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00:00Well, thank you very much.
00:01We've just had a great meeting, a really good, very productive meeting.
00:06We have one thing in common.
00:08We want this city of ours that we love to do very well, and I wanted to congratulate
00:14the mayor.
00:15He really ran an incredible race against a lot of smart people, starting with the early
00:19primaries against some very tough people, very smart people.
00:23And he beat them, and he beat them easily, and I congratulated him.
00:28And we talked about some things in very strong common, like housing and getting housing built
00:34and food and prices, and the price of oil is coming way down.
00:41Anything I do is going to be good for New York.
00:43If I can get prices down, it's good for New York.
00:46And we've got them down, way down from last year.
00:50We have, as you know, I've been saying to a lot of people, Walmart said that Thanksgiving
00:55this year is exactly 25 percent less than last year.
00:58So that's good for New York, good for everybody.
01:01But I just want to congratulate, I think you're going to have, hopefully, a really great mayor.
01:05The better he does, the happier I am, I will say.
01:08There's no difference in party, there's no difference in anything.
01:12And we're going to be helping him to make everybody's dream come true, having a strong
01:17and very safe New York.
01:18And congratulations, Mr. Mayor.
01:19Thank you, Mr. President.
01:21I appreciate it.
01:22Please.
01:23I appreciated the meeting with the President, and as he said, it was a productive meeting
01:27focused on a place of shared admiration and love, which is New York City, and the need
01:32to deliver affordability to New Yorkers, the eight and a half million people who call our
01:37city their home, who are struggling to afford life in the most expensive city in the United
01:41States of America.
01:42We spoke about rent, we spoke about groceries, we spoke about utilities, we spoke about the
01:46different ways in which people are being pushed out.
01:48And I appreciated the time with the President, I appreciated the conversation, I look forward
01:52to working together to deliver that affordability for New Yorkers.
01:55Thank you very much.
01:58Any questions, please?
01:59Mr. President Trump, Steven Nelson from the New York Post.
02:01I've got a question for you, and then also one for the Mayor elect.
02:05For you, you've referred to Mr. Mamdani as a communist.
02:08Could you describe why you feel that way?
02:10And also, will you do anything to stop him from arresting Prime Minister Netanyahu if he visits
02:15New York?
02:16Well, we didn't discuss your second part of the question, and on your first part, I mean,
02:21he's got views that are a little out there, but who knows?
02:24I mean, we're going to see what works, or he's going to change also.
02:28We all change.
02:29I change a lot.
02:30I change a lot.
02:31From when I first came to office, it's now quite a while ago, it's quite a while.
02:35My first term was great.
02:37We had the greatest economy in the history of our country, and we're doing even better
02:40now.
02:41We're doing much better now than we did even the first term.
02:44And I can tell you, some of my views have changed, and we had discussions on some things.
02:49I'm not going to discuss what they were, but that I feel very confident that he can do
02:54a very good job.
02:55I think he's going to be, I think he is going to surprise some conservative people, actually,
03:01and some very liberal people.
03:02It won't surprise him because they already like him.
03:05And, Mr. Montani, it sounds like you had a productive discussion, but just days ago,
03:09you referred to President Trump as a despot who had betrayed the country.
03:13You said you'd be his worst nightmare and accused him of having a fascist agenda.
03:18Are you planning to retract any of these remarks in order to improve your relationship?
03:22Mr. I think both President Trump and I, we are very clear about our positions and our
03:28views.
03:29And what I really appreciate about the President is that the meeting that we had focused not
03:32on places of disagreement, which there are many, and also focused on the shared purpose
03:37that we have in serving New Yorkers.
03:39And frankly, that is something that could transform the lives of the 8.5 million people who are currently
03:43struggling under a cost-of-living crisis with one in four living in poverty.
03:47And the meeting came back again and again to what it could look like to lift those New
03:51Yorkers out of struggle and start to deliver them a city that they could do more than just
03:54struggle to afford it, but actually start to live in it.
03:57And I've been called much worse than a despot, so it's not that insulting.
04:02Maybe, I think he'll change his mind after we get to working together.
04:05Yes, please.
04:06Mr. President, from MTV Lebanon.
04:09I would like to ask you a question about the Middle East regarding, you said that Hezbollah
04:14and Lebanon is not in a good position.
04:17And Lebanon now is the final unresolved after Gaza and Syria.
04:22Given your assessment, like, what do you say for the Lebanese today, it's the Independence
04:26Day in Lebanon.
04:27And what is your next move to push toward disarmament, the disarmament of Hezbollah?
04:32Well, we are pushing for total disarmament of Hamas and, frankly, everybody else.
04:38And we actually have peace in the middle.
04:39He says, you know, the King of Saudi Arabia just left yesterday.
04:43We had some great meetings, and he's made a contribution toward the United States of
04:47more than a trillion dollars.
04:49We have now over 20 trillion dollars coming in.
04:52No country has ever had anything like that, not even close.
04:55If you go to 2 trillion or 1 trillion, it's a lot.
04:58We have 20 or 21 trillion dollars.
05:01I think that Hezbollah has been a problem in Lebanon, a big problem.
05:07We're working with Lebanon.
05:08We're working with everybody in the Middle East.
05:10That's another thing I think we have in common, we want to see peace in the Middle East.
05:13We actually have now for the first time peace in the Middle East after 3,000 years.
05:19And now we're going to refine it.
05:20And I think you're going to see some very positive things happen.
05:23There is a potential to invite the Lebanese President to meet you to the White House.
05:27I would do that, absolutely, and if the mayor would like to be here for that meeting, because
05:33I know he feels very strongly.
05:34I think you feel very, very strongly about peace in the Middle East.
05:38We desperately want it, and that's something that I shared with the President, that when
05:41I spoke to New Yorkers who had voted for the President last November on Hillside Avenue
05:46and Fordham Road, I asked them why, I heard again and again two major reasons.
05:50One was that they wanted an end to forever wars, they wanted an end to the taxpayer dollars
05:55we had funding violations of human rights, and they wanted to address the cost of living
05:59crisis.
06:00And I appreciated the chance to discuss both of those things.
06:02He said a lot of my voters actually voted for him, and I'm okay with that.
06:07I'll do that, I'll sign it, give it to me, I'll sign it in a minute.
06:11That's pretty good.
06:12Mr. President, Mr. President, Mr. President, you've threatened to send federal troops to
06:17New York City.
06:18You both have differences when it comes to ICE agents in New York City.
06:23Mr. Mamdani, you've called ICE a rogue government entity.
06:26I wonder how you reconcile your differences on both of those issues.
06:30Well, I think we're going to work them out.
06:31I think that if we have known murderers and known drug dealers and some very bad people,
06:39you know, we want to get them out.
06:40And the mayor wants to have peace.
06:42We discussed this at great length, actually, maybe more than anything else.
06:46He wants to have a safe New York.
06:48Ultimately, a safe New York is going to be a great New York.
06:50If it's not safe, no matter how well we do with pricing and with anything else, we can
06:56talk about anything you want.
06:57If you don't have safe streets, it's not going to be a success.
07:00So we're going to work together.
07:02We're going to make sure that if there are horrible people there, we want to get them
07:05out.
07:05I think he wants to get them out maybe more than I do.
07:08So we'll work together.
07:09We discussed it at great length.
07:11Yes, please.
07:12Two questions, if I may.
07:13One for you, Mr. President, on BBC in a second.
07:16But first of all, for the mayor-elect, you're both from different parts of the political spectrum.
07:22You're both populist, though.
07:23And I just wonder to what extent the President's campaign style, his techniques, his social media
07:29use inspired any part of your campaign?
07:31Well, I actually told the President that, you know, so much of the focus of our campaign
07:36has been on the cost of living crisis.
07:37And when we asked those New Yorkers who had voted for the President, when we saw an increase
07:41in his numbers in New York City, that came back to the same issue, cost of living, cost
07:46of living, cost of living.
07:47And they spoke about the cost of groceries, the cost of rent, the cost of con-ed, the cost
07:51of childcare.
07:52And too often, politicians are looking to lecture to New Yorkers what they should care about as
07:56opposed to listen.
07:58And when we spoke to those voters who voted for President Trump, we heard them speak
08:01about cost of living.
08:03We focused on that same cost of living.
08:04And that's where I am really looking forward to delivering for New Yorkers in partnership
08:09with the President on the affordability agenda.
08:11And I think we have to work a little bit.
08:14We talked about Con Edison.
08:15We have to work a little bit on getting the prices because, you know, we've gotten fuel prices
08:18way down, but it hasn't shown up in Con Edison.
08:23And we're going to have to talk to them.
08:24You know, if we're sending them fuel at a much lower price than it was a year ago,
08:29which is true, we have to get Con Edison to start lowering their rates.
08:33Absolutely.
08:34And if I may, last week you told me you were pushing ahead with your plans to sue the BBC
08:39for up to $5 billion.
08:40You were going to speak to Prime Minister Starmer as well.
08:43Is there any progress or any updates on those issues?
08:45Well, we get along very well with the Prime Minister.
08:49We made a deal with UK.
08:51I like him.
08:52He's a fine person and, you know, I think they have some big energy problems.
08:55You know, they've got windmills all over the place.
08:57They're going to have to start using other methods because their energy is out of control.
09:02I'm talking about it in the UK.
09:04It's out of control.
09:06And he's got that problem.
09:08He's got a big immigration problem, as you know, and he's got a big energy problem.
09:12And we talk about it.
09:13He's a good man.
09:14The Prime Minister's a good man.
09:15Do you have a chance to speak this week?
09:17I haven't spoken this week.
09:18I haven't spoken this week.
09:19Have you spoken to President Zelensky or do you intend to meet with President Zelensky
09:24about your plan?
09:25Are you going to meet with them?
09:26I've spoken with their people.
09:28We have a plan.
09:29It's horrible what's happening.
09:30It's a war that should have never happened.
09:32It would have never happened if I was President, and it's a shame.
09:35And I thought they should have acted quicker.
09:38But it's a cold winter and a lot of the, you talk about utilities, but a lot of the big
09:44energy producing plants have been under attack, to put it mildly, to put it nicely.
09:49Yeah, we have a way of getting peace, or we think we have a way of getting peace.
09:55He's going to have to approve it.
09:57It's so sad, so many people.
10:00In the last month, they lost 25,000 soldiers.
10:03This is something, we haven't seen anything like this.
10:06It's the Second World War.
10:08And they're averaging 6,000 or 7,000 a week between the two of them, dead soldiers.
10:14And it goes on and on, and I think they're getting reasonably close.
10:19But it's, I don't want to predict, I would have said that would have been one of my early
10:23ones.
10:24I did eight peace deals of countries, including India, Pakistan.
10:29You could even go, in fact, they're coming here in a week or two, go to the Congo and
10:34Rwanda.
10:35That was one, 10 million people dead.
10:37And we worked something out on that, but so many.
10:40And the one I thought would have been, for me, because I have a very good relationship
10:44with President Putin, I thought that would have been maybe quicker.
10:47But it does take two to tango.
10:50And now, you just see all the death.
10:54And you know, it doesn't affect us, other than the fact that we don't want to see all
10:58those people dead.
10:59Really, it's on the other side of the ocean.
11:01It's a war that should have never happened.
11:03It did happen.
11:04I blame the person also sitting right behind this desk.
11:08This is a war that should have never happened.
11:10And it wouldn't have happened if I were President.
11:12But we're trying to save a lot of lives.
11:14We're losing, they're losing 25, think of that, 25,000 lives over the last short period
11:20of time.
11:21That's Ukrainian and Russian.
11:23And it's a shame.
11:25Mr. President, I want to ask the mayor-elect about a House resolution.
11:30It just passed overwhelmingly to condemn socialism, including with 86 Democrats, all of House
11:37Dem leadership, and the minority leader, Hakeem Jeffries, despite his endorsement of you.
11:41What's your reaction to that?
11:43I have to be honest with you.
11:44I've focused very little on resolutions.
11:46Frankly, I've been focusing on socialism.
11:48I understand.
11:49I think the focus is on the work at hand.
11:51I can tell you I am someone who is a democratic socialist.
11:53I've been very open about that.
11:55And I know there might be differences about ideology, but the place of agreement is the
11:59work that needs to be done to make New York City affordable.
12:01That's what I look forward to.
12:02And I want to clarify your answer to Steven Nelson.
12:05He asked about your comment calling the President a fascist.
12:09And your answer was, both President Trump and I have been clear about our positions and
12:14our views.
12:15Are you affirming that you think President Trump is a fascist?
12:18I've spoken about-
12:19That's okay.
12:20You can just say yes.
12:21Okay.
12:22It's easier.
12:23It's easier than explaining it.
12:24I don't mind.
12:25Mr. President, I wanted to ask you also about this Ukraine plan.
12:30Yeah.
12:31President Zelenskyy said today that his country would risk either giving up a partner or giving
12:36up its dignity.
12:37There's been criticism that this deal proposed-
12:39You mean he doesn't like it?
12:40It's unclear.
12:41He was sort of tenuous about it.
12:43He'll have to like it.
12:44And if he doesn't like it, then, you know, they should just keep fighting, I guess.
12:47The suggestion that he made, though, was that if he doesn't accept it, that the U.S.
12:52would pull back its support for Ukraine.
12:54Is that accurate?
12:55Well, at some point he's going to have to accept something.
12:56You know, he hasn't accepted it.
12:57You remember writing the Oval Office not so long ago, I said, you don't have the cards.
13:04Don't forget, I inherited this war.
13:06I would have never- This war never would have happened.
13:08I inherited this war.
13:10And I thought he should have made a deal a year ago, two years ago.
13:15The ultimate deal would have been if it never started.
13:17That would have been the good deal.
13:18That could have been done, too, if you had the right president.
13:20But you didn't have the right president.
13:22Mr. President, Mr. President, Mr. President, the cost of living is something that you and
13:27Mr. Mondami seem to agree on.
13:30Democrats have run New York City for a long time.
13:33Mr. Mondami, do you see Democrat policy specifically as being a problem?
13:39And I'd like that to be a question that both of you could answer in New York City.
13:43Look, I think that there are many things in our city where we have to own the responsibility of it,
13:48things that existed long before the president was the president.
13:51And those are also part of the message of our campaign was to take on a broken politics of the past.
13:56And I ran against a number of candidates who represented different versions of that past.
14:00And what we found time and again is that working people were left behind in the politics of our city.
14:05And what we're looking to do is put those people right back at the heart of our politics so that we don't have a situation where we're in the wealthiest city in the history of the world,
14:14and yet one in five can't even afford $2.90 for a MetroCard.
14:19You know, we had some interesting conversation and some of his ideas really are the same ideas that I have.
14:26But a big thing on cost, you know, the new word is affordability.
14:31Another word is just groceries, you know, it's sort of an old fashioned word, but it's very accurate.
14:36And they're coming down, they're coming down high.
14:38They were, you know, we had, both of us, we had the highest inflation in the history of our country the last four years under the Biden administration.
14:47And we've got inflation down now to a normal number, it's going to go even a little bit lower than that.
14:52I'm going to take immediately.
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