than mediation. at the end of the day we have constant exchanges with president trump. i share his goals, he'll say he doesn't agree with methods, but i want to get there, i want to have an agreement. and i think there's been a true change. this morning president rohani showed himself to be opening to this meeting happening and president trump has been saying for weeks he's been demanding and being tough and putting forward sanctions but i'm ready to have a meeting to make a deal. i think we're making progress. i want this meeting to happen and i want there to be an agreement between the united states and iran and france will play the role that it's meant to play together with the united kingdom, with germany and all of the other signatory powers and the permanent members of the security council. >> iran is a country that's not the same country it was two and a half years ago when i came into office. iran was the number one state of terror throughout the world. there were 18 sites of confliction in my first week when i spoke with the folks at the pentagon, including lots of generals and lots of other military experts. 18 sites of confliction. meaning 18 sites of big problems. every one of them was backed by iran or in some cases actually using iranian soldiers. but at a minimum iranian wealth, much of it given in the ridiculous deal where they were given $150 billion plus $1.8 billion in cash and they used that money for some bad purposes. with that being said i think that iran is a country of tremendous potential. we're not looking for leadership change. we're not looking for that kind of change. this country's been through that many times before. that doesn't work. we're looking for no nuclear weapons, no ballistic missiles, and a longer period of time. very simple. we can have it done in a very short period of time and i really believe that iran can be a great nation. i'd like to see that happen. but they can't have nuclear weapons. okay? thank you. excuse me? >> would you agree to meet -- >> if the circumstances were correct or right i would certainly agree to that. but in the meantime they have to be players, you understand what that means. and they can't do what they were saying they're going to do because if they do that they're going to be met with really very violent force, we have no choice. so i think they're going to be good. i really think they'd like to -- and by the way president macron told me every step that he was making yesterday, a lot of you said oh, he came and he told me long before he came in what was happening, what was -- i didn't think it was appropriate to meet yesterday, too soon. and things have to be worked out first. but president macron told me exactly what was happening, who was coming, what time they were coming, where they were going to meet and after the meeting he told me exactly what happened. and i think he had a very positive meeting. prime minister rabi of japan, also a large purchaser of oil from iran, he was also very much involved and, you know, look, he knows everybody there so he was a very, very positive force. i have to tell you the president's done an excellent job and we're going to see how it all turns out. maybe it works, maybe it doesn't. i say it all the time about everything, maybe it works and maybe it doesn't but i'll tell you what, we made a ridiculous deal, gave them $$150,000,000,001,800,000,000 and we got nothing, we got nothing. and by the way that agreement was so short-term that it expires in a short period of time with a country you don't make a deal that short. countries last for long times and you don't do short-term deals, especially when you're paying that kind of money. so i have good feelings about iran. i have good feelings that it will work. i no many iranians living in new york city have many friends from iran, they're incredible people, incredible people. so the last thing i'd like to see is a big problem. but we have to do what we have to do. okay? go ahead, please. no, no, you first. go ahead. no, no, go ahead, yes, yes. >> thank you. president macron, did you -- did you seek president trump's permission before you invited foreign minister zarif or did you simply inform him that he was coming? >> translator: thank you for the very fine question. to be very clear, and we are part of the gcpoa. we decided to remain -- we are very much interested by the situation as a sovereign country. that's why we want the different parties to move. on deals assigned as president trump made it very clear over the summer, we never spoke on behalf of all the countries. we just tried to put forth solutions and see if we can find an agreement with different countries. so we took an initiative this summer to make a proposal, a technical one. i got the reaction from iran who president zarif visits on friday morning. after the conclusion of the g-7 dinner on saturday evening, i thought that it was very clear about where we can go together. so the day after i decided to invite, as friends, minister zarif. so i informed, before making it, i informed president trump that it was my idea, not to involve the united states, not to say this is on behalf of you. but to say as friends i think it would be a good idea to ask him to go back and try to negotiate something. so i did it on my own. i informed, before making it, president trump was informed at each minute about the solution -- the situation, sorry. and the idea for me was in case of certain moves and important moves and appropriate solutions perhaps to have meetings between ministers, not at president trump's level because president trump's level is presidential. this is a french initiative, but made by a clear information of the u.s. president before, information as well of the europeans and each time i informed president trump in order to monitor the situation and in order to appreciate together that something more was adapted. >> i have to say the jcpoa was a bad deal, should not have been entered into. a lot of things could have happened that would have been much different. they're allowed to test ballistic missiles. you're not allowed to go to various sites to check. and some of those sites of the most obvious sites for the creation or the making of nuclear weapons. and those things have to be changed, and other things have to be changed. and i will tell you, i have very good feelings about it. i think that we're going to do something. it may not be immediately but i think ultimately we're going to do something. iran is a much different country than it was two and a half years ago. and we can get that back and i'd encourage it. i actually had friends years ago, many years ago, they were in the real estate business and they were in iran and they were building houses and building housing and building office buildings and apartment houses and they did very well. they made a lot of money. and to this day they're not exactly the youngest developers anymore, but i tell you they were young when they went over there. they made a lot of money and they loved the people and they loved what was going on. it's a country with tremendous potential. i also say that, by the way, with respect to north korea. kim jong-un, who i've gotten to know extremely well, the first lady has gotten to know kim jong-un and i think she'd agree with me, he is a man with a country that has tremendous potential. you're in between china, russia and south korea. people want to get to south korea. they've got to get there somehow. and if they're going to do anything other than essentially fly they want to go through. so railroads and everything else. so many things want to happen there. i think that north korea has tremendous economic potential and i think that kim jong-un sees that. he would be the leader. and i think he sees the tremendous potential that it's got. with respect to iran same thing. iran is incredible people and incredible country potentially. location, that's a little rough neighborhood but eventually it's going to be a beautiful neighborhood. i think that it's going to be -- i think it's going to work out and i really believe that those countries that went into the original deal, that more and more are agreeing with what i did. but i think those countries are going to be saying thank you some day. i hope they're going to be saying, including france, including the president because i think we dead tid the right t. i know we did the right thing. if for no reason it's too short, almost expiring if you think about it. somebody said you'll go and make an extension. no, no, they're great negotiators, look at what they did to get the deal. look at what they did to john kerry and to president obama. look what happened, where they're bringing plane loads of cash, big planes, 757s, boeing 757s, coming in loaded up with cash. what kind of a deal is that? so i think a lot of good things are going to mhappen and i just want to say this because i've spoken a lot with the president this last two and a half days. we've never had a better relationship. we had a lunch that lasted for quite a while that many of you got to see. it was the two of us, no staff, no anything. he wasn't trying to impress his people. i wasn't trying to impress his people. we were just trying to impress each other. and i'll tell you what, it was the best period of time we've ever had. and we accomplished a lot. i don't mean just gee whiz, wasn't that nice? he's a very capable man, doing a great job for france, did an incredible job for the g-7 and i just want to thank you. and you go ahead to your news conference, and very special. this was a very special, very unified two and a half days and i want to thank you for it. thank you. >> thank you. >> thank you, i will leave the floor to president trump. and i will at the end wait for the end of your own press conference -- >> translator: i don't want to give anything away, but we saw your wife, the first lady, drink a glass of french wine yesterday. so can you perhaps give up on your threat to put sanctions on french wine? because if we've understood correctly you have arrived at an agreement on taxing digital firms. could you confirm that there has been an agreement between you and france on taxing digital firms? >> confirm that the first lady loved your french wine. okay? all right, she loved your french wine. so thank you very much. that's fine. >> thank you. i will wait for the end of this press conference to have a press conference of the presidency. i will leave the floor. thank you. >> good job. >> worse than you are. i can't believe it. come on up. let's go. >> mr. president, can i just ask a question, since i didn't get to ask you directly, on china you have recently been saying that china wants to make a deal but that you are not necessarily ready for a deal? >> all right, we'll start now, please sit down, thank you. thank you, please sit down. >> you've recently -- >> thank you very much. >> you've recently been saying china wants a deal but you're not necessarily ready for a deal. you like the tariff revenue coming in. are you ready for a deal? >> only if it's good for the united states, otherwise i will not make a deal. we have billions and billions coming in and i think we're going to get there. i do. i believe it more strongly now than i would have believed it a while ago. we're going to get there and we're going to have a really -- we're going to have a fair deal. but remember this. when you say fair. china's been taking out of this country 500 plus billion dollars a year for many, many years. many, many years. it was time to stop. as a private person i used to talk about it. it's one of the reasons i'm president. and we're in a great position. our country's doing well. our unemployment numbers are the lowest they've been in over 50 years. our unemployment numbers for african-american, asian, for hispanic, are the best they've ever been, historic numbers. we're in a very strong position. our consumers are strong. walmart just announced numbers that were -- i mean, mind boggling numbers, that's a great poll right there, the ultimate poll how the retailers are doing and how certain companies are doing. we're doing very well and i think that -- i think we're going to make a deal with china and i think we're probably eventually going to make a deal with iran too. >> why are you optimistic they'll change their behavior? >> it's not a question of behavior. they want to make a deal and they should make a deal and if they don't make a deal it's going to be very bad for china and i very much appreciate the fact that they came out very late last night and they said they wanted to make a deal. they want it to be under calm circumstances. it was a little bit different kind of a statement. i thought it was a beautiful statement. i thought it indicated a lot. go ahead. >> thank you, mr. president. i have a question for next year's g-7 summit. can i clarify, you mentioned earlier today -- >> one question. >> let me do the clarification, and then i'll get to the question. >> no, one question. >> you talked about calls to china, what did you hear from china and on next year's g-7, you alluded today, made several hints about miami and hosting next year at your property, what reassurances, if any, can you give the american people that you are not looking to profit off the presidency? >> i'll tell you what. i've spent, and i think i will in a combination of loss and opportunity probably it will cost me anywhere from $3 billion to $5 billion to be president. and the only thing i care about is this country. couldn't care less. otherwise i wouldn't have done it. people have asked me what do you think it costs? and between opportunity, not doing -- i used to get a lot of money to make speeches. now i give speeches all the time. you know what i get? zippo, and that's good. and i did a lot of great jobs and a lot of deals, i don't want to do them. the deals i'm making are great deals for the country. that's much more important. dural is within miami, it's a city. it's a wonderful place. it's a very, very successful area of florida. it's very importantly only five minutes from the airport. the airport's right next door. it's a big international airport, one of the biggest in the world. everybody that's coming, all of these people with all of their big entourages come. it's set up -- and by the way, my people looked at 12 sites, all good, but some were two hours from an airport. some were four hours. i mean, they were so far away. some didn't allow this or they didn't allow that. with dural we have a series of magnificent buildings, we call them bungalows. they each hold from 50 to 70 very luxurious rooms with magnificent views. we have incredible conference rooms, incredible restaurants. it's like such a natural. we wouldn't have to do the work they did here, and they've really done a beautiful job. and what we have also is miami. and we have many hundreds of acres so that in terms of parking, in terms of all of the things that you need, the ballrooms are among the biggest in florida, and the best. it's brand new. and they want -- my people wanted it. from my standpoint, i'm not going to make any money. in my opinion i'm not going to make money. i don't want to make money. i don't care about making money. if i wanted to make money i wouldn't worry about $3 billion to $5 billion. at some point i'll detail that and will show. but it's a great place to be. having it in miami is fantastic. really fantastic. having it at that particular place, because of the way it's set up. each country can have their own villa, or their own bungalow. and the bungalows when i say they have a lot of units in them. it just works out well. and when my people came back, they took tours and went to different places. i won't mention places because you'll have a list because they're going to give a presentation on it fairly soon. they went to places all over the country and they came back and said this is where we want to be. we had military and secret service people doing it. they understand what it's about, not about me, it's about getting the right location. it's very important. >> boost your own brand? not at all. >> go ahead, jonathan. >> thank you, mr. president, president macron said he'd like to see talks between you and president rohani within weeks. does that sound realistic to you? >> it does. >> could you yourself in talks with iranians within weeks? >> i don't know the gentleman, i know him a little bit by watching the last couple years what's happened. he's a great negotiator. but i think he's going to want to meet. i think iran wants to get this situation straightened out. is that based on fact or based on gut, that's based on gut. but they want to get this situation straightened out, jonathan. and they're really hurting badly. their inflation, as you know, because i saw your reporting on it, their inflation is through the roof. their economy is tanked entirely. the sanctions are absolutely hurting them horribly. i don't want to see that. i don't want to see that. they're great people. i don't want to see that. but we can't let them have a nuclear weapon. can't let it happen. so i think that there's a really good chance that we would meet. jeff, please. >> thank you, mr. president. another follow-up from what the president of france said, there might be a need for compensation to iran. would you, given all of the criticism you've made of the jcpoa and the money they got, be open to giving iran compensation. >> no. >> if it met the criteria? >> no. what he's talking in terms of compensation is they are out of money. and they may need a short-term letter of credit or loan. no, we're not paying. we don't pay. but they may need some money to get them over a very rough patch. if they do need money certainly -- and it would be secured by oil, which to me is great security, and they have a lot of oil. but it's secured by oil so we're really talking about a letter of credit type facility. >> from the u.s. or from all the countries? >> it would be from numerous countries and it comes back. it would be -- it would expire, it would be paid back immediately and very quickly. yes, go ahead, please, go ahead, yes. >> thank you very much, mr. president. japanese newspaper. >> good. >> just left. the prime minister abe, good man, great man. >> okay. and now the u.s. and japan have an agreement in principle, which you said is a tremendous trade deal for the united states. so -- >> and for japan, i would say. >> so are you still considering imposing section 232 tariffs on japan's auto exports to the united states on national security grounds? >> not at this moment, no, not at this moment. well, it's one of the reasons we made the deal. but no, not at this moment. it's something i could do at a later date if i wanted to. we're not looking at that. we just want to be treated fairly. you know, japan has had a tremendous trade surplus with the united states for many, many years. long before i came here. and i'll tell you something we're transforming our country, we're taking these horrible one-sided foolish, very dumb, stupid if you'd like to use that word because it's so descriptive, we're taking these trade deals that are so bad and we're making good, solid deals out of them. and that's transforming our country. that's -- that will be transformative and very exciting, i think, for our country. very, very exciting. please, go ahead. go ahead. >> thank you, mr. president. >> well, i didn't actually say you, i said the woman behind you. why don't we do her first? you've been asking a lot of questions all day long. >> thanks, mr. president. >> can't say i don't give you access, right? >> thanks, mr. president. why do you think it's appropriate to invite russia to the g-7 given they've meddled in the 2016 election and are you worried if russia does come to the g-7 that it might hurt you politically because it's only a couple months before the 2020 election? >> i don't care politically. i ran one election and i won. happened to be for president. i don't care politically. i'm going to run another election. i think i'm winning based on polls we see. whether i win or not i have to do the right thing. so i don't do things for political reasons. these are good -- probably not, maybe it is. i mean, a lot of people are smart, a lot of people say having russia, which is a power, having them inside the room is better than having them outside the room. by the way, there were numerous people during the g-7 that felt that way. and we didn't take a vote or anything but we did discuss it. my inclination is to say, yes, they should be in. they were really it was a president obama -- i'm not blaming him but a lot of bad things happened with president putin and president obama. one of the things that happened was, as you know, what happened with a very big area, a very, very big and important area in the middle east where the red line was drawn. and then president obama decided that he was not going to do anything about it. you can't draw red lines in the sand. you just can't do it. and the other was in ukraine, having to do with a certain section of ukraine that you know very well where it was sort of taken away from president obama, not taken away from president trump, taken away from president obama. president obama was not happy that this happened because it was embarrassing to him. right? it was very embarrassing to him. and he wanted russia to be out of the -- what was called the g-8. and that was his determination. he was outsmarted by putin. he was outsmarted. president putin outsmarted president obama. and i can understand how president obama would feel. he was unhappy. and they're not in for that reason. now, i'm only thinking about the world and i'm thinking about this country in terms of the g-7, whether it's g-7 or g-8, i think it would be better to have russia inside the tent than outside the tent. do we live either way, yes we live either way, is it politically popular for me to say that? possibly not. i think a lot of people would agree with me, frankly, but possibly not. i do nothing for politics. i know a lot of you are going to smile at that. i do nothing for politics. i do what's right. and people like what i do. and -- but i just do what's right. if i wanted to go strictly by politics i'd probably poll that and possibly i'd say, oh, gee, i don't want russia in. but i really think it's good for security of the world, it's good for the economics of the world. remember, they're building a big pipeline in europe, going right up to germany and i said to angela, who i had a great relationship, i said, you know, you pay russia billions of dollars. and then we defend you. from russia. and i say how does that work -- >> why did you give a misleading statement that president putin outsmarted president obama, why do you keep repeating what some people would see as a clear lie? >> it was annexed -- i know you like president obama but it was annexed during president obama's term. if it was annexed during my term, i'd say, sorry, folks, i made a mistakes, or sorry, folks. president obama was helping ukraine. crimea was annexed during his term. now, it's a very big area, very important area. russia has its submarine. that's where they do their submarine work and that's where they dock large and powerful submarines but not as powerful as ours and not as large as ours but they have their submarines. and president obama was pure and simply outsmarted. they took crimea during his term. that was not a good thing. it could have been stopped, could have been stopped with the right whatever. it could have been stopped. but president obama was unable to stop it. and it's too bad. go ahead. >> as the g-7 host next year you were allowed to invite other countries to come. guest countries, even though they're not necessarily part of the overall group. would you consider inviting vladimir putin under those circumstances? >> i don't know that he'd accept. those are tough circumstances. he was a part of g-8, and all of a sudden he's not out -- or he's not in. so i think, john, actually, that's a pretty tough thing for him. he's a proud person. would i invite him? i would certainly invite him. whether or not he could come psychologically, i think that's a tough thing for him to do. you have a g-8 and now it's a g-7, and you invite the person that was thrown out, really by president obama, and really because he got outsmarted. president obama, pure and simple. and don't forget, it was not just crimea. it was the red line in the sand. and obama said never violate the red line in the sand. and then they went ahead and they killed many children with gas. it was terrible. and he did nothing about it. i did. but i was there years later. i did something about it. but i was there late. >> go ahead. >> thank you, sir, can you help us understand the timeline on the china calls? were you referring to the statement by the vice president? >> we've had many calls, secretary secretary mnuchin is here and you've had many calls over the last 24 hours, certainly over the last 48 hours. these are high level calls. they want to make a deal. and by the way, i think a deal's going to be made. but they want to make a deal. >> so the chinese are saying that there weren't any particular -- >> the chinese -- excuse me, let me respond to something. the vice chairman of china, do you get higher than that other than president xi? the vice president, the vice chairman, like the vice president, made the statement he wants to make a deal and he wants to see a calm atmosphere and he wants it all to happen. that says it there. i don't have to talk about -- you know, you folks were reporting before, well we can't find any phone call. he release add statement. i didn't release it. he released a statement. >> there were phone calls, is ir, mr. president? >> numerous calls. >> communications that went back and forth over the last -- >> not only with steve, there were calls with other people too. just so you understand, china wants to make a deal. now whether or not we make a deal it's got to be a great deal for us. you know, and i told this to president xi, who i really respect, i really do. i have great respect and i like him too. he's a tough guy. but i have a lot of feeling for president xi, very outstanding in so many ways but i told it very strongly. i said, look, you're starting up here and you're making $500 billion a year and stealing our intellectual property. we're down on the floor lower than the floor. you make a 50/50 deal. this has to be a deal that's better for us. if it's not better let's not do business together. i don't want to do business. forget about tariffs for a second. we're taking in tremendous amounts of money. forget about that. i don't want to do business. when i raise and he raises, i raise and he raises, we can never catch up. we have to balance our trading relationship at least to an extent. and they were unwilling to do that. and we'll never have a deal if that happens but it's going to happen because they have to have a deal. and as far as phone calls are concerned, secretary of the treasury, and other people have been receiving many calls, not receiving, back and forth. many calls. china wants to make a deal and if we can, we will make a deal. you'll see. go ahead. >> mr. president, if i could ask you a little bit about your china strategy. >> yes. >> president macron talked about instability and the worry in the markets and around the globe about instability. one of the things that that comes from, as you talk -- >> you're talking about global economic instability. i don't consider it instability. >> one thing it comes from is the back and forth and changing of statements from yourself so that -- >> sorry. it's the way i negotiate. >> so my question is, is that a strategy? is it a strategy to call president xi an enemy one day and say that relations are good the next day, and i mean it's -- >> it's the way i negotiate. it's done very well for me over the years is and it's going even better for the country. and i do think that -- look, here's the story. i have people say, oh, just make a deal, make a deal. they don't have the guts. and they don't have the wisdom. to know that you can't continue to go on where a country is taking 500 billion. not million. 500 billion with a "b," out, every single year, $500 billion. you just can't do that. somebody had to do this. this should have been done by president obama. it should have been done, and biden, sleepy joe. it should have been done by other people. it should have been done by bush. it should have been done by clinton. double bush. it should have been done. i'm doing it. let me tell you something else. north korea, should have been done a long time ago. i'm doing it. i'm doing a lot of things that i shouldn't have to be doing. >> mr. president -- >> please. go ahead, please. >> sky news, president trump you've met our new prime minister boris johnson yesterday. >> yes. >> you said he was the right man for the job and brexit. >> i believe that. >> do you think theresa may was the wrong woman, and do you think that boris johnson can actually get a deal with the eu before october the 31st? >> have well, teresa was unable to do the deal. i gave her my ideas as to doing the deal early on and you possibly know what they are. i would have done that. she chose to do it her way and that didn't work out so well. i think she's a very, very good person and a good woman. and i really believe that boris johnson will be a great prime minister. you know, we like each other. and we had a great two and a half days. i've been waiting for him to be prime minister for about six years. i told him what took you so long? i think he's going to be a great prime minister. and especially after spending a lot of intense time with him over the last couple of days. he's really a -- he's very smart and he's very strong and he's very enthusiastic. you know what else? he loves your country, he really loves your country. that came out maybe more than anything else. yeah, please. >> vicky young, bbc news, president trump, boris johnson is very keen on a trade deal with the usa, you sound keen on it too. some of his critics are worried you're going to do over -- >> i love the uk, i have no idea how my property is doing because i don't care. but i own turnbury and aberdeen and ireland as you know, great stuff. i'll be honest with you i think that -- i think he's going to just do a great job as prime minister. you know, it takes a lot. it's so many different elements to being a great prime minister. you needed him. i just think his time is right. this is the right time for boris. yeah, please, go ahead, right here. say who you're with, please. >> from itv in the uk as well. you've had a good few days with president macron who you appear to be doing business with, to use your favorite expression. after brexit who do you think will be your more important relationship, president macron, france and the eu, or boris johnson, prime minister of the united kingdom? >> i think we're going to have just -- look, france is a great nation. it's being run, a lot of things are happening. you know, it's not easy what he's doing. he's changing certain ways. it's a very hard thing to do. i won't get into it. i'm going to let him sell his ideas. a lot of people don't disagree with his ideas but it's a very hard thing to do. if you're a great citizen of france, you love your country, but you want to do the way you've been doing it a long time. maybe that's not working and maybe they have to do what he has to do. i think he's doing a fantastic job but it's very tough for him. i know how tough it is for him. he's been having a hard time and nobody would have an easy time. but i do believe he's doing the right thing and boris is different. it's a different kind of a deal. boris has to try and do something with brexit. it's very tough. i deal with the eu. the eu is -- that's a very, very strong group of people. they have their ideas, and they're not easy to deal with, i will tell you. we're very close to making a deal, by the way, with the eu. i have to say this. we made a great deal with japan. and we're very close to maybe making a deal with the eu because they don't want tariffs. it's very simple. they don't want to tax cars, mercedes benz, bmw, they don't need a 20% or a 25% tax. but we're very close. i think we're going to make a deal with the eu without having to go that route. i may have to go that route but maybe not. we're going to have a fair deal but the eu is another one. we've been losing $180 billion a year for many years. that's a lot of money. how much can you take out of the piggy bank, right? >> but which alliance will be more important with the eu or with britain? >> both. i don't want to say which. look, i think that -- i think that the -- i think we have been with, i guess you would start off by saying england, right, i asked boris, where's england, what's happening with england, they don't use it too much anymore. we talked about it, it was very interesting. but the united kingdom is a great, incredible place. it's an incredible nation. and it's, you know, been one of our tremendous allies. and another one happens to be australia. he was here also, scott. he is fantastic. in fact, we're honoring him in australia at the white house in a very short period of time. but i think that -- excuse me? >> will you visit australia? >> at some point i will, also germany. angela asked me to visit germany and we're going to be doing that too. so i just they're very different and they're going to be going at it for a little while but ultimately probably it works out. they may have to get out and they may not make a deal. the european union is very tough to make deals with. very, very much. just ask theresa may. go ahead. >> thank you, mr. president. with the associated press. last year you left the summit in canada feuding with the summit host, this year things seem to be a little bit different, you're talking about unity, a hug with president macron on the stage. president macron said he's passing the baton to you, you ran on the platform of america first. now you have a mandate for the international committee. what will you do with it? >> we actually had a very good meeting. i had it out with one or two people where we disagreed in terms of concept but we actually had a pretty good meeting last year. i would say that this was a big step above in terms of unity, in terms of agreement. we have really great agreement on a lot of very important subjects. but last year was good also. i mean, last year was good also. i think last year might have been underrated. go ahead, please. >> in terms of the g-7, what you want to do with it? >> we're going to do special, build on what we have now. built something very good and going in with great unity. if there was any word for this particular meeting of seven very important countries it was unity. i think most important of all we got along great. we got along great. >> mr. president -- >> go ahead. >> thank you very much, mr. president. i'm with shanghai media group. you just mentioned that chinese vice premier is saying china is willing to resolve this issue through calm negotiations. >> i didn't say it, he did. >> yes. >> yeah. >> will the u.s. negotiate in the same manner? >> yes. >> and also -- so the other -- >> that was an easy answer. >> the u.s. will negotiate in the same manner with -- >> absolutely. great respect for china. great respect for the leadership of china. absolutely. >> and also the other question is that you say you definitely will invite putin to join next year's summit. >> i haven't said that, but i think that having president putin in what was the g-8, he was a member of the g-8 and i heard he was a good member of the g-8, having him in, i think, is more of an advantage. i think it's a positive for the world. i think it's a positive for russia. i think it's a big positive for russia. and it's something the group is discussing, they are discussing it. >> but just a few hours ago -- >> people feel very much like me, many people, what? >> the russian foreign minister saying a few hours ago it's not their foreign policy pursuit to return to g-8. what's your reaction? >> we'll see. i know one thing. if they were invited back i think they'd be there. if they weren't, that's okay too. i just think they'd be better inside than outside. as i said before, i really do. i think they'd be an asset. i think it would be a good thing. you know, some of the things we were going in the room and yesterday in particular we were discussing four or five matters, and russia was literally involved in all of those four or five matters. and a few of the people looked up and said, you know, why aren't they here talking to us about it? what are we going to do now, go home, take it easy for a day, although i'm not doing that, i don't take it easy, but we're going to go home and start calling them at the end of the week and say, hey how about this, could have been in the room. we had numerous things that we were discussing, right, numerous. we had a lot of things we were discussing. and it would have been very easy if russia was in the room. he was in the room, we could have solved the things. now they're just in limbo. but i have to say with all of that, very little limbo. but somebody will speak to him about some things and they're not complicated. it would be easier if they were in the room. >> thank you so much. >> josh, go ahead. >> mr. president, there was a significant talk at the summit about climate change. i know in the past you've offered some skepticism of the science in climate change. what do you think the world should be doing about climate change and do you still harbor skepticism? >> i feel that the united states has tremendous wealth. the wealth is under its feet. i've made that wealth come alive. we will soon be one of the -- we will soon be exporting, in fact we're actually doing it now, exporting. but we are now the number one energy producer in the world and soon it will be by far with a couple of pipelines that have not been able to get approved for many, many years. it will have a huge impact. i was able to get anwar in alaska, the largest site in the world for oil and gas. ronald reagan wasn't able to do it. nobody was able to do it. trying to do it since before ronald reagan. i got it approved. we're the number one energy producer in the world. soon it will be by far the number one. it's tremendous wealth. and lng is being sought after all over europe and all over the world and we have more of it than anybody else. i'm not going to lose that wealth, i'm not going to lose it on dreams, on windmills, which frankly aren't working too well. i'm not going to lose it. so josh, in a nutshell i want the cleanest water on earth. i want the cleanest air on earth. and that's what we're doing. and i'm an environmentalist. a lot of people don't understand that. i have done more environmental impact statements probably than anybody, i can say definitely. i've done many, many, many of them. more than anybody that's ever been president or vice president or anything even close to president. and i think i know more about the environment than most people. i want clean air. i want clean water. i want a wealthy country. i want a spectacular country with jobs, with pensions, with so many things. and that's what we're getting. so i want to be very careful, at the same time, at the same time, at the same time -- you weren't called. at the same time it's very important to me, very important to me, we have to maintain this incredible, this incredible place that we've all built. we've become a much richer country. and that's a good thing, not a bad thing. because that great wealth allows us to take care of people. we can take care of people that we couldn't have taken care of in the past because of the great wealth. we can't let that wealth be taken away. clean air, clean water. thank you very much, everybody. i appreciate it. thank you. thank you very much. well, there you have it. it was a wide ranging news conference. shall we say there, president trump initially going by the president of france emmanuel macron, and president macron yielded the microphone, so to speak, to president trump there and we heard a lot on iran, on china, on trade, on his property in miami, and on russia as well. craig melvin here at msnbc headquarters in new york city. president trump just wrapping up that news conference. that g-7 summit there. he continued to signal optimism, a fair amount of optimism on trade talks with china. he talked about the conversations happening with iran. and about inviting russia. back into the fold. >> i think it would be better to have russia inside the tent than outside the tent. do we live either way? yes, we live either way. is it politically popular for me to say that? possibly not. i think a lot of people would agree with me, frankly, but possibly not. i do nothing for politics. >> joining me now admiral james travides, and evelyn farkas, an msnbc foreign policy contributor. and lynette lopez, a senior correspondent for "business insider," thanks to all of you for sticking around. ev evelyn, you spent time in the room so to speak during those last few months especially of the obama administration when they were talking about getting russia out of the g-7. separate fact from fiction based on what we heard from president trump there in france. >> yes, craig i was listening and, you know, kind of tearing my hair out because i was in the white house situation room when the decision was made about ejecting russia from the g-7. it was not a unilateral decision made by president barack obama. it was a multinational decision. why? because russia had gone in and invaded ukraine, suddenly out of the blue, there was no provocation. no military one certainly. they went in, invaded ukraine and they seized crimea and they changed an international border for the first time using military force since world war ii. so the g-7 had to take some action. and basically what it could do was expel russia. and russia still holding crimea, also started another war in another part of ukraine that's still ongoing. they have not earned the right to come back. and the president needs to get his history right. >> i also want to bring in our chief white house correspondent now, nbc's correspondent hallie jackson. you were in the room. we heard your question there. it would seem as if we got clarification about the president's intent, shall we say, to host the g-7 here in the united states next year and where he might be looking to host it. >> that is for sure. miami at trump dural, craig. one of the many headlines that's come out of this extensive news conference. he gets ready to hop on air force one and head back to your neck of the woods, back to the east coast to washington. let me sort of highlight here a couple of the biggest headlines. on iran -- and president rohani of iran, which would be a very significant development. i think what you heard from the president standing alongside macron is that he's not quite ready to do that, at least not right now, the conditions are not in place to do that over the next two or three weeks if you're looking at that window of a timeline here. the president also talked extensively about the issue of china trade. and reporters here in the room are trying to get -- listen, what changed? what is making president trump so optimistic now about a potential breakthrough when it comes to these trade talks? china has been saying that it's looking for a deal, and president trump wants a deal. but yet he is sounding this new note of optimism. he talked about a breaking news alert, if you will, about something that the vice premier of china, the lead negotiator of trade said recently, that he wants a calm tone moving forward on trade talks. he didn't specify the calls that have gone back and forth. there's the issue of next year's g-7 summit. that's why the french president was here alongside president trump, handing over the baton, if you will, for next year. and the president made clear he's very interested in trump dural, his golf club outside miami, not too far from the airport. he said his aides have put together a list of about a dozen locations. of course the question is, on conflicts of interest. and the president's financial stake he has in that property. what can he say to the american people to reassure them he's not trying to profit off the presidency. that's the question i put to him, craig, and here's his response. >> dural happens to be within miami. it's a city. it's a wonderful place. it's a very, very successful area of florida. it's very importantly only five minutes from the airport. the airport's right next door. with dural we have a series of magnificent buildings, we call them bungalows. they each hold from 50 to 70 very luxurious rooms with magnificent views, we have incredible conference rooms and restaurants. they've done a beautiful job. i don't want to make money. i don't care about making money. if i wanted to make money i wouldn't worry about $3 billion to $5 billion. at some point i'm going to detail and will show. but i think it's just a great place to be. >> of course the president providing no evidence there of that claim that he's lost billions of dollars in the presidency. i believe forbes fact checked that and found that to be a fairly insufficient claim. the russia rejoining the g7. president trump was asked about that repeatedly and made the point that he would rather russia be inside the tent, as he put it, than outside the tent. it's not even clear that russia wants to be in this lateral group. let me give you a sense of the mood here. this caps what has been a summit that's lasted two-plus days. it was logistically very interesting. at one point in the middle that have news conference -- i don't know what you can see from your end, craig. steve mnuchin stood up in front and started injecting. the french press filed out and left in the middle of the news conference after president macron left the room even as president trump was trying to answer questions and more members of the media, not sure which country they're from, filing into the room now as we're being told to wrap it up and get out. that's what i'll do. >> we'll let you wrap it up. hallie jackson, thank you. admiral, let us remind folks who are watching and listening on sirius satellite radio, this is part of what president trump said about iran specifically. >> we're not looking for leadership change. we're not looking for that kind of change. this country has been through that many times before. that doesn't work. we're looking for no nuclear weapons, no ballistic missiles and a longer period of time. very simple. we can have it done in a very short period of time. >> iran's president welcoming a meeting with president trump admiral. what do you make of what we just heard from the president? what would need to happen before that face-to-face meeting could actually happen? >> before i get to that, craig, i want to make one other point on russia and the g7 in addition to what evelyn farkas mentioned about the invasion of ukraine. a war criminal, bashir al assad in syria, killing thousands of people constantly. and they continue to seek to intrude in our electoral process. so, it's certainly concern about ukraine, but it's also this other realm of russian behavior we should be concerned about before we give bri them back into the tent n terms of iran, i share the president's hope that we can get to a deal with iran. we need another like we need a hole in the head. dealing with this embedded theocracy and hard liners are in ascendants now. we have a much better chance with north korea, a pragmatic thug-acrocay than we do with iran, a theocracy. tensions are rising in the arabian gulf as this summer unfolds. >> we heard president trump there indicate that he thinks that china is sincere in wanting a deal. do you agree? >> okay. well, china has not changed what it says its stipulations for coming back to the table are. when china says something like we need to have calm negotiations, we need to remember what those stipulations are. one of them is that trump drop the tariffs. he's not going to do that. the other is respect our sovereignty, a kind of nebulus, unclear what that means. the last is trump needs to stop demanding that china buy so many u.s. goods. so none of those three points are being addressed by president trump. that has been china's line since may, and i don't think we're really speaking on the same plain here. i don't know what trump means by calmly or what the chinese mean by calmly, but the chinese have been very clear and i don't think we're getting there. also, the doral stuff, very disturbing to watch the president sound like a flailing balloon man in front of the used car lot that is our once great nation, very disturbing to watch that. >> unless you work for the miami chamber of commerce. >> sure. sure. >> a rousing endorsement for the city of miami. linette, thank you. i want to bring in another guest who has joined the conversation here, running for president. congressman joe walsh, of course, making that announcement a few days ago, former illinois republican congressman, conservative radio talk show host as well. congressman, what do you make of what you just heard from the president there, your reaction to president trump in france? >> i agree with everything linette just said. it was odd listening to 45 minutes of that. i don't believe a word he says. craig, this goes to the problem of president trump on the world stage and here in this country. we're in a situation right now where you really can't believe what the president said. he told us today he's losing 3 to $5 billion being president. he said obama lost crimea. you can't believe anything he says. and i agree, this whole notion of talking about doral because miami is a city. it's just rather unseemly. >> nbc news/wall street journal poll, you've probably seen these numbers. we asked republicans specifically how president trump is doing so far, approval rating at 86% right now. 86% of republicans said they approved of this president's performance. what do you see as a path to success when there's apparently such strong support among members of your own party? who is the joe walsh voter? >> they want an alternative. republican voters want an alternative. there isn't one. this president is tweeting us into a recession. i think once his craziness, craig, begins to impact them, you're going to see those numbers slide. a lot of people have left the republican party. we want to bring them back. >> what's been the response to the campaign so far? are you getting donations yet? >> yes. interesting. a lot of interest. our campaign slogan is be brave. a lot of people feel the way i do about president trump privately. they need to come out and say it publicly. >> here is the thing, though. the president has been tweeting us into a recession, you pointed out. he has been tweeting several years now. even before he was elected, as you recall, he was recorded on that "access hollywood" tape making extremely lewd comments about women, attacked senator john mccain for being a prisoner of war, attacked the judge in the trump university lawsuit case. >> yes. >> this was all before he was u.s. president, but you voted for the guy nonetheless. so, what was the impetus. if those things didn't lose your support why now? >> he lost me when he stood in helsinki and said i want putin not my own people. president trump ordered private companies to do things. every day that goes by, more and more republicans, especially, believe that this guy is pretty unhinged. he doesn't know what he's doing. that scares people. >> you have been asked and apologized in interviews for some of the things that you have said yourself. >> yeah. >> and tweeted yourself in the past. you were a birther before we even called them birthers. you've also said that the president, former president obama was elected because he was black. and then in 2017, you wrote, quote, i'm sick and tired of the sandy hook parents. they're partisan and political. they can be attacked just like anyone else. it seems like a lot of the republicans who don't like this president don't like his tone, don't like the way that he says things, don't like some of the things that he has tweeted as well. how are you going to be the republican alternative for those voters when you've done and said a lot of the same things? you were trump before there was trump. >> maybe i'm uniquely positioned, craig, to do this. i helped create trump and for that, i am profoundly sorry. now, the beauty of trump for me is that he's forced me to look at myself and do some soul searching about how i engage in this political world. and i refuse to engage in that ugly personal politics anymore. it took seeing trump do this for a couple of years that caused that change. >> the party establishment, i would imagine, not going to be pleased with the joe walsh primary run. what's been the response from the establishment so far? how are you going to get on the ballot in some of these states? >> it's not going to be easy. they're trying to shut us out state after state after state. we need to go directly to the people. which is what we'll do. thanks, craig. >> no, thank you. keep us posted. where is your first stop? >> new hampshire. >> then i would imagine on to iowa. >> yeah. >> south carolina. >> yeah. >> campaigning for structure in those states? >> beginning to be. >> congressman walsh, keep us posted. thank you. linette, thank you. big thanks to you as well. and thanks to admiral stravidis. are you still with me? >> i am. >> and evelyn. how would you characterize what we've heard from the president of the united states overseas? >> the simplest way is that it would be the triumph of hope over experience. he thinks we're going to get a deal with iran. i find that very unlikely. thinks we're going to get a deal with china. i don't think so, in the short term. above all, craig, we are literally ignoring the fires that are burning in our house, down in the amazon. i thought his answer on the environment -- >> climate change, yeah. >> -- was the scariest thing of all. that is a huge threat for all of us going forward. triumph of hope over real