There's this big group.
It's hard too, right? Karoline, what do you say to critics of the president's education plan?
Uh, where were -- where was there criticism of our nation's failing test scores for the last several decades? The Department of Education was founded in the 1970s and since then we have spent more than $3 trillion at this federal bureaucracy. What has been the return on that investment for the American taxpayer?
Uh, levels that are less than ideal, less than proficient. Our children's test scores are incredibly concerning when it comes to reading rates, literacy rates, math and science test scores. The numbers prove that. And the president is finally -- this president is finally taking much needed action to return education to where it belongs.
And that's to educators closest to students in their classrooms, in their respective states. We're going to have a great event here later at 4:00. There will be students here, teachers here, parents here, educators and of course governors from around the country who are very excited about taking on this responsibility to educate our nation's students.
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Who's going to run federal student loans?
So, the Department of Education will be much smaller than it is today. As you know, the president's executive order directed Linda McMahon to greatly minimize the agency. So, when it comes to student loans and Pell grants, those will still be run out of the Department of Education. But we don't need to be spending more than $3 trillion over the course of a few decades on a department that's clearly failing in its initial intention to educate our students.
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So, is the federal government going to be spending less?
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Karoline, you said it's going to be much smaller than it is, is it not going to be shut down completely? And then I have a second question.
As I said, Pell grants and student loans will still be run out of the department in Washington DC, but the great responsibility of education, educating our nation's students, will return to the states.
And the Department of Education plays a critical role in enforcing civil rights laws that prohibit discrimination, who's going to do that now?
Any critical functions of the department such as that will remain, but again, we're greatly reducing the scale and the size of this department.
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What about Federal Title I funding and special education funding is that still going to --
Same answer.
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Karoline?
Yes.
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Thanks, Karoline. On the Federal Reserve, the president criticized the rate decision yesterday, is he looking to replace members of the Federal Reserve Board like he did on the Federal Trade Commission?
Well, the president has appointed Miki Bowman, as you know, to be the Vice Chair of the Federal Reserve. Were incredibly optimistic about her. She's on the ball as the president says and knows how to get things done. The president has every right to criticize the -- the decision and he's made it very clear that he believes in lower interest rates are going to help this country boom and this administration is working on lowering the rate of inflation caused by the previous administration every day.
Inflation is cooling, the numbers indicate that. And the president strongly believes in low interest rates and I think the American public do too.
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Karoline, on the deportations flights, Karoline, you've said that you're confident that you've complied with the judge's order?
We are.
If that's the case, then why not turn over the information about the flights?
We are 100 percent confident that we've complied, and as I said from the podium and will continue to say, all of the flights that were subject to the written order of the judge took off before the written order was pushed in the courtroom. And the president is well within his article -- or his Article II power and his authority under the Alien Enemies Act to make these decisions.
And we think it's egregious that a single district judge is trying to tell the president of the United States who he can and cannot deport from our soil, especially when it comes to designated foreign terrorists.
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Jeff, go ahead.
The administration is getting some attention this week for a memo that was released, I think a couple of weeks ago, taking segregation out of the criteria for federal contracting. Can you explain what that memo was supposed to do? And if you're looking to -- I presume you're not looking for segregation to come back.
But can you explain the reason for the memo?
Did the memo come from the White House or was it from an agency?
It was from -- it was from the administration, I think it was OPM.
Okay, I would defer you to whichever agency wrote that memo. I haven't seen it, so I can't speak to it.
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Karoline?
Go ahead, Reagan.
Thanks, Karoline. Uh, this executive order dismantles the department. To abolish it completely requires Congress to act. Is the administration asking Congress to codify Trump's executive order to abolish the department?
I'll leave it to the president to speak on that later, 4:00.
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Sure.
What is the president doing about Gaza? Is he trying to get the cease fire back in play? What's -- what's his plan?
Well, the president made it very clear to Hamas that if they did not release all of the hostages, there would be all hell to pay. And unfortunately, Hamas chose to play games in the media with lives. This situation, let's not forget is completely the fault of Hamas. When they launched that brutal attack on Israel on October 7, and the president has made it very clear that he wants all of those hostages to come home.
And he fully supports Israel and the IDF and the actions that they've taken in recent days.
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Michael. Go ahead, Michael.
-- the president would like to see American schools and students reach over the next four years after he signs this EO?
Well, again, he in -- in the intent of this EO is to return this great responsibility back to the states and we know -- we believe in federalism here at the White House. I know the previous administration didn't, but we think decisions are best made when they're closest to the people, and we trust teachers and educators and their respective schools to make these very important decisions about our children's education and their futures.
And the current status quo is failing our students. In fact, I have some facts right here, 13-year-olds mathematics scores are the lowest they have been in decades. 13-year-olds reading scores are the lowest since testing began over 30 years ago. Low performing students are falling further behind. One city, Baltimore, Maryland, in 2023, high schools had zero students who tested proficient in mathematics.
As a mother, myself, I know I share the concern of many parents across the country. We want our children to be bright and smart and ahead of the game. This is also, I would say, a national security issue when you look at how students around the world, particularly in China are being educated, American students are falling behind.
We're not keeping up with our allies or our adversaries, and that's a major problem for our country and the president is fixing it today.
[Crosstalk]
Karoline? We're less than two weeks away now from the August 2 big tariff deadline, has the president spoken with his Canadian counterpart and the Prime Minister on --
Not to my knowledge, I don't believe he has, but I can check in with the president and get you a firm answer on that. But my understanding is they haven't spoken and the president has been very clear about his intention for April 2. It's going to be a big day for our country. I would encourage all of you to be here to cover the White House that day on April 2 because there will be big announcements when it comes to reciprocal trade.
And the president will be highlighting the unfair trade practices, the ways in which America has been ripped off by every country around the world, quite frankly, and there will be big tariffs that will be going into effect and the president will be announcing those himself.
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The European Union had a decision yesterday against Apple and Google. Are you familiar with that, and is there anything the president, is that a response to the April 2 tariffs?
I think we've seen a lot of movement actually around the world of countries who are lessening their tariffs. I know the EU also paused their alleged tariff on whiskey. And so, I think you're seeing countries are taking the president seriously. They understand that he is going to do what's right for American workers and families, and so the president and his team are in constant communication with our EU counterparts, but also our counterparts around the world.
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The decision to -- off some of the failures over the last 30 years from the Department of Education. So, for critics, what has been the ROI on $3 trillion going to a failing education system.
It's a great question, nothing. And that's exactly why the president is signing the order later today.
[Crosstalk]
Karoline -- The executive order today, is it also the goal to eventually be spending less in federal dollars on education?
Of course, it's our goal to reduce the size and scale of this government across every agency, which is why you've seen very strong and quick actions taken to reduce the amount of money that federal taxpayers are paying on a system that is failing them and their families.
Does that mean like eventually downsizing some of the programs that are run out of the education department currently?
It means stopping the wasteful spending, and as I said, critical programs will be protected.
[Crosstalk]
So, given that -- You have this noon deadline looming for this DC judge for the DOJ to turn over these documents, when it comes to the time logs of these deportation flights. Is the administration going to turn over that information, the exact time logs? The -- the information that the DC court is asking for?
I won't get ahead of our lawyers, but you'll hear from them in court.
In a follow up question, the Commerce Secretary yesterday said that Tesla stock is something that Americans should be buying. Is that the stance of the administration that people should be investing in this? Is that something that the Commerce Secretary should be recommending?
I think the Commerce Secretary was reiterating that the president supports an American made company like Tesla who produces a very good product for the American people, which was beloved by the American people, particularly Democrats until Elon Musk decided to vote for Donald Trump. And now we've seen despicable and unacceptable violence taking place across our country at Tesla dealerships, against workers, employees, and also innocent Americans who drive these vehicles.
It's a -- actually a scary time in our country because of this political violence from the left and the White House and the president's entire administration condemn it wholeheartedly. We'll see you guys at 4:00. Thank you.
Thank you. You thank. Thank you, Karoline.