THE PRESIDENT: Well, we did it with a lot of good thought, and we did it with a lot of great people, like we have here today. And some are going into different fields. By the way, the coalmining field is doing very well right now, but some people will go out of that and some people will go into that, because frankly, it is really, as you know - you see what's happening - it's doing great.
We have the Governor of Kentucky with us and he has been - Matt, please - stand up, Matt Bevin, please. (Applause.) What a job he's done. And he's a - he can tell you how well it's doing, but we have a lot of other industries that are doing well. You really have your choice. You didn't have a choice just a few years ago, and now you have a choice because our markets are so strong.
The job market at 3.7 percent is the lowest in 50 years. It's the best unemployment numbers we have in 50 years. And that's wonderful, but we actually need workers now. That's a good thing to be saying because that hasn't been said for many, many decades.
And we want people to come in. You've all been reading about the immigration situation with the caravans and all, but the fact is, we want people coming into the country. We want them to come in legally. They want to come through a system that we have set up and that we're really setting up well.
And they want to come in, and we want them to come in through merit so that they can help these companies. Because we have - just in Japan alone, we have six major car companies going to open up new plants and coming in - they're coming into Michigan and they're coming to Ohio, they're coming to a lot of different places. We have a lot of car companies coming. We have a lot of companies, period. Foxconn, in Wisconsin, as an example.
And all of this has just led to optimism. I mean, we're cheerleaders. That's a big part of it. And we're cheerleaders for our country, for our system. We're getting rid of a lot of the bureaucratic blocks and a lot of the regulations, Larry, which you know are very important.
In fact, before we did the tax cuts - and the tax cuts are a big factor - but before we did these really massive tax cuts, the biggest that we've ever done, we did regulation cuts - and quite a bit before. And the economy was really going very well. And then you added to that the tax cuts and other things that we have within the reform bill.
And the end result is we have an economy that's the hottest economy right now in the world. And I guess the stock market is up to - getting close to 50 percent, if you think about it - that's incredible - since the election.
And it's - in fact, I hear today it's doing very well, Larry. It's up another 400 points. It was up 450-or-so points yesterday. And it's just doing well.
I will say this: They're waiting for the results of the midterms. And if the midterms for some reason don't do so well for Republicans, I think you're all going to lose a lot of money. I hate to say that. I think you're going to lose a lot of money. People are waiting on your 401(k)s and everything else. They're waiting to see what happens with the midterms.
And if it comes out good, like we think it probably will, because there's a good feeling in the air. There are a lot of people voting. Go out and vote. But if it comes out good, I think the market is going to continue to go through a period like we've never seen before.
MR. KUDLOW: Yes, sir. It's a healthy economy.
You know, the gentleman over there said "bring it on." I love that. I say the American men and women in business and the workforce are crushing it. We're the hottest economy in the world right now. Trillions of dollars are coming our way.
Let me ask you this - very unusual: When you look at the statistics, God forbid we should use a factoid, we are experiencing record blue-collar employment increases, the likes of which we haven't seen since the middle eighties, okay? When I was a Cub Scout for Reagan.
We are looking at blue-collar wage increases are rising faster than white collars. Now, I'm not against white collars, but I'm just saying, this is the blue-collar, middle-class Trump economy. How do you account for that?
THE PRESIDENT: Well, if you remember, the previous administration said there won't be any more manufacturing jobs; you're going to need a magic wand and all of that. Well, we had the magic wand, because we have almost 600,000 manufacturing jobs since the election, and it's going to go much, much higher than that. And these are among our best jobs. I mean, if you look at jobs, those are great jobs. They're high-paying jobs. They're skilled jobs. People are being trained for those jobs.
And I think - look, I think that companies coming in, you have some of the great companies. And I really appreciate your top people coming from these great companies. And I just feel that they can train people far better than the government can train people. And they go specifically to that company. But I don't think there's ever been a way that we can go, as a government, and train people like you can train them for your great companies.
And I also know that what happens oftentimes is people that didn't know too much, and they go in, they get trained, they get a job - they do phenomenally well within the company. They go up in rank. They go up right like a rocket ship. And they go up in salary and pay, and even ownership, in many cases, where they have stock ownerships and options, and everything else.
So I just want to appreciate. These are great companies that are with us today, and you have done a fantastic job.
So thank you all. Thank you all very much. Appreciate it. (Applause.)
MR. KUDLOW: During the campaign, you made it very clear -
THE PRESIDENT: Which one? Which campaign? (Laughter.) There have been a lot of campaigns.
MR. KUDLOW: 2016. During that campaign, I thought you made it very clear - you were speaking to people all across the country: the workforce, the entrepreneurs, the business owners. I thought you made it clear that the war against business is over; the war against energy is over; the war against success is over; if you succeed, you can keep more of what you earn.
Almost from the day after you won, a falling consumer confidence index started to rise and rise and rise. The day before yesterday, I think, 18-year high. The thing hasn't stopped rising. The same is true for small businesses. Have you changed the attitudes? Have you changed the psychology, how you said to folks, "Go out there and take a rip at the ball?"
THE PRESIDENT: Well, look, I'm a believer in this country. I'm a believer in the system. This is the greatest system on Earth. But - and I also - I said it before, we are cheerleaders. If you look at what's going on in certain states, and if you look at what's going on in certain areas of the world, for the most part, the ones that are doing well are the ones that are really in favor. Nobody is hot like we are, though. There's no other country on this planet that's hot like the United States. And a lot of people said this can't happen because we're big - we're a big country.
If you look at comparing us to, as an example, China, we're going way up, and China has been hurt over the last number of months. And they're having a hard time, and they'll be fine. And let's see what happens. But we have a chance to make a fair deal, because China has been hurting us and trade deals have been hurting us. And we're changing them. We changed with Mexico. We changed it with Canada, South Korea. We have a new deal.
We're now negotiating with the European Union, which has been - I mean, just absolutely hurting the United States. They don't take our product. They don't take your product. They don't take our product. They don't do a lot of things. They charge tremendous tariffs, and we don't. And it's been very difficult dealing with the European Union. But we are now negotiating with them from a position of total strength. Because if they don't treat us fairly, we're not going to treat them fairly. And the same goes for many other countries around the world, including China.
But people come in, prime ministers come in, and presidents come in, and kings and queens, and everybody comes in, and the first thing they always say is, "Congratulations on what you've done with the economy." We are literally the hottest country in the world, economically, and it's a great thing to see. And I think we have a long way to go. I really believe that. I think, Larry, we have a tremendously long way to go.
MR. KUDLOW: So, Ivanka, you've got, if I understand it, roughly 7 million job openings in the hottest economy in the world.
MS. TRUMP: Yeah.
MR. KUDLOW: So your reskilling comes at exactly the right moment.
MS. TRUMP: It's critical that we make sure there's alignment between the jobs in demand in the modern economy and the skills being taught in our classrooms, our technical schools. And that's what this administration is completely committed to. But it's also really important that we work with industry and also with governors.
So as part of this pledge, we had governors sign a pledge saying that they would prioritize this in their states, because they do reskilling, they know the needs of their local marketplaces far better than the federal government does.
So this President, after this legislation languishing for almost a decade, signed Perkins Career and Technical Education into law, modernized it. This is money that goes to the states that enables the governors to invest and fuel the growth of jobs and training programs that are actually working.
Governor Bevin, who is here with us today, is working very hard to attract businesses because they're - the skilled workforce is there.
So you really do need this whole pairing of the industry, the skilled labor, and - and, of course, the government's commitment to -
MR. KUDLOW: Some initiatives.
MS. TRUMP: - to champion it.
MR. KUDLOW: Some initiative. Some hard work.
MS. TRUMP: A lot of - well, we do that well in this country.
MR. KUDLOW: You bet you do.
MS. TRUMP: So this room is absolutely a testament to the fact that our greatest resource is the American workforce and -
THE PRESIDENT: So - but, Larry, you do need what Ivanka said last. You need some help from the government to get it started in the right direction.
And one of the things I'm very proud of is the steel industry. The steel industry was dead. It was as dead as a doornail. We weren't going to have a steel industry in two years. You look at what happened. It used to be our great industry. United States Steel was our biggest company many years ago, and there was nothing even like it. It was a juggernaut. It was a powerful, powerful company. And you look at what's happened to our industry, and it's gone down - really gone down the tubes.
We literally - and you need steel. You know, there are certain industries we can actually do without, and we can buy, but you have to have steel and aluminum. And I put a very substantial penalty on what was happening because other countries were destroying our steel industry.
