Remarks Prior to a Meeting With Prime Minister Dick Schoof of the Netherlands and an Exchange With Reporters in The Hague, Netherlands

President Trump. Well, I just want to thank the Netherlands. They've done a great job. You have done—Mr. Prime Minister, you've done a great job. And this was a tremendous summit, and I enjoyed it very much. And thank you.

I stayed through every one of those speeches. [Laughter] Every one. And some were good, and some weren't quite as good. Right?

Prime Minister Schoof. Yes, I know. I realize this. I was listening as well. Yes.

President Trump. You did a—yes. Yes. You did a beautiful job.

Prime Minister Schoof. Yes. Yes. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. President, and thank you for being at the NATO summit. I think together we made a big achievement in NATO today.

President Trump. Yes.

Prime Minister Schoof. And going—agreeing on the 5 percent and making a real big step forward——

President Trump. Right.

Prime Minister Schoof. ——in our working together on defense industry to make sure that we've got the deterrence and defense in the Western world—Europe, America, Canada, together.

President Trump. Right.

Prime Minister Schoof. Make it strong.

President Trump. Thank you very much.

Prime Minister Schoof. Thank you. Big decisions today.

President Trump. Great honor.

Prime Minister Schoof. Yes. My honor.

President Trump. So thank you very much——

Prime Minister Schoof. Thank you.

President Trump. ——everybody. We're going to have a press conference in a couple of minutes, so——

White House aide. Thank you, press. Thank you, press.

President Trump. How about we'll do that. We're going to do it in a couple of minutes. Some great statements just came out from the Israeli Atomic Energy Commission and from Iran, as you know, that it was complete, total destruction. And CNN turned out to be fake news, as always. That's why they have no credibility. That's why they have no viewers.

But we're going to read it to you if you haven't seen it. Have you seen it, Jeff [Jeff Mason, Reuters]?

Q. Yes, sir.

President Trump. Have you seen it? Okay.

Q. Yes, sir.

Q. It was sent to us.

President Trump. Pretty good. Very unfair to the pilots that risked their lives for our country, and then they get fake news New York Times and CNN make up a phony story to get some hits. It's the only reason I cared about it, because those pilots were so brave. I've never seen anything like it. They flew into the hornet's nest, and then they got hurt so badly by what the fake news wrote.

And it was CNN. It was the New York Times. And they're both disgusting—disgusting, really horrible groups of people.

The pilots did an unbelievable job, like nobody's ever seen. They hit pay dirt. You see where the—I guess you probably look—they call it the "wound." You see where the wound is on the earth, and three of them right next to each other. Perfect. And they should be admired and respected for what they did.

And the fake news—in order to try and hit me, the fake news made them look bad, but now they look really good again.

So that was the Israeli Atomic Energy Commission, and it was also about—the high commission of Iran just said it was totally demolished.

But we're going to have a news conference in a couple of minutes, and we'll see you, because I don't want to burden the Prime Minister with this. Okay?

Thank you very much, everybody.

White House aide. Thank you, press.

The President's Visit to the Netherlands

Q. How do you like the Netherlands, Mr. President? How do you like the Netherlands?

President Trump. I love the Netherlands—are you from the Netherlands?

Prime Minister Schoof. She is.

Q. If America——

President Trump. I love the Netherlands.

Q. ——is first, is the Netherlands second?

President Trump. What did she say?

Prime Minister Schoof. If America is first, is the Netherlands is then second?

President Trump. Oh, no. Well, I think—[laughter]—I know some people put it first. [Laughter]

Have a good time, everybody. Thank you.

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

North Atlantic Treaty Organization Summit

Q. Mr. President, what do you think of the outcome of the summit? What do you think of the outcome of the summit?

President Trump. I'm going to have—I think the summit was fantastic. It was a big success. You had great people here. Everybody showed up. They were all the Prime Ministers and the Presidents and the Kings and the Queens, right? And I actually had breakfast today with a King and a Queen who were beautiful, beautiful people. Central casting, I must say. Very nice. We had a great time.

We thought the Netherlands was fantastic, and I think you did a fantastic job.

Prime Minister Schoof. Thank you.

President Trump. Thank you very much.

Prime Minister Schoof. We made big decisions today at the NATO summit——

President Trump. Yes.

Prime Minister Schoof. ——so that's important.

President Trump. Big things happened.

Prime Minister Schoof. Yes.

North Atlantic Treaty Organization

Q. Mr. President, you said you would clarify your stance on article 5 just yesterday. Is that something you can explain today?

President Trump. I stand with it. That's why I'm here. If I didn't stand with it, I wouldn't be here.

Q. So you would defend countries, even if they——

President Trump. Well, what do—what did I just say?

Q. ——don't pay out their fair share?

President Trump. Yes, of course. Why would I be here?

Thank you very much, everybody. Thank you.