Remarks by President Trump in Cabinet Meeting | Eastern North Carolina Now

    So continuing to make progress and hoping that we can make a big step here before too long.

    THE PRESIDENT: And the relationship seems very good. I think it's probably hurt a little bit by China because China isn't really happy with what I'm doing on trade, but we have no other choice as a country. And they understand that. So I think we're probably being hurt a little bit with respect to North Korea, having to do with China. But really, we have no choice on that. We had to do something.

    It was - the money that was being drained out of our country and going to China. We rebuilt China. We rebuilt. Five-hundred billion dollars a year, for years and years and years. And we had to do something about that. They understand that.

    In fact, I think they're in a state of shock that they've been able to get away with it for so long - so many decades. So we just have to do something, and we did it.

    Could I ask Secretary Mnuchin - Turkey, they have not proven to be a good friend. They have a great Christian pastor there. He's a very innocent man. I'd like to know - unrelated to the pastor - I just think it's a terrible thing that they're holding him. We got somebody out for him. He needed help getting somebody out of someplace; they came out. They want to hold our wonderful pastor. Not fair. Not right.

    But unrelated to that, how are you doing with sanctions on Turkey? And as you know, we doubled up the tariffs on steel and aluminum. Aluminum will happen very shortly. How are you doing with sanctions? Please.

    SECRETARY MNUCHIN: Sir, we're doing well. As you know, we were very clear with our counterparts there - both Secretary Pompeo and myself - on the release of the pastor. We've put sanctions on several of their cabinet members. Working with you, we have more that we're planning to do if they don't release him quickly.

    I'll also just comment on the rollout of the Iran nuclear sanctions is going extremely well. We're working closely with Secretary Pompeo. Strongest sanctions in preventing things there.

    And continue to be very focused on implementing the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act. Just rolled out the pass-through regs - lowest rates we'll have for small business and pass-throughs since the 1930s. And a big part of -

    THE PRESIDENT: Great.

    SECRETARY MNUCHIN: - what Larry Kudlow talked about, in terms of the economic growth.

    THE PRESIDENT: Great. Good. Thank you. Great job. Thank you very much.

    Secretary Wilkie, so we got Choice passed for our vets so our vets don't have to wait on line for six weeks and end up with a simple condition that's terminal because they can't get to a doctor. I'm very proud of Choice, and we're talking a lot of the things we've done for the vets.

    But could you give us a little - how are you doing with Choice? You've had it now for a couple of months. How is that moving along?

    SECRETARY WILKIE: Sir, it's moving along well, but I would start with something else. We are experiencing, with the economic boom, lowering rates of vets unemployed. Probably the best trends that we've seen in many, many years.

    THE PRESIDENT: Of vets unemployed. That's great. That's great.

    SECRETARY WILKIE: And that is - that is a boon for our warriors across the country.

    In terms of the Mission Act, the Director and I - Director Mulvaney and I will be talking about it tomorrow. We have the opportunity to do what has not been done in many years, and that is widen the aperture when it comes to the health choices available to veterans across the country.

    No longer in states like Montana, where Secretary Zinke is from, will they have to travel four- or five-hundred miles round trip. They can do this at home. We're making advances with Mission in the area of telehealth, which is a way to impact the mental health issues that many of our veterans face.

    So for the first time, we had a comprehensive and strategic way forward in making the lives of our veterans better. And it is - it's a wonderful thing.

    THE PRESIDENT: Thank you very much.

    SECRETARY WILKIE: Thank you.

    THE PRESIDENT: I hear you're doing great. And congratulations.

    SECRETARY WILKIE: Thank you.

    THE PRESIDENT: Just got through. Just got passed. So congratulations. You are going to be there for a long time, and you're going to do a fantastic job.

    It's the first time a Secretary has really had a chance to do a fantastic job. Because without Choice, I think it would have been impossible. So we have Choice now, and our vets are taken care of. And just make sure they go see the right doctor. Right? When they need it. Sometimes they won't need it because you have plenty of great doctors at the VA.

    If I could ask Secretary Acosta a little bit about your association healthcare plan, which has been now completed. It's in service. How are you doing with it?

    SECRETARY ACOSTA: That's correct, Mr. President. Just in the past week - there were newspaper articles - a number of chambers of commerce around the country have reported that they've started these plans. They're in the process of offering it to their small businesses. You're seeing chambers in Nevada, in Texas; we're talking to some in Iowa, up in the Minnesota area as well. Associations here in Washington that represent businesses across the country are looking at them.

    Just today, at the Department, is an association representing members of the gig economy that are looking to start these up. And so for a rule that is just weeks old, we're already seeing implementation and we're seeing quite a bit of excitement.

    The U.S. Chamber had a call with the members' chambers of commerce. And initially, they weren't going to do the call because it's August and things are very quiet, but they decided to do the call anyhow. And they had a near-record number of local chambers call in, onto the call, to learn how they can go about doing this. So there is a quite a bit of energy and excitement.

    THE PRESIDENT: That's fantastic. I appreciate that. And also, Secretary Acosta, you're moving very nicely on your healthcare plans too.

    And one of the big things is the individual mandate is gone. We got rid of that. That was from Obamacare. That was, by far, the most unpopular thing in Obamacare. We actually got rid of Obamacare, except for one vote. But we essentially have - so we're doing it piecemeal, and it's going to be gone pretty soon.

    So, a fantastic job. I heard great things about the healthcare plan. And a lot of people are signing up; a lot of associations are signing up - far ahead of what we even projected. So that's good.

    SECRETARY ACOSTA: That's correct. Yes.

    THE PRESIDENT: And maybe I could just - I'll finish off with Secretary Perdue. The farmers - we love the farmers. And, you know, our farmers are brave and they're great patriots. And, as you know, China sort of attacked our farmers by trying not to buy from our farmers. They know the farmers like Trump, and I like them. I love them.

    And they are, I hear - despite everything - they're starting to do well. They got out there - like they are. They're incredible patriots but they're incredible entrepreneurs. And they're selling the coin - the corn, and they're selling the soybean, and they're selling everything at levels that are soon going to be pretty good levels.

    And, you know, our farmers have been hurt for 15 and 20 years. They've been - a lot of bad things were happening. And I talk about soybeans, where, prior to my election - if you go five years back, soybean prices were cut by 50 percent. So this was happening long before us. And markets are closed. Canada charges us for dairy products, 275 percent - tariffs of 275 percent - which makes it ridiculous and impossible. But we're taking care of that situation pretty easily.

    But I'd like to just ask, how are the farmers doing? I'm hearing it's starting to really pick up.

    SECRETARY PERDUE: The farmers are resilient, Mr. President. They embody the American values and sprit of entrepreneurship, risk-taking, hard work, and those American values.

    And we've talked about before, you call them patriots, and they are. Obviously, there are some price constraints right now, but they believe what you're doing in China - as you've tried to indicate to them - will lead to a better and brighter future when we get these trade relationships reestablished. And we believe that will be soon.

    I applaud what Ambassador Lighthizer is doing, the conversations that we're having on various fronts. And we think you got the attention and leverage of the international community regarding the abuse that American farmers have taken in many places, both tariffs and non-tariff measures, in the EU and in China, and many other places. And we think these will be rectified very soon.

    THE PRESIDENT: Well, the word "abuse" is a good word because this country was abused by other countries, both friend and foe. You know, our allies, frankly, did better than many of our enemies when it came to trade. It was - terrible thing happened for many years. And we're changing that around.

    In fact, what I will do is I will speak to one more because I'd like to have Bob Lighthizer just give us a little update, quickly, on where we are with NAFTA and the various trade deals. I can say this: We're doing very well. I'm in no rush. We want to make the right deal. NAFTA has been a disaster for our country. Mexico and Canada were - if you think about making, or if you think about deficits - we had a deficit of $135 billion a year on NAFTA.

    You look at New England; you look at different places where factories are still empty, they still haven't recovered. But no companies are moving back.

    So we're going either going to do a good NAFTA - a fair NAFTA for us - or we're not doing NAFTA at all.

    Where are we, Bob?

    AMBASSADOR LIGHTHIZER: Well, I would say, first of all, Mr. President, I would just underline what you say, and that is that we have an $800 billion trade deficit - something that's not sustainable over a long period of time.

    And I appreciate the opportunity to go out and negotiate these deals one at a time.

    In terms of NAFTA, right now we're meeting with the Mexicans, literally, as we sit here. And I'm hopeful that in the next several days we'll have a breakthrough. There's still some difficult issues to work on. Those are always hard at the end. I know you -

    THE PRESIDENT: And, by the way, Bob, if we don't, that's okay. That's okay. If you don't have breakthrough, as you call it, don't do the deal - because it's a lousy situation for the United States. We have much better alternatives than that. You understand.

    AMBASSADOR LIGHTHIZER: Yes, sir.

    THE PRESIDENT: So if you can't make the right deal, don't make it. All right?

    AMBASSADOR LIGHTHIZER: Yes, sir.

    THE PRESIDENT: I only tell him that every day.

    AMBASSADOR LIGHTHIZER: It is - yes, sir. I'll attest - (laughter) - I'll attest to the fact that he tells me that every day.

    THE PRESIDENT: (Inaudible.) (Laughter.)

    AMBASSADOR LIGHTHIZER: He also tells me what the alternatives are. So - but I think in this particular case, the best alternative may be to get a good agreement.

    THE PRESIDENT: Okay.

    AMBASSADOR LIGHTHIZER: And I think there's a possibility of that. I'm hopeful with Mexico. And then I hope once we get one with Mexico, that Canada will come along.

    So I feel reasonably good about that. But as you say, there are still some things that I have to go through. We have made headway on a number of other areas. We've had, as I've told you, some 15 or 20 other smallish agreements that have been helpful for agriculture and other areas. I call them "hitting singles." Every time you're at bat, it's not a home run. We're hitting single after single, and literally every few weeks we have one and there are several. I won't go through them, but there are several that are in play that will make a real difference to specific people and sectors in agriculture but in other areas.

    Korea, as you know, that agreement is finished. I think that's a step in the right direction. And then we have Europe, where you started an initiative that Larry Kudlow and I are working on. And that is where - I mean, that's a major initiative and it's something that we're in the process of putting together the kind of team we need to negotiate on tariffs, but on barriers, and hopefully open up a lot of new opportunities for American products to be sold in Europe.

    THE PRESIDENT: And I think I can say that we're talking to China. They very much want to talk. They are just not able to give us a deal that's acceptable. So we're not going to do any deal until we get one that's fair to our country.

    EU, we're doing very well. They didn't want us to put tariffs on their cars, and they therefore decided that - they were extremely happy with the deal they had. In fact, they told me, "Oh, we'd rather not negotiate. We're very, very happy with the deal we have." Well, they made $151 billion last year; they should be happy. But I said, "But I'm not happy."

    And so we were ready to do tariffs on their cars but they came - they saw us a week ago, as you know; most of you were here. And I think we're doing well, Bob, with respect to the EU. We're negotiating something that hopefully will be fair to them and to us, and to everybody. A big difference from what it is now. Right now, it's impossible. They have barriers where we can't get anything through.

    As far as Mexico and Canada - Mexico, Bob told you about - we're not negotiating with Canada right now. Their tariffs are too high. Their barriers are too strong. So we're not even talking to them right now. But we'll see how that works out. It will only work out to our favor.

    Thank you very much everybody. Thank you. Thank you.

• Contact: White House
•     Press Office