*Administration of Donald J. Trump, 2019 *

**Remarks and an Exchange With Reporters Prior to Departure for Aventura, Florida **

*December 7, 2019 *

*The President.* Hello, everybody. That's a very bright sun. It's a beautiful day in Washington.

I will say that we've had tremendous reports coming out on the economy—it's been incredible—and numbers like we haven't seen before. And we have the strongest economy in the world: 266,000 jobs; you can add another 40 [thousand; White House correction.] to that. It's about 300,000 jobs. Very importantly, it's fifty or fifty-five thousand manufacturing jobs. We're the envy of the world. Our economy is the envy of the world, and we're going to keep it that way. So that's very important.

I spoke with the King of Saudi Arabia. They are devastated in Saudi Arabia. We're finding out what took place, whether it's one person or a number of people. And the King will be involved in taking care of families and loved ones. He feels very strongly. He's very, very devastated by what happened and what took place. Likewise, the Crown Prince. They are devastated by what took place in Pensacola. And I think they're going to help out the families very greatly.

But right now they send their condolences. And, as you know, I've sent my condolences. It's a very shocking thing. And we'll find out—we'll get to the bottom of it very quickly. This has been done for many decades. We've been doing this with other countries, foreign countries. I guess we're going to have to look into the whole procedure. We'll start that immediately.

And other than that, anybody have any questions?

Yes.

*Personal Attorney to the President Rudolph W. Giuliani *

*Q. *Did Rudy Giuliani tell you why he was going to Europe? And do you approve?

*The President.* Well, I just know he came back from someplace, and he's going to make a report, I think to the Attorney General and to Congress. He says he has a lot of good information. I have not spoken to him about that information.

But Rudy, as you know, has been one of the great crime fighters of the last 50 years. And he did get back from Europe just recently, and I know—he has not told me what he found, but I think he wants to go before Congress and say—and also to the Attorney General and the Department of Justice. I hear he's found plenty.

Yes.

*Chairman of the State Affairs Commission Kim Jong Un of North Korea/U.S. Diplomatic Efforts *

*Q. *Mr. President, how do you plan on reengaging North Korea in negotiations?

*The President.* Well, we'll see about North Korea. I'd be surprised if North Korea acted hostiley. I have a very good relationship with Kim Jong Un. I think we both want to keep it that way. He knows I have an election coming up. I don't think he wants to interfere with that. But we'll have to see. He's somebody that I've gotten along with very well for 3 years, and he's gotten along with me very well. So we'll see how it goes. But I really don't think he wants to interfere with the election. I think he'd like to see something happen. The relationship is very good, but you know, there is certain hostility, there's no question about it. I don't know that his relationship with South Korea is very good, but we're going to find out.

*Iran's Release of U.S. Citizen Xiyue Wang From Captivity *

*Q. *Mr. President, did the U.S. negotiate at all the other Americans held in Iran in this round of negotiations?

*The President.* Yes, we're very happy to have our hostage back. The whole Princeton University community is very thrilled. And there was a one-on-one hostage swap. And we are very—actually, I think it was a great thing for Iran. I think it was great to show that we can do something. It might have been a precursor as to what can be done.

But we have our hostage back. We've been trying to get him back. He was taken during the Obama administration. We got him back during the Trump administration, so we're very happy about that.

*Impeachment/Transcript of the President's July 25 Telephone Conversation With President Volodymyr Zelenskiy of Ukraine/Department of Justice Investigation of Initial Investigation Into Russia's Interference in the 2016 U.S. Presidential Election *

*Q. *Mr. President, if—[*inaudible*]—in the House tomorrow, will you testify?

*The President.* Say it? What?

*Q. *Will you testify if the Senate——

*The President.* Well, I don't know. I know this: That the impeachment thing is a total hoax. The numbers have totally swung our way. They don't want to see impeachment, especially in the swing States; they've swung our way. I've never seen a swing like this. Because people realize it's a total hoax. We had a perfect conversation. It was only a conversation. Nothing came out of the conversation except a good relationship with Ukraine. And the people see that it's just a continuation of this 3-year witch hunt.

And I'm looking forward to seeing the IG report. I hear they're announcing it on Monday. And I look forward very much to seeing what happens with the Durham report, maybe even more importantly, because it's a horrible thing that took place, and it should never happen to another President. Okay?

*Q.* [*Inaudible*]

*The President. *So I'll be going to Florida right now. We have a very, very big and successful meeting with Republicans, and we're also meeting with Jewish committees—and separately; we're doing two. And I believe you're going to be covering at least one of them. So I'll see you in a little while. Thank you.

NOTE: The President spoke at 2:52 p.m. on the South Lawn at the White House prior to boarding Marine One. In his remarks, he referred to King Salman bin Abd al-Aziz Al Saud and Crown Prince Muhammad bin Salman bin Abd al-Aziz Al Saud of Saudi Arabia; Massoud Soleimani, an Iranian stem cell researcher who was arrested by U.S. authorities in Chicago, IL, in 2018 on charges of U.S. sanctions violations; and U.S. Attorney John H. Durham of the District of Connecticut.

*Categories:* Interviews With the News Media : Exchanges with reporters :: White House*.* *Locations: *Washington, DC.

*Names:* Barr, William P.; Durham, John H.; Giuliana, Rudolph W.; Kim Jong Un; Muhammad bin Abd al-Aziz Al Saud, Crown Prince; Obama, Barack; Salman bin Abd al-Aziz Al Saud, King; Soleimani, Massoud; Wang, Xiyue*.*

*Subjects:* Business and industry : Manufacturing industry :: Improvement; Communications : News media :: Presidential interviews; Congress : House of Representatives :: Impeachment inquiry; Economy, national : Improvement; Elections : 2020 Presidential and congressional elections; Employment and unemployment : Job creation and growth; Florida : Shooting at Pensacola Naval Air Station; Iran : International diplomatic efforts; Iran : U.S. citizen, release from detention; Justice, Department of : Attorney General; Navy, Department of the : Shooting at Naval Air Station Pensacola, FL; North Korea : Chairman, State Affairs Commission; North Korea : International diplomatic efforts; Russia : 2016 U.S. elections, interference; Saudi Arabia : Crown Prince; Saudi Arabia : King; Ukraine : Relations with U.S.

*DCPD Number:* DCPD201900852.