Remarks in an Exchange With Reporters Aboard Air Force One En Route to Joint Base Andrews, Maryland

The President. Hello, everybody. I hope you had a good time in beautiful Scotland. We did a lot of work with the European Union.

And yesterday I spent pretty much the whole day with the Prime Minister of U.K. And we had a lot of good discussions, although I see something came up today, which is interesting.

So go ahead. Hello.

Q. Hi, Mr. President.

Palestinian Statehood/Gaza, Palestinian Territories/Humanitarian Assistance

Q. Can we ask about—can we ask about that, please? On Gaza, sir, Keir Starmer has just announced the U.K. will recognize Palestinian sovereignty in September if Israel does not commit to a ceasefire, ease the suffering in Gaza, and commit to a long-term solution that would deliver the two-state solution in the Middle East. Did you know that was coming? What is your response?

The President. No, we never discussed it, surprisingly. It was never really discussed—maybe a little bit at the news conference, but he was sort of discussing it with you. We never did discuss it, and we have no view on that.

We're going to get a lot of money to the area so they can get some food. He's going to also. I think the European Union is going to put up money too for food, and hopefully, it's going to be properly distributed, and it will be. I think it will be. We have some pretty good response on people for the distribution of the food.

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

We want to take it one thing at a time. They need food, and they need people to be able to get them the food.

Q. But to follow up on that, I mean, is there any use at all in pressuring Israel now to come to some sort of longer term solution, or at least—at least——

The President. Well, I mean, you could make the case that you're rewarding people that—you know, you're rewarding Hamas if you do that, and I don't think they should be rewarded.

So I'm not in that camp, to be honest. We'll let you know where we are in, but I am not in that camp——

Q. Mr. President, you——

The President. ——because if you do that, you really are rewarding Hamas, and I'm not about to do that.

Gaza/Humanitarian Assistance

Q. Mr. President, you mentioned setting up food centers. When can we expect to see those——

The President. Very soon.

Q. ——food centers?

The President. Yes, very soon.

So we sent $60 million—that's a lot of money—for food. A lot of money that can take care of people for a long time, and we want to make sure it's going to be—it's being spent properly.

Q. And who is going——

The President. And part of the spending is the distribution.

You know, the—if you know, a lot of money has been sent by other countries, but nothing compared to us. But a lot of things have been stolen. They send money, they send food, and Hamas steals it. So it's a tricky little game, but we're going to make sure we have some very good people. They're going to be watching it.

Q. Who is going to be running those food centers for you, and what kind of oversight can we expect?

The President. Well, we're going to be dealing with Israel, and we think they can do a good job of it.

Q. Of——

The President. And they want to do it.

Q. Of monitoring the food centers?

The President. No, they want to do it. The food centers, yes. They want to preside over the food centers to make sure the distribution is proper.

Q. On Hamas——

The President's Visit in Scotland, United Kingdom/The President's Golf Game

Q. Mr. President, we all had a great time seeing that beautiful course, but there's some critics who say this was a promotional trip for you and your business.

The President. What?

Q. That it promoted you and your business personally. What do you say to that?

The President. I haven't heard that, no. I haven't heard that. Did you get to see my drive on the first hole?

Q. You got it straight and pretty high, yes.

The President. Pretty long. Pretty long. That's no Joe Biden, let me tell you. That's——

[Several reporters spoke at once.]

That's not Biden, right? [Laughter] That was a good drive.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel

Q. When did you last speak to Prime Minister Netanyahu, and when will you speak to him again?

The President. Two days ago.

Q. How many?

The President. Two days ago.

Q. When do you think you'll speak to him——

The President. I said—well, you know, we sent money, and I want to make sure the money is spent wisely and is spent judiciously and that food is distributed in a proper manner. And he wants to do that.

Gaza, Palestinian Territories

Q. Mr. President, you've talked about moving Palestinians out of Gaza. You said that in the past. Do you still support that idea?

The President. Well, it's a concept that some people fell in love with it and some people don't. We really have to see how it all works out before we do that.

But you know, you could do something spectacular, but that's a different concept. You could also probably do it if you left some—some are leaving automatically. You know that. Some would like to leave. I think many would like to leave if they were given an alternative. They really have no alternative now.

But certainly, that was a concept that was really embraced by a lot of people, but also some people didn't like it.

Israel/Gaza, Palestinian Territories

Q. On Prime Minister Starmer, he was kind of critical of Israel and said more pressure needed to be put on Israel to allow food to get in at speed. Do you feel that Israel is—will be—is a good——

The President. I think Israel wants to do it, actually. I think Israel wants to do that. They're going to want to—and they—I can tell you that they want to do it. They don't want Hamas stealing the money or stealing the food, and that's what they've been doing.

Q. But do you think Israel can be trusted to allow more food in faster?

The President. Look, I think Israel wants to do it, and they'll be good at doing it. If they do it, and if they really want to do it—and I think they do—they'll do a good job. The food will be properly distributed.

Prime Minister Keir Starmer of the United Kingdom

Q. There's a perception maybe that Keir Starmer didn't do so well in the press conference yesterday. Do you have any words of support for him?

The President. I thought he did well in the press conference. And I thought—you know, I think they made a good deal. I think we all made a good deal.

Why? Are you hearing otherwise, I guess?

Q. Yes. I think the feeling is that he was maybe a little weak and didn't really have very strong answers and maybe wasn't entirely honest about free speech and immigration.

The President. I don't know. I like him. I think he's good. I think he's a great representative for U.K. I haven't heard that.

First Minister of Scotland John Swinney of the United Kingdom

Q. In your meeting with John Swinney today, did you offer to drop tariffs on Scotch whiskey? Did you have a productive——

The President. We really didn't discuss it much, but I have a lot of respect for him.

Q. Mr. President, on——

The President. And I didn't have a lot of respect for the woman that preceded him. I thought she was terrible as a First Minister of Scotland, but I think John is doing a very good job as First Minister.

China-U.S. Trade

Q. Mr. President, your Treasury Secretary and Howard Lutnick——

The President. Right.

Q. ——Secretary of Commerce. The China talks wrapped today. Any sort of reaction coming out of the meeting? They're extending the truce. Are you pleased with that? Would you like to have seen——

The President. I just had a phone call from Scott Bessent, and they had a very good meeting with China and seems that—I mean, he—they're going to brief me tomorrow. We'll either approve it or not. But he felt very good about the meeting——

[Several reporters spoke at once.]

——better than he felt yesterday. Yesterday I said: "Oh, here we go again. Here we go again." But today, it worked out great.

Q. And I saw——

The President. I think the result is probably pretty—[inaudible].

India-U.S. Trade/India/Pakistan/Cambodia/Thailand

Q. I saw a report from Reuters that India is preparing to face higher U.S. tariffs, between 25—between 20 and 25 percent. Is that what you're tracking? Or what do you think——

The President. That——

Q. ——the rate will be for India?

The President. That—they are going to pay 25 percent.

Q. That—yes, that India is preparing to face higher U.S. tariffs, between 20 and 25 percent.

The President. Yes, I think so. And look, India has been—they're my friends, and he's my friend. And you know, the end of the war with Pakistan at my request—and it was great. And Pakistan did also, you know, we just—did a lot of great settlements, including the recent one, as you know, with Cambodia—bah, bah, bah.

So I was—that was a great one. I think that's been pretty well finalized now, right?

Q. I don't know, I'm asking you.

The President. Didn't I do a good job of that one? [Laughter] I did a good job in about five different wars. Do you think I'll get credit for it? No.

Q. So——

The President. Will I get credit for it? She'll say yes. [Laughter]

Q. No.

India-U.S. Trade

Q. Is the deal with India finalized?

The President. No, it's not.

Q. Okay. So what rate are you expecting it to be at?

The President. Well, we're going to see.

Q. Okay.

The President. We're going to see. But India has been a good friend. But India has charged basically more tariffs than almost any other country—you know that, right?—over the years.

But now I'm in charge, and you just can't do that. I think the trade deals are working out very well, hopefully, for everybody. But for the United States, they're very, very good.

Wall Street Journal

Q. Mr. President, on the Wall Street Journal case, lawyers are seeking to depose Robert Murdoch—Rupert Murdoch, pardon me. Can you say what the lawyers hope to get out of that—that deposition?

The President. We're going to see. The lawyer—it's in the lawyers' hands. I've been treated very unfairly by the Wall Street Journal and everything. I mean, I don't know. They even hired people from the Washington Post—third-rate reporters, gossip-type reporters. It's all gossip.

And, you know, I've been treated badly by the Wall Street Journal. I would have assumed that Rupert Murdoch controls it, but you know, maybe he does, maybe doesn't. They are talking to us about doing something, but we'll see what happens. Maybe—they would like us to drop that. And so we'll see.

Q. Is that what their settlement does?

The President. Yes, they're having—they want to settle it.

Q. Is money involved?

The President. He's treated us wrong. But you know, when—when I get treated unfairly, I do things about it. So we'll see what happens.

President Emmanuel Macron of France

Q. On Gaza. Last week, you were rather dismissive of President Macron when he recognized the Palestinian state. Today you're saying you don't really——

The President. No, I'm not dismissive. That's his opinion. You know, he can have an opinion. It doesn't mean I have to agree. Emmanuel is a good man. He works hard. Got a lot to say about everything. [Laughter]

Q. Well, now—now, you're saying you're not taking a view on Sir Keir Starmer's announcement. Does that mean your view is evolving?

The President. I guess—guess Starmer is doing the same as Macron, right? He's basically—is he saying the same thing? I think so. Essentially, they're saying the same thing, and that's okay. You know, it doesn't mean I have to agree.

Deceased Convicted Sex Offender Jeffrey Epstein

Q. Mr. President, you said yesterday your falling out with Jeffrey Epstein was over him taking some of the workers from your business. But your administration in the past said that you threw him out because he was a creep. So can you explain that discrepancy?

The President. Well, I mean they're the same thing. You know, sort of a little bit of the same thing. But no, he took people that work for me. And I told him, "Don't do it anymore." And he did it. And I said, "Stay the hell out of here."

Q. So is that what–—

Q. Go ahead.

Q. So is that what you—what was meant by being a creep?

The President. Who are you with?

Q. Me? I'm with—I'm the travel pool, but I'm with NBC News.

The President. With NBC? NBC, fake news. Okay. NBC is one of the worst. What else do you have?

[Several reporters spoke at once.]

Refurbishment of a New Air Force One

Q. On Air Force One—the new Air Force One. When do you expect to be flying on the new Air Force One?

The President. They say by—they say February, maybe.

[Several reporters spoke at once.]

Much sooner than the others. The others are being built. Long-time build. That's a long-time build. Now they're not normal 747s. They, you know, have a lot of things on them that another plane wouldn't have. But we'll get this one a year and a half, 2 years earlier.

Q. How much will it cost to retrofit it?

The President. I don't know. That's up to the military. I don't know. I really don't know. I haven't been involved. They—it's their plane. It's, you know, the Air Force. They'll be spending an amount of money. You know, it is a different plane, because it becomes for military use so—but I don't know what the numbers.

Q. Do you think questions about whether the amount that it will cost in the hundreds of millions of dollars, whether that's worth it, since—considering how little time you will be able to use it?

The President. Well, you know, it's a great plane. It's one of the best planes in the world. The Air Force is going to have it. We're going to have a great 747. We need it. If you look at this plane, it's—what is it? Thirty-two, thirty-four, thirty-five—I don't know it's—it's a—it's old.

It's a good plane, but it's old. Can't get parts for it anymore. It's very hard to get parts. They have to go and take from the older planes. So I—it was time. When you look at 747s, and, you know, the heads of state from—especially the Arab countries, you look at from Saudi Arabia, from some of those countries—and you put it next to this, it doesn't show well for the United States.

And if you remember, it was Obama that wanted to get the plane. He was the one ready to sign a contract. And because he wanted to sign it, I assumed they paid too much. And I was able to get about a million—a billion-seven off the price, maybe a billion-five, a billion-seven off the price for the exact same plane.

And they're building it, but they're taking a lot longer than they should have taken.

U.S. Secret Service

Q. There's a report that a Secret Service agent tried to get his wife onto a support plane for this mission.

The President. [Inaudible] That's a weird deal.

Q. Have you been briefed—are you concerned?

The President. Leave the wife in the car? Wouldn't you think that might be a little dangerous? I don't know if that has proper compression. I don't know. [Laughter] That's a strange one. I just heard that 2 minutes ago. I think Sean's taking care of it.

Q. Mr. President, you talked on Russia——

The President. Is that a serious story?

Q. I think it's a—well——

The President. Going to keep her in the car, and she's going to be in a freighter?

Q. Well, you tell us the details on how——

The President. Those freighters don't have, you know——

Q. Was he going to keep her in the car? Tell us how it was going to work.

The President. I don't want to get involved, but it's a strange story. I just heard that one.

[Several reporters spoke at once.]

Q. Mr. President, you said that you were going to set the——

Agricultural Sector/Mayor Sadiq Khan of London, United Kingdom

Q. The British farmers—the British farmers are so grateful for what you said yesterday about the importance of farming. Because we have changed inheritance tax or death taxes.

The President. Our farmers are so important. So—farmers are—you know, they liked what I said on a couple of things yesterday. They liked what I said for the farmer—I'm a big farmer person. I love the farmers. I think they're great. And we have to steer the law so the farmers don't get hurt in our country and in their country.

But Europe has a big immigration problem, but they also liked when I said that they have one of the worst mayors anywhere in the world in London. He's a horrible mayor, nasty guy. A stupid guy, in my opinion. But he's a nasty man, and I want nothing to do with him. But I didn't think it was a big statement. And I was—so many people said, "Thank you for saying that." He's a bad guy. Khan is his name, I guess? He's done a lousy job, I can tell you that. A terrible mayor.

[Several reporters spoke at once.]

No, but people liked it so much when I said that.

Russia/Ukraine

Q. Mr. President, yesterday, you mentioned that you would change the Russia deadline to 10 to 12 days. Has that started yet? Or when can we, you know, see the official statement that that is the new deadline?

The President. I'll tell you what, I'll give it to you now. Do you want a big scoop?

Q. Yes, please.

The President. Everybody else, close your ears. Okay? You ready?

Q. I'm ready.

The President. Ten days from today.

Q. Got it.

The President. Okay?

Q. Got it.

The President. Good.

[Several reporters spoke at once.]

We have a scoop.

Q. Thank you.

The President. And then, you know, we're going to put on tariffs and stuff. And I don't know if it's going to affect Russia, because he wants to, obviously—probably keep the war going. But we're going to put on tariffs and the various things that you put on.

[Several reporters spoke at once.]

And it may or may not affect them, but it could.

[Several reporters spoke at once.]

Shooting in New York City

Q. Have you spoken to any of the families of the victims of the Manhattan shooting?

The President. I don't want to tell you that. I don't want to tell you that.

Q. Have you spoken to Mayor Adams?

The President. That's a very—boy, that's a bad one. That's a bad one. But I won't tell you about that.

Q. Have you talked to Mayor Adams? Have you spoken with Mayor Adams?

The President. I have, yes.

Q. Okay.

Immigration Enforcement Actions

Q. One of the other things our readers liked from yesterday was when you were talking so forcefully about illegal immigration in the United Kingdom.

The President. Yes.

Q. One of the big political flashpoints is migrant hotels, where people are being put up while their claims are processed. People see it as a source of insecurity——

The President. In beautiful, luxury hotels?

Q. They also think there's low security, and it's a problem for their communities. Is that appropriate, or does Britain need an "Alligator Alcatraz"?

The President. It's not "Alligator"—it's just that, you know, they're putting people in luxury hotels. And other people that are working their asses off are living, you know, from hand to mouth. They're not living the same way. I mean, I looked at some of the hotels they're using—and they've done it in our country also. They'd put them in, like, the best hotels anywhere in the world because they could get rooms there—thousands of dollars a night.

And other people are living out on the streets, including our veterans. They can't get a room. Our veterans are living on the streets. There are pictures of our veterans staying right by the door, where they walking in—to live. And the veterans are sitting out of the sidewalk in front of a fancy hotel, and the illegals are coming in into that hotel and staying there for a week. That's no good.

Mar-a-Lago Club in Palm Beach, Florida

Q. Just one up on Mar-a-Lago. You're saying that Jeffrey Epstein poached two of your staffers. Who were they? Were they young?

The President. I don't want to say two, or I don't want to say any number. You're talking about many years ago. But yes, he took people. And because he took people, I say, "Don't do it anymore. You know, they work for me." And he took—beyond that, he took some others. And once he did that, that was the end of him.

[Several reporters spoke at once.]

I didn't like—when they steal people, I don't like it.

[Several reporters spoke at once.]

Truth Social/Social Media

Q. Do you think anybody—should anybody ever go to prison for a social media post?

The President. Are you saying that that's taking place in the U.K.?

Q. Oh, yes. Oh, yes.

The President. Is it really?

Q. Yes.

The President. I mean, I'm hearing that. Well, we—I looked at him yesterday. Well, they said they canceled Truth Social. I'll bet it's uncanceled very quickly. I'll bet it's uncanceled.

Q. We have new powers——

The President. Yes.

Q. There are new digital safety powers.

The President. No, it's a little different. It's different. I see it in some countries that you would never suspect it. Not only there. I've seen it in other countries, where, you know, they're like bread-and-pudding countries, I think. And then, all of a sudden, they become somewhat violent.

You know, when people go socialistic or when you get the radical left—or the left—going in, the countries actually become very mean. They become two things—mean and incompetently run—simultaneously.

How is Karoline doing? Is she doing a good job? Look at her. She's such a star. Come on, Karoline. Come here.

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt. Chloe wanted to watch, sir.

The President. Chloe, do you want to come over? Chloe is a great—she's a great golfer. A great, talented golfer. She's probably the most talented golfer, other than Kai, but I think it's about the same, right? Don't you think? She hits the ball long. This little girl has a lot of muscle, right?

Chloe Trump. Yes.

The President. So—and she wins——

Q. Did you have a nice weekend?

The President. She wins every tournament she plays in of her age.

Q. [Inaudible] She had a fun weekend?

Ms. Trump. Yes, very fun.

The President. You love golf, right?

Ms. Trump. Yes.

The President. But she's a great athlete.

The President's Golf Game

Q. How did the golf course play today?

The President. Great.

Q. And be honest: Did anyone in your foursome hit that massive bunker on the ninth?

The President. That is a massive bunker. Fortunately, nobody did. Well, I played—two of the guys were pros and really good players. One of them won the tournament last year. And you could see they were very good players.

Q. Who—who, at the moment, holds the course record?

The President. Well, we played a first round—[laughter]. That's a—we played—we only played one round. This was our first round. So I'd have to go into that exactly. But they're—they're two both—really good players. One of them, you know, is the one the—who—you know the story. He—you know who that is?

Q. You might have to tell me.

The President. So he took Tiger, I guess, 18 holes. He—Tiger, you know, went wild with his putting, meaning he started dropping putts from all over the place, and Tiger took him. But that's the quality. You know, they're really good players.

We had—those two guys were—and terrific guys. Two terrific guys. We had a good time.

But I was watching—the only shot that mattered to me was the drive on the first hole, because if I would have missed it, you would not have let me forget it.

Q. Did you take a bit of a practice here on the driving range beforehand?

The President. I hit some—yes, I did. I hit some balls on the driving range. It's a great course. It's a great course. It's been fantastic.

You know, I built one, and then I had to build this one, otherwise you would have lost your zoning. You have, like, a certain period of time to build it. So they built it. It opened. My son did a very good job on building it.

New Course at Trump International Golf Links Aberdeen

Q. You said you thought it would be the last dune course. Do—are you talking about environmental regulations? Do you think the last——

The President. No, we have—we obey the regulations—the environmental regulations. You really want to. And it's top of the line. It's really—the pros were saying this is good as any course they've ever played. It's as good as it gets.

Wind Energy/Oil Production

Q. The course was surrounded by windmills. Did you talk to Starmer about——

The President. I did, yes.

Q. ——the windmills or——

The President. I think windmills are a disgrace. I think they—they hurt everything they touch. They're ugly. They're very inefficient. It's the most expensive form of energy there is.

People hate it when they become visible from their house. When you see them from a house, the value goes down by 50 percent and more. They make noise. When they're out in the ocean, they're bad for the sea life. Very bad for the whales, obviously, because they wash up on shore like nine times more than they did without them.

No, they are really bad. And they cost a lot of money. You know, there's not a wind farm that's put up without subsidies. So, instead of making money, what they should do is open up the—you know, the whole north coast oil. They have tremendous oil right there, right where we play, and they made it impossible for people to drill. It's crazy.

It's—I mean, that's one of the best oil areas in the world. They made it impossible for people to take it out. Instead, they put up these ugly windmills all over the country—and all over the world. I don't know what it is. Nobody likes them.

They have the greatest lobby. But it's starting—I think I'm starting to get to it now. They're bad energy. They look bad. They kill the birds. They're really terrible things.

And it's the most expensive energy of any energy there is. And, in fact, every—I mean, not every, I guess. I don't know, maybe some. But almost every windmill put up needs subsidy from the government. So, instead of making money, they lose money.

And that's why U.K. energy costs are very high, because when we were flying over in the plane, they're all over the place. It's terrible. It's a terrible thing. I'll say it till I can't speak anymore.

And I think—but I think we are having an impact, and they're starting to take a lot of windmills down. They're literally starting to take them down. They don't work, they're bad, and they're too costly. And every year you see them up there, the government is paying a lot of money. Whereas, if you have oil, if you have other forms of energy, you make money on it. In other words, you bring down taxes.

Professional Golf Tournaments

Q. Well, your friend Bryson DeChambeau said LIV tour players weren't playing enough links golf. Is that something we might see the——

The President. Well, links golf is just different golf. It's quite a bit different. I love Bryson. Bryson is great. He's a great player, very powerful guy, long hitter, great putter, great everything. And it's interesting, because he plays well in links courses.

Q. But is that in the future for the Greatest 36?

The President. Oh, yes. I mean, look, we have a tournament this weekend there, and we have another tournament next weekend. Big tournaments. And we're looking to get the Irish Open at Doonbeg. You know, I have a course in Doonbeg, in Ireland, and we have a lot of great tournaments coming to my—I build—I build the best courses.

[Several reporters spoke at once.]

That's not only said by me. That's said by everybody.

Russia/Ukraine

Q. Back to Russia, sir. Since you made the announcement of the 10 to 12 days, have you gotten any feedback or any officials gotten any feedback that it had a response that Russia is going to do something? Any——

The President. No, I haven't gotten—I haven't had any response. It's a shame.

So I used to say to you, "5,000 people die a week." Now it's 7,000 people are dying a week, mostly Ukrainian and Russian soldiers, but people also from having bombs dropped on their head. It's a disgusting war.

U.S. Domestic Oil Production

Q. How worried are you on the oil markets if you were to put sanctions on Russia?

The President. I don't worry about it. I—we have so much oil in our country. We'll just step it up even further. I mean, oil is down pretty low right now. We'll step it up even further.

[Several reporters spoke at once.]

New Course at Trump International Golf Links Aberdeen/North Sea Oil Reserves

Q. I heard you mention compression. How are you feeling out there when you were playing? Like, how did you feel and—because I think it's the first time you've played since you saw the doc, right?

The President. I felt good. I thought it was great. I thought the course was great. It looks even more beautiful than I thought.

You know, we did the first one, like, 11 years, 12 years ago, and it's gotten tremendous reviews. It's one of the best courses in the world. And I had the other piece of land to do this one, also on the ocean and—the North Sea. And we really have—and by the way, the North Sea is the exact term for the oil. We—they have the greatest—among the greatest reserves. It's tremendous. And they're not using it. Instead, they're putting up these stupid windmills. It's so crazy.

U.K. could reduce their energy costs by 70 percent if they would use the North Sea oil. It's—it just doesn't make sense.

It's just not a liberal thing to do, but it's becoming more of a liberal thing to do.

[Several reporters spoke at once.]

Health Outcomes/The President's Health Policy

I loved being out there. It was great. Good feeling.

Q. Mr. President, U.K. and the U.S. both have increasingly unhealthy populations.

The President. Is that what they say?

Q. Well, we do, don't we? But——

The President. Well, I can see it.

Q. I'm interested in the work, the Make America——

The President. I can see it.

Q. ——Healthy Again—[inaudible].

The President. I can see it. I should think about it for myself. It's——

Bobby is doing a great job. People are loving Bobby Kennedy and the whole crew, Dr. Oz and Marty Makary. We have a fantastic group, and you're going to see a lot of things happening over the next couple of months. I mean, they're true activists.

And, you know, they're going with the science, and, you know, if you take a look at some of the problems, some of the diseases that are coming up to a level that we've never seen before, there's something wrong. There's something wrong, and we're going to—I think we're going to solve the problem. But he's really working hard.

A lot of—all we're doing now is stats—statistics—and I think we're going to make a big change. We're going to save a lot of lives.

You know, when the babies are born and they end up having problems that they've never had before and by, like, 15 and 20 times more. So there's something wrong, and we're going to find what it is pretty soon. We think pretty soon.

Mar-a-Lago Club in Palm Beach, Florida

Q. Mr. President, Epstein has a certain reputation, obviously, but just curious: Were some of the workers that were taken from you—were some of them young women?

The President. Were some of them?

Q. Were some of them young women?

The President. Well, I don't want to say, but everyone knows the people that were taken. And it was—the concept of taking people that work for me is bad. But that story has been pretty well out there, and the answer is: Yes, they were.

Q. Yes, they were young women?

The President. Yes.

Q. What did they do? What were their jobs?

The President. In the spa.

Q. In the spa?

The President. Yes. People that work in the spa. I have a great spa, one of the best spas in the world, at Mar-a-Lago. And people were taken out of the spa, hired by him. In other words, gone. And other people would come and complain, "This guy is taking people from the spa." I didn't know that, and then when I heard about it, I told him—I said, "Listen, we don't want you taking our people." Whether it was spa or not spa, I don't want him taking people.

And he was fine. And then not too long after that, he did it again. And I said, "Out of here."

[Several reporters spoke at once.]

Deceased Jeffrey Epstein Accuser Virginia Giuffre

Q. Mr. President, did one of those stolen, you know, persons—did that include Virginia Giuffre?

The President. I don't know. I think she worked at the spa. I think so. I think that was one of the people, yes. He stole her.

And by the way, she had no complaints about us, as you know. None whatsoever.

Q. Have you spoken——

U.S. Secret Service/2024 Assassination Attempt on Former President Donald J. Trump in Butler, Pennsylvania

Q. We've seen how good your security detail is this weekend, and the team around you are amazing.

The President. They do a good job, yes.

Q. Amazing. Do you have any answers yet as to what happened with the assassination attempt? Is—having seen them in action, it seems remarkable that that was——

The President. You mean the assassination with——

Q. ——able to happen.

The President. They just weren't as good that day. They had a bad day. They shouldn't have had a roof that was, you know, unpatrolled. They should have had coordination with the local police, because, you know, you had a lot of talk going on. You had the woman screaming, "There's a man up there with a gun." And a number of people were screaming, "There's a guy up there with a gun," and they didn't have—the one group wasn't hooked into the other group.

I'll tell you, the Secret Service shooter, David, was amazing, because in 4 seconds, it was over. And if this lunatic was allowed to keep shooting, because they had a lot of—tens of thousands of people there, so a lot of people could have been killed. I mean, we lost a great person and two people very badly injured.

But the shooter—one bullet. Think of that. One bullet from a very far distance. It's amazing.

Q. Has it changed you?

The President. So he was great.

Q. Do you feel like it's changed you as a person?

The President. I don't know. You know, I—maybe and maybe not, but it's—I like to not think about it. You know, it affects some people greatly. I can't afford to be affected because I have a job to do. So I like not to think about it.

Q. Does it not go through——

The President. If I think about it too much, it's probably not a good thing.

2024 Assassination Attempt on Former President Donald J. Trump in Butler, Pennsylvania

Q. Does it not go through your mind at all on a morning like this morning, when you're outside, there's a crowd, and you're giving a speech?

The President. I don't think about it. I don't. I think you see the kind of protection now. It's—I think they're very good. It's a whole different level.

Look, these people went to Biden and Biden's people and asked for more help, because I was having rallies—60,000, 70,000 people. I had 115,000 people, and Biden would have 2 people. Nobody wanted to see the guy. And he'd have a bigger security detail than I had.

And they were asking—Sean and the various people were asking for more people, and they were denied. So they denied them, and—you know, so you could make that case. I don't think they made that case well, because they—I knew for a fact that they were asking for more people a lot. They haven't wanted—they have said it, but not that publicly. But they wanted more people, and the Biden people would not give it to them.

And we had massive crowds. You know, you were there. But we would have, routinely, 50-, 60-, 70,000 people, and he would have nobody.

Q. Mr. President, do——

The President. He couldn't fill the circles—you know, the eight circles. And he didn't need very many people. And so that was a problem too.

Gaza, Palestinian Territories/Humanitarian Situation

Q. Can I ask about the First Lady? You mentioned a couple of weeks ago her role in talking to you about the war in Ukraine and perhaps it being part of your evolution in thinking. Have you discussed the crisis in Gaza and the terrifying——

The President. Yes, but she thinks it's terrible, and she sees the same pictures that you see and that we all see. And I think everybody, unless they're pretty coldhearted or, worse than that, nuts—there's nothing you can say other than "it's terrible" when you see the kids—and those are kids. You know, whether they talk starvation or not, those are kids that are starving.

Q. Mr. President——

The President. That's—that's—I mean, they are starving. And you see the mothers, they love them so much, and there's just nothing they seem to be able to do. They got to get them food, and we're going to get them food.

Group of Twenty (G–20) Nations Summit in Johannesburg, South Africa

Q. Do you plan to attend the G–20 summit this year in South Africa?

The President. No, I think maybe I'll send somebody else, because I've had a lot of problems with South Africa, and they have some very bad policies. Very, very bad policies—like policies where people are being killed. A lot of people are being killed. So I think I probably won't.

Q. Any update——

The President. I'd like to, but I don't think I will.

President Xi Jinping of China

Q. Any update on when you'll meet with President Xi? When can we expect that—that visit?

The President. No, he wants to meet, and I look forward to the meeting too. But I would say before the end of the year.

I mean, just to go full circle: So we had a very good meeting today. If you would have asked me the question yesterday, no, it wasn't looking too good. I would have said—maybe I might have said nothing, but I might have also said it wasn't going too good.

I just heard from Scott that the meeting went very well today with China.

Thank you all very much. Enjoy the flight. Thank you.

Q. Thank you.