Earlier today President Trump made an unscheduled stop at Arcaro and Genell Takeaway Kitchen, a pizza shop in Old Forge, PA. He left the limo, greeted by applause from the awaiting crowd, and the press pool was brought very briefly inside the small pizza place as POTUS greeted its employees and left with some pie.

POTUS showed off one of the pies, and said he wanted to stop here today “because they have great pizza.”

Earlier today President Trump welcomed a visit by Iraq Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi to the White House.  During the oval office meeting the two leaders took questions from the assembled press pool.  U.S. media asked about the Steve Bannon arrest earlier today. [Video and Transcript Below]

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[Transcript] – PRESIDENT TRUMP: Thank you very much. It’s great to have the Prime Minister of Iraq, a very highly respected gentleman all over the Middle East, and respected very much by our country, too. I can say that.

And we will be discussing, today, the obvious: defense — and offense, I have to say. But we’ll be discussing military. We’re also involved in many oil projects and oil development within their country, and I think we’ve had a very, very good relationship since we started.

We’re down to a very small number of soldiers in Iraq now. We defeated the ISIS caliphate in Iraq and Syria, and it’s — that has been defeated very strongly, and it does have a different feeling to it now that you’ve got it. We had it at 98 percent, and we said, “Well, we can leave.” And then, everybody said, “Would you bring it to 100 percent?” Then we brought it 100 percent.

But the relationship is very good. We have become friends. We have become, I think, friendly. I think our relationship now is better than ever before. But we have very few soldiers in Iraq, and — but we’re there to help. And the Prime Minister knows that. We are there to help. We’re with some people that also — Mike and Mike — we — and Robert. We very much feel that if Iran should do anything, we will be there to help the Iraqi people.

So, that’s where we are. We’re doing big trade deals, we’re doing military deals, and we’re doing military purchases by them, where they’re spending a lot of money on purchasing equipment and they’re building up their military rapidly, and we like to see that.

So, thank you very much, Mr. Prime Minister, for being here. I appreciate it. Please.

PRIME MINISTER KADHIMI: Thank you, Mr. President. I just want to thank you for receiving us in the White House today. I’m grateful for all the support offered by the United States to Iraq during the war against ISIS.

This support has built our partnership for the best interests for our nation. Mr. President, yesterday we signed many contact — many contracts with American companies — over (inaudible). Iraq is open for American business and investment and for a better future for Iraq and Iraqi people.

Thank you very much.

PRESIDENT TRUMP: Thank you very much.

PRIME MINISTER KADHIMI: Thank you.

PRESIDENT TRUMP: Very much.

Q Mr. President, what’s your reaction to the indictment of your former campaign aid, Steve Bannon?

PRESIDENT TRUMP: Well, I feel very badly. I haven’t been dealing with him for a long period of time, as most of the people in this room know. He was involved in our campaign. He worked for Goldman Sachs. He worked for a lot of companies. But he was involved, likewise, in our campaign, and for a small part of the administration, very early on. I haven’t been dealing with him at all.

I know nothing about the project, other than I didn’t like — when I read about it, I didn’t like it. I said, “This is for government. This isn’t for private people.” And it sounded, to me, like showboating. And I think I let my opinion be very strongly stated at the time. I didn’t like it. It was showboating and maybe looking for funds. But you’ll have to see what happens.

I think it’s a very sad thing for Mr. Bannon. I think it’s surprising. But this was something, as you know, just by reading social media and by reading whatever it is, and by speaking to Mike and Mike and all of them, I didn’t like that project. I thought that was a project that was being done for showboating reasons.

I don’t know that he was in charge. I didn’t know any of the other people either. But it’s sad. It’s very sad.

Q But it’s not just Steve Bannon. It’s Roger Stone. It’s Michael Flynn. It’s Rick Gates, Paul Manafort, Michael Cohen. What does it say about your judgment that these are the kind of people who you’re affiliated with —

PRESIDENT TRUMP: Well, I have no idea.

Q — and the culture of lawlessness —

PRESIDENT TRUMP: Yeah. Yeah.

Q — around people who are involved in the leadership of your 2016 campaign?

PRESIDENT TRUMP: Well, no, there was great lawlessness in the Obama administration. They spied on our campaign illegally. And if you look at all of the things and all of the scandals they had, they had tremendous lawlessness.

But I know nothing about it. I was not involved in the project. I have no idea who was. But I can tell you: I didn’t know the people; the three people that were talked about were people that I did not know. I don’t believe I ever met them.

I don’t think that should be a privately financed wall. I don’t think — it’s too complex; it’s too big. And we’re now up to 300 miles, almost. In another week, week and a half, we’ll be up to 300 miles of wall at the highest level. They were even having construction problems.

I was reading — the little I know about it, I got from you. I was reading, where they were having construction problems with the wall that they were — they had a small area just to show people that they could build a wall, and they were having a lot of problems where it was toppling over and other things. And I didn’t like it because I didn’t want to be associated with that.

We built a very powerful wall. It was a wall that is virtually impossible to get through. It’s very, very tough. It’s very strong, and it’s everything the Border Patrol wanted. And I didn’t want to have a wall that was going to be an inferior wall. And I felt this was going to be an inferior wall.

Q Kris Kobach said you endorsed the wall. Is that true? The project.

PRESIDENT TRUMP: So I didn’t — I didn’t know — I didn’t know that. I didn’t know about Bannon’s involvement, but I didn’t know any — I didn’t know the other people. And I — but I do think it’s a sad event.

And, again, Steve has had a great career at Goldman Sachs. He’s had a career with a lot of other people. I haven’t dealt with him at all, over years now — literally, years. And I guess this was a project he was involved in, but it was something that — in fact, you can see I made statements about it a long time ago. It was something that I very much felt was inappropriate to be doing.

Okay. Please go ahead.

(Cross-talk.)

No, go ahead, please.

Q Mr. President, the end of the militia roles in Iraq — it’s one of the very important issues to stabilize the country in Iraq. How America is going to support ending the militia role in Iraq and —

PRESIDENT TRUMP: You know, you’re — you’re very hard to understand. Could you maybe help me with it?

Q Mr. President —

PRESIDENT TRUMP: Wait. Go ahead. Try it again.

Q (No translation provided.)

PRIME MINISTER KADHIMI: (As interpreted.) The United States helped the — helped Iraq enormously in defeating ISIS and also in toppling the Saddam Hussein regime. We are working on building a strong relationship that is based on joint interests between Iraq and the United States, that is based on economic interest for the better future of the Iraqi people and the United States people.

PRESIDENT TRUMP: When I got to — when we came into office, ISIS was running rampant all over Iraq and Syria. And we knocked out the — 100 percent of the ISIS caliphate. But the Obama administration did a very, very poor job. They were running rampant all over. And we came in and we did a real job, and we got rid of that, and that was a good thing.

And now we’re working with Iraq. They use the great American Dollar, which is the most powerful currency in the world. And they’re starting to do well. And we are with them. And this gentleman, in particular, we’ve developed a very good relationship. And hopefully, it’s going to be very strong for your country.

Please.

Q Thank you, Mr. President. There have been 32 attacks — there have been 32 attacks in the last 10 months on U.S. interests in Iraq, particularly in the Green Zone and U.S. military bases. How are you going to help Iraq to halt these attacks by pro-Iranian militia and to hold these people accountable?

And, sir, if I may also, there was some reporting that the U.S. troops will withdraw from Iraq totally in three years. Is this true?

PRESIDENT TRUMP: So, at some point, we obviously will be gone. We’ve brought it down to a very, very low level. We deal — where there are attacks, we take care of those attacks, and we take care of them very easily. Nobody has the weaponry we have. Nobody has the — anything — of what we have. We have the finest, the greatest military in the world. When somebody hits us, we hit back hard than they hit us. So we handle it.

In addition to that, Iraq has been very helpful, where necessary. But we have been taking our troops out of Iraq fairly rapidly, and we look forward to the day when we don’t have to be there. And hopefully Iraq can live their own lives and they can defend themselves, which they’ve been doing long before we got involved.

Yes, please.

Q Mr. President how do you see the role of the Kurds in Iraq?

Q Mr. President, about — about the bounties — about the bounties: You say you hit back hard, but we haven’t seen any definitive strike back for bounties upon Americans.

PRESIDENT TRUMP: Well, you don’t know about the bounties. I mean, you’re telling me — if you know something, you can let us know, but you obviously don’t know very much about it. But if we found out, that would be true; if we found, that would be a very — it would be a fact, what you just said. We would hit them so hard your head would spin.

Go ahead.

Q Mr. President how do you see the role of the Kurds in Iraq? And how is important relationship between Baghdad and Erbil (inaudible)?

PRESIDENT TRUMP: Well, the Kurds helped us greatly in defeating the — as you know, the ISIS, and getting the ISIS — 100 percent of the ISIS caliphate. So we have a very good relationship with the Kurds, and we’ve also treated them very well.

Q Mr. President —

PRESIDENT TRUMP: Yes, please.

Q — on the bounties —

Q Yeah. The end of the militia rules in Iraq is very important to — to stabilize the country. How America can help ending the militia rules? And how can help Iraq in the democracy process?

PRESIDENT TRUMP: Well, what we’re doing is we’re helping where we can. But again, that’s a country — that’s a separate country. They have a prime minister, and they have people in office, and they have to run their country. We’ve been in Iraq for a long time. I won’t say whether or not I said we should be there, but frankly, I didn’t think it was a good idea. But I was a civilian, so who’s going to listen to me? But I made my point pretty clear; I guess as clear as a civilian can do it.

But we were there, and now we’re getting out. We’ll be leaving shortly. And the relationship is very good. We’re making very big oil deals. Our oil companies are making massive deals. And that’s basically the story.

I mean, we’re very — we’re very happy with the relationship that we’ve developed over the last couple of years. I thought, before that, frankly, the United States was being taken advantage of. But we’re going to be leaving, and hopefully we’re going to be leaving a country that can defend itself.

Q While you are here in the United States, there were — there were airstrikes on northern Iraq, in Kurdistan region, killing one civilian. I know — in your talks, in your meetings here, you talk a lot about the sovereignty of Iraq. Is that something that you’re looking for help from the United States?

And Mr. President, if that’s something can — if Iraq is asking for help, in terms of the interference from the neighbors — not just Iran, but other neighbors where they’re attacking northern Iraq?

PRESIDENT TRUMP: Well, they’ll have to make a specific request, but certainly, the Prime Minister has my ear. So if he does that, we’ll take a look. They do have — it’s a very unstable part of the world. And I’m not talking about Iraq; I’m talking about the — the whole of the Middle East. It’s a very, very unstable part of the world.

But we’re there to help. And because of the relationship, we would certainly be willing to lend you the kind of support that you need.

PRIME MINISTER KADHIMI: (As interpreted.) Definitely the Turkish attacks are not accepted. On the other hand, the Iraqi constitution also does not allow Iraq to be — to become used to attack any — any neighboring — neighboring country. We are entering dialogue with Turkey to rectify this situation. And I look forward to solving this problem with Turkey and getting our neighbors, the Turks, to understand Iraq’s circumstances.

But once again, the Iraqi constitution does not allow Iraqi territory to be used to attack any neighboring country.

PRESIDENT TRUMP: I will say this: The United States, and me in particular, has a very good relationship with Turkey and with President Erdoğan, and we’ll be talking to him. But we have a very, very good relationship with Turkey and with President Erdoğan.

Q Mr. President, just to follow up on the troops question, sir: Do you have a timeframe for the full and complete withdrawal of U.S. troops from — from Iraq?

PRESIDENT TRUMP: Mike, what would you say to that?

SECRETARY POMPEO: As soon as we can complete the mission. The President has made very clear he wants to get our forces down to the lowest level as quickly as we possibly can. That’s the mission he’s given us, and we’re working with Iraqis to achieve that.

PRESIDENT TRUMP: We’re at the lowest level now, Jeff — we’re at the lowest level in Afghanistan that we have been in many years. We’ll be down to about 4,000 troops in Afghanistan.

SECRETARY POMPEO: In a couple months.

PRESIDENT TRUMP: And that will be when?

SECRETARY POMPEO: A couple months, sir.

PRESIDENT TRUMP: Yeah, within a few months. A couple of months.

Q Mr. President — one other thing, Mr. President —

PRESIDENT TRUMP: As you know, in Syria we’re down to almost nothing, except we kept the oil. But we’ll work out some kind of a deal with the Kurds on that. But we left, but we kept the oil. And we left the border. We said Turkey and Syria can take care of their own border; we don’t have to do it. And that worked out very well. I remember when I did that, I was scorned by everybody. They said, “This is terrible.”

Well, I did it. It’s now two years ago. And we did it with — Mike Pence went over and met with the various parties and very successfully, and we removed our troops. Nobody was killed. Nobody. And now they protect their own border like they have been for hundreds of years. And we’ll — we’ve left. But we did keep a small force, and we kept the oil. And we’ll make a determination on that oil fairly soon.

Q And just one domestic question, sir: The Manhattan case about your taxes has now ruled that you do need to give your — to turn over your taxes. Do you have a reaction to that?

PRESIDENT TRUMP: Well, the Supreme Court said, if it’s a fishing expedition, you don’t have to do it. And this is a fishing expedition.

But more importantly, this is a continuation of the witch hunt — the greatest witch hunt in history. There’s never been anything like it, where people want to examine every deal you’ve ever done to see if they can find that there’s a comma out of place. No President has ever had to go through this. The Supreme Court shouldn’t have allowed this to happen. But no President has ever had to go through this.

But what the Supreme Court did do is say if it’s a fishing expedition, you — my interpretation is essentially, you don’t have to do it. So we’ll probably end up back in the Supreme Court.

But this is just a continuation of the most hideous witch hunt in the history of our country. We beat Mueller. We won at every level in this — in Washington, in D.C. We won at every lev- — level. So, now, what they do: They send it into New York. So now we have an all-Democrat state — all Democrats. And they send it into New York. This should never be allowed to happen to another President.

This is a continuation of the most disgusting witch hunt in the history of our country — all it is. But the Supreme Court said “fishing expedition.” This is the ultimate fishing expedition. Nobody has anything. We didn’t — we don’t do things wrong.

But they’ll say, “Let’s go in and inspect every deal he’s ever done. Let’s get papers from 10 years. Every paper. Every deal he’s ever signed. Maybe we can find where some lawyer made a mistake, where they didn’t dot an “i,” where they didn’t put a comma down someplace. And then we can do something.” This is a disgrace and this should never, ever be allowed to happen again.

All right? Thank you very much.

Q Mr. President, on Navalny, the Russian opposition leader: He was hospitalized, and they think he was poisoned. Is that the U.S. government’s determination, that he was —

PRESIDENT TRUMP: We haven’t seen it yet. We’re looking at it. And Mike is going to be reporting to me soon. Okay?

Thank you very much everybody.

END 11:36 A.M. EDT

When we see that justice is measured, not by due process, but by compulsion; when we see that in order to invoke our right to due process, we need to obtain permission from those who rebuke the constitution; when we see that justice is determined by those who leverage, not in law, but in politics; when we see that representatives get power over individual liberty by graft and by scheme, and our representatives don’t protect us against them, but protect them against us; when we see corruption holding influence and individual liberty so easily dispatched and nullified; we may well know that our freedom too is soon to perish….

WATCH:

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As we bear witness, anyone trying to convince us this entire assembly of our union is headed in the right direction, well, they might want to revisit their proximity to the 2020 election ballpark. Because they’re not just out of the city – they’re also out of the same state the election ballpark is located in….. Then again, the media know that.

David Mamet had a famous saying, essentially: …‘in order for democrats, liberals, progressives et al to continue their illogical belief systems they have to pretend not to know a lot of things’… By pretending ‘not to know’ there is no guilt, no actual connection to conscience. Denial of truth allows easier trespass.

This hate-filled and manipulative Democrat ideology relies on our willingness to accept their lies, falsehoods, and scripted presentations; and then demand we grant benefit amid their seeds of doubt.

There’s a level of anger far deeper and more consequential than expressed rage or visible behavior, it’s called Cold Anger.

Cold Anger does not need to go to violence. For those who carry it, no conversation is needed when we meet. You cannot poll or measure it; specifically because most who carry it avoid discussion… And that decision has nothing whatsoever to do with any form of correctness.

We watched the passage of Obamacare at 1:38am on the day before Christmas Eve in 2009. We watched the Senate, then the House attempt passing Amnesty in 2014. We know exactly how it passed, and we know exactly why it passed. We don’t need to stand around talking about it….

We know what lies hidden behind “cloture” and the UniParty schemes.

We watched the 2009 $900+ billion Stimulus Bill being spent each year, every year, for seven consecutive years. Omnibus, Porkulous, QE1, QE2, Bailouts, Crony-Capitalism. We know exactly how this works, and we know exactly why this ruse is maintained. We don’t need to stand around talking about it…. We’re beyond talking.

We accept that the entire Senate voted to block President Trump’s ability to use recess appointments in 2017, 2018, 2019 and 2020. Every.Single.Democrat.And.Republican.

Cold Anger absorbs betrayal silently, often prudently.

We’ve waited each year, every year, for twelve years, to see a federal budget, only to be given another Omnibus spending bill by “CONservative” politicians.

We’ve watched the ridiculing of cops, the riots, and the lack of support for laws, or their enforcement. We’ve been absorbing all that. We’ve been exposed to violence upon us by paid operatives of the organized DNC machine. We know; the media trying to hide it doesn’t change our level of information.

Cold Anger is not hatred, it is far more purposeful.

We watched in 2012 as the Democrat party thrice denied God during their convention. The doors to evil enterprise opened by official proclamation and request.

Cold Anger takes notice of the liars, even from a great distance – seemingly invisible to the mob. Cold Anger will still hold open the door for the riot goer. Mannerly.

We’ve watched our borders being intentionally unsecured.

We’ve watched Islamic Terrorists slaughter Americans as our politicians proclaim their uncertainty of motive. We know exactly who they are, and why they are doing it. We do not need to stand around discussing it…. we’re clear-eyed.

Cold Anger evidenced is more severe because it is more strategic, and more purposeful. Eric Cantor’s defeat, Matt Bevin’s victory, Brexit, Donald Trump’s highest vote tally in the history of presidential primaries or President Trump’s victory might aide your understanding.

Cold Anger does not gloat; it absorbs consistent vilification and ridicule as fuel. This sensibility does not want to exist, it is forced to exist in otherwise unwilling hosts – we also refuse to be destabilized by it.

Transgender bathrooms are more important than border security.

Illicit trade schemes, employment and the standard of living in Vietnam and Southeast Asia are more important to Wall Street and DC lobbyists, than the financial security of Youngstown Ohio.

We get it. We understand. We didn’t create that reality, we are simply responding to it.

The intelligence apparatus of our nation was weaponized against our candidate by those who controlled the levers of government. Now, with sanctimonious declarations they dismiss accountability.

Deliberate intent and prudence ensures we avoid failure. The course is thoughtful vigilance; it is a strategy devoid of emotion. The media can call us anything they want, it really doesn’t matter…. we’re far beyond the place where labels matter.

Foolishness and betrayal of our nation have served to reveal dangers within our present condition. Misplaced corrective action, regardless of intent, is neither safe nor wise. We know exactly who Donald Trump is, and we also know what he is not.

He is exactly what we need at this moment.

He is a necessary, defiant and glorious fighter.

He is our weapon.

Cold Anger is not driven to act in spite of itself; it drives a reckoning.

When the well attired leave the checkout line carrying steaks and shrimp using an EBT card, the door is still held open; yet notations necessarily embed.

When the U.S. flags lay gleefully undefended, they do not lay unnoticed. When the stars and stripes are controversial, yet a foreign flag is honored – we are paying attention.

When millionaire football players kneel down rather than honor our fallen soldiers and stand proud of our country, we see that. Check the NFL TV ratings – take note.

When a school community cannot openly pray, it does not mean the prayerful were absent.

When a liar seems to win, it is not without observation. Many – more than the minority would like to admit – know the difference between science, clocks and political agendas.

Cold Anger perceives deception the way the long-term battered absorb a blow in the hours prior to the pre-planned exit; with purpose.

A shield, or cry of micro-aggression will provide no benefit, nor quarter. Delicate sensibilities are dispatched like a feather in a hurricane.

We are patient, but also purposeful. Pushed far enough, decisions are reached.

[…] On the drive to and from the East Coast, I paid attention to the billboards and bumper-stickers. Folks, the people in “Fly over” country are PISSED, from the guy that guides hunters, to the mayors of towns and cities, to state senators congressmen and Governors who are voting to arrest and imprison federal law enforcement officials for enforcing federal gun laws that don’t agree with state law … The political pendulum has never, in the history of humanity, stayed on one side of a swing. The back lash from over reach has always been proportionate to how far off center it went before coming back … right now we’re staring at a whole hell of a lot of the country (about 80-90% of the land mass, as well as about 50+% of the population) that is FED UP. You really don’t want those guys to decide that the only way to fix it is to burn it down and start over… (more)

It’s too late…

This man has faced opposition that would overwhelm any other President. Our chosen President is constantly attacked by those holding a corrupt, conniving and Godless leftist ideology. It is our job now to stand with him, firm on his behalf.

To respond we must engage as an insurgency. We must modify our disposition to think like an insurgent. Insurgencies have nothing to lose. If insurgents are not victorious the system, which controls the dynamic, wins. However, if insurgents do nothing, the same system, which controls the dynamic, also wins.

Do nothing and we lose. Go to the mattresses, and we might win. The choice is ours.

Right now, through November 2020, every day is Saint Crispins day.

If we are mark’d to die, we are enow
To do our country loss; and if to live,
The fewer men, the greater share of honour.
God’s will! I pray thee, wish not one man more.
By Jove, I am not covetous for gold,
Nor care I who doth feed upon my cost;
It yearns me not if men my garments wear;
Such outward things dwell not in my desires.
But if it be a sin to covet honour,
I am the most offending soul alive.
No, faith, my coz, wish not a man from England.
God’s peace! I would not lose so great an honour
As one man more methinks would share from me
For the best hope I have. O, do not wish one more!
Rather proclaim it, Westmoreland, through my host,
That he which hath no stomach to this fight,
Let him depart; his passport shall be made,
And crowns for convoy put into his purse;
We would not die in that man’s company
That fears his fellowship to die with us.
This day is call’d the feast of Crispian.
He that outlives this day, and comes safe home,
Will stand a tip-toe when this day is nam’d,
And rouse him at the name of Crispian.
He that shall live this day, and see old age,
Will yearly on the vigil feast his neighbours,
And say ‘To-morrow is Saint Crispian.’
Then will he strip his sleeve and show his scars,
And say ‘These wounds I had on Crispian’s day.’
Old men forget; yet all shall be forgot,
But he’ll remember, with advantages,
What feats he did that day. Then shall our names,
Familiar in his mouth as household words-
Harry the King, Bedford and Exeter,
Warwick and Talbot, Salisbury and Gloucester-
Be in their flowing cups freshly rememb’red.
This story shall the good man teach his son;
And Crispin Crispian shall ne’er go by,
From this day to the ending of the world,
But we in it shall be remembered-
We few, we happy few, we band of brothers;
For he to-day that sheds his blood with me
Shall be my brother; be he ne’er so vile,
This day shall gentle his condition;
And gentlemen in England now-a-bed
Shall think themselves accurs’d they were not here,
And hold their manhoods cheap whiles any speaks
That fought with us upon Saint Crispin’s day.

The awakened American middle-class insurgency, led by Donald Trump, is an existential threat to the professional political class and every entity who lives in/around the professional political class. Their entire political apparatus is threatened by our insurgency. The political industry, all of corrupt governance, is threatened by our support through Donald Trump.

Decision time.

You know why the entire apparatus is united against President Trump. You know why the corrupt Wall Street financial apparatus is united against President Trump. You know why every institutional department, every lobbyist, every K-Street dweller, every career legislative member, staffer, and the various downstream economic benefactors, including the corporate media, all of it – all the above, are united against Donald Trump.

Donald Trump is an existential threat to the existence of a corrupt DC system we have exposed to his disinfecting sunlight. Donald Trump is the existential threat to every entity and institution who benefits from that corrupt and vile system.

They too have nothing to lose; their desperation becomes visible within their apoplexy; and they’re damn sure displaying it.

Do not look away.

Throw aside the sense of discomfort and bear witness to the evil we oppose. Do not turn your eyes from the hatred focused in our direction. Stand firm amid the solace of our number and resolve to the task at hand.

Leftists who oppose our efforts hold positions that are weak, push back against them.  They rely on fear…. they relish misery and despair… do not give it to them.  Let them stare into the Cold Anger furnace.

Who fuels that furnace?

…..US !

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President Donald Trump holds a press briefing from the White House. Anticipated start time 5:30pm ET.  – Livestream Links Below

White House Livestream – Fox News Livestream – Alternate Livestream

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White House Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany holds a press briefing from the Brady Room. [Video and Transcript Below]

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[Transcript] – MS. MCENANY: Hello, everyone. Where is Nancy Pelosi? The House is in recess. House and Senate Democrats left town after failing to compromise and make a deal to provide relief to the American people. While Nancy Pelosi and her colleagues went home, this President remained hard at work. President Trump took executive action, including stopping evictions; providing unemployment insurance; pausing student loan payments; cutting the payroll tax, which put money in the pockets of all Americans.

Democrats apparently were unable to stick around to make a deal. Now, suddenly, Democrats will be rushing back to Washington. But why? The answer: the United States Postal Service. It’s a stunning turn of events. Democrats went home after accomplishing nothing: no deal on stimulus checks, no deal on small-business relief, no deal on eviction protections. The concerns of everyday Americans were not the concerns of Democrats on Capitol Hill.

So where is Nancy Pelosi? She and her Democrat colleagues will be back in Washington soon to pursue their latest manufactured crisis: the Postal Service. Democrats denied a $10 billion offer for the U.S. Postal Service by this President before they went on recess. But now they’re back to pursue the latest Democrat-manufactured crisis. It’s sad, but it’s clear where Democrats’ priorities stand.

And with that, I’ll take questions.

John.

Q Kayleigh, looking ahead to potential action at the United Nations: Will the President dispatch the Secretary of State to go to the U.N. to invoke the snapback clause on sanctions?

MS. MCENANY: Yeah, so I have no announcements, and I won’t get ahead of the President. But what I will say is: The President has said that he will be willing to invoke the snapback option soon, and I’ll leave that to him.

Yes.

Q Kayleigh, the President said this week: The only way we “lose this election is if the election is rigged.” It begs the question: Does the President believe there’s any circumstance under which he could lose the election fairly?

MS. MCENANY: The President believes he’s done a great job for the American people, and he believes that will show in November. He believes that voter fraud is real, in line with what we see all across the country, particularly with mail-in ballots, which are prone to fraud.

Yes.

Q Thank you very much, Kayleigh. Two questions for you. Firstly, given the President’s tweet on Goodyear and lashing out at them, is the Beast still going to be using Goodyear tires?

MS. MCENANY: I’m not going to comment on security matters.

Q Okay. And then I want to follow up with a question that I asked the President last week but he didn’t answer. I asked him about QAnon. So I wanted to know: Have you ever heard the President talk about QAnon? And what does he think of the conspiracy theory?

MS. MCENANY: No, I’ve never heard of that. There’s a lot of media focus on that, but certainly never heard of that from the President.

Yes.

Q Kayleigh, just a follow-up on what my colleague said over there. With regard to the President saying make sure to get out and vote because “the only way we’re going to lose this election is if the election is rigged,” does the President — is the President saying if he doesn’t win this election, that he will not accept the results unless he wins?

MS. MCENANY: The President has always said he’ll see what happens and make a determination in the aftermath. It’s the same thing he said last November. He wants a free election, a fair election, and he wants confidence in the results of the election, particularly when you have states like Nevada doing mass mail-out voting to their voting rolls. And when they tried this in the primary, it was a massive failure. Ballots were piled up in trash cans. Ballots were pinned to apartment dartboards. And with that being the system, the President wants to take a hard look at this and make sure that these are fair election results and not subject to fraud.

Yes.

Q So will he accept the results, Kayleigh?

Q Can you tell us if the White House has reached out to Pelosi or the Democrats to talk over the next couple of days about stimulus?

MS. MCENANY: Yeah, so I have no updates on the personal conversations that we’ve been having. But what I’ll say is this: is I know the Speaker is interested in potentially a skinny bill with Post Office funding. But what we want here at the White House is we’re certainly open to Post Office funding. We did, after all, offer that $10 billion that was turned down.

So we’re open to that, but what we want to see in there is relief for the American people who are hurt through no fault of their own. For unemployed Americans, we want to see enhanced unemployment insurance. PPP: We want to see small businesses get taken care of. That money goes directly to payroll, so to pay workers and, thus, keep jobs. And we’re interested in seeing stimulus checks go out to the American people as well.

Q On the Post Office, are you able to share if you’re — if the White House is open to the $25 billion that the Democrats are proposing? Or is $10 billion the cap?

MS. MCENANY: No, we don’t have a cap. We’re certainly open to looking at the $25 billion, but we want included in there relief for the American people that, thus far, Speaker Pelosi has been entirely uninterested in, as this President has taken unilateral action to protect Americans subject to eviction, to protect Americans who are unemployed, to protect Americans via a tax cut through payroll deferral.

So this President has taken action. Still, we’re waiting on a reckless Speaker Pelosi to get back and do her job.

Yes.

Q Just to follow up on that, and then I have another question: Are there other things that the President could do in the realm of the executive action to address this problem with the Postal Service to ensure that they’ve got sufficient funding? Is there anything that he could do to, sort of, fill the gap?

MS. MCENANY: So the Post Office does have sufficient funding through 2021, and they do currently have cash on hand. They’ve been given that $10 billion line of credit through the CARES Act. So that’s important to note.

And, look, we’re looking at the Post Office funding to do with Speaker Pelosi, but that must also include money for our hardworking Americans as well.

And the President, just to underscore this, mentioned yesterday that he wants to protect postal workers. These are great, hardworking Americans, and he wants to make the Post Office solvent and — to protect those post office jobs. And he mentioned Amazon — needing to raise the price of packages for Amazon as a way to help the solvency with the Post Office.

Q And a quick follow-up.

MS. MCENANY: Yes.

Q So with the recent agreement between Israel and the United Arab Emirates, there is great interest on the part of the Emiratis to purchase F-35s. What is the President’s position on selling those high-end aircraft to the Emirates at this point? And would that require congressional changes to remove the qualitative military edge that is guaranteed to Israel at this moment?

MS. MCENANY: So we don’t confirm or comment on proposed defense sales or transfers until they’re formally notified to Congress.

To circle back on your first point, too, about the Post Office funding, I did want to highlight a piece that was written by Ruth Goldway, who’s a retired Chairwoman and Commissioner of the U.S. Postal Regulatory Commission. I believe it was in the New York Times. And she said, quote, that the Post Office “has access to about $25 billion in cash. Its own forecasts predict that it will have enough money to operate into 2021.”

So this notion that there’s this emergency for which Nancy Pelosi needs to rush back to Capitol Hill to solve is a farce. It is false. The real thing that’s happening here is Nancy Pelosi is feeling pressure from her members, from her constituents because she’s not delivered relief for the American people, and President Trump has.

Yes, Paula.

Q Thank you, Kayleigh. Today, the President encouraged Americans not to buy Goodyear tires, suggesting that they had a ban on MAGA hats. But it appears that their policy is just a ban on political speech. It’s pretty common for most companies. So why is the President retaliating against a private company for their dress code and potentially jeopardizing American jobs?

MS. MCENANY: So Goodyear needs to come out and clarify their policy. There was an image —

Q They have. They released a statement. Have you seen that?

MS. MCENANY: They failed to clar- — yes, I did see their statement, which still — still faired — failed to clarify their policy.

What happened is there was an image that was put out that showed that certain speech was acceptable — Black Lives Matter insignia, for instance — but what was not allowed was Blue Lives Matter; what was not allowed was MAGA hats.

What was clearly targeted was a certain ideology. They have not denied that that image was presented at one of their facilities, and they need to come out —

Q (Inaudible) racial equality, racial justice, that is okay, but not political speech. That’s pretty standard across the board right now. That’s not that unusual. Did the President even reach out to Goodyear before he tweeted?

MS. MCENANY: They came out and said “equity issues.” As far as I’m concerned, Blue Lives Matter is an equity issue. There have been police officers across this country that have been targeted because they wear the badge. Look no further than Dallas, where five police officers died.

So Black Lives Matter, an organization who’s — in their D.C. branch said, “Black Lives Matter means defund the police.” One of their presidents in New York said, “We will burn down the system.” We all remember, in 2015, the yelling of “Pigs in a blanket, fry them like bacon” at a Black Lives Matter rally.

Q Did the President reach out to Goodyear to clarify the policy before —

MS. MCENANY: That speech is allowed, but —

Q — he potentially put U.S. jobs at risk?

MS. MCENANY: — Blue Lives Matter is not allowed? And I will stand at this podium and say Blue Lives Matter is an equity issue, and Goodyear needs to come out and acknowledge that.

Q Is the policy debate worth putting American jobs at risk?

Q But that’s not the reason he called for the boycott.

MS. MCENANY: Yes.

Q Does the White House —

MS. MCENANY: Well, (inaudible) address that. The reason he called for the boycott was over MAGA. MAGA is pretty much unanimous with Blue Lives Matter these days, if you’ve seen the endorsements.

Yes.

Q Hi, Kayleigh. Does the White House support rolling back those existing operational changes that Louis DeJoy has done at the Postal Service, like those mail-sorting machines? He said he would pause the operational changes going forward, but does he — do you guys support rolling back the ones that have already affected mail delivery?

MS. MCENANY: So the President made his position clear on this yesterday, and it is making the Post Office solvent via Amazon package rates being raised.

It’s important to note how this works. So for letters, magazines, catalogs, the Post Office can only raise prices by the rate of inflation, whereas with packages and commercial freight, like Amazon, they can raise those competitive prices.

And the Postmaster General Louis DeJoy has proposed doing just that, because we don’t believe that Amazon should be able to push expensive packages to the Post Office and burden them further — when they’ve already had issues with funding — and push it there, but yet take advantage of the cheaper shipping. It’s a business model that works for Amazon, but it’s not one that works for the American people and clearly not one that works for the Post Office.

Q But what about those specific operational changes?

MS. MCENANY: He’s — the President has made clear that Amazon — he thinks that’s the best way to go. And I’ll let him answer any further on that.

Yes.

Q Thanks, Kayleigh. The President, last night, congratulated Laura Loomer for her primary win in Florida. He’s also backed Marjorie Taylor Green in Georgia. Both women have expressed anti-Muslim sentiments. Does the President endorse their view of — their views of Muslims? And does he believe that those views belong in Congress?

MS. MCENANY: Well, the President routinely congratulates people who offit- — who officially get the Republican nomination for Congress. So he does that as a matter of course. He hasn’t done a deep dive into the statements by these two particular women. I don’t know if he’s even seen that, but he supports the Muslim community; he supports the community of faith, more broadly, in this country.

Yes.

Q Thank you, Kayleigh. The President said that cost has been a consideration in selecting the White House as the location for his acceptance speech next week. And I’m wondering if cost, in terms of keeping costs down for security purposes, is a consideration when he’s selecting when to travel to his homes in Florida and New Jersey.

MS. MCENANY: Look, the President made clear that he wants to look at cost with regard to the convention. He always tries to. But the President is entitled, at times, to leave the White House, and he’s done that just like every past President has.

Yes.

Q Thank you, Kayleigh. Can you confirm that the U.S.-China trade deal phase one talks with Ambassador Lighthizer are still on track? And if so, do you have a date for those?

MS. MCENANY: Yeah, so the trade representatives do speak, and the President has expressed his displeasure with China, with regard to COVID and the pandemic. I don’t have a date for any official talks, but it is safe to say, should they continue, it would be between the trade representatives.

Yes. Blake.

Q Kayleigh, back — back to Goodyear for a second. Set the issue of the Beast aside. When the President says, “Don’t buy Goodyear tires. Get better tires for far less,” is he imploring that to his supporters? Or is that the official policy of the U.S. federal government that the President has directed, saying, “Do not buy Goodyear tires going forward”?

MS. MCENANY: The President was talking to his supporters when he tweeted that in particular. And, look, this President will never apologize for standing with law enforcement. He won’t. He thinks it’s unacceptable. If you can wear a Black Lives Matter hat, guess what? You should be able to wear a Blue Lives Matter one, too, particularly when our police officers are targeted like they were in Dallas; particularly when David Dorn lost his life amid these riots.

He will always stand against our police officers and Blue Lives Matter for some reason not being an equity issue, as Goodyear appears to maintain.

Q So for all the — so for all the fleets out there that have Goodyear tires on them, that inevitably need to be replaced, that is fine? Go ahead and purchase —

MS. MCENANY: I haven’t spoken to him about that in particular. You can ask him later in the 5:00 p.m. hour.

Yes, Chanel.

Q Thank you, Kayleigh. As the White House continues to spearhead its vision and its victories for Middle East peace, what commitments does the White House hope to establish with the visit of the Prime Minister from Iraq tomorrow?

MS. MCENANY: Yeah, so that visit — we’re very much looking forward to that tomorrow. The President looks forward to welcoming Prime Minister Kadhimi to the White House. The U.S.-Iraq strategic partnership is based upon a common goal for a stable, secure, and prosperous Middle East, and Iraq is a key partner to the U.S. on a range of regional security issues, including the enduring defeat of ISIS. So all of those matters will be discussed tomorrow.

Q Kayleigh.

MS. MCENANY: Yes, John.

Q The President has been very bullish on the potential of convalescent plasma. And it appeared as though the FDA was poised to issue an emergency use authorization for convalescent plasma. But a number of the President’s top advisors in the medical field, including Doctors Collins and Fauci, said, “Let’s put a hold on the EUA. It’s too early. We don’t yet know about the true efficacy of convalescent plasma.” Does the President agree with putting off the emergency use authorization, or does he have a different mind of it?

MS. MCENANY: Yeah, so I haven’t spoken to the President about that particular EUA. You can ask him that later this afternoon.

But I did follow up in — with the FDA on a testing issue. And I wanted to look into the average time for a point- of-care test because you all ask often about our point-of-care or more rapid test. And the average time for point-of-care test from submission to the FDA to decision for COVID-related, rapid point-of-care tests was 20 days. And, by comparison, that for Ebola, flu, and strep point-of-care test was over 100 days.

So this FDA, under this President, has managed to prove these rapid point-of-care tests that you all ask about at a rate five times faster than for Ebola, flu, and strep, which have taken more than 100 days on average.

And just before I walked out here, Attorney General Barr announced some very good new news. Last week, of course, we learned that the suspected killer of LeGend Taliferro was charged, which was very encouraging to see. Operation LeGend was, of course, named after LeGend Taliferro, the four-year-old boy who was shot and killed in his bed.

This has been going on for six weeks. There have been a thousand federal agents, from FBI, DEA, ATF, and U.S. Marshals, working side by side with state and local authorities. Operation LeGend is a very good example of cooperation and action, which is a sharp contrast to those who merely express empty sentiments or, worse, hold blatant disregard for the unacceptable violence in our cities, of which many children have fallen victim to.

The President cares. The President wants law and order restored. He wants peace in our streets. So this President took action. And today, the Attorney General can announce, under the leadership of this President, that federal agents have made over 1,000 arrests as part of Operation LeGend. Many of these arrests are for violent state crimes, including 90 homicides. And as AG Barr notes, that means 90 killers would still be on the streets today without the law and order actions of President Trump.

And as the mother of LeGend Taliferro said, this — she said, quote, “My one and only child who fought through open-heart surgery at four months is gone due to senseless gun violence. Children are supposed to be our future, and our [four-year-old] son did not even make it to kindergarten. I stand here today as a mother fighting against violence for my son LeGend Taliferro. My family and I support Operation LeGend, and we strongly want our communities and everyone else behind us.”

Today, LeGend Taliferro was once again honored by the actions of Operation LeGend, and we can thank President Trump and the work of Attorney General Barr for that great news.

Thank you all very much. The President will be back here in the 5:00 p.m. hour.

END 1:41 P.M. EDT

President Trump will be holding a press conference from Bedminister New Jersey today at 5:00pm – Update, moved to 5:30pm ET [Livestream Links Below]

WH Livestream LInk – NBC Livestream Link – Alternate Livestream

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