Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt Briefs Members of the Media, Mar. 25, 2026

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AI GeneratedThe White House provides updates on President Trump's schedule, the military success of Operation Epic Fury against Iran, and the ongoing DHS shutdown. The briefing emphasizes the degradation of Iranian military capabilities, diplomatic engagements with China, and criticisms of Democratic policies regarding border security and government funding.
Good afternoon, everybody.
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 and 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 Two.
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 Two.
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 abandoned 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 being —
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
Democrat 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.
The Press Thanks, Caroline.
Two questions.
For me here.
The Press 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?
Ms. Sanders 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?
Sure.
Go ahead.
The Press 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, you know, hoping to have no
more wars and to have lower prices.
Now, with a 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 is going as they had
expected.
Ms. McEnany 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.
The Press Thank you, Caroline.
Just within the past few hours, Iranian state TV
has said that Iran has rejected the U.S.'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?
Ms. McEnany 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.
The Press Well, yesterday, the President
mentioned a very big present that the
Iranians had given the U.S.
He wouldn't go into detail, but was it that
ship that was carrying 2 million barrels of oil
that made it through the state of Hormuz?
Ms. McEnany I'll let the President speak on that
at the appropriate time.
The Press Okay.
And then, finally, Caroline, today, Iraq's
government reportedly is planning to lodge a
protest with the U.S., according to The Wall
Street Journal.
There was an attack in Iraq that hit a military
clinic, killing seven soldiers, reportedly.
What's the U.S.'s response to that?
Was the U.S.
responsible for that attack?
Ms. McEnany I'll have to check in with the Pentagon
on that, and we'll get you an answer.
Go ahead.
The Press Thank you, 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?
Ms. McEnany 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.
The Press 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?
Ms. McEnany 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 airport — 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.
The Press 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?
Ms. McEnany 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.
And, 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.
The Press 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?
Ms. McEnany 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.
The Press 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?
Ms. McEnany 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.
The Press 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?
Ms. McEnany 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.
The Press Thanks, Caroline.
So, is there a timeframe as to when the first oil
tanker can go through the Strait of Hormuz freely?
Ms. McEnany 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.
And with respect to oil, as you know, the
administration has taken a number of actions to
stabilize the markets.
We directed the USDFC 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 percent 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 Press.
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?
Are the TSA lines that 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?
Ms. McEnany.
Well, look, it's the Democrats who have led to
this stalemate over the past six weeks.
The President, in the Republicans' 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.
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.
That he wants everyone in this town to work at Trump
speed like we do here at the White House.
I'll 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.
We're listening.
Thanks, Caroline.
Questions on the Strait of Hormuz.
If these negotiations are not successful, is the
only option to reopen the Strait empty 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 — it's a — 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.
And on — 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.
Fran.
The Press 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?
Ms. Sanders 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.
The Press Thanks, Caroline.
Two on Iran.
First, would the President consider loosening
asylum restrictions for Iranians trying to flee
the country right now?
Ms. Sanders 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.
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 in good faith?
Ms. Sanders 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.
The Press 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?
Ms. Sanders 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 Press The question of the red line shifting
from no nuclear weapon to no nuclear enrichment,
is there any substance to that argument?
Ms. Sanders 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.
The Press Thank you, Caroline.
I have a question for you on the SAVE Act, and I'd
like to follow up on the DHS shutdown.
Ms. Sanders Sure.
The Press First, Senator Mike Lee —
Ms. Sanders The SAVE America Act.
The Press SAVE America Act.
The President corrected me yesterday.
It 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?
Ms. Sanders 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.
The Press And then on the DHS shutdown, do you
expect deportations to decrease while ICE is in
the airports?
And what are the tradeoffs of having ICE in the
airports right now?
Ms. Sanders 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.
The Press 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?
Ms. Sanders 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 Press The President, yesterday, said that he
had achieved regime change in Iran because the
regime has changed in terms of --.
Ms. Sanders I mean, has it not?
The Press 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?
The Press There's been a change in leadership?
I mean, do you feel as though --?
Ms. Sanders There's been a change in the regime
leadership, which is what the President said.
So, thank you for confirming he is right.
The Press 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 --?
Ms. Sanders I think it's too soon to say.
The Press 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 that 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?
Ms. Sanders 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.
The Press 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?
Ms. Sanders 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.
And 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.
But 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.
