“Mr. Spicer, it’s good to see you here, my predecessor,” Leavitt said.

Spicer asked what priorities Trump was trying to pass through legislation rather than relying on executive orders. Leavitt replied that Trump was seeking to secure more funding for his border wall and mass deportations, in addition to protecting his 2017 tax cuts, through the reconciliation process.

House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) was at the White House on Monday to discuss the pair’s plans for the parliamentary procedure that will help them pass legislation despite slim Republican congressional majorities.

“The president is certainly working on unleashing American energy to drive down costs, but tax cuts are a critical component of really seeing the Trump economic formula be put together,” she said. “So he wants to see tax cuts passed in this reconciliation package; that includes no tax on tips, no tax on Social Security, no tax on overtime.”

Trump’s other priority was reducing regulation, according to Leavitt, though she announced the president would be signing an executive order later this week directing the Department of Transportation to introduce English literacy tests for truck drivers.

The 30-minute briefing was added to the public schedule to underscore what the White House considers to be Trump’s accomplishments regarding immigration.

Other questions included when the president’s border wall will be completed, whether the administration would grant asylum to British foreign nationals because of issues with free speech in the United Kingdom, and why he still sat down for interviews with the legacy media.

“It’s certainly a stark contrast to what we had in the previous administration, a president who was hiding, who actually used this beautiful South Court Auditorium, which we’re happy to be in today, but he used this like it was a fake Oval Office,” Leavitt said. “The president is willing to talk to anyone, not just journalists who have really been posing as journalists, but are actually left-wing activists.”

Since Trump’s return to the White House, his team has sought to reform press access to the president, from taking responsibility for the roster of reporters who attend smaller events to prohibiting the Associated Press for its editorial decision not to refer to the Gulf of Mexico as the Gulf of America.

Leavitt has also implemented a new media seat in the briefing room, calling on that reporter first as opposed to the Associated Press, as per tradition. Her interpretation of “new media” has been relatively loose, with the inclusion of Axios, for example.

Later in the week, Trump and his aides will amplify his achievements concerning the economy and social issues. The president is additionally expected to deliver remarks on his domestic investment policies, sit down for an interview with ABC, and participate in a town hall on NewsNation.