Remarks in an Exchange With Reporters During a Tour of the Pratt Industries, Inc., Manufacturing Facility in Wapakoneta, Ohio

President Trump. Hello, everybody. We're here to celebrate a great opening and a great gentleman, as you know, from Australia, Anthony Pratt, and most importantly, Anthony, we have to say, another great man. Come here. We have a fantastic evening the other night at the White House in honor of Australia, and this is the great Prime Minister. So, Scott, I want to thank you very much. It's really nice that you're here.

Prime Minister Morrison. Thanks.

President Trump. Anthony is one of the most successful men in the world. Perhaps, Australia's most successful man as they say, right? Mr. Prime Minister?

Prime Minister Morrison. It's true.

Pratt/Visy Industries Global Chairman Anthony Pratt. Thank you very much.

President Trump. He is—he's building a—he'll be investing anywhere from $5 to $10 billion in the United States, and this is one of his great plants. You might tell them about that.

Mr. Pratt. Certainly. This is a $2 billion facility. We would not have invested in this plant if it wasn't for President Trump's election. It has given us a tremendous faith in investing in America, and we've redoubled down on our investment in America. And with the construction of this plant, we will have as a result of that, sir, 9,000 American manufacturing jobs in the United States, and we're very proud of that.

President Trump. That's fantastic. So fantastic. Thank you very much. So we're going to have a little ceremony, and you're invited to join us, and it's a lot of jobs. And I really appreciate—I appreciate you a lot; you know that. You're my friend, and, Anthony, you're fantastic. Thank you very much.

Mr. Pratt. Thank you, sir. It's a great honor.

Prime Minister Morrison. Well done, Anthony.

Mr. Pratt. Thank you, Prime Minister. I'd like to say the Prime Minister has generated 29,000 jobs a month since he was Treasurer and Prime Minister. And he's the Don Bradman of Australian job creation. Don Bradman was our Babe Ruth. [Laughter] So——

President Trump. Oh, wow.

Prime Minister Morrison. In cricket.

President Trump. That sounds pretty good. Okay?

Prime Minister Morrison. Great stuff.

President Trump. Thank you, everybody.

Prime Minister Morrison. Well done, Anthony. We're really proud of what you're doing.

President Trump. Come on over, watch the ceremony. How are you? You have some good pictures, huh? [At this point, the tour of the plant began. The President then addressed reporters as follows.]

President Trump. So that's 100-percent recycled paper into a really, fine finished product. It's really amazing, Steve [Steve A. Holland]. They start off with all—can I use the word "garbage"?

Mr. Pratt. Yes. Yes.

Prime Minister Morrison. Waste.

President Trump. They start off with waste, garbage, and they end up building it into a—making it into really great cardboard and paper.

Pratt Industries Global Chairman Anthony Pratt

Q. How many are——

President Trump. A hundred percent of the plant.

Q. How many people are going to work here?

Mr. Pratt. Fifteen hundred in construction. Five hundred full-time. Nine thousand over the company.

President Trump. That's the real deal, this one.

Pratt Industries, Inc., Manufacturing Facility in Wapakoneta, Ohio/U.S. Investment in Australia

Q. Mr. President, a lot of Australian money being spent here in the good State of Ohio. Is that good news for America?

President Trump. Oh, it's great news for America, and we also spend a lot in Australia. I think we're your largest investor, by far.

Prime Minister Morrison. That's true.

Mr. Pratt. One-point-seven trillion dollars in American investment.

President Trump. So it goes—it's been a great partnership. And never better than it is right now with Scott. And he's done a fantastic job as Prime Minister. But the relationship has been fantastic.

But Anthony said, "If you win, I'm going to spend $10 billion in the U.S." I said, "That's okay with me."

Mr. Pratt. That's right. That's right.

President Trump. And then, we won.

Mr. Pratt. That's right.

President Trump. And here we start.

[The tour continued. The President then addressed reporters as follows.]

President Trump. That's really some equipment, the finest equipment in the world. And more and more people are going this way. Normally, you take down trees, and you make the paper. In this case, Anthony does 90, 95 percent out of waste, out of garbage, and they make incredible final product through a very—through really a very—a really costly, but efficient process.

Australia-U.S. Relations

Q. [Inaudible] President Trump. Well, Australia has been great, but we've been great to Australia. You know, we just have a very good relationship, a really great relationship. Your Prime Minister has done a fantastic job.

Thank you.

Australian Investment in the U.S./Pratt Industries Global Chairman Anthony Pratt

Q. [Inaudible]—to be generous, like Mr. Pratt, Mr. President?

President Trump. Say it?

Q. Do you think want more businessmen like Mr. Pratt invest in America like he has?

President Trump. Yes, well, we have some good ones. But this man is number one in Australia, they say.

Prime Minister Morrison. And we're going to keep him. We're going to keep him.

President Trump. Everybody is fighting for him.

Mr. Pratt. Thank you very much, Mr. President.