{"id":85238,"date":"2019-08-19T09:37:52","date_gmt":"2019-08-19T16:37:52","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/69.46.6.243\/?p=85238"},"modified":"2019-08-19T09:37:52","modified_gmt":"2019-08-19T16:37:52","slug":"president-trump-before-air-force-one-departure","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/?p=85238","title":{"rendered":"President Trump Before Air Force One Departure"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Morristown, New Jersey&#8230;So, we had a lot of meetings yesterday on Afghanistan, on the economy \u2014 which is doing very well.  We have the strongest economy, by far, in the world.  The tariffs have cost nothing, in my opinion, or certainly very little.  We have import prices from, and through, July \u2014 all the way through July.  And they\u2019re down 1.8 percent so that the import prices have actually gone down.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/BfUvZJLIqhk\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>China is eating the tariffs because of monetary manipulation.  And also, they\u2019re pouring a lot of money into their country because they don\u2019t want to lose jobs.  They\u2019re losing, as you probably know, because you reported it, but they lost over 2 million jobs in a short period of time.  And they want to make a deal; we\u2019ll see what happens.  But they definitely want to make a deal.<\/p>\n<p>I\u2019d like to see Hong Kong worked out in a very humanitarian fashion.  I hope President Xi can do it.  He sure has the ability, I can tell you that, from personal knowledge.  He certainly has the ability to do it if he wants to.  So, I\u2019d like to see that worked out in a humanitarian fashion.  I think it would be very good for the trade deal that we\u2019re talking about.<\/p>\n<p>And other than that, if you have any questions?<\/p>\n<p>Q    What\u2019s the status of your deliberations on the Afghanistan \u2014 the troop withdrawal and where things stand?<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  Well, we\u2019re looking at Afghanistan.  We\u2019re talking to Afghanistan, both the government and also talking to the Taliban, having very good discussions.  We\u2019ll see what happens.  We\u2019ve really got it down to, probably, 13,000 people.  And we\u2019ll be bringing it down a little bit more, and then we\u2019ll decide whether or not we\u2019ll be staying longer or not.  We\u2019re having very good discussions with the Taliban.  We\u2019re having very good discussions with the Afghan government.<\/p>\n<p>Q    What\u2019s the argument for staying?<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  I think just that we\u2019ve been there for 19 years.  We\u2019re like a police force.  And that\u2019s about it, frankly.<\/p>\n<p>I think it\u2019s very important that we continue intelligence there, in all cases, because it is somewhat of a nest for hitting us.  If you look at what happened with the World Trade, it essentially came out of Afghanistan.  Most of the people, I think, they may not have come from Afghanistan originally, but that\u2019s where they were taught.  So there\u2019s a big argument to be made.  And I buy that argument.<\/p>\n<p>You know, it\u2019s very tough when somebody says, \u201cWell, this is a big breeding ground.\u201d  And it is a breeding ground.  And we have things under control very well with a small force.  We can probably make it a little bit smaller, and then we\u2019ll decide.  It\u2019ll depend on the Taliban.  It\u2019ll depend on the Afghan government.  But there is a case to be made.  And the case also is that we\u2019re going to be leaving very significant intelligence behind for just the reasons I stated.<\/p>\n<p>Q    Have you spoken to President Xi, sir?<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  I can\u2019t comment on that.  Can\u2019t do it, Maggie.<\/p>\n<p>Q    Can you comment at all on where things stand in terms of the China negotiations?  You said there was progress.<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  Well, I think President Xi obviously has this in mind because he probably would\u2019ve acted faster.  So I think he has at least something in mind, having to do with trade, because it\u2019s something he could do fairly easily.  It could be, unfortunately, very ruthless.  So I do think it plays on his mind, and I do think he \u2014 he\u2019s thinking about what I\u2019ve had to say.  It would have an impact on trade; there\u2019s no question about it.<\/p>\n<p>Q    Is there any U.S. land holding that you would be willing to do in exchange \u2014<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  Little louder, Maggie.<\/p>\n<p>Q    In order to get your interest in Greenland, which has been widely reported, is there anything \u2014<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  Well, Greenland, I don\u2019t know \u2014 it got released somehow.  It\u2019s just something we talked about.  Denmark essentially owns it.  We\u2019re very good allies with Denmark.  We protect Denmark like we protect large portions of the world.  So the concept came up and I said, \u201cCertainly, I\u2019d be. Strategically, it\u2019s interesting, and we\u2019d be interested.\u201d  But we\u2019ll talk to them a little bit.  It\u2019s not number one on the burner, I can tell you that.<\/p>\n<p>Q    Would you ever make an exchange with them of any kind for U.S. territories?<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  Well, a lot of things can be done.  I mean, essentially, it\u2019s a large real estate deal.  A lot of things can be done.  It\u2019s hurting Denmark very badly because they\u2019re losing almost $700 million a year carrying it.  So they carry it at a great loss.  And, strategically, for the United States, it would be nice.  And we\u2019re a big ally of Denmark, and we help Denmark and we protect Denmark, and we will.<\/p>\n<p>In fact, I\u2019m supposed to stop.  I\u2019m thinking about going there.  I\u2019m not necessarily definitely going there, but I may be going.  We\u2019re going to Poland and then we may be going to Denmark \u2014 not for this reason at all.  But we\u2019re looking at it.  It\u2019s not number one on the burner.<\/p>\n<p>Q    Mr. President, sir, back to Afghanistan.  Two questions on that.  First of all, have you seen the reports about the suicide bomber at a wedding?  There were more than 60 people killed.  And so, why then could you trust the Taliban to keep Afghanistan safe from terrorists when you have a suicide bomber killing so many people there?<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  Well, I\u2019m not trusting anybody.  Look, I\u2019m not trusting anybody.  It\u2019s a horrible situation that\u2019s going on in Afghanistan.  It has been for many years.  Russia tried to do something.  And at the time they did it, they were the Soviet Union, and now they\u2019re Russia.  They spent all their wealth on trying to do something in that land.  There have been many, many great nations in that land.  It\u2019s a difficult territory.<\/p>\n<p>There are a lot of very good people there, I will say, but they\u2019re also good fighters.  We have it very much under control as far as what we\u2019re doing.  But the rest is \u2014 you know, a lot of bad things happen in Kabul.  A lot of bad things are happening in Afghanistan, and some very positive things.<\/p>\n<p>But we would \u2014 look, we\u2019re there for one reason: We don\u2019t want that to be a laboratory.  Okay?  It can\u2019t be a laboratory for terror.  And we\u2019ve stopped that, and we have a very, very good view.  I mean, some things are going to be announced over the next couple of weeks as to what happened, who\u2019s been taken out.  A lot of people have been taken out that were very bad \u2014 both ISIS and al Qaeda.<\/p>\n<p>Q    And Senator Lindsey Graham said that for you to withdraw the U.S. troops from Afghanistan and entrust the Taliban would be the biggest mistake since Obama\u2019s Iran nuclear deal.<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  Well, I guess that means Lindsey is a very tough man, isn\u2019t he?  Huh?<\/p>\n<p>Okay.  What else?<\/p>\n<p>Q    On Huawei \u2014 is the administration going to allow U.S. businesses to continue selling to Huawei?  Is there going to be an extension of the license tomorrow?<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  No.  That was reported.  And, actually, it\u2019s the opposite.  Huawei.  Huawei is a company we may not do business with at all.  And it was sort of reported, I think the opposite, today \u2014 I was surprised \u2014 that we are open to doing business.  We\u2019re actually open not to doing business with them.  So I don\u2019t know who gave the report.<\/p>\n<p>Now, they have little sections of Huawei, like furniture and other things that we could do.  But when you cut out sections, it gets very complicated: what\u2019s being sold, what\u2019s coming in.<\/p>\n<p>So, at this moment, it looks much more like we\u2019re not going to do business.  I don\u2019t want to do business at all, because it is a national security threat.  And I really believe that the media has covered it a little bit differently than that.  So we\u2019re looking, really, not to do business with Huawei.  And we\u2019re actually talking about not doing any business, because, again, the rest of it is not national security, but it\u2019s very difficult to determine what\u2019s coming in and what\u2019s not coming in.  It\u2019s still Huawei.  So we\u2019ll be making a decision over that in the not-too-distant future.  But it\u2019s a little bit the opposite of what seemed to be reported this morning.<\/p>\n<p>Q    How were your meetings at Bedminster, sir?  How was your meeting with Tim Cook?  Did you meet with other folks?  Who did you golf with?<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  I had a very good meeting with Tim Cook.  I have a lot of respect for Tim Cook.  And Tim was talking to me about tariffs.<\/p>\n<p>And, you know, one of the things \u2014 and he made a good case \u2014 is that Samsung is their number-one competitor, and Samsung is not paying tariffs because they\u2019re based in South Korea.  And it\u2019s tough for Apple to pay tariffs if they\u2019re competing with a very good company that\u2019s not.  I said, \u201cHow good a competitor?\u201d  He said they are a very good competitor.  So, Samsung is not paying tariffs because they\u2019re based in a different location, mostly South Korea, but they\u2019re based in South Korea.  And I thought he made a very compelling argument, so I\u2019m thinking about it.<\/p>\n<p>Q    And, sir, there\u2019s reporting on CNN that Larry Kudlow may be leaving at some point soon.  Do you have confidence in him?<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  Well, I hope not.  I love Larry Kudlow.  I think he\u2019s done a fantastic job.  He has been going through health problems, as you know.  But I watched him this morning; he was terrific.  I think Larry is a fantastic guy.  But I haven\u2019t heard that at all.<\/p>\n<p>Q    And are you doing any planning, or are you going to be directing your administration to plan for the possibility of a recession?<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  I don\u2019t see a recession.  I mean, the world is in a recession right now.  And \u2014 although, that\u2019s too big a statement.  But if you look at China, China is doing very, very poorly.  They\u2019ve had \u2014 I just saw a report \u2014 they\u2019ve had the worst year they\u2019ve had in 27 years because of what I\u2019ve done.  And they want to come to the negotiating table.  You know, they\u2019re having companies lose \u2014 I mean, they\u2019re leaving.  The companies are leaving.  And they\u2019re laying off millions of people because they don\u2019t want to pay 25 percent.  And that\u2019s why they want to come to the table.  I don\u2019t think there\u2019s another reason other than President Xi, I\u2019m sure, likes me very much.  But they\u2019re losing millions and millions of jobs in China.  And we\u2019re not paying for the tariffs; China is paying for the tariffs, for the one-hundredth time.<\/p>\n<p>And I understand tariffs work very well.  Other countries it may be that if I do things with other countries.  But in the case of China, China is eating the tariffs, at least so far.<\/p>\n<p>Q    But a lot of economists say that you should be preparing for a recession; that no President is immune from a recession, and that it\u2019s malpractice for the government not to be doing something to get ready for that scenario.<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  Yeah.  Phil, honestly, I\u2019m prepared for everything.  I don\u2019t think we\u2019re having a recession.  We\u2019re doing tremendously well.  Our consumers are rich.  I gave a tremendous tax cut, and they\u2019re loaded up with money.  They\u2019re buying.  I saw the Wal-Mart numbers; they were through the roof, just two days ago.  That\u2019s better than any poll.  That\u2019s better than any economist.<\/p>\n<p>And most economists actually say, Phil, that we\u2019re not going to have a recession.  Most of them are saying we\u2019re not going to have a recession.<\/p>\n<p>But the rest of the world is not doing well like we\u2019re doing.  The rest of the world, if you look at Germany, if you look at European Union; frankly, look at the UK \u2014 I mean, look at a lot of countries \u2014 they\u2019re not doing well.  China is doing poorly.  Parts of Asia are doing poorly.<\/p>\n<p>We are doing better than any country, or even area, anywhere in the world.  We\u2019re doing great.  And our consumer is really, really strong, and it looks like they\u2019re going to be for a long time.<\/p>\n<p>Also, when you go in and analyze the curve, the curve always means that about two years later maybe you\u2019ll go in.  That\u2019s a long time \u2014 two years.  But I don\u2019t think so.  Interest rates are low.  I think I could be helped out by the Fed, but the Fed doesn\u2019t like helping me too much.  But, you know, frankly, we have money that\u2019s pouring into our country because they want the security of the United States.<\/p>\n<p>We have billions and billions of dollars daily that\u2019s pouring in \u2014 we\u2019ve never had anything like this \u2014 because they want to come into the United States.  That\u2019s a great thing.  That means we can loan that money out.<\/p>\n<p>Mortgage rates are at an all-time low.  Borrowing costs are at an all-time low.  It\u2019s probably a great time.  I told Secretary Mnuchin that this is a great time to refinance our bonds, or some of our bonds.<\/p>\n<p>You know, it\u2019s \u2014 I mean, the money is pouring into the U.S. like never before and like no other country has ever experienced, including China money.  I mean, China money \u2014 everybody \u2014 they\u2019re all coming into the U.S.  So we\u2019ve never had anything like it.  I think our economy is very, very good.<\/p>\n<p>Q    But if it were to slow down, could you win reelection?<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  Well, I\u2019d be prepared for it.  We can do \u2014 sure, we can do a lot of things.  But if it slowed down, it would be because I have to take on China and some other countries.<\/p>\n<p>Look, you have other countries that are just as bad as China, the way they treat us.  You take a look at what\u2019s happening with the European Union; they have barriers, they have tariffs.  Take a look at other \u2014 I\u2019m not going to mention all the countries because you\u2019ll be surprised.  But we\u2019re treated very badly \u2014 a lot of them by our allies.  We\u2019re treated very badly.<\/p>\n<p>When all of that normalizes, we\u2019ve got a rocket ship.  Our country is going to be stronger, by far, than ever before.  I mean, if I wanted to make a bad deal and settle on China, the market would go up but it wouldn\u2019t be the right thing to do.  I\u2019m just not ready to make a deal yet.  China would like to make a deal.  I\u2019m not ready.<\/p>\n<p>Q    Do you have an updated on the Iranian oil tanker in Gibraltar that has (inaudible)?<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  No, no update, other than Iran would like to talk also.  I have to say \u201calso.\u201d  China wants to talk, but Iran would like to talk.  They just don\u2019t know quite how to get there.<\/p>\n<p>Look, they\u2019re very proud people, but their economy is crashing.  It\u2019s crashing.  Inflation is through the roof.  They\u2019re doing really badly.  They\u2019re not selling oil.  Even \u2014 I mean, we put the sanctions on.  The oil is selling much less \u2014 I mean, much less \u2014 than we thought.  It\u2019s like a trickle.  And they very much want to make a deal.  They just don\u2019t know how to call because they\u2019re proud people, and I understand that.  But I have a feeling that maybe things with Iran could work out, and maybe not.<\/p>\n<p>If you notice, they haven\u2019t taken any of our boats.  They haven\u2019t taken our ships.  They\u2019ve taken ships, but they haven\u2019t taken our ships, and they better not.<\/p>\n<p>But I will say this: I really think that Iran wants to get there.  They have a great potential.  I say this about North Korea.  North Korea has tremendous potential.  Also, Iran has tremendous potential, and we can do something very fast, but they don\u2019t quite know how to begin because they\u2019re proud people.  They\u2019re very proud people.  But their country is crashing.  Their economy is a disaster.  They\u2019ve got to do something, so let\u2019s see what happens.<\/p>\n<p>Q    What about gun control, Mr. President?  Where does that stand?<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  So, Congress is working on that.  They have bipartisan committees working on background checks and various other things.  And we\u2019ll see.  I don\u2019t want people to forget that this is a mental health problem.  I don\u2019t want them to forget that, because it is.  It\u2019s a mental health problem.  And as I say \u2014 and I said the other night in New Hampshire; we had an incredible evening \u2014 I said: It\u2019s the people that pull the trigger.  It\u2019s not the gun that pulls the trigger.<\/p>\n<p>So we have a very, very big mental health problem, and Congress is working on various things, and I\u2019ll be looking at it.  We\u2019re very much involved.  We\u2019re very much involved in looking at what they\u2019re studying.<\/p>\n<p>Q    Mr. President, the Dayton shooter had a 100-round-capacity magazine.  Would you support banning high-capacity magazines?<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  Well, we\u2019re going to look at a whole list of things, and I\u2019ll make a determination then.  But I will say, Congress is now, as you know, meeting in a bipartisan way.  We\u2019ll see what happens.  A lot of things are happening on the gun level.  A lot of things are happening.<\/p>\n<p>But you have to remember, also, it\u2019s a big mental \u2014 I was talking about mental institutions.  They closed so many \u2014 like 92 percent \u2014 of the mental institutions around this country over the years, for budgetary reasons.  These are people that have to be in institutions for help.  I\u2019m not talking about as a form of a prison.  I\u2019m saying for help.  And I think it\u2019s something we have to really look at \u2014 the whole concept for mental institutions.<\/p>\n<p>I remember, growing up, we had mental institutions.  Then they were closed \u2014 in New York, I\u2019m talking about.  They were \u2014 many of them were closed.  A lot of them were closed.  And all of those people were put out on the streets.  And I said \u2014 even as a young guy, I said, \u201cHow does that work?  That\u2019s not a good thing.\u201d  And it\u2019s not a good thing.  So I think the concept of mental institution has to be looked at.<\/p>\n<p>Unrelated to that, I believe that the concept also of voter identification has to be looked at, because you can\u2019t have great security for the voter.  People that vote, you can\u2019t have that national security unless you\u2019re going to have voter identification.  It\u2019s something people have to look at very strongly.<\/p>\n<p>Q    Sir, what does that have to do with guns?<\/p>\n<p>Q    Can you say who you golfed with, sir, and who else you met with at Bedminster?  I know you did a lot of work.<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  Yeah, I did.  We had a lot of meetings, and the golf was the least of it.  I played two days.  The golf was the least of it.  I don\u2019t care about \u2014 look, I like golf; it\u2019s fine.  It\u2019s so unimportant to me.  Usually, I\u2019ll play with senators, I\u2019ll play with people where it can help.  Golf is not important from that standpoint other than it\u2019s a little form of exercise, and that\u2019s not so bad.<\/p>\n<p>Q    Sir, on Taiwan, any answer on \u2014 or response, rather, on the sale of F-16s to Taiwan?<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  Yeah, yeah.  Yeah, there is.  I mean, I\u2019ve approved the deal.  The deal is approved.  Got to be approved by the Senate, but I\u2019ve approved the deal.  It\u2019s $8 billion.  It\u2019s a lot of money.  That\u2019s a lot of jobs.  And we know they\u2019re going to use these F-16s responsibly.  But we approved the deal.  A lot of money.  And it\u2019s a great aircraft.  And we really believe \u2014 or we perhaps wouldn\u2019t have done it \u2014 they\u2019re going to use it very responsibly.  But it\u2019s tremendous numbers of jobs.  It\u2019s $8 billion.<\/p>\n<p>Q    And, Mr. President, you brought up voter ID laws in the context of the gun control debate.<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  No, no, just \u2014 I said, \u201cunrelated.\u201d  I wanted to bring that out while I\u2019m here with you.  I think voter ID laws are \u2014 if you look, voter identification.  So when people show up to vote \u2014 because, if you look, Judicial Watch made a settlement with California, I guess, or Los Angeles, where they found over a million names that was very problematic \u2014 a problem.<\/p>\n<p>And you just take a look at that settlement; that\u2019s a lot of names.  You had people that were well over 100 years old that were voting, but we know they\u2019re not around any longer.<\/p>\n<p>So, you have a lot of voter fraud.  The way you stop it, the easiest way, is voter identification.  We have to go and think about that.  I hope Republicans and Democrats can vote, sit down, and work something out on voter ID.<\/p>\n<p>Q    But your commission on voter fraud didn\u2019t find any actual fraud.  It disbanded.<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  Well, let the commission \u2014 the commission was having a tremendous problem, legally, getting papers from various states like California.  They were absolutely hard-lining.  They didn\u2019t want to give this commission \u2014 it was just a quick commission, headed up by Vice President Pence, to look at voter fraud.<\/p>\n<p>The problem the commission had is we had to have a vast amount of lawyers, which I didn\u2019t want to bother with, because California and other states were giving up no information whatsoever.  And the reason they weren\u2019t giving up information is because they were guilty.  They were guilty of it.  And they know they\u2019re guilty of it.  Many, many people voted that shouldn\u2019t have been voting.  Some people voted many times.  What I\u2019m saying is we need voter identification.  We need voter ID.<\/p>\n<p>Q    I know it\u2019s not a top priority for you with Greenland, but when you go to Denmark, is this something you\u2019re going to want to talk to them about?<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  Maybe.  Maybe.  I don\u2019t think Denmark has been absolutely set in stone yet, going there.  But if I did, I\u2019d certainly talk about it.  But not \u2014 not top in the list.<\/p>\n<p>Q    How much is it worth?  How much do you think it\u2019s worth?<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  We haven\u2019t gotten there yet.  First, we have to find out whether or not they have any interest.<\/p>\n<p>Look, they\u2019re losing almost $700 million carrying it. That\u2019s a lot of money for Denmark.  They\u2019re losing a tremendous amount of money.  So we\u2019ll see what happens.<\/p>\n<p>Q    And I\u2019ve got this \u2014 this Fox News poll the other day \u2014 I don\u2019t know what to make of polls at this point, but it showed you underwater.<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  Well, Fox has always given me \u2014 I\u2019ll tell you, Fox is a lot different than it used to be, I can tell you that.  Juan Williams.  Then they have the wonderful woman that gave Hillary Clinton the questions.  That was a terrible thing.  And all of a sudden, she\u2019s working for Fox.  What\u2019s she doing working for Fox?  Fox has changed.  And my worst polls have always been from Fox.  There\u2019s something going on at Fox, I\u2019ll tell you right now.  And I\u2019m not happy with it.<\/p>\n<p>Q    (Inaudible.)  What do you think the change is at Fox?<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  I don\u2019t know what\u2019s happening with Fox, but when they have, like, a Juan Williams, who has never said a positive thing, and yet, when I show up at the Fox building, he\u2019s out there, \u201cOh, sir, can I have a picture with you?  Could I have a picture?\u201d  And he was 100 percent nice.  I mean, you\u2019ve never asked me for a picture.<\/p>\n<p>Q    I have not.  Should the Murdochs, sir, change the management at Fox?  Or should they bring in new \u2014<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  No. No.  They have to run it the way they want to run it.  But Fox is different.  There\u2019s no question about it.  And I think they\u2019re making a big mistake, because Fox was treated very badly by the Democrats \u2014 very, very badly \u2014 having to do with the debates and other things.  And I think Fox is making a big mistake.  Because, you know, I\u2019m the one that calls the shots on that \u2014 on the really big debates.  I guess we\u2019re probably planning on three of them.<\/p>\n<p>Q    You might not debate, sir?<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  Well, I\u2019m very \u2014 I\u2019m not happy with Fox.  I\u2019m certainly happy \u2014 I think Sean Hannity, and Lou Dobbs, and I think Tucker Carlson and Laura and Jesse Watters, and Jeanine. We have a lot of great people.  Even Greg Gutfeld; he wasn\u2019t good to me two years ago.  Now he sees all I\u2019ve done, and he said, \u201cWould you rather have a great President or a nice guy?\u201d  I don\u2019t know, I think I\u2019m a nice guy.  But nobody has done in two and a half years what I\u2019ve done.  And I say that a lot.  And very few people can challenge it.<\/p>\n<p>The first two and a half years, nobody has done what I\u2019ve done in terms of tax cuts, regulation cuts, the military, the vets, the Choice, so many different things.  Nobody has done that.<\/p>\n<p>Yeah.<\/p>\n<p>Q    Can you clarify what you meant when you said that you don\u2019t want to do business with Huawei?  Are you not going to extend this license for 90 days to temporarily allow \u2014<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  Well, I\u2019m talking to my people, but ultimately, we don\u2019t want to do business with Huawei for national security reasons.<\/p>\n<p>Q    But not even a temporary extension that \u2014<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  We\u2019ll see what happens.  I\u2019m making a decision tomorrow.  It could be temporary \u2014 could be \u2014 and maybe not.  But we\u2019re going to make a decision tomorrow.<\/p>\n<p>Q    So the \u2014 what I was asking about, the Fox poll, that they had you underwater against your main Democratic (inaudible).<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  I don\u2019t believe it.<\/p>\n<p>Q    Okay.<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  I don\u2019t believe it.  Every place I go, we have lines outside.  Then we have even phony stuff with that.  You guys were in New Hampshire.  Maggie was there.  You saw, that room was packed.  And they had thousand \u2014 Maggie \u2014 there were thousands of people outside.  And then, I see some phony website some wise guys put up.  That place was packed.<\/p>\n<p>Q    Where do you see that?  Where did you see that?<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  And the New York Times actually saw that, and actually, there was a massive flag behind \u2014 and even the seats behind the flag where you had no view \u2014<\/p>\n<p>Q    But there were pictures of empty seats that were on Twitter.<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  Because those people came down to be on the floor.<\/p>\n<p>Q    Who showed you those pictures?  Where did you see those?<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  But all of the people \u2014 any empty seat, you had the people come down to be on the floor because they were so far away.  Plus, you had a big flag.<\/p>\n<p>Look, we had, I think they said, 17,000 people outside that couldn\u2019t get in.  The fire marshals close it at a certain level.  The arena announced \u2014 I don\u2019t know the people at the arena \u2014 that I broke Elton John\u2019s record.  And then, I have fake news.  The fact is that people tend, during a speech that I make, they love to come down to the floor if they\u2019re sitting in the high areas.  And they\u2019re not allowed, for fire reasons, to have any more people.<\/p>\n<p>So, that was an amazing evening, and you saw the enthusiasm.  But we had a lot of people sitting behind that massive American flag that couldn\u2019t see, so they moved over and they moved down, and they came down to the floor as the speech started.<\/p>\n<p>But Maggie Haberman was very fair.  And she was there and she saw the beginning of that speech.  Every seat was packed.  But then they tend to come down.  They do it all the time.<\/p>\n<p>Q    But Mitt Romney did his last rally there the night before the election and it was packed.<\/p>\n<p>Q    It was.<\/p>\n<p>Q    He ended up losing the election, but \u2014 so it\u2019s \u2014<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  Oh, I don\u2019t know.  Phil.  Phil, what can I tell you?  Do I think I\u2019m going to win?  Yes.  Do I think I have more enthusiasm now than I had before this \u2014 you know, the 2016 election?  Yes.  I think we\u2019re \u2014 I think you people do too.  And some of you have reported it.<\/p>\n<p>I think there is more enthusiasm for President Trump than there was even for Mr. Trump.  Because what I said that I was going to do, I did.  The tax cut, the regulation cuts \u2014 the biggest in history.  In two and a half years, more than \u2014 and that\u2019s one of the reasons our jobs are so good, because of the regulation cuts.<\/p>\n<p>Q    So, why can\u2019t you tell us whether you talked to President Xi?<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  I just don\u2019t want to comment on that<\/p>\n<p>Q    Is there a call set up for next week?<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  Well, I can speak to him any time.  But he understands how I feel.  I just can\u2019t comment as to whether or not I spoke to him.  But I will tell you this: We\u2019re having very, very substantive talks with China, and with others, but with China.<\/p>\n<p>Q    Did you watch any of the coverage of the Hong Kong protest?  Huge numbers of people.<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  I can\u2019t believe it.  You know, I tell you, I\u2019ve never seen 2 million people.  When you talk about crowd size, Maggie, those are serious crowds \u2014 the Hong Kong crowds.  I mean, when they said 2 million people on the streets, that really looked like 2 million people on the streets.<\/p>\n<p>Q    What changed your mind, sir?  Because the other day you were saying that it was, sort of, China\u2019s problem and Hong Kong\u2019s problem to figure this out.  And why have you moved?<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  No, I think it would be very hard to deal if they do violence.  I mean, if it\u2019s another Tiananmen Square, it\u2019s \u2014 I think it\u2019s a very hard thing to do if there\u2019s violence.<\/p>\n<p>And, you know, that \u2014 I\u2019m President, but that\u2019s a little beyond me because I think there\u2019d be \u2014 you know, I think there\u2019d be tremendous political sentiment not to do something.<\/p>\n<p>So I hope \u2014 because I think we\u2019re going to end up doing a very good deal.  And I think China, by the way, needs a deal much more than we do.  But I really do believe that if this weren\u2019t part of the deal, possibly something would have happened already a long time ago.<\/p>\n<p>Q    Do you support the principles of the protestors \u2014 the pro-democracy movement?<\/p>\n<p>Q    That\u2019s \u2014 that\u2019s what I\u2019m asking.<\/p>\n<p>Q    Do you think democracy matters?<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  Well, I\u2019ll tell you what I do support: I support liberty.  I support democracy.  I understand what\u2019s going on very well over there.  I\u2019d love to see it worked out in a humane fashion.  And I think they have a great chance of doing it.<\/p>\n<p>Look, I put out \u2014 and I told you that I really believe \u2014 I have a confidence in the \u2014 in the talents of President Xi.  I think if he met with the protestors, within a very short period of time, they would work something out that\u2019s good for everybody.  I really believe that.<\/p>\n<p>He\u2019s a very talented man.  I mean, aside from everything, he\u2019s a very talented man.  He\u2019s very smart, very talented.  And I know him well, probably as well as anybody,  And I believe if he sat down with them \u2014 now, you know, he\u2019s not \u2014 that\u2019s not his deal, sitting down with people.  You know, he doesn\u2019t do that.  But I think, maybe, the world changes.  I really believe if President Xi sat down with representatives of the protestors \u2014 and they do have representatives; pretty good representatives, pretty strong representatives.  I\u2019ve been watching and seeing them.  If he sat down, I think he\u2019d work something out.  And I think it would be good for everybody.  But it does put pressure on the trade deal.  If they do something negative, it puts pressure.<\/p>\n<p>Now, that deal I can sign by myself.  It\u2019s structured so I don\u2019t have to go to Congress.  But I respect Congress.  I respect the views of Congress.  And I respect, most importantly, the views of the people of our country.  And I think it would be much harder for me to sign a deal if he did something violent in Hong Kong.<\/p>\n<p>Q    But do you support cutting $4 billion in foreign aid?<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  Are you talking about the \u2014<\/p>\n<p>Q    Rescission.<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  \u2014 rescission?  Yeah.  I support many of those things.  We\u2019ll negotiate it out.  But, you know, I\u2019ve cut back a lot on countries.  You know, we give billions of dollars to countries that don\u2019t even like us.  And I\u2019ve been cutting that a lot.<\/p>\n<p>We give billions and billions of dollars to countries that don\u2019t like us \u2014 don\u2019t like us even a little bit.  And I\u2019ve been cutting that.  And we just put a package of about 4 billion additional dollars in.  And, in some cases \u2014 you know, in some cases, I could see it both ways.  In some cases, these are countries that we should not be giving to.<\/p>\n<p>Q    How do you see that cutting aid to them is helping the United States, though?  Does it make us safer?  Does it make us wealthier?<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  I don\u2019t think so.  No, I don\u2019t think so.  And if I thought it would, I\u2019d probably do it.  But, you know, I cut back $1.3 billion a year to Pakistan.  And when I cut it back, I have a better relationship with \u2014 as you know, the President came in, and we have a great relationship.  Prime Minister came in.  We have a great relationship with Pakistan now.  He \u2014 we had a really good meeting.<\/p>\n<p>So, what happened: I cut back $1.3 billion.  We have a better relationship now.  I also cut it back on the Palestinians because they speak very badly about our country.  So I cut it back on the Palestinians.  We were paying $500 billion a year, and now we\u2019re paying nothing.  But I think we\u2019re going to get further because I could see opening that up again.  I think we\u2019re going to do much better the way I\u2019m doing it.  You know, we\u2019re trying to negotiate a peace deal.  Everybody said that\u2019s the deal that\u2019s totally impossible.  They talk about a deal between the Palestinians and the Israelis as the toughest deal you could possibly do, no matter what deal you\u2019re talking about.<\/p>\n<p>And I stopped payment on $500 million a year, but I think they\u2019re going to make a deal.  And I think one of the reasons they\u2019d want to make a deal is because of that.  Okay?<\/p>\n<p>Q    Are you going to wait until after the Israeli elections to put out your Middle East Peace plan?<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  I probably will wait, but we may put out pieces of it.  We have some very talented people \u2014 as you know, our great ambassador and others.  We have some very talented people.<\/p>\n<p>But that\u2019s probably the toughest deal of all \u2014 peace between the Israelis and the Palestinians \u2014 because they\u2019ve been decades of hate.  And it\u2019s tough to make a deal when there\u2019s that much hate.<\/p>\n<p>But I think I\u2019ve helped it very much by saying, \u201cLook, until there\u2019s a deal, we\u2019re not going to pay you anymore.\u201d  And other people should have done that long before me.  So these are things, when you talk about rescission \u2014 and that\u2019s not part of rescission, by the way \u2014 but we have a lot of things like that in the rescission.<\/p>\n<p>Phil?<\/p>\n<p>Q    Sir, you\u2019re going \u2014 you\u2019re heading back to Washington after a week off.  Do you have any thoughts on the Cabinet?  Is the Cabinet solid and going to stay in place, or is somebody going to change?<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  I think we have a great Cabinet.  Yeah, there will always be people changed, because, you know, after \u2014 you\u2019re going to be three years now.  It\u2019s a long time.  They\u2019re under a lot of pressure.  And \u2014 but I think we have a great Cabinet.  I really do.  I think our Cabinet is terrific.  Some of them will leave for a period of time; they may come back.  I mean, the relationship I have is very good with the Cabinet and with others.<\/p>\n<p>But, you know, it\u2019s almost three years now, if you can believe it.  Right?  And at a certain point of time, people do tend to leave.<\/p>\n<p>Q    Are you still considering withdrawing from NAFTA if Nancy Pelosi doesn\u2019t bring up the USMCA on the House floor?<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  Well, I haven\u2019t said whether or not I would, but I would say NAFTA is one of the worst deals ever made in the history of trade deals.<\/p>\n<p>If you look at NAFTA, and you take a look at what it\u2019s done to our country, thousands of factories closed, millions of jobs.  It\u2019s been a one-way street.  And the USMCA is a great deal.  The unions love it.  The farmers love it.  Everybody wants it.  But it\u2019s up to Nancy Pelosi.  If she wants to put it for a vote, she\u2019s going to get overwhelming bipartisan support.  And I view that as a bipartisan deal.  I would imagine she\u2019d put it up.<\/p>\n<p>There\u2019s an easy thing to do.  It will be totally bipartisan, which is good for the Democrats and the Republicans.  And everybody wants it.  I mean, the unions like it.  The unions hated NAFTA, but they love the USMCA.  The farmers, above all, love it, especially the American farmers.  Our farmers love it more than the other two sides.  They love it.  So, a lot of good things going.<\/p>\n<p>But we have to see; they have to put it up for a vote.  You know, it\u2019s political season, if you haven\u2019t noticed.  So they have to put it up for a vote.<\/p>\n<p>Q    You talked about some people coming back into the administration.  Could Nikki Haley come back into the administration in any role?<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  Yeah, at some point, maybe, if she wanted to.  Yeah.<\/p>\n<p>Q    Have you been talking to her about that?<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  I really haven\u2019t.  I\u2019ve been talking to a lot of people.<\/p>\n<p>Q    (Inaudible) change on the ticket, would you, Mr. President?  This continues to get asked about.<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  No, I\u2019m very happy with Mike Pence.<\/p>\n<p>Q    You are?<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  I think Mike Pence has been an outstanding VP.  I think that he\u2019s been incredible in terms of the love that a lot of people \u2014 especially if you look at the Evangelicals and so many others, they really have a great respect for our Vice President.  And so do I.  And so do, I think, most people.<\/p>\n<p>No, I wouldn\u2019t \u2014 I wouldn\u2019t be thinking about that.  A lot of people \u2014 a lot of people, you know, amazingly, they bring different names up.  And they brought a lot of different names up.<\/p>\n<p>Q    What are the names?<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  And that\u2019s \u2014 and that\u2019s, by the way \u2014 (laughs) \u2014 at some point, I\u2019ll let you know \u2014 but that\u2019s, by the way, standard.  You know, that\u2019s standard.  Everybody thought that President Obama was going to change Biden.  They all thought that in the, you know, second term, he was going to change it.  Everybody thought it.  And he didn\u2019t do that.<\/p>\n<p>But, no, I\u2019m very happy with Mike Pence.<\/p>\n<p>Q    Thank you, sir.<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  Thank you all.  Thank you.<\/p>\n<p>Q    Could just be a little clearer on the gun \u2014 your gun position?  I don\u2019t \u2014<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  Which one?<\/p>\n<p>Q    Your position on background checks and guns.  What would you support exactly?<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  So, Congress is looking at it very strongly.  Bipartisan.  I put in certain parameters, which you somewhat know about.  I\u2019m also very, very concerned with the Second Amendment, more so than most Presidents would be.  People don\u2019t realize we have very strong background checks right now.<\/p>\n<p>If you go in to buy a gun, you have to sign up.  There are a lot of background checks that have been approved over the years.  So I\u2019ll have to see what it is.<\/p>\n<p>But Congress is meeting.  Bipartisan.  A lot of people want to see something happen.  But just remember this: Big mental problem, and we do have a lot of background checks right now.<\/p>\n<p>Q    But you\u2019re not willing to support universal background checks right now?<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  I\u2019m not saying anything.  I\u2019m saying Congress is going to be reporting back to me with ideas.  And they\u2019ll come in from Democrats and Republicans.  And I\u2019ll look at it very strongly.  But just remember, we already have a lot of background checks.  Okay?  Thank you.<\/p>\n<p>Q    Have you spoken to Wayne LaPierre again, sir?<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  Say it?<\/p>\n<p>Q    Have you spoken to Wayne LaPierre this week at all during your trip?<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  I have.  Well, I spoke to him a week ago.  And, look, I\u2019ve had a great relationship with the NRA, and I will always have a great relationship.  I\u2019ve been very good for the NRA.<\/p>\n<p>If you just look \u2014 I mean, we have now two Supreme Court justices \u2014 great ones.  And who would have thought that was going to happen in, you know, long prior to three years?<\/p>\n<p>So, we have two.  And equally importantly, we will have, within another 90 days, 179 federal judges.  And I say, \u201cThank you very much, President Obama.\u201d  Because he was unable to get them filled.  I don\u2019t know what happened to him, but he was unable.  So, President Obama did not do his job.  And I inherited 138 empty positions.  And, honestly, from his standpoint, and the standpoint of where he\u2019s coming from, that shouldn\u2019t have happened.<\/p>\n<p>And we did do one other thing.  I saw last night where some people were talking about criminal justice reform \u2014 very liberal Democrats.  I\u2019m the one that got it done.  And I saw that, and I said, \u201cYou know, isn\u2019t it a shame?  You do something\u2026\u201d \u2014 and I\u2019ve had very conservative people wanting it and very liberal people wanting it.<\/p>\n<p>But if you take a look at \u2014 if you take a look at that reform package, without Donald Trump, it doesn\u2019t happen.  And you know what?  I don\u2019t need the credit.  I get enough credit.  But they never even mention my name.  And these were people that were begging me to do it \u2014 calling me, begging me like you\u2019ve never seen.  And now that criminal justice reform is done \u2014 beautiful package, wonderful \u2014 they don\u2019t even mention my name.  So stupid.  So stupid.<\/p>\n<p>Thank you.  Thank you.<\/p>\n<p>END<\/p>\n<p>5:09 P.M. EDT<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Morristown, New Jersey&#8230;So, we had a lot of meetings yesterday on Afghanistan, on the economy \u2014 which is doing very well. We have the strongest economy, by far, in the world. The tariffs have cost nothing, in my opinion, or certainly very little. We have import prices from, and through, July \u2014 all the way [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":85241,"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-85238","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\/08\/Fullscreen-capture-8192019-93547-AM.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/85238","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=85238"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/85238\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/85241"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=85238"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=85238"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=85238"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}