Karoline Leavitt Takes Reporters' Questions About Signal Leak, Trump's Auto Tariffs

3/27/2025

Karoline Leavitt speaks to reporters outside the White House.

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Transcript

00:00You guys saw the big news this morning about an MS-13 ringleader who was arrested and will

00:05now be removed from that community in Virginia.

00:08This is a big win for the American public, and the President is very proud of Attorney

00:13General Bondi and the FBI Director Kash Patel, and they worked alongside Governor Youngkin

00:17in Virginia, so we applaud the effort of state and local law enforcement.

00:21This was a very violent individual who was picked up in a home with five children present,

00:26so our communities are safer this morning, and it's a good day for our country.

00:30I'll take a couple of questions, and then I have my morning meetings.

00:33Do you have an update on the status of the internal investigation that you described

00:38yesterday to us?

00:40Not this morning, but we've been incredibly transparent about this entire situation, and

00:44we will continue to be.

00:45Caroline, the President announced auto tariffs yesterday.

00:46He's also alluded to other tariffs, lumber, pharmaceutical drugs.

00:47Can you give us an expectation of the timeline for this part of next week's package?

00:48Are there more that we can expect?

00:49Sure.

00:50Well, I won't get ahead of the President on any additional tariffs.

01:02As you know, on April 2nd, there will be the reciprocal tariff announcement, which is going

01:06to focus on countries particularly that have been ripping off the United States.

01:10The President said yesterday he thinks that some of these numbers will be more conservative

01:14than many people are expecting, but we're going to make sure that American workers are

01:18put first, and we're ending the unfair trade practices that have been hollowing out our

01:22middle class for decades.

01:24And I would just like to emphasize, these auto tariffs yesterday are a big deal for

01:28auto workers in the industry.

01:29And you saw the United Auto Workers Union.

01:32Sean Fain, who wasn't the greatest fan of the President on the campaign trail, came

01:36out this morning and applauded the President for this move, saying it's a great thing for

01:41auto workers who have been sold out by unfair trade practices.

01:44So the President is determined to rebuild our manufacturing base.

01:49We want more jobs, more products made right here in the United States, which means more

01:53money in the pockets of the American people at the end of the day.

01:56Caroline, will the White House cooperate with any requests from Congress regarding the signal

02:03situation?

02:04We haven't seen a request from Congress come through our inboxes yet, and when that does,

02:08we'll have an answer on that.

02:09A new YouGov poll shows that 75 percent, around 75 percent of Americans consider that the

02:14signal link problem is a very serious problem.

02:17Does the administration plan to hold anyone accountable, potentially change their messaging

02:22on it?

02:23Well, we have never denied that this was a mistake, and the National Security Advisor

02:29took responsibility for that.

02:31And we have said we are making changes.

02:33We are looking into the matter to ensure it can never happen again.

02:36But of course, the President has put together a team.

02:39Look at the Secretary of Defense, Pete Hegseth, who was voted in by the United States Senate,

02:44putting our warfighters first, making the world a safer place for the American people

02:48and for all people.

02:49And we're going to stay focused on that.

02:50And I think the arrest of an MS-13 gang leader this morning speaks volumes about the competence

02:56of the President and his team.

02:57Thanks, guys.

Karoline Leavitt Takes Reporters' Questions About Signal Leak, Trump's Auto Tariffs

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