White House press briefing transcript, Aug 12, 2025

I don't want to make that commitment on behalf of the physician, but it's certainly something we can look into and explore out of the effort of transparency because unlike the previous White House, there is nothing to hide. You guys see this president working around the clock, literally 24/7, all of the time and I will be happy to look into that request.

Can we at least get an update on how he's being treated for the swelling legs and for the hands and the other issues?

Look, you see the president every day. He's moving, he's working, he's continuing. There have been no adjustments made to his lifestyle.

Karoline?

Caitlin.

I have two questions, one on D.C., but on the Putin meeting on Friday, does the president plan to meet with Putin one on one?

Yes, that's part of the plan. And as for the other mechanics and logistics, I will let our team speak to that when they're ironed out.

And on what's happening in D.C. with the federal takeover, what we've heard from the mayor and the police chief is that their understanding is there has been no change in the leadership structure. In the White House's view, who is in charge of the MPD right now?

If you read the executive order, it will tell you. The leadership structure is as follows. We plan to work with the Metropolitan Police Department, but ultimately the chain of command is as such, the president of the United States, the attorney general of the United States, our DEA administrator, Terry Cole, who is now serving as head of the chief of the Metropolitan Police Department and they will be working together.

So the president is in charge of MPD right now?

No, Terry Cole, as you heard from this briefing room yesterday, is in charge of the Metropolitan Police Department and he's working with the chief to ensure that law enforcement officers are allowed to do their jobs in this city.

Karoline?

Joey.

Yeah, thanks, Karoline. I know you said earlier the hope is to maintain monthly job reports, but the president's new nominee for BLS commissioner, E.J. Antoni recently told Fox business that the BLS should suspend issuing monthly job reports and only issue quarterly reports until the jobs data methodology is corrected.

So does the president disagree with that assessment that his nominee has said there, or is suspending ending these monthly job reports is a real option here?

I think he floated the idea of possibly suspending until they can get the data and the methodology in order. And this president wants to ensure that the BLS, again, is putting out accurate and honest data that the American people can trust. Since you brought up the new commissioner, he holds a master's and doctor's degree in economics from Northern Illinois University.

He's the chief economist in the Heritage Foundation's Center for the Federal Budget and in addition to his work at heritage, he has multiple other roles. He's been widely renowned for his work on economic issues. He's been called before Congress to testify as an economic expert, so he's a qualified individual and the president trusts him to lead this important department.

I'll take a couple more questions. Sure, go ahead.

Given that the administration now has jurisdiction over MPD, can we expect — does that mean like personnel changes, hiring, firing? Can we expect leadership changes internally in the Metropolitan Police Department —

Well, I just walked through what the leadership structure looks like right now.

Within the uniformed police department, right? I mean, does that mean that the attorney general, others, kind of have the ability to make those personnel decisions?

I would imagine it means they have the ability. As for any changes, I'm not tracking any. Again, we look forward to working alongside the Metropolitan Police Department, and we did that last night successfully and we hope we can do that for the next 29 nights. Go ahead.

Karoline?

Yes.

There are reports that ICE agents detained a 15-year-old student with disabilities outside an L.A. high school, even leaving bullets on the sidewalk. How does the Trump administration plan to ensure parents that their children can return to school without fear of being wrongfully detained or endangered by federal agents?

Where did you see that report?

L.A. Times.

OK. Well, I'll have to look into the veracity of that report. I read the L.A. Times almost every single day and they are notorious for misleading the public. I'm sure there's more to that story than the way that you just characterized it. This administration wants to ensure that all school children across the country in every city from Los Angeles to DC can go to school safely.

And that's part of this administration's effort, to federalize the National Guard in Washington to ensure that ICE is removing child predators. I just read you a list of a handful, just a handful of the hundreds of thousands of child predators that this administration is removing off of the streets of Los Angeles and every other community across this country, because we want to ensure this is a country where American schoolchildren can be safe, where they can prosper and where they are not threatened by violent criminals, whether they are illegal or whether they are American citizen homegrown criminals, as this president calls them.

So, I will gladly go check on that report, and I'll get you the facts. Thank you, everyone.