Transcript: President Trump & PM Netanyahu Joint Press Briefing @Mar-a-Lago

And we don’t want that. We’re not looking for that. But they have to disarm within a fairly short period of time.

REPORTER: Did you hear about Israel withdrawing its forces?

PRESIDENT TRUMP: Well, that’s a separate subject. We’ll talk about that.

Discussion on West Bank Settlements

REPORTER: Mr. President, did you have a message for the Prime Minister about the West Bank? And are you at all concerned that settler violence, Israeli settler violence, could be undermining the peace plan?

PRESIDENT TRUMP: Well, we have had a discussion, a big discussion, for a long time on the West Bank. And I wouldn’t say we agree on the West Bank 100 percent. But we will come to a conclusion on the West Bank.

REPORTER: If I could ask, what is the disagreement?

PRESIDENT TRUMP: Well, I don’t want to do that. It’ll be announced at an appropriate time. But he will do the right thing. I know that. I know him very well. He will do the right thing. Yes.

Israel-Turkey Relations and President Erdogan

REPORTER: There is a growing fear of a confrontation between Israel and Turkey. How are you going to ease this tension, given the fact that Erdogan, President Erdogan, calls Mr. Netanyahu “Hitler” and compares Israel to the Nazis?

PRESIDENT TRUMP: Well, I know President Erdogan very well. And as you all know, he’s a very good friend of mine. And I believe that — and I do respect him, and Bibi respects him. And they’re not going to have a problem. They’re not going to have a problem. I know him very well. And you’ve seen me do things with President Erdogan and Turkey that nobody else could have done. We’re not going to have a problem. He’s done a fantastic job. I’m with him all the way. I’m with Bibi all the way. Nothing’s going to happen. Yes.

Phase Two of the Peace Plan

REPORTER: Mr. President, are you concerned that Israel is not moving quickly enough to phase two of the peace plan?

PRESIDENT TRUMP: Well, I’m not concerned about anything that Israel is doing. I’m concerned about what other people are doing or maybe aren’t doing. But I’m not concerned. They’ve lived up to the plan. They’re strong. They’re solid. And sometimes they don’t understand, when somebody violates something, that you want to give them a second chance. Well, we’ll give them a couple of second chances. But no, Israel has lived up to the plan, 100 percent.

Don’t forget, we made the plan possible by taking out Iran. And speaking of Iran, I hope they’re not trying to build up again, because if they are, we’re going to have no choice but very quickly to eradicate that buildup.

Warning to Iran on Nuclear Buildup

PRESIDENT TRUMP: So I hope Iran is not trying to build up, as I’ve been reading, that they’re building up weapons and other things. And if they are, they’re not using the sites that we obliterated, but they’re using possibly different sites. We know exactly where they’re going, what they’re doing. And I hope they’re not doing it because we don’t want to waste the fuel on a B-2. It’s a 37-hour trip, both ways. I don’t want to waste a lot of fuel. Okay?

Presidential Pardons and Wartime Leadership

REPORTER: Mr. President, just on your last remarks regarding the presidential request of Prime Minister Netanyahu, the Herzog office told us that you have not talked after the official request of Prime Minister Netanyahu. Can you clarify to us, did you talk about it?

PRESIDENT TRUMP: Which request are you talking about?

REPORTER: With the President Herzog, the Israeli President Herzog. Did you talk with him directly?

PRESIDENT TRUMP: President Erdogan?

REPORTER: Herzog. Herzog. The Israeli President Herzog.

PRESIDENT TRUMP: Oh, so you’re talking about pardon. Yeah. Oh, well, you got to say that. No, I think he’s going to be in great shape. He’s a wartime Prime Minister at the highest level. He’s achieved tremendous success. And I’ll say it, you know, if you had eight out of 10 prime ministers in his position right now, or before right now, maybe, you wouldn’t have Israel any longer. Israel would not exist. I’d say two of them would and eight of them wouldn’t. Those are not good odds. You needed a very special man to really carry through and really help Israel through this horrible jam.

You know, these are major factions. And it started with our negotiation with Iran. I think it probably started with Soleimani. That was really where you mentioned that today, which started with Soleimani. Bad guy, doing bad things, hurting a lot of people, killing American soldiers and other soldiers. But it started right there. It would probably be the starting point. And then from that point forward.

But you have a wartime prime minister at the highest level. There could be other wartime prime ministers, but they’d lose. He won. And I think the people of Israel appreciate it. I think a lot of the people in the world appreciate it, actually. And because of that victory, we were able to get peace in the Middle East. If you had a different kind of a personality, if you had a weak person or a stupid person, and there are plenty of both of them, you would not have had success and you might not have Israel.

And you report for Israel. I know you’re very proud of it and you do a great job. You might not have a job because there might not be an Israel right now if you had a different prime minister. That’s a big statement. But to me, it’s a very simple statement to make. I’m looking at Pete Hegseth, and he’s sort of nodding. If they don’t have a strong prime minister, Pete, you might not have Israel today.

I think he’ll go down in the record books. And, you know, I was a big help. I’ll be honest with you. Big, big help. Somebody said in the room, if you don’t have Trump, you needed a proper combination of everything. And if you didn’t have that combination, which they had, you would not have an existing Israel right now. And the people of Israel know it. That’s why they like me. And it’s why they really they actually like him. He’s got a little bit of a love-hate more than I do over there. But you know what? Even the haters have a lot of respect for him. There’s a lot of jealousy about him. A lot of jealousy. Jealousy is a bad word. But I believe you would not have Israel right now. So it’s a big deal. Yeah, please.

Gaza Resettlement Opportunity

REPORTER: President, a recent poll showed that as many as half of Gazans would be willing to leave the Gaza Strip if afforded the opportunity to do so. Back in February, you said that all Gazans should be able to leave.

PRESIDENT TRUMP: I heard that number today, half of Gaza would leave. I’ve always said it. I said if they were given the opportunity to live in a better climate, they would move there because they sort of have to be. I think it would be a great opportunity. But let’s see if that opportunity presents itself. But we’re helping the people of Gaza a lot. So is Israel, by the way. So we’ll see what happens.

But I saw that it was a poll. It was actually more than half the people would leave if they were given the opportunity. And I’ve been saying that for a long time. It was to me, it was common sense. So it’s interesting. Why wouldn’t countries accept them? Look, let’s not talk about it because we don’t want the controversy right now. We’re helping Gaza. But if they were given the opportunity, I think even higher than that. The person, the group that did the poll is usually I call them negative pulses. You have a lot of them. And yet this poll was, I think, very accurate other than it would be more than half the people if given the opportunity. But they haven’t been given that opportunity. So we’ll see what happens.

Understanding on Syria

REPORTER: Have you reached a point of understanding regarding Syria?

PRESIDENT TRUMP: We do have an understanding regarding Syria. Now, with Syria, you know, your new president, I respect him. He’s a very strong guy. And that’s what you need in Syria. You can’t put a choir boy. You can’t put a, you know, somebody that’s a perfect person. Everything’s nice. No problems in life. You have the opposite there. He’s a strong guy. We get along with him great. I can’t ask for any more. He’s been with us all the way. We had that mishap with ISIS, and he was with us all the way. He was fighting them. So I hope Israel, I’m sure that Israel and him will get along. I will try and make it so that they do get along. I think they will. Bibi, do you have anything to say about that?

PM NETANYAHU: Yeah, well, our interest is to have a peaceful border with Syria. Our interest is to have and we openly said we want to make sure that the border area right next to our border is safe. We don’t have terrorists. We don’t have attacks. And we also want to secure our Druze friends. And by the way, I think not only the Druze, but other minorities, especially the Christians, should be protected as well in Syria and throughout the Middle East and in Nigeria. In your efforts, we back completely because Christian communities are beleaguered around the world and especially in the Middle East, but in parts of Africa, too. And we stand for the same thing.

PRESIDENT TRUMP: And don’t forget, it was President Erdogan that helped very much get rid of a very bad ruler of Syria. That was President Erdogan. And he never wanted the credit for it, but he really gets a lot of credit. Bibi agrees with that. I agree with I mean, I know it. And President Erdogan should get a lot of good credit for what he did. He got rid of some very bad people. And, you know, they’ve been wanting to do that for a thousand years with different names, but for a thousand years in Syria, President Erdogan did it. And we give him a lot of credit. I give him a lot of credit. But I think it’s going to work out well between Syria and Israel. Yeah, go ahead, please.

Lebanon and Hezbollah

REPORTER: The Lebanese government, so what we saw, is not meeting the terms of the ceasefire agreement, has failed to disarm Hezbollah, actually. In your view, should Israel strike the terrorist organization again?

PRESIDENT TRUMP: Well, we’re going to see about that. We’ll see about it. The Lebanese government is at a little bit of a disadvantage, if you think of it, with Hezbollah. But Hezbollah has been behaving badly, so we’ll see what happens.

Iran’s Nuclear and Ballistic Missile Programs

REPORTER: How close are we to another operation of Israel in Iran? You said before the meeting with Netanyahu that you are in support of Israel if the ballistic missile project will take on, and also the nuclear weapon. But after the meeting, after what you know from the intelligence, how close are we to another war with Iran?

PRESIDENT TRUMP: Well, I don’t want to say that, but Iran may be behaving badly. It hasn’t been confirmed.

Iran Nuclear Concerns and Consequences

PRESIDENT TRUMP: But if it’s confirmed, look, they know the consequences. You know, consequences will be very powerful. Maybe more powerful than the last time. Yeah. And Iran should have made a deal the last time. I gave them the option. I said, “You can make a deal. Do it.” I told them, “Do it.” And they didn’t believe me. Now they believe me.

REPORTER: Do you have evidence that Iran is behaving badly? And what do you mean by that?

PRESIDENT TRUMP: This is just what we hear. But usually, where there’s smoke, there’s fire. Have you heard the expression?

REPORTER: But what do you mean related to the nuclear capability?

PRESIDENT TRUMP: Well, no, I’m hearing that they’re not nuclear yet, but maybe nuclear, too. The sites were obliterated, but they’re looking at other sites. That’s what I’ve heard. They’re looking. So it’ll take a long time. They’re not going to go back to where they were, but they have other places they can go. And if they’re doing that, they’re making a big mistake. Yeah, please. There’s no reason for them to do it.

Bilateral Discussions with Tehran

REPORTER: Mr. President, is the United States currently open to engaging in bilateral discussions with Tehran? We’re hearing reports from numerous countries that there may be some discussions. Is that something you would support or something that is happening?

PRESIDENT TRUMP: Yeah, I would. Sure.

REPORTER: You would support that?

PRESIDENT TRUMP: I would, yes. I have been, by the way, before the war, I would support that. I said to him, “Baby, I said, let’s negotiate.” And they didn’t believe what was going to happen would happen. Yes, ma’am.

China’s Naval Exercises Near Taiwan

REPORTER: China has been doing naval exercises, basically, to test encircling Taiwan. Can you explain to us what your knowledge is of that? What do you think about that? Have you had any discussions with China about that?

PRESIDENT TRUMP: Well, I have a great relationship with President Xi, and he hasn’t told me anything about it. I certainly have seen it, but he hasn’t told me anything about it. And I don’t believe he’s going to be doing it.

REPORTER: Does it worry you?

PRESIDENT TRUMP: No, nothing worries me. Nothing.

REPORTER: But you said where there’s smoke, there’s fire, right? So if you’re encircling, if you’re doing naval exercises and air exercises—

PRESIDENT TRUMP: We’ve been doing naval exercises for 20 years in that area. Now people take it a little bit differently, but, in fact, larger than they’re doing right now. So we’ll see. But they’ve been doing that for 20, 25 years. Yeah.

Hamas Disarmament Deadline and Consequences

REPORTER: Mr. President, if you don’t see Hamas disarm in that short amount of time they’re giving them, can you tell us what the next steps would be?

PRESIDENT TRUMP: It would be horrible for them. Horrible. It’s going to be really, really bad for them. And I don’t want that to happen. But they made an agreement that they were going to disarm. And you couldn’t blame Israel. By the way, we have other countries that will come in and do it. They said, “Let us do it for you, if they don’t.” Countries that were with them wanted the deal to be made, agreed that they would disarm.

And now, if they say they’re going to disarm, that’s fine. If they say they’re not going to disarm, those same countries will go and wipe them out. They don’t even need Israel. You know, we have many countries, 59 countries, that are in agreement. This is a real peace in the Middle East. And Hamas is a small part of it, but it’s still a part of it. But we have 59 countries that signed on, big countries. Countries that are outside of the Middle East, as you know, the Middle East. They want to go in and wipe out Hamas. They don’t want Israel. They don’t need Israel. They want to do it because it’s the right thing to do, because they were for the deal, based on the fact that Hamas pledged. They swore that they were going to disarm.

Palestinian Authority Role in Gaza

Now, if they’re not going to disarm, those same countries will wipe out Hamas.

REPORTER: President Trump, do you think that the PA should be involved the day after in Gaza Strip, even in the near future? And the same question to Prime Minister Netanyahu. Do you see a real opportunity that the PA will be in Gaza?

PRESIDENT TRUMP: Go ahead, Bibi.

PRIME MINISTER NETANYAHU: I think President Trump put clearly the conditions of reform that he wants to see in the PA for them to be involved. And I think he put it very clearly, what he wants to see, the kind of real reforms, not just perfunctory reforms, but real reforms. Stop pay to slay, change the curriculum in your textbooks, open up, you know, a different society and a different future. If they do it, well, you know, let them, you know, I think it was clear. He put guidelines that were, by the way, in the Trump plan of 2020, and they were put then in the 20 points. And it’s up to them.

Iran’s Diminished Power and Regional Peace

PRESIDENT TRUMP: Remember this, if we didn’t do what we did to Iran, just to make the subject just slightly different, you wouldn’t have peace in the Middle East. You wouldn’t have a deal signed in the Middle East. You wouldn’t have a deal. Because other Arab nations, which are great, great, great people. I know them very well. I know them. They’re great people. They wouldn’t be able to have agreed to peace in the Middle East because you would have had a dark cloud hanging over everything. It wouldn’t have been possible.

So Iran has been greatly reduced in power, prestige. I don’t want to use the word humiliation because, you know, they’re trying to build up again. But we can’t let them build up because if they build up, there can’t be peace in the Middle East. It was a mistake. You know, when they wiped out Iraq, Iraq and Iran were about the same power. And they fought each other with different names for a thousand years. And then our country came out and blew up one of those two countries, namely Iraq. And all of a sudden, Iran had the whole Middle East all to itself. But that’s not true anymore. That’s not true anymore.

Expanding the Abraham Accords

REPORTER: Can you tell us something about your plan? Tell us something about your plan to expand Abraham Accords. If you can tell us something about your plan to expand Abraham Accords.

PRESIDENT TRUMP: Well, the Abraham Accords are a great, is a great achievement of Jared and everybody. I mean, it was one of the great achievements. They’ll be expanded. Countries are already talking about expanding it. And they’ll be expanded fairly quickly.

Yeah, please.

Saudi Arabia and Normalization with Israel

REPORTER: Is Saudi Arabia still on the table? Their normalization?

PRESIDENT TRUMP: Saudi Arabia is great. We have a great leader and a friend of mine and a friend of a lot of people. Also, an enemy of some people. But those people aren’t doing so well. No, Saudi Arabia has been very good, as far as I’m concerned. They’ve done everything that we can ask for.

REPORTER: But normalization of Israel is on the table?

PRESIDENT TRUMP: They’re getting along great with Israel. They will. And at some point, they’ll sign the Abraham Accords.

Federal Reserve Leadership and Economic Performance

REPORTER: So, one of the big domestic tasks ahead of you is to take a new chairman for the Fed. You’ve said that you have one favorite, but you’re also doing interviews.

PRESIDENT TRUMP: I do. I didn’t change. Yeah, I’ll announce them at the right time. There’s plenty of time. Are you — if there are any changes —

But, in the meantime, we’re doing numbers that nobody’s ever seen. We have $18 trillion coming in. We had a 4.3 percent GDP. They thought it was going to be 2 percent. And that’s despite the Democrat shutdown. Had the shutdown not occurred, we would have had an extra point and a quarter. Think of that. We are doing — and also, despite the fact that we have a fool at the Federal Reserve — I mean, Biden reappointed him. It’s too bad.

Criticism of Federal Reserve Chairman Powell

TRUMP: You would have thought he wouldn’t have done that. But he’s an absolute fool. Who’s building a new Federal Reserve or he’s doing a renovation of a building, maybe he’s up to $4.1 billion to do a renovation of a few very small buildings. It’s the highest price in the history of construction. He’s spending more money than any building has ever spent per square foot on the renovation of — as an example, I’m doing a magnificent, big, beautiful ballroom that the country has wanted, the White House has wanted for 150 years. It’s a massive job, and it’s a tiny fraction of that number. And we’re under budget and ahead of schedule.

Now, it’s — it’s bigger than I told you. It’s — you know, after realizing we’re going to do the inauguration in that building, it’s got all bulletproof glass. It’s got all drone — they call it drone-free roof. The drones won’t touch it. It’s a big — it’s a big, beautiful, safe building. But it’s — you know, it’s a big project for a tiny fraction of that. We’re under budget and ahead of schedule. And they’ve wanted it for 150 years. Think of it — the Federal Reserve building, two buildings there. They don’t know what they’re doing. They’re — they’re way over budget.

I mean, almost — this was built during the Biden administration, and I wrote by it the other day, and it’s headed by the head of the Federal Reserve. Too late, you know? Too late, Powell. Too late because he’s always too late with interest rates, except before the election, he was too early because that would have helped. That was supposed to help get her elected. It had no impact. We won all seven swing states.

Potential Lawsuit Against Powell

But — but — no, no. We’re thinking about bringing a suit against Powell for incompetence. Because think of it, these are two — these are an outstanding building. These are small buildings. He said $4 billion more. It’s going to end up costing more than $4 billion. Four billion. It’s the highest price of construction — again, Democrats — highest price of construction per square foot in the history of the world. There’s never been — gorgeous monuments are built for a much smaller price.

So we’re thinking about bringing a — a gross incompetence — what’s called a gross incompetence lawsuit. It’s gross incompetence against Powell. And it was his baby. And the guy is just incompetent. I mean, there’s nothing you can do about it. He’s just a very incompetent man. But we’re going to probably bring a lawsuit against him. Thank you all very much. I appreciate it. And, Bibi, congratulations.

Final Questions and Closing

THE PRESS: Mr. President, when do you expect an announcement then on Powell’s replacement?

TRUMP: January, sometime.

REPORTER: And will you ask Jay Powell to resign from the board entirely?

TRUMP: Well, he should resign. He’ll be a favorite to the nation. But he’s come close. I mean, we’re getting pretty close. I would fire him. I would — I’d love to fire him. But we’re so close, you know, maybe it — but maybe I still might.

REPORTER: Will you sell F-35 to the Turkish? Are you going to approve a selling of F-35 to Turkey?

TRUMP: I’ve got your phone. I’ve got your phone. We’re thinking about it very seriously.

REPORTER: And what is your reaction to this?

TRUMP: They’ll never use it again. Thank you, press. I promise they’ll never use it again. Thank you, press. Thank you, press. Thank you, everybody. Thank you, press. They never use it. All right, I just left. Okay. All right. All right. Thank you, press.

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