Remarks in an Exchange With Reporters Upon Arrival From Palm Beach, Florida

The President. [Inaudible.]—I saw a friendly face over here. How are you?

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

Well, we gave some information on the plane. I think we covered everything very carefully and in great detail. You probably have seen it. Have you seen the information from the plane?

Proposed Reopening of the Detention Facility on Alcatraz Island in San Francisco Bay

Q. Yes, sir, I have. And just a couple of questions. Where did you get the idea for reopening Alcatraz?

The President. Just an idea I've had. And I guess because the judges—so many of these radicalized judges, they want to have trials for every single—think of it—every single person that's in our country illegally, that came in illegally. That would mean millions of trials. And it's just so ridiculous what's happening.

And it's long been a symbol, Alcatraz, of whatever it is. I mean, you know, it's a sad symbol, but it's a symbol of law and order. And I hear it's got quite a history, frankly. So I think we're going to do that, and we're looking at it right now.

Q. There was an election in Australia this weekend——

Proposed Tariff on U.S.-Distribution Movies Produced Overseas

Q. Question about the movie—the movie tariffs?

The President. Yes.

Q. The tariffs on movies.

The President. The movie tariffs, what they've done is, other nations have been stealing the—the movies, the moviemaking capabilities from the United States. And I said to a couple of people, "What do you think?" I've done some very strong research over the last week, and we're making very few movies now. Hollywood is being destroyed.

Now, you have an incompetent—grossly incompetent Governor that allowed that to happen, so I'm not disclaiming other nations, but other nations, a lot of them, have stolen our movie industry. And I'm saying, if they're not willing to make a movie inside the United States, then we should have a tariff on movies that come in.

And not only that, governments are actually giving big money. I mean, they're supporting them financially. So that's sort of a threat to our country, in a sense, and it's been a very popular thing. I can tell you one thing——

Q. Mr. President. Mr. President——

The President. ——moviemakers love it.

Q. Mr. President, there was an election in Australia this weekend——

Canada/Proposed Tariff on U.S.-Distribution Movies Produced Overseas

Q. Mr. President, will you bring that up with Canada—will you bring that up with Canada tomorrow? The movie business—[inaudible.].

The President. Well, Canada is only one of many countries that are doing it.

Q. It is one of many countries that takes the bulk of them. And——

The President. Thank you.

[Several reporters spoke at once.]

Russia/Ukraine

Q. Will you meet with Putin in Saudi Arabia? Will you meet with Putin in Saudi Arabia when you go?

The President. I don't know. We haven't thought about it. But we'll be leaving for Saudi Arabia pretty soon. I have not thought about it. We've had some good conversations on Russia and Ukraine over the weekend—over the last few days, actually. But we've had some very good conversations on Russia and Ukraine.

There's a lot of hatred there, I will tell you, between the two parties and between even the generals. I mean, there's a tremendous amount of hatred. But we've had some very good discussions over the last few days.

[Several reporters spoke at once.]

Q. The Australian election, Mr. President, the Australian election——

Crypto Currencies and Digital Finance

Q. Key Senate Democrats have withdrawn support for crypto bills, in part because they say that you and your family should not be involved in crypto companies while in office, and now the bills may not pass and have the support. What would you say to them about——

The President. Well, I haven't heard that, but I'm a big fan of crypto, because I want to keep it away from China. Crypto is a whole new thing that started, you know, not so long ago, but I'm very much in favor of crypto, Bitcoin, all of the different things, because otherwise China is going to take it over. And just like AI, just like so many other industries or whatever you want to call them, crypto is very important, I think, for our country.

[Several reporters spoke at once.]

Q. [Inaudible.]—the World Trade Center Health Program. Do you plan to——

Australian Elections/Prime Minister Anthony Albanese of Australia

Q. The Australia election—the Australian election, Mr. President.

The President. Say it?

Q. The Australia election. Conservatives did very badly, just like in Canada. They're saying it's the Trump effect again——

The President. Which country—in which country?

Q. In Australia, there was an election this weekend.

The President. Well, I don't know. Albanese, I'm very friendly with. I haven't—I don't know anything about the election other than——

Q. He just won again. He was reelected.

The President. The man that won is very—he's very good. He's a friend of mine.

Q. He said the tariffs were "not the act of a friend." Will you be speaking to him now, congratulating him on his win?

The President. Well, I can only say that he's been very, very nice to me, very respectful to me. I have no idea who the other person is that ran against him. And you know, we've had a very good relationship.

[Several reporters spoke at once.]

World Trade Center Health Program

Q. There's been cuts to the World Trade Center Health Program and questions about the restoration and the Director. Are you aware——

The President. The restoration of what?

Q. The World Trade Center Health Program that helps 9/11 first responders. Some key staffers were laid off on Friday, and activists in New York——

The President. Well, I was the one, in my first term, that helped them get money and helped them really live a much better life. That was a very important thing I did in my first term. But I'm not aware of anything that may have been brought up recently.

[Several reporters spoke at once.]

Thank you. Thank you very much.

Former National Security Adviser Michael T. Flynn

Q. Are you considering General Flynn?

The President. I like General Flynn.