According to a Wall Street Journal report, President Donald Trump is considering a requirement that all next-generation 5G cellular equipment used in the United States will have to be designed and manufactured outside China.

As part of the 150-day executive order review, initiated after cybersecurity concerns in the United States, administration officials are asking tech companies and telecom equipment makers if they can develop U.S. hardware including cellular-tower electronics as well as routers and switches, and software from sourcing completely outside China.

(WSJ) […] The conversations are in early and informal stages, they said. The executive order calls for a list of proposed rules and regulations by the 150-day deadline, in October; so, any proposals may take months or years to adopt.

The proposals could force the biggest companies that sell equipment to U.S. wireless carriers, Finland’s Nokia Corp. NOK  and Sweden’s Ericsson, to move major operations out of China to service the U.S., which is the biggest market in the $250 billion-a-year global industry for telecom equipment and related services and infrastructure. There is no major U.S. manufacturer of cellular equipment.

U.S. officials have long worried that Beijing could order Chinese engineers to insert security holes into technology made in China. They worry those security holes could be exploited for spying, or to remotely control or disable devices.

Washington has already essentially banned telecom equipment from Chinese companies, especially industry leader Huawei Technologies Co., from the U.S. over these cybersecurity worries, which Huawei says are baseless. Now, the White House is taking those concerns to the next step by asking Western telecom-equipment makers whether they can rejigger their China-dependent supply chains.

“While the primary national-security concerns center on Chinese-owned firms, the equipment produced by any firm operating in China is at greater risk for vulnerabilities because of access to personnel and facilities,” said Michael Wessel, a member of the U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission, which reports to Congress on security issues. (Read More)

Thankfully, we have U.S. President Trump in place during this critical moment in history on a multitude of fronts.   Even Trump’s most virulent detractors will admit there is no-one in government more patriotically committed to an America First agenda.

With one branch of government, DC legislative branch, full of purchased agents by foreign governments and corporations, President Trump stands uniquely alone without any attachment to special interests…. Pretty incredible actually; perhaps even divinely so.

The dynamic of these trade decisions having a multi-generational impact on life within our borders; and considering the ramifications if we allow foreign interests to purchase our domestic policy…. The 2020 election is even more critical.

President Trump sat down last Friday for a lengthy one-on-one interview with Chuck Todd on Meet The Press.  In credit to NBC they provide the full unedited interview. WATCH:

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[Transcript AS BROADCAST] CHUCK TODD: Let me start right in. What happened last night?

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: Well, you had a situation that was very bad because the night before, they shot down an unmanned drone. And the unmanned is a very big factor. The fact that there was not a person on it, a U.S. person on it, or anybody. And that had an impact on me. I said, “Well, you know, we got a little problem.” And I think they did that on purpose because they understand that they will be hit very hard if that were a plane with a person in it. And I think they knew that there was nobody there. So we had a very, you know, modest but pretty, pretty heavy attack schedule.

CHUCK TODD: And this is a pre-plan that you had, something that if they did something, you had something —

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: Yeah, we had it —

CHUCK TODD: — these were sort of ready-made plans —

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: Sure, we have many of them —

CHUCK TODD: — to use if necessary, right?

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: Oh, I have so many targets you wouldn’t believe.

CHUCK TODD: Right.

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: We have targets all over.

CHUCK TODD: So did you green light something? Or had you said —

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: Nothing’s —

CHUCK TODD: “If we do it, I’ll do this.” What was, what was the order you gave?

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: Nothing is green lighted until the very end because —

CHUCK TODD: Ok.

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: — things change, right?

CHUCK TODD: So you never gave a final order?

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: No, no, no, no. But we had something ready to go, subject to my approval. And they came in. And they came in about a half an hour before, they said, “So we’re about ready to go.” I said, “I want a better definition –”

CHUCK TODD: Planes in the air? Were planes in the air?

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: No, no. “We’re about ready to go.” No, but they would have been pretty soon. And things would have happened to a point where you wouldn’t turn back or couldn’t turn back. So they came and they said, “Sir, we’re ready to go. We’d like a decision.” I said, “I want to know something before you go. How many people will be killed, in this case Iranians?” I said, “How many people are going to be killed?” “Sir, I’d like get back to you on that,” great people these generals. They said, came back, said, “Sir, approximately 150.” And I thought about it for a second and I said, “You know what? They shot down an unmanned drone, plane, whatever you want to call it. And here we are sitting with 150 dead people that would have taken place probably within a half an hour after I said go ahead.” And I didn’t like it. I didn’t think it was, I didn’t think it was proportionate. Now that doesn’t mean —

CHUCK TODD: You think they were trying to provoke you?

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: No, I don’t think so. And I think it was very important that they, to them, don’t forget, their economy —

CHUCK TODD: They don’t — they, they –you don’t think they intended to get you to respond militarily?

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: No, their economy is shattered. Shattered.

CHUCK TODD: So what’s the message you think they’re sending?

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: Their inflation is through the roof. They’ve never had, the highest in the world right now. Worse than any place. They’re, they’re living not well.

CHUCK TODD: Do you want to do a separate deal with Iran? Or do you want to get everybody involved in the same deal? Get the Russians, get the Chinese?

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: I don’t care which, what kind of a deal. It can be separate or it could be total.

CHUCK TODD: But it’s one-on-one talks, you and the Ayatollah?

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: All it is — all it is —

CHUCK TODD: Is it one-on-one talks, you and the Ayatollah, or you and the President?

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: It doesn’t matter to me. Here’s what I want, anything that gets you to the result. They cannot have a nuclear weapon. It’s not about the straits. You know, a lot of people covered it incorrectly. They’re never mentioned. They cannot have a nuclear weapon. They’d use it. And they’re not going to have a nuclear weapon.

CHUCK TODD: Did you send a message —

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: And it’s not about the oil.

CHUCK TODD: — last night? You know, Reuters is reporting that you sent a message to the Iranians saying, “I don’t want war. I want to talk.”

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: Wrong. It’s wrong. I did not send that message. I did not send that message. I don’t know who —

CHUCK TODD: Ok.

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: I don’t know who would have said that.

CHUCK TODD: Send a message right now to the Ayatollah.

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: I mean it’s fake news.

CHUCK TODD: Then send a message right now to the Ayatollah.

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: Wouldn’t be much different than that message.

CHUCK TODD: Which is?

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: I’m not looking for war and if there is, it’ll be obliteration like you’ve never seen before. But I’m not looking to do that. But you can’t have a nuclear weapon. You want to talk? Good. Otherwise you can have a bad economy for the next —

CHUCK TODD: No pre-conditions?

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: — three years. Not as far as I’m concerned. No pre-conditions.

CHUCK TODD: And you’ll talk anywhere?

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: Here it is. Look, you can’t have nuclear weapons. And if you want to talk about it, good. Otherwise you can live in a shattered economy for a long time to come.

CHUCK TODD: If you, are you, do you feel like you were being pushed into military action against Iran by any of your advisors?

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: I have two groups of people. I have doves and I have hawks.

CHUCK TODD: Yeah, you have some serious hawks.

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: I have some hawks. Yeah, John Bolton is absolutely a hawk. If it was up to him he’d take on the whole world at one time, okay? But that doesn’t matter because I want both sides. You know, some people said, “Why did you put –” You know, I was against going into Iraq for years and years. And before it ever happened I was against going into Iraq. And some people said, “Oh I don’t know.” I was totally against and I was a private citizen. It never made sense to me. I was against going into the Middle East. Chuck, we’ve spent $7 trillion in the Middle East right now.

CHUCK TODD: What would a candidate Trump have said about a president who, on his watch, had Iran shooting down a drone, a Venezuelan dictator thumbing his nose at you, Obamacare still on the books and no results yet on the border? The border getting tough —

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: Well, let’s, let’s take a look. Let’s take a look —

CHUCK TODD: I just say — what would candidate Trump have said about that?

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: Okay, let’s take a look. The border’s doing great. Mexico’s been fantastic. They’ve been trying to get a deal with Mexico for 45 years, right? So for 45 years, they couldn’t get a deal. I got one in one day. I said, “We’re going to put tariffs on and we’re going to either have a deal or not. We agreed in one day.” Mexico just moved 6,000 people to their southern border. 6,000 troops to their southern border. The border’s working out well. And the wall is being built. I mean, a lot of people don’t like to talk about it. We’re building the wall. We will have 400 miles of wall built by the end of next year and that’s hard because the Democrats don’t want to approve it. We just beat them in a big lawsuit, as you know, in Washington, in D.C. We just beat them in a very big lawsuit.

CHUCK TODD: But does it frustrate you that your border numbers are worse than Obama’s?

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: No, because the people are coming up because our economy is so good. They’re pouring up because the economy is so good. Obama had a lousy economy. It was a dead economy.

CHUCK TODD: Can I ask you about that?

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: Our, our economy is good.

CHUCK TODD: Let me show you this chart. Do you see that chart?

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: Yeah.

CHUCK TODD: It’s the unemployment rate from the peak of the recession.

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: Right.

CHUCK TODD: Your economy is great. I’m not saying it’s not great. But this recovery started and in the 28 months that you’ve been president and the last 28 months of Obama’s presidency, he averaged more new jobs than your first 28 —

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: That’s because he started off with a, with such a bad base. I mean, he hit —

CHUCK TODD: Ok. But it is — is it not a continuation?

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: Yeah, but Chuck, you have to understand, nobody was working. The whole place was a disaster. And I don’t– I’d never take that away.

CHUCK TODD: Ok.

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: But it’s very easy —

CHUCK TODD: Alright.

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: — because when that turned around they pumped a tremendous amount of money into the economy. He also had a Federal Reserve person who kept the interest rates low. I don’t. I don’t have that privilege.

CHUCK TODD: Sounds like you do now. Do you feel like you have —

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: No, no, no.

CHUCK TODD: — do you feel you have sent —

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: He raised them far too fast.

CHUCK TODD: — the threat —

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: He raised them far too fast.

CHUCK TODD: — your threat to demote him, do you think that’s had an impact?

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: I didn’t ever threaten to demote him.

CHUCK TODD: There’s been some talk that you might demote him to the number two slot.

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: Well, I, I, I’d be able to do that if I wanted but I haven’t suggested that. I mean —

CHUCK TODD: That’s not a threat —

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: No, it’s not —

CHUCK TODD: — that’s just a reminder that you can?

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: No, no, I have the right to do that. But I haven’t said that. What he’s done is $50 billion a month in quantitative tightening. That’s ridiculous. What he’s done is he raised interest rates too fast.

CHUCK TODD: Do you worry it’s going to hurt —

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: I’ve been proven right.

CHUCK TODD: — your reelection?

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: I think the economy’s so strong we’re going to bull through it. But I’m not happy with his actions. No, I don’t think he’s done a good job. I think this, if he didn’t raise rates Obama had very low rates. So Obama was playing with funny money. I wasn’t. I’m playing with the real stuff.

CHUCK TODD: Let me ask you this.

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: Wait, wait. Obama had somebody that kept the rates very low. I had somebody that raised the rates very rapidly. Too much. He made a mistake. That’s been proven. And yet my economy is phenomenal. We have now the best economy, maybe in the history of our country. One — just to finish off, when I took over, this country, the economy was ready to collapse. You take a look at the numbers. It was ready to collapse. And if I didn’t win —

CHUCK TODD: I just showed you the numbers. It was not ready to collapse.

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: No no, no, that’s — You showed me unemployment numbers.

CHUCK TODD: That was unemployment. It was not ready —

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: Excuse me.

CHUCK TODD: — to collapse.

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: Excuse me. Take a look at your GDP, take a look at your jobs, take a look at your optimism.

CHUCK TODD: Ok.

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: Take a look at all of the charts. When I took over from election day on, I mean, you show me one chart which, where I did —

CHUCK TODD: It was the unemployment rate.

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: — well in that too, but I’m not —

CHUCK TODD: Ok.

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: — talking about that. Take a look at some of the optimism charts and everything else. It went from 57 to 92. Nobody’s ever seen anything that —

CHUCK TODD: You’re right. You’re right.

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: — right after I won.

CHUCK TODD: The optimism, you’re right.

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: Well, optimism is a big part of success in business. Okay.

CHUCK TODD: You were always hard on Obama. You thought he wasn’t enough of a cheerleader.

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: He was not a cheerleader.

CHUCK TODD: If you could have one do over as president, what would it be?

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: Well, it would be personnel.

CHUCK TODD: Who is it?

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: I would say if I had one do over, it would be, I would not have appointed Jeff Sessions to be attorney general. That would be my one —

CHUCK TODD: That’s your, in your mind, that’s your worst mistake?

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: Yeah, that was the biggest mistake.

CHUCK TODD: Is Bill Barr your Roy Cohn?

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: He should’ve never — I think he’s a very talented, very–

CHUCK TODD: But do you know what I mean by that? You’ve always said —

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: No, no, look —

CHUCK TODD: “Where’s my Roy Cohn?” Is he your Roy Cohn?

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: You have to understand, Roy Cohn, but I had many, many lawyers. I mean, a lot of lawyers. Roy was one of them. He was a tough guy. Bill Barr is a — first of all, Bill Barr —

CHUCK TODD: Is he cut from the same cloth, do you think?

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: Bill Barr is a very, he’s equally tough. He’s a fine man. He’s a fine man. The job he’s done is incredible. He’s brought sanity back. I think he’s real — I don’t think, I know, he’s respected. You know, he loves the Department of Justice. He saw what was happening. He has done a spectacular job. Now he’s in the process of doing something and I stay away from it. I really, I stay away from it. But I think he feels that what’s happened in this country was a very bad thing and very bad for our country.

CHUCK TODD: They’re in terrible shape down there, Mr. President. Down in Homestead, Florida, that’s where I grew up, it’s, the conditions are terrible.

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: I agree. And it’s been —

CHUCK TODD: Do something.

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: — that way for a long time.

CHUCK TODD: Do something.

CHUCK TODD: I want to ask what’s going down with the, these, the children in these migrant camps. The stories are horrible, Mr. President. You have children without their parents. You have kids taking care of kids.

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: Yeah.

CHUCK TODD: You’ve, you’ve read these reports. I know people are coming to you. I know you think this is the Democrats’ problem.

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: Well, it —

CHUCK TODD: Forget it.

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: It was —

CHUCK TODD: Why aren’t you doing something?

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: Are you ready?

CHUCK TODD: They’re in terrible shape down there, Mr. President. Down in Homestead, Florida, that’s where I grew up, it’s, the conditions are terrible.

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: I agree. And it’s been —

CHUCK TODD: Do something.

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: — that way for a long time.

CHUCK TODD: Do something.

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: And President Obama built the cages. Remember when they said that I built them? And then it was 1914 —

CHUCK TODD: Do two wrongs —

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: Excuse me.

CHUCK TODD: — make a right?

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: It was 2014. Chuck, just listen for one second.

CHUCK TODD: Ok. Alright.

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: Separation, President Obama, I took over separation. I’m the one that put it together. What’s happened though are the cartels and all of these bad people, they’re using the kids. They’re, they’re, it’s almost like slavery.

CHUCK TODD: But let’s not punish the kids more.

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: No this has been happening —

CHUCK TODD: Aren’t you — the kids are getting punished more.

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: You’re right. And this has been happening long before I got there. What we’ve done is we’ve created, we’ve, we’ve ended separation. You know, under President Obama you had separation. I was the one that ended it. Now I said one thing, when I ended it I said, “Here’s what’s going to happen. More families are going to come up.” And that’s what’s happened. But they’re really coming up for the economics. But once you ended the separation. But I ended separation. I inherited separation from President Obama. President Obama built, they call them jail cells. They were built —

CHUCK TODD: Let’s talk about what’s happening now.

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: — by the Obama —

CHUCK TODD: Your administration, and–

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: I’m just telling you —

CHUCK TODD: –you’re not doing the recreation. You’re not even schooling these kids anymore. You’ve gotten rid of all that stuff.

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: We’re doing a fantastic job under the circumstances. The Democrats aren’t even approving giving us money. Where is the money? You know what? The Democrats are holding up the humanitarian aid.

CHUCK TODD: It looks like these kids are being used as, as some sort of — is it hostages? They’re being held —

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: Well, they are being used.

CHUCK TODD: — hostage.

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: They are being used by very bad people on the other side where they actually get —

CHUCK TODD: But now they’re politically being used.

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: –paid, where money is being made using them because our laws are so bad. Because if you have a child, you have an advantage. You know that better than anybody. And what should happen, Chuck —

CHUCK TODD: But why let the political debate hurt these children?

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: Chuck, we could —

CHUCK TODD: They could be impacted for years.

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: If the Democrats would change the asylum laws and the loopholes, which they refuse to do because they think it’s good politics, everything would be solved immediately. But they refuse to do it. They refuse to do it.

CHUCK TODD: Let me ask you this.

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: You know what? If they change those, I say, I used to say 45 minutes. It’s 15 minutes. If they changed asylum and if they changed loopholes everything on the border would be perfect.

CHUCK TODD: Let me ask you this, why do you think Nancy Pelosi has held off her impeachment caucus?

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: Because I think she feels that I will win much easier. I mean, I’ve been told that by many people.

CHUCK TODD: Do you think impeachment’s good politics for you?

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: I think I win the election easier. But, you know, I’m not sure that I like having it. Look, I did nothing wrong. I was spied on. What they did to me was illegal. It was illegal on the other side. I did nothing wrong. So impeachment’s a very unfair thing because nothing that I did was wrong. And if you look at the Mueller report, there was no collusion. This was all about collusion.

CHUCK TODD: Nowhere in the Mueller report —

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: This was about conspiracy.

CHUCK TODD: By the way, Mr. President, you say no collusion. There is not a single, I’ve read this Mueller report, both, both parts of it —

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: Use the word collusion, or use —

CHUCK TODD: — there’s not one place it says nothing happened.

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: Use the word collusion. Use the word conspiracy.

CHUCK TODD: It never says no collusion.

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: I’ll be honest with you, nobody even mentions Russia anymore since the Mueller report. They don’t mention it, in all fairness.

CHUCK TODD: I —

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: Nobody mentions Russia anymore. And it was about Russia. It was a hoax.

CHUCK TODD: Let me ask you this —

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: Wait a minute.

CHUCK TODD: — during the campaign —

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: Wait, wait. We’ll give you the time that you need.

CHUCK TODD: What hoax it was?

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: It was a hoax. The Russian hoax with me.

CHUCK TODD: You don’t believe it happened?

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: I had nothing to do —

CHUCK TODD: You don’t believe the Russians interfered —

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: What they did with —

CHUCK TODD: — in our election?

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: — respect to the election is different. We’re not talking about that. We’re talking about —

CHUCK TODD: The idea that you were conspiring.

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: — my campaign working is a hoax.

CHUCK TODD: Fair enough.

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: Okay. Good.

CHUCK TODD: But going back, on WikiLeaks, knowing now that that was stolen foreign material, do you regret using it?

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: Well, I, I wouldn’t have. But this was well-known. I think it was in papers. And, again, I’m going back now a long ways. But —

CHUCK TODD: It was all rumored to be Russian stolen property.

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: Wait a minute. But —

CHUCK TODD: So why’d you use it?

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: –but how would I even know that? I made a speech. It was in there about WikiLeaks. I’m not a —

CHUCK TODD: Right, but I’m saying knowing now —

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: — WikiLeaks person.

CHUCK TODD: Knowing that they are a Russian intelligence —

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: Hey, Chuck.

CHUCK TODD: — asset —

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: Ok.

CHUCK TODD: — do you regret it?

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: Let me tell you– WikiLeaks, et cetera, that’s not my deal in life. You know, in other words, I don’t know about WikiLeaks. It was a strange name. But there were stories about something WikiLeaks that they had information. And I say it in a joking manner at a speech. Joking. Everybody laughing. Everybody having a — And they made it like it was serious. No, I don’t want anything bad to happen to our country. Anything bad happens to this country, I will end it and I’ll end it fast. I don’t want any of that to happen.

CHUCK TODD: You’re going to see Vladimir Putin in a week.

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: Yes. I’m going to see many people.

CHUCK TODD: Are you going to address him directly about interference in 2020?

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: I may.

CHUCK TODD: Are you going to tell him —

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: I may.

CHUCK TODD: — not to do it?

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: I may if you’d like me to do it, I’ll do that.

CHUCK TODD: Because some — Well, some people think that your answer —

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: You know what? Here’s what you do —

CHUCK TODD: — that your answer last week invited him to do it again.

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: Oh, that’s not true. That’s not true.

CHUCK TODD: Are you going to tell him not to and what are the consequences?

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: My answer last week was both. I said both. I’d do both. Except they didn’t put it on. And when they did put it on people understood. But they didn’t put it on because they put a different segment on. So they ask me a question. But when I said, “Yeah, I’d do both,” people saw that in the last version of it because the thing played like all weekend and on Friday. So it’s just more fake news. Chuck, there’s so much fake news. It would be so good if —

CHUCK TODD: The Republican Party has changed in your image. Do you think you caused that change or do you think the party was changing and you were the leader they selected?

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: I think common sense caused it. You know, I’m about common sense. People say, “Are you conservative?” I guess I’m conservative, but I’m about common sense. I’m about we need borders. We’re going to have borders. And we have strong borders. And by the way, Mexico has done a great job. It’s slowed down so much. But we have an amazing economy and people want to come up. But it’s slowed down so much. But I’m about borders. I’m about great health care. Obamacare is a disaster. I got rid of the individual mandate.

CHUCK TODD: By the way, why is the economy doing so well if Obamacare is still law of the land? You had said in 2011 —

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: We are managing —

CHUCK TODD: — “Obamacare’s going to destroy the economy.” Obamacare’s still here and —

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: Because I’ve managed it great.

CHUCK TODD: — the economy’s great.

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: I had a choice. I could have let it implode and killed it or I could have managed it —

CHUCK TODD: You’re still trying to kill it.

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: No, no.

CHUCK TODD: Why are you still trying to kill it with the getting rid of preexisting — If you — This lawsuit that the Department of Justice joined, it could get rid of —

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: I am in favor —

CHUCK TODD: — coverage of preexisting conditions.

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: I am in favor of preexisting conditions. I am fighting —

CHUCK TODD: So get rid — so drop the lawsuit.

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: We will —

CHUCK TODD: So drop your aspect of the lawsuit.

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: It has nothing to do with it. The lawsuit is one thing. We are going to put in a bill, total preexisting conditions. And the Republicans are in favor of preexisting conditions.

CHUCK TODD: Mr. President, you had full Republican control and they couldn’t pass anything.

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: Chuck, are you ready?

CHUCK TODD: What makes you think you’re going to get it done this time?

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: We had a negative vote from John McCain. It was a surprising vote. But I got rid of the worst part of Obamacare which was the individual mandate.

CHUCK TODD: Ok.

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: We will always protect pre-existing conditions. And the reason Obamacare continues is my decision. Wait, I made a big decision.

CHUCK TODD: Ok.

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: We have a man named Azar, our secretary, he’s fantastic man, Alex. A total pro. I could have managed Obamacare so it would have failed or I could have managed it the way we did so it’s as good as it can be. Not great, but it’s as good — It’s too expensive and the premiums are too high. I had a decision to make. I could have politically killed Obamacare. I decided not to do it. But still it’s not good. We’re going to come up with great health care if we win the House, the Senate and the presidency.

CHUCK TODD: Are you prepared to lose?

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: No. Probably not. Probably not.

CHUCK TODD: Very hon — I mean, you joke —

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: It would be much better, it would be much better if I said, “Yeah.”

CHUCK TODD: You’re, you’re —

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: It would be much easier for me to say, “Oh yes.” No I’m probably not too prepared to lose. I don’t like losing. I haven’t lost very much in my life.

CHUCK TODD: You didn’t like the fact that you lost the popular vote. That bothered you, didn’t it?

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: Well, I think it was a — I mean, I’ll say something that, again, is controversial. There were a lot of votes cast that I don’t believe. I look at California.

CHUCK TODD: Mr. President.

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: Excuse me.

CHUCK TODD: But that’s a —

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: Take a look at Judicial Watch, take a look at their settlement where California admitted to a million votes. They admitted to a million votes.

CHUCK TODD: A million votes of what?

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: Take a look at judicial —

CHUCK TODD: What are you talking about?

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: Judicial Watch made a settlement. There was, there was much —

CHUCK TODD: About what?

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: — there was much illegal voting. But let me tell you about popular vote. Do you have a second?

CHUCK TODD: Yes, because you were, you were a big fan of it —

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: There are two —

CHUCK TODD: — until you weren’t

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: Well, I like popular vote.

CHUCK TODD: Yeah.

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: I think I do better with a popular vote. But I didn’t campaign for the popular vote.

CHUCK TODD: You’re right. I —

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: You didn’t see me campaigning in California or New York. If I — if it was up to the popular vote, I would have been I think even better. I won 306 to 223, which was a lot in the Electoral College. But it’s like you’re training for the 100-yard dash versus the mile.

CHUCK TODD: Yep. You’re, you’re totally right.

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: It’s totally different.

CHUCK TODD: If it’s the popular vote, you campaign differently.–

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: I went to Wisconsin. —

CHUCK TODD: — I don’t disagree.

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: — She forgot. I went to Michigan. She didn’t go to Michigan enough. I won Michigan, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania. I won places that she didn’t do a good job. What can I tell you? No, maybe I did a great job. You know, I never get credit for that. They always say she was a lousy candidate. I actually think that Hillary Clinton was a great candidate. She was very smart. She was very tough. She was ruthless and vicious.

CHUCK TODD: You’d rather run against her again, wouldn’t you?

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: No.

CHUCK TODD: You only talked about her in your announcement speech.

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: No.

CHUCK TODD: You spent a lot of time talking about her.

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: No. I would actually rather run against Biden.

CHUCK TODD: Than Hillary.

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: I think that would be my preference.

CHUCK TODD: Why?

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: Sleepy Joe. He’s sleepy. She was not sleepy. Let me just tell you something, the Electoral College is tougher for a Republican to win than the popular vote. At least me. I feel that I go to three places. I went to 19 or 21 states. I went to Maine four times because I wanted to get one. And I did get it. And that’s the beauty of the Electoral College.

CHUCK TODD: Right.

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: You know, I’ve been a proponent of the other sometimes and I change. But I will tell you, the Electoral College brings you to many of the states in this country.

CHUCK TODD: You, you have joked about a third term. You’ve joked about these things.

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: I only joke.

CHUCK TODD: Okay.

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: I joke. And I say “Watch, I will drive Chuck Todd crazy.”

CHUCK TODD: You will, you will accept the re — Ok. You will —

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: Yes, there won’t be a third term.

CHUCK TODD: You will accept the results?

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: 100%. Sure.

CHUCK TODD: And you will accept whatever happens in 2020.

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: Sure.

CHUCK TODD: You lose, you’ll be like — you’re not going to like it but you walk out.

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: In fact, I said at a speech recently, I said, “Watch. We’ll drive the media crazy. Let’s go for a third time and then a fourth.” And some of the media said, “He’s going to do it.”

CHUCK TODD: Speaking of driving people crazy, when you were asked about Mike Pence in 2024 and you, and you, and you paused a minute about endorsing him as your successor, that got a lot of people going, “Is Mike Pence 100% on your ticket in 2020?”

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: Well, look, look — 100%, yes.

CHUCK TODD: 100%?

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: Oh yeah.

CHUCK TODD: There is no wiggle room?

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: He’s been, he’s been a terrific vice president. He’s my friend and —

CHUCK TODD: Ok.

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: — a lot of things. No. Zero. Zero.

CHUCK TODD: So why’d you hesitate in endorsing him in being, succeeding you?

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: Because it was a surprise question.

CHUCK TODD: You hadn’t thought about it?

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: I mean, you know, I’m not even thinking of it. It’s so far out. I mean, It’s so far out. That would be the only reason. Now what happens in 2024? I don’t know that Mike is going to run. I don’t know who’s running or anything else.

[Transcript End]

CHUCK TODD: If you could have one do over as president, what would it be?

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: Well, it would be personnel.

CHUCK TODD: Who is it?

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: I would say if I had one do over, it would be, I would not have appointed Jeff Sessions to be attorney general. That would be my one —

CHUCK TODD: That’s your, in your mind, that’s your worst mistake?

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: Yeah, that was the biggest mistake.

(link)

North Korea state-run news agency is reporting on a letter from U.S. President Trump to North Korean Chairman Kim Jong-Un.    In an interesting aspect to the media report, KCNA releases a picture of Chairman Kim reading the letter.

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un reads a letter from U.S. President Donald Trump, in Pyongyang, North Korea in this picture released by North Korea’s Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) on June 22, 2019.

On the hostage dynamic…. last week the hostage taker (Chairman Xi), finally positioned the public optics of Chairman Kim as the hostage; and indicated a likelihood Beijing would negotiate terms for release (better trade deal) with President Trump.  Therefore the rescuer (Trump) now communicates with the hostage (Kim) against an entirely different geopolitical background.

Additionally, both President Trump and Chairman Kim know the picture will be analyzed by high-tech software (Beijing, China and Russia) and the content is easily discoverable.   The message itself, as well as the answer to the message (from Kim), is likely in the picture.  [Note: the White Shirt, business office, is part of the reply].

(Reuters) – North Korean leader Kim Jong Un received a personal letter from U.S. President Donald Trump and will put serious thought into its content, North Korea’s state-run news agency KCNA said.

In a report published early on Sunday in Asia, KCNA did not give details on the letter, but said Kim described it as “of excellent content.”

“Kim Jong Un said that he would seriously contemplate the interesting content,” the report said.

White House officials did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

[…] Trump is due to visit South Korea next week for meetings with South Korean President Moon Jae-in after taking part in the G20 meetings in Japan.  (read more)

President Trump no longer has to worry about missiles from the military within North Korea that is controlled by Beijing.   Kim no longer needs to worry about missiles being fired from his regime. Chairman Xi has taken ownership of all hostile military action from inside the DPRK.

Remember, generally speaking President trump held two connected objectives: (1) removing the threat posed by North Korea by severing the ability of Beijing to use the proxy province as a weapon (Kim hostage); and (2) deconstructing the growing economic influence of China.

President Trump now moves to phase two of the plan.

Chairman Xi Jinping (China) and President Moon Jae-in are scheduled for a G20 meeting.  This is the magnanimous panda meeting that was set up first by Beijing.  Xi will play the role of magnanimous panda in denuclearizing the DPRK and using Moon Jae-in as the panda optic of peace with Chairman Kim Jong-un.

Chairman Xi will  then meet with President Trump for ‘expanded’ talks at the G20.  This meeting was set up after the magnanimous panda play was scheduled.  Here, Chairman Xi will offer President Trump peace and a denuclearized DPRK (essentially Beijing taking their missile technology back) in exchange for trade concessions.

President Trump is scheduled to travel to South Korea for a meeting with Moon Jae-in after the G20 (that’s new today).

From Xi’s position, Moon Jae-in will fill in the details of the denuclearized DPRK to President Trump.  However, what Chairman Xi is about to discover is that Trump doesn’t care about cunning magnanimous panda, and there will be no concessions (except possibly a return to the original commitment by Vice-Chairman Liu He).

The Trump letter to Kim is likely saying congratulations on the threat removal; and now we both know you are less captive… with some new possibilities outlined therein.

“Rucky day, rucky day”…

Chopper pressers are the best pressers.  Earlier today President Trump was departing the south lawn for a trip to Camp David.  The President stopped to deliver remarks to the White House press pool on current issues.

Topics include: Immigration enforcement, the decision not to strike Iran, the economy overall, trade and the geopolitics therein, John Bolton as a ‘hawk’.

[Video – Transcript ADDED]

.

[Transcript] – South Lawn – 10:18 A.M. EDT – THE PRESIDENT: So we’re going to Camp David. We’re going to have meetings and a lot of work. Coming back sometime tomorrow, but we’re heading out right now to Camp David.

I want to say the stock market is on pace to have its best year, I mean, since, I guess, over 50 years. And the Dow is on pace to have its best year in 80 years. It’s been 80 years since the Dow has hit —

Tariffs are obviously doing very well because we’re taking in billions and billions of dollars from China. We would be from others, and we might be from others, but billions of dollars are coming in from China. And, frankly, look at what’s happening with the stock market, which is pretty much what I’ve been saying.

Also, an article came out this morning that the tariffs are having very little effect on costs going up — and, in some cases, no effect. That the countries that the product come from, they are bearing the costs, which is also what I’ve said.

So the Dow is up. It looks like it could be an 80-year high. It’s on track for an 80-year high. And the stock market itself is a 50-year high. So I’m sure you’re all very happy about that, right?

Q Mr. President, do you still believe that Iran’s targeting of a U.S. drone could have been unintentional? Do you still believe that?

THE PRESIDENT: I don’t know unintentional or not. It was probably intentional, as I said. But regardless, they targeted something without a person in it — without a man or a woman, and certainly without anybody from the United States in it. So we want to be proportionate.

We’re getting a lot of praise for what I did. And we have people on both sides; some like it and some probably not as much. My expression is “We have plenty of time.” We have plenty of time. You understand that.

Q (Inaudible) ICE raids reported (inaudible)?

THE PRESIDENT: Yeah, these are people that came into the country illegally. They’ve been served. They’ve gone through a process — the process of the courts. And they have to be removed from the country. They will be removed from the country. It’s having a very big effect on the border — the fact that we’re taking them out.

The people that came into the country illegally are going to be removed from the country. Everybody knows that. It starts, you know, during the course of this next week, maybe even a little bit earlier than that. And again, everybody that came into the country illegally will be brought out of the country very legally.

Now, with that being said, the border is in much better shape. Mexico is doing a good job. We need Congress to fix the loopholes and fix asylum, and we will have the cleanest border there is.

Q (Inaudible.)

THE PRESIDENT: We don’t know. We’re going to — we’ll see. We’ll see.

Q (Inaudible) cities like Chicago and LA?

THE PRESIDENT: Well, some cities are going to fight it. But, if you notice, they’re generally high-crime cities. If you look at Chicago, they’re fighting it. And if you look at other cities, they’re fighting it. Many of those cities are high-crime cities and they’re sanctuary cities.

The state of Florida is now ending all sanctuary cities. He’s doing a very smart thing. Governor DeSantis — he’s ending all — all sanctuary cities in the state of Florida. And I’ll tell you, Governor DeSantis has been — he’s been fantastic. He’s right on the ball. And we have others that are following. You’ll be seeing a lot of that. People are tired of sanctuary cities and what it does and the crime it brings. They’re very tired of it.

Q What are the next steps for Iran? Is a possible strike off the table?

THE PRESIDENT: Well, we’ll see what’s with Iran. Everybody was saying I’m a warmonger, and now they say I’m a dove. And I think I’m neither, if you want to know the truth. I’m a man with common sense, and that’s what we need in this country is common sense. But I didn’t like the idea of them knowingly shooting down an unmanned drone, and then we kill 150 people. I didn’t like that.

Q (Inaudible) move forward with sanctions against Iran?

THE PRESIDENT: I — I can’t hear.

Q Are you going to move forward with sanctions against Iran?

THE PRESIDENT: Yeah, we’re moving forward with additional sanctions on Iran. Good question. And some of them are in place. As you know, we have about as strong a sanction grouping as you can possibly have on any country. But we’re putting additional sanctions on. They’re going on slowly and, in some cases, actually pretty rapidly. But Iran — additional sanctions are being put on Iran.

Q How much progress toward a nuclear weapon are you willing to let Iran make before you (inaudible)?

THE PRESIDENT: Very little. That’s what it’s all about. You know, we have built — and, right now, if you look at the United States, very importantly, we are the number-one oil producer — oil and gas — in the world, by far. We’re way ahead of Russia. We’re way ahead of Saudi Arabia. We don’t really need the Straits anymore. We take some, but we don’t need it. The biggest beneficiary of the Straits is China. Ninety-one percent of their energy comes out of the Straits. Japan, Indonesia — many other countries need it.

So we’re doing them a very big service by keeping the Straits open. But this is not about the Straits. This is about Iran cannot have a nuclear weapon. It’s very simple. Because we don’t need it, just so you understand. We don’t need it.

Q Your National Security Advisor came under some hard criticism from Tucker Carlson and others for pushing too hard on Iran. You said you’re not a warmonger, but do you have confidence in the judgment of your National Security Advisor John Bolton?

THE PRESIDENT: Yeah, I do because I have John Bolton, who I would definitely say is a hawk, and I have other people that are on the other side of the equation. And, ultimately, I make the decisions, so it doesn’t matter. But I want — for instance, I disagreed very much with John Bolton — his attitude on the Middle East and Iraq was going into Iraq. I think that was a big mistake. I think I’ve been proven right, but I’ve been against that forever.

John Bolton is doing a very good job, but he takes a — generally, a tough posture. But I have other people that don’t take that posture. But the only one that matters is me because I’ll listen to everybody. And I want people on both sides. Having people on both sides, to me, is very important.

Q At what point were you briefed about the potential casualties of an Iran airstrike? Were you briefed in the initial planning stages? At what point were you actually —

THE PRESIDENT: No, I started to hear that it was a lot. But, again, no decision was made. I said, “You come and see me.” And they came and see me. At the time, we hadn’t done anything. And I asked the question, and I said, “I want to know that answer before I make a decision.”

So we hadn’t made a decision to go forward. I said, “Everybody, we will meet. One thing I want to know, and I want to know it accurately — as accurately as possible: How many people will die?”

Just so you know, I come from New York City. In New York City, we have a lot of Iranians, and they’re great people. I have friends that are Iranian — many friends. Living in New York City, you meet many Iranians. They’re very smart. They’re very ambitious. They have tremendous — they’re high-quality people. But I have many friends that are Iranian. I don’t want to kill 150 Iranians. I understand it. I don’t want to kill 150 of anything or anybody, unless it’s absolutely necessary. And most people very much agree with what I — what I’m doing.

Now, if the leadership of Iran behaves badly, then it’s going to be a very, very bad day for them. But hopefully, they’re smart. And hopefully, they really care for their people and not themselves. And hopefully, we can get Iran back onto an economic track that’s fantastic, where they’re a really wealthy nation, which would be a wonderful thing.

All those things, I want to do. But if they’re going to be foolish, that’s never going to happen.

Q Mr. President, you had said earlier that you never met E. Jean Carroll. There was a photograph of you and her in the late 1980’s —

THE PRESIDENT: I have no idea who this woman is. This is a woman who has also accused other men of things, as you know. It is a totally false accusation. I think she was married — as I read; I have no idea who she is — but she was married to a, actually, nice guy, Johnson — a newscaster.

Q You were in a photograph with her.

THE PRESIDENT: Standing with coat on in a line — give me a break — with my back to the camera. I have no idea who she is. What she did is — it’s terrible, what’s going on. So it’s a total false accusation and I don’t know anything about her. And she’s made this charge against others.

And, you know, people have to be careful because they’re playing with very dangerous territory. And when they do that — and it’s happening more and more. When you look at what happened to Justice Kavanaugh and you look at what’s happening to others, you can’t do that for the sake of publicity.

New York Magazine is a failing magazine. It’s ready to go out of business, from what I hear. They’ll do anything they can. But this was about many men, and I was one of the many men that she wrote about. It’s a totally false accusation. I have absolutely no idea who she is. There’s some picture where we’re shaking hands. It looks like at some kind of event. I have my coat on. I have my wife standing next to me. And I didn’t know her husband, but he was a newscaster. But I have no idea who she is — none whatsoever.

It’s a false accusation and it’s a disgrace that a magazine like New York — which is one of the reasons it’s failing. People don’t read it anymore, so they’re trying to get readership by using me. It’s not good.

You know, there were cases that the mainstream media didn’t pick up. And I don’t know if you’ve seen them. And they were put on Fox. But there were numerous cases where women were paid money to say bad things about me. You can’t do that. You can’t do that. And those women did wrong things — that women were actually paid money to say bad things about me.

But here’s a case, it’s an absolute disgrace that she’s allowed to do that.

Q Will the deportation raids start tomorrow? And what will you do if cities are saying that they will not comply?

THE PRESIDENT: The deportation raids, as you call them, are really a group of very, very good law enforcement people going by the law, going by the rules, going by our court system, and taking people out of our country who came into our country illegally. They came into our country illegally, and we’re taking them out legally. We’re bringing them back to their countries.

I want to thank — while I’m here, I want to thank Mexico. So far, Mexico has been really good. They made an agreement, probably — not “probably” — because of tariffs. But they made an agreement. And so far, they’ve really honored the agreement. A lot of things are changing.

But again, if Congress gave us something quickly on asylum; something quickly on loopholes, where we get rid of the loopholes; the border would be so beautiful. But the Democrats just won’t do it.

But maybe now they will, because there’s no question you have a national emergency. They said that, in the last caravan, they had hundreds of people that commit crimes trying to come into our country. We’re not letting them. And now Mexico is bringing them back.

But they had hundreds of people — hundreds — that were criminals in the last caravan. We cannot allow that to happen. We’re not letting them in our country.

One other thing. We’re very focused on MS-13, getting them out. And I hope you’re not going to stick up too much for MS-13. But we’re very focused — ICE. ICE is — these are fantastic people. We’re very, very focused on getting MS-13 out of this country.

How are you?

Q Good. I have a question on Iran. The 150 estimate (inaudible) —

THE PRESIDENT: Yeah. Go ahead.

Q The 150 estimate that you got late on Thursday night, why was that different from the estimate you got earlier in the day from your national security team?

THE PRESIDENT: It wasn’t really. I didn’t talk too much about that. Again, no decision to go forward was made, because I said, “We’ll meet at a certain time before the — and nothing goes forward until we meet.” I didn’t want anybody doing anything. And when we met —

Q (Inaudible.)

THE PRESIDENT: And when we met, they gave me a rough estimate, earlier, but I wanted a more accurate estimate. The more accurate estimate where — I won’t go into the number of sites, but you guessed that pretty much right. You have, in particular, all right? But it was the number of sites, and it was, on average, 40 to 50 people at each site. And when they shot down an unmanned place or drone, I didn’t like it.

Q That came from an attorney in the Pentagon and through the — into the White House?
THE PRESIDENT: No, that came from me.

Q No, I mean the estimate came through —

THE PRESIDENT: It did. But it was given to me by a general.

Q Was that Dunford, sir?

THE PRESIDENT: I had a long talk with Dunford. He’s a great gentleman.

Q Was he the side of (inaudible)?

THE PRESIDENT: He was. Dunford did a great job. Dunford is a terrific man and he’s a terrific general.

Yeah.

Q Will you talk about Iran at Camp Iran?

THE PRESIDENT: I’ll be talking about Iran at Camp David, yeah. We have a series of meetings, and, more importantly, a series of very well connected phone calls. We have a great phone system up there, and — as you know. So I’ll be doing a lot of work.

Q Will you tell us who you’ll be talking to?

THE PRESIDENT: We may release it later. We may.

Q (Inaudible) ayatollah?

THE PRESIDENT: Look, Iran, right now, is an economic mess. They’re going through hell. The sanctions have hit them hard. More sanctions are going to be put on — a lot more. It’s hard to believe you can even put on. But it’s a mess.

All I want is no nuclear weapons. Under the horrible Obama deal, he gave them a $150 billion. He gave them $1.8 billion in cash. Think of that — in cash. Many planeloads of cash. He gave them $1.8 billion in cash, and he got nothing.

But the thing he really didn’t get was good inspection rights, because the most primary places, you couldn’t go to, you couldn’t inspect. We haven’t seen them in years.

The other thing he didn’t get is time. Because, in a very short number of years, they will legally be able to make a nuclear weapon. That’s unacceptable.

And remember this: The deal wasn’t even ratified in Congress. It never got proper — in terms of treaty — it never got proper authorization from Congress.

So, with all of that, it was very important to me. So we’ll start all over. We could have a deal with them very quickly, if they want to do it. I — it’s up to them. But if Iran wants to become a wealthy nation again, become a prosperous nation — we’ll call it “Let’s make Iran great again.” Does that make sense? “Make Iran great again.” It’s okay with me.

But they’re never going to do it if they think, in five or six years, they’re going to have a nuclear weapon. I know too much about nuclear — a lot about nuclear — and let me just tell you, they’re not going to have a nuclear weapon.

If that’s — and it has very little to do with the oil. Because, again, China get its oil — 91 percent; Japan get its oil — 60 percent; Indonesia; so many other countries. What it has to do with, very simply, is the fact is we’re not going to have Iran have a nuclear weapon. And when they agree to that, they are going to have a wealthy country, they’re going to be so happy, and I’m going to be their best friend. I hope that happens. I hope that happens, but it may not.

Q Would your decision have been different if it was 10 to 15 casualties, instead of 100 to 150 casualties?

THE PRESIDENT: It’s — anything is a lot when they shoot down an unmanned, okay? So anything is a lot. I didn’t like it. I didn’t like it.

Q If they shoot down another drone, will you not have to reply to that either?

THE PRESIDENT: Say it.

Q If they shoot down another unmanned drone, will you also not —

THE PRESIDENT: We’ll see. But I don’t think that will happen. I don’t think that’ll happen. And if you notice, there was a plane with 38 people yesterday — did you see that? I think that’s a big story.

Q Is that accurate?

THE PRESIDENT: They had it in their sights, and they didn’t shoot it down.

Q That was accurate?

THE PRESIDENT: I think they were very wise not to do that, and we appreciate that they didn’t do that. But they had a plane in their sights — 38 people on the plane — and they didn’t shoot it down. And I think that was a very wise decision. And — and I think that’s something that we very much appreciate.

Q Is it accurate to say that your national security team brought you a plan for a planned strike and it didn’t have a fully formed estimate on casualties?

THE PRESIDENT: No. No. They brought me a great plan. But I wanted to know, at the end — I wanted an accurate count. They gave me very odd numbers. I wanted an accurate count as to how many people would be killed, how many Iranians would be killed.

And, as I said: Coming from New York, I know a lot of Iranians. They’re great people.

Thank you very much.

Q (Inaudible) military action on Iran still on the table?

THE PRESIDENT: It’s always on the table until we get this solved, yeah. We have a tremendously powerful military force in that area. It’s always on the table until we get this solved.

Thank you.

END 10:37 A.M. EDT