Trade, Korea, Comey:Trump holds court
President Donald Trump gives few news conferences, but he gave a wide-ranging one on the White House North Lawn on Friday. Here are five key take-aways.
‘THEY’VE TAKEN SO MUCH’
Vowing to cut U.S. trade deficits and protect the nation’s high-tech “crown jewels,” President Trump said he was levying a 25 per cent tariff on up to US$50 billion worth of Chinese imports, instantly escalating a trade dispute between the world’s two largest economies. China’s government quickly responded that it would “fight back strongly” with penalties of the same scale on American goods. Trump said he was fulfilling a campaign pledge to crack down on what he contends are China’s unfair trade practices and efforts to undermine U.S. technology and intellectual property. The president hailed his “very big tariffs” on China. “You know we have the great brain power in Silicon Valley, and China and others steal those secrets. And we’re going to protect those secrets. Those are crown jewels for this country,” Trump said. Asked about inciting a trade war, he said, “There is no trade war. They’ve taken so much” already.
‘DEN OF THIEVES’
The president disputed findings by the Justice Department that former FBI Director James Comey’s handling of the Hillary Clinton email probe was not politically motivated, declaring that the FBI was biased “at the top level” and “plotting against my election.” The department’s inspector general report, while critical of the FBI and Comey personally, did not find evidence that political bias tainted the investigation of Clinton’s email practices in the months and days leading up to Trump’s election. But after tweeting that he did a “great service” to the nation by firing Comey, Trump claimed the report “totally” exonerated him. On the inspector general report that found no political bias in the FBI’s final conclusions, he said, “The end result was wrong. There was total bias.” “Comey was the ring leader of this whole, you know, den of thieves. It was a den of thieves,” he said. Trump’s comments followed the IG’s 500-page report that said Comey was “insubordinate” in his handling of the Clinton investigation because he broke agency protocol.
‘VERY BIASED’
Trump declared said he believes the Russia probe is “very biased” and has reservations about being interviewed by special counsel Robert Mueller, raising more questions on whether he will consent to an interview as part of the investigation. Trump said he “would like to talk” to Mueller, but the probe “seems to be very biased.” Trump’s legal team has repeatedly cast doubt on whether the president would sit for an interview with Mueller, who is investigating Russian interference in the 2016 election. Rudy Giuliani, the president’s attorney, has suggested that a presidential interview with Mueller may not happen in the aftermath of the inspector general report into the FBI.
OBAMA ‘GAVE AWAY CRIMEA’
The president again blamed former president Barack Obama for the Russian annexation of Crimea, saying Obama allowed it to happen when he “gave away” respect for the United States. “President Obama lost Crimea because President Putin didn’t respect President Obama,” Trump said. He repeated his point about Obama and the 2014 invasion and annexation from Ukraine several times. Obama “gave away” U.S. credibility when he did not follow through with threatened airstrikes against Syria, Trump said, adding the he had not made the same error.
‘I’M KIDDING’
Trump complimented Kim Jong Un’s authoritarian rule in North Korea, observing that when the 35-year-old dictator speaks, “his people sit up at attention.” “I want my people to do the same,” he said. Later, he told CNN that it had been a joke. “I’m kidding,” he said. Admonishing the journalist, the president added, “You don’t understand sarcasm.” Trump said that North Korea has already started returning the remains of U.S. soldiers missing during the Korean War. “They are already starting to produce the remains of these great soldiers.” He also defended his meeting with Kim. “If you don’t agree to meet, you know what you will have? You will have nuclear war,” he said.