{"id":51758,"date":"2018-01-25T09:08:23","date_gmt":"2018-01-25T17:08:23","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/69.46.6.243\/?p=51758"},"modified":"2018-01-25T09:08:23","modified_gmt":"2018-01-25T17:08:23","slug":"president-trump-at-working-session-with-mayors","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/?p=51758","title":{"rendered":"President Trump at Working Session with Mayors"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Washington, DC&#8230;Well, thank you very much.  What a group.  Some great friends, great mayors.  Please sit down.  We have really hardworking, brilliant people in this room.  I know so much about being a mayor.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/aSWbndbyYeo\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"autoplay; encrypted-media\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>We have a very good friend of mine, Dane Maxwell.  Where\u2019s Dane?  Dane.  Stand up, Dane.  We\u2019ve been together a long time, Dane, a long time.  And thank you very much for being here.  It\u2019s a great place \u2014 that Mississippi is special.  We had a good time on November 8th in Mississippi, right?<\/p>\n<p>And Betsy Price.  Betsy?  Thank you, Betsy.  Thank you for being here, very much.  Really, two fantastic friends of mine for a long time.<\/p>\n<p>Toni Harp.  Where\u2019s Toni?  Toni?  Toni?  Uh oh, can\u2019t be a sanctuary city person, I know.  (Laughter.)  That\u2019s not possible, is it?<\/p>\n<p>Well, I want to just say \u2014 I mean, we\u2019ll start by saying that, as you know, the Department of Justice, today, has announced a critical legal step to hold accountable sanctuary cities that violate federal law and free criminal aliens back into our communities.<\/p>\n<p>We can\u2019t have that.  Can\u2019t have it.  It would be very easy to go the other way, but we can\u2019t have it.  We want a safe country, and it\u2019s getting safer all the time.<\/p>\n<p>Sanctuary cities are the best friend of gangs and cartels, like MS-13.  You know that.  The result in the death rate around sanctuary cities \u2014 in and around \u2014 for innocent Americans is unacceptable.  Take a look at what happened in San Francisco and Kate Steinle, and countless others.<\/p>\n<p>My administration is committed to protecting innocent Americans and the mayors who choose to boycott this event have put the needs of criminal illegal immigrants over law-abiding Americans.  But let me tell you, the vast majority of people showed up.  Okay?  The vast majority.  Because the vast majority believe in safety for your city.  (Applause.)<\/p>\n<p>I want to thank all of you for being here.  I\u2019m thrilled to welcome dozens of mayors from across the country to the White House.  And I\u2019ve worked with so many of you, some in the private sector.  Who knew I was going to be here?  (Laughter.)<\/p>\n<p>But it happened.  Right, Kellyanne?  My star, Kellyanne.  Stand up, Kellyanne.  She\u2019s more famous than I am.  (Applause.)  Good.  Thanks, Kellyanne.  Great.<\/p>\n<p>You bring safety, prosperity, and hope to our citizens.  My administration will always support local government and listen to leaders who know their communities best.  And you know your community best.<\/p>\n<p>We believe in local government.  We believe in empowering each and every one of you.  Together, we are achieving absolutely incredible results.<\/p>\n<p>We have created nearly 2.4 million jobs since the election.  Nobody thought that was going to be happening, right?  (Applause.)<\/p>\n<p>The unemployment rate is at, now, an 18-year low.  African American unemployment \u2014 I\u2019m very proud of this.  Remember, I used to say, \u201cWhat do you have to lose?\u201d  And people said, \u201cI don\u2019t know if that\u2019s a nice thing to say.\u201d  I said, \u201cOf course it is.  For 100 years, the Democratic mayors have done a terrible \u2014 I mean, they\u2019ve done some bad work.\u201d  I said, \u201cWhat did you have to lose?\u201d  African American unemployment is at its lowest rate ever recorded.  (Applause.)  That\u2019s not bad.<\/p>\n<p>Unemployment for women is at its lowest rate in 17 years, and that\u2019s going to be a very new standard very soon.  (Applause.)<\/p>\n<p>And Hispanic American unemployment, like African American unemployment, is at the lowest rate ever recorded.  That\u2019s a long time.  (Applause.)<\/p>\n<p>And here\u2019s the good news:  it\u2019s getting better.  It\u2019s going to get better.  We\u2019ve cut more regulations than any administration in history, by far.  And we\u2019ve been really doing the cutting for about 10 months, even though we\u2019ve been here now for 12.  We started a little bit late.  Although, the first day we did some pretty big cutting, I will say.<\/p>\n<p>And as you know, just before Christmas, we passed massive tax cuts and reform so that more businesses will come back to your cities and towns, and working families will finally get the pay raises that they\u2019ve been waiting for many, many years, in some cases.  (Applause.)<\/p>\n<p>Our tax plan also creates opportunities \u2014 and some of you are taking advantage of that \u2014 to encourage investment in distressed communities, create more jobs, and bring Main Street booming back to life.<\/p>\n<p>More than two million American workers have already received tax cut bonuses from their employers all because of our incredible tax cut bill.  And I must tell you, this has worked far greater \u2014 because nobody thought in terms of the companies coming out and paying $1,000; and $2,000; and $2,500 per employee.  They have hundreds of thousands of employees in some cases.<\/p>\n<p>And the ones that aren\u2019t getting it are getting it because they\u2019re going, \u201cWhat about us?\u201d  Now they\u2019re at a point, they\u2019re saying, \u201cWhat about us?\u201d  We know that feeling.  So it\u2019s really turned out \u2014 nobody thought that.<\/p>\n<p>As much as we thought \u2014 and as much as we had a lot of brilliant minds around that tax bill, nobody really thought in terms of would a company step up.  And it started \u2014 AT&#038;T started it.  And then a couple of others picked it up very quickly \u2014 Comcast and some others, they picked it up.  And then it became an avalanche.<\/p>\n<p>And Kellyanne, we never used to talk about that because it wasn\u2019t really in the realm of thinking.  And it\u2019s turned out to be, really, an avalanche.  And it\u2019s been a beautiful thing to watch.  People are walking away with $1,000 and $2,000, and much more.<\/p>\n<p>We\u2019re also working to rebuild our crumbling infrastructure by stimulating a $1 trillion investment, and that will actually, probably, end up being about $1.7 trillion.  (Applause.)<\/p>\n<p>Oh, you like that?  I can tell we have mayors in the room.  That\u2019s good.  That\u2019s good.  Only mayors could be that excited.  Only the mayors and the workers \u2014 it\u2019s about jobs, right \u2014 could be that excited.<\/p>\n<p>No, and we\u2019ll probably be putting that in a week or two, right after the State of the Union Address.  We\u2019ll be talking about it a little bit in the State of the Union; we\u2019ll put that in.<\/p>\n<p>One of the other things, I have to say \u2014 Apple \u2014 a $350 billion investment.  And I spoke to Tim Cook.  And you probably you heard me on the trail \u2014 I\u2019ll say, \u201cI will not consider this job complete and great, in terms of economics and the economy, unless Apple someday starts building some plants in our country.\u201d  And what happened is they said, $350 billion.<\/p>\n<p>And when I first heard it \u2014 Tim Cook and I spoke.  But when I first heard it, I said, \u201cI guess they mean $350 million\u201d \u2014 because that\u2019s a big plant.  You know, $350 million, you can build a lot of plant.  But they said, \u201cNo, sir, $350 billion.\u201d  And much of that comes from overseas.  They\u2019re going to bring it back because of the tax bill because we made it possible for them to bring it back.  (Applause.)<\/p>\n<p>And they\u2019re investing a lot of money over and above that.  So it\u2019s $350 billion and thousands and thousands of new jobs.  They\u2019re going to build an incredible campus.  It\u2019s going to be something special.<\/p>\n<p>But we worked with Congress to cut down the approval and permitting process so that it takes no longer than 2 years, instead of, on average, 10 to 12 to 17 years to build a simple road.  (Applause.)<\/p>\n<p>A road in a certain location \u2014 I won\u2019t mention the state, although I happen to like the state very much \u2014 it\u2019s been under approval 17 years.  They\u2019ve been planning it for 17 years, and it was a straight \u2014 nothing \u2014 road.  Now it\u2019s got lots of curves because we have to miss the nests and everything else.  And curves aren\u2019t good on roads.  You know, roads are, like, straight.  And it was, 17 years ago, going to cost virtually nothing, and it ends up being hundreds of millions of dollars.  And it was recently completed, and everyone goes, \u201cYou have to be kidding.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>So we\u2019re going to bring that 10-year process \u2014 that\u2019s an average.  I think it\u2019s actually much higher than that.  We\u2019re going to bring that down to, we say, less than two years, but I\u2019d like to be able to average about one year.<\/p>\n<p>And you\u2019ll let them know.  If we don\u2019t want a highway, if we don\u2019t want something built, you\u2019re going to let them know quickly.  But at least they won\u2019t be waiting 17 \u2014 because a lot of times, you\u2019ll wait 17 years and you\u2019ll get rejected.  That\u2019s even worse.  If you\u2019re the builder, that\u2019s not good.  You devoted a good part of your life to doing something and get rejected.  That\u2019s really unfair.<\/p>\n<p>So you may get rejected, but you\u2019re going to get rejected quickly, okay?  That\u2019s not bad.  (Laughter.)<\/p>\n<p>But mostly, you\u2019re going to get \u2014 you saw what we did with the pipelines \u2014 48,000 jobs, immediately.  As soon as I came to the office, we approved it \u2014 48,000 jobs.<\/p>\n<p>We\u2019re partnering with the state and local governments, like yours, to find the most innovative ways to rebuild our roads, bridges, waterways, and airports.  Very important words: on time and under budget.  Have you heard those words before?  (Applause.)  You don\u2019t hear them too much in government, right?<\/p>\n<p>And a lot of that is the bidding process, and you\u2019ll take care of your bidding processes.  But the bidding process is a very big factor in that.  Some of the way they bid in cities and states \u2014 and, I can tell you, in our military \u2014 I mean, the process \u2014 it\u2019s not even bidding, really.  You give somebody a contract to steal, and we don\u2019t want to do that.<\/p>\n<p>We\u2019re supporting our local police beyond what we\u2019ve ever done.  (Applause.)  Great.  And fire departments.  We\u2019re also getting you a lot of our excess military equipment; you know all about that.  Previous administrations \u2014 but in particular, \u201c-on\u201d  \u2014 the previous administration, \u201c-on\u201d \u2014 they didn\u2019t like to do that, and someday they\u2019ll explain why.  But we had a lot of excess military equipment; we\u2019re sending it to your police as they need it.  And it\u2019s made a tremendous difference.<\/p>\n<p>We believe every child deserves to live in a safe home, attend a great school, and look forward to an amazing and very, very safe future.  (Applause.)  So you\u2019re getting a lot of equipment.<\/p>\n<p>And together \u2014 just in summing up \u2014 we are restoring pride in the American worker and faith in the American Dream.  People are dreaming again.  It\u2019s been a tremendous thing.  They\u2019re especially dreaming when they open up their 401(k)s, and they see that they\u2019re up 44 percent, okay?  (Applause.)  And they feel very brilliant about their investment strategy.<\/p>\n<p>I told you the story, but I\u2019ve said it numerous times \u2014 I like to tell it \u2014 about people, they come to me all the time and they say, \u201cThank you so much.  I\u2019m up 42 percent.  I\u2019m up 48 percent.  I\u2019m up 37 percent.  And my wife or my husband thinks I\u2019m totally genius as an investor.\u201d  (Laughter.)  I said, \u201cDon\u2019t worry about it, just keep it.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>And I will say this, if the wrong person came into this office, you wouldn\u2019t only be even and you wouldn\u2019t be up \u2014 I think it\u2019s now 42.5 percent, and the markets up again, but 42.5 percent since election \u2014 you would be down 30 to 40 percent.<\/p>\n<p>And that\u2019s what was happening.  You take a look at your GDP then and take a look at what\u2019s happened now.  We\u2019ll have three quarters in a row over 3[percent].  We had 3.2, and a lot of people thought it would take two or three years to get there.  And we\u2019re going to be hitting 4 soon, and then we\u2019re going to be hitting 5\u2019s.  And you\u2019re going to see a big difference.  (Applause.)<\/p>\n<p>And each point, remember this \u2014 so you go up, people say, \u201cOh, what\u2019s the big deal between 2.5 and 3.5?\u201d  Well, I\u2019ll tell you.  You were below 2 \u2014 you had the slowest recovery in history.  Slowest recovery in history.  And if you take a look at the average, I think it was 1.7 or 1.8 for eight years.  The one point means $2.5 trillion.  Think of that.  One point \u2014 $2.5 trillion \u2014 and it means 10 million jobs.  Other than that, it\u2019s not a big deal, okay?  (Laughter.)<\/p>\n<p>But it\u2019s \u2014 literally, it\u2019s $2.5 trillion to the country.  We\u2019ve gained in market value, in the stock market, $8 trillion since Election Day.  I mean, that\u2019s something that\u2019s pretty amazing \u2014 $8 trillion.  And set every record in doing it.  Most days, where we had new records \u2014 you know, our stock market, I think, since election, it was 82 or 84 times where we set a new record for the stock market.<\/p>\n<p>And it\u2019s going to continue, folks, because we have a long way to go.  We have, actually, a lot of regulation-cutting to do.  And we want regulation.  You know better than anybody we need regulation.  But you don\u2019t need 17 different approvals from 17 different agencies on the same subject.  And we\u2019re doing that, and it\u2019s really been beautiful to watch.<\/p>\n<p>But we actually have a long way to go, believe it or not, because we\u2019ve gotten great credit for regulations.  I think the regulations may be almost as important as the tax cuts.  And I have some businesses that have called me and they say, \u201cWe love the tax cuts.  We\u2019re going to spend a lot of money.  But, sir, we think the regulation-cutting that you\u2019ve done might even be more important.\u201d  And I\u2019m sure you\u2019re seeing that too, or you\u2019re seeing something like that.<\/p>\n<p>So I want to thank you all for joining us in this great national effort.  Thank you for your leadership \u2014 you truly are great leaders and important leaders \u2014 friendship and partnership.  And together, we will usher in a very bold, new era of peace and prosperity.<\/p>\n<p>We\u2019re doing great.  I\u2019m going Davos right now to get people to invest in the United States.  I\u2019m going to say, \u201cCome into the United States, you have plenty of money.\u201d  But I don\u2019t think I have to go, because they\u2019re coming \u2014 they\u2019re coming at a very fast clip.<\/p>\n<p>So it\u2019s going to be an interesting time.  But they\u2019re coming back to this country.  You saw that we have Chrysler leaving Mexico \u2014 we like Mexico \u2014 and coming into Michigan.  We like that?  Nobody has seen in a long time.  (Applause.)<\/p>\n<p>And we other major car companies.  You saw Toyota and so many others; they\u2019re coming back into the United States, and they\u2019re building big plants.  And that \u2014 all it means to me is money for our people, lower taxes.  And what it really means is jobs.<\/p>\n<p>So, people have not seen this in decades.  And I think, in the end, they will never have seen anything like what\u2019s happening with our country.<\/p>\n<p>So, again, I would like to thank you all.  You\u2019re very, very important to the future of this country.  You\u2019ve done a fantastic job.  So many friends and so many great people.  And I know you very well.  And thank you very much.  And you guys have been fantastic, and I appreciate it very much.<\/p>\n<p>Thank you.  Thank you all.  Have a good time.  (Applause.)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Washington, DC&#8230;Well, thank you very much. What a group. Some great friends, great mayors. Please sit down. We have really hardworking, brilliant people in this room. I know so much about being a mayor. We have a very good friend of mine, Dane Maxwell. Where\u2019s Dane? Dane. Stand up, Dane. We\u2019ve been together a long [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":13330,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_cbd_carousel_blocks":"[]","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[20,5,1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-51758","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-featured","category-government","category-news","last_archivepost"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/whitehouselogo200.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/51758","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=51758"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/51758\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/13330"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=51758"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=51758"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=51758"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}