Trump Archive
Video33 min read

Remarks: Donald Trump Signs Executive Orders in the Oval Office - April 17, 2025

12:00 AM
Donald Trump 00:00:00-00:00:03 (3 sec)

They won't pick it up properly, but it's so sad. Go ahead.

Unidentified 00:00:03-00:00:32 (30 sec)

So as Peter said, sir, starting in 2009 and continuing in 2014, a very large part of the American exclusive economic zone in the Pacific amounting in total to half a million square miles of the American economic zone has been an -- exclusive economic zone has been held off limits to commercial fishing. We have a proclamation for your signature today, sir, that would reopen this area for commercial fishing by American flagged vessels only.

Unidentified 00:00:32-00:00:42 (10 sec)

This is a huge deal to the island populations in the Pacific, and we hope that this will lead to a new dawn for the American fishing industry in the Pacific Islands.

Donald Trump 00:00:42-00:00:48 (6 sec)

Could you, captain, say a few words about how ridiculous this has been that you had to live like this? American Samoa.

Unidentified 00:00:48-00:01:06 (18 sec)

It's -- we operate out of American Samoa. We supply to Starkist, American company. Does military packs. And it's -- you know, it's -- it's our right -- the US has the biggest EEZ in the Pacific, and yet we can't fish there. And it seems unfair, and I'm glad that we're -- we're opening it up so that we can feed our people.

Donald Trump 00:01:06-00:01:08 (2 sec)

And tell them how large an area we're talking about.

Unidentified 00:01:08-00:01:14 (6 sec)

It's -- the Pacific is big, but this is a huge area. Again, the US has the biggest EEZ in the Pacific.

Note 00:01:14-00:01:14 ( sec)

[Crosstalk]

Unidentified 00:01:14-00:01:30 (16 sec)

It's an area the size of three Californias. They can't fish there. And so, what do you do? How do you fish? They took away your livelihood. Well, we fish in the high seas, and then we have to pay to fish in other --

Donald Trump 00:01:30-00:01:34 (4 sec)

The high seas would mean more danger, right? Is there more danger in the high seas?

Unidentified 00:01:34-00:01:38 (4 sec)

Not really. It's just -- it's just -- far away. The distance. It's a bigger area and you know --

Donald Trump 00:01:38-00:01:42 (4 sec)

So, how -- how far do you have to travel to get -- to fish?

Unidentified 00:01:42-00:01:57 (15 sec)

Uh, the well, the boat carries a lot of fish, so it goes until it's full basically. But it's good to have plenty of fishing grounds. To get out to where you have to go? [Inaudible] seven days. Uh, it can be as close as four days, but it's a little bit of a jaunt. Yeah, and, uh, and --

Donald Trump 00:01:57-00:01:59 (2 sec)

That's a little bit, I'd say.

Note 00:01:59-00:01:59 ( sec)

[Crosstalk]

Donald Trump 00:01:59-00:02:02 (3 sec)

So, you'll travel from four to seven days.

Unidentified 00:02:02-00:02:03 (1 sec)

Just to get to the fishing grounds.

Donald Trump 00:02:03-00:02:10 (7 sec)

Just to get to the area that you're allowed to fish. And is that as fertile an area as the area that you're not allowed to fish in or?

Unidentified 00:02:10-00:02:22 (12 sec)

Well, the Western Pacific as a whole is, um -- 80 percent of the world's tuna comes from the Western Pacific. So, US has a huge EEZ there. There's also the island countries, but uh, it's a big, big area.

Donald Trump 00:02:22-00:02:24 (2 sec)

So, they took away very fertile grounds.

Unidentified 00:02:24-00:02:25 (1 sec)

Very fertile. Yeah.

Donald Trump 00:02:25-00:02:35 (10 sec)

This is so crazy. What would you like to say? Go ahead. It's such an honor to do this for these people. This is just crazy. Just tell me, when did this start? When was it -- when did it --

Unidentified 00:02:35-00:02:52 (17 sec)

Started Back in 2008. But thank you, Mr. President, for this great announcement, and, uh, thank you so much for your awesome leadership and giving back to American Samoa what had been taken away from us without even consulting with our leaders and people at that time. And, uh --

Donald Trump 00:02:52-00:02:56 (4 sec)

And they just one day just took away three Californias.

Unidentified 00:02:56-00:03:13 (17 sec)

Yes. And so, this is such a wonderful gift to American Samoa and of course, it's also Holy Week, uh, beginning today. And so, uh, thank you for returning to our indigenous people this wonderful gift of our traditional fishing grounds. [Inaudible]

Donald Trump 00:03:13-00:03:39 (26 sec)

It s such an honor to do this. You know, normally I say things, and it's nice and everything's good. You get more water in the shower head and things like that. [Laughter] But this is such an honor. What they've done to you people this is incredible. It's like -- it's so terrible. When you have to travel four days in a boat to fish -- and it's usually seven days I was told before, but four days to seven days in order to fish.

Donald Trump 00:03:39-00:03:41 (2 sec)

And you were there a long time before we were, right?

Unidentified 00:03:41-00:03:44 (3 sec)

Yes. Yes. For centuries. Centuries.

Donald Trump 00:03:44-00:03:47 (3 sec)

Like -- yeah, thousands of years I was going to say.

Unidentified 00:03:47-00:04:12 (25 sec)

So, Mr. President, you have another fishery in the Pacific Ocean. This is -- this is the [Inaudible] fishery that fishes for canned tuna, and then the fishery in Hawaii fishes for fresh tuna. And so, there are 150 vessels, and you're opening up Johnston Island, which is very close to Hawaii. Makes it a lot easier for them to fish because of the --

Note 00:04:12-00:04:12 ( sec)

[Crosstalk]

Unidentified 00:04:12-00:04:36 (24 sec)

Well, yes, of course. Um, so, um, you're, um, helping the entire fleet, and most of our fish are -- are sold on the mainland. We also fish for swordfish. And when we have too many regulations for our swordfish fishery, you get swordfish from Peru, Brazil, and all those other places that don't have the same management measures that we have in the United States.

Unidentified 00:04:36-00:04:41 (5 sec)

So, we are very grateful in Hawaii for this, the fishermen that we just -- it's fantastic.

Donald Trump 00:04:41-00:04:43 (2 sec)

So, what's the difference? You say canned tuna?

Unidentified 00:04:43-00:04:45 (2 sec)

Right. You have two different US fisheries there.

Donald Trump 00:04:45-00:04:47 (2 sec)

Yeah, but the same tuna.

Unidentified 00:04:47-00:04:52 (5 sec)

Uh, different -- no, that's a skipjack, albacore, and yellowfin. And then --

Donald Trump 00:04:52-00:04:55 (3 sec)

So, albacore is canned tuna, right?

Unidentified 00:04:55-00:04:56 (1 sec)

Right.

Donald Trump 00:04:56-00:04:57 (2 sec)

I know that from --

Note 00:04:57-00:04:57 ( sec)

[Crosstalk]

Unidentified 00:04:57-00:05:08 (10 sec)

You've seen the can. So, yeah. So, our fishery fishes for the sashimi quality fish, so it's all fresh. It's an ice fishery, and it's been around since, what, started in the early 1900s. And --

Donald Trump 00:05:08-00:05:10 (2 sec)

Well, it's been around for millions of years.

Unidentified 00:05:10-00:05:12 (2 sec)

Right. Exactly.

Donald Trump 00:05:12-00:05:13 (1 sec)

Long before us

Unidentified 00:05:13-00:05:14 (1 sec)

Right. Exactly.

Donald Trump 00:05:14-00:05:15 (1 sec)

That's great.

Unidentified 00:05:15-00:05:24 (9 sec)

So, you know, that's where you're getting your sashimi and your swordfish from. Most of the swordfish that you eat on the mainland comes from our fishery.

Donald Trump 00:05:24-00:05:27 (4 sec)

You know, they shut down also areas off Maine, you know, the Maine lobster.

Unidentified 00:05:27-00:05:29 (1 sec)

Yes. Oh, yes.

Donald Trump 00:05:29-00:05:49 (20 sec)

Yes, I think we're going to have to open that one up really quickly too. But we did it. And then after the election, which was totally rigged, they went out and they -- they put it back again. It was like 500 square miles or some ridiculous thing like that. And Canada fish is there, but we're not allowed to -- can you imagine.

Donald Trump 00:05:49-00:05:52 (3 sec)

They restricted it, but Canada fishes it. Please?

Unidentified 00:05:52-00:06:12 (20 sec)

Mr. President, this is such a great honor, you know. Today in American Samoa we're celebrating the 125th Flag Day. It's the first day celebrating when the US flag was first raised there. At this very moment, they're celebrating that. So, this is a monumental occasion for the people of American Samoa, and we are truly --

Donald Trump 00:06:12-00:06:14 (2 sec)

So This is a big thing that's going on right now.

Unidentified 00:06:14-00:06:19 (6 sec)

This is -- this -- because we are a dependent economy. 99.5 percent of our exports is tuna.

Donald Trump 00:06:19-00:06:25 (6 sec)

99.5 percent? But what about the other half a point? [Laughter]

Note 00:06:25-00:06:25 ( sec)

[Crosstalk]

Unidentified 00:06:25-00:06:31 (6 sec)

And then -- and then about 80 percent of our private employment is related to this industry.

Donald Trump 00:06:31-00:06:32 (1 sec)

That's unbelievable.

Unidentified 00:06:32-00:06:53 (21 sec)

So, yes, this is a big thing for the [Inaudible]. What's this going to do in terms -- it's so interesting to me. It's so, so horrible and so stupid. It's so stupid. We're talking about a massive ocean, and they're forced to travel four to seven days to go and fish in an area that's not as good and it's probably a little more dangerous.

Unidentified 00:06:53-00:06:58 (5 sec)

The whole thing. So, um, what's this going to -- how is this going to affect your business?

Donald Trump 00:06:58-00:07:02 (4 sec)

It's going to be many more -- I mean, you're going to be able to do much more business, I would think, right?

Unidentified 00:07:02-00:07:10 (8 sec)

Yes. We would think that this would definitely, uh, result in more efficient deliveries, and more efficient deliveries is more economic gains for -- for the territory.

Donald Trump 00:07:10-00:07:16 (5 sec)

Tell us what happens when you say China and other people steal your fish.

Unidentified 00:07:16-00:07:16 ( sec)

Well --

Donald Trump 00:07:16-00:07:21 (5 sec)

In other words, you're forced to go to areas that are very dangerous.

Unidentified 00:07:21-00:07:46 (25 sec)

Well, because of the monuments and overlays of sanctuaries, our fishermen mostly fish on the high seas. And if you look at Global Watch, you will see China, Japan, Korea, and Taiwan all fishing on our very edge of the 200-mile zone. So, our fishing -- we're in competition with them. And also, you know, their dumping of their fish on US markets lowers the price for our fishermen.

Unidentified 00:07:46-00:07:49 (3 sec)

And that's another difficult thing that we hope you'll take care of soon.

Donald Trump 00:07:49-00:07:51 (2 sec)

And what about the stealing of your fish?

Unidentified 00:07:51-00:08:00 (8 sec)

Well, you're competing with tuna in a very competitive market, right? So, they're camped right outside -- like Katie said, they're camped right outside our EEZ.

Donald Trump 00:08:00-00:08:02 (2 sec)

And what happens?

Unidentified 00:08:02-00:08:13 (12 sec)

And they're taking our fish because it's migratory. Tuna s migratory -- Because we can't fish in our zone, the fish goes to whoever. And they come in -- they come in in the dead of night. Yes, they do.

Note 00:08:13-00:08:13 ( sec)

[Crosstalk]

Unidentified 00:08:13-00:08:16 (3 sec)

That's a common, well-documented problem.

Donald Trump 00:08:16-00:08:28 (11 sec)

Does anybody -- I mean, it's so interesting. Even you have to find this one interesting. So, by doing this, we're going to give you back your lives. And you've been doing this for thousands of years in this area.

Unidentified 00:08:28-00:08:28 (1 sec)

Absolutely.

Donald Trump 00:08:28-00:08:34 (6 sec)

Along comes Biden and Obama and they -- they say you can't do it anymore, right? This is --

Unidentified 00:08:34-00:08:37 (3 sec)

[Inaudible] fish baby fish. That's right.

Donald Trump 00:08:37-00:08:47 (9 sec)

What's the level of popular -- and this is a risky question, but what's the level of popularity of Trump on Samoa versus the Democrats?

Unidentified 00:08:47-00:08:48 (2 sec)

77 percent.

Donald Trump 00:08:48-00:08:50 (1 sec)

For Trump?

Unidentified 00:08:50-00:08:58 (8 sec)

For Trump, yes. That's right. 77 percent. It'll go up to 90 tomorrow. Yes. It'll go up to 100. [Crosstalk]

Donald Trump 00:08:58-00:09:14 (17 sec)

Well, it's an honor. I'm not doing it for that. I'm doing it because it's just an honor. Here's one of the boats out there. Look, how beautiful that is. Now, they use it for beautiful crews that take seven days before they can do the first fish. Can you believe that? So, now you'll be able to do it like almost immediately, right?

Unidentified 00:09:14-00:09:20 (6 sec)

Yeah, much closer. Absolutely. So, if the fish is there, we can make more trips and employ more people.

Donald Trump 00:09:20-00:09:24 (5 sec)

Do you know through sonar radar everything, do you know where the fish are? I mean, can you see them?

Unidentified 00:09:24-00:09:31 (7 sec)

You get educated guesses. So, you can -- you get all kinds of different reports, plankton, and all kinds of stuff and they can --

Donald Trump 00:09:31-00:09:34 (3 sec)

It's a beautiful life. You wouldn't choose any other life, right?

Unidentified 00:09:34-00:09:37 (3 sec)

It's a very unique life. I love what I do. I really do.

Donald Trump 00:09:37-00:09:57 (20 sec)

I mean if you could have a life like some beautiful leisurely life in Washington, DC -- [Laughter] Mugged when you go to work. But other than that, you love politics. If you could live in the White House, you'd take exactly what --

Unidentified 00:09:57-00:10:00 (2 sec)

Might take it under consideration. [Laughter]

Donald Trump 00:10:00-00:10:16 (17 sec)

All right. Let's do this, right? It's an honor. You've seen that signature, and I don't use autopen, you know, like Biden. Biden uses autopen.

Unidentified 00:10:16-00:10:31 (14 sec)

[Untranslated] Thank you, Mr. President. Thank you. Thank you so much.

Donald Trump 00:10:31-00:10:38 (7 sec)

And what is the second one please?

Unidentified 00:10:38-00:11:00 (23 sec)

We have one more also relating to fisheries, sir. This is an executive order on seafood competitiveness. Currently we have two basic problems here. One is that the American seafood industry is dramatically overregulated. Our fisheries are dramatically overregulated. The other is that we have unfair trade practices from our foreign trading partners relating to the seafood industry.

Unidentified 00:11:00-00:11:12 (11 sec)

So, this executive order is going to attempt to address both of those. The Department of Commerce, other federal departments and agencies are going to work with the fisheries to establish common sense regulatory reforms.

Donald Trump 00:11:12-00:11:13 (1 sec)

How long will that take?

Unidentified 00:11:13-00:11:17 (4 sec)

I think we're expecting to -- to move as quickly as we can. Yes, sir.

Donald Trump 00:11:17-00:11:23 (6 sec)

You know what the regular -- I mean, you know exactly what we're talking about already, right? It's crazy, the regulation.

Unidentified 00:11:23-00:11:27 (4 sec)

It is. Secretary Rudnick is going to fast track that I can assure you.

Donald Trump 00:11:27-00:11:29 (2 sec)

Howard, please. Go ahead.

Unidentified 00:11:29-00:11:51 (22 sec)

Sure. So, you just heard us. The economic zone around Hawaii and Samoa is huge, and it's exclusively ours. So, why wouldn't we have our fishermen fish there? I mean, imagine saying our own fishermen -- every country in the world they all fish the 200 miles off their coast, and we were stopping our own fishermen from going off the coast.

Unidentified 00:11:51-00:12:17 (26 sec)

It's totally the opposite of common sense. That's why President Trump has changed it. Now let's talk about regulation. If you're not even going to let them fish, imagine the regulations that have been written to stop our fishermen from just surviving and thriving. We have the greatest coasts in the world with the greatest fishermen in the world, and we need to let them do their great jobs.

Unidentified 00:12:17-00:12:46 (29 sec)

Raise and catch your fish, bring them to our tables. Have America have the greatest fish in the world which we have, and then let them export all these other countries, right? They stop us from exporting. That's going to be over with your leadership and your trading policies. We're going to open all of these markets, and we're going to let our fishermen thrive and prosper, and we are going to have lower cost fish, more of it and the freshest fish in the world.

Unidentified 00:12:46-00:12:50 (4 sec)

And this is just common sense for the United States of America.

Donald Trump 00:12:50-00:12:56 (6 sec)

So, could I ask -- it's so interesting. So, you take these massive areas of water, and other countries are allowed to fish in them, right?

Unidentified 00:12:56-00:12:58 (2 sec)

No. They sneak in and poach.

Donald Trump 00:12:58-00:13:03 (5 sec)

So, they're not allowed, but they do it because they don't care.

Unidentified 00:13:03-00:13:17 (14 sec)

They fish in their own zone, sir, so we're systematically disadvantaging our fishermen by not allowing them to fish in parts of our exclusive economic zone while other countries have their own exclusive economic zones, and they're fishing the heck out of those.

Donald Trump 00:13:17-00:13:19 (1 sec)

So, they're totally benefiting.

Unidentified 00:13:19-00:13:35 (16 sec)

Now that you're allowing the US fishing fleet to fish, they also serve as observers, and when they see poachers, they report them to the authorities. And so, they are a big help to the US Coast Guard, and so it's great for our US food security.

Donald Trump 00:13:35-00:13:36 (1 sec)

That's great.

Unidentified 00:13:36-00:13:42 (6 sec)

We should have a trade surplus in fish, and we have a big trade deficit. It's crazy. It's just crazy.

Donald Trump 00:13:42-00:13:45 (3 sec)

OK.

Note 00:13:45-00:13:45 ( sec)

[Crosstalk]

Donald Trump 00:13:45-00:13:47 (1 sec)

This is an easy one.

Unidentified 00:13:47-00:13:48 (1 sec)

Very easy.

Donald Trump 00:13:48-00:13:53 (5 sec)

Hi, mom. This is an easy one. This is crazy, huh? [Laughter]

Unidentified 00:13:53-00:14:01 (8 sec)

Well, 80 percent of the seafood in the US is imported, so. Yeah. Can you imagine that? We import seafood, and we have the greatest coast for fishing in the world.

Donald Trump 00:14:01-00:14:22 (20 sec)

OK. So, in Maine, they do something similar. I think it's like 500 miles or something -- some crazy thing. And Canada goes, and they fish there. Other people fish there. Europe fishes there. The Maine lobster. You can't get Maine lobsters because Maine -- so Maine's forced to go for days out to some other area that's not as good.

Donald Trump 00:14:22-00:14:24 (2 sec)

Um, we have to free that up, too.

Unidentified 00:14:24-00:14:26 (3 sec)

We'll have that on your desk next week, I promise.

Donald Trump 00:14:26-00:14:28 (2 sec)

The Maine lobster, right?

Unidentified 00:14:28-00:14:29 (1 sec)

Yeah.

Donald Trump 00:14:29-00:14:29 (1 sec)

It's incredible.

Unidentified 00:14:29-00:14:30 (1 sec)

You did it --

Donald Trump 00:14:30-00:14:47 (17 sec)

Think of it. Canada fishes there, but we're not allowed to, Yeah, I did it last time in Maine, and they undid it. That's why we have to stay president for a long time. OK? Thank you, everybody. What an honor. It's a great honor. Thank you, sir.

Unidentified 00:14:47-00:14:49 (2 sec)

Thank you, Mr. President. Thank you, Mr. President.

Donald Trump 00:14:49-00:14:50 (1 sec)

Thank you very much.

Unidentified 00:14:50-00:14:53 (4 sec)

Thank you. Very much. Thank you very much. Thank you, Mr. President.

Donald Trump 00:14:53-00:14:54 ( sec)

It's a great job.

Unidentified 00:14:54-00:14:56 (2 sec)

Thank you so much.

Donald Trump 00:14:56-00:14:56 (1 sec)

Beautiful.

Unidentified 00:14:56-00:14:57 (1 sec)

Mr. --

Donald Trump 00:14:57-00:15:00 (3 sec)

Looks like a real athlete right here.

Note 00:15:00-00:15:00 ( sec)

[Crosstalk]

Question 00:15:00-00:15:16 (16 sec)

Mr. President, a short time ago, the Supreme Court agreed to hear oral arguments in the case about ending birthright citizenship. How confident are you that the court will rule in your favor and allow that order to end birthright citizenship to go forward?

Donald Trump 00:15:16-00:15:51 (35 sec)

Well, you're just telling me that for the first time. I am so happy. I think the case has been so misunderstood. That case, birthright citizenship, is about slavery. If you look at the details of it, the signings of it, everything else, that case is all about slavery. And if you view it from that standpoint, people understand it. But for some reason, lawyers don't talk about it. The news doesn't talk about it. That's not about tourists coming in and touching a piece of sand and all of a sudden, their citizenship -- you know, they're a citizen.

Donald Trump 00:15:51-00:16:17 (26 sec)

That is all about slavery. And even look at the dates on which it was signed. It was right at that era during right after the Civil War. And if you look at it that way, the case is an easy case to win. And I hope the lawyers talk about birthright citizenship and slavery because that's what it was all about, and it was a very positive.

Donald Trump 00:16:17-00:16:36 (20 sec)

It was meant to be positive, and they use it now instead -- not for slavery. They use it for people that come into our country, and they walk in and all of a sudden, they become citizens, and they pay a lot of money to different cartels and others. It's all about slavery, and if you look at it that way, we should win that case.

Donald Trump 00:16:36-00:16:38 (1 sec)

OK.

Note 00:16:38-00:16:38 ( sec)

[Crosstalk]

Question 00:16:38-00:16:50 (13 sec)

We have a great relationship with the president of El Salvador. Will you ask him to release Abrego Garcia so that you can facilitate his return here to the United States? And do you believe he deserves due process here?

Donald Trump 00:16:50-00:17:11 (21 sec)

Well, I must tell you, I have to refer again to the lawyers. I'll have to do what they ask me to do. I had heard that there were a lot of things about a certain gentleman -- perhaps it was that gentleman that would make that case be a case that's easily winnable on appeal. So, we'll just have to see. I'm going to have to respond to the lawyers.

Question 00:17:11-00:17:22 (11 sec)

Mr. President, we're learning that there are now two deceased following that shooting at Florida State University. Following and amid that, is there any changes that you want to see to gun legislation? Anything you see broken with gun laws --

Donald Trump 00:17:22-00:17:43 (21 sec)

Well, I'm going to have to -- look, I'm a big advocate of the Second Amendment. I have been from the beginning. I protected it. And these things are terrible. But the gun doesn't do the shooting, the people do. It's, you know, a phrase that's used probably too often. I will tell you that, uh, it's a shame.

Donald Trump 00:17:43-00:17:54 (11 sec)

I'm just hearing about it now. I just hear about it. I know the area very well. I know the school very well. I know everything about it. It's Florid. And we'll have more to say about it later on --

Question 00:17:54-00:17:57 (3 sec)

What do you [Inaudible] you say there will be more to say about it?

Donald Trump 00:17:57-00:18:12 (15 sec)

Only in terms of what happened. Uh, as far as legislation is concerned, this has been going on for a long time. I have an obligation to protect the Second Amendment. I ran on the Second Amendment among many other things, and I will always protect the Second Amendment.

Note 00:18:12-00:18:12 ( sec)

[Crosstalk]

Question 00:18:12-00:18:22 (10 sec)

[Inaudible] United Kingdom reports that you're going to go and stay with the king in September. Can you confirm that? What are you looking forward to?

Donald Trump 00:18:22-00:18:44 (23 sec)

Well, I was invited by the king and by the country. Great country to -- they're going to do a second, as you know, a second fest, and that's what it is. It's a fest, and it's beautiful. And it's the first time it's ever happened to one person. And the reason is that we have two separate terms, and it's an honor to be -- you know, I'm a friend of Charles.

Donald Trump 00:18:44-00:18:59 (14 sec)

I have great respect for King Charles and the family, William. We, uh, we have, uh -- it's really just a great respect for the family, and it's a very great honor that, uh -- and I think they're setting a date for September.

Question 00:18:59-00:19:03 (4 sec)

It's going to be a smaller visit initially and then a bigger state visit to follow after. Is that the plan?

Donald Trump 00:19:03-00:19:16 (13 sec)

Yeah, they say that it's going to be, uh -- I don't know how it can be bigger than the last one. The last one was, as you know, is incredible, but they say it's going to be even more important. So, that's a great honor to be so chosen.

Question 00:19:16-00:19:22 (6 sec)

President Trump, yesterday you spoke with Japan. Is the Nippon Steel deal part of the tariff negotiations? Did you discuss that with him?

Donald Trump 00:19:22-00:19:45 (23 sec)

It could be, but I doubt it. I mean, I think we're going to view it separately. We want US steel to remain in the hands of the United States and people from the United States. And a great respect for Japan but we don't want a foreign country buying US steel. US steel was one of our great companies of the world when you go back 80 years, and it was the biggest, strongest, most powerful company in the world.

Donald Trump 00:19:45-00:20:04 (19 sec)

And we're going to make it very strong and powerful again without Nippon. But if Nippon wants to come in -- and I hear they're working on it very hard. I have great respect for Nippon Steel. I know a lot about it. But we can -- they can invest, and they can do lots of things, partnerships. But we want to have US steel remain in this country.

Question 00:20:04-00:20:08 (4 sec)

So, is that a stipulation you would put on these tariff negotiations?

Donald Trump 00:20:08-00:20:24 (16 sec)

I guess. We could talk about it with regard to tariffs, Howard. I mean, it's something that could be a part of it. But tariff negotiations are actually simpler than that. I mean, we're going to set a number, and people are going to pay that number, or they're going to decide to go elsewhere. If there is such a place.

Donald Trump 00:20:24-00:20:26 (2 sec)

There really is no elsewhere I think.

Question 00:20:26-00:20:42 (17 sec)

Mr. President, in the first term, your attorney general apologized to Tea Party groups who have been targeted by the IRS under the Obama administration. Why is it OK for the IRS to now be looking at changing the tax status of Harvard because of policy disagreements you have with the university?

Donald Trump 00:20:42-00:21:11 (29 sec)

So, you know, I had dinner last night with a lot of pastors and ministers and people of faith, and they were like 32 of them. And it was beautiful in the blue room. And they said, sir, I was targeted by the IRS, and the FBI came in, sir, and I've been going through hell for years. And somebody overheard that statement, and they said, oh, that happened to me, too.

Donald Trump 00:21:11-00:21:33 (22 sec)

Another one overheard. Oh, that happened to me, too. It was the Biden people, and they had seven or eight of them. We re going to be reporting it very soon. I said this has to be reported. These are ministers, pastors, uh, evangelicals. They were targeted by the Biden administration, which was a disgraceful administration.

Donald Trump 00:21:33-00:21:55 (22 sec)

Well, I was targeted more than anybody in history. I think you probably know that. I hope you admit it, but you might not. But I was targeted more than anybody in history. But it was interesting because one pastor told me and another one, heard it, oh me, too, and me, too, me, too, me, too. All of a sudden, they're all -- and one of them spent all of his money, everything he had on lawyers for three years.

Donald Trump 00:21:55-00:22:28 (33 sec)

He said it took place almost immediately after the election, after the election when Biden came in, unfortunately for the country, sadly for the country. So, when you asked me that question, I immediately say let's switch it around to tell you what happened last night. And not only that. We're also finding that many people just having to do with Trump's support have gone through hell, and they've used the IRS for purposes of something that's very illegal for them to have to --

Question 00:22:28-00:22:29 (1 sec)

Were you trying to --

Donald Trump 00:22:29-00:22:39 (9 sec)

It's a very illegal -- it's a very, very illegal thing to do what they did. And I think it's so -- I think it's such a shame. That was long what?

Question 00:22:39-00:22:45 (6 sec)

If that was wrong, why are you considering changing the tax status at Harvard?

Donald Trump 00:22:45-00:23:13 (28 sec)

Because I think Harvard's a disgrace. I think what they did was a disgrace. They're obviously anti-Semitic, and all of a sudden, they're starting to behave. But when you see where they -- what they were saying, what they were doing, when you see the way they took care of events, when you -- when you watch that woman, that horrendous president that ruined the image of Harvard maybe permanently in Congress and the halls of Congress.

Donald Trump 00:23:13-00:23:37 (24 sec)

When you take a look at what happened there, it's, uh, it was horrific. And, you know, I've looked at a lot having to do with it. I'm not involved in it. Being handled by lawyers. I read about it just like you did. But tax-exempt status, I mean, it's a privilege. It's really a privilege, and it's been abused by a lot more than Harvard.

Donald Trump 00:23:37-00:23:59 (22 sec)

By a lot more than Harvard. So, we'll see how that all works out. I don't think they've made -- I don't think they've made a final ruling. I don't believe they've made a final ruling, but it's, uh, it's something that these schools really have to be very, very careful with, uh. Very anti-Semitic when you take a look, whether it's Columbia, Harvard, Princeton.

Donald Trump 00:23:59-00:24:09 (10 sec)

I don't know what's going on, but when you see how badly they've acted -- and in other ways also. So, we'll -- uh, we'll be looking at it very strongly.

Question 00:24:09-00:24:17 (8 sec)

[Inaudible] on the tax-exempt status subject, what are the other groups that you'd like to see that status removed from? Could we expect --

Donald Trump 00:24:17-00:24:36 (19 sec)

Well, we'll be -- we'll be making some statements, but it's a big deal. And, uh, they're so rich and so strong, and then they go so bad. They've earned so much by being a member of this country and a member of this group, this beautiful group of people in this country, and then they go, and they abuse their power like that.

Donald Trump 00:24:36-00:24:38 (2 sec)

I think it's -- you know, I think it's very sad.

Question 00:24:38-00:24:42 (4 sec)

Are we talking about immigrant rights groups, environmental rights groups --

Donald Trump 00:24:42-00:25:07 (26 sec)

Could be. Could be. I mean, look, environmentally -- I have a group named Crew. Crew. Did you ever hear of it? I think it's C-R-E-W. And they have a guy that heads Crew. It's supposed to be a charitable organization. The only charity they had is going after Donald Trump. So, we're looking at that. We're looking at a lot of things, but if you take a look at Crew, what they've done -- and I think it was a very big abuse, but we're going to be finding out pretty soon.

Question 00:25:07-00:25:16 (9 sec)

Can you explain the disconnect between your conversations with President Xi, when those potentially could happen, and why they haven't happened yet?

Donald Trump 00:25:16-00:25:18 (2 sec)

Well, you don't know whether or not they've happened.

Question 00:25:18-00:25:19 (1 sec)

That's a question.

Donald Trump 00:25:19-00:25:33 (14 sec)

Yeah, I mean, I've never said whether or not they've happened, but I have a very good relationship with President Xi. I think it's going to continue. And I would say they have reached out a number of times --

Question 00:25:33-00:25:34 (1 sec)

Xi or [Inaudible]?

Donald Trump 00:25:34-00:25:50 (16 sec)

Well, the way I view it very similar. It would be top levels of China. And if you knew him, you would know that if they reached out, he knew exactly -- he knew everything about it. He runs a very tight, very strong, very smart, and, you know, we're talking to China --

Note 00:25:50-00:25:50 ( sec)

[Crosstalk]

Question 00:25:50-00:25:52 (2 sec)

In days -- or recent weeks --

Donald Trump 00:25:52-00:25:53 (1 sec)

Excuse me?

Question 00:25:53-00:25:57 (5 sec)

They've reached out since the 145 percent tariffs?

Donald Trump 00:25:57-00:25:59 (2 sec)

Oh, yeah, sure.

Question 00:25:59-00:26:00 (1 sec)

Do you believe --

Donald Trump 00:26:00-00:26:03 (3 sec)

A lot. All the time we re talking.

Question 00:26:03-00:26:05 (2 sec)

Have you already talked directly to President Xi?

Donald Trump 00:26:05-00:26:08 (3 sec)

I don't want to say that. It's just not appropriate.

Question 00:26:08-00:26:15 (7 sec)

But you're speaking -- I'm sorry. Has he called you directly? President Xi. Or reached out to try to facilitate a conversation?

Donald Trump 00:26:15-00:26:35 (20 sec)

Well, you'd think it was pretty obvious that he has, but we will talk about that soon. It's not that important because, honestly, we're going to have a deal. I believe we're going to have a deal with China. And if we don't, we're going to have a deal anyway because we're going to set a certain target, and that's going to be it. Do you have anything to say about that, Howard?

Unidentified 00:26:35-00:26:57 (22 sec)

I think our tariff policy around the world has every country in the world coming in and talking to us. It is incredible. We had country after country in yesterday. We are confident that we will work out something with China, and the president knows what he wants to do, and I think he s -- he knows it better than anybody else in the world.

Unidentified 00:26:57-00:27:15 (18 sec)

And we are confident that this is going to work out well both for the United States of America. I'm sure he'll work it out with China. But the amount of other countries who are working with us is incredible. And I think it's really going to work for the American farmers, for our ranchers, for our fishermen, for our businesses.

Unidentified 00:27:15-00:27:39 (24 sec)

The scale of companies coming to America just every day -- like even this morning, we were talking about whirlpool, and then we were talking about car companies opening. The scale of factories coming to America is mind boggling, driven by Donald Trump's tariff policy, which has got the world coming and finally respecting the United States of America

Question 00:27:39-00:27:41 (2 sec)

President Trump, you said --

Donald Trump 00:27:41-00:27:55 (14 sec)

And by the way, there's never been anything like it. We have at least $7 trillion of new businesses coming in. If you go back and look at others, I mean, in years they wouldn't do anything like that, so. And this isn't a matter of weeks, it's been pretty amazing.

Question 00:27:55-00:27:59 (4 sec)

You said we're talking. So, China and the US are talking on tariffs.

Donald Trump 00:27:59-00:28:00 (1 sec)

Yeah. Oh, sure.

Question 00:28:00-00:28:09 (9 sec)

Do you believe them that they won't go higher than 125 percent? We've heard Chinese officials say that. And like what happens if they do go higher? Does -- do we retaliate more?

Donald Trump 00:28:09-00:28:26 (17 sec)

Well, at a certain point -- I don't want them to go higher because at a certain point you make it where people don't buy. So, I may not want to go higher, or I may not want to even go up to that level. I may want to go to less because, you know, you want people to buy. And at a certain point, people aren't going to buy.

Donald Trump 00:28:26-00:28:31 (5 sec)

And it's actually up -- it's actually up to 145 percent because you have the 20.

Question 00:28:31-00:28:39 (8 sec)

You previously said that you would consider reducing tariffs on China to get a TikTok deal done. Is that still on the table as of now?

Donald Trump 00:28:39-00:28:58 (19 sec)

Well, we have a deal for TikTok, but it will be subject to China. So, we'll just delay the deal until this thing works out one way or the other. And I think it's a good deal for China. The TikTok deal is very good. TikTok is good for China, and I think they'd like to see us do a deal, especially the deal that we have pretty much done with some of the best companies in the world.

Question 00:28:58-00:29:02 (4 sec)

If they agree to sign the deal, would you take that into consideration --

Donald Trump 00:29:02-00:29:10 (8 sec)

I think it would be something we discuss because it's a -- you know, it's a natural -- if we're making a deal, I guess we'll spend five minutes and talk about TikTok. It wouldn't take very long.

Question 00:29:10-00:29:18 (8 sec)

Can you give us a sense of how far along these negotiations are with China? Are they in the early stages, or are you inching closer now to actually making a deal on tariffs?

Donald Trump 00:29:18-00:29:38 (20 sec)

I think that we will make a deal with China. I think we've had some very good talks, but we will have some very good talks remaining. And, you know, I view it -- and some people say, oh, rush. I think we have a lot of time. I think we have plenty of time. But we have very, very good -- you saw Japan was here yesterday.

Donald Trump 00:29:38-00:29:59 (21 sec)

We had Italy today. We had a great conversation with the Prime Minister. We've had, uh, very good talks yesterday with Mexico. We're talking with everybody. You know, the problem is there's only so many hours in the day. Uh, I think we're going to make a deal with China. We're going to make a deal with everybody.

Donald Trump 00:29:59-00:30:06 (8 sec)

And if we don't make a deal, we'll just set a target, and we'll -- that -- we'll live with that, and it'll be fine.

Question 00:30:06-00:30:07 (1 sec)

How much time --

Donald Trump 00:30:07-00:30:24 (17 sec)

I would -- I would think over the next three or four weeks. I think maybe the whole thing could be concluded. You have to understand we're a big -- if you think of us as a big, beautiful department store before that business was destroyed by the internet. We're a big, beautiful store, and everybody wants a piece of that store.

Donald Trump 00:30:24-00:30:53 (30 sec)

China wants it. Japan wants it, Mexico, Canada. They live off it, those two. Without us they wouldn't have a country, and everybody wants a piece. And at a certain point, if we don't make a deal, we'll just set a limit. We'll set a tariff. We'll set some parameters, and we'll say come in and shop. They may not like that, and they may find it -- or the market may find it too high.

Donald Trump 00:30:53-00:31:13 (20 sec)

You know, more likely the market, but the market may find it too high, or the country may find it too high. Then they'll come back and say, well, we think this is too high, and we'll negotiate or they're going to say something else. They're going to say, well, let's see what happens. But they always have a right not to do it. So, they can say, well, we don't want it, so we're not going to shop there.

Donald Trump 00:31:13-00:31:36 (22 sec)

We're not going to shop in the store of America. We have something that nobody else has, and that's the American consumer. And I had the most successful -- I had the most successful four-year period in the history of this country. And I think we're going to blow it away this time. There is a little bit of a transition.

Donald Trump 00:31:36-00:31:55 (19 sec)

And we're going to have that little transition, and it's not much of a transition. You know, if you look right now, we're getting 25 percent on cars, right? We're getting 25 percent on steel. We're getting 25 percent on aluminum. We're going to have some other things that we're going to be adding in the not-too-distant future because we want them to be made here.

Donald Trump 00:31:55-00:32:18 (23 sec)

The medicines, the drugs, pharmaceuticals are going to be done and, uh, computer, computer chips, et cetera, et cetera. And because of that, we have the biggest computer companies in the world coming in from Taiwan and other places. And they're building in Arizona and lots of other places. We're number one in AI by far.

Donald Trump 00:32:18-00:32:34 (16 sec)

We're leading China by a lot, by tremendous amounts. We're going to supply electricity at levels never supplied before. They're going to build their own electric. We're going to let them become a utility essentially. And it's going to be amazing for the country. They're going to build their own electric plants.

Donald Trump 00:32:34-00:32:54 (20 sec)

We have to double up our electricity to be -- to remain number one in AI, we're going to have to double up our electricity from -- take our whole country. We're going to have to double up our electricity. Think of that. And probably even triple it up. And we're going to let them build their own electric plants with their plant that they're building for the AI or whatever they're doing.

Donald Trump 00:32:54-00:33:06 (12 sec)

Never been done before. We're going to get them quick approvals. It's going to be very clean, going to be very nice, and we're going to get them very fast approvals. And people are investing in this country like they've never invested before. Thank you very much, everybody.

Note 00:33:06-00:33:06 ( sec)

[Crosstalk]

Aide 00:33:06-00:33:13 (7 sec)

Thank you, press. Thank you. We're headed out. Thank you, guys.