Press Briefing by Press Secretary Sarah Sanders
Q Well, because of what he said last night. Because he said you need an -
Q He said last night that you need an ID to buy -
Q You go to the grocery store; I go to a grocery store. I've never had to show an ID to buy my groceries.
MS. SANDERS: I've been a lot lately, actually.
Q I've never had to show an ID when I go to buy groceries. Most people don't.
MS. SANDERS: Certainly if you go to a grocery store and you buy beer and wine, you're certainly going to show your ID. I don't think that -
Q Is that what the President, who doesn't drink, meant?
MS. SANDERS: He's not saying every time he went in. He said when "you" go to the grocery story. I'm pretty sure that everybody in here who's been to a grocery store and has purchased beer or wine has probably had to show their ID. If they didn't, then that's probably a problem with the grocery store.
Major, go ahead.
Q Sarah, to follow up on Jon Decker's question. You want the investigation to end. You want it to end, I presume, also without any obstruction, meaning without any interference. Many have described the President's tweet this morning as blowing off steam. Is that a fair characterization? It's just an opinion he's throwing out there; it has nothing to do with his actual governmental control of, or supervision of, this investigation?
MS. SANDERS: Once again, as I said earlier, the President is stating his opinion. It's not an order. But he's been, I think, crystal clear about how he feels about this investigation from the beginning.
Q Can I follow up on that? Because you had said a moment ago that the investigation itself is corrupt, the Mueller investigation. And then you mentioned Comey and McCabe and Strzok. They're not - Strzok certainly isn't anymore. He was for a time.
MS. SANDERS: The entire investigation is based off a dirty, discredited dossier that was paid for by an opposing campaign and had a lot of corruption within the entity which was overseeing it, which was Peter Strzok, James Comey, Andrew McCabe. We've laid this out a number of times. I don't think that we have to go into it every single time we're in here.
Q If it is corrupt, why doesn't the President just end it, or use the powers he has to end it?
MS. SANDERS: Once again, the President has allowed this -
Q If he believes that, why doesn't he follow through on that?
MS. SANDERS: Once again, the President has allowed this process to play out, but he think it's time for it to come to an end.
Sara, go ahead.
Q Thank you, Sarah. I'm just wondering if you can clarify what - this tweet from this morning. Is it the President's desire for, first, Sessions to un-recuse himself from the probe? And is it also his desire for the Special Counsel to be fired?
MS. SANDERS: I think I've clarified this about 10 times now. It's the President's opinion. I don't have anything further.
Steve.
Q Yes, Sarah. Last night, at the Tampa rally, the President again pushed for creation of a Space Force as a new military branch. The Defense Department today missed the deadline to submit a report to Congress about how this Space Force is to be structured. And we're told that the White House has now twice rejected drafts because the Defense Department doesn't want a Space Force. It would rather create a Space Command under the existing military structure.
In view of this, how is the President going to force the creation of a Space Force?
MS. SANDERS: We're continuing to work with the Department of Defense to figure out and determine the best way forward - something the President feels strongly about. And we're going to work with our team there and figure out the best solution.
Yamiche.
Q I have a question about - the President is meeting with inner-city pastors today. Secretary Carson has pushed policies that would raise the rent on many poor people. He's also pushed policies that would slow anti-immigration initiatives. What is the President going to say to these inner-city pastors whose areas might be hurt by some of these policies?
MS. SANDERS: Certainly that's the reason to sit down with these individuals, to hear their feedback, hear their concerns. I know the primary point of discussion for today is to discuss prison reform, but I wouldn't be surprised if they raised those issues, and that's why the President has invited them here, so that he can have those ongoing conversations and determine how best to help them in a number of different situations.
Q (Inaudible) in inner cities -
MS. SANDERS: I'm sorry?
Q Are those policies that are raising rents on poor people and that are slowing anti-segregation initiatives, are they helping inner cities, in the President's opinion?
MS. SANDERS: I would have to look at the specific policies you're referencing. I'd be happy to do - I'd be happy to do that after the briefing.
Julie.
Q Sarah, members of this administration are apparently talking about big cuts to the Refugee Resettlement Program, which is currently capped at 45,000, but I'm told it's under discussion for cuts as low as 25,000 next year. Does the President feel that this country admits too many refugees? What does he think the proper level is? And what would the rationale be for scaling it back that dramatically for a second year in a row?
MS. SANDERS: This is part of an ongoing discussion. And no policy decisions have been made, but we'll keep you posted as they are.
Jeff.
Q Sarah, you -
Q Does the President think the program is too big?
MS. SANDERS: I'm sorry?
Q Does the President think there are too many refugees coming into this country?
MS. SANDERS: The President wants to make sure that whoever comes into the country, we know who they are, why they're coming, and that they pose no danger or threat to Americans. That's the number-one priority. And we want to make sure that we have the processes in place and the ability to vet any individual that would come into this country. If the Department of Homeland Security and other agencies that they would work in coordination with determine that they don't have the ability to vet a certain number, then certainly the President would have concerns with that.
Again, the number-one priority is national security and making sure we have the ability to properly vet and process any individual that comes into this country.
Jeff.
Q Sarah, you said the President wants this investigation to be completed, but he's not yet made the decision if he will sit down with Bob Mueller. Isn't he part of dragging this out a bit? And also, when he tells you something personally, do you take it is a directive or do you take it as his opinion?
MS. SANDERS: On the first part, I would refer you to the President's outside counsel on specific negotiations with the Special Counsel. And the second part? I'm sorry.
Q You said that his tweet this morning was his opinion. When he tells you something, as a member of his staff, how do you know if it's a directive from the President or if it's simply his opinion?
MS. SANDERS: The President makes it pretty clear when I'm having those conversations with him.
David, go ahead.
Q This morning, though, it seemed pretty clear. His tweet this morning said that he wanted to - it was time for the investigation to be stopped. Does the President know that Jeff Sessions can't stop the investigation? Has he directed Rod Rosenstein to?
MS. SANDERS: The President is very well aware of how the process works. Once again, he's stating his opinion.
David, go ahead.
Q What does the President plan to do specifically about 3D plastic guns? And has he spoken to the NRA about this issue?
MS. SANDERS: The Department of Justice made a deal without the President's approval. On those regards, the President is glad this effort was delayed to give more time to review the issue. And this administration supports the decades-old legislation already on the books that prohibits the ownership of a wholly plastic gun.
Steve.
Q The case of the pastor in Turkey: Has the President raised this directly with President Erdoğan?
MS. SANDERS: Are you talking about the imprisonment of Pastor Brunson? Yes, they've discussed it on several occasions.
Q And is he upset about it or what?
MS. SANDERS: I think you can see in the actions that the President has made today that he's not happy with Turkey's decision not to release Pastor Erdoğan [Brunson].
Blake.
Q Sarah, thank you. I wanted to ask you one on taxes and one on the possibility of a shutdown. On taxes: Does the President support possibly restructuring the way capital gains are taxed? And on the possibility of a shutdown: Is the President talking about potentially endorsing a government shutdown before November's elections? After November's elections? Or both?
MS. SANDERS: On the first of your question, this is something that has a lot of support from various people. No administration policy has been determined but the President has asked the Treasury Department to take a look into it.
On the second part of your question in regards to the shutdown, the President isn't focused on the timing of before or after the election. He's focused on the results. He's been talking about this for a year and a half. Our immigration system is completely broken, and he's begging, and has been, for Congress, particularly Democrats in Congress, to step up, do their jobs, stop kicking the ball down the field, and actually work with him to fix our system. It's that simple.
Q Does the President, though, have a personal opinion as to whether or not the current system works or that it should be changed?
MS. SANDERS: Again, he's asked the Treasury Department to look into it.
David.
Q Thank you, Sarah. Two quickies about last night in Tampa. First of all, does the President encourage the support of people who showed up last night in these "QAnon" and "Blacks for Trump" fringe groups?
And secondly, is the White House willing to say right now, in view of what happened with one of our TV colleagues last night, that it is wrong for his most vocal supporters to be menacing toward journalists doing their jobs in a situation like that or any situation?
MS. SANDERS: On the first part, the President condemns and denounces any group that would incite violence against another individual, and certainly doesn't support groups that would promote that type of behavior. We've been clear about that a number of times since the beginning of the administration.
On the second part of your question, the President, as I just said, does not support violence against anyone and/or anything. And we've been very clear every single time we've been asked about that.
When it comes to the media, the President does think that the media holds a responsibility - we fully support a free press, but there also comes a high level of responsibility with that. The media routinely reports on classified information and government secrets that put lives in danger and risk valuable national security tools. This has happened both in our administration and in past administrations.
One of the worst cases was the reporting on the U.S. ability to listen to Osama bin Laden's satellite phone in the late '90s. Because of that reporting, he stopped using that phone and the country lost valuable intelligence. Unfortunately, it's now standard to abandon commonsense ethical practices. This is a two-way street. We certainly support a free press. We certainly condemn violence against anybody. But we also ask that people act responsibly and report accurately and fairly.
Q Sarah, nobody was being violent last night. They were trying to prevent a broadcaster from getting his broadcast out and yelling that his network sucks. Is that right or wrong?
MS. SANDERS: I'm sorry, what was the first part of your question?
Q I said, no one was being violent last night in terms of hitting anybody. And no broadcaster was broadcasting state secrets. They were trying to do stand-ups at a public rally, and you had people trying to yell over them, preventing them from doing their jobs, and yelling that their network sucks on live TV. Does the White House support that or not?
MS. SANDERS: While we certainly support freedom of the press, we also support freedom of speech, and we think that those things go hand in hand.
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