Remarks by President Trump in Briefing on Drug Trafficking on the Southern Border | Eastern North Carolina Now

    The cartels and transnational gangs targeted by law enforcement are predators that only exist to make money and harm our communities. My prior experience with DEA has allowed me to see the inner workings of these cartels on a first-hand basis. I do not see the difference of these cartels and many of the designated terroristic organizations also seeking the destruction of our country.

    What keeps me up at night is not the vast amount of drugs being seized but the vast amount of drugs coming into our country not being seized. Our hearts grieve for the loss of so many lives and for the family members that have lost so many of their sons and daughters.

    Thank you, sir, for your support on this important issue.


    THE PRESIDENT: Thank you, Mike. I really appreciate it. Great job that you're doing.

    Okay. Any questions?

    Q Mr. President, can we get your reaction to the Manafort sentencing - more than seven years - and the fact that the Manhattan District Attorney has now filed similar charges in New York State, which would seem to negate any effect of any pardon that might be down the road?

    THE PRESIDENT: Well, I feel very badly for Paul Manafort. And, you know, he worked for Ronald Reagan very successfully. He worked for John McCain. He worked for Bob Dole and many others for many years. And I feel badly for him. I think it's a very sad situation. And I saw that just a little while ago. And certainly, on a human basis, it's a very sad thing. I feel badly for him.

    Q Was Canada a factor in your decision to ground the airplanes? And secondly, why haven't you made arrangements to have (inaudible).

    THE PRESIDENT: Say it again?

    Q Two questions: Was Canada's grounding of -

    THE PRESIDENT: Well, we're doing it almost as a simultaneous -

    Q Was that a factor in the decision?

    THE PRESIDENT: Yes, we were coordinating with Canada. We were giving them information; they were giving us information. We very much worked in conjunction with Canada. And you're going to be having an announcement in a half an hour or so directly from the FAA as to some of the details. But we were working actually very closely also with Boeing and with other countries. But Canada was one of those countries.

    Q And on the China trade meetings that you anticipated having with President Xi, why haven't you secured a date yet?

    THE PRESIDENT: Well, I think things are going along very well. We'll just see what the date is. I'm in no rush. I want the deal to be right, much more importantly. It's - somebody said I'm in a rush. I'm not in a rush at all. Right now, we're getting billions and billions of dollars of tariffs paid into our coffers. I am not in a rush whatsoever. It's got to be the right deal, and it's got to be a good deal for us. And if it's not, we're not going to make that deal. But I will say that deal is going along very nicely.

    Q Mr. President, could I come back to the second question that I asked you, which is -

    THE PRESIDENT: Steve. Go ahead. Steve.

    Q The China - the Boeing aircraft, was that a hard decision to make? You spoke to the Boeing CEO yesterday.

    THE PRESIDENT: Very tough decision. It's - you know, it's tragic. It's all the people that we're talking about and that we paid our highest respects to. But it's a very tough decision from the standpoint of a company like Boeing. It's a great, great company with a track record that is so phenomenal.

    And they want this solved; they want it solved quickly. They don't know the problem yet. They have to find the problem. But they don't know the problem; it could be a lot of different things. So they have to find it, and they will find it.

    The United States has the greatest record in the world of aviation, and we want to keep it that way. So I didn't want to take any chances. We didn't have to make this decision today. We could've delayed it. We maybe didn't have to make it at all, but I felt - I felt it was important both psychologically and a lot of other ways.

    And again, working with Canada, working with other countries, we just felt it was the right thing to do, and also in speaking to Boeing and speaking to airlines. I spoke with American Airlines. I spoke with a number airlines. And speaking to the airlines, I think that we all agree that this was right decision to make. It didn't have to be made, but we thought it was the right decision to make.

    Q Mr. President, are you confident the FAA acted quickly enough?

    THE PRESIDENT: Oh, they acted very quickly, yeah. And we acted also very fact-based and very much working with other countries and with the airlines. Okay?

    Q Take the second part of my question, sir?

    Q Mr. President, will you pardon Paul Manafort?

    THE PRESIDENT: Yes?

    Q Will you pardon Paul Manafort?

    THE PRESIDENT: I have not even given it a thought as of this moment. It's not something that's right now on my mind. I do feel badly for Paul Manafort, that I can tell you.


    Q What about the second set of charges that were filed at the state court?

    THE PRESIDENT: I don't know about that. Are they going after him for state taxes?

    Q No, they're going after him in New York State. He faced federal charges and he's been sentenced on federal charges. Right after the sentencing took place here in Washington, D.C., the Manhattan District Attorney filed state charges against him, which would seem to be a way to get around the effect of any pardon that might be down the road.

    THE PRESIDENT: I don't know anything about it. I haven't heard that. I'll take a look at it.

    Q Mr. President?

    THE PRESIDENT: Yes. Go ahead.

    Q Republicans in Congress are looking - are working on another bill on the national emergency declaration that would curb future Presidents from being able to declare an emergency. Are you supportive of that effort?

    THE PRESIDENT: I'll have to take a look at what they're going to present. They are coming over in a little while just to present something. But we're in very good shape in terms of the money and in terms of the national emergency. Ultimately, we're in very good shape.

    Q But they want to curb future -

    THE PRESIDENT: And we've had great support from the House, from House Republicans, and we have great support from most - as you know, from most of the Senate, from most of the Republican Senate. Because this is really a bill on border safety, border security, and it's a bill on - I would say, maybe more than anything else, we're here talking about drug trafficking, and you people know the subject better than anybody. We're talking about drugs. We're talking about human trafficking. This is a bill on human trafficking, on drugs, on all of things that we're all gathered in this room.

    We've brought up the problem with the Boeing and the jetliners. It's a big problem. But we were really here for another reason. And I thought we should bring this up because you're going to be having a meeting in about a half an hour with FAA.

    But this is really a vote not on constitutionality, because it's constitutional. It's not a vote on precedent, because you take a look at what President Obama did with DACA and with so many other things - that was no precedent. This is a vote on border security, and it's a vote on drugs and trafficking and all of that. So - and I think most Republican senators fully understand that.

    Q Senator Rand Paul said that there are a number of Republican senators who are beaten up and pretty bloody because the White House has been going after them to not vote in favor of this bill. How much effort have you been putting into keeping Republicans with you on this issue?

    THE PRESIDENT: Yeah, nobody - nobody is beaten up. I said, "Use your own discretion." But I think it's a bad vote if they go against - I think anybody going against border security, drug trafficking, human trafficking, that's a bad vote.

    The Democrats are for open borders. They're for crime. I mean, frankly, they're for crime. These people can tell you that better than anyone. When you have open borders, when you don't have walls - Mike, when you don't -

    Very well - all of you folks know it very well. We deal with it all the time. I guess they think it's good, politically. I think it happens to be bad, politically. I think it's an 80 percent issue and maybe more than that.

    But the Democrats, in order to make things difficult, they are for open borders and they're for crime, and the Republicans aren't. But I told Republican senators, "Vote any way you want. Vote how you feel good." But I think it's bad for a Republican senator, I also think it's bad for a Democrat senator to vote against border security and to vote against the wall. I think if they vote that way, it's a very bad thing for them long into the future.

    Steve?

    Q The China trade deal, does it have to include intellectual property?

    THE PRESIDENT: Yes, it does. It has to include everything.

    Q So it's possible this could all fall apart?

    THE PRESIDENT: Anything can, but I think we're doing very well. I would say that we're - now, I tell you - I'm very open about it because I'm very happy the way we are right now: We're collecting billions and billions of tariffs. The money we have pouring in now, we've never had money like that pouring in from China. We are collecting billions and billions of dollars, mostly paid for by China. If you look at the 25 percent - a report was done where four points out of the 25 percent are paid for by us, and 21 points are paid for by China. So we're in a very good position one way or the other.

    I think the deal is going to be made. I think there's a very good chance the deal is going to be made. And I will say, officially, we're doing very well in the deal. So - but we'll see what happens.

    Q Lighthizer seemed to be at about 50/50 on a deal in testimony to Congress yesterday. What gives you optimism?

    THE PRESIDENT: Well, I think you always have to be 50/50; 50/50 is very good. But I think even if you felt you're better than 50/50, you should never say it. I think 50/50 is good.


    Q What gives you optimism?

    THE PRESIDENT: They want to make a deal. China wants very much to make a deal. China has not been doing well; we've been doing unbelievably well. Our economy is the best it's ever been, just about ever.

    You look at our unemployment numbers. If it's African American, if it's Asian, if it's Hispanic, they're the best historic numbers in history - in the history of our country they're the best numbers we've ever had. And overall employment, the best in 61 years, and that's going to soon be a record if we keep going the way we're going. It's going to soon be a record. But it's the best in 61 years.

    Our country is doing great. China would like to make a deal and we'd like to make a deal. We'll see. We have a very good relationship. I have a very good relationship with President Xi. We're going to see what happens.