THE PRESIDENT: These are bad people. You know, a lot of people say "deep state." I don't say "deep state." We have a lot of bad people and I think they're being found out.
I think right now - I saw where Comey is blaming this one and Brennan is blaming another one. And they're going against each other. And Clapper, I think, yesterday, maybe is blaming President Obama. Oh. So, surprised to see that happening. We got a lot of bad people. We got a lot of bad people and it's a shame.
But I said to everybody - before I walked in, I said,
"I'm going to be very calm because I don't want them going out to the press and saying that I was anything but calm." So I was extremely calm, very much like I am right now.
And it was sad when I watched Nancy, all moving - the movement and the hands and the craziness - and I watched - that's, by the way, a person that's got some problems. But when I watched that this morning - then I went over to Arlington National Cemetery for a very beautiful moment with the First Lady. But I watched that this morning, and it's just a narrative they want to put out. And I think it's pretty sad when they have to play that kind of narrative. I think it's a very sad thing for our country.
Yes, Peter.
Q Mr. President, a couple of questions I want to ask you about the disaster aid bill and about John Walker Lindh. But first, just to confirm some details as it relates to Nancy Pelosi. She says that you
"want to be impeached." Do you want to be impeached?
THE PRESIDENT: I don't think anybody wants to be impeached. But I'll tell you what, we went through two years of Bob Mueller with 18 people that hated Donald Trump. Many of them contributed to Hillary Clinton's campaign. One of them, in particular - Weissmann. Eighteen prosecutors. FBI agents all over the place. Five hundred interviews. One thousand four hundred pages of documents that I gave. I didn't use presidential prerogatives or anything having to do with the powers of the presidency. I let everybody go up and speak, including the Counsel - White House Counsel. I let him speak for 30 hours, as they tell me - 30, 32 hours.
I never once said - I could have stopped them very - I could have said,
"No, I don't want White House Counsel to speak. I don't want Sarah Huckabee to speak" - who went up there also, I believe. Everybody. I didn't have to let any of them go.
Now maybe I would have lost in court. I doubt it. Everyone tells me I had total - the total power to have that stopped.
With all of that, after two years: no collusion and findings that strongly led a great Attorney General to be able to rule no obstruction.
Okay, now I thought it was over. And now, Jerry Nadler - who I've fought for a long period of my life because he's from Manhattan. He's a Manhattan congressman - and, before that, something else. But I fought him in one - I fought him very successfully.
And as I said yesterday, lo and behold, I come down to Washington as President and who do I have again? Jerry Nadler. I know him well. I've had great success against Jerry and I will again.
But it's very unfair when you go through the House and then the House again. And then you go through the Senate and then you go through FBI. You have foreign countries, it sounds like, involved.
With all of this: no collusion, no obstruction. And I thought it was over and we can focus on the USMCA for the farmers. And instead they want all the same papers that have just been gone over with.
Now, I would imagine that Mueller went over my financials. He spent $40 million, so I would imagine they went over my taxes, my financials, my everything. But now we have to go over it again.
I've been doing this for two and a half years. They started, in my opinion - we'll find out because I think people - a lot of people want to find out - I think it started moments after I came down that beautiful escalator in Trump Tower. So I've been under investigation - a phony investigation based on no facts, based on an overthrow of the President. And I'm very proud of the way we've come out. Very proud.
But now, Peter, we have to go through it again. The American public is not standing for it. I saw some polls this morning: 60, 65 percent against. And that's with a lot of Democrats. So I think it's a bad thing for our country.
But I thought it was over with four or five weeks ago, when you had no collusion. And now, all of a sudden, we continue to go down this path. I don't think people are going to stand for it.
Q The release of the so-called "American Taliban," John Walker Lindh, today - what's your reaction?
THE PRESIDENT: I don't like it at all. This was a judge that gave a 17- or a 20-year sentence and he got some time off.
And believe it or not, about two weeks ago, I went to the best lawyers in our country that work for government. I said,
"What could we do about this?" Because I heard about this two weeks ago. I got a beautiful letter from the daughter of the first man - they say - killed in Afghanistan, from the CIA.
And I went and checked. And he said,
"From a legal standpoint there is nothing we're allowed to do" - because if there was, I would have done it instantly. But we'll be watching him. We'll be watching him closely.
What bothers me more than anything else is that here is a man who has not given up his proclamation of terror and we have to let him out.
Am I happy about it? Not even a little bit. The lawyers have gone through it with a fine-tooth comb. If there was a way to break that, I would have broken it in two seconds. I knew about it very well.
Q Do you support the disaster relief bill that includes no immigration money?
THE PRESIDENT: Well, we're going to get the immigration money later, according to everybody. I have to take care of my farmers with the disaster relief. If I didn't do that, we were - I mean, really, it's a long time in coming.
This way, our farmers from not only Georgia, Alabama, different places, some in Florida - but if you look at what happened in Nebraska and Iowa and a lot of different places, they got wiped out. They got hurt badly. And I didn't want to hold that up any longer.
So the answer is: I totally support it. I'd like to see it happen. We'll take care of the immigration later. The wall is being built. We just left the Army Corps of Engineers. We have - we will soon have hundreds of miles under construction and we'll have way over 400 miles completed by the end of next year.
Q Mr. President, why should importers' money go to American farmers?
THE PRESIDENT: Because the American farmers have been used as a vehicle for China to try and hurt our country -
Q But you'll (inaudible)?
THE PRESIDENT: - and they've been very brave.
No, they - in particular, the farmer. They've been very, very brave. They've been very patriotic. But China has openly stated they're going to use the farmer. The reason is because I got the farmer's votes. You look at a map; it's all red, meaning Republican, meaning Trump. It's all red in the middle states, as you know. It's got a little blue here and a little blue there.
So farmer - so if you look at - I guess, China is probably - they're definitely a smart player. They went out and they said,
"We're going to attack the farmers." Then they did. And the farmer said,
"You know, what? We're with our President."
I never heard - even on some of the networks and cable channels that are negative, I've never heard anybody, any of the farmers speak badly. They said,
"You know, the..." - you told me that, Mike -
"...the President has - he's doing the right thing." They've been unfair to this country - and they're not talking about farm; they're talking about everything.
Q How long are you willing to do it?
THE PRESIDENT: China has been unfair to this country for many, many years. Finally, we have somebody that's fighting back - and, by the way, successfully fighting back. We're talking about hundreds of billions of dollars.
But I've never had a farmer come out and say,
"You know, I'm not doing that well." They say,
"Just go and do it." You're going to end up better - much better in the end.
And again, if you look - go back 20 years, the farms have come down; the prices have been coming down for many, many years - long before I ever thought about doing this. So we're going to be very successful.
But in the meantime, they have been attacked. The farmers have been attacked by China. And all I'm doing is helping them get that beautiful, flat, nice, level playing field. Right?
Okay.
Q Thank you, Mr. President. Would you consider sending troops to the Middle East to counter Iran, as it was reported?
THE PRESIDENT: Well, I would if we need them. I don't think we're going to need them. I really don't. But I have a meeting on it in about an hour. I would certainly send troops if we need them.
Iran has been a very dangerous player - a very bad player. They're a nation of terror and we won't put up with it. The deal that was signed by President Obama was a horror show. It's a terrible deal.
The minute I collapsed that deal and terminated it, Iran went in a very bad direction. They're now suffering massive problems, financially. They have inflation that's about the highest in the world. They're people - and they're great people. I know many Iranians; they're great people. But the country is in very bad shape.
When I first came here, that was a country of terror. They were all over. I remember - and I've told this story - but I've been at many different meetings where every single problem caused in the Middle East - and maybe beyond, but in the Middle East - was caused by Iran. They were behind every single - we had 14 different attacks at one point. They were behind every attack.
So we'll see what happens with Iran. No, I don't think we'll need it. But if we need it, we'll have - we'll be there in whatever number we need.
Yes, ma'am.
