Speaker 1 (00:13):
Ladies and gentlemen, the President of the United States.
President Donald J. Trump (01:06):
We've had some exciting days in the last week, I would say. Mostly good. Some of the things you're reading about in Los Angeles, thank goodness we sent out some wonderful National Guard. They've really helped and a lot of problems they were having out there. They were afraid to do anything and we sent out the troops and they've done a fantastic job, so I want to thank them very much. I also want to thank you for being here.
(01:36)
As we discussed one of the most exciting parts of the One Big Beautiful Bill. It is indeed a big, beautiful bill and it's doing very well. The Trump accounts, as they call it, pilot program, which will make it possible for countless American children to have a strong start in life at no cost to the American taxpayer. Absolutely no cost. It's going to have a huge impact.
(02:01)
I want to thank House Speaker Mike Johnson who, number one, being a great speaker and, number two, perhaps slightly less important for being here today. Thank you, Mike. Along with Chairman Jason Smith who's fantastic and representatives French Hill, August Pfluger, Blake Moore, Rob Bresnahan, and Frank Lucas. Thank you all fellas. Thank you very much. We appreciate it very much.
(02:29)
Thanks as well to many top business leaders from Invest America CEO Council. It's been a wonderful council. They've come up with some fantastic ideas. We're putting them into use. They're really the greatest business minds we have today. These men and women lead large successful companies and they're committed to contributing millions of dollars to the Trump account, and it's going to be something incredible for children and for their employees in many cases. Here's how the accounts work. For every US citizen born after December 31st, 2024, before January 1st, 2029, the federal government will make a one-time contribution of $1,000 into a tax-deferred account that will track the overall stock market. In other words, it'll be pegged to an index that we'll pick. Right, Michael? We'll pick a good one. Maybe you should be the index. I'd like to have that. These kids would be very wealthy if that were the case. That would be a good idea. I think we might do that, Michael Dell.
(03:35)
These accounts will be private property controlled by the guardians. And in many cases, those guardians will be the parents. We think probably the parents will be the guardians. They'll be open for additional private contributions each year from family, friends, parents, employers, churches, private foundations and more. There's a pro-family initiative that will help millions of Americans harness the strength of our economy to lift up the next generation and they'll really be getting a big jump on life, especially if we get a little bit lucky with some of the numbers and the economies into the future.
(04:11)
In addition to the substantial financial benefits of investing early in life, extensive research shows that children with savings accounts are more likely to graduate high school and college, buy a home, start a business, and are less likely to be incarcerated. Trump accounts will contribute to the lifelong success of millions of newborn babies. They'll are fully, and this will be very interesting, I think, for everybody to hear. They are fully funded through targeted reforms in the One Big Beautiful Bill, like the $1.7 trillion in mandatory savings, welfare reforms to stop waste and fraud, a 3.5% remittance tax and more. And it's just a part of that.
(04:57)
The One Big Beautiful Bill is among the most important pieces of legislation in our country's history. I don't think there's ever been anything bigger, and I think it's going to go down as one of, certainly one of the most important things we'll ever have done. In addition to the largest tax cuts in the history of our country, including the most powerful border security measures ever, it delivers major economic relief to the American workers, families, and there are so many things rebuilding our military.
(05:28)
We built it just eight years ago we started and did a great job, but now we have to rebuild it again. Plus technology changed. All of a sudden it's about drone. We have a new form of warfare. It's drone warfare. So a lot of things change. We did a great job with the military, but now we're going to have to do some, little tweaks to put it mildly. And we'll be doing that and we have it all nicely funded.
(05:55)
I look forward to signing this into law. It's really something that we're having such an opportunity, and I have to say he's here with us. He's a person that I've admired for a long time. You take a look at what he's done and followed his record, and it's Dell chairman, Michael Dell. He's done such an incredible job as a business person. I study business people and that's a perfect one to study.
(06:23)
It should be almost mandatory reading, so I want to congratulate you on that, and thank you for the idea because you're the first one that really brought this to my attention. I know that you and your friends have been talking about it for a long time, but other presidents didn't get it done, Michael, right? So we got it done. Congratulations.
Speaker 2 (06:41):
Thank you very much. Sure, I want to also give some recognition to my friend, Brad Gerstner who helped get us all organized and-
President Donald J. Trump (06:48):
That's right.
Speaker 2 (06:49):
… and actually-
President Donald J. Trump (06:49):
Thank you very much.
Speaker 2 (06:51):
… spearheaded this.
President Donald J. Trump (06:52):
Good. And also we have with us a very powerful man in the world of business, CEO, David Solomon of Goldman Sachs. David, thank you very much.
Speaker 4 (07:02):
Thank you for having me here.
President Donald J. Trump (07:03):
Long time friend.
Speaker 4 (07:04):
Thank you.
President Donald J. Trump (07:04):
Thank you very much. Uber CEO, Dara Khosrowshahi. Where is Khosrowshahi?
Speaker 3 (07:11):
Right here.
President Donald J. Trump (07:13):
Thank you very much. That's a hell of a name, but you've done a hell of a job, so that's appropriate. And also again, Chairman Smith for doing such a good job. Nobody knows taxes better than Chairman Smith. When we have a problem, Mike, we go to see Chairman Smith, right? So I want to thank you very much Dara and Chairman Smith. I appreciate it.
(07:34)
So I'd like to begin by asking Speaker Johnson to say a few words and I think then we're going to go to Michael Dell, David Solomon, we're going to go to Dara, and then to Chairman Smith. Thank you very much.
Mike Johnson (07:49):
Mr. President, thank you so much for your bold, visionary leadership. It is the key to all of this great success that we are achieving. And the One Big Beautiful Bill, it is not an overstatement to say it will be one of the most consequential pieces of legislation in the history of Congress. There's a lot in here and by extension or I would say it is an extension of the figure who I believe will be the most consequential president of the modern era, if not all American history. And that's the gentleman sitting to my left. So I want to thank you for that.
President Donald J. Trump (08:15):
Thank you very much. It's a beautiful statement. I like him too. Thank you.
Mike Johnson (08:22):
It's a statement of objective fact. And every work an American understands, I think, the principle behind this concept that we're discussing today. If you have a 401k, you understand the power of investing early for the future. Trump accounts take that same principle and they apply it from the very beginning of American's lives. It's a pretty simple concept. The families that opt in will receive a one-time payment of $1,000 to a Trump account that parents can contribute to.
(08:51)
It's a bold, transformative policy that gives every, eligible American child a financial head start from day one. Republicans are proud to be the party. We always have been. It supports life and families, and prosperity, and opportunity. And Trump accounts are all about setting up the next generation for success. For future Americans, this early investment could really be the game-changer. It could be a difference. It could pave the way for paying their way through college or buying their first home or starting a business even when they're young.
(09:25)
So even a thousand dollars at birth will put these Americans in a better position than over half of American adults who sadly have no retirement savings at all. So this would be a remedy to that great problem. And it will encourage the free market. It will encourage investment and understanding of capitalism. All these things that we want to foster among the American people so that the economy and individual lives can flourish.
(09:52)
Of course, none of this happens unless we pass our One Big Beautiful Bill through Congress and we have at stake the largest tax increase in American history if we fail to deliver and we will not have this rocket fuel to the US economy, and that's why this is so very important. Passing this pro-growth legislation will help every single American. From Trump accounts, this is one of the components of it, to eliminating taxes on tips and overtime to reducing red tape on Main Street.
(10:18)
And the One Big Beautiful Bill is going to drive prosperity. It's going to create jobs across the country. It will make all boats rise, wages will go up, job participation levels will go up. We'll have more opportunity, more economic opportunity for more people so you can climb up that ladder to the next step. The typical family with two children is going to see their take-home pay increase by up to $13,300 a year. That's real money to real people. This legislation is geared for hardworking Americans, and it is going to help everybody.
(10:47)
We are excited to deliver it. It can't happen soon enough. We are very close now to that finish line. After about 14 months worth of work that's gone into this, we're excited that we're almost there. Mr. President, thanks again for your leadership.
President Donald J. Trump (10:59):
Thank you, Mike.
Mike Johnson (10:59):
To all the great leaders around this table for all that they invest to our economy and our country and its government. And I will, as we say in the house, I'll yield back.
President Donald J. Trump (11:07):
Thank you very much, Mike. I appreciate it, and again, for a great job. Thank you very much. Michael, please.
Speaker 2 (11:13):
Thank you so much, Mr. President. I believe this is an incredible moment for all of us here today, and it's wonderful to be with some of the leaders of the most successful companies in the world as we come together to invest in the future of our country. We see the Invest America Act and the establishment of these Trump accounts as a simple, yet powerful way to transform lives. Decades of research have shown that giving children a financial head start profoundly impacts their long-term success.
(11:43)
With these accounts, children will be much more likely to graduate from college, to start a business, to buy a home and achieve lifelong financial stability. Dell Technologies is proud to be one of the very first companies to support the Invest America Act, a bill that provides every child with a thousand dollars seed investment account at birth. This is a straightforward step with enduring benefits. Following your inspiring lead, Mr. President Dell Technologies will match the government's contributions, dollar for dollar for every child born to a Dell team member.
(12:17)
This isn't just the new benefit. This is an investment in our people, their families, our communities, and America's future. And it embodies our core belief that opportunity should begin at birth. My wife, Susan and I, also through our Family Foundation have been closely studying the Invest America Act. And assuming that it becomes law, we expect to make a very significant gift. We view this initiative as a powerful platform for philanthropic innovation aimed at helping children thrive wherever they come from, particularly those families who have been historically left behind.
(12:54)
Mr. President, you articulated it perfectly these Invest America accounts will give every new American child a genuine opportunity to participate in history's greatest engine of economic growth, the American economy. The funds in these accounts invested in American enterprise and innovation will grow over time into substantial nest eggs providing support for education, home ownership, and starting families.
(13:21)
The ability of families, friends, benefactors, and employers to match the government's generosity, amplifies the life-changing potential of this initiative. Thank you, Mr. President, for your visionary leadership on this critical issue. These Invest America accounts will profoundly impact countless young Americans ensuring they truly benefit from what Abraham Lincoln described as a right of every American, the right to rise. Thank you.
President Donald J. Trump (13:48):
Thank you very much, Michael. We really have come a long way since you came to see me about six months ago with your beautiful wife. We had a nice talk. I said, "That sounds pretty good. Let's think about that."
President Donald J. Trump (14:00):
… And it's, everybody I've spoken to about it, they can't even believe it. And because of great politicians and political leaders like we have, I think this is going to go quickly, very well and very quickly. So I appreciate it. Thank you very much. David Solomon, please.
Attendee 3 (14:21):
Thank you, Mr. President. I'm thrilled to be here with everyone and excited to participate in this important and timely discussion. I'd also like to acknowledge the efforts of so many in Congress on this very significant issue, and in particular the members here, and particularly the leadership of Senator Cruz and Representative Moore who've played a big role in helping drive this forward. We also wouldn't be here today without the leadership of Brad Gerstner and Michael Dell, in really having the vision, the energy, the passion, the commitment to help move this forward. So thank you both.
(14:55)
There are many reasons why the United States has the largest and most dynamic and most innovative economy in the world, but one of the most important is the fact that our system of democratic capitalism incentivizes a culture that does not penalize people for taking risks. In fact, it incentivizes people to have a vision to go out and attract funding that's necessary to make their vision a reality.
(15:19)
It is no mistake that many of the most important innovative companies in the world today started in a parent's garage, or on a college campus, or in any one of a number of unlikely places in the United States. One of my worries is that our current system, our current and future generations of young people, don't fully appreciate and aren't as educated as well as they can be on markets and capitalism. And while capitalism is not perfect, it helps fuel the American dream. This initiative gets at the core of binding those future generations to the benefits and the potential of America's great companies and markets. Early childhood investments have far-reaching benefits and Goldman Sachs is proud to support this initiative. This is an exciting opportunity for public-private partnership and for both communities and companies to invest in young people, the future of America.
(16:10)
Once we see the Invest in America Act signed into law, Goldman Sachs would be excited to further support this Invest in America initiative. We believe passionately in our capital markets. They're an enormous competitive strength for the United States, and we know that our economy's future vitality is dependent on young people understanding the power of investing for the long-term and sharing in the benefits of ideas that bring value to the lives of people around the world.
(16:36)
Thank you, Mr. President for helping drive this forward and I look forward to continued partnership on this effort.
President Donald J. Trump (16:41):
Thank you very much, David. Dara, please? Thank you.
Dara Khosrowshahi (16:46):
Good afternoon, everyone. Thank you, Mr. President, for hosting us here today. It's an incredible honor to be here in a place that symbolizes the very opportunity that has defined my life. Thank you, Brad. Thank you, Michael, for your vision. We all strive to build something that lasts and the Invest America Act is a legacy that is going to last for generations.
(17:10)
President Trump, thank you for your leadership. Your support is going to turn this powerful idea into powerful reality for millions of young Americans. And I was nine years old when I came to this country and my family arrived in America having fled the Iranian revolution. We had lost everything that we had built, but we gained something far more valuable here. We gained a chance to rebuild again. We had a close-knit family. We had access to world-class education, and we had the one thing that fuels every American dream, and that's hope. So what if we could bottle up that hope? What if we could give that same power of hope, real tangible hope that comes from having a stake in your own future and a stake in the best companies in the world to every single child that's born in this country? That's the promise of the Invest America Act. It's not just an account. It's a launch pad. It puts the unstoppable engine of compounding to work for our kids, building a future for them from day one.
(18:19)
This mission is personal to me, and it's core to us at Uber. Every day we see people using our platform to create opportunities for themselves, to save for a home, to pay for tuition, to build their own American dream one trip at a time. And that's why Uber is so proud to support this bill, which also includes benefits for millions of Uber drivers and couriers in the form of "no tax on tips." Mr. President, our earners are grateful for your support.
President Donald J. Trump (18:48):
Thank you very much. What a great job. When you think… We're doing a lot of work on Iran right now, and I see that what you just said, you came here and they took it all away from you. And you started and you've become one of the biggest anywhere in the world. What a great story that is.
Dara Khosrowshahi (19:06):
Thank you very much, Mr. President.
President Donald J. Trump (19:06):
Congratulations.
Dara Khosrowshahi (19:07):
And wish you all the success there.
President Donald J. Trump (19:08):
Thank you very much. We'll need it. We're going to need it for that.
Dara Khosrowshahi (19:11):
They're tough negotiators.
President Donald J. Trump (19:13):
They're great negotiators, among the best. Look at you. Thank you very much. Appreciate it, Dara. Jason, please.
Jason T. Smith (19:21):
Thank you Mr. President. I want to first start off by thanking you for your leadership, your vision, your commitment to workers and families throughout this country. The one Big Beautiful Bill would not have been possible without you, and it delivers the largest tax cut in US history, the largest mandatory spending cuts in US history, the most significant welfare reforms in US history, and the largest one-time investment in border security. So it's things to be extremely proud about. Representing southeast Missouri. I'm extremely proud about how you're delivering for working families. No tax on tips. A waitress like the waitress in Nevada that talked to you about "no tax on tips" and the other 4 million tipped employees in the country, they will see an extra $1,700 in their paycheck because of the "no tax on tips." That's significant for someone who's just trying to put food on their table and clothes on their backs.
(20:32)
The linemen working overtime to restore power will get an additional $1,750 into their paycheck. Seniors will get $72 billion in tax cuts. The Trump investment accounts will be a game for new parents, even before their newborn baby can walk or talk. Their child will have money saved to one day learn a trade, start a business, or to buy a home. Every child born under this policy will have a better shot at a future. It does not matter if they live on a city block or on a county road. This will make a significant difference to their lives. And it's because of your leadership, Mr. President, and we say thank you.
President Donald J. Trump (21:29):
Well thank you very much, Jason. And hopefully we're going to get that through. And we have a certain date picked out, an ideal date. If it takes a little longer, that's okay, but ideally we're going to get it by a certain date. And again, I think it's one of the most important pieces of legislation we ever had before us and that the country's ever had.
(21:49)
I'd like to ask if I might, Brad Gerstner, one of the most successful people in our country. A friend of Michael very much, and Michael has great respect. And if you don't mind Brad, I'd like to say a few words please. Thank you.
Brad T. Gerstner (22:04):
Well first, it's a great honor and privilege to be here. We wouldn't be here without your leadership, and for me personally to be here with my son Lincoln Gerstner, who happens to be named after the gentleman over your right shoulder.
President Donald J. Trump (22:21):
Where's Lincoln? Good-looking guy. He's a much better looking than you. What happened?
Brad T. Gerstner (22:27):
Hey, we all want our kids to be better than ourselves. But it was around our small kitchen table that this idea was really born. I started off like Jason Smith, in a small rural town in Indiana. My dad had lost everything in 1978 trying to start an auto parts company. And the Japanese were tearing apart our auto industry. We had double-digit interest rates and inflation. Our family mortgaged the house to keep the company going and ultimately lost everything. So I know a little something about starting with nothing, and I know what it felt like. That first time you had a little skin in the game where you thought you had a shot, you went from nothing to something. And like Dara said, that is the great story of America, the promise that there's mobility, the promise we can move up that ladder.
(23:21)
But today we've moved to a society of dependency, right? I saw somebody answer the White House's tweet on this today by saying the answer to socialism is more capitalism. This is more capitalism. This is aligning every child in America with the upside of free markets and the benefits. And that is your Main Street agenda, Mr. President. No tax on tips? That doesn't help rich folks. That helps the people who feel left out and left behind. No tax on overtime, no tax or deduction on social security and the Trump Accounts, right? That everybody in this room are here and we've been working so hard on but would never come to fruition without your leadership. Those will change the game forever. It makes America an ownership society again. Because all of those kids will see the benefit of compounding. If you start with a thousand bucks and $750 is added a year, by parents, grandparents, by churches, by the companies in this room who will all contribute to the accounts of the kids of their employees by the great philanthropists in America. I think $750 is a low estimate per year.
President Donald J. Trump (24:37):
I think so.
Brad T. Gerstner (24:38):
But if you do that, by age 18 Mr. President, these are worth $50,000. By age 30, they're worth $175,000. And if you do it every year of your life, at age 50, they're worth a million bucks. You are giving the shot for every American to feel like they're in the game again. Part of America with that economic mobility, that dream that led Michael Dell to start Dell Computer in his dorm room, Dara to feel like he had a shot after coming here from Iran, and a couple poor kids from Missouri and Indiana to make it to where we are today. So thank you for your leadership. This would not happen without the Reconciliation Bill and the work of the many in this room, but spearheaded by the speaker and Jason Smith. The Big Beautiful Bill. This is the vehicle to get the Invest America Act passed. So thank you, sir.
President Donald J. Trump (25:30):
Thank you very much, Brad. Great job. And nobody knew I was going to call you. He might've done the best job of the group. I've got to think about that. Good recommendation, Michael.
(25:41)
Does anybody have any questions? I think it's something that's really got to be talked about, because it's somewhat of a miracle that we're close to pulling it off.
(25:49)
Please.
Attendee 1 (25:50):
What's the latest estimate on when the Big Beautiful Bill will pass?
Mike Johnson (25:57):
We put Independence Day as a self-imposed deadline and we certainly hope, I believe we can still meet that. It's up to the Senate. The bill's in the Senate's hands now, but spoke with Leader Thune as recently as last night. He's feeling very optimistic. You see the Senate going through the same deliberations we went through in the House, except we had 14 months to do it. They've got a truncated time period to get that done. But as you all know, I've encouraged my dear friends and colleagues over there, don't modify it too much because we've got a very delicate balance that we reached and it took us a long time to get there. And we don't want to upset that balance too much. So they're putting their fingerprints on it. I think, I hope it'll be a light touch and they'll send it back and we'll get this thing done and get it to the President's desk.
President Donald J. Trump (26:35):
And really, we have tremendous spirit. I've never seen anything like it. There's just an unbelievable, we'll always have a couple of people, I don't want to use the word "grandstanders." I'd never use such a word. But you'll always have that a little bit, but maybe you won't even have that. Who knows? There's tremendous spirit for this bill. I think we haven't seen very much Jason, right? We haven't seen too much, so I think it's going to go pretty quickly.
Attendee 2 (27:01):
Mr. President, how did your phone call go with Prime Minister Netanyahu? You just mentioned Iran. Did you discuss Iran?
President Donald J. Trump (27:07):
Very well. We discussed a lot of things.
Attendee 2 (27:09):
Did you discuss the Gaza War?
President Donald J. Trump (27:10):
Yeah, we discussed a lot of things and it went very well, very smooth. We'll see what happens. We're trying to do something with a country we just spoke about, Iran. I think you should negotiate this. You might be better. I think I'm going to send you today. What a good idea. This could have been the idea of the day. We'll have Dara get up and negotiate. They are good negotiators, but they're tough. Sometimes they can be too tough. That's the problem. So we're trying to make a deal so that there's no destruction and death. And we've told them that, and I've told them that, and I hope that's the way it works out. But it might not work out that way. We'll soon find out.
(27:49)
Yeah, please.
Attendee 3 (27:51):
In 2020, when you were talking about unrest in American cities, you said, quote, "We have to go by the laws. We can't call in the National Guard unless we're requested by a governor."
Reporter 1 (28:00):
… Governor. What changed now? Why is this situation different, to not consult with Governor Newsom about this?
President Donald J. Trump (28:05):
The biggest change from that statement is we have an incompetent governor. I talked about governors, but I didn't talk about he's an incompetent governor. Look at the job he's doing in California. He's destroying one of our great states. And if I didn't get involved, if we didn't bring the Guard in, and we would bring more in if we needed it because we have to make sure there's going to be law and order. You had a disaster happening and they now admit it was a disaster. I watched the chief yesterday, who's a good man by the way, and he said, "We're lucky we did this because they were overwhelmed." You saw what was happening.
(28:41)
We did the right thing, everybody agrees to that. But you have a governor who let the city burn down, didn't want water to be sent down to him. I sent billions of gallons of water. I wanted to do it in the first term. He wouldn't do it over… I don't know, they have environmental reasons, but there were no environmental reasons. I think it's just a political philosophy. But it's lucky for the people in Los Angeles, and in California, that we did what we did. We got it just in time. It's still simmering a little bit, but not very much. Yeah, please.
Reporter 2 (29:15):
What crime was committed-
Reporter 3 (29:15):
Have you gotten-
Reporter 2 (29:15):
… to warrant his arrest? What crime has Governor Newsom committed?
President Donald J. Trump (29:19):
What crime has he committed?
Reporter 2 (29:22):
Yeah. To warrant his arrest.
President Donald J. Trump (29:24):
I think his primary crime is running for governor because he's done such a bad job. What he's done to that state is like what Biden did to this country. And that's pretty bad. It's a wrong philosophy. Hundreds of thousands of illegal immigrants, many of them prisoners, they're taking up your healthcare, they're taking up your space in schools, they're taking up your hospital. And, in many cases, they're criminals and we have to do something about it and we're doing something about it.
(29:56)
I want to thank the incredible patriots of ICE and Tom Homan who has been incredible, and Kristi Noem, likewise, incredible. The job they're doing… And it's like an unforced error. There was no reason for this. 21 million people were allowed into our country and many of those people were criminals. And it's a shame. It's a shame. But we're getting them out. And I will say, I think it's a 95 to 5 issue. Just like so many other issues, 95-5. And the Democrats lost an election in a landslide because they're on the wrong side of the issues.
(30:35)
It's not even conceivable that somebody would do the kind of things that he did. And then you talk about projects. They want to build a train going from San Francisco to LA and it's costing hundreds of billions of dollars more than they thought it was going to cost. It's not even believable. To Brad and to people sitting here, would you believe that a train, it was going to cost X dollars, and it might be 100 times X?
Brad T. Gerstner (31:01):
It would've paid for this for about 50 million American children.
President Donald J. Trump (31:06):
You're right.
Brad T. Gerstner (31:06):
50 million American children instead of a three-mile train track that never got built.
President Donald J. Trump (31:11):
We could have put Lincoln in charge with no experience. He would've done a good job. I guarantee you that. All right, please. Peter?
Reporter 3 (31:18):
Mr. President, have you gotten an update from your negotiating-
President Donald J. Trump (31:21):
Peter, Peter. Go ahead.
Jason T. Smith (31:21):
Thank you President Trump. It seems like Gavin Newsom likes the attention that he's getting right now from you.
President Donald J. Trump (31:27):
I do. Yeah. I think he does.
Jason T. Smith (31:28):
It seems like he does. If you look at recent history, somebody who was running for president, you, who got arrested and had a mugshot, you could make the argument that, politically, that wound up helping you. Are you worried at all, at this moment, that talking about him getting arrested could be helpful to his political prospects? Because a lot of people think he wants to be sitting right where you are.
President Donald J. Trump (31:52):
In my case, it was a witch hunt and everybody knew it, and I was able to explain that during the process, otherwise I wouldn't be sitting here right now. And it was a total witch hunt. It's proven to be a witch hunt and you see what's happened. In his case, it really is very obvious. You look at what's happened between the fires, between… I could name 10 things right now. We talk about the trains, we talk about all of the costs in California, you talk about all of the people that are flowing in, destroying life for everyone else. No, I don't think it's going to help them. I think it's actually very bad for him.
Jason T. Smith (32:26):
And right around the time that we were walking in here, the governor and the State Attorney General said that they're going to sue you for sending the National Guard in. They're saying there's no invasion, there's no rebellion. "The President is trying to manufacture chaos and crisis on the ground for his own political ends, federalizing the California National Guard is an abuse of the President's authority under law."
President Donald J. Trump (32:50):
It's interesting. You watched the same clips as I did. Cars burning all over the place, people riding. And by the way, we stopped it. We were able to make it much better, but it still looked pretty bad. And in watching clips last night, people were saying, this is really a big problem. And until we went in, if we didn't do the job, that place would be burning down just like the houses burned down. They were in big trouble last night, Peter. You know it. And the night before and the night before that and I feel we had no choice. I don't want to see happen what happened so many times in this country. I watched Minneapolis burn. Look at what happened in so many different parts of California. You take a look at what happened in San Diego. There's so many different places where we let it burn.
(33:37)
We wanted to be politically correct, we wanted to be nice, we want to be nice to the criminal, and what you're doing is destroying the fabric of our life in this country. No, we did the right thing. We've been given credit by people that I would least suspect. I would say that some of the people that came in and said, "thank goodness," they said… Some of them, "Thank God that Trump got involved," and I'm very happy I got involved. And I think Gavin, in his own way, is probably happy I got involved. Yeah, go ahead Peter.
Jason T. Smith (34:09):
What do you make of the fact that he says you want a civil war on the streets of America?
President Donald J. Trump (34:15):
No, it's just the opposite. I don't want a civil war. Civil war would happen if you left it… If you left it to people like him, and I liked him, I always got along with him, never had a problem with him, but he's grossly incompetent. Okay.
Reporter 3 (34:29):
Has there been an update from negotiators in London? Have you gotten an update from your team in London negotiating-
President Donald J. Trump (34:35):
What? Louder?
Reporter 3 (34:35):
Have you gotten an update from your team in London negotiating the China trade talks?
President Donald J. Trump (34:41):
We are doing well with China. China's not easy, just like your home country is not easy, Dara. I think we're doing very well. They're over there now. I'm only getting good reports. It's a little early, but they'll be calling in soon. In fact, probably when I get back, I'll have my first call from them. We want to open up China and, if we don't open up China, maybe we won't do anything. But we want to open up China. It'll be a great thing for China. Great thing for the rest of the world.
Reporter 1 (35:14):
Are you willing to lift export controls when it comes to China? Did you give your negotiators any sort of limitation-
President Donald J. Trump (35:20):
We're going to see. We're going to see. Look, China has been ripping off the United States for many years. Nobody charged them 10 cents. No President had the courage to charge China for whatever reason. They didn't want to do it. I took in hundreds of billions of dollars I put on tariffs on China when I got in first term and we took in hundreds of billions of dollars. And then I did it again, but I did it for a lot of others.
(35:45)
If you look at the stats, the deficit, last month was cut in half. Everybody was shocked. I wasn't shocked. I think a lot of the people at this table weren't because they saw the billions of dollars that were pouring in and the tariffs hadn't even started yet just about. They were in cars, they were in some countries at a very minor level. And we cut the deficit in half and it was a big story a couple of days ago. They said, I don't believe… One of the announcers on a business network went wild, said, "I can't believe these numbers. Those numbers are good." The numbers are going to be very good. I think we're going to have a great four years. We had the greatest economy in history during my four years. I think this one's going to blow it away.
Reporter 4 (36:28):
Mr. President.
President Donald J. Trump (36:29):
Go ahead, please.
Reporter 4 (36:29):
Do you have a message for Greta Thunberg and did she come up on your call with the Prime Minister today?
President Donald J. Trump (36:34):
She's a strange person. She's a young, angry person. I don't know if it's real anger. It's hard to believe, actually. But I saw what happened. She's certainly different.
Reporter 4 (36:45):
Do you think she was kidnapped by-
President Donald J. Trump (36:45):
Anger management. I think she has to go to an anger management class. That's my primary recommendation for her.
Reporter 4 (36:55):
Was she kidnapped by Israel, as she says? Was she kidnapped?
President Donald J. Trump (36:57):
I think Israel has enough problems without kidnapping Greta Thunberg.
Reporter 4 (37:01):
And secondly, are you going to get-
President Donald J. Trump (37:03):
Is that what she said? She was kidnapped by Israel?
Reporter 4 (37:06):
She did say that. Yes, sir. Are you going to get rid of the Tesla and the Starlink service that you have here at the White House?
President Donald J. Trump (37:11):
No, I haven't heard that. I may move the Tesla around a little bit, but I don't think we'll be doing that with Starlink. It's a good service.
Reporter 4 (37:19):
Where are you going to move it to? Move it around, what do you mean?
President Donald J. Trump (37:22):
I have a lot of locations.
Reporter 3 (37:23):
[inaudible 00:37:24] extend the deadline of-
Jason T. Smith (37:24):
Actually, about the Tesla-
President Donald J. Trump (37:25):
I got so many locations. I don't know what to do with them all.
Jason T. Smith (37:30):
About the Tesla. Did you ever see Elon Musk get physical with the Treasury Secretary?
President Donald J. Trump (37:35):
No, I didn't.
Jason T. Smith (37:37):
And I tried to ask-
President Donald J. Trump (37:38):
But they did have an argument. But I didn't see a lot of physicality there.
Jason T. Smith (37:44):
And there was this New York Times report that he did not want to talk about, Elon Musk, that alleged that he, towards the end of his time in the White House, was blurring the lines between recreational use of drugs and medicinal. Do you think he ever had drugs here at the White House?
President Donald J. Trump (38:00):
I really don't know. I don't think so. I hope not.
Reporter 5 (38:02):
Mr. President, can you talk about-
President Donald J. Trump (38:03):
Look, I wish him well. You understand. We had a good relationship and I just wish him well. Very well, actually. Yeah?
Reporter 5 (38:11):
About aid in Gaza, you mentioned now the flotilla. Do you have a response at all about Israel intercepting this boat? And can you give us an update on what's happening to the entry of aid into Gaza right now? We've had people being shot by Israeli forces who are trying to get aid from-
President Donald J. Trump (38:26):
Gaza, right now-
Reporter 5 (38:27):
The Gaza Humanitarian Foundation. Yes?
President Donald J. Trump (38:29):
Gaza, right now, is in the midst of a massive negotiation between us and Hamas and Israel, and Iran actually is involved, and we'll see what's going to happen with Gaza. We want to get the hostages back. It's all I can tell you. Yeah, please, in the back?
Reporter 6 (38:45):
Back to California, briefly. You said, yesterday, right after, reported that it was not insurrection taking place, but then, on Truth Social, a bit later, you had said they were insurrectionists. After what you've seen-
President Donald J. Trump (38:54):
You're talking about in LA?
Reporter 6 (38:55):
Yes, sir. In LA. After-
President Donald J. Trump (38:56):
I wouldn't call it quite an insurrection, but it could have led to an insurrection. That was a lot of harm that was going on last night. I watched it very closely and it was amazing that the job that the National Guard did. And by the way, the police were working very hard also. But the police are given instructions to be politically correct. I said, "No, no. You don't have to be politically correct. You have to do the job."
Reporter 6 (39:23):
And on Elon Musk, do you plan to speak to him on the phone anytime soon? I know some-
President Donald J. Trump (39:26):
Which one?
Reporter 6 (39:27):
On Elon Musk. Do you plan to speak to him on the phone anytime soon?
President Donald J. Trump (39:33):
I haven't really thought about it, actually. I would imagine he wants to speak to me. I would think so. If I were him, I'd want to speak to me and maybe he was already called. You'd have to ask him. Ask him whether or not he's already called. But I'd have no problem with it.
Reporter 6 (39:48):
If he calls you, you'd pick up and speak with him?
President Donald J. Trump (39:50):
I don't want to say that, but I would imagine he'd want to talk to me.
Reporter 7 (39:54):
Mr. President-
Reporter 8 (39:56):
You were supposed to get a counter-
President Donald J. Trump (39:56):
Yeah, please.
Reporter 8 (39:57):
You were supposed to get a counterproposal from Iran today. Have you gotten that proposal and what is the main impediment?
President Donald J. Trump (40:04):
We have a meeting with Iran on Thursday, so we're going to wait until Thursday for that proposal.
Reporter 8 (40:08):
And what's the main impediment to getting a deal?
President Donald J. Trump (40:10):
They're just asking for things that you can't do. They don't want to give up what they have to give up. You know what that is. They seek enrichment. We can't have enrichment. We want just the opposite. And so far, they're not there. I hate to say that because the alternative is a very, very dire one, but they're not there. They have given us their thoughts on the deal and I said it's just not acceptable.
Reporter 7 (40:43):
Mr-
Reporter 8 (40:43):
This was the main topic for Prime Minister Netanyahu today when you spoke?
President Donald J. Trump (40:46):
I would say yeah. What else? I can talk about the weather.
Reporter 5 (40:54):
You can talk about Lebanon.
President Donald J. Trump (40:55):
Pretty much. That's the main topic.
Reporter 7 (40:55):
Mr. President.
President Donald J. Trump (40:56):
We talked about Lebanon also. Yeah, we did.
Reporter 5 (40:59):
What about Lebanon?
President Donald J. Trump (40:59):
Lebanon's working very hard. They have a great new ambassador that I put there. Man I know very well. He's very smart. I didn't even know he was Lebanese. And I said, "Why would you want Lebanon?" He said, "I was born there. I love it. I love the people." I said, "You know, it's very dangerous going to Lebanon. There are some ambassadorships that are wonderful. There are some that are dangerous." I said, "Michel," his name is… It's a he. Michel. Very elegant man. And I said, "Why would you want this?" And he said, "Because I love my country and I love those people." I said, "It's very dangerous." He goes, "I don't care."
(41:34)
This is not a man that lived on danger. He's a very successful man from here. And he wanted to be the ambassador, despite probably a very dangerous situation he's going into. You see what's going on. But I had great respect for that. He loves that country. He loves it. He was born there. He loves the country. Yeah?
Reporter 7 (41:53):
Mr. President.
President Donald J. Trump (41:53):
Please.
Reporter 7 (41:54):
You've got a big, beautiful parade coming up on Saturday.
President Donald J. Trump (41:58):
We do.
Reporter 7 (41:58):
What's your biggest expectations
Reporter 7 (42:00):
… expectations for that. Then I've got a second question in regards to Gavin Newsom. Go ahead and talk about the big, beautiful parade.
President Donald J. Trump (42:08):
Thank you, Brian. It's such a, I think, important moment for this country. Two weeks ago I was calling people and back and forth with leaders, including President Putin, including French president, including lots of different people, and all of them said, we're celebrating victory in World War II. I said, wow, isn't that amazing? We're the only one that wasn't celebrating and we're the one that won the war. Now, Russia did help. They did lose 51 million people, in all fairness. People would say, oh, he's sticking up for Russia. No, they lost 51 million people and you can't forget that. But France was celebrating, and as you know, Hitler made a speech at the Eiffel Tower. But when I spoke to President Macron, he said, oh, we are celebrating the great victory of World War II, I think that's great that he was doing it. But we're the one that won it and we weren't celebrating.
(43:09)
I said to myself, isn't that crazy? I think it's time for us to celebrate a little bit. We've had a lot of victories. We won two world wars, and then we go out and change the name of the forts where we won the war. We win world wars from Fort Robert E. Lee, from Fort Bragg, from all the different forts, and what do we do? We change the name of the forts because we want to be politically correct. So a lot of them we're changing back. You probably noticed Fort Bragg and others. But I think it's a time to celebrate our military. We've rebuilt our military largely, a little low in ammunition. That's because it goes out very fast to other countries, one in particular, but we will get that back very quickly. But we have a military, the likes of which nobody has, nobody comes close.
(43:59)
We have the best equipment in the world. We make the best equipment in the world. There's no military like our military. We showed that with ISIS. I was told by the television generals it would take four years to win, and we did it in three weeks, and it was headed by General Razin Caine, who's now the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. He's great. Just left him.
(44:20)
Now, I think it's time that we celebrate, and I sort of have to laugh at these people. Well, you're going to spend a lot of money. A lot of that money is being paid for by me and people that make donations. I don't know if you know that. A lot of it won't even come out of the military. I think I can say that, Susie, right? We have people putting up money to do it, not that it's necessary because I think it's a great expenditure. We have many tanks. We have all sorts of new ones and very old ones old from World War I and World War II. It's really a celebration of the Army.
(44:53)
So the Army is a year older than the country. So next year we celebrate 250 years, but we're celebrating the Army on Flag Day. It's not my birthday. It is my birthday, but I'm not celebrating my birthday, I'm celebrating Flag Day. It happens to be the same day, so I take a little heat. But Flag Day is the appropriate date, and we're celebrating 250 years of the Army. A great service. Remember, think of it. We won so much. We won World War I, World War II, so much else, and then we became politically correct. But I can only tell you that I was told that ISIS would take anywhere from four to five years, and we did it in three weeks. You were there, you watched, right?
(45:38)
We have the greatest military in the world. Nobody can beat us as long, as we have our right leadership, nobody can beat us. If we have stupid people running it, like you had in Afghanistan. When you look at that, first of all, Afghanistan should have been an easy victory as a war, but we were so sad the way we fought it. So ridiculous. We fight not to win. But we didn't used to be that way.
(46:02)
We're celebrating because I think the day in Afghanistan was the saddest period of time in the history of our country that was a Biden mess with bad generals like Milley and others. They were bad. They were incompetent generals. I know all the good ones and the bad ones. We got rid of most of the bad ones. But it was time to celebrate and that's what we're doing.
(46:24)
So it's on June 14th and it's going to be a parade, the likes of which I don't know if we've ever had a parade like that. It's going to be incredible. Even though it's the Army, we have a lot of those Army airplanes flying over the top and we have tanks all over the place. So we have thousands and thousands of soldiers going to bravely march down the streets. It's going to be a beautiful day, I think, and we're going to celebrate our country.
Reporter 7 (46:53):
You spoke of leadership. Real quickly, speaking of Gavin Newsom, is he the right leader for California considering how massive their economy is and all these US investments coming in, is he the right governor and leader for the future of California and for US investments?
President Donald J. Trump (47:09):
I don't think he is. I think he's done a terrible job. He is a guy, I always got along with him. You look at his past statements about me, I was a great president. I always took care of California, you know all that. But I'm just talking on results. You look, he is the advantage of beautiful weather, maybe the best weather of any state when you think about it. Beautiful weather, beautiful ocean, beautiful everything. You have all the advantages, and he didn't take advantage of that. He's let people come in by the millions who are overrunning your hospitals, your education system, and your police are being overrun. Look at what's happened. He should only be happy I sent in the military because if I didn't send them in, you would've had a problem there, the likes of which we haven't seen in a long time. Yeah, please. Thank you, Brian. Very much
Speaker 5 (48:01):
On supersonic flight.
President Donald J. Trump (48:02):
Supersonic flight.
Speaker 5 (48:04):
Yes, sir. I know you just signed an executive order on it. Do you want to see a supersonic Air Force One in the next 10 years or so?
President Donald J. Trump (48:11):
Well, I don't care too much about that, but I would like to see… If you think about it, flight, the word flight's an interesting word, but it's probably the only category where we've actually gone backwards because we used to have the Concorde and we could fly to London, Brad, very quickly and nicely, and today it takes you two times and three times as long. It's the only thing where we've regressed.
(48:36)
By the way, the Concorde to my way of thinking, to this day, Michael, because you're very much into aesthetics, I know, but to this day was one of the most beautiful pieces of art I've ever seen. It was a piece of art. The beauty of the Concorde was the most beautiful plane, but it got you there in half the time.
(48:55)
Now you spend a lot of time and there's no reason for it because they have the sonic boom. It's not a huge problem, but they have the sonic boom thing pretty well figured out. The technology changes, the change in the skin, change in weight, all of the other things. There's no reason why we shouldn't do great. So we are making it possible for them to do supersonic and get us back on the track. Think of it, 30 years ago, we actually had planes that flew much faster than we do now. It took you half the time to get to a location, so we've regressed and we're going to progress, right? An amazing thing, isn't it? We've gone backwards. On Wall Street, they haven't done that. If Goldman Sachs was like that, you wouldn't have Goldman Sachs anymore. Yeah, please.
Speaker 6 (49:49):
Are you planning to deploy Marines in California to address the situation in Los Angeles? Are you going to deploy Marines in California?
President Donald J. Trump (49:56):
We'll see what happens. I think we have it very well under control. I think it would've been a very bad situation. It was heading in the wrong direction. It's now heading in the right direction, and we hope to have the support of Gavin because Gavin is the big beneficiary as we straighten out his problems. His state is a mess, and I'd like to get somebody involved in the rail because, look, personally, it should have never been built because you can fly there for $2 and what are you doing? They're doing that. You could drive, you could do lots of different things.
(50:28)
They did a study, if you gave every passenger the finest limousine service in the history of our world, the most expensive limousine service back and forth, we would've saved billions of dollars as opposed to building this monstrosity that's going up, and I've never seen anything… I've seen cost overruns. I'm a person, I've always done well on cost overruns. I don't have them. But I will tell you, I have never seen cost overruns. You see it where they're 20% more, 50%, 100% more. These are thousands of percent. Nobody even knows. They have no idea, and it was supposed to be from San Francisco to Los Angeles. Well, they just made it way outside of Los Angeles where it's stopping in the middle of, I don't want to say nowhere because I happen to one of those little cities very much. But it's way short of the destination, and our government is saying, why are we involved in this thing? It's been handled so badly before him, but he really blew it. So, all right, one more question.
Reporter 6 (51:31):
President Trump, on Camp David, can you speak to any of the discussions that were had there and the purpose of that retreat, your time at Camp David?
President Donald J. Trump (51:37):
On what?
Reporter 6 (51:38):
Your time at Camp David, can you speak to what discussions were had there and the purpose of that retreat?
President Donald J. Trump (51:43):
Well, I don't want to speak to discussions. I told you what we were there for a little bit. We had discussions in many topics. We had a group of people, a large group of people, including generals and admirals and lots of others. All I can say is our country's in great shape, we're in great shape economically. The bill that Mike and Jason and all the people are working on is going to be, I think, amazing. I think it's going to be one of the most important pieces of legislation we've ever had in this country. It's going to do things that you wouldn't believe. I have a very simple phrase, we ran an election on very simple words, make America great again. That's what we're doing. We're making it great. We're making it safe. We're making it beautiful, and we're making it very wealthy again.
(52:31)
Wealth is okay. You need wealth to take care of lots of other people. We have to make our country better. It has to heal from four years of abuse. Our country was abused badly by a very incompetent person and a group of people that weren't incompetent, but they were radical left lunatics and they ran the country with an auto pen. I hope that law enforcement's looking at that very seriously. That's like a takeover of our country in a certain way, because this guy had no idea what he was doing. You saw that during the debate. You saw that in other cases. He had no idea. I saw it years ago.
(53:10)
By the way, 40 years ago he had no… He was bad 40 years ago. We're not just talking about… They always like to say age, but it's not age. I know people 88, 89, 92, Bernie Marcus, who just passed away, was 95. I spoke to him a year before. He was 100%. It's not age, it's something else. But whatever it is, you can't have that in this country. The damage he's done to this country is unbelievable. But the good news is we've got much of it fixed already and the rest of it will happen. Thank you all very much. Thank you.
Speaker 7 (53:43):
Thank you. Thanks guys. Let's go back out this way. Take everything.
