President Trump (00:39):
We're going to have a good time; December 5th.
(00:44)
Well, thank you very much everybody. It's an honor to be with a very strong leader, a man who has been through a lot and a man who I've gotten to know very well and we've gotten along really, very well. And we had a big call yesterday, as you know, with President Putin, and we'll be talking about it.
(01:03)
President Zelensky of Ukraine has endured a lot. I mean, he really has. He's endured a lot and we've endured it with him, to be honest. It's been a long time and I think we're making great progress. So we're going to be talking about that today. We'll be talking about what took place yesterday with my phone call with President Putin and I think that things are coming along pretty well. It began with Alaska where I think certain guidelines were discussed, and we want to see if we can get this done. This was long ago into the Biden administration. I came here and we inherited this, and we'd like to see if we could finish it, end it. We want it ended. So many people have died in this war and we're going to. We're going to get it ended.
(01:57)
So, I just want to thank you all very much. If you have a couple of questions, go ahead, please. In fact, before I do that, let me just ask the president to say a few words. Thank you. President?
President Volodymyr Zelensky (02:09):
Pleasure. Pled to meet you again, Mr. President. Thank you very much for the invitation. Again, my congratulations with your successful ceasefire in the Middle East.
President Trump (02:18):
Thank you.
President Volodymyr Zelensky (02:19):
Yeah, and you did it and I think this is a momentum to finish Russia's war against Ukraine. I think that, yes, we understand that Putin is not ready. I think not ready, but I think that I'm confident that with your help, we can stop this war and we really need it. We see that they don't have successful steps on the battlefield and it's good. I think that their armies weak now, but a lot of losses. They have a lot of losses in economy and people and I think this is very important moment.
(02:57)
And I wanted to thank you, Mr. President, after our phone calls. Yesterday, I had a good opportunity to meet with the big American energy companies and they're ready to help us. Yes, after all these attacks on our infrastructure; Russian attacks and et cetera.
(03:15)
And I had also meetings. Thanks to your team. We had meetings with a good military companies. We spoke about their defense and I want to share it after, with details, where we are. Thank you. Thank you so much.
President Trump (03:31):
Thank you very much and I think it looks beautiful in his jacket. It's beautiful. I hope people notice. It's a good. It's actually very stylish. I like it.
(03:42)
Please, go ahead.
Speaker 2 (03:43):
Under the Biden administration, the White House was fearing of a possible escalation. They were not allowing the Ukrainians to strike into Russia fearing of this escalation.
President Trump (03:52):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (03:53):
Would your administration allow Ukrainians to strike deep into Russia?
President Trump (03:57):
We're going to be talking about that. That's something we'll be talking about. You're right. It's an escalation, but we'll be talking about that.
Cara Castronuova (04:04):
Mr. Zelensky join you in Hungary to meet President Putin?
President Trump (04:09):
Because it's a leader that we like. We like Viktor Orbán. He likes him. I like him. It's a country that's a safe country. Done a very good job. He's been a very good leader, in the sense of running his country. He doesn't have a lot of the problems that other countries have. And so we've decided that we'll be going to be with Victor Orbán and he will, I think he'll be a very good host.
Cara Castronuova (04:38):
President Trump. President Trump. President Trump.
President Trump (04:43):
Hungry. Yeah. We're doing Hungry. Yeah.
Cara Castronuova (04:46):
Was a trilateral meeting or is it just you and Putin?
President Trump (04:50):
To be determined, but I would say most likely it's going to be a double meeting. It'll be a double meeting, but we will have the President Zelensky, in touch. There's a lot of bad blood with the two presidents, and I'm not speaking out of turn when I say it's very, a very difficult situation.
(05:12)
You know, we just settled the war and after thousands of years, I guess. People say anywhere from 500 to 3,000 years and I was in rooms, as you saw, because you were with me, a lot of you were with me last week, with leaders that didn't like each other, but they were able to get along. These two leaders do not like each other and we want to make it comfortable for everybody. So, one way or the other, we'll be involved in threes, but it may be separated.
Speaker 1 (05:49):
President Trump. President. President Trump. He doesn't agree to peace in-
President Trump (05:50):
Was he what? Where are you from?
Speaker 1 (05:50):
From Ukraine.
President Trump (05:50):
Okay, good. Good, yeah.
Speaker 1 (05:59):
What if Mr. President Trump… President Putin doesn't agree to peace in Hungary. What do you do then? Do you have-
President Trump (06:05):
Well, let's see what happens. I mean, you know, what if? I think he will. I think that President Putin wants to end the war, or I wouldn't be talking this way. I think he wants to end the war. I spoke to him yesterday for two and a half hours. We went through a lot of details. He wants to get it ended. I think that President Zelensky wants to get it ended. Now, we have to get it done.
Cara Castronuova (06:26):
President Trump. President. Cara Castronuova, from Lindell TV, and although I love asking you questions today, my question is for President Zelensky of Ukraine.
President Trump (06:35):
Sure. Go ahead, please.
Cara Castronuova (06:36):
Thank you. Our President, President Zelensky, President Trump, just broke it a peace deal in the Middle East that all Americans, both sides of the aisle, are very proud of. But to meet that deal, both sides had to make concessions.
(06:48)
Our President has stuck out his neck in many ways to make a peace deal for your war as well. What specific concessions are you willing to make to end this war with Russia? Will you give up joining NATO? Americans have foreign war fatigue and our President, as he said, we need our Tomahawks too.
President Volodymyr Zelensky (07:07):
To me?
Cara Castronuova (07:08):
Yes, you President Zelensky.
President Volodymyr Zelensky (07:10):
Thank you very much.
(07:10)
What concessions we need?
President Trump (07:10):
That some question. Right?
President Volodymyr Zelensky (07:14):
So many questions in one. Thank you very much for your question.
(07:16)
First of all, I think we need to sit and speak. The second point, we need ceasefire. Even now, you see in the Middle East, it's very difficult to hold ceasefire. Everywhere, in every war, it's very difficult. We want this. Putin doesn't want. That's why we need president. We will speak with president today, what we need. We understand what we need to push Putin to negotiation table. And as I said previously, so we are ready to speak in any kind of format; bilateral, trilateral, doesn't matter. Matter, just peace. This is important. And we don't speak about, NATO or NATO. For Ukrainians, it's very important. Of course, it's our decision, decisions of allies, to decide where we are.
Cara Castronuova (08:09):
What are you willing to not join NATO?
President Volodymyr Zelensky (08:11):
But the most important thing, the most important thing for people in Ukraine, which are under each day's attacks, to have really strong security guarantees. NATO is the best, but weapon is very important. Allies, on our side, is very important. And between us, for us, bilateral, security guarantees between me and President Trump, is very important. I don't know. We didn't speak with details about it, but this is the most important document because United States is very strong.
Speaker 3 (08:46):
Sir, President President Trump… President Trump, you are the middleman right now, hoping to end this conflict. Who is doing a better job negotiating? President Zelensky or President Putin?
President Trump (08:57):
I think they're both doing a great job in that sense. We have to get it done. It's, we've got to take some of the hatred of each other. You know, they don't like each other. I say that in front of President Zelensky, but I say it in front of President Putin too. They have tremendous bad blood. It's really is what is holding up, I think, a settlement.
(09:18)
I think we're going to get it done and we have to make it long-lasting. As I said in the Middle East, everlasting, right? Everlasting. And the Middle East is a much more complicated situation. You know, we had 59 countries involved and every one of them agreed, and it's sort of amazing. Most people didn't think that was doable. This is going to be something I really believe that's going to get done. I had a very good talk yesterday with President Putin. I think he wants to get it done.
Speaker 4 (09:50):
Right behind you. When we were in Israel with President Trump earlier in the week, we heard a lot about the difference in diplomacy between President Trump and President Joe Biden before
Speaker 4 (10:00):
What do you see as the biggest difference in diplomacy between President Trump and President Biden?
President Volodymyr Zelensky (10:08):
President Trump has a big chance now to finish this war. President Biden now is not the president, so he doesn't have a chance to finish this war. And President Trump is really showed for the war that he can manage this fire in Middle East. And that's why I hope that he will do this and we will also have such big success. For Ukraine it's a big chance, and I hope that President Trump can manage it.
President Trump (10:44):
I would say the biggest difference is one is extremely competent and the other one is grossly incompetent.
Speaker 5 (10:52):
Sir, sir, sir, a few weeks ago in New York, when you two met, you said that you think Ukraine could ultimately take back all the territory that it's lost so far. Do you still think that's the case, or do you think there'll have to be some sort of swap of territories?
President Trump (11:02):
You never know. Look, war is very interesting. You never know, do you? You just never know with war and peace, but you never know. Please.
Speaker 6 (11:12):
Russia calls the Tomahawk supplied to Ukraine as an escalation, yet it continues using similar cruise missiles like Kalibr and even-
President Trump (11:21):
Who are you with? Who are you with?
Speaker 6 (11:21):
Ukraine.
President Trump (11:21):
Ukraine?
Speaker 6 (11:26):
Yeah. But Russia continued even using the cruise missiles and also nuclear-capable ballistic missiles in Ukraine since 2022. So do you consider providing Ukraine with the Tomahawk or similar missiles as an opportunity to equalize the possibilities of Ukraine and Russia and push Moscow to the negotiation table?
President Trump (11:49):
Yeah. Sure. We're going to be talking about that. That's why we're here, okay? Fair question. Exactly as he told you to say it, but we're going to be talking about it, okay? Yes, please.
Speaker 7 (12:00):
Mr. President, your message to India and Hungary, who is still-
President Trump (12:04):
You said India and Hungary?
Speaker 7 (12:07):
India and Hungary are refusing to stop-
President Trump (12:09):
India and Hungary. It's an interesting combination.
Speaker 7 (12:12):
… refuse to stop buying Russian oil.
President Trump (12:14):
Well, India is not going to be buying Russian oil anymore.
Speaker 7 (12:19):
Indeed. Indeed.
President Trump (12:20):
And Hungary is sort of stuck because they have one pipeline that's been there for years and years and years and they're inland, they don't have sea, they don't have sea. And I spoke with the very great leader of Hungary and it's very hard for them to get oil. I understand it. Hungary's in a very interesting position because they can't have ports. They're surrounded by land. So we'll see what happens there. But India will not be buying oil from Russia and they've already de-escalated and they've more or less stopped, they're pulling back. They bought about 38% of the oil and they won't be doing it anymore.
Speaker 8 (13:04):
Mr. President, Mr. President, Melania Trump has been helping you in achieving peace in Ukraine-
President Trump (13:08):
Who has?
Speaker 8 (13:09):
First Lady Melania Trump has been helping in returning abducted Ukrainian children from Russian captivity. President Zelensky, do you appreciate those efforts? How do you assess them and did you ask her to step in and to help you?
President Trump (13:22):
No, she wanted to do it. She felt very strongly about the children and she's done a really good job, I think, in bringing it to the fore. We have a lot of children involved. Now, some people say it's 20,000 and some people say it's 300. There's a big difference between that. So nobody really knows. But she felt very strongly about the children. She thinks about the children all the time.
Speaker 4 (13:50):
President Trump, if you okay Tomahawks to Ukraine, what's going to happen if the United States is in a conflict and we need the Tomahawks and we haven't got-
President Trump (14:02):
Well, that's the problem. We need Tomahawks and we need a lot of other things that we've been sending over the last four years to Ukraine. We gave them a lot. Now we have a different situation. We send it to the European Union, they pay for it and all that and they have plenty of money. But it's beyond the money. We need Tomahawks or we need a lot of other weapons that we're sending to Ukraine. And one of the reasons we want to get this war over is exactly that. It's not easy for us to give. You're talking about massive numbers of very powerful weapons. So that's one of the things we'll be talking about. Hopefully they won't need it. Hopefully we'll be able to get the war over without thinking about Tomahawks. I think we're fairly close to that. Yeah, go ahead. Yeah, please.
President Volodymyr Zelensky (14:52):
[inaudible 00:14:52] just you to understand. So for today, of course we want to finish this war, but the war is another technological war. You don't use just Tomahawks. If you want to target a military goal, you need thousands of drones. It goes together with such missiles. Ukraine has such thousands of our production drones, but we don't have Tomahawks. That's why we need Tomahawks. But United States is a very strong production and United State has Tomahawks and other missiles, very strong missiles. But they can have our thousands of drones. That's why where we can work together, where we can strengthen American production.
Speaker 4 (15:39):
And just so that I understand, so you're suggesting kind of a trade. If President Trump okays Tomahawk missiles to help you launch into Russia then you would-
President Volodymyr Zelensky (15:48):
Yes, it's about military goals. It's only about military goals.
Speaker 4 (15:51):
Right. But then you would authorize some kind of an exchange where the US gets-
President Volodymyr Zelensky (15:56):
Yes, of course, yes. We have proposition. We have brief proposition with our drones, yeah.
Speaker 4 (16:01):
President Trump. I don't mean to be brokering an arms deal here, but is that something that you would be interested in, Ukrainian drones?
President Trump (16:08):
We are, yeah. We would. We have a lot of drones right now. And we build our own drones, but we also buy drones from others and they make a very good drone. I mean, drone warfare has really come to the fore over the last couple of years because of this war. I will say there's nothing like the jets. We locked out a lot of drones in Israel. We were knocking them out for Israel, and we were doing it with extremely fast and powerful jets following the drones and knocking the hell out of them. So we know a lot about the drones and we know a lot about the great jets, the great ones. The ones well, and the B-52s which were totally… they were stealth. They were undetectable. So we have a lot of different weapons and I have an obligation also though, to make sure that we're completely stocked up as a country. because you never know what's going to happen in war and peace, right? You never know what's going to happen.
(17:09)
So we're going to be talking about Tomahawks and would much rather have them not need Tomahawks. Would much rather have the war be over, to be honest, because we're in it to get the war over. We're selling a lot of different types of weapon, as you know, to the European Union. We're not in it for that. We're in it to get it over. We're losing thousands of people a week, thousands of people, Russian, Ukrainian, and mostly soldiers. I mean mostly soldiers. But we're in it to see that. And if we can end quickly, and I think we can. I mean, I had a very good talk yesterday. We're going to be talking about it, but I had a very productive talk yesterday with President Putin. We'll see what happens. But the war in the Middle East was far more complicated. We got that one done, and I think we have a good chance. I think President Zelensky wants it done. And I think President Putin want it done. Now all they have to do is get along a little bit.
Speaker 9 (18:13):
Can you give us an update on the trade negotiations with China or perhaps Secretary Bessent?
President Trump (18:17):
Yeah, I will. And I'm going to let Scott do that, but I think we're doing very well. I think we're getting along with China. China's would like to have something as of this moment. We'll be meeting in a couple of weeks. We'll be meeting in South Korea, myself-
Speaker 9 (18:32):
Do you think it will go forward?
President Trump (18:33):
I think so. It looks like it's going forward. I think so. They want to meet. We like to meet. I have a very good relationship with President Xi, and we're going to see what happens. But for years we were taken advantage of by China very badly. We were losing hundreds of billions of dollars a year to China. We really their built their military, if you think about it, the kind of money that presidents allowed to be lost to China was just insane. And then when I came into office, as you know, I put very severe tariffs. So we took in hundreds of billions of dollars in my first term from China. Biden, let that go because was so much, he let it continue, but he gave all sorts of exceptions. And by the time you looked at it, Scott, I would say it wasn't the same thing. He would give an exception for anything. If you got up and went out to dinner, he'd give you an exception. So it wasn't the same thing.
(19:30)
But I put on very serious tariffs and we took in hundreds of billions of dollars and then I left office, the election was rigged, I left office and that was the story. Now I come back and we are in a very strong position because of tariffs. We're in a very powerful position because of the fact that we have tariffs. If we didn't have tariffs, we would be in a very weak position. We would be in a weakened state. But with tariffs, we've made hundreds of billions of dollars,
President Trump (20:00):
… dollars, not only from China but from others. And China wants to talk and we like talking to China. So we have a very good relationship, and we're going to be meeting in South Korea a couple of weeks. And I just got back from a long trip. I'm going on another long trip. And Scott, do you want to say a few words on that, please?
Scott (20:19):
Yes, sir. So the entire relationship stems from the great perspective the two leaders have for each other. China did a substantial unprovoked escalation last week. We were unable to get in touch with them. Since then, it is been IMF-World Bank Week. They have had working-level people here. There have been meetings. The Vice Premier, who is my counterpart and I, will be speaking this evening at 8:30, 9:00.
(20:48)
And then he and I and a delegation will meet in Malaysia probably a week from tomorrow to prepare for the two presidents to meet. So again, I think that things have de-escalated. We hope that China will show the respect that we have shown them. And I am confident that President Trump, because of his relationship with President Xi, will be able to get things back on a good course.
Speaker 10 (21:15):
Is the hope for that meeting with you and President Xi some kind of trade deal then or-
President Trump (21:19):
Could be. Look, I think we're in a very strong position. I think we're in a very strong position. We're getting, as you know, as of November 1st, I could move it up if I wanted, a 100% tariff over and above what we get now. So that would make it about 157%, and China doesn't want that, and they want to talk and we're talking. And I think we'll make a deal that will be good for both. I think we will do something.
(21:50)
But you have to understand, we never got anything from China. It was a one-way street for many years. For decades it was a one-way street and they became rich because of the United States. And frankly, presidents that, let's be nice they didn't know. They just didn't know. They didn't understand what was happening to them, but I understood it. I understood long before I ran for politics.
(22:11)
I used to watch in amazement at how stupid our country was, how stupid they were. And we're not stupid anymore. And that includes with the European Union, that includes with Japan and South Korea. All we want to do is be treated fairly, but the fairly is hundreds of billions and even trillions of dollars coming into the United States. And our national security is secure because of tariffs. If we didn't have tariffs, we would have no national security. So it's very important.
Speaker 10 (22:43):
Will you seek China's help in ending the war in Ukraine? Do you need them to put pressure on Russia?
President Trump (22:47):
I'll be discussing that, but I'd love to see it ended before that.
Cara Castronuova (22:52):
President Trump-
President Trump (22:53):
I think we have a chance of ending the war quickly if flexibility is shown on behalf… And again, we're not losing people. The United States, we're not losing people, we're not spending money, we're getting paid for the ammunition and missiles and everything else that we're sending to NATO.
(23:15)
But it's very similar. If you look at the countries, it's very similar. And we just made a very fair trade deal with the European Union and what we wanted, and we made a very good deal with NATO, too. They pay for all of this.
(23:29)
That's not what we're in this for. We're in it to save thousands of lives every week, thousands and thousands of lives. That's why we're in it. And I think we have a very good chance of bringing this war to a conclusion.
Cara Castronuova (23:46):
President Trump, President Trump, you're a peace president and your cabinet has done honestly an excellent job. I think that a lot of people could agree to that.
President Trump (23:53):
Thank you.
Cara Castronuova (23:53):
I'm speaking as someone who lost my father in a war, so I know the human cost. What would your advice be to American leaders, to world leaders, to neocons, to TV hosts who often speak about conflict in abstract or strategic terms rather than the human cost and the human terms like you have?
President Trump (24:12):
Look, my only statement is we have to get together, it's a very small group of people, it's the president, the president, and the president. Okay? Three presidents. And I'm the mediator president, and I'm mediating not an easy situation. It should be easy, but it's a lot easier when people understand each other, when they get together and when they like each other. We don't necessarily have that situation as far as like is concerned.
(24:38)
Maybe it can turn around. Maybe it can, but in the meantime we'll have them keep a little bit of distance and we're going to see if we can get it done. This is number nine, okay? This will be number nine for me. I've solved eight. Including the Middle East, I've solved eight. This, I thought, would've been among the easiest solved.
(25:02)
President Putin mentioned yesterday, Armenia, all of the different wars. He said it was amazing, but the big one that he was surprised that we were able to settle was the Middle East. He thought it was incredible. He was very generous in that sense. This should be something we're able to settle, and I think we will be able to settle.
Speaker 11 (25:24):
On that note, you will go down as the peacemaker, no doubt, and you will resolve this war.
President Trump (25:30):
Well, we resolved eight others. It's funny how people say that, "If you get this one." Every time I do one, they forget about that one. I solved eight wars. Go to Rwanda and the Congo, talk about India and Pakistan, look at Thailand. Look at all of the wars that we solved. And every time I solve one, they say, "If you solve the next one, you're going to get the Nobel Prize." I didn't get a Nobel Prize. Somebody got it, who's a very nice woman, very nice. I don't know who she is, but she was very generous. So I don't care about all that stuff. I just care about saving lives. But this will be number nine.
(26:12)
But every time I solve one, they said, "Sir, if you solve one more, you're going to be known as a peacekeeper." So to the best of my knowledge, we've never had a president that solved one war. Not one war. Bush started a war. A lot of them start wars but they don't solve the wars. They don't settle them, and especially when they have nothing to do with us. Almost, I guess, just about all of these wars had nothing to do with us, but I saved tens of millions of lives.
(26:39)
The prime minister of Pakistan said I saved millions of lives in interceding on Pakistan. And you look at Pakistan and India as an example. That would've been a bad one. Two nuclear nations, right? So, I say this, this is pretty much the last one. Although, I do understand that Pakistan attacked, or there is an attack going on with Afghanistan. That's an easy one for me to solve, if I have to solve it.
(27:06)
In the meantime, I have to run the USA. But I love solving wars. You know why? I like stopping people from being killed? And I've saved millions and millions of lives, and I think we're going to have success with this war. Wait, please.
Speaker 11 (27:23):
President Zelensky, this is your third time over here. And by the way, you look excellent.
President Volodymyr Zelensky (27:28):
Thank you, sir. Thanks.
Speaker 11 (27:29):
[inaudible 00:27:30] for you, by the way. This is your third time here. How different sitting across from the president is this time versus the two previous times here at the White House, and how confident are you hearing his success rate of solving these prior wars that he can get this war solved?
President Volodymyr Zelensky (27:49):
First of all, about suit. The same suit, because the same president. It's very simple. The next president will have another suit. Yes. About our relations with President Trump, I think we have important dialogues and I think we begin to understand each other. Yes.
(28:14)
And I know that President is briefed very well about situation in the battlefield, and he knows a lot what's going on in the battlefield in Ukraine. And I think it really helps when you know a lot of things, a lot of details about one or another war. It helps a lot. But we're still in war. And I hope that we can manage it. I think it's important.
Speaker 12 (28:44):
[inaudible 00:28:41] that there are some countries that are not meeting their commitment. You pointed out Spain. They said that it's impossible.
President Trump (28:47):
No, Spain has not come through. No, Spain has not been loyal to NATO. They're the only one. Everyone went up to, as you know, you were at 2% and they all went up to 5%, but Spain disagreed with that. I think Spain should be reprimanded for that. I think it's very bad that they did that, but that's up to them. That's up to NATO and Spain.
Speaker 12 (29:16):
[inaudible 00:29:16] they cannot be expelled from NATO.
President Trump (29:18):
Can they or not?
Speaker 12 (29:19):
They cannot, according to the treaty, but they also claim that they are protected by the European Union umbrella for trade.
President Trump (29:25):
Well, the other people, many of the other countries are in the European Union, too. They're not complaining. Right? Yeah, please go ahead.
Speaker 13 (29:41):
Mr. President, do you think you can carry the momentum from the Middle East deal over to this deal? And if so, how does that move the needle?
President Trump (29:46):
Yeah, I do. I think we carry a lot of momentum, a lot of credibility. Getting Middle East done was very important. Nobody thought it could be done. That was one nobody thought could be done and we got it done. And a lot of that was the big hit that we put on
President Trump (30:01):
… Iran, with respect to the nuclear they took. That was an unbelievable military maneuver, the B-2s. And many other planes involved, by the way, but the B-2s. I think nobody expected that to happen. And we had 59 countries involved, and these were countries very diverse. You had Arab, Muslim, Jewish. You had every kind of… You had every country in question. Yeah, and every country… You had many countries involved. And we got that done.
(30:31)
And we got it done pretty swiftly after we set the table properly. We had to set the table properly. This should be one that we get done. And I think the table is set properly here now too, and it'll be a great honor-
Press (30:45):
[inaudible 00:30:47]
President Trump (30:46):
It'll be a great honor to get it done. The Ukrainian people are great and the Russian people are great. And obviously, they have much in common as we understand. They have a lot in common. It'll be a great honor to get it done.
Speaker 14 (31:03):
[inaudible 00:31:02] on Venezuela, there are survivors from your latest boat strike. What happens to those survivors?
President Trump (31:08):
I'll ask Marco to discuss that [inaudible 00:31:12].
Marco (31:12):
Yeah, it's well known there's an ongoing narco-terrorist operation the United States has been conducting. As far as details of any recent strikes, we're not prepared here to announce all those details, but you'll get that information here very shortly.
Speaker 14 (31:26):
And how are there survivors when these are meant to be lethal attacks?
Marco (31:29):
Again, we're undertaking these operations against narco-terrorists. That's what these are, these are terrorists. Let's be clear. But as far as the details of any recent operations, when we are prepared to announce those, we will, as the President has consistently done. So, you may get something on that later today.
Speaker 15 (31:44):
Your phone call [inaudible 00:31:46].
President Trump (31:46):
Let me ask you. That was in a submarine, right? We attacked a submarine, and that was a drug-carrying submarine built specifically for the transportation of massive amounts of drugs. Just so you understand, this was not an innocent group of people. I don't know too many people that have submarines. That was an attack on a drug-carrying, loaded-up submarine.
Speaker 16 (32:16):
[inaudible 00:32:16] On Putin, is it your belief, as Mr. Zelensky said yesterday, that the threat of Tomahawks and costs, as Secretary Heckelson put it, is that bringing him to the table the fact that it's kind of a carrot in-
President Trump (32:28):
I don't know what's bringing him to. I think he wants to make a deal, that's all. I can't tell you what's bringing him. Sure, the threat of that is good, but the threat of that is always there. Tomahawks are very dangerous weapons. They're incredible weapons. If you like warfare, it's one of the most accurate. We hit 30 Tomahawks in Iran after the B-2s did their damage. We gave it a little capper with 30 Tomahawks from a submarine. Quite far away, actually.
(33:01)
They're an amazing weapon, they're a very powerful weapon, but they're a very dangerous weapon. And it could mean big escalation. It could mean a lot of bad things can happen. Tomahawks are a big deal. But one thing I have to say, we want Tomahawks also. We don't want to be giving away things that we need to protect our country. We have a very strong country right now. We have a strong military. We have the greatest military in the world. We have the greatest weapons in the world. I want to get this war over. Okay?
Speaker 14 (33:42):
[inaudible 00:33:42] Putin-Trump tunnel to connect Russia and Alaska. Are you interested in [inaudible 00:33:42]?
President Trump (33:42):
I just heard about it, a tunnel from Russia to Alaska. I just heard about that one. That's an interesting one. We'll have to think about that. I hadn't heard that. We just did a nice road in Alaska. That's going to get us to a lot of minerals and we'd have a piece of it, a good piece of the ownership because of the fact we made it possible.
(33:59)
But this came up yesterday, a tunnel from Russia to Alaska. That's an interesting…
(34:05)
What do you think of that Mr. President? Do you have any ideas? How do you like that idea?
Speaker 17 (34:10):
I'm not happy with this.
President Trump (34:11):
I don't think he's going to like it. I don't think he liked it. I don't think he liked it.
Speaker 18 (34:12):
President Trump, do you think that Vladimir Putin-
(34:12)
[inaudible 00:34:12]
(34:12)
Do you think that Putin is here? You're got instinct.
President Trump (34:21):
We had a senator that wanted… Remember, from Hawaii. She wanted a tunnel from the mainland to Hawaii. And she said, "We can't do that, so we're going to build a railroad to Hawaii." Do you remember? She's a current sitting senator. A Democrat. She wants a railroad to go to Hawaii, right?
(34:39)
You know who that is, right? She's another beauty.
Press (34:42):
[inaudible 00:34:43]
President Trump (34:45):
Yeah, please?
Speaker 19 (34:46):
On your meeting with Putin, aren't you concerned that maybe the Russian president is trying to buy himself more time?
President Trump (34:53):
Yeah, I am. But I've been played all my life by the best of him, and I came out really well. So, it's possible. Yeah, a little time.
Speaker 18 (35:05):
If you got instinct that-
President Trump (35:06):
It's all right, but I think that I'm pretty good at this stuff. I think that he wants to make a deal. I made eight of them. I'm going to make a ninth. I think he wants to make a deal.
Speaker 20 (35:16):
[inaudible 00:35:16] Do you think judgment by the state of his economies?
President Trump (35:21):
I think that he should have won the war in a week. Yeah, I do think. And if we didn't give the anti-tank missiles, as you know, the Javelins they call them, they got stuck in the mud, they would've been in Kiev very quickly. They were heading to Kiev. So in war, you have a lot of luck too. People… Weather has won war, and the cold and the heat, and all things take place in war. But that was a very interesting moment when the tanks started rolling and some brilliant general said, "Let's go through the mud instead of going down the highway." So, they got a little bit lucky.
Speaker 20 (36:01):
[inaudible 00:36:02]
President Trump (36:01):
But you know where they really got lucky? I gave Javelins. That wasn't given by Barack Hussein Obama. He gave them shits. There's a statement, Obama gave them shits and I gave them the Javelins. And the Javelins are devastating weapon. That wasn't given by Obama. That was given by… Because at the time, it was Obama. That was given by me.
(36:27)
So, it was like one of those things. And you had hundreds of them. Hundreds of them. They're a devastating weapon. We have a lot of devastating weapons. I'd rather not use them. But that was a big moment. When the tanks got stuck, they got stuck. And call it luck or call it talent, I'm not sure what you'd call it, but it was a big moment in time.
Speaker 18 (36:51):
Do you think Democrats would give you credit?
Press (36:52):
[inaudible 00:36:53]
Speaker 18 (36:52):
Do you think Democrats give you credit when you finally end this war like they did with the war in the Middle East, and sacrificed-
President Trump (36:58):
I think right now, the Democrats are really damaged. Mentally damaged. They want to take 1.5 trillion, with a T, trillion dollars, and give it to people that invaded our country. They came into our country illegally from prisons, from mental institutions, gang members. They want to give them healthcare and take it away from our citizens. We're not going to do that. $1.5 trillion, they want to destroy. They want to destroy our healthcare system. We're not going to let that happen.
Press (37:29):
[inaudible 00:37:29]
Speaker 15 (37:29):
Did you authorized present CIA operations in Venezuela as part of-
President Trump (37:35):
I wouldn't say that. But some interesting things are happening around the world, I'll say that.
Speaker 21 (37:42):
[inaudible 00:37:41], Mr. President. It has been reported that Maduro offered everything in his country, all the natural resources. He even recorded a message to you in English recently, offering mediation.
(37:53)
What could we do in order to stop that?
President Trump (37:55):
He has offered everything. He's offered everything, you're right. You know why? Because he doesn't want to fuck around with the United States.
(38:03)
Thank you, everybody.
Speaker 18 (38:05):
Thank you.
President Trump (38:05):
Thank you, everybody.
Speaker 22 (38:07):
Guys, thank you [inaudible 00:38:06] as you pass by door. Thank you, guys.
Speaker 23 (38:08):
Thanks you, guys.
Speaker 22 (38:09):
Thanks, guys. Let's go. Start moving. Thank you, guys. Let's go. Let's go.
Speaker 23 (38:18):
Thank you, guys.
Speaker 22 (38:18):
Thank you, guys. Thank you, press.
Speaker 23 (38:18):
Thank you, press.
Speaker 22 (38:18):
Thank you, press. Stand up.
(38:18)
Thank you, press. You guys.
Speaker 15 (38:20):
Thank you. Thanks, President Trump.
President Trump (38:20):
Thank you, [inaudible 00:38:21]. Good job.
Speaker 23 (38:20):
Thank you, guys.
Speaker 22 (38:20):
Thank you, press.
Speaker 24 (38:20):
President, what [inaudible 00:38:23].
President Trump (38:20):
I don't know. [inaudible 00:38:26]