Remarks in an Exchange With Reporters Prior to Departure for Rome, Italy

President Xi Jinping of China/The President's Travel to Rome, Italy/Russia/Ukraine

Q. Mr. President, you said that you have spoken to President Xi. When did that happen? China says it hasn't happened.

The President. I spoke to him numerous times.

So we're leaving——

Q. When was the last time?

The President. ——and going to Rome, where we'll be attending the funeral of Pope Francis. Some of you are going to go. Anybody going?

And it's going to be very interesting. We're going to meet with a lot of the foreign leaders. They want to meet.

Trade deals are going very well. I think Russia and Ukraine—I think they're coming along—we hope. Very fragile. And Iran, I think, is going very well. We'll see what happens.

We're going—working on plenty of things that shouldn't be worked on, because none of this stuff should have happened. This should have been taken place by Biden. It should have been fixed by Biden, but he couldn't do it, nor could he come close to doing it.

So, anyway, we're going to Rome to pay our respects, and we'll be leaving that same day. We'll be coming back home tomorrow night. And I'll see some of you over there. Otherwise, I'll see you on television.

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

Q. How was the Witkoff meeting this morning?

President Xi Jinping of China

Q. You said you spoke with President Xi.

The President. I did.

Q. Have you spoken to him since the tariffs?

The President. I don't want to——

Q. When did you last speak with him?

The President. I don't want to comment on that. But I've spoken to him many times.

Yes.

Japan-U.S. Trade

Q. [Inaudible.]—Japan?

The President. From Japan?

Q. [Inaudible.]—Japan?

The President. From Japan—I'm getting along very well with Japan.

Q. [Inaudible.]

The President. We're very close to a deal.

[Several reporters spoke at once.]

Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni of Italy/President Volodymyr Zelenskyy of Ukraine

Q. Sir, will you be meeting with President Zelenskyy?

The President. I'll be meeting with the Italian—yes—your Prime Minister?

Q. No, with President Zelenskyy.

The President. Oh, it's possible. It's possible.

Pope Francis

Q. How will you and the First Lady remember Pope Francis, sir? How will you [inaudible.]——

The President. Very well. Good man. He loved—he loved the world, actually. And he was a good—just a good man. I met him twice. I thought he was a fantastic kind of a guy.

China-U.S. Trade

Q. [Inaudible.]—TIME magazine that President Xi called you. When did that happen? And what did you discuss?

The President. I'll let you know at the appropriate time. Let's see if we can make a deal.

U.S. Special Envoy to the Middle East Steven C. Witkoff/President Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin of Russia

Q. The Witkoff-Putin meeting. Do you have any updates on the Witkoff-Putin meeting, sir? They're meeting right now, and what do you hope to see transpire?

The President. Yes, they're meeting with Putin right now, as we speak, and we have a lot of things going on. And I think in the end we're going to end up with a lot of good deals, including tariff deals and trade deals. We're going to make our country rich, but we're going to try and get out of war so that we can save 5,000 people a week. And that's what my aim is: I want to save 5,000 young men—they happen to be mostly Ukrainian, Russian—5,000 young Ukrainian and Russian men. And that's a big honor if I can do it. And I think we're pretty close.

[Several reporters spoke at once.]

Q. What's your deadline for the talks—what's your deadline for a resolution?

Tariffs

Q. At least 12 States have sued——

The President. No deadline. I just want to do it as fast as possible.

What?

Q. At least 12 States have sued over your tariff plan. What do you think of those who voted for you, but are now—[inaudible.]?

The President. I think the tariff plan is doing very well. We're resetting the table. We're going to make our country very rich—very, very rich. It's already happening.

Thank you very much.