committee reacted to the plans to terminate the settlement agreement to allow to indefinitely detain migrant children and families. congressman thompson said " terminating the florence -- florez settlement is illegal and goes against our long-standing american values. this will allow the administration to expand family detention and indefinitely lockup children. the courts must immediately stop this illegal action." remarks fromrtly, president trump at the american veterans 75th national convention. it was expected to get underway at 2:00, we hear that the president is running a little bit late. you will have live coverage when it starts. we will show you the president's remarks leaving the white house for this event this afternoon.

>> the economy is doing well, we will see what happens with the federal reserve whether they finally get smart and they reduce interest rates like many other places around the world that we have to compete with. our economy is the strongest in the world by fire, nothing even close. a lot of good rings are happening. we have good retail numbers this morning, as you saw, and i guess the stock market is up. i do not demand it, that if he used his head he would lower them. in germany they have a zero interest rate, and we compete. we are stronger but we compete. in germany they have zero

interest rates, and when they borrow money, look at what is going on over there. they borrow money and they get paid to borrow money. we have to compete with that. if you look at what is happening around the world, jay powell and the federal reserve have missed the call. i was right and everybody missed that. he did quantitative tightening, he should have not done that. he raised interest rates too fast. we have a normalized rate, if you call it that, and now we have to go the other direction. if he does it, you will see a rocket ship. if it does not we have a strong economy. place and -- that we are seldom at if we had interest rate cuts. the federal reserve has let us down, they missed the goal, they high, andtoo fast,

they did quantitative tightening, they should not have done it and they should not have raised it to that extent. we could have had the greatest, but nothing like they did. what happened to the strong appetite for background checks? pres. trump: we will be doing background checks, we are working with democrats and republicans. we already have strong background checks, but we will be filling in the loopholes, and speaking about the border, it would be nice if the democrats would fix the loopholes because it would be nice. despite that i want to thank mexico, they have 26,000 soldiers at our border stopping people from coming in. what happens is with background checks, we are dealing with my ,redits comp -- democrats republicans, the nra, done

owners, and everybody. we will have something hopefully that is meaningful. aboutnot say anything that, we had a great talk with wayne yesterday and did not say anything about that. we talked about concepts. wayne agrees that rings have to be done, and we have areas where we can close. of background checks right now, gun owners can tell you that, but there are certain weaknesses that we want to fix. let us see what is happening. i am concerned that no matter what we agreed to, when we get there, i am concerned that the democrats will say that we want this, and it is a slippery slope, and that is what gun owners and a lot of other people are concerned with. assuming that that is not going to take place by the democrats and they want to get it done, we can get it done.

you've got to speak up. >> [indiscernible] pres. trump: we are doing a lot having to do with veteran suicides. we have a task force set up, there is a product that just came out by johnson & johnson, which has a print as tremendously positive and short-term effect. i have instructed the head of it, ando buy a lot of we are. hopefully we are getting it at a good cost. stimulantform of where if somebody is really in trouble you'll -- in trouble, it can do something. it just came out, it is made by johnson & johnson, and we have calls in. we have been dealing with them

for two months of buying a lot of it. denmark, i look forward to going, but i thought that the prime minister's statement that it was absurd was nasty, i thought it was inappropriate. all she had to do was to say no, we would not be interested. we cannot treat the united states of america the way they treated us under president obama. not nice it was a very way of saying something. they could have told me no. this is something that has been discussed for many years. harry truman had the idea of greenland, i had the idea, other people have had the idea. it goes into the early 1900s, but harry truman thought it was a good idea. i think it is a good idea because denmark is losing $700 million a year with it. it does not do them any good.

all they had to do was say no, we would rather not do that, or we would rather not talk about it. do not say what an absurd idea. he is not talking to me. , she isot talking to me talking to the united states of america. do not talk to the united states that way, at least under me. president obama, when they would not let him land in the philippines and when they greeted him so badly, the philippines is the one that comes to mind, that is different. they can treat him anyway they want to, that is up to him. they cannot treat the united states with the same -- with the statement how absurd. >> let your wife do it. who is the boss? >> i am the boss. pres. trump: i agree. go ahead. we have a lot of people. regard to background

checks, why should anyone who wants to go -- once the buyable -- by a gun in pres. trump: the background checks? pres. trump:pres. trump: i want people to be in the -- i want guns in the hands of mentally stable. people who are sick, i do not them to get a gun. sick, if a person is mentally ill, if a person has done things in their past that is a horror, like in the case of dayton, except he got a gun because he was 17 years old when he wrote a list out and said it was not about guns, he had a kill and rape list. he was 17, and one of the things we are talking about is getting rid of the age limit. when he turned 18 it was expunged, but we did not find out about that.

a big percentage of the school parents would not look -- let their parents -- their kids go to that school. when he was 18 it went away, we cannot let it happen. >> 100 people a day die from guns, do you see that as a public health emergency? pres. trump: i do. they die for a lot of other reasons too. and, as i have said, i said it loudly, and plainly and i do not think i have change positions. we are working on background checks, there are things we can do. we have serious background and strong background checks. we can close up the gap and do things that are good and frankly gun owners wants done. we want to remember that the gun does not pull the trigger, a person does, and we have great mental illness. >> the plan to dust off the old

law and prosecute the antifa demonstrators under the idea that it is a federal crime. pres. trump: we are looking at a lot of different things. antifa is a terrorists organization. we have had great support on that. we are looking at various different things. >> yesterday you said -- pres. trump: behind you. greenland it is off the table. pres. trump: we are just looking. greenland was just a thought. i think when they say that it was absurd, and it was said in a nasty and sarcastic way, i said we will make it some other time. i love denmark, i have been to denmark. frankly, we will do it another time. respect has to be shown to the united states.

that democrats are disloyal, who are they being disloyal to? pres. trump: i have been responsible for a lot of great , one of themsrael was moving the embassy to jerusalem, making jerusalem the capital of israel. one of them was the goal on heights, one of them -- the golan heights, and one of them is iran. hopefully something works out. wait a minute. no president has ever done anywhere close to what i have done. heights,he golan jerusalem, and is -- and iran. no president has done what i have done, we have a group, we c plus three, you can

go anyway you want to go. anti-semites, against israel, she had a plan to greatly embarrass israel by going there with the fact that she wanted to see her grandmother, i assume that is true and i hope it is true. it was bad. the things that she and others of that group, and other democrats have said. they have become the face of the democratic party, and i will tell you this, in my opinion, the democrats have gone far away from israel. i cannot understand how they will do it. i do not want to fund israel and they want to take away foreign aid. they want to do a lot of bad things. in my opinion, you vote for a democrat, you are being disloyal to jewish people and disloyal to israel. people would say anything other than that.

i have not heard anybody say that, just the opposite. democrat, your a are very disloyal to israel and the jewish people. i am at 94% now in the republican party, the highest in history, the highest of any republican. i think they would have a hard time. >> they outsmarted obama, in fact, they annexed crimea. pres. trump: that was outsmarting obama? russia outsmarted president obama, they took over during his term, not during mine. -- justk over crimea let me answer the question.

it is a simple question. the fact is that president putin totally outsmarted president obama over crimea and other things. including, the red line in the stand -- in the sand. he made a living on outsmarting president obama, and because of that, obama was upset and he got g8, and now ite is the g7. did we put russia back in? we spend a lot of time talking about russia at those meetings, and they are not there. i think it would be a good thing if russia was not there, so we would speak directly and not speak i and other things. voteis the thing, it is a of what is now the g7. they were taken out because putin outsmarted on the red line and other things, totally outsmarted obama. obama was upset and they took

him out. i think russia should be a part of it because we are looking for world peace, trade, and other things. it would be easier to have russia in where they have always been. >> they are still there, so why not admit them and? >> in 1992, -- pres. trump: i am not looking to do index things, i have studied them for a long time, i think it ill be perceived as elitist, want taxes for the middle class, the workers, the people who work hard, that is what i am looking. forxing is probably better the upper income groups. i am not looking to do that. if i wanted to, i believe i could, but i would need a letter

from the attorney general. you are taking america into a recession, and is it worth it? pres. trump: the fake news, of which many of you are members, is trying to commence the public to have a recession. united states is doing phenomenally well, but one thing i have to do is economically take on china, because china has been ripping us off for many years. president clinton, president bush, president obama, and others should have done this before the me -- before me. my life would've been easier if i just said, let's china continue to rip off the united states. it would be much easier, but i cannot do that. we are winning against china, they have lost 2.5 million jobs in a short period of time. they want to make a deal, and it has to be good for the united states.

when they want to make a deal, and probably we will, but if i did not do that. somebody said it was trump's trade war. this is not my trade war. this is a trade war that should have taken place a long time ago. over the last five or six years, china has made $500 billion. it ripped it out of the united states. take ay that, if you look, intellectual property theft. add that to it and add a lot of other things. somebody had to do it. i am the chosen one. somebody had to do it, so i am taking on china, on trade, and we are winning. we are the piggy bank, we are the one that all of these countries wants to rob and take advantage of. european union, $200 million.

china, more than $500 billion. to do at here by people great job, and that is what i am doing. nobody has to -- done a job like i have done. china rather wait and try and get sleepy joe biden to negotiate with instead of president trump? maybe. i do not think so. they are losing too many jobs too fast. they had the worst year in 27 years, what i think it was 52 or 54 years. it is the worst year they have had in half a century because of me. i am not proud of that, but they want to negotiate, and sleepy joe does not have a clue. he said china is wonderful. china is wonderful for china, but i am wonderful for the usa. >> [inaudible]

we will meet sometime, but the prime minister used a terrible word when describing something that we have been talking about for years with our country. president truman said what about greenman -- greenland and he talked about it openly and it was a big deal. i brought it up again and it was discussed many other times, and i thought it was not a nice statement, the way she blew me off, because she is blowing off the united states. we have done a lot for denmark. i have many friends from denmark, many people from denmark that live in the united states. we treat countries with respect. she should not treat the united states that way by saying what -- she said absurd. that is not the right word to use. >> [inaudible] pres. trump: louder.

>> [inaudible] ,res. trump: if you remember president obama had separation. president obama delta the cages that you people always talk about -- built the cages that you talk about. president obama dealt those cages and you were embarrassed when the "new york times" and other put a picture of the cage and said how bad trump was, only to find out that it was president obama that built the cages. president obama had separation. i am the one who brought them together. this new rule will do more to bring them in together. it was president obama that had the separation. [inaudible] pres. trump: we are being strong on the border. .ou see the numbers are down i want to thank mexico for that.

the united states could make -- they could make the problem easily if we could fix the loopholes and asylum, which is what you are talking about. let me tell you, i have the children on my mind. it bothers me greatly. people make this horrible journey. one of the things that will happen when they realize that the borders are closing and the wall is being built, we are building tremendous numbers of ines of the ball -- of wall different locations. one of the things that is happening when they see that you cannot get into the united states, or when they see that if they do get in, they will be brought back to their country, it will not matter because we are doing that. they will not come, and many people will be saved. will not be lives destroyed and ruined. will we see a payroll tax

cut? pres. trump: i am not looking into that tax cut now, we do not need it, you have a strong economy. president obama did that to jack up the economy. president obama had zero interest rates. i have real interest rates, and despite that i have a strong economy. president obama did two payroll tax cuts and despite that i have a much stronger economy. if you look at my numbers from november 9 to the present, the stock market is up over 50%. that guy is most biased reporter, i made a lot of money for nbc with "the apprentice." -- youer is such biased should be able to ask a question , the same question in a better way. you are so obviously biased, and

that is why the public has no confidence in the media. joe biden does not have it. joe biden does not have it. said -- you said that the massacre happened and told lito when it happened in dayton? the newrump: i think " york times" has lost credibility. they have given up on the russian delusion, and what they are doing is trying the racist deal, because i am the least racist person ever to serve in office. times is trying everything they can. it is a totally dishonest newspaper, it is a paper that really has lost tremendous credibility. years,tell you, and six maybe 10 or 14, in six years when i am not here, "the new

york times" goes out of business quickly. nbc news has yet -- less credibility than cnn. i think cnn has more credibility than nbc news. hear what i said? i said you had more credibility than this guy. that is not saying much because -- you know why, because i do not think you have much credibility. i will tell you this, nbc has less credibility than cnn. that is not saying much but that is the way i feel. >> you are focused on mental health issues. have the countries same levels of mental illness but not the levels of gun violence. pres. trump: there are many things in play. people are talking about videos, and lots of different things.

way of bringing what we already have, we have many -- we have many people that are unable to buy guns right now. many are unable to buy guns. we have background checks and we have loopholes, and that is what i spoke to the nra about. they want to get rid of the loopholes as well as i do. at the same time i do not want to take away people's second amendment rights and the constitution having to do with gun ownership. we cannot let that go so easy that we are talking about background checks that all of a sudden we are talking about let us take everybody's gone away. people need weapons for protection. >> that is an nra talking point. pres. trump: that is a trump talking point. you approve one thing and then another thing, and then all of a sudden you are on the slope, and nobody has any legal protection.

we have the second amendment. let me tell you this. we have a second amendment, and it will remain strong. pres. trump: go ahead. are you worried about the potential reimburses -- reemergence of isis? a certain point, russia, afghanistan, iran, turkey, they will have to fight their battles. we wiped out the caliphate 100%. i did it in record time. but at a certain point, all of these other countries, where isis is around, they have been decimated, badly decimated. all of these countries will have to fight them, because do we want to stay there for another 19 years? i do not think so. at a certain point, other

countries including russia, iran, turkey, and iraq, pakistan, and india. india is right there. they are not fighting it, we are fighting it. pakistan is right next door, they are fighting it, very little. it is not fair. the united states, we are 7000 miles away, we have decimated isis. you have not been hearing much about isis. we took the caliphate 100%. when i took it in 98, i thought maybe we go home now and let other countries handle it. everyone went crazy and said do 100%. they said it would take a year, it took me a month, and they are gone. by the way, we are holding thousands of isis fighters right now, and europe has to take them. if europe does not take them, i will have no choice but to release them into the countries

from which they came. france, andany, other places, because we beat them, captured them, and we have thousands of them. our allies say we do not want them, even though they came from france, germany, and other places. , take going to tell them these prisoners that we have captured, because the united states is not going to put them in guantanamo for the next 50 years and pay for it. >> what is your deadline? pres. trump: it is moving along, they know. did, i went to the hospitals, i will tell you this. i went to the hospitals, it was totally falsely reported, they ,ere beautiful, very sad horrible moments, but they were beautiful moments in the sense that these people, the families

and also the people who were so badly injured that i was with, they love our country. frankly, you want to know the truth? they love their president and nobody wrote that. you did not write the truth. "the new york times" does not like to write the truth. they totally love our country and our president. when i went to dayton and el paso, and i want -- went into those hospitals, the love for me, and as a representative of a country, but for me, and my love for them was unparalleled. these are incredible people. if you read the paper -- the papers it was like nobody would meet with me. not only did they meet with me they were pouring out of the rooms. the doctors were coming out of the operating room. there were hundreds of people all over.

these are incredible people. and the survivors and the families, i love them. >> what about -- pres. trump: louder. >> yesterday -- which is it? pres. trump: i have looked at indexing for a long time. theink it is better for high income people, and i am not looking to do that. i want to do for the workers. i am looking to do for middle-income people. i have been indexing. i have to get the letter from the attorney general or from the justice department. otherwise i'll have to go through congress. we have such a strong economy. if the fed did what they were

supposed to do, they would drop interest rate by 100 basis points, and maybe they would do, i don't know, not tightening, maybe some loosening, or leave it a alone, do nothing. but they do it where nobody would be able to compete with the united states. right now, the fed is tying our hands, because we are paying interest rates, and germany and other countries that are not like us are not. incentivehave an behind that, and the fed has missed the call for a long time. [overlapping questions] are you sayingt, we are not doing any tax cuts at this time? pres. trump: i think we have a very strong economy. i do not think we have any reason to. i think the fed has been very

late and very early. they were very early today come in very late with cuts, but the fed can do the whole thing. yesterday, we had the strongest dollar in the history of our country. yesterday we had the strongest dollar. way -- but in the other way, so there are two ways, one, i love it, and in the lighthearted,is but either way, we have the strongest dollar in the entry of our country. -- the history of our country. go ahead. >> [inaudible] pres. trump: we are looking at a very seriously. where you have a baby in our land, you walk over in our country and have a baby, congratulations, the baby is now a u.s. citizen. we are looking at that very, very seriously.

i do not know how you found that out. we are looking at it very seriously. it is, frankly, ridiculous. >> [inaudible] >> -- migrant minors. unlimited detention of migrant minors. pres. trump: i am the one who kept the families together. you remember that, right? you remember i said that. president obama and others for the families apart, but i am the one who kept the families together. make it almost impossible for people to come into our country illegally. broad-spectrum's, two weeks ago in the supreme court, building lots of other things. remarks from president trump