November 21, 2025 • 14 mins
In this episode, Jon Decker outlines President Trump’s upcoming meeting with New York City Mayor-elect Zohan Mamdani—a notable engagement given their political differences. Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt defends the President’s recent posts calling for accountability for Democratic lawmakers who urged military personnel to ignore illegal orders, stressing the critical role of the chain of command. The briefing also revisits Trump’s candid exchange with a reporter aboard Air Force One, underscoring his blunt communication style and emphasis on transparency.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:01):
Welcome to the White House Briefing Room for Friday, November
twenty First, I'm John Decker. President Trump said to meet
in the Oval Office with the incoming mayor of New
York City.
Speaker 2 (00:14):
Speaks volumes that tomorrow we have a communist coming to
the White House, because that's who the Democrat Party elected
as the mayor of the largest city in the country.
Speaker 1 (00:23):
The White House defends the president's social media post calling
for the arrest of Democratic lawmakers who called for members
of the military to disobey illegal orders.
Speaker 2 (00:36):
Let's be clear about what the President is responding to,
because many in this room want to talk about the
president's response, but not what brought the President to responding
in this way.
Speaker 1 (00:47):
And the White House defends a very pointed remark by
the President aimed at a White House reporter. For the
first time. On Friday, President Trump will meet with New
York City Mayor elect z or on mam Dami. And
this meeting in the Oval Office comes just weeks after
Mamdami surprised many political watchers by winning the New York
(01:10):
City mayor's race. Mandami is a Democratic socialist, that's how
he describes himself, and his election was opposed by President Trump.
In fact, just days before the New York City election
earlier this month, the President urged his former hometown's voters
to back Mandami's opponent, former New York Governor Andrew Cuomo,
(01:34):
and he has repeatedly attacked mam Dami in public statements,
the President writing on truth social communist mayor of New
York City, Zoran Kwami Mandami, that's the nickname that the
President has given. Mam Dami has asked for a meeting.
We have agreed that this meeting will take place at
the Oval Office on Friday, November twenty first, in the
(01:58):
briefing room on Thursday, White House Press Secretary Caroline Levitt
says the meeting, which will take place Friday afternoon in
the Oval Office shows the President's magnanimous nature.
Speaker 2 (02:11):
Speaks to the fact that President Trump is willing to
meet with anyone and talk to anyone and to try
to do what's right on behalf of the American people,
whether they live in blue states or red states, or
blue cities in a city that's becoming much more left
than I think this President ever anticipated in his many
years of living in New York himself.
Speaker 1 (02:32):
Now, Levitt would not preview what will be discussed from
the White House point of view with the incoming mayor
of New York City. But on Monday, mom Dami told
reporters he reached out to the White House to set
up this meeting with the President to discuss affordability, which
was a central tenet of his mayoral campaign. Said last
(02:54):
week on MS NOW that he plans to remind the
President of his campaign pledged to lower costs. He said,
I just want to speak plainly to the President about
what it means to actually stand up for New Yorkers
and the way in which New Yorkers are struggling to
afford in this city. That meeting that the President will
(03:16):
have with the incoming mayor of New York City right
now is a closed press event, but I would expect
that it would certainly open up before that meeting takes
place at three o'clock on Friday afternoon. Also on Thursday,
a lot of attention to a social media post by
the President that got a lot of attention at the
(03:39):
White House Press briefing on Thursday. The President on Thursday
called for the arrest of Democratic lawmakers who publicly in
a video exhorted members of the US military and intelligence
communities to disobey any orders that they perceive to be illegal.
(04:01):
The President labeled that video and that admonition coming from
those duly elected lawmakers seditious behavior at the highest level.
The President, writing on truth social each one of these
traders to our country should be arrested and put on trial.
He later added that the behavior was punishable by death,
(04:25):
and then he reshared a social media post proclaiming hang them.
George Washington would now. Each of those threats by the
President came in response to a recently released video. It
was released on Tuesday. It was put together by six
members of Congress with military or intelligence experience. Senator Mark
(04:48):
Kelly of Arizona. He's a Navy veteran. Chris Deluzio he
also served in the Navy. He's a Congressman from Pennsylvania.
Also on that video, Freshman Senator from Michigan, Senator Alissa Slockin,
She's a former CIA analyst. Congresswoman Maggie Goodlander of New
Hampshire a former Navy reservist. Chrissy Hulihan from Pennsylvania. She's
(05:14):
a former Air Force officer. And Jason Crowe, a congressman
from Colorado who formerly was an army ranger. In that video,
each of those members of Congress caution that threats to
our constitution aren't just coming from abroad, but from right
here at home, and Senator Mark Kelly says our laws
(05:35):
are clear, you can refuse illegal orders, and Delusio ads
you must refuse illegal orders. The video itself from those
Democratic lawmakers was only ninety seconds long, but the focus
on the President's response to that video certainly ate up
a lot more time at the White House briefing than
(05:58):
ninety seconds. The White House briefing on Thursday, white House
Press Secretary Caroline Levitt gave her take on the lawmaker's
video that has drawn the president's hire.
Speaker 2 (06:10):
You have sitting members of the United States Congress who
conspired together to orchestrate a video message to members of
the United States military, to active duty service members, to
members of the National Security apparatus, encouraging them to defy
the president's lawful orders.
Speaker 1 (06:31):
In explaining the president's social media post, Levitt said the
message from those Democratic lawmakers is disruptive. She says to
the US military.
Speaker 2 (06:41):
The sanctity of our military rests on the chain of command.
And if that chain of command is broken, it can
lead to people getting killed, it can lead to chaos.
And that's what these members of Congress, who swore an
oath to abide by the Constitution, are essentially encouraging. We
have one point three three active duty service members in
(07:02):
this country, and if they hear this radical message from
sitting members of Congress, that could inspire chaos, and it
could incite violence, and it certainly could disrupt the chain
of command.
Speaker 1 (07:12):
Neill Levitt explained in her response to several questions at
the White House briefing why the message coming from those
Democratic lawmakers is so problematic.
Speaker 2 (07:24):
These three members of Congress, I will also add, knew
exactly what they were doing. You look at Alyssa Slotkins.
She's a former member of the CIA. Mark Kelly was
a captain in the US Navy. Maggie Goodlander was a
naval officer, and notably she was also she is also
the wife of Joe Biden's National security former advisor, Jake Sullivan.
And so these members knew what they were doing. They
(07:46):
were leading into their credentials as former members of our military,
as veterans, as former members of the National Security apparatus
to signal to people serving under this commander in Chief,
Donald Trump, that you can defy him and you can
betray your oath of office.
Speaker 1 (08:02):
And following up on the president's social media post from Thursday,
White House Press Secretary Caroline Levitt in the White House
Briefing Room said there could perhaps be repercussions for the
lawmaker's message.
Speaker 2 (08:15):
And it perhaps is punishable by law. I'm not a lawyer.
Speaker 1 (08:18):
I'll leave that to the.
Speaker 2 (08:19):
Department of Justice, in the Department of Wartend. Now.
Speaker 1 (08:21):
There was a response from the Department of Justice on Wednesday,
and a Fox News interview, Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche
said that the DOJ is reviewing the video and that
it's creators, those democratic lawmakers, in his words, should all
be held to account. Blanche is the DOJ's second highest
(08:43):
ranking official, and he said in that interview, I think
those congressmen should be required to answer questions about why
they did what they did. Meanwhile, on Wednesday, Tim Parleteur,
he's a legal advisor to Defense se sor Charry Pete Hegseith,
he posted a video in which he said that service
(09:05):
members could be court martialed if they refused to follow
orders that were found to be legal, and Levitt in
the briefing room on Thursday, said, the President wants to
see those lawmakers held accountable.
Speaker 2 (09:19):
Why aren't you talking about what these members of Congress
are doing to encourage it in cite violence. They are
literally saying to one point three million active duty service
members not to defy the chain of command, not to
follow lawful orders, every.
Speaker 1 (09:34):
Single an illegal order, which because they are.
Speaker 2 (09:37):
But they're they're suggesting, Nancy that the President has given
illegal orders, which he has not. Every single order that
is given to this United States Military by this Commander
in chief and through this command chain of command, through
the Secretary of War is lawful. And the courts have
proven that this administration has an unparalleled record at the
Supreme Court because we are following the laws. We don't
(10:00):
defy court orders. We do things by the books. And
to suggest and encourage that active duty service members defy
the chain of command is a very dangerous thing for
sitting members of Congress to do, and they should be
held accountable, and that's what the President wants to doe.
Speaker 1 (10:15):
Now this back and forth continues. House Democratic leaders issued
a joint statement on Thursday, condemning the president's comments, and
in their statement they express concern for the safety of
those Democratic lawmakers. The statement reads, Donald Trump must immediately
delete these unhinged social media posts and recant his violent
(10:39):
rhetoric before he gets someone killed. The statement added that
the Democratic leaders had reached out to the US Capitol
Police to discuss safety precautions inside the US Capitol. Now
it's not exactly clear from the Democratic lawmakers which particular
orders they potentially illegal. Some representatives have said they're hearing
(11:04):
from service members who are questioning the legality of strikes
that have targeted people the Trump administration alleges are trafficking
narcotics by sea. And finally, there was more attention on
Thursday to a recent remark that the President made a
board Air Force One. It was last Friday, while the
(11:26):
President was traveling down to mar A Lago for the weekend,
that the President did a gaggle in the press section
on the back of Air Force One, and during that
Q and a with reporters who were traveling with the
President down to Florida for the weekend on Air Force one,
the President responded to a reporter's question concerning Jeffrey Epstein's
(11:49):
recently revealed emails, the president said to that reporter quiet piggy.
Now on Thursday, White House Press Secretary Caroline Levitt defend
the president's decision to call that female reporter piggy on
Air Force one. What did the President mean when he
called reporter Piggy?
Speaker 2 (12:09):
Look, the President is very frank and honest with everyone
in this room. You've all seen it yourself, You've all
experienced it yourselves, and I think it's one of the
many reasons that the American people re elected this president
because of his frankness, and he calls out fake news
when he sees it. He gets frustrated with reporters when
you lie about him, when you spread fake news about
(12:31):
him and his administration. But he also is the most
transparent president in history, and he gives all of you
in this room, as you all know, unprecedented access. You
are in the Oval Office almost every day asking the
President questions. And so I think the President being frank
and open and honest to your faces rather than hiding
behind your backs, is frankly, a lot more respectful than
(12:52):
what you saw in the last administration, where you had
a president who lied to your face and then didn't
speak to you for weeks and hit upstairs and didn't
take your question. Well, I think everyone in this room should.
I appreciate the frankness and the openness that you get
from President Trump on a near daily basis.
Speaker 1 (13:07):
Now, the news organization that the reporter worked for, we're
talking about Catherine Lucy, they put out a statement saying,
our White House journalists perform a vital public service, asking
questions without fear or favor. We remain focused on reporting
issues of public interest fairly and accurately. And as for
(13:29):
the reporter, Catherine Lucy, she has not put out a
statement of any kind. This, of course, is not the
first time the president has leveled personal attacks on reporters.
It's been a defining feature of his politics, a defining
feature of his presidency, both in his first term and
also as he serves his second term in the White House.
(13:52):
And I will tell you, for any reporter that covers
the White House, that covers President Trump, you do need
to have a thick skin. There will be a moment
when you ask a tough but fair question in which
you may get pushback from President Trump. But that goes
with the territory. You have to proceed and go on.
And as for that reporter, her name's Catherine Lucy. She's fearless,
(14:15):
and I think that what we saw in that flight
down to Air Force One. She actually got in another
question during that Q and A with the President. As
for the president's schedule for Friday, just one item on
the President's schedule. It's that meeting with New York City's
Mayor elect Zora and Mom Dami. That will happen at
(14:36):
three o'clock in the afternoon in the Oval Office. That's
the White House Briefing Room for Friday, November twenty. First,
I'm John Decker. Have a great weekend.
Welcome to the White House Briefing Room for Friday, November
twenty First, I'm John Decker. President Trump said to meet
in the Oval Office with the incoming mayor of New
York City.
Speaker 2 (00:14):
Speaks volumes that tomorrow we have a communist coming to
the White House, because that's who the Democrat Party elected
as the mayor of the largest city in the country.
Speaker 1 (00:23):
The White House defends the president's social media post calling
for the arrest of Democratic lawmakers who called for members
of the military to disobey illegal orders.
Speaker 2 (00:36):
Let's be clear about what the President is responding to,
because many in this room want to talk about the
president's response, but not what brought the President to responding
in this way.
Speaker 1 (00:47):
And the White House defends a very pointed remark by
the President aimed at a White House reporter. For the
first time. On Friday, President Trump will meet with New
York City Mayor elect z or on mam Dami. And
this meeting in the Oval Office comes just weeks after
Mamdami surprised many political watchers by winning the New York
(01:10):
City mayor's race. Mandami is a Democratic socialist, that's how
he describes himself, and his election was opposed by President Trump.
In fact, just days before the New York City election
earlier this month, the President urged his former hometown's voters
to back Mandami's opponent, former New York Governor Andrew Cuomo,
(01:34):
and he has repeatedly attacked mam Dami in public statements,
the President writing on truth social communist mayor of New
York City, Zoran Kwami Mandami, that's the nickname that the
President has given. Mam Dami has asked for a meeting.
We have agreed that this meeting will take place at
the Oval Office on Friday, November twenty first, in the
(01:58):
briefing room on Thursday, White House Press Secretary Caroline Levitt
says the meeting, which will take place Friday afternoon in
the Oval Office shows the President's magnanimous nature.
Speaker 2 (02:11):
Speaks to the fact that President Trump is willing to
meet with anyone and talk to anyone and to try
to do what's right on behalf of the American people,
whether they live in blue states or red states, or
blue cities in a city that's becoming much more left
than I think this President ever anticipated in his many
years of living in New York himself.
Speaker 1 (02:32):
Now, Levitt would not preview what will be discussed from
the White House point of view with the incoming mayor
of New York City. But on Monday, mom Dami told
reporters he reached out to the White House to set
up this meeting with the President to discuss affordability, which
was a central tenet of his mayoral campaign. Said last
(02:54):
week on MS NOW that he plans to remind the
President of his campaign pledged to lower costs. He said,
I just want to speak plainly to the President about
what it means to actually stand up for New Yorkers
and the way in which New Yorkers are struggling to
afford in this city. That meeting that the President will
(03:16):
have with the incoming mayor of New York City right
now is a closed press event, but I would expect
that it would certainly open up before that meeting takes
place at three o'clock on Friday afternoon. Also on Thursday,
a lot of attention to a social media post by
the President that got a lot of attention at the
(03:39):
White House Press briefing on Thursday. The President on Thursday
called for the arrest of Democratic lawmakers who publicly in
a video exhorted members of the US military and intelligence
communities to disobey any orders that they perceive to be illegal.
(04:01):
The President labeled that video and that admonition coming from
those duly elected lawmakers seditious behavior at the highest level.
The President, writing on truth social each one of these
traders to our country should be arrested and put on trial.
He later added that the behavior was punishable by death,
(04:25):
and then he reshared a social media post proclaiming hang them.
George Washington would now. Each of those threats by the
President came in response to a recently released video. It
was released on Tuesday. It was put together by six
members of Congress with military or intelligence experience. Senator Mark
(04:48):
Kelly of Arizona. He's a Navy veteran. Chris Deluzio he
also served in the Navy. He's a Congressman from Pennsylvania.
Also on that video, Freshman Senator from Michigan, Senator Alissa Slockin,
She's a former CIA analyst. Congresswoman Maggie Goodlander of New
Hampshire a former Navy reservist. Chrissy Hulihan from Pennsylvania. She's
(05:14):
a former Air Force officer. And Jason Crowe, a congressman
from Colorado who formerly was an army ranger. In that video,
each of those members of Congress caution that threats to
our constitution aren't just coming from abroad, but from right
here at home, and Senator Mark Kelly says our laws
(05:35):
are clear, you can refuse illegal orders, and Delusio ads
you must refuse illegal orders. The video itself from those
Democratic lawmakers was only ninety seconds long, but the focus
on the President's response to that video certainly ate up
a lot more time at the White House briefing than
(05:58):
ninety seconds. The White House briefing on Thursday, white House
Press Secretary Caroline Levitt gave her take on the lawmaker's
video that has drawn the president's hire.
Speaker 2 (06:10):
You have sitting members of the United States Congress who
conspired together to orchestrate a video message to members of
the United States military, to active duty service members, to
members of the National Security apparatus, encouraging them to defy
the president's lawful orders.
Speaker 1 (06:31):
In explaining the president's social media post, Levitt said the
message from those Democratic lawmakers is disruptive. She says to
the US military.
Speaker 2 (06:41):
The sanctity of our military rests on the chain of command.
And if that chain of command is broken, it can
lead to people getting killed, it can lead to chaos.
And that's what these members of Congress, who swore an
oath to abide by the Constitution, are essentially encouraging. We
have one point three three active duty service members in
(07:02):
this country, and if they hear this radical message from
sitting members of Congress, that could inspire chaos, and it
could incite violence, and it certainly could disrupt the chain
of command.
Speaker 1 (07:12):
Neill Levitt explained in her response to several questions at
the White House briefing why the message coming from those
Democratic lawmakers is so problematic.
Speaker 2 (07:24):
These three members of Congress, I will also add, knew
exactly what they were doing. You look at Alyssa Slotkins.
She's a former member of the CIA. Mark Kelly was
a captain in the US Navy. Maggie Goodlander was a
naval officer, and notably she was also she is also
the wife of Joe Biden's National security former advisor, Jake Sullivan.
And so these members knew what they were doing. They
(07:46):
were leading into their credentials as former members of our military,
as veterans, as former members of the National Security apparatus
to signal to people serving under this commander in Chief,
Donald Trump, that you can defy him and you can
betray your oath of office.
Speaker 1 (08:02):
And following up on the president's social media post from Thursday,
White House Press Secretary Caroline Levitt in the White House
Briefing Room said there could perhaps be repercussions for the
lawmaker's message.
Speaker 2 (08:15):
And it perhaps is punishable by law. I'm not a lawyer.
Speaker 1 (08:18):
I'll leave that to the.
Speaker 2 (08:19):
Department of Justice, in the Department of Wartend. Now.
Speaker 1 (08:21):
There was a response from the Department of Justice on Wednesday,
and a Fox News interview, Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche
said that the DOJ is reviewing the video and that
it's creators, those democratic lawmakers, in his words, should all
be held to account. Blanche is the DOJ's second highest
(08:43):
ranking official, and he said in that interview, I think
those congressmen should be required to answer questions about why
they did what they did. Meanwhile, on Wednesday, Tim Parleteur,
he's a legal advisor to Defense se sor Charry Pete Hegseith,
he posted a video in which he said that service
(09:05):
members could be court martialed if they refused to follow
orders that were found to be legal, and Levitt in
the briefing room on Thursday, said, the President wants to
see those lawmakers held accountable.
Speaker 2 (09:19):
Why aren't you talking about what these members of Congress
are doing to encourage it in cite violence. They are
literally saying to one point three million active duty service
members not to defy the chain of command, not to
follow lawful orders, every.
Speaker 1 (09:34):
Single an illegal order, which because they are.
Speaker 2 (09:37):
But they're they're suggesting, Nancy that the President has given
illegal orders, which he has not. Every single order that
is given to this United States Military by this Commander
in chief and through this command chain of command, through
the Secretary of War is lawful. And the courts have
proven that this administration has an unparalleled record at the
Supreme Court because we are following the laws. We don't
(10:00):
defy court orders. We do things by the books. And
to suggest and encourage that active duty service members defy
the chain of command is a very dangerous thing for
sitting members of Congress to do, and they should be
held accountable, and that's what the President wants to doe.
Speaker 1 (10:15):
Now this back and forth continues. House Democratic leaders issued
a joint statement on Thursday, condemning the president's comments, and
in their statement they express concern for the safety of
those Democratic lawmakers. The statement reads, Donald Trump must immediately
delete these unhinged social media posts and recant his violent
(10:39):
rhetoric before he gets someone killed. The statement added that
the Democratic leaders had reached out to the US Capitol
Police to discuss safety precautions inside the US Capitol. Now
it's not exactly clear from the Democratic lawmakers which particular
orders they potentially illegal. Some representatives have said they're hearing
(11:04):
from service members who are questioning the legality of strikes
that have targeted people the Trump administration alleges are trafficking
narcotics by sea. And finally, there was more attention on
Thursday to a recent remark that the President made a
board Air Force One. It was last Friday, while the
(11:26):
President was traveling down to mar A Lago for the weekend,
that the President did a gaggle in the press section
on the back of Air Force One, and during that
Q and a with reporters who were traveling with the
President down to Florida for the weekend on Air Force one,
the President responded to a reporter's question concerning Jeffrey Epstein's
(11:49):
recently revealed emails, the president said to that reporter quiet piggy.
Now on Thursday, White House Press Secretary Caroline Levitt defend
the president's decision to call that female reporter piggy on
Air Force one. What did the President mean when he
called reporter Piggy?
Speaker 2 (12:09):
Look, the President is very frank and honest with everyone
in this room. You've all seen it yourself, You've all
experienced it yourselves, and I think it's one of the
many reasons that the American people re elected this president
because of his frankness, and he calls out fake news
when he sees it. He gets frustrated with reporters when
you lie about him, when you spread fake news about
(12:31):
him and his administration. But he also is the most
transparent president in history, and he gives all of you
in this room, as you all know, unprecedented access. You
are in the Oval Office almost every day asking the
President questions. And so I think the President being frank
and open and honest to your faces rather than hiding
behind your backs, is frankly, a lot more respectful than
(12:52):
what you saw in the last administration, where you had
a president who lied to your face and then didn't
speak to you for weeks and hit upstairs and didn't
take your question. Well, I think everyone in this room should.
I appreciate the frankness and the openness that you get
from President Trump on a near daily basis.
Speaker 1 (13:07):
Now, the news organization that the reporter worked for, we're
talking about Catherine Lucy, they put out a statement saying,
our White House journalists perform a vital public service, asking
questions without fear or favor. We remain focused on reporting
issues of public interest fairly and accurately. And as for
(13:29):
the reporter, Catherine Lucy, she has not put out a
statement of any kind. This, of course, is not the
first time the president has leveled personal attacks on reporters.
It's been a defining feature of his politics, a defining
feature of his presidency, both in his first term and
also as he serves his second term in the White House.
(13:52):
And I will tell you, for any reporter that covers
the White House, that covers President Trump, you do need
to have a thick skin. There will be a moment
when you ask a tough but fair question in which
you may get pushback from President Trump. But that goes
with the territory. You have to proceed and go on.
And as for that reporter, her name's Catherine Lucy. She's fearless,
(14:15):
and I think that what we saw in that flight
down to Air Force One. She actually got in another
question during that Q and A with the President. As
for the president's schedule for Friday, just one item on
the President's schedule. It's that meeting with New York City's
Mayor elect Zora and Mom Dami. That will happen at
(14:36):
three o'clock in the afternoon in the Oval Office. That's
the White House Briefing Room for Friday, November twenty. First,
I'm John Decker. Have a great weekend.
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