White House trade and manufacturing advisor Peter Navarro appears on CNBC to discuss the Bloomberg news story about the White House blocking U.S. investment in China.  Additionally, Navarro is asked about U.S-China trade discussions.

This interview happens on the heels of a massive win for the White House at the Universal Postal Union Congress, where the UPU accepted that inbound package deliveries to the United States will no longer be subsidized by U.S. taxpayers – {Details Here}.

Earlier today President Trump delivered remarks to honor the 20th Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Mark Milley. [Video and Transcript Below]

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[Transcript, POTUS remarks @5:32] –  THE PRESIDENT: Thank you very much, Mike. And I have to start off by saying that all of my life I’ve heard that if it rains on a big occasion, it brings luck. So, Mark, I think you’re going to be the luckiest general in history. (Laughter.)

I want to thank everybody for being here — Vice President Pence. And thank you all for the incredible service members. We have the finest military anywhere in the world. The American military is the greating — greatest fighting force, without question, in the history of the world. And today it’s stronger than it’s ever been, by a large factor. No enemy on Earth can match the awesome might of the American Army, Navy, Air Force, Coast Guard, and the United States Marines.

We’re gathered together for a truly historic occasion. We’re here to welcome our outstanding new Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff: General Mark Milley. Mark, I want to congratulate you. You’re my friend. You’re my advisor. And you deserve this position. I never had a doubt. Congratulations. (Applause.)

I also want to express our profound gratitude to Mark’s wife Hollyanne, and his children, Mary and Peter, for their selfless devotion to our country. The strength of our military is truly found in the love and support of our military families. So important. Those families are so important.

We’re especially honored to be joined by some of America’s Gold Star Families. Your treasured loved ones made the supreme sacrifice for our nation. They’re looking down on you right now. You look up in the sky, and they’re looking down on you. Our debt to you is infinite and eternal. America will hold you in its heart forever. And we will never forget.

We’re also grateful to the many veterans here today. (Applause.) To our heroic wounded warriors in attendance: Our nation will always remember what you did for the cause of freedom.

Joining us as well are: Secretary Mark Esper. Thank you, Mark. Great job you’re doing. Secretary Mike Pompeo. Mike, thank you very much. EPA Administrator Andrew Wheeler. Thank you, Andrew. Many of our great secretaries and my Cabinet and service chiefs.

I know we have a couple of wonderful representatives — I think you have many, so I’ll get myself in trouble, but I see John Carter and I see Brad Wenstrup. Thank you very much for being here, fellas. Thank you very much. And I see a senator that’s so supportive of our military and this administration, Senator Dan Sullivan. Thank you, Dan — of Alaska. Done a great job.

As we prepare to welcome a new Chairman, we must first pay tribute to one of America’s most admired and beloved military leaders: outgoing Chairman Joseph Dunford, here today with his wonderful wife, Ellyn.

Joe Dunford hails from just outside Boston. His father was a Marine — and a tough one — who landed on Inchon, in Korea, and fought at the Chosin Reservoir. So, Joe knew which branch he was destined to join. He didn’t have too much of a decision to make, I think. What do you think about that? Huh? Not a big decision? No.

In 1977, he was commissioned into the U.S. Marine Corps.
In 2003, Joe commanded some of the first American troops in Operation Iraqi Freedom — and very, very successfully commanded them. For his exceptional bravery, he received the Legion of Merit with Combat Valor.

As a general, Joe was promoted so quickly that he was nominated for his third star before he had formally received his second. How do you do that? How do you do that, Joe?

In 2013, he was named International Security Assistance Force Commander in Afghanistan. And he was instrumental in strengthening Afghan security forces to share more of the burden. And today, they are indeed sharing much more of the burden.

In 2014, Joe became Commandant of the Marine Corps, and the next year he was named Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. And in that role, Joe published the first Joint Military Net Assessment in 20 years. We have a lot of the ideas that we’ve brought forward. And, you know, we’ve spent $2.5 trillion since I’m President — $2.5 trillion — far more than this country has ever even thought about spending. But we had to have a modern, great military with the most magnificent and the finest machinery, planes, boats, ships, weapons of all kinds. We’ve never had anything like you have today. When I took over, we were a very depleted military, and today we’re at a level that we have never even come close to.

Joe solidified America’s competitive advantage through global integration of the Joint Force. He also provided critical leadership during the complete rebuilding of our military.

And he helped me in another way — something that probably only Joe and Ellyn really know — because in, I would say, in 2015, I sat with Joe at a dinner. And believe it or not, I was getting a big award from the Marines. And Joe was presenting the awards, and I had no even thought of running for President. And I said to my wife and family, “Look at that guy. He’s a great looking guy, isn’t he? He’s like central casting. He’s like right out of Hollywood.” But he made the great presentation that night.

And I got to talk to him because I sat with him and Ellyn and his son, Patrick. And I was asking Joe lots of questions about the military. He said, “You really enjoy this, don’t you?” I said, “Well, I just love our country. It’s very important to me. I love our country.” And I said, “I don’t know. What do you think? Should I give it a shot?” This was before it was public. He was one of the first people I asked. I said, “What do you think? You think I’d have a shot? If I get it, we’re going to rebuild that military. It’s going to be stronger than ever before.”

And he helped me form an opinion. He gave me a lot of information. And he has ever since. So, for that, I want to thank you and Ellyn, and I want to thank Patrick. I hope I got his name right. It was a long time ago, but I think his name was Patrick, right? Huh? Did I do good? (Laughter.)

But General Dunford also provided vital strategic direction to the campaign against ISIS in Iraq and Syria. With his help and the great courage of our warfighters, I am proud to say that the ISIS territorial caliphate has been 100 percent completely obliterated. When we came to office, it was a mess; it was all over. Now we have thousands of captured ISIS fighters, and we have 100 percent of the caliphate.

As Chairman, Joe has also been a strong supporter and crucial advocate for creating the sixth branch of the U.S. Armed Forces — something that I’m really proud about and something that, when I make these speeches in these massive arenas loaded up with people, thousands and thousands, it just about gets the number one line of applause because I say, “We’re creating the Space Force.” And the place goes crazy. Great popularity, because that’s where it’s going to be at, more and more.

General, your life exemplifies those words that beat in the heart of every Marine: Semper Fi. America salutes your incredible legacy of noble service. You’ve been exceptional. Thank you. Thank you very much, Joe. (Applause.) I think they like you, Joe.

As one exceptional Chairman departs, our nation gains another. Today, Mark Milley takes General Dunford’s place as the highest-ranking member of the most skilled, determined, and powerful military ever assembled in human history.

Mark has been preparing for his duty his entire life. Like Joe, he grew up in a family of patriots just outside of Boston. His dad was a Navy corpsman, and tough as can be, they say. Was he that tough?

GENERAL MILLEY: He was that tough.

THE PRESIDENT: Huh? No games? He didn’t play games?

GENERAL MILLEY: No. No.

THE PRESIDENT: (Laughs.) He says, “No games.”

But his dad was a strong Navy corpsman, serving with the 4th Marine Division in World War Two — a veteran of the assault landings in the Marshall Islands campaign, the Mariana campaign, and in two Iwo Jima hits. During the war, Mark’s mother also served at a Navy hospital in Seattle, treating wounded men from the Pacific.

Inspired by their example, Mark chose the path of duty and the life of service. He could have done whatever he wanted. He was exceptional in every way.

In 1980, he was commissioned into the Army, and quickly joined the ranks of its finest soldiers. He graduated from the Army Ranger School and became a master parachutist and a Green Beret. In a long Army career, Mark deployed to Panama, Colombia, Korea, Somalia, Egypt, Haiti, Bosnia, Iraq, and Afghanistan — often seeing very, very close up the combat.

He has not just served, but shown immense valor, on nearly every continent. He is the recipient of the Distinguished Service Medal, four Bronze Stars, and the Legion of Merit, along with two awards of the Combat Infantry Badge.

With degrees from Princeton, Columbia — wow, I didn’t know you were such a great academic. (Laughter.) Wow, let me give you a little more. (Laughter.) I’m impressed with that. That’s very good. And the Naval War College — but I liked you anyway — Mark is living proof that the American warfighter is the toughest, smartest and bravest, best and brightest, by far, anywhere in the world.

Following four deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan, he became the 39th Chief of Staff of the Army in 2015. Over the last several years, he has worked tirelessly to rebuild a depleted force into a fully manned, fully trained, and fully equipped Army prepared to achieve complete victory in the conflicts of tomorrow.

And when we were determining where we were going to spend all of these billions of dollars, like you’ve never seen — we haven’t seen it in decades — I went with Mark, I sat with Mark, and I hope we spent it wisely, and I know we spent it wisely. Two and a half trillion dollars.

He built the Army Futures Command, and he created Security Force Assistance Brigades to reduce the need for large deployments.

When Mark took over, only two Brigade Combat Teams were at the highest levels of readiness. Today, that number stands at 28 — an extraordinary turnaround and achievement. And I congratulate everybody here today. (Applause.)

America’s Armed Forces are more powerful than ever and growing even stronger. We have the newest equipment, and we also have equipment that we keep under wraps that nobody has ever even heard of. We have weapons that we pray to God we never have to use. Our nuclear has been totally rebuilt; some brand new and some refurbished. But we hope to God we never have to use any of our weapons — any of our weapons.

In his new role as Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Milley will serve as my top military advisor. I have absolute confidence that he will fulfill his duty with the same brilliance and fortitude he has shown throughout his long and very distinguished career.

From the great General Omar Bradley to the famed Joe Dunford, our nation has been blessed by the advice, counsel, and wisdom of 19 Chairmen of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Today, we pass the baton to the 20th.

Together, we vow to continue the righteous mission that has united every Chairman and every patriot ever to wear the uniform and to defend our great American flag. We will keep America safe, we will keep America strong, and we will keep America proud so that our children and their children will forever and always be free.

Thank you again, General Dunford, for the incredible job you’ve done. And to General Mark Milley: Good luck, Godspeed, God bless you, God bless our military, and God bless America. Thank you all for being here. Thank you very much. It’s a great honor. Thank you. Thank you. (Applause.)

END 12:05 P.M. EDT

Guardian of the swamp gates, Chris Wallace, returns from executive planning sessions with fellow travelers to advance the Trump-Ukraine Conspiracy narrative.  Taking the most recent talking points from House Democrats on Fox News Sunday, the insufferable Wallace debates White House advisor Stephen Miller.

Baghdad Wallace skips over the actual transcript of the Trump-Zelenskyy phone call and instead prefers to debate the scripted narrative within the whistleblower complaint about the content of the phone call.  Whistleblower good / Orangeman bad.

There are two aspects to this recent story: the visible surface issue; and the unspoken issue below the surface.  In essence, there’s more here than most will recognize at first blush.

The surface level aspect is the Trump administration considering a block on U.S. investments into the opaque financial system that is China.

The U.S. financial media view the proposal through the prism of the White House looking for leverage over Beijing during negotiations:

(Via CNBC) […] Restricting financial investments in Chinese entities would be meant to protect U.S. investors from excessive risk due to lack of regulatory supervision, the source said.

The deliberations come as the U.S. looks for additional levers of influence in trade talks, which resume on Oct. 10 in Washington. Both countries slapped tariffs on billions of dollars worth of each other’s goods. The discussions also come as the Chinese government is taking steps to increase foreign access to its markets.

Bloomberg News first reported earlier on Friday that Trump administration officials are considering ways to limit U.S. investors’ portfolio flows into China, including delisting Chinese companies from American stock exchanges and preventing U.S. government pension funds from investing in the Chinese market. (read more)

The below-the-surface issues are not widely discussed.

First, here’s an interview that just might make your jaw drop.  Listen to Michael Bloomberg become an apologist for the communist regime in China, simply because Beijing is holding his financial assets hostage.  Seriously, this is alarming. WATCH:

Could you even imagine that guy being President? With that outlook toward China?  Bloomberg is known in U.S. left-wing social circles as an “environmentalist”, yet did you hear him say China moving the coal plants to just outside the city is a solution?  …. As if smog and pollution is best solved through relocated geographics’.  That’s how financial engagement with China turns people into pretzels… hostage pretzels to their financial self-interests.

Moving on… Despite the Wall Street pundits proclamations, it is clear by now that President Trump is methodically decoupling the U.S. from China.  President Trump has been subtle at times with hints, and then not-so-subtle at other times with deliberate warnings to U.S. companies.

A good example of the dynamic is found in President Trump’s discussions with Apple CEO Tim Cook.  It is clear that President Trump doesn’t want to harm U.S. companies, but simultaneously he needs them to accept that there is almost no possibility of a U.S-China trade agreement.  Therefore the administration is in somewhat of a strategic influence-game with U.S. multinationals.

If you begin looking at the U.S-Chinese investment situation from Trump’s position; and you accept there is not going to be a trade agreement; then you can see POTUS trying to protect U.S. investments from the fallout.

China needs dollars; everyone who follows trade and China’s economic position understands that without dollars China sinks.  The current economic weakness in Europe is driven partly by China getting less dollars due to their conflict with the U.S.

It is the reverse exfiltration problem.  With less dollars inbound to Bejing, China has to limit purchases from other nations;  less purchases from Europe are an outcome.  This is a source of contention from Germany, France and the EU.

President Trump appears to be looking for ways to influence the withdrawal of U.S. investments, especially pension and retirement accounts, from what he and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin perceive as high-risk exposure in China. However, it’s not because the administration wants to pressure Beijing; but rather because the administration is attempting to protect American investment interests.

President Trump knows as soon as he fully decouples, all investment assets in China will plummet…. and everyone knows China’s financial markets are tenuous at best.  Trump has been warning American interests, albeit carefully and with nuance, to position themselves according to a predictable outcome.  This latest series of discussions is simply an extension of the Trump administration trying to get people to think ahead…. forced medicine.

More on China’s financial position:

Friday President Trump delivered remarks at the White House to celebrate Hispanic heritage month. [Video and Transcript Below]

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[Transcript] – THE PRESIDENT: That’s very nice. Thank you.

AUDIENCE: Four more years! Four more years! Four more years!

THE PRESIDENT: A lot of spirit. (Applause.) A lot of spirit. How are you?

Well, thank you all for being here today. And I’m delighted to once again celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month with you at the White House. Right? (Applause.)

This evening, we come together to honor the devotion, and the drive, and the faith, and genius, and exceptional achievements of our incredible Hispanic American community, right? (Applause.)

Everybody here — Hispanic and/or Hispanic American — who isn’t? (Applause.) Do we have anybody? Do we have anybody who isn’t? I don’t think so. How are you? Great man of faith. Great.

Hispanic Americans have been a big part of our national story from the very, very beginning of our country. You work hard. You raise your strong and beautiful families. You care for your neighbors. (Applause.) You start businesses, you create jobs, and you teach your children to love our country and to cherish our God-given freedom. Right? (Applause.)

Hispanic Americans enrich America in countless ways, and we will always honor this solemn commitment to you. I will always be with you, and I think you know that maybe better than anybody knows it. (Applause.) All of our citizens — every single day, we’re fighting for you. We’re putting your needs, your families, and your futures first. We’re putting America first. We’re putting the people in this room — we’re putting you first. All right?

And we’re delighted to be joined for this special occasion by Vice President Mike Pence, who is doing a fantastic job. (Applause.) Say a couple of words, Mike. Say a couple of words. Come on.

THE VICE PRESIDENT: Well, thank you, Mr. President. And it is wonderful to be here just a few short days before we kick off Hispanic Heritage Month. The Americans gathered in this room, and all you represent stand for everything that’s great about this country and everything that this President and this administration fight for every day: faith and family and freedom. Thank you for being here at the White House, and God bless you. (Applause.)

THE PRESIDENT: Thank you, Mike.

We have some very powerful, important people that have been doing a fantastic job on the Cabinet. Administrator Andrew Wheeler — where’s Andrew? Where is Andrew? (Applause.) Thank you. Whoa, Andrew. I thought you were taller than that. I thought you were taller than that, Andrew. (Laughter.)

Deputy Secretary Patrick Pizzella. Patrick. Thank you. Thank you, Patrick. (Applause.) Good job, Patrick.

U.S. Treasurer — who everybody know — Jovita Carranza. (Inaudible.) (Applause.) Thank you, Jovita.

A great football player at Ohio State — fantastic. He went into the NFL and he was tough as can be. A lot of people don’t know that. He’s a tough cookie and he’s a friend of mine: Representative Anthony Gonzalez. Thank you. (Applause.)

Along with a lot of other political people, and state and local leaders, and a lot of diplomats. All the diplomats, thank you very much. We always love diplomats in the White House because we can use diplomats sometimes. (Laughter.)

I also want to thank Christine D’Clario for her beautiful rendition of our National Anthem. Thank you, Christine! Great job.

Last week, I had the privilege of awarding the Presidential Medal of Freedom to another phenomenal member of the Hispanic American community: the legendary pitcher for the New York Yankees — I think one of the great pitchers of all time; certainly, the greatest reliever of all time — Mariano Rivera. (Applause.)

He was something. Boy, his record — you know, he was up — and he’s been a friend of mine for a long time, and — as a Yankee fan. But there’s never been any human being that broke more bats. I said, “What do you do?” He threw a heavy ball. I said, “Mariano, how do you do that?” He said, “I don’t know. God just gave me this ability.” (Applause.)

But you’d have people up there, and those bats were breaking left and right. It was a heavy ball, and his record was incredible.

He — his earned run average in all of the playoffs — and I think he has a record for games played. But his record was — his earned run average was less than one run a game. And they won many, many World Series, and many games. So he’s a special person and a really nice person, too.

Mariano is one of millions of the outstanding men and women of Hispanic heritage who has excelled in every dimension of American society, and helped to build our community into the greatest nation the world has ever seen. (Applause.)

Today, thanks to our pro-American economic policies — you all know this — Hispanic Americans are thriving like they have never thrived before. (Applause.)

We’ve created more than 6 million new jobs since my election. More than 1 million Latinas have entered the workforce. (Applause.) And, as you probably heard me say on occasion, Hispanic American unemployment right now is at the lowest level in the history of our country. (Applause.) How do they beat us in a debate? When they say, “We’re going to get Hispanic vote…” And I say, “Really?” The lowest level in the history — I mean, it’s the lowest in the history of our country. So that’s something special. (Applause.)

Since 2016, Hispanic American median household income has risen by $1,500, and is now the highest level in the history of our country. (Applause.) How about that? Not doing bad, right?

Half a million more Hispanic Americans now own a home, and we’ve never seen these kind of numbers before. So I’m very proud to report that more Latinas own small businesses than ever before. (Applause.) And — you know, great business people. When I was out on that business market, I hated competing with you. (Laughter.) Smart and tough and vicious, but I won’t say that tonight. (Laughter.)

We have one of these amazing entrepreneurs with us tonight. Maria Rios is the President and CEO of Nation Waste, Inc. And she’s got an incredible story to tell. Maria, please come forward. Please. (Applause.)

MS. RIOS: Thank you, Mr. President.

THE PRESIDENT: Thank you, darling.

MS. RIOS: What an honor, my goodness.

THE PRESIDENT: It’s my honor.

MS. RIOS: My honor. Thank you very much.

THE PRESIDENT: My honor. Thank you.

National Economic Council Director Larry Kudlow discusses the forecast for ratification of the USMCA against the backdrop of Pelosi’s announced focus on impeachment.

Additionally, Kudlow discusses the status of Chinese trade negotiations and the recently affirmed trade deal with Japan.

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  WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The U.S. House of Representatives is proceeding with efforts regarding the Trump administration’s trade deal with Mexico and Canada, U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi told reporters on Thursday, saying House Democrats had discussed the pact a day earlier.

“We’re moving ahead on the U.S-Mexico-Canada agreement,” Pelosi said at a news conference. “We’re, again, hoping to be on a continuing path to ‘yes’” to approve the deal aimed at replacing the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). (link)

“Deal”? ….THAT was before you smothered yourself in shoe polish, Justin!

A much anticipated bilateral meeting between President Donald Trump and Ukraine President Zelenskyy. [Video and Transcript Below]

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[Transcript] – PRESIDENT TRUMP: Well, thank you very much, everybody. We’re with the President of Ukraine, and he’s made me more famous, and I’ve made him more famous. (Laughter.) I will say he’s got a great reputation. He’s very, very strongly looking into all sorts of corruption and some of the problems they’ve had over the years. I think it’s one of the primary reasons he got elected. His reputation is absolutely sterling. And it’s an honor to be with you.

And we spoke a couple of times, as you probably remember. And they’d like to hear every single word, and we give them every single word, and then they’ll say, “Well, about today?” I think the press would like to stay in the meeting, but we have lots of witnesses, if you’d like to have it.

But the country of — our country is doing phenomenally well. We are — we have the best economy we’ve ever had. We have the best employment numbers that we’ve ever had. We have now almost 160 million people working, which is more than we’ve ever had. So we’re doing very well in every respect. And I have a feeling that your country is going to do fantastically well. And whatever we can do. You just take care of yourself. Thank you.

PRESIDENT ZELENSKY: Thank you very much. Thank you very much, Mr. President.

Thank you very much. It’s a great pleasure to me to be here, and it’s better to be on TV than by phone, I think.

PRESIDENT TRUMP: Yeah. (Laughter.)

PRESIDENT ZELENSKY: And, Mr. President, thank you very much. And I’m not the first time to stay in New York —

PRESIDENT TRUMP: Right.

PRESIDENT ZELENSKY: — but I know that you’ve never been in Ukraine.

PRESIDENT TRUMP: That’s right.

PRESIDENT ZELENSKY: And your predecessor also — how do you say it in English? — didn’t find time; I mean that. (Laughter.)

PRESIDENT TRUMP: Right.

PRESIDENT ZELENSKY: So, can you give me a word that you will come to our great country?

PRESIDENT TRUMP: Well, I’m going to try. (Laughter.) And I know a lot of people — I will say this: I know a lot of people from Ukraine. They’re great people. And I owned something called the Miss Universe pageants years ago, and I sold it to IMG. And when I ran for President, I thought maybe it wouldn’t be the greatest thing to own the Miss Universe and Miss USA pageants. But it’s a great thing. And we had a winner from Ukraine, and we’ve really had — we got to know the country very well in a lot of different ways. But it’s a country, I think, with tremendous potential.

PRESIDENT ZELENSKY: Yes, I know it, because I’m from this country.

PRESIDENT TRUMP: Right. (Laughter.)

PRESIDENT ZELENSKY: And I want to thank you for the invitation to Washington.

PRESIDENT TRUMP: Right.

PRESIDENT ZELENSKY: You invited me. But I think — I’m sorry, but I think you forgot to tell me the date. (Laughter.) But I think in the near future.

PRESIDENT TRUMP: They’ll tell you the date.

PRESIDENT ZELENSKY: (Laughs.) Yes, they know before us. And I want to thank you — to thank you, especially, Mr. President, to USA, to your government. Like I said, I know many people, many faces, like the Second Family, after you — my Ukrainian family, we know each other.

Thank you for your support, especially now when — you know, when we have two — really, two wars in Ukraine. The first one is with corruption, you know. But we’ll fight — no, we’ll be winner in this fight, I’m sure. And the priority — my priority is to stop the war on Donbass and to get back our territories: Crimea, Donbass, Luhansk.

Thank you for your support in this case. Thank you very much.

PRESIDENT TRUMP: Well, thank you very much, Mr. President. If you remember, you lost Crimea during a different administration, not during the Trump administration.

PRESIDENT ZELENSKY: Yeah. So you have chance to help us.

PRESIDENT TRUMP: That’s right. I do. But that was during the Obama administration that you lost Crimea, and I didn’t think it was something that you should have. But that was done a long time ago, and I think it was handled poorly. But it’s just one of those things.

One of the elements that we discussed is the United States helps Ukraine, but I think that other countries should help Ukraine much more than they’re doing — Germany, France, the European Union nations. They really should help you a lot more. And I think maybe, together, we’ll work on that. They have to feel a little bit guilty about it because they don’t do what they should be doing.

You’re very important to the European Union. You’re very important — strategically, very important. And I think they should spend a lot more in helping Ukraine. And they know that also, and they actually tell me that, but they don’t seem to produce. So I’m sure you’ll talk to them, and I’ll certainly be talking to them.

PRESIDENT ZELENSKY: Thank you very much, Mr. President. And, you know, now we need — I want to tell you that we now (inaudible) the new country. And, I’m sorry, but we don’t need help; we need support. Real support. And we thank — thank everybody, thank all of the European countries; they each help us. But we also want to have more — more. But I understand, so only together, America and EU — only together we can stop the war. And, you know, we are ready. We just want to tell that we are — remember that we are the biggest country in Europe, but we want to be the richest one. It’s true; it’s in my heart.

PRESIDENT TRUMP: Well, you know, you have great people in Ukraine, and you have very talented people —

PRESIDENT ZELENSKY: Very smart.

PRESIDENT TRUMP: — in terms of manufacturing, in terms of some of the things they do. And we’ll be doing — we’re doing trading already, but we should be doing a lot more trading with Ukraine. But you have very talented people. They make great things. You’re at the top of the line, really. So that’s very important.

And the other thing is I’ve heard you actually have — over the last fairly short period of time, you’ve really made some progress with Russia. I hear a lot of progress has been made. And just keep it going. It’d be nice to end that whole disaster.

PRESIDENT ZELENSKY: First of all, I want to tell you, before — before the relations with Russia — I will prolong, just one minute — I mean, you have to know — I want world to know that now we have the new team, the new parliament, the new government.

PRESIDENT TRUMP: Right.

PRESIDENT ZELENSKY: So now we (inaudible) about 74 laws, new laws, which help for our new reforms: land reform, big privatization. They did the law about concessions. Did — we (inaudible) general for security, and we launched the Service Secretary.

Is it right Service Secretary?

AIDE: Yes. Anti-corruption court, as well.

PRESIDENT ZELENSKY: An anti-corruption court. As we came, we did — we launched the anti-corruption court. It began to work on the 5th of September. It was — you know, it was — after five days, we had the new government.

So, we are ready. We want to show that we — we just come. And if somebody, if you — if you want to help us, so just let’s do businesses cases. We have many investment cases. We’re ready.

PRESIDENT TRUMP: And stop corruption in Ukraine, because that will really make you great. That will make you great personally, and it’ll also be so tremendous for your nation, in terms of what you want to do and where you want to take it.

Thank you very much. It’s a great honor.

PRESIDENT ZELENSKY: Thank you very much, Mr. President.

Q President Zelensky, have you felt any pressure from President Trump to investigate Joe Biden and Hunter Biden?

PRESIDENT ZELENSKY: I think you read everything. So I think you read text. I’m sorry, but I don’t want to be involved to democratic, open elections — elections of USA.

No, you heard that we had, I think, good phone call. It was normal. We spoke about many things. And I — so I think, and you read it, that nobody pushed — pushed me.

Yes.

PRESIDENT TRUMP: In other words, no pressure.

Q President Trump, would — President Trump, would you like Mr. Zelensky to —

PRESIDENT TRUMP: Because you know what? There was no pressure. And you know there was — and, by the way, you know there was no pressure. All you have to do it see it, what went on on the call. But you know that. But you can ask a question, and I appreciate the answer.

Go ahead.

Q Mr. President, would you like President Zelensky to do more on Joe Biden and investigate (inaudible)?

PRESIDENT TRUMP: No. I want him to do whatever he can. This was not his fault; he wasn’t there. He’s just been here recently. But whatever he can do in terms of corruption, because the corruption is massive.

Now, when Biden’s son walks away with millions of dollars from Ukraine, and he knows nothing, and they’re paying him millions of dollars, that’s corruption.

When Biden’s son walks out of China with $1.5 billion in a fund — and the biggest funds in the world can’t get money out of China — and he’s there for one quick meeting, and he flies in on Air Force Two, I think that’s a horrible thing. I think it’s a horrible thing.

But I’m going far beyond that. I know the President, and I’ve read a lot about Ukraine. I’ve read a lot about a lot of countries. He wants to stop corruption.

He was elected — I think, number one — on the basis of stopping corruption, which unfortunately has plagued Ukraine. And if he could do that, he’s doing, really, the whole world a big favor. I know — and I think he’s going to be successful.

Q Mr. President, on Rudy Giuliani, why do you think it’s appropriate for your personal attorney to get involved in government business?

PRESIDENT TRUMP: Well, you’d have to ask Rudy. I will tell you —

Q You mentioned it to the President here.

PRESIDENT TRUMP: I will tell you this, that Rudy is looking to also find out where the phony witch hunt started, how it started. You had a Russian witch hunt that turned out to be two and half years of phony nonsense.

And Rudy Giuliani is a great lawyer. He was a great mayor. He’s highly respected. I’ve watched the passion that he’s had on television over the last few days. I think it’s incredible the way he’s done.

What he’s at is he wants to find out where did this Russian witch hunt that you people really helped perpetrate — where did it start. How come it started? It was all nonsense. It was a hoax. It was a total hoax. It was a media hoax and a Democrat hoax. Where did it start?

And Rudy has got every right to go and find out where that started. And other people are looking at that, too. Where did it start? The enablers — where did it all come from? It was out of thin air. And I think he’s got a very strong right to do it. He’s a good lawyer; he knows exactly what he’s doing. And it’s very important.

Q Mr. President, do you believe that the emails from Hillary Clinton — do you believe that they’re in Ukraine? Do you think this whole thing originated —

PRESIDENT TRUMP: I think they could be. You mean the 30,000 that she deleted?

Q Yes.

PRESIDENT TRUMP: Yeah, I think they could very well — boy, that was a nice question. I like that question. (Laughter.) Because, frankly, I think that one of the great crimes committed is Hillary Clinton deleting 33,000 emails after Congress sends her a subpoena. Think of that. You can’t even do that in a civil case; you can’t get rid of evidence like that. She deleted 33,000 emails after — not before — after receiving the subpoena from the U.S. Congress.

I mean, I have never heard — now, she’s done far worse than that. Although, I don’t know how much worse it can be. But there were many other things she did that were wrong. But that’s so obvious. She gets a subpoena from the United States Congress and she deletes them. And then she said, as I remember it, that, “Oh, well, they had to do with the wedding and yoga.” She does a lot of yoga, right? So they had 33,000 emails about the wedding of her daughter and yoga. I don’t think so.

How she got away with that one is just — but it’s one of many. And it’s corrupt government. Because we have corruption also, Mr. President. We have a lot of corruption in our government. And when you see what happened with Hillary Clinton, when you see what happened with Comey, and McCabe, and all of these people — we have a lot of things going on here too. Hopefully, it’s going to be found out very soon. But I think that a lot of progress has been made. A lot of progress has been made.

Q Will the military aid continue? Can you assure that it will continue in the future?

PRESIDENT TRUMP: Well, we’re working with Ukraine. And we want other countries to work with Ukraine. When I saw “work,” I’m referring to money. They should put up more money. We put up a lot of money. I gave you anti-tank busters that — frankly, President Obama was sending you pillows and sheets. And I gave you anti-tank busters. And a lot of people didn’t want to do that, but I did it.

And I really hope that Russia — because I really believe that President Putin would like to do something. I really hope that you and President Putin get together and can solve your problem. That would be a tremendous achievement. And I know you’re trying to do that.

Q President Zelensky, in the phone call, you said that you would look into Joe Biden — you would ask your prosecutor to look into the matter. Have you had that conversation —

PRESIDENT TRUMP: Well, I think — no, I haven’t. But I think that — I think this —

Q I’m asking President Zelensky.

PRESIDENT TRUMP: I think that somebody, if you look at what he did, it’s so bad — where his son he goes to China, he walks away with a billion and a half dollars. He goes to Ukraine and he walks away with $50,000 a month and a lot of money in addition to that. And the whole thing with the prosecutor in Ukraine.

And he’s on tape. This isn’t like “maybe he did it, maybe he didn’t.” He’s on tape doing this. I saw this a while ago. I looked at it and I said, “That’s incredible. I’ve never seen anything like that.” Now, either he’s dumb, or he thought he was in a room full of really good friends, or maybe it’s a combination of both, in his case.

Q President Zelensky —

PRESIDENT ZELENSKY: I heard your question. Thank you very much. Don’t cry.

I mean that we have independent country and independent general security. I can’t push anyone, you know? That’s it. That is the question — that is the answer. So I didn’t call somebody or the new general security. I didn’t ask him. I didn’t push him. That’s it.

Q Do you feel obligated to fulfill your promises to President Trump?

PRESIDENT ZELENSKY: Just — sorry.

Q (Speaks Ukrainian.)

PRESIDENT ZELENSKY: (Speaks Ukrainian.)

(As interpreted.) Obligated to do what? (Speaks Ukrainian.)

Q (Speaks Ukrainian.)

PRESIDENT ZELENSKY: (Speaks Ukrainian.)

Q (Speaks Ukrainian.)

PRESIDENT ZELENSKY: (Speaks Ukrainian.)

PRESIDENT TRUMP: You want to just —

PRESIDENT ZELENSKY: I’m sorry.

(As interpreted.) Concerning the investigation, actually, I want to underscore that Ukraine is an independent country. We have a new prosecutor general in Ukraine — a highly professional man with a Western education and history to investigate any case he considers and deems appropriate.

While we have many more issues to care about and to tackle, we have (inaudible), we have Maidan, we have corruption cases, as President Trump rightly mentioned about that. So we know what to do, and we know where to go and what to tackle.

Q President Trump, is it appropriate to ask the Attorney General to be involved in this matter?

THE PRESIDENT: Go ahead.

Q Did you ask House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to find a way out of impeachment yesterday?

PRESIDENT TRUMP: Not at all. No. Look, she’s lost her way. She’s been taken over by the radical left. She may be a radical left herself, but she really has lost her way. I spoke to her about guns yesterday. She didn’t even know what I was talking about. She’s not interested in guns.

Q Did it even come up or no?

PRESIDENT TRUMP: I’ll tell you what: Nancy Pelosi is not interested in guns and gun protection and gun safety. All she is thinking about is this. She’s been taken over by the radical left, the whole Democrat Party. And you take a look at what’s happening in the media today. The whole party is taken over by the left.

And thank you very much. My poll numbers have gone up. But I don’t want it to go up for this reason. When they look, and when you see what’s happening, people are really angry at Democrats. They’re really angry at the Democrat Party.

And things like, as an example, drug pricing — getting drugs down — things like gun safety, infrastructure, the Democrats can’t talk about that because they’ve been taken over by a radical group of people. And Nancy Pelosi, as far as I’m concerned, unfortunately she’s no longer the Speaker of the House.

Thank you very much, everybody. Thank you. Thank you very much.

END 2:36 P.M. EDT

Earlier today President Trump hosted a meeting of seven nations: Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Chile, Ecuador, Peru and the United States to support a unified message toward the crisis in Venezuela.  [Video and Transcript Below]

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[Transcript] – PRESIDENT TRUMP: Thank you very much. Are you ready? Ready? Thank you very much. Thank you.

I’m honored to be here today among so many terrific leaders dedicated to the future of democracy, prosperity, and freedom for the people of Venezuela. We are behind you.

For this deeply important event, we are grateful to be joined by Secretary Mike Pompeo, Secretary Steve Mnuchin, Secretary Wilbur Ross, and Administrator Mark Green. Thank you all for being here. Thank you very much.

I want to extend my profound appreciation to every representative with us from across the Western Hemisphere. Each of you is part of a historic coalition of 55 countries that recognize the legitimate constitutional government of Venezuela. We are especially grateful to be joined by representatives of the people of Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Chile, Ecuador, and Peru, for their leadership and assistance in the face of an unprecedented political, economic, and humanitarian disaster, which has been going on for a long time. And we’re helping a lot. We’re helping a lot.

Let me also recognize two leaders from the government of Venezuela’s legitimate interim government, Presidential Commissioner for Foreign Affairs, Julio Borges. Where’s Julio? Julio? Please, stand up, Julio. Great. Thank you very much. Thank you. (Applause.) And Venezuela’s Ambassador to the United States, Carlos Vecchio. Where’s Carlos? Thank you, Carlos. Please. (Applause.) It’s very nice. Thank you.

As everyone in this room knows, the situation in Venezuela is a tragedy of historic proportions. The Maduro regime does not care about the welfare of their own people. They care about their own power. It’s what they want, is power and money. They want the money, too — not just power.

Socialism has destroyed what was once among the most prosperous countries anywhere in the world. You go back 20 years ago and you look: one of the wealthiest countries in the world, relatively speaking. And now, they don’t have water, they don’t have food, they don’t have medicine, they don’t have anything.

Today, Venezuelans are starving and they’re dying from lack of medicine, doctors, help. According to U.N. Human Rights Commissioner, Maduro’s Cuban-trained death squads have murdered up to 10,000 Venezuelans, and they think that number is extremely low. Citizens since — all since 2018. That’s over a very short period of time. These atrocities are an outrage to all and everything that we hold dear.

As President of the United States, I am committed to the future of stability, prosperity, and liberty for Venezuela. We will stand with the Venezuelan people every single day until they are finally freed from this horrible and brutal oppression. They will be freed. It will happen.

Our first objective is to ensure a peaceful and constitutional transition, paving the way for free and fair elections. That’s why we, at the United States, and in the United States, are doing everything we can to isolate Maduro and his cronies.

Over the past year, the U.S. Treasury Department has imposed very tough sanctions to prevent Maduro and his enablers from accessing the U.S. financial system. Last month, I issued an executive order to completely freeze the assets of the Maduro regime in the United States. Our sanctions have been tightly focused on closing down every avenue by which Maduro sustains his criminal and totalitarian rule. And he has been vicious, he’s been corrupt. He’s been as bad as you get.

At the same time, we have undertaken significant efforts to ensure that the Venezuelan people have access to food, medicine, and other humanitarian supplies, despite the regime’s efforts to stop aid from coming into Venezuela. They are making it very, very hard to get aid into Venezuela. We are getting aid into Venezuela, but it’s a very difficult thing. You would think, frankly, that would be to their benefit to let aid get in instead of letting people die from lack of medicine or food. But they don’t make it easy, but we get it in anyway.

We call on Maduro to immediately allow his lifesaving humanitarian aid. This has to be allowed to come into Venezuela for the long-suffering Venezuelan people. Unfortunately, a few countries outside of this hemisphere continue to enable this depraved regime with military and technological support. The most significant factor propping up the Venezuelan regime is the communist dictatorship in Cuba. Maduro allows Cuba to plunder Venezuelans’ oil, raid its wealth, and rob its people. Venezuela’s oil is at a low point. Not much is being taken out. Not many people are in there because of the dangers involved. But nevertheless, there’s some money coming out, and it goes into Cuba.

He’s allowed thousands of Cuban agents to infiltrate Venezuela’s security forces and other institutions. In other words, Maduro has sold out his nation to a foreign dictatorship, and it has been that way a long time.

The civilized world must pressure the Cuban regime to leave Venezuela immediately. The United States is ready to support a democratic transition government, and we know that our partners around the world — of which we have many — are ready as well. Venezuela’s rebuilding can begin the moment a peaceful transition occurs.

This is a critical moment for the world. We must not allow the destructive forces of socialism and communism to repeat the horrors of the last century. Can’t allow it to happen. There have been horrors like nobody would believe. We can’t allow this to happen today in Venezuela. We resolve that the future of the Western Hemisphere will not be written by socialists and tyrants, but by liberty-loving patriots. Our great destiny is to become the first fully free hemisphere in human history. We have a very, very good chance of doing that.

We work and we pray for the hour when every person across the region, and every suffering soul in Cuba, Nicaragua, and Venezuela, will finally know the blessings of democracy and the full glory of freedom.

Once again, thank you all to so many of my friends in this room and to the nations that have helped us with respect to Venezuela and many other things.

I want to personally thank the President of Mexico for the incredible work and spirit and everything that they’ve done on our southern border. Our southern border has become secure, with 27,000 Mexican soldiers on the Mexican side, telling people, “Sorry, you can’t come in.” So I want to thank the President of Mexico. Thank you very much.

And for Venezuela: It will all work. It will all come back. And good things will happen.

Thank you very much. Thank you. Thank you very much, everybody. Thank you. (Applause.) Thank you very much.

Q Mr. President, on the transcript, sir? On the transcript, sir?

PRESIDENT TRUMP: Okay. You know what? Because you’re so anxious, we’re going to let you stay as certain presidents speak. Because I know that’s what you want to hear.

SECRETARY POMPEO: Thank you, Mr. President. Let me do the introductions. First of all, Mr. President, let me say how proud I am to be part of everything that you have led in this effort to try and bring the Venezuelan crisis to a peaceful and democratic resolution. Your leadership has been outstanding.

The work of the Lima Group, too, has been important. I believe it’s a sign of a new era in Latin America. And like your nations, the United States is tired of the heartbreaking stories of Venezuelans forced to dig through trash cans for food, of the hospital patients dying unnecessarily, of the millions of innocent children who go to bed hungry every night because 94 percent of Venezuelan households can’t get their basic necessities.

The United States wants to announce today an additional tranche of $118 million to aid the Venezuelan crisis response. The assistance will include $36 million for relief efforts inside of Venezuela. They’ll provide urgently needed medicines that improve access to quality healthcare of for the Venezuelan people. The remaining monies will protect and assist many of your countries, as you generously host a combined 4.4 million Venezuelans who have fled their country — over 10 percent of the Venezuelan population. We’ll help provide food, shelter, clean water, and legal support for them.

This brings to over $570 million the amount of aid that we have provided — the United States has provided — to ease the crisis, both inside Venezuela and throughout the hemisphere.

As long as the Maduro regime stands, it will stand between the Venezuelan people and their return to freedom and prosperity. The United States, under President Trump, remains a steadfast supporter of the Venezuelan people and of the Lima Group in its ongoing struggle for the prosperous, free, and democratic Venezuela.

It’s now my pleasure to introduce a member of the true government of Venezuela: Julio Borges. Mr. Borges is a longtime supporter of a return to democracy in Venezuela, and for this, he has been forced into exile by the Maduro regime. He now lives in Colombia.

Earlier this year, Interim President Juan Guaidó appointed him as Venezuela’s representative to the Lima Group, and later as presidential advisor on external relationships.

Julio, you’ve been instrumental in rallying the international community to place pressure on the Maduro regime, and we’re honored to have you with us today. The floor is yours, sir.

MR. BORGES: Well, thank you. Thank you for being here today. I would like to make a five-minute introduction about what’s going on in Venezuela.

I could be speaking in Spanish, but I have chosen to speak in English because, Mr. President, on behalf of the Venezuelan people, their democratic-elected National Assembly, and their President Juan Guaidó, I want to personally thank for the leadership that you have shown in our case.

PRESIDENT TRUMP: Thank you.

MR. BORGES: Your leadership has made a big difference. And I thank each and every one of you for what your governments have done to end the suffering in Venezuela and reclaim our democracy. You have helped us in our time of great need, which is something no Venezuelan will ever forget.

Venezuela is not alone. Nicolás Maduro and his criminal regime is responsible for the historic crisis impacting our country. To put it in perspective, from an economic standpoint of view: Venezuela’s economic crisis is almost three times bigger than the Great Depression. And from the humanitarian point of view, it’s become the second-largest refugee exodus in the world.

President Guaidó has been working closely with you to reverse the situation. We, as a Venezuelan, has been fighting for almost 20 years. We have gone down many paths, seeking a peaceful solution, but the dictatorship has stalled all possibilities time and time again.

Today, Venezuela is not passively asking for solidarity. The suffering of our people gives testimony of our times of need. This sacrifice have achieved important accomplishments.

Let’s be clear: The diplomatic pressure from democratic voices has been effective. The dictatorship is fractured and weak, and only backed by the Cuban regime that has tortured, persecuted our people and our brave armed force.

Michelle Bachelet’s recent report exposed the repression, torture, and executions that the regime carries out against civilians and members of our armed force in Venezuela. Mr. President and all leaders of Americas, over the last year, regime force have murdered a citizen every two hours.

Havana is the mastermind behind this tragedy to sustain Maduro. This is why crucial to break the regime of Díaz-Canel, Raúl Castro, and Maduro with more democratic pressure.

Our humble petition to the Americas is simple: First, that every country in the region should impose sanctions on Cuba. It is time for Castro and Díaz-Canel to understand the consequences of supporting a criminal regime.

Second, every country in the region should move forward, as agreed to in TIAR, to prosecute any regime member involved in drug trafficking, human rights violations, and corruption.

Third, maintain the support for Venezuelan National Assembly and our President, Juan Guaidó.

And last but not least, compel Europe to more actively join efforts to put more pressures on Maduro regime.

The alliance between the Cuban and Venezuelan regimes holds over 50 million hostage. Millions of Cubans and Venezuelans have had to abandon their homelands to escape oppression. And this should not be tolerated.

I have had the honor of traveling to the border of Cúcuta with President Duque, with President Piñera, with President Abdo, and as well with Secretary Pompeo. And most recently, with Ivanka Trump. I have seen them moved to tears because the stories of suffering cannot be put into words. Mark has been many times over there as well.

As rightly so, because we are not talking about cold numbers or (inaudible) statistics. Socialist dictatorships, such as Maduro, dehumanize. With great pain, we have seen the regime has done the most vulnerable people in my country. Child prostitution, President, has been normalized. Women are being sold into slavery and taken to other countries for profit, while children and (inaudible) have been recruited by terrorist organizations linked to drug trafficking. And our people are crawling through the streets of Venezuela looking for food.

The Maduro regime is a corrupt, criminal enterprise that has turned what once was one of the most prosperous country in the region into a living and dying hell. The world needs to understand that Venezuela is not a dictatorship, not even a failed state. It’s something worse. The Maduro regime is a sanctuary for the promotion of terrorism, drug trafficking, and organized crime.

Faced with this reality, there are those who are shocked when we say that no option can be ruled out to rid Venezuela and the region for this corrupt regime. They say that keeping every option is very dangerous. However, Mr. President, evidence shows that the worst thing that could happen in Venezuela is that nothing happens.

What is truly dangerous, what is unacceptable, is having a regime destabilize the whole region while 35 million people are starving to death. Ignoring the crisis in Venezuela leaves an open wound that will infect the region and will destroy democracy throughout the continent. As I said, in the case of Venezuela, the worst thing that could happen is that nothing happens.

Presidents and leaders of the Americas, on behalf of millions of Venezuela, I thank you because we are close to victory.

President Trump, you have led the free world in the fight for freedom in Venezuela and Cuba. History and the Venezuelan people will remember and recognize you. Recent opinion research in Venezuela shows the total support for our policy, for your plans to Venezuela, and you have become the most important leader within Venezuela, which is very important for us.

PRESIDENT TRUMP: Maybe I’ll move there. (Laughter.)

MR. BORGES: All right. (Laughter.) Next time.

I’m convinced that working together, working together the whole Americas, 30 years after the fall of the Berlin Wall, another wall will fall in the Americas and give the way to a chapter of peace, progress, and development for our hemisphere.

Venezuela will rise with the strength of its people. We will reveal our country with the spirit of those who refuse to surrender.

President and leaders of the Americas, 32 millions of Venezuelans and 12 millions of Cubans are at the gates of freedom. Let’s not make them wait any longer. Thank you very much. (Applause.)

PRESIDENT TRUMP: Thank you. Thank you.

Would the presidents like to speak in front of the media or without the media? We have three presidents who are going to speak. Would you prefer the media or not, presidents?

SECRETARY POMPEO: President Duque, would you like to begin?

PRESIDENT DUQUE: Thank you so much, Mr. Secretary. Thank you so much, President Trump, for gathering this very important meeting. I’m going to be brief, but I’m going to try to be very (inaudible) in my statements.

What we have been seeing in Venezuela is a tragedy of major proportional dimensions. What we have seen is the worst humanitarian crisis in Latin America’s recent history. What we have seen is the brutality of a dictatorship that is only comparable to what some countries saw when Slobodan Milošević brutalized thousands of people.

That’s why we consider him a criminal. That’s why we have denounced him before the International Criminal Court with the support of many heads of state around the hemisphere, and also in Europe. We consider his behavior to be not only regrettable, but it has to punished, and that’s why we all must continue to embrace the diplomatic blockade and to explore as many sanctions are needed against that criminal.

The second thing I want to highlight is that the migration crisis — it’s really producing a major social impact. In Colombia, we have supported the migrants. We have 1.4 million Venezuelan brothers and sisters, and we will continue to provide support because we know they’re coming to our country with (inaudible), lacking of medicine, and many of them without any access to food.

But we have to make the call to the whole world that this situation is unsustainable. And that’s why the coalition that is sitting among this table, but also the coalition that has build of more than 54 states that have recognized President Guaidó and they have recognized the National Assembly, must also continue to bring more countries to the table, because this coalition has to be stronger day by day.

I also want to highlight that the behavior of the dictatorship is also affecting the national security of many states, obviously including Colombia. Nicolás Maduro has become a sponsor, and he’s providing safe haven to terrorist groups from Colombia to plot against the Colombian people. And that attitude is only comparable to what the world saw when the Taliban regime allowed al Qaeda to plot against the whole world, in their soil.

We continue believing that that behavior is in direct violation of Resolution 1373 that was issued by the United Nations Security Council right after September 11. And we’re going to make that denouncement public today when I deliver my speech before the U.N. General Assembly. I will present a report that is going to be given to the U.N. Security Council, the U.N. Secretary-General. And I believe that that report should be open for a debate.

We also believe that that behavior requires not only the whole world to be seen and to be addressed, but we also want to highlight what happened this week in a historical way. The Inter-American Treaty for Reciprocal Assistance had a historical voting, and they recognized that the Maduro regime is pretty much involved in terrorism sponsorship, narco-trafficking activities.

And last but not least, I also want to mention that the following months are crucial. The following weeks, the following hours are crucial. Some people speculate whether Maduro is going to last more. But I continue the debate should be different. The debate is: What is it that we’re going to do so that we can grant liberty to the Venezuelan people?

That’s why we’re gathered here at this table, and that’s why we support the approach of strengthening everything we can do so that three conditions are met: the end of the dictatorship, a transitionary government, the call for free elections, and maybe I’ll include a plan for economic and social recovery in Venezuela.

Thank you so much, Mr. President.

PRESIDENT TRUMP: Thank you. Thank you very much. (Applause.)

SECRETARY POMPEO: Thank you, President Duque. Now I would like to hear from President Piñera. Please.

PRESIDENT PIÑERA: Thank you very much. Well, we all know that we are dealing with a criminal, corrupt — (microphone is turned on.) I’m sorry.

Thank you very much. We all know that we are dealing with a criminal, corrupt, and drug-related regime. And the conclusion is very clear: This dictatorship has to stop.

Maduro is part of the problem and will never be part of the solution. The solution has been expressed by President Duque. We need to end this regime, have a transitional government, call to free and open and transparent elections, and then the big story of how to reconstruct Venezuela will start. And we will be supporting all of these stages.

But at the same time, we have to realize there are some allies that are helping Venezuela, and we are talking — we are talking about countries like Cuba, China, Russia, Iran, and Turkey. I think that the whole Latin American community, and maybe the whole world, should let them very clear that what they are doing is affecting — and it’s really affecting the interests of all Latin American countries.

We know that we have already more than 4.5 million refugees — migrants. But probably the number will double if the situation stays as it is. In the case of Chile, we have received more than 450,000, which is about 2 percent of our population. Compared to the U.S., it would be equivalent to 6 million Venezuelans in the U.S.

And we are happy to do so because that’s one way to help. But the solution and the final conclusion here should be we have to make it impossible for the regime to continue.

One thing is that we have to seize all their assets of their main members of this dictators; avoid and prevent any moment so that the situation will become more and more difficult for them; and, at the same time, we have to help and solidarize and continue with the democratic opposition in Venezuela.

But I know the situation is very, very difficult. But you know that the night never is so dark that just before dawn. Thank you very much. (Applause.)

SECRETARY POMPEO: Thank you, President Piñera. President Moreno, the floor is yours, sir.

PRESIDENT MORENO: (As interpreted.) Thank you. My dear colleagues, the ill that brings us here today has to do with the democracy of the world and the stability of a region. It is related specifically to this people — this people who was suffering and the presidents around the table from countries to which over 4 million migrants have gone; people who are living beings, who wander the streets, they wander our avenues, looking for refuge. They seek a way out. They seek a solution to the problems they face when it comes to hunger, safety, and health. They have been kicked out by this regime. They seek social justice.

However, this regime has been despotic for so many years, and it is due to this. But international action should never be interpreted as intervention. We cannot talk about intervention because all countries, including Venezuela, have signed all commitments, all agreements related to the democracy of this community.

This is an ethical obligation as well. My colleagues who preceded me have stated this. We are talking about over 4 million people, who are humble people, who have fled, who flee this despotic regime, this criminal regime — the regime of Nicolás Maduro, which is the most corrupt, which harbors terrorists, and where all international criminals go in the end to seek refuge, including those who represented corrupt regimes in our countries.

This is why it is — this meeting is so important. This meeting is important because I would like to energetically make the call for democracy to be put into place in Venezuela, as it should be in a country that has lived in democracy for so long. They cannot be going through a genocidal regime. The only exit is democracy — democracy with a broad international observation, with no pressure, with no red spots, so that people are able to vote freely.

This cannot happen under any circumstances unless they’re — unless all democratic institutions, all international organizations involved in democracy participate, are involved in making sure that the will of Venezuelans is no longer deceived.

Venezuela is most definitely a failed state. It is a failed state, and this is shown by the exit not of dissidents, not people opposed to policies. We’re talking about humble people — people who are personally living through how terrible it has been to suffer through the regime of a despot.

Unfortunately, we have to hear that this is a Bolivarian republic. No, we are a Bolivarian republic. We are aligned with the ideals of Washington, of Jefferson, and we converge with the ideals of Bolívar. And Bolívar never would have imagined any like this. Bolívar must be turning in his grave.

Looking at everything that has happened to a democracy that at one time was among the most prosperous in Latin America — and I will say this again — that is why this meeting is such a great one, and it will be great as long we can talk about benefitting that democracy. Maduro must leave power and, immediately, there must be a call for elections. That is the only way out. That is the only way out for this people. As I said, there must be elections with broad international observation. Thank you very much. (Applause.)

PRESIDENT TRUMP: Thank you very much. Thank you, everybody. Thank you very much.

Q Mr. President, in the Ukraine transcript, sir, you talk about how good the U.S. has been to Ukraine. You ask President Zelensky for a favor. And you ask him to talk to the Attorney General of the United States and Rudy Giuliani about Joe Biden. Sir, how is that not pressuring President Zelensky? How does the transcript —

PRESIDENT TRUMP: There was no pressure whatsoever. And if you take a look at the Democrats, they went down to see the President of Ukraine, and they asked him for all sorts of things. And, “Don’t go with the Republicans,” and, “Stay with us.” And — like it’s a political war. They shouldn’t have done that. That should be an impeachable event, I guess, based on what you’re saying.

The Democrats just came out. They went down there — a group of people — some of whom I was dealing with on the gun issue. And they went down and put tremendous pressure on Ukraine. The President himself just came out with a statement saying there was absolutely no pressure put on him. And there wasn’t.

What I do want to see is, is I want to see other countries helping Ukraine also, not just us. As usual, the United States helps, and nobody else is there. So I want to see other countries help.

Just so you understand, it’s the single greatest witch hunt in American history — probably, in history, but in American history. It’s a disgraceful thing. The letter was a great letter. Meaning, the letter revealing the call. That was done at the insistence of myself and other people that read it. It was a friendly letter. There was no pressure. The way you had that built up — that call — it was going to be the call from hell. It turned out to be a nothing call, other than a lot of people said, “I never knew you could be so nice.”

So, part of the problem you have is you have the fake news. You have a lot of corrupt reporting. You have some very fine reporters and journalists, but you have a lot of corrupt reporters, a lot of corrupt journalists. I would rate you right in there, by the way.

And —

Q You said —

PRESIDENT TRUMP: Excuse me. Excuse me.

(Cross-talk.)

PRESIDENT TRUMP: Excuse me. Excuse me.

So, we’re having — if you noticed, the stock market went up. When they saw the nonsense, all of a sudden the stock market went down very substantially yesterday when they saw a charge. After they read the charge, the stock market went up very substantially.

We have created the greatest economy in the history of our country. The greatest economy in the world. Had my opponent won, China would right now be the number one economy, by far. And right now, China is way behind us and they’ll never catch us if we have smart leadership. Way behind.

We’ve picked up trillions of dollars, and they’ve lost trillions of dollars. And they want to make a deal very badly. And it could happen. It could happen. It could happen. It could happen sooner than you think.

Our military is rebuilt. Our military has never been stronger. When I came in, it was depleted. Our vets are happy. So many great things are happening. And the Democrats feel they’re going to lose. We had the highest poll number — Rasmussen — 53, but they say you could add 10 to it. A lot of people say you could add more than 10 to it because a lot of people just don’t want to talk about it, but they want to vote for Trump.

So I just say this: We have the strongest country we’ve ever had. We have the best economy we’ve ever had. We have the best unemployment numbers we’ve ever had. We have the best employment numbers we’ve ever had. We have now almost 160 million people working. That’s far more than we’ve ever had working in our country before.

Thank you very much, everybody. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you very much. Thank you. Thank you.

END 10:52 A.M. EDT

President Donald Trump and Prime Minister Shinzo Abe of Japan sign “stage-one” of a U.S-Japan trade agreement negotiated by U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer and Foreign Minister Motegi; both are very strong negotiators.

The agreement has been in the works for several years as President Trump and PM Abe both held firm to positions that benefit both.  [Video and Transcript Below] Japan is the fulcrum for Trump’s Indo-Pacific trade reset; PM Abe recognizes the importance of positioning Japan to benefit from the decoupling between the U.S. and China.  Trade can be boring at times, but this jousting is actually a lot of fun; don’t miss it.

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[Transcript] – PRESIDENT TRUMP: Thank you very much everybody for being here. I’m honored to be alongside my great friend, Prime Minister Abe of Japan, to formally announce our first stage of a phenomenal new trade agreement with our close ally. They’ve been a great friend, and the Prime Minister has been my great friend.

I want to thank Ambassador Lighthizer for his extraordinary work in these negotiations. He works 24 hours a day. He never sleeps. (Laughter.) He’s a great gentleman. When I first got this job, everybody was saying, “You got to get Lighthizer. You have to get Lighthizer.” He’s a great and fine man who also gets along with the other side, and in particular with Japan. They’ve developed a really great mutual respect.

I’m grateful as well to several members of my Cabinet for joining us this afternoon — and that’s Secretary Mnuchin, Secretary Ross, Secretary Pompeo. And my thanks also to Representative Roger Marshall.

In a moment, the Prime Minister and I will sign a document outlining the significant steps we’re taking toward a fair and reciprocal trade agreement. We insist on fairness and we insist on reciprocal — we want reciprocal agreements from now on because — and I’m not just talking about Japan. I’m talking about virtually every nation in the world. They have not been reciprocal. They’ve been one-way streets.

Under the market access agreement that we’re announcing today, Japan will open new markets to approximately $7 billion in American agricultural products. Japanese tariffs will now be significantly lower, or eliminated entirely, for U.S. beef, pork, wheat, cheese, corn, wine, and so much more.

This is a huge victory for America’s farmers, ranchers, and growers. And that’s very important to me.

And it’s very important that you report this news, as opposed to not reporting it, because it’s great for our farmers, as you know, and ranchers, and for a lot of other people.

We also reached a deal for robust commitments on $40 billion of digital trade between our two countries. This will greatly expand commerce across cutting-edge products and services.

Japan is one of America’s most important economic partners. We are Japan’s top foreign investor, by far. And Japanese investments in America supports hundreds of thousands of American jobs.

The deal we’re announcing today will reduce our chronic trade deficit built up and taken effect over many, many years of dealing with other governments and other administrations, and it’ll deepen our enduring national ties. It’s a very important deal.

Our teams will continue negotiations on remaining areas of interest to achieve a final comprehensive agreement. We’re negotiating very, very big transactions with Japan. Some of them — I think probably all of them in the not-too-distant future will happen. This is a big chunk.

But in the fairly near future, we’re going to be having a lot more very comprehensive deals signed with Japan.

So this is tremendous for our technology industries, but in particular, these are really big dollars for our farmers and for our ranchers.

I want to congratulate Prime Minister Abe. Not so long ago, he had a tremendous election victory. He won by a lot, and a lot of people say that it was only his friendship with President Trump that got him that tremendous victory. (Laughter.)

So, Shinzo, I want to thank you again for your steadfast partnership. I look forward to continuing to work closely with you as we pursue lasting prosperity and peace for our people. And congratulations to the people of Japan and congratulations on your great victory. Thank you.

PRIME MINISTER ABE: (As interpreted.) Thank you, Donald. For the past 12 months, since we have signed the Japan-U.S. joint statement back in September 2018, we have had strenuous negotiations between Japan and the United States. And I am very delighted that today, together with you, we are announcing final agreement on our trade agreement.

One of the highlights of this new agreement is that under this agreement, we together, we’ll be able to bring benefit to everyone in Japan as well in the United States, namely consumers, producers, as well as workers. So the outcome of this negotiation is actually a win-win solution for Japan and the United States.

So under the new agreement, I do believe that we have successfully covered a wide range of areas, including not only the industrial goods, but also the agricultural products and also the digital trade between the two sides. And I am convinced that now, with these two agreements in place, we will be able to develop both economies of Japan and the United States as we move forward.

So, in your first statement, you applauded the great work done by Ambassador Lighthizer and also the wonderful American team. And from my own perspective, I do share your great applaud for the American team because they have been very, very tough throughout the negotiation process. (Laughter.) And to live up to your expectation, and also to meet the (inaudible) between Japan and the United States, I specifically assigned this important work to now the Foreign Minister, Foreign Minister Motegi, and his team. And I am sure that he did a great job, too.

And I do believe that the outcome of this negotiation is namely the crystallization of the strenuous and persistent efforts made by Minister Motegi and his team. And also, I like to underscore that both Minister Motegi and Ambassador Lighthizer did take care and also took into account the national interest of Japan and the United States, respectively.

And now, here we are today to share this final agreement. And I’m so glad that Donald also shared my aspiration, and you join us and join me in making this final judgement — decision to announce the final agreement on the two agreements between Japan and the United States.

Since your inauguration, Japan is the number one investor in the United States. In total of 25.7 billion U.S. dollar investment was already announced by Japan, which have already created more than 50,000 jobs for American people.

And I am convinced that when we are to have the entry into force of the Japan-U.S. trade agreement, as well as Japan-U.S. digital trade agreement, we will further galvanize the investment in the two sides, and also we’ll be able to deepen our economic relations. So once again, this will be a win-win outcome for Japan and the United States. Thank you very much. (Applause.)

(The agreement is signed.) (Applause.)

END 12:18 P.M. EDT