Speaker 1 (00:01):
Sir? Yes, sir. First we have a list of pardons and commutations relating to events that occurred on January 6th, 2021.
Donald Trump (00:09):
Okay, and how many people is this?
Speaker 1 (00:11):
I think this order will apply to approximately 1500 people, sir.
Donald Trump (00:15):
So this is January 6th. These are the hostages, approximately 1500, for a pardon.
Speaker 2 (00:24):
Yes.
Donald Trump (00:24):
Full pardon.
Speaker 4 (00:29):
Full pardon or commutations?
Donald Trump (00:30):
Full pardon. We have about six commutations in there where we're doing further research. Nice to see you again.
Speaker 4 (00:39):
You too.
Donald Trump (00:47):
So this is a big one. Anything you want to explain about this? We hope they come out tonight, frankly. We're expecting it. Approximately 1500 people. Six commutations.
Peter (01:06):
Were there any cases you did not commute or pardon of people who-
Donald Trump (01:09):
We're looking at different things, but the commutations would be the ones that we'll take a look and maybe it'll stay that way or it'll go to a full pardon.
Speaker 1 (01:19):
And the order does require the Bureau of Prisons to act immediately on receipt of the pardons and commutation orders. Sir, this is an-
Donald Trump (01:27):
Why don't we get that down so they can get them going right now?
Speaker 1 (01:30):
Yes, sir.
Donald Trump (01:30):
Is that okay?
Speaker 1 (01:31):
Yep, absolutely. This is a proclamation guaranteeing the state's protection against invasion based on the current crisis at the southern border. It invokes various executive powers relating to the ongoing invasion at the southern border.
Speaker 3 (01:42):
Mr. President, what makes you confident that those are not going to be blocked by the courts?
Donald Trump (01:56):
I don't think they will. I don't think they can be. They're very straight- up. Why don't you take that and go over here? Can you get him over here? Not on the side angle. Do you mind? Just go right over here with your friends. Okay.
Speaker 1 (02:10):
Sir, this is an executive order realigning the United States Refugee Admission Program to better align with American principles and American interests.
Donald Trump (02:18):
Okay. Okay.
Speaker 1 (02:19):
Thank you, sir. This next executive order is about protecting America from foreign terrorists and other national security and public safety threats. Again, crisis at the border, but it goes beyond that and it implicates other executive powers as well.
Peter (03:07):
Cartels are now going to be seen as foreign terror organizations. Would you think about ordering US special forces into Mexico to take them out?
Donald Trump (03:16):
Could happen. Stranger things have happened.
Speaker 5 (03:22):
Mr. President-
Speaker 1 (03:22):
That was actually-
Speaker 5 (03:24):
… how can you be sure that Maduro would accept Venezuelans?
Donald Trump (03:26):
Say it?
Speaker 5 (03:27):
How will you make sure that Maduro would accept Venezuelans?
Donald Trump (03:30):
We're going to see on Venezuela. We're looking at Venezuela very strongly. It's a country I know very well for a lot of reasons, and boy, it was a great country 20 years ago and now it's a mess, right?
Speaker 6 (03:44):
Sir, can we expect ICE raids starting tomorrow in major cities?
Donald Trump (03:48):
What does that mean?
Speaker 6 (03:49):
Can we expect ICE raids in major cities tomorrow?
Donald Trump (03:52):
I don't want to say when, but it's going to happen. It has to happen or we're not going to have a country left.
Speaker 1 (03:58):
This is actually an executive order designating the cartels and other organizations to be foreign terrorist organizations.
Donald Trump (04:05):
That's a big one.
Speaker 1 (04:07):
Yes, sir.
Donald Trump (04:09):
People have wanted to do this for years. So they are now designated as terrorist organizations, foreign, and Mexico probably doesn't want that, but we have to do what's right. They're killing our people. They're killing 250, 300,000 American people a year. Not a hundred like has been reported for 15 years. It's probably 300,000.
Speaker 1 (04:39):
This is-
Speaker 7 (04:41):
Sir, if the President of Mexico doesn't want that, how are you going to deal with this?
Donald Trump (04:46):
I don't know. You'll have to ask them.
Speaker 1 (04:48):
Sir, this is an executive order entitled Protecting the American People Against Invasion, which again deals with the southern border and the unprecedented admission of illegal aliens across the southern border.
Speaker 8 (05:04):
What do you see the biggest national security threat to the US, Mr. President? What's going to be your priority on foreign policy?
Donald Trump (05:12):
Say?
Speaker 8 (05:13):
What's going to be your priority on foreign policy? What do you see as the biggest necessary-
Donald Trump (05:17):
Foreign policy is a big statement. I mean, my priority on foreign policy, it's going to be to keep America safe. Very simple. It's a big question though. That's a very big question.
Speaker 8 (05:32):
Who is going to be the first foreign leader that you plan to meet, or who are you going to call tomorrow on your first day?
Donald Trump (05:34):
I've already been meeting people. I've been meeting them. I've been talking to them. I met with Prime Minister Trudeau, who I call Governor Trudeau. I met with numerous foreign leaders. Go ahead.
Speaker 1 (05:52):
This next order relates to the definition of birthright citizenship under the 14th Amendment of the United States.
Donald Trump (05:58):
That's a good one. Birthright. That's a big one.
Speaker 2 (06:02):
What about that one in the courts? That one is likely to be-
Donald Trump (06:07):
Could be. We think we have good grounds, but you could be right. I mean, you'll find out. It's ridiculous. We're the only country in the world that does this with birthright, as you know, and it's just absolutely ridiculous, but we'll see. We think we have very good grounds. People have wanted to do this for decades.
Speaker 1 (06:29):
Sir, this is a proclamation declaring a national emergency at the southern border of the United States.
Donald Trump (06:35):
That's a big one. A lot of big ones, huh? You know what that means, right?
Peter (06:42):
President Trump, did President Biden leave you a letter?
Donald Trump (06:47):
He may have. Wait, don't they leave it in the desk? I don't know. Oh.
Peter (06:57):
What's in there?
Donald Trump (06:57):
Thank you, Peter. It could have been years before we found it. Wow. Thank you.
Peter (07:03):
What does it say on the outside?
Donald Trump (07:05):
Maybe we should all read it together.
Peter (07:06):
Let's read it.
Donald Trump (07:08):
Well, maybe I'll read it first and then make that determination.
Peter (07:10):
That sounds great.
Donald Trump (07:12):
Peter, thank you very much. I may not have seen this for months.
Peter (07:15):
Happy to help with the passing of the torch.
Donald Trump (07:20):
I left him one in the desk just like this.
Peter (07:23):
What did you talk to him about [inaudible 00:07:28]?
Donald Trump (07:28):
Unification of our country. I didn't know that he gave a pardon to his family because he did it during my speech.
Peter (07:39):
He didn't tell you [inaudible 00:07:41]?
Donald Trump (07:40):
No, he didn't tell me. No, no. They released it during my speech. I mean during my speech, so all I could do was say, excuse me, I'd like to come back and speak some more. No, we were surprised by that.
Peter (07:52):
Mr. President, where-
Donald Trump (07:54):
It's bad precedent, obviously.
Peter (08:02):
Where are you thinking on tariffs on Mexico given these actions you're signing on the border?
Donald Trump (08:02):
Well, we're thinking in terms of 25% on Mexico and Canada because they're allowing vast numbers of people. Canada is a very bad abuser also. Vast numbers of people to come in and fentanyl to come in.
Peter (08:16):
When do you think you would enact those?
Donald Trump (08:17):
I think February 1st.
Peter (08:20):
Are you planning on giving notice of that?
Donald Trump (08:21):
I think we'll do it February 1st.
Peter (08:22):
25% on both, sir?
Donald Trump (08:25):
On each.
Peter (08:26):
On each, yeah.
Speaker 1 (08:26):
This is an executive order taking a large number of executive actions to secure our southern border.
Donald Trump (08:34):
Okay. Sounds reasonable.
Speaker 9 (08:39):
President Trump, we remember four years ago, Barack Obama had told you that the top threat of the country was going to be North Korea. Did Joe Biden tell you what he thinks the top threat to the country is right now?
Donald Trump (08:48):
No. No.
Speaker 9 (08:48):
Why not?
Donald Trump (08:49):
I think we have a lot of them. Right now, I think we have a lot. I think North Korea turned out to be good. I was very friendly with him. He liked me. I liked him. We got along very well. They thought that was a tremendous threat. Now, he is a nuclear power, but we got along. I think he'll be happy to see I'm coming back. I think he has tremendous condo capability. He's got a lot of shoreline. Thank you, sir.
Speaker 3 (09:18):
Are you going to work with countries from South America to coordinate on immigration?
Donald Trump (09:22):
About who?
Speaker 3 (09:26):
About immigration in general.
Speaker 1 (09:27):
This is an executive order. Sorry, sir.
Donald Trump (09:29):
I'm fine with legal immigration. I like it. We need people and I'm absolutely fine with it. We want to have it. We need it because we're going to have a lot of companies coming in to avoid tariffs. If you don't want tariffs, all you have to do is build your plant in the US, so we're going to have a lot of workers coming in, but we have to have legal immigration.
Speaker 2 (09:53):
Do you have a date in mind for when you want to put in on the China tariffs that you talked about?
Donald Trump (09:56):
Which one?
Speaker 2 (09:58):
60%.
Donald Trump (10:00):
No. You're talking about which? Say it again.
Speaker 2 (10:03):
The China tariffs, the broader China tariffs.
Donald Trump (10:06):
Oh, China? Well, as you know, I put on large tariffs on China and they've really been forced to leave them. And if we didn't leave them, you wouldn't have one steel mill that's open in this country because they were dumping massive amounts of steel. We've taken in hundreds of billions of dollars from China, and they were unable to terminate the tariffs that I put on China because it was too much money and the budgets didn't work and other reasons too. No. I mean, we're going to have meetings and calls with President Xi. I spoke to President Xi last week, as you know. Did you know that? I had a very good phone call. Long.
Speaker 6 (10:43):
[inaudible 00:10:46] NATO at this moment. Are you planning to meet your NATO allies?
Donald Trump (10:47):
No. NATO has to pay more money. NATO has to pay 5%. We are in the Ukraine war by $200 billion more than NATO. It's ridiculous, because it affects them a lot more. We have an ocean in between and we've spent $200 billion more on Ukraine than NATO has spent, and they've got to equalize.
Speaker 6 (11:14):
Did you to Xi about the Ukraine war?
Donald Trump (11:16):
Yeah.
Speaker 6 (11:16):
Because China and Brazil together has a proposal to bring Russia and Ukraine to talk.
Donald Trump (11:23):
That's good. That's fine. I'm ready.
Speaker 6 (11:24):
When are you going talk with the Brazilian President-
Donald Trump (11:24):
How did Brazil get involved? This is a new one.
Speaker 6 (11:25):
When are you going to talk to-
Donald Trump (11:32):
Are you from Brazil?
Speaker 6 (11:33):
I'm from Brazil. When are you talking?
Donald Trump (11:35):
That's why they're involved, I guess.
Speaker 6 (11:37):
When are you going to talk with the Brazilian president? How do you see a relationship with Latin America and Brazil?
Donald Trump (11:43):
Great. Should be great. They need us much more than we need them. We don't need them. They need us. Everybody needs us.
Peter (11:52):
Mr. President, it sounds like you will not receive an additional China tariff necessarily, depending on how talks go with President Xi. Is that correct?
Donald Trump (12:03):
Define that.
Peter (12:04):
Well, you pledged in the campaign potentially a 10% tariff on China or as much as-
Donald Trump (12:04):
Because of fentanyl.
Peter (12:10):
Right, so I'm asking where you're-
Donald Trump (12:11):
That's only because of fentanyl. There are other things too.
Peter (12:14):
Are additional-
Donald Trump (12:15):
And a very big thing is the Panama Canal. China controls the Panama Canal. What's that all about? When Jimmy Carter gave it, which was a terrible mistake, a terrible mistake, he didn't give it to China, he gave it to Panama. And China controls the Panama Canal.
Peter (12:36):
So are China tariffs still-
Donald Trump (12:36):
And we're not going to allow that to happen.
Peter (12:36):
Are they still on the table or is that-
Donald Trump (12:37):
No, we're not going to allow that to happen.
Speaker 1 (12:43):
Thank you, sir.
Speaker 10 (12:44):
What can we expect of the countries in NATO that spend the least amount of money, like Spain, France, below the 5%-
Donald Trump (12:50):
Spain is very low, and yet are they a BRICS nation?
Speaker 10 (12:56):
What?
Donald Trump (12:57):
They're a BRICS nation, Spain. You know
Donald Trump (13:00):
You know what a BRICS nation is? Well, you'll figure it out. If the BRICS nations want to do that, that's okay, but we're going to put at least a 100% tariff on the business they do with the United States. You know what the BRICS is, right? You guys know.
Speaker 11 (13:16):
Yeah, Brazil, Russia-
Donald Trump (13:17):
You know what I'm saying, right?
Peter (13:18):
Mm-hmm.
Donald Trump (13:18):
You know what I'm saying? It's not even a threat. In fact, since I made that statement, Biden said, "Well, they have us over a barrel." I said, "No, we have them over a barrel." And there's no way they're going to be able to do that.
Speaker 1 (13:34):
This is an executive order relating to--
Speaker 11 (13:35):
[inaudible 00:13:36] 100% tariffs on those countries, like Spain?
Donald Trump (13:40):
As a BRICS nation, yes. They'll have 100% tariff if they so much as even thinking about doing what they thought.
Speaker 11 (13:47):
Can you explain how is it?
Donald Trump (13:48):
And therefore they'll give it up immediately. So will China give it up?
Speaker 1 (13:52):
Sir, this is about reforming the system of hiring in the federal government to ensure that merit is the lodestar of hiring decisions as opposed to-
Donald Trump (13:59):
As per the Supreme Court.
Speaker 1 (14:00):
… other matters? Yes, sir.
Peter (14:02):
Mr. President-
Donald Trump (14:03):
Here's a big deal. Merit. Our country's going to be based on merit again? Can you believe it?
Peter (14:10):
Mr. President, you said you would end the Russia-Ukraine law on the first day in office. Where did they stand right now? And how do you plan-
Donald Trump (14:17):
Well, this is only half a day. I have another half a day left. We'll see. We want to get it done.
Speaker 1 (14:21):
Sir, this is an order creating and implementing the Department of Governmental Efficiency known as DOGE.
Donald Trump (14:26):
Okay, that's a big one.
Peter (14:30):
Is Elon Musk going to get a West Wing office?
Donald Trump (14:32):
No, he's getting an office for about 20 people that we're hiring to make sure that these get implemented. We have a problem in this country. You sign an executive order, it doesn't get done for six months. As an example, when we allow the J6 hostages to go out, it might not be approved under the old days for two weeks, three weeks, six months. They had a good ruling for the Supreme Court and it's like nothing happened. That ruling was six months ago. You know that. And it was like they didn't have a ruling. They've been treated very unfair. The judges have been absolutely brutal. The prosecutors have been brutal. Nobody's ever treated people in this country like that.
Speaker 11 (15:20):
Mr. President. Are you communing the sentences of anyone who assaulted the police officer on January 6th?
Donald Trump (15:26):
Well, we're looking at two police officers, actually. That Washington police officer who went after an illegal… And things happened and they ended up putting them in jail. They got five-year jail sentences, you know the case. And we're looking at that in order to give them a… We got to give them a break.
Speaker 11 (15:48):
But is there clemency in your actions today for anybody who assaulted a police officer.
Donald Trump (15:51):
That would be a pardon. The one I'm talking about would be a pardon.
Speaker 1 (15:54):
Here you go, sir. This is a-
Speaker 11 (15:55):
So there'd punishment for the people who assaulted law enforcement officers that day?
Donald Trump (16:00):
Well, I will say this. They've been in jail for a long time already. I see murderers in this country get two years, one year and maybe no time. So they've already been in jail for a long time. These people have been destroyed. What they've done to these people is outrageous. There's rarely been anything like it in the history of our country. And even people that were aggressive, and in many cases, I believe they happened to be outside agitators. But what do I know? But I think they were were outside agitators. There were outside agitators involved. And obviously the FBI was involved because Ray admitted the FBI was involved. Didn't he say 23 people indirectly or directly were involved? And it was 26. That's a lot of people.
(16:56)
These people have been treated so badly. It's never happened before. What happened in Seattle where they took over a big portion of the city? What happened in Portland where they burn down the city every day and people die? Nothing happened to anybody. But they go after these people violently. I mean, they're still going after brand-new people. They found somebody else with a picture. There's never been anything like this. Think of this, almost 100% of the people are convicted. 100%. It's Washington D.C. People go into a trial and they say, "Oh, I have a wonderful lawyer and I didn't do anything wrong." And they end up in shackles almost immediately and jail. No. We're not going to let it happen.
Speaker 3 (17:47):
How about Greenland. You have shown internet in buying it. But is there any other option that would satisfy you?
Donald Trump (17:54):
About what?
Speaker 3 (17:54):
Greenland. Instead of buying it.
Donald Trump (17:56):
Finland?
Speaker 11 (17:56):
Greenland.
Speaker 3 (17:57):
Greenland.
Donald Trump (17:57):
Oh, Greenland. Greenland is a wonderful place. We need it for international security. And I'm sure that Denmark will come along. I think it's costing them a lot of money to maintain it, to keep it. The people of Greenland are not happy with Denmark, as you know. I think they're happy with us. My son and representatives went up there two weeks ago and they like us. So we'll see what happens. But Greenland is necessary. Not for us, it's necessary for international security. You have Russian boats all over the place. You have China boats all over the place, warships, and they can't maintain it.
Speaker 11 (18:40):
Are you going to be talking with Vladimir Putin?
Speaker 3 (18:41):
[inaudible 00:18:42], sir?
Donald Trump (18:41):
Who?
Speaker 3 (18:41):
Do you plan to meet President Putin, sir?
Donald Trump (18:46):
I'll be meeting with President Putin.
Speaker 3 (18:47):
When do you think?
Donald Trump (18:50):
I don't know. It's being set up.
Speaker 11 (18:53):
Do you know when your first foreign trip for that might be, sir?
Donald Trump (18:53):
So the first foreign trip typically has been with UK, but I did it with Saudi Arabia last time because they agreed to buy $450 billion worth of our product. I said, "I'll do it, but you have to buy American product." And they agreed to do that. They bought 450 billion. It was the least reported story I've ever been involved in.
Speaker 11 (19:16):
And now? Where do you plan to go now?
Donald Trump (19:18):
Well, I don't know. If Saudi Arabia wanted to buy another 450 or 500. We'll up it for all the inflation.
Speaker 11 (19:23):
Mr. President-
Donald Trump (19:23):
I think I'd probably go there.
Speaker 11 (19:29):
… you say you were going to end the wars first day. How do you plan to end the Ukraine war?
Donald Trump (19:30):
Well, we're going to try and get it done as quickly as possible.
Peter (19:33):
Do you want to push Israel and Saudi Arabia-
Donald Trump (19:36):
It should have never started. You know the war with Ukraine and Russia should have never started. It would've never started if I were president.
Peter (19:42):
Will you push Israel and Saudi Arabia to normalize relations?
Donald Trump (19:47):
I don't think you have to push them. I think it's going to happen, but maybe not quite yet. But they'll end up being in the Accords, the Abraham Accords.
Speaker 12 (19:56):
President Trump.
Donald Trump (19:57):
I think Saudi Arabia will end up being in the Abraham Accords.
Peter (20:01):
This year.
Donald Trump (20:02):
Could be, but soon. Not in a very long way. Oh, look at that, it says TikTok.
Speaker 12 (20:08):
President Trump.
Donald Trump (20:08):
My, my, my. What is that all about?
Speaker 1 (20:10):
First we have Alaska, sir. This is an executive order relating to unleashing Alaska's potential as an energy reservoir for the entire nation.
Donald Trump (20:17):
And what about ANWR?
Speaker 1 (20:19):
I believe that would be included in aspects of the orders, sir.
Donald Trump (20:22):
So, we're opening up ANWR.
Peter (20:25):
On the TikTok piece, President Trump. You and your members of your team now used to warn about the dangers of TikTok spying on Americans. What changed that you're not worried about that anymore?
Donald Trump (20:36):
Well, it depends on the deal. I mean, I may not do the deal or I may do the deal. TikTok is worthless. Worthless if I don't approve it. It has to close. I learned that from the people that own it. If I don't do the deal, it's worthless, worth nothing. If I do the deal, it's worth maybe a trillion dollars. A trillion. I'm talking about doing it for the United States. If I do the deal for the United States, then I think we should get half.
Peter (21:09):
The TikTok CEO-
Donald Trump (21:09):
In other words, I think the US should be entitled to get half of TikTok. And congratulations, TikTok has a good partner. And that would be worth, it could be $500 billion or something. It's crazy. The numbers are crazy. But if the president doesn't sign, then it's worthless. If the president does sign, it's worth maybe a trillion dollars. So I think like a joint venture, I think we would have a joint venture with the people from TikTok. We'll see what happens. I mean, that's one of many ideas I've had.
Peter (21:45):
The CEO now, did he say that he's open to that idea, the joint-
Donald Trump (21:47):
Who?
Peter (21:47):
The CEO of TikTok is around-
Donald Trump (21:50):
Oh, I think he'd probably like it because he's got nothing. They really have nothing. It's passed in Congress. It gives the president a right to make a deal or to close it. And we have 90 days to make that decision. But I could see making a deal where the US gets 50% of TikTok. Polices it a little bit, or a lot, depends on them. But remember, they make telephones in China. They make all sorts of things in China. Nobody ever complains about that. Here, they're complaining about this. There's many different products made in China and nobody ever complained about it. The only one they complain about is TikTok. And TikTok is largely young people. I guess I have a warm spot for TikTok that I didn't have originally, but I went on TikTok and I won young people up by 36% Peter, and Republicans typically don't do too well with young people, but it's a different Republican Party.
Speaker 1 (22:51):
Sir, this is a TikTok executive order, sir.
Peter (22:51):
Would the US own a portion of TikTok then, or how would it get that 50%?
Donald Trump (22:56):
No, you'd take 50% of TikTok for the approval that TikTok could continue in business and they'd have a great partner. The US would be their partner. But the US essentially would be paid for doing that half of the value of TikTok.
Speaker 12 (23:11):
Would there be a private sector owner as well in the US?
Donald Trump (23:14):
It could be a lot. Tell you what, every rich person has called me about TikTok.
Speaker 3 (23:18):
You wanted to block TikTok. Why did you change their mind?
Donald Trump (23:22):
Because I got to use it. And remember, TikTok is largely about kids, young kids. If China's going to get information about young kids, I don't… To be honest with you, I think we have bigger problems than that. But when you take a look at telephones that are made in China and all the other things that are made in China, military equipment made in China, I think TikTok is not their biggest problem, but there's big value in TikTok if it gets approved. If it doesn't get approved, there's no value. So if we create that value, why aren't we entitled to like half?
Peter (24:00):
Sir, if you don't get a deal in 90 days, will you shut them down?
Donald Trump (24:04):
Does Biden ever do news conferences like this? How many news conferences Peter, has he done like this?
Peter (24:09):
Like this?
Donald Trump (24:10):
None.
Peter (24:10):
Zero.
Donald Trump (24:12):
And it would be zero for the next infinity. For Infinity it would be zero.
Speaker 11 (24:17):
Mr. President, when you do plan to talk to President-
Speaker 12 (24:21):
Is Elon Musk going to help implement the executive orders? I think you mentioned the implementations in your-
Donald Trump (24:24):
No. No. Elon's very busy sending rocket ships up to various places with lots of satellites on them.
Speaker 3 (24:34):
What is your reaction to the confirmation of Marco Rubio and what does it mean for Latin America?
Donald Trump (24:36):
Which one?
Speaker 3 (24:36):
Marco Rubio.
Donald Trump (24:39):
Marco Rubio.
Speaker 3 (24:40):
Mm-hmm.
Donald Trump (24:41):
You said Maco. Maco. Marco.
Speaker 3 (24:41):
Marco. Marco Rubio.
Donald Trump (24:46):
Yeah, I think he's great. I think Marco is doing a fantastic job. I think he's going to get a lot of votes. I think he's going to be at 90% or something. I mean, I'm hearing very good people know him. They know him in the Senate. They know he is good. He's doing a good job. I don't know. I can't tell you. I don't know what's going to happen with that. He's got some very strong ideas Marco.
Peter (25:07):
Which one did you sign, Mr. President.
Speaker 12 (25:08):
Did you sign the TikTok order?
Donald Trump (25:09):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (25:09):
Yes. That was just signed.
Donald Trump (25:10):
Just signed it.
Speaker 3 (25:10):
How many did you sign and are going to sign?
Speaker 13 (25:10):
President, Madura just said yes that he's still changing Venezuela, changing power. Are you still committed with Maduro leading power in Venezuela?
Donald Trump (25:18):
Well, we're going to find out about that too, because we're going to probably stop buying oil from Venezuela. We don't need their oil.
Speaker 13 (25:24):
Another embargo like the first term?
Donald Trump (25:25):
Well, it could be, but we don't have to buy their oil. We have plenty of oil for ourselves.
Peter (25:30):
President Trump.
Donald Trump (25:31):
That'll change Venezuela quite a bit.
Peter (25:33):
President Trump, there was a lot of concern about this during the campaign. A question that only works today. Are you a dictator on day one?
Donald Trump (25:41):
No. No. I can't imagine even being called that. No. I believe in the sanctity of the vote. The Democrats didn't because they cheated like dogs. But I believe in the sanctity, and this was too big to rig. This last election was just too big to rig.
Speaker 11 (25:57):
Mr. President, when do you plan to-
Donald Trump (25:59):
But no,
(25:59)
Could be very-
Speaker 14 (25:59):
… [inaudible 00:26:00]-
Donald Trump (26:00):
… really the opposite.
Speaker 14 (26:01):
When you do you plan to speak to President Putin?
Donald Trump (26:03):
Could be very soon.
Speaker 14 (26:05):
And you talked a bit about Ukraine and Russia, but how long do you think it would take to end that conflict and-
Donald Trump (26:13):
I have to speak to President Putin. We're going to have to find out. He can't be thrilled, he's not doing so well. I mean, he's grinding it out, but most people thought that war would've been over in about one week and now you're into three years. So he can't be thrilled, it's not making him look very good.
(26:31)
Now eventually, I mean, it's a big machine, so things will happen, but I think he'd be very well off to end that war. We have numbers that almost a million Russian soldiers have been killed. About 700,000 Ukrainian soldiers are killed. Russia is bigger, they have more soldiers to lose, but that's no way to run a country.
Speaker 15 (26:56):
What did your TikTok order do, Mr. President?
Donald Trump (26:59):
Just gave me the right to sell it or close it. Essentially with TikTok, I have the right to either sell it or close it, and we'll make that determination. And we may have to get an approval from China too, I'm not sure, but I'm sure they'll approve it. And if they don't approve it, it would be somewhat of a hostile act, I think. But it's good for China if it gets approved.
Peter (27:24):
Mr. President, so you're not guaranteeing that TikTok will be around after 90 days from today?
Donald Trump (27:28):
No, but it could very well be. It makes sense for it to be because it's got tremendous value. But if we create the value by approving, in other words that approval gives it tremendous value, if that's the case, then we should be entitled to 50% as a country. You understand?
Speaker 14 (27:45):
Mr. President-
Donald Trump (27:47):
You haven't heard that one before, right? That's called a joint venture and nobody ever thought that way before.
Peter (27:54):
Who would be your partner?
Donald Trump (27:56):
Well, I don't know. I think you have a lot of people that would be interested in TikTok with the United States as a partner.
Speaker 14 (28:03):
Mr. President, what was it like walking into the Oval Office this evening for the first time?
Donald Trump (28:06):
Oh, what a great feeling. One of the better feelings I've ever had.
Speaker 16 (28:14):
Do you like this town better now than you did in 2017?
Donald Trump (28:16):
Well, we're very experienced now. You would say nobody's ever had experience like I have. I've dealt with some very good people, I've dealt with some very bad people, and I know who the bad ones are and the good ones are.
(28:29)
Don't forget, I was very successful in primarily the real estate business and people used to say, "Who's worse, a politician or a vicious real estate developer?" And I'd always say the real estate developer is far worse. But after about three months and getting to know scum like Adam Schiff and other people like that, I said, "No, actually real estate people are quite nice by comparison."
Speaker 17 (28:58):
You said you plan to speak with President Putin soon. What about President Zelensky and what's your message [inaudible 00:29:03]?
Donald Trump (29:03):
Yeah, I would, but he's told me he wants to make a deal.
Speaker 17 (29:05):
[inaudible 00:29:07]-
Donald Trump (29:07):
I mean, he wants to make … Zelensky wants to make a deal. I don't know if Putin does, he might not. I don't know. And he should make a deal. I think he's destroying Russia by not making a deal. I think Russia is going to be in big trouble. You take a look at their economy, you take a look at the inflation in Russia, so I would hope … I got along with him great. And I would hope he wants to make a deal.
Peter (29:35):
Mr. President, are you keeping US sanctions on Russia until he makes a deal?
Donald Trump (29:39):
Well, sanctions or tariffs. I think the word tariff is much better because it keeps your dollar stronger. I think tariffs are more effective. I used sanctions on Iran, and Iran was broke. When I left office, Iran was broke. They had no money for Hamas or Hezbollah, none. They were flat broke, and October 7th would've never happened. And I think you all know that, it would've never happened. They had no money. Now they're rich, but they're weakened a different way. I would say that the one attack by Israel really set them back. It really set them back. The pagers, the pagers and others.
Speaker 17 (30:23):
What are you signing now-
Donald Trump (30:23):
The attack on air defense, that was a bad attack for Iran.
Speaker 17 (30:28):
What are you signing now, sir?
Speaker 1 (30:29):
It's an executive order relating to reforms to the federal workforce, including to the senior executive service.
Donald Trump (30:36):
We're getting rid of all of the cancer. I call it cancer. The cancer caused by the Biden administration.
Speaker 1 (30:45):
Here, sir.
Speaker 16 (30:45):
How confident are you, Mr. President, that you can keep the ceasefire in Gaza and conclude the three phases of this deal?
Donald Trump (30:52):
I'm not confident. That's not our war, it's their war-
Speaker 1 (30:55):
I apologize, sir.
Donald Trump (30:55):
… but I'm not confident, but I think they're very weakened on the other side.
Speaker 16 (31:00):
Do you support the two-states agreement?
Donald Trump (31:00):
Gaza, boy, I looked at a picture of Gaza, Gaza is like a massive demolition site. It's really, it's got to be rebuilt in a different way.
Speaker 16 (31:12):
Do you plan to help rebuilding Gaza?
Donald Trump (31:14):
I might. Gaza is interesting. It's a phenomenal location on the sea. The best weather. Everything's good. It's like, some beautiful things could be done with it, but it's very interesting. But some fantastic things could be done with Gaza.
Speaker 16 (31:35):
How do you see the future in governance for Gaza?
Donald Trump (31:39):
Well, it depends. I can't imagine you could have … Well, you certainly can't have the people that were there. Most of them are dead, by the way. Most of them are dead. But they didn't exactly run it well, it was run viciously and badly, so you can't have that.
Speaker 16 (31:56):
Sir-
Speaker 15 (31:56):
Mr. President, on TikTok, sir, can you pause any decision on Chinese tariffs until you know what the resolution on TikTok will be, now that the States [inaudible 00:32:07]?
Donald Trump (32:07):
If China didn't approve it, we could put tariffs on China.
Speaker 1 (32:11):
Here, sir.
Donald Trump (32:11):
Don't forget, China charges us tariffs and we charge them very little, except for what I did. We took in hundreds of billions of dollars, but until I came along, China never paid 10 cents to this country. They ripped us off and they never paid anything.
(32:28)
But if we wanted to make a deal with TikTok and it was a good deal and China wouldn't approve it, then I think ultimately they'd approve it because we'd put tariffs on China, maybe. I am not saying I would, but you certainly could do that. And if we said, "Well, if you're not going to approve it," then that's a certain hostility and we'll put tariffs of 25, 30, 40, 50%, even 100%. And if we did that, I think they'd approve it.
Peter (32:59):
President Trump, you've seen the other living presidents a couple of times in the last few months. If you ever had to call on one of them for advice about anything that's going on here, which one would you call?
Donald Trump (33:09):
It's an interesting … Well, I thought Bill Clinton was a very good politician. I don't think he was used properly, I think they disrespected him. When Hillary was running, he came back and he said, "You better get up to Michigan and Wisconsin." You remember that, Peter. "Every house has a Trump sign on it." And they all laughed at him because the Republicans had won Michigan or Wisconsin for decades, long time. And they all laughed at Bill Clinton like, "What the hell does he know?" And he turned out to be right because I won both of them. And then we just won both in this election too. We won Wisconsin and Michigan and every other swing state. We won all the swing states, all seven. They talked about seven swing states, we won them all.
(33:59)
But Bill Clinton was … he had a great political sense, I think
Speaker 17 (34:04):
You looked like you were having a good conversation with President Obama at President Carter's funeral?
Donald Trump (34:07):
I was. And you'd like to know what it was? Ooh.
Speaker 16 (34:10):
Everybody wants to know.
Donald Trump (34:13):
Everybody wants to know. I know, I wouldn't want to [inaudible 00:34:17], but we were having some crazy conversations.
Speaker 16 (34:19):
About?
Donald Trump (34:21):
Why do you asking a question like that? I don't think you want to know. You might not-
Speaker 15 (34:27):
[inaudible 00:34:28] you just signed?
Donald Trump (34:27):
You might be insulted.
Speaker 1 (34:28):
It's an executive order relating to holding former government officials accountable for unlawful disclosure of sensitive information. This next one, sir, is a declaration of a national energy emergency.
Speaker 14 (34:40):
Sir, you also [inaudible 00:34:41]-
Donald Trump (34:40):
That's a big one. You know what that allows you to do? That means you can do whatever you have to do to get out of that problem. And we do have that kind of an emergency.
Peter (34:51):
President Trump, at some point, will you use your powers of the presidency to tell Americans who are concerned about the drones of a weeks ago?
Donald Trump (35:01):
Yeah. Oh, good. Yeah.
Peter (35:03):
What exactly happened.
Donald Trump (35:03):
I will.
Peter (35:03):
Can you tell us now?
Donald Trump (35:06):
In fact, I'd like to know because I just got here.
Peter (35:08):
What do you think happened?
Donald Trump (35:11):
I just came here. I've been here for, what, 15 minutes. No.
Peter (35:13):
To people listening, because this is going out live-
Donald Trump (35:14):
And I got to read this letter too. Because of you, I found this letter.
Peter (35:18):
I can read it for you.
Donald Trump (35:19):
It's interesting. Yeah, I know you would. Your father would too.
Peter (35:26):
These drones, is it anything that people need to be worried about?
Donald Trump (35:30):
No. I would like to find out what it is and tell the people.
Peter (35:33):
And can you commit to some kind of [inaudible 00:35:34]?
Donald Trump (35:34):
In fact, I'd like to do that. Could we find out what that was, Susie? Okay? Yeah. Why don't we find out immediately. I mean, I can't imagine it's an enemy or there would've been … people would've gotten blown up all over. Maybe they were testing things. I don't know why they wouldn't have said what it was. They had a lot of them flying over Bedminster, which is interesting.
Peter (35:57):
And with the events today and yesterday, was everything moved inside just for cold weather or was there some kind of a security concern [inaudible 00:36:04]?
Donald Trump (36:04):
No, no, no. No, security, because they had everything shut down to drones. You can shut that down pretty easily if you're sophisticated. They're very sophisticated, these people. No, it was just cold weather.
(36:15)
And we made a good move because first of all, I thought it was incredible in the Capitol today. You know why I liked it? Because I got great reviews on that speech. I got great reviews. Can you believe it? They actually were fair. Maybe the fake news is changing, but-
Speaker 1 (36:31):
This is an order unleashing energy production, sir.
Donald Trump (36:32):
Yeah. Unleashing energy production. I think having it in the Capitol is great. Obviously you can take care of the people you have to take care of. The city was booming and if we would've done it outside, people would've been hurt because it was really cold. It was like, looked sunny, but when you stood outside for 10 minutes, people were running back in. It was really cold and really windy. The wind brings it down a lot.
(37:03)
So we made the right decision. I don't think you could have had it out … You know how cold it was today. People went out for a little while just to test it. They couldn't stay out more than 10 minutes, they all came back in. So we would've had a disaster if we did that and people would've been hurt.
Speaker 14 (37:19):
[inaudible 00:37:20]-
Peter (37:20):
Mr. President, the unlawful disclosure [inaudible 00:37:24], is that related to the Hunter Biden situation?
Donald Trump (37:26):
Which one?
Peter (37:26):
The one on unlawful disclosures by federal officials. Is that related to [inaudible 00:37:31]?
Donald Trump (37:31):
No, I think it's just more general than that. It's not Hunter Biden. I was surprised that President Biden would go and pardon his whole family because that makes him look very guilty. I could have pardoned my family. I could have pardoned myself, my family. I said, "If I do that, it's going to make me look very guilty." I don't think I'd be sitting here, frankly. If I did that, I don't think I'd be sitting here right now because that would've shown that you're guilty. But by pardoning his brother or brothers by pardoning all of those people that he pardoned, by pardoning J-6 … The unselect committee, they destroyed all of the documents. They deleted all of the information. There's no information. And a lot of the information pertains to Nancy Pelosi because she was given 100 … I mean, you know this, it's on tape with her daughter. Nancy Pelosi was responsible for not taking advantage of 10,000 soldiers or 1,000. You could have used 400. It was a relatively small crowd. It wasn't the crowd that was at the Mall, it was a small crowd.
(38:50)
So I was a little bit surprised that he did it because it makes him look guilty. I mean, he's going to have to live with it. Now with that being said,
Donald Trump (39:00):
It's an unbelievable precedent it creates for a president, but the precedent is unbelievable. Now, maybe every president that leaves office, they're going to pardon every president they ever met. So they don't have some lunatic like deranged Jack Smith, who's a total lunatic, by the way. Not a smart guy. He's a dummy. But we beat the hell out of him and I helped my reputation.
Speaker 18 (39:29):
Do you think you'd have to do the same thing at the end of this term?
Donald Trump (39:30):
Well, I guess now I have precedent to do it. I wouldn't want to do that. No. I think it makes you look very guilty. I think it makes Biden look very bad, very weak and very guilty. He pardoned everybody. How about this J6 committee? Why is he pardoning them? The reason is because if you delete and destroy documentation, everything, they have nothing because they were guilty as hell. They rigged it. It was a rigged deal. And when you do that, they look very bad. I was a little surprised they did it.
(40:11)
Liz Cheney, I mean, she's a lunatic and she lost by the greatest margin in the history of a politician running for Congress. Like 40 points. The reason it was the greatest is because anybody losing that badly is going to drop out. But she's a nut job. She doesn't drop out. She just keeps chugging forward and she lost by almost 40 points. That's the biggest number anybody's ever lost by. But why would Biden do that? He pardoned her and pardoned everybody. The reason is that they destroyed documents. And if you're even in a civil case, which this wouldn't be, I mean people go to jail for a long time for doing that. What's this one?
Speaker 1 (40:57):
That's unleashing American energy, sir. It relates to easing permitting processes and other regulatory systems to ensure that we can produce energy efficiently to drive the American economy forward.
Speaker 19 (41:09):
President Trump, looking around the office, we noticed some changes from the way that Biden had it set up. Can you confirm that you have added back the Diet Coke button?
Donald Trump (41:24):
First of all, I just got here. So my people came in. They have extraordinary decorator sense. Let just see some of the pictures. There, that's a good one. I could live with him. I could live with George Washington, I can tell you. I could live with Thomas Jefferson. I can live with most of them. They took a very safe route. They don't have any bad ones up there.
Speaker 1 (41:46):
This is withdrawing from the-
Donald Trump (41:47):
What is this one?
Speaker 1 (41:48):
Withdrawing from the World Health Organization, sir.
Donald Trump (41:50):
Ooh, that's a big one. So we paid $500 million to World Health when I was here and I terminated it. China with 1.4 billion people, we have 350 depending… Nobody knows what we have because so many people came in illegally, but let's say we have 325. They had 1.4 billion. They were paying 39 million. We were paying 500 million. It seemed a little unfair to me. So that wasn't the reason, but I dropped out. They offered me to come back for 39 million. In theory, it should be less than that but, you know. And when Biden came back, they came back for 500 million. He knew that you could have come back for 39 million. They wanted us back so badly. So we'll see what happens. Pretty sad though. Think of it. China pays 39 million and we pay 500 million, and China's a bigger country.
Speaker 3 (42:54):
Mr. President, you spoke about inflation today in your remarks. What actions are you taking today that will have a direct impact for Americans on their everyday costs to bring the costs down?
Donald Trump (43:06):
Well, the biggest factor for inflation is energy. They screwed up my energy policy and then they went back to it. They hurt it really badly and then they went back to it and they started drilling more. But by that time, it was too late. Many of these things that we're signing and that Doug Burgum is going to be signing and Chris Wright, who's phenomenal, Department of Energy, we're going to make a lot of money from energy. We have more than anybody else. We're going to make a lot of money from energy. We're going to make a lot of money from tariffs.
(43:41)
European Union charges us, they have a VAT tax of 20%, but it's really much higher than that, and that's almost the equivalent of a tariff. And they're tough, they're very tough. They don't take our cars, they don't take our farm product, they don't take almost anything. And yet, we take their cars and we take their farm product. We take a lot from them. So we have like a $300 billion deficit with the European Union. So we'll straighten that out with either tariffs or they have to buy our oil and gas. The one thing they can do to catch up quickly, buy our oil and gas. And they should do that.
Speaker 3 (44:24):
Will you travel to China this year?
Donald Trump (44:26):
Yeah, could be. I've had the invite.
Speaker 3 (44:29):
Did President Xi invite you?
Donald Trump (44:29):
I would do it, yeah. I would do it.
Speaker 20 (44:32):
Talking about the European Union and the tariffs, what do you mean when you say that European Union conflict makes us part of BRICS?
Donald Trump (44:41):
That it what?
Speaker 20 (44:42):
BRICS.
Donald Trump (44:43):
Oh, BRICS. No, I was talking about BRICS. BRICS is six nations. I think it's seven nations. And they were looking to do a number in the United States. And if they do that, they won't be happy about what's going to happen to them.
Speaker 21 (44:57):
Are you still considering a universal tariff Mr. President on all countries?
Donald Trump (45:03):
I may, yeah, but we're not ready for that yet. We may wrap it because essentially, all countries take advantage of the US. We don't make any good deals in the US. It's amazing in a way that we exist. We don't make good deals. We don't have any good deals. We have a deficit with almost, not all, there are a couple, I won't tell you their names because I don't want them to find out about it because they'll feel stupid. But there are a couple of countries that actually don't make money with us, but I don't want to let you know because they'll immediately change that. I tell you what, our country has an amazing economic future. I really believe that.
Speaker 21 (45:50):
What kind of universal tariff if you did do one?
Donald Trump (45:52):
Well, you'd put a universal tariff on anybody doing business in the United States because they're coming in and they're stealing our wealth, they're stealing our jobs, they're stealing our companies. They're hurting our companies. So you put a tariff on to keep them from doing it.
Speaker 22 (46:09):
Mr. President, you surrounded yourself with a whole bunch of billionaires today. President Biden, in his farewell, warned about an oligarchy. I was wondering if you could respond to that.
Donald Trump (46:19):
Well, he had a lot of guys and then they found out that he didn't know what the hell he was talking about, and I think they deserted him. They deserted him, those same guys. Look, I don't make pretenses smart guys, but there are a lot of smart people around, but they did desert him. They were all with him. Every one of them. Now they're all with me. I don't know. It's not going to get anything from me. I don't need money, but I do want the nation to do well, and they're smart people and they create a lot of jobs. And if they don't do it, China's going to do it. What they've done is they've taken industries and they've taken it away. They outsmarted China and we're sort of like that. It's okay. They've done a great job, a lot of them. Not all of them.
Speaker 1 (47:05):
This is protecting women from radical gender ideologies.
Speaker 3 (47:08):
Mr. President, going back to the World Health Organization, you were the president during COVID. Don't you see the importance of an organization like that to coordinate a global response?
Donald Trump (47:25):
Sure, I do, but not when you're being ripped off like we are by the World Health. World Health ripped us off. Everybody rips off the United States and that's it. It's not going to happen anymore. Thank you very much, everybody.
Speaker 23 (47:35):
All right guys. Let's go.
Speaker 24 (47:36):
One last one, sir. This is regarding Martin Luther King Day proclamation.
Speaker 23 (47:46):
Thank you, guys. Thank you, press. Thank you, sir. Thanks, press.
Donald Trump (47:56):
Thank you very much. Thank you.
Speaker 23 (47:56):
Let's go. Thanks, press. Thank you, guys.
Speaker 1 (47:56):
This is Martin Luther King [inaudible 00:47:57].
Donald Trump (47:56):
[inaudible 00:47:57].
(47:56)
Thank you very much. Thanks, gentlemen.
Speaker 1 (47:56):
[inaudible 00:47:59]
Speaker 25 (47:56):
Recording. Is this off?