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Remarks by President Trump in Briefing on Drug Trafficking on the Southern Border
But it's an exciting time in terms of trade. We just made a deal with Mexico, Canada. We just made a deal with South Korea. We have other deals that we have cooking.
And, frankly, our country was being taken advantage of by everybody. We were getting - what was happening to our country on trade was a horrible thing; that this wasn't done years ago. And I'm not talking about the Obama administration. I'm talking about that and plenty of other administrations before it. That they could have allowed this to happen - we lost, over the last number of years, almost $800 billion a year on trade. What kind of deal - who's making these deals?
So we're making great deals or we're not going to make them at all. We're going to go tariffs.
Q And are you in favor of nailing down a deal before a summit so that all that would need to happen at the summit is just to sign it?
THE PRESIDENT: Doesn't matter to me. I'll go either way.
I think President Xi saw that I'm somebody that believes in walking when a deal is not done. And, you know, there's always a chance it could happen, and he probably wouldn't want that. That could be a reason.
But we can do it either way. We can have the deal completed and come and sign, or we can get the deal almost completed and negotiate some of the final points. I would prefer that, but it doesn't matter that much.
Q Is Shanahan your pick for Defense Secretary?
THE PRESIDENT: He's doing a great job. Shanahan is doing a fantastic job as - at Secretary - as the Acting Secretary of Defense.
Q Will you nominate him?
THE PRESIDENT: Well, I'm just telling you, he's doing a great job. Look at we've done with respect to the caliphate in Syria. I was told by our previous person that it was going to take two years to knock it out, and I did it in three weeks once we started. Did it, really, in less.
And no - I have a great group of people. We are surrounded by some tremendous talent in this building. We have great Secretaries and a lot of great people. I don't think they get the credit for the job they do.
Look at - you take a look at the economy. You take a look at regulations. You take a look at tax cuts. You take a look at all of the things that we've done. We have great people in this government.
Q Any update on North Korea?
THE PRESIDENT: No update. No. No. Seem to have a very good relationship. We'll let you know about it.
Q Any idea when the Mueller Report is coming down?
THE PRESIDENT: I have no idea.
Q Are you anxious to see it?
THE PRESIDENT: I have no idea. I can only tell you one thing - again, that was proven today: no collusion. There's no collusion. There's no collusion. And there hasn't been collusion.
And it was all a big hoax, and you know it. It was done and stated by the Democrats because they lost an election that they should have won because the Electoral College is a big advantage for Democrats, not for Republicans.
And they should have, and I ran the clock out. We ran the whole thing. You ran up the East Coast from North Carolina to Pennsylvania, and then we go up to Wisconsin and Michigan - states that hadn't been won for many, many years. We won those states.
And they said, "How do we - how do we solve this horrible problem? We lost an election that, in theory," some people - I didn't - but some people thought they were going to win, right? And they said, "I have an idea. Let's blame Russia."
It was a hoax. It was all a big hoax. And now you're seeing it. Today, again, "No collusion." The other day, "No collusion." There was no collusion.
When I had to go Wisconsin, I went to Wisconsin. When I had to go to Michigan and Pennsylvania and South Carolina and North Carolina, that's where I'd go. When I had to go Florida, which we won easily, I went to Florida. You don't call Russia when you go to Florida. Russia won't help you much.
Have a good time, everybody. Thank you. Thank you.
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And, frankly, our country was being taken advantage of by everybody. We were getting - what was happening to our country on trade was a horrible thing; that this wasn't done years ago. And I'm not talking about the Obama administration. I'm talking about that and plenty of other administrations before it. That they could have allowed this to happen - we lost, over the last number of years, almost $800 billion a year on trade. What kind of deal - who's making these deals?
So we're making great deals or we're not going to make them at all. We're going to go tariffs.
Q And are you in favor of nailing down a deal before a summit so that all that would need to happen at the summit is just to sign it?
THE PRESIDENT: Doesn't matter to me. I'll go either way.
I think President Xi saw that I'm somebody that believes in walking when a deal is not done. And, you know, there's always a chance it could happen, and he probably wouldn't want that. That could be a reason.
But we can do it either way. We can have the deal completed and come and sign, or we can get the deal almost completed and negotiate some of the final points. I would prefer that, but it doesn't matter that much.
Q Is Shanahan your pick for Defense Secretary?
THE PRESIDENT: He's doing a great job. Shanahan is doing a fantastic job as - at Secretary - as the Acting Secretary of Defense.
Q Will you nominate him?
THE PRESIDENT: Well, I'm just telling you, he's doing a great job. Look at we've done with respect to the caliphate in Syria. I was told by our previous person that it was going to take two years to knock it out, and I did it in three weeks once we started. Did it, really, in less.
And no - I have a great group of people. We are surrounded by some tremendous talent in this building. We have great Secretaries and a lot of great people. I don't think they get the credit for the job they do.
Look at - you take a look at the economy. You take a look at regulations. You take a look at tax cuts. You take a look at all of the things that we've done. We have great people in this government.
Q Any update on North Korea?
THE PRESIDENT: No update. No. No. Seem to have a very good relationship. We'll let you know about it.
Q Any idea when the Mueller Report is coming down?
THE PRESIDENT: I have no idea.
Q Are you anxious to see it?
THE PRESIDENT: I have no idea. I can only tell you one thing - again, that was proven today: no collusion. There's no collusion. There's no collusion. And there hasn't been collusion.
And it was all a big hoax, and you know it. It was done and stated by the Democrats because they lost an election that they should have won because the Electoral College is a big advantage for Democrats, not for Republicans.
And they should have, and I ran the clock out. We ran the whole thing. You ran up the East Coast from North Carolina to Pennsylvania, and then we go up to Wisconsin and Michigan - states that hadn't been won for many, many years. We won those states.
And they said, "How do we - how do we solve this horrible problem? We lost an election that, in theory," some people - I didn't - but some people thought they were going to win, right? And they said, "I have an idea. Let's blame Russia."
It was a hoax. It was all a big hoax. And now you're seeing it. Today, again, "No collusion." The other day, "No collusion." There was no collusion.
When I had to go Wisconsin, I went to Wisconsin. When I had to go to Michigan and Pennsylvania and South Carolina and North Carolina, that's where I'd go. When I had to go Florida, which we won easily, I went to Florida. You don't call Russia when you go to Florida. Russia won't help you much.
Have a good time, everybody. Thank you. Thank you.
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