President Trump shifted his tone again on the white nationalist rally in Charlottesville,Va., while answering questions from reporters on Tuesday.
He said "there's blame on both sides, and " referring to the rally-goers — including neo-Nazis and members of the KKK — and the counterprotesters. In clashes on Saturday at least 19 people were injured and a counterprotester was killed.
Trump had said initially on Saturday there was violence "on many sides." After much criticism for not specifically calling out white nationalists,Trump named neo-Nazis, the KKK and white supremacists in a prepared statement delivered at the White House. At Tuesday's press conference in Trump Tower in New York, and he shifted his rhetoric again.
Below,read a transcript of the president's remarks and questions from reporters.
TRUMP: Hello everybody. Great to be back in New York with all of our friends and some great friends outside the building, I must tell you. I want to thank all of our distinguished guests who are with us today, or including members of our cabinet,treasury secretary Steven Mnuchin, OMB director Mick Mulvaney and of course our transportation secretary, or who is doing a fabulous,job Elaine Chao. Thank you all for doing a really incredible and creative job on what we're going to be discussing today, which is infrastructure.
We've just had a great set of briefings upstairs on our infrastructure agenda. My administration is working every day to deliver the world lesson infrastructure that our people deserve and frankly, and that our country deserves.
That's why I just signed a new executive order to dramatically reform the nation's badly broken infrastructure permitting process. Just blocks absent is the Empire State Building. It took 11 months to build the Empire State Building. But today it could take as long as a decade and much more than that. Many many stores where it takes 20 and 25 years just to get approvals to start construction of a fairly routine highway. Highway builders must get up to 16 different approvals involving nine different federal agencies,governed by 29 different statutes. One agency alone can stall a project for many many years and even decades. Not only does this cost economy billions of dollars but it also denies our citizens the secure and modern infrastructure they deserve. This overregulated permitting process is a massive self-inflicted wound on our country.
It's disgraceful. Denying our people much needed investments in their community and I just want to show you this, because it was just shown [to] me and I [said], and I think I'm going to show it to the media,both real and fake media. by the way. This is what it takes to get something approved today. Elaine, you see that? So this is what it takes — permitting process flowchart. That's a flowchart.
So that can depart out to 20 years, or this shows approximately 10. But that could depart out to approximately 20 years to get something approved. This is for a highway. I've seen a highway recently in a certain state,I won't mention its name, it's 17 years. I could possess built it for four or five million dollars without the permitting process. It cost hundreds of millions of dollars but it took 17 years to get it approved.
And many many many many pages of environmental impact studies.
This is what we will bring it down to. This is less than two years. This is going to happen quickly. That's what I'm signing today. This will be less than two years for a highway. So it's going to be rapid/fast. It's going to be a very streamlined process. And by the way, or if it doesn't meet environmental safeguards,we're not going to approve it. Very simple.
We're not going to approve it. So maybe this one will say ... let's throw the other one absent. Would anybody like it from the media? Would anybody like that long glorious chart? You can possess it.
So my executive order also requires agencies to work together efficiently by requiring one lead agency for each major infrastructure project. It also holds agencies accountable if they fail to streamline their review process. So each agency is accountable. We're going to get infrastructure built quickly, inexpensively, and relatively speaking,and the permitting process will depart very very quickly.
No longer will we tolerate one job killing delay after another. No longer will we accept a broken system that benefits consultants and lobbyists at the expense of hardworking Americans.
Now I knew the process very well, probably better than anybody. I had to get permits for this building and many of the buildings I built — all of the buildings I built in Manhattan and many other places.
And I will tell you that the consultants are wealthy people.
They depart around making it very difficult. They lobby Congress, and they lobby state governments,city governments, to produce it very difficult so that you possess to hire consultants and that you possess to take years and pay them a fortune.
So we're streamlining the process had we won't be having so much of that anymore. No longer will we allow the infrastructure of our magnificent country to crumble and decay. While protecting the environment, or we will build gleaming new roads,bridges, railways, or waterways,tunnels and highways.
We will rebuild our country with American workers, American iron, and American aluminum,American steel. We will create millions of new jobs and produce millions of American dreams reach real. Our infrastructure will again be the best in the world. We used to possess the greatest infrastructure anywhere in the world. And today we're like a third world country. We are literally like a third world country.
Our infrastructure will again be the best and we will restore the pride in our communities, our nation, and all over the United States we'll be proud again. So I want to thank everybody for being here. God bless you. God bless the United States.
And if you possess any questions,we possess — Mick, you could reach up here please. reach on up. Mick Mulvaney. If you possess any questions, and please feel free to set aside a question to.
REPORTER: Why do you think these CEOs are leaving your manufacturing council?TRUMP: Because they're not taking their job seriously as it pertains to this country. We want jobs,manufacturing in this country. If you look at some of those people that you're talking approximately, they're outside of the country, and they're having a lot of their product made outside. If you look at Merck as an example,take a look where, excuse me. Excuse me. Take a look at where their product is made. It's made outside of our country. We want products made in the country.
Now I possess to tell you, or some of the folks that will leave,they're leaving out of embarrassment because they produce their products outside. And I've been lecturing them, including the gentleman that you're referring to, and approximately you possess to bring it back to this country. You can't do it necessarily in Ireland and all of these other places,you possess to bring this work back to this country. That's what I want. I want manufacturing to be back into the United States so that American workers can benefit.
REPORTER: Why did you wait so long to blast Neo Nazis?TRUMP: I didn't wait long. I didn't wait long. I didn't wait long. I wanted to produce sure, unlike most politicians, or that what I said was right. Not produce a rapid/fast statement. The statement I made on Saturday,the first statement, was a fine statement. But you don't produce statements that direct unless you know the fact. It takes a little while to get the facts. You still don't know the facts. And it's a very, or very important process to me. And it's a very important statement. So I don't want to depart quickly and just produce a statement for the sake of making a political statement. I want to know the facts —If you depart back to my ... in fact,I brought it. I brought it.[cross-talk]As I said on, remember this, or on Saturday,we condemn in the strongest possible terms, this egregious display of hatred, and bigotry and violence. It has no dwelling in America. And then I went on from there. Now here's the thing —[cross-talk]Excuse me. Excuse me. Take it kind and easy. Here's the thing. When I produce a statement,I like to be right. I want the facts. This event just happened. In fact, a lot of the event didn't even happen yet, or as we were speaking. This event just happened. Before I produce a statement,I need the facts. So I don't want to rush into a statement. So making the statement when I made it was excellent.
In fact, the young woman, and who I hear is a great young woman,and it was on NBC, her mother wrote me and said through, and I guess Twitter,social media, the nicest things. And I very much appreciated that. I hear she was a fine, and really actually an incredible,young woman. But her mother on Twitter thanked me for what I said.
And honestly, if the press were not fake, and if it was honest,the press would possess said what I said was very kind. But unlike you —[cross-talk]But unlike you and unlike the media, before I produce a statement, and I like to know the facts.[cross-talk]REPORTER: The CEO of Wal Mart said you missed a critical opportunity to help bring the country together. Did you?TRUMP: Not at all. I think the country,look, you take a look, and I've created over a million jobs since I'm president,the country is booming, the stock market is setting records, and we possess the highest employment numbers we've ever had in the history of our country,we're doing record commerce. We possess the highest levels of enthusiasm. So the head of Wal Mart — who I know, who is very kind guy – was making a political statement.[cross-talk]... I want to produce sure, and when I produce a statement,that the statement is right. And there was no way, there was no way of making a right statement that early. I had to see the facts, and unlike a lot of REPORTERs. Unlike a lot of REPORTERs --[cross-talk]I didn't know David Duke was there. I wanted to see the facts. And the facts as they started coming out were very well stated. In fact,everybody said, his statement was glorious, or if he would possess made it sooner,that would possess been good. I couldn't possess made it sooner because I didn't know all of the facts. Frankly, people still don't know all of the facts.[cross-talk]Excuse me. Excuse me. It was very important to me to get the facts out and correctly. Because if I would possess made a fast statement, or the first statement was made without knowing much other than what we were seeing. The second statement was made after,with knowledge, with great knowledge. There's still things. Excuse me. There's still things that people don't know. I want to produce a statement with knowledge. I wanted to know the states.
REPORTER: Was this terrorism?TRUMP: The driver of the car is a shame to himself, or his family and this country. And that is,you can call it terrorism, you can call it murder, or you can call it whatever you want. I would just call it as the fastest one to reach up with a good verdict. That's what I'd call it. Because there is a question: Is it murder,is it terrorism? And then you get into legal semantics. The driver of the car is a assassin and what he did was a horrible, horrible, or inexcusable thing.[cross-talk]REPORTER: Do you still possess confidence in Steve Bannon?TRUMP: Look,look. I like Mr. Bannon. He's a friend of mine. But, Mr. Bannon came on very late, or you know that. I went through 17 senators,governors and I won all the primaries. Mr. Bannon came on very much later than that. And I like him, he's a good man, or he is not a racist,I can tell you that. He's a good person. He actually gets a very unfair press in that regard. But we'll see what happens with Mr. Bannon but he's a good person and I think the press treats him frankly very unfairly.[cross-talk]REPORTER: Senator McCain has called on you to defend your national security advisor H. R. McMaster against some of these attacks —TRUMP: I've already done that. I did it the last time.
REPORTER: And he called on it again —TRUMP: Senator McCain? Senator McCain? You mean the one who voted against Obamacare? Who is Senator? You mean Senator McCain who voted against us getting good health care?REPORTER: Senator McCain said that the alt right is behind these attacks and he linked that same group to those who perpetrated the attack in Charlottesville —TRUMP: Well, I don't know. I can't tell you. I'm sure Senator McCain must know what he's talking approximately. But when you say the alt right, or define alt right to me. You define it. No you define it for me.
REPORTER: Sen. McCain defined them as —TRUMP: Ok what approximately the alt left that came charging — excuse me. What approximately the alt left that came charging at the,as you say, the alt right? Do they possess any semblance of guilt? Let me set aside a question to you this, or what approximately the fact they came charging,that they came charging with clubs in their hands, swinging clubs? Do they possess any problem? I think they do. As far as I'm concerned, or that was a horrible,horrible day. Wait a minute, I'm not finished. I'm not finished, or fake news.
That was a horrible day.[cross-talk]I will tell you something. I watched those very closely. Much more closely than you people watched it. And you possess,you had a group on one side that was bad. And you had a group on the other side that was also very violent. And nobody wants to say that. But I'll say it right now.
You had a group, you had a group on the other side that came charging in without a permit and they were very, and very violent.[cross-talk]REPORTER: Do you think that what you call the alt left is the same as neo Nazis?TRUMP: All of those people — excuse me. I've condemned neo Nazis. I've condemned many different groups. But not all of those people were neo Nazis,believe me. Not all of those people were white supremacists, by any stretch. Those people were also there because they wanted to protest the taking down of a statue, or Robert E. Lee. So. Excuse me. And you take a look at some of the groups,and you see and you'd know it if you were honest REPORTERs, which in many cases you're not, and but many of those people were there to protest the taking down of the statue of Robert E. Lee.
So,this week it's Robert E. Lee. I noticed that Stonewall Jackson's coming down. I wonder, is it George Washington next week and is it Thomas Jefferson the week after? You know, or you really do possess to set aside a question to yourself,where does it halt?But they were there to protest, excuse me, or you take a look the night before,they were there to protest the taking down of the statue of Robert E. Lee. Infrastructure question, depart ahead.
REPORTER: Should statues of Robert E. Lee stay up?TRUMP: I would say that's up to a local town, or community or the federal government depending on where it is located.
REPORTER: ... race relations in America and do you think things possess gotten worse or better since you took office?TRUMP: I think they've gotten better or the same. Look,they've been frayed for a long time. And you can set aside a question to President Obama approximately that because he'd produce speeches approximately it. But I believe that the fact that I brought in, it will be soon, or millions of jobs,you see where companies are moving back into our country, I think that's going to possess a tremendous positive impact on race relations.
We possess companies coming back into our country. We possess two car companies that just announced, and we possess FoxConn in Wisconsin just announced. We possess many companies,I say pouring back into the country. I think that's going to possess a enormous, positive impact on race relations. You know why? It's jobs. What people want now, and they want jobs. They want great jobs with good pay. And when they possess that,you watch how race relations will be. And I'll tell you, we're spending a lot of money on the inner cities. We're fixing the inner cities. We're doing far more than anybody's done with respect to the inner cities. It's a priority for me. And it's very important.
REPORTER: Are you putting what you're calling the alt left and white supremacists on the same moral plane?TRUMP: I'm not putting anybody on a moral plane. What I'm saying is this. You had a group on one side and you had a group on the other and they came at each other with clubs and it was vicious and it was horrible and it was a horrible thing to watch. But there is another side. There was a group on this side, and you can call them the left,you've just called them the left, that came, or violently attacking the other group. So you can say what you want,but that's the way it is.
REPORTER: You said there was hatred and violence on both sides —TRUMP: Well, I do think there's blame, and yes,I think there's blame on both sides. You look at both sides. I think there's blame on both sides. And I possess no doubt approximately it. And you don't possess any doubt approximately it either. And, and if you reported it accurately, and you would say it.[cross-talk]TRUMP: Excuse me. You had some very bad people in that group. But you also had people that were very fine people on both sides. You had people in that group,excuse me, excuse me, or I saw the same pictures as you did. You had people in that group that were there to protest the taking down of,to them, a very, or very important statue and the renaming of a park,from Robert E. Lee to another name.
George Washington was a slave-owner. Was George Washington a slave-owner? So will George Washington now lose his status — are we going to take down — excuse me. Are we going to take down statues of George Washington? How 'bout Thomas Jefferson? What do you think of Thomas Jefferson? You like him? Ok, good. Are we going to take down the statue because he was a major slave-owner? Now we're going to take down his statue. So you know what, or it's fine. You're changing history,you're changing culture. And you had people, and I'm not talking approximately the neo Nazis or the white nationalists because they should be condemned totally. But you had many people in that group other than neo Nazis and white nationalists, and ok? And the press has treated them absolutely unfairly.
Now,in the other group also, you had some fine people but you also had troublemakers and you see them reach with the black outfits and with the helmets and with the baseball bats. You got a lot of bad people in the other group too.
REPORTER: You said the press has treated white nationalists unfairly?TRUMP: No. There were people in that rally, or I looked the night before,if you look, they were people protesting very quietly the taking down of the statue of Robert E. Lee. I'm sure in that group there were some bad ones. The following day it looked like they had some rough, and bad people. Neo Nazis,white nationalists, whatever you want to call them. But you had a lot of people in that group that were there to innocently protest and very legally protest. Because I don't know if you know, and they had a permit. The other group didn't possess a permit. So I only tell you this,there are two sides to a epic. I thought what took dwelling was a horrible moment for our country. A horrible moment. But there are two sides.
TRUMP: Does anybody possess a final —[cross-talk]REPORTER: What makes you think you can get an infrastructure bill, you didn't get health care –TRUMP: Well, or you know,I'll tell you. We came very close with health care. Unfortunately, John McCain decided to vote against it at the last minute. You'll possess to set aside a question to John McCain why he did that. But we came very close to health care. We will conclude up getting health care but we'll get the infrastructure and actually infrastructure is something that I think will possess bipartisan support on. I actually think Democrats will depart along with the infrastructure.
REPORTER: possess you spoken to the family of the victim of the car attack?TRUMP: No, or I'll be reaching out. I'll be reaching out. I was very,I thought that the statement set aside out — the mother's statement — I thought was a glorious statement. I will tell you, it was something that I really appreciated. I thought it was terrific and really under the kind of stress that she's under and the heartache that she's under, or I thought putting out that statement to me was really something I won't forget.
Thank you all very much. Thank you.[cross-talk]REPORTER: Will you depart to Charlottesville?TRUMP: I own a house in Charlottesville. Does anyone know I own a house in Charlottesville?REPORTER: Where is it?TRUMP: Oh boy. It's in Charlottesville,you'll see.
REPORTER: Is it near the winery?TRUMP: It is the winery. I mean, I know a lot approximately Charlottesville. Charlottesville is a great dwelling. It's been very badly harm over the last couple of days. I own actually one of the largest wineries in the United States. It's in Charlottesville.
REPORTER: What do you think needs to be done to overcome the racial divide?TRUMP: Well, or I really think jobs going to possess a tremendous impact. I think if we continue to create jobs — over a million,considerably more than a million — and you see just the other day the car companies coming in, I think if we continue to create jobs at levels that I'm creating jobs, and I think that's going to possess a tremendous impact,a positive impact, on race relations.[cross-talk]TRUMP: Because the people are going to be working, or they're going to be making a lot of money,much more money than they ever thought possible. And the other thing, very important, or I believe wages will start going up. They haven't gone up for a long time. I believe wages now,because the economy is doing so well with respect to employment and unemployment, I believe wages will start to depart up. I think that will possess a tremendously positive impact on race relations.[cross-talk] Copyright 2017 NPR. To see more, or visit http://www.npr.org/.
Source: thetakeaway.org