Remarks Prior to a Meeting With President Volodymyr Zelenskyy of Ukraine and an Exchange With Reporters

President Trump. Well, thank you very much. It's an honor to have President Zelenskyy of Ukraine. And we've been working very hard, very close, and we've actually known each other for a long time. We've been dealing with each other for a long time and very well.

We had a little negotiation spat, but that worked out great, I think, for both countries—I think for the world, actually, beyond both countries. And we have something that is a very fair deal, and we look forward to getting in and digging, digging, digging and working and getting some of the rare earth. But it means we're going to be inside, and it's a big commitment from the United States, and we appreciate working with you very much, and we will continue to do that.

We have had some very good discussions with Russia. I spoke with President Putin, and we're going to try and bring this to a close. That's something that you want and that he wants. We have to negotiate a deal, but we've started the confines of a deal, and I think something can happen.

The big thing is the number of soldiers, mostly, at this point, but soldiers being killed. You're losing thousands of soldiers. On both sides, we're losing a lot of soldiers, and we want to see it stop. And we want to see the money get put to different kinds of use, like rebuilding—the rebuilding.

And we're going to be working very hard, but we've had a lot of very good conversations. I will say, until we came along, the Biden administration didn't speak to Russia whatsoever. They didn't speak to anybody. They just allowed this to continue.

And I will say that—I'll say in front of you—you've heard me say it a thousand times—if I were President, this war would have never happened. We would have had a deal negotiated for you without having to go through what you've gone through.

But you—your soldiers have been unbelievably brave. We've given them great equipment, but they've—somebody has to use the equipment. They've been unbelievably brave, and we give them great credit. This was supposed to be over very quickly, and here we are 3 years later. So I give tremendous credit to your generals and your soldiers and yourself, in the sense that it's been very hard fighting, very tough fighting. They're great fighters. And you have to be very proud of them from that standpoint.

President Zelenskyy. I am very proud, of course.

President Trump. But now we want to get it over with. [Laughter] It's enough, right? We want to get it over with.

So it's an honor to have you here. Thank you very much for coming.

We're going to sign the agreement at the conference in the East Room in a little while, right after lunch. And we'll be having lunch together. We're also discussing some other things, and we appreciate everybody being here.

It's a—somewhat of an exciting moment, but the really exciting moment is when we get a—when they stop the shooting or we end up with a deal. And I think we're fairly close to getting that.

And an honor to have you. And please, if you'd like to say something.

President Zelenskyy. Yes. Thank you so much, Mr. President. Thank you for invitation.

And really, I hope that this document—first document will be first step to real security guarantees for Ukraine, our people, our children. I really count on it.

And of course, we count that America will not stop support. Really, for us, it's very important to support and to continue it. I want to discuss it with details further during our conversation and, of course, the infrastructure or security guarantees, because, for today, I understand what Europe is ready to do, and of course, I want to discuss with you what United States will be ready to do.

And I really count on your strong position to stop Putin. And you said that "Enough with the war." I think that is very important—been—to say these words to Putin at the very beginning—at the very beginning of war, because he is a killer and terrorist.

But I hope that together we can stop him. But for us, it's very important to—you know, to save our country, our values, our freedom, and democracy. And of course, no compromises with a killer about our territories. But it will be later.

And of course, I—what I wanted—you know we spoke about it by phone with you about the drones production. We have very good drones production. I think the best one in the world for today because of the war.

Yes. And of course, we need very much the air defense. You have the best air defense in the world. And really, you helped us under attacks of Russians. And I want to speak how we can exchange the licenses. We're open to share the licenses of all our drones with you—of course, with the United States. And we need licenses for quick production of air defense.

Even after the war, we need our nation to be calm, that we are secured. So that's why we need this air shield.

And of course, about this, I want to speak about the contingents. I think that France and U.K. already spoke to you, and we know that Europe is ready. But without the United States, they will not be ready to be as strong as we need.

And the last point—last, not least—about exchange—about our people and children. And you know that these crazy Russians—that they've stolen 20,000 of children—Ukrainian children. They changed their names. They changed their—you know, their families, relatives, and now they're in Russia. We want to bring them back. And really, it's a big, big dream, task, and goal for me and our warriors.

We—by the way, Mr. President, we brought—we exchanged—we just released more than 4,000 warriors from Russian prison, but there are thousands more in the prison. I wanted to share with you some—some images how—it's—of just—can—I—can I now—

President Trump. Yes, please.

President Zelenskyy. ——have a——

President Trump. Please.

President Zelenskyy. ——just a minute? One minute—one minute. Just you to understand what the—in what circumstances, in what situation they are, and what the attitude of Russia to our prisoners. Bad guys. Just you—before and after.

[At this point, President Zelenskyy handed President Trump some photographs.]

President Trump. Hmm.

President Zelenskyy. And you see before and after—just you to understand. Now thousands of such guys—ladies and men—there. And that—so they don't eat, they beat them, and they——

President Trump. Hmm.

President Zelenskyy. You know, it's a lot of, you know, bad things.

So out—of—even during the war, there are rules. Everybody knows there are rules during the war. These guys, they don't have any rules. You see that? Fifty, sixty kilograms to them, and a lot of such things.

And I didn't want to show you what the changes with images of children, because I will share—just share with you. And, I mean, it's looking tragic.

President Trump. Yes. That's tough stuff.

President Zelenskyy. Yes. Yes. I wanted very much to give you. And here you see it.

President Trump. Yes.

President Zelenskyy. This is pastor, by the way. They've stolen pastors because it's not Russian church. They've stolen pastors and moved pastors to the prison. We—at the end of last year, we brought three pastors. And we could exchange them. But this is pastors, you see.

President Trump. Yes, that's tough.

President Zelenskyy. Yes. Yes. So, I mean, this—I wanted to——

President Trump. That's very tough.

President Zelenskyy. ——to show you and—yes. So thank you very much.

President Trump. We want to get that ended, right?

President Zelenskyy. Yes. Yes. Of course. We—of course, we want.

President Trump. And I think we will. I think we will. And——

President Zelenskyy. We have to, of course.

President Trump. Do you have any questions, please?

[Several reporters began asking questions at once.]

President Trump. Yes. Please.

Ukraine/U.S. Security Assistance/Critical Minerals Supply

Q. Thank you, Mr. President. With the—how much money is the U.S. going to put into the fund that—that is being created today, and how does this provide long-term security for Ukraine?

President Trump. Well, we don't know exactly how much, because we're going to be putting some money in a fund that we're going to get from the raw earth that we're going to be taking and sharing in terms of revenue. So it's going to be a lot of money will be made from the sale and from the use of raw earth.

And as you know, our country doesn't have much raw earth. We have a lot of oil and gas, but we don't have a lot of the raw earth. And what we do have is protected by the environmentalists, but that could be unprotected. But still, it's not very much.

They have among the best in the world, in terms of raw earth. So, we're going to be using that—taking it, using it for all of the things we do, including AI and including weapons and the military. And it's really going to very much satisfy our needs.

So it was something that just worked out really well. We have a lot of oil, and we have a lot of gas. We have a lot, but we don't have raw earth. So this has just about every component of the raw earth that we need for computers, for all of the things we do.

Q. And on the security——

President Trump. This puts us in great shape.

President Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin of Russia

Q. And on long-term security for Ukraine, how does this provide it?

President Trump. I think they're going to have great—look, I think, once we make the agreement, that's going to be 95 percent of it. It's—they're not going to go back to fighting.

I've spoken with President Putin, and I think—I mean, I feel very strong—I've known him for a long time, and I feel very strongly that they're very serious about it. And we'll make a deal, and when the deal is made, I don't think—we talk about security. Everyone is talking about—the other day, all they talked about was security. I said, "Let me make the deal first." I have to make the deal first.

I don't worry about security right now. I got to have to—we have to have a deal, because right now, last week, 2,000 soldiers died on both sides—2,000. And they're losing 1,000, 2,000, 3,000 a week. So, as we sit here and we talk, people are getting shot and dying on the battlefield.

And you know, they're not American soldiers, but they're Russian soldiers, and they're Ukrainian soldiers. And we want to be able to stop it.

[Several reporters spoke at once.]

And we want to be able also to spend money on other things. We don't want to—this is a tremendous amount of money. And what the Biden administration did was terrible. They were giving money, but he had no security on the money. Europe, as you know, gave much less money, but they had security. It was in the form of a loan. They get their money back, and we didn't. And now, at least we're protected, because the American taxpayer has to be protected too.

But this is an incredible agreement for Ukraine, because we have a big investment in their country now, and what they have, very few people have, and we're able to really go forward with very, very high-tech things and many other things, including weaponry—weaponry that we're going to use in many locations but that we need for our country.

Q. Mr. President——

President Trump. This allows—this allows us to do that.

[Several reporters spoke at once.]

Q. Mr. President, when do you——

Q. Will you continue——

Q. Mr. President——

Q. Will you continue——

President Zelenskyy. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. Can I—can——

Q. ——sending military aid——

President Trump. Yes, go ahead. Please.

President Zelenskyy. If I can——

President Trump. Yes.

President Zelenskyy. ——just add—yes. In the document, there is one of the very important points, if we speak about business and investment. We never had LNG terminals in Ukraine. This document will open—I mean, the next documents—but anyway, the—here, we see—in the framework, we see a really good will for this.

LNG terminals, for us, is very important and, I think, for security of European continent. We have the biggest storage—gas storage. We have the biggest in Europe. Yes, it's—yes. And we can use it for LNG, and we will do it.

And really, we can help Europe, because Europe really helped. President Trump said that they made less support, but they are our friends, and they are our very supportive partners. They really gave a lot, Mr. President.

President Trump. They did.

President Zelenskyy. No, really, they did. I think—I——

President Trump. They gave a lot, but they gave much less.

President Zelenskyy. No.

President Trump. Much less. [Laughter]

President Zelenskyy. No. I think no——

President Trump. Don't argue with me. [Laughter]

President Zelenskyy. No.

President Trump. Okay.

President Zelenskyy. Okay. Okay. [Laughter]

[Several reporters spoke at once.]

President Trump. Yes, please.

President's Trump View of His Legacy

Q. Mr. President Trump, you have repeatedly called the deal with Ukraine as a historical one. And as a President of the United States, you make historical decisions in other issues which affect America and the world. So what place in the world history do you want to take? And do you associate yourself with any famous historical figures?

President Trump. Yes, I'd say George Washington, Abraham Lincoln. I would say I'm far superior to George Washington and Abraham Lincoln. [Laughter]

Now, you know, I'm only kidding, right? Because when I say that, the fake news is going to go wild. They're going to say, "He considers himself to be better than Washington." But you never know. You never know.

I don't compare myself to anybody. I just have—I'm here to do a job.

We've had a great 35 days, or whatever it might be—a month, a little more than a month. We've accomplished tremendous amounts, not only this. This would be a very great achievement if we could get this—the war stopped and get them back to normalization. I think that's going to happen. We've had very good talks on both sides, as you know.

But I think we've done a very good job, just generally, if you look at all of the things we've done in 30 days. They're saying there's never been a opening for a President of—the first month. There's never been a first month like we've had.

And this is one of the very important things. This, to me, is one of the most important things, because we have tremendous death taking place as we speak. And I don't want to have that. You know, think of the parents. Think of the—whether they're in Russia or Ukraine, think of the parents of all these people being killed needlessly.

President Zelenskyy. They came to our territory.

President Trump. Should have never started. This would have—if I were President, this would have never started.

[Several reporters spoke at once.]

Ukraine/U.S. Security Assistance

Q. Mr. President, will you continue sending military aid to Ukraine after you—the U.S. signs this agreement with Ukraine?

President Trump. Yes, we're going to be continuing——

Q. And a question to President Zelenskyy. Do you feel like the U.S. is on your side, that the President—that President Trump is on your side at this moment?

President Trump. Go ahead.

President Zelenskyy. What do you think?

President Trump. He wants to know do you think that—it's sort of a stupid question. It's—[laughter]——

President Zelenskyy. I——

President Trump. I guess we wouldn't be here if I wasn't, you know? [Laughter]

Secretary of Commerce Howard W. Lutnick. Right. [Laughter]

President Zelenskyy. Yes.

President Trump. But——

Secretary Lutnick. It's the Oval Office.

President Zelenskyy. I think that the United States on our side from the very beginning of occupation, and I think that President Trump on our side. And of course, I—[inaudible]—I'm sure that United States, President will not stop support. This is crucial for us. It's important for us. Yes.

And Putin—the President speaks about the people and the soldiers which are dying, but they came to our territory. They came to our land. They began this war, and they have to stop.

And I think on—this is—the question which—really, the most important question: Can President Trump—I hope yes—with some other allies to stop Putin, withdraw these enemies—our enemies—withdraw these troops from our land?

And I think that you asked about the history, about the President—I think that if President—or when he will stop Putin, if President Trump will bring peace to our country, I think he will be on this wall, in time.

[President Zelenskyy gestured toward the portraits hanging in the Oval Office.]

President Trump. We've had very, very good talks.

[Several reporters spoke at once.]

Ukraine/Russia

Q. President—Mr. President Zelenskyy just said that there would be no compromises with——

President Zelenskyy. Territories.

Q. ——Vladimir Putin.

President Zelenskyy. Yes.

Q. I just wanted to ask both of you: Firstly, are there compromises that you think that President Zelenskyy is going to have to make? And, President Zelenskyy, is there anything that you might—you think that you may be able to offer or bring to the table? For example, elections. Thank you.

President Trump. I think you're going to have to always make compromises. You can't do any deals without compromises. So, certainly, he's going to have to make some compromises. But hopefully, they won't be as big as some people think you're going to have to make. That's all. It's all we can do.

I'm here as a—as an arbitrator, as a mediator, to a certain extent, between two parties that have been very hostile, to put it mildly. They've been very hostile. This has been a vicious war. This has been a vicious war.

You know, it's a very level battlefield, and those bullets go out—and as I've said many times when talking about it with Pete—many times, the only thing stopping those bullets is a human body. And, in the case we're talking about, generally, young human bodies are stopping a lot of bullets.

It's dead level. That's what—why it's great farmland. It's great land. It's great farmland, but there's very little protection against the bullets that are being—and other things that are being shot.

So all I can do is see if I can get everybody at the table and get an agreement. And I think we're going to end up with an agreement. Otherwise, I wouldn't probably be even here today.

[Several reporters spoke at once.]

President Zelenskyy. If I——

President Trump. Brian [Brian Glenn, America's Real Voice].

President Trump's View of His Legacy/2024 Presidential Election

Q. Mr. President, I've got two questions for you.

Do you think, ultimately, your legacy will be the peacemaker and not the President that led this country into another war and ended foreign wars?

And then I've got a—question for——

President Trump. I hope it will. I mean, I hope I'm going to be remembered as a peacemaker. This is—this would be a great thing if we could do this. I'm doing this to save lives, more than anything else. Second is to save a lot of money, but I consider that to be far less important.

So I hope I'm going to—thank you, Brian, for that question.

Q. Yes.

President Trump. It was a nice question.

I hope I'll be known and recognized as a peacemaker. This would be a great thing to solve. This is a very dangerous situation. You know, this could lead to a third world war. This is—this was headed in the wrong direction.

If this election were lost, if we didn't win this election—and by the way, we won it by a lot. That was a mandate. We won every swing State. We won the popular vote by millions and millions of votes. We won everything, the districts. You look at the areas of red. Take a look at a map. This was a big mandate.

And this was one of the things. I said, "We're going to get this thing settled." If we didn't win, I think this would have—this could have very well ended up in a third world war, and that would not have been a good situation.

What was your second question?

Q. And my second question, for President Zelenskyy——

President Zelenskyy. Yes.

Q. Do you ever—why don't you wear a suit? [Laughter]

President Zelenskyy. What?

Q. You're the highest——

President Zelenskyy. Sorry?

Q. Why don't you wear a suit? You're the highest level in this country's office, and you refuse to wear a suit. Just want to see if you—do you own a suit?

President Zelenskyy. Do you have problems?

Q. I—a lot of Americans have problems with you——

President Zelenskyy. Really?

Q. ——not respecting——

President Zelenskyy. I don't have such——

Q. ——the dignity of this office.

President Zelenskyy. I will wear costume after this war will finish.

Q. Okay.

President Zelenskyy. Yes, maybe one——

Q. Maybe something like this?

President Zelenskyy. Maybe something like yours.

Q. Yes, sir.

President Zelenskyy. Yes.

Q. That'd be great.

President Zelenskyy. Maybe—something better, I do—I don't know. [Laughter] We will see. Maybe something cheaper than—yes.

Q. Thank you.

President Zelenskyy. Thank you. Thank you for——

[Several reporters spoke at once.]

Q. Thank you, President Trump. You said yesterday that you have——

Ukraine/U.S. Security Assistance

Q. Mr. President, are you going to send more arms to Ukraine in case there's no peace?

President Trump. Yes, we're going to have arms to Ukraine. Yes, sure. Hopefully, I won't have to send very much, because hopefully we're going to have it finished. We're looking forward to finishing this quickly. We're not looking forward to sending a lot of arms. We're looking forward to getting the war finished so we can do other things.

But we very much appreciate the agreement, because we needed what they had, and we're treating—you know, our country is now treated fairly.

Biden didn't do that. Biden—he didn't know what the hell he was doing. This should have never happened. This should have never started.

But you know, sure. The answer is yes. But hopefully, we won't have to send much because I'm looking forward to get it done—getting it done quickly. Very quickly.

Q. Does that mean you'll provide security guarantees, Mr. President?

President Trump. I don't want to talk about security yet, because I want to get the deal done. You know, you fall into the same trap like everybody else. A million times, you say it over and over. I want to get the deal done.

Security is so easy. That's about 2 percent of the problem. I'm not worried about security. I'm worried about getting the deal done. The security is the easy part. Security is very nice. "Everybody stop shooting."

And now will Europe put people there? I know France is going to. I know the U.K. is going to. I know other countries are going to, and they happen to be right next door.

We haven't committed, but we could, conceivably. You know, we have security in a different form. We'll have workers there, digging, digging, digging, taking the raw earth so that we can create a lot of great product in this country. So, in that sense, you have something.

But we haven't determined that yet. I will say, in speaking to France and in speaking to—and they were here, as you know, last week and just the other day. They have committed to a lot of security.

I don't think you're going to need much security. I think once this deal gets done, it's over. Russia is not going to want to go back, and nobody is going to want to go back.

When this——

Q. President Zelenskyy is shaking his head "no" to that——

President Trump. When this deal ends——

Q. ——Mr. President.

President Trump. ——I really believe this deal is—is going to be over.

President Zelenskyy. [Inaudible]—question?

President Trump. Yes, please go ahead.

President Zelenskyy. Yes. Thank you.

President Trump. Go ahead please. Yes.

President Zelenskyy. Thank you so much. Yes.

Q. Mr. President, thank you.

President Zelenskyy. Yes—yes, I am——

President Trump's Diplomatic Efforts

Q. You had—you hosted Macron and Keir Starmer at the White House this past week, both of whom praised your courage and conviction to lead the pathway towards peace.

President Trump. Yes.

Q. Part of that involved, though, reengaging Russia in diplomatic relations, something that previous leaders lacked the conviction to do. So what gave you the moral courage and conviction to step forward and lead that?

President Trump. Oh, I love this guy. [Laughter] Who are you with?

Q. One America News, sir.

President Trump. Well, that's why I like him. One America News does a great job. That's very—I like the question. I think it's a very good question.

It is. It's a pathway to peace. It's a pathway to getting something solved. And I feel that as the head of this country, I have an obligation to do that.

Plus, you know, we're very much involved. We got involved. It's too bad we got involved, because there should have been no involvement because there should have been no war. And there shouldn't have been October 7. That would have never happened.

As you know, Iran was broke. They had no money to give to Hizballah. They had no money to give to Hamas. They were stone-cold broke. And then, under Biden, they became rich as hell. They went from no money to $300 billion in a period of 4 years, and they gave a lot of that money away, and you see what happened. And that's a real mess also that we hope to be able to solve.

But no, I appreciate your question very much. It's just I feel I have an obligation to try and do something to stop the death.

[Several reporters spoke at once.]

President Zelenskyy. If I can—if I can answer.

[Several reporters spoke at once.]

Yes, if I can answer, sorry.

President Trump. Please. Go ahead.

President Zelenskyy. Please. Please.

President Trump. And I do like your clothing, by the way. [Laughter]

President Zelenskyy. Yes, really?

President Trump. Even though I have to—I think he's a great guy, by the way. [Laughter]

President Zelenskyy. Yes, yes.

President Trump. But I—don't know if you two like each other. [Laughter] But you know what? I think he's dressed——

President Zelenskyy. No, no, I—why—why——

President Trump. I think he's dressed beautifully.

President Zelenskyy. I like this guy. I don't know him.

President Trump. I think he's dressed beautifully.

President Zelenskyy. So I have more—I have more serious things than answer one such question.

President Trump. That's true. That's a——

President Zelenskyy. I will answer on more serious question——

President Trump. That's a good statement.

President Zelenskyy. ——if I can.

President Trump. That's good.

President Zelenskyy. Yes. So please.

About security guarantees and about a cease-fire. We can't just speak about cease-fire and speak and speak. It will not work. Just cease-fire will not—never work, because I'm like a President—I have this experience. And not only me. Ukraine before—before my Presidency, from the 2014, Putin broken 25 times. Twenty-five times he broken his own signature. Twenty-five times he broken cease-fire. It was——

President Trump. But he—never broke to me.

President Zelenskyy. ——irrelevant.

President Trump. He never broke to me.

President Zelenskyy. No, no, you were the President.

President Trump. If—he never broke——

President Zelenskyy. You were the President during——

President Trump. He never broke to me.

President Zelenskyy. In 2016, you—been the President, Mr. President. You've been the President. But he—for—he had—of course, not with you, but he had—during those period, he had conversations with our side. And we had Normandy Format, you know? The France, Germany, Ukraine, and Russia. And he broken 25 times.

That's why we will never accept just cease-fire. It will not work without security guarantees.

Security guarantees—maybe President is right about this document and other, but this document is not enough. Strong army is enough, because his soldiers afraid—Putin's soldiers afraid of our soldiers when we're strong enough. If we are not—strong enough, if we are empty, if our storage is empty, we can't defend our land.

Today, you know, he knows that we have—all the world knows that we have meeting. Yes? Why he's using ballistic? Putin, today, using ballistic on our hospitals, schools, and et cetera. Ballistic.

So he knows that we are here and that President Trump is really—have good will to stop this war. And I—and you—you hear now the President.

So why he's using? So he doesn't want to stop, because he doesn't want. But I hope that we will do it. Really, we'll do it.

Security—when we speak about security guarantees, when the Europeans are ready for contingents, they need U.S.A. backstop. If there will not be United States, we will not never have any contingents—strong contingents from the Europeans, because they don't want to divide alliance, connection between the United States—the main and strongest ally—and Europeans.

This is crucial. This is important. That's what we want to speak about very much. This is very important.

And air defense. So air defense, really, we have big deficit with all the systems. And we need to provide this. We need this very much. Otherwise, Putin will never stop and will go further and further. He doesn't want—he hate us. You know?

It's not about me. He hate Ukrainians. He thinks that we are not a nation. He thinks—and he shared these thoughts, I think, maybe with your team also—I don't know. But with all the Europeans, in media, official and not, he always said that we—there is no such country, such nation, such language, and such life like Ukrainian.

No. He really doesn't respect all the Ukrainians, and he wants to destroy us.

The—we—and you are right, Mr. President, that's 2 percent. This document, maybe other documents, it's a very good start. Very good. But it will not enough to stop this person.

Russia/Ukraine Reconstruction Efforts

Q. Should Russia pay to rebuild Ukraine?

Q. Mr. President, under these——

President Trump. Yes, go ahead.

[Several reporters spoke at once.]

Q. Should Russia pay to rebuild Ukraine?

President Zelenskyy. They have to pay.

[Several reporters spoke at once.]

This is the rule. This is rule of the war.

[Several reporters spoke at once.]

This is the rule of the war. During all the centuries, all the history, this is the rule of the war: Who began, those pay.

Q. Do you agree, President Trump?

President Zelenskyy. This is the rule. Putin began this war. He has to pay all money for renovation. He has to pay.

Of course, some Russian assets—what we have in—Europe, about $300 billion—we can use them. We can use for renovation and buy military support from the United States, also. We can do it. But it's not enough. It's not enough.

[Several reporters spoke at once.]

Q. I asked this question that you didn't like because I wanted to know how you——

Q. President Trump, under these circumstances, do you envision a trilateral summit with Putin and President Zelenskyy?

President Trump. Go ahead, please.

Wait. One second.

President Trump's Diplomatic Efforts

Q. I want—I asked this question that you didn't like because I wanted to know if you want to position yourself in the middle between Russia and——

President Trump. Yes, I do.

Q. ——Ukraine or on the Ukraine side.

President Trump. No, I'm in the middle. I want to solve this thing. I'm for both. I want to get it solved. And it's wonderful to speak badly about somebody else, but I want to get it solved. If we can solve it, great. If we can't solve it, they're going to have to fight it out, and who knows what's going to happen. But I want to see it get solved.

Poland/North Atlantic Treaty Organization/Baltic States

Q. May I follow up? One more question about U.S. troops in Europe. After Russian invasion of Ukraine, your predecessor sent additional troops to Eastern Europe, including Poland, my country.

President Trump. Yes.

Q. Are you committed to keeping these troops on the eastern flank of NATO in the future?

President Trump. I'm very committed to Poland. I think Poland has really stepped up and done a great job for NATO. They—as you know, they paid more than they had to. They are one of the finest groups of people I've ever known. I'm very committed to Poland.

Q. What about Baltics?

President Trump. Poland is in a tough neighborhood, you know?

Q. What about Baltics—the Baltics?

President Trump. The Baltics, they got a lot of—it's a tough neighborhood too. But we're committed. We're going to be very committed. And we're committed to NATO. But NATO has to step up, and the Europeans have to step up more than they have. And I want to see them equalized, because they are in for far less than we're in, and they should be at least equal. You understand that.

Why is the United States—we have an ocean in between. Why is the United States in for so much more money and other things as Europe?

With that being said—and as you said, they've also been, obviously, very helpful. But we have put in far more than they have, and I think they should equalize.

[Several reporters spoke at once.]

Yes, please. Go ahead.

Ukraine/Critical Minerals Supply

Q. Mr. President, can I ask you about the agreement again today? What changed between the first time that Secretary Bessent gave President Zelenskyy the agreement and today for the signing? What was——

President Trump. We made a deal. That's all.

Q. What was the difference?

President Trump. I'm just——

Q. Was there a deciding factor, or was there——

President Trump. I'm a businessperson. We made a deal. That's what changed.

[Several reporters spoke at once.]

I didn't think we were going to make a deal, and we ended up making the deal. So that changed.

Yes.

Ukraine/Russia

Q. Mr. President, when and how do you envision a trilateral summit with President Zelenskyy and Putin under——

President Trump. I don't know, but it's——

Q. ——these circumstances?

President Trump. Well, they don't like each other. I can tell you that. [Laughter] They do not like each other. This is not a love match, and it's unfortunate. That's why you're in this situation.

The United States should not have allowed this to happen. Okay? The United States, run by a man that didn't know much—I'm going to be very nice—run by an incompetent person. Very incompetent person. Should never have allowed this to happen.

I've stopped wars. I've stopped many wars. My people will tell you, I stopped wars that nobody ever heard about. I stopped wars before they ever started.

You can look at some of—I could give you a lot of nations that would tell you right now they were probably going to war. I could tell you right now, there's a nation thinking about going to war on something that nobody in this room has ever even heard about—two smaller nations, but big, still big. And I——

President Zelenskyy. About——

President Trump. I think I've stopped it. But this should have never happened.

President Zelenskyy. About—about——

Q. Mr. President, could you talk a little bit about your——

President Zelenskyy. Sorry. Just a second. About the—any negotiations.

That, first of all, I want—I want, really, to tell you—and I think that everybody understand—that Ukraine—more than Ukrainians, nobody want to stop this war. But that the future—any negotiations, it's understandable that two sides of the war—not Russia and the United States, because this is not the war between Russia and the United States. This is war of Russia against Ukraine and Ukrainian people. So these two sides will be at—any—anyway will be at the negotiation and negotiation table. Then, of course, United States, like the strongest partner of the Ukraine, and of course, Europe.

I think Europe is very important. I want to speak about it with the President. Yes, Europe is very important for us, because we really defend Europe for today. All the Europeans really recognize that we are defending line, and they have real life, and our people are dying. That's why they helped us.

And also, it's about the need. Yes, between—like the President said, you have big, nice ocean, yes, between us. But if we will not stay, Russia will go further to Baltics and to Poland, by the way, but first to the Baltics. It's understandable for them, because they've been in the U.S.S.R. You know, they are—they've been one of the republics of the USSR, and Putin wants to bring them back to his empire. It's a fact.

And when he will go there, if we will not stay, you will fight—your American soldiers. It doesn't matter—do you have ocean or not. Your soldiers will fight.

Ukraine

Q. Mr. President, would you be willing to visit Ukraine, maybe Kyiv or Odesa, which is known to be the Riviera of the Black Sea?

President Zelenskyy. It was my question. [Laughter]

Q. I'm sorry.

President Trump. I don't want to talk about Odesa now. Let's not talk about Odesa. I want to talk about making a deal, getting peace. We don't have to talk about Odesa. But a lot of cities have been destroyed, a lot of cities that are not recognizable. There's not a building standing.

President Zelenskyy. No, no, no.

President Trump. And a lot of—a lot things have to happen.

President Zelenskyy. You have to come. Mr. President, you have to come and to look. No, no, no. We have very good cities. Yes, a lot of things been destroyed, but mostly cities alive and people work and children go to school. Sometimes it's very difficult. Sometimes closer to front line, children have to go to underground schools or online. But we live.

Ukraine is fighting, and Ukraine lives. This is very important. And maybe it's Putin is sharing disinformation that he destroyed us. No, he lost 700,000 people, 700,000 soldiers. He lost everything. He has. So——

Q. Mr. President, when did you last speak with——

Q. Mr. President, one more. I mentioned Poland——

Q. Well, no—I'm——

President Trump. No, no, no.

Q. On the minerals deal.

President Trump. Please. Go ahead.

President Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin of Russia/U.S. Sanctions Against Russia

Q. Mr. President—thank you. Mr. President, when did you last speak with President Putin? And what did he say that gave——

President Trump. A couple of days ago.

Q. And what did he tell you that gave you the assurance that he wanted peace?

President Trump. Well, that's what I do. My whole life is deals. I know pretty good. And I really—I've known him for a long time. I've dealt with him for a long time. He had to suffer through the Russia hoax. You know, "Russia, Russia, Russia." It was a hoax. That was all Biden. It was nothing to do with him. So he had to suffer through that, and he was able to do that.

I think that he wants to make a deal, and he'd like to see it end.

It's all I do. That's what I do. My whole life, that's what I do, is make deals.

Q. Would you lift sanctions?

President Trump. And I'm in the middle of a mess, because this is a real mess. It's a very dangerous one.

If this doesn't get solved now, it's not going to get solved for a long time, so I hope we're going to—I hope we're going to get it solved.

In the back, please.

United Kingdom/Freedom of Speech

Q. Thank you, Mr. President. Prime Minister Starmer claimed repeatedly that his government believes in free speech and was not engaged in censorship, but his country's government arrests people for memes and thoughtcrimes and, even more worrisome, is pressuring American companies to censor Americans on its behalf. How can he be a reliable, trustworthy partner when he says things that are demonstrably false on such an important topic?

President Trump. Well, we actually spoke to him about that yesterday, and we thought they took it very much too far. J.D. was very strong on it. So was I. So was Marco. And we've been speaking to him about it.

Marco, would you like to say something about it?

Secretary of State Marco A. Rubio. Yes, we have concerns, obviously, with the conduct of theirs, particularly as it impacts Americans. And there's real concern that American speech, which is online, could fall into the hands of British or any country's jurisdiction. And so this is a point the Vice President made in Munich and I think is a very compelling one that what unites us with Europe, as much as anything else, is these shared values, and one of them being free speech.

And so, if Americans are threatened by it, we're going to need to take action in that regard.

President Trump. J.D.?

Q. Mr. President——

Vice President James D. "J.D." Vance. Yes, look, we——

President Trump. It's actually a very important question.

Vice President Vance. We spoke about this in detail with the Prime Minister, the Foreign Secretary, and others at lunch yesterday, and I know that Secretary of Commerce Lutnick followed up in private meetings last night.

This is really important. We believe Americans have the right to speak their mind. Even if we in this room disagree with them, they have the right to speak their mind in the public square, which is often online these days, and we're going to defend that right as it pertains to American companies and American citizens—vigorously, if we have to.

I do think that, under the President's leadership, we're going to find common ground with our friends in the U.K. on this question, but it remains to be seen. The principle that will guide us is we believe in free speech in this country, and we'll fight for it for American citizens.

Ukraine/Critical Minerals Supply/Liquid Natural Gas

Q. Mr. President, on the deal, is there any other oil and gas component to the deal? Is it all critical minerals?

President Trump. A little bit. We'll see.

Q. On LNG, in particular?

President Trump. But we're not really looking for that so much. We've got a lot. We have more than anybody in the world, by far.

Q. What—about——

President Trump. So, no, we're not talking about it too much, but a little bit. I think it— affects also. But——

President Zelenskyy. [Inaudible]

President Trump. ——for the most part, no.

Q. And, sir, is there any agreement from Ukraine to purchase U.S. LNG as part of the deal——

President Trump. No.

Q. ——or is that on the table at all?

President Trump. No. We don't——

Q. Some of those——

President Trump. We don't need that.

Q. Some of those minerals are in the east, Mr. President.

President Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin of Russia

Q. Mr. President, I just wanted to ask you about—you—you just mentioned that you'd spoken to Vladimir Putin a couple of days ago. Just to be clear, that's a new call, not the one that you had talk——

President Trump. I've spoken to him on numerous occasions.

Q. Okay. And how was the latest call, and what did you discuss? Or how did it go?

President Trump. Are you serious with that question?

Q. I am. I'd love to know.

President Trump. It went well. I think we're going to have a deal.

[Several reporters spoke at once.]

Ukraine/Critical Minerals Supply/CNN

Q. On the minerals deal, Mr. President, some of those minerals are in the east of Ukraine, not far from the front lines and in areas that Russia has occupied.

President Zelenskyy. A very good question. Thank you so much.

Q. Will you direct President Putin to withdraw his forces from those areas if you're—there's U.S. interest there?

President Trump. Well, we'll take a look at the time. We have a lot of area. It's a very big area we're talking about. So we'll take a look. I'll study that, and I'll see.

Q. And who would protect those minerals, if—they are U.S. interests? Would that be Ukrainian forces?

President Trump. They'll be protected.

Q. European forces?

President Trump. The agreement will protect them.

Q. U.S. forces?

President Trump. The agreement. Yes, we're signing an agreement. You know?

Q. Right, but what if Russia tries to invade or there's Russian aggression in those spots? What will you do then?

President Trump. I just told you, I don't think that's going to happen. And if that were going to happen, I wouldn't make a deal. If I thought that was going to happen, I wouldn't make a deal.

Q. Some people may wonder why are you——

President Trump. You know, they ought to focus—on CNN—on survival, not asking me these ridiculous questions. [Laughter]

Q. Why are you—why do you have confidence that Putin won't violate a deal?

President Trump. Focus on surviving, because CNN has got such low ratings I don't think they're going to survive.

Q. People will ask why——

President Trump. Let's go.

Q. ——you have confidence Putin won't violate the deal.

President Trump. Please. Go ahead.

Russia/Ukraine

Q. One more. As is already—I already mentioned Poland. Poland was under Russian control for decades after the Second World War. When I was a kid, I looked at the United States not only as the most powerful country——

President Trump. Right.

Q. ——richest country in the world; the country that has great music, great movies, great muscle cars; but also as a force for good.

Do you—and now, I'm talking with my friends in Poland, and they are worried that you align yourself too much with Putin. What's your message for them?

President Trump. Well, if I didn't align myself with both of them, you'd never have a deal. You want me to say really terrible things about Putin and then say: "Hi, Vladimir. How are we doing on the deal?" That doesn't work that way. [Laughter]

I'm not aligned with Putin. I'm not aligned with anybody. I'm aligned with the United States of America and for the good of the world. I'm aligned with the world, and I want to get this thing over with.

You see the hatred he's got for Putin. It's very tough for me to make a deal with that kind of hate. He's got tremendous hatred.

And I understand that, but I can tell you the other side isn't exactly in love with, you know, him either.

So it's not a question of alignment. I have to—I'm aligned with the world. I want to get the thing set. I'm aligned with Europe. I want to see if we can get this thing done.

You want me to be tough? I could be tougher than any human being you've ever seen. I'd be so tough. But you're never going to get a deal that way. So that's the way it goes.

Vice President Vance. May I say something——

President Trump. All right. One more question.

[Several reporters spoke at once.]

Vice President Vance. May I say something on that?

President Trump. Yes, please.

Vice President Vance. Hey, I want to respond to this.

So, look, for 4 years, the United States of America, we had a President who stood up at press conferences and talked tough about Vladimir Putin, and then Putin invaded Ukraine and destroyed a significant chunk of the country. The path to peace and the path to prosperity is maybe engaging in diplomacy.

We tried the pathway of Joe Biden, of thumping our chest and pretending that the President of the United States words mattered more than the President of the United States actions.

What makes America a good country is America engaging in diplomacy. That's what President Trump is doing.

President Zelenskyy. Can I ask you?

Vice President Vance. Sure.

President Zelenskyy. Yes?

Vice President Vance. Yes.

President Zelenskyy. Okay. So he occupied it—our parts—big parts of Ukraine, part of east and Crimea. So he occupied it on 2014.

So, during a lot of years—I'm not speaking about just Biden, but those time was Obama, then—President Obama, then President Trump, then President Biden. Now, President Trump, and—God bless, now President Trump will stop him.

But during 2014, nobody stopped him. He just occupied and took. He killed people. You know what the contact line——

President Trump. Twenty fifteen.

President Zelenskyy. Twenty fourteen.

Vice President Vance. Twenty fourteen to twenty fifteen.

President Trump. Oh, 2014?

President Zelenskyy. Yes, yes. So he killed——

President Trump. I was—I was not here.

President Zelenskyy. Yes, yes. But—but——

Vice President Vance. That's exactly right.

President Zelenskyy. Yes, but during 2014 till 2022, he—was the situation the same that people are—been dying on the contact line. Nobody stopped him.

You know that we had conversations with him—a lot of conversation, my bilateral conversation. And we signed with him—me, like a new President—in 2019, I signed with him, the deal. I signed with him, Macron, and Merkel. We signed cease-fire. Cease-fire. All of them told me that he will never go. We signed him a gas contract—gas contract.

Yes, but after that, he broken this cease-fire, he killed our people, and he didn't exchange prisoners. We signed the exchange of prisoners, but he didn't do it.

What kind of diplomacy, J.D., you are speaking about? What do you have—what do you—what do you mean?

Vice President Vance. I'm talking about the kind of diplomacy that's going to end the destruction of your country.

President Zelenskyy. Yes, but if you are not strong——

Vice President Vance. Mr. President—Mr. President, with respect, I think it's disrespectful for you to come into the Oval Office and try to litigate this in front of the American media.

Right now, you guys are going around and forcing conscripts to the front lines because you have manpower problems. You should be thanking the President for trying to——

President Zelenskyy. Have you ever been?

Vice President Vance. ——bring an end to this conflict.

President Zelenskyy. Have you ever been to Ukraine that you see what problems we have?

Vice President Vance. I have been to——

President Zelenskyy. Then come once.

Vice President Vance. I have actually—I've actually watched and seen the stories, and I know that what happens is, you bring people——

President Zelenskyy. [Inaudible]

Vice President Vance. ——you bring them on a propaganda tour, Mr. President.

Are—do you disagree that you've had problems——

President Zelenskyy. What——

Vice President Vance. ——bringing people into your military?

President Zelenskyy. We have problem——

Vice President Vance. And do you think that it's respectful——

President Zelenskyy. I will—I will answer.

Vice President Vance. ——to come to the Oval Office of the——

President Zelenskyy. I will answer.

Vice President Vance. ——United States of America and attack the administration that is prying to—trying to prevent the destruction of your country?

President Zelenskyy. A lot of questions. Let's start from the beginning.

Vice President Vance. Sure.

President Zelenskyy. First of all, during the war, everybody has problems, even you, but you have nice ocean and don't feel now, but you will feel it in the future.

President Trump. You—don't——

President Zelenskyy. God bless——

President Trump. You don't know that.

President Zelenskyy. God bless——

President Trump. You don't know that.

President Zelenskyy. God bless you will not have a war.

President Trump. Don't—you've got to—don't tell us what we're going to feel. We're trying to solve a problem. Don't tell us what we're going to feel.

President Zelenskyy. I'm not telling you. I'm answering honest question.

President Trump. Because you're in no position to dictate that. Remember this.

Vice President Vance. That's exactly what you're doing.

President Zelenskyy. I'm not dictating.

President Trump. You're in no position to dictate what we're going to feel.

President Zelenskyy. You will——

President Trump. We're going to feel very good.

President Zelenskyy. You will feel influence.

President Trump. We're going to feel very good——

President Zelenskyy. I'm telling——

President Trump. ——and very strong.

President Zelenskyy. ——you will feel influence.

President Trump. You're right now——

Vice President Vance. You——

President Trump. ——not in a very good position. You've allowed yourself to be——

President Zelenskyy. From the very——

President Trump. ——in a very bad position——

President Zelenskyy. From the very beginning of the war——

President Trump. ——and he's—happens to be right about it.

President Zelenskyy. From the very beginning of the war, Mr. President——

President Trump. You're not in a good position.

President Zelenskyy. I was—I was——

President Trump. You don't have the cards right now. With us, you start having cards.

President Zelenskyy. I'm not playing cards.

President Trump. But right now, you don't——

President Zelenskyy. I'm very serious, Mr. President.

President Trump. Yes, you're playing cards.

President Zelenskyy. I'm very serious.

President Trump. You're playing cards.

President Zelenskyy. I am the President in a war.

President Trump. You're gambling with the lives of millions of people.

President Zelenskyy. You think——

President Trump. You're gambling with World War III.

President Zelenskyy. What are you—what are you speaking about?

President Trump. You're gambling with World War III.

President Zelenskyy. What are you speaking about?

President Trump. And what you're doing is very disrespectful to the country—this country——

President Zelenskyy. I'm with all respect to your country.

President Trump. ——that's backed to you far more than a lot of people said they should have.

President Zelenskyy. I'm very respect——

Vice President Vance. Have you said "thank you" once——

President Zelenskyy. A lot of times.

Vice President Vance. ——this entire meeting? No, in this entire meeting, have——

President Zelenskyy. Even today—

Vice President Vance. ——you said, "Thank you"?

President Zelenskyy. Even today—

Vice President Vance. You went to Pennsylvania and campaigned for the opposition in October.

President Zelenskyy. Oh. I wasn't——

Vice President Vance. Offer some words of appreciation——

President Zelenskyy. What?

Vice President Vance . ——for the United States of America——

President Zelenskyy. What are you speaking about?

Vice President Vance. ——and the President who's trying to save your country.

President Zelenskyy. Please, you think that if you will speak very loudly about the war, you can——

President Trump. He's not speaking loudly.

President Zelenskyy. He——

President Trump. He's not speaking loudly. Your country is——

President Zelenskyy. Can I——

President Trump. ——in big trouble.

President Zelenskyy. Can I—can I answer?

President Trump. Wait a minute. No, no.

President Zelenskyy. Can I answer?

President Trump. You've done a lot of talking. Your country is in big trouble.

President Zelenskyy. I know. I know.

President Trump. You're not winning. You're not winning this.

President Zelenskyy. I——

President Trump. You have a damn good chance——

President Zelenskyy. We—are staying——

President Trump. ——of coming out okay because of us.

President Zelenskyy. Mr. President, we are staying in our country, staying strong. From the very beginning of the war, we've been alone, and we are thankful. I said thanks——

President Trump. You haven't been alone.

President Zelenskyy. ——in this Cabinet.

President Trump. You haven't been alone. We gave you——

President Zelenskyy. And not only in this Cabinet. I said thank you——

President Trump. ——through this stupid President, $350 billion.

President Zelenskyy. You voted for your President.

President Trump. We gave you military equipment.

President Zelenskyy. You voted for your President.

Vice President Vance. Okay.

President Trump. And your men are brave, but they had to use our military.

President Zelenskyy. And what about we are speaking?

President Trump. If you didn't have——

President Zelenskyy. You invited me——

President Trump. ——our military equipment——

President Zelenskyy. You invited me to speak——

President Trump. If you didn't have our military equipment, this war would have been over in 2 weeks. Okay?

President Zelenskyy. "In 3 days," I heard it from Putin. "In 3 days," this is something you——

President Trump. Maybe less.

President Zelenskyy. ——in 2 weeks. Of course, he has.

President Trump. It's going to be a very hard thing to do business like this. I'll tell you.

President Zelenskyy. You——

Vice President Vance. Again, just say "thank you," accept——

President Zelenskyy. I said, a lot of times——

Vice President Vance. ——accept that there——

President Zelenskyy. ——thank you to American people.

Vice President Vance. ——accept that—accept that there are disagreements, and let's go ligate those disagreements rather than trying to fight it out in the American media when you're wrong. We know that you're wrong.

President Trump. But, you see, I think it's good for the American people to see what's going on.

Vice President Vance. I understand, sir. I understand.

President Zelenskyy. I——

President Trump. I think it's very important. That's why I kept this going so long. You have to be thankful.

President Zelenskyy. I'm——

President Trump. You don't have the cards.

President Zelenskyy. I'm thankful.

President Trump. You're buried there.

President Zelenskyy. I'm——

President Trump. Your people are dying.

President Zelenskyy. I can tell you thank you. I know——

President Trump. You're running low on soldiers.

President Zelenskyy. Don't—don't——

President Trump. Listen.

President Zelenskyy. Please, Mr. President——

President Trump. You're running slow on soldiers. It would be a damn good thing, and then you——

President Zelenskyy. Mr. President——

President Trump. ——then you tell us: "I don't want a cease-fire. I don't want a ceasefire. I want to go and I wanted this. I"——

Look, if you could get a cease-fire right now, I tell you, you'd take it so the bullets stop flying and your men stop getting killed.

President Zelenskyy. Of course—of course we want to stop the war. But I said——

President Trump. But you're saying you don't want a cease-fire.

President Zelenskyy. But I said to you——

President Trump. I want a cease-fire.

President Zelenskyy. ——with guarantees——

President Trump. Because you'll get a cease-fire faster than an agreement.

President Zelenskyy. Ask our people about a cease-fire, what they think. It doesn't matter for you——

President Trump. That wasn't with me. That wasn't with me.

President Zelenskyy. ——what—what this means. It wasn't with you——

President Trump. That was with a guy named Biden, who was not a smart person.

President Zelenskyy. But this is your——

President Trump. That was with——

President Zelenskyy. This is your President.

President Trump. That was with Obama.

President Zelenskyy. It was your President.

President Trump. Excuse me. That was with Obama, who gave you sheets, and I gave you Javelins.

President Zelenskyy. Yes.

President Trump. I gave you the Javelins to take out all those tanks. Obama gave you sheets. In fact, the statement is: Obama gave sheets, and Trump gave Javelins.

You've got to be more thankful, because, let me tell you, you don't have the cards. With us, you have the cards, but without us, you don't have any cards.

Q. One more question to Mr. Vice President. I'm sorry——

President Trump. It's going to be a tough deal to make because the attitudes have to change.

Russia/Ukraine

Q. What if Russia breaks cease-fire? What if Russia breaks peace talks? What do you do then? I understand that it's a heated conversation right now, but——

President Trump. What are you saying?

Q. ——what if Russia, what if Putin breaks——

Vice President Vance. She's asking what if Russia breaks the cease-fire.

Q. ——cease-fire for the——

President Trump. What if they—what if anything? What if a bomb drops on your head right now?

Q. But they have broken cease-fires——

President Trump. Okay. What if they break it?

Q. ——many times.

President Trump. I don't know. They broke it with Biden, because Biden—they didn't respect him. They didn't respect Obama. They respect me.

Q. But all——

President Trump. Let me tell you, Putin went through a hell of a lot with me. He went through a phony witch hunt where they used him and Russia. "Russia, Russia, Russia." You ever hear of that deal? That was a phony—that was a phony Hunter Biden, Joe Biden scam—Hillary Clinton, shifty Adam Schiff. It was a Democrat scam. And he had to go through that. And he did go through it. We didn't end up in a war. And he went through it.

He was accused of all that stuff. He had nothing to do with it. It came out of Hunter Biden's bathroom. It came out of Hunter Biden's bedroom. It was disgusting.

And then they said: "Oh. Oh, the laptop from hell was made by Russia." The 51 agents. The whole thing was a scam. And he had to put up with that. He was being accused of all that stuff.

All I can say is this: He might have broken deals with Obama and Bush, and he might have broken them with Biden. He did, maybe. Maybe he didn't. I don't know what happened. But he didn't break them with me.

He wants to make a deal. I don't know if you can make a deal. The problem is, I've empowered you to be a tough guy, and I don't think you'd be a tough guy without the United States. And your people are very brave, but——

President Zelenskyy. Thank you.

President Trump. ——you're either going to make a deal or we're out. And if we're out, you'll fight it out. I don't think it's going to be pretty. But you'll fight it out. But you don't have the cards.

But once we sign that deal, you're in a much better position. But you're not acting at all thankful. And that's not a nice thing. I'll be honest, that's not a nice thing.

All right. I think we've seen enough. What do you think, huh?

Q. What's this negotiation going to look like——

[Several reporters spoke at once.]

President Trump. This is going to be great television, I will say that. [Laughter]

All right.

We'll see what we can do about putting it together. Thank you.

Q. Thank you, sir.

President Trump. Thank you.

Q. Will you still negotiate? Will you still negotiate, given that?

President Trump. We'll see. I don't know.

Thank you. Thank you, everybody.