- 5 months ago
President Trump takes questions from reporters at the White House.
Category
🗞
NewsTranscript
00:00announce later on in the day. Peter, please. Related just because you mentioned the elusive
00:05peace in Ukraine. Who is holding up this Ukraine ceasefire summit? Is it Putin or is it Zelensky?
00:14Well, I think it's that one is, as you know, we've been working on a lot of these deals. We've
00:19closed every single one of them all throughout the world. And that's the last of them. And they're
00:25losing, Peter, about six, maybe even 7,000 soldiers every single week. Russia, as you know,
00:33lost almost 25,000 over the last month and a half. And Ukraine lost just a small number of
00:41fewer. A lot of people are dying. And I think we're getting very close. And we're going to be
00:46announcing later on we're going to have a meeting with Russia. We'll start off with Russia. And we'll
00:53announce a location. I think the location will be a very popular one for a lot of reasons.
01:00But we'll be announcing that a little bit later. I just don't want to do it now because of the
01:04importance of what we just did. And I completely understand that. Just a follow-up. Are you
01:08surprised that Zelensky hasn't figured out by now, in years of war, how to deal with you and to deal
01:16with Putin without needing permission to make concessions from his parliament or from a national
01:21referendum? Well, he's going out and getting what he needs. You know, he's not authorized to do
01:27certain things. I said, well, you're going to have to get it fast because, you know, we're getting
01:32very close to a deal. And he's doing that. And he's working with the European nations and they're
01:36terrific people, terrific leaders, NATO. And as you know, I became very friendly with them. They
01:41agreed to go from 2 percent to 5 percent, 2 percent that they didn't pay to 5 percent that they've
01:46already paid. It's trillions of dollars. So, you know, we're working together very closely. But no,
01:53in all fairness to President Zelensky, he's getting everything he needs to,
01:59to assuming we get something done. But I'll be meeting very shortly with President Putin.
02:05It would have been sooner. But I guess there's security arrangements that unfortunately people
02:10have to make. Otherwise, I'd do it much quicker. He would too. He'd like to meet as soon as possible.
02:16I agree with it. But we'll be announcing that very shortly. Okay. And location. Yeah, please. Please.
02:24Mr. President, with this meeting with Putin, is this Russia's last chance to achieve peace?
02:31And do you expect Ukraine to make any type of territorial concession? Yeah, I don't like using
02:36the term last chance. Look, it's, you know, look, this is a two very, very smart people. They've been
02:42going at it for and their predecessors also very smart. They've been going at it for 35 years. It's
02:48tough. And, you know, when those guns start going off, it's awfully tough to get them to stop. It really
02:54does. It's a war that should have never happened. It would have never happened if I were president.
02:57There was no reason for it. So many people are killed. So much cultural destruction. You look
03:03at those magnificent towers, the most beautiful in the world. You know, the spires were considered
03:08the most beautiful in the world. They're all, they're all in a million pieces laying on the
03:13ground, all obliterated, knocked into a million pieces. So sad. But millions of people have died
03:21and very, very much set in their ways. A lot of people were set in their ways. But I think we're
03:29getting close. I mean, this was not my war. This was Biden's war. But the European Union has been
03:35great. As you know, they're purchasing equipment from us. They're spending, they have a lot of money
03:39and they're spending a lot of money on buying equipment. We're not spending money. We're, but we are
03:44supplying them equipment. They're paying for it. And I think, you know, I think that a lot of things
03:50happened recently that would make this go forward. I'm not going to mention anything having to do
03:56with India, but maybe that had an impact. But what really had an impact was NATO has stepped up
04:02in terms of their spending on buying military equipment. You know, we're in for, probably through
04:10Biden and his people, $350 billion. $350 billion. When they hear these numbers, you're saying,
04:17that's a lot of money, $350 billion the United States has spent on that. It should have spent
04:23nothing because it should have never happened. It would have never happened. And Europe is in for
04:28over $100 billion, which is, it should be the opposite if we were in for anything, but it should be
04:34the opposite. And I will say that Europe has, Europe wants to see peace. The European leaders want to
04:42see peace. President Putin, I believe, wants to see peace. And Zelensky wants to see peace.
04:48Now, President Zelensky has to get all of his, everything he needs because he's going to have
04:55to get ready to sign something. And I think he is working hard to get that done.
05:00Well, you're looking at territory that's been fought over for three and a half years with,
05:09you know, a lot of Russians have died. A lot of Ukrainians have died. So we're looking at that,
05:14but we're actually looking to get some back and some swapping. It's complicated. It's actually
05:20nothing easy. It's very complicated, but we're going to get some back. We're going to get some,
05:26some switched. There'll be some swapping of territories to the betterment of both.
05:34And, but we'll be talking about that either later or tomorrow or whatever. Yeah, please.
05:40Say it. If I could ask a question of your guests and also of you. Yeah. Of the guests,
05:45will the Armenians from Nagorno-Karabakh be allowed to return? And also, do you have any thoughts on the
05:50talk about President Trump winning the Nobel Peace Prize? And for President Trump,
05:55you're, you're working on resolving two other major conflicts in Gaza. You've spoke of resettling
06:01the Gazans. The country of Somaliland has expressed potential interest. If you were to diplomatically
06:06recognize their independence, are you inclined to do so? And also did President Putin present an award
06:11to Mr. Whitcoff during their recent visit? He likes Mr. Whitcoff. I can tell you that.
06:17That's true. That's true. Please go ahead.
06:23I think President Trump, Trump deserved to, to, to, to have a Nobel Peace Prize. And we will,
06:34we will defend that. And we promote, we will promote for that. And that's obvious. So,
06:42and today's event, I think, is a very bright expression of that. And, uh, hopefully you will
06:53invite us to front, front row. You'll be front row. Yeah. Yeah. We are in favor. Thank you. Thank
07:02you. Uh, can I have a suggestion? Yes. So maybe we agree with Prime Minister Pashinyan to send a joint
07:10appeal to Nobel Committee to award President Trump with a Nobel Peace Prize, because
07:16from the leaders of the countries which were at war for more than three decades, having this historic
07:30signature here, it really means a lot. This is tangible result of President Trump's leadership.
07:40And no one could have achieved that. There've been many presidents here since beginning of 90s.
07:48And the so-called Minsk process, which, by the way, today we put an end to with my Armenian colleague,
07:56started in 1992. So negotiation under the auspices of OSCE continued for more than three decades without
08:06any result. So who, if not President Trump, deserves the Nobel Peace Prize? I don't want to go
08:12into the history of some very strange decisions of the Nobel Peace Committee to award the prize for
08:20someone who didn't do anything at all. But President Trump, in six months, did miracle. So I think that
08:28my Armenian colleague will support it. And judging by the reaction of the audience, I think as soon as we
08:35come back, we will agree to issue a joint letter. And hopefully, and I also join when president is
08:43awarded, we hope that he will invite us to the ceremony. You certainly will be. Thank you very much.
08:50Do we have draft to sign now?
08:54Well, we'll see what happens.
08:56We already like to sign.
08:58Thank you very much. It's very nice.
09:01We're looking into that right now. Good question, actually. And another complex one, as you know.
09:07But we're working on that right now. Somaliland.
09:10Mr. President, thank you so much. I wanted to ask you, have you spoken to Russian President Putin yet?
09:15And would you go to Russia or Ukraine? And what exactly would you say to him?
09:19We'll be announcing the location in maybe a little while. And I think you'll be very happy.
09:26We'll see what happens, right? All we can do is do our best. We've been working on this one for a long
09:32time. This is a very complicated one also. This was extremely complicated. But we made it less
09:37complicated. And we had two very brilliant people on my right and my left. They understood
09:43what was at stake. I think if it didn't get done now, it might have never gotten done.
09:48So this is the same, very similar with Ukraine. It became more and more complicated as time went on.
09:53It was simple at the beginning. It wasn't going to happen. But it became more and more complicated.
09:58But I think we're getting close. Yes, ma'am. Yes, go ahead, please. Could the location for the summit be Italy?
10:12I will give it to you very soon. I just honestly, I don't want to do anything. These guys, I don't want
10:18to do anything where that's like because this is a bigger story than a location. A location is good.
10:24I'm a real estate person. I know about location. But there's nothing to compete with this in terms
10:30of what we're doing today. It's just such a great achievement for these two. Really,
10:38they'll go down as great leaders for what they did. I put them together. But what they have been able,
10:43and I don't want to do anything. So we'll talk about it later. Today. Today. We'll give you a location
10:48today. You were talking about sending military forces to fight against the drug cartels in Latin
10:54America. Do you think it's worth sending our forces, our U.S. forces there to take this on?
11:00Cartels where? Central Latin America. Well, Latin America's got a lot of cartels. They've got a lot
11:06of drugs flowing. So, you know, we want to protect our country. We have to protect our country. We haven't
11:12been doing it for four years. And we love this country like they love their countries. We have
11:18to protect our country. So, you know, we're playing a tough game. But we'll have more to say about
11:24that soon. Yes, ma'am. Mr. President, I'm from Azerbaijan News Agency Report. So we are grateful
11:30to be here. Today you host a truly historic meeting. As a person who values diplomacy and global interaction,
11:37do you consider the possibility to visit Azerbaijan? Actually, you mentioned Azerbaijan and Armenia
11:43after this meeting. To visit our countries, do you consider to visit? Which one do I consider
11:51better? Both. Both. Oh, I think if I ever said that, that you would say this guy couldn't have
11:58solved the problem. You know what? I consider them both great. Okay. And you know what? They're going
12:03to be even greater. But, and they're very different in many ways. But they have a lot in common. But
12:09they're both great as far as I'm concerned. Yeah, please. It's an interesting question, right? That would
12:13have been a hell of an answer if I said, well, I think, I think I like this one or that one. No, we don't do
12:19that. Go ahead, please. Mr. President, first of all, thank you for bringing peace to South Caucus as
12:27something that no one has been able to achieve in 35 years. That's number one. We also noticed that
12:34you think highly of the commitments that the sides have taken on and assumed. However, considering the
12:41long history of conflict and the fact that this is not a legally binding document, will there be
12:47consequences if at some point one of the sides takes a step back? I don't think it's going to happen.
12:54I think it's going to be very good. And I told them, I gave them a personal commitment. If there's,
12:59you know, there's always little problems here and there, right? The big ones have been solved. These
13:04are the giant ones have been solved. But if there's conflict, they both know they're going to call me
13:08and we're going to get it straightened out. They're not going to have a problem. Where are you from?
13:13Okay, good. Very good. I was, I was wondering, it was a very unusual question. But it's not unusual
13:19considering you're from Armenia. If there's a problem, we will get it worked out. I told them both,
13:23well, don't let the problem last. We get it early and we'll get it, we'll get it solved. Good reporter
13:29you have over there. Okay? Can I, can I, can I add? Yes, please. Please. Yeah. First of all,
13:38I'd like to say that today we initialed the peace deal, which was in the process of negotiations for
13:47quite a while. The fact that it is initial here, in the capital number one of the world,
13:54in the office number one of the world, and in front of the great president of the United States,
14:02means that there should be no doubts and no suspicious that any of the sides would step back.
14:08If some of, if any of us, Prime Minister Pashinyan or myself, had in mind to step back, we wouldn't
14:15have come here. So you can be absolutely sure, as well as Azerbaijani community, that what has
14:21happened today will result in peace, long-lasting peace, eternal peace in the Caucasus.
14:28That's a very nice statement. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. Fully agree and nothing to it.
14:38That's very nice. Two statements. And that's a beautiful, beautifully stated statement. Let's go.
14:46A couple of more. Yeah, please. Mr. President, many in the South
14:49caucuses have pinned the blame on your predecessor, Joe Biden, and the Secretary of State,
14:53Anthony Blinken, for obstacles in America's bilateral relations with Azerbaijan and peace
15:00in that part of the world. How important is it to you to elevate your, your country's partnership
15:06and your administration's partnership with Azerbaijan, with Armenia? And how important is this
15:11for your legacy? Well, to me, it's very important, but it's, you know, I just, I know the history of what
15:17was going on because I do a lot of reading and they've been that vicious, you know, they've had a
15:22very contentious relationship for a long time. It's, I mean, it's war. Most of the time was war.
15:28And so to get it done, they're great people. I know a lot of people from Armenia. I know a lot of people
15:35from both countries and they're incredible people and it shouldn't happen what has happened. I wish
15:41we could have been here sooner. You know, if the election were different, I'm going to be nice
15:47today. I'm not going to be controversial and say the election was rigged. I would have had this thing
15:50solved four years sooner. But the truth is, it's right. If the election weren't rigged, I would have
15:56been here four years sooner. We would have signed the same agreement four years sooner, but it didn't
16:01happen. And the Biden administration did really very little, actually nothing to get it done.
16:07But they did nothing to get really anything done. It was very, this country was in very serious shape.
16:14And I say it over and over again. I met all the leaders of NATO. I met, I went, as you know,
16:19the Middle East. I was with the King of Saudi Arabia, the leaders of great countries, right? Qatar and
16:26UAE and others in the Middle East. And everyone essentially said the same thing. We had a dead country
16:33country. One year ago, we had a dead country. Our country was dying. And now we have the hottest
16:39country anywhere in the world. It's not even close. We have the hottest country in the world.
16:44And it's an honor to use that, if you call it power or respect or whatever it is, to settle
16:50wars like we have right here to my left and my right. And these two guys are very smart. I got to
16:56know them and they're very smart. They're not going to, I don't think they're going to ever have to
16:59bother with me. They may call me just to bug me a little bit. Let me put them to a test and they'll
17:04call because they'd like to call me. But they're not going to have any problem. We have a very
17:08comprehensive agreement. It's a peace agreement. And this isn't cease fire. This isn't, we'll hold
17:14off. This is a peace agreement. And they're going to end up doing a lot of business with each other.
17:19They're going to do a lot of business with the United States. And I'm going to always remember,
17:23at least during, you know, the time that I'm here, I'm going to remember how smart they were,
17:27how good they were. And when it comes to trade and other things, we're going to always go
17:31100% out. We'll go out of our way to make sure it comes out good for them. They did an amazingly
17:38good thing and a very brave thing. It's a very complicated part of the world they come from,
17:45very tough part of the world. It's a tough, tough, but smart part of the world. Smart, tough people
17:51and great wealth, you know, great energy wealth. I was talking to Chris and you were saying,
17:56in terms of wealth, it's enormous wealth. But wealth doesn't often solve problems. It takes
18:05other things. But they were, they're amazing, two amazing leaders. And it's an honor to be
18:10associated with them. How about we'll do one more, please?
18:14Thank you, Mr. President. Your gut instincts have always done well in terms of business and in terms
18:20of politics. What does your gut tell you as it relates to the possibility of an event like this
18:26in the next few weeks, the next few months in which you have President Putin on one side and
18:32President Zelensky on your other side? I think my instinct really tells me that we have a shot at
18:37it. Okay. And you'll find that out later on and maybe even today. But we have a shot at it. Look,
18:43it's, it's got to be solved. You know, we're not losing people. A lot of people say, why are you
18:49bothering? We're not losing people. We were spending hundreds of billions of dollars. Now
18:55we're spending nothing. We're spending no money. I guess we're making money because, you know, we're,
19:00are great. We have the best military equipment in the world. We're selling it to NATO. But you're
19:08losing thousands of people a week. Russians and Ukrainians mostly, mostly soldiers. But, you know,
19:15missiles are lobbed into cities and towns. Kiev, lots of places. You've been reading the same
19:20stories that I've been reading. And we've got to get it solved. The Norwegian Nobel Committee will make
19:28their announcement as it relates to this year's Nobel Peace Prize on October the 10th, Friday, October
19:34the 10th. Is that date circled on your calendar, Mr. President? I can't say. I mean, a lot of people
19:40say, you know, no matter what I did, because, you know, I'm of a certain persuasion. No matter what I
19:46do, they won't give it. And I'm not politicking for it. I have a lot of people that are. I know. I mean,
19:53I read the same things as you do. But it would be a great honor, certainly. But I would never politic.
20:01I'm not doing it for that. I'm doing it because of, I really, number one, I want to save lives.
20:06That's why I'm involved so much with Ukraine and Russia. It's saving lives of Russians and Ukrainians.
20:12It's not American lives. Now, I would say this. That war could have escalated in something much.
20:17That could have been a world war. I think if we didn't come, Ukraine, Russia would have ended up
20:23being a world war. And I stopped that. That stopped. Now, the only question is, when is it
20:30going to be settled? And it could be very soon. But when is it going to be? But that would have
20:34been a world war. If I didn't come along with a very talented group of people sitting largely right
20:40here, but there are others not in the room that are very talented, I think Russia, Ukraine would have
20:45had a very, very high degree, I think even probably would have ended up being in a world
20:51war. I don't think people talk about that now because they don't see it anymore. But
20:56we brought it down a long way. But that was getting to a point. When I first came in, I
21:02said, wow, this thing is really bad. And it could have gone, it could have escalated to a level
21:07that you people would have been very unhappy with. Yeah.
21:14Your predecessor, Mr. President, President Ronald Reagan, had a phrase as it relates to dealing
21:19with the then Soviet Union and also Mikhail Gorbachev. The phrase was trust but verify. Do
21:25you subscribe to that same view as it relates to Mr. Putin and Russia?
21:29Well, I do relating to everybody. I mean, not just President Putin, but also people and leaders
21:36that I deal with. Look, I'm dealing with trade. And some of the worst deals we made, some of
21:41the worst trade deals we have, I talk about friend and foe, right? Friend and foe, two
21:47interesting words. Some of our worst trade deals were not with the foe, they were with
21:51the friends. Our friends were just killing us on trade. Not anymore. Not anymore. We're
21:59making, you know, we're taking in trillions of dollars and we're respected and we're settling,
22:06you know, through trade. Even a little bit here, less here than on some. But through trade,
22:11I got things settled. With India, Pakistan, I think it was trade more than any other reason.
22:17That's how I got involved. I said, you know, I don't want to be dealing with countries that
22:21are trying to blow up themselves and maybe the world. You know, they're nuclear nations.
22:25That was a big one. Getting that one settled, I think you'd agree. That was a big one. And they
22:30were going at it, you know, they were shooting airplanes out of the sky. You know, they, five
22:34or six planes got shot down in their last little skirmish. And then it was going to escalate
22:39from there and that could have gotten to be very, very bad. Now, I want to save a lot
22:43of lives. I love saving lives. That's what it's about. And you know, when you save lives,
22:47you really end up having a peaceful world. Usually that ends up pretty well. I want to thank
22:52everybody, but in particular, these two great leaders for having the courage to do what they
22:57did today. And they're going to go down in the history books. And it's a great honor
23:01to be involved. Thank you very much.
23:20Ladies and gentlemen, please remain in your seats until the leaders have
23:23departed the room. Thank you.
Be the first to comment