Speaker 1 (00:00):
I'm doing very well I think on both, we've had some pretty good movement in every respect. The war is very important that it ends with… I used to say 2,500 people a week dying, young people. Mostly soldiers from Russia and Ukraine. And we want to end that war. We want to end it quickly. And I think we've made a lot of progress. And we'll see what happens. This next few days is going to be very important. Meetings are taking place right now.
(00:34)
Additionally, we talked about trade, and we will definitely… We get along very well on trade. We'll do something. But I think the Prime Minister knows that over the years United States has been very good to a lot of people, and it's time for us to benefit also. So we're going to have a good relationship on trade, and we discussed other things also. But Mr. Prime Minister, it's an honor to have you at the White House. Thank you very much.
Speaker 2 (01:06):
Well, thank you, Mr. President. This year is 200 years since the first immigration from Norway to the US. We come here early in your term, appreciate that you take time. We have highlighted that very close cooperation. We are allies. We look after security in the north, in the Arctic. A lot of confidence between our services.
(01:27)
We have discussed in detail the war in Ukraine. I have saluted the President for his initiative to make progress towards something that can be a ceasefire and an end to this terrible conflict. It is a complex picture, but it needs political will and push, and we have exchanged ideas on that. And then I think the President and his team have been open to hear our perspectives.
(01:51)
And on trade we have also emphasized that we can benefit, both of us, by trading. And we can be complementary. And we can find good solutions. But first of all, I appreciate, Mr. President, the spirit and the tone of this conversation, which has been confirmation of a very strong partnership.
Speaker 1 (02:11):
Thank you very much. Appreciate it. Any questions? Yes?
Speaker 3 (02:17):
Can I ask you first, Mr. President, have you spoken about the tariffs that you want imposed on Norway? Is there a chance that you can lower [inaudible 00:02:25]?
Speaker 1 (02:24):
We spoke about trade, and we understand each other very well. I think we'll have no problem.
Speaker 3 (02:30):
Do you think that you can get an agreement [inaudible 00:02:32]?
Speaker 1 (02:31):
I think we'll have no problem whatsoever with Norway.
Speaker 4 (02:34):
[inaudible 00:02:35] Mr. President, did you discuss a possible visit to Norway? Did you to discuss a possible visit for President Trump to Norway?
Speaker 1 (02:40):
We didn't, but I love it. I mean, I've been there. And it is a beautiful place they have.
Speaker 2 (02:47):
But I told the President that he's receiving us early in the term, he's welcome to visit Norway. We would like to have him. And it will be another way of emphasizing this strong friendship.
Speaker 5 (03:01):
[inaudible 00:03:01] Norway has been a staunch supporter of Ukraine since the Russian invasion in 2022. Has something been discussed here today that may have altered your views on things?
Speaker 1 (03:15):
No. We want to… Very simply, I have no allegiance to anybody. I have allegiance to saving lives. And I want to save a lot of lives. A lot of young people's, mostly young people. It's the war. It's the soldiers. And if we can do that… I've also… As you know, I got started because the money that's been spent on this war is insane. It should have never happened. And it would have never happened if I were president.
(03:40)
But Biden spent $350 billion on this, and it's a shame. And that's what got me involved. And then I looked at… And I see the results. It's horrible. It's a killing field. 5,000 soldiers a week on average. And we want to stop that. We both want to stop that for a lot of reasons, but I would say that is my number one reason.
Speaker 5 (04:09):
[inaudible 00:04:10] Russia that we will get Russia to accept the deal that also Ukraine and Europe is [inaudible 00:04:16]?
Speaker 1 (04:15):
I think so. Yeah, I do. I believe they will accept. And I think we're going to get this over with. I hope so. Soon.
Speaker 6 (04:21):
[inaudible 00:04:22] President, you continue to lack support from NATO allies in your goal of obtaining Greenland. How will you proceed if you don't get that support?
Speaker 1 (04:33):
Well, Greenland's going to be interesting, but that's for another day. I think we need that for international peace.
Speaker 6 (04:38):
What are you expecting of your allies-
Speaker 1 (04:40):
And if you don't have that, I think it's a big threat to our world. So I think Greenland is very important for international peace. Yeah, please go ahead.
Speaker 7 (04:46):
Mr. President, this morning in Truth social post you used the words, "Vladimir, stop." That seemed like a slightly different message, a personal message. What is your level of frustration with President Putin?
Speaker 1 (04:59):
I didn't like last night. I wasn't happy with it. And we're in the midst of talking peace and missiles were fired. And I was not happy with it. That's what I meant. And that's… [inaudible 00:05:12].
Speaker 7 (05:09):
[inaudible 00:05:13].
Speaker 1 (05:13):
I assume that's what you mean. I assume that's what you…
Speaker 7 (05:16):
Sorry, if the bombs keep falling, will you consider additional sanctions toward Russia or what will you do if President Putin [inaudible 00:05:23].
Speaker 1 (05:22):
I'd rather answer that question in a week. I want to see if we can have a deal. No reason to answer it now, but I won't be happy. Let me put it that way. Things will happen.
Speaker 6 (05:31):
Mr, President, why are you not putting more pressure on Russia? I know a lot of Europeans [inaudible 00:05:35].
Speaker 1 (05:37):
Putting a lot of pressure. You don't know what pressure I'm putting on Russia. They're dealing. You have no idea what pressure I'm putting on Russia. We're putting a lot of pressure.
Speaker 6 (05:42):
Can you maybe tell us then, what kind of [inaudible 00:05:43].
Speaker 1 (05:42):
We're putting a lot of pressure on Russia, and Russia knows that, and some people that are close to it know, or he wouldn't be talking right now. The Prime Minister understands that better than anybody. He wouldn't be talking right now. He's talking and we're putting a lot of pressure. I think he wants to make a deal. We're going to find out very soon. But it takes two to tango, and you have to have Ukraine want to make a deal too. And they're being hit very hard and I do believe they want to make a deal. [inaudible 00:06:12].
Speaker 8 (06:12):
[inaudible 00:06:12] you said that the Ukraine have to give some territory to win peace, among them Crimea. Do you stand by that? And I know that former NATO general secretary today has told you that he does not agree, and he believes in territorial integrity of the Ukraine. How do you deal with that with your allies and do you stand by that Ukraine have to give [inaudible 00:06:45].
Speaker 1 (06:45):
Former secretary general happens to be right here. So they can't put words in his mouth. He's been a great general frankly, because that's what you are. Really, you're a general. But he's been a great secretary general. We had a tremendous relationship, very successful. And I think he could speak for himself. He's right here.
Speaker 8 (07:07):
But do you still agree that Ukraine have to give some territory away to win peace?
Speaker 1 (07:13):
Well, it depends what territory. They've been fighting. They've lost a lot of territory. And we'll do the best we can. Working with Ukraine, we'll do the best we can. But they lost a lot of territory. When you say Crimea, that was handed over during a president named Barack Hussein Obama. That had nothing to do with me, Crimea. That was 11 years ago with Obama. And they made a decision. There wasn't a bullet fired, there was no fighting, there was no anything. They just handed it over. Now they say, "Well, can you get it back?" I think that's going to be a very difficult thing to do. That was given by Barack Obama when he was president, not by Donald Trump.
Speaker 8 (07:55):
Thank you, Mr. President.
Speaker 9 (07:58):
Mr. President, you had a long meeting, Mr. President-
Speaker 10 (07:58):
[inaudible 00:07:59] you had a peace proposal that you put on the table. It's a 30-day ceasefire proposal. Your national security team presented it to both Ukraine and Russia. Two months ago, Ukraine agreed to that ceasefire proposal immediately. Russia has not. And my question is, is Russia the obstacle to peace based upon that? Just getting to that 30-day ceasefire.
Speaker 1 (08:18):
I don't think so. I think that they both want peace right now. They're ready to do something. We'll see what happens. Complicated, very complicated. But I think they are both very much looking to make a deal. Marco, what would you say?
Speaker 11 (08:32):
Well, first of all, what was put before our partners was options to discuss about things that it would take to end a war. This war is endable. Both sides just have to agree to it. We've shown them a pathway forward. We've discussed those ideas. It was a good meeting yesterday. There'll be good meetings over the weekend. We've shown them the finish line. We need both of them to say yes. But what happened last night with those missile strikes should remind everybody of why this war needs to end. It's horrible those missiles landed. What's worse is there are today people that were alive yesterday that are not alive today, because this war continues. And the President wants to stop it. And everyone should be thanking the President for being a peacemaker and trying to save lives.
(09:05)
That's what we're trying to do here. It's not our war. We didn't start it, as you know, but we're trying to end the dying. We're trying to end the destruction. And we've shown the path forward. We can see the finish line, but both of them have to get there. We're going to do everything we can to help them get there, but they have to ultimately say yes. Both of them.
Speaker 1 (09:21):
And we are using a lot of pressure on both. If you think we're just in there because we're nice people, and we are nice people, but we're using a lot of pressure on both.
Speaker 10 (09:30):
What concessions, Mr. President, and to your national security team, what concessions has Russia offered up thus far to get to the point where you're closer to peace?
Speaker 1 (09:40):
Stopping the war. Stopping taking the whole country. Pretty big concession.
Speaker 5 (09:47):
Mr. President, if you are going to take down the tariffs, what do you want Norway to buy more of from the US?
Speaker 1 (09:58):
To buy more? Well, you don't need snow, you don't need skis, you don't need ski champions either, right? You have a lot of them. We just want to keep the relationship the way it is. We've had a great relationship, I think now maybe closer than ever. But we've had a great relationship with Norway. I think just keep it the way it is. You can't do better.
Speaker 5 (10:21):
Really? Not even buy, say a [inaudible 00:10:24].
Speaker 1 (10:23):
Well, if they want to give us some additional concessions, that's okay. You can't do much better. Yes. Yes.
Speaker 3 (10:28):
Mr. President, you've had a long meeting with Norway today. You said that Norway is doing a lot of things right, but on the Ukraine, if I can ask both you and the Prime Minister, did you find common ground today on Ukraine and the peace plan?
Speaker 1 (10:42):
Totally. It's totally common ground. The Prime Minister can speak about it, but I can just say he wants to see people stop dying more than anything else. And he'd like to see it end. He's going to help us end it.
Speaker 2 (10:57):
[inaudible 00:10:58] can I say that to move towards an end of this war, US engagement is critical, and President Trump made that possible. That is clear, that is obvious. It's really happening. Now the important thing is that both parties have to know that they have to deliver and they have to feel the pressure to deliver. Ukraine is under attack. They are defending themselves. Lives are being lost. And we believe very firmly that there needs to be a ceasefire, the initiative taken by the US some time ago. It needs to be respected.
(11:32)
And then to move on to something which both parties can own. That is the complicated part in such a dramatic war. And here I believe Europeans and Americans working together, as we do much closer now, and I salute the team of President Trump of being open in that process. We had a good discussion on this today. And then we have to move on and we cannot lose time because this is too much drama happening. One thing is people losing their lives, but it is a bad thing for Europe and it's a bad thing for the world to having such a broad conflict going on. It can have ramifications far beyond Ukraine.
Speaker 12 (12:12):
[inaudible 00:12:12] Mr. President, if… I forgot my question now. I wanted to ask about [inaudible 00:12:21].
Speaker 1 (12:21):
It's all right. It happens to the best of us.
Speaker 12 (12:22):
It happens sometimes. Yeah. No, Mr. President, I wanted to ask about the… Oh, well, actually, Zelenskyy has said that he wants more Patriot missiles. So far there has been no response from the United States. If you as the United States decides to pull out of negotiating for peace, trying to go for peace, does that also mean a no on Patriot missiles, a no on sharing intelligence with Ukraine?
Speaker 1 (12:50):
Let's see what happens. I think we're going to make a deal. And if we make a deal, that'll be wonderful. We won't have to worry about your question. You can ask that question in two weeks and we'll see. But I think we're getting very close. The Prime Minister feels the same way and we'll hopefully not have to answer that question.
Speaker 5 (13:07):
Mr. President, Norway is the third country to be officially invited to the White House after Liberation Day. Why did you invite Norway so soon to the White House?
Speaker 1 (13:23):
Because I like them. And I like your Prime Minister. And I like the way your government runs. And I respect the King. He's highly respected in Norway. It's a great thing. Not an easy thing to do. He's done a great job. Yeah.
Speaker 5 (13:37):
Would you like an invitation to visit the King?
Speaker 1 (13:40):
Absolutely. You get me that invitation.
Speaker 2 (13:42):
I just told the President he's welcome to visit Norway.
Speaker 5 (13:44):
[inaudible 00:13:48].
Speaker 1 (13:47):
Yeah, please.
Speaker 5 (13:48):
You said before that you like the Norwegian petroleum fund, and I'm wondering if that has been up for discussion today, the way that we have structured our [inaudible 00:14:02].
Speaker 2 (14:01):
Well this fund was created in the late 1990s to save for future generations the income from oil and gas. Norwegians should continue to work as hard, dedicate, innovate, and move forward, despite having these incomes, which we happen to be in the period or history where we can harvest. And we have transferred that into investments, half of them, by the way, here in the United States. So I think this is a model which we have been able to explore. If we can share experiences, and we do with our colleagues in the US. You never copy this one-to-one, but there can be techniques and way of working that we have used in organizing our fund. Jens Stoltenberg was the finance minister when the first dollar entered that fund. So he's a safe hand to have as a finance minister today. What are you saying?
Speaker 9 (14:55):
No, and as you said, Mr. Prime minister, we are ready to sit down with the US to also work with them on if they want to establish a sovereign wealth fund, because we have a good experience with our fund. And I think that one example of how we work together with United States is that half of the fund, close to 1 trillion US dollars are invested in the United States, mainly in equity, but also some in fixed income, including government funds. This is an expression of trust in the United States expressed by the strong investment of the sovereign wealth fund. Then just briefly on Ukraine, since it was mentioned, we had a very good and extensive discussion about Ukraine.
(15:37)
The path forward to peace. And as the Prime Minister said, we commend the US for pushing forward to try to find a negotiated solution. At the same time, we need to continue to support Ukraine and therefore I'm proud that Norway has actually tripled the military support to Ukraine. And this year we will allocate close to 8 billion US dollars to Ukraine. That will strengthen them and also their hand on the negotiating table.
Speaker 2 (16:04):
If I may add to that, if there's a peace and there will be a peace, we have a common responsibility in securing democratic Ukraine for the future. And the best security guarantee they can have is the ability to defend themselves. And we are investing in that.
Speaker 12 (16:16):
Mr. Prime Minister, if I may-
Speaker 10 (16:19):
[inaudible 00:16:19] as it relates to tariffs, Mr. President, when you unveiled your reciprocal tariffs on April the second, the tariff rate for Norway was 15%. Based upon your conversations that you've had today with the Prime Minister, do you see that tariff rate coming down from what you proposed just a few weeks ago?
Speaker 1 (16:39):
Well, they have a great fund of $2 trillion. It's a big fund. And they don't have any debt. So I think they'd probably be willing to pay us more than that, I hope.
Speaker 13 (16:52):
[inaudible 00:16:51] Mr. President-
Speaker 1 (16:53):
Yes.
Speaker 13 (16:54):
…in 2018, your former Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo, called for an end to Russian occupation of Crimea. Why does this administration, why has this administration changed its stance on territorial concessions for Crimea?
Speaker 1 (17:06):
Well, the war started. It would've never started if I were president. This is a war that is horrible, horrible… All wars are horrible. This one is in particular bad. And I don't know that you can ever say there's going to be a winner to this because so many lives have been lost. Not only soldiers, a lot of lives have been lost. I think that we want to do one very simple thing. It would've never happened if I were president, zero chance it was going to. And it didn't. People say, "How do you know that?" Number one, it didn't happen. We never even discussed it. I would talk to Putin about it. It was the apple of his eye. Ukraine was the apple of Putin's eye. But there was never even a thought that he'd go in. And I think he understood that I would not be happy if he did.
(17:54)
And it was only when I got out. And when you mentioned what happened to Ukraine years ago under President Obama and a vice president that was also president later, unfortunately for this country, what happened is large chunks of land were given up and it was called Crimea. And that was a big thing. That was a big moment. But this isn't my war. This is Biden's war. This is a war that Biden was president when this war happened. But I'm trying to put out the fire. And I think we'll be successful. And if we do, we're going to save a lot of lives. Otherwise… And the Prime Minister had a statement. He said, "This is just a point in time." We're very lucky because this is a point… And if this doesn't happen, if this could go on for a long time,
Speaker 13 (18:43):
Mr. President, will you have meetings with other world leaders when you're in Rome, sir?
Speaker 14 (19:08):
[inaudible 00:19:08] future Democrat president?
Speaker 1 (19:08):
I don't think he will. I think he wants to make peace. I think he wants to end it. And I feel pretty confident of that. But we're going to know pretty soon.
Speaker 13 (19:08):
[inaudible 00:19:09] will you have meetings with other world leaders when you're in Rome?
Speaker 1 (19:09):
Yes, I will.
Speaker 13 (19:09):
Which leaders do you want to meet, sir?
Speaker 1 (19:09):
Well, I'd like to meet them all. That would be nice. I'd like to take care of all of them, but we have many of them there and they all want to meet. They want to meet about trade. And we are making some great inroads and great deals. You might want to speak about that, Mr. Secretary.
Speaker 15 (19:25):
We had a very successful bilateral meeting with Republic of South Korea today. We may be moving faster than I thought, and we will be talking technical terms as early as next week as we reach an agreement on understanding as soon as next week. So South Koreans came early, they came with their A game. And we will see if they follow through on that.
Speaker 16 (19:57):
[inaudible 00:19:52] do you think you deserve the Nobel Peace Prize if you manage to [inaudible 00:19:59].
Speaker 1 (19:58):
Do I deserve the Nobel-
Speaker 16 (19:58):
If you manage to create peace [inaudible 00:20:00].
Speaker 1 (19:59):
Well, maybe for the Abraham Accords. I don't want to get ahead of myself on this one. But they say for the Abraham Accords… And by the way, speaking of that, we're going to be filling it up. A lot of countries want to come into the Abraham Accords. We have four. And Biden did nothing on that one too. It's the same four. But they're great countries and they were brave doing it and it's worked out very well. And we're going to be filling up the Abraham Accords. They're going to be, I think filling it up, Marco, very rapidly. Marco, could you say something about that?
Speaker 11 (20:30):
There's great, enormous opportunity to grow the Abraham Accords. But I would just point to one thing, of all the leaders in the world today, no leader is working harder to prevent wars or end them than President Trump is right now. That's why we're talking to Iran. That's why we're engaged with Ukraine and Russia. It's the desire prevent these wars from breaking out and to end the ones that exist already. And again, I just think it's tremendous for our country to be led by a president who desires to bring peace and establish peace and protect peace. So it's hard work.
Speaker 1 (21:03):
Marco just mentioned something that maybe we should talk about for just a second, if we could, Mr. Prime Minister. And you're involved in it too because you've been involved in the world and peace. But I think we're doing very well with respect to Iran, and we're having very serious meetings. And there are only two options. And the one option is not a good option. It's not a good option at all. And I think we're doing very well on an agreement with Iran. But that one… We're doing a lot of things, I will say. But that one is well on its way. We could have a very, very good decision and a lot of lives will be saved.
Speaker X (21:46):
Mr. President [inaudible 00:21:47].
Speaker 1 (21:47):
Yeah, please.
Speaker 10 (21:49):
Mr. President, on the economy, there was a slowdown as it relates to home sales in the month of March. The slowest pace since 2009. Is that an economic indicator, and perhaps the Treasury Secretary can weigh in on this as well, is that an economic indicator that concerns you about the broader US [inaudible 00:22:06]?
Speaker 1 (22:06):
No, they had very good numbers on housing today. Extremely good numbers. And that's despite interest rates. Because if you look at what happened, everyone said, oh, I said I was going to get prices down. I did. Energy just hit $1.98 in a couple of states. It's way down. Energy's down, and we're about $64 a barrel. When I came in and we were looking at $89, $90, $95. And by the way, that helps us solve the war too. Having those energy prices is a big incentive for Russia to also agree with solving the war problem. Groceries are down. When I was with you two months ago, you were complaining about eggs. I said, I just got here. I've been here for… I was here for about a week when the press started saying about eggs have gone through the roof. I said, I just got here. Tell me about eggs.
(22:57)
And they have been. They went through the roof. And you couldn't get them. So we just had a big Easter egg hunt at the White House. Thousands and thousands of eggs, and the price was down 87%. So we did a great job. Housing is doing very well. We should lower interest rates. That's the Fed. I hope they lower interest rates. That's the smart thing to do. Be ahead a little bit, although already it's a little bit late. But in the end, we just have a great country. We have a very strong country and we have every other country… I can't think of one country that doesn't want to negotiate a deal. And they either negotiate a deal or we set a deal that we think is fair. Because we don't have to go through all of these… It would be physically impossible.
(23:41)
You have so many people that really understand it, which is a very small group of people here. And we are going to at some point just set prices for deals. Some will be tariffed. Some treated us very unfairly, they'll be tariffed higher than others. But we've been ripped off for many, many years. The United States has been ripped off like no country probably in the history of the world has been ripped off for 45, 50 years. And countries have gone rich by doing that with the United States. We've taken care of their militaries. And military is another subject we talk about. We're not going to make that subject to any of the deals. But you know, you know the same countries that I do where we virtually take care of their military and then don't get treated fairly on trade. So the people… And I don't blame those countries.
(24:30)
I blame the people that sat at that beautiful desk right behind you. Because those people didn't do the job for this country. And they let us lose $4 billion a day on trade. We were losing 4, 5 billion dollars a day on trade when I got here. And now we're going to be much better than breaking even. And we're going to be making 4 or 5 billion dollars a day on trade. But I don't blame any country, not the worst of them. And we were abused by countries. I blame the president of the United States that happened to be sitting when these deals were made. Disgraceful.
(25:08)
When I was here, we had a great four years. We had the most successful economy in the history of our country my first term. And we were very tough on trade. And with China, as you know, they paid hundreds of billions of dollars in tariffs. But nobody else ever did that. China paid not 10 cents to any other president. But not only China. Virtually every country got away with murder, and we just can't let that happen. Thank you very much everybody. Thank you very much. Appreciate it. Thank you very much.
Speaker 17 (25:44):
[inaudible 00:25:42] behind you. Thank you. Thanks everybody. Head out. Head out. Please start moving. Thank you. Thanks everybody. Thank you, press. Head out. Let's go. Thank you, thank you. Keep going.
Speaker 18 (26:16):
[inaudible 00:26:17] keep moving. Thank you.
Speaker 1 (26:16):
[inaudible 00:26:17] One little mistake, it's over.
Speaker 2 (26:16):
Yeah, yeah.
Speaker 1 (26:16):
[inaudible 00:26:17] One mistake. It's a dangerous business. One mistake, boom.
Speaker 19 (26:16):
I just wouldn't [inaudible 00:26:17].
Speaker 17 (26:16):
Thank you.
Speaker 1 (26:16):
Thank you very much.
Speaker 17 (26:16):
Thank you. No more photos. Thanks. Keep moving. We're done. Sir, we're done. [inaudible 00:26:17]. Thank you. [inaudible 00:26:19].
