[Begins in progress]
There will be seven executive orders by my count focused on education. Secretary Linda McMahon will be here in the Oval Office as well. I won't get ahead of them, but we'll see you all there and the president will take some questions, but I'll take some now too.
What have these huge tariffs on China accomplished?
Leverage and ensuring the rest of the world knows that the United States of America is no longer going to be ripped off. President Trump has made that very clear, not just with China, but with almost every single country on the planet. There have been hundreds of countries now that have reached out to the United States to the Trump administration to make deals.
As I said yesterday, there were 18 proposals on paper that have been presented to our trade team and we're negotiating on behalf of the American worker. And no other president has taken on such an endeavor. Many have talked about it, many on both sides of the aisle have pledged to do what's right for the American worker and our manufacturing industry.
But this is the first president to actually use the leverage of the United States to bring people to the table.
But has
[Crosstalk]
actually worked because China hasn't made any concessions at all?
Have some patience and you will see.
We just heard from President Trump on Truth Social talking about Zelenskyy and the Wall Street Journal article that just came out. Has the US asked Ukraine to give up Crimea as part of this negotiation for peace. And also, will he be meeting with Zelenskyy in Ukraine -- I'm sorry, in Rome this weekend?
Well, as President Trump rightfully pointed out in that statement, it was President Obama who gave up Crimea, who allowed Russia to take it over in 2014. And so, the president is not asking Ukraine to recognize Crimea, nobody has asked them to do that. What he is asking is for people to come to the negotiating table recognizing that this has been a brutal war for far too long.
And in order to make a good deal, both sides have to walk away a little bit unhappy. And unfortunately, President Zelenskyy has been trying to litigate this peace negotiation in the press and that's unacceptable to the president. These should be closed door negotiations. The president's national security team, his advisors have exuded significant time, energy and effort to try to bring this war to an end.
The American taxpayer has funded billions of dollars in this effort and enough is enough. The president's frustrated. His patience is running very thin. He wants to do what's right for the world. He wants to see peace; he wants to see the killing stopped. But you need both sides of the war willing to do that.
And unfortunately, President Zelenskyy seems to be moving in the wrong direction.
Are Europeans -- does the president think that Europeans are doing enough? And some countries are spending more in defense reaching the 2 percent threshold? So, what does the president think about European support for Ukraine?
Look, the president has always maintained that Europe always needs to do more, whether it's in the effort to end this war in Russia and Ukraine, whether it is in terms of their spending when it comes to NATO and their own defense spending as well. He's made that clear to them in private and also in public.
You've seen it when we've had many different European leaders coming to the White House. We'll have one tomorrow of course, Norway will be here tomorrow.
Thank you. Has the president -- in his conversations with Zelenskyy or others, has he threatened to walk away if that is not accepted by the end of the day today?
Not by the end of the day today, but the president has maintained that his frustration is growing and he needs to see this thing come to an end. Sure.
Will President Trump and President Putin meet in Saudi Arabia next month, is that the plan?
I'm not tracking a meeting at this time, but as always, we'll keep you updated. I did announce the dates of the foreign trip yesterday.
Karoline, good morning. This morning can you talk about the motivation behind the significance of the president's move to install massive American flags here at the White House out of his own pocket?
I'm sorry.
Can you talk about the motivation behind as well as the significance of the president's move to install massive American flags at the White House?
Oh, The flags. I thought you were referring to the flags be lowered in honor of Pope Francis. Yeah, look, I mean the president is a real estate developer at heart and he's always looking for ways to improve the White House complex, not for him, but for future generations, for future presidents. He has some fun ideas for this complex which we've kept you all apprized of as they have happened and will continue to do so. You can expect to look up I think quite soon and see a very big beautiful American flag perhaps on the North Lawn and the South Lawn, I think it has yet to be decided.
So, we'll see you all later. Thank you.