*Administration of Donald J. Trump, 2019 *

**Remarks and an Exchange With Reporters Prior to Departure for Osaka, Japan **

*June 26, 2019 *

*The President. *Okay, thank you very much. I just spoke with Nancy Pelosi, and we had a good conversation having to do with the bill, humanitarian aid at the border for the children, mostly.

And we are moving along very well with a bipartisan bill in the Senate. I spoke with Mitch, spoke to a lot of people. We're doing very well. It's very far along, and I believe the House is going to also be getting together with the Senate. Hopefully, they can get something done. It's humanitarian aid; it's very important.

And I think that a lot of people are starting to realize that I was right when I said we have a crisis at the border. Everyone is saying, now, had a crisis at the border. It wasn't a manufactured crisis, which they were saying. It wasn't manufactured at all. We have a crisis at the border.

We can solve the problem if they would change some of the rules and regulations, change asylum, change so many different things. The loopholes, in particular, could be done very quickly, and you wouldn't have this problem. I've been saying it for a year and a half. I've been saying: "You have to change the loopholes. You have to change asylum." You wouldn't have this problem. They're not working on that, unfortunately, today.

What they're working on is aid; it's humanitarian aid for the children. It seems that the Senate is very close. I think that Nancy wants to get something done. And the Senate and the House will get together. I think they'll be able to do something very good.

I'm heading, as you know—and some of you are coming with me—I'm heading to Japan—Osaka. And we're going to be meeting with a lot of different countries, many of whom have been taking advantage of the United States, but not so much anymore. And soon, not at all, anymore. So we appreciate.

Any questions?

*Former Department of Justice Special Counsel Robert S. Mueller III/Investigation Into Russia's Interference in 2016 Presidential Election *

*Q. *Mr. President, are you concerned in any way about Robert Mueller's testimony next month before Congress?

*The President. *No, look, the Mueller thing never stops. There was no collusion. There was no obstruction. There was no nothing.

How many times do we have to hear it? It never ends. It just keeps going on and on. I've been going through this for 2 years, 2½ years.

And the criminal activity was on the other side with the fake dossier—the phony, fraudulent dossier—and all of the other things they've done—the FISA courts, all of that. With the insurance policy by Strzok and his lover, Page. This is a disgraceful thing.

And now we keep—I heard about it last night, and I just said, "Does it ever end? At what point does it end?" It's a disgrace. No obstruction. No collusion.

Now, the Democrats want a do-over. So they had a do-over in the House. That didn't work. They had a do-over in the Senate. That didn't work. There are no do-overs. We spent a long time working with Mueller. I gave him all the witnesses he wanted. I gave him lawyers. I gave him people. I guess he interviewed 500 people. Two thousand five hundred subpoenas. They had everything they could possibly have. Nobody has ever had more. Nobody has ever been more transparent. And now it continues further?

This is just a hoax. I call it the "witch hunt," but it's really a hoax. It's the greatest hoax ever in the history of our country. And it's the worst political scandal on the other side.

So we'll see. Because a lot of things right now are coming out that are very, very bad, what they did. But this just continues on. Two and a half years, it continues.

Yes.

*Border Security *

*Q. *Does the photo of the drowned immigrants cause you to—does that photo of the drowned immigrants cause you——

*The President. *I cannot—you've got to talk——

*Q. *Does the photo of the drowned immigrants cause you to rethink any of your policies?

*The President. *Yes. Well, that's like I've been saying. If they fixed the laws, you wouldn't have that. People are coming up; they're running through the Rio Grande. It's a rough—it can be a very rough river of sorts. I mean, there are times when going across the Rio Grande is very, very dangerous, depending on the time of year and the conditions and the rapidity of the water. And we know that.

And we have many, many guards there, but people go through the guards. If we had the right laws that the Democrats are not letting us have, those people, they wouldn't be coming up. They wouldn't be trying.

We're building the wall. It's under construction. It's—a lot of it is under construction. We'll have over 400 miles next year, by the end of the year.

But it's very important. They can change it very easily so people don't come up. And people won't get killed. Women are being raped on the journey up. You have these caravans. Women are being raped. And one of the terrible things: Children are actually being brought into slavedom. If you look at what's happening, the cartels and the coyotes, they're getting rich because the Democrats refuse to change the loopholes. They refuse to change the asylum. In 1 hour, we could have it done.

They want to have open borders, and open borders mean crime. And open borders mean people drowning in the rivers. And it's a very dangerous thing.

*Death of Migrants at Mexico-U.S. Border/Border Security/Asylum Policy *

*Q. *Mr. President, how do you feel about the picture of the father and the daughter dead?

*The President. *I hate it.

*Q. *What did you feel when you saw it?

*The President. *And I know it could stop immediately if the Democrats change the law. They have to change the laws. And then, that father, who probably was this wonderful guy, with his daughter, things like that wouldn't happen.

*Death of Migrants at Mexico-U.S. Border *

*Q. *But they wanted to apply for asylum. *The President. *Because that journey across that river—that journey across that river is a very dangerous journey. That's a very, very dangerous journey. And we don't think. And by the way, just so you understand, many other things happen. Look, you've seen it: Women being raped.

*Q. *They say our policies are doing it.

*The President. *Women being raped in numbers that nobody believes, in the caravans coming up.

Now, I want to thank Mexico. They put 6,000 people at the border.

*Death of Migrants at Mexico-U.S. Border/Asylum Policy *

*Q. *Is your asylum policy responsible for what happened?

*The President. *The asylum policy of the Democrats is responsible——

*Q. *No, yours is. They tried to apply. They weren't allowed to apply.

*Q.* It's your policy.

*The President. *——because they will not—they will not change the asylum policy. But, now, for the first time, they're starting to talk about it.

*Investigation Into Russia's Interference in 2016 Presidential Election *

*Q. *Mr. President, will you try to block Robert Mueller from testifying?

*The President. *I don't know anything about it. I just heard. And my only response to Mueller is: Does it ever stop? After all of these years and times and people, does it ever stop? And the Democrats use it to try and divert from what they have. Because what they've done—if you look and you see; and it's just my opinion—tremendous criminal activity on their side. And they know it. And this is a diversion. But I ask you this: Does it ever stop?

Okay.

*President Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin of Russia *

*Q. *Mr. President, will you press President Vladimir Putin on not interfering in the 2020 election?

*The President. *I'll have a very good conversation with him. What I say to him is none of your business.

Go ahead.

*China-U.S. Trade *

*Q. *Are you confident that you will reach a trade deal with China?

*The President. *There's a possibility. I'm meeting with Russia. I'm meeting with China. I'm meeting with many countries. We're meeting with many countries.

*Q.* [*Inaudible*]

*The President.* We have many things—we've been ripped off by everybody over the years. They're not ripping us off anymore. A big difference right now.

We're meeting with China. Just so you know, China has been paying us billions and billions of dollars. Until I got here, they never paid this country 10 cents.

*Q. *But what about——* **The President*. So we'll see what happens with China, with Russia, with Japan—with many countries.

*Iran *

*Q. *Mr. President, is the ball now in Iran's court?

*The President. *Say it?

*Q. *Is the ball now in Iran's court as far as, perhaps, a meeting?

*The President. *The ball is in no court. You know what? Iran can do whatever they want. It's just fine. I have plenty of time. But they have a country that's in economic distress. It's an economic disaster right now. They could solve it quickly, or they could solve it in 10 years from now. Whatever they want is fine with me. Whatever they want.

*Iran *

*Q.* What's the endgame?

*The President.* I have all the time in the world. I'm sitting here—I have all the time in the world. In the meantime, they have very strong sanctions. They have to live with those sanctions. But Iran should do the right thing for their people.

The problem is, I don't believe their leader—I'm not sure that their leaders care for their people. If they do, they'll make a deal. If they don't, they're just thinking about themselves. And they're selfish, and they're stupid if that's what they're doing.

*Q.* [*Inaudible*]—the Mueller report, sir?

*North Korea *

*Q. *Will you be meeting with Kim Jong Un?

*The President. *I'll meeting with a lot of other people, not by him. But I may be speaking to him in a different form.

I'll be going, as you know, to South Korea after we're finished with the G–20. And we'll be there for about a day. We have a lot of meetings planned with a lot of different countries.

We are a country that's respected again. Not like the old days. We're respected again. These countries respect us. They didn't respect us 3, 4, 5 years ago. They respect us again.

Thank you very much.

NOTE: The President spoke at 1:30 p.m. on the South Lawn at the White House prior to boarding Marine One. In his remarks, he referred to Speaker of the House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi; Senate Majority Leader A. Mitchell McConnell; former Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) agent Peter P. Strzok II, in his former capacity as lead investigator of former Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton's use of a private e-mail server and the investigation into Russia's interference in the 2016 Presidential election; and Lisa Page, former legal counsel to former FBI Deputy Director Andrew G. McCabe; and Óscar Alberto Martínez Ramírez and his daughter Angie Valeria, migrants from El Salvador who drowned in the Rio Grande River near the border crossing between Matamoros, Mexico, and Brownsville, TX, on June 23. A reporter referred to Chairman of the State Affairs Commission Kim Jong Un of North Korea.

*Categories:* Interviews With the News Media : Exchanges with reporters :: White House*.*

*Locations: *Washington, DC.* **Names:* Kim Jong Un; Martínez Ramírez, Óscar Alberto; Martínez, Angie Valeria; McConnell, A. Mitchell; Mueller, Robert S., III; Page, Lisa; Pelosi, Nancy; Putin, Vladimir Vladimirovich; Strzok, Peter P., II*.*

*Subjects:* China : Trade with U.S.; Commerce, international : Free and fair trade; Commerce, international : Group of Twenty (G–20) nations; Communications : News media :: Presidential interviews; Congress : Bipartisanship; Congress : House of Representatives :: Speaker; Congress : Senate :: Majority leader; Defense and national security : Border security; Drug abuse and trafficking : Foreign narcotics traffickers; Immigration and naturalization : Illegal immigration; Immigration and naturalization : Reform; Immigration and naturalization : Refugees; Immigration and naturalization : Unaccompanied alien children at Mexico-U.S. border, response to influx; Iran : International diplomatic efforts; Law enforcement and crime : Trafficking in persons, efforts to combat; Mexico : Border with U.S., infrastructure and security; North Korea : Chairman, State Affairs Commission; Russia : 2016 U.S. elections, interference; Russia : President.

*DCPD Number:* DCPD201900425.