Karoline Leavitt, Youngest White House Press Secretary, Makes Her Debut in the Briefing Room

TIME

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt, the youngest person to hold that office, made her debut Tuesday in the first White House briefing of Donald Trump's second term in office.

Transcript

00:00Good afternoon, everybody.

00:02How are we?

00:04Good to see all of you.

00:05It's an honor to be here with all of you.

00:07A lot of familiar faces in the room, a lot of new faces.

00:10And President Trump is back, and the golden age of America

00:15has most definitely begun.

00:16The Trump White House will speak to all media outlets

00:20and personalities, not just the legacy media

00:23who are seated in this room.

00:25Because according to recent polling from Gallup,

00:27Americans' trust in mass media has fallen to a record low.

00:33Millions of Americans, especially young people,

00:36have turned from traditional television outlets

00:38and newspapers to consume their news from podcasts, blogs,

00:42social media, and other independent outlets.

00:45It's essential to our team

00:47that we share President Trump's message everywhere

00:50and adapt this White House to the new media landscape in 2025.

00:55To do this, I am excited to announce

00:57the following changes will be made

00:58to this historic James S.

01:00Brady Briefing Room,

01:01where Mr. Brady's legacy will endure.

01:04This White House believes strongly in the First Amendment,

01:07so it's why our team will work diligently

01:10to restore the press passes of the 440 journalists

01:14whose passes were wrongly revoked

01:15by the previous administration.

01:18We're also opening up this briefing room

01:19to new media voices who produce news-related content

01:23and whose outlet is not already represented

01:26by one of the seats in this room.

01:28We welcome independent journalists, podcasters,

01:31social media influencers, and content creators

01:34to apply for credentials to cover this White House.

01:38And you can apply now on our new website,

01:41whitehouse.gov slash new media.

01:45Starting today, this seat in the front of the room,

01:49which is usually occupied by the press secretary's staff,

01:52will be called the new media seat.

01:55My team will review the applications

01:57and give credentials to new media applicants

01:59who meet our criteria

02:00and pass United States Secret Service requirements

02:03to enter the White House complex.

02:05And before I turn to questions,

02:06I do have news directly from the President of the United States

02:10that was just shared with me in the Oval Office,

02:13from President Trump directly,

02:15an update on the New Jersey drones.

02:17After research and study,

02:19the drones that were flying over New Jersey in large numbers

02:22were authorized to be flown by the FAA

02:26for research and various other reasons.

02:29Many of these drones were also hobbyists,

02:32recreational, and private individuals

02:34that enjoy flying drones.

02:36In time, it got worse due to curiosity.

02:40This was not the enemy.

02:43A statement from the President of the United States

02:46to start this briefing with some news.

02:47And with that, I will turn it over to questions.

02:49Thanks, Caroline.

02:51A question that we've asked your predecessors

02:52of both parties in this job.

02:54When you're up here in this briefing room

02:56speaking to the American public,

02:57do you view yourself and your role

02:59as advocating on behalf of the President

03:02or providing the unvarnished truth

03:04that is not to lie,

03:05not to obfuscate to the American people?

03:08I commit to telling the truth from this podium

03:10every single day.

03:11I commit to speaking on behalf

03:13of the President of the United States.

03:15That is my job.

03:16And I will say it's very easy to speak truth from this podium

03:18when you have a President who is implementing policies

03:22that are wildly popular with the American people.

03:25And that's exactly what this administration is doing.

03:27It's correcting the lies

03:29and the wrongs of the past four years,

03:31many of the lies that have been told to your faces

03:33in this very briefing room.

03:35I will not do that.

03:36But since you brought up truth-seek,

03:38I would like to point out,

03:39while I vow to provide the truth from this podium,

03:42we ask that all of you in this room

03:44hold yourselves to that same standard.

03:46We know for a fact there have been lies

03:48that have been pushed by many legacy media

03:50outlets in this country about this President,

03:53about his family.

03:54And we will not accept that.

03:56We will call you out when we feel that your reporting

04:00is wrong or there is misinformation

04:02about this White House.

04:03So, yes, I will hold myself to the truth,

04:05and I expect everyone in this room to do the same.

04:07And, Carol, I just have a substantive question.

04:09Yesterday, the White House Office of Management

04:11and Budget directed an across-the-board freeze

04:16subject to individual assistance,

04:17we understand, to federal grants.

04:19It's caused a lot of confusion around the country.

04:22How does that uncertainty service the President's voters?

04:25Well, I think there's only uncertainty

04:27in this room amongst the media.

04:28There's no uncertainty in this building.

04:29So, let me provide the certainty

04:31and the clarity that all of you need.

04:33This is not a blanket pause on federal assistance

04:37and grant programs from the Trump administration.

04:40Individual assistance, that includes —

04:42I'm not naming everything that's included,

04:44but just to give you a few examples —

04:46Social Security benefits, Medicare benefits,

04:49food stamps, welfare benefits —

04:52assistance that is going directly to individuals

04:55will not be impacted by this pause.

04:58And I want to make that very clear to any Americans

05:00who are watching at home who may be a little bit confused.

05:03And the reason for this is to ensure that every penny

05:06that is going out the door is not conflicting

05:08with the executive orders and actions

05:10that this President has taken.

05:12So, what does this pause mean?

05:13It means no more funding for illegal DEI programs.

05:16It means no more funding for the Green New scam

05:19that has cost American taxpayers tens of billions of dollars.

05:24It means no more funding for transgenderism and wokeness

05:28across our federal bureaucracy and agencies.

05:30No more funding for Green New Deal

05:32social engineering policies.

05:34Again, people who are receiving individual assistance,

05:38you will continue to receive that.

Category

Transcript

Recommended