Donald Trump (00:00):
Hello, Steve.
Speaker 1 (00:02):
Mr. President.
Donald Trump (00:03):
Hello, everybody.
Speaker 2 (00:04):
Mr. President.
Donald Trump (00:06):
Great financial numbers you saw, low inflation, very low inflation. Prices are down, way down. Gasoline is less than $2 in many places, a gallon, which nobody expected to see. But I did, because we're going by the initial expression of "Drill, Baby, Drill", and prices are coming down very strongly. As goes gasoline and oil and gas, so goes the rest of other products that were high because of Biden. We inherited a mess and we've brought our country back very, very powerfully.
(00:43)
Crime numbers are way down despite the fact that they let in 25 million people, many of whom should not have been allowed into our country with their open border policy. The country's doing very well.
(00:54)
Any questions?
Speaker 3 (00:55):
What are you expecting from these Iran talks in Geneva tomorrow?
Donald Trump (00:59):
I'll be involved in those talks indirectly and they'll be very important. We'll see what can happen. Typically, Iran's a very tough negotiator. They're good negotiators. Or bad negotiators, I would say they're bad negotiators, because we could have had a deal instead of sending the B-2s in to knock out their nuclear potential. We had to send the B-2s. I hope they're going to be more reasonable. They want to make a deal.
Speaker 3 (01:25):
I've been told that a deal is next to impossible.
Donald Trump (01:29):
No. No, I think they want to make a deal.
Speaker 2 (01:30):
Do you think it's a success?
Donald Trump (01:32):
I don't think they want the consequences of not making a deal. They want to make a deal.
Speaker 1 (01:37):
Are you going to sit down with Democrats this week on DHS funding, sir?
Donald Trump (01:40):
I will. We have to protect our law enforcement. They've done a great job. I just got finished saying that we have the best crime numbers we've had in many years, and on murders, 125 years. And that's despite a lot of people that shouldn't have been let into our country, coming into our country. Criminals, many, many criminals. But we've taken out tens of thousands of people, brought them back to their countries. Many of the criminals that were brought in, allowed to come in have been removed, so we're okay.
(02:10)
But to have the best crime numbers, which aren't made by me, these are made by people that do that, many left-leaning. Horrible thing to say, but we have the best murder numbers since 1900. That's before my father was born. 125 years, think of it. The best crime number since 1900, having to do with murder and really good crime numbers, the best in years.
Speaker 1 (02:38):
Are there any demands that Democrats are making that you're okay with [inaudible 00:02:41]?
Donald Trump (02:41):
I don't like some of the things they're asking for. We're going to protect law enforcement. We're going to protect ICE. They're a part of the whole system that is working. Washington, D.C. now is considered a very safe city. When I took over, it was a city that you were losing two, three people a week. Over 100 people a year were being murdered in Washington. Now it's considered a very safe city.
(03:06)
And we did that. I did it over a fairly short period of time too.
Speaker 4 (03:09):
On DHS, recent news reports have discussed the widespread belief that Kristi Noem and Corey Lewandowski are in a personal relationship. Is that a bad look?
Donald Trump (03:20):
Up.
Speaker 4 (03:20):
Recent news reports have discussed the possibility that Kristi Noem and Corey Lewandowski are in a closed, personal relationship. Is that a bad look? And do you think she'll be in the job much longer?
Donald Trump (03:29):
I don't know about that. I mean, I haven't heard that. I'll find out about it, but I have not heard about it.
Speaker 2 (03:37):
Will you give your State of the Union speech if we're still in a shutdown next week?
Donald Trump (03:43):
I think I would. It wouldn't bother me. I would give it a go.
Speaker 2 (03:46):
How are the negotiations going?
Donald Trump (03:48):
With which one? We have a lot of negotiations.
Speaker 2 (03:50):
No, with the government shutdown.
Donald Trump (03:53):
This is a Democrat shutdown. This has nothing to do with Republicans.
Speaker 2 (03:56):
What-
Donald Trump (03:57):
This is a Democrat shutdown.
Speaker 2 (03:58):
What [inaudible 00:03:58]-
Donald Trump (03:58):
They're upset that the crime numbers are so good. They're very unhappy that the crime numbers are so good. They're very unhappy that there's a movement for getting voter ID. They want voter ID. The population, 98%, want voter ID. They don't want voter ID because they want to cheat in elections. They also want other things. They don't want mail-in ballots. They want to end mail-in ballots, which is corrupt. And one other thing that they're insisting on is proof of citizenship. And the Democrats don't want to give proof of citizenship. They don't want to give voter ID.
(04:32)
Think of it, who wouldn't want proof of citizenship? I ask you, Steve, who wouldn't want voter ID? And why would you want mail-in ballots if you know it's corrupt? It's a corrupt system. We're the only country in the world that has this system of mail-in ballots. Think of it, the only country in the world that has this system of mail-in ballots. Because they cheat. And the fact is, they could never get elected if they ever changed. They know it. If you had voter ID, if you had proof of citizenship, they could never win an election. And they know that and they're fighting to the hill.
(05:09)
I put this down with men playing in women's sports, I put it down with transgender for everybody, I put it down with their horrible open border policy as being ridiculous. They don't want voter ID. No voter ID. And I put that down to the same category with men playing in women's sports. I'm going to add a fourth category. They don't want voter ID. Go ahead.
Speaker 5 (05:34):
Hillary Clinton said in an interview today that she and her husband are getting pulled into the Epstein matter to divert attention from you and that your administration has something to hide. What's your response to that?
Donald Trump (05:46):
I have nothing to hide. I've been exonerated. I have nothing to do with Jeffrey Epstein. They went in hoping that they'd find and they found just the opposite. I've been totally exonerated. In fact, Jeffrey Epstein was fighting that I don't get elected with some author, a sleazebag, by the way, and I've been totally exonerated.
(06:04)
No, no. They're getting pulled in and that's their problem. I don't know. They're going to have to see what happens. But I watched her in Munich and she seriously has Trump Derangement Syndrome.
Speaker 2 (06:13):
Mr. President, do-
Speaker 5 (06:14):
Do you think that she should publicly testify?
Donald Trump (06:15):
I've been totally exonerated on Epstein. It's really interesting, because they've been pulled in. Think of it, they've been pulled in, Clinton and... And many other Democrats have been pulled in.
(06:26)
Yeah?
Speaker 6 (06:26):
The USS Gerald R. Ford, which is sprinting from the Caribbean to the Middle East is about to hit its eight-month deployment mark. Usually they're deployed for about six months or so. Is there any concern that US carriers are being stretched too thin?
Donald Trump (06:40):
I'll answer the question later.
Speaker 1 (06:41):
You're warning Cuba to make a deal. What does that deal look like? What do you want them to do?
Donald Trump (06:46):
[inaudible 00:06:46] make a deal. Cuba is right now a failed nation. They don't even have jet fuel for airplanes to take off. They're logging up their runway. We're talking to Cuba right now. I have Marco Rubio talking to Cuba right now. They should absolutely make a deal, because it's really a humanitarian threat. We have a lot of great Cuban Americans and they're going to be very happy when they're going to be able to go back and say hello to their relatives and do things that they should have been allowed to do for a long time.
(07:16)
I'm very interested in the people that are here that were treated so badly by Castro and the Cuban authorities. They have been treated horribly. We'll see how it all turns out, but Cuba and us, we are talking.
(07:30)
In the meantime, there's an embargo. There's no oil, there's no money, there's no anything.
Speaker 2 (07:35):
If a deal isn't made, would you consider an operation like the one in Venezuela?
Donald Trump (07:40):
I don't want to answer that. Why would I answer that? If I was, it wouldn't be a very tough operation, as you can figure, but I don't think that'll be necessary.
Speaker 4 (07:49):
Mr. President, Marco Rubio received really positive reviews in Munich. Is there-
Donald Trump (07:53):
He's got very good reviews.
Speaker 4 (07:54):
Is there a scenario in which you would support him at the top of the ticket in '28?
Donald Trump (07:59):
Something I don't have to worry about now. I've got three years to go, so it's something I don't have to worry. JD's fantastic, and Marco is, they're both fantastic, I think really. And I think Marco did a great job in Munich.
Speaker 1 (08:11):
President Xi, in your talk with him recently, warned about sending more weapons to Taiwan. What was your response to him? Are you going to send more weapons to Taiwan?
Donald Trump (08:20):
We have a response. I have a response. I'm talking to him about it. We had a good conversation and we'll make a determination pretty soon.
Speaker 3 (08:27):
Tell us about your trip to-
Donald Trump (08:29):
We have a very good relationship with President Xi-
Speaker 3 (08:30):
Tell us about-
Donald Trump (08:31):
In fact, I'll be going, I guess, in April.
Speaker 3 (08:33):
I'm sorry. Tell us about your trip to Rome in Georgia on Thursday, your trip to Marjorie Taylor Greene's old district.
Donald Trump (08:39):
We have a lot of people that want to take Marjorie Taylor Greene's place, and many, many candidates, and I have to choose one. They say whoever I endorse is going to win, but we have a lot of good candidates want to take their place.
Speaker 5 (08:53):
Your Board of Peace meets for the first time this week. You said it could be the most consequential international organization ever. That's a high bar. What do you want for this first meeting?
Donald Trump (09:02):
I think it can be. We're going to have all-world leaders. They're putting up tremendous amounts of money. And I think it's going to go far beyond Gaza. I think it'll be peace all over the world. And we're working in conjunction with the United Nations. The United Nations is there. They haven't lived up to potential. United Nations has great potential. They haven't lived up to the potential. But I think they might aid us a little bit.
(09:25)
We have the greatest leaders in the world joining the Board of Peace, and we'll be doing it in conjunction with, in some cases, the United Nations and see if we can get the United Nations to get on the ball.
Speaker 4 (09:37):
Mr. President, you've been a kingmaker in a lot of Republican primaries. A lot of people-
Donald Trump (09:42):
Including foreign nations.
Speaker 4 (09:43):
And-
Donald Trump (09:44):
I was very honored to see that a very wonderful prime minister in Japan won by a landslide. I think she was going to win, but she won by just about the biggest vote ever in Japan and she attributed my endorsement for that. That's very good, because we have a great relationship with her and Japan.
Speaker 4 (10:03):
A lot of Republicans in D.C. are asking you to endorse John Cornyn, but you haven't yet. Is there a chance you wouldn't endorse Paxton, and why haven't you endorsed Cornyn?
Donald Trump (10:12):
I just haven't made a decision on that race yet. It's got a ways to go and I haven't. He's a good man. John is a good-- I like all three of them, actually. I like all three. Those are the toughest races. They've all supported me. They're all good. And you're supposed to pick one, so we'll see what happens. But I support all three.
Speaker 1 (10:29):
Are you involved in the rift between UAE and Saudi Arabia?
Donald Trump (10:33):
No, I'm not. I would be.
Speaker 1 (10:33):
What do you think of that, [inaudible 00:10:35]?
Donald Trump (10:34):
I would be. I can settle it very easily. They do indeed have a rift and we can get it settled very easily. I settle wars. I settle a lot of rifts between countries. You've been noticing, right? That's an easy one to settle.
Speaker 2 (10:50):
On Venezuela, Delcy Rodríguez last week said that Nicolás Maduro is still a legitimate president and is innocent. I know you said the relationship is a 10, but I'm curious, what's your thoughts on that?
Donald Trump (11:02):
I think we have a great relationship. I think politically maybe she has to say that. She's doing a very good job and I fully understand that statement.
Speaker 5 (11:14):
In Gaza-
Speaker 3 (11:15):
You're going to have Ukraine talks tomorrow as well in Geneva, with a call from Jared Kushner.
Donald Trump (11:20):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (11:20):
What are you expecting there? Is there any-
Donald Trump (11:22):
We'll have big talks. It's going to be very easy. So far, Ukraine better come to the table fast. That's all I'm telling you. We are in a position we want them to come. And by the way, I watched AOC answering questions in Munich. This was not a good look for the United States. I watched Gavin Newsom answering questions in Munich and this was a bad look for our country. This was a bad- These two people are incompetent. At least Hillary is competent. She's just Trump-deranged. She was so deranged. She is an angry woman.
(12:01)
But I watched the other two speaking and answering basic questions. Gavin has destroyed California. And AOC, I never heard her speak very much. They started answering questions. She had no idea what was happening. She had no idea how to answer very important questions concerning the world. But she can't answer questions concerning New York City either, because New York City has got some problems.
Speaker 5 (12:30):
Now that Gaza is entering phase two, should Israel lift its ban on foreign journalists being allowed into Gaza?
Donald Trump (12:36):
We'll be lifting a lot of bans pretty soon. I think you're going to see everything opening up. We have peace in the Middle East now. You have some flames here and there, but we essentially have peace in the Middle East, and that happened primarily when we did the B-2 attack on the potential nuclear power. They would've had a nuclear weapon within one month. If that happened, it would've been a whole different deal.
(13:01)
Okay, thank you very much everybody.
Speaker 3 (13:03):
One more thing. The 5 billion that you announced yesterday for the Board of Peace, is that a down payment or are you expecting more?
Donald Trump (13:09):
We want to help people. That's peanuts compared to the kind of money that has been spent in the Middle East by Bush, by Obama, by all of these people, by Biden. I mean, the money he spent... But the money he spent, that's such a small amount of money by comparison.
(13:27)
We want to make it successful. I think it has the chance to be the most consequential board ever assembled of any kind.
Speaker 1 (13:34):
How was golf with Ron DeSantis?
Donald Trump (13:36):
Great. We had a great time. Me and Ron and a couple of other people, two great coaches, as you know. The two greatest coaches, I would say, certainly at college football. We had a good time playing golf. Thank you very much.
Speaker 1 (13:49):
[inaudible 00:13:50] who won?
Donald Trump (13:49):
I didn't get to play today because I'm working on other things, very important things, much more important than golf. Thank you very much
Speaker 2 (13:57):
[inaudible 00:13:57] Melania for Valentine's, Mr. President?
Donald Trump (13:57):
She's on the plane. Melania's in the plane. We have a movie star on the plane.
Speaker 2 (14:06):
Did you have any Valentine's Day plans with her?
Donald Trump (14:06):
Did I what?
Speaker 2 (14:06):
Did you do anything for Valentine's with her? Did you give her flowers?
Donald Trump (14:11):
I better not tell you that. Goodbye, everybody. That's the toughest question. I'm proud of the fact her movie's so successful. It's a tremendous hit. She does a good job. She does very consequential work. I think you're going to see in the end that she's going to go down as one of the truly great first ladies when you see what she's doing with Russia, Ukraine, and so many of the other things she's doing. She's done a good job. She works very hard.
Speaker 4 (14:42):
Was Wes Moore invited to the White House this week, Mr. President?
Donald Trump (14:42):
Just so you understand, the governors were all, other than two. One was from Colorado, where he's got a 73-year-old woman who's probably got serious cancer, confined, and for some time in solitary confinement, because she pointed out the voter theft that was taking place. In other words, she pointed it out. They arrested her and they gave her a nine-year sentence. And he better let her go, because a disgrace. And the other guy's just a bad governor. He's not doing a good job. Wes Moore, he's doing a terrible job.
Speaker 4 (15:14):
So, he's not invited?
Donald Trump (15:15):
You can see that. I didn't invite those two. If the rest of them don't want to show up, that's okay. I hear they're coming, a lot of them. The White House is a great place to be. But no, I don't like the job that Wes Moore is doing. I don't like the job he's doing at the bridge. I don't like the fact that he did that horrible... With the pipes and the Potomac. He's not doing the job. They got to do it. I'm going to have to get the federal government involved in getting it fixed because he can't fix anything.
(15:42)
Thank you very much.
Speaker 1 (15:43):
Thank you, Mr. President.