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Trump's Remarks in a Meeting with U.S. Tech Workers and Signing of an Executive Order on Hiring
REMARKS
Remarks by President Trump in a Meeting with U.S. Tech Workers and Signing of an Executive Order on Hiring American
ECONOMY & JOBS
Issued on: August 3, 2020
Cabinet Room
12:09 P.M. EDT
THE PRESIDENT: Well, thank you very much. And today I’m signing an executive order to ensure that the federal government lives by a very simple rule: Hire American. We’ve been doing it at a level that hasn’t been done maybe ever.
I’ll also be taking firm, disciplinary action against the leadership of the Tennessee Valley Authority, which has sadly and cruelly betrayed American workers. And we have some of those great American workers with us at the table. This is the Cabinet Room, and it’s an honor to have you in the Cabinet Room and at the Oval Office.
We’re joined by the Vice President; Congressman Tim Burchett, who’s doing a fantastic job in the state of Tennessee; Secretary of Labor Eugene Scalia; Acting Deputy Secretary of Homeland Secretary, Ken Cuccinelli. Where’s Ken? Hi, Ken. I didn’t see you down there. That’s great. Doing a great job.
ACTING DEPUTY SECRETARY CUCCINELLI: Quiet, as usual.
THE PRESIDENT: Keep you busy, right? (Laughter.) We’re keeping you busy, Ken.
Recently, the CEO of the Tennessee Valley Authority, Jeffrey Lyash, made a disastrous and heartless decision. The TVA announced that it would lay off over 200 American workers and replace them with cheaper foreign workers brought in from overseas.
The Tennessee Valley Authority leadership then ordered the American workers to train their foreign replacements, rubbing salt in their very open wound.
So we’re going to bring in workers. They’re going to foreign workers. And people from Tennessee, and some others states right around it, are going to train them — what to do and how to do it. It doesn’t work that way.
As we speak, we’re finalizing H1-B regulations so that no American worker is replaced ever again. H1-Bs should be used for top, highly paid talent to create American jobs, not as inexpensive labor program to destroy American jobs.
Sitting at the table are six of the TVA workers who were ordered to train the foreign labor flown in to replace them. I want you and your colleagues to know that my administration will not be putting up with — I happen to know a young woman who’s been very active over the last couple of years because we were together on Disney and a couple of other things.
MS. BLACKWELL: Yes. Yes, sir. Yes, sir.
THE PRESIDENT: And it all seems to be working out pretty well.
MS. BLACKWELL: Thank you so much.
THE PRESIDENT: You’re doing a great job.
MS. BLACKWELL: Thank you.
THE PRESIDENT: And thank you for it.
But that’s why I’m formally removing the chairman of the board, James Thompson, and board member Richard Howorth. If the TVA does not move swiftly to reverse their decision to rehire their workers, then more board members will be removed. We have the absolute right to remove board members. And the board makes the decision; I don’t make the decision. I saw there was an ad on television talking about the amount of money that the chairman makes, and it’s a ridiculous amount of money. But we have the right to replace the board, and the board is the one — the only ones that get the right to then hire a new person.
Furthermore, the board must immediately hire that new CEO who puts the interest of American workers first. The current CEO, Jeff Lyash, is ridiculously overpaid. He earns $8 million a year. Did you know that? Eight million. He’s the highest-paid government official of any country anywhere in the world.
Now, I don’t know that you call him officially a “government.” It might be a public-private. It may be something — a lot time ago, it was established, Tennessee Valley Authority. But he gets $8 million a year. So that was just a succession of deep-swamp things happening, and it’s a disgrace. But he gets $8 million a year, and I can think of about almost 100 percent of the people I know would take that job. (Laughter.) It’s not a very hard job. I mean, you have not a lot of debt, not a lot of anything, right?
Public service is just that: Those who takes these jobs must be focused on the public good, not on personal profit. He would have taken the job for millions and millions of dollars less, but nobody asked him to do that. Okay? He would have gone for less. You could have had him for $4 million, $6 million, $7 million, $2 million, $1 million, probably $500,000 a year.
But the new CEO must be paid no more than $500,000 a year, which is still a significant amount more than the President of the United States makes. And I donate my salary. I’ve donated it. From what I hear, I’m the only President to do that. You’ll have to check on that, but that’s what I’ve heard. I’m very surprised to hear that. But I donate my full salary; I don’t take it.
{snip}
I also see that they’re doing a lot of things in terms of electric, which is very expensive electric. They’re building facilities that are very, very expensive to build and don’t work well. But we’ll discuss that separately.
{snip}
REPRESENTATIVE BURCHETT: (Inaudible.)
THE PRESIDENT: Tim, go ahead, please.
REPRESENTATIVE BURCHETT: Mr. President, thank you —
THE PRESIDENT: Congratulations.
REPRESENTATIVE BURCHETT: — and Vice President so much for this. My mama worked at TVA after the Second — during the — at the end of the Second World War, when dad came home from the Pacific and married her, and then she went into education. But, you know, working people are the backbone of this country. That’s not cliché and you’ve —
THE PRESIDENT: Yeah.
REPRESENTATIVE BURCHETT: — you’ve highlighted that so much with the trades and other things, and I’m very appreciative of the fact.
But I’ll you what: Dadgummit, if TVA wants be Duke Electric, let them because Duke Electric, but they’re not. And they — they hide behind the government’s skirt and they — they use eminent domain, and their arrogance is beyond belief. You know, when they had the ash spill, people died, and then — you know, and then they are just these poor country folks that are just pushing them off until they all die off, until those lawsuits go away. It’s ridiculous.
THE PRESIDENT: No, that’s right. And, by the way, in Kentucky, when we wanted to have a plant open with a lot of jobs, they didn’t even want to consider it.
REPRESENTATIVE BURCHETT: No. No, they didn’t. It’s their arrogance. You’re questioning them, and finally we have a President with the guts that understands business and government. And if TVA wants to be a government entity, they need to — they need to declare it, and quit using — they hide behind — you know, they have their — their —
THE PRESIDENT: Do you think Joe Biden would do this?
REPRESENTATIVE BURCHETT: Heck no.
THE PRESIDENT: He wouldn’t know you’re alive.
REPRESENTATIVE BURCHETT: He’d be — no, he’d —
THE PRESIDENT: He doesn’t know he’s alive either. (Laughter.)
REPRESENTATIVE BURCHETT: He needs to get out of the bunker.
THE PRESIDENT: No, can you imagine him sitting at this table right now? Wouldn’t have a clue.
REPRESENTATIVE BURCHETT: No, sir.
THE PRESIDENT: Okay. So go ahead, Tim.
REPRESENTATIVE BURCHETT: No, I think you pretty much covered it, Mr. President. I’m just honored to be here. And I —
THE PRESIDENT: Well, I’m honored that you’re here. And you’ve done a fantastic job.
REPRESENTATIVE BURCHETT: And I thank you for standing up for working Americans.
{snip}
THE PRESIDENT: Linda, please.
MS. MCDONALD: Well, thank you, Mr. President, for being with us today. The concern you show for American workers is greatly appreciated. And my mother made me promise to tell you that Alabama loves and appreciates your leadership. (Laughter.)
{snip}
MS. MCKENZIE: Just, it — again, it’s such an honor to be in your presence. (Laughs.)
{snip}
MS. HENSON: Thank you. I just think you bringing TVA back to their mission of service to the people of the Valley, service to people of the Valley and to this nation is — is a pivotal moment for the Tennessee Valley Authority.
THE PRESIDENT: So, right now, their mission is taking care of a lot of consultants and a lot of people and paying — paying heads of this whole thing $8 million a year. And you’ll find a lot of other things in there that are crazy.
MS. HENSON: Well, people over profit. And that’s what you’re doing here.
THE PRESIDENT: What do the people of Tennessee think when they hear that the head of TVA — which has been running for a long time — and, in all fairness, not a very difficult thing; there are many people who can do it. What do they hear when they hear — and they think of government, you know? It’s sort of semi- — I guess, you call it — public-private. But there’s not private, really, when you think of it. So, it’s a board member.
What do they think when they hear that the head person is making $8 million a year? Which is, by the way, I said it before, the most highly paid person anywhere in any country if you call this government, which it sort of is. What do they think when they hear? Do they know he makes $8 million a year?
MS. HENSON: Well, they do now after Kevin’s commercial. (Laughter.) But they’re pretty shocked. I mean — in fact, they — I think the workers even — I think some of the workers at TVA have been shocked about that. It is a lot of money.
THE PRESIDENT: But people have known. I’ve known, actually, before the commercial because we were looking at it. We sent them notices a year ago and two years ago saying, “We want some information.” And, you know, people have known this. I just can’t even imagine that somebody gets paid $8 million a year.
MS. HENSON: Well, the difference —
THE PRESIDENT: It’s the most sought-after job. It has to be the most sought-after job in any country in any government. Right, Tim? You’d take the job. Would you resign from Congress immediately?
{snip}
MS. HENSON: But the truth is, there are very capable people at TVA that love —
THE PRESIDENT: I’ll bet.
MS. HENSON: — the TVA and the mission that they’re really — were put together for and would love to take that job.
THE PRESIDENT: I even think they like your President — your current President, anyway. I’m not sure about the past President.
MS. HENSON: Tennessee Valley is — that’s right. The boats on the lake all say, you know —
THE PRESIDENT: “Trump.” Yeah. No, they’re great people. Say hello to them. Just say hello. They’re great people.
Sara, why don’t you just discuss it real quick, and you can maybe work with us in getting it all done very quickly. Okay?
MS. BLACKWELL: Of course, President Trump.
THE PRESIDENT: Thank you.
MS. BLACKWELL: Thank you for having us and having everyone here and for all you’re doing with regard to immigration. Immigration should be about America, Americans, and the immigrants. Right now — the way it was, before you started working on it, it’s always been the big business, big tech, and universities. And with you, we are working to make immigration in America for the right reasons.
And Protect U.S. Workers — I endorsed you in 2016, we endorse you in 2020, and we know for a fact that “Slow Biden” and the Democrats will never push towards immigration that benefits Americans, America, and the immigrants. And I think they hide behind: “Nationalists are bad, immigrants are kind and good.” And if we are against the immigration the way it is now, then we are “racists.”
But the reality is, if you can keep immigration the way it’s going now, the way Joe Biden will push it, the problem is you’re actually benefiting the big tech billionaires and universities, and that is not what immigration is about in this country.
Thank you.
THE PRESIDENT: Where you come up with the name “Slow Biden”? You know, so many people want me to use that term, and I say, “It’s too mean; it’s too nasty.” (Laughter.)
MS. BLACKWELL: Oh, no! That means I’m mean.
THE PRESIDENT: And you just come up with that term. And where did that come from? Is that the —
MS. BLACKWELL: My son, actually, who’s 11.
THE PRESIDENT: Your son? He’s 11?
MS. BLACKWELL: Yes.
THE PRESIDENT: If he’s 11, and he said he’s slow and that he shouldn’t be President —
REPRESENTATIVE BURCHETT: They need to pay your son $15 million in consulting. (Laughter.)
THE PRESIDENT: Great job.
MS. BLACKWELL: Actually, during the rallies in 2016, you met my son. He had a Thor, and he dressed him up like President Trump.
THE PRESIDENT: Oh, that’s great.
MS. BLACKWELL: Yes. Thank you.
THE PRESIDENT: That’s very nice. Thank you, Sara. Very — great job you’re doing.
MS. BLACKWELLL: Thank you so much. Thank you.
THE PRESIDENT: Good. Thank you.
MS. BLACKWELL: Thank you for all you do.
{snip}
THE PRESIDENT: So — and you were helpful actually, and I appreciate it. And thank you very much. Anybody have a question?
Q Yes, Mr. President —
THE PRESIDENT: Go ahead.
Q Mr. President, on TikTok: You said over the weekend —
THE PRESIDENT: Yeah.
Q — that you’re planning to ban it. I know that you spoke with the CEO of Microsoft after that.
THE PRESIDENT: I did.
Q So can you give us an update on —
THE PRESIDENT: Yeah.
Q — where you’re at?
THE PRESIDENT: Yeah. We had a great conversation. He called me to see whether or not — how I felt about it. And I said, “Look, it can’t be controlled, for security reasons, by China. Too big, too invasive, and it can’t be.” And here is the deal: I don’t mind if — whether it’s Microsoft or somebody else — a big company, a secure company, very — a very American company buy it. It’s probably easier to buy the whole thing than to buy 30 percent of it. Because they say, “How do you do 30 percent? Who’s going to get the name?” The name is hot; the brand is hot. And who’s going to get the name? How do you do that if it’s owned by two different companies?
So my personal opinion was: You’re probably better off buying the whole thing rather than buying 30 percent of it. I think buying 30 percent is complicated. And I suggested that he can go ahead. He can try. We set a date — I set a date at around September 15th, at which point it’s going to be out of business in the United States. But if somebody — and whether it’s Microsoft or somebody else — buys it, that’ll be interesting.
I did say that if you buy it, whatever the price is, that goes to whoever owns it. Because I guess it’s China, essentially, but more than anything else. I said a very substantial portion of that price is going to have to come into the Treasury of the United States because we’re making it possible for this deal to happen. Right now, they don’t have any rights, unless we give it to them. So if we’re going to give them the rights, then it has to come into — it has to come into this country.
It’s a little bit like the landlord/tenant: Without a lease, the tenant has nothing. So they pay what’s called “key money,” or they pay something. But the United States should be reimbursed or should be paid a substantial amount of money, because without the United States, they don’t have anything — at least having to do with the 30 percent.
So I told him that. I think we’re going to have — maybe a deal is going to be made. It’s a great asset. It’s a great asset. But it’s not a great asset in the United States unless they have the approval of the United States. So it’ll close down on September 15th, unless Microsoft or somebody else is able to buy it and work out a deal — an appropriate deal. So the Treasury of the — really, the Treasury, I guess you would say, of the United States gets a lot of money. A lot of money. Okay?
Q Mr. President, can you explain why so many of the public health experts on the coronavirus task force are contradicting you on things like why the virus is so widespread in this country, on the efficacy of hydroxychloroquine? Why are so many of these people on your task force contradicting you?
THE PRESIDENT: Well, I think we’re doing a great job. I think we’re doing great on vaccines. We’re doing great on therapeutics. You’ll be seeing that very soon. I think we’re — when you look at a map, this is a map of the — I’ve got — I sort of shown that around a little bit, but that’s — the red is the area of most concern. (Displays a U.S. map.) Pretty recent map of the — of the country. And there’s a lot of — a lot of people that — in a lot of areas that have gotten very — you know, better very fast.
Hydroxy has tremendous support, but politically, it’s toxic because I supported it. If they would have said, “Do not use hydroxychloroquine under any circumstances,” they would have come out and they would’ve said, “It’s a great — it’s a great thing.” Many doctors have come out strongly in favor of it. They want it very badly. It’s a great malaria drug.
So, for many years —
Q But Admiral Giroir says it’s not effective.
THE PRESIDENT: Let me finish my — let me finish my answer.
So for many years — it’s, I guess, 60 years it’s been a malaria drug; very successful, as you know. And it’s been also a drug for lupus. And it caused no trouble — virtually nothing, in terms of causing people to get sick or having problems with anything. You add the zinc and you add the azithromycin — the Z-Pak, as they call it — and it’s been very — I happened to take it myself, the threesome.
I took it myself for a period of two weeks. I mean, I — I had no problem. I had no problem whatsoever. And, importantly, I, you know, didn’t test positive. That’s very nice. Okay? I’m very happy about that negative.
And so — so that’s the story. It’s — it’s very highly thought of. Interestingly, a great doctor, from what I understand — a great doctor from Yale feels very strongly about hydroxychloroquine. The Ford Clinic in Michigan came out with a very, very powerful paper saying it’s very good. Many other — in France, as you know, they came out with a very positive statement. Many individual doctors have come out with very positive statements.
I will tell you that if I was surrounded by people, as I was at the time — the reason I took it: You know, we had some people that were relatively near me that tested positive. And I took it for that reason, just because I’ve heard good things.
Q But Fauci says it doesn’t work. Admiral Giroir says it doesn’t work.
THE PRESIDENT: I don’t agree with Fauci on everything.
Q They’re on your task force.
THE PRESIDENT: I don’t agree with Fauci. Look, Fauci didn’t want — and I — I like him. I get along with him actually great. But he didn’t want to ban people from China from coming into the country, and I overrode him and I did the right thing. He was saying face masks are no good a short while ago. So it doesn’t mean he’s a bad person, because he’s not. He’s a good person; I like him. But we — we disagree on things. We disagree on things.
Now, I will say this: We’ve done an amazing job with ventilators. We’re supplying the world with ventilators. Ventilators are very hard, very expensive, very hard to make, very complex. Very complicated machines. Very — very expensive.
Q But why does the —
THE PRESIDENT: Hold it. Hold it.
Q But why does the U.S. have so many deaths?
THE PRESIDENT: Hold it.
Q The U.S. has so many deaths compared to —
THE PRESIDENT: Hold it.
Q — so many countries around the world. I —
THE PRESIDENT: Fake news CNN, hold it. We have done a great job in this country. We haven’t been given — and not me. I’m not talking about me. The Vice President, the task force have not been given the kind of credit.
If you look, countries all over the world are exploding right now — people that you said were doing a wonderful job, so wonderful. But right now, take a look at the countries that are exploding: You have Italy back. You have Spain back. You have France back. You have Germany back. You have a lot of countries, and that’s not to knock them.
It is a very delicate, very contagious disease. It was released by China. It should never have been allowed to release. There was the source where you could have stopped it. And they did stop it from going into China, although now they say that China is having a lot of problems. Moscow, in Russia, is having tremendous problems.
What China unleashed was a very, very sad situation. With all of that being understood, the United States has done an amazing job, a great job, and you’re going to see that because we have vaccines and we have therapeutics coming very soon.
Yeah, go ahead.
Q Mr. President, why are you not involved directly in negotiations with Capitol Hill?
THE PRESIDENT: I am. Oh, why? The fact that I’m not over there with Crazy Nancy? No, I’m totally involved.
Q Have you spoken with her?
THE PRESIDENT: I’m totally involved. And we’re going to be doing some things that are very good, because we don’t think that she — look, what Chuck Schumer wants more than anybody — and I would say Nancy Pelosi would be second — they want to bail out cities and states that have done a bad job over a long period of time. Nothing to do with coronavirus or China virus, or whatever you want to call it.
They want to bail out cities and states. They want bailout money. They want to trillion dollars in bailout money, and a lot of people don’t want to do that because we don’t think it’s right. The Democrats have run some very bad states and some very, very bad cities, and a lot of people don’t want to give them a trillion dollars to reward them for doing a bad job.
If you look at some of the states — I won’t insult anybody by naming those states, but you know what they are. They want bailout money. They’re not interested in the people. They’re not interested in unemployment. They’re not interested in evictions, which is a big deal — the evictions. They want to evict. A lot of people are going to be evicted, but I’m going to stop it because I’ll do it myself if I have to. I have a lot of powers with respect to executive orders, and we’re looking at that very seriously right now.
But what the Democrats want, they want — they’re slow-rolling it, and all they’re really interested in is bailout money to bail out radical-left governors and radical-left mayors, like in Portland and places that are so badly run. Chicago, New York City — you see what’s going on over there. Bailout cities and states who have been poorly run and spent a fortune doing it, they want a trillion dollars, and we’re really not interested in that.
Okay, thank you very much, everybody. Thank you. Thank you very much.
Q What about the Postal Service, Mr. President? What about the Postal Service? Any message to your postmaster general?
THE PRESIDENT: Thank you, Jim, very much. Thank you.
END
1:10 P.M. EDT
Remarks by President Trump in a Meeting with U.S. Tech Workers and Signing of an Executive Order on Hiring American
ECONOMY & JOBS
Issued on: August 3, 2020
Cabinet Room
12:09 P.M. EDT
THE PRESIDENT: Well, thank you very much. And today I’m signing an executive order to ensure that the federal government lives by a very simple rule: Hire American. We’ve been doing it at a level that hasn’t been done maybe ever.
I’ll also be taking firm, disciplinary action against the leadership of the Tennessee Valley Authority, which has sadly and cruelly betrayed American workers. And we have some of those great American workers with us at the table. This is the Cabinet Room, and it’s an honor to have you in the Cabinet Room and at the Oval Office.
We’re joined by the Vice President; Congressman Tim Burchett, who’s doing a fantastic job in the state of Tennessee; Secretary of Labor Eugene Scalia; Acting Deputy Secretary of Homeland Secretary, Ken Cuccinelli. Where’s Ken? Hi, Ken. I didn’t see you down there. That’s great. Doing a great job.
ACTING DEPUTY SECRETARY CUCCINELLI: Quiet, as usual.
THE PRESIDENT: Keep you busy, right? (Laughter.) We’re keeping you busy, Ken.
Recently, the CEO of the Tennessee Valley Authority, Jeffrey Lyash, made a disastrous and heartless decision. The TVA announced that it would lay off over 200 American workers and replace them with cheaper foreign workers brought in from overseas.
The Tennessee Valley Authority leadership then ordered the American workers to train their foreign replacements, rubbing salt in their very open wound.
So we’re going to bring in workers. They’re going to foreign workers. And people from Tennessee, and some others states right around it, are going to train them — what to do and how to do it. It doesn’t work that way.
As we speak, we’re finalizing H1-B regulations so that no American worker is replaced ever again. H1-Bs should be used for top, highly paid talent to create American jobs, not as inexpensive labor program to destroy American jobs.
Sitting at the table are six of the TVA workers who were ordered to train the foreign labor flown in to replace them. I want you and your colleagues to know that my administration will not be putting up with — I happen to know a young woman who’s been very active over the last couple of years because we were together on Disney and a couple of other things.
MS. BLACKWELL: Yes. Yes, sir. Yes, sir.
THE PRESIDENT: And it all seems to be working out pretty well.
MS. BLACKWELL: Thank you so much.
THE PRESIDENT: You’re doing a great job.
MS. BLACKWELL: Thank you.
THE PRESIDENT: And thank you for it.
But that’s why I’m formally removing the chairman of the board, James Thompson, and board member Richard Howorth. If the TVA does not move swiftly to reverse their decision to rehire their workers, then more board members will be removed. We have the absolute right to remove board members. And the board makes the decision; I don’t make the decision. I saw there was an ad on television talking about the amount of money that the chairman makes, and it’s a ridiculous amount of money. But we have the right to replace the board, and the board is the one — the only ones that get the right to then hire a new person.
Furthermore, the board must immediately hire that new CEO who puts the interest of American workers first. The current CEO, Jeff Lyash, is ridiculously overpaid. He earns $8 million a year. Did you know that? Eight million. He’s the highest-paid government official of any country anywhere in the world.
Now, I don’t know that you call him officially a “government.” It might be a public-private. It may be something — a lot time ago, it was established, Tennessee Valley Authority. But he gets $8 million a year. So that was just a succession of deep-swamp things happening, and it’s a disgrace. But he gets $8 million a year, and I can think of about almost 100 percent of the people I know would take that job. (Laughter.) It’s not a very hard job. I mean, you have not a lot of debt, not a lot of anything, right?
Public service is just that: Those who takes these jobs must be focused on the public good, not on personal profit. He would have taken the job for millions and millions of dollars less, but nobody asked him to do that. Okay? He would have gone for less. You could have had him for $4 million, $6 million, $7 million, $2 million, $1 million, probably $500,000 a year.
But the new CEO must be paid no more than $500,000 a year, which is still a significant amount more than the President of the United States makes. And I donate my salary. I’ve donated it. From what I hear, I’m the only President to do that. You’ll have to check on that, but that’s what I’ve heard. I’m very surprised to hear that. But I donate my full salary; I don’t take it.
{snip}
I also see that they’re doing a lot of things in terms of electric, which is very expensive electric. They’re building facilities that are very, very expensive to build and don’t work well. But we’ll discuss that separately.
{snip}
REPRESENTATIVE BURCHETT: (Inaudible.)
THE PRESIDENT: Tim, go ahead, please.
REPRESENTATIVE BURCHETT: Mr. President, thank you —
THE PRESIDENT: Congratulations.
REPRESENTATIVE BURCHETT: — and Vice President so much for this. My mama worked at TVA after the Second — during the — at the end of the Second World War, when dad came home from the Pacific and married her, and then she went into education. But, you know, working people are the backbone of this country. That’s not cliché and you’ve —
THE PRESIDENT: Yeah.
REPRESENTATIVE BURCHETT: — you’ve highlighted that so much with the trades and other things, and I’m very appreciative of the fact.
But I’ll you what: Dadgummit, if TVA wants be Duke Electric, let them because Duke Electric, but they’re not. And they — they hide behind the government’s skirt and they — they use eminent domain, and their arrogance is beyond belief. You know, when they had the ash spill, people died, and then — you know, and then they are just these poor country folks that are just pushing them off until they all die off, until those lawsuits go away. It’s ridiculous.
THE PRESIDENT: No, that’s right. And, by the way, in Kentucky, when we wanted to have a plant open with a lot of jobs, they didn’t even want to consider it.
REPRESENTATIVE BURCHETT: No. No, they didn’t. It’s their arrogance. You’re questioning them, and finally we have a President with the guts that understands business and government. And if TVA wants to be a government entity, they need to — they need to declare it, and quit using — they hide behind — you know, they have their — their —
THE PRESIDENT: Do you think Joe Biden would do this?
REPRESENTATIVE BURCHETT: Heck no.
THE PRESIDENT: He wouldn’t know you’re alive.
REPRESENTATIVE BURCHETT: He’d be — no, he’d —
THE PRESIDENT: He doesn’t know he’s alive either. (Laughter.)
REPRESENTATIVE BURCHETT: He needs to get out of the bunker.
THE PRESIDENT: No, can you imagine him sitting at this table right now? Wouldn’t have a clue.
REPRESENTATIVE BURCHETT: No, sir.
THE PRESIDENT: Okay. So go ahead, Tim.
REPRESENTATIVE BURCHETT: No, I think you pretty much covered it, Mr. President. I’m just honored to be here. And I —
THE PRESIDENT: Well, I’m honored that you’re here. And you’ve done a fantastic job.
REPRESENTATIVE BURCHETT: And I thank you for standing up for working Americans.
{snip}
THE PRESIDENT: Linda, please.
MS. MCDONALD: Well, thank you, Mr. President, for being with us today. The concern you show for American workers is greatly appreciated. And my mother made me promise to tell you that Alabama loves and appreciates your leadership. (Laughter.)
{snip}
MS. MCKENZIE: Just, it — again, it’s such an honor to be in your presence. (Laughs.)
{snip}
MS. HENSON: Thank you. I just think you bringing TVA back to their mission of service to the people of the Valley, service to people of the Valley and to this nation is — is a pivotal moment for the Tennessee Valley Authority.
THE PRESIDENT: So, right now, their mission is taking care of a lot of consultants and a lot of people and paying — paying heads of this whole thing $8 million a year. And you’ll find a lot of other things in there that are crazy.
MS. HENSON: Well, people over profit. And that’s what you’re doing here.
THE PRESIDENT: What do the people of Tennessee think when they hear that the head of TVA — which has been running for a long time — and, in all fairness, not a very difficult thing; there are many people who can do it. What do they hear when they hear — and they think of government, you know? It’s sort of semi- — I guess, you call it — public-private. But there’s not private, really, when you think of it. So, it’s a board member.
What do they think when they hear that the head person is making $8 million a year? Which is, by the way, I said it before, the most highly paid person anywhere in any country if you call this government, which it sort of is. What do they think when they hear? Do they know he makes $8 million a year?
MS. HENSON: Well, they do now after Kevin’s commercial. (Laughter.) But they’re pretty shocked. I mean — in fact, they — I think the workers even — I think some of the workers at TVA have been shocked about that. It is a lot of money.
THE PRESIDENT: But people have known. I’ve known, actually, before the commercial because we were looking at it. We sent them notices a year ago and two years ago saying, “We want some information.” And, you know, people have known this. I just can’t even imagine that somebody gets paid $8 million a year.
MS. HENSON: Well, the difference —
THE PRESIDENT: It’s the most sought-after job. It has to be the most sought-after job in any country in any government. Right, Tim? You’d take the job. Would you resign from Congress immediately?
{snip}
MS. HENSON: But the truth is, there are very capable people at TVA that love —
THE PRESIDENT: I’ll bet.
MS. HENSON: — the TVA and the mission that they’re really — were put together for and would love to take that job.
THE PRESIDENT: I even think they like your President — your current President, anyway. I’m not sure about the past President.
MS. HENSON: Tennessee Valley is — that’s right. The boats on the lake all say, you know —
THE PRESIDENT: “Trump.” Yeah. No, they’re great people. Say hello to them. Just say hello. They’re great people.
Sara, why don’t you just discuss it real quick, and you can maybe work with us in getting it all done very quickly. Okay?
MS. BLACKWELL: Of course, President Trump.
THE PRESIDENT: Thank you.
MS. BLACKWELL: Thank you for having us and having everyone here and for all you’re doing with regard to immigration. Immigration should be about America, Americans, and the immigrants. Right now — the way it was, before you started working on it, it’s always been the big business, big tech, and universities. And with you, we are working to make immigration in America for the right reasons.
And Protect U.S. Workers — I endorsed you in 2016, we endorse you in 2020, and we know for a fact that “Slow Biden” and the Democrats will never push towards immigration that benefits Americans, America, and the immigrants. And I think they hide behind: “Nationalists are bad, immigrants are kind and good.” And if we are against the immigration the way it is now, then we are “racists.”
But the reality is, if you can keep immigration the way it’s going now, the way Joe Biden will push it, the problem is you’re actually benefiting the big tech billionaires and universities, and that is not what immigration is about in this country.
Thank you.
THE PRESIDENT: Where you come up with the name “Slow Biden”? You know, so many people want me to use that term, and I say, “It’s too mean; it’s too nasty.” (Laughter.)
MS. BLACKWELL: Oh, no! That means I’m mean.
THE PRESIDENT: And you just come up with that term. And where did that come from? Is that the —
MS. BLACKWELL: My son, actually, who’s 11.
THE PRESIDENT: Your son? He’s 11?
MS. BLACKWELL: Yes.
THE PRESIDENT: If he’s 11, and he said he’s slow and that he shouldn’t be President —
REPRESENTATIVE BURCHETT: They need to pay your son $15 million in consulting. (Laughter.)
THE PRESIDENT: Great job.
MS. BLACKWELL: Actually, during the rallies in 2016, you met my son. He had a Thor, and he dressed him up like President Trump.
THE PRESIDENT: Oh, that’s great.
MS. BLACKWELL: Yes. Thank you.
THE PRESIDENT: That’s very nice. Thank you, Sara. Very — great job you’re doing.
MS. BLACKWELLL: Thank you so much. Thank you.
THE PRESIDENT: Good. Thank you.
MS. BLACKWELL: Thank you for all you do.
{snip}
THE PRESIDENT: So — and you were helpful actually, and I appreciate it. And thank you very much. Anybody have a question?
Q Yes, Mr. President —
THE PRESIDENT: Go ahead.
Q Mr. President, on TikTok: You said over the weekend —
THE PRESIDENT: Yeah.
Q — that you’re planning to ban it. I know that you spoke with the CEO of Microsoft after that.
THE PRESIDENT: I did.
Q So can you give us an update on —
THE PRESIDENT: Yeah.
Q — where you’re at?
THE PRESIDENT: Yeah. We had a great conversation. He called me to see whether or not — how I felt about it. And I said, “Look, it can’t be controlled, for security reasons, by China. Too big, too invasive, and it can’t be.” And here is the deal: I don’t mind if — whether it’s Microsoft or somebody else — a big company, a secure company, very — a very American company buy it. It’s probably easier to buy the whole thing than to buy 30 percent of it. Because they say, “How do you do 30 percent? Who’s going to get the name?” The name is hot; the brand is hot. And who’s going to get the name? How do you do that if it’s owned by two different companies?
So my personal opinion was: You’re probably better off buying the whole thing rather than buying 30 percent of it. I think buying 30 percent is complicated. And I suggested that he can go ahead. He can try. We set a date — I set a date at around September 15th, at which point it’s going to be out of business in the United States. But if somebody — and whether it’s Microsoft or somebody else — buys it, that’ll be interesting.
I did say that if you buy it, whatever the price is, that goes to whoever owns it. Because I guess it’s China, essentially, but more than anything else. I said a very substantial portion of that price is going to have to come into the Treasury of the United States because we’re making it possible for this deal to happen. Right now, they don’t have any rights, unless we give it to them. So if we’re going to give them the rights, then it has to come into — it has to come into this country.
It’s a little bit like the landlord/tenant: Without a lease, the tenant has nothing. So they pay what’s called “key money,” or they pay something. But the United States should be reimbursed or should be paid a substantial amount of money, because without the United States, they don’t have anything — at least having to do with the 30 percent.
So I told him that. I think we’re going to have — maybe a deal is going to be made. It’s a great asset. It’s a great asset. But it’s not a great asset in the United States unless they have the approval of the United States. So it’ll close down on September 15th, unless Microsoft or somebody else is able to buy it and work out a deal — an appropriate deal. So the Treasury of the — really, the Treasury, I guess you would say, of the United States gets a lot of money. A lot of money. Okay?
Q Mr. President, can you explain why so many of the public health experts on the coronavirus task force are contradicting you on things like why the virus is so widespread in this country, on the efficacy of hydroxychloroquine? Why are so many of these people on your task force contradicting you?
THE PRESIDENT: Well, I think we’re doing a great job. I think we’re doing great on vaccines. We’re doing great on therapeutics. You’ll be seeing that very soon. I think we’re — when you look at a map, this is a map of the — I’ve got — I sort of shown that around a little bit, but that’s — the red is the area of most concern. (Displays a U.S. map.) Pretty recent map of the — of the country. And there’s a lot of — a lot of people that — in a lot of areas that have gotten very — you know, better very fast.
Hydroxy has tremendous support, but politically, it’s toxic because I supported it. If they would have said, “Do not use hydroxychloroquine under any circumstances,” they would have come out and they would’ve said, “It’s a great — it’s a great thing.” Many doctors have come out strongly in favor of it. They want it very badly. It’s a great malaria drug.
So, for many years —
Q But Admiral Giroir says it’s not effective.
THE PRESIDENT: Let me finish my — let me finish my answer.
So for many years — it’s, I guess, 60 years it’s been a malaria drug; very successful, as you know. And it’s been also a drug for lupus. And it caused no trouble — virtually nothing, in terms of causing people to get sick or having problems with anything. You add the zinc and you add the azithromycin — the Z-Pak, as they call it — and it’s been very — I happened to take it myself, the threesome.
I took it myself for a period of two weeks. I mean, I — I had no problem. I had no problem whatsoever. And, importantly, I, you know, didn’t test positive. That’s very nice. Okay? I’m very happy about that negative.
And so — so that’s the story. It’s — it’s very highly thought of. Interestingly, a great doctor, from what I understand — a great doctor from Yale feels very strongly about hydroxychloroquine. The Ford Clinic in Michigan came out with a very, very powerful paper saying it’s very good. Many other — in France, as you know, they came out with a very positive statement. Many individual doctors have come out with very positive statements.
I will tell you that if I was surrounded by people, as I was at the time — the reason I took it: You know, we had some people that were relatively near me that tested positive. And I took it for that reason, just because I’ve heard good things.
Q But Fauci says it doesn’t work. Admiral Giroir says it doesn’t work.
THE PRESIDENT: I don’t agree with Fauci on everything.
Q They’re on your task force.
THE PRESIDENT: I don’t agree with Fauci. Look, Fauci didn’t want — and I — I like him. I get along with him actually great. But he didn’t want to ban people from China from coming into the country, and I overrode him and I did the right thing. He was saying face masks are no good a short while ago. So it doesn’t mean he’s a bad person, because he’s not. He’s a good person; I like him. But we — we disagree on things. We disagree on things.
Now, I will say this: We’ve done an amazing job with ventilators. We’re supplying the world with ventilators. Ventilators are very hard, very expensive, very hard to make, very complex. Very complicated machines. Very — very expensive.
Q But why does the —
THE PRESIDENT: Hold it. Hold it.
Q But why does the U.S. have so many deaths?
THE PRESIDENT: Hold it.
Q The U.S. has so many deaths compared to —
THE PRESIDENT: Hold it.
Q — so many countries around the world. I —
THE PRESIDENT: Fake news CNN, hold it. We have done a great job in this country. We haven’t been given — and not me. I’m not talking about me. The Vice President, the task force have not been given the kind of credit.
If you look, countries all over the world are exploding right now — people that you said were doing a wonderful job, so wonderful. But right now, take a look at the countries that are exploding: You have Italy back. You have Spain back. You have France back. You have Germany back. You have a lot of countries, and that’s not to knock them.
It is a very delicate, very contagious disease. It was released by China. It should never have been allowed to release. There was the source where you could have stopped it. And they did stop it from going into China, although now they say that China is having a lot of problems. Moscow, in Russia, is having tremendous problems.
What China unleashed was a very, very sad situation. With all of that being understood, the United States has done an amazing job, a great job, and you’re going to see that because we have vaccines and we have therapeutics coming very soon.
Yeah, go ahead.
Q Mr. President, why are you not involved directly in negotiations with Capitol Hill?
THE PRESIDENT: I am. Oh, why? The fact that I’m not over there with Crazy Nancy? No, I’m totally involved.
Q Have you spoken with her?
THE PRESIDENT: I’m totally involved. And we’re going to be doing some things that are very good, because we don’t think that she — look, what Chuck Schumer wants more than anybody — and I would say Nancy Pelosi would be second — they want to bail out cities and states that have done a bad job over a long period of time. Nothing to do with coronavirus or China virus, or whatever you want to call it.
They want to bail out cities and states. They want bailout money. They want to trillion dollars in bailout money, and a lot of people don’t want to do that because we don’t think it’s right. The Democrats have run some very bad states and some very, very bad cities, and a lot of people don’t want to give them a trillion dollars to reward them for doing a bad job.
If you look at some of the states — I won’t insult anybody by naming those states, but you know what they are. They want bailout money. They’re not interested in the people. They’re not interested in unemployment. They’re not interested in evictions, which is a big deal — the evictions. They want to evict. A lot of people are going to be evicted, but I’m going to stop it because I’ll do it myself if I have to. I have a lot of powers with respect to executive orders, and we’re looking at that very seriously right now.
But what the Democrats want, they want — they’re slow-rolling it, and all they’re really interested in is bailout money to bail out radical-left governors and radical-left mayors, like in Portland and places that are so badly run. Chicago, New York City — you see what’s going on over there. Bailout cities and states who have been poorly run and spent a fortune doing it, they want a trillion dollars, and we’re really not interested in that.
Okay, thank you very much, everybody. Thank you. Thank you very much.
Q What about the Postal Service, Mr. President? What about the Postal Service? Any message to your postmaster general?
THE PRESIDENT: Thank you, Jim, very much. Thank you.
END
1:10 P.M. EDT
