Transcript - Press Gaggle: Donald Trump Answers Questions Before Marine One Departure - May 23, 2018 | Factba.se

Donald Trump

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

Question

00:00:05 - 00:00:11 (6 sec)

Mr. President -- sir, what proof do you have that your campaign was spied on?

Donald Trump

00:00:11 - 00:00:39 (28 sec)

All you have to do is look at the basics and you'll see. It looks like a very serious event. But we'll find out. When they look at the documents, I think people are going to see a lot of bad things happened. I hope it's not so, because if it is, there's never been anything like it in the history of our country. I hope -- I mean, if you look at Clapper, he sort of admitted that they had spies in the campaign, yesterday, inadvertently. But I hope it's not true. But it looks like it is.

Question

00:00:39 - 00:00:46 (6 sec)

Former FBI Director, James Comey, said to use the word spy is the wrong word.

Donald Trump

00:00:46 - 00:00:57 (12 sec)

I think James Comey has got a lot of problems. If you look at what at he did, if you look at all of the lies -- the tremendous lies -- if you look at all that's going on, I think James Comey has got a lot of problems.

Donald Trump

00:00:57 - 00:01:13 (15 sec)

Now, at some point they have an IG report, and then let's see what James Comey has to say. But I assume he's covered in the IG report. But if you look at what he said -- all of the lies, all of the fiction -- I think he's got a lot of problems.

Question

00:01:13 - 00:01:17 (4 sec)

[Inaudible] spying? Who do you think was responsible for it?

Donald Trump

00:01:17 - 00:01:20 (2 sec)

Well, I don’t want to get into yet, but I will tell you --

Question

00:01:20 - 00:01:21 (1 sec)

President Obama?

Donald Trump

00:01:21 - 00:01:36 (15 sec)

-- after we look at the proof -- would he know? I would certainly hope not. But I think it's going to be pretty obvious after a while. We're going now to talk about MS-13 with the great police officers. We're going out to Long Island. I don’t know, are yo

Question

00:01:36 - 00:01:42 (6 sec)

Aren't you worried you're undercutting the Justice Department? Why won't you say you have confidence in Rod Rosenstein?

Donald Trump

00:01:42 - 00:02:03 (21 sec)

No, no. No, no. We're not undercutting. We're cleaning everything up. This was a terrible situation. What we're doing is we're cleaning everything up. It's so important. What I'm doing is a service to this country. And I did a great service to this country by firing James Comey and --

Question

00:02:03 - 00:02:04 (1 sec)

Mr. President --

Donald Trump

00:02:04 - 00:02:19 (15 sec)

Excuse me. A lot of people have said it. And you go into the FBI, and a lot of those great people working in the FBI, they will tell you, I did a great service to our country by firing James Comey.

Question

00:02:19 - 00:02:32 (13 sec)

[Inaudible] meeting tomorrow with the DOJ, Congressman Nunes, Gowdy, Ed O'Callaghan, Christopher Wray, and Dan Coats, the DNI. Are you specifically telling the DOJ to give them the documents --

Donald Trump

00:02:32 - 00:02:50 (18 sec)

I want them all to get together and I want them -- because everybody wants this solved. But a lot of bad things have happened. We now call it Spygate. You're calling it Spygate. A lot of bad things have happened. I want them all to get together. They'll sit in a room. Hopefully they'll be able to work it out among themselves.

Question

00:02:50 - 00:02:50 (0 sec)

Donald Trump

00:02:50 - 00:02:55 (5 sec)

NAFTA? Excuse me, NAFTA?

Question

00:02:55 - 00:02:59 (3 sec)

[Inaudible] your tweet about automakers --

Donald Trump

00:02:59 - 00:03:26 (27 sec)

I think your autoworkers and your auto companies in this country are going to be very happy with what's going to happen. You'll be seeing very soon what I'm talking about. NAFTA is very difficult. Mexico has been very difficult to deal with. Canada has been very difficult to deal with. They have been taking advantage of the United States for a long time. I am not happy with their requests.

Donald Trump

00:03:26 - 00:03:50 (24 sec)

But I will tell you, in the end, we win. We will win, and we'll win big. We'll get along with Mexico; we'll get along with Canada. But I will tell you, they have been very difficult to deal with. They're very spoiled -- because nobody has done this. But I will tell you that what they ask for is not fair. Our autoworkers are going to be extremely happy.

Question

00:03:50 - 00:03:53 (4 sec)

[Inaudible] summit in Singapore?

Donald Trump

00:03:53 - 00:03:57 (4 sec)

Question

00:03:57 - 00:04:03 (6 sec)

Are you 100 percent committed to going through -- [Inaudible]?

Donald Trump

00:04:03 - 00:04:21 (18 sec)

Well, we're going to see what happens. On Singapore, we're going to see. And it could happen. It could very well happen. But whatever it is, it is. We will know next week about Singapore. And if we go, I think it will be a great thing for North Korea.

Question

00:04:21 - 00:04:21 (0 sec)

Donald Trump

00:04:21 - 00:04:25 (4 sec)

I can't hear you, John.

Question

00:04:25 - 00:04:36 (11 sec)

I said, yesterday in the Oval Office, you seemed to suggest some pessimism about the June 12th date. Do you think that will actually happen?

Donald Trump

00:04:36 - 00:04:46 (10 sec)

Someday a date will happen. It could very well be June 12th. Someday a date will absolutely happen. It could very well be June 12th. We'll see. We'll know next week.

Question

00:04:46 - 00:04:49 (3 sec)

Mr. President, why won't you say whether you have confidence in Rod Rosenstein?

Donald Trump

00:04:49 - 00:04:56 (7 sec)

Well, they're going to all be in the room tomorrow. We're going to see what happens. What I want is I want total transparency.

Question

00:04:56 - 00:04:57 (1 sec)

With Democrats?

Donald Trump

00:04:57 - 00:05:00 (3 sec)

Wait. You have to have transparency.

Question

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

Donald Trump

00:05:00 - 00:05:32 (31 sec)

Even they probably want transparency, because this issue supersedes a party. This supersedes Republicans and Democrats. So what I want from Rod, from the FBI, from everybody -- we want transparency. And you know what? I think in their own way they are obstructionists, but even the Democrats, I really believe, on this issue -- it supersedes -- I think they want transparency too.