Office of the Press Secretary FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE August 26, 2019 REMARKS BY PRESIDENT TRUMP AND CHANCELLOR MERKEL OF THE FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF GERMANY BEFORE BILATERAL MEETING Centre de Congrès Bellevue Biarritz, France   11:21 A.M. CEST      Q    Mr. President, when will you visit to Berlin?      PRESIDENT TRUMP:  Well, we’ll be coming to Germany.  A very special place.  And we look forward to coming.  We haven’t set that date, but we will be going to Germany.  Absolutely.  Thank you.      Thank you very much.  We’ve had a great couple of days.  Very productive.  And Chancellor Merkel and I have really, I think, come to some very good conclusion on lots of things, including trade.  We do a tremendous amount of trade with Germany.  A great trading partner.  And we’ve reached agreement on a lot of different things.  And we probably think we’re going to be upping the trade over a very short period of time.  Actually, we do a lot of trade, but we can up it quite a bit.      We also talked military.  We talked defense.  We talked about a lot of different things.  And a lot of really wonderful things will conclude.  I think it’s been a great two days.  So, thank you very much.  Very much, Angela.  Thank you.      CHANCELLOR MERKEL:  (As interpreted.)  Well, I can only confirm this: We had indeed very productive talks while we’re here, and we’re going to continue such productive talks on a bilateral level.  And in view of the very close relationship that binds our two countries together, I am confident that we can do good things together and can continue (inaudible).      PRESIDENT TRUMP:  No doubt.  And we’ve also had a very good G7.  I think it’s been, really, a productive G7 and coming to a close, I guess, sometime this afternoon.  We’re going to be doing a press conference.  I’ll be doing one later.  Perhaps you will.  Are you doing a press conference?  I hope so.  If you do one, I may go.  (Laughter.)  Just to watch.      But we’ll be doing -- we’ll be leaving after the press conference, going back to the United States.  Okay?  Thank you.      Q    Mr. President, do you still consider on German cars?      PRESIDENT TRUMP:  Say it?      Q    Do you still consider tariffs on German cars?      PRESIDENT TRUMP:  I hope not.  I mean, we’re going to come to some conclusions.  We talked about a new trade deal between, you know, not just Germany, but between the Union and ourselves -- European Union.  And I think, you know, we’re having some very good discussions going. I hope not.  I really do hope not.      Q    Mr. President, do you have any conclusions on ISIS fighters coming back from Syria?      PRESIDENT TRUMP:  Well, we talked about that just a few minutes ago.  We’ve captured thousands of ISIS fighters.  We have them now.  They’re captured.  They’re in various locations, but predominantly in one.      They came from Europe, in almost all cases.  And we’ve told Europe, “I hope you’re going to be able to take them back and do something.”  So, it’s something that we’ve discussed with the various nations, taking them back.  Because the United States, we did a great favor for, you know, the fact we were able to capture -- we were able to take 100 percent of the caliphate.  One-hundred percent.      But we have thousands of ISIS fighters that are captured.  Some very dangerous.  Some of them are very dangerous.  And we think they should go to the country from which they came.  And that’s what’s pretty much going to happen.  I think we had a pretty good meeting.  And that had not reached a total conclusion, but it’s unfair for the United States to take them, because they didn’t come from the United States.      Q    Mr. President, do you and Mrs. Merkel agree on a step forward for Iran?      PRESIDENT TRUMP:  We haven’t discussed Iran too much, but I think we agree that Iran shouldn’t be nuclear.  It’s a very important thing.  In fact, I think we’ll be coming out with a statement, to that effect, from the G7.  Everybody agrees that we cannot let Iran become a nuclear -- have nuclear weapons.      CHANCELLOR MERKEL:  (As interpreted.)  Well, I can only repeat that we, together -- that is to say all of the G7 members -- have said that we want to prevent any kind of nuclear weapons for Iran.  That's something that we want to prevent.  We've said we wanted to achieve that through negotiations.  We had very productive talks on this issue as well.  But it is, obviously, still moving as an issue.  And it is slowly moving forward, but there’s still a long way to go yet.      Q    Mr. President, what are your thoughts on the working session on climate?      PRESIDENT TRUMP:  I do think that we really made some big progress with respect to Iran in terms of unity of the G7.  And there has been great unity.  Really.  It’s been flawless, in that sense.  And, you know, we had a lot of fake news where they’re saying, “Oh, there’s no unity.  There’s no unity.”  In fact, total unity.  We’ve had a really -- I’m talking about all of the seven countries.  And it’s been really good.  It’s been -- now, it’s not quite over yet; we have a meeting or two left, right?      But I will tell you, we’ve had great unity, even with Iran.  A lot of -- a lot of progress made on Iran.  And we’ve come to a conclusion, more or less.  But the biggest part of the conclusion: They can’t have nuclear weapons.      But we have had a very successful G7.  Very friendly.  Very friendly.  Very opposite of what you've reported.  I mean, you had a report where -- I was in the plane, I hadn’t even landed yet, and you said I was in a dispute.  And I said, “That’s tough.  I haven’t landed yet.”  So, as you know, that was your predisposition.      The other thing is, the country is doing very -- the United States, as you know, is doing very, very well.  Talks are going on with China at a very high level.  As you know, Steve, you might just want to mention what was said, but it was just reported in Bloomberg and others that -- Marketwatch -- that China just put out a statement.      SECRETARY MNUCHIN:  Well, we appreciate the Vice Premier Liu -- his comments that he just came out with.  And we look forward to continuing our discussions with him.  Ambassador Lighthizer and I will expect to continue those shortly.      Q    Mr. President, do you still believe that the EU treats the U.S. --      PRESIDENT TRUMP:  Say it?      Q    Do you still believe that the EU treats the U.S. worse than China on trade, after your discussions?      PRESIDENT TRUMP:  I think the European Union -- and I’ve said this openly; I say it with respect -- I think they’re as tough as China.  I really do.  I think they’re very tough.  The United States has been not treated particularly well over the years.  And I’m not saying that as -- it should have been the other way around, but it wasn’t.  I congratulate you.      But the European Union, they’re tough.  Very tough.  They’re very tough traders.  And the United States has lost tremendous amounts of money over the many years with the European Union.  And I don’t hold that against the European Union, I hold it against our presidents and administrations that did not do a good job.      I respect the European Union.  I respect China for being able to do what they’ve done to the United States over the years.  I mean, you look at a guy like Sleepy Joe Biden, the fact that he would allow them, for eight years with Obama, to do what they did to us.  This should have happened -- what I’m doing with China should have happened 25 years ago.  Not just President Obama.  I mean, many presidents.  You go back with Bush and Clinton.  I mean, many -- many Presidents should have done something about this.      They’re taking out hundreds of billions of dollars a year.  You know, intellectual property theft by the billions and billions and billions.  It’s not right.  Somebody should have done it.  And I’m not blaming China, I’m blaming our representatives and leadership for doing a bad job.      CHANCELLOR MERKEL:  (Speaks German.)      PRESIDENT TRUMP:  This doesn’t sound good.  (Laughter.)       CHANCELLOR MERKEL:  (As interpreted.)  At any rate, we wish to talk about these issues and others right now.  And we’ve said we want to come as quickly as possible to an agreement between the European Union and the United States -- enhance talks -- because this is obviously of very great interest also to us, to enhance the trade relations between the European Union and the United States.  And we’ve said we want to bring this as quickly as possible to a successful solution.      Anyway, Germany is going to work resolutely --      PRESIDENT TRUMP:  Right.      CHANCELLOR MERKEL:  (As interpreted.) -- for this, before the European Union.      PRESIDENT TRUMP:  Great.  Well, as you know, we made a very big deal yesterday with Japan.  That’s a tremendous deal with Prime Minister Abe.  And we hope to have a deal with the European Union too.  We hope we can do a fair deal, a good deal for everybody.      Q    Mr. President, were you able to attend the working session on climate and oceans earlier?      PRESIDENT TRUMP:  We’re having it in a little while.      Q    In a little while.      Q    (Speaks German.)  (No translation provided.)      INTERPRETER:  (As interpreted.)  The question was, “Madam Chancellor, is the new dream team of G7 now Presidents Trump and President Macron?”  And the Chancellor replied, “The new dream team of G7 is G7.”  (Laughter.)       PRESIDENT TRUMP:  That’s a good answer.  (Laughter.)   You know, everybody has really contributed.  We’ve had really great contributions from all of the different countries.  I think that’s true.  Very good contributions.      Q    Mr. President, Madam, you said together you got to compromise on digital taxation between France and the U.S.  Can you confirm that?      PRESIDENT TRUMP:  Yeah.  We’re getting close.  And they want to make a deal.  And we’ll see if we can make a deal.  We’re getting close.      CHANCELLOR MERKEL:  (As interpreted.)  We have said that we have the intention within the OECD to find a solution for each and every one by 2020.  And that will be an enormous breakthrough to the benefit of everyone in the world.      PRESIDENT TRUMP:  Correct.      Q    And, Chancellor Merkel, is Germany making a commitment to take back ISIS fighters in Syria?      PRESIDENT TRUMP:  Well, we’re talking about that now.  And we have -- we have a lot from Germany, which is a great thing.  And we’ll work something out.  I think we’re going to work something out.      CHANCELLOR MERKEL:  (As interpreted.)  First, I should say that we have already accepted a number of family members, among them primarily children.  Secondly, we have committed ourselves -- all the European Union countries -- to work together and to try and find a solution here to work together with the United States on this one.  But we want to find a solution together, but it is certainly not (inaudible).      PRESIDENT TRUMP:  We've done -- we've done -- I think we've done a really great job.  We -- you know, we defeated them.  We took over 100 percent.  Not 99, not 98 -- because I was criticized.  I said, "All right, we got 98 percent.  We're leaving."  And I was very badly criticized.  They said, "Why not 100 percent?"  So I said, "All right, we'll stay.  We'll do 100."  So we did 100 percent.  And we did a great job.      And we've had very good talks.  But, you know, it's not fair for the United States to have these people.  We want to give them to the areas where they came from, and that includes not just Germany.  France.  We have a lot from France.  We have a lot of from the UK.  We have a lot from a lot of different countries.  And, for the most part, all in Europe.      Q    Mr. President --      PRESIDENT TRUMP:  Yeah.      Q    On China, sir, do you think it's possible that talks would advance and you could reach a deal to either delay or cancel the plan to tariff increases that you've announced?      PRESIDENT TRUMP:  Well, I think anything is possible.  I can say we're having very meaningful talks.  Much more meaningful than, I would say, at any time, frankly.  And I think, for the most part, it's because we are doing very well.  China is a great country.  I consider President Xi to be a great leader.  I think you do also.  And he is a great leader.      And, look, they're losing millions and millions of jobs.  They're going to other countries.  And if I were them, I'd want to make a deal.  But, in the meantime, the United States is taking in tremendous amounts of dollar.   You know, billions and billions of dollars.  And, frankly, there's been no inflation.  And most of these products haven’t even gone up because China is able to manipulate and also able to put cash into the system where the product can stay at the same price.  Otherwise, it wouldn’t be a competitive product and they wouldn’t be able to sell it, and they'd lose jobs.      But they lost a lot of jobs, and I think they want to see a sensible solution.  So there's a really good chance.  I think we're probably in a much better position now than at any time during the negotiation.  That's something meaningful.  And I don’t think you could’ve gotten here without having to go through this process.  And maybe I'm wrong, but I think we're probably in a stronger position now to do a deal -- a fair deal for everybody.  And so we're having very meaningful talks.      Q    Mr. President, is the Chancellor pressuring you to deescalate the trade war with China?      PRESIDENT TRUMP:  No.  She'd like to see it worked out because it's good for everybody, I think, if it works out.  Not pressuring.  She's a brilliant woman and she understands exactly where everything is.  She knows before most people.  And she'd like to see it worked out.      CHANCELLOR MERKEL:  (As interpreted.)  Of course, I mean, we're all somehow linked together.  We all have every interest in trying to see this come to a solution.  And we'd be very glad if a -- well, an agreement could be found between China and the United States that is in our own best interest.      Q    Mr. President, when you are hosting G7 next year, who will be your surprise guest?      PRESIDENT TRUMP:  I don’t think there will be any surprises.  I'm not looking for surprises.  I think we'll have a very successful G7.  It'll probably be in Miami, right next to the International Airport.  Great location.  It's one of the biggest airports.  It takes planes from everywhere.  You know, sometimes you have hours and hours of driving to get to certain locations.  We'll have -- you'll only have a five-minute drive, which is good.  You'll land in Miami International Airport.      And so we think we're going to have a very successful one.  And we can learn from what took place here because I think they did a really great job.  Even architecturally, the way the rooms were set up and designed.  And I think they really did.  We got some good ideas from this G7.  But there won't be any surprises, no.      Q    Are you going to invite Russia?      PRESIDENT TRUMP:  Well, we'll see.  I think that Russia -- we had a talk, and -- no vote or anything.  But we had a talk about Russia.  My inclination is to say yes.  Some people disagree with me, some people don’t.  There are people that agree with me 100 percent, but there are some that don’t.      So we did have a discussion about Russia.  We'll see.  I think it's advantageous, but other people don’t necessarily agree -- maybe at this time, I think I could say.  Maybe at this time, without being specific.      But we'll see what happens.      Q    Mr. President, do you expect to host at the Doral Golf Course, the G7?          PRESIDENT TRUMP:  They're seeming to set up the best.  It's close to the -- we haven't made a final decision, but it's right next to the airport, right there, meaning, you know, a few minutes away.      It's a great place.  It's got tremendous acreage.  Many hundreds of acres.  So we can handle whatever happens.  It's really -- people are really liking it.  Plus, it has buildings that have 50 to 70 units in them, so each delegation can have its own building.  So you'd have the seven various delegations, and they could have their own building.  So a lot of -- and they could have buildings for the press.  We have -- it's very big.  A great conference facility.      So we're thinking about it.  They love the location of the hotel, and they also like the fact that it's right next to the airport, for convenience.  And it's Miami.  Doral.  Miami.  So it's a great area.      Q    Is that the leading (inaudible)?      PRESIDENT TRUMP:  We haven’t found anything that could even come close to competing it.  (Inaudible) really competing with it, especially when you look at the location being right next to the airport.  Because so many places are so far away.  The drive is so long, and, you know, you need helicopters, you need all sorts of things.  This is something you can be there in literally a matter of minutes after you land.  So I think they will appreciate that.      Q    Chancellor, can you give us your views on Russia?      CHANCELLOR MERKEL:  (As interpreted.)  We will certainly address this issue in our talks here.  I want to see talks now between -- and a solution -- between the Ukrainian President Zelensky, the new Ukrainian President, and the Russian President.  We wish to see progress made on the Minsk Agreement. We've already made, as we saw, small progress with President Zelensky.  And I think we have to try and bring this forward in the next few months to come.      I, at any rate, have every interest in bringing about a solution to this we have.  It is a big problem, and we have enough problems in the world as it is, so I think we ought to make progress on this one.      Q    Mr. President, the G7 is about to lose its only female leader.  Are you concerned that the world isn’t doing enough to promote female leaders around the world?      CHANCELLOR MERKEL:  I'm still here.  (Laughter.)      PRESIDENT TRUMP:  She may surprise you.  She may be here a long time.  I know her well.  I don't know that you're right about that.  I don't know that you're right about that at all.      Q    Mr. President, speaking on female leaders, are you signing on to any of the gender equality initiatives and also the African partnership initiatives?      PRESIDENT TRUMP:  Well, we're looking at it very carefully.  We had some very good meetings on that, yes.  Very, very good meetings.  Really productive.  It was something that we are looking at very seriously, as a country, as an endorsement -- as a country.  Yeah.  So we're looking at that very seriously.      Q    Mr. President, have you discussed monetary policy with any of these leaders?      PRESIDENT TRUMP:  Not too much.      Q    Germany, of course, (inaudible).      PRESIDENT TRUMP:  It may come up at the very end, in our last meeting.  I think we're going to be discussing that a little bit.  But we haven’t had that meeting yet.  It's a big thing, monetary policy.  Very big.      SECRETARY MNUCHIN:  And fiscal policy.      PRESIDENT TRUMP:  And fiscal.      Q    Chancellor, did you invite the President to Berlin?  And what was his answer?      CHANCELLOR MERKEL:  (As interpreted.)  As I've already told you, I've invited the President repeatedly on previous occasions, and you have heard his answer just now.      PRESIDENT TRUMP:  We'll be there.  We'll be there.  I'm very honored by the invitation, and that's true.  And we will be there.  And maybe soon.  It's -- I have German in my blood.  I'll be there.      Q    Will you make a stop on the way to Poland, for example?      PRESIDENT TRUMP:  Well, I haven’t thought of that, but it could happen.  We have -- it's really soon.  It's a little soon.  But we'll be in Poland, I guess, next week.  And then, we'll be heading back.  It's a little bit too soon.  But we're going to be there very soon, in Germany.      Okay?  Thank you all very much.  Thank you.  Thank you.                              END            11:42 A.M. CEST

Office of the Press Secretary FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE August 26, 2019 REMARKS BY PRESIDENT TRUMP AND PRESIDENT EL-SISI OF THE ARAB REPUBLIC OF EGYPT BEFORE BILATERAL MEETING Hotel du Palais Biarritz, France   8:52 A.M. CEST      PRESIDENT TRUMP:  Thank you very much.  It's a great honor to be with President El-Sisi, who's a friend of mine for now a long time, it seems, right?  From even before the campaign.      PRESIDENT EL-SISI:  Yes.      PRESIDENT TRUMP:  We met during the campaign, a little before the campaign.  And we got along right away.  I didn’t actually ask for an endorsement, but I think if I would've asked, I might have gotten it.  (Laughter.)      We understood each other very well.  He's a very tough man, I will tell you that.  But he's also a good man, and he's done a fantastic job in Egypt.  Not easy.      So we'll be talking, today, trade.  We'll be talking military.  A lot of things are happening in your part of the world, as usual, unfortunately.      And also, very big things are happening with China.  You probably read the breaking news a little while ago that they want to make a deal -- they just came out -- and they want calm.  And that's a great thing, frankly.  And one of the reasons that he's a great leader -- President Xi -- and one of the reasons that China is a great country is they understand how life works.  And that was just announced.      China called, last night, our top trade people, and said, "Let's get back to the table."  So, we'll be getting back to the table.  And I think they want to do something.  They've been hurt very badly, but they understand this is the right thing to do.  And I have great respect for it.  I have great respect for it.  This is a very positive development for the world.      So we're going to have a further statement on China.  We'll have a news conference a little bit later, unless the media doesn’t want a news conference.  If you don’t want one, we'll cancel it immediately.  But assuming you want one, we'll have a news conference, which I think you might want.      In the meantime, Egypt has made tremendous progress under a great leader's leadership.  It's what it's all about.  And your staff also, who I've gotten to know -- fantastic people.  So I want to thank you and I want to congratulate you.      PRESIDENT EL-SISI:  (As interpreted.)  Your Excellency, I thank you very much.  It's, really, a pleasure to have this meeting with you.  We enjoy mutual understanding, appreciation, and respect.  And this is a marvelous thing that we're having together.      And as you mentioned, Your Excellency, our relationship started before the campaign, during the campaign, and afterwards.  And I'm confident that it is going to last.      We expressed our congratulations in advance, before, and we express our congratulations now, in advance.      There are a lot of issues of mutual interest that we're going to address in this meeting.  And we always enjoy this mutual and deep understanding.      I express my highest respect, thanks, and appreciation, Mr. President.      PRESIDENT TRUMP:  Thank you very much.  One of the things we'll be discussing -- one of the things we'll be discussing will be trade.  And I can't underestimate or speak more highly of the trade deal we made yesterday with Japan.  It's an incredible -- an incredible deal.  It's a massive deal, especially for our agriculture -- our farmers, our ranchers -- and e-commerce.  A big e-commerce component that is very important.      But it's a fantastic deal.  It's a tremendous deal.  It came at a great time.  And we've been helping the farmers anyway, but it's something that really has impressed me very much, Mr. President.  Our farmers, they don’t want to take.  They want to produce.  They want to be able to do their work.  They don’t want anything for nothing.  They're incredible people.  I call them "great American patriots."  And they've been really -- the job they're doing is something very special.      So we made a very big deal yesterday with Japan, and it is -- it's one of the biggest trade deals you'll ever see.      And my only problem, Mr. President, is when we make a really big and really great trade deal, like with Japan yesterday -- the media never writes about it.  They never write about it.  They only like to write about the bad things.  And there aren’t too many of them.  There aren’t too many of them.      Okay.  Do you have anything further to say?  Okay, thank you very much.      Q    Mr. President, can you tell us about the China call that you referred to?  When will the next round of negotiations start?  And did you speak to President Xi?      Q    Mr. President, can you tell me why the Palestinian Authority has been taken out of the U.S. State Department website?  And how is it conducive to the peace --      PRESIDENT TRUMP:  Go ahead.  What was your question?      Q    Mr. President, I asked you: Could you tell us a little bit more about the call you referred to?  When will the next round of negotiations with China start?      PRESIDENT TRUMP:  Well, we've gotten two calls.  And very, very good calls.  Very productive calls.  They mean business.  They want to be able to make a deal.  It's very important that -- yeah, I think it's very important for them. Look, they've lost 3 million jobs, and a lot of things have happened.  And it's why President Xi is a great leader.  He understands.  And it's going to be great for China.  It's going to be great for the U.S.  It's going to be great for the world.  He understands that, and he's able to do things that other people aren’t able to do.      So, we were called, and we're going to start very shortly to negotiate, and we'll see what happens.  But I think we're going to make a deal because they don’t want to lose their chains.  They have supply chains that are unbelievably intricate, and people are all leaving and they're going to other countries, including the United States, by the way.  We're going to get a lot of them too, a percentage.  Meaning, we'll get -- I think we're going to get a higher percentage than a lot of people would think.      So we are going to start talking very seriously, and we'll see how that goes.  We've had a lot of good things. We had other good news yesterday, but I can't talk to you about that.  And, frankly, you people -- you called that one totally wrong.  You had that one figured as wrong as you can figure it.  But we had some other good news yesterday.      Q    Are you speaking to President Xi directly?      PRESIDENT TRUMP:  I don’t want to say.  I can't comment on that.          Q    Do you have any response to Foreign Minister Zarif being here yesterday?  Were you surprised that he was here?      PRESIDENT TRUMP:  No.      Q    And did you talk about -- did you meet with him?  Did anyone from the U.S. government meet with him?      PRESIDENT TRUMP:  No, I don’t want to comment on that.  But he was here, and we'll see what happens with Iran.  But you called it wrong in the media last night.  I like to at least tell you when you call -- and I'll tell you when you call it right, too, which isn’t too often.      Q    Some of your allies, though, are saying that it was disrespectful for Macron to invite Zarif --      PRESIDENT TRUMP:  No, just the opposite.      Q    -- or that it was disrespectful to the U.S.      PRESIDENT TRUMP:  No, no, no.      Q    You don’t feel that way?      PRESIDENT TRUMP:  He asked my approval.  President Macron asked my -- we have a very good relationship.  Look -- you know, that’s another thing you got wrong.      I mean, we had -- this was the best meeting we’ve had with President Macron, in France.  It was straight up -- now, we’re not finished yet.  We have another, sort of, a day left.  We have a lot of meetings, including with the President of Egypt, which I’m looking forward to.  And I’m meeting with Angela Merkel in a little while.  And we're meeting with a few others.  And we have some very important meetings planned, plus we have some sessions.  And then we’ll have a news conference if you so choose.      Q    Mr. President --      PRESIDENT TRUMP:  But on the Macron -- no, no, that was -- he spoke to me.  He asked me.  I said, “If you want to do that, that’s okay."  I don’t consider that disrespectful at all, especially when he asked me for approval.      Q    Mr. President, President El-Sisi is an important figure in the U.S. peace --      PRESIDENT TRUMP:  Very important.      Q    Can you speak about that and whether taking Palestinian Authority out of the State Department’s website list of countries is conducive to that?      PRESIDENT TRUMP:  Well, you can ask Mike Pompeo, Secretary of State.  And he's working very, very hard on that situation, and very competently.  And if you look and see what’s going on with the Palestinians and with Israel, we’d like to see if we can make a deal.  It's very -- it got complicated by the Israeli elections, but we’re going to know who the Prime Minister is going to be fairly soon.  It’s happening along.  That was a complicating factor.      I think the Palestinians would like to make a deal.  As you know, I cut off most funding to the Palestinians -- a lot of funding.  And I think they’d like to get it back.  I think they’d like to make a deal.  We’ll see what happens.  Nobody has ever done that before.  They used to negotiate paying a fortune of money -- $750 million.  They'd pay, pay, pay.  And they’d be treated with disrespect, but they'd keep paying.  This went on for years.  So I don’t believe in that.      We cut off their funding -- a lot of it.  And we’ll see what happens.  But I think they want to make a deal, the Palestinians.  And I think Israel would like to make a deal too.      I think people, after so many years and decades, I think they’re a little tired of fighting.  Even he gets tired of fighting.  Him, I’m not sure about.  I think he always wants to fight.      Q    Are you confident that it’s going to be released right after the Israeli election?      PRESIDENT TRUMP:  Oh, I don’t -- you mean the deal?      Q    The peace (inaudible).      PRESIDENT TRUMP:  No, of course not.  It won’t be before the election, I don’t think.      Q    No, after.  After the election.      PRESIDENT TRUMP:  But I think you may see what the deal is before the election.  But I -- and I think a deal will happen.  But everybody says that that’s a deal that can’t be made.  They always refer to that deal -- Israel and the Palestinians; there’s tremendous hatred for many, many decades.  And everybody says that is a deal that cannot be made.  So we’ll see if we can make it.      Q    When did President Macron tell you he was going to invite the --      PRESIDENT TRUMP:  I don’t want to comment on that.  But I knew he was coming in and I respected the fact that he was coming in.  And he met with President Macron.  And Iran has got a very difficult situation.  They’re in a position that’s not a very good position from the standpoint of economics.  And that’s okay, because we can clear that up very quickly.      I’m looking to have a really good Iran, really strong.  We’re not looking for regime change.  You’ve seen how that works over the last 20 years.  That hasn’t been too good.  And we’re looking to make --- make Iran rich again.  Let’s -- let them be rich.  Let’s let them do well, if they want, or they can be poor as can be.  They can be like they are now.      And I’ll tell you what: I don’t think it’s acceptable, the way they’re being forced to live in Iran.  And what we want is very sim- -- it’s got to be non-nuclear.  It’s got to be non-nuclear.  We’re going to talk about ballistic missiles.  We’re going to talk about timing.  We’re going to talk about the length of the agreement, which, as you know, it expires in a very short period of time.      I mean, the agreement that President Obama made expires in a very short period of time.  What kind of agreement is that?  He paid $150 billion for a short-term agreement.  He’d like to have $150 billion for a short -- he’ll do -- he’ll do that deal.      Plus, he gave them $1.8 billion in cash.  Where’s your finance minister?  Finance minister?  Which one?      MINISTER SHOUKRY:  Not here, but I’ll --      PRESIDENT TRUMP:  Okay, explain to him, one hundred -- $1.8 billion in cash.  Will you take it?  Egypt will take it.      Q    Mr. President, what’s the next step, then, with Iran, from your perspective?      PRESIDENT TRUMP:  Well, we’ll see what happens.  You know, it’s all very new.  They’re under a lot of financial stress.  We put sanctions.  Secretary of the Treasury is here right now.  And he’s, really, very expert at what he does.  And he’s done a very effective job.      They used to say that -- look, we are the largest economy, by far, in the world.  When I became President, we were heading to be the second largest.  China was going to overtake us.  Not going to happen.  Not going to happen anytime, I’ll tell you, when I’m here.  Can’t happen.      We’ve picked up $20 trillion in worth.  And China has lost $20-, $25-, $30 trillion in worth.  We’re now almost double the size the economy.      If I hadn’t won, our economy now would have been overtaken by China.  And all these clowns that are sitting on television that have been running this government for many years, that have been taken to the cleaners by China, they’re all sitting there saying, “Well, I don’t think the President is negotiating properly.”  They don’t know what they’re talking about.      I have great respect for the fact that China called; they want to make a deal.  I have great respect.  And I have great respect for President Xi.  And I think we’re going to have a deal because now we’re dealing on proper terms.  They understand, and we understand.  But that’s a great thing that happened.  And they want to get something done.  Now, maybe it won’t get done, but this is the first time I’ve seen them where they really do want to make a deal.  And I think that’s a very positive step.      Q    But with regard to Iran?          PRESIDENT TRUMP:  And as far as Iran is concerned, that was with great respect.  And I spoke to President Macron yesterday, and I knew everything he was doing, and I approved whatever he was doing.  And I thought it was fine.  And I think it’s too soon to meet.  I didn’t want to meet.  I said, “I don’t want to meet right now.”  But it’s soon going to be time to meet with Iran, and it’s going to be a great thing for Iran.  They have a great potential.      Iran has great potential.  And you know who else has great potential?  North Korea.  Kim Jong Un.  And under his leadership, North Korea has great potential.  And I don’t think North Korea wants to blow it.  Because if they blow it, it won’t be good.      Q    You didn’t want to meet with Zarif, but did you send a message to him on Iran at all?      PRESIDENT TRUMP:  I don’t want to comment on that.  I can’t comment on that.      Q    Are you considering French wine tariffs, Mr. President?  Is that a possibility?      PRESIDENT TRUMP:  Am I going to tariff French wine?      Q    Yes.      PRESIDENT TRUMP:  Well, it depends on the deal we work out on the digital tax.      Q    And what's the status of that, sir?      PRESIDENT TRUMP:  We’re negotiating right now.      Q    And on Iran, sir, are you willing to waive oil sanctions in order to get Iran to the table?      PRESIDENT TRUMP:  I'm not going to tell you what I’m willing to do.  But Iran has a chance to really build themselves up and be a very great nation -- greater than before.  But they have to stop terrorism.  That is your number-one nation of terror.  Now, not in the last year and half, two years, because they can’t spend like they used to spend.      They took President Obama’s $150 billion and they doled it out to terrorists all over the place.  I think they’re going to change.  I really do.  I believe they have a chance to be a very special nation.  I hope that’s true.      Q    Mr. President, can you speak about the trade deal with Japan?  Many are commenting that the Japanese Prime Minister seemed less enthusiastic than you.  Can you ensure that he's actually onboard with this?      PRESIDENT TRUMP:  Well, you have to understand, he’s a friend of mine, one of my closest friends.  In this world, he’s one of my closest friends.      They send us millions and millions of cars; they have for many years.  They’re essentially not taxed.  So they send them in from Japan.  They’re essentially not taxed.  And my first step with Japan was to say, “You have to move car companies into the United States.”  And they did.  Many car companies are now operating plants in the United States and building plants in the United States.  Because we have had, over the years, a tremendous trade deficit with Japan.      But we have a lot of cards with Japan.  Number one is my relationship with Prime Minister Abe.  So I don’t think we have to use the cards.  But the ultimate card is they send us millions and millions of cars.  Essentially, it’s 2.5 percent, but there’s ways of getting around it.  Essentially, non-tariff, free.  Now, if I won’t to put tariffs on those cars, I’d make so much money for this country, your head would spin.      So, yeah, he’s going to make the deal.  I feel pretty certain about that.  That’s what I do.  We have cards.      That’s a thing people didn’t understand.  He knew this a long time ago.  We have the cards.  We’re the big piggybank that everybody has been robbing for 35 years.  We have all the cards.  But we never played them because we never had a President that understood this.  And we never had an administration or trade negotiators that understood it.      Q    Are you planning to eventually take off the 2.5 percent auto tax?      PRESIDENT TRUMP:  Nobody has ever asked me that question but you.  Why would I do that?  Tell me.  Why?      Okay?  Thank you very much.  Thank you.  We'll be having a press conference.                               END               9:11 A.M. CEST

Office of the Press Secretary FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE August 25, 2019 REMARKS BY PRESIDENT TRUMP AND PRIME MINISTER ABE OF JAPAN AFTER MEETING ON TRADE Centre de Congrès Bellevue Biarritz, France   3:14 P.M. CEST      PRESIDENT TRUMP:  So, thank you very much.  We've been working on a deal with Japan for a long time.  It involves agricultural and it involves e-commerce and many other things.  It's a very big transaction, and we've agreed in principle.  It's billions and billions of dollars.  Tremendous for the farmers.      And one of the things that Prime Minister Abe has also agreed to is we have excess corn in various parts of our country, with our farmers, because China did not do what they said they were going to do.  And Prime Minister Abe, on behalf of Japan, they're going to be buying all of that corn.  And that's a very big transaction.  They're going to be buying it from our farmers.      So the deal is done in principle.  We probably will be signing it around UNGA.  It will be around the date of UNGA, which we all look forward to.  And we're very far down the line.  We've agreed to every point, and now we're papering it and we'll be signing it at a formal ceremony.      And I just want to thank Prime Minister Abe and the Japanese people.  You've been a fantastic friend, and we very much appreciate it.  This is a tremendous deal for the United States.  It's a, really, tremendous deal for our farmers and agricultural ranchers, and also involves other things, including, as I said, e-commerce.      So, it's very big and we look forward to it.  And thank you very much.      PRIME MINISTER ABE:  (As interpreted.)  With regard to the Japan-U.S. trade agreement, a series of intensive negotiations have been conducted between Minister Motegi and Ambassador Lighthizer in line with the Japan-U.S. joint statements on September 26 of last year.      And by now, how we successfully reached consensus with regard to the core elements of both the agricultural and industrial products of our bilateral consultations on August the 23rd.  And I certainly welcome this development.      And now, as Mr. President pointed out, next month, at the end of September, both of us are going to attend the U.N. General Assembly.  And, on that occasion, I do think that we'll have the bilateral summit meeting.  So we certainly have -- we would like to set the goal of signing this Japan-U.S. trade agreement, seizing that opportunity.      We still have some remaining work that has to be done at the working level, namely finalizing the wording of the trade agreement and also finalizing the content of the agreement itself.  But we would like to make sure that our teams would accelerate the remaining work for us to achieve this goal of realizing the signing of the agreement on the margins of the U.N. General Assembly at the end of September.      And I'm very happy that both of our teams have been working on the specific issue in a win-win manner, bringing both the benefits to Japan and the United States.  And if we are to see the entry into force of this trade agreement, I'm quite sure that there will be the immense positive impact on both the Japanese as well as American economies.      PRESIDENT TRUMP:  Perhaps you may want to discuss the additional purchase of all of that corn, because we have a tremendous amount right now.  And we've been working with the farmers and making very, very large payments for the unfair way they were treated by China.      And the farmers are very happy.  They like -- they like their President.  They're very happy.  But I think it's even better, and I think they're even happier, when they hear you're actually buying their products.      So perhaps you could say a couple of words just about the hundreds of millions of dollars of corn -- existing corn -- that's there, that you'll be buying.      PRIME MINISTER ABE:  (As interpreted.)  So with regard to the potential purchase of American corn, in Japan we are now experiencing inspect pest on some of the agricultural products.  And there is a need for us to buy certain amount of agricultural products.  And this will be done by the Japanese private sector.  That means that Japanese corporations will need to buy additional agricultural products.      And we believe that there is a need for us to implement emergency support measures for the Japanese private sector to have the early purchase of the American corn.      Of course, there is something that is already a shared understanding between -- by the Japanese public, Japanese private sector, as well.  So that's why, against such backdrop, I do think that there is a possibility for us to cooperate to address this issue.      And with regard to further details, I would like to continue discussing with you, Mr. President.      PRESIDENT TRUMP:  And the Japanese private sector listens to the Japanese public sector very strongly.  I'm not sure.  It's a little different than it is in our country perhaps.  But they are -- they have great respect for the public sector.  So when I hear the private sector has agreed to this, we’re very happy about that.      And I’d just like to ask, perhaps, Bob, and your counterpart, if you’d like to say a few words.      AMBASSADOR LIGHTHIZER:  Great.  Thank you, Mr. President and Prime Minister, and Minister Motegi.      Well, first of all, what we have is an agreement on core principles.  It has three parts: agriculture, industrial tariffs, and digital trade.  And from our point of view, it is extremely important to our farmers and ranchers and those people who work in the digital space.      We’ll get into the details at another time, but generally, Japanese is our third-largest agricultural market.  They import about $14 billion worth of U.S. agricultural products.  And this will open up markets to over $7 billion of those products.       In the agriculture area, it will be a major benefit for beef, pork, wheat, dairy products, wine, ethanol, and a variety of other products.      It will lead to substantial reductions in tariffs and non-tariff barriers across the board.  And I’ll just give you one example: Japan is, by far, our biggest beef market.  We sell over $2 billion worth of beef to Japan.  And this allow us to do with lower tariffs and to compete more effectively with people across the board, particularly the TPP countries and Europe.      So it’s very good news for our farmers and ranchers, but it’s also good news for those who work in the digital e-commerce space where it is the gold standard of an international agreement.  This is an area that not only has been important to the President but been of particular importance to the Prime Minister.              So we’re very excited about this agreement.  We look forward to finishing the additional work and having it be implemented as soon as possible in Japan and the United States.      PRESIDENT TRUMP:  Would you like to say something?      MINISTER MOTEGI:  Thank you very much --       PRESIDENT TRUMP:  Thank you.           MINISTER MOTEGI:  -- Mr. President and Prime Minister Abe.      (As interpreted.)  As the Prime Minister mentioned, based on the Japan-U.S. joint statement released by the two leaders on the 26th of September last year, myself and Ambassador Lighthizer had a series of ministerial negotiation on the Japan-U.S. trade agreement.      As we all know, the United States is the largest economy in the world, whereas Japan is also ranked third in terms of the total GDP.  And also, among the (inaudible) economies, we are the very first and the second largest economies.  And with this milestone of achievements we now have the full concurrence on various issues covering the agricultural, as well as industrial products, and also the digital and e-commerce.  And the significance of this achievement cannot be over-emphasized.  And I’m very happy to share this important achievement with you.      And on this occasion, myself and Ambassador Lighthizer had a chance to present what we have agreed at the ministerial level, and we successfully both obtained endorsement from President Trump and also Prime Minister Abe.      So the key mission for both myself and Ambassador Lighthizer is to complete the remaining work as soon as possible.  Of course, I have my own team, which will focus on completing the remaining work.  And I certainly hope that by working hand-in-hand between myself and Ambassador Lighthizer, and also between the Japanese and American teams, we will like to complete the remaining work as soon as possible.      PRESIDENT TRUMP:  Thank you very much.  I appreciate it.      Q    Mr. President?      PRESIDENT TRUMP:  Yes.  Go ahead.      Q    Will the auto tariffs remain in place?  The U.S. tariffs on autos.      PRESIDENT TRUMP:  Are you talking about with regard to China?      Q    Yeah.  With regard to Japan.      AMBASSADOR LIGHTHIZER:  Well, there are a series -- pardon me.  There are a series of industrial tariffs that are being reduced.  Auto tariffs are not in that group.      Q    So they remain?      PRESIDENT TRUMP:  It depends.  Are you talking about Japan or are you talking China?  China is a very different situation.      Q    Well, I’d love to hear your answer to both.      PRESIDENT TRUMP:  Well, I can tell you -- I mean, on China, they remain.  On Japan, they stay the same.  They're staying the same.      This is a massive purchase of wheat also, in addition to everything else.  This is a very large purchase of wheat, and the very, very large order of corn will go quickly.  But importantly, it’s something that wasn’t in the agreement that we may not even -- we may do that as a supplementary agreement.  But we appreciate that very much.  We just agreed to that on the other idea of the door. So I just appreciate that very much.  And we’ll do a great job.  And the farmers are very thankful.  Thank you very much.      Q    Mr. President, on a separate issue, there are reports that the Iranian Foreign Minister is coming to Biarritz.  Can you confirm that?  Or do you plan to meet with him?      PRESIDENT TRUMP:  No comment.      Okay?  Thank you very much, everybody.                                END                3:34 P.M. CEST

REMARKS BY PRESIDENT TRUMP AND PRIME MINISTER TRUDEAU OF CANADA BEFORE BILATERAL MEETING Centre de Congrès Bellevue Biarritz, France

Office of the Press Secretary FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE August 25, 2019 REMARKS BY PRESIDENT TRUMP AND PRIME MINISTER TRUDEAU OF CANADA BEFORE BILATERAL MEETING Centre de Congrès Bellevue Biarritz, France   12:24 P.M. CEST      PRIME MINISTER TRUDEAU:  Well, it's always a pleasure to sit down with President Trump.  We've had some good conversations already, particularly on the global economy.  The Canadian and American economy are doing well, partially because of the trading relationship we have and the great work we did.      Quite frankly, around the table there's a lot of people wanting to make trade deals with each other.  And we have a deal that we were able to negotiate that’s good for our workers, good for our citizens, good for the middle class.  And that’s the kind of thing that we need to see more of around the world.      Always a pleasure to talk about a broad range of global issues.  And it's good to sit down with you.      PRESIDENT TRUMP:  So, we're going to be significantly expanding our trading relationship when the USMCA gets done and completed.  Our farmers love it.  The unions love it.  The workers love it.  Manufacturers love it.  Everybody likes it.  I think most Democrats like it.  So, hopefully, that'll be put to a vote fairly soon.      It's got tremendous support -- both, I believe, Democrat and Republican.  It has been signed and finalized, essentially, by Canada and, essentially, by Mexico.  So we're waiting for that from the United States.      And we have -- we have really great support.  And it's something -- I think it's a very special agreement.  And it replaces NAFTA, which is perhaps the worst trade agreement ever done.  Certainly within our country it's the worst.  I can think of one worse, but it's not within our country, it's outside of our country, and that’s the WTO.  That’s a beauty.      So we're very happy with the agreement, and I congratulate you.  I hope it gets done.  I guess we should save the congratulations for when they vote, but hopefully that will be put to a vote pretty soon.      Thank you very much, everybody.  Thank you.                               END            12:27 P.M. CEST

Office of the Press Secretary FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE August 25, 2019 REMARKS BY PRESIDENT TRUMP AND PRIME MINISTER JOHNSON OF THE UNITED KINGSDOM BEFORE WORKING BREAKFAST Hotel du Palais Biarritz, France   8:16 A.M. CEST      PRESIDENT TRUMP:  Hello, folks.  How are you?  (Inaudible.)      PRIME MINISTER JOHNSON:  (Inaudible).      PRESIDENT TRUMP:  Thank you, folks.  Do you know who this is?  Does everybody know?  He's going to be a fantastic Prime Minister.  And we’re having very, very good meetings.  So far, so good.      PRIME MINISTER JOHNSON:  We're having terrific meetings.  And we're going to do a fantastic deal once we clear up some of the obstacles in our path.      PRESIDENT TRUMP:  And that’s a fantastic thing for us.  We're talking about many different deals, but we're having a good time.  As far as UK and the United States, we're working on a very big trade deal and I think it's going to work out very well.      So thank you very much.  See you later.  Thank you.                                    END            8:17 A.M. CEST

REMARKS BY PRESIDENT TRUMP AND PRIME MINISTER JOHNSON OF THE UNITED KINGDOM IN WORKING BREAKFAST Hotel du Palais Biarritz, France

Office of the Press Secretary FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE August 25, 2019

REMARKS BY PRESIDENT TRUMP AND PRIME MINISTER JOHNSON OF THE UNITED KINGDOM IN WORKING BREAKFAST Hotel du Palais Biarritz, France   8:21 A.M. CEST      PRESIDENT TRUMP:  Thank you very much, everybody.  We're having a very good meeting -- a very good series of meetings.  Last night, we had dinner.  It worked out.  I think it was fantastic.      PRIME MINISTER JOHNSON:  It was fantastic.  We covered -- well, we covered three subjects, actually.  We were going to cover 10 subjects, but in the end, we did three.      PRESIDENT TRUMP:  Three that we'll talk about.      PRIME MINISTER JOHNSON:  We do three in detail.      Q    Mr. President, do you have any advice for Boris Johnson on Brexit?      PRESIDENT TRUMP:  He needs no advice.  He's the right man for the job.  I've been saying that for a long time.  It didn’t make your predecessor very happy.  But I've been saying it for a long time: He's the right man for the job.      PRIME MINISTER JOHNSON:  You're on message there.  (Laughter.)  I'm grateful -- I'm very grateful for that.  And we're looking forward to having some pretty comprehensive talks about how to take forward the relationship in all sorts of ways, particularly on trade.  And we're very excited about that.      PRESIDENT TRUMP:  We're having very good trade talks between the UK and ourselves.  We're going to do a very big trade deal -- bigger than we've ever had with the UK.      And now, they won't have it.  At some point, they won't have the obstacle of -- they won't have the anchor around their ankle, because that's what they had.  So, we're going to have some very good trade talks and big numbers.      PRIME MINISTER JOHNSON:  Talking of the anchor -- talking of the anchor, Donald, what we want is for our ships to be able to take freight, say, from New York to Boston, which at the moment they can't do.  So, we want cabotage.  How about that?      PRESIDENT TRUMP:  Many things -- many things we’re talking about.      PRIME MINISTER JOHNSON:  That would be a good thing.      Q    How fast do you think you'll be able to make a trade deal?      PRESIDENT TRUMP:  Pretty quickly.  We don't anticipate any problems.  Before, we were sort of stymied.  Well, I was stymied by the other side because nothing went -- nothing got done on the other side, as you've seen from Brexit. This is a different person, and this is a person that's going to be a great prime minister, in my opinion.  Boris, it's only my opinion.      PRIME MINISTER JOHNSON:  No, look, I'm not going to -- I'm not going to dissent.  I'm not going to discourage you from that, Donald.      But obviously, I have memories of American trade negotiations in the past, and I have a formidable respect for U.S. trade negotiations.  And I know that there will be some tough talks ahead, because, at the moment, you know, we still don't -- I don’t think we sell a single joint of British lamb to the United States.  We don't sell any beef.  We don't sell any pork pies.  And there are clearly huge opportunities for the UK to penetrate the American market in the way that we currently don't.  And we're very interested to talk about that with you.      Q    Mr. President, do you think that you will invite Putin to next year's G7, sir?      PRESIDENT TRUMP:  That, I don't know.  We did discuss it.  We had a very good discussion on Russia and President Putin, and a lively discussion, but, really, a good one.  And it's certainly --      PRIME MINISTER JOHNSON:  It was lively.      PRESIDENT TRUMP:  It's certainly possible.  It's certainly possible.  We'll see.      Q    Mr. President, are your allies pressuring you to give up the trade war with China?      PRESIDENT TRUMP:  No.  Not at all.  I haven’t heard that at all, no.  I think they respect the trade war.  It has to happen.  China has been -- I can only speak for the United States.  I can't say what they've been doing to the UK and to other places.  But from the standpoint of the United States, what they've done is outrageous that Presidents and administrations allowed them to get away with taking hundreds of billions of dollars out every year, putting it into China.  So, the answer is, nobody has told me that, and nobody would tell me that.      Q    Mr. President, any second thoughts on escalating the trade war with China?      PRESIDENT TRUMP:  Yeah, sure.  Why not?      Q    Second thoughts?  Yes?      PRESIDENT TRUMP:  Might as well.  Might as well.      Q    You have second thoughts about escalating the war with China?      PRESIDENT TRUMP:  I have second thoughts about everything.      Q    Are you going to declare a national emergency on China?      PRESIDENT TRUMP:  Well, I have the right to, if I want.  I could declare a national emergency.  I think when they steal and take out, and -- intellectual property theft, anywhere from $300 billion to $500 billion a year, and where we have a total loss of almost a trillion dollars a year -- for many years, this has been going on -- in many ways, that's an emergency.      I have no plan right now.  Actually, we're getting along very well with China right now.  We're talking.  I think they want to make a deal much more than I do.  We're getting a lot of money in tariffs.  It's coming in by the billions.  We never got 10 cents from China.  So we'll see what happens.  But we are talking to China very seriously.      Q    Are you concerned about how the market is reacting to the tariffs?      PRESIDENT TRUMP:  No.  The market is doing great.  Our country is doing great.  Everybody was telling me, yesterday, people are trying to copy the formula.  We've cut taxes way down.  We got rid of regulations -- large numbers -- more than any President has gotten rid of.  And we're doing very well.  Our country is doing fantastically well.      I mean, you people want a recession because you think maybe that's the way to get Trump out.  Maybe that's the way we get him out.      But I don’t even think that would even work, because, look, if there's anything, it's -- you know, we've got to go into trade negotiations to get it right.  But, ultimately, it'll be many times what it was before.  Our country is doing really well.  We have horrible trade deals, and I'm straightening them out.  The biggest one, by far, is China.      PRIME MINISTER JOHNSON:  Yeah.  Look, I just want to say I congratulate the President on everything that the American economy is achieving.  It's fantastic to see that.      But just to register the faint, sheep-like note of our view on the trade war, we're in favor of trade peace on the whole, and dialing it down if we can.      Q    Are you in favor of trade peace with China?      PRIME MINISTER JOHNSON:  Well, we think that, on the whole, we're -- the UK has profited massively in the last 200 years from free trade, and that's what we want to see.  And so we're keen to see -- we don't like tariffs on the whole.      PRESIDENT TRUMP:  How about the last three years?  (Laughs.)  Don't talk about the last three.  Two-hundred, I agree with you.      Q    Prime Minister, have you made clear that, in any trade talks with the U.S., the NHS will be off the table and (inaudible)?      PRIME MINISTER JOHNSON:  Not only -- not only have I made clear that, but Donald, the President, has made that very, very clear as well.  And so there's complete unanimity on that point.      Q    Mr. President, do you have plans today to announce a trade deal with Japan?      PRESIDENT TRUMP:  We're very close to a major deal with Japan.  As you know, Prime Minister Abe and I are very good friends and -- really good friends.  We've been working on it for five months.  Bob Lighthizer is here someplace.  Bob?  Do you want to say something about the deal with Japan?      AMBASSADOR LIGHTHIZER:  I'm going to say that, presumably, something will be announced after you meet with the Prime Minister of Japan.  That's all I'm going to say.      PRESIDENT TRUMP:  We're working on a very big deal with Japan, and we're very close to getting it.  And, frankly, I think what's happening in China helps with respect to Japan.  But it's a very big deal.  It'll be one of the biggest deals we've ever made with Japan.      Okay?  Thank you all very much.                              END                8:28 A.M. CEST

REMARKS BY PRESIDENT TRUMP AND PRIME MINISTER ABE OF JAPAN BEFORE BILATERAL MEETING Centre de Congrès Bellevue Biarritz, France

Office of the Press Secretary FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE August 25, 2019 REMARKS BY PRESIDENT TRUMP AND PRIME MINISTER ABE OF JAPAN BEFORE BILATERAL MEETING Centre de Congrès Bellevue Biarritz, France   11:32 A.M. CEST      PRESIDENT TRUMP:  Thank you very much.  It's a great honor to be here.  We're having some very good discussions, maybe even great discussions.  And I will say that our relationship with Prime Minister Abe and Japan has been, I think, the best it's ever been.  I don't know, I'll let you speak to that.  But I think it's the best it's ever been.      Go ahead.      We're discussing trade.  We're doing a lot of trade together; a lot of military trade, actually, which is a big component.  We're also talking, obviously, about North Korea.  And those discussions are going very well.  And we're discussing lots of other things.  And the relationship between us, but also the relationship with us and the other countries, has really been -- of the G7 -- has really been outstanding.      From the moment we got here, we've been treated beautifully.  I think I speak for Shinzo and myself.  We've been treated beautifully.  And I want to congratulate -- and I have to say "thus far," because we're probably halfway through.  But thus far, this has been really a great G7, and I want to congratulate France and your President because they have really done a great job.      Thank you.      PRIME MINISTER ABE:  (As interpreted.)  I would like to congratulate you on the birth of your 10th grandchild.      PRESIDENT TRUMP:  Thank you.      PRIME MINISTER ABE:  (As interpreted.)  And speaking of our intensive diplomatic engagement, as shown by my own visit to Washington, D.C. back in April, followed by you and Madam First Lady's state visit to Japan in the month of May as a very first state guest under the new era called Reiwa, and also followed by our meeting on the margins of G20 Osaka Summit.      So, as shown by these meetings, we have been conducting very frequent exchange of opinions, as well as visits.  And looking back at the history of Japan-U.S. relations, we've never seen this frequent level of visits between the two leaders as we have seen at this moment.      So I think it is fair to say that, we as the leaders of Japan and the United States, now enjoy a robust relationship of trust more so than ever, and same can be said vis-à-vis the status of the Japan-U.S. relations in general.      And thanks to your tremendous support for me as a chair of the G20 Osaka Summit, we could send out a really powerful message toward addressing various global challenges.  And just as importantly, I am ready to work very closely with you, Donald, so as to bring this year's G7 Summit to a successful conclusion.      So, on this occasion, I certainly look forward to discuss with you specific ways to deepen our alliance between the two countries and also the regional situations, including North Korea as well as Iran.  And, of course, we look forward to discussing bilateral trade as well as the economic relationship.  And I certainly hope to have a very productive discussion with you.      PRESIDENT TRUMP:  Well, thank you.  And I want to also congratulate the great Matsuyama.  You know who Matsuyama is?  He's a great golfer that we played with and we had a lot of fun.      And Shinzo is a very good golfer, and we have a lot of fun playing golf together.  And we played with Ernie Els here, and Shinzo reciprocated with a great player, Matsuyama.  And last week, in a big tournament -- which is a one of the very biggest tournaments -- he came in third, and he shot a 62 or 63 in the final round, which is not bad.  Right?  Which is not bad.  So, he's a great young man and he's a great golfer.  And please congratulate him for me.  Thank you.      Okay.      Q    Mr. President, do you have a trade deal with Japan?  Have you agreed on a trade deal?      PRESIDENT TRUMP:  We're working on one, and we're fairly close.  And I don't know as to, Bob Lighthizer, what's happening.  Can you give us a status report?      AMBASSADOR LIGHTHIZER:  Well, we're very close and we've been working intensively.  And hopefully, as a result of this meeting, we'll be able to come to an agreement on core principles.      PRESIDENT TRUMP:  A very big deal.  It's a major deal with Japan.  If it gets done, we'll possibly know by the end of this meeting.      Q    Mr. President, did you sign off on a statement to Iran -- a message to Iran that President Macron says he's going to deliver on behalf of all the G7 countries?      PRESIDENT TRUMP:  No, I haven’t discussed that.  No.      Q    It's --      PRESIDENT TRUMP:  No, I haven’t.      Q    Do you support President Macron's outreach to Iranian authorities?      PRESIDENT TRUMP:  Sure.  And I also support Prime Minister Abe's outreach because he's also speaking to Iran, and they have a very good relationship, from what I understand.  But Iran is no longer the same country it was -- as it was two and a half years ago.  But we'll do our own outreach.  But, you know, I can't stop people from talking.  If they want to talk, they can talk.      Q    What are some of the issues you all talked about at dinner last night?      PRESIDENT TRUMP:  Why don’t you tell me what we spoke about last night?  (Laughter.)      Q    I'm asking you, sir.      PRESIDENT TRUMP:  Because there was a lot of inaccurate reporting.  We had a really good dinner last night.      And I had a fantastic lunch with the President of France yesterday.  The best -- frankly -- and I told him, and I was totally honest -- probably an hour and a half.  Many of you saw it.  I think it was the best hour and a half I've ever spent with him, President Macron.      It was a perfect period of time.  And yet, I picked up stories, and I read like it was the opposite.  It was really was.  I mean, it doesn’t matter; you can write whatever you want to write.  But it was false reporting.      We had a very, very good lunch, and we had a very, very good dinner last night.  Everybody was at the dinner.  And I think it was really good.  We discussed Iran.  We discussed trade.  We discussed China.  And we discussed many things.  But it was a very, very good -- a very good dinner.          Q    Mr. President, you said you discussed Russia, and you said earlier it was a "lively" discussion.  Do you feel that the other members of the G7 would encourage Russia to join again, the way you are?      PRESIDENT TRUMP:  I think that's a work in progress.  We have a number of people that would like to see Russia back.  I think it would be -- I think it would be advantageous to many things in the world.  I think it would be a positive.  Other people agree with me.  And it's something that we're discussing.      I don't know that we'll make a decision one way or the other, but we did have a discussion about Russia last night, as to whether or not we want to invite them back.  I think it's advantageous.  I think it's a positive.  Other people agree with me, and some people don’t necessarily agree.      Q    How do you expect to overcome those differences?      PRESIDENT TRUMP:  Well, I don’t think we're going to -- maybe we won't.  Maybe we'll just leave it the way it is.      Q    Can you say who were some of those who agreed with you on inviting Russia back?      PRESIDENT TRUMP:  I could, but I don’t think it's necessary.  Some of the people that I was surprised -- I was actually surprised at a couple of them because I didn’t think they had a good relationship, and it was good enough that they said, "Yes, we'd like to have them back."      It's -- it's ongoing discussion.  No decision -- no decision was made.  We didn’t do a vote or anything.  Just discussion.      Q    Are you concerned at all about North Korea conducting more tests?      PRESIDENT TRUMP:  I'm not happy about it.  But, again, he's not in violation of an agreement.  We speak.  I received a very nice letter from him last week.  We speak.  He was upset that South Korea was doing the "war games," as you call them.  I don’t think they were necessary either, if you want to know the truth.      And I said to my people, “You can have them or not.  I would recommend against them, but I’m going to let you do exactly what you want to do.”  I said that to all of my people.  I said, “I don’t want to interfere because I think if you want to do them, you can do them, if you think it’s necessary.  But I think it’s a total waste of money.”  And they did a modified version of them.      John Bolton, would you say that’s correct?  It’s a very much      --      AMBASSADOR BOLTON:  Yes, very much modified.      PRESIDENT TRUMP:  -- modified version.  But I think it was unnecessary to do, frankly.      Q    Any update on another meeting with North Korea?      PRESIDENT TRUMP:  Probably have one.  Yeah.  Probably.  But -- so I’m not -- I’m not liking short range because short range is Shinzo's -- you know, it’s really his territory.  I mean, I’d like to ask, Shinzo, how do you feel about North Korea and the testing of short-range missiles?  He’s not thrilled.          PRIME MINISTER ABE:  (As interpreted.)  So, our position is very clear: That the launch of short-range ballistic missiles by North Korea clearly violates the relevant U.N. Security Council resolutions.  So, in that sense, it was extremely regrettable for us to experience another round of the launch of the short-range ballistic missiles by North Korea in recent days.      PRESIDENT TRUMP:  And I can understand how the Prime Minister of Japan feels.  I mean, I can.  It’s different.  But, I mean, I can understand that fully.      Q    Mr. Prime Minister, would you like President Trump to come further to your position on this?      PRIME MINISTER ABE:  (As interpreted.)  As we have done before, I would like to make sure that we -- meaning, myself and President Trump -- will always stay on the same page when it comes to North Korea.      And also, I would like to underscore that I fully support the U.S.-North Korea process 100 percent.      Q    But are you on the same page, if you see these things so differently?  I mean --      PRESIDENT TRUMP:  I think, ultimately, we’re always on the same page.  As long as he’s Prime Minister and as long as I’m President, I think we’re always on the same page.      Q    Sorry, but, Mr. President, you don’t think that the short-term -- or the short missile launches are --      PRESIDENT TRUMP:  No, because I never --      Q    -- are a violation of U.N. resolutions?      PRESIDENT TRUMP:  -- because I never discussed that with him personally.  I mean, you’re talking about personally; I never discussed that with him.  I discussed long-range ballistic, and, that, he cannot do.  And he hasn’t been doing it.  And he hasn’t been doing nuclear testing.  He has done short range, much more standard missiles.  A lot of people are testing those missiles, not just him.  A lot of people are testing those missiles.  We’re in the world of missiles, folks, whether you like it or not.       I have confidence that, in the end, Kim Jong Un -- who I’ve gotten to know very well -- will do the right thing.  I feel that he will do the right thing.  I think it’s to his advantage to do the right thing.  I think North Korea has tremendous potential as a country, economically.  I think it’s got -- I think, maybe, there’s no country that you could talk of in terms of emerging that has the potential that North Korea has.  I think he understands that better than anybody.  And I think, in the end, he will do the right thing.      We’ll see.  Maybe not, but maybe.  But I think he’ll do the right thing.  We'll see what happens.      Thank you all very much.                                END            11:47 A.M. CEST