Remarks and an Exchange With Reporters Prior to Departure for Farmingdale, New York

Q. Mr. President, Mr. President——

The President. Thank you very much, everybody.

So I'm going to go for a little while to represent the United States at the Ryder Cup, which is very exciting. And we'll be watching that.

This is Kai, by the way——

The President's granddaughter Kai M. Trump. Hi, everyone.

Q. Hi, Kai.

The President. ——in case you didn't know.

How are you?

Q. I'm fine.

The President. And we'll be watching a little golf.

I think we have, maybe, a deal on Gaza—very close to a deal on Gaza.

How are you? Hello, Peter [Peter Doocy, Fox News].

It's looking like we have a deal on Gaza, and we'll let you know.

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

Q. Mr. President, Mr. President——

The President. I think it's a deal that will get the hostages back. It's going to be a deal that will end the war. It's going to be a deal which—it's going to be peace. I think we have a deal.

That will be number eight, Peter. Not bad.

[Several reporters spoke at once.]

Former Federal Bureau of Investigation Director James B. Comey

Q. Mr. President, on James Comey. Now that James Comey has been indicted, who is the next person on your list in this retribution campaign?

The President. It's not a list, but I think there'll be others. I mean, they're corrupt. These were corrupt radical-left Democrats. Because Comey, essentially, was a—he was worse than a Democrat. I would say the Democrats are better than Comey.

[Several reporters spoke at once.]

But no, there'll be others. Look, it was—that's my opinion.

They weaponized the Justice Department like nobody in history. What they've done is terrible. And so, I would—I hope there are—frankly, I hope there are others because you can't let this happen to a country.

[Several reporters spoke at once.]

Indictment of Former Federal Bureau of Investigation Director James B. Comey

Q. Will you appoint—will you appoint a permanent U.S. attorney to try this case? Lindsey Halligan has never tried a case before.

The President. Well, we'll see, but it's a pretty easy case because, look, he lied. You saw my Truth today. He lied. It was, "Yes. No." He didn't say, "Well, in my opinion." He didn't do a lot of things that maybe he should have, but I don't think he could, because he lied. That was a very important question that he was asked, and he wanted to be specific, but he didn't—the only thing that happened to him: He didn't think he'd get caught.

[Several reporters spoke at once.]

The President. But that the answer that he gave—that was a very important answer. And it was very—for him, it was a very good answer if he didn't get caught. But he got caught lying to Congress.

[Several reporters spoke at once.]

Q. How is this not—[inaudible]?

Past Investigations of Russian Election Interference

Q. President Trump, are you worried now that the next time there's a Democratic President, they will indict your FBI Director or people in your administration?

The President. Well, that's what they tried to do, right? They did it with me. For 4 years, they went after me. They went after me for 4 years, and that doesn't include the 4 great years that we had in the White House. So, when I ran it from, you know, 2016 when we won—it began before I got to office. You know that.

Q. And——

The President. Wait a minute.

Before I came to office, I started hearing rumors about Russia. I said, "What the hell do I have to do with Russia?" Nothing. And then, it got worse and worse. Then some of the fake news—not you—but some of the fake news picked it up, and they loved it. And we went through a long time with that. And despite that, we had a great first term.

[Several reporters spoke at once.]

Former Federal Bureau of Investigation Director James B. Comey

Q. Because that's how it went—because that's how it went, where they made you go and take a mug shot, is this more about justice or is it about revenge?

The President. It's about justice, really. It's not revenge. It's about justice.

It's also about the fact that you can't let this go on. They are sick, radical-left people, and they can't get away with it. And Comey—Comey was one of the people. He wasn't the biggest, but he's a dirty cop. He's always been a dirty cop. Everybody knew it.

And it's—you know, as far as the case is concerned, he gave an answer. It was a strong answer. He then verified it a couple of times because that was a very important answer. If he would have equivocated—if he would have been, like, a little bit less sure, that would have been very bad for him. So he gave an answer. The only problem is—for him—he didn't think he'd be caught. And he got caught, Peter.

[Several reporters spoke at once.]

Indictment of Former Federal Bureau of Investigation Director James B. Comey

Q. Mr. President, you said on the campaign trail that "sometimes revenge could be justified." Is that what this is? Is this political retribution?

The President. No, this is about justice. He lied. He lied a lot. But this was a very important thing. This was—he could have said, "Well, maybe" or "I don't remember." He didn't say that. He gave a very specific answer, and then he verified it numerous times, and he got caught.

The problem that Comey has is, he got caught lying. And he was very strong—I—it's not like, "Well, maybe" or "I don't remember" or—he gave a very specific answer because it was a very powerful question, a very important question. And when he gave the answer, the only problem is he got caught. So——

[Several reporters spoke at once.]

Potential Lapse of Federl Government Appropriations/National Economy/Democratic Party

Q. Are you worried about American workers suffering if the Government shuts down? And do you have plans to permanently lay off Federal workers——

The President. Well, we're going to see, but the radical-left Democrats want to shut it down. I mean, it's up to them.

We have a great economy going. You saw the numbers yesterday. They're fantastic. The economy is doing well. Prices are down. We have virtually no inflation. Everything is going good. We're respected by every nation in the world.

And you know what happened? The Democrats want to shut it down. And they want to shut it down because they want to give billions—ultimately, trillions of dollars to illegal migrants—people that came into our country illegally. Some of those people are criminals, but they came into our country illegally and they want to give them the essential, over years, trillions of dollars. And our people aren't going to stand for it.

They also want to have open borders. They want to have men in women's sports. They want to have transgender for everybody. These people are crazy—the Democrats.

So, if it has to shut down, it will have to shut down. But they're the ones that are shutting down government.

Thank you.