Remarks by President Trump Before Marine One Departure | Eastern North Carolina Now

    Q   What about Iran? (Inaudible.)

    THE PRESIDENT: We'll see what happens with Iran. Iran has to be very, very careful.

    Q   (Inaudible.)

    THE PRESIDENT: Say it.

    Q   Why did the Vice President cancel his trip the other day to New Hampshire?

    THE PRESIDENT: You'll know in about two weeks. There was a very - a very interesting problem that they had in New Hampshire. And I can't tell you about it. It was a very - but it had nothing to do with White House. There was a problem up there. And I won't go into what the problem was, but you'll see in about a week or two.

    Q   Mr. President, how do you deal with immigration going forward? What's your next step with the crisis on the southern border?

    THE PRESIDENT: The southern border is being policed very well by Mexico. Mexico is doing far more than the Democrats - we all know it - because of tariffs, but they've been great. They've put 6,000 people. They have many of them there now on the southern border - their southern border.

    On our southern border, which is the main border that you think of, they're going to have anywhere between 16,000 and 21,000 troops. It's had a big effect. They've only been there for about a week, where they actually had the troops. But it's had a tremendous effect, tremendous impact. And you'll see the numbers starting to come in very well.

    Guatemala is going to be signing a safe third agreement. We're talking to Mexico. But Mexico is really doing a good job, I have to say. Very - very big (inaudible).

    But here's the thing: When people come in illegally, and then it's crowded - and I've seen some of those places, and they are run beautifully. They're clean. They're good. They do a great job.

    Q   That's not what your government said.

    THE PRESIDENT: They do a great job. They're crowded because the Democrats will not give us any relief from these loopholes. We have loopholes that are so bad. We have asylum that's so bad.

    So these places are - many of them; not all of them, but many of them - they're incredible. They're really well run.

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    I'll tell you what, and I said it yesterday: Border Patrol did not train to be doctors and nurses and janitors. That's not what they trained to be. They trained to be Border Patrol. And that's what they're doing, and they're doing a phenomenal job.

    Because of the country, because we're doing so well as a country - we never - we've never done this well. Two days ago, we hit the highest stock market number we've ever had in the history of our country. Our country is doing great. Unemployment is very low. We just came out with 224,000 new jobs. The numbers are unbelievable. And that's bringing people up like they've never come up. Border Patrol and ICE have done a great job.

    Now, people are being removed from the country. We're removing them. We're starting with the MS-13. We've taken out thousands of MS-13 and gangs. But we've never had an onslaught - and the reason they came up is because - and they come up - is because the country is doing well. They want jobs.

    Q   Your own government has a report that says those facilities are overcrowded, they're dirty, and it's a widespread problem. So what do you mean they're "run beautifully"?

    THE PRESIDENT: I think they do great job with those facilities. But do you know how it should be taken care of? Number one: Tell them not to come because it's illegal. Very unfair to people that have been waiting on line for seven or eight years, and they're about to be admitted, and they've studied and they know the country and the history and everything, and then a person comes in - walks in - and, all of the sudden, they've become a citizen or they're allowed to stay.

    So thousands and thousands of people will be legally removed from the country, and that process has started. And we've actually been doing that for a long time.

    Q   Mr. President, are you confident there are no undocumented immigrants working at your Bedminster property or other Trump golf properties?

    THE PRESIDENT: Well, that I don't know because I don't run it. But I would say this: Probably every club in the United States has that because it seems to be, from what I understand, a way that people did business.

    But we've ended - whatever they did, we have a very strict rule that - those rules are very strict. But it seems that every club, practically, in the United States - that's the way they did business.

    Q   Mr. President, should Border Patrol agents be punished for mocking detained migrants and members of Congress in that private Facebook page?

    THE PRESIDENT: Well, I haven't seen it. I will say this: I think that the Border Patrol has been treated very, very badly by certain members of Congress - very, very badly. For the most part, they're very respected by Congress, but certain members of Congress say very bad things and lie and exaggerate. And Border Patrol people are tough people; they're not happy about it.

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    Q   Today, on the citizenship question, Mr. President - will you decide today on the citizenship question what route you're going to take? The judge wants an answer today.

    THE PRESIDENT: I just spoke with the Attorney General. We have a number of different avenues. We could use all of them or one. We're doing very well on that issue. We're spending 15 to 20 billion dollars on a census. We're doing everything; we're finding out everything about everybody. Think of it: 15 to 20 billion dollars, and you're not allowed to ask them, "Are you a citizen?"

    Q   But will you decide today, sir?

    THE PRESIDENT: And, by the way, if you look at the history of our country, it's almost always been asked. So we're looking - we're fighting very hard against a system that's a very difficult system. But we'll make a decision. The Attorney General is working on that right now.

    Q   What's the reason, Mr. President, for trying to get a citizenship question on the census?

    THE PRESIDENT: Well, you need it for many reasons. Number one, you need it for -

    Q   (Inaudible) reason?

    THE PRESIDENT: - Congress. You need it for Congress, for districting. You need it for appropriations. Where are the funds going? How many people are there? Are they citizens? Are they not citizens? You need it for many reasons.

    Q   Mr. President, what's next for Ivanka Trump after the G20?

    THE PRESIDENT: What?

    Q   What's next for Ivanka Trump after the G20?

    THE PRESIDENT: I thought Ivanka was amazing at the G20. And I'll tell you, the foreign leaders loved her, and they just think she's great. She's very smart, and she's done a great job. She sacrificed a lot. Ivanka and Jared work very hard, and they sacrificed a lot to be doing this, but they want to do it.

    Ivanka has worked on almost 10 million jobs - training, and going to companies, and getting them to hire people.

    But the people - the foreign leaders - really like her a lot.

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    Q   Are you grooming her for office?

    THE PRESIDENT: I'm not grooming her for office. No.

    Q   On the conditions at the border - as a parent, doesn't that make you want to do something about it?

    THE PRESIDENT: Well, as you know, President Obama had separation. President Obama, in 2014, built the cells that you always show on television. They were built - they were built by President Obama. But he had separation.

    The one thing he didn't have is a good economy, so he didn't have the kind of onslaught that we're having. We have a tremendous onslaught on people. Who can blame them? They want to get in; they want to take advantage of the economy.

    But they have to come in - they have to come in legally and through merit. I think this: Border Patrol has done an incredible job and Mexico has been doing an incredible job.

    Q   Is Wilbur Ross's job safe?

    THE PRESIDENT: Yeah, it is. Wilbur is a good man. Look, a lot of people thought his answer was fine; I didn't see the answer yet. They thought it was fine. It could be expanded, very simply. There are many reasons that you do it.

    But, you know, we were surprised by that decision. Citizenship has been on that thing most of the time for many, many years. So it's very shocking that, after spending $15 billion, it's not on.

    Q   Biden says you're trying to pull out of NATO.

    THE PRESIDENT: No, no. Tell Biden that NATO has taken total advantage of him and President Obama. They took it - we were paying for almost all of NATO. We're protecting countries. Those countries have to protect themselves with us. They have to make a contribution.

    In my first year, I raised over $100 billion from those countries. Biden didn't know what the hell he was doing and neither did President Obama. NATO was taking advantage of - now they're paying. They still owe us a lot of money. Biden doesn't know about that. He just thinks, stupidly, we do.

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    NATO is fine, but they have to pay their way. The United States is not going to get killed on trade with Europe. Europe kills us on trade, which we're changing, and Europe then kills us because we defend Europe. And we lose a tremendous amount of money, but we lose on trade and the military.

    President Obama and Vice President Biden, they didn't have a clue. They got taken advantage of by China, by NATO, by every country they did business with.

    Q   Mr. President, are you watching the World Cup Final on Sunday?

    THE PRESIDENT: I don't know that I'll be able.

    Q   Do you have a message for Team USA?

    THE PRESIDENT: No, I'm - I hope they do well. I hope they win.

    Q   Mr. President, Obama never said that he wanted to meet with Kim Jong Un. Why did you say that? Why did you say he was begging for a meeting?

    THE PRESIDENT: He called Kim Jong Un on numerous occasions to meet. President Obama wanted to meet with Kim Jong Un. And Kim Jong Un said no. Numerous occasions he called. And right now, we have a very nice relationship. We've done a lot. And we've gotten - we've gotten our hostages back. We're getting the remains back. A lot of good things are happening. And there's been no nuclear testing.

    During President Obama, they were nuclear testing. They were sending missiles. Right now, everything is nice and quiet.

    Thank you.

END  •  11:04 A.M. EDT

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