Transcript - Interview: Bret Baier and Martha MacCallum Host a Town Hall with Donald Trump - May 3, 2020 | Factba.se

Note

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[Transcript provided by Fox News Channel for "America Together: Returning to Work Virtual Town Hall"]

Martha MacCallum

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Welcome back to our Fox News virtual town hall, "America Together: Returning to Work." Here tonight live from the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C., we are joined now by President Donald Trump. Good to see you, sir.

Donald Trump

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Well, thank you both very much. We never had a more beautiful set than this, did we?

Martha MacCallum

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Bret Baier

00:00:21.280 - 00:00:22.840 (2 sec)

That's right. Thanks for doing this.

Donald Trump

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Bret Baier

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This is a little different than our last town hall in Scranton, Pennsylvania.

Martha MacCallum

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Donald Trump

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It's true. But that was a beauty.

Bret Baier

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We'll take questions from around the country --

Donald Trump

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Bret Baier

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-- and a lot of great questions. I want to start with this, though, Mr. President. There is a real split in the country. There are folks out there becoming increasingly angry about the closures. There are many Americans also who are angry about the reopenings. They're fearful, as many of these states are on the rise in their numbers.

Bret Baier

00:00:50.320 - 00:00:54.320 (4 sec)

There's 66,000 deaths, more than that now.

Donald Trump

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Bret Baier

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As president, what do you say to the people who are scared to go back to work on one side, and what do you say to the people who are really angry about these lingering closures?

Donald Trump

00:01:04.440 - 00:01:23.120 (19 sec)

Well, I think you can satisfy both. If you're scared, you're going to stay back a little bit and you're going to watch it. And I think anyone over 60 -- because we have a pretty -- we have a pretty good road map right now. Anybody over 60, you could say 65, but let's make it 60, we have to protect those people and we have to watch it and maybe they stay back longer.

Donald Trump

00:01:23.120 - 00:01:43.120 (20 sec)

But no, I think you can really have it both ways. I think a lot of people want to go back. They just want to go back. You see it every day. You see demonstrations all over the country and those are meaningful demonstrations. It's big stuff. But you also have some people that are very scared. Probably everybody's scared when you get right down to it. It's a terrible thing, a terrible thing that happened to our country.

Donald Trump

00:01:43.120 - 00:02:10.120 (27 sec)

It came from China. It should have been stopped. It could have been stopped on the spot. They chose not to do it or something happened. Either there was incompetence or they didn't do it for some reason. And we're going to have to find out what that reason was. But people are absolutely scared. But there are other people that are scared about being locked in a room and losing their job and not having any income and, you know, for the first time -- these are workers, these are people that want to get back and work and make a living, and they're afraid their jobs are not going to be there.

Donald Trump

00:02:10.120 - 00:02:15.520 (5 sec)

And at a certain point, if you keep it going too long that's going to happen. So I understand that very well.

Martha MacCallum

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On that note, let's hear from our first video questioner.

Donald Trump

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Martha MacCallum

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This is Shaina Cruz from Cullman, Alabama.

Question

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[Begin Video Clip] Mr. President, my name is Shaina Cruz and I'm a single mother from Alabama. I live paycheck to paycheck before the virus. But then I lost my job in March. I haven't received a stimulus payment or anything from unemployment. I'm behind on every bill, about to evicted and have had to rely on donations in order to feed my children.

Question

00:02:40 - 00:02:50.640 (11 sec)

I feel frustrated and I feel scared, not knowing where to turn or what to do. What advice do you have for me and others in my situation? Is this more help coming? [End Video Clip]

Donald Trump

00:02:50.640 - 00:03:09.440 (19 sec)

Number one, there's more help coming. We have really no choice because incredible people like this are -- it's not -- it's not your fault. I mean, just remember, that is not your fault. And there is more help coming. There has to be. And we want to get it to a point when we open, we're not going to lose businesses and therefore, more importantly, frankly, we're not going to lose the jobs that run the businesses.

Donald Trump

00:03:09.440 - 00:03:25 (16 sec)

So, a case like that is an exact, you know -- it's really -- that's the reason why we have to do more. And we're going to do more and everybody wants to do more. It's really -- it's actually on that aspect of it, it's very bipartisan. So, the answer is yes, we're going to do more and you're going to have your job.

Donald Trump

00:03:25 - 00:03:37.960 (13 sec)

You're going to get another job or you're going to get a better job. You'll get a job where you make more money, frankly, and I think that's going to happen. I think we're going to have an incredible following year. We're going to go into a transition in the third quarter and we're going to see things happening that look good.

Donald Trump

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I really believe that. I have a good feel for this stuff. I've done it for a long time. We built the greatest economy in the world, the greatest economy, frankly, Bret, and you can correct me if you'd like, but you can't because it's fact -- the greatest economy that the world has ever seen. And then one day they said, sir, we're going to have to close it. I said, what are you talking about, closing it? Nobody ever heard that.

Donald Trump

00:03:59.200 - 00:04:10.200 (11 sec)

We're going to have to close it. And we did the right thing. We saved -- I think we saved millions of lives. But now, we have to get it back open. We have to get it back open safely but as quickly as possible.

Martha MacCallum

00:04:10.200 - 00:04:19.640 (9 sec)

You know, let me ask you about that, because you've talked about that moment quite a bit. With just this roaring economy, and advisors saying to you, we've got to shut it down at this point.

Donald Trump

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Martha MacCallum

00:04:20.240 - 00:04:31.920 (12 sec)

So, when you look back on that moment, and you see some other examples, Japan, for example, did not do as broad a shutdown. They've only lost about 500 people out of 130 million. [Crosstalk]

Donald Trump

00:04:31.920 - 00:04:38.400 (6 sec)

Excuse me -- you're right, but now, they're doing a massive shutdown because they've been hit very hard. And so, you're right about --

Martha MacCallum

00:04:38.400 - 00:04:43.040 (5 sec)

Yes, that's my question. Do you look back at that moment in your -- in the Oval Office and say maybe we went too far?

Donald Trump

00:04:43.040 - 00:05:00.320 (17 sec)

No, we did the right thing. I do look back on it, because my attitude was we're not going to shut it down. Look, we're going to lose anywhere from 75,000, 80,000 to 100,000 people. That's a horrible thing. We shouldn't lose one person out of this. This should have been stopped in China. It should have been stopped.

Donald Trump

00:05:00.320 - 00:05:16.680 (16 sec)

But if we didn't do it, the minimum we would have lost is 1.2 million, 1.4 million, 1.5 million, that's the minimum. We could have lost probably higher than, it's possible, higher than 2.2. You know the way you have to look at that, I've never seen death like this. I've never personally experienced anything like that.

Donald Trump

00:05:16.680 - 00:05:30.200 (14 sec)

And they talk about the flu and all of that. Well, I've known people that had the flu all my life. I see -- I was lucky, I never had the flu. Then they came here, they want to give a flu shot. And I said, I don't want a flu shot, but they have to give it. But you know what? I've known people that had the flu all my life.

Donald Trump

00:05:30.200 - 00:05:48.960 (19 sec)

I never -- nobody ever died. I never had a friend he had a flu and he died. I've lost three friends -- one of very good friend, a very successful man, New York guy, employed a lot of people. They were all crying over his death, Stanley Chera. He went to the hospital. He calls me up because -- I tested positive.

Donald Trump

00:05:48.960 - 00:06:10.040 (21 sec)

I said, well, what are you going to do? He said, I'm going to the hospital. I'll call you tomorrow. He didn't call. I called the hospital. He's in a coma. Now, I know a lot of people that had the flu. They were never in a coma. This is a very advanced -- this is a very horrible thing we're fighting. But, with all of that said, we still -- we have learned a lot about it. It affects older people.

Donald Trump

00:06:10.040 - 00:06:27 (17 sec)

It -- it infects -- if you have any problem, heart, diabetes, even a little weak heart, a little diabetes, then, look, this thing is vicious, and it -- it can take you out. And it can take you out very strongly. But children do very well. Young children do better than, you know, teens.

Bret Baier

00:06:27 - 00:06:30.280 (3 sec)

So, you think you have learned from this, how you have dealt with it now?

Donald Trump

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Bret Baier

00:06:30.480 - 00:06:32.160 (2 sec)

If it comes up in the fall, you will do something different?

Donald Trump

00:06:32.160 - 00:06:51.600 (19 sec)

Yes. We will put out the embers. We will put out whatever it may be. We may have to put out a fire. I'll tell you one thing. We did the right thing. And I really believe we could have saved a million-and-a-half lives. And, by the way, just -- just to know what that means, we have seen death, like Elmhurst Hospital in Queens, right near where I grew up, right near where I grew up. Know the building very well.

Donald Trump

00:06:51.600 - 00:07:14.480 (23 sec)

Know the hospital. They had body bags lined up in hallways. They had body bags sitting out on sidewalks. I -- we have never seen that in this country. You saw the mass grave. It's called Hart Island. They built a mass gave. I have never seen anything like that. When you look at that, and look at -- and that's with, let's say it's 100,000 or 90,000 or 95,000. Now multiply it out.

Donald Trump

00:07:14.480 - 00:07:33.560 (19 sec)

Don't go 2.2 or 2.5 million. Say it's half of that. So, take the numbers that we looked at that nobody in this country has ever witnessed, and now multiply it times 15 or 20. So, instead of having 10 or 12 body bags laying in a hallway, you would have 15 times more than that?

Bret Baier

00:07:33.560 - 00:07:46.360 (13 sec)

That's the scary part for business owners who are getting ready to open up. Our next question comes from here in D.C. And it's a topic we received a lot of question -- questions about. And that is testing and what people have to do. Take a listen.

Donald Trump

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Question

00:07:46.520 - 00:08:13.080 (27 sec)

[Begin Video Clip] Hi. May name is Sara Polon. I'm the owner of Soupergirl, based in Washington, D.C. And I would like to know what kind of federal protocols are going to be in place for our testing to ensure that my potential customers and staff feel safe when people are leaving their homes. For example, if someone comes from another state that doesn't have the same testing standards as another, and they both come to my establishment, how are we going to feel safe?

Question

00:08:13.080 - 00:08:14.560 (1 sec)

[End Video Clip]

Donald Trump

00:08:14.560 - 00:08:38.520 (24 sec)

Thank you very much. Look, it depends on where you're coming from. New York is a very much different place than Montana or many other states, really, where it's not, you know, really too, too bad. It's always bad. They lose anybody, it's bad. And every state has lost significant numbers of people. I mean, you know, whether you're talking about 20 people or 25 people, that's a significant number of people.

Donald Trump

00:08:38.520 - 00:08:52.600 (14 sec)

But it depends on where you come from. Certain states are going to have to take a little more time in getting open. And they're doing that. Some states, I think, frankly, aren't going fast enough. I mean, you have some states that -- Virginia, they want to close down until the middle of -- middle of June.

Donald Trump

00:08:52.600 - 00:09:17.560 (25 sec)

And a lot of things that they're doing, I really believe you can go to parks. You can go to beaches. You keep it -- you know, you keep the spread, you keep -- you stay away a certain amount. And I really think the public has been incredible with what they -- that's one of the reasons we're successful. That's one of the -- if you call losing 80,000 or 90,000 people successful, but it's one of the reasons that we're not at that high end of the plane, as opposed to the low end of the plane.

Bret Baier

00:09:17.560 - 00:09:19.880 (2 sec)

That number has changed, Mr. President. You said it was 60,000. You said, 60,000, 70,000.

Donald Trump

00:09:19.880 - 00:09:20.960 (1 sec)

It's going up. No, it's going up.

Bret Baier

00:09:20.960 - 00:09:21.760 (1 sec)

Now you're at 80,000. [Crosstalk]

Donald Trump

00:09:21.760 - 00:09:34.080 (12 sec)

I used to say 65,000. And now I'm saying 80,000 or 90,000. And it goes up. And it goes up rapidly. But it's still going to be, no matter how you look at it, at the very lower end of the plane, if we did the shutdown.

Bret Baier

00:09:34.080 - 00:09:43.200 (9 sec)

You said that the governors would be kind of responsible for the testing. And we just talked to Governor Hogan. He says there is federal assistance coming to get specific parts.

Donald Trump

00:09:43.200 - 00:09:47.160 (4 sec)

Well, not only coming. We have given them a lot of assistance, which is good.

Bret Baier

00:09:47.160 - 00:09:54.040 (7 sec)

So, your son-in-law, adviser, Jared Kushner, declared that it's a great success story, the federal response...

Donald Trump

00:09:54.040 - 00:09:54.600 (1 sec)

Bret Baier

00:09:54.600 - 00:10:11.160 (17 sec)

.. and that, when you look at the other side, that -- that you're on the other side medically. Are -- do you think that, as deaths are going up and cases are going up, that we really are on the other side medically, and that this is a great success story from the federal government? How do you respond... [Crosstalk]

Donald Trump

00:10:11.160 - 00:10:26.760 (16 sec)

Well, I can -- well, it's too soon to say that, really, I guess, because, you know, we're still in the middle of something. But, certainly, we would have lost a lot more people, Bret, if we would have done, as an example, you call it herd, if we would have done herd, in other words, everything's wonderful, let's just keep going along.

Bret Baier

00:10:26.760 - 00:10:27.720 (1 sec)

Donald Trump

00:10:27.720 - 00:10:44.280 (17 sec)

We would have lost 2.5 million people, I think or a million-and-a-half or two million people. No, I think we have done an incredible -- I think the American people have done a good job. This is a tragic situation. Everybody knows somebody that's been affected. That's a very rare thing. But everybody knows.

Donald Trump

00:10:44.280 - 00:10:59.120 (15 sec)

Some states have done a better job than others. I mean, that's the way it is. But, in some states, you can do a lot less than in other states. In New York, I think you're going to have to go around with masks for a while. You're going to have to do -- you're going to have to do separation, your distancing.

Donald Trump

00:10:59.120 - 00:11:17.360 (18 sec)

You're going to have to do that for a while. But some states are doing so well. And others are -- I have to tell you, I got to know the governors. And, with a few you exceptions, to be honest, because they're just political machines, and anything you say, it's always going to be like, what's good politically, because we shouldn't be in that position.

Donald Trump

00:11:17.360 - 00:11:36.720 (19 sec)

I will say that they really have done, a lot of them, a great job. And we have worked with them. We had no -- there were no ventilators. We're building -- we're the king of -- I say it. We're the king of ventilators. You look at the testing. We tested now 6.5 million people. The next highest is -- I think it's 2.5 million people, either Germany or South Korea.

Donald Trump

00:11:36.720 - 00:11:54.080 (17 sec)

And South Korea thinks we have done an incredible job. They're saying, the job -- he's a friend of mine, President Moon. He said, the job you have done on testing and the job we have done on ventilators -- we have one of the -- it's one of the greatest buildups we have ever had in the country, since certainly the Second World War.

Martha MacCallum

00:11:54.080 - 00:12:04.680 (11 sec)

Well, speaking of that, Gretchen Whitmer, the governor in Michigan, she's saying, this morning on TV: We don't have the reagents we need. We don't have swabs we need. She's still saying that she can't get the testing that she wants.

Donald Trump

00:12:04.680 - 00:12:28.160 (23 sec)

Look -- look, we had a phone call five days ago with the governors. I was on the call with Vice President Mike Pence, who has done a great job. He's the head of the committee, the task force. Every governor there, we asked it: What do you need? Not one governor needed anything. Now, all of a sudden, you see her on the Sunday -- I watched it -- well, we should get this and we should get that.

Donald Trump

00:12:28.160 - 00:12:47.600 (19 sec)

She ought to get back to running her state properly, because she should have brought it up on the phone call. I was on that call for an hour-and-a-half. The call last -- I stayed right until the end. And, at the end, I said: "Does anybody need anything?" We had one governor, Inslee, who is always wanting something.

Donald Trump

00:12:47.600 - 00:13:05.040 (17 sec)

And, frankly, he didn't do a very good job on nursing homes, as far as I'm concerned, the state of Washington. And he said: "We need swabs." I said: "Why don't you get them yourself? But, if you can't, we will get them." And I could say the same thing about her. But here's the thing. Why didn't they -- why didn't they bring this up? I had it, Bret.

Donald Trump

00:13:05.040 - 00:13:24.200 (19 sec)

You know about the call. It was like -- and every week or two weeks, we will have a call. All 50 governors, I believe, were on that call. The last statement: "OK, who needs something?" None of them. Many of them spoke. Nobody needed, other than Washington wanted swabs, which are easy to get, very easy to get.

Martha MacCallum

00:13:24.200 - 00:13:36.880 (13 sec)

So, let me ask you. The man who you're about to hear from was told he had a 20 percent chance to live. He had COVID-19. He was in really bad shape, young. I think he's 40 -- 39 years old, actually, 39 years old.

Donald Trump

00:13:36.880 - 00:13:37.240 (0 sec)

Martha MacCallum

00:13:37.240 - 00:13:41.760 (5 sec)

But he did recover. And here's Danny Lemos from Grand Island, Nebraska.

Donald Trump

00:13:41.760 - 00:13:42.120 (0 sec)

Question

00:13:42.120 - 00:14:01.120 (19 sec)

[Begin Video Clip] President Trump, this is Danny again here, Grand Island, Nebraska. With the FDA approving remdesivir as a drug of choice to help fight this, which is the drug I was on, what are we going to do and put in place to make sure that there's enough of this drug available for everybody? [End Video Clip]

Donald Trump

00:14:01.120 - 00:14:18 (17 sec)

So, we're doing that. It's a great question, because it's a very hard drug to make, and it takes a period of time. And it's made by Gilead. And I know that Danny gave that drug a lot of credit for saving his life. I think that's correct, Danny. But, Danny, I believe, gave a lot of credit to that drug for saving his life.

Donald Trump

00:14:18 - 00:14:27.920 (10 sec)

We are pushing it really hard. We're also pushing something else, the vaccines. We are very confident that we're going to have a vaccine at the end of the year, by the end of the year, have a vaccine.

Bret Baier

00:14:27.920 - 00:14:29.160 (1 sec)

By the end of this year?

Donald Trump

00:14:29.160 - 00:14:47.560 (18 sec)

We think we are going to have a vaccine by the end of this year. And we're pushing very hard. You know, we're building supply lines now. We don't seen even have the final vaccine. Johnson & Johnson, if you look at -- Johnson & Johnson is doing it. We have many companies are, I think, close, because I meet with the heads of them.

Donald Trump

00:14:47.560 - 00:15:08.960 (21 sec)

And I find it a very interesting subject, because it's so important. But I think we will have a vaccine by the end of the year. We're also pushing it. Look, we're doing things at the FDA that's never happened before. We're getting approval so fast. Like, as an example, with Gilead, on the new remdesivir, that's going to be -- that's -- that's a game-changer, because it's a 31 percent step.

Donald Trump

00:15:08.960 - 00:15:28.960 (20 sec)

It's a step. It's a 31 percent step. And then there will be at 50 percent, like AIDS, what's happened with AIDS. We had -- AIDS was a scourge all over the world. It was -- you were dead. It was a death certificate. And then, all of a sudden, they came up with some kind of -- and now we have -- we will be AIDS-free within eight years.

Donald Trump

00:15:28.960 - 00:15:32.880 (4 sec)

We started 10 years. Should have started in the previous administration. They did nothing.

Bret Baier

00:15:32.880 - 00:15:33.440 (1 sec)

So, Mr. President, you...

Donald Trump

00:15:33.440 - 00:15:36.400 (3 sec)

It started at my administration, 10 years, and now... [Crosstalk]

Bret Baier

00:15:36.400 - 00:15:37.520 (1 sec)

You think -- the FDA has approved this, remdesivir.

Donald Trump

00:15:37.520 - 00:15:38.240 (1 sec)

Bret Baier

00:15:38.240 - 00:15:41.640 (3 sec)

And he's asking, how do you get it? Are you going to use the Defense Production Act to get... [Crosstalk]

Donald Trump

00:15:41.640 - 00:16:05.080 (23 sec)

Well, he got it. I'll tell you Danny got it, fortunately. And Danny has -- they have -- Danny gave it credit for saving his life. We are putting the full power and might behind this drug. With that being said, it's a very hard drug. There are others that are much easier to make. It takes a little period of time to make it. The company is a great company, done incredible work over the years.

Donald Trump

00:16:05.080 - 00:16:16.360 (11 sec)

They are pushing absolutely as fast -- you know, this isn't something like, let's build machines or let's -- this is a very delicate balance. But we're pushing very, very hard on remdesivir.

Martha MacCallum

00:16:16.360 - 00:16:19.880 (4 sec)

So, our next question is from a teacher in Chesterfield, Virginia.

Donald Trump

00:16:19.880 - 00:16:20.240 (0 sec)

Question

00:16:20.240 - 00:16:36.160 (16 sec)

[Begin Video Clip] Hi, President Trump. My name is Kristin Murray. I'm an algebra teacher in Virginia. We appreciate you and support you in all you're doing. I would like to see what your ideas are for getting us teachers back into our classrooms. We don't want to be virtual teaching. We want to be in the classrooms with our students.

Question

00:16:36.160 - 00:16:41.040 (5 sec)

So, what's your ideas for getting us back in our classrooms and getting the doors open? [End Video Clip]

Donald Trump

00:16:41.040 - 00:16:42.760 (2 sec)

Well, I agree... [Crosstalk]

Bret Baier

00:16:42.760 - 00:16:46.400 (4 sec)

Before you answer that, Mr. President, just one second.

Donald Trump

00:16:46.400 - 00:16:46.920 (1 sec)

Bret Baier

00:16:46.920 - 00:16:55 (8 sec)

A lot of questions tonight not only from teachers, but also the other side, from students, talking about COVID-19. Real quick, put them together here. Rebecca Johnson.

Question

00:16:55 - 00:17:09.160 (14 sec)

[Begin Video Clip] Hi. I'm Rebecca. And I live in Minneapolis, Minnesota. I'm going to be a freshman in high school next year. And I worry that coronavirus is going to come back. How will I feel safe going back to school if a second wave hits? [End Video Clip]

Donald Trump

00:17:09.160 - 00:17:26.040 (17 sec)

So, when you go back -- and you have one problem that is a bigger problem. And that's teachers over 60 or 65 years old, the teachers, because I think that Kristin and Rebecca are going to be in great shape. And they may wear masks for a while and they may be separated further than what they're used to. And I think they're going to be in great shape.

Donald Trump

00:17:26.040 - 00:17:44.880 (19 sec)

But we have to get our schools back. This virtual teaching is wonderful. And, frankly, it's taken a very positive step. I mean, I could say I have had now essentially board meetings and meetings with governors and other people with, you know, using -- they call it tele, right, tele. And it's not bad. But there's nothing like having a meeting.

Donald Trump

00:17:44.880 - 00:18:01.640 (17 sec)

I still think you're never going to replace that. No, they're going to go back. We have to have our students go back to school. My biggest thing, because I really feel the students are in great shape. They're going to be -- all of the things we have to do, all of the things -- but I do worry about teachers at a certain age.

Donald Trump

00:18:01.640 - 00:18:20.920 (19 sec)

Rebecca is young. And she's going to be fine. The students are going to be fine. But I really think that, you know, if you take a look, Kristin is going to be fine. But if you have a teacher that's 65 or 70 years old and has diabetes, that one, I think they're going to have to sit it out for a little while...

Martha MacCallum

00:18:20.920 - 00:18:21.720 (1 sec)

But, Mr. President, overall...

Donald Trump

00:18:21.720 - 00:18:24.120 (2 sec)

...unless we come up with the vaccine sooner.

Martha MacCallum

00:18:24.120 - 00:18:30.440 (6 sec)

...are you going to urge the nation's universities and schools to go back in September?

Donald Trump

00:18:30.440 - 00:18:49.640 (19 sec)

I am. I want them to go back. We have to get our country back, yes. I don't want to do this forever. I watched a very good governor, former -- former governor of Indiana, preceding -- he preceding Mike Pence, good governor. And he's the head of Purdue. It's a great school. And I saw him the other day. He wants to go back.

Donald Trump

00:18:49.640 - 00:19:09.400 (20 sec)

He's going back, Purdue, big school, fantastic. They're going back. We have to go back. We have to go back, and whatever it is, I would say, with the exception of teachers at a certain age. They may -- maybe they should wait until this thing passes. It will pass. You know, it's going to pass. And a lot of people say, we have to get the vaccine.

Donald Trump

00:19:09.400 - 00:19:17.040 (8 sec)

Well, certainly, we do. And we have to get therapeutics. I'd rather have right now therapeutics that make people better. That's where remdesivir is really good.

Bret Baier

00:19:17.040 - 00:19:20 (3 sec)

You did talk a lot about hydroxychloroquine for a while.

Donald Trump

00:19:20 - 00:19:20.520 (1 sec)

I do. And I still do.

Bret Baier

00:19:20.520 - 00:19:24.160 (4 sec)

And there were some -- some studies that came out that questioned the cardiac tie.

Donald Trump

00:19:24.160 - 00:19:24.440 (0 sec)

Well -- well...

Bret Baier

00:19:24.440 - 00:19:25.680 (1 sec)

But you stopped talking about it.

Donald Trump

00:19:25.680 - 00:19:44.640 (19 sec)

One study. One study. But there were studies that came out that say it's -- it's very good too. And I will tell you what. I have had three calls in the last three days, four days, of people that took it, and they're giving it credit for saving their lives. And other states -- you know, other countries are using it, and they're -- they're going -- they're bragging about it. You look at their numbers.

Donald Trump

00:19:44.640 - 00:20:08.200 (24 sec)

Here's -- here's what we have been reduced to in this country. The Democrats, the radical left, whatever you want, would rather see people -- I'm going to be very nice. I'm not going to say die. I'm going to say would rather see people not get well, because they think I'm going to get credit if, you know, hydroxychloroquine works.

Donald Trump

00:20:08.200 - 00:20:27.240 (19 sec)

And I don't want the credit. I don't care about it. I have nothing to do with it, by the way. Everyone said I own the company. I have nothing to do with hydroxychloroquine, other than, if it worked, it would be great. It would be so good for our nat -- because it would save people. But, you know, we have had some very good -- you look at -- there are certain countries that swear by it. They have a much lower number.

Donald Trump

00:20:27.240 - 00:20:29.440 (2 sec)

You know the countries I'm talking about.

Bret Baier

00:20:29.440 - 00:20:31.840 (2 sec)

But you're putting your real chips on the vaccine being fast?

Donald Trump

00:20:31.840 - 00:20:47.800 (16 sec)

Well, I think we're going to have a vaccine by the end of the year. Now, the doctors would say, well, you shouldn't say that. I will say what I think. I have met with the heads of the big companies. These are great companies. Yes, I think we're going to have a vaccine much sooner, rather than later. I think it will be -- I think that will be done.

Donald Trump

00:20:47.800 - 00:21:06.960 (19 sec)

I would rather have, frankly, therapeutic, meaning something to make people better, if not a cure, at least a therapeutic. And -- but, look, we started the other day with Gilead. I really think so. But we're going to have other things. And it could be that hydroxy is going to be -- we don't lose anything with hydroxy.

Donald Trump

00:21:06.960 - 00:21:19.520 (13 sec)

It's been out there. Bret, it's been out there for so many years. Then they start doing the false reports, it's making people -- it's been used for numerous things for many years. People aren't dying from it. And -- but they would rather...

Bret Baier

00:21:19.520 - 00:21:20.680 (1 sec)

Obviously, doctors are involved there. And they're...

Donald Trump

00:21:20.680 - 00:21:23.640 (3 sec)

Yes, they don't want to see a good result. And that's very sad.

Bret Baier

00:21:23.640 - 00:21:30.120 (6 sec)

Let me ask. There are some questions that deal with looking back. Leslie is one of them. Leslie Caulfield rom New Jersey has our next question for the -- please.

Question

00:21:30.120 - 00:21:47.760 (18 sec)

[Begin Video Clip] President Trump, it's been widely reported that the threat of the coronavirus was included in your daily intelligence briefings for weeks prior to the first confirmed case in the U.S. Can you please explain to us why you did not act sooner to prepare this country for this pandemic? [End Video Clip]

Donald Trump

00:21:47.760 - 00:22:09.880 (22 sec)

OK. I love the question, actually, because what I did is, I -- way early, I closed our country to China. Nancy Pelosi was a month later saying, it's going to pass. Everybody, even Tony Fauci, was saying, it's going to pass, not going to be a big deal. Schumer was talking about all sorts of things. This is long after I closed the country.

Donald Trump

00:22:09.880 - 00:22:28.240 (18 sec)

They called me a racist. They said xenophobic. Biden said, he was xenophobic. Biden has now written a letter of apology, because I did the right thing. I saved hundreds of thousands of lives. OK. She's asking me the question about intelligence. I have the head of the intelligence agencies here today. And here's the exact thing.

Donald Trump

00:22:28.240 - 00:22:47.600 (19 sec)

And we have it. It's going to be released tomorrow or the next day. But I released it today. On January 23, I was told that there could be a virus coming in, but it was of no real import. In other words, it wasn't, oh, we have got to do something, we have got to do something. It was a brief conversation.

Donald Trump

00:22:47.600 - 00:23:12.120 (25 sec)

And it was only on January 23. Shortly thereafter, I closed down the country to China. And we had 20 people, 21 people in the room. I was the only one that wanted to close it down. Very good people in the room, very well-meaning. But take a look. On, I think, it was February 26, Nancy Pelosi is, let's dance in the streets of Chinatown to show that it's not going to hurt us. In other words, she -- I'm not blaming her for it. But nobody thought this was going to happen.

Donald Trump

00:23:12.120 - 00:23:30.680 (19 sec)

But on January -- it's such an important question to me, because they think that, months earlier, we were told about this, and we should have done something about it. China didn't even know for a period of time. It got out. China should have stopped it. But China didn't -- they didn't know. And they wouldn't let us in. We wanted to go into China.

Donald Trump

00:23:30.680 - 00:23:48.480 (18 sec)

They didn't want us to go in, because they didn't want to have us see it. Maybe they were worried about competence. Maybe they were worried about something else. But the question is good. And here's the final answer. The intelligence agencies told me on the 23rd. Shortly thereafter, I closed down the country.

Donald Trump

00:23:48.480 - 00:24:07.200 (19 sec)

But I didn't do it because of what they said, because they said it very matter-of-factly, and it was not a big deal. And the intelligence agencies, which are now -- now, because, before they weren't -- which are now very competently run, with some great people and some great people coming, the intelligence agencies will tell you that tomorrow.

Martha MacCallum

00:24:07.200 - 00:24:11.560 (4 sec)

So, when -- when you did stop travel in from China...

Donald Trump

00:24:11.560 - 00:24:11.800 (0 sec)

Martha MacCallum

00:24:11.800 - 00:24:14.360 (3 sec)

...about 40,000 people came back to this country.

Donald Trump

00:24:14.360 - 00:24:14.480 (0 sec)

Martha MacCallum

00:24:14.480 - 00:24:15 (1 sec)

Donald Trump

00:24:15 - 00:24:16.640 (2 sec)

They were American citizens, by the way.

Martha MacCallum

00:24:16.640 - 00:24:19.040 (2 sec)

But you said they were tested? Who tested them, and where?

Donald Trump

00:24:19.040 - 00:24:34.920 (16 sec)

They were tested. Well, the different states. They were tested. They were quarantined when they were sick. And they came back -- I spoke with Ron DeSantis. Two days ago, he called me. He said: You know, the 40,000 people that came back, the ones that went to Florida, he said, we put them through the grill.

Donald Trump

00:24:34.920 - 00:24:50.600 (16 sec)

We had people quarantined. We had people tested. You could ask the governor. And, you know, there's one example. But other governors did the same thing, if they were doing their job. But I had to let them come back. I actually said, maybe we could keep them there for a while. These are American citizens.

Donald Trump

00:24:50.600 - 00:25:07.160 (17 sec)

I had to let them come back, Martha. So, you had 40,000 people. Now, when the Democrats said it, they said, he closed the border, but he let 40,000. They don't say they were American citizens. I did the right thing. But, when they came back, they were tested. Some were tested, probably not as good as they could have been.

Donald Trump

00:25:07.160 - 00:25:13 (6 sec)

I can tell you, Florida tested the people very, very well. And look how low the numbers are in Florida. They have done a great job.

Note

00:25:14 - 00:25:15 (1 sec)

[Video breaks prematurely for commercial]

Martha MacCallum

00:25:16 - 00:25:17 (1 sec)

Bret Baier

00:25:18 - 00:25:19 (1 sec)

When we come back -- thank you, Mr. President -- more of your questions, specifically from small business owners, many of whom say, despite the historic effort by the government to help, they feel like they have fallen -- fallen through the cracks, some of them. You will hear from them next.

Note

00:25:20 - 00:25:21 (1 sec)

[Commercial Break]

Bret Baier

00:25:22 - 00:25:23 (1 sec)

Welcome back to our Fox News Virtual town hall at the Lincoln Memorial here in Washington, D.C., bringing your questions and concerns about COVID-19 and opening up straight to President Trump.

Note

00:25:24 - 00:25:25 (1 sec)

[Video restarts here]

Bret Baier

00:25:25 - 00:25:29.160 (4 sec)

Mr. President, carved on the wall behind me is Abraham Lincoln's second inaugural address, and I quote, "With malice toward none, with charity for all, let us bind up the nation's wounds," words, you know, meant to heal a nation devastated by civil war.

Bret Baier

00:25:29.160 - 00:25:46.080 (17 sec)

We, obviously, live in a divided time, as well, you know that well. Your choice, even, of this hallowed place for this virtual town hall is creating controversy, criticism. What do you say to people who say this is not the right venue for this?

Donald Trump

00:25:46.080 - 00:26:09.600 (24 sec)

You know, I didn't know that it was creating criticism? And I did say this would be nice, but I thought it was your choice, not ours? And I had not heard, what can you criticize? I don't think it's ever been done, what we're doing tonight, here, and I think it's great for the American people to see, this is a great work of art, aside from the fact that that was a great man, this is a great work of art.

Donald Trump

00:26:09.600 - 00:26:20.600 (11 sec)

And it's one of the greatest sculptures, one of the greatest statues, to me, anywhere in the world, and you can go to Italy, you can go anywhere, that's to me, one of the greats, and I didn't know there was controversy. Why is there controversy?

Bret Baier

00:26:20.600 - 00:26:29.440 (9 sec)

Some from Capitol Hill sent a letter that it's not the right place, not the right site, but as far as bringing America together, do you think you're doing that?

Donald Trump

00:26:29.440 - 00:26:52.400 (23 sec)

I think we're winning very big and then we had a horrible thing happen. We we're winning bigger than we've ever won before, Bret. And I think that winning ultimately is going to bring this country together. I'm shocked that during a crisis it would be so partisan, you know, when you see all these committees, seven or eight committees, we haven't even started, and they have all these committees looking for trouble, just looking for trouble.

Donald Trump

00:26:52.400 - 00:27:09.720 (17 sec)

Every enemy I have is put on a democrat committee, and I was surprised. You know, they did the impeachment hoax, it was a total hoax, over a phone call, that was a perfect call, and we had tremendous – when you look at the House, I think it was 196 to nothing, the republicans, and there was great unity, and the Senate, the same thing.

Donald Trump

00:27:09.720 - 00:27:28.920 (19 sec)

With all of that unity we have, in one sense, we have great unity, in another sense, I think they're going to come along, I mean, you know, I certainly hope so, but the main thing I have to do is bring our country back, and I want to get it back to where it was or maybe beyond where it was, you know, we have tremendous stimulus, all the money we've been talking about so far tonight.

Donald Trump

00:27:28.920 - 00:27:49.440 (21 sec)

I think next year's going to be a phenomenal economic year. We can never forget all the people that have died, the souls that have been lost in this horrible thing that shouldn't have happened, just shouldn't happened, such a horrible thing, and there's a lot going on about finding out the answer to that because this is something that should never have happened, it's tragic.

Martha MacCallum

00:27:49.440 - 00:27:51.520 (2 sec)

We want to talk to you a little more about China …

Donald Trump

00:27:51.520 - 00:27:51.760 (0 sec)

Martha MacCallum

00:27:51.760 - 00:28:06.040 (14 sec)

… in just a moment, but you mentioned winning, and there's a race to win on the vaccine, between countries in the world, so pushing this vaccine development in order to get it to go faster leads to human trials, people volunteering …

Donald Trump

00:28:06.040 - 00:28:06.440 (0 sec)

Martha MacCallum

00:28:06.440 - 00:28:08.280 (2 sec)

… to basically be injected with COVID-19.

Donald Trump

00:28:08.280 - 00:28:08.360 (0 sec)

Martha MacCallum

00:28:08.360 - 00:28:11.880 (4 sec)

Are you concerned about the ethics or the risks of that in that push?

Donald Trump

00:28:11.880 - 00:28:33.160 (21 sec)

No because they're volunteers, they know what they're getting into, they're, in many cases, very good people, they want to help the process. Look, a vaccine has never gone like it's gone now. We're so far ahead of any vaccine ever in history, you know, these things would take, two, four, five, six years, 10 years, I think we're going to have a vaccine, I'm tell you, by the end of the year, we – I think we're going to have a vaccine.

Martha MacCallum

00:28:33.160 - 00:28:35.040 (2 sec)

Do you think another country could beat us?

Donald Trump

00:28:35.040 - 00:28:50.280 (15 sec)

I'm going to really say something that is not like me and it's not like the two of you, I know you, and it's not like you, I don't care. I just want to get a vaccine that works. I really don't care. If it's another country, I'll take my hat off to them. We have to come up with a vaccine. We're working with other countries.

Donald Trump

00:28:50.280 - 00:29:13.120 (23 sec)

We're working with Australia. We're working with the U.K. I spoke with, the other day, the prime minister of the U.K., right, Boris, he is a victim of what happened. He thought it was over. He thought it was over. It was vicious. And he made it. He's a great guy. And he made it. But he had first-hand experience, the ultimate first-hand experience.

Bret Baier

00:29:13.120 - 00:29:20.920 (8 sec)

Mr. President, our next questioner is Deena Rubio. She's the co-manager of a restaurant down in West Palm Beach, Florida, you know well. Here's her question.

Question

00:29:20.920 - 00:29:49.200 (28 sec)

Now we're facing the shortage of supplies due to the closure of chicken, pork and beef plants, prices are going up, and the restaurant industry is finding even more obstacles to stay afloat. My question is, how can we manage to keep working with very slim profit margins to begin with and absorb the shortage price increase at this point, and even, when we do open our dining rooms, we will be having limited seating available.

Donald Trump

00:29:49.200 - 00:30:09.240 (20 sec)

Right. So, the restaurant business is a tough business to start off with. Not an easy business. We're doing a number of things. Number one: The supply chain is going to be in great shape. I did the production – Defense Production Act. We did things. The problem with the supply chain is you have people that have gotten sick with the COVID-19. You've had the people and they've gotten sick.

Donald Trump

00:30:09.240 - 00:30:36.080 (27 sec)

They're getting better. And they're all getting better. You can't make them work. I don't want them to work, frankly, if they're not feeling good. But we did something the other day which you read about, which was a great shock to the system in a positive way, we have tremendous supply, we have tremendous demand, we have to get it from supply to the people, to the restaurants, and we're doing that really very well.

Donald Trump

00:30:36.080 - 00:30:54.080 (18 sec)

Two days ago, I signed this, it's coming along really good, now the bigger problem is, what's going to happen with the restaurant – so we're not going to have any chain problem. The bigger problem is, what are you going to do with the restaurant which was, you know, a nice little business, but all of a sudden, they have half the number of seats if they go? Eventually, we're going to have all those seats back.

Donald Trump

00:30:54.080 - 00:31:08.600 (15 sec)

You're going to have all those seats. I want to sit next to people. I don't want to have all this spread out, like, even the way we're doing, we're doing this – we're doing this interview tonight, look how far away you are, look how far away you are, you know, normally, we'd be sitting together, and we'd have a nice interview.

Donald Trump

00:31:08.600 - 00:31:29.760 (21 sec)

Of course, in this particular location, this isn't so bad, but no, we have to get our life back. We have to get our country back. We have to get the world back. We want to have – if we have a stadium in Alabama that holds 110,000 against LSU, I went there, we want to have 110,000. We don't want to have 25,000 people or 40,000 people.

Donald Trump

00:31:29.760 - 00:31:41.680 (12 sec)

And that will happen. Maybe it's going to be a vaccine, or maybe it's going to be that this virus will pass, it will go. Will it come back? It might. It could. Some people say yes. But it will pass.

Martha MacCallum

00:31:41.680 - 00:32:13.920 (32 sec)

I want to go back to the meat processing plants because there's some controversy surrounding that. Danny Lamos who you saw before, who had the Remdesivir, said it helped him survive. His father worked in one of those in Nebraska, in the meat plants, and some people there say that – you know, they have plastic between them, but they're too close together, a lot of immigrants working there who are concerned, but they can't turn down a paycheck to go back there, so they're – the Smithfield plant in Crete wanted to shut down for two weeks and then the executive order changed that, so there's some pushback on that decision by you.

Martha MacCallum

00:32:13.920 - 00:32:15 (1 sec)

What do you say to those people?

Donald Trump

00:32:15 - 00:32:36.200 (21 sec)

Well, the companies really wanted it, the employees have to want to work. Now, if they don't want to work, that's one thing, but they are working, and they need the money, and the companies are doing – they're great companies, you know, these have been – these are the biggest companies in the world in terms of delivery and, in terms of, all of the things they do. They get it from, literally, the ranch or the farm into the hands of the consuming public.

Donald Trump

00:32:36.200 - 00:32:50.200 (14 sec)

But I think it's all working out. You know, the numbers are heading in the right direction. Look, the biggest thing we can do to solve every problem is get rid of the plague. I call it the plague. If we get rid of the plague, all these problems go away very quickly.

Martha MacCallum

00:32:50.200 - 00:32:53.360 (3 sec)

But some of those meat processing areas are hot spots right now.

Donald Trump

00:32:53.360 - 00:33:09.640 (16 sec)

They're hot spots, and they're moving them, and they did put up plastic, but now they're going to move them, in some cases, further away, and certain plants don't have any problem at all. You know, you have plants with no problem at all. Then you have some where it was a hot spot. Those people are tending to get better very quickly.

Donald Trump

00:33:09.640 - 00:33:20.440 (11 sec)

I think, you know, Danny's an example, I hope his father's going to be OK too. But it's all working out. It's all working out. It's horrible that we have to go through it, but it's all working out.

Bret Baier

00:33:20.440 - 00:33:25.600 (5 sec)

Our next question is from Carol McNeal, a retired teacher in Bluffton, South Carolina.

Question

00:33:25.600 - 00:33:50.280 (25 sec)

A family member who lives in a very exclusive and expensive assisted living center in the Boston area was recently diagnosed with coronavirus. What will be done, both in the short term and in the long term to protect the vulnerable in nursing homes, senior housing and assisted living centers?

Donald Trump

00:33:50.280 - 00:34:15.400 (25 sec)

So, the nursing home problem, that's your ground zero. It really is ground zero. We first heard about it, I did, in Washington when so many people – the state of Washington where so many people died in a single nursing home. And you realized immediately there's a vulnerability there. What we're doing is legislation immediately as to how many people can be in, some people made some terrible mistakes.

Donald Trump

00:34:15.400 - 00:34:52.440 (37 sec)

They were putting other people into empty areas in nursing homes that were sick, and that affected the people in the nursing homes because the one thing about this disease that everybody's learned very easily and very quickly is, it's so contagious. It is the most contagious thing people have seen. So, in 1917, we had a horrible – in that case it was the flu, right, you remember, the Spanish Flu, so much has been written about it. Now, of course, it's the hottest – everybody that writes a book about the Spanish Flu, in 1917, it killed between 100, I guess 50 to 100 million people.

Donald Trump

00:34:52.440 - 00:35:04.760 (12 sec)

It probably ended the First World War because the soldiers were all getting sick. It was the worst the world has ever seen that we know of. We have something that's different. It's not as powerful, but it's far more contagious.

Martha MacCallum

00:35:04.760 - 00:35:19.640 (15 sec)

But with regard to the nursing homes, one of the questions that came to my mind when I watched the Comfort leaving Manhattan and the Javits Center, why were these people next to each other, like this, in nursing homes when we had all this excess capacity and beds? Why weren't they sent there?

Donald Trump

00:35:19.640 - 00:35:40.160 (21 sec)

So, on that one you have to ask the governor and, in the case, the governors because all I can do is provide the space. They're running the state, as you understand, and that's the way it should be. They run their state through mayors and through this and that, you know, bring it down local or bring it down to a point, but we provided 2,900 beds in the convention center.

Donald Trump

00:35:40.160 - 00:35:53.440 (13 sec)

On top of that, we brought in the Comfort. They did a phenomenal job, and the Comfort wasn't meant for the COVID-19. The Comfort was meant for people that had car accidents and everything else. Then we found out there were no accidents because nobody was driving.

Martha MacCallum

00:35:53.440 - 00:35:53.440 (0 sec)

Donald Trump

00:35:53.440 - 00:36:15.800 (22 sec)

We had very few accidents. But it wasn't meant for that. What we did is we converted it to that, but still, they didn't use it much, and I think the numbers now are getting better. We just moved the Comfort. We're going to move it someplace else, probably, perhaps, for some other kind of problem, but we had the Comfort there, and we built them the – in the Javits Center, we built over 2,000 beds.

Donald Trump

00:36:15.800 - 00:36:30.360 (15 sec)

And, by the way, built in, like, five days by the Army Corps of Engineers. The Army Corps of Engineers have done one of the greatest jobs anyone's ever seen including the fact that we happen to be building a wall on the southern border that's now up to 172 miles.

Bret Baier

00:36:30.360 - 00:36:37.760 (7 sec)

Quickly, how concerned are you about hospitals that are not dealing with COVID-19 or primarily not and they're letting people go?

Donald Trump

00:36:37.760 - 00:36:37.800 (0 sec)

Bret Baier

00:36:37.800 - 00:36:38.520 (1 sec)

They're closing?

Donald Trump

00:36:38.520 - 00:36:46 (7 sec)

We have to get elective surgery, it's called, and we have to let them come back. It's OK with us. Again, that's up to the governors. You have some hospital where they have almost no COVID and they have the hospital, essentially, you can't go into elective surgery, meaning a surgery, well, in some cases it's cancer, where they're waiting long, that's not a good thing to be waiting long, so it's such a – they have to get back, they have to let these hospitals because the hospitals are legitimately, you know, you'd think they were making a lot of money, they're losing a fortune.

Donald Trump

00:36:47 - 00:36:49 (2 sec)

They have to let those hospitals reopen and get back to elective surgery, and there are many hospitals right now that could be doing that – that's up to the governors, that's not up to me.

Note

00:36:49 - 00:36:50 (1 sec)

[This section does not have video available]

Bret Baier

00:36:50 - 00:36:51 (1 sec)

Well, when we come back, thank you Mr. President, more of viewer questions for the president, plus, we will be joined by Vice-President Mike Pence, and Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin, here at our Fox News Virtual town hall in Washington, D.C., a great backdrop here, the Lincoln Memorial.

Donald Trump

00:36:51 - 00:36:52 (1 sec)

We are very confident that we are going to have a vaccine at the end of the year.

Martha MacCallum

00:36:52 - 00:36:53 (1 sec)

Tonight, a matter of life and livelihood.

Bret Baier

00:36:53 - 00:36:54 (1 sec)

Americans struggling to survive in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Unidentified

00:36:54 - 00:36:55 (1 sec)

Have a nice day, enjoy.

Unidentified

00:36:55 - 00:36:56 (1 sec)

I think it's really important that the American people know the federal government is collecting data every day and doing everything they can to respond to this epidemic.

Martha MacCallum

00:36:56 - 00:36:57 (1 sec)

Businesses trying to strike a delicate balance between our nation's health and its economic well-being.

Anthony Fauci

00:36:57 - 00:36:58 (1 sec)

We've really got to be careful as we go from a lockdown to a gradual rolling reentry into some sort of normality.

Bret Baier

00:36:58 - 00:36:59 (1 sec)

So far it's been up to the governors in all 50 states whose decisions have sparked frustration on both sides.

Andrew Cuomo

00:36:59 - 00:37:00 (1 sec)

We want to re-open, but we want to do it without infecting more people or overwhelming the hospital system.

Brian Kemp

00:37:00 - 00:37:01 (1 sec)

When you close somebody's business down and take the livelihood of that individual and those employees and they are literally at the face of losing everything, I'm willing to give them benefit of the doubt.

Martha MacCallum

00:37:01 - 00:37:02 (1 sec)

Tonight President Trump continues to present his plan to put the nation back to work.

Donald Trump

00:37:02 - 00:37:03 (1 sec)

There is more help coming. There has to be. And we want to get it to a point, when we open, we're not going to lose businesses and therefore, more importantly, frankly, we're not going to lose the jobs.

Martha MacCallum

00:37:03 - 00:37:04 (1 sec)

Welcome to hour two of our Fox News virtual town hall with President Trump, live in the heart of our nation's capital at the Lincoln Memorial. Over the past week we have received 1,000 video questions from all of you, the American people, the questions about your businesses, your jobs, what the future holds in the wake of this pandemic.

Martha MacCallum

00:37:04 - 00:37:05 (1 sec)

And we're bringing those questions directly to the president tonight.

Bret Baier

00:37:05 - 00:37:06 (1 sec)

Many of your questions have been focused on the delicate balancing act of getting back to normal life and maintaining health and safety. The state of Georgia has served as a litmus test for that balancing act, reopening for business over a week ago, despite heavy criticism. Fox News correspondent Steve Harrigan has more from Georgia tonight.

Steve Harrigan

00:37:06 - 00:37:07 (1 sec)

The coronavirus crisis is not uniting Georgians. Governor Brian Kemp's aggressive re-opening has sparked two different groups of protesters, those who call it homicidal negligence and those who demand the right to work and survive economically.

Unidentified

00:37:07 - 00:37:08 (1 sec)

The government allowed us to open up. I feel that some people thought we were being ordered to open, which is not the case. Nobody's making a client come in and take any extra risk and nobody's ordering any business to open.

Steve Harrigan

00:37:08 - 00:37:09 (1 sec)

There are more than three dozen safety restrictions for restaurants, including screening employees for fever, wearing masks and limiting the number of customers inside. But many still feel safer with takeout.

Unidentified

00:37:09 - 00:37:10 (1 sec)

It's safer for me, so that if I did the dining, I'd go home and start wondering, "OK, who else was in there?"

Unidentified

00:37:10 - 00:37:11 (1 sec)

I know people want to get back to work. I know they want to make money. But I just think it's just too soon.

Steve Harrigan

00:37:11 - 00:37:12 (1 sec)

For businesses that depend on crowds, like movie theaters, the long-term threat to their existence is real. Some are trying to change before that happens.

Unidentified

00:37:12 - 00:37:13 (1 sec)

The biggest challenges are figuring out how to keep paying my folks but keep them safe, too, and -- and reinvent an 81-year-old business model.

Steve Harrigan

00:37:13 - 00:37:14 (1 sec)

Atlanta's Plaza Theatre opened before World War II and re-opens this week outside in a parking lot, going back to their drive-in past to survive in today's climate. They think it's appropriate that the first movie they show will be "Back to the Future." Bret?

Bret Baier

00:37:14 - 00:37:15 (1 sec)

Martha MacCallum

00:37:15 - 00:37:16 (1 sec)

Good choice. [Laughter]

Bret Baier

00:37:16 - 00:37:17 (1 sec)

Thank you, Steve.

Martha MacCallum

00:37:17 - 00:37:18 (1 sec)

Thank you, Steve. Let's get right to our virtual town hall questions for President Trump, back again.

Note

00:37:18 - 00:37:19 (1 sec)

[Video restarts here]

Bret Baier

00:37:23.480 - 00:37:23.480 (0 sec)

Our next question comes for the president comes from Clearwater, Florida. Here it is.

Question

00:37:23.480 - 00:37:29 (6 sec)

Thank you for taking our question, Mr. President. I'm Mary Rose.

Question

00:37:29 - 00:37:54.360 (25 sec)

And I'm Mark. And we own Rosemark Grips. We're a small business in Florida that makes golf putter grips. We do not qualify for the payroll protection program because we do all the work ourselves; we don't have any payroll employees. We're wondering if there's something in the works that will help us out, as we have numerous bills that still need to be paid and do not qualify for current programs that are out there?

Donald Trump

00:37:54.360 - 00:38:03.800 (9 sec)

Well, first of all, I love your business. And both -- I can speak for Bret. We could both use nice putt equipment. It would be nice. [Laughter] But I -- I don't know about you, Bret. I haven't played golf in a long time.

Bret Baier

00:38:03.800 - 00:38:04.880 (1 sec)

Haven't played much.

Donald Trump

00:38:04.880 - 00:38:21.720 (17 sec)

We haven't played too much lately. But I will say this, what we have to do is get -- get it open. I see New Jersey is opening up their golf courses. Florida is now opening up their golf courses. Parks are opening. Beaches are opening. At some point we have to open our country. And people are going to be safe.

Donald Trump

00:38:21.720 - 00:38:29.560 (8 sec)

We've learned a lot. We've learned about the tremendous contagion. But we have no choice. We have to -- we can't stay closed as a country. We're not going to have a country left.

Bret Baier

00:38:29.560 - 00:38:37.440 (8 sec)

But Mark and Mary Rose are saying they fell through the cracks. We got a lot of questions like this, that either the bank didn't give it to them or they didn't qualify. And is -- what do you tell them?

Donald Trump

00:38:37.440 - 00:38:55.440 (18 sec)

I understand. And all we can do in that case is we have to bring back -- we have to bring back the business. Now, all of that's opening, and they're -- you know, their business is golf, which is a nice business. And we're opening up that whole golf sector, the sports sector, where -- I wish I could help them -- I'd even help them personally.

Donald Trump

00:38:55.440 - 00:39:11.640 (16 sec)

Because, you know what, it's not a big business. But for them it's a big -- it's a big thing. And they probably do a fantastic job. I could see they have such great spirit. What we do is we loan the money to small businesses but not necessarily -- you know, it's an unusual circumstance where they're each their own employee.

Donald Trump

00:39:11.640 - 00:39:15.440 (4 sec)

I think what I'm going to do is I'm going to take a look at that. Maybe there is something we can do.

Bret Baier

00:39:15.440 - 00:39:20.240 (5 sec)

Because all the stimulus in the world really can't solve the problem of demand in a country.

Donald Trump

00:39:20.240 - 00:39:21.440 (1 sec)

No, no. The greatest...

Bret Baier

00:39:21.440 - 00:39:22.560 (1 sec)

How do you stimulate demand?

Donald Trump

00:39:22.560 - 00:39:41.080 (19 sec)

The greatest thing we can do is get rid of the virus. Because then everything comes back together; then every -- you don't need stimulus once that's happening. Now, what is happening is the -- you know, we're talking about $3 trillion, not just $2 trillion, $3 trillion. It could even go to $6 trillion. And we're going to have a tremendous year next year because of what we're doing and laying the seeds.

Donald Trump

00:39:41.080 - 00:40:07.440 (26 sec)

You know, we're talking 30 million jobs that we've saved -- 30 million jobs. That's unheard of. In addition, we saved the airlines. We saved others. You know, one thing happened on Friday that was very big, Boeing -- a great company, then they had the problem that people know -- a different problem -- and then they end up with this, where their sales are cut so badly because of this, which is, by the way, also happening in Europe, as you know, with their competitor -- no airplanes.

Donald Trump

00:40:07.440 - 00:40:28.200 (21 sec)

They floated a bond issue, borrowed money, very, very successfully, at a good rate, on Friday. That's a big step. The markets are there. The markets are open. I believe it was $30 billion. So the markets are there. That's a big step. We didn't have to do anything with Boeing. They went out to the markets and they were able to borrow a lot of money.

Donald Trump

00:40:28.200 - 00:40:43.520 (15 sec)

And it's going to be a great company again. But we've done that with the airlines. The airlines were having the best year they've ever had, ever, in their history. And then we had to -- we had to turn off the airlines. We had to turn off everything. And we did the right thing, but we never want to have to do it again.

Martha MacCallum

00:40:43.520 - 00:40:52.440 (9 sec)

Let's go to Carolyn Perkins. She's a retired nurse and an elementary school guidance counselor. And here's her comment/question.

Question

00:40:52.440 - 00:41:14.480 (22 sec)

President Trump, my husband and I thank you, your family and your staff for your great dedication to our country. We pray for you every day. The question I have is about your manner of presentation. Why do you use descriptive words that could be classified as bullying? And why do you not directly answer the questions asked by the press but instead speak of past successes and generally ramble?

Question

00:41:14.480 - 00:41:25.080 (11 sec)

The USA needs you. Please let go of those behaviors that are turning people away from you. Please hold on to your wonderful attributes that make you our great leader and let go of other characteristics that do not serve you.

Donald Trump

00:41:25.080 - 00:41:27.960 (3 sec)

Good. I think I like that question.

Martha MacCallum

00:41:27.960 - 00:41:28.840 (1 sec)

She's a schoolteacher.

Donald Trump

00:41:28.840 - 00:41:45.960 (17 sec)

I'm not sure, but I think I like that question. I appreciate it. I appreciate the prayers, too, very much. Look, I am greeted with a hostile press the likes of which no president has ever seen. The closest would be that gentleman right up there. They always said Lincoln -- nobody got treated worse than Lincoln.

Donald Trump

00:41:45.960 - 00:42:10.720 (25 sec)

I believe I am treated worse. You're there. You see those press conferences. They come at me with questions that are disgraceful, to be honest -- disgraceful -- their manner of presentation and their words. And I feel that if I was kind to them, I'd be -- I'd be walked off the stage. I mean, they come at you with the most horrible, horrendous, biased questions.

Donald Trump

00:42:10.720 - 00:42:30.360 (20 sec)

And you see it, 94 percent or 95 percent of the press is hostile. And yet, if you look in Florida today, we had hundreds and hundreds of votes going up and down the Inter-coastal, "Trump, Trump." We have tremendous support, but the media is -- they might as well be in the Democrat Party. And why, I don't know.

Donald Trump

00:42:30.360 - 00:42:49.320 (19 sec)

We fixed our military. We fixed the Vet. You know, if you look at the -- the V.A., you take a look at what's going on with our vets, they have choice now and we have accountability. We're able to get rid of people that don't treat our vets well. They -- they have been trying to do that for 44 years. And because of civil service and the unions, you couldn't do it. The biggest thing is choice.

Donald Trump

00:42:49.320 - 00:43:10.880 (22 sec)

We have done -- choice -- where, if a vet can't see a doctor quickly, they go outside; they get a doctor; they get fixed up; we pay the bill, instead of waiting for five weeks, seven weeks. Look at how well these things are running. We rebuilt our military. We've done -- we had the greatest tax cut, biggest tax cut in history -- all of the things we have done, and yet we have a very hostile press.

Donald Trump

00:43:10.880 - 00:43:32 (21 sec)

And you understand. I -- maybe you're not going to say it or admit it and maybe you shouldn't, but nobody has ever seen anything like this. So I really appreciate the question, and I -- I very much appreciate the sentiment behind the question. But I'm standing up there, and instead of asking me a normal question, the level of anger and hatred -- I'll look at them and I'll say, "What's your problem?

Donald Trump

00:43:32 - 00:43:51.720 (20 sec)

What is your problem?" You know, I believe we've done more than any president in the history of our country in the first three years, three and a half years. I really believe that. When you look -- even if you look -- Space Force -- Space Force. Also, take a look at terrorism, Al-Baghdadi -- we killed him; Soleimani -- we killed him.

Donald Trump

00:43:51.720 - 00:44:00.320 (9 sec)

We killed the worst terrorists in the world. We got rid of ISIS for -- you know, we took over 100 percent of the caliphate. When I took it over, the caliphate was all over the place. [Crosstalk]

Bret Baier

00:44:00.320 - 00:44:05.120 (5 sec)

But do you think the election will come down to a referendum on how you handled this crisis?

Donald Trump

00:44:05.120 - 00:44:05.240 (0 sec)

Bret Baier

00:44:05.240 - 00:44:06.720 (1 sec)

You think it will be bigger than that?

Donald Trump

00:44:06.720 - 00:44:26.560 (20 sec)

No. I think the election is going to come down to -- I hope it does, because we've done a great job. We had no ventilators; we had no testing. We had nothing. I had -- I inherited empty -- empty -- no ammunition; our military was bad. We've rebuilt our military, $1.5 trillion. We have the best military, by far, in the world.

Donald Trump

00:44:26.560 - 00:44:43.800 (17 sec)

It's rebuilt. It's either all new or the equipment's coming in, which is great. But you know what? Also, medically, we had empty cupboards. The cupboards -- I say, the cupboards were empty. We have an incredible testing. We have the best testing system right now in the world. We also make all the ventilators.

Donald Trump

00:44:43.800 - 00:45:05.840 (22 sec)

I spent the weekend at Camp David speaking to -- and a prior couple of days -- speaking to heads of other countries that are desperate for ventilators. And we now have so many ventilators -- you know, a month ago that's all they were talking about was ventilators. The team of people that did this job was -- it was probably the biggest mobilization since World War II.

Bret Baier

00:45:05.840 - 00:45:14.240 (8 sec)

Mr. President, the governors credit you for the ventilators, across the board. You mentioned the democrats and leaving the cupboards bare from the previous administration.

Donald Trump

00:45:14.240 - 00:45:14.440 (0 sec)

Bret Baier

00:45:14.440 - 00:45:30.840 (16 sec)

You're not surprised to hear that the former vice president, Joe Biden, pushes back against that. He tweeted just the other day, "We left a playbook. He ignored it. We created an office to prepare for pandemics. He gutted it. We had CDC officials in China to detect and contain the outbreaks. He pulled them out.

Bret Baier

00:45:30.840 - 00:45:36.400 (6 sec)

Trump can try and shift blame all he wants, but the fact is his actions left us unprepared."

Donald Trump

00:45:36.400 - 00:45:36.920 (1 sec)

First of all...

Bret Baier

00:45:36.920 - 00:45:37.160 (0 sec)

Your response to that?

Donald Trump

00:45:37.160 - 00:45:57.160 (20 sec)

...Joe Biden didn't write that. That was written from a young man that got very good grades at a very good school. That was not written by him, I promise you that. Joe Biden, just so you know, when I closed our borders to China -- I did the China ban. I didn't want to do that. I did something that nobody wanted to do. Joe Biden said, "He's xenophobic.

Donald Trump

00:45:57.160 - 00:46:21.840 (25 sec)

He's a racist." They called me a racist. And I saved hundreds of thousands of lives. And he actually apologized with a letter on a Friday night saying, "He made the right move." It wasn't well-played by the press, but he said I made the right move. No, if we would have listened to Joe Biden -- look how badly they did on swine flu, the H1N1, which he calls the opposite -- H1 -- it's H1N1, swine flu.

Donald Trump

00:46:21.840 - 00:46:46.400 (25 sec)

Look how badly they did on that. Look how badly they've done on so many other things. I mean, the place -- our military was a mess. Our -- just about everything was a mess. Look at what they did in the Middle East, what's gone on in the Middle East. And in all fairness, on the middle east, I look at the previous administration for getting us in. Because that was the single worst decision made in this country's history -- the single worst, getting into the Middle East.

Donald Trump

00:46:46.400 - 00:46:56.280 (10 sec)

Just so you understated, we've spent $8 trillion in the Middle East. What do we have for it? What do we have for it? And things are moving very nicely in the other direction.

Bret Baier

00:46:56.280 - 00:46:59 (3 sec)

Our next question to the president comes from Rob in Ohio.

Question

00:46:59 - 00:47:12.680 (14 sec)

Hello, I'm Rob from Columbus, Ohio. The coronavirus is disproportionately affecting communities of color. I wanted to know what your administration will do to address this?

Donald Trump

00:47:12.680 - 00:47:35.640 (23 sec)

So we are working on that very hard. And you're right, 100 percent, that, if you look at African-American -- by the way, Asian-American also, and Hispanic-American, they are very much more affected. People are not 100 percent sure. It could be because it's a certain segment that does work together, restaurants and different jobs which are affected a lot.

Donald Trump

00:47:35.640 - 00:47:45.600 (10 sec)

But we're coming out with a report in two weeks on it, and I want to get to the bottom of it, too, because it's a totally disproportional effect. It really is, and it's pretty amazing, actually.

Martha MacCallum

00:47:45.600 - 00:47:53.200 (8 sec)

The next question is from Tripp Grebe. He's a freshman at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. And here's his question for you.

Question

00:47:53.200 - 00:48:07.840 (15 sec)

Mr. President, if you're elected to a second term, what's your plan to be more fiscally responsible to either reduce or eliminate the deficit in response to increased federal spending for the coronavirus stimulus packages?

Donald Trump

00:48:07.840 - 00:48:26.160 (18 sec)

So we have billions of dollars coming in right now from other countries. We have money coming in. People are paying now for military protection. People are paying for other things. As you know, I'm putting taxes on other countries where they've taken advantage of us -- especially, by the way, China. China never gave 10 cents to our country.

Donald Trump

00:48:26.160 - 00:48:46.240 (20 sec)

He -- they ripped off our country for many, many -- and I've told this to President Xi directly, in a nice manner and in a not-so-nice manner. I get along with him -- should have done something different on this. But we made an incredible trade deal. We have tens of billions of dollars pouring in. President Obama and Joe Biden didn't do anything.

Donald Trump

00:48:46.240 - 00:49:08.080 (22 sec)

China just had a field day with our country. And then you look at his son walking out with a billion and a half dollars. Give me a break on that. And I can go back to President Bush, and I can go back before President Bush too. China ripped this country off for many, many decades. And I stopped it. Then, of course, you had this horror show coming in, the -- the plague.

Donald Trump

00:49:08.080 - 00:49:29.320 (21 sec)

It came in. So, now it's a different story. But we have taken in billions. And what have I done with it? I have given some of the monies, because they were targeted by China, to the farmers and to the ranchers, $12 billion two years ago, $16 billion last year. And we have a lot this year. And we, by the way, have many times those numbers left over from all the money we're making from China.

Donald Trump

00:49:29.320 - 00:49:30.680 (1 sec)

That never happened before.

Bret Baier

00:49:30.680 - 00:49:32.360 (2 sec)

But you have $25 trillion in debt as of today.

Donald Trump

00:49:32.360 - 00:49:32.880 (1 sec)

Bret Baier

00:49:32.880 - 00:49:34.720 (2 sec)

And there's more on the burner...

Donald Trump

00:49:34.720 - 00:49:35.520 (1 sec)

That's right. That's right.

Bret Baier

00:49:35.520 - 00:49:37.800 (2 sec)

...that's possibly coming down the pike. What's the number that is too much when you get to... [Crosstalk]

Donald Trump

00:49:37.800 - 00:49:50.320 (13 sec)

Well, we're going to cut. We're going to cut back very substantially. Plus, we're going to have great growth. This country is to grow like crazy as soon as we get it going. And we're going to start making our products here. Hey, Bret, you have known me for a long time. I have been talking about this for a long time.

Donald Trump

00:49:50.320 - 00:50:06.920 (17 sec)

It's one of the reasons -- I would say border security, the military and trade. These are the three primary reasons I got elected. This is a very big thing for me. I made a deal. Japan is now paying us $40 billion. They weren't paying us. They weren't doing anything. They were selling us -- they were selling us cars.

Donald Trump

00:50:06.920 - 00:50:28 (21 sec)

We wouldn't do anything to tax them. But we couldn't sell cars in Japan, Japan, we did a deal for $40 billion, $40 billion a year. Look at South Korea. We redid the deal in South Korea. Mexico, Canada, USMCA. The NATO -- the NAFTA deal was so horrible. It was so horrible. But I -- I said a word just now, NATO.

Donald Trump

00:50:28 - 00:50:52.960 (25 sec)

My biggest fan in the whole world is the secretary-general of NATO, Stoltenberg, great man, great gentleman. He said, nobody has ever done for NATO what I have done. We got $150 billion. The money that they're paying, other countries -- they weren't paying. We were paying for 100 percent of NATO. And now other countries are putting up. I went to him.

Donald Trump

00:50:52.960 - 00:51:08.720 (16 sec)

I said, listen, you are going to either pay, or we're not going to be -- why would we be protecting all of these countries, 28 countries total? Why would we be protecting? You're not even paying your bills. You're delinquent. Martha, they're putting up $150 billion a year. And it's going up to $400 billion.

Donald Trump

00:51:08.720 - 00:51:11.560 (3 sec)

And no other president has ever done anything like that.

Martha MacCallum

00:51:11.560 - 00:51:36.560 (25 sec)

I just want to -- we have to take a break, but I just want to ask you, quickly, there's a lot of people who say, why -- you talk about making it here in America. Why are all of the antibiotics made in China? Can you give me a date by which we will be self-sufficient in antibiotics in this country? And what kind of incentive would you give manufacturers of pharmaceuticals to make sure that we are not dependent on China anymore for this?

Donald Trump

00:51:36.560 - 00:51:52.520 (16 sec)

So, the reason it took place is because other people that sat in this chair -- maybe not right here, but this is a beautiful place -- because they were foolish. You could even say because they were stupid, because they allowed this to happen. And it's not only China. You take a look at Ireland. They make our drugs.

Donald Trump

00:51:52.520 - 00:52:10.280 (18 sec)

They -- everybody makes our drugs, except us. And we have already done it. We're coming out with things. Numbers -- you're seeing numbers of innovations that we have made in the past. And things are being announced already. But we're bringing that whole supply chain back. Nobody has to tell me to do it. I have been talking about that for years.

Donald Trump

00:52:10.280 - 00:52:23.800 (14 sec)

Now, the one that you see -- you don't see it. You see it with cars. You see it with other things. People never looked at medicine. But it's always been about medicine, because we have at least 94, 95 percent of our medicines are made... [Crosstalk]

Bret Baier

00:52:23.800 - 00:52:24.840 (1 sec)

...important to do the vaccine here?

Donald Trump

00:52:24.840 - 00:52:41.360 (17 sec)

Well, it's an incredible thing. They're American companies. Well, I'd like to be able to do it here. I don't want to do it in China. That, I can tell you. But I think we're going to do it here. And if we do it someplace else -- look, we have to get a vaccine. Whoever gets it, I'm going to -- I'm going to be their best fan.

Donald Trump

00:52:41.360 - 00:52:47.880 (7 sec)

And I want it -- I need the vaccine. We need, this country needs the vaccine. And you're going to have it by the end of the year. I firmly believe it. I may be wrong.

Martha MacCallum

00:52:47.880 - 00:52:52.920 (5 sec)

When will we get that 94 percent of antibiotics made in this country? Do you have a target date for that?

Donald Trump

00:52:52.920 - 00:53:02.800 (10 sec)

I think we will have it done within two years. You know, it doesn't go that quickly. And, frankly, you put me in a very bad negotiating position by asking me this question. [Laughter]

Donald Trump

00:53:02.800 - 00:53:20.640 (18 sec)

We're talking about this. Now I'm supposed to call up my guys who -- I mean, you have put me in a very bad negotiating position. And I'm not blaming you. That's your -- that's your job. But, you know, you're taking my cards away, because I don't want to be talking this way. I have done a lot. But it gets exposed when you answer.

Donald Trump

00:53:20.640 - 00:53:28.840 (8 sec)

I assume the show is a big show, right? It's going to do very well tonight. But you do take away a lot of my cards when you're answering -- asking me a question like that. You understand that?

Bret Baier

00:53:28.840 - 00:53:28.840 (0 sec)

Donald Trump

00:53:28.840 - 00:53:46.440 (18 sec)

Here's the bottom line. I met with the drug company six months ago. I said, you're going to start making the drugs here. You're going to start making them here. And they do it for two reasons, a cost reason, but it's no longer so much cost, because we can do things here for the same price and, in some cases, less, and then you don't have the transportation problems.

Donald Trump

00:53:46.440 - 00:53:54 (8 sec)

We're taking care of our -- look, another reason I got elected -- and some people don't like the sound of it, and other countries don't like it. But I said, I'm sorry. It's called America first. And we're all about America first. That's what we're about.

Note

00:53:54 - 00:53:55 (1 sec)

[Video breaks prematurely for commercial]

Donald Trump

00:53:55 - 00:53:56 (1 sec)

These other -- the other people that sat in this position, they would subsidize other countries that weren't -- that don't even like us, that don't even like us. This is all about America first.

Bret Baier

00:53:56 - 00:53:57 (1 sec)

Mr. President, thank you. When we return, Vice President Mike Pence and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin join the president here at the Lincoln Memorial to answer more of your questions on our virtual town hall. We will be right back.

Note

00:53:57 - 00:53:58 (1 sec)

[Commercial Break]

Bret Baier

00:53:58 - 00:53:59 (1 sec)

We're back here at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C., for our virtual town hall with President Trump. Joined now by Vice President Mike Pence and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin.

Note

00:53:59 - 00:54:00.840 (2 sec)

[Video restarts here]

Bret Baier

00:54:00.840 - 00:54:05.080 (4 sec)

Let's get back to our questions. Gentlemen, thank you for being here, Mr. Secretary, Mr. Vice President.

Mike Pence

00:54:05.080 - 00:54:05.160 (0 sec)

Yes, you bet. Good to see you.

Martha MacCallum

00:54:05.160 - 00:54:18.680 (14 sec)

Boy, what a beautiful shot, as night falls over the Lincoln Memorial here in Washington, D.C. Welcome to all of you. Great to have you here. Let's go to our next questioner, Kylie Patterson from Baltimore. She is the director of economic inclusion at Johns Hopkins University.

Question

00:54:18.680 - 00:54:45.240 (27 sec)

[Begin Video Clip] President Trump, in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic, millions of Americans have lost their jobs. How will you respond to the joblessness, while also ensuring that our infrastructure is better than ever? Have you considered investing in infrastructure, in our highways, our railways, our airports, and bridges, as a way to create jobs for America?

Question

00:54:45.240 - 00:54:45.960 (1 sec)

[End Video Clip]

Donald Trump

00:54:45.960 - 00:54:46.160 (0 sec)

Bret Baier

00:54:46.160 - 00:54:49.200 (3 sec)

Mr. President, that's to you, but you can obviously phone a friend here, if you would like to.

Donald Trump

00:54:49.200 - 00:54:50.160 (1 sec)

Yes, I will do that. [Laughter]

Donald Trump

00:54:50.160 - 00:55:04.840 (15 sec)

And I would love to have both speak about it. But infrastructure is very important. It's also important to the Democrats, by the way. That's something we actually do get along. I want to see a payroll tax cut on both sides, a very strong one, because that's going to really put people to work. But infrastructure is so important.

Donald Trump

00:55:04.840 - 00:55:27.760 (23 sec)

Our country, our roads are -- excuse me -- they're going to hell. We can't get infrastructure approved. Now we have a time, we have a period of time when we can get infrastructure done by both parties. And we're looking at that. In addition, as you know, they want bailouts for the states, the Democrats. And, really, it's a number of states that, frankly, have not been managed well by Democrats over a long period of time.

Donald Trump

00:55:27.760 - 00:55:45.720 (18 sec)

So, we have to be very careful about that, very careful. But we will be doing infrastructure. And I told Steve just today, we're not doing anything unless we get a payroll tax cut. That is so important to the success of our country and to the following year, because I think that the following year has a chance to be one of our best years.

Donald Trump

00:55:45.720 - 00:55:46.360 (1 sec)

That will be trem...

Bret Baier

00:55:46.360 - 00:55:52.720 (6 sec)

You all believe that that is how you stimulate demand, is that payroll tax cut? I mean, where do you look at that in the big picture?

Mike Pence

00:55:52.720 - 00:56:19.480 (27 sec)

Well, the president's been very clear on that. And he's spoken about a payroll tax cut over the years. But I would also say to that viewer that -- that the immediate way we deal with joblessness is by opening up America again, the guidelines that the president produced that now we see some 41 states produced plans for a phased, responsible reopening of our economy.

Mike Pence

00:56:19.480 - 00:56:42.560 (23 sec)

It's going to create jobs in the immediate. And I just think, where we are today, despite the heartbreaking losses of more than 67,000 Americans, where we are today is -- is still a tribute to our health care workers, to the sacrifices that American families and businesses have made over the last few months.

Mike Pence

00:56:42.560 - 00:57:01.040 (18 sec)

And if we continue to practice that social distancing, those mitigation efforts, as we go through a phased reopening, we will create jobs today, and, with the president's vision for infrastructure, a payroll tax cut, I have no doubt that the second half of this year, we're going to see an American comeback.

Mike Pence

00:57:01.040 - 00:57:06.360 (5 sec)

And next year, I agree with the president, I think we're going to have one of the best years in the history of our economy.

Bret Baier

00:57:06.360 - 00:57:18.880 (13 sec)

Mr. Secretary, we had questions earlier about people feeling like they fell through the cracks, wondering how they're going to factor in, if they didn't get the PPP loan. What are you looking at for the next thing?

Steve Mnuchin

00:57:18.880 - 00:57:37.200 (18 sec)

Well, let me just first comment. Before we say the next thing, let me just emphasize what we have done. And the president was very clear. Keeping Americans at work, putting them back to work, protecting American business was our number one priority. In an unprecedented way, we now have $3 trillion that we're putting into the economy.

Steve Mnuchin

00:57:37.200 - 00:58:00.040 (23 sec)

That's just beginning. So, for those Americans who haven't received their money yet, they will over the next few weeks. Last week alone, we did 2.1 million of small business loans, averaging $85,000 or less. We have already sent an enormous number, over 120 million, direct deposits and checks. The president created enhanced unemployment.

Steve Mnuchin

00:58:00.040 - 00:58:14.360 (14 sec)

So, the president's been very clear, in an unprecedented way, for us to support the economy. And, in the next round, we will go back and work with Congress, just as we have before, to make sure we protect American business and American workers and to stimulate the economy going forward.

Martha MacCallum

00:58:14.360 - 00:58:30.560 (16 sec)

So, let's go to our next question for you all from Phil Tulkoff. He is the president of Tulkoff Food Products, which is a family company, been in the business for over 90 years. They have four locations, South Carolina, Georgia, Oregon, and Tennessee. And here is Phil's question.

Question

00:58:30.560 - 00:58:49.640 (19 sec)

[Begin Video Clip] For my firm, the current tariffs add up to almost $60,000 in monthly additional costs for my operations. Lifting these tariffs would help us speed the recovery for many of us by allowing those funds to be used to hire workers, invest in equipment, and recoup some of the cash we have spent to weather the current economic situation.

Question

00:58:49.640 - 00:58:55.520 (6 sec)

Would you consider permanently or even temporarily reducing or eliminating those tariffs? [End Video Clip]

Donald Trump

00:58:55.520 - 00:59:10.640 (15 sec)

So, Phil, we're looking at different things. But you have to remember, I have taken those tariffs and given a lot of them to the farmers, and farmers that would have been really forced out of business by China, when they were targeted, because China never had to target us, because China was ripping our country off.

Donald Trump

00:59:10.640 - 00:59:33.840 (23 sec)

We were losing $500 billion a year to China, for years, and $300 billion, $200 billion, $544 billion -- $544 billion, a few years ago. And what I'm doing is -- and what I've done is taken a lot of money out of China, and I've given it back to Phil and other people, because I've given it back to the -- not all of it, because we've had -- we had so much.

Donald Trump

00:59:33.840 - 00:59:46.120 (12 sec)

So much money came in from china. But we gave, as I said, $12 billion two years ago, $16 billion. And this year we have $19 billion that we're distributing to the farmers. Nobody's ever done that. No president's ever done that.

Martha MacCallum

00:59:46.120 - 00:59:54.800 (9 sec)

But -- but Phil is obviously bringing in supplies from China that he is getting -- he's paying tariffs on. Would you encourage him to try to find other countries to buy those things from?

Donald Trump

00:59:54.800 - 01:00:10.800 (16 sec)

He is. But you know what they're also getting? They're getting big payments. The farmers are getting bid payments. And, by the way, they are the most incredible people. They don't even want the payments. You know what they say to me? Something that almost no other group -- and I can say practically no other group -- they want a level playing field.

Donald Trump

01:00:10.800 - 01:00:29.960 (19 sec)

We had a meeting with them, with Mike. And they came in, and I said, "We're going to give you this." They said, "Sir, honestly, we don't want anything. We just want a level playing field." Because, for 18 years -- really, it's longer than that -- they have been taken advantage of -- not only by china, by everybody, including Canada, including many, many countries that you wouldn't even think.

Donald Trump

01:00:29.960 - 01:00:46.240 (16 sec)

So the farmers, now, with the new USMCA and all of the other things -- and as far as Phil, I understand it. But we're giving billions and billions of that money to the farmers -- and have a lot of money that goes back into the Treasury. And Steve is the proud recipient, from the standpoint of the Treasury.

Bret Baier

01:00:46.240 - 01:00:51.760 (6 sec)

But are you considering new tariffs on China as, sort of, a punishment for their handling of the virus?

Donald Trump

01:00:51.760 - 01:00:54.160 (2 sec)

Well, it's the ultimate punishment. I will tell you that.

Bret Baier

01:00:54.160 - 01:00:55 (1 sec)

You had experts look at...

Donald Trump

01:00:55 - 01:01:11.320 (16 sec)

I don't like -- again, I don't like to tell you what -- because, you know, we're all playing a very complicated game of chess or poker. Name whatever you want to name. But it's not checkers. That I can tell you. We have a very complicated game going. Our country was being ripped off by every nation in the world.

Donald Trump

01:01:11.320 - 01:01:35.080 (24 sec)

And now we have made unbelievable strides. Unfortunately, then we get hit by this whole situation. But we have done so well. We have taken in so much money. Going before the virus, China had the worst year they had in 67 years. That's a reason -- and I'm not happy about that. But what it does is it says they were taking us for a ride.

Bret Baier

01:01:35.080 - 01:01:36.600 (2 sec)

Right, but to Phil's point, is that Americans...

Donald Trump

01:01:36.600 - 01:01:38.720 (2 sec)

Nobody in history has ever done any -- at any time.

Bret Baier

01:01:38.720 - 01:01:48.040 (9 sec)

He's saying Americans feel it. Experts said just your mention of that helped drive the markets down Thursday and Friday. But -- but I'm just wondering if you are really, seriously thinking about it?

Donald Trump

01:01:48.040 - 01:02:06 (18 sec)

Look, tariffs, at a minimum, are the greatest negotiating tool that we have ever devised -- that were never used for negotiation. President Xi only made the deal with us -- they're going to buy $250 billion. Now, we're going to have to see what's going on because of what happened. This was done, you know, months before the -- the virus.

Donald Trump

01:02:06 - 01:02:23.640 (18 sec)

But we're getting -- they're going to buy $250 billion worth of our product -- $250 billion. They didn't buy two -- they didn't want to buy from us. They took advantage of our country. Now they have to buy. And if they don't buy, we'll terminate the deal, very simple. But, by using the tariffs, that's the only reason.

Donald Trump

01:02:23.640 - 01:02:39.680 (16 sec)

The one thing that he said, "We must get rid of tariffs." I said, "We're not going to get rid of tariffs. You've got to treat our country with respect. You've been ripping off our country for many years." The World Trade Organization has ripped off this country. That's when China became an economic power.

Donald Trump

01:02:39.680 - 01:03:02.200 (23 sec)

And, by the way, you have World Trade and you have Word Health. The World Health Organization has been a disaster. Everything they said was wrong. And they're China-centric. ll they do is they agree with China, whatever China wants to do. So our country, perhaps foolishly, in retrospect, has been paying $450 million a year to the World Health Organization.

Donald Trump

01:03:02.200 - 01:03:17.720 (16 sec)

And China has been paying $38 million a year. But they were more political than all of our leaders previous. So we'll see what I do with that. I'm going to have to make a decision on that. But we're not happy because, what they did, what World Health did, they missed every single call.

Bret Baier

01:03:17.720 - 01:03:19.040 (1 sec)

There's a question...

Donald Trump

01:03:19.040 - 01:03:20.960 (2 sec)

We won't put up with it.

Martha MacCallum

01:03:20.960 - 01:03:24.720 (4 sec)

Yeah. Let's go to Moise. Can we pull up Moise right now?

Bret Baier

01:03:24.720 - 01:03:26.400 (2 sec)

He's from Crawford, I think. Yeah.

Question

01:03:26.400 - 01:03:43.200 (17 sec)

Mr. President, I have a question for you. Is there enough evidence that China misled the global community about this coronavirus? If it's so, how should the global community respond?

Donald Trump

01:03:43.200 - 01:04:00.840 (18 sec)

Well, I don't think there is any question about it. We wanted to go in; they didn't want to us go in -- early, very early. You'll see that, because things are coming out that are pretty compelling now. So I don't think there is any question. Don't forget, China tried to blame it first on some of our soldiers.

Donald Trump

01:04:00.840 - 01:04:17.960 (17 sec)

That turned out to not go too far. And I really got very upset with that. That was not right. And then they tried to blame it on Europe. I said, "How did Europe get involved, all of a sudden?" You know, Italy suffered probably more than anybody per capita. But Italy, Spain -- France now is on an additional lockdown.

Donald Trump

01:04:17.960 - 01:04:34.040 (16 sec)

They've got tremendous problems. All of Europe, it's been a disaster. And, you know, when I put a ban on, those people went, for the most part, not here. And I'm not happy about this. It's terrible. Because it's life, whether it's here or Europe. But we put a ban on very early, on China coming in. They went to Europe.

Donald Trump

01:04:34.040 - 01:04:43.440 (9 sec)

Most of those people went to Europe. That's why Italy was so badly affected. And you just see what they're going through. China tried to blame Europe for this. No...

Bret Baier

01:04:43.440 - 01:04:45 (2 sec)

You told John Roberts the other day...

Donald Trump

01:04:45 - 01:04:45.640 (1 sec)

It came from China.

Bret Baier

01:04:45.640 - 01:04:53.280 (8 sec)

...that you saw evidence that gave you a high confidence that the virus came from the Wuhan lab -- not that it was created there, perhaps, but that it came from there.

Donald Trump

01:04:53.280 - 01:04:55.040 (2 sec)

At the right time, we're going to be...

Bret Baier

01:04:55.040 - 01:04:56.120 (1 sec)

Can you illuminate any more about that?

Donald Trump

01:04:56.120 - 01:05:03.040 (7 sec)

Yeah, we're going to be giving a very strong report as to exactly what we think happened. And I think it will be very conclusive.

Martha MacCallum

01:05:03.040 - 01:05:06.720 (4 sec)

Is there any suggestion that it was anything nefarious, or that it was just a mistake?

Donald Trump

01:05:06.720 - 01:05:25.080 (18 sec)

So I think they made -- personally, I think they made a horrible mistake and they didn't want to admit it. We wanted to go in. They didn't want us there. Even World Health wanted to go in. They were admitted, but much later -- you know, not immediately. And my opinion is they made a mistake; they tried to cover it; they tried to put it out, just like a fire.

Donald Trump

01:05:25.080 - 01:05:56.520 (31 sec)

You know, it's really like trying to put out a fire. They couldn't put out the fire. What they really treated the world badly on, they stopped people going into china, but they didn't stop people going into the USA and all over the world. So you could fly out of Wuhan, where the primary problem was -- all of the problem, essentially, also where the lab is -- but you could fly out of Wuhan and you could go to different parts of the world, but you couldn't go to Beijing and you couldn't go to any place in China.

Donald Trump

01:05:56.520 - 01:06:17.280 (21 sec)

So what's that all about? In other words, they knew they had a problem. I think they were embarrassed by the problem, very embarrassed. And, you know, the case could be made, they said, "Hey, look, this is going to have a huge impact on China, and we might as well let the rest of the world." Because the last people they want -- we've had a great year against China prior to the virus coming.

Donald Trump

01:06:17.280 - 01:06:31.840 (15 sec)

And I told you. Sixty-seven or so years, the worst economy they've had -- the worst they've, almost on record, that they've ever had, because of my negotiators and because I taxed them on the product that the last year because of my negotiations and because we taxed them on the product that they brought in. And by the way, they paid for that tax.

Donald Trump

01:06:31.840 - 01:06:41.600 (10 sec)

It wasn't our people. They paid for that tax. They devalued their currency. But here's the thing. They allowed this to go into our country. They allowed it to go into other countries all over...

Martha MacCallum

01:06:41.600 - 01:06:45.160 (4 sec)

Does it change how you feel about President Xi? Does it change your relationship with him?

Donald Trump

01:06:45.160 - 01:07:03.640 (18 sec)

Look, I finished a trade deal that everybody said would be impossible to get -- and not only a trade deal; it was a great deal for this country. But that was done months before the virus came. I'm not going to say anything. I had a very good relationship. He's a strong man. He's a tough man. But I had a very good relationship with him.

Donald Trump

01:07:03.640 - 01:07:17.520 (14 sec)

But this should never have happened. This should never have happened. This virus should not have spread all over the world. They should have put it out. They should have let us and other people in other countries go in and put it out. Because people knew it was happening.

Bret Baier

01:07:17.520 - 01:07:29.880 (12 sec)

We have another question about the situation, getting people back to work in the U.S. Air travel, 95 percent down from a year ago, according to the TSA, our next question coming from an aircraft technician in Texas.

Question

01:07:29.880 - 01:07:46.160 (16 sec)

Hi, I'm Joe from Arlington, Texas. I work for a major airline. How can we ensure the health safety our passengers? And, Mr. President, what advice would you give future presidents to prevent this from happening to our country again?

Donald Trump

01:07:46.160 - 01:08:04.960 (19 sec)

I love that second question. I just love it. But you probably -- your airline was probably saved by us. Because Steve and all of the people -- we, you know, chose the smartest people on Wall Street to help us. Who else is better than these people? that's what they do. And, by the way, they're working for a very tiny fee.

Donald Trump

01:08:04.960 - 01:08:17.840 (13 sec)

Because I said, "I don't want to pay them a lot of money for doing this." We're giving them money to save the airlines. I'm not looking to make them rich. They're rich enough. So I said, "We're going to get the best people, pay them some cost but pay them very little." I hope you kept doing that, Steve, right?

Steve Mnuchin

01:08:17.840 - 01:08:19.080 (1 sec)

I did, Mr. President.

Donald Trump

01:08:19.080 - 01:08:37.840 (19 sec)

I hope. I'm going to check you. Anyway... [Laughter] But we -- we have the smartest people. We saved the airlines. We saved the airlines with $50 billion, $25 billion and $25 billion. So it's $50 billion, which is a very small price to pay that were having the best -- the best year ever. As far as your question on the future, we have to bring our product back home.

Donald Trump

01:08:37.840 - 01:08:49.880 (12 sec)

We have to make our product in this country. We can't be hostage -- because that's what we are -- we can't be hostage to other countries, China in particular, but also to other countries. We can't ever let that happen again.

Bret Baier

01:08:49.880 - 01:09:00.360 (10 sec)

Mr. Vice President, there is that balance. You know, people are afraid to get on a plane, if they can eventually, and balancing that fear of getting people back to work or dealing with that fear?

Mike Pence

01:09:00.360 - 01:09:23.200 (23 sec)

Well, the president brought the airlines in very early on. And we want to commend all of our great airlines for continuing to operate to -- where people needed to do essential travel. But to your point, Bret, a 95 percent reduction in the number of passengers. And it's one of the reasons why we're providing financial assistance to those airlines.

Mike Pence

01:09:23.200 - 01:09:46.080 (23 sec)

And I'd just say to that hardworking American that we're going to bring it back. And the best thing we can do for airlines; the best thing we can do for all of American businesses is, as the president often says, is put the coronavirus in the past. And the good news is that we're doing that. We -- we're watching the trends literally every day, county by county, all across the country.

Mike Pence

01:09:46.080 - 01:10:10.960 (25 sec)

In the hotspots we're seeing stabilization and declines. Hospitalizations are going down. We've even seen over the last five days the death rate has gone down. And again, one life lost is too many. I just had a friend who lost her mom in Kentucky. And she grieved that she couldn't be there to hold her hand when she went home to be with the Lord.

Mike Pence

01:10:10.960 - 01:10:40.320 (29 sec)

But the fact that we are seeing declines, again, it's a tribute to the American people. And on the president's behalf and our whole team's behalf, I just want to urge the American people, as we continue to take important steps toward re-opening our economy, getting people able to travel and enjoy the great benefits of this country and do business around America, we're going to do it in the way the president described, in that phased approach where we take careful measures to do it in a safe and responsible way.

Mike Pence

01:10:40.320 - 01:10:58.440 (18 sec)

But I'm absolutely convinced that -- that, by early summer, we could have this economy beginning to move again. And with all the tremendous advances we're making in medicine and what we've learned in this health care, we'll -- we'll get this economy roaring and bring America all the way back.

Martha MacCallum

01:10:58.440 - 01:11:19.200 (21 sec)

I want to get to the next viewer, but I also want to ask you, Secretary, a quick question. The -- some of these states that have, you know, unfunded pension debt, right, we're throwing trillions of dollars at this effort to renew the country, renew the economy. Should they get money if they have not taken good care of their finances before this happened?

Steve Mnuchin

01:11:19.200 - 01:11:47.720 (29 sec)

Well, we're not looking to bail out states that were poorly managed. What we did do in the CARES Act, there was $150 billion that was allocated to the states for coronavirus expenses. One of the things the president just instructed me to do, when we sent out guidance on Friday, that states can use the money for policemen, firemen, first responders, without limits, so we can make sure that none of those people who have been fighting on the front lines in any way are impacted by the states having lower revenues.

Steve Mnuchin

01:11:47.720 - 01:11:53.040 (5 sec)

But the president's very clear. We're looking to help states, but we're not bailing out states' finances.

Bret Baier

01:11:53.040 - 01:11:57.600 (5 sec)

Carlia Alderman from Merritt Island, Florida, wants to know this. Take a listen.

Question

01:11:57.600 - 01:12:11.440 (14 sec)

Hi, Mr. President. My husband and I both work at our local church. And I think a lot of us churchgoers are just wondering when we might be able to get back to an in-person church service. Do you have any idea when this might be?

Donald Trump

01:12:11.440 - 01:12:32.120 (21 sec)

I hope it's going to be very soon. Because I'm seeing things that I don't like seeing. I see some churches, they are literally staying in their car with the window closed. I guess it comes out through the radio, the service -- and they were getting arrested. And they're sitting in a car, and the cars are even far away.

Donald Trump

01:12:32.120 - 01:12:56.560 (24 sec)

And they say "Close your windows." So it has to come in electronically. And I'm saying, "Why can't they do that?" Or they'll go in a field, some field, and there will be -- they'll have a good minister, pastor, or it could be a rabbi; it could be -- a person of faith. And what happens is, in some places, not in all places -- I would say, in most places, they really sympathize.

Donald Trump

01:12:56.560 - 01:13:15.440 (19 sec)

But I do. And I have been listening to services over the last four or five weeks, some very, very good people. And everybody knows who I have been listening to. And we go different person -- last week it was Cardinal Dolan at St. Patrick's Cathedral, a place I'm very familiar with. But we've had pastors and ministers.

Donald Trump

01:13:15.440 - 01:13:25.920 (10 sec)

I will say this. It's wonderful to watch people over a -- a laptop. But it's not like being at a church. And we have to get our people back to churches. And we're going to start doing it soon.

Bret Baier

01:13:25.920 - 01:13:46.720 (21 sec)

The attorney general sent a memo directing U.S. Attorneys to be on the lookout for health restrictions that could interfere with constitutional rights. There are a lot of people who cheered that, because, you know, they do want to go back to church and -- as you're talking about. But there are others who fear he might be encouraging people to do things that might be unsafe, at the time when some states are going up?

Donald Trump

01:13:46.720 - 01:14:01.720 (15 sec)

Yeah. No, he's not doing -- well, there's not too many states that I know of that are going up. Almost everybody is headed in the right direction. I was with a man who got hit very, very hard, in many ways, over the last little while, Phil Murphy from New Jersey. People don't realize, that's the single most dense state.

Donald Trump

01:14:01.720 - 01:14:20.080 (18 sec)

And who would think that? But New Jersey is very dense, the Manhattan overflow, the New York overflow. And those numbers are now even coming -- because this is a very -- I mean, not his fault. He's doing a really good job as governor. I will say it. He's a Democrat. And I will say it. And he's been through a lot, even himself physically.

Donald Trump

01:14:20.080 - 01:14:36.360 (16 sec)

He just went through a very big problem, as people know. He -- I think he's done a really good job. And even those numbers are coming down. New Jersey was really hit hard. No, I think most of the numbers are coming down. We're on the right side of it. But we want to keep it that way. But we also want to get back to work.

Donald Trump

01:14:36.360 - 01:14:53.400 (17 sec)

The people want to get back to work. You know, I have seen it more and more. People are saying, that also causes death. It causes drug addiction. It causes suicides. It's -- a lot of death caused by that. There's no win here, just so we all understand. There is no win. This is not a situation where there's a win.

Donald Trump

01:14:53.400 - 01:15:08.480 (15 sec)

But the job that this country has done, the people of this country, it's incredible, what they have -- how they have endured, how they have suffered. That's why we are, in terms of deaths, it's a tremendous number. One is too many, right? I say it all the time.

Martha MacCallum

01:15:08.480 - 01:15:08.720 (0 sec)

Donald Trump

01:15:08.720 - 01:15:13 (4 sec)

But, in terms of death, Bret, we're at the lower level, the lowest level predicted. And we might not even hit that. It may be lower than that. And, sadly, that's all we can do.

Martha MacCallum

01:15:13 - 01:15:14 (1 sec)

We're going to --

Note

01:15:14 - 01:15:15 (1 sec)

[Video breaks prematurely for commercial]

Martha MacCallum

01:15:15 - 01:15:16 (1 sec)

-- take a quick break. And our virtual town hall will continue right after this. Stay with us.

Note

01:15:16 - 01:15:17 (1 sec)

[Commercial Break]

Martha MacCallum

01:15:17 - 01:15:18 (1 sec)

Welcome back, everybody, to our Fox News virtual town hall live here at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C. President Trump, Vice President Pence, and Secretary -- Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin are with us this evening.

Note

01:15:18 - 01:15:19.560 (2 sec)

[Video restarts here]

Martha MacCallum

01:15:19.560 - 01:15:20.760 (1 sec)

And we're going to do a lightning round of questions, some short answers and some short questions as well.

Martha MacCallum

01:15:20.760 - 01:15:25.920 (5 sec)

But I want to start with you, President Trump. We're six months away from the election today, a different world than when we were all together in Scranton.

Donald Trump

01:15:25.920 - 01:15:34.880 (9 sec)

Very different, yes.

Martha MacCallum

01:15:34.880 - 01:15:35.680 (1 sec)

What -- what kind of GDP, what kind of employment number do you think you're going to need to get the support of the American people in November?

Donald Trump

01:15:35.680 - 01:15:44.200 (9 sec)

Our country was sailing. I would tell people, I would say, can this continue? We were doing the greatest ever, greatest economy in the history of any country, blowing away everybody, including China. And then we had to close it. And my ambition is very quickly to get us back to where we were. And I think we can do that very, very quickly, not if a Democrat comes in and raises taxes.

Donald Trump

01:15:44.200 - 01:16:09.680 (25 sec)

They want to raise everybody's taxes. We're doing the opposite. And the payroll tax cut is very important for getting people back to work. What I want to do is, number one, we're getting rid of the virus. We have to do it. We're working with the governors. We're getting rid of the virus. But we have got to put our country back to work.

Donald Trump

01:16:09.680 - 01:16:25.840 (16 sec)

All those people out there that are protesting, they're -- they're right. They want to go back to work. We want to go back to work quickly, but safely. And that's what's happening. And then, next year, I think we're going to have a great economic year. We're going to get our jobs back. And I -- I will go a step further.

Donald Trump

01:16:25.840 - 01:16:40.160 (14 sec)

We have a transition third quarter. We're going to have a very good fourth quarter. We're going to have a great next year.

Bret Baier

01:16:40.160 - 01:16:45.120 (5 sec)

So, we're six months to the day. When is the next Trump rally? And will you wear a mask?

Donald Trump

01:16:45.120 - 01:16:49.560 (4 sec)

Well, I don't know. I mean, everybody wants the rallies. The rallies, we never had an empty seat, from the time I came down the escalator with a person that became our great first lady, who people really love. And they love her at those rallies too. And she's -- she loves the people of this country. We have to -- they are longing for the rallies.

Donald Trump

01:16:49.560 - 01:17:08.920 (19 sec)

I get it all the time.

Bret Baier

01:17:08.920 - 01:17:09.560 (1 sec)

Mask or no mask, if you do it?

Donald Trump

01:17:09.560 - 01:17:10.400 (1 sec)

But you can't have a rally -- I don't think we can have a rally with an empty stadium, with nobody in there. In other words, you know, you may be able to pull it off for baseball or football or boxing or basketball. You can't pull off a rally with 100 percent -- it wouldn't work out too well. So, hopefully, we will be able to do rallies in the last couple of months.

Donald Trump

01:17:10.400 - 01:17:28.720 (18 sec)

I mean, I would hope that, within maybe the last couple of months, we will be able to do rallies in various states.

Bret Baier

01:17:28.720 - 01:17:33.880 (5 sec)

Mr. Vice President, you went to the Mayo Clinic. You didn't wear a mask. Your critics jumped on you for that. Then you went to GM. You did wear a mask. Was that a concession to the critics? Were you sending mixed signals there?

Mike Pence

01:17:33.880 - 01:17:44.680 (11 sec)

Well, from early on, the CDC has made it clear that you wear a mask to prevent you from conveying the coronavirus to other people. And since the president and I are in the unique positions we're in, we're tested often. I didn't think that...

Bret Baier

01:17:44.680 - 01:17:57.960 (13 sec)

We should point that we're tested as well.

Mike Pence

01:17:57.960 - 01:17:58.400 (0 sec)

Yes, that's right.

Bret Baier

01:17:58.400 - 01:17:59.160 (1 sec)

That's why we're here without a mask as well.

Mike Pence

01:17:59.160 - 01:18:01.280 (2 sec)

Well, I didn't think it was necessary. But I should have worn the mask at the Mayo Clinic. And I wore it when I visited the ventilator plant in Indiana. And I think it's -- it's -- it really is a statement about the American people, the way people have been willing to step forward, practice social distancing, wear masks in settings where they can't do that.

Mike Pence

01:18:01.280 - 01:18:26.520 (25 sec)

And I just have to tell you that I couldn't be more grateful to see the way the American people responded. First, the president called for 15 days to slow the spread, then 30 days to slow the spread. And this was a great hardship on families and on businesses, large and small. But the American people did it. It's made an immense difference.

Mike Pence

01:18:26.520 - 01:18:46.360 (20 sec)

I believe it's saved thousands of lives. And, as we go forward, as we continue to practice those principles, all of us together, I know we will get through this.

Martha MacCallum

01:18:46.360 - 01:18:55 (9 sec)

So, you were asked to speak at the West Point graduation. There's been some pushback on that. Tammy Duckworth, a veteran, said it would be reckless.

Donald Trump

01:18:55 - 01:19:03.320 (8 sec)

Oh, well, a Democrat, a Democrat.

Martha MacCallum

01:19:03.320 - 01:19:04.640 (1 sec)

So, are you going to do it?

Donald Trump

01:19:04.640 - 01:19:05.320 (1 sec)

Martha MacCallum

01:19:05.320 - 01:19:05.840 (1 sec)

And do you think that it's worth the risk for those families and cadets?

Donald Trump

01:19:05.840 - 01:19:08.720 (3 sec)

There's no risk. Are you ready? They wanted me to speak. I didn't want to speak. I -- I love West Point. I grew up near -- my school, where I went to high school, was right near West Point, New York Military Academy. So it was a mini-West Point, very mini. But West Point is this incredible thing, incredible place.

Donald Trump

01:19:08.720 - 01:19:25.800 (17 sec)

I love it. I know it well, because I spent a lot of time at West Point. They wanted me to come and speak. Then they changed the date. I believe it's June 13. And it's my honor to speak. But I didn't want to necessarily do it. What they're doing is, they're coming back a little bit early. They're going to be fully tested.

Donald Trump

01:19:25.800 - 01:19:45.440 (20 sec)

There's -- they're going to be very, very spread apart. I said, I want their families to be there. You know, Mike made the commencement address. I did it last year at -- at...

Martha MacCallum

01:19:45.440 - 01:19:53.680 (8 sec)

Donald Trump

01:19:53.680 - 01:19:54.360 (1 sec)

...the Air Force Academy. Mike did it this year. There were no parents in a big stadium. And they were very spread apart. And it was fine. But they asked me to do it. And I agreed. The generals asked me, would I please do it? You know, I'm the president of the United States. They wanted to have me.

Bret Baier

01:19:54.360 - 01:20:09.560 (15 sec)

They would love to have you there.

Donald Trump

01:20:09.560 - 01:20:10.480 (1 sec)

The cadets all wanted it.

Bret Baier

01:20:10.480 - 01:20:12.160 (2 sec)

Mr. President, last thing. What do you tell your kids and grandkids about COVID-19, about this time? What do you tell them?

Donald Trump

01:20:12.160 - 01:20:19.200 (7 sec)

I sat down with my son. I sat down with my grandchildren. I said, a terrible thing has happened. It's a thing that we have never experienced. I said, I guess you could go back over 100 years, and you could go to 1917, and we experienced it. But Europe experienced it much worse. It could have been 100 million people died.

Donald Trump

01:20:19.200 - 01:20:36.840 (18 sec)

But I said, something's happened, but we're going to be strong and we're going to get out of it, and our country is going to be bigger and better and stronger than ever before.

Bret Baier

01:20:36.840 - 01:20:44.680 (8 sec)

President Trump, Vice President Pence, Secretary Mnuchin, thank you very much for your time.

Donald Trump

01:20:44.680 - 01:20:49.800 (5 sec)

Martha MacCallum

01:20:49.800 - 01:20:50.040 (0 sec)

Thank you, all.

Bret Baier

01:20:50.040 - 01:20:51 (1 sec)

It's a real honor to be here tonight.

Martha MacCallum

01:20:51 - 01:20:51.960 (1 sec)

Great to have you with us. It's an honor to have all of you here tonight. [Crosstalk]

Mike Pence

01:20:51.960 - 01:20:53.760 (2 sec)

Good to be with you.

Bret Baier

01:20:53.760 - 01:20:53.840 (0 sec)

And thank you --

Note

01:20:54.840 - 01:20:55.840 (1 sec)

[Video ends here]

Bret Baier

01:20:56.840 - 01:20:57.840 (1 sec)

-- for our viewers at home for watching. I will be back here on Fox tomorrow, 6:00 p.m. Eastern, for "Special Report."

Martha MacCallum

01:20:58.840 - 01:20:59.840 (1 sec)

And I will see you tomorrow night at 7:00 Eastern with "The Story." Good night, everybody.