Watch: White House says Trump did not call for execution of Democratic lawmakers

White House press secretary Carolyn Leavitt said Thursday that members of Congress who made a video saying military officials should not follow “unlawful orders” should not be executed for sedition, despite Trump’s social media post in which he said the video was “seditious conduct, punishable by death.”

Watch Leavitt’s news brief in the player above.

Asked if Trump intended to kill the Democratic lawmakers who are veterans behind the video, Levitt said: “No.”

Read more: Trump said Democrats’ video message to the military was “seditious behavior” punishable by death

Challenging the military chain of command could create national security risks and lead to deaths, Leavitt said.

She added: “Every order issued to the United States Army by this Commander-in-Chief and through this chain of command, through the Secretary of War, is lawful.”

The White House press secretary has never seen Trump use AI

Trump’s social media account showed AI-generated videos of him relying on AI investments to grow the economy. But the president does not appear to be using AI personally.

When asked at Thursday’s press conference whether Trump personally uses artificial intelligence, Levitt said: “I don’t think so.”

Leavitt added that she had not personally witnessed this.

Trump recently spoke about the economic benefits of artificial intelligence to attract foreign investment at the US-Saudi Investment Forum. His account posted artificial intelligence videos of Trump playing soccer with Cristiano Ronaldo in the Oval Office, in addition to Trump flying a jet and dropping what appears to be feces on American cities containing people protesting against him.

Levitt praises Trump for inviting New York City Mayor-elect Mamdani to the White House

Levitt said the invitation “speaks a lot” about Trump.

However, during Zahran Mamdani’s successful tenure leading the largest city in the United States, the president repeatedly threatened to limit federal funding if voters elected the Democratic Socialist.

“I think that’s very important, but I also think it speaks to the fact that President Trump is willing to meet with anyone, talk to anyone, and try to do what’s right on behalf of the American people,” Leavitt said.

The White House says South Africa’s president was “talking rough” about US participation in the G20

Levitt was responding to President Cyril Ramaphosa’s comments that the United States had “changed its mind” and said his comments were “not appreciated by the president or his team.”

Read more: South Africa’s president said the United States now wants to reverse its boycott and join the G20 summit

She said that the United States has not changed its position on the G20 boycott in South Africa this month. She said the United States is not participating in the summit talks but is only sending a diplomatic official to attend a handover ceremony at the end of the event that is intended to acknowledge that the United States will host the G20 next year and is scheduled to be held at Trump’s golf club in Doral, Florida.