Good afternoon, everybody. Nice to see you on this beautiful fall afternoon. We are now on day 35 of the Democrat government shutdown. The Democrats' obstructionism will break the record for the longest government shutdown in American history tonight. The Democrats are intentionally hurting American families, workers and businesses with this shutdown to fight for free health care for illegal aliens and to appease their radical left-wing base, and it's a total disgrace.
This past weekend, Americans traveling to weddings, funerals vacations and meetings, faced significant flight disruptions at airports across the country because of staffing shortages. On Sunday alone, more than 5,000 flights traveling to and from US airports were delayed. Since the shutdown began, four times as many staffing shortages have been reported at air traffic control facilities compared to last year.
TSA checkpoint wait times ballooned past three hours at Houston's George Bush Intercontinental Airport with some passengers enduring up to five hours in line. At nearby William P. Hobby Airport in Texas, security wait times are routinely exceeding one hour. More than 13,000 air traffic controllers are continuing to work without pay.
Because of the Democrats these men and women who keep our airspace safe and moving will miss a second paycheck in a row this Friday if Democrats refuse to open the government. Let me be clear to our incredible air traffic controllers across the country. President Trump and Republicans want you to get your paychecks, they want you to be paid.
Please call on your Democrat Senators and tell them to side with President Trump and Republicans to vote to reopen the government. Our nation's four largest airlines, United, Delta, American and Southwest, have now all endorsed the Republican nonpartisan clean funding bill to end the government shutdown.
Major unions collectively representing tens of thousands of pilots have also joined the airlines in calling on Democrats to pass the clean nonpartisan CR. The travel industry is also imploring Democrats to end the shutdown and reopen the government. Nearly 500 companies and groups in the travel business, including casinos, hotels and convention bureaus, signed a public letter warning that America's travel economy has already lost $4 billion due to this Democrat shutdown.
And they have called for the Republican CR to be passed saying, Americans expect and deserve a fully functioning federal government during the peak holiday travel season. Never before have we seen private industry and union leadership, so unified on the same issue rallying behind Republicans in such a vocal way.
The Democrats have completely lost the plot. They are endangering the safety, prosperity and livelihoods of millions of Americans. It's well past time Democrats do what they did 13 times under Joe Biden and pass the clean funding bill extension. All we need are five Democrat Senators to put country over party and vote to end this reckless shutdown.
In other news, tomorrow will mark the one-year anniversary of President Trump's historic election victory where he won nearly 80 million votes, the popular vote in all seven swing states. This was the ultimate poll on November 5th. The president secured a mandate to make America Great again and he has delivered in record time.
Never before have we had a president who has kept their promises like President Trump has. I'd like to go over a few of those with you. In less than 10 short months, President Trump signed the largest middle class tax cut in history including no tax on tips, overtime and Social Security to put more money back into the pockets of the American people.
The president ended the southern border invasion of the Biden administration, made our border the most secure in history, and he is carrying out the largest mass deportation campaign of illegal aliens in our nation's history to protect our homeland just as promised. President Trump has aggressively taken on drug cartels by declaring them as foreign terrorist organizations and even blowing up narco terrorists who have tried to poison the American people with fentanyl and other illegal narcotics.
President Trump defeated the Biden inflation crisis, and he continues to implement a pro-growth America First economic agenda to make America affordable again, and we are seeing the results of that every day. Inflation has remained low and steady, averaging just 2.5 percent compared to the painful average of 5 percent under Biden, and we know it was historically higher than that for most of President Biden's term.
Meanwhile, real private sector wages are on track to rise by almost $1,500 since President Trump took office, a significant change to the Biden years where private sector wages declined and were being wiped out by inflation. President Trump has ended the reckless war on American energy and unleashed energy dominance with gas prices now plummeting to their lowest average levels in more than four years.
President Trump implemented powerful tariffs to rebalance America's trade deals, protect American workers and returning our country to be a manufacturing superpower once again. As a result, the president has secured trillions and trillions of dollars in private and foreign investments into the United States, which are creating high paying jobs for the greatest workforce in the world.
The president has restored America's place as the leader of the free world through his unwavering peace through strength foreign policy that has already ended eight wars and counting. And the president ended illegal DEI initiatives in our federal government and is returning our country to a merit-based society based on common sense.
President Trump protected opportunities for women and girls to compete safely and fairly by continuing to keep men out of women's sports. Americans have a president who works tirelessly literally 24/7 to improve their lives and make our country better than it has ever been before. So, with that today we will open it up to questions and we will start with our independent journalist in our new media seat, Julio Rosas.
Julio, please start. Thank you.
Thanks, Karoline. So, over the weekend in Mexico, a mayor in Michoacan, Carlos Manzo, he was assassinated while celebrating Dia de Muertos with his family. His assassination has sparked a lot of outrage. A lot of Mexicans are very upset. They're blaming President Claudia Sheinbaum for not taking the cartel threat seriously enough.
Yesterday, she said that once again she's not going to allow any foreign military intervention to take on the cartels on Mexican soil, and that Mexico is not going to pursue a drug war similar to what they've done in the past. So, my question is, is President Trump satisfied with Claudia Sheinbaum's approach to cartels?
And if not, has Manzo's assassination kind of opened up some new options for the United States to pursue regarding cartels?
Well, first of all with respect to this specific news item and this alleged assassination attempt that took -- assassination that took place in Mexico, I know the Trump administration, we are aware of that and of course we condemn all political violence anywhere in all forms. As for Claudia Sheinbaum and the president's relationship with her, I think he has a lot of respect for her as President of Mexico.
And he also really appreciates the coordination that she has provided to the Trump administration. I can't speak for her in what she's doing internally in her country. I can speak for the president in saying we are continually pushing Mexico to do more, to tackle the drug trafficking and the drug cartels within their country and we are working with them in any way that we can.
And the president has obviously used the full range of executive options in his authorities to crack down on drug trafficking at our southern border and to designate these cartels as foreign terrorist organizations, and additional actions as well.
And just one more question.
Sure.
So at the Antifa roundtable that we were at just last month, myself and the other panelists made the recommendation to the president for, you know, speaking of foreign terrorist organizations, to have Antifa not just be domestic terrorist organization, but be designated as a foreign terrorist organization since they have cells in other countries.
He mentioned to Secretary Rubio, because he was in the room at the time, to look into that. So I just wanted to see if there's an update on that recommendation.
Sure. That process is most definitely taking place. I don't have any announcements for you on that today, but I can certainly assure you the administration is working on it and I'll check in on it and get back to you, Julio. It's a good question. Thank you very much. Jackie.
Thank you, Karoline. Zoran Mamdani blamed the president for bomb threats and intimidation at polling locations. He said, quote, part of the general approach of the Trump administration has taken to intimidate voters with baseless allegations of voter fraud as a means of trying to repress the voices of Americans across this country.
I want to give you a chance to respond to that.
Yeah. I saw those comments from Mamdani. I think they are completely irresponsible and they are based on zero evidence. And I think this is just another example of how the Democrat Party unfortunately stands for nothing. All they stand against is President Donald Trump and I think it's quite sad to see that we have someone at the top of the ticket on an election day today saying such things about the president, when he obviously had absolutely nothing to do with those threats.
And on the shutdown, Democrats have been pretty quiet about the president's push for the nuclear option, terminating the filibuster. Is there any concern around here that Democrats might actually want Republicans to get rid of the filibuster so that one day when they're in power again the door is already open for them to pack the Supreme Court, give statehood to D.C. and Puerto Rico, make mail in balloting permanent, those kinds of things?
I think the president has been very realistic and strong in his position on the filibuster. He's been very vocal about it. I just spoke to him about it. He feels really strongly about this. Republicans need to play tough and they need to play smart. That's how the president feels. And we know that Democrats, when they -- if they are ever given a chance at power again in this city, they will absolutely take away the filibuster from the United States Senate.
In fact, you had 49 Democrats who already voted to do this before. The only reason it did not move forward was because you had two Democrats who are no longer in office because they were run out of town by the far-left radical base of their party. And so President Trump is very quite clear on this. He wants to see Republicans move as many good pieces of legislation for our country forward in the next three years of his administration as they possibly can, and the filibuster is one means to doing that.
Has he talked to Johnson and Thune about it? I know that they had both voiced some opposition. Have there been any conversations with them?
He's had -- he has. He's made his position to them very clear both publicly and privately. Ouija.
Thanks so much, Karoline. Can you help clear up some confusion about SNAP benefits?
Sure.
Because the president just posted that they will only be given out when the radical left Democrats open the government and not before. But just yesterday, the administration said it would comply with a court order to expend the full amount of SNAP contingency funds by end of business day yesterday. So did the administration distribute that money or defy that court order?
No, the administration is fully complying with the court order. I just spoke to the president about it. The recipients of these SNAP benefits need to understand, it's going to take some time to receive this money because the Democrats have forced the administration into a very untenable position. We are digging into a contingency fund that is supposed to be for emergencies, catastrophes, for war.
And the president does not want to have to tap into this fund in the future and that's what he was referring to in his Truth Social post. So the Department of Agriculture, as for the latest SNAP payment in the judge's order, put out guidance to states today on how to get that money to the recipients of SNAP, but it's going to take some time.
The best way to get the full amount of SNAP benefits to those beneficiaries is for Democrats to reopen the government. So to anyone who is a SNAP beneficiary at home who needs that assistance, and the president was just saying, this is for people who are truly needy, who need food, who need this assistance from the United States government.
Democrats are holding it up and making it difficult for the administration to get those payments out the door. So if you are at home and you want your SNAP benefits, call the Democrats and tell them to reopen the government.
Is he locking that contingency fund for the future if this shutdown lingers on?
Look, the president does not want to have to continue to dip into a contingency fund that doesn't even have enough money, by the way, to fund the full program. It takes $9 billion to get the full scale of the benefits out the door. This contingency fund only has about $5 billion in it. So again, Democrats need to reopen the government so we can get these benefits out the door for people who truly need them.
Kate.
Thanks. The president suggested that if Mamdani wins that he would cut federal funding to New York. How much funding would be impacted? What would be impacted there?
Well, look, we won't get ahead of the election results, nor will I speak to what the president may do in the future. We'll see how tonight goes and then I'll let him speak on it further.
And why did the administration exclude Democratic lawmakers? Last week there was a briefing about US strikes on alleged drug trafficking boats. Why were those Democrats excluded?
The administration has briefed Congress on these matters eight separate times and Democrats have been included in those briefings. In fact, I know that Secretary Rubio will be on Capitol Hill tomorrow to brief the gang of 12, which includes Democrats as well. So the president's made it very clear, if Senators want to understand the administration's operations against narco drug traffickers, we are very happy to speak with them about that and we will continue to do so. But we've been incredibly transparent.
As I said, there's been eight briefings on this topic with the ninth coming tomorrow. Rachel.
Thanks, Caroline. There's been some reporting out there about the possibility of furloughed workers not getting back pay. We know that the president signed that bill into law in his first term. Does the administration guarantee that all furloughed workers will get back pay?
This is something we are very much open to discussing with Democrats as part of the discussions about the continuing resolution to keep the government open and it's something that Republicans are talking with Democrats about right now. I won't get ahead of those negotiations or discussions.
So open to discussion, that's a possibility that that may not happen even though it's law?
I just said, Republicans in the white House are very much open to discussing this with Democrats.
And just one last question, as this government shutdown now drags on, about to make history as the longest government shutdown in American history, can you talk about what the president is personally doing to try to see an end to this?
He's pushing Republicans to keep voting and to keep opening up the Senate floor to vote for the clean continuing resolution. He had the Senate majority leader and the House caucus leader, Hakeem Jeffries, here at the White House to talk about this in the very early stages, to give them a chance to come to their senses and avoid this entire government shutdown at the very beginning, and they chose not to. And I think it's been very clear to everyone in this room and to everyone across the country that the Democrats are playing partisan politics with our United States federal government.
And all Republicans have wanted to do for the last 35 days is reopen the government. That has been the president's position since day one. It is his position today on day 35. And all we need are five commonsense Democrats, with -- have a little bit of courage and come to the table and vote with Republicans.
I saw Senator John Fetterman on television last night saying that he hopes more folks in his party will step up and we certainly agree with him on that point. Sure.
Karoline, the president posted on Truth Social that the voting underway in California is, quote, rigged. What evidence does he have of that? And what does it mean that mail in ballots in that state are under legal and criminal review? By whom and why? And also, in this vein, does the White House still plan to issue an executive order banning mail in voting?
And what legal authority do you have to do that?
The White House is working on an executive order to strengthen our elections in this country and to ensure that there cannot be blatant fraud, as we've seen in California with their universal mail in voting system. It's absolutely true that there are fraud in -- there's fraud in California's elections. It's just a fact.
What's the evidence on that, though?
It is just a fact. They have a universal mail in voting system, which we know is ripe for fraud. And if you want to deny that, I'm happy to provide you all of the evidence for it. I'd be glad to send that to you after this briefing.
What does he mean by rigged?
Fraudulent ballots that are being mailed in, in the names of other people and the names of illegal aliens who shouldn't be voting in American elections. There's countless examples and we'd be happy to provide them. As for executive action the White House is taking, yes, we are looking into that. And like any executive order, of course, any executive order, the president signs is within his full executive authority and within the confines of the law.
Stephen.
Thank you, Karoline. I've got two questions. I'd like to ask you about New York, but first I'd like to ask you about breaking news from the attorney general. She revealed just about an hour ago that the justice -- the Biden Justice Department ceased President Trump's official first term phone and subpoenaed his private phone records.
Do you have a reaction to that? And also do we know if they actually got those private call records?
I saw the attorney general's post on that. For additional questions, I would refer you to the Department of Justice, but I think this is just further evidence of the egregious overreach and weaponization of government that took place under the previous White House against then former president and now President Donald J. Trump.
It was a clear effort by the Biden White House and the Biden DOJ to go after the president, and this is just further evidence of that.
On New York, we've seen the president's messages that he's put out, but could you describe how he's feeling as a New Yorker watching this election?
Well, the president is a New Yorker and he loves New York, it is his home. He talks about that all of the time, and he's made his thoughts on this election quite clear, I think, himself. In the back. Yes, go ahead.
Thank you. Over the weekend, there were reports.
I was going to you in the green, but go ahead and then you can have your --
Thank you. Over the weekend, there were reports that President Trump was due to host President of Syria, Ahmed al-Sharaa, on Monday. Do you have any preview for that meeting? Is he expected to invite him to join the US led anti-ISIS coalition?
I can confirm that that meeting will be taking place here at the White House on Monday. And this is part of the president's efforts in diplomacy to meet with anyone around the world in the pursuit of peace. And as you know, when the president was in the Middle East, he made the historic decision to lift sanctions on Syria to give them a real chance at peace.
And I think the administration -- we've seen good progress on that front under their new leadership. And so, he will be here at the White House on Monday, and I'll let the president speak further on it on Monday. Yes, go ahead.
Thank you, Karoline. I was just curious, you had mentioned there that President Trump, as we know, has been speaking with Republican leaders in Congress about reopening the government. Is he involved in any other negotiations and is he prepared to sign something if a deal does come out by the end of this week.
On top of that, with SNAP benefits, does he have any authorities or considering any authority there to release more funds to help people who are desperately needing these benefits?
So, look, I think I've already answered the question on SNAP. We're complying with the court's order and we're getting that partial payment out the door as much as we can and as quickly as we can. But it's going to take some time because, again, this is a prorated payment that we're tapping into a contingency fund for.
The best way to get those payments out the door is for Democrats to reopen the government. But yes, the president is in constant communication with his friends on Capitol Hill. They know they call, he answers, he picks up the phone, he's a very transparent president in that way. And as soon as the Democrats pass the clean continuing resolution, President Trump will be here to sign it. Michael?
Thank you, Karoline. President Trump has threatened to go into Nigeria guns a blazing if Nigeria's government does not stop the killing of Christians in that country. Has the White House heard back from Nigeria's government on this threat?
As the president stated, Michael, if the Nigerian government continues to allow the killing of Christians, the United States will immediately stop all aid and assistance to Nigeria and may take action to wipe out the Islamic terrorists who are committing these horrible atrocities, especially against innocent women and children.
I don't have any further announcements on that for you today, but I can assure you the president of the United States is watching this situation unfold very closely, as is our Secretary of State, Marco Rubio.
Karoline, President Trump has endorsed Andrew Cuomo in New York City's mayoral race. He has not by name endorsed Winsome Sears in Virginia's gubernatorial race. Why is that?
Look, as you know, from this podium I'm quite limited in what I can say with regards to ongoing political elections. I think the president has spoken for himself and what he wants to see take place in these elections today. Lalit.
Thank you. I would like to ask you about India, US relationship. What is the present thought on the future of India and US relationship?
I'm sorry, Lalit, can you repeat that?
What is present thoughts on future of India-US relationship?
I think he feels very positive and strongly about it. As you know, he recently a few weeks back spoke to prime minister directly when he celebrated in the Oval Office Diwali with many high-ranking Indian American officials here at the White House. We have a great US ambassador to India in Mr. Sergio Gor, who will represent our country very well.
And the president and his trade team continue to be in very serious discussions with India with respect to that topic. So, I know the president has great respect for Prime Minister Modi and they speak pretty frequently. Thank you.
Hi, yes, the air traffic controller crisis ongoing, Secretary Duffy said he will now start to cancel and ground flights next week to maintain safety. Should people fly next week given this new information, and is the administration encouraging people to stop flying all together and look at alternative transportation modes?
The administration is encouraging Democrats to reopen the federal government so this chaos and disruption to our air traffic control system in the United States of America stops. It is ridiculous that we have even gotten to this place and that the Democrats have continued to shut down the government with 35 days, our air traffic controllers continuing to work unpaid, every single major airline in our country coming out and begging the Democrats to please reopen the government.
And you had a Democrat staffer who was quoted I believe in Politico a few weeks back saying, short of planes falling out of the sky, we are not going to reopen the government. That is a reckless and dangerous statement from someone who didn't want to put their name on that statement. But we know it came from the Democrat Party.
And I think we're very clear, we want to reopen the government so we can resume travel in the safest and most efficient way possible, especially as we head into the busiest travel season of the month. We have Thanksgiving in a few weeks, and so Americans across the country need to make it very clear to their Democrat Representatives that we want this government to be reopened so we can resume safe and efficient travel.
Fran?
Thanks, Karoline. Last I checked, the president still had not commented on the death of former Vice President Dick Cheney. Is the White House involved in the funeral arrangements in any way? Does the president plan to speak at the funeral? Has he spoken to anyone in the Cheney family today? And does the White House have an opinion on whether or not the former vice president should lie in honor or state in the Capitol?
I don't believe the White House is involved in that planning or at least hasn't gotten to it yet. I know the president is aware of the former vice president's passing and, as you saw, flags have been lowered to half-staff in accordance with statutory law. Jasmine.
Thank you. Back on the question of the filibuster, how much political capital is President Trump willing to expend to get Republicans to do what he's asking? I mean, will we see him at the Hill? Will he be calling folks over here? What exactly is President Trump planning to do outside of these two socials and maybe some of these private conversations to get Republicans to fall in line?
Look, I think you'll see -- I think you'll see the president continue to engage very strongly and consistently with his friends on Capitol Hill. I don't have any meetings to read out for you at this time, but I think you should stay tuned and keep your eyes on Truth Social on this matter. The president is making his position on it quite clear.
And again, he is right, Republicans need to play tough. We know that this is what the Democrats will do if they are ever given the keys to power again and he wants to pass as many good pieces of legislation as we possibly can for our country and for our people. That includes election integrity reforms, it includes additional tax policy, it includes fixing our immigration system further in ways that only Congress can.
And the president fears with a Democrat Party that is so radical and opposes everything he does and everything he says, this is the only option for Republicans to move forward. Karen.
In a second question, President Trump said to CBS in the 60 Minutes interview that he did not know the Binance founder which he pardoned. What exactly did he mean for that? I know it caused quite a --
He means he does not know him personally, he means he does not have a personal relationship with this individual. And when it comes to pardons, the White House takes them with the utmost seriousness, and the president understands the responsibility that he has as president to issue clemency and issue pardons to individuals who are seeking that.
That's why we have a very thorough review process here that moves with the Department of Justice and the White House counsel's office. There's a whole team of qualified lawyers who look at every single pardon request that ultimately make their way up to the president of the United States. He's the ultimate final decision maker.
And he was very clear when he came into office that he was most interested in looking at pardoning individuals who were abused and used by the Biden Department of Justice and were over-prosecuted by a weaponized DOJ. And the individual you're referring to, that was certainly the case. Even the judge in his case said that the sentencing that the Biden administration was asking for was egregious and went too far.
And so, the president is correcting that wrong and he has officially ended the Biden administration's war on the cryptocurrency industry. And I think that's the message he sent with this pardon. Karen, yes.
Back on the issue of back pay for furloughed workers, you said that the White House is open to discussing that with Democrats, but what would that discussion even be? There was a law the president signed in 2019. What could a discussion look like? Why is that even open for discussion?
Look, Karen, as I said, Republicans are talking about that with Democrats right now and I don't want to get in the middle of those sensitive conversations. But as we've complied with the SNAP order, the White House, the administration is always going to comply with the laws. We're always going to comply with the ruling of judges across the country.
But the Republicans are discussing this matter with Democrats right now.
Why would there even be a consideration of not paying those workers, though, Karoline?
[Crosstalk]
A big day in the Supreme Court tomorrow with President Trump's tariff policy facing a legal challenge. What's at stake with that case? And if the Supreme Court ruled against the Trump administration, what is plan B for trade policy?
I'll tell you, the White House is always preparing for plan B. It would be imprudent of the president's advisers not to prepare for such a situation. With that said, we are 100 percent confident in the president and his team's legal arguments in the merits of the law in this case and we remain optimistic that the Supreme Court is going to do the right thing.
The importance of this case cannot be overstated. The president must have the emergency authority to utilize tariffs. Look at what President Trump has been able to do with the leverage and the power of tariffs. He's been able to sign peace deals all over the world and end global conflicts and literally save lives.
He's been able to bring in trillions of dollars of investments into our country. In fact, this year alone, we are going to cut the deficit by $600 billion, namely because of the president's effective use of tariffs. And the president strongly believes that economic security is a matter of national security and tariffs have a lot to do with that.
And this case is not just about President Trump, it's about the use of this emergency authorization for tariffs for future presidents and administrations to come and we're confident and hopeful that the Supreme Court will do the right thing. Kristen.
Why did President Trump get an MRI during his recent visit to Wall Street?
Look, as President Trump said, he would inquire with the physicians. I'll check back on that. But as the physical itself stated, Kristen, and as you all know because you are all witness to it every single day, the president is in optimal physical health. This was a follow-up appointment and we provided a detailed readout of that physical.
I'm happy to give it to you again and I can inquire further.
With all due respect, an MRI is a very specific procedure. It's done on a part of the body looking for something specific. So it's not generally part of any kind of routine checkup. And in addition, President Trump has said that he wants to be transparent. He told us to ask the doctors, which we have and have not heard back.
Why don't we have more information on this?
As I said, I'll check back for you.
Karoline?
Go ahead.
Karoline, can you update us on the mediation efforts this administration is leading in Sudan, trying to achieve a ceasefire there?
Sure, yes. The United States is actively engaged in efforts to bring about a peaceful Resolution to the terrible conflict in Sudan. We remain committed to working with our international partners including quad members, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, the UAE, as well as others, to lead a negotiated peace process that addresses both the immediate humanitarian crisis and the longer-term political challenges.
I actually spoke with Secretary Rubio about this, this morning, as of course there's been, you know, kind of an uptick in recent reporting on the matter and he assured me that the administration is very much engaged. We're in pretty frequent communication with those Arab partners that I just mentioned. And we want to see this conflict come to a peaceful end, just as we have with so many others.
But it's -- the reality is it's a very complicated situation on the ground right now.
Karoline? Karoline?
Yes.
Hi, yes. Just trying to go back into the subject of Mexico, is the Trump administration planning to send US troops to Mexico to combat drug cartels, as reported by other outlets?
That's not something I would confirm from this podium if it were happening. So I will not comment on that. Emon.
Thank you, Karoline. Why did the president decide not to go to the Supreme Court tomorrow? He had indicated earlier that he might want to go and attend in person, and now he's saying he's not going to go. Why?
The president did have an interest in attending the Supreme Court hearing tomorrow, as I just expressed how important it is to him, the administration and the country, this case. But he is traveling to Miami tomorrow, as you all know, to give an economic address with the mayor of Miami and many global business leaders to talk about his historic success with the economy over the past 10 months and talk about sort of where we are headed as a country in terms of our economy.
So he'll be traveling tomorrow on the road in Miami. That's why he won't be here. But Secretary Scott Bessent will be in attendance at the hearing tomorrow, at the request of the president.
And on [Inaudible] issue, he has said that he doesn't want to export the high-end NVIDIA chips to China.
That's correct.
But the Wall Street Journal reported yesterday that there was some question about whether the president would raise this as a possible concession with the Chinese side during his meeting with Xi Jinping. So does the White House consider NVIDIA chip exports to China to be a closed issue right now, or is this an ongoing negotiation between the United States, China and NVIDIA at this point?
The president has made his position on this very clear, both to the Chinese and also to all of you. He's answered this question directly. As for the most advanced chips, the Blackwell chip, that's not something we're interested in selling to China at this time any. Annie.
Thanks, Karoline. Does the president [Inaudible] the results of the Virginia or New Jersey gubernatorial races tomorrow, or statewide races tomorrow, will in any way reflect a voter sentiment towards his administration?
Look, Annie, I'm not at liberty to talk about the election results and I certainly won't get ahead of them. I'm not going to engage in hypotheticals that may or may not happen tonight. We'll have to watch and see. And I'm sure you'll hear directly from the president tomorrow on that point. Gabe.
Hi, Karoline.
Sure.
On SNAP, just really quickly, is there anything that prompted the president's tweet this morning, because it did seem quite different from some of his other communications about SNAP? It seemed a little bit out of left field. I'm just wondering if he had a conversation or if there's anything you're aware of that caused him to decide to -- around 11:00 to send out that message.
Look, the president is constantly well read on the news, as you know. And he's very much aware we are in day 35 of a government shutdown in which these SNAP benefits, we're pushing them out the door. USDA put out that guidance to the states this morning. The president was aware of that and he wants to make it very clear that these benefits are in jeopardy because of the Democrats, and they should just open the government so that we can continue getting these funds out the door in an easier and more efficient way.
Gabe.
Karoline, just, there's some new reporting that just dropped a few minutes ago that the Trump administration is negotiating with the makers of Ozempic to sell some weight loss drugs from $149 a month. That's according to the Wall Street Journal. Do you have any more information on that? Can you confirm that?
I think the president has said himself in previous Most Favored Nations announcements that this is something that the administration has been engaged in and looking into. I won't get ahead of the president on any future announcements, but I will echo his strong commitment to bringing down drug prices in this country.
And you've heard it directly from Secretary Kennedy and Dr. Marty McCarthy and his entire Health and Human Services team, how committed the president is to bringing down the cost of drugs and we're working with pharmaceutical companies to do that every day.
And very quickly, Karoline, on SNAP. I know it's been asked and I know Ouija asked it, but I want to put a fine point on it. You talked about the president's post here and he wrote that SNAP benefits will only be given when radical left Democrats open up the government. I understand your previous answers, but as written, how would that not violate a court order as it's written [Inaudible]
I've now answered this question several times, Gabe. We are complying with the court's order. We are getting the payments out the door as quickly as we can. USDA sent the guidance to the state. The president is referring to future SNAP payments. He does not want to have to keep tapping in to an emergency fund and depleting it. In the case of a catastrophe in this country, he wants to have those funds preserved as they should be. And he's made it very clear, Democrats should reopen the government.
I have one final positive note for all of you. I told you I would keep you posted when the White House would resume public tours. Well, I'm pleased to announce the Office of the First Lady has reopened the doors for public tours. On Tuesday, December 2nd, there will be an updated route, of course, for guests in light of the ballroom construction that's taking place, but we very much look forward to celebrating the holiday season and the public and members of Congress and anyone who wants to come visit the First Lady's beautiful decorations is welcome to go to whitehouse.gov/visit to sign up for tours.
Thanks, guys. We'll see you tomorrow.
Thanks, Karoline. Thank you.