Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt Briefs Members of the New Media, Apr. 28, 2025

April 28, 2025 · The White House · 0:27:53

Embedded from the source channel — never re-uploaded. Watch on YouTube

What happened

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt held the first official influencer briefing at the White House on Apr. 28, 2025, carried on the White House channel, opening the South Court Auditorium series for independent journalists, podcasters and content creators. “All journalists, outlets, and voices have a seat at the table now,” she said, on what she called day 99 of the administration.

The briefing’s focus was the border. Leavitt said that between the inauguration and April 1, “only nine illegal aliens were released into the United States of America. This is a staggering 99.9% decrease from more than the 184,000 illegal aliens who were released into the country under Joe Biden during that same period last year,” as she stated the comparison, and that attempted illegal crossings at the southwest border had hit a record low in February and fallen again in March.

Why it matters

The first influencer briefing launched a new White House press format - and used it to state the administration’s signature border-release figures, the nine-versus-184,000 comparison, in the briefing series’ founding session.

Scoreboard watch

Scoreboard watch: the release figures as stated at this Apr. 28, 2025 briefing - nine illegal aliens released between Inauguration Day and Apr. 1, a 99.9% decrease from the prior year’s same-period figure as stated - flagged for the scoreboard editors; the entry itself remains review-gated.

Sources: The White House, “Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt Briefs Members of the New Media, Apr. 28, 2025” (YouTube, Apr. 28, 2025) - official description and broadcast transcript as aired.