In the administration. It is symbolic of the meaningful relationship that the two nations have. These are important meetings regarding the president s agenda to improve the quality of lives for both people of mexico and the United States by combatting drug traffickers and finding ways to bolster our economies through a broader relationship that promotes commerce and Legal Immigration. This is a very encouraging start to a working relationship with an incredible neighbor to the south. At this moment, the president has just wrapped up his discussions on the federal budget with some of the officials and staff who will be instrumental in the work to put this country back on a responsibly fiscal path. Joining the meeting were reince priebus, chief of staff, steve bannon, jared kushner, jared koen, secretary Steve Mnuchin of the department of treasury, director mick mulvaney, russ vote of the office of management and budget and emma doyle of the office of management and budget. As the president mentioned last week, we look forward to presenting our tax reform plan and providing much needed tax reform and relief to the hard working men and women of our nation. The president s going to restore and respect the american taxpayer by enabling them to keep more of their hard earned money and by making sure the federal government spends money more responsibly. After the lunch, the president will continue this important discussion with other members of the senior staff. Additionally the Vice President today is in st. Louis, to participate in listening sessions with American Workers and employees of the faba cat, a family owned and operated business. The president will discuss the economic comeback in store for our nation under the president s economic agenda, and with Small Business owners and employees. The president has already made strides towards slashing redundant regulations through his executive actions and we will work with congress to enact further progrowth legislation. Back to the president s schedule, later this afternoon, the president will participate in a standing legislative Affairs Strategy session. Our legislative affairs team is in Constant Contact with our counterparts on the hill, keeping an open dialogue on all aspects of the president s agenda. Last week alone more than 40 different senator and Congress Members of congress visited the white house. On the Supreme Court front, so far judge gorsuch has now met with 58 senators, 36 republicans and 22 democrats and he has more meetings already on the books for next week when the Senate Returns to session. We have been especially encouraged by the reception hes received from several senior democrats including senators feinstein, tester, durbin and gillibrand. Also on the confirmation front, multiple unions came out today for alex acosta, the president s nominee for labor secretary. The International Union of operating engineers praised his distinguished career and pledged their support for his nomination. The legislative affairs team is using the congressional work period to work with key coalitions in congress, meeting with different groups in the house and senate including the staff of the congressional black caucus, how to and Senate Leadership and staff throughout various committees. We used this work period as an opportunity to invite staffers from both sides of the aisle to come to the white house and discuss shared priorities a find Common Ground on the way forward. And were not just reaching out to capitol hill. We have engaged with key leaders in policymakers around the country. It is kricritical we gather information from states and people around the country rather than just leaders in washington. Looking ahead to tomorrow, the president will meet with a group of world class Business Leaders to discuss specific action he can take to remove barriers to job creation. These leaders represent some of the countrys largest manufacturers and will begin the day in working groups with the Vice President , cabinet members and key aides of the president s staff. The working groups will engage in a deep dive conversation on the attendees specific area of expertise, deregulation, tax and cried, training and the workforce of the future, and infrastructure. Vice president pence will be engaged with each of the groups and after the groups conclude their discussion, the president s staff will compile the feedback and the president will sit down with the entire group for a listening session on some of the recommendations. As you can tell by the structure of the meeting, the president is expecting these interactions to lead to real action being taken bit administration. Creating a dynamic and booming economy that works for all americans continues to be at the top of his domestic policy agenda. As a successful businessman himself, the president knows if we get the country back to work, we need to hear directly from job creators what is holding them back and where appropriate take steps to remove the barriers. In his first month in office, the president already has taken numerous actions to boost job creation and a key Economic Indicators are showing it is working. Ceo and confidence are up. The stock market continues to reach record highs, and the january numbers were strong. The meetings on thursday will continue to build on that momentum. And with that, im glad to take some questions. Steve holland. Steve holland is not here. Jeff mason. Thank you. Can you give us an updade on the administrations plans with regard to can you confirm that there is has been some disagreement between victsecret devos on this issue . The president is a Firm Believer in states rights. When you look at the guidance, lets remember to the best of my knowledge, that was stalled, never fully implemented. I think there were various reasons for that. Several legal reason and several procedural reasons. The department of education, the department of justice both who jointly issued that guidance back during the Obama Administration are working together again under a Trump Administration, they have been reviewing the guidance signed, the basis by which it was put through, and i think there have been several areas of concern both legal and procedural that they have been discussing. And i think where you might be hearing something is more on the timing and the wording of stuff, the conclusions, everybody in the administration is agreed upon. There is no daylight between anybody between the president and between any of the secretaries. I think there has been some discussion between the timing of the issuance and recommendations or between the exact wording, but as far as the conclusions go, i have made this clear and the president made it clear throughout the campaign that hes a Firm Believer in states rights and certain issues like this are not best dealt with at the federal level. Report out today, what they see that the white house is micromanaging staffing at the subcabinet level. To what degree does the white house think it should impose its hiring approvals, members of the subcabinet and is some of this at least partially driven by cabinet secretaries wanting to appoint people who might not necessarily be aligned with the president s thinking . Well, i mean, i think when you come to theyre called political appointees for a reason. The idea is that people who come into this government should want to support and enact the president s agenda that he campaigned with the American People. I think one of the reasons that you see in recent polls, the president people, even if they dont agree with the president , they give him high marks for following through on the promises he made to the American People and getting things done that he actually said, which is not always the case here in washington. And i think that we want to make sure that the people who staff a Trump Administration are committed to a trump agenda. And thats the so cabinet secretaries and other administrators and directors have broad discretion. At the end of the day, no matter what position you have, whether it is the lowest or the highest in this in the white house, or any department or agency, we should be making sure that people who are coming in as appointees of the president support the president s agenda, and i think thats one thing, this isnt about getting a job, as a federal employee, where youre subject to certain, you know, restrictions as to what you can and cant do as a benefit of being a federal employee, these are political appointees. And so i think that there is obviously going to we are going to ensure that the people who are political appointees share the vision and agenda that the president campaigned on, and is implementing. Does the white house believe that it needs to have the final approval i dont think or can you trust your cabinet secretary . It is not a question of trust, it is a question of making sure that we all on the same page and committed to the same agenda that the president set forth. This process is probably no different than we have seen in previous administrations. Cabinet secretaries come to the president with recommendations on who they want. And it depends on the position, obviously. But in certain cases, if theyre going to fulfill a job that is a key area that the president had, very specific goals to enact, that he promise the American People, you want to make sure the person who is fulfilling that job is committed to the agenda and vision the president set forth and promising the American People. And so there is thats something that were always going to be making sure is in alignment. Is the approval process some way slowing down the appointment of crucial staffers . Not at all. I think when you look across where with are and track the numbers of people in the pipeline, were doing well with getting all of the positions filled and i think once in a while you might hear of one or two people, but overall, generally speaking, i mentioned during the transition period how many people of the beachhead teams we had and those members appointed through that process this is 20 dha had 120 days. They made sure that people on a permanent basis could populate those positions. Thats whats happening. Make no mistake, we were ahead of the curve on beachhead teams, very clear with the landing teams during the transition. This has been a very methodical process that seemed from top to bottom through and i think were doing a phenomenal job of staffing the government. The president in the roosevelt room just said to us that among other things that the tax plan is nearly finalized, but cant be submitted until the Health Care Plan statutorily or otherwise so were doing the health care. What i wanted to clarify was, is the white house doing the Health Care Proposal or was he talking about congress and not the white house or is it right. So obviously there is two vehicles, reconciliation vehicles, fy 17, bloombergian answer. The fy 17 reconciliation that was never completed because the budget wasnt finalized, i think we want to look at the opportunities to work with congress and obamacare, utilizing the 2017 and then you could utilize the 2018 reconciliation and budget process to do tax reform. Thats not thats not prescriptive. Im not but as far as why the president is saying it that way is because we have got that option available to us right now and i think the president is committed to making sure that the promise he made to the American People to repeal and replace obamacare continues to be first and foremost and then his tax plan, but it is not we can walk and chew gum kind of thing. We can send you to work with congress and the leadership and both houses president obama used to say that. Well there is a few things that is going to happen then. There is going to be a budget plan that you guys are going to present on march 13thish. Ish. There is going to be the health care this is where i get lost, something from him and something from them and something afterwards . Is that the way it works . Look, when were ready to announce stuff, but i think again, i think youve got obamacare, the budget, tax reform, it is going to be a very busy march and april for us. And we have been continuing to work with congress to make sure that thats implemented. Yeah, the president , you were talking about fulfilling his promises, as you know, he promised during the campaign a total and complete shutdown of muslims entering the country. There were a lot of people in his party who thought that was a very good proposal. Can you explain his evolution in backing down from that, and can you also say whether he regrets using that rhetoric since it ended up hurting the court case . Well, again, i go back to the merits of the case. And the order that gives him the authority to make that. U. S. Code 1182 is very clear. The president was very clear in his executive order that these were countries that we didnt have the proper vetting for when it came to ensuring the safety of americans. Thats what the executive order said. The authority is very clear they havent done it and youll continue to see the president take the steps necessary to protect this country. Thats why hes talked about, you know, fighting this on both fronts, making sure we keep evolving through the court system on the existing side and looking towards the next draft of the executive order that will continue to achieve the goal of protecting the American People. That is where we are. Thats what the order says. So i think we continue to feel confident that that thats but it was crafted in a way, very clear about the countries and was not focused on anything else but the vetting requirements that we have to make sure that we know who is coming into this country and that theyre here not to do us any harm. But when talking about fulfilling his promises, can you explain why he decided to back down from that one . I think he made it very clear from the beginning this was a country focused issue, a safety focused issue and thats why he issued it. I dont see anything other than that with reference to that. Deborah saunders. The oscars are sunday night. Will the president be watching . And if there is a meryl streep kind of moment, how do you think hell react . And why this happened at other awards ceremonies, why do you think this happens . Why do i think what happens . Actresses and actors like meryl streep . I have no idea. It is a free country. I think hollywood is known for being rather far to the left. In its opinions and i got to be honest with you, i think the president will be hosting the governors ball that night, mrs. Trump looks forward to putting on a phenomenal event and the first lady has put a lot of time into this event that is going to occur in welcoming our nations governors to the capital. I have a feeling thats where the president and the first lady will be focused on sunday night and well go from there. Big audience next tuesday in the joint address to congress. Does he have a set of goals in mind for the speech and do you think were going to see some specific policy rollouts as part of that speech . I think that this speech is going to focus i mentioned this yesterday, i think it is going to talk remind the American People what hes done already. And make sure that he explains not just because of his sense of accomplishment that in moving this country forward, but because i think it is important for the American People to know that he was an agent of change, he came here to get things done, and he didnt waste any time. Hes committed to keeping his word and then i think hes going to lay out his vision and talk about things like education and health care and infrastructure. The problems that we face as a country, the violence in some of our inner cities, but also some of the solutions that we can act on and some of the partnerships we can create, it is obviously still a work in progress. I think it is going to it is going to look forward to where he wants to take this country. And talk about working with congress and other leaders throughout the country to get things done. But i i think in the drafts that ive seen so far, it is going to be a very strong blueprint of where he wants to take this country. In the past, i think a lot of president s or some president s rather have gotten into very detailed specifics. I think youre going to see him try to talk about policies in a broad sense of where he wants to take this country and where what defining success is, what that goal means. But it is still a work in progress and hopefully towards the end of the week. Is the tone optimistic . I think he is this is an opportunity for him to lay out a very positive vision for the nation. And to really let america know what where we can go and how we can get there and the potential we have as a nation. Piggybacking on that and then another question. I know the past president s including president obama immediately hit the road after i know this isnt a state of the union, but Something Like a state of the union address, to sell policies. You say it is more of a vision. Does he anticipate doing that . I think there will be some travel. I dont want to thats evolving now. There is a lot of things that were trying to look at and i think as we look at the speech, and some of the objectives and goals and vision that he is sharing, talk to him about potential places to go to highlight that, but i think youre going to see, you know, a fair amount of visits in the next few weeks to highlight some of the places he wants to take it. The other thing was, i have seen some members of Congress Last week, there is the legislative meeting today, it feels as if we havent seen as many executive actions executive orders. We have the one vetting one coming up this week. Are we in a different phase now that hes sort of done the executive orders that he wants to do and were going to we have several in the pipeline and part of it is just these days, you know, are focused with these meetings and getting things done and trying to plan ahead and so as we see fit and as they the implementation process of a lot of these goes through the process, well have plenty more. There is more legislative emphasis now. It is both. Part of this is we work through congress. These are big things, right. Were talking about fundamental tax reform. Something that hasnt happened in our nation since 1986. The repeal and replacement of obamacare, which, you know, was mammoth. And i think part of this is that those things take time. Hes got a joint address on tuesday. There is a lot of things that are happening. And therefore we need to kind of make sure that we appropriately use the schedule. But i can assure you that if youve missed executive orders, youre going to see a bunch i want to make sure you know. Jonathan carl. I want to ask you about the town halls, obamacare. The president referred to socalled angry crowds at these town halls. Is this suggesting this is manufactured anger, that this is not real anger and real concern . Thanks, i think there is a hybrid there. I think some people are clearly upset. There is a bit of professional protester manufactured base in there. There are people that are upset. But i think that when you look at some of these districts and some of these things, it is not a representation of a members district. Or an incident. It is a loud group, small group of people disrupting something in many cases for media attention. No offense. It is just i think thats that necessarily, just because theyre loud doesnt necessarily mean there are many. And i think in a lot of cases thats what youre seeing. Does the president doubt there is real anger and i just said that. Beyond a few loud agitators, there is real concern that people may lose their but they werent. Thats a false narrative. And i dont the president has been very clear, look, you have to look at what our Health Care System is right now. In so many counties around our nation, we have gone down to one provider. Thats not choice. Thats not access. And then theyre going in a lot of cases and saying were not taking medicaid, not taking tricare, not taking the insurance, the doctor you used to have isnt participating anymore. And by the way, states like arizona, over 100 increase in premiums. 112 i think was the number there. Many states it is double digit. I think that the idea that we have to remember is that the American People got sold the Affordable Care act. It is neither affordable or accessible. Theyre losing their coverage. And premiums are spiking. And so if people are truly worried about losing their coverage, they should be applauding the president s action for wanting to make sure we put a system in place that does what they were supposed to have been promised a while back. And i think thats what i think is missing from this dialogue. Ive seen some folks, protesting some of these things, saying i lost im on obamacare, ill lose my thing and when they were asked how old they were, im 71, 72, theyre not on obamacare, theyre on medicaid. You think theyre making it up . I dont think theyre making it up what im getting at is i think there is a lot of blurring of the facts. The reality is that some people arent on obamacare, theyre on an employer based system, on medicaid, receiving benefits through medicare because of their age. So theyre nothing they have no problems. But i think in other cases, people end up being told that the plan theyre on is unsustainable, that these carriers throughout the country, you just look at them over and over again, pulling out of the exchanges, the reality is that they are losing their health care. But theyre losing it under obamacare because the exchanges are collapsing on themselves, carriers are pulling out, premiums are going up and access is going down. So the president s plan is going to do exactly what they were promised eight years ago and didnt get. So for those who are worried, the answer is help is on the way. What is the plan. So, first, as the president made clear, well have that out in the next couple of weeks, hes working on it. The goal, this got jammed through a democratic congress. And then they told us you could read it after we get it passed. So taking our time, getting this right to achieve the goals that we set forth is probably the right thing to do considering the experience that we had the last time. Two questions for you, the issue of transgender bathrooms wasnt one we heard from the president a lot about during the campaign. He said at one point, Caitlyn Jenner could use whatever bathroom she wanted to at trump tower. Why is this a priority for the administration 40 days out . It isnt a priority. It is is not a priority. There is a case pending in the Supreme Court in which we have to decide whether or not to continue to issue guidance to the court. It is not it is dictated by that. The Obama Administration had issued joint guidance from the department of education, the department of justice. We now have to decide whether or not this administration wants to continue that track that they were on. It is plain and simple. If we dont, but there are problems both in the legal and process way in which that guidance was issued. And so it is incumbent upon us to actually follow the law. And to recognize the title nine never talked about this, enacted in 1972. No discussion of this back then. To assume certain elements of the law were thought of back then with respect to this would be completely preposterous. To be clear, secretary devos is on board with this in. Yes, 100 . Thank you. Second question is on mexico. There have been tensions, is this a cleanup job for the secretary of state . No, i think president nieto and President Trump spoke again. The Foreign Ministers had several contact with our staff. I would argue that we have a very healthy and robust relationship with the Mexican Government and officials and i think they would echo the same sentiment. President nieto has echoed that as well. I think there is an unbelievable and robust dialogue between our two nations. Margaret. Thank you. On syria, the general indicated today the u. S. Needs to take a larger share of the burden and perhaps send troops to syria. Has the president discussed this with his National Security team . I would argue that i think youve seen the president talk about safe harbors in syria with several foreign leaders who have shared his safe havens. And that is an area that at the top of the president s Foreign Policy agenda that he continued to talk to leaders especially in the middle east about trying to make sure that we deal with that issue and that area right now. But im not going to get ahead of the dod on this and when they have recommendations, theyll make them forward to us. Has he talked look, i will if i have an update, ill give it to you tomorrow again. President trump and the canadian Prime Minister wants the u. S. And Canada Council for advancement of women wh entrepreneurs, what is the status of that . I think staff is beginning to implement the president s agenda. It occurred six, seven days ago and so it is starting to work through the process and will have further updates as it guess forward. I know he continues to be in touch with Prime Minister trud o trudeau and our staff continues to work on the back end to make this happen. Does the white house not have confidence in its cabinet secretaries if it is looking over its shoulders . Does the president not trust his cabinet secretary and administrators, staff to find people who agree with the president s agenda . No, not at all. There is a big difference. The president named these folks because theyre an unbelievably qualified individuals. Part of it is youre staffing major departments. We have somewhere in the area of 5,000 positions to fill. When youre filtering through a good number of people, i dont even think the secretaries at some degree depending on the department and how they have the full background on these people. There are areas of that are of key priority to the president that he campaigned on. When he wants to make sure certain of those individuals who are going to be overseeing key priorities that he promised the American People, have somebody who is not only qualified, but agrees with and shares the president s vision to fix whatever problem that was or fulfill whatever vision that he articulated. But i think that it would almost be malpractice not to do that, to allow people to fill a job, a political appointee job, who dont share the vision and the agenda of the president of the United States would almost be it would be silly on its face to suggest this. I dont think there is any administration in past history that would literally willingly take on somebody who was adamantly opposed or spoke out specifically against what the president was seeking to do and then have them fulfill a job to carry out that mission. It just doesnt seem as though it makes any sense. Coming up on a week away from the deadline the president ordered for his review of the counterisis strategy. What is the status of that review, the president tweeted over the weekend he was meeting with generals. Does that regard that review . I think general dumbford and secretary mattis have begun providing him updates with that. I know the new National Security adviser is getting brought into that process and continuing to do updates. Well have further updates. The team has been work on it. As far as the second executive order is concerned, what is the white house doing differently in terms of consu consulting with various departments to make sure the second executive order has his constitutional i think we have been very clear about understanding what the court said. And trying to tailor that specifically while achieving the same goals of keeping america safe and ensuring the people dont come into this country that seek to do us harm. Thats number one. Number two, we continue in that order is basically completed. I think what were now doing is working with the various agencies and departments to make sure that the implementation of that is done in an extremely smooth way. So we have looked at it from both a process standpoint as well as a legal standpoint, and i think it is going to it is achieving the goals. I would also mention that on the merits, we can see i believe the first order did just that. It was written in a way and i think well continue to prevail on that. Because it is written in a way that is clear and consistent with u. S. Code and the authority that the president has to protect the nation. Katie. As it relates to the second executive order, it is almost likely to face a legal challenge. Sure. Are you concerned that the president s prior remarks as it relates to the judiciary is going to allow him to get a fair hearing by the Judicial Branch as it relates to the second yeah, absolutely. I think that because i think that you have seen it happen in the massachusetts case, at the end of the day, you look at the law, and what the order does, and i think, again, you may have in the case of the ninth circuit, we continue to disagree with that. I just i think the president s pointed out, you dont have to be that high up in grade school to recognize what the code says what the authority that is granted to him, and then what the order does. I think the things that they brought out in that order, i mean, one of the cases suggested there have been no people that entered within the seven countries and quick cursory look found upwards to 20 people that had come in. So many of the basis for which they decided the case on doesnt actually pass muster. I think any other judge or judges that look at that order or the one that will be put forward will come to the same conclusion. Katie. I want to ask about the president s budget priorities. What specifically is the president increasing spending on, where is he decreasing spending, and how much money specifically is he asking for the 5,000 new asked for. Im going to refer you back to a marters question. Im not going to get ahead of director mulvaney. Look, he just had a meeting where hes continued to work out, theyre providing him back and forth. Thats the idea of crafting this budget and until we put it out on paper, i dont want to get ahead of sean. Yeah. Thank you very much. Back to mexico, officials said this morning theyre not going to accept the directives put out by the white house yesterday. They may not take anyone that is not a mexican immigrant. What are you going to do regarding i think secretary tillerson and secretary kelly will have a great discussion down there and to walk through the implementation of the executive order. But i feel very confident that any country who has a citizen that comes into the country and we send back well make sure they comply with this. Two questions about immigration. One, the president s talked a number of times about millions of Illegal Immigrants casting votes during the election in his mind. You promised to look into that. It seems like there was no mention of that in any of the directive, look for these immigrants. Does the president still believe he mentioned the Vice President pence will lead a task force on this. Where do we stand on that . He named the task force. And the Vice President is starting to gather names and individuals to be part of it. On the other question i had about daca program, yesterday, you suggested, well, we have to go after hardened criminals. Major National Security threats first. During the campaign, the president talked about daca as being an unconstitutional executive amnesty. Does he still think it was an unconstitutional use of president obamas powers and if so i think, like i said this yesterday, the president is very clear about his priorities with respect to immigration. Yesterday was focused on going after people who are concerned, Public Safety concern or and well walk through this we will get back to you on that. Right now the focus is on keeping the country safe and making sure we walk through. Shane . I want to ask about immigration as well. Given all the push on deporting Illegal Immigrants, i wanted to see if this white house and President Trump have any interest in curtailing Legal ImmigrationGoing Forward . We have to look at this from a priority level. Right now, there is millions of people in this country that are in the country illegally. I think the focus continues to be that 800 or 900,000 already had an order to have them removed and get them processed through in a way that continues to keep america safe. Legal immigration, obviously, is a completely separate subject. And that includes visa reform and all that other stuff. The president talked about that. Hes talked about it with Business Leaders, h1b visas, et cetera. There is a prioritization of how we deal with immigration, both illegal and legal and well have more on that later. I got to run. Thank you, guys, very much. See you tomorrow. Take care. Tonight at 8 00, Milwaukee County sheriff and donald trump supporter david clark at this years annual Constitution Coalition dinner. The event held in st. Louis also featured activist peggy hub bard, who gained notoriety in 2015 after posting a video on facebook criticizing the black lives matter movement. Not acknowledging the underlying myth of the black lives matter movement, and the false narrative of Police Involved killings is counterproductive to the common good of this great republic. A feeding frenzy of race provocateurs, selfserving prominent politicians at the highest level of state and national government, anarchists and dozens of other groups sensing an opportunity to exploit a series of tragedies have seized upon this moment to advance their own selfish agendas. Those who oppose the rule of law are causing great damage to the profession of policing that has been my sole lifes work. Theyre trying to undermine the trust that primarily minority and disadvantaged residents need to have in their communitys finest. I have sensed those at the highest level of government had created a Tipping Point within the psyche of our officers in which many are beginning to wonder if this honorable work is even worth it anymore. See this event tonight at 8 00 p. M. Eastern on cspan. And here on cspan3, American History tv in primetime, featuring lectures from historically black colleges and universities. At 8 00, professor dale green talks about the institutional history and alumni of morgan State University. Thats followed by Bowie State University professor tamara brown on the american concept of race, and how that factored into the Supreme Courts 1896 plessy v. Ferguson decision. And just after 10 00, coppin State University history professor Roger Davidson discusses emancipation, and u. S. Colored troops during the civil war. Thats all tonight beginning at 8 00 p. M. Eastern here on cspan3. Watch cspan as President Donald Trump delivers had his first address to a joint session of congress. This congress is going to be the busiest congress we have had in decades. Live tuesday, february 28th, at 9 00 p. M. Eastern, on cspan, and cspan. Org. And listen live on the free cspan radio app. Now, the vice chiefs of the army, navy, air force and marine corps discuss the current readiness of their Respective Service branches. They dressed a fiscal constraints imposed by sequestration. This heari