President Trump meets with Ambassadors in the Cabinet Room at the White House and signs executive orders while taking questions from reporters.
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NewsTranscript
00:00How are you?
00:14Well, thank you very much.
00:15We're going to have a little session today on
00:19the ambassadors.
00:20It's a group of people that were selected.
00:22They're doing very well.
00:23They're very far along in the process.
00:26And they're going to each introduce themselves and
00:29talk about the country that they're going to.
00:33They might say a little bit about themselves also,
00:36because people are very interested in that.
00:38We're also going to sign right now some executive
00:40orders.
00:41And, Will, if you would come forward.
00:43Yes, sir.
00:44I'll start thinking about signing them.
00:46Right?
00:46A few things for you today, sir.
00:50First, we have a pardon for Devin Archer.
00:53Devin Archer was a former business partner of the
00:55Biden family.
00:57He's was prosecuted relating to a fraud
01:01investigation.
01:02But notably, the tone and tenor of that prosecution
01:05changed dramatically after he began to cooperate with
01:08congressional investigators and serve as a witness
01:11against Hunter Biden and the Biden family.
01:14We believe that was an injustice, and therefore
01:17we're asking you to pardon him.
01:20And many people have asked me to do this.
01:21I think he was treated very unfairly.
01:24And I looked at the records, studied the
01:26records that he was.
01:27He was a victim of a crime, as far as I'm
01:31concerned.
01:32So we're going to undo that.
01:34All right, that's Devin Archer.
01:52Congratulations, Devin.
01:53Next, sir, we have a presidential memorandum for
01:58your attention.
01:59This memorandum requires the immediate
02:01declassification of all FBI files relating to the
02:04crossfire hurricane investigation.
02:06This was obviously one of the instances of the
02:08weaponization of law enforcement powers of
02:10prosecution against you and others.
02:13We believe that it's long past time for the American
02:15people to have a full and complete understanding of
02:18what exactly is in those files, which gives the
02:21media the right to go in and go and check it.
02:24You probably won't bother because you're not going to
02:26like what you see.
02:28But this was total weaponization.
02:30It's a disgrace.
02:31It never happened in this country.
02:33But now you'll be able to see for yourselves all
02:35declassified.
02:37Is that correct?
02:38Yes, sir.
02:39Would you say all declassified?
02:40Yes, sir.
02:41Everything?
02:41The FBI file with a there's a classified
02:44annex, but other than that, this will put
02:46everything in the public eye.
02:48Is anybody going to look?
02:55What about you?
02:55You're going to look.
02:56And, frankly, the FBI should be ashamed of
03:03themselves, and so should the Department of Justice
03:08and so should Biden.
03:09Okay, next year, we have an executive order for
03:12your attention.
03:13We've taken action against a number of law firms that
03:17participated either in the weaponization of
03:19government, the weaponization of the legal
03:21system for political ends, or have otherwise
03:23engaged in illegal or inappropriate activities.
03:26The law firm of Jenner and Block is one of these
03:29law firms.
03:29This is a law firm that, as you know, employed
03:31Andrew Weissman after he came off of the Mueller
03:34investigation.
03:35It's a law firm that's engaged in invidious
03:38racially and sexually discriminatory practices.
03:41It's also a law firm that has participated in the
03:44weaponization of the legal system against American
03:47principles and values.
03:48And we believe that the measures in this executive
03:50order will help correct that.
03:54And Andrew Weissman is the main culprit?
03:57He's certainly.
03:58With respect to this firm?
03:59He is one of a number of reasons that we believe
04:02this executive order is warranted.
04:03He's a bad guy.
04:05Okay.
04:22Next, sir, we have an executive order for your
04:24attention relating, actually, to government
04:27payments.
04:28Historically, checks issued by the Treasury are, I
04:31believe, 14 times more likely to become the
04:34subject of fraud than electronic transfer
04:37payments.
04:38This is an executive order that's going to push the
04:40Treasury Department to modernize its payment
04:43system to ensure that, where possible, they're
04:46using electronic methods of payment as opposed to
04:48paper checks in order to reduce waste, fraud, and
04:51abuse in the government, which is obviously an
04:53endeavor that we've been pursuing in numerous
04:56aspects of government under your leadership.
04:58It's basically modernization of equipment
05:01and methods.
05:03And it's something that, really, I think he's going
05:06to be a great Secretary of the Treasury wanted,
05:09Scott.
05:10And so we're doing this, and we have other
05:13modernization programs going on.
05:15We could let somebody else, whoever's next,
05:17whoever that may be, do it.
05:19But it's something that should have been done
05:2125, 30 years ago.
05:22Okay?
05:23Along similar lines, sir, this is an executive
05:44order.
05:44We're calling it Protecting America's Bank
05:46Account.
05:47The basic idea here is that, instead of having
05:50lots of different departments and agencies
05:52and offices issuing payment, often without
05:54justification, often without any provided
05:56rationale, we're going to be central in payment
05:59processes, where possible, in the Department of the
06:01Treasury and ensuring that measures are taken in
06:03Treasury against waste, fraud, and abuse to
06:06ensure that money that's leaving the public
06:08Treasury is as protected as it possibly can be.
06:10All right?
06:11Good?
06:12Many of these things should have taken place
06:26decades ago, or longer.
06:35Lastly, sir, we have an executive order for your
06:37attention on the very important subject of
06:39election integrity.
06:41We believe that this executive order is the
06:43farthest-reaching executive action taken in
06:46the history of the Republic to secure our
06:49elections.
06:50Among numerous other aspects of this executive
06:54order, this is going to cut down on illegal
06:57immigrants on the voter rolls, ensure that the
06:59Department of Homeland Security and the data that
07:01they have available is being fully weaponized to
07:04ensure that illegal immigrants aren't voting.
07:06This will include a citizenship question on
07:08the federal voting form for the first time.
07:10This executive order instructs the EAC to cut
07:14federal funding to states that don't take
07:17reasonable steps to secure their election.
07:19This calls on the Department of Justice to
07:21vigorously prosecute election crimes,
07:24particularly in states that we don't believe are
07:26in compliance with federal law around election
07:29integrity.
07:30I could go on and on for a while, sir, but
07:33compliance with National Election Day rules,
07:36cracking down and investigating and
07:37prosecuting foreign interference in our
07:39elections, revoking President Biden's
07:43executive order 14-019, which essentially
07:46weaponized government to corrupt and pollute our
07:48election process.
07:50There's a lot in here, but we believe that these
07:52are very important steps that we need to be taking
07:54as an administration at your direction to ensure
07:57that our elections are as secure as they possibly
08:00can be.
08:00The President Okay?
08:02You all understand that?
08:03Yes?
08:05Election fraud.
08:07You've heard the term.
08:09We'll end it, hopefully.
08:11At least, this will go a long way toward ending it.
08:14There are other steps that we will be taking as a
08:17next in the coming weeks, and we think we'll be
08:20able to end up getting fair elections.
08:25Perhaps some people think I shouldn't be
08:26complaining because we won in a landslide, but we
08:31got to straighten out our election.
08:33This country is so sick because of the election,
08:35the fake elections and the bad elections.
08:38And we're going to straighten it out one way
08:39or the other.
08:40And it's an honor to sign this one.
08:49Sign all of them, but to sign this one is a great
08:51honor.
08:52So we're going to go around the room a little
08:57bit quickly, and we're going to introduce these
09:07very outstanding people.
09:08They've had, in all cases, outstanding careers.
09:12They're very incredible people that going along
09:16as rapidly as the system can go along.
09:19We're ahead of, I guess, anybody else thus far.
09:22So I want to thank John Thune.
09:25He's done a very good job.
09:27And the whole Senate were being delayed as much as
09:30possible by Democrats.
09:32But that's standard.
09:33It gets to be just standard.
09:35But the process is moving along very quickly.
09:38So, Sergio, just say hello and then we'll introduce
09:42everybody.
09:42Absolutely.
09:43Sergio Gorham, Director of Presidential Personnel.
09:45It's been an absolute pleasure, again, to know
09:47every one of you every step this way.
09:49As the President said, we're at a record pace.
09:52We have more nominees today from the Senate
09:54than at any previous point, over 70, and that's a
09:57record in two months.
09:58And we're proud of that, and we're determined to
10:01ensure the world has America First patriots in
10:03all of our posts.
10:04Charles Kushner.
10:07I'm going to France and Monaco, and I'm proud to
10:11serve under the greatest President of our country.
10:14Very proud to serve.
10:15Thank you, Chair.
10:17James Blair.
10:17Honored to work here in the White House as
10:19Deputy Chief of Staff.
10:20And, Mr. President, I think that all of these
10:22successful people would want to go serve the
10:24United States under your leadership as a testament
10:26to your vision and leadership.
10:27Thank you, James.
10:29I'm David Perdue.
10:30I'm going to the People's Republic of China.
10:32And it's my honor to represent President Trump,
10:34the people of America, and represent our interests
10:36and values in China.
10:39I'm Leah Campos.
10:40I'm going to represent the President in the
10:42Dominican Republic.
10:43Mr. President, thank you for the honor to serve
10:44you in the Dominican Republic.
10:47Mike Waltz, National Security Advisor.
10:48I look forward to working with every one of you on
10:50behalf of the President, his leadership, and the
10:52American people.
10:54John Arrigo.
10:55I am going to the Republic of Portugal, and I'm very
10:58excited to do so and serve on what I consider one of
11:01my closest friends and one of the best Presidents
11:03this country has ever had.
11:05Kevin Cabrera, nominated to be Ambassador to
11:08Panama.
11:08It truly is an honor, President, to be part of
11:10your administration.
11:11Tom Barrett, nominated to the Republic of Turkey.
11:14Delighted and honored to be with you, Mr. President,
11:17in that close country, which is one of the most
11:20ancient in civilization.
11:22I can search for your peace, prosperity, and
11:24security.
11:25Good place.
11:26Mr. President.
11:27Good leader, too.
11:27Yeah.
11:28Mr. President, thank you.
11:29It's an honor.
11:29I'm Pete Hoekstra.
11:30You know that.
11:31But I am going to Canada.
11:31I look forward to serving you in Canada and your
11:32agenda.
11:33And you're doing a great job.
11:34Thanks, Pete.
11:34Juan Johnson, sir.
11:35Thank you for the nomination to represent you
11:36and the United States to the United Nations.
11:47I'm honored to represent you and the United States
11:50to the United Mexican States.
11:53And I'm really encouraged by some of the
11:54conversations you've had with President Shane
11:56Bobb recently and to the increase in support that
12:01we've seen out of her government along our
12:03border on important issues.
12:05So, thank you, sir.
12:06They have stepped it up a lot.
12:07Mexico and Canada.
12:09So, see how it works, right?
12:11Yes, sir.
12:12Thanks.
12:12Matt Whitaker from Des Moines, Iowa.
12:14I'm proud to, as soon as I'm confirmed, go
12:17represent you at the North Atlantic Treaty Organization.
12:21George Glass, on my way to Japan.
12:24Previous administration, I served for you in Portugal.
12:27It is a great honor to be able to do this a second time.
12:32Thank you very much.
12:32For the opportunity.
12:33Thank you, George.
12:34President Trump, my name is Ken Howery.
12:36I'm your nominee to be ambassador to the
12:37Kingdom of Denmark.
12:39A very close partner and ally.
12:40I served for you last time for the Kingdom of Sweden.
12:43I want to thank you for the faith you've placed in
12:45me as your nominee.
12:47Thank you very much.
12:48President Trump, thank you for the honor of a lifetime.
12:51My name is Stacey Feinberg, and hopefully I'll have the
12:54honor of serving in Luxembourg.
12:56And I think this is the greatest presidency and the
12:59greatest time in history, and it's all because of you.
13:02Thank you very much.
13:04Nicole McGraw, nominated to serve in Croatia.
13:06And it's such an honor to be here with you today and to
13:08serve you and the American people.
13:11Thank you very much.
13:13President Trump, thank you very much for your
13:14nomination to the Republic of Chile.
13:16And let me tell you, Border Patrol agents are so thankful
13:19for everything that you've done for them.
13:22But it's great.
13:22That man knows more about the border than anybody, I
13:24want to tell you.
13:26President, it's a great honor.
13:27Thank you very much.
13:28Good luck.
13:29Good afternoon, Mr. President.
13:29Brian Birch, if I'm confirmed, I'll be
13:31representing you at the Holy See.
13:34Catholics are very proud of your work, and your team is
13:36doing an excellent job.
13:37So thank you.
13:38Very honored to serve.
13:39Thank you very much.
13:40Mr. President, thank you again for the honor, the
13:43greatest privilege.
13:45My name is Summer Sparcus.
13:46I will serve this great man at the Republic of Malta.
13:50Thank you, sir.
13:52Thank you, Mr. President.
13:52Joe Popola from Dallas, Texas.
13:54I'm very proud to serve you at the Kingdom of the
13:56Netherlands, the very first country to recognize the
13:58United States 250 years ago.
14:01Mr. President, if I'm confirmed, I will be
14:04representing you in the state of Israel.
14:06It will be an extraordinary honor.
14:08And you've done more for Israel than any president in
14:11any time of its history.
14:13And we are grateful.
14:15And I'm hoping I'll get to be there by Passover.
14:17Thank you, Mike.
14:18And Mike is an outstanding guy.
14:21We all are.
14:22They all are.
14:23Mike, I think he's going to do wonders for Israel.
14:27He actually probably gets along with both sides, and
14:30that'll be interesting to see.
14:31But the world is watching you, Mike.
14:33So good luck.
14:35Thank you, Mr. President.
14:36Good luck.
14:37You're going to do well.
14:37Thank you very much.
14:39Mr. President, thank you for this great honor to
14:42serve the Republic of Italy and San Marino.
14:46I'm so looking forward to going over there and
14:48working with that great ally, and for the pleasure
14:51to serve you.
14:52Your staff has been great working with us and have
14:54done a great job, and we really appreciate them.
14:56Thank you, sir, for pushing this along.
14:58The President.
15:00And have a good time.
15:02A really good time.
15:03I'm Warren Stevens from Little Rock, Arkansas.
15:09And I have the honor to represent the President and
15:14the United States in Great Britain and Northern
15:18Ireland, and to be chosen to go to such an important
15:22ally of ours is unobstructed.
15:27Looking forward to it.
15:28But thank you for the honor.
15:29You're going to do fantastically.
15:31These are tremendously successful people.
15:34And you two guys, and then you add on Mike.
15:39I think they have a little more money than Mike, but
15:41he's got some other advantages.
15:43He's got some other, like upstairs, he's got some
15:47big advantages.
15:48It's very exciting.
15:51It's really exciting to have all of you.
15:53Would you have any questions, media, for the
15:56people that you just saw?
16:00So outstanding.
16:01And I thought it would be nice to bring them before
16:04you.
16:04And so, if you have any questions, please.
16:06I wanted to ask you about the talks in Saudi Arabia.
16:09It sounds like you've made some progress on the Black
16:11Sea ceasefire.
16:14Could you update us on that?
16:15What happens now?
16:17So we've made a lot of progress on two fronts on
16:19both sections that we call them.
16:21We call them sections, but they're much more than
16:24that.
16:24Russia, Ukraine, and also the Middle East.
16:27And we'll see what happens.
16:29We're in deep discussions with Russia and Ukraine.
16:34And I would say it's going well, but it's a very it's
16:36a situation we should have never had to even think
16:39about.
16:39It should have never happened.
16:41And on the Middle East, it's been going on for a
16:45lot of years, centuries and centuries.
16:48It just keeps going.
16:49And we are making a lot of progress.
16:52So that's all I can report.
16:53But some very, very big talks are going and
16:56detailed talks are going on right now on both
16:58fronts.
16:58Mr. President, you said that your national security
17:01advisor learned a lesson after a reporter.
17:03Excuse me, I didn't pick you.
17:04Go ahead.
17:05Mr. President, the ceasefire agreement that was
17:07broken today allows for third-party countries to
17:10help implement the agreement.
17:12What does that look like?
17:13And who's going to be involved in the ceasefire
17:15agreement?
17:16Yes, the maritime ceasefire agreement between
17:17Russia and Ukraine.
17:19Well, they're going to get together.
17:20Look, it's they agreed to something and it got
17:25broken.
17:26It's tremendous animosity.
17:27There's a lot of hatred, as you can probably tell.
17:31And it allows for people to get together, mediate
17:33it, arbitrate it, and see if we can get it stopped.
17:36And I think it will.
17:37That will get stopped.
17:37What countries are you looking to work with, sir,
17:39to help implement and monitor that ceasefire?
17:41We have other countries involved and they're
17:43involved very strongly in the process.
17:45And the that'll that'll be resolved.
17:48That's actually as bad as it is.
17:50That's the least of the problems.
17:51So that will we'll get that resolved.
17:54And we are being aided by other countries, too.
17:57Yes, please.
17:59Yes.
18:00Tomorrow, the subcommittee on DOJ is going to review
18:03funding for NPR and PBS.
18:06Now, every Republican president has always
18:08promised to take away this money that's going to
18:12these two public news outlets.
18:17If this if they're successful, I know Senator
18:20Kennedy has backed it.
18:21Marjorie Taylor Greene, Congress has backed it.
18:23Would you be interested in defunding and taking away
18:26taxpayer dollars to NPR and PBS?
18:30Well, I would love to do that.
18:32I think it's very unfair.
18:33It's been very biased.
18:34The whole group, I mean, a whole group of them.
18:37And frankly, there's plenty of look at all the media
18:40you have right now.
18:40There's plenty of coverage.
18:42I was from a different age and they spend more money
18:45than any other network of its type ever conceived.
18:50So the kind of money that's being wasted.
18:51And it's a very biased view.
18:53You know that better than anybody.
18:56And I'd be honored to see it.
18:59And we're well covered.
19:01Look at all the people that we have here today.
19:03We're well covered and we don't need it.
19:05And it's a waste of money, especially.
19:08I don't even know what Dozier's recommendation is.
19:10I assume their recommendation is to close
19:12them up.
19:12Well, after they hear all the testimony, I think
19:15they're going to make a decision relatively sooner
19:17than later.
19:18Yeah.
19:19But we'll see what that I can.
19:21I can't imagine that they wouldn't because they have
19:24found so much waste, fraud and abuse, hundreds of
19:28billions of dollars and just waste, fraud, abuse.
19:31You heard yesterday some of the new things that
19:33were found.
19:35Twenty two billion, just an environment billion.
19:37You know, if you had twenty two million, Warren, it
19:39would be nice.
19:40But twenty two billion put into environmental
19:43accounts.
19:44One was two billion into one account.
19:45Stacey Abrams, where they had one hundred dollars in
19:49the account.
19:50And just before I came in, they put two billion
19:52dollars.
19:54And you guys are looking.
19:55So you mean two million or maybe two hundred
19:58thousand or two billion dollars were put in the
20:00account.
20:01What do you think of that, Mike?
20:02Do you think that's a straight deal to pay it?
20:05Just write me the check, Mr. It's just it's a
20:09horrible thing.
20:10And we have we have so many of those things.
20:11So they've done an incredible job.
20:13And the country wants to hear it.
20:15I think Dozier is actually very popular because of
20:18what's happening.
20:18They're hearing about all of these scams and for
20:21big, big money, tremendous amount.
20:24When you add it up, just hundreds of billions of
20:27dollars being wasted and much of it's fraud.
20:31You know, we talk about waste and it is waste and
20:34abuse, but a lot of it's fraud.
20:35Can I follow up on that?
20:40If Planned Parenthood is defunded, would you look
20:44into the harvesting of baby organs that they've
20:48done throughout the years and maybe go after some
20:51criminal prosecution on that?
20:53Well, I think you're talking about a subject
20:55that is a heated subject and we'll look into it.
20:59We're going to look into everything.
21:00But that's certainly a subject that's been
21:02debated for a long time.
21:04And we will look into it.
21:05Yeah.
21:06Mr. President, some senators have expressed
21:09hope that the White House will support a rescission
21:11package to codify the doge cuts into law.
21:14Where does the White House stand on that?
21:16And are you making progress?
21:17Which package?
21:17A rescission package to codify some of the doge
21:20cuts into law.
21:21You know what?
21:22It would be great.
21:23I think we're going to do that.
21:24I think they're going to do it.
21:25I think we're also going to be codifying a lot of
21:28the executive orders that we've done, which have
21:30been very popular.
21:32And we're looking at one.
21:33I will tell you right now that I think perhaps will
21:36be controversial, but not with the people.
21:38And that's sanctuary cities.
21:39We're going to end sanctuary cities for some
21:42of these jurisdictions that aren't cooperating
21:46with law enforcement.
21:48They're guarding criminals.
21:49They're taking the rights away from the citizens of
21:53this state and their city.
21:55And we're going to be ending sanctuary cities if
21:58we find it necessary to do in certain major areas.
22:02And we may just end the entire thing altogether
22:05because it's just a way of protecting criminals.
22:08And nobody else is benefited by that.
22:10And for some reason, Democrats want to keep and
22:13they want to shield criminals from being sent
22:15back to their countries or being sent to prison.
22:18And in the meantime, the crime rate has gone
22:20through the roof.
22:21Under Biden, it was through the roof.
22:23It's starting to come down, but we're taking a
22:25lot of people out of here.
22:27So we may be presenting you very shortly with a
22:31executive order ending sanctuary cities.
22:33The Press.
22:34Mr. President, are you going to change any of
22:36the practices that your national security
22:38officials used after a reporter was inadvertently
22:41added to a group chat about attacks on Yemen?
22:44Well, I think it's a question I've been asked
22:48now, and I've given a few answers and they've all
22:51been the same.
22:52We have an amazing group.
22:54Our national security now is stronger than it's
22:56ever been.
22:57We have had a very, very successful numerous
23:01attacks on that area.
23:02These are people that shoot down ships, not only
23:05our ships, ships all over the world.
23:06They're shooting down right out of the water and
23:09damaging them badly.
23:10Or they're going down.
23:11They're also shooting anything that happens to
23:13be flying in the area.
23:15We hit them very, very hard.
23:17There was no classified information, as I
23:20understand it.
23:21They used a a app, if you want to call it an app,
23:27that a lot of people use.
23:28A lot of people in government use.
23:29A lot of people in the media use.
23:31And I think I'll ask Mike.
23:33Mike is here.
23:34Do you want to respond to that?
23:35Yes.
23:36Yes, Mr. President, you asked about lessons.
23:38I think there's a lot of the lessons.
23:39There's a lot of journalists in this city
23:41who have made big names for themselves, making up
23:44lies about this president, whether it's the Russia
23:48hoax or making up lies about Gold Star families.
23:51And this one in particular, I've never met, don't
23:53know, never communicated with.
23:55And we are looking into and reviewing how the heck
24:00he got into this room.
24:00But I'll tell you what, the world owes President
24:03Trump a favor.
24:04Under Biden, global shipping was shut down.
24:07Pinprick attacks, months between them are destroyers
24:10being fired upon dozens of times.
24:13President Trump took decisive action with his
24:17national security team, took out the head
24:19missileer, knocked out missiles, knocked out
24:22headquarters, knocked out communication sites.
24:25And for once, as we hear, as you all hear from
24:28every one of our allies, thank God for American
24:32leadership.
24:32Again, thank God for American strength.
24:36We have a national security team that was
24:42coordinating these efforts.
24:44As Director Radcliffe testified today, his first
24:48day on the job, he was introduced to this app on
24:51his government systems at the CIA and at the State
24:55Department and otherwise.
24:56So, look, this journalist, Mr.
24:58President, wants the world talking about more hoaxes
25:02and this kind of nonsense, rather than the freedom
25:06that you're enabling.
25:07And a key part of our sovereignty is open sea
25:09lanes and knocking the crap out of terrorists,
25:12which is exactly what your team and Pete Hex, a good
25:15friend and fellow veteran, is leading the charge on.
25:17And it's an honor.
25:18The President We had a very, very successful
25:20excuse me.
25:20We had a very, very successful evening, and
25:24we've had numerous successful evenings and
25:26days in that area.
25:28The hoodies are absolutely on the run.
25:31The worst of them has been killed.
25:34This should have been done a long time ago by Biden.
25:37But Biden was an incompetent president.
25:39He couldn't do anything.
25:39He would.
25:40He didn't know where where he was going.
25:42He had no clue.
25:43This guy had no clue.
25:44This should have been done a long time ago as they
25:47shoot missiles at ships, randomly shoot missiles at
25:49ships and and they make their own missiles.
25:52You know, this is not an incompetent group of
25:54people.
25:55They make their own missiles.
25:56They get the missiles also from Iran.
25:59It's an offshoot of Iran.
26:00Another offshoot.
26:01You have Hamas.
26:02You have Hezbollah.
26:03You have the hoodies.
26:04You got a lot of stuff going on with Iran.
26:07And we sent a letter to Iran.
26:09You're going to have to be speaking to us one way or
26:11the other pretty soon because we can't let this
26:14happen.
26:14But that's an app that a lot of people use.
26:17And somebody got on.
26:18I mean, happened to know the guy is a total
26:20sleazebag.
26:21The Atlantic.
26:22The Atlantic is a failed magazine does very, very
26:25poorly.
26:26Nobody gives a damn about it.
26:28It gives.
26:28This gives it a little bit of a shot.
26:31And I will tell you this, that they've made up more
26:34stories and and they're just a failing magazine.
26:38The public understands that he's a very good man.
26:40That man is a very good man right there that you
26:43criticize.
26:43So he's a very good man and he will continue to do a
26:50good job.
26:52In addition to him, we had very good people in that
26:55meeting, and those people have done a very, very
26:59effective job.
26:59And you're going to see it.
27:00And it goes on, by the way, it's going to go on.
27:03And I think the hoodies wish that it didn't
27:07happen.
27:08But that's what it's all about.
27:09We have to create a safe country, a safe world.
27:11And that's what we're doing.
27:12Do you worry that national security was put at risk?
27:15Mr. President of senior officials, you say no, I
27:19plan to ban.
27:19Who the use of signal to communicate from senior
27:22officials?
27:23I don't know.
27:24I don't know anything about signal.
27:25I wasn't involved in this, but I just heard about it.
27:28And I hear it's used by a lot of groups.
27:31It's used by the media a lot.
27:33It's used by a lot of the military and I think
27:37successfully.
27:37But sometimes somebody can get onto those things.
27:40That's one of the prices you pay when you're not
27:42sitting in the situation room with no phones on,
27:46which is always the best, frankly.
27:48But, you know, you the best is to be there.
27:51In fact, oftentimes I've been in fact, just last
27:54week, I was in the situation room with
27:56something very important.
27:58And we had a couple of people hooked up by line.
28:00And I said, cancel the line.
28:02Sorry, fellas, what you do is we'll tell you all
28:04about the meeting because I know people do get on
28:07those lines, whether it's signal or anything else.
28:09Yeah.
28:10Are you going to change any procedures as a result
28:12of this?
28:13Well, I mean, look, we look at everything and, you
28:15know, they've made a big deal out of this because
28:17we've had two perfect months.
28:19We're bringing we are bringing in business.
28:21And we have another one announced tomorrow, a big
28:24one, very big.
28:25Like in the history of our country, nobody's ever
28:27seen anything like it.
28:28And I think probably a lot of people are saying it's
28:32they started by saying it was the greatest first
28:34month that a president has ever had.
28:36And I think that's true.
28:38And now they say it's the best second month.
28:40And they had to find something.
28:41And this certainly will look at this.
28:44But the main thing was nothing happened.
28:47The attack was totally successful.
28:50It was, I guess, from what I understand, took place
28:53during and it wasn't classified information.
28:56So this was not classified.
28:58Now, it's classified information.
29:00It's probably a little bit different.
29:01But I always say you got to you have to learn from
29:04every experience.
29:04I think it was very unfair the way they attacked
29:07Michael.
29:08He's a good person.
29:11The person that was on just happens to be a
29:13sleazebag.
29:14So maybe that's just coincidence.
29:15I don't know.
29:16Mr. President, would it be a problem if the
29:18Atlantic released all the text messages that are
29:21not classified?
29:21Well, I don't I'd have to ask the military about
29:24that because, you know, maybe you wouldn't want
29:26that.
29:26I don't know.
29:27I will say this.
29:28From what I heard, the the man that we're talking
29:31about, who's not somebody that I don't think most
29:36people have ever heard of.
29:38He left.
29:38He found it very boring and he left early.
29:41He got off the line very early.
29:43So I can't speak to it other than that.
29:47So he's made up a lot of stories.
29:48And, you know, I think he's basically bad for the
29:51country.
29:51But it's it's a failing venture, very failing
29:54venture.
29:55They're very upset.
29:57And a thing like this is publicity for them.
29:59But I don't think we should allow people that
30:02are very good, like that man sitting right at the
30:04end of the table, who's done a great job.
30:07We shouldn't allow them to be hurt by it.
30:08Mr. President, are you saying you're OK with the
30:13continued use of signal by administration?
30:16No, that's not what I said.
30:17I said, we'll look into it.
30:19But everybody else seems to be using it.
30:21It seems to be the number one used device or app,
30:25whatever you want to call it.
30:27And we will certainly look.
30:29It was up to me.
30:30Everybody would be sitting in a room together.
30:33The room would have solid lead walls and a lead
30:36ceiling and a lead floor.
30:38But, you know, life doesn't always let you do
30:40that.
30:40In the meantime, the attack itself that we were
30:43talking about and discussing has been an
30:45unbelievable success.
30:47But you will conduct an investigation is what
30:50you're saying.
30:51We'll look into it.
30:52You know, I would look at the FBI, anything like
30:56that.
30:58I would I would ask them.
30:59It's not really an FBI thing.
31:01It's really something having to do with
31:03security, security.
31:04Like, will somebody be able to break in?
31:07Are people able to break into conversations?
31:10And if that's true, we're going to have to find
31:12some other form of of device.
31:15And I think that's something that we may
31:16have to do.
31:17Some people like signal very much.
31:20Other people probably don't.
31:22But we'll look into it.
31:23I think, Michael, I asked you to immediately study
31:26that and find out if people are able to break
31:29into a system.
31:31Now, in this case, it wasn't that the this
31:33attack was going on and nobody found out anything.
31:36And again, the person that was on, as I
31:39understand it, he left very early because he
31:41didn't find it very exciting.
31:42But I think it's something you should look
31:45into.
31:45Yes, sir.
31:46We are.
31:47We have our technical experts looking at it.
31:48We have our legal teams looking at it.
31:52And, of course, we're going to keep everything
31:55as secure as possible.
31:57No one in your national security team would ever
31:59put anyone in danger.
32:00And as you've said, and we've repeatedly said,
32:02the attack was phenomenal and it's ongoing.
32:05But the media wants to talk about everything
32:07else except for the hostages you're getting
32:09out of the Middle East, Iran on its back foot,
32:12ceilings getting reopened, peace in Europe, as we
32:16just saw today with a Black Sea ceasefire we
32:19were just on with Steve Whitkoff, myself, our
32:22team, and Saudi Arabia.
32:23They want to talk about all this other stuff,
32:26except for your amazing successes and the
32:28successes of your team.
32:29One of the other things, and sometimes you have
32:32to move very quickly, and there are other devices
32:34that are very good, but they are very, very
32:36cumbersome and you're not able to use them from a
32:40practical standpoint.
32:41So all we can do is find out the best we have with
32:45modern technology.
32:46They'll probably get better over the years.
32:48Yeah, go ahead.
32:49The Press Sir, on the Black Sea, so the Kremlin
32:50has said that there were several conditions that
32:53would need to be met for this agreement to happen.
32:55This includes sanction relief for banks and some
32:57companies.
32:58Did the U.S.
32:58agree to all of those conditions that they laid out?
33:00The President They will be looking at them, and
33:02we're thinking about all of them right now.
33:04There are about five or six conditions.
33:06We're looking at all of them.
33:07The Press Sir, the White House has said that it's
33:12looking into how journalists got added to
33:14that signal chat.
33:14Is it possible that there could be a firing of even
33:17a lower mid-level official once that person is
33:20identified?
33:21The President About what?
33:22The Press About the signal chat that we've been
33:23discussing.
33:24The President We pretty much looked into it.
33:25It's pretty simple, to be honest.
33:27It's not.
33:28It's just something that can happen.
33:30It can happen.
33:33You can even prepare for it.
33:35It can happen.
33:36Sometimes people are hooked in and you don't
33:38know they're hooked in.
33:39They're hooked into your line and they don't even
33:41mean bad by it.
33:42But it's not a perfect technology.
33:44There is no perfect technology.
33:46The really good ones are very cumbersome, very hard
33:50to access.
33:52And I think we're going to look and we always want to
33:55use the best technology.
33:57This was the best technology for the moment.
33:59But again, it wasn't classified, so they
34:02probably viewed it as being something that
34:04wasn't that important.
34:05And it obviously, with the attack being, I mean, I
34:08don't know if it's been read out to you yet, but
34:11that attack was a tremendous success for the
34:14U.S.
34:14A tremendous success.
34:15Go ahead, please.
34:16The Press Do you think that it might well to make
34:20a mistake and doesn't need to apologize?
34:22The President No, I don't think he should apologize.
34:26I think he's doing his best.
34:29It's equipment and technology that's not
34:31perfect, and probably he won't be using it again,
34:35at least not in the very near future.
34:37What do you think?
34:38The Press I agree with you.
34:39Let's get everybody in the room whenever whenever
34:43possible.
34:43The President A lot of times you find out defects
34:45by exactly things like that, but I don't think
34:49it's something we're looking forward to using
34:51again.
34:52We may be forced to use it.
34:53You may be in a situation where you need speed as
34:57opposed to gross safety, and you may be forced to
35:01use it.
35:01But generally speaking, I think we probably won't be
35:04using it very much.
35:05The Press Talking about it's on that train.
35:08The Secretary of Defense at PXF and JD Bond, Vice
35:11President, said that the Europeans were free
35:13loading.
35:13Do you agree with those?
35:14That's right.
35:15The President Do you really want me to answer
35:19that?
35:19Yeah, I think they've been freeloading.
35:21The European Union has been absolutely terrible to
35:25us on trade.
35:25Terrible.
35:27And as you know, NATO, I got them to pay hundreds
35:29of billions of dollars.
35:30They were way behind.
35:31And if you look, even if you look at Ukraine, so
35:35we're in for $350 billion because of Biden.
35:38Should have never happened.
35:39This war should all these dead people should not be
35:41dead.
35:42All these broken cities that are demolished down
35:45to the ground, those gorgeous towers, the most
35:47beautiful in the world, the most beautiful spires in
35:50the world.
35:50The spires in Ukraine were said to be the most
35:54beautiful of all.
35:55Just about every one of them is lying on its side
35:58and a million pieces.
35:59It's so sad to see what's happened to a heritage.
36:02No, I think that I think when they say the European
36:07Union and the and you could say NATO also look
36:10NATO.
36:11And I don't blame NATO for this.
36:13I don't blame Europe for this.
36:14I blame Biden for the fact that he didn't make them
36:17equalize.
36:19And to this day, I said to him, you got to catch up.
36:21You got to equalize.
36:22But why are they in for one hundred billion?
36:24And we're in for possibly three hundred and fifty
36:26billion dollars.
36:28It shouldn't be.
36:29It shouldn't be.
36:30And you could say more important for them because
36:33we have an ocean in between.
36:35So, you know, it's it's one of those things you'll
36:38be seeing Liberation Day.
36:40I call it Liberation Day in America.
36:42You're going to be seeing an April 2nd.
36:44Didn't want to do it on April 1st for the obvious
36:46reason, April 2nd.
36:48But you'll be seeing tariffs.
36:50And I think I've been very fair.
36:53I have them set, but I think I've been very fair
36:55to countries that have really abused us
36:57economically for many, many decades.
36:59This information was not classified.
37:03Another question.
37:04Please.
37:05Just following up on your comments on the economy.
37:10There is reporting that consumer confidence fell
37:13for the fourth straight month.
37:14What is your message to Americans who are
37:16concerned?
37:17Well, I know this for the first time in like 50
37:21years, right track, wrong track.
37:24We're on the right track.
37:26And I think people see that.
37:27And if you look at prices, prices are way down.
37:31You know, when I first came here, the first time
37:35I met with you people officially, they were
37:38screaming at me about eggs.
37:40I said, I've been here for a week and I'm being
37:42yelled at about eggs.
37:44Eggs, egg prices have come down 45, 50 percent in the
37:47last week and a half.
37:49And our secretary of agriculture has done a
37:52great job.
37:53As you know, Brooke, she's done a fantastic job and
37:55others working with her have done a great job.
37:57But we brought eggs down at a level that nobody
38:01thought we could get at.
38:03I inherited that situation and I inherited a grocery
38:06situation.
38:07The groceries went way up an old fashioned word, but
38:10it's a very descriptive word.
38:11Groceries have gone through the roof.
38:14And I used to campaign on it.
38:15I used to say, we're going to get groceries down or
38:17we have got it down.
38:18And I watched a certain newscast over the weekend
38:21and a congressman, Democrat congressman said,
38:24well, Trump's done a lot.
38:25I agree.
38:26He's been great on the board.
38:27He's been great on the military.
38:28But, you know, he hasn't brought prices down.
38:29That's false.
38:31Gasoline is way down.
38:34Eggs are way down.
38:36Groceries are down very substantially, but down.
38:40Almost everything's down.
38:41Now I'd like to see interest rates come down a
38:43little bit.
38:45And you're going to see billions of dollars, even
38:47trillions of dollars coming into our country
38:49very soon in the form of tariffs, because we were
38:52abused by presidents that, frankly, in all fairness,
38:55it wasn't their expertise, but they had no idea what
38:58they were doing.
38:58The Press Oh, yeah, sure.
39:03It's going to agree.
39:04It'll be it'll create a lot of money and more jobs.
39:07But if you look.
39:08So when the last these gentlemen would know about
39:11it and ladies, because some of the ladies are
39:13great businessmen in this room that are becoming
39:16ambassadors.
39:17Great.
39:18Really great.
39:19Top of the line.
39:21When you look at the number of companies that
39:24have said like we're close to, I would say close to
39:26four trillion dollars.
39:27We never had numbers like that.
39:29The number one chip maker in the world from Taiwan
39:32coming in with two hundred billion dollars.
39:35We have Apple.
39:38Look at Apple.
39:38Five hundred billion dollars.
39:41Five hundred billion dollars.
39:43They're going to build plants all over the
39:45United States.
39:46They were all being built in China.
39:48You have many, many companies and maybe above
39:50all, you have the car companies coming in at
39:52levels that nobody's ever seen before.
39:53We have Honda is opening up one of the biggest
39:57plants in the world in Indiana.
39:59And many car companies are coming in.
40:02We have a I.
40:05We're leading China by a lot in a I.
40:08And we're going to keep it that way because we've
40:09made it very good for them.
40:11And we're going to protect them once a year.
40:13We'll protect them through taxes, through incentives
40:15and also through tariffs.
40:17Thank you very much, everybody.
40:19Thank you very much.
40:22Thank you very much.
40:45You