President Trump, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, and their aides meet in the Oval Office, where they take reporters' questions and ultimately talks break down in front of the cameras.
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NewsTranscript
00:00Well, thank you very much.
00:03It's an honor to have President Zelensky of Ukraine.
00:07And we've been working very hard, very close, and we've actually known each other for a
00:11long time.
00:12We've been dealing with each other for a long time and very well.
00:16We had little negotiations, but that worked out great, I think, for both countries.
00:21I think for the world, actually, beyond both countries.
00:25But we have something that is a very fair deal.
00:30And we look forward to getting in and digging, digging, digging and working and getting some
00:35of the rare earth.
00:36But it means we're going to be inside, and it's a big commitment from the United States.
00:42And we appreciate working with you very much.
00:45And we will continue to do that.
00:47We have had some very good discussions with Russia.
00:51I spoke with President Putin, and we're going to try and bring this to a close.
00:55It's something that you want and that he wants.
00:57We have to negotiate a deal.
01:00But we've started the confines of a deal, and I think something can happen.
01:05The big thing is the number of soldiers, mostly at this point, but soldiers being killed.
01:12You're losing thousands of soldiers on both sides.
01:14We're losing a lot of soldiers.
01:15And we want to see it stop.
01:18We want to see the money get put to different kinds of use, like rebuilding, the rebuilding.
01:24And we're going to be working very hard.
01:26But we've had a lot of very good conversations.
01:29I will say, until we came along, the Biden administration didn't speak to Russia whatsoever.
01:34They didn't speak to anybody.
01:35They just allowed this to continue.
01:38And I will say that I'll say in front of you, you've heard me say it a thousand times.
01:44If I were President, this war would have never happened.
01:46We would have had a deal negotiated for you without having to go through what you've gone
01:51through.
01:52But your soldiers have been unbelievably brave.
01:56We've given them great equipment, but somebody has to use the equipment.
01:59They've been unbelievably brave, and we give them great credit.
02:03This was supposed to be over very quickly, and here we are three years later.
02:09So I give tremendous credit to your generals and your soldiers and yourself in the sense
02:15that it's been very hard fighting, very tough fighting, great fighters.
02:22And you have to be very proud of them from that standpoint.
02:25But now we want to get it over with.
02:27It's enough, right?
02:28We want to get it over with.
02:29So it's an honor to have you here.
02:32Thank you very much for coming.
02:33We're going to sign the agreement at the conference in the East Room in a little while, right
02:40after lunch.
02:42And we'll be having lunch together.
02:44We're also discussing some other things.
02:47And we appreciate everybody being here.
02:49It's somewhat of an exciting moment.
02:51But the really exciting moment is when we get a — when they stop the shooting or we
02:55end up with a deal.
02:56And I think we're fairly close to getting that.
02:58And an honor to have you.
03:01And please, would you like to say something?
03:03Yeah.
03:04Thank you so much, Mr. President.
03:05Thank you for invitation.
03:07And really, I hope that this document, first document, will be first step to real security
03:14guarantees for Ukraine, our people, our children.
03:17I really count on it.
03:19And of course, we count that America will not stop support.
03:23Really, for us, it's very important to support and to continue it.
03:28I want to discuss it with details further during our conversation.
03:32And of course, the infrastructure or security guarantees.
03:35Because for today, I understand what Europe is ready to do.
03:39And of course, I want to discuss with you what United States will be ready to do.
03:44And I really count on your strong position to stop Putin.
03:49And you said that enough with the war.
03:51I think that it's very important, Ben, to say these words to Putin at the very beginning
03:56— at the very beginning of war, because he's a killer and terrorist.
03:59And I hope that together we can stop him.
04:02But for us, it's very important to save our country, our values, our freedom and democracy.
04:11And of course, no compromises with the killer about our territories.
04:16But it will be later.
04:17And of course, what I wanted — you know we spoke about it by phone with you, about
04:22the drones production.
04:23We have very good drones production.
04:25I think the best one in the world for today because of the war.
04:28Yes, and of course, we need very much the air defense.
04:34You have the best air defense in the world.
04:36And really, you helped us under attacks of Russians.
04:39And I want to speak how we can exchange the licenses.
04:43We're open to share the licenses of all our drones with you, of course, with the United
04:47States.
04:48And we need licenses for quick production of air defense.
04:51Even after the war, we need our nation to be calm, that we are secure.
04:57So that's why we need this air shield.
04:59And of course, about this, I want to speak about the contingents.
05:04I think that France and UK already spoke to you, and we know that Europe is ready.
05:10But without United States, they will not be ready to be as strong as we need.
05:16And the last point, last not least, about exchange, about our people and children.
05:23And you know that this crazy Russian, that they stole 20,000 of children, Ukrainian children.
05:29They changed their names, they changed their families, relatives, and now they're in Russia.
05:36We want to bring them back.
05:38And really, it's a big, big dream task and goal for me and our warriors.
05:44By the way, Mr. President, we brought, we exchanged, we just released more than 4,000
05:51heroes from Russian prison, but there are thousands more in the prison.
05:56I wanted to share with you some images, how it's – just – can I now?
06:04Yeah, please.
06:05Have I?
06:06Please.
06:07One minute.
06:08One minute.
06:09Just you to understand what the – in what circumstances, in what situation they are,
06:13and what the attitude of Russia to our prisoners.
06:16Bad guys, just you before, before and after, and you see before and after, just you to
06:24understand.
06:25Now thousands of such guys, ladies and men, they are – and that, so they don't eat,
06:31they beat them and they, you know, do a lot of bad things.
06:38So out of – even during the war there are rules, everybody knows there are rules during
06:43the war.
06:44But these bad guys, they don't have any rules.
06:46You see that 50, 60 kilograms left and a lot of such things.
06:53And I didn't want to show you what the changes with images of children, because I will share
06:59– just share with you, I mean, it's looking tragic.
07:02Yeah, it's tough stuff.
07:05Yeah, I wanted very much to give you and you see it.
07:10This is pastor, by the way, they stolen pastors, because it's not Russian church, they stolen
07:15pastors and moved pastors to the prison.
07:18We – at the end of last year, we brought three pastors and we could exchange them.
07:25But this is pastor, you see.
07:28Yeah, it's tough.
07:30Yeah, so I mean this, I wanted to show you and this.
07:34So thank you very much.
07:35We want to get that entered, right?
07:37Yeah, of course.
07:38We, of course, we will.
07:39I think we will.
07:40And –
07:41We have to, of course.
07:42Do you have any questions, please?
07:43Mr. President.
07:44Mr. President.
07:45Thank you, Mr. President.
07:46With the – how much money is the U.S. going to put into the fund that is being created
07:47today?
07:48And how does this provide long-term security for Ukraine?
07:49Well, we don't know exactly how much, because we're going to be putting some money in a
07:50fund that we're going to get from the raw earth that we're going to be taking and sharing
07:51in terms of revenue.
07:52So it's going to be a lot of money.
07:53We'll be – we're going to be putting some money in a fund that we're going to
07:54get from the raw earth that we're going to be taking and sharing in terms of revenue.
07:55So it's going to be a lot of money.
07:56And as you know, our country doesn't have much raw earth.
07:57We have a lot of oil and gas, but we don't have a lot of the raw earth.
07:58And what we do have is protected by the environmentalists, but that could be unprotected.
07:59So we're going to be putting some money in a fund that we're going to get from the
08:00raw earth that we're going to be taking and sharing in terms of revenue.
08:01So it's going to be a lot of money.
08:02We'll be putting some money in a fund that we're going to get from the environmentalists,
08:03but that could be unprotected.
08:04So we're going to be putting some money in a fund that we're going to get from the
08:05raw earth that we're going to be taking and sharing in terms of revenue.
08:06So it's going to be a lot of money.
08:07We'll be putting some money in a fund that we're going to get from the raw earth that
08:08we're going to get from the environmentalists, but that could be unprotected.
08:26But still, it's not very much.
08:28They have among the best in the world in terms of raw earth.
08:33So we're going to be using that, taking it, using it for all of the things we do, including
08:38AI, and including weapons and the military, and it's really going to very much satisfy
08:44our needs.
08:45So it's something that just worked out really well.
08:48We have a lot of oil and we have a lot of gas.
08:50We have a lot, but we don't have raw earth.
08:52So this has just about every component of the raw earth that we need for computers,
08:59for all of the things we do, which is in great shape.
09:02I think once we make the agreement, that's going to be 95 percent of it.
09:10It's not going to go back to fighting.
09:13I've spoken with President Putin and I think I mean, I feel very strong.
09:18I've known him for a long time and I feel very strongly that they're very serious about
09:23it and we'll make a deal.
09:25And when the deal is made, I don't think we talk about security.
09:28Everyone's talking about the other day.
09:30All they talked about was security.
09:31I said, let me make the deal first.
09:33I have to make the deal first.
09:34I don't worry about security right now.
09:36I got to we have to have a deal because right now, last week, two thousand soldiers died
09:41on both sides, two thousand.
09:43And they're losing a thousand, two thousand, three thousand a week.
09:47So as we sit here and we talk, people are getting shot and dying on the battlefield.
09:53And you know, they're not American soldiers, but they're Russian soldiers and the Ukrainian
09:57soldiers.
09:58And we want to be able to stop it and we want to be able also to spend money on other things.
10:03We don't want to.
10:04This is a tremendous amount of money.
10:06And what the Biden administration did was terrible.
10:10They were giving money, but he had no security on the money.
10:12Europe, as you know, gave much less money, but they had security.
10:15It was in the form of a loan.
10:17They get their money back and we didn't.
10:19And now at least we're protected because the American taxpayer has to be protected, too.
10:24But this is an incredible agreement for Ukraine because we have a big investment in their
10:33country now.
10:34And what what they have, very few people have.
10:38And we're able to really go forward with very, very high tech things and many other things,
10:43including weaponry, weaponry that we're going to use in many locations, but that we need
10:48for our country.
10:49Mr. President, this allows this allows us to do this.
10:52Mr. President.
10:53Will you continue?
10:54Sorry.
10:55I'm sorry.
10:56Military aid.
10:57Yes.
10:58Go ahead, please.
10:59Yeah.
11:00I can just.
11:01Yes.
11:02In the document, there is one of the very important points.
11:04If we speak about business and investment, we never had LNG terminals in Ukraine.
11:11This document will open.
11:12I mean, the next document.
11:14But anyway, here we see in the framework we see we see a really good deal for this.
11:20LNG terminals for us is very important.
11:22And I think for security of European continent, we have the biggest storage gas storage.
11:28We have the biggest in Europe.
11:30Yes.
11:31Yes.
11:32And we can use it.
11:33You use it for LNG.
11:34You use it for LNG and we will do it.
11:37And really, we can help Europe because Europe really helped.
11:41President Trump said that they made less support, but they have our friends and they are our
11:47very supportive partners.
11:49They really gave a lot, Mr. President.
11:53They did.
11:54They really did.
11:55They did.
11:56But they gave much less.
11:57No.
11:58Much less.
11:59No.
12:00No.
12:01Don't argue.
12:02No.
12:03OK.
12:04OK.
12:05Mr. President.
12:06Mr. President.
12:07Mr. President.
12:08Mr. President.
12:09Mr. President.
12:10Mr. President Trump, you have repeatedly called the deal with Ukraine as a historical one.
12:17And as a President of the United States, you make historical decisions in other issues
12:23which affect America and other world.
12:26So what place in the world history do you want to take and do you associate yourself
12:34with any famous historical figures?
12:37Yeah, I'd say George Washington, Abraham Lincoln.
12:43I would say I'm far superior to George Washington and Abraham Lincoln.
12:47Now, you know I'm only kidding, right?
12:50Because when I say that, the fake news is going to go wild.
12:52They're going to say he considers himself to be better than Washington.
12:56But you never know.
12:57You never know.
12:58I don't compare myself to anybody.
13:00I just I'm here to do a job.
13:03We've had a great 35 days or whatever it might be a month, a little more than a month.
13:09We've accomplished tremendous amounts.
13:11Not only this, this would be a very great achievement if we could get this the war stopped
13:16and get them back to normalization.
13:18I think that's going to happen.
13:20We've had very good talks on both sides, as you know.
13:22But I think we've done a very good job.
13:26Just generally, if you look at all of the things we've done in 30 days, they say there's
13:30never been a opening for a president of the first month.
13:34There's never been a first month like like we've had.
13:38And this is one of the very important things.
13:39This to me is one of the most important things, because we have tremendous death taking place
13:45as we speak.
13:46And I don't want to have that, you know, think of the parents, think of the whether they're
13:50in Russia or Ukraine.
13:52Think of the parents of all these people being killed needlessly.
13:55They came to all of this should have never started.
13:58This would have if I were president.
14:01This would have never started.
14:04Mr. President, President Trump, will you continue sending military aid to Ukraine after you
14:12the U.S. signs this agreement with Ukraine?
14:14Yeah, we're going to be continuing.
14:16President Zelensky, do you feel like the U.S. is on your side, that the president, the president
14:22Trump is on your side at this at this moment?
14:29What do you think?
14:30Who wants to know?
14:31Do you think that sort of a stupid question?
14:34I guess we wouldn't be here if I wasn't.
14:38I think that I think that the United States on our side from the very beginning of occupation.
14:45And I think that President Trump on our side and and of course, I'm sure that the United
14:52States president will not stop support.
14:55This is crucial for us.
14:56It's important for us.
14:58Yes.
14:59Putin, the president speaks about the people and the soldiers which are dying, but they
15:03came to our territory.
15:04They came to our land.
15:05They began this war and they have to stop.
15:09And I think this is the question with really the most important question.
15:15Can President Trump, I hope yes, with some other allies to stop Putin withdraw these
15:21enemies, our enemies, withdraw these troops from our land.
15:25And I think that you asked about the history.
15:29I think that if president or when he will stop Putin, if President Trump will bring
15:35peace to our country, I think he will be on this wall.
15:40We've had very, very good talks.
15:43Mr. President, President Zelensky just said that there'd be no compromises with Vladimir
15:53Putin.
15:55I just wanted to ask both of you, firstly, are there compromises that you think that
15:59President Zelensky is going to have to make President Zelensky?
16:02Is there anything that you might be thinking that you may be able to offer or bring to
16:05the table?
16:06For example, elections?
16:08I think you're going to have to always make compromises.
16:10You can't do any deals without compromises.
16:13So certainly he's going to have to make some compromises, but hopefully they won't be as
16:18big as some people think you're going to have to make.
16:20So it's all we can do.
16:21I'm here as a, as an arbitrator, as a mediator, to a certain extent between two parties that
16:27have been very hostile, to put it mildly.
16:30They've been very hostile.
16:31This has been a vicious war.
16:32This has been a vicious war.
16:34You know, it's a very level battlefield and those bullets go out.
16:38And as I've said many times, we were talking about it with Pete.
16:42Many times, the only thing stopping those bullets is a human body.
16:46And in the case we're talking about, generally young human bodies are stopping a lot of bullets.
16:52Dead level.
16:53That's why it's great farmland.
16:54It's great land.
16:55It's great farmland.
16:56But there's very little protection against the bullets that are being, and other things
17:00that are being shot.
17:02So all I can do is see if I can get everybody at the table and get an agreement.
17:08And I think we're going to end up with an agreement, otherwise I wouldn't probably be
17:10even here today.
17:11Will President Putin have to make compromises?
17:12Mr. President, I've got two questions for you.
17:13Do you think, ultimately, your legacy will be the peacemaker and not the president that
17:23led this country into another war and ended foreign wars?
17:27And I've got a question.
17:28I hope it will.
17:29I mean, I hope I'm going to be remembered as a peacemaker.
17:35This is, this would be a great thing if we could do this.
17:37I'm doing this to save lives more than anything else.
17:41I'm doing this to save a lot of money, but I've considered that to be far less important.
17:45So I hope I'm going to.
17:46Thank you, Brian, for that question.
17:47It was a nice question.
17:49I hope I'll be known and recognized as a peacemaker.
17:52This, this would be a great thing to solve.
17:54This is a very dangerous situation.
17:57You know, this could lead to a third world war.
17:59This is, this was headed in the wrong direction.
18:02If this election were lost, if we didn't win this election, and by the way, we won it by
18:07a lot.
18:08That was a mandate.
18:09We won every swing state.
18:11We won the popular vote by millions and millions of votes.
18:14We won everything.
18:15The districts, you look at the areas of red, take a look at a map.
18:20This was a big mandate and this was one of the things I said, we're going to get this
18:25thing settled.
18:26If we didn't win, I think this would have, this could have very well ended up in a third
18:30world war.
18:31And that would not, that would not have been a good situation.
18:35What was your second question?
18:36My second question for President Zelensky, do you ever, why don't you wear a suit?
18:40Why don't you wear a suit?
18:42You're the highest level in this country's office and you refuse to wear a suit.
18:47Just want to see if you, do you own a suit?
18:49Yeah.
18:50Yeah.
18:51Problems.
18:52A lot of Americans have problems with you.
18:53Really?
18:54I don't have such.
18:55I will wear a costume after this war will finish.
18:59Yes.
19:00Maybe one, maybe something like yours.
19:03Yes.
19:04Maybe some, something better.
19:05I don't, I don't know.
19:07We'll see.
19:08Maybe something cheaper than, yeah.
19:13President Trump.
19:16President Trump.
19:17You said yesterday that you are going to send more arms to Ukraine in case there's
19:20no peace.
19:21Yeah.
19:22We're going to have arms to Ukraine.
19:23Yeah.
19:24Sure.
19:25Hopefully I won't have to send very much because hopefully we're going to have it finished.
19:29We're looking forward to finishing this quickly.
19:32We're not looking forward to sending a lot of arms.
19:34We're looking forward to getting the war finished so we can do other things.
19:39But we very much appreciate the agreement because we needed what they had.
19:44And we're treating, you know, our country is now treated fairly.
19:47Biden didn't do that.
19:48Biden didn't, he didn't know what the hell he was doing.
19:51This should have never happened.
19:52This should have never started.
19:53But you know, sure.
19:55The answer is yes.
19:56But hopefully we won't have to send much because I'm looking forward to get it done, getting
20:02it done quickly.
20:03Very quickly.
20:04Does that mean you'll provide security guarantees, Mr. President?
20:08I don't want to talk about security yet because I want to get the deal done.
20:11You know, you fall into the same trap like everybody else.
20:14A million times you said over and over.
20:16I want to get the deal done.
20:18Security is so easy.
20:19That's about 2% of the problem.
20:21I'm not worried about security.
20:23I'm worried about getting the deal done.
20:25The security is the easy part.
20:27Security is very nice.
20:28Everybody stops shooting.
20:30And now will Europe put people there?
20:32I know France is going to, I know the UK is going to, I know other countries are going
20:36to and they happen to be right next door.
20:38We haven't committed, but we could conceivably, you know, we have security in a different
20:43form.
20:44We'll have workers there digging, digging, digging, taking the raw earth so that we can
20:49create a lot of great product in this country.
20:53So in that sense, you have something.
20:54But we haven't determined that yet.
20:56I will say in speaking to France and in speaking to, and they were here, as you know, last
21:02week and just the other day, they have committed to a lot of security.
21:08I don't think you're going to need much security.
21:10I think once this deal gets done, it's over.
21:13Russia is not going to want to go back and nobody's going to want to go back.
21:16When this deal ends, I really believe this deal is going to be over.
21:20Question?
21:21Yeah, please go ahead.
21:22Go ahead.
21:25Mr. President, thank you.
21:27I am.
21:28You had Mr. Macron and Keir Starmer at the White House this past week, both of whom praised
21:29your courage and conviction to lead the pathway towards peace.
21:30Yes.
21:31Part of that involved, though, reengaging Russia in diplomatic relations, something
21:32that previous leaders lacked the conviction to do so.
21:33What gave you the moral courage and conviction to step forward and do that?
21:34Well, I love this guy.
21:35Who are you with?
21:36One American News, sir.
21:37Well, that's why I like him.
21:38One American News does a great job.
21:39That's very...
21:40I like the question.
21:41I think it's a very good question.
21:51One American News does a great job.
21:52That's very...
21:53I like the question.
21:54I think it's a very good question.
21:55It is.
21:56It's a pathway to peace.
21:57It's a pathway to getting something solved.
22:01And I feel that, as the head of this country, I have an obligation to do that.
22:04Plus, you know, we're very much involved.
22:07We got involved.
22:09It's too bad we got involved because there should have been no involvement because there
22:12should have been no war.
22:14And there shouldn't have been October 7th.
22:16That would have never happened.
22:17As you know, Iran was broke.
22:19They had no money to give to Hezbollah.
22:21They had no money to give to Hamas.
22:23They were stone-cold broke.
22:26And then, under Biden, they became rich as hell.
22:29They went from no money to $300 billion in a period of four years, and they gave a lot
22:36of that money away.
22:37And you see what happened.
22:38And that's a real mess also that we hope to be able to solve.
22:43But no, I appreciate your question very much.
22:46It's just I feel I have an obligation to try and do something to stop the death.
22:51Mr. President.
22:52I can't answer.
22:53I can't answer.
22:54Sorry.
22:55Please.
22:56Please.
22:57And I do like your clothing, by the way.
22:58Yeah, really?
22:59Even though I have to — I think he's a great guy, by the way.
23:03I don't know if you two like each other, but you know what?
23:06I think —
23:07No, no.
23:08Why?
23:09I like this guy.
23:10I don't know him.
23:11I think he's dressed beautifully.
23:12So I have more — I have more serious things than answer on situation.
23:14I will answer on more serious question if I can.
23:17Yeah, so please.
23:19About security guarantees and about just ceasefire, we can't just speak about ceasefire and speak
23:25and speak.
23:26It will not work.
23:28Just ceasefire will not — never work, because I'm like a president.
23:32I have this experience, and not only me.
23:35Ukraine, before my presidency, from the 2014, Putin broken 25 times — 25 times.
23:45He broken his own signature 25 times.
23:48He broken ceasefire.
23:49It was —
23:50But he never broke to me.
23:51He never broke to me.
23:52No, no.
23:53You were the president.
23:54You were the president during —
23:55He never broke to me.
23:56In 2016, you've been the president, Mr. President.
23:58You've been the president.
23:59But he had — of course, not with you, but he had — during those period, he had conversations
24:06with our side.
24:07And we had Normandy format, you know, the France, Germany, Ukraine, and Russia.
24:11And he broken 25 times.
24:14That's why we will never accept just ceasefire.
24:17It will not work without security guarantees.
24:20Security guarantees, maybe president is right about this document and other, but this document
24:26is not enough.
24:27Strong army is enough, because his soldiers afraid — Putin's soldiers afraid of our
24:32soldiers when we strong enough.
24:33If we are not strong enough, if we are empty, if our storage is empty, we can't defend
24:39our land.
24:41Today, you know, he knows that we have — all the world knows that we have meeting, yes?
24:46Why he's using ballistic?
24:48Putin today using ballistic on our hospitals, schools, and it says ballistic.
24:53So he knows that we are here and that President Trump is really — have goodwill to stop
24:59this war.
25:01And you hear now the president.
25:03So why he's using?
25:04So he doesn't want to stop.
25:06He doesn't want.
25:07But I hope that we will do it.
25:08Really, we'll do it.
25:10Security, when we speak about security guarantees, when the Europeans are ready for contingence,
25:15they need USA backstop.
25:19If there will not be United States, we will not never have any contingence, strong contingence
25:24from the Europeans, because they don't want to divide alliance, connection between the
25:28United States and the main and strongest ally and Europeans.
25:34This is crucial.
25:35This is important.
25:36That's what we want to speak about very much.
25:39This is very important.
25:40And air defense.
25:43So air defense, really, we have big deficit with all the systems, and we need to provide
25:48this.
25:49We need it very much.
25:50Otherwise, Putin will never stop and will go further and further.
25:55He doesn't want.
25:56He hate us.
25:57You know?
25:58It's not about me.
25:59He hate Ukrainians.
26:00He thinks that we are not a nation.
26:02He thinks — and he shared this thought, I think maybe with your team also.
26:06I don't know.
26:07With all the Europeans, in media, officially and not, he always said that there is no such
26:13country, such nation, such language, and such life like Ukrainian.
26:18No.
26:19He really doesn't respect all the Ukrainians, and he wants destroy us.
26:26We — and you are right, Mr. President, that's 2 percent.
26:30This document, maybe other documents, it's very good start, very good, but it will not
26:36enough to stop this person.
26:39Should Russia pay to rebuild Ukraine?
26:41Should Russia pay to rebuild Ukraine?
26:45They have to pay.
26:46This is the rule.
26:47This is rule of the war.
26:49This is the rule of the war.
26:51During all the centuries, all the history, this is the rule of the war.
26:54Who began, those pay.
26:57Do you agree, President?
26:58This is the rule.
26:59Putin began this war.
27:00He has to pay all money for innovation.
27:03He has to pay.
27:04Of course, some Russian assets, what we have in Europe, about 300 billions, we can use
27:10them for innovation and buy military support from the United States also.
27:16We can do it.
27:17But it's not enough.
27:18It's not enough.
27:19I ask this question that you didn't like because I wanted to know if you want to position
27:32yourself in the middle between Russia and Ukraine or on the Ukraine side.
27:37I'm in the middle.
27:38I want to solve this thing.
27:39I'm for both.
27:40I want to get it solved.
27:42And it's wonderful to speak badly about somebody else.
27:48But I want to get it solved.
27:50If we can solve it, great.
27:51If we can't solve it, they're going to have to fight it out.
27:53And who knows what's going to happen.
27:56But I want to see it get solved.
27:59One more question about U.S. troops in Europe.
28:02After Russian invasion of Ukraine, your predecessor sent additional troops to Eastern Europe,
28:09including Poland, my country.
28:11Are you committed to keeping these troops on the eastern flank of NATO in the future?
28:20I'm very committed to Poland.
28:22I think Poland has really stepped up and done a great job for NATO.
28:26As you know, they paid more than they had to.
28:29They are one of the finest groups of people I've ever known.
28:33I'm very committed to Poland.
28:34What about Baltics?
28:35Poland's in a tough neighborhood.
28:36What about the Baltics?
28:39The Baltics, they got a lot of — it's a tough neighborhood, too.
28:45But we're committed.
28:46We're going to be very committed, and we're committed to NATO.
28:49But NATO has to step up, and the Europeans have to step up more than they have.
28:54And I want to see them equalized, because they are in for far less than we're in.
28:58And they should be at least equal.
29:00You understand that.
29:02Why is the United States — we have an ocean in between.
29:05Why is the United States in for so much more money and other things as Europe?
29:10With that being said — and as you said, they've also been, obviously, very helpful.
29:14But we have put in far more than they have.
29:17And I think they should equalize.
29:18Mr. President —
29:19Mr. President, can I ask you about the agreement you made today?
29:20Yeah, please.
29:21Go ahead.
29:22Can I ask you about the agreement you made today?
29:23What changed between the first time that Secretary Vestid gave President Zelensky the
29:24agreement and today for the signing?
29:25What was —
29:26We made a deal.
29:27It's all —
29:28What was the deal?
29:29Was it a signing factor, or was it —
29:30I'm just — I'm a business person.
29:31I'm a business person.
29:32We made a deal.
29:33That's what changed.
29:34Mr. President —
29:35A lot of those minerals —
29:36I didn't think we were going to make a deal.
29:40And we ended up making the deal.
29:43So that changed.
29:44Mr. President, what and how do you envision a trilateral summit with President Zelensky?
29:47And who's making these circumstances?
29:48I don't know.
29:49But it's — well, they don't like each other.
29:50I can tell you that.
29:51Okay.
29:52They do not like each other.
29:53This is not a love match.
29:56And it's unfortunate.
29:57That's why you're in this situation.
30:00The United States should not have allowed this to happen.
30:03Okay?
30:04The United States, run by a man that didn't know much — I'm going to be very nice — run
30:12by an incompetent person, very incompetent person, should never have allowed this to
30:17happen.
30:18I've stopped wars.
30:19I've stopped many wars.
30:21My people will tell you.
30:22I stopped wars that nobody ever heard about.
30:24I stopped wars before they ever started.
30:26You can look at some of — some of — I could give you a lot of nations that would
30:31tell you right now they were probably going to war.
30:33I could tell you right now there's a nation thinking about going to war on something that
30:38nobody in this room has ever even heard about.
30:41Two smaller nations, but big.
30:42Still big.
30:44And I've — I think I've stopped it.
30:46But this should have never happened.
30:48About — sorry, just a second.
30:53About any negotiations.
30:55First of all, I want — I want really to tell you, and I think that everybody understand
31:00that Ukraine — more than Ukrainians, nobody want to stop this war.
31:05But in the future, any negotiations, it's understandable that two sides of the war — not
31:13Russia and the United States, because this is not the war between Russia and the United
31:17States.
31:18This is war of Russia against Ukraine and Ukrainian people.
31:21So these two sides will be at the — anyway, will be at the negotiation — a negotiation
31:28table.
31:29Then, of course, United States, like the strongest partner of the Ukraine.
31:34And of course, Europe.
31:36I think Europe is very important.
31:37I want to speak about it with the President, please.
31:40Yes, Europe is very important for us, because we really defend Europe for today.
31:45All Europeans really recognize that we are defending life, and they have real life, and
31:52our people are dying.
31:53That's why they helped us.
31:55And also, it's about the nature.
31:57Yes, between — like the President said, you have big, nice ocean, yes, between us.
32:05But if we will not stay, Russia will go further to Baltics and to Poland, by the way.
32:11But first to the Baltics.
32:12It's understandable for them, because they've been — they've been in the USSR.
32:17You know, they've been one of the republics of the USSR, and Putin wants to bring them
32:23back to his empire.
32:24It's a fact.
32:25And when he will go there, if we will not stay, you will fight, your American soldiers.
32:32It doesn't matter.
32:33Do you have ocean or not?
32:35Your soldiers will fight.
32:37Mr. President, would you be willing to visit Ukraine?
32:39Maybe Kyiv or Odessa, which is going to be a very narrow Black Sea region?
32:42It was my question.
32:43I'm sorry.
32:44I don't want to talk about Odessa now.
32:47Let's not talk about Odessa.
32:49I want to talk about making a deal, getting peace.
32:52We don't have to talk about Odessa.
32:54But a lot of cities have been destroyed, a lot of cities that are not recognizable.
32:59There's not a building standing.
33:01And a lot of —
33:02No, no.
33:03You have to come.
33:04You have to come and to look.
33:06I don't know.
33:07We have very good cities.
33:08Yes, a lot of things have been destroyed, but mostly cities are alive and people work
33:14and children go to school.
33:16Sometimes it's very difficult.
33:17Sometimes closer to front line, children have to go to underground schools or online.
33:23But we live.
33:24Ukraine is fighting and Ukraine lives.
33:27This is very important.
33:28And maybe it's Putin sharing this information that he destroyed us.
33:33He lost 700,000 people, 700,000 soldiers.
33:38He lost everything.
33:39Yes.
33:40On the minerals deal, Mr. President, when did you last speak with President Putin?
33:48And what did he say that —
33:49A couple of days ago.
33:50And what did he tell you that gave you the assurance that he wanted peace?
33:53Well, that's what I do.
33:54My whole life is deals.
33:55I know pretty good.
33:58And I really — I've known him for a long time.
34:01I've dealt with him for a long time.
34:04He had to suffer through the Russia hoax.
34:06You know, Russia, Russia, Russia.
34:07It was a hoax.
34:08It was all Biden.
34:09It was nothing to do with him.
34:11So he had to suffer through that, and he was able to do that.
34:15I think that he wants to make a deal and he'd like to see it end.
34:19It's all I do.
34:21That's what I do.
34:22My whole life, that's what I do, is make deals.
34:24I'm in the middle of a mess because this is a real mess.
34:28It's a very dangerous one.
34:30If this doesn't get solved now, it's not going to get solved for a long time.
34:34So I hope we're going to — I hope we're going to get it solved.
34:36In the back, please.
34:37Thank you, Mr. President.
34:38Prime Minister Stormer claimed repeatedly that his government believes in free speech
34:42and was not engaged in censorship, but his country's government arrests people for memes
34:47and thought crimes.
34:48And even more worrisome is pressuring American companies to censor Americans on its behalf.
34:56How can he be a reliable, trustworthy partner when he says things that are demonstrably
35:00false on such an important topic?
35:01Well, we actually spoke to him about that yesterday, and we thought they took it very
35:06much too far.
35:07J.D. was very strong on it.
35:10So was I.
35:11So was Marco.
35:12And we've been speaking to him about it.
35:14Marco, would you like to say something about it?
35:16We have concerns, obviously, with the conduct of — particularly as it impacts Americans.
35:21And there's real concern that American speech, which is online, could fall into the hands
35:25of the British or any country's jurisdiction.
35:28And so this is a point the Vice President made at Munich, and I think it's a very compelling
35:31one that unites us with Europe, as much as anything else, is these shared values, and
35:36one of them being free speech.
35:38And so if Americans are threatened by it, we're going to need to take action in that
35:41regard.
35:42J.D.?
35:43It's actually a very important question.
35:47We spoke about this in detail with the Prime Minister, the Foreign Secretary, and others
35:50at lunch yesterday.
35:52And I know that Secretary of Commerce Lutnick followed up in private meetings last night.
35:57This is really important.
35:59We believe Americans have the right to speak their mind, even if we in this room disagree
36:03with them.
36:04They have the right to speak their mind in the public square, which is often online these
36:07days.
36:08And we're going to defend that right as it pertains to American companies and American
36:11citizens vigorously if we have to.
36:14I do think that under the President's leadership, we're going to find common ground with our
36:18friends in the U.K. on this question.
36:20But it remains to be seen.
36:21The principle that will guide us is we believe in free speech in this country, and we'll
36:26fight for it for American citizens.
36:27Mr. President, is there another oil and gas component to the deal?
36:32Is it all critical?
36:33A little bit.
36:34We'll see.
36:35On LNG?
36:36Well, we're not really looking for that so much.
36:37We've got a lot.
36:38We have more than anybody in the world, by far.
36:39So, no, we're not talking about it too much.
36:42But a little bit.
36:43I think it affects also.
36:44But for the most part, no.
36:47And, sir, is there any agreement from Ukraine to purchase US LNG as part of the deal?
36:54No.
36:55Or is that on the table at all?
36:56No.
36:57No.
36:58We don't need this.
36:59Some of those minerals are in the east, Mr. President.
37:00I just wanted to ask you about it.
37:01You just mentioned that you'd spoken to Vladimir Putin a couple of days ago.
37:02Just to be clear, that's a new call, not the one that you were talking about.
37:05I've spoken to him on numerous occasions.
37:08Okay.
37:09And how was the latest call?
37:10What did you discuss?
37:11How did it go?
37:12Are you serious with that question?
37:13I am.
37:14I loved it.
37:15It went well.
37:16It went well.
37:17It went well.
37:18I think we're going to have a deal.
37:20On the minerals deal, Mr. President, some of those minerals are in the east of Ukraine,
37:23not far from the front lines and in areas that Russia has occupied.
37:27Will you direct President Putin to withdraw his forces from those areas if there's US
37:31interest there?
37:32Well, we'll take a look at the time.
37:33We have a lot of area.
37:34It's a very big area we're talking about.
37:37So we'll take a look.
37:38I'll study that and I'll see.
37:40And who would protect those minerals if they are US interest?
37:42Would that be Ukrainian forces, European forces?
37:45They'll be protected.
37:46US forces?
37:47Agreement, yeah.
37:48We're signing an agreement.
37:49Right, but what if Russia tries to invade or there's Russian aggression in those spots?
37:52What would you do then?
37:53I just told you I don't think that's going to happen.
37:54And if that were going to happen, I wouldn't make a deal.
37:56If I thought that was going to happen, I wouldn't make a deal.
37:59Some people may wonder why are you...
38:00You know, they ought to focus on CNN and survival, not asking me these ridiculous questions.
38:05Why are you...
38:06Why do you have confidence that Putin won't violate the deal?
38:07Focus on surviving, because CNN's got such low ratings, I don't think they're going to
38:11survive.
38:12People will ask why you have confidence Putin won't violate the deal.
38:13Why do you have confidence Putin won't violate the deal?
38:16This is already...
38:17I already mentioned Poland.
38:18Poland was under Russian control for decades after the Second World War.
38:24When I was a kid, I looked at the United States not only as a most powerful country, richest
38:31country in the world, the country that has great music, great movies, great muscle cars,
38:37but also as a force for good.
38:40Do you...
38:41And now I'm talking with my friends in Poland, and they are worried that you align yourself
38:46too much with Putin.
38:48What's your message for them?
38:50Well, if I didn't align myself with both of them, you'd never have a deal.
38:57You want me to say really terrible things about Putin and then say, hi, Vladimir, how
39:02are we doing on the deal?
39:03That doesn't work that way.
39:05I'm not aligned with Putin.
39:06I'm not aligned with anybody.
39:08I'm aligned with the United States of America and for the good of the world.
39:12I'm aligned with the world.
39:14And I want to get this thing over with.
39:15You see the hatred he's got for Putin.
39:17It's very tough for me to make a deal with that kind of hate.
39:20He's got tremendous hatred.
39:22And I understand that.
39:23But I can tell you the other side isn't exactly in love with, you know, him either.
39:29So it's not a question of alignment.
39:31I have to...
39:32I'm aligned with the world.
39:34I want to get the thing set.
39:35I'm aligned with Europe.
39:38I want to see if we can get this thing done.
39:41You want me to be tough?
39:42I could be tougher than any human being you've ever seen.
39:44I'd be so tough.
39:46But you're never going to get a deal that way.
39:48So that's the way it goes.
39:50One more question.
39:51I will respond to this.
39:53So look, for four years, the United States of America, we had a president who stood up
39:57at press conferences and talked tough about Vladimir Putin.
40:01And then Putin invaded Ukraine and destroyed a significant chunk of the country.
40:05The path to peace and the path to prosperity is maybe engaging in diplomacy.
40:11We tried the pathway of Joe Biden, of thumping our chest and pretending that the president
40:17of the United States' words mattered more than the president of the United States' actions.
40:22What makes America a good country is America engaging in diplomacy.
40:26That's what President Trump is doing.
40:28Can I ask you?
40:29Sure.
40:30Yeah?
40:31Yeah.
40:32Okay.
40:33So he occupied our parts, big parts of Ukraine, part of East and Crimea.
40:41So he occupied it on 2014.
40:45So during a lot of years, I'm not speaking about just Biden, but those time was Obama,
40:53then President Obama, then President Trump, then President Biden, now President Trump
40:58and, God bless, now President Trump will stop him.
41:01But during 2014, nobody stopped him.
41:04He just occupied and took.
41:05He killed people.
41:06You know what the contact line-
41:082015.
41:092014.
41:10Well, 2014.
41:11Yeah, yeah.
41:12So he killed-
41:13I was not here.
41:14Yeah, but-
41:15That's exactly right.
41:16Yes, but during 2014 till 2022, the situation the same.
41:22People have been dying on the contact line.
41:26Nobody stopped him.
41:27You know that we had conversations with him, a lot of conversation, bilateral conversation,
41:33and we signed with him, me, like a new president in 2019, I signed with him the deal.
41:40I signed with him, Macron and Merkel, we signed ceasefire, ceasefire.
41:46All of them told me that he will never go.
41:50We signed him gas contract, gas contract.
41:54Yes, but after that, he broken the ceasefire.
41:57He killed our people and he didn't exchange prisoners.
42:01We signed the exchange of prisoners, but he didn't do it.
42:05What kind of diplomacy, J.D., you are speaking about?
42:09What do you mean?
42:11I'm talking about the kind of diplomacy that's going to end the destruction of your country.
42:14Yes, but if you are not strong-
42:15Mr. President, Mr. President, with respect, I think it's disrespectful for you to come
42:19into the Oval Office and try to litigate this in front of the American media.
42:22Right now, you guys are going around and forcing conscripts to the front lines because
42:26you have manpower problems.
42:28You should be thanking the president for trying to bring an end to this conflict.
42:31Have you ever been to Ukraine that you say what problems we have?
42:34I have been to-
42:36Come once.
42:37I've actually watched and seen the stories, and I know what happens is you bring people,
42:43you bring them on a propaganda tour, Mr. President.
42:46Do you disagree that you've had problems bringing people into your military?
42:49Do you have problems?
42:50And do you think that it's respectful?
42:52I will answer.
42:53I will answer.
42:54To come to the Oval Office of the United States of America and attack the administration that
42:56is trying to prevent the destruction of your country?
42:59A lot of questions.
43:00Let's start from the beginning.
43:01Sure.
43:02First of all, during the war, everybody has problems, even you, but you have nice ocean
43:08and don't feel now, but you will feel it in the future.
43:12God bless.
43:13You don't know that.
43:14God bless.
43:15You don't know that.
43:16God bless.
43:17You will not have a war.
43:18Don't tell us what we're going to feel.
43:19We're trying to solve a problem.
43:20Don't tell us what we're going to feel.
43:22Because you're in no position to dictate that.
43:24Remember this.
43:25You're in no position to dictate what we're going to feel.
43:29We're going to feel very good.
43:32We're going to feel very good and very strong.
43:35You're right now not in a very good position.
43:38You've allowed yourself to be in a very bad position, and he happens to be right about
43:42it.
43:43You're not in a good position.
43:45You don't have the cards right now.
43:47With us, you start having cards.
43:50But right now, you don't have.
43:51You're playing cards.
43:52You're playing cards.
43:53You're gambling with the lives of millions of people.
43:56You're gambling with World War III.
43:59You're gambling with World War III.
44:02And what you're doing is very disrespectful to the country, this country.
44:07That's back to you.
44:08Far more than a lot of people said they should have.
44:11Have you said thank you once this entire meeting?
44:14No.
44:15In this entire meeting, have you said thank you?
44:17You spoke to Pennsylvania and campaigned for the opposition in October.
44:20Offer some words of appreciation for the United States of America and the president who's
44:25trying to save your country.
44:28Please.
44:29You're saying that if you will speak very loudly about the war, you can speak.
44:34He's not speaking loudly.
44:35He's not speaking loudly.
44:36Your country is in big trouble.
44:37Can I answer?
44:38No, no.
44:39You've done a lot of talking.
44:40Your country is in big trouble.
44:42I know.
44:43You're not winning.
44:44You're not winning this.
44:46You have a damn good chance of coming out okay because of us.
44:48Mr. President, we are staying in our country, staying strong.
44:51From the very beginning of the war, we've been alone.
44:54And we are thankful.
44:55I said thanks in this cabinet.
44:56You haven't been alone.
44:57They haven't been alone.
44:58We gave you, through this stupid president, $350 billion.
45:03We gave you military equipment.
45:05And you men are brave, but they had to use our military equipment.
45:08If you didn't have our military equipment, if you didn't have our military equipment,
45:15this war would have been over in two weeks.
45:17In three days.
45:18I heard it from Putin.
45:19In three days.
45:20This is something new.
45:21Maybe less.
45:22In two weeks.
45:23Of course, yes.
45:24It's going to be a very hard thing to do business like this.
45:26I tell you.
45:27Just say thank you.
45:28I said a lot of times thank you to American people.
45:31Except that there are disagreements.
45:33And let's go litigate those disagreements rather than trying to fight it out in the
45:37American media when you're wrong.
45:39We know that you're wrong.
45:40But you see, I think it's good for the American people to see what's going on.
45:44I think it's very important.
45:45That's why I kept this going so long.
45:47You have to be thankful.
45:49You don't have the cards.
45:50I'm thankful.
45:51You're buried there.
45:52Your people are dying.
45:53I can tell you.
45:54You're running low on soldiers.
45:55I know.
45:56Don't.
45:57Don't.
45:58Please.
45:59You're running low on soldiers.
46:00It would be a damn good thing.
46:01Then you tell us, I don't want a ceasefire.
46:02I don't want a ceasefire.
46:03I want to go.
46:04And I wanted this.
46:05Look, if you could get a ceasefire right now, I'd tell you, you'd take it so the bullets
46:11stop flying and your men stop getting killed.
46:13Of course, we want to stop the war.
46:15But you're saying you don't want a ceasefire?
46:16But I said to you.
46:17I want a ceasefire.
46:18With guarantees.
46:19Because you'll get a ceasefire faster than a degree.
46:20Ask our people about ceasefire, what they think.
46:23That wasn't with me.
46:24It doesn't matter for you what it means.
46:25That wasn't with me.
46:26It wasn't with you.
46:27That was with a guy named Biden, who is not a smart person.
46:30But this is your president.
46:31That was with Obama.
46:32It was your president.
46:33Excuse me.
46:34That was with Obama, who gave you sheets, and I gave you javelins.
46:37Yes.
46:38I gave you the javelins to take out all those tanks.
46:42Obama gave you sheets.
46:44In fact, the statement is, Obama gave sheets and Trump gave javelins.
46:49You've got to be more thankful.
46:51Because, let me tell you, you don't have the cards.
46:54With us, you have the cards.
46:56But without us, you don't have any cards.
47:02It's going to be a tough deal to make.
47:04Because the attitudes have to change.
47:12What are you saying?
47:16She's asking, what if Russia brings the ceasefire?
47:19What if anything?
47:21What if a bomb drops on your head right now?
47:24Okay?
47:25What if they broke it?
47:26I don't know.
47:27They broke it with Biden.
47:28Because Biden, they didn't respect him.
47:30They didn't respect Obama.
47:31They respect me.
47:33Let me tell you, Putin went through a hell of a lot with me.
47:36He went through a phony witch hunt, where they used him and Russia.
47:40Russia, Russia, Russia.
47:42You ever hear of that deal?
47:44That was a phony Hunter Biden, Joe Biden scam.
47:48Hillary Clinton, shifty Adam Schiff.
47:51It was a Democrat scam.
47:53And he had to go through that.
47:55And he did go through it.
47:57We didn't end up in a war.
47:59And he went through it.
48:01He was accused of all that stuff.
48:03He had nothing to do with it.
48:05It came out of Hunter Biden's bathroom.
48:07It came out of Hunter Biden's bedroom.
48:09It was disgusting.
48:11And then they said, oh, oh, the laptop from hell was made by Russia.
48:15The 51 agents.
48:17The whole thing was a scam.
48:19And he had to put up with that.
48:21He was being accused of all that stuff.
48:23All I can say is this.
48:25He might have broken deals with Obama and Bush.
48:28And he might have broken them with Biden.
48:30He did, maybe.
48:32Maybe he didn't.
48:34I don't know what happened.
48:36But he didn't break them with me.
48:39The problem is I've empowered you to be a tough guy.
48:42And I don't think you'd be a tough guy without the United States.
48:46And your people are very brave.
48:48But you're either going to make a deal or we're out.
48:51And if we're out, you'll fight it out.
48:54I don't think it's going to be pretty.
48:56But you'll fight it out.
48:58But you don't have the cards.
49:00But once we sign that deal, you're in a much better position.
49:03But you're not acting at all thankful.
49:05And that's not a nice thing.
49:07All right.
49:09I think we've seen enough.
49:11What do you think?
49:13This is going to be great television.
49:15I will say that.
49:17All right.
49:19We'll see what we can do about Bush.
49:23Everybody out.