Speaker 1 (00:00):
Mr. President.
President Donald Trump (00:00):
Okay. Hello, everybody. How are you?
All (00:02):
[inaudible 00:00:03].
President Donald Trump (00:03):
Hi. How are you?
Speaker 4 (00:03):
Hi.
President Donald Trump (00:06):
What would you like to know today?
Speaker 1 (00:08):
Could you start off by telling us the latest with Russia and Ukraine? Are you expecting Zelenskyy to come visit you?
President Donald Trump (00:15):
I don't know, he would like to come, but I think we should get a deal done first. We're having good talks. We started with Russia, we're having some talks with Russia. Ukraine is doing well, I think they're pretty happy about it, they'd like to see it end. We won't know for a little while, but we're making progress.
Speaker 4 (00:35):
What are the things-
President Donald Trump (00:36):
We settled eight wars, and I thought this would be one of the easier ones because of my relationship with President Putin, but this is probably one of the more difficult ones. There's a lot of hatred.
Speaker 4 (00:53):
You said there were a few moments of disagreement that is still left to be-
President Donald Trump (00:53):
Yeah, a few.
Speaker 4 (00:53):
Can you tell us what those are?
President Donald Trump (00:55):
Well, it's standard things. But people are starting to realize it's a good deal for both parties and they've got to stop the war, they're losing a lot of people, a lot of soldiers, mostly soldiers.
Speaker 4 (01:09):
In that 28-point plan, because originally [inaudible 00:01:10].
President Donald Trump (01:10):
That was an original proposal, and then from there, we went back and forth.
Speaker 4 (01:14):
So when it comes to ceding land to Russia, is that still on the table or has that changed?
President Donald Trump (01:19):
Well, they're talking about going land both ways and trying to clean up the border. You can't go through the middle of a house, you can't go through the middle of a highway, so they're trying to work something. It's a complicated process, it doesn't go that quickly.
Speaker 5 (01:36):
[inaudible 00:01:35] security guarantees and-
President Donald Trump (01:38):
Well, we're working that out with Europe. Europe will be largely involved in that. We're working that out with Europe. Europe really wants to see it end if possible.
Speaker 5 (01:47):
There were a lot of Republicans who felt that the first 28-point plan was too favorable to Russia. Have you changed that?
President Donald Trump (01:54):
Well, that was just a map. All that was is a map, that was not a plan, it was a concept. And from there, they've taken each one of the 28 points, and then you get down to 22 points. A lot of them were solved, and actually very favorably solved. So we'll see what happens.
Speaker 6 (02:12):
Do you think that Ukraine was being asked to give too much land back to Russia? I know at one point, you said they shouldn't have to give any back.
President Donald Trump (02:21):
Look, the way it's going, if you look, it's just moving in one direction. So eventually, that's land that over the next couple of months might be gotten by Russia anyway. So do you want to fight and lose another 50,000, 60,000 people, or do you want to do something now? In some cases, the land is going in the other direction. So they're negotiating, they're trying to get it done.
(02:45)
You want to have a border… You can't have a border that goes through a highway or a border that goes through the middle of a town, it doesn't work. So it's a long, complicated process, and very sad because so many people are being killed.
Speaker 6 (02:59):
What's the next step?
President Donald Trump (03:01):
They're going to keep talking. They're talking to Russia now. Steve Witkoff is going over, maybe with Jared, I'm not sure about Jared going, but he's involved in the process, smart guy. They're going to be meeting with President Putin, I believe, next week in Moscow.
Speaker 6 (03:17):
Next week in Moscow?
President Donald Trump (03:18):
I think so, yes.
Speaker 5 (03:22):
What kinds of concessions are the Russians going to have to make?
President Donald Trump (03:23):
Well, they're making concessions. Their big concession is they stop fighting and they don't take any more land. Again, it's a war that would've never happened if I was president, this was not anything that was going to happen. This happened because of stupidity, it's too bad.
Speaker 1 (03:39):
Mr. President-
Speaker 4 (03:40):
[inaudible 00:03:40] Witkoff is going to Russia next week, does that mean that Thanksgiving deadline doesn't stand anymore for Ukraine?
President Donald Trump (03:46):
We're going to see what happens. They set up a date, and the date is going to be sometime in the very near future.
Speaker 4 (03:53):
So do you have a new deadline?
President Donald Trump (03:54):
I don't have a deadline. You know what the deadline for me is? When it's over. And I think everybody's tired of fighting at this moment, they're losing too many people.
Speaker 4 (04:03):
Have you heard this audio that Bloomberg has of Witkoff coaching the Russians on how to appeal to you?
President Donald Trump (04:12):
I haven't heard it, no, but that's a standard thing, because he's got to sell this to Ukraine, he's got to sell Ukraine to Russia. That's what a deal-maker does. You've got to say, "Look, they want this, you've got to convince them with this." That's a very standard form of negotiation. I haven't heard it, but I heard it was standard negotiation. And I would imagine he's saying the same thing to Ukraine, because each party has to give and take.
Speaker 4 (04:39):
So you're not worried that he's too pro-Russia?
President Donald Trump (04:41):
No, I think, look, this war could go on for years, and Russia's got a lot more people and a lot more soldiers. So I think if Ukraine can make a deal, it's a good thing. Frankly, I think it's great for both. But Ukraine's got a much smaller group of people, they've lost a lot of people. Russia's lost a lot of people, but Russia has a much bigger pool of people.
Speaker 1 (05:12):
Mr. President, are you planning to unveil a healthcare plan anytime soon [inaudible 00:05:17].
President Donald Trump (05:17):
Well, we're looking at different alternatives. I like my plan the best, don't give any money to the insurance companies, give it to the people directly, let them go out and buy their own healthcare plan. And we're looking at that, if that can work, we're looking at that, that's taken off. That's what I like, don't give the money to the insurance companies. They go out and buy their own plan, you give the money to the people. I like it the best.
Speaker 1 (05:42):
Are you planning to extend those subsidies, those-
President Donald Trump (05:44):
I'd not. Somebody said I want to extend them for two years. I don't want to extend them for two years. I'd rather not extend them at all. Maybe some kind of an extension may be necessary to get something else done, because the Unaffordable Care Act has been a disaster, it's a disaster, and I said it was when it first got put in. Unfortunately, we lost a couple of Republican votes and the Democrats voted for it, it's a Democrat plan. And the premiums are going up and it's the Democrat's fault. But they are negotiating with me, it's very interesting, they want to see something happen.
Speaker 6 (06:21):
Who are you talking to on the Democrat's side?
President Donald Trump (06:21):
I can't tell you who, but we have a lot of Democrats who want this plan to happen. They would love to see the money go to the people and the people go out and get their own healthcare, and there would be nothing like it.
Speaker 5 (06:33):
Are you planning to replace Kash Patel?
President Donald Trump (06:36):
No, he's doing a good job. Kash Patel? No, he's doing a great job, I think.
Speaker 4 (06:40):
This week, we saw those cases against James Comey and Letitia James tossed out. Do you still have faith in Lindsey Halligan as-
President Donald Trump (06:48):
Oh, she's great. I think she's great. They got out on a technicality, and you'll see what happens from here on. But if you look at the actual charges, I think anybody that looks at it very fairly would say, "Boy, are they guilty." So let's see what happens over the next week. The court didn't say you couldn't bring the case, re-bring the case or appeal the case, so they have a lot of… They're going to call the shot, I'm not calling the shot. But Lindsey's a very talented lawyer, actually.
Speaker 7 (07:18):
Mr. President, on Venezuela, sir, are you planning to talk to Nicolas Maduro?
President Donald Trump (07:22):
I might talk to him, we'll see. We're discussing that with the different staffs. We might talk with Venezuela.
Speaker 4 (07:32):
Interestingly enough, the US this week did, of course, name him the leader of a foreign terrorist organization, so why do you want to talk to him?
President Donald Trump (07:41):
Say it again.
Speaker 4 (07:42):
Maduro, the US designated him the leader of this foreign terrorist organization, why do you want to talk to him if he's the leader-
President Donald Trump (07:49):
If we can save lives, if we can do things the easy way, that's fine, and if we have to do it the hard way, that's fine too.
Speaker 1 (07:55):
Mr. President, do you have any reaction-
Speaker 5 (07:57):
What's the goal, if you carry out-
President Donald Trump (07:58):
I'm not going to tell you what the goal is. You should probably know what the goal is. But they've caused a lot of problems and they've sent millions of people into our country. They were probably the biggest abuser with Tren de Aragua and all the others, and they sent in the drug dealers and drug lords, the people that they sent in. They opened their jails and prisons and dumped them into the United States, and we're not happy about it.
All (08:28):
[inaudible 00:08:29]
Speaker 1 (08:29):
Mr. President, do you have any reaction to Mayor Bowser announcing she's not running for re-election in D.C.?
President Donald Trump (08:33):
Well, I got along with her very well, I liked her, we worked together. D.C. is now a safe community, it's a great community. You people know it better than I do because you live there, but D.C. is now safe. The restaurants are booming, the place is booming, we have no crime. And we did that all in a period of three or four weeks, and then made it better and better and better. And now, we're setting new records. Literally, it's as safe as there is anywhere in the country now, and if you go back a year, it was a very unsafe place. Before I got here, D.C. was very unsafe. And it's our capital, we have to make it safe.
(09:09)
We're doing really well in Memphis, Tennessee, and we're doing well in other places. The one that is really troubling is what's happening in Chicago, the crime. It's a potentially great city again, but the Governor's totally lost control. We had the young lady burned. It's where you had a lot of killings over the last very short period of time, killings. The Governor has totally lost control of the state and the Mayor is grossly incompetent.
Speaker 6 (09:36):
How was your call with the Japanese Prime Minister? Can you tell us about it?
President Donald Trump (09:39):
I had a great talk, I have a very good relationship with her. I also had a very good talk with President Xi of China, and I think that part of the world is doing fine.
Speaker 6 (09:49):
Can you tell us about the content of your talks?
President Donald Trump (09:52):
Mostly trade.
Speaker 6 (09:53):
Trade?
President Donald Trump (09:55):
I spoke to President Xi about a lot of things, about trade and buying our farm products, and he said he agreed with me. I think he's going to very much surprise you on the upside. I asked him, "I'd like you to buy a little faster, I'd like you to buy more," and he's more or less agreed to do that. I think we will be pleasantly surprised by the actions of President Xi. I have a good relationship, a great relationship with him. I like him, he likes me. I'm going to be going there in April, I guess you'll all be going with me, but I'm going to be going to China in April. With Japan, likewise. I just came back from Japan, and we have a great relationship, the new Prime Minister and myself, she's very smart, she's very strong and she's going to be a great leader. Thank you very much, everybody.
All (10:41):
[inaudible 00:10:42]-
Speaker 4 (10:42):
Mr. President, what do you-