Preident Trump (00:00):
That it won't pick it up properly, but it's so sad. Go ahead, Will.
Speaker 1 (00:03):
So as Peter said, sir, starting in 2009, continuing in 2014, a very large part of the American Exclusive Economic Zone in the Pacific amounting in total to half a million square miles of the American Exclusive Economic Zone has been held off limits to commercial fishing. We have a proclamation for your signature today, sir, that would reopen this area for commercial fishing by American-flagged vessels only. This is a huge deal to the island populations in the Pacific, and we hope that this will lead to a new dawn for the American fishing industry in the Pacific Islands.
Preident Trump (00:42):
Could you, Captain, say a few words about how ridiculous this has been, that you had to live like this?
Speaker 2 (00:48):
Well, we operate out of American Samoa. We supply to Starkus, american company, does military packs, and it's our right. The US has the biggest EEZ in the Pacific, and yet we can't fish there. And it seems unfair and I'm glad that we're opening it up so that we can feed our people.
Preident Trump (01:06):
And tell them how large an area we're talking about.
Speaker 2 (01:09):
The Pacific is big, but this is a huge area. Again, the US has the biggest EEZ in the Pacific.
Speaker 6 (01:13):
Three Californias.
Speaker 3 (01:14):
It's an area of three Californias.
Preident Trump (01:18):
It's an area the size of three Californias. They can't fish there. And so what do you do? How do you fish? They took away your livelihood.
Speaker 2 (01:27):
We fish in the high seas, and then we have to pay to fish in other people's EEZs.
Preident Trump (01:30):
The high seas would mean more danger, right. Is there more danger in the high seas?
Speaker 2 (01:34):
Not really. It's just-
Preident Trump (01:34):
Far away.
Speaker 3 (01:34):
More distance.
Speaker 2 (01:37):
It's a bigger area.
Preident Trump (01:38):
So how far do you have to travel to get to fish?
Speaker 2 (01:42):
Well, the boat carries a lot of fish, so it goes until it's full, basically. But it's good to have plenty of fishing grounds.
Speaker 7 (01:48):
To get out to where you have to go from Samoa, seven days?
Speaker 2 (01:52):
It can be as close as four days, but it's a little bit of a jaunt-
Preident Trump (01:56):
That's a little bit.
Speaker 2 (01:57):
… and fuel's not cheap.
Preident Trump (01:59):
So you'll travel from four to seven days.
Speaker 2 (02:02):
Just to get to the fishing ground.
Preident Trump (02:03):
Just to get to the area that you're allowed to fish. And is that as fertile an area as the area that you're not allowed to fish in or…
Speaker 2 (02:10):
Well, the Western Pacific in a whole is 80% of the world's tuna comes from the Western Pacific, so the US has a huge EEZ there. There's also the island countries, but it's a big, big area.
Preident Trump (02:20):
So they took away very fertile grounds.
Speaker 2 (02:23):
Very fertile. Yeah.
Preident Trump (02:25):
This is so crazy. What would you like to say? Go ahead.
Speaker 3 (02:30):
Thank you, sir.
Preident Trump (02:30):
Such an honor to do this with these people. This is just crazy. Just tell me when did this start?
Speaker 3 (02:35):
It started back in 2008. But thank you, Mr. President, for this great announcement and thank you so much for your awesome leadership and giving back to American Samoa, what had been taken away from us without even consulting with our leaders and people at that time.
Preident Trump (02:51):
You mean they just one day just took away three Californias?
Speaker 3 (02:56):
Yes. And so this is such a wonderful gift to American Samoa. And of course it's also Holy Week beginning today. And so thank you for returning to our indigenous people, this wonderful gift of our traditional fishing grounds. [inaudible 00:03:12]
Preident Trump (03:12):
It's such an honor to do this. Normally I say things and it's nice and everything's good, you'll get more water in the shower head and things like that. This is such an honor. What they've done to you people is incredible. It's like it's so terrible. When you have to travel four days in a boat to fish, and it's usually seven days. I was told before, but four days to seven days in order to fish. And you were there a long time before we were right?
Speaker 3 (03:41):
Yes, yes. For centuries,
Preident Trump (03:43):
I would say thousands of years.
Speaker 4 (03:49):
You have another fishery in the Pacific Ocean. This is the [inaudible 00:03:54] fishery that fishes for canned tuna. And then the fishery in Hawaii fishes for fresh tuna. And so there are 150 vessels and you are opening up Johnston Island, which is very close to Hawaii. Makes it a lot easier for them to fish because of-
Preident Trump (04:11):
Even Hawaii?
Speaker 4 (04:12):
Yeah.
Preident Trump (04:12):
So even Hawaii.
Speaker 4 (04:13):
Well, yes, of course. So you're helping the entire fleet and most of our fish are sold on the mainland. We also fish for swordfish. And when we have too many regulations for our swordfish fishery, you get swordfish from Peru, Brazil, and all those other places that don't have the same management measures that we have in the United States. So we are very grateful in Hawaii for this, the fishermen, and it's fantastic.
Preident Trump (04:41):
So what's the difference? You say canned tuna.
Speaker 4 (04:43):
Right. You have two different US fisheries there.
Preident Trump (04:45):
Yeah, but the same tuna.
Speaker 4 (04:47):
Different. No, that's a Skipjack, Albacore and Yellowfin. And then-
Preident Trump (04:53):
So Albacore is canned tuna, right?
Speaker 4 (04:54):
Right.
Preident Trump (04:55):
I know that from [inaudible 00:04:57].
Speaker 4 (04:57):
You've seen the can. So our fishery fishes for the sashimi quality fish. So it's all fresh. It's an ice fishery. And it's been around since, well it started in the early 1900.
Preident Trump (05:09):
Well, it's been around for millions of years.
Speaker 4 (05:11):
Right, exactly.
Preident Trump (05:13):
Long before us.
Speaker 4 (05:14):
Right, exactly.
Preident Trump (05:15):
That's great.
Speaker 4 (05:15):
So that's where you're getting your sashimi and your swordfish from. Most of the swordfish that you eat on the mainland comes from our fishery.
Preident Trump (05:24):
You know they shut down also areas off Maine. You know that, the Maine lobster?
Speaker 4 (05:29):
Yes. Oh yes, yes.
Preident Trump (05:29):
And I think we're going to have to open that one up really quickly too.
Speaker 1 (05:32):
Yes, sir.
Preident Trump (05:33):
But we did it. And then after the election, which was totally rigged, they went out and they put it back again.
Speaker 1 (05:40):
We'll have that for you next week.
Preident Trump (05:42):
It was like 500 square miles or some ridiculous thing like that. And Canada fishes there, but we're not allowed to. Can you imagine? They restricted it. But Canada fishes there. Please.
Speaker 5 (05:52):
Mr. President, this is such a great honor. Today in American Samoa, we're celebrating the 125th Flag Day. It's the first day celebrating when the US flag was first raised there. At this very moment, they're celebrating that. So this is a monumental occasion for the people of American Samoa. And we are truly [inaudible 00:06:12]-
Preident Trump (06:12):
So this is a big thing that's going on right now.
Speaker 5 (06:14):
Because we're a tuna-dependent economy, 99.5% of our exports is tuna.
Preident Trump (06:20):
99.5%? What about the other half a point? [inaudible 00:06:25].
Speaker 5 (06:27):
And then about 80% of our private employment is related to the tuna industry. So yes, this is a big thing for the territory.
Speaker 3 (06:33):
We are a one-industry economy?
Preident Trump (06:35):
What's this going to do in terms… It's so interesting to me. It's so horrible and so stupid. It's so stupid. We're talking about a massive ocean and they're forced to travel four to seven days to go and fish in an area that's not as good and is probably a little more dangerous, the whole thing. So what's this going to… How is this going to affect your business? It's going to be many more… I mean, you're going to be able to do much more business, I would think, right?
Speaker 5 (07:02):
Yes. We would think that this will definitely result in more fish deliveries and more fish deliveries is more economic gains for the territory.
Preident Trump (07:10):
Tell us what happens where you say China and other people steal your fish. In other words, you're forced to go to areas that are very dangerous.
Speaker 4 (07:20):
Well, because of the monuments and overlays of sanctuaries, our fishermen mostly fish on the high seas. And if you look at Global Watch, you will see China, Japan, Korea, and Taiwan, all fishing on our very edge of the two-hundred-mile zone. So our fishing -- we're in competition with them and also their dumping of their fish on US markets lowers the price for our fishermen. And that's another difficult thing that we hope you'll take care of too.
Preident Trump (07:49):
And what about the stealing of your fish?
Speaker 5 (07:51):
Well, you're competing with tuna in a very competitive market. So they're kept right outside, like Kitty said, they're kept right outside our EEZ.
Preident Trump (08:00):
What happens?
Speaker 5 (08:02):
And they're taking our fish because it's migratory. Tuna is migratory
Speaker 4 (08:04):
Because we can't fish in our zone, the fish goes to whoever.
Speaker 7 (08:07):
And they come in, they come in in the dead of night, poach them and go out.
Speaker 3 (08:10):
Yes, they do.
Preident Trump (08:12):
They come in and they take the fish.
Speaker 7 (08:14):
That's a common, well-documented problem.
Preident Trump (08:16):
Does anyone… I mean, it's so interesting. Even you have to find this one interesting. So by doing this, we're going to give you back your lives. And you've been doing this for thousands of years in this area.
Speaker 3 (08:28):
Absolutely.
Preident Trump (08:28):
Along comes Biden and Obama and they say, you can't do it anymore.
Speaker 7 (08:34):
[inaudible 00:08:34] Fish, baby, fish.
Preident Trump (08:36):
Yeah.
Speaker 7 (08:36):
Fish, baby, fish.
Speaker 3 (08:38):
That's right.
Preident Trump (08:39):
What's the level of… This is a risky question, but what's the level of popularity of Trump in Samoa versus the Democrats?
Speaker 3 (08:47):
77%
Preident Trump (08:47):
For Trump?
Speaker 3 (08:47):
For Trump. Yes, that's right. 77%
Preident Trump (08:47):
I like that.
Speaker 7 (08:54):
Probably go up to 90 tomorrow.
Speaker 3 (08:55):
Yes. It'll go up to a hundred.
Preident Trump (08:58):
Maybe a hundred. Well, it's an honor. I'm not doing it
Preident Trump (09:00):
… that I'm doing it because it's just an honor. Here's one of the boats in there. Look how beautiful that is. Now they use it for a beautiful cruise to take seven days before they can do the first fish. Can you believe it? So now you'll be able to do it almost immediately, right?
Speaker 1 (09:14):
Well, yeah, much closer.
Preident Trump (09:15):
Absolutely.
Speaker 1 (09:16):
So if the fish is there, we can make more trips and deploy more people-
Preident Trump (09:20):
Do you know through sonar, radar everything. Do you know where the fish are? I mean, can you see that?
Speaker 1 (09:24):
You get educated guesses. So you get all kinds of different reports, plankton and all kinds of stuff that make temperature.
Preident Trump (09:31):
It's a beautiful life. You wouldn't choose any other life, right?
Speaker 1 (09:34):
It's a very unique life. I love what I do, I really do.
Preident Trump (09:37):
I mean, if you could have a life like some beautiful leisurely life in Washington, DC. Being mugged when you go to work, but other than that you love politics. If you could live in the White House, you'd take exactly-
Speaker 1 (09:50):
Might take it under consideration.
Preident Trump (09:54):
Let's do this, right? That's an honor. You've seen that signature and I don't use autopens like Biden. Biden uses autopens.
MUSIC (10:03):
[inaudible 00:10:04].
Speaker 3 (10:03):
Thank you Mr. President. Thank you so much.
Preident Trump (10:37):
And what is the second one, please?
Speaker 1 (10:38):
We have one more also relating to fisheries, sir. This is an executive order on seafood competitiveness. Currently, we have two basic problems here. One is that the American seafood industry is dramatically over-regulated. Our fisheries are dramatically over-regulated.
Preident Trump (10:53):
It's China.
Speaker 1 (10:54):
The other is that we have unfair trade practices from our foreign trading partners relating to the seafood industry. So this executive order is going to attempt to address both of those. The Department of Commerce, other federal departments and agencies are going to work with the fisheries to establish common-sense regulatory reforms to allow-
Preident Trump (11:12):
How long will that take?
Speaker 1 (11:13):
I think we're expecting to move as quickly as we can.
Preident Trump (11:16):
Fast?
Speaker 1 (11:16):
Yes sir.
Preident Trump (11:17):
You know exactly what we're talking about already, right? It's crazy. The regulation?
Speaker 9 (11:23):
Yes, it is.
Speaker 10 (11:24):
Secretary Lutnick is going to fast-track that. I can assure you.
Preident Trump (11:26):
[inaudible 00:11:27], go ahead.
Secretary Lutnick (11:27):
Sure. So you just heard us, the economic zone around Hawaii and Samoa is huge and it's exclusively ours, so why wouldn't we have our fishermen fish there? Imagine saying our own fishermen, every country in the world, they all fish the 200 miles off their coast and we were stopping our own fishermen from going off the coast. It's totally the opposite of common sense. That's why President Trump has changed it.
(11:56)
Now let's talk about regulation. If you're not even going to let them fish, imagine the regulations that have been written to stop our fishermen from just surviving and thriving. We have the greatest coasts in the world with the greatest fishermen in the world, and we need to let them do their great jobs. Raise and catch your fish, bring them to our tables, have America have the greatest fish in the world, which we have.
(12:24)
And then let them export all these other countries, right? They stop us from exporting. That's going to be over with your leadership and your trading policies. We're going to open all of these markets and we're going to let our fishermen thrive and prosper. And we are going to have lower cost fish, more of it and the freshest fish in the world. And this is just common sense for the United States of America.
Preident Trump (12:50):
So could I ask, it's so interesting.
Speaker 11 (12:52):
Yes.
Preident Trump (12:52):
So you take these massive areas of water and other countries are allowed to fish in them, right?
Speaker 1 (12:59):
No, they sneak in, they coach.
Preident Trump (13:02):
So they're not allowed, but they do it because they don't care?
Speaker 1 (13:03):
But they fish in their own zones. So we're systematically disadvantaging our fishermen by not allowing them to fish in parts of our exclusive economic zone, while other countries have their own exclusive economic zones and they're fishing the heck out of those.
Preident Trump (13:17):
So they're totally benefiting?
Speaker 3 (13:19):
Now that you're allowing the US fishing fleet to fish, they also serve as observers. And when they see poachers, they report them to the authorities. And so they are big help to the US Coast Guard. And so it's great for our US food security.
Preident Trump (13:35):
It's great.
Speaker 10 (13:36):
We should have a trade surplus in fish and we have a big trade deficit because of all this.
Preident Trump (13:41):
It's just crazy. Okay.
Speaker 10 (13:44):
I'm familiar, for me-
Preident Trump (13:45):
This is an easy one.
Secretary Lutnick (13:46):
It's very easy.
Speaker 10 (13:47):
[inaudible 00:13:49] fish.
Preident Trump (13:50):
Hi mom. This is an easy one. This is crazy here.
Speaker 10 (13:53):
80% of the seafood in the US is imported.
Secretary Lutnick (13:57):
Can you imagine that? We import seafood and we have the greatest coast in fishing in the world.
Preident Trump (14:02):
So in Maine they do something similar. I think it's like 500 miles or something, some crazy thing. And Canada goes and they fish there, other people fish there, Europe fishes there. The Maine lobster. You can't get Maine lobsters because Maine… So Maine is forced to go for days out to some other area that's not as good. We have to free that up too.
Speaker 10 (14:24):
We'll have that on your desk next week, I promise.
Preident Trump (14:26):
The Maine lobster, right? It's incredible.
Speaker 10 (14:29):
You did it last time and they undid it.
Preident Trump (14:31):
Canada fishes there-
Speaker 10 (14:32):
Biden undid it.
Preident Trump (14:33):
… we're not allowed to. Yeah, I did it last time in Maine and they undid it. That's why we have to stay president for a long time. Thank you everybody. What an honor. It's a great honor. Thank you. Thank you, sir.
Speaker 3 (14:47):
Thank you. Mr. President.
Speaker 8 (14:47):
Thank you Mr. President.
Preident Trump (14:49):
Thank you very much.
Speaker 9 (14:50):
Thank you very much.
Speaker 11 (14:51):
Thank you Mr. President.
Preident Trump (14:53):
Great job so much. Beautiful. Looks like a real athlete right here. [inaudible 00:15:00] right?
REPORTERS (14:59):
I get ashamed too.
(15:02)
Mr. President, breaking news. A short time ago, the Supreme Court agreed to hear oral arguments in the case about ending birthright citizenship. How confident are you that the court will rule in your favor and allow that order to end birthright citizenship to go forward?
Preident Trump (15:16):
Well, you're just telling me that for the first time. I am so happy. I think the case has been so misunderstood. That case, birthright citizenship, is about slavery. If you look at the details of it, the signings of it, everything else, that case is all about slavery. And if you view it from that standpoint, people understand it. But for some reason, lawyers don't talk about it, the news doesn't talk about it. That's not about tourists coming in and touching a piece of sand and all of a sudden they're a citizen. That is all about slavery.
(15:54)
And even look at the dates on which it was signed. It was right at that era during, right after the Civil War. And if you look at it that way, the case is an easy case to win. And I hope the lawyers talk about birthright citizenship and slavery because that's what it was all about. And it was a very positive, it was meant to be positive. And they use it now instead, not for slavery. They use it for people that come into our country and they walk in and all of a sudden they become citizens and they pay a lot of money to different cartels and others. It's all about slavery. And if you look at it that way, we should win that case. Okay.
REPORTERS (16:39):
We have a great relationship with the president of El Salvador. Will you ask him to release Abrego Garcia so that you can facilitate his return here to the United States? And do you believe he deserves due process here?
Preident Trump (16:50):
Well, I must tell you, I have to refer again to the lawyers. I'll have to do what they asked me to do. I had heard that there were a lot of things about a certain gentleman, perhaps it was that gentleman, that would make that case be a case that's easily winnable on appeal. So we'll just have to see. I'm going to have to respond to the lawyers.
REPORTERS (17:11):
Mr. President, we're learning that there are now two deceased following that shooting at Florida State University. Following and amid that, is there any changes that you want to see to gun legislation? Anything you see broken with gun laws as an-
Preident Trump (17:23):
Well, I'm going to have to… Look, I'm a big advocate of the Second Amendment. I have been from the beginning, I protected it. And these things are terrible, but the gun doesn't do the shooting, the people do. It's a phrase that's used probably too often. I will tell you that it's a shame. I'm just hearing about it now. I just heard about it. I know the area very well, I know the school very well. I know everything about it, it's Florida. And we'll have more to say about it later after see what happened.
REPORTERS (17:52):
What do you mean when you say "There will be more to say about it?"
Preident Trump (17:57):
Only in terms of what happened. As far
Preident Trump (18:00):
… far as legislation is concerned, this has been going on for a long time. I have an obligation to protect the Second Amendment. I ran on the Second Amendment among many other things, and I will always protect the Second Amendment.
Speaker 12 (18:11):
President Trump…
Speaker 13 (18:12):
Mr. President Trump, question about United Kingdom. Reports that you're going to go and say with the king in September.
Preident Trump (18:16):
Yes.
Speaker 13 (18:20):
Can you confirm that? What are you looking forward to?
Preident Trump (18:20):
Well, I was invited by the king and by the country, great country too. They're going to do a second, as you know, a second fest, and that's what it is. It's a fest and it's beautiful. And it's the first time it's ever happened to one person. And the reason is that we have two separate terms and it's an honor to be… I'm a friend of Charles. I have great respect for King Charles and the family, William. We have, it's really just a great respect for the family and it's a very great honor that… And I think they're setting a date for September.
Speaker 13 (18:59):
It's going to be a smaller visit initially and then a bigger state visit to follow after. Is that the plan?
Preident Trump (19:05):
Yeah, they say that it's going to be… I don't know how it can be bigger than the last one. The last one was, as you know, incredible, but they say it's going to be even more important. So that's a great honor to be so chosen.
Speaker 14 (19:16):
Mr. President [inaudible 00:19:17]
Speaker 12 (19:17):
President Trump, yesterday you spoke with Japan. Is the Nippon Steel deal part of the tariff negotiations? Did you discuss that with him?
Preident Trump (19:22):
It could be, but I doubt it. I mean, I think we're going to view it separately. We want U.S. Steel to remain in the hands of the United States and people from the United States. And great respect for Japan. But we don't want a foreign country buying U.S. Steel. U.S. Steel was one of our great companies of the world. I mean, you go back 80 years and it was the biggest, strongest, most powerful company in the world. And we're going to make it very strong and powerful again without Nippon. But if Nippon wants to come in, and I hear they're working on it very hard. I have great respect for Nippon Steel. I know a lot about it. But they can invest and they can do lots of things, partnerships, but we want to have U.S. Steel remain in this country.
Speaker 12 (20:05):
So is that a stipulation you would put on these tariff negotiations for Japan?
Preident Trump (20:07):
I guess, we could talk about it with regard to tariffs, Howard. I mean, it's something that could be a part of it, but tariff negotiations are actually simpler than that. I mean, we're going to set a number and people are going to pay that number or they're going to decide to go elsewhere if there is such a place. There really is no elsewhere, I think.
Speaker 1 (20:26):
Mr. President, in the first term, your attorney general apologized to Tea Party groups who have been targeted by the IRS under the Obama administration. Why is it okay for the IRS to now be looking at changing the tax status of Harvard because of policy disagreements you have with the university?
Preident Trump (20:43):
So I had dinner last night with a lot of pastors and ministers and people of faith, and there were like 32 of them. And it was beautiful in The Blue Room. And they said, "Sir, I was targeted by the IRS. And the FBI came in, sir, And I've been going through hell for years." And somebody overheard that statement and they said, "Oh, that happened to me too." Another one overheard. "Oh, that happened to me too." It was the Biden people and they had seven or eight of them, we're going to be reporting it very soon. I said, "This has to be reported." These are ministers, pastors, evangelicals. They were targeted by the Biden administration, which was a disgraceful administration. Well, I was targeted more than anybody in history. I think you probably know that. I hope you admit it, but you might not. But I was targeted more than anybody in history.
(21:42)
But it was interesting because one pastor told me and another one heard it, "Oh, me too." And me too, me too, me too. All of a sudden, they're all… And one of them spent all of his money, everything he had on lawyers for three years he said. It took place almost immediately after the election. After the election when Biden came in unfortunately for the country, sadly for the country.
(22:06)
So when you asked me that question, I immediately say let's switch it around to tell you what happened last night. And not only that, we're also finding that many people just having to do with Trump's support have gone through hell and they've used the IRS for purposes of something that's very illegal for them to have to [inaudible 00:22:29].
Speaker 15 (22:28):
What are you trying to teach…
Preident Trump (22:29):
It's a very illegal, it's a very, very illegal thing to do what they did and-
Speaker 1 (22:36):
If that was wrong…
Preident Trump (22:38):
… I think it's such a shame. That was long, what?
Speaker 1 (22:43):
If that was wrong, why are you considering changing the tax status of Harvard?
Preident Trump (22:45):
Because I think Harvard's a disgrace. I think what they did was a disgrace. They're obviously anti-Semitic. And all of a sudden they're starting to behave. But when you see what they were saying, what they were doing, when you see the way they took care of events, when you watch that woman, that horrendous president that ruined the image of Harvard, maybe permanently, in Congress, in the halls of Congress, when you take a look at what happened there, it was horrific.
(23:18)
And I've looked at a lot having to do with it. I'm not involved in it, it's being handled by lawyers. I read about it just like you did. But tax-exempt status, I mean, it's a privilege. It's really a privilege. And it's been abused by a lot more than Harvard too, by a lot more than Harvard.
(23:38)
So we'll see how that all works out.
Speaker 16 (23:40):
Mr. President…
Speaker 17 (23:40):
Mr. President, when…
Preident Trump (23:42):
I don't think they've made a final ruling. I don't believe they've made a final ruling. But it's something that these schools really have to be very, very careful with. Very anti-Semitic when you take a look, whether it's Columbia, Harvard, Princeton, take a… I don't know what's going on, but when you see how badly they've acted and in other ways also. So we'll be looking at it very strongly.
Speaker 18 (24:09):
Mr. President, on that subject, on the tax-exempt status subject. What are the other groups that you'd like to see that status removed from? Could we expect an executive order?
Preident Trump (24:17):
Well, we'll be making some statements, but it's a big deal. And they're so rich and so strong and then they go so bad. They've earned so much by being a member of this country, a member of this group, this beautiful group of people in this country, and then they go and they abuse their power like that. I think it's very sad.
Speaker 18 (24:38):
Are we talking about immigrant rights groups? Environmental rights groups?
Preident Trump (24:42):
Could be. Could be. I mean, look, environmental. I have a group named CREW. CREW. You ever hear of it? I think it's C-R-E-W, and they have a guy that heads CREW. It's supposed to be a charitable organization. The only charity they had is going after Donald Trump. So we're looking at that. We're looking at a lot of things. But if you take a look at CREW what they've done, and I think it was a very big abuse, but we're going to be finding out pretty soon.
Speaker 19 (25:08):
Can you explain the disconnect between your conversations with President Xi? When those potentially could happen and why they haven't happened yet?
Preident Trump (25:16):
Well, you don't know whether or not they've happened.
Speaker 19 (25:18):
That's my question.
Preident Trump (25:19):
Yeah. I mean, I've never said whether or not they've happened. But I have a very good relationship with President Xi and I think it's going to continue. And I would say they have reached out a number of times and I-
Speaker 19 (25:33):
Xi or they?
Preident Trump (25:34):
Well, the same. I view it very similar. It would be top levels of China. And if you knew him, you would know that if they reached out, he knew exactly. He knew everything about it. He runs it very tight, very strong, very smart. And yeah, we're talking to China.
Speaker 20 (25:50):
Do you believe him?
Speaker 21 (25:50):
So they've reached out in recent days or recent weeks?
Preident Trump (25:52):
Excuse me.
Speaker 21 (25:53):
They've reached out since the 145% tariffs?
Preident Trump (25:58):
Oh yeah, sure. Yeah.
Speaker 22 (25:59):
Have you spoken to Xi directly?
Preident Trump (25:59):
A lot.
Speaker 20 (26:01):
Do you believe him?
Preident Trump (26:01):
A lot. All the time. We're talking.
Speaker 21 (26:02):
You are talking?
Speaker 22 (26:03):
Have you talked directly to President Xi?
Preident Trump (26:05):
I don't want to say that. Yeah. It's just not appropriate.
Speaker 23 (26:12):
But you're speaking… Sorry.
Speaker 22 (26:13):
Has he called you directly, President Xi or reached out? You both had a conversation?
Preident Trump (26:15):
Well, you'd think it was pretty obvious that he has, but we will talk about that soon. It's not that important because honestly, we're going to have a deal. I believe we're going to have a deal with China. And if we don't, we're going to have a deal anyway because we're going to set a certain target and that's going to be it. Do you have anything to say about that, Howard?
Secretary Lutnick (26:35):
I think our tariff policy around the world has every country in the world coming in and talking to us. It is incredible. We had country after country in yesterday. We are confident that we will work out something with China. And the President knows what he wants to do and I think he knows it better than anybody else in the world. And we are confident that this is going to work
Secretary Lutnick (27:00):
… work out well, both for the United States of America. I'm sure he'll work it out with China, but the amount of other countries who are working with us is incredible and I think it's really going to work for the American farmers, for our ranchers, for our fishermen, for our businesses. The scale of companies coming to America just every day. Even this morning we were talking about Whirlpool and then we were talking about car companies opening the scale of factories. Coming to America is mind-boggling, driven by Donald Trump's tariff policy, which has got the world coming and finally respecting the United States of America.
Speaker 24 (27:39):
President Trump, you said-
Preident Trump (27:40):
And by the way, there's never been anything like it. We have at least $7 trillion of new businesses coming in. If you go back and look at others, I mean, in years they wouldn't do anything like that. This is in a matter of weeks, so it's been pretty amazing.
Speaker 24 (27:55):
You said we're talking, so China and the US are talking on tariffs?
Preident Trump (27:59):
Yep. Oh sure.
REPORTERS (28:00):
Do you believe then that they won't go higher than 125%? We've heard Chinese officials say that. And then what happens if they do go higher? Do we retaliate more than 125?
Preident Trump (28:09):
Well, I don't want them to go higher because at a certain point you make it where people don't buy. So I may not want to go higher or I may not want to even go up to that level, I may want to go to less. Because you want people to buy and at a certain point people aren't going to buy and it's actually up to 145% because you have to 20.
Speaker 24 (28:31):
You previously said that you would consider reducing tariffs on China to get a TikTok deal done. Is that still on the table as of now?
Preident Trump (28:39):
Well, we have a deal TikTok but it'll be subject to China, so we'll just delay the deal till this thing works out one way or the other. And I think it's a good deal for China, the TikTok deal is very good… TikTok is good for China, and I think they'd like to see us do a deal, especially the deal that we have pretty much done with some of the best companies in the world.
Speaker 24 (28:58):
If they agree to sign the deal, would you take that into consideration when [inaudible 00:29:02] tariffs?
Preident Trump (29:02):
I think it would be something we discuss, because it's a natural, if we're making a deal, I guess we'll spend five minutes and talk about TikTok. It wouldn't take very long.
REPORTERS (29:11):
Can you give us a sense of how far along these negotiations are with China? Are they in the early stages or are you inching closer now to actually making a deal on tariffs?
Preident Trump (29:18):
I think that we will make a deal with China. I think we've had some very good talks, but we will have some very good talks remaining. And I view it and some people say, oh, rush. I think we have a lot of time. I think we have plenty of time. But we have very, very good… You saw Japan was here yesterday. We had Italy today. We had a great conversation with the Prime Minister. We've had very good talks yesterday with Mexico. Talking with everybody. The problem is there's only so many hours in the day. I think we're going to make a deal with China. We're going to make a deal with everybody. And if we don't make a deal, we'll just set a target and we'll live with that and it'll be fine.
REPORTERS (30:02):
How much time time do you think that you have?
Preident Trump (30:03):
I would think over the next three or four weeks I think maybe the whole thing could be concluded. You have to understand, if you think of us as a big beautiful department store, before that business was destroyed by the internet, we're a big beautiful store and everybody wants a piece of that store. China wants it. Japan wants it. Mexico, Canada, they live off it, those two. Without us, they wouldn't have a country and everybody wants a piece. And at a certain point, if we don't make a deal, we'll just set a limit, we'll set a tariff, we'll set some parameters and we'll say, come in and shop. They may not like that and they may find it, or the market may find it too high, more likely the market. But the market may find it too high or the country may find it too high. Then they'll come back and say, well, we think this is too high, and we'll negotiate. Or they're going to say something else. They're going to say, well, let's see what happens.
(31:08)
But they always have a right not to do it. So they can say, well, we don't want it, so we're not going to shop there. We're not going to shop in the store of America. We have something that nobody else has, and that's the American consumer. I had the most successful four-year period in the history of this country, and I think we're going to blow it away this time. There is a little bit of a transition and we're going to have that little transition, and it's not much of a transition.
(31:41)
If you look right now, we're getting 25% on cars. We're getting 25% on steel. We're getting 25% on aluminum. We're going to have some other things that we're going to be adding in the not-too-distant future because we want them to be made here, the medicines, the drugs, pharmaceuticals are going to be done and computer chips, et cetera, et cetera. And because of that, we have the biggest computer companies in the world coming in from Taiwan and other places, and they're building in Arizona and lots of other places. We're number one in AI by far. We're leading China by a lot, by tremendous amounts. We're going to supply electricity at levels never supplied before. They're going to build their own electric, we're going to let them become a utility essentially, and it's going to be amazing for the country. They're going to build their own electric plants.
(32:34)
We have to double up our electricity. To remain number one in AI we're going to have to double up our electricity. Take our whole country, we're going to have to double up our electricity, think of that, and probably even triple it up. And we're going to let them build their own electric plants with their plant that they're building for the AI or whatever they're doing. Never been done before. We're going to get them quick approvals, going to be very clean, going to be very nice, and we're going to get them very fast approvals. People are investing in this country they've never invested before. Thank you very much, everybody.
Speaker 25 (33:05):
Thank you, press. Thank you, press. [inaudible 00:33:08]. Thank you, press. Thank you. We're headed out. Thank you guys. [inaudible 00:33:09]-
Speaker 24 (33:05):
Thank you.
Speaker 26 (33:05):
Thank you.
Speaker 27 (33:05):
Thank you guys, let's go. [inaudible 00:33:17].
Speaker 25 (33:05):
Thanks guys.
