Monthly Archives: February 2019

Feb 4 2019

President Trump Superbowl Sunday Interview With CBS Margaret Brennan….


Re-Posted from The Conservative Tree House on February 3, 2019 by 

It has become somewhat of a tradition for the President to sit down for a wide-ranging interview with a member of the U.S. media on Superbowl Sunday.

This year President Trump sits down with Margaret Brennan of CBS’s “Face the Nation” for a wide-ranging interview where he point-by-point deconstructs the left-wing talking points. Topics include foreign policy, cabinet changes, the economy, the Mueller investigation, the 2020 Democrat candidates and football.  [Transcript included]

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MARGARET BRENNAN: Would you shut down the government again?

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: Well, we’re going to have to see what happens on February 15th and I- I think–

MARGARET BRENNAN: You’re not taking it off the table?

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: Well, I don’t- I don’t take anything off the table. I don’t like to take things off the table. It’s that alternative. It’s national emergency, it’s other things and you know there have been plenty national emergencies called. And this really is an invasion of our country by human traffickers. These are people that are horrible people bringing in women mostly, but bringing in women and children into our country. Human trafficking. And we’re going to have a strong border. And the only way you have a strong border is you need a physical barrier. You need a wall. And anybody that says you don’t, they’re just playing games.

MARGARET BRENNAN: You had quite the showdown with Speaker Pelosi. What did you learn about negotiating with her?

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: Well, I think that she was very rigid – which I would expect – but I think she is very bad for our country. She knows that you need a barrier. She knows that we need border security. She wanted to win a political point. I happen to think it’s very bad politics because basically she wants open borders. She doesn’t mind human trafficking or she wouldn’t do this because you know–

MARGARET BRENNAN: She offered you over a billion dollars for border security.

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: Excuse me?

MARGARET BRENNAN: She offered over a billion dollars for border security. She doesn’t want the wall.

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: She’s- she’s costing the country hundreds of billions of dollars because what’s happening is when you have a porous border, and when you have drugs pouring in, and when you have people dying all over the country because of people like Nancy Pelosi who don’t want to give proper border security for political reasons, she’s doing a terrible disservice to our country. And on the 15th we have now set the table beautifully because everybody knows what’s going on because of the shutdown. People that didn’t have any idea- they didn’t have a clue as to what was happening, they now know exactly what’s happening. They see human trafficking. They see drugs and gangs and criminals pouring in. Now, we catch them because we’re doing a great job. But if we had proper border security we wouldn’t have to work so hard and we could do an even better job, and I think Nancy Pelosi is doing a terrible disservice to the people of our country. But she can–

MARGARET BRENNAN: You’re still going to have to deal with her now.

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: No, she can keep playing her games, but we will win. Because we have a much better issue. On a political basis, what she’s doing is- I actually think it’s bad politics, but much more importantly it’s very bad for our country.

MARGARET BRENNAN: I want to ask you about your intelligence leaders who were testifying on Capitol Hill this week. Did you read the report that they presented?

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: I did.

MARGARET BRENNAN: And did you – there was some conversation you had because you went on Twitter and you called them naive and told them to go back to school.

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: Well, I think–

MARGARET BRENNAN: What specifically was wrong about what they said?

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: I think- let me just say it wasn’t so much a report. It was the questions and answers as the report was submitted and they were asked questions and answers. We’ve done an incredible job with Syria. When I took over Syria it was infested with ISIS. It was all over the place. And now you have very little ISIS and you have the caliphate almost knocked out. We will be announcing in the not too distant future 100 percent of the caliphate which is the area- the land- the area- 100. We’re at 99 percent right now, we’ll be at 100. When I took it over it was a disaster. I think we’ve done a great job with that. At the same time, at a certain point, we want to bring our people back home. If you look at Afghanistan we’re going in very soon we’ll be going into our 19th year spending 50 billion dollars a year. Now if you go back and look at any of my campaign speeches or rallies, I talked about it all the time.

MARGARET BRENNAN: You did. You’ve been talking about- and that–

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: –I want to bring people home.

MARGARET BRENNAN: But that’s one of the questions here. Is because you have these strongly held convictions and people ask, “Well, why don’t the facts influence those opinions, if those facts change?” And- and your director of national intelligence said ISIS still has strongholds in Iraq and Syria–

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: By the way–

MARGARET BRENNAN: –and will launch attacks from there.

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: You’re going to always have pockets of something. What– you’re going to have people, like the one armed man who blew up a restaurant. You’re going to have pockets. But you’re not going to keep armies there because you have a few people. Or you even have fairly reasonable numbers of people. We’ve been there for many, many years. We were supposed to be in Syria for four months. We’ve been there for years. We have been in Afghanistan for 19 years. And by the way, I’ve been hitting very hard in Afghanistan and now we’re negotiating with the Taliban. We’ll see what happens, who knows–

MARGARET BRENNAN: Can you trust the Taliban? Can you actually broker a deal?

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: Look, whether we should have been there in the first place, that’s first question. Second question–

MARGARET BRENNAN: That’s where 9/11 was launched from.

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: –we’ve been there for 19 years, almost, we are fighting very well. We’re fighting harder than ever before. And I think that they will- I think they’re tired and, I think everybody’s tired. We got to get out of these endless wars and bring our folks back home. Now, that doesn’t mean we’re not going to be watching with intelligence. We’re going to be watching, and watching closely. North Korea–

MARGARET BRENNAN: Isn’t that harder when you don’t have troops on the ground?

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: Well, everything’s harder. But, you know you pay a big price for troops on the ground. We’re spending hundreds of billions of dollars on military. We’re the policemen of the world and we don’t–

MARGARET BRENNAN: Because the concern in here by your intelligence chiefs, though, is that you could in that vacuum see a resurgence of ISIS.

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: Sure.

MARGARET BRENNAN: See a resurgence of terror groups like Al-Qaeda–

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: And you know what we’ll do? We’ll come back if we have to. We have very fast airplanes, we have very good cargo planes. We can come back very quickly, and I’m not leaving. We have a base in Iraq and the base is a fantastic edifice. I mean I was there recently, and I couldn’t believe the money that was spent on these massive runways. And these- I’ve rarely seen anything like it. And it’s there. And we’ll be there. And frankly, we’re hitting the caliphate from Iraq and as we slowly withdraw from Syria. Now the other thing–

MARGARET BRENNAN: How many troops are still in Syria? When are they coming home?

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: 2,000 troops.

MARGARET BRENNAN: When are they coming home?

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: They’re starting to, as we gain the remainder, the final remainder of the caliphate of the area, they’ll be going to our base in Iraq, and ultimately some will be coming home. But we’re going to be there and we’re going to be staying–

MARGARET BRENNAN: So that’s a matter of months?

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: We have to protect Israel. We have to protect other things that we have. But we’re- yeah, they’ll be coming back in a matter of time. Look, we’re protecting the world. We’re spending more money than anybody’s ever spent in history, by a lot. We spent, over the last five years, close to 50 billion dollars a year in Afghanistan. That’s more than most countries spend for everything including education, medical, and everything else, other than a few countries.

MARGARET BRENNAN: Is there a scenario where you would keep troops in Afghanistan? A smaller number?

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: Yes. And I’ll leave intelligence there. Real intelligence, by the way. I’ll leave intelligence there and if I see nests forming, I’ll do something about it. But for us to be spending 51 billion dollars, like last year, or if you average the cost it’s- I mean you’re talking about numbers that nobody’s ever heard of before.

MARGARET BRENNAN: The Senate Republicans voted, the vast majority of them said that they don’t support what you’re doing. That what you’re doing risks national intelligence by a precipitous withdrawal from Syria and Afghanistan. Doesn’t that concern you?

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: I ran against 17 Republicans. This was a big part of what I was saying, and I won very easily. I think the people out in the world- I think people in our country agree. We’ve been fighting for 19 years. Somebody said you were precipitously bringing to- precipitously? We’ve been there for 19 years. I want to fight. I want to win, and we want to bring our great troops back home. I’ve seen the people. I go to Walter Reed Hospital. I see what happens to people. I see with no legs and no arm- arms. And I’ve seen also what happens to them up here because they’re in this situation, and they come back and they are totally different people– where the wives and the fathers and the mothers say, “What has happened to my son? What has happened in some cases to my daughter?” It’s a terrible thing. We’ve been there close to 19 years. And it’s time. And we’ll see what happens with the Taliban. They want peace. They’re tired. Everybody’s tired. We’d like to have- I don’t like endless wars. This war. What we’re doing is got to stop at some point.

MARGARET BRENNAN: But you- but you also campaigned saying that, you know, President Obama made a big mistake by telegraphing his military moves. You’re telegraphing your retreat.

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: I’m not telegraphing anything. No, no, no. There’s a difference. When President Obama pulled out of Iraq in theory we had Iraq. In other words, we had Iraq. We never had Syria because President Obama never wanted to violate the red line in the sand. So we never had Syria. I was the one that actually violated the red line when I hit Syria with 59 Tomahawk missiles, if you remember. But President Obama chose not to do that. When he chose not to do that, he showed tremendous weakness. But we didn’t have Syria whereas we had Iraq. So when he did what he did in Iraq, which was a mistake. Being in Iraq was a mistake. Okay. Being in Iraq- it was a big mistake to go- one of the greatest mistakes going into the Middle East that our country has ever made. One of the greatest mistakes that we’ve ever made–

MARGARET BRENNAN: But you want to keep troops there now?

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: –but when it was chosen– well, we spent a fortune on building this incredible base. We might as well keep it. And one of the reasons I want to keep it is because I want to be looking a little bit at Iran because Iran is a real problem.

MARGARET BRENNAN: Whoa, that’s news. You’re keeping troops in Iraq because you want to be able to strike in Iran?

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: No, because I want to be able to watch Iran. All I want to do is be able to watch. We have an unbelievable and expensive military base built in Iraq. It’s perfectly situated for looking at all over different parts of the troubled Middle East rather than pulling up. And this is what a lot of people don’t understand. We’re going to keep watching and we’re going to keep seeing and if there’s trouble, if somebody is looking to do nuclear weapons or other things, we’re going to know it before they do.

MARGARET BRENNAN: So you’re going to trust the intelligence that you receive?

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: I am going to trust the intelligence that I’m putting there, but I will say this: my intelligence people, if they said in fact that Iran is a wonderful kindergarten, I disagree with them 100 percent. It is a vicious country that kills many people. When you talk about torture and so many other things. And- maybe they’ll come back. The country is getting absolutely- when I ended the horrible Iran nuclear deal- it was a horrible deal done by President Obama and John Kerry that didn’t know what the hell he was doing. When I ended that deal, Margaret, all of a sudden Iran became a different country. They became- very rapidly- right now they’re a country that’s in big financial trouble. Let’s see what happens.

MARGARET BRENNAN: I want to move on here but I should say your intel chiefs do say Iran’s abiding by that nuclear deal. I know you think it’s a bad deal, but–

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: I disagree with them. I’m- I’m- by the way–

MARGARET BRENNAN: You disagree with that assessment?

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: –I have intel people, but that doesn’t mean I have to agree. President Bush had intel people that said Saddam Hussein–

MARGARET BRENNAN: Sure.

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: –in Iraq had nuclear weapons- had all sorts of weapons of mass destruction. Guess what? Those intel people didn’t know what the hell they were doing, and they got us tied up in a war that we should have never been in. And we’ve spent seven trillion dollars in the Middle East and we have lost lives–

MARGARET BRENNAN: Do you trust your national security adviser John Bolton because he worked in the Bush administration?

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: I do, and I respect John and John is not one of the people that happened to be testifying or on.

MARGARET BRENNAN: Got it.

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: And you know what I tell people- you can testify any way you want. I’m not going to stop them from testifying. They said they were mischaracterized– maybe they were maybe they weren’t, I don’t really know– but I can tell you this, I want them to have their own opinion and I want them to give me their opinion. But, when I look at Iran, I look at Iran as a nation that has caused tremendous problems.

MARGARET BRENNAN: Yeah.

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: When I came in as president of the United States, my first year, I went to the Pentagon two weeks after I came in, a short time after, and I was given a- because I wanted to know what’s going on with Iran.

MARGARET BRENNAN: Right.

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: We were in many many locations in the Middle East in huge difficulty. Every single one of them was caused by the number one terrorist nation in the world which is Iran. So when my intelligence people tell me how wonderful Iran is- if you don’t mind, I’m going to just go by my own counsel.

MARGARET BRENNAN: You’ve had a lot of change up in you administration recently too. Are you satisfied with the cabinet and the staff you have now?

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: So we have a great cabinet. I have great people. I think now we have a really great cabinet. I think Bill Barr will be a fantastic attorney general, and I think that we have- Mike Pompeo’s been doing a fantastic job. We have–

MARGARET BRENNAN: He’s not leaving?

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: No, I don’t- I mean he tells me he wouldn’t want to leave. I think that was–

MARGARET BRENNAN: Because McConnell was talking to him–

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: That was fake news.

MARGARET BRENNAN: –about running for the Senate. He said McConnell had spoken to him about running for the Senate.

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: Well, he may have spoken to him, but I think he loves being secretary of state. He’s doing a fantastic job. And I asked him the question the other day, he says he’s absolutely not leaving. I don’t think he’d do that. And he doesn’t want to be lame duck. And he’s doing a fantastic job as our secretary of state. Great energy and great- a great, smart gentleman.

MARGARET BRENNAN: Cause you have an acting AG until you get Barr confirmed–

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: Yes.

MARGARET BRENNAN: An acting defense secretary. An acting chief of staff. An acting interior secretary.

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP. It’s OK. It’s easier to make moves when they’re acting.

MARGARET BRENNAN: So you are going to shake up–

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: Some, and some not.

MARGARET BRENNAN: –positions.

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: Some are doing a fantastic job. Really- I like acting because I can move so quickly. It gives me more flexibility. But- but actually, some of the names you mentioned, they’re doing a fantastic job.

MARGARET BRENNAN: How do you know when to fire someone?

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: When it’s not happening. When–

MARGARET BRENNAN: What do you mean?

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: When it doesn’t get done. Like with General Mattis, I wasn’t happy with his service. I told him give me a letter.

MARGARET BRENNAN: He resigned.

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: He resigned because I asked him to resign. He resigned because I was very nice to him. But I gave him big budgets and he didn’t do well in Afghanistan. I was not happy with the job he was doing in Afghanistan. And if you look at Syria what’s happened, I went to Iraq recently, if you look at Syria, what’s happened in Syria in the last few weeks, you would see that things are going down that were not going down. That things are happening that are very good. So I was not happy with him, but I wish him well.

MARGARET BRENNAN: I want to ask you about your relationship with NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell. Have- have you put your differences aside?

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: I think so. I mean I- I was just one that felt very important, you can’t be kneeling for the national anthem. You have to respect our flag and our country. I want that as president and I’d want that as a citizen. And I have a very good relationship. I did them a big favor in negotiating the USMCA, which is basically the replacement to NAFTA, which is one of the worst trade deals ever made. And I said to Canada, look we have a great American company known as the NFL, and they were being hurt and treated unfairly, the NFL, by Canada for a long time. And I said to Prime Minister Trudeau, who was very nice about it and really understood it, I hope you can settle the difference immediately and fast. And they did. So I did the NFL a big favor, as a great American company and they appreciated it. And Roger Goodell, this is a dispute that has gone on for years. Roger Goodell called me and he thanked me. And I appreciated that. But they haven’t been kneeling and they have been respecting the flag and their ratings have been terrific ever since. And a lot of good things happened.

MARGARET BRENNAN: Talking about the- the kneeling position you’ve taken and the controversy around it. Do you think that the players who did kneel had a point? I mean did you- are you sensitive at all to players like Colin Kaepernick, who- who point out that the majority of victims of police violence are black?

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: Well, you know, I’m the one that had passed judicial reform. And if you look at what I did, criminal judicial reform, and what I’ve done- President Obama tried. They all tried. Everybody wanted to do it. And I got it done and I’ve been, you know, really- a lot of people in the NFL have been calling and thanking me for it.

MARGARET BRENNAN: Really?

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: They have been calling and thanking, you know, that people have been trying to get that taken care of and it’s now signed into law and affects tremendous numbers of people, and very good people. I think that when you want to protest I think that’s great. But I don’t think you do it at the sake of our flag, at the sake of our national anthem. Absolutely.

MARGARET BRENNAN: But you are- do I understand you saying there though, that you still are sensitive though? I mean you- you understand the motivation for the protest–

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: Well I do–

MARGARET BRENNAN: Though you don’t like the form of it.

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: A lot of it is having to do with reform from what I understand. Whether it’s criminal justice or whatever it may be and they have different versions and everybody seemed to have a different version of it. But a lot of it had to do with that, and I took care of that. I think that people have to, at all times, respect our flag and at all times respect our net- our- our national anthem and our country. And I think there are plenty of places and times you can protest and you can do a lot. But you can’t do that. That’s my opinion.

MARGARET BRENNAN: In a CBS poll we just took, 63 percent of Americans say they disapprove about how you’re handling issues of race in the US.

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: Well–

MARGARET BRENNAN: What do you think of that?

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: What has happened is very interesting. The economy is so good right now. You saw the jobs report just came out. Three hundred and four thousand added jobs, which is a shocker, for the month. A shocker to a lot of people. They thought it was going to be half that number. The African-Americans have the best employment numbers in the history of our country. Hispanic Americans have the best employment numbers in the history of our country. Asian-Americans the best in the history of our country. You look at women, the best in 61 years. And our employment numbers are phenomenal, the best in over 50 years. So I think I’ve been given a lot of credit for that. And in terms of race, a lot of people are saying well this is something very special what’s happening.

MARGARET BRENNAN: So- because when colleagues of yours, even like Republican Senator Tim Scott. He said Donald Trump is not racist. But he said you’re racially insensitive.

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: I have a great relationship with Tim and certainly with his state, South Carolina, and- where we do very well. And I think if you look at the numbers for African-American unemployment, best numbers they’ve had- literally the best numbers they’ve had in history. And I think they like me a lot and I like them a lot.

MARGARET BRENNAN: Would you let your son Barron play football?

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: It’s very, it’s very tough question. It’s a very good question. If he wanted to? Yes. Would I steer him that way? No, I wouldn’t.

MARGARET BRENNAN: Why?

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: I wouldn’t. And he actually plays a lot of soccer. He’s liking soccer. And a lot of people, including me, thought soccer would probably never make it in this country, but it really is moving forward rapidly. I- I just don’t like the reports that I see coming out having to do with football—I mean, it’s a dangerous sport and I think it’s- I- it’s- really tough, I thought the equipment would get better, and it has. The helmets have gotten far better but it hasn’t solved the problem. So, you know I- I hate to say it because I love to watch football. I think the NFL is a great product, but I really think that as far as my son- well I’ve heard NFL players saying they wouldn’t let their sons play football. So. It’s not totally unique, but I- I would have a hard time with it.

MARGARET BRENNAN: What surprised you about some of the questions that Robert Mueller asked you?

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: Well, look the Russia thing is a hoax. I have been tougher on Russia than any president, maybe ever. But than any president.

MARGARET BRENNAN: But when it comes to the investigation that the special counsel’s conducting- I mean 34 people have been charged here. Seven guilty pleas —

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: Excuse me. Ok, you ready? Ok, you ready? Of the 34 people, many of them were bloggers from Moscow or they were people that had nothing to do with me, had nothing to do with what they’re talking about or there were people that got caught telling a fib or telling a lie. I think it’s a terrible thing that’s happened to this country because this investigation is a witch hunt. It’s a terrible witch hunt and it’s a disgrace–

MARGARET BRENNAN: Do you think it should be made public?

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: –when you look at General Flynn where the FBI said he wasn’t lying, but Robert Mueller said he was, and they took a man and destroyed his life. When you look at so many of the things that have happened- why didn’t they go after Hillary Clinton for her emails? She had thirty three thousand emails that were deleted after receiving a subpoena from Congress–

MARGARET BRENNAN: And according to the special counsel–

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: Excuse me, but Margaret, why–

MARGARET BRENNAN: –they were posted on WikiLeaks and your friend Roger Stone was just indicted for his involvement there and for lying.

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: First of all, Roger Stone didn’t work on the campaign, except way way at the beginning long before we’re talking about. Roger is somebody that I’ve always liked, but a lot of people like Roger some people probably don’t like Roger, but Roger Stone’s somebody I’ve always liked. I mean Roger’s a character but Roger was not- I don’t know if you know this or not- Roger wasn’t on my campaign except way at the beginning–

MARGARET BRENNAN: Right.

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: So, it’s all- and- and yet you will ask me a question like that, wasn’t involved in my campaign.

MARGARET BRENNAN: Would you pardon him?

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: I have not thought about it. It looks like he’s defending himself very well. But you have to get rid of the Russia witch hunt because it is indeed. And remember–

MARGARET BRENNAN: Because you think–

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: Remember this. Remember this. There’s been no president that has been tougher on Russia than Donald Trump.

MARGARET BRENNAN: Would you make the Mueller report public because you say there’s nothing in there? Congress can subpoena it anyway, though.

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: Totally up to to the Attorney General.

MARGARET BRENNAN: But what do you want them to do?

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: Even the Mueller report said it had nothing to do with the campaign. When you look at some of the people and the events it had nothing to do–

MARGARET BRENNAN: You wouldn’t have a problem–

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: Excuse me.

MARGARET BRENNAN: –if it became public?

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: Excuse me. That’s up to the attorney general. I don’t know. It depends. I have no idea what it’s going to say.

MARGARET BRENNAN: Okay.

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: So far this thing’s been a total witch hunt. And it doesn’t implicate me in any way. There was no collusion. There was no obstruction. There was no nothing. Doesn’t implicate me in any way but I think it’s a disgrace.

MARGARET BRENNAN: What would make you use the U.S. military in Venezuela? What’s the national security interest?

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: Well I don’t want to say that. But certainly it’s something that’s on the- it’s an option.

MARGARET BRENNAN: Would you personally negotiate with Nicolás Maduro to convince him to exit?

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: Well he is requested a meeting and I’ve turned it down because we’re very far along in the process. You have a young and energetic gentleman but you have other people within that same group that have been very very – if you talk about democracy – it’s really democracy in action.

MARGARET BRENNAN: When did he request a meeting?

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: We’re going to see what happened. A number of months ago he wanted to meet.

MARGARET BRENNAN: But now because you’re at that crisis point–

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: Well now we’d have to see.

MARGARET BRENNAN: Would you negotiate that?

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: I would say this. I decided at the time, “no” because so many really horrible things have been happening in Venezuela when you look at that country. That was the wealthiest country of all in that part of the world which is a very important part of the world. And now you look at the poverty and you look at the anguish and you look at the crime and you look at all of the things happening. So, I think the process is playing out – very very big tremendous protests.

MARGARET BRENNAN: North Korea. When and where are you going to meet Kim Jong Un?

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: I won’t tell you yet, but you’ll be finding out probably State of the Union or shortly before. But the meeting is set. He’s looking forward to it. I’m looking forward to it. We’ve made tremendous progress. If you remember, before I became president, it looked like we were going to war with North Korea. Now we have a very good relationship. The hostages are back. Okay, the remains are starting to come back. The remains of our Korean War veterans–

MARGARET BRENNAN: But your intelligence chief testified this week that Kim Jong Un is still very unlikely to give up his nuclear–

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: Well that’s what–

MARGARET BRENNAN: –weapons program.

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: That’s what the intelligence chief thinks, and I think–

MARGARET BRENNAN: Why is he wrong?

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: –there’s a good possibility of that too. But there’s also a very good chance that we will make a deal. I think he’s also tired of going through what he’s going through. He has a chance to have North Korea be a tremendous economic behemoth. It has a chance to be one of the great economic countries in the world. He can’t do that with nuclear weapons and he can’t do that on the path they’re on now. I like him. I get along with him great. We have a fantastic chemistry. We have had tremendous correspondence that some people have seen and can’t even believe it. They think it’s historic. And we’ll see what happens. Now that doesn’t mean we’re going to make a deal. But certainly I think we have a very good chance of making a deal. And one of the reasons is because North Korea has a chance being located between Russia, China, and South Korea. What a location- I’m in the real estate business- what a location. They have a chance to be an economic powerhouse.

MARGARET BRENNAN: You’re going to keep U.S. troops there, in South Korea?

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: Yeah, I mean we haven’t talked about anything else. Maybe someday. I mean who knows. But you know it’s very expensive to keep troops there. You do know that. We have 40,000 troops in South Korea, it’s very expensive. But I have no plans, I’ve never even discussed removing them.

MARGARET BRENNAN: I want to quickly get to China. The last time you spoke with FACE THE NATION you were one hundred days into office and you said you would accept a less than perfect trade deal with China, if it meant they’d be helpful with North Korea. Do you stand by that?

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: Well, yes but I think we’re in a different position now.

MARGARET BRENNAN: What do you mean?

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: We’ve put very massive tariffs on China. China is paying a big price and it’s hurt China’s economy very badly. I want them to make a fair deal.They have been very helpful, especially at the beginning when I first came in with North Korea. They have stopped goods from going in. They have stopped a lot of things from going in through the border. Because as you know they have a border just like we have a border with Mexico, where crime is way up by the way, way up, and you have to remember that. But we have a border with- they have a border with North Korea.

MARGARET BRENNAN: Right.

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: They have been very vigilant. Are they the same now? Probably a little bit less so. But North Korea is absolutely talking. And I think North Korea wants to make a deal. We are making a deal. It looks like we’re doing very well with making a deal with China. I can tell you this, no two leaders of this country and China have ever been closer than I am with President Xi. We have a good chance to make a deal. I don’t know that we’re going to make one, but we have a good chance. And if it is a deal it’s going to be a real deal. It’s not going to be a stopgap.

MARGARET BRENNAN: Sir, I hear your helicopters. I’m being told to wrap. I appreciate you being generous with your time.

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: Thank you very much, Margaret.

MARGARET BRENNAN: Thank you.

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: Thank you.

[Transcript Link]

Feb 4 2019

UN Admits Paris Accord Will Never Work


Armstrong Economics Blog/Climate

Re-Posted Feb 4, 2019 by Martin Armstrong

The latest on the global warming front is a UN report on the “emissions gap” that admits the Paris Accord would never work. The UN has admitted that the environmentalists have made dire forecasts that assumed whatever trend was in motion would remain in motion. They ignored all other evidence and cycles. Even if every country did 100% of the UN mandates, the Paris agreement will provide only a third of the cuts in greenhouse gas that environmentalists claim are needed to prevent catastrophic warming. The assumption is cycles do not exist and only humans are responsible for everything. They admit that even if every country involved in those accords complied with their pledges between now and 2030, temperatures would still rise by 3 degrees celsius by 2100. The goal of the Paris agreement was to keep the global temperature increase to under 2 degrees.

This is the problem when they make such bogus forecasts to try to scare people into their way of thinking. They want to end industrialization, prevent driving, flying, and watching TV because creating electricity is a problem. Kill all the cows and anything else that eat grass (which may include vegetarians) and go back to just hunting and gathering. However, they also want us to eat things raw and not cook because fires also create CO2.

 

Feb 4 2019

Setting the Train Track on Fire


Armstrong Economics Blog/Climate

Re-Posted Feb 4, 2019 by Martin Armstrong

 

So much for Global Warming. We really need to prepare for what happens if we continue down this path of colder winters. The ground freezes and it can freeze even down two-feet. That means good luck on growing anything. It has been so cold, that even the rails for trains broke in three different places between Baltimore and Washington on Thursday. So even trains were delayed or canceled as Amtrak did for trains passing through Chicago.

It has been so cold, the tracks freeze and the only way to switch tracks is to set them on fire. Of course, the tracks themselves were not truly burning. They are made out of steel. The fires in Chicago on the tracks this week show flames smoldering in patches of melted snow around the tracks. The photos look wild and dangerous as if it were some apocalyptic image. The steel does not actually burn of melt. The flames simply keep the ice off the tracks at junctions where they need to switch tracks for trains passing through.

It is time to start SERIOUS investigation into climate change and knock off this global warming nonsense which has been an excuse to raise taxes. A few more years of cold weather like this and you will see severe shortages in food being to emerge for 2024. The previous lowest temperature in all of Chicago history was 27 degrees below zero, which was a record set on January 20th, 1985.  This past week almost broken that record reaching 23 degrees. But the wind-chill factor was certain far worse.

Feb 4 2019

Superbowl LIII – A Historic Low Point & Low Viewership?


Armstrong Economics Blog/USA Current Events

Re-Posted Feb 3, 2019 by Martin Armstrong

The Patriots beat the Rams but only a score of 13-3. Superbowl LIII (53) at half-time was the second lowest scoring game in history. The first half of Sunday’s game between the Patriots and the Rams ended in the second lowest scoring first half in a Super Bowl at 3–0, New England. It was 44 years ago when the Steelers led the Vikings 2–0 at half time in Super Bowl IX back in 1975. About 103.4 million people watched Superbowl LII last year, which was the smallest audience for television’s biggest yearly event since 2009. Note the year – 2009. Interestingly enough, when the economy turns down, so do sports. The all-time record high for viewership was 114.4 million for the Patriots-Seahawks game back in 2015, peaking with the Economic Confidence Model. It is curious that in good-times, when everyone is fat and happy, we do not see wars and we see sports do well. The sharp decline post-2015 seems to be correlating with the economy. True, the US economy has been holding up the world. But its growth rates has been steadily declining.

Last year’s Super Bowl (LII) came down to the wire, with Nick Foles leading the Philadelphia Eagles to a 41-33 victory over the Tom Brady-led New England Patriots. That stunning victory for Philadelphia over the favorite, was down significantly in viewership. Last year, I noted that just looking at the risk analysis, it appeared that Tom Brady, New England’s quarterback, had peaked. He entered the NFL in 2000 and he is one of only two players to win five Super Bowls (the other being defensive player Charles Haley) and the only player to win them all playing for one team. Last year he lost to the Philadelphia Eagles. Cyclically reviewing the prospects, Tom Brady appeared to have peaked with his win in 2017 which was 17 years (2 * 8.6) from the beginning of his career. Here we have in Superbowl LIII, certainly a very low scoring game.

How do we measure this peak? Points, wins, or viewership?

From a point perspective, scoring 13 points compared to last year’s 33 points for Brady was a significant decline. So was this just a reaction rally within a broader declining trend? In case you were wondering, six points is the fewest scored through the first three quarters in Super Bowl history. When we get the final viewership numbers, I suspect we will see the bear market decline still in motion. Then there are the pundits that say the Patriots’ Super Bowl win warns of a bear market for the stock market. That is one of the popular myths as is the rise and fall of women’s skirts – very short like the Roaring ’20s = bull market; down to the ankles in the ’30s was the sign of depression.

Feb 3 2019

Quantum Theory Made Easy [2]


Published on Dec 1, 2015

SUBSCRIBE 74K
PART 1: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e5_V7… Today we’ll be exploring the evolution of the atom, starting from J.J. Thomson’s Plum Pudding model, on to Rutherford’s Planetary model, and then on to the Bohr model, which is one of the central focuses of this lecture. After going over the strengths and weaknesses of each, we’ll see how de Broglie’s crazy ideas about the duality of matter manifest themselves in the Bohr model, which we’ll use to (partially) derive the Rydberg equation. Finally, after calculating the Balmer series in order to show off how successful Bohr was, I’ll ruin the moment by explaining why Bohr’s model wasn’t complete after all. Some very important questions will be raised, and the answers… well, the answers will blow your mind in the next episode. This video is less dense than the last one, and certainly less heavy on the maths than the next one. For those of you who paid attention in high school chemistry, at least half of the content here will be review. If this video seemed a little bit too basic, don’t worry- the next video will be the most difficult one in the series. The goal here was to provide a setup for what’s to come- you’ll probably need to revisit this video a few times, since there are things that I mention here that will be explored in much greater depth later on. Now that all the pieces are in place, though, we can finally get to the bread and butter of quantum mechanics in the next video. Stay tuned. Don’t forget to like, share, comment, favorite, and subscribe! Soundtrack: selected works from Stellardrone and Nights Amore Special thanks to NOVA, Best0fScience, and others (to be specifically credited shortly) for several animations used in this and other videos.
Feb 3 2019

Quantum Theory Made Easy [1]


Published on Jul 17, 2015

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“Quantum Theory Made Easy,” a series in which the concepts of quantum physics are broken down for layaudiences in a more digestable manner. More in-depth than most presentations for laypersons, but without the mathematical rigour needed by a specialist in the field. So, you’ve heard that light is a wave/particle. Now you get to find out how we know this! In this episode, we’ll be discussing the dual nature of light, starting with a brief overview of how light was determined to be an electromagnetic wave and what properties light was classically associated with. From there, we’ll present the results of Planck’s blackbody experiments and introduce the concept of quantization, which was how this whole quantum mess was started in the first place. After explaining how the quantum of action (h) works, we’ll move on to how it showed up in experiments that challenged the wave picture of light, and how Einstein, bremsstrahlung, and Compton, made it clear that light can behave like a particle. If you enjoyed this video, please give it a like. If you want to help support the propagation of this material, please press the “favorite” button, and if you’re feeling particularly proactive, please share it on your social media of choice. And of course, if you’re new to this channel, or have just been lurking about but aren’t sure if you’re ready to commit, just take a risk and press that subscribe button (there’s actually no risk involved. Like, at all. Just subscribe already.) Special thanks goes to the following resources for their (Fair-Use protected) material:
Feb 3 2019

President Trump Tweets, Governor “Coonman” Career Ends, Wind-tester Clinton Finally Surfaces…


Re-Posted from The Conservative Tree House on February 2, 2019 by 

President Trump tweets about the controversy surrounding Virginia Democrat Governor Ralph “Coonman” Northam.  Immediately thereafter Hillary Clinton weighs-in.

Three tweets tell the story (notice the timing):

This exponentially elevates the issue for the Democrats…. President Trump is chumming the water.

Action alert phone calls; rapid fire emails; massive and immediate poll testing; and then comes the ‘resistance’ response:

Yes, the hypocrisy of the Hillary Clinton surfacing to criticize Governor Northam for racism against her own direct relationship with modern racism is rather stark.  But hey, that’s the typical Democrat approach.

Hillary Clinton delivered a fond eulogy for U.S. Senator Robert Byrd, a former member and recruiter for the Ku Klux Klan, calling him her “friend and mentor.”   But hey, times-they-are-a-changin’, even for the woman who carries ‘hot sauce in her purse.”

Remember the empty seats in 2016 when Hillary appeared in Kansas City to deliver the keynote address at the predominantly African American National Baptist Convention?

Embedded video

Amber Smith@ambersmithtv

Clinton is supposed to take the stage in 10 minutes, but there are still a lot of empty seats here @kq2

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Embedded video

Amber Smith@ambersmithtv

They are putting walls up to mask how many empty seats there are ahead of Clinton taking the stage kq2

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Feb 3 2019

President Trump Implies Majority of China Trade Conflict Trending Favorably – Few Noted the Signal…


Re-Posted from The Conservative Tree House on February 2, 2019 by 

One of the reasons we highlight the full transcripts of President Trump’s comments, when available, is because within any back-and-forth you can often notice a signal.  This past week was no different.

The day after President Trump hosted a meeting between U.S. and Chinese officials in the Oval Office, he answered a question during an unrelated White House meeting on human trafficking.

Here’s the off-topic transcript:

Q Mr. President, are you thinking of adding on a meeting with Xi Jinping on the back end or the front end of the meeting with Kim?

THE PRESIDENT: Yeah, I’m thinking about it.

Q How close are you —

THE PRESIDENT: I mean, some of you were there yesterday. We had an incredible meeting yesterday with the Vice Premier of China — a very powerful man, highly respected. Very strong. Very respected, also, by the President — President Xi. And we had an amazing meeting on trade — mostly on trade. Actually, also on fentanyl. China has agreed to criminalize fentanyl. That’s going to have a huge impact on fentanyl coming into the country.

There is a possibility we’ll meet somewhere, whether it’s there — I’m over in a certain location. I’ll be over in a certain location there, as you know.

Q So you might do —

THE PRESIDENT: That’ll be announced officially probably next week.

Q So you might do two —

THE PRESIDENT: It could happen. It could happen.

(Transcript link)

The President then made a joke to turn attention away from the answer.  However, if you’ve followed the U.S. -vs- DPRK -vs- China discussions, you’ll note an alignment.

The meeting between President Trump and North Korea’s Chairman Kim Jong-un is scheduled around the very end of February.  The China tariff deadline, relating to Chairman Xi, is March 2nd, a few days later.

We can see why strategically POTUS scheduled the Kim summit at the same time as the U.S-China tariffs were scheduled to merge.  The announcement of the Kim (DPRK) meeting negated Xi’s continual dragon-moves (leverage) during trade negotiations for the period of late January through end February.

Beijing (Xi) cannot tell Pyongyang (Kim) to do anything stupid while President Trump and Chairman Kim are planning their summit.  This strategic approach bought the U.S. trade negotiation team elbow room; where they didn’t have to worry about any confrontational face-to-face tone resulting in Beijing launching their proxy province, the DPRK, into hostilities.  It was smart geopolitical timing by President Trump.

However, after the Chinese trade delegation and U.S. team met to discuss terms; concrete deliverables (Wed/Thur); and after the meeting with China’s Vice Premier Liu He (Thursday night); we now see President Trump discussing a meeting with Chairman Xi Jinping during the same trip he will be making for the Chairman Kim summit.

POTUS Trump would not be entertaining a meeting with Xi, if the Wed/Thr discussions, and the Thursday night meeting (Liu He), were not fruitful.

Think about it.

President Trump would not be pondering, let alone mentioning, a meeting with Chairman Xi Jinping to happen at the exact moment he is executing the second phase tariffs against China.

Remember, if a structurally substantive agreement, that includes specific deliverables and way-points, is not reached by March 2nd, President Trump will raise tariffs on $200 billion of goods from 10 percent to 25 percent.

So if President Trump is signaling (which he is) the likelihood of a meeting with Chairman Xi on the heels of his second summit with Chairman Kim, then the structure of the U.S-China trade negotiations by U.S.T.R. Robert Lighthizer must be pretty well cemented.

If there was no substantive progress in the discussions between U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer and his Chinese counterpart Vice Premier Liu He; and if there was no positive direction being carried into the oval office meeting with VP Liu He; then there would not be any contemplation of a meeting between Chairman Xi and President Trump.

But there is…. so there is.

Feb 3 2019

Vice President Mike Pence Delivers Remarks in Doral, Florida, to Venezuela Exiles…


Re-Posted from The Conservative Tree House on February 2, 2019 by 

The area around Miami, Florida, is home to the largest group of Venezuela exiles in the U.S.  Today, there are two competing mass demonstrations taking place within Venezuela, supportive of both the pro-Maduro regime and the pro-Guaidó movement.

Yesterday Vice-President Mike Pence delivered a speech to a Doral, FL, audience that supports the ouster of Maduro.

.

[FRIDAY] Doral, Florida – THE VICE PRESIDENT: Buenas tardes a todos! (Applause.) Thank you, Governor DeSantis; First Lady Casey DeSantis; members of Congress; Ambassador Trujillo; distinguished guests. Karen and I are so honored to join you here in this beautiful place of worship with our fellow Americans and so many proud sons and daughters of Venezuela. (Applause.)

And as I begin allow me to bring greetings from a friend of mine, and a great champion of liberty in Venezuela and all across this hemisphere of freedom. I bring greetings from the 45th President of the United States of America, President Donald Trump. (Applause.)

AUDIENCE: USA! USA! USA!

THE VICE PRESIDENT: Not long ago, on the President’s behalf, I came here to this very city to deliver a message to you. I told you that we would be with you, that America would stand for a free Venezuela.

And, today, the United States is proud to stand with the Venezuelan people. And I believe the day is coming when Venezuela will be free once more — (applause) — when Venezuela reclaims its libertad!

AUDIENCE: Libertad! Libertad! Libertad!

THE VICE PRESIDENT: Now, on the President’s behalf, I want to thank you all — so many heroes in the room — for your tireless efforts. But let me give special thanks, before I begin, to four relentless champions of freedom for the Venezuelan people — four leaders who have been at President Trump’s side since day one, championing freedom and the restoration of democracy for the Venezuelan people. Would you join me in thanking Congressman Mario Diaz-Balart, Senator Rick Scott, Governor Ron DeSantis, and Senator Marco Rubio? (Applause.)

The President asked me to be here to show our unwavering commitment to the good people of Venezuela. For too long, the people of Venezuela have suffered under the heavy hand of oppression. But now there is hope. There is hope in Venezuela. Across that country, in the largest cities and the smallest towns, people are rising up in defense of their rights. And as President Trump said just last week, “the fight for freedom has begun.” (Applause.)

And to be clear: The struggle in Venezuela is between dictatorship and democracy, and freedom has the momentum. Nicolas Maduro is a dictator with no legitimate claim to power, and Nicolas Maduro must go. (Applause.)

Just three weeks ago, the National Assembly –- the only legitimate elected body in Venezuela -– declared that it no longer recognized the Maduro regime. The National Assembly invoked the constitution and recognized a new leader, a man who speaks for the people of Venezuela and cherishes their rights.

And last week, as hundreds of thousands of citizens marched through the streets in the name of freedom, that leader stood before his country and took an oath “before Almighty God.” And the United States of America was proud to be the first nation on Earth to recognize the only legitimate President of Venezuela, President Juan Guaidó. (Applause.)

I spoke to Juan Guaidó the night before he took that oath, and I’ll never forget it. I marveled at his calm, his courage, and his faith. Just two days ago, President Trump spoke to President Guaidó and congratulated him on his historic assumption of the presidency of Venezuela. (Applause.) He reinforced our strong support for his leadership and for Venezuela’s fight to regain its freedom.

And the United States has made it clear: The safety and security of President Guaidó and his family are of great importance to the American people. (Applause.)

Just yesterday, Maduro threatened President Guiadó’s family, sending paramilitary police to his home. But we know that President Guaidó and the Venezuelan people will never be intimidated, and neither will we. (Applause.)

The United States is proud to recognize Juan Guaidó as Venezuela’s interim president. And Brazil, Colombia, Canada, Argentina, and many other countries have followed America’s lead. All told, more than 20 nations have announced their support for President Guaidó. (Applause.)

But let me make it clear to leaders around the world: That is not enough. There can be no bystanders in the struggle for Venezuela’s freedom. The United States, today, calls on every nation to recognize Juan Guaidó as Venezuela’s President, and take the side of freedom. (Applause.)

The United States has also taken action to support the National Assembly and the government of Juan Guaidó. And just this week, it was my privilege to welcome its newest representative to the White House — a man who was imprisoned twice by the Maduro regime, forced into exile here in Florida. But despite all he’s faced, he still works tirelessly to restore democracy in his homeland. Would you join me in thanking the new Ambassador to the United States of America from a free Venezuela, Ambassador Carlos Vecchio. (Applause.)

As I told Ambassador Vecchio, the National Assembly and President Guaidó have our full support because we recognize the truth that Nicolas Maduro’s dictatorship is destroying Venezuela. When the dictator came to power six long years ago, he promised to deliver an agenda of socialism. And sadly for the Venezuelan people, Maduro did just that.

As we gather here, Venezuela’s socialism has shrunk their economy by nearly half. More than 9 out of 10 people live in poverty, and the average Venezuelan has lost more than 20 pounds through deprivation and malnutrition. Thousands of Venezuelan children are starving at this very hour.

And rising desperation has fueled a mass exodus. More than three million Venezuelans have now abandoned their beloved country. And if things don’t get better, another two million are expected to follow them before the year is out.

And those who stay behind are subject to lawlessness and crime, as well as deprivation. Thieves in Venezuela don’t target banks; they target restaurants. Vicious gangs and government-backed cartels have turned the streets into literal warzones. Venezuela now has the second-highest murder rate in the world, and more than 70 people are slaughtered every single day.

For years, the Venezuelan people have tried to save their country in the ballot box. In 2015, they elected the National Assembly that is still Venezuela’s best hope. But in response, the dictator imprisoned his opponents, orchestrated sham elections, cracked down on protests with lethal force. In fact, in just the past two weeks, security forces have jailed more than 850 protestors, and murdered at least 40 more.

We will never forget them. We will always honor the memory of the martyrs who died for democracy in Venezuela. (Applause.)

Just a few moments ago, Karen and I had the privilege to meet with several Venezuelans who have fled in search of a better life. We heard their stories. And they told us then that they weren’t there to tell us their story; they were there to represent all of those who could not speak in this moment.

We spoke with Jose and Francis, who took their children and left their home two years ago. Jose had spoken out for freedom, placing his own life in danger.

We heard from Jesus, a former councilmember from the city of Valera. The government gangs began to target him, even telling his mother that they would murder him. He had to leave his home to save his life.

We listened to Raul, wrongly accused and imprisoned for seven years, where he was tortured by the regime and witnessed others tortured as well. He saw the murder of fellow inmates. And he spoke today on behalf of those who are still being held.

To all of these courageous men and women, to all of you who have fled Venezuela: We are with you, and I promise we will stay with you until you can safely return home to a free Venezuela. (Applause.)

Venezuela’s plight has captured not just the attention of our President and our people, it has stirred the United States of America to act. We do this because it is what justice requires. We also do this because it is in our interest, as well.

Venezuela is a failed state, and failed states know no boundaries, have no borders. A Venezuela overrun with drug smugglers, gangs, human traffickers is a danger to all people and all nations in this hemisphere.

The very crisis on our southern border today is driven, in large part, by criminal organizations that have overwhelmed countries across our hemisphere. Let me be clear: The United States of America wants every nation in our hemisphere to be a place where people can flourish and build their own futures in their own homeland. (Applause.)

And so we stand. We stand for freedom and security for the Venezuelan people. We stand for the security of both our nations. And I promise you, the United States will continue to stand with the Venezuelan people, and we will continue to stand up to their oppressors. (Applause.)

At President Trump’s direction, the United States has imposed sanctions on more than 50 current and former Venezuelan officials, targeting known drug-runners and human rights abusers, and government thieves who’ve enriched themselves by impoverishing the people.

And since oil is the lifeblood of that corrupt regime, this week the United States of America sanctioned Venezuela’s state-owned oil company. Venezuela’s oil belongs with the Venezuelan people. (Applause.)

And you can be assured the United States will always support the Venezuelan people as they work to restore a constitutional government and hold free and transparent elections. But let’s be clear: This is no time for dialogue; this is time for action. (Applause.) And the time has come to end the Maduro dictatorship once and for all. (Applause.)

AUDIENCE: USA! USA! USA!

THE VICE PRESIDENT: To that end, the United States will continue to exert all diplomatic and economic pressure to bring about a peaceful transition to democracy.

But those looking on should know this: All options are on the table. (Applause.) And Nicolas Maduro would do well not to test the resolve of the United States of America. (Applause.)

Maduro’s tyranny must end, and it must end now. But as the Venezuelan people know, their oppressors do not act alone. Under President Donald Trump, the United States has also stood up to those who have aided and abetted the dictatorship in Venezuela. The truth is, the dictator has lost the support of his people, and even now is beginning to lose the support of his military. The only way he clings to power is with the help that he receives from communist Cuba. (Applause.)

The people of Venezuela know Cuba’s leaders are the real imperialists in the western hemisphere. (Applause.) The truth has to be told. For decades, Cuba has tried to create client states across the region. While normal countries export goods, Cuba exports tyranny and strong-arm tactics. Cuba’s influence has driven Venezuela’s failure, and the time has come to liberate Venezuela from Cuba. (Applause.)

Cuba’s malign influence is evident in Venezuela, and also in Nicaragua, where the regime of Daniel Ortega is oppressing the people and denying their basic rights. (Applause.) That’s just one more reason why President Trump kept his promise when he reversed the failed policies of the last administration toward Cuba, because the Cuban people have the same birthright of liberty that God gave us all.

Venezuela deserves to be free. Nicaragua deserves to be free. And in this White House, under this President, it will always be Que Viva Cuba Libre! (Applause.)

AUDIENCE: USA! USA! USA!

THE VICE PRESIDENT: In addition to the strong actions President Trump has taken — economic and diplomatic efforts — I want to assure all of you that America has also been there for the Venezuelan people, over $100 million in humanitarian support so far.

You know, Karen and I saw firsthand the hardship facing families who’ve fled the collapse of Venezuela when we travelled through the region last year. Like the grandmother my wife and I met in Cartagena, Colombia. She literally gathered her four grandchildren with her because she told me how it had gotten so bad in their small town in Venezuela that the children had to rise at four in the morning to gain a ticket to buy one piece of bread at four in the afternoon. So she gathered up her grandchildren and she made the journey to Colombia.

We gathered with families in Manaus, Brazil. And I’ll never forget the father, with his two little boys at his side looking up, who told me how hard it was, and how many times he had to tell those boys, “We’re not going to eat today.”

Let me assure them and you: The United States of America stands ready to deliver humanitarian aid to the Venezuelan people in Venezuela, as well. (Applause.)

We are prepared to work with the legitimate government of Venezuela, the National Assembly, and President Guaidó. The American people will marshal our resources and the resources of nations around the world to provide millions in humanitarian relief.

The truth is, it is unconscionable that Maduro himself has publicly refused to accept even a penny from America or the wider world in the form of humanitarian relief for his people.

The truth is, every day the dictator remains in power is another day of starvation and suffering. For the sake of the men, women, and children of Venezuela, Maduro must go. (Applause.)

Thank you all for being here today. We’re truly honored by your presence and your support. You know, freedom springs from the hearts of all the people of across this New World, doesn’t it? And in the words of Simón Bolivar, “A people that loves freedom will, in the end, be free.” (Applause.) And we believe that.

Tomorrow, for the second time this week, from the shores of the Caribbean to the streets of Caracas, to the foothills of the Andes, the Venezuelan people will rise again in peaceful protest. They will speak again with one voice, as one movement, with one purpose as they take to the streets to demand their rights, and the United States of America will stand with them. (Applause.)

And to them we say, as you make your voices heard tomorrow, on behalf of the President of the United States and the American people, we say to all the good people of Venezuela: Estamos con ustedes. We are with you, we stand with you, and we will stay with you until democracy is restored. (Applause.)

And we also say from our hearts that as you take to the streets again, know that you do not go alone. You go with the support of the American people and with freedom-loving people all across the world. And you also go, I believe with all of my heart, with the author of freedom, who said, “Do not be afraid; stand firm and you will see the deliverance the Lord will bring you today… for where the spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty.” (Applause.)

With faith in that great promise, faith in all who have joined us in this hemisphere of freedom, with faith in the courage and strength of the Venezuelan people, and the generosity and strength of the American people, I believe with all my heart: The day is coming soon when Venezuela will once more be free, when her people will see a “new birth of freedom,” in a nation reborn to libertad.

So to the good people of Venezuela: As you go to seek your freedom, we go with you. You go with God. Vayan con Dios. God bless you, God bless the good people of Venezuela, and God bless the United States of America.

END

Today in Venezuela:

ela ferris@ElaFerris

This image is what Venezuela needs too see. Guaido’s mom blessing before he addresses the country Foto: EFE/ Miguel Gutiérrez @marcorubio @VP

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FRANKLIN TRUJILLO@TrujilloF60

In Trump we trust, Venezuela Free

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