President Trump hosts African Leaders at the White House

President Trump hosts African Leaders at the White House

Well, thank you very much. Everybody for being with us. today. And I want to thank you all of these great leaders for joining us as we welcome to the White House. The Uh, presidents. and prime ministers and various other forms of dignitary to uh, this wonderful place is nothing like the White House to me. uh, we are represented today, and your continent is represented by. Gabon. giddy Bell. Liberia. Mauritania. and Sagal. all very vibrant. places. with the very valuable land. great minerals. great. oil, deposits. and wonderful people Last month, the US Africa business Summit had recorded in attendance, and attendance record. Actually, and generated. 2.5 billion dollars in New Economic deals for the United States. on June 27th. The foreign Ministers of the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Rwanda. Visited the White House to sign a historic, peace agreement that we worked out. Uh, they’ve been fighting for 30 years. 7 million are dead. and they think their number is actually quite a bit higher than that. It’s been a It’s been a long and vicious fight and I just want to say that, the countries represented were very happy that we were able to solve. That problem. uh, I think over the next couple of weeks, the leaders of both, countries will will come to sign the final agreement, As you know, we had foreign ministers last week. uh but we’re going to be signing an end to the horrible 30-year War. It’s been going on for a long time. I’ve been reading about it hearing about it and it was it was a vicious. It was a vicious War. It was a terrible War. I want to thank our outstanding senior advisor for Africa, mad, bulos for helping to mediate, this breakthrough. uh, he was very much involved in that. uh, settlement. Most people thought it couldn’t be done. but there’s still much more to be done, and we’re going to uh B, f facilitating, peace. Also in places like Sudan where they have a lot of problems. Olivia. And uh, others we have uh there’s a lot of there’s a lot of anger on your continent. We’ve been able to solve a lot of it. My Administration is committed to strengthening our friendships in Africa, through Economic Development efforts. that benefit both the United States and our partners. And we’re shifting from. Aid to trade. We had. Aid, or aide as we sometimes call it. Right to trade. and trade seems to be a foundation that I’ve been able to settle a lot of these disputes like as an example India and Pakistan. Uh, Kosovo Serbia. I said, you guys are going to fight we’re not going to trade. and we seem to be quite successful in doing that, to that end. We have closed the usaid. Group to eliminate. waste Fraud and Abuse which was tremendous. waste Fraud and Abuse. and we’re working. tirelessly to forge New Economic. opportunities, involving both the United States and many African nations. These great economic potential in Africa. like few other places. in many ways and the long run this will be far more effective and sustainable. and beneficial than anything else that we can be doing together. I’m eager to work with each of you on your vital issues and also to discuss security. We’ve encouraged our staff at the White House to, work along with these nations. as such tremendous wealth there. and potential there. We encourage the. countries here today to make greater Investments. in Defence. Hopefully, of course, buying our equipment. because we do make the best defense equipment. I guess we proved that about 2 weeks ago in Iran, but we make the best equipment. best military equipment Anywhere in the world by far. There’s nobody close. And keep pursuing the fight Against terrorism. which is a big problem. In Africa. immigration will also be on the agenda, and I hope we can bring down. the high rates of people. overstaying, visas, and also make progress on the safe, Third Country agreements. and once again I want to thank you all for being here and it’s an honor for me. Some of you I’ve met and some of you, I just got to meet and I think it would be nice if you uh Said a few words to The Press, which is right back here. Do we have a camera over here? Be nice if you could oh, there it is. You could speak to the you don’t want to turn your head so much. I do it a lot. It’s not pleasant. But, uh, perhaps we could start with you please. Thank you very much. Great Gentlemen, by the way. Thank you for giving me the floor, Mr. President. first of all, I would like to. thank you. Thank you Mr. President Trump. For inviting us to come here today. I’m president gezani president of the Islamic Republic of morta. Thank you, Mr. President For this invitation. And the invitation you sent to the other colleagues present here today. This is a very strong message. from you And, uh, we are receiving this message. uh, very well. This is uh, a message of Interest. that you’re sending to us, and it’s uh, message that you’re sending to the whole of Africa. all of this is generous on your part. We are receiving this and we accept this message. from you. before I talk about my country. Before I talk about my country. I would like, to. Let you know that we are. delighted to see. President Trump’s. commitment. to our con continent, Mr. President In the short time, you’ve been back in office, the last few months. The rescue. for peace, You did it in Asia. With. Pakistan and India. The war store sort of started, and if it had gone on the consequences, could have been a real disaster. Since the beginning. You’ve been doing a great deal of work. On the war in Europe, that is the conflict between. Russia and Ukraine. To. resolve. A long-standing problem. Lots of efforts had been made. By many heads of states. but, Your will. Made it possible. for disagreement to be signed. and now, This conflict is behind us. You are currently. working. with a great deal of enthusiasm. And you’re also working on the Middle East, your paying a great deal of attention to the Middle East. We all know. how far back this conflict goes. It is a conflict. That is about 80 years old. 70 years. but it is also a war. That has been raging for a year and a half. and you’ve also talked about the human toll many people have died in this conflict. Of course. You also stopped. the war between, Iran and Israel. that could have been a real disaster for the region. It’s a sensitive region. to start with your work. In favor of peace. has been. tremendous. and We are. also very interested. in supporting peace. In the same way. When there’s no peace, like you said, or earlier today, when there is no peace. A lot of other things are lacking. when there’s no peace. It is difficult to have prosperity. It is. difficult to have. calm. to have. A sense of quietness. It’s hard to sleep. It’s hard to go about your business every day. You understand that? Well, Mr. President and you’re working on this. So thank you. Of Moria. Mauritania is a small country. Depending on the criteria, you apply. if you look at the number of people who live in morta, It’s a small country, because we have about, 5 million people. in Mauritania We might just be a little bit over 5 million. It’s a small country. Also, in the sense, That. What influence it has throughout the world. It’s not like the US Mr. President. International League. We? understand that our weight, our influence is not that great. And we’re we’re we have no complex about this. It’s also a small country. because, of our level of prosperity, we’re not a very prosperous country. We have many, problems related to the well-being of our population. But it is also a great country, a big country. in other ways. in other ways. Mauritania. Is a great country in the sense of its strategic. position. It is on the Atlantic. coast, which makes it a neighbor to the US. It is what? unites? North Africa. And subsaharienne. That is its strategic. position, But also in terms of resources, we have a great deal of resources. Many many resources. and we have a lot of opportunities to offer. in terms of investment. We have minerals. Rare Earths. Rare Minerals. we have manganese. We have uranium. and we, have, A good. inclination, that we have. lithium and other minerals. where the second largest producer for the last 60 years in Africa of iron. Iron iron ore. we produce A lot. and uh, we have a lot of resources. in. our seawater. So lots of fishing and whatnot. I don’t want to spend too much time on this. but I appreciate it very much. I appreciate it. Maybe we’re going to have to go a little bit quicker than this because we have a whole schedule. Um, if I could just say it’s you know, your name and your uh, country would be great. Thank you, please. Welcome to go. Thank you. Mr. President and uh, for welcome everything for us the second time, here to come as as uh, as a guest The first time we had, that meeting. In the south. but I will not. um, talk so much but in Exile is a peaceful country. and um, We are a small country. but we are a great state. not a great state great state, not a great state, like the United States. but uh, we are a great country as well, and To end. We are. befalling. following your Dynamics and, uh, the war. with Russia and Ukraine. and um, You can Count on in aisel. Thank you very much. Recent celebration of your 249 anniversary. We did a nice. Embassy. Mr. President, we thank you for the opportunity. To be here, Liberia is a long friend of the United States. and We believe in your policy of making. America great again. and we also go. Along with you, with your in your diplomacy. That has to do with economic. development, and Commercial friendship. Liberia. has a lot of The minerals. And 1 of the thing, we ask. as good friends. for a long time is the opportunity to do a survey. of of minerals And also we Are committed. To. peace. and, uh, we’ve been very lucky within our region. We had a country that I’ve had series of democratic elections. and our country had been cooling down and uh also we want to encourage American involvement in the investment in. In Liberia. Yeah, I would like to see that happen. Uh, we want to work. with the United States. in peace and security within the region. because we are committed to that. And we just want to thank you so much for this opportunity. Well, thank you and such good English. such a beautiful Where did you? Where did you learn to speak so beautifully. where where were you educated? Where Yes, sir in Liberia. yes, sir. Well that’s very interesting. It’s beautiful language. that’s I have people at this table. Can’t speak nearly as well and they they come from. all right, so it sounds as though we may have lost. audio there, not sure if they are working to resume that or if this portion of the lunch is over, I know they are going to have a closed door meeting so uh, we are working to see if that audio does come back. I’m going to pop it up 1 more time. If not, we will take a break. Refund for this speaker. No interpretation. There’s no microphone for the speaker. all right, so as you can hear there the speaker does not have a microphone. So, uh, they are not able to translate what is being said. we are going to lift the audio back up as these comments, as I mentioned have been fairly short. Not sure if we are going to get more comments here from president Trump. But if so, we will of course make sure to bring them to you. So let’s lift up the audio again. I would like to. commend you, Mr. President. For the success, you had in reaching a peace agreement between Rwanda and the DRC. Africa is a vast continent that has many problems and we truly count on you for your assistance. in Sudan and in the Sahel because no investment can be made. when there is a war for investment. You need peace. the other heads of state who are here with me uh represent countries that are at peace And that has been the case. for some time. When? We also have. have raw material. materials. Minerals. rare, Earths. We are not. poor countries. We are rich countries when it comes to raw materials, but we need partners. to support us and help us develop those Resources with win-win Partnerships. That is. our wish. I often listen to your remarks and speeches, Mr. President. We also want. our raw materials to be processed. locally in our country so that we can create value and to create jobs for youth. so that they stop. dying. They are crossing the sea. The ocean to go to other countries. That is what we want to have local processing of raw materials. Uh, Gabon. had is a rich country. We have over. 2 million inhabitants and a great deal. Of. uh, diversity. raw materials. oil and gas reserves. and we would like those. resources to be tapped. Using. an economic model. uh, that uh, fits Since. our liberation. We have. changed. how We Do. trade. We’ve focused on transparency and bids. for anyone who wants to come invest in our country. If you. follow the news, we have also. uh, worked on agreements with the European Union and we wanted to review those because we didn’t think that those were win-win opportunities. So our Market is open, we want to process manganese locally. Which you purchase through. a company called. eramet. And I’m sure that it’s more expensive. Uh, compared to when you can. come and buy directly from us. In order to do this local processing, we need 8 to 10. gigawatts of electricity again. this is an open bid. any American company that wants to invest in electricity. in Gabon. Is welcome to take advantage of that welcome Now looking at defense, the Gulf of Guinea is. an issue. There is maritime piracy in that area and we want to work together to stabilize it. You said you had the best equipment the best military equipment and that’s what we’d like to have. So that we can stop. Maritime piracy in the Gulf of Guinea. We can’t do it alone. We need a reliable and strong. partner, that is committed. And that. takes, real. steps, real action. We also need to be pragmatic. And that’s what you are. And I’m a general and I am too. I’m pragmatic. I like it when things. move quickly. Our country is free open to 1 and all you are. Welcome to come. and invest. otherwise other countries might come. instead of you. Thank you. Good job. Thank you very much. Appreciate it. Okay. Thank you so much. Mr. President I would like to thank you for this invitation. It is an honor for us. To be here at the White House. And to have this opportunity to speak with you. about the new partnership. that you are putting in place. with Africa. particularly for investment. I also wanted to commend you. for your commitment to peace. throughout the world. and the incredible diplomatic. success. that you had with the DRC as my colleagues mentioned. You said that this put an end to a long war that claimed many lives and thankfully, you were here to put an end to this 30-year War. I also wanted to express that. Africa. supports all efforts to bring back peace to Sudan. Libya. and in the Sahel Mr. President. As you’ve seen. you can only do business when there is peace and security. and you build peace. everywhere in the world. So that there can be better Investments. The entire world is grateful to you, for this. now with respect to my country Sagal, I’ve been president for some 15, 16 months. Now and I want to. reassure all American investors about, our country’s political stability. and, our favorable regulatory. environment. which we are. continuously. improving upon in order to attract more investment. I wanted to speak about. 2 projects that I think. are an exceptional opportunity. I will. Uh, speak about the US ecological. survey. which can help. assess the potential of the minerals in our country. And thanks to American companies. We’ve been able to discover oil and gas. Some. 9. billion. cubic. uh, meters of gas. that we can tap into. in order to support our economy. and again, here we were able to do this. with an American company. Another project I’d like to mention and again I would like to invite American investors To take part in this. Uh, it’s for a digital City. we identify as space Within, the city of dhar. it has a view of the sea. It’s on some 40 hectares and This. is, a great opportunity for American tech companies to come in. and make the car. a tech City open to Africa. I was wondering what. your secret was for. Uh, resolving, all these complex crises And I know you are a tremendous golf player. A golf requires concentration. and precision qualities that ALS make for a great leader. Sagal has exceptional great leader. Sagal has exceptional opportunities. to. offer. including in the area of Tourism. so, perhaps an investment could be made in a golf course. in Sagal. It would just be. 6 hours. by flight from New York. from Miami from Europe. or from. uh, the gulf and that would be an opportunity for you to show off your skills on the golf course, too. Thank you for your attention, sir. Somewhere to show off my skills. It’s a long trip to show off my skill. But that’s really nice. and he’s led a very interesting life. He looks like a very young person. he’s a little older than he looks. but a fantastic job. He was treated very unfairly by his government and uh he prevailed and so congratulations. on that. really congratulations. A great job and you’ve all done a fantastic job. And so we’ll be talking to you as we have the male. Do you want to, uh, ask any questions please? Where is my reporter from? Africa There you are. How are you? I’m fine. Thank you. Mr. President very famous in Africa. Thank you. Thank you. Have 1 question for the African presidents. and 1 question for president Trump. as you can see Mr. President Trump. All the African presidents are very happy with your efforts to bring peace. in the Democrat Republic of the Congo. Uh, my question to you is today you are making history by receiving 5 African presidents. in showing the interest of the United States. to collaborate and to work close with the African nations. African continent is watching. African youth is watching and this new approach that your Administration is. taking to deal with African nation. not only based on help. but in doing business, that everybody can win is really much appreciated for all the Africans. My question is are you planning Mr? President in the future? to travel? To Africa to see firsthand. all those countries in Africa, all those potential that those country have and for the African leaders. My question is As you can see President Trump is working to bring peace. Not only in Africa but also in the world Are you all considering? to nominate president Trump for a Nobel? price piece? That’s a very nice. reporter. I got to meet her 2 weeks ago when we had the uh, Congo and uh, Rwanda and we had some uh other people up from Africa and uh, I was the first time but that’s a very nice. I appreciate the questions, very nice actually. Um, would you like to I, I at some point I would like to go to Africa. Absolutely. we’re going to see what the schedule is but at some point I would like to do that very much. uh, would you like to give a, uh, fast answer please? of course, of course, we On. we are. in. uh favor of this Dynamic for peace. we are very committed. on peace. I am the first head of State who went to Russia. and who went to Ukraine both. Since the start of the war I was, I held the presidency of eoas, and I went to see Mr. Putin, we, uh, spoke for 4 hours And then I went to Ukraine I spent 12 hours on a train to speak to president zelinski. but now the weight of President Trump is something else altogether. we are with you. We are are behind you to see what we can do. to help. Bring peace back. No 1 wins. when there’s war. so, you have our support. So that we can bring. peace back, thank you. thank you very much. Go ahead, please. Thank you, Mr. President Trump. Thank you. for your questions. Uh, Nobel Peace Prize, while I don’t see. any problem don’t it, I think. that uh, president Trump deserves it for all the efforts. that he’s worked on. and uh, he brought peace back. in the Sak region. Uh, that is my region the region where DRC and, uh, Rwanda. uh, signed a deal. And so he is now bringing Peace back into a region where that was never possible. So I believe that he does deserve a Nobel Peace. Prize that is my opinion on this. Well, thank you very much. Very nice. Thank you. I didn’t know I’d be treated this nicely This is great. We could do this all day long. Thank you very much, Please go ahead. Mr. President we I believe that uh, we have to continue to support. America. In the strength, to be able to bring about peace in the world. America. is a melting point and also a country. That we all look forward to and I want to encourage you. because, without peace. we we cannot afford to leave. and we stand with you on that. That’s right. Thank you. Well said. please. Thank you, Mr. President and uh, thank you uh for your question. Very important question, indeed. forgive me for saying this, but unfortunately, I don’t really understand. I don’t know. how things work. when it comes to Nobel prizes, but I can guarantee you that. Mia would never be opposed to. a president Trump. receiving a Nobel Peace Prize. because he’s already working. very hard in favor of peace throughout the world. with no distinction. no regard to what. continent. it’s on, and he’s working on. Areas where there are tensions everywhere and he’s committed. Towards peace. and our world needs more peace. Thank you. Very much. Thank you. Thank you. very much. The jury. will decide. It’s not a matter of voting amongst our countries, but what is for sure is that The. results and the work has been done. in such a short amount of time. so that You would be a good recipient. and I’m sure that the jury sees that in the rest of the world. sees it as well and understands it. when the time comes, I think. Everyone will see that it is a deserved. Prize. Congratulations on what you’ve done so far. If we uh, took a poll. I think you would be very far ahead in those polls. All of you. Thank you very much. I appreciate it. Peter Hey, president Trump. James Comey and John Brennan now under criminal investigation. related to the Trump Russia probe do you want to see these 2 Guys? Behind Bars. Well, I know nothing about it other than what I read today. but I will tell you, I think they’re a very dishonest people. I think they’re crooked as hell. and, uh, Maybe they have to pay a price for that. I I believe they are. truly. Bad people, and dishonest people. so whatever happens happens. and now a few weeks after the strikes that you ordered on the nuclear facilities in Iran, there is an Iranian facil. uh an Iranian official. who says you president Trump have done something that he can no longer. sunbathe in Mara Lago. as you lie there with your stomach to the Sun. a small drone might hit you in the naval. it’s very simple. Do you think that’s a real threat? and when is the last time you went sunbathing anyway? I’ve been a long time It’s been a long time. I don’t know. Maybe I was around 7 or so. I’m not too big into it. Uh, yeah, I guess it’s a threat. I’m not sure it’s a threat actually, but it perhaps it is. 2 Democratic senators. Now Corey, Booker and Alex Padilla have a new bill out They want to require CBP and Ice officers to have legible. IDs. and they don’t want CBP or ice officers covering their faces. Would officers ever sign that? Well, they wouldn’t, uh, be saying that if they didn’t hate our country, and they obviously do, I’m surprised that they would do it. knowing a little bit about them. I don’t know them. Well, but, uh, These officers are doing a tremendous job. They’re great Patriots. Uh, if you expose them because of, you know, statements like have been made by democrats and others. on the left. usually mostly I think probably, exclusively uh, you put them in great Danger. tremendous, Danger. and it’s sort of funny when people. pick it in front of, Columbia, in front of Harvard and they have masks on more than masks. I mean, you can’t see anything. nobody complains about that. But when a uh, Patriot. who works for ice or border patrol. puts a mask on so that they won’t recognize him. and his family. Um, So they can lead a little bit of a, a normal life after having worked so hard and so Dangerously. And there’s a problem with that. So, they have their this is why this is the problem with the Democrats they have. They have a lot of bad things going on. in their heads. they’re they’ve really become very, uh, they’ve lost their confidence number 1 and they’re really they become somewhat deranged. Uh I want to do whatever’s necessary to protect our great. law enforcement people and they are right at the top of the list. and also announced this week that they are going to start limiting. Chinese ownership of American. Farmland. Why do you think that the Chinese have been buying up all this Farmland in our country? So close to military? installations? Well, I don’t want to get into that. I have a very good relationship with president. XI. We’re going to see and I’m going to, you know, they’re going to be making a recommendation to me, but we have a very good relationship. As you know, we, uh, they’re paying a lot of tariffs to the United States now. and, uh, so, I’m not going to get into that right now. Yeah, please. Stay The Wall Street Journal reported that the White House was uh, weighing whether to send another Patriot air defense system to Ukraine, Can you confirm that reporting? They would like it. Uh, they’ve asked for it. they’re very rare indeed. you know, because a lot of systems have been sent to Ukraine. Uh, but they would like to, I know they made the request, We’re going to have to take a look at it. very expensive. very expensive. system. It’s a shame that We have to spend so much money on a war that would have never happened If I were president, that’s a terrible. terrible War over there And, uh, it’s really a shame. It’s a very sad, You know, when you talk about a system like that, highly sophisticated. tremendous amount of money and they’re doing it because they want to prevent death. they’re getting hit hard. very hard. So we’re looking at it. As well, UK Ukraine was hit by over 700 drones then by Russia Last night. What’s your response to that? Well, I been sort of letting people know I’m not happy about what’s going on. It’s a war that should have never happened It should not happen now. they’re losing Now, it’s, I’ve been saying. 5,000. Now, it’s up to. 7,000. Think of it 7,000 people a week on both sides. 7,000 people, Young mostly military people. Young Souls. are dead. and dying. And it should be stopped. It should be stopped. Very sad to see what’s happening. Yes, please. Sir, can you explain how you calculated your latest round of tariffs was there a formula that was used? and do you expect any of these countries to face terrorists that well as well? The formula was a formula based on common sense based on deficits based on uh how we’ve been treated. over the years. And based on Raw numbers. and we’re going to have a couple of more coming out today, Brazil is an example. has been uh, not good to us, not good at all. And we’re going to be releasing. Brazil number, I think later on this afternoon or tomorrow morning. But they’re based on very, uh, very substantial facts and also past history. uh, you look at the past history, We’ve been uh, we never had anybody in the White House that understood the numbers or Were. into it, Like I have, you know we’ve taken in hundreds of billions of dollars. in tariffs hundreds of billions. And we haven’t even started yet. and, it’s going to be a great thing for our country. I think it’s going to be a fair thing for the world. and we really haven’t had too many complaints. because I’m keeping them. at a very low number. Very conservative as you would say. Number, And we haven’t had. we I’m sure they will be complaining. at certain points, but we haven’t had compliance. We’ve been treated very unfairly by both friend and foe. And friend has treated. us, very badly, it’s not even believable that for so many years. You know, I was uh, I was using tariffs and my first Administration we had the most successful financially Administration. that there’s ever been. This is going to be much better. but we got cut short with the co uh, because I didn’t think it was appropriate when you know, Italy Spain. gets to the horror show that a lot of the countries went through, so I cut it a little bit short but we took in hundreds of billions of dollars and we had the most successful uh term ever from a president. financially. but this is going to be much more successful. Yes, please. Here to face tariffs as well. Uh, I haven’t thought of it, but I maybe I don’t know. I’ll see you like him him him him him and him No, I don’t think so. Not too much. He’s a very good. He’s a friends of mine now. Thank you. Thank you for taking our questions. Mr. President. you talked about the amount of external Revenue the country has brought in. Thanks to your terrorists. Can you talk about how these hundreds of billions of dollars that are getting brought in will help? grow the country? And what do you hope to put it towards Well bigger than the tariffs actually are the fact that when you charge the tariffs at a certain point they say well we can’t pay those taxes. Tariffs. It doesn’t make economic sense. He’s a wealthy countries and they or their companies will come into our country and build. and that’s what’s actually happening. If you had a very low tariff, there’d? Be no incentive to do that. If you have no tariff like we used to have which is so stupid. It’s not even believable. But then obviously they make their product the product and their country. they have the jobs. They have the income, they have the taxes, they have everything, and they just send it into us. And uh, it’s jobs that we wouldn’t get now. uh, the will is turned And what we’re doing is. uh, we’re I mean, more important. we’re taking in hundreds of billions of dollars money that we’ve never seen before. but more important than that, We have a lot of people that would rather not have to pay that so they’re coming in and they’re building plants. AI. I mean, we’re leading everybody including China by a lot with AI, they’re building their own plant, you heard me say yesterday, they’re building their own electric generating plants to go along with the factories or plants that they’re building if they want to do that, we’re getting them fast. Approvals. very fast turnarounds. They’re using mostly Natural gas to start off, but they’re using coal. They have the right to use coal, They have the right to use nuclear. Uh, nucleus become come a long way in The Last 5 Years. So, uh, we’re getting them very fast Approvals. We have uh, factories, and plants building at a level that we’ve never had in this country before. Yeah, And secondly, a study from the Council of economic advisors, you put it on Truth social yesterday it showed that your assessment that tariffs would slow inflation was accurate. And that the prices of imported goods since February Has Fallen that your assessment was right, the critics were wrong. Why did so-called experts continually? misread your economic Policy sir? Well, it’s not the experts. it’s the fake news. and a combination of that. and the Democrats I saw an ad on television today. on Fox and it was, some man about Trump has raised. costs, it’s the opposite. actually put out a statement. I brought down cost I brought down the cost of groceries. I brought down the cost of energy tremendously. energy tremendously, groceries, If you remember my first week in office, uh, The Press was screaming at me about the cost of eggs There were 4 times higher than they were just a short time ago that was caused by Biden and stupid policies. And and we got that down and buy Easter. It was normalized and now it’s actually even at a lower price. So when I see an ad like that, it’s always good to respond. I feel I feel you have to respond. It was an ad that things are more costly than, you know, they have much less costly. uh, yesterday. a 1.99, a gallon. that’s 2 States 3 States. Uh, we’re selling gasoline at a dollar 999. You haven’t seen that for a long time. and I brought, costs way down. Just about every cost. I can’t think of a cost that went up but just about every cost. So, what they do is they lie, I mean they take ads uh, you’d almost think that the uh, the advertising station would stop it because they know it’s wrong. It’s such an it’s such a lie. All you can do is say it’s a lie and explain it. I guess I have the ability to explain it. at conferences like this. So I like to take advantage of it and and do it but costs are substantially down Under the Trump Administration. And uh, as you know, Biden had the highest inflation. I believe in the history of our country they say 48 years, but regardless, I think it was really the highest in the history of our country. and, uh, they were up to numbers that nobody ever saw before. and, uh, we have inflation now. Totally under control. We have a Fed chairman that if he was doing his job properly with lower interest rates, but we’re bullying through even that we’re doing so well. It’s not having that kind of an impact on us but you want to see a rocket ship? Uh, we should we should have the lowest interest rates. because without us there there’s nothing. and we have a strong country now and we’re taking in a lot of money. and, other countries aren’t even complaining, They got away with murder. They took advantage of a lot of very stupid people that sat in the seat. Very stupid people. or people that didn’t understand business or something, or something was going on. but hard to believe that they got away with it for so many years. But Now. and I’m treating them very fairly again. Uh, we have countries with tremendous deficits with us. where we have you know where we essentially lose a lot of money. and, uh, we are changing that around very rapidly and I think it’s about time Somebody did it. Yeah, please. said that you were not sure who ordered the Munitions. Um, halted to Ukraine, Have you since been able to figure that out? Well, I haven’t thought about it because we’re looking at Ukraine right now and Munitions. but I have no, I have not gone into it. What is it say that such a big decision could be made inside your government without you knowing. Uh, I would know. if a decision was made. I will know. I’ll be the first to know, in fact, most likely I’d give the order but I haven’t done that yet. Yeah, please. When Netanyahu went over the last couple of days. and how realistic do you think? a ceasefire is this week? Well, we’re talking about. Gaza for the most part. I think we have a chance this week or next week, not definitely, there’s nothing. definite, You know, definite about war and Gaza and all of the other places that we all deal with so much. But uh there’s a very good chance that we’ll have a settlement and agreement of some kind. this week and maybe next week, if not growth and opportunity act, which has been Central to many Subs Sahara and uh countries having access to the US market. that’s due to expire in September. Are you hoping to extend that? uh, Beyond it? Well, we’ll take a look at that. Yes, please. Uh, thank you. That’s that’s up to Congress to take a first crack at, uh, we know that program has been in place for about 20 years. and at the end result of that, uh we see a lot of other countries operating in Africa. We still see a lot of tariff and non-tariff barriers in Africa. So I think anything. any discussion about that act would also have to think about how we address those kinds of barriers. yeah, Peter Alvarado, Texas, a few days ago. 10 people. Wearing all black. allegedly. set off fireworks outside. an ice office. to lure the officers out. So they could Ambush them shoot at them. They had guns, and vests and 2-way radios. Do you think that this was an isolated incident or do you think there’s a national threat of a left-wing? militia that is targeting. ice and CBP. Well I think you have some very stupid people in the left who have some money that are making it available to these people Because you look at the guns they had they were brand new. you look at even the clothing, they were wearing. it looked like it. just came out of some military shop. Uh, so you have some very stupid people that uh, if anything ever happened, they’d be the first to go, they don’t understand that. They’d be the first to go. They’d be the first ones hit, but they are. There is money. being put behind people. When you look at the weapons they have uh, the newness of the weapons rifles that just came out and they have the latest model. so, there’s something going on, and we’ll get to the bottom of it. And what do you think The penalty should be? for these people who are if they are found guilty for people who shoot at? ice officers? Very, very stiff. very stiff. uh, a long time in jail. a long time. and 1 got hit yesterday and the neck. Then he, fortunately, uh, it’s going to be okay but he got hit yesterday. in the neck. No, good. What would you think if I read you a quote, from a lawmaker? who says about ice to abolish it, to treat them as criminals or anything that is inappropriate and outrageous? And I told you that that was Democrat John Federman. Well. it’s uh by the way, uh, by the way, I assume when you paused in the middle, uh, in the you’re going to have to read that again without the pause, Could you read that again please? To abolish it to treat them as criminals or anything. that’s inappropriate. and outrageous. So he’s saying that to treat the people that did the shooting is Oh, okay, Good. Because the way you’re at it, really was the opposite. That’s okay. That’s all right, I think, I think that’s what he meant. Know the the new John Federman is exactly what you said, he’s right? He’s right. And we have to protect our police officers and we will and we have been if you saw the uh, stats released by the FBI, the other day, the murder rates way down. the lowest. It’s been in a long time And that took place over the last 6 months for the last 6 months. murder. It’s a hell of a subject have to talk about, but murder is way down at almost. getting to be modern-day records. So that’s that’s a despite the fact that we have a lot of people that came into the country that shouldn’t be here. Yes, please. So 2 questions, 1 on tariffs, the other on the IRS. on tariffs uh China. is reportedly softening their impact on us tariffs in Africa, announcing last month that they would halt. charges on Imports for nearly all. of its African Partners. Good does this move by China? Uh influence your thinking, your approach to tariffs on the continent. Well we treat Africa. Great in many different ways, including with tariffs, but uh, you know, parts of Africa. uh, charge as tremendous tariffs, as you know, and they’re going to be dropping. those tariffs. they’ve already informed me. They’re going to be dropping this but we treat Africa. far better than China or anybody else. any place else. Yeah. And and on the IRS, the IRS says that churches can now endorsed political candidates. Uh, what’s your reaction to this and do you? How do you expect this to influence some of the work? that’s a foot on the continent? There’s a lot of American churches that are missionaries doing missionary work on the continent. Uh, do you support that? I love the fact that churches can endorse um, a political I think so, because uh, we have a lot of respect for the people that lead the church for the pastors and the ministers and the rabbis and the uh all different leaders all different religions, and people respect those people. And uh, I think there’s nothing wrong, you know, It was a very big penalty, if that took place. just a little while ago, they had a thing called the Johnson Act and it was a very big penalty. I think it’s great If uh, a pastor minister priest rabbi uh, and we could very much go into your your religion, by the way, which is something that people are having great respect for throughout the world. Uh, if somebody, uh, Of faith wants to endorse. I think it’s something that I’d like to hear and I’d also I can I can guarantee you uh, the people that they’re with every Saturday or Sunday. or whenever it is there with, they want to hear from these people. And it was a very severe penalty Those people were not allowed to speak up now, they’re allowed to speak up. No, I think it’s terrific. Your Administration took new actions against Harvard University today. Are you still optimistic about reaching a deal with the university? Oh, yeah, I think so. Harvard’s been very bad, Totally anti-Semitic. and, uh, yeah. They’ll they’ll absolutely reach a deal Peter. I just got Colleague. John Roberts. He says that, uh, we are now reporting. the guy who was arrested in the Alvarado, Texas incident. for tampering with the evidence. was a green card recipient. under the Biden Administration and a prior DACA recipient. What do you think of that? It’s very sad. It’s very bad. A lot of them are here. We came in and 21. million. I think it’s higher than that, by the way. but they say, 21 million people came in, many of them are criminals. Many of them are murderers 11. is what they say. are murderers. And uh, They came in through, open border policies. No, checking, no. vetting know nothing. Uh, and we have a lot of that. And despite that we have crime down, which is pretty amazing, Say hello to John. Say hello to John Well, I’m sure he’s watching this right now. Uh a lot of news has broken since we’ve been in here axio says a secret White House meeting between Steve witkoff, Ron dermer and a Qatari Envoy on Tuesday. Led to significant progress. in the negotiations. over the Gaza hostage and ceasefire deal. What can you tell us about this Secret? I will tell you where we’re getting very close to a deal. I don’t know if it’s secret or not secret, but doesn’t matter to me. secrets fine. If it gets us to where we want to be, we want to have a ceasefire. to have a have peace. We want to get the hostages back. and I think we’re close to doing it,

President Donald Trump hosted African leaders in Washington D.C. on Wednesday. Trump answered questions from reporters after the meeting.

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