Tony Katz on Latest White House Press Briefing from Karoline Leavitt

0:00So the first question out of the gate to Karinjon, not Karinjon Pierre. See, I brought that up during the break and now it's in my head. Why was it so difficult for Karinjon Pierre to do this job? Caroline Levin looks like she's prepared all the time. Maybe if Karinjon Pierre had actually put some effort into it. Tony Katz, Tony Katz today, good to be here, good to be with you. Caroline Levin giving the White House press briefing. And the first question was about the Save Act or the Save America Act. This question is actually about the Save America Act. So one of the biggest things that the Democrats are saying, the claims that they're making is that the Save America Act, it would prevent married women from voting in elections or make it harder for them. What do you have to say to those claims? Is there any validity to them and where do you think they're getting this from? There is zero validity to these claims. And I'm glad that you brought them up because you have the Democrats. You have created this myth and it has been perpetuated.

1:01Unfortunately, by many in the mainstream media, let me be very clear. The Save America Act does not prohibit anyone from voting with the exception of illegal aliens. And the greatest way to disenfranchise American citizens from voting in American elections is to allow legal aliens to vote, which is what Democrats want to do. We see it taking place in Democrat jurisdictions at the state and local level across this country. So this, and that is true. We have had people go to jail for it. It would be charged with it all sorts of things about ballot issues and registration issues. Let's not deny that it's happening. Tony Katz, Tony Katz today, good to be here, good to be with you. I forget sometimes when I say low. So I like to, like to make sure I go back and, and do that. But then Caroline Levit gets into, well, do we all understand how this works and what this means and this idea that women won't be able to vote is just silly. Save America act corrects that. And as far as married women who have changed their name, if they're already registered to vote, they're entirely unaffected by the save acted for the small fraction of individuals

2:03who have changed their name or their address, they can still register to vote. Of course, they just have to go through their state processes to update that documentation. And this is something that the American people married women in minorities and of people all across this country who Democrats are insultingly saying cannot do this. They're already doing it every day, going to the social security office, going to the DMV. And I think it's frankly insulting that the Democrats are saying that there are certain groups of people in this country who aren't smart enough to update their documentation to allow them to vote. Again, this is a huge myth and thank you for giving me the opportunity to address it. You have still democratic leadership saying that people of color and women won't be able to vote. It's a lie. It's a beyond insulting. They are the left is saying that women and people of color are too dumb to get an ID. It is embarrassing. It is pathetic. It is what it is.

3:04And I don't know why people who are of color, I don't know, they say people of color. What a good Lord. And women, I don't know how you could vote for this stuff. I don't know how you could vote for people who think that you're incompetent. It's, it's belittling. It's gross. I don't think you should take that abuse. Let's get back to the pressur. Of course, and then there was one more question about VHS. The funding issue has been three plus weeks now. I was actually, well, I was at the airport this morning in St. Louis, Missouri. And it was early in the morning and one of the TSA agents I saw she was kind of tearing up. She was crying. I asked her, I was like, what's wrong? And she was like, I can't make my phone payment. My, I can barely make my, my car payment that's coming up. I want, what do you, I think a lot in the beltway. There's so much noise between Democrats or Republicans. If the Democrats fought it, they're Republicans fall. But what is the White House's message to the American people that are struggling? Because they're not getting that paycheck. And it's, take away the politics.

4:05What do you have to do with it? A question, please. President Trump wants the Department of Homeland Security. He wants TSA. He wants FEMA. He wants the brave men and women of our United States Coast Guard to receive their paychecks. And he wants this Department to be fully funded and fully reopened. And so to any American out there who is struggling without a paycheck, we know there's more than 100,000 of you across the country. To any American out there who is showing up to an airport and facing incredibly long wait times and lines, call your Democrat member of Congress and tell them to fund the Department of Homeland Security. That's what got to get trouble. And it's completely ridiculous that the American people are suffering as a result of these partisan games that are being played. Go out there, talk to the people online, bring them a drink, tell them you're sorry. They have to suffer a blame Democrats for it right in front of the people. What is your current fight for? So look, as you know, Steve, the president and the U.S. military's initial timeline was about four to six weeks to achieve the full objectives of Operation Epic Fury again to destroy their missiles and their ability

5:08to make them, destroy their navy, permanently deny them nuclear weapons forever and to, of course, weaken their evil terrorist proxies in the region. We know that the U.S. military and our brave war fighters are quickly and expeditiously executing these objectives well ahead of schedule. But ultimately, the operations will end when the commander in chief determines the military objectives have been met, fully realized, and that Iran is in a position of complete and unconditional surrender, whether they say it or not. Does it still want Iran's unconditional surrender? Well, when President Trump says that Iran is in a place of unconditional surrender, he's not claiming the Iranian regime is going to come out and say that themselves. What the President means is that Iran's threats will no longer be backed by a ballistic missile arsenal that protects them from building a nuclear bomb in their country. I could make an empty threat, but if I have no actions to back it up, then it's an empty threat. And so President Trump will determine when Iran is in a place of unconditional surrender,

6:10when they no longer pose a credible and direct threat to the United States of America and our allies. Adrianna. Can you explain why the energy secretary posted and then appeared to have deleted a post on X saying that the U.S. Navy escorted an oil taker to Mr. Interpolice? Yes, I was made aware of this post. I haven't had a chance to talk to the energy secretary about it directly. However, I know the post was taken down pretty quickly. And I can confirm that the U.S. Navy has not escorted a taker or a vessel at this time. Though, of course, that's an option the President has said he will absolutely utilize if and when necessary at the appropriate time. There was something that was posted erroneously on it because it was sapper or what, you know, what, I guess, will there be any consequences for this? I know you still have to consult this generally. Yeah. I would defer you to the Department of Energy to answer that question. Just follow up really quickly. Sure. In terms of oil sanctions, the President said that there will be some sanctions. What, that will be lifted with those beyond.

7:12But as well, Russia, do you give some specifics there and then timing for that as well? Sure. I know it's something that the Treasury Department and the President's energy team continue to discuss that they will ultimately consult with the President before decisions are made. I don't have any announcements on new sanctions or the lifting of new sanctions for you today. Alex. Thank you. This is where the OSD has about 150 U.S. service members have been injured so far. Can you confirm that number and then elaborate on that? I can't confirm the exact number. I know it's within that ballpark, but I would defer you to the Pentagon for a specific number of wounded or injured thus far. And then secondly, if I can, I wanted to ask about the, there was a briefing on the Capitol Hill today and some senators came out and said they were more convinced that they never, that there were the U.S. goods on the ground, said Senator Blumenthal, said that, in fact, your reaction to that and any update on President Trump's thinking about it.

8:12Look, I would say that Democrats on Capitol Hill are clearly being quite disingenuous. Three years ago, not a single Democrat voted for the, against the resolution condemning Iran as the world's leading state sponsor of terror. Yet now, with President Trump as Commander-in-Chief finally taking the action that so many Democrats have called on the Commander-in-Chief to do for many, many years to wipe out the threat of a rogue Iranian terrorist regime. Now all of a sudden, Democrats are playing politics with this long-standing bipartisan policy of the United States. And they, 53 of them in the House recently voted against the resolution condemning Iran as the world's state sponsor of terror. So I wouldn't take Democrats out their word as for boots on the ground. The President has talked about this repeatedly, wisely. He does not rule options out as Commander-in-Chief. So again, I would hesitate to confirm anything that a Democrat on Capitol Hill says right now about the President's thinking. That is correct. Because the clear argument is going to be political.

9:15Oh, I know what the President's going to do. No, you don't. No, you don't. But back to the press conference with Caroline Levin. The line to Steve, the military components of what would be involved in ending this war. But it seems like there's a political component to the President who said the Fox earlier today. He doesn't believe the new Ayatollah can live in peace. He made a variety of comments suggesting that he should be involved in picking the new Iranian leader. Is the ending of this war also contingent on Iran selecting a leader that the President finds acceptable? And if so, how is that going? The definition of a regime change war. Look, as President Trump has blatantly and frankly stated, it's obviously within the best interest of the United States and the West to no longer have a radical terrorist in charge of Iran. Especially as we see their reaction to Operation Epic Fury. They had their missiles turned towards our Gulf and Arab partners in the region.

10:16Again, this was a regime that chanted a still chance death to America. We look at the way that they are holding the entire world hostage with the free, the restricting of the free flow of energy through the straight of her moose. So the President, I think, is making quite an obvious comment. Again, as for the timeline of the military operations with respect to Iran, we have objectives that we have laid out that the Commander-in-Chief wants to see achieved when they are achieved, then it will ultimately be up to the President to end this operation. Okay, so I think you're not exactly addressing my question, though. Is that political objective also necessary for the President to decide to end this war? Look, again, I just told you the objectives of Operation Epic Fury, when those objectives are met, the President will dictate the end of these operations when he deems that Iran no longer poses a credible threat to the United States of America. So is the question being asked about trying to get it to be political? So now you give cover to the, oh, this is all just politics.

11:16This is all just wag the dog. It's all about the empty files or some other insanity. Where Caroline Levitt shines and is way above her age. It's being able to suss that out and not being able to be taken off task. It's very impressive stuff. For her age, very impressive, very good stuff. More to get to. I'm Tony Katz. This is Tony Katz today.