Announced the final easement for the Dakota Access pipeline. With this completed, the president and the president working to reduce further unnecessary delays, this infrastructure be project can finally continue to move forward. The construction of the Dakota Access pipeline was one of the president s campaign promises, and the subject of one of his First Executive orders. The administration is pleased that the american, that americans will be going to work building this pipeline and building it with American Steel whenever possible. Now looking to the to p upcoming schedule, tomorrow the president will welcome Prime Minister abe of japan, they will hold a press conference at 1 p. M. In the east room, they do bepart washington around 3 00 tomorrow afternoon for mar rah maralago. As we recently announced just as early as today, Prime Minister trudeau of canada will visit the white house on monday. The president looks forward to a constructive conversation and strengthening the deep relationship that exists between the United States and canada. The president will also host Prime Minister netanyahu of to israel next wednesday. Well have further guidance on the press availability potentials for either one of those. One last thing before i take your questions, amid surging levels of ceo confidence and in the wake of incredible Job Announcement made by the white house yesterday by intel, theres also new numbers released by the department of labor showing unemployment claims are at near historic lows. The president knows better than anyone what Business Needs to create jobs, and the market is responding to his policy improvements. Or this administration will continue to roll back burdensome regulations and lower the overall tax burden on americans so they can hire even more people and create even more innovative projects. With that, ill take your questions. Caitlin collins. Thank you. Hundreds of [inaudible] the Consumer Financial protection bureaucrat make more than members of congress. Forty of them make more than Vice President mike pence. Does the president have plans to revamp this agency x if so, does and if so, does he feel he should be able to fire the head of the agency at his will . Ive addressed this before, but we have no updates right now on the head of cbpb, if we do, ill let you know. With respect to the first part of that question, i think one of the things that your going to continue to see from this president is a respect for taxpayers dollars, the money they spend and how theyre spent. We are going to continue to review all aspects of government. I i think youll see further announcements as far as how hes going to look at how hes going to approach and innovate and update government. The bottom line is that we should be paying people a fair wage for their service to this country, but that we should be doing it in the most effective and efficient manner, and i think thats what the president has already shown towards his commitment towards helping reduce the cost of several programs through the government and bringing back jobs. But theres going to be a respect for taxpayers in this administration so that whether its salaries or actual positions or programs, hes going to have a very, very tough look at how were operating government, how many positions theyre in, what people are getting paid. But the president understands that most americans are out there working night and day trying to get by and that washington truly needs to respect the money that they spend, and that we should be doing it in a way that shows with a level of respect in terms of how many people were hiring, what theyre paid, what programs were looking at, whether or not that programs duplicative. Its not just about one department or agency, its really about looking at how government as a whole operates. John. Sean, questions have been raised after Kellyanne Conway did an interview, i believe it was with fox news this morning, where she appeared to promote the products of ivanka trump. Do you believe that she crossed an ethical line . Kellyanne has been counseled, and thats all were going to go with. Shes been counseled on that subject, and thats, thats it. I ask a question, reuters has a story out that includes partial transcript of the president s call with vladimir putin. Right. In which he appears to express doubts about the new start treaty. Does he, indeed, have doubts about the treaty, would he like to see the president s conversation with president putin is a private call between the two of them, and im going to leave it at that. We put a readout on the call, and we have nothing further beyond that. John [inaudible] thank you, sean. One question today. Wow. [laughter] on february 2nd vladimir [inaudible] s who is a well known filmmaker in russia and was a close associate of the late dissident found himself in critical condition. His wife has since said she believes this is poisoning very much like the conditions that almost took his life two years ago. And does the administration have any comment about that . Or the frustration of to opponent of president putin to get on the ballot as a candidate . I think our state department is aware of the situation, were monitoring it. Ill leave it at that. Yeah. Blake. Sean, the president said today in the airlines representatives meeting that he hopes to have an announcement within the next two or three weeks about lowering the burden of taxes for businesses. Right. At the super bowl interview, he was asked can americans expect a tax break in 2017, and he said, i think so, yes, i would like to say yes. Sounds hike hes more confident for the businesses than individual tax breaks for americans. Is the business component at this point ahead of the individual its a comprehensive yeah. Thanks for asking. I think were looking at in the next few weeks rolling out the outline of a comprehensive tax plan that well be working with congress on that will address both the business side of the tax ledger as well as the individual rates. But its going to be a comprehensive plan, something we havent seen since 1986. , but when you look at the segway, weve got two opportunities for reconciliation this year, one is using the fy17 budget which you can easily get Obamacare Repealed and replaced and then use the fy18 to utilize the second reconciliation at reform. We recognize the need, its been since 1986 that Something Like this, of this scale and magnitude,s has happened. Middle class americans need tax relief, the president recognizes it, and thats going to be part of it. But we also recognize and you saw that in all of these business meetings, whether its inversions or other means of shut upping jobs overseas, the profits kept over there, we need fundamental, comprehensive tax reform that addresses both sides of that income stream. If this is going to be a mix between what he had put out there on the campaign and what House Republicans have put out there before, because theres some similarities but, clearly, some differences im just going to say youre going to have to wait a couple of weeks before we put out that outline. But i can tell you its something thats going to spur economic growth, its going to recognize the need to give so many working americans the relief that they need. But more importantly, i think part of the issue that we continue to see over and over again with businesses is that were facing competition from abroad because of our tax code. It favors companies from not wanting to stay, and the president recognizes that. And he wants to create a tax climate that not only keeps jobs here, but makes it, incentivizes companies to want to come here, to grow here, to create jobs here, to bring their profits back here. So i think i dont want to get any further ahead of it, but i will tell you that it is going to be the first time that this nations seen a full, comprehensive tax reform in a long, long time. Yeah. Yeah. The president this morning tweeted that our country is, quote bogged down in conflict all over the place. Where are we bogged down . I think theres several prices that weve been what did he mean by that . If you look at isis in particular and the hot spots around the country, the places that we have to monitor, theres a lot of countries through the middle east in particular, Northern Africa that we are having to address and deal with and monitor because of the threat of radical islamic terrorism. Theres no question that the spread of it has gone in the last, you know, eight years has proliferated. And i think that the resources we have to spend, this isnt a traditional war. We are just looking at the other, you know, enemy with the uniform and saying heres the country were fighting. The proliferation of isis throughout this country has made it so that we have to focus a lot more, in a lot more places and expend a lot more resources because its more of a disparate approach that we have to employ as opposed to having one country that youre facing at one time. Bogged down suggests i understand. I just answered the question. I understand. Yes. Thank you, sean. Yeah. [inaudible] [inaudible] thank you. Regarding the very nice letter that President Trump sent to president xi jinping last night, im curious about the timing and also later President Trump states hes looking forward to the event of constructive relationship with china. So could you elaborate the importance of a bilateral relationship to the u. S. . Well, i think its obviously important to us, and the president understands that. I think hes spoken fairly often about china, and he understands both the national and economic interests that we have, the desire for our companies to access Chinese Market but also the National Security interests that we have. And so he, obviously, wants to do what he can to have a fruitful and constructive relationship with china. And he looks forward to develop toking that as we go developing that as we go forward. Sarah . The top u. S. Commander in afghanistan said today that they could use a few thousand more troops in afghanistan to help the Coalition Efforts there. Going off mikes question if were trying to get out of conflicts like that, does the Administration Plan to send those Additional Forces to afghanistan . I think the president will heed the advice of the generals and secretary mattis. That conversation has yet to happen, and if we have any further announcements but i think thats right now a department of defense issue that we can, you should just raise with them. Hally. Sean, two questions, first, on the comment from judge gorsuch that have been reported out. Yeah. I. Just have a twoparter. Does the president still stand by his nomination . Absolutely. Given, of course that was number one . No, no [laughter] given where, given judge gorsuchs position on the president s attitude towards the judiciary and given that the president has praised neil gorsuch for his intellect and integrity, does the president have any regrets about the comments hes made about federal judges . I think the president s comments no, he has no regrets, but hes very proud of the selection hes made. Hes going to make a great sr. Do. About the comment, for example, about [inaudible] i understand that. Yes, he has no regrets. Thank you. On immigration [inaudible] [inaudible conversations] when you started, april ryan. Why you calling me out . [laughter] i know the white house has been following the situation of guadalupe pay [inaudible] does the president believe she should have been deported im going to refer you back to i. C. E. On that. Thats an i. C. E. Matter you have no comment . The issues developing in arizona right now, and i would refer you to i. C. E. [inaudible] id refer you back to i. C. E. In that lunch meeting the president said that, you know, he basically said senator blumenthals comments were taken out of context well, no, judge gorsuchs comments his relaying of judge gorsuchs comments were taken out of context. Senator ayotte, who is working with the white house to help shepherd judge judge gorsuch released a statement saying disheartening and demoralizing was the president aware of that . She was in that meeting. This is what senator ayotte said. Judge gorsuch made it clear in all of his discussions that he could not comment on specific cases and that judicial ethics prevented him from commenting on political matters. He has emphasized the importance of an independent judiciary, and while he made clear he was not referencing any specific case, he finds any criticism of a judges integrity disheartening and demoralizing. Theres a big difference between commenting on the specific comments that have been made in a tweet and his general philosophy about the judiciary and his respect for his fellow judge ares. Thats but, and i think the senators comments were very clear about how those are two distinct issues. Right. And the judges right. Were also in that context of president s attacks on the judiciary which is what the senators you just read out was also talking about there. Right, okay. So senator ayotte was sitting right across from him when he said those comments werent accurately no. The way senator blumenthal characterized them, he was talking about the tweets and saying he was disheartened. Thats not what the judge said. He was making two complete, distinct arguments about how he views the comments that he should not be commenting on a political matter or on specific things. But as a whole, he doesnt like attacks in general on the judiciary. It was a very distinct argument that he was making. And i think that thats where i think weve got to be clear, and thats what senator ayotte was saying this morning. Very, very different. Take that onboard . Is he what . Is he taking that onboard . He said he doesnt regret his past attacks on the judiciary. Right. But now you have these con firmed remarks which you were saying was exactly what the judge was talking about. Again, i think its important to understand the judge was very clear that he was not commenting on any specific matter. Right . And then he was asked about his general philosophy. So you cant then take that, equate it back to the specific. He literally went out of his way to say im not commenting on a specific instance. So to take what he said about a generalization and apply it to a specific is exactly what he was intending not to do. But in other words, the president will continue to speak like that. Of course he will. The president s going to speak his mind. It goes back to Thomas Jefferson that president s have commented on judicial nominees. I mean, the idea of one branch talking about or commenting on another branch is as old as our republic. So i dont know why and i find it interesting when president obama criticized the Supreme Court for its Citizens United comments in the state of the union, there wasnt a similar concern about that. There is, the idea that well [inaudible] personal attack. I get it, but at some point it seems there is clearly a double standard when this is applied. When president obama did it, there was no concern from this Briefing Room. When he does it, its, you know, a opportunity of outrage. So with all due respect, i think the president s made very clear he was concerned about how that executive order in particular, which is what were talking about, was applied. And i think weve addressed it from this Briefing Room over and over and over again that the u. S. Code gives the president very Clear Authority to make this happen. Cecilia. I want to make sure i understand what youre saying. Are you saying demoralizing and disheartening was not specifically what the president i think the judge literally made it very clear in his [inaudible] came out and said they corroborated. I understand that. Senator ayotte, who was there, made it very clear he was commenting in general about attacks on the judiciary. That was it, plain and simple. Three other senates i understand it, cecilia, i can tell you what senator ayotte whos been with him on every single thing was very clear about that. Theres no so i understand that, and that is, she has made it very clear over and over again. Yeah. Sean [inaudible conversations] sean, your answer about the context doesnt make sense when you think about what senator ben sass said this morning on t. He said he asked judge gorsuch specifically about the president s socalled judge tweet, and this is like the that ive asked and answered no, but this is a different context. This is directly i thawns, and ive said exactly what senator ayotte said. I understand, thank you. Sean, im going to continue on this line despite what you [inaudible] why isnt the white house, why isnt the president concerned about the influence or the appearance of the influence on the independent judiciary . Why isnt he he is, i mean, he is free to speak his mind. Where has this outrage been for the last hundred years . [inaudible] the Obama Administration or any previous administration, im talking about this president and this white house. I understand. Part of the reason the president got elected is because he speaks his mind, he doesnt hold it back, hes authentic, and hes not going to sit back, i think, when he feels very passionate about something as much as the executive order. He was doing it to make sure americans were safe. The order, the u. S. Code is Crystal Clear on this. I think ive read it for three days in a row, and it cant be any clearer how much authority it gives the president. Hes concerned hes doing what he can to keep this country safe, and theres been a lot of activity to stand in the way. So im not sure how many more times i can read the code to you, but 8 u. S. Code 1182 you and me talking about it is not how the judicial process works thank you. Youve asked the question eight times. One more i understand, thank you. Go ahead. Go ahead. Sean, also made from Kellyanne Conway let him go. Earlier from this week, you said this is in context of the nordstroms