Posted on 07/14/2017 1:10:44 AM PDT by UKrepublican
The following are excerpts, as prepared and released on Thursday by the White House, from a conversation aboard Air Force One between President Trump and members of the press corps as they flew to Paris on Wednesday night.
The conversation was initially thought by the journalists to be off the record. However, the White House changed the terms of the exchange after Mr. Trump asked the pool reporter, who works for The New York Times, why it was not covered and she informed him that the journalists believed they were not allowed to use the material.
9:15 P.M. EDT
On the visit to France:
Q When were you last in Paris? When were you last in France?
THE PRESIDENT: So I was asked to go by the President, who I get along with very well, despite a lot of fake news. You know, I actually have a very good relationship with all of the people at the G20. And he called me, he said, would you come, its Bastille Day 100 years since World War I. And I said, thats big deal, 100 years since World War I. SO were going to go, I think were going to have a great time, and were going to do something good. And hes doing a good job. Hes doing a good job as President.
On North Korea, China, and trade:
THE PRESIDENT: A big thing we have with China was, if they could help us with North Korea, that would be great. They have pressures that are tough pressures, and I understand. And you know, dont forget, China, over the many years, has been at war with Korea you know, wars with Korea. Its not like, oh, gee, you just do whatever we say. Theyve had numerous wars with Korea.
They have an 8,000 year culture. So when they see 1776 to them, thats like a modern building. The White House was started was essentially built in 1799. To us, thats really old. To them, thats like a super modern building, right? So, you know, theyve had tremendous conflict over many, many centuries with Korea. So its not just like, you do this. But were going to find out what happens.
Very important to me with China, we have to fix the trade. We have to fix the trade. And Ive been going a little bit easier because Id like to have their help. Its hard to go ***. But we have to fix the trade with China because its very, very none-reciprocal.
Q Is that your bargaining chip with them to get on board with North Korea? Is, like, you want to
THE PRESIDENT: Nobody has ever said it before. I say it all the time. Somebody said, what cards do you have? I said, very simple trade. We are being absolutely devastated by bad trade deals. We have the worst of all trade deals is with China.
We have a bad deal with South Korea. Were just starting negotiations with South Korea. South Korea, we protect, but were losing $40 billion a year with South Korea on trade. We have a trade deficit of $40 billion. The deal just came up.
That was another Hillary Clinton beauty. Remember she said it was five-year deal, and now its an extension period. She said this will put jobs in our country. She said well make money with it. Great. Were losing $40 billion a year. Its a horrible deal. So were starting we started, as of yesterday, renegotiating the deal with South Korea. We have to.
But the biggest strength we have are these horrendous trade deals, like with China. Thats our strength. But were going to fix them. But in terms of North Korea, our strength is trade.
Q And do you think thats going to bring them around?
THE PRESIDENT: Well, yeah, when I say reciprocal you make reciprocal deals, youre talking about hundreds of billions of dollars. But before I did that, I wanted to give it a good shot. Lets see. And they helped us. I have a very good relationship with him. I think hes a tremendous guy. But dont forget. Hes for China. Im for the U.S. So thats always going to be.
So he could be a tremendous guy, but hes going to do whats good for China. And he doesnt want 50 million people pouring across his border. You know, there are a lot of things. I understand the other side. You always have to understand the other side.
Q What about steel?
THE PRESIDENT: Steel is a big problem. Steel is I mean, theyre dumping steel. Not only China, but others. Were like a dumping ground, okay? Theyre dumping steel and destroying our steel industry, theyve been doing it for decades, and Im stopping it. Itll stop.
Q On tariffs?
THE PRESIDENT: There are two ways quotas and tariffs. Maybe Ill do both.
On healthcare:
THE PRESIDENT: No, I think, first, I want to do well, we have a few things. We have a thing called healthcare. Im sure you havent been reading about it too much. It is one of the Id say the only thing more difficult than peace between Israel and the Palestinians is healthcare. Its like this narrow road that about a quarter of an inch wide. You get a couple here and you say, great, and then you find out you just lost four over here. Healthcare is tough.
But I think were going to have something thats really good and that people are going to like. Were going to find out over the next you know, we just extended for two weeks. Which, thats a big
On the border wall:
Q You were joking about solar, right?
THE PRESIDENT: No, not joking, no. There is a chance that we can do a solar wall. We have major companies looking at that. Look, theres no better place for solar than the Mexico border the southern border. And there is a very good chance we can do a solar wall, which would actually look good. But there is a very good chance we could do a solar wall.
One of the things with the wall is you need transparency. You have to be able to see through it. In other words, if you cant see through that wall so it could be a steel wall with openings, but you have to have openings because you have to see whats on the other side of the wall.
And Ill give you an example. As horrible as it sounds, when they throw the large sacks of drugs over, and if you have people on the other side of the wall, you dont see them they hit you on the head with 60 pounds of stuff? Its over. As crazy as that sounds, you need transparency through that wall. But we have some incredible designs.
But we are seriously looking at a solar wall. And remember this, its a 2,000 mile border, but you dont need 2,000 miles of wall because you have a lot of natural barriers. You have mountains. You have some rivers that are violent and vicious. You have some areas that are so far away that you dont really have people crossing. So you dont need that. But youll need anywhere from 700 to 900 miles.
Plus we have some wall thats already up that were already fixing. You know, weve already started the wall because were fixing large portions of wall right now. Were taking wall that was good but its in very bad shape, and were making it new. Were fixing it. Its already started. So weve actually, in the true sense you know, theres no reason to take it down or ***. So in a true sense, weve already started the wall.
Reporters? Talking about real issues? And publishing his responses? What happened to Russia! Russia! Russia!?
Just know that Mexicans and libs are going to spraypaint both sides of that way.
Wasn't that refreshing? Actual first hand, sourced news! Sadly, it was published by the White House. Someone correct me if I'm wrong; I didn't see this reported in the MSM.
Never, ever trust the media.
Let's have a full unedited video to compare this to.
I believe nothing that comes from the new york slimes.
But they don't mind using stolen U.S. Government Secret documents if it might hurt a Republican.
No, the press is too busy castigating the president for tell the French first lady she’s in really good shape.
Methinks the whole point of the NYT publishing this article is to expose Trump’s diction and manner of speaking.
It doesn’t matter to me and is irrelevant, but he lacks eloquence and the NYT wants to show that to its elitist readers.
The NYT is about symbolism over substance. Trump has more substance then any President in the past 30 years.
Obama would use twenty vocalized pauses within a minute conversation. Trump virtually never does. You don’t hear him say, “Ahhhh, errr, ahhhh” etc.
+1
Trump speaks exactly the way everyone speaks in casual conversation. The linguist John McWhorter has written a lot about this very topic and shows this clearly.
President Donald Trump spoke to reporters off the record Wednesday aboard Air Force One on his way to Paris to meet with French President Emmanuel Macron and participate in Bastille Day festivities. In an unusual episode, the White House on Thursday released its transcript of some of his comments, after Trump asked a reporter in Paris why she hadnt reported on what hed said the night before. Heres the transcript as released by the White House.
THE WHITE HOUSE
Office of the Press Secretary
________________________________________________________________
Internal Transcript
July 12, 2017
REMARKS BY PRESIDENT TRUMP IN AN OFF-THE-RECORD CONVERSATION WITH PRESS
Aboard Air Force One
En Route Paris, France
9:15 P.M. EDT
On the visit to France:
Q When were you last in Paris? When were you last in France?
THE PRESIDENT: So I was asked to go by the President, who I get along with very well, despite a lot of fake news. You know, I actually have a very good relationship with all of the people at the G20. And he called me, he said, would you come, its Bastille Day — 100 years since World War I. And I said, thats big deal, 100 years since World War I. SO were going to go, I think were going to have a great time, and were going to do something good. And hes doing a good job. Hes doing a good job as President.
On North Korea, China, and trade:
THE PRESIDENT: A big thing we have with China was, if they could help us with North Korea, that would be great. They have pressures that are tough pressures, and I understand. And you know, dont forget, China, over the many years, has been at war with Korea — you know, wars with Korea. Its not like, oh, gee, you just do whatever we say. Theyve had numerous wars with Korea.
They have an 8,000 year culture. So when they see 1776 — to them, thats like a modern building. The White House was started — was essentially built in 1799. To us, thats really old. To them, thats like a super modern building, right? So, you know, theyve had tremendous conflict over many, many centuries with Korea. So its not just like, you do this. But were going to find out what happens.
Very important to me with China, we have to fix the trade. We have to fix the trade. And Ive been going a little bit easier because Id like to have their help. Its hard to go ***. But we have to fix the trade with China because its very, very none-reciprocal.
Q Is that your bargaining chip with them to get on board with North Korea? Is, like, you want to —
THE PRESIDENT: Nobody has ever said it before. I say it all the time. Somebody said, what cards do you have? I said, very simple — trade. We are being absolutely devastated by bad trade deals. We have the worst of all trade deals is with China.
We have a bad deal with South Korea. Were just starting negotiations with South Korea. South Korea, we protect, but were losing $40 billion a year with South Korea on trade. We have a trade deficit of $40 billion. The deal just came up.
That was another Hillary Clinton beauty. Remember she said it was five-year deal, and now its an extension period. She said this will put jobs in our country. She said well make money with it. Great. Were losing $40 billion a year. Its a horrible deal. So were starting — we started, as of yesterday, renegotiating the deal with South Korea. We have to.
But the biggest strength we have are these horrendous trade deals, like with China. Thats our strength. But were going to fix them. But in terms of North Korea, our strength is trade.
Q And do you think thats going to bring them around?
THE PRESIDENT: Well, yeah, when I say reciprocal — you make reciprocal deals, youre talking about hundreds of billions of dollars. But before I did that, I wanted to give it a good shot. Lets see. And they helped us. I have a very good relationship with him. I think hes a tremendous guy. But dont forget. Hes for China. Im for the U.S. So thats always going to be.
So he could be a tremendous guy, but hes going to do whats good for China. And he doesnt want 50 million people pouring across his border. You know, there are a lot of things. I understand the other side. You always have to understand the other side.
Q What about steel?
THE PRESIDENT: Steel is a big problem. Steel is — I mean, theyre dumping steel. Not only China, but others. Were like a dumping ground, okay? Theyre dumping steel and destroying our steel industry, theyve been doing it for decades, and Im stopping it. Itll stop.
Q On tariffs?
THE PRESIDENT: There are two ways — quotas and tariffs. Maybe Ill do both.
On healthcare:
THE PRESIDENT: No, I think, first, I want to do — well, we have a few things. We have a thing called healthcare. Im sure you havent been reading about it too much. It is one of the — Id say the only thing more difficult than peace between Israel and the Palestinians is healthcare. Its like this narrow road that about a quarter of an inch wide. You get a couple here and you say, great, and then you find out you just lost four over here. Healthcare is tough.
But I think were going to have something thats really good and that people are going to like. Were going to find out over the next — you know, we just extended for two weeks. Which, thats a big —
On the border wall:
Q You were joking about solar, right?
THE PRESIDENT: No, not joking, no. There is a chance that we can do a solar wall. We have major companies looking at that. Look, theres no better place for solar than the Mexico border — the southern border. And there is a very good chance we can do a solar wall, which would actually look good. But there is a very good chance we could do a solar wall.
One of the things with the wall is you need transparency. You have to be able to see through it. In other words, if you cant see through that wall — so it could be a steel wall with openings, but you have to have openings because you have to see whats on the other side of the wall.
And Ill give you an example. As horrible as it sounds, when they throw the large sacks of drugs over, and if you have people on the other side of the wall, you dont see them — they hit you on the head with 60 pounds of stuff? Its over. As cray as that sounds, you need transparency through that wall. But we have some incredible designs.
But we are seriously looking at a solar wall. And remember this, its a 2,000 mile border, but you dont need 2,000 miles of wall because you have a lot of natural barriers. You have mountains. You have some rivers that are violent and vicious. You have some areas that are so far away that you dont really have people crossing. So you dont need that. But youll need anywhere from 700 to 900 miles.
Plus we have some wall thats already up that were already fixing. You know, weve already started the wall because were fixing large portions of wall right now. Were taking wall that was good but its in very bad shape, and were making it new. Were fixing it. Its already started. So weve actually, in the true sense — you know, theres no reason to take it down or ***. So in a true sense, weve already started the wall.
On Donald Trump, Jr.:
THE PRESIDENT: Don is — as many of you know Don — hes a good boy. Hes a good kid. And he had a meeting, nothing happened with the meeting. It was a short meeting as he told me — because I only heard about it two or three days ago.
As he told me, the meeting went — and it was attended by a couple of other people who — one of them left after a few minutes — which is Jared. The other one was playing with his iPhone. Don listened, out of politeness, and realized it wasnt . . . .
Honestly, in a world of politics, most people are going to take that meeting. If somebody called and said, hey — and youre a Democrat — and by the way, they have taken them — hey, I have really some information on Donald Trump. Youre running against Donald Trump. Can I see you? I mean, how many people are not going to take the meeting?
On President Putin and Russia:
Q Are you mad that Putin lied about the meeting that you had with him, especially about —
THE PRESIDENT: What meeting?
Q At the G20, when he said that you didnt — you know, you accepted that the hacking wasnt real.
THE PRESIDENT: He didnt say that. No. He said, I think he accepted it, but youd have to ask him. Thats a big difference. So I said, very simply — and the first 45 minutes, dont forget, most of the papers said Id never bring it up. Had to be the first 20 to 25 minutes.
And I said to him, were you involved with the meddling in the election? He said, absolutely not. I was not involved. He was very strong on it. I then said to him again, in a totally different way, were you involved with the meddling. He said, I was not — absolutely not.
Q Do you remember what the different way was that you asked —
THE PRESIDENT: Somebody said later to me, which was interesting. Said, let me tell you, if they were involved, you wouldnt have found out about it. Okay, which is a very interesting point.
Q But did you say, okay, I believe you, lets move on?
THE PRESIDENT: What I said, I asked him, were you involved? He said, very strongly — said to him a second time — totally different — were you involved? Because we cant let that happen. And I mean whether its Russia or anybody else, we cant let there be even a scintilla of doubt when it comes to an election. I mean, Im very strong on that.
And Im not saying it wasnt Russia. What Im saying is that we have to protect ourselves no matter who it is. You know, China is very good at this. I hate to say it, North Korea is very good at this. Look what they did to Sony Studios. They were the ones that did the whole deal to Sony. You know, were dealing with highly sophisticate people.
So, China is very good. You have many countries. And you have many individuals that are very good at this. But we cant have — and I did say, we cant have a scintilla of doubt as our elections and going forward.
Q Have you told him that?
THE PRESIDENT: I told him. I said, look, we cant — we cant have — now, he said absolutely not twice. What do you do? End up in a fistfight with somebody, okay? Because then I brought up Syria, and I said —
Q Afterwards?
THE PRESIDENT: Very shortly there afterward. And I said, theres so much killing in Syria. We got to solve Syria. Weve got to solve Ukraine. And you know, Ive always said — and Im not just talking about Russia — were a lot better off — like its a good thing that I have a good relationship with President Xi. Its a good thing I have a good relationship with every one of them — Modi — you saw that. Every single one of them of all 19 — theres 20 with us. All 19, I have a great relationship with.
More on the Visit to France and Trade:
So were doing well. I mean, were doing well and were having a good time. Now what well do is well go celebrate with the President of France — we have a good relationship — open up a little trade with them. But its got to be fair trade. I mean, every deal we have is bad. Its got to be fair trade.
I mean, the European Union, as an example — Im all for the European Union, but we have things that we can barely sell into the European Union. Theyre very protectionist. And were not. And you have to be reciprocal.
To me, the word reciprocal is a beautiful word. Because people can say, we dont like a border tax or we dont like this or we dont like that. But what they cant say is that, if youre selling a motorcycle and theyre coming into your country and not paying tax, and theyre going into another country and paying 100 percent tax, people understand thats not fair. So we say we make it reciprocal.
More on President Putin and Russia, and on energy:
Q Do you think youll invite Putin to the White House?
THE PRESIDENT: I would say yes, yeah. At the right time. I dont think this is the right time, but the answer is yes I would. Look, its very easy for me to say absolutely, I wont. Thats the easy thing for me to do, but thats the stupid thing to do. Lets be the smart people not the stupid people. The easiest thing for me to tell you is that I would never invite him. We will never ever talk to Russia. That all of my friends in Congress will say, oh hes so wonderful, hes so wonderful. Folks, we have perhaps the second most powerful nuclear country in the world. If you dont have dialogue, you have to be fools. Fools. It would be the easiest thing for me to say to Maggie and all of you, I will never speak to him, and everybody would love me. But I have to do whats right.
And, by the way, I only want to make great deals with Russia. Remember this, I have built up — were getting $57 billion more for the military. Hillary was going to cut the military. Im a tremendous fracker, coal, natural gas, alternate energy, wind everything, right? But Im going to produce much much more energy than anyone else who was ever running for office. Ever. Were going to have clean coal, and Hillary wasnt. Hillary was going to stop fracking. She was going to stop coal totally. Hey, in West Virginia I beat her by 42 points. Remember, she went and sat with the miners and they said get the hell out of here. So, I was going to — if Hillary got in, your energy prices right now would be double. Youd be doing no fracking. Youd be doing practically no fossil fuels.
So Putin, everything I do is the exact opposite. I dont believe — in fact, the one question that I didnt ask him that I wish I did — but we had so many other things going, and really the ceasefire was a very complicated talk, it was a very important talk to me because I wanted to see if we could start a ceasefire.
***
Now, why does that affect Russia? Because Russia makes its money through selling of oil, and weve got underneath us more oil than anybody, and nobody knew it until five years ago. And I want to use it. And I dont want that taken away by the Paris Accord. I dont want them to say all of that wealth that the United States has under its feet, but that China doesnt have and that other countries dont have, we cant use. So now we no longer have the advantage. We have a tremendous advantage. We have more natural resources under our feet than any other country. Thats a pretty big statement. Ten years ago, five years ago even, you couldnt make that statement. Were blessed. I dont want to give it up. I dont want to say oh, okay, we wont use it. But think of it. So, if Hillary is there, youre going to have a far less amount of fuel. Therefore, energy prices will be much, much higher. Thats great for Russia.
So, the next time Im with Putin, Im going to ask him: who were you really for? Because I cant believe that he would have been for me. Me. Strong military, strong borders — but he cares less about the borders — but strong military, tremendous. Were going to be an exporter of fuel this year. Were going to be exporting. What was the first thing I signed when I got in? The Keystone Pipeline, and the Keystone Pipeline goes from Canada all the way through our country right into the Gulf, and the ships are there to take it all over and compete with Russia.
More on Energy:
The first thing I signed, the first day, was the Keystone Pipeline. That first * was the Keystone and the Dakota Access Pipeline — also Dakota Access. Now, what does that mean? Dakota Access takes it to the Pacific. Who do they compete with? Russia. Hillary would have never signed — that was with the reservation — she would have never signed it. I was given great credit for that one. That was a tough one. First day. Its also 48,000 jobs between both of them. The other one I signed, that was the Keystone. That was dead. That was dead for two years. It was never going to happen. I revived it on day one. You know, youll check, please check it. I have to be exactly accurate. Theyll say, oh I wasnt totally accurate. But that goes to the Gulf, right? Competes with Russia.
More on Energy and Russia:
THE PRESIDENT: So now oil is getting to be record low — and gas — because were producing so much. That means Russia — and you know Russia *** is having a little hard time because it has come down so much.
On Russia sanctions:
Q But you wouldnt sign a new sanctions bill if it passes the House?
THE PRESIDENT: Well, Im not talking about new, Im talking about the old sanctions. Wait, we got to get this right. Ready? I think I said it right but just in case. We have very heavy sanctions on Russia right now. I would not and have never even thought about taking them off. Somebody said, Donald Trump wants to — I dont want to take them off.
Q Putin didnt raise that with you?
THE PRESIDENT: He never raised it. We did, I think, talk about the sanctions that Congress wants to pass, but it was very brief. Much of it was talked about Ukraine. Look, we talked about the elections. We talked about Ukraine and Syria. Not in that order. We talked about Syria and Ukraine. But I will just tell you, I didnt say this to him. We didnt talk about this aspect of it. I would never take the sanctions off until something is worked out to our satisfaction and everybodys satisfaction in Syria and in Ukraine.
I saw a report and I read a report that Trump wants to take off the sanctions. Ive made a lot of money. Ive made great deals. Thats what I do. Why would I take sanctions off without getting anything?
On allegations of collusion with Russia:
THE PRESIDENT: What pressure? I didnt — I did nothing. Hey, now its shown theres no collusion, theres no obstruction, theres no nothing. Honestly, the whole thing, it is really a media witch hunt. Its been a media witch hunt. And its bad for the country. You know, when you talk about Russia, if Russia actually did whatever they want to do, they got to be laughing, because look at what happens — how much time. . . .
They feel its a witch hunt, the people. There are a lot of people. And those people vote. They dont stay home because its drizzling. We proved that. But every single party chairman said that my base is substantially stronger than it was in November. Thats a big compliment. Thats a big compliment. And I feel it.
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And I think whats happening is, as usual, the Democrats have played their card too hard on the Russia thing, because people arent believing it. Its a witch hunt and they understand that. When they say “treason” — you know what treason is? Thats Julius and Ethel Rosenberg for giving the atomic bomb, okay? But what about all the congressmen, where I see the woman sitting there surrounded by — in Congress.
So I think its a good thing. When Hillary Clinton spent her ads — you know, she spent almost 100 percent of her ads on anti-Donald Trump ads. You know that. Every ad was an anti ad. When the election came, nobody knew what she stood for.
I heard tonight, and I saw tonight, and I read tonight that theyre making a big mistake. And I a lot of the Democrats feel — they say, were putting all our money into this Russia stuff and its making Trump stronger. Because my people and the people that support me, who are incredible people, those people are angry because they feel its being unfair and a witch hunt.
***
END
10:15 P.M. EDT
Q What about steel?
THE PRESIDENT: Steel is a big problem. Steel is I mean, theyre dumping steel. Not only China, but others. Were like a dumping ground, okay? Theyre dumping steel and destroying our steel industry, theyve been doing it for decades, and Im stopping it. Itll stop.
Q On tariffs?
THE PRESIDENT: There are two ways quotas and tariffs. Maybe Ill do both.
The New York Times gave up a few floors of space to ‘save money’... and now they’ve dumped a hundred copy editors.
The real question is how long until the New York Times goes under? I’m guessing before Trump’s term is over the paper will die.
A big F U to Free Traitors!
Huh?
The transcript that appears in the NYT is the same as released by the WH.
This is a central piece of the puzzle - cheap energy - that along with: educated workforce, lower taxes, reduced regulatory overhead, energized optimistic makers - hmmm I wonder what could happen.
Paging John Lee Hooker cause we go the ingredients for some Boom, Boom, Boom, Boom
No Trump just repeats verbs and sentences all the time to buy time while he's thinking. He is repetitive. He is very, very, very repetitive. :-)
Look, people all have their own quirks. I'm less concerned with that minutiae and more concerned about what gets done.
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