Donald Trump (00:00):
You all set to go? This is-
Keir Starmer (00:09):
Ready when you are.
Donald Trump (00:10):
Okay, we're ready. We have the prime minister on the phone and we have a nice hookup. This looks like the kind of a hookup that's not going to be causing any problems, and your voice comes through beautifully here, so I just want to-
Keir Starmer (00:23):
Oh, that's good.
Donald Trump (00:24):
Yeah, it is. You sound great.
(00:25)
I just want to begin by saying that this is a very special day because it's Victory Day, World War II, May 8th, and just by happenstance we have the prime minister on the phone and we were great allies in that, and it's very unusual that the trade deal comes due, and we signed it up on the same day that we had a great victory, the greatest victory of them all.
(00:51)
So we are talking more and more about Victory Day because we were a big part of it and so was the UK. And it's just… I guess, I don't know what you'd call it. It's just incredible that that day is the same day that we signed a tremendous trade deal for both countries.
(01:11)
So I'm going to begin by just adding that we just concluded the rare earth deal with Ukraine, that's been fully ratified and approved by their legislative branches, so we appreciate that, and I'll be speaking with the president in a little while, a little bit later and we appreciate that. But the deal is all now signed up and ratified, and we have access to a massive amount of very, very high quality rare earth.
(01:42)
This morning I'm thrilled to announce that we have reached a breakthrough trade deal with the United Kingdom, incredible country. Today is a victory day for World War II. We won the war together exactly 80 years ago, so there could be no more perfect morning to reach this historic agreement, and it's beautiful weather out. I will tell you that Keir, beautiful weather, it's so perfect outside.
(02:07)
But it's really in particular the agreement with one of our closest and most cherished allies, and we're so happy that that's the way it worked out. I want to thank Prime Minister Starmer and his very talented team for their outstanding work and partnership. Today's agreement with the UK is the first in a series of agreements on trade that my administration has been negotiating over the past four weeks.
(02:35)
With this deal, the UK joins the United States in affirming that reciprocity and fairness is an essential and vital principle of international trade. The deal includes billions of dollars of increased market access for American exports, especially in agriculture, dramatically increasing access for American beef, ethanol, and virtually all of the products produced by our great farmers. And our secretary, as you know, of agriculture is here, Brooke, thank you very much being here.
Brooke Rollins (03:09):
Thank you, it's a good day. Thank you, sir.
Donald Trump (03:10):
You'll let the farmers know.
(03:12)
In addition, the UK will reduce or eliminate numerous non-tariff barriers that unfairly discriminated against American products, but this is now turning out, I think really to be a great deal for both countries, because it'll be really great for the UK also. So they're opening up the country. Their country is a little closed, and we appreciate that.
(03:35)
They'll also be fast-tracking American goods through their customs process. So our exports go to a very, very quick form of approval and there won't be any red tape. Things are going to move very quickly both ways. The final details are being written up, in the coming weeks we'll have it all very conclusive, but the actual deal is a very conclusive one. We think just about everything's been approved, it's so good for both countries, and we'll also receive new market access for American chemicals, machinery, and many other industrial products that weren't allowed. And they'll end up getting products that they'll be able to price. And if they like them better, and we make great products, they'll be buying those products, but they were not available in the UK.
(04:22)
Furthermore, in a historic step, the deal includes plans that will bring the United Kingdom into the economic security alignment with the United States. That's the first of its kind. So we have a big economic security blanket, and that's very important and we feel very, very comfortable with that because it's been a great ally, truly one of our great allies. I mean, a lot of people say our greatest ally. I don't want to insult people by saying that, but I can say it's certainly one of our greatest, and they're right at the top, and they're the first one we're talking about.
(04:55)
And by the way, we have many meetings planned today, and tomorrow, and every country wants to be making deals. And we have a meeting, as you know, Scott will be going over to Switzerland on Saturday, and that'll be very interesting. We'll find out. But I think they want to make a deal very badly too.
(05:14)
Both countries have agreed that the economic security is national security, and we'll be working together as allies to ensure that we have a strong industrial base, appropriate export controls, and protections for key technologies and industries like steel. Steel is a big factor. Both countries will become stronger with steel, and things necessary for military. We used to build ships and other things literally at a level that nobody's ever seen and we haven't… We've eased up, and I would say that the UK certainly eased up, but now we're going to be uneasing both, and we'll work together.
(05:49)
Once again, I want to thank Prime Minister Starmer. He's been terrific for his partnership in this matter. The special relationship and external bond, it's really an external and an internal bond between our two countries, will soon be stronger than ever before. And we really do, we have a great relationship. I want to just say that the representatives of UK have been so professional, and it's been an honor doing business with all of them and in particular the Prime Minister. And I'd like to introduce him now to say a few words. Mr. Prime Minister, please take it away.
Keir Starmer (06:24):
Thank you, Mr. President, Donald. And this is a really fantastic historic day in which we can announce this deal between our two great countries. And I think is a real tribute to the history that we have of working so closely together. Can I pay tribute, Donald, to your negotiating team as well, particularly Howard and Jamieson who've done an incredible job, a very professional job, and my team as well. The two negotiating teams have worked at pace now for a number of weeks to bring in this deal today, really important deal.
(07:02)
This is going to boost trade between and across our countries. It's going to not only protect jobs, but create jobs, opening market access. And as you say, Donald, the timing couldn't be more apt because not only was it 80 years ago today that victory came for Europe after, and at the end of the Second World War, but of course on that day, the UK and the U.S. stood together as the closest of allies.
(07:36)
And Donald, I think even down to the hour, because you may or may not know that it was about this time of day, exactly 80 years ago, that Winston Churchill announced victory in Europe. And that led to great celebrations across Europe, across America, but particularly in the United Kingdom, literally people going out into the street, putting bunting up, and going up to the palace. And so to be able to announce this great deal on the same day, 80 years forward, almost at the same hour, and as we were 80 years ago with the UK and the U.S. standing side-by-side, I think is incredibly important, and makes this truly historic.
(08:28)
That close relationship has endured over those 80 years. As you know Donald, when it comes to defense and security and intelligent sharing of course, there are no two countries that are closer than our two countries. And now we take this into new and important territory by adding trade in the economy to the closeness of our relationship. It is built as you say, on those notions of fairness and reciprocal arrangements. We've always had a fair and balanced arrangement between our countries. This builds on that.
(09:01)
Hugely important for sectors like car manufacturing, and for steel, and aluminum, and so many others. And yes, we can finish ironing out some of the details, but there's a fantastic platform here, including of course on the tech side, where I think I'm right in saying we're the only two Western countries with trillion dollar sectors when it comes to tech. And in the end it comes down to, as you say, Donald, economic security is national security.
(09:32)
On national security we've been absolutely the closest of allies for so many years, keeping the peace through that close alliance, that friendship. And now we add to that this deal on trade and the economy. And I want to thank you for your leadership on that, Donald, and for the way in which your team have negotiated this. And I'm so pleased that we've got this deal. We've finalized it, and we've built an incredible platform for the future.
(10:05)
So thank you so much, Donald. I'm now going to go and do a press conference. I think you have your press in with you, but on the details, I think if you've got Howard, we can deal with that through one of my team.
Donald Trump (10:22):
That's great. Well, Mr. Prime Minister, thank you very much. It's an honor. We're going to have a continued, maybe a better relationship than ever before. I don't know if the media knows, but the U.S. and UK have been working for years to try and make a deal, and it never quite got there.
Keir Starmer (10:40):
Yeah.
Donald Trump (10:40):
It did with this prime Minister. So I want to just congratulate you.
Keir Starmer (10:44):
Well with this prime minister we've managed to achieve what many people have tried to achieve for many years.
Donald Trump (10:49):
That's right.
Keir Starmer (10:50):
And I'm really pleased, and it feels completely historic and on a special 80-year anniversary as well. So Donald, thank you so much. It's really good to have got this deal over the line, tribute to both teams, tribute to our countries, and tribute to your leadership.
Donald Trump (11:07):
Thank you. Well, it really is a great thing. And you go do your press conference and I'll see you soon. Maybe speak to you later, but thank you very much. An incredible thing. I can't tell you that for so many years, even as I sat, everybody talked, and talked, and talked about a deal with, it just seemed like a natural deal, but it was not done. But now it was done with us. So I feel very proud to have been a part of it. Keir, thank you very much.
Keir Starmer (11:33):
Thanks Donald. And we'll speak again soon.
Donald Trump (11:35):
Very good. So long. Bye.
(11:40)
That's really nice. Why don't I do this, why don't I have our Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick, give a little description of the deal pretty quick, and then the good side, the very nice side, we'll be speaking about it also maybe from… so you get pretty equal. I think it's a very… It's just been a deal that was, we thought very complicated. It became very simple. It's opening up the country that we really didn't have the kind of access to that I would've thought; I was surprised. I think it's why the deal never got done before. They've been working on this deal for 25 years and we got it done and we got it done.
(12:23)
Really, it's going to be great for both countries. So Howard, if you could go, and then somebody else. You may have… You'll pick whoever you want. Who'd like to do it? I have a feeling you're going to do it, right?
(12:35)
So you guys go ahead and then we'll take questions right after that. But I think you'll get a pretty good understanding of how big it is. It's a very large deal. Very big deal. And Howard, go ahead.
Howard Lutnick (12:46):
So the UK is the sixth-largest economy in the world and the fourth-largest that we export to. So it's a huge market, a top 10 market. If you remember Liberation Day, they were at 10% because we have balanced trade with the UK. They say they have a surplus, but of course that counts gold bullion, which is… So let's just call it balanced trade. So how do you open up a market in balanced trade? People think it's impossible. They've always thought it was impossible until President Trump came on the scene and changed the way things work.
(13:22)
So here's what we've got. We've opened up new market access, ethanol, beef, machinery, all the agricultural products they've agreed to open their markets, and that will add $5 billion of opportunity to American exporters. So the question is why would they do that now, because they've never done it before? And we still have our 10% tariff on, which will produce $6 billion of revenue for the United States.
(13:51)
So the idea was how did they keep their jobs, protect their economy, and do the best for their people while opening the market for us? And the ways they studied it, their team was exceptional, and they tried to figure out the markets that they're importing from other people and try to send them over to America. So why were they always favoring others and not us? And what they've done is they've found the ways to do that so that we have new access, but the UK workers are protected. And that was the balance.
(14:24)
So we did a deal with them in automobiles, and you know if you're not building here, we charge you a 25% tariff. But the president, and by the way, I want to make this clear, while Jamieson and I worked hard, this was the president's deal. And people think, "Oh, that's not the way it works." If you got to sit next to him, I have the best deal-maker to my left. And if you don't think that we take advantage of him calling the Prime Minister, and getting that deal done, you don't understand who's the President of the United States.
(14:53)
So he's the closer he gets deals done that we could never get done because he understands business, he understands deals, and that's why we're here today.
(15:03)
So he agreed they could send 100,000 cars into America and only pay a 10% tariff. And that protects their car industry. And remember, we do 16 million cars a year, so this is only like 0.6%, but for the UK auto people, this is tens of thousands of jobs that the president agreed that he would protect for them. So he made that deal, right?
(15:30)
Then steel and aluminum, their steel business has been destroyed like everybody else has been destroyed by people dumping steel into their markets. And British Steel had announced it was closing down. So the British government as part of this deal, nationalized British Steel and they're going to match the kinds of models we do. They'll put tariffs on, they'll put quotas on, they want to do it with America so they can be part of the resurgence of steel and aluminum in America. And that saves them, again, thousands and thousands of jobs.
(16:03)
So if you go step-by-step, aero and commercial planes, they sell Rolls-Royce engines to Boeing. We've agreed to let Rolls-Royce engines and those kind of plane parts to come over tariff-free. And what you're going to hear today is there's going to be an announcement that the UK, that they are buying $10 billion worth of Boeing planes later today. But I'm going to let the name of the airline announce it, because that's theirs to do it.
(16:32)
Part of this deal was always to do it together and to do it strong. And you can see the numbers on this board. Everything about this board works exceptionally well for the United States of America. It lays out the plan that you can work with us in autos, you can work with us with aero and commercial, you can work with us in pharmaceuticals if you have a supply chain that is secure and protected in national security.
(16:56)
So we feel really good about the deal. You've heard the prime minister, he
Howard Lutnick (17:00):
He feels really good about the deal, right? And we started at 10%, and we ended at 10%, and the market for America is better, and this is a perfect example of why Donald Trump produced Liberation Day. People don't understand he gets things done in a matter of time. This would've taken Jamieson and I three years, maybe. And instead, we got it done in 45 days, certainly because we work for Donald Trump. So Jamieson, my partner in all this, maybe, Jamieson, you'd like to talk a little, and then we'll turn it over to the UK.
Jamieson Greer (17:33):
Sure. Happy to do that. Everyone had great remarks. I just have to echo the president and the prime minister. When we talk about VE Day, this is something we've been waiting for for decades, and there is no more appropriate day to do this. And when we step back and we look back a few weeks from now, or months from now, or years from now, we're going to look back at this day and better appreciate the significance, I think.
(17:56)
And I'll just say as well in terms of negotiating, I mean, the UK negotiators, we've got one right here, did an incredible job, right? This is why you win wars, right, when you act like this? And the ambassador, he knows more about trade than a lot of us here based on his background.
(18:12)
And I would say on this deal, Mr. President, what we've shown is that it is time to change the way we do trade. People said we couldn't do a global tariff, we did a global tariff. They said no one would want to deal with us, people want to deal. They said no one would give offers. You saw that stack of offers I showed you yesterday of all those countries. Said we wouldn't get deals, and here we are with a deal with the sixth-largest economy. We've agreed to have fair and reciprocal trade, and we've done it in record time.
Donald Trump (18:40):
Thank you very much.
Jamieson Greer (18:40):
Thank you, sir.
Donald Trump (18:40):
Great job.
Jamieson Greer (18:40):
Thank you, sir.
Donald Trump (18:40):
Mr. Ambassador, please.
Peter Mandelson (18:42):
Well, Mr. President, thank you very much indeed in hosting us this morning, and thank you very much indeed also for that very typical eleventh-hour intervention by you with your phone call to the president demanding even more out of this deal than any of us expected. So, thank you for that. The prime minister was delighted, obviously, to take that call late at night, but you took it to another level. And I think the point I would make is twofold.
(19:15)
One is that if we're going to rebalance and rebuild international trade in a way that serves all our interests, then we're better doing that to together than separately and apart, and that's what we're on a mission to do. But secondly, you've done what you said you would do. You said to the prime minister when he came and we visited in the Oval, that you would do a good trade deal with the United Kingdom, that you would do it at pace, and that we would be first. And you have delivered that. You've been true to your word. So thank you very much, indeed, for that.
(19:59)
For us, it's not the end. It's the end just of the beginning. There is yet more we can do in reducing tariffs and trade barriers so as to open up our markets to each other, even more than we are agreeing to do today, but it also provides us with the platform, the springboard to do what I think will be even more valuable for both our countries in the future, and that's creating a technology partnership between the United States and the United Kingdom so that we can harness science and technology in order to create future industries and future jobs, and to do that together in the way we work so closely already in the national security and defense area. We can just take that to yet further areas of science, enterprise, and endeavor.
(20:58)
So, we're looking forward to doing that in the coming months. You've launched us extremely well today. It just, in my view, as the prime minister has said, just shows what two countries who trust each other, who are confident in each other, and are familiar with each other can do not just for ourselves, but for those in the rest of the world who need to benefit from a bigger and better international trading system.
Donald Trump (21:30):
Thank you very much. That was beautifully stated. What a beautiful accent too. I'd like to have that accent. Thank you.
Peter Mandelson (21:36):
My mother would be proud.
Donald Trump (21:38):
Thank you very much. Any questions?
Reporters (21:40):
Mr. President?
(21:40)
Mr. President?
Speaker 3 (21:40):
James [inaudible 00:21:41] from The Time News.
Donald Trump (21:41):
Yes.
Speaker 3 (21:47):
Can I ask why Britain and why now? And you've described this deal as a full and comprehensive deal, and yet we've just heard from Mr. Mandelson, "It's the end of the beginning." Clearly, there's much more work still to do. With respect, are you overstating the reach and significance of this deal because you're a president who needs a result at a difficult time?
Donald Trump (22:06):
I think that it's a great deal for both parties. It's for us, we're opened up. I didn't know how closed it was, quite closed, the market, as you know, the UK, and it opens up a tremendous market for us and it works out very well, very well. And a lot of assets. You see the chart and those are tremendous assets.
(22:28)
But we've been trying, and when you say, "Why us," meaning your country, we've been trying for years and they've been trying for years to make a deal, including when I was in the first term. It would always be people talking, but they weren't getting it done. But for 25 years before that, they were trying always to make a deal, a very significant deal.
(22:50)
I, actually, until I looked at the numbers, I didn't realize this is a very conclusive deal, but we think we can grow it even from that. But this is a maxed-out deal, not like you said it. You said it really incorrectly. This is a maxed-out deal that we're going to make bigger, and we make it bigger through growth, but we have tremendous assets involved.
(23:13)
I was surprised to see how big your country is in trade, actually. One of the biggest in technology and so many other things. It's agriculture. I really didn't know. Depending on your definition, it's from four to five to six, that's pretty big in the world. So, I was very impressed by that. But we're going to take it to new levels.
(23:34)
It's a very big deal right now, but I think it is going to grow. Just of its own volition, it's going to grow. And over time, there'll be changes made, there'll be adjustments made because we're flexible, we'll see things that we can do even better, but it's very conclusive and we think everyone's going to be happy, and the people of your country are going to be very impressed with the result and they'll be able to buy from more people. They'll be able to price things differently. They'll be able to get some products that aren't available to them now that we make better than anybody in the world.
(24:10)
And it's just something that it's a great thing that it came together. It's so nice because we have many countries want to make a deal and many countries are very unhappy that we happen to choose this one, to be honest with you. But it's long time, our oldest ally or just about, I guess a couple of people claim that too, but let's put it right at the top. I think it's going to be something very special for the UK and special for the United States.
Reporters (24:44):
Mr. President?
(24:44)
[inaudible 00:24:45]
Donald Trump (24:44):
Yeah, please.
Reagan Reese (24:44):
Thank you, Mr. President. Reagan Reese with The Daily Caller. How close are you to more deals and when do you expect the next to be announced?
Donald Trump (24:50):
Well, very close. We have numerous deals. I know Howard's going back as soon as this is finished, your press conference. He's got numerous.
(24:57)
And Scott, who's right over here, who's fantastic, by the way, you were great on television this morning. I watched you. That was very good. He gave them a little lesson in the world and economics. But Scott's going to be going to Switzerland, meeting with China, and they very much want to make a deal. We can all play games. Who made the first call? Who didn't make the… It doesn't matter. It only matters what happens in that room. But I will tell you that China very much wants to make a deal. We'll see how that works out.
(25:29)
Every country throughout the last 40, 50 years has literally ripped off the United States on trade, on military, on protection, on all the different things. And we are now making fair deals. And in this case, it's great because we really weren't very much involved. You have the European Union, which is… I think you made the right decision years ago. I don't know if you remember, I was opening up Turnberry the day that you were voting, and they asked me, "Would it happen or would it not happen?" I said, "No, I think they're going to go their own separate way. I think it's better for them." And they did. I think it's going to end up being a very smart decision.
(26:05)
But a big part of that decision was always that you'd be able to make a deal with the United States and they were unable to do that, but now they made it, and it's a tremendous… It's very important. That was always a big part of your decision on Brexit and they were never able to make that deal. It was a tough one.
(26:26)
And this one was… It's amazing with time. This one just went very smoothly, went quickly and smoothly, and a lot of common sense, as I like to say. It's tremendous common sense, but it's going to make your country much bigger in terms of trade and it's going to make our country much bigger in terms of trade too. Yes?
Reporters (26:42):
Mr. President?
(26:42)
M. President?
Daniele Compatangelo (26:45):
Thank you for the-
Tom Bateman (26:45):
Tom-
Donald Trump (26:45):
No, behind you.
Daniele Compatangelo (26:46):
Oh, go ahead.
Tom Bateman (26:47):
Tom Bateman at the BBC. Thank you. Mr. President. You mentioned meat-
Donald Trump (26:51):
You're with who?
Tom Bateman (26:51):
The BBC.
Donald Trump (26:52):
Oh, good. Very nice. They treat me beautifully.
Tom Bateman (26:54):
You mentioned meat and beef exports. The UK currently doesn't accept American beef because of its own food standards. Are you calling on the UK to accept all American beef and chicken products?
Donald Trump (27:12):
Well, I think they'll take what they want. We have plenty of it. We have every type, we have every classification you can have. As you know, Bobby Kennedy is doing a tremendous job and he's, I think, probably heading toward your system with no chemical, no this, no that. I think we're heading that way. It seems to be. But we have that also, so we have… We're very big country. We have a lot of beef. We're a very big country.
Brooke Rollins (27:41):
Sir, may I? Sir?
Donald Trump (27:41):
So, it'll be great. Yes. Yes?
Brooke Rollins (27:43):
Do you want me to jump in?
Donald Trump (27:44):
Yes, please.
Brooke Rollins (27:44):
Let's talk about American beef really quickly and it can't be understated, I'm Brooke Rollins, by the way, how important this deal is and what this means to American farmers and ranchers. Specific to the beef, this is going to exponentially increase our beef exports. And to be very clear, American beef is the safest, the best quality, and the crown jewel of American agriculture for the world.
(28:07)
So I think a really important part of this deal isn't just the ethanol-reducing of tariffs from 19 to 0, which for our rowcroppers is a huge deal, but also for beef. And as we move forward, I know our incredible trade team is looking at all of the meats, all of the produce, really all of our agriculture exports. And I don't know if there's an industry that has been treated more unfairly and has suffered more than our agriculture industry.
(28:30)
So we look forward to, I'll be in the UK on Monday talking to my counterpart over there, really, for the next week, and look forward to moving that out across the country. The president is an incredible defender of American-
Donald Trump (28:41):
I think we could say that we have the best in the world, best tractors, the best everything in the world. And they say that our agriculture is second to none. You understand. And it'll be a great asset. People are going to be able to have options, choice, and they'll have more of it, and that usually means lower prices.
(28:58)
How about we'll do you and then you? Go ahead.
Daniele Compatangelo (29:01):
A question for the Italian TV. Daniele Compatangelo, La7, Tv2000, prime time media. So, congratulations for the deal. We see a big revenues from the chart, but what's the rest of Europe? It's a victory day, but other European countries, it seems like they're losing the train.
Donald Trump (29:16):
Well, we intend to make a deal with Europe. We have found that the European Union treated us extremely unfairly. They're very difficult and hurt themselves in doing so, and they very much want to make a deal. We'll be dealing with them. We are dealing with them currently. So, that'll cover pretty much the rest of it. But this was separate because of Brexit in particular. This was a separate deal.
(29:40)
It always seemed so natural. I mean, all the media would say that this seemed to be like, "Why didn't this happen 25 years? Why didn't it happen a long time ago?" And it was always amazing to me. Somebody would say, "Hey, we got to make a deal. We have to make a deal," but this deal just fell into place. The prime minister did a fantastic job. His representatives are total professionals and they got along well and it just seemed to work.
(30:03)
And I think one of the reasons it did is because we blew up the whole system. If we would've just been dealing with you separately or country by country, but we blew up the whole system. It was very unfair to the United States. And I think because of that, this worked out so nicely and I'm honored that it was the first deal.
(30:23)
Please?
Speaker 2 (30:23):
Sir, you mentioned-
Donald Trump (30:25):
Well, why don't you go in the back. Yes.
Speaker 1 (30:26):
Oh, thank you, sir. I'm with the London Times. I would say this is a great day for James Bond because now Aston Martins will be available to America.
Donald Trump (30:34):
That's true. That's true.
Brooke Rollins (30:34):
Well said.
Speaker 1 (30:35):
Well, would it be even better by extending it to film? You've talked about a big tariff on films and we'd like to know if there'd be relief on British film.
Donald Trump (30:43):
We're going to have a discussion on that separately. And as you know, we're putting tariffs on that particular, film, he said, the moviemakers, and we're going to be doing some tariffs to get them because a lot of them have left this country. They all live here, the money comes from here, everything comes from here, but they make them in other countries. So we're going to do something to bring them back maybe to a large extent.
(31:09)
But James Bond has nothing to worry about. That, I can tell you. James Bond. And you know, Sean Connery was a friend of mine. Sean Connery was responsible for my getting zoning in Aberdeen. He said, "Let the bloody bloke build his golf courses." I was like four years into the process and it was impossible in Aberdeen. And he, I don't know, he just stood up one day and he said that. As soon as he said that, I got the approvals in about two minutes. So he was a great guy, Sean Connery, and a great character there.
Speaker 1 (31:42):
Will you share if you're going back there later in the year? Are you going back to-
Donald Trump (31:42):
Say it again.
Speaker 1 (31:42):
Are you going to Scotland and to the UK later-
Donald Trump (31:45):
Yeah, I will be, sure. It's great. And we have a lot of investment over there. We have Turnberry, Aberdeen. We have, as you know, in Doonbeg in Ireland right on the ocean. They're all on the ocean. I only have interest if they're on the ocean. And we have good investments over there. Beautiful.
(32:01)
Yes?
Speaker 2 (32:01):
Mr. President, if the talks go well this weekend between Secretary Bessent and Ambassador Greer with their Chinese counterparts, not preemptively, but if the talks go well, would you then consider lowering the tariff rate on China?
Donald Trump (32:13):
Well, it could be. I mean, we're going to see. Right now, you can't get any higher. It's at 145, so we know it's coming down. I think we're going to have a very good relationship. I always got along very well with President Xi. That relationship was greatly disturbed by COVID when COVID came in, but we get along very well now. I mean, the relationship was hurt with a lot of people, a lot of countries, when COVID came in. But I think we're going to have a very good relationship.
(32:40)
I expect to have a very good relationship with China, Scott. I think it's a very friendly meeting. They look forward to doing it in an elegant way. China, as you know, has a tremendous trade surplus with us, and we just can't have that. But I think it's going to be very good for both countries.
(33:01)
I would like to see China opened. You know, one of the big things here is, and nobody would know this, but the UK was largely closed. It was very much closed to trade, and now it's opened. And a lot of the financial reporters are very happy about that because so much… I would listen to them, "Oh, I hope they get countries opened up." And then you compete on a fair basis, but you can't compete when you're not allowed to go there.
(33:26)
China would be the number-one example of that. It's very closed. We almost had it last time before COVID, and that didn't work out, but we made a great deal with China. They had to buy $50 billion worth of our food products. And it was a great deal, doing very well for our farmers. And then when Biden came in, as usual, nothing happened. He didn't enforce it and it got less, less, less. And ultimately, it destroyed a great deal. That was a great deal.
(33:52)
But no, I think we're going to have a good weekend with China. I think they have a lot to gain. I do think they have
Donald Trump (34:00):
Far more to gain than we do in a sense, but we're going to have a good… I think we're going to have a very good weekend.
Speaker 4 (34:08):
Will you speak to Xi after the weekend talks?
Donald Trump (34:08):
I might. Yeah, sure. Depending on what Scott says, we sort of… Scott is doing certain countries and Howard is doing certain countries. I mean I wish I had 10 more of each, then we could do them all at one time. But there will be a time, we'll do a number of them and then there'll be a time, I think I can say this Scott and Howard, where we're just going to say, we understand the countries, we understand what they want, where we're just going to make the deal. In other words, we don't need the country involvement because we've already had it. And we'll say this particular country which had big surpluses, let's say we had therefore deficits, that this particular country is going to pay a 25% tariff or 30% or a 50% or 10% or whatever it may be.
(34:55)
This was, I think we should explain it Howard. One of the things we did here that we'll rarely do is on cars. We took it from 25 to 10 on Rolls-Royce because Rolls-Royce is not going to be built here. I wouldn't even ask them to do that, it's a very special car and it's a very limited number too. It's not one of the monster car companies that makes millions of cars, they make a very small number of cars that are super luxury and that includes Bentley and Jaguar. So we have some very special cars. So in order to help that industry… And that's really handmade stuff, and they've been doing it for a long time in the same location. And I said, "Yeah, that would be… Let's help them out with that one."
(35:41)
But that's different than a car company that comes out and makes millions of cars, which they'll be doing in our country. They're going to build… We have many, many factories, car plants being built or going to be built very soon. I think we can say that we'll be close to $10 trillion of investment. I think we're actually at that number now if you add up some of the ones we haven't heard about yet. I mean, we have some going up right now. They have plants going up and they haven't even spoken to us. They're doing it because of the tariffs and tariffs have always been used against us, and I never understood. I used to sit back as China paid hundreds of billions of dollars in tariffs when I was president. But until then, China never paid anything and they really did a big number on us from the standpoint of trade.
(36:31)
But we are using tariffs now for our benefit, and we have now close to $10 trillion, just think of that 10 trillion. If you look at the past administration, and we're talking about over essentially two months because we could say three, but it took a little while to get the office in perfect shape. It took a little while to get things done, but once we started, when you think of that, close to $10 trillion of investment. You've had years where the United States wouldn't do that in a whole… Wouldn't do one trillion in a year, wouldn't do anywhere near one trillion. We did 10 trillion in two months. So it's amazing what's happening. We're getting calls from… And that has to do with chips. Has to do with cars. We used to make chips, we had Intel and we used to make chips. We had a monopoly on chips. Everything was made here. And now over a period of years because of presidents that didn't know what they were doing, they allowed that business to be stolen from us. Most of it moved to Taiwan.
(37:32)
And you probably were in the same position, you had a lot of the chip-making capacity, but they moved it in. And if we would've said, "That's fine. If you want to move it to Taiwan, that's good, but if you want to sell back into the United States, we're going to put a 50% or 100% tariff on," they would've never left. But we had people sitting here that didn't understand that and it's too bad. But now they're coming back because I'm saying it about 40 years too late. But they're coming back as we have the biggest chip makers in the world spending in one case, 300 billion, in one case, 500 billion, same as Apple, and in another case, 200 billion. And we're going to have a large share, a very, very substantial share of the chip-making market.
Group (38:15):
[inaudible 00:38:17].
Speaker 5 (38:18):
This weekend, [inaudible 00:38:19] it's going to be a friendly visit, but do you expect that it will just be a formality to break the ice or are they going to get into substantive negotiation?
Donald Trump (38:28):
I believe so, yes. I believe it's substantive, yes. I think we would like to say, "Yes, we're having a meeting to meet." Well, we're meeting, so what are we going to do? Talk about meeting again. So I think it's going to be substantive. I think we can say that, right, Scott? Very substantive. Now, China wants to do something and look, they have to at this point, essentially they made a trillion dollars a year and now they have absolutely no business because of the tariffs, they have no business and they want to have business. And we want them to have business, we want them to do well. We want them to do very well. So I think it's going to be very substantive.
Group (39:05):
[inaudible 00:39:08].
Speaker 10 (39:07):
Because business has slowed down, as you mentioned, we're seeing-
Donald Trump (39:10):
In China.
Speaker 10 (39:11):
But we're seeing as a result, the ports here in the US, the traffic has really slowed-
Donald Trump (39:17):
That's good.
Speaker 10 (39:17):
And now thousands of dock workers and truck drivers are worried about their jobs.
Donald Trump (39:21):
Yeah, that means we lose less money when I see that. That means we lose less money. Look, China making over a trillion, 1.1 trillion in my opinion, different numbers from 500 billion to a trillion or… I think it was 1.1 trillion. And frankly, if we didn't do business, we would've been better off. Okay, you understand that. So when you're saying it slowed down, that's a good thing, not a bad thing, but we're going to make it so they can… I'd like to say they can do better actually. In terms of the bottom line. We'd like to see China opened up so we can compete in China and give people something that they've never had, access to something that'd be great for the world, it would be great for our businesses, and I think it would be great for friendship.
(40:04)
I really expect a lot of people think I'm a militant guy, I'm really not. I think that trade can bring a greater friendship with China. It can be something good. But one of the things that I know Scott's going to be talking about very high on the list is, open up and let our businesses go into China. Because when you talk about a closed country, that's a really closed country. And I think it would be great if it was opened up. It'd give people a lot of choice and would create a lot of jobs, a lot of everything. So I think it would be a great thing for China. And that's going to be one of the things we'll be discussing like we discussed with UK.
Group (40:39):
[inaudible 00:40:40].
Speaker 11 (40:39):
Will you ask China-
Donald Trump (40:42):
Yeah, Please.
Speaker 12 (40:44):
What does Britain have to do for you to drop the baseline 10% tariff that you're already taking?
Donald Trump (40:49):
Well, I think that's set because that has to do with a lot of different things, including past. There are a lot of past things that we talked… This is very inclusive. We included everything. And that's pretty well said. Yeah, please.
Speaker 13 (41:02):
Yeah. Mr. President, the 10% baseline tariff remain in place. Is that a template for these future trade deals?
Donald Trump (41:08):
No.
Speaker 13 (41:08):
You say you're going to keep it here.
Donald Trump (41:08):
No.
Speaker 13 (41:08):
Is it going to stay in every case?
Donald Trump (41:10):
No, that's a low number. They made a good deal. Many, some will be much higher because they have massive trade surpluses and in many cases they didn't treat us right. One thing with UK, they had a somewhat close, not like a China as an example, but they always treated us with great respect. They treated us with great respect. The template of 10 is probably the lowest, and therefore they made that deal. But we've had just a very special relationship with them. I won't do that deal with cars. I mean, unless somebody shows me that there's another kind of a car that's comparable to a Rolls-Royce and there aren't too many… This is a good commercial for Rolls-Royce, by the way. They're going to order a lot of cars.
Peter Mandelson (42:01):
Mr. president. I wonder whether you'd like to buy?
Donald Trump (42:06):
Well, the last time this happened, I ended up-
Peter Mandelson (42:09):
I would be happy to suggest a discount, obviously a very modest discount. We have to protect our profit margins.
Donald Trump (42:15):
[inaudible 00:42:14]. I've had many of them, actually.
Group (42:16):
[inaudible 00:42:18].
Donald Trump (42:18):
The last time that happened, I ended up buying a Tesla.
Group (42:20):
[inaudible 00:42:21].
Donald Trump (42:20):
Go ahead. Go ahead.
Group (42:20):
[inaudible 00:42:25].
Mary Margaret Olohan (42:26):
Thank you, Mary Margaret Olohan with The Daily Wire. I have a question about the UK deal today. I heard there was talk that part of the agreement would depend on whether the UK would respect free speech and freedom of religion. I know the VP is really interested in that and talked about that earlier this year. Was there any assurances that you guys got on that front?
Donald Trump (42:43):
You want to handle that?
Howard Lutnick (42:44):
Yeah, that was not part of the conversation. Our conversation was an economic conversation from start to finish, closed by the president yesterday. This was a business deal, open their markets and also protect their workers, grow our markets and help our workers.
Donald Trump (43:03):
This was about business religion. Businesses is sort of a semi-religion, but not nearly as important. I don't want to get myself into [inaudible 00:43:13].
Group (43:16):
Mr. President. [inaudible 00:43:17].
Donald Trump (43:16):
Go ahead. In the back.
Speaker 6 (43:17):
Mr. President, will you be asking China to help you close the gap between Ukraine and Russia?
Donald Trump (43:24):
I think so, yeah. I think it's a natural thing to ask.
Speaker 6 (43:26):
What do you expect them to do?
Donald Trump (43:28):
Sure, I don't know. I think we're making good progress, the fighting is a little bit different than it was. I think if we weren't involved, Russia would be going at it to maybe get the whole thing. Without our involvement, they'd be able to get it because we supplied a lot of different things, foolishly. But we've been sort of paid back by doing the rare earth deal that I talked about before.
(43:52)
No, I think that we will be very much involved in trying to get that bloodbath… It's a bloodbath. It's a horrible situation. 5,000, it's really more than that, but it's 5,000 soldiers on average a week, mostly soldiers that are being killed. Young, beautiful people. I mean, they're being killed. I see the satellite pictures coming back, body parts lying all over a field's, heads and arms. It's so terrible. I've never seen anything like it actually. And if we can get that stopped, that will be a great accomplishment. And we're trying very hard and I think we're close. And Mr. Witkoff is talking constantly back and forth. He's a real professional. He's got a great relationship with both countries, and I think we have a good chance. And likewise, we're trying to work on Iran to get that solved without having to get into any bombing, as we say, big bombing. I don't want to do that. I want them to work a deal. I want them to be very successful.
Group (44:47):
Mr. President. [inaudible 00:44:51].
Edward Lawrence (44:52):
Thank you, Mr. President. Edward Lawrence from Fox Business. On the non-market barriers, how did you get the UK to bend and what was the 11th hour deal or ask?
Donald Trump (44:58):
Well, I think it was really just a part of the overall. I mean, they have so many things that are so good for them, it's going to be so good for the country, and that was sort of easy, it wasn't… We had non-market, I call it, non-market or non-monetary trade barriers, and we had quite a few of them, not nearly as bad as some countries. Some countries, they have virtually no tariff, but the rest of it is so brutal you can't do business with them. So it's a very important question, actually. No, I think the overall deal just worked out very well from their standpoint. They were willing to give that in order to get other things. And you might want to speak to that, Mr. Ambassador.
Peter Mandelson (45:35):
Look, the point about the deal is that we will continue reducing tariffs and non-tariff barriers. This is a continuing picture. It's a movie. It's not a still picture here. It's a movie, it continues. And we are both committed to freeing up trade between our countries. We're both committed to freeing up investment between our countries. And the point about this deal is that it provides a very good template and a very good launch pad for what we can continue to do and build on in the future, and that's what we're both determined to do.
Group (46:18):
[inaudible 00:46:20].
Donald Trump (46:20):
Many of… [inaudible 00:46:20]. Well, I better not say. Many of these-
Peter Mandelson (46:25):
That's between us.
Donald Trump (46:27):
We'll keep it confidential. How about just one more little thing, right? Well, it got the deal closed and it was handled very well from the other side too. But many of these things that we're talking about, we've been talking about this for 25 years. It's hard to explain when, if you weren't sitting behind this beautiful Resolute Desk, you just wouldn't get it. I have been hearing about making a deal with the UK for 25 years, and especially around the time of Brexit. They wanted to make a deal, so they came out of Brexit and they make a deal and how natural, and it just couldn't be done. It couldn't be done. Good people. And this is a bigger deal. This is a much bigger, better, stronger deal for both of us than we ever even contemplated before, it's a big deal.
Peter Mandelson (47:16):
Virtually everyone said that it would end in failure, it would end in tears, and it's ended in exactly the opposite. But Mr. President, can I say that that is due to Secretary Lutnick and Ambassador Greer have been absolutely fantastic. But yesterday I received a call, a very diplomatic call that just edged things over the line and that was from your new ambassador in the United Kingdom.
Donald Trump (47:42):
Who is terrific, by the way.
Peter Mandelson (47:43):
Warren Stephens, he's here.
Donald Trump (47:44):
Where is Warren?
Howard Lutnick (47:45):
Right over here, sir.
Donald Trump (47:45):
Hello, Warren.
Warren Stephens (47:47):
How are you, sir? Nice to meet you.
Peter Mandelson (47:48):
He's flying to London tomorrow night. He's going to be very popular with the British people. He's going to be a very successful ambassador.
Group (47:55):
[inaudible 00:47:58].
Donald Trump (48:01):
And, and-
Speaker 7 (48:01):
Were you disappointed-
Donald Trump (48:02):
And he's got plenty of cash. That guy has plenty of cash.
Group (48:04):
[inaudible 00:48:04].
Peter Mandelson (48:04):
We need some more big spenders.
Group (48:04):
[inaudible 00:48:04].
Speaker 8 (48:04):
Are you planning to meet Ursula von der Leyen?
Donald Trump (48:16):
Go ahead, fast.
Speaker 8 (48:18):
Are you planning to meet Ursula von der Leyen, the president of the European Commission anytime soon?
Donald Trump (48:25):
Oh, she's so fantastic. She's so fantastic. I hope we're going to meet. The answer is yes.
Group (48:28):
[inaudible 00:48:30].
Donald Trump (48:29):
Actually, I saw her a few days ago.
Speaker 14 (48:31):
How much, [inaudible 00:48:32]-
Donald Trump (48:32):
And I think that we'll definitely meet, yeah. The European Union is a big thing. They want to make a deal very badly. Everybody wants to make a deal. Look, everybody wants to make a deal with the United States, and we're doing that and we're going to make fair deals. I'm just honored that this was the first one. Go ahead, please.
Speaker 9 (48:48):
The Federal Reserve Chairman, Mr. President says, that you would have to call him for a meeting. Do you plan to meet with him?
Donald Trump (48:56):
[inaudible 00:48:57].
Speaker 9 (48:56):
What do you think about-
Donald Trump (48:57):
It's like talking to a wall? He should be-
Speaker 9 (48:59):
What do you think about the Bank of England cut today?
Donald Trump (49:03):
Well, the Bank of England cut, China cut, everybody's cutting but him. I don't know. We'll see what happens. It's a shame. I call him too late, too late Powell, that's his nickname. And it's a shame. It's ridiculous. So meeting, he's always too late. But in this case, it's not going to matter that much because our country is so strong, we're so powerful in terms of economic strength and what we've done. And I'll tell you what, if we didn't have our first term, you wouldn't be… We created things in the first term. We cut more regulations than any president in history. We cut the taxes more than anybody in history.
(49:44)
And a very big factor is going to be the tax bill that we have right now. The one big beautiful bill, as we call it, which is all-encompassing. The biggest tax cuts ever in history, bigger than even the first time. And the incentives, even great for the UK because it'll make us so strong that we're going to be doing more business with you. It's a very important element for taxes, for every aspect, regulation cuts. That Bill is… I believe it's the biggest bill of its kind ever in the history of this country.
(50:15)
And Speaker Johnson and Leader Thune have done an incredible job. I mean, I'll let you know, we have to get a vote, but we have a lot of support for that bill. And if that happens on top of all of these trade deals that we're doing, this country will hit a point that you better go out and buy stock now, let me tell you. This country will be like a rocket ship that goes straight up. This is going to be numbers that nobody's ever seen before. That's a very important element of all of this. If we get that… If you don't… And the Democrats are fighting it only because they want to fight, they have Trump derangement syndrome. If it was somebody else, they wouldn't fight. If you had a normal person, you had some stiff sitting
Donald Trump (51:00):
… sitting behind you, they'd be fine. But they have Trump derangement syndrome. Senator Schumer has become a Palestinian. He's welcome. I don't know when they're going to give him the ceremony, whatever the ceremony may be, but it's terrible what's happened to the Democrats. So very, very important element of everything, of what we're doing, unrelated to today but related in the sense that if that passes, we'll do even more business with the UK. We'll have so much. It's the biggest tax cut in history. It's going to make our country zoom. It's going to be incentive, as you know, with the deduction basically for work. You work, you build your plant, et cetera, your deduction. It's the biggest bill of its kind to ever pass. Maybe the biggest bill ever passed. That's why we call it the one big beautiful bill.
Speaker 15 (51:52):
You just announced a new nominee for the US surgeon general who never finished her residency and is not a practicing physician, so can you explain why you picked her to be America's top doctor?
Donald Trump (52:05):
Because Bobby thought she was fantastic. She's a brilliant woman who went through Stanford, and as I understand it, she basically wanted to be an academic as opposed to a surgeon. I think she graduated first in her class at Stanford, and Bobby really thought she was great. I don't know her. I listened to the recommendation of Bobby. I met her yesterday and once before. She's a very outstanding person, a great academic actually, so I think she'll be great.
Speaker 16 (52:36):
Mr. President, your nominee for US attorney of DC, do you have a backup plan if this Senate does not-
Donald Trump (52:42):
Oh yeah, but he's a terrific person, and he wasn't getting the support from people that I thought. He's done a very good job. Crime is down 25% in DC during his period of time. I'm very disappointed in that, but I have so many different things that I'm doing now with the trade. I'm one person. Boom, I can only lift that little phone so many times in a day, but we have somebody else that will be great. I just want to say Ed is unbelievable, and hopefully we can bring him into, whether it's DOJ or whatever in some capacity, because really outstanding. To me, it was disappointing, I'll be honest. I have to be straight. I was disappointed, a lot of people were disappointed, but that's the way it works sometimes. That's the way it works. And he wasn't rejected, but we felt it would be very hard, and we have somebody else that we'll be announcing over the next two days who's going to be great.
Speaker 17 (53:39):
With companies like Ford and Mattel recently saying they're going to raise prices on certain products, how long do you think the American public is going to be patient and wait for-
Donald Trump (53:50):
Well, I think they're saying that just to try and negotiate deals with me. Tariffs are the most misunderstood thing maybe in any form of business, anywhere in business. Oftentimes the country picks them up, oftentimes the company picks it up. The people don't pick it up. The people don't pick it up, and if Ford did that, they wouldn't sell any cars. And if Mattel, I don't know, I'm not so sure, they also said… They're the only country I've heard. They said, "Well, we're going to go counter. We're going to try going someplace else." That's okay. Let them go and we'll put a hundred percent tariff on his toys and he won't sell one toy in the United States, and that's their biggest market. I heard that. I watched this guy talking about how I'm going to go counter. I said, "Well, I wouldn't want to have him as an executive too long." The Ford people I know very well. What they're doing is negotiating with us by saying that, but we don't think that's going to happen. Look, I put out a Truth today and it said that gas is down, gasoline is down, energy is down, groceries are down, eggs are down. Thank you very much, but eggs are down. When I came in, the first week, you guys hit me with eggs. I said, "What the hell happened with eggs?" Eggs were up like 170% and going up, and they said don't order any for Easter. And we were thinking about ordering plastic eggs like everybody was doing, and Brooke did a fantastic job, agriculture. Brooke did a fantastic job, and we had hundreds of thousands of eggs out here on the lawn just two weeks ago at Easter. But you take a look at the cost, energy's down. Even interest rates are down.
(55:29)
Now, if the chairman of the Fed, Jerome, if he would lower interest rates like China did, like I think UK did, but like numerous other countries have done, it's like jet fuel, it would be great, but he doesn't want to do it. I think he doesn't want to do it. Probably he's not in love with me. I think that's right. It's a crazy reason, but that's the way life is. Anybody in his position would be like, it would be like jet fuel, but even without that, we're doing well.
(56:02)
But remember this. I've watched you people reporting over the last few months that if we do this, prices are going to go through. Well, groceries are down. All of this stuff is down. Lumber is down, oil is gone down. That thing broke 60, right? $60 a barrel and $1.98, $1.99 in some cases, and heading in that direction. No, I think it's been amazing actually, and what that's good for, it gives the consumer more money, and it gives them a better life because we just came out of the worst inflation, in my opinion, in the history of our country. They say 48 years, but Biden really screwed it up. He screwed up energy, and he spent too much money. He was spending it on the green new scam, and that's like throwing the money. See that beautiful window behind? Take money, throw it right out that window because it's the same thing.
(56:58)
He just spent $10 trillion. He wasted it. Not only was it bad, it was a negative. It wasn't even like it helped a little bit. It was a real negative. And then on top of it, they let 21 million people into our country without any identification, anything, just let them in. It's very, very sad. Well, we'll do one or two more.
(57:24)
Go ahead. Who are you with?
Speaker 18 (57:28):
I'm with the Daily Telegraph. Now, you know me from [inaudible 00:57:31].
Donald Trump (57:28):
Yeah, I do.
Speaker 18 (57:32):
How concerned are you about the UK's reliance on China, Chinese money in the money markets, Chinese exports?
Donald Trump (57:40):
We're not concerned.
Speaker 18 (57:40):
Is that something that came up?
Donald Trump (57:41):
Honestly, I'm not concerned about anything. If I was, I wouldn't even be here right now. If I was concerned about anything, and it wouldn't be that, but I wouldn't be here right now. No, we're not concerned. We're going to have, I believe, a very good relationship with China and a fair relationship, and it'll get bigger and it'll grow. It'll grow. As an example, if they open up the country, that'll be the best thing China ever did for itself. They don't know that yet because it's been a different system, but that'll be the greatest thing that ever happened to China. The people will be happier, they'll buy for less. They'll see things that they never saw before and they'll be buying them, and it'll really create great long-term peace.
Speaker 18 (58:23):
And if I could ask, with the agriculture secretary actually, there's a lot of concern about chlorinated chicken and the import of hormone treated beef. Has that question been addressed, resolved in these talks, or is that something for the continuing negotiations?
Donald Trump (58:35):
Well, James?
Jamieson Greer (58:36):
I would just say that it's very clear and we have in the heads of terms that we are going to discuss all of these types of issues, and obviously the importing country, whether it's us or them, you've got to follow the rules on those types of things. But our point is the rules need to make sure that they are based on science, and that's our expectation. We know the UK believes that too so we want to come to an accommodation. We want the consumers in each country to be able to choose what they want and give them the information that they need.
Speaker 19 (59:01):
And we have an incredible EPA led by Administrator Zeldin that is on this… So the talks continue, but we are very, very confident in our products, and what the president has done to open up the markets is unprecedented for these farmers here in America. Thank you.
Speaker 20 (59:16):
[inaudible 00:59:16] Wall Street as they watched this. You saw the stock market decline sharply after liberation day and rally back since then.
Donald Trump (59:25):
Well, now it's going to really rally, because don't forget, they said this is all a pipe dream. And this is a tough one. Somebody would say, "Well, this is easy." This is much tougher, I think, than any other deal, because they've been at it for so many years, decades, trying to make this deal. And it's very conclusive and it's a great deal, and it's a very big deal actually. No, this is just the beginning. We're going to be having conferences, or at some point, we'll just put out a statement that we just signed this country, that country. And after a number of these are done, nobody has enough people to do it. We're just going to put out, "X country is going to pay this, and if they open up, they're going to do this and that." And then they're going to be opened up.
(01:00:06)
Everybody wants to be here. You know, I say this is where they want to be shopping. They want to shop in this country because we have the consumer and we have the consumer like nobody else, and if this country went bad, the whole world would go bad, but we really saved it from going bad. Yeah, please?
Speaker 21 (01:00:26):
Can I ask you about the air traffic control issue? Are you looking at getting new software?
Donald Trump (01:00:29):
I'm glad you asked me about it because I'm just going to be talking to now with the heads of the airlines and everything else. So I was all set before we had the rigged election to give out a brand-new gorgeous system to one company that was going to do the whole thing, one of the best companies in the world that you know very well. There are three or four of them that do it. And when they took over Buttigieg, who has no clue, he drives to work on his bicycle, in all fairness, with his husband on the back, which is a nice loving relationship, but he didn't have a clue. This guy didn't have a clue, and he's actually a contender for president. Between him and Crockett, you can have that party, but he didn't know what he was doing.
(01:01:13)
And he took what they call dry systems, systems where you have wires in the earth, buried in the earth or whatever, and then you have the open-air systems where you have satellites, and you can't mesh them. Anybody would know that if you went through about two months of study in school if you studied that kind of thing, and he did. They spent tens of billions of dollars trying to take old broken equipment and merging it into existing new equipment with brand-new equipment. It's one of the greatest… They spent like $40 billion, and what they did is they made it worse because it doesn't work together. You can't make it work together. If you have a satellite system, you need satellite. If you don't, they had all these different technologies, some of them 50 years old, and they're trying to mesh them in, and they end up spending twice the money they should have. You could have bought a whole new system.
(01:02:13)
So we have a very good guy who you all know, Sean Duffy. He's head of transportation, and I've given him a 10-minute lesson in buying and he's become really good, and we are now in the market to buy a gorgeous brand-new system. The helicopter that crashed into the plane at 400 feet, it shouldn't have been what would've happened. There's all sorts of bells and sirens would've been going off three minutes before that accident happened if you had the right equipment, but they didn't. And the new equipment is unbelievable what it does. You don't even… Well, I was going to say something, but in my opinion, you always need pilots. I want pilots, but you wouldn't even have to have pilots. This system is so incredible what they can do, but we have a system that's obsolete, and what they did is the worst. They tried to combine the really old, broken stuff with the new stuff, and you can't combine it, and anybody should have known.
(01:03:07)
So Biden, do you think Biden figured this out? I don't think so, fellas. Do you think he has any clue? He doesn't know what the hell is happening. So here's the story. We're going to be buying a brand-new, it's going out to bid very soon, brand-new state-of-the-art system that will cover the entire world. I'll give you an example. When my pilot, now I have military pilots, but prior to that, I had very good pilots, great pilots. They would land, and I won't tell you which country, but they would use the system of another country. They wouldn't even use the system of the United States, so if I'm landing in New York or Florida or Tennessee, they're using a system from another country. I said, "Why is that?" And they're not into business, but they're just saying, "Our system doesn't work, sir." And I said, "Boy, that's pretty sad."
(01:03:55)
But we were all set to give it out to… Look, you have a Raytheon and you have different companies like that, numerous companies, and you have companies that would do it like an IBM as an example, and you give out one deal, one contract. They gave out hundreds of contractors. They had diggers, they had non-diggers, they had people that focused on satellites. They had hundreds of different contracts. One contract where one guy is controlling everything. You need a trench, then they dig a trench, but if you don't dig the trench, they don't blame you. What happens is you don't dig it, then they say, "We want a cost overrun." Now we have it all set and we're going to be doing it, and we would have done it except that the election took a little strange turn, but the second one didn't. That was too big to rig. Thank you very much, everybody.
