has rejected the US's 15-point plan to end the war. What's the White House's response to that, and have these talks hit a dead end? They have not. Talks continue. They are productive, as the president said on Monday, and they continue to be. However, I saw a 15-point plan that was floated in the media. I would caution reporters in this room from reporting about speculative points or speculative plans from anonymous sources. The White House never confirmed that full plan. There are elements of truth to it, but some of the stories I read were not entirely factual. So I am not going to negotiate on behalf of the president here at the podium. What I will tell you is these talks are ongoing. We're not going to get into the nitty-gritty details that have been exchanged between the United States and Iran at this time. Well, yesterday, the president mentioned a very big present that the Iranians had given the US. He wouldn't go into detail, but was it that ship that was carrying two million barrels of oil that made it through the state of Hormuz? I'll let the president speak on that at the appropriate time. And then finally, Caroline, today, Iraq's government reportedly is planning for a lot of protests with the US, according to the Wall Street Journal. There was an attack in Iraq that hit a military clinic, killing seven soldiers, reportedly. What's the US's response to that? Was the US responsible for that attack? I'll have to check in with the Pentagon on that, and we'll get you an answer. Caroline, too, if I may, Speaker Johnson today described the conflict as wrapping up, but the 82nd Airborne Division, they're typically deployed at the beginning of conflicts. So does the White House consider this conflict as wrapping up, or is it changing shape? As I said at the beginning of my remarks, we are meeting our goals of Operation Epic Fury expeditiously. The president likes to maintain options at his disposal. It's the Pentagon's job to provide those options to the commander-in-chief. For any specifics on troop deployments, though, I would point you to the Pentagon. And today, Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner reiterated threats to potentially arrest ICE agents that were sent in to assist with these historically long KSA lines. He said, quote, the president cannot pardon you. Is the president seeing Krasner's comments? Does he have any response? The president cannot pardon you for what? He's talking to the ICE agents who are handing out water bottles and are helping people move through lines at airports. It's a disgraceful comment. The men and women of ICE are great people. I would encourage this lawmaker, whose name I don't know and don't care to know, to actually sit down and speak with the ICE agents who are on the ground doing this important work, not just in our nation's airports, but again, to remove violent, dangerous, illegal alien criminals from our country to protect this individual and all of us in this room and Americans across the country from murderers, pedophiles, and rapists who have been allowed into our country by Democrat politicians. Mario, good to see you. Thank you, Caroline. Good to see you as well. Just given that the president postponed his original trip to China because of the war, should we infer that the war will be wound down and concluded by the time of that May 15th, 14th visit? Again, as I've said, we've always estimated approximately four to six weeks, so you could do the math on that, Mario, but we do look forward, I know the president looks forward to going to China on May 14th and 15th. Of course, as always, we'll provide additional logistical details to all of you in the media for that trip, who I know look forward to coming with us as well. One follow up. Was that a precondition? Did the two leaders speak about the conclusion of the war? Was that a precondition for them to have this rescheduled meeting? No, there was a discussion about the rescheduling of the meeting between the president and President Xi. President Xi understood that it's very important for the president to be here throughout these combat operations right now. He understood, obviously, the request to postpone and accepted it, which is why we have new dates on the books, and I'm happy to announce those to you today. Jennifer. On the negotiations with Iran, are there still face-to-face talks planned, perhaps, in Pakistan? And who do you think would probably be going? Again, I've seen a lot of speculation and reporting about potential talks that could happen later this week. Nothing should be deemed official until it is announced formally by the White House. I would not get ahead of our skis on reporting about any talks this weekend until you hear directly from us. Does the president think that all of the allies will go along with whatever the U.S. concludes with these Iranians? Are you expecting that Israel and all the other allies will follow whatever agreement is made? I think the president has shown that he is absolutely the leader of the free world, the head of the most powerful military in the world, and in various examples, the 12-day war between Iran and Israel, the ceasefire between Israel and Gaza, the president has shown a very unique skill at getting our allies to get on board with what's in the best interest of the United States, but also the world in cases of foreign policy like this. Ed. Thanks, Caroline. So is there a timeframe as to when the first oil tanker can go through the Strait of Hormuz freely? It's a very good question, Ed. I don't have a specific timeline for you today, but it's obviously something the administration is working towards as quickly as we can. With respect to oil, as you know, the administration has taken a number of actions to stabilize the markets. We directed the U.S. DFC to offer reasonably priced political risk insurance for takers through the Strait. We issued that temporary waiver to allow countries to purchase sanctioned Russian oil to alleviate global pressures. We're working with the IEA to coordinate the release of another 400 million barrels. We issued that 60-day Jones Day Act waiver. And then just today, EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin, if you missed it, in consultation with the Department of Energy, announced a temporary emergency fuel waiver to allow nationwide sales of E15 gasoline blended with 15% ethanol to remove all federal impediments to selling E10 gasoline across the country. The emergency fuel waiver will temporarily waive the summer low volatility requirements and blending limitations for gasoline to provide additional flexibility to the fuel marketplace. So as far as tankers through the Strait, something we're tracking very closely, but obviously the administration is coming up with creative new solutions by the day to keep the price of oil stable, something the President wants to see. And I know Secretary Besant, Secretary Wright, Secretary Burgum, EPA Administrator Zeldin are all working together closely to find ways to do that. The President gave that five-day timeline for pause in operations. Would a tanker going through the Strait of Hormuz be one of the conditions that he would extend that? That's only something the President of the United States can answer. I won't get ahead of him. How about on TSA? Can I ask you about the TSA lines? Sure. Are the TSA lines, we've all seen the video of that from various airports. Is that going to be what ends the stalemate in Congress to get DHS funded? Well look, it's the Democrats who have led to this stalemate over the past six weeks. The President in the Republican's position has been very clear, fund the Department of Homeland Security. And we have attempted in good faith numerous times, both the President himself and lawmakers on the Republican side on Capitol Hill, to go to the Democrats with reasonable offers, with real solutions. They'll ask for something, we'll give them that concession. And then they say, oh wait, that's not enough actually. So I think that's why I said earlier, the cruelty is the point. They want this chaos. They want to distract, I think, from the success of our military overseas right now, totally obliterating the Iranian regime. And it's very unfortunate because there's only, the only people that are suffering from this are the American people. And I hear that Democrats might be flying out of town tomorrow. How convenient and lovely of them that they get to go to the airport and that they'll get to go home to their families when you have families, TSA workers who are suffering. You have people across the country who are missing flights for funerals and for work commitments because of Democrat politicians on Capitol Hill. Mary, in the back. Thanks Caroline. I'd like to see you have a seat now. I do. Thank you. Is the White House satisfied with Republican leadership's efforts on the Save America Act? I think the president has made it very clear. He wants everyone on Capitol Hill to move as quickly as possible to get the Save America Act passed. And he wants to see that legislation on his desk as soon as Republicans and Democrats can move to pass it. But are there any lawmakers in Congress that the president is frustrated with on this matter and feels could be doing a better job? I think the president wants to see everybody on Capitol Hill move faster all the time. He wants everyone in this town to work at Trump's speed like we do here at the White House. Go to Karen. Two questions on Lebanon, if I can. Is the U.S. providing support at this point for Israel's ongoing offensive in Lebanon? And is the president concerned that right now there are more than a million people who've been displaced and potentially could be for a significant amount of time? That's not something I'm in a position to comment on for the first question. To the second question, of course, that's something that would concern the president. I think that's why he's, again, quickly moving to eliminate the threat of the Iranian regime in the Middle East, including weakening their proxies like Hezbollah, who have terrorized Lebanon for far too long. And I know that the president wants to see this, again, move as quickly as possible as we can over the course of the next couple of weeks here. General Liston. Thanks, Caroline. Questions on the Strait of Hormuz. If these negotiations are not successful, is the only option to reopen the strait boots on the ground, given that all of our allies have essentially said that they are unable or unwilling to help? Look, that's a hypothetical question. It's a hypothetical question. It's also a decision that would have to be made by the commander in chief, and I'm not going to get ahead of him. In addition to that, when it comes to the vice president, J.D. Vance, what has changed that has made him more of an active participant in these negotiations with Iran? I don't think anything has changed. The vice president has always been a key member of the president's right-hand man and a key member of the president's national security team. He's been part of these discussions throughout this entire course of the administration, with respect, again, to the 12-day war that the president and his national security team negotiated a solution to, with respect to the ceasefire between Israel and Gaza and the release of the hostages, which there was a lot of criticism that couldn't get done, and it did. The vice president has been by the president's side every step of the way, and any reporting otherwise is just completely false. I see him in the room. Again, the president seeks his counsel on all matters, both foreign and domestic. Can you just tell us who exactly the U.S. is negotiating with in Iran and why the U.S. and this administration trusts that person? Again, as I said to Gabe's question earlier, we're not going to get into the details of these negotiations and conversations that continue to take place. As, of course, you can imagine, they are very sensitive diplomatic discussions. And I would reiterate, I do recall giving all of you the same answer when we were negotiating the ceasefire between Israel and Gaza. Gave you the same answer throughout the 12-day war between Iran and Israel. Gave you the same answer with respect to many of the other global conflicts that this administration has negotiated solutions to. President Trump is going to give his diplomats the freedom that they need to have these sensitive diplomatic discussions without negotiating and litigating them through the news media. Caroline, just to follow up, though, because you said that some of the information that's been out there about the 15-point plan is inaccurate, can you say what is accurate with respect to ballistic missiles, the nuclear ambitions, and the Strait of Hormuz, which are things that the President has laid out that he wants to see a couple times in the past? If you've heard it from the President of the United States, obviously it's true. As well as the objectives of Operation Epic Fury, we've said repeatedly, I've said them from this podium, the Pentagon has reiterated them, that's why we've taken military action to achieve them. So, of course, those are goals that we want to see. But this full 15-point plan that's been floating around in many of your outlets, there's a lot of misinformation to that as well. And again, I would caution you from taking things from anonymous sources rather than verifying them directly with the White House. Christian. Thanks, Caroline. Two on Iran. First, would the President consider loosening asylum restrictions for Iranians trying to flee the country right now? Again, that's a question for the President. I won't get ahead of him on that. I haven't talked to him about that. Okay. And then secondly, you mentioned at the top that Iran would be hit harder than they have been to this point if they don't recognize the fact that they're losing this war. Could those strikes happen before this five-day negotiating window closes if the President doesn't think they're negotiating a good thing? You're asking me to tell you if the Commander-in-Chief would authorize very strong strikes against the Iranian regime. That's not something I would ever reveal from this podium, true or not. Phil. Thank you, Caroline. I was wondering if you would respond to some of this criticism of the administration from past allies like Joe Kent, who have said that the President's red line shifted from Iran cannot obtain a nuclear weapon to Iran cannot pursue nuclear enrichment. What is the administration's response to that criticism? I think the President and I have both strongly responded to the criticism by Mr. Kent, who unfortunately resigned in disgrace and accused the President of basically being controlled by foreign countries and foreign manipulation, which is a ridiculous and laughable assertion. So his accusations have zero credibility as far as this White House is concerned. The question of the red line shifting from no nuclear weapon to no nuclear enrichment, is there any substance to that argument? I think the President has been quite clear in what he wants to see from the Iranian regime, which is why he chose to launch Operation Epic Fury in the first place. Reagan. Thank you, Caroline. I have a question for you on the SAVE Act, and I'd like to follow up on the DHS shutdown. Sure. First, Senator Mike Lee. The SAVE America Act. SAVE America Act. The President corrected me yesterday. That was my fault. Senator Mike Lee said it's essentially impossible to pass the SAVE America Act through reconciliation. What's your reaction to that? Is the President worried that that strategy might fail? I think he's willing to try all strategies. I spoke with him about this yesterday, and he said if we can make it work through reconciliation, let's absolutely do that. These again are common sense policies that are backed by the vast majority of voters across this country. The only people in this country who don't support them are politicians on Capitol Hill, and you all should ask them why they don't want voter ID, why they don't want proof of citizenship to vote in our nation's elections. Again, these are common sense proposals that are wildly popular, and the President is willing to use any means necessary to get this legislation passed and onto his desk. And then on the DHS shutdown, do you expect deportations to decrease while ICE is in the airports? And what are the trade-offs of having ICE in the airports right now? Well, to address this obviously short-term problem and the chaos that has been sowed by these Democrats on Capitol Hill, to address the lines and to get Americans traveling and get them to where they need to be. So the President, I think this was a creative solution, again that was criticized, but we have seen wait times decrease, not as much as we'd like. Hopefully they will continue to, but at major airports over the course of the last few days as ICE has been facilitating with travelers in these airports. Caroline. Thank you, Caroline. On March 6th, the President said in an interview with Reuters that the U.S. should have a role in choosing Iran's next leadership. Now that we're almost four weeks into the operation, is that still the President's assessment of where it should go? As I've said repeatedly, I think the President obviously believes the United States wants to have someone in leadership position in the Iranian regime that will be much more favorable, that will be willing to work with the United States, that will no longer chant death to America. These would obviously be good, common sense things for the United States and for our allies. I think that's what the President meant when he spoke with Reuters that day. Go ahead. The President yesterday said that he had achieved regime change in Iran because the regime has changed in terms of- I mean, has it not? Well, the leadership- Their entire leadership has been killed and nobody has really seen or legitimately heard from this alleged new leader. So wouldn't you say there's been a change in the regime? There's been a change in leadership. I mean, do you feel as though- There's been a change in the regime leadership, which is what the President said. So thank you for confirming he is right. I mean, do you feel as though you've achieved leadership level, the personnel in place right now in Iran that you're satisfied with? I mean, have you- I think it's too soon to say. In terms of highly enriched uranium in Iran right now, is your expectation, I mean, the stated desire of the President has been to prevent nuclear weapons. Is your expectation of the endgame here is that eventually Americans will be in possession of that uranium or you'll somehow have some direct control over the highly enriched uranium that could be used to develop a nuclear weapon? Again, this is a point of conversation that continues. I think you know the means in which the United States would have to take in order to achieve that goal, and that's a decision for the President to make. Brian. Good to see you, Brian Glenn. Good to see you as well. Does the White House have a comment on a letter that was sent from Congressman Raskin to the DOJ alleging that the DOJ recklessly released damning information in regards to President Trump's documents? Yes. I saw that letter from Congressman Raskin this morning, who I would add has zero credibility, and this letter was clearly a cheap political stunt. What the Congressman did here, Brian, and for everyone in the room who's hopefully not reporting on this as fact, is that he took untrue and salacious claims in a memo that was produced by Jack Smith, who has been completely discredited for his lawfare and his witch hunts against this President, and that information was unverified. It never even made it into the indictment because it was so unverified. What happened to that indictment anyway? It was thrown out, and Jack Smith has been proven, again, to be a prosecutor on a witch hunt against President Trump. He tried to throw him in jail ahead of the 2024 election. The Biden Department of Justice was fully on board with this lawfare campaign, and in fact, this story that was concocted by Congressman Raskin was so ridiculous, I understand his communications team reached out to some outlets in this room who responsibly said, we're not going to write this because this is just too much. However, of course, MSNOW did write that story this morning because they continue to be left-wing propaganda for the Democrat Party. I think Jack Smith has been proven to be a liar and a fraud, and this is, again, a cheap political stunt from a Democrat on Capitol Hill who, I think, wants to get himself on cable television. Thank you all very much.