Remarks in an Exchange With Reporters Prior to Departure for Bedminster, New Jersey

President Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin of Russia

Q. Hi, Mr. President. Are you going go into a talk with Putin before your deadline come in, I mean, 10 days while in the——

The President. Well, we'll see what happens. We're going have some meetings, and we'll see what happens. How are you?

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

Employment Statistics

Q. Mr. President, you said the—Mr. President, you said the jobs report today were rigged.

The President. Oh yes, I think so.

Q. What evidence do you have that were rigged—they were rigged?

The President. And if you look at before the election, the same kind of thing happened. And I think you'll see some very interesting information come out. But we got rid of—you have to have honest reports. And when you look at those numbers or when you look at just before the election—and then after the election, they corrected it by 8- or 900,000 jobs. Yes, I would say so.

[Several reporters spoke at once.]

South Korea

Q. [Inaudible]—South Korea—South Korea and the United States summit talk——

The President. We have a great relationship.

Q. ——summit talk, sir, and when do you have this talk?

The President. Yes, we have a great relationship with South Korea. Great.

President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva of Brazil

Q. Are you ready—are you open to negotiate with Brazil? The Brazilian President, Lula, said he would like to call you. He requests a conversation. Would you talk to him now? Are you open to——

The President. He can talk to me anytime he wants.

Q. So are you open to tariffs or negotiations——

The President. Yes, he can talk to me anytime he wants.

Q. What is on the table for Brazil?

The President. Well, we'll see what happens, but I love the people of Brazil.

[Several reporters spoke at once.]

I love the people of Brazil.

Q. So why 50-percent tariffs? They don't seem to be related to trade, Mr. President.

The President. The people running Brazil did the wrong thing.

[Several reporters spoke at once.]

Mar-a-Lago Club in Palm Beach, Florida

Q. Why did it take 7 years—7 years——from the time that you learned that people were being stolen from Mar-a-Lago to the time that you kicked out—that you took Jeffrey Epstein off the member——

The President. Yes, I don't understand your question.

[Several reporters spoke at once.]

Russia

Q. Where are the submarines being deployed? The nuclear submarines.

The President. Say it.

Q. Where are being deployed the nuclear submarines?

The President. Oh, yes. Well, we had to do that. We just have to be careful. And a threat was made, and we didn't think it was appropriate, so I have to be very careful. So I do that on the basis of safety for our people. A threat was made by a former President of Russia, and we're going to protect our people.

[Several reporters spoke at once.]

Former Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton

Q. Will Hillary Clinton finally be investigated for election fraud——

The President. I hope so.

Q. Hillary Clinton——

The President. I hope so. I don't know whether or not that will happen, but I hope so.

Bureau of Labor Statistics Commissioner Erika L. McEntarfer/2024 President Election

Q. Mr. President, why did you fire the head of the Bureau of Labor Statistics?

The President. Because I think her numbers were wrong, just like I thought her numbers were wrong before the election. Days before the election, she came out with these beautiful numbers for Kamala—I guess Biden-slash-Kamala—and she came out with these beautiful numbers trying to get somebody else elected.

Then, right after the election, I think on the 15—November 15—she had an $8- or $900,000 massive reduction, said she made a mistake. No, I—that woman's numbers aren't right.

Federal Reserve System Board of Governors

Q. Fed Governor Kugler is going to resign. Do you plan to——

The President. Say it.

Q. Fed Governor Kugler is set to resign.

The President. Yes, the——

Q. Are you planning to appoint anyone?

The President. One of the Governors, as you know, the Federal Reserve has just announced she's resigning. I understand it was over the fact that she disagreed with somebody from her party. She disagreed with "Too Late." You know who "Too Late" is?

Q. Yes.

The President. She disagreed with "Too Late" on the interest rate. So we'll see what happens. But I—we just found out that I have a open spot on the Federal Reserve Board. I'm very happy about that, Jon [Jon Decker, Gray Television].

Q. I can imagine. I can imagine.

The President. Very good.

[Several reporters spoke at once.]

Former President Dmitry Anatolyevich Medvedev of Russia

Q. Can you give us any more information on the nuclear subs? And what did Medvedev say to you that made you really mad?

The President. Well, you just have to read what he said. He was talking about nuclear. When you talk about nuclear, we have to be prepared—and we're totally prepared.

Monthly Jobs Reports

Q. Mr. President, on the monthly jobs report. Going forward, why should anyone trust the numbers? And if you're——

The President. Well, that's the big thing. You're right. No, you're right. Why should anybody trust numbers?

You go back to election—election day. Look what happened 2 or 3 days before, with massive, wonderful job numbers trying to get him elected or her elected, trying to get whoever the hell was running. Because you go back and they came out with numbers that were very favorable to Kamala, okay? To—trying to get him elected—trying to get her elected. And then, on the 15th of November or thereabouts, they had an 8- or 900,000——

Q. Right.

The President. ——overstatement reduction right after the election. It didn't work, because you know who won, Jon? I won.

Q. But here's the thing: Your supporters have had issues with these numbers. Now that you ——

The President. I've had issues with the numbers for a long time.

Q. And you've had—now that you've——

The President. But today's—we're doing so well. I believe the numbers were phony, just like they were before the election—and there were other times. So you know what I did? I fired her.

Q. Right. And so now——

The President. And you know what? I did the right thing.

Bureau of Labor Statistics

Q. If any Government official—if any Government official going forward is presenting data or information you don't like, should they fear for their job?

The President. Well——

Q. Are you going to fire them?

The President. I've always had a problem with these numbers. You know, I was thinking about it this morning. Before the numbers that came out, I said, "Who is the person that does these numbers?" And then, they gave me stats about—before the election, I had a similar problem. I mean, she gave out numbers that were so good for the Democrats, it was, like, unbelievable. And then, right after the election, she corrected those numbers with, I think, almost 900,000 correction. I think nobody had ever seen anything like it.

Well, today she did the same thing with the 253,000—whatever the number was. No, no. We need people that we can trust. I mean, your question——

Q. And if someone——

The President. Your question is a very good one. We need people we can trust.

[Several reporters spoke at once.]

Q. Do you know who you plan to replace her with?

The President. Who?

Q. Do you know who you plan to replace her with?

The President. I've got about three very good—I have a lot of good candidates. I will say, everybody wants it. I've had more phone calls, but I have three people that would be very—

Q. Do they have a background in labor statistics?

The President. You know, I could do a long-term thing or I could do a temporary. It's a 14-year term.

Q. Right. But do you put someone in who actually has labor statistics experience or do you put in a Republican?

The President. I put somebody in who's going to be honest. That's all we want.

Q. So are you thinking long-term or temporary?

The President. I have a choice. I can have 4 months. I could do a short-term or I could do a 14-year deal. So we'll see. We have a lot of people—we've got a lot of good people around.

[Several reporters spoke at once.]

Switzerland/Tariffs

Q. Mr. President, on Switzerland. On Switzerland, that was a shock: the tariff rate with Switzerland. It was pretty—it was higher than other European countries.

The President. Well, the problem with Switzerland, we have——

Q. What would you like to see with Switzerland?

The President. We have a $40 billion deficit with Switzerland. And I spoke yesterday to Switzerland, but we have a $40 billion deficit with Switzerland. That's a big deficit.

Construction Costs for the New White House Ballroom

Q. A question on the construction. Can I ask you a question about construction? You say you're raising $200 million. You're donating a bunch. Others are as well.

The President. Yes.

Q. Are you blocking foreigners from donating money to build that addition?

The President. Honestly, I never even thought of it, but it doesn't matter. I'm putting up my money, but it doesn't even matter. They've wanted a ballroom at the White House——

Q. Right.

The President. ——and it's been very popular. You know, when we put it out yesterday——

Q. So, you're not ruling out that a Crown Prince or some European or an Asian official would give money to that?

The President. No, I'm not looking for that. You know, you have very strong restrictions as to who can donate, and we go by the restrictions.

[Several reporters spoke at once.]

It's not—I mean, it's not that much money. It's money, but——

Q. Will you release the names of the donors?

The President. Yes, I'll do that.

[Several reporters spoke at once.]

I didn't—even start yet, by the way, but when I do, I'll release the names.

Q. How many donors do you think it's going to take to get the $200 million?

The President. Maybe one: me. But——

Q. You would cut that check yourself?

The President. Yes. I would, yes. I would.

U.S. Special Envoy to the Middle East Steven C. Witkoff/Gaza, Palestinian Territories/Humanitarian Situation

Q. Did you talk to Steve Witkoff today about his journey to Gaza? Did you talk to Steve Witkoff?

The President. I did. I spoke to Steve Witkoff. He had a great meeting with a lot of people, and the primary meeting was on food. And he had—he also had some other conversations that I'll tell you about later. But he had a meeting on getting the people fed, and that's what we want.

And I'll see you later on.

India

Q. In terms of the penalties on India, what numbers are you looking at and are you going to be having a conversation with Prime Minister Modi?

The President. Well, I understand India no longer is going to be buying oil from Russia. That's what I heard. I don't know if that's right or not, but that's a good step. We'll see what happens, okay?

[Several reporters spoke at once.]

Q. How is your health?

The President. Hello. How are you?

Tariff Revenue

Q. Good. Good to see you, sir.

On tariffs. Obviously, the Treasury is taking in so much money right now, some Republicans have been pushing for tariff checks to go out. The basic idea is "move the money back." Any—any suggestion that——

The President. There are a lot of people that would like to see us do sort of a dividend to the people of our country. It's something I'd consider.

Q. How much would be——

The President. I'd also want—I want to pay off debt, but there's a possibility I'd do a dividend.

Tariffs

[Several reporters spoke at once.]

Q. On—sir, on tariffs—I know. Sorry, it's crazy. On tariffs, obviously, there's still a few days here for some of these tariffs to possibly be reset. You're a betting man. How many of these tariff rates can change between now and next Thursday?

The President. Not a lot. I mean, for the most part, we're set. A little bit, maybe, if somebody could convince us that, you know, they have a case. Like, Switzerland is complaining, but we lose $40 billion a year with Switzerland. We had to do that.

Thank you very much.