Pres. Trump thank you very much. Thank you. Look at all the press you attract. That is very impressive. Pres. Niinisto they are not after me. Pres. Trump i hope not. You are lucky. Today is my honor to welcome president niinisto of finland to the white house. Mr. President , it is wonderful to host you want to get in washington. We have gotten to know each other over the last period of time and it has been a great experience. The president and i just concluded very productive discussions on a number of exciting opportunities for our nations. Before going further want to express our deep condolences over the horrific stabbing attack that took place yesterday at a college in finland. America is praying for the victims and their families. We send our unwavering love and support. Pres. Niinisto thank you. Pres. Trump the american and finnish people are linked to a commitment to selfgovernment, individual rights, democracy and the rule of law. This past may, our countries celebrated the 100th anniversary of americas recognition of the independent nation of finland in 1919. As president wilson wrote at the time, i recognition was prompted by this empathys for a cause similar to that which caused our own declaration of independence in 1776. United states and finland remain united by those same cherished values central to this effort is the nations close cooperation on matters of security and defense, although finland is not a member of nato. Save a lot of money. Finland participates in Many Missions and exercises. I am pleased finland is substantially increasing its military budget. America and finland are also working together to advance stability, freedom of navigation, and respect for National Sovereignty in the arctic. Both of our nations are committed to a secure arctic region free from external intrusion, interference and coercion. Simply put, we believe the affairs of the arctic should be governed by the actual nations of the arctic. There are other people coming into the arctic and we dont like it. We cant let it happen. We wont let it happen. The United States and finland are likewise partnering to ensure the security of 5g networks. It is critical we use safe and Trustworthy Technology providers, components and supply chains. We welcomed the establishment of the Innovation Center in finland. Qualcomm has done a fantastic job with that. This Innovation Center will greatly expand american and finnish businesses and cooperation in 5g. We are glad the Finnish Company nokia, a Global Leader in 5g technology is developing its cuttingedge products right here in the United States at bell labs in new jersey. United states Foreign Direct Investment from finland totals over 10 billion. Each year Finnish Companies invest more than 120 million in research and development in america and expand our exports more than 1 billion. Just today, a Finnish Company opened a manufacturing plant in dayton, tennessee. They spent 360 Million Investment that is creating hundreds of brandnew beautiful jobs for a great state, tennessee. We love tennessee. They made a wise choice. Pres. Trump i encourage other companies to do business in the United States. There has simply never been a better time to do business in america. We passed the largest tax cuts and reform and regulation cuts in the history of our country. We slashed business tax and an are fueling job growth abolishing those unnecessary , regulations. We have plenty of regulations but many of them we did not need. We got rid of them. The American Economy is booming. Wages are rising. Income is soaring, and unemployment has hit its lowest level in more than half a century. We want Finnish Companies to join in americas extraordinary economic revival. Summoning countries are coming in, it is the hot place to be. They all want to be here. The president and i are also working on a way to improve International Trade based on the principle of fairness and, my favorite word, reciprocity. I hope that finland, which now holds the rotating presidency of the eu council, will support our efforts to achieve a mutually beneficial agreement with your with the European Union. We will have to start doing something with the European Union, because they have not been treating this country right for many, many years, and i tell them, and they know it. Americas trade deficit with the eu has been averaging a deficit for many, many years. Achieving more balance and robust trade would greatly benefit both finland and the United States. We appreciate finlands Strong Partnership combating predatory trade practices including theft of property. From crate from trade to security, from travel to commerce we are grateful for our , friendship with the great people of finland, and we are now working on a deal to sell a large number of airplanes, fighter jets, hopefully, the two finland. To finland. We will see how that plays out, but we make the best jet planes in the world. Nobody else is even close. Mr. President , i want to thank you again for visiting the white house. The history of our two nations is a profound testament to the importance of our independence and our resolve to defend it. I look forward to continuing to work alongside of you. As we safeguard our precious sovereignty of hope, harmony, and peace for the american and finnish people, and thank you very much for being with us of the white house and the oval office and we had a very special number of we appreciate it very hours. Much. Thank you, sir. Pres. Niinisto thank you, mr. President. First of all, i will deliver your condolences to the finnish people. They do appreciate that. Thank you. Ladies and gentlemen, before meeting, i had some spare time, so i visited a couple of museums here, the museum of american history, the museum of american african history, and the museum of American Indian history, and in addition to that, i have the possibility of attending a ceremony in arlington. Mr. President , you have here a great democracy. Keep it going on. We had a very good discussion with the president. Like you mentioned, our diplomatic relations are hundreds of years old. During that time, we have developed our cooperation, not only in official meetings like this, but american and finnish people, scientists, for example, meet each other, cooperating and working together. We have a lot of cooperation in the security sector, also in defense, because i think that we share the feeling that the most important thing for the nation is to guarantee security to its citizens. And that is the starting point for finland also, to this cooperation. I wanted to take up with the president the importance of transatlantic cooperation. Well, we all know europe needs the usa. But i say that the usa needs also europe. We know the price of everything. We should recognize the value of everything. We share the same values democracy, human rights, that weed order, and in are very similar. Europe has, in a way, awakened during the couple last years, to understand also more about the Security Point of view, and i just want to tell you that, in my opinion, the stronger europe we have, the stronger partner you have. The arctic area, you know, is very north. It is becoming more and more interesting, like the president said. Countriesongside six form the arctic council. And we are working heavily. There are surely possibilities, like we have heard, the maritime routes are being opened. Maybe there are also resources, but there are huge risks. One of them is that we should keep the low tension we are used to having there. And that is what we have been discussing, and i do appreciate the president s position to emphasize that it is not a place for military. Greater challenge is the environment. I am very glad that we started in thisto years ago very house, about black coal. Worst whichybe the causes climate problems. But everybody can understand that if that comes down to ice and snow when the sun meets it, it melts down. And the melting of sea ice in arctic is very crucial. I used to say that if we lose the arctic, we lose the globe. We at a couple of words, very important on arms control. Ones, some of us remember the years of the cold war in the 1960s. There was no agreement at all, just cold war. We cannot let the situation return, no agreement on all, and about arms control. And that is why it is important to try to negotiate new agreements and to continue the new start agreement. That would be a good new start for international cooperation. You, mr. President , referred to 5g. The issue of ict as a whole, we are very proud to have the center of excellence in helsinki. The usa has been very helpful in that. And very many countries are working there together to fight against the huge danger of hybrid warfare. When it comes to providers in that area, i am not very willing to point out any country or company here now, maybe a bit late from usa and eu making a risk assessment, it will be prepared in 1, 2 weeks time. And after that, we are in a place that we have to choose the tools to protect us. Mr. President , i want to thank you very much for having the possibility of meeting you here. It is very valuable. I found your discussions very open, very interesting, and im giving a lot to my little country. Thank you, sir. Pres. Trump thank you. Before we take questions, something happened that has been going on for many decades, and we came to conclusion, can i ask ambassador pence to come up and explain what is going on, and the importance of what just took place because this has been , going on for many years. This is ambassador pence, no relationship to our great Vice President. Hard to believe nobody believes , that, but it is true. [laughter] amb. Pence i have been introduced as his father, his brother, his cousin, his uncle. We are friends. [laughter] amb. Pence when i arrived in helsinki a year and a half ago there were , stacked papers on the desk, one of which concerned the Indigenous People from southwest. Nited states, colorado including perhaps predominantly, generically i will refer to them , as hopi indians. In 1895, a lot of their remains had been excavated and removed, along with 500 artifacts, to finland, and there they have remained, despite a lot of activity to get them back. I will just jump to the end and say through the good offices of our state department, and in particular, president niinisto, and his entire team we have whereby aan Agreement Number of those remains, including a number of petrified bodies, will be going back to be put back where they were buried. So special to us, and i think it is probably special to Indigenous Peoples everywhere around the globe that we are all concerned about paying appropriate respect to those who departed before us. So thank you, thank both of the president s for supporting this. Pres. Trump thank you. Thank you. Thank you. That is a great job, mr. Ambassador. That has been going on for many, many decades, so i just want to thank you. Outstanding. John roberts. John mr. President , thank you. President niinisto. If i could, i have two pertinent questions to ask. Back and asked them separately. Intelligence,e the house committees that are three looking into the impeachment inquiries, they gave notice today they will be sending a subpoena to the white house. Will you cooperate with those subpoenas . Pres. Trump i always cooperate. This is the latest hoax that has been playing out, john, since my election, we will find out soon, but probably even before my election. Election. This is a fraudulent crime on the American People, but we are working together. With schiff and pelosi and see what happens. Because we did absolutely i had a great call with the president ukraine. It was a hundred percent. You have the transcript. And the chairman of the call that related a never took place. It is hard to believe, he made it up, i think he had some sort of a mental breakdown, he went up to the microphone and read a statement from the president of the United States, as if i were on the call. Because what happened is when he looked at the sheet, which was an exact transcript of my call, done by very talented people who do this, exact, word for word, he said wow, he did not do anything wrong, so he made it up. He went up to a microphone, and in front of the American People, and in congress, he went out and he gave a whole presentation of work that the president of the United States never said. It has to be a criminal act. It has to be. And he should resign, and some people even say it was treason. But it was a very sad thing. Just so you know, the call was perfect, the real hall, the call the real call the call i , made. Many people on the line, i knew that, because usually when i was to foreign country leaders, you can name any one of them, i know when i speak on the phone that , we have people listening from various intelligence agencies. My knowledge. I know all about it. So this is not Something Like oh, gee, i am on the line, lets talk about a big secret. This is many people are on the line, i do not know how many, but many people. Mike pompeo was on the line. He didnt say anything. Because they listen for both knowledge and security reasons and for lots of reasons. But the president of ukraine at the United Nations the other day, and previous to that, he announced through his spokesperson, said there was absolutely no pressure put on him, there was no quid pro quo at all, and if you look at the whistleblowers which i have a lot of respect for whistleblowers, but only when they are real he reported a phone call which is totally different from the fact. But what got them is they never thought i was going to release the call. Because i do not like doing that. Because i do not like doing that. I hope we do not have to do it again. Release phone calls to foreign dignitaries, foreign leaders. I do not want to do that, john, and i dont want to do it again. But i did that with permission of the ukrainian government. We got permission. We called up representatives and their representatives and asked them, would it be ok. Otherwise, we could not have done it. If i would not have done it, i would have been exposed to a lie. Because the whistleblower report , denise say seven or eight times i said quid pro quo. That if you do this. Many. I never said that. In all fairness, biden said it. In all fairness, you have at least four United States senators, democrats, who all said it. And they said it a lot stronger than even schiff, in his made up story, said it. Obama, when he was dealing with the president of russia, not putin, he said hey, tell vladimir i can do a lot more after the election. Do you remember that . You did make a big deal of that. Everyone said, isnt that cute . My talk in my response, Lindsey Graham said, i never knew you were that nice. He said that loud and clear. It was perfect. Not a thing wrong with it. To impeach a president over a fraud that was committed by other people, that want to win an election in 2020, which they wont, is incredible. This is the greatest hoax now, it has gone on for a long time. We had the mueller collusion delusion, ok. That went on for years. And that is finally done. No collusion, no obstruction, no nothing. It was a joke, and everyone knows it, and it was from day one. Now, i get three days of peace, and i am walking into the United Nations to meet with the biggest leaders of the world, and i hear about the word impeachment. I said what did i do now . And it was a beautiful conversation i had. And just remember, ukrainian new president , a fine man, said i do not know what you are talking about. There was no pressure. And he said it a number of times. Ok, what was your second question well, you should not be asking two questions. John i think you will want to answer this question. Pres. Trump asked one of the finnish president. John i think you will like this one. Pres. Trump maybe for the first time i will have a good question. John there was a report they and i will love it. John there was a report they cannot out just before you and president niinisto came out here, that the whistleblower left with the staff of adam schiff. Pres. Trump it shows that schiff is a fraud. Pres. Trump i love that question. Thank you, john. John can i finish . Pres. Trump there is nothing to finish. John the whistleblower met with the staff of adam schiff. Pres. Trump it is the New York Times. They wrote it. John something that the whistleblower knew. That schiff may have learned some of what the whistleblower knew prior to the complaint. Pres. Trump i think this is a scandal, and i think he wrote it. I thick he probably helped write it. I give a lot of respect for the New York Times for putting it out. It just happened walking up as walking up i here, it was am handed to me, and i said to mike, that is a big thing. He knew long before and he , helped to write it, too. It is a scam. Just a finish on this, i appreciate it and i love that second question, by the way. You shouldve asked it first. [laughter] pres. Trump but let me just tell you, the whole thing is a scam. The mueller deal was a scam. The russian collusion was a scam. You can ask putin. Nobody has been rougher on russia than donald trump, ok . That being said, it would be great to get along with russia, and we will get along with russia, because it is smart, but nobody has been tougher on russia then donald trump. Ask one, please. John president niinisto, good to see you again. You had a conversation with President Trump over 5g. And how nokia, finlands big company could fill in that space. You also met with president xi. During the summer in which you renewed the ties of friendship between the two nations. Countries will put huawei in their 5g cores are at risk . Of national security. Pres. Niinisto thank you. Like i told already. In europe, the situation is maybe i view it a little bit differently, because the main company you mentioned is inside europe. Partly at least. With the European Union is now doing is making a risk assessment, asking each country what kind of experience, what you have seen and found out, and that will be finished in one or two weeks time and after that, we have to decide together in the European Union which kind of tools we need to protect ourselves. You refer to my discussions with president xi. We did not talk about 5g by while meeting. And we all know nokia is a major factor in this area. They will answer for themselves. John thank you. Pres. Trump please. Pick somebody who is really nice. Can we get a really nice person . I think they are all nice in finland. Pres. Niinisto are there finnish reporters . Just two. Pres. Trump uhoh. Pres. Niinisto wait a minute. Yes. From finland, i have one question for President Trump, and then one question for president niinisto. First, mr. Trump, how will this political storm affect u. S. Foreignpolicy, particularly its relationship with finland, and secondly, for president niinisto, because it is the Biggest Issue at the moment, i have to ask, what kind of favors has mr. Trump asked from you . [laughter] pres. Trump the other way around, you mean. Pres. Niinisto what favors i asked . Pres. Trump i think you mean the other way around. Pres. Niinisto both ways. Ok. Pres. Trump the political storm, i have lived with it from the day i got elected. I have done more this administration has done more than any administration in the history of this country in the first two and a half years. I am used to it. For me, it is like putting on a suit in the morning. People have said to me how does he handle it . Rush limbaugh said, i do not know any man in america that can handle it. Sean hannity said the same thing. Others have said the same thing. I do not know any man in america , because it is all a fraud. And because of that, and because i know that i am right, and i am doing a great job for the American People. I am very, very happy living the way i am living. I thought that i would finish off the first term without the threat of people making false claims, but this one turned out to be incredible, all because they did not know that i had a transcript, done by very, very talented people. Word for word, four, done by people who do it for a living. We had an exact transcript, and when we produced that transcript, they died. Because when you look at the whistleblower statement and it is vicious vicious and that whistleblower, there is no question in my mind that some bad things have gone on, and i think we will get to the bottom of it. I think it will be a total reversal. But i have lived with this. I have lived with his cloud now for almost three years more than that. Because this probably started even before. And i think nobody has done what i have done when you look at tax cuts and regulation cuts and rebuilding our military and right to try. Right to try. That means people who are terminally ill and very sick have a right to use our medicines our great medicines, because we are so far ahead of every other country. So many things we have done our vets are now taken care of. We have got choice. Nobody thought we could ever get choice. That is when you have to wait on mine as a vet, you go outside, you get a doctor, we pay the bill. You do not have to wait three weeks to see a doctor. If youre a vet. We cherish our vets. At least this administration does. But for many years they did not. I take care of our vets. No one administration has done. And i have lived with it from the day i got elected, so i am just fine with it, ok . Pres. Niinisto yes, we had a conversation and discussion on a very equal basis, which is i really appreciate that. Well, i had one request specifically. I wanted the president to take more notice on transatlantic relations, because i consider it is useful both for usa and europe. While we were discussing also trading, i told the president that the big purchase we are doing on fighters would be finished in two years time. We have five different candidates, three from europe and two from the United States. He answered that ours is best. [laughter] pres. Trump jeff, go ahead. Jeff thank you, sir. Jeff mason from reuters. Mr. President , i want to ask you about your use of the word treason. You have used it repeatedly in the past few days. Do you consider anyone who opposes you treasonous . Pres. Trump no, i consider it when they lie. When they stand before our great body in our great chamber, and they make up an inspection, like make up a story that is fiction like schiff did. , he took that perfect conversation i had with the ukrainian president and made it into a total lie. It was a total fabrication, and you do admit that. It was a total fabrication. He said this is what. And the only ones who do not like my conversation are the ones who never read it, and that is because they heard schiff. That is what i call a lie. And because of the fact that he is lying about the president of the United States as to what the president says. You know believe it or not, i , watch my words very carefully. There are those who think i am a very stable genius, ok. I watch my words very, very closely. And to have somebody get up and to totally fabricate a conversation that i had with another leader, and make it sound so bad, it was so evil, and now i see this that just came out minutes ago, where he met, at a time that was impossible to have done, unless there is corruption involved and just so you know, we have been investigating on a personal basis and others, corruption in , the 2016 election. We have been investigating corruption, because i probably will i was going to definitely but i probably will be bringing a lot of litigation against a lot of people having to do with the corrupt investigation, having to do with the 2016 election, and i have every right to do that, because the way they treated me and other people they have destroyed people, they have destroyed lives with a phony charge that never existed, and that was collusion. Never existed. And you had 18 people that hated donald trump, and you had bob mueller, that hated donald trump, and in the end, they could never find one damn thing i could find it on you they could not find one thing about donald trump having to do with collusion. This is after two years and spending 42 million. And i have been looking at the long and hard for a long period of time. How it started, why it started it should never happen to another president , ever, but i have been talking about it from the standpoint of creating a of bringing a major lawsuit, and i have been talking about it for a long time. We have been investigating the corruption having to do with what they did to my people. They destroyed many people. They came down to washington to do a great job. And they left home they left washington dark. They were dark. They came down here i stayed i say bright eyed and bushy tailed. They wanted to do a great job for the people. They wanted to do a great job we won the election. And then they get served with subpoenas. All these subpoenas. Now look at nancy pelosi. Nancy pelosi hands out subpoenas, you know, she has to approve she hands out subpoenas like they are cookies. You want a subpoena . Here you go, take it. Like their cookies. Paul ryan would never give anybody a subpoena. He would not give them when mark meadows wanted to talk and he would not give them when jim jordan when in when devon when in. He would say paul im not saying wrong or right but paul ryan, no, lets talk about it. That is a big thing to give a subpoena. Lets talk about it. Two weeks later, they are still talking. They wanted subpoenas to investigate the corrupt democrats and the corrupt people on the other side. Paul ryan would not give subpoenas. Nancy pelosi, here you go. Take it. Who wants a subpoena . Every day you get a subpoena. And paul ryan was actually right, probably, because they should never ever a thing like this to happen our country again. Thank you very much, please. Jeff mr. President , can you just make clear right here what do you or did you want with regard to president zelensky and joe and hunter biden . Pres. Trump he brought it up, i think he brought up the name rudy giuliani. What i want is the following, and ive said this loud and clear. We have our ambassadors here, we have mike pence here. Why are we the only ones that give the big money to the ukraine . We give money to the ukraine, and it has bothered me from day one. You have plenty of people, even here, that say how come it is always the United States that gets ripped . Frankly, the ukraine, we do want to help them. And i do like the new president. You know why i like him . Because he was honest. He said there was no pressure exerted on me, meaning him, by the president of the United States. By the way, that one sentence should stop it, no pressure exerted on him, but you do not have to ask him, all you have to do is read the transcript, read the telephone call. I was having problem with two things. Number one beforehand, tremendous corruption. Tremendous. More than just about any country in the world. In fact, they are rated one of the most corrupt countries in the world, and i do not like giving money to a country that is that corrupt. Number two jeff you dont like pres. Trump excuse me. Number two, i said this loud and clear to everybody, and rob portman backed me up, and there is nobody more honorable than rob portman of ohio. Because he called up and said please, let the money go, and i said rob, i hate being the only country that is giving money, when ukraine helps European Countries far more than they help us. They are like a wall between russia and europe. They are like a wall, a big, wide, beautiful wall, and he said, you know what . But it is important. He came out and he said that. I do not like being the sucker country. We were the sucker country for years and years, but i gave the money, because rob portman and others called and asked. But i dont like to be the sucker. And European Countries are helped far more than we are. And those countries should pay a lot more to help ukraine. Ask your question. Reporter what did you want about biden . What was your opinion about biden . Pres. Trump biden and his son are stone cold crooked, and you know it. His son walks out with millions of dollars, the kid knows nothing. You know it, and so do we. Go ahead, ask your question. Jeff the question is what did you want president zelensky to do about Vice President biden and his son, hunter . Pres. Trump were you talking to me . Jeff yes, it was a followup of what i just asked you, sir. Pres. Trump listen, we have the president of finland. Ask him a question. Jeff i will, i just had a followup President Trump did you hear me . Ask him a question. I have given you a long answer. Ask him a question. Dont be rude. Reporter i dont want to be rude. I just want you to answer the question i asked you. President trump you know who is playing the hoax, people like you, and the fake news media, and i have said people like you, corrupt, much of the media in this country is not just fake, it is corrupt, and you have some very fine people, too, great journalists, great reporters, but to a large extent, it is corrupt, and it is fake. Ask the president of finland a question, please. Jeff ok, i will move on now. Mr. President , in your opening remarks, you had said that you went to u. S. Museums today, and you respected u. S. Democracy and you encouraged him to continue it. Are you concerned that is not happening . My second question do you, sir, is, the wto ruled in favor of the United States in a that the United States can now impose tariffs on european pres. Trump that was a big win for the United States. We are having a lot of wins at the wto. Jeff this was a case that started, i think 10 or 15 years ago. Pres. Trump excuse me. The wins are now, because i do not like the wto, and they want to make sure i am happy, because all of those countries were ripping off the u. S. For many years. We had a lot of wins. This is a 7 billion win. Not bad. Jeff the question, sir, if you are concerned that the president will impose those tariffs, and the effect that may have on the economy . Pres. Niinisto yes, first of all, when i refer to your democracy, i just want to tell that i am impressed at what American People have gained during these 100 or so years, living up a very impressive democracy, so keep it going on. To the wto, i have a lot of respect to multilateralism and to international institutions, so wto has given now a decision which is, well, quite tough with europe, but i just say that the wto has said its opinion, and that is that. Pres. Trump and i just want to pres. Trump and i just want to finish by saying it is an honor to be with the president of finland. He has done a fantastic job. Very popular, beloved over in finland. The wto has been much better to us as i have been president , because they understand they cannot get away with what they have been getting away with for so many years, which is ripping off the United States. And please remember the president s last remarks, that we are a great democracy. We are a great the United States is a great democracy, and i am airing what i am airing, because we are in fact a democracy. And if the press were straight and honest and forthright and tough, we would be a far greater nation. We would be a far greater, when we do not have the cnns of the world, who are corrupt people. Thank you very much. [overlapping questions] [laughter] [overlapping chatter] [captions Copyright National cable satellite corp. 2019] [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. Visit ncicap. Org] on thursday, President Trump visits the Retirement Community near florida where he remarks about medicare and signs an executive order that expands private Medicare Advantage programs for seniors. Live coverage begins after 1 00 p. M. Eastern on cspan. Q a, this is mostly an institutions peter lee hold on the history of tariffs in managing the u. S. Economy. The Supreme Court ruled a tomato is a vegetable, not a fruit, because of tariffs. Any botanist will tell you a tomato is a fruit. Put at, the 1883 tariff tariff on vegetables and not fruit. Of vegetables p ointed out the tomatoes he was bringing in from the caribbean were fruit, and he didnt have to pay a tariff. The battle went on for quite some time. Eventually, the Supreme Court ruled tomatoes are actually vegetables. It is an interesting ruling that had repercussions beyond tomatoes itself. Sunday night at 8 00 eastern on cspans q a. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and house intelligence chair adam schiff held a News Conference one week after formally launching an impeachment in korea against president. They discussed the committees work