Well, thank you very much. It's an honor to have a friend of mine because we went through this together and got along very well for my entire period of time. So, I knew him as a very young man. Now he's just a young man and he's done a fantastic job. Mr. President, it's an honor to have you. Thank you. Things are going incredibly for your country and we appreciate working with you because you want to stop crime and so do we and it's very, very effective. And I want to just say hello to the people of El Salvador and say they have one hell of a president. Okay? And I mean that and I know him well. I know him as a very young man, Marco, even younger than you. You know, he started pretty young. He'll always be young at heart. But I want to thank you for the great job you're doing. I appreciate it.
Well, it's an honor to be here in the Oval Office with the president and leader of the free world. We're very happy and we're very eager to help. We know that you have a crime problem, a terrorism problem that you need help with. And we're a small country, but if we can help, we will do it. And we actually turned the murder capital of the world, that was the journalist's label, murder capital of the world, into the safest country in the Western Hemisphere. And you know, sometimes they say that we imprisoned thousands, I like to say that we actually liberated millions. So, you know, that's very good.
Who gave him that line? Do you think I can use that? Yes. And in fact, Mr. President, you have 350 million people to liberate. But to liberate 350 million people, you have to imprison some. You know, that's the way it works, right? You cannot just free the criminals and think crime is going to go down magically. You have to imprison them so you can liberate 350 million Americans that are asking for the end of crime and the end of terrorism. I mean, it can be done. I mean, you're doing it already. And I'm sure that people have seen the change in the streets, a long way to go because you're just initiating your second term. It's clear that with the numbers at the border, we need the help. Even in Democrat-run cities they get help from the world. So I'm really happy to be here, honored and eager to help.
Well, we had a terrible thing happen. We had an administration that allowed people to come in freely into our country from not only South America but from all over the world. Many from the Congo in Africa, Asia, all over the world, Europe, rough parts of Europe. And they came from prisons and they came from mental institutions and they came from gangs and the gangs of Venezuela and other places. And hundreds of thousands and even millions of them came. 21 million people altogether, but many of the people that came, just a tremendous percentage of them were criminals, in some cases violent criminals. We had 11,088 known murderers. Half of them murdered more than one person. This was allowed by a man who what he did to our country is just unbelievable. So, we're straightening it out. We're getting them out. But what they did and what that party did to our country, open borders, anybody could come in. As soon as I heard that, I said, 'Every prison is going to be emptied out into our country.' That's what happened. And we're straightening it out. And we just had numbers. We had the highest recruiting numbers in the history of our country going into police departments. And a year ago, we had the lowest numbers. You couldn't hire. Biggest change. Nobody's ever seen the lowest. The military now, Marines, the Army, Air Force, Coast Guard, every slot is, I mean, we have the best numbers we've ever had. We call it recruitment numbers, and we've never had anything like it. We had records on every single level. But very important, the policemen. The policemen are joining forces now that we really were having a hard time with policemen because we weren't protecting our police and we cherish our police. They're great and the firemen and everybody else but we have the highest numbers that we've ever had, the most enthusiasm, great enthusiasm. And on trade and other things we're doing great. We're taking in billions and billions of dollars. We made two weeks ago, I gave him a little bit of a pause because you know you have to show a little flexibility. But we go back to what we have to do. The markets have been very strong once they got used to it. But we were losing $2 billion a day. There's no company big like this. But this is the biggest deal ever made. Now we're making $3 billion a day. We're a great country, but we had stupid people running this country. And I can say it. But what they've done to us at the border should never and can never be forgotten. It's a sin what they did and you are helping us out and we appreciate it. Thanks.
Actually what you're doing with the border is remarkable. It has dropped what, 95%? It's incredible.
Okay. As of this morning 99.1% to be exact.
Why are those numbers not in the media?
Well, they get up at the fake news, you know, like CNN. CNN over here doesn't want to put them out because they don't like putting out good numbers. They only like putting out because I think they hate our country, actually. But it's a shame. You're right. Isn't that a great question? Why don't they put out numbers? Yeah. 99%. I mean, it's crazy, right? We're doing crazy.
Christie, could you maybe say a couple of words about the border? How we're doing?
You know, it's just been absolutely phenomenal what a great leader can do. Clear direction. Our laws matter. We should only have people in our country that love us. And the Border Patrol and our ICE officers and law enforcement officers have done fantastic work. So, we're proud of them. Now, we just need to get the criminals and murderers and rapists and dangerous gang members and terrorist organizations out of our country. So, Mr. President, we thank you very much for your partnership. It has been wonderful for us to be able to have somewhere to send the worst of the worst and someone to partner with. And we'd like to continue that partnership because it's been a powerful message of consequences. Mr. President, you wanted people to know that there was consequences if you break our laws and harm our people and endanger families. And this is a clear consequence for the worst of the worst that we have somewhere to put them. Thank you very much.
Yeah, we even had this gang member from Venezuela, one of the ones you sent and we interviewed him just to get some information, etc. from them. And he said, 'Oh, you know, I got arrested six times, but they released me there six times, so you should be released again.' And then he said, 'Well, what was the last thing you do?' And he said, 'Well, I shot a cop in the leg, but I didn't kill him. I just shot him in the leg.' And we're like, 'This guy was arrested six times here in the United States. Six times. He was released six times and in the LA, no, he was released five times and the last time he was sent to El Salvador.' Right, so he's not getting released but the last time he shot a cop actually and he shot him in the leg. So, these are, you know...
Yeah, I mean, yeah, there's something broken. The liberal establishment, but they're not running things anymore in this country. And we're run by, and I don't say conservative, I don't say anything. We're run by people with great common sense. Yeah. Common sense. Because it's all common sense. It's not liberal conservative. It's common sense. And like, do you allow men to play in women's sports? Do you allow men to box your women and box because I know you have a lot of boxers. That's violence. That's abusive.
But we have people that fight to the death because they think men should be able to play in women's sports. And some of those sports it wouldn't matter much, but it still matters. But some of them are very dangerous for women. Some years ago, as we said a decade ago or so, women rights movements were pressuring so that we enacted specific laws to avoid men abusing women. And I think those laws were breaking because there were a lot of men abusing women. But now some of the same people are trying to backtrack on that and actually trying to make new laws allowing men to abuse women in sports. So actually that doesn't make sense. It doesn't make sense.
It's crazy. You know, they have weightlifting records, right? Yeah. A woman gets up, lifts weight. She's incredible. A guy gets up and beats her by 100 pounds. What are you going to do? A record that hadn't been broken in 18 years. You know, they put on an ounce and an ounce, quarter of an ounce, eighth of an ounce for 18 years. Now they have a guy come up. The whole thing is crazy. But they continue to fight. And I don't like talking about it because I want to save it for just before the next election. I said to my people, don't even talk about it because they'll change. And well, but I watched this morning there was a congressman fighting to the death for men to play against women in sports. And you say to yourself, why? What are they doing, right? What are they doing? But your country is not too big in that.
No, of course not. We're big in protecting women.
You're good. That's right. It's a very important form of protection, too. And as you can see, most of my cabinet are women. So, that's impressive. Yeah. Yeah. That's why you... And they're not DEI hires or anything. It's great at what they do. But that's right. This is very impressive. This is a first. We've had women, but we've never had three of them right here. That's four and three. Look at who we have.
You guys feel a little bit mistreated?
That's good. I like it. We've been advanced. I've been very advanced in that regard, too. We have Pam and Susie who's been so fantastic. Christie and the most powerful woman they say anyway. They're all afraid of Susie. Well, oh, she's tough. Most powerful woman in the world according to magazines. What do I know? But I think she probably is. You know, she probably is. Congratulations. And you know, Stephen has done such a great job. We have just, we have great people. Very famous, though. But we love working, he really lets him have it, right? Yeah, exactly. There's no games. No, he knows. Do you have any questions, please?
President Trump. No, let's not start with CNN because they're just so wrong. Yeah, please. Yeah. Thank you, Mr. President. You repeatedly mentioned last night that Russia's attack on Ukraine was a mistake. What is the exact mistake? And have you given Putin a deadline to actually move toward a ceasefire?
The mistake was letting the war happen. If Biden were competent, and if Zelensky were competent, and I don't know that he is, we had a rough session with this guy over here. He just kept asking for more and more. That war should have never been allowed to happen. That war, I went four years and Putin wouldn't even bring it up. And as soon as the election was rigged and I wasn't here, that war started. There was no way that war should have been allowed to happen. And Biden should have stopped it. And you take a look at Putin. I'm not saying anybody's an angel. But I will tell you, I went four years and it wasn't even a question. He would never, and I told him, 'Don't do it. You're not going to do it.' And it was the apple of his eye. But there was no way that he would have done it. All you had to do is lower oil prices. If you lowered oil prices, Biden kept the prices so high because he made it impossible to get it. If you lowered oil prices, you would have never had the war. But you wouldn't have had it with me anyway. That war would have never happened. And I think it's a great abuse. So now what do you do? You get a country where 25% of its land is gone and the best locations where millions of people killed. You know, you haven't reported accurately the death. And this was Biden's war and I'm trying to stop it. And I think we're going to do a good job. I hope we're going to do. They lose 2,500 young people a week. Think on average. Now, they're Russians and they're Ukrainians, but it's 2,500. We don't care. It's like whatever it is, I'm not from your country. They're not from mine. But I want to stop it. 2,500. It's a killing field. It's like the Civil War. You take a look. I look at the satellite pictures. This should not be happening in our time. Of course, our time can be pretty violent as we know, but that's a war that should have never been allowed to start and Biden could have stopped it and Zelensky could have stopped it and Putin should have never started it. Everybody's to blame.
Have you spoken to President Zelensky, sir, about his offer to purchase more Patriot missile batteries?
Oh, I don't know. He's always looking to purchase missiles. You know, he's against... Listen, when you start a war, you got to know that you can win the war. You don't start a war against somebody that's 20 times your size and then hope that people give you some missiles. If we didn't give them what we gave, remember I gave them Javelins. That's how they won their first big battle with the tanks that got stuck in the mud and they took them out with Javelins. They have an expression that Obama at the time, Obama gave them sheets and Trump gave them Javelins. But just something that should have never happened. It's a really shame. The towns are destroyed. Towns and cities are, you know, largely destroyed. They have the spires, you know, the beautiful spires that go up. They say that we're the most beautiful in the world in Ukraine for whatever reason, but the most beautiful in the world. They're mostly laying on their side, shattered and broken. And most importantly, you have millions of people dead. Millions of people dead because of three people. I would say three people. Let's say Putin, number one. But let's say Biden, who had no idea what the hell he was doing, number two, and Zelensky. And all I can do is try and stop it. That's all I want to do. I want to stop the killing. And I think we're doing well in that regard. I think you'll have some very good proposals very soon.
Last question, sir. Have you attributed a motive, sir? Have you attributed a motive through the FBI investigation behind the attack on Governor Josh Shapiro over the weekend?
No, I haven't. But the attacker was not a fan of Trump. I understand just from what I read and from what I've been told. The attacker basically wasn't a fan of anybody. He's probably just a wack job. And certainly a thing like that cannot be allowed to happen.
Good relation with President Bukele. The best guarantee that this time you won't terminate the temporary protected status?
I have a great relationship with this man. I have the best relationship with him. We've known each other. I've known him since he was a very young man. As I said, very, very young. And I was impressed. I said, 'Look how this guy is.' In fact, you sort of look like a teenager. You look like a teenager. I said what kind of a country... He grew up well in the last 5 years.
Do you support extension for nationals of El Salvador under TPS?
Do you plan to ask President Bukele to help return the man who your administration says was mistaken?
Go ahead. Let's hear the question from this very low-rated anchor at CNN. Do you plan to ask the president to help return the man who your administration says was mistaken? Which one is the man who was mistakenly deported to El Salvador?
Well, let me ask Pam, would you answer that question? Sure, President. First and foremost, he was illegally in our country. He had been illegally in our country. And in 2019, two courts, an immigration court and an appellate immigration court ruled that he was a member of MS-13 and he was illegally in our country. Right now, it was a paperwork. It was additional paperwork that needed to be done. That's up to El Salvador if they want to return him. That's not up to us. The Supreme Court ruled, President, that if El Salvador wants to return him, this is international matters, foreign affairs, if they wanted to return him, we would facilitate it, meaning provide a plane.
So, will you return him? You are doing a great job. Thank you.
Wait a minute. Can you just also respond to that question? Because, you know, it's asked by CNN and they always ask it with a slant because they're totally slanted because they don't know what's happening. That's why nobody's watching them. But would you answer that question also?
Yes, gladly. So, as Pam mentioned, there's an illegal alien from El Salvador. So, with respect to you, he's a citizen of El Salvador. So, it's very arrogant even for American media to suggest that we would even tell El Salvador how to handle their own citizens. As a starting point, as two immigration courts found that he was a member of MS-13. When President Trump declared MS-13 to be a foreign terrorist organization, that meant that he was no longer eligible under federal law, which I'm sure you know, you're very familiar with the INA, that he was no longer eligible for any form of immigration relief in the United States. So, he had a deportation order that was valid, which meant that under our law, he's not even allowed to be present in the United States and had to be returned because of the foreign terrorist designation. This issue was then by a district court judge completely inverted and a district court judge tried to tell the administration that they had to kidnap a citizen of El Salvador and fly him back here. That issue was raised to the Supreme Court and the Supreme Court said the district court order was unlawful and its main components were reversed 9-0 unanimously stating clearly that neither the Secretary of State nor the president could be compelled by anybody to forcibly retrieve a citizen of El Salvador from El Salvador who again is a member of MS-13 which is, I'm sure you understand, rapes little girls, murders women, murders children, is engaged in the most barbaric activities in the world and I can promise you if he was your neighbor you would move right away.
So you don't plan... the Supreme Court's asking to... and what was the ruling in the Supreme Court, Steve? Was it 9 to nothing?
Yes, it was a 9-0 in our favor. In our favor against the district court ruling saying that no district court has the power to compel the foreign policy function of the United States. As Pam said, the ruling solely stated that if this individual, at El Salvador's sole discretion, was sent back to our country that we could deport him a second time. Well, no version of this legally ends up with him ever living here because he is a citizen of El Salvador. That is the president of El Salvador. Your questions about it per the court can only be directed to him.
I asked, can President Bukele weigh in on this? Do you plan to return him?
Well, I guess I'm supposedly not suggesting that I smuggle a terrorist into the United States, right? How can I smuggle, how can I return him to the United States? It's like, could I smuggle him into the United States or whether I do it for... I'm not going to do it. It's like, I mean the question is preposterous. How can I smuggle a terrorist into the United States? I don't have the power to return him to the United States.
So, you can release him in El Salvador.
