Our Community Platform providing Essential Information to Know what is Real
Remarks by President Trump in Press Conference After Midterm Elections
THE PRESIDENT: Excuse me.
Q You talked about middle-class tax cuts on the campaign trail. How will you get Democrats to support that policy?
THE PRESIDENT: You have to ask them.
Q Well, what's your plan for working with Democrats -
THE PRESIDENT: Excuse me.
Q - on the middle-class tax plan?
THE PRESIDENT: You know what my plan is? You know what my plan is? I'll ask them. And if they say yes, I'm all for it. And if they say no, there's nothing you can do because you need their votes.
Go ahead.
Q Yes. Thank you, Mr. President. Francesca Chambers, DailyMail.com. You said many times on the campaign trail that you didn't want Nancy Pelosi to be Speaker. At least you suggested that. You spent a lot of time talking about her and Chuck Schumer.
THE PRESIDENT: It's not a question of want. I would've - so, let me answer it a little - would I have preferred winning by two or three or four? I would almost have to think about that. But certainly, I like to win. And if I win, she's not going to be Speaker.
Q What did she say to you though, yesterday, that made you give her your support?
THE PRESIDENT: Honestly, we had a very warm conversation. You know, she loves this country. And she's a very smart woman. She's done a very good job. She was really - I mean, she's had a very - she's had a very -
Q Did she promise that they wouldn't seek to impeach you?
THE PRESIDENT: She's had a very, very - we didn't talk about impeaching. We didn't talk about - what do you do? Do you impeach somebody because he created the greatest economic success in the history of our country? "Let's impeach him because the country is so successful. Let's impeach him." "Has he done anything wrong?" They asked somebody, "Has he done anything wrong?" "No, but let's impeach him anyway."
And they also said, "Let's impeach Justice Kavanaugh. Let's impeach him." And now they have the second woman coming out that - the first or second. And I hate to say this, but it was public.
"And, after him, we're going to impeach the Vice President. We're going to impeach Mike Pence." Mike Pence doesn't get impeached for anything. "So let's impeach the President, and then we'll impeach the Vice President."
These people are sick. And you know what? They have to get their bearing. Really, they have to get their bearing. And when you ask about division, they're the ones that caused the division. They caused tremendous division.
Q Okay. Regarding all the retirements in the House - regarding all the retirements in the House, Mr. President - really quickly - you suggested that -
THE PRESIDENT: Who is retiring?
Q You said that many of the retirements that happened in the House made it very difficult for -
THE PRESIDENT: Many retirements, yeah.
Q - that made it very difficult for you in this election cycle, and that it was because they were chairmans, there were chairmanships that were vacated. But Jeff Flake wasn't a chairman of a committee, and Paul Ryan also retired this cycle. So why do you think that is? Whose fault is it that there were so many retirements?
THE PRESIDENT: In Jeff Flake's case, it's me. Pure and simple. I retired him. I'm very proud of it. I did the country a great service.
Go ahead. Give him a - (laughter). Give him a - he is retired. I'd like to call it another word, but we're going to treat him with great respect.
Go ahead.
Q Thank you, Mr. President.
THE PRESIDENT: Jeff Flake. That's another beauty.
Go ahead.
Q Two questions, please.
THE PRESIDENT: No, one. One. One. One. Too many people. Sorry.
Q Well, all right. It's all right. You seem to enjoy this venue very much. Are you going to make the standard press conference a staple of the remaining two years?
THE PRESIDENT: No. No.
Q Or will you have more briefings with Sarah Sanders?
THE PRESIDENT: No. You know, when I don't do the - I think Sarah is fantastic. Where is Sarah? Where is Sarah? Sarah is so great. I think, Sarah, you've represented me so well and been abused. She's been horribly treated by a lot of people.
Q So she's going to stay on as Press Secretary?
THE PRESIDENT: No, no. It's very interesting because Sarah was telling - we were talking about it the other day.
So I had a period where I figured, you know what I'll do? I won't do any real interviews. And then they start saying, "Why doesn't he do - why?" And they're all coming up with all kinds -
Then over the last couple of months I decided, I'll do a lot - we'll stop at the helicopter, we'll do this, we'll do a lot of - and then they say, "Why is he doing so many press conferences? What's wrong? What?"
So when I don't do them, you say, "What's wrong?" When I do do them, you say, "What's wrong?" And when I go in the middle, you say, "What's wrong?" But in the media - you know that, Jon. Right?
Q (Off-mic.) (Inaudible) complained about access.
THE PRESIDENT: You're sort of right.
Q (Off-mic.) (Inaudible) complained about access.
THE PRESIDENT: Okay, good.
Q (Off-mic.) (Inaudible.)
THE PRESIDENT: No, no. You did. Excuse me. Well, you complained about access when I purposely just stayed away from the press for a while because I wanted to see how it worked. And can I be honest with you? It didn't work well.
Q Mr. President, I did (inaudible) question. So Sarah will stay on as Press Secretary?
THE PRESIDENT: Okay, please. Go ahead. No. Go ahead.
Q Mr. President, first off, I personally think it's very good to have you here because a free press and this type of engagement -
THE PRESIDENT: I do, too. Actually? I do, too.
Q Yes. It's vital to democracy.
THE PRESIDENT: It's called "earned media." It's worth billions. Go ahead.
Q Um, so I have two questions for you, if that's all right? It's a rare opportunity. Um, first, just a point of clarification on the tax returns issue. You brought up the audit. That doesn't prevent you from releasing them.
THE PRESIDENT: I know. Sure. But I didn't say it prevented me, I said lawyers will tell you not to do it. Go ahead. What's your next question? Go ahead.
Q If, well, just on that -
THE PRESIDENT: Come on. Let's go. More exciting question than that, please.
Q Okay. The second one: Michael Cohen recently said you called black voters "stupid."
THE PRESIDENT: That's false.
Q Omarosa has accused you of using the N-word.
THE PRESIDENT: That's false.
Q And the rapper, Lil Jon, has said you called him "Uncle Tom." What's your response?
THE PRESIDENT: I don't know who Lil Jon is. I don't - I really don't.
Q He was on "The Apprentice."
THE PRESIDENT: I don't know. Oh, he was? Okay. Oh, I see. I don't know.
Q Have you ever made racist remarks?
THE PRESIDENT: No. No, I would never do that and I don't use racist remarks. And you know what? If I did, you people would've known about it. I've been hearing there are tapes. For years and years, "There are tapes."
Number one, I never worried about it because I never did. I never used racist remarks. I have never used racist remarks.
Okay.
Q Well, one point of fact.
THE PRESIDENT: Go ahead.
Q You have been a - one point of fact, because you told her you have the highest approval -
THE PRESIDENT: Quiet. Quiet.
Q - amongst African Americans.
THE PRESIDENT: Quiet. Quiet.
Go ahead.
Q It's just 8 percent, sir. Single digits.
Go Back
Q You talked about middle-class tax cuts on the campaign trail. How will you get Democrats to support that policy?
THE PRESIDENT: You have to ask them.
Q Well, what's your plan for working with Democrats -
THE PRESIDENT: Excuse me.
Q - on the middle-class tax plan?
THE PRESIDENT: You know what my plan is? You know what my plan is? I'll ask them. And if they say yes, I'm all for it. And if they say no, there's nothing you can do because you need their votes.
Go ahead.
Q Yes. Thank you, Mr. President. Francesca Chambers, DailyMail.com. You said many times on the campaign trail that you didn't want Nancy Pelosi to be Speaker. At least you suggested that. You spent a lot of time talking about her and Chuck Schumer.
THE PRESIDENT: It's not a question of want. I would've - so, let me answer it a little - would I have preferred winning by two or three or four? I would almost have to think about that. But certainly, I like to win. And if I win, she's not going to be Speaker.
Q What did she say to you though, yesterday, that made you give her your support?
THE PRESIDENT: Honestly, we had a very warm conversation. You know, she loves this country. And she's a very smart woman. She's done a very good job. She was really - I mean, she's had a very - she's had a very -
Q Did she promise that they wouldn't seek to impeach you?
THE PRESIDENT: She's had a very, very - we didn't talk about impeaching. We didn't talk about - what do you do? Do you impeach somebody because he created the greatest economic success in the history of our country? "Let's impeach him because the country is so successful. Let's impeach him." "Has he done anything wrong?" They asked somebody, "Has he done anything wrong?" "No, but let's impeach him anyway."
And they also said, "Let's impeach Justice Kavanaugh. Let's impeach him." And now they have the second woman coming out that - the first or second. And I hate to say this, but it was public.
"And, after him, we're going to impeach the Vice President. We're going to impeach Mike Pence." Mike Pence doesn't get impeached for anything. "So let's impeach the President, and then we'll impeach the Vice President."
These people are sick. And you know what? They have to get their bearing. Really, they have to get their bearing. And when you ask about division, they're the ones that caused the division. They caused tremendous division.
Q Okay. Regarding all the retirements in the House - regarding all the retirements in the House, Mr. President - really quickly - you suggested that -
THE PRESIDENT: Who is retiring?
Q You said that many of the retirements that happened in the House made it very difficult for -
THE PRESIDENT: Many retirements, yeah.
Q - that made it very difficult for you in this election cycle, and that it was because they were chairmans, there were chairmanships that were vacated. But Jeff Flake wasn't a chairman of a committee, and Paul Ryan also retired this cycle. So why do you think that is? Whose fault is it that there were so many retirements?
THE PRESIDENT: In Jeff Flake's case, it's me. Pure and simple. I retired him. I'm very proud of it. I did the country a great service.
Go ahead. Give him a - (laughter). Give him a - he is retired. I'd like to call it another word, but we're going to treat him with great respect.
Go ahead.
Q Thank you, Mr. President.
THE PRESIDENT: Jeff Flake. That's another beauty.
Go ahead.
Q Two questions, please.
THE PRESIDENT: No, one. One. One. One. Too many people. Sorry.
Q Well, all right. It's all right. You seem to enjoy this venue very much. Are you going to make the standard press conference a staple of the remaining two years?
THE PRESIDENT: No. No.
Q Or will you have more briefings with Sarah Sanders?
THE PRESIDENT: No. You know, when I don't do the - I think Sarah is fantastic. Where is Sarah? Where is Sarah? Sarah is so great. I think, Sarah, you've represented me so well and been abused. She's been horribly treated by a lot of people.
Q So she's going to stay on as Press Secretary?
THE PRESIDENT: No, no. It's very interesting because Sarah was telling - we were talking about it the other day.
So I had a period where I figured, you know what I'll do? I won't do any real interviews. And then they start saying, "Why doesn't he do - why?" And they're all coming up with all kinds -
Then over the last couple of months I decided, I'll do a lot - we'll stop at the helicopter, we'll do this, we'll do a lot of - and then they say, "Why is he doing so many press conferences? What's wrong? What?"
So when I don't do them, you say, "What's wrong?" When I do do them, you say, "What's wrong?" And when I go in the middle, you say, "What's wrong?" But in the media - you know that, Jon. Right?
Q (Off-mic.) (Inaudible) complained about access.
THE PRESIDENT: You're sort of right.
Q (Off-mic.) (Inaudible) complained about access.
THE PRESIDENT: Okay, good.
Q (Off-mic.) (Inaudible.)
THE PRESIDENT: No, no. You did. Excuse me. Well, you complained about access when I purposely just stayed away from the press for a while because I wanted to see how it worked. And can I be honest with you? It didn't work well.
Q Mr. President, I did (inaudible) question. So Sarah will stay on as Press Secretary?
THE PRESIDENT: Okay, please. Go ahead. No. Go ahead.
Q Mr. President, first off, I personally think it's very good to have you here because a free press and this type of engagement -
THE PRESIDENT: I do, too. Actually? I do, too.
Q Yes. It's vital to democracy.
THE PRESIDENT: It's called "earned media." It's worth billions. Go ahead.
Q Um, so I have two questions for you, if that's all right? It's a rare opportunity. Um, first, just a point of clarification on the tax returns issue. You brought up the audit. That doesn't prevent you from releasing them.
THE PRESIDENT: I know. Sure. But I didn't say it prevented me, I said lawyers will tell you not to do it. Go ahead. What's your next question? Go ahead.
Q If, well, just on that -
THE PRESIDENT: Come on. Let's go. More exciting question than that, please.
Q Okay. The second one: Michael Cohen recently said you called black voters "stupid."
THE PRESIDENT: That's false.
Q Omarosa has accused you of using the N-word.
THE PRESIDENT: That's false.
Q And the rapper, Lil Jon, has said you called him "Uncle Tom." What's your response?
THE PRESIDENT: I don't know who Lil Jon is. I don't - I really don't.
Q He was on "The Apprentice."
THE PRESIDENT: I don't know. Oh, he was? Okay. Oh, I see. I don't know.
Q Have you ever made racist remarks?
THE PRESIDENT: No. No, I would never do that and I don't use racist remarks. And you know what? If I did, you people would've known about it. I've been hearing there are tapes. For years and years, "There are tapes."
Number one, I never worried about it because I never did. I never used racist remarks. I have never used racist remarks.
Okay.
Q Well, one point of fact.
THE PRESIDENT: Go ahead.
Q You have been a - one point of fact, because you told her you have the highest approval -
THE PRESIDENT: Quiet. Quiet.
Q - amongst African Americans.
THE PRESIDENT: Quiet. Quiet.
Go ahead.
Q It's just 8 percent, sir. Single digits.
Home
Contact
About
Service Rates
Privacy Policy
Follow on Facebook
Subscribe to Newsletters
Rss Feed
Keywords
Eastern NC Now & ENC NOW © Copyright 1998-2024 All Rights Reserved.
