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‘Spies and Treason’: Read a Transcript of Trump’s Remarks Related to the Whistle-Blower ‘Spies and Treason’: Read a Transcript of Trump’s Remarks Related to the Whistle-Blower
(32 minutes later)
President Trump addressed a crowd from the United States Mission to the United Nations on Thursday. Mr. Trump discussed a range of topics, including a whistle-blower complaint against him that says he tried to compel the president of Ukraine to help him in the 2020 presidential election.President Trump addressed a crowd from the United States Mission to the United Nations on Thursday. Mr. Trump discussed a range of topics, including a whistle-blower complaint against him that says he tried to compel the president of Ukraine to help him in the 2020 presidential election.
The following is a transcript of a part of Mr. Trump’s remarks, that were shared with The New York Times. Portions related to the whistle-blower and the Ukraine matter are in bold. The following is a partial transcript of Mr. Trump’s remarks that was shared with The New York Times. Portions related to the whistle-blower and the Ukraine matter are in bold.
[For more coverage of the remarks and Mr. Trump’s reaction the complaint, read here.][For more coverage of the remarks and Mr. Trump’s reaction the complaint, read here.]
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PRESIDENT TRUMP: The same letter that we announced yesterday, which was perfect, I couldn’t have written it better if I wrote it myself. I could not have said or had a better conversation. And we had a really nice gentleman in the president of Ukraine yesterday.PRESIDENT TRUMP: The same letter that we announced yesterday, which was perfect, I couldn’t have written it better if I wrote it myself. I could not have said or had a better conversation. And we had a really nice gentleman in the president of Ukraine yesterday.
And he was great. They said: “Was he pressured you?” These animals in the press. They’re animals actually. Some of the worst human beings you’ll ever meet.And he was great. They said: “Was he pressured you?” These animals in the press. They’re animals actually. Some of the worst human beings you’ll ever meet.
AUDIENCE: Fake news! AUDIENCE MEMBER: Fake news!
TRUMP: Fake news, fake news. They’re scum, many of them are scum. You have some good reporters but not many, I’ll be honest with you. And that’s one of the things we battle. You’ll find out, but they’ll probably like you better than they like me, but I had to get us here right? But they’re total- just terrible dishonest people and they couldn’t figure out— “What do we say bad about this conversation?” TRUMP: Fake news, fake news. They’re scum, many of them are scum. You have some good reporters but not many, I’ll be honest with you. And that’s one of the things we battle. You’ll find out, but they’ll probably like you better than they like me, but I had to get us here right? But they’re total — just terrible dishonest people — and they couldn’t figure out — “What do we say bad about this conversation?”
Then it turns out that they had senators, Democrat senators went over there and strong-armed the guy. “You better damn well do this or you’re not going to get any money from Congress.” Oh I see, that’s O.K.? And then you have sleepy Joe Biden who’s dumb as a rock. Then it turns out that they had senators, Democrat senators went over there and strong-armed the guy. “You better damn well do this or you’re not going to get any money from Congress.” Oh I see, that’s O.K.? And then you have Sleepy Joe Biden, who’s dumb as a rock.
(Laughter)(Laughter)
This guy was dumb on his best day, and he’s not having his best day right now. He’s dumb as a rock. So you have sleepy Joe, and he goes up, and his kid, who’s got a lot of problems, he got thrown out of the Navy. I mean look I’m not going to— it’s a problem, that’s a problem, so we won’t get into why and all that. But he got thrown out of the Navy, and now this kid goes into Ukraine, walks away with millions of dollars, and he becomes a consultant for $50,000 a month. And he doesn’t know anything compared to anybody in this room. He’s a stiff, he knows nothing. He’s walking away with $50,000, or as you would say in the old days 50k, a month. Not bad. Would anybody else in this room like to represent Ukraine just like— This guy was dumb on his best day, and he’s not having his best day right now. He’s dumb as a rock. So you have Sleepy Joe, and he goes up, and his kid, who’s got a lot of problems, he got thrown out of the Navy. I mean look I’m not going to — it’s a problem, that’s a problem, so we won’t get into why and all that. But he got thrown out of the Navy, and now this kid goes into Ukraine, walks away with millions of dollars, and he becomes a consultant for $50,000 a month. And he doesn’t know anything compared to anybody in this room. He’s a stiff, he knows nothing. He’s walking away with $50,000, or as you would say in the old days 50K a month. Not bad. Would anybody else in this room like to represent Ukraine just like —
(Crowd cheers)(Crowd cheers)
TRUMP: That’s on top— You got the job — That’s on top of hundreds of thousands and millions of dollars. But that’s not the best one. The best one was China. This came up. So now he goes to China, and I was with the head of Blackstone which is the big deal. Steve Schwarzman. I said, “Steve, is that possible?” “No, why? Who got that?” I said “Biden’s son.” “Ooh,” Well then you know he says, “Maybe I shouldn’t get involved, you know it’s very political.” I say, “Steve, what happens when you come off a vice presidential plane, it’s called Air Force Two, your father’s with you, you walk into a room in China and they give you a fund of $1.5 billion, billion, you make hundreds of thousands of dollars and millions of dollars off that. And that’s probably not all they gave him. They gave him plenty more I’m sure. We might never find out. TRUMP: That’s on top — you got the job — that’s on top of hundreds of thousands and millions of dollars. But that’s not the best one. The best one was China. This came up. So now he goes to China, and I was with the head of Blackstone which is the big deal. Steve Schwarzman. I said, “Steve, is that possible?” “No, why? Who got that?” I said. “Biden’s son.” “Ooh,” Well then you know he says, “Maybe I shouldn’t get involved, you know it’s very political.” I say, “Steve, what happens when you come off a vice presidential plane, it’s called Air Force Two, your father’s with you, you walk into a room in China and they give you a fund of $1.5 billion, billion, you make hundreds of thousands of dollars and millions of dollars off that. And that’s probably not all they gave him. They gave him plenty more, I’m sure. We might never find out.
And then they talk about me and I didn’t do anything. I don’t know if I’m the most innocent person in the world. And then they talk about me, and I didn’t do anything. I don’t know if I’m the most innocent person in the world.
(Laughter)(Laughter)
TRUMP: But you know you look at that— most presidential, I just said I’m the most presidential except for possibly Abe Lincoln when he wore the hat, that was tough to beat. TRUMP: But you know you look at that — most presidential, I just said I’m the most presidential except for possibly Abe Lincoln when he wore the hat — that was tough to beat.
(Laughter)(Laughter)
Honest Abe, when he wore that hat, that was tough to beat. But I can’t do that, that hat wouldn’t work for me. Yeah, I have better hair than him. But Honest Abe was tough to beat. Remember we used to do that during the campaign. They used to say, when I speak, the crowd would be crazy, I’d go crazy— we would all go crazy. We had a lot of fun together. We had 25,000— We’ve never had an empty seat. From the day I came down the escalator, with a potential— unbelievable woman who became a first lady. Honest Abe, when he wore that hat, that was tough to beat. But I can’t do that, that hat wouldn’t work for me. Yeah, I have better hair than him. But Honest Abe was tough to beat. Remember we used to do that during the campaign. They used to say, when I speak, the crowd would be crazy, I’d go crazy — we would all go crazy. We had a lot of fun together. We had 25,000 — We’ve never had an empty seat. From the day I came down the escalator, with a potential — unbelievable woman who became a first lady.
(Applause)(Applause)
The crowds loved her, the people love her.The crowds loved her, the people love her.
But we’ve never had an empty seat, not one. I really believe that. There was one case where we had a tremendous snowstorm, and it was just about frozen. It was like a monster storm, I don’t even know how it got there. I said, how’s the crowd? “It’s just not full sir.” I said what does that mean. There’s like two seats on top. Thousands and thousands of people couldn’t get there. So they show pictures of the empty seats. The worst storm they’ve had in years. They show pictures of like 9 empty seats. They could have been people just went to the bathroom together. But we’ve never had an empty seat, not one. I really believe that. There was one case where we had a tremendous snowstorm, and it was just about frozen. It was like a monster storm, I don’t even know how it got there. I said, “how’s the crowd?” “It’s just not full, sir.” I said what does that mean. There’s like two seats on top. Thousands and thousands of people couldn’t get there. So they show pictures of the empty seats. The worst storm they’ve had in years. They show pictures of like nine empty seats. They could have been people just went to the bathroom together.
(Laughter)(Laughter)
I always say just get the biggest arena. Good location if you can, but get the biggest arena. We did it the other night, Tuesday night. We had two congressmen, one who was possibly going to win, he was up by 2, he won by about 27 I think, or something like that. A lot. The other one was down by 17. And they said “Sir, don’t campaign for him please.” “Why?” “Because if he loses they’re going to kill you, the press.” I said they’re going to kill me whether I campaign or not. It’ll make it a little bit worse. They’ll say he worked and he failed. Trump failed. The guy was down 17 points and he ended up winning by a lot. In fact, the whole night, CNN... (inaudible) I always say just get the biggest arena. Good location if you can, but get the biggest arena. We did it the other night, Tuesday night. We had two congressmen, one who was possibly going to win, he was up by two, he won by about 27, I think, or something like that. A lot. The other one was down by 17. And they said, “Sir, don’t campaign for him please.” “Why?” “Because if he loses, they’re going to kill you, the press.” I said they’re going to kill me whether I campaign or not. It’ll make it a little bit worse. They’ll say he worked and he failed. Trump failed. The guy was down 17 points and he ended up winning by a lot. In fact, the whole night, CNN. . . (inaudible)
TRUMP: The studio was going to stay up for weeks, and toward the end of the night they were taking it down. Their so-called stars were leaving. They don’t have many stars. But they were taking— the stars were leaving. The candidate Dan Bishop won by a lot. He was down by 17, and they had lines a mile long. I mean the lines going into those voting booths were unbelievable. And without the rally speech, and a couple of tweets and Twitter stuff is good. We have like way over 100 million people on 6 or 7 different platforms. It’s actually much higher than that, higher than just about everybody. And it helps. It helps. They have signs oftentimes when I speak. This woman the other night, beautiful woman, she’s got a son: “Please keep tweeting sir, it matters.” And it does matter, because we get our voice out. If we don’t do that we don’t get the voice out. TRUMP: The studio was going to stay up for weeks, and toward the end of the night they were taking it down. Their so-called stars were leaving. They don’t have many stars. But they were taking — the stars were leaving. The candidate Dan Bishop won by a lot. He was down by 17, and they had lines a mile long. I mean the lines going into those voting booths were unbelievable. And without the rally speech, and a couple of tweets and Twitter stuff is good. We have like way over 100 million people on six or seven different platforms. It’s actually much higher than that, higher than just about everybody. And it helps. It helps. They have signs oftentimes when I speak. This woman the other night, beautiful woman, she’s got a son: “Please keep tweeting sir, it matters.” And it does matter, because we get our voice out. If we don’t do that, we don’t get the voice out.
I can’t say what a great job Kelly []Kraft] is doing, and I can’t say what a wonderful husband he is. Look at how devoted he is. He’s a rich man too. He’s loaded. What are you doing here? Why are you working? He’s so proud of his wife he can’t leave his office. That’s really great though, huh? Are you all proud of her? He said very much. And he’s really a fantastic guy, he’s been a friend of mine for a long time. Before I met Kelly, I met Joe [Kraft]. And Joe impressed me because of his knowledge of energy. Now he could be paid— O.K., you’re going to pay a guy 50— For him that’s not quite good enough, although he might. He might. It’s easy money Joe, you have to say. But he would be an expert on energy, he would be a real expert. He would be somebody you would pay a lot of money too, but not Joe Biden’s son. I can’t say what a great job Kelly []Kraft] is doing, and I can’t say what a wonderful husband he is. Look at how devoted he is. He’s a rich man, too. He’s loaded. What are you doing here? Why are you working? He’s so proud of his wife he can’t leave his office. That’s really great though, huh? Are you all proud of her? He said very much. And he’s really a fantastic guy, he’s been a friend of mine for a long time. Before I met Kelly, I met Joe [Kraft]. And Joe impressed me because of his knowledge of energy. Now he could be paid — O.K., you’re going to pay a guy 50 — for him that’s not quite good enough, although he might. He might. It’s easy money, Joe, you have to say. But he would be an expert on energy, he would be a real expert. He would be somebody you would pay a lot of money to, but not Joe Biden’s son.
So the whistle-blower came out and said nothing. Said “a couple of people told me he had a conversation with Ukraine.” We’re at war. These people are sick, they’re sick. And nobody’s called them out like I do. I don’t understand, people are afraid to call them out. They’re afraid to say that the press is crooked. We have a crooked press, we have a dishonest media. So now they’re devastated, but they’ll always find something. I’m sure there’ll be something they’ll find in this report that will suit their lie. But basically that person never saw the report, never saw the call. Never saw the call. Heard something, and decided that he or she or whoever the hell it is— sort of like almost a spy. So the whistle-blower came out and said nothing. Said “a couple of people told me he had a conversation with Ukraine.” We’re at war. These people are sick. They’re sick. And nobody’s called them out like I do. I don’t understand. People are afraid to call them out. They’re afraid to say that the press is crooked. We have a crooked press. We have a dishonest media. So now they’re devastated, but they’ll always find something. I’m sure there’ll be something they’ll find in this report that will suit their lie. But basically that person never saw the report, never saw the call. Never saw the call. Heard something, and decided that he or she or whoever the hell it is — sort of like almost a spy.
I want to know who’s the person that gave the whistle-blower the information because that’s close to a spy. You know what we used to do in the old days when we were smart? Right? With spies and treason, right? We used to handle them a little differently than we do now. Now you have guys like little Adam Schiff defending you. He says pencil neck. That name stuck. He’s got shirts that are too big, because you can’t buy shirts that small. He was never a coal miner Joe, let’s put it that way. I don’t think he worked in the mines. Do you think? I don’t think so. I want to know who’s the person that gave the whistle-blower the information, because that’s close to a spy. You know what we used to do in the old days when we were smart? Right? With spies and treason, right? We used to handle them a little differently than we do now. Now you have guys like little Adam Schiff defending you. He says “pencil neck.” That name stuck. He’s got shirts that are too big, because you can’t buy shirts that small. He was never a coal miner, Joe, let’s put it that way. I don’t think he worked in the mines. Do you think? I don’t think so.