President Trump (02:01):
Hey, everybody. It's a very sad weekend in the sense that we lost a great person. I'll be going on early Sunday morning, we're going to Arizona, taking some people with us on Air Force One. Maybe you people are going to be with us, I don't know. But we're going to be going Saturday early, early on Sunday morning. Okay?
Journalists (02:17):
Mr. President, [inaudible 00:02:22].
President Trump (02:17):
Go ahead.
Journalists (02:17):
How was [inaudible 00:02:26]?
President Trump (02:27):
Good. We had talks going on. Scott Bessent is there and some others, Jamieson is there. And yeah, I think they're going fine.
Journalists (02:33):
When are you imposing tariffs on China?
President Trump (02:37):
We're going to see, but we've hit them very hard in so many other ways. I don't know if you know it, do you know what they're paying right now? What are they paying right now? You know what China's paying right now in tariffs?
Journalists (02:48):
[inaudible 00:02:48].
President Trump (02:48):
A lot.
Journalists (02:48):
Mr. President, have you been briefed on what happened in Venezuela? The US [inaudible 00:02:56]-
President Trump (02:56):
Yeah, I know exactly what's happening.
Journalists (02:58):
[inaudible 00:02:58]-
President Trump (02:59):
A lot of drugs are coming out of Venezuela. A lot of Tren de Aragua. They're trying to get out. But we're stopping them successfully at the border in Venezuela. We have a tremendous amount of security. They send the Tren de Aragua, that's the gang. Probably the worst gang in the world, MS-13 and them. I think they're probably considered worse. And we don't like what Venezuela is sending us, whether it's their drugs or whether it's their gang members. We don't like it. We don't like it one bit. Hold it.
(03:28)
You want to move over here, fellas? Wouldn't it be easier for you? Go ahead.
Journalists (03:37):
What was the message to the Qatari prime minister on Friday?
President Trump (03:37):
Look, we're with them. They've been a great ally. A lot of people don't understand that about Qatar, but Qatar has been a great ally. But they also lead a very difficult life because they're right in the middle of everything. So they have to be a little bit politically correct in their terms. But I will tell you, they've been a great ally for the United States, Qatar.
Journalists (03:57):
Mr. President, do you anticipate more strikes on Venezuela's coastline?
President Trump (04:02):
Well, we'll see what happens. There's certainly not a lot of boats out there, I'll tell you, since the first strike, and then to a lesser extent the second. We don't see any… I mean we almost see no boats out there, which is fine as far as I'm concerned. There's been very little boat traffic. I can't imagine why.
Journalists (04:19):
Mr. President, [inaudible 00:04:21] on that. Do you think you will solve this strike on mainland Venezuela?
President Trump (04:26):
Oh, we'll see what happens. Look, Venezuela is sending us their gang members, their drug dealers and drugs. It's not acceptable.
Journalists (04:33):
Is Venezuela's president an option? Is Venezuela's Maduro an option right now?
President Trump (04:39):
We'll see what happens. He's not an option or a not option. We'll see. He had an election that was wrong. It was almost as corrupt as our election of 2020. You know that? You know what I'm talking about? I wouldn't say theirs was much more corrupt, but it was certainly corrupt. But ours was corrupt also.
Journalists (05:00):
Mr. President, what is the deadline for TikTok?
President Trump (05:02):
I may or may not. They're negotiating TikTok right now. We may let it die or we may… I don't know, it depends. Up to China. It doesn't matter too much. I'd like to do it for the kids. They like it. I mean, selfishly speaking, I did very well on TikTok and I got the youth vote. I got numbers that nobody's ever even come close to in the Republican Party, nobody. If you look back to Romney and all these people that got practically no votes, I got a lot. And some was attributed to TikTok and a lot was attributed to Charlie.
Journalists (05:43):
[inaudible 00:05:36]. What was the message to Benjamin Netanyahu about the strikes on Qatar? [inaudible 00:05:44].
President Trump (05:44):
Well, my message is this. They have to be very, very careful. They have to do something about Hamas. But Qatar has been a great ally to the United States. A lot of people don't know that. I told the Emir, who I think is a wonderful person actually, I said, "You need better public relations. Because you don't really get the public relations." I mean, people talk of it so badly and they shouldn't be. Qatar has been a very great ally. So Israel and everybody else, we have to be careful. When we attack people, we have to be careful.
Journalists (06:17):
You mentioned [inaudible 00:06:17] organizations on the left [inaudible 00:06:17] investigating, you talked about this [inaudible 00:06:23]?
President Trump (06:23):
Well, the problem is on the left. If you look at the problem, the problem is on the left. It's not on the right, like some people like to say on the right. The problem we have is on the left. And when you look at the agitators, you look at the scum that speaks so badly of our country, the American flag burnings all over the place, that's the left, that's not the right.
Journalists (06:48):
Who do you plan on investigating?
President Trump (06:49):
We'll see. We'll be announcing. They're already under investigation.
Journalists (06:52):
[inaudible 00:06:53]?
President Trump (06:54):
Yeah, they're already under major investigation. A lot of the people that you would traditionally say are on the left.
Journalists (07:02):
They're already under investigation?
President Trump (07:03):
Already under investigation.
Journalists (07:03):
Have you asked [inaudible 00:07:05] celebrating Charlie Kirk's death?
President Trump (07:03):
What?
Journalists (07:09):
Have you asked to start revoking the visas of the foreigners who have celebrated Charlie Kirk's death?
President Trump (07:15):
No, we haven't. We haven't. But we are looking at names. We don't like that. That's not right. We wouldn't celebrate if something happened on their side. And we don't. These are sick people. These are really deranged people.
Journalists (07:26):
Any progress on the Fed chairman, sir?
President Trump (07:29):
Well, other than I don't like him.
Journalists (07:31):
Yeah, but if you are-
President Trump (07:33):
Well, he's incompetent. The Fed chairman's incompetent. Sure, I have three people that I like a lot. Any one of them would do a good job.
Journalists (07:40):
Mr. President, one more on Venezuela-
President Trump (07:42):
But I think you'll have a big cut, because I really don't think he can help but cutting. It's perfect for cutting. And the thing that he's hurting the most is housing for people. Because we're doing well on everything. Energy's way down. Groceries are down, everything, almost everything is way down. But housing, because of the Fed is not what it should be. It's okay, but it's not what it should be.
Journalists (08:11):
[inaudible 00:08:12] UK trip?
President Trump (08:12):
What about it?
Journalists (08:12):
What are you expecting ahead of the UK trip?
President Trump (08:12):
Nothing. The trip to UK is going to be incredible. They've never done it before. Twice honored. And that's because we had non-consecutive terms. You know that, you probably know. But back in the days of Grover Cleveland, I don't think they did this too recently. So we'll see. But this is the first time it's ever happened. And Windsor is supposed to be amazing. They've never used Windsor. They've never had Windsor for this. And they're going to be doing Windsor Castle. It's going to be very exciting. I think a lot of you are going with me. You going with us, huh? Are you going with us, Maggie?
Journalists (08:50):
I'm with you.
President Trump (08:50):
Good.
Journalists (08:50):
Just one more on Venezuela. The president of Venezuela called the strike on the boat illegal, are you concerned that Maduro might escalate something?
President Trump (08:52):
No. What's illegal are the drugs that were on the boat and the drugs that are being sent into our country, and the fact that 300 million people died last year from drugs. That's what's illegal.
Journalists (09:01):
Do you think he's not telling the truth when he said it was a fisherman's boat? Do you think [inaudible 00:09:05]-
President Trump (09:07):
Oh, no, [inaudible 00:09:06]… You could see it. You saw the bags of white, everything right through the bags. It's nonsense. So we knew it before they even left. We knew it before they even left. We knew exactly where that boat… where it came from, where the drugs came from and where it was heading. The problem is nobody's getting on boats anymore, so maybe that's a good problem.
Journalists (09:27):
Do you expect NATO to increase sanctions to get Russia as they're asking to do it over the weekend?
President Trump (09:31):
Well, they're not doing the job. NATO has to get together. Europe has to get together and do it. Look, Europe, they're my friends, but they're buying oil from Russia. So we can't be expected to be the only ones that are full bore. But Europe is buying oil from Russia. I don't want them to buy oil. And the sanctions that they're putting on are not tough enough. And I'm willing to do sanctions, but they're going to have to toughen up their sanctions commensurate with what I'm doing.
Journalists (10:00):
So just to clarify, you wouldn't move ahead until NATO moves ahead?
President Trump (10:03):
Well, I'm ready to move ahead, but they have to do it. I think they will. But right now they're talking and they're not doing. Look, they're buying oil from Russia. We're not buying oil from Russia. They're buying a lot of oil from Russia. That's not the deal.
Journalists (10:19):
So on Putin, two weeks ago you told us that you had decided who was more to blame for the impasse of the talks, whether it's Ukraine or whether it's Russia. How are you feeling right now?
President Trump (10:31):
But when you say impact, impact of what?
Journalists (10:33):
The impasse, sorry, that nothing [inaudible 00:10:36].
President Trump (10:35):
Oh, impasse. It's not going to matter because when they go in, they're going to be very, very strong. So it's not going to matter. Maggie, go ahead.
Journalists (10:43):
Mr. President, European nations who still, some of them, buy natural gas from Russia. Would you like to see that pulled back as well?
President Trump (10:51):
That's not the deal though. The deal is, they're not… whether it's natural gas or whether it's cigarettes, I don't care, they're not supposed to be buying from Russia. We're spending a lot of money giving. Now, I will say this, right now we're just selling weapons to NATO. It's pretty amazing. Biden spent $350 billion. I'm spending nothing. In fact, we're making money.
(11:13)
But I want to stop the killing. So it just came out, or I think it came out, but I know for a fact, almost 8,000 young soldiers died this week between the two countries. A little bit more from Russia, but divided. When you're the aggressor, you lose more. I don't know if you know that. But in war when you're the aggressor, you tend to lose more. But it was a little bit more for Russia, but it was 8,000, a little bit more than 8,017 actually died this week in that war. Why? And they're Russians. They're not American soldiers, but they're still human beings. They're souls, and I want to stop them. And I stopped seven wars. I thought this was going to be an easy one for me, but this has turned out to be tough. The hatred between Zelensky and Putin is unfathomable.
Journalists (12:03):
Do you still believe that they will talk? That they will have a-
President Trump (12:07):
I don't know. I think I'm going to have to do all the talking. They hate each other.
Journalists (12:14):
When do you think that would take place?
President Trump (12:14):
I don't know, relatively soon.
Journalists (12:14):
Has any of the NATO members-
President Trump (12:14):
We're going to get it worked out one way or the other. But relatively soon.
Journalists (12:17):
Has any of the NATO members-
President Trump (12:18):
They hate each other so much they can't breathe. So I'm going to have to get involved.
Journalists (12:23):
Has any of the NATO members responded to the letter you sent yesterday?
President Trump (12:30):
Yeah. They know it's true. They don't want to deny it. They said, "Well, I'd rather not talk about it." I said, "What do you mean you'd rather not? That means you're guilty, right?" Yeah. No, they agree. I mean, they… Look, they're buying oil. And they're buying it through a couple of countries that are selling it. So they're not buying it directly. Countries are buying oil from Russia and selling it into certain NATO countries. Not all, but certain very substantial NATO countries. That's not the deal. Okay. We all set? Are we all set?
Journalists (13:08):
Just to clarify, then, do you anticipate the next step with the Ukraine talks to be a summit, like a trilateral summit situation?
President Trump (13:13):
There'll be talks, whether you call it a summit or just a get-together, doesn't matter. But I'll probably have to get… They hate each other so much, they almost can't talk. They're incapable of talking to each other. Thank you.
Journalists (13:25):
Mr. President, will the first lady accompany you to Charlie Kirk's memorial next week?
President Trump (13:30):
I didn't ask her that, but a lot of people are. But we're going to Europe-
Journalists (13:36):
To the UK?
President Trump (13:36):
… just before. So we're going to be doing that. Okay? I haven't even thought of it. I've been thinking about other things. Thank you very much.
Journalists (13:42):
Thank you, Mr. President.