{ "error": "", "type": "text", "title": "Remarks by President Trump and Prime Minister Abe of Japan Before Bilateral Meeting", "slug": "remarks-by-president-trump-and-prime-minister-abe-of-japan-before-bilateral-meeting-1", "text": "
\"PRESIDENT TRUMP: Thank you very much. It\u2019s an honor to have my friend, Prime Minister Abe \u2014 Japan. We have many things to discuss, including trade, including some of the numbers that just came out this morning. We had a very big number at 3.2 GDP for the first quarter \u2014 usually the worst quarter. That also included the little bit of a dispute we had during the quarter. So 3.2 is far above expectation. I guess many people were thinking it would be in the ones, maybe between one and two. And 3.2 is great.<\/p>\n
Knowing that first quarter seems to always be the lowest, we\u2019re off to a very good start for the year. If we had the previous administration\u2019s low interest rates and quantitative easing, meaning pouring money into the system, that 3.2 could have been 5. Could have been a lot higher, but it could have been five. So it\u2019s really quite a \u2014 I wouldn\u2019t like to say \u201csurprise,\u201d but for a lot of people, it was a big surprise. Very big number.<\/p>\n
The Prime Minister just, two moments ago, said to me that \u201ccongratulations on your number.\u201d The 3.2 number was even a surprise to Japan.<\/p>\n
I just returned from Indiana, the big NRA conference, which was really terrific. And the weather was very rough. They said we might have to circle for an hour. And I said, \u201cI hope you don\u2019t have to do that, because we can\u2019t keep this great gentleman waiting.\u201d And we have the greatest pilots in the world, and we have awfully good equipment in Air Force One, so he landed it beautifully. No problem.<\/p>\n
And tonight, the Prime Minister and the great First Lady of Japan will be having dinner with us. We\u2019re celebrating our First Lady\u2019s birthday. It\u2019s her birthday. So I said to Melania, \u201cWould you like to have Mr. and Mrs. Prime Minister and Mrs. Abe join us for your birthday? And she said, \u201cI can\u2019t think of anybody I\u2019d rather have.\u201d<\/p>\n
So we\u2019ll be having dinner tonight at the White House. And we\u2019ll be actually, right after this meeting, having our representatives with us in the Oval and then a larger group of representatives in the Cabinet Room. And I think a lot will be accomplished.<\/p>\n
We\u2019re talking about a lot on trade. It\u2019s gotten very complex with what\u2019s happened to Brexit and what\u2019s happened with various other trade deals throughout the world. We\u2019re doing very well in our negotiations with China. Some of our people are leaving for China on Monday. And we\u2019re getting there. It could be very interesting. We\u2019ll see. I don\u2019t like to talk about things, and I won\u2019t talk about things because who knows what happens. Lots of strange things can happen for better or worse.<\/p>\n
But we are doing very well in those trade negotiations. And actually, we have a very big trade negotiation going on right now with Japan, which is, I would imagine, the primary reason that the Prime Minister is here.<\/p>\n
And the other thing we\u2019ll be discussing is trade, as it relates to our two countries. Japan is buying a tremendous amount of military equipment and other equipment from the United States. We make the greatest jet fighters in the world, and missiles and rockets and everything else. We make the best in the world, by far.<\/p>\n
And we\u2019ll be discussing that. We\u2019ll be discussing, very strongly, agriculture. Because, as the Prime Minister knows, Japan puts very massive tariffs on agriculture \u2014 our agriculture \u2014 going for many years, going into Japan. And we want to get rid of those tariffs. Because we don\u2019t tariff their cars, so I think that that will \u2014 something we\u2019ll work out. But this should have been done by previous administrations. Many previous administrations. It\u2019s been a long time, but I\u2019m sure we\u2019ll be able to work that out.<\/p>\n
And, ultimately, we have a chance to make a very good and long-term trade deal with Japan.<\/p>\n
And tomorrow we\u2019ll be very early leaving for a quick round of golf on a beautiful place on the Potomac River. I won\u2019t name the place, but it\u2019s beautiful. And so we\u2019re going to play a quick round of golf.<\/p>\n
And then I\u2019m going to Wisconsin tomorrow. And we have a tremendous crowd tomorrow night for a speech and rally, and whatever you want to call it. It\u2019s very big. A lot of people. We had 69,000 people sign up. And I think the arena holds about 10 [thousand]. So it\u2019ll be interesting. But it\u2019s always that way.<\/p>\n
And there\u2019s a lot of great spirit in our country. Again, we had some great numbers released this morning. And our country is doing very, very well economically. Doing very well with the military. Our military is being rebuilt \u2014 all being built from within. All jobs within the United States. And our country is \u2014 they\u2019re very proud right now, what\u2019s happening.<\/p>\n
So, thank you very much for being here. And we\u2019re going to have a lot of fun. Thank you. [...] <\/p>\n
Well, I want to thank you. The fact is that Japanese car companies are coming in at a level that we haven\u2019t seen in many decades. Toyota is investing $14 billion over a short period of time, and others too. They\u2019re going to Michigan. They\u2019re going to Ohio, Pennsylvania, North Carolina, South Carolina, Kentucky.<\/p>\n
We\u2019re going \u2014 we\u2019re really getting a lot of business from Japan. I appreciate that. We\u2019re trying to bring some balance to the surplus that they have with the United States for many, many years. But it\u2019ll all work out. It\u2019s all working out. But they\u2019re making the biggest investments they\u2019ve ever made in the United States and, in particular, car companies. They\u2019re really coming in. A lot of that has to do with our new agreements that we\u2019ve been making, and some will have to do with the trade agreement that we\u2019re in the process of making. That should even increase that number. So I very much look forward to discussing that today.<\/p>\n
As far as your very big event \u2014 and that\u2019s a very big event \u2014 and when we were in Japan together, we were talking about it and the invitation was made. And I said, \u201cGee, I don\u2019t know if I can make it. Let me ask you a question: How big is that event compared to the Superbowl for the Japanese?\u201d And the Prime Minister said, \u201cIt\u2019s about 100 times bigger.\u201d (Laughter.) I said, \u201cI\u2019ll be there. If that\u2019s the case, I\u2019ll be there.\u201d<\/p>\n
So it really is. It\u2019s many years. Isn\u2019t it 130 some-odd years that it\u2019s happened? It\u2019s a very unusual \u2014 it\u2019s a very unusual thing. And you\u2019re talking about reigning through blood for over 3,000 years \u2014 the longest in the world. So it\u2019s a very, very big event. And maybe you could explain the event because it\u2019s very exciting, actually. [...]<\/p>\n
Q What\u2019s your timeframe for a new Japan trade deal? Is it possible to get it done by May?<\/p>\n
PRESIDENT TRUMP: I think it can go quickly. Yeah. I think it can go fairly quickly. Maybe by the time I\u2019m over there. Maybe we sign it over there. But it\u2019s moving along very nicely, and we\u2019ll see what happens.\"<\/p>", "quote": null, "citation": "