Transcript - Remarks: Donald Trump Holds a Roundtable on Border Security at The White House - January 11, 2019 | Factba.se

Donald Trump

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

Thank you, Pastor, very much. I appreciate it. That's beautiful. So we're here today to address the humanitarian and security crisis on our southern border. I just got back. It was a sight to behold. Not pretty. Very dangerous. Drugs are flowing across. Human traffickers -- you think of that as an ancient crime.

Donald Trump

00:00:31 - 00:01:31 (60 sec)

It's not an ancient crime. It's more prevalent today in this world -- far beyond the United States. It's a world crime given to us, very much, by the Internet and bad people. The Internet has made things, in many ways, better, and, in many ways, much worse. But human trafficking -- grabbing women, in particular -- and children, but women -- taping them up, wrapping tape around their mouths so they can't shout or scream, tying up their hands behind their back and even their legs and putting them in a backseat of a car or a van -- three, four, five, six, seven at a time.

Donald Trump

00:01:31 - 00:02:12 (41 sec)

They don't go through checkpoints. They go through areas that don't have a wall or don't have a steel barrier. They go up to the checkpoint, and before they get to it, they'd make a right or a left, depending on where they are, and they go out into the desert or out into the land, and they find the first area that doesn't have anything blocking its way.

Donald Trump

00:02:12 - 00:02:42 (30 sec)

And they have mini-highways all over the place. You can see it all over the place and it's not good. And the only way you're going to stop it -- the only way to stop it, without question, is with a very powerful wall or steel barrier. This is part of what we've just finished. This is a section that we're doing.

Donald Trump

00:02:42 - 00:03:01 (19 sec)

This is what we've designed since I've been in. Some of the wall that they put up over the years -- which, by the way, should have been put up whether it looked good or not -- should have been put up a long time ago. We inherited a lot of problems, whether it's North Korea, whether it's the Middle East, whether it's a lot of other things.

Donald Trump

00:03:01 - 00:03:25 (24 sec)

We took over a lot of problems and we're straightening them out one by one. One of the big problems we have is our border -- our southern border. And we're going to take care of it. Now, the easy solution is for me to call a national emergency. I could do that very quickly. I have the absolute right to do it but I'm not going to do it so fast, because this is something Congress should do and we're waiting for the Democrats to vote.

Donald Trump

00:03:25 - 00:03:47 (22 sec)

They should come back and vote. They want to go home. They're probably home by now. And Nancy and Chuck and all of the folks that could settle this thing in 15 minutes -- I used to say 45 minutes, now I say 15 minutes. It's so simple. We need money for a barrier. If we don't have a barrier, we're just wasting all of the other money.

Donald Trump

00:03:47 - 00:04:07 (20 sec)

There's no technology that's any good. I'd think you'd say that. You know that probably better than anybody -- most of you guys. You know, without the barrier, you don't have security. Without the barrier, you have people driving in, loaded up with drugs, with smuggled people, with all sorts of things that you don't want to know about.

Donald Trump

00:04:07 - 00:04:30 (24 sec)

So we need a barrier. It's a very simple meeting. We can also do a much more major form of immigration reform, and I'd look forward to doing that, along with many other people at the table, including our Vice President. And we look very much forward to moving on that. But first, we have to get a barrier because it all doesn't work without protection.

Donald Trump

00:04:30 - 00:04:58 (27 sec)

The Rio Grande area where I was yesterday, you just have to look at it to see how dangerous it is. El Paso, Texas went from one of the most unsafe parts or cities in the United States to one of the safest cities in the United States as soon as they put up the wall. They built a wall and fencing apparatus that blocked people.

Donald Trump

00:04:58 - 00:05:28 (30 sec)

So they went from one of the most dangerous cities to one of the safest cities, all within a very short period of time. It's common sense, folks. Everyone knows it works. Everyone knows it's not expensive. They say it's medieval. Well, so is the wheel -- medieval. I looked at all the vans and all of the serious equipment that they surrounded me with yesterday -- the Secret Service, the police, the Border Patrol, ICE. Every one of those had the wheel.

Donald Trump

00:05:28 - 00:05:59 (31 sec)

Well, they say wheels are medieval, too. But some things don't change. Wheels and walls. And they haven't found an alternative to either of those two, right? They haven't found an alternative. So we want Congress to do its job. We want the Democrats to come back and vote, wherever they may be. I haven't left the White House except to go to Iraq for a very short period of time, where I had a great experience, frankly.

Donald Trump

00:05:59 - 00:06:19 (20 sec)

I met some great people, some great generals. We have great ideas having to do with Syria. And it's working out very well. We're knocking the hell out of ISIS, and we're bringing our folks back home. And we're going to always have a presence. And it's working out very well. A lot of things are working out well.

Donald Trump

00:06:19 - 00:06:48 (29 sec)

North Korea is working out very well. A lot of things are working out well, but the southern border is something that should be easy. So what we're not looking to do right now is national emergency. What we want to do -- we have the absolute right to do it. In many ways, it's the easy way out. But this is up to Congress, and it should be up to Congress and they should do it. And if they can't do it -- if they yell that We can't do it. There's no way we can vote for security.

Donald Trump

00:06:48 - 00:07:15 (27 sec)

There's no way we can vote for safety. All Nancy and Chuck have to do is tell me. And you know what? We'll start thinking about another alternative. But this is one of the easy votes they'll ever have. It's very simple. And then we go on to major reform on immigration. And I look forward to that because after 50 years of talking about it, they should have done it. And, frankly, previous Presidents should have done the wall.

Donald Trump

00:07:15 - 00:07:34 (19 sec)

It should have been done. Not just sections -- small sections. The problem with doing a section of wall is they come around it. So the wall works for the area that it is, but when you have the big openings, they just come around it. And we can't allow that to happen. So we have great plans. I met yesterday with the Army Corps of Engineers.

Donald Trump

00:07:34 - 00:07:51 (17 sec)

You know, we're building the wall right now as we speak. Somebody said, Oh, but we had $1.6 billion and they haven't spent it. The reason we haven't spent it is because the contractors are building it. And unlike governments -- and this government, in particular -- I like paying after it's built instead of before it's built.

Donald Trump

00:07:51 - 00:08:13 (21 sec)

[Laughter] Okay? I learned that a long time ago, in building buildings. You let your contractor do the work and then you see if they did a good job. And if they didn't do a good job, don't pay them. And if they do a good job, pay them fast. So a lot of fables were told. A lot of lies were told. So we're building wall as we speak.

Donald Trump

00:08:13 - 00:08:32 (19 sec)

We've done a lot of renovation. Some of the renovation, we had no choice; we had to rip it down and build new wall. You'll see that in San Diego and some other areas where we actually went to a new wall because it was almost better and cheaper in some ways than trying to renovate old garbage that wasn't going to work.

Donald Trump

00:08:32 - 00:08:49 (17 sec)

And in some cases, you had a good structure. You had a good basis -- less expensive to renovate, generally speaking. And we've done a great job. So we've done a lot of renovation. We've done new wall and we're building the new wall as we speak. And the money that they say we didn't spend has been spent, but it hasn't been paid.

Donald Trump

00:08:49 - 00:09:17 (28 sec)

There's a big difference. And when the contractors finish up, they get paid and they're doing a second section. Army Corps has been very impressive. Working with them has been great. The new wall that we've designed is really beautiful. It's visual; you can see through it, which you have to be able to do. I mean, I'd like to have a concrete wall in one way, but, in another way, it wouldn't be very effective because you can't see to the other side.

Donald Trump

00:09:17 - 00:09:39 (22 sec)

So these are steel walls. And, in many cases, steel walls -- it's steel that is -- that has concrete inside. It's pumped into the steel. It's hollow and it's pumped into the steel, so it's sort of a combination of both, which is not a bad combination. So I just want to thank the people at this table -- some very special people, some great friends of mine.

Donald Trump

00:09:39 - 00:09:58 (19 sec)

And what I thought I'd do is just go down to my left, and maybe I'll have three or four of you say a few words to the press. And then we could all start talking about what we'll be talking about, okay? And, Bunny, you've been a friend of mine for a long time -- right from the beginning -- and I appreciate it. And maybe I'll start with you and we'll go over to A.J.

Carolyn "Bunny" Welsh

00:09:58 - 00:10:11 (13 sec)

Thank you. Thank you, Mr. President. I'm the Sheriff of Chester County, Pennsylvania. Thank you for inviting us here today. Chester County is located, as you know, just southwest of Philadelphia -- an area you're familiar with.

Donald Trump

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

Carolyn "Bunny" Welsh

00:10:11 - 00:10:16 (5 sec)

We're known as a healthy, wealthy, and wise county, and the home of QVC. [Laughs]

Donald Trump

00:10:16 - 00:10:17 (1 sec)

Carolyn "Bunny" Welsh

00:10:17 - 00:10:35 (18 sec)

I like to tell you that because I want to let you know what a wonderful county it is of half a million people. And I want to share with you a very short story of a young boy named Ben, who took a trip one night from Chester County into the city of Philadelphia, where he acquired heroin laced with fentanyl.

Carolyn "Bunny" Welsh

00:10:35 - 00:10:53 (18 sec)

He brought that back to Chester County, and within an hour he was dead. I spoke to his father yesterday and told him that I would be seeing you today. And I asked his father if there was anything he wanted me to share. He gave me a wonderful story. I've given it to Kellyanne. Kellyanne, you have the story, a family story.

Carolyn "Bunny" Welsh

00:10:53 - 00:11:14 (21 sec)

But I just want to read you the last line of the letter he sent to you, Mr. President, relating to his son, Ben. His body was exposed to a heroin substance, new on the scene, laced with fentanyl -- 100 times the strength of morphine -- which stopped his heart and breath, robbing us of our only beautiful boy.

Carolyn "Bunny" Welsh

00:11:14 - 00:11:32 (18 sec)

Drugs that came over our unprotected southern border… And, by the way, the DEA did trace this directly to a cartel over the Mexican border. Drugs that came over our unprotected southern border, wreaking havoc on the lives of hundreds of thousands of lives and millions of loved ones. We need to do something about this.

Carolyn "Bunny" Welsh

00:11:32 - 00:11:34 (2 sec)

Please, Mr. President, build the wall.

Donald Trump

00:11:34 - 00:11:42 (8 sec)

Thank you. That's -- please say hello. Okay? Thank you very much, appreciate it. A.J.? Sheriff?

AJ Louderback

00:11:42 - 00:11:52 (9 sec)

Mr. President, from the men and women of law enforcement for the federal, state, and local level, we thank you for standing tall for us.

Donald Trump

00:11:52 - 00:11:53 (1 sec)

AJ Louderback

00:11:53 - 00:12:20 (27 sec)

Let me address the word manufactured that we keep hearing. It's very demeaning to law enforcement, because it's not -- there's not one agent, not any agency in this country that is not affected by manufacturing. And manufacturing, I mean by the metric ton of methamphetamine, heroin, cocaine, and marijuana that each agency in our nation has to fight every single day.

AJ Louderback

00:12:20 - 00:12:43 (23 sec)

And it extremely distressing to law enforcement to have to listen to the rhetoric about manufactured crisis, when we, for ten years, over a decade, have been fighting this religiously every day. That affects every law enforcement agency in the United States on a constant basis. So again, sir, thank you for your position on this and standing tall for us.

Donald Trump

00:12:43 - 00:13:10 (27 sec)

Thank you, Sheriff. I appreciate it. And on Wednesday, you probably heard, a very young person with a great life ahead was stabbed viciously -- violently killed by an MS-13 gang member who entered our country recently through the southern border. He had a friend with him; they both came in together. Here, just for a short while.

Donald Trump

00:13:10 - 00:13:24 (14 sec)

Kills somebody. That wouldn't be the first. We have them locked up in pretty tough conditions. It's a disgrace. Came through the southern border. Please. Say a few words, please.

Pasqual Urrabazo

00:13:24 - 00:13:31 (6 sec)

Mr. President Trump, I'm Pastor Pasqual from the International Church of Las Vegas. Thank you for having me today. Thank you for everything you're doing for America.

Donald Trump

00:13:31 - 00:13:31 (1 sec)

Pasqual Urrabazo

00:13:31 - 00:14:01 (30 sec)

I would like to share something with you about human trafficking, the crisis we're having. As you know, we're connected to California; Las Vegas, Nevada is next door. Many of the girls that are being brought across the border through the San Diego area end up in Las Vegas. And what happens there is that, you know, they're illegal immigrants, families that are coming in, and we are -- we're having the parents coming to the churches and asking us if could help them find their daughters because their daughters have been kidnapped and -- you know, human trafficking.

Pasqual Urrabazo

00:14:01 - 00:14:15 (14 sec)

And they said -- I had to ask them, Did you call the police department? Yes, we did. So I connect with the police department. [Inaudible] back. we're working together, and we're able to get these young ladies back. But the problem is that we're having it happen more and more and more and more than ever before.

Pasqual Urrabazo

00:14:15 - 00:14:37 (22 sec)

And what happens with the parents, they're afraid to call law enforcement that come and help, so they come to the churches first. They feel they're going to get deported. So we're there as a safe place for them to come, but then we connect them with the police department and do educate the Hispanic communities that the police is not going to arrest them for something that's happening on human trafficking.

Pasqual Urrabazo

00:14:37 - 00:14:38 (1 sec)

So, sir, we need your help.

Donald Trump

00:14:38 - 00:14:43 (5 sec)

So you are seeing human trafficking, especially with respect to young women?

Pasqual Urrabazo

00:14:43 - 00:14:43 (0 sec)

Donald Trump

00:14:43 - 00:14:44 (1 sec)

More now than ever before?

Pasqual Urrabazo

00:14:44 - 00:14:47 (2 sec)

Yes. Young women, yes.

Donald Trump

00:14:47 - 00:14:53 (6 sec)

Pretty sad. Pretty sad. Thank you very much, Pastor. Appreciate it. Please.

John Johns

00:14:53 - 00:15:00 (7 sec)

Mr. President, thank you for letting me be here. John Jones, Chief of the Intelligence and Counterterrorism division with the Texas Department of Public Safety.

Donald Trump

00:15:00 - 00:15:01 (2 sec)

Great reputation, John.

John Johns

00:15:01 - 00:15:18 (17 sec)

We've been there for about -- I've been in that position for 10 years. And as you well know, with Texas, we've been dealing with this crisis for a very long time. Some of the things we see, and a lot of the discussion you hear is about unaccompanied children, but the thing that bothers me is some of the children in Texas.

John Johns

00:15:18 - 00:15:57 (39 sec)

For the last seven years, we had over 4,000 people incarcerated that are illegal aliens in Texas jails for sexual assault. The sad thing is, 62 percent of them are sexual assault against children. And those are Texas children. Those are American children. Those are our children. And for anybody to put a price on any child's life -- that's our most precious and cherished national treasure, and we should do everything and anything as public safety servants, as parents, and as leadership to protect those children.

Donald Trump

00:15:57 - 00:16:03 (6 sec)

And closing up that border to the bad people would be a great thing, John.

John Johns

00:16:03 - 00:16:03 (1 sec)

Donald Trump

00:16:03 - 00:16:06 (2 sec)

Great thing. Please. Thank you.

T. Michael O'Connor

00:16:06 - 00:16:25 (19 sec)

Mr. President, howdy. [Laughter] I'm T. Michael O'Connor, I'm the sheriff of Victoria County. We're just north of Corpus Christi. We're part of that Harvey territory, which got damaged that you came -- and we appreciate you and the Vice President coming to see us and visiting with us and supporting our progress.

T. Michael O'Connor

00:16:25 - 00:16:58 (33 sec)

You've heard the rest of the story, as Paul Harvey used to say. Basically, we're the rest of the story. In 2003, there was unfortunately a national incident in our county with regards to loss of life. Nineteen people lost their lives in a tractor-trailer incident. I was one of the first responders. I walked around, and what I saw was a pile of deceased individuals with one child, deceased as well, to which he was in the arms of the children -- of the father.

T. Michael O'Connor

00:16:58 - 00:17:22 (24 sec)

I vowed from that point on, to go forward and make a difference, not only for our brethren sheriffs on the border, but also ourselves inland. We have to be multidimensional on this. We deemed it as a fatal funnel, Mr. President. It's a Rio Grande Valley to Laredo; anything to and from is Houston and beyond.

T. Michael O'Connor

00:17:22 - 00:17:47 (25 sec)

And so even in my jurisdiction, we have apprehended a child trafficking case in that area. We have taken on cases with slavery of the human being. But it's still all about law and order, Mr. President. I mean, what we're seeing is you have to shore up, you have to pursue the initiative that you have led.

T. Michael O'Connor

00:17:47 - 00:18:08 (21 sec)

Now I've been in forums like this with other Presidents. And they listen, but you are the very first President, even in your candidacy, to support local, state, and federal agencies. And I admire you for that, and I appreciate you for that. But understand that it's multidimensional. And, yes, it's the border.

T. Michael O'Connor

00:18:08 - 00:18:40 (32 sec)

And as we told our fellow sheriffs on the border: Look, if we can help you fix your problem, that's going to help us. And every day, my deputies, along with Sheriff Louderback because we're adjacent to each other, are in pursuit dealing with one thing or another with transnational criminal activities. But I want to comment one more thing, and then I'll move on. I appreciate you taking ONDCP, putting it back on that Cabinet level.

T. Michael O'Connor

00:18:40 - 00:19:10 (30 sec)

I serve on the Houston HIDTA, which takes, you know, Houston and all the way to South Texas. If it weren't for the HIDTAs and ONDCP and funding -- and this is your best resource. Now, I'm sure some of the feds may differ, but there is a matrix of state, local, and federal that are part of those HIDTAs across the nation, and they are the subject matter expert and they have helped us with information, intelligence, outreach, et cetera to try to work on this.

T. Michael O'Connor

00:19:10 - 00:19:23 (14 sec)

But, you know, until we have this means of a barrier wall -- call it what you want -- you've got to have that before we can solve our problems down the road. Thank you, Mr. President.

Donald Trump

00:19:23 - 00:19:42 (19 sec)

Thank you, Sheriff. You know, when you talk about the big trailers coming in and loaded up with people, and the doors are locked in the back, and sometimes they're left abandoned and they all die a hell of a death, they're suffocated -- they come from the other side of the border. They don't go through a checkpoint.

Donald Trump

00:19:42 - 00:20:04 (22 sec)

You can't go through a checkpoint because they open up the back door and say, Take a look. So you go and they go out onto the different areas, depending on where you're going, what checkpoints. They go in between the checkpoints. Most of the problem -- we get a lot -- we get a lot of drugs, a lot of things at the checkpoints, but they're usually hidden in hubcaps, in engines, and under the floor.

Donald Trump

00:20:04 - 00:20:25 (21 sec)

But the big stuff comes in in between the checkpoints. And the trailers come in loaded up with people, with the doors locked in the back. They don't even give them a chance. The doors are locked. And sometimes you have the drivers running away. It's a disgrace. These -- all of this comes in between the checkpoints where there is no wall.

Donald Trump

00:20:25 - 00:20:47 (22 sec)

Because you'll have some wall -- a little wall -- left and right of a checkpoint, generally speaking. But in between checkpoints, you might have 50 miles, 60 miles, even 100 miles. And that's where tremendous problems occur. And even yesterday, I read where, fairly close to where I was, like 26 people were killed.

T. Michael O'Connor

00:20:47 - 00:20:48 (1 sec)

Yes, [Inaudible].

Donald Trump

00:20:48 - 00:21:04 (16 sec)

Gang members and drug dealers, they were killed like a few days ago, right next to where I spent quite a bit of time with great people from Border Patrol. You know about that. You heard about that.

AJ Louderback

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

Donald Trump

00:21:04 - 00:21:22 (18 sec)

This was like -- you know, it's amazing because I get -- it got no publicity. I didn't see it. You don't read about this stuff. They're not telling you the truth about -- really, you're doing this country a tremendous disservice. You're not telling the truth about the criminal activity and the crime. Twenty-six people or thereabouts.

Donald Trump

00:21:22 - 00:21:23 (1 sec)

What was the number? Twenty-six?

T. Michael O'Connor

00:21:23 - 00:21:24 (1 sec)

Donald Trump

00:21:24 - 00:21:58 (35 sec)

Twenty-six people were killed over the last couple of days. Nobody even talks about it. I haven't heard about this young person that was killed yesterday -- 16 years old. Brutally murdered. I haven't heard anything about it. The media is not telling the American public how -- how bad it is, how dangerous it is. I mean, I read a little story about the 26. I said, How could that be a small story? But what's going on -- the crime, and the drugs, and the smuggling, and the -- of everything, including children.

Donald Trump

00:21:58 - 00:22:21 (23 sec)

We're talking women, yes. But probably the biggest victim of everything we're talking about today are children. And children are used. They're dropped on the border, and they're used to get people across because they have an advantage -- because of the stupidity of what we've got and laws that we've inherited, they have an advantage if they have a child.

Donald Trump

00:22:21 - 00:22:44 (23 sec)

So they grab children at the border. They walk across. They get across easier if you have children. So they're just using the children. Then they tell them to get out of here. The worst victims are the children and the women. And you don't write about it. You know, you write about nonsense. You write about Nancy Pelosi saying it's immoral to have a wall.

Donald Trump

00:22:44 - 00:23:01 (18 sec)

It's immoral to have all these people killed. These people are being killed, and you don't report it because you're fake news. You don't report it, many of you. Twenty-six people killed, and I didn't even hear about it. I mean, nobody even knows about it. And that's -- how close it that to where I was yesterday?

Donald Trump

00:23:01 - 00:23:04 (2 sec)

It was right alongside, I think. Right? How far was that away?

T. Michael O'Connor

00:23:04 - 00:23:05 (2 sec)

Miles. Miles away. Not far at all.

Donald Trump

00:23:05 - 00:23:26 (20 sec)

Miles away. You don't even hear about it because you don't want to tell the story of what's going on at the border. You don't want to tell the story about how dangerous it is. So you have people get up and say walls are immoral. What's immoral is what's going on. It's -- there's never been anything like it. And we can stop it so easy.

Donald Trump

00:23:26 - 00:23:46 (20 sec)

And the Border Patrol and ICE -- they're doing a fantastic job. But we're not giving them the equipment when we're not giving them the walls or the steel barriers or whatever you want to call it. We're not giving them the equipment. Remember El Paso? Remember what I said about El Paso? From one of the worst to one of the best.

Donald Trump

00:23:46 - 00:23:47 (1 sec)

Yes, ma'am. Please go ahead.

Kristin Gaspar

00:23:47 - 00:24:19 (32 sec)

I'm San Diego County Supervisor Kristin Gaspar. We're the fifth-largest county in the nation. We actually have the busiest land crossing in the entire world. And we do rely on our border to maintain that strong, binational economy. But at the same time, we rely on our border to keep us safe. The last time, I had the opportunity to share the tragic loss of Alexander Mazin, a young person in San Diego who was brutally murdered while his killer slipped freely across the border into Mexico.

Kristin Gaspar

00:24:19 - 00:24:47 (29 sec)

Today, I'd like to share with you an alarming trend about what's really happening with the insecurity of our border when it comes to the exploitation of our children. There is an alarming trend in San Diego that our young teens in San Diego schools are being actively recruited by violent drug cartels. They're being pack mules for these drug cartels -- smuggling heroin, cocaine, and fentanyl across the border.

Kristin Gaspar

00:24:47 - 00:25:13 (26 sec)

It's become such an alarming trend that they're being recruited over social media. They're being recruited over gaming consoles. They're being recruited in traditional safe spaces, like our schools and our libraries and our parks. Last year, 527 San Diegans lost their lives. They overdosed because of these drugs that are pouring across our border.

Kristin Gaspar

00:25:13 - 00:25:37 (24 sec)

In addition, San Diego is America's finest city. But America's finest city is now home to the second-largest human trafficking industry in the country. Our children are being sexually exploited because of the insecurity at our border. San Diego -- this evil industry raked in close to a billion dollars last year.

Kristin Gaspar

00:25:37 - 00:26:13 (36 sec)

There are 12,000 human trafficking victims and survivors in San Diego County alone -- the average age, sixteen years old. Sixteen years old. A third of this trafficked population are the very immigrants who have come to the United States to make for a better life. Now, 2,200 miles from Washington, D.C., representatives like me are held accountable by these families and these victims each and every day, while a standoff continues here.

Kristin Gaspar

00:26:13 - 00:26:26 (13 sec)

And so I challenge our congressional members to meet with these families, to meet with these victims, to look them in the eye, and tell them that this is not a crisis. Thank you for the opportunity to be here.

Donald Trump

00:26:26 - 00:26:48 (22 sec)

Thank you very much. Thank you very much. And this is where I ask the Democrats to come back to Washington, and to vote for money for the wall, the barrier -- whatever you want to call it is okay with me. They can name it whatever. They can name it Peaches. I don't care what they name it. But we need money for that barrier.

Donald Trump

00:26:48 - 00:27:15 (27 sec)

I will say this: The Republicans have been rock solid. They want this to happen. They've wanted it to happen a long time ago, and, frankly, for many years. I'm not just talking about now. I'm talking about for years. I gave, yesterday, an example. With Israel, for many years, everybody campaigning for President said they were going to move the embassy to Jerusalem -- the American embassy to Jerusalem.

Donald Trump

00:27:15 - 00:27:37 (23 sec)

This went on, Pastor, as you know, for many, many years. Many, many Presidents, dating back all the way to -- who was the first? And they never did it. And I said the same thing -- same words, same campaign. But I did it and got it done, and people are very happy. Jewish population and evangelicals -- unbelievably happy.

Donald Trump

00:27:37 - 00:27:59 (22 sec)

I did it. I understand why they didn't do it because it was very tough to do. It met with a lot of nasty talk before I did it. And then I did it. And it was done. And now we've just opened up the embassy, as you know, long ahead of budget and schedule, and way under budget. Like, how about a billion dollars under budget?

Donald Trump

00:27:59 - 00:28:18 (19 sec)

Opened it up for almost nothing -- an existing building that we renovated. But the fact is: For years and years, I heard about the embassy going to Jerusalem and the -- people would campaign. They were in for four years. They were in for eight years. They'd never get it done. I got it done. This is a very similar thing.

Donald Trump

00:28:18 - 00:28:36 (18 sec)

I've been hearing about putting a really good wall -- and, in my case, I like to say a beautiful wall because I think it makes a difference. I've seen some of the wall they put up; it's so unattractive that I understand why other people don't want it. But this is a great-looking -- this is a great-looking structure.

Donald Trump

00:28:36 - 00:28:55 (19 sec)

I mean, it's -- it's going to look great. It's going to do the trick beyond belief. It's far better than anybody had projected. We have it at a much lower cost. And it's better. It's stronger. It's better. And you have the vision through. You have -- you're able to see through. But we're going to get it done.

Donald Trump

00:28:55 - 00:29:20 (25 sec)

And I compare that to the embassy because they talked about it for 45, 50 years -- longer. And we got it done. We're going to get this done, too. Now, Republicans are rock solid. I have to hand it to him -- Mitch McConnell. Every one of them -- Kevin -- they have been so strong on this. I'm very impressed.

Donald Trump

00:29:20 - 00:29:38 (18 sec)

The Democrats are just following politics. And I'm not saying that for any reason other -- I guess they're looking at 2020. They think, Gee, if we can hurt Trump, we'll have a better chance of winning an election. This isn't about winning an election. This is very simply -- very, very simply about doing what's right for the country.

Donald Trump

00:29:38 - 00:30:04 (25 sec)

And we have to do what's right for the country. This is common sense. This is not sending rockets to the moon. This is common sense. We have to have this. This country has to have it. They've been talking about it for 35 years. And they do little pieces -- a little piece here, a little piece there. Put a piece where we need it. The people just go around it. We have to have it. It's got to get done.

Donald Trump

00:30:04 - 00:30:28 (24 sec)

It's got to get done now. Congress has to do its duty and the Democrats have to help us. They have to come back to Washington, and they have to vote for border security. They have to vote for safety. It's national security, too. They have to come back and they have to vote. It'll take us 15 minutes, and then we're going to get on to much bigger immigration reform because we should do that.

Donald Trump

00:30:28 - 00:30:35 (7 sec)

We should do that. I want to thank everybody for being here. We're going to have, now, the rest of the meeting. Media, thank you very much. I appreciate it.

Question

00:30:35 - 00:30:37 (2 sec)

Mr. President, when will you sign the back pay bill?

Question

00:30:37 - 00:30:49 (12 sec)

Mr. President, any message to the federal employees? Any message to the federal employees who are not getting paid today? Any message?

Donald Trump

00:30:49 - 00:31:08 (20 sec)

The message is that I appreciate their service to the country. They are incredible people -- the federal employees that we're talking about. But many of them agree with what I'm saying and with what the people in this room, who are experts, are saying. They don't want to see people killed because we can't do a simple border structure.

Donald Trump

00:31:08 - 00:31:35 (27 sec)

And I appreciate their incredible support. We have, yesterday -- it was -- I was watching this morning and reading this morning that so many people are saying the President is doing what's right, and even though it's affecting us short-term, temporarily -- as you know, a bill was just passed, which I will sign, in Congress, making sure that everybody is going to be paid immediately upon -- when this is over.

Donald Trump

00:31:35 - 00:31:46 (11 sec)

But I just really appreciate the fact that they have handled it so incredibly well. And many of them agree with what we're doing. We have no choice. Steve, go ahead.

Question

00:31:46 - 00:31:50 (4 sec)

Twenty-four hours ago, you were saying that you were probably going to declare a national emergency. What --

Donald Trump

00:31:50 - 00:31:53 (3 sec)

No, I said I could do it. But, it's --

Question

00:31:53 - 00:31:55 (2 sec)

What's changed over the last 24 hours?

Donald Trump

00:31:55 - 00:32:23 (28 sec)

Well, I'll tell you why. It's the easy way out, but Congress should do this. This is too simple. It's too basic. And Congress should do this. If they can't do it -- if, at some point, they just can't do it -- this is a 15-minute meeting. If they can't do it, I will declare a national emergency. I have the absolute right to do it, it says, as clear as you can.

Donald Trump

00:32:23 - 00:32:53 (29 sec)

Now, what will happen? I'll be sued. It'll be brought to the 9th Circuit. And maybe, even though the word is unambiguous, just like with the travel ban, it'll be appealed to the 9th Circuit, and we'll probably lose there, too. And then, hopefully, we'll win in the Supreme Court. But that's what happens. You can take the most perfectly worded document, as we have in this case, and they'll always bring it to the 9th Circuit.

Donald Trump

00:32:53 - 00:33:18 (25 sec)

And then you never know what's going to come out of the 9th Circuit. And you never know what's going to come out on appeal. But, fortunately, we have a Supreme Court that's treated us very fairly. So I'd rather not do it because this is something that Congress should easily do. This is something that the Democrats should do. And I don't want to give an easy way out of something as simple as this.

Donald Trump

00:33:18 - 00:33:34 (17 sec)

Not only simple, it's easy and it's going to secure our -- you know, we have a country that is under siege. You could -- actually, you know a lot of people don't like the word invasion. We have a country that's being invaded by criminals and by drugs. And we're going to stop it. So I want the Democrats to come back to Washington and vote.

Donald Trump

00:33:34 - 00:33:41 (7 sec)

Thank you very much. Thank you everybody. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you very much everybody. Thank you.

Question

00:33:41 - 00:33:45 (4 sec)

And you don't have anything to say about these accusations that you're overhyping the problem?

Donald Trump

00:33:45 - 00:33:51 (7 sec)

Thank you very much. Thank you. Good job yesterday. I appreciate your salesmanship. I appreciate your salesmanship.

Question

00:33:51 - 00:33:54 (3 sec)

I didn't -- I didn't see an invasion at the border, Mr. President.

Donald Trump

00:33:54 - 00:33:59 (4 sec)

Oh, you didn't? I know. That's because we had a wall.

Question

00:33:59 - 00:34:01 (3 sec)

Actually, there are portions that didn't have a wall.

Donald Trump

00:34:01 - 00:34:18 (16 sec)

Some people are dumb. Some people are dumb. Big promotion for us. That was a big promotion. Did you see that last night? He thought it was supposed to be the other way around. It didn't exactly work out that way. Maybe they'll reduce his salary. Like in the private sector, if you do something bad, you get fired or they reduce your salary.

Question

00:34:18 - 00:34:18 (1 sec)

Have a nice weekend.

Donald Trump

00:34:18 - 00:34:19 (0 sec)

Thank you. You too, Jim.