Very well. We have a great relationship with romania. The United States and romania have gotten along better than ever before, so i want to thank you for that, and we have got big trade going on, business. We have a lot of trade with romania. They are very talented people. We buy, they buy. We have a lot of romanian people in the United States, and they are tremendous people, they work hard and are very, very successful. How many do you have in the United States, you know . Has anyone figured that out . Pres. Iohannis we have a lot of romanians in the state. Pres. Trump i think i know most of them. Pres. Iohannis great people. I think a quarter of a million or so. Pres. Trump its a lot. A very large population, and they love romania, too. They have never forgotten romania. They are very much inclined in that way, that is a good thing. I want to thank you, mr. President. It is a great honor. Pres. Iohannis thank you so much, mr. President. It is a great pleasure to be here. Pres. Trump would you like to Say Something . Pres. Iohannis it is great to be back here with you, mr. President , and now we have the opportunity to talk about our very good strategic partnership, and under your strong leadership, we have progressed, and we will continue doing so. This is very important for us, and i think we are on the right path, and i thank you for that. Pres. Trump i think we are on the right path. A lot of interesting things happening, also in your country, but we appreciate the trade, and we will have a big meeting a while after this, and we will have a meeting in the cabinet room with a lot of your officials, and we look forward to that. Yes, any questions . Reporter mr. President , what contingency steps is the white house thinking about to shave off any economic slowdown . There has been talk of a payroll tax cut kicked around, some other tax cuts. You have talked about a cut of the fed rate. Quantitative reasoning. What are you looking at . Pres. Trump i would like to see a cut of the fed rate. They were tardy on it. They raised too quickly, and i have been quite vocal on that. They also did quantitative tightening, which was ridiculous, and so and despite that, if you look i guess you can call it normalized, but if you look, our economy is doing fantastically, and if you take a look at the previous administration, they were not paying interest, they had no Interest Rates. They were loosening, not tightening, and frankly, there is a big difference. You have to be proactive. We really need a fed cut rate, because when you look at what is going on with the european union, as an example, they are cutting. Take a look at germany, what they are paying, they are doing something nobody has seen before. We have to keep up to an extent, and right now, we are paying a much higher rate of interest, and we did not follow the world, and generally speaking, that is ok, but you cannot have that much of a disparity, so we are looking for a rate cut. It would be really greatly helped if the fed did its job and did a substantial rate cut. Also, they were doing quantitative tightening. Very bad to do. They should be doing easing, no tightening, or at a minimum, they should be doing nothing about that, but they have to do a rate cut. The other thing is we are looking at various tax reductions. But im looking at that all the time anyway, tax reductions. This is one of the reasons we are in such a strong economic position. We are right now the number one country in the world by far as an economy. Europe has got a lot of problems, and asia has got a lot of problems. You look at china, china has had the worst year they had in 27 years, and they want to make a deal with us, but i can tell you, i am not ready to make a deal. Unless they are ready to make a right kind of deal, i am not ready to make a deal, and i dont know, but i will say this. Something will happen, maybe soon, maybe a little bit later, but china very much wants to make a deal. Reporter what kind of tax cuts would you look at . We have heard again, with the payroll tax, indexing, Capital Gains. What would you accept . Pres. Trump we have been talking about indexing for a long time, and many people like indexing. It can be done very simply. It can be done directly by me. I can do it directly. We are talking about indexing. We are always looking at the Capital Gains tax, payroll tax. I would love to do something on Capital Gains. We are talking about that. That is a big deal, goes through congress. Payroll tax is something we are talking about, and a lot of people would like to see that. It very much affects the workers of our country, and we have a lot of workers. Right now, by the way, we have more people working today than we have ever had before in the history of our country. We have almost 160 Million People working today. I think the word recession is a word that is inappropriate, because it is a word that the certain people i will be kind certain people in the media are trying to build up, because they would love to see a recession. We are very far from a recession. In fact, if the fed would do its job, i think we would have a tremendous spurt of growth. A tremendous spread. The fed is psychologically important. Less so actually, but psychologically important. If the fed would do its job, which it has done poorly over the last year and a half, you would see a burst of growth like you have never seen before, and that would be lowering Interest Rates and maybe putting some if you look at what china is doing, if you look at what germany is doing, if you look at what so many are doing, putting some money in, because we want to compete with these other countries. So, i think that we actually are set for a tremendous surge of growth if the fed would do its job. That is a big if, frankly. The fed should be cutting, and i would say at a minimum, 100 basis points over a period of time. Not at one time, but over a period of time. [indistinct chatter] pres. Trump i am not talking about doing anything at this moment, but indexing is something that a lot of people have liked for a long time, and it is something that would be very easy to do, and a lot of people have been talking about indexing for many years, and it is something that i am certainly thinking about. I can say that a majority of the people in the white house, they like indexing, so it is something i am thinking about. Payroll taxes, i have been thinking about payroll taxes for a long time. Whether or not we do it now, it is not being done because of recession. Because we are legitimately, if we had a cut in Interest Rates by the fed, if they would do their job properly, and if they would do a meaningful cut, because they raised too fast, you would see growth like you have not seen ever in this country. Now, if you go from the election, that great november 8th day, if you go from november 9th to the present, you see a 60 increase in the stock market. You are talking about unemployment numbers that are the lowest in history in many categories, and overall, almost the lowest ever in the history of our country. I think it was 1969, and we are set to surpass that number. I mean, our country is doing very well. When i spoke to the president when we were just walking in, he said, congratulations on the Great Success of your economy, and i appreciate it, our country is doing very well. [indiscernible] pres. Trump it is something we will be talking about today. It is something we will talk about. Erica the g7, would you like to have Vladimir Putin back at the g7 . Pres. Trump so it was the g8 for a long time, and now, it is the g7, and a lot of time, we talk about russia. We talk about russia, because i have gone to numerous g7 meetings, and i guess president obama, because putin outsmarted him, president obama thought it was not a good thing to have russia in, so he wanted russia out, but i think it is much more appropriate to have russia in. It should be the g8, because a lot of the things we have to talk about concern russia, so i could certainly see it being the g8 again, and if somebody would be making that motion, i would be disposed for it favorably, and most of the time, it was the g8 and included russia, and president obama did not want russia in, because he got outsmarted. Well, that is not the way it really should work. [indistinct chatter] [indiscernible] pres. Trump we have spent a lot of time on it. We have spent a lot of time discussing it already. Our countries have been discussing it. We are taking it up today at the important meeting. Sounds like you like the idea. You like the idea . Ok. No, it is something we are thinking about. On venezuela, is the white house in contact with the maduro regime . Pres. Trump we are in touch. We are talking to various representatives of venezuela. We are helping venezuela as much as we can. We are staying out of it, but we are helping it, and it needs a lot of help. It is an incredible tribute to something bad happening, and the something bad is socialism, and it is amazing, because 15 years ago, it was one of the wealthiest countries. Now, it is one of the poorest countries. It has oil reserves, it has a lot of things going, but it is a sad thing happening. They dont have water, they dont have food, and we are helping a lot. We are talking to the representatives at various levels with venezuela. We are talking at a very high level. What is the status of the trade deal you want to seal with Boris Johnson and the g7 . Pres. Trump i think Boris Johnson is going to be a great Prime Minister. I think hes going to do a great job. A lot of people know we have a very good relationship. I think he will be far superior. I think you will do something i think he is going to be very important for the u. K. Dealing with the european union, i hate to say this, but it is very difficult. They drive a hard bargain. They are represented by jeanclaude, a friend of mine, but he is a great negotiator, and we have all of the cards in this country, because all we have to do is tax their cars, and they would give us anything we wanted, because they send millions of mercedes over, millions of bmws. We are talking to the european union. I will say this dealing with u. K. , they have not treated the u. K. Very well. That is a very tough bargain they are driving, the european union. It is a very tough bargain, and i think that the u. K. Has the right man in charge right now, the right person in charge in the form of boris. In terms of afghanistan, what is your current thinking on pulling out the United States . Pres. Trump we are talking to the government of afghanistan. We are talking to the taliban. We are talking to others. We are looking at different things. We have been there 18 years. Its ridiculous. We have taken it down a notch. We are at about 13,000 people right now, 13,000 americans. Nato has some troops there, too, by the way. We are having good discussions. We will see what happens. We will see what happens. It is 18 years. We are not really fighting. We are almost more of a police force over there. It has been so many years. We are like a police force. We are not supposed to be a police force. I have said any number of times, and this is not using nuclear, we could win that war in a week if we wanted to fight it, but i am not looking to kill 10 Million People because that is what would have to happen. Im not looking to do that. But it is a war that has been going on for almost 19 years now, and, frankly, it is ridiculous. But, with that being said, it is a dangerous place, and we always have to keep an eye on it. Sounds like you would like to pull completely out if you could. Pres. Trump i would like to look at various alternatives. One of the alternatives is going on right now. We are talking about a plan. I dont know if it is going to be acceptable to me. I dont know if it is going to be acceptable to them but we , have good talks going, and we will see what happens. This is more than what other president s have done, but we are bringing some of our troops back, but we have to have a presence, yes. Can you clarify your position on enhanced background checks . After el paso and dayton, you seemed to be in support of enhanced measures. You seemed to suggest we already do you have strong background checks. A lot of people read it as you said as dialing back. Pres. Trump i am not doing that to be cute. We have very, very strong background checks right now, but we have missing areas and areas that do not complete the whole circle, and we are looking at different things. I have to tell you that it is a mental problem, and i have said it 100 times. It is not the gun that pulls the trigger. It is the person who pulls the trigger. These are sick people. It is also that kind of a problem. And we are looking at mental institutions, which we used to have. As an example, where i come from in new york, they closed up many of their mental institutions, and those people went onto the streets, and they did it for budgetary reasons. Well, new york is not unique. They have done that in many places. Would you support either of the hospitals . Pres. Trump i am not going to either of the house bills . Pres. Trump i am not going to get into that, but we are in very meaningful discussions with the democrats, and i think the republicans are very unified. We are very strong on the second amendment. The democrats are not strong at all on the second amendment. I would say they are weak on the second amendment. I think theyd give up the second amendment. A lot of the people that put me where i am are strong believers in the second amendment. And i am, also. We have to be very careful about that. They call it the slippery slope. And all of a sudden, everything gets taken away. We are not going to let that happen. [indiscernible] pres. Iohannis well, i hope so, because we have good results, and i want to share those with President Trump. Pres. Trump what is your question . So nice to have a question about romania. Will you discuss the issue of corruption . Pres. Trump sure, i will. Of course i will, but i think this is a man who can solve the corruption problem in romania, and he has made big strides. From what i hear. I have not been there recently, but he has made very big strides, and i think he is the man that can solve the corruption problem. There are a number of terrific countries like romania, but they have a tremendous corruption problem, and i have heard you have made tremendous progress. Pres. Iohannis we did. What is the status of your foreign aid cutback . Pres. Trump we are looking at it and looking at it from different ways, and we are talking to republicans and democrats about it and there are , certain things we can say. It would probably be a penny wise. We will see. We have things that are on the table very much, and we will let you know probably sooner than one week. Mr. President , your administration has been taking to make it easier to discriminate against the Lgbt Community in the workforce. Pres. Trump you know, i just got an award and an endorsement yesterday from the exact group, you saw that. They gave me the endorsement yesterday, and i was very honored to was it log cabin, the log cabin group . I have done very well with that community. Some of my biggest supporters are of that community, and i talk to them a lot about it. I think i have done really very well with that community. As you know, peter thiel and others are with me all of the way, and they like the job i am doing, and i just got a big endorsement from the log cabin group. Yeah . You keep insisting on your trade war with china not affecting the u. S. Economy. A lot of economists disagree with that. Pres. Trump let me tell you something. Number one, we are doing very well as an economy, but somebody had to take china on. I see so much and i read so much, and i see the economists say, give up, give up on china. China has been ripping this country off for 25 years, for longer than that, and whether it is good for our country or bad for our country shortterm, longterm, it is imperative that somebody does this, because our country cannot continue to pay china 500 billion a year because stupid people are running it, so i do not mind this question. Whether it is good or bad shortterm is irrelevant. We have to solve the problem with china because they are taking our 500 billion a year plus, and this does not include the intellectual property theft, and other things, and also national security, so i am doing this whether it is good or bad for your statement about, oh, we will fall into a recession for two months, ok . The fact is, i had to take china on, and my life would be much easier if i did not take china on, but i like doing it, because we have to do it, and we are getting good results. China has had the worst year they have had in over 27 years, and some say it is the worst in 54 years. Ok . And frankly, i do not want that to happen, but it does put us in a good negotiating position, doesnt it . And china wants to make a deal. But it has to be a deal that is fair to us. It cannot be a deal that is not fair to us. You should be happy that i am fighting this and fighting this battle, because somebody had to do it. I do not even think it was sustainable to let go on what was happening. They were stealing all of our intellectual property, ideas. The theft was incredible. They call it intellectual property theft, and they value it at 300 billion a year. Who knows how they value it . I know how to value dollars. I do not know how to value intellectual property theft, but they have experts, and they say it is 300 billion a year. Somebody had to do something with china. Obama should have done it. Bush should have done. Clinton should have done it. They all should have done it. Nobody did it. I am doing it. So when you say, oh, my trade deals. My trade deals are not causing a problem. This is something that had to be done. The only difference is i am doing it. I could be sitting here right now with the stock market that would be up 10,000 points higher if i did not want to do it, but i think we had no choice but to do it. A lot of people who really know, he will who really know, people who love our country are saying, thank you for taking that on. We are winning because they are having the worst year they have had in decades, and it is only going to get worse. China has lost 2 million jobs in the last month and a half because they are moving, the people and companies are moving, to nontariff countries. They have lost over 2 million jobs in a very short period of time. They are going to lose a lot more jobs, and if i did not help certain companies, american companies, like apple, for a short period of time i will