Thank you very much for the invitation to be here today with you, and thank you so much for arranging this nice weather in this place. Mr. President , im very glad that we had such a good meeting, and this is due to your strong leadership. And this is also due to our strong partnership. Obviously the fact that we celebrate 20 years of Strategic Partnership this year is important for both our nations, and it is important to know, and this is what i want to underline. That this partnership with the United States of america shaped romania as it is today. Romania, a solid democracy with the a solid, sustainable economic growth. Romania, which stands together with the u. S. Troops in afghanistan. We stand together in iraq. Mr. President , this partnership contributed greatly to what romania is today, and this partnership was and is very important. And i think this partnership not only has to continue, this partnership has to become stronger. This partnership has to define our bilateral relation, and this partnership has to contribute to solve so many problems. President trump, you mentioned terrorism. Im very glad that due to your strong leadership, nato decided to go against terrorism. Your involvement made so many nations conscious of the fact that we have to share the burden inside nato. This is why romania also decided, and if im right, i think this is the first country during your mandate to step up to 2 of gdp for defense spending. A significant part of this defense spending is going into strategic acquisitions, and i hope, President Trump, that we find good ways together to make good use of this money. Romania is very conscious of the fact that we stand on the eastern flank, and we heavy rely on your partnership, President Trump, because we cannot stand there without the u. S. We cannot stand there alone. On the other hand, our partnership has huge opportunity to step up not only in security matters, but also in commercial and economic matters. And this is very important. Romania is a member of the European Union, and i think its the best interest of you, mr. President , to have a Strong European Union as a partner. This is vital for all of us. Our relationship, the transatlantic link, is vital. The transatlantic link is not about policy or diplomacy. Its at the basis of our western civilization, and together we will make it stronger. Together, we will make it better. Nato and the European Union do not have to compete against each other. They have to work together. They have to work in such a manner as to produce synergetic effects, make europe stronger, make the United States of america stronger. And this is what we decided, President Trump and i to make our partnership stronger, better, more enduring. And this will lead very soon to an enhanced economic exchange, to better commerce. And this is what we all decide and what we wish because we are responsible, President Trump and i, not only for the security. We are responsible for the well being of our citizens, and this is what we are deciding to do. Thank you so much, President Trump. Thank you. Dave boyar, washington times. Dave . Thank you. Come on, dave. Thank you, mr. President. Apologies. Thats all right, dave. Mr. President , this morning on twitter, you were referring to the testimony of james comey vindicating you. But i wondered if you could tell us in person, sir, why you feel that his testimony vindicated you when it really boils down to his word against your word. And if you could also tell us, sir, do tapes exist of your conversations with him . Well, ill tell you about that maybe sometime in the very near future. But in the meantime, no collusion, no obstruction. Hes a leaker. But we want to get back running our great country, jobs, trade deficits. We want them to disappear fast. North korea, big problem. Middle east, a big problem. So thats what i am focused on. Thats what i have been focused on. But yesterday showed no collusion, no obstruction. We are doing really well. That was an excuse by the democrats, who lost an election that some people think they shouldnt have lost because its almost impossible for the democrats to lose the Electoral College as you know. You have to run up the whole east coast, and you have to win everything as a republican, and thats just what we did. So it was just an excuse. But we were very, very happy. And frankly, james comey confirmed a lot of what i said. And some of the things that he said just werent true. Thank you very much. Do you have a question . Thank you. Mr. President , if you could tell us a couple weeks ago, President Trump was in brussels at the nato meeting, and not only was he encouraging nato members to pay up the 2 required of gdp for national defense, but he also was saying that countries including yours, who had not paid 2 in the past, should make up for that difference. Do you think thats fair . I was in brussels, and i met President Trump, and i listened to his speech. And i liked it because, you see, nato is based on values. But it is ultimately a military alliance. And, you know, military spendings are complicated, and you need a lot of money because nato is the strongest alliance the earth ever saw, and we want to keep it that way. So we have to spend money for defense purposes, and spending money means if youre an alliance, everybody has to spend money. This is called burdensharing, and i fully agree, mr. President , to that. So, of course, some people liked this better, and some didnt like it so much. But its a simple fact that we have to do this not as a purpose in itself. We have to do this to stay strong, to be strong, and to defend our nations. 100 correct. And, you know, one of the things i was referring to during that speech was the fact that, yes, they havent paid what they should be paying now. But for many years, they havent been paying. So i said, do we ever go back and say, how about paying the money from many, many years past. Now, i know no president has ever asked that question, but i do. Were going to make nato very strong. You need the money to make it strong. You cant just do what weve been doing in the past. So i did say, yes, you havent paid this year. But what about the past years, the many past years where you havent paid . Perhaps you should pay some or all of that money back. You have a question . Thank you h. I ha. I have a question for President Trump. On the matter of security, sir, many of the countries on the eastern flank of nato, including romania, see russia as a threat to the security and the peace in the region. Do you share this vision, and do you think that United States should act under article 5 if any of these country will be under military aggression . Thank you very much. Well, im committing the United States and have committed, but im committing the United States to article 5. And certainly we are there to protect, and thats one of the reasons that i want people to make sure we have a very, very strong force by paying the kind of money necessary to have that force. But, yes, absolutely id be committed to article 5. Thank you. Mr. President , were there any discussion about the Visa Waiver Program for romania . Is there a time frame for including our country in this program . Thank you. Yes. We didnt discuss it, but there would be certainly it would be something we will discuss. Mr. President . I mentioned this issue, and i also mentioned it during other meetings i had because this is important for us. Its important for romanians who want to come to the United States. And you see more and more people come, President Trump, from romania to the United States. Some come as tourists. Some come for business, and those who come for business should be encouraged. So the matter of visa waiver would be probably important to discuss, and we all hope that we will advance on this. Good. Oh, look at those hands up there, president. Do you have this in romania too . I dont know. Ive got the microphone if you allow me, mr. President. If i could only sell that. If i could only sell it. Mr. President who would like to ask . Should i take one of the Killer Networks that treat me so badly as fake news . Should i do that . Huh . Mr. President. Go ahead, john. Thank you. Be fair, john. Oh, absolutely. Remember how nice you used to be before i ran . Such a nice man. Always fair. Mr. President , i want to get back to james comeys testimony. You suggested he didnt tell the truth in everything he said. He did say under oath that you told him to let the flynn you said you hoped the flynn investigation, he could let it go. I didnt say that. So he lied about that . Well, i didnt say that. I mean i will tell you i didnt say that. And did he ask you to pledge his and there would be nothing wrong if i did say it according to everybody that ive read today, but i did not say that. And did he ask for a pledge of loyalty from you . Thats another thing he said. No, he did not. So he said those things under oath. Would you be willing to speak under oath to give your version of those events . 100 . I didnt say under oath. I hardly know the man. Im not going to say, i want you to pledge allegiance. Who would do that . Who would ask a man to pledge allegiance under oath . I mean think of it. I hardly know the man. It doesnt make sense. I didnt say that, and i didnt say the other. So if Robert Mueller wanted to speak to you about that i would be glad to tell him what i just told you. You seem to be hint there are recording im not hinting anything. Ill be telling you over a short period of time . When is that . Do you have a question here . When will you tell snus . Over a very short period of time. Are there tapes, sir . Youre going to be very disappointed when you hear the answer. Dont worry. John, do you have a question for the president . Yes. Thank you. President iohannis, you are no stranger to russian aggression. Vladimir putin recently suggested that romaine could be in russias crosshairs. How concerned should the world be about russian aggression in your region, and how concerned should we be here in the United States about what russia tried to do in our election, sir . Everybodys concerned. But, you see, being concerned should lead you to being prepared. So in my opinion, we have to be very clear, very simple, and very straightforward if we talk about russia and with russia. In my opinion, we need dialogue. But on the other hand, we need what we all together decided in nato, a strong deterrence. So this combination, strong deterrence and dialogue, should lead towards a solution which is feasible for every part. Hello, mr. President trump. You mentioned earlier in the corruption fight in romania, it is a matter of high importance in our country. But we see now that the anticorruption fight and the air force to consolidate the rule of law are sometimes undermined by some politicians. Part of what we can call the bucharest swamp. Is your administration going to support the anticorruption fight in romania, and how can you do it . Thank you. Well, we support very strongly romania, and therefore obviously we do support that fight on anticorruption. We will always support that. And we support your president. We think hes done an outstanding job. Very popular, very solid, working very hard. We know everything thats going on. And, yeah, and hes going to win that fight. Hes going to win that battle, but he has our support. Thank you so much. Romania as a problem for the u. S. Romania Partnership and for the american investor as a threat because we still have corruption in romania despite this anticorruption fight. Well, you do, but i can tell you that there are Many American investors right now going to romania and investing. In fact, i was given a chart just before our meeting, and we have meet going over to romania and investing, and they werent doing that a number of years ago. So that shows very, very big progress, and there really are a lot of congratulations in store. But a lot of people are investing from america, and people love, from romania, the United States. And they come here a lot, and were very proud of them. Thank you all very much. Thank you. Thank you very much. President trump with the romanian president Klaus Iohannis there at the white house with a how should we characterize this . At times rather awkward news briefing. Off the cuff. It was very much off the cuff. Bill griffith along with kayla towshi who is joining me for closing bell here at the new york stock exchange. We have a pretty interesting day on wall street as well, which well get to. Were seeing the faang stocks roll over and take the nasdaq with it. Theres quite a turnaround in tech in the day. We had been on a record day. The vix set a 24year low, but then all of a sudden analysts started putting out some notes about perhaps high valuations being too high in the tech space. Apple, the new iphone, talk it would not have the strongest, fastest chim op out there and t stock has been down 5 today. Lets wrap things up from this News Conference at the white house. Did you say john is ready . John harwood there. Some interesting followup from the testimony yesterday. Thats right. There was three big headlines from this News Conference. The most important was the president saying he was 100 willing to testify under oath about his interactions with james comey. Of course, the fired fbi director testified under oath yesterday. The president today said that he had been vindicated by comeys testimony while also saying that comey had said things that were not true, including that he had asked for loyalty and including that he had told the fbi director thenfbi director that he hoped he would drop the inquiry into michael flynn. We will certainly here followup to that issue, and he said he would speak to Robert Mueller, who is the special counsel. The other two headlines were the president said, which he did not at the nato meeting not long ago, that he would commit the United States to the article 5 collective defense provision of the nato alliance. That is something that was taken out of the speech that he gave at that time. Thats significant. Then the third thing was complicating the life of secretary of state Rex Tillerson because Rex Tillerson earlier today had tried to tamp down the tensions between qatar and other nations in the region. The president stomped on those tensions by coming out and reiterating his statements that qatar was a funder of terrorism and took credit for the fact that other arab nations, including saudi arabia, were cracking down on qatar. So qatar, of course, is an ally of the United States where more than 10,000 troops are stationed. This is a diplomatic problem that the president has exacerbated for his secretary of state. All right, john. Thank you. John harwood there at the white house. Lets bring in dan clifton. You have a trump portfolio. Yep. That youve put together based on the expectations of wall street of what could be done in terms of policy here. But let me get just your take on the last couple of days and the way the market has responded or not responded to that. Yeah. So thank you for having me on, bill. Let me start off by saying that our trump portfolio performed very well right up until it was revealed that comey had memos of his meeting with donald trump. And thats when you started to see the market move away from trump being able to get his agenda through, really pushing into some of these tech stocks like the faangs, and you saw a bifurcation between the sta p 5 and the trump stocks. Thats important context because starting yesterday, as soon as that testimony began, you started to see the trump portfolio begin to outperform. And its amazing to see the divergence between the Washington Press corps saying that trump is in more trouble after comeys testimony, and the market et is saying something e. That its a he said versus he said, and this gives Congress Time to get the trump agenda through. Thats why you see bank stocks up so big. So the market is saying that trump basically bought himself a life line yesterday through this testimony and did no real damage to himself in this hearing. But, dan, that could partly be because congress is able to act and to keep its head down despite the distractions coming from the white house. But im thinking back to comeys written testimony. He mentioned two specific instances where he said the president mentioned a, quote, cloud over his presidency, that the russia investigation was impairing his ability to make deals for the United States. We just saw a press conference where the lions share of the questions were about the former fbi director. For how much longer does this go on . Oh, i think its going to go on, and its going to be a cloud, and its going to drag him down. Kayla, youre a washington pro now, so you understand. Members of congress are worried about trump bringing down their boat. So youre seeing a renewed urgency on capitol hill. Look at the progress that theyre making on this Health Care Bill in the senate. Something a week ago that seemed unimaginable. Dan, are they . Oh, absolutely. What do you know . You know something we dont . Youll start to see texts of that come out next week. Youll see medicaid phase out over five years. Youll see the subsidies enhance. Maybe some of the tax cuts pushed back a little bit. The reason why thats important, kayla, is because Getting Health Care out of the way opens up the door to what investors really want, and thats tax reform. Youve got to close that health care before you get there, and youre