White House press briefing

Thanks, Mr. Vice President. Today is the first White House press briefing since the departure of the great Karoline Leavitt. A key part of her legacy defining part was bringing more voices, not less, into this room and that's something our founder, Andrew Breitbart, certainly believed in. From the first briefing, she, you know, added this seat, the new media seat that I'm in today. What does the president, what do you and what does the White House plan to do to continue that legacy and to empower new media?

Are we talking to you as the vice president or the press secretary?

It's almost -- [Laughter] It's almost Labor Day. Labor Day is traditionally the real kickoff for campaign season. Midterm voters are looking for somebody to blame for high prices on things like gas, energy. Why shouldn't they blame Republicans?

And I did just want to ask you, there have been reports about this but I've not heard you talk much about it. You have lost a ton of weight lately. How much sauerkraut do you eat in day?

Thank you, Mr. -- Mr. Vice President. On July 2nd, Treasury Secretary Bessent was asked when Americans could see $3 gas again, and he said maybe by Labor Day. Things haven't worked out that way. But do you have a new timetable for Americans on when they could expect lower gas prices, and should they not expect to see $3 gas again until at least 2027?

And the Iranians say that an attack on a wedding celebration earlier this week killed several people, injured dozens of others. I know CENTCOM says it's investigating, but have you been briefed on that attack? And was the US response?

Thank you, Mr. Vice President. Do you share any of the concerns of Secretary Driscoll and several Republican lawmakers about the current state of the army, specifically about the departure of so many generals and other top officials?

Vice President, Tucker Carlson has called for the president's impeachment, and many accuse him of trying to jeopardize US Israel relations. What do you say to those who are uneasy with your close relationship with Carlson and claim that you're avoiding addressing a lot of these issues, which may be causing divisions within the GOP?

Thank you. President Trump asked on social media, when are the Iranian people going to rise up and fight? Is the administration considering either arming or giving other direct support for Iranian dissidents?

I wanted to ask you, why are you going to New York on 9/11 instead of the president? Is it because it's the 25th anniversary is there some special security concern? We know the president's been a target before.

Mr. Vice President. Thank you. A minute ago, you said that there is not a global energy crisis because the US is helping commercial ships. Given that you don't have diplomatic talks with the Iranians to make them stop shooting commercial ships, are we talking about an indefinite naval blockade? Isn't that costly and hampers US readiness elsewhere? And how will the president declare an end to the war if the US naval blockade is still in place? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Vice President. So President Trump, he posted on Truth Social, let data rain, but there's a Fox News poll with 70 percent of respondents, voters saying that they do not want a data center in their area. So how do you bridge the disconnect there before the midterms in about two months? And also, second part of the question, if Democrats do take control of Congress, then do we lose the AI race to China?

Thank you, Mr. Vice President. You're speaking Wednesday night at the mid-term convention in Dallas. Several Republican candidates in close Congressional races have said they don't plan to attend the convention, or they're being noncommittal about attending. Why do you think some of them are making that decision? And do you have any concern about there being absences from some of the battleground mid-term Republican candidates?

Yeah. He was an airman who was killed in the plane that went down over Western Iran.

Yeah, she's got three young children. Secondly, in terms of the war and the timeline, given this administration has put timelines out there before, what you just said about no negotiations happening with Iran, will this war be over by the time of the midterm elections?

But, so it's up to the Iranians when this war ends?

Thank you, Mr. Vice President. James Carville famously said that, when he dies, he wants to be reincarnated as the bond market, because you can intimidate everybody. We've seen higher bond yields throughout the year this year, and I'm wondering if you can tell us how the US government thinks about the bond market right now in terms of its impact on US ability to borrow to finance our massive deficits, and also on its impact on your decision making about the Iraq war and also American spending.

Yes, sir. Mr. Vice President, obviously President Trump has let his frustrations show at times recently with Senate Majority Leader John Thune. You worked with John Thune as -- when you were a senator. There will be leadership elections after the midterm elections in the Senate. Today will you endorse John Thune to be the GOP leader in the new Congress?

Who say their health concerns have been suppressed. Would you consider an emergency declaration to give those people the federal help that they need while that investigation that you called for plays out?

How concerned should Americans be about these cyber attacks by Iranian hackers?

Thank you. Sir, thank you. Two questions, one foreign, one domestic. First, since this economic D-Day announcement pertaining to Iran, has President Trump spoken directly to President Xi asking him to stop Chinese banks from lending financial services to Tehran?

Ok. Thank you, sir. And then I know you don't want to talk about your own potential 2028 prospects, but Senator Ted Cruz and your good friend, Secretary Hegseth, apparently have been privately, and publicly in the case of Senator Cruz, positioning for 2028. Could you see yourself supporting either one of them for a presidential campaign?

Thank you, Mr. Vice President. Can you tell me, Maria Bartiromo just left Fox News, is she going to be the next White House press secretary?

Well, you know, going forward, how confident are you that it will remain at nine?

Thank you, Mr. Vice President. You mentioned something very interesting earlier. You said you wanted to -- the president was focused on creating a nation of builders. The ISM manufacturing PMI showed that manufacturing activity in the US expanded for eight consecutive months. When you've hit the trail, particularly in the Rust Belt, have you noticed the trickle down effect of the tax cuts and the trade policy of the president having a positive effect on US manufacturing? And does that make ideas like the Foundry School, which you were talking about at the Institute of Peace, that much more important?

Thank you very much. Thank you very much, Mr. Vice President. I want to ask you about the announcement made by Secretary Bessent back on August the 24th, the economic outcast operation. Since that time, besides the UAE, has any other country joined in isolating Iran in that way? And secondly, how can that operation be successful if you don't have China coming on board and isolating Iran?

On the first one, were you or the president involved in the deportation of Milo Yiannopoulos? And when did you learn about that activity? And then on the second one, could you give us your elevator pitch for why Americans should choose between -- why Americans should choose Republicans over Democrats in the midterm elections?