Donald Trump (00:04):
Thank you very much everybody. We have a lot of big signings, good signings. One in particular, which we'll save for the end and I'll ask Will to go over these individually and we can see how we do.
Will (00:16):
Yes, sir. First for your review, we have 56 subcabinet level appointments. This includes probably most notably seven ambassador appointments. Those will be the first ambassadors I believe that you've transmitted to the Senate.
Donald Trump (00:31):
Okay. And they're very good. Okay.
Will (00:41):
Thank you, sir.
Donald Trump (00:43):
Okay.
Will (00:43):
Second, we have acting designations. We're actually designating Doug Collins to be the acting leader of both the Office of Special Counsel and the Office of Government Ethics.
Donald Trump (00:55):
Do you know Doug? Everybody, I think. He was in charge of the fake impeachment hearings, remember? That I won very conclusively. Fake charges by the radical left Democrats. Okay.
Will (01:15):
Next, sir, the Federal Executive Institute is a program that was set up during the Johnson administration to train senior level government bureaucrats. As you've identified repeatedly in the last few years, the senior levels of our federal government are not adequately serving as stewards of taxpayer dollars, so we're recommending zeroing out that program effectively.
Donald Trump (01:38):
We're actually getting rid of a few programs that are just a waste. Just really a waste.
Will (01:46):
Thank you, sir. Next we have an executive order relating to the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act. As you've repeatedly identified, the way that this act has been enforced over the years has been devastating to American business opportunities and business competitiveness abroad. We're essentially ordering the Department of Justice to use its prosecutorial discretion in a way to ameliorate the negative effects of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, to allow Americans to do business abroad and to allow our foreign partners to do business with Americans without fearing unjust prosecution.
Donald Trump (02:21):
And for those of you that know this, it sounds good on paper, but in practicality, it's a disaster. It means that if an American goes over to a foreign country and starts doing business over there legally, legitimately, or otherwise, it's almost a guaranteed investigation indictment and nobody wants to do business with the Americans because of it. Nobody wants to do business. They say, "Look, we can deal with China. They can do whatever they want. We can deal with Russia, we can deal with anybody and we have a normal life. You deal with America, the FBI gets over there." They don't investigate death and murders on the street in New York and Los Angeles. They go over and investigate a business guy trying to do business. So it made it very, very hard from a practical standpoint to make deals. They want to deal with the Americans, but they don't want to be under investigation every time they speak to American, every time an American makes a phone call to somebody in a different country.
(03:22)
It's a disaster for this country. And I guess it was a Jimmy Carter concept and it sounds so good, but it's so bad. It hurts the country and many, many deals are unable to be made because of it. Nobody wants to do business, because they don't want to feel like every time they pick up a phone, they're going to jail. So we'll sign this and it takes courage to sign it, because you only get bad publicity when you sign it. It sounds so nice. The title is so lovely, but it's an absolutely horror show for America. So we're signing it, because that's what we have to do to make it good. Okay. Thank you. It's an important one. It's going to mean a lot more business for America. Okay.
Will (04:18):
Thank you, sir. Next, this is an executive order relating to the use of paper straws. As you've consistently identified, nobody really likes paper straws.
Donald Trump (04:27):
Number one trending. Can you believe it? A paper straw is number one trending for three days or something.
Will (04:33):
The environmental impact of plastic straws versus paper straws is entirely unclear. This has cost both the government and private industry an absolute ton of money and left consumers all over the country wildly dissatisfied with their straws. So we're asking aspects of the federal government, federal departments and agencies to look at their existing procurement processes and we're asking your domestic policy council to look holistically at this issue to address it and it really is something that affects ordinary Americans in their everyday lives.
Donald Trump (05:03):
We're going back to plastic straws. These things don't work. I've had it many times and on occasion, they break, they explode. If something's hot, they don't last very long. A matter of minutes. Sometimes a matter of seconds. It's a ridiculous situation, so we're going back to plastic straws. I think it's okay. And I don't think that plastic's going to affect a shark very much as they're munching their way through the ocean. Okay.
Will (05:43):
Thank you, sir. Next we have a full and unconditional pardon for former governor Rod Blagojevich of the State of Illinois.
Donald Trump (05:50):
Good. It's my honor to do it. I've watched him. He was set up by a lot of bad people. Some of the same people that I had to deal with. He wasn't quite as successful, but he had somebody that saw what was going on. I didn't know him, other than I believe he was on The Apprentice for a little while. He was just a very nice person. He had a fantastic wife. She fought like hell to get him out. He was given a sentence of 18 years and it was a terrible injustice. They just were after him. They go after a lot of people. These are bad people though, the other side, so I think he's just a very fine person and this shouldn't have happened and it shouldn't have happened to him and let him have a normal life and let him go out and do what he has to do. So I'm signing this as a full pardon. Rod Blagojevich.
Will (06:50):
Mr. President, are you considering him for ambassador of Serbia?
Donald Trump (06:58):
No, but I would. He's now cleaner than anybody in this room. He got a pardon. He's cleaner than anybody in the room. Okay.
Will (07:05):
Thank you, sir. Next, in 2018, you imposed ad valorem duties, tariffs on imports of steel at a 25% rate. Since that time, a large number of exclusions and exceptions to that tariff rule have been implemented. Because of the damage to the United States steel industry that those exceptions and exclusions have imposed, this order would reimpose that 25% ad valorem tariff rate on imports of steel and it's presented for your signature now.
Donald Trump (07:43):
Okay. Do you understand what that means? It's a big deal. It's a big deal. This is the beginning of making America rich again. Mr. Secretary, do you have anything to say? As you know, Howard is Secretary of Commerce. Doing a fantastic job. And what do you have to say about it?
Howard Lutnick (08:11):
So when you imposed the tariffs the first time, you added 120,000 jobs. And since that time, it's been picked away and nicked away and excluded away and we've lost 107,000 jobs. And remember, these aren't just general jobs. These are steel workers in America and now you're going to bring them back. You're going to bring those 120,000 jobs back to America. You are the president who's standing up for the American steel worker and I am just tremendously impressed and delighted to stand next to you.
Speaker 1 (08:44):
[inaudible 00:08:46].
Donald Trump (08:46):
So let me just make a statement. And essentially, this is another way of saying we're doing a 25% tariff on steel and aluminum. So the failed American trade policies have led our once incredible United States steel and aluminum industries… Once incredible. That's once incredible and not now, but they're not bad. I saved them, because of my first term. Totally saved them. If I didn't do what I did… I put massive tariffs. Not the highest level, but pretty massive tariffs. We took in a lot of money and we took in a lot of jobs, but we were being pummeled by both friend and foe alike.
(09:31)
Our nation requires steel and aluminum to be made in America, not in foreign lands. We need to create in order to protect our country's future resurgence of US manufacturing and production, the likes of which has not been seen for many decades. It's time for our great industries to come back to America. I want them back to America. This is the first of many. And you know what I mean by that. We're going to be doing others on other subjects, topics.
Donald Trump (10:00):
… protecting our steel and industries is a must. And today I'm simplifying our tariffs in steel and aluminum so that everyone can understand exactly what it means. It's 25% without exceptions or exemptions. And that's all countries, no matter where it comes from, all countries. If made in the United States, however, United States of America, there is no tariff. Tariff is zero. So if it's made in the United States, there is no tariff. All you have to do is make it in the United States. We don't need it from another country. As an example, Canada, if we make it in the United States, we don't need it to be made in Canada. We'll have the jobs. That's why Canada should be our 51st state.
(10:43)
We'll bring back industries and we'll bring back our jobs and we'll make America's industry great again. So essentially we're putting on a 25% tariff without exception on all aluminum and all steel. And it's going to mean a lot of businesses are going to be opening in the United States.
(11:02)
Now we're going to be meeting, over the next four-week period, maybe on a weekly basis, and maybe we'll do a couple of them at different times and maybe together. But we'll be talking about other subjects like cars. We'll be talking about drugs and pharmaceuticals. We'll be discussing chips, and we're going to be doing some other things in addition to that, all which will bring in a lot of jobs into our country. Cars is going to be a very big one and a very important one. And America is going to be stronger than it ever was before, okay? So are you finished with everything, I think?
Will (11:45):
We have aluminum still to sign here, sir.
Donald Trump (11:46):
Okay, let's go.
Will (11:47):
So with respect to aluminum, similarly to steel, since 2018, a large number of exceptions and exemptions have been added into the law. This eliminates all of those and also increases the ad valorem tariff rate from 10% to 25%.
Donald Trump (12:02):
Mostly the last part is the most important, right? Would you say?
Speaker 2 (12:07):
Totally.
Donald Trump (12:08):
So basically this is aluminum, the same thing. No exceptions, no nothing. And it's going to bring our aluminum business back and may go higher. I mean, frankly, it may go higher. And we're going to also be talking about receptive … We're going to be talking about things over the next three weeks that I think will be amazing for our country, amazing for our jobs, and will bring us to a new level of prosperity. And I think frankly, our allies and our enemies all over the world expected this. They really expected it for years. They really expected it sometime during the Biden administration, but they didn't do anything.
(12:51)
As you know, I put tariffs on China. We took in hundreds of billions of dollars with those tariffs and Biden wasn't able to get them them out. He tried to, but it was too much money, he couldn't do it. And we're going to be doing a very concise … And it's going to be good. And I don't think, if done properly, and we're going to try and do that, we don't want it to hurt other countries. But they've been taking advantage of us for years and years and years, and they've charged us tariffs. Most of them have charged us, almost every one, I would say almost without exception.
Speaker 2 (13:26):
Definitely.
Donald Trump (13:27):
They've charged us and we haven't charged them. And it's time to be reciprocal. So you'll be hearing that word a lot; reciprocal. If they charge us, we charge them. If they're at 25%, we're at 25%. If they're at 10%, we're at 10%. And if they're much higher than 25%, that's what we are too.
(13:45)
So that's having to do with everything, that's not just steel and aluminum. But we'll be discussing that over the next couple of weeks. But we will be looking at chips and we will be looking at cars and we're going to be looking at pharmaceuticals. And there'll be a couple of other things also, in addition.
Speaker 3 (14:04):
Mr. President.
Speaker 4 (14:04):
Mr. President.
Speaker 3 (14:04):
Mr. President.
Speaker 4 (14:06):
Mr. President.
Donald Trump (14:06):
Yes.
Speaker 3 (14:06):
[inaudible 00:14:08]
Speaker 4 (14:07):
US steelworkers have said that they support this move. What would you say to American consumers who are worried that prices might go up?
Donald Trump (14:14):
That they do support this move?
Speaker 4 (14:15):
US steelmakers-
Donald Trump (14:16):
I love the steelmakers.
Speaker 4 (14:18):
But what do you say to [inaudible 00:14:19]
Donald Trump (14:19):
Of course they do, because they want to save their businesses. US steel will now be a very valuable company. Anybody that makes steel is going to be great. Anybody that works in big steel is going to be very happy.
Speaker 4 (14:30):
What do you say to consumers who are worried about prices, sir?
Donald Trump (14:32):
Oh, I don't think you're going to … No, you're going to ultimately have a price reduction because they're going to make their steel here. There's not going to be any tariff. These foreign companies will move to the United States, will make their steel and aluminum in the United States.
Speaker 3 (14:44):
Mr. President.
Speaker 4 (14:44):
[inaudible 00:14:45]
Donald Trump (14:45):
Ultimately, it'll be cheaper, but we'll also have jobs, many, many more jobs.
Speaker 5 (14:50):
Sir, what are you looking at in terms of tariffs on cars and chips?
Donald Trump (14:53):
Well, we're looking at numbers and we'll be coming up with a number. But we make some of the finest cars in the world and some companies prohibit us from selling those cars in their countries. But they sell us cars, they send cars to us and we don't do that. We charge nothing or 2.5%. And they'll be charging 100%. They'll be charging much more than that if you look at some of them. So I think those days are over, but we'll be announcing on other things such as cars. We got some other things we'll be doing.
(15:29)
But the biggest thing is reciprocal. We want tariffs to be fair. If they charge us, we charge them.
Speaker 5 (15:37):
[inaudible 00:15:37] the reciprocal tariffs?
Donald Trump (15:38):
We'll be doing reciprocal over the next, I would say two days, don't you think? Two days, yeah. Maybe.
Speaker 3 (15:44):
Mr. President.
Speaker 6 (15:45):
Mr. President, the Australian Prime Minister has said that you are considering an exemption from Australia on steel. Is that correct, and why?
Donald Trump (15:52):
I just spoke to him, very fine man. And he has a surplus. I mean, we have a surplus with Australia, one of the few. And the reason is they buy a lot of airplanes. They are rather far away and they need lots of airplanes. And we actually have a surplus. It's one of the only countries which we do. And I told him that that's something that we will give great consideration to.
Speaker 6 (16:15):
And would you consider one for the UK as well?
Donald Trump (16:17):
Well, we have a huge deficit with the UK. Big difference.
Speaker 7 (16:24):
You don't have a deficit with Argentina. Is that country also going to be [inaudible 00:16:27]?
Donald Trump (16:26):
We have a little deficit with Argentina, almost with every country. But Australia because of the airplanes, they buy a lot of airplanes. There's a little bit of a surplus.
Speaker 3 (16:36):
Mr. President, if other countries retaliate, what-
Donald Trump (16:40):
I don't mind.
Speaker 3 (16:41):
What is your plan for, for example, farmers? Last term, you gave [inaudible 00:16:45] again?
Donald Trump (16:45):
Well, the farmers are going to be helped greatly. Yeah, the farmers are going to be helped greatly because they're not going to be dumping everything into our country. This will be a great bill for farmers. And in terms of retaliation, if they retaliate, it's, as I said, it's reciprocal. So if they raise it a little bit, then we raise it automatically. So I don't think it helps for them to retaliate.
(17:10)
But also remember this, they can't really retaliate because we're the piggy bank. We're the piggy bank. But if we don't do this, we won't be the piggy bank for long. We won't be much of a country.
Speaker 5 (17:21):
Mr. President, did you see that report, sir, that Hamas was going to stop releasing Israeli hostages, and what was your reaction?
Donald Trump (17:26):
I think it's terrible. Look, I looked at the hostages that came in and they're emaciated. It looked like something out of the 1930s. It's an absolute disgrace. And I think they saw the way the world viewed it and they're looking for a reason not to send more because they were all … You take a look at that, it looked like it was a concentration camp, which essentially it was. Looks like they came out of the Holocaust and what a sad thing. One of them was a young man, good-looking guy, a little bit heavier than perhaps he could have been, and now he looks like he's not even recognizable. Not even recognizable.
Speaker 4 (18:12):
Is the ceasefire deal at risk of falling apart?
Donald Trump (18:15):
Look, I can tell you that those people have been badly hurt, both mentally and physically. I'm talking about the young women that came out also previously. And I think one of the reasons they're doing this is because they're probably sending the best. What you see is probably the best, because they want to send people that look at least healthy. And that's not healthy. These people have been badly hurt. They've been interviewed by our representatives, they've been interviewed by Israeli representatives, and they're really hurting. They are really hurting mentally and physically. And I think Hamas is looking at that and saying, well, it's not going to get much better than that because they probably send out their best as a representative and they've got more to send out. And they probably feel that they can't do that because it's not going to make them look very good.
Speaker 4 (19:16):
[inaudible 00:19:17] Should the ceasefire then be off?
Donald Trump (19:18):
Well, I would say this and I'm going to let that be because that's Israel's decision. But as far as I'm concerned, if all of the hostages aren't returned by Saturday at 12 o'clock, I think it's an appropriate time, I would say cancel it and all bets are off and let hell break out. I'd say they ought to be returned by 12 o'clock on Saturday. And if they're not returned, all of them, not in drips and drabs, not two, and one, and three, and four, and two. Saturday at 12 o'clock, and after that, I would say all hell is going to break
Donald Trump (20:00):
And I don't think they're going to do it. I think a lot of them are dead. I think a lot of the hostages are dead. I think it's a great human tragedy what's happened, how people can be that mean to do. The one guy was laughing when a hostage, he thought his family was alive, found out the family was dead. And his captor, so to speak, his captor started laughing because he thought it was so funny. This is a different group of people. No. I would say Saturday at 12:00, we want them all back. I'm speaking for myself, Israel can override it. But from myself, Saturday at 12:00 and if they're not here, all hell is going to break out.
Group (20:50):
[inaudible 00:20:52].
Speaker 8 (20:53):
Mr. President, in the interview this weekend, you said that Palestinians would not be guaranteed the right to return to Gaza if the US were to develop it. What did you mean by that and under what [inaudible 00:21:02]?
Donald Trump (21:01):
We've spoken to a lot of Palestinians. They would love to leave Gaza if they could find a place to be. And I've spoken to various leaders of various countries in the not so distant area from where we're talking about, the Gaza Strip, and I think they were very positive about providing land.
Group (21:21):
[inaudible 00:21:22].
Donald Trump (21:21):
What we need is land, and if we could build a nice place for people to live safely, everybody in Gaza would do it. They've been persecuted. They've been spit on. They've been treated like trash and they would love to get out of Gaza, but until now they never had an alternative. Now they have an alternative. And as far as Hamas is concerned, you're seeing the real Hamas now with the hostages.
Group (21:45):
[inaudible 00:21:48].
Donald Trump (21:45):
Yeah?
Speaker 9 (21:48):
Mr. President, on Gaza.
Donald Trump (21:50):
Who are you? From where?
Speaker 9 (21:51):
The Wall Street Journal, sir.
Donald Trump (21:52):
Yeah. That's what I thought.
Speaker 9 (21:53):
The Jordanian leader is coming in to see you.
Donald Trump (21:55):
Yeah.
Speaker 9 (21:57):
Folks in Jordan have expressed-
Donald Trump (21:58):
Tomorrow.
Speaker 9 (21:58):
… opposition to taking in more Gazans, more Palestinians. How are you going to convince them to do otherwise?
Donald Trump (22:04):
I think he'll take, I mean, I do think he'll take. I think other countries will take also. They have good hearts. I think they'll take.
Speaker 9 (22:11):
But what about the Palestinians who just won't leave? Our team has spoken to many in Gaza [inaudible 00:22:16].
Donald Trump (22:16):
They're all going to leave when they have a place that's a better alternative. When they have a nice place that's safe, they're all going to leave. It's a hellhole right now.
Speaker 9 (22:23):
But how are you so sure? Will the US force them to leave?
Donald Trump (22:27):
You're going to see that they're all going to want to leave.
Group (22:29):
[inaudible 00:22:30].
Speaker 10 (22:29):
Mr. President, when it comes to Saturday at noon, there's an American hostage who's still being held by Hamas right now. Are you worried about [inaudible 00:22:38]?
Donald Trump (22:38):
Look, who knows, are they alive? Are they not alive? But I saw the condition. When I saw the condition of the last ones that came out and the women too, everybody. The one woman had her hand blown off because she was trying to stop a bullet being fired at her. What kind of a situation is that? You saw her. I just think it's time to either you release everybody. They're not going to be alive right now. Based on what I saw over the last two days, they're not going to be alive for long. Saturday at 12:00 and after that it's going to be a different ballgame.
Speaker 11 (23:18):
Mr. President, when you say all hell is going to break loose, are you speaking about retaliation from [inaudible 00:23:24]?
Donald Trump (23:23):
You'll find out.
Speaker 11 (23:24):
Okay.
Donald Trump (23:25):
And they'll find out too. Hamas will find out what I mean.
Speaker 12 (23:28):
Mr. President, [inaudible 00:23:30].
Donald Trump (23:29):
They're going to find out what I mean. These are sick people and they'll find out what I mean Saturday at 12:00 [inaudible 00:23:35].
Speaker 13 (23:35):
You have no involvement with the US?
Speaker 14 (23:36):
How about Palestinians from the West Bank. Are they going to be relocated to? What's your position on [inaudible 00:23:41]?
Donald Trump (23:40):
Right now, no. Right now they're there and I assume they want to remain there. It's different. They're there. It's never been like what we're talking about with the Gaza Strip.
Speaker 15 (23:51):
So they're going to continue to [inaudible 00:23:52]-
Donald Trump (23:51):
No, no, I have no plans there.
Speaker 16 (23:53):
Mr. President, regarding the consumer Financial Protection Bureau, Democrats, including Elizabeth Warren, have said that by freezing it, it's giving big banks and giant corporations to green light to scam families. Your response?
Donald Trump (24:03):
Yeah. Pocahontas, the faker. That was set up to destroy people. She used that as her little personal agency to go around and destroy people and she's a fake, just like she said, she was an Indian and she wasn't an Indian. You have more Indian blood than than she has. She went to college based on the fact that she was an Indian. She got jobs based on the fact that she was an Indian. She's a fake. That was set up to destroy some very good people, and it worked. It worked. A lot of great people.
(24:44)
I'll tell you before I ever heard the term, people would come up to me in the Midwest and areas say, "Sir, I'm being destroyed by them." They use that to destroy people. She's a nasty woman. She's a really nasty woman. Despite her phony beer commercial. No, we did the right thing. That was a very important thing to get rid of.
Group (25:06):
[inaudible 00:25:08].
Donald Trump (25:07):
And it was also a waste. Number one, it was a bad group of people running it, but it was also a waste. If you looked at when she really ran it, wow, that was a vicious group of people. They really destroyed a lot of people.
Speaker 17 (25:20):
And you could confirm it's your goal is to have it totally eliminated, the agency?
Donald Trump (25:24):
I would say yeah, because we're trying to get rid of waste, fraud and abuse.
Speaker 18 (25:28):
What's next?
Donald Trump (25:29):
And didn't I hear that somebody made like $38 million or something running a little agency? What was her name? What was her name and what did she do and what was that all about? All the money that she made. Does anybody know?
Brian (25:43):
Are you going to-
Donald Trump (25:44):
Yeah, Brian, go ahead.
Brian (25:45):
Good to see you. The latest CBS poll has your approval ratings at an all time high despite all these controversial subjects and executive orders that you're doing. Want to get your thoughts on that, how you've really connected to mainstream America?
Donald Trump (25:59):
Yeah. I have high approval ratings because I'm using common sense, whether it's getting men out of women's sports. Have you seen what goes on with the boxers and with the weightlifters and with the swimmers and everything? That's so ridiculous, but I think it's a 90% issue. And the amazing thing, the Democrats are still fighting for it. It's crazy. It's crazy. I think we should go to Congress, also. Have that cemented and make it indelible. But to me, it's all common sense. Who wants an open border where prisons are dumped into our country, where prisoners are led into our country, many of whom are murderers, many of whom murdered far more than one person, and they're now roaming our country. Who wants that? It's terrible. Steve, I'd like you to say a couple of words about it.
Steve (26:53):
Yes. Well, as you know, Mr. President, since you issued your day one executive orders, border crossings are down approximately 95%. You talk to agents on the line, in their entire careers they've never seen crossing days as low as what they're experiencing right now. The cartels, in fact, are enormously frustrated because they've never seen a clampdown like this before in American history. There are people who were working at Border Patrol back when it was at INS in the 80s and 90s. They've never seen a date like this. That's because you've mobilized the 10th mounted division and the Marines, the entire US military. They're erecting physical miles of barrier, temporary and ultimately permanent every single day. You have all of your border agents push to the front line. They're not doing the humanitarian processing that Biden was doing. They're doing law enforcement and national security. They're interdicting weapons and drugs. They're interdicting violent, high threat criminals, and the US military is repatriating illegal immigrants at a pace in a skill that has never occurred before in American history, and those who are committing human trafficking and child trafficking are being prosecuted for felony offenses and they'll be doing hard time in jail. There's never been a lockdown like what you have implemented through your orders and visions since you took the oath of office.
Speaker 19 (28:03):
What's your thoughts on DOGE? Wednesday at 10:00 AM, they're having a first subcommittee going to focus on the fraud and Medicaid.
Donald Trump (28:08):
Yeah, before I discuss that, I just want to add to what Steve said, and we want people to come into our country, but we want them to come in legally. They have to go through a process and we have to know that they haven't killed nine people or they haven't killed in one case, five people, and they're out on the loose and we're all looking for that particular individual. This was all let in by Biden and the group of stupid people, bad people and stupid people. Some are bad, some are stupid, some are both, but I'll tell you what, what they've done to this country, but we're cleaning it up. And hard to believe, I can say it'll be better than ever before, but we have a lot of bad people we have to get at. We're searching out for a lot of them.
(28:53)
I think Tom Holman and Kristi are doing an unbelievable job. Kristi Noem, they're doing an unbelievable job and taking out massive numbers of people, and you notice every country is accepting those people back. Remember everyone said, "Oh, they'll never accept them." They're all taking them back. They have to. They're all taking them back. Every single country is taking them back. I don't know if they want them or not. I don't imagine they do, but they're taking them back.
Group (29:17):
[inaudible 00:29:17].
Speaker 20 (29:17):
Mr. President, back on Gaza. You talked with Fox News about the billions of dollars we pay for Jordan and Egypt every year. Would you withhold aid to these countries if they don't agree to take in the Palestinians?
Donald Trump (29:32):
Yeah, maybe. Sure, why not? You mean, if they don't agree?
Speaker 20 (29:34):
Is that part of the deal that you mentioned?
Donald Trump (29:36):
If they don't agree, I would conceivably withhold aid, yeah.
Speaker 21 (29:42):
Are you going to talk to Prime Minister Netanyahu about the Saturday deadline?
Donald Trump (29:46):
Sure. I mean, it's just my deadline, but they may change it, but I've seen too many people come out, they look like Holocaust victims from many
Donald Trump (30:00):
… years ago. I've never seen anything like it. I didn't think this could happen in this world today. We think we have a civilized world. It's not civil. These are bad people we're dealing with. So that would be my suggestion. And he can open it up or not open it up, but that would be my… Do you have anything to say about that? You're commerce, but you have a lot to say from the standpoint of your faith and your religion. Go ahead.
Howard Lutnick (30:24):
So it's amazing that four years of nothing and then you come in and you immediately start to move the needle. You have hostages coming out. You send Steve Witkoff who's done an amazing job for you. You're changing the Middle East. You're supporting your ally, Israel. And I, for one, can't be more impressed with the outcomes that you have driven and choosing this Saturday to save people's lives or just be done with it. It seems like just the right choice.
Donald Trump (30:54):
But I think it's time to come up with a date.
Howard Lutnick (30:57):
Totally.
Donald Trump (30:57):
What are we going to do? Keep every week, two people, three people? No. I don't think you can do that anymore. These are very seriously endangered people. These are endangered people. I don't think they're going to last very long. The people that came out yesterday, they wouldn't last very long.
Speaker 22 (31:19):
Were you ruling out any US involvement in whatever happens after this deadline?
Donald Trump (31:23):
We'll see what happens. We'll just see what happens.
Speaker 24 (31:25):
Will you talk with Zelenskyy this week, sir?
Donald Trump (31:27):
Yeah, probably.
Speaker 22 (31:28):
By telephone, which [inaudible 00:31:29]-
Donald Trump (31:29):
He wants to make a deal. Let's see. We'll see.
Speaker 22 (31:31):
[inaudible 00:31:33].
Donald Trump (31:33):
We're dealing with them, and I think they both want to make a deal, but we'll have to see. It's got to be done.
Speaker 22 (31:39):
What is Zelenskyy [inaudible 00:31:41]-
Donald Trump (31:40):
It would've never happened if I were president. This would never have happened. Millions of people are dead.
Speaker 22 (31:45):
What will Zelenskyy have to give up if anything?
Donald Trump (31:48):
We'll talk about that later because-
Speaker 23 (31:49):
Your reaction to a judge say continuing a pause on the Buyout Program for federal workers.
Donald Trump (31:54):
Well, I don't know how you can lose a case like that. We're talking about people, everybody. I got elected on making government better, more efficient and smaller, and that's what we're doing. And I think it was a very generous buyout actually. Also, if people don't show up to work, we have a right to fire them, and they have an option. They can show up to work or not. If they don't want to show up to work, then let them work… Because then the next step is have you worked before? Have you worked during this time that you're supposed to be working? You'll find many of those people, in my opinion, have had other jobs. Even though they're collecting money from the federal government. Many have had, in my opinion, other jobs. If they did, that's a big problem.
Speaker 22 (32:39):
If the buyouts are blocked in court, will you instead pursue layoffs in federal departments?
Donald Trump (32:44):
I don't know how they can… This is free will. This is a buyout where people, they were offered a good deal. Many people have taken that as you know, but many of those people, and we talk about reporting to work. I happen to be a believer that you have to go to work. I don't think you can work from a home. I don't know. There's a whole big, "Oh, you can work from home." Nobody's going to work from home.
(33:08)
They're going to be going out. They're going to play tennis. They're going to play golf. They're going to do a lot of things. They're not working. It's a rare person that's going to work. You might work 10% of the time, maybe 20%. I don't think you're going to work a lot more than that. And I think they have an obligation to work and they have an obligation not to have a second job when they're supposed to be working for the federal government. You're going to find that a lot of these people have second jobs. Instead of working for, they'll be collecting a federal government check and they'll be working two jobs, and that's big trouble for them.
Speaker 23 (33:42):
[inaudible 00:33:42] Congress?
Speaker 25 (33:42):
You've said a lot about South Africa in the last two weeks.
Donald Trump (33:45):
Yeah.
Speaker 25 (33:45):
It's hosting the G20 Summit this year. Are you planning to attend this or are you skipping it and telling your cabinet to not-
Donald Trump (33:51):
Well, we'll see what happens. But the South African situation is very, very dangerous and very bad for a lot of people. There's tremendously bad things going on, including the confiscation of property and worse, much worse than that. You know what I'm talking about And we're not making any payment until we find out what's going on in South Africa. Yes, please.
Speaker 26 (34:13):
What's next-
Speaker 27 (34:14):
[inaudible 00:34:14] for General Kellogg going to Ukraine this week, sir, soon?
Donald Trump (34:17):
Yeah, it's Keith Kellogg. General Kellogg is an excellent guy and he's spending time doing various things. We have numerous people working on numerous different problems. When I left office, was it long ago? A little more than four years ago. We had no wars. We didn't have problems. Now, we've got the whole world is blowing up, but we'll put out the fires.
Speaker 27 (34:47):
Have you've been talking to Vladimir Putin? Are you trying to set up a meeting with him?
Donald Trump (34:47):
Well, I can't tell you what I'm talking about, but we are talking as a group also. I think I'd like to make a deal, but it takes two to tango.
Speaker 22 (34:59):
And so you can't give us any more clarity on whether you personally have spoken to-
Donald Trump (35:03):
I don't want to talk about it. No, I don't want to talk about it. It's not going to help you to know, but we would like to get a deal done if possible. Only because in my case, to save lives. We're much further away. Remember, we have an ocean separating. They don't. Europe should be paying what we're paying, and Europe has done it more in the form of a loan than with us. We just give it. Biden gives it because he's not a smart individual, not a very smart individual.
(35:32)
We have people over there today who are making a deal that as we give money, we get minerals and we get oil, and we get all sorts of things because why are we doing this and all this money we're in for maybe 350 billion, and Europe's in for a hundred billion. And Europe's in really as a form of a loan. In theory, they get that money back. In theory, they get interest on their money. It's a whole different ballgame. And Biden is the one that started doing this. Every time Zelenskyy came here, he walked away with 60 to a hundred billion dollars. I think he's one of the greatest salesmen who've ever lived, by the way.
Speaker 22 (36:08):
Can you discuss your intentions with the Kennedy Center, which you're now chair of?
Donald Trump (36:13):
So we took over the Kennedy Center. We didn't like what they were showing and various other things. And I had a lot of the board members already, as you know, and we have some that will be replaced, but we have, I guess, a whole new group of people going in. I have Rick Grinnell who's got some experience in that world. He's very good. He's going to be handling it on a temporary basis. I think he'll do a great job, but we're going to get some great professionals. I'm going to be chairman of it, and we're going to make sure that it's good and it's not going to be woke. There's no more woke in this country. This woke has cost us a fortune and cost us our reputation, but the reputation's coming back very, very rapidly. Thank you very much everybody.
Audience (36:58):
[inaudible 00:37:00].
Donald Trump (37:01):
The penny is gone.
Speaker 23 (37:03):
The penny is gone. Is it nickel next?
Speaker 22 (37:05):
What about the dime?
Donald Trump (37:07):
What about about anything? Good luck. The penny is gone.
Speaker 23 (37:11):
Your message-
Donald Trump (37:12):
The penny cost is government allowed. Thank you.
Audience (37:16):
[inaudible 00:37:16].
Donald Trump (37:16):
Thank you very much. Thank you.
Speaker 28 (37:16):
Thank you.