Thank you for joining us here at Agri-Pulse.com. We have the honor today to be joined by President Donald Trump. Mr. President we appreciate you taking the time to join us. Thank you very much. Now, there are a number of farmers and ranchers that were hoping for a quick resolution to the trade dispute with China. Unfortunately, we haven't seen that. In your estimation, why has this dispute lingered on for as long as it has? Because to make a great deal, I have to take more time. China has been ripping us off for many, many years. They've been taking out billions and billions of dollars out of our country. Five hundred billion dollars on average a year for many years. And, I have a great relationship with President Xi, who is the absolute head of China, the president of China. But I told him, I said, you can't go on like this, you can't do it. And, frankly, our farmers have not been treated right. You know, I got cattle back into China. And now, of course, everything's in dispute, and it's all going to come out well. We're winning. We're winning. But if you remember, the same questions were asked about Canada. They were asked about Mexico, and what turned out to be a great deal, the USMCA, and -- a far better deal than NAFTA. NAFTA, to me, NAFDA was a horrible deal. That's why I didn't want to use the name. But we have a great deal, and if you went back a month ago or two months ago, people were asking that same question: do you think you'll be able to make that deal? We made a great deal with Canada, great deal with Mexico, and great for our farmers. We made a great deal with South Korea. South Korea was a terrible deal for our country, and now we've totally renegotiated that deal, very much to the benefit of our farmers, and others by the way, but our farmers, in particular, as per your question. You mention -- China, and China will happen, but you've got to have a little time. They've been living very well off the United States. And you know who understands that better than anybody else? The farmer. They've told me. Take your time. We have total confidence. We trust you. And they said that with Canada and Mexico, and now they're saying it with China. You mentioned your relationship with President Xi of China. At the upcoming meeting at the G-20 summit, do you plan to discuss the -- thetrade relationship between the two nations? Yes, I will be. I'll be meeting with him very specifically, and I'll be meeting with other countries. I mean, European Union should be brought up also. I mean, they have barriers where they don't let our product in for many, many years. And frankly if I didn't win this election, China would be -- forget it. What was one of the first things I did with China? Cattle I got the cattle. Now, I don't know if they're taking good care of us now because we're in a dispute, but that doesn't matter. We're going to win. We're going to win with China, and the European Union has to take better care of our farmers also. Your administration authorized $12 billion in trade assistance payments to farmers and ranchers impacted by the tariffs, but it authorized it in two tranches. And we've seen the first amount -- amount of checks go out -- Right. But, there's been some questions raised about whether or not that second tranche of payments will happen, or if that happens, what the payment rate will be. What can you tell us about the administration's plans on that subject? Well, that was my idea to do, and that was something I didn't have to do, but I wanted to do it for the farmer, because during the negotiation, maybe they'd get hurt. And, actually, they're doing better during the negotiation than they used to do, before I was here. If you look at the kind of business you do -- in fact I'm going to be reported -- reporting on it today in front of the Future Farmers, which is an incredible crowd outside by the way -- but I'll be reporting that. The farmers are going to do really great. We're opening up markets. I understand the industry. I love the farmers. I think, maybe, if I wasn't doing this, I might like farming better than anything -- they love it. They just love it. They want to wake up in the morning, and this is what they want to do. They're incredible people. But, we did. We authorized a lot of help. And they're really thrilled that -- I didn't have to do that. And Sonny Perdue, our great Secretary -- Secretary of Agriculture, is the one that's in charge, and he feels very strongly that we're going to help until this is all ironed out. But we're actually doing better right now than we did before I got elected, and on top of that we're making great deals with Mexico and Canada and South Korea and waiting to see the deal we have with China. But it's going to take a while. So when you say that Secretary Perdue wants to help -- this help until it's all ironed out, that we can take that to believe that there will be a second round of payments, you think? Well, I think he's not only going to help there, I also think he's going to help with the hurricane that we just had, where Georgia and the panhandle area of Florida, and so many other areas have been so devastated. I -- so I went to meet with the farmers about two weeks ago, and I saw things that were just -- just right after the hurricane hit, and I saw things that were absolutely so sad. Farmers tell me their best crop, as an example, cotton, one of them said it was the best crop -- after 25 years, the best he's ever grown, and in four hours, it was totally gone. And we're going to help those people. We're going help a lot of those people, and nobody else would do that but me. And the other thing I did is ethanol, you know I just approved -- I don't know if you saw it -- Yup, the E15, yeah. But if you didn't see, you wouldn't be doing your job very well, right? [Laughter] Considering this is what you do. But E15 -- and, so we have 12 months, E15, and nobody else would have done that. But I'm doing that, because I really think it's the right thing to do and it's great for the farmers. You've tweeted about the farm bill a number of times, and specifically the work requirement language. But you've stopped short of issuing a veto threat. So, I'll ask you now, are you prepared to veto that legislation if you're not satisfied with the work requirement language? So, I can get you a farm bill immediately, tonight. I can get you a farm bill, essentially. But I can get you a farm bill immediately I could have had it two months ago, three months ago. I want to get work requirements, and the farmers want that too. I can get you a very nice farm bill, and we may have to do that for another year, if you want to know the truth. We may have to do that for another period of time because we need to get Republicans in office. We don't have enough votes. In the Senate, we need 10 votes. Essentially, we need 10 votes, and the Democrats will not give us the votes that we need. The Democrats, I guess, don't care too much about the farmers. We need more Republicans, and we have -- I think we can do, we have a chance to do very well. But we have a farm bill that I can do. I am holding out -- again time. I'm holding out. I'd love to get the work requirements if we could. Farmers want it. I want it. It's the right thing to do. You're going to have a farm bill. But to get it right, I need more time. Now in that case, even if I have more time, because we don't have enough votes. We have 51 votes. We need 60. And if we don't get more people in, I don't know -- I can't tell you that we're going to do work requirements, which I'd like to be able to do. They've been trying to get them for years and years and years. I'd like to do them, because that's what we've done. And finally, Mr. President, here at the National FFA convention, I'm a former member and state officer myself. So, I'm interested to hear the answer the next question: What is your -- your message here, today, to the FFA members in attendance, as well as scattered out throughout -- throughout the country? I think my message is that you're picking a great profession, a profession that people love, a profession that I love. I love John Deere tractors. I've I always -- in fact, I'm a big purchaser of John Deere and other country -- companies. Jacobson, so many others. Toro. I love the equipment. I've grown up with equipment, and, you know, I just -- I love what they do on farms. What they do on farms is so vital. But what I'm doing, and what makes me very happy, is I'm opening them up. We have countries that -- look at Canada Canada was charging us 275 percent tariff on farm products and dairy products that we're sending into Canada. I mean, not right. So what we've done is we've made a fair, I think, maybe, better than a level playing field. We have a great deal for our farmers. It's a great, great potential business. It's a business that they love. But it's going to be a lot better in the future, because of the deals we're making. Mr. President appreciate the time. Thank you very much. Great honor. Thank you.