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Remarks by President Trump in Press Conference | Hanoi, Vietnam
Q Thank you, Mr. President.
THE PRESIDENT: Thank you.
Q Two questions, if I may. First, did you learn anything new about Chairman Kim, through this meeting?
And secondly, of course, while this was going on, the drama back in Washington, your former lawyer, Michael Cohen - who worked for you for 10 years; his office right next to yours, right by yours at Trump Tower - he called you a liar, a conman, a racist. What's your response to Michael Cohen?
THE PRESIDENT: Well, it's incorrect. And, you know, it's very interesting, because I tried to watch as much as I could. I wasn't able to watch too much because I've been a little bit busy. But I think having a fake hearing like that, and having it in the middle of this very important summit is really a terrible thing. They could've made it two days later or next week, and it would've been even better. They would've had more time.
But having it during this very important summit is sort of incredible. And he lied a lot, but it was very interesting because he didn't lie about one thing. He said no collusion with the Russian hoax. And I said, "I wonder why he didn't just lie about that, too, like he did about everything else?"
I mean, he lied about so many different things, and I was actually impressed that he didn't say, "Well, I think there was collusion for this reason or that." He didn't say that. He said, "No collusion." And I was, you know, a little impressed by that, frankly. Could've - he could've gone all out. He only went about 95 percent instead of 100 percent.
But the fact is, there is no collusion. And I call it the "witch hunt." This should never happen to another President. This is so bad for our country. So bad.
You look at this whole hoax - I call it the Russian witch hunt. I now add the word "hoax." It's a very, very bad thing for our country. But I was impressed with the fact that he - when - you know, because the most important question up there was the one on collusion. And he said he saw no collusion.
So we'll see what happens. But it was pretty shameful, I think.
Yes, ma'am. Please. Please.
Q President Trump -
Q President Trump -
THE PRESIDENT: How about one of you, instead of three?
Q Well, actually, I do have the microphone. I guess, so - well -
THE PRESIDENT: Excuse me. Excuse me. Person in the front. Go ahead.
Q Thank you, President Trump, for -
THE PRESIDENT: No, no. No, not you. Excuse me. Yeah, we'll get to you.
Thank you.
Q Thank you, President Trump. Jane Tung (ph) from (inaudible) Television. What was the atmosphere like when you walked away from the negotiation table? And -
THE PRESIDENT: I think it was very good, very friendly. This wasn't a walk away, like you get up and walk out. No, this was very friendly. We shook hands. You know, there's a warmth that we have, and I hope that stays. I think it will.
But we are - you know, we're positioned to do something very special. This has been going on for many decades. This isn't me. You know, this was - this should've been solved during many presidential runs. And, you know, people talked about it; they never did anything. I get a kick out of so many people from past administrations telling me how to negotiate when they were there, in some cases, for eight years; they did nothing.
But I think the relationship was very warm, and when we walked away it was a very friendly walk. Mike, you might want to speak to that for a second.
SECRETARY POMPEO: No, I agree. I talked with my counterparts as well. But we hope we can do more, but everyone is very focused on how we continue to build on this.
We are certainly closer today than we were 36 hours ago. And we were closer then than we were a month or two before that. So real progress was made.
I think everyone had hoped we could do it just a little bit better. But the departure was with an agreement that we would continue to work on what has been an incredibly difficult problem. Both sides are resolved to achieve it, and everyone walked away in that spirit.
Q And may I add: You and Chairman Kim are from very different political systems. You are from different generations. And what do you find -
THE PRESIDENT: It's a very different system. I would say that's true.
Q How do you find, you guys, in common? Because we saw the atmosphere -
THE PRESIDENT: We just like each other. I mean, we have a good relationship. Yeah. It's a totally different system, to put it mildly. But we like each other. A good relationship.
Go ahead. In the back. Go ahead.
Q Mr. President, do you think it was premature to have held the summit when all these things had not been tied down? I mean, in the White House schedule last night, it said signing agreement today. And I wonder whether - as a follow-up question, whether you could sketch out what the next few months look like. Thank you.
THE PRESIDENT: You always have to be prepared to walk. I could've signed an agreement today, and then you people would've said, "Oh, what a terrible deal. What a terrible thing he did." No, you have be prepared to walk. And, you know, there was a potential we could've signed something today. I could've 100 percent signed something today. We actually had papers ready to be signed, but it just wasn't appropriate. I want to do it right. I'd much rather do it right than do it fast.
Yes, please. Go ahead. Go ahead. Go. First. Go. Yeah.
Q (Inaudible.)
THE PRESIDENT: You have to speak up.
Q I'm a reporter from South Korea, and I appreciate your effort to advance denuclearization in Korean Peninsula. And could you elaborate on the options and the various ways that you discussed with Chairman Kim to advance denuclearization? Could you specify?
THE PRESIDENT: We discussed many ways. And the denuclearization is a very important - it's a very important word. Become a very well used word. And a lot of people don't know what it means, but to me it's pretty obvious: We have to get rid of the nukes.
I think he's got a chance to have one of the most successful countries - rapidly, too - on Earth. Incredible country, incredible location. You're right between - if you think of it, you have, on one side, Russia and China, and on the other you have South Korea, and you're surrounded by water and among the most beautiful shorelines in the world.
There is tremendous potential in North Korea, and I think he's going to lead it to a very important thing, economically. I think it's going to be an absolute economic power.
Yes. Go ahead. Please. Go ahead. Yeah.
Q Mr. President, David Sanger from the New York Times.
THE PRESIDENT: I know, David.
Q Six months ago, when you spoke - or eight months ago, in Singapore, you said, if you didn't have something in six months, we should come back and ask you about it. In that time, you have seen Chairman Kim increase the number of missiles he's produced and continue to produce more nuclear material. And that's been a pressure point on you, because he's showing you the arsenals getting larger while this is going on.
THE PRESIDENT: Well, some people, David, are saying that, and some people are denying that. They have shots from above - way above - and some people are saying that and some people aren't.
But I could've taken that out today, but I think you and others would've said we didn't get enough for what we'd be giving up. So - and, you know, don't forget, we're partners with a lot of countries on this, if you think about it, with the sanctions. We have a whole big partnership with the United Nations and many countries, including Russia, China, and others. And then, of course, South Korea is very important to this whole thing, and Japan.
I don't want to do something that is going to violate the trust that we've built up. We have a very strong partnership.
Q So can you just give us a little more detail? Did you get into the question of actually dismantling the Yongbyon complex?
THE PRESIDENT: I did. Yes. Absolutely.
Q And does he seem willing, ultimately -
THE PRESIDENT: Totally.
Q - to take all of that out?
THE PRESIDENT: Sure. Totally.
Q He does? He just wants all the sanctions off first?
THE PRESIDENT: He would do that, but he wants the sanctions for that. And as you know, there's plenty left after that. And I just I felt it wasn't good. Mike and I spent a long time negotiating and talking about it to ourselves. And just - I felt that that particular, as you know, that facility, while very big, it wasn't enough to do what we were doing.
Q So he was willing to Yongbyon, but you wanted more than that? I assume -
THE PRESIDENT: We had to have more than that, yeah. We had to have more than that because there are other things that you haven't talked about, that you haven't written about, that we found. And we have to have - that was done a long time ago, but the people didn't know about.
Q Including the uranium -
THE PRESIDENT: And we brought - yeah.
Q Including the second uranium enrichment plant?
THE PRESIDENT: Exactly. And we brought many, many points up that I think they were surprised that we knew. But we had to do more than just the one level. Because if we did the one level, and we gave up all of that leverage that's been taking a long time to build. And I want to tell you, by the way -
Q So he was not willing to take out that second -
THE PRESIDENT: David, I want to take off the sanctions so badly, because I want that country to grow. That country has got such potential, but they have to give up, or we could've done that deal.
Mike, you want to speak to that?
SECRETARY POMPEO: Only, David, there are also timing and sequencing issues that were associated with that as well, which we didn't quite get across the finish line as well. But remember, too, even that facility, even the Yongbyon facility and all of its scope - which is important, for sure - still leaves missiles, still leaves warheads and weapons systems. So there's a lot of other elements that we just couldn't get to.
Q And the listing of all of them.
Go Back
THE PRESIDENT: Thank you.
Q Two questions, if I may. First, did you learn anything new about Chairman Kim, through this meeting?
And secondly, of course, while this was going on, the drama back in Washington, your former lawyer, Michael Cohen - who worked for you for 10 years; his office right next to yours, right by yours at Trump Tower - he called you a liar, a conman, a racist. What's your response to Michael Cohen?
THE PRESIDENT: Well, it's incorrect. And, you know, it's very interesting, because I tried to watch as much as I could. I wasn't able to watch too much because I've been a little bit busy. But I think having a fake hearing like that, and having it in the middle of this very important summit is really a terrible thing. They could've made it two days later or next week, and it would've been even better. They would've had more time.
But having it during this very important summit is sort of incredible. And he lied a lot, but it was very interesting because he didn't lie about one thing. He said no collusion with the Russian hoax. And I said, "I wonder why he didn't just lie about that, too, like he did about everything else?"
I mean, he lied about so many different things, and I was actually impressed that he didn't say, "Well, I think there was collusion for this reason or that." He didn't say that. He said, "No collusion." And I was, you know, a little impressed by that, frankly. Could've - he could've gone all out. He only went about 95 percent instead of 100 percent.
But the fact is, there is no collusion. And I call it the "witch hunt." This should never happen to another President. This is so bad for our country. So bad.
You look at this whole hoax - I call it the Russian witch hunt. I now add the word "hoax." It's a very, very bad thing for our country. But I was impressed with the fact that he - when - you know, because the most important question up there was the one on collusion. And he said he saw no collusion.
So we'll see what happens. But it was pretty shameful, I think.
Yes, ma'am. Please. Please.
Q President Trump -
Q President Trump -
THE PRESIDENT: How about one of you, instead of three?
Q Well, actually, I do have the microphone. I guess, so - well -
THE PRESIDENT: Excuse me. Excuse me. Person in the front. Go ahead.
Q Thank you, President Trump, for -
THE PRESIDENT: No, no. No, not you. Excuse me. Yeah, we'll get to you.
Thank you.
Q Thank you, President Trump. Jane Tung (ph) from (inaudible) Television. What was the atmosphere like when you walked away from the negotiation table? And -
THE PRESIDENT: I think it was very good, very friendly. This wasn't a walk away, like you get up and walk out. No, this was very friendly. We shook hands. You know, there's a warmth that we have, and I hope that stays. I think it will.
But we are - you know, we're positioned to do something very special. This has been going on for many decades. This isn't me. You know, this was - this should've been solved during many presidential runs. And, you know, people talked about it; they never did anything. I get a kick out of so many people from past administrations telling me how to negotiate when they were there, in some cases, for eight years; they did nothing.
But I think the relationship was very warm, and when we walked away it was a very friendly walk. Mike, you might want to speak to that for a second.
SECRETARY POMPEO: No, I agree. I talked with my counterparts as well. But we hope we can do more, but everyone is very focused on how we continue to build on this.
We are certainly closer today than we were 36 hours ago. And we were closer then than we were a month or two before that. So real progress was made.
I think everyone had hoped we could do it just a little bit better. But the departure was with an agreement that we would continue to work on what has been an incredibly difficult problem. Both sides are resolved to achieve it, and everyone walked away in that spirit.
Q And may I add: You and Chairman Kim are from very different political systems. You are from different generations. And what do you find -
THE PRESIDENT: It's a very different system. I would say that's true.
Q How do you find, you guys, in common? Because we saw the atmosphere -
THE PRESIDENT: We just like each other. I mean, we have a good relationship. Yeah. It's a totally different system, to put it mildly. But we like each other. A good relationship.
Go ahead. In the back. Go ahead.
Q Mr. President, do you think it was premature to have held the summit when all these things had not been tied down? I mean, in the White House schedule last night, it said signing agreement today. And I wonder whether - as a follow-up question, whether you could sketch out what the next few months look like. Thank you.
THE PRESIDENT: You always have to be prepared to walk. I could've signed an agreement today, and then you people would've said, "Oh, what a terrible deal. What a terrible thing he did." No, you have be prepared to walk. And, you know, there was a potential we could've signed something today. I could've 100 percent signed something today. We actually had papers ready to be signed, but it just wasn't appropriate. I want to do it right. I'd much rather do it right than do it fast.
Yes, please. Go ahead. Go ahead. Go. First. Go. Yeah.
Q (Inaudible.)
THE PRESIDENT: You have to speak up.
Q I'm a reporter from South Korea, and I appreciate your effort to advance denuclearization in Korean Peninsula. And could you elaborate on the options and the various ways that you discussed with Chairman Kim to advance denuclearization? Could you specify?
THE PRESIDENT: We discussed many ways. And the denuclearization is a very important - it's a very important word. Become a very well used word. And a lot of people don't know what it means, but to me it's pretty obvious: We have to get rid of the nukes.
I think he's got a chance to have one of the most successful countries - rapidly, too - on Earth. Incredible country, incredible location. You're right between - if you think of it, you have, on one side, Russia and China, and on the other you have South Korea, and you're surrounded by water and among the most beautiful shorelines in the world.
There is tremendous potential in North Korea, and I think he's going to lead it to a very important thing, economically. I think it's going to be an absolute economic power.
Yes. Go ahead. Please. Go ahead. Yeah.
Q Mr. President, David Sanger from the New York Times.
THE PRESIDENT: I know, David.
Q Six months ago, when you spoke - or eight months ago, in Singapore, you said, if you didn't have something in six months, we should come back and ask you about it. In that time, you have seen Chairman Kim increase the number of missiles he's produced and continue to produce more nuclear material. And that's been a pressure point on you, because he's showing you the arsenals getting larger while this is going on.
THE PRESIDENT: Well, some people, David, are saying that, and some people are denying that. They have shots from above - way above - and some people are saying that and some people aren't.
But I could've taken that out today, but I think you and others would've said we didn't get enough for what we'd be giving up. So - and, you know, don't forget, we're partners with a lot of countries on this, if you think about it, with the sanctions. We have a whole big partnership with the United Nations and many countries, including Russia, China, and others. And then, of course, South Korea is very important to this whole thing, and Japan.
I don't want to do something that is going to violate the trust that we've built up. We have a very strong partnership.
Q So can you just give us a little more detail? Did you get into the question of actually dismantling the Yongbyon complex?
THE PRESIDENT: I did. Yes. Absolutely.
Q And does he seem willing, ultimately -
THE PRESIDENT: Totally.
Q - to take all of that out?
THE PRESIDENT: Sure. Totally.
Q He does? He just wants all the sanctions off first?
THE PRESIDENT: He would do that, but he wants the sanctions for that. And as you know, there's plenty left after that. And I just I felt it wasn't good. Mike and I spent a long time negotiating and talking about it to ourselves. And just - I felt that that particular, as you know, that facility, while very big, it wasn't enough to do what we were doing.
Q So he was willing to Yongbyon, but you wanted more than that? I assume -
THE PRESIDENT: We had to have more than that, yeah. We had to have more than that because there are other things that you haven't talked about, that you haven't written about, that we found. And we have to have - that was done a long time ago, but the people didn't know about.
Q Including the uranium -
THE PRESIDENT: And we brought - yeah.
Q Including the second uranium enrichment plant?
THE PRESIDENT: Exactly. And we brought many, many points up that I think they were surprised that we knew. But we had to do more than just the one level. Because if we did the one level, and we gave up all of that leverage that's been taking a long time to build. And I want to tell you, by the way -
Q So he was not willing to take out that second -
THE PRESIDENT: David, I want to take off the sanctions so badly, because I want that country to grow. That country has got such potential, but they have to give up, or we could've done that deal.
Mike, you want to speak to that?
SECRETARY POMPEO: Only, David, there are also timing and sequencing issues that were associated with that as well, which we didn't quite get across the finish line as well. But remember, too, even that facility, even the Yongbyon facility and all of its scope - which is important, for sure - still leaves missiles, still leaves warheads and weapons systems. So there's a lot of other elements that we just couldn't get to.
Q And the listing of all of them.
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