Trump hails 'historic' peace deal as DRC and Rwanda end decades of war

New York Post

9 hours ago

Transcript

00:00Well, thank you very much.

00:20Wow.

00:22This is a nice building, I have to tell you.

00:25So this is a special occasion for a lot of reasons.

00:28But number one is it's our first occasion in this

00:32building using it for peace.

00:34And it's all about peace, and it's a great honor.

00:38And, Marco, you've done a fantastic job in getting it

00:41ready, but it's a spectacular building,

00:44and we all appreciate it.

00:46And very importantly, we're settling a war that's

00:49been going on for decades with millions and millions

00:54of people killed.

00:57And these two gentlemen spent a lot of time

01:00backstage talking to each other and over at the

01:02Oval Office.

01:03We were at the Oval Office together.

01:04It was beautiful.

01:06And I think it's just a very important day.

01:09And we have other leaders from other countries.

01:11And you said such beautiful things.

01:13I'd love to have you come up.

01:14We'll finish up, and then I'd love to have you come up.

01:17And if you can issue the words that you just

01:19issued backstage, it usually doesn't work.

01:23You know, it usually never happens.

01:24I said, oh, they said it much better before, but you

01:27will probably do better up here.

01:29But I'd love to have you say how you felt, because it

01:32is an amazing day.

01:34Great day for Africa.

01:35Great day for the world and for these two countries.

01:39And they're, they have so much to be proud of.

01:41And I want to thank the leaders.

01:43I want to thank you very much.

01:45It means maybe more because we are here together for

01:49the first time ever in this building.

01:51Brand new, beautiful building.

01:52I can't, I don't want to tell you how much it costs,

01:54because I hear it's a lot.

01:57Okay?

01:57They don't build inexpensively here.

02:00But I just want to thank you very much.

02:02So, please, sit down, everybody.

02:06I want to thank everybody for being here.

02:09It's a momentous occasion.

02:10It's a truly incredible setting.

02:14It's very few places I've seen like this.

02:18In this holy season, we prepare to celebrate the birth of

02:21the Prince of Peace.

02:23We have come to the U.S.

02:25Institute of Peace to sign a historic agreement that will

02:29end one of the longest running conflicts anywhere in the

02:31world, with far more than 10 million people killed.

02:36Today, we commit to stopping decades of violence and

02:39bloodshed and to begin a new era of harmony and

02:42cooperation between the Democratic Republic of the

02:45Congo and Rwanda.

02:48I want to thank the two courageous leaders.

02:50They are courageous leaders.

02:52They really are courageous leaders.

02:54Great people.

02:56President Chisekite of the Democratic Republic of the

03:01Congo and President Kagame of Rwanda.

03:06They are amazing people, and they had stories to tell me

03:13that were incredible, really fascinating in so many

03:17different ways, sad and beautiful, both sad and

03:22beautiful, and today makes them beautiful.

03:24I've just held really fantastic meetings with both men

03:29and representatives of other countries where we

03:32discussed the importance of upholding this new

03:35agreement, a very detailed, powerful agreement.

03:40I also want to thank several foreign guests and

03:42dignitaries in attendance to celebrate this

03:46magnificent event, including the President of

03:48Angola.

03:49Please, would you stand?

03:50And so great to see you.

03:58The President of Burundi.

04:01Thank you very much.

04:02Great to see you again.

04:05The President of Kenya.

04:10We have the Olympics here.

04:11You know, they do very well in the Olympics.

04:14Those runners, I don't know what the heck you do with

04:17those runners, but they are very good.

04:20I've been watching them for a long time.

04:21So we have the Olympics coming to the United States.

04:24You know that.

04:24Thank you very much.

04:25And you'll come as our guest.

04:28And the President of the Council of Ministers of Togo.

04:33Thank you, thank you very much.

04:37The Vice President of Uganda.

04:45It's such a beautiful color.

04:47All these guys are wearing these dark suits.

04:49You just stand out for a lot of reasons.

04:52You're beautiful.

04:55The Foreign Ministers of Qatar.

05:00Thank you very much.

05:01Say hello to my friend.

05:04Great man.

05:06And the United Arab Emirates.

05:13My regards, right?

05:15And the Chairman of the African Union Commission,

05:19who's done a fantastic job.

05:20And thank you for all your help.

05:23We appreciate all your help.

05:25A special group of people.

05:27A very special thanks as well to Secretary of State Marco Rubio.

05:31Marco, please stand.

05:37And thank you for putting a certain name on that building.

05:39Came, I said, boy, that is beautiful.

05:41That blew up last night.

05:43They said, that's a great honor.

05:45It really is.

05:45On this building, it's a great honor.

05:47Thank you very much.

05:48I assume you had a lot to do with that.

05:50Just a little bit, yeah.

05:53Appreciate it.

05:54And Senior Advisor for Africa, Mossad Boulos, who's been fantastic.

05:59Thank you, Mossad.

06:01All of these people, every one of them, were indispensable in forging this agreement.

06:05Let me also recognize Senators Mike Rounds and Lindsey Graham.

06:10Lindsey, thank you.

06:11Mike, wherever you may be.

06:14Thank you, Mike.

06:16Our representatives, Ronnie Jackson.

06:17Where's Ronnie?

06:18Ronnie is a great guy.

06:19He won his race in Texas by 48 points.

06:23Right, Ronnie?

06:24I don't have to ask if he's in any — I don't even have to endorse him anymore.

06:29It doesn't matter.

06:30Save the paper.

06:31Right?

06:32Great job.

06:33Chris Smith.

06:34Chris?

06:35Thank you, Chris.

06:36Great.

06:37Good job.

06:38Trent Kelly?

06:39Trent?

06:40Thank you very much.

06:45And the Acting President of the Institute for Peace, Darren Beattie.

06:50Thank you, Darren, very much.

06:53Thank you very much, Darren.

06:55For more than 30 years, one of the worst conflicts on Earth has been raging in Eastern

07:01Congo.

07:02Millions and millions of people have been tragically killed.

07:06Went on forever.

07:07And countless more have been displaced from their homes.

07:10Families have been destroyed.

07:12It's been a disaster.

07:14Many administrations have tried, but probably not too hard, knowing who preceded me.

07:21But they tried.

07:22It says they've tried.

07:24But we tried harder to end this conflict.

07:28But they've accomplished — obviously, they accomplished very little, because the killing

07:33of the world had gone on at levels that just got worse and worse.

07:36And today, we're succeeding, where so many others have failed.

07:39And this has become the eighth war that we've ended in less than one year.

07:44Such an exciting thing to do.

07:46This has been a really — because we're talking about 30 years of fighting — 30 years,

07:51much more than 10 million lives.

07:53Last June, thanks to the efforts of Secretary Rubio and Mr. Boulos, Rwanda and the DRC reached

08:02a landmark agreement to move toward peace.

08:06They started the process.

08:07I met with some of their great representatives who are here also.

08:12And we started a great process.

08:14The compact we're signing today, which will be known as the Washington Accords — everybody

08:19sort of liked that name — formalizes the terms agreed to in June, including a permanent

08:25ceasefire, the disarmament of non-state forces, provisions for refugees to return to their

08:32homes, and justice and accountability for those who have committed illegal atrocities.

08:38Very importantly, this agreement also creates a new framework for economic prosperity.

08:43There's tremendous wealth in those — in that beautiful earth.

08:47It's a beautiful earth.

08:49But it was stained badly with blood — tremendous amounts of blood.

08:54But in the region, it will support a lasting peace.

08:57And the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Rwanda have agreed to more closely integrate

09:02their economies with each other rather than fighting.

09:06And they'll be doing that.

09:08And these two gentlemen are very smart.

09:10And I think they liked each other a lot.

09:14I spent time with them.

09:16I think they liked — some people may be surprised.

09:18I really do.

09:19I think they've spent a lot of time killing each other.

09:25And now they're going to spend a lot of time hugging, holding hands, and taking advantage

09:31of the United States of America economically like every other country does.

09:36So, they're going to do very well.

09:38But they do have some valuable — some very valuable things.

09:41They're going to have a lot of money and a lot of success.

09:45And I think they're going to get along really well.

09:47So, I hope so.

09:48Thank you very much.

09:49Look at them.

09:50Look at the way they love each other.

09:56So, I have a lot of comments.

10:00I have a lot of confidence in both leaders.

10:03We'll keep these commitments.

10:05I know they're going to keep them and follow through on the agreement and create a much

10:09brighter future for the people of their countries and their heroes within their countries because

10:14of today.

10:15A lot of — this is a big story.

10:17And so much is being written and said.

10:20All of the newscasts have it at the top of the list.

10:24And they are heroes.

10:25And we want to keep it that way.

10:27Today, the United States is also signing our own bilateral agreements with the Congo and

10:32Rwanda that will unlock new opportunities for the United States to access critical minerals

10:38and provide economic benefits for everybody.

10:42And we'll be involved.

10:43We're sending some of our biggest and greatest companies over to the two countries.

10:50And we're going to take out some of the rare earth and take out some of the assets and pay.

10:57And everybody's going to make a lot of money.

10:59These are just two of the many new agreements related to mineral supplies that my administration

11:04has achieved this year, including with Australia, Japan, Kazakhstan, Malaysia, South Korea, and

11:13many other countries.

11:15With all of these agreements, we're forging new economic security partnerships that protect

11:20the interests of America and our friends and partners.

11:23And a core feature of my administration's national security strategy, a big part of which

11:28is the tariffs.

11:29We're taking in trillions of dollars in tariffs.

11:32Nobody's ever seen anything like it.

11:34And it's given us really great national security.

11:38We'll be paying down debt.

11:40We'll be making distributions to people.

11:43And we're really, we're really doing a job.

11:48It's amazing.

11:49I was with a gentleman, the future king of Saudi Arabia.

11:55And you've heard me say this a couple of times.

11:58But two months ago when I was over there, he said, and actually Qatar is represented today,

12:05and UAE is represented, and your leader said the exact same thing, different words, but

12:10the exact same thing, that one year ago they thought our country was dead.

12:16And now our country is the hottest country anywhere in the world.

12:19We're the hottest country anywhere in the world.

12:20Nobody's ever seen anything like it.

12:23We have over $18 trillion, that's just in 10 months, pledged or being invested or pledged

12:30to be invested in the United States.

12:32Think of that, $18 trillion.

12:35The highest amount we've ever had is one and a half.

12:38Under the Biden administration, they did much less than one in four years.

12:42Think of that.

12:43So they did less than $1 trillion in four years.

12:45We have $18 trillion in 10 months.

12:48It's going to be much more than that, too.

12:51No other country in history has ever been closed, no matter what country you pick.

12:55So I want to thank you again, everybody, for your great vision.

13:00And I want to thank the people, especially the people that we named, some of the others

13:05that unfortunately we didn't name.

13:07We just couldn't do that.

13:09But for your vision and for your courage, because it's made it possible to begin healing

13:15old wounds and transcending past differences and creating a future where every child of

13:22God can live in dignity, prosperity and peace.

13:25And these are two very good men and they're two very potentially very strong countries.

13:30I'd like to now invite President Kagume to come up and say a few words.

13:39It's Rwanda.

13:40And then, if I may, President of DRC, who really is doing a great job.

13:46These are two men that are doing a great job.

13:48And again, they are so respected because of what they're doing today and the mission that

13:55they've really, I think, accomplished.

13:57And we'll see how it all works out, but I think it's going to work out really great.

14:01They want to get on to other ways of living for their people and their great leaders.

14:06Thank you very much.

Trump hails 'historic' peace deal as DRC and Rwanda end decades of war

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