President Trump meets with president of Lebanon in the Oval Office: LIVE

[0:01] is there a clear timeline for that? [0:04] The President is in the process of doing that. [0:05] They're in the process of redeploying to other sections. [0:09] And again, they get along very well. [0:11] That was a great agreement they signed with Lebanon. [0:14] And they're redeploying. [0:15] The Press, the Lebanese Army needs help. [0:22] And the United States said that it's very important [0:25] for the Lebanese Army to take over the villages [0:27] that Hezbollah withdrew from. [0:30] How are you going to help him? [0:31] And how this income is going to be informed [0:33] to make sure that he will be in the South as well. [0:35] The President is speaking about that today with your President. [0:37] And we have some very concrete plans already in store for that, [0:42] with others going in and helping. [0:44] But they're also becoming much more self-sufficient. [0:48] And we will be speaking about that. [0:50] That's one of the subjects we're going to be talking about. [0:52] The Press, the Lebanese Army said today [0:59] that Israeli forces opened fire in proximity to the Lebanese [1:03] trying to deploy in one of these pilot zones. [1:05] This is day two of the pilot zones. [1:07] Are you prepared to take any steps, additional steps, [1:09] to put pressure on Israel to withdraw, [1:13] which I believe President Aoun is planning to ask you? [1:16] The President, I just heard about that [1:17] before this conference just happened. [1:19] And we'll be looking at that. [1:20] Yeah. [1:21] Mr. President, there are no signs [1:23] that Iran is ready to stop fighting. [1:25] So what is the plan? [1:26] Is the plan to just keep bombing until they give up? [1:29] The President, there are no signs. [1:30] What, do you know something that I don't know? [1:32] Well, they continue to attack our allies and kill Americans. [1:34] The President, you don't know what the dialogue is [1:36] behind the scenes that they want to meet desperately [1:38] to try and end it because they're getting decimated. [1:41] You don't get that when you listen to your fake station. [1:44] But you don't know anything. [1:48] So talks are still possible, likely? [1:49] The President, do you know something that I don't know? [1:51] Do you know something I don't know? [1:52] Well, tell us. [1:53] The President, I will tell you. [1:54] They want to desperately meet. [1:56] And until they're ready to meet in a meaningful way, [1:59] we have no interest in even... [2:01] Mr. President, are you planning on putting any pressure [2:07] or consequences on China for what you announced [2:10] about them meddling in the 2020 election? [2:12] The President, well, we're going to talk to them about it. [2:14] It took place a long time ago. [2:16] I think China is maybe a little bit different today [2:18] than it was then. [2:19] But look, they're... [2:20] They do things and we do things to them. [2:22] I'll be honest, we do things to them, too. [2:24] It's not a one-way street, but we'll be talking to them. [2:27] Yeah. [2:27] The Press- Mr. President, sir, [2:28] it's something that doesn't get talked about a lot, [2:30] but the Border Patrol reported 14 consecutive months [2:33] of no releases at the southern border. [2:36] This is something you talked a lot about on the campaign trail [2:38] that you couldn't run on the job [2:40] that you did on the southern border. [2:41] Do you feel similarly at this point in time [2:44] with midterms considering how well of a job you've done? [2:46] What is the lesson to be learned about Border Patrol? [2:48] The President, well, thank you for that question. [2:50] The fact is, and maybe it pertains a little bit [2:53] with respect to you and borders and everything else, [2:55] we had a border that was totally out of control. [2:58] I probably won the election, [3:00] at least partially, on the border, would you say? [3:03] And the border now, we literally, in 14 months, [3:05] I think it came out this morning, actually, [3:07] it was just announced, and in 14 months, [3:09] we had nobody coming through, zero. [3:12] Zero people. [3:13] I have to understand, millions came through, [3:16] and we had zero people come in illegally into our country. [3:20] And that's made by people that happen to be Democrats, [3:23] largely Democrats, the people that do those sets. [3:27] And I'm sure they don't like saying it, [3:29] but we really had virtually nobody coming in, [3:31] and they actually say nobody, not even virtually. [3:34] So it's amazing what's happened there, [3:35] and very people talk about that anymore. [3:38] You know, they don't like talking about that. [3:39] They don't like talking about Venezuela, [3:41] where we lost no people. [3:43] I'll be going to Dover for something [3:47] that I feel is a great honor for me to do it. [3:51] These are people that want it, and they feel like I do, [3:54] that Iran cannot have a nuclear weapon. [3:56] Very simple. It's a very simple dictum. [3:59] They cannot have a nuclear weapon. [4:00] And they won't have. They're not going to have. [4:02] They have no chance of having a nuclear weapon. [4:04] And as far as Iran is concerned, [4:07] I'll let Pete maybe say a couple of words, [4:09] but we are doing very well. [4:11] We are degrading them at levels [4:13] that nobody thought was possible. [4:15] They're being degraded really so seriously. [4:20] They did slip something through in Jordan. [4:23] And if we had other operators, you know, [4:27] would have not happened, unfortunately. [4:30] But we — because we have the best equipment in the world. [4:33] You know, we've stopped almost everything. [4:35] But when you let other people do your job, [4:38] with the United States, we let other people do the job. [4:40] And sometimes it doesn't work out so well. [4:43] But we're going to be going and paying our respects at Dover. [4:47] Pete, would you like to say just how we're doing, generally speaking? [4:50] Well, it'll be an honor as well to join you at Dover [4:53] to recognize these incredible Americans [4:55] who are committed to the cause just like you are. [4:57] Something no president has been willing to do. [4:59] 47 years. [5:00] They build up a conventional capability like the North Koreans did. [5:03] Remember, that's how North Korea made their way to a bomb. [5:06] So much weaponry that no one was willing to stand up to them. [5:09] President Trump was, and it continues to to this day. [5:13] Iran's been given every opportunity to negotiate, [5:16] to show that they're reasonable on the Strait of Hormuz. [5:18] But if they're going to shoot at commercial shipping, [5:20] then we're going to hit them, as the president said, [5:22] ten times harder, [5:23] which every night we're degrading them further and further. [5:26] And the president has all the options necessary. [5:28] If they want to talk, they can talk. [5:30] Otherwise, they can deal with the War Department, [5:32] and we're prepared to do that. [5:33] The President and the blockade is up and fully, [5:35] I mean, it's, nobody gets through. [5:39] Nobody gets through the block. [5:40] It's like a steel wall. [5:42] The Pressure Thank you, Mr. President. [5:45] Yesterday, there was another attack on an ICE facility, [5:47] this time in New York City. [5:49] What, in your view, is prompting these attacks? [5:51] And do you have a message for those who are attacking ICE? [5:54] The President You're talking about the fire that was set [5:56] in front of the federal building? [5:57] The President Well, this is what's happening [6:00] with the people that they allowed to come into our country. [6:02] They shouldn't have allowed them to come in. [6:04] They shouldn't be here. [6:06] They're radical lunatics. [6:08] And I'm getting them out. [6:11] You know, we're getting them out at a pace. [6:13] You know, we've gotten rid of more than any other president. [6:15] I read stories. [6:17] They try and give you phony stats. [6:19] I was with Tom Holman this morning. [6:20] He'll give you the statistics if you want. [6:22] But we're getting bad people out of our country [6:26] at levels never seen before. [6:28] There's never been a time when more bad people [6:31] and you take a look just here in Washington. [6:34] We got almost five. [6:35] We took out almost 5,000 hard line, hard core criminals, [6:41] most of whom came in during the open border periods [6:44] of the previous administration and an amazing statistic. [6:49] And this is something that I hate to be talking about [6:52] in front of the president of Lebanon, [6:55] but he's got his problems and had different problems. [6:58] But we don't have any problems in Washington, D.C. [7:01] We have virtually we've wiped out about 92% of the crime. [7:05] And we're going to get very close to I believe [7:07] we're going to get close to 100% of the crime. [7:10] And if you take a look at this city and compare this [7:13] to what it was 15, 16 months ago, this was a dangerous city. [7:18] I don't know how I better not compare it to Lebanon [7:21] because I don't exactly have your stats, [7:23] but it might have been Lebanon was safer. [7:26] This was a dangerous city [7:27] under the previous administration, Biden. [7:30] And now it's a very safe city. [7:32] There was an article that came out two days ago [7:34] that Washington, D.C. has made the greatest progress [7:39] of any city in the nation. [7:40] Now, Memphis also and New Orleans also. [7:44] And if they would ask us for help in Chicago, [7:46] we would turn that around so fast. [7:48] If they'd ask us for help in New York, [7:50] we would turn that around so fast. [7:52] Los Angeles, we would turn that around so fast. [7:55] But the staff that's so amazing [7:57] is that 2% of the people create 91% of the crime. [8:01] Think of that. It's a great stat. [8:03] Because if it was 70% of the people, that's a problem. [8:07] It was 20%. That's a 2% of the people create 91% of the crime. [8:13] Think of that. [8:14] And 2% of the people, you can handle that easily. [8:18] So Washington, D.C. is now one of the hottest cities [8:20] in the country. [8:21] We have the hottest country in the world. [8:23] But Washington is now hot. [8:26] And I do have to say one other thing. [8:30] We just had the World Cup, as you know very well. [8:33] And it was the most successful World Cup ever. [8:37] We didn't even have a protest. [8:39] We had no crime. [8:41] With all those events, it was like having many, many Super Bowls. [8:45] Each one was like a Super Bowl. [8:47] And with all of that, we didn't have crime. [8:49] We didn't have bedlam. [8:51] Everybody left here with a different opinion [8:54] than what they read in the fake news. [8:57] They loved this country. [8:58] I saw Scotland. I saw Norway. [9:00] I saw all these countries. [9:01] I mean, the level of love that nobody wanted to leave. [9:06] And I just want to congratulate everybody. [9:09] The job that we did, and all of us, everybody in this room. [9:12] Because everybody in this room was involved. [9:13] The Vice President was very much involved. [9:18] It was amazing. [9:19] I was with Johnny the other day. [9:22] It was, the job he did is great. [9:24] But he said he never thought in a million years [9:27] it could be so free of any difficulty. [9:30] Think of it. We didn't even have a protest. [9:33] Not only no crime. [9:34] Now, there's a reason for all this. [9:37] But part of it was that people just wanted to pull together. [9:40] This country, for like a four-week period, [9:44] just pulled together. Really amazing. [9:47] And I didn't want to say it before the final. [9:49] I didn't want to say how well it was doing. [9:51] I wanted to get the final up with. [9:53] Because you never know, it only takes a bad moment. [9:56] But we just had the most successful World Cup in history. [10:00] Did five times the business of any World Cup in history. [10:05] And I can't wait to get them back, [10:07] but I think we won't be able to get them for the next time. [10:10] Mr. President, what about you? [10:13] Do you feel safe here, especially with this upcoming? [10:16] Do you feel safe, [10:17] especially considering the attempts on your life? [10:20] I feel safe. [10:20] Why wouldn't I feel safe? [10:22] Mr. President, I'm Pedro Ghani from Al-Jadeed. [10:28] Are you still speaking with Hezbollah? [10:30] You said in previous interviews [10:32] that you're speaking with Hezbollah. [10:33] The President, I would speak to everybody. [10:37] I'll speak to people that a lot of people [10:38] think I shouldn't be speaking to. [10:39] And things work out. [10:40] I would say this. [10:44] If the President wanted me to speak to Hezbollah, [10:47] you know, he's lived with Hezbollah for a long time. [10:49] And if the President wanted me to speak to Hezbollah, [10:52] I would. [10:53] You know, I would. [10:54] Mr. President, thank you, Mr. President. [10:58] Follow-up on Iran. [10:59] If the Iranians do not make a deal, ultimately, [11:05] how long will it take for you to stamp out their threats [11:08] to the strait and enable full shipping? [11:10] The President, if we left right now, [11:12] it would take Iran 20, 25 years to rebuild. [11:16] Okay? [11:17] And we're not finished at all. [11:19] But if we left right now, it would take them a long time, [11:22] years, years to rebuild. [11:26] But we're not leaving right now. [11:28] So we've had a big impact on Iran. [11:31] If we didn't do what I did with regard to two things, [11:35] the Iran nuclear deal done by Barack Hussein Obama, [11:40] I terminated that. [11:41] If I didn't terminate it, you wouldn't have Israel right now [11:44] because they would have had a nuclear weapon years ago. [11:48] And if we didn't do the B-2 bombers knocking out [11:51] the nuclear sites a year ago, [11:55] one of the first things we did early in the administration, [11:58] they would have a nuclear weapon. [12:00] And you wouldn't have Israel. [12:02] And in my opinion, you wouldn't have various other countries [12:05] in the Middle East that would all be gone. [12:07] They would have been terminated, extinguished. [12:09] But I believe that by doing what we did, [12:12] by terminating Iran, [12:14] who's very evil people, leaving that country. [12:19] You saw the number of protesters that they killed, [12:22] 52,000-plus. [12:23] I put a couple of them up today. [12:25] Young kids, they kill them. [12:26] They kill them like they're candy. [12:30] It's crazy what they do. [12:33] They treat them so badly, [12:34] they're just killing people just at random. [12:38] Over 52,000 people, and nobody talks about it. [12:41] But if I didn't do the attack on their nuclear sites, [12:46] or if I didn't terminate the Obama agreement with Iran, [12:50] which was an absolute hit on having them get — [12:57] that was a road to a nuclear weapon. [13:00] And our deal will be a wall. It already is. [13:03] They can't have a nuclear weapon right now. [13:04] It would take them years to produce it. [13:07] And we will absolutely attack. [13:09] We — you know, the new site that they're talking about. [13:13] I mean, how about these people? [13:15] They're in this because of nuclear weapons, [13:17] and they're trying to possibly reconstitute a site. [13:22] We'll hit that site. [13:23] Any site where they're even thinking about nuclear, [13:26] we'll be hitting it very, very powerfully. [13:28] Now, nobody knows, except the Iranians, [13:32] the damage that we've done to them. [13:34] We have done damage that will take them 20, [13:39] 25 years to recover from. [13:41] So, if we left tomorrow, we had a big — [13:43] we had a big success. [13:45] But we're not leaving tomorrow. [13:46] The Pressure, the ability to threaten the strength of the — [13:50] The Pressure, the question. [13:51] The Pressure, there's a bill right now [13:53] that's being considered that would allow illegal aliens [13:55] who are working in farming to get legal status. [13:58] Do you support that legislation? [14:00] The President, I don't know about it. [14:00] I'll take a look at it. [14:02] The Pressure, there was one on your terrace last night, [14:04] the Canada Terrace. [14:06] What — are those a response to the wildfires in Canada? [14:08] The President, no, no, that's separate. [14:10] We're looking at that separately. [14:11] The Pressure, is there anything Canada can do — [14:13] The Pressure, the only response to the way [14:14] they've treated our farmers and our people. [14:16] You know, Canada has been very, very tough on us [14:20] over the years — for many years. [14:22] And no other President has done anything about it. [14:24] I love Canada. [14:26] I love the people of Canada. [14:28] Many friends that live in Canada. [14:29] But their leadership, from Trudeau to the current leadership — [14:34] I mean, in all fairness to them, they need us to survive. [14:38] Without us, there's no way they can survive. [14:42] So — but they've been very, very tough [14:44] over a period of the last 50 years, actually. [14:47] The Pressure, the Pressure, the Pressure. [14:51] The Pressure, the Pressure. [14:53] Tony Murad at the CITB from Lebanon. [14:55] Do you still support Syria entering Lebanon [14:57] to disarm Hezbollah? [14:59] You mean coming in and doing something with Hezbollah? [15:01] Yes. [15:02] Well, it's a concept. [15:03] You know, we get along very well with the President of Syria. [15:05] He's done a very good job. [15:07] I wouldn't be surprised if this gentleman's [15:09] going to do a job just like that. [15:10] He's done a very good job. [15:11] He's pulled Syria together. [15:13] He would like to come in and do something with Hezbollah. [15:17] You know, they've been fighting — [15:18] he's been fighting Hezbollah for a long time. [15:21] I think it'd be very effective. [15:23] So it's something I think — [15:24] The Pressure, the Pressure, the Pressure. [15:27] The Pressure, the Pressure. [15:28] The Pressure, the Pressure. [15:29] The Pressure, you increased tariffs on Canada yesterday. [15:31] Can you say if you still expect to impose tariffs [15:34] on the wildfire problem? [15:35] And can you say when you might oppose 301? [15:37] A lot of damage has been done. [15:39] They're not managing their forests properly. [15:42] And the wind has a tendency to blow right over New York City, [15:45] right over — you saw Detroit. [15:47] They had to close the whole place. [15:48] Michigan was really affected. [15:50] They had to close the businesses for four days. [15:54] It's very serious, what they're doing. [15:56] And they don't seem to be able to do anything about it. [15:59] If they managed their forests, [16:00] they wouldn't have the fires. [16:01] The Pressure, do you believe that Iran is trying to impact [16:07] the midterm elections by threatening the street of four hours? [16:11] They won't have any impact on me. [16:13] I'm just going to do the right thing. [16:14] I don't view it as, [16:15] gee, we're having an election in a period of time. [16:18] You know, everyone says, [16:19] oh, I'm doing something before — [16:21] now, the election — [16:23] I can't think about that having to do with this. [16:26] I think people are very impressed. [16:28] I mean, we took over Venezuela. [16:30] We now have a great relationship with Venezuela. [16:33] We went to war with Venezuela, [16:35] and the war ended in one day. [16:38] And we have now an incredible relationship with Venezuela. [16:42] We're taking out millions of barrels of oil. [16:44] They're making more money now than they ever made before, ever. [16:47] And we're making a lot of money. [16:49] We've paid for the war many times over with Venezuela. [16:52] We lost nobody. We lost nobody. [16:55] We didn't lose one — and it was a violent attack. [16:58] As you know, we took out a man who was a very evil man. [17:02] What he did was very evil in many different ways. [17:05] We took him out. [17:07] But, you know, the Venezuelans, they said the same thing. [17:11] When I did Venezuela, everyone said — [17:12] because look at the drugs. [17:13] Look at what they did, where they took all of their prisons. [17:16] They opened up their prisons, [17:18] and they have everybody in a prison come in [17:20] through Biden's absolutely insane open borders policy. [17:26] And we did that in one day. Think of it. [17:29] And now we are working very closely with the administration, [17:34] and we get along very well. [17:37] Venezuela is a very happy place. [17:39] Had a tragic incident with the, you know, [17:42] with the event that took place a couple of days ago, [17:44] a week ago. What a terrible thing that was. [17:48] They had a — they had a movement, [17:50] a shifting of Earth that was unbelievable. [17:52] Nobody's ever — they've never seen anything like it. [17:55] A lot of people were killed. So it's all unrelated. [17:58] But by the way, we were the first ones there to help. [18:01] We were there to help Venezuela. [18:03] It was an earthquake. I guess you'd call it. [18:05] It was a pretty massive earthquake. [18:08] And we were able to do a lot of good. [18:10] But they lost a lot of people. [18:12] Venezuela, the people are so happy that we're there. [18:16] The jobs, everything's happening. [18:18] And we're taking out many, many times the money [18:22] that we spent on the war. [18:24] This one, Iran is bigger. [18:28] It's more — it's a more complex situation. [18:30] But we're probably doing equally as well, [18:33] if you look at the damage that's been done. [18:35] And again, as I said to the young man [18:38] that just posed the question over here, [18:42] if we left today, it would take them decades to rebuild. [18:46] And I don't believe they could ever rebuild. [18:49] And honestly, they haven't seen anything yet. [18:53] We've been nice. We've been nice. [18:56] President Trump, President Trump, President Trump. [19:00] Haley Bull with Scripps News. [19:01] Thank you for the question. [19:02] Do you believe that Iran has moved nuclear centrifuges [19:06] into Pickaxe Mountain? [19:07] And when you say, we're not done yet, [19:09] what is left to finish? [19:11] Well, I think that they may have — [19:14] we don't have it on record. [19:15] All we do is read the fake news. [19:17] You know, we see the news is so wrong so many times. [19:21] So, you know, maybe this one they have right. [19:23] But it's okay. [19:25] It doesn't mean anything unless they have the material. [19:27] You're talking about the centrifuges. [19:29] It doesn't mean anything unless they have the material. [19:31] They don't have — we follow the material. [19:32] That's where the action is. [19:34] And we'll be hitting that area very — probably pretty soon. [19:39] And there's not a — not a thing they can do about it. [19:41] You know, normally I wouldn't say that. [19:43] If I thought they could do something about it, [19:45] I would never say that. [19:46] But we'll be hitting that area pretty soon. [19:48] And — and very heavily. [19:51] Mr. President, two years ago, during the campaign, [19:59] I interviewed you, and you told me on MTV Lebanon [20:01] that the peace will happen in Lebanon. [20:03] And every word you said during the interview, [20:05] it's happening today. [20:07] Like, from the first day in the administration, [20:09] you were working hard for peace. [20:11] I've been here daily. [20:12] The President, I understood Lebanon, [20:14] and I understood how horribly Lebanon [20:17] has been treated as a country. [20:19] They've been like a whipping post, [20:20] what's happened with Iran and with Hezbollah. [20:24] But Lebanon has been treated very incredibly badly. [20:27] And maybe I'm a little prejudiced in favor of Lebanon [20:30] because I have so many Lebanese friends. [20:32] The President, not at all. [20:33] Well, no, but there's so many Lebanese friends. [20:36] And so I know I understand Lebanon. [20:37] Tom Barrack is Lebanese ambassador. [20:40] The President, I'm not the Lebanese Army. [20:45] The Lebanese Army , [20:48] the Lebanese Army currently have the funding, [20:50] equipment, and manpower necessary [20:53] to implement that agreement. [20:54] Or you are asking today, President Trump, [20:56] for additional U.S. assistance today to do the job? [21:00] Definitely. [21:01] It was the support of President Trump, and we spoke over on the phone, and I told him [21:04] I need two things from you, political support and supporting of the LAF, which is the LAF [21:10] is the most trusted institution in the country, and it has the most powerful weapon, which [21:15] is the trust of the public. [21:17] Like any other, any armed forces in the world, the Lebanese armed forces is the backbone [21:22] of security and stability. [21:24] We need to support the LAF. [21:27] The LAF maintains the country safe and stable. [21:29] Without the LAF, everything will collapse. [21:31] We don't want that. [21:32] I think President Trump doesn't want that. [21:34] In 1975, the first institution to collapse was the LAF, and as a result, we saw the emergence [21:40] of many local militias, and the South was empty, allowing the Palestinians to roam the South [21:45] and launch an attack against Israel. [21:47] We don't want to see that back again. [21:49] All we're asking is to keep supporting the LAF, and they know that the LAF is doing a great [21:53] job, performing its duty to the fullest. [21:56] I fully trust the LAF. [21:57] I fully trust the leadership of the LAF. [21:59] We will have a question for you. [22:00] Mr. President, they did a great, a great step forward with the recent signing with Israel. [22:06] That was a big step. [22:08] I'm going to allow direct flights from America to Lebanon again, and Pedro from [22:14] I see that happening. [22:15] Absolutely. [22:16] Mr. President. [22:17] The Press. [22:18] Mr. President, question for President Taun. [22:19] The Press. [22:20] The Press. [22:21] The Press. [22:22] So Ambassador Aissa, the U.S. Ambassador to Lebanon, Michel Aissa, told me that President [22:26] Taun would not leave Washington empty-handed. [22:26] What concrete outcomes will you bring back to Lebanon? [22:31] The President's 26th December 18th. [22:32] The President, Mr. President, thank you all very much. [22:38] We're doing very well with Iran. [22:40] We're doing unbelievably with the economy. [22:43] We have investment. [22:44] As you know, Toyota is coming in with the biggest plant, [22:48] I understand, anywhere in the world. [22:50] They're leaving Mexico. [22:51] They're coming into our country. [22:54] They're going to come into Texas, to be specific. [22:57] We have more plants under construction now [22:59] than at any time, by far, by many times. [23:03] We have over $19.2 trillion being spent in America. [23:07] And they're going to be opening up in a year, [23:09] a year and a half. [23:10] And there's never been a time like this in America. [23:14] Truly, it's the golden age of America. [23:16] Thank you very much, everybody. [23:17] The Press- Thank you, guys. [23:19] Thank you. [23:20] The Press- Thank you. [23:24] The Press- Thank you, guys. [23:26] The Press- Thank you, guys. [23:28] The Press- Thank you. [23:42] The Press- Thank you. [23:47] Thank you.