House Speaker Nancy Pelosi announces an impeachment inquiry against President Trump. Bill Whittle thinks she has just handed the president a 2020 election victory. But how does a president under impeachment run a campaign? And what will Republican lawmakers say as they seek reelection without knowing the outcome of an impeachment trial? Bill Whittle Now with Scott Ott comes to you five times each week thanks to our Members. Join them today at https://BillWhittle.com/register/
QUESTION: What do you say about the difference between corporate socialism and democratic socialism. Thank you. Its all the buzz among those supporting Senator Elizabeth Warren.
LP
ANSWER: This is a very clever way of excusing the core issue. The Democrats preach raising taxes and then sell loopholes to the big corporations. The bankers donated to Hillary — not to Trump. This is a clever campaign assuming, as always, the people (the great unwashed) are just stupid.
The Democrats were against the flat tax because it would eliminate lobbying for tax loopholes. But more importantly, if we had TERM LIMITS and one-time-and-gone, that would eliminate lobbying for dangle money before politicians of BOTH parties for favored status.
Even a tax break to a corporation that they claim is evil will NEVER result in lowering the taxes for everyone else. It is great propaganda. We run trillion-dollar deficits. They could NEVER raise taxes enough to balance the budget. That would destroy all their jobs.
The people who believe this nonsense will NEVER listen to the truth because they are the very type of people who believe only what they want to believe. That is a sad statement of fact. Just look at the presidential elections and you will see only 3 presidents ever had between 60% and 63% of the popular vote. Obama won 51.1% of the popular vote compared to Romney’s 47.2%.
That is hardly a mandate. They know that 45% of the people will vote Democrat no matter what you say and 45% will vote Republican. At best, there is perhaps 10% of the people who are free thinkers and will actually listen and make a judgment. The rest do not count for they will never listen to reason on either side.
We can eliminate corruption with TERM LIMITS. A flat tax should be imposed for it is unjust and a denial of equal protection of the law to discriminate for any reason including wealth. Then, corporations should not be taxed and there should be no double taxation with dividends. The majority of corporations are owned by pensions of the people and whatever is made should simply devolve down to a flat income tax on the shareholders. Corporations provide the jobs that actually produce, while the government does not. I believe there should be no income tax. Societies did well without income taxes until 1913. Rome lasted 1,000 years without income taxes. The founding fathers knew that and prohibited direct taxation for it requires every individual to report to the government, which is wrong. Taxes should be returned to ONLY indirect. I think the founding fathers knew best.
Cathay Pacific Airways Ltd. suffered a 12% drop in passengers due to the Hong Kong protests. Airfare prices are dropping in an attempt to win back visitors. Consequently, Cathay Pacific Airways is looking to sell a U.S. dollar bonds as there are rising fears that the Hong Kong peg may break with the protests. The potential bond offering is expected to be unrated. The deal size and coupon haven’t been made public. This is continuing to put pressure on dollar hoarding in Asia.
There are other issues at the core of the Hong Kong protests. As reported in South China Morning Post, graffiti was sprayed across a concrete barrier at a road in Kowloon’s Wong Tai Sin residential district that declared: “7K for a house like a cell and you really think we out here scared of jail?” They also reported that at an underpass in Central, a message scrawled on the wall read: “12K for 120 sq ft and you think that’s OK?”
Hong Kong’s protests began in June 2019 against proposals to allow extradition to mainland China. The extradition bill that triggered the first protest was introduced in April. It would have allowed for criminal suspects to be extradited to mainland China under certain circumstances. The opponents argued that they could be subjected to unfair trials and violent treatment in China. Therefore, this would undermine the city’s judicial independence and endanger dissidents. They argued that this violated the “one country, two systems” deal.
City leader Carrie Lam agreed to suspend the bill, but demonstrations have continued. They have now developed to include demands for full democracy and an inquiry into police actions. The clashes between police and activists have been becoming increasingly violent, with police using tear gas and activists storming parliament.
The biggest fears from a financial perspective is that (1) the peg will break, and (2) the financial sector will move quietly to Singapore. This is a very serious issue in Asia for it has been undermining the economy moving into the January low in the Economic Confidence Model.
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!
Reuters Top News
✔@Reuters
Pelosi says House is ‘moving ahead’ on trade deal with Mexico, Canada https://reut.rs/2luGqkm
There is a clear rising risk factor emerging from both politics and geopolitics as we move into the January turning point on the Economic Confidence Model. As the economy turns down and as we head into the 2020 presidential elections in the United States, we are facing rising risk factors on many fronts. The Democrats bashed Russia over the 2016 elections, blaming them for releasing Democratic emails that revealed the extent of their corruption. This has increased the tensions with Russia, rekindled the Cold War, and placed us at a far greater risk of war than at any time post-Vietnam.
There is pressure from the neo-cons to go to war with Iran. Iran has boasted that Saudi Arabia is willing fight to the death of every last American soldier.
COMMENT: Marty, you have made many unbelievable forecasts in so many markets around the world. But your forecast that we would see a liquidity crisis after Labor Day and dollar hoarding is at the top of the list. There is nobody who saw this coming. Your computer can see things nobody can. Looking forward to Orlando this year. Two more board members are coming because of this forecast.
Amazing!
PVB
REPLY: This is what I have been saying. You cannot forecast something you have never witnessed that has not taken place before. It takes a computer with a vast database to see things unfold according to historical patterns, but in markets that event has never existed before.
We have a liquidity crisis unfolding because of massive uncertainty. In October, Draghi leaves and Lagarde enters who believes the answer is to eliminate cash. This is causing dollar hoarding and there are more $100 bills in circulation now with 70% of the physical money supply being hoarded OUTSIDE the USA. Even Australia is hunting money aggressively. They are even proposing nano-chips in $50 bills and up to track hoarding. So smart Australian’s won’t hoard A$ — they will use foreign currencies. Dah?
I mean what I say that the central banks areTRAPPED!!!!! People have NO IDEA what we face. The system is unraveling but not even those in government have understood how it was interwoven to begin with. This is all part of how we are heading into a major Monetary Crisis Cycle and I fear they will misunderstand it once again and create more stupid laws that will bring the entire house of cards down by the time we reach 2032.
If you just play out what has taken place in socialism, there will be $400 trillion of unfunded liabilities by the time we get to 2032. That cannot be dealt with and I suspect we will see more authoritarian usurpation down the line. This is also why I have stated, my fear is NOT Trump, it is what comes AFTER Trump!
Governments have functioned on vote for me and I will rob someone else for you legally with a pen. This is how ALL Republics die. The very purpose of civilization was that coming together created a synergy that was beneficial for all. When government has always turned against one class for the benefit of another, the purpose of civilization ceases to exist and you revert back to separatism. Read “Atlas Shrugged.” When that was published, all the socialists hated it.
“When you see that in order to produce, you need to obtain permission from men who produce nothing; when you see that money is flowing to those who deal not in goods, but in favors; when you see that men get rich more easily by graft than by work, and your laws no longer protect you against them, but protect them against you. . . you may know that your society is doomed.”
They say it is wrong to discriminate for race, religion, sex, or sexual orientation. But it’s OK to discriminate against anyone who disagrees with those in power or those with socialistic agendas if they have material wealth above average. This type of discrimination is perfectly fine because it suits their agenda. They cannot survive without trying to live off of other people’s money. What happens when the productive class refuses to produce? When “Atlas Shrugged,” it all comes crashing down.
Do you know that when Ayn Rand published that book, she received the worst reviews ever. The press was socialistic agreeing with FDR. Despite having the press trying to prevent people from reading it, fearing the book would be against their socialistic philosophy, “Atlas Shrugged” has been ranked as #2 in the most influential books just behind the Bible. People like Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren refuse to listen. They want to create utopia for themselves, convert the productive class into slaves, and expect them to work without enjoying the fruits of their own labor.
QUESTION: Hi Marty!
Thanks for all your great work, I’ve been following you for many years and you are a true inspiration.
I have some questions about the precious metals market. There has been some talk about a “monetary reset” in the future, how do you see it play out and what role do you think precious metals could have if there is a reset?
In the short term, we see silver and gold making a pullback now. Will the trend continue upwards or is this the start a downtrend?
Many thanks!
Marc
ANSWER: There will NEVER be such a reset that returns to a gold standard. There is absolutely no likelihood of that happening, for it would mean that socialism has come to an end. There could be no unfunded promises, pensions, etc. It is just total nonsense.
Moreover, absolutely EVERY attempt to fix or peg currencies throughout the centuries has FAILED!!!!In reality, these attempts have been an attempt to smooth out or eliminate the business cycle. Even Karl Marx wanted to eliminate the business cycle and thought confiscating everyone’s assets would kill it. Communism failed, for the business cycle CANNOT be defeated even at gunpoint.
I have warned that the immediate rally in the precious metals was NOT a breakout. I warned that there would still be one more decline to retest support. The critical factor is when the GENERALpublic loses confidence in the government. That is more likely to take place AFTER the turn in the business cycle in January 2020.
Bretton Woods and the gold standard failed because they tried to fix or peg the dollar to $35 an ounce of gold, but then they spent freely and waged the Korean and Vietnam wars. This is what I mean. You cannot create any fixed exchange rate or peg and then expect the economy to relinquish its cyclical nature. It has NEVER happened, and it will NEVER happen in the future
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.
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.
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