Premiers of the peoples republic of china. Pres. Trump thank you very much. We greatly appreciate your joining us at this white house event. This is a very important and remarkable occasion. Today, we take a momentous step. One that has never been taken before with china, toward a future affair and reciprocal trade, as we sign phase one of the historic trade deal between the United States and china. Together, we are righting the wrongs of the past and delivering a future of Economic Justice and security. For American Workers, farmers and families. I want to think the chinese president , who is watching as we speak. I will be going over to china in the not to double or distant future to reciprocate. , a very goodnk him friend of mine. We are representing if and countries. He is representing china. I am representing the u. S. We developed an incredible relationship. I want to thank him for his cooperation drought this complex process. Our negotiations were tough on us. Open and respect all, leading us to this incredible breakthrough. Most people thought this would never happen. It should up happened should have happened 25 years ago, but that is ok. A man who has become a good friend of mine and someone who is talented and capable read we are delighted to be joined by the vice premier and ambassador, and many other representatives from the peoples republic of china. We are especially proud of the efforts of Vice President mike pence, who is with us. Mike, i would like to have you say a few words, please. Thank you, mr. President. It is an honor to be here with you and with the vice premier thisur treasury secretary is a good day. For america, china and the world. It is an honor to be with you. The economy is booming with the strong support of members of congress who are gathered here. Economyxperiencing an that has crated more than 7 million jobs. Unemployment is at a 50 year low. The Household Income has risen by more than 5,000. That is the result of your commitment to cut taxes and unleash american energy. It reflects your commitment to free, fair and reciprocal trade. Early in this administration, you made it clear that the era of economic surrender was over. You took a strong stand for american jobs and American Workers. Friends in china that things had to change. Thanks to your leadership, today, the changs begins. Change begins. [applause] we announced great progress on protecting intellectual and currency manipulation. I know it means so much to you that the greatest impact may well be on american agriculture. Some 40 to 50 billion in purchases secured in this deal that will result in greater prosperity for farmers all across the land. And, mr. President , your commitment to a growing and prosperous america has been the centerpiece of your leadership. And today, with the signing of phase one, its one more example of your commitment to put american jobs and American Workers first. And we recognize,. And we recognize, as you do, mr. President , that differences will remain between our two nations. But today is the start of a new chapter in trade relation between the two largest economies in the world. But i can assure the American People that this president will continue to stand firm and put america first, even as we forge a more productive relationship with china and with the world. Mr. President , you know theres an ancient chinese proverb that says, men see only the present, but heaven sees the future. So let today be the beginning of a brighter future, more prosperous for the American People, the Chinese People, and the world. Thank you, mr. President. [applause] trump thank you, mike. An incredible job. Incredible guy. I also want to give special thanks to our u. S. Trade representative, whos been kept very busy. Hes doing a lot of deals. Well have another big one next week. It should get approved very shortly, and thatll be tremendous, with canada and mexico. But well talk about that next week. But Robert Lighthizer are we keeping you busy enough . Huh . Poor guy cant sleep. He tosses and turns. What happened to him . Here. Pres. Trump im sorry. That was dropped. Pres. Trump oh, ok. Thanks. Ambassador lighthizer, im all purpose. Thats right, you are allpurpose, come to think. But Bob Lighthizer is really an outstanding guy. He gets along with people. Hes smart, hes sharp. And he understands trade better than anybody. When i first took this, i said, i got to get the best guy. And all signs pointed to Robert Lighthizer. So thank you very much, bob. Thank you very much. [applause] i have one question, was this an easier job or a tougher job than you thought . It was tougher than i thought. Pres. Trump i had a feeling you might say that. Also, our great treasury secretary, steven mnuchin, has worked with bob hand in hand. And thank you very much, steve. Great job. [applause] pres. Trump so this really is a landmark agreement. But along with them, we had the exceptional efforts of jared kushner. Where is jared . Where is jared . Our brilliant jared. [applause] pres. Trump great job, jared. He worked hard. He left a beautiful, nice, very prosperous real estate business, and came here. And, i can tell you, that was harder. This is harder than real estate in new york, isnt it, jared . Right . A lot harder. Pres. Trump but youve done a fantastic job. You dont get people like that. So thank you very much. And, ivanka, nice to have you here. Thank you, honey. Also somebody that ive heard for 35 years. His voice is just a great gentleman, a friend of mine, but a great gentleman. We brought him in and he has been outstanding. The only problem is he doesnt like going on television very much. Hes a little bit shy about that. Larry kudlow. Wheres larry . [applause] pres. Trump where is larry . We had a day where the market went down 1 trillion. Think of that. In other words, it was one of those few days, because weve had 141 days where we hit alltime highs. And we just broke as you know, we just broke the 29,000 mark on the dow, just now, as we were walking in. The market is up substantially today. We have all these business leaders. Im sure they dont care. But larry kudlow went out into the beautiful lawns of the white house. Actually, he was standing in the middle of the rose garden. He had a beautiful scarf waving in the wind. He was everything perfect, right out of greenwich, connecticut. [laughter] pres. Trump and he started talking. And by the time he finished, i said, you just made a trillion dollars. A trillion. Because the market went up like 250 points. I said, larry, what the hell did you say . And it didnt matter. But we were even. We went from being a trillion down to even, and that was pretty good. Larry, youve been fantastic. Thank you very much. Appreciate it. And, by the way, i just see in the audience our great ambassador to china, right . Governor. So we had the governor of iowa, and he loves china. And hes the long youre the longestserving governor in the history of our country. Like 24 years. And i called him. I said, governor, you have to do me a favor. Because i remember one conversation i had with him. I was going in to make a speech, before the election, and he said, sir, please dont say anything bad about china. Its the first time anyone ever said that to me. And i said, who is this guy . Hes the governor of iowa. He just said, dont say bad about china. So i had to rip up about half of my speech, right . And i said, why . And he said, well, we do a lot of business. Ive been dealing with china for 35 years, with corn and all of the different things. And he told me a story that was amazing. He said, you know, 35 years ago, when i started, i met a man named xi. He wasnt president then; he was a young man. And the governor came back. He told his wife, he said this is 35 years ago. And its documented. He said, i just met the future president of china. And nobody thought much about it. And you know what . Twentyeight years later, you turned out to be right. And you have been an incredible ambassador. And they like each other so much. So when it came time to picking the important position of ambassador, i said, havent you had enough after 24 years being governor of iowa . He said, if you want me to do that. And its been a great youve been a great help. Thank you very much, ambassador. I appreciate it. [applause] pres. Trump done a great job. Nobody could have done that job better. A man i think i can go on the opposite side of the spectrum, perhaps, from the governor. His attitude is a little different. Our trade advisor, peter navarro. Right, peter . [laughter] pres. Trump hes a little different. We have all types. We have all types. A deputy chief of staff, chris liddell, whos been with us for a long time, and hes done a fantastic job and had a great business career. Commerce secretary a legend on wall street wilbur ross. Wheres wilbur . Thank you. Wilbur, thank you. A man who knows agriculture as well as anybody in the world. We were looking for an agricultural person, and we wanted to go political, and we were looking for somebody that would fit perfectly. And sonny came in, and it was over. I learned more in that half hour about agriculture than i joni, right . Than i could ever have learned, possibly. Sonny perdue has been incredible. And were taking care of our farmers that, i can tell you. So, sonny, thank you very much. Great job. Thank you. Thank you, sonny. And a woman transportation is going very well. Shes done an incredible job. Were getting approvals down now from 20 years 21 years to 2 years. And it may get rejected for environmental or other reasons. But we have it, lindsey, down to about two years. A highway which would have taken 19 to 20 years to get approval, we have it down to 2. And we want to get it down to one. And if it doesnt work, were going to say, you dont build it. But youre not going to wait 22 years to find out you cant build the highway. And she has been fantastic, secretary of transportation elaine chao. Thank you, elaine. Thank you, elaine. So we have tremendous numbers of people here, and im saying, do i introduce them . But i think i sort of should because what the hell. This is a big celebration. And, by the way, some of the congressmen may have a vote, and i dont its on the impeachment hoax. So, if you want, you go out and vote. Id rather have. Its not going to matter, because its gone very well. But id rather have you voting than sitting here, listening to me introduce you, ok . They have a hoax going on over there. Lets take care of it. So, if any of you guys want to leave, we will not be where is Kevin Mccarthy . The great Kevin Mccarthy. Ok, good. Im glad. Can i be honest . Im glad. I like it much better that way. And, by the house folks, 195 to nothing. And we got 3 democrats, and one of them actually left the democratic party, came over republican. And what a job youve done. So i just want to thank you all. Really tough. I love that. So we have some incredible people in the audience, and id just like to introduce a few a very good friend of mine two very good friends of mine, sheldon adelson, miriam adelson. Thank you very much, both, for coming. Theyve been tremendous supporters of us and the republican party. And theyre great people. A man who always liked me because hes smart, so smart. The great lou dobbs. You know, at first, he said, hes the best since reagan. Then, he got to know me more and more, and he said, hes even better than reagan. Then, a few weeks ago, somebody told me and i watch all the time, but somebody has got a very important show, actually. Tremendous audience and very everybody in this room watches. But lou dobbs, he said, hes the greatest of them all. I said, does that include washington and lincoln . And he said yes. Now, i dont know if he was for real, but thats ok. But the great he is the great lou dobbs. Thank you very much, lou. [applause] thank you. Great show, lou. And a man who Everybody Knows he knows more than probably everybody in this room put together. Hes seen it all. And he made a statement to jared. Jared came in and said, you know, Henry Kissinger told me, how did the president ever pull this off . I said, can i quote henry on that . Because henry is outstanding. And when henry is impressed with something, then im impressed. And, henry, were impressed with you. Thank you very much for being here. Thank you, henry. [applause] thank you. And, michael pillsbury, thank you very much. And, susan pillsbury, thank you very much. And youve been saying some fantastic things about china and about us. And we have a good partnership. This is going to be something thats going to be very special. Were going to talk about it in a second. A friend of mine, steve schwarzman, is here. Steve, i know you have no interest in this deal at all. Im surprised youre not actually sitting over here on the ledge of the stage as opposed to but steve has done a great job and very Good Relationship with china and very Good Relationship with us. Nelson peltz is here, a friend of mine. Wheres nelson . Nelson is around here someplace. Hi, nelson. What are you doing sitting all the way back there, nelson . Hows General Electric doing, nels . Hell straighten it out. Youll straighten it out. He came in nice and late. He didnt get in too early, thats for sure. Hank greenberg is here. Hank. If they took care of hank, they wouldnt have had the problems that they had. Wheres hank . Hank greenberg. [applause] oh, hank. If hank stayed there like he should have, you wouldnt have had the problem that you ended up having with our economy. But its great to have you, hank. Thank you very much. We have some tremendous senators here and some really incredible people. And i want to just say, the ones that are here, if i miss your name, stand up and i will promise to say it, because a lot of people wanted to be here. A senator who has been new to the game, and he took it up so quickly and so easily, and he ran a race that was undoable. The person he ran against was unbeatable. Nice woman, heidi, but unbeatable. And then kevin cramer said, i can beat her. And i think he only won by about 12 points, right . And they say hes the only man in north dakota that can win. And i said, well do it. And i had him in my office three times and i said, kevin, you got to do it. And i said, hes doing it. And he turned me down. Then he came back again well, this time, i know hes doing it. He calls me back and he said, sir, im not going to do it. He said, you know, in all fairness, ill call you back. But i never give up, do i . So now, instead of being a congressman, hes a senator. And youve been great. And thank you very much. Kevin cramer. [applause] mike crapo, a friend of mine. These are all warriors. These are incredible. Mike, thank you very much, mike. What a job you do. Mike is one of those guys goes unsung, but behind the scenes, theres nobody sharper, smarter, and we all respect you and love you. Every one of these people. Thank you very much, mike. Appreciate it. Steve daines. Same thing i can say for my steve. And hes got a hell of a football team. How did they do this year . All right . They going to be back . They won it again . They have a good team. They have a good team. Joni ernst. You got ethanol, so you cant be complaining, right . Steve. Steve, thats good for you too. You know, joni would call me, along with chuck grassley; theyd call as a tandem. You cant beat the two of them. All they want to know about is ethanol. Ethanol. But we got it done. Deb fischer same boat, right, deb . You want that ethanol for nebraska. And a friend of mine, lindsey graham. Hes become a great friend of mine and hes an outstanding man. He loves our country. He really does love our country. He works like hell. Do you do anything other than politics . Sen. Graham golf. Pres. Trump hes likes golf, too. He likes golf too. Much better golfer than people would understand. He likes golf. But hes a great guy. You get it done. He brings people together. Chuck grassley. Wheres chuck . Wheres chuck . Chuck. Will you stand up for a second . This guy is the toughest guy. He can Say Something in a nice manner and everybody is afraid. Right . [laughter] he made comey choke during the hearing. He said, did you leak anything to the press . What . What . What . What . Comey choked like a dog, and he was being nice when he said it. Chuck is outstanding. Unbeatable between you and the governor, those are two pretty good ones, right . Unbeatable under any circumstance. He makes the rounds like virtually every night. I think you still have never missed a vote. Have you ever missed a vote . He was chuck was huh . Sen. Grassley since 1993. 93. Trump he was in my office a month ago, and i thought it was very rude. He said, sir, im sorry, i have to leave. Why . That was right in the middle of a meeting. I said, why . He said, because i have to vote and ive never missed a vote or some i said, how many years . He said, 1993. Thats a long time. I said, you know what . Go leave. Thats a good record to keep. Because hes a solid, reliable, unbelievable person, and hes a friend of mine. So thank you very much, chuck. And let them know also about that ethanol, chuck. We brought home the ethanol. Man, when you have those two calling they were not nice about it, jerry moran. I want to tell you wheres jerry . Jerry, they were not nice about the ethanol. I want to say that. And jerry, with what he did with were working together very closely together with the vets. And its incredible whats happened with what we approved on choice. Its made a whole big difference. You dont hear complaints about the va anymore. Do you notice . They go out, see a doctor. If they have to wait two months, or if they have to wait two days, they go out and see a doctor. Jerry moran, folks. He did a fantastic job. [applause] rob portman, great friend of ours from ohio. Rob, fantastic job. I just left ohio. They love you. They love you there, and youve done a fantastic job. And you are my friend. Rob portman. [applause] thanks, rob. Pat roberts. A man from kansas, who is going to be leaving us. I cannot believe that youre not running again. You have at least at least another 12 good, solid years in the senate if you wanted them. You have to do it. Youre sure, right . Ok. Hes made that decision. But, pat, thank you very much. And this is very important to pat and to mike rounds, because whats happened here, if you look, its so much about everything you stand for, especially the farmers. And the farmers are going to be so happy. Where is mike rounds . Mike . Mike . Stand up, mike. Hes another one. He was brutal to me. He would call, i got to get this done. You got to get i