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

The President. Hello, everybody.

Q. Hey, Mr. President.

The President. I think we had a great—a great tribute to a great man. A great, wonderful guy. It was—I hope you liked it.

Q. Yes.

The President. You know Doug from—if you have any energy questions, we're ready. [Laughter]

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

Q. At the end of the ceremony, Mr. President, you and Erika shared a moment.

The President. Yes.

Q. If you don't mind me asking, did you have—what words did you have for her?

The President. Well, I've gotten to know her over the years. She's great. You know, Charlie always used to say she's very smart. He would always say that. You don't necessarily say that about a lot of people, but he always felt she was. And she's got a good heart. And, you know, she's got a shot at making it even more special, if you think about it. She's going to do good. I think she's going to do a good job.

That's a hard thing to do. You know, it's one thing to make a speech, but with that—for her to make that speech—because they had a really good relationship.

Q. Mr. President, I'm with Turning Point U.S.A. We just want to say thank you for being there.

The President. Oh, thank you very much.

Q. Thank you for speaking. And we offer our deepest condolences——

The President. Thank you.

Q. ——because I know Charlie was a friend of yours.

The President. Well, that gentleman right there was pointing at you, and I like his questions.

Q. That's my husband. [Laughter]

The President. So that means he thought you would——

Q. It's his wife. That's his wife.

The President. ——give a question just like——

Q. That's his wife.

The President. ——or make a statement just like——

Q. Well, I do have a question.

Q. They're married.

Q. They're married.

The President. That's good.

Q. I do—[laughter]. I do have a question.

The President. Are you married?

Q. Yes.

Q. They're married. They're married to each other.

The President. Oh, congratulations. When did the ceremony take place?

Q. It was at——

The President. Not too long ago. You're very young. But——

Q. No.

I was just——

The President. That's great. He's a good guy.

Q. He is. He's the best.

White House Campus/Presidential Medal of Freedom

I was just wondering—because there are a number of spots in and around the White House that are named after specific people, I was wondering if you would be considering naming something after Charlie to honor his legacy.

The President. That's a good idea. There are. There are different little areas. Yes, I like that idea.

But we're giving him, I think even more importantly, the Presidential Medal of Freedom, which is the highest civilian—it's—I guess they say—you know, if you think congressional Medal of Honor is for military and this is for the civilians. So that's a great tribute to him.

Q. Yes.

The President. Great guy.

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

Q. Are there any more details around that upcoming event that you can share with us? Any further details about that event?

The President. I think the event was just a flawless event. It was beautiful. I thought the last song was incredible, the way it was—as we were leaving. In fact, I think I'm going to—I said, "Who is singing that song?" And I think what I'll do is I'll grab it and I'll use it at rallies. We have rallies to get people elected, and I'll use it at some of the rallies.

Wasn't that beautiful? That was the best rendition I've ever heard.

Q. Yes.

Q. Mr. President——

Q. Mr. President——

Importance of the Turning Point U.S.A. Organization

Q. Mr. President, what can you and your staff do to make sure that—over the next 3 years, that you carry forth the vision and the faith of Charlie in a way that honors him? What can you guys do over the next three years to do that?

The President. I think it's going to be automatic, actually. And I think Turning Point is going to be a very big factor.

I mean, you see the people. Now, the press reported 200,000, because there were—you know, different areas, different stadiums, and everything. You know, a lot of people. That's a big—that's an NFL stadium.

I think it's going to be automatic. I really do. I think it's automatic. They're great people. He had a good staff, and they're great people.

Q. Mr. President, everyone——

The President. How did he do? How did your husband do with that question? I thought quite good.

Q. Great. Great work. [Laughter]

The President. Nice. Good-looking couple.

Former White House Senior Adviser Elon R. Musk/Ultimate Fighting Championship Chief Executive Officer Dana F. White

Q. Mr. President, everyone's saying that Charlie brought you and Elon back together. Is that true?

The President. Well, Elon came over and said hello. No, it's nothing to do with that. It's—I thought it was nice. You know, he came over. We had a little conversation. We had a very good relationship, but it was nice that he came over.

Dana White was there—the great Dana White. You know, the big question is the—having the UFC fight. As he—I know you won't accept tickets because you're with the fake news. You're not allowed to accept tickets. But we're going to have a UFC fight right at the White House, and we're going to end up probably 6,000 people in front of the White House. And then, on the Ellipse, we're going to have 80- or 90,000. It's going to be an unbelievable event. But a lot of people are talking about it.

Russian Energy Products

Q. Mr. President, a question for you—an energy question.

The President. Go ahead.

Q. You've been calling——

The President. Energy? We have the right man. Go ahead.

Q. Both—both—I've got the experts.

You've been calling on Europe to stop buying Russian oil.

The President. Yes.

Q. The U.S. has imported 755 million dollars' worth of Russian uranium and plutonium so far just this year. That's up from the Biden administration last year about $100 million. Can you ask Europe to cut off purchasing those kinds of products?

The President. Yes, I can do that.

Doug, do you know anything about that?

Secretary of the Interior Douglas J. Burgum. Well, yes, absolutely.

The President. I'm glad I brought you. [Laughter]

Secretary Burgum. But this—this goes back not only drill, baby, drill, but we've got to mine, baby, mine. We allowed ourselves to have fallen in—under dependence of both China and Russia for critical minerals. Us, America, buying uranium from Russia is not acceptable, and so we're working very hard—Secretary of Energy Chris Wright, myself—to make sure that we've got a plan so that the United States can get back into domestic enriched uranium production as quickly as possible.

Q. Sir, on Venezuela——

Q. Mr. President——

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

Q. On Venezuela, you said that—let me quote your—your tweet here.

The President. There are no boats in the water anymore.

Q. Yes. Well, you said——

The President. We're looking for additional boats. You don't even find a fishing boat. You don't even find cruise liners anymore. There's nothing in the water near Venezuela. It's actually strange.

Q. You said——

The President. You know that means? That means there are no drugs coming in.

Q. You said that the price they'll pay will be incalculable if they don't take people back.

The President. I did say that.

Q. What is—what does that mean?

The President. Well, you're going to have to figure that out.

Q. Mr. President——

The President. That one, you have to——

Autism Spectrum Disorders

Q. Mr. President, on your autism announcement tomorrow, multiple news outlets are reporting that you plan to tie Tylenol to increased risk of autism. Can you confirm that, share more details?

The President. Yes, we're going to—you'll see tomorrow. We're going to do it tomorrow. But I think it's a very big factor. I think—you'll see what it is tomorrow. We have various things, but you'll see what it is tomorrow. I think it's going to be a very important news conference, and we want things to take effect immediately.

You know, if there's a question—even if there's a question, you just do it. Right? But great research has been done.

You know, when you think—if you think that—let's say, 15 years ago, they had 1 in 10,000 that were born with autism. And now it's—think of it—1 in 12—1 in 10 boys—1 in 10 or 12. Two different studies. Girls is 1 in 20. Can you imagine? One in 20.

And, let's see, 22 years ago, it was 1 in 20,000, but it got down to 1 in 10,000 about 17 years ago. And now it's 1 in 12. Actually, boys at 1 in 12 and 1 in 10.

Q. Are you planning——

The President. I mean, can you imagine? One in 10. And it was 1 in 20,000. So there's obviously something artificial that's really wrong, and we think we know what that is.

Vaccines

Q. Are you planning to announce any link between vaccines and autism?

The President. Well, you'll see tomorrow.

Vaccines are very interesting. They can be great, but when you put the wrong stuff in them, they're not.

And you know, children get these massive vaccines like you'd give to a horse. Like you give to a horse. And I've said for a long time—I mean, this is no secret—spread them out over five years. Get five shots, small ones.

Have you ever seen what they give? They give—I mean, for a little baby to be injected with that much fluid. Even beyond the actual ingredients, they have sometimes 80 different vaccines. And it's crazy. It's—you know, that's a commonsense thing too. It's like you're—it's like you're shooting up a horse. You have a little body, a little baby, and you're pumping this big thing. It's a horrible thing.

So I've always felt that. But we'll be having a big discussion tomorrow about autism.

Democratic Party

Q. Mr. President, your son had a very welcoming message today, welcoming people to the Republican Party.

The President. Right.

Q. Love of country, love of family, love of God. So I ask to you: What do the Democrats stand for at this point?

The President. I think chaos, confusion, anger. They're losers. They don't even want to extend the—you know, the opening—we have a very successful country. If we gave them everything they wanted—they're deranged. If we gave them everything they wanted, they wouldn't extend, in my opinion. You know, they say, "Oh, they want to meet with me." It's nonsense. But I'll meet with them.

But no, they're angry. And they took a big loss, and they're doing worse now than they were during the election. So, you know, they're really—they're doing very badly.

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

I don't think—actually, I think they stand for chaos. They stand for nothing.

Assassination Attempt on Supreme Court Associate Justice Brett M. Kavanaugh/Security for Federal Judges

Q. Mr. President, I'm with the Daily Wire, and we've been doing a lot of investigating up on these transgender shooters. We reported on Friday that the Kavanaugh attempted assassin actually identifies as transgender, and we just wanted to get your reaction to that and see if you had heard.

The President. Well, it's too bad. It's a very sad thing going on with that, and I'll have to take a look at it. We have to protect our Supreme Court judges and Justices. And Justice Kavanaugh is a great guy. I mean, it's horrible. He's been through a lot with this.

All of them have, in a way. They didn't give them the proper protection, and we are giving. You saw what—you know, numerous bills, but we just passed another one. We have to protect the Supreme Court. We have to.

Political Violence

Q. And on that same note, there's been so many different shooters who either—Charlie's killer lives with a guy who's transgender. The Annunciation shooter was transgender. The Covenant shooter was transgender. Should the FBI be investigating transgender extremism?

The President. Well, you know, we're looking at that. And it seems like—you know, is that just a—you know, what's the reason for it? Yes, there seems to be something. But we're looking at it very strongly. Something seems to be going on, but you can't make that statement yet.

[Several reporters spoke at once.]

We're looking at it very closely, actually.

ABC's "Jimmy Kimmel Live!" Program Host Jimmy Kimmel

Q. Mr. President, back in 2020, 2021, you were banned from Twitter, Facebook——

The President. Yes.

Q. ——basically, every single platform on God's green Earth, sir. And now many people on the left want to throw out cries about First Amendment claims after Jimmy Kimmel's show was canceled.

The President. Well, Jimmy Kimmel, I—you know, I know him——

Q. Do you find it hypocritical, sir, after what they did to you?

The President. Yes. You know, I did his show. Before I ran for politics, I did his show many times, and he was never one of the top people. Do you remember, during the Academy Awards, when he read my Truth just before giving out the Best Picture award? And I said—and what he read was that he's the worst host in the history of the Academy Awards.

Look, Jimmy Kimmel suffers from two things. First of all, he said a terrible thing about Charlie, but he also suffers from the fact that he's got no talent, and he's got no ratings—a deadly combination. That's deadly. All right?

National Guard Deployment to Memphis, Tennessee/District of Columbia

Q. Mr. President, when's the National Guard going to be arriving in Memphis? You said they'd be coming soon.

The President. Very soon. Yes. Very soon. Yes, we're going to straighten that up, just like we straightened out Washington. And we're not letting Washington go, by the way. We're not letting—if we didn't go there, Washington right now would be leading the Nation in crime. I mean DC. Leading the Nation in crime. And we have it down. I mean, it is a beautiful thing.

And everybody in—every person I meet is saying, "Thank you, sir." They don't care whether it's the National Guard. They don't care what it is. They're not being raped, mugged, shot. Washington, DC, is now a very safe city.

And you know what? I drove through it yesterday. You probably saw. Did you—everything was nice. The grass was—I thought I'd replace the grass. Much of it doesn't have to be—it looks so beautiful and so well maintained, and that's by us.

Gaza Conflict/U.S. Diplomatic Efforts

Q. You're getting ready to go to the U.N. this week——

The President. Yes, I look forward to it.

Q. ——where there's going to be a major push for a two-state solution.

The President. Yes.

Q. Obviously, the U.S. and Israel have not signed on to that. Is there still possibility, in your mind, that there could be a diplomatic solution to this conflict?

The President. I hope so. I'd like to see a diplomatic solution. There's a lot of anger and a lot of hatred—you know that—and there has been for a lot of years. This is not something new. But hopefully, we'll get something done.

We're looking at—we're studying Gaza and dealing with Gaza very strongly. That's a real mess.

Assassination of Turning Point U.S.A. Founder and Executive Director Charles J. Kirk in Orem, Utah

Q. The investigation is still ongoing into Charlie Kirk's killer and whether he had ties to groups. But do you have a sense now of whether he was——

The President. No, I mean, when you look it's—boy, they've seen a lot for an investigation that's ongoing. I think they've done an incredible job.

Q. Do you—have they found——

The President. Even the shells. I mean, the shells, every—so many—so many different things. I mean, what's to say?

Q. Have they found direct links to——

The President. No. You mean about other people?

Q. Yes. And, like, does that affect your decision about how to proceed in terms of pursuing these groups?

The President. I think, you know, as far as I'm concerned. But they're going to do a final report. Were there other people involved, is what you're asking. It would look to me like not.

Now, he did have a friend, but I don't—the friend seemed to be a little bit surprised.

Attorney General Pamela J. Bondi

Q. Mr. President, in regards to Pam Bondi. Who should she focus on as far as bringing accountability——

The President. Everybody. Everybody, really. It's a big office. She's doing a good job. But focus on everybody. There are a lot of crooked people that were here before me. You had people that almost destroyed our country. If I didn't win this election, our country would be destroyed. We wouldn't have a country right now.

Thank you very much.

Q. What did you make of her remarks——

The President. Thank you very much.

Q. Thank you, Mr. President.