Remarks at a Swearing-in Ceremony for Jeanine Pirro as Acting United States Attorney for the District of Columbia and an Exchange With Reporters

The President. Thank you very much.

So today we're honored to swear in Jeanine Pirro, somebody I've known for a long time—and she's an incredible person and incredible woman—as our new interim United States attorney for the District of Columbia. That's a big deal. And I'd like to congratulate Jeanine and her whole family.

And we have Cristine with us—and Alex, I know, is in a very, very important place right now—and the two children, but they're not children anymore. And I've heard that, Cristine, you're doing unbelievably well and very successful at a great law firm.

Cristine Pirro Schwarzman. Thank you.

The President. So it's great to have you with us.

Ms. Schwarzman. Thank you. It's an honor.

The President. Thank you very much.

Over five decades, Jeanine Pirro, known by millions as "Judge Jeanine," has devoted her life to the pursuit of justice; the defense of freedom; and the fair, equal, and impartial rule of law, and that's what she's about. She was a great DA. I remember very well. She was as good as anybody I've seen.

She began a career in 1975 as an assistant district attorney in Westchester County, New York, where she prosecuted violent crimes. And that was a serious prosecutor. And she went after real criminals, not fake criminals, like we seem to do today nowadays—people that shouldn't be prosecuted—including rape, murder. And was tireless warrior—a tireless warrior on behalf of the most vulnerable people in our society.

In that role, Jeanine helped create one of our country's first domestic violence bureaus. I think it was the first, Jeanine. And as its chief, she revolutionized victim protection and bold, innovative policies like very few people even thought of.

In 1990, Jeanine became the first female judge in Westchester County history. And following the—and by the way, very distinguished. Had an unbelievable, distinguished career. And in the following years, she presided over numerous complex criminal cases.

The reason they were complex is that other judges were not able to understand them. They were called the complex cases. My sister had them too. They always used to give her the complex cases because other people didn't understand them—including high-stakes felony narcotics trials.

Her outstanding judicial record earned her the honor of being named the number-one judge in 1990 by the independent Fund for Modern Courts. That's nationwide. Outstanding judge.

The following year, Judge Jeanine was elected Westchester County district attorney, became the top prosecutor for a jurisdiction that included some of the largest suburbs in New York City, including Yonkers and White Plains. It's a big deal. As district attorney, Jeanine tackled high-profile violent crime cases and established one of the Nation's most successful cybercrime units to combat online child abuse.

She was way ahead of a lot of people. They still aren't there, if you get right down—[laughter]—I mean, from what I hear, they're still not there, in many cases—back there, where we come from.

In addition to her stellar legal career, Jeanine also excelled in news media, as her—as you know. And she's become one of the most beloved political figures through her time on television, because she's been very, very successful at a thing called "television."

She got out of what she was doing. And frankly, she does them both great. But she's really—to me, she'll always be known as a great lawyer and a great prosecutor, which is what she's doing now.

So Jeanine Pirro, I have no doubt, will be an exceptional U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia, one of the truly most important positions in our country, of any position, where she will restore public safety in our Nation's Capital, break up vicious street gangs and criminal networks, and ensure equal justice under the law.

You'll see very, very big improvements in the DC area. That, I can promise you.

So I want to congratulate Jeanine. I want to congratulate you and Cristine and your whole family on this undertaking.

And as you know, Pam Bondi is doing an unbelievable job as our real leader—leader in the fight against crime. And Pam heard about this, and Pam said, "I'll have to find time for Jeanine." She doesn't have time to do this, but for Jeanine, she did, and she's going to be doing the swearing in.

So, Pam, thank you very much for the great job you're doing and for swearing in our friend, Justice Jeanine.

Good. Thank you.

Come on up.

[At this point, Attorney General Pamela J. Bondi, Acting U.S. Attorney Pirro, and Ms. Schwarzman stepped forward for the swearing-in.]

Attorney General Bondi. There we go. Okay.

I do solemnly swear.

Acting U.S. Attorney Pirro. I, Jeanine Pirro, do solemnly swear.

Attorney General Bondi. That I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States.

Acting U.S. Attorney Pirro. That I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States.

Attorney General Bondi. Against all enemies, foreign and domestic.

Acting U.S. Attorney Pirro. Against all enemies, foreign and domestic.

Attorney General Bondi. And that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same.

Acting U.S. Attorney Pirro. And that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same.

Attorney General Bondi. And that I take this obligation freely.

Acting U.S. Attorney Pirro. And that I take this obligation freely.

Attorney General Bondi. Without any mental reservation.

Acting U.S. Attorney Pirro. Without any mental reservation.

Attorney General Bondi. Or purpose of evasion.

Acting U.S. Attorney Pirro. Or purpose of evasion.

Attorney General Bondi. And that I will well and faithfully.

Acting U.S. Attorney Pirro. And that I will well and faithfully.

Attorney General Bondi. Discharge the duties.

Acting U.S. Attorney Pirro. Discharge the duties.

Attorney General Bondi. Of the office upon which I am about to enter.

Acting U.S. Attorney Pirro. Of the office upon which I am about to enter.

Attorney General Bondi. So help me God.

Acting U.S. Attorney Pirro. So help me God.

Attorney General Bondi. Congratulations.

Acting U.S. Attorney Pirro. Thank you.

The President. Here, please.

Acting U.S. Attorney Pirro. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. President, and thank you, Madam Attorney General—both my friends for many years.

Long ago, I went to law school to study about justice and to bring justice to victims of violent crimes: women, children, and the elderly. I fought to give them a voice in a system that was both blind and deaf to their concerns. I dedicated my heart and soul to making sure that there was a system that responded to them.

My profile and my prosecutorial successes garnered public attention, and my life took unexpected turns. Through all of this, President Trump, you have remained as steadfast as one of my earliest supporters and champions. You never wavered. You were always steadfast, trustworthy, and confident.

Today, Mr. President, you bring me back to my roots. And it is a larger arena but no less an arena where we need justice, where we need to send a message that justice will be honored in the District of Columbia.

And just last week, here in our Nation's Capital, two people on the brink of beginning their life had hopes and dreams that were never realized because a cold-blooded murderer made a decision to shoot them down on the streets on a cold, rainy night in our Nation's Capital. This will not go without just accounting.

My voice should be heard loud and clear: No more. No more tolerance of hatred. No more mercy for criminals. Violence will be addressed directly with the appropriate punishment, and this city will again become a shining city on a hill in an America that President Trump has promised to make great again and will make safe again.

Mr. President, America thanks you, and I thank you.

The President. Thank you very much.

Any questions for Jeanine? Any questions?

Acting U.S. Attorney Pirro. Oh, boy.

The President. Anything for Jeanine?

Acting U.S. Attorney Pirro. You just want to talk to him. I get it. [Laughter]

The President. [Inaudible]—ask her a question.

Acting U.S. Attorney Pirro. Thank you.

The President. She's going to be fantastic. Thank you very much. You're really——

Acting U.S. Attorney Pirro. Thank you all. Thank you.

The President. There's no question, because there's no doubt. We have no doubt you're going to be fantastic. Thank you.

Acting U.S. Attorney Pirro. Thank you, Mr. President.

[Several reporters began asking questions at once.]

The President. Yes, please.

Q. On Russia, Mr. President.

The President. Please.

Russia/Ukraine

Q. Do you believe the Russians are being disrespectful when they say that your criticisms of Putin are simply an emotional response? And do you still believe that Putin actually wants to end the war?

The President. I can't tell you that, but I'll let you know in about 2 weeks—within 2 weeks. We're going to find out very soon. We're going to find out whether or not he's tapping us along or not. And if he is, we'll respond a little bit differently.

But it will take about a week and a half, 2 weeks. We have—Mr. Witkoff is here, who's doing a phenomenal job—is dealing with them very strongly right now. They seem to want to do something, but until the document is signed, I can't tell you. Nobody can.

[Several reporters spoke at once.]

I can say this—I can say this, that I'm very disappointed at what happened a couple of nights now, where people were killed in the middle of what you would call a negotiation. I'm very disappointed by that. Very, very disappointed.

Yes, please.

Gaza, Palestinian Territories/Iran

Q. Mr. President, you've called for an end to the Gaza war. Given the growing humanitarian crisis and the decision of Prime Minister Netanyahu to expand the military operation, do you have any frustration with his handling of the situation of the war?

The President. No, we're dealing with the whole situation in Gaza. We're getting food to the people of Gaza. It's been a very nasty situation, very nasty fight. October 7 was a very nasty day, the worst that I think I've ever seen. It was a horrible day, and people aren't going to forget that either. So we'll see how that all works out.

And, Steve, would you want to say a couple of words about Gaza, because you just have some information? Steve Witkoff, do you want to come up for a second? You might give them a little bit of information as to what's happening with Gaza and also Israel. We're having some very good talks with Iran. We'll find out whether that means anything, but we're having good talks.

[U.S. Special Envoy to the Middle East Steven C. Witkoff addressed Acting U.S. Attorney Pirro as follows.]

U.S. Special Envoy Witkoff. Congratulations.

Well, hi, everybody. I think we—I think that we are on the precipice of sending out a new terms sheet that hopefully will be delivered later on today. The President is going to review it. And I have some very good feelings about getting to a long-term resolution—temporary cease-—temporary ceasefire and a long-term resolution—a peaceful resolution of that conflict.

Q. Mr. President, you said yesterday——

The President. Having to do with Iran, we're having very good talks with Iran.

Russia/Iran

Q. Mr. President, you said yesterday that Putin is "playing with fire." What will be the consequences for Russia if he continues to—if Russia continues to attack?

The President. Well, I'm not going to tell you exactly, but the words speak pretty loud. We're not happy about that situation.

I think we're doing very well with Iran. We're doing very well with Gaza, but we are doing very well with Iran. And I think we're going to see some—something very sensible, because there are only two outcomes. You know what the two outcomes—there's a smart outcome, and there's a violent outcome. And I don't think anybody wants to see the second.

But I think we're—we've made a lot of progress, and we'll see. You know, they still have to agree to the final stages of a document, but I think you could be very well surprised what happens there. And it would be a great thing for them. They could have a great country into the future.

Yes.

The President's Legislative Agenda/Border Security

Q. Mr. President—Mr. President, Elon Musk, in a television interview, criticized the "One Beautiful—Big Beautiful Bill," saying he was disappointed it didn't cut enough, essentially—that it undercut the DOGE efforts. What's your reaction to that?

The President. Well, my reaction is a lot of things. Number one, we have to get a lot of votes. We can't be cutting—you know, we need—we need to get a lot of support, and we have a lot of support. We had to get it through the House. The House was—we have no Democrats.

You know, if it's up to the Democrats, they'll take the 65-percent increase. You know, if that doesn't get approved, this country is going to have a 65-percent increase in taxes and lots of other problems—big problems, almost bigger than that. But we'll have a 65-percent increase, as opposed to the largest tax cut in the history of our country.

We will be negotiating that bill, and I'm not happy about certain aspects of it, but I'm thrilled by other aspects of it. That's the way they go. It's very big. It's the "Big Beautiful Bill." But the "beautiful" is because of all of the things we have, the biggest thing being, I would say, the level of tax cutting that we're going to be doing.

We're going to make people really be able to—we'll have one of the—we'll have the lowest tax rate we've ever had in the history of our country. And tremendous amounts of benefit are going to the middle-income people of our country—low- and middle-income people of our country.

So we're going to see what happens, because the Senate, as you know, is negotiating with us, and they have to then go back to the House. And you know, it's got a way to go. But I—I have to say, Speaker Johnson and Thune have done an incredible job. John Thune has done a fantastic—Leader Thune—a fantastic job. And they're working together, with me and others, and I think we have an amazing—if we pull this off—remember, we have zero Democrat votes because they're bad people. There's something wrong with them.

You know, they're—they'll let people pour into our country. The single biggest problem is we had 21 million people pour into our country—probably higher than that. And they're people that weren't supposed to be here, and many of those people are bad: murderers, drug dealers, the mentally insane.

They were closing mental institutions all over the world—not South America, all over the world. They're coming into our country, and we're getting them out. And we're having a hard time because some judges aren't making it very easy for us, and it's tough enough.

They approved that. They allowed that to happen to our country. We don't have one Democrat vote.

And if I were a Democrat, I'd be voting for this bill, and I'd get elected to any position I want as a Democrat. They're crazy. They're voting for a 65-percent tax increase, and they're only doing it for hatred. They're not doing it for any reason. They know it's terrible—terrible politics, in my opinion.

But—so we have no Democrat votes. That means we have to get almost all Republican votes. And I think we're very close to doing that. I think it will be very successful.

Yes, please.

Trade Policy/Tariffs/China

Q. Mr. President, Wall Street analysts have coined a new term called the "TACO trade." They're saying "Trump always chickens out" on your tariff threats, and that's why markets are higher this week. What's your response to that?

The President. I kick out?

Q. Chicken out.

The President. Oh, isn't that nice? I chicken out. I've never heard that. You mean because I reduced China from 145 percent—that I set—down to 100, and then down to another number, and I said, "You have to open up your whole country"? And because I gave the European Union a 50-percent tax—tariff, and they called up and they said: "Please, let's meet right now. Please, let's meet right now." And I said, "Okay, I'll give you till June"—I actually asked them. I said, "What's the date?" Because they weren't willing to meet. And after I did what I did, they said, "We'll meet anytime you want." And we have an end date of July 9.

You call that chickening out?

Because we have $14 trillion now invested—committed to investing, when Biden didn't have practically anything. Biden—this country was dying. You know, we have the hottest country anywhere in the world.

I went to Saudi Arabia. The King told me. He said, "You've got the hottest company"—we have the hottest country in the world right now. Six months ago, this country was stone-cold dead. We had a dead country. We had a country—people didn't think it was going to survive. And you ask a nasty question like that.

It's called negotiation. You set a number, and if you go down—you know, if I set a number at a ridiculous high number, and I go down a little bit—you know, little bit—they want me to hold that number—145-percent tariff. Even I said, "Man, that really got up." You know how it got? Because of fentanyl and many other things, and you added it up. I said, "Where are we now?" "We're at 145 percent." I said: "Whoa, that's high. That's high."

They were doing no business whatsoever, and they were having a lot of problems. And we were very nice to China. I don't know if they're going to be nice to us, but we were very nice to China. And, in many ways, I think we really helped China tremendously, because, you know, they were having great difficulty because we were basically going cold turkey with China. We were doing no business because of the tariff, because it was so high, but I knew that.

But don't ever say what you said. That's a nasty question.

Go ahead.

[Several reporters spoke at once.]

To me, that's the nastiest question.

[Several reporters spoke at once.]

Wait a minute. Wait. Wait.

Go ahead, please. Go ahead.

Russia/Ukraine/The President's Foreign Policy

Q. President Zelenskyy says he's ready to sit down with you and Vladimir Putin in Geneva, and it sounds like General Kellogg is working on preparations for that. Are you planning to sit down with the two of them——

The President. Well, I will——

Q. ——in Geneva, and when?

The President. ——if it's necessary. You know, it takes—we have to—I think I'm—at this point, I wish it would have been that way a couple of months ago, but at this point, we're working on President Putin, and we'll see where we are. I think we're doing fine, but we'll see.

I don't like what's happening. That's one thing I'll say. I don't like—when I see rockets being shot into cities, that's no good. We're not going to allow it.

Q. You've always said that the war never would have started if you were President——

The President. It would have never happened, and it didn't happen——

Q. ——and yet he doesn't seem willing to do anything that you want him to do. Do you still believe that—that he wouldn't have launched the war?

The President. No, no, we would have never had a war. We would have never had a war. If I were president, if the election weren't rigged, you wouldn't have had the war. You wouldn't have had the war.

You wouldn't have had had inflation.

You wouldn't have had October 7. That would have never happened because Iran was stone-cold broke. They didn't have any money to give to Hamas or Hizballah. You wouldn't have had that Afghanistan—most embarrassing moment in the history of our country. You wouldn't have had any of it.

You wouldn't have had inflation, because energy costs—look what happened. I brought inflation down to practically zero, and all of the groceries and all of the eggs and all of the things that you've been hearing about, they're back down. They're way down from where they were. I did something in four months that nobody's seen.

And I have to say, in 4 months—and I said it before, and everyone is talking about it all over the world—we've got the hottest country anywhere in the world right now. We're the only country anybody is even talking about.

All right. Please go ahead.

Russia/Ukraine/Qatar's Gift of a Boeing 747 to the President

Q. What stopped you from imposing new sanctions on Russia?

The President. Only the fact that if I think I'm close to getting a deal, I don't want to screw it up by doing that. Let me tell you, I'm a lot tougher than the people you're talking about, but you have to know when to use that. If I think it's going to hurt a deal——

This isn't my war. This is Biden's war, Zelenskyy's war, and Putin's war. This isn't Trump's war.

I'm only here for one thing: to see if I can end it, to save 5,000 lives a week and a lot of money. The money being much less important, because I made that money.

I went to Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and U.A.E., and we brought back $5.1 trillion. So I made that money in about 2 hours, the money that we're talking about. But it's still three—think of it—$300 billion we've spent with no checks, no balances. They just send cash.

You can imagine what's happened to that money. I never saw anything like it in my life.

But I'm more interested because I picked up $5.1 trillion and, by the way, got a beautiful, big, magnificent, free airplane for the United States Air Force. Okay? Very proud of that too.

They tried to say, "Oh, it's Trump's airplane." Oh, yes. Sure. It's too big. It's—frankly, it's——

Q. How quickly are you going to turn that around, the——

The President. ——too big. Much too big.

Q. When can we expect that to be the Air Force One?

The President. Well, it's here already.

Q. Yes.

The President. It's in the country. It's being refitted for military standard.

Qatar's Gift of a Boeing 747 to the President

Q. How much will it cost to refit it?

The President. Oh, I don't know. Whatever it is, a lot—a hell of a lot less than building a new one. We're waiting too long from Boeing. Boeing has got to get its act together.

Yes.

TikTok/2024 Presidential Election/Turning Point U.S.A.

Q. Sir, on Nippon Steel, this arrangement that was just announced——

The President. Yes.

Q. ——and the golden share. Is that an arrangement you would consider for TikTok as well?

The President. Nothing to do with TikTok. Totally different kind of a deal. We'll have to get—you know, to do it properly, we'll probably have to get China's approval. China is never easy. China is never easy.

Q. Do you have an update on the TikTok——

The President. But I think—yes, I think we'll be able to save TikTok. I'd like to save TikTok. I mean, TikTok was very good to me.

I won the young people by 37 percent. No Republican has ever won, and I won by 37 percent. And Charlie Kirk will tell you TikTok helped, but Charlie Kirk helped also. [Laughter]

[Several reporters spoke at once.]

Oh. Oh, he just happens to be here. Look at that. He loves that we mentioned that name. Right, Charlie? He's done great. And I appreciate all the help.

But with young people, we won by 37 percent, Charlie. And you helped, but TikTok was amazing. And he was the first one. He said, "Get on TikTok." So I have a little bit of a warm spot. I know I shouldn't. They'll say, "Quid pro quo. Quid—put him in jail for the rest of his life. Quid pro quo."

No. TikTok was very good to me. I won young people. I don't know if it was because of TikTok, but it was—it was—something happened. No Republican has ever won the—they call them "young people." "Young people," you can define it a lot of different ways. But I won every age group in young people. And it never happened. And won by 37 percent. That's a lot.

Yes.

[Several reporters spoke at once.]

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel/Iran

Q. Mr. President, on—back on Iran. Did you warn Prime Minister Netanyahu against taking some sort of actions that could disrupt the talks there in the phone call last week?

The President. Well, I'd like to be honest: Yes, I did.

Next question, please.

[Several reporters spoke at once.]

I did. Yes. I did.

Q. If the Senate Republicans want to push forward—[inaudible]——

The President. It's not a warning. I said, "I don't think it's appropriate."

Q. What exactly did you tell him? Did you caution him?

The President. I just said, "I don't think it's appropriate." We're talk—we're having very good discussions with him. And I said, "I don't think it's appropriate right now." Because if we can settle it with a very strong document—very strong—with inspections and no trust—I don't trust anybody. I don't trust anybody, so no trust.

I want it very strong where we can go in with inspectors. We can take whatever we want, we can blow up whatever we want, but nobody getting killed. We can blow up a lab, but nobody is going to be in the lab, as opposed to everybody being in the lab and blowing it up. Right? Two ways of doing it.

Yes, I told him this would be inappropriate to do right now, because we're very close to a solution. Now, that could change at any moment. Could change with a phone call.

But right now I think they want to make a deal, and if we can make a deal, it'd save a lot of lives.

[Several reporters spoke at once.]

Iran

Q. On Iran. When do you think a deal could happen, on Iran? When do you think a——

The President. On which?

Q. A deal with Iran could happen? When do you think——

The President. Oh, I don't know. I think over the next couple of weeks, if it happens. Yes.

Harvard University/Technical and Vocational Training/European Union

Q. And on the—when could the—the administration resume the interviews for foreign students' visa? When do you think your administration could resume these interviews for the for-——

The President. On what?

Q. For the foreign student visa. Yesterday there was——

The President. For the French visas?

Q. For the foreign.

Q. Foreign. All foreign students.

Q. French too, but the—all the foreign students.

Participant. Foreign students.

The President. Oh, for the foreign visas? What are you referring—foreign visas for what?

Q. For the students.

The President. Are you talking about for colleges?

Q. For the students. College students.

The President. Okay. So you're off of Israel. Now you're talking about colleges, right?

Q. Yes, now visas.

The President. Okay. Well, we're going to see.

Look, Harvard has been a disaster. They've taken five—plus, by the way—$5 billion plus. Five billion. Nobody knew that they were making this kind—if we didn't do this, nobody would have found—we would have never found this out, Pam.

They're taking $5 billion, and I'd rather see that money go to trade schools. And by the way, they're totally anti-Semitic at Harvard, as you know, and some other colleges too, in all fairness to them. And it's been exposed—very exposed. And I think they're dealing very badly. Every time they fight, they lose another $250 million. Yesterday, we found another $100 million.

And they have—you know, they have a fund, 52—an endowment, $52 billion. All right? They get a lot of that from the United States. And I think it's ridiculous.

I think this—everyone is coming up to me saying, "We love the idea of trade schools." With that kind of money—and money from others, but money from them—you can have the best trade schools anywhere in the world. You give them to Iowa, Indiana—lots of good States, well-run States. And you give them the money, they can only be used for trade schools, and they'll teach people how to build motors and cars and AI.

You know, the AI—we're building plants. We're building hundreds of billions of dollars' worth of AI plants. Already started many of them. We've never had a boom like we're having now. You're going to see it. There's never been anything like it.

So we're up to about $14 trillion in investments. There's never been anything even close. You look at Biden, this guy—they had people leaving, as opposed to investing. And they're doing it because of November 5—really, November 5, and they're doing it because of the tariffs. The tariffs have been tremendous.

Well, I can promise you—and I have great respect for the people at the European Union—they wouldn't be over here today negotiating if I didn't put a 50-percent tariff on. The sad thing is now, when I make a deal with them, it's something much more reasonable, they'll say, "Oh, he was chicken. He was chicken." That's so unbelievable.

Q. On Harvard, Mr. President.

The President. I usually have the opposite problem. They say, "You're too tough."

Harvard University/U.S. Visas for Foreign Students

Q. Mr. President, on Harvard. There were some Jewish students protesting on campus yesterday. They said they don't want you making these huge cuts, cutting off student visas to Harvard in their name, because they feel like it makes them——

The President. Well, Harvard has to show us——

Q. ——more of a target.

The President. Okay. Harvard has to show us their lists. They have foreign students. About 31 percent of their students are foreign based. Almost 31 percent. We want to know where those students come. Are they troublemakers? What countries do they come?

And we're not going to—if somebody is coming from a certain country and they're 100 percent fine—which I hope most of them are, but many of them won't be. You're going to see some very radical people. They're taking people from areas of the world that are very radicalized, and we don't want them making trouble in our country.

So I saw yesterday that in the middle of the U.K., there was a nice young man, and he wants to go back to school at Harvard. And he looked good to me, but I want to check his past. But we want to be able to see.

Why—you know, these countries aren't helping us. They're not investing in Harvard and all of our—we are. So why would 31 percent—why would a number so big—I think a—number one, I think they should have a cap of maybe around 15 percent, not 31 percent. We have people want to go to Harvard and other schools, they can't get in because we have foreign students there.

But I want to make sure that the foreign students are people that can love our country. We don't want to see shopping centers exploding. We don't want to see the kind of riots that you had. And I'll tell you what, many of those students didn't go anywhere. Many of those students were troublemakers caused by the radical-left lunatics in this country.

All right. One more question.

[Several reporters spoke at once.]

Yes. Go ahead, please.

Kidnapping Attempt on Governor Gretchen E. Whitmer of Michigan

Q. Will you pardon the people who are accused of conspiring to kidnap Michigan governor Gretchen Whitmer?

The President. I'm going to look at it. I will take a look at it. It's been brought to my attention. I did watch the trial. It looked to me like somewhat of a railroad job. I'll be honest with you, it looked to me like some people said some stupid things. You know, they were drinking, and I think they said stupid things.

But I'll take a look at that. And a lot of people are asking me that question—from both sides, actually. A lot of people think——

Q. Have you spoken to Governor Whitmer about it?

The President. ——they got railroaded. A lot of people think they got railroaded, and probably some people don't.

All right. One more. Go ahead.

Q. Mr. Trump, how——

The President. Yes. Go ahead.

Harvard University

Q. ——how will the confrontation with Harvard end? Do you foresee waiting them out for years?

The President. I don't know. I don't know.

Q. A settlement?

The President. Harvard has got to behave themselves. Harvard is treating our country with great disrespect, and all they're doing is getting in deeper and deeper and deeper. They've got to behave themselves.

You know, I'm looking for—I'm looking out for the country and—and for Harvard. I want Harvard to do well. I want Harvard to be great again, probably, because how could it be great? How could it be great when you have—Harvard announced 2 weeks ago that they are going to teach remedial mathematics—remedial, meaning they're going to teach low-grade mathematics, like 2 plus 2 is 4. How did these people get into Harvard if they can't—if they can't do basic mathematics? How did they do it?

I mean, people with 1,600 on their boards don't get in, and they're getting—they're letting people in, and they're bragging about how they're teaching them basic mathematics. Where did these people come from? So we have to look at the list.

And Harvard has to understand: The last thing I want to do is hurt them. They're hurting themselves. They're fighting.

You know, Columbia has been really—and they were very, very bad, what they've done there. Very anti-Semitic and—and lots of other things. But they're working with us on finding a solution. And you know, they're taken off that hot seat.

But Harvard wants to fight. They want to show how smart they are, and they're getting their ass kicked.

Thank you very much, everybody.