REAL News for REAL People
Press Briefing by Press Secretary Sarah Sanders for January 23, 2018
Q Thank you, Gary. I have one question for you and one for the General. So the President is traveling to Davos to present his America First agenda. How can one square an America First agenda with goals of increasing trade? The President has spoken many times of trade deals and other international agreements in which the U.S. is being ripped off and other countries are laughing at us. Does he believe that all of these negotiations and agreements are inherently zero-sum? And that for America to come first, do other countries have to take a backseat, or can agreements be truly win-win?
MR. COHN: Look, the President believes we can have truly win-win agreements. America first is not America alone. I said in my remarks: When we grow, the world grows; when the world grows, we grow. We're part of it, and we're part of a world economy. And the President believes that.
He's going to talk to world leaders about making sure we all respect each other, we all abide by the laws, we all have free, fair, open, and reciprocal trade. And if we live in a world where there are not artificial barriers, we will all grow and we will all help each other grow. And the President truly believes that. He went to the G7, he went to the G20, he went to NATO, he went to APEC, he's going to the U.N. He's talked about these positions consistently, and this is exactly what the President is going to talk about at the World Economic Forum.
Q One for the General also. General McMaster, there have been reports in the news recently that leaders - authoritarian leaders in other countries, particularly in Southeast Asia, are using one of the President's favorite phrases, "fake news," to describe reporting that is not flattering and it reflects poorly on their country, and reports inconvenient truths.
And President Trump has made a point of not publicly talking about things like human rights and freedom of speech, freedom of expression. Is he concerned at all, or are you concerned that the President's rhetoric, combined with his silence on these issues, is creating a climate where authoritarian leaders feel they have free rein to do what they want, and the United States will not speak up publicly?
GENERAL MCMASTER: Well, it's just not true. It's just not accurate that the President hasn't spoken loudly, both in words and in deeds, against those who violate human rights. So I would ask you to go to his speech that he delivered in Warsaw, where he talked about the importance of individual rights and rule of law.
I would say, go to his speech in Riyadh, where he said all nations of the world have to come together to defeat this wicked ideology that perpetuates terrorism.
I would say, look at his U.N. General Assembly speech where he defined sovereignty as strong, sovereign nations who respect the sovereignty of their citizens and the sovereignty of their neighbors.
Look at his deeds - look at his deeds in confronting the most brutal dictatorial regime in the world, North Korea. How could that not be a human rights issue?
How about in Syria, when the Syrian regime committed mass murder of its own people, with the most heinous weapons on Earth. What did the President do? He struck against that regime's ability to deliver those weapons. How is that not human rights?
Look at the Cuba policy, when the previous policy had done nothing but strengthen the grip of that authoritarian regime. There's a new Cuba policy, which now tries to encourage a more pluralistic economy and different power centers within Cuba that can then better protect the rights of the Cuban people.
Look at what the President has said and done on Venezuela. The list goes on. So this premise - I mean, this false premise that the President hasn't spoken on human rights, it's demonstrably false in words but also in deeds.
Thanks for that question.
Q General, last time you spoke from that podium, you mentioned that it wasn't useful to shout about human rights.
Q General McMaster, there's been a lot of talk about you possibly going back into the military. Can you tell us today if you plan on staying in your current role, or if there's consideration for you to leave?
GENERAL MCMASTER: No, I have a job. It's a tremendous honor to do this job every day - to advance and protect the interests of the American people, to do my best, to provide options to our President, and once he makes decisions to assist with the execution of those decisions.
So I have a job, and it is my intention to go as long and as hard as I can in service of the President and the nation in this job. Thank you.
Q Gary, I was just wondering if you could talk a bit about what went into -
MR. COHN: And, by the way, he does a really good job. (Laughter.)
Q And actually, don't let me forget to ask you if you're staying in your current job, too. (Laughter.)
MR. COHN: Over here? (Laughter.) You can ask that one.
MS. CONWAY: You can ask her.
Q Was that a "yes"?
MR. COHN: That was a "yeah."
Q I know first you're going to go to Davos. I wanted to make sure I understood what went into the President's decision to go to Davos. He's the first sitting President to go since 2000. A lot of what this forum is about seems to go against his populist American First agenda. Can you explain the decision-making process?
MR. COHN: Again, America first, not alone. The President is very proud of the accomplishments he's created in his first year when the GDP growth, on the unemployment numbers, what's going on in the stock market, what we've done in reg reform, which is an artificial tax on businesses, what we've done on tax reform. We are competitive today. We are competitive with the rest of the world. We have a tax rate that's competitive with the rest of the world.
The President is going to Davos to speak to world leaders about investing in the United States, moving businesses to the United States, hiring American workers, changing the direction of our economy to be one of the biggest and best and most efficient economies in the world.
The President has done that. As I said, as he's gone around the world, that's what he's talked about. He is firmly committed to keep doing that and being the best salesperson the United States has to drive economic growth and drive prosperity and drive a better quality of life for American citizens.
Q You talked a great deal about some of the positive economic numbers. Can I get you to drill down on workforce participation rate? DOL, I think, gave it a 62.8 percent back in June of 2017. What can, or is the administration doing to get that number up, say, 70, 75 and higher?
MR. COHN: So, I talk about it the first Friday of every month - well, sometimes the second - when the unemployment number comes out. We had two really disappointing components of the unemployment rate - of the unemployment reports, not just
this year, but for the last three, four, five years. We've had no wage growth in the United States, and our participation rate has remained stagnant at best.
Part of our tax reform plan was to get people back into the workforce. We need to create more jobs. By creating a tax system that allows us to compete globally with the rest of the world - we're now at a 21 percent corporate rate, we're now at a very effective rate for personal businesses that allows them to compete with the rest of the world - we can now compete.
When you compete against the rest of the world, you grow your business, you hire people. When you hire people, you compete for labor. When you compete for labor, you compete by wages. We need to see wage growth in this country, something we haven't seen in almost a decade.
As we see wage growth, we will make it economically realistic for people to come back into the workforce. It will make sense for them to come back in the workforce. The alternative cost of staying out of the workforce will be way too high once we start seeing wage growth.
The big catalyst for everything we're doing is to create better jobs, higher-paying jobs, bring more people into the workforce, and grow our economy and tax a broader base. That's exactly what our whole premise is based on, and so far, the very early data looks very good.
So we're excited about where we're going.
Q Thank you. Today, the President announced new tariffs, and the Prime Minister of Canada also announced a big trade deal with 10 other countries. What do you say to critics who argue the President is giving up the United States seat at the global trade table?
MR. COHN: First of all, I disagree. Today, the President announced the culmination of something that's been going on for a long time. These were individual companies that tried various remedies. I mean, if you read the cases, they're extraordinary what these companies had to go through to try and protect American jobs and American workers against unfair practices from other countries.
So you finally see companies bring cases in a bipartisan system. They go through the system, it goes up to the USTR. The USTR makes a recommendation made on the bipartisan committee's recommendation, and the President makes a final ruling.
The President made a ruling that will make the U.S. competitive and help us grow our economy. It just so happens on the washing machine side, both of the companies that had been creating enormous problem for the U.S. manufacturers of washing machines are going to open up manufacturing facilities in the United States, hiring over 1,600 workers.
That's exactly what the President wants to see. He wants to see companies moving to the United States to build their products in the United States. So, ultimately, we're getting the outcome that we want to get.
On the solar panels, he left enormous amount of latitude in that decision that where we actually have a business - which is making the panels, not the actual cells; the cells can be imported - we're protecting our panel makers because we do make panels here in the United States, and we should continue to make panels and hire more workers in the United States.
Q But on the broader point of having Canada take the lead on a big global trade deal, and the United States really pulling out of some of the global trade deals, are you not concerned - is there not concern within this administration about giving up the United States seat at the global trade table?
MR. COHN: The President said this through his Asia trip, he said it in Europe: We are very open to free, fair, reciprocal trade. If you treat us one way, we will treat you the same way. If you have no tariffs, we will have no tariffs. If you have tariffs, we should have a reciprocal tariff. It's hard to argue against that, that we should treat each other equally. That's our trade policy. That's our trade premise. The President is going to keep going on that.
Right there.
Q A year ago, at Davos, President Xi made a big splash internationally. He was seen as asserting himself as taking world leadership at the expense of the United States, in some respect. Is President Trump going to make any effort to counter that? And is his appearance here any effort to counter that?
MR. COHN: The President's appearance is there to sell his accomplishments, to remind the world that we are open for business, that we're a competitive country, that we have made America very competitive, and that everyone should understand what he has accomplished in his first year, and what we're going to continue to accomplish in the next three remaining years.
The CEOs we're having dinner with, as I said, they are European-based companies with large presence in the United States. There's no reason that those presences shouldn't be much larger. The President wants to hear from those CEOs, what do they need to have more of their business in the United States.
This is - he's doing exactly what he should be doing to grow our economy and create jobs in the United States.
Q But how much of a concern is there about China and the influence it's exerting now, and a lot of people observing, that it's exerting because the U.S. has pulled back from a lot of these international agreements?
MR. COHN: Look, the U.S. is pulling back from nothing. The U.S. is involved. When the President was out in Asia, he talked about trade agreements and his willingness to have bilateral trade agreements with many of the countries he visited in Asia. And we're more than willing to have bilateral trade agreements.
Go ahead. Right behind you. Behind you.
Q Yes. I'd like to get both of you to talk about -
MR. COHN: Good. (Laughter.)
Go Back
MR. COHN: Look, the President believes we can have truly win-win agreements. America first is not America alone. I said in my remarks: When we grow, the world grows; when the world grows, we grow. We're part of it, and we're part of a world economy. And the President believes that.
He's going to talk to world leaders about making sure we all respect each other, we all abide by the laws, we all have free, fair, open, and reciprocal trade. And if we live in a world where there are not artificial barriers, we will all grow and we will all help each other grow. And the President truly believes that. He went to the G7, he went to the G20, he went to NATO, he went to APEC, he's going to the U.N. He's talked about these positions consistently, and this is exactly what the President is going to talk about at the World Economic Forum.
Q One for the General also. General McMaster, there have been reports in the news recently that leaders - authoritarian leaders in other countries, particularly in Southeast Asia, are using one of the President's favorite phrases, "fake news," to describe reporting that is not flattering and it reflects poorly on their country, and reports inconvenient truths.
And President Trump has made a point of not publicly talking about things like human rights and freedom of speech, freedom of expression. Is he concerned at all, or are you concerned that the President's rhetoric, combined with his silence on these issues, is creating a climate where authoritarian leaders feel they have free rein to do what they want, and the United States will not speak up publicly?
GENERAL MCMASTER: Well, it's just not true. It's just not accurate that the President hasn't spoken loudly, both in words and in deeds, against those who violate human rights. So I would ask you to go to his speech that he delivered in Warsaw, where he talked about the importance of individual rights and rule of law.
I would say, go to his speech in Riyadh, where he said all nations of the world have to come together to defeat this wicked ideology that perpetuates terrorism.
I would say, look at his U.N. General Assembly speech where he defined sovereignty as strong, sovereign nations who respect the sovereignty of their citizens and the sovereignty of their neighbors.
Look at his deeds - look at his deeds in confronting the most brutal dictatorial regime in the world, North Korea. How could that not be a human rights issue?
How about in Syria, when the Syrian regime committed mass murder of its own people, with the most heinous weapons on Earth. What did the President do? He struck against that regime's ability to deliver those weapons. How is that not human rights?
Look at the Cuba policy, when the previous policy had done nothing but strengthen the grip of that authoritarian regime. There's a new Cuba policy, which now tries to encourage a more pluralistic economy and different power centers within Cuba that can then better protect the rights of the Cuban people.
Look at what the President has said and done on Venezuela. The list goes on. So this premise - I mean, this false premise that the President hasn't spoken on human rights, it's demonstrably false in words but also in deeds.
Thanks for that question.
Q General, last time you spoke from that podium, you mentioned that it wasn't useful to shout about human rights.
Q General McMaster, there's been a lot of talk about you possibly going back into the military. Can you tell us today if you plan on staying in your current role, or if there's consideration for you to leave?
GENERAL MCMASTER: No, I have a job. It's a tremendous honor to do this job every day - to advance and protect the interests of the American people, to do my best, to provide options to our President, and once he makes decisions to assist with the execution of those decisions.
So I have a job, and it is my intention to go as long and as hard as I can in service of the President and the nation in this job. Thank you.
Q Gary, I was just wondering if you could talk a bit about what went into -
MR. COHN: And, by the way, he does a really good job. (Laughter.)
Q And actually, don't let me forget to ask you if you're staying in your current job, too. (Laughter.)
MR. COHN: Over here? (Laughter.) You can ask that one.
MS. CONWAY: You can ask her.
Q Was that a "yes"?
MR. COHN: That was a "yeah."
Q I know first you're going to go to Davos. I wanted to make sure I understood what went into the President's decision to go to Davos. He's the first sitting President to go since 2000. A lot of what this forum is about seems to go against his populist American First agenda. Can you explain the decision-making process?
MR. COHN: Again, America first, not alone. The President is very proud of the accomplishments he's created in his first year when the GDP growth, on the unemployment numbers, what's going on in the stock market, what we've done in reg reform, which is an artificial tax on businesses, what we've done on tax reform. We are competitive today. We are competitive with the rest of the world. We have a tax rate that's competitive with the rest of the world.
The President is going to Davos to speak to world leaders about investing in the United States, moving businesses to the United States, hiring American workers, changing the direction of our economy to be one of the biggest and best and most efficient economies in the world.
The President has done that. As I said, as he's gone around the world, that's what he's talked about. He is firmly committed to keep doing that and being the best salesperson the United States has to drive economic growth and drive prosperity and drive a better quality of life for American citizens.
Q You talked a great deal about some of the positive economic numbers. Can I get you to drill down on workforce participation rate? DOL, I think, gave it a 62.8 percent back in June of 2017. What can, or is the administration doing to get that number up, say, 70, 75 and higher?
MR. COHN: So, I talk about it the first Friday of every month - well, sometimes the second - when the unemployment number comes out. We had two really disappointing components of the unemployment rate - of the unemployment reports, not just
this year, but for the last three, four, five years. We've had no wage growth in the United States, and our participation rate has remained stagnant at best.
Part of our tax reform plan was to get people back into the workforce. We need to create more jobs. By creating a tax system that allows us to compete globally with the rest of the world - we're now at a 21 percent corporate rate, we're now at a very effective rate for personal businesses that allows them to compete with the rest of the world - we can now compete.
When you compete against the rest of the world, you grow your business, you hire people. When you hire people, you compete for labor. When you compete for labor, you compete by wages. We need to see wage growth in this country, something we haven't seen in almost a decade.
As we see wage growth, we will make it economically realistic for people to come back into the workforce. It will make sense for them to come back in the workforce. The alternative cost of staying out of the workforce will be way too high once we start seeing wage growth.
The big catalyst for everything we're doing is to create better jobs, higher-paying jobs, bring more people into the workforce, and grow our economy and tax a broader base. That's exactly what our whole premise is based on, and so far, the very early data looks very good.
So we're excited about where we're going.
Q Thank you. Today, the President announced new tariffs, and the Prime Minister of Canada also announced a big trade deal with 10 other countries. What do you say to critics who argue the President is giving up the United States seat at the global trade table?
MR. COHN: First of all, I disagree. Today, the President announced the culmination of something that's been going on for a long time. These were individual companies that tried various remedies. I mean, if you read the cases, they're extraordinary what these companies had to go through to try and protect American jobs and American workers against unfair practices from other countries.
So you finally see companies bring cases in a bipartisan system. They go through the system, it goes up to the USTR. The USTR makes a recommendation made on the bipartisan committee's recommendation, and the President makes a final ruling.
The President made a ruling that will make the U.S. competitive and help us grow our economy. It just so happens on the washing machine side, both of the companies that had been creating enormous problem for the U.S. manufacturers of washing machines are going to open up manufacturing facilities in the United States, hiring over 1,600 workers.
That's exactly what the President wants to see. He wants to see companies moving to the United States to build their products in the United States. So, ultimately, we're getting the outcome that we want to get.
On the solar panels, he left enormous amount of latitude in that decision that where we actually have a business - which is making the panels, not the actual cells; the cells can be imported - we're protecting our panel makers because we do make panels here in the United States, and we should continue to make panels and hire more workers in the United States.
Q But on the broader point of having Canada take the lead on a big global trade deal, and the United States really pulling out of some of the global trade deals, are you not concerned - is there not concern within this administration about giving up the United States seat at the global trade table?
MR. COHN: The President said this through his Asia trip, he said it in Europe: We are very open to free, fair, reciprocal trade. If you treat us one way, we will treat you the same way. If you have no tariffs, we will have no tariffs. If you have tariffs, we should have a reciprocal tariff. It's hard to argue against that, that we should treat each other equally. That's our trade policy. That's our trade premise. The President is going to keep going on that.
Right there.
Q A year ago, at Davos, President Xi made a big splash internationally. He was seen as asserting himself as taking world leadership at the expense of the United States, in some respect. Is President Trump going to make any effort to counter that? And is his appearance here any effort to counter that?
MR. COHN: The President's appearance is there to sell his accomplishments, to remind the world that we are open for business, that we're a competitive country, that we have made America very competitive, and that everyone should understand what he has accomplished in his first year, and what we're going to continue to accomplish in the next three remaining years.
The CEOs we're having dinner with, as I said, they are European-based companies with large presence in the United States. There's no reason that those presences shouldn't be much larger. The President wants to hear from those CEOs, what do they need to have more of their business in the United States.
This is - he's doing exactly what he should be doing to grow our economy and create jobs in the United States.
Q But how much of a concern is there about China and the influence it's exerting now, and a lot of people observing, that it's exerting because the U.S. has pulled back from a lot of these international agreements?
MR. COHN: Look, the U.S. is pulling back from nothing. The U.S. is involved. When the President was out in Asia, he talked about trade agreements and his willingness to have bilateral trade agreements with many of the countries he visited in Asia. And we're more than willing to have bilateral trade agreements.
Go ahead. Right behind you. Behind you.
Q Yes. I'd like to get both of you to talk about -
MR. COHN: Good. (Laughter.)
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