The President. Thank you all for being here. This is a group that I know well, whether personally or just because I've hired thousands and thousands and thousands of you, as you can say, Sean, right? You know that better than anybody.
We just officially terminated TPP [Applause]. I just signed a document—a very powerful document—and we're going to have trade, but we're going to have one on one. And if somebody misbehaves, we're going to send them a letter of termination, 30 days, and they'll either straighten it out, or we're gone. Not one of these deals where you can't get out of them and it's a disaster. So we're going to have plenty of trade, but TPP wasn't the right way. So we're going back to those countries, one on one, and that'll be beautiful.
But we're going to have a lot of building going on. We're going to have a lot of plant expansion and a lot of brand new plants. We met with the head of Ford today, the head of many other great companies—Johnson & Johnson—and they're very, very excited about what we're doing. You guys will be responsible for getting those plants built in 9 months instead of 18 years. You know, the process today, when they put in for a plant, it takes so long.
And by the way, you all know our great Vice President, Mike Pence, and yes, I think you know some of the folks that are in the room.
Vice President Michael R. Pence. Yes, Mr. President.
The President. I know almost all of the folks in the room. So it's just a great honor to have you here. It's a great honor. You've been very special to me. I have told you for whether—Sheet Metal Workers'—how've you been?
International Association of Sheet Metal, Air, Rail and Transportation Workers (SMART) Union General President Joseph Sellers, Jr. All right.
The President. I've hired a few of them over the years, haven't I?
Mr. Sellers. I believe you have.
The President. We just finished a big one right over down the street. And you guys did a great job, by the way.
Mr. Sellers. That's good.
The President. They did a great job.
So we're going to put a lot of people back to work. We're going to use common sense, and we're going to do it the way it's supposed to be done. We're going to stop the ridiculous trade deals that are taking everybody out of our country and taking companies out of our country, and it's going to be reversed. I think you're going to have a lot of companies come back to our country. Companies that left are going to come back to our country, and they're going to hire a lot of people.
It's inconceivable to me that this was allowed to happen in the first place. And I'm not blaming President Obama for this. I'm blaming many, many years long beyond Obama, believe me. This has been going on for decades, and it's a trend that we are going to stop cold. And we started today, which is my first official day for signing major things, although I actually started from the hour I got here. But this is the day that we wanted to sign some of the legislation having to do with you folks.
So if you have any questions, let me know. We'll start doing it right now.
Q. Mr. President, when are you going to renegotiate NAFTA?
The President. Say it.
Q. When might you renegotiate NAFTA?
The President. At the appropriate time. Okay?
United Brotherhood of Carpenters General President Douglas J. McCarron. Mr. President, not a question, but just a statement. That address Friday was excellent——
The President. Get it to the press. Hey, press, you can hear this. [Laughter] Get back in here. Get back in here. Come on back. Come on back. Don't talk too quickly. I love that.
Are they ready? Where's Ms. Jackson [Hallie Jackson, NBC News]? Come, get—okay, he was just about to make a statement. I said, you know what, maybe the press can hear it. Go ahead, Doug, hit them.
Mr. McCarron. That address on Friday was a great, middle class address. I mean, it did hit home. For the people that have been hurting, you said it, the people here in Washington have made it——
The President. It's bad.
Mr. McCarron. ——the elites. You know, the working class people that had to hear something like that. And at that venue, being up there at your Inauguration and laying it down——
The President. It was a great day.
Mr. McCarron. That was a great moment for working men and women of the United States.
The President. Thank you. You may never hear that on television, but that's only because it was positive. [Laughter] Thank you all very much.
NOTE: The President spoke at 3:15 p.m. in the Roosevelt Room at the White House. In his remarks, he referred to Sean F. McGarvey, president, North America's Building Trades Unions; and Mark Fields, president and chief executive officer, Ford Motor Co. The transcript, prepared for immediate release by the Office of the Press Secretary, was received by the Office of the Federal Register on July 27. A portion of these remarks could not be verified because the audio was incomplete.
Donald J. Trump (1st Term), Remarks at a Meeting With Labor Union Leaders and Frontline Workers Online by Gerhard Peters and John T. Woolley, The American Presidency Project https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/node/330926
