Read the full WH press pool report on a bilat between Macron and Trump in London.
At 2:23pm, the pool was ushered in a large room.
President Trump and French president Emmanuel Macron were seating next to each other in front of large flags from the two countries.
POTUS started with a very conciliatory tone, did not raise President Macron’s comment on “brain death”
POTUS on trade
“We have a minor dispute I think we will probably be able to work it out”
They then shook hands briefly before President Macron started talking.
The handshake was a far cry from their famous “knuckles turning white” handshake, during their meeting in the 2017 NATO summit in Brussels.
More POTUS remarks, overall on a rather conciliatory tone, from Q&A which lasted about 39 minutes.
Please check against transcript as always.
IRAN
Does the United States support the protesters in Iran?
“I don’t want to comment on that but the answer is no”
US/FRANCE / TRUMP-MACRON
“We’ve done a lot of good things together as partners. Our countries have been partners in many good ventures including some having to do with radical Islam and others. It has always worked out. I look forward to our discussion. Made a lot of progress in our first 25 minutes. And we intend to make a lot of progress in our next hour, maybe hour and a half.”
AFRICA
“One thing I will also would like to say you’ve been really doing a great job in Africa and you’ve been very much involved there”.
TECH COMPANIES AND TARIFFS
“We have discussed it. Maybe we’ll do it with taxing. We can work it out easily through taxing. They’re American companies, the tech companies you’re talking about are not my favorite people because they aren’t exactly for me but that’s okay. They’re American companies. We want to tax American companies. That’s important. We want to tax them. Not somebody else to tax them. And as the president knows we taxed wine and have other taxes scheduled. We would rather not do. That it will either work out or we’ll work out some mutually beneficial tax. And the tax will be substantial and I’m not sure it will come to that but it might.”
FOREIGN FIGHTERS
“We have a tremendous amount of captured fighters, ISIS fighters over in Syria. And they are all under lock and key but many are from France, many from Germany and from the UK. Mostly from Europe. And some of the countries are agreeing. I have not spoken to the president about that.
Would you like some nice ISiS fighters? I can give them to you”.
Quotes from president Macron (speaking English) following POTUS remarks on foreign fighters.
“We will have a case-by-case approach. But for me the very first objective in the region is to finish work against ISIS. And don’t make any mistake. Your number one problem are not the foreign fighters. This is the ISIS fighters in the region and you have more and more of these fighters due to the situation today.”
“Because sometimes you can have some temptation from the US side, I don’t say from president Trump, but could be the press, to say this is a European responsibility. I am sorry to say that, we have some people, but if you don’t look at the reality of the situations that is number one: not to be ambiguous with these groups.”