REAL News for REAL People
Remarks by President Trump Before Marine One Departure
Press Release:
White House South Lawn • Washington D.C. • August 30 • 5:53 P.M. EDT
THE PRESIDENT: Well, thank you very much. The hurricane is roaring, and it could be a big one. We're hoping that it maybe makes a right and goes up north, but that's about a 5 percent chance. It's not looking good. And it's one of the biggest hurricanes we've seen in a long time. A long time. So it could be very devastating.
I just spoke to Rick Scott, and I just spoke to - we have a lot of people that we're speaking to. I spoke with Marco Rubio. I spoke to your governors of both Georgia - as you know, Georgia and Florida. And they're doing really well. They're working hard. Florida seems to be the main target at this moment. But I think a lot of good things are happening.
FEMA is there. Tremendous work is going on. Many, many gas trucks are coming in; they're bringing gas from Louisiana and all over. And we don't know about evacuation. We're leaving it up - locally, right now. We're going to see where it's coming in. We just don't know exactly where it's going to be coming and how far in it's coming.
So, I'm going to Camp David. We have a lot of experts with us. And we have a lot of the FEMA people that are coming up, but we're really, very importantly, coming back. And, on Sunday, at 12:30, we have a meeting at FEMA headquarters. And that will be about the time that we'll know where everything is going. A lot of decisions will be made. And that will be a little bit less than a day before it hits. So we'll see what happens.
On other things, the stock market is doing well. The economy is doing great. The economy is amazing, actually. Worldwide, we're the number-one by far. Stock market is up again and we're getting close. We'll be very close to a new record soon.
And whatever you want to ask. Go ahead.
Q Will you be talking to President Xi this weekend, Mr. President?
THE PRESIDENT: That, I can't tell you. But we are speaking to China. But I can't tell you whether or not it will be President Xi.
Q Mr. President, Jack Dorsey's Twitter account was hacked today. Jack Dorsey's Twitter account. Are you concerned that your Twitter account could be hacked as well?
THE PRESIDENT: Well, I understand Twitter accounts have been hacked. Is that what you said?
Q Jack Dorsey's account, sir.
THE PRESIDENT: Twitter account. Yeah. Well, I hope they're not hacking my account. But, actually, if they do, they're not going to learn too much more than what I put out, right? Shouldn't be too bad.
Q Mr. President, why was Madeleine fired?
Q Do you feel betrayed by Madeleine Westerhout? And what exactly did she say about your family that disappointed you?
THE PRESIDENT: Well, I guess she said - I think she said some things. And she called me. She was very upset. She was very down.
And she said she was drinking a little bit. And she was with reporters, and everything she said was off the record. And that still doesn't really cover for her. She mentioned a couple of things about my children.
But she's a very, you know, good person. And I thought - I always felt she did a good job. And she's very down. And in all fairness, it was an off-the-record. And, of course, the press - the press breaks off-the-records all the time because they are very dishonorable. Many of them. Not all of you, but many of them are very dishonorable. But nevertheless, you don't say things - you don't say certain things. So, it was too bad.
But I just spoke to her just before I came out. She called. And I wish her well.
Q Thank you very much. Mr. President, the U.S. has been allocating money for the Ukrainian military that is (inaudible) Russian aggression. So can Ukraine count on further support and aid from your side?
THE PRESIDENT: Where?
Q In Ukraine.
THE PRESIDENT: Well, we're looking at Ukraine right now. In fact, I was going to meet with your new President. And because of the fact that we have this really massive hurricane coming in, I had to cancel my trip to Poland where I was going to meet the President of Ukraine, among many other things.
Mike Pence is going to Poland. He's taking my place. He'll do a great job. It was going to be a beautiful weekend and, really, celebration of the past. And Mike Pence will do a great job. I felt it was important that I stay here. And we'll be up at Camp David working hard. We have a lot of things happening with respect to that hurricane.
We have to be very careful. It could be one of the biggest that we've seen. I mean, so far, it's looking not good, I have to be honest you.
Q Will you be combining your trips to Poland and to Germany?
THE PRESIDENT: What I'll do is be going to Poland at a later date. We have a great relationship with Poland. And we'll be doing that. And also, Angela Merkel invited me to go to Germany. So, at some point, we'll be setting that up.
Q Mr. President, should McCabe face charges?
THE PRESIDENT: Say it?
Q Should Andrew McCabe face charges for lying to the FBI?
THE PRESIDENT: Oh, I don't want to get into that. He's a bad guy, I can tell you that. He's a bad guy. I think he's a sick guy, personally. But I can't get into that with Andrew McCabe. But Andrew McCabe is a bad guy.
Q Are the tariffs that you're planning for China still on for Sunday? Or are you considering not putting them on?
THE PRESIDENT: No, they're on. They're on. We've taken in billions and billions of dollars from those tariffs. And as it's starting to come out, if you look at the Chinese government - China - what they've done with tariffs is very interesting. They've devalued their currency so much, which hurts them ultimately. It costs them much more to buy things outside of China.
But they've devalued so much. It's a bad situation they've put themselves in. And I just saw - it came over the wires - that 13 percent of certain companies are going to be leaving China in the not-too-distant future. That's a big thing. Thirteen percent of companies will be leaving China in the fairly near future. And I'm not surprised to hear that. I think it's going to be much higher. Because they cannot compete with the tariffs. They can't compete.
So they've devalued their currency, they're pumping money in. And we're not paying much more. Now, let me tell you, we've taken in tens of billions of dollars. I gave the farmers $16 billion, which makes them totally whole on China. That's what China spends in a good year. I gave - given the farmers - because they were targeted. The farmers were targeted by China.
So, out of the tariffs, which are much more than $16 billion by a factor of a lot, I've given the farmers $16 billion. And the farmers are very happy. And they want me to continue this fight. They want me to win the fight. And we're going to win the fight.
We're having conversations with China. Meetings are scheduled. Calls are being made I guess the meeting in September continues to be on. It hasn't been cancelled. And we'll see what happens.
But China has lost a lot of companies. A lot of companies. A lot of companies have left China and a lot more are leaving. And they are not doing well. They are having the worst year they've had, I understand, in 61 years. That's a lot of years.
Yeah. Go ahead.
Q Mr. President, did you release classified information by tweeting that photo about Iran?
THE PRESIDENT: No. I just wish Iran well. They had a big problem. And we had a photo. And I released it, which I have the absolute right to do.
Q Where did it come from?
THE PRESIDENT: And we'll see what happens. You'll have to figure that one out yourself.
But we'll see what happens. They had a mishap. It's unfortunate. And so, Iran, as you probably know, they were going to set off a big missile, and it didn't work out too well. It had nothing to do with us.
Q (Inaudible.)
THE PRESIDENT: Well, we have a good relationship with South Korea. We'll see what happens.
Q Mr. President, are you disappointed that Bill Barr is not prosecuting James Comey?
THE PRESIDENT: I have a lot of faith in Bill Barr. I thought the charges were unbelievably powerful. I thought the IG report was incredible. But I have total confidence in Bill Barr to do the right thing. I think, if anything, this showed how fair he is. I really think he's a - you know, he's a tremendous man, and I think that this really showed, you know, how fair he is. But, certainly, those were very serious charges, but let's see what happens.
...
Read the full transcript HERE.
You can visit a collection of all White House posts by clicking here.
Go Back
THE PRESIDENT: Well, thank you very much. The hurricane is roaring, and it could be a big one. We're hoping that it maybe makes a right and goes up north, but that's about a 5 percent chance. It's not looking good. And it's one of the biggest hurricanes we've seen in a long time. A long time. So it could be very devastating.
I just spoke to Rick Scott, and I just spoke to - we have a lot of people that we're speaking to. I spoke with Marco Rubio. I spoke to your governors of both Georgia - as you know, Georgia and Florida. And they're doing really well. They're working hard. Florida seems to be the main target at this moment. But I think a lot of good things are happening.
FEMA is there. Tremendous work is going on. Many, many gas trucks are coming in; they're bringing gas from Louisiana and all over. And we don't know about evacuation. We're leaving it up - locally, right now. We're going to see where it's coming in. We just don't know exactly where it's going to be coming and how far in it's coming.
So, I'm going to Camp David. We have a lot of experts with us. And we have a lot of the FEMA people that are coming up, but we're really, very importantly, coming back. And, on Sunday, at 12:30, we have a meeting at FEMA headquarters. And that will be about the time that we'll know where everything is going. A lot of decisions will be made. And that will be a little bit less than a day before it hits. So we'll see what happens.
On other things, the stock market is doing well. The economy is doing great. The economy is amazing, actually. Worldwide, we're the number-one by far. Stock market is up again and we're getting close. We'll be very close to a new record soon.
And whatever you want to ask. Go ahead.
Q Will you be talking to President Xi this weekend, Mr. President?
THE PRESIDENT: That, I can't tell you. But we are speaking to China. But I can't tell you whether or not it will be President Xi.
Q Mr. President, Jack Dorsey's Twitter account was hacked today. Jack Dorsey's Twitter account. Are you concerned that your Twitter account could be hacked as well?
THE PRESIDENT: Well, I understand Twitter accounts have been hacked. Is that what you said?
Q Jack Dorsey's account, sir.
THE PRESIDENT: Twitter account. Yeah. Well, I hope they're not hacking my account. But, actually, if they do, they're not going to learn too much more than what I put out, right? Shouldn't be too bad.
Q Mr. President, why was Madeleine fired?
Q Do you feel betrayed by Madeleine Westerhout? And what exactly did she say about your family that disappointed you?
THE PRESIDENT: Well, I guess she said - I think she said some things. And she called me. She was very upset. She was very down.
And she said she was drinking a little bit. And she was with reporters, and everything she said was off the record. And that still doesn't really cover for her. She mentioned a couple of things about my children.
But she's a very, you know, good person. And I thought - I always felt she did a good job. And she's very down. And in all fairness, it was an off-the-record. And, of course, the press - the press breaks off-the-records all the time because they are very dishonorable. Many of them. Not all of you, but many of them are very dishonorable. But nevertheless, you don't say things - you don't say certain things. So, it was too bad.
But I just spoke to her just before I came out. She called. And I wish her well.
Q Thank you very much. Mr. President, the U.S. has been allocating money for the Ukrainian military that is (inaudible) Russian aggression. So can Ukraine count on further support and aid from your side?
THE PRESIDENT: Where?
Q In Ukraine.
THE PRESIDENT: Well, we're looking at Ukraine right now. In fact, I was going to meet with your new President. And because of the fact that we have this really massive hurricane coming in, I had to cancel my trip to Poland where I was going to meet the President of Ukraine, among many other things.
Mike Pence is going to Poland. He's taking my place. He'll do a great job. It was going to be a beautiful weekend and, really, celebration of the past. And Mike Pence will do a great job. I felt it was important that I stay here. And we'll be up at Camp David working hard. We have a lot of things happening with respect to that hurricane.
We have to be very careful. It could be one of the biggest that we've seen. I mean, so far, it's looking not good, I have to be honest you.
Q Will you be combining your trips to Poland and to Germany?
THE PRESIDENT: What I'll do is be going to Poland at a later date. We have a great relationship with Poland. And we'll be doing that. And also, Angela Merkel invited me to go to Germany. So, at some point, we'll be setting that up.
Q Mr. President, should McCabe face charges?
THE PRESIDENT: Say it?
Q Should Andrew McCabe face charges for lying to the FBI?
THE PRESIDENT: Oh, I don't want to get into that. He's a bad guy, I can tell you that. He's a bad guy. I think he's a sick guy, personally. But I can't get into that with Andrew McCabe. But Andrew McCabe is a bad guy.
Q Are the tariffs that you're planning for China still on for Sunday? Or are you considering not putting them on?
THE PRESIDENT: No, they're on. They're on. We've taken in billions and billions of dollars from those tariffs. And as it's starting to come out, if you look at the Chinese government - China - what they've done with tariffs is very interesting. They've devalued their currency so much, which hurts them ultimately. It costs them much more to buy things outside of China.
But they've devalued so much. It's a bad situation they've put themselves in. And I just saw - it came over the wires - that 13 percent of certain companies are going to be leaving China in the not-too-distant future. That's a big thing. Thirteen percent of companies will be leaving China in the fairly near future. And I'm not surprised to hear that. I think it's going to be much higher. Because they cannot compete with the tariffs. They can't compete.
So they've devalued their currency, they're pumping money in. And we're not paying much more. Now, let me tell you, we've taken in tens of billions of dollars. I gave the farmers $16 billion, which makes them totally whole on China. That's what China spends in a good year. I gave - given the farmers - because they were targeted. The farmers were targeted by China.
So, out of the tariffs, which are much more than $16 billion by a factor of a lot, I've given the farmers $16 billion. And the farmers are very happy. And they want me to continue this fight. They want me to win the fight. And we're going to win the fight.
We're having conversations with China. Meetings are scheduled. Calls are being made I guess the meeting in September continues to be on. It hasn't been cancelled. And we'll see what happens.
But China has lost a lot of companies. A lot of companies. A lot of companies have left China and a lot more are leaving. And they are not doing well. They are having the worst year they've had, I understand, in 61 years. That's a lot of years.
Yeah. Go ahead.
Q Mr. President, did you release classified information by tweeting that photo about Iran?
THE PRESIDENT: No. I just wish Iran well. They had a big problem. And we had a photo. And I released it, which I have the absolute right to do.
Q Where did it come from?
THE PRESIDENT: And we'll see what happens. You'll have to figure that one out yourself.
But we'll see what happens. They had a mishap. It's unfortunate. And so, Iran, as you probably know, they were going to set off a big missile, and it didn't work out too well. It had nothing to do with us.
Q (Inaudible.)
THE PRESIDENT: Well, we have a good relationship with South Korea. We'll see what happens.
Q Mr. President, are you disappointed that Bill Barr is not prosecuting James Comey?
THE PRESIDENT: I have a lot of faith in Bill Barr. I thought the charges were unbelievably powerful. I thought the IG report was incredible. But I have total confidence in Bill Barr to do the right thing. I think, if anything, this showed how fair he is. I really think he's a - you know, he's a tremendous man, and I think that this really showed, you know, how fair he is. But, certainly, those were very serious charges, but let's see what happens.
...
Read the full transcript HERE.
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