[Inaudible] -- where things stand.
Yeah. Obviously the, uh, president, truth, uh, something that reveals his frustration with the actions and, uh, postures of the Canadians through months of negotiations, and, uh, we'll, we'll see how it goes.
Is the President [Inaudible]
On the House on the shutdown, there are hundreds of thousands of federal workers who are missing their first full paycheck today. Next week it's going to be troops missing a paycheck. What's the White House doing about this?
Yeah. Well, first of all, uh, yeah, we, 100% want the government open. Uh, we agree with Speaker Johnson who's passed the bill to get the government open. We, uh, are really feel for the 750,000 or so people who aren't getting their paychecks. Uh, we would urge people to call their supervisors because there are, uh, things that are available like credit union loans at zero interest for people that are in this situation.
But the situation is really, uh, not acceptable to us. And it's because Schumer has decided to shut the government down. And I remind everybody that in the previous administration when President Biden was here, that 13 times Republican Senators voted to keep the government open, because they understood that that's their constitutional duty to be a moderating force in this country.
The fact is that the Democrats in the Senate are no longer a moderating force in this country. They, they're not adhering to their constitutional duty to be a moderating force. And the people that are furloughed and not being paid right now, that, that we understand them, we're not getting paid, too. And, and the thing is that we really urge, uh, the folks who are in that situation to talk to their supervisors because the supervisors have methods to help them with their financial difficulties right now.
Mr. Hassett [Inaudible]
Uh, uh, let, let's, let's do a just go this way, that way. And that w- -- that way everybody doesn't have to go see.
Sir, [Inaudible]
I don't wanna do a follow-up. Just, just so many pe- -- So yeah.
Yeah. So on SNAP contingency funding, have there been discussions within the White House to use the contingency funds with SNAP should the shutdown go beyond November?
Uh, uh, look, no- -- nobody wants, uh, people not to have the food that they need. And we urge the Democrats to get the government open. And Russ Vought is doing everything he can to make sure that the most essential policies are still able to be funded with the, with the money that we have.
Including the contingency funding?
What are you expecting from the, uh, Trump-Xi meeting next week in South Korea?
Oh, I, I think we're -- President Trump and President Xi are great friends and, uh, Scott Bessent, uh, is really one of the best negotiators there ever was. It's, you know, how he, uh, became such a successful businessman. And so we're still hopeful that we can get this thing to work out. We were frustrated with some of the Chinese actions.
Uh, we think that they were unacceptable the, the last few weeks, but there ha- -- has been a sort of a thawing of relations over the last few days, and conversations are continuing.
Mr. Hassett [Inaudible]
And I'm just gonna keep going this way. I promise I'll go to everybody.
Any update on the TikTok deal?
I don't have an update on that.
Just on that, uh, Xi meeting, what does success look like? Like what is the deliverable that President Trump wants when he leaves South Korea?
Uh, President Trump doesn't like to go into negotiations, telling the media what his five objectives are. He finds that counterproductive.
Mr. Hassett [Inaudible]
I already had --
Mr. Hassett, Mr. Hassett, on Canada, you said the President was frustrated, but is this just a knee-jerk reaction?
I think the frustration has built up over time. I've been involved in some of these negotiations and the Canadians have been very difficult to negotiate with. And you look at all the countries around the world that we've made deals with, uh, and the fact that we're now negotiating with Mexico, uh, separately, uh, reveals that it's not just about one, one, uh, ad that, that there's frustration that's built up.
And is he planning to speak with the Prime Minister Carney when they're both in Asia this week? Because this ad had nothing to do with Carney's government?
I, yeah, I don't have any information on that. Um --
Mr. Hassett, how concerned is the administration that the Supreme Court will not ultimately side with your view on the tariff policy? The President has been truthing a lot about the upcoming case.
I think that we have a very high level of confidence that the Supreme Court will side with us. We think we're on very strong grounds. Uh, I've been fishing through the briefs myself just to see, uh, what the arguments are. And I think that the case is very, very strong and we're highly confident that Bill, Bill will side with us. I even spoke to the Oval with the President about it last night, and I'd say the level of confidence is extremely high.
Mr. Hassett, just very quickly, what has been so challenging about dealing with Canada and trade negotiations?
Um, I guess the lack of flexibility and, uh, you know, also I, I would guess that left, leftover, uh, behaviors from like the Trudeau folks, uh, that can be very frustrating for people who are negotiating.
Sir, two questions, if I may. I know you're going around here quickly.
Yeah.
For just simply your assessment of the latest inflation numbers, CPI numbers 3%.
The inflation numbers were fantastic. Uh, 48 Bloomberg and cannabis got it wrong. Uh, it was, the core was down relative to August and down relative to expectation. And, uh, the top line number actually was inflated because there was a shutdown of a refinery in Indiana that made gas prices go up a lot in September, but we've seen those have already come down.
So we're highly confident that the next number will even be below this. And that's really, uh, it's important to think about the theory of why this happens. It's not just about the numbers, right? So, so what happened was we got the worst inflation spike that we've had in our lifetimes because President Biden and his team had runaway spending, runaway deficit spending.
Uh, I'm here to tell you that we just ran the numbers getting the monthly treasury statement and the deficit this year is gonna be about $600 billion lower than it was last year. And that $600 billion decline is about equal- -- 200 billion of it is lower, uh, discretionary spending. And so because of that, there's less inflationary force pushing prices up. And so normal macroeconomics got it right when we said, uh, that Biden was gonna cause inflation and we're using it now to get it back under control.
Mr. Hassett, sorry [Inaudible]
And then on this ad, on this, on this ad that, that President Trump was referring to up in Canada and Ronald Reagan, have you seen the ads, sir, yourself?
I'm not gonna talk about that.
Mr. Hassett, sorry, it was hard to hear --
Is there an update with regard to, um, potentially placing tariffs on Columbia is something that the President --
I don't have an update for that. Sorry.
Mr. Hassett, uh, sorry. Forgive me if you already addressed this, it was hard to hear you, but --
Yeah.
-- was there something specific that changed in negotiations with Canada that elicit the -- Or why the President --
I, I'm not directly engaged in the negotiations, so you should talk to the Chief Superior, especially he will be the one who update you on that.
And then on the SNAP, if I could, I'll follow on the SNAP payments, are you expecting the administration to release any kind of funding for --
I, I think Ru- -- Russ Vought will get back to you on that matter. Okay.
Are you optimistic that you'll be able to get a trade deal with China before November 1st?
Um, we'll, we'll see how it goes, but we've got the top negotiators out, our the Scott Bessent and President Trump on the case.
What happens if [Inaudible]
So I got, I got [Inaudible] Okay.
Mr. Hassett, can you quickly clarify is the White House looking to pay the military during the shutdown?