Administration of Donald J. Trump, 2025
October 29, 2025
The President. Hello, everybody.
Q. Hi, Mr. President.
The President. We had a great trip to Japan, and it was really wonderful. Malaysia, fantastic.
Hundreds of billions of dollars are coming into our country, primarily because of the election result. But the real reason is tariffs. The tariffs are coming in.
And as you know, last night I was with a lot of the greatest leaders in Japan, their biggest business people, and Mr. Toyoda was there from Toyota, and he's agreed to invest $10 billion in building auto plants. They're going to build numerous auto plants throughout the United States with American workers, as you know. And it's a tremendous—it will be one of the biggest investments ever in the auto business. This isn't just AI. This is in the auto business.
So—and that was because of tariffs. This way, he—it's the old story. If you build in the United States, you don't have any tariffs. So everyone is coming in.
We're up to close to $20 trillion of investment. And yesterday, as you saw, we picked up about $518 billion. These are big numbers. These are numbers that no country has ever seen before. And we're now going, as you know, to South Korea, and then I'm meeting tomorrow with President Xi.
China-U.S. Trade/Fentanyl
Q. Mr. President, sir, on the Xi meeting, are you expected or do you anticipate being willing to lower the fentanyl-related tariffs?
The President. Yes, I expect to be lowering that because I believe that they're going to help us with the fentanyl situation. They're going to be doing what they can do.
Critical Minerals Supply Chain/Fentanyl/U.S. Airstrikes on Suspected Drug-Trafficking Vessels in the Caribbean Sea and Eastern Pacific
Q. And on the rare earth—[inaudible]—sir, do you need to see more than just a one-year delay? Is that sufficient to make other concessions?
The President. I don't know. We haven't talked about the timing yet, but we're going to work out something. We're doing very well with rare earth, as you know. And we're, I think, going to make a big step with fentanyl.
The thing with fentanyl—the border is now so tight, it's much tougher for them. We've been doing very well with that. The—I call it the drug by sea. You know, the boats, we took out four of them over the last 2 days, and they're really stopping. They're not coming anymore. They're coming by land, but—and to a lesser extent. If necessary, we're going to—well, it will be necessary, probably, but we'll be hitting them at land.
But the boats are very few and far between. We took in tremendous amounts of death. I call them the boats of death. Tremendous amounts of death coming into our country. And each—just it's estimated—I don't know if this is exactly right, but it's pretty close—25,000 people die from each boat that we take out if it had gotten back, if it had gotten to our country. It kills 25,000
people, not even talking about the destruction it does to families in terms of people that are—become addicted, and all of the problems caused by two families.
So—and over the last 2 days, I guess, we took out four. But there are very few of them.
There are very few of them now. That's down—I hear that's down about 80 percent by water, of the drugs by water. Down—as you know, about 80-percent down. And I would imagine it's going to be pretty close to 100 percent. Nobody wants to do it. And we'll be, and we already are—we're stopping them on land also.
Q. Sir, what is China doing——
The President. We're actually making our country safe. Think of it. I'm just saying as I speak to you, very simply, we're making our country safe. It's a beautiful thing.
China-U.S. Trade/Border Security/U.S. Drug Interdiction Efforts/Immigration Enforcement Actions/Law Enforcement Efforts in Memphis, Tennessee
Q. Sir, what is China doing to justify removing fentanyl tariffs?
The President. Well, I think they're going to do things that—you know, they have an industry that has to do with drugs. The fentanyl has other reasons for being, and we have to get rid of it. We have to stop it. And now we're stopping it at the border to a very much larger extent than ever before. Under Biden, you had open borders. This stuff was flowing in. I think they killed 300,000 people last year—fentanyl, drugs coming through the southern border. And now nobody gets through the southern border.
We just had another report of a zero. Zero people came. We are very tough on the border.
And we're allowing people into our country, but they're coming in legally, through the legal process.
And I want to commend, I have to tell you, our Border agents, our Border Patrol agents.
They're—they've been amazing. And ICE. These people do such a great job—what they're doing. Memphis is making tremendous progress—as you know, is extremely dangerous. And already, it's down to less than 50 percent. A lot of criminals—career criminals, people that came in illegally—have been brought back to their countries and never to come back again. We tell them, "If you come back again, it's going to be brutal."
China/Fentanyl Supply Chain
Q. Sorry, just to clarify: So China is going to be working with U.S. law enforcement on fentanyl? Or how is that going to work?
The President. China is going to be working with me.
Q. Okay.
The President. Okay? They're going to be working with me, and we're going to do something, I believe. I mean, look, we have to have the meeting. I'm meeting tomorrow. That's a big meeting. And fentanyl will be one of the things that we're discussing, importantly. We'll be discussing the farmers. We'll be discussing a lot of things. But fentanyl will be one of the things we're discussing.
Use of Military Personnel in U.S. Cities/Public Safety in the District of Columbia
Q. Sir, what did you mean last night when you said you were prepared to send more than the National Guard into American cities?
The President. Sure, I would.
Q. What does that mean?
The President. I would do that if it was necessary, you know? If it was necessary, I'd do that. But it hasn't been necessary. We're doing a great job without that. But yes, if it was necessary. As you know, I'm allowed to do that.
Q. Do you mean other branches of the military you would send in? Or——
The President. Who do you—who are you with?
Q. The New York Times.
The President. Wow, that's very good. Very good. Well, if you write it correctly, I'll give you the answer. But you know, if I want to enact a certain act. I'm allowed to do it. Routinely and other—about 50 percent of Presidents have used that, as you know, and I'd be allowed to do whatever I want. But we haven't chosen to do that because we're very well—we're doing very well without it.
But I'd be allowed to do that. You understand that. And the courts wouldn't get involved.
Nobody would get involved. And I could send the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines. I can save—send anybody I wanted, but I haven't done that because we're doing so well without it.
Washington, DC, continues to be amazing, safe, and it's really great. As I said, Memphis, where we are now, is doing really well. It's down, I think, almost 70—60, 70 percent. And within 2, 3 weeks, it will be down to almost no crime.
Now, we're taking a lot of bad people out. We're incarcerating some very bad people, some gangs. They have a lot of bad gangs there, and we're taking care of it. And we're doing things that, frankly, law—local law enforcement is going to have a hard time doing.
But we were all set to go last Saturday into San Francisco. We looked forward to that. We would—we would have solved that problem in less than a month. But at the behest of a couple of really great people—very successful, great civic-minded people—they said, "We'd love to try doing it ourselves." And that's okay. And we worked with the mayor, and we're working with those people, but we didn't surge the city.
And I said, "If we surge, it's going to go a lot quicker, and it's much more effective." But I want to give them a chance to do it themselves if they can. If they can't do it themselves, we'll solve San Francisco in 3 weeks.
Mexico-U.S. Trade/Tariffs/Automobile Industry/Artificial Intelligence
Q. Mr. President, on the southern border, Claudia—President Sheinbaum of Mexico said that the tariff truce with the U.S. has been extended for talks. How long are you willing to wait for that to play out? What's the extension?
The President. Well, I like the extension with Mexico, because, you know, we're doing very well with that extension. We get a lot of tariffs. They're paying a lot of money. As you know, a lot of car companies are moving from Mexico back into the United States. They took our car companies a long time ago, 30 years ago and more. We lost about 57 percent of our automobile manufacturing over the decades, and it's all coming back because of tariffs. It's all coming back.
And the tariffs are really national security as much as anything else. It's national security in many ways, but one of the ways that it's national security is, we're building up great wealth because of tariffs in that you need wealth to be secure. But it's, in a more traditional sense, also national security. Very important.
But we're bringing back our auto plants that deserted us 20 and 30 years ago. They're all coming back. Last night I met with Mr. Toyoda, and we had an amazing meeting. I said, "What's
your name?" "Toyoda." And I said, "You're rich." And he's going to invest, think of this, $10 billion in the United States to build manufacturing plants. They'll build their cars with American workers, largely. I mean, they have the right to send some experts, but they're going to be building cars in the United States. So we're getting all of our manufacturing back in the car business.
In AI, we're leading China. We're leading the world in AI. We're getting them rapid approvals on energy, on the—I've allowed them to produce their own energy for each plant so that rather than relying on an old and somewhat weak grid—the electric grid—they build their own energy. And then if they have excess energy, they sell it back into the grid. So it's great. It's really worked out well. It's allowing them to build rapidly, and they are building all over the United States.
Israel/Gaza Conflict
Q. Sir, could we get your reaction to Israel striking in Gaza again?
The President. Well, as I understand it, they took out a Israeli soldier. It was just—I just heard about it a little while ago. They took out and killed an Israeli soldier, so the Israelis hit back, and they should hit back. When that happens, they should hit back.
Q. Does that worry you about the cease-fire? Does that jeopardize the cease-fire in any way?
U.S. Cease-Fire Agreement Between Hamas and Israel
The President. No. No. Nothing is going to jeopardize. That's—you have to understand.
Hamas is a very small part of peace in the Middle East. And they have to behave. They're on the rough side, but they said they would be good. And if they're good, they're going to be happy. And if they're not good, they're going to be terminated. Their lives will be terminated. And they understand that. And we have many countries that are willing to do that.
You know, we have many countries—even Japan today said we'd love to be involved in the Middle East, and we can help you by sending anybody, by sending people, including experts. But we have many countries that would do that, not just Israel.
No, that's a very strong piece. Hamas is a small thing, but they kill people. They grew up killing people, and I guess they don't stop. But the—nobody knows what happened to the Israeli soldier, but they say it was sniper fire, and they—it was retribution for that, and I think they have a right to do that.
Hamas
Q. Is it possible that there are fringe elements within Hamas that are trying to undermine
this?
The President. I think there are, because we actually met with people that were leading it,
and they really want to see—they really, in my opinion, based on the experts that dealt with them, I think they're unhappy when they see some people being killed.
Q. Will Hamas——
The President. It's not like it was, by the way, but some people being killed, we don't want
that.
U.S. Cease-Fire Agreement Between Hamas and Israel
Q. Will Hamas decommission its weapons? That's a key part of the next step.
The President. Yes. We're looking at that right now. That's starting, because we're getting into phase two, and that's starting.
But you have to understand: Hamas is a very small part of the overall Middle East peace. We have peace in the Middle East. If we have to, we'll take out Hamas very easily, and that will be the end of Hamas. We would rather not. We made a deal with them where they were going to behave, and they have to behave. If they don't behave, they get taken out.
And it could be from numerous countries. It could be from Israel, but it could also be from other countries. Numerous countries have already called me that are parties to the deal and said, "We'd love to do it if you'd want us to do it." And these are powerful countries. These are not countries to be toyed with.
North Korea Missile Testing/State Affairs Commission President Kim Jong Un of North Korea
Q. Sir, what's your reaction to North Korea test-launching a missile this morning?
The President. What did you say?
Q. North Korea test launched missiles this morning. What's your reaction to that?
The President. I don't understand.
Q. The missiles—the North Korean missiles.
The President. Oh, I don't know. They've been launching—he's been launching missiles for decades, right? Just another missile was launched. I always had a very good relationship with him.
So, you know, at some point I'll be meeting—the schedule is very tight, as you know. But at some point, I look forward to meeting him again. But we had a very good relationship. I mean, more than a relationship—we had a really good understanding of each other. We met, we spoke to each other numerous times, and we had a good relationship. At some point, we'll be involved with North Korea.
China-U.S. Trade/Taiwan/Tariffs
Q. Does that mean there's no meeting with Kim Jong Un this trip?
The President. I don't know. People were trying—I think they'd like to and I'd like to, but I also want to focus on China. I mean, our focus is now on tomorrow with China, and I want to make that the focus. But we'll come back, and we'll at some point in the not-too-distant future meet with North Korea.
Q. How much do you expect Xi to try to push you on Taiwan?
The President. I don't know that we'll even speak about Taiwan. I'm not sure. I mean, he may want to ask about it.
Q. Are you anticipating——
The President. There's not that much to ask about it. You know, Taiwan is Taiwan. But the beautiful part about Taiwan, frankly—and they understand it—is we're bringing a lot of those chipmakers into the United States. If you look at the number-one chipmaker in the world, they're building a massive factory in Arizona, the biggest in the world, actually, by making chips. If you look at Nvidia, Nvidia is doing unbelievable.
We're bringing a lot of the Taiwan business back to the United States. I think by—within two years, I think we'll have 40 to 50 percent of the chip market. But that's happening. And, I
don't know, it's happening because of the tariffs. It's also happening because of the fact they probably—maybe they're a little bit concerned about things. Who knows?
But they are—they are, you know, tremendous—I don't know if you're reporting it, but massive numbers of—and percentages of the chip business is coming back right now as we speak. They're building plants in Arizona, Texas, and other places.
Semiconductor Manufacturing/China-U.S. Trade
Q. On chips, sir, have you agreed or will you agree with Xi, potentially, to allow the license of more exports of Nvidia Blackwells or downgraded chips?
The President. So we'll be speaking about Blackwell. We'll be speaking about—Blackwell is the super-duper chip. Blackwell is amazing; Nvidia makes it. Jensen is an amazing, brilliant man, and it's probably 10 years ahead of any other chip. And unlike a lot of other businesses, you just can't catch it. You know, it's—mostly, you can copy, and you can do things. You really can't—you know, in the chip business, for whatever reason, that doesn't work that way.
But Blackwell just came out. Jensen presented me with the first Blackwell chip 3 days ago in the Oval Office. And it's an amazing thing that they've done. But we're—you know, that's our country. We're about 10 years ahead of anybody else in chips, in the highly sophisticated chips. I think we may be talking about that with President Xi.
China/Semiconductors/Lapse in Federal Government Appropriations
Q. China has actually discouraged sale—purchase of those chips. Is that something that's on the table?
The President. Well, China actually terminated the relationship with the Nvidia, yes. That was a big thing. But in the meantime, Nvidia hit a brandnew high, as did—you know, the stock market yesterday hit the highest ever that it ever was. So we're doing—all of the markets. I mean, every one of our markets, they—we're doing great. The country is doing great.
We have the shutdown caused by the Democrats. And at some point, they'll get—they'll come back. I think they—I think they're getting just killed right now. But all they have to do is say, "Let's get back to business," and we're back. There's nothing to sign. There's nothing to negotiate.
Hurricane Melissa/Jamaica
Q. Sir, Hurricane Melissa—have you been following that? The Jamaican government——
The President. Well, I have, because I've never seen numbers like that. I saw, a little while ago, 195 mile-an-hour wind. I've never seen that before. I've never seen—I guess it can get that high, but I've never seen it. And it's literally just, you know, knocking down everything in front of it. It's a stage 5, I guess. And you don't see stage 5—you don't see fives very often. You see fours and threes. But this is a 5 early on, meaning it gets worse. So it's done a tremendous job—you mean on Jamaica.
Q. Is the United States going to aid Jamaica——
The President. Well, we have to. On a humanitarian basis, we have to. So we're watching it closely, and we're prepared to move. But you know, it's doing tremendous damages. As we speak, it's right there right now.
Artificial Intelligence/Electric Capacity
Q. [Inaudible]—some experts warn about an AI problem. Are you concerned?
The President. What's the AI problem?
Q. That's what some experts say that some investments are—some investors are overreacting.
The President. Everybody wants AI because it's the new internet. It's the new everything. It's one of the biggest things anyone's ever seen. So everyone wants it, yes. I mean, the only problem is if you don't get it. In order to get it, you have to be able to produce tremendous amounts of electricity, and we're allowing them to produce and make their own electricity. This way, they don't have to rely on government.
And by the way, they're making electric plants that are so sophisticated and so incredible, so much beyond, that companies that make and service electricity—you know, the Con Edison, all the different companies that do that and do it well—but they've never seen anything like what's happening. It's almost a revolution in the making of electricity and the level of sophistication.
The President's Accomplishments
Q. Sir, Speaker Johnson says that he told you that there's no time to amend the Constitution to allow you to serve a third term. Is that an accurate representation of the conversation?
The President. I don't know. I don't want to even talk about that, because, you know, the sad thing is—I have my highest numbers that I've ever had, as I should. I ended eight wars, and we have the greatest economy in history. And by the way, energy prices are way down. Everything is way down. Beef is a little bit high. We're going to get beef down too. But prices are down, and the economy is up. The only thing that's not down is the stock prices. And 401(k)s are through the roof. Everyone's 401(k) is hitting records.
So we have the greatest economy we've ever had. I have my highest poll numbers that I've ever had. And you know, based on what I read, I guess I'm not allowed to run. So we'll see what happens.
The President's Political Success
Q. Johnson says you're "trolling" when you talk about a third term. Are you trolling or are you serious?
The President. I don't think he said that. I don't think he'd use that term. But it's a very interesting thing. I have the best numbers for any President in many years, any President. And I would say that if you read it, it's pretty clear I'm not allowed to run. It's too bad. I mean, it's too bad. But we have a lot of great people.
Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program Benefits/Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act
Q. Sir, food stamps will stop being sent out on Saturday. The Department of Agriculture says they cannot tap into contingency funding to fund that. Is your administration——
The President. On what?
Q. Food stamps. SNAP benefits. Is your administration looking at——
The President. Well, we're going to get it done. The Democrats have caused the problem on food stamps, because all they have to do is sign. And you know, if they sign, I'll meet with them. They're all saying—well, they actually said Trump is doing an amazing job in this trip. This trip, we're bringing back trillions of dollars. So it's hard. But they do want to meet with me when I get back. But I say get the economy open, and we'll meet. I'll meet, and we'll solve any difficulties.
We have to fix health care, because Obamacare is a disaster. I mean, when you see the increases in Obamacare, it never worked, it never will work, and we can do something with the Democrats much better than Obamacare. Less money and better health care.
And that's something, I think, that could come out of this with the Democrats. You work with the Democrats, because right now, the insurance companies are making too much money, and—they're making a fortune. And the health care, Obamacare is poor, and the premiums are ridiculous. Now, it's going up a lot. I don't want to say the number; the number is very substantial. But when you hear the number—and it's Obamacare. It never worked. It never will work. It will never be good.
And I think it's a great time for the Republicans and Democrats to get together and make something that will work and let the insurance companies make money—they're entitled to that—but not the kind of money that they're making.
Health Insurance Reforms/President Xi Jinping of China
Q. Would you bring Democrats in to have that discussion now?
The President. Yes, I would do that. Sure.
Q. Now? Now, sir?
The President. Well, I'd say open up the Government, and we'll work it out. I think we—I think a lot of good things can happen from it.
Well, listen, thank you very much. We have 2 big days. This is a big day, and we're going to be speaking at APEC. And a lot of countries are there. They're all investing in the U.S. We're the hottest we've ever been. We're the hottest country in the world, and they're all investing. So I'll be doing that.
And then, tomorrow morning is the one that most people find the most interesting. And I think we're going to have a great meeting with President Xi of China, and a lot of problems are going to be solved. Okay?
Q. You're optimistic—you're optimistic about that?
The President. Yes, I'm being optimistic. I am. And I know a little bit about what's going on because, you know, we have been talking to them. We're not just walking into a meeting cold.
But the relationship with China is very good. So I think we're going to have a very good outcome for our country and for the world, actually. I think it's important for the world.
Q. How was your meeting with the Prime Minister?
The President. And we're going very well with rare earth. You know, we've been—we're involved with rare earth all over the place now, and it's—some amazing things are happening.
Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi of Japan
Q. How was your day with the Japanese Prime Minister?
The President. I think she's fantastic. I think she's a wonderful woman. She's very sharp, very smart, very energetic. And you see it. I mean, you know, the pictures don't lie. They really don't. The pictures are amazing. I saw some of the pictures this morning, and they're amazing.
But I think she's a terrific woman. First woman ever to be Prime Minister of Japan, and she'll go down as one of the really great ones.
You know, I had a fantastic relationship with Shinzo Abe, the Prime Minister who was assassinated, horribly assassinated. He was a great man. And he was my best relationship. And she comes from that exact camp. He would have supported her had he been around.
Former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe of Japan
Q. Were you touched by the putter and the golf bag you received?
The President. That was very beautiful. I played golf with him, and they gave me the putter that he played with, and he putted very well that day. I remember. [Laughter]
Thank you very much, everybody. Thank you.
Q. Thank you, Mr. President. Thank you.
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt. Thanks, guys.
Q. Thank you, Karoline.
NOTE: The President spoke at 10:38 a.m. in the press cabin. In his remarks, he referred to Akio Toyoda, chairman of the board of directors, Toyota Motor Corp.; Mayor Daniel Lurie of San Francisco, CA; Master Sgt. Yona Efraim Feldbaum, who was killed by sniper fire in an attack against Israeli troops stationed in the Rafah area of the southern Gaza Strip on October 28; and Jensen Huang, founder, president, and chief executive officer, NVIDIA Corp. The transcript was released by the Office of Communications on November 3.
Categories: Interviews With the News Media : Exchanges with reporters, Air Force One. Locations: Air Force One.
Names: Biden, Joseph R., Jr.; Feldbaum, Yona Efraim; Huang, Jensen; Kim Jong Un; Leavitt, Karoline; Lurie, Daniel; Takaichi, Sanae; Toyoda, Akio; Xi Jinping.
Subjects: Artificial intelligence and other emerging technologies; Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC); Automobile industry, strengthening efforts; Border security; California, crime in San Francisco; China, President; China, synthetic opioid supply chain; Critical minerals, supply chain improvements; District of Columbia, law enforcement improvement efforts; Economic improvement; Electricity capacity, expansion efforts; Federal Government appropriations, lapse; Gaza, conflict with Israel; Golf; Hamas political-paramilitary organization; Health insurance exchanges; Illegal drugs, interdiction efforts; Illegal immigration; Israel, military operations in Gaza; Jamaica, Hurricane Melissa, damage and recovery efforts; Japan, Prime Minister; Manufacturing industry, domestic investment; Mexico, trade with U.S.; Middle East, regional integration and security; National Guard; Natural disasters, Hurricane Melissa; News media, Presidential interviews; North Korea, ballistic missile testing and development; North Korea, President of the State Affairs Commission; Nutrition assistance programs; Opioid epidemic, efforts to combat; Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act; Semiconductor manufacturing; Suspected drug-trafficking vessels, U.S. airstrikes in Caribbean Sea and Eastern Pacific; Taiwan, political status with respect to China; Tariffs; U.S. Border Patrol; U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement; White House Press Secretary.
DCPD Number: DCPD202501069.