Remarks by President Trump at Grant Announcement for Drug-Free Communities Support Program | Eastern North Carolina Now

    So, although we have to work directly with the opioid crisis, working with the prevention of using drug - alcohol and marijuana is just as important -

    THE PRESIDENT: Right.

    MS. COONEY: - because that's where it all starts.

    THE PRESIDENT: Great job.

    MS. COONEY: And thank you for your time.

    THE PRESIDENT: That's really nice. So it really is having an impact?

    MS. COONEY: Yes.

    THE PRESIDENT: That's great. Great job.

    MS. COONEY: Thank you.

    THE PRESIDENT: Thank you very much. Please.

    MS. PURVIS: Hello, I'm Sarah Purvis. I'm with the Jackson County Anti-Drug Coalition in West Virginia.

    All I'm going to say is, with this grant, we have seen such a major change among our youths in our county, and it's been, like - it's crazy, because we see it all the time, and we see people change their minds, and we see people change their lives because of what we're doing. And - yeah. It's just great.

    THE PRESIDENT: Thank you. Great place, West Virginia. I just left.

    MS. PURVIS: (Laughs.) Yes.

    THE PRESIDENT: Incredible people.

    Well, thank you all very much. You're really very inspirational. We're going to stay around and talk a little bit. And we'll let the media leave. I hope you miss the media when they leave. (Laughter.)

    But I really appreciate those few statements because they were really beautifully delivered and said. And I know they're said from the heart. So thank you all very much.

    Thank you, everybody.

    Q Mr. President, any comment on Don McGahn? Mr. President, any comment on Don McGahn?

    THE PRESIDENT: He's a good man. Very good man. Don?

    Q Yes. On Don McGahn?

    THE PRESIDENT: Excellent guy. Yeah, Don McGahn is a really good guy. Been with me for a long time; privately, before this, he represented me. He's been here now - it'll be almost two years. And a lot of affection for Don.

    And he'll be moving on - probably the private sector. Maybe the private sector. And he'll do very well. But he's - he's done an excellent job.

    Q Any concern about what he said to the Mueller team?

    THE PRESIDENT: No. Not at all. Not at all.

    Q Trade talks with Canada, Mr. President. How are trade talks with Canada going?

    THE PRESIDENT: I knew he was going, also. You know, as you know, I had to approve it. So we didn't claim executive -

    Q And you were aware of what he said? You're aware of what he said?

    THE PRESIDENT: No. I don't have to be aware. We have a - we do everything straight. We do everything by the book. And Don is an excellent guy.

    Yes, go ahead?

    Q Trade talks with Canada, Mr. President. How are they going? Do you expect something soon?

    THE PRESIDENT: I think they're going really well. Canada is here right now. They were here until late in the evening. They came to see us. They wanted to meet us. They want to be a part of it.

    The deal we made is a fantastic deal. It's gotten great reviews with Mexico. Trade deal. Right now, we call it the "U.S.-Mexico Trade Agreement," and we'll see whether or not Canada gets into it. Otherwise, we'll do something separately. Or we won't do anything, which is okay, too.

    Q Are you optimistic?

    THE PRESIDENT: I think so. I think Canada very much wants to make the deal, and I think it's going to be obviously, very good for Canada if they do. And I think it's probably not going to be good at all if they don't.

    We have a very good relationship. They came yesterday to the White House, and we negotiated late into the evening. They're in the White House right now. We're negotiating with them right now, and they want to be a part of the deal. And we gave until Friday, and I think we're probably on track. We'll see what happens.

    But in any event, things are working out very well. A lot of trade deals are working out well. The European Union, which really has major barriers to trade. You don't know what barriers are, but it's not good. Not fair for our farmers and others. Those barriers will be coming down.

    And as you know, we're in the midst of a very big trade dispute, to put it nicely, with China. And I think we're doing very well.

    You know, our economy has picked up in terms of worth. There's a lot of money for everyone sitting around this table, but we picked up about $10 trillion, General, since my election.

    And we're doing record business, record stock market, record everything. And also, record unemployment, which - you know, from the standpoint of a lot of people, we are talking about prison reform and other things. But when people come out of prison now, they can actually get jobs. And they're really liked by a lot of the employers. Many - we've had tremendous success. We've never had that before.

    Part of the reason is, the job market is so good. So, all of a sudden, employers are hiring people that maybe they would have not have given a chance to. And now they're hiring people and it's worked out incredibly well. You're one of the great advocates -

    MR. COFFEY: Yeah. Incredibly well.

    THE PRESIDENT: I know. Very - it's never been like this. So it's - and I have to tell you, I know employers that have hired people, and given people a second - and, in a couple of cases, a third chance, in all fairness - and they are so happy. Not in all cases, but nothing is in all cases. They are so happy with so many of the people. They said, "We'll never lose them. They'll be with us for a whole lifetime."

    So it's a beautiful thing to see what's happening. And again, with Canada, I think we're doing very well.

    Q Did you hear what Ron DeSantis said about Andrew Gillum down in Florida? That - what Ron DeSantis -

    THE PRESIDENT: No, I didn't.

    Q - a candidate that you endorsed. He said that it's not time to "monkey" around with the economy down in Florida. DeSantis -

    THE PRESIDENT: No, I didn't hear it, honestly -

    Q He might have made a racist comment -

    THE PRESIDENT: Yeah, I didn't hear that, Jim. I mean I've been - I've been actually working on the deal with Canada. So I have not heard it.

    I'll tell you what, I know Ron DeSantis -

    Q Do you still support -

    THE PRESIDENT: - Ron DeSantis is extraordinary. Harvard, Yale - brilliant. Ran an incredible campaign. Really beat a lot of people that he wasn't supposed to beat because he came into the race, and a lot of people didn't know him.

    He's an extreme talent, and he will make a fantastic governor of Florida. So I think Ron is - he's extraordinary in so many different ways. I haven't heard that at all, no.

    Q Mr. President, Puerto Rico - Mr. President, on Puerto Rico, do you still believe that the federal government's response to the hurricanes last year -

    THE PRESIDENT: Yeah, I think Puerto Rico - I think we did a fantastic job in Puerto Rico. We're still helping Puerto Rico. The governor is an excellent guy. And he is very happy with the job we've done.

    We have put billions and billions of dollars into Puerto Rico. And it was a very tough one. Don't forget, their electric plant was dead before the hurricane. If you look back on your records, you'll see that that plant was dead. It was shut. It was bankrupt. It was out of business. They owed tremendous amounts of money. They had it closed up.

    And then, when the hurricane came, people said, "What are we going to do about electricity?" That wasn't really the hurricane; that was done before the hurricane. But we've put a lot of money and a lot of effort into Puerto Rico. And I think most of the people in Puerto Rico really appreciate what we've done.

    You know, Texas healed quickly, and the people were incredible. Florida healed quickly, and everybody worked very hard. Puerto Rico was actually more difficult because of the fact it's an island. It's much harder to get things onto the island. With Texas, you're land-based. With Florida, you're land-based. Puerto Rico was a very difficult situation.

    I only hope they don't get hit again, because they were hit by two, right in a row - and, really, the likes of which we have never seen before. But the people of Puerto Rico are great people. They work very hard. But Puerto Rico, I would say, was by far the most difficult of the group.

    And, you know, right now, FEMA and all of the people that worked so hard there, they were very brave and they have done some job. But Puerto Rico had a lot of difficulties before it got hit, and we're straightening out those difficulties even now.

    Hey, thank you very much everybody.

    Q (Inaudible) North Korea?

    THE PRESIDENT: I think we're doing well with North Korea. We'll have to see. I think part of the North Korean problem is caused by our trade disputes with China. China has been taking out about $500 billion a year from the United States for many years. And we can't let that happen.

    So when we started working a little bit against China - and we have a great relationship with China. I have a great relationship with President Xi. I think he's a terrific man, a terrific person. But we have to straighten out our trade relationship because too much money is being lost by us.

    And as you know, China is the route to North Korea. Ninety-three percent of the product and various things that go into North Korea go in through China. So I think that now that we're in somewhat - I don't like to call it a trade war. And I think, you know, our country is doing very well, but China is having a very, very tough time.

    And I think that China makes it much more difficult in terms of our relationship with North Korea. Now I knew that, but I couldn't wait any longer. When I got in - I've been talking about China for a long time. When I came into office, I purposefully didn't do much, with respect to the trade on China, because I wanted to see if we could work out North Korea. But when you're losing four to five hundred billion dollars a year, and it's going to China, and coming away from our country and our taxpayers, I can't let that go on.

    So we are being very strong on China. I think it's all going to work out. Our country has gone up, and they are - you know, they're having a hard time. So I think -

    Q But it doesn't sound like North Korea is holding up their end of the deal (inaudible) meeting in Singapore.

    THE PRESIDENT: Well, we're going to have to see. But I think China probably has a great influence over North Korea. I have a fantastic relationship with Chairman Kim, as you probably know. And we're just going to have to see how it all ends up.

    But I had to move on China, from the standpoint of trade, because it really was not fair to our country. We were just pouring money. For many years, Presidents had closed their eyes. And I'm talking about not President Obama, I'm talking about many Presidents. And they closed their eyes, and hundreds of billions of dollars a year was pouring out of the United States, and taxpayers, and everything else.

    So we had to do that.

    Q Even if the tariffs have a negative impact on your voters, on your supporters?

    THE PRESIDENT: No, I think we're going to have a very positive impact. I mean, if you look at the polls - based on the polls, it's positive. Based on the polls, it's the highest in the Republican Party - I guess, forever or for a long time.

    And it's been - I don't do it for the polls. Honestly - people won't necessarily agree with this - I do nothing for the polls. I do it to do what's right. I'm here for an extended period of time. I'm here for a period that's a very important period of time. And we are straightening out this country.

    And one of the biggest things we want to straighten out is what the people in this room represent: That's drug abuse, and alcohol abuse, and all of the problems. And I think it's something that maybe a lot of people don't talk about. You know, we'll talk about other things. But, to me, this is just as exciting as creating Space Force, or sending rockets up, or doing so many of the things that we're doing.

    So I really don't - and I can tell you this, Jim - I don't do anything for polls. I do it - I enjoy looking at polls; it's interesting to see. But ultimately, I always make a decision based on what's right and what's wrong.

    Q What did you mean about violence around the midterms? You said something about violence -

    THE PRESIDENT: Well, I just hope there won't be violence. I can tell you that -

    Q But why would there be?

    THE PRESIDENT: I can tell you that - because that's the way, I guess, if you look at what happens, there's a lot of - there's a lot of unnecessary violence all over the world, but also in this country, and I don't want to see it.