Remarks by President Trump in Press Conference After Midterm Elections
Q (Inaudible.)
THE PRESIDENT: You aren't - you aren't the best.
Q You repeatedly said - Mr. President, you repeatedly - over the course of the -
Q (Off-mic.) (Inaudible) called the enemy of the people -
THE PRESIDENT: Okay, just sit down, please.
Q (Off-mic.) (Inaudible) campaign (inaudible) and sent pipe bombs. That's just (inaudible).
THE PRESIDENT: Well, when you report fake news -
Q (Off-mic.) (Inaudible.)
THE PRESIDENT: No. When you report fake news, which CNN does a lot, you are the enemy of the people.
Go ahead.
Q Mr. President, over the course - over the course of the last several days of the campaign, sir - sir, at the end of the campaign, you repeatedly said that Americans need to fear Democrats. You said Democrats would "unleash a wave of violent crime that endangers families everywhere." Why are you pitting Americans -
THE PRESIDENT: Because they're very weak on crime.
Q - why are you pitting Americans against one another, sir?
THE PRESIDENT: Excuse me. Peter. Peter, what are you - trying to be him?
Q No, I'm just asking a question.
THE PRESIDENT: Peter, just let me just - let me just tell you, very simple: Because they're very weak on crime. Because they have often suggested - members and people within the Democrat Party, at a high level, have suggested getting rid of ICE, getting rid of law enforcement. That's not going to happen, okay?
We want to be strong on the borders. We want to be strong on law enforcement. And I want to - I want to cherish ICE because ICE does a fantastic job. The - what they do for us is so - really, it's so unrecognized how good a job they do.
So we want to take care of them, and we want to hold them very close because they do a good job.
Q But the question, to be clear -
THE PRESIDENT: Okay, yeah, go ahead.
Q - to be clear, though, the question, sir, is, why are you -
THE PRESIDENT: Thank you very much. Sit. Sit down, Peter.
Q - but the question - but you didn't answer my question. Just very simply, the question is, why are you pitting Americans against one another, sir?
THE PRESIDENT: I'm not.
Q Is that how you view citizens of this country?
THE PRESIDENT: No, I'm not. Well, look, I'll tell you what - we won a lot of elections last night. We did very well last night, and I think it's going to have -
Q But in many ways, it divided the country.
THE PRESIDENT: - I think it's going to have a very positive impact. I watched NBC this morning; they didn't report it exactly correctly, but that's, you know, very, very - that's the fact with NBC. Nothing I can do about that.
But I want this country to have protection. We want security in our country. I want security, Peter. I mean, you maybe don't think it's so important. And I think when you don't have it, you are indeed unleashing crime. I feel that.
Go ahead. Go ahead.
Q You said you would sign an executive order on birthright citizenship. Are you still going to sign the executive order on birthright citizenship?
THE PRESIDENT: You will answer - you'll ask me that question a little bit later.
Go ahead.
Q Okay.
THE PRESIDENT: Go ahead. Sure.
Q Thank you, Mr. President. The investigation by the Special Counsel, Robert Mueller, has been going on since last spring. It's been over -
THE PRESIDENT: It's been a long time.
Q Yeah, it's been over your head, over Republicans' head during the midterms as well. Is this an opportunity for you, Mr. President, to end that investigation? Would you consider removing Mr. Mueller from his position?
THE PRESIDENT: I could have ended it anytime I wanted. I didn't. And there was so collusion. There was no anything. I didn't.
They went after hackers in Moscow. I don't know about that. They went after people with tax problems, from years ago. They went after people with loans and other things. Had nothing to do with my campaign.
This is a investigation where many, many millions of dollars has been spent. And there's no collusion. It was supposed to be on collusion. There's no collusion. And I think it's - I think it's very bad for our country, I will tell you. I think it's a shame.
And a poll came out today - by the way, from NBC - or least I saw it on NBC - where a majority of the people do not agree with the Mueller investigation, or it wasn't approved. They have approval and disapproval, and it had a much higher disapproval.
It should end because it's very bad for our country. It's -
Q So if it's bad -
THE PRESIDENT: - and I'm not just talking about the tremendous expense. And the other thing is, they should look at the other side also. They only look at one side. They're not looking at all of the things that came up during this investigation. They don't do that.
They should also get people that can be fair, not 13 or 14 or 17 - I call them the "Angry Democrats." They are angry people. And it's a very unfair thing for this country. It's a very, very - forget about unfair to me; it's very bad for our country.
Q So, Mr. President, if it's un -
THE PRESIDENT: Go ahead. No, no, no. Please.
Q Mr. President, just to make the point - if it's unfair to the country and it's costing millions of dollars, why don't you just end it?
THE PRESIDENT: Give him the mic, please. I've answered the question.
Q Okay.
THE PRESIDENT: Go ahead, take the - take the mic.
Q Voter suppression - Mr. President, voter suppression.
THE PRESIDENT: Well, I'll give you voter - I will give you voter suppression. You just have to - sit down, please.
Q (Inaudible.)
THE PRESIDENT: Sit down. I didn't call you. I didn't call you. I didn't call you.
I'll give you voter suppression: Take a look at the CNN polls, how inaccurate they were. That's called voter suppression.
Go ahead, please.
Q Thank you, Mr. President.
Q In Georgia, sir? In Georgia?
THE PRESIDENT: I'm not - I'm not responding. I'm responding to -
Q (Off-mic.) (Inaudible.)
THE PRESIDENT: Excuse me, I'm not responding to you. I'm talking to this gentleman. Will you please sit down?
Q (Off-mic.) (Inaudible.)
THE PRESIDENT: Would -
Q (Inaudible) but you said (inaudible).
THE PRESIDENT: Excuse me. Excuse me. Would you please sit down?
Please, go ahead.
Q Thank you, Mr. President, now that the - now that the House of Representatives has -
THE PRESIDENT: Very hostile - such a hostile media. It's so sad. You ask me about -
Q (Off-mic.) (Inaudible.)
THE PRESIDENT: No. You rudely interrupted him.
Q You responded (inaudible).
THE PRESIDENT: You rudely interrupted him.
Go ahead.
Q Thank you, Mr. President. Do your demands remain the same to the United States Congress on immigration in exchange for a DACA fix? In exchange for an amnesty for 1.7 million, are you willing to change any of those demands that you gave to Congress earlier?
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