US President-elect Donald Trump gives his first press conference since his election.

Its live broadcast in Russian was conducted by the publication “ Voice of America «.

The press conference was opened by Vice President-elect Mike Pence, after a short opening speech, he handed the microphone to Donald Trump.

ForumDaily has collected the main statements of the President-elect.

On canceling Obamacare

Trump called Obama's medical insurance program a disaster and a problem, and promised to cancel and replace it within the first week of his inauguration.

He also pledged to rectify the situation in the provision of medical services to American veterans, without going into details of how he will do it.

Relations with Russia and other countries

When asked if Russia has leverage over him, Trump replied: "I have no business ties with Russia."

“Friends, this is a plus, not a minus,” said Donald Trump, adding that he considers Putin “an honest man”.

“We have terrible relations with Russia right now, but we need Russia to fight the Islamic State,” Trump said.

He accused the Obama administration of contributing to the creation of ISIS by untimely withdrawal of troops from Iraq, and announced his intention to tackle the problem of international terrorism.

He also said that all countries in the world will begin to “respect America” under his rule much more than under previous presidents.

“There is no reset button - either we will get along or not (about relations with Russia). I hope that we will get along, maybe not, this is also possible, but ... Russia, China, Japan, Mexico, all countries will respect us much more than under previous administrations, ”Donald Trump said.

About the wall on the border with Mexico

Trump has not abandoned the idea of \u200b\u200bbuilding a wall on the border with Mexico.

According to him, it will be built, and with the money of Mexico.

“But this will be done retroactively as compensation,” he added.

About economy

Trump reiterated his promise to create “more jobs than anyone else,” and stressed that he would definitely keep it. As confirmation, he cited recent statements from Apple, Ford and others about the transfer of production to the United States.

About presidency and business

Trump's lawyer Sheri Dillon, speaking at a press conference, said he had stepped back from running his company.

According to her, during the period of his upcoming presidency, he intends to abandon any international business transactions and will not use his state position for personal commercial benefits. The lawyer also said that by January 20, 2017, all business assets of the President-elect of the United States will be transferred to him in trust management.

At the same time, at a press conference, the President-elect of the United States noted that business in Trump's company will be professionally managed by his two sons, and they will not discuss business issues with their father.

Trump divided journalists into "honest" and "dishonest"

The president-elect declined to answer a CNN question, stressing several times during his speech that their information about that was fake.

"You are a terrible organization and publish fakes," Trump interrupted a CNN reporter's question, and added that he would only communicate "with honest journalists."

US President-elect Donald Trump gives his first press conference since winning the race against Hillary Clinton.

On the eve of the still acting American President Barack. Addressing the Americans for the last time in this post, Obama shed a tear.

The main topics of his speech were the achievements in the presidency of the United States, as well as the challenges of the future.

Now Correspondent.net publishes a video of the press conference of the new US president, as well as the main messages of Donald Trump, who will soon take over the Obama office in the White House.

Note that Trump's press conference was preceded by a statement by a possible US Secretary of State, who is called Putin's friend, that "Russia has no legal rights to Crimea."

Speaking in the US Senate, Tillerson said that Russia must understand the need to "be held accountable for its actions." In his words, Russia has recently "neglected American interests."

In his speech, Tillerson also expressed support for the "Magnitsky Act", which provides for sanctions against people who, according to the United States, are involved in human rights violations.

"Our NATO allies are right to worry about a resurgent Russia," Tillerson said in the Senate.

In addition, on the eve of the press conference of the president-elect, allegedly appeared on the network.

In the Kremlin, Trump himself called him fake. The "document" in particular contained information about the fate of Ukraine and Trump's sexual adventures in Moscow.

Trump's Key Statements

The President-elect of the United States spoke a lot about domestic politics, in particular about the controversial F-35 fighter program, about a new car plant and his promise to create new jobs, as well as to reform American medicine.

According to him, he will be completely isolated from his business, and will transfer all assets to a trust.

Trump also promised that his inauguration would be "a beautiful and elegant event." Let us remind you that it will take place on January 20.

But let's concentrate on foreign policy issues. It is worth noting that he deftly dodged uncomfortable questions, even if they were asked repeatedly - he simply did not let the journalist speak.

- Russia is to blame for cyberattacks

"Actually, it's all secret. As for the hacking, I think it was Russia, but I think we were also hacked by other countries," Trump said.

He promised to create a protection against hackers, which will include "the best minds." Trump promised to instruct "his people" to prepare a report on hacker attacks within 90 days.

"Hacking is, of course, terrible, but look what terrible things it revealed. These are important things!" - said Trump.

- Putin likes it well

When asked about the influence of the Russian president on the US elections, he replied: "If Putin likes Donald Trump, I believe this is an asset, not a debt."

At the same time, he noted that he had no business in Russia and "there are no debts there." This is the question of "compromising evidence".

Trump says that hidden cameras are in all hotels and he knows this very well. So all the information about compromising records is fake.

- Will be a tough negotiator with the Russian Federation

"Putin shouldn't have been hacking, and I think he won't hack us from now on," Trump says.

In his opinion, Russia will respect the United States more during his presidential term.

"Of course, something can happen, but I will not use the reset buttons like Hillary here, there is no such reset button. We will either have normal relations or not," Trump emphasized.

And let's be honest: does anyone think Hillary would be a tougher negotiator than me? Enough

- Wall with Mexico

We'll build the wall, Trump says. According to him, Mike Pence is already making preparations.

“We will start building as soon as we can, I'm not ready to wait a year. And Mexico will pay for it,” the president-elect says.

He clarified that the wall will be built with American funds, and then Mexico will pay for it. Trump stressed that he respects the Mexican government and even loves Mexicans: "It is not their fault that this situation has developed."

- Taxes on foreign goods

Trump has promised a huge tax on all goods produced in overseas factories: "The industry will return to the US."

Image copyright Getty Images Image caption

As far as is known, Donald Trump came to the Oval Office on Thursday morning and said he wanted to hold a press conference. On the same day.

And that is exactly what he did. And How!

Officially, the president wanted to tell the press who he wants to appoint as minister of labor. But it would be difficult to call this press conference ordinary or routine.

The nominee - Alexander Acosta - was not in the hall. Which is probably for the best, as he was quickly forgotten, and the 76-minute press conference immediately turned into something reminiscent of a rugby match without any rules.

One can forget that the White House traditionally deals with journalists in a very restrained and disciplined manner.

Instead, we are faced with Trump in all his Trumpism.

It was spontaneous, impromptu statements that helped him to prevail over all rivals and become president.

So it is not surprising that he decided to resort to the same method in order to give a new impetus to his presidency, which is only four weeks old (!).

Trump suffered, and this is exactly the state that he loves so much.

Image copyright Getty Images Image caption Trump often ignores questions

"Information leaks are 100% real; but this news is fake."

Thursday's press conference turned into yet another round of match between Donald Trump and the press.

Trump has called the journalists of major publications the voice of the "perverse system" of influence groups that he is trying to resist. For his supporters, these words are what valerian is to cats. In addition, in this way he protects himself from the tsunami of negative news stories.

When asked repeatedly to comment on the still-developing scandal surrounding his - already former - national security adviser Michael Flynn, Flynn's ties to Russia, and how the White House responded to this information, the president first tried to answer questions, but then blamed the "shameless “journalists who should be“ ashamed ”of their erroneous reporting based on illegal information leaks. (Yes, Trump did not notice the logical contradiction in this statement.)

He accused the New York Times and the Wall Street Journal of not contacting him personally before their articles were published, apparently thinking that every journalist has his personal mobile phone number.

He even contrived to troll during a press conference, telling a CNN reporter that his company "could be better if it changed."

"I started today by saying that an honest press is important to the people," Donald Trump continued.

Trump has enjoyed arguing with apparently critical journalists about the honesty and truthfulness of the press throughout the press conference. And this is no coincidence. While journalists themselves are more than serious about their profession, to the general public it is like looking at your own navel.

Every minute spent debating the neutrality and veracity of the press was in the president's favor.

Image copyright Getty Images

"Biggest Electoral College Victory Since Reagan"

Donald Trump has a habit of making statements that - how to put it mildly - are sometimes only distantly related to reality. To avoid criticism, he often accompanies such statements with the words "I heard", "People speak", or even "I think."

This is exactly what happened when he again returned to the question of the size of his victory in the electoral college (and this part of his speech was prepared in advance), saying that after Reagan no one won such a large-scale victory.

But Trump was contradicted by NBC correspondent Peter Alexander, reminding him that both Bill Clinton and Barack Obama had a bigger electoral college victory.

Trump replied that he was referring only to Republican presidents.

Peter Alexander did not give up; he noticed that George W. Bush also had more impressive numbers.

"Why should Americans trust you when you claim that they are being presented with fake information, and at the same time spread information that is not true?" - he asked.

Trump replied that he was "given" this information, and that he had "seen it somewhere," after which he repeated that he managed to win a "very impressive victory", with which no one argued.

President Trump, just like presidential candidate Trump, pays no attention to fact checkers - to people checking whether his statements are true, as he rapidly moves from discussion of one topic to another, and the press simply cannot catch up with him.

But on Thursday, at least for a short moment, she caught up with him.

Image copyright Getty Images

"I think Melania will play a great role."

After criticizing a CNN reporter, calling the BBC "just another handsome man" and responding to a Jewish journalist's question about anti-Semitism with advice to keep quiet, Donald Trump finally got a question he liked.

"Can you list everything Melania does for the good of the country?" Freelance journalist Kyle Mazza asked, referring to the first lady.

"That's a nice question," Trump responded.

"I have known her for a long time," the president said. "She is a very successful person. She was a very successful model. She did everything very well."

Trump has been criticized for giving the floor in recent approaches to journalists only to representatives of friendly conservative publications - for example, Townhall, Daily Caller and Newsmax, and not large media corporations.

On Thursday he departed from this tradition. The result was the most extraordinary press conference in White House history.

Donald Trump's press conference. Live broadcast with Russian translation
US President-elect Donald Trump is holding a press conference today, ten days before taking office,
and conducts it against the backdrop of a new scandal,
caused by media publications about materials allegedly available to Russia,
compromising the new American president.
The press conference will be broadcast live
with simultaneous Russian translation by colleagues from the Voice of America.
Live broadcast with Russian translation

Video recording of the transmission

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The president: Thank you very much. I want to start by proposing Alex Acosta for the post of Minister of Labor. He has a Harvard law degree and was an excellent student. Samuel Alito former assistant judge (from the Supreme Court - approx. trans.)... He has had a great career. He is a member of the National Labor Relations Council, has passed Senate approvals three times, was approved, good, very good. So I wished Alex all the best. We just spoke. And he will - I think he will be a great minister of labor.

Also, as you've probably already heard, former Congressman Mick Mulvaney has just been confirmed as director of the Office of Management and Budget. I have to say, approved with a delay of several weeks. I think he will be a fantastic addition. Paul Singer just walked away (investor, sold his assets last year - approx.trans.)... As you know, Paul was actively involved in the campaign against Trump - as they say, "Trump - never." So Paul left and gave us his full support. It's all about rallying. We are rallying the party, and there is hope that we will be able to rally the country. It is very important for me. I have been talking about this for a long time, it is very, very important for me. So I want to thank Paul Singer for being here, for coming. He was a very strong opponent, and now he is a very strong ally. I appreciate it.

I think I will say a few words and then I will answer some questions. We are negotiating a wide variety of deals to save money on contracts that were terrible. These are airplane contracts, they got out of hand, were late, and were terrible. Just a complete disaster in terms of what was going on there. And we did really good work... We are very proud of this.

Well, right after that, get ready to ask questions. I will answer them if you have any questions. Anything can happen.

I came here to tell the American people about the incredible progress that has been made in the four weeks since my inauguration. We have achieved incredible success. I don't think we had a president who would have done as much in such a short time as we did.

New Rasmussen poll. People understand everything, but a significant part of the media - they do not understand. In fact, they got it, but they don't write about it - let's put it this way. But a new Rasmussen poll was conducted quite recently, and it showed that our popularity ratings reach 55% and are constantly growing. As you know, the securities market is breaking records. Optimism is on the rise in the business world, but for me it doesn't mean what it used to be. I used to just think how good it is. Now I think it's good for employment. This is a completely different matter. Plants and factories are already beginning to move back to the United States, and among them there are many major league enterprises - Ford, General Motors.

I speak directly to the American people in the presence of the media, and it is a great honor for me because many reporters and people in our country will not tell you the truth. They do not want to treat the beautiful people of our country with the respect they deserve. I hope that in the future we will become a little different, maybe we will learn to get along, if possible. Or maybe not. Well, okay.

Unfortunately, much of the media in Washington, as well as in New York and Los Angeles, speaks not on behalf of the people, but on behalf of special interest groups, on behalf of those who benefit from this clearly undermined system. The press has become so dishonorable that if we don't talk about it, we will be doing a very disservice to the American people. A very disservice. We must be honest about what is happening, we must find out what is happening. The level of media dishonesty is out of control.

I ran for president to represent the interests of the citizens of our country. I am here to change a broken system to serve families and communities. I'm talking, I'm really talking about this ingrained power structure. We are talking about this power structure, how it dug in. As a result, the media are doing what they do quite often. Not all the time - I have to say that some of the media are fantastic, honest and wonderful. But most of them - they distort everything. And we are talking about it, and you can ask me questions about it.

But we will not allow this, because I intend to speak directly with the people. As you know, our administration has inherited many problems in the state and throughout the country. Honestly, I inherited a mess - a mess at home and abroad. Mess. The country is losing jobs. You see what is happening with all these companies, how they leave the country - they go to Mexico, to other places where costs are low, salaries are low. Great instability abroad, wherever you look. Middle East, disaster. North Korea, we will take care of it guys. We will take care of all this. I just want to say again that I inherited a mess.

From the very first day, our administration took up solving these problems. In foreign affairs, we have already started extremely productive negotiations with many foreign leaders, and you have covered this extensively. We do this in order to move towards stability, security and to achieve peace in the most troubled regions, of which there are many.

We had great talks and meetings with Britain, Israel, Mexico, Japan, China and Canada. Indeed, these were very productive negotiations. Much more productive than you think, I would say. We even created a new council with Canada to support and promote women among entrepreneurs and business leaders. This is very important for me and for my daughter Ivanka.

Context

Donald Trump: it's better to get along with Russia

Fox News 06.02.2017

Donald Trump is off the chain

BBC Russian Service 17.02.2017

Trump on Putin and the "killers"

The Times 02/06/2017

Trump: I love strength. I love order

Bild 16.01.2017

Trump's victory speech

Vox 11/09/2016 I instructed our defense department, headed by a great general and now minister, Mattis, to present a plan to defeat ISIS (an organization banned in Russia - approx. per.) - a group that kills and tortures people in large areas in different parts of the world. It was a small organization, but now it has expanded and operates in different regions of the world. It spreads like a cancerous tumor. ISIS is spreading like a cancerous tumor. Here's another mess I inherited.

We have introduced new sanctions against Iran, which used the previous administration in its own interests and to its own advantage. But this is the main sponsor of terrorism in the world. We will not stop until this issue is resolved. This is one of the worst deals I've seen.

I ordered the development of large-scale restructuring plans in the US armed forces. The Senate fully supported me in this. On the whole, Congress supported me. We are undergoing this restructuring in the hope that we will never use our army. And I will tell you: I will be happy if we never have to use it. Our country has never had such an army as we are going to create. The best people in the world serve in our army, but they do not have the necessary equipment and weapons. And what is is outdated. I talked about this at every opportunity. The army is exhausted, exhausted. But this will not last long.

In my opinion, one of the reasons why I stand here, and not someone else, is my conviction and my statements that we need a strong army. We also need strong law enforcement. Therefore, we will not go abroad in search of war. We want peace, but it will be a world endowed with power.

Inside the country, we embarked on a colossal task - to return the state back to the people, which has not been around for many, many years. In carrying out all these actions, I keep my promises made to the American people. Promises given during the election campaign. Some people are surprised that we are building strong boundaries. But I talked about this for about a year and a half - about strong boundaries. And they are surprised: "Oh, you are building strong boundaries." But after all I spoke about it both to the press, and to everything else.

Politicians for many years have given you one promise after another, so that you elect them. They lie to the American people to be chosen. Probably, some of what I do is not very popular, but it is necessary for safety and for other reasons. And they come to Washington and pursue their own interests, which are more important to many politicians than anything else.

And I do what I promised. I'm doing it. I show it to the American people. I got 306 electoral votes. But I should not have received 222. They told me that in no case would I receive 222, and 230 is generally unrealistic. 270, which are needed to get through - it generally made them laugh. And we got 306, because people went out and voted like they had never done before. Like this. I think we got the most votes from the electoral college since Ronald Reagan.

In other words, the media are trying to attack our administration, because they know that we are fulfilling these promises, and for some reason they are unhappy with this. But many people are happy. At five o'clock on Saturday I will be in Melbourne, Florida, and I heard that there will be huge crowds of people who want to listen to me.

I turn on the TV, take the newspapers and see news about the chaos. Chaos! But it’s just the opposite. This administration works like a fine-tuned watch, although I can’t get the approval of my office, and these are outstanding people. For example, Senator Dan Coates, one of the most influential people in the Senate, is not approved. Why do not you approve it? He is your colleague, a very respected person, wonderful, magnificent, and everyone knows that. But there is no statement so far.

So we have a great team that works very hard and hard. But these people are misrepresented, and we cannot allow this. And the Democrats - you need to look where they are today. The only thing they do is put sticks in the wheels, they have ruined everything enormously, believe me.

Let me list some of the things we have done in a very short time. Done without an office. Again, all these things are from the promises I made to the American people. Therefore, we will briefly go through some of them. And next week we are waiting for many new events, as in the future. We emerged from a catastrophic, job-killing agreement known as the Trans-Pacific Partnership. We will conclude trade agreements, but these will be one-on-one deals, bilateral deals. We will conclude bilateral deals.

We have ordered the abolition of rules and regulations that weaken industrial production. We urge to expedite the approval of the permits required by America and the American infrastructure, which includes plants, equipment, roads, bridges, factories. People are waiting for permission to build enterprises for 10, 15, 20 years, and they are eventually refused. They want to get permission, a license, but it takes many, many years. They spend millions of dollars on nonsense, and, ultimately, at the end of the road they are denied. Now I can refuse these people, but it will be a quick failure. It will not take many years to wait. But basically it will be permissions. We want to build factories, we want to build factories, we want to create jobs. We do not want these jobs to float to other countries.

We have banned the recruitment of new secondary employees of federal bodies. We have introduced a temporary moratorium on new federal regulations. Two old acts must be repealed. It is reasonable. No one has had the same rules and regulations that we will have. Go to other countries, look at the local enterprises. Ask to see their regulations. There are very few of them, a small fraction of what we have. Norms and rules are needed, because we need safety measures, we need reliable environmental protection. It is very important for me. But it is not necessary that the same issue be considered in four or five normative acts.

We stood up for the protection of men and women from law enforcement agencies, we give instructions to federal agencies to protect them from criminal violence. We ordered the creation of a special working group to combat violent crime in America, including where there was a terrible situation in poor neighborhoods - take a look at Chicago and other cities. It's horrible. We ordered the Department of Homeland Security and Justice to jointly develop a plan to destroy the criminal cartels that ship drugs to the United States. We are becoming a drug-stuffed nation. Drugs are getting cheaper than sweets. We will not allow this to continue.

We have taken the most serious measures for many years to protect our borders so that our country and our tax dollars are safe. And now we are starting to build the promised wall on the southern border. Yesterday I met with General, and now Minister Kelly (Minister of Homeland Security John Kelly - approx. per.)and we started this process. It will be a great wall, it will be the wall that I agreed on. Its value will decrease, as with everything else, which I agreed with the government. And this wall will give a result. It will not be the same as it is now, because today the barriers either do not exist, or they are just a mockery.

We ordered nuts to be given to cities that refuse to comply with federal laws and harbor criminal migrants. We ordered an end to the practice when people were caught at the border and immediately released. No one else will be released, no matter who these people are. We launched a nationwide campaign to deport criminal elements from among foreign citizens, gang members, drug dealers and all others who pose a threat to public safety. We save the lives of Americans every single day. The judicial system does not facilitate this work for us. We even created a new department at the Department of Homeland Security that will handle the affairs of forgotten American victims of violence by illegal immigrants. And there are a lot of such victims.

We are taking decisive steps to prevent radical Islamic terrorists from entering our country. Although the judge blocked some of these necessary and constitutional measures, which, in my opinion, is wrong and dangerous, our administration works day and night so that you, including reporters, live in safety, and she actively and actively defends this legal order. I will not give up the defense of our country. I was elected to defend our country. And I will fulfill these promises. And our citizens will be pleased to see the result. I can tell you that they are already satisfied.

Tough security checks will be taken. In many places they are already operating. In fact, we had to act faster because of the bad decisions made by the courts. These decisions are canceled in 80% of cases. I heard this figure. It's hard to believe, but they told me so - cancellation in 80% of cases. It seems to me that these courts are in a state of chaos. Frankly, there is complete confusion. We appeal and will move on.

Next week we will issue a new executive order for the comprehensive protection of our country. We will go this route, hoping for victory. At the same time, we will issue another new and comprehensive executive order to protect our people, and this will also be done next week, at the beginning or, at the latest, in the middle.

We have also taken steps to begin the construction of the Keystone and Dakota Access pipelines, which will yield thousands and thousands of jobs. We are also taking new measures under the Buy American program, so that American steel goes to the construction of American pipelines. In other words, a pipeline is being laid in our country, and we are providing this construction with the power of the government. We want American steel to be used there. And they are ready to do it, just before my arrival nobody asked them about it. But even to this decree they began to silently put the sticks in the wheels. I read the order and say: why do not we use American steel? And they say: this is a good idea. And we put it into practice.

To drain the swamp of corruption in Washington, I began to introduce a five-year ban on lobbying for White House officials and a permanent ban on lobbying for foreign interests. We began work on the abolition of Obamacare and its replacement. Guys, this reform is a real disaster. Catastrophe. You can say: Oh Obamacare! I mean, they filled the corridors of power with people who cause surprise and questions about how they got there. But these are not the Republicans represented by our representatives. So we started the work of recalling Obamacare and replacing it. And we are also negotiating a historic tax reform that will bring our jobs back to the country. We are returning large numbers of jobs to the country. This process is already underway, and vacancies are opening in major league companies.

I am also working on the formation of the cabinet in spite of the opposition and delays of the Senate Democrats. You saw what they have been doing in recent years. This will be one of the greatest cabinets in American history. Look at Rex Tillerson - he is currently negotiating abroad. General Mattis, whom I have already mentioned, General Kelly. We have great, great people. Mick is with us now. We have wonderful people.

© AFP 2017, Nicholas Kamm

Among their official duties will be work to stop the leakage of jobs from our country and negotiations on the conclusion of fair trade agreements in the interests of our citizens. See: fair trade agreements, not free ones. If a country uses us to its advantage, we will stop it. And almost all countries use us. Well, you can find a couple who do not. It will be a very difficult job for me.

Employment rates have already begun to grow. After my election, Ford announced that it was abandoning the construction of a new plant in Mexico and was instead investing $ 700 million in Michigan, creating many, many jobs. Fiat-Chrysler has announced that it will invest one billion dollars in Ohio and Michigan, creating two thousand new jobs for Americans. We met a week ago. You know - you were there. General Motors also promised to invest billions of dollars in its manufacturing facilities in America, preserving many jobs that could disappear. If they hadn’t elected me, believe me, these places would have gone abroad. And they never came back.

Intel announced the construction of a new enterprise in Arizona, which they could never build. There will be at least ten thousand jobs. Walmart announced that this year alone it will create ten thousand jobs in the United States through various projects and initiatives. And there will be more and more such jobs. A lot more. I have given just a few examples.

Other countries have used us for dozens, tens and decades, gentlemen. But we will not allow this anymore. Not permissible.

One more thing. I kept my word to the American people by proposing to the position of judge of the Supreme Court Neil Gorsach, who was on the list of 20 candidates. He will be a true defender of our laws and our constitution, very respected - if he receives votes from the Democrats. You may not notice this, but he will be there - one way or another. However, it would be better if he got to this position in the traditional way, and he should get these votes.

Last month, the great citizens of our country showed unprecedented activity. I repeat: the country has not yet had such a presidential administration that would have done so much in such a short time. But we have not even begun the great work that will begin next week. Then we will announce very important and large-scale affairs.

So this is just the beginning. As I said, at five o'clock I will give a speech in Melbourne, Florida. Hope to see you there. And now I will say “God bless America,” and we will move on to the questions.

Mara. Mara, come on. You were rather rudely interrupted during our last press conference.

“Did you fire Mike Flynn?”

“Mike Flynn is a wonderful person, and I asked him to resign.” He respectfully did this. This is a man who ... yes, there was certain information transmitted to Vice President Pence, who is with us today. And I was unhappy with the way this information was presented.

He did not need to do so, since he had done nothing wrong or wrong in terms of the transmitted information. It was wrong how other people, including those in this room, were given secret information. She was transferred illegally. This is a real problem. And now you can talk about Russia with everything that comes to your mind. But all this is fabricated news, with the help of which an attempt was made to recoup for the loss of the Democrats. And the press contributes to this. I saw a couple of people who allegedly participated in all of this. So - they don’t know anything about it. They were not in Russia, they never called or received phone calls from there. This is called fake news. All this is a forgery.

The nice thing is that now I am witnessing a change in mood. Mara, I think this is important. People begin to wonder why secret information was illegally made public. Let me tell you: it just leaked, like some nonsense. I will give an example. As you know, I called to Mexico. It was a confidential, secret conversation, but I really called there. And calling there, I thought that everything would be fine: I spoke with the President of Mexico, the conversation turned out to be good. And suddenly everyone knew about him in this world. But it was a secret conversation. That is, it had to be secret and confidential. Same thing with Australia. Suddenly, people all know for certain.

It was the same with General Flynn. Everyone knew this, and when I heard about it, I first thought: how could the press get this information, if it is secret? How do they do it? The thing is that it is illegal, and the press should be ashamed of themselves. Really ashamed.

Yes, let's do it.

“Why did you keep the vice president in ignorance for almost two weeks?”

- Because I studied this information. As I said, it does not seem to me that he did something wrong. If you want, he did the right thing. He came to the office, looked through the information. He said, well, for this she exists. And then, he called not only in Russia. He contacted and talked, as it seems to me, with 30 countries or more. He did his job.

Yes, he just did his job, you know. Indeed, he did not tell our vice president about it properly, and then said that he did not remember. One way or another, I was not very satisfied. And I already have a person who, I think, is perfect for this job. I think it also helped me make my decision.

He did not tell the US Vice President the facts, and then said that he had forgotten. It was unacceptable to me.

- President Trump, since you touched on the topic of Russia, I want you to clarify something. Did any of your team communicate with members of the Russian government or with Russian intelligence during the election campaign? If so, what was the nature of these conversations?

“Well, this New York Times loser wrote a long and long article on the front page yesterday.” As you know, a lot of it turned out to be of very dubious quality. It ... it was a joke. The people mentioned in this article ... I noticed that they spoke on television today and stated that they had never called Russia. And I almost never spoke to any of these people. Maybe one person - but even with him, in my opinion, I never spoke. I guess I never even met him. He said that he was a very short time an ordinary member of some commission. In my opinion, I have never met him. No, it is possible that someday I entered the room, and he sat there, but it seems to me that I am not familiar with him. I have never spoken to him. And he thought it was a joke.

The second person stated that he had never called Russia, and they had never called him from there. You look at the records of his telephone conversations and all that jazz. And there was a man there ... people knew that he represented various countries, but I do not think that he represented Russia. But I knew that he represents different countries. Such is his job. And people know that. This is Manafort, who, incidentally, is a very respected person. Authoritative. But, it seems to me, he represented Ukraine, or the Ukrainian government, or someone there. All people knew about it. Everyone knew. And Manafort himself said that he never had and has nothing to do with Russia. He said this quite convincingly, I saw his statement. Convincing and persistent. But the newspapers for the most part did not print it, because his words do not fit into their storyline.

So, they spoke with three people, and all three categorically deny everything. And I will tell you on my own behalf: I do not own anything in Russia. I do not have loans in Russia. I did not make any deals with her. President Putin called me and politely congratulated me on my election victory. And then he called again and very politely congratulated him on assuming office. It was wonderful. But so did many other leaders — almost all the leaders of almost all countries. Like this.

Russia is fake news. Russia is an informational stuffing carried out by the media. In fact, the people from the Obama administration probably did this because they still remain, although we are appointing new people to replace them - our people. As you know, Mike Pompeo now runs the CIA. James Komi - FBI. Dan Coates is waiting for approval in the post. He is a senator, and very respected. But they still have not approved it. But our people keep coming.

Yes, until we move on to another topic, the Wall Street Journal today published material almost as disgusting as yesterday's article in the New York Times. There we are talking ... you saw on the first page. The director of national intelligence made a statement: "Any suggestions that the US intelligence community conceals and does not report important information to the president and his national security team are untrue."

So, they took this material from the Wall Street Journal and simply wrote that it was not true. I’ll tell you something, and I’ll tell you honestly. I actually like this skirmish, I liked it all my life, but I have never seen more dishonest, more politicized media. It seemed to me that financial media is better and much more honest. But I’ll tell you that no one ever calls me from the media. How can they write this in the Wall Street Journal without asking me? How can they write such stories in the New York Times by placing them on the front page? Like that article - about me and women. First page, a large, detailed article. It's disgusting.

And then they called. They called and said: “We never said that. We like Trump. ” They called directly to my office: "We like Trump, we never said that." I must say that they reported absolutely false information about these wonderful women, they completely distorted everything. I said: give a refutation. They did not give any refutation. Frankly, then I forgot about it, doing other things.

- Mr. President. Very simple information. You said that you received the largest number of electoral votes since the Reagan, gaining 304 or 306 votes. And Obama got 365 in 2008.

“Well, I was talking about the Republicans.” Yes.

- President Obama - 332. George W. Bush - 426 when he became president. Why should Americans believe ...

- Well, no, they told me so, I got such information. I do not know. So they told me. But we won with a very, very big advantage.

- Why should Americans believe you if you call fake the information that they receive, although they themselves provide false information?

- Well I do not know. I was given such information. You know, I saw her somewhere. But we still had a very convincing victory. Do you agree with that?

“Well, you're the president.”

- Good. Thanks, good answer. Yes.

- Mr. President, thank you very much. When you said that Lieutenant General Flynn, in your opinion, did not commit any illegal actions, what evidence did you have? Did you have any telephone interception materials with Russian officials, in particular, with Ambassador Kislyak, with whom Flynn spoke? What evidence and arguments did you use when you decided that there were no unlawful acts? And more, sir. This morning, you mentioned a couple of times that you would actively look for the sources of these leaks.

- We will.

“May I ask what you will do?” And yet, we heard about a special services audit that will take place under the leadership of Stephen Feinberg. What can you tell us about this?

“Well, first of all, we now have Dan Coates.” I hope for Mike Pompeo and James Komi, they occupy their posts. I think we can put things in order without attracting anyone else. The person you mentioned is very talented, very successful. He offered us his services, and I think we can take advantage of this. But it seems to me that we don’t need it, because we ourselves can easily figure it out.

As for the general, when I first heard about it, I said to myself: there seems to be nothing like this. My legal adviser, Don McGan, White House legal adviser came. I asked him about this case. He stated that he did not see anything illegal here. He really thought that there was nothing wrong with that - everything happened later. And I, too, did not see anything special in this, because I thought about it after some time. In my opinion, he just did his job.

The information was provided by Sally Yates, and it surprised me a little, as I said that I did not see anything wrong here. But he did the wrong thing to the vice president, and I thought that was unacceptable. As for the calls, I watched various programs, read several articles about it, and I got the impression that he was just doing his job. This is a common thing. At first everyone was alarmed, thinking that he had made some mistakes. And then they thought about it, and it turned out that he was simply fulfilling his duties. I do that too, and by the way, despite everything said about Flynn, I consider him a wonderful person.

“About the leaks, sir ...”

“Yes, ask, and I will answer later, John.”

- Sorry, what will you do with leaks? You said twice today ...

- Yes, we think about it very, very seriously. I spoke with all the leaders from various departments, and I even called the Ministry of Justice to investigate the leaks. It is a crime. Leaks are the work of public servants. I think we will stop it, because our people come to positions. True, not all, because the Senate does not approve. Jeff Sessions has just been approved by the Department of Justice, for example. So we look at it very seriously. It is a crime.

You know what I’ll say. When information appeared about my call to Mexico, I was shocked. You know, all this equipment, all this incredible communication technique. But when there were leaks about calling to Mexico, I was very, very surprised, to be honest. And then I said: this is unacceptable, this should not be. There were no secrets in this call. I could tell the whole world about him, he could tell the whole world - the president of Mexico, who, by the way, is a very good person. Same thing with Australia. I said that leaking information is terrible, but the conversation itself is not so important. And then I thought: what can happen when I solve the problem of North Korea? What can happen when I solve problems in the Middle East? Will you tell the whole world this secret information, very important information, information from the very top?

I do not want classified information to be made public. By the way, it was a bit of a test. I speak with Mexico, I speak with Argentina. We are solving this issue with Mike Flynn. And all this information appears in the Washington Post, appears in the New York Times. And I ask: what will happen when I do Middle Eastern affairs? When will I deal with really important issues like North Korea? We must stop this. This is a criminal offense.

Yes, John.

“Thank you, Mr. President.” I want you to clarify one very important point. Can you definitely say that none of your headquarters ever contacted the Russians during the election campaign? And about leaks: is it fake news or is it a real leak of important information?

- Well, the leaks are real. You are one of those who wrote and reported about them. That is, I mean, the leaks are very real. You know what they said, you saw it, and the leaks are absolutely real. And the news is a fake, because so many news are lies.

Therefore, I considered it very important to do one thing. I hope we can fix it. Because I don’t have such respect for anyone as for reporters, good reporters. For me it is very important, especially in such a position. Very important. I am not against bad stories. I will survive a bad story without problems if it is true. Of course, over time I will make mistakes, you will write badly about me, but this is normal. It’s not normal when fakes appear. I watched CNN: there is so much anger and hatred, one hatred. I don't watch CNN anymore. Now, he does not agree. Okay, Jim, okay. You will have a chance to speak. But I watch other channels. You are not the only ones, so do not be offended.

I think there should be more truth. Frankly, then it will be more interesting to watch these programs. I know what everyone has good ratings now, but if it is true, they will become even higher.

Honestly, society would appreciate it, appreciate it. I would appreciate it. Again, I am not against bad stories if they are true. But the Democrats are making life very difficult for the current administration. I think we are setting a record, or something close to the record for the terms of approval of the cabinet. The numbers are kind of crazy. I’m watching, they approved someone without delay, and with someone pulled. Is this going to last forever? I have a lot of people who are not yet approved.

That’s all they do. Delays, delays. Look at sumer (Leader of the Democratic Minority in the Senate - approx. Per.)what a mess he made there. And no progress. They can’t do anything, just put off and arrange procrastination. It would be better if they approved everyone, so that they would be satisfied themselves, and that everyone would feel good. I know Obama lost three or four, and you too will lose in the process. And this is normal.

But I think it would be much more profitable for them to quickly complete this process, John. And so this is just a delay tactic. They do not hide this, and everyone understands this.

Yes, Jim.

- The first part of my contact question. Can you say with certainty that ...

“Well, I have nothing to do with it.” I have nothing to do with Russia. I already told you, I have no business there. There is nothing.

And when WikiLeaks, to which I have nothing to do, speaks and gives out information, it gives unclassified information. She writes about talking about Hillary fraud during the debate, which, incidentally, is no longer reported. No one says that Hillary got debate questions in advance.

© AFP 2016, Frederic J Brown People watch the broadcast of the debate between Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton

Can you imagine - seriously, can you imagine what would happen if I had these questions? Would there be an electric chair, wouldn't it? You would demand that I be put on an electric chair, even to restore the death penalty for such an incident, right? Well, maybe not you, John. Yes, Jim, you are next. Ask.

“Thank you, Mr. President.” Clarify one more point.

- Sure.

- You gave instructions to Mike Flynn to discuss sanctions with the Russian ambassador?

- No, I didn’t. I didn’t.

— (inaudible, without microphone)

“You fired him because (inaudible) ...”

- Sorry but no. I fired him because he told Mike Pence, everything is simple. Mike did his job. He called to different countries and his colleagues. So I would definitely not mind his calls. I would instruct him to do this if I thought he was not doing it. I did not give him such instructions, but I would give, because this is his work.

That's how it happened. Honestly, I watched the program the day before yesterday with Dr. Charles Krauthammer, and he also said that Mike was fulfilling his duties. And I agree with him. And then many other people said the same thing.

So no, I did not give him such instructions, but I would have given it if he had not done so. Like this. Jim.

- Mr. President, thank you very much. And by the way, we do not hate you. I do not hate you. Tell us about it, if you can.

- Good. Yes, ask Jeff Zucker (TV producer, president and CEO of NBC Universal - approx. per.)how he got his job, okay?

“May I supplement some of the questions that have already been raised, sir?”

“Well, not too much.” There are other people. And your ratings are not as high as those of others who are waiting in line.

- Actually, now they are quite high.

“Okay, ask, Jim.”

- Sir, you said earlier that WikiLeaks published information about the headquarters of Hillary Clinton during the election campaign. You even at one point approved of it.

- Well yes.

- You said you love WikiLeaks. And at another press conference, you called on the Russians to find 30,000 missing emails. Interesting sir, you ...

- Well, in fact, she lost 33 thousand, and maybe more.

- If you will allow me, you should not be particularly trusted when it comes to leaks, since you encouraged this business during the campaign.

- A fair question. Are you ready for an answer?

“Well, if you will, one more ...”

“No, no, let me answer in turn.” Do not you mind?

“No sir.”

- Good. So, in one case you are talking about top secret information. And in another case, you are talking about John Podest, who says bad things about his boss. I’ll say this: If John Podesta said this about me and worked for me, I would have fired him instantly. He said terrible things about her. But this was not classified information.

But in one case we are talking about classified information. If you look at the National Committee of the Republican Party ... at my suggestion - and I pay tribute to Raines in this regard - at my suggestion, because I know something about this world, I said that I want to have a very strong defense mechanism. I do not want to be hacked. We did it, and you saw that they tried to hack us, but they couldn’t. But the National Committee of the Democratic Party did not. And if they did, they would not be hacked. But they were hacked, and terrible things were revealed. And I consider it unfair that some of these things - and they were ... when I heard about them, I said ... I took the newspapers the next morning and said: oh, that will be in the front pages. But in the newspapers nothing was said about this at all.

Once again, if this happened to me, it would become the most important article in the history of publications or in the history of newspaper leaders. I would be in the headlines in all the newspapers.

I want to say, think about it. They gave her questions prepared for the debate, and she herself had to report it. Why didn't she say: “I'm sorry, but they gave me questions for debate in the city hall, and I think this is wrong and I want to report that CNN is doing the wrong thing”?

- If possible, I would like to ask one more question about what Jonathan Karl asked you: you said that the leaks were real, but the news was false. It seems to me that I do not quite understand. It seems that something is not converging here. If the information obtained from these leaks is correct, then how can the publications be fake?

“Well, the reports are false.” Listen, listen ...

- If you will, I just wanted to ask one question.

“Jim, do you know what that is?” This is what it is all about. People are not ... they read newspapers, they watch television, they watch. They do not know which messages are true and which are false, they do not participate in this. And I'm participating. I have been dealing with this kind of thing all my life. And so I know when you are telling the truth, and when not.

I just see many, many untrue things. I will tell you what I still see. You know the word tone. This tone - there is so much hatred in him. By the way, I’m not such a bad person. Not bad, but the tone is that I have good ratings, you must admit it. This tone - there is so much hatred in him.

This morning I watched a couple of TV channels, and, I must say, the Fox & Friends morning program are very worthy people. They are very ... not because they are good, but because they criticize me when I do something wrong. But they have the most worthy morning show. That's all I can say. The most honest thing. But as for the tone, Jim. Look - hate. That is, sometimes ... sometimes someone starts ...

- (inaudible)

- Well, look at your show, which goes at ten o’clock in the evening. Just watch this program. These are constant attacks. All participants are exclusively against Trump. The good news is that the presenter does not have good ratings. But all participants, almost without exception, are opposed to Trump. Their words are saturated with hatred and anger, and hate speech of other people on your channel.

Here is what I want to say. I am following this program. I watch her. She surprises me. And I think that you could be in a better position - honestly, I think so. After all, people understand this. Listen, when I go to the rally, they surround me and start loudly resenting CNN. They want to throw CNN on their posters.

I think that your affairs could be much better if you worked differently. You just look. Look at some of your shows in the morning and evening. If one of the invited guests says something positive about me, then this is done in a rude manner.

And so they take this press conference. I really enjoy it? But they will take this press conference - do not forget that this is how I won. Remember, I held press conferences every time I made a speech, and that was almost every day.

- (inaudible)

“No, that’s how I won.” I won thanks to these press conferences and, perhaps, thanks to my speeches. But I, of course, did not win because people listened to you, that's for sure.

But I'm having a good time. Tomorrow they will say: Donald Trump tore and metal, pounced on the press. I do not tear and do not sword, I do not attack the press. I am just telling you that you are dishonest people. But I do not tear and do not sword. I like it all. I enjoy it. But tomorrow the headlines will be: Donald Trump tore and metal. I do not tear and do not sword.

“If you will ...”

- Go on.

- Another additional (question), because…

“Should I still give him a little opportunity?” What do you think, Peter?

- Just because…

“Peter, should I give him a little extra opportunity?” Sit down. Sit down.

“Just on the subject of this attack ...”

- We understand.

“Because of the attack on fake news and the attack on our company, I just want to ask you, sir ...”

“I do this in response to fake news.”

“Does it undermine ...”

- This is very fake news.

(Laughter)

“But don't you think ...”

- Yes, continue.

“The real news, Mr. President.” Real news.

“You mean our new ...”

“No, we're not relatives, sir.” (Laughter) I have to say what I like when they say "Minister of Acosta."

(The question is asked by CNN correspondent Jim Acosta, namesake of Alexander Acosta, Minister of Labor - approx. per.).

“I looked ... you know, I looked at that name.” I said, wait, is there any kind of kinship here? Alex Acosta.

“I'm sure you checked it, sir.”

- No, I checked. I said ... they said no, sir. I said: do me a favor, come back and check the family tree.

“But it doesn’t bother you, sir, that you undermine people's trust in the First Amendment, in the freedom of the press, in the press in this country, when you call those materials that you don’t like,“ fake news ”? Why don't you just say: I don't like this stuff?

“I do so.”

“When you call them 'fake news,' you undermine confidence ...”

- No, I do it. No, no, I do it.

“... trust in our media.”

- Here's the thing.

- Is it important?

“Okay, I understand ... and you're right to say that, except for one thing.” You see, I know when I should be good, and when I should be bad. I know what is good and what is bad. Sometimes I say: wow! It will be excellent material, and they will tear me to pieces. I know what is good and what is bad. I could be a pretty good journalist - but not as good as you. But I know what is good. I know what is bad.

But when they change something and make the message really bad ... something that should be positive. Sometimes something very positive happens, and they turn it into something not bad. They are even negative. I understand, because I'm there. I know what was said. I know who it says. I am there. Listen, I want to see an honest press. Today I started with the fact that it is very important for society to have an honest press. The press ... people don’t believe you anymore. Well, maybe I have something to do with it, I don't know. But people do not believe you.

If you were honest and showed everything as it is ... so did Howard Cosell say so? Of course, he also had some questions. But if you were private, I would be your greatest assistant, I would be your biggest supporter in the world - even when it comes to bad articles about me. But if you, like, for example, CNN does it ... that is, I want to say, it gives out negative materials one by one. I won. I won. And one more thing - chaos. Here is zero in the sense of chaos. We have a debugged, finely tuned car. And rains (Raines Pribus - approx. Per.) does a great job. However, half of his work is to spread false news in the press.

I told him yesterday: this whole scam with Russia, you guys are arranging it in order not to talk about real topics - such as, for example, illegal information leaks. But yesterday, I saw how he worked hard, trying to fix it. And I say ... this is my chief of staff, in fact, a good guy, and he did a phenomenal job in the National Committee of the Republican Party. That is, I want to say that we won the election, right? We won and got the presidency. We have several senators. We got ... all over the country, look, he did an excellent job.

And, you know, I told myself - and I told it to those in the office - I said: look at Raines, he is working so hard to solve problems that are fake problems. These are fake messages. They are not true. It is unfortunate that this is happening, since it would be better if he worked on health issues. It would be better if he was involved in tax reform, Jim. I'm serious. I will be your greatest supporter if you are fair to me. I understand that there is a certain bias, perhaps on the part of Jeff or someone else - whatever the reasons. And I understand that. But you should be at least a little more fair. And that is why society perceives it this way ... people see it that way. They understand that this is unfair. Look at some of your shows and you will see bias and hatred. And people are smart. You understand that. Ok, go on.

- You have no doubt that your last story (inaudible). But apart from those who believe that there is something there, is it possible to say that the last few weeks have taught you something, and that you may report it, and then there will be less concern about that this is not fake news? And secondly ...

- I believe that people do not believe in this. I don’t think people would believe it. This is why the Rasmussen survey scared me terribly. I don’t think people believe that. Well, I suppose I'm here today, including to tell you: the whole story with Russia is a ploy. And by the way, it would be great if we could get along with Russia, just so that you understand. Well, tomorrow you say: Donald Trump wants to be friends with Russia, this is terrible. But it’s not terrible, it’s good.

We have Hillary Clinton tried to reboot. This Hillary Clinton gave Russia 20% of the uranium of our country. You know what uranium is, right? This is the thing called "nuclear weapons," and there are other things. And a lot is being made from uranium, including something bad. No one is talking about this. I have not done anything for Russia before. I am not doing anything for her now. Hillary Clinton gave them 20% of our uranium. It was Hillary Clinton who rebooted: do you remember that stupid plastic box that exposed us all to a bunch of idiots? Here, take a look. He looks at her and thinks: what the hell is she doing with this cheap plastic button? Hillary Clinton - that was a reboot. Do you remember? It read "Reboot." And now if I do this, then I'm a bad guy. If we can get along with Russia, it will be positive. We have a very talented person, Rex Tillerson, and he will be dating them soon. And I told him, I said: I know that politically this is probably bad for me. Hey, the best I can do is hit with all my strength on that ship 50 kilometers from our shore. And then everyone in this country will say: oh, that's great! But this is not great. This is not great. I would like to get along with Russia.

Well, here you had many presidents who did not use this approach. And look where we ended up today. Therefore, if I could ... well, I like to discuss such things. I know how to do this well, but it may happen that I can not get along with Putin. Maybe this will happen. But I just want to tell you: false, terrible, false messages greatly complicate attempts to negotiate with Russia. And perhaps Putin said ... he is sitting at his desk and says: I understand what is happening in the United States, I am closely following this; President Trump will never be able to get along with Russia because of all the pressure that comes from him because of these fake articles. Okay It's a pity. And if we could get along with Russia - and, by the way, with China and Japan and with all other countries - if we could get along, it would be positive, not negative.

Tax Reform ...

“Mr. President, since you ...”

- Tax reform will happen very quickly. We are currently working on President Obama's health care reform - we are already in the final stages. We must present the initial plan in March, early March, as I think. And we must, as you know, by law and for budgetary reasons, we must start first. It's not that ... to be honest, with taxes it was easier, in my opinion, by law and for budgetary reasons, but we must first offer a package in the field of healthcare. We will present our proposals in the field of health care in the beginning of March, in the middle of March. And after that we will offer ... we are doing well with the tax reform.

- Mr. President, you mentioned Russia. Let's talk about some serious issues that arose last week that you must deal with as president of the United States.

- Good.

“You mentioned a ship, this reconnaissance ship off the coast of the United States.”

- This is not good.

- And also a ballistic missile test was carried out, which many considered a violation ...

- This is not good.

- ... violation of the agreement between the two countries. In addition, a Russian plane flew in a low-flying flight over an American destroyer.

- This is not good.

- I listened to you during the election campaign ...

- Sorry, when did this happen? It happened then ... if you were Putin now, you would say: well, here we are back to the old games with the United States. Trump will never be able to make a deal with us, because ... you must understand, if I were to draw a tough line towards Russia, just a tough one, then people would say: oh, how wonderful it is! But I know you well enough. Then you say: he was too tough, he should not have done that. Listen, of all ...

“I'm just trying to understand your position regarding ...”

- Wait a minute. Wait, wait. Give me just one second.

“I'm just trying to figure out what you will do about it, Mr. President.”

- All of the things you listed happened recently, because Putin probably proceeds from the fact that he will not be able to make a deal with me, because it is politically unprofitable for me to make a deal. So, Hillary Clinton tried to reboot, nothing came of it. They all tried. But I am different from these people. Go on.

- How do you rate these actions? And what are you going to do in this regard?

- Exactly what I said.

“Did you give Rex Tillerson any advice on how to negotiate?”

- Gave. I gave. I have a great representative. I am honored that the Senate approved it. He will be a fantastic secretary of state.

Yes, I think I already ...

“Does Putin feel you, sir?”

- I do not think so. I think that Putin probably proceeds from the fact that he will no longer be able to make a deal with me, because it will be a politically unpopular decision for me as a politician. I can’t believe that I call myself a politician, but, it seems, everything is just that. Listen, it would be much easier for me to be tougher with regard to Russia, then we would not be able to agree. And now I don’t know if we will make a deal. I do not know. Maybe we conclude, but maybe not. But it would be much easier for me to be tough ... the tougher I am towards Russia, the better. But, you know, I want to do what is right for the American people. And, honestly, in the second place I want to do what is right for the whole world.

If Russia and the United States actually get along and get along ... and don't forget, we are a very powerful nuclear power, and so are they. No advantage. We are a very powerful nuclear power, and so are they. I have already been informed about this. And I can tell you one thing about this information, I can say this because anyone who reads the most ordinary books knows that the nuclear holocaust is incomparable. They are a very powerful nuclear power, and so are we.

If we have good relations with Russia, then believe me, it will be good, not bad.

- That is, when you say that they are not good, it means that they ...

- Who did I say that he is not good?

- No, I have listed three recent events, and about each of them you said that this is not good.

- Yes, it’s not good, but they happened.

“But do they ruin the relationship?” Do they undermine the ability of the United States to work with Russia?

“Everything happened recently, and I understand what they are doing, because they are doing the same thing.” And again I repeat: maybe I can’t make a deal with Russia, but at least I’ll try. In addition, does anyone really think that Hillary Clinton would have taken a tougher stance against Russia than Donald Trump? Does anyone in this room think so?

But I’ll tell you one thing: she tried to make a deal. She started a reboot. She gave away all the valuable uranium. She took other steps. They say that I am close with Russia. Hillary Clinton gave away 20% of American uranium. She is close to Russia. Do you know what I gave to Russia? Do you know what I gave? Nothing.

“Can we conclude that there will be no answer for these specific provocations?”

“I'm not going to tell you what my answer will be.” I do not mean a military response. I am not saying that I will go to Mosul in four months. “We're going to attack Mosul in four months.” Then three months later: "we are going to attack Mosul in a month." "We're going to attack Mosul in a week." Meanwhile, Mosul is a very, very difficult topic. Do you know why? Because I'm not talking about military affairs and some other things. You will be surprised when you hear about it. And by the way, I talked about this throughout my election campaign. So I don’t need to tell you ...

- Will there be an answer?

- I do not want to be one of those who say: "Yes, and this is what I am going to do." I do not need it.

“In other words, will there be any answer, Mr. President?”

“I will not tell you what I am going to do in North Korea.” Wait a minute, I will not tell you what I am going to do in North Korea. And I do not have to tell you what I am going to do with Iran. Do you know why? Because they don’t need to know this. And in the end, you guys will get tired of asking questions. Therefore, when you ask me what I am going to do with the ship - with the Russian ship, for example - I will not answer you. Let's hope I don't have to do anything with him. But I'm not going to tell you anything.

- Thank!

“May I ask you ... thank you, Mr. President ...”

- Where are you from?

- BBC.

- Good.

- This is a worthy service. Impartial, free and honest.

- Yes, sure.

- Mr. President…

- Just like CNN, right?

“Mr. President, regarding the ban on entry ... we can exchange jokes for a long time.” As for the ban on entry, do you think that this was a good example of the well-functioning work of the government, precisely regulated ...

“Yes, I think so.” And let me tell you ...

- Have you made any mistakes in this process?

- Wait. Do I know you. One minute. Let me tell you about the entry ban. The process of implementing the ban on entry was very smooth, but the court prevented us. A negative decision was made. A decision was made, which was then challenged, but maybe I'm wrong, it took 80% of the time. This is a lot. We faced a negative decision. But we will insist on our own. Around the next week, a new executive decree will be issued. But we were faced with a negative court decision. This is the only thing that went wrong with the entry ban.

We faced serious problems with the Delta computer system at airports. There were people who were taken by very good buses, and they were distributed in various places. But, despite all this, the only problem was the court’s decision. The court made a decision, which, with all due respect, I personally consider bad. Very bad for the security of our country. The process of implementing the decree was impeccable.

Further. I wanted this decree to be implemented, but then I said, I told my people: give them one month. But General Kelly, now Minister Kelly, replied: if you do this, then all the bad people will be able to get into the country this month. Do you agree that bad people are trying to get into our country, too? Not everyone is like you. There are bad people too.

Kelly said this cannot be done. And he was right. As soon as he said this, I replied that I had never thought about it. I asked: how about a week? He replied that this also would not bring anything good. It is necessary to do this immediately, because if you do everything at once, then they will not have time to come to our country. Nobody is talking about this right now, but it is for this reason that we acted so quickly.

If we had stretched all this for a month, it would hardly have gone perfectly. We would have lost a lot of time and, possibly, many lives, because many bad people would have come to our country.

Meanwhile, we check the new arrivals very, very carefully. Very carefully. But we need help, we need help to get this executive decree adopted.

“But if everything is so urgent, why haven't you entered ...”

- Let's continue.

- Thank you. I was hoping to get a definite answer to one of the questions concerning Russia. Can you say that you knew that some of the people who advised you during the election campaign contacted Russia during the election period?

“I already told you that General Flynn was in direct contact.” This is one man. But he talked ... he had to ...

- During the election period?

- No, no, I don’t know anything about it.

- So you do not know about any contacts during the election period?

“Listen, how many times do I need to answer this question?”

- You can answer simply “yes” or “no”.

- Russia is just a ploy. Yes, I know you need to get up and ask a question. It is important. Russia is a ploy. Nothing connects me with Russia, I have not even called there for many years. I do not speak with anyone from Russia. Not that I didn't want to - I just have no one to talk to there. I spoke with Putin twice. He called me to congratulate on the election - I already told you about this - and then to congratulate me on the inauguration. We talked very well, especially the second time: the second conversation was quite long. I know that you may already be aware of its contents because it was classified. Therefore, I am sure that everyone in this room knows its contents. But we talked very well. Nothing connects me with Russia. As far as I know, nothing of those with whom I work also connects anything with her.

Manafort denied everything. He denied everything. Then everyone found out that for some time he worked as a consultant in that part of the world, but not in Russia. I think that he represented the interests of Ukraine or people associated with Ukraine - it does not matter. But this was known. Everyone knew about it.

“But, as the head of your campaign headquarters, did he maintain contacts with Russian officials?”

- You know, he said he did not support. I can only tell you that he ... In addition, he left this post long before election day. You know that, right? He left this post long before the election. All this information began to pop up during the election campaign. But Paul Manafort, who, incidentally, is a very good person, was replaced long before the election day. He held this position only for a short period of time.

How much more time will we need? Another five minutes? Have you agreed?

- Mr. President, regarding national security ...

“Wait, let's see who ... I want to find a more friendly reporter.” Are you a friendly reporter? Let's see how friendly he is. Go on.

- Firstly, my name is (inaudible)and I'm from the magazine (inaudible). I have never heard anyone in my community accuse you or your team members of anti-Semitism. We agreed (inaudible).

- Thank you.

“However, we are worried - and we have not yet heard that anyone has dealt with this problem, a surge of anti-Semitism.” We would like to know how the government plans to solve this problem. There have been reports that in the USA over the past few weeks, 48 \u200b\u200bmining threats have been addressed to Jewish centers. There are people who attack Jews and threaten ...

- You see, he said that he was going to ask a very simple question. But this question is not easy. Very difficult. Ok, sit down. I understand what you want to ask me about.

Multimedia

Ridiculous trump

INOSMI 02/01/2017 Here is how things are. Firstly, I have never been and am not an anti-Semite. Secondly, I'm definitely not a racist. In fact, given the fact that the Republican Party has nominated me, I am very nice to other nations.

- (inaudible)

- Silence please. You see, he deceived us: he said that he was going to ask a very simple question. So welcome to the world of media. But let me tell you something. I hate being blamed for it. I find this disgusting. I find the question itself disgusting, because the people who know me - you heard what Prime Minister Netanyahu said yesterday, did you hear what he said? He said I have known Donald Trump for a long time, and then added, forget about it.

This is what you should have been paying attention to instead of getting up and asking such offensive questions.

Let's continue.

- Thank you. I'm Lisa from PBS ...

- See, this is how the press works.

“Thank you, Mr. President.” Lisa Desjardins from PBS Newshour.

- Good.

- Regarding national security and immigration. Could you tell us in more detail about the executive decree that you plan to issue next week? Its highlights. Will it concern any specific countries?

- This is a substantive question.

“Also, what are your plans for the DACA immigration program?” Do you plan to continue its implementation or curtail it?

- DACA is a very, very difficult question for me. For me, this is one of the most difficult questions that now stand before me, because we are talking about wonderful children - not in all cases, of course. In some cases, they receive DACA assistance and then become gang members or drug dealers. But there are absolutely wonderful children - I would say that most of these children - and they get to our country in this way. This is a very, very difficult question.

We are going to approach the DACA program with particular care. I need to talk with many politicians, do not forget, I have to convince them that what I am saying is correct. And I appreciate that you understand that.

But the situation with DACA is very, very difficult for me. Because, you see, I like these children. I love children. I myself have children and grandchildren. And it’s very difficult for me to do what the law tells us to do. And the law, as you know, is very tough. I am not talking about new laws. I am talking about existing laws, and they are cruel. Very cruel.

As for the new executive decree, this decree will be primarily drawn up taking into account the court ruling, which I consider very bad. But we can develop a new decree taking into account this decision and get everything we need, or even a little more. But now we are driving him under a court order. The best lawyers of the country are working on it now. A new decree will be developed taking into account the decision of the court.

- Mr. President, Melania Trump has announced the resumption of the visitor department at the White House.

- She also does a lot for the good of the country. Could you tell us a little about what First Lady Melania Trump is doing for the country? There is an increased interest in your administration: what does the resumption of the visitor department at the White House mean to you?

“This is what I call a pleasant question.” Very nice question. Where are you from?

- (inaudible)

- Good. Now I will watch you. Thank you so much.

Melania is wonderful. She was here last night. We had dinner with Senator Rubio and his wife, who, incidentally, is very beautiful. And we had a very interesting conversation about Cuba, because we have the same view on Cuba. And the Cubans in Florida reacted very well to me - I mean the Americans come from Cuba. I think Melania will do a lot of good. Yes, that's right, she just opened the White House again for visitors.

© AP Photo, Evan Vucci US President Donald Trump and his wife Melania Trump

She, like many other people with whom she works, is very interested in solving women's problems. She is a very strong defender. I think she is a wonderful representative of our country. And it becomes very funny when they try to slander her. What they say about her ... I know her for a long time. She is a very successful person. She was a very successful model. She really did great. She returned home in the evenings, in fact she is a rather reserved person. She has all the best qualities. And what they say about her - I know her for a long time - what they say about her is very unfair. In fact, many publications have already apologized to her because they published false information about her.

Here's what I tell you: she will be a fantastic first lady. She will become an incredibly successful representative of women and the whole nation. She will be helped by Ivanka, a wonderful man and a wonderful woman. And they do not do all this for money. They do it because they think it is right. Melania has to travel back and forth all the time, but when Barron finishes school - because you shouldn’t take the child out of school, when only a few months are left — she will move with him to the White House. Thank you for a very nice question.

We continue.

- Mr. President.

- Yes. I suppose this will be a bad question, but let's do it anyway.

- No, that will be a good question.

- Good, because I like to watch your programs.

“Thank you, Mr. President.” I would like to ask you: did you say something about poor urban areas. This was one of the components of your platform during the election campaign.

- It is necessary to solve the problems of poor neighborhoods, yes.

- Solve the problems of poor neighborhoods. What will be the solution to their problems and your city program, as well as your executive decree on HBCU (colleges and universities with the historically established "black" student body - approx. ed.)to be published today? The question wasn’t very bad, was it?

- The question turned out to be very professional and very good.

- I'm professional.

“We will report the decree a little later.” And I would like this decree to speak for itself. But I think that he will bring many benefits to all whom he touches. However, we will talk with you about this after the decree is published.

As for the poor neighborhoods, as you know, I spoke very sharply on this issue during the election campaign. I even think that this allowed me to gain a lot more African-American votes than many expected. I got a lot more votes than many expected, including many Latin Americans, and it was a great honor for me. And by the way, if you will allow me, I got a lot more votes among women than many expected.

So, we are going to start working with poor urban neighborhoods, in particular, to solve their problems regarding education and crime rates. We will try to solve these problems as soon as possible, although, as you know, this takes a lot of time. Some of these places have been formed over a hundred or more years, and many of them have changed for the worse.

But we are going to focus on health and, more importantly, education. In addition, we are going to tackle crime. It is sad to see crime flourish in these poor areas. I saw it all, I saw it with my own eyes. Twice I personally came across this. People are locked in their apartments, fearing to go out even in the afternoon. They live in hell. We cannot allow this. Therefore, we will take the most decisive measures.

This is a wonderful question. The situation is really very difficult, and it has existed for many years. It has been compounded for many years. There are places in our country that we need to work with. We must help the African Americans, who are often stuck there - and Latin Americans. A huge number of Hispanics live in such poor areas, they live in real hell.

Let's look at the statistics in Chicago. There are two cities of Chicago, as you know. There is a magical, luxurious and safe Chicago. And there is Chicago, which is worse than any of those places in the Middle East that we so often discuss and about which we hear daily in the news. Therefore, we are going to start working with poor urban areas. I have many brilliant specialists who are ready to help in this work.

- When you talk about poor urban areas, are you, Mr. President, going to involve SAF in your discussions regarding these urban areas and your urban program?

“Am I going to attract anyone?”

- Are you planning to bring in the Assembly of Blacks in Congress and the Assembly of Latinos in Congress?

- Yes. I want to ask, are you going to arrange a meeting? Do you want to organize our meeting?

- Not.

“Are these your friends?”

“I'm just a reporter.”

- No, continue, arrange a meeting.

- I am familiar with some of them, and I am sure that they are now watching this press conference.

- Let's arrange a meeting. It is with great pleasure that I will meet with representatives of the assembly of blacks. I think it's great - The Assembly of Blacks in Congress. It is wonderful. I thought that I should have had a meeting with Congressman Cummings, and he was very happy about it, but then he said, I can’t do anything, it can badly affect my political career, I can’t come to this meeting. I was ready to hold this meeting. We called him several times, and he was also ready. I spoke with him on the phone. A very nice person.

“I heard that he also wanted to meet with you.”

- He wanted. But we called, called and called, but could not arrange a meeting with him. Every day I went in and said that I wanted to meet with him. Because I want to solve a problem. But, probably, Schumer or someone else told him - maybe someone told him - so that he would not meet with Trump, because it will affect him badly. And this is also part of the problem.

Ok, one more question.

“Yes, Mr. President, I have two questions ...”

“No, just one question.” We cannot stand two questions. The participants will not stand two questions. Ask me the best of your two questions.

— (inaudible) It does not concern your personality or beliefs. We are talking about (inaudible) all over the country, something is being done by your supporters on your behalf. What do you…

“May I be frank with you?” This has to do with racism and other terrible things that are happening now. Part of this is composed by our opponents. You are aware of this. Do you understand this? You do not think that someone intentionally does such things. Some of the signs that you see are not set by those who like Donald Trump, they are set by our opponents, and you take everything at face value. Not. But such signs appear, and our opponents provoke anger. They show signs and draw posters that are inappropriate and unacceptable. But these are not my people. The people on the opposite side do this, and they do it to piss off people like you.

Let's continue.

- You became the president. What are you going to do about it?

- Who is asking? Where from? Stand up please.

- What are you going to do with the tension that was already discussed here?

“I'm working on it.” I work hard on it.

- Are you going to give a speech?

- No, listen. To make you understand, our country has been completely fragmented for eight years and - let's be honest with President Obama - long before that. Our country was fragmented long before President Obama arrived. I didn’t divide our country. She was completely fragmented before I arrived.

We are going to work hard on this. One of the questions asked today - I found it very good - was about poor urban neighborhoods. I think this is part of a common problem. But we are going to work on the education system. We will work on the absence ... we are going to stop ... we are going to stop the growth of crime. We have excellent experts in law enforcement. We will try to stop the growth of crime. We will not try to stop, we are going to stop crime.

But for me it is extremely important. Not Donald Trump has divided the nation. There were eight more years of Obama's presidency and many years before President Obama. We lived in a divided country. And I will try - I will do everything in my power to fix it.

I want to thank everyone present. Talking with you is a great honor for me. Thank you. Many thanks.

(applause)

InoSMI materials contain estimates of exclusively foreign media and do not reflect the position of the InoSMI editorial staff.