Administration of Donald J. Trump, 2018

November 26, 2018

The President. Thank you very much. Thank you for being here. I'm thrilled to be back in the great State of Mississippi. We're here today to discuss a landmark prison reform bill called the First Step Actâso important. This legislation will help former inmates reenter society as productive law-abiding citizens, and it has tremendous support no matter where we go.

Tremendous support. Beyond anything I would've expected.

We're grateful to be joined by Vice President Mike Pence. Mike, thank you very much.

Vice President Michael R. Pence. Thank you, Mr. President.

The President. Governor Phil Bryant. Phil, great job you've done.

Governor D. Phillip Bryant of Mississippi. Thank you.

The President. Senator Roger Wicker. Where's Roger? Roger, right here. Rogerâcome here, Roger. Give me five. You've been a tremendous help.

Senatorâand we can almost say, "Senator-elect"âif you want to know the truth. [*Laughter*] But you have been there and you've done a great job.

Senator Cindy Hyde-Smith. Thank you.

The President. And hopefully, it will be Senator-elect, because tomorrow we're going to elect her. And we have a tremendous race going on, and she'sâCindy Hyde-Smith has been fantastic. And she's been not only a great candidate, but she's been really an outstanding person in Washington for the short time and now for a long time, for many years, we hope, Cindy. So good luck tomorrow.

Sen. Hyde-Smith. Thank you, Mr. President.

The President. Good luck tomorrow.

Senator Lindsey Graham, who's my friend and done a fantastic job, especially with the hearings on Justice Kavanaugh. That was an amazing moment, I will tell you.

Jared Kushner, who has worked so hard on what we're here about tonight. Jared, thank you.

Fantastic job.

And a number of the tremendous Mississippi law enforcement leaders who will be talking in a little while. I think we're going to be hearing some of their comments and suggestions, Phil.

And I look forward to that.

The First Step Act has been a great bipartisan effort, and I look forward to continuing to be partners with Cindy and all of the people, Roger, the people of Mississippi who have worked so hard on legislation and this legislation in particular.

What we'll have here is, communities will be safer by helping inmates gain the skills that they need to obtain jobs and stay out of prison after they are released, which has been a tremendous topic. I think we've helped a lot, because the economy is so good that a lot of people that would not have had a chanceâPhil, you know thisâthat they would not have had a chance are now getting jobs, and the people that are hiring these people are saying some incredible things. I guess not in all cases, but in many cases. Right? It's not in all cases for anyone. But

frankly, they are getting phenomenal reviews, so that's really good. So the economy is a big factor.

Enact reasonable sentencing reforms to ensure fairness while keeping dangerous criminals off the streetâso importantâand revitalize our criminal justice system to be tough on crime, but also smart on crime.

So I think what I'd like to do is maybe just go around. And I'd love to start with you because you have done such a great job. Phil has told me all about you. And maybe I'd like to start with you and hear your ideas and any suggestions on the bill.

Mississippi Department of Corrections Commissioner Pelicia E. Hall. Mr. Presidentââ

The President. Thank you very much.

Commissioner Hall. Thank you so much. I appreciate the opportunity to be taking part in such a most important conversation from a justice reform.

The President. Yes.

Commissioner Hall. And being a member of the correctional systemâthe leader of the correctional systemârecognizing that there had to be a shift in our focus from true incarceration to rehabilitation and reentry.

We've done tremendous efforts in Mississippi with our criminal justice reform legislation that we passed in 2014, House Bill 585, that was sweeping criminal justice reform to address those issues of citizen reform to look at who we are incarcerating, the reasons that we're incarcerating those people, and for the lengths of those sentences, recognizing that not everyone belongs in the criminal justice systemââ

The President. Right.

Commissioner Hall. ââand in prison and that we had to have some alternatives to incarceration.

So with the support of Governor Bryant and our legislative body, we've made some great changes in our process. The department now has more reentry services, and we know that it takes resources to be able to do that, that vocational training.

[*At this point, Commissioner Hall continued her remarks, concluding as follows.*]

And so with all of those measures that we're trying to put in placeâlike you said, being smart on crime reductionâthat we're addressing their reentry needs and making sure that they have vocational training when they leave our system; making sure that we are getting them transitional housing so that they have a place to go once they leave, and that we're making sure that we address all of those needs.

Our system has approximately two-thirds of it that have substance abuse issuesââ

The President. Right.

Commissioner Hall. ââwhether it be alcohol-related issues or, you know, substance abuse. And so we knew that we had to expand what we were doing from an alcohol and drug treatment standpoint.

We were able to get a grantâand I don't want to talk too long, Mr. Presidentââ

The President. No, it's okay. No, it's very fascinating what you're saying.

Gov. Bryant. It's a great story. She's passionate.

The President. No, you go ahead. She's very passionate and really knowledgeable. That's very nice. Go ahead.

Commissioner Hall. I appreciate it. We were able to get a grant with the Department of Mental Health. And with that grant, we're able to service people with co-occurring disorders, those with both the mental health and substance abuse issues. And in 2016, we were able to get a

$600,000 grant for the State of Mississippi to address those needs.

We've done so well with those measures they've extended our grant, and so we've extended for 3 years to expand in other counties across the State to address those needs. And so we recognize that unless we deal with that population from a mental health and substance abuse standpoint, we're going to lose.

The President. Right.

Commissioner Hall. And so we're expanding our services in that regard, but we're also addressing the vocational training that is a great need. Like, you talk about that second-chance employment that the private sector has now gotten onboard with us and said, "Okay, what can we do help you reemploy these people that are leaving our correctional system?"

[*Commissioner Hall continued her remarks, concluding as follows.*]

One new problem that we hadâand I think the Governor is proud of itâis our CDL program, because we know the trucking industry is one of those industries that employs a lot of people returning to the communities. And soââ

Gov. Bryant. Commercial driver's license.

Commissioner Hall. That's right. That's right. So with those commercial driver's licenses, we're going to be able to employ a lot of people leaving our correctional system. So the construction industry, the trucking industry, as well as the factory-related businessesâNissan has come out as a very good partner of ours; the Brown Bottling Groupâall of those industries has said we're willing to offer second-chance employment.

So we recognize that as a benefit to the department, and we're going to continue to do more of that and expanding those programs, but recognizing that it's going to take the resources; that you have to invest in corrections in order for us to realize those great benefits. And we're doing that with the help of the Governor and others in the State of Mississippi. And so we're on track to ultimately save the State $264 million over a 10-year period.

The President. And better lives.

Commissioner Hall. That's right. That's right. To make more taxpayers than tax burdens. And that's what we're all focused on doing. And investing in corrections and investing in the criminal justice system is ultimately investing in true public safety and crime reduction, and that's what we're all about.

The President. Boy, that is so great. Such passion too.

Commissioner Hall. Well, Iââ

The President. That was really impressive. Fantastic job you just did.

And the level ofâthat is reallyâwould you say, Lindsey, that is great passion, and that's why you're so great at what you're doing. And I've heard you've had tremendous success. Phil told me about it. And I want to just thank you very much.

Commissioner Hall. Thank you. I appreciate it.

The President. Beautiful job. Really beautiful job.

Commissioner Hall. Thank you.

Sen. Graham. Have you seen any changes in recidivism?

Commissioner Hall. Yes, I have.

The President. Phil, how about you saying a couple of words?

Gov. Bryant. I wantâI do know you've heard me, and Pelicia, who did such a good jobâ Commissioner Hall.

But these ladies here have a very specialâyou've got a prosecutor and a Miss Mississippi. And that's really an example, along with corrections and law enforcement, of who would support this bill.

So maybe we could hear from a tough district attorney. And, Angel, if you'll talk a little bit about the present, from a prosecutorial side.

Assistant District Attorney Angel Myers McIlrath of Ocean Springs, MS. Yes, sir. Thank

you.

The President. Thank you.

District Attorney McIlrath. Mr. President, as prosecutors, we basically have two categories

of offenders we deal with. We've got the violent, habitual major drug-traffickers that need to be in prison to protect society, but then we've got this category of people who are low risk and who can be rehabilitated.

[*District Attorney McIlrath continued her remarks, concluding as follows.*]

And so those are things that are important to prosecutors. I can tell you that it's working here, and I believe that your Act is going to work as well.

The President. That's fantastic.

Gov. Bryant. Asya, as you can probably tell, she's pretty special young lady.

The President. Right.

Gov. Bryant. She's had a few challenges in life, but her platform as Miss Mississippi is to take on this corrections reform. And we love her to death, and we're so very proud of her.

Miss Mississippi Asya Branch. You all want me to speak? [Laughter] I do a lot and I've seen a lot. And I am very fond of this bill because I see the impact that it can have. And the most important thing when it comes to inmates is reintegrating them into society and then being successful and reducing the recidivism rate, which is incredible. And so I think this will be very beneficial, honestly. You see the amount of people that get arrested and then end up right back in there. But if they are able to attain a job and be productive citizensââ

The President. Right.

Ms. Branch. ââthen there's hope and a future. And then, of course, public safety. People aren't as threatened by people who are being productive citizens and, you know, helping society.

The President. Well, that's really good. Thank you very much, both. Thank you very much.

Appreciate it.

Phil.

Gov. Bryant. Ron Matis chairs the Governor's faith-based initiative and has done such a great job working with churches and synagogues and all of those faith-based organizations. And, Ron, we'll let you talk in just a moment about our faith-based effort in the prisons.

Mississippi Faith-Based Advisory Council Chairman Ron Matis. Yes, sir. Thank you, Governor, and Mr. President, and Mr. Vice President.

The President. Thank you.

Chairman Matis. I was excited to come here tonight because I think that the faith community is one of the most natural partners in addressing this issue. As I've traveled the State, after the Governor pioneered to founding a faith advisory council in Mississippi, I found a lot of churches who were involved in this process and were wanting more tools to be able to help these folks who are, frankly, getting out of the system and not knowing exactly how to become productive members of society.

[*Chairman Matis continued his remarks, concluding as follows.*]

So I'm excited to be here because I see both the State leadership and the Federal leadership pointing in that direction. So thank you for your leadership, Governor. Thank you for the opportunity.

The President. Thank you very much. I appreciate it very much.

Gov. Bryant. Marshall Fisher is our commissioner of Department of Public Safety, a Navy veteran; spent most of his career in the Drug Enforcement Administration working for the Federal Government. I was able to not only bring him on managing the Department of Corrections, but talked him into being commissioner of the Department of Public Safety. He's a lifelong law enforcement officer. One of the best I know.

Commissioner, I'm going to turn to you for comments.

Mississippi Department of Public Safety Commissioner Marshall L. Fisher. Thank you, Governor. Mr. President, thank you for being here, and thank you for including law enforcement in this important conversation. Being a 40-plus-year law enforcement man, we're hardheaded sometimes, we're hard to get to the table. Andââ

Gov. Bryant. I told him that. [Laughter]

Commissioner Fisher. But it is important. We, in Mississippi, as you can see, we work as a team. And our most important asset here is coordination and collaboration. And I'm an old dinosaur that didn't think the way I think now. We realize now in law enforcement, we can't arrest our way out of these situations. We realize there are people that need to be in prison.

But for the most part, there a lot of people out there that we can put back on the street with investment in transitional housing, with investment in alcohol and drug treatment, drug courts, mental health courts. And these are things that guys like me didn't believe in years ago. But now we do. I'm telling you, we do believe in this. It's important. And we do have a team here. It's a collaborative effort. The Department of Corrections commissioner and I talk on a weekly basis, if not biweekly.

Thank you. Thank you for what you're doing.

The President. Thank you. That's very well said.

Commissioner Fisher. Thank you for what you're doing.

The President. So you're now a believer. You wouldn't have been a believer 10 years ago, maybe. Right?

Commissioner Fisher. I wouldn't have been a believer 5 years ago.

The President. That's fantastic. So what changed your mind?

Commissioner Fisher. The Governor asked me to come back into State service, and I ran the Department of Correctionsâor maybe it ran meâfor a couple of years. [Laughter] And I have a unique perspective. I'm a retired DEA agent; I was a police officer before that. I've been able to see things from different sides. And it was a wakeup call for me. And I feel blessed that I had that opportunity.

The President. It's very nice to know. Really is. Very nice to know. Thank you very much.

Commissioner Fisher. Yes, sir.

Gov. Bryant. Finally, our Lincoln County sheriff, Sheriff Rushing, is now president of the Sherriff's Association. And you know how I feel about the sheriffs. My first real job was working for a sheriff.

So, Sherriff, we'll turn to you for comments. Thank you for being here.

Lincoln County, MS, Sheriff Steve Rushing. Thank you all for having me. Mr. President, thank you for having me. As Senator Cindy Hyde said, I'm her sheriff. I've been sheriff about 12 years now, and I'm president of our association.

This Act really does not affect us on the local level, but we do see the benefit in what it can become. Like everybody has spoke tonightâthe commissioner said it best that, you know, 10 years ago, I wouldn't have told you that no way in the world I would have been at this table discussing this.

[*Sheriff Rushing continued his remarks, concluding as follows.*]

And at the same time, we're here to work together. I understand our national association had a couple issues here and there, but we're here to work any way we can with the Federal, State, and local officials to better our communities, because that's our job as sheriff is to serve and protect our community. That's our first priority.

But I'm honored to be here. And thank you forââ

The President. Thank you, Sheriff.

Sheriff Rushing. ââand thank you all for being here.

The President. Appreciate it very much. Thank you very much.

Sheriff Rushing. Yes, sir.

The President. Roger, would you say a few words, please?

Senator Roger F. Wicker. Well, this is all very compelling. And I would also say that when it comes to the bill, I had a very fine conversation with Chairman Chuck Grassley today, who is very actively supporting this and has moved the ball down the field for a couple of years now. It's not hardâit's not easy to get a bill passed by both Houses and signed into law. He feels like he's very close.

[*Sen. Wicker continued his remarks, concluding as follows.*]

So I commend the State officials who work with it every day. You've got the chief corrections officer of the State. You've got the chief law enforcement officer of the State. You have the clergy you mentioned. You have the people on the local level. You have a prosecutor. And you've got Asya with her own personal testimony and story, and it's quite compelling.

The President. Thank you, Roger. That's very nice. Cindy.

Sen. Hyde-Smith. Well, Mr. President, as I've said many times, there's two types of inmates: ones you're scared of and ones you're mad at because they did something stupid when they were young.

For the ones you're scared of, you know, we've got a place for them. But so many people, as he referred, many years ago, we'd say lock them up and throw away the key. Everybody in Pelicia Hall's recordkeeping, there's a release date down there. Everybody has a sentence with a release date. I think we'd better be very smart on what we're doing when that release date comes, because it is a revolving door. The recidivism rate is just a revolving door, and they're back. So we've got to be smarter about this.

[*Sen. Hyde-Smith continued his remarks, concluding as follows.*]

So you've got their attention. But it's people you just have to hold their hand every step of the way. So drug courts are phenomenal in Mississippi.

The President. Well, thank you, Cindy, very much. Appreciate it. And good luck tomorrow.

Sen. Hyde-Smith. Thank you.

The President. A big day.

Sen. Hyde-Smith. I'm passionate about this. [Laughter]

The President. Jared, how about saying a few words? You've worked so hard on this.

White House Senior Adviser Jared C. Kushner. Sure. First of all, thank you for your leadership on bringing everybody together. I know we've been negotiating hard with the Democrats in Congress and with the Republicans for the last year and a half to try and get to this compromise. Because these are very tricky issues, and you have to make sure all of the different voices are heard, especially the law enforcement community, which we've spent a lot of time engaging with. And they've made a lot of changes to the bill along the way that have made it much better of a bill.

[*Senior Adviser Kushner continued his remarks, concluding as follows.*]

So I think this is really great legislation. I think it shows that people in Washington are working hard to really do good for the American people. And again, I don't think this could have gotten to where it is under any other President other than you.

So, really, thank you. And thank you to the Vice President for your leadership on this. And thank you to Governor Bryant and all of you for the great work you've done in Mississippi to really make this happen. Thank you.

The President. That's very good. Lindsey.

Sen. Graham. Well, it would be a great way to end 2018. I hope we can bring it to the floor. We'll get 80 votes if we do. There's always a reason to vote noâ[laughter]âbut this is aâto the people of Mississippi, you should be proud of the folks at this table. This has been an amazing turnaround of how you approach incarcerating people. And 10 percent of the people in jail are at the Federal level.

[*Sen. Graham continued his remarks, concluding as follows.*]

I've been a prosecutor. I've been a defense attorney. I've been a judge. And now is the time to look at what's not working. And I promise you, if you keep doing the same old thing, you're going to get the same old outcome. And the people of Mississippi showed us, if you do something different, you'll probably get a better outcome.

The President. Well, thank you very much, Lindsey, and thank you for working on it. All of youâeverybody in the room has been incredible.

And I think what I'll do is, I'll finish up with our great Vice President who has worked as hard or harder than anybody, other than maybe Jared, right? I think we have to say, Jared, you really have beenâyou really pulled it together. And it's been very popular. Some very strong law enforcement people have called me. They said: "We love this. This has been"âand you go to the State of Texasâyou know, you think of Texas as a tough law-and-order State, and they've done it. And Kentucky and Georgia and a lot of great places. And the job you've done, Phil. So it's become, really, very popular. I hope they get a vote, and I think it's going to be bipartisan.

And, Mike, what do you have to say?

Vice President Pence. Well, thank you, Mr. President. And I think it's very clear, especially with the law enforcement and corrections leaders here, that this is a law and order administration. This President has supported law enforcement with resources and respect and will continue to. I can promise you that.

[*Vice President Pence continued his remarks, concluding as follows.*]

So I'm grateful to Senator Wicker and Senator Hyde-Smith and to Senator Graham for their expressions of support for this legislation. We'll be back on Capitol Hill tomorrow. And, Mr.

President, we'll be carrying your strong support for this legislation and your desire to see the Senate act and act before the end of this year in getting this bill to your desk and really taking a first step toward a fresh start and a second chance for Americans who are currently in our corrections system, but given the right tools, given the right transition, given the right educational opportunities, to be able to choose a better path and a better life for their lives and for the safety and security and betterment of our communities.

So thank you for your leadership, Mr. President. It's an honor to be here with you.

The President. Well, thank you very much, Mike. Such great progress has been made. And a lot of people are shocked, because when this beganâa long time ago, really; they've been trying to get it for years. But we're at a point now where we have a chance to take a vote.

And I think you're going to get, as Lindsey would say, 80. I don't know if it's 80, but maybe if it's 60, that would be okay too. [*Laughter*] But actually, we'd be disappointed, if you want to know the truth.

Sen. Graham. We'll take 80. I'm never wrong.

The President. I think we want to see that support, because really, it's going to be tremendous support. I really think it's going to beââ

Gov. Bryant. This makes a really great Christmas present, Mr. President, for a lot of families.

The President. It will be a tremendous thing for our country.

So I want thank you all. Fantastic job, everybody. Appreciate it very much. And we will see you. And hopefully, we'll have a little celebration in Washington fairly soon. This will be terrific. And good luck to everybody, and good luck to you tomorrow.

Criminal Justice Reform Legislation

Q. Mr. President, will you insist that Senator McConnell bring this bill to the floor before the end of the year?

The President. Well, we're talking to him, and we're doing a count. And we want to make sure that we have the votes, because we don't have to bring it if we don't have the votes. But from everything that we're looking at right now, we have more than enough.

So, at a certain point, we'll have a talk. But if we have the votes, I'm sure that we'll be voting.

Q. Has he indicated that this schedule doesn't work?

Criminal Justice Reform Legislation

Q. Is there anything, sir, that you can do to negotiate with McConnell? Can youâdo you have leverage in any way? Can you threaten him with anything?

The President. Well, I don't need leverage. Look, he's a friend of mine. He's a really good guy. And Iâhonestly, I think he believes in this also. And he wants to make sureâlike I do, tooâI want to make sure we have the votes. But we lookâwe're looking like we have the votes, as of right now and maybe an abundance of votes. So I think we'll be okay. I think we're in pretty good shape. What do you think, Lindsey?

Q. Mr. Presidentââ

Sen. Graham. I think you're right.

Q. Is he telling you something different privately?

Criminal Justice Reform Legislation

Q. Have you changed your mind? You heard law enforcement officials today talk about changing their minds in the last 5 or 10 years. What did you think about criminal behavior 10 to 15 years ago? Have you changed your mind?

The President. Well, I think a lot of people have changed their minds. You know, it's a more modern system. It's a different system, when you see the tremendous success they've had in Texas; and in Kentucky, where they've had great success; and in Georgia, where the Governor has been speaking about it like it's almost a miracle.

When you see one after another, and then you see Governor Bryant talking about it the same way, I mean, so many things areânow, nothing's perfect, and it's a very complex subject, but I would say that a lot of people have changed their minds. I mean, my mind was never made up one way or the other. My mind was just on very strong law and order.

But this is actually a part of it. And if you look at some of the people that are most supportive of thisâI was going aroundâlike, as an example, Chuck Grassley, and Rand Paul, and Mike Lee, and some people that you wouldn't necessarily expect, it's very impressive.

People that really are into the world of strength, and law and order, and they're totally supportive of this as much as anybody. And then, on the other side, you have great support also. So I think a lot of people have felt very strongly, but I think we're going to have a lot of success with it.

And most importantly, I think we'll get it. And after we get it, it's going to work. That's very important.

Thank you for the question.

Criminal Justice Reform Legislation

Q. Mr. President, if the votes are there, do you want the Senate to stay in Washington until they pass this?

The President. Well, we'll see what happens. I think we're going to have a vote. And I think we should do it now, rather than later.

This is something that could also pass later, but we have such a good group of people right now and such great support, I think you're better offâlet's take the victory for everybodyâfor Democrats and for Republicans, very bipartisan. And I think we should take the victory.

Criminal Justice Reform Legislation/Border Security

Q. Is criminal justice reform, in your view, more important than securing funding for building the wall before the end of the year?

The President. No, I think it's allâand you can do both. Really, you can doâI think the wall is a very important thing. Funding for the wall is very important. We're building big parts of the wall. You see that. And it's having a tremendous impact. In fact, the only little breach yesterday, we took care of it very nicely, quickly, and apprehended those that breached. A small breach was in one area where the wall wasn't quite built yet; it wasn't completed. But the areas that have been completed have been very, very strong.

And when people look at what's going on the border, you know, they just agree pretty muchânot pretty muchâthey agree with what we are doing very strongly.

Border Security

Q. Will any of the migrants be prosecuted?

The President. We're going to look at that. We're going to see.

Q. Because Secretary Nielsenââ

The President. Well, some are very violent and have been very violent and have been very dangerous to the police and to the Border Patrol. And all of the people includingâwe have ICE there. We have ICE there. Normally, we'reâthey'd be in other sections, and right now they're on the border.

But we've had some very violent people. And we don't wantâfrankly, we don't want those people in our society. We don't want those people in our country. But we had tremendous violence. Three Border Patrol people yesterday were very badly hurt through getting hit with rocks and stones.

And if you look at the Mexican police, who have been fighting very hardâand, you know, don't forget, 95 percent of it is taking placeâand more than thatâis taking place in Mexico, and on the Mexican side.

You know, we just said, "Look, if they come over here, we're going to apprehend them, and we're going to close the border." That's not really been done to extent that I am doing it because I mean it, and I'll close it for a long time.

And as far as trade is concerned, that's okay. Because Mexico, frankly, has done very well with trade in the United States. So we would close it, and we'll keep it closed if we're going to have a problem. We'll keep it closed for a long period time.

Border Security

Q. What needs to happen to close the border?

Q. What would convince you to close it?

The President. Excuse me?

Q. What would cause you to close the border?

The President. Violence.

Q. Like we saw the other day?

The President. If they do a charge. Because, with a closed border, it's very easy to stop; with an open border, it's not. If they do a chargeâas you know, we have a big caravan coming up, another one.

The interesting thing is, because of the very tough stanceâand we've had this stance from the beginning, but now, I suspect because of how well the country is doing, we have a lot more people coming. And it does seem to be an organizedâI mean, there is somebody organizing it. This isn't just happening by luck. Something is happening in Honduras and Guatemala and El Salvadorâbecause, you know, you look at the way it's organized, it's soâthey hand out papers, they hand out directionsâthis is not just, you know, by luck it's happening.

But I would say the violence is very strong. We have over 500 people that are serious criminals and gang members. And it's a tough situation. We just don't want that in our country. And we're keeping it in Mexico. And Mexico's done a very good job, but a lot of the law enforcement people from Mexico have been very seriously injured. They've been badly hurt. You saw what happened yesterday.

If you look at Tijuana, where not only the mayor, but a lot of the people who were interviewed said, "Hey, these are rough people. You start talking to them, and they punch you in the face." We don't want that in our country. We don't want it. Okay?

Use of Tear Gas at Mexico-U.S. Border/Border Security

Q. Mr. President, you mentioned the "rough people." You mentioned the criminals. But how did you feel when you saw the images of the women and children running from the tear gas yesterday?

The President. Well, I do say, "Why are they there?" I mean, I have to start offâfirst of all, the tear gas is a very minor form of the tear gas itself. It's very safe. The ones that were suffering, to a certain extent, were the people that were putting it out there. But it's very safe.

But you really say, "Why is a parent running up into an area where they know the tear gas is forming, and it's going to be formed, and they're running up with a child?"

And in some cases, you know, they're not the parents. These are peopleâthey call them "grabbers"âthey grab a child because they think they're going to have a certain status by having a child. You know, you have certain advantages, in terms of our crazy laws, that, frankly, Congress should be changing.

You know, if you changed the laws, you wouldn't be having this problem. And I think the funding of the wall right now has never looked better.

Q. Sir, are you saying thatââ

Mexico/Border Security

Q. How satisfied are you with the Mexican Government's performance here?

The President. Well, I think the Mexican Government is trying very hard. I would've stopped them a lot sooner than the border. We're stopping them at the border.

But I really think Mexico is working hard. They were violently attacked. I mean, their police were violently attacked at the northern border. If you look at their border, their southern borderâ

they were reallyâthat was violence at a high level. That was a terrible thing that took place. And they really geared up after that, because they had a lot of their policemen and a lot of their soldiers were injured badly. Soâbut I think Mexico is doing a good job.

Now I'd like to see Mexico take those people and move them back to Honduras, move them back to Guatemala, move them back to El Salvador where most of them come from.

Border Security/Asylum

Q. What about people seeking asylum? Should people be able to apply for asylum if they feel like there's violence in their home country?

The President. At a certain level, they should. But when we have the border closed, there's nothing we can do about that. But at a certain level, maybe they should. That's the laws. We'reâ we have very strict standards for asylum. As you know, when you go to court looking for asylum, very few people qualify for asylum.

And you know, one thing I do mention: They're all coming up, and they're all saying about their country is so dangerous, but you have flags all over the place representing Honduras, Guatemala, El Salvador, and some other countries. And you say, "Well, if these countries are so bad, so dangerous, why are they all waving, proudly, their flags?"

Border Security/Mexico

Q. But there are people with women and children that applying for asylum. Should they be able to apply at the border today?

The President. Well, if you look, the percentage of women and children is very small, relative to young men coming in. And you have a lot of gang members coming in. And we have over 500 peopleâand you know thatâand they have lists that are criminals. And we don't want the criminals, and we don't want people in that don't come in legally.

So, we're working very hard. People are not coming into our country. They have not been able to breach. They're not going to breach. And if they do breach, they get arrested on the other side. It's a very small event.

But we do appreciate Mexico working hard and we have a very good relationship. I have a very good relationship with bothâyou know, both the past and the currentâthe soon-to-be current leadership of Mexico.

In fact, Mike is going to the Inauguration. And we've worked very closely with the future President of Mexico, and I think the relationship will be good. But we'll see. I mean, we're going to see. But if it's not good, we're just not going to be trading very much; we're not going to be trading with Mexico.

Q. Mr. President, how close are you to a deal with the new administration?

Mississippi Senatorial Election/2018 Congressional and Gubernatorial Elections

Q. This is your second trip to Mississippi.

The President. Excuse me?

Q. This is your second trip to Mississippi in the last several months, campaigning for Senator Hyde-Smith.

The President. Right.

Q. Why is Mississippi, in your view obviously, so important?

The President. Well, I get along very well with the people of Mississippi. They like me, and I like them. I mean, as you know, I won by a tremendous amount. I don't know, how many?

Sen. Wicker. Eighteen and a half points.

The President. Eighteen and a half points. [Laughter] I'd say that's a lot. And I think when you win by 18Â½ points, and you're running for the Senate, you say, "Mr. President, do you think you could come up and give us a hand?" I really think that Cindy is doing very well. I know the State very well. I like the State a lot. And I think she's going to have a tremendous victory tomorrow. And frankly, I don't want to take my chances.

We did very well. The press has not wanted to talk about the Senate. But if you look at the Senate, we didâI mean, I won't say historic, but we did numbers that were shockingly good. You know, we're going to end upâif Cindy wins, we end up at 53â47. That's a big improvement from where we were.

And you know, people talk about the House. Now, don't forget, with the House, I didn't campaign for the House, other than if somebody happened to be there. There are just too many people. But where I did campaign, like in Kentucky, where we went with Andy Barr, who was down by 6 points, and he ended up winning veryâagainst McGrath, who was a tough opponent. He ended up winning after I left, and so many other places.

Plus, we had tremendous success with Governors. I mean, you look at Ohio. You look at Florida. You look at Georgia. I mean, Georgia, as you know, President Obama was there; Michelle was there; Oprah was there. And I was there all by myself. And, in all fairness, Mike went also about four times. [*Laughter*] That's true. I had Mike, and they had Oprah. I'll take Mike. [*Laughter*]

Border Security

Q. You used the term "grabbers" earlier, and I just want to be clear that I understand what you're talking about. Are you suggesting that the women who were photographed yesterday at the border with children were grabbing those children, are not their mother?

The President. No, no. But it's a term that's used, because as you know, many peopleâ veryâit's a very violent, horrible thing. But they feel they have an advantage when they're with a young child. And they're called "grabbers." Well, that's a term I've heard, but it'sâthat's what they're called, "grabbers." They grab a child, because when they have a child, they feel a lot safer. And I don't know who was there yesterday. I will say this: When you know there's going to be potential violence, you know there's going to be tear gas or something, you don't take your child and bring them there.

So I can't tell you that, but I can say that all over the border you have a lot of grabbers. You have a lot of people that grab children, and they have no idea who these children are. They're not parents. They have no idea. And frankly, to release the children to these people is a disaster.

And just about that, by the way, the releasingâif you look at President Obama, if you look at other Presidents, they've had the same. You know, these laws have not been changing every 24 hours. In many cases, they should because they're so bad. But these laws have not been changing. They were the same for President Obama. They were the same for President Bush. And it went back quite a ways.

But we're doing a great job. We're very, very tough on the border. And I think that's what people want. I guess you could have open borders. But if you want open borders, and if you want everybody to pour into our country, I would really have a great suggestion for you: Vote Democrat. Because that's what they want; they want open borders.

Mississippi Senatorial Election

Q. And, sir, about Mississippiâabout the Mississippi race, there's a sense here thatâ especially when you talk to Democratsâthat race is a major themeââ

The President. Well, I hope it isn't. Yes.

Q. ââbecause of the comments that Senator Hyde-Smith made. Do you think that that comment about public hanging was appropriate?

The President. First of all, there was an apology made, and I heard that loud and clear.

Second of all, really, it was something that was sad, and it was a little flip. And frankly, I think that Cindy, when I spoke to herâshe called meâshe said, "I said something that I meant exactly very different." And I heard an apology loud and clear.

And I also know Cindy, and I know her very well, and I've gotten to know her over the last period of time as a senator, as a very, very talented United States Senator. And I know where her heart is, and her heart is good. That's not what she was meaning when she said that.

U.S. Attorney General

Q. Mr. President, how is your Attorney General search going?

The President. It's going well. It's going well. In the meantime, we have somebody that's a very good man, Matt Whitaker. But it's going well. We're looking. A lot of people want that job. It's a great job, if you're into the world. We have a lot of law enforcement in here, and I'll tell you, every one of them wants to be the Attorney General of the United States. [Laughter] Every one of them. I can take these guys over here. How about you guys? All right? [Laughter] There's a manâhe'll take it. He'll take it. We have a lot of good people. Sheriff, you'll take it, right? So we have no dearth of talent, I can tell you that.

No, we're looking at some people. And I and a lot of other people, by the way, have tremendous confidence, in the meantime, of Matt Whitaker. He's a tremendous person, and he's a great gentleman. And he's really liked and respected by a lot of people.

Mexico-U.S. Relations/Border Security

Q. Mr. President, are you close to a deal with the incoming Mexican administration to keep asylum seekers on that side of the border?

The President. Well, I don't want to say that. But we are having great talks with them. As I said, Mike and Ivanka and some other people are going down to the Inauguration, and they look forward to it. It's going to be, I hope, a beautiful day. And we're getting along very well with the incomingâwe got along well with the, you know, past administration. We're gettingâwe're doing very well with the incoming administration.

Q. Do you want to have an announcement as soon as heââ

The President. And I like him a lot, I must say. I've spoken to him; I like him. We get along.

I think we have some views that are a little bit different, but maybe they're becoming joined.

But when it comes to the border, it's not a question of incoming or past administrations.

We're closing the border if we have any problem. If people think they're going to rush our border, we just lock up that border so tight, nobody gets through. And behind that, we have ICE, and we have the Border Patrol, and we have the local police, and we have police, and we also have our military. And our military has done an incredible job reinforcing walls, putting up the barbed- wire fencing, which is very, very powerful stuff. Nobody has gone over the barbed-wire fencing.

Border Security/Mexico-U.S. Trade Relations

Q. Mr. President, did Mexico actually agree to keep asylum seekers in Mexico while their cases are being processed? What was the back-and-forth?

The President. Well, no. Very serious talks were had and are currently being had also.

Q. Did they break down at one point?

The President. No. No. No, not at all. No, we're talking very seriously.

Look, it's important to Mexico because we are a tremendous trading partner for Mexico, much more so that way than the other way. I mean, Mexico, frankly, on trade, does much better than we do with them. So when we close the borderâI mean, it's much more painful for Mexico than it is for us by a factor of maybe about 10 or more.

So we're getting along very well with Mexico, and we intend do, and I hope it can continue that way. But we're not letting people into our country that we don't want there. We're not letting people into our country that don't come in legally. They have to come in legally.

And we want people that are going to help us. We have a lot of companies moving into our country. Tremendous car companies and Foxconn and a level like we've never seen before. We need people, but they have to come in based on a merit system, based on a system where they can help us, not where they're going to hurt us.

Q. You also told usââ

Q. On the prison reformâsorry, Jill [Jill Colvin, Associated Press]. Go ahead.

The President. Yes, go ahead.

The President's Cabinet/Administration Personnel Changes

Q. You also told us in Mar-a-Lago that you were planning to interview potential new members of your administration. Which positions did you interview for? And did those happen?

The President. Well, I have certainâI'll tell youâlet me start off by saying I have a fantastic Cabinet. We have incredible people. It's a lot of people. There are a few positions that I'm thinking about. But I could leave it the way it is right now and be very happy, or I could make changes and maybe be even happier with those positions.

But we have a great Cabinet. We have some tremendously talented people, and they're really doing a good job.

Thank you very much, everybody. I appreciate it. Thank you.

NOTE: The President spoke at 6:50 p.m. at Gulfport-Biloxi International Airport. In his remarks, he referred to Gov. Nathan J. Deal and Governor-elect Brian P. Kemp of Georgia; Mayor Juan Manuel GastÃ©lum of Tijuana, Mexico; President Enrique PeÃ±a Nieto and President-elect AndrÃ©s Manuel LÃ³pez Obrador of Mexico; Governor-elect Mike DeWine of Ohio; Governor-elect Ronald D. DeSantis of Florida; former First Lady Michelle Obama; Oprah Winfrey, chairman and chief executive officer, HARPO Entertainment Group; and Assistant to the President Ivanka

M. Trump. The transcript was released by the Office of the Press Secretary on November 27.

Categories: Addresses and Remarks : Criminal justice reform legislation, roundtable discussion in Gulfport, MS; Interviews With the News Media : Exchanges with reporters :: Gulfport, MS.

Locations: Gulfport, MS.

Names: Barr, Garland H. "Andy," IV; Branch, Asya; Bryant, D. Phillip; Bush, George W.; Deal,

J. Nathan; DeSantis, Ronald D.; DeWine, Mike; Fisher, Marshall L.; GastÃ©lum, Juan Manuel;

Graham, Lindsey O.; Grassley, Charles E.; Hall, Pelicia E.; Hyde-Smith, Cindy; Kavanaugh, Brett M.; Kemp, Brian P.; Kushner, Jared C.; Lee, Michael S.; Lindsey, Lindsey O.; LÃ³pez Obrador, AndrÃ©s Manuel; Matis, Ron; McConnell, A. Mitchell; McGrath, Amy; McIlrath, Angel Myers; Obama, Barack; Obama, Michelle; Paul, Randal H.; PeÃ±a Nieto, Enrique; Pence, Michael R.; Rushing, Steve; Trump, Ivanka M.; Whitaker, Matthew G.; Wicker, Roger F.; Winfrey, Oprah*.*

Subjects: Communications : News media :: Presidential interviews; Congress : Bipartisanship; Congress : Senate :: Majority leader; Defense and national security : Border security; Economy, national : Improvement; Elections : 2018 congressional elections; Florida : Governor-elect; Georgia : Governor; Georgia : Governor-elect; Homeland Security, Department of : Customs and Border Protection, U.S.; Homeland Security, Department of : Immigration and Customs Enforcement, U.S.; Immigration and naturalization : Illegal immigration; Immigration and naturalization : Reform; Immigration and naturalization : Refugees; Judiciary : Supreme Court :: Associate Justice; Justice, Department of : Acting Attorney General; Law enforcement and crime

: Criminal justice system, reform efforts; Law enforcement and crime : Sentencing requirements, reform; Mexico : Border with U.S., infrastructure and security; Mexico : President; Mexico : President-elect; Mississippi : Governor; Mississippi : President's visits; Ohio : Governor-elect; White House Office : Assistants to the President :: Assistant to the President; White House Office

: Assistants to the President :: Senior Adviser; White House Office : Vice President.

DCPD Number: DCPD201800809.