LONG post. I think Trump thought he was at a campaign rally and not the Economics Club. At least he didn't mention Hannibal Lecter, sharks, or tell the snake story. (The following ~1350 words are all quoted material.)
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Q. AS YOU ALLUDED TO, TARIFFS ARE ON THE OTHER SIDE OF SANCTIONS AND GIVEN THAT CHINA IS OUR MAJOR TRADING PARTNER WITH OUR LARGEST TRADE IMBALANCE AND POSSIBLY OUR CHIEF NATIONAL SECURITY THREAT TO THE UNITED STATES, HOW CAN WE BETTER INSTITUTIONALIZE TRADE POLICY AND NATIONAL SECURITY POLICY TO BE COORDINATED?
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TRUMP: SO I HAD A GREAT RELATIONSHIP WITH PRESIDENT XI OF CHINA, REALLY CLOSE RELATIONSHIP. NOW, LOOK, HE LIKES CHINA, I LIKE US. SO, BUT, I DON'T WANT TO SOUND FOOLISH. HE WAS MY DEAR, DEAR FRIEND. HE IS A TOUGH GUY, A FIERCE PERSON, I SAY VERY SMART. YOU KNOW WHEN YOU SAY HE IS SMART, THE FAKE NEWS GOES CRAZY. HE SAID PRESIDENT XI IS SMART. AND I SAY HE CONTROLS 1.4 BILLION PEOPLE WITH AN IRON FIST. HE IS SMART. BUT WE HAD A GOOD RELATIONSHIP WITH CHINA UNTIL COVID. AND WHEN THAT CAME IN, IT WAS A WHOLE DIFFERENT BALLGAME AS FAR AS I WAS CONCERNED. WE MADE A GREAT CHINA TRADE DEAL MAYBE BETTER THAN THE USMCA AND I'D NEVER TALK ABOUT IT BECAUSE OF WHAT HAPPENED WITH COVID WITH THE WHOLE WORLD. 60 TRILLION DOLLARS, YOU KNOW, DEATHS, 70 MILLION 60 MILLION DE... NOBODY EVEN KNOWS HOW MANY DEATHS. AND IT ALL CAME OUT OF WUHAN. SO IT CHANGED MY RELATIONSHIP. BUT I THINK I WILL HAVE A GREAT RELATIONSHIP WITH CHINA, I HAD ONE BEFORE AND THEY RESPECTED US. BUT THEY RESPECTED US BECAUSE THEY NO LONGER THOUGHT WE WERE FOOLS. THEY USED TO THINK WE WERE FOOLS BECAUSE WE BUILT CHINA. THEY WOULD TAKE OVER $500 BILLION A YEAR AND USE IT FOR THEIR MILITARY AND OTHER THINGS AND WE GOT NOTHING OUT OF THAT, WE GOT SOME CHEAP PRODUCTS. WE GOT, YOU CAN BUY 19 PENCILS INSTEAD OF TWO. WHO THE HELL CARES? YOU CAN BUY 16 DOLLS FOR YOUR DAUGHTER INSTEAD OF TWO NICE DOLLS. AND WE GOT VERY LITTLE OUT OF THAT RELATIONSHIP. THEY GOT A TREMENDOUS MILITARY POWER AND THEY STILL HAVE IT TODAY. BUT I BELIEVE WE WILL HAVE A VERY GOOD RELATIONSHIP WITH CHINA AND WITH A LOT OF OTHER COUNTRIES THAT WE ARE NOT GETTING ALONG WITH TOO WELL TODAY.
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THINGS ARE GOING TO STRAIGHTEN OUT AND I THINK WE WILL GET THEM STRAIGHTENED OUT VERY QUICKLY. VERY IMPORTANT THAT WE GET ALONG WITH THE REST OF THE WORLD. YOU KNOW WE HAVE THINGS TODAY CALLED NUCLEAR WEAPONS. I REBUILT OUR WHOLE MILITARY INCLUDING OUR NUCLEAR CAPABILITY. AND SO I GOT VERY FAMILIAR WITH IT. AND YOU KNOW I SAY THIS OFTEN BECAUSE I HAD AN UNCLE WHO WAS THE LONGEST-SERVING, I BELIEVE THE LONGEST SERVING -- I WAS TOLD THAT BY MIT -- BUT HE WAS THERE 39 OR I GUESS 41 YEARS -- LONGEST-SERVING PROFESSOR IN THE HISTORY OF MIT AND NUCLEAR WAS SOMETHING HE KNEW A LOT ABOUT. WE USED TO TALK ABOUT IT. AND I WOULD SAY, AND UNCLE JOHN, THERE'S NO WAY. AND HE WAS TELLING ME ABOUT THIS INCREDIBLE POWER THAT WAS BEING UNLEASHED POTENTIALLY. AND I'D SAY, UNCLE JOHN, YOU COULD NEVER ... AND YOU KNOW WHAT, HE WAS VERY MODEST, BECAUSE I HAVE SEEN THE DESTRUCTIVE CAPABILITY. AND THIS WORLD IS GONNA HAVE TO GET ALONG BECAUSE IF THAT IS EVER UNLEASHED -- BECAUSE WE ALREADY HAVE TOO MANY COUNTRIES THAT HAVE AT LEAST REMNANTS OF IT OR SOME OF IT. BUT PROBABLY FIVE COUNTRIES IF YOU THINK. AND KIM JONG-UN,
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WHEN I WAS - WENT TO THE WHITE HOUSE AFTER WINNING IN 2016, I SAT WITH PRESIDENT OBAMA, WHICH IS A RITUAL, AND YOU SIT AND YOU TALK. AND I SAID WHAT'S THE BIGGEST PROBLEM? AND HE SAID NORTH KOREA IS THE BIGGEST PROBLEM. I DON'T THINK IT'S SOLVABLE. I SAID, HAVE YOU TRIED CALLING HIM OR TALKING TO HIM? ACTUALLY THE ANSWER WAS, YES, AND HE WASN'T RESPONDING TO. BUT I DID. AND WE WERE VERY SAFE. IT STARTED OFF A LITTLE ROCKY, IF YOU REMEMBER. "LITTLE ROCKET MAN," I CALLED HIM, AND HE CALLED ME THINGS TOO. HE'S GOT A RED BUTTON ON HIS DESK I SAID TO HAVE A BIGGER RED BUTTON AND MY RED BUTTON WORKS. [LAUGHTER] AND THEN IT STARTED GETTING A LITTLE NICER AND THEN ONE DAY I GOT A CALL THAT THEY'D LIKE TO MEET. AND IT WAS A GREAT THING, WE HAD A GREAT MEETING, WE HAD TWO MEETINGS, ACTUALLY TWO GREAT MEETINGS. SUMMITS. AND WE HAD NO PROBLEM WITH HIM. NOW THEY HAVE A PROBLEM BECAUSE THEY ARE NOT LIKING THIS ADMINISTRATION. THEY DON'T RESPECT THIS ADMINISTRATION AT ALL.
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SO WE HAVE TO GET ALONG. WE HAVE TO GET ALONG. WE CAN'T HAVE WORLD WAR III. YOU ARE GOING TO END UP IN WORLD WAR III. JUST LIKE YOU SHOULD HAVE NEVER HAD RUSSIA GO IN, IT WOULD HAVE NEVER HAPPENED IF A COMPETENT PERSON LED US. IT WOULD HAVE NEVER HAPPENED. HE LED THEM INTO IT. AND I AM NOT BLAMING BIDEN, BUT YOU KNOW WHAT, WHAT HE WAS SAYING WAS EXACTLY THE WRONG THING. I SAID, WE ARE GOING TO HAVE AN INVASION BECAUSE OF A LOT OF THE RHETORIC, IT WAS STUPID RHETORIC. BUT IT WOULD HAVE NEVER HAPPENED. NOT ONLY FOR THAT REASON, OIL WAS DOWN LOW, IT WAS ALMOST AT $100 A BARREL, SO PUTIN IS ONE OF THE ONLY PEOPLE, I MEAN NOTHING IT'S - IS EASY IN LIFE. BUT PUTIN AT $100 A BARREL, WAR WORKS AT $40 A BARREL. IT DIDN'T WORK AT ALL. SO WE'RE GONNA GET BACK TO A INTELLIGENTLY RUN PLACE. A PLACE WHERE OTHER COUNTRIES AREN'T USING THE WORD NUCLEAR. THAT WORD WAS NEVER TALKED ABOUT DURING MY -- BECAUSE I KNEW THE POWER OF IT. AND I TALKED TO PUTIN ABOUT IT, AND I TALKED TO PRESIDENT XI ABOUT IT. I THINK WE WERE GOING TO ... DO YOU REMEMBER THAT TALK WHERE WE WERE GOING TO REDUCE NUCLEAR CAPABILITIES SUBSTANTIALLY, ALL THREE OF US? WE STARTED. WE'RE GOING TO START IT. WE'RE GOING TO REDUCE VERY SUBSTANTIALLY. AND THEN WE HAD THE ELECTION AND AFTER THE ELECTION, THEY DIDN'T TALK ABOUT THAT OR ANYTHING ELSE, FRANKLY.
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BUT, UH, WE HAVE TO BE VERY VERY CAREFUL. BECAUSE THE DESTRUCTIVE CAPABILITY OF NUCLEAR, WHEN PEOPLE TALK ABOUT GLOBAL WARMING, I SAY -- [DEEP SIGH] THE OCEAN IS GOING TO GO DOWN 100TH OF AN INCH WITHIN THE NEXT 400 YEARS. THAT IS NOT OUR PROBLEM. OUR PROBLEM IS NUCLEAR WARMING AND WE BETTER BE SMART AND WE BETTER HAVE SMART PEOPLE AT THE TOP THAT KNOW HOW TO DEAL. BECAUSE THESE PEOPLE DON'T KNOW HOW TO DEAL. PUTIN CAME OUT TODAY, HE ENDORSED KAMALA. AND I DIDN'T KNOW ... WAS I SUPPOSED TO CALL HIM UP AND SAY THANK YOU VERY MUCH, I APPRECIATE IT? [LAUGHS] BUT HE ENDORSED KAMALA. I HAVE A FEELING. I DON'T KNOW. I DON'T ... I DON'T KNOW EXACTLY WHAT TO SAY ABOUT THAT. I DON'T KNOW IF I AM INSULTED OR HE DID ME A FAVOR. BUT WE HAVE TO GET ALONG WITH THE WORLD. WE CAN'T HAVE WAR BECAUSE THE DESTRUCTIVE CAPABILITY, YOU COULD BE THE HEAD OF THE BIGGEST BANK, WHEREEVER THE HELL JAMIE IS SITTING, YOU COULD BE THE HEAD OF THE BIGGEST BANK IN THE WORLD AND A COUPLE OF NUKES AND YOUR BANK DOESN'T MEAN A THING. YOU'VE GOT TO GET ALONG. THIS IS SUCH AN IMPORTANT JOB. IT'S A DANGEROUS JOB, TOO. VERY DANGEROUS JOB. IF YOU LOOK STATISTICALLY, BEING PRESIDENT IS VERY DANGEROUS. [LAUGHTER] THAT THAT THROBBING FEELING I HAVE. OH, THAT THROBBING FEELING. [LAUGHTER] NOW IT'S A VERY DANGEROUS JOB AND YOU HAVE TO DO IT RIGHT AND IF YOU DON'T DO IT RIGHT, BAD THINGS WILL HAPPEN TO THE WORLD. THINGS LIKE YOU'VE NEVER SEEN BEFORE. THANK YOU VERY MUCH.
