Leavitt Briefs Members of the Media, Nov. 12, 2025
November 12, 2025 · The White House · 0:30:30
Embedded from the source channel — never re-uploaded. Watch on YouTube
What happened
Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt briefed members of the media at the White House on November 12, 2025, opening with FBI Director Kash Patel, who announced the results of his trip to Beijing the prior week — the first visit to China by an FBI director in over a decade, as he stated it. Patel said the Chinese government had fully designated and listed all 13 precursors used to make fentanyl and agreed to control seven chemical subsidiaries also used in its production, effective immediately, as he announced it. He said the FBI had seized 1,900 kilograms of fentanyl so far that year, a 31 percent increase over the same period the prior year, as he stated the figures, against nearly 100,000 fentanyl overdose deaths the prior year, as he stated that figure.
Leavitt then announced the next day’s Fostering the Future executive order signing with the First Lady, reviewed the 43-day shutdown’s costs as the administration stated them — including a Congressional Budget Office estimate, as she cited it, that the shutdown could reduce fourth-quarter growth by two percentage points — and said the President looked forward to signing the reopening bill that night. She also defended the administration’s affordability record, citing the tax provisions of the One Big Beautiful Bill and gasoline prices at a five-year low, as she stated it.
Why it matters
The precursor designation is the enforcement centerpiece of the President’s fentanyl agreement with President Xi, delivered on the record by the FBI Director who negotiated its implementation in Beijing. It is a dated, checkable commitment by a named foreign government, announced with seizure figures attributed to the Director.
Scoreboard watch
Scoreboard candidate: China’s designation of all 13 fentanyl precursors and seven subsidiary chemicals, announced by FBI Director Patel on November 12, 2025. Flagged for the scoreboard editor; no entry is published from this page.
Sources: The White House, “Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt Briefs Members of the Media, Nov. 12, 2025” (official upload, embedded above). Remarks and figures as delivered at the briefing.
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