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

    The final chart, I guess, that I would show is just if you compare this agreement - and these are in your slides - if you compare this agreement, on the key points to both NAFTA and TPP, this is far and away the best agreement. There's not a single provision of significance where this is not a plus up from TPP. And in some areas like labor and rules of origin, and several others, it's just in a completely different world.

    So this is a very important agreement. It's the kind of agreement that we want to have be Trump trade policy going forward. I think it's going to bring back jobs and manufacturing, and help our farmers. It's going to help protect America's advantages in the years and decades ahead. It's had very good reviews. We've had a number of members of Congress, including 30 senators, 84 members who have made positive comments; 18 governors have singled it out. We have literally scores of comments from trade associations and labor unions, and businesses and the like.

    So this has been very well received. I brought along a couple of versions of this. This is required reading for the members of the Cabinet. (Laughter.) And say what a good deal - no, I actually have a tabbed version for you, Mr. President, because I know you have more things on your mind.

    The final thing I would say, in another day - which would be big news, but isn't today because of all things that we're doing - is that we sent the letter yesterday, as you know, to start the process under TPA to have new negotiations with the EU, Japan, and the UK. That's a process that we started and we did it last year at approximately this time for what was then NAFTA. And we started now on these three. We'll see where it turns out. We're hopeful. We certainly have a very ambitious, pro-trade, fair-trade, reciprocal-trade agenda.

    Thank you, Mr. President.

    THE PRESIDENT: Thank you very much, Bob. And I have to say that these are countries, in every instance, which had no intention of ever negotiating with the United States. They were not going to. They were very happy with the deals the way they were. Speaking for Mexico, Canada, South Korea - every one of them.

    You go to the European Union, they had no intention of renegotiating; now they're renegotiating. We'll see what happens with that one. They've treated us very harshly for many, many years, taking out tremendous amounts of money over $150 billion a year for many years. And frankly, it's ridiculous. It's hard to believe that we could've allowed ourselves to be put in that position. And that's why we have debt, and that's why we have tremendous deficits.

    And on trade, as an example, almost $800 billion a year has been lost for many years in our (inaudible) - $800 billion. It's not even a conceivable number.

    So we're negotiating. And again, they wouldn't negotiate at the beginning. I said, "That's okay. You don't have to negotiate." I said, "Why aren't you going to negotiate?" "Because we're very happy with our deal. We're extremely happy with our deal." And I said, "But I'm not happy with your deal."


    And I said, "That's okay. We're going to put tariffs on every product you sell to the United States." And they said, "We would like to negotiate immediately."

    And President Obama was unable to get anybody even to go to the table. And that goes for previous administrations also, too. It's incredible.

    And again, China; you could look at Vietnam; you could look at every country - just about every country. Incredible that we allowed this as a country to happen. And it's not going to happen any longer. And that just shows the tremendous potential we have. Because we had these horrible trade deals, we had these horrible military deals, where we paid for everybody's military, or we certainly don't get subsidized or paid back what we should be. And that includes NATO, where we're paying for 90 percent of NATO to protect Europe. And I think it's all fine, but they have to pay.

    I got them to put up $44 billion last year. They're going to put up at least that amount this year, maybe more. They should pay for the whole thing right away. But we're paying for NATO. We are paying to protect Europe. And then on top of that, Europe treats us very badly on trade. So we lose on a double - it's a double whammy, I call it.

    So all of that is changing; it's changing rapidly. We're in a very strong negotiating position because we're the piggybank that everybody wants to rob. And I don't blame China, and I don't blame Europe, and I don't blame anybody. I blame our politicians, and I blame our leaders for allowing this to happen. There was no reason for it.

    So we're making up for lost time, and we'll do it properly.

    I'd like to have Larry Kudlow speak and maybe talk about where we are with the economy, how good it's doing. It's been setting records despite all of the above. And, Larry, I guess that's why I say the potential is so enormous. Because you look at what happens to us on the military - the massive amounts of money. You look at - we have 716-billion-dollar budgets; Russia has a budget of $68 billion. China has a budget that's just a small fraction of what we spend. It's absolutely ridiculous. And that's because we protect every country in the world practically. And some of these countries are massively wealthy and they don't pay us for the protection. It's crazy.

    So, Larry, please.

    DIRECTOR KUDLOW: Thank you, Mr. President. And thank you, Mr. Vice President.

    So I love to tell stories, and I can tell you the story I told a month or so ago. The biggest story of 2018, in my judgment, is an economic boom - which is growing - where almost everybody said it would be impossible to produce. And the boom is growing.

    Sir, this is the - pardon the phrase, a Kudlow word: This is the "growthiest" economy in over 20 years. And we'll get "growthier" in the weeks and months ahead. Where's Sarah? I just want to get that. Thank you. (Applause.)

    Some new bullets. Some new important bullets.

    Bullet: You mentioned this at your opening. The U.S. is now the world's most competitive economy, number one. That comes from the Davos Group, the World Economic Forum - not necessarily our best friend - number one. U.S. hadn't the number one in that survey since 2008, a long while ago.

    Bullet two: More job openings than unemployed. Remarkable number. From the so-called JOLTS, 7.1 million job openings, a little over 6 million unemployed. The gap is 900,000. There's a lot more we can do. Success breeds success. Good business will bring these people back in. Higher wages will bring them back in. I don't think Ivanka is here, but her re-skilling program will help bring people back in. That is so important, in my judgment, right now.

    Bullet three: NFI[B], small businesses, and the Conference Board Consumer sentiment continue strong, holding the high ground. Historic lines. Confidence. The day after the election, the confidence started, and it has not stopped. It just goes straight. Really, the day after the elections, the most remarkable thing I've ever seen - I've been covering this beat for a long time - it hasn't stopped yet.

    Bullet: Business equipment production from the industrial production number last - yesterday. Business equipment up 0.8 percent for the month, which is huge; 8.6 percent last three months. This is the capital spending business investment side of the equation, which is so important, which will lead to more capital formation, more productivity, higher real wages, and of course, higher unemployment. So, business equipment is strong.

    Bullet: Core retail sales. Core retail sales defeated the GDP; 4.9 percent in the last 12 months. Big number.

    Bullet: Inflation hovering around 2 percent, or even less, the last three months.

    Bullet: Atlanta Fed and St. Louis Fed both predicting 4 percent or better GDP growth in the third quarter. We'll get that number in about 10 days. We'd be thrilled with 3 percent plus. They're predicting 4. We had 4.2, as you know, in the second quarter; 3.2 percent in the first half of the year. They said it couldn't be done. It's happening.

    My story - I think the new Trump economy - and this is my view, sir. Blue-collar workers, small-business men and women owning and operating small business, as Linda has said. And of course, energy production. Extraordinary. We will be the world's dominant energy player, sir. We may already be. But we are gaining on it, we're passing the Saudis; we're about to pass the Russians. We've talked a lot about oil and natural gas, and liquid natural gas and so forth. We are just about there, and we'll be working on that.

    So we're in an economic boom, right? Naysayers said you couldn't do better than 1 to 2 percent. We have done better. A lot of people have talked about the tax cuts. You lower marginal tax rates, you create new incentives. You have basically incentivized the economy, is what you've done. You've given it life, openings, oxygen, everything. This is just so important.

    Deregulation, massively important, as everybody said. Started in 2017, continuing now. I think, Linda, that's a big thing for the small businesses.

    ADMINISTRATOR MCMAHON: Yeah.

    DIRECTOR KUDLOW: No red tape; they're not worried about that stuff anymore. And with the lower tax rates, which also helps small business, you keep more of what you earn. Tax something less, you get more of it. And I think that's why people are going out. I think it was you, when we had the economic summit a couple of week ago - was it you that asked owners to raise their hands? Somebody did.

    Anyway, 85 percent of people in that audience own small business, and I'm just sitting here and the light bulb went off: It's due to the Trump economy. Along with the renaissance in blue-collar workers.

    And I want to echo Bob Lighthizer. I think the trade reform is contributing to this growth. I think the USMCA was pro-growth. Tremendous opportunities: market openings, farmers, manufacturing, financial services, protecting intellectual property, financial services. Anyway, it was a good deal. I agree. And it's going to be pro-growth. We're already seeing some of the benefits of this.

    Sir, I think you've basically ended the war on business. You've ended the war on success. And that's where this confidence and optimism is coming from. That's what I think you did.

    We are increasing - just hang with me for a minute. This is no one shot, what people are saying, "a sugar high." That's nonsense. This is not about pouring money into the economy the way our predecessors did unsuccessfully. This is an incentive model across the board, which will increase the economy's potential to grow. That's what we're doing. And that's why we will be growthier than any year - (laughter) - I don't know. I'm saying the last 20 years. It could be greater than that.

    And I'm going to make a second point. If you increase the economy's potential to grow and you're putting out more goods and services, that can't be inflationary. In fact, it's counter -inflationary. And another related point - with a 3.7 percent unemployment rate, you're going to have more people working and prospering. Cannot be inflationary. It's a good thing, not a bad thing.

    Various econometric models in various institutions notwithstanding - they are wrong. More people working and prospering is a good thing. We haven't seen it in a while.

    Wind-up: Just a couple more bullets to illustrate what I think are my points. We have seen the biggest rise - the biggest rise in blue-collar employment - biggest rise in blue-collar employment since 1984, when I was still a cub scout, working for President Reagan. Going back to 19 - blue collar, sir. Blue collars.

    Second, low-skilled and blue-collar workers are getting faster wage increases than the white-collar at the top. This is something very new and different. Okay? The middle and low end is outpacing the top end. I'm not against the top end; I love success. I'm just saying, there's a catch-up going on in this country, which we have not seen in a very long time.

    Lowest paid Americans - 5 percent increase in weekly earnings in the second quarter. Five percent increase. All workers, 1.7. In the retail sector - retails services sector, okay? 3.8 percent increase. Professional services, only 3 percent. And of course, the unemployment rate is 3.7 percent.

    So we are hitting all cylinders across the board. People are not getting left out this time around. Everybody is coming in, and we're going to see more of that as we employ.

    So, tremendous optimism. Tremendous confidence. Change in policies has a lot to do with it, you know. It has a confidence and an optimistic sense, and it has a real-world, practical sense. Paychecks are getting fatter, and folks know that.


    And businesses are springing up - brand new businesses - and folks know that. And people are not - they're unwilling to take new risks. I believe your message is, now that war on business is over, I think you're telling folks to just take a rip at the ball. Take a risk. And you stand behind them with your new policies. And that's exactly what you're doing. It's a total change from what we've had in the last 20 years. Okay?

    Everybody thought it was impossible; it's possible. Tremendous turnaround. My old boss, Ray, he used to say, "The best is yet to come." I would say to you, sir, the best is yet to come. It will get even growthier over time.

    THE PRESIDENT: Thank you, Larry. Thanks. Good job. (Applause.)

    Larry, have you done that before? I just asked Larry, has he done that before? I think so. Ben, what do you think? (Laughter.)

    SECRETARY CARSON: Absolutely.

    THE PRESIDENT: That was great. But he's never been this optimistic. I've watched Larry for many, many years. I hear that voice - that beautiful voice. I say, "That's Larry." I can tell Larry in my sleep. And I've never seen him more positive than you've been in the last couple of months. And you've done a great job, but I appreciate you doing that.

    DIRECTOR KUDLOW: I am grateful for the opportunities.

    THE PRESIDENT: Thank you very much, Larry. Appreciate it. And I think Larry is going to be very happy with what I'm going to say. I might as well leave the press to say it because it will put more pressure on all of the people gathered around our table.

    I'm going to ask each of you to come back with a 5-percent budget cut from your various departments. Whether it's a secretary, an administrator, whatever, I'm going to ask everybody with a 5-percent cut for our next meeting. I think you'll all be able to do it. There may be a special exemption, perhaps. I don't know who that exception would be. If you can do more than five - some of you will say, "Hey, I can do much more than five."

    You know, I've heard about the penny plan for 15 years. One penny every year per dollar - one penny every year - after four or five years, the country is in good shape. I'm saying, let's not do the penny plan; let's do the five-penny plan. I think you can do it.