WASHINGTON: Good afternoon. MS. LEAVITT: How are we? Good to see you all. It's an honor to be here with all of you. There are a lot of familiar faces in the room, a lot of new faces. And President Trump is back and the golden age of America has definitely begun.
The Senate has already confirmed five exceptional nominees to join President Trump's cabinet: Marco Rubio, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, CIA Director John Ratcliffe, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent. It is imperative that the Senate move forward with confirming the President's remaining well-qualified nominees as quickly as possible. As you have seen over the past week, President Trump has been diligently fulfilling the promises he made to the American people during the election campaign. Since being sworn in, President Trump has taken more than 300 executive actions; secured nearly $1 trillion in U.S. investment; deported illegal aliens, rapists, gang members, and suspected terrorists from our country; and returned sanity to the federal government.
I would like to pause for a moment on some of these extraordinary events.
On the very first day, President Trump declared a state of emergency on our southern border to end a four-year invasion of illegal immigrants led by the previous administration. In addition, President Trump signed an executive order to end the catch-and-release system and complete construction of his effective border wall. By using all the levers 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 every nation on the planet to cooperate in repatriating its citizens, as demonstrated this weekend when President Trump swiftly ordered his team to issue tough and effective sanctions and tariffs against the Colombian government after learning that they were denied a U.S. military plane full of their own citizens who were deported by this administration. Within hours, the Colombian Government agreed to all of President Trump's demands, proving that America is once again respected on the world stage.
So foreign nationals who are thinking about trying to enter the United States illegally are advised to think again. Under this president, you will be detained and deported. Every day, Americans are safer from the violent criminals the Trump administration is removing from our communities.
On January 23, ICE detained a Turkish national in New York who entered the U.S. without inspection and is a known or suspected terrorist. On January 23, ICE San Francisco arrested a Mexican national who is in the United States illegally and has been convicted of the continuous sexual abuse of a child 14 years of age or younger. ICE Saint Paul arrested a Honduran citizen who was convicted of fourth-degree criminal sexual conduct with a minor. ICE Buffalo arrested an Ecuadorian citizen who was convicted of rape.
ICE Boston arrested a Dominican Republic citizen who was convicted of second-degree murder. This felon was convicted of murder because he beat his pregnant wife to death in front of her five-year-old son.
ICE Saint Paul also arrested a citizen of Mexico who was convicted of possessing pornographic materials of minors on a work computer.
These are the despicable individuals this administration is removing from American communities every day. And to the brave state and local law enforcement, CBP and ICE agents who are helping to facilitate this deportation operation, President Trump has your back and is grateful for your hard work.
On the economic front, President Trump has taken immediate action to reduce costs for families suffering from four long years of the Biden administration's destructive and inflationary policies. President Trump has directed the heads of all executive departments and agencies to help provide Americans with extraordinary price relief, wrest 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 return sanity to the federal bureaucracy. He ordered all federal agencies to end illegal programs targeting diversity, equality and inclusion to help return America to a merit-based society. President Trump also signed an executive order declaring that it is now the policy of the federal government that there are only two genders: male and female. Common sense has been restored.
Before I answer your questions, I would like to point out - once again, you all have access to the most transparent and accessible President in American history. Never has a President communicated with the American people and the American press corps as openly and authentically as the 45th and now 47th President of the United States.
In the past week, President Trump has held several press conferences, gagged a few times aboard Air Force One, and sat down for a two-part interview with Fox News that aired last week. As Politico best summed it up, "Trump is everywhere again." And that's because President Trump has a story to tell about the legendary American revival that is underway.
And in keeping with this revolutionary approach to the media that President Trump has taken during the campaign, the Trump White House will be talking to all media and personalities, not just the ones sitting in this room, as Americans' trust in the mass media has fallen to record lows, according to a recent Gallup poll. Millions of Americans, especially young people, have turned away from traditional television stations and newspapers and have begun consuming news from podcasts, blogs, social media and other independent sources.
It is critical for our team to share President Trump's message everywhere and to adapt this White House to the new media landscape in 2025. To that end, I am pleased to announce the following changes to this historic James S. Brady Briefing Room, where Mr. Brady's legacy will endure.
This White House firmly believes in the First Amendment, and that is why our team will be working hard to restore the press credentials of the 440 journalists whose credentials were wrongfully revoked by the previous administration.
We are also opening this briefing room to new media voices that create news-related content and whose media has not been represented in one of the seats in this room before. We welcome independent journalists, podcasters, social media influencers and content creators to apply for credentials to cover this White House. And you can apply now at our new website, WhiteHouse.gov/NewMedia.
From today onwards, this space at the front of the room, which is usually occupied by the Press Secretary's staff, will be called the 'new media' space. My team will review applications and grant credentials to new media applicants who meet our criteria and pass the United States Secret Service requirements for entry into the White House complex.
So in light of these announcements, our first questions at today's briefing will be directed to these new media outlets whose newsrooms, despite being among the most watched news sites in the country, have not been given seats in this room.
And before I get to the questions, I have some news for you directly from the President of the United States that was just given to me in the Oval Office by President Trump himself - an update on drones in New Jersey: after research and study, drones that have been flying in large numbers over New Jersey have been cleared by the FAA to fly for research and various other reasons.
Many of these drones were also hobbyists - recreational and private individuals who enjoy flying drones. In the meantime, it has - over time - gotten worse, due to curiosity. This activity was not friendly. And -- the statement from the President of the United States at the beginning of this briefing with some new developments.
And with that, I'll turn it over to questions and we'll start with our new members of the media, Mike Allen from Axios, Matt Boyle from Breitbart. The full text in English of the White House press conference can be found at here
whitehouse.gov / gnews.cz-jav
