Transcript: Trump Takes Questions From Reporters After Call With Russia’s Putin

And the other one’s going to have to come down also.

Finally, EMD Serono has agreed that all future drugs and everything that it develops and sells in the United States will be offset at most favored nation prices. I’ve been after this for a long time, and we started the process in the last administration, and then we had a little thing called COVID that came up. We had to focus on that. Did a good job on that, too.

Drug Manufacturing Returns to United States

So they’ll bring a significant portion of their drug manufacturing back to the United States. So they’re going to bring it largely back into the United States, and that’s for a lot of reasons, but primarily because of the election result, November 5th, and maybe, most importantly, because of the tariffs. Because if they do it here, there are no tariffs.

So we have — we’re going to be very close. I think by the end of this year, we’re going to be very close to $20 trillion in investment. As an example, the Biden administration had less than $1 trillion — substantially less than $1 trillion — for four years, Maria. Can you imagine? Four years, less than one. We’re going to break $20 trillion of investment, and we’re already over $17 trillion, and that’s in eight months. Can you believe that? And he was at less than $1 trillion.

And in addition to that, he had open borders, allowing millions of people to pour in during the administration. That was the worst President in history, by far.

Dramatic Price Reductions in IVF Drugs

As a result of these actions, the per-cycle cost of drugs used in IVF will fall by an estimated 73 percent for American consumers, and the numbers are going to actually be very substantially higher as time goes by, when it really kicks in for most of — I mean, think of those numbers.

You know, I told the story last time because we were with Pfizer, and Pfizer is doing something very similar. But I told them that — my first term, I was so proud of myself because I was the first President in 28 years where drug prices went down for the year. And you know what? They went down one-eighth of 1 percent. But I was thrilled. One-eighth of 1 percent.

Now I’m getting them down, Maria, 500, 600, 800 percent — in some cases, even more than that. It’s hard to believe. But I was proud. I said, “Oh, wow. I’m the first one. One-eighth of 1 percent.” And I was proud of that. Now I realize. And I called a news conference. Some of you were at that news conference, actually. And I said, “Ladies and gentlemen, congratulations, we’ve gone down by one-eighth of 1 percent.” And now we’re going down 5, 6, 700, 800 percent, which is really something.

For most administrations and all of the people involved in this kind of thing, this action would be a crowning achievement of their agenda for fertility health. But for us, it’s really just the beginning. It’s just the start. It’s one of many things we’re doing.

Expanded Insurance Coverage for Fertility Care

Today, we’re also taking historic steps to vastly expand access to insurance coverage for fertility care, including IVF — something that, as you know, was not covered. Effective immediately, for the first time ever, we will make it legal for companies to offer supplemental insurance plans specifically for fertility. It has never been done before. We’re signing it in today with what we signed. Americans will be able to opt in to specialized coverage just as they get vision and dental insurance.

They’re going to get fertility insurance for the first time. So I don’t know, you know, I don’t know how well these things are covered. You know, I see the Democrats like to take credit for all of the things we do. We do the things that they take the credit. But I think if you do enough of these, eventually people are going to figure it out. The Democrats have done nothing. This will make all fertility care, including IVF, far more affordable and accessible. And by providing coverage at every step of the way, it will reduce the number of people who ultimately need to resort to IVF because couples will be able to identify and address problems early. The result will be healthier pregnancies, healthier babies, and many more beautiful American children. It’s a big factor. It’s a big deal.

I’m asking all employers to make these new fertility benefit options available to their employees immediately. The initiatives I’ve just announced are the boldest and most significant actions ever taken by any president to bring the miracle of life into more American homes. And I will say, Katie was, as you know, she’s a great senator from Alabama. She’s the first one that told me about this. I had not known too much about it, and we worked very rapidly together, didn’t we, though? We had everything passed, and Alabama then took care of it and passed it. Within a week, everything was done. Really, it was something. So I want to thank Katie, Brett. There’s no deeper happiness and joy of raising children, and now millions of Americans struggling with infertility will have a new chance to share the greatest experience of them all. So I’d like to thank all of the people that are here, and I think we’ll start with Dr. Oz and Ms. Horn. We’ll go through the list, and we’ll listen.

And yesterday, I did this, and I stood for about an hour and a half as people spoke. And they said, this time, I’m sitting right there, and I’m going to watch you. I stood for an hour and a half like this, and I said, you’ve got to be kidding. Here we go. It was one after another, and it was wonderful listening to them. But I said, if I have to do this every day, Bob Easton, I stand or sit? Thank you, Bob. Please, Dr. Oz.

Senator Katie Britt Speaks on IVF Support

SENATOR KATIE BRITT: Mr. President, I’m going to jump in here real quick. I want to start by thanking President Trump. Sir, from the very first phone call we ever had, your support was strong. It was steadfast. It was unwavering. And because of you, millions of Americans are going to have a greater opportunity to bring the greatest gift, in my opinion, life into this world. Your support, your administration’s support, it’s a game changer.

All of us here today are aligned. This is a celebration of life. It’s a celebration of parents. It’s a celebration of family. And it’s a celebration for those people who want to one day be parents themselves. I think every parent can attest, and I certainly do myself, that the greatest gift that God has ever given me is the ability to be a mom. We want more people to have that opportunity. We want to make that easier and more affordable.

IVF Coverage Expansion Details

IVF is what makes the difference for so many families that are facing infertility. So you’ve seen the numbers. It’s either one in eight couples, or some people say as much as one in six, are actually experiencing issues with fertility. It’s 9% of males and at least 11% of females that are facing these challenges as they work to build their family. The recommendations today that President Trump has set forth are going to expand IVF coverage to nearly a million more families, and they’re going to drive down costs significantly.

Mr. President, this is the most pro-IVF thing that any president in the history of the United States of America has done. And Mr. President, it’s your leadership. You are the reason why the Republican Party is now the party of parents. We are the party of families. This is why when Senator Cruz and I worked last year, we got every single Republican senator to sign on and say that they supported nationwide access to IVF. And just for the record, IVF is legal and accessible in all 50 states. And President Trump taking this action today to lower costs, to bring these issues to the forefront, and to enact solutions for people working to start their families, I want you to know it’s significant and there’s more to come.

But this isn’t the only thing that you’ve done to prove that we’re the party of parents and we’re the party of families. If you look at the working family tax cut, guys, he made sure that hardworking parents were front and center in that legislation. You know, whether it was child tax credits being expanded and made permanent, whether it was Trump accounts that are going to change the game for so many parents, or whether it was childcare.

So for decades, we have heard Democrats talk about childcare. President Trump actually took action on the affordability and accessibility of childcare. We know that one in four families say that they hesitate to have more children because of the cost and because of childcare costs. For the first time, this man actually took steps to change the dynamics for hardworking parents.

So of the three tax credits that he reformed in the working families tax cuts, two of them had not been touched in two decades, and one of them had not been touched since 1986. So President Reagan was in office the last time anybody did anything about it, but you changed the game on that, and I was proud to lead that effort in the Senate.

And so on behalf of moms and dads, on behalf of grandparents and sisters and aunts and uncles and brothers and people who are looking to expand their family, we say thank you. Thank you for all you do to support families in this country and make a healthier environment and an easier one for us to grow the very most important thing. God bless.

So nice. Thank you. You’re welcome.

Most-Favored-Nation Pricing Achievement

DR. OZ: Let’s set the stage. To put it in perspective, two weeks ago, as President Trump alluded, a leading U.S. drug manufacturer came into this room and agreed to do something none of us thought was possible, a most-favored-nation agreement with numbers, again, inconceivable.

Last week, a leading company from Europe, a global leader in the pharmaceutical sector, came to this office, made the same kind of commitment for most-favored-nation pricing, again, because the President insisted on it and was persistent, and he alluded to the fact that he was calling Secretary Kennedy and me quite a bit. He definitely was with great insights into the process and would not hold back.

But I think what you’re seeing today is something even larger. It’s larger because we’re now showing that MFN is the tool that can get other initiatives going as well. We are revealing perhaps the most important MFN opportunity at all because it’s about procreation. It’s about babies.

It turns out that MFN is a tool for a lot of things, and it goes without saying that you get the drug pricing down, but lots of other business necessities become possible when that occurs.

Supporting American Families

So, Secretary Kennedy and I, who’s a wonderful leader, talk frequently about family. I think the reason he’s a great leader, and the President as well, is because they have large families and they take pride in the joy that it gives us. But many families, as Senator Britton alluded, do not have the ability to have children. But it turns out that it’s about one in three families, a much higher number, that don’t have the number of babies they desire. They’re under-babied.

So, this President committed to address that during the campaign, and he is delivering on that today in a way I don’t think anyone thought was possible. We’re opening the door with MFN pricing and tariffs that support it, Secretary Lutnick, with a new approach to make reproductive medicine more affordable for Americans.

Now, I know what you’re all thinking, and you’re probably right, there are going to be a lot of Trump babies. I think that’s probably a good thing. But it turns out the fundamental creative force in society is about making babies. It’s about creating. And this country, the one that President Trump is leading so beautifully, has been a country of abundance, not scarcity.

To have abundance, you have to address the fact that we had 3.6 million babies last year, which is beautiful. 3.6 million miracles, that’s half a million less babies than we would ideally have had. It meant to replace our current population.

IVF Drug Price Reduction Announcement

Building on the success of the last two weeks, our team, led by the head of Medicare, Chris Klump, is standing over there, and Ines Hernandez, have negotiated a spectacular MFN deal to reduce the cost of IVF drug prices by $2,200 a cycle. That’s nearly half of the price that it had been. The most prescribed drug in this category in America, made by MD Serrano, is described over here.

You’ll notice, President Trump, these are discounted from $242 to $10. I don’t know what the math is on that. We can’t even calculate it. It’s a lot. It’s too high to calculate without a more studied approach, but I give it up there because that number, $10, will apply for every American who earns less than $115,000 a year. That’s 70% of the American people. The remaining folks who are able to make more would have to pay a tiny bit more, but it’s still most favored nation pricing, no different from what the Europeans are willing to pay.

Now, to make this deal happen, Chris and Inma had to do something special. They had to not just get the drug price down, but get the middlemen to let it go as well. Mr. President, we’ve met with the middlemen in the past. They’re now joining the MFN movement. I want to thank Express Scripts Freedom Pharmacy, and then CVS Specialty Pharmacy, because they were willing to stand up and do the right thing for the American people by answering the President’s call and slashing their prices.

Now, this announcement also encompasses a remarkable move from Marty Makary. Marty Makary is, of course, the leader of the FDA, but he has ongoing efforts to accelerate their approval of innovative medicines that will further reduce the price and make this whole process more seamless for the American people.

Now, you’re about to hear about a spectacular new program that’s been alluded to, but one of the architects of that program, Heidi Overton, Deputy Director of the White House Domestic Policy Council, is going to take us through the exciting details of what this is going to offer for the American people, especially those who are in the workforce. But first, we think you should hear from Libby Horn. Libby is EMD Serono’s Head of Fertility. She brings both professional expertise and a personal connection to this work. She has three beautiful daughters, and she has personally benefited from reproductive medicine that has shaped her family, and her company made today’s spectacular MFN pricing possible. Libby.

Libby Horn on Expanding Access to Fertility Treatment

LIBBY HORNE: Thank you, Dr. Oz. Thank you, Mr. President. Today, we gather on this national stage to celebrate a historic step forward in expanding access to fertility treatment for those who need it most. Mr. President, thanks to your leadership and the tireless efforts of your team, this is a momentous day for Americans who struggle but remain hopeful to build their families.

Fertility is on the rise in our country. One in eight couples face infertility. This isn’t just a number. It’s real lives, dreams, and aspirations of hardworking Americans. The teacher who goes to school each day, surrounded by children, but aching for children of her own. The firefighter who puts his life on the line, but can’t create the life he wants at home. The consequences of these challenges can take significant tolls. Some of you watching today have given up or are frustrated because access to IVF treatments has been out of reach.

That’s why expanding access to IVF has been an issue of great importance to the President. He made this clear in his executive order declaring the administration’s goal of supporting American families by enabling access and eliminating barriers to IVF.

EMD Serono’s Partnership and 84% Price Discount

Today, EMD Serono is proud to help President Trump deliver on his promise to you. Thanks to the President’s leadership, EMD Serono has worked alongside distributors and other partners to help more families have access to services and innovations that are consistent with other countries. Through our partnership with the administration, we are proud to announce that Americans will have access to our leading IVF therapies for an 84% discount off list prices. Thank you for making this possible.

For more than 40 years, EMD Serono has been a global leader in fertility. Our science was instrumental in the birth of the first IVF baby in the U.S., and we’ve helped to bring more than 6 million babies into the world since then. Our purpose is to help create, improve, and prolong life. That means discovering more medicines and bringing them to patients faster.

FDA Commissioner Makary has made it a priority to ensure that Americans have access to the world’s most innovative treatments as quickly as possible. To that end, EMD Serono is filing a new IVF therapy called Pergoveris for review under the FDA Commissioner’s National Priority Voucher Program. If approved, Pergoveris would combine two key reproductive hormones in synergy designed to mimic reproductive physiology. This therapeutic option could mean fewer injections, fewer co-pays, and lower self-pay costs, all of which make a real difference in the IVF patient experience.

In closing, on behalf of EMD Serrano, I want to send my heartfelt thanks to President Trump and the entire administration for their leadership and vision in this critical area of health care. Together, we will make a difference in the lives of countless families across this nation and uphold our long-standing legacy of creating life. Thank you.

UNIDENTIFIED SPEAKER: Wonderful. Mr. President, thank you for your bold leadership. This allowed our teams to go far beyond what anyone thought was possible. On behalf of the Domestic Policy Council and Vince Haley here, we would like to also thank all the agency partners and the stakeholders that we worked with to get to the solution today that will make a real impact for families.

Historic Actions Through Multi-Agency Coordination

Specifically, today’s historic actions, four in total that you see, are made possible by coordination of all of the White House team and seven agencies, many of who are represented here and their teams that have worked tirelessly. As you described, Mr. President, the current system isn’t working. Seven in ten Americans don’t have coverage for IVF. They face high costs and uncertain outcomes, and there’s intense demand for fertility benefits. Sixty-five percent of Americans say that they would leave their current job just because of fertility benefits. So you asked us to lower costs and to fix the broken incentives in health care.

In addition to lowering the cost of drugs by 73 percent or $2,200 per cycle, which if you missed it, most people require two or three cycles. So that’s significant savings for families.

New Fertility Benefit Option for Employers

I’m also going to briefly outline the new solution for coverage. This is a new fertility benefit option that employers can immediately offer to their employees starting today. This afternoon, the Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services, and Treasury will be releasing guidance that, for the first time, creates a legal pathway for employers to offer fertility benefit packages to people that need them, similar to how dental, vision, and life insurance are currently offered. This will be followed up by a regulation.

These benefits can address the continuum of fertility needs, from the root causes of IVF, which Secretary Kennedy is working on very hard at HHS. It will be a coordinated package that does not exist in traditional health insurance today. It will make it easier for employers, including small and mid-sized employers, to compete for talented employees. Currently, many small businesses cannot afford to offer fertility benefits at all. This is making it possible for them to offer benefits, the same way that large companies like Amazon and others offer benefits.

Improved Clinical Outcomes and Quality of Care

This is a pro-family benefit expansion that will transform clinical outcomes by addressing fragmented coverage and care. I’m a physician by training, and it’s very important that we have high-quality care. Fertility benefit companies are poised to offer packages that have reported, so far, roughly 25% higher live birth rates for those that seek care, compared to those that don’t have such benefits. They also report fewer cycles to achieve pregnancy, improved natural pregnancy rates through better care before you need IVF, and reduced chance of miscarriages, a 21% reduction in miscarriage rates.

Leading physicians in the field have also relayed that these types of benefits significantly improve the patient and doctor experience, allowing both to focus on care, rather than navigating the bureaucracy.

Personal Stories of Infertility Struggles

These impacts are very personal. Here with us today are my good friends, Congressman Richard Hudson of North Carolina, and his wife, Renee Hudson. Both have worked in public service for years, including Renee, for all four years of your past administration, Mr. President, and they struggled with infertility. Today, they have a beautiful son, who’s their pride and joy. He’s an amazing boy, but they also suffered multiple losses throughout their fertility journey, something that is very common. Unfortunately, too many people go through the hard, arduous process of IVF, and still result in a miscarriage.

Today, your option is not only saving money, it’s going to improve the quality of care significantly. This new benefit option simultaneously represents the greatest opportunity to expand coverage of IVF that the federal government has ever taken, while also improving the care delivered. Additionally, and very importantly, it gives employers maximum flexibility to design benefits that are consistent with their values.

Put simply, this new fertility benefit option means lower costs and more healthy babies. So today, this announcement, we are realigning the industry towards the simple metric of more healthy babies at lower costs.

I would now like to introduce Samantha Bush, the wife of NASCAR driver Kyle Bush, who’s been a leading advocate for IVF access and affordability after your own infertility journey. Thank you, Mr. President.

SAMANTHA BUSH: Hello, everyone.

My husband, Kyle, and I battled infertility for over a decade before being blessed with our two beautiful children, Brexton, who’s 10, and our daughter, Lennox, who’s now three. But our journey was long and painful. We faced six rounds of IVF, multiple miscarriages, multiple failed cycles, and countless moments of heartbreak. We faced the rollercoaster of hope and devastation that so many families know all too well.

Through it all, we held on to faith, each other, and the belief that somehow, someday, God would turn our pain into purpose. We also saw firsthand the staggering financial burden that comes with infertility treatment. Sitting in the waiting room of our fertility clinic, we overheard another couple quietly say that money was the only thing standing in their way of having their child.

In that moment, Kyle and I looked at each other, and we knew God was planting a seed in our hearts, a calling to take action. In 2015, that calling became the Bundle of Joy Fund, a nonprofit foundation dedicated to providing financial assistance to couples struggling with infertility.

What began as a small act of faith has now grown into something far greater than we could have ever imagined. To date, we’ve granted over $2 million directly to individuals, helping them pay for their IVF treatments, and we’ve celebrated the birth of 108 beautiful babies through our fund. Each baby is a living, breathing testament to hope, community, and God’s grace.

For every tear we cried, for every shot we gave, every doctor’s appointment that ended in disappointment, Kyle and I knew there had to be a greater reason. This was God’s plan for us, to use our journey to advocate, empower, and be the voice to those battling in silence.

Over the past 12 years, we’ve worked hard to raise awareness, erase stigma, and bring hope to the one in six couples that will face infertility. Infertility can be incredibly isolating. It can leave you questioning your faith, your body, and your future. But it can also reveal a strength that you never knew you had inside of you. It can deepen love, it can bring couples closer together, and it unites people through a shared struggle.

Our goal has always been to show others that they are not alone, that there is a powerful community of infertility warriors behind them. Today, seeing President Trump acknowledge infertility on a national stage is profoundly moving. It’s no longer a whispered conversation behind closed doors. It is a recognized, validated struggle that so many families have to endure.

His leadership reminds us that those in positions of power can make real and lasting changes for generations to come. Their willingness to bring this issue forward shows that they not only hear our community, but they truly care about us.

Thank you, Mr. President, and to your family, for shining a light on infertility and for standing by couples like Kyle and I, for standing by couples who only want to hear the words mommy and daddy, who want to watch their children open their Christmas presents on Christmas morning, who want to see the world anew through the joy in their kids’ eyes.

Your acknowledgement honors the power of family, faith, and love, the very values that make America the greatest country in the world. It’s proof that when promises are made and promises are kept, lives are changed forever. Thank you, Mr. President.

PRESIDENT TRUMP: Thank you, Mr. President. Anybody else? Howard, would you like to say a couple of words? I was hoping you would say that. Bobby, come on up for a second. What a job you’re doing. Say a few words for me.

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. Addresses Declining Fertility Rates

ROBERT F. KENNEDY JR.: Thank you, Mr. President. Thank you for your vision, your commitment to our country. When Alka was President, the fertility rate in this country was 3.5%. Today, it is 1.6%. The replacement rate, in other words, the amount of fertility that you need in order to keep your population even, is 2.1%. But we are below replacement right now. That is a national security threat to our country.

And we know why this is happening. And President Trump is addressing the root causes through his MAHA agenda of reducing endocrine disruptors, the exposure, the chemicals that decrease fertility.

Today, the average teenager in this country has 50% of their sperm count, 50% of their testosterone as a 65-year-old man. Our girls are hitting puberty six years early. And that’s bad. But also, our parents aren’t having children. Parents who want to have children do not have access.

I have seven children. I feel that God has blessed me with that. And I can’t imagine how different my life would be if I did not have that blessing.

I want to point out also that this morning, the Harvard University released a study that shows that the obesity rates have now climbed over 70%. And this, again, is for the same reason. We’re flooding our kids. We’re poisoning a generation, mass poisoning a generation of kids with chemicals. President Trump has instructed us to stop these problems at the root cause. But he’s also recognized that there are people who are injured, people who are not living the life to the fullest. And he’s addressing that last week. We made GLP drugs available at Most Favored Nation. And this week, it’s IVF.

Oh, I want to thank you so much for that, Mr. President. I saw on an airplane the other day that you said that you didn’t believe that you were going to get to heaven. But you’re doing God’s work here. You’ve made peace in the Middle East, which is beyond anybody’s imagination. And now you’re giving millions of Americans a chance to have babies. And you’re doing this while the government is locked down by the Democrats. But this administration has not stopped working for the American people. And that’s because of your energy, your commitment, your vision. And I want to thank you for allowing me to be part of it.

PRESIDENT TRUMP: And he’s doing a great job. And by the way, Kyle is fantastic. He’s got a lot of courage. I wouldn’t do that. I wouldn’t care. Howard, you and I would not be good on that. We’d go about 30 miles an hour. But we’d be safe. Anyway, so thank you very much. Any questions?

REPORTER: Mr. President, this is a major campaign promise that you made with the big hot topic towards the election. You’re delivering on that again. I actually had a question for Secretary Kennedy or Dr. Heide. Dr. Heide, you said something that I thought was really important. You talked about how this coverage option, this benefit option, gives companies the maximum flexibility to design benefits consistent to their values. I was wondering if either you or the President could expand on that and talk about why that’s an important thing to understand about this program.

DR. HEIDE: Thank you. It’s a great question. We think that employers are best situated to know what them and their employees want to contribute to in relation to their benefits. So employers are going to be able to decide how to cover the root causes of infertility, things like obesity, metabolic health, and other things that are impacting infertility. And also, if they want to encourage their employees to see certain types of doctors, then they can work with providers that are identifying the highest quality fertility providers. And so it puts them in the driver’s seat. And our view is that we want employers to be the ones that can make those decisions, not the government.

REPORTER: Thank you.

PRESIDENT TRUMP: All right. That’s a good answer. Those are very good answers.

Questions on Hamas and Gaza

REPORTER: Mr. President, previously you did not seem to be bothered regarding Hamas cracking down on what you called games, a couple of games. And today you issued a threat against Hamas on Truth Social. What has changed? What was said?

PRESIDENT TRUMP: Go ahead. If they continue killing, keep killing innocents in Gaza, if that continues, the United States can go after them.

REPORTER: I know you issued a strong statement.

PRESIDENT TRUMP: That’s right.

REPORTER: They used to be gangs and now you’re saying innocents. What made you think they’re innocents now?

PRESIDENT TRUMP: Well, I’m looking at what’s happening and that wasn’t the deal that was made and we’ll see what happens. It’s calmed down. It’s a tough neighborhood. We know that. We have a commitment from them and I assume they’re going to honor that commitment. I hope they do, and I know, I understand they brought back some additional bodies today. It’s a rough deal when you think of it, right? Very rough. And we have our hostages back completely, we were very lucky with that. But it’s a tough situation. They brought back bodies today, as you probably know. But they also said they’re going to behave, we’re going to find out if they behave, if they behave good. If they don’t behave, we’ll take care of it.

REPORTER: Yeah, please. Following up on that, Mr. President.

PRESIDENT TRUMP: I didn’t say you, you CNN fake news. Go ahead.

REPORTER: You said in your post that if they kept killing, we would have no choice but to go in and kill them. So you mean U.S. forces would go in and take our lives?

PRESIDENT TRUMP: I didn’t say who would go in, but somebody will go in. It’s not going to be us. We won’t have to.

There are people very close, very nearby that will go in. They’ll do the trick very easily. But under our auspices.

REPORTER: Can I follow up on that?

PRESIDENT TRUMP: Yeah, go ahead. And it’s one of those things. I’ve seen things that nobody would believe. But this is one of them. So I’ll be meeting. We’re going to be meeting in Hungary. Viktor Orban is going to be hosting, and it’s really something, this time. Last week over 7,000 people were killed. That’s ridiculous. And you know, it doesn’t affect our country. We’re not losing people. We’re not losing Americans. But they’re losing Russians, Ukrainians, mostly soldiers, for the most part, soldiers. And we think we’re going to get — we hope we’re going to get it stopped.

I thought this would be — because of my relationship with President Putin, I thought this would be very quick. And it turned out to be — who would think I did Middle East before I did this? We did a total of eight, now, seven, and now eight. And we’re going to make this number nine.

REPORTER: Mr. President, you said — you posted that there was great progress. Can you tell us a little bit about that? Was it a shift in Putin’s tone? Was it something new? Did he tell you? Did he give you any message?

PRESIDENT TRUMP: The President’s election tomorrow. It just seems to me that — you know, look, it’s only a — that’s all I’ve done in my whole life. I’ve made deals. I know about deals. Well, I don’t think any President’s ever ended a war, frankly. One war — I did eight of them, right? And — but I don’t know. Did Bush ever end? Do you think Biden ended a war? Biden started wars because he was stupid. But do you think Biden ended any wars? No. I don’t think — I don’t know of anybody that ended wars. I ended eight of them. This is going to be nine. I think we’re going to have this one done hopefully soon. But I’ll be meeting him probably over the next two weeks. Marco is going to be meeting — and the Vice President, as you know, is very much involved. The whole team is involved. Steve Witkoff will be involved.

REPORTER: What did you talk about the Tomahawks? Did you discuss the Tomahawks as well as you just said?

PRESIDENT TRUMP: Well, we talked about it a little bit. Didn’t say much. But I do say to you, you know, we need Tomahawks for the United States of America, too. We have a lot of them, but we need them. I mean, we can’t deplete for our country. So, you know, they’re very vital. They’re very powerful. They’re very accurate. They’re very good. But we need them, too. So, I don’t know what we can do about that.

REPORTER: Mr. President, why do you think a second meeting with Putin — why do you think a second meeting with Putin now will yield different results?

PRESIDENT TRUMP: Well, I think Alaska actually set a stage. And that wasn’t very long ago, but it set a stage. You have to understand, I came into this situation — I didn’t start this war. This is a Biden deal. And I came into it, and it was a mess. It could have led to World War III. And we all went, because of some really bad decisions that were made. And look what you have now. Millions of people dead. You have just a horrible, horrible situation.

I’m doing it to save souls. That’s all I’m doing it for. I’m not doing it for us. We have an ocean between us. I’m doing it also to help Europe. They want to have it ended, but they’re unable to do it. I’m able to do it. So I think we’ll be successful. We’ll save a lot of lives. It should have been done. It should have never started. This would have never happened if the election weren’t rigged. This would have never happened. But it did happen, and I’ll get it stopped.

Weight Loss Drug Pricing

REPORTER: You mentioned a $1,300 drug at the top of this, were you referring to the weight loss drugs?

PRESIDENT TRUMP: I was referring to Ozempic or the fat loss drugs. So those are going to be $150 out of pocket. They’ll be much lower. They’ll be much lower. We have not negotiated those yet.

We’re going to be rolling these out over time. The GOP category of drugs, which includes Ozempic, have not been negotiated yet. But it will. It’ll come down. Like everyone else. OK.

REPORTER: Any time on the negotiations?

PRESIDENT TRUMP: No, but I think those are going to come down pretty fast, and we do have, I guess, some more time. The President will be happy with the result, and until he is, we’re not going to close those negotiations.

UNIDENTIFIED SPEAKER: Thank you.

PRESIDENT TRUMP: Except it’ll happen. Yeah.

Questions on Pro-Life Conservatives and IVF

REPORTER: Mr. President, what we’ve learned about some pro-life conservatives. Some pro-life conservatives have religious objections to IVF. They’re already critical of those policies. What’s your message to them?

PRESIDENT TRUMP: I don’t know about the views of that. I’m just looking to do something. Because, you know, pro-life. I think this is very pro-life. This is… You can’t get more pro-life than this. Please.

REPORTER: Mr. President, you’ve been talking about how the new benefit plan will also include root cause treatments for infertility. How do we make sure that those root cause treatments are equally accessible to IVF?

UNIDENTIFIED SPEAKER: Well, I think we’re going to be doing that is a benefit to the American people and to the end user. That’s exactly what he’s doing. And so you heard before that through the Q&A, guidance that was issued today with the other agencies that will give guidance to our employers and the employees about what the flexibility of that is. And then, again, opening that rulemaking process for further determination of the access that can be had, offer those benefits for all different types of healthcare access is the goal of the Department of Labor.

Praise for Labor Secretary

PRESIDENT TRUMP: I like this better. They can do better than me. Yeah, please. Good job, Laurie. You know, you’re doing a fantastic job. Thank you, Mr. President. I shouldn’t tell. I won’t say it. But I will not say that she was recommended by the Teamsters. Can you believe it? And she’s turned out to be a gem, an absolute gem. You’re doing a great job. Thank you very much.

Government Shutdown Discussions

REPORTER: Mr. President, I think we can see your dealmaking skills apply to the government shutdown.

PRESIDENT TRUMP: Thank you. Thank you. Thank you, sir. Thank you, Mr. President.

Well, look, I mean, all we want to do is just extend. We don’t want anything. We just want to extend, live with the deal that they had. They want to spend $1.5 trillion on illegal immigrants, and they want to destroy health care for everyone else. That’s crazy. Crazy. People that are here illegally, they want to spend $1.5 trillion. So we’re just not going to do it. But we’ve been waiting a long time, too. No, we have to take care of our health care.

Healthcare Costs and Insulin

We’re doing that today, and we’re doing it with, you know, favored nations, the most favored nations. Your costs are going to be dropping greatly. And I’m really good. I’m really happy that it’s at the beginning of my administration, because I did insulin and got it down to like $25. But it doesn’t kick in. It didn’t kick in for two years by statute, so it couldn’t kick in. And I said, boy, I hope I win this election, because if I don’t, somebody else is going to take credit for it, Bobby.

Sure as can be, Biden said — he didn’t even know what the hell was happening, and he — and it was a hard thing for me to do. I got insulin way down. What was it before that? It was just massive. It was impossible to afford. And sure as can be, because it was statute, it couldn’t have been earlier, I said, boy, this falls into the next administration, and I better win. And all of a sudden, I watched this Biden taking credit for something that I did. And on other things, too, we had a lot of things kick in.

So the nice part about this, this is at the beginning of our administration, so I think we’re going to see the fruits of our labor. And I hope on our other situation that we’ve talked so much about, autism, I hope we’re going to see some very good results based on the recommendations that we’ve made.

that we met and you know we have time to watch those results. I didn’t know that you tell me for the first time but I think he’s you know bad person. I think he’s a bad guy yeah he’s a bad guy too bad but it’s the way. That’s the way it goes right that’s the way it goes well I what have you reviewed the case against him no I haven’t I haven’t but I just think he’s a bad person.

REPORTER: Okay anybody else.

PRESIDENT TRUMP: Yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah.

FDA National Priority Voucher Program

SPEAKER: So first of all the national priority voucher program says we’re going to proactively at the FDA look for amazing treatments like this IVF treatment we’re going to reach out to the company and if it’s in line with the president’s national priorities we’re going to put those drugs at the front of the line and get a decision out in weeks instead of a year and so today we announced nine drugs are going to be recipients these are products where the manufacturing is going to be in the United States or it’s meeting a large unmet public health need like a diabetes drug we announced today or it is a product where you’re going to see an affordability phenomenon because the prices are getting equalized in line with the president’s most favored nation status quo.

PRESIDENT TRUMP: Why didn’t I have him speak to me so serious about that. I’m not surprised. Yeah please.

Senate Sanctions Bill on Russia

REPORTER: Yes thank you. So Senate Majority Leader John Thune today said he’d like to proceed with the bill which would put sanctions on Russia. What’s your thought on that?

PRESIDENT TRUMP: Well there’s the he doesn’t know about the call yet I’m going to speak to him later and it was subject to what I wanted to do and so we’ll see what happens. We may have this may be such a productive call that we’re going to end up we want to get peace. We want to stop the killing. 7000 people a week. Can you believe it. We want to stop the killing. So I’m going to speak to him and the speaker Mike Johnson. I’ll speak to them a little bit later and I’ll tell them about this and we’ll make the right determination. I’m not against anything I’m just saying it may not be perfect timing. It could happen in a week or two but it’s at my option as you know.

Discussion on Selling Tomahawks to Ukraine

REPORTER: But did President Putin try to dissuade you from selling tomahawks?

PRESIDENT TRUMP: Well what do you think he’s going to say please sell tomahawks. He’s going to say “please sell those tomahawks I really appreciate it.” I did actually say would you mind if I gave a couple of thousand tomahawks to your opposition. I did say that to him. I said it just that way. He didn’t like the idea. He really didn’t like the idea. No I said it that way. You have to be a little bit light hearted sometimes but no he doesn’t want tomahawks. Tomahawks is a vicious weapon. It’s a vicious offensive incredibly destructive weapon. Nobody wants tomahawks. So wouldn’t anybody. I mean it’s been in the news. Who wouldn’t do that. CNN. Who wouldn’t do that. Do you think he’s going to say “I’d love to have tomahawks sent my way.” I don’t think so.

Maria we have one of the great stars of television here and she’s an incredible person. She’s just an amazing woman who she got it all right. She got the Russia Russia Russia hoax right. She got everything. Would you have a question.

Autism Statistics and Concerns

PRESIDENT TRUMP: Well autism is like a whole different thing when you look at it was one in 20,000. Now it’s one in 12. If you look Bobby we have different numbers but one in 12 one in 28 one in 32. There’s a couple of different numbers out there but it’s one in a very very different number than it used to be. It used to be one in 20,000. And that was all that was not that long ago 20 years ago or so. And now they had something for boys for babies baby boys. It’s one in 12. I heard one in 10. Bobby I heard another one you know a different list. But when you think of that it’s not even sustainable but there’s something artificial. When that happens that’s not like a natural. And then you have certain groups of people that literally don’t have autism and they’re not taking some of the things that we’re taking. So we’re working very hard and or an IVF. It’s just that I have friends including Katie that called me and they told me the importance of it.

I wasn’t that familiar with it. Now I think I’ve sort of become the father ever since I heard. There was a bad decision in Alabama where a judge wanted all clinics to be immediately closed. Right. And Katie called up and you said you were pretty strongly attacked by your friends that you didn’t even know were involved with IVF.

I had people that had grandkids, people who’d gone through IVF themselves telling their story. Yeah. There are people who go through that. Tell what you did when you heard from your friends. You said this was not. They always became violent. I told him I said Mr. President we need you. We need your voice in this conversation. We need that directive. We need the strong support because there are millions of people out there, moms and dads wanting to bring life into the world.

And you had people, the chilling effect that occurred across Alabama. There were people that were in the middle of that process that had been praying to have a child and that was halted. And so the reality of that was very stark in our state. And so I was able to tell the president some of the stories of people, friends and grandparents and relatives that told me what they had experienced and also what they were fearful of in the future.

And the president very quickly acted, spoke with a strong voice and really led the way. Obviously we saw Democrats continue to fear monger for the remainder of the year trying to use it as an election issue when actually IVF is legal and accessible in all 50 states. And President Trump very clearly said where he was on this and he said I’m going to make sure that this is more accessible and it is more affordable for families coast to coast. That’s exactly what he did.

But it’s that real life. There’s real life stories there that he responded to. And that’s what people don’t know about him. He cares. And when you tell him what American people are dealing with he wants to do something about it. You have leaders and politicians that come before him. They want to talk about things. President Trump wants to actually make things happen. It’s exactly what he did here. And I’m so so grateful Mr. President.

Economic Progress and Energy Prices

PRESIDENT TRUMP: So we will go back to what we’re doing. Working again with Marco and with J.D. and a few of the people in the war and we’re doing a lot of other things. Also the economy is unbelievable. It really is. It’s been incredible. And I think one of the great numbers that I’ve ever heard. Think of it, over 17 trillion dollars being invested in our country. And when you think of compare that to the last administration but really compared to any administration, compared to any country, there’s never been a country with anything like that. That’s in a period of eight months. And we’re going to, we’ve already broken every record. There’s never anything even close.

So we’ll go back to all of that. Prices are down. Oil is down, down 58 dollars a barrel. That’s going to be hitting two dollars for gasoline. I think we’re going to be at two dollars and the previous administration they were at four and five dollars. They were going up much higher. And then they swung back into my things but they didn’t swing back properly. They were very very late. They really blew it.

We had it really going in the right direction. They came and took everything out. And you know it’s incredible. I’ll never forget. They lost control of the price of gasoline, of oil. They totally lost control Howard. And then they went back immediately. Let’s go back to Trump. But by that time it was too late. And they didn’t go back because the leases and everything else they didn’t. They didn’t do what they had to do. They wouldn’t know. They really didn’t know how to.

But we could be hitting close to two dollars a gallon. I’d love to break it if we could. But we could be. And you know when that comes down everything else and everything else has been coming down. Groceries are down. The price of things are down. And honestly the simplicity is if you can get oil down it’s such a big category. Everything follows. So just about everything follows.

We are working on beef and I think we have a deal on beef that’s going to bring the price of beef. That would be the one, one product that we would say is a little bit higher than we want it. Maybe higher than we want it.

And that’s going to be coming down pretty soon too. We did something. We worked our magic. But groceries are down. Energy is down. Electricity is way down. We have the prices coming down for people. They were abused for four years by the Biden administration.

Thank you very much everybody. We’ll see you soon. Thank you. Thank you guys. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you guys.

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