Remarks and an Exchange With Reporters Aboard Air Force One En Route to Morristown, New Jersey

The President. Hello, everybody. So we had a good day. It was an amazing little party at the White House for lots of people, but just a great Fourth of July.

And we have some busy things to do tomorrow. We have a pretty busy period of time. The economy is doing great. The country is doing amazing. It's on the right track. In fact, right track/wrong track came out. I guess the first time in 28 years that they said we're in the right track. I don't know why it was so long, but we're doing very well.

Anybody have any questions?

Flooding in Central Texas

Q. Mr. President, have you got anything to say about the floods in Texas?

The President. Oh, that's terrible. The floods? It's shocking. They don't know the answer yet as to how many people, but it looks like some young people have died.

Q. Will there be any Federal aid for the—for Texas?

Federal Disaster Assistance

The President. Oh, yes. Yes. We'll take care of it. We're working with the Governor. We're working with the Governor. It's a terrible thing.

Cease-Fire and Hostage-Release Deal Between Israel and Hamas

Q. Mr. President, what's your reaction to Hamas and the response to your peace proposal? They said they gave you a positive response.

The President. They said they gave me a positive response?

Q. Yes.

The President. Well, that's good. I mean, I've heard that, but they haven't briefed me on it yet. I think they're going to be positive about it. We're going to get—we have to get it over with. Hamas is asking—we have to get it over with. We have to do something about Gaza. We've been doing it. You know, we're sending a lot of aid—a lot of money and a lot of aid. Otherwise, you'll have people in big, big trouble. But yes, I think it's been very positive. A good response.

Yes, please.

Trade Negotiations/Tariff Rates

Q. Did you sign any letters for your trade partners?

The President. I did. I signed some letters, and they'll go out on Monday. Probably 12—12 different——

Q. [Inaudible]

The President. Well, different amounts of money, different amounts of tariffs, and somewhat different statements.

Q. Mr. President, which countries will receive those letters on Monday?

The President. You'll be announced—I have to announce it on Monday. I can't do it now.

Iran/Nuclear Weapons Development

Q. Mr. President, what do you want to hear from Prime Minister Netanyahu on Monday in your meeting?

The President. Well, we're going to have a meeting on Iran, obviously, and you know, the success. It was a great success—blown to pieces, their whole nuclear thing. I would say it's set back permanently. If they were going to do it again, they might as well start in a different location because that location is totally demolished. They could start, but I would think they'd have to start in a different location. But if they did start, there'd be a problem. We wouldn't allow that to happen.

[At this point, several reporters began asking questions at once.]

Iran

Q. Mr. President, a follow-up? Mr. President, Iran has not agreed to inspections. Iran has not agreed to inspections. Iran has not agreed to give up their nuclear enrichment. Was the cease-fire premature?

The President. Well, you're saying they haven't agreed. Let's see what it is. They want to meet with me, so if they haven't agreed, then we're not going to have a very successful meeting. Right?

Cease-Fire and Hostage-Release Deal Between Israel and Hamas

Q. Mr. President, are you still optimistic about a Gaza deal next week?

The President. There could be a Gaza deal next week. Yes.

Q. How optimistic are you though?

The President. I'm very optimistic. But you know, look, it changes from day to day, and it's been changing for years. It's changed. As I came in, I inherited a very bad situation in many ways, whether it's 25 million people coming in from prisons, jails, from mental institutions, from gangs—you know, it's—or that or Gaza. You could say Gaza. You could say I inherited Iran. We did something about it. We've gotten a lot of hostages out, as you know, from Gaza—a lot. But unfortunately, you know, we came into that—we inherited that situation.

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy of Ukraine

Q. Mr. President, can you tell us about your call with Zelenskyy today, how that went?

The President. Yes, we had a good call. We talked about different things, and we had a very good call—I think, a very strategic call.

Ukraine/U.S. Security Assistance

Q. Are there plans to partner with Ukraine on munitions? He mentioned that——

The President. Well, we've been helping them, and we'll continue to help them. It's a pretty tough situation. We'll see what happens.

I told you I was very unhappy with my call with President Putin, and it just seems like he wants to go all the way and just keep killing people. No good. It's not good. I was unhappy with him.

TikTok/China-U.S. Relations

Q. Mr. President, are there any updates on the negotiations with the TikTok deal?

The President. Yes, we're—we pretty much have a deal. Now we're going to go and ask—I think we're going to start Monday or Tuesday—asking—talking to China, perhaps President Xi or one of his representatives, but we pretty much have a deal on TikTok.

Q. And how confident are you that——

The President. But we think we probably have to get it approved by China. Not definitely, but probably.

Q. How confident are you that China will agree to that deal?

The President. I'm not confident, but I think so. President Xi and I have a great relationship, and I think it's good for them. I think the deal is good for China, and it's good for us. And for us, it's money. You know, we make a lot of money if the deal goes through.

President Xi Jinping of China

Q. Are you planning to visit President Xi? Are you planning to go meet him in China?

The President. Well, I was asked to go there. Yes, I—he asked me if I'd go, and he would likewise come here.

Q. Is that soon?

The President. We get along very well. We always have gotten along well.

U.S. Airstrikes on Iranian Nuclear Facilities

Q. Mr. President, Iran has said that they want to go to the U.N. and have the U.N. force the United States to pay for the damages that were done by the U.S. What is your response to that?

The President. You're going to have to say that again because you're being blurred out.

Q. That Iran wants to have the U.N. force the U.S. to pay for the damages that were done by the strike that the U.S. did. What is your response?

The President. Oh, I think—I think it's pretty ridiculous. Yes. I would say maybe very ridiculous.

Q. Can you tell us about your call with——

The President. Go ahead, please.

President Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin of Russia

Q. Mr. President, Putin has not agreed to a cease-fire. Do you think he's mocking you?

The President. No, I don't think he is. I think he's worried about sanctions. I do think he's very worried about sanctions, and you know, we're determining that. The Senate, as you know, has put in big sanctions—very big sanctions.

Ukraine/U.S. Security Assistance/U.S. Missile Defense Capabilities

Q. Do you want to see Patriot missiles go into Ukraine?

The President. Well, they need them for defense. I mean, they want to—I don't want to see people killed. And he's going to—they're going to need them for defense. They're amazingly effective. You know, we knocked down 14 out of 14. That's pretty amazing. If you think of it, it's almost incredible. But we knocked down 14 out of 14. So they're going to need something, because they're being hit pretty hard.

Q. Are you going to send them though? Are you going to send more?

The President. Yes, we might. We're looking at it.

Tariffs

Q. On tariffs, Mr. President. Why are they only coming into effect in August?

The President. Well, I'd probably start them on August 1. Well, that's pretty early, right? I mean——

Q. I mean, that's like 3 weeks after the deadline.

The President. Because we're talking about—yes, so when do you think they should come into effect?

Q. No, I said—but the dead——

The President. Sooner? I don't know how they can be sooner.

Q. But the deadline is——

The President. We waited about a 90-day period. We probably had 90 days or so, and—and, really, much longer than that, because we've been looking at this for years. We've been looking at it—I've been looking at it for a long time.

I can tell you every single country, and I can tell you every single deficit that we have and they have. I've been looking at it for many years, frankly, and I think it's ridiculous that countries were able to get away with so much.

Chancellor Friedrich Merz of Germany

Q. Mr. President, can you tell us about your call with the German Chancellor today?

The President. I had a great call with the German Chancellor. He's a strong guy, very good man, had a great victory.

Ukraine/U.S. Security Assistance

Q. Did you agree to send Patriot missiles to——

The President. No, but we did talk about it though, and he feels, you know, they have to be protected. He's a strong guy and smart—a very smart man.

The President's Foreign Policy/Ukraine

Q. Mr. President, are you confident that you'll be able to find an end to the fighting in Ukraine?

The President. That's an interesting question. We have with India and with Pakistan; and in Africa, as you know, with the Congo and Rwanda; Serbia, if you know, Kosovo; and so many others. We've—we found—we've helped Egypt with, as you know, their next-door neighbor, where the water is being taken from the Nile. We've helped a lot of countries.

The Ukraine situation, that's a Biden deal. It's not a Trump deal. I just—I'm trying to get it finished off, settled, and we'll see. I don't know it'd be—I can't tell you whether or not that's going to happen.

Q. Is it a priority?

The President. Yes, I'd like to see it happen. I don't want to see 5,000, 6,000, 7,000 soldiers killed every week. And you have other people, but for the most part, so far, it's been mostly soldiers, and they're Ukrainian soldiers, and they're also Russian soldiers. But it's 5,000 souls, and they're being killed every single week. Some—it's really higher than that now.

Tariff Rates

Q. Do you expect any trade deals this weekend to be signed?

The President. Yes, I do. I think I'll probably send out 10 or 12 letters.

Trade Negotiations/Tariff Rates

Q. Mr. President, in addition to the letters, do you think you'll be able to reach deals with the European Union or India?

The President. I think the letters are better for us. I've said that all along. Because you have hundreds of countries—you know, you have over 200 countries—and you can't sit down with 200 countries. I think the letters are better. I think a simple tariff is simpler than and better than sitting down and working 15 different things.

You know, with the U.K., we did that, and it was great for both parties. With China, we did that, and I think it's very good for both parties. We have India coming up. And with Vietnam, we did it.

But it's much easier to send a letter saying, "Listen, we know we have a certain deficit"—or in some cases a surplus, but not too many—"and this is what you're going to have to pay if you want to do business in the United States. And it's a tremendous amount of money that would be coming to us.

Q. And what about the European Union?

The President. It's really—by the way, it's a tremendous amount of money. You see the kind of money already. You know, we're taking in tariffs now on cars, usually about 25 percent. Every car that comes into the country is paying about—the country is paying about 25 percent. Lumber, steel, aluminum. But for the most part, just—I'd say, just a percentage of maybe 15, 20 percent of the ultimate tariff, which would be over the next few months. And you know, we've taken in over $100 billion already.

Q. Mr. President, your plan to let the——

The President. It's pretty shocking. So much.

And the other thing that's happening is, many countries are moving into the country in order not to pay tariffs. So they're moving their factory here in order not to pay tariffs.

The President's Meeting With Minister of Defense Khalid bin Salman bin Abd al-Aziz Al Saud of Saudi Arabia/U.S. Airstrikes on Iranian Nuclear Facilities

Q. Mr. President, can you talk about your meeting with the Saudi Defense Minister at the White House?

The President. Yes, we had a great meeting. Great person. He was representing and he had some statements from the King and from the Crown Prince. Great people. They congratulated us on the incredible attack on Iran.

It was an attack on something that you can't have: a nuclear facility. It's been proven now that it's been totally obliterated. If they wanted to start, they couldn't start there. They'd have to start someplace else.

But it was a congratulatory call in many ways. We talked about trade. We talked about missile defense. We talked about airplanes. They want to buy a lot of airplanes.

Russia

Q. Why are you so much tougher on Iran than Russia?

The President. No, I think I'm tougher on Russia than I am on Iran, actually. If you remember Nord Stream 2, you never heard that term until Trump came along, right? And you know, I closed it, and that was the biggest economic development deal they've ever done.

Then Biden opened it, but then it got closed. But Biden opened it.

No, I think I'm tougher on Russia than I was on almost any other country.

Professional Golf

Q. Would you like to see Patrick Reed make the Ryder Cup?

The President. Yes, I think he's great. Patrick Reed, he's great.

Russia/U.S. Sanctions

Q. Mr. President, have you threatened Putin with sanctions—to him personally ever?

The President. We talk about sanctions a lot. Yes.

Q. What does he say?

The President. I would say he's not thrilled with it, but you know, he's been able to handle sanctions. But these are pretty biting sanctions. No, we talk about sanctions a lot, and he understands that it may be coming, and, you know, he's a professional.

Q. It may be coming?

The President. Yes, it may be coming. Sure.

The President's Schedule/North Atlantic Treaty Organization

Q. Have you decided on what your next international trip might be?

The President. With who? With what?

Q. Have you decided on what your next international trip might be?

The President. Yes, you know, it changes a lot. We get these emergencies. I'm putting out fires all over the place. Talking about my next international trip.

We're putting out fires all over the place. And so it's, you know, changing, but we're planning to go to Europe. We've been invited to Turkey. I've been invited, frankly, to every country.

Now, we had a tremendous success at NATO, as you know. They've agreed to put up more than a trillion dollars. They took it from 2 percent—but they weren't paying 2 percent; they were paying less—to 5 percent, where they're paying. And that's a big deterrent. That's a—that was a great thing they did.

We have a great relationship—I have a great relationship with almost all of the nations.

Immigration Enforcement Actions

Q. Mr. President, your plan to let farmers keep their workers that might not be in the country legally, would you do that for other industries, like homebuilding?

The President. Yes, well, we're looking at that right now, and we're going to come out with a statement on it sometime next week, but we want to have—you know, certain industries need help because we don't have enough people, and we're going to be coming out with a statement fairly soon.

What we are doing is getting all the criminals out of our country.

Thank you very much, everybody. I hope you had a good time, and it's been a great—I think it's been a great Fourth of July.

Q. Happy Fourth of July, Mr. President.

The President. It's been a great—happy Fourth of July, everybody. Thank you very much. Thank you.