President Trump welcomes PM of Iraq to the White House: LIVE

[0:00] law of protecting their borders after the 30th of September except for any entity to carry weapons [0:09] outside the control of the state. Thank you. Thank you, President Trump. I have two questions. [0:17] I was wondering if you could explain your changing thinking on the straight-up for moves applying a 20% [0:22] fee. How did you get to the decision you just against? Yeah, so when I put that out yesterday, [0:28] because we've been doing that for many, many years, it was never fair to me that we would be [0:32] guarding the straight when we basically don't take anything. We don't need the oil at all. And [0:38] it wasn't important for us, but it was important for allies. It was important for people that we [0:42] get along with very well, including the, you know, major Gulf state countries. So I put it out [0:49] yesterday. I thought it was good. I was called by different people, different countries, kings and [0:54] emirs and all of the people that we all know and we all love. And they've been, frankly, [1:01] they've been very strong partners. And they said, we'd love to do it a different way. We'd love to [1:06] invest in the United States with billions and billions of dollars and continue our record setting [1:13] because we would, there's never been a time like this with the United States, with the factories, [1:17] with the plants, with everything else. And we would like to invest tremendously in the United States [1:23] as opposed to charging a fee. And I like that, actually, because I don't think anybody should [1:28] be able to charge a fee for the, for the straight or for any other straight relationship in terms of [1:35] other sections of the world. I don't think anybody should be really in that position. But we were [1:40] doing it as a reimbursement. The Gulf states are going to invest a tremendous amount of money [1:46] into the United States. And that was very satisfactory to me. I think it's actually much better. [1:51] I could also ask, are you aware of why the FBI is looking into Senator Graham's death? [1:59] Have you gotten any updates on why they were at his home? [2:01] Well, I don't know why, because I think, you know, he had a problem. His father had a very similar [2:07] problem, as you know. It's very unique. At first, I heard it was clogged arteries, because he did have [2:13] clogged arteries. He had a problem with, with that. He was, uh, I wish he took better care of himself. [2:19] I say, you can, you know, you can solve that problem. But, uh, what happened is actually [2:25] something that's very hard to detect. It was not related to the, any blockage. It was a totally [2:31] different thing. And supposedly, and I've watched all the medical reports. I've had the doctors from [2:37] the White House come in and explain what happened. And this is something that is very, almost undetectable. [2:43] And if it happens, there's not much you can do about it. It sounds unfortunate, but there's not [2:49] much you can do about it. If you look at his, uh, his father died of the same thing at about the [2:56] same age. So there was not much. They say it's almost undetectable. You can detect it by, if you [3:03] have a very bad back, that's a sign. It's a bad sign. So if anybody has a bad back, uh, it's a pretty rough [3:12] thing to think about. But the fact that's one of the primary signs, and he would tell me he had a bad [3:16] back. But little did anyone realize it was for that. So, and when that bursts, which it did, it burst, [3:23] uh, there's not much. So I don't see a lot of evil there. I don't, I know there's all sorts of [3:27] conspiracy theories going along. And I, I don't think the FBI, I think the FBI is wasting their time [3:34] if they're doing that yet. On the, on the prior question, could the Hormuz straight [3:38] hole idea for you, that's, that's dead now. That's completely gone. No, I, I just told you, [3:44] you have, uh, Saudi Arabia, UAE, Qatar, uh, Bahrain, and, uh, Kuwait in, you know, primarily, [3:52] and then others. Uh, they, I spoke to all of them and they would love to invest more money in the [3:58] United States at, at record amounts. And that would be very acceptable. And this way, there's [4:04] no fee. I don't like the concept of a fee, but at the same time, it's not fair that we're protecting [4:09] this straight for the entire world, for China and everyone. I, I don't mind protecting it for China. [4:14] I don't mind protecting it for anybody, but it's unfair that we're not in somehow compensated. And [4:20] we've been doing this for many years. It, it's bothered me 25 years ago. It bothered me during my [4:25] first term. I was doing things like, you have to invest in the United States and, but by doing it [4:31] that way, there's no fee. They're investing and they're getting a return on their money and it's [4:35] good, but, uh, they're going to be making massive investments into the United States. And I like that [4:41] much better. [4:42] President Trump, can I ask you a minute about the meeting you had today is, uh, whether you discussed OPEC. [4:48] There's been some, there's been some reporting that Iraq is pushing for changes to OPEC, a larger [4:54] share, and even though they might consider leaving it all the Prime Minister's... [4:57] The gentleman right here, because here he is. Would you like to know about it? [5:00] Are you, are you considering Mr. Prime Minister leaving OPEC, or are you pushing for changes [5:04] within it? And Mr. President, would you support, uh, the... [5:07] Well, I support him. You know, I supported him very early in the, I endorsed him. Something [5:13] I rarely do, but I've had great successes endorsing, you know, we just had Colombia, which was [5:18] a big one. Argentina was a big one. We had many, I've endorsed, I think everybody I've [5:24] endorsed from a, uh, foreign standpoint, they just win. [5:28] Yeah. [5:29] And, uh, you know, I've been hearing great things. I, I'm a student of a lot of history, [5:34] and I do know a lot about the history of Iraq. And I've watched what was happening in Iraq [5:38] with the elections. And I put a very strong endorsement out, because I was very unhappy with [5:43] the man that was supposed to win the election. And this great gentleman, I think he's gonna end [5:49] up being a great leader. He won. So I'm very happy about that. As far as OPEC, that's [5:53] his decision. And you might ask him that question. [5:57] No, OPEC, we are one of the countries that established OPEC. [6:05] However, we need, like, a fair share for Iraq. [6:11] Iraq fought ISIS and terrorism at all in support of United States of America. [6:20] This fight with ISIS cost us, like, huge amounts of money, and destroyed the Iraqi infrastructure. [6:31] The damage that really was against Iraq is more than 400 billion dollars. Until today, like, [6:42] some Iraqi cities are totally destroyed. They're, like, living camps. [6:48] And I have a plan to get them back to their homes. We need a fair share. We need a fair share. [6:59] We need a fair share. We need a fair share. We need a fair share. [7:03] Because if you remember, even though I was a civilian and had no thought of running for president, [7:07] I get a disproportionate amount of publicity, as you probably heard. And I used to say, [7:13] don't go into Iraq. Don't attack Iraq. Frankly, they attacked the wrong country. [7:20] And they did a lot of damage. [7:23] Thank you. Given how the Iranians have been behaving, [7:28] do you have any regrets about lifting the naval blockade or giving the sanctions waivers? [7:33] No. No. I gave them a chance. I wanted to give them a chance at making a deal. [7:38] You know, we had a deal two days ago. It was done. And then, all of a sudden, they couldn't do it. [7:43] They didn't like something about the deal. They couldn't do it. And they shot first. [7:47] And that was a big mistake that they shot first, because we have been knocking the hell out of them. [7:52] They're very difficult people. 47 years we put up with it. [7:56] The SS call. You go back all the way. Thousands of people, thousands of Americans were killed. [8:02] A lot of soldiers were killed. A lot of soldiers are walking around or not walking around. [8:07] I mean, they've been so badly injured. The arms, the legs, the face. [8:12] With the Soleimani. With the bomb. They call it the roadside bomb. [8:19] Most people call it the roadside bomb. It's a disaster. [8:23] And I killed him in my first administration. [8:27] Had I not, it might be a different story today. [8:30] He was a mad genius. He was a mad, probably a madman. [8:35] But he was a general. And he had total control over the country. [8:39] And I actually think the leaders of Iran were afraid of Soleimani. [8:42] But I killed him. And, by the way, with him went a very bad person also. [8:49] They happened to be meeting each other at the airport. [8:52] And a very bad person from Iraq happened to be a leader of Iraq happened to be killed in that same incident. [8:59] So I don't know if I did you a favor or not. I've never asked you that question. [9:03] You probably would know better than me. [9:05] But no, I think that, I think that what we've done to Iran is we've taken away all of their, [9:11] almost all of their military capabilities. [9:14] President Trump, he has to hear that. [9:22] President Trump, go ahead. [9:48] At that time, I was not in politics and in my visit, like, I'd like to talk about the [10:08] future. [10:09] Just now, like, we are fed up with the facts. [10:13] President Trump, I'm here. [10:14] President Trump, I'm here. [10:15] President Trump, I'm here. [10:16] President Trump, I'm here. [10:17] President Trump, I'm here. [10:18] Thank you, Mr. President. [10:19] Mr. Kurdish here. [10:20] Mr. President, thank you for your time. [10:23] Last year, in May, the Prime Minister of Kurdistan region, Masrur Barzani, signed about $110 billion [10:32] in energy jobs with U.S. companies here in Washington, D.C. [10:37] Mr. President, if Baghdad and Erbil work together better, that investment could grow, grow, grow. [10:47] What is your message and advice to the leaders in Baghdad and Erbil to work together? [10:52] Why am I asking this question? [10:54] Because you are a miracle maker, Mr. President. [10:57] President Trump, I love this question. [11:00] It's my favorite question so far, by far. [11:03] Thank you very much for the question. [11:05] Look, Baghdad, I think, and I and this country, we're going to make some tremendous music together. [11:13] We haven't been dealing very much over the last four or five years with the previous administration. [11:21] Iraq has tremendous potential because of their oil and because of other things, but because of their oil. [11:27] And we're going to be doing a lot of deals. [11:29] We're going to create a lot of jobs for both countries. [11:32] And we're going to be taking out a lot of oil. [11:34] A lot of oil is coming out. [11:36] And the American companies are doing it. [11:39] Mostly American companies now. [11:41] They don't want to do business with others. [11:43] They want to do business with America. [11:44] And that's good. [11:45] And that's one of the reasons that I felt so strongly that this was going to be a great Prime Minister. [11:50] And I fought for that. [11:52] How would you describe your relationship with Kurdistan Regional Government at this time? [12:01] Because Prime Minister yesterday had a statement and fully support you. [12:12] I look at Iraq as a body. [12:19] Each part of Iraq is part of my own body. [12:25] I would never distinguish between two, any organ. [12:28] And I cannot cut off any part of any organ from my own body. [12:34] Kurdistan is such an important part of Iraq. [12:38] It's more different than Basra and other provinces. [12:43] But because such nice things were said about him, [12:47] that means he likes the man that said those nice things. [12:50] President Trump! [12:51] President Trump! [12:53] President Trump! [12:54] President Trump! [12:55] President Trump! [12:56] Thank you so much, Mr. President. [12:57] I have a question for you, and I have a question for Prime Minister. [12:59] The first question, Mr. Prime Minister, why did you choose United States as your first trip abroad? [13:06] And what steps, concrete steps do you take when you go back to Iraq to make sure that the agreements you are reaching in Washington, D.C., implemented? [13:16] I inherited such a heavy burden in the country, as I have a master degree in finance, I analyzed the economic situation of the country with this burden I need such a strategic partner to really lift this burden, and the most important strategic partnership in the world is the United States of America. [13:46] The President, inflation slowed to 3.5 percent. Will this trend hold now that strikes on Iran? [14:05] I think so. I think it's going to inflation is down. We inherited the worst inflation in the history of our country. They say 48 years. It was the worst in the history of our country from Biden. Sleepy Joe. [14:16] He might have been sleepy, but boy, he could create inflation like nobody, and I inherited that, and I got blamed for it, and it's not my fault. [14:24] We are putting it to sleep, and we've done a great job, Scott and Howard and Marco and even Pete, because he's watching his dollars, right? But they've done a fantastic job. We've all done a fantastic job. [14:37] So we had the worst inflation in history, and the history of our country. I mean, we had months where it was 9 and 10 percent, and now we have a report just came out. It was just released. Thank you for bringing it up, but the report was incredible. [14:54] The President, inflation is way down. That means prices are coming way down, and we're doing a great job. [14:59] Remember that. Remember that for the midterms, I say to that camera. Remember that, because nobody else could do it. Prices are way down. Prices are coming way down, and we're going to bring them much lower yet. [15:14] President, how many people around the world and around the nation are anticipating your big announcement on Thursday night regarding election machines and integrity? Can you give us sort of a sneak peek about what to expect and tell the audience of America? [15:25] The President, I'd rather save it. It will concern that subject, and we'll have a couple of other things to say also. [15:29] Why should people watch, though? [15:30] The President, I'd rather save it, but it's really big news. It's really, really big news, and our country has to shape up. But that's what we're going to be talking about Thursday is [15:43] it doesn't get bigger, because without free and fair elections, you don't have a country. We'll be discussing other things, too. But it's going to be a very big announcement. Yeah. [15:53] The Press, Mr. President, your administration pushed hard to shape Iraq's leadership and tied U.S. support to disarming Iran-backed actions. With the September 15th deadline weeks away, what happening in Baghdad misses it? And does the U.S. troops withdraw from Kurdistan region still proceed on schedule? [16:11] The President, I think everything's on schedule. We have a great — here we are. I mean, we're right now. I even called for a lunch that wasn't scheduled, okay? So in that way. But no, we usually we — I don't think I've ever done that. We didn't have lunch. I said, let's have lunch. You know why? Because I like them. [16:28] The Press, Mr. President, at least in the lunches. [16:29] The President, I like them. So I think that's all going to work out very well. [16:32] The Press, Mr. President, do you want this Russia sanctions bill signed within the next week or two? And will you sign it? [16:38] Well, I know that Lindsey wanted it very badly. I think they may be adding Iran to it. They're going to add Iran, which is a very big thing if they did that. They may add Hezbollah, too. Just put them if you do business with Hezbollah. So we're looking at that. But they're seriously thinking — and this is in honor of Lindsey. This was his thing. He wanted this more than any other thing. You know how he felt. And there's a good chance that it gets done. [17:04] But they'd like to add Iran, and they'd like to add Hezbollah to it. That's what I'm hearing. [17:10] The Press, Mr. President, my question for you. The Prime Minister has launched a campaign to bring weapons held by militia under the control of the state. [17:28] How does your administration support him to accomplish this vision? And my second question, how do you envision the future relations between the Kurdistan region and Iraq? [17:37] I think everything is going to work out. I think people are — the Middle East, believe it or not, is coming together. We're getting rid of the bully of the Middle East. [17:45] Iran was the bully of the Middle East. They bullied Iraq. They bullied every country. They were — there was fear all over the Middle East with other countries. [17:56] I understand that. But there was fear. But there's no fear anymore because their military capability has been knocked to hell, and there's no fear. [18:04] I think the Middle East is coming together like it's never come together before. You can't have a dominant factor like Iran that would kill 52,000 protesters. [18:12] You know, they killed — nobody likes talking about that. I don't like talking about it. They killed 52,000 protesters. [18:20] So the bottom line, all regions, I believe, are coming together. And I think it's going to be — this is going to be one of the great leaders right here. [18:27] It's going to be one of the great leaders in the Middle East. Could I please? [18:31] Just explain that, please. [18:33] I think it's going to be one of the great leaders in the Middle East. [18:39] I think that now, the military's defense has been a great leader. [18:43] And now, the military's defense has been a great leader in the Middle East. [18:47] And it's not possible for a single power or a country to be able to handle the entire region. [18:54] People are afraid of that Iran, as well as the government, has killed 52,000 people in Iran. [19:03] We don't have to talk about that, and I am the president. [19:08] I'm afraid to think about this, but they are as well. [19:11] And I think we could go into this for a long time. [19:21] And the bottom line is that we have a fantastic relationship with many countries now. [19:27] We just had a — I just came back from NATO. [19:30] Many of you were there, and you saw how that worked out. [19:32] It was a phenomenal — it was a love fest, to be honest. [19:36] And they loved the United States. [19:38] They even like me, but they loved the United States. [19:40] And we're going to cut costs there by hundreds of billions of dollars, maybe. [19:45] But the NATO event was incredible. [19:48] Today's event is incredible. [19:50] This is a potentially really great country. [19:54] And many people would say it's a great country. [19:56] We're helping it. We want to help it. [19:58] We have a fantastic relationship with the new prime minister. [20:01] He's a strong person. He's a very brilliant guy. [20:05] He's very much acknowledged. [20:07] Or he couldn't have won that election. [20:09] That was a highly competitive election. [20:11] And he went out and won. [20:13] And it's a big story. [20:14] I mean, it's a big, big story. [20:16] And I just want to say that the United States has never done better. [20:21] We're doing well. [20:21] You know, more people are working today in the United States than at any time in history. [20:26] We have more things being built. [20:28] Factories, plants, AI, automobile plants are being built at record numbers. [20:34] More than we've ever had ever before. [20:36] The tariffs have done — have been used very judiciously and properly. [20:40] And companies are pouring in — and countries are pouring into this country to build factories. [20:46] Because when they build them, they have no tariffs. [20:49] And we have numbers 19 to — 19.2 trillion dollars. [20:53] As an example, under Biden, it was less than one trillion for four years. [20:58] We're at 19.2 trillion for 12 months. [21:02] Nobody's ever seen anything like it. [21:04] Our relationship with Iraq is — I would say it went from being not so good to being outstanding. [21:12] And we're going to have a long-term relationship with Iraq. [21:16] We're going to have a long-term relationship with a man that will be a great leader. [21:19] You are — mark my words. [21:21] I knew what I was doing. [21:23] This man is going to be a great leader in the Middle East, beyond Iraq. [21:27] Administrator took over — his influence is going to spread all throughout the Middle East. [21:32] And we're very happy about it. [21:33] And we're very happy to have you with us. [21:35] Thank you very much. [21:36] The Press- [21:43] The President, I just want to — I don't think there's anything much else you can ask us. [21:47] This is a very important meeting. [21:50] It's something I've never done before. [21:52] No lunch was scheduled. [21:53] I said, let's have lunch. [21:54] I've never done that before. [21:56] sometimes we'll have a lunch schedule but i've never done this right susie this is a first [22:01] so i have no idea what we're going to be eating but it'll be fine [22:04] but we're doing it because we like the people that we're with thank you [22:11] thank you thank you thank you thank you [22:28] thank you guys