Stewards of the Visual Exposition
Remarks by President Trump Before Marine One Departure
Press Release:
White House South Lawn • Washington D.C. • August 21 • 11:41 A.M. EDT
Q Should the Fed lower interest rates? Are you fed up with Powell?
THE PRESIDENT: So, the economy is doing very, very well. We'll see what happens with the Federal Reserve, whether or not they finally get smart and reduce interest rates, like many other places around the world that we have to compete with.
But our economy is the strongest in the world, by far. Nothing even close. And a lot of good things are happening. We had some very good retail numbers this morning, as you saw. And I guess the stock market is quite a bit up.
Q Are you demanding that Jay Powell lower interest rates?
THE PRESIDENT: No, I don't demand it. But if he used his head, he would lower them. In Germany, they have a zero interest rate. And we do compete. We're much stronger than Germany, but we do compete with Germany. In Germany, they have a zero interest rate. And when they borrow money - I mean, when you look at what happened, look at what's going on over there. They borrow money, and they actually get paid to borrow money. And we have to compete with that.
So, if you look at what's happening around the world, Jay Powell and the Federal Reserve have totally missed the call. I was right, and just about everybody admits that. I was right. He did quantitative tightening. He shouldn't have done that. He raised interest rates too fast, too furious. And we have a normalized rate. I - you call it that. And now we have to go the other direction. We'll see if he does it. If he does it, you'll see a rocket ship; you'll see a boom. If he does it, we have a very strong economy.
But we could have - we could be - we could be in a place that this nation was seldom at, if we had interest rates cut by the Federal Reserve. The Federal Reserve has let us down. They missed the call. They raised them too fast. They raised it too high. And they did quantitative tightening. They shouldn't have done the tightening and they shouldn't have raised them to the extent. We could have had some raises but nothing like they did.
Q What happened to the strong appetite for background checks?
THE PRESIDENT: Oh, I have an appetite for background checks. We're going to be doing background checks. We're working with Democrats. We're working with Republicans. We already have very strong background checks, but we're going to be filling in some of the loopholes, as we call them, at the border. And speaking about at the border, it would be really nice if the Democrats would indeed fix the loopholes, because it would be really nice.
But despite that, I want to thank Mexico. They have 26,000 soldiers at our border, and they're really stopping people from coming in.
Q But what does that have to do with background checks for guns?
THE PRESIDENT: So what happens is - with background checks, we're dealing with Democrats, we're dealing with Republicans, we're dealing with the NRA, we're dealing with gun owners. We're dealing with everybody. And I think we're going to have something, hopefully, that's meaningful.
Q Did you tell Wayne LaPierre that you would not pursue background checks, yesterday, in your call with him?
THE PRESIDENT: No, I didn't say anything about that. We had a great talk with Wayne yesterday. Didn't say anything about that. We just talked about concepts. Wayne agrees things have to be done also. And we have areas where we can close and - for instance, we did Fix NICS last time. We have a lot of - we have a lot of background checks right now. Gun owners can tell you that; others can tell you that.
But there are certain weaknesses, and we want to fix the weaknesses. And I think that'll happen. Let's see what happens. I'm concerned that no matter what we agree to, when we get there, I'm concerned the Democrats will say, "Oh, well, we now want this and we want..." And, you know, it's a slippery slope, and that's what, actually, your gun owners and a lot of other people are concerned with.
But assuming that that's not going to take place by the Democrats, assuming they really want to get this done, we can get it done.
Q Mr. President, you're speaking with AMVETS today. Organizers are saying they remain concerned about veteran suicide.
THE PRESIDENT: You got to speak up.
Q Veteran suicides. AMVETS says it's their top priority. Talk with me about what the administration's task force has done since its creation.
THE PRESIDENT: Well, we're doing a lot having to do with veteran suicide. We have a task force that's set up. There's a product that's made right now, that just came out by Johnson & Johnson, which has a tremendously positive - pretty short term, but nevertheless positive - effect.
I've instructed the head of the VA to go out and buy a lot of it. And we are buying a lot of it. Hopefully, we're getting it at a very good cost. And this is a - I guess it's a form of a stimulant where, if somebody is really in trouble from the standpoint of suicide, it can do something. It's pretty well known. Just came out. It's made, I believe, by Johnson & Johnson. And we have calls in now to Johnson & Johnson. Those calls - we've been dealing with them for two months, on buying a lot.
Q Mr. President, can you explain your decision not to go to Denmark? Is it really because they wouldn't talk about selling Greenland?
THE PRESIDENT: No - Denmark, I looked forward to going, but I thought that the Prime Minister's statement - that it was absurd; that it was an absurd idea - it was nasty. I thought it was an inappropriate statement. All she had to do is say, "No, we wouldn't be interested."
But we can't treat the United States of America the way they treated us under President Obama. I thought it was a very not nice way of saying something. They could've told me "no." This is something that's been discussed for many years. Harry Truman had the idea of Greenland. I had the idea. Other people have had the idea. It goes back into the early 1900s. But Harry Truman, very strongly, thought it was a good idea.
I think it's a good idea because Denmark is losing $700 million a year with it. It doesn't do them any good. But all they had to do is say, "No, we'd rather not do that," or "We'd rather not talk about it." Don't say, "What an absurd idea that is."
Q Sir -
THE PRESIDENT: Because she's not talking to me -
Q Mr. President -
THE PRESIDENT: Excuse me. She's not talking to me. She's talking to the United States of America. You don't talk to the United States that way, at least under me.
Now, President Obama, when they wouldn't land - let him land in the Philippines, when they treated him so badly in so many places - the Philippines is one that comes to mind - that's different. That's different. They can treat him any way they want to; that's up to him. But they can't treat the United States with a statement, "How absurd."
Q Mr. President, a question -
Q Excuse me. Excuse me.
THE PRESIDENT: Let your wife do it.
Q Thank you, Mr. President.
THE PRESIDENT: Who's the boss? Who's the boss?
Q I am the boss. Thank you, Mr. President.
THE PRESIDENT: I agree. She's the boss. I agree. Go ahead.
...
Read the full transcript HERE.
You can visit a collection of all White House posts by clicking here.
Go Back
Q Should the Fed lower interest rates? Are you fed up with Powell?
THE PRESIDENT: So, the economy is doing very, very well. We'll see what happens with the Federal Reserve, whether or not they finally get smart and reduce interest rates, like many other places around the world that we have to compete with.
But our economy is the strongest in the world, by far. Nothing even close. And a lot of good things are happening. We had some very good retail numbers this morning, as you saw. And I guess the stock market is quite a bit up.
Q Are you demanding that Jay Powell lower interest rates?
THE PRESIDENT: No, I don't demand it. But if he used his head, he would lower them. In Germany, they have a zero interest rate. And we do compete. We're much stronger than Germany, but we do compete with Germany. In Germany, they have a zero interest rate. And when they borrow money - I mean, when you look at what happened, look at what's going on over there. They borrow money, and they actually get paid to borrow money. And we have to compete with that.
So, if you look at what's happening around the world, Jay Powell and the Federal Reserve have totally missed the call. I was right, and just about everybody admits that. I was right. He did quantitative tightening. He shouldn't have done that. He raised interest rates too fast, too furious. And we have a normalized rate. I - you call it that. And now we have to go the other direction. We'll see if he does it. If he does it, you'll see a rocket ship; you'll see a boom. If he does it, we have a very strong economy.
But we could have - we could be - we could be in a place that this nation was seldom at, if we had interest rates cut by the Federal Reserve. The Federal Reserve has let us down. They missed the call. They raised them too fast. They raised it too high. And they did quantitative tightening. They shouldn't have done the tightening and they shouldn't have raised them to the extent. We could have had some raises but nothing like they did.
Q What happened to the strong appetite for background checks?
THE PRESIDENT: Oh, I have an appetite for background checks. We're going to be doing background checks. We're working with Democrats. We're working with Republicans. We already have very strong background checks, but we're going to be filling in some of the loopholes, as we call them, at the border. And speaking about at the border, it would be really nice if the Democrats would indeed fix the loopholes, because it would be really nice.
But despite that, I want to thank Mexico. They have 26,000 soldiers at our border, and they're really stopping people from coming in.
Q But what does that have to do with background checks for guns?
THE PRESIDENT: So what happens is - with background checks, we're dealing with Democrats, we're dealing with Republicans, we're dealing with the NRA, we're dealing with gun owners. We're dealing with everybody. And I think we're going to have something, hopefully, that's meaningful.
Q Did you tell Wayne LaPierre that you would not pursue background checks, yesterday, in your call with him?
THE PRESIDENT: No, I didn't say anything about that. We had a great talk with Wayne yesterday. Didn't say anything about that. We just talked about concepts. Wayne agrees things have to be done also. And we have areas where we can close and - for instance, we did Fix NICS last time. We have a lot of - we have a lot of background checks right now. Gun owners can tell you that; others can tell you that.
But there are certain weaknesses, and we want to fix the weaknesses. And I think that'll happen. Let's see what happens. I'm concerned that no matter what we agree to, when we get there, I'm concerned the Democrats will say, "Oh, well, we now want this and we want..." And, you know, it's a slippery slope, and that's what, actually, your gun owners and a lot of other people are concerned with.
But assuming that that's not going to take place by the Democrats, assuming they really want to get this done, we can get it done.
Q Mr. President, you're speaking with AMVETS today. Organizers are saying they remain concerned about veteran suicide.
THE PRESIDENT: You got to speak up.
Q Veteran suicides. AMVETS says it's their top priority. Talk with me about what the administration's task force has done since its creation.
THE PRESIDENT: Well, we're doing a lot having to do with veteran suicide. We have a task force that's set up. There's a product that's made right now, that just came out by Johnson & Johnson, which has a tremendously positive - pretty short term, but nevertheless positive - effect.
I've instructed the head of the VA to go out and buy a lot of it. And we are buying a lot of it. Hopefully, we're getting it at a very good cost. And this is a - I guess it's a form of a stimulant where, if somebody is really in trouble from the standpoint of suicide, it can do something. It's pretty well known. Just came out. It's made, I believe, by Johnson & Johnson. And we have calls in now to Johnson & Johnson. Those calls - we've been dealing with them for two months, on buying a lot.
Q Mr. President, can you explain your decision not to go to Denmark? Is it really because they wouldn't talk about selling Greenland?
THE PRESIDENT: No - Denmark, I looked forward to going, but I thought that the Prime Minister's statement - that it was absurd; that it was an absurd idea - it was nasty. I thought it was an inappropriate statement. All she had to do is say, "No, we wouldn't be interested."
But we can't treat the United States of America the way they treated us under President Obama. I thought it was a very not nice way of saying something. They could've told me "no." This is something that's been discussed for many years. Harry Truman had the idea of Greenland. I had the idea. Other people have had the idea. It goes back into the early 1900s. But Harry Truman, very strongly, thought it was a good idea.
I think it's a good idea because Denmark is losing $700 million a year with it. It doesn't do them any good. But all they had to do is say, "No, we'd rather not do that," or "We'd rather not talk about it." Don't say, "What an absurd idea that is."
Q Sir -
THE PRESIDENT: Because she's not talking to me -
Q Mr. President -
THE PRESIDENT: Excuse me. She's not talking to me. She's talking to the United States of America. You don't talk to the United States that way, at least under me.
Now, President Obama, when they wouldn't land - let him land in the Philippines, when they treated him so badly in so many places - the Philippines is one that comes to mind - that's different. That's different. They can treat him any way they want to; that's up to him. But they can't treat the United States with a statement, "How absurd."
Q Mr. President, a question -
Q Excuse me. Excuse me.
THE PRESIDENT: Let your wife do it.
Q Thank you, Mr. President.
THE PRESIDENT: Who's the boss? Who's the boss?
Q I am the boss. Thank you, Mr. President.
THE PRESIDENT: I agree. She's the boss. I agree. Go ahead.
...
Read the full transcript HERE.
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