Thank you very much. It's a real honor to have the highly respected, the great prime minister of the Kingdom of Norway with us today, who as you know has been doing a fantastic job and truly respected throughout the world as a leader. Thank you very much for being here. We appreciate it. And we're going to be having a meeting in the Oval Office in a little while, where you'll be invited back and you can ask some questions.
It's also a pleasure to have my friend, who did such a good job at NATO, my great friend, right? So you really did. We started off, they had no money and they ended up having a lot of money after we said, you got to pay, you got to pay up. But you, you did a fantastic job and thank you very much. And I'm glad you're here.
Glad we meet each other again under these circumstances. So we'll be meeting in a little while at the Oval Office. And if you have maybe one or two questions, we'll do it now. And after that, we'll go to the Oval.
Mr. President, on Russia, do you still believe that Putin is serious about peace given the events overnight in Ukraine? And if that bombing doesn't end, are you considering new sanctions on Russia?
So we are thinking very strongly that they both want peace, but they have to get to the table. We're waiting a long time. They have to get them to the table. And I think we're going to get peace. We want to save 5,000 young people. I used to say 2,500 and they say 5,000. Mr. Prime Minister, we have about 5,000 young people a week that are dying in that ridiculous war.
And I started out because I didn't like all the money that we were paying and then I realized how many people were dying, and that's by far the more important element right now. I'm saying, we can save thousands of people. I don't like that it takes long at all, but I think they both want to make peace. I do believe so. There's a lot of hatred there.
There's a lot of very bad blood, a lot of distrust, but I hope we're going to get there for the sake of a lot of young people that are dying.
Mr. President, do you have a deadline for when the --
I have my own deadline. I have my own deadline and we want it to be fast. And the prime minister is helping us, he wants it to be fast too. And I think everybody at this time in NATO, they want to see this thing happen. So we have a deadline and after that, we're going to have a very much different attitude, but I think it has a very good chance of getting done.
Mr. President, what can Norway do to prove that they're an important ally to the U.S. ? What can Norway do?
Just keep doing what they're doing. We have a very good relationship with Norway, great leader, great people. I know many of the people in Norway and it's an incredible country. So all they have to do is keep doing what they're doing, I think is probably the best answer I can give. Yeah.
As you pointed out, the former secretary general of NATO is here, Mr. Stoltenberg. How important is the NATO defense alliance, Mr. President? Is it sacrosanct from your perspective?
Well, it's a very interesting question. It's certainly very important for Europe and I think without us, it wouldn't be nearly as powerful. And as the former secretary general, who did a great job, can tell you, we played, I played when I was there, a very big role in making sure that NATO is funded by the 28 -- at that time, they had 28 countries including us, because many of the countries weren't paid.
And they ended up being paid, you would say. And the secretary general was very nice about it, as far as I was concerned. Other presidents went in, they made a speech and they left and that kept going on. And in the meantime, they had no money and the United States was paying far more than its fair share.
You could say that they were paying, I actually said sometimes, it looked like 100 percent and it was unfair. And the two of us worked very well together and we took care of the situation.
There are so many countries, Mr. President -- [Inaudible] statistics are showing that the U.S. actually has a trade surplus with Norway. Are you going to be looking into that and see which of the countries are actually in a trade surplus?
Yeah. Well, with the United States, almost everybody has a surplus. It's really, it's an amazing phenomenon. There is a surplus of a couple of billion dollars, I think you have with us. I congratulate you. That's very good. We've got to get a little bit of that for ourselves, maybe, but they do have a surplus.
Norway has a surplus.
In the tariff situation, analysts have pointed out that the U.S. actually need allies. Do you consider Norway as a possible ally in this situation?
I think Norway has always been an ally. They've been somebody we've been very close to, very friendly with, maybe more so now with me than other people. But I think Norway has always been a great ally. Yeah, Norway has been a friend.
That's a great question, actually, because the U.S. is our lead ally and we build on a relationship in which we will talk about now, Mr. President, but it's of high relevance and I'm very happy that we have Secretary of State and Secretary of Defense. So this is a very strong tie.
But it was a question about ally in the tariff situation specifically.
The tariff situation?
Yes.
Oh, well, we're talking about a little bit different subject, then we're talking about a different type of ally. No, in this case, he would be very much inclined to be an ally of Norway because he wants to make the best business deal possible in Norway and the Norwegians are great business people. They're great traders.
They're great, very smart nation, very well-managed nation, has been for a long time and in particular now with this leadership. But we'll be talking about trade and other things. And I think we're going to come to a conclusion very quickly.
Mr. Prime Minister, I was wondering whether you think that Donald Trump, for his efforts in Ukraine and otherwise, deserves to be nominated for a Nobel Peace prize?
Well, I salute President Trump for having been taking very important initiatives to get this conflict towards an end, which both parties deserve. We need to have a ceasefire, save lives and move towards something which is more secure for Europe for the people concerned, and on that we work together. And I look forward to go into some details because we are at a critical moment.
On that price, that is a committee taking care of that which is completely working on its own terms and I cannot comment on that.
Mr. President, a question --
Thank you very much for that question. I like that question. Yeah, please.
A question on China. Can you clarify with whom the U.S. is speaking with China? They're saying it's fake news that trade talks are happening.
Well, they had a meeting this morning. So I can tell you it doesn't matter who they is. We may reveal it later, but they had meetings this morning and we've been meeting with China. And so I think you have, Jeff, as usual, I think you have your reporting wrong. Thank you very much. We'll see you inside. Thank you.
[Inaudible]
I would go. We'll all go together to Norway.
Yes, please do.
I want to go skiing.
[Inaudible]
I love Norway. I love Norway.
Why?
It's beautiful, and beautiful people. Thank you.