Your Basic Needs: Food, Shelter and The TRUTH
Press Briefing by Ambassador O'Brien, Ambassador Grenell, Senior Advisor Kushner, and Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany | September 4, 2020
Q Can I just ask one more thing? Maybe it's semantics, but we have been having this dilemma for quite a while now. When you say "Schengen," do you think "Shenzhen," as in China's province, or "Schengen," like in Europe? Because we -
AMBASSADOR GRENELL: Europe.
Q - couldn't figure it out.
AMBASSADOR GRENELL: Europe.
Q So this - just to clarify: What did President Trump sign?
AMBASSADOR GRENELL: So we're not a party to the agreement. And I guess this is super important to remember, is that we didn't come - and there's a whole bunch of conspiracy theories out there about what we were coming to the table with. We were not forcing the two parties to do anything. This was a real chance for the two parties to talk. We didn't have any grand scheme. We didn't have any absolute demands. We certainly didn't have - I don't even want to say the word of what some conspiracy theorists say about past agreements, with land. It was never discussed in my presence.
What the two parties did was agree to move forward economically. What President Trump signed is as a witness to say: This is a great agreement, and the United States is happy for it. Right? He's -
AMBASSADOR O'BRIEN: He supports it.
AMBASSADOR GRENELL: Yeah.
Q Is that normal?
Q Ambassador Grenell, the EU has tried and failed for the past 10 years to accomplish what your team is celebrating today. How confident, candidly, all of you - how confident are you that leadership in the EU, leadership around the world is looking at this as a template for success? Or are is it going to take a whole generation of new leadership in order to kind of study what you have accomplished here and in the Middle East?
AMBASSADOR GRENELL: So, I really have to own this to say I think "we" all failed for the last 10 years. I wouldn't just put this on the Europeans. I would say that it's the establishment foreign policy thinking that has failed, both in Europe and here: Berlin, Paris, London, Washington, D.C.
We had great support from the French and from the Germans to try this new way of economic development. And let's also be very clear: The Europeans have a lot of economic development that they can do and they will do. The team is meeting on Monday in Brussels. And so there's a whole new aspect to this.
And let me also just say, on the question on this "item 10," one of the reasons why we were willing to not talk about it here was because it's on the agenda Monday in Europe. And we're trying to team this with the Europeans to say, "What can you do and what can we do to kind of move this forward?"
So, on Monday, that issue will be dealt with very much in detail in Brussels. And so I felt confident that we could kind of let - and work with the Europeans on this issue. And so that's why it was taken out.
But, at the end of the day, we need the Europeans. We need them to help on this issue. We will help them, but their calculus on the political side is a little bit different because both Kosovo and Serbia want EU membership. And so they're looking at this very long path of how to get into the EU. We're supportive of our European partners on their process, but we are not making any demands. We're not a member of the EU, so we don't have a seat at that table, but we certainly will help in any way possible. But that is a separate political process, I think, that also complicates it because of the EU membership rules and regulations and processes.
Q Can you talk about the economic pattern of this?
AMBASSADOR O'BRIEN: Thank you all very much. Have a great day, everyone. Thank you.
MS. MCENANY: Thank you, guys, very much.
So the President is bringing back the hottest economy in modern history. Today's job numbers are proof: There were 1.4 million jobs added in August, beating expectations; unemployment fell by 1.8 percent, also beating expectations. Now, nearly 50 percent of job losses since March have been reversed - a clear "V-shaped" recovery.
Also, I want to address what is quite clearly fake news: The story in The Atlantic has been categorically debunked by eyewitnesses and contemporaneous documents. The Atlantic claims, quote, "When President Donald Trump canceled a visit to the Aisne-Marne American Cemetery near Paris in 2018, he blamed rain for the last-minute decision," according to The Atlantic, "saying...'the helicopter couldn't fly' and that Secret Service wouldn't drive him there. Neither claim was true," says The Atlantic. That has been debunked.
Behind me, you will see a e-mail from one of the President's military aides that clearly reads, "We are a BAD [weather] call for today's lift."
The Atlantic reporting is based on four cowardly anonymous sources who probably do not even exist. Meanwhile, within hours, 10 sources - 10 - went on the record debunking these lies. Eight with firsthand knowledge, stating on the record one common truth: that this story is false; it never happened.
Adding to the eight that were previously counted, I'm bringing you two new ones. One is from Derek Lyons, Staff Secretary and Counselor to the President, who says this: "I was with the President the morning after the scheduled visit. He was extremely disappointed that arrangements could not be made to get him to the site and that the trip had been canceled. I have worked for the President for his entire administration. One of my responsibilities is working with him on the many letters he signs to the families of our nation's fallen heroes. In all my time at the White House," Derek writes, "I have never heard him utter a disparaging remark, of any kind, about our troops. In my view, he holds the brave men and women of our armed forces in the highest regard."
I also bring to you today another quote from a former member of this administration, Dan Walsh, Deputy Chief of Staff - former Deputy Chief of Staff, who is also a retired military officer. I got off the phone with Dan just before coming out here, and he wanted me to share with you all: "I can attest to the fact that there was a bad weather call in France and that the helicopters were unable to safely make the flight. Overall, the President's support and respect for our American troops, past and present, is unquestionable."
And Dan recounted to me several events he went on with the President, like a World War II veteran who flew with the President on the helicopter in Normandy; visits the President had with our wounded warriors; special ops teams who came to the Oval Office, including the team that got al Baghdadi and they brought along Conan, the dog, as well. He met with families at the Army-Navy game; he does this routinely. And at the World Series, when he got an opportunity to go watch the Nationals, he brought veterans with him.
And I can tell you from what I've seen from this President, I have heard him describe his visits to Walter Reed in detail, and the angst he has had, and the compassion he has had, and the hurt he has had viewing these warriors who have been absolutely injured in the line of duty and are courageous heroes. And I've heard him recount how meaningful those visits are.
I've also seen him, just today, before this article came up, talk about - there was rain and lightning popping around - and he said, "I want to go out there and I want to talk to our World War Two veterans." This is America's greatest generation, and the President holds them in the highest of regards.
So why would a publication abandon all journalistic integrity and publish this story? It's because the liberal activists at The Atlantic are uninterested in the truth, and they are only interested in peddling conspiracy-laden propaganda. Because here is the one truth: No one - and I mean no one - loves and cares for our servicemen and women as much as President Donald J. Trump.
Thank you.
END
You can visit a collection of all White House posts by clicking here.
Go Back
AMBASSADOR GRENELL: Europe.
Q - couldn't figure it out.
AMBASSADOR GRENELL: Europe.
Q So this - just to clarify: What did President Trump sign?
AMBASSADOR GRENELL: So we're not a party to the agreement. And I guess this is super important to remember, is that we didn't come - and there's a whole bunch of conspiracy theories out there about what we were coming to the table with. We were not forcing the two parties to do anything. This was a real chance for the two parties to talk. We didn't have any grand scheme. We didn't have any absolute demands. We certainly didn't have - I don't even want to say the word of what some conspiracy theorists say about past agreements, with land. It was never discussed in my presence.
What the two parties did was agree to move forward economically. What President Trump signed is as a witness to say: This is a great agreement, and the United States is happy for it. Right? He's -
AMBASSADOR O'BRIEN: He supports it.
AMBASSADOR GRENELL: Yeah.
Q Is that normal?
Q Ambassador Grenell, the EU has tried and failed for the past 10 years to accomplish what your team is celebrating today. How confident, candidly, all of you - how confident are you that leadership in the EU, leadership around the world is looking at this as a template for success? Or are is it going to take a whole generation of new leadership in order to kind of study what you have accomplished here and in the Middle East?
AMBASSADOR GRENELL: So, I really have to own this to say I think "we" all failed for the last 10 years. I wouldn't just put this on the Europeans. I would say that it's the establishment foreign policy thinking that has failed, both in Europe and here: Berlin, Paris, London, Washington, D.C.
We had great support from the French and from the Germans to try this new way of economic development. And let's also be very clear: The Europeans have a lot of economic development that they can do and they will do. The team is meeting on Monday in Brussels. And so there's a whole new aspect to this.
And let me also just say, on the question on this "item 10," one of the reasons why we were willing to not talk about it here was because it's on the agenda Monday in Europe. And we're trying to team this with the Europeans to say, "What can you do and what can we do to kind of move this forward?"
So, on Monday, that issue will be dealt with very much in detail in Brussels. And so I felt confident that we could kind of let - and work with the Europeans on this issue. And so that's why it was taken out.
But, at the end of the day, we need the Europeans. We need them to help on this issue. We will help them, but their calculus on the political side is a little bit different because both Kosovo and Serbia want EU membership. And so they're looking at this very long path of how to get into the EU. We're supportive of our European partners on their process, but we are not making any demands. We're not a member of the EU, so we don't have a seat at that table, but we certainly will help in any way possible. But that is a separate political process, I think, that also complicates it because of the EU membership rules and regulations and processes.
Q Can you talk about the economic pattern of this?
AMBASSADOR O'BRIEN: Thank you all very much. Have a great day, everyone. Thank you.
MS. MCENANY: Thank you, guys, very much.
So the President is bringing back the hottest economy in modern history. Today's job numbers are proof: There were 1.4 million jobs added in August, beating expectations; unemployment fell by 1.8 percent, also beating expectations. Now, nearly 50 percent of job losses since March have been reversed - a clear "V-shaped" recovery.
Also, I want to address what is quite clearly fake news: The story in The Atlantic has been categorically debunked by eyewitnesses and contemporaneous documents. The Atlantic claims, quote, "When President Donald Trump canceled a visit to the Aisne-Marne American Cemetery near Paris in 2018, he blamed rain for the last-minute decision," according to The Atlantic, "saying...'the helicopter couldn't fly' and that Secret Service wouldn't drive him there. Neither claim was true," says The Atlantic. That has been debunked.
Behind me, you will see a e-mail from one of the President's military aides that clearly reads, "We are a BAD [weather] call for today's lift."
The Atlantic reporting is based on four cowardly anonymous sources who probably do not even exist. Meanwhile, within hours, 10 sources - 10 - went on the record debunking these lies. Eight with firsthand knowledge, stating on the record one common truth: that this story is false; it never happened.
Adding to the eight that were previously counted, I'm bringing you two new ones. One is from Derek Lyons, Staff Secretary and Counselor to the President, who says this: "I was with the President the morning after the scheduled visit. He was extremely disappointed that arrangements could not be made to get him to the site and that the trip had been canceled. I have worked for the President for his entire administration. One of my responsibilities is working with him on the many letters he signs to the families of our nation's fallen heroes. In all my time at the White House," Derek writes, "I have never heard him utter a disparaging remark, of any kind, about our troops. In my view, he holds the brave men and women of our armed forces in the highest regard."
I also bring to you today another quote from a former member of this administration, Dan Walsh, Deputy Chief of Staff - former Deputy Chief of Staff, who is also a retired military officer. I got off the phone with Dan just before coming out here, and he wanted me to share with you all: "I can attest to the fact that there was a bad weather call in France and that the helicopters were unable to safely make the flight. Overall, the President's support and respect for our American troops, past and present, is unquestionable."
And Dan recounted to me several events he went on with the President, like a World War II veteran who flew with the President on the helicopter in Normandy; visits the President had with our wounded warriors; special ops teams who came to the Oval Office, including the team that got al Baghdadi and they brought along Conan, the dog, as well. He met with families at the Army-Navy game; he does this routinely. And at the World Series, when he got an opportunity to go watch the Nationals, he brought veterans with him.
And I can tell you from what I've seen from this President, I have heard him describe his visits to Walter Reed in detail, and the angst he has had, and the compassion he has had, and the hurt he has had viewing these warriors who have been absolutely injured in the line of duty and are courageous heroes. And I've heard him recount how meaningful those visits are.
I've also seen him, just today, before this article came up, talk about - there was rain and lightning popping around - and he said, "I want to go out there and I want to talk to our World War Two veterans." This is America's greatest generation, and the President holds them in the highest of regards.
So why would a publication abandon all journalistic integrity and publish this story? It's because the liberal activists at The Atlantic are uninterested in the truth, and they are only interested in peddling conspiracy-laden propaganda. Because here is the one truth: No one - and I mean no one - loves and cares for our servicemen and women as much as President Donald J. Trump.
Thank you.
END
- Contact: White House
- Press Office
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.
