Remarks and an Exchange With Reporters Upon Arrival in Morristown, New Jersey

The President. Hello, everybody. So it was a very sad weekend in the sense that we lost a great person. I'll be going on early Sunday morning. We're going to Arizona, taking some people with us on Air Force One. Maybe you people are going to be with us. I don't know. But we're going to be going Saturday early—early on Sunday morning.

Okay?

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

Go ahead.

China-U.S. Trade

Q. How were the talks today in Spain——

The President. Good.

Q. ——between U.S. and Chinese representatives?

The President. We had talks going on. Scott Bessent is there and some others. Jamieson is here. And yes, I think they're going fine.

Q. When will you impose tariffs on China?

The President. We're going to see. But we've hit them very hard in so many other ways. I don't if you know—do you know what they're paying? Right now—what are they paying right now? Do you know what China is paying right now in tariffs?

Q. Not the exact dollar figure.

The President. Huh?

Q. Not the exact dollar figure.

The President. A lot.

Venezuela

Q. Mr. President, have you been briefed on what happened in Venezuela with U.S.—with the U.S. Government?

The President. Yes, I know exactly what's happened.

Q. And can you just tell us about the rationale——

The President. A lot of drugs are coming out of Venezuela. A lot of Tren de Aragua. They're trying to get out, but we're stopping them successfully at the border in Venezuela. We have a tremendous amount of security. They're sending Tren de Aragua. That's the gang. They're probably the worst gang in the world. MS–13 and them. I think they're probably considered worse.

And we don't like what Venezuela is sending us. Whether it's their drugs or whether it's their gang members, we don't like it. We don't like it one bit.

Hold it.

[The President addressed the camera operators.]

Do you want to move over here, fellas? Wouldn't it be easier for you?

Go ahead.

Qatar

Q. What was your message to the Qatari Prime Minister on Friday?

The President. Look, we're with them. You know, they've been a great ally. A lot of people don't understand that about Qatar, but Qatar has been a great ally. But they also lead a very difficult life because they're right in the middle of everything, so they have to be a little bit politically correct in their terms.

But I will tell you, they've been a great ally for the United States—Qatar.

U.S. Airstrikes on Drug Trafficking Vessels in the Caribbean Sea

Q. Mr. President, do you anticipate more strikes on Venezuelan drug boats?

The President. Well, we'll see what happens. There's certainly not a lot of boats out there, I'll tell you, since the first strike and then, to a lesser extent, the second. We don't see any—I mean, we almost see no boats out there, which is fine, as far as I'm concerned. There's been very little boat traffic. I can't imagine why.

Venezuela

Q. And just on that: Do you think we will start doing strikes on mainland Venezuela to take out the cartels?

The President. Well, we'll see what happens. Look, Venezuela is sending us their gang members, their drug dealers, and drugs. It's not acceptable.

Q. Is getting rid of the President an option? Is getting rid of Maduro an option right now?

The President. We'll see what happens. It's not an option or a nonoption. We'll see.

He had an election that was wrong. It was almost as corrupt as our election of 2020. You know that? You know what I'm talking about? I wouldn't say theirs was much more corrupt, but it was certainly corrupt. But ours was corrupt also.

TikTok

Q. Mr. President, will you extend the deadline on TikTok?

The President. I may or may not. They're negotiating TikTok right now. We may let it die, or we may—I don't know. It depends. Up to China. It doesn't matter too much. I'd like to do it for the kids. They like it.

I mean, selfishly speaking, I did very well on TikTok, and I got the youth vote. I got numbers that nobody has ever even come close to in the Republican Party. Nobody. If you look back to Romney and all these people, they got practically no votes. I got a lot. And some was attributed to TikTok, and a lot was attributed to Charlie.

Qatar/Hostages Held in Gaza, Palestinian Territories

Q. Mr. President, do you—did you—what was your message to Benjamin Netanyahu about the strikes on Qatar? It was reported you spoke with him on Wednesday.

The President. Well, my message is this: They have to be very, very careful. They have to do something about Hamas. But Qatar has been a great ally to the United States. A lot of people don't know that. I told the Amir—who I think is a wonderful person, actually—I said, "You need better public relations, because you don't really get the public relations." I mean, people talk of it so badly, and they shouldn't be. Qatar has been a very great ally.

So, Israel and everybody else, we have to be careful. When we attack people, we have to be careful.

Political Violence

Q. You mentioned Charlie Kirk, sir. What organizations on the left do you anticipate investigating? You talked about this last week.

The President. Well, the problem is on the left, if you look at the problem. The problem is on the left. It's not on the right, like some people like to say—"on the right." The problem we have is on the left. And when you look at the agitators, the—if you look at the scum that speaks so badly of our country, the American flag burnings all over the place, that's the left. That's not the right.

Investigations Into Political Organizations

Q. Who do you plan on investigating?

The President. We'll see. We'll be announcing. They're already under investigation. You know, they're already under major investigation.

Q. Which group?

The President. A lot of the people that you would traditionally say are on the left.

Q. They're already under investigation?

The President. Already under investigation.

Death of Turning Point U.S.A. Founder and Executive Director Charles J. Kirk

Q. Have you asked to start revoking the visas of those who have celebrated Charlie Kirk's death?

The President. What?

Q. Have you asked to start revoking the visas of the foreigners who have celebrated Charlie Kirk's death?

The President. No, we haven't. We haven't. But we are looking at names. We don't like that. That's not right. We wouldn't celebrate if something happened on their side, and we don't. These are sick people. These are really deranged people.

Chairman of the Federal Reserve System Board of Governors Jerome H. Powell/Interest Rates

Q. Any progress on the Fed Chairman search?

The President. Well, other than I don't like him?

Q. But if you are interviewing——

The President. Well, he's incompetent. The Fed Chairman is incompetent.

Sure, I have three people that I like a lot. Any one of them would do a good job.

Q. Mr. President, one more on Venezuela.

The President. But I think you'll have a big cut, because I really—I don't think he can help with cutting. It's perfect for cutting. And the thing that he's hurting the most is housing for people, but—because we're doing well on everything. Energy is way down. Groceries are down. Everything—almost everything is way down. But housing, because of the Fed, is not what it should be. It's okay, but it's not what it should be.

The President's State Visit to the United Kingdom

Q. Can you talk about what you expect ahead of the U.K. trip?

The President. What about it?

Q. What are you expecting ahead of the U.K. trip?

The President. Nothing. The trip to U.K. is going to be incredible. They've never done it before—twice honored—and that's because we had nonconsecutive terms. You know that. You probably know that. But back in the days of Grover Cleveland, I don't think they did this too easily. So we'll see.

But this is the first time it's ever happened. And Windsor is supposed to be amazing. They've never used Windsor. They've never had Windsor for this. And they're going to be doing Windsor Castle. It's going to be very exciting. I think a lot of you are going with me.

You going with us? Huh? Are you going with us, Maggie [Maggie Haberman, New York Times]?

Q. Not with you, but going.

The President. Good.

Venezuela/U.S. Airstrikes on Tren de Aragua Vessels in the Caribbean Sea

Q. Just one more on Venezuela. The president of Venezuela has called the strike on the boat illegal. Are you concerned that Maduro might escalate something?

The President. What's illegal are the drugs that were on the boat and the drugs that are being sent into our country, and the fact that 300 million people died last year from drugs. That's what's illegal.

Identification of Tren de Aragua Vessels in the Caribbean Sea

Q. Do you think he's not telling the truth when he said it was a fisherman's boat? Do you think that these were actually——

The President. Oh—[inaudible]. Give me a break. You could see it. You saw the bags of white everything, right through the bags. It's nonsense.

So we knew it before they even left. We knew it before they even left. We knew exactly where that boat—where it came from, where the drugs came from, and where it was heading.

I mean, the problem is nobody is getting on boats anymore, so maybe that's a good problem.

North Atlantic Treaty Organization/Europe/Russian Oil and Gas Supply

Q. Do you expect NATO to issue sanctions against Russia, as you asked them to do over the weekend?

The President. Well, they're not doing their job. NATO has to get together, Europe has to get together and do it.

Look, Europe is—they're my friends, but they're buying oil from Russia. So, we can't be expected to be the only ones that are, you know, full bore. But Europe is buying oil from Russia. I don't want them to buy oil. And the sanctions that are putting—that they're putting on are not tough enough. And I'm willing to do sanctions, but they're going to have to toughen up their sanctions commensurate with what I'm doing.

Q. But just to clarify, you wouldn't move ahead until NATO moves ahead?

The President. Well, I'm ready to move ahead, but they have to do it, and I think they will. But right now, they're talking and they're not doing.

Look, they're buying oil from Russia. We're not buying oil from Russia. They're buying a lot of oil from Russia. That's not the deal.

Russia/Ukraine

Q. Sir, on—sorry. On Putin: Two weeks ago, you told us that you would decide who was more to blame for the impasse of the talks, whether it's Ukraine or whether it's Russia. How are you feeling right now?

The President. When you say "impact," impact of what?

Q. The impasse. Sorry, that nothing is happening.

The President. Oh, the impasse. It's not going to matter, because when they go in, they're going to be very, very strong. So it's not going to matter.

Maggie, go ahead.

Russian Oil and Gas Supply

Q. Mr. President, European nations do still buy—some of them—buy natural gas from Russia.

The President. Yes. Right.

Q. Would you like to see that pulled back as well?

The President. That's not the deal though. The deal is they're not supposed—whether it's natural gas or whether it's cigarettes—I don't care—they're not supposed to be buying from Russia. We're spending a lot of money giving.

Now, I will say this: Right now we're just selling weapons to NATO. It's pretty amazing. Biden just spent $350 billion. I've—I'm spending nothing. In fact, we're making money. But I want to stop the killing.

So it just came out—or I think it came out—but I know for a fact: Almost 8,000 young soldiers died this week between the two countries. A little bit more from Russia, but divided.

You know, when you're the aggressor, you lose more. I don't know if you know that. But in war, when you're the aggressor, you tend to lose more. But it was a little bit more for Russia. But it was 8,000—a little bit more than 8,017 actually—died this week in that war. Why? And they're Russians. They're not American soldiers. But they're still human beings. They're souls. And I want to stop it.

And you know I stopped seven wars? I thought this was going to be an easy one for me, but this has turned out to be tough. The hatred between Zelenskyy and Putin is unfathomable.

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy of Ukraine/President Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin of Russia

Q. Do you still believe that they will talk, that they will have a meeting?

The President. I don't know. I think I'm going to have to do all the talking. They hate each other.

Q. When do you think that will take place?

The President. I don't know. Relatively soon. We're going to get it worked out one way or the other, but relatively soon. They hate each other so much, they can't breathe. So, I'm going to have to get involved.

Go ahead.

North Atlantic Treaty Organization/Russian Oil and Gas Supply

Q. Have any of the NATO members responded to the letter you sent yesterday?

The President. Yes. Yes. They know it's true. They don't want to deny it, you know? They said, "Well, I'd rather not talk about it." I said, don't—"What do you mean you'd rather not? That means you're guilty, right?"

Yeah, no, they agree. I mean, they—look they're buying oil, and they're buying it through a couple of countries that are selling it. So they're not buying it directly. Countries are buying oil from Russia and selling it into NATO—certain NATO countries—not all, but certain very substantial NATO countries. That's not the deal.

Okay? We all set?

Q. Just one more. Just to clarify——

The President. Huh? Are we all set?

Q. We're good. Hugo [Hugo Lowell, Guardian] has one.

Russia/Ukraine

Q. Sorry. Last one. Just to clarify, then: Do you anticipate the next step with the Ukraine talks to be a summit, like a trilateral summit?

The President. Well, it's—there'll be talks. Whether you call it a summit or just a get-together, it doesn't matter. But I'll probably have to get—I think—they hate each other so much they almost can't talk. They're incapable of talking to each other.

Thank you. Thank you.

Memorial Service for Turning Point U.S.A. Founder and Executive Director Charles J. Kirk

Q. Mr. President, will the First Lady accompany you to Charlie Kirk's memorial next week?

The President. I don't—I didn't ask her that, but a lot of people are. But we're going to Europe just before, so we're going to be doing that. Okay? I haven't even thought of it. I've been thinking about other things. Okay?

Thank you very much. Thank you.