Transcript - Remarks: Donald Trump Leads a Cabinet Meeting - June 12, 2017 | Factba.se

Donald Trump

00:00:00 - 00:00:44 (44 sec)

This is our first Cabinet meeting with the entire Cabinet present. The confirmation process has been record-setting long -- and I mean record-setting long -- with some of the finest people in our country being delayed and delayed and delayed.

Donald Trump

00:00:44 - 00:01:03 (19 sec)

But that's -- much of that is over. And now we are -- we're going through, as you know, the regular process with people at other levels of government. And that's a very long process also, including Ethics Committee, which has become very difficult to deal with.

Donald Trump

00:01:03 - 00:01:26 (23 sec)

All of that being said, we now have our Cabinet finally approved. And I want to welcome Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue -- thanks, Sonny --Secretary of Labor Alex Acosta, Director of National Intelligence Daniel Coats -- thank you, Dan -- and U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer.

Donald Trump

00:01:26 - 00:01:56 (30 sec)

It is a incredible, talented group of people in this room: generals, governors, congressmen, entrepreneurs, business leaders and many, many others. I choose each person at this table and I chose them not only because of their remarkable experience and success, but because they've all united by one shared goal, what they want to do, one very simple, but very beautiful, goal: serving and defending our beloved nation.

Donald Trump

00:01:56 - 00:02:11 (15 sec)

Together, we're working every day and we've been working very hard together for our country, to protect your safety, bringing back jobs into our country and putting always America first.

Donald Trump

00:02:11 - 00:02:21 (10 sec)

And when I ran, it was "Make America great again," and that's what we're doing, believe me. We're doing it and we're doing it at a much faster pace than anyone thought.

Donald Trump

00:02:21 - 00:02:45 (24 sec)

I will say that never has there been a president -- with few exceptions; in the case of FDR, he had a major depression to handle -- who's passed more legislation, who's done more things than what we've done, between the executive orders and the job-killing regulations that have been terminated. Many bills; I guess over 34 bills that Congress signed.

Donald Trump

00:02:45 - 00:03:01 (16 sec)

A Supreme Court justice who's going to be a great one. Going to be a great Supreme Court justice. And many other things. We've achieved tremendous success. And I think we've been about as active as you can possibly be and at a just about record-setting pace.

Donald Trump

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

And we're achieving these goals by eliminating these job-killing regulations, unlocking American energy, rebuilding our military, pursuing fair and reciprocal trade deals, achieving massive reductions in illegal immigration, transforming the Department of Veterans Affairs, and building a new partnership among nations to defeat terrorism. You have to do.

Donald Trump

00:03:25 - 00:03:53 (28 sec)

In just a very short time, we're seeing amazing results. And in fact, there are a couple of major stories today in the newspapers about mines that are opening and the miners are going back to work. Actually, they're pretty big stories. People are surprised. It's kicking in very fast. More small businesses are planning to hire than at any point in over a decade, and last month unemployment fell to its lowest point in 16 years.

Donald Trump

00:03:53 - 00:04:19 (26 sec)

I recently returned from a trip overseas that included deals for more than $350 billion worth of military and economic investment in the United States. These deals will bring many thousands of jobs to our country and, in fact, will bring millions of jobs ultimately and help Saudi Arabia take a greater role in providing stability and security in that region.

Donald Trump

00:04:19 - 00:04:42 (23 sec)

One of the big things that we did -- and you're seeing it now with Qatar and all of the things that are actually going on in a very positive fashion -- we are stopping the funding of terrorism. They are going to stop the funding of terrorism. And it's not an easy fight, but that's a fight we're going to win. It will be -- you have to starve the beast. And we're going to starve the beast, believe me.

Donald Trump

00:04:42 - 00:05:06 (24 sec)

Secretary Price has been working very hard to repeal and replace Obamacare. The House passed a bill. The Senate has it right now. Mitch McConnell is working very, very hard, as are the Republican senators. We will have zero backing from the Democrats, even though they should get in and do something. But we expect to get zero.

Donald Trump

00:05:06 - 00:05:21 (15 sec)

If we had the greatest bill in the history of the world on health care, we wouldn't get one vote from the Democrats, because they're obstructionists. That's what they want to do, that's the game, they think that's their best political gain. They're looking to '18.

Donald Trump

00:05:21 - 00:05:36 (15 sec)

So far, we've had two races and we've won both of those races. They've spent millions and millions of dollars -- congressional races. We have another one coming up and we've been doing very well. But they're obstructionists and that's sad.

Donald Trump

00:05:36 - 00:06:02 (26 sec)

But we are coming up with something that I believe will be very good, with zero support from the obstructionist Democrats. Sad. Secretary Mnuchin is helping us put together one of the biggest tax cuts in American history. It may be the biggest single tax cut in American history. And that also includes a great deal of tax reform, simplification and other things.

Donald Trump

00:06:02 - 00:06:25 (23 sec)

Director Mulvaney has led our efforts to introducing a new budget that cuts wasteful Washington spending and protects the taxpayer. And that will come out. And believe me, we'll take care of the people that have to be taken care of. So that's a first step, but we will be taking care of the people that have to be taken care. On a human basis, it's very, very important.

Donald Trump

00:06:25 - 00:06:42 (17 sec)

Today, we're going to hear from Secretary Tillerson and Secretary Mattis on the ways that we're combating ISIS and defeating terrorism. We've had tremendous success against ISIS in our fight in the Middle East, where we're doing very, very well.

Donald Trump

00:06:42 - 00:06:55 (13 sec)

And we're going to be having a news conference in two weeks on that fight and you'll see numbers that you would not have believed. And, frankly, if you look back to even six months ago, you wouldn't have believed it was possible.

Donald Trump

00:06:55 - 00:07:24 (29 sec)

Secretary Shulkin will give us an update on his tremendous work to make sure that our veterans are finally given the care that they deserve, one of the most important things to me on the campaign trail. We've also been strongly pushing for the passage of the V.A. Accountability Act, to ensure employees of the V.A. can be held accountable if they fail our great veterans. It's passed the Senate and the House is voting tomorrow.

Donald Trump

00:07:24 - 00:07:43 (19 sec)

So tomorrow we have a big vote coming up, David, and I think we're going to be in good shape. But that's something that is going to be great for our veterans. We're also going to hear from Secretary Acosta about a major announcement that I'll be making later this week: expanding apprenticeships and getting our people back to work.

Donald Trump

00:07:43 - 00:08:01 (18 sec)

While we have the lowest number in terms of unemployment in many, many years, at the same time, I've always argued with that number, because it doesn't take into account millions and millions of people that have given up looking for jobs.

Donald Trump

00:08:01 - 00:08:20 (19 sec)

And we're going to be doing something about that and we're going to get those people back to work. And it's already starting in Ohio, and it's starting in Pennsylvania and North Carolina and South Carolina and Florida. And you see the numbers, they're starting. I call them the forgotten men and women but they're not going to be forgotten much longer, believe me.

Donald Trump

00:08:20 - 00:08:42 (22 sec)

There are millions of good jobs that lead to great careers, jobs that do not require a four-year degree or the massive debt that often comes with those four-year degrees and even two-year degrees. These jobs require advanced skills and technical training and we're going to start that. The apprenticeships -- a very good word from the Trump standpoint, the word "apprentice." [Laughter]

Donald Trump

00:08:42 - 00:09:06 (24 sec)

Apprenticeships are going to be a big, big factor in our country. There're people with tremendous talent, it may be a mechanical talent, it may be a talent for fixing an engine or a motor, that a lot of people that graduated high in their class at the best colleges in the world have no clue and they would never be good at it. It's a different kind of an ability, but it's a great ability nevertheless.

Donald Trump

00:09:06 - 00:09:22 (16 sec)

We're going to help get our young people the technical training that they need to pursue really exciting careers, and careers that they can make good money, they can really earn a great, great salary and maybe even open small businesses.

Donald Trump

00:09:22 - 00:09:49 (27 sec)

If everyone in this room continues to do their jobs, then we can restore American prosperity and make millions and millions of dollars, and we can make for these people and the American dream come true, make the American dream come true for a lot of people that will not have had that experience without the election results that we had on November 8th.

Donald Trump

00:09:49 - 00:10:08 (19 sec)

So we're here to change Washington, return power to the people. We're here to give people a great shot at a great, great job, and even opening small businesses and employing other people. I look forward to hearing all of the reports from the different people in the room today.

Donald Trump

00:10:08 - 00:10:29 (21 sec)

We have done, as I said, about as much as anybody ever in a short period of time in a presidency. That's despite a tremendous opposition from the other side. We have done something that's very special. And you see it in the economy numbers, because the economic numbers have been incredible.

Donald Trump

00:10:29 - 00:10:47 (18 sec)

One just came out: Almost $4 trillion in worth has been created in the stock markets of our country. You just take a look at that. 700,000 jobs have been created in a very short period of time since the election. 700,000 jobs.

Donald Trump

00:10:47 - 00:11:05 (18 sec)

If we would've said that on November 8th, nobody would've believed the number. If we would've said that almost $4 trillion in the stock markets has been created, everybody would have laughed at us. They would've said "Oh, that's ridiculous." But that's what -- that's what it is. So, we're very proud of it.

Donald Trump

00:11:05 - 00:11:35 (30 sec)

We have a phenomenal team of people, a great group of talent. And we are really now seeing the early fruits of their labor. Some of them won't be able to kick in because statutorially you have to wait periods of time before you're allowed to do the [Inaudible]. We'll be having some major legislation very soon on the dumping of steel in our country, which is absolutely killing our workers at our steel company.

Donald Trump

00:11:35 - 00:11:59 (24 sec)

We're going to be having some very major legislation on the dumping of aluminum and various other things into our country, which is killing our workers. And we'll be announcing that very soon. So, I think what we'll do -- most of you know most of the people around the room, but I'm going to start with our -- our vice president. Where is our vice president? [Inaudible] [Laughter] There he is.

Donald Trump

00:11:59 - 00:12:11 (12 sec)

And I'll maybe start with Mike. And we'll just go around and just -- your name, your position, and then we'll ask these folks to go back and have a good day and we're going to discuss our various reports. Mike?

Mike Pence

00:12:11 - 00:12:27 (16 sec)

Thank you, Mr. President. And just the greatest privilege of my life is to serve as the -- as vice president to the president who's keeping his word to the American people and assembling a team that's bringing real change, real prosperity, real strength back to our nation.

Donald Trump

00:12:27 - 00:12:29 (2 sec)

Thank you, Mike.

Jeff Sessions

00:12:29 - 00:12:44 (15 sec)

Mr. President, it's great to be here and celebrate this group. We are receiving, as you know -- I'm not sure the rest of you fully understand -- the support of law enforcement all over America.

Jeff Sessions

00:12:44 - 00:12:57 (13 sec)

They have been very frustrated. They are so thrilled that we have a new idea that we're going to support them and work together to properly, lawfully fight the rising crime that we are seeing. And it's an honor to be...

Donald Trump

00:12:57 - 00:12:59 (2 sec)

That's -- that's great.

Jeff Sessions

00:12:59 - 00:13:00 (1 sec)

... able to serve you in that regard.

Donald Trump

00:13:00 - 00:13:01 (1 sec)

Jeff Sessions

00:13:01 - 00:13:07 (6 sec)

And sends exact right message. And it's being responded -- the response is fabulous around the country.

Donald Trump

00:13:07 - 00:13:21 (14 sec)

Great success, including MS-13. They're being thrown out in record numbers and rapidly. And they're being depleted. They'll all be gone pretty soon. So, you're right, Jeff. Thank you very much. Alex?

Alex Acosta

00:13:21 - 00:13:43 (22 sec)

Mr. President, I am privileged to be here. Deeply honored, and I want to thank you for being -- your commitment to the American workers. This week is a full schedule for you focusing on the American worker. We're very excited at the Department of Labor. And the apprenticeship program that -- that you're going to be announcing, and I think it's going to make a real difference. So, thank you.

Donald Trump

00:13:43 - 00:13:44 (1 sec)

Thank you and congratulations.

Rick Perry

00:13:44 - 00:13:58 (14 sec)

Mr. President, it's an honor to be on the team. This last week, I had the great privilege to represent America at the China -- at the Green Energy Ministerial. Good timing.

Rick Perry

00:13:58 - 00:14:19 (21 sec)

They needed to hear why America was stepping away from the Paris Accord, and they did. And that America is not stepping back, but we're stepping into place and sending some messages, that we're still going to be leaders in the world when it comes to the climate, but we're not going to be held hostage to some executive order that was ill thought out.

Rick Perry

00:14:19 - 00:14:28 (9 sec)

And so, my hat's off to you for taking that stance and presenting a clear message around the world that America's going to continue to lead in the area of energy.

Donald Trump

00:14:28 - 00:14:30 (2 sec)

Thank you, Rick. [Inaudible]

Nikki Haley

00:14:30 - 00:14:45 (15 sec)

Thank you, Mr. President. It's a new day at the United Nations. You know, we now have a very strong voice. People know what the United States is for, they know what we're against, and they see us leading across the board. And so, I think the international community knows we're back.

Donald Trump

00:14:45 - 00:14:47 (2 sec)

Thank you, Nikki. That's terrific.

Mick Mulvaney

00:14:47 - 00:15:02 (15 sec)

Mr. President, thanks for the kind words about the budget. You're absolutely right: We are going to be able to take care of the people who really need it. And at the same time, with your direction, we were able to also focus on the forgotten man and woman who are the folks who are paying those taxes. So I appreciate your support [Inaudible] direction in pulling that budget together.

Donald Trump

00:15:02 - 00:15:04 (2 sec)

Thank you, Mick.

Scott Pruitt

00:15:04 - 00:15:18 (14 sec)

Good morning, Mr. President. It's good to be back in the United States. I actually arrived back this morning at 1 o'clock from Italy and the G-7 summit focused on the environment. And our message there was the United States is going to be focused on growth and protecting the environment. And it was received well.

Donald Trump

00:15:18 - 00:15:20 (2 sec)

Dan Coats

00:15:20 - 00:15:48 (28 sec)

Good morning, Mr. President. The intelligence community has never faced such a diversity of threats to our country in our lifetimes. We have men and women who are working 24/7, seven days a week to make sure that we are on top of all these threats. It's a joy to be working with the people that I have inherited and we are going to provide -- continue to provide you with the very best intelligence we can, so you can formulate policies to deal with these issues.

Donald Trump

00:15:48 - 00:15:49 (1 sec)

Very good, Daniel.

Betsy DeVos

00:15:49 - 00:16:00 (11 sec)

Mr. President, it's a privilege to serve, to serve the students of this country, and to work to ensure that every child has an equal opportunity to get a great education, and therefore a great future.

Donald Trump

00:16:00 - 00:16:05 (5 sec)

Thank you, Betsy.

Tom Price

00:16:05 - 00:16:20 (15 sec)

Mr. President, what an incredible honor it is to lead the Department of Health and Human Services at this pivotal time under your leadership. I can't thank you enough for the privileges you've given me and the leadership that you've shown. It seems like there's an international flair to the messages that are being delivered.

Tom Price

00:16:20 - 00:16:34 (14 sec)

I had the opportunity to represent the United States at the G-20 Health Summit in Berlin and at the World Health Assembly in Geneva. And I can't tell you how excited and enthusiastic folks are about the United States leadership as it relates to global health security.

Donald Trump

00:16:34 - 00:16:35 (1 sec)

Ryan Zinke

00:16:35 - 00:16:57 (22 sec)

Mr. President, as your SEAL on your staff... [Laughter] ... it's an honor to be your steward of our public lands and the generator of energy dominance. I am deeply honored. And I am committed and optimistic that we can be both great stewards and be the world's largest producer of energy.

Donald Trump

00:16:57 - 00:17:00 (3 sec)

And we can do both. Thank you very much.

Rex Tillerson

00:17:00 - 00:17:24 (24 sec)

Mr. President, thank you for the honor to serve the country. It's a great privilege you've given me. Currently, we are engaged with our allies to ensure that they know where our common interests lie, what our expectations are, that America will continue to be a leader, but they must do more, and they must meet their obligations, both from a national security standpoint, but also for creating conditions of stability, prosperity.

Rex Tillerson

00:17:24 - 00:17:39 (15 sec)

And for our adversaries, we are engaging and will engage. But they have to know that we will be engaging from a position of strength to protect America's national interest. And we expect to make progress on resolving some of these differences.

Jim Mattis

00:17:39 - 00:17:53 (14 sec)

Mr. President, it's an honor to represent the men and women of the Department of Defense. And we are grateful for the sacrifices our people are making in order to strengthen our military so our diplomats always negotiate from a position of strength. Thank you.

Donald Trump

00:17:53 - 00:17:54 (1 sec)

Wilbur Ross

00:17:54 - 00:18:17 (23 sec)

Mr. President, thank you for the opportunity to help fix the trade deficit and other things. The other countries are gradually getting used to the [Inaudible] the free rides are somewhat over with. They're not happy with this, but I think [Inaudible] growing recognition that [Inaudible] have a chance to help you live up to your campaign promises.

Donald Trump

00:18:17 - 00:18:19 (2 sec)

Thank you, Wilbur.

Elaine Chao

00:18:19 - 00:18:38 (19 sec)

Mr. President, last week was a great [Inaudible]. It was infrastructure week. Thank you so much for coming over to the Department of Transportation. Hundreds and hundreds of people were just so thrilled, hanging out, watching [Inaudible] ceremony. I want to thank you for getting this country moving again, and also working again.

Donald Trump

00:18:38 - 00:18:42 (4 sec)

Thank you. Thank you very much.

John Kelly

00:18:42 - 00:19:09 (27 sec)

Mr. President, proud to be here [Inaudible] very proud to represent the quarter of a million men and women that serve the country in DHS. In the five months that I've been at the job, we have gone a long way to facilitate the -- improve the legal movement of people and commerce across our borders, yet at the same time, we have gone a long way to safeguarding our borders, particularly the southern border, working with all of our partners to the south.

John Kelly

00:19:09 - 00:19:19 (10 sec)

A 70 percent drop in illegal immigration. While we still welcome legal immigrants to the tune of over a million a year, we are no longer a friendly environment for illegal border crossers.

Donald Trump

00:19:19 - 00:19:21 (2 sec)

Robert Lighthizer

00:19:21 - 00:19:43 (22 sec)

First of all, I apologize for being late to work. [Laughter] [Inaudible] I got bogged down in that swamp that you've been trying to drain. [Laughter] I also have traveled. I just got back from Paris, where we met with the OECD and the WTO both. And the message was similar to Wilbur's. It was [Inaudible] do matter and ours are coming down [Inaudible].

Donald Trump

00:19:43 - 00:19:45 (2 sec)

I know they are.

Linda McMahon

00:19:45 - 00:20:06 (21 sec)

Good morning, Mr. President. Thank you for the opportunity to serve at SBA. And I can tell you that as -- I haven't been traveling internationally, but I've been traveling around the country and what I'm continuing to hear is this renewed optimism from small businesses. It's higher than it's been in about 16 years.

Linda McMahon

00:20:06 - 00:20:24 (18 sec)

So those people returning to the workforce, a lot of them are because small businesses are creating new jobs. So loan portfolios are up, mentoring and our outreach [Inaudible] programs have been so successful. So thank you. We're on -- we're on a good trajectory and still a lot of work to do.

Donald Trump

00:20:24 - 00:20:25 (1 sec)

Reince Priebus

00:20:25 - 00:20:37 (12 sec)

On behalf of the entire senior staff around you, Mr. President, we thank you for the opportunity and the blessing that you've given us to serve your agenda and the American people. And we're going to continue to work very hard every day to accomplish those goals.

Mike Pompeo

00:20:37 - 00:20:57 (20 sec)

Mr. President, it's an honor to serve as your CIA director. It's an incredible privilege to lead the men and women who are providing intelligence so that we can do the national security mission. And in the finest traditions of the CIA, I'm not going to share a damn thing in front of the media. [Laughter]

Donald Trump

00:20:57 - 00:20:58 (1 sec)

David Shulkin

00:20:58 - 00:21:23 (25 sec)

Mr. President, thank you for your support and commitment to honoring our responsibility to America's veterans. I know that this is personally very important to you. I have the great honor of being able to represent the 21 million American veterans that have done such great things for this country and I've worked every day to make sure that we're honoring that responsibility. Thank you.

Donald Trump

00:21:23 - 00:21:25 (2 sec)

Thank you very much.

Ben Carson

00:21:25 - 00:21:50 (25 sec)

Mr. President, its been a great honor to -- to work with you. Thank you for your strong support of HUD and for all the others around this table that I've worked with. We're making tremendous progress at converting to a business model. Already seeing tremendous savings there. And this month is National Homeowner's Month and therefore I'll be ringing the -- the bell on Wall Street at 4 o'clock, which means I have to leave at 12. Thanks. [Laughter]

Sonny Perdue

00:21:50 - 00:22:20 (30 sec)

Good morning, Mr. President. While we're bragging about international travel, a lot of us just got back from Mississippi. They love you there. [Laughter] And I want to congratulate you on the men and women you've placed around this table. But the holistic team of working for America is -- is making a result in each and every area, working with Secretary Ross and Ambassador Lighthizer and Secretary Mnuchin and -- and Tom Price and Scott Pruitt.

Sonny Perdue

00:22:20 - 00:22:28 (8 sec)

This is the team you've assembled that's working hand in glove with -- for the men and women of America, and I want to -- I want to thank you for that. These are -- are great team members and we're on your team.

Donald Trump

00:22:28 - 00:22:30 (2 sec)

Thank you, [Inaudible]. Thank you.

Steve Mnuchin

00:22:30 - 00:22:51 (21 sec)

Thank you, Mr. President. It was a great honor traveling with you around the country for the last year and an even greater honor to be here serving on your Cabinet. On behalf of everybody at the Treasury, I can assure you we are focused on creating sustained economic growth, sweeping tax reform, and fighting terrorism with sanctions and all other programs within our control.

Donald Trump

00:22:51 - 00:22:55 (4 sec)

Thank you, very much. Thank you. Thank you all very much. Thank you. Thank you, everybody. Thank you very much.

Question

00:22:55 - 00:22:57 (2 sec)

Mr. President, are there tapes of you... [Crosstalk]

Donald Trump

00:22:57 - 00:23:00 (3 sec)

Thank you. Thank you very much.