Donald Trump (00:00):
… on Gaza with both the Middle East representatives and kings and all of the top leaders in the Middle East. And we had also a very good conversation with Bibi Netanyahu trying to get the hostages back. And we're trying to get the end of the Gaza situations really bad, very bad. And we think it could happen. Maybe it could happen pretty soon. We want the hostages back, we want the bodies back, and we want to have a peace in that region. So we had some very good talks.
(00:35)
As you know, I had President Erdogan here, Turkey, and we had a great meeting today. I think we had a meeting that was very conclusive in so many different things. Things that we wanted, things that he wanted, and that was good. We'll be announcing that sometime later and he'll be making an announcement too. But we had a great meeting with Turkey and their very respected president, and spent time. We had lunch and we had a lot of good discussions. So those two things. And we have some executive orders today to sign that are very important for the country. And we'll start off with one that's a proclamation. Want to do that, Will?
Speaker 1 (01:16):
Yes, sir. So today is Gold Star Mother's and Family's Day. This is an annual proclamation. This is to commemorate the fallen, those who have died for all of our freedoms and for our country and for their families who have suffered such grievous losses. But this is a proclamation commemorating Gold Star Mothers and Gold Star Family's.
Donald Trump (01:37):
Yeah. And they're great people.
Speaker 1 (01:38):
Yes, sir.
Donald Trump (01:40):
Incredible people. What they've had to go through, very few people could have gone through this kind of thing. Gold Star. Okay? Thank you very much. I'll put it over here to you.
Speaker 1 (01:54):
Next, sir, we have an executive order on TikTok. From the first days of your administration, you've charged a team from your administration led by Vice President Vance with ensuring that we can preserve TikTok as a platform for the 170 million Americans who use it while ensuring that their data is properly protected as required by law. With this executive order, you'll be effectively bringing into effect the agreement that will save TikTok and ensure that it can operate safely and securely.
Donald Trump (02:22):
So this is interesting because I had a very good talk with President Xi. A lot of respect for him. Hopefully he has a lot of respect for me too. And we talked about TikTok and other things, but we talked about TikTok and he gave us the go ahead. It's run by American investors and American companies. Great ones, great investors, the biggest. You don't get bigger, I don't imagine. And maybe I'll ask JD. JD was very much involved and in charge of it. And maybe I'll have you say a few words about the deal. He would report back. And the points of the deal I think are great for our country. So, JD, do you want to give it a little talk, please?
Will (03:04):
Yes, sir. So thank you, sir for your leadership and for your help. We really couldn't have done this without the president actually ushering this deal over the finish line. There was some resistance on the Chinese side, but the fundamental thing that we wanted to accomplish is that we wanted to keep TikTok operating, but we also wanted to make sure that we protected American's data privacy as required by law, both because it's the right thing to do, but also because it's a legal requirement of the law that was passed last year by Congress.
(03:28)
So we think that we were able to do that. Of course, we're going to keep on working at it, but this deal really does mean that Americans can use TikTok but actually use it with more confidence than they had in the past because their data's going to be secure and it's not going to be used as a propaganda weapon against our fellow citizens. We're very excited about it. We appreciate the cooperation of everybody involved and it's a big day.
Donald Trump (03:50):
And I think I can say that especially the young people, they really wanted this to happen. They did not want to have TikTok close. I got a little used to TikTok. I used it myself during the campaign and it was very successful because you know how I did with the young voter. And Charlie helped me a lot too, and he said to me, "You should go on TikTok." And it actually had… Because we got record votes with the young voters for the election. So I was a little bit prejudiced in that way toward TikTok. It was very good and very meaningful. But we have American investors taking it over, running it, highly sophisticated, including Larry Ellison and Oracle I guess is going to play a very big role in terms of security, safety and everything else.
(04:39)
So we have very good controls. And literally I would get a call from friends of mine who are fathers of young people saying, "Could you do me a favor? Could you get it approved, please? My son is driving me crazy." So we're getting it done and they have a big audience. We have great American investors and here's your final copy. TikTok. Maybe if you want, we could take a couple of questions in TikTok and then we're going to get onto something completely different, okay? Yeah, Jeff.
Speaker 2 (05:12):
Mr. President, Mr. Vice President, you mentioned that China was resistant. Can you describe where China is now? Are they fully on board with this?
Donald Trump (05:17):
They're on board.
Speaker 2 (05:17):
Or anything [inaudible 00:05:19]
Donald Trump (05:18):
I spoke with President Xi. We had a good talk. I told him what we were doing and he said, "Go ahead with it."
Speaker 4 (05:25):
On the algorithm, it's still being leased coming from China. Are you satisfied that there's no security concerns for the [inaudible 00:05:33]
Donald Trump (05:33):
Yeah, I really am.
Speaker 4 (05:34):
It would push disruptive [inaudible 00:05:35]
Donald Trump (05:35):
The biggest reason is that it's owned by Americans and very sophisticated Americans. And people that love the country and very smart Americans too. So they don't want anything like that to happen. Yes, please.
Speaker 5 (05:48):
Thank you. Is there any operational relationship with Chinese entities or staff to execute the deal?
Donald Trump (05:54):
With who?
Speaker 5 (05:55):
With the Chinese?
Donald Trump (05:58):
I don't think so. Not that I know of. This is going to be American-operated all the way and great respect for President Xi, and I very much appreciate that he approved the deal because to get it done properly, we really needed the support of China and the approval of China. Yes ma'am.
Speaker 3 (06:16):
Mr. President, now that Americans will have operational control, do you want to see the algorithm suggest more MAGA-related content prioritized more?
Donald Trump (06:25):
I always like MAGA-related. If I could, I'd make it a hundred percent MAGA-related. It's actually a good question, but if I could make it 100% MAGA I would, but it's not going to work out that way unfortunately. No, everyone is going to be treated fairly. Every group, every philosophy, every policy will be treated very fairly. Thank you.
Speaker 6 (06:49):
Mr. President, do you know the valuation? Do you know the American company's going to be valued in the billions?
Donald Trump (06:53):
Well, they valued it very highly. They're paying a big number. Do you want to talk, Scott? Do you want to say something about value?
Scott (07:00):
Well, I'll let the vice president and then-
Donald Trump (07:00):
Okay, JD.
Scott (07:03):
… I can follow-up.
Donald Trump (07:03):
You'll say something?
Will (07:04):
Sure. Well, first of all, I would say all credit goes to Secretary of the Treasury. Couldn't have got it done without Scott. Also couldn't have got it done without Sean Cooksey on my team. So thanks to them. The company will be valued around $14 billion. We actually think this is a good deal for investors, but ultimately the investors are going to make the determination about what they want to invest in and what they think is a proper value.
(07:24)
The most important thing is that it does protect American's data security and ensures TikTok is still accessible. And on this question of the algorithm, which we've heard this a lot, what this deal ensures is that the American entity and the American investors will actually control the algorithm. We don't want this used as a propaganda tool by any foreign government. We want to make sure that our people and our investors actually make these decisions based on what's good for their business as opposed to what's good for another government's propaganda arm.
(07:52)
So that's what we've done with this deal. I think it's very good for the American people. And as the president said, young people love this. We actually want everybody to access this whether they're MAGA or not, we just want it to be fair. We want it to be fair to everybody and we think that's what's going to happen with this new arrangement.
Speaker 6 (08:08):
Will the US government… I'm sorry.
Scott (08:09):
And just to follow-up on the vice president, there were two pieces to the transaction. The vice president's office has worked since the spring for the commercial transaction between the investor groups and then treasury and a group including the vice president's office were in Madrid two weeks ago to negotiate with the Chinese. And it was a result of President Trump's close relationship with Party Chair Xi that we were able to get this across the line.
(08:35)
We created a framework for Party Chair Xi to agree and then on the leader's call. Xi and President Trump discussed the final arrangement. So it was one, two, and that was the final piece.
Speaker 6 (08:53):
Will the US government get any kind of annual payment as a result of this deal?
Donald Trump (08:58):
Taxes. It's going to make money and we're going to get a lot of money in taxes. China wanted to see this go. It is a great legacy for China too, and I thought President Xi was great in terms of his approval. We probably could have done it a different way, but it wouldn't have been the same. It wouldn't have been the same security at all. But I appreciated that he approved it.
Speaker 6 (09:22):
So aside from taxes, there's no part of the deal that is like a payment to the US government?
Donald Trump (09:28):
Well, we're going to be announcing different things, but the US comes out great. And I think China comes out great because they're going to have a very important legacy and they have many other deals. They have deals with us and they have deals in here in this country and they want to be treated fairly also.
Speaker 2 (09:45):
Mr. President and Mr. Vice President, the US company could change the algorithm to push different content? Is that…
Will (09:52):
The US company will have control over how the algorithm pushes content to users. And that was a very important part of it. We thought it was necessary for the national security element of the law. We also just think it's important to protect American users. Again, we want users to use this platform the way they want to. We want the business to make decisions about content based on the interest of the business and based on the interest of the users. And that's what we think will happen with this new arrangement.
Donald Trump (10:15):
And they're paying a lot of money and I think hopefully it's going to be a great deal. They're very sophisticated people. You'll see a list. Have you seen a list yet of the people? Well, you've been reading about it.
Speaker 2 (10:24):
The reports, yeah.
Donald Trump (10:26):
I know Michael Dell is involved and Rupert Murdoch is involved. Let's see. We have probably four or five absolutely world-class investors that love the country and they made a lot of money with the country. Many of them are in a somewhat related business, so it works out pretty well. And they're going to be very careful about all of these questions that you've been asking.
Speaker 2 (10:52):
Who else beyond Dell and Murdoch?
Will (10:54):
Well, it's a blue chip group of investors and we'll be announcing more about who exactly is involved in the deal in the days to come.
Donald Trump (11:01):
Oracle is playing a very big part.
Will (11:03):
That's right, sir.
Donald Trump (11:03):
And Oracle really understands this. And I think they're actually… And they've been involved for quite a while, running it for the people, the previous people. And so it's really… I think it's going to be very well protected. Very prestigious deal actually.
Will (11:19):
On that Point, Mr. President… As the president said, Oracle has actually had a role in housing the data for a long time, even when the entity was controlled by the ByteDance organization in China. So Oracle had a pretty interesting perspective on what was necessary to actually create true data privacy protections for Americans. They were a very important part of getting this thing done.
Speaker 7 (11:40):
Mr. President, you've told us a couple of weeks ago, you thought that the security concerns were overrated, but were there legitimate concerns when it comes to safety?
Donald Trump (11:48):
From my standpoint, no, because the people that own it are… They're not China-centric, they're USA-centric and they're very smart people. I guess you could say it about everything. Everything is what's secure nowadays. Things that you think are totally secure turned out not to be, but I think in this case, it's going to be as secure as you could be because of the ownership and the people. And they have a big investment to their advantage to make sure it's good and safe. Anybody else? Do you have a question? No, behind you?
Speaker 8 (12:20):
Well, I just want to say, do you think this move and getting this deal done, Mr. President, do you think this honors the legacy of charlie Kirk? You mentioned that he's specifically pushed you to get involved with TikTok and your campaign and helped you win young voters. Do you think this deal honors him?
Donald Trump (12:34):
Well, I think it's a good thing. It's a good sign. We're doing very well, as you know with the trade deals. We're doing very well with China and a lot of them. We were never treated properly. We were for four years actually, but we were never treated very properly by other countries and we're doing well. We've never done this well. Because of the tariffs that are coming in, the deals that are being made, $950 billion in one case. It's 950 billion where previously they paid nothing.
(13:11)
As you know, in Japan, it's 550 billion. South Korea is $350 billion now. That's up front. And one of the things I can say, I announced it lightly before, but we're taking in tremendous amounts of money with tariffs. We've never seen anything like it. No country has ever seen anything like it. I'm going to devote a little bit of that money, a little bit of the tariff money to our farmers. Our farmers have been incredible. They're the ones that let us survive and eat and enjoy our lives, right? Eat too much maybe in some cases like mine.
(13:48)
But I will tell you, we're going to take some of the tariff money. Relatively small amount, but a lot for the farmers. And we're going to help the farmers out a little bit because during this transition period where
Donald Trump (14:00):
We're taking in incredible amounts of money. We'll have a little bit of a shortfall with the farmers until the tariffs kick in because they haven't kicked in for the farmers yet. And I decided before, and I spoke to all of the people here, that I want to make a contribution out of the tariff money, a small percentage of it, but it's a lot for the farmers, it'll make the farmers feel very good, just to help them through the transition. And ultimately, they're going to be making a fortune. They may be one of the top in the whole world in terms of a percentage gotten from the tariffs we're taking in. But we have so much coming in. It's a very small thing. But I want to let, in fact, just get the word out to the farmer because they'll be struggling until the transition's complete. Then after that, they're going to do, I think, better than they've ever done before. Last time I said get yourself a larger tractor and more land, and that was when they were doing very poorly, and they ended up doing that and they did very well.
(15:05)
That was with the deal we made with China. Unfortunately Biden forgot about the deal, then he never enforced. I enforced it until the end and China was very honorable. But when Biden came in, he didn't enforce it. When you don't enforce a deal, they don't do it so it was terrible. Biden was very bad to the farmers of our country. So we're going to be doing that. It's an honor to do it too. Brian, did you have a question?
Brian (15:27):
I just thought I'd say, what's your message to the millions of small businesses here in the U.S that really rely on TikTok to reach their end user, to market their service and their product?
Donald Trump (15:36):
Well, thank you for that question because honestly, we were getting hit up. They use it for virtual advertising and they paid very little for it and nothing for it, and small businesses have become very successful because of TikTok, and we didn't think of that. When everyone's saying, "Oh, TikTok," And this and that, but over the last six months, I was called by so many people saying they're going to go out of business if they can't because they use it virtually as a advertising tool, and without it, they wouldn't have anything. They wouldn't be able to get the word out about their good product or whatever it is they're selling. So it's a very important thing for small business. It's another reason I wanted to do the deal so badly. So let's go to another subject now if we might, okay? And Will, please.
Will (16:23):
I want to ask you about the farmers.
Donald Trump (16:23):
Yes, go ahead.
Will (16:25):
What does that look like? Is that going to be direct checks to farmers or is it going to be tax…
Donald Trump (16:28):
Well, we haven't decided that. We'll be dealing with Brooke later and the Secretary of Agriculture and we'll figure out how to get money to the farmers. And again, this comes out of the large amount, hundreds of billions of dollars of tariff money that's pouring into the country. The tariffs, remember when I said a long time ago, I said it's the greatest word, it's my favorite word in the world. Then I had to say… I was forced to say other things, of course rightfully so, love, family, religion, so I think I put tariff number five. I was forced because the fake news did a big number on me. It's one of those little things. But let's say it's my fifth favorite word, the word tariff. But it's making our country very rich. And when our country is rich, I'm able to help the farmers and I'm able to help even other countries that are in trouble, but we're able to help people that are in trouble. Medicaid, Medicare, social security, it's all a benefit of this tremendous amount. And I hear numbers coming in today, Scott, where the numbers were very high, right?
Scott (17:36):
The economic numbers were off the charts, sir.
Donald Trump (17:38):
Unfortunately, right? Because this is the only country in the world where you announce great numbers and the stock market goes down. Because when you announce great numbers, they immediately want to take that success away by raising the interest rates. Why can't they, you announce great numbers and let them lower the interest rate so you can make numbers… This is the only country in the world. I don't know if you heard, could you just tell them what the number was and how it was…
Scott (18:03):
3.88% growth, the biggest in years. And the important thing is the president says this is going to be non-inflationary growth just like it was in its first term. So strong growth, low inflation, real wage gains. And to the question on small business, a small business optimism under President Trump last week hit a multi-year high, multi-year high. So small businesses, Main Street is back under President Trump.
Donald Trump (18:36):
But isn't it crazy? So I saw the market was down a little bit today. I mean, in all fairness, I don't feel guilty because we've set every record you can imagine, but it was down and I say, "Oh, the numbers must be good," Meaning the growth numbers are phenomenal. And again, this is during, but a little bit of pre the heavy, the really success and the money pouring into our country through the tariffs. And I just say, "Why can't we have great numbers and lower the interest rates so we have even greater numbers?" So people were saying, "Oh, the numbers are so good, they're going to have to raise interest rates," That doesn't have to happen. And there's no inflation. The only thing we have is great success. We're having unbelievable success. So the numbers are much higher than anticipated except for by me and Scott and some of the other people. And they'll get a lot higher than that too. But I don't want to, every time we have good numbers, say, "Let's take all the juice out by raising interest rates." It's so backwards. It's so backwards.
Scott (19:40):
Mr. President, they don't appreciate the importance of the third leg of your stool because trade taxes and deregulation allows for significant upside growth without inflation. So eventually the people at the Fed will be able to focus on this like Alan Greenspan did in the nineties. You can have strong growth and low inflation, and I think we can get the stock market up, Wall Street, Main Street, both doing well.
Donald Trump (20:05):
We want low interest rates. There's no reason that every time we announce these record numbers… These numbers are way above projections by all the great geniuses out there. And I knew this was going to happen. So they had 71 different people and only two got it right, me and another gentleman from, I think, my wonderful Wharton School of Finance actually. So anyway. But I really want you to look at that, every time we have good numbers, they say this is a good time because they're guarding against inflation that may happen in two years from now. We have to change our thinking. We should be rewarded for good numbers, not penalized.
Will (20:47):
So Mr. President, is that 3.8, is that the start of a 3% growth for the entire year?
Donald Trump (20:52):
You know the number was projected at two because we're in a little bit of a transition period, but that transition period's ending faster than we thought on tariffs. The money coming in is much greater than people thought. And there's no inflation essentially. There's no inflation. We just went through the worst inflation in the history of our country under sleepy Joe Biden. He was sleeping and the inflation was really bad, worst ever. They say 48 years, I'll take that too, but I think it was probably the worst inflation we ever had because of spending and energy going through the roof and everything else. By the way, energy's way down. And you're going to really be impressed when you hear what happened today with President Erdogan of Turkey. I think it's great for both countries. I think it's great. We have great relationships with a lot of countries.
(21:43)
And you may be even more happy when you find out because we spoke with Bibi Netanyahu today and we spoke to all the leaders in the Middle East who were great people and we're getting pretty close to having a deal on Gaza, and maybe even peace, which would be the first time in about what? 2000 years, I think. In the region, I'd say the first in… Steve, what would you say? First in 2000 years or maybe 1000?
Speaker 10 (22:09):
I would say so, Mr. President. Two millennium.
Donald Trump (22:10):
It's a long time. Yeah, go ahead.
Speaker 9 (22:13):
Did Erdogan agree to stop buying Russian oil? Did he…
Donald Trump (22:16):
I don't want say that, but if I want him to, he will. Yeah.
Speaker 9 (22:21):
But he didn't think that…
Donald Trump (22:22):
Well, I didn't say, "Okay, you stop…" But I believe he will stop it. Yeah.
Speaker 9 (22:27):
Did you make a deal…
Donald Trump (22:28):
You know why? Because he can buy from a lot of other people. He can buy from a lot of other people. You know who really can't is Hungary. Hungary's got… They're landlocked and they don't have a nice ocean where ships can sail in from all over the world. They have one pipeline coming. I spoke with… He's a great guy, he's a great friend of mine, but that's a harder one for them. And Slovakia too. They're sort of married to one pipeline. So I just don't want to have people go blaming them when… We spoke to them at length today, and it seems like for them it's a little… But that's… Yeah. Turkey has a lot of options. He's a great president and very smart man, and he's going to do what's right. But we had a very good conversation having to do with the purchase of military equipment, et cetera. Any other questions?
Speaker 9 (23:20):
Would you be able to make a deal on F-35s, Mr. President?
Donald Trump (23:23):
FI will be able to easily if I want. So we may do that, yeah.
Speaker 9 (23:27):
But not yet.
Donald Trump (23:28):
Well, it depends. He's going to do something for us.
Speaker 10 (23:32):
Can I ask you, we're a few days away…
Donald Trump (23:35):
By the way, here we go with this guy. Go ahead, let's go. Let's hear the question.
Speaker 10 (23:39):
A few days away from the end of the fiscal year and a potential shutdown…
Donald Trump (23:42):
Right.
Speaker 9 (23:42):
There going to be a government shutdown?
Donald Trump (23:44):
Could be, yeah, because the Democrats are crazed. They don't know what they're doing. They want to have the border opened up so that criminals can pour in. We're doing unbelievable borders closed, and people are coming into our country legally. They continue to want to have men and women's sports. They continue to want to have transgender for everyone. They want to raise everybody's taxes at a number that's not sustainable. It's the only time in the world I've ever seen a party that wants to raise taxes. I grew up in a family where I'd watch politics, and I always liked it from the time I was very young, but I'd always see politicians say, "We will lower your taxes." These guys, they campaign on raising your taxes, but they want to raise taxes very substantially.
Speaker 10 (24:29):
The one thing they're concerned about… Look, Republicans have total control of Washington. You guys have control of the house, the Senate, [inaudible 00:24:35].
Donald Trump (24:36):
Well, when you say control, so we need 60 votes for this, and we have 53 Republicans, so we need seven Democrats.
Speaker 10 (24:44):
And those seven Democrats and others are asking for an extension of a tax credit on people who get the Affordable Care Act and some other government-backed healthcare. So are you willing to negotiate…
Donald Trump (24:55):
Well, what they're really asking for is they want to pay for illegal aliens that have come into our country by the millions and get onto the roles and they want to pay, and our people don't want to do that. Our people are taxed enough. We just approved the largest tax decrease ever in the history of our country, including the extension of the previous Trump tax cuts. The tax cuts that we just approved, they want to use those tax cuts to give the money to illegal aliens, people that came into our country illegally and that are leaving the country. There's been a self-deportation because of what we've been doing. That's been incredible. Okay. Yeah, please.
Speaker 11 (25:35):
Secretary Hegseth is inviting military leaders from all around the country on Tuesday. Will you also be there?
Donald Trump (25:42):
From all around the country to what?
Speaker 11 (25:44):
From all around the world…
Speaker 9 (25:45):
To Virginia.
Speaker 11 (25:47):
He's inviting the generals and admirals to Virginia for a big meeting.
Donald Trump (25:49):
Well, I know. I love it. I mean, I think it's great. Let him be friendly. Let him be friendly with the generals and admirals from all over the world. Why, is there something… No, but is there something wrong with?
Brian (26:00):
What is it about… Will you be there personally as well? And what is it about…
Donald Trump (26:02):
Well, I'll be there if they want me, but why is that such a big deal? I mean, the fact that we're getting along with the generals and admirals from all… Remember, I'm the president of peace. It's good to get along. It's good. You act like this is a bad thing. Isn't it nice that people are coming from all over the world to be with us?
Will (26:20):
It's not particularly unusual that generals who report to the Secretary of War and then to the President of the United States are coming to speak with the Secretary of War. It's actually not unusual at all, and I think it's odd that you guys have made it into such a big story.
Donald Trump (26:32):
Is it a big story?
Will (26:33):
I don't think it is, sir.
Donald Trump (26:36):
I would think it's… No, but isn't it a good story? We're respected from all over the world as a military force. I rebuilt the military during my first term, even though we gave a chunk of it away to Afghanistan. But we're talking Afghanistan too, by the way, about Bagram and about that. But that's a very small amount compared to what we rebuilt it by. But I rebuilt the military and we're very respected. We have the strongest military anywhere in the world, without question. We have the greatest equipment in the world. We're selling the equipment to other countries, and a lot of generals want to be here, and they want to look at… They're also going to be touring equipment sites. They're going to be talking about the newest weapons, et cetera, et cetera. But I think it's great when generals and top people want to come to the United States to be with our now-called Secretary of War. Does everybody like the name? I do.
Speaker 12 (27:34):
You said something really interesting this week about Ukraine, that you thought Ukraine could get back all the territory that Russia had taken.
Donald Trump (27:37):
Yeah, they have a shot at it because Russia…
Speaker 12 (27:39):
What prompted you to change your thoughts on that?
Donald Trump (27:40):
Well, because I've been watching the way Russia is and what Russia has been doing. I'm very dissatisfied with what Russia is doing and what President Putin is doing. I haven't liked it at all. He's killing people for no reason whatsoever. And they are doing very poorly considering
Donald Trump (28:00):
… they have put it all out on the line. Their economy is going to hell. They're bombing the hell out of everything, and they're picking up very little territory, if any. In fact, they're losing some territory. So, I think it's been very bad for the reputation of Russia.
(28:18)
This war should have been over. If this were our war, we would've had it over in one week and they're getting into fourth year, Jeff. They're getting into the fourth year now. Four-year of fighting and you see what they've taken. In the last month they've taken very little, and you've been reporting on all the bombing, all the drones all over the place, 900 drones coming into certain areas like Kyiv in one night. And with all of that work, they've taken over very little.
(28:50)
I'm very disappointed in President Putin. I thought … I solved seven wars. In fact, we have a great leader coming. We have the Prime Minister of Pakistan coming and the Field Marshal, Pakistan Field Marshal who's a very great guy. And so is the Prime Minister, both. And they're coming. And they may be in this room right now. I don't know because we're late. And I said maybe they'd like to join. They actually may be somewhere in the beautiful Oval Office. Yeah, please, behind you.
Speaker 14 (29:19):
Quickly on Gaza. Did you promise leaders this week that you would not allow Israel to annex the West Bank? Is that something that you said-
Donald Trump (29:24):
I will not allow Israel to annex the West Bank. Nope. I will not allow it. It's not going to happen.
Speaker 14 (29:30):
Did you speak with Netanyahu about this directly?
Donald Trump (29:32):
Yeah. But I'm not going to allow it. Whether I spoke to him or not, I did, but I'm not allowing Israel to annex the West Bank. There's been enough. It's time to stop now, okay?
(29:42)
Yes, please.
Speaker 15 (29:43):
Jasmine Crockett recently-
Donald Trump (29:44):
Jasmine Crockett. Jasmine … Remember what I said? Is she in relation to the late grade David Crockett? I don't think so. Jasmine Crockett, let me tell you before you even ask, she's a very low-IQ person. I mean, if we ever had to pass an aptitude test, that's the one should take one because she shouldn't even be in the … So I have no idea what you're going to, but I don't think we should waste our time. This is a low-IQ person who I can't even believe is a congressperson. Between her and Ilman Omar and the group.
(30:18)
You know, I met the head of Somalia. Did you know that? And I suggested that maybe he'd like to take her back and he didn't want. He said, "I don't want her."
(30:26)
Okay. What else? Go ahead. Let's hear what Crockett said. Go ahead.
Speaker 15 (30:31):
She compared ICE raids to slave patrol. I want to ask you-
Donald Trump (30:35):
To slave?
Speaker 15 (30:36):
To slave patrol. I want to ask you if you think that there should be consequences for members of Congress who make these types of comparisons or use this kind of language?
Donald Trump (30:43):
Yeah. Well, I think she's gone over the line and I think a lot of the people … Look, the Democrats have become radical-left lunatics. They have policies that nobody's going to buy. And I see what's going on in New York. We're going to have perhaps a communist mayor because it's split up. If the people would get together and have one candidate, they'd have I think a pretty good chance, but it looks like maybe they're not going to do that, but we're going to end up with a communist mayor. It's not even believable, my beautiful New York.
(31:13)
When I left New York to become president, it was a great place, but it was the beginning of bad things because we had De Blasio had just started as mayor, and I said, "This guy's a bad. This guy's a real nut job." Went to Harvard to teach management. Can you believe it? He went to Harvard to teach city management along with the mayor of Chicago who went to Harvard to teach. The two of them are teaching how to manage a city, and to manage it into hell is what they do. But that was the beginning. And now we're going to go a step further. Now we're going with the communist.
(31:48)
Can I be honest? I think it's the greatest thing to ever happen to the Republican Party. I really do. I think if a communist takes over New York City, I think that's a gift to the Republican Party. It's sad for New York, but it's a gift. And New York will recover because sometimes you need a shock like that to straighten you out. But politically, it's probably a very good thing.
Speaker 13 (32:11):
Mr. President, can I ask on immigration, crime and the World Cup, actually.
Donald Trump (32:15):
That's a lot of questions.
Speaker 13 (32:17):
You have a number of cities that are pushing back against your immigration deportation move, as well as your crime initiatives. Some of those cities-
Donald Trump (32:23):
I don't think they're very much pushing back at all.
Speaker 13 (32:25):
But some of those cities have World Cup games, Seattle, San Francisco.
Donald Trump (32:29):
They're going to be very secure.
Speaker 13 (32:32):
Secure. But could those games move if they don't cooperate with your crime push?
Donald Trump (32:35):
Well, that's an interesting, I guess, but we're going to make sure they're safe. They're run by radical left lunatics and that don't know what they're doing.
(32:43)
Look at Washington DC. I just got numbers. There's like no crime in Washington DC. You, Jeff will not be mugged walking down the street. You can walk down the street with your family. You can walk down your street with your wife, your daughter, your son, and you're not going to be. We took out 1700 career criminals that we're not allowing back. And we have this city in great shape.
(33:06)
There was a time when every single, not long ago, when every single week you'd have at least one murder. And look what's happening with Washington. It's safe. I went to dinner in Washington just to prove a point. I gave a press conference in the middle of a street. I wouldn't say Secret Service was thrilled, but I did it. And here I am.
(33:25)
Look, Washington DC is such a great example of what can be done. We did it in 12 days. We made it very safe in 12 days, and now it's much safer than that.
(33:38)
One other thing, I drove around Washington over the weekend and I said, "Look at the difference." The grass looked great. Everything looked great. We had a lot of our national guard and we didn't ask them to do it. They did it themselves. They're proud. They're great. And they were picking up paper. They were cleaning. The place looked really beautiful.
(33:58)
So we have a great Washington DC. We, as you probably know, we're going into Memphis and we're going into some other cities, and very soon we're going to go into Chicago. It will be safe for the World Cup. If I think it isn't safe, we'll move it into a different city. Absolutely. We'll take the World …
Speaker 16 (34:14):
Mr. President-
Donald Trump (34:15):
If I think it's not, it's actually a very fair question. If I think it's not safe, we're going to move it out of that city. If like the governor of Illinois who was …
(34:27)
Look, last week, between last week and the week before 11 murders and 38 people were shot. Then he gets up and says, "This is a very safe," and then he says, "Crime is better." The reason crime is better is because Kash put about five months ago, a whole team of FBI people there to get ready for when we go in. And they've lowered it a little bit, like 20, 25%, which isn't good enough, but it's a good start. But that was only put there because they're preparing for us to go in. And they've done, by the way, they've done a good job.
(35:02)
So then Pritzker gets up, "We've lowered crime 25." It's because the FBI was there. So no, if any city we think is going to be even a little bit dangerous for the World Cup or for the Olympics where they have Olympic overthrow, but for the World Cup in particular, 'cause they're playing in so many cities, we won't allow it to go to. We'll move it around a little bit, but I hope that's not going to happen. Yeah.
Speaker 16 (35:24):
Mr. President, Director Patel this morning indicated that the shooter in Dallas had been using an app to track ICE. Does your administration have any plans to take down those apps or get them removed or any-
Donald Trump (35:37):
Well, I can't tell you about that, but it tells you when they want to wear masks or they want to hide a little bit, why that's so important. But these are great patriots, the ICE, and what a tough job they have. What an unbelievably tough job they have.
(35:54)
And think of it, what are they doing? They're taking hardcore criminals out of our country and putting them back. These were largely criminals that were given to us by Joe Biden and his group of radical maniacs that surrounded this desk. Just like these people surround the desk now, but they're not maniacs. They're very solid people.
Speaker 17 (36:12):
Thank you, sir.
Donald Trump (36:14):
I'm glad I prefaced that. But they're great. We have a great cabinet. We have great people. And he didn't have great people. He had terrible people. Look at Afghanistan. Look at the people he had running our military that that could happen. The most embarrassing day in the history of our country was Afghanistan and 13 young people died. They don't ever talk about the 38 that were horribly wounded with legs and arms and everything else, really horribly wounded.
(36:44)
So the country's respected like it's probably almost never been respected before. I think we're respected at a level. And a year ago it was a dead country. We had a dead country a year ago. This country was dying. It was really in bad shape. Let's talk about the next subject, can we?
Speaker 1 (37:04):
One of the most powerful deterrents we have to violent crime is the death penalty. As you said, your administration has taken bold, decisive steps to ensure that Washington DC is once again a safe and secure city for its residents and all who visit. This is a presidential memorandum that directs your attorney general and your US attorney for the District of Columbia, Judge Jeanine Pirro, to fully implement the death penalty here in Washington DC, where the evidence in facts of a case indicate that the death penalty should be used.
Donald Trump (37:35):
Okay, everybody understand, death penalty in Washington, you kill somebody or if you kill a police officer, law enforcement officer, death penalty. And hopefully there won't be that. So again, it's way down. I mean, we have had week after week after week where we haven't had a murder. I said that the other day in front of the President of Poland. The press was here and I said, " Ladies and gentlemen, I'd like to announce that Washington DC has not had a death in four weeks, a murder." And he looked at me, he goes, "Is that good or bad?" He's saying, "What kind of a place is this?"
(38:13)
But it's true. For years, I mean every week essentially somebody got killed or more than one. And this is a very safe city right now. We don't play games. And it's interesting. We took these careers out, career criminals. They call them careers. They left the word criminal out. But we took the careers out of here and they're now brought back to their homes, or they're in jail, or they're in a jail in another country, and hopefully they're not coming back. And we have to maintain it. You can't just leave and we have to maintain it. We've gotten along fairly well with the mayor. She's in a party that hates that the city's becoming safe. I mean, they're actually criticizing her because the city's becoming safe. But this is becoming a very … this is right now a very, very safe city. This is considered.
(39:04)
This went from the most unsafe city in the country to the safest city in the country. There's no city any safer. That's a pretty big achievement. And we really did it in 12 days. But if you add an extra week to it, that'd be nice.
(39:19)
I mean, you can go out to dinner. Restaurants are booming. The restaurants were dead. They were dead. Even if you got to the restaurant, then somebody would come in and hold you up. They'd hold up the whole restaurant. They go to Uber, young ladies in the White House, they'd call Uber for protection. They'd run to the car 'cause they were petrified to be from the entrance of their building to the car. Now they feel safe. They're in the car. And then the car gets hijacked while they're in the back of the car. This was what we were living in. We were living in hell.
(39:49)
People that work in the White House, every time they see me, young women in particular, they say, "Thank you, sir." And I don't even ask them about what. I know exactly. I made their lives. Now they're living in a beautiful, glamorous place called Washington DC with no crime. And that's the way it should be. Okay?
(40:06)
This is the death penalty for somebody that kills people in Washington DC. I think it's capital. It's very interesting, capital punishment, capital city, right? It's capital. Capital, capital. But this is our capital city. We can't allow that to happen. People come in from Iowa to look at the Lincoln Memorial and they end up getting killed? It doesn't happen anymore. It's not going to happen. And if it does happen, it's the death penalty for the person that did it. And this goes into effect.
Speaker 1 (40:34):
Yes, sir.
Donald Trump (40:34):
Right? Pam, is that right?
Pam Bondi (40:36):
Yes, sir.
Donald Trump (40:36):
Could you speak a little bit about that?
Pam Bondi (40:38):
Yes, sir. Not only are we seeking it in Washington DC, but all over the country again. And as you saw very recently, we are now moving the inmates who were on death row, who Joe Biden or the autopen commuted their sentences off of death row, we're moving them to supermax facilities where they will be treated like they're on death row for the rest of their lives, President Trump.
Donald Trump (40:59):
Okay. That's a big statement. Thank you very much. Okay? I see some of you shaking your heads very positively. Thank you, Brian. Thank you, fellas.
Speaker 18 (41:07):
You said on the campaign trail that you-
Donald Trump (41:09):
I said it.
Speaker 18 (41:12):
Before the death penalty, if anybody, an illegal killed a US citizen or a police officer, so this just reinforces your campaign promises.
Donald Trump (41:18):
Good. And most people really like it. And Washington, again, it's going to serve as a beacon because you have to do it. These are bad people. When you look at that guy, the guy that killed the young lady in the train in North Carolina, that he'll be in trial for years and years, years. He'll get a good lawyer. Somewhere along the line, somebody will come along. And what he did to that young lady. And she went into that train scared. When she went in, the way she sat down, she was scared to just be there. She just wanted to not pay any attention to anybody, just not be noticed, and she had her
Donald Trump (42:00):
… throat slit, we don't want that in this country anymore. We're not going to have it in this country anymore. Thank you very much. Next.
Speaker 1 (42:09):
Lastly, sir, this is a presidential memorandum on countering domestic terrorism and organized political violence. In recent weeks, months and years, we've seen a tremendous upsurge in some highly visible, but also other acts of domestic terrorism and organized political violence being perpetrated by radical, politically-motivated groups all over the country. What this presidential memorandum will do is set off an administration-wide response to that, ranging from the Joint Terrorism Task Forces to other components of the Department of Justice, to the Department of Homeland Security and the Department of Treasury. We're looking at interdicting these groups, preventing them from performing acts of violence and also looking at sources of organization and funding and support that prop them up and allow them to do the acts that they have been doing.
Donald Trump (42:57):
We're looking at the funders of a lot of these groups. And when you see the signs, and they're all beautiful signs made professionally, these aren't your protesters that make the sign in their basement late in the evening because they really believe it. These are anarchists and agitators, professional anarchists and agitators, and they get hired by wealthy people, some of whom I know, I guess, I probably know them. And you wouldn't know it. At dinner with them, everything's nice, and then you find out that they funded millions of dollars to these lunatics. Steve, could you say a couple of words to that, please?
Scott (43:32):
Yes, Mr. President. This is a very historic and significant day. This is the first time in American history that there is an All-of-Government effort to dismantle left-wing terrorism, to dismantle Antifa, to dismantle the organizations that have been carrying out these acts of political violence and terrorism. What we have seen, if you look at whether it be going back to the riots that started with Black Lives Matter and all the way through to the Antifa riots, the attacks on ICE officers, the doxing campaigns, and now the political assassinations, these are not lone isolated events. This is part of an organized campaign of radical left terrorism. It is structured, it is sophisticated. It is well-funded, it is well-planned. There is really no parallel like this to anything else in the country right now. There is a entire system of feeder organizations that provide money, resources, weapons.
(44:22)
And when they're attacking ICE officers, they're attacking federal buildings or they're isolating public officials for harassment, doxing, intimidation, and ultimately attempted assassination. It is all carefully planned, executed, and thought through. It is terrorism on our soil. Because of this executive order, Kash and Pam are going to have the tools they need working with Scott to take these organizations apart piece by piece. And the central hub of that effort is going to be the Joint Terrorism Task Force, or JTTF, which sits inside the Federal Bureau of Investigation. But for those at home who are worried about terrorism in this country, they need to understand because of President Trump's strength, because of his vision, because of his leadership, we are now going to use the entire force of the federal government to uproot these organizations root and branch. And again, that's only possible because of President Trump and his leadership.
Donald Trump (45:09):
Thank you, Steve. Kash, please?
Kash Patel (45:11):
Yes. As Stephen was saying, Mr. President, thanks to your leadership, crime is going downward in a tremendous fashion, and that's what we want for every city in America. And the FBI's premier flagship enterprise, the Joint Terrorism Task Force, are honored to lead this initiative with our partners at Treasury and Homeland Security because our citizens are being attacked by, as Stephen said, organized violence and is being paid for not by them, by other people. So what we are going to do, combining forces, as Scott and I have done over these last few months is follow the money. People and organizations have collected funds and put them out into the streets of America and organized violence across our country.
(45:48)
And thanks to your recognition of this and this executive order and the AG's leadership to lead out and prosecute these individuals, we are properly going to chase them down like the domestic terrorists that they are, and our streets and our communities are going to be safer because the JTTF and the FBI and Treasury and DHS and DOJ are going to combine forces like never before to root out this new evil that is perpetuating our criminal activities across our societies. And we are just so thankful for your leadership and recognition of it.
Donald Trump (46:16):
Thank you.
Kash Patel (46:16):
It's not easy to do.
Donald Trump (46:17):
Good job. Thank you very much. Dan?
Dan (46:19):
Who specifically do you want to target?
Donald Trump (46:21):
What?
Dan (46:21):
Besides Antifa, is there a specific group or person you're targeting with this?
Speaker 19 (46:26):
Any organized group.
Dan (46:27):
Any organized group?
Speaker 19 (46:29):
Any organized group who are committing these crimes and we're working with the Secretary of Treasury. You know what law enforcement has told us under President Trump's leadership? He's taken the handcuffs off law enforcement. They can do their jobs now thanks to you, President Trump, and that's what's happening. And all of these agencies that Kash mentioned, we work hand-in-hand together. Our prosecutors were following the money with Treasury. We're working with Homeland Security. Kash's agents, all of our agents, DEA, ATF, U.S. Marshals combined are working and with state and local government to take these people off the streets who are jeopardizing lives. [inaudible 00:47:02]
Will (47:02):
Can I just illustrate this? So I was talking with Kash and Stephen about this couple of days ago, sir. So I believe it was in Oregon where you had a federal building where there were men in black ski masks who were committing acts of violence, who were shutting down a government building. To the President's point, they don't come from nowhere. These are paid people. This is organized. They're committing acts of political terrorism on American soil. And it's time we had a government that looked out for the American people rather than the people who are committing violence against the American people. [inaudible 00:47:30]
Donald Trump (47:31):
When you go out to Portland and you see what's happening in Portland, this is like, nobody's ever seen anything like it, every night… And this has gone on for years. They just burned the place down. And the shop owners, most of them have left, but the few shops that are open, they just use plywood and just like 3/4-inch plywood, they don't put storefronts in 'cause they know it's going to be burned down. These are professional agitators. These are bad people and they're paid a lot of money by rich people, some of whom we know. I'm sure I know some. If I knew I wouldn't associate because I'll be in trouble 'cause Pam will say, "Why are you associating with this person?"
(48:08)
But I will tell you that these are bad, bad people and they're paying a lot of money, millions of dollars. But take a look at Portland sometime, these are wild… These are crazy people and they're trying to burn down buildings, including federal buildings. And on my list of things that I want to do before we finish up with the cities, 'cause I think we're going to whip the cities back into shape, but we have to, we cannot let our cities… And that's a small example, but it's the most violent example. It's every night and they've done it for years. You'd think maybe at some point they made their point and what are they doing? But we're going to get out there and we're going to do a pretty big number on those people in Portland that are doing that. They're professional agitators and anarchists.
Will (48:54):
Could you name a few [inaudible 00:48:55]
Donald Trump (48:54):
They're actually anarchists. Yeah.
Will (48:56):
… just so we can [inaudible 00:48:57]
Donald Trump (48:56):
Go ahead. What are you defending?
Will (48:57):
[inaudible 00:48:58]
Donald Trump (48:58):
What are you defending? Let's see you defend them, Jeff?
Will (48:59):
No, I'm not defending anyone. So that we can explain this in our stories, could you name a couple of groups-
Donald Trump (49:04):
You don't explain it right, though, Jeff. Go ahead.
Will (49:06):
Mr. President [inaudible 00:49:07]
Donald Trump (49:07):
Let's go. Maybe let's give you another chance. Go ahead.
Kash Patel (49:09):
Antifa? Soros? What names are we talking about?
Donald Trump (49:12):
Well, Soros is a name certainly that I keep hearing. I don't know, but Soros is the name that I hear. I hear a lot of different names. I hear names of some pretty rich people that are radical left people. Maybe I hear about a guy named Reid Hoffman. Somebody's a pretty rich guy, I guess, and I hear about him. I don't know, maybe… and maybe, could be him. Could be a lot of people. We hear the same names, but they're bad, and we're going to find out. And if they are funding these things, they're going to have some problems because they're agitators and they're anarchists. These are anarchists, really bad. Okay. Yeah, please.
Sarah Roderick (49:51):
Mr. President, can you [inaudible 00:49:52]. Mr. President-
Donald Trump (49:52):
Who are you with? Who are you with?
Sarah Roderick (49:54):
I'm with The Center Square. Sarah Roderick is my name. As you know, Antifa is not just a domestic terror… or now a domestic terror organization. It's also international. I know the Netherlands is looking at also designating them a terror organization. Have you been working with your Intel community and your DNI to possibly expand that to making them… designating them-
Donald Trump (50:16):
Yes, we have-
Sarah Roderick (50:16):
… an international terror organization?
Donald Trump (50:18):
Yep, we have been, yep. In many cases, it is international. Yeah.
Speaker 20 (50:22):
Mr. President, on Antifa, if someone takes to the streets of America and says they're Antifa, what happens to them? What will happen to them?
Donald Trump (50:29):
Well, I'd say the maximum under the law, and we'll see now. If they kill somebody, we just sign the death penalty, so it depends where it is. But if they kill somebody, which they do, people are dying, you go out to Portland, people die out there. Many people have died over the years in Portland. I don't know how anybody lives there. It's amazing, but it's anarchy out there and that's what they want. They want anarchy. Like when they attacked Seattle and took over a big percentage of the city, I was going to go out and we were going to do a big number. They heard that and everybody broke up all of a sudden. But you have governors that have to run that, and a lot of them don't do that.
(51:07)
I don't like to go in. I'd rather have Pritzker's support when we go into Chicago. But if we don't have it, that's okay too because we're paramount and we will do what we have to do. We're going to make Chicago safe. We're going to make as many as we can, and usually that involves a surge. In the case of Chicago, by having the FBI go out there five or six months ago, we brought it down a little bit. A little bit is 25%, so it's not so little, but it is when you're talking about the kind of crime and killings and murders that you hear in Chicago, but we're going to get it.
(51:43)
Chicago's a great city. As the Union Pacific said, the head of the Union Pacific, who's a great guy, started off as a low-rung guy, he said he started at a caboose and now he's the chairman of the Union Pacific. But he's a great guy. But he said, "Sir, don't lose Chicago." The way he said it, I said, "Boy…" It really hit me. Here's a man that knows all the cities, the Union Pacific, I guess is our largest railroad and he knows all the cities. He's been doing it for 45 years. And he said, "Sir, don't lose Chicago." And the way he said that meant a lot to me, and we're going to go into Chicago very soon. We're going to take care of Memphis. We're going to take care of Memphis. You can't walk a block without getting shot. We're going to take care of that one. And just like we did Washington, D.C., and we're going to do Chicago very soon. Yeah.
Speaker 21 (52:34):
Mr. President [inaudible 00:52:35] there could be an indictment on James Comey. Do you know if there is an indictment or [inaudible 00:52:42]-
Donald Trump (52:41):
I don't know.
Speaker 21 (52:42):
… Mr. President?
Donald Trump (52:43):
I don't know. I know it's going on because I read the papers just like you do, right? So I don't know. Do you have anything to say about that?
Pam Bondi (52:48):
We can't comment on that. [inaudible 00:52:49]
Speaker 22 (52:54):
Madam Attorney General, can you comment on a New York Times report saying that Justice Department officials have asked attorneys to target a George Soros-funded group, and is this executive order that you just signed a part of that effort?
Pam Bondi (53:04):
I'm not going to comment on whether there is or is not a pending investigation, but everything's on the table right now.
Speaker 22 (53:10):
What happens [inaudible 00:53:11]
Donald Trump (53:11):
I don't think anybody has to ask because if you look at Soros, he's at the top of every… In fact, sometimes I say, could he be involved in this many things? But he's in every story that I read, stories that I read, keep talking about Soros, and so I guess he'd be a likely candidate. Thank you very much, everybody.
Pam Bondi (53:34):
Thank you, guys. Thank you very much.
Donald Trump (53:34):
Thank you very much.
Pam Bondi (53:34):
Thank you, guys.
Speaker 23 (53:34):
Thank you.
Pam Bondi (53:36):
Thanks, guys. Let's go. Let's go. Thank you. Thank you, guys. Let's go, let's go, let's go.
Speaker 23 (53:41):
Thank you, Brett.
Brett (53:41):
Hello.
Pam Bondi (53:41):
Thank you, guys. Thank you. [inaudible 00:53:43]. Thank you, guys.