in-town pool report #1 — Leavitt gaggle

Good morning. White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt gaggled on the north driveway this morning on a cold day in Washington, D.C. Your pooler joined in progress, so please check the below against video and/or transcript for the full exchange.

FYI: No changes, as of now, to the president's schedule. More TK.

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Leavitt: “120 naval vessels are at the bottom of the sea because of our United States Armed Forces. That's a great thing. That's a great thing for [INAUDIBLE] region. And, of course, to ensure that, yes, Iran cannot permanently, permanently cannot possess a nuclear weapon. But I'm not going to forecast…”

Question: “But if they had the fuel, wouldn't they still have the ability to produce a nuclear weapon or no?”

Leavitt: “Look, again, we're in a place right now where we're ensuring that Iran can no longer target the United States. The United States military is doing a tremendous job at achieving [INAUDBILE].

Question: “Karoline, is Tulsi Gabbard's job in jeopardy right now?”

Leavitt: “Not to my knowledge. We haven't heard the president say that. … So obviously that's a question for him, but I don't really [INAUDIBLE].

Question: “…give us an update on what you're hearing from the Chinese about when this trip might be rescheduled?

Leavitt: “We're working with them. They have agreed to postpone the trip. I think they understand the president's rationale for doing so. But, again, we're working on those dates. The president has some things here at home in May that he has to attend to, and I'm sure President Xi is a very busy man, as well, so we'll get the dates on the books as soon as we can.”

Question: “Given that the allies have seemed to have rebuffed the president's request for help, and now he says he no longer needs their help, what is the plan to reopen the strait?

Leavitt: “The president is going to continue to talk to our allies, both in Europe and also in the Gulf of Arab region. The United States military has a lot of capabilities, as you have seen play out over the last 18 days. They do, still do, have tricks off their sleeve. [INAUDIBLE] the media. But, rest assured, there is a plan. They're working on it. We have seen some progress with respect to that.

“But of course, the president, again, continues to call on our allies to step

up.”

Question: “Karoline, a couple of questions on Joe Kent. The White House was warned last year when the president nominated Kent that he had a history of embracing conspiracy theories, that he had some ties to white nationalists. Given that why did the president nominate him to the position in the

first place?”

Question: “The president spoke on this a little bit yesterday in the Oval Office. He said he always thought Joe Kent was a good guy. Obviously, [INAUDIBLE] has a commendable military record and experience. However, he was not someone who was involved in the Presidential Daily Brief, part of the president's intelligence briefings over the last several months, have not seen him here at the White House for quite some time. And the president feels it's deeply disappointing that after the president gave him an opportunity in this administration to serve the American people, that he would resign with a letter filled with falsehoods, accusing the president of the United States by being controlled by a foreign country — that's both insulting and laughable all at the same time. The president is the leader of the most powerful country [and] military in the world. Nobody tells him what to do. The president's decisions [are] based on what's in the best interest of this country.”

Question: “The president said yesterday that he always thought Kent was weak on security. Why would he name someone to run the Counterterrorism Center who he thought was weak on security?”

Leavitt: “Again, I just told you that the president gave Joe Kent a chance, and he thought [INAUDIBLE] a guy with good military experience. And unfortunately, he was not up for the job. And we don't want somebody leading the Counterterrorism Task Force who cannot agree that the number one state sponsor of terror in this world did not pose a threat to the United States. That's what, another falsehood, he said in his letter of resignation, which is just unequivocally false.

“It's backed by intelligence. It's backed by the fact that Iran was building ballistic missiles at a rapid rate to build a shield of immunity so they could build a nuclear bomb. And it's backed by the fact that the president of the United States made the decision to attack Iran before they could attack American troops and our assets and bases in the region. And that was, of course, a good decision, not just for the United States, but for the rest of the world. It should be commended. It should not be degraded in the form of a resignation letter that's riddled with lies.

“Thank you.”

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John T. Bennett

White House Correspondent & Editor-at-Large

Roll Call & CQ

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Digital: rollcall.com

X: @bennettjohnt