Transcript - Press Gaggle: Donald Trump Addresses Press Pool at The White House - September 27, 2017 | Factba.se

Question

00:00:00 - 00:00:00 (0 sec)

Donald Trump

00:00:00 - 00:00:31 (31 sec)

Well, we have a man who is going to be a great senator, and I’m very happy with that. I spoke to him last night. I never met him. I never spoke to him. I’m very happy with him. And I have to say, Luther came a long way from the time I endorsed him, and he ran a good race. But Roy ran a really great race. And I know what they did was -- they used it very much in the campaign, but he works hard. And I’m sure things will work out.

Donald Trump

00:00:31 - 00:00:54 (23 sec)

I just wanted to say, though, on healthcare, we have the votes for healthcare. We have one senator that's in the hospital. He can't vote because he’s in the hospital. He can't vote because he’s in the hospital. We have two other votes that are coming, and we will have them. But the problem is we can't have them by Friday -- because the reconciliation ends on Friday.

Donald Trump

00:00:54 - 00:01:12 (18 sec)

So we’ll have to do it in January or February. But I feel we have the votes. I’m almost certain we have the votes. But with one man in the hospital, we cannot display that we have them. Plus, some people want to go through a process just to make themselves feel better, that's okay.

Question

00:01:12 - 00:01:17 (5 sec)

Do you have concerns about how your aides are spending taxpayer money on this phone booth at the EPA?

Donald Trump

00:01:17 - 00:01:20 (3 sec)

We're talking about healthcare. We're talking about --

Question

00:01:20 - 00:01:24 (4 sec)

What about -- Tom Price spent a lot of money on that charter plane. Is that cool?

Donald Trump

00:01:24 - 00:01:31 (7 sec)

I was looking into it, and I will look into it. And I will tell you, personally, I’m not happy about it. I am not happy.

Question

00:01:31 - 00:01:33 (2 sec)

What are you going to do about it, Mr. President?

Donald Trump

00:01:33 - 00:01:36 (3 sec)

I’m going to look at it. I am not happy about it, and I let him know it.

Question

00:01:36 - 00:01:38 (2 sec)

What about Mitch McConnell -- is he in trouble?

Donald Trump

00:01:38 - 00:02:00 (22 sec)

You’ll have to ask senators about that. So you’re going to have to ask senators. So here’s what I’m just saying. We're going right now to Indiana. We're going to introduce a tax plan that's the largest tax cut, essentially, in the history of our country. It’s going to be something special. You already know some of the numbers. We're going to give you some of the additional numbers.

Donald Trump

00:02:00 - 00:02:12 (12 sec)

But on healthcare, we have the votes. We can't do it now because we have somebody in a hospital -- and we have great respect for that gentleman, by the way. He's a fantastic man.

Question

00:02:12 - 00:02:13 (1 sec)

But he was a "yes."""

Donald Trump

00:00:00 - 00:02:13 (0 sec)

Question

00:02:15 - 00:02:17 (2 sec)

So why does it matter?

Donald Trump

00:02:17 - 00:02:20 (3 sec)

Because he has to come here and vote. He can't come here and vote.

Question

00:02:20 - 00:02:21 (1 sec)

[Inaudible] have any votes?

Donald Trump

00:02:21 - 00:02:24 (3 sec)

In other words, he can't come here and vote because he's in the hospital.

Question

00:02:24 - 00:02:25 (1 sec)

Who is in the hospital?

Question

00:02:25 - 00:02:27 (2 sec)

Just to be clear, you're talking about Cochran, right?

Donald Trump

00:02:27 - 00:02:49 (22 sec)

Let me just say -- yes. He's in the hospital. So we're going to do it in January or February because, as you know, we have the votes but we can't go longer than Friday. What we're going to do is we will do the block grants; we will do the healthcare. We will get a longer process going for the couple of people that did want to see more process, even though they're a "yes"" vote."

Donald Trump

00:02:49 - 00:03:08 (19 sec)

But very importantly, I am also -- during this period of a couple of months, I'm also going to meet with Democrats, and I will see if I can get a healthcare plan that's even better. So I will negotiate with Democrats, but from the Republican standpoint, we have the votes. We'll vote in January, February, or March.

Question

00:03:08 - 00:03:11 (3 sec)

Are you considering an executive order?

Donald Trump

00:03:11 - 00:03:29 (18 sec)

I am considering an executive order on associations, and that will take care of a tremendous number of people with regard to healthcare. And I'll probably be signing a very major executive order where people can go out, cross state lines, do lots of things, and buy their own healthcare.

Donald Trump

00:03:29 - 00:03:40 (11 sec)

And that will be probably signed next week. It's being finished now. It's going to cover a lot of territory and a lot of people -- millions of people. John, go ahead.

Question

00:03:40 - 00:03:45 (5 sec)

Are you confident, sir, that Mitch McConnell can get healthcare across the finish line?

Donald Trump

00:03:45 - 00:04:12 (27 sec)

I think we're there now, John. I'll be honest. You look at the statement put out by Alaska -- right, you saw that -- by Lisa. You look at the other couple of statements. You know, we're only one off, maybe two. But we can't vote now, John -- you probably didn't hear me -- because, as you know, one of our "yes"" votes is in the hospital. I can't take him out of the hospital."

Question

00:04:12 - 00:04:16 (4 sec)

I'm just wondering if you just have confidence in Senator McConnell?

Donald Trump

00:04:16 - 00:04:33 (17 sec)

I do have confidence in him, yes. I do have confidence in him. But it's not up to me, it's up to the Senate. But I do have confidence, and I will say we used him in the race -- and I was very honored by the way I was treated in the race. But they used him in the race. John, they used him in the race.

Question

00:04:33 - 00:04:41 (8 sec)

Mr. President, on tax reform, does your plan help the wealthy too much? There's criticism that it gives you tax breaks.

Donald Trump

00:04:41 - 00:04:44 (3 sec)

My plan is for the working people, and my plan is for jobs.

Question

00:04:44 - 00:04:48 (4 sec)

So you wouldn't benefit under your tax plan?

Donald Trump

00:04:48 - 00:04:50 (2 sec)

No, I don't benefit. I don't benefit.

Question

00:04:50 - 00:04:52 (2 sec)

You don't think rich people benefit?

Donald Trump

00:04:52 - 00:04:58 (6 sec)

In fact, very, very strongly, as you see, there's no -- I think there's very little benefit for people of wealth.

Question

00:04:58 - 00:05:00 (2 sec)

The estate tax repeal is a benefit to people of wealth.

Donald Trump

00:05:00 - 00:05:05 (5 sec)

The estate taxes is one of things and that's, if you look at, for farmers and people with small businesses.

Question

00:05:05 - 00:05:18 (13 sec)

Mr. President, what do you say to the things that Roy Moore has said in the past. He thinks it's wrong to be gay, he thinks that there's a Muslim member of Congress who doesn't deserve to have that seat; he used the phrases "reds"" and ""yellows"" to talk about people of that history."

Donald Trump

00:05:18 - 00:05:23 (5 sec)

I don't see it, but we'll talk to you about that at a different time. So here's the point --

Question

00:05:23 - 00:05:28 (5 sec)

Do you worry that he's so incendiary? That he's such a firebrand that says these controversial things -- do you worry about that?

Donald Trump

00:05:28 - 00:05:45 (17 sec)

The point is this: Healthcare -- we have it; we have the votes. Because of reconciliation we have to wait until January, February, or March, which we'll do. But in the meantime, I will negotiate with Democrats to see if we can make a bipartisan bill. Yes, Steve.

Question

00:05:45 - 00:05:50 (5 sec)

One more on tax cuts, sir. Is the 20 percent corporate rate a red line to you? I know you say --

Donald Trump

00:05:50 - 00:06:12 (22 sec)

Very much a red line. In fact, I wanted to start at 15 so that we got 20. It just -- the numbers were -- 15 was so low we didn't take in the revenue. But I wanted 15, so we got 20 -- 20 is my number. So I'm not negotiating that number. I really -- I am not going to negotiate.

Donald Trump

00:06:12 - 00:06:24 (12 sec)

That's the number I wanted to get to. I wanted to start at 15 to get there. We really had to start there because of the complexity of the numbers, but 20 is a perfect number.

Question

00:06:24 - 00:06:28 (4 sec)

On Puerto Rico, Mr. President. Why not lift the Jones Act like you did in Texas and Florida?

Donald Trump

00:06:28 - 00:06:38 (10 sec)

Well, we're thinking about that, but we have a lot of shippers and a lot of people and a lot of people who work in the shipping industry that don't want the Jones Act lifted. And we have a lot of ships out there right now.

Donald Trump

00:06:38 - 00:06:51 (13 sec)

And I will tell you, the governor was very generous yesterday with his statement, and so was the major of San Juan --very, very generous with their statements. So we have a lot people, and I’m going there on Tuesday, as you probably have heard.

Donald Trump

00:06:51 - 00:07:04 (13 sec)

And Puerto Rico is a very difficult situation. I mean, that place was just destroyed. That's not a question of, gee, let’s dry up the water, let’s do this or that. I mean, that place was flattened. That is a really tough situation. I feel so bad for those people.

Question

00:07:04 - 00:07:07 (3 sec)

May I ask you a question about [Inaudible] travel ban?

Donald Trump

00:07:07 - 00:07:07 (0 sec)

Question

00:07:07 - 00:07:15 (8 sec)

First of all, can you explain to us why Sudan was removed? And second of all, how does the travel ban work in North Korea that doesn't allow their people out of the country?

Donald Trump

00:07:15 - 00:07:20 (5 sec)

Well, the people -- yeah, the people allowed -- certain countries -- but we can add countries very easily and we can take countries away.

Question

00:07:20 - 00:07:22 (2 sec)

What did Sudan do right?

Donald Trump

00:07:22 - 00:07:36 (14 sec)

And as far as the travel ban is concerned, whatever it is, I want the toughest travel ban you can have. So I’ll see you in Indiana. We're going to go over some more points that have not been talked about. Are you all going? Is everyone going?

Question

00:07:36 - 00:07:37 (1 sec)

Question

00:07:37 - 00:07:50 (13 sec)

Mr. President, can I ask one more on the NFL story because I know this is something you've been talking about a lot. You said, back during Charlottesville, that those folks had the right to protest. Why doesn't Colin Kaepernick have his First Amendment rights?

Donald Trump

00:07:50 - 00:08:04 (14 sec)

I think the NFL is in a box. I think they're in a really bad box. You look at what’s happening with their ratings. You look at what’s going -- I mean, frankly, the only thing that's doing well in the NFL is the pregame because everybody wants to see what’s going on.

Donald Trump

00:08:04 - 00:08:23 (19 sec)

The NFL is in a very bad box. You cannot have people disrespecting our national anthem, our flag, our country, and that's what they're doing. And in my opinion, the NFL has to change or you know what’s going to happen? Their business is going to go to hell.

Question

00:08:23 - 00:08:29 (6 sec)

Mr. President, do you think that undermines the First Amendment at all?

Donald Trump

00:08:29 - 00:08:43 (14 sec)

No, not at all. No, no. We have to respect our national anthem. We have to respect our country, and they're respecting our country. And most importantly, the fans agree with me -- I mean, largely, the fans agree.

Donald Trump

00:08:43 - 00:09:01 (18 sec)

But we have to show total respect for our national anthem, for our flag, for our country, we have to do it. And you can -- there are plenty of places, and there are -- personally, when they're protesting during a football game, I think they can find better places. But they cannot do it during the national anthem.

Question

00:09:01 - 00:09:05 (4 sec)

Mr. President, do you still have confidence in Secretary Price?

Donald Trump

00:09:05 - 00:09:14 (9 sec)

I am going to see. I’m looking at that very closely. I am not happy with it. I will tell you I am not happy with it.

Question

00:09:14 - 00:09:16 (2 sec)

[Inaudible] would you fire him, sir?

Donald Trump

00:09:16 - 00:09:17 (1 sec)