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Video33 min read

Remarks: Donald Trump Signs Executive Orders and Appointments in the Oval Office - February 3, 2025

12:00 AM
Donald Trump 00:00:00-00:00:24 (24 sec)

Hello, how are you? Thank you very much. We have some very exciting news today. We have -- numerous fronts are being covered. Before we do that, Will will give me certain proclamations, we'll sign them, and you'll hear a little bit about them. Will, please.

Will Scharf 00:00:24-00:00:36 (12 sec)

Yes, sir. First, we have for your signature five official designations of special envoys. The first is Mr. Steve Witkoff, who is actually in the room, to be your Middle East envoy.

Donald Trump 00:00:36-00:01:01 (26 sec)

Where is Steve? Steve Witkoff, everybody -- done a great job in the Middle East, really great. But we'll see how it all turns out. It's complex, but I think he's going to do very well.

Will Scharf 00:01:01-00:01:08 (7 sec)

Next, we have Mauricio Claver-Carone to be your special envoy to Latin America, sir.

Donald Trump 00:01:08-00:01:16 (8 sec)

Okay, good man. OK.

Will Scharf 00:01:16-00:01:24 (9 sec)

Thank you, sir. Next, we have retired general, Keith Kellogg, to be your special envoy on Russian-Ukraine issues.

Donald Trump 00:01:24-00:01:42 (18 sec)

We've made a lot of progress on Russia, Ukraine, we'll see what happens, but a lot of progress has been made. We're going to stop that ridiculous war. OK.

Will Scharf 00:01:42-00:01:55 (13 sec)

Thank you, sir. Next, we have the designation of Richard Grenell -- Ric Grenell to be your envoy for special missions.

Donald Trump 00:01:55-00:02:12 (18 sec)

I sent him to California to California to turn on the water. We turned it on. It was not easy because we had to go through a lot of environmentalists that are causing a lot of problems, and we have billions of gallons of water, it was on three days ago, you probably saw it should have gotten a lot of press, but it didn't get much.

Donald Trump 00:02:12-00:02:33 (21 sec)

All we're doing is giving Los Angeles and the entire state of California virtually unlimited water, which they could have done five years ago, which I told them they should do, but the environmentalists stopped them, and we opened it and we did it regardless of the state. And now the state seems to be very happy.

Donald Trump 00:02:33-00:02:50 (17 sec)

I spoke with Gavin Newsom and he's very happy. I almost called him by the other name, didn't I, my little nickname for him? But I think they're all happy. They have a lot of water in California. Too bad we didn't have it about two months ago, right?

Unidentified 00:02:50-00:02:50 (1 sec)

Mr. President --

Donald Trump 00:02:50-00:03:07 (17 sec)

--That was -- by the way, that was a big -- that was a big move. We have -- I don't know if you saw the pictures that were released of the water pouring down from the Pacific Northwest and Canada and lots of other places. And it's a pretty amazing sight.

Unidentified 00:03:07-00:03:11 (4 sec)

Mr. President, Rick Grenell had a big Friday trip as well.

Donald Trump 00:03:11-00:03:18 (7 sec)

He had a very big Friday trip. You're right, we'll talk about that. He's doing -- he's a good man, Rick.

Will Scharf 00:03:18-00:03:23 (5 sec)

Lastly, sir, we have a designation of Mark Burnett as your special envoy to the United Kingdom.

Donald Trump 00:03:23-00:03:46 (23 sec)

You know, Mark Burnett is -- he should be good. He's certainly done a great job, a friend of mine and very talented guy. We have very talented people working for us. I'll hold that one up because Mark gets so much television, we'll hold it up, right? He'll be thrilled to see it. He's going to do a good job.

Will Scharf 00:03:46-00:04:19 (33 sec)

Thank you, sir. Next, your administration has smashed records for appointing large numbers of highly qualified capable people at all levels of the federal government. These are 28 subcabinet level officials being appointed to a number of different departments and agencies. Some of them are quite important positions like departmental general councils, but these are people who have been pre-vetted and have received your approval previously.

Donald Trump 00:04:19-00:04:21 (2 sec)

Very good. OK?

Will Scharf 00:04:21-00:04:37 (16 sec)

Thank you, sir. Next, this is an executive order. This charges your Secretary of the Treasury, Scott Bessent, and your Secretary of Commerce, Howard Lutnick, to begin a process that will hopefully result in the creation of an American sovereign wealth fund.

Donald Trump 00:04:37-00:04:57 (20 sec)

It's a very exciting event. We're going to have a sovereign wealth fund, which we've never had. We have a lot of things that create wealth, and you've seen that over the last two weeks. I think we've created more wealth. Other people have created de-wealth, the people, my predecessors, we're creating a lot of wealth.

Donald Trump 00:04:57-00:05:04 (7 sec)

Scott, maybe you'd like to say something about it, and I'd ask also Howard to say something about it.

Scott Bessent 00:05:04-00:05:30 (25 sec)

Yes, sir. This is very exciting. We're going to stand this thing up within the next 12 months. We're going to monetize the asset side of the US balance sheet for the American people. We're going to put the assets to work, and I think it's going to be very exciting. We're going to study best practices as done around the world.

Scott Bessent 00:05:30-00:05:41 (12 sec)

It'll be a combination of liquid assets, assets that we have in this country as we work to bring them out for the American people.

Howard Lutnick 00:05:41-00:06:04 (23 sec)

The extraordinary size and scale of the US government and the business it does with companies should create value for American citizens. If we are going to buy 2 billion COVID vaccines, maybe we should have some warrants and some equity in these companies and have that grow for the help of the American people.

Howard Lutnick 00:06:04-00:06:12 (8 sec)

So, bring all these things together, I think we'll create -- Scott and I will create an amazing sovereign wealth fund for you, sir.

Donald Trump 00:06:12-00:06:31 (19 sec)

So, other countries have sovereign wealth funds and they're much smaller countries and they're not the United States. We have tremendous potential in this country, tremendous. You're seeing that -- what's happened just in a short period of time. And as an example, TikTok, we're going to be doing something perhaps with TikTok and perhaps not.

Donald Trump 00:06:31-00:06:50 (19 sec)

If we make the right deal, we'll do it, otherwise we won't. But I have the right to do that. And we might put that in the sovereign wealth fund, whatever we make. Or if we do a partnership with a very wealthy people, a lot of options. But we could put that, as an example, in the fund and we have a lot of other things that we could put in the fund.

Donald Trump 00:06:50-00:07:11 (21 sec)

And I think in a short period of time we'd have one of the biggest funds. And you know, some of them are pretty large, I must tell you, some of the -- like the Saudi Arabia Fund is on the large side, but eventually we'll catch it. But we're going to create a lot of wealth for the fund. And I think it's about time that this country had a sovereign wealth fund.

Donald Trump 00:07:11-00:07:25 (14 sec)

And these two gentlemen, and some others, are going to work with them very closely and they'll be heading it up and they're going to do a great job. Two highly respected people that have done unbelievably well in the world, in the real world. So, that's a big deal, huh?

Scott Bessent 00:07:25-00:07:32 (6 sec)

Yes, sir, I think it's going to create value and be of great strategic importance.

Question 00:07:32-00:07:39 (7 sec)

Mr. President, why is it important for Elon Musk to have access to the payment systems at Treasury?

Donald Trump 00:07:39-00:08:02 (23 sec)

Well, he's got access only to letting people go that he thinks are no good if we agree with him. And it's only if we agree with him. He's a very talented guy from the standpoint of management and costs. And we put him in charge of seeing what he can do with certain groups and certain numbers. The numbers, some of the numbers are horrible, what He's found.

Donald Trump 00:08:02-00:08:30 (28 sec)

100 -- think of it, $100 million on condoms to Hamas, condoms to Hamas, and many other things that are frankly even more ridiculous. And they're finding tremendous waste, really waste more than anything else I think you could say, probably fraud and abuse can be added to it, the more standard waste, fraud and abuse.

Donald Trump 00:08:30-00:08:50 (20 sec)

But they're finding tremendous amounts of really bad things, bad spending. You've been reading about -- you've been writing about some of it, frankly. And some of the things that they've been doing is just terrible. Elon can't do and won't do anything without our approval. And we'll give him the approval where appropriate.

Donald Trump 00:08:50-00:09:18 (28 sec)

Where not appropriate we won't. But he reports in and he -- it's something that he feels very strongly about. And I'm impressed because he's running, obviously, a big company -- has nothing to do, if there's a conflict, that we won't let him get near it. But he does have a good natural instinct. He's got a team of very talented people and we're trying to shrink government, and he can probably shrink it as well as anybody else, if not better.

Donald Trump 00:09:18-00:09:38 (20 sec)

Where we think there's a conflict or there's a problem, we won't let them go near it, but he has some very good ideas, and we have a lot of very -- other talented people also. We're bringing in the most talented people in the world. By the way, we just -- unrelated, but we have two of the most talented people in the world, the legendary Rupert Murdoch and Larry Ellison.

Donald Trump 00:09:38-00:10:02 (24 sec)

So, they're two legends in business, publishing and probably every other. Rupert is, Larry, pretty much in a class by himself, right? I mean, although he may have a couple of bucks more, I don't know. But Rupert is in a class by himself. He's an amazing guy. And Larry is -- Larry is Larry. Larry is one of the most serious players anywhere in the world.

Donald Trump 00:10:02-00:10:13 (12 sec)

So, it's an honor to have you. This has nothing to do with you people, but they're here and I thought it would be appropriate. I'm sure you didn't recognize them. They're all going crazy. They're saying what are they doing here?

Unidentified 00:10:13-00:10:14 (1 sec)

Thank you, sir.

Question 00:10:14-00:10:21 (7 sec)

Is there any chance that Canada or China could also get out of the tariffs after you struck a deal with Mexico?

Donald Trump 00:10:21-00:11:11 (50 sec)

Well, nobody's out with Mexico. We had a great talk with Mexico. And we had -- President Sheinbaum is a woman. I like her very much. We've had good relationships, but we have to stop fentanyl from coming in, whether I like somebody or not. And we have to stop the illegal aliens from coming in. I think we've lost 200,000 people on average a year for many years, much higher than the 100,000, could be even closer to 300,000. And they've agreed to put in 10,000 soldiers permanently -- like forever -- 10,000 soldiers at their side of the border and stop fentanyl and illegal aliens from coming into our country, they have a big incentive to do. Other than that, we've agreed to talk and consider various other things.

Donald Trump 00:11:11-00:11:36 (25 sec)

We haven't agreed on tariffs yet and maybe we will, maybe we won't. But we have a very good relationship. I also spoke with Prime Minister Trudeau of Canada, and we had a good talk in the morning, but I did ask him a couple of questions. Like, you know, banks aren't allowed to do business in Canada. Canada is very tough, Canada is very -- you know, we're not treated well by Canada and we have to be treated well.

Donald Trump 00:11:36-00:11:57 (20 sec)

Banks are not, as an example, allowed -- did you know that, that banks -- American banks are not allowed to do business in Canada. Can you believe that? And that's one of many things that we talked about it. And I think we'll win most of the subjects, but for some reason, a lot of things have been very unfair with Canada.

Donald Trump 00:11:57-00:12:14 (18 sec)

I noticed that in the first term. You deal with people and after a while you begin to realize -- like you learned that Larry Ellison is very tough to do business with, OK? He's a very tough guy [Laughter]. I mean, I'm sure you're shocked to hear that. But Canada is very tough. They're very, very tough to do business with.

Donald Trump 00:12:14-00:12:32 (18 sec)

And we can't let them take advantage of the US. They don't take our agricultural product for the most part. They don't take our cars. They make cars, but they basically don't take our cars. And you know, we don't need -- and look, I think we're going to have another good conversation today. We're actually speaking at 3:00 again.

Donald Trump 00:12:32-00:12:52 (19 sec)

But we don't need them to make our cars. We don't need them to give us lumber. We don't need them for agricultural products because we have all the agriculture we need. They don't take our agricultural products for the most part, our milk and dairy, etc. A little bit they do, but not much. We take theirs.

Donald Trump 00:12:52-00:13:12 (20 sec)

And as far as cars are concerned, they took in a big percentage, almost 19 percent of the market. And you know, I wouldn't mind making our cars in the United States, so we have a problem there. I'd like to make our cars in the US. We don't need Canada to make our cars. With that being said, we're going to have another call at 3:00. We had a call this morning.

Donald Trump 00:13:12-00:13:33 (20 sec)

It was a pretty good call, I'd say. So, the call with Mexico went very well in the sense that they're very strong now on the border, they're going to put soldiers there. Actually, their best military soldiers and they're going to be at the border, 10,000. That's a lot of soldiers and they want to protect it also.

Donald Trump 00:13:33-00:13:56 (23 sec)

You know, they want -- they don't want people running through Mexico, coming through Mexico to come into our country. So, they're going to do that and then we're going to talk about other things over the next -- and we're going to have, over the next 30 days, we're going to have Scott, Howard and Marco -- Marco Rubio, Secretary of State -- lead the delegation and we're going to have a big negotiation with Mexico.

Donald Trump 00:13:56-00:14:02 (7 sec)

I'll be involved too, and President Sheinbaum will be involved to see whether or not we can work something out on the tariffs.

Note 00:14:02-00:14:02 ( sec)

[Crosstalk]

Question 00:14:02-00:14:04 (2 sec)

-- on fentanyl in China?

Donald Trump 00:14:04-00:14:09 (4 sec)

China, we'll be speaking to China probably over the next 24 hours.

Question 00:14:09-00:14:10 (1 sec)

On fentanyl and China, President Trump.

Donald Trump 00:14:10-00:14:42 (32 sec)

We don't want fentanyl coming into our country. Now we had another big thing, speaking of China, China is involved with the Panama Canal. They won't be for long, and that's the way it has to be. Marco just got back, as you know, he's in the process of coming back. I guess he's almost back by now. And he had a very long conversation with the leader of Panama, the respected man and some others, the entire leadership group.

Donald Trump 00:14:42-00:15:08 (26 sec)

And we're trying to work a deal on the Panama Canal. The Panama Canal was given, foolishly years ago, to -- it shouldn't have happened -- years ago to Panama by Jimmy Carter and the group. We lost 38,000 people building the Panama Canal like the -- one of the great wonders of the world. It's the biggest job we've ever built.

Donald Trump 00:15:08-00:15:34 (26 sec)

The biggest project we've ever built in this country, dollar wise and every other way, 38,000 people died, Americans, all men just about, laborers and construction people that went to Panama. The mosquito got them. Between mosquitoes and snakes, we lost 38,000 people. It was the most expensive project ever built by the United States.

Donald Trump 00:15:34-00:16:04 (30 sec)

The biggest, most expensive project we ever built, 110 years ago. If you bring it up to now, it would have been the equivalent of $2 trillion, the most expensive we ever built. And we gave it away for $1, OK? We gave it away essentially for nothing. And we either want it back or we're going to get something very strong, or we're going to take it back.

Donald Trump 00:16:04-00:16:23 (19 sec)

And China will be dealt with. And we didn't give that to China, we gave it to Panama. We shouldn't have given it to Panama, but Panama, as you know, has violated the agreement -- totally violated the agreement. So, that's in the process right now, but they did have a very good meeting with the head of Panama.

Question 00:16:23-00:16:32 (9 sec)

In addition to tariffs on China, would you say your current thinking about whether China should be forced to pay reparations with fentanyl deaths and the million COVID deaths?

Donald Trump 00:16:32-00:16:56 (24 sec)

No, I haven't talked about that, but they do have tariffs. Honestly, nobody -- the amount of money that was lost and, most importantly, the lives lost because of COVID, is not something that anybody could ever even imagine. It's probably $60 trillion and all the countries in the world don't have $60 trillion.

Donald Trump 00:16:56-00:17:19 (22 sec)

The amount of death and the amount of destruction and the amount of money lost is probably $60 trillion. I had it figured by people about three months ago. I just said, figure it out. Nobody knows what the real number is, but it's almost an infinite number, the damage done, but I have not discussed that.

Donald Trump 00:17:19-00:17:36 (18 sec)

What I have discussed is we'll have some good meetings with China. We have meetings planned and we'll see what happens. But that was just an opening salvo. If we can't make a deal with China, then the tariffs will be very, very substantial. OK, I'm going to sign this one.

Will Scharf 00:17:36-00:17:50 (14 sec)

Sir, this is -- you've obviously made Making America Healthy Again a key priority of this administration. A key component of that is obviously heart health. This is a ceremonial proclamation declaring the month of February to be National Heart Month.

Donald Trump 00:17:50-00:17:57 (7 sec)

OK. I hear we're doing very well with nominations. We'll see. But it looks like we're doing very well with nominations.

Question 00:17:57-00:18:03 (6 sec)

Mr. President, have you been involved with calling senators who had some concerns about Tulsi Gabbard or [Inaudible]?

Donald Trump 00:18:03-00:18:26 (23 sec)

Yes, yeah, I've gotten great response. And they want to do what's right, and we've had a good response. I think we'll do well. We have great people like -- people like this. We have great, great people coming in. I think I'd like to say the best ever recruited for government. I think we have the finest people ever recruited for government.

Question 00:18:26-00:18:27 (2 sec)

Will it take an act of congress --

Donald Trump 00:18:27-00:18:42 (15 sec)

--And you know what, you're starting to see that because we've done more in two weeks than Biden has done in five years, six years. They could be here between him and Obama, you add it up, OK, we've done more in two weeks than they've done in 12 years.

Question 00:18:42-00:18:46 (4 sec)

Will it take an act of congress to do away with USAID or you believe you have --

Donald Trump 00:18:46-00:19:05 (19 sec)

--I don't know, I don't think so. No, we've -- not when it comes to fraud. If there's fraud, these people are lunatics. And if it comes to fraud, you wouldn't have an act of congress and I'm not sure that you would anyway. But we just want to do the right thing. It's something that should have been done a long time ago.

Donald Trump 00:19:05-00:19:26 (21 sec)

It went crazy during the Biden administration -- they went totally crazy, what they were doing, and the money they were giving to people that shouldn't be getting it and to agencies and others that shouldn't be getting it, it was a shame. So, they have tremendous fraud, but we'll be doing a report. We'll be giving you that report at the appropriate time. Yeah.

Question 00:19:26-00:19:28 (2 sec)

During the first time though, USAID was something that you liked in some respects.

Note 00:19:28-00:19:28 ( sec)

[Crosstalk]

Question 00:19:28-00:19:28 ( sec)

-- program?

Donald Trump 00:19:28-00:19:40 (12 sec)

I love the concept of it. Yeah, sure. I love the concept, but they turned out to be radical left lunatics and the concept of it is good. But it's all about the people.

Question 00:19:40-00:19:46 (7 sec)

Mr. President, you said you also want to impose tariffs on the EU. What kind of tariffs are you talking about?

Donald Trump 00:19:46-00:20:11 (25 sec)

Well, we have massive deficits with the European Union, massive like $350 billion if you can believe it. They don't take our farm product. They don't take our cars, they don't take almost anything, but we take their cars. We have millions of cars coming in, BMW and Mercedes-Benz and Volkswagen, and just so many different cars and we don't do anything about that.

Donald Trump 00:20:11-00:20:35 (24 sec)

And we don't charge them tariffs. They make it impossible to sell cars in the European Union. They make it very difficult, agricultural product, they actually don't take it. And they have a lot of excuses. Some of them are the pesticides and the different chemicals used, and Bobby Kennedy actually is looking at that very, very seriously because maybe it's not necessary to use all of that.

Donald Trump 00:20:35-00:20:57 (23 sec)

We want to be the healthiest country and we're not. We spend more money on food than anybody else in terms of its creation, but we're not the healthiest country. So, maybe there is something to the fact that we shouldn't be using so much chemical and maybe that will stop. But Bobby Kennedy is the one because he's -- he is not a believer in all of the things we have done, and neither are the Europeans.

Donald Trump 00:20:57-00:21:17 (19 sec)

So, we'll see what happens. But they use it as an excuse not to buy our product and they -- you tried -- I asked a couple of the leaders, I don't want to use names, but how many Chevrolets or Fords do you see in the middle of Munich? And the answer is, none, because they don't take any cars, they don't take anything.

Donald Trump 00:21:17-00:21:41 (24 sec)

So, the European has abused the United States for years, and they can't do that. And they want to make a deal. Let me tell you, in all cases, they all want to make deals. There's nobody that doesn't want to make deals. They've been abusers and they want to make deals. So, we'll see about that. But we'll have, I think, some very fair -- all we want is a fair deal.

Donald Trump 00:21:41-00:22:03 (22 sec)

And you know, there's a word, reciprocal. I'd go right now, reciprocal tariffs on everybody, because many of the countries that you feel so horrible about the way they're being treated by Trump, you're saying, oh, President Trump is so terrible to them. Well, they charge us tariffs. European Union has a VAT tax, which is through the roof, OK. It's a similar thing, similar to a tariff.

Donald Trump 00:22:03-00:22:23 (20 sec)

It's a VAT. And they have it and it's numbers like you wouldn't believe. And Canada, I told you about the banks and I told you they charge us -- and people don't say that, they don't like to say it, just like they don't like to say that I opened up the water for California. It's a great thing, it's too bad they didn't do it themselves.

Donald Trump 00:22:23-00:22:44 (21 sec)

I had to do it, and it was not easy. We did it a very rough way and I didn't like to do it a rough way. We shouldn't have to do it a rough way. But a lot of these countries that we're talking about, they're our so-called allies, but they don't treat us well. And just like I got $420 billion and now it's actually over $600 billion.

Donald Trump 00:22:44-00:23:07 (23 sec)

The secretary general of NATO came in two weeks ago and he said it was a miracle when Trump came in. When President Trump came into NATO, I got -- he said it was $636 billion by saying to them, no, you have to pay and if you don't pay, we're not going to be there for you. You know, somebody has to say it and they paid, and it was a large amount of money.

Donald Trump 00:23:07-00:23:31 (24 sec)

And one of the problems we have with the Russia-Ukraine situation is that we want to see some equalization because we're in for close to $300 billion and they're in for $200 billion less. Why are they in for less? Because Biden never asked them for money. He never said you've got to pay, he never did. All he did was hand out money.

Donald Trump 00:23:31-00:23:57 (26 sec)

So, we're talking with them right now and we're actually working some deals right now, so we have some guarantees and some other things to keep that whole situation to go -- really going. I mean going. We're telling Ukraine they have very valuable rare earth. We want what we put up to go in terms of a guarantee.

Donald Trump 00:23:57-00:24:18 (21 sec)

We want a guarantee. We want -- we're handing them money hand over fist. We're giving them equipment. European is not keeping up with us. They should equalize. Look, we have an ocean in between, they don't -- it's more important for them than it is for us. But they're way below us in terms of money, and they should be paying at least equal.

Donald Trump 00:24:18-00:24:34 (16 sec)

They should really be paying much more than us, but let's say equal to us. And they're billions and billions of dollars below. So, we're looking to do a deal with Ukraine where they're going to secure what we're giving them with their rare earth and other things.

Note 00:24:34-00:24:34 ( sec)

[Crosstalk]

Question 00:24:34-00:24:46 (12 sec)

-- the deal with Mexico this morning, was that partially related to the market reaction and a criticism from Mr. Murdoch's own newspaper. He called it the dumbest trade war on the editorial page on Saturday.

Donald Trump 00:24:46-00:24:48 (2 sec)

I'm going to have to talk to him [Laughter].

Question 00:24:48-00:24:48 ( sec)

[Inaudible]

Donald Trump 00:24:48-00:25:10 (21 sec)

I've been right over the Wall Street Journal many times; I will tell you. I don't agree with him on some things. No, not only is it not dumb, you're going to see -- you're going to see. Every single one of those countries is dying to make a deal. You know why? Because they're ripping us off really badly.

Donald Trump 00:25:10-00:25:39 (29 sec)

And the United States is tired of being ripped off. We're just being ripped off. And that's why we have $36 trillion in debt. We have it for a reason because we make bad deals with everybody, and we don't allow that anymore. So, the Wall Street Journal is wrong because, very simply, every single country that you're writing about right now is dying to make a deal because the deals they have right now are so good and so good for them and so profitable for them.

Donald Trump 00:25:39-00:25:53 (15 sec)

You didn't know that Canada didn't allow our banks. You didn't know all of these different things. And I think in the end, you're going to see that either very, very substantial tariffs are going to be paid by them or they're going to make some kind of a deal.

Note 00:25:53-00:25:53 ( sec)

[Crosstalk]

Question 00:25:53-00:25:58 (4 sec)

-- the Mexican President Sheinbaum?

Donald Trump 00:25:58-00:25:58 ( sec)

Did what?

Question 00:25:58-00:25:59 (1 sec)

Did you blink this morning?

Donald Trump 00:25:59-00:26:17 (18 sec)

There was no blinking, no, she's a wonderful woman, but she did agree to 10,000 soldiers on the border. I would say that's a lot. Would you say that's pretty good? 10,000 soldiers on the border and the 10,000 soldiers are going to keep illegal aliens out and they're going to keep them out -- seriously out.

Donald Trump 00:26:17-00:26:33 (16 sec)

And otherwise, they're going to have a big penalty. Mexico is going to be penalized. They're not going to come through Mexico anymore and they're not going to let the fentanyl come in from China. And China hopefully is going to stop sending us fentanyl. And if they're not, the tariffs are going to go substantially higher.

Question 00:26:33-00:26:40 (7 sec)

Sir, just to clarify what you said about Ukraine earlier, the rare earths, is that something you want them to give the rare earths to the United States?

Donald Trump 00:26:40-00:26:53 (13 sec)

Yeah, yeah, I want to have security of rare earths. We're putting in hundreds of billions of dollars. They have great rare earth, and I want security of the rare earth, and they're willing to do it.

Question 00:26:53-00:27:00 (7 sec)

Sir, you mentioned earlier that you wanted to -- --On Canada, when you talk to Justin Trudeau again, is there anything he can give you at 3 p.m. when you talk again to also procure a pause?

Donald Trump 00:27:00-00:27:01 (1 sec)

I don't know.

Question 00:27:01-00:27:03 (2 sec)

Like you said, no matter what.

Donald Trump 00:27:03-00:27:24 (21 sec)

I don't Know. We have big deficits with Canada, like we do with all countries. I mean I look at some of the deals made, I say who the hell made these deals, they're so bad. But with Canada, I have a talk with him and you maybe know or maybe not. We're going to meet again or talk again at 3:00, right after my next meeting.

Donald Trump 00:27:24-00:27:28 (4 sec)

And we'll see what happens. I can't tell you what's going to happen.

Note 00:27:28-00:27:28 ( sec)

[Crosstalk]

Question 00:27:28-00:27:30 (3 sec)

-- some actions that he could agree to to change your mind on the tariffs?

Donald Trump 00:27:30-00:27:52 (21 sec)

Well, we can always -- look, what I'd like to see, Canada become our 51st state. We give them protection, military protection. We don't need them to build our cars. I'd rather see Detroit or South Carolina or any one of our Tennessee -- any one of our states build the cars. They could do it very easily. We don't need them for the cars.

Donald Trump 00:27:52-00:28:15 (23 sec)

We don't need them for lumber. We don't need them for anything. We don't need them for energy, we have more energy than they do. We don't need them for energy. So, I say why are we doing this? Why do we -- why are we willing to lose between $100 billion and $200 billion a year? We don't need them. As a state it's different, as a state it's much different, and there are no tariffs.

Donald Trump 00:28:15-00:28:37 (22 sec)

So, I'd love to see that, but some people say that would be a long shot. If people wanted to play the game right, it would be 100 percent certain that they'd become a state. But a lot of people don't like to play the game because they don't have a threshold of pain -- and there would be some pain, but not a lot.

Donald Trump 00:28:37-00:28:44 (7 sec)

The pain would be really theirs. So, we're going to meet again by phone at 3:00 and we'll let you know [Crosstalk].

Question 00:28:44-00:28:48 (4 sec)

On Israel, President Trump, you're [Inaudible] with Benjamin Netanyahu.

Donald Trump 00:28:48-00:28:49 (1 sec)

Coming in tomorrow.

Question 00:28:49-00:28:57 (8 sec)

Yes, you mentioned in the past you're concerned about Israel being too small geographically. Would you support annexation of parts of the West Bank by Israel?

Donald Trump 00:28:57-00:29:17 (20 sec)

Well, I'm not going to talk about that. It certainly is a small -- it's a small country in terms of land. I take -- see this pen, this wonderful pen? My desk is the Middle East and this pen, the top of the pen, that's Israel, that's not good, right? You know, that's a pretty big difference. I use that as an analogy.

Donald Trump 00:29:17-00:29:32 (16 sec)

It's pretty accurate actually. It's a pretty small piece of land and it's amazing that they've been able to do what they've been able to do when you think about it. There's a lot of good smart brain power, but it is a very small piece of land, no question about it.

Question 00:29:32-00:29:46 (14 sec)

Mr. President, you said earlier that Elon Musk is doing everything with your say so. So, is there anything that he has done thus far going to all the agencies, shutting off access, getting access to federal payments, that all has your -- you're okay with all of that?

Donald Trump 00:29:46-00:29:53 (7 sec)

For the most part, yeah, if we -- I mean, if there was something that didn't have my OK, I'd let you know about it really fast.

Question 00:29:53-00:29:57 (4 sec)

You said there are some areas where you wouldn't let him work because he has conflicts of interest.

Donald Trump 00:29:57-00:30:05 (8 sec)

If there was a conflict. No, no, I haven't seen that and he would know not to do it. So, we haven't had that yet. But if there was a conflict, we would let him work in that area.

Question 00:30:05-00:30:15 (10 sec)

Earlier you said, with regard to Panama, that they were going to make a deal, or the US is going to take it. How long do they have to make that sort of deal? And are you still leaving it on the table --

Donald Trump 00:30:15-00:30:35 (20 sec)

--We're going to meet with Panama on Friday at about 3:30 in the afternoon by phone, and maybe there will be some representatives here or there. But we're going to be talking to Panama on Friday essentially. And they've agreed to certain things but I'm not happy with it.

Question 00:30:35-00:30:41 (6 sec)

[Inaudible] Mr. President, if I may. Do you still have doubts that the ceasefire will hold?

Donald Trump 00:30:41-00:30:41 (1 sec)

On what?

Question 00:30:41-00:30:44 (2 sec)

On the Middle East, do you think the ceasefire will hold?

Donald Trump 00:30:44-00:30:58 (14 sec)

I have no assurances that it will hold. I mean I've seen people brutalized. I've never -- nobody has ever seen anything like it. No, I have no guarantees that the peace is going to hold. Steve, you might want to say something about that, Steve Witkoff.

Steve Witkoff 00:30:58-00:31:13 (15 sec)

It's holding so far. So, and we're certainly hopeful. And that's the president's direction, get the hostages out, save lives and come to hopefully a peaceful settlement of it all. So, so far, it's holding.

Question 00:31:13-00:31:25 (12 sec)

Mr. President, on a different topic, questionnaires have been going out to FBI agents across the country who were involved potentially in the investigation. Do you believe anyone involved at any level should be fired, sir?

Donald Trump 00:31:25-00:31:48 (23 sec)

Well, I think the FBI was a very corrupt institution, and I'm a victim of it in a true sense. I was able to beat it, but other people have been treated horribly. I think the FBI has a great reputation -- had a great reputation. I think its reputation was really damaged badly, as is DOJ. Look at what they've done in terms of weaponization.

Donald Trump 00:31:48-00:32:15 (27 sec)

Look at what they've done to a political opponent, probably got me elected by what they did. I think I was doing well anyway, but they might have gotten me elected. But you know what? We have to have pristine, beautiful, perfect law enforcement, and what we want to do -- and Kash is the one to do it. He's the one guy that is going to do it. We have to bring the reputation of the FBI.

Donald Trump 00:32:15-00:32:22 (7 sec)

We have to bring the fact of the FBI back to what it could be, not even to what it was, even better than it ever was.

Donald Trump 00:32:22-00:32:39 (17 sec)

Because who would have thought that the FBI could have been corrupted like they were corrupted? Who would have thought that would have happened? Who would have thought they would have been used to go after political opponents essentially, but me being the number one? And so many other things beyond that.

Donald Trump 00:32:39-00:32:56 (17 sec)

And they've been hurt very badly, and we'll see what happens. But Kash is the one to do it, and I hear he's doing very well. Kash will straighten it out. We have great confidence that we can make the FBI great again. OK, one or two more and we'll be done.

Question 00:32:56-00:32:57 (1 sec)

Tulsi Gabbard, her [Inaudible].

Donald Trump 00:32:57-00:33:07 (10 sec)

Yeah, I think Tulsi is going to be doing OK. I'm not sure, I can't guarantee anything, but she's liked by so many people, especially people in the military and law enforcement.

Question 00:33:07-00:33:18 (10 sec)

She has a little bit of trouble with some senators over her thoughts on Edward Snowden. I know with Snowden -- you've mentioned in the past you're thinking about pardoning him. Are you still and what do you think of that --

Donald Trump 00:33:18-00:33:28 (10 sec)

--No, I don't talk to him about it right now. I just -- people feel very differently. Some people think he should be pardoned, and some people think it would be a terrible thing to do, but I don't get involved in that.

Question 00:33:28-00:33:32 (4 sec)

Mr. President, what are you discussing with Mr. Murdoch and Mr. Ellison right now?

Donald Trump 00:33:32-00:33:50 (18 sec)

Just respect. I have great respect for Rupert Murdoch. I disagree with him a lot of times with the Wall Street Journal, but that's all right. We've disagreed before, but -- and I'm sure they didn't have any idea what they were talking about because already you see what's happening. Look at Columbia, look at what happened with that.

Donald Trump 00:33:50-00:34:21 (31 sec)

Everybody said that with Columbia it was going to be a disaster. In one hour, everything was settled. You know why? Tariffs. Tariffs -- without tariffs, they wouldn't have been the same way. They would not have treated me the way they treated me, which was extremely nicely. And I don't want to use countries, I don't want to use names, but tariffs are very powerful, both economically and in getting everything else you want.

Donald Trump 00:34:21-00:34:40 (19 sec)

Tariffs for us, nobody can compete with us because we're the pot of gold. But if we don't keep winning and keep doing well, we won't be the pot of gold. And then tariffs won't be so good for us. But when you're the pot of gold, the tariffs are very good, they're very powerful and they're going to make our country very rich again.

Donald Trump 00:34:40-00:34:45 (4 sec)

Thank you very much, everybody.

Unidentified 00:34:45-00:34:50 (5 sec)

Thank you. Thank you, guys. Thank you, guys. Let's go.

Note 00:34:50-00:34:50 ( sec)

[Crosstalk]

Question 00:34:50-00:34:50 ( sec)

[Inaudible]

Donald Trump 00:34:50-00:34:53 (3 sec)

I don't know. I don't know. How is the market doing?

Note 00:34:53-00:34:53 ( sec)

[Crosstalk]

Question 00:34:53-00:34:53 ( sec)

[Inaudible]

Donald Trump 00:34:53-00:34:59 (6 sec)

So, I did. I don't know, I don't think about it. Thank you. Thank you very much.