Pres. Trump thank you very much. Thank you. Look at all the press that you attract. Do you believe it . I hope not. You are lucky. Thank you very much. Today it is my honor to welcome president new nist oh of finland to the white house. Mr. President , it is wonderful to host you once again in washington once again. We have gotten to know each other over the last period of time and it has been a great experience. The president and i have concluded productive discussions on a number of exciting opportunities for our two nations. I want to express our dip console and says over the horrific stabbing attack our deep condolences over the horrific stabbing attack at a college in finland. The american and finnish people are linked by an abiding commitment to selfgovernment, individual rights, democracy, and the rule of law. This past may come our countries celebrated the 100th anniversary of americas recognition of the independent nation of finland in 1919. As president wilson wrote at the time, our recognition was prompted by the sympathies for a cause similar to that, which caused our own declaration of independence in 1776. A century after we established diplomatic relations, the United States and finland remain united by those same to cherished values, central to this effort is our nations close cooperation on matters of security and defense. Although finland is not a member of nato,. Save a lot of money. Fillon participates in a lot of Nato Missions and exercises, and i am pleased that finland is substantially increasing its military budget. America and finland are working stability, advance freedom of navigation, and respect for National Sovereignty in the arctic. Both nations are committed to a secure arctic region free from external intrusion, interference, and coercion. Simply put, we believe the affairs of the arctic should be governed by the actual nations of the arctic. As you know, there are other people coming into the arctic, and we dont like it. We cannot let it happen. And we wont let it happen. The United States and finland are likewise partnering to ensure the security of 5g networks. It is critical that we use safe and trustworthy technology, components, supply chains. We welcome the establishment of Innovation Center in finland. Qualcomm has done a fantastic job with it. Innovation will expand american and finnish businesses in cooperation with 5g. Where also thankful for the Finnish Company nokia. Developing cuttingedge products right here in the United States at bell labs in new jersey. Of course, the United States Foreign Direct Investment from finland totaled over 10 billion. Each year, finnish owned Companies Invest more than 120 Million Dollars in research and development in america, and expand our exports by more than 1 billion. Nish nokia, fin manufacturing plant in dayton, tennessee. It is creating hundreds of brandnew beautiful jobs for a great state, tennessee. We love tennessee. They made a wise choice. You never lose when you go to tennessee. I encourage other Finnish Companies to increase investments in the United States. There has simply never been in better time been a better time to do business in america. We have passed tax cuts and reform and regulation cuts. We slashed business tax, and we are fueling job growth through recordsetting campaign to abolish all of those really terrible, unnecessary regulations. We have plenty of regulations but many of them we did not need and we got rid of them. The American Economy is booming. Wages are rising. Income is soaring, and the American Economy is booming. Unemployment has reached its lowest in a century. In. Any countries are coming it is the hot place. We have the hottest economy in the world. It is the hot place to be. They all want to be here. The president and i are working on a way to improve International Trade based on the possible of fairness, and my favorite word, reciprocity. Holds the rotating presidency of the eu council, will support our efforts to achieve a mutually beneficial agreement with your in union. We will have to start doing something with the European Union, because they have not been treating this country right for many, many years, and i tell them, and they know it. Americas trade deficit with the eu has been averaging 160 billion per year for many, many years. Achieving more balance and robust trade would greatly benefit both finland and the United States. We appreciate finlands Strong Partnership combating theft of property. From trade and security from traveled in commerce, we are grateful for our friendship with the great people of finland, and we are now working on a deal to sell a large number of airplanes, fighter jets, hopefully, the finland. See how that works out, but we make the best jet planes in the world. We make the best missiles in the world. Nobody else is even close. Mr. President , i want to thank you again for visiting the white house. The history of our two nations is a profound testament to the importance of our resolve. I look forward to continuing to work alongside of you. As we safeguard our precious sovereignty of hope, harmony, and fees for the american and and peace for the american and finnish people, and thank you very much for being with us of the white house and the oval office. We appreciate it very much. Thank you, sir. Pres. Niinisto thank you, mr. President. First of all, i will deliver your condolences to the finnish people. They do appreciate that. Thank you. Ladies and gentlemen, before meeting, i had some spare time, so i visited a couple of museums here, the museum of american history, the museum of american african history, and the museum of American Indian history, and in addition to that, i have the possibility of attending a ceremony in arlington. Mr. President , you have here a great democracy. Keep it going on. We had a very good discussion with the president. Like you mentioned, our diplomatic relations are hundreds of years old. During that time, we have developed our cooperation, not only in official meetings like this, but american and finnish people, scientists, for example, need each other, cooperating together. We have a lot of operation in the security sector, also in defense, because i think that we share a feeling that the most important thing for the nation is to guarantee security to its citizens. And that is the starting point for finland also, to this cooperation. I wanted to take up with the president the importance of transatlantic cooperation. Well, we all know europe needs the usa. But i say that the usa needs also europe. We know the price of everything. We should recognize the value of everything. We share the same values democracy, human rights, order and in that, we are very europe has, in a way, awakened during the couple last years, to understand also more about the Security Point of view, and i just want to tell you that, in my opinion, the stronger europe we have, the stronger partner you have. The arctic area, you know, is very north. It is becoming more and more interesting, like the president said. Alongside, we both seek countries from the arctic council, and we are working heavily. There are surely, possibilities, like the maritime routes are being opened. Maybe there are also resources, but there are huge risks. One of them is that we should keep the low tension we are used to having there, and that is what we have been discussing, and i do appreciate the president s position to emphasize that it is not a place for military. An even greater challenges the environment. I am very glad that we started talking about in this very house, which is of course climate problems, but everybody can understand that it comes down to ice and snow, when the sun meets it, it melts down. And the melting of sea ice in the arctic is very crucial. I used to say that if we lose the arctic, we lose the globe. We had a couple of very important ones on arms control. Some of us remember the first years of the cold war in the 1960s. There was no agreement at all, just cold war. We cannot let the situation return, no agreement at all, and and thatarms control, is why it is important to try to negotiate new agreements and to continue the new start agreement. That will be a good, new start for the International Accord very soon. You, mr. President , referred to 5g. The issues that i see as a whole, we are very proud to have the center of of excellence in helsinki. The usa has been very helpful in that, and very many countries are working there together to fight against the huge danger of warfare. When it comes to providers in that area, i am not very willing to point out any country or company here now, maybe a bit late from usa and eu making a risk assessment, it will be prepared in one, two weeks time. And after that, we are in a place that we have to choose the tools to protect us. Mr. President , i want to thank you very much for having the possibility of meeting you here. It is very valuable. I found your discussions very open, very interesting, and giving a lot to my little country. Thank you, sir. Pres. Trump thank you. Before we take questions, something happened that has been going on for many decades, and we came to conclusion, can i ask ambassador pence to come up and come up for one second and explain the importance of what just a place, because this has been going on for many, many years. This is ambassador pence, no relationship to our great Vice President. Nobody believes that, but it is true. [laughter] ambassador pence i have been introduced as his father, his brother, his cousin, his uncle. We are friends. [laughter] pence good afternoon. When i arrived in helsinki a year and a half ago, there were stacked papers on the desk, one of which concerned additional Indigenous Peoples from the southwest United States, generically, i will refer to them as hopi indians. In 1895, a lot of their remains had been excavated and removed, along with 500 artifacts, to finland, and there they remained despite a lot of activity to get them back. I will just jump to the end and say through the good offices of our state department, and in particular, president niinisto, with his entire team, we have secured an agreement a number of those remains, including a number of petrified bodies, will be going back to be put back where they were buried. So, special to us, and i think it is probably special to Indigenous Peoples everywhere around the globe that were all concerned about paying appropriate respect to those who departed before us. Those who have departed before us. So thank you, thank both of the president s for supporting this. Pres. Trump thank you. Thank you. Thank you. That is a great job, mr. Ambassador. That has been going on for many, many decades, so i just want to thank you. Outstanding. John roberts. John mr. President , thank you. President niinisto. If i could, i have two pertinent questions to ask you. The three house committees that are looking into the impeachment inquiries gave notice today they will be sending a subpoena to the white house for documents and other materials. Will you cooperate with those subpoenas . Pres. Trump i always cooperate. This is a hoax. This is the greatest hoax that has been playing out, john, since my election, we will find out soon, but probably even before my election. This is a fraudulent crime on the American People, but we are working together. But we will work together. Pelosi and all of them, we will see what happens, because we did absolutely i had a great call with the president of ukraine, was 100 . You have the transcript. And chairman schiff went up, the chairman of the committee, made up a call that never took place. He made up the language. It is hard to believe, nobody has ever seen this. He had some kind of a mental breakdown. He went up to the microphone and read a statement from the president of the United States, as if i were on the call. What happened, if you look at the sheet, which was an exact transcript of my call, done by very talented people who do this, exact, word for word, he said wow, he did not do anything wrong, so he made it up. He went up to a microphone, and in front of the American People, and in congress, he went out and he gave a whole presentation of words that the president of the United States never said. It has to be a criminal act. It has to be. And he should resign, and some people even say it was treason. But, it was a very sad thing. Just so you know, the call was perfect, the real call, the call i made. Many people on the line, i knew that, because usually when i was to foreign country leaders, you can name any one of them, i know that we have people listening from various intelligence agencies when i speak on the phone. My knowledge. I know all about it. So, this is not Something Like oh, gee, i am on the line, lets talk about a big secret. Many people are on the line, i do not know how many, but many people. Mike pompeo was on the line. He didnt say anything, because they listen for both knowledge and security reasons and for lots of reasons. But, the president of ukraine at the United Nations the other day, and previous to that, he announced through his spokesperson, said there was absolutely no pressure put on him, there was no quid pro quo at all, and if you look at the whistleblowers which i have a lot of respect for whistleblowers, but only when they are real he reported a phone callrt of the was totally different from the fact. But what got them is they never thought i was going to release a call. Because i do not like doing that. I hope we do not have to do it again. Release phone calls to foreign dignitaries, foreign leaders. I do not want to do that, john, but i did that with permission of the ukrainian government. We got permission. We called up representatives and ask them would it be ok . Otherwise, we could not have done it. If i would not have done it, i would have been exposed to a lie. Because the whistleblower report said seven or eight times i said quid pro quo. You will do this, or you will not get money. I never said that. Biden said it. And he is on tape. In all fairness, you have at least four United States senators, democrats, who all said it. Even schiff, in his made up story, said it. Obama, when he was dealing with the president of russia, not putin, he said hey, tell vladimir i can do a lot more after the election. Do you remember that . You didnt make a big deal out of that. Everyone said, isnt that cute . Isnt that cute . My talk in my response of that said, i cannot believe you are that nice. He said that loud and clear. It was perfect. Not a thing wrong with it. To impeach a president over a fraud that was committed by other people that want to win an election in 2020, which they wont, is incredible. This is the greatest hoax now, it has gone on for a long time. We had the mueller collusion delusion, ok. That went on for years. And that is finally done. No collusion, no obstruction, no nothing. It was a joke, and everyone knows it, and it was from day one. Now, i get three days of peace, and im walking into the United Nations to meet with the biggest leaders in the world, and i hear about the word impeachment. I said what did i do now . And it was a beautiful conversation that i had. Just remember, the ukrainian president , a fine man, said i do not know what you are talking about. There was no pressure. He said it a number of times. Ok, what was your second question well, you should not be asking two questions. John i think you will want to answer this question. Pres. Trump ask one of the finnish president. John i think you will like this one. Pres. Trump maybe i will come back to you. Maybe for the first time i will have a good question. John there was a report that came out just before you and president niinisto came out here, that pres. Trump i love that question. It shows that schiff is a fraud. Thank you, john. John can i finish . The whistleblower, according to this report, met with members of adam schiffs staff. Pres. Trump it is the New York Times. They wrote it. John something that the whistleblower knew. Pres. Trump i think this is a scandal he knew before, and i think he helped to write it. I give a lot of respect for the New York Times for putting it out. Just happened as im walking up here, it was handed to me, and i said to mike, that is a big thing, that is something. And he helped to write it, too. It is a scam. Just to appreciate on this and i love that second question, by the way. You shouldve asked it first. [laughter] pres. Trump but let me just tell you, the whole thing is a scam. The mueller deal was a scam. The russian collusion was a scam. You can ask putin. Nobody has been rougher on russia than donald trump, ok . With that being said, it would be great to get along with russia, and we will do along will get along with russia, because it is smart, but nobody has been tougher on russia van than donald trump. Ask one, please. John president niinisto, good to see you again. You had a conversation with President Trump about 5g and you about filling that also met with president xi. Do you believe companies, particularly western countries, will put while way equipment huawei equipment in their 5g cores are at risk . Pres. Niinisto thank you. Maybe i view it a little bit differently, because the main company you mentioned is inside europe. Partly, at least. What the European Union is now doing is making a risk assessment, asking each country what kind of experience, what you have seen and found out, and that will be in a week or two weeks time, and after that, we have to decide together in the European Union which kind of tools we need to protect ourselves. You refer to my discussions with president xi. We did not talk about 5g during the meeting. And we all know nokia is a major factor in this area. They will answer for themselves. Thank you. Pres. Trump please. Pick somebody who is really nice. From finland. Can we get a really nice person . I think they are all nice in finland. Pres. Niinisto are there finnish reporters . Just two. Ok. Pres. Trump uhoh. Pres. Niinisto wait a minute. Yes. Newster i am from mtv finland, i have one question for President Trump, and then one question for president niinisto. First, mr. Trump, how will this political storm affect u. S. Foreignpolicy, particularly its relationship with finland, and secondly, for president niinisto, because it is the Biggest Issue here at the moment, i have to ask, what kind of favors has mr. Trump asked from you . [laughter] pres. Trump the other way around, you mean. Pres. Niinisto what favors i asked . Pres. Trump i think you mean the other way around. The political storm, i have lived with it from the day i got elected. I have done more this administration has done more than any administration in the history of this country in the first two and a half years. I am used to it. For me, it is like putting on a suit in the morning. People have said to me how does he handle it . Rush limbaugh said, i dont know of any man that could handle it. Sean hannity said the same thing. I dont know any men in america, because it is all a fraud. Because i know that i am right, and i am doing a great job for the American People. I am very, very happy living the way i am living. I thought that i would finish off the first term without the threat of people making false claims, but this one turned out to be incredible, all because they did not know that i had a transcript done by very, very talented people, word for word, comma for comma, done by people who do it for a living. We had an exact transcript, and when we produced that transcript, they died. Because you look at the whistleblower statement and it is vicious, vicious and that whistleblower, there is no question in my mind that some bad things have gone on, and i think we will get to the bottom of it. I think it will be a total reversal. But i have lived with this. I have lived with his cloud now for almost three years more than that. Because it probably started even before. And i think nobody has done what i have done when you look at tax cuts and regulation cuts and rebuilding our military and right to try. Right to try. That means people who are terminally ill and very sick have a right to use our medicines, our great medicines, because we are so far ahead of every other country. So many things we have done our vets are now taken care of. We have got choice. Nobody thought we could ever get choice. That is when you have to wait on mine as a vet, you go outside, you get a doctor, we pay the bill, you do not have to wait three weeks to see a doctor. We cherish our vets. At least this administration does. But for many years, they didnt. We take care of our vets. I have lived with it from the day i got elected, so i am just fine with it, ok . Pres. Niinisto yes, we had a conversation and discussion on a very equal basis, which is i really appreciate that. Well, i had one request specifically. I wanted the president to take more notice on transatlantic relations, because i consider it useful both for the usa and europe. While we were discussing also trading, i told the president that the big purchase we are doing on fighters would be finished in two years time. We have five different candidates, three from europe and two from the United States. He answered that, ours is best. [laughter] pres. Trump jeff, go ahead. Jeff thank you, sir. Jeff mason, from reuters. Mr. President , i would like to ask you about your use of the word treason. You have used it repeatedly in the last few days. Do you consider anyone who opposes you treasonous . Pres. Trump no, i consider it when they lie. When they stand before our great body, our great chamber, and they make up an inspection, like they make up a story, like fiction, like schiff did. He took that perfect conversation i had with the ukrainian president and made it into a total lie, it was a total fabrication, and you do admit that. It was a total fabrication. He said this is what. And the only ones who do not like my conversation are the ones who never read it, and that is because of schiffy schiff. Believe it or not, i watch my words very carefully. There are those who think i am a very stable genius, ok. I watch my words very, very closely. And to have somebody get up and to totally fabricate a conversation that i had with another leader and make it sound so bad, it was so evil, and now i see this that just came out minutes ago, where he met, at a time that was impossible to have done, unless there is corruption involved and just so you know, we have been investigated on a personal basis through rudy and others, corruption in the 2016 election. We have been investigating corruption, because i probably will i was going to definitely but i probably will be bringing a lot of litigation against a lot of people having to do with the corrupt investigation, having to do with the 2016 election, and i have every right to do that, because the way they treated me and other people they have destroyed people, they have destroyed lives with a phony charge that never existed, and that was collusion. Never existed. And you had 18 people that hated donald trump, and you had bob mueller that hated donald trump, and in the end, they couldnt find one damn thing i could find it on you they could not find one thing about donald trump having to do with collusion. This is after two years and spending 42 million. And i have been looking at the at that long and hard for a long period of time. How it started, why it started it should never happen to another president , ever, but i have been talking about it from the standpoint of creating a major lawsuit, and i have been talking about it for a long time. We have been investigating the corruption and what they do, they destroyed many people. Many people feared they can down came down to washington to do a great job, and they left home they left washington dark. They were dark. They came down here i stayed bright eyed and bushy tailed. They wanted to do a great job for the people. They wanted to do a great job we won the election. And then, they get served with subpoenas. All these subpoenas. Now, look at nancy pelosi. Nancy pelosi hands out subpoenas, you know, she has to approve it. She hands out subpoenas like they are cookies. You want a subpoena . Here you go, take it. Like they are cookies. Paul ryan would never give anybody a subpoena. He would not give them, when meadows given to talk, jim jordan, devin nunes and i am not saying wrong or right, but paul ryan, no, lets talk about it. That is a big thing to give a subpoena. Lets talk about it. Two weeks later, they are still talking. They wanted subpoenas to investigate the corrupt democrats and the corrupt people on the other side. Paul ryan would not give subpoenas. Nancy pelosi, here you go. Take it. Who wants a subpoena . Every day you get a subpoena. And paul ryan was actually right, probably, because they should never ever a thing like this to happen our country again. Thank you very much, please. Jeff mr. President , can you just make clear right here what do you or did you want with regard to president zelensky and joann hunter biden . Joe and hunter biden . Pres. Trump he brought it up, i think he brought up the name rudy giuliani. What i want is the following, and ive said this loud and clear. We have our ambassadors here, we have mike pence here. Why are we the only ones that give the big money to the ukraine . We give money to the ukraine, and it has bothered me from day one. You have plenty of people, even here, that say how come it is always the United States that gets ripped . Frankly, the ukraine, we do want to help them. And i do like the new president. You know where like him . Why i like him . Because he was honest. He said there was no pressure exerted on me, meaning him, by the president of the United States. By the way, that one sentence should stop it, no pressure exerted on him, but you do not have to ask him, all you have to do is read the transcript, read the telephone call. I was having problem with two things. Number 1 before him , tremendousnd corruption. Tremendous. More than just about any country in the world. In fact, they are rated one of the most corrupt countries in the world, and i do not like giving money to a country that is that corrupt. Number 2 jeff you dont like pres. Trump excuse me. Number two, i said this loud and clear to everybody, and rob portman backed me up, nobody and there is nobody more honorable than rob portman of ohio. Because he called up and said please, let the money go, and i said rob, i hate being the only country that is giving money, when ukraine helps European Countries far more than they help us. They are like a wall between russia and europe. They are like a wall, a big, wide, beautiful while, and he he said,ful wall, and you know what . But it is important. He came out and he said that. I do not like being the sucker country. We were the sucker country for years and years, but i gave the money, because rob portman called and asked. And others called and asked. But i dont like to be the sucker. And European Countries are helped far more than we are. And those countries should pay a lot more to help ukraine. Ask your question. Reporter what did you want about biden . What was your opinion about biden . Pres. Trump biden and his son are stone cold crooked, and you know it. His son walks out with millions of dollars, the kid knows nothing. You know it, and so do we. Go ahead, ask your question. Jeff the question is what did you want president zelensky to do about Vice President biden and his son, hunter . Pres. Trump were you talking to me . Jeff yes, it was a followup of what i just asked you, sir. Pres. Trump listen, we have the president of finland. Ask him a question. Jeff i will, i just had a followup President Trump did you hear me . Ask him a question. I have given you a long answer. Ask him a question. Dont be rude. Reporter i dont want to be rude. I just want you to answer the question i asked you. President trump you know who is playing the hoax, people like you, and the fake news media, and i have said people like you, corrupt, much of the media in this country is not just fake, it is corrupt, and you have some very fine people, too, great journalists, great reporters, but to a large extent, it is corrupt, and it is fake. Ask the president of finland a question, please. Jeff ok, i will move on now. Mr. President , in your opening remarks, you had said that you went to u. S. Museums today, and you respected u. S. Democracy and you encouraged him to continue it. Are you concerned that is not happening . My second question do you, sir, is, the wto ruled in favor of the United States in a that the United States can now impose tariffs on european pres. Trump that was a big wins win for the United States. We are having a lot of wins at the wto. Jeff this was a case that started, i think 10 or 15 years ago. Pres. Trump excuse me. The wins are now, because i do not like the wto, and they want to make sure i am happy, because all of those countries were ripping us off. Ripping off the u. S. For many years. We had a lot of wins. This is a 7 billion win. Not bad. Jeff the question, sir, you are if you are concerned that the president will impose those tariffs, and the effect that may have on the economy . Pres. Niinisto yes, first of all, when i refer to your democracy, i just want to tell that i am impressed at what American People have gained during these 100 or so years, living up a very impressive democracy, so keep it going on. To the wto, i have a lot of respect to multilateralism and to international institutions, so wto has given now a situation a decision which is, well, quite tough with europe, but i just say that the wto has said its opinion, and that is that. Pres. Trump and i just want to finish by saying it is an honor to be with the president of finland. There. Saying itto finish by is an honor to be with the president of finland. The wto has been a much better to us since i have been president because they understand they cant get away with what they have been getting away with, ripping off the United States. Increase member the last remarks, that we are a great democracy. The United States is a great democracy. What i am airing because we are in fact a democracy. And if the press were straight and honest and forthright and tough, we would be a far greater nation. Will be far greater without the cnns of the world which are a corrupt people. Thank you very much. Announcer live thursday on cspan, the discussion about the diversity of federal judges, hosted by the center for American Progress at 11 30 a. M. Eastern. Eastern, remarks by samantha powers, former u. S. Ambassador to the United Nations. Followed by a townhall meeting with on legislation dealing with poverty and benefits. On cspan 2 at 9 00 a. M. , general david berger, the commandant of the u. S. Marine corps discusses military priorities for the indo pacific region. And on cspan 3, former Federal Reserve chair janet yellen and ben bernanke discuss the impact of inflation on monetary policy. Hat is at 9 45 a. M. Eastern morning onhis washington journal, at 8 00 political reporter tom lobianco talks about his biography on Vice President mike pence. At