Earlier today President Trump welcomed Pakistan’s Prime Minister Imran Khan to the White House.  Prior to a bilateral meeting, the two leaders held a press availability in the Oval Office [Video and Transcript Below].

[Worth noting President Trump withdrew aid to Pakistan until they start helping bring the Taliban to the negotiating table in Afghanistan. Also, China is the #1 investor in Pakistan.]

.

[Transcript] – PRESIDENT TRUMP: Well, thank you very much. It’s my great honor to have the very popular and, by the way, great athlete — one of the greatest — but very popular Prime Minister of Pakistan.

We have many things to discuss: military and terrorism and trade. And I think we’re going to spend a lot of time talking about trade because we do very little trade with Pakistan compared to what we could be doing and should be doing when our countries really get along perfectly. And I think we’re having that start. We’re going to have that start.

But there’s tremendous upside with respect to trade. One of the things we’re going to be discussing too is hostages; perhaps the polio vaccine, because Pakistan is one of the countries, and we’ll talk about that as to, you know, what your feeling is on that. But we have a situation in Pakistan where we want to talk about the polio, or the possible polio vaccine.

And I think we’re going to have great meetings. We’re going to be spending a long time together. We have our representatives meeting right after we’re finished. And we just came out, Mr. Prime Minister, with tremendous economic numbers for the United States — the best we’ve ever had. We’ve got the best economy we’ve ever had. And I think we can shift some of that over to Pakistan. We should be doing tremendous business together. So, I look forward to it.

PRIME MINISTER KHAN: Inshallah.

PRESIDENT TRUMP: And it is an honor to have you with us. Thank you very much.

Q And, Prime Minister Khan, can you speak (inaudible) —

PRESIDENT TRUMP: Please.

PRIME MINISTER KHAN: Well, I’ve been looking forward to this meeting since I assumed office as Prime Minister of Pakistan. I mean, the United States is vital for Pakistan. We have links which have gone back since Pakistan became independent. You know, we’ve been fighting wars together: first Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, Pakistan was a frontline state, allied to the U.S. And then again the War on Terror, which was after 9/11.

So I look forward to my conversation with you, Mr. President.

Q Mr. President, Pakistan has been your ally for 14 years into the Afghan War. So, first terrorism, first economy disaster, and all that. And, still, we — we were taken to the court with all the accusations that Pakistan is now responsible to (inaudible).

Now, when India has — India and U.S. has developed an alliance in the region. How do, you know, you plan to foresight about the Pak-U.S. relationship — how they can be strengthened when your preference is India? Number one.

And secondly, you know, after your campaign, what kind of promises — if you are elected again, what kind of promises you are going to fulfill?

PRESIDENT TRUMP: Okay. That’s a big question. (Laughter.) That could go on for hours — that answer.

I will say that we have a very good relationship with India. I know that your relationship is strained a little bit. Maybe a lot. But we will be talking about India; a very big part of our conversation today. And I think maybe if we can help intercede and do whatever we have to do. But I think it’s something that can be brought back together.

And we’ll also be talking about Afghanistan. We’ve reduced our number of troops there by quite a bit. We are continuing to reduce troops in Afghanistan. We’re working with Pakistan and others on getting an agreement signed, as you know. And we’ll see what happens.

But we will be talking about India and Afghanistan very much so.

Q The Washington Post is reporting today that Huawei had a relationship with North Korea to build their commercial wireless network. Have you been briefed on that? Do you have concerns?

PRESIDENT TRUMP: I know all about it. I know all about Huawei. I know all about 5G. And we’re working on it, and we have companies that are now getting very, very strong in that department. And we’re going to have 5G. We’re going to have the best 5G in the world, just like we have everything else.

Our Silicone [sic] — Silicon Valley cannot be competed with. There’s nobody that can compete with Silicon Valley for the brainpower or for what we do.

And nobody was focused on 5G but now they are. And we have great companies going into 5G. Even if they don’t want to, a lot of them were very happy doing what they were doing. But now they’re going — at my request, they’re going into 5G. So we don’t need — we don’t need anything from anybody.

Q Do you have any additional concerns with North Korea?

PRESIDENT TRUMP: Say it? What?

Q The Post is reporting about Huawei’s relationship with North Korea.

PRESIDENT TRUMP: Well, we’ll have to find out. Our relationship with North Korea has been very good. We’ve really established a good relationship with Kim Jong Un. I have personally. There’s no rocket testing. There’s no missile testing. We’re getting our remains back. We got our hostages back.

And we have a very, very good relationship, the two of us, and that’s very important. There’s been no nuclear testing. And what they’re doing with 5G will be, you know — we will have to see. I’ll have to — I’ll find out.

Q This is (inaudible) from (inaudible) News TV Pakistan.

PRESIDENT TRUMP: Say it again.

Q This is (inaudible) from (inaudible) News TV Pakistan. Lindsey Graham, when he met Imran Khan, he says you both are kind of same personalities. You are the President who fulfill all your promises with the campaign.

PRESIDENT TRUMP: I do. I do.

Q And the same Imran Khan; he’s also fulfilling all his promises. So how do you see this meeting? Like, same kind of person? Straight to point?

PRESIDENT TRUMP: Well, I think we’re going to have a great meeting today. I know that it’s an important meeting. I consider this a very important meeting because I think we haven’t met the potential of either country. I think the potential with Pakistan and likewise, the opposite way, I think we have not even come close to meeting it. There is tremendous potential between our country and Pakistan.

I think Pakistan is going to help us out to extricate ourselves. We’re like policemen. We’re not fighting the war. If we wanted to fight a war in Afghanistan and win it, I could win that war in a week. I just don’t want to kill 10 million people. Does that make sense to you? I don’t want to kill 10 million people.

I have plans on Afghanistan that, if I wanted to win that war, Afghanistan would be wiped off the face of the Earth. It would be gone. It would be over in — literally, in 10 days. And I don’t want to do — I don’t want to go that route.

So we’re working with Pakistan and others to extricate ourselves. Nor do we want to be policemen, because basically we’re policemen right now. And we’re not supposed to be policemen. We’ve been there — we’ve been there for 19 years, in Afghanistan. It’s ridiculous. And I think Pakistan helps us with that because we don’t want to stay as policemen. But if we wanted to, we could win that war. I have a plan that would win that war in a very short period of time. You understand that better than anybody.

PRIME MINISTER KHAN: Mm-hmm.

PRESIDENT TRUMP: We’ve been in there not fighting to win, just fighting to — they’re building gas stations; they’re rebuilding schools. The United States, we shouldn’t be doing that. That’s for them to do.

But what we did and what our leadership got us into was ridiculous. But we will — I think we’ll have some very good answers on Afghanistan, very quickly.

Q Mr. President, Jerry Nadler says the Mueller report lays out evidence of high crimes and misdemeanors.

Q (Inaudible.)

PRESIDENT TRUMP: Yeah, go ahead. You go ahead. Go ahead.

Q Does that concern you about Wednesday?

Q This is (inaudible) from GTV Network Pakistan. The Pakistani army has fought war against terror. And it has fought and protected and gave sacrifices in protecting Pakistan-Afghanistan border, as well. But Pakistan’s sincerity was always doubted. Coalition support fund was suspended by U.S. Defense Department. So, at this time, the Pakistani economy is facing great trouble. Are you going to restore any package for Pakistan?

PRESIDENT TRUMP: So we are going to — that’s right — we were paying $1.3 billion to Pakistan as aid, for many years. The problem was Pakistan — this is before you — Pakistan was not doing anything for us. They were really, I think, subversive. They were going against us. And this is something we’ll be ta- — I ended that about a year and a half ago, the $1.3 billion.

And I tell you what: To be honest, I think we have a better relationship with Pakistan right now than we did when we were paying that money. But all of that can come back, depending on what we work out.

We’re working out things that are very important. We have a very — I consider this very important. We’re working out things that are very, very important. And I think, at the end of this, at the end of a very short time, we’re going to have a very great relationship with Pakistan. And we should. It’s a great country. It’s a great — they’re great people. I have many friends from Pakistan. Living in New York, I have a lot of Pakistani friends — I will tell you that. And they’re great people: smart, tough. They are tough. There’s no question about that. They’re like him; they’re tough. (Laughter.)

Q Mr. President, are you worried about Wednesday?

PRESIDENT TRUMP: No, I’m not going to be watching. Probably. Maybe I’ll see a little bit of it. I’m not going to be watching Mueller because you can’t take all those bites out of the apple.

We had no collusion, no obstruction. We had no nothing. We had a total “no collusion” finding. The Democrats were devastated by it. They went crazy. They’ve gone off the deep end. They’re not doing anything. They’re not doing healthcare. They’re not going infrastructure.

They’re not lowering drug prices. I’m lowering drug prices. First time in 53 years that drug prices went down last year. Fifty-three years. And I’m doing that without the help of Congress, which makes it much tougher to do. Because if they worked with us, I could get drug prices down in half. But the Democrats don’t seem to care about drug prices. All they care about is a phony investigation where the report was written — it said “no collusion” — the report was written, and the Attorney General, based on the report, was easily able to find there was no obstruction. There’s no nothing. They’re wasting their time.

And Robert Mueller, I know he’s conflicted — he had a lot — there’s a lot of conflicts that he’s got, including the fact that his best friend is Comey. But he’s got conflicts with me, too. He’s got big conflicts with me. As you know, he wanted the job of the FBI Director. He didn’t get it. And we had a business relationship where I said, “No.” And I would say that he wasn’t happy. Then, all of a sudden, he gets this position. But you know what? He still ruled — and I respect him for it — he still ruled “no collusion, no obstruction.”

And this thing should’ve ended a long time ago. This has been going on for two and a half years. And we’re never going to allow this to happen to another President again because most of them wouldn’t be able to take it.

On top of everything else, we have the strongest economy. We were just discussing this with the Prime Minister. We have the strongest economy that the United States has ever had. We have the highest stock market. Yesterday, literally, the highest stock market we’ve ever had on Friday — Thursday.

We’ve broken the record, I think, 109 times for highest stock market. But on, I believe, Thursday of last week we hit the all-time highest in the history of our country.

Our country is doing phenomenally well. Unemployment is the lowest in 51 years, soon to be the lowest in history if it keeps going this way in a short period of time. Black, Hispanic, Asian unemployment — the lowest in history. Women — the lowest in 72 years.

Nobody has ever done what we’ve done. Nobody has done in two and a half years what we’ve done: the biggest tax cuts in history; the biggest regulation cuts in history. So many things for healthcare. We got rid of the individual mandate which was the worst part of Obamacare. Going to end up — if we end up winning the House back, we keep the presidency, we should keep the Senate. We should keep the presidency, I would think easy, when you have the strongest economy in the history of our country. And somebody is going to run against that particular President even though, in this case, it’s me. In theory, I have a big advantage. I don’t know. I’m going to have to ask you. But, in theory, I have a big advantage.

So a lot of great things are happening. But the Democrats, they don’t want to talk about that. They want to stay off the economy subject. And what they’re doing is just hearing after hearing after hearing. It’s nonsense. Okay? They tried an impeachment vote, and they got slaughtered last week. They got absolutely slaughtered. It was the most ridiculous — I didn’t even know they were going to do it.

And I’ll tell you, just in finishing: I have a lot of respect for the Democrats because most of them voted against impeachment last week. And I have a lot of respect for those Democrats that did that because they’re doing the right thing for the country. No collusion, no obstruction.

Okay. Anybody else?

Q Mr. President, on the debt talks — sir, on the debt talks, can you tell us if there is a deal soon?

PRESIDENT TRUMP: Yeah, we’re talking about it. Secretary Mnuchin is talking about it. We’re having very good talks with the Speaker of the House — with Nancy Pelosi. We’re having very good talks with Chuck Schumer and, of course, with Mitch McConnell and Kevin. We are — Kevin McCarthy.

We are, I think, doing very well on debt, if you look at debt limit, however you want to define that. But we’re doing very well on that, and, I think, we’re doing pretty well on our budget.

Very important that we take care of our military.
Our military was depleted, and in the last two and a half years, we’ve un-depleted it, okay? To put it mildly. We have made it stronger than ever before. We need another big year. So we had $700 billion, we had then $716 billion, and this year we’re going to be asking for a number slightly larger than that.
We’re putting our military back into a shape that it’s never been in before: new. The best missiles in the world. The best equipment in the world. The best military equipment of all. We’re building submarines — the finest. Nobody can even think about competing with what we’re building. We’re building, as you know, new submarines.

We have a new aircraft carrier coming online. It’s the largest ship in the world. It’s so large that maybe I could even land a plane on top of it, okay? But it’s a big — it’s a big one. President Gerald Ford. It’s a phenomenal — it’s a phenomenal ship.

So what we’re doing — what we’re doing is incredible things for our country.

And, you know, just about — just about — and I might say this about the military equipment: It’s all made in the USA — everything. A hundred percent. It’s all made in the USA. And, you know, it’s one of the reasons our job numbers probably are so good — the lowest unemployment.

Yeah. Go ahead.

Q Mr. President, will you be visiting Pakistan? As you’ve described, Pakistan is a great country. So he will be definitely extending you an invitation. So will you be visiting Pakistan?

PRESIDENT TRUMP: Well, I can’t say that yet because, so far, he has not extended me an invitation. (Laughter.) And after today’s meeting, maybe he won’t. But I have a feeling he might. Yes, I’d love to go Pakistan at the right time.

Q On Pakistan, Mr. President —

PRESIDENT TRUMP: Yes, please.

Q Bahzad Saleemi, here from Pakistani News Channel (inaudible). Is there any exact date or timeframe of U.S. troops withdrawal under consideration under your administration?

PRESIDENT TRUMP: Are you talking about from Afghanistan?

Q Yes.

PRESIDENT TRUMP: Yeah, we have already withdrawn quite a few. And we’re doing it very slowly and very safely. And we’re working with Pakistan and with — as you know, we’re negotiating with the Taliban. And we are doing, I think, very well in that regard.

Again, it’s something that we could do — we could go one of two ways: We could do a number the likes of which they’ve never seen before, and win it very quickly. I don’t want to do that. I don’t want to do that because you’re talking about millions of people, and I don’t want to do that.

And we’re working with Pakistan on getting a solution. And I think — I think it’s being worked very well, wouldn’t you say so, Mr. Prime Minister?

Q Will there still be troops there on Election Day? Will there still be troops there on Election Day in Afghanistan — U.S. troops?

PRESIDENT TRUMP: Well, I don’t know. We’re moving a lot of them out. And —

Q Do you want them to be gone by then?

PRESIDENT TRUMP: And we’ve done what we’re supposed to do. We’ve been there for 19 years, and we’ve acted as policemen, not soldiers. And, again, if we wanted to be soldiers, it would be over in 10 days. One week to 10 days, if we wanted to.

But I have not chosen that. Why are we — why would we kill millions of people? It wouldn’t be fair. In terms of humanity, it wouldn’t be fair. So we’re doing very well, and I think that Pakistan is going to be a big help.

Q What role do you see for India and Afghanistan?

PRESIDENT TRUMP: Say it?

Q What role do you see for India and Afghanistan? And, Mr. Prime Minister, same question to you. What — does India has a role to bring peace in Afghanistan?

PRIME MINISTER KHAN: You see, this is the closest we’ve been to a peace deal in Afghanistan.

PRESIDENT TRUMP: Yeah.

PRIME MINISTER KHAN: And there is no military solution in Afghanistan. There is no military solution because, as Mr. President says, if you go all-out military, there will be millions and millions of people who will die.

So there is only one solution. And I feel — and I think we will discuss this — it’s the closest we have been to a peace deal. And we hope that in the coming days we will be able to urge the Taliban to speak to the Afghan government and come to a settlement — a political solution.

PRESIDENT TRUMP: And what the Prime Minister —

Q (Inaudible).

PRESIDENT TRUMP: Excuse me. What the Prime Minister just said is a very big story. And it’s 100 percent true. We’re — we’ve made a lot of progress over the last couple of weeks, and Pakistan has helped us with that progress.

But a lot of great things are happening. A lot of things are happening for the United States, and I think a lot of great things are going to be happening for Pakistan too, under your leadership. I really feel that.

PRIME MINISTER KHAN: Thank you. Thank you.

PRESIDENT TRUMP: Okay?

Q Mr. President, on Iran, are we closer to negotiations or to armed conflict?

PRESIDENT TRUMP: I think Iran doesn’t know where they are. I’ve been watching and reading a lot of reports. And right now, they’re a very mixed up country. They don’t know whether they’re coming or going. They have tremendous problems economically. Their country is in turmoil. They’re having demonstrations all over Iran. They’re inflation rate is at 75 percent. They have a lot of problems.

So whatever it is, it is. I’m just going to sit back and wait. Let’s see what happens. But I will say —

Q What can you tell us about the CIA assets?

PRESIDENT TRUMP: — they are doing very poorly as a country, and we’ll see what happens.

We did, actually — because they said no — and, you know, it’s a religious country, or religious leaders, but they lie a lot. We did shoot down — unfortunately, we had to shoot down a drone. The drone came down. You know how it — how it came down with a new technology that’s actually quite amazing. But we took down one of their drones. Instead of saying, “Yeah, that happened,” they lied. They say it didn’t happen.

So we have — there’s a lot of proof. It’s called “take a look at it on the ocean floor.” Just go down there — take your scuba gear and go down there in the — one of you would do that, I know. But we took down a drone.

I think very importantly — I read a report today about CIA; that’s totally a false story. That’s another lie. They put out propaganda. They put out lies. I don’t think Pakistan would ever do a thing like that, right? Pakistan —

PRIME MINISTER KHAN: Definitely not.

PRESIDENT TRUMP: Pakistan never lies.

PRIME MINISTER KHAN: Definitely not.

PRESIDENT TRUMP: But Iran does, unfortunately. So let’s see what happens with Iran. We are ready for the absolute worst. And we’re ready for sense, too. But we are very geared up. And if they — they are really the number-one state of terror in the world. Now, I have to say, they’ve pulled back because their money is running very low. The deal that President Obama made was a disaster because it was such a short term. It didn’t cover ballistic missiles. And they couldn’t see the important sites. Under this you couldn’t inspect the important sites. There were many things wrong.

And, of course, they gave 150 billion dollars plus 1.8 billion in green — green, beautiful cash. That’s called many plane loads of cash. I think Pakistan would like to have some of that cash. But they gave $1.8 billion in cash, which is unthinkable.

And instead of being respectful and thankful — which, frankly, they should have been to the United States and to President Obama for making that ridiculous deal — instead of being respectful, they put their finger up in the air — this finger, the thumb — they put their finger up in the air and they disrespected the United States. They shouldn’t have done that. That was a big mistake.

One of the best things I’ve done is terminate that ridiculous deal. If they want to make a deal, it’s — frankly, it’s getting harder for me to want to make a deal with Iran because they behave very badly. They’re saying bad things.

And I’ll tell you, it could go either way very easily. Very easily. And I’m okay either way it goes.

Q Mr. President (inaudible) —

PRESIDENT TRUMP: Yes. You’re from Pakistan?

Q Yeah, I’m from Pakistan.

PRESIDENT TRUMP: I want a couple of Pakistani reporters. I like them. I like them much better than our reporters.

Q (Inaudible) News. (Inaudible.) Question is: What do you think Pakistan could (inaudible) in 18 years? And you have so much hope now that (inaudible). What are those things that Pakistan could do right now?

PRESIDENT TRUMP: You mean what they didn’t do to end the war?

Q (Inaudible) 18 years they could do now.

PRESIDENT TRUMP: Well, I don’t think Pakistan — look, I don’t think Pakistan respected the United States. I don’t think Pakistan respected its presidents. And I think Pakistan could have done a lot. I think Pakistan can do tremendous amount against — with respect to Afghanistan. They didn’t do it and I don’t’ blame them because they were dealing with the wrong President. Who knows? But I think Pakistan could have done — they’re helping us a lot now.

I think they could have helped us a lot in the past. But it doesn’t matter. We have a new leader; he’s doing to be a great leader of Pakistan. And we have a new leader here. Sort of new; I’m two and half years now — getting to be three years, can you believe it? You’re going to find time flies.

But, no, I think Pakistan could have done a lot but they chose not to. And that’s because they did not respect U.S. leadership.

Q Is Pakistan doing enough now? Is Pakistan doing enough now?

PRESIDENT TRUMP: Well, I’ll let you know that very quickly. I’ll let you know. I mean, I’m going to know soon. It’s not going to be like a long-term thing. I figure things out very quickly.

So the question was — that’s probably the best question you’ve asked in a long time. (Laughter.) First time — she’s always asking, “Mueller. Mueller. Mueller.” It’s been — she’s been asking this Mueller thing for three years. It’s your best question. So I have to focus on that because that’s such a great question.

I think Pakistan is going to do a lot. I really do. I think Pakistan is going to make a big difference. I think Pakistan will save millions of lives in Afghanistan because I really believe that they can — they have a power that other nations don’t have with respect to Afghanistan.

And I will say, as of this moment, they’re working very hard and very nicely, and we appreciate it.

Q (Inaudible) reports and video of protestors in Hong Kong — in these ongoing protests — being beaten by gangs. And, potentially, the Hong Kong and Chinese governments are sort of looking the other way, allowing these people — protestors to be beaten. Have you seen any of that footage? Have you been briefed on any of that? Do you have any —

PRESIDENT TRUMP: Well, I have.

Q — message to Beijing and China?

PRESIDENT TRUMP: And, you know, I know President Xi. We’re working on trade deals right now. We’ll see what happens. In the meantime, they’re paying us billions and billions of dollars of tariffs, which is fine with me.

But I know that they’re working — I know that’s a very important situation for President Xi. And, you know, you could say what you said, but you could also say that he has allowed that to go on for a long time, and, you know, it’s been relatively — I think it’s been relatively non-violent.

Q Do you believe that protestors should be allowed to protest on the streets of Hong Kong, as they’ve been doing peacefully?

PRESIDENT TRUMP: Well, they are. I mean, they are. I don’t think China has stopped them. But China could stop them if they wanted. I think — I think that — again, I’m not involved in it very much — but I think President Xi of China has acted responsibly. Very responsibly. They’ve been out there protesting for a long time.

I’ve never seen protests like it, where you have that many people. It likes two million people. Those are big protests. But I think that President — I hope that President Xi will do the right thing. But it has been going on a long time. There’s no question about it.

Do you want to do a couple more? Do you have anybody you want to take a question from?

Q Mr. Prime Minister, Mr. President made good remarks about Pakistan and said that Pakistan can help lot to end the violence in Afghanistan — the dialogue process and reconciliation process. So what really Pakistan can do to bring peace? Because you are also (inaudible) by your military commander, General Bajwa and other security team.

So what solution Pakistan — what strategy paper you have to push forward the peace and reconciliation process in Afghanistan and assurances to the U.S.?

PRIME MINISTER KHAN: Number one, this is the longest war that the United States has ever fought. It’s almost 19 years.

Number two, I am one of those who always believed that there was no military solution, because anyone who knows the history of Afghanistan — you just have to look back at the history — there was always going to be a political settlement at the end.

And I have to compliment President Trump because he has now forced people to end the war, to have a settlement. And that’s where I think Pakistan is playing a very important role because Pakistan has a 1,500-mile border with Afghanistan, and all the areas where the trouble is — which is the eastern side of Afghanistan.

So this is a critical time. I’m looking forward to my talks with President Trump. We have our military leadership here because this is obviously a security situation. And what we want is understanding between the two countries. I can assure President Trump that whatever we will be saying will be the — we will be straight with them. There will never be any question of any doubt on Pakistan’s intent, because apart from Afghanistan, the country that wants peace in Afghanistan more than any other country is Pakistan because we get directly affected by it.

And Pakistan needs stability. We have had 15 years of fighting this war on terror. Over 70,000 Pakistani causalities. Over $150 billion lost to the economy. So we desperately want peace. And I’m happy that President Trump has pushed this forward. So we hope — I’m looking forward to these talks.

Q Disrupting the peace in the region, and apart from Afghanistan, there is another security threat in South Asia, and that is Kashmir dispute unresolved even by the United Nations and even by the U.S., who voted in support of that resolution in the U.N.

Now, are you going to make any kind of submission and intervention, President Trump? And the same question to Mr. President Trump —

PRIME MINISTER KHAN: I will —

Q Is he going to play any role in that Kashmir, where millions have been dead?

PRIME MINISTER KHAN: I —

PRESIDENT TRUMP: Okay, he’s got it. He’s got it.

Q Thank you.

PRIME MINISTER KHAN: I will be asking President Trump. He’s — it’s the most powerful country in the world, the United States. It can play the most important role in bringing peace in the subcontinent. You know, there are over a — over a billion and a quarter people in the subcontinent. They are held hostage to the issue of Kashmir. And I feel that only the most powerful state, headed by President Trump, can bring the two countries together.

From my point, I can tell you, we have tried our best. We’ve made all overtures to India to start dialogue, resolve our differences through dialogue. But unfortunately, we haven’t made headways as yet. But I’m hoping that President Trump would push this process.

PRESIDENT TRUMP: So I was with — I was with Prime Minister Modi two weeks ago, and we talked about this subject. And he actually said, “Would you like to be a mediator or arbitrator?” I said, “Where?” He said, “Kashmir.” Because this has been going on for many, many years. I was surprised at how long; it’s been going on a long —

PRIME MINISTER KHAN: Seventy years.

PRESIDENT TRUMP: And I think they’d like to see it resolved. And I think you’d like to see it resolved. And if I can help, I would love to be a mediator. It shouldn’t be — I mean, it’s impossible to believe two incredible countries that are very, very smart, with very smart leadership, can’t solve a problem like that. But if you want me to mediate or arbitrate, I would be willing to do that.

PRIME MINISTER KHAN: President, I can tell you that, right now, you would have the prayers of over a billion people if you can mediate and resolve this issue.

PRESIDENT TRUMP: It should be resolved. So it — but he asked me the same, so I think there’s something. So maybe we’ll speak to him or I’ll speak to him, and we’ll see if we can do something because I’ve heard so much about Kashmir. Such a beautiful name. It’s supposed to be such a beautiful part of the world. But right now there’s just bombs all over the place. They say everywhere you go, you have bombs and it’s a terrible situation. Been going on for many years. If I can do anything to help that, let me know.

Let me give you one thing on Afghanistan, as an example. So a lot of you don’t know this, but we dropped the largest non-nuclear bomb ever built in history. We dropped it in Afghanistan. We were getting ready to make many of those bombs. This left a hole that was — it took out a lot of the tunnels and everything else. But it left a hole in the Earth that looked like the moon; it looked like a crater from the moon. It’s still there. It was — nobody has ever seen anything like it. People heard it 15 miles away. They said, “What was that?” It shook the Earth. Non-nuclear — the largest ever made, by far.

And they were going to make many of them. And I said, “No, we don’t have to. I don’t want to drop that. I don’t want to do that.” So many easy solutions. That’s actually the easy solution. And they’d come in and they’d say, “Let’s have peace.” But you don’t have to do that. I think we’re going to be very successful with having to go that route. And I have tremendous confidence in the Prime Minister.

All right, one or two more. Go ahead. Go ahead, please.

Q This is Nadeem from Voice of America. Are you going to raise the issue of Dr. Shakil Afridi with PM Imran Khan? And, PM, question to you regarding the freedom of the press in Pakistan: There are a lot of curbs on the freedom of press, on the media, on the journalists. Can you comment on that?

PRESIDENT TRUMP: Go ahead, please.

PRIME MINISTER KHAN: Pakistan press — to scorn Pakistan press as if there’s curbs on it. Pakistan has one of the freest presses in the world. All you have to do is — since I’ve been the Prime Minister in the last 10 months — I mean, the criticism I have received from my own press: unprecedented.

So to say that there are curbs on Pakistan press is a joke.

Q Mr. Prime Minister, I —

PRESIDENT TRUMP: When you say “unprecedented,” it can’t —

Q Mr. Prime Minister —

PRESIDENT TRUMP: Wait a minute. Wait, wait, wait. There’s no way you’re treated worse than I am. (Laughter.)

PRIME MINISTER KHAN: (Laughs.) It’s worse than you.

PRESIDENT TRUMP: I mean, that can’t be.

Q Mr. Prime Minister, you are fighting — Mr. Prime Minister, you are fighting —

Q (Inaudible.)

PRESIDENT TRUMP: You’re going to have to speak because I didn’t hear your words.

Q Yeah, the question was: Are you going to raise the issue of freedom or release of Dr. Shakil Afridi? Dr. Shakil Afridi.

PRESIDENT TRUMP: Freedom of the press?

Q Dr. Shakil Afridi.

Q Dr. Shakil Afridi. The doctor who helped —

PRESIDENT TRUMP: Oh, yes. We will do that. We will — we’re talking about hostages. We’re talking about hostages being held in various places. I’ve had very good luck with hostages with North Korea, with many places. They’ve treated us with respect, and I appreciate it. It made a big difference.

We have two or three hostages that we’re talking about. That’s one of the gentlemen that we have heard about. And we’ll be — we will be discussing that with many other subjects. Yes, we will.

PRIME MINISTER KHAN: And President Trump —

Q (Inaudible.)

PRIME MINISTER KHAN: Just a minute. Trump, we will be giving you a good news about the two hostages (inaudible).

PRESIDENT TRUMP: Good. Thank you.

Q On your tweets this morning — why are you escalating the feud with the four congresswomen? The racial tensions —

Q On North Korea, sir — on North Korea, sir —

PRESIDENT TRUMP: I’ll tell you in a second.

Go ahead. Ask again.

Q On your tweets — why are you escalating your feud with the four congresswomen and racial tensions in so doing?

PRESIDENT TRUMP: Well, I think they’re very bad for our country. I really think they must hate our country. I think the four congressmen we’re talking about — the congresswomen, what they’ve said about Israel, what they’ve said about our country, when they talk about “disgusting people,” when they talk the way they talk; when the one mentioned that “brown people should speak for brown people,” and “Muslim people should speak for Muslim people,” and you hear all this — it’s not what our country is all about.

No, I think they’re very bad for our country. I think they’re very bad for the Democrat Party. I think you see that. And they’re pulling the Democrats way left. Nobody knows how to handle them. I feel they’re easy to handle. To me, they’re easy to handle because they’re just out there. They’re very bad for our country. Absolutely.

Q Are you stoking racial tensions? But are you stoking racial tensions in so doing?

PRESIDENT TRUMP: No, I don’t think — no, no, no racial tension. No, no, there’s no racial tension.

Look, I had my best numbers recently, and it’s because of the economy and what I’ve done for the African American. When you look at — the African Americans are doing better than they’ve ever done in our country. They’re — we’re creating numbers — look at the poverty numbers. Look at so many different — look at the unemployment numbers. The best they’ve ever had.

No, we have fantastic relationships with the African American community. I think you’ll see that. Certainly, you’re going to see that in 2020, I believe.

Q Mr. President, even your critics — even your critics say that you’re going to win the 2020 election. And you’re obviously very confident about that. Same thing, Imran Kahn. Sir, you are also heading up a big war against corruption in Pakistan. So can you just give us a little comment on that?

PRESIDENT TRUMP: Well, I think he’s going to win. And I think what’s going to happen — of course, he’s got a little ways to wait — (laughter) — but I’ll go over — I’m going to campaign for you. I’m going to help him win his campaign.

Q Mr. President, I’m (inaudible) representing Associated Press of Pakistan. Prime Minister Imran Khan has said that Pakistan is looking for trade and economic relationships and investment in Pakistan. Are you willing to do that?

PRESIDENT TRUMP: Yes.

Q Because many experts say that economic prosperity is the best antidote to extremism and militancy.

PRESIDENT TRUMP: I agree. And I think that’s very true. And that’s actually a very good question. The answer is yes. I see great trade with Pakistan. And I’m not — I’m not talking about a little bit more. I’m talking about — we could go 10 and even 20 times what we’re doing right now.

You know, Pakistan is a big country. It’s actually a very big country, and they have tremendous product. They make great product. They make tremendous — I’ve bought from Pakistan over the years when I was in the private sector. They make incredible product. They’re brilliant people. They’re hardworking people.

I think we’re going to have a fantastic trade relationship. I don’t mean we’ll increase it by 20 percent. I mean, I think we can quadruple it. I think it could go — I mean, literally, it sounds crazy — you could go 10 times more. You could go 20 times more. Because what we do right now is not much, and we should do a lot.

So I think that’s going to be — and I also do agree that that has so much to do with great peace. Having a great trading relationship has so much to do with peace and extremism, in this case. I think it can have a — so I expect that we will, within a very short period of time, start having very significant trade with Pakistan.

Q Sir, are there any lower working-level talks with North Korea scheduled at this point since you met with Kim Jong Un at the DMZ?

PRESIDENT TRUMP: No, we just have a very good relationship, and probably they would like to meet. And we’ll see what happens. There was a little correspondence recently — very positive correspondence — with North Korea.

Q Between you or your staff?

PRESIDENT TRUMP: Again, there’s no nuclear testing. There’s no missile testing. There’s no nothing. I think we will — yeah, at a certain point.

Q What’s the roadmap to working-level talks, sir?

PRESIDENT TRUMP: When they’re ready — when they’re ready, we’ll be meeting.

Q They’re not ready yet, sir?

Q One question, please?

PRESIDENT TRUMP: Go ahead.

Q One question, please. (Inaudible) from (inaudible) Pakistan. Did you raise the case for Dr. Afridi?

PRIME MINISTER KHAN: Well, there will be things discussed. So, you know, that would be for afterwards.

Q Mr. President, on Puerto Rico?

PRESIDENT TRUMP: We’ll be — we’ll be discussing it.

Q A question on India. Pakistan — one of the (inaudible) Pakistan (inaudible) where India (inaudible) a non-state actors to destabilize them. And the people from there are going to Europe and other places. And they’re getting refused. They’re getting asylum in India, which is actually an indication that India is helping those non-state actors to infiltrate in Pakistan and create that. One of the guy Pakistan is holding — which was the (inaudible) network. So you do you think that the U.S. will be playing a role in stopping India to, you know, destabilizing the region?

PRESIDENT TRUMP: I think I can very well. I have a very good relationship with Prime Minister Modi. And I think we’re going to have a phenomenal relationship with the Prime Minister of Pakistan. I do think that it’s a two-way street. You know, you say India is coming in and destabilizing Pakistan, but India is saying that Pakistan is coming in and destabilizing. So there’s a lot of room right there where we can meet. I think we can meet.

You had a question on Puerto Rico?

Q Should the governor of Puerto Rico step down right now?

PRESIDENT TRUMP: Did he step down?

Q Should he. Should he. He says he’s not going to because he’s not going to run for reelection.

PRESIDENT TRUMP: He’s a terrible governor. I think you have an even worse mayor of San Juan. She’s horrible. I think she’s horrible. I watched her — my people did nothing but complain about her when we helped them with their hurricane problem. The mayor of San Juan, Puerto Rico, is a horror show. She’s incompetent. Grossly incompetent. At the same time, the governor is not good.

So the United States Congress — you won’t believe this; please close your ears because this would be — gave Puerto Rico $92 billion last year for hurricane relief. No, they haven’t gotten the money, all of it, but they’ve got a lot of it, but they’re scheduled to get. The Congress of the United States handed them $92 billion. And that $92 billion is in the hands of incompetent people and very corrupt people.

But the governor has done a terrible job. And the mayor of San Juan has — she’s horrible. I think she’s just terrible. She’s so bad for her people. And I think the government of the United States — they have to be careful.

I’m the best thing that ever happened to Puerto Rico because we did a great job in Puerto Rico. They don’t like to give me the credit for it, but we did a great job. I have many Puerto Rican friends. I have a real understanding of Puerto Rico. I’ve had jobs in Puerto Rico.

I had — I think the most successful — I owned the Miss Universe contests and pageants, and we had them in Puerto Rico twice. And I’ll tell you, we had tremendous successes. In fact, they said literally 100 percent — this never happens — almost — I think it was close to 100 — but 100 percent of the island itself was watching. They liked those pageants.

Now, I’ve had a great relationship with Puerto Rico. I’m the best thing that ever happened to Puerto Rico. But Congress has given them $92 billion. Pakistan would like some of that, right? Ninety-two, not 1.3 — because Pakistan was getting 1.3. Ninety-two billion dollars, and the money is squandered and wasted and stolen.

And I’ll tell you what: The senators are not happy about it, and Congress is not happy about it. Because you really do — you have incompetent — totally grossly, incompetent leadership at the top of Puerto Rico. The people of Puerto Rico are great. And the people of Puerto Rico like me, and they should because nobody has given them what I give them. But the leadership is corrupt and incompetent.

Thank you very much, everybody.

[End Transcript]

The body of retired justice John Paul Stevens, who died last week at age 99, returned Monday morning to the Great Hall of the Supreme Court, where he served for 35 terms.

The coffin of Justice Stevens, draped with an American flag, is in the center of the Great Hall, where he is lying in repose. The busts of former chief justices rest on the sides of the room.  This morning President Trump and First Lady Melania Trump paid their final respects.

.

The president and first lady bowed their heads in silent prayer before taking a few moments to view Justice Stevens portrait, holding hands. The first couple did not make public remarks and left a few moments later.

As the week begins, it’s worthwhile reemphasizing the value of President Trump, and how the focused, albeit at times pragmatic, policy is received by the larger U.S. electorate.   This interview is representative of the silent majority voice; some silent no more:

.

The underlying reality behind these words from a Michigan voter is exactly why the media need to have redoubled their efforts of opposition. President Trump is simply succeeding, despite the enormous scale of manufactured political opposition.

.

Cue today’s audio visual.

Well, there it is….  Right there in a poll [full pdf below] of eleven southern states conducted by NBC over two weeks we see the reason why the DNC, political leadership and media are whipping up false accusations of racial anxiety against President Trump.

The majority of those polled see improvements in race relationships,… and their approval of President Trump is higher…. and their view of the economy is more optimistic…. and the number one issue is immigration.

All empirical points that help President Trump and simultaneously destroy the Democrat narrative.  That recently released NBC polling result is exactly behind why Trump’s political opposition had to make a fast move against his administration.

All of those data-points are toxic to Nancy Pelosi and the DNC candidates; especially in a week where they will be attempting to frame the impeachment narrative around Robert Mueller.

Oh, those well schemed plans…

The survey was conducted by NBC between July 2nd and July 16th.  No doubt the phone lines were ringing at the DNC with the early results.  The survey measures ten solid months of media effort to attack and frame President trump… yet the public can see right through it.

Here’s the full NBC Poll Result:

.

(Via NBC) – President Donald Trump’s approval ratings in the South have ticked upward, with 54 percent of voters giving a thumbs-up to the way he’s handling his job, according to a new NBC News|SurveyMonkey online poll.

The survey of voters in 11 southern states found 38 percent said they “strongly approve” of the way Trump’s handling his job, and 16 percent who said they “somewhat approve.” That’s up slightly from a poll in September of last year, which put his total approval at 52 percent.

[…] More Southerners also said they think race relations in their states are improving. Twenty percent said they’re getting better, compared to 14 percent in September. The number of people who said relations are getting worse dropped significantly, from 44 percent in September to 34 percent in the current poll. A plurality of respondents, 44 percent, said they’re “about the same.”  (read more)

HUD Secretary Dr. Ben Carson appears on Sunday Morning Futures with Maria Bartiromo to discuss the ridiculous accusations of racism against President Trump.

In one of the reference points, Dr Carson reminds everyone about the February 2016 ABC debate when all the other candidates left him hanging, but not Donald Trump.  Funnily enough CTH wrote about that specific moment at the time; and it’s interesting how that moment stayed with Dr. Carson and he references it well over three years later.

.

FLASHBACK February 6th, 2016 – Few people will talk about this, and fewer will even want to acknowledge it, but what Donald Trump did before the ABC debate began shows the measure of a real man’s worth.

At the beginning of the ABC debate, each of the candidates were being introduced in a specific order. The first name called to the stage was Chris Christie. The applause was loud and lingered through the time when Martha Raddatz called the second candidate Ben Carson.

Dr. Carson did not hear his name called (easy to understand why when you listen to the video) and stood in the entry-way. The moderators, with their backs to the candidates, didn’t notice his absence and called the third name on the list, Ted Cruz.

Ted walked past Dr. Carson and onto the stage. Carson remained in the awkward, and embarrassing position, ‘no-mans-land’, on-camera but out of sight of the live audience.

What happened next shows the remarkable character of Donald Trump.

The fourth name called was Donald Trump, but by then the back-stage crew and candidates were aware of Dr. Carsons’ position. Trump slowly approached, and then realized the embarrassing position of a fellow candidate hanging in the wind.

Trump showed his leadership by standing right next to his friend, and not walking onto the stage.

The other names continued to be called, and proceeded as mentioned. But not Donald Trump, he remained with his colleague thereby reducing the internal anxiety felt by Carson.

It would have been very easy for Trump to walk by Ben, just like all the other candidates did. But instead he chose to wait, and remove the embarrassment factor by infinite magnitudes.

Then, like a boss, when Dr. Carson was called to the stage, Donald Trump waited and allowed Dr. Carson to get the audience response and appreciation.

It takes a lot of courage to make split second decisions like that, and it shows a remarkable insight into the man’s character.

Watch.

.

People often mistake Donald Trump’s self-confidence for arrogance or even narcissism. But there is not a narcissist on the planet who would have put themselves into a position like that to assist a competing colleague.

Here’s Mr. Trump talking to an audience member several years ago, and reminding them that no-one is “less than”.

Chopper Pressers are the best pressers.  Departing the White House for Bedminster New Jersey, President Trump delivers remarks to the press pool and answers questions from the South Lawn.  [Video and Transcript below]

.

[Transcript] – THE PRESIDENT: Hello, everybody. How are you? Very good numbers, economically. The country is doing really well. We expect great things, and we have a lot of potential. A lot of way to go. We’re the hottest economy now — definitely, actually, for the last quite a bit, period of time. And I think we have tremendous potential for a lot of growth.

Europe is not doing well. A lot of places are not doing very well; we’re doing very well. So, I just want to let you know.

Q Mr. President, Iran seized at least one oil tanker today with British oil. What is your reaction? Have they crossed the line? You said that would be a foolish thing to do.

THE PRESIDENT: Well, as you know, we have a very close alliance with the UK, and we always have. We heard that. The United States has very few tankers going in because we’re using our own energy now. We’ve made a lot of progress over the last two and half years. So we don’t have very many tankers going in, but we have a lot of ships there that are war ships. And we’ll talk to the UK. And we have no written agreement, but we have an agreement. They’ve been a very great ally of ours.

So, we heard about it. We heard it was one; we heard it was two. And we’ll be working with the UK. They’ll have a new Prime Minister soon, which is a good thing. And we’ll be working with the UK. But we have no written agreement, but I think we have an agreement which is longstanding.

Q Mr. President, thank you very much. It’s clear you are standing by your tweet about going back to the original country. How would you feel if somebody asked the First Lady to go back to her country? And what has she said to you about the chant, the tweet, about this entire episode?

THE PRESIDENT: Yeah. If you go back to the four congresswomen, the things they’ve said about our country are terrible. What they’ve said about Israel are just terrible.

I don’t know — I can’t say for sure — but certainly a lot of people say they hate our country. And I think it’s a disgrace what they’ve said. I think you can’t talk that way about the United States.

So I think, frankly, to say that about Israel — you know, we just gave the embassy in Jerusalem, making Jerusalem the capital of Israel. I just gave Golan Heights — recognized Golan Heights for Israel. I’ve done all of this for Israel.

And then you have these people — I think that Omar — I find it hard to believe — but I hear Omar today put in, or yesterday put in a sanctions bill against Israel, and other things beyond sanctions. So, when I hear that, you just can’t talk about our country that way. And when people are angry at them, I fully understand them.

Q Mr. President, (inaudible) political feud that you’re having with Congresswoman Omar and the rest of those Democrats, is it a good thing politically for you? Or do you think it turns people off?

THE PRESIDENT: I don’t know if it’s good or bad politically. I don’t care. But when people are speaking so badly, when they call our country “garbage” — think of that. That’s worse than “deplorable.” When they call our country “garbage,” I don’t care about politics. I don’t care if it’s good or bad about politics. Many people say it’s good. I don’t know if it’s good or bad. I can tell you this: You can’t talk that way about our country, not when I’m the President.

So I think they’ve said horrible things, and they’re anti-Semitic. And if you look at the kind of statements they’ve made about Israel, it’s a disgrace.

Q Mr. President, they have a First Amendment right to say what they want about our country. That’s what the Constitution guarantees. Do you see not agreeing with you as the same thing as hating the country, sir?

THE PRESIDENT: Yeah, they have First Amendment rights but that doesn’t mean I’m happy about them saying. And when they say bad things about us, we can certainly feel — and again, we have First Amendment rights also — we can certainly feel what and say what we want.

Q What do you mean one or two sanctions this evening?

THE PRESIDENT: Say it, Steve.

Q What do you mean one or two sanctions this evening? What are you talking about — an agreement with the UK? Is that like a mutual defense agreement?

THE PRESIDENT: So we’re going to be speaking with the UK. And this only goes to show what I’m saying about Iran: trouble. Nothing but trouble. And remember this: The agreement — the ridiculous agreement made by President Obama expires in a very short period of time. It was a short-term agreement.

When you’re dealing in countries, you have to deal in 50 years and 100 years. You don’t deal in the short term. That was a ridiculous agreement. And it goes to show you I was right about Iran. And let’s see what happens.

But I know that it’s not an American ship; it’s UK. I guess it could be one, could be two. And we’ll be speaking to them. They have a new prime minister coming soon, and that’s a good thing for the UK.

Q Mr. President, in the past, you said —

THE PRESIDENT: Go ahead.

Q In the past, you’ve said that America is the “laughing stock of the world,” that you don’t believe in American exceptionalism. Why is it okay for you to criticize America but not the Democratic congresswomen?

THE PRESIDENT: I believe all people are great people. I believe everyone is great. But I love our country, and I’m representing our country. And people can’t —

Q But you’ve criticized our country in the past yourself, Mr. President.

THE PRESIDENT: — go around speaking about our country and saying “garbage.” This is the greatest country in the world. We now have the strongest military by far. We had a depleted military when I took over. We spent $716 billion last year; $700 billion the year before. We have a great, powerful military. More powerful than we’ve ever had before. We have the greatest economy on Earth. Not even close.

You can’t speak about our country the way those four congressmen — they said, “garbage.” They say things about Israel that’s so bad I’m not even going to repeat them right now.

They can’t get away with that act. Not the right (inaudible).

Q Mr. President, are you trying to backtrack on disavowing the chant of “send her back,” by saying that these are “incredible patriots” that were chanting?

THE PRESIDENT: These women have said horrible things about our country and the people of our country. Nobody should be able to do that. And if they want to do that, that’s up to them. But I can’t imagine they’re going to do very well at the polls.

And I say this: If the Democrats want to embrace people that hate our country, people that are far — so far-left that nobody has even seen anything like it, if they want to embrace people that are so anti-Semitic and anti-Israel, if they want to do that, that’s up to them. But I don’t have to do that.

I think what they say and what they’ve said is a disgrace to them, to the Democrats, and, frankly, to our country.

Q Mr. President, why did you have a falling out with Jeffrey Epstein? You said you hadn’t talked to him in 10, 15 years.

THE PRESIDENT: A long time ago, yeah.

Q Why not?

THE PRESIDENT: Fifteen years ago, I had a falling out.

Q What happened? Why did you have a falling out?

THE PRESIDENT: Well, I didn’t get along with him.

Q Mr. President, can you explain why you were on the phone with Michael Cohen in October of 2015 — with Michael and Hope? Why were you on a phone call? What was that about?

THE PRESIDENT: I don’t really know. I’d have to look into it. That’s a long time ago.

Q Are you in favor of banning plastic straws?

THE PRESIDENT: I do think we have bigger problems than plastic straws. You know, it’s interesting about plastic straws: So, you have a little straw, but what about the plates, the wrappers, and everything else that are much bigger and they’re made of the same material?

So, the straws are interesting. Everybody focuses on the straws. There’s a lot of other things to focus on. But it’s an — it’s an interesting question.

Q Secretary Mnuchin (inaudible)?

THE PRESIDENT: Go ahead. Talk up.

Q Secretary Mnuchin just did a phone call with his Chinese counterpart. So how did the phone call go? And will you send him to China to talk?

THE PRESIDENT: Secretary Mnuchin did have a call with the Chinese counterpart. They had a very good talk. We’ll see what happens. We’re dealing with China. We’re doing very well; they are not doing very well. They had the worst year they’ve had in 27 years. And we’re having the best year we ever had. So we’re doing well. But let’s see what happens.

And our farmers are doing very well because I’ve taken some of the billions of dollars of tariffs that we collect from China. We collect billions and billions of dollars of fees and tariffs, and I gave it to our farmers.

Q What did the First Lady and Ivanka advise you about the chant? I know you guys talked about it and —

THE PRESIDENT: False information. It was fake news.

Q You never talked about it with her?

THE PRESIDENT: Nope. We — I talked about it, but they didn’t advise me. They told me, but I didn’t —

Q I’m sorry. What did they say? What did they tell you?

THE PRESIDENT: By the way, what you’re saying — fake news.

Q What did they tell —

Q Rand Paul — what does Rand Paul want to do for you on Iran? Or what do you want him to do?

THE PRESIDENT: Well, Rand is a friend of mine, but I have, really, 53 very good friends, and they’re in the Senate.

I also have a lot friends — you saw that the other day when they brought a ridiculous vote up, and only four Republicans out of hundreds voted against. So I have a lot of great friends. I’m 94 percent in the Republican Party approval rating.

Rand is a friend of mine. And Rand asked me if he could involved. The answer is yes. And if other senators ask me to get involved, I’d probably say yes depending on who they were.

We’ll see what happens. But I have many people involved. And Iran is going to work out very nicely. Iran is showing their colors. It’s going to work out very nicely.

Iran is in big trouble right now. Their economy is crashing. It’s coming to a crash. They’re trying to bring soldiers back home because they can’t pay them. A lot of bad things are happening to them. And it’s very easy to straighten out or it’s very easy for us to make it a lot worse.

Q Mr. President, thank you. The chant, “Send her home,” is it racist to you?

THE PRESIDENT: Say it?

Q The chant, “Send her home” —

THE PRESIDENT: No, you know what’s racist to me? When somebody goes out and says the horrible things about our country — the people of our country — that are anti-Semitic, that hate everybody, that speak with scorn and hate. That, to me, is really a very dangerous thing.

I think these four congressmen — and I could say some worse than others — but if you look at the statements they’ve made, when they call the people of our country and our country “garbage,” when they hit Israel the way they’ve hit Israel so hard, so horrible — I think, to me, that’s a disgrace. And we should never forget it. We’re dealing with people that hate our country.

Q Mr. President, are you going to watch — are you going to watch Mueller, Mr. President? Do you plan on watching the Mueller testimony?

THE PRESIDENT: No, I don’t. I don’t.

Q And are you concerned about — Democrats have said they’re going to try to —

THE PRESIDENT: Let me tell you: They had an impeachment vote the other day. Just a big waste of time. It’s a disgrace. No other President should ever have to go through it. And the vote was a totally lopsided vote with many Democrats voting in favor. As far as I’m concerned, they already took their impeachment vote. And the impeachment vote was so lopsided, it was a — it was a massive victory. And you know what? At some point, they have to stop playing games because they’re just playing games.
No, I won’t be watching Muller.

Q Mr. President, a follow-up. Your initiative called “Prosper Africa” was launched. And I have the opportunity to speak to with many African leaders.

THE PRESIDENT: Good.

Q They say that’s a good opportunity for African countries to engage more —

THE PRESIDENT: Right.

Q — and work with the United States. But the President of Zimbabwe, he said that because of the sanctions that U.S. imposed on Zimbabwe, they cannot — it will be hard for them to work for you guys.

THE PRESIDENT: We’re looking at Zimbabwe right now. Go ahead.

Q Mr. President, did the First Lady approve of your tweets about the congresswomen?

THE PRESIDENT: The First Lady feels very strongly about our country. The First Lady thinks that it’s horrible what they’ve said about Israel and horrible what they’ve said about our country — these congresswomen.

They can’t call our country and our people “garbage.” They can’t be anti-Semitic. They can’t talk about “evil Jews,” which is what they say: “evil Jews.” That’s what the First Lady (inaudible).

Thank you. Thank you.

[End Transcript]

Earlier today, during an informal presser in the Oval Office, President Trump commemorated the 50th anniversary of the Apollo 11 moon landing.  In addition to the Apollo event, the president took questions from media. [Video and Transcript below]

.

[Transcript] PRESIDENT TRUMP: Well, thank you very much. Tomorrow is a very big day because tomorrow will represent 50 years from the time we planted a beautiful American flag on the moon. And that was an achievement — possibly, one of the great — considered one of the great achievements ever. And we’re going a lot further now. We’re going to the moon but we’re then going to Mars.

And I think, very importantly — and all of you folks know that, from a standpoint of defense, so important, where we’re going to be doing the Space Force. I assume you guys are all a fan of the Space Force, right? I’d be very surprised if you weren’t. But that’s where it’s at.

We’re going to be doing the Space Force. We’re very close to getting that completed and operating. It’s going to be very exciting. So a lot of things are happening.

We have with us, of course, Buzz Aldrin, who has been an incredible gentleman. I’ve known him for years, for a long time. And we’ve been friends for a long time. But just a fantastic, fantastic man. And Michael Collins, you all know flew Apollo 11 overhead. And it’s Aldrin and Armstrong, they walked on the moon. We have —

MR. COLLINS: Their Den Mother.

THE PRESIDENT: Huh?

MR. COLLINS: Their Den Mother.

THE PRESIDENT: Their Den Mother. Yeah, that’s right. (Laughter.) That’s — and that’s for sure.

And you have Rick Armstrong; his son Mark. It’s just incredible families. These are incredible space families. These are incredible men. And, honestly, I’ve gotten to know some of the women in the family. These are great women, great men. And, frankly, great genes.

But tomorrow is a big day. So tomorrow is a day where 50 years. And we also have Jim Bridenstine, and Jim is the head of NASA, as you know. And NASA has done a whole different — it’s a whole different thing. Jim Bridenstine is somebody that — everybody wanted that job because there’s a love for space that is unparalleled. Mike Pence and myself felt strongly about Jim. We gave him the job, and he’s surpassed many of our expectations. NASA is back.

We’re having rich guys use it and pay us rent. I like that. I almost like that better, Jim, if you want to know the truth. We don’t have to put up so much money. But you’ve been watching a lot of rich guys sending up rockets, and that goes to our credit and it goes to their credit also. But we like it.

And we opened up our fields. When we took it over, they were all covered with grass, and they were broken and they were in bad shape. And NASA — if you look at Kennedy, if you look down in Florida, you look — wherever you want to look, it was not a pretty picture. They were almost, you could say, abandoned, and now they’re in tip-top shape.

And rockets are going up all the time. And we would actually lease rockets from Russia and other countries — but from Russia — to send people up. And we appreciate the whole relationship with Russia, but we’ll be doing it ourselves. We’re in a position that we haven’t been in for many, many years.

And space, to me, is important for defense — and offense, I guess you could say. But space, to me, is very important for defense. It’s not just about going to the moon and going to Mars, because we don’t know what we’re going to find on Mars, but it’s certainly a trip that’s going to be very interesting. To get to Mars, you have to land on the moon, they say. Any way of going directly without landing on the moon? Is that a possibility?

MR. COLLINS: Yes.

ADMINISTRATOR BRIDENSTINE: Well, we need to use the moon as a proving ground, because when we go to Mars, we’re going to have to be there for a long period of time, so we need to learn how to live and work on another world.

THE PRESIDENT: So how long a trip to Mars? How long will it take?

ADMINISTRATOR BRIDENSTINE: It’s about a seven-month journey there. The challenge is Earth and Mars are only on the same side of the sun once every 26 months. So we have to be prepared to stay on Mars for long periods of time. We prove that out on the moon, and then we go on to Mars.

THE PRESIDENT: What happens if you miss the timing? They’re in deep trouble?

ADMINISTRATOR BRIDENSTINE: (Laughs.) Well, we’re not going to miss the timing.

THE PRESIDENT: You don’t want to be on that ship.

ADMINISTRATOR BRIDENSTINE: No, sir.

THE PRESIDENT: You don’t want to be on the ship.

Go ahead, tell me. What do you think?

MR. ALDRIN: You come back and try it again.

THE PRESIDENT: Yeah, I guess, where you — well, that’s a long time. That’s a long time. How do you feel about?

MR. COLLINS: Mars direct.

THE PRESIDENT: You like direct?

MR. COLLINS: Yes.

THE PRESIDENT: It seems, to me, Mars direct. I mean —

MR. ALDRIN: They’re impatient.

THE PRESIDENT: I mean, who knows better than these people, right? (Laughter.) They’ve been doing this stuff for a long time.

What about the concept of Mars direct?

ADMINISTRATOR BRIDENSTINE: So the challenge is, if we go direct to Mars, there’s going to be a lot of things that we haven’t yet proven out. We need to — think about this: We need to use the resources of another world in order to live and work for long periods of time.

The moon has hundreds of millions of tons of water ice that we discovered back in 2009. Water ice represents life support. It’s air to breathe, it’s water to drink. It’s also rocket fuel — hydrogen and oxygen — the same rocket fuel that powered the space shuttle.

So, it’s available. And hundreds of millions of — there’s — Mr. President, that’s a market. That’s an available market where people — some of these commercial guys are interested in going to the moon to utilize that resource for their own stays on the moon. It could be for tourism. It could be for resources. Potentially even —

THE PRESIDENT: But, Jim, isn’t true they haven’t really landed that close to that portion of the moon that you’re talking about?

ADMINISTRATOR BRIDENSTINE: That’s correct. In the Apollo era, we landed in the equatorial regions. So from 1969, the first landing, up until 2008 and 2009, many people believe the moon was bone dry. Now we know that there’s hundreds of millions of tons of water ice. We need to learn how to use it so we can live and work, and then ultimately that gives us the opportunity to go to Mars.

THE PRESIDENT: So you feel that really landing on the moon first, and figuring it out and getting ready to launch, and you would like to — you really feel launching — you’re essentially launching from the moon to Mars.

ADMINISTRATOR BRIDENSTINE: I think, sir, the best way to think about it is we learn how to live and work on the moon, but we launch to Mars from a space station that we have in orbit around the moon — a space station we call Gateway — which gives us access to the moon. But ultimately, it becomes the deep-space transport that takes us to Mars.

THE PRESIDENT: Right.

ADMINISTRATOR BRIDENSTINE: — which gives us access to the moon. But ultimately, it becomes the deep-space transport that takes us to Mars. With a Gateway, we will have more access to more parts of the solar system with humans than we could ever have otherwise. Because from the moon, it’s very easy, because the moon’s gravity well is small compared to Earth. So what we aggregate at the Gateway enables us to go further.

THE PRESIDENT: Just so you know, Jim Bridenstine, who was a great congressman, who was with me most of the time — (laughter) — not all the time. It was not that easy a decision for me, but that’s okay. You know that. You know what I’m talking about.

And ultimately, once I got to know him and once he got to know me, it was a whole different ballgame. And you’ve done a fantastic job. You really have.

ADMINISTRATOR BRIDENSTINE: Sir, I really appreciate it.

THE PRESIDENT: And you love it.

ADMINISTRATOR BRIDENSTINE: Yes, sir.

THE PRESIDENT: And, more importantly, he loves it — the reason he’s doing well.

Where’s Mike? Mike Pence. Where is Mike?

THE VICE PRESIDENT: Right behind you, Mr. President.

THE PRESIDENT: Mike, come here.

THE VICE PRESIDENT: Yes, sir.

THE PRESIDENT: Tell me what you think of the job Jim is doing, what NASA is doing. Tell me. Come on over here. What do you think of the job they’re doing?

THE VICE PRESIDENT: Well, thank you, Mr. President. And I share your enthusiasm for our NASA Administrator, Jim Bridenstine. He’s done a phenomenal job really putting into practice your vision for reviving American leadership in human space exploration.

But to be able to be here in the Oval Office with you and the First Lady, with Buzz Aldrin, Mike Collins, and the family of Neil Armstrong as we celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Apollo 11 mission is — it is very humbling for me. I thank you for your leadership. You revived the National Space Council; you asked us to lead it.

You know, we have really revived American leadership in space. We’re launching a Space Force to make sure that we can defend this nation in the outer reaches of space.

But because of your leadership, I know everyone gathered here — these families, these astronauts — are excited to know that within the next year, we will be able to return American astronauts to space on American rockets, from American soil. And that’s all a result of your leadership. (Applause.) And I want to thank you, Mr. President. And I thank you so much for all you’re doing.

THE PRESIDENT: And maybe you could just — where — just, hold up your hands a little for the media to see, the family of Neil Armstrong. Where — where is — where is our family here?

MR. RICK ARMSTRONG: Over here.

THE PRESIDENT: Come on. Hold up your hands, because we want to just, sort of, segment it —

MR. RICK ARMSTRONG: Over there.

THE PRESIDENT: They’re all sort of one family. What I want you to do — good. Buzz? You’re here.

MR. ALDRIN: I’m here.

THE PRESIDENT: Just introduce your family, please. That’s your family.

MR. ALDRIN: That’s my lovely vice president. (Laughter.)

THE PRESIDENT: That’s right. (Laughter.)

MR. ALDRIN: Chief of staff. My family is from Hawaii, to Florida, to Los Angeles.

THE PRESIDENT: Yeah. Well, but they’re watching.

MR. ALDRIN: Oh, yeah, always watching.

THE PRESIDENT: So, do you have any questions, folks? One thing I think before we go, I do want to ask one question of either Mike or Jim. Private guys, wealthy guys, are spending a lot of money with you right now. A lot. I assume they are using the facilities, they’re leasing the facilities, they’re paying money to set off their rockets. You can charge them a lot. They have so much, they don’t know what to do with it. And they like rockets. Thank God I don’t like rockets that much. (Laughter.) I like it — I like it the way we’re doing it.

ADMINISTRATOR BRIDENSTINE: Yes, sir.

THE PRESIDENT: But I also like it the way they’re doing it.

How much of the work that you’re doing is privately financed? And — because I see whether it’s Bezos or — I could name many. Okay?

ADMINISTRATOR BRIDENSTINE: Yes, sir.

THE PRESIDENT: You have many involved. How much of the work that you’re doing is private versus government-funded and researched?

ADMINISTRATOR BRIDENSTINE: So, right now, on the International Space Station, we are commercially re-supplying the International Space Station by buying a service from these commercial providers who have invested their own money because they’re looking for markets, they’re looking for business that is not necessarily us, which means our costs go down and our access goes up. But that’s resupply to the International Space Station.

Now we’re doing commercial crew to the International Space Station. And the value is this — and sir, this is — this a public-private partnership, where we’re going to have the opportunity in the future to have NASA be one customer of many customers in a very robust marketplace in low Earth orbit where the costs come down, access goes up.

But we also want to make sure — and this is important — we have numerous providers that are competing against each other on cost and innovation. And as they compete, our costs will continue to go down; access will go up. The goal being we want more access to space than ever before. And that’s ultimately how we’re going to go to the moon, that’s how we’re going to get to Mars. And there are markets out there that are not NASA, and that’s a good thing for our country.

THE PRESIDENT: And what impact are you having on defense? Our defense industry.

ADMINISTRATOR BRIDENSTINE: So NASA has a lot of technologies that we develop that the Department of Defense, in fact, takes advantage of. And that goes back to — people remember Alan Shepard launching into space. Well, he launched on an ICBM.

So there’s a lot of back and forth between what NASA does for science and technology and what the Department of Defense does for the national security interests of the country. But you know this, and I’ve been very public about it.

The United States Air Force is an amazing institution. The challenges, their budgets, are pretty steady, and yet the greatest threats that the Air Force deals with are in space and cyberspace. And these are areas where the Air Force is going to run out of capacity, in my view, from a national security perspective.

So we need to take that element and create a separate Space Force where we can organize, train, and equip a cadre of professionals that can keep us safe, from a space perspective. And by doing that, we will have more opportunity to explore space than we otherwise would.

THE PRESIDENT: Great. Fantastic job.

THE PRESIDENT: So, Michael Collins flew Apollo 11. What’s the difference with — it was a long time ago — with that, and let’s say, what they’re doing today? Because you’re abreast of what they’re doing today, Michael.

MR. COLLINS: Well, I think the whole system has advanced a lot more. You were talking a minute ago about private funds, and I think that’s wonderful. The more the merrier. The money that Musk and Bezos are put — take out of their own pocket, they put into the federal kitty, is for all one lump, as far as I’m concerned. Maybe the budgeteers don’t quite agree with that, but I think it’s just the more the merrier. Private funds, appropriated funds, we need them both. And let’s go with both of them.

THE PRESIDENT: So you like that whole concept?

MR. COLLINS: Yes.

THE PRESIDENT: Do you see a big advancement from so many years ago with Apollo 11? Do you see a tremendous advancement when you see what’s happened? Like Elon Musk, I see where his propulsion system has come back to Earth. I had never seen that before. They come back standing up and that means you use them again, I guess. But that was unthinkable a long time ago.

MR. COLLINS: Yes, sir. There was one shot, and they fell into the ocean. A tremendous waste of five good rocket motors for every Saturn V that you send up. I think that is the dramatic new idea, the —

THE PRESIDENT: A dramatic (inaudible).

MR. COLLINS: The reusability.

THE PRESIDENT: Right. Dramatic.

MR. COLLINS: I mean, how many things in our life do we use once and then throw away?

THE PRESIDENT: Right.

MR. COLLINS: Too many. Maybe that reusability doctrine could be a little more widespread in the rest of our economy.

THE PRESIDENT: Very good point. That’s a very good point.

Yes, Mike, go ahead.

THE VICE PRESIDENT: And, Mr. President, just to reinforce your point — where the President signed the Space Policy Directive 1, saying that America was going to return to the moon and then to Mars, as one of our first acts in this administration.

But the President has also taken action to streamline regulations for private space exploration. I mean, what the President’s vision is, is that we will continue to have American leadership in space. Some of that will come from NASA, some of that will come as a part of our national defense. But much of it will come by unleashing the entrepreneurial energy of American space entrepreneurs. And all of it represents, what I know all of these families are excited about, is renewed American leadership in human space exploration. And it all comes to articulating and putting into practice your vision, Mr. President.

THE PRESIDENT: Thank you very much, Mike.

And, Buzz, maybe say a few words. You’ve been watching the space program very closely. You’ve been watching what we’re doing. And what a career you’ve had. One of the great careers. What would you say?

MR. ALDRIN: Frankly, I’ve been a little disappointed in the last 10 to 15 years. We were able to achieve so much early.

THE PRESIDENT: Right.

MR. ALDRIN: Maybe we — because of conflicts in Southeast Asia we had to terminate the Apollo program —

THE PRESIDENT: They did.

MR. ALDRIN: — and moved on in other directions.

THE PRESIDENT: Right.

MR. ALDRIN: But, in the last 50 years, we had a rocket, the Saturn V —

THE PRESIDENT: Right.

MR. ALDRIN: — and it took a command module — that was my spacecraft — and the lunar module was Neil’s and Mike’s. But we all went together.

THE PRESIDENT: Right.

MR. ALDRIN: Then we got into the lander, and we landed. And we joined up. That was my expertise: rendezvous. And then we came back.

Now, we have the number-one rocket right now in the U.S. and we have the number-one spacecraft, and they cannot get into lunar orbit with significant maneuvering capability.

THE PRESIDENT: Right.

MR. ALDRIN: And that’s a great disappointment to me.

THE PRESIDENT: How do you feel about that, Jim?

ADMINISTRATOR BRIDENSTINE: We’re working on it, as a matter of fact. So, the Orion crew capsule is an amazing crew capsule and we need it to go to the moon within five years, which, of course, is the direction that we’re on right now.

But when we’re there, I think the Gateway, it’s going to attach to a small module in orbit around the moon called the Gateway. Think of it as a small space station.

THE PRESIDENT: Right.

ADMINISTRATOR BRIDENSTINE: And that’s going to give us what we call, “Delta-v.” That’s that maneuvering capability to go down to low lunar orbit and then back up on a lander. And so those are — those are the pieces of the architecture that we’re working out.

THE PRESIDENT: Well, I’d like to have you also listen to the other side because some people would like to do it a different way.

ADMINISTRATOR BRIDENSTINE: Yes, sir.

THE PRESIDENT: All right? So, you’ll listen to Buzz and —

ADMINISTRATOR BRIDENSTINE: Always.

THE PRESIDENT: — some of the other people, because they also feel —

ADMINISTRATOR BRIDENSTINE: Yes, sir.

THE PRESIDENT: I mean, I know this has been going on for a little while. And we’re so advanced, but I would like to hear the other side also. Right?

ADMINISTRATOR BRIDENSTINE: Yes, sir.

THE PRESIDENT: Okay? I’d like to — maybe say something on behalf of your family. Please. Great family.

MR. RICK ARMSTRONG: Yes, sir. I think the other real benefit of space, that is something that we haven’t talked about now, is the inspiration that it provides for all the kids out there — not just in the U.S., but all around the world — to focus on achieving their dreams, studying science and math and engineering.

And I’ve met — I’ve heard from so many people that have come to me and said, “I was inspired to be what I am because of what I saw in the Apollo program.” And that — the value of that is tremendous. And I think we need more of that.

So I’m really hoping that, you know, days like today will help do that. And with the increased activity in space that we’re all talking about here, will all help that.

THE PRESIDENT: Well, you have a great family. Thank you very much.

MR. RICK ARMSTRONG: Thank you, sir.

THE PRESIDENT: And, you know, one of the things: We’re bringing the glamour back to it because it lost the glamour. It lost everything. If you would have seen these fields when we took over — really, you started about a year, year and a half ago. When we took over, it was unbelievable. It looked like an abandoned town. And now there’s beauty. There’s beauty, and there’s a lot of things happening. A lot of really great things are happening. So we’re very proud of that.

Thank you all very much. We appreciate it. Thank you.

Q A couple of questions. Iran — Iran is —

THE PRESIDENT: Steve, go ahead.

Q Iran is denying that you shot down a drone yesterday. There’s no doubt about that, right? And are —

THE PRESIDENT: No doubt about it, no. We shot it down and — of course, I’m sitting here behind the desk in the Oval Office. But, John, tell me please. John Bolton, you’re there.

AMBASSADOR BOLTON: Yeah, there’s no question that this was an Iranian drone, and the USS Boxer took it out, as the President announced yesterday, because it posed a threat to the ship and its crew. It was entirely the right thing to do.

Q And are you concerned about a broader clash with Iran in the Strait of Hormuz?

THE PRESIDENT: No, not at all. We have the greatest people in the world. We have the great equipment in the world. We have the greatest ships — most deadly ships. We don’t want to have to use them, but they’re the most deadly ships ever conceived.

And we are not — we hope, for their sake, they don’t do anything foolish. If they do, they will pay a price like nobody has ever paid a price. Okay? Thank you.

Q President Trump, you said you were unhappy with the chant. However, the chant was just repeating what you said —

THE PRESIDENT: No. You know what I’m unhappy with?

Q — what you said in your tweet.

THE PRESIDENT: Do you know what I’m un- —

Q Do you take that tweet back?

THE PRESIDENT: Do you know what I’m unhappy with? I’m unhappy with the fact that a congresswoman can hate our country. I’m unhappy with the fact that a congresswoman can say anti-Semitic things. I’m unhappy with the fact that a congresswoman — in this case, a different congresswoman — can call our country and our people “garbage.” That’s what I’m unhappy with.

Q So you’re not unhappy about the chant?

THE PRESIDENT: Those people in North Carolina — that stadium was packed. It was a record crowd. And I could’ve filled it 10 times, as you know.

Those are incredible people. Those are incredible patriots. But I’m unhappy when a congresswoman goes and said, “I’m going to be the President’s nightmare.” “She’s going to be the President’s nightmare.” She’s lucky to be where she is, let me tell you. And the things that she has said are a disgrace to our country.

Thank you very much, everybody.

Q Is there an update on this A$AP Rocky case?

THE PRESIDENT: A$AP Rocky is a situation in Sweden. Sweden is a great country. And they’re friends of mine — the leadership. And we are going to be calling. We’ll be talking to him. We’ve already started.

And many, many members of the African American community have called me — friends of mine — and said, “Could you help?”

So, I personally don’t know A$AP Rocky, but I can tell you that he has tremendous support from the African American community in this country. And when I say “African American,” I think I can really say “from everybody in this country” because we’re all one.

I have been called by so many people asking me to help A$AP Rocky. Actually, the one who knew about A$AP Rocky was our First Lady. Right? She was telling me about — “Can you help A$AP Rocky?”

Do you want to give a little statement on that? (Laughter.) If you’ll —

THE FIRST LADY: Well, we’re working with State Department and we hope to get him home soon.

THE PRESIDENT: We’re going to see. So we’ve had a very good relationship with Sweden. He’s being held, as you know, in Sweden. And we’ve had a very good relationship in Sweden.

So, that’s pretty much it. Thank you all very much.
Thank you.

Q The debt ceiling? An update —

THE PRESIDENT: Well, hopefully we’re in good shape on the
debt ceiling. The debt — I can’t imagine anybody ever even thinking of using the debt ceiling as a negotiating wager.

When I first came into office, I asked about the debt ceiling. And I understand debt ceilings, and I certainly understand a — the highest-rated credit ever in history in a debt ceiling.
And I said — I remember — to Senator Schumer and to Nancy Pelosi, “Would anybody ever use that to negotiate with?” They said, “Absolutely not.” That’s a sacred element of our country. They can’t use the debt ceiling to negotiate.
And don’t forget: President Obama, during his eight years, he created — he doubled the debt. You take every President — every President prior to President Obama — he then took it and doubled the debt over $10 trillion. Ten trillion, with a “T”, not a “B.” Not a million, not a billion. President Obama put $10 trillion — it doubled the debt. It was at 10, it went to 20, went to even above 20. And some of it is attributed to him, even that I assumed.

So when they start talking about using the debt ceiling as a wedge to negotiate for things that they want, they have told me very strongly they would never use that. That’s — that’s a very, very sacred thing in our country — debt ceiling. We can never play with it. So I would have to assume we’re in great shape.

But just remember also, the previous administration doubled the debt in our country. You take all of the Presidents that came before — doubled the debt from there. It’s a pretty big statement. And certainly, it’s a big statement to be talking about — for that party to be talking about using the debt ceiling. And I don’t think they are. It’s been mentioned, but I don’t think they are. I don’t think anybody would want to play that card.

Steve, go ahead.

Q Boris Johnson, it looks like he’s going to be the next —

THE PRESIDENT: Good.

Q — British Prime Minster. What do you think about him? How — will you be able to work with him?

THE PRESIDENT: I like him. I like Boris Johnson. Boris — I spoke to him yesterday.

Q What about?

THE PRESIDENT: I think he’s going to do a great job. I think we’re going to have a great relationship. I think they’ve done a very poor job with Brexit. I think the previous Prime Minister has done a very bad job with Brexit. What can I say? I mean, it’s a disaster. And it shouldn’t be that way. I think Boris will straighten it out.

I like Boris Johnson. I always have. He’s a different kind of a guy. But they say I’m a different kind of a guy, too. We get along well. I think we’ll have a very good relationship. Thank you.

Q Thank you, sir.

Q President Trump, on Japan and Korea — since you just returned from there — there’s ongoing tension between them.

THE PRESIDENT: Yeah. There is ongoing tension between Japan and Korea. In fact, the President of Korea asked me if I could get involved. I said, “How many things do I have to get involved in?” I’m involved with North Korea — on helping. You know, I’m involved in so many different things. We just did a trade deal — a great trade deal — with South Korea. But he tells me that they have a lot of friction going on now with respect to trade — primarily with respect to trade.

And Japan has some things that South Korea wants, and he asked me to get involved. So maybe if they would both want me to, I’ll be. It’s like I’m — it’s like a full-time job getting involved between Japan and South Korea.

But I like both leaders. I like President Moon. And you know how I feel about Prime Minister Abe. He’s a very special guy, also.

So if they need me, I’m there. Hopefully they can work it out. But they do have tension, there’s no question about it. Trade tension.

Okay? Thank you. Thank you, everybody.

TRANSCRIPT END – 12:40 P.M. EDT

.

Earlier today President Trump and Vice-President Mike Pence together with their spouses, participated in a presentation ceremony with Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte.  The Dutch delegation delivered a U.S flag from D-Day to be displayed at the Smithsonian.

During the event President Trump announced a U.S. military defensive action that resulted in the destroying of a hostile Iranian drone. [Video and Transcript Below]

.

[Transcript] – THE PRESIDENT: Thank you very much. Thank you. Before I begin, I want to apprise everyone of an incident in the Strait of Hormuz today involving USS Boxer, a Navy amphibious assault ship. The Boxer took defensive action against an Iranian drone, which had closed into a very, very near distance, approximately 1,000 yards, ignoring multiple calls to stand down and was threatening the safety of the ship and the ship’s crew. The drone was immediately destroyed.

This is the latest of many provocative and hostile actions by Iran against vessels operating in international waters. The United States reserves the right to defend our personnel, our facilities, and interests, and calls upon all nations to condemn Iran’s attempts to disrupt freedom of navigation and global commerce.

I also call on other nations to protect their ships as they go through the Strait, and to work with us in the future. Thank you very much.

I thought you should you know that.

I’m honored to be here with Prime Minister Mark Rutte of the Netherlands — fantastic country; incredibly successful country — and so many of our Dutch friends who have come with Mark. I want to thank you all for being with us in the East Room of the White House. Thank you all for being here. I appreciate it. Thank you. Thank you very much. (Applause.)

Thank you also to Vice President Pence and Acting Secretary of Defense Richard Spencer for joining us. Thank you, Richard, Mike.

Last month, Melania and I traveled to the United Kingdom and France to commemorate the 75th Anniversary of D-Day. Together, we paid tribute to every courageous patriot who fought to liberate Europe from the evil of Nazi rule.

Today, on behalf of the American people, I will receive an American flag that flew aboard a ship carrying the first waves of United States service members to land in Normandy. Seventy-five years after that momentous day — and that is truly a momentous day; one of the most powerful, most important days in the history of our world — it is my honor to welcome this great American flag back home where it belongs.

I want to thank the Prime Minister, as well as U.S. Ambassador Peter Hoekstra. Pete, thank you. Thank you very much, Peter. You’re doing a great job. And Dutch Ambassador Hendrik Schuwer, for being here today and for their devoted efforts to deepen the abiding ties between the United States and the Netherlands. Our relationship has never been closer than it is today.

We are also profoundly moved to be joined by several incredible World War Two veterans who helped defeat the Nazis and save freedom for all humanity.

With us is Jack Goldstein, who served in Europe during the war. Jack? Where’s Jack? (Applause.) Thank you, Jack. Thank you. Thank you very much, Jack. Along with Steven Melnikoff and Harold Angle, both veterans of the Normandy campaign. (Applause.) Thank you very much, fellas. And they went on to fight in the Netherlands. Thank you, fellas. That’s incredible. Thank you all three. You look great. Young guys. (Laughter.) Thank you very much.

This event would not be possible without the extraordinary generosity of the flag’s two donors from the Netherlands: Mr. Bert Kreuk, and his uncle and business partner, Mr. Theo Schols. And I want to thank you very much. Where are they? Thank you very much. That’s great. (Applause.) Very much, thank you.
And thank you for preserving our history and for watching over the immortal legacy of our D-Day heroes. That’s what you did. Thank you. And I know it was expensive. Two rich people, I assume, right? (Laughter.) Huh? I appreciate it. Thank you.

On June 6, 1944, the flag we receive today flew aboard Landing Craft Control 60. And it was approached, and when it approached Utah Beach — I was there very recently with the First Lady, and it was something incredible to see.

Commanding the ship was a young Navy lieutenant, two days shy of his 27th birthday, named Howard Vander Beek. Amid treacherous German minefields, raging winds, and rough seas, Lieutenant Vander Beek and his crew led an astonishing 19 waves of American troops and equipment to those very, very dangerous beaches. Through it all, this flag soared proudly above the waters of the English Channel, announcing the arrival of our American warriors.

After completing his mission on D-Day, Lieutenant Vander Beek took the flag — now bearing the scars of German machinegun fire and stained, all over it, with dirt and diesel and blood. He carried it with him in his backpack for the remainder of the war and kept the flag until his death in 2014.

Soon after, the flag was purchased at auction by Mr. Kreuk and Mr. Schols, whose relatives were among the hundreds of Dutch who perished in the German bombings of Rotterdam in 1940.

These two gentlemen paid half a million dollars to obtain the flag, just so they could return it as a gift to the American people and to the United States of America.

As they explained, they wanted to thank the United States for the extraordinary sacrifice our service members made to liberate their nation and all of Europe in World War Two. So nice. Thank you very much. So nice.

Thousands of Americans gave their lives on D-Day, and many thousands more gave their lives to drive the Nazis from the Netherlands.

Following today’s ceremony, the extraordinary flag will be displayed at the Smithsonian’s Museum of American History — and very proudly.

With us this afternoon are Secretary of the Smithsonian, a friend of mine, Lonnie Bunch. Lonnie, thank you very much for being here. (Applause.) And Director of the Museum of American History, Anthea Hartig. Anthea, thank you very much. (Applause.) Thank you.

And I know they will take great care of this priceless American artifact. Thank you very much for being here, both. I know they share Mr. Kreuk’s vision for the flag. As he said, it will tell visitors from around the world about the story of freedom.

With their help, this wonderful flag will be preserved forever and ever in American history, as it should be. It will always be a reminder of the supreme sacrifice of our warriors, and the beautiful friendship between the Dutch and the American people.

And now, I would like to introduce a very special man, a man I’ve gotten to know very well during our strong negotiations on trade and our negotiations on the military and NATO and all of the other things we’ve been talking about for so long, it seems like right now. A Prime Minister who is very, very popular in his country. A great gentleman. And you’re going to say a few words, and then Mr. Kreuk and Secretary Bunch will tell us more about the treasured gift that they presented us with.

So I want to thank you all, and God bless America.

Mr. Prime Minister?

[End Transcript]