The Megyn Kelly Show - Michael Waltz on How Russia-Ukraine Peace Deal Happens, and Karoline Leavitt on Sparring with the Press and Being a Working Mom ｜ Ep. 1011

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00:01:01.420 Welcome to The Megyn Kelly Show.

00:01:03.300 Live on Sirius XM Channel 111

00:01:05.360 every weekday at New East.

00:01:12.860 Hey everybody, I'm Megyn Kelly.

00:01:14.720 Welcome to The Megyn Kelly Show.

00:01:16.220 Today, what a treat we have for you.

00:01:19.280 We have got first, Mike Walsh.

00:01:21.760 He's the National Security Advisor.

00:01:23.560 And man, does he have a lot on his plate.

00:01:26.180 There is so much happening in the world of foreign policy right now.

00:01:29.800 You've seen in the news, President Trump's getting beaten up by every paper,

00:01:34.080 every left-wing cable operation, news operation.

00:01:37.160 But there's a lot going on.

00:01:39.200 And he's got a lot of immense challenges.

00:01:41.740 And Mike Walsh is a critical piece of his solutions.

00:01:45.060 So he'll join us for our first time together.

00:01:47.920 And then Caroline Leavitt, the White House Press Secretary, will be here next.

00:01:52.240 And you're going to love this interview.

00:01:54.420 I just sat down with her.

00:01:56.360 She is the youngest press secretary ever.

00:01:59.660 Didn't even know that until I was preparing for today.

00:02:02.620 We get into her background, her marriage, her baby.

00:02:06.460 You're going to learn facts about her that you have never heard anywhere else.

00:02:10.340 And then we talk quite a bit about her boss, the press, what insights she's learned being

00:02:16.460 upfront and personal with these guys and who her least favorite White House reporter is.

00:02:21.860 And she did name a name.

00:02:23.480 So I think you're going to enjoy that too.

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00:03:27.440 Mike Walls, thanks for being here.

00:03:29.220 Yeah, thank you.

00:03:30.200 So you're a busy man these days.

00:03:31.860 The president's been a little busy these days.

00:03:34.160 We told him a few days ago, Mr. President, you know we have four years.

00:03:39.000 Right, right.

00:03:40.440 You think about just what we've done in the last month.

00:03:43.260 I think we did more in a month than Biden did in all four years.

00:03:45.680 On all fronts, domestic, international, and there's a lot happening when it comes to the

00:03:51.140 international situation.

00:03:52.260 I mean, it's like we were just talking before we got started.

00:03:54.460 Oh yeah, then there's China, which hasn't been in the news really in the past couple

00:03:58.020 of weeks.

00:03:58.860 So let's start with what is in the news.

00:04:00.600 And today, the dominant story is Ukraine.

00:04:03.320 And whether things are deteriorating now between President Trump and Volodymyr Zelensky.

00:04:08.540 There seems to be an escalating slight war of words between the two of them.

00:04:14.400 Zelensky's complaining he wasn't brought in on the negotiation.

00:04:17.180 Trump called him a dictator.

00:04:18.860 Even some Republicans said that went too far.

00:04:21.240 What do you make of it?

00:04:22.560 Well, this notion that he hasn't been consulted, I've just got to push back.

00:04:26.220 It's just not true.

00:04:27.700 Just a week ago, President Trump in the Oval Office had Putin on the phone for the, I mean,

00:04:34.580 the first time they've engaged since the prior administration had him on the phone and then

00:04:39.660 Zelensky on the phone within minutes.

00:04:41.740 Both of them said only President Trump can bring this war to a conclusion.

00:04:47.920 And you can't get us to a ceasefire and get this war to end if you don't talk to both sides.

00:04:53.560 So it is an age old kind of, you know, approach in diplomacy called shuttle diplomacy.

00:04:59.600 You talk to one side, then you talk to the other.

00:05:02.120 Oh, by the way, we just got to a ceasefire and we see hostages being released in the

00:05:07.800 Middle East.

00:05:09.340 We talk through intermediaries, through the Qataris, through the Egyptians to Hamas, and

00:05:15.520 then we talk to the Israelis.

00:05:16.960 The United States has taken this position of shuttle diplomacy for quite some time.

00:05:20.740 So people might be frustrated about how it's going, but Trump just in a very short amount

00:05:27.440 of time has taken this conversation from endless war, as long as it takes, open ended, death

00:05:35.100 and destruction, you know, all over Europe and expanding now with North Korea to is this 0.74

00:05:40.760 war going to end to it is going to end.

00:05:43.440 And now we can debate about how.

00:05:44.760 The reality is it was stuck in what felt like a stalemate, a never ending standoff between

00:05:51.180 these two countries.

00:05:52.200 And so some somebody is going to have to give the criticism that's coming Trump's way from

00:05:57.980 the right now is you gave up the farm too early.

00:06:00.760 Like their their criticism and you tell me whether it's legit is that he shouldn't have

00:06:06.220 said NATO's off the table and they're going to have to go up some territory right off the

00:06:10.200 bat because that should be the end settlement.

00:06:12.400 It shouldn't be where we start.

00:06:13.820 So to your point on Zelensky, what has he heard the last three years?

00:06:18.200 You know, blank check as long as you want.

00:06:21.200 You know, what's the end state?

00:06:23.400 What's the strategy?

00:06:24.480 What does victory look like?

00:06:25.940 It was just completely open ended.

00:06:28.560 And oh, by the way, what he heard from Biden was the United States really doesn't have a

00:06:33.260 say.

00:06:34.080 You have a say.

00:06:35.100 And now he's hearing something very different.

00:06:36.860 I think that's difficult to hear that this is going to end and you need to get to the table.

00:06:41.540 Uh, in terms of the criticism, look, we've been dangling NATO membership in front of Ukraine

00:06:48.100 since 2008 for 17 years.

00:06:51.720 And behind the scenes, not everybody in NATO is, is on board with that.

00:06:56.680 And I don't think the American people are on board with us bringing Ukraine into NATO in

00:07:01.860 the middle of a war, which then obligates U.S. troops to get involved.

00:07:06.120 So what we did and what Secretary Hegseth did was state the obvious, you know, talk to

00:07:12.180 the white elephant in the room.

00:07:13.440 And if we're going to get to the negotiating table with the Russians quickly, I think that 0.98

00:07:18.540 needed to be said.

00:07:19.500 And everybody in the room knew it, even though they were kind of aghast and clutching their

00:07:23.360 pearls in Europe.

00:07:24.120 And then the other piece was on the borders.

00:07:26.140 Uh, look, does anyone, and I've asked this in my European counterparts, is anyone willing

00:07:31.740 to go to the microphone and say that we're going to expel every Russian from every inch 1.00

00:07:37.120 of Ukrainian soil, including Crimea, because that's essentially what the 20, uh, the, the

00:07:43.040 2014 border pre 2014 border was.

00:07:46.080 No, I mean, it's a statement of reality and that's the reality that we're living in.

00:07:49.880 Whether it's what's going to happen to 1.8 million people living in death and devastation

00:07:55.240 in Gaza, like, can that really happen for the next 15 years or this?

00:08:00.460 I mean, President Trump's very common sense.

00:08:02.400 We're taking these issues head on.

00:08:04.780 And I think, uh, no one should be of the notion that somehow he's going to get played, uh, by

00:08:12.380 President Putin.

00:08:13.240 That is not going to be the case.

00:08:15.040 He's the dealmaker in chief.

00:08:16.400 And, you know, if it weren't for him, we wouldn't even be having these conversations.

00:08:19.880 So if Ukraine gives up some 20% of its territory, what, what Russia has taken thus far, whatever

00:08:25.040 that rounding number is, and doesn't get into NATO, which I think many people believe would

00:08:30.200 be way too provocative right now, uh, to even discuss, or maybe for a long, long time, because

00:08:35.000 that's really what was stirring up Putin's anger in large part, even before, what does

00:08:39.920 Russia give, right? 0.55

00:08:41.240 I can see what Ukraine's going to have to give here. 0.91

00:08:43.420 What does Russia have to give?

00:08:44.640 Well, this is always, you know, just an, an objective look at it, uh, going to be some

00:08:50.620 type of territory, particularly after Ukraine's counteroffensive in 2023 failed.

00:08:55.920 Uh, and again, we're talking all of Crimea here, uh, some type of territory for some type

00:09:01.180 of security guarantee.

00:09:02.160 We fully support, uh, France now saying that they'll get involved in the security guarantee.

00:09:08.480 Macron is, is coming to the white house.

00:09:10.640 He doesn't want that UK, uh, saying that they will get involved in his security guarantee.

00:09:15.060 There are some fundamental first principles here.

00:09:17.620 One, this is a permanent end to this war, not another temporary stop like we had from 2014

00:09:24.320 to 2022, uh, that there will be security guarantees involved for the future of, of Ukraine so that

00:09:31.520 we ensure that there's, this doesn't start up again.

00:09:34.460 There will have to be some type of territory, uh, uh, concession.

00:09:40.220 Uh, and then by, by Ukraine, I think, or by Putin, because I thought we're on the list.

00:09:44.880 Yes, by, by both.

00:09:46.920 Uh, and we can't even get to that conversation unless we engage both.

00:09:52.120 No, no, I get it.

00:09:52.860 I'm not one of those people who doesn't think you should be talking.

00:09:54.940 I mean, it's ridiculous, right?

00:09:56.040 It can't be subtle.

00:09:56.500 But that's what we've heard all week.

00:09:57.520 Oh my God, I can't believe you talked to me.

00:09:59.060 But my, my only question is.

00:10:00.060 And then I went to Riyadh with Marco Rubio and others and furthered those discussions.

00:10:03.740 I just don't get, you know, when I took negotiations in law school, yes, shuttle diplomacy

00:10:07.200 was part of what we learned.

00:10:08.160 But the other piece was the best settlements involved both sides giving up a bit.

00:10:11.880 Sure.

00:10:12.080 Everybody should walk away slightly unhappy or maybe even very unhappy.

00:10:14.600 Well, we just talked about security guarantees that you said right out the bat, Russia's not going 0.76

00:10:18.360 to be happy with.

00:10:18.820 And they're going, they're, they're going to have to accept that.

00:10:22.120 It was the back and forth with, with Zelensky this week is, you know, he himself came to New

00:10:29.160 York last September.

00:10:30.400 He's Zelensky and started talking about critical minerals, partnerships.

00:10:35.160 I mean, that was his idea as part of his victory plan that he proposed, including talking

00:10:40.040 to President Trump about it.

00:10:41.480 So now to act like this came out of the blue, we found a, a, a bit puzzling when we personally

00:10:47.540 sent our treasury secretary there to say, okay, you know, let's, let's.

00:10:52.040 And I can't think of any better security guarantee than to be invested with the United States

00:10:57.660 of America.

00:10:58.200 As I said at the, at the press conference with Caroline Levitt, they have an aluminum plant

00:11:04.080 that could satisfy 100% of the United States imports.

00:11:08.360 If that thing was fully operational, they have critical minerals like gallium and tritium

00:11:14.300 and vast reserves that could satisfy a third to a half of our import needs.

00:11:19.640 If they were at full capacity, if we had an investment mechanism.

00:11:23.420 So, you know, what we've, what I've been on the phone all week with President Zelensky's

00:11:28.880 team is saying, you need to see this as growing the pie.

00:11:31.360 And 50% of a much larger pie is better than a hundred percent of what you have now, which

00:11:36.600 has been, you know, essentially devastated or undeveloped.

00:11:40.360 So to be co-invested with us for the longterm, I think is a tremendous opportunity for them.

00:11:45.500 And we have to restructure the conversation around our aid.

00:11:49.240 The Europeans are doing it in the form of loans. 0.51

00:11:51.320 They're actually paying for their loans on the interest of frozen, frozen Russian assets.

00:11:57.360 And yet all of ours have been grants now for three years, you know, I mean, the American

00:12:01.600 taxpayer deserves some type of recoupment.

00:12:04.580 And if we do that in a way that's mutually beneficial, then that's good for everyone.

00:12:08.000 That wasn't even discussed under the Biden administration.

00:12:10.000 It was just handouts.

00:12:11.320 And now finally, we're talking about what about us?

00:12:13.440 Yeah.

00:12:14.440 What about, what about, you know, our tax?

00:12:15.820 So let's talk about the possibility of securing Ukraine if and when this thing settles.

00:12:20.360 The Russians do not want the Europeans, much less us, but we don't want to go over there 1.00

00:12:24.060 and keep the peace.

00:12:25.060 The Europeans reportedly now you're confirming may may be willing to do it.

00:12:29.800 So how do we get that past Putin?

00:12:31.420 Not only are they saying they're willing to do it, they're putting operational plans in

00:12:34.560 place with the NATO secretary general and President Trump and I and others have openly said, again,

00:12:40.740 a first premise is Europe has to take more responsibility for their own security.

00:12:46.500 How do we get that past Putin?

00:12:47.620 And how do we feel about their ability, the European troops to maintain peace and order

00:12:53.440 and repel any potential aggression that comes up their way to the capability question is

00:12:58.300 why they have to invest in their own defense.

00:13:00.840 The other thing we've said that is unacceptable is we have a NATO summit heads of state summit

00:13:05.780 this June and we will still be at a third of all NATO members haven't met the minimum of

00:13:11.680 two percent of GDP that they pledged to do a decade ago, over a decade ago.

00:13:17.820 They just want right.

00:13:19.100 This is a lot of kind of, you know, chirping and hand-wringing about what the United States

00:13:23.940 should do with its taxpayer money.

00:13:25.820 Yeah.

00:13:26.820 And they need to come to the table and both Macron and Prime Minister Storm of the UK

00:13:31.420 and the NATO secretary general have said this was a kind of a shocking wake-up call.

00:13:37.900 Guys, you've been hearing us say this now.

00:13:39.780 We meant it.

00:13:40.340 We meant it and President Trump means it and I mean it and Secretary Rubio means it.

00:13:44.140 Pete Hegseth means it.

00:13:45.260 Is there any chance we withdraw from NATO?

00:13:47.340 President Trump has talked about it.

00:13:48.940 Two different conversations about security guarantees of European troops right on the edge of a hot war

00:13:55.020 in Ukraine that is not a NATO member versus defending our NATO allies, you know, if attacked.

00:14:01.100 Those are two separate conversations.

00:14:03.340 We support NATO.

00:14:04.220 We support Article 5.

00:14:05.260 But you've heard President Trump's, you know, he looks at it.

00:14:08.540 If you had a club and only half to two thirds of the members were paying their dues,

00:14:15.180 what are the other ones going to do?

00:14:16.060 And the club required you to go to war if somebody in the club not paying their dues has a massive fight.

00:14:21.980 And I have to tell you, I mean, just my own experience as a Green Beret, a special operations

00:14:26.140 officer who, you know, with multiple tours in Afghanistan, when we were there with our NATO

00:14:30.700 allies, we called them.

00:14:31.740 We had the fighting allies, the British, the Canadians, the Danes.

00:14:35.820 And then we had others, frankly, that were kind of in the more peaceful parts that wouldn't even allow

00:14:40.300 us.

00:14:40.540 I tried to call a medevac from Germany where we needed help.

00:14:44.460 They wouldn't allow them to come.

00:14:46.380 We tried to call for air support for some other allies, and they weren't allowed to do

00:14:51.260 offensive operations, I guess, only if the plane was shot at.

00:14:54.140 They have what was called national caveats.

00:14:56.540 So you have kind of my generation with Secretary Hegseth and others that have seen this kind of,

00:15:03.820 you know, play out on the battlefield.

00:15:06.220 And that's not to criticize the troops.

00:15:08.780 They were constrained by their governments.

00:15:11.100 And if we're all in this together, then we're all in this together.

00:15:13.820 So what's your advice to Volodymyr Zelensky in trying to deal with President Trump right

00:15:18.700 now?

00:15:18.860 Because to me, it seems like he's gotten very provocative and may not fully understand

00:15:23.420 who's calling the most important shots.

00:15:25.580 That's right.

00:15:26.860 Number one, the first, second and third thing coming from President Zelensky needs to be

00:15:33.020 appreciation for the American people to appreciate what happened after the 2014 invasion.

00:15:38.460 The Obama administration literally threw blankets at him.

00:15:41.180 Who was the first to actually arm the Ukrainians?

00:15:43.900 President Trump.

00:15:45.420 Russia has invaded a neighbor under Bush, under Obama, and under Biden.

00:15:49.900 It did not happen under the first Trump term.

00:15:52.140 And he's going to end it in the second Trump term.

00:15:54.780 So I think just an appreciation for that relationship.

00:15:57.740 You are not going to criticize President Trump into getting your way.

00:16:01.900 You've seen that kind of backfire, I think, pretty spectacularly.

00:16:06.220 But thirdly, appreciate that this is the opportunity, the opportunity that this is to be co-invested

00:16:12.300 long term to really benefit all sides from the critical minerals and resources they're

00:16:19.260 blessed to have.

00:16:21.260 Let's let's view this as an opportunity going forward.

00:16:23.980 Yes, it's like I say to my kids when I say, here's something great.

00:16:27.500 And they say, well, why isn't it this other color?

00:16:29.180 And I say, I think the words you're looking for are thank you.

00:16:32.540 Better said.

00:16:34.300 But let's spend one second on the criticism of what Trump said the other day.

00:16:38.300 And then I want to talk about Israel.

00:16:40.540 He called Zelensky a dictator, which has had a lot of even right wingers say that that's ridiculous.

00:16:46.140 Zelensky is not a dictator.

00:16:47.340 Putin's a dictator.

00:16:48.060 He's on the front of the New York Post today.

00:16:49.580 Mark Levin, a big fan of the president, spoke out about this.

00:16:53.660 Is that rhetoric that he just throws out there or do you think he actually means that?

00:16:57.420 What's happening with that word?

00:16:59.660 Well, look, I think that he is enormously frustrated with Zelensky.

00:17:04.060 He sees that martial law has been in place.

00:17:06.140 I do think elections need to happen at some point.

00:17:10.380 And all of these things can happen once we get to a ceasefire.

00:17:14.540 And that, you know, I think President Zelensky, again, needs to understand that this is a very different dynamic now.

00:17:23.260 This isn't just as long as it takes, as much as it takes.

00:17:26.620 And you do, you know, whatever you want to do, that we are determined to end this war.

00:17:31.820 President Trump is going to do that.

00:17:33.500 And what astounds me is the kind of these critical voices that were so demanding of a ceasefire and a stop to the fighting in Gaza,

00:17:45.180 but yet are aghast that President Trump is doing, saying, moving, however it takes.

00:17:51.260 They don't want to see it.

00:17:52.140 So what's the alternative solution that anyone has on the right or the left?

00:17:57.180 That's a good question, because I don't understand if there's no world in which we're letting Ukraine into NATO.

00:18:02.140 Who's opposed to peace?

00:18:03.500 Yeah, I mean, they call it surrender.

00:18:05.100 You've heard them comparing this to a Neville Chamberlain situation.

00:18:08.060 Peace in our time.

00:18:09.020 There's a debate unfolding right now between Neil Ferguson, who's a good man, conservative,

00:18:13.100 and J.D. Vance online over about whether this is just giving it all up, you know, whether this is a surrender.

00:18:18.940 It's always easy to get peace if you surrender.

00:18:20.460 I mean, that's almost laughable, Megan, that President Trump is just going to give it all up to anyone.

00:18:26.700 And if we look at what we had under Biden's lack of leadership, do you want that?

00:18:32.060 Or do you want someone who is going to go toe to toe with Putin, with Xi, with Kim Jong-un?

00:18:38.060 I mean, I'll tell you where my confidence and my vote is.

00:18:40.860 Let me ask you this one, Mike. Explain this to me.

00:18:42.060 I look at this.

00:18:43.020 I think part of this was that we moved so quickly.

00:18:46.300 We had that confidence-building measure with the release of Fogel.

00:18:49.180 Yeah.

00:18:49.740 That was in the works.

00:18:51.180 That happened.

00:18:51.900 That was great.

00:18:52.380 And then, I mean, what was the last prisoner exchange we had?

00:18:56.460 The world's largest armed dealer for a basketball player.

00:18:59.340 That's right.

00:19:00.220 So we essentially get that for nothing as a tremendous step forward.

00:19:03.660 We have a call with both leaders the next day.

00:19:06.380 And then we're in Saudi Arabia and the world, you know,

00:19:10.540 didn't feel like this was the normal process that happens over months and years.

00:19:15.100 I'll say another underlying premise here is time is not on anyone's side.

00:19:18.460 Right.

00:19:18.860 The death and destruction is happening.

00:19:20.940 The threat of escalation is always there.

00:19:24.060 Zelensky's political situation is worsening.

00:19:28.300 And we have an issue here of we're not going to give

00:19:31.820 endless aid and other hundreds of billions of dollars.

00:19:34.860 So I think everyone and Russia's economy continues to worsen with inflation,

00:19:42.860 with interest rates at 25 to 30 percent.

00:19:45.420 So everyone should be incentivized to come to the table.

00:19:47.660 So how much of a concern in this negotiation is?

00:19:51.100 And President Trump, by the way, also stated that he is perfectly willing to tax, sanction,

00:19:57.740 and tariff the Russians as well.

00:20:01.020 They've demonstrated a willingness to come to the table.

00:20:03.180 Not everyone's going to like all the terms.

00:20:04.940 We now need Zelensky at the table.

00:20:06.780 Not everyone's going to like all the terms.

00:20:08.540 And how we get there, you know, is the process that's unfolding.

00:20:11.660 How much, if at all, does the threat of China play in all this?

00:20:16.220 Because there's a lot of thinking that it would be great if we actually could have a better relationship

00:20:21.340 with Russia and focus on what many view to be our biggest adversary or potential, which is China.

00:20:27.420 And right now, what we've seen over the past three years with this war is those two getting closer than the United States being out.

00:20:34.300 Who on any aspect of the spectrum thinks that China, Russia, North Korea and Iran

00:20:44.860 getting tighter in terms of military cooperation, technological cooperation, economic cooperation is a good thing.

00:20:51.820 No one that I know of.

00:20:53.420 And so if we start having different relationships and there is a the prospect of a bilateral relationship

00:21:01.820 with the United States and Russia that is very different, very much less threatening.

00:21:06.380 You know, that arguably is not a bad thing.

00:21:09.660 We need to clear up this issue of a major war in Europe to get to that point.

00:21:14.540 Maybe I'm wrong.

00:21:15.260 But as a sort of lay person who has never served overseas, to me, it looks like, look, it's lost.

00:21:21.260 It's not that anybody won it or anybody really lost it.

00:21:24.140 The Ukraine war.

00:21:25.180 But, you know, Volodymyr Zelensky limited the Russian gains to where he did.

00:21:30.780 Right.

00:21:31.500 And now they've been at a stalemate.

00:21:33.100 And now we're just seeing the death toll rise and the price rise.

00:21:36.620 And at some point, somebody's got to, if not cry uncle, just say, let's get out now.

00:21:41.100 Let's let's cut the losses at this point because it's not going anywhere from here other than

00:21:45.740 more death and destruction, though.

00:21:48.060 The war should have not happened.

00:21:50.380 It really shouldn't.

00:21:51.340 And it didn't happen under Trump's first term.

00:21:54.620 We can unpack how that deterrence failed.

00:21:58.700 Everything from Biden saying, well, maybe if it's a minor incursion.

00:22:02.940 Yeah.

00:22:03.340 Right.

00:22:03.900 Then maybe it won't be so bad to the giveaways on Nord Stream after the colonial pipeline hack.

00:22:09.820 I mean, there are all kinds of things that that I think led to deterrence failing.

00:22:15.580 Then we have this incremental just a little bit here, a little bit there that essentially drug this

00:22:22.860 war into a World War One style trench warfare, endless stalemate.

00:22:27.740 Again, if you don't like this approach, President Trump's approach, then what is the alternative

00:22:34.860 plan to continue this forever?

00:22:37.500 What will the war situation look like at the end of this year or next year?

00:22:41.420 How about Trump saying Ukraine started it?

00:22:44.700 People are going off about that.

00:22:45.980 Well, look, he's focused on moving forward.

00:22:49.500 And this came up in the in the Riyadh talks as well, this kind of long drawn out.

00:22:56.060 And we could go back hundreds, if not over a thousand years of this side did this.

00:23:01.420 That side did this.

00:23:02.540 2014, what happened in the Minsk one, Minsk two.

00:23:07.580 And really why those I think those talks were a good next step is we kept bringing it, Secretary

00:23:14.780 Rubio, me and Steve Witkoff back to, OK, let's move forward.

00:23:20.540 President Trump is ready to move forward.

00:23:22.700 Trump's number one, Putin invaded Ukraine.

00:23:24.940 What's that?

00:23:25.420 Trump is well aware.

00:23:26.540 Yeah, I mean, he said it repeatedly.

00:23:28.140 I mean, the left is trying to spin this as though he actually thinks Ukraine actually started.

00:23:31.900 I'm repeating what he has repeatedly said.

00:23:35.100 Russia invaded a neighbor Georgia under Bush.

00:23:38.300 Russia invaded its neighbor Ukraine under Biden.

00:23:41.500 And Russia invaded its neighbor under Obama, but not under him.

00:23:46.540 Those are his words.

00:23:48.060 They invaded.

00:23:49.260 Yes.

00:23:49.500 Right now we can get a debate of who provoked who or what have you.

00:23:53.740 What I would say to the left or say to anyone is you can't get both sides to the table in a deal

00:23:58.700 if you're trashing one side or the other publicly.

00:24:02.620 And at the same time, if both aren't willing to come, then, you know,

00:24:06.380 we've got all kinds of carrots and sticks and leverage the president's willing to use.

00:24:09.740 Mm hmm.

00:24:10.460 OK, let's talk about Israel.

00:24:12.860 The news is just so awful.

00:24:14.300 It's so awful.

00:24:16.060 I feel like those Bebas little boys were like the face of this thing. 1.00

00:24:20.460 And there are so many mothers who I know watch the show and who I talk to via Twitter and so on,

00:24:25.980 who have just been praying, you know, hoping beyond hope that maybe they were lying about

00:24:30.220 the babies being dead.

00:24:31.580 They've been claiming an Israeli airstrike killed them.

00:24:33.980 There's zero evidence of that.

00:24:35.020 We have every belief that Hamas did it or their supporters. 0.99

00:24:39.260 Now, the Israelis have evidence that they were executed.

00:24:41.820 They were brutally executed.

00:24:43.580 The reports online is that they were strangled.

00:24:46.060 I don't know if that's I.

00:24:47.500 Yeah, I don't want to get into that level of detail for the sake of the families,

00:24:50.540 but they were they were.

00:24:51.660 This was not an errant airstrike.

00:24:53.580 It wasn't an errant.

00:24:54.460 Exactly.

00:24:54.780 That's the point.

00:24:55.260 And by the way, just so the I mean,

00:24:56.940 I mean, it wasn't that long ago that we had college campuses, professors, administrators

00:25:03.660 literally celebrating Hamas, flying their flag, wearing their colors, you know, right.

00:25:10.540 You know, cheering them on.

00:25:12.620 And where where are those people now?

00:25:15.100 Are they still willing to step out with that despicable anti-Semitic?

00:25:20.860 I mean, they are, but they are because it's not like we didn't know on ten eight and ten nine

00:25:25.100 and ten ten of twenty three what they had done.

00:25:28.380 You know, the reports of them burning babies were all over the airwaves

00:25:31.260 and they were still on the college campuses cheering this on.

00:25:33.740 Right.

00:25:34.060 There's something wrong.

00:25:35.260 You know who does not and refuses to have a two state solution?

00:25:38.860 Hamas. 0.73

00:25:39.580 Yeah.

00:25:40.060 Right.

00:25:41.020 They fully intend to have more October 7th if given the chance.

00:25:45.100 So we have to get as many people out as we can.

00:25:47.660 These people cheering the those two babies coffins like it was Mardi Gras.

00:25:53.980 You think these are not people we can deal with.

00:25:56.620 I don't blame Egypt and Jordan for not wanting them.

00:25:59.260 We wouldn't take them.

00:26:00.300 Why would we take them?

00:26:01.660 So how on earth does Trump get any country to take that group of people long term?

00:26:07.020 Well, first, we have to address what has happened in the radicalization of a whole generation.

00:26:12.780 And this was largely done under the auspices of the U.N.

00:26:16.380 And Unruh, who has U.N. funded teachers in these schools teaching these children

00:26:23.500 to not only hate Israel, but hate America and really just hate the world.

00:26:28.380 And to love death.

00:26:29.260 Yeah.

00:26:29.580 And to love death.

00:26:30.380 We also have them being rewarded and paid financially incentivized

00:26:35.820 to do this for the payments of families.

00:26:38.220 That is often done with eight dollars.

00:26:40.860 And one of the reasons that we once again have cut that back off and we've defunded Unruh.

00:26:46.460 So let's recognize that for what it is.

00:26:48.300 And one of the reasons that we have this problem.

00:26:51.500 There's what President Trump is speaking to is a practical reality.

00:26:55.180 When we, you know, looked at drone footage of Gaza, you know, flying over the miles and miles and

00:27:02.300 miles of just rubble.

00:27:03.420 The place looks like Hiroshima. 0.67

00:27:05.500 It has been devastated.

00:27:08.060 Coupled with no sewage, no water, unexploded ordnance everywhere, all from a war that Hamas 1.00

00:27:14.300 started, but how do you rebuild that place with nearly 2 million people sitting on it?

00:27:19.980 How do they even survive for the 10, 15 years it's going to take?

00:27:23.100 So this is once again, you don't like this plan of somehow offering these people a better solution,

00:27:30.700 a better life that they've never really been offered.

00:27:32.940 We understand the ideological and emotional attachment to the land, but this is just practicality.

00:27:38.780 And if not the neighbors, then you have countries like Indonesia.

00:27:43.660 You have countries like Malaysia.

00:27:45.020 You have countries like Azerbaijan and others that, and this isn't mandatory, but it should

00:27:51.340 be voluntary.

00:27:52.700 If they want to leave and the entire world, you know, kind of heart breaks for these people,

00:27:57.340 then let's step up and have real solutions.

00:27:59.900 And what we saw after the visit of King Abdullah of Jordan was the Arab world is pulling people 1.00

00:28:06.700 together.

00:28:07.740 They're pulling themselves together and saying, okay, we're going to come to President Trump

00:28:11.180 with an alternative plan.

00:28:12.140 Tell me what happened there.

00:28:13.180 Because when Trump was like, Gaza, Gaziera, it'll be the Gaziera.

00:28:17.100 You know, we're going to send, they're going to send them to Egypt and Jordan. 1.00

00:28:20.140 We're going to rebuild it.

00:28:20.940 It's going to be beautiful.

00:28:21.900 Beirut was called the, you know, the Paris of Mediterranean.

00:28:24.940 Everybody's, I mean, Alan Dershowitz, who's been going there for 60 years is saying it was

00:28:29.020 like Singapore could have been a totally different situation.

00:28:30.300 I'll tell you what happened.

00:28:30.860 He said, listen, so we're going to invest billions of dollars.

00:28:33.980 United States will be somehow be a part of it.

00:28:36.620 How do we prevent this insanity from happening all over again?

00:28:41.100 So say you shift these people around, you clear the rubble, you invest billions to rebuild,

00:28:46.540 and another October 7th happens.

00:28:49.420 And here we are.

00:28:50.300 They're very determined to kill Jews. 1.00

00:28:51.580 We've been hearing the same old talking points for 70 years.

00:28:56.700 And it keeps happening over and over again.

00:28:58.700 So if he kind of shakes things up and proposes something radically new, which he did.

00:29:03.900 Yes.

00:29:04.300 And, but he also sees, but wait, that's what I'm going for.

00:29:06.940 He also sees an opportunity, though, in that.

00:29:08.860 But this is my question to you.

00:29:09.900 Is that do you think what's happening now is what Trump intended to have happened,

00:29:13.980 which is we're not necessarily going in there to build Gaziera,

00:29:17.740 but we were hoping to start a conversation where the Middle Eastern countries would say,

00:29:22.380 we might have a better idea.

00:29:23.820 Let us handle it and get a little bit more aggressive,

00:29:26.140 which they've been hands off about.

00:29:27.420 I think both can be true.

00:29:28.620 Right.

00:29:28.860 Both can be true at the same point.

00:29:30.540 You can actually chart a vision to have, you know, this beautiful piece of real estate right,

00:29:37.500 you know, just south of Beirut, which used to be called the Paris of the Mediterranean.

00:29:42.780 If we clear up the security situation, we get the international community to actually

00:29:47.580 fund the rebuilding.

00:29:49.500 How do we prevent the same old thing from happening again?

00:29:52.060 And how do we chart an actual positive future?

00:29:55.180 And perhaps that has to kind of break some historic China.

00:29:58.620 That's okay.

00:29:59.580 Come back with a different plan.

00:30:00.860 And that's what people are doing.

00:30:02.780 So does this thing go forward into phase two of the ceasefire?

00:30:07.260 Because it turns out that Hamas did not return at least one of the bodies that they said they were

00:30:13.340 going to the mother of those two babies.

00:30:15.580 It was a different corpse.

00:30:16.860 I mean, it's just sick.

00:30:17.740 I mean, those like literally those conversations.

00:30:20.940 I'll see BB's National Security Advisor Monday.

00:30:26.940 Now Ambassador Whitcoff is talking to them today.

00:30:30.860 I mean, this is a moving fluid hour by hour situation.

00:30:35.500 And we need to get as many hostages out as we can.

00:30:38.940 At the same time, we make sure Hamas never exists to do this again.

00:30:43.580 Which is trickier?

00:30:44.460 Which situation that we spent this half hour talking about, you know, keeps you up more

00:30:48.460 at night?

00:30:48.860 I could see I look thanks partially.

00:30:52.220 Well, they all do.

00:30:55.900 Europe is going to be harder.

00:30:57.420 I mean, that is a tough, tough situation.

00:31:00.460 And the president has said this as well.

00:31:03.500 Iran is on its back foot.

00:31:05.180 We have a historic opportunity in Lebanon now with our own government, Christian Arab

00:31:11.900 led government.

00:31:14.060 We have the fall of Assad, the decimation of Hezbollah. 0.68

00:31:20.300 We have a tremendous opportunity in the Middle East.

00:31:24.380 We have to make sure that this never happens again to Israel and we will always stand with

00:31:30.700 them.

00:31:31.340 But we can see that pathway to get back to where we were the first term, which was the

00:31:35.820 Abraham Accords.

00:31:36.700 And the more we get back to talking about data centers and fiber and infrastructure and those

00:31:43.900 conversations that become bigger, these historic animosities become smaller and smaller.

00:31:48.620 That pathway is is going to happen.

00:31:53.900 We just started this, you know, first step of our process of bringing the war in Europe 0.96

00:31:59.420 to an end and charting that future.

00:32:03.420 We've seen the introduction of American leadership in the Western Hemisphere again, and that's from

00:32:08.540 the Arctic all the way down to the border down and taking on the cartels to the Panama Canal.

00:32:14.460 The Arctic, also known as our 51st state.

00:32:18.140 And also known as Greenland.

00:32:19.180 Right.

00:32:19.500 It's a combo.

00:32:20.700 They could be 51 and 52.

00:32:22.700 The reality is the Danish government has treated Greenland like a, you know, like kind of a backwater.

00:32:29.180 They don't have the defense assets over there.

00:32:31.500 We see Russian icebreakers.

00:32:33.100 We see the Chinese trying to get a hold of critical minerals.

00:32:37.100 We see now shipping and fishing and other things happening to the north of our neighbor in Canada.

00:32:43.580 But by the way, Canada is near the last in terms of defense spending itself again.

00:32:48.060 What a shock.

00:32:48.940 Shocker.

00:32:50.700 Trudeau came to the dinner and said, no, no, we're on a pathway to get to the minimum 2%

00:32:55.020 10 years from now.

00:32:56.220 That was a commitment they made 10 years ago.

00:32:58.220 Yeah.

00:32:58.700 So just it's unacceptable.

00:33:00.380 And we also see Panama moving away from China.

00:33:03.340 I've heard general after general when I was in Congress and Admiral come to the table and pound the table

00:33:09.340 about China and the Western Hemisphere in our food, energy, ports.

00:33:14.700 And now within a month, we have the country overseeing the Panama Canal saying,

00:33:21.100 we're coming back to the United States.

00:33:22.540 We're moving away from China.

00:33:23.740 One month.

00:33:24.700 So all of this is all of this is in train moving in the right direction.

00:33:29.340 It's all moving in the right direction.

00:33:30.700 We did it again.

00:33:31.500 We told the president we have four years.

00:33:32.860 He said, no, we don't.

00:33:33.580 We're doing it right now.

00:33:35.260 Maybe for 100 days at least.

00:33:36.620 Yeah.

00:33:37.020 All right.

00:33:37.340 Thank you so much, Mike, for being here.

00:33:38.620 My pleasure.

00:33:39.020 Yeah.

00:33:39.180 Thanks for serving too.

00:33:40.380 Mike Wells, everybody.

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00:35:43.340 I'm Megan Kelly, host of The Megan Kelly Show on SiriusXM.

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00:36:52.460 Caroline, I'm so happy you are here.

00:36:54.620 I'm so happy to be here.

00:36:55.900 How are you?

00:36:56.780 I'm good.

00:36:57.420 Are you exhausted yet?

00:36:59.340 A little, yeah.

00:37:00.620 No, I'm exhilarated.

00:37:02.460 It's exhausting, but exhilarating all at the same time.

00:37:04.860 Tell me everything.

00:37:05.420 Do you love it?

00:37:05.980 Is it, what is it?

00:37:07.260 How is it?

00:37:07.740 I love my job.

00:37:09.340 Absolutely love it.

00:37:10.300 I wake up every day and I feel very blessed to go through the gates of the White House.

00:37:14.700 It's exhausting.

00:37:15.740 It's all encompassing.

00:37:16.860 It's 24-7, but it's amazing.

00:37:20.140 And I work for a great president who's doing what he said he was going to do.

00:37:23.660 So it makes my job quite easy, actually.

00:37:25.500 You're so good at it, and I knew you were young.

00:37:27.340 You're 27.

00:37:28.220 I didn't know you were the youngest ever in this job.

00:37:31.340 I didn't realize that until after the announcement came out when the president officially named

00:37:36.940 me and put out the statement, and I saw that on the news myself.

00:37:40.460 So I suppose that's...

00:37:42.060 You were born to do it.

00:37:43.580 How were you born to do it?

00:37:45.100 What tell us about your background?

00:37:46.380 Sure.

00:37:47.340 I was raised in a family that was not political at all.

00:37:49.900 Business family, small business.

00:37:51.340 We owned an ice cream stand and a used truck shop that my family still runs up in New Hampshire,

00:37:56.140 which is where I was born and raised.

00:37:58.140 And the fact that I grew up in New Hampshire, it kind of opened my eyes to politics, obviously

00:38:02.940 being the first in the nation primary state.

00:38:05.900 But I went to school on a softball scholarship.

00:38:08.300 I was an athlete my whole life.

00:38:10.140 And when I went to college, St. Anselm College, to play softball...

00:38:13.580 We always go there.

00:38:14.380 It's a very politically active school.

00:38:16.220 And I realized, wow, I loved news and media and politics.

00:38:20.780 And I was fascinated by it all.

00:38:23.580 And I kind of threw myself into all of these different opportunities on campus.

00:38:27.340 And then one thing led to the next.

00:38:28.940 And here we are.

00:38:29.980 So you interned for Trump 1.0?

00:38:33.260 Yes.

00:38:33.740 For the White House?

00:38:34.620 I did.

00:38:35.180 While you were in college?

00:38:36.220 Yes.

00:38:37.020 Wow.

00:38:37.580 Yes.

00:38:37.980 What happened there?

00:38:38.700 So 2016 was the first election I was eligible to vote in.

00:38:42.380 Voted for Donald Trump in the New Hampshire primary and, of course, in the general election.

00:38:47.260 And I applied for an internship.

00:38:49.740 A student who was a few years older than me, who's actually a producer for ABC at the White House now,

00:38:56.700 was a fellow student.

00:38:58.380 And she was an intern under Obama.

00:39:00.060 And I remember hearing her talk about it in class one day.

00:39:02.380 And I thought, that's fascinating.

00:39:03.660 I want to be an intern for Donald Trump.

00:39:06.060 So I literally went on whitehouse.gov and applied for the internship.

00:39:10.140 And they chose me.

00:39:11.340 I don't know why, but they did.

00:39:13.100 College-age student from New Hampshire, which isn't the reddest of states.

00:39:16.540 No.

00:39:16.860 And a nonpolitical family wind up voting Trump in 16.

00:39:20.940 Not like voting for him this time around.

00:39:22.460 Yeah.

00:39:22.860 So I wrote two editorials in the St. Anselm Cryer, our school newspaper.

00:39:28.540 And one of the titles of one of the editorials was,

00:39:32.300 Why Donald Trump Just Keeps On Winning.

00:39:34.540 And at the time, I realized he was speaking in layman's terms.

00:39:39.020 And he was saying things that I felt like really resonated with people of my background, right?

00:39:44.700 Blue collar, small business, middle class working family.

00:39:48.060 My, you know, neither of my parents went to college.

00:39:50.220 They worked very hard for everything they have.

00:39:51.980 And watched my family business have some downturn during 2008 and the financial crisis.

00:39:58.300 I was very young at the time, but that's my lived experience.

00:40:01.180 You weren't getting shunned by your friends?

00:40:02.700 No, I wasn't.

00:40:03.820 And the forgotten men and women, I think that message really spoke to me and a lot of people

00:40:08.620 that I grew up with in that kind of blue collar town.

00:40:11.340 Wow.

00:40:11.900 And when I got to college, I realized not everybody feels that way.

00:40:15.980 Right.

00:40:16.300 Especially my professors.

00:40:17.980 And it really propelled me to just use my voice and, you know, dive into politics.

00:40:23.660 Well, how so?

00:40:24.060 Because people ask that all the time.

00:40:25.420 Yeah.

00:40:25.580 Do I tell my college student to fight openly for his or her beliefs?

00:40:29.820 Or do I have them go along to get along to get the A's, get into the best law school,

00:40:33.740 med school, business school by playing the game until you have more liberty?

00:40:39.100 Yeah.

00:40:39.500 Where do you fall?

00:40:41.260 Gotta speak your truth.

00:40:42.700 It's the only way, I believe.

00:40:44.780 And I think when you show courage and sharing your values and opinions, people respect you more.

00:40:51.260 And it will work out and you'll land where you're supposed to be, right?

00:40:55.020 Yes.

00:40:55.340 And maybe you won't get that job you were hoping for.

00:40:57.980 You'll get denied by that school, but like God has a plan and it will work out for you.

00:41:02.380 For a reason.

00:41:03.020 Yeah.

00:41:03.340 And I think it's much more liberating to just be honest.

00:41:06.140 And I think this election showed that there's many more people in this country

00:41:11.180 who feel the way that we do on the right than on the left.

00:41:14.300 And I think the silent majority isn't silent anymore.

00:41:17.500 And I think all parents should encourage their children to

00:41:20.460 use their voice and have courage and, you know, speak their truth.

00:41:24.060 So I know the past couple of years before you went into the White House,

00:41:27.340 you were doing campaign work and comms work for Trump.

00:41:31.260 But what about in the interim?

00:41:32.780 Like what did you do after Trump 1.0 until then?

00:41:35.420 Yes.

00:41:35.980 So Trump 1.0 started as an intern and then was offered a full-time job,

00:41:40.780 which led me to working in the press office under Kayleigh McEnany, 0.97

00:41:43.740 who was my old boss and remains a very good friend to this day.

00:41:47.660 And then went back home and actually ran for office.

00:41:51.100 I briefly worked for Congresswoman Elise Stefanik,

00:41:53.660 who will soon be our United Nations ambassador.

00:41:56.620 And she has a, you know, a PAC that supports and encourages women to run for office.

00:42:01.980 And I had a conversation with her about being in New Hampshire

00:42:05.340 and the district that I was from.

00:42:06.860 And, you know, it really sparked my interest to run myself.

00:42:10.540 So I went back home and kicked off a congressional campaign,

00:42:14.780 which was an amazing experience.

00:42:17.180 I was in a very competitive primary.

00:42:19.420 A lot of money from the DC establishment went into the race against me.

00:42:23.420 There was a lot of negative ads.

00:42:25.180 I won the primary, ultimately lost the general election.

00:42:28.700 New Hampshire's a tough state to win at the federal level, unfortunately,

00:42:32.780 for a few reasons, but it worked out.

00:42:35.100 Did that thicken your skin right up though?

00:42:36.780 Totally. Oh my gosh.

00:42:37.900 There's a reason for all these steps in the journey.

00:42:40.380 I have so much respect for anyone who puts their name on a ballot because

00:42:44.780 nothing is off limits.

00:42:46.220 They will go after you and your family.

00:42:48.700 And everything is on the line when you decide to be a public servant and run.

00:42:53.900 But I have no regrets.

00:42:55.260 I met amazing people and it taught me so many skills and life lessons.

00:43:00.620 And it was a wonderful experience.

00:43:02.140 You're a nicer person than I am.

00:43:03.260 I definitely do not have respect for anybody who puts their name on a ballot.

00:43:05.820 I can think of several people who never should have done that.

00:43:07.340 There's some people, yeah.

00:43:09.180 But you're generous.

00:43:10.780 All right.

00:43:11.100 So at the same time, you're building a family life.

00:43:13.980 You fall in love.

00:43:14.860 I didn't know until today that you married a man who's a lot older.

00:43:17.900 Yes.

00:43:18.220 He's 59.

00:43:18.780 You're 27.

00:43:19.500 Yes.

00:43:19.980 How did that happen?

00:43:20.780 I met my husband during my congressional campaign.

00:43:24.380 A mutual friend of ours hosted an event at a restaurant that he owns up in New Hampshire

00:43:29.260 and invited my husband.

00:43:30.460 And I was speaking.

00:43:31.420 And, you know, we met.

00:43:32.780 We were acquainted as friends.

00:43:34.220 And then we fell in love, as you said.

00:43:35.980 And was there any like, I can't date him.

00:43:38.060 He's 59.

00:43:38.700 Yes, of course.

00:43:39.820 I mean, it's very atypical love story.

00:43:42.700 But he's incredible.

00:43:43.980 He is my greatest supporter.

00:43:45.740 He's my best friend.

00:43:47.020 He's my rock.

00:43:47.980 And, you know, he's built a very successful business himself.

00:43:51.820 So now he's fully supportive of me building, you know, my success in my career.

00:43:57.580 And he's the father of my child, of course.

00:44:00.220 And he's the best dad I could ever ask for.

00:44:02.940 And so supportive, especially during this very chaotic period of life.

00:44:08.060 Poor man.

00:44:08.300 He had no idea what was going to happen.

00:44:10.060 I say I walked into your life and it's been a circus ever since.

00:44:12.860 But God bless him because he's fully on board.

00:44:15.100 So he's an Italiano.

00:44:16.380 Yes, he is.

00:44:17.100 And he's a lover.

00:44:17.820 Yes.

00:44:18.620 He's a romantic man.

00:44:20.220 Yes.

00:44:20.460 So there's your babe who was born in July.

00:44:22.940 That's your little boy.

00:44:23.820 My little boy.

00:44:24.620 What's his name?

00:44:25.420 Nicholas.

00:44:26.060 And we call him Nico.

00:44:27.180 Aww.

00:44:27.740 Yeah.

00:44:28.540 I know we talked about this a little backstage at the Super Bowl.

00:44:32.300 But how are you handling, I mean, true, new motherhood is not even a year.

00:44:37.580 And this crazy job.

00:44:39.740 Yeah, it's a lot.

00:44:41.820 No denying it.

00:44:43.500 He's seven months.

00:44:45.900 I had him in the midst of the presidential campaign three days before the president almost

00:44:52.540 lost his life in Butler, Pennsylvania.

00:44:54.700 My son was born on the 10th.

00:44:56.220 The president was shot on the 13th.

00:44:57.820 It was my first day home with him from the hospital.

00:45:02.460 And it kind of threw me right back to work much sooner than I would have probably expected or hoped.

00:45:08.860 But becoming a mother in the midst of this very chaotic political world that I work in has been the best thing I could have ever imagined because it gives you great perspective and it humbles you.

00:45:22.140 And my son doesn't give a crap about my job.

00:45:25.900 He just wants me to come home and snuggle and play toys and be present.

00:45:30.140 So it's, you know, a difficult balance to prioritize being good at my job and being good as a mother.

00:45:37.820 But I just try to prioritize my time and carve out that time when I can.

00:45:42.300 And I'm so grateful to have the support system I do.

00:45:44.540 You know, a great husband who can be very present with our child.

00:45:47.580 And then, of course, a wonderful mother and father and friends who chip in when I need them.

00:45:52.620 Your parents must be so proud of you.

00:45:54.060 I think so.

00:45:54.780 I hope so.

00:45:55.420 A grandchild and access to President Trump in the same year.

00:45:58.700 My mom actually was in town this week to help with our baby because my husband had some work things to attend to.

00:46:04.300 And she came to my briefing yesterday.

00:46:06.780 She was in the room.

00:46:07.980 I was like, are you sure you want to go in?

00:46:09.420 She'd get annoyed by pesky reporters being rude. 0.95

00:46:11.980 Well, I brought in some backup yesterday.

00:46:13.900 I brought in my colleague, Walt and Stephen and Kevin.

00:46:17.260 So a lot of the questions were for them.

00:46:18.860 So I asked her after.

00:46:19.820 I said, how was it?

00:46:20.460 She was like, thank God all the questions weren't to you today.

00:46:23.260 I would have been dying in there.

00:46:24.620 So she enjoyed it very much.

00:46:25.980 That's my nana who died at 101.

00:46:28.940 She was in her elderly years, not that able to, like, get out and around.

00:46:33.340 So if I had an important court argument that was on tape, I would show it to her.

00:46:38.220 And she would get so mad at the judges. 0.89

00:46:40.780 She didn't think that they should be allowed to ask me any questions.

00:46:43.340 She didn't like opposing counsel.

00:46:44.700 Why is he saying that about you?

00:46:46.540 They don't totally get it.

00:46:47.740 It's a motherly bias that we have for our babies. 1.00

00:46:51.180 All right.

00:46:51.500 So you are balancing with the baby.

00:46:53.740 Can I just ask you one other question on that?

00:46:55.340 Because we talk about it all the time, especially on the right.

00:46:58.380 And I, too, am a working mom and always have been.

00:47:01.660 I've been a professional woman since I graduated from college or law school.

00:47:06.300 But now there's, I think, a good thing, which is, like, the restoration of valuing so-called traditional, you know, moms.

00:47:12.620 And that's great.

00:47:13.660 The women who take care of their kids full time. 1.00

00:47:16.460 Most of my best friends are doing exactly that.

00:47:18.460 But it seems like in the right there's, like, a bit of a shift toward, like, you can't do what Caroline's doing.

00:47:23.900 That's actually, like, an unsafe or a dangerous or a bad choice for families, for children, which I reject wholesale.

00:47:31.900 But you hear it more and more.

00:47:33.020 Yeah.

00:47:33.820 Do you hear that?

00:47:34.380 And what do you think of it?

00:47:34.940 I would reject that it's a bad choice.

00:47:37.420 Is it a tough choice?

00:47:38.860 Absolutely.

00:47:39.660 You know, as a mother, you want to be with your child 24-7.

00:47:43.580 You have that maternal instinct.

00:47:45.660 What, 27?

00:47:47.180 Not all the time.

00:47:48.140 Well, right now, yes, because he's seven months and just squishy and lovable.

00:47:51.100 But I'm sure that will change.

00:47:52.940 No, but, you know, you do have that maternal instinct.

00:47:55.820 But also recognizing, like, I'm doing this work for my son and for all children to make this country better.

00:48:03.340 And it's a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

00:48:05.980 It's also very, it's temporary, right?

00:48:08.140 In four years, my son will be four years old and the president will no longer be at the White House.

00:48:13.820 And then I'll move on and do something else.

00:48:15.740 But, you know, this chaos of 24-7 work is a temporary matter.

00:48:21.740 And that's what at least I tell myself to get through these very long and hard days.

00:48:25.660 But I would reject that you can't be a good mom and be good at your job.

00:48:29.420 I think you can do both.

00:48:31.980 Certainly, it's not for everybody.

00:48:34.380 And it takes a lot of work and will and faith and prayer.

00:48:40.620 And it's hard, but it can be done.

00:48:43.340 And, you know, I would reject that.

00:48:46.220 We can't chase our great conservative moms out of the workforce. 1.00

00:48:50.460 Right.

00:48:50.780 We need them.

00:48:51.340 Then we get rid of you.

00:48:52.060 We get rid of Katie Britt.

00:48:53.180 We get rid of Usha Vance.

00:48:54.460 Right.

00:48:54.620 Like, this is not the way, Amy Coney Barrett is not on the Supreme.

00:48:57.740 Like, that's not, that should not be the place the conservative movement lands.

00:49:01.500 I agree.

00:49:01.900 All right.

00:49:03.180 So now you start as White House Press Secretary.

00:49:05.420 And were you thrilled to get that invitation?

00:49:07.340 Of course.

00:49:08.300 Yes.

00:49:08.780 I was very humbled and honored.

00:49:10.540 And I was campaigning, you know, with the president over the past year through the court trials.

00:49:16.540 We sat in that courthouse in Manhattan with the Bragg trial.

00:49:20.620 So many rallies.

00:49:21.900 And we worked so damn hard to win that election.

00:49:24.460 But you must have really wrestled with how you were going to meet the high bar set by Karine Jean-Pierre.

00:49:28.460 Was that?

00:49:31.020 Sorry.

00:49:31.740 Sorry.

00:49:32.140 Was that out loud?

00:49:33.180 No, she was terrible.

00:49:34.060 Yeah.

00:49:34.460 I mean, come on.

00:49:35.180 Yeah.

00:49:35.740 So how is your approach different, would you say?

00:49:38.860 I think it's vastly different.

00:49:40.540 And if you ask people, even in the legacy media, even the Trump haters, they will tell you the

00:49:46.940 approach has been much different.

00:49:48.220 Not just for me, but the entire White House.

00:49:50.140 Oh, absolutely.

00:49:51.020 They come in my office every day and they'll admit that off the record.

00:49:53.980 Maybe not on the record, but they will say they appreciate the access and the transparency

00:49:59.500 and the preparation that goes into my briefings.

00:50:02.860 And everybody on our team, by the way, who goes out to the cameras and speaks.

00:50:07.260 We have great policy experts who are great spokespeople for the president.

00:50:11.740 And they appreciate the information that they're being given.

00:50:16.140 They're also exhausted, by the way, because we are doing so much.

00:50:19.260 And not even in like a wussy, sad little way.

00:50:21.340 Like they must be exhausted.

00:50:22.460 It's just nonstop.

00:50:23.500 It's insane.

00:50:24.060 Yeah.

00:50:24.460 So who's your least favorite?

00:50:28.140 Well, I did have a bit of a tiff this morning outside

00:50:32.060 with our friend Peter Alexander at NBC News.

00:50:35.180 So it was great.

00:50:36.380 We'll drop in a clip of it where he was really pressing you on

00:50:40.940 whether there's going to be criminal prosecutions for this alleged fraud and the waste fraud and abuse.

00:50:45.580 According to an IG report from the Social Security Administration,

00:50:50.060 there was $71 billion worth of fraud in one single fiscal year that we know about.

00:50:55.500 And so that is a lot of fraud.

00:50:57.580 Peter, to be clear,

00:50:58.620 that $71 billion was from 2015 to 2022.

00:51:02.060 So it wasn't in just one year and it was $71 billion.

00:51:05.580 But it wasn't in one year, just over multiple years from 2015 to 2022.

00:51:10.060 So are you defending $71 billion in fraud?

00:51:13.100 Peter, that's a lot of money.

00:51:15.100 Why is the media so against cutting waste fraud and abuse from the government?

00:51:18.220 I don't get it.

00:51:19.580 We won't be deterred.

00:51:20.940 We will not be deterred from people like you and the press.

00:51:23.980 That's something that wasn't true, which is you said that they have found

00:51:27.820 before that they believe there have been tens of millions of people who were receiving

00:51:31.820 money who are dead on the Social Security list.

00:51:34.460 The same report that you referred to said that

00:51:36.940 almost none of those individuals are receiving money.

00:51:38.940 Peter, did you watch the full clip of the interview that I did when I said that?

00:51:42.940 And I said there are a lot of unanswered questions and we suspect

00:51:47.340 there could be tens of millions of people.

00:51:50.700 So you just said what I said is not true.

00:51:52.780 In fact, it was true. 0.82

00:51:54.380 That's a suspicion that this administration has.

00:51:56.460 And we're committed to finding out the truth.

00:51:59.020 It perplexes me and also infuriates me why the media continues to make excuses for our

00:52:04.700 government spending billions and billions of dollars in wasteful money.

00:52:08.220 Right.

00:52:08.860 Maybe they don't mind, but I know there's millions of people watching that do mind.

00:52:12.780 So we're going to keep doing what we're doing with Doge.

00:52:15.260 It was a pretty incredible exchange where it was like 71 billion has been

00:52:19.740 spent on fraudulent payments.

00:52:21.260 And he's like, oh, but that was over many years.

00:52:23.100 Well, does it matter?

00:52:24.300 Hello.

00:52:24.700 It was like this one report that showed 71 billion dollars.

00:52:27.660 What are you talking about?

00:52:28.940 Eyes on the ball.

00:52:29.820 Yeah, exactly.

00:52:30.780 All right.

00:52:31.020 So that's good.

00:52:31.500 I'm glad to hear the NBC guys out.

00:52:33.180 Good choice.

00:52:35.020 Sorry, Peter.

00:52:35.980 How do you prepare?

00:52:37.580 Because you can't know everything and you could get asked anything.

00:52:42.300 And unlike Karine Jean-Pierre, you're not out there reading and furiously flipping through

00:52:48.700 your tabs to try to find an answer somebody else has written for you.

00:52:51.580 So how are you preparing?

00:52:53.660 So I did prepare a binder for the first briefing.

00:52:58.060 My great assistant, Keegan, put it together.

00:53:00.380 And then I showed up to work and it was like this thick.

00:53:04.940 And I was like, I can't even move this.

00:53:08.220 I can't use this.

00:53:09.740 It was too cumbersome for my brain and the way I learn and think and study to have that.

00:53:15.820 It felt like added weight.

00:53:17.500 And I said, I want to just go in there and speak from my mind and from my heart.

00:53:22.380 Like your boss.

00:53:23.500 Like my boss.

00:53:24.540 And I've been working for my boss now on the campaign.

00:53:28.220 I know the policies we're enacting.

00:53:30.140 We've been talking about them for years.

00:53:32.620 And so, and in school, I was that way.

00:53:35.340 Like studying, I would just read, you know, highlight, memorize, articulate.

00:53:40.780 And then it goes off to the side.

00:53:42.140 Yeah.

00:53:42.460 And you talk.

00:53:43.020 Exactly.

00:53:44.140 And so that's been my, my method of preparation.

00:53:46.940 No nerves.

00:53:48.220 The first briefing, I was certainly nervous.

00:53:50.380 I think any human would, and I'm not afraid to admit that.

00:53:52.940 But it must've been cool to, to get up there.

00:53:54.860 It was, you know, once I got up there, I realized, okay, like I can do this.

00:53:59.500 I can do this.

00:54:00.220 I know what I need to know.

00:54:02.300 And, um, now I feel very, you know, comfortable and confident.

00:54:06.540 And, you know, I will never get complacent because I understand the weight of the responsibility

00:54:11.740 on my shoulders speaking on behalf of the president of the United States.

00:54:14.940 So I remain as prepared today as I was on that first day.

00:54:18.140 And I hope that's true four years from now.

00:54:19.900 Um, and I have, we have amazing people in that building who are so smart and know everything

00:54:25.740 about every topic.

00:54:26.780 And I rely on them.

00:54:27.980 Mm-hmm.

00:54:28.300 You know, I call Stephen Miller or Mike Waltz's team or Kevin Hassett all the time.

00:54:33.900 And I'm like, please explain this to me because I don't understand, but you do.

00:54:37.820 So what's going on?

00:54:39.340 What's, uh, what's the most interesting or surprising thing you've seen at the White

00:54:43.260 House?

00:54:43.580 You know, like this isn't a building you spent a ton of time in before.

00:54:46.540 No, the people you see every day, especially, uh, with President Trump, um, and his calendar

00:54:54.780 of meetings, you know, walking through the West Wing lobby, you can see anybody from Tim Cook

00:54:59.180 to Tiger Woods, as I saw yesterday.

00:55:01.180 So, you know, what do you see?

00:55:02.460 It sounds exciting as Joe Biden's White House with the cocaine, but it's good.

00:55:05.740 Exactly.

00:55:06.060 It's good.

00:55:06.700 It's something.

00:55:07.020 And Hunter hanging around.

00:55:08.140 Right.

00:55:08.460 Um, you just never know what your, what each day will bring.

00:55:11.820 And that's what I love most about this job is every day is new and exciting.

00:55:15.180 I'm sure it's true of every president, but especially this one.

00:55:18.540 All right.

00:55:19.500 Let me turn and ask you about some items in the news.

00:55:22.060 Yeah.

00:55:22.700 Mr. Trump does not like polls that say he's going in the wrong direction.

00:55:27.260 And a few came out this week suggesting his favorables have gone down any place from three

00:55:32.300 to eight points.

00:55:33.340 Eight points is the more left leaning pollsters.

00:55:36.940 It feels like some people may be feeling like it's too much too soon.

00:55:41.020 That's what the CNN poll seems to show when asked, like, what specifically is upsetting you?

00:55:46.860 Others suggest, well, I expected an economic turnaround faster.

00:55:49.820 I'm only 30 days in it.

00:55:51.500 How do you read those polls?

00:55:52.860 And what do you want the electorate to know?

00:55:55.900 Mm-hmm.

00:55:57.180 Each poll is a snapshot in a moment of time, right?

00:56:00.460 So they have to be taken, I think, with the greater context of everything that's going on.

00:56:04.940 Overall, the president's favorability rating remains higher today than it ever was in his

00:56:09.500 first term.

00:56:10.060 The majority of Americans support what we're doing.

00:56:12.700 The number that has always stuck out to me is when you ask people,

00:56:17.180 is Donald Trump doing what he said he was going to do?

00:56:20.620 That number is astronomically high, anywhere from 65% to 85% based on the poll you're looking at.

00:56:27.580 That, to us, tells us we need to keep moving forward and not get distracted by critics or

00:56:34.220 certainly not the media because the president was very transparent and clear about what he wanted

00:56:40.700 to accomplish.

00:56:41.340 He still has clear majority support on things like immigration and the crackdown.

00:56:45.500 Well, let me ask you, somebody who's been with him on the campaign trail for years now,

00:56:48.940 where you live and die by polls, or at least most politicians do,

00:56:53.500 he will come out and rip the polls for sure.

00:56:55.580 If he gets too many bad ones, we're going to hear him rip on them soon.

00:56:58.620 But like behind the scenes, does he react to them?

00:57:02.700 You know, do you think they actually do influence him in some way?

00:57:05.580 Like, okay, maybe I inch this way.

00:57:10.060 I don't think so.

00:57:11.100 I think he pays attention to the polls, but I don't think it changes him or what he's doing.

00:57:19.500 He is who he is, right?

00:57:22.140 And he's our leader, and he calls the shots.

00:57:26.620 And we are there to execute his agenda and deliver on his message and communicate that.

00:57:32.540 And he's doing, again, exactly what he sought out to do.

00:57:37.180 And so I don't think it influences his decision-making process.

00:57:40.460 But certainly, as you pointed out, he pays attention to them.

00:57:43.100 Do you, have you seen anyone on a doge cot? 0.99

00:57:45.340 A doge cot? 0.99

00:57:47.260 I haven't seen the cots, but I have seen the doge geniuses, as we call them. 0.97

00:57:51.580 Yes.

00:57:51.900 Can you spot them from a mile away?

00:57:53.420 Yes, because they just look like the smartest kid you had at your school.

00:57:58.700 High IQ, focused, gritty, like ready to work, and very friendly.

00:58:05.340 Gritty is interesting.

00:58:06.380 So not like pocket protector nerdy, like tech nerdy, where you're like a little more grungy.

00:58:12.300 Yes, I would say.

00:58:14.300 I don't have the best visual.

00:58:15.580 Yeah.

00:58:15.980 So that's interesting.

00:58:16.860 They like to stay behind the scenes, these guys.

00:58:18.780 Of course.

00:58:19.260 They're doing, they're working 24-7.

00:58:21.420 Elon has them on those computers, finding all this waste, fraud, and abuse.

00:58:25.100 Right.

00:58:25.500 And there's a lot to find, and Elon's there all the time.

00:58:28.140 Yes.

00:58:29.100 Hannity asked the two of them something about this when he had Trump and Elon together,

00:58:32.860 but it's clear the media is trying to drive a wedge between them, no?

00:58:35.660 Totally.

00:58:36.380 I called it out at the briefing.

00:58:38.140 I said, it is so evident what all of you are trying to do,

00:58:41.340 and we are not going to let you get away with it.

00:58:43.420 It may have worked in the first term.

00:58:44.940 It's not working now.

00:58:46.540 And I say this, this is no BS, no spin.

00:58:50.300 This White House is so unified.

00:58:52.620 We are having so much fun.

00:58:54.540 Elon and the president are having so much fun.

00:58:56.620 They are genuinely friends, and everybody is moving at the direction of the president,

00:59:01.660 and of Suzy Wiles, our incredible chief of staff, whom I have the utmost respect for.

00:59:06.220 She's another working mom. 0.97

00:59:07.180 Another working mom, yeah. 1.00

00:59:08.540 There's a lot of working moms and dads in the West Wing, by the way. 1.00

00:59:11.260 Got to give a shout out to the working dads in there, too.

00:59:13.260 I mean, they're the president and vice president,

00:59:15.340 although the president doesn't have young children like JD does.

00:59:18.540 Yeah, the vice president has three beautiful young children.

00:59:20.860 Stephen Miller has three young children.

00:59:22.460 James Blair, who's one of our deputy chiefs of staff, has three young children.

00:59:26.220 Two of our deputy communications directors on the comms team have newborns.

00:59:30.700 Wow.

00:59:31.100 There's babies.

00:59:31.820 Yeah, the Easter egg roll is going to be crazy.

00:59:34.460 Yes, we look forward to it.

00:59:35.980 We thought we had a lot with X inside the Oval.

00:59:37.900 Yeah.

00:59:38.220 Wait until we get to Easter.

00:59:39.180 Yes, which was so cute.

00:59:41.180 Oh, he's adorable.

00:59:42.060 I was in there when I saw the nose picking.

00:59:44.060 I was like.

00:59:45.100 There was a report that the Resolute desk was sent out for a cleaning.

00:59:48.540 Is that related to events related?

00:59:50.860 No, they are not.

00:59:51.740 I would like to put the kibosh on that fake news.

00:59:54.380 I've seen it has nothing to do with X.

00:59:56.540 I mean, who could blame him if it were?

00:59:58.540 Trump's a germaphobe.

00:59:59.500 I'm not a germaphobe, but I am.

01:00:00.620 He was digging for gold.

01:00:02.140 Nobody was stopping him.

01:00:03.660 The cameras weren't.

01:00:04.780 He was unfazed.

01:00:05.820 Every toddler has done it.

01:00:07.020 So cute.

01:00:07.740 Um, okay.

01:00:08.700 Back into the news.

01:00:09.500 And this is a turn, but the Biba stories in the news today, those two babies.

01:00:14.380 Terrible.

01:00:15.500 I like it's affecting me.

01:00:18.060 Yes.

01:00:18.540 Like it just is a mother.

01:00:19.580 I agree.

01:00:20.060 And you have a baby.

01:00:21.180 I know.

01:00:21.580 That's like seven months.

01:00:23.260 It, like, I get chills thinking about it.

01:00:26.540 And there's no, I was saying yesterday, I spoke to the president about it yesterday morning.

01:00:31.820 And he had seen the footage of the coffins.

01:00:35.580 And I asked him, how should we even describe this?

01:00:41.180 And we're talking to our team after I was drafting up a tweet.

01:00:45.020 And I was like, there are no words to put out a statement to describe this horrific scene.

01:00:52.620 I cannot imagine the pain of that father and husband who just lost his entire family.

01:00:59.100 And to say we mourn with him is an understatement.

01:01:03.180 It's so sad.

01:01:05.100 The images of that mother holding her babies.

01:01:07.660 She looks so scared.

01:01:08.940 So scared.

01:01:10.860 There's no words.

01:01:11.740 And I think I'm pretty good with my words.

01:01:13.660 And there are no words to just describe how sad and heartbreaking it is.

01:01:17.420 But I think it underscores why we need to end this conflict.

01:01:21.580 Why we need to eradicate Hamas.

01:01:24.220 And the president sees these images.

01:01:27.260 And he's moved by them.

01:01:29.100 And that's why he told Hamas very directly in the office, you will release all of these 0.97

01:01:33.660 hostages or there will be all hell to pay.

01:01:36.140 He dictated that statement months ago.

01:01:37.900 And look at what has happened.

01:01:38.940 There was an extension to the ceasefire.

01:01:40.860 More hostages have come home.

01:01:42.460 We released Mark Fogel from Russia.

01:01:44.780 The whole world should take President Trump very seriously.

01:01:47.820 He wants innocent people to be let out of captivity and free from captivity.

01:01:55.980 And he is a peacemaker.

01:01:58.540 He believes in peace to his core.

01:01:59.980 And he's going to do whatever it takes to establish it.

01:02:03.980 Trump is good at stoicism, which we tend to like in our men, right?

01:02:08.140 Very much so.

01:02:09.020 At least we on the right.

01:02:09.580 Yes.

01:02:11.500 But when he sees something like that, I'm curious about his reaction when that news was

01:02:16.380 brought to him and they were literally celebrating these dead babies in coffins over there.

01:02:21.180 Do you think he feels it on like that gut level that we do?

01:02:24.620 Absolutely.

01:02:25.900 Absolutely.

01:02:27.020 He does.

01:02:28.060 You know, I could hear it.

01:02:28.940 I was on the phone, so I couldn't see his expression, but I could hear it, you know, in his voice.

01:02:33.740 Anybody with a heart, with a humanitarian heart, has to feel for these innocent Israelis and these families.

01:02:42.140 It's just got to be disturbing.

01:02:43.420 It's got to be happening now, like this particular family and being released in the way that they are for a reason.

01:02:48.940 And all I can hope and pray is that God is he's steering this in the way it's happening so that we're reminded of that these are monsters.

01:02:59.580 I don't see these people as human.

01:03:01.340 I really don't know somebody who could strangle a nine month old baby.

01:03:04.860 I'm you're not a human being.

01:03:07.020 I don't know what you are, but you can't be negotiated with.

01:03:09.740 You can't be accommodated.

01:03:12.140 You must be annihilated.

01:03:14.460 And that's President Trump's job.

01:03:15.980 And in a way, it's your job.

01:03:17.100 You know, it's why I almost see when we were talking about you going back to work.

01:03:20.700 Okay, four days after you had a baby, it's hard for a number of reasons, physically and emotionally.

01:03:25.420 But it's almost like a soldier being called up.

01:03:29.740 Yeah, I suppose.

01:03:31.820 I haven't thought of that analogy.

01:03:34.700 But I felt compelled, you know, to go back to work just knowing the

01:03:39.420 the gravity of the work that the president was trying to do at that time.

01:03:43.260 We were campaigning and pitching to people why he should be elected.

01:03:46.860 And obviously it worked.

01:03:48.300 And that's been such a fun part of this experience is seeing the president go from campaigning to governing

01:03:55.500 and watching all of his promises come to life.

01:03:57.980 You know, you talk about the monsters of Hamas, the illegal immigrants that we have here that 1.00

01:04:04.540 have taken the lives of American citizens.

01:04:06.860 I was at the rally in Georgia when a few days after Lakin Riley was killed.

01:04:12.460 And Lakin's mother was backstage with the president and met him for the first time.

01:04:16.380 And I witnessed that encounter and God bless that woman. 0.99

01:04:21.260 But then to see her at the White House for the bill signing, the first piece of legislation that

01:04:26.140 the president signed into law, named after her beautiful daughter, was so special.

01:04:30.940 And she was there, teary-eyed, saying, President Trump is a man of his word.

01:04:35.740 To see that come to life and to see the president fulfill these promises that are-

01:04:39.900 The mom of Mark Vogel.

01:04:40.940 Exactly.

01:04:41.340 The guy that Russians released. 0.77

01:04:42.700 95-year-old mother.

01:04:44.140 The president met her in Butler.

01:04:46.700 She was supposed to have a call up on stage.

01:04:48.700 It was inserted into his speech.

01:04:50.380 He was going to call her on stage so she could advocate for the release of her son.

01:04:54.460 The day he got shot.

01:04:55.420 The day he got shot.

01:04:56.380 So she never made it on stage.

01:04:57.820 Oh my gosh.

01:04:58.700 And she told CBS News following the assassination attempt,

01:05:04.940 you know, that the president was so warm to her.

01:05:07.020 And he told her backstage, if I'm elected, I will bring your son home.

01:05:11.340 And he did it within four weeks.

01:05:12.940 So Trump gets Vogel home right away.

01:05:15.260 Trump made, I mean, basically made this hostage deal happen between Hamas and Israel,

01:05:22.540 saving lives, and at least in this case, returning the bodies of the dead to their

01:05:27.180 families so they can be properly buried.

01:05:30.140 Trump does what he says he's going to do with Lake and Riley's mom.

01:05:33.340 Trump spent the time with the Gold Star families from the disastrous Afghanistan withdrawal when

01:05:38.700 Joe Biden never did, who stood by him then when they tried to attack him for going to Arlington

01:05:44.300 Cemetery and somebody taking his picture in a certain area.

01:05:47.660 They all stood by him, came out publicly and saying, stop that.

01:05:50.780 He's been good to us.

01:05:52.140 It just, you know, you might say, if you were an objective observer, not suffering from TDS,

01:05:58.220 that this is actually a good man.

01:05:59.580 Mm hmm.

01:06:00.620 What do you think people are missing?

01:06:02.780 Why do the lunatics who suffer from TDS not see it?

01:06:08.060 Why can't they get beyond their hatred of him?

01:06:11.340 I think they're blinded, unfortunately, by their hatred and they don't see the good because

01:06:17.260 likely the news outlets that they pay attention to don't share the good that we're doing.

01:06:23.420 I have MSDNC, as we call it, on my TV in my office all day long because I want to see what they're

01:06:31.180 reporting and what they're saying.

01:06:32.780 And I need to laugh every now and then, too.

01:06:36.220 And they're never reporting on the good that we're doing on a daily basis at the White House.

01:06:40.780 It's always negative.

01:06:42.780 100 percent of the coverage is negative.

01:06:45.420 So when you are being indoctrinated with such bias, of course you're going to believe

01:06:51.020 this person is an evil monster when it couldn't be further from the truth.

01:06:55.180 I know that just looking at what he's done, but also on a personal level working for him.

01:07:00.460 But again, I think it's a smaller and smaller percentage of people in this country who feel

01:07:05.340 that way.

01:07:06.060 I think the vast majority of Americans see the president as a strong and tough leader who,

01:07:11.900 when he says he's going to do something, he's going to do it.

01:07:14.940 And that's just been proven by his first term record.

01:07:17.500 And then, of course, the first four weeks.

01:07:19.340 Look at all that he's done.

01:07:20.620 My observation over here is that some of that little dip in the polls is due to these guys.

01:07:28.060 It is wall to wall negative coverage.

01:07:31.420 Look at this one CNN poll, all right, today, which shows a dip to some extent in the approval.

01:07:37.660 They get to, listen to this, the Trump policies, trying to deport 11 million undocumented migrants.

01:07:45.420 Okay, whatever.

01:07:46.620 Illegal aliens. 1.00

01:07:47.420 Right.

01:07:47.740 That's what they're called.

01:07:48.940 The public's still with him.

01:07:50.140 51% of U.S. adults support.

01:07:52.300 And then we get down to USAID.

01:07:56.140 Shutting down the agency that provides humanitarian aid in low-income countries.

01:08:01.660 Oh, amazingly, 59% of the American public opposes that.

01:08:06.860 I would have gathered that you would have styled that a little differently.

01:08:09.820 Interesting framing of a program that has sent hundreds of millions of dollars

01:08:15.420 to overseas programs that do absolutely nothing for humanitarian purposes.

01:08:20.140 With the trans opera in Colombia, it's a no. 1.00

01:08:22.380 Why are we funding vasectomies in Mozambique?

01:08:28.540 Why are we funding DEI and Serbia and sex changes in Guatemala? 0.91

01:08:34.140 That does nothing for working class people in this country.

01:08:38.300 And that is just one agency of many, one program of many that DOGE and the administration are looking

01:08:44.620 into.

01:08:45.100 It is fascinating, but also infuriating what they are discovering on a daily basis.

01:08:50.860 Are you getting, you know, a closer up view?

01:08:53.580 Yes.

01:08:53.740 But like, are you getting more insight on how they do it now that you're in this role?

01:08:58.780 Yes, absolutely.

01:09:00.620 And it's much more simple than the media is spinning it to be.

01:09:05.020 They're making it seem like it's this chaotic operation.

01:09:07.660 It's actually not.

01:09:08.700 It's very simple.

01:09:09.660 DOGE has individuals who are, again, genius level tech nerds, if you will,

01:09:18.300 for lack of a better term, who are onboarding at every agency as political appointees, just like

01:09:23.980 I onboarded at the White House as a political appointee.

01:09:27.420 This is what happens from administration to administration.

01:09:30.300 Instead of like under Biden and Harris, you have a bunch of left wing bureaucrats who are onboarding. 0.98

01:09:36.220 Now we have outsiders who are here to shake up the swamp, onboarding to administer President 0.96

01:09:42.300 Trump's agenda.

01:09:43.340 They are working at the direction of the secretaries at these agencies.

01:09:46.700 You saw our new secretary of ag, Brooke Rollins, put out a photo, a selfie yesterday with some

01:09:52.300 of the DOGE engineers that are now ag employees.

01:09:55.340 And they're helping her dig into the books, go line by line to identify the waste and the

01:10:00.300 fraud and abuse.

01:10:01.180 So this is a whole of government effort.

01:10:03.740 The president obviously appointed Elon to head it up.

01:10:06.540 The Department of Government Efficiency is a promise they campaigned on.

01:10:10.700 And ultimately, the president is directing all of this.

01:10:13.420 But every secretary across the board is on board with this.

01:10:16.700 They're welcoming this.

01:10:17.980 Yes, absolutely.

01:10:19.020 And we're all working together in the press, like Elon's in there with his magnifying glass,

01:10:23.740 looking up our salaries and his competitors, you know, financial data.

01:10:29.260 And this is all about, I guess, Elon's get rich quick scheme.

01:10:33.020 I'm not sure why he needs to look at our data.

01:10:35.580 Yeah, I loved his comments addressing it at CPAC yesterday.

01:10:39.340 He was like, there's no country in the world who can afford me if even if they did want to

01:10:43.660 buy me, they can't afford me.

01:10:44.940 You know, he has nothing to gain from this.

01:10:47.340 He truly cares about humanity and the future of our country.

01:10:51.660 And it is a fact that the United States of America is going to go bankrupt unless we have

01:10:56.140 massive reform or in change. And that's what the people voted for.

01:10:59.900 And so we will not be deterred by the Peter Alexander's or the mainstream media

01:11:05.740 hacks who are, you know, trying to fearmonger people. 1.00

01:11:09.420 And I think it's really sad that the media is trying to do that.

01:11:11.980 But shut down his agenda.

01:11:13.260 Exactly.

01:11:14.460 Speaking of media hacks, can we talk about it? The Associated Press?

01:11:17.420 Sure. I'd love to.

01:11:18.780 It's is it censorship to tell them they can't go into the Oval or on Air Force One?

01:11:24.220 They their argument that this administration is not standing up for the First Amendment

01:11:31.260 is preposterous. You have a president of the United States who, within hours of taking the

01:11:37.580 oath of office, welcomed journalists into the most intimate corner of the American presidency,

01:11:43.420 the Oval Office, to ask him questions for more than an hour on every topic under the sun.

01:11:49.660 He has done that on a near daily basis. And when he's not doing that because he's too busy with

01:11:55.340 meetings, even though he'd love to do it every day, I, as his press secretary, am out there.

01:12:00.300 We have administration officials going to the cameras every single day. They are hearing from

01:12:04.460 this White House in this admin. Their transparency is off the charts. And the Associated Press still has

01:12:11.020 their White House credentials. They still have a seat in the press briefing room. They are still welcome to

01:12:16.620 cover this administration. But nobody has a right to enter the Oval Office. It is a privilege to cover

01:12:24.620 the United States. And I said it in my first briefing. We are going to hold people accountable

01:12:29.500 that push lies. And the president believes deeply that American news outlets should be reporting the

01:12:36.380 truth about the Gulf of America. And that's not all with the Associated Press's style book.

01:12:41.420 I mean, don't get me started. They don't even want to call women mothers. They want to call us

01:12:45.980 birthing people. You know, they removed Hamas from their style book for some very odd reason.

01:12:52.380 I have a whole list. It's actually in my purse. I carry it around with me as a souvenir

01:12:58.300 of all of the crazy things in the AP style book. So look, they are welcome to cover this White House.

01:13:04.300 And there are hundreds of outlets on that campus who show up every day

01:13:07.820 in good faith to cover this administration with accuracy and truthfulness that don't have the

01:13:15.180 privilege of being in the Oval Office every single day because they're not the AP. Well,

01:13:19.500 guess what? We're going to start giving those media outlets a seat at the table. They deserve 0.90

01:13:23.740 to be in front of the Resolute Desk asking the president of the United States questions. What

01:13:27.020 gives the AP greater privilege than? No, nothing should. Nothing. If they would behave the way they

01:13:31.660 behaved 50 years ago, maybe they would still have their seat. Absolutely.

01:13:34.700 And if you look at what's happened to them over the past 10 years, it's been complete leftist

01:13:38.540 radical capture. Yes. And they are no longer that unbiased organization.

01:13:43.420 Are you surprised that all the organizations, including Fox and Newsmax, signed this letter

01:13:48.460 to as part of the White House press correspondence saying we stand with them?

01:13:53.020 It was a little surprising some of the names on the list, but doesn't faze us. You know, again,

01:13:58.780 there are thousands of reporters across the country who will fly to Washington, D.C. to cover this

01:14:05.500 president in a minute. And they just did. Amazingly, AP, I can cover President Trump just

01:14:09.900 fine from my desk in Connecticut. Exactly. You'll be okay, sweethearts. You can get the pool reports.

01:14:13.580 We'll send them to you. You can get the pool feed. Somehow I've managed. Yeah, exactly. And like I said,

01:14:19.260 we just had a local media row. We had a bunch of outlets come to Washington, local radio stations,

01:14:26.140 local TV. They were so honored to be and grateful for the opportunity. And they're covering the White 0.52

01:14:32.300 House with honesty and transparency. And they reached 60 million people across the country,

01:14:36.940 across the heartland. So we'll get our message out just fine without the Associated Press in the

01:14:42.300 local office. Asked one question of President Biden about his mental health. And he did not

01:14:48.460 get called on or offered a question for the next 18 months. That's true. No one had a problem with

01:14:53.340 that. No one was saying we stand with James Rosen. Yeah, what you're doing is wrong. You're effectively

01:14:58.060 freezing him out of the briefing room by doing this. Or of the Fox News reporters, Peter Ducey and

01:15:02.860 Jackie Heinrich, who didn't get questions for, I believe it was 12 weeks from the previous press

01:15:07.820 secretary. And we are still welcoming the legacy media into that room. And you'll take questions

01:15:12.700 from the AP. I take questions. I took we took four questions from Caitlin Collins yesterday. I mean,

01:15:17.740 we take questions from everybody. We're not afraid of that because we have truth and facts and statistics

01:15:23.500 on our side. But the legacy media doesn't deserve this superior superior access. There's many other

01:15:32.540 outlets who have far greater reach like this. Megyn Kelly show. I'm sure you have many more viewers than

01:15:37.500 MSNBC will tonight. 100 percent. Yeah. I mean, to quote Trump about Rosie O'Donnell on the AP,

01:15:44.300 they're a bunch of losers and they've been losers for a long time. That's the truth. Sorry,

01:15:49.100 do better and you'll probably get more of a red carpet laid out for you. You two can get back in

01:15:53.340 the old. It's not like he's saying cover me nicely. He knows they're not going to do that. Right.

01:15:58.460 He's saying I'm the president. I renamed this thing. You accept name changes like that when it

01:16:03.980 presents some woke ideology. Exactly. This is an affront to me and my administration.

01:16:09.260 No doubt. So I maybe I'm in the wilderness on it, but I'm team Trump on that one. Thank you.

01:16:13.820 Not team White House press corps. Caroline, good luck with everything. 0.98

01:16:17.020 Thank you. Thanks for having me. It's good to see you, Megan. Yeah. Likewise. Thank you.

01:16:21.260 More to come. Ah, she was amazing. Right. There's what a what a pair we have in those two are so

01:16:26.220 lucky that they're willing to serve. OK, before we go, I want to tell you that this episode is coming

01:16:30.780 out a little late today because I came down to D.C. I interviewed my guests and then now I'm heading

01:16:37.260 over to CPAC where I'm going to be offering some remarks and you'll see Caroline there as well.

01:16:42.460 And all of these guys are there, but we'll be releasing those just a bit later. I'm not sure

01:16:46.540 if we're going to do it later tonight or early tomorrow morning, but it'll hear our feed. So

01:16:50.700 keep refreshing. And thanks to all of you for not only tuning into the Megan Kelly show this week,

01:16:55.660 but also our new AM update that shows crushing it. Thank you so much for tuning in, whether it's

01:17:02.220 on YouTube dot com slash Megan Kelly or on podcast. You guys seem to be liking it. And while it is

01:17:07.900 definitely extra work for us, I think we all feel like it's a worthwhile endeavor. And I know that in

01:17:13.740 the Trump era, you've got to stay on top of the news and you'll get left behind. So we're all going

01:17:17.260 to do it together. Thanks for listening, guys. Have a great weekend and we'll talk to you later.

01:17:21.500 Thanks for listening to the Megan Kelly show. No BS, no agenda, and no fear.

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The Megyn Kelly Show - February 21, 2025

Michael Waltz on How Russia-Ukraine Peace Deal Happens, and Karoline Leavitt on Sparring with the Press and Being a Working Mom ｜ Ep. 1011

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