{"id":80708,"date":"2019-05-24T08:39:52","date_gmt":"2019-05-24T15:39:52","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/69.46.6.243\/?p=80708"},"modified":"2019-05-24T08:39:52","modified_gmt":"2019-05-24T15:39:52","slug":"president-trump-on-supporting-americas-farmers-and-ranchers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/?p=80708","title":{"rendered":"President Trump on Supporting America\u2019s Farmers and Ranchers"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Washington, DC&#8230;Okay, well, thank you very much.  Great honor to be here with some of the most incredible people in our country \u2014 people that have been with me from the beginning and I\u2019ve been with them from the absolute beginning.  The relationship has been very good.  So we\u2019re here with the vital action support for the American farmers: people that we love; people that have been going for a long time and they\u2019ve done really well, and they have ups and they have downs.  It\u2019s a wild business, but you wouldn\u2019t trade it for anything.  I know that, right?  I know that, a hundred percent.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" id=\"ls_embed_1558712130\" src=\"https:\/\/livestream.com\/accounts\/300260\/events\/6414191\/videos\/191612484\/player?width=640&#038;height=360&#038;enableInfo=true&#038;defaultDrawer=&#038;autoPlay=true&#038;mute=false\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" frameborder=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\" allowfullscreen> <\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>Nancy Pelosi&#8217;s Speech above and the President&#8217;s Speech is below&#8230;<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" width=\"853\" height=\"480\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/g_wiSOe0G2k\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>We\u2019re grateful to be joined by Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue.  Sonny, thank you very much.  Sonny, great job.  Come here.<\/p>\n<p>Thanks also to Representatives G.T. Thompson.  Thank you.  Thank you very much.  Lloyd Smucker and Mike Conway.  Thank you, fellas.  Appreciate it very much.  Been very helpful.  Along with Missouri Agricultural Director Chris Chinn.  Thank you, Chris.  Great job.<\/p>\n<p>Also with us today are several of our nation\u2019s greatest farmers, including American Farm Bureau President Zippy Duvall.  Zippy.  Oh, Zippy has been so good to me.  Thank you, Zippy.  I appreciate it very much.  Along with members of the farm groups representing producers of corn, soybeans, wheat, and pork.<\/p>\n<p>For years, our politicians have allowed other countries to steal our jobs, punish our workers, and target American industry and American agriculture.  I can\u2019t say this is just the Democrats, but, in particular, the Democrats have done absolutely nothing about this.<\/p>\n<p>From the year 2001, when China joined the World Trade Organization \u2014 which was, by the way, a disaster \u2014 until the year 2016, the United States lost more than 60,000 factories and millions and millions of jobs.  China imposed massive barriers to American farm products \u2014 you people know that very well, right? \u2014 very well \u2014 and engaged in the theft of trade secrets from American agri-business.<\/p>\n<p>We racked up nearly $4 trillion in trade deficits in goods with China during those years.  And the numbers are absolutely astounding \u2014 what\u2019s been happening over the last 10 years in particular.  But you go back 30 years and you wouldn\u2019t even believe it.<\/p>\n<p>This was a massive transfer of wealth from the United States to China, financing China\u2019s infrastructure, commerce, technology, and military.  And you\u2019ve heard me say it many, many times before: We helped rebuild China.<\/p>\n<p>You\u2019ve also heard me say I don\u2019t blame the Chinese.  I blame the people that were standing right here before me and their representatives to allow that to happen, to allow China to get along and be able to do that.  And they did it like nobody else has ever done it before.  And you know the United States has been taken advantage of for many years by many countries, but nobody has done it like China.<\/p>\n<p>To end these chronic trading abuses, my administration took necessary and very lawful action to protect America\u2019s economy, security, and farms.  We\u2019re taking swift action to remedy all of the injustice that\u2019s been done over the years \u2014 in particular, you could say with our farmers.  They\u2019re patriots.  They stood up and they were with me.  They didn\u2019t say, \u201cOh, you shouldn\u2019t do this because we\u2019re going to have a bad year.\u201d  Because they\u2019ve had 20 bad years, if you really look.  You take a look at those charts way back \u2014 longer than that.  It\u2019s just been a steady spiral down.<\/p>\n<p>So we will ensure that our farmers get the relief they need and very, very quickly.  It\u2019s a good time to be a farmer; we\u2019re going to make sure of that.<\/p>\n<p>So, today, I\u2019m announcing that I have directed Secretary Perdue to provide $16 billion in assistance to America\u2019s farmers and ranchers.  It all comes from China.  We\u2019ll be taking in, over a period of time, hundreds of billions of dollars in tariffs and charges to China.  And our farmers will be greatly helped.  We want to get them back to the point where they would have had if they had a good year.<\/p>\n<p>This support for farmers will be paid for by the billions of dollars our Treasury takes in.  We\u2019ll be taking in \u2014 depending on what period of time we\u2019re talking \u2014 many billions of dollars.  Far more than the $16 billion that we\u2019re talking about.  But the $16 billion in funds will help keep our cherished farms thriving and make clear that no country has veto on America\u2019s economic and national security.  Can\u2019t let that happen ever.<\/p>\n<p>And if you remember, not so long ago, during the time of our negotiation \u2014 and China broke the deal with us, and that\u2019s okay.  That\u2019s fine.  But during that time of negotiation, if everyone remembers, we had periods where China would target our farms, right?  They would actually target.  They took a \u2014 an ad in a newspaper from Iowa \u2014 big ad \u2014 saying lots of bad things about the administration, about the fact that we\u2019re negotiating too tough; we\u2019re not going to make a deal.<\/p>\n<p>But they steal intellectual property by the billions.  Somebody estimated it at $300 billion.  Nobody knows how you estimate it but somebody does.  They say $300 billion a year in theft \u2014 intellectual property theft.  So we can\u2019t let that happen.<\/p>\n<p>Our economy is booming.  Our nation is prospering.  And now is the time to insist on fair and reciprocal trade for our workers and for our farmers.<\/p>\n<p>I remain hopeful that, at some point, we\u2019ll probably get together with China.  If it happens, great.  If it doesn\u2019t happen, that\u2019s fine.  That\u2019s absolutely fine.  And I look forward \u2014 I\u2019ll be seeing President Xi at the G20, very shortly.  Many of you are going to be there, many of the media present \u2014 you\u2019ll be at the meeting.  And we look forward to that.<\/p>\n<p>But in the meantime \u2014 and maybe for a long time \u2014 I appreciate the incredible bipartisan support that my administration has had on trade and trade policy, especially as it pertains to placing very massive tariffs on China.  And just so you understand: These tariffs are paid for largely by China.  A lot of people like to say by \u201cus.\u201d  In fact, Larry Kudlow was quoted but they didn\u2019t have the second part of his quote, which was a very good quote.  China subsidizes a lot of businesses.  And China came out, and, in subsidizing the business, they pay for a big portion of that tax.<\/p>\n<p>But right now, a lot of companies are moving out of China because of the tax.  They\u2019re moving to non-tariffed countries.  So it\u2019s a bad thing for China.  We don\u2019t want that, but that\u2019s just the way it works out.<\/p>\n<p>But we\u2019re taking in tremendous amounts of tariffs.  And you don\u2019t have to pay, by the way, tariffs for companies when they move into the United States.  You move to the United States; it\u2019s very simple business: There are no tariffs to pay.  And many companies are already plan \u2014 and planning to move back to the United States, or to move to the United States for the first time so they don\u2019t have to pay the 25 percent tariff.  But they\u2019re moving to Vietnam; they\u2019re moving to other places.  But we\u2019ll get plenty of them.<\/p>\n<p>Our country must maintain a united front to achieve maximum results for our people.  Very simple.  For years, farm income has declined.  And we\u2019re talking about many years.  This year, however \u2014 and I was a little surprised to see this because I know that there\u2019s been really a trade attack on our great farmers.  Net farm income, because our economy is doing so well, is forecast to be nearly $8 billion higher than in 2016.  Did you know that?  You\u2019re doing better than you were doing in 2016.  Nobody told me that.  But that\u2019s because our economy has been so strong.  Our economy is about as good as it\u2019s ever been, maybe better than it\u2019s ever been.<\/p>\n<p>And the agricultural exports are expected to be $10 billion more than in 2016.  It\u2019s not bad.  You\u2019ve done a good job.  Huh?  We both have.  We all have.  The farmers have.<\/p>\n<p>So we\u2019re fixing broken trade deals to open up markets for American exports, including with the brand new U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement, an agreement that the Democrats in Congress, many are supporting, I must say.  They\u2019ve told us they\u2019re supporting it regardless of leadership.  I don\u2019t think Nancy Pelosi understands the deal.  It\u2019s too complicated.  But it\u2019s not a complicated deal.  It\u2019s actually not a complicated deal.<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s a deal that\u2019s going to be many, many times better than NAFTA.  I consider NAFTA to be one of the worst trade deals ever made in the history of our country.  I think the World Trade Organization, Larry Kudlow, may be even worse.  It may be even worse because of what it\u2019s done with respect to trade and international trade, and trade with China \u2014 what it\u2019s done for China and how much money our country has been losing to China every year.  So, World Trade Organization has been really bad, but the NAFTA has been one of \u2014 one of the worst deals ever made in trade.<\/p>\n<p>Just last week, we reached an agreement with Canada and Mexico to lift major tariffs on American agriculture, and we opened up the beef exports with Japan.  Did you know that?  Right?  That\u2019s a big deal.  So we opened it up with Japan.  First time ever.  So, beef is now going to be starting to flow to Japan.  And our folks that do beef, they are very much happy.  They were shocked to see that one, but it\u2019s happening.  It\u2019s happening fast.<\/p>\n<p>And I think things, probably, are going to happen with China fast because I can\u2019t imagine that they can be thrilled with thousands of companies leaving their shores for other places.<\/p>\n<p>We\u2019re saving our farmers and ranchers from ridiculous regulations also, and we\u2019re \u2014 as of next week, we\u2019re signing some additional voiding of some really dumb regulations, Sonny, that will make farming a lot easier, a lot better.  And one of the regulations we did, Waters of the United States rule \u2014 it sounds beautiful, but once you open the document, it\u2019s a total catastrophe.  And you know that better than anybody.  I got rid of it.  I terminated it.  It\u2019s got a beautiful title.  Everything inside is a disaster for our farmers and, actually, for our country.<\/p>\n<p>We\u2019re ensuring that ethanol remains a vital part of America\u2019s energy future, and we increased it to E15.  And that\u2019s tremendous for, in particular, for the most part, our corn farmers, for corn.  And the people in Iowa and lots of other places are very happy.  I just did it recently, and I made a promise during the campaign that I was going to do it.  And I don\u2019t know if it had an impact, but I won Iowa by a lot.  And perhaps it did; perhaps it didn\u2019t.  I don\u2019t really care.  It\u2019s the right thing to do.  So you\u2019re going to be at E15, which is something, I think, you\u2019ve been waiting for, for a long time.<\/p>\n<p>And we\u2019re going to also make that available year around.  They had it for a period of eight months; now we\u2019re going to make year around.  That was a ridiculous rule.<\/p>\n<p>We\u2019re fighting for rural broadband, improving rural healthcare, and bringing new prosperity to distressed rural communities through Opportunity Zones.  Opportunity Zones \u2014 Tim Scott and I and others have worked so hard on Opportunity Zones.  They\u2019re really working, far greater than anyone thought, including me.<\/p>\n<p>People are coming in, they\u2019re investing large amounts of money in places that they would have never invested before \u2014 inner-city locations and others.  And it\u2019s been incredible.  It\u2019s one of the reasons our African American unemployment is the lowest ever.  Hispanic, Asian, the lowest ever.  We have the lowest unemployment rates ever.<\/p>\n<p>And we have today \u2014 literally today \u2014 I just saw another report; it\u2019s been this way for a while \u2014 the most people working in the history of our country, working today.  So that\u2019s really great.<\/p>\n<p>Mike, I mean, if you look at that, that\u2019s pretty good news, right?<\/p>\n<p>So our nation will always be proud of the unmatched grit and faith and skill of the American farmer.  It\u2019s my honor to do what we did.  I want to thank Sonny Perdue and all of the people that worked so hard on getting this done.  It\u2019s being implemented right now.  Billions of dollars is already flowing into our treasury that we never saw before.  We never saw 10 cents from China.  China didn\u2019t give us anything.  Now they\u2019re giving us billions.  And some of that money is going to go to the farmers to help them out during a period where trade has been very unfair to them.<\/p>\n<p>So I\u2019m very honored to have done this for you.  And I don\u2019t consider it a gift at all.  It\u2019s not a gift.<\/p>\n<p>You know, in one of the meetings, I talk about it.  I\u2019ve never seen anything like it.  About six months ago, I was with the American farmer, and I had about 25 of them in the Cabinet Room.  And I said, \u201cWell, you know, maybe what we can do during the trade\u201d \u2014 this was in the midst of a big portion of trade with China.  In the meantime, China agreed to buy a tremendous amount of soybeans.  But this was before that.  And they were really going, and they were \u2014 as I said, they were advertising and doing a lot of negative things to our farmer.<\/p>\n<p>And I said, \u201cYou know what we\u2019ll do?  We\u2019re going to do a subsidy program.  We\u2019re going to help you.\u201d  And one of the farmers looked at me and said, \u201cWe don\u2019t want subsidy, sir.\u201d  I said, \u201cWhat are you talking about, you don\u2019t want subsidy?  Everybody is asking me for subsidy.\u201d  Everybody, Sonny, is asking us for money.  They don\u2019t care what you call it; they all want money.  (Laughter.)  And they didn\u2019t want money.<\/p>\n<p>He said, \u201cJust give us a flat table.  Just give us a level playing field.\u201d  He said, \u201cWe don\u2019t want any handouts.  We don\u2019t want subsidies.  We don\u2019t want anything, sir.  Just give us a level playing field.\u201d  And I said, \u201cI can\u2019t believe you\u2019re saying it.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Literally, I\u2019ve been with so many different groups.  And if I said I\u2019m going to give you subsidy or I\u2019m going to give you money, they jump they\u2019re so happy.  Your people did not want it.  You understand exactly what they talk \u2014 you, the potato man.<\/p>\n<p>MR. MOSS:  Yes, I do.  (Laughs.)<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  Right?  They don\u2019t want it.  Because nobody can compete with us.  Nobody has the equipment we have.  Nobody has the skill we have.  And I would say nobody has the soil and land we have.  Wouldn\u2019t you say that?<\/p>\n<p>So we\u2019re giving them a level playing field, and we\u2019re helping out a little bit during a time of trade.  I don\u2019t want to say \u201cwar\u201d because I don\u2019t think it\u2019s a war.  It\u2019s a war \u2014 if it\u2019s a war, we\u2019re winning it very big.  But we\u2019re taking in a lot of money.  We\u2019re going to help out our farmers, and we\u2019re giving them that level playing field that\u2019s so important.<\/p>\n<p>So I want to thank all of the farmers for being with us, and I want to thank our great congressmen and senators that have been so fantastic.<\/p>\n<p>God bless America\u2019s farms.  God bless our country.  And again, thank you, Sonny and Larry, and all of the people that worked so hard on getting this done.  We\u2019re in a very strong position.  Our economy has never been better.<\/p>\n<p>Okay, thank you all very much.<\/p>\n<p>Yeah, go ahead.<\/p>\n<p>Q    A couple questions.  You mentioned the USCMA.  Can you explain why you don\u2019t think, one, that Pelosi understands the deal?  And, two, why don\u2019t you \u2014 why doesn\u2019t your administration send that text to Pelosi and force her hand and start the clock on that vote?<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  Well, they\u2019re being very nice to her because they really \u2014 you know, she\u2019s a mess.  Look, let\u2019s face it: She doesn\u2019t understand it.  And they sort of feel she\u2019s disintegrating before their eyes.  She does not understand it.  They want to have her understand it before we \u2014 it\u2019s finished, it\u2019s signed.  As you know, Mexico has approved the deal.  Canada has approved the deal.  And they\u2019re waiting to get a signal for her.<\/p>\n<p>Now, I would say this: The farmers should start talking to the Democrats in the House.  The Senate is ready to approve it \u2014 the Republican Senate.  But the Democrat House is not.  Pelosi does not understand the bill.  She doesn\u2019t understand it.  Even though unions are in favor of it, farmers, manufac- \u2014 everybody, just about, is in favor of it.  It\u2019s a replacement for, as I said, the worst trade deal ever made.<\/p>\n<p>So she\u2019s got to get up to snuff, learn the bill.  And, by the way, I think she wants to approve it \u2014 I think.<\/p>\n<p>But, so Bob Lighthizer, who you can speak to you if you want, he\u2019s waiting to get the okay from her to send it in.  But we\u2019re at a point where we\u2019re just going to have to send it in.  It\u2019s all ready.<br \/>\nQ     How long will you wait, sir?<br \/>\nTHE PRESIDENT:  Well, he said she\u2019d like to have two weeks to get to know the bill.  I think that\u2019s a long time.  I think it\u2019s a \u2014 it\u2019s a do-nothing Congress.  The Democrats have done nothing in the House.  They\u2019ve done absolutely nothing.  They don\u2019t get \u2014 I mean, other than investigate.  They want to, \u201cLet\u2019s investigate.\u201d<br \/>\nAfter the Mueller report came out \u2014 no collusion, no obstruction, no nothing \u2014 \u201cLet\u2019s start it all over again.\u201d  They weren\u2019t too happy, so they want to just keep it going.  And what that does is it takes up tremendous time and energy.  And they\u2019ve done absolutely \u2014 I mean, it\u2019s just been a \u2014 it\u2019s been very bad.  So, if they don\u2019t get the USMCA, that would be very sad.<br \/>\nJeff.<\/p>\n<p>Q     Speaker Pelosi said today she hoped your family would conduct an intervention.<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  Yeah.<\/p>\n<p>Q     What\u2019s your reaction to that?<br \/>\nTHE PRESIDENT:  No, I saw her read it perfectly, just the way she said it.  It\u2019s a very, very \u2014 sort of a nasty type statement.<\/p>\n<p>But I will say this: She said I walked into the room, right next door, yesterday, and walked in and started screaming and yelling.  Just the opposite.  Just the opposite.  Because I know that they will always say that, even if it didn\u2019t happen \u2014 because this happened once before.  I walked out; I was so calm.  You all saw me minutes later.  I was at a news conference.  I was extremely calm.  I was probably even more so in that room.<\/p>\n<p>So, I walked into the Cabinet Room.  You had the group: Cryin\u2019 Chuck, Crazy Nancy.  I tell you what: I\u2019ve been watching her, and I have been watching her for a long period of time.  She\u2019s not the same person.  She\u2019s lost it.<\/p>\n<p>Now, as far as the group is concerned \u2014 where is Sarah?  Kellyanne?  Where are you?  Come here a minute.  You were in that room.  Kellyanne.  You were in the room.  Sarah was in the room.  Mercedes was in the room yesterday.<\/p>\n<p>So I just want to let you know: Every time I go into a room, if there aren\u2019t cameras, they come out and say, \u201cOh, he was yelling.  He was screaming.\u201d<br \/>\nKellyanne, what was my temperament, yesterday, in the room?<\/p>\n<p>MS. CONWAY:  Very calm.  No temper tantrum.  I told the Facts First crowd if they published that you were fuming, temper tantrum, rage, lost it \u2014 that that\u2019s just a lie, because everyone was there.  I\u2019m sure somebody has it on tape too.  But you were very calm.  Stood at the edge of the Cabinet table.<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  They have it on tape someplace?<\/p>\n<p>MS. CONWAY:  Sure.<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  Good.  That\u2019d be good.<\/p>\n<p>MS. CONWAY:  Cabinet \u2014 you stood at the end of the table, stated your case.<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  And he doesn\u2019t \u2014 Peter doesn\u2019t want to hear this, by the way.  He wants to ask another one.<\/p>\n<p>MS. CONWAY:  But the headlines are written (inaudible).<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  Because he doesn\u2019t \u2014 he\u2019s fake news.  But go ahead.<\/p>\n<p>MS. CONWAY:  And, by the way, sir \u2014 Mr. President, why would you have to raise your voice?  You said to them, when you were done, \u201cThere are two tracks.  Come back and we\u2019ll talk about infrastructure.\u201d  You made that very clear.  We\u2019re working on infrastructure, drug pricing \u2014<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  We had the meeting set up.  Right.<\/p>\n<p>MS. CONWAY:  \u2014 USMCA.  You made that very clear to them.<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  And I just don\u2019t know what she\u2019s going to do with USMCA.  It\u2019s going to be one of the great trade deals of all time.  And, frankly, if we didn\u2019t have tariffs, we would never have a deal like this, because when Canada, when Mexico said they\u2019re not going to agree to certain points, I said, \u201cThat\u2019s okay, we\u2019re just going to tariff your nation.  We\u2019re going to tariff your \u2014 either you\u2019re going to agree or not.\u201d  It\u2019s a great deal.  In fact, you know, your friends on the other side of the border, they started striking and picketing.  So that\u2019s usually not a good sign for the other side, right?<\/p>\n<p>We made a great deal.  But whether or not Pelosi understands it, or whether \u2014 I don\u2019t think she\u2019s capable right now of understanding it.  I think she\u2019s got a lot of problems.<\/p>\n<p>Mercedes, you were in the room yesterday.  I walked in, and I would say, in this voice, I said, \u201cNot right what you did.  And calling a meeting like this wasn\u2019t right.\u201d  And so I said, \u201cSo I\u2019m going to postpone it or call it off.  But you can focus on one thing: You shouldn\u2019t go down two tracks at the same time.\u201d  Because they can\u2019t.  They\u2019re so \u2014 the whole Democrat Party is very messed up.  They have never recovered from the great election of 2016 \u2014 an election that I think you folks liked very much, right?<\/p>\n<p>Well, Nancy Pelosi was not happy about it.  And she is a mess.<\/p>\n<p>Let me ask you this, Mercedes \u2014 you\u2019re always a straight talker: You were in that room yesterday?<\/p>\n<p>MS. SCHLAPP:  Yes, sir.<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  What was my attitude when I walked in?  Did I ever scream?<\/p>\n<p>MS. SCHLAPP:  No, you were \u2014 no, you were very calm and you were very direct.  And you sent a very firm message to the Speaker and to the Democrats.  And it\u2019s very discouraging and disgraceful to see that the Speaker would decide, an hour before coming to the White House, to make those comments, call it that there\u2019s a cover-up, and then stride into the White House and expect there to be an constructive meeting.<\/p>\n<p>You know, we want to solve these big issues of infrastructure.  We want to solve these big issues of USMCA.  You, yourself, have tried time and time again to negotiate and work with them on issues like border security, which they call a \u201cmanufactured crisis.\u201d  And it\u2019s time for them to wake up and to stop waging this political war and these endless investigations, and start to really find the solutions that the American people are looking for, that our farmers are looking for.<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  Right.  And I think it\u2019s going to be very hard for Nancy Pelosi to stop that.  Now, they\u2019re a do-nothing group of people.  The Democrats have done nothing, other than obstruct.  They\u2019re obstructing this country, but they are obstructing.  And it\u2019ll be interesting to see whether or not they approve the USMCA, which we need.<\/p>\n<p>Is Sarah there?  Sarah?<\/p>\n<p>MS. CONWAY:  She was called out.<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  Larry, were you at the meeting?<\/p>\n<p>MR. KUDLOW:  Yes, sir.<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  Oh, fantastic.  The great Larry Kudlow.  Could you come here, please?  You\u2019re not afraid of television, I know that.  Larry has done more live television.  Maybe Regis has you by a little bit, right?  Not by much.<\/p>\n<p>Larry, you were at the meeting yesterday, right?<\/p>\n<p>MR. KUDLOW:  Yes, sir.<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  So they have this narrative that they want to put out.  Because I saw Cryin\u2019 Chuck yesterday.  And he went out, and he said, \u201cHe was stomping, and he was this and that and\u2026\u201d  Larry, you were there.  There were many people there, by the way.  Many people.  We can get you 25 \u2014 20 other people to say this.  What was my attitude, yesterday, at the meeting?<\/p>\n<p>MR. KUDLOW:  Mercy is right.  Kellyanne is right.  You were very calm and you laid out the case.  You had a lot of numbers of what you contributed in terms of paperwork and witnesses and so forth.<\/p>\n<p>While you were there, they didn\u2019t say anything.  The Speaker didn\u2019t say anything.  And you left; you made your case.<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  That\u2019s all it was.  Very calm, very \u2014<\/p>\n<p>MR. KUDLOW:  Much calmer than some of our trade meetings.  (Laughter.)<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  I would say calm like I was at news conference minutes ago \u2014 minutes later.<\/p>\n<p>MS. CONWAY:  Mr. President, if I could say one more thing.<\/p>\n<p>When the 12 Democrats were here on April 30th for the first meeting, they went out to the sticks and addressed the press.  And I think you should go back and play Speaker Pelosi\u2019s comments from that day because she made very clear that it was a productive, constructive move toward infrastructure.<\/p>\n<p>And some of you asked her, \u201cHow will you investigate him and work on infrastructure?\u201d  And she said, \u201cWe didn\u2019t talk about investigations.  We\u2019re here to talk about infrastructure.\u201d  So that changed yesterday, an hour before she came here.<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  And there\u2019s really \u2014 if you look at it \u2014 hi, Sarah.  We\u2019re just talking about the meeting.  You were there yesterday?<\/p>\n<p>MS. SANDERS:  Yes, sir.<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  Were you?<\/p>\n<p>MS. SANDERS:  Yes.<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  Just come forward.  Does anybody know Sarah Huckabee Sanders?  (Laughter.)  Sarah, we\u2019re just talking about the meeting yesterday.  The narrative was I was screaming and ranting and raving, and it was terrible.  And I watched Nancy and she was all crazy yesterday.  She \u2014 with the hands and everything.  She reminded me of Beto.  She actually reminded me of Beto.  (Laughter.)  Maybe a little bit worse.<\/p>\n<p>Just out curiosity \u2014 you were there \u2014 what was my tone yesterday at the meeting?<\/p>\n<p>MS. SANDERS:  Very calm.  I\u2019ve seen both \u2014 (laughter) \u2014 and this was definitely not angry or ranting.  Very calm and straightforward and clear that we have to actually get to work and do good things for the American people.  And it\u2019s going to be impossible to do that if we\u2019re spending all of our time fighting.  So, yeah.<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  I couldn\u2019t have been more calm.  I then respectfully said, \u201cSorry to inconvenience you.\u201d  And I left the room.  I then went directly to the press conference, right?<\/p>\n<p>MS. SANDERS:  Yes, sir.<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  The reason I asked them to say it \u2014 because this happened to me once before with the same group.   Cryin\u2019 Chuck.  I don\u2019t want to say \u201cCrazy Nancy,\u201d because if I say that, you\u2019re going to say it\u2019s a copy of \u201cCrazy Bernie,\u201d and that\u2019s no good, because he \u2014 Bernie is definitely crazy.<\/p>\n<p>But \u2014 but I did it because we had this instance at least once before where I was very, very calm on another occasion.  And they walked out to the sticks and they said it was horrible.  \u201cHe was ranting.  He was raving.  He was pounding the table.\u201d  The reason I didn\u2019t do that was because I didn\u2019t want to them to say I would do that, but they said it anyway.  And so I thought they may say it again.<\/p>\n<p>So I\u2019m very glad that you all saw \u2014 were you there, Hogan?  You know about it.<\/p>\n<p>MR. GIDLEY:  No, but I\u2019ve seen the first one, Mr. President.  And that accusation that you pounded your fists \u2014 and I\u2019ll be honest, you have every right to do that.  We face a crisis on our southern border and they\u2019ve done nothing.  They have not worked with you.  All they\u2019ve done is mocked and derided you.<\/p>\n<p>In fact, calling us \u201cliars\u201d \u2014 calling you a liar,\u201d for calling out exactly what\u2019s happening at the southern border.  You laid it out \u2014 the case \u2014 to them.  They refused to work with you then and they\u2019re refusing to work you now.<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  These are bad people.  You know, a lot of people say \u201cdeep state.\u201d  I don\u2019t say \u201cdeep state.\u201d  We have a lot of bad people and I think they\u2019re being found out.<\/p>\n<p>I think right now \u2014 I saw where Comey is blaming this one and Brennan is blaming another one.  And they\u2019re going against each other.  And Clapper, I think, yesterday, maybe is blaming President Obama.  Oh.  So, surprised to see that happening.  We got a lot of bad people.  We got a lot of bad people and it\u2019s a shame.<\/p>\n<p>But I said to everybody \u2014 before I walked in, I said, \u201cI\u2019m going to be very calm because I don\u2019t want them going out to the press and saying that I was anything but calm.\u201d  So I was extremely calm, very much like I am right now.<\/p>\n<p>And it was sad when I watched Nancy, all moving \u2014 the movement and the hands and the craziness \u2014 and I watched \u2014 that\u2019s, by the way, a person that\u2019s got some problems.  But when I watched that this morning \u2014 then I went over to Arlington National Cemetery for a very beautiful moment with the First Lady.  But I watched that this morning, and it\u2019s just a narrative they want to put out.  And I think it\u2019s pretty sad when they have to play that kind of narrative.  I think it\u2019s a very sad thing for our country.<\/p>\n<p>Yes, Peter.<\/p>\n<p>Q    Mr. President, a couple of questions I want to ask you about the disaster aid bill and about John Walker Lindh.  But first, just to confirm some details as it relates to Nancy Pelosi.  She says that you \u201cwant to be impeached.\u201d  Do you want to be impeached?<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  I don\u2019t think anybody wants to be impeached.  But I\u2019ll tell you what, we went through two years of Bob Mueller with 18 people that hated Donald Trump.  Many of them contributed to Hillary Clinton\u2019s campaign.  One of them, in particular \u2014 Weissmann.  Eighteen prosecutors.  FBI agents all over the place.  Five hundred interviews.  One thousand four hundred pages of documents that I gave.  I didn\u2019t use presidential prerogatives or anything having to do with the powers of the presidency.  I let everybody go up and speak, including the Counsel \u2014 White House Counsel.  I let him speak for 30 hours, as they tell me \u2014 30, 32 hours.<\/p>\n<p>I never once said \u2014 I could have stopped them very \u2014 I could have said, \u201cNo, I don\u2019t want White House Counsel to speak.  I don\u2019t want Sarah Huckabee to speak\u201d \u2014 who went up there also, I believe.  Everybody.  I didn\u2019t have to let any of them go.<\/p>\n<p>Now maybe I would have lost in court.  I doubt it.  Everyone tells me I had total \u2014 the total power to have that stopped.<\/p>\n<p>With all of that, after two years: no collusion and findings that strongly led a great Attorney General to be able to rule no obstruction.<\/p>\n<p>Okay, now I thought it was over.  And now, Jerry Nadler \u2014 who I\u2019ve fought for a long period of my life because he\u2019s from Manhattan.  He\u2019s a Manhattan congressman \u2014 and, before that, something else.  But I fought him in one \u2014 I fought him very successfully.<\/p>\n<p>And as I said yesterday, lo and behold, I come down to Washington as President and who do I have again?  Jerry Nadler.  I know him well.  I\u2019ve had great success against Jerry and I will again.<\/p>\n<p>But it\u2019s very unfair when you go through the House and then the House again.  And then you go through the Senate and then you go through FBI.  You have foreign countries, it sounds like, involved.<\/p>\n<p>With all of this: no collusion, no obstruction.  And I thought it was over and we can focus on the USMCA for the farmers.  And instead they want all the same papers that have just been gone over with.<\/p>\n<p>Now, I would imagine that Mueller went over my financials.  He spent $40 million, so I would imagine they went over my taxes, my financials, my everything.  But now we have to go over it again.<\/p>\n<p>I\u2019ve been doing this for two and a half years.  They started, in my opinion \u2014 we\u2019ll find out because I think people \u2014 a lot of people want to find out \u2014 I think it started moments after I came down that beautiful escalator in Trump Tower.  So I\u2019ve been under investigation \u2014 a phony investigation based on no facts, based on an overthrow of the President.  And I\u2019m very proud of the way we\u2019ve come out.  Very proud.<\/p>\n<p>But now, Peter, we have to go through it again.  The American public is not standing for it.  I saw some polls this morning: 60, 65 percent against.  And that\u2019s with a lot of Democrats.  So I think it\u2019s a bad thing for our country.<\/p>\n<p>But I thought it was over with four or five weeks ago, when you had no collusion.  And now, all of a sudden, we continue to go down this path.  I don\u2019t think people are going to stand for it.<\/p>\n<p>Q    The release of the so-called \u201cAmerican Taliban,\u201d John Walker Lindh, today \u2014 what\u2019s your reaction?<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  I don\u2019t like it at all.  This was a judge that gave a 17- or a 20-year sentence and he got some time off.<\/p>\n<p>And believe it or not, about two weeks ago, I went to the best lawyers in our country that work for government.  I said, \u201cWhat could we do about this?\u201d  Because I heard about this two weeks ago.  I got a beautiful letter from the daughter of the first man \u2014 they say \u2014 killed in Afghanistan, from the CIA.<\/p>\n<p>And I went and checked.  And he said, \u201cFrom a legal standpoint there is nothing we\u2019re allowed to do\u201d \u2014 because if there was, I would have done it instantly.  But we\u2019ll be watching him.  We\u2019ll be watching him closely.<\/p>\n<p>What bothers me more than anything else is that here is a man who has not given up his proclamation of terror and we have to let him out.<\/p>\n<p>Am I happy about it?  Not even a little bit.  The lawyers have gone through it with a fine-tooth comb.  If there was a way to break that, I would have broken it in two seconds.  I knew about it very well.<\/p>\n<p>Q    Do you support the disaster relief bill that includes no immigration money?<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  Well, we\u2019re going to get the immigration money later, according to everybody.  I have to take care of my farmers with the disaster relief.  If I didn\u2019t do that, we were \u2014 I mean, really, it\u2019s a long time in coming.<\/p>\n<p>This way, our farmers from not only Georgia, Alabama, different places, some in Florida \u2014 but if you look at what happened in Nebraska and Iowa and a lot of different places, they got wiped out.  They got hurt badly.  And I didn\u2019t want to hold that up any longer.<\/p>\n<p>So the answer is: I totally support it.  I\u2019d like to see it happen.  We\u2019ll take care of the immigration later.  The wall is being built.  We just left the Army Corps of Engineers.  We have \u2014 we will soon have hundreds of miles under construction and we\u2019ll have way over 400 miles completed by the end of next year.<\/p>\n<p>Q    Mr. President, why should importers\u2019 money go to American farmers?<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  Because the American farmers have been used as a vehicle for China to try and hurt our country \u2014<\/p>\n<p>Q    But you\u2019ll (inaudible)?<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  \u2014 and they\u2019ve been very brave.<\/p>\n<p>No, they \u2014 in particular, the farmer.  They\u2019ve been very, very brave.  They\u2019ve been very patriotic.  But China has openly stated they\u2019re going to use the farmer.  The reason is because I got the farmer\u2019s votes.  You look at a map; it\u2019s all red, meaning Republican, meaning Trump.  It\u2019s all red in the middle states, as you know.  It\u2019s got a little blue here and a little blue there.<\/p>\n<p>So farmer \u2014 so if you look at \u2014 I guess, China is probably \u2014 they\u2019re definitely a smart player.  They went out and they said, \u201cWe\u2019re going to attack the farmers.\u201d  Then they did.  And the farmer said, \u201cYou know, what?  We\u2019re with our President.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I never heard \u2014 even on some of the networks and cable channels that are negative, I\u2019ve never heard anybody, any of the farmers speak badly.  They said, \u201cYou know, the\u2026\u201d \u2014 you told me that, Mike \u2014 \u201c\u2026the President has \u2014 he\u2019s doing the right thing.\u201d  They\u2019ve been unfair to this country \u2014 and they\u2019re not talking about farm; they\u2019re talking about everything.<\/p>\n<p>Q    How long are you willing to do it?<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  China has been unfair to this country for many, many years.  Finally, we have somebody that\u2019s fighting back \u2014 and, by the way, successfully fighting back.  We\u2019re talking about hundreds of billions of dollars.<\/p>\n<p>But I\u2019ve never had a farmer come out and say, \u201cYou know, I\u2019m not doing that well.\u201d  They say, \u201cJust go and do it.\u201d  You\u2019re going to end up better \u2014 much better in the end.<\/p>\n<p>And again, if you look \u2014 go back 20 years, the farms have come down; the prices have been coming down for many, many years \u2014 long before I ever thought about doing this.  So we\u2019re going to be very successful.<\/p>\n<p>But in the meantime, they have been attacked.  The farmers have been attacked by China.  And all I\u2019m doing is helping them get that beautiful, flat, nice, level playing field.  Right?<\/p>\n<p>Okay.<\/p>\n<p>Q    Thank you, Mr. President.  Would you consider sending troops to the Middle East to counter Iran, as it was reported?<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  Well, I would if we need them.  I don\u2019t think we\u2019re going to need them.  I really don\u2019t.  But I have a meeting on it in about an hour.  I would certainly send troops if we need them.<\/p>\n<p>Iran has been a very dangerous player \u2014 a very bad player.  They\u2019re a nation of terror and we won\u2019t put up with it.  The deal that was signed by President Obama was a horror show.  It\u2019s a terrible deal.<\/p>\n<p>The minute I collapsed that deal and terminated it, Iran went in a very bad direction.  They\u2019re now suffering massive problems, financially.  They have inflation that\u2019s about the highest in the world.  They\u2019re people \u2014 and they\u2019re great people.  I know many Iranians; they\u2019re great people.  But the country is in very bad shape.<\/p>\n<p>When I first came here, that was a country of terror.  They were all over.  I remember \u2014 and I\u2019ve told this story \u2014 but I\u2019ve been at many different meetings where every single problem caused in the Middle East \u2014 and maybe beyond, but in the Middle East \u2014 was caused by Iran.  They were behind every single \u2014 we had 14 different attacks at one point.  They were behind every attack.<\/p>\n<p>So we\u2019ll see what happens with Iran.  No, I don\u2019t think we\u2019ll need it.  But if we need it, we\u2019ll have \u2014 we\u2019ll be there in whatever number we need.<\/p>\n<p>Yes, ma\u2019am.<\/p>\n<p>Q    Do you think that the United States reduced its footprint in the Middle East too far and now we\u2019re needing to \u2014<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  No, I don\u2019t think so.  I don\u2019t think so.  Look, I don\u2019t think \u2014 I don\u2019t think we ever should have been there, okay?  I inherited this mess.  Should we have been there?  No.  We shouldn\u2019t have been.  Should we have gone to Iraq?  Should we have attacked Iraq, which did not knock down the World Trade Center?<\/p>\n<p>We had a place that was not conducive to terrorists, okay?  The terrorists were killed instantly in Iraq.  And now it\u2019s, you know, a tough situation.  So I think we should not have been in the Middle East.<\/p>\n<p>With that being said, we\u2019ve done a great job.  I took over the ISIS fight.  We knocked out 100 percent of the caliphate.  That doesn\u2019t mean that they\u2019re not going to blow up a store.  They\u2019re totally crazy.  But we knocked out 100 percent of the caliphate, and I did it quickly.  When I came in, President Obama had totally lost control.  He had lost control of the military.  He had lost control of the fighting.  And our military was totally depleted and in very bad shape.  These folks know that better than anybody.  They were in very bad shape.<\/p>\n<p>We will soon have the strongest military that we\u2019ve ever had, by far, and nobody is going to mess with us.<\/p>\n<p>Okay.<\/p>\n<p>Q    Can you get a trade deal with Japan relatively soon, do you think?<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  Well, I\u2019m going to meet with Japan, as you know.  I\u2019m going there on Friday.  Many of you are going to be coming with us.  And it\u2019s a very big thing going on with the Emperor.  It\u2019s something that hasn\u2019t happened in over 200 years.  I am the guest, meaning the United States is the guest.<\/p>\n<p>But Prime Minister Abe said to me, very specifically, \u201cYou are the guest of honor.\u201d  There\u2019s only one guest of honor.  \u201cYou are the guest honor,\u201d as I represent the country.  With all the countries of the world, I\u2019m the guest of honor at the biggest event that they\u2019ve had in over 200 years.<\/p>\n<p>So it\u2019s a great thing.  And we get along very well with Japan.  I get along very well with the Prime Minister.  So we\u2019re going to be spending two days over there.<\/p>\n<p>Yes, ma\u2019am.<\/p>\n<p>Q    Mr. President, is there anything that you are willing to work with Democrats on now?  Because you said the two-track thing.<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  Everything.  I\u2019d like to work with everything.  No, no \u2014 they have to go down their track.  Let them get rid of the nonsense first.  And when that\u2019s done, we\u2019ll go very quickly.  We can go very quickly.  Infrastructure is very easy.  For me, that\u2019s very easy.  But you can\u2019t go down two tracks at the same time.  It doesn\u2019t work that way.<\/p>\n<p>Q    But are you willing to work with them on the \u2014<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  Their whole focus \u2014 let me explain.  Their whole focus is on 2020 and trying to demean the Republican Party and demean the President of the United States as much as possible so that either we get his poll numbers down to a point where he can\u2019t win \u2014 except a strange thing is happening: My numbers are going up.  Someday, you\u2019ll explain that to me, Kelly.  (Laughter.)  But my numbers are going up.<\/p>\n<p>But it\u2019s very interesting.  So they either want to demean so much or they want to try and get him out of office any way we can.  I mean, you had one gentleman \u2014 Green, Congressman Green \u2014 he sounds like a real beauty.  He said, \u201cThe only way we\u2019re going to beat him is to impeach him.\u201d  How about that?  \u201cThe only way\u2026\u201d \u2014 did you see that statement, fellas?  \u201cThe only way we\u2019re going to beat him is to impeach him.\u201d  That is a terrible thing for this country.<\/p>\n<p>Q    If they\u2019re still investigating, will you raise the debt limit?  Will you sign a budget?  Will you go with the USMCA?<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  We\u2019ll see what happens.  We\u2019ll see what happens.<\/p>\n<p>Q    There\u2019s a lot of stuff.<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  I\u2019m a very capable person.  We\u2019re going to see what happens.  I can tell you this: Let them get this angst out of their belt.  And when it is, we can do things so quick your head will spin.<\/p>\n<p>And one thing they do is approve the USMCA so that we have our farmers taken care of.  And, by the way, it\u2019s not only the farmers, it\u2019s every industry \u2014 every industry.  But they can approve the USMCA so we can take care of our farmers, our industries, our auto industry.  And one of the beautiful things \u2014 (applause).  Yeah.<\/p>\n<p>One of the beautiful things about the USMCA \u2014 and, to me, the most important part \u2014 I used to talk about this 20, 25 years ago as a private person.  And for whatever reason \u2014 you\u2019ll explain this to me \u2014 I always got a lot of publicity.  So I said something \u2014 even as a private builder, or whatever I was doing at the time, I would get a lot of publicity, and without a lot of trying.<\/p>\n<p>And I was against certain things.  But if you look and you take a look back, you\u2019ll see all of the things that you\u2019re talking about and all of the things that you\u2019re asking about, I was against at that time.  And I\u2019m still against.  I haven\u2019t changed very much.  I\u2019ve been very consistent.  I\u2019m an extremely stable genius.  Okay.  (Laughter.)<\/p>\n<p>Yes.  Go ahead, Jeff.<\/p>\n<p>Q    Mr. President, you mentioned China a few times today.  Given the tension now \u2014 not only over trade, but over Huawei and technology \u2014 what likelihood is there that there will be a trade deal in the next two months?<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  Well, there\u2019s a possibility.  I think probably a good possibility.  I don\u2019t know how China can do this.  Because I\u2019ll be honest: We\u2019re getting hundreds of billions of dollars brought into our country.  We\u2019ve never gotten 10 cents.  We\u2019re getting hundreds of billions of dollars coming into our country.<\/p>\n<p>Q    But American companies are paying.<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  And I\u2019m helping the farmers.<\/p>\n<p>Q    Right?  American companies are paying.<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  But you know what?  That help is a very temporary help because they\u2019ll pay it back a hundred times over \u2014 they will \u2014 with what they do, with the importance of what they do.<\/p>\n<p>But Huawei is something that\u2019s very dangerous.  You look at what they\u2019ve done from a security standpoint, from a military standpoint.  It\u2019s very dangerous.  So it\u2019s possible that Huawei even would be included in some kind of a trade deal.  If we made a deal, I could imagine Huawei being possibly included in some form of or some part of a trade deal.<\/p>\n<p>Q    How would that look?<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  It would look very good for us.<\/p>\n<p>Q    The Huawei part, how would you design that?<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  Oh, it\u2019s too early to say.  But, I mean, we\u2019re just very concerned about Huawei, from a security standpoint right now.<\/p>\n<p>Q    Sir, the Constitution says treason is punishable by death.  You\u2019ve accused your adversaries of treason.  Who specifically are you accusing of treason?<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  Well, I think a number of people.  And I think what you look is that they have unsuccessfully tried to take down the wrong person.<\/p>\n<p>Q    Who are you speaking of?<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  If you look at Comey; if you look at McCabe; if you look at probably people \u2014 people higher than that; if you look at Strzok; if you look at his lover, Lisa Page, his wonderful lover \u2014 the two lovers, they talked openly.  You know, they didn\u2019t use their private server because they didn\u2019t want to get caught, so they used the government server.  That was not a good move.  He talked about the insurance policy, just in case Crooked Hillary loses.  And that didn\u2019t work out too well for them.<\/p>\n<p>So you look at them \u2014 they wanted an insurance policy so that should she, for any reason, lose \u2014 remember?  One hundred million-to-one.  Maybe, he said 100 million to nothing.  But should she lose, we\u2019ll have an insurance policy, and we\u2019ll get this guy out of office.<\/p>\n<p>And that\u2019s what they said, and that\u2019s what they meant.  That\u2019s treason.  That\u2019s treason.  They couldn\u2019t win the election, and that\u2019s what happened.<\/p>\n<p>And that\u2019s what\u2019s happening right now because \u2014 without the \u201ctreason\u201d word, I guess \u2014 but that\u2019s what\u2019s happening now.  They don\u2019t feel they can win the election, so they\u2019re trying to do the thousand stabs.  Keep stabbing.  Let\u2019s have a financial.  Let\u2019s have\u2026<\/p>\n<p>And if you look, for $40 million, I would think, seriously, that Bob Mueller and his group of 18 killers have gone over my taxes, they\u2019ve gone over my financial statements to a level that nobody has gone over them before.  And they were not discussed, even.  They weren\u2019t ever discussed or brought up.  I have great statements.<\/p>\n<p>Okay, what else?<\/p>\n<p>Q    You said you don\u2019t want to do a dual track.  On one hand, you don\u2019t want a dual track.  But on the other hand, you want the USMCA to pass (inaudible).<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  Well, I think things are very easy.  USMCA is finished, just so you understand.  This is a finish.  This is not even negotiate.  This is a finish.  This is a great deal for our country.  This is a great deal for our farmers, great deal for our manufacturers.<\/p>\n<p>And one of the things that was absolutely vital to me was that our companies \u2014 car companies, in particular \u2014 don\u2019t leave our country, go to Mexico, build a car, sell it into our country with no tax whatsoever, and all of our workers are fired and all of those plants are empty, like happened to Michigan, and Ohio, and Pennsylvania, and North Carolina, and Kentucky, and lots of other places.<\/p>\n<p>Guess what?  Our car industry now is thriving.  And under the USMCA, it\u2019s prohibitive to do that, financially.  It\u2019s prohibitive.  It will be a tremendous price.  Nobody will do it.  And if you look, since I\u2019ve been President, the mass exodus \u2014 they have almost 30 percent of our business in Mexico, our car business.  It\u2019s ridiculous.  It\u2019s all stopped.  It\u2019s all stopped.  Nobody is doing it.<\/p>\n<p>And now, as you saw in Ohio \u2014 great state, an unbelievable state \u2014 the only thing I had was General Motors closed Lordstown plant \u2014 this big Lordstown plant.  And I called up Mary Barra and I said, \u201cMary, you either sell it or open it.\u201d  She didn\u2019t like the way I talked to her.  I said, \u201cI don\u2019t care.   It doesn\u2019t matter to me.  You either sell that plant or open that plant.\u201d  And she sold it to a very good company, I think, that will do a good job making electric trucks.<\/p>\n<p>Okay, thank you all very much.  I appreciate it.  Thank you.  Thank you very much.  (Applause.)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Washington, DC&#8230;Okay, well, thank you very much. Great honor to be here with some of the most incredible people in our country \u2014 people that have been with me from the beginning and I\u2019ve been with them from the absolute beginning. The relationship has been very good. So we\u2019re here with the vital action support [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":80701,"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-80708","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\/2019\/05\/2019-05-23-22-03-49_thumb1.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/80708","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=80708"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/80708\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/80701"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=80708"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=80708"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=80708"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}