Government shutdown updates: Leavitt says Trump exploring cutting aid to Portland

ABC News' Mary Bruce asked Leavitt about Trump's online trolling with deep fake videos to threaten mass firings, despite claims from the White House that it is trying to avoid cuts.

"The president has described this as an unprecedented opportunity to lay off additional workers. He's posted a video likening it to the grim reaper. Which is it? Is this an opportunity to fire more workers or an unfortunate consequence?" Bruce asked.

Leavitt claimed that "both can be true at the same time."

"We don't like laying people off. Nobody takes joy and if you think that, that's very sad you view the White House and our staff as wanting to put people out of work. Nobody wants to do that, but sometimes in government, you have to make the tough decisions," she added.

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said that President Donald Trump has not abandoned his campaign promise to mandate insurance companies to cover IVF services.

However, when asked for an update, the press secretary could not give one, even though the deadline set by an executive order to come up with a plan had passed.

"As far as IVF goes, I'll check with our policy team and get you some updates," she said before taking another question.

White House press secretary Leavitt was asked about President Donald Trump going from saying he did not know about Project 2025 during the campaign to now knowing about it and supporting it.

The press secretary did not directly answer if Project 2025 was "the blueprint for shrinking the government."

"The blueprint is what the president, and his team and his Cabinet secretaries ultimately decide. And the president trusts his Cabinet secretaries to identify where there is waste, fraud and abuse," Leavitt said.

Russ Vought, the OMB director, co-authored Project 2025.

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said Trump is exploring plans to cut federal funding to Portland due to what she said was a rise in "Antifa" related incidents.

"We will not fund states that allow anarchy," she told reporters.

Antifa is not a group, but rather a political philosophy or movement. The term comes from the longer "anti-fascist" and is used as a catchall for groups that oppose the concept of authoritarianism, neo-Nazism and white supremacy.