“We do not believe any group of men adequate enough or wise enough to operate without scrutiny or without criticism. We know that the only way to avoid error is to detect it, that the only way to detect it is to be free to inquire. We know that in secrecy error undetected will flourish and subvert.” –J. Robert Oppenheimer
If we were looking for some inkling of capitulation from the globalists, we found it…….. at long last, and the impact will be bigger than we can understand in the snapshot of a 24hr news cycle. Next month, the debacle of Shampeachment will be a distant memory, but this…… what happened today in Davos……… this will last for decades…. and it’s glorious.
Imagine being a 7yr old kid, anxiously awaiting your birthday. All year long, you go to other kids’ parties, your mom buys great presents….. things you secretly wanted…… which you give away to other kids. The seasons fade, summer ends, and the weather turns cooler in time to head back to school. Months tick by….. and YOUR birthday finally comes up on the calendar. You divulge your deepest desires to your parents in coded hints. The anticipation builds and you scour the house, like a secret spy, to search for a brightly wrapped present. Endlessly you pester mom, then dad, finally siblings, for clues as to what you might be getting. By birthday week, as friends are expected at your party, you can barely contain the excitement.
Finally, your big day comes……. and it’s more than you ever imagined. As the scene unfolds, it’s a 10′ tall birthday cake, a new bicycle to ride – one for every day of the week, HUNDREDS of buddies at your party – people you don’t even know (but they’re your friends), the whole school is there, an entire circus, a train, and planes to ride, even your beloved deceased Grandma is at your party..…. somehow…. and she brings a big stash of your favorite candy…… enough to last for years. Everyone loves you and it’s the best day of your life.……. all in slow motion….. recorded…… so you can replay the moment again and again.
THAT is what President Trump and the Trump Team gave us today.
Let’s all understand, at the Davos 2020 conference, the final presser from the President of the USA is probably the biggest event of the week. Here, President Trump took the stage for a few minutes and then….. surprisingly…… introduced the Director General of the WTO, Roberto Azevedo. whom Trump refers to as “Roberto”. Did any of you know this guy before today?
Normally, it would be highly unusual for the President of the USA to share a stage with ANYONE at such a momentous occasion, but here, only 6 minutes into his presser, President Trump called “Roberto” to the podium. And we saw capitulation like we’ve never seen before…….
The WTO is on the chopping block and Team Trump will largely write the new rules. Wait…….. whut??? Otherwise, as Trump implied, he will dismantle the WTO. I stopped dead in my tracks with a half eaten banana. I actually felt the news move through me as a physical force. Today…. was my big birthday party, bigger than I ever imagined……. and it was America’s birthday party as well.
Never in a million years did we imagine President Trump would be able to accomplish this much in such a short period of time. He’s giving us our entire wish list. It’s the best Christmas and birthday rolled together. It’s a new bicycle for every day of the week, the big cake, the elephants to ride, and airplanes to fly. It’s the rebirth of the United States.It’s prosperity for our kids. It’s the gift of a level playing field for all of America’s workers. It’s the promise of fairness. No more screwing over America. It’s vindication and acknowledgement of the decades of pain felt by regular Americans. It’s the endless stash of birthday candy which will last long enough for my grandchildren.
It really is……… THAT BIG.
The reporters, pundits, most Congressmen, and even young trade reps, will never be able to understand the impact of what happened today. To be fair, it’s not their fault, they only receive a paycheck and are not responsible for the whole company with this kind of DUNS category#, or this section of the Blue Book. You can’t understand the pain unless you feel it, and work in it. Most employees and companies don’t produce anything tangible. They simply have no life experience in this arena.
ONLY a business person, one who has bought supplies originally in the USA, and now forced to buy overseas for decades, could see the problem firsthand. ONLY someone old enough to see how we used to do business, and then compare it to how we have to do business now, would have the correct perspective…. the vision to see the glaring errors. ONLY a man who has been frustrated by local suppliers going out of business, and witnessed the agony, been to the foreclosure sales of friends – caused by unfair foreign competition, and annoyed at the policies of DC, would understand how America lost our wealth. AND ONLY an exceptional man would have the ability and courage to fix the problem.
THAT man is Donald Trump, and he is surrounded by other men, like Wilbur Ross, with similar experience.
As a partner in a brokerage firm during the 80’s, I traded FOREX, okay fine, BUT back then I didn’t understand how much bad trade harmed our whole economy – and hurt our people. Later in life, when I was forced to trade internationally for building products, my life, my customer’s lives, were filled with frustration and endless angst. We KNEW what was wrong with American Trade Policy and we were tired of being defeated at every turn. We were all business owners, responsible for our employees and their families. We were active politically and called our Senators, Governors, and demanded that the ROBBERY of America STOP. Yet, like the 7yr old kid awaiting a birthday, our moms (the government) were always buying presents for some other kid (China/Brazil/India/Turkey). Our day, America’s day, to celebrate never came. As the years turned into decades, at OUR annual conferences, we pounded bourbon and railed at the idiocy of our leaders…. our friends in peril, and opportunities lost.
Ahhhh, but we were babies in the international trading arena. Citizen Trump built big things, and one can imagine his frustration and indignation loomed larger. Trump’s resolution and payback has been a long time in coming. For him, it is personal. It’s the big nut for America. Solving the problem of trade inequity gives America the money to solve the other problems we have…. the bridges, schools, even humanitarian issues beloved and deficit funded by the left.
You think the problem started with President Trump? That President Trump is the source of the controversy? That he is mean, a bully, racist, or dumb, for trying to solve the problem? Ohhh, hell no.
Look here, at Citizen Trump, November 21, 1991, providing testimony to the House Budget Committee about the problems with passive losses in the Tax Act of 1986 which, once implemented, cost the the country about 500 billion dollars, the loss of 700K construction jobs, and the recession of ’91&’92. HERE, beginning at 39:30, Republican Congresswoman, Helen Delich Bentley, talks about Free Trade versus FAIR TRADE, and the problems of shipping jobs overseas.
You think “Free Trade versus Fair Trade” is a new slogan? No. Were you surprised? Republicans and Democrats were arguing about the concept, concerned about American manufacturing, using the same slogans, 30years ago.
Trump knew. All our leaders knew. The wipe out of America was never addressed. It was intentional negligence.
When the WTO allowed China to enter with “developing nation” status, it meant Chinese imports into the USA were allowed at the lowest tariff rate of any other country’s products entering the USA in the same category class. In other words, China was granted the best deal on customs duties, access to our markets, with no protections for OUR industries, and targeted subsidies by the CCP to wipe out our companies. Today, we’re are familiar with how the Chinese targeted our farmers during negotiations. Well, imagine a situation whereby American farmers were targeted for 30yrs, and the CCP supplied Chinese farmers with seed, fertilizer, and tractors to help them compete…….. oh, and Chinese farmers don’t have to pay back their loans. THAT is what China does.
Industry by industry, the Chinese stole (or were given) our technology starting with basic housewares and easily manufactured items, graduating to autos, airliners, and precision medical devices or construction equipment. The great glassware manufacturers of upstate NY, Ohio, and Indiana were sold out, first. Then came the rest of our manufacturing base, the furniture companies in the Carolinas, the textile mills (from 8000 to about 50 remaining in the USA), auto parts, blue jeans and underwear….. steel, cabinetry, drywall, nails, lighting, plumbing fixtures, …….. almost all gone.
Kohler still has a corporate office in the USA, beautiful hotel attached, gorgeous facility, and sponsors a well known golf tournament. Are they in the Fortune 100? Probably. You probably think Kohler is a great American company……. Yet, I have Kohler fixture prototypes in my master shower – because they walked out the back door of their factory in Xiamen. One of my guys in Xiamen had a nephew who worked at the factory, and thought Miss Daughn might like a nice little present in her container. Surprised? I sure as heck was. So much for copyright protections in China…. I mean…. the prototypes were walking out the BACK DOOR.
Were we not paying attention in 2001? The approval for China to join the WTO came on November 11, 2001 (formally approved a month later), but only came after FIFTEEN YEARS of negotiations. The meeting, in Doha Qatar, was guarded by helos, 2 ships, and 2100 American Marines – only 2 months after the Trade Towers came down. America was in disarray at that time. This deal began in later stages of Reagan, proceeded under Daddy Bush, was pretty much “inked” under the Clinton Admin. Did we know what we were signing? https://www.cnn.com/2001/WORLD/asiapcf/central/11/10/china.WTO/index.html
In the CNN article above, a few leaders were worried about China’s ability to keep their promises, but Chinese officials dismissed those concerns.
To Team Trump’s credit, Wilbur Ross, our Wilburine, who has been to China 86 times BEFORE he became our Commerce Sec, immediately began investigations and leveled charges against the Chinese at the WTO. Pretty soon, judgments started rolling in. We didn’t hear much about them in the press but the Trump Admin was determined and extraordinarily aggressive. Wilbur also pursued charges against France (Airbus) and other countries. The cases at WTO often take years to resolve, and sometimes those victims bringing charges are out of business or hobbled when the time comes for their birthday party (like the great settlement for Delta Faucets which DOUBLED the tariff on Chinese manufactured stainless sinks – the CCP, via subsidies, was intentionally trying to wipe out remaining American manufacturers of kitchen sinks!!!!).
The biggest problem with the WTO is no teeth to enforce a judgement. China often simply ignored a ruling against them. Yet………… Methinks Wilbur and his team have worn out the WTO. I’m just guessing……. (and I just make muffins).
Keep in mind, other countries have already addressed the Chinese problem to protect their own workers. Brazil has a 35% tariff against all foreign manufactured goods. About 17% supports their version of Social Security, and the other 18% supports local municipalities (police/fire/admin). Turkey charges an 18% tariff on Chinese goods but they implemented it when China began to play games with currency manipulation. Heck, even IRAN has a 40% tariff on Chinese imports AND a 40% tariff when China buys raw materials from Iran (the Chinese are known to raid mining operations in Iran because Iran is so rich in natural resources).
So why were the Americans and Europeans so stupid? More importantly, WHO benefited from American and European stupid trade policies?
American companies (and Europe was in on it too), multinationals, helped the Chinese develop manufacturing to take advantage of low wages, and no OSHA requirements. Forget about extra expenses for eye goggles, hardhats, and steel toed boots in China – flip flops are okay. And forget about Workman’s Comp for an accident, or suing the company. It’s easy to pollute in China. I’ve often told the story of the white marble factory we bought from, who had to move, because the blue jeans factory upriver was dumping blue dye into water and all the WHITE marble was suddenly BLUE. So, the water in Flint Michigan was important but I bet those same leftists bought those blue jeans……….. YES, those same executives, who are often the most radical politically, LOVE to pollute and exploit low wages abroad, in factories with dangerous working conditions.
But judgement day has come to the WTO and the American globalists on Wall Street and in London/Brussels/Berlin. It’s a safe bet……. as happy as I am today, the US Chamber of Commerce, the lobbying arm which was most responsible for shipping our jobs overseas, was probably in panic mode. Yeah, Tom Donahue was throwing up today………… for me, I’m feelin’ pretty good about it.
In order to share with you guys, I finally found the transcript from the Davos presser this morning when I checked back in this afternoon. Read the words yourself and watch the video above from Trump’ presser. It’s capitulation and it feels so good. It is the biggest birthday gift – ever. The big “get” from Davos this year was ……. THE CHANGE at the WTO.
And everything changes from this moment forward. Here is what Director General Roberto Azevedo, whom Trump refers to as “Roberto”, said in front of the entire international press corps. Emphasis is mine.
DIRECTOR-GENERAL AZEVÊDO: Well, thank you, Mr. President. And I think it’s fair to say that we have been saying, for quite some time, that if the multilateral system, if the WTO is to deliver and perform its role in today’s global economy, it has to be updated. It has to be changed. It has to be reformed.
This is an agenda that is squarely before members. I don’t think anybody in Geneva misses the point. I think they understand that the — the system has not been functioning properly in many areas. That’s something that we’re trying to address.
I’m very happy that, in the conversation today with President Trump, he agreed that this is something that needs to happen; the WTO has to change. We are committed to effect those changes. And this is something that we’re serious about.
And I am going to be, together with President Trump, as soon as possible, discussing what needs to change, what needs to be effected in the WTO, and we’re committed to doing that.
And, of course, I will be talking to all of the other WTO members, making sure that they all understand that this is serious. This is a path that we all have to be on together if we want to make the WTO relevant and performing to today’s requirements, frankly.
So thank you very much, Mr. President. It’s an honor to be with you and with everybody else. Thank you.
Yeah, the WTO execs will be in DC this week or next.
No kidding?
Does that sound odd to anyone here? Urgency? When did “urgency” happen? Sounds like President Trump and his team lit a fire underneath the seats of some cushy bureaucrats. Have you ever seen bureaucrats with a desire for urgency?
Sure, I know, some of the Eeyores will come along and ruin my birthday party with dire warnings of stealth operations by the US Chamber to water-down WTO changes. I’m not sure they matter so much anymore. Those boys have lost their luster….. as if men wearing “wife beater” white t-shirts to the grocery store was ever attractive. We should not have been so enamored with the globalists 40yrs ago. Bottom line, China has become a dangerous place to do business, American sentiment has turned, and tax policy in the USA is MUCH better AND safer. Companies will do what is in their best interest, of course. Yet the case for manufacturing in the USA has never been stronger.
And we’re gonna get a new and improved WTO. Happy Birthday!
Just don’t tell the press until we’re finished writing the rules.
Take a look at the picture in the header. See all the distance between President Trump on the left and the guy who introduced him on the right? THAT’s how far apart America is from the globalist economic model……. and it’s a good thing.
We are winning.THEY are losing.We are full of optimism for our future.They are forecasting doom and the end of civilization.We have record-shattering and historic results in our economy.They are in the doldrums.
It reminds me of living with an alcoholic. At some point, we just don’t want to be around them anymore. President Trump has plucked their feathers and left the chicken naked, perfectly set up for an EU Trade Deal. Our guy is brutal, “but takes the lumps out”……. like his dad taught him. Are the globalists, particularly in the EU, close to capitulation?
Here he is, our President, “As long as they’re fair, we’re not going to have a problem.”, but he has those tariffs in his back pocket, the tariffs which he imposed, and HE wields like a club. I mean, he makes it look so easy and we KNOW it is not. How did we get so lucky to get this guy as our President? He’s taking us all to school.
Asked if he plans to impose tariffs on European automobiles, Pres Trump says he expects to come to a deal with Europe. If not, then he says he'll give tariffs "very strong consideration. "If they’re fair, we’re not going to have a problem.” pic.twitter.com/EmTV7EP81D
You’ve probably already heard by now, the entire focus of Davos 2020 is “The Voice of Youth”, Climate Change, and income inequality. It’s a socialists wonderland. Yet, our President likened the Eco-Communists a Davos to the Fortune Tellers of old, foreshadowing doomsday, wearing the mask, intentionally hiding their desires to assume power and control our future. Spot on, Mr. President, as usual. “They are the heirs of yesterday’s foolish fortune tellers…they predicted an overpopulation crisis in the 1960s, mass starvation in the 70s and the end of oil in the 1990s.”, President Trump at Davos, 2020.
Wonder who he was talking about?
Can you imagine Donald Trump as your dad, and you trying to hide something from him? Put one over on him? Or trying to sneak into the house past curfew? No way…. no teenager could ever get past a dad like Trump, but I digress. Don’t you wonder how he has the patience to sit through the dribble and be gentile?
Enough of the fear and dread. Gheez, they are toxic. Have you heard the good news?
We have our own QTreeper IN DAVOS!!!!!!!!!! Yes, MA_KSwiss is there! We really are the news! Check out yesterday’s thread for KSwiss’ journey to Davos and her experience there. Great stuff. We’re lucky to span the globe!
In case you were wondering, our President has MAJOR star power. Look at all the billionaires and international press straining to get close to him. LOOK at the top of the photo, two deep on the mezzanine, hanging over the edges to catch a glimpse of the guy from Queens, a man named Trump.
Only a few more people than the normal chopper presser at the White House Driveway.
Note to all: Our dearest FLEP is posting all the bi-lats the President had yesterday, along with the President’s comments at dinner. Thank you, FLEP. Our Davos coverage is exxxpanding. Hehe….. Pretty soon we’re going to need our own studio and a satellite feed!
Here is the full speech President Trump gave yesterday. Charles Payne on Fox Biz was so excited by his speech, I thought we were going to have to pry Charles off the studio ceiling. Charles is a BIG man, bit there was SO MUCH spring in his step yesterday, he was walking like a pixie.
Here is the President’s schedule for tomorrow. Did he sleep at all?
President’s schedule tomorrow according to Mark Knoller of CBS: Wednesday in Davos:
-bilat with Pres Barzani of the Kurdistan Regional Govt
-bilat with Iraqi Pres Salilh
(Note: The Fox Biz interview is in here somewhere)
-departs Davos for DC. Due back 5:10pm.
Pretty quick trip, eh? We have a betting pool going at our house. I think the President will come home with at least 200 Billion in deals. Big T says 100 billion. We know Governor Abbot of Texas has already landed a big fish, but he’s not sharing details. Not a bad “net” for a day and a half of work.
We had MANY comments yesterday which were “stop and make you think”, deep strategy on geopolitics, or great links and back up. I wanted to share a few in case you missed some. Thank you to all who contributed. It’s easy for me to throw up a thread (while I’m making blueberry muffins), but the contributions of QTreepers are why we keep coming back.
On Climate Change: Are you tired of condescending third world leaders lecturing the civilized world about Climate Change, while they have their hands out? The hypocrisy makes our skin crawl. Plumnelly1 made a post yesterday which bares repeating here. It’s a perfect response and timely piece to emphasize President Trump’s main theme in his speech ~ The Fortune Tellerswho use fear to control our lives:
Roy at Breitbart has got it figured out… call me Roy • 5 hours ago The Arctic Ocean is warming up, icebergs are growing scarcer and in some places the seals are finding the water too hot, according to a report to the Commerce Department yesterday from Consulate at Bergen Norway. Reports from fishermen, seal hunters and explorers all point to a radical change in climate conditions and hitherto unheard-of temperatures in the Arctic zone. Exploration expeditions report that scarcely any ice has been met as far north as 81 degrees 29 minutes. Soundings to a depth of 3,100 meters showed the Gulf Stream still very warm. Great masses of ice have been replaced by moraines of earth and stones, the report continued, while at many points well known glaciers have entirely disappeared. Very few seals and no white fish are found in the eastern Arctic, while vast shoals of herring and smelt which have never before ventured so far north, are being encountered in the old seal fishing grounds. Within a few years it is predicted that due to the ice melt the sea will rise and make most coastal cities uninhabitable. * * * * * * * * * I must apologize. I neglected to mention that this report was from November 2, 1922, as reported by the AP and published in The Washington Post – 96 years ago. This must have been caused by the Model T Ford’s emissions or possibly from horse and cattle flatulence? Even the left wing SNOPES say’s this is true !!
Eisenhower deep dive and the Q Post:Wolfie’s long comment and several others who chimed in on the latest Q post and Eisenhower’s warning and response to the Military Industrial Complex, is a great series and worth a look. Doesn’t matter how you may feel about Q, this series was informative general history and a lively discussion.
Geopolitics going forward, what is Team Trump planning?: The surprise at the end of yesterday’s thread which made me stop on a dime…….. came from BlackKnightRides. Gosh, we did miss him, didn’t we? He sees President Trump laying out the agenda for 2021. Take a look. My spidey-senses are all tingly.
The POTUS PATTERN for Davos:
• UK wants to cut a really great post-BREXIT Trade Deal … as a SEA-LANE CONDUIT to end-run Tariffs on the EU. … for PRODUCTS that POTUS allows to do so. … BOOSTING the impact of upcoming Tariffs to force an EU Deal … ENRICHING them for FIRST-to-EXIT the EU with BREXIT.
• Swiss now want to cut a really great post-BREXIT Trade Deal … as an AIR-FREIGHT CONDUIT to end-run Tariffs on the EU. … for PRODUCTS that POTUS allows to do so. … BOOSTING the impact of upcoming Tariffs to force an EU Deal … MAXING the pressure for others to EXIT the EU for Reciprocal Trade Deals of their own.
• Pakistan now positioning for a USAPak Trade Deal … as a competing prod for dithering India to EARN their own Deal … with opportunities to DISPLACE imports from China as they miss purchase hurdles … and SAND in the COGS of China’s Belt & Road initiative.
The geopolitical ramifications of a Pakistan Deal could be STUNNING: • Assigning Pakistan to create the Afghan Solution • Working a rapprochement between Pakistan and India over Kashmir • Goosing India to sign a Reciprocal Trade Deal of their own • Thwarting China while we’re at it.
BKR, January 21, 2020.
And no sooner than Black Knight Rides laid it all out, but Phoenix Rising posted the following…… made the hair stand up on the back of my neck……Looky here.
"I would say we've never been closer than we are right now," says Pres Trump of US-Pakistan relations, at start of meeting with PM Imran Khan. Says they'll be discussing trade, but also border issues, Kashmir, and India. Khan says only US can help resolve disputes with India. pic.twitter.com/4vqhBw42qs
Added to the mix was the realization yesterday of how Team Trump uses the economy as a weapon, both offensively……….. and defensively to begin alleviating major threats for a “Black Swan Event” like a nuclear weapon from DPRK in Japan or a crisis in the Middle East. We’ve never seen another administration use our economy so effectively. PLUS, the realization that Google, Twitter, Facebook, are compromised when it comes to threatening our President for the election of 2020. American Big tech needs Daddy Trump to protect them from taxes and scalping by the EU. Germany/France are desperate to find funds to make up for the loss of UK after Brexit, and of course, American Big Tech as a big fat pocket to fleece. Big Tech HAS to play nicely and they know no Dem candidate could defend them as well as President Trump. See what I mean?
We think we’re connecting dots from the ether, we catch a glimpse of what might be happening on a bigger stage, for the benefit of us all, and just when we think we’re feeling pretty smart and proud of ourselves ……….. this happened. Macron tweeted to Trump and Trump responded……… and we realize President Trump is already 10 steps ahead of us.
Q Treepers certainly gave us quite a bit to think about yesterday. Wonder what will happen today? I’m still learning to ski, KSwiss said there would be hot chocolate!
Transcript from the President Trump Presser in Davos:
The White House Office of the Press Secretary FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE January 22, 2020
** REMARKS BY PRESIDENT TRUMP IN PRESS CONFERENCE
Davos Congress Centre Davos, Switzerland
————————————————————
** 12:33 P.M. CET
THE PRESIDENT: Thank you very much. Please come on up, Roberto and Larry. Robert, Steve, come on up.
Good afternoon. We’ve had a tremendous two days here. We’ll be heading back right after this conference, and I’ve just concluded some additional meetings. We’ve had a lot of them. I think Davos has treated us really beautifully. It’s been a tremendous success. Everyone is talking about America’s unprecedented economic success. It’s really the talk of the town, so to speak.
Since my election, America has gained over 7 million new jobs. The unemployment rate is now the lowest in over half a century. The average unemployment rate for my administration is the lowest of any U.S. President in recorded history, which is very nice; we have some good ones. We have some bad ones too, by the way.
Unemployment rates among African American, Hispanic American, Asian Americans has reached a record low in the history of our country — the lowest. African American youth unemployment has reached the lowest in the history of our country. So proud of that. African American poverty numbers have plummeted to their lowest rate ever recorded. Doing really well.
Unemployment rate for women has reached the lowest level in almost 70 years. And the veterans unemployment rate dropped to a record low. Unemployment rate for disabled Americans has reached its all-time record low also. These are incredible numbers, Rob.
Workers without a high school diploma have received the — and achieved the lowest unemployment rate ever in recorded history. And that’s so important. Without a high school diploma — we have a lot of great people that don’t have a high school diploma. So we have record-low unemployment.
A record number of young Americans are now employed. We have the highest number of people working in our country that we’ve ever had before. We’ve never had anything even close. We’re almost up to 160 million.
And we’ve lifted 10 million people off of welfare. And you know all about food stamps; we talk about it all the time. But millions and millions of people don’t need food stamps anymore. It’s not that we’ve lifted them off, which we have, but they don’t need them anymore; they have jobs. They’re doing really well.
The U.S. stock markets have soared and they’ve reached the highest point that they’ve ever, ever had. We’ve made at least $19 trillion, in terms of wealth — in terms of wealth creation for our country, beyond the stock markets.
And we are now, by far, the biggest economy in the world. China would have caught us. They were getting very close. It was anticipated that, in 2019 — this is for many years; I’m not telling you any secrets — that, by 2019, China would become the largest economy in the world. And right now we’re much larger. But we have a great new deal with China. A great deal.
And we have, I would say, our best relationship that we’ve ever had with China, on top of everything else.
And we’re starting phase two. Phase one turned out to be much bigger than we anticipated, because we have intellectual property protections. We have — many of the financial deals and aspects of the financial deals that we wanted, we got done, and other things.
In addition to the farmers, we’ve got the total, complete package for the farmers. And we think that’ll — we estimate that will be anywhere between $40- and $50 billion. The number, I think, is going to be closer to $50 billion. The most they’ve ever done is $16 [billion]. So we go from $16 [billion] to anywhere from $40- to $50 billion that they’ll be purchasing.
We’re an economic powerhouse like, actually, we’ve never been. Jobs, factories, companies are pouring back into the United States. That’s one of the reasons I’ve been in Davos, is we have had conversations with other leaders of other countries where we’ve traditionally had tremendous deficits.
I say, “You have to move factories and plants back here.” They took a lot of them. They actually took a lot of them, and now they’re going to move them back. They’re not going to move them back; the companies are coming back because everybody wants to be here. But the countries also understand that we have to balance out our trade, and we’re doing incredibly well in that way.
And one of the people that was very important for me to meet from the World Trade Organization is Roberto Azevêdo. And he is a highly respected man. He happens to be this gentleman right here. I thought I’d have him say a few words.
But the World Trade Organization — as you know, I’ve had a dispute running with them for quite a while, because our country hasn’t been treated fairly. China is viewed as a developing nation. India is viewed as a developing nation. We’re not viewed a developing nation. As far as I’m concerned, we’re a developing nation, too. But they got tremendous advantages by the fact that they were considered “developing” and we weren’t. And they shouldn’t be. But if they are, we are. And we’re talking about a whole new structure for the deal, or we’ll have to do something.
But the World Trade Organization has been very unfair to the United States for many, many years. And without it, China wouldn’t be China, and China wouldn’t be where they are right now. I mean, China — that was the vehicle that they used. And I give them great credit. And I also don’t give the people that were in my position great credit, because, frankly, they let that all happen. But the vehicle was the World Trade Organization.
And Roberto and I have a tremendous relationship, and we’re going to do something that I think will be very dramatic. He’ll be coming with a lot of his representatives to Washington sometime — maybe next week or the week after — and we’ll start working on it.
So I’d like to introduce, just for — briefly — Roberto, and say a few words on behalf of the WTO. And then I’m going to introduce Larry Kudlow to say exactly where we are, in terms of our economy. Some of you know, but we’ve had some tremendous numbers just over the very recent past.
So, please, Roberto.
DIRECTOR-GENERAL AZEVÊDO: Well, thank you, Mr. President. And I think it’s fair to say that we have been saying, for quite some time, that if the multilateral system, if the WTO is to deliver and perform its role in today’s global economy, it has to be updated. It has to be changed. It has to be reformed.
This is an agenda that is squarely before members. I don’t think anybody in Geneva misses the point. I think they understand that the — the system has not been functioning properly in many areas. That’s something that we’re trying to address.
I’m very happy that, in the conversation today with President Trump, he agreed that this is something that needs to happen; the WTO has to change. We are committed to effect those changes. And this is something that we’re serious about.
And I am going to be, together with President Trump, as soon as possible, discussing what needs to change, what needs to be effected in the WTO, and we’re committed to doing that.
And, of course, I will be talking to all of the other WTO members, making sure that they all understand that this is serious. This is a path that we all have to be on together if we want to make the WTO relevant and performing to today’s requirements, frankly.
So thank you very much, Mr. President. It’s an honor to be with you and with everybody else. Thank you.
THE PRESIDENT: Thank you very much. Great.
Larry, please. Larry Kudlow.
MR. KUDLOW: Oh, thank you, sir. So I think we’re coming into the new year with a lot of positive momentum in the economy. And, again, I want to repeat the President’s speech yesterday: These are transformational free enterprise policies, lower tax rates across the board, deregulation, energy independence, and breaking down trade barriers for better deals for exporting.
Just recently, we’ve seen all the confidence surveys are strong — consumer confidence, business confidence, small business confidence. The huge stock market rally, which continues, is, I believe, a sign of business and consumer confidence and predicting an even stronger economy in 2020.
Also, lately, housing markets are very strong. We’ve seen some huge numbers in new housing starts, and existing and new home sales. That’s a great omen; it’s the leading indicator. And even with softness in manufacturing last year, we’re seeing now the IHS Markit surveys for PMI manufacturing up four straight months for the U.S. And I think that’s a terrific sign of a comeback.
I think the President’s trade deals have inspired a lot of confidence among large and small businesses, and I think it’s going to add at least a half a point to GDP this year. I think we’re going to be moving into the 3 percent zone. We still have to cope with the slowdown in Boeing. We’ll see how that plays out. But I think USMCA and the China deals are going to add a lot to growth this year and the years ahead.
And the great part about this, to me — I’ve been around for a while — is, when you look inside, look under the hood, in this growth spurt, with 3.5 percent unemployment and virtually no inflation — which itself is a remarkable development — it is the American middle class, it is the American blue-collar middle class — they have the fastest wage growth. And, in fact, the lower-wage folks are getting the fastest wage increases, exceeding significantly from what their managers are making.
And I would add also, as the President has indicated: In this stock market rally, I know it’s commonplace to say it only helps a few rich people. That is just not true. Over half the households in this country own shares through 401(k)s, and IRAs, and brokerage accounts, and so forth. You look at the numbers — and the CEA just published a great slide book on this — the bottom 50 percent has had a 47 percent increase in their net wealth — consumer net wealth — between home prices and share prices, and that is a booster rocket to this economy. It not only gives them confidence, it gives them some serious spending power, and the consumer spending numbers bear it out.
So, ours is an optimistic message, and I think the President really carried the day in his speech yesterday.
Thank you, sir.
THE PRESIDENT: Thank you very much, Larry. I mean, when you think that, soon — it’ll start pretty soon. It’s already started, to a certain extent. I asked them to do it. China is going to be purchasing more than $250 billion worth of goods from our country. That’s massive. Those are numbers that nobody has ever heard of before. And that number can grow. It can grow. With time, it’s going to grow substantially, I predict.
And then you have the USMCA — Mexico, Canada — and that’s massive numbers we’re talking about there. And we made a deal with Japan — $40 billion. And we made a deal with South Korea. That’s a tremendous deal, also. That was a horrible deal, and we turned it into a really good deal. So it was really something.
While we were in Davos — most of you know this — we met with the world leaders — various world leaders, including the President of the European Commission, who we’re going to start negotiating a trade deal with, because the European Commission was, frankly, in many ways, tougher than China. I say that respectfully, but that’s the way it is. They’ve taken advantage for a long time.
And so we’re going to have a deal. I suspect we’re going to be able to make a deal. Otherwise, we’ll have to do something else. And they’ll — they’ll — I think they’re going to make a deal. They haven’t wanted to negotiate with past Presidents, but they’re going to negotiate with me. The President of the Swiss Confederation, who’s been very nice and terrific; the President of Kurdistan — we had a tremendous meeting; along with President Salih of Iraq, Prime Minister Khan of Pakistan, and President Ghani of Afghanistan.
In addition, we met with many of the business leaders — both at breakfast today, and lunch yesterday, and dinner yesterday. Many of you were at those meetings, at least for a little while. And tremendous numbers of jobs will be coming into the United States.
A lot of these leaders — these are the biggest business leaders in the world, and this morning was very inspirational. I mean, these companies are really going to expand. And it was a request of mine, but what we did — we’ve been very good to them. They’re all doing very well.
And we have companies from Europe, companies from Asia now coming to the United States. “That’s where the action is,” as one of them said. “That’s where the action is.” So it’s really been — it’s really been great.
And now we’ll be going — we’ll be leaving and going back to Washington. Okay?
Yes.
Q Mr. President, (inaudible).
THE PRESIDENT: Go ahead.
Q All right. Mr. President, do you want to hear from witnesses in the impeachment trial? Your team has been a little inconsistent on this.
THE PRESIDENT: Well, I’ll tell you the way I look at it: It’s a total hoax. It’s a disgrace. They talked about their tremendous case. And it’s all done — their tremendous case. They had no case. It’s all a hoax. It’s a con job. Like Schiff — he’s a corrupt politician.
Now, I’ll leave that to the Senate. The Senate is going to have to answer that. I have great respect for the Senate, as a body and many of the individuals. I have great respect. So I’ll leave that to the Senate.
But this is the greatest witch hunt. This started from the day I came down with the future First Lady. The day we came down the escalator, this started. And I watched the — they’ve been driven crazy. You know what’s driven them crazy? All of these record numbers on unemployment — African American, Asian American. You take a look. Hispanic American is numbers that nobody has even believing. They look at all of this. They’re looking at this tremendous success, the likes of which they’ve never seen before in this country. They’ve never seen anything like this. And it’s driven the Democrats crazy.
As Congressman Green said — Al Green. He’s a beauty. As Congressman Green said, “We got to beat him by impeachment because we can’t beat him in the election.” And I hope that’s true, because, honestly, they can’t beat me in the election. I don’t think they can. I know what they’re — I know what I’ll be running against. One way or the other, it’s one of them. And I think we’re going to do very well.
But I think we’re going to do well because nobody has done, in the first three years — less than three years, because a lot of these numbers were taken from two months ago; they ended two months ago. In less than three years, nobody has done the kind of numbers we’ve done.
So I’m going to head back and I’ll be watching it, but it’s really going to be up to the Senate. We’re going to have them make that determination.
Please. Please.
Q Yes, Mr. President. You were the keynote speaker here, but you shared some of the spotlight with a Scandinavian teenager: Greta Thunberg —
THE PRESIDENT: Oh, that’s very nice.
Q — who you had said needs to work on her anger. She had some very harsh words about —
THE PRESIDENT: I didn’t say “anger.” I said “anger management.”
Q “Anger management.” Yes, sir.
She had some very strong words here that the United States and other industrialized countries need to do more. Do you still feel that you’re doing enough? You talk about clean air —
THE PRESIDENT: How old — how old is she?
Q She’s —
Q Seventeen.
Q Seventeen now. Yes.
THE PRESIDENT: Oh. That’s good.
Q But what is your response to her —
THE PRESIDENT: She beat me out on TIME Magazine.
Q But did you hear from other world leaders and business leaders who said that they think that she has a message that you should listen to?
THE PRESIDENT: No, I didn’t, actually. But I would have loved to have seen her speak. I did not.
Q Do you still think climate change is hoax?
THE PRESIDENT: No, not at all. I think what is — I think aspects of it are. I think that some people are — they put it at a level that is, you know, unrealistic, to a point you can’t live your lives.
We want to have the cleanest water on Earth. We want to have the cleanest air on Earth. Our numbers, as you saw — we had record numbers come out very recently. Our numbers are very, very good — our environmental numbers. Our water numbers, our — our numbers on air are tremendous.
We have to do something about other continents. We have to do something about other countries. When we’re clean and beautiful and everything is good, but you have another continent where the fumes are rising at levels that you can’t believe — I mean, I think Greta ought to focus on those places.
But we are doing better right now than we’ve ever done, in terms of cleanliness, in terms of numbers. We have a beautiful ocean called the Pacific Ocean, where thousands and thousands of tons of garbage flows toward us, and that’s put there by other countries. So I think Greta has to start working on those other countries.
Q Mr. President —
THE PRESIDENT: By the way, congratulations on your show.
Q Thank you very much.
THE PRESIDENT: They made a very wise decision.
Q Thank you very much. Well, we invite you for an interview whenever you’re available.
THE PRESIDENT: Oh, good.
Q Can I ask you just to be clear, and for future Presidents: Is abuse of power an impeachable offense?
THE PRESIDENT: Well, you’ve got to talk to the lawyers about it. But I will tell you: There’s nothing here. I had a very innocent conversation with a very fine gentleman from the Ukraine, and it was based on that. People don’t even want to talk about the conversation. I got to watch glimpses in between all of these meetings that I just told you about. I got to watch glimpses of what is taking place, wasting time, in Washington.
And I watched — they don’t talk about my conversation. They don’t talk about my transcripts. Remember this: When Schiff made up the phony story, and he repeated it to Congress and the world — and it was a totally phony story — then I released the transcript. There was supposed to be a second whistleblower. What happened to him? There was — wait, wait. Otherwise, I won’t do your show. (Laughter.) Wait. There was supposed to be an informer. What happened to the informer?
All of these people disappeared. And when they saw this transcript, they said, “We got problems.” But they went ahead because they were already there because they — they had a phony, concocted story made up.
So here’s the story: I did nothing wrong. It was a perfect conversation. It was totally appropriate. The best lawyers in the world have looked at it. The Department of Justice has looked at it, given it a sign-off. There was nothing wrong.
They never thought I was going to release the conversation. They probably didn’t think we had transcribers or we had it trans- — transcribed or taped. But they never thought we were going to release it. When we released that conversation, all hell broke out with the Democrats, because they say, “Wait a minute. This is much different than Shifty Schiff told us.”
So we’re doing very well. I got to watch enough. I thought our team did a very good job. But honestly, we have all the material. They don’t have the material.
Q I ask you because your attorneys say it’s not. Alan Dershowitz says the framers of the Constitution did not permit impeachment on grounds like abuse of power or obstruction. They objected open-ended, vague criteria.
So for future Presidents, is abuse of power an impeachable offense?
THE PRESIDENT: Well, it depends. But if you take a look at this, and from what everybody tells me, all I do is — I’m honest. I make great deals. I’ve made great deals for our country. Now we’re working with the WTO. You’re probably surprised by that, but this has been a long-term, abusive situation to the U.S. I make great deals for our country, and they’re honest deals.
And when you read that transcription — and, by the way, it wasn’t one call; it was two calls. Nobody likes to talk about that. There was one call, which was perfect, and then there was a second call — I guess, a couple of months later — which was perfect.
The President of Ukraine said it was perfect. The Foreign Minister of Ukraine said it was perfect. So if we have a transcription, we have the call, and we have the person on the other side of the call saying it was good —
Now, here’s the other thing: They got their money long before schedule. They got all their money. What nobody says — this is very important to me: Why isn’t Germany paying? Why isn’t UK paying? Why isn’t France paying? Why aren’t the European nations paying? Why is it always the sucker — United States? That’s one.
And the other thing I wanted to check very carefully — and it’s very important — is corruption. And we do that, too. This was a perfect call, and I think we’re doing very well.
Q Mr. President, (inaudible). Thank you, Mr. President. For the phase two of the China trade deal, do you expect human rights in Hong Kong to be a part of the discussion?
THE PRESIDENT: We are discussing that already. Yes. We would like to see if we can do something. But again, we’re doing a trade deal, and it’s — it’s a very big deal. Phase one is done. Phase two is being discussed.
We are discussing aspects of your question. Yes.
Q Mr. President, thank you. Just to clarify on (inaudible) question. We know that Senate will set the rules for witnesses, but what do you want? At one point, you demanded a witness (inaudible) —
THE PRESIDENT: I can live either way. I can live —
Q But what do you want?
THE PRESIDENT: I’ll tell you what I think: It’s such a hoax. I think it’s so bad for our country. When we have the head of the World Trade Organization here, and he has to listen to this nonsense about a call that was perfect, that nobody talks about. I never see them talking about the transcription. I never see them talking about the call, because there’s nothing to say.
You read it — somebody should just sit there and read it. And everybody’s going to say, “You mean that’s an impeachable event?” If that were impeachable, Lyndon Johnson would have had to leave office in his first day. Kennedy would have had to leave office his first day. It’s a hoax. And you understand it’s a hoax better than anybody. It’s a hoax. And that’s the way it is.
Yeah, go ahead.
Q Mr. President, a question on Iran: Initially, you said repeatedly to Americans that after Iran retaliated for the Soleimani strike, no Americans were injured. We now know at least 11 U.S. service men were airlifted from Iraq. Can you explain the discrepancy?
THE PRESIDENT: No, I heard that they had headaches, and a couple of other things. But I would say, and I can report it is not very serious. Not very serious.
Q So you don’t consider a potential traumatic brain injury serious?
THE PRESIDENT: They told me about it numerous days later. You’d have to ask Department of Defense. No, I don’t consider them very serious injuries, relative to other injuries that I’ve seen.
I’ve seen what Iran has done with their roadside bombs to our troops. I’ve seen people with no legs and with no arms. I’ve seen people that were horribly, horribly injured in that area, that war — in fact, many cases put — those bombs put there by Soleimani, who is no longer with us. I consider them to be really bad injuries.
No, I do not consider that to be bad injuries. No.
Q Mr. President, can I ask you about the EU trade deal: Do you have any timeline for that? And if you don’t hit that timeline, if there is one, are you automatically going to go to auto tariffs or is there another —
THE PRESIDENT: I have a timeline.
Q — is there another avenue, other than auto tariffs?
THE PRESIDENT: Yeah. Great question, actually. I don’t have a timeline, but maybe I do, in my own mind. They have to move relatively quickly, but they have to treat us fairly.
The European Union was formed pretty much for this reason, I suspect — you know, if you really think about it. Why was it formed? They formed their airplane company, which does very nicely, and now is doing better than ever because Boeing has not had a good time of it. They have — they have — they better start recovering fast. I hope they do. They have some good people in there now. They have great people in the company, but they have some good people leading it now. So, hopefully, that will be taken care of.
But, I — no, I have a date in my mind, and it’s a fairly quick date. And if we’re unable to make a deal, then we’ll do even better. We’ll do even better.
Q Are auto tariffs (inaudible)?
THE PRESIDENT: But they haven’t treated us right. Look, the United States has been losing $150 billon, and more, for many years — $150 billion. More. I mean, really, more than that — with the European Union. They have trade barriers where you can’t trade. They have tariffs all over the place. They make it impossible.
They are, frankly, more difficult to do business with than China. We have a great relationship with China now. We had some testy moments — very testy. Beyond testy. Worse than a lot of people would understand. But we got it done, and I think phase two will go nicely also.
But with the European Union — and, frankly, I’ll be honest, I wanted to wait until I finished China before I went to work on, respectfully, Europe.
But Europe — you know, it’s so beautiful. I guess a lot of us come, indirectly, from Europe. Isn’t that nice? But they are actually more difficult to do business with than China. All you have to do is ask Boris. But I think Boris is going to be okay, too. I think he’s going to come out great. I think he has — he had a lot of guts. He’s done a terrific job. I think he’s in a good position, which they would have never been able to do before Boris.
I have a date. I have a very specific date in my mind.
Q Before or after the election? (Inaudible.)
THE PRESIDENT: Before. I think — I think we’ll have a deal before.
Q With the EU?
THE PRESIDENT: Yeah, I think so. I mean, they have to do that. I mean, I don’t want to — look, I’m not saying it from strength or from weakness; I’m just saying they have to do it.
They wanted to make a deal. This — our nation, our country wanted to make a deal under President Obama. The EU refused to talk to him. And then they said, “No, no, we like it the way it is.” Of course they like it the way it is; they’re making $150 billion-plus, right?
And, as you know, President Bush was desperate to make a deal. They wouldn’t even talk to him.
Me, they’re talking to, and we’ll have a deal. If we don’t have a deal, we’ll do even better.
Q Mr. President —
THE PRESIDENT: Yes, ma’am. Go ahead.
Q Is it true that you’re considering extending the travel ban? And, if so —
THE PRESIDENT: Yes.
Q — to which countries?
THE PRESIDENT: So we have a travel ban. It’s a very powerful ban. And a lot of — I heard a reporter recently say, “He lost the ban in court.” They didn’t say that we won it in the Supreme Court. I’d say that’s a little deceptive, John, wouldn’t you? He said, “He lost the travel ban.” I didn’t lose the travel ban. The travel ban was lost in the lower courts and won in the Supreme Court, two years ago.
No, we are — we’re adding a couple of countries to it. We have to be safe. Our country has to be safe. You see what’s going on in the world. Our country has to be safe.
So we have a very strong travel ban, and we’ll be adding a few countries to it.
Q Could you give us a hint about the region or the countries?
THE PRESIDENT: Well, no, you’re going to — it’s going to be announced very shortly. Okay?
John. Yeah, John.
Q Thank you, Mr. President. In regards to the proceedings going on in the Senate, would you like to see this over quickly? Would you like to see a thorough examination of the facts? What did you make of the dustup between the White House Counsel Pat Cipollone and Jerrold Nadler last night? And are you absolutely against John Bolton testifying?
THE PRESIDENT: Well, you’re asking a lot of questions.
Q Three. That’s not a lot.
THE PRESIDENT: First of all, Jerrold Nadler — I’ve known him a long time. He’s a sleazebag; everybody knows that.
Pat Cipollone is a high-quality human being. I was very impressed with Pat. He had great emotion yesterday. Pat is a brilliant guy, but I’ve never seen that emotion. And that’s real emotion. That’s because he knows this is a hoax. And I was very proud of the job he did.
I’ve known — I’ve known Jerry Nadler for a long time. He’s opposed many of my jobs. I got them all built — very successfully built in New York. But — so we have yet another fight. Isn’t it — isn’t it amazing? Isn’t it surprising? Isn’t it amazing?
But if you look at, you know, other aspects or other parts of your question, I think that the — I would rather go the long way. I would rather interview Bolton. I would rather interview a lot of people.
The problem with John is that it’s a national security problem. You know, you can’t have somebody who’s at national security — and, if you think about it, John, he knows some of my thoughts. He knows what I think about leaders. What happens if he reveals what I think about a certain leader, and it’s not very positive, and then I have to deal on behalf of the country? It’s going to be very hard. It’s going to make the job very hard.
He knows other things. And I don’t know if we left on the best of terms. I would say probably not, you know. And so, you don’t like people testifying when they didn’t leave on good terms — and that was due to me, not due to him. And so, we’ll see what happens.
But when you have a national security — where you could call it “presidential prerogative.” You could just call it — the way I look at it, I call it “national security” — for national security reasons. “Executive privilege,” they say. So that would — John would certainly fit into that. When you’re a national security advisor — like this gentleman is doing a fantastic job, Robert — I just think it’s very hard.
And I’ve always gotten along — I’ve actually gotten along with John Bolton. He didn’t get along with other people — a lot of other people. But when he knows my thoughts on certain people in other governments — and we’re talking about massive trade deals, and war and peace, and all these different things that we talk about — that’s really a very important national security problem, I think.
Having somebody — other people — Mick Mulvaney is probably around here someplace. I’d love to have Mick go, but I think that he’s really expressed himself very well when he did a Chris Wallace interview. That was a very, very powerful interview. That was a long, tough — Chris is a tough interviewer. A very talented guy. And, you know, I think it’s not much he can add. He’s been — he’s been great.
I would like to have — I’ll tell you what I don’t like though — I’d love to have Mike Pompeo testify. But again, that’s a national security problem. But I’d love to have Mike Pompeo — but it’s a national security problem.
I’d love to have Rick Perry. Rick Perry has asked me, “I’d love to testify. Please, let me testify.” Because he knows this is all a hoax. He understands it better than most. And Rick Perry would love to testify. But we’re dealing with national security.
We’re dealing with one other thing: Our country has been tied up with this hoax from the day I came down the escalator. We’ve been fighting it. I’ve been fighting it from the day I’ve been elected. I would say probably long before — it could be long before I came down the escalator that — some people have said that, which is hard to believe.
Q I —
THE PRESIDENT: Wait. Wait, John.
It’s hard to believe. We’ve been fighting this. I would rather have — personally, I’d rather go the long route. It’s horrible for our country. Our country has to get back to business.
We have people that are corrupt, like Adam Schiff, who misquotes — I don’t mean “misquotes” — makes up a statement. He had no idea that I was going to release the transcript. He never thought I’d do that. And for that, I thank the President of Ukraine, because we got their approval. He had no idea I was going to do that.
But these are corrupt people, some of them. And some of them are just playing the political game. But if you look at the poll numbers, my poll numbers are the highest they’ve ever been. If you look at the funding numbers, if you look at what — the money raised by the Republican Party has just set a record. Nobody has ever done this before. It’s because of the impeachment hoax.
Q Sorry. Sorry. I’ve got three quick ones, too, Mr. President, if you don’t mind.
THE PRESIDENT: Three?
Q Three, yes. Well, my husband asked three; I ask three.
THE PRESIDENT: That means six.
Q No, that means —
THE PRESIDENT: Six for the family. (Laughter.)
Q — that — thank you very much. Thanks for appreciating the family.
THE PRESIDENT: Go ahead. No, go ahead.
Q Do you plan to show up in any way, shape, or form at your trial?
Number two, you called Kenneth Starr “a disaster” in the past. Do you still feel that way about him now?
And three, Lev Parnas has come forward and said that you knew everything that he was doing in Ukraine.
THE PRESIDENT: No, he’s a conman. Okay, you ready? Let me answer that one first.
Q Okay, so would you say that’s not true?
THE PRESIDENT: I don’t know him —
Q Okay, you don’t know him.
THE PRESIDENT: — other than he’s sort of like a groupie. He shows up at fundraisers. Okay? So I don’t know anything about him.
I watched Rudy. Rudy is a terrific person — great crime fighter; the best mayor in the history of New York City, by far; solved the crime problem in New York. And I think it’s very unfair the way the media has treated Rudy Giuliani.
I will say this: Parnas I don’t know — other than he probably contributed to the campaign, along with tens of thousands of other people. And I take — or, I mean, I was — this weekend I was taking pictures with hundreds of people. And they — they’re — they contribute to the Republican Party. And I stand there, and I take pictures. And every once in a while, I’ll look at somebody — I say, “Gee, I wonder when that picture is going to be in the New York Times or the Washington Post or on Fox.” You know, so it’s one of those things.
Q So, you mentioned Rudy. You still have great things —
THE PRESIDENT: I think Rudy is a high-quality person.
Q So why is he not on your legal team? Why is he not — I mean, Sekulow and Cipollone —
THE PRESIDENT: Because I don’t want there to be a conflict. I’d love to have Rudy on my team. But, you know, he could be a witness at some point, if this whole sham continues. I would love to have Rudy on the team. He — Rudy is on my team, just so you understand. But I’d love to have him up there. But it could be that he’d have a conflict. It could be.
But Rudy Giuliani is somebody that I think the press has been very unfair to. Greatest mayor in the history of New York — think of it. And one of the greatest crime fighters of the last 100 years. And he hates to see what’s happening because he knows corruption, really, better than anybody.
Okay, go ahead.
Q And Kenneth Starr. How do you feel about him now?
THE PRESIDENT: So Ken Starr is a terrific man. I did make that statement, because, frankly, I didn’t think that Bill Clinton should have been impeached. And I thought it was terrible. I didn’t know Ken Starr, but I didn’t think that Bill Clinton should be impeached — should have been impeached. And I was pretty vocal about that.
I didn’t know Ken, but what I did know is he was very smart. He was very tough. He was very talented. But in a certain way, I was sticking up for Clinton — for Bill Clinton. And, you know, I felt — I sort of still feel that way. I mean, what he did was nothing good. There was a lot of lying going on. There were a lot of things — a lot of bad things.
Now, with me, there’s no lying. There’s no nothing. They have nothing. They don’t even have a crime. They say, “This is the only one that’s ever been impeached, and he didn’t commit a crime.” I didn’t commit a crime. And then you get into high crimes and misdemeanors. But I didn’t commit a crime.
So, no, I have great respect for Ken. But I didn’t think, frankly, that Bill Clinton should have been impeached.
Q So what do you think? Will you show up at your trial any day, in any way, shape, or form?
THE PRESIDENT: I’d love to go. Wouldn’t that be great? Wouldn’t that be beautiful?
Q So why don’t you go?
THE PRESIDENT: I don’t know. I’d sort of love — sit right in the front row and stare at their corrupt faces. I’d love to do it.
Q So why not commit to going?
THE PRESIDENT: I don’t know. Don’t — don’t keep talking, because I may — you may convince me to do it.
Q Do you think Cipollone and Sekulow would want you there?
THE PRESIDENT: I think they might have a problem. I think they might. And, by the way, I think — I think they’ve all — I think they’ve done a really good job. And I think the other side has so lied. I watched the lies from Adam Schiff. He’ll stand, he’ll look at a microphone, and he’ll talk like he so aggrieved. These two guys — these are major sleazebags. They’re very dishonest people. Very, very dishonest people.
When somebody will make up a statement that I made, when — you remember the statement. Eight times. “Quid pro quo.” Eight times. Think of it. How can you say — eight times? That would mean I was asking somebody eight different times for the same thing? What kind of a conversation would that be? If you asked once, that’d be fine. If you has twice, that would have been — how can you ask eight times? They would say you’re a Looney Tune, right?
And then he said — I think he finished by saying, “Don’t call me. I’ll call you.” That I said that. He made that statement: “Don’t call me. I’ll call you.” And he didn’t say he made it up.
Now, ultimately, he had to, in a sense, apologize. He can hardly apologize. But he had to apologize because, fortunately, we had a tape. We had the transcripts. I am so happy that I had the transcripts, because it showed he’s a liar, and he’s a fraud. And they continue to just go on and on.
But this has happened to me with the Russian hoax. This has happened to me — I called it the “witch hunt.” Greatest witch hunt in American history. And the Mueller report, which exonerated, totally — there was no collusion after all that. Two years, there was no collusion.
And then what happened? Jill Stein from the Green Party gets called a “Russian agent” by Crooked Hillary. And then Tulsi Gabbard — I don’t know either of them, but I know they’re not Russian agents — gets called a “Russian agent.”
This is what these people do; they demean. And the press plays in because the press, largely, is their partner. And, you know, one thing — if we could straighten out the press in our country, we would have a place that would be so incredible. The pre- — the press is so dishonest, so corrupt. I read it all the time — the stories. I don’t mind bad stories when — I deserve bad story sometimes.
But when I do something great or good, let it be written about good. Same thing with other people. The corruption in the media — as I call it, the “fake news media” — is unbelievable. And, hopefully, everybody is going to sort of learn a lesson.
People got Pulitzer Prizes for their coverage of me. And it turned out they were totally wrong. Other people — Sean Hannity, Rushbo — a lot of great people, a lot of great writers. They got it right. They didn’t get Pulitzer Prizes, but they got it right.
The Russian hoax was a terrible thing. The dossier was a phony deal paid for by Hillary Clinton and the DNC, and used in the FISA courts, totally illegally. No, it’s a terrible thing that happened.
This was a takedown attempt at a sitting President of the United States, and we caught them. So let’s see what happens.
Q Mr. President, but would you consider delaying the State of the Union if the impeachment trial has not ended by February 4th?
THE PRESIDENT: I don’t see it. No, I don’t see it. No, I’m — you know, a very excellent writer, Bob Woodward — I guess he’s doing another book on Trump, but, this time, I’ll actually give him an interview. He said, “You’re enjoying this, aren’t you?” I said, “No, I’m not enjoying it.” He said, “No, you act like you’re winning and you won. You’re actually enjoying it.” I said, “I’m not enjoying it. I’m doing it because it’s very important, what I’m doing.”
I consider what I’ve done here, with this whole witch hunt, from day one — with the insurance policy; with the horrible statements made between Strzok and Page; and McCabe; and Comey, who lied to Congress and did so many other bad things. He lied and he leaked.
When I finish, I think that this is going to go down as one of the greatest things I’ve done for our country. These are bad, corrupt people. These are bad people, and very bad for our country.
Thank you very much, everybody. Thank you. Thank you very much. ————————————————————
For the Biz Channels and finance geeks, Davos 2020 is the Super Bowl, and it’s the 50th Anniversary! Can’t tell you how excited I am. We will NEVER forget the first time President Trump and our team went to Davos in 2018. They looked like Olympians! We could not have been MOAR proud of our team! This will be a combination Rally Thread for Day One and background, cuz Momma is excited!
Here is the link to the President’s speech at 5:30am Eastern Time, live from Davos.
The region is known as Davos Klosters, kind of like two cities which run together, like Dallas/Ft.Worth. There is a large convention facility here, 34 meeting rooms, for 3000 attendees (capacity is 5000). Can’t get a hotel room no matter how hard you try or how much you spend…. and what billionaire would stay in a standard twin? If you want to wander through the facility, with a 360 degree view, take a look here: https://www.davoscongress.ch/en/
There are 235 events for the week scheduled around the official meeting from January 21st-January 24th. Can we imagine how many unofficial events will take place? And the dinner tab? Take a look at the tourism division: https://www.davos.ch/en/davos-klosters/events/ With all the ski-swooshing and ice skating, warm brandy and aperitifs, how can they get anything done? Yet, according to ABC, the hot topics will be climate change and income inequality. Yeah,…….. right. The world’s greatest collection of self-centered billionaires is worried about kids, pollution, and poor people? With what? Carbon credits to assuage their guilt? https://abcnews.go.com/Business/climate-change-economic-inequality-loom-large-powerful-descend/story?id=68403303
Billionaires arrive to Davos in jets, helos or luxury vehicles, but the sight of 3 Marine Choppers, escorted by Swiss helos, coming across the snow-tipped Alpine valley was breathtaking in 2018.
Remember the snipers on the roof of the hotel, to protect the leader of the free world?
All those patsy high-brow billionaires holding out cell phones out like they were at a Trump Rally? It was AWESOME.
And then, President Trump gave his speech……. Here it is. He warned them all.
And billionaires, scalping tickets to get into the Wilbur Ross speech? Bwwhhahahhaaaa…… Hilarious.
Maria Bartiromo was able to interview our Wilburine in 2018. In fact, the whole Fox Biz crew is already in Davos, setting up for 2020. Maria had to leave the FOX Sunday broadcast about 48 minutes into the hour because she had the flu. Hope she is well enough to travel to Switzerland. It’s so exciting. We’ve turned the tide. America has the momentum.
Yes, 2020 is a little different than 2018. This time, President Trump and team enter the arena having beaten them all. Trump was right and they were wrong. Time for capitulation and groveling from the ruling class. President Trump’s policies were clearly the best choice, if they really cared about the environment, income inequality, and economic freedom for poor people. President Trump has delivered sweeping victories on these issues for America and the free people of the world. AMERICANS – Kicking A$$
It took the globalists 100years of working in the shadows, 35yrs in earnest, to destroy nations, raid the peoples’ wealth, and bring the USA to it’s knees. The whole “Awakening” merely proves the lies of globalist ideology. Trump turned on the lights and woke us up. Trump won many battles in 3years, and now we’re ready to win the war.
Do we all truly comprehend the magnitude of Phase One, and the idea of bringing China to heel? President Trump destroyed the 48yr long China public relations campaign. In three years? We can’t possible fathom how big of a turn it was. Yet, President Trump knew. Trump did it. Despite overwhelming opposition, one world leader was determined. Our guy! NO ONE thought that was possible.
THEY told us we had to wait. We shouldn’t “go it alone”. We needed consensus with our allies to approach “the China Problem”.
Bull$hit.
Our “allies” would have dithered like they always do, like they are STILL doing, afraid of the unruly toddler, China, who became an overly-aggressive adolescent. Who has time to wait on leaders with conflicting personal agendas? The CHINA problem was/is obvious. At this point, who would be dumb enough to vote for a Democrat in 2020 who would embrace China, rolling back the progress we’ve made? “Come on, Man”, says Biden, and Bloomberg loves China.
Out in fly-over country, we all knew better because we could see the decay from out front porches. Citizen Trump knew the USA had a problem when Japanese autos were rolling off ships into the port of LA in the 1980s. America has had a “problem” for a long time….., but we were told to get used to it. It was our “new normal”.……… and thus, our factories were idled and rusted. Bruce Springsteen sang songs about factories and idled steel mills. To Don Henley, was it the “End of the Innocence”, or was it merely bad leadership from both right and left?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qG-AQir0KV8
Yet, let’s look at what the Trump Team did when they came into office. Aggressively and methodically, beginning immediately after inauguration, Team Trump annihilated French subsidies for AirBus at the WTO and then…. annihilated the WTO. OMG. Did anyone at CNBC see that one coming? And renegotiating NAFTA – Senate signing USMCA? In the SAME WEEK as Phase One with China????????
They all thought Trump was crazy/stupid/a dotard/orange/…… and they told us THEY were the experts……. because first they make fun of you, and then, they call you a racist……… right?
THEY were wrong.
THEY are back on their heels and scurrying for cover like roaches.
The mask has slipped.
President Trump is the Conor McGregor of nations, trade, finance, and war.
It was a 40 second knock out in Vegas over the weekend, stunning the crowd. (Photo by Josh Hedges/Zuffa LLC/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images)
In an historical perspective, Team Trump turned Word-Wide Trade into the WWE (world-wide economics as opposed to the World Wrestling Enterprise/Foundation). What Trump has done with trade and our economy is the equivalent to a 40 second knockout to the globalists. He proved them all wrong, leaving the pundit class, Wall Street, Silicon Valley, Singapore, Beijing, Brussels, Jebel Ali, all the billionaires, stunned.
Damn straight.
Daddy’s home. Party is over. He’s done it all and he does the things that no one else has the courage to do. President Trump is THIS GUY, the fighter, and people all over the world, LOVE IT. From France to Hong Kong, it’s time to let the people be free from the globalists’ sloppy and harmful leadership.
Protesters in Hong Kong carry pics of President Trump as a fighter. Note: it’s not a picture of Macron or Merkel.
And …..not only has President Trump/Team Trump turned around trade and our economy, he’s begun to intentionally remove well-known threats to peace, stability, and economic prosperity for the entire world, and therefore, our economy. We’ve never seen anything like this before. Amazing from a 30K foot view. Most people can understand a military defense, but we’ve never focused on an economic defense before………. Trump.
No one is talking about the overall strategy of Team Trump….. except us.
Team Trump is intentionally and swiftly alleviating the chances of “Black Swan events”. For instance, Iran mining the Straits of Hormuz would normally cause oil prices to spike and throw the American/EU economies into chaos……… but Iran’s threat to the oil economy has been muted……. because the USA is the #1 producer of oil and LNG in the world. Yes, OIL is one of the top three commodities traded by every single country in the world – Top Three. Again, America leads. We’re even exporting energy.
Don’t think it was easy to turn around the Energy sector after Obama. Recall the waste of Solyndra, and the $6,000/gallon biofuel flown to Afghanistan? Remember, we were within a “smidgen” of entering the Paris Accords, which had very little to do with our precious environment and everything to do with redistribution of American wealth. What was it President Trump tweeted to Macron, “How’s that Paris Accord working out for ya’?“
For America to lead the world from a strong position, and reduce the “Black Swan” or the idea of being flanked, we had to have an economic defense. Lowering the Corporate Tax Cut was a heavy lift. Tweaking our energy policy took an all out effort on behalf of Team Trump, including new pipelines (Dakota and Keystone) and refineries, and fast-tracking the building of said refineries. We should build a statue in honor of Sec Rick Perry.
Good heavens, we’re exporting energy to EUROPE. GRASP the concept! Did anyone from the WSJ forecast that one when President Trump was elected?
Of course, WE knew what the President was doing because HE TOLD US. He was making America safer, and wealthier, again. We listened, and we were with him the whole way.
What about DPRK? A nuclear bomb in Japan or the western US coast would be the ultimate “Black Swan Event”. Past USA Presidents appeased the North Koreans, but not our guy. The pundits told us President Trump would get us into WWIII. Remember? Did anyone expect the President of the USA to walk into North Korea….. after insulting Kim on twitter? Trash-talking….. trolling…… (just like he’s doing with Iran right now?) Wonder why the pundits aren’t talking about “Little Rocket Man”, anymore? Because it worked. Trump was right. Again, the threat was neutralized. President Trump even made Japan and South Korea “Safer Again“…..
Problems in the Middle East would be a likely Black Swan Event. Yet, Trump moved the embassy to Jerusalem, called out the Intel community, reordered NATO, organized and unified the GCC, and wrap your head around it — even Israel and Saudi are working together. The pundits told us President Trump should have gone to Canada or Mexico as his first foreign trip. Remember? They thought he was stupid to go to Saudi, and they made fun of him……. and the power of the ORB.
Amazingly, like cherry-on-top for the foreign policy think tanks, AFTER ISIS was mopped up, President Trump, with all attribution to our intel community and military, removed Soleimani, over the objections of the Dems/media. The MSM told us………. again………. WW3 would break out and Trump was reckless. Shareblue collapsed on Twitter and Hollyweird was ready to move to Canada. Trudeau even blamed TRUMP when Iran shot down the Ukrainian airliner. Again, they were wrong! Now, President Trump is now laser-focused in on Iran.
What’s the over/under on the Mullahs making it to next Christmas?
At the last minute, we received President Trump’s schedule of meetings. Take a look at the highlights. MOAR winning? You think he’s not focused on Iran? Let’s say it out loud….. MAXIMUM PRESSURE.
At @wef in Davos, Pres Trump has meetings scheduled wiht Pres Salih of Iraq, PM Khan of Pakistan, Pres Barzani of Kurdistan Region, et al, says WH.
OUR guy smoked them out, the corrupt rats, the crony politicos who only want jobs for their inept kids, and Team Trump is reworking their bad deals, all over the world.
Get ready though, because our man, Trump, can do two things at one time. The EU is on his horizon, the Allies who have been free-loading for 70yrs. President Trump forced the EU to reveal themselves, gave the people REAL HOPE AND CHANGE. You betcha, Brussels is in trouble and Merkel is looking for an exit. The EU trade deal is next on the agenda, and Britain is on our side. We all know that, right? President Trump is a like a 20 ton boulder dropped in the middle of the EU pond. BOOM!
Let’s not forget those nipping at our heels at home, those who criticize safely from the sidelines after 4 decades of inaction, those who are angry at the possibility of losing their graft or fiefdom. Consider that our President is mildly irked at the Dems impeachment parade in Congress. Once again, the President is on a world stage at Davos and the Dems are doing their best to undermine him and America. Plus, President Trump has to deal with juveniles like Macron, Trudeau, and Merkel, the puppets to the Davos Billionaire Globalists. I’m thinking, their comeuppance will occur forthwith.
Payback is hell…..
Macron knows he’s in trouble and is trying to get ahead.
Does anyone here think the execs at Google, Facebook, and Twitter will intentionally rig the election to stop Trump in 2020? It’s okay, raise your hand. It’s a common fear given the censorship we’ve all endured. Yet, the tech companies CAN’T SCREW OVER PRESIDENT TRUMP. Read the Macron tweet above again – the one about digital taxes. The EU is ready to tax the hell out of our tech companies……. and guess what? TECH NEEDS DADDY TRUMP to help them. President Trump has a hold of them by their billion dollar balls. They cannot escape the EU, and what would obviously lead to every other country in the world taxing them, without a fierce defender like TRUMP. ….. I mean, does anyone think Warren would defend Silicon Valley on a world stage? Make me laugh….
Yeah, Google is screwed. Well played, Mr. President.
Keep in mind, our President specializes in revenge. He has the wind at his back after Congressional approval of USMCA and the Phase One China Deal, President Trump will slay them them in Davos. What a glorious time to be alive! All the efforts to defeat him have failed thus far, and a lesser man would never been able to withstand the pressure. Impeachment will also fail. Fact is, if impeachment was an issue for the finance guys, the market would reflect their concern. Have you noticed? We’re hitting new highs!
“Our economy is the envy of the world.”, President Trump from Battle Creek, Michigan.
Hey, I’m no expert Art Major with a byline at Axios, I just make the blueberry muffins, but I’m thinkin’ payback and a mop-up operation is in the weather forecast for Davos…….
……… along with peace and prosperity.
Note the optics of this week, important for those who don’t follow politics and those few persuadable Independents. LAST WEEK we had Dems impeaching versus President while he delivered on China and USMCA. We had Soleimani and no Iranian war from the week before. THIS WEEK, the President at Davos will take the message of American competence and prosperity to the world.…… versus Dems focusing on impeachment. It’s Trump versus the harpies, and Trump wins on point.
Folks, this is one which will make your heart soar. Please read. Link was sent to me by dear husband, on WordPress, thankful and a deep hat-tip to Don Johnson, and of course, Rabbi Dov Fisher. https://ayearningforpublius.wordpress.com/2020/01/16/everyone-is-smart-except-donald-trump-rabbi-dov-fischer/ Copied here. It was apparently written approximately 18 months into President Trump’s Administration. Would love to see what our dear Rabbi has to say currently.
Get ready to cheer!
Friends and followers. This is well worth the read, which is why I am posting on my blog today. Rabbi Dov Fischer makes good sense. Who is Rabbi Dov Fischer? Rabbi Dov Fischer is an attorney and adjunct professor of law, a Senior Rabbinic Fellow at the Coalition for Jewish Values, congregational rabbi of Young Israel of Orange County, California, and holds prominent leadership roles in several national rabbinic and other Jewish organizations. He has been Chief Articles Editor of UCLA Law Review, clerked for the Hon. Danny J. Boggs in the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit, and served for most of the past decade on the Executive Committee of the Rabbinical Council of America. His writings have appeared in the Weekly Standard, National Review, Wall Street Journal, Los Angeles Times, Jerusalem Post, American Thinker, Frontpage Magazine, and Israel National News. READ ON!
Everyone Is Smart, Except Trump
By Rabbi Dov Fischer
It really is quite simple. Everyone is smart except Donald J. Trump. That’s why they all are billionaires, and all got elected President. Only Trump does not know what he is doing. Only Trump does not know how to negotiate with Vladimir Putin. Anderson Cooper knows how to stand up to Putin. The whole crowd at MSNBC does. All the journalists do.
They could not stand up to Matt Lauer at NBC. They could not stand up to Charlie Rose at CBS. They could not stand up to Mark Halperin at NBC Nor up to Leon Wieseltier at the New Republic, nor Jann Wenner at Rolling Stone, nor Michael Oreskes at NPR, at the New York Times, or at the Associated Press. But — oh, wow! — Can they ever stand up to Putin! Only Trump is incapable of negotiating with the Russian tyrant.
Remember the four years when Anderson Cooper was President of the United States? And before that — when the entire Washington Post editorial staff jointly were elected to be President? Remember? Neither do I.
The Seedier Media have never negotiated life and death, not corporate life and death, and not human life and death. They think they know how to negotiate, but they do not know how. They go to a college, are told by peers that they are smart, get some good grades, proceed to a graduate degree in journalism, and get hired as analysts. Now they are experts, ready to take on Putin and the Iranian Ayatollahs at age 30.
That is not the road to expertise in tough dealing. The alternate path is that, along the way, maybe you get forced into some street fights. Sometimes the other guy wins, and sometimes you beat the intestines out of him. Then you deal with grown-ups as you mature, and you learn that people can be nasty, often after they smile and speak softly. You get cheated a few times, played. And you learn. Maybe you become an attorney litigating multi-million-dollar case matters. Say what you will about attorneys, but those years — not the years in law school, not the years drafting legal memoranda, but the years of meeting face-to-face and confronting opposing counsel — those years can teach a great deal. They can explain how to transition from sweet, gentle, diplomatic negotiating to tough negotiating. At some point, with enough tough-nosed experience, you figure out Trump’s “The Art of the Deal” yourself.
Trump’s voters get him because not only is he we, but we are he. We were not snowed flaked-for-life by effete professors who themselves had never negotiated tough life-or-death serious deals. Instead, we live in the real world, and we know how that works. Not based on social science theories, not based on “conceptual negotiating models.” But based on the people we have met over life and always will hate. That worst boss we ever had. The coworker who tried to sabotage us. We know the sons of bums whom we survived, the dastardly types who are out there, and we learned from those experiences how to deal with them. We won’t have John Kerry soothe us by having James Taylor sing “You’ve Got a Friend” carols.
The Bushes got us into all kinds of messes. The first one killed the economic miracle that Reagan had fashioned. The second one screwed up the Middle East, where Iraq and Iran beautifully were engaged in killing each other for years, and he got us mired into the middle of the muddle. Clinton was too busy with Monica Lewinsky to protect us from Osama bin Laden when we had him in our sights. Hillary gave us Benghazi and more. And Obama and Kerry gave us the Iran Deal, ISIS run amok, America in retreat. All to the daily praise of a media who now attack Trump every minute of every day. So let us understand a few things:
NEGOTIATING WITH NATO
NATO is our friend. They also rip off America. They have been ripping us off forever. We saved their butts — before there even was a NATO — in World War I. They messed up, and 116,456 Americans had to die to save their butts.
Then they messed up again for the next two decades because West Europeans are effete and so obsessed with their class manners and their rules of savoir-faire and their socialist welfare states and their early retirements that they did not have the character to stand up to Hitler in the 1930s. Peace in our time. So they messed up, and we had to save their butts again. And another 405,399 Americans died for them during World War II. And then we had to rebuild them! And we had to station our boys in Germany and all over their blood-stained continent. So, hey, we love those guys. We love NATO.
Nato Leaders. Who is paying their fair share?
And yet they still rip us off. We pay 4% of our gigantic gross domestic product to protect them, and they will not pay a lousy 2% of their GDP towards their own defense. Is there a culture more penny-pinching-cheap-and-stingy than the delicate constituents of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization? These cheap baseborn prigs will not pay their fare. They are too cheap. They expect America to send boys to die for them in one world war, then another — hundreds of thousands — and then to pay for their NATO defense even a century later. And then they have the temerity to cheat us further in trade
Long before Trump, they set up tariffs against us for so many things If the average American knew how badly Europe has been ripping us off for decades with their duties, no one in this country would buy anything European again. We would say, as a matter of self-respect and personal pride, “I no longer will buy anything but American, no matter what it costs.”
Every American President has complained about the cheating and imbalance — the NATO penny-pinching-cheapness, the tariff and trade imbalances. In more recent years, the various Bushes complained about it. Even Obama complained about it. But they all did it so gently, so diplomatically. They would deliver the sermon, just as the pastor predictably tells the church-goers on Sunday morning that he is against sin, and the Europeans would sit quietly and nod their heads — nodding from sleeping, not from agreeing — and then they would go back out and sin some more. Another four years of America being suckered and snookered. All they had to do was give Obama a Nobel Peace Prize his ninth month in office and let Kerry ride his bike around Paris.
So Trump did what any effective negotiator would do: he took note of past approaches to NATO and their failures, and correctly determined that the only way to get these penny-pinching-cheap baseborn prigs to pay their freight would be to bulldoze right into their faces, stare them right in their glazed eyes with cameras rolling, and tell them point-blank the equivalent of:
The Nations of Nato
“You are the cheapest penny-pinching, miserly, stingy, tight wadded skinflints ever. And it is going to stop on my watch. Whatever it takes from my end, you selfish, curmudgeonly cheap prigs, you are going to pay your fair share. I am not being diplomatic. I am being All-Business: either you start to pay or, wow, are you in for some surprises! And you know what you read in the Fake News: I am crazy! I am out of control! So, lemme see. I know: We will go to a trade war! How do you like that? Maybe we even will pull all our troops out of Europe. Hmmm. Yeah, maybe. Why not? Sounds good. Well, let’s see.” So Trump stuffed it into their quiche-and-schnitzel ingesting faces. And he convinced them — thanks to America’s Seedier Media who are the real secret to the “Legend That is Trump” — that he just might be crazy enough to go to a trade war and to pull American boys home. They knew that Clinton and Bush x 2 and Kerry and Hillary and Nobel Laureate Obama never would do it. But they also know that Trump just might. And if they think they are going to find comfort and moderating in his new advisers, John Bolton and Mike Pompeo, alongside him. Nuh-uh.
So CNN and the Washington Post and all the Seedier Media attacked Trump for days: He is destroying the alliance! He attacks our friends!
Baloney. Obama was the one whom the Left Echo Chamber… Chamber… Chamber — never called out for attacking our friends — Israel, Britain, so many others — while cozying up to Hugo Chavez, bowing to dictators, and dancing the tango for Raul Castro. Trump is just the opposite: He knows who the friends are, and he wants to maintain and strengthen those friendships.
It is no different from a parent telling a 35-year-old son: “I have been supporting you for thirty-five years I put you through college by signing four years and $100,000 PLUS in Loans. You graduated college fifteen years ago. For fifteen years I have been asking you nicely to look for a job and to start contributing. Instead, you sit home all day playing video games, texting your friends on a smartphone I pay for, and picking little fuzz balls out of your navel. So, look, I love you. You are my flesh and blood. But if you are not employed and earning a paycheck — and contributing to the cost of this household — in six months, we are throwing you out of the house.” That boy is NATO. Trump is Dad. And all of us have been signing for the PLUS Loans.”
NEGOTIATING WITH PUTIN.
Putin is a bad guy. A really bad guy. He is better than Lenin. Better than Stalin, Khrushchev, Kosygin, Brezhnev, Pol Pot, Mao. But he is a really bad guy.
Here’s the thing: Putin is a dictator. He answers to no one. He does whatever he wants. If there arises an opponent, that guy dies. Maybe the opponent gets poked with a poisoned umbrella. Maybe he gets shot on the street. Maybe the opponent is forced to watch Susan Rice interviews telling the world that Benghazi happened because of a YouTube video seen by nine derelicts in Berkeley and that Bowe Berghdal served with honor and distinction. But, one way or another, the opponent dies.
Trump knows this about Putin. And here is what that means: If you insult Putin in public, like by telling the news media just before or after meeting with him that he is the Butcher of Crimea, and he messed with our elections and is an overall jerk — then you will get nothing behind closed doors from Putin. Putin will decide “To heck with you, and to heck with the relationship we just forged.” Putin will get even, will take intense personal revenge, even if it is bad for Russia — even if it is bad for Putin. Because there are no institutional reins on him.
But if you go in public and tell everyone that Putin is a nice guy (y’know, just like Kim Jong Un) and that Putin intensely maintains that he did not mess with elections — not sweet little Putey Wutey (even though he apparently did) — then you next can maintain the momentum established beforehand in the private room. You can proceed to remind Putin what you told him privately: that this garbage has to stop —or else. That if he messes in Syria, we will do “X.” If he messes with our Iran boycott, we will do “Y.” We will generate so much oil from hydraulic fracturing and from ANWR and from all our sources that we will glut the market — if not tomorrow, then a year from now. We will send even more lethal offensive military weapons to Ukraine. We can restore the promised shield to Eastern Europe that Obama withdrew. And even if we cannot mess with Russian elections (because they have no elections), they do have computers — and, so help us, we will mess with their technology in a way they cannot imagine.
Tump knows from his advisers what we can do. If he sweet-talks Putin in public — just Putin on the Ritz — then everything that Trump has told Putin privately can be reinforced with action, and he even can wedge concessions because, against that background, Putin knows that no one will believe that he made any concessions. Everyone is set to believe that Putin is getting whatever he wants, that Trump understands nothing. In that setting, Putin can make concessions and still save face.
Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin
That is why Trump talks about him that way. And that is the only possible way to do it when negotiating with a tyrant who has no checks and balances on him. If you embarrass the tyrant publicly, then the tyrant never will make concessions because he will fear that people will say he was intimidated and backed down. And that he never will do. Meanwhile, Trump has expelled 60 Russians from America, reversed Obama policy and sent lethal weapons to Ukraine, and is pressing Germany severely on its pipeline project with Russia.
THE BOTTOM LINE
At the end of the day, Donald Trump is over seventy years old. He has made many mistakes in his life. He still makes some He is human. But Trump likewise has spent three score and a dozen years learning. He has seen some of his businesses go bankrupt, and he has learned from those experiences to be a billionaire and not let it happen again. No doubt that he has been fooled, outsmarted in years past. And he has learned from life.
Trump is a tough and smart negotiator. He sizes up his opponent, and he knows that the approach that works best for one is not the same as for another. It does not matter what he says publicly about his negotiating opponent. What matters is what results months later.
In his first eighteen months in Washington, this man has turned around the American economy, brought us near full employment, reduced the welfare and food stamp lines, wiped out ISIS in Raqqa, moved America’s Israel embassy to Jerusalem, successfully has launched massive deregulation of the economy, has opened oil exploration in ANWR, is rebuilding the military massively, has walked out of the useless Paris Climate Accords that were negotiated by America’s amateurs who always get snookered, canned the disastrous Iran Deal, exited the bogus United Nations Human Rights Council. He convinced Canada and Mexico that he would walk out of NAFTA if they didn’t negotiate a new and fair trade agreement (they did), and he has the Europeans convinced he would walk out of NATO if they don’t stop being the cheap and lazy parasitic penny-pinchers they are
He has slashed income taxes, expanded legal protections for college students falsely accused of crimes, has taken real steps to protect religious freedoms and liberties promised in the First Amendment, boldly has taken on the Lyme-disease-quality of a legislative mess that he inherited from Reagan-Bush-Clinton-Bush-Obama on immigration, and has appointed a steady line of remarkably brilliant conservative federal judges to sit on the district courts, the circuit appellate courts, and the Supreme Court.
What has Anderson Cooper achieved during that period? Jim Acosta or the editorial staffs of the New York Times and Washington Post? They have not even found the courage and strength to stand up to the coworkers and celebrities within their orbits who abuse sexually or psychologically or emotionally. They have no accomplishments to compare to his. Just their effete opinions, all echoing each other, all echoing, echoing, echoing. They gave us eight years of Nobel Peace Laureate Obama negotiating with the ISIS JV team, calming the rise of the oceans, and healing the planet.
We will take Trump negotiating with Putin any day.
A bit of good news and fair tidings for you all. The quince bush at our house is in full bloom. Time marches on. Spring is around the corner. It’s time for Mardi Gras, Valentine’s Day, and Easter! Who is sleeping with seed catalogs under their pillow? The guys can be grumpy about spring and pastel flowers but the girls love it.
We don’t believe in political correctness at QTree. You can say what you want, comment on what other people said, and so on. Free Speech is practiced here. ENJOY IT. Use it or lose it. Important Guidelines are outlined here in the January 1st open thread, with an addendum on 20191110. In other words, please keep it SOMEWHAT civil. We have a new board – actually a new SITE – called The U Tree – where people can take each other to the woodshed without fear of censorship or moderation. NOT HERE. This board will remain a REFUGE for those who need civility, either some or all of the time. That’s life at QTreehouse.
SPEAK THE FIVE WORDS BOLDLY TO OUR PRESIDENT!, “I AM PRAYING FOR YOU!“
And remember….. it is time to drain the swamp in DC and LOCALLY. Please make a commitment in the new year to attend a LOCAL board meeting for your town or municipality or school board. Get involved and make your presence known. Put your local officials phone numbers in your cell phone and call them once a week (or more often).
“Our movement is about replacing a failed and corrupt political establishment with a new government controlled by you, the American People.”
Candidate Donald J Trump
Also remember Wheatie’s Rules:
No food fights.
No running with scissors.
If you bring snacks, bring enough for everyone.
The Iowa caucuses are around the corner, USMCA and China Phase 1 are complete, the President is heading to Davos, and campaign season will begin in earnest. We can’t wait! Exciting times.
Prayers for our President, family, and administration members, and prayers for our own patience while dealing with heathens from the left. Bottom line, our President needs your prayers. He needs us now, more than ever before.
How long have we chased “peace in the Middle East”? Probably since long before the USA became a country. President Trump refers to it as the most difficult negotiation of all time. Is it possible that we could be close to peace? Could it be?
Oil exports are effectively “zero” (yeah, a few smugglers but Iran is self-reported as effectively zero oil exports).
Inflation within Iran is 40%.
Iranian median income is at point for bare subsistence, can’t go any lower (they cannot survive another year of American sanctions)
25% unemployment for those under age 30 (highest demo) and college educated unemployment is higher than tradesmen (smart people with time on their hands)
An Ayatollah who is 80yrs old, with Soleimani dead, and who just had to admit the Iranians mistakenly shot down a Ukrainian airliner…. just weeks after they killed over 1,000 protesters and imprisoned thousands more.
The Prime Minister in Baghdad, Iraq, who was pro-Iranian, announced his resignation (because the Iraqis protested corruption within the government), effective end of January (which is why the USA is not listening to his requests to withdraw from the country).
Yeah, it’s ugly in Iran. Yet, as we all know, leaders can rally domestic support against a common enemy. For instance, President Trump can rally farmers against China’s aggression and targeting of American farmers during trade negotiations. Likewise, NORMALLY, Iran has been able to rally domestic support against the USA and Israel……… but a funny thing happened on the way to the Baghdad airport.
We’re seeing a change in sentiment…… Some of the Iranians are talking about a period of darkness, the past 40yrs, and moving to the light…….
#Iranians sang the true national anthem in Gorgan yesterday. Expect the true anthem to be heard across #Iran as the country emerges from 40 years of darkness. pic.twitter.com/viw4ByOyMc
After the death of Soleimani, a three day mourning period was carefully orchestrated. While publicly staged demonstrations, designed for western media, showed an outpouring of loss and support for Soleimani, very quickly, we learned the opposite was true.
Back in November, protests inside Iran were met with brutal force. Local citizens saw the leader of the intensely brutal police/security forces as ………. Soleimani.
Soleimani was not universally loved. Ahwazis were forced to mourn Soleimani and mad about it. They set fire to billboards honoring him. https://www.dusc.org/en/article/5151
Then, President Trump issued the famous Farsi tweets from January 12th, supporting the people of Iran in admiration of their “courage”.
مشاور امنیت ملی امروز عنوان کرد كه تحریم ها و اعتراضات، ایران را«به شدت تحت فشار»قرار داده است و آنها را مجبور به مذاكره می كند.در واقع، اصلا برایم اهمیتی نداردکه آیا آنها مذاکره می کنند یا نه.این کاملاً به عهده ی خودشان است، اما سلاح هسته ای نداشته باشیدو«معترضان خود را نکشید.» https://t.co/DBGGs8QFcJ
خطاب به رهبران ايران: معترضان خود را نكشيد. هزاران تن تاكنون به دست شما كشته يا زنداني شده اند، و جهان نظاره گر است. مهمتر از ان، ايالات متحده نظاره گر است. اينترنت را دوباره وصل كنيد و به خبرنگاران اجازه دهيد ازادانه حركت كنند! كشتار مردم بزرگ ايران را متوقف كنيد! https://t.co/rzpx3Nfn03
As Scott Adams pointed out, if anyone was worried about meddling in the affairs of another country, let alone an election, this is meddling in a serious way. And we all approve. The media hasn’t even checked up to notice or condemn. Plus, President Trump is winning the persuasion argument. When Iranian students go out of their way to avoid stepping on an American flag, it’s a sea change.
It didn’t happen in just one place, either.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OBWmJq33GOg
You have to wonder about a regime who paints flags of foreign nations on the ground to condition their citizens to trample said flags. Pretty weird.
Yet, the Iranian Mullahs are not quite ready to slip the mask just yet. Remember how President Trump had to wear down the Panda of China? It takes a while. Here, we are seeing what may be the Mullahs last gasps……… in paid-for-support.
80k Iraqis in the pro-#Iran militias in #Iraq, receive between $1.2 and $1.6 billion a year from Iraqi government. On January 25, they'll hold a "million man" rally to demand withdrawal of US troops. Now you know who the protesters will be. #MSM will depict them as average Iraqis
If Iran or the USA Dems/media can convince the US military to leave Iraq NOW, then Iran gain control of Iraq, something they could not do during the 8yr war. While all of us want to bring our men/women home from Iraq, this is not the right time. We’re so close.
Strangely, the UK, France and Germany notified Iran of new UN Sanctions for their violation of the JCPOA. Wut? Didn’t the press tell us that all the EU leaders hated and mocked our President? Yet, they’re doing what we want them to do? How did that happen?
And……… look at where the President’s support is coming from on Iran. He has record numbers of approval for Republicans, the Gulf Council is behind him, the Iraqi people are behind him and want Iran OUT, the UN is now behind him, Russia and China have not uttered a word of condemnation about killing Soleimani (which means they like the idea), and now……… the young Iranian people are shifting sentiment.
The only people opposed to Middle East peace are the Mullahs, Obama leftovers, and the Dems/Press Corps. Gosh, if peace broke out, we would have to hospitalize John Kerry and his minions.
We’re closer than we think. Wrap your head around the idea.
Accumulation of activity in the Congress. Note the contrast between Nancy’s pressers versus President Trump pressers. Nancy signing ceremony on impeachment, passing out pens, versus Trump signing an historic China Trade Deal.
Compare and Contrast:
Nancy’s signing ceremony will be placed here when available:
Never forget what we saw today. One side building, another bent on destruction:
It’s a big deal. Here we go. We will update with clips as we go through the day, trying to keep everything organized, including the 86 page deal and transcripts when released.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UsyX36F_3hc
No tariffs will be lifted until Phase Two.
The econ and biz sector folks are celebrating like it’s Christmas.
Just arrived in DC, huge historic day. In 1hr, @realDonaldTrump and his trade team sign Phase One of the US/China trade deal. @ClamanCountdown LIVE on the north lawn 3pET w/ @POTUS’ top Econ adviser Larry Kudlow, DVR it, don’t miss it! pic.twitter.com/qE7C7CKvb2
PRESIDENT TRUMP: Thank you very much. Please. We greatly appreciate your joining us at this White House event. This is a very important and remarkable occasion.
Today, we take a momentous step — one that has never been taken before with China — toward a future of fair and reciprocal trade, as we sign phase one of the historic trade deal between the United States and China. Together, we are righting the wrongs of the past and delivering a future of economic justice and security for American workers, farmers, and families.
I want to thank President Xi, who is watching as we speak — and I’ll be going over to China in the not-too-distant future to reciprocate — but I want to thank President Xi, a very, very good friend of mine. We’ve — we’re representing different countries. He’s representing China. I’m representing the U.S. But we’ve developed an incredible relationship. But I want to thank him for his cooperation and partnership throughout this very complex process. Our negotiations were tough, honest, open, and respectful — leading us to this really incredible breakthrough. Most people thought this could never happen. It should have happened 25 years ago, by the way. But that’s okay.
A man who also has become a good friend of mine and somebody who’s very, very talented and very capable, we’re delighted to be joined by Vice Premier Liu He, Ambassador Cui, and many other representatives from the People’s Republic of China.
We are especially proud of the efforts of Vice President Mike Pence, who is with us. And, Mike, I’d like to have you say a few words, please.
VICE PRESIDENT PENCE: Thank you, Mr. President. It’s an honor to be here with you, with Vice Premier Liu He, with our Treasury Secretary, with Ambassador Lighthizer, and with so many distinguished guests, members of Congress, and governors from around the country. This is a good day for America, China, and the world. And it’s an honor to be with you.
Mr. President, we gather here today, thanks to your leadership, at a time that the American economy is booming. With the strong support of members of Congress who are gathered here, we are now experiencing an economy that’s created more than 7 million jobs. The unemployment rate is at a 50-year low. The average American’s household income has risen by more than $5,000. That’s all a result of your commitment to cut taxes, roll back regulation, unleash American energy. But it also reflects your commitment to free, fair, and reciprocal trade.
Early in this administration, you made it clear that the era of economic surrender was over. And you took a strong stand for American jobs and American workers. You said to our friends in China that things had to change. And thanks to your leadership, today the change begins. (Applause.)
Thanks to your efforts, Mr. President, we announced today great progress on protecting intellectual property, on preventing forced technology transfer and currency manipulation. And I know it means so much to you — the greatest impact may well be on American agriculture. Some $40- to $50 billion in purchases secured in this deal that will result in greater prosperity for farmers all across the land.
And, Mr. President, your commitment to a growing and prosperous America has been the centerpiece of your leadership. And today, with the signing of phase one, it’s one more example of your commitment to put American jobs and American workers first. And we recognize, as you do, Mr. President, that differences will remain between our two nations. But today is the start of a new chapter in trade relation between the two largest economies in the world.
But I can assure the American people that this President will continue to stand firm and put America first, even as we forge a more productive relationship with China and with the world.
Mr. President, you know there’s an ancient Chinese proverb that says, “Men see only the present, but Heaven sees the future.” So let today be the beginning of a brighter future, more prosperous for the American people, the Chinese people, and the world. Thank you, Mr. President. (Applause.)
PRESIDENT TRUMP: Thank you, Mike. An incredible job. Incredible guy.
I also want to give special thanks to our U.S. Trade Representative, who’s been kept very busy. (Laughter.) He’s doing a lot of deals. We’ll have another big one next week. It should get approved very shortly, and that’ll be tremendous, with Canada and Mexico. But we’ll talk about that next week.
But Robert Lighthizer — are we keeping you busy enough? Huh? Poor guy can’t sleep. He tosses and turns. What happened to him?
AMBASSADOR LIGHTHIZER: Here. I’m sorry. That was dropped. And —
PRESIDENT TRUMP: Oh, okay. Thanks.
AMBASSADOR LIGHTHIZER: I’m all purpose. (Laughter.)
PRESIDENT TRUMP: Mike. Mike. Mike said — that’s right, you are all-purpose, come to think. (Laughter.)
But Bob Lighthizer is really an outstanding guy. He gets along with people. He’s smart, he’s sharp. And he understands trade better than anybody. When I first took this, I said, “I got to get the best guy.” And all signs pointed to Robert Lighthizer. So thank you very much, Bob. Thank you very much. (Applause.)
I have one question: Was this an easier job or a tougher job than you thought?
AMBASSADOR LIGHTHIZER: It was tougher than I thought. (Laughter.)
PRESIDENT TRUMP: I had a feeling you might say that. Also, our great Treasury Secretary, Steven Mnuchin, has worked with Bob hand in hand. And thank you very much, Steve. Great job. (Applause.)
So this really is a landmark agreement. But along with them, we had the exceptional efforts of Jared Kushner. Where is Jared? Where is Jared? (Applause.) Our brilliant Jared. Great job, Jared. He worked hard. He left a beautiful, nice, very prosperous real estate business, and came here. And, I can tell you, that was harder. This is harder than real estate in New York, isn’t it, Jared? Right?
MR. KUSHNER: A lot harder.
PRESIDENT TRUMP: But you’ve done a fantastic job. You don’t get people like that. So thank you very much. And, Ivanka, nice to have you here. Thank you, honey.
Also somebody that I’ve heard for 35 years. His voice is just — a great gentleman, a friend of mine, but a great gentleman. We brought him in and he has been outstanding. The only problem is he doesn’t like going on television very much. He’s a little bit shy about that. Larry Kudlow. Where’s Larry? (Applause.) Where is Larry?
We had a day where the market went down $1 trillion. Think of that. In other words, it was one of those few days, because we’ve had 141 days where we hit all-time highs. And we just broke — as you know, we just broke the 29,000 mark on the Dow, just now, as we were walking in. The market is up substantially today. (Applause.) We have all these business leaders. I’m sure they don’t care.
But Larry Kudlow went out into the beautiful lawns of the White House. Actually, he was standing in the middle of the Rose Garden. He had a beautiful scarf waving in the wind. He was everything perfect, right out of Greenwich, Connecticut. (Laughter.) And he started talking. And by the time he finished, I said, “You just made a trillion dollars. A trillion.” (Laughter.) Because the market went up like 250 points. I said, “Larry, what the hell did you say?” (Laughter.) And it didn’t matter. But we were even. We went from being a trillion down to even, and that was pretty good.
Larry, you’ve been fantastic. Thank you very much. Appreciate it. (Applause.)
And, by the way, I just see in the audience our great Ambassador to China, right? Governor. So we had the governor of Iowa, and he loves China. And he’s the long- — you’re the longest-serving governor in the history of our country. Like 24 years. And I called him. I said, “Governor, you have to do me a favor.” Because I remember one conversation I had with him. I was going in to make a speech, before the election, and he said, “Sir, please don’t say anything bad about China.” It’s the first time anyone ever said that to me. (Laughter.) And I said, “Who is this guy?” He’s the governor of Iowa. He just said, “Don’t say bad about China.” So I had to rip up about half of my speech, right? (Laughter.)
And I said, “Why?” And he said, “Well, we do a lot of business. I’ve been dealing with China for 35 years, with corn and all of the different things.” And he told me a story that was amazing. He said, “You know, 35 years ago, when I started, I met a man named Xi. He wasn’t President then; he was a young man.” And the governor came back. He told his wife, he said — this is 35 years ago. And it’s documented. He said, “I just met the future President of China.”
And nobody thought much about it. And you know what? Twenty-eight years later, you turned out to be right. And you have been an incredible ambassador. And they like each other so much. So when it came time to picking the important position of ambassador, I said, “Haven’t you had enough after 24 years being governor of Iowa?” He said, “If you want me to do that.” And it’s been a great — you’ve been a great help. Thank you very much, Ambassador. (Applause.) I appreciate it. Done a great job. Nobody could have done that job better.
A man — I think I can go on the opposite side of the spectrum, perhaps, from the governor. His attitude is a little different. Our trade advisor, Peter Navarro. (Laughter.) Right, Peter? He’s a little different. We have all types. We have all types.
A Deputy Chief of Staff, Chris Liddell, who’s been with us for a long time, and he’s done a fantastic job and had a great business career.
Commerce Secretary — a legend on Wall Street — Wilbur Ross. (Applause.) Where’s Wilbur? Thank you. Wilbur, thank you.
A man who knows agriculture as well as anybody in the world. We were looking for an agricultural person, and we wanted to go political, and we were looking for somebody that would fit perfectly. And Sonny came in, and it was over. I learned more in that half hour about agriculture than I — Joni, right? — than I could ever have learned, possibly. Sonny Perdue has been incredible. And we’re taking care of our farmers — that, I can tell you. (Applause.) So, Sonny, thank you very much. Great job. Thank you. Thank you, Sonny.
And a woman — transportation is going very well. She’s done an incredible job. We’re getting approvals down now from 20 years — 21 years to 2 years. And it may get rejected for environmental or other reasons. But we have it, Lindsey, down to about two years. A highway which would have taken 19 to 20 years to get approval, we have it down to 2. And we want to get it down to one. And if it doesn’t work, we’re going to say, “You don’t build it.” But you’re not going to wait 22 years to find out you can’t build the highway.
And she has been fantastic: Secretary of Transportation Elaine Chao. (Applause.) Thank you, Elaine. Thank you, Elaine.
So we have tremendous numbers of people here, and I’m saying, “Do I introduce them?” But I think I sort of should because what the hell. This is a big celebration. And, by the way, some of the congressmen may have a vote, and I don’t — it’s on the impeachment hoax. So, if you want, you go out and vote. (Laughter.) I’d rather have (inaudible) — it’s not going to matter, because it’s gone very well. (Laughter.) But I’d rather have you voting than sitting here, listening to me introduce you, okay? (Laughter.)
They have a hoax going on over there. Let’s take care of it. So, if any of you guys want to leave, we will not be — where is Kevin McCarthy? The great Kevin McCarthy.
AUDIENCE MEMBER: (Inaudible.)
PRESIDENT TRUMP: Okay, good. I’m glad. (Laughter.) Can I be honest? (Laughter.) I’m glad. I like it much better that way. And, by — the House folks, 195 to nothing. And we got three Democrats, and one of them actually left the Democratic Party, came over Republican. And what a job you’ve done. So I just want to thank you all. Really tough. I love that.
So we have some incredible people in the audience, and I’d just like to introduce a few — a very good friend of mine — two very good friends of mine: Sheldon Adelson, Miriam Adelson. Thank you very much, both, for coming. They’ve been tremendous supporters of us — (applause) — and the Republican Party. And they’re great people.
A man who always liked me — because he’s smart, so smart — (laughter) — the great Lou Dobbs. You know, at first, he said, “He’s the best since Reagan.” Then, he got to know me more and more, and he said, “He’s even better than Reagan.” (Laughter.) Then, a few weeks ago, somebody told me — and I watch all the time, but somebody has got a very important show, actually. Tremendous audience and very — everybody in this room watches.
But Lou Dobbs, he said, “He’s the greatest of them all.” I said, “Does that include Washington and Lincoln?” (Laughter.) And he said yes. Now, I don’t know if he was for real, but that’s okay. But the great — he is — the great Lou Dobbs. Thank you very much, Lou. (Applause.) Thank you. Great show, Lou.
And a man who everybody knows — he knows more than probably everybody in this room put together. He’s seen it all. And he made a statement to Jared. Jared came in and said, “You know, Henry Kissinger told me, ‘How did the President ever pull this off?'” I said, “Can I quote Henry on that?” Because Henry is outstanding. And when Henry is impressed with something, then I’m impressed. And, Henry, we’re impressed with you. Thank you very much for being here. (Applause.) Thank you, Henry. Thank you.
And, Michael Pillsbury, thank you very much. And, Susan Pillsbury, thank you very much. And you’ve been saying some fantastic things about China and about us. And we have a good partnership. This is going to be something that’s going to be very special. We’re going to talk about it in a second.
A friend of mine, Steve Schwarzman, is here. Steve, I know you have no interest in this deal at all. (Applause.) I’m surprised you’re not actually sitting over here on the ledge of the stage as opposed to — but Steve has done a great job and very good relationship with China and very good relationship with us.
Nelson Peltz is here, a friend of mine. Where’s Nelson? Nelson is around here someplace. Hi, Nelson. What are you doing sitting all the way back there, Nelson?
MR. PELTZ: (Inaudible.) (Laughter.)
PRESIDENT TRUMP: How’s General Electric doing, Nels? He’ll straighten it out. You’ll straighten it out. He came in nice and late. (Laughs.) He didn’t get in too early, that’s for sure.
Hank Greenberg is here. Hank. If they took care of Hank, they wouldn’t have had the problems that they had. Where’s Hank? Hank Greenberg. (Applause.) Oh, Hank. If Hank stayed there like he should have, you wouldn’t have had the problem that you ended up having with our economy. But it’s great to have you, Hank. Thank you very much.
We have some tremendous senators here and some really incredible people. And I want to just say, the ones that are here, if I miss your name, stand up and I will promise to say it, because a lot of people wanted to be here.
A senator who has been new to the game, and he took it up so quickly and so easily, and he ran a race that was undoable. The person he ran against was unbeatable. Nice woman, Heidi, but unbeatable. And then Kevin Cramer said, “I can beat her.” And I think he only won by about 12 points, right? And they say he’s the only man in North Dakota that can win. And I said, “We’ll do it.” And I had him in my office three times and I said, “Kevin, you got to do it.” And I said, “He’s doing it.” And he turned me down. (Laughter.) Then he came back again — well, this time, I know he’s doing it. He calls me back and he said, “Sir, I’m not going to do it.” He said, “You know, in all fairness, I’ll call you back.” But I never give up, do I? So now, instead of being a congressman, he’s a senator. And you’ve been great. And thank you very much. Kevin Cramer. (Applause.)
Mike Crapo, a friend of mine. These are all warriors. These are — incredible. Mike — thank you very much, Mike. What a job you do. Mike is one of those guys — goes unsung, but behind the scenes, there’s nobody sharper, smarter, and we all respect you and love you. Every one of these people. Thank you very much, Mike. Appreciate it.
Steve Daines. Same thing I can say for my Steve. And he’s got a hell of a football team. How did they do this year? All right? They going to be back? They won it again? They have a good team. They have a good team.
Joni Ernst. You got ethanol, so you can’t be complaining, right? (Laughter.) Steve — (laughs) — Steve, that’s good for you too.
You know, Joni would call me, along with Chuck Grassley; they’d call as a tandem. You can’t beat the two of them. All they want to know about is ethanol. Ethanol. But we got it done.
Deb Fischer — same boat, right, Deb? You want that ethanol for Nebraska.
And a friend of mine, Lindsey Graham. He’s become a great friend of mine and he’s an outstanding man. He loves our country. He really does love our country. He works like hell. Do you do anything other than politics?
SENATOR GRAHAM: Golf.
PRESIDENT TRUMP: He’s likes golf, too. He likes golf too. Much better golfer than people would understand. He likes golf. But he’s a great guy. You get it done. He brings people together.
Chuck Grassley. Where’s Chuck? Where’s Chuck? Chuck. Will you stand up for a second? This guy is the toughest guy. He can say something in a nice manner and everybody is afraid. Right? (Laughter.) He made Comey choke during the hearing. He said, “Did you leak anything to the press?” “What? What? What? What?” Comey choked like a dog, and he was being nice when he said it.
Chuck is outstanding. Unbeatable — between you and the governor, those are two pretty good ones, right? Unbeatable under any circumstance. He makes the rounds like virtually every night. I think you still have never missed a vote. Have you ever missed a vote? He was — Chuck was — huh?
SENATOR GRASSLEY: Since 1993.
PRESIDENT TRUMP: Ninety-three. He was in my office a month ago, and I thought it was very rude. He said, “Sir, I’m sorry, I have to leave.” “Why?” That was right in the middle of a meeting. I said, “Why?” He said, “Because I have to vote and I’ve never missed a vote” or some- — I said, “How many years?” He said, “1993.” That’s a long time. I said, “You know what? Go leave. That’s a good record to keep.” Because he’s a solid, reliable, unbelievable person, and he’s a friend of mine. So thank you very much, Chuck. (Applause.)
And let them know also about that ethanol, Chuck. We brought home the ethanol. Man, when you have those two calling — they were not nice about it, Jerry Moran. I want to tell you — where’s Jerry? Jerry, they were not nice about the ethanol. I want to say that.
And Jerry, with what he did with — we’re working together — very closely together with the vets. And it’s incredible what’s happened with what we approved on Choice. It’s made a whole big difference. You don’t hear complaints about the VA anymore. Do you notice? They go out, see a doctor. If they have to wait two months, or if they have to wait two days, they go out and see a doctor. Jerry Moran, folks. He did a fantastic job. (Applause.)
Rob Portman, great friend of ours from Ohio. Rob, fantastic job. I just left Ohio. They love you. They love you there, and you’ve done a fantastic job. And you are my friend. Rob Portman. (Applause.) Thanks, Rob.
Pat Roberts. A man from Kansas, who is going to be leaving us. I cannot believe that you’re not running again. You have at least — at least another 12 good, solid years in the Senate if you wanted them. You have to do it. You’re sure, right? Okay. He’s made that decision. But, Pat, thank you very much. And this is very important to Pat and to Mike Rounds, because what’s happened here, if you look, it’s so much about everything you stand for, especially the farmers. And the farmers are going to be so happy.
Where is Mike Rounds? Mike? Mike? Stand up, Mike. He’s another one. He was brutal to me. He would call: “I got to get this done. You got to get it done.” Right? Thank you very much, Mike. Fantastic job.
And Dan Sullivan, from the great state of Alaska. And I stop there every time I can, right? And I won by a lot. They like me in Alaska, right? But they like you too, Dan. And thank you very much.
Kevin McCarthy, as you know, left for the hoax. (Laughter.) Well, we have to do that, otherwise it becomes a more serious hoax. And Mark Meadows is a friend of mine, right from the beginning. Thank you, Mark, very much. Special guy. Special friend. Great wife, too. His wife actually supported me long before him, but he thinks I don’t know that. (Laughter.) She went on “Women for Trump,” when it wasn’t so fashionable. Like, on the worst day of my life, she was doing “Women for Trump” tours with 50 women on buses all over the great state of North Carolina. She’s fantastic.
Vern Buchanan. Thank you very much. Thank you, Vern. Great job you’ve done.
Mike Conaway. Thanks, Mike. Thank you, Mike.
By the way, Kristi, thank you for being here. I didn’t know you were going to be here. Thank you. Stand up. We’re going to do a big fireworks display, right? Mount Rushmore. We’re going over — I think I’m going to try and be there on July 4th.
So, the governor called. She ran a great race, a tough race. That was a tough competitor you had, right? A big star. And — but she was a bigger star, it turned out, Lindsey. But she said, “Do you think we can get fireworks back at Mount Rushmore?” I said, “Why?” They haven’t been there for — like for 20 years. I said, “Why?” “Environmental reasons.” I said, “You mean you can’t have fireworks because of the environment?” “Yeah, environmental reasons.” I said, “What can burn? It’s stone.” You know, it’s stone. It’s granite. (Laughter.)
So nobody knew why; they just said, “Environmental reasons.” So I called up our people. And within about 15 minutes, we got it approved, and you’re going to have your first big fireworks display at Mount Rushmore, and I’ll try and get out there if I can. (Applause.) Okay? Right? That’ll be great. Thank you very much for being here. Thanks, Kristi.
Mike Kelly. Where’s Mike? Mike, thank you very much, Mike. What a friend.
Drew Ferguson. What a friend. These are great people, I’m telling you.
Darin LaHood. Darin. Thank you very much, Darin. Great job.
Michael McCaul. You did a phenomenal job three, four days ago, Mike, with your speech on the floor. That was incredible. Very inspiring.
Patrick McHenry. He’s a — number one, he’s a great guy. And number two, he’s got the best name in politics. If I had that name, I would have won 20 years ago. (Laughter.) Patrick McHenry.
A man who’s got such courage — honestly, he deserves a medal. He’ll probably get one. We still have to win to get medals though, right? We can’t give medals if we don’t win. But this guy has never lost in his life. He is so tough and so smart. Devin Nunes. Thank you. Stand up, Devin. Everybody knows him. (Applause.)
What they put him through — (applause) — what these phony people, what these dirty cops and all of the others put you through — and, man, you survived it better than ever, and everyone respects you. And even Meadows respects you, and he respects very few people. (Laughter.) So, thank you, Devin, very much. Great job.
Adrian Smith. Thank you, Adrian. Thank you very much. And don’t feel — again, you guys are all set. I’ve introduced you — not much more for you, but you know. But you’re going to hear some great things about China, and you’re going to hear some also great things now because we have a who’s who of the world of business with us today.
David Abney, of UPS. David? Where are you, David? You can stand up, if anybody wants to. If you don’t want it — you know, if your company is not doing well, you may not want to stand up. (Laughter.) But UPS is doing very well. There will be a couple that will just sort of slink back into their chair. They’ll pretend they’re not here. Thank you, David. Great job you’ve done.
Darius Adamczyk, of Honeywell. A great company. Thank you very much. Great equipment you make. I have a lot of it. I use a lot of it, and the country uses a lot of it.
Ajay Banga, of Mastercard. Thank, Ajay. Fantastic job.
Josh Bolten, Business Roundtable. Thank you, Josh. Great job.
David Calhoun. He’s got a very easy company to run. He just took over Boeing. Where’s David? David. Where’s David?
MR. CALHOUN: Right here.
PRESIDENT TRUMP: Stand up, David. See, he didn’t want to stand. Let me tell you: It’s not your fault. You just got there. (Laughter.) You’ll straighten it out quickly, please.
MR. CALHOUN: We will.
PRESIDENT TRUMP: Okay. I have no doubt. It’s a great company.
Les Daniels, USTR, ACTPN. Okay?
Dan DiMicco. We’ve been fighting the steel things for 20 years together, Dan. I’d like to say “30,” but I don’t want to do that. Right? We’ve been fighting together for a lot longer than 20 years on the —
MR. DIMICCO: We’re winning.
PRESIDENT TRUMP: And now we’re winning. Finally. It took 25, 30 years. It took a little change at the top, didn’t it? But you’ve been a warrior for — for getting really taken advantage of as a country. And you’ve been a warrior, and I appreciate it. Right from the beginning, Dan and I — we — it was a fight of two people against the world.
Tom Donohue, U.S. Chamber of Commerce. And that’s — where’s Tom? Thank you, Tom. Great job.
Brian Duperreault, of AIG. Do you know that company, Hank? AIG. Did you ever hear of AIG, Hank Greenberg? Thank you very much. I appreciate it, Brian.
Mary Erdoes, JPMorgan Chase. They just announced earnings, and they were incredible. Where — where are you? They were very substantial. Will you say, “Thank you, Mr. President” at least? Huh? (Laughter.) I made a lot of bankers look very good. But you’re doing a great job. Say hello to Jamie. I think we’re seeing him tomorrow.
Nancy Falotico, of Ford. Nancy, where are you? Hi, Nancy. So young. So young. That’s very impressive. Thank you very much. You’re doing a good job.
Jim Fitterling, Dow Chemical. Incredible company. Jim. Thank you, Jim.
Jack Fusco, Cheniere. Jack, thank you. Great.
Meg Gentle, Tellurian. Where are you? Hi. Congratulations.
Ken Griffin, Citadel. What a guy he is. Where are you, Ken? Where the hell is he? He’s trying to hide some of his money. Look, he doesn’t want to stand up. Where the hell is Ken? See, Steve, you’ll stand, and he’s very quiet about it. He’s in here someplace; he just doesn’t want to stand.
Harold Hamm. He puts a straw into the ground, and oil pours out. (Laughter.) It’s true. Other guys spend billions and billions of dollars; they can’t find oil. This guy takes a straw, he goes like this, and oil pops up. Harold, my friend. He’s been with me from the beginning. Right, Harold? He was with me from the day I came down the escalator with our First Lady.
By the way, do I see John Thune in this audience? John — how the hell do I not introduce John? They didn’t have your name down. I can’t believe it. Will you stand up? What a great guy he is. (Applause.)
VICE PRESIDENT PENCE: Kevin Brady and Shelley Moore Capito.
PRESIDENT TRUMP: I also see Kevin Brady. Thanks, Kevin. Great job on the tax cuts.
Al Kelly, Visa. Al Kelly. Al Kelly, thank you.
Ryan Lance, ConocoPhillips. Ryan, great. You’re doing fantastically well.
Most of you, I can say, you’re doing fantastically well. “Thank you, Mr. President.” (Laughter.) Don’t worry about it. Don’t feel guilty.
Alan MacDonald, Citibank. Citibank. (Applause.) Good. Boy, you brought that back so far. I remember seven, eight years ago. But Citibank is doing fantastically well.
Raymond McDaniel, Moody’s. Good. Are you giving us good ratings, Raymond, please? Okay? We’re doing pretty good, right?
Sanjay Mehrotra, of Micron. Incredible company, the job you’re doing. Sanjay. Thank you, Sanjay, very much.
Steve Mollenkopf, Qualcomm. They had a merger going, and I said they should let that merger go by. I called up President Xi, and I — they rejected it. Remember? And then they accepted it. By that time, you were off to another deal. You didn’t even want it. But nobody else could have done that, right? But you could have had it.
Jim Morrison, of Jeep. What a great brand Jeep is. What a job they’ve done. That is a great brand. And congratulations.
Larry Nichols, Devon Energy. Larry? Larry. Thank you, Larry. Great job. These are great people.
Jason Oxman, ITI. Jason, thank you. Great job you’re doing.
Scott Schenkel, eBay. I sign things, and the next night, I see them on eBay. They’re sold. (Laughter.) They’re sold for a lot of money. I said, “Sir, could I have you just — would you sign my sneaker?” “Yes.” Then, two nights later, I see it on eBay, selling for $5,000. I say, “What kind of people are these, Lindsey?” Terrible. (Laughter.) Sometimes it’s the senators and the congressmen that do it. That’s — (laughter).
Gary Shapiro, CTA. Gary. Great job, Gary.
Greg Smith, of Boeing, also. And, Greg, get that going. Work together. Get it going. You know, Boeing makes a tremendous portion of our GDP. I had no idea it was such a big company. It was — I mean, I know it was big, but it could have up to a half a point of GDP. Some people say even more. So we’ve got to get that one moving fast, and it’s going to be better than ever, I think.
Mike Sommers, API. Mike? Thank you, Mike.
Paul Taylor, of Fitch. That’s another good ratings group. Are we doing okay at Fitch? Good. Otherwise, I wouldn’t have introduced you, if I thought — (laughter).
Robert [DEL: Thornson :DEL] [Thomson], News Corp. Where’s Rupert? Is Rupert not here? I can’t believe Rupert is not here. Is he the greatest though, or what? He was going to get $40 billion for his thing. He sold all the stuff he didn’t want. He sold it to some group that doesn’t like Trump as much; that’s the only problem. But he was going to get $40 billion, and he said, “I don’t know, they keep bidding this thing up.” They end up paying what? Seventy-five billion? And he kept the best stuff. So Rupert is doing right, huh? Rupert is fantastic, and that whole family is just a great family. So say hello, Robert.
And John Thornton. Oh, John. Where’s John? Where’s John? John is great. Good job, John. (Applause.) Thank you for all the help, too. Great job, John.
Jay Timmons, NAM. Jay, thank you very much. Thanks, Jay.
Stephen Vaughn, King and Spalding. Stephen. King and Spalding. I could use some good legal advice. Do you have some good lawyers over there? I could use some good lawyers, right? Ah, to hell with it. I just have to suffer through it the way I have all my life. (Laughter.) Somewhere along the line, they must be pretty good, right?
Jonathan Ward, Atlas Organization. Jonathan, thank you. Great job you’ve done.
Kevin Warsh. Kevin. Where’s Kevin? I don’t know, Kevin. I could have used you a little bit here. Why weren’t you more forceful when you wanted that job? Why weren’t you more forceful, Kevin? You’re a forceful person. In fact, I thought you were too forceful, maybe, for the job. And I would have been very happy with you.
But, Kevin, thank you for being here. You understand that very well, right? It bothers me when Germany and other countries are getting paid to borrow money. This is one — I don’t know where that all leads, but we have to pay. We’re the number one in the world, by far, and we have to pay for our money. Our interest rates are set high by the Fed. Our dollar is very high, and — relatively speaking. But when other countries get — literally, they’re under. They have negative rates — meaning, they’re under. They get paid. I love this. This concept is incredible. Again, you don’t know where the hell it leads. But you borrow money, and when you have to pay it back, they pay you. This is one that I like very much. And I’m going to talk to you about that, Lou Dobbs.
So we’re set at two. Tell me, why are we paying and other countries are getting money when they get paid back? I really want to know: Who are the people that buy this stuff? Who puts money into something when they say, “This is a guaranteed loss”? But that’s a whole different group of people than I know.
Glenn Youngkin, of Carlyle. Carlyle Group. Great group.
So, for decades, American workers, farmers, ranchers, manufacturers, and innovators have been hurt by the unfair trade with China. Forced technology transfer and intellectual property theft have been huge problems. Since China joined the World Trade Organization two decades ago, we have racked up nearly $5 trillion — the Vice Premier, I hope he’s not listening to this — (laughter) — in trade deficits, lost millions and millions of manufacturing jobs, and saw tens of thousands of factories close. And that had to do, also, with Mexico, and, to an extent, Canada.
What they did to this country with trade and trade deals — NAFTA. We had no deal with China. I mean, we had no deal. And it was like just easy pickings.
For years, politicians ran for office, promising action to remedy these practices, only to do nothing but allow them to continue. And it was pillage.
As a candidate for President, I vowed strong action. It’s probably the biggest reason why I ran for President, because I saw it for so many years. And I said, “How come nobody is doing something about it?” In the meantime, immigration, and building our military — also important. But that’s probably the biggest reason.
In June of 2016, in the great state of Pennsylvania, I promised that I would use every lawful presidential power to protect Americans from unfair trade and unfair trade practices. Unlike those who came before me, I kept my promise. They didn’t promise too hard but — (applause) — they didn’t do anything. And I actually think I more than kept my promise.
Now our efforts have yielded a transformative deal that will bring tremendous benefits to both countries. We have a great relationship with China, we have a great relationship with the leadership of China, and China fully understands that there has to be a certain reciprocity. There has to be. It cannot continue like this. It would be dangerous for it to continue like it was.
The agreement we signed today includes groundbreaking provisions in an area of critical importance to the United States: protecting intellectual property. So the deal you’re seeing today is a much bigger deal than — we have it very much guarded. They asked one of our Democratic — Cryin’ Chuck Schumer — “What do you think of the deal?” — two weeks ago. He had no idea what the deal was. Never saw the deal; it’s totally guarded.
“I don’t like it. I don’t like the deal,” he said. “Well, have you seen it?” “Yeah, I think I know what…” “Well, why don’t you like it?” “Well, they took the tariffs off.” Actually, we didn’t. He didn’t know anything about the deal. He just said exactly what probably you should say, as a politician. “How do you like the deal?” “I don’t like the deal.” “Do you know the deal?” “Uh, uh, sort of.” He never saw the deal. He knew nothing about it. He would love the deal, but he can’t say it, because he’s on the other party. But maybe Patrick would do the same thing, right?
But you know what? I would say that you shouldn’t. This is an unbelievable deal for the United States. And, ultimately, it’s a great deal for both countries. And it’s going to also lead to even a more stable peace throughout the world.
China is helping us with North Korea. China is helping us with a lot of the things that they can be helping us with — which you don’t see in a deal, but they have been very, very helpful with respect to Kim Jong Un, who has great respect for President Xi.
And it’s all a very, very beautiful game of chess, or a game of poker, or — I can’t use the word “checkers” because it’s far greater than any checker game that I’ve ever seen. But it’s a very beautiful mosaic.
But China is giving us a lot of help, and we’re giving them a lot of help on things that we help them with. And one of the things that we are also talking about is fentanyl. And President Xi has already instituted very strong penalties and arrested large numbers of people who are sending fentanyl into our country. That never happened before. (Applause.)
So China has made substantial and enforceable commitments regarding the protection of American ideas, trade secrets, patents, and trademarks. This was not, according to most — they didn’t know we covered any of this. We’ve covered a lot of this. It’s phase one. But they’re doing many more things in phase one than anyone thought possible.
China has also pledged firm action to confront pirated and counterfeit goods, which is a big problem for many of the people in the room — the counterfeiting. We’ll make sure that this happens, and we have very, very strong protection.
In addition, the agreement addresses forced technology transfer policies that can require companies to give away their know-how and trade secrets. So now, when Boeing has some work done over in China or wants to sell planes over in China, they don’t have to give up every single thing that they’ve ever — you know, that they’ve worked so hard to — to develop and to come up with. Are you guys hearing that? You don’t have to give up anything anymore. Just be strong. Just be strong. Don’t let it happen. But you don’t have to do that.
It was a terrible — it was a terrible situation going on there. And a lot of it was because our co- — our companies, I have to say this, were very weak. You were very weak. You gave up things that you didn’t have to give up. But now, legally, you don’t have to give them up.
Under this deal, transfers and licensing of technology will be based on market terms that are fully voluntary and reflect mutual agreement.
Phase one will also see China greatly expand imports of the — to the United States. We want to buy a lot of their product inexpensively.
But we have an additional $200 [billion]. They are going to be what — what is, to me, very important. Number one, they’re going to be spending much more than $200 billion over the next two years, including up to $50 billion just on agriculture alone.
And some of the numbers that I wrote down — on manufacturing, they’ll be spending $75 billion. They’ll be putting into our country, okay? They’re going to be putting into our country $75 billion on manufacturing. Fifty billion dollars’ worth of energy. So that’s great for our energy people. We’re the number one in the world now; we weren’t. We’re now the number-one energy group in the world. We’re bigger than Saudi Arabia, and we’re bigger than Russia. We’re bigger than everybody. (Applause.)
And for those people that are in the room that are very much into it, of which we have a lot of the oil and gas folks in the room: I’m approving some pipelines in Texas momentarily, which will give you — which would’ve taken 15 more years to get. But you’re going to have them very quickly. I mean, we take from a 15-year period to about a 2-month period, and I’m angry at my people for taking so long. Right?
But if we do that, we’ll be up about another 22 percent in oil and natural gas. So we have $50 million for — $50 billion for energy, $50 billion for agriculture, and $40- to $50 billion on services, including, Rob, financial services. So the banks are going to be doing great. Credit cards — all of the things that you do so well. You’re going to be able to now go into China and really do a job. And they’re going to be working with you.
One of the other things I have to say is that protection of intellectual property — we have very strong protection of intellectual property. A lot of people thought this deal was just a simple deal for — the farmers are going to get $50 billion. Remember I said, Lindsey, they have to go out and buy larger tractors?
China was doing $16 billion with the farmers. And they stopped. Why not? You know, they’re in a negotiation. So our people agreed to $20 [billion], and I said, “No, make it $50 [billion]. What difference does it make? Make it $50 [billion].” They say, “Sir, our farmers can’t produce that much.” I said, “I love our farmers. Let them tell me they can’t do it.” And I said, “Tell them to go out and buy a larger tractor. Buy a little more land.” But they’ll be able to do it. I have no doubt they’ll be able to do it. (Applause.)
So, the other thing that I think we have is the currency devaluation standards. We have a very strong standard for currency devaluation. And, in all due respect, China was one of the greats in history at doing that, and we’re going to work on it together. But currency devaluation will now have some very, very strong restrictions and very powerful restrictions. And we have just full — again, the word — one of the strongest things we have: total and full enforceability. And you know what that means: total, full enforceability on all of this.
So, the agreement tears down major market barriers for U.S. food and agricultural exports. China will now welcome American beef and pork, poultry, seafood, rice, dairy, infant formula, animal feed, biotechnology, and much, much more. Because frankly, you know, they were not doing things that they were supposed to be. And that’s okay. Because now they will. The deal will also benefit energy, manufacturing services, and all sectors of the economy.
And I will say this: This deal — again, they thought it was a 50-billion-dollar agricultural deal. Now it’s much more than $200 billion, of which 50 is agricultural. But the rest is in all of the other things that we just discussed, especially for financial. And you should really look at it. And you have a free pass. And you don’t have to worry about the 49 percent where you can’t own, because you’re going to be able to own now. And you’re not going to have to take partners that are forced upon you. It’s an incredible deal from that standpoint, too.
We’re delighted that the Chinese consumers will now enjoy the greater access to the best products on Earth — those made, grown, and raised right here in the USA.
So phase one, which has been really incredible — you know, we almost had the whole deal done, but this is better. This is a more detailed deal for this aspect of the deal. It was such a big deal before. And this is a much more — much more targeted, much more powerful deal for everything we’re doing, which is a very large part of the deal.
But we’re going to be starting phase two, as soon as this kicks in. We’ll be starting phase two. We’re leaving tariffs on, which people are shocked, but it’s great. But I will agree to take those tariffs off, if we are able to do phase two. In other words, we’re negotiating with the tariffs. We have 25 percent on $250 billion worth of goods. And then we’re bringing the 10 percent down to 7.5 percent on $300 billion worth of goods plus.
So — but I’m leaving them on, because otherwise we have no cards to negotiate with. And negotiating with Liu is very tough. But they will all come off as soon as we finish phase two. And that would be something that some people on Wall Street will love, but from what I see, they love this deal the way it is now. But we have very strong cards. And, frankly, China and I are going to start negotiating with Bob and Steve and everybody very, very shortly.
So, from this nation’s vibrant heartland to our gleaming cities, millions of workers and farmers and innovators have waited decades for this day. We never even had a deal with China. In all fairness, I don’t blame China. I blame the people that stood here before me. I don’t blame China. I told that to President Xi. I was in Beijing, making a speech, saying how they’re ripping us off. And guess what? He wasn’t too happy. I looked at him. I said, “He’s not happy.” And I said, “I better change the speech quickly.”
So I said, “I don’t blame him. I blame our Presidents.” And I’m right. We should’ve done the same thing to them, but we didn’t. We didn’t. We never had a deal with them. They’d do whatever they wanted it.
With this signing, we mark more than just an agreement; we mark a sea change in international trade. At long last, Americans have a government that puts them first at the negotiating table. First in trade. First in every deal, every decision, and every action we take with incredible enforceability.
As we move on to phase two, I look forward to continuing to forge a future of greater harmony, prosperity, and, really, commerce — commerce and — far beyond commerce, between the United States and China. This is something that — far beyond even this deal — it’s going to lead to a even stronger world peace.
We now have — we now have a big investment in each other and in getting along with each other. And this deal is phase one. We’ll probably be able to conclude it with phase two. We don’t expect to have a phase three. But it’s something that we all want to get done, and it’ll be a tremendously big deal. This is something that’s going to be so special, however, to our manufacturers, our farmers, our bankers, our service people. Nobody has ever seen anything like it. This is the biggest deal there is anywhere in the world, by far. And that’s good.
We’re doing another big one next week. But this is the biggest deal anybody has ever seen. And it can lead to being a deal that’s unprecedented, because China has 1.5 billion people, and ultimately, in phase two, we’re going to be opening up China to all of your companies. So I hope you folks can handle it.
So now I’d like to ask Ambassador Lighthizer and Secretary Mnuchin to say a few words, please. Thank you. (Applause.)
AMBASSADOR LIGHTHIZER: Mr. President, Mr. Vice President, Mr. Vice Premier: It is an honor to be here for this momentous event. The President has long fought for fair and balanced trade for Americans. He has, for years, complained about our enormous trade deficit with China and the unfair practices which have, in part, contributed to it.
Indeed, solving the trade crisis was a major objective of his campaign and of his administration. The United States and China are two great countries with two great economies, but two very different economic systems. It is imperative that we develop trade and economic rules and practices that allow us both to prosper. The alternative is not acceptable for either of us.
This phase one agreement is the result of over two years of hard work. It is an important part of the President’s economic plan, and it is a big step forward in writing the rules needed and developing the practices that we must have going forward.
This agreement will benefit both the United States and China. I am grateful to the President for allowing me to be part of this plan. I am grateful to Secretary Mnuchin, my friend with whom I have worked so closely on this and on so many other matters.
Finally, I would like to thank and acknowledge the more than 60 men and women at USTR and other agencies who have worked so hard on this, day and night, for so many months.
I should begin with Ambassador Jeffrey Gerrish, who’s my deputy, who led this effort. Thank you for your patriotism. (Applause.)
I would also like to single out Ambassador Gregory Doud, who is my agriculture deputy — (applause) — and the Assistant USTR responsible for this enormous effort, Terry McCartin. (Applause.)
This was a great — this was a great team effort by my office, as well as the Departments of Treasury, Agriculture, Commerce, and many others.
I should all also acknowledge the hard work of the Chinese side. Vice Premier Liu He is a leader who is diligent; patriotic; as near as I can tell, always working; and has proven himself honorable.
To appreciate — (applause) — we appreciate also the efforts of Minister Zhong. Thank you to Liao Min, his principal — the Vice Premier’s Principal Deputy, and the rest of your team. Once again, congratulations, President Trump. And congratulations, President Xi. (Applause.)
SECRETARY MNUCHIN: Thank you very much. Mr. President, Mr. Vice President, under your leadership, the economic policies of this administration are working. Tax cuts, regulatory relief, and now great trade deals are making the U.S. economy stronger and helping American business and workers and farmers.
This is an incredible accomplishment. I want to particularly thank Ambassador Lighthizer. You’ve done an extraordinary job leading this effort across, literally, in enormous resources. Every single agency contributed to this. The White House. This was a real team effort. So thank you very much for your extraordinary job.
I’d also like to thank the Vice Premier and his team. We could not have done this without all of you. This was a lot of hard work. And again, I’d like to thank you and President Xi. A great step forward, momentous agreement between our two countries. Thank you. (Applause.)
PRESIDENT TRUMP: By the way, I have to just tell you that a woman is in the room who loves her state so much. And I didn’t introduce her before because I wanted to say for — you have been so great. Would you please stand up, Shelley? West Virginia Senator. Thank you. Great. Thank you, Shelley. (Applause.)
So I want to, again, thank the Vice Premier for the work we’ve done together. It’s been — it’s been an incredible number of months. It was stop and go. And it looked like it was pretty much going to be stop and never go.
But I’d like to now invite you, on behalf of the great nation — and it is indeed a great nation. In fact, I’d like you to just relax a little while. Take it easy. Go out, see a movie. Tell President Xi I said, “President, go out. Have a round of golf. See a movie.” “No, no, no. I am too busy.”
But they are workers. This China is an incredible, incredible nation. And I’d like to have you say a few words. Mr. Vice Premier, please. (Applause.)
VICE PREMIER LIU: (Inaudible.) (Off-mic.)
PRESIDENT TRUMP: Yes. Yes.
The Vice Premier would like to read a letter that was just sent to me, I found out, from President Xi. And we’ll ask the interpreter to come up, please. Okay? Thank you very much. That’s very nice.
VICE PREMIER LIU: (As interpreted.) Thank you, President Trump. Now, may I read out the message from President Xi Jinping to President Donald J. Trump?
(In English.) Sorry. (Laughter.)
(As interpreted.) Mr. President, as China and the United States sign the phase one trade agreement, I asked Vice Premier Liu He to bring to you my warm greetings.
As I said during our phone call on the 20th of December, last year, conclusion of the phase one trade agreement between China and the U.S. is good for China, for the U.S., and for the whole world.
It also shows that our two countries have the ability to act on the basis of equality and mutual respect, and work through dialogue and consultation to properly handle and effectively resolve relevant issues.
In the next step, the two sides need to implement the agreement in real earnest and optimize its positive impact so as to make even greater progress in China-U.S. trade and economic cooperation.
To maintain healthy and steady growth of China-U.S. relations serves the interest of both countries and requires joint efforts from both sides.
In that spirit, I hope the U.S. side will treat fairly Chinese companies and their regular trade and investment activities, and give support to the collaboration between enterprises, research institutes, and schools and colleges of the two countries as it will help enhance mutual trust and cooperation between us.
China is prepared to work with the U.S. in that direction. And I will stay in close touch with you personally.
I believe that under our guidance, China-U.S. relations will deliver more results and bring greater benefits to our peoples in the year ahead.
The Chinese Lunar New Year is just a few days away. I and my wife Peng Liyuan extend our season’s greetings to you, to Melania, and your family. May you all enjoy happiness and success in the New Year.
PRESIDENT TRUMP: Thank you very much. (Applause.) That’s beautiful. Thank you.
VICE PREMIER LIU: (As interpreted.) Honorable President Donald Trump, Honorable Vice President Mike Pence, Ambassador Lighthizer, Secretary Mnuchin, colleagues, friends, ladies and gentlemen: Good afternoon. Today, China and the United States will be officially signing the phase one trade agreement.
First of all, allow me to pay tribute to our two presidents.
I also want to thank the U.S. principals, our two economic teams, and all those who have made their contribution to this phase one trade agreement.
As two great countries with important responsibilities in world affairs, China and the United States, with the larger picture in mind, have taken a serious approach to our differences and worked to manage them appropriately, reaching phase one trade agreement. It is good for China, for the United States, and for the world.
This is a mutually beneficial and win-win agreement. It will bring about stable economic growth, promote world peace and prosperity, and is in the interest of the producers, consumers, investors in both countries.
At the same time, this agreement is not directed at, nor will it affect, the lawful rise in interest of any third country. It is in line with WTO rules.
A cooperative economic and trade relationship is the propeller of the overall China-U.S. relations. Over the past two years, the two sides encountered some difficulties in the economic and trade field. At times, there were setbacks in our trade talks because, on some issues, we don’t see eye to eye. However, our two economic teams do not give up with relentless efforts from both sides. On the basis of equality and mutual respect, we have reached this phase one trade agreement.
As we Chinese often say, one should not be daunted by difficult problems because there are always more solutions than problems. (Applause.)
This is an extensive agreement. After it is signed, China will work with the U.S. at — in the principle of equality and mutual respect, strictly honor the agreement, accommodate each other’s core concerns, and ensure the good implementation of the phase one trade agreement. It is the pressing need and will also play an important role in the growth of bilateral economic and trade relations in the future.
As to where we will go from here, there is a Chinese proverb that goes, “The beginning is the most difficult part.” There is a similar saying in English: “A good beginning is half the success.” They mean the same thing. It means that we need to continue to be problem-oriented and focus on implementing the phase one trade agreement so as to bring about a good start in the sound economic and trade relations going forward.
As the living standards of the Chinese people rises, we will import fine-quality agricultural products from countries across the world.
As the two sides have agreed based on the market demand in China, in line with market terms, Chinese businesses will purchase 40 billion U.S. dollars of agricultural products from the United States annually. If the demand is strong, the companies may buy more.
To make it happen, the two governments need to foster a sound marketing environment for businesses to expand trade activities.
Ladies and gentlemen, friends: The Chinese economy is transitioning from high-speed growth to high-quality development. A new philosophy is governing our development across the board. Reform and opening-up is picking up speed. This year we’ll build a moderately prosperous society in all respects.
China’s per capita GDP has exceeded 10,000 U.S. dollars. A 400 million-strong middle-income group is emerging, and a massive domestic market is taking shape. China welcomes investors from around the world to China, including those from the United States. And we’ll expand imports of fine-quality products and services from other countries.
China will continue to enhance the legal environment, step up the protection of property rights and intellectual property, apply a management system of pre-establishment national treatment, plus the negative list, and create a level playing field. China will open itself even wider. (Applause.)
Ladies and gentlemen, friends: The world is now at a critical historical crossroads. We are faced with the major strategic choice of how to promote major country cooperation and international cooperation.
China has developed a political system and a model of economic development that suits its national reality. This doesn’t mean China and the United States cannot work together. On the contrary, our two countries share enormous common commercial interests, and we are faced with multiple common challenges like terrorism, counter-narcotics, widening income gap, an aging population, major diseases, resources, and protecting the environment. There is a real need for closer cooperation.
President Xi Jinping points out that there are a thousand reasons to make China-U.S. relations succeed and not a single one to let it fail. We must seek common ground while putting aside differences and find a path toward win-win cooperation. This has important implications for China, the United States, and the world at large.
It has been, and will continue need to be, proved that we both stand to gain from cooperation and lose from confrontation. Cooperation is the only right choice. We need to act in the overall interest of world peace and development and shared future of humanity, pursue equal consultation with mutual respect, and take forward China-U.S. relations based on coordination, cooperation, and stability, and fulfill the great historic mission that we shoulder together.
While I see many visionary people here in the audience who have made an important contribution to the sound development of China-U.S. relations, please accept my most sincere appreciation. (Applause.)
The Lunar Chinese New Year is coming soon. I extend season’s greetings to you. I wish you good health and all the success. Again, thank you very much, President Trump, and thank you all. (Applause.)
Now I’d like to invite Ambassador Cui Tiankai to say a few words. Thank you. (Applause.)
PRESIDENT TRUMP: And just prior to signing, we’ll ask Ambassador Cui to come up and say a few words. Thank you. (Applause.) Yes, please.
AMBASSADOR CUI: (As interpreted.) Honorable President Trump, Vice President Pence, Secretary Mnuchin, Ambassador Lighthizer, Your Excellency, Vice Premier Liu He, Minister Zhong Shan, and Governor Yi Gang, ladies and gentlemen: Just now, Vice Premier has given us the comprehensive elaboration on China’s principled position on the China-U.S. phase one trade agreement.
Given the highly complex international environment, reaching a China-U.S. phase one trade agreement based on equality and mutual respect is good for China and the U.S., and good for the peace and prosperity of the whole world.
We hope both sides will abide by and implement the agreement with earnest to keep the China-U.S. trade relations in the right direction of mutual benefit and win-win, and deliver greater benefits to the people of our two countries.
China’s development is a result of the wisdom and hard work of 1.4 billion Chinese people. And the rights of the Chinese people to pursue a better life is what should be there.
There is great potential for greater China-U.S. cooperation, and the defining feature of this economic cooperation between our two countries is mutual benefit. People of both countries benefit from such cooperation. These facts haven’t and will not change.
The China-U.S. relationship is now at a crucial juncture. As we have reached the phase one trade agreement, it is now important that we leverage the opportunity earnestly, implement the strategic consensus reached between our two Presidents, and keep our bilateral relations in the right direction.
We need to strengthen strategic communication and dialogue on various levels to build trust, reduce misgivings and misunderstandings and misjudgment, and properly manage differences so as to build a China-U.S. relationship based on coordination, cooperation, and stability.
To conclude, I want to take this opportunity to thank you again, friends from all the communities in the United States for your support to the healthy growth of China-U.S. relations. Let’s work together in the New Year. Thank you. (Applause.)
PRESIDENT TRUMP: Well, just in closing — and we’re going to sign right now, but it just doesn’t get any bigger than this — not only in terms of a deal, but really in terms of what it represents.
Keeping these two giant and powerful nations together in harmony is so important for the world — not only for us, for the whole world. And the world is watching today.
So it’s a great honor to be involved. It’s a great honor, Mr. Vice Premier, to be with you. Thank you very much. Thank you very much. (Applause.)
James O’Keefe, III and Project Veritas went undercover into the Bernie campaign and the results are worse than we feared. Radical communists talking about confrontation with the police and “burning Milwaukee down” if Bernie’s candidacy is rejected as before.
Here is the first full length video from Project Veritas.
Don’t worry though, they’re righteous. Everyone who doesn’t think as they do will be placed into “nice” Soviet-style Gulags, with conjugal visits, for re-education. Those Gulags weren’t so bad. Amazing ignorance. Guessing they never read Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn. Whaddaya think?
I was a kid growing up in the burbs of Chicago in ’68, (this kid/adult can’t even remember the correct year of the protest, thinks it was in ’78 not ’68), but I still recall Dad railing about the open warfare on the streets of Chicago during the convention of ’68.
Does anyone here still remember the march over the bridge in Milwaukee in the same summer? Similar outcomes. And Milwaukee, with their socialist bent, is a tinderbox for this kind of activity.
What are the odds Bernie won't be asked during tonight's debate about one of his organizers calling for gulags, "re-education" and violent riots?pic.twitter.com/eTFM0szhiD
Milwaukee in the summer is a gorgeous city. Everyone is outside and the weather is clear, less humid, perfect for outdoor sports, bistros, beach, or boating on the lake. No, might be a good idea to stay away from Milwaukee during this convention…… bad karma.
Reaction to the Project Veritas videos has been swift, and James O’Keefe, III, promises there is much more to come.
