Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt Briefs Members of the Media, May 19, 2025

May 19, 2025 · The White House · 0:30:41

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

What happened

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt briefed members of the media on May 19, 2025, carried on the White House channel, opening with that afternoon’s Rose Garden signing: “President Trump, alongside First Lady Melania Trump, will sign the Take It Down Act into law. First Lady Melania Trump was instrumental in getting this important legislation passed,” she said, summarizing the act as she presented it: it “will protect victims of digital exploitation, hold internet platforms accountable by requiring them to remove such imagery from their platforms, and provide justice for victims by allowing prosecutors to go after those who publish non-consensual explicit images online.”

She then presented the One Big Beautiful Bill after its passage through the House Budget Committee, calling it “the single most pro-small business, pro-family and pro-American worker legislation ever,” as she characterized it. Citing a White House Council of Economic Advisers paper as she presented its figures, she said Americans earning $30,000 to $80,000 would pay about 15 percent less in taxes, the average family with two children would see take-home pay up to $13,000 higher, and the average overtime worker would receive a tax cut of roughly $2,000, as she stated the estimates. She said the bill would raise the child tax credit to $2,500, add a $1,000 credit to optional savings accounts for newborns, and let middle- and low-income Social Security recipients deduct an additional $4,000, as she stated the provisions, and that Medicaid would be preserved by removing the 1.4 million people she described as improperly receiving benefits, as she stated the figure.

Why it matters

This morning briefing is the administration’s paired launch for the day: the Take It Down Act signing previewed through the First Lady’s role, and the signature bill’s family-tax case stated with the CEA’s dollar figures on the record before the House floor fight.

Scoreboard watch

This briefing is a scoreboard reference point: the Council of Economic Advisers figures as stated by the Press Secretary — up to $13,000 higher take-home pay for the average family with two children and roughly $2,000 for the average overtime worker — to be checked against the enacted bill and subsequent estimates.

Sources: The White House, “Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt Briefs Members of the Media, May 19, 2025” (official upload, embedded above). All figures and characterizations as stated by the Press Secretary, citing the White House Council of Economic Advisers as noted in the briefing.