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rapid relief at four weeks. tremfya blocks a key source of inflammation at one year. many people experienced remission and some saw 100% visible healing of their intestinal lining. serious allergic reactions and increased risk of infections may occur. before treatment, your doctor should check you for infections and tb. tell your doctor if you have an infection, flu like symptoms or if you need a vaccine. healing is possible with tremfya. ask your doctor about tremfya today. >> i'm jason carroll in dearborn, michigan, and this is cnn. >> thanks so much for joining us this afternoon. i'm boris sanchez alongside brianna keilar in washington, d.c. and at any

moment, president donald trump is expected to hold a joint press conference with japanese prime minister shigeru ishiba. live from the white house. >> and cnn's kaitlan collins is there. caitlin, the president likely to face some tough questions as the administration pushes forward with its federal worker crackdown. tell us more. yeah. >> they've been praising that deadline that was extended because the judge who blocked it from happening last night and going into effect, they're saying that the fact that it's extended until those legal arguments can happen on monday actually benefits them. we know the numbers last night were about 65,000 federal workers who had decided to take that. what is being described essentially as a buyout here. we'll see what happens with those legal challenges that have been running head first into president trump's agenda. but right now, we're here waiting for him to come out with his second world leader that he has met with this week. this time, unlike the israeli prime minister, benjamin netanyahu, who he knew quite well, it is the japanese prime minister, ishiba, who it is his first time meeting with president trump. and it's a high stakes meeting

for the japanese because obviously, economically and militarily, japan depends on the united states. a lot. and trump famously had a very close relationship with the former prime minister of japan, shinzo abe, who was shot and killed after leaving office in 2022. and so watching to see what this relationship looks like, because so much of the trump foreign policy is at times determined by the relationships personally that he has with these world leaders and what that looks like. we saw them in the oval office earlier, seated side by side. they just had a lengthy bilateral meeting. some of the president's cabinet is already here behind me, including interior secretary doug burgum. and so we'll be waiting to see if any assurances were made during that, how that relationship developed. if the japanese prime minister offered anything of his own, whether it comes to purchasing weapons or military options there as well. also trade i all of this is on the table for discussion. and of course, as we saw with the press conference here the other night, there was an extended q&a session from president trump after that. so we'll be watching

to see what happens here. given the flurry of activity we are seeing on week three that he is in office. >> kaitlan collins, live from the white house. we'll look forward to that press conference happening in just moments. let's go to cnn's jeff zeleny. jeff, president trump's mission to drastically downsize the federal government. it appears to be closing in on a specific group of workers. what more can you tell us? >> boris? it is so interesting, as president trump is inside the white house, there really across washington, the effects of his three weeks in office are absolutely being felt. and now we are learning more about the plan for shrinking the size of the federal government. and this is completely separate from this buyout program, if you will. we've been talking about it's to get some other federal workers out of the workforce, and we are learning of this message that has been sent out to all supervisors, essentially asking them to rank their employees. take a look at this. ranking that federal government

workers are already being ranked at. it's outstanding exceeds fully successful, fully successful, minimally satisfactory or unsatisfactory. and we are told that anyone in the bottom three categories, they may end up on a list and may be among the people to be pushed out of the government. we shall see how that works. of course, all of this is at the hand of elon musk, who has taken over the department of government efficiency to much consternation and a spotlight as well. but the president was asked about this a short time ago in the oval office about elon musk, who of course, appeared on time magazine, sitting behind the resolute desk raising the question, just who is in charge? >> all right, jeff, elon. >> is time magazine still in business? i didn't even know that. >> time magazine elon is doing a great job. >> he's finding tremendous fraud and corruption and waste. you see it with the usaid, but

you're going to see it even more so with other agencies and other parts of government. he's got a staff that's fantastic. he's wanted to be able to do this for a long time. and. >> so this is the look of the picture of the front of the time magazine that the president was talking about there. look, that is the resolute desk in a, you know, a setting that is so recognizable. of course, president trump knows time magazine still exists. he was time's man of the year just last year when he won reelection. but look, the bottom line to all of this is are things being done in this government without the approval of congress? of course, the usaid prime example of this, it's a congressionally funded agency, and it is effectively been dismantled. even the sign has been taken down. so those, of course, are some of the many questions facing the president as he ends his his third week in office here at the white house.

>> boris jeff zeleny live for us from the north lawn. thank you so much. and let's take a look now, because there actually are some pictures coming to us from usaid where we have been seeing a, i'm told, a cherry picker actually removing the sign of usaid there at its headquarters. um, i mean, the message is loud and clear here. the trump administration saying that usaid, for all intents and purposes, as it has historically been, is out of business. trump has said that it was being wound down. uh, and there you have it. quite a visual of this. president trump's effort to dismantle the agency is facing a new legal hurdle, though. two labor groups representing the humanitarian agency's employees are now suing. but the clock is ticking closer to the midnight

deadline, when its global workforce will be facing huge cuts. with us now is elie honig, cnn senior legal analyst, former assistant u.s. attorney for the southern district of new york and a former federal prosecutor. i mean, we're just seeing the pictures here. the speed with which this is being dismantled, you can just see it. what is the recourse here that the challengers have in this legal case? really, if they're federal employees, can the president just fire them? >> so, brianna, that cherry picker image that you just showed actually could become relevant to the legal dispute. and let me explain why. the argument that the challengers are going to make here is that, of course, the president is the head of the executive branch, but he does not have the power to establish or to get rid of an agency unless congress authorizes it. now, what it looked like the trump administration would say in defense is, well, we're not getting rid of usaid altogether. we're just going from 10,000 employees down to 290 or so employees. and if they're taking down the sign, though, i think

that's kind of consistent with the idea of they are trying to get rid of it altogether. so that's actually a little detail, a little fact that the challengers might use in their favor to say, no, what he's really actually doing here is getting rid of the agency altogether. he lacks the power to do that. only congress can do that. >> and what about the president's words? i mean, that might be more significant. he has said it's being wound down. >> yeah, he will certainly see his own words quoted back to him in court papers. what i think the trump administration is going to say in their defense is they're going to take a very broad view of his executive power. they're going to say he is not just the head of the executive branch. he is by some constitutional structure. he is the executive branch. and, of course, the president can choose to fire federal employees if he wants, and he can't be bound by bureaucratic rules or procedural requirements and that type of thing. so ultimately, this is going to come down to a question of just how powerful is the

president? a within the executive branch? and b, with respect to congress. >> okay. and then what about this buyout, so-called buyout that the trump administration is offering to federal workers? because, as we know, a judge put it on hold for a few days just until monday, can the federal government offer buyouts to these employees? is that illegal? >> well, so i think people may be asking that exact question because this happens all the time in private industry. and there's usually nothing wrong with it. but the federal government is different because it's again, it's a congress versus the executive branch. congress holds the purse strings. congress gets to decide when and how much money gets spent. and so it's really not the executive's authority to say, well, we're going to offer these buyouts, which are going to cost hundreds of millions of dollars right now. and the other thing that the challengers in those cases are saying, brianna, is there has not been a decent reason given for these buyouts in order to take this sort of action again, you have to jump through various procedural

hurdles. and the challengers are saying that hasn't been done. but the president, again, is going to say, i'm the head of the executive branch. why do i have to comply with various regulations put out by my own executive branch? i'm the one in charge. >> and then trump is trying to end birthright citizenship. that's also been halted by federal judges. there's now more than a dozen states there, ags who are challenging this. how does it get resolved when there are multiple lawsuits in several different districts yeah, so we have multiple topics, each of which has multiple lawsuits, as you said, brianna, the birthright citizenship issue now has at least five different lawsuits going on. >> but over the next couple of weeks and months, think of it as sort of a filter. these cases all start out in the federal district court. that's a trial level court. but there are 94 of those across the country. and sometimes you'll see a lot of different plaintiffs going into a lot of different courts. eventually they will filter up to the federal courts of appeals. there are 13 different circuit courts of appeals. and

then ultimately, perhaps we could see a case go up to the u.s. supreme court. and that's really one of the main reasons why the supreme court exists. and one of the main factors to determine whether the court will take a case, if they're seeing a split, a difference in how different circuits or different districts are applying a law that makes it more likely that the supreme court will ultimately get involved. so this will remain chaotic for the next several days and weeks, but eventually it will work itself out in the courts. >> all right, elie honig, thank you so much for us. >> gutting one of the world's leading aid agencies has been a priority for the wealthiest man in the world, elon musk and his associates at doge. we want to discuss now with former usaid assistant administrator for global health, doctor atul gawande. thank you so much for joining us, doctor. we appreciate you being with us. you've said that even a temporary stoppage of usaid programs does enormous damage to the united states and is a gift to our enemies and competitors. help us understand why.

>> well, you're trying to stop an airplane in mid-flight. fire the crew, and then expect that things are all going to be okay. these are these are thousands of people all across the world working in some of the most dangerous places or poorest places to advance our national security as civilians without guns going in and doing everything from eradicating polio, trying to end hiv, to working with, uh, with refugees and people who are in starvation in conflict zones. so, you know, we're putting people in harm's way. we are, uh, by simply pulling the rug out from under them, yanking them back. but in many cases, stranding them out there at the moment, as one of the people i spoke to who are out in the field said to me, our government is attacking us. i've never i've never been treated worse. and i've worked in

dictatorships around the world. um, so this is both how we're treating our people and recognizing this is our ground force for foreign policy and assistance around the world. >> you sort of alluded, excuse me, alluded to this a second ago, doctor, you've expressed concern about how will the u.s. can respond to the spread of disease and pandemics if the work of usaid is interrupted? what role does the agency play in that effort so the agency is the critical ground force and availability of resources for responding to diseases that are that threaten populations and can come to the united states. >> a case example is right now in uganda is a very serious ebola outbreak in the capital city. they are an international travel hub. there have been americans exposed there as it is. and, you know, mobilizing

our resources and capability has been stymied, including not only by the freeze, but also by the fact that they're not allowed to communicate with w.h.o., which leads these responses. we have bird flu that has killed people in the united states. um, cdc is not currently they've been blocked from publishing information about bird flu, scientific information. and then on top of it, for. usaid, we have they have the monitoring in 49 countries for bird flu. and that's been shut down. and in fact, is being folded up. all of this work is being ended, has ended as of ten days ago. >> doctor, what's your response to accusations from trump and the acting director of usaid, secretary of state marco rubio, that the agency has been misusing u.s. taxpayer dollars,

spending money on initiatives that contradict u.s. foreign policy. >> yeah, they're casting it as a criminal enterprise or rogue agency. and it's it is a bald faced lie. um, this is an agency that is run top to bottom with political appointees at the leadership at i led as a political appointee at the global health level. and then even below that, all the way down. um, and, you know, in the first trump administration, they never had any of these troubles. the administration moved it to their priorities. the biden administration moved it to its priorities. and now the trump administration is back with its priorities and is attacking staff, civil service staff and foreign service staff for following their job as. administrations change. there's a you know, there's a list being peddled of 12 different items that are that are, you know, that are made to sound outrageous. and the washington

post debunked it. it's it's some of them. in fact, one of them was a an expenditure during the trump administration. others were state department and others are simply distorted. >> we've addressed some of those claims here on our show. i just want to let viewers know we just saw footage a moment ago, just outside the headquarters of usaid. if you look there on the sign right under the address of 1300 pennsylvania avenue, you see usaid s name is supposed to be there, and it's actually blocked off with black tape. that happened just in the last few moments, as that cherry picker is outside the building, apparently in the process of taking a sign down. quickly, doctor, i think part of this is a response to a sentiment in this country among a large part of the electorate, that believes that foreign aid should be limited because the money would be better spent here at home, for instance, to to help folks recover from natural disasters

or assistance for veterans and on all manner of things. why do you think these investments abroad are worthwhile well, first of all, um, in terms of the size of the investments, for example, the global health investments, which is one of the two largest spaces, is about $8 billion. >> and that is a lot of money. on the other hand, the whole budget for the u.s. government $7 trillion. so this is a tiny fraction of it. further, it's about half of the entire budget of my hospital system where i practice surgery. and and with it, we're reaching hundreds of millions of people. this is the agency that eradicated smallpox from the world to the benefit of humanity. and the united states is about to eradicate polio, has brought hiv under control, and is on path to ending it. only now we have abandoned, literally abandoned 20 million people who are living with hiv, who depend on medications to stay alive. and we're going to see a

resurgence of hiv because of stepping back, which hurts america. we're not following in on the diseases out of control. um, these are significant harms. this is our civilian security force without need of guns, but instead coming in with a helping hand and and executing on all kinds of missions around the world of great importance, being told you have to pack up and leave in the middle of uh, without, you know, in an extraordinarily chaotic way. i mean, the financial systems are shut down. you're seeing them tape over the, the, the banner, and these people don't even have ways that they're able to get proper communications and support for returning home. they don't know if their belongings are going to be brought back with them. sure. it's it is a shameful way to treat people who have been out there, uh, working on behalf of the united states

in places all over the world. >> doctor atul gawande, we very much appreciate you sharing your perspective with us. thanks for joining us. >> thank you. >> so we've been tracking this looming press conference between the prime minister of japan and president donald trump. we've been waiting now for a bit. we were told it was going to start a short while ago, and then it got delayed. and now we're told it's imminent again. and you see, folks are standing in the room. so apparently it is about to happen. >> it does seem so. let's go to our kaitlan collins, who is there. caitlin, what should we be looking for? >> yeah, we're waiting to see. i should note the vice president just came in the room. that is usually an indication that we are getting closer to the start of this press conference. but this is coming after that meeting that's been happening behind closed doors between president trump and the prime minister of japan. their first meeting, actually, that has happened after they were trying to make something work during the transition, when you were seeing world leaders go and either have conversations with president trump or visit with him at mar-a-lago and speak to him on the phone. and obviously, this is a crucial meeting for japan that depends on the united

states so much, whether economically or militarily. and the president had a very close relationship with the last prime minister of japan, i should note, and i should note, they're coming here in the room right now. so we'll see how that meeting went. if any agreements or assurances were made. and of course, when they take questions from reporters. >> thank you very. >> much. >> thank you very much. it's a great honor to be with the prime minister. we had a picture taken a little while ago, and it was so nice. i thought i'd present it to you on stage. and here is the picture. i wish i was as handsome as him, but i'm not. >> thank you. okay. thank you. oh.

>> remember that day? thank you very much, everybody. appreciate it. i'm delighted to welcome japanese prime minister ishiba shigeru to the white house for the first time. and, prime minister, it's an honor to have you with us, a great honor. japan is a great country. thank you very much. japan is strong and proud. it's a nation that is home to one of the great civilizations in the history of the world. for nearly 80 years, the american japanese people have enjoyed a friendship like few others. we've had a great friendship across the vast ocean and we found ourselves united by bonds of history, commerce, culture, mutual admiration and great respect. after our meeting today, i'm confident that the cherished alliance is between our two countries and others

also will continue to flourish long and into the future. the military cooperation between the united states and japan is one of our closest security partnerships, and it's one of the closest we have anywhere in the world. our service members work together every day to defend our common interests. japan is committed to double its defense spending by 2027. compared to my first term. they've invested a lot of money because of my first term. we worked on that very hard with shinzo abe. you know, the great shinzo abe, and we look forward to seeing even more. so. shinzo and i worked very, very long and hard. and those numbers are very reflective. after my first term. and now they're going up very substantially based on our conversations today, in addition to being vital for our shared security. japan is one of the top purchasers of u.s. military

exports and equipment, and i'm pleased to say that this week, my administration approved nearly $1 billion in foreign military sales to tokyo, the united states is totally committed to the security of japan. we will extend the full strength of american deterrence capabilities in defense of our friend and ally, 100% in the years to come. the prime minister and i will be working closely together to maintain peace and security. and i also say peace through strength and all over the indo-pacific. and to that end, we also remain committed to the effort. i began in my first term to ensure safety and stability on the korean peninsula. prime minister. ishiba and i spoke long and hard about a vital economic relationship between our two countries and the continuance of that relationship. the united states and japan trade over $300 billion in goods and services

each year. japan has invested nearly $800 billion. and that's going to go up very, very substantially in the coming months, more than any other country. and they're going to have some competition. we have a lot of people coming in and investing in the united states. i think our, our, uh, the feeling throughout the world has never been stronger about this country as a result of our victory in 2024, the presidential election, the japanese investment and technology giant softbank announced plans to invest between 100 and $200 billion. and we have many other companies investing that number higher than that number, some a little bit less. but we have trillions of dollars of investment pouring into our country. now that you didn't have just a short while ago today, our teams discussed how our two nations can do even more to stay on the cutting edge of artificial intelligence, along with the quantum

computing, semiconductors and other critical technologies. and they're coming out. the problem with technology that kind it's obsolete in about two days. so we have to start all over again. doesn't last long. we agreed to cooperate even more closely to combat the chinese economic aggression, which is quite aggressive. i'm also pleased to announce that japan will soon begin importing historic new shipments of clean american liquefied natural gas in record numbers. it will be record numbers with our secretary of the interior. we were talking. i think doug is here. hello, doug. please stand up. doug. doug burgum. everybody. we're talking about the pipeline in alaska, which is the closest point of major oil and gas to japan, by far less than half the distance of any other location. we're talking about a joint venture of some type between japan and us having to do with

alaska oil and gas, and that's very exciting. they're very excited about it. so we as we deepen our economic relationship, i made clear that the united states will be conducting trade with all countries based on the principle of fairness and reciprocity, chronic trade deficits not only undermine our economy, they really do. and we're going to get rid of the trade. we have a trade deficit with japan of over a $100 billion. but we're going to work that out. and i think very quickly, frankly, we can do it just on oil and gas. we can work it out. so we intend to do it very quickly. we both understand that. and as america welcomes new foreign investment, we also want to ensure that companies build their products and factories here in america, not simply buy the assets that we have. and japan is going to be opening up auto plants. new auto plants are being built currently as we as we speak. they've just been started. toyota is one and nissan is

going to be doing something very exciting about about u.s. steel. they'll be looking at an investment rather than a purchase. we like the idea of u.s. steel is a very important company to us. it was the greatest company in the world for 15 years, many years ago, 80 years ago. and we didn't want to see that leave. and it wouldn't actually leave. but the concept psychologically not good. so they've agreed to invest heavily in u.s. steel as opposed to own it. and that sounds very exciting. and we're going to meet with nissan next week. the head of nissan, very great company. and they'll work out the details. i'll help. i'll be there to to mediate and arbitrate. and i had the privilege of working closely with the great prime minister, as you know. and you knew him very well. shinzo abe, the longest serving prime minister in japan's history. likewise, i expect that this prime minister is going to be a great one. i

really believe that he's going to be a great one. i've gotten to know him. uh, for not long, but i can see what they have. he's got he's got he's got the qualities of greatness. he's going to do a fantastic job for japan, for japan and for the japanese people. and i'd like now to invite the prime minister to say a few words, and then we'll take some questions. mr. prime minister, thank you. thank you very much. >> lia thomas it's karim al-hussaini thank you for inviting me to the white house today. >> immediately following your inauguration. i also thank you for your very warm hospitality i have come to washington, dc with the hope of having a face to face meeting and deepening our mutual understanding at this early date with president trump, who is now leading the united

states. the most important country for japan's diplomacy and security, and aligning our perspectives and visions that japan and the united states should pursue. what should we do to advance the national interests of both of our countries in synergy, and to realize peace and prosperity in the indo-pacific? i am convinced that the answer. to further strengthening the strong and unwavering japan-u.s. alliance to achieve a free and open indo-pacific. president and i concurred to strengthen the deterrence and response capabilities of the alliance and to work closely in addressing strategic challenges that both countries are facing in this region. i conveyed to the president that japan, as an ally

of the united states, is ready to share responsibilities and to play its own role. i also reiterated japan's unwavering commitment to fundamentally reinforcing its defense capabilities, and reconfirmed the unwavering commitment by the united states to the defense of japan. we reaffirmed that article five of the japan-u.s. treaty of mutual cooperation and security applies to the senkaku islands, with half of the world's population and approximately 60% of the world's gdp. the indo-pacific serves as the engine of growth and vitality for japan, the united states and the world. president and i also concurred that the united states and japan will make further efforts in a wide range of areas, working hand in hand together to realize

a free and open indo-pacific. in this context, we also concurred to further advanced cooperation of the multi-layered networks of the like minded countries, including the quad, and trilateral cooperation with the republic of korea and the philippines. we also discussed japan, united states cooperation to bring about growth and prosperity, economic cooperation, including on economic security, is important from the perspective of strengthening alliance cooperation. japan is the closest economic partner of the united states and has been the world's largest investor in the united states for five consecutive years. also, with the inauguration of president trump, the momentum for japanese companies to invest in the united states is growing even stronger today. i conveyed my

willingness to cooperate together to elevate japan's investment in the united states to an unprecedented amount of $1 trillion, president trump and myself also concurred to elevate the japan-u.s. partnership to an even higher level through improving business environment and increasing bilateral investment and employment, strengthening each other's industries, leading the world in developing advanced technologies such as a.i. and leading edge semiconductors, and strongly promoting efforts to harness the energy of the growing market in the indo-pacific region we also confirmed that we will cooperate to strengthen energy security between the two countries,

including increasing exports of united states liquefied natural gas to japan in a mutually beneficial manner. regarding foreign exchange, as in the first trump administration closed, discussions will continue between japanese and the u.s. finance ministers, who are experts in this field. >> we also held candid discussions on challenges. the indo-pacific region is facing. we confirmed that we are resolved not to allow unilateral attempts to change the status quo by force or coercion, and to oppose such attempts in the east and south china seas in order to fully defend a free and open indo-pacific. we also reiterated the importance of peace and stability across the taiwan strait. regarding north korea, we affirmed the need to address its nuclear and missile program, which poses a serious threat to japan, the u.s. and beyond, and

that japan and the u.s. will work together toward the complete denuclearization of north korea. as the abductees and their families continue to age. i conveyed my strong sense of urgency and determination directly to president trump and gained his renewed strong support for the immediate resolution of the abductions issue. while this was my first face to face meeting with president trump, we were able to openly and frankly exchange views, and our meeting turned out to be very productive and meaningful. as a result of today's meeting, which marked a new departure for the japan-u.s. relations, we are issuing a japan-u.s. joint leader statement this document will serve as a compass for further

cooperation between our two countries. on the basis of these deliverables, i look forward to working together with president trump, who i respect immensely, to usher in a new golden age of japan-u.s. relations. i look forward to welcoming you to japan. and i'm very excited about that prospect. thank you, mr. president. >> thank you very much. thank you. >> any questions please, peter. >> president trump, i have two on doge elon musk said today. i love donald trump as much as a straight man can love another man. what is the first lady? think about that? >> oh, i think she'll be okay with it somehow. >> uh, so democratic lawmakers are really upset. at doge uh,

engineers have access to these treasury payments to the tenant. aly vance wrote a letter to susie wiles. they're saying that these systems are used to disperse trillions of dollars each year and contain everyday americans personal information like social security numbers, addresses, bank accounts, bytedance, doge mean all of that? >> well, it doesn't, but they get it very easily. i mean, we don't have a good security in our country, and they get it very easily. and what we're doing, if you look at what has just taken place with respect to some of the investments that have been made on another agency that people have been talking about for years, but nobody did anything about it. it's absolutely obscene, dangerous, bad, very costly. i mean, virtually every investment made is a con job. there's nothing of value to anybody unless there's a kickback scheme going on, which is possible. and we're going to be doing more and more of that. we're going to be looking at department of

education. we're going to be looking at even our military. we're going to be looking at tremendous amounts of money are being spent on things that bear no relationship to anything and have no value. we're talking about trillions of dollars. it will be, in the end, trillions of dollars being absolutely wasted. and perhaps illegally. i would say certainly in many cases illegally, but perhaps illegally. overall. and i'm very proud of the job that this group of young people, generally young people, but very smart people, they're doing they're doing it at my insistence. it would be a lot easier not to do it, but we have to take some of these things apart to find the corruption. and we found tremendous corruption. >> you mentioned the department of education. what do you think when you saw democratic lawmakers trying to get into the department of education earlier today? >> oh, i see the same ones. i see maxine waters, a lowlife. i see, you know, all these people. they don't they don't love our country. they don't love our country. we want great education. so they rank 40

countries in education. we're ranked dead last, dead last. but the good news is we're number 1 in 1 category. you know what that is? cost per pupil. we spend more per pupil than any other country in the world. you look at norway, denmark, sweden, various countries all up and down, finland. china does very well in education. and then you look at us, we spend much more money than they do per pupil or any other way. but we spend much more money than they do. and yet we're ranked this year. biden's last year. congratulations, joe. we're ranked dead last. so what i want to see is education number one, i like choice. we all like choice, but beyond choice, long beyond choice. i want to see it go back to the states where great states that do so well have no debt. they're operated brilliantly. they'll be as good as norway or denmark or sweden or any of the other highly ranked countries. they'll be. you probably have 30, i figure

35 to 38 states will be right at the top, and the rest will come along. they'll have to come along competitively. and by the way, we'll be spending a lot less money and we'll have great education. >> doge cost cutting effort. one of the doge engineers was fired for some inappropriate posts. the vice president says bring him back. what do you say? >> well, i don't know about the particular thing, but if the vice president said that, did you say that? i'm with the vice president. thank you. peter yeah. go ahead please. yes. red dress. >> the president. um, just how strong do you want japan's military to be? and do you specifically hope that their increased military spending will deter china and north korea? what did you talk about that today? >> well, i want our military to be the strongest. i also don't mind spending so much money on the military because we build it here. it's made in the usa, all made in the usa. we have, you

know, i rebuilt our military during my first term, did a great job. we left some of it behind in afghanistan. stupidly. there was no reason for that, but it was still as much as it was. it was billions and billions of dollars. but it was a small part of it. but we're going to have the strongest military by far. we have great people. i want to congratulate pete hegseth for having gone through the gantlet. he went through a lot, but he got through and he's going to be a tremendous i have no doubt he's going to be a tremendous leader. and other of the leaders sitting here, they're in their own fields. they're going to we're going to do something very, very, very great. and we expect great things. but i expect the strongest military by far in the world, far stronger than china, far stronger than anybody. and that's the way it is. thank you very much. would you like to ask a question, please? go ahead. >> thank you, mr. president. thank you. um, this is hiramoto from nippon television. um, my

question to let me ask two quick questions on. sure. uh, first one, um, this is the first meeting between mr. president and mr. prime minister ishiba. so what kind of impression do you have on him? and number two, um, do you have an idea or do you have a plan to impose tariffs against japan so far? thank you well. >> i think that he is going to be a great prime minister. i think he's a very strong man, very, very strong. i have great respect for him. i've known him for a long time through a reputation. shinzo abe thought the world of him, and i think he's going to do a fantastic job as prime minister, a very strong person. uh, i wish he wasn't so strong. i wish he was a little bit weaker than that. but that's what i got. i have to get strong guys all the time. he's going to be a great prime minister. i also, uh, in terms of tariffs, i mean, we're going to have tariffs, mostly reciprocal tariffs where we go with and i'm going to be

probably meeting on that monday or tuesday, have an announcement, probably a news conference, but probably reciprocal tariffs where a country pays so much or charges us so much and we do the same. so very reciprocal because i think that's the only fair way to do it that way. nobody's hurt. uh, they charge us, we charge them. it's the same thing. and i seem to be going in that line as opposed to a a flat fee tariff. okay. yes. go. please. please go ahead. why don't you go ahead? >> hold on to. it. >> okay. >> i know. >> this is ota from yomiuri shimbun newspaper. i have a question for prime minister ishiba. so this is your very first summit meeting. what was your impression of president trump? were you able to build a good relationship of trust and confidence in northeast asia? there are many challenges that

china, north korea and so forth. and with the president trump, what did you appeal to him and what kind of understanding were you able to obtain on the economic field? there? is the acquisition of u.s. steel by nippon steel, and there are expansion of import of lng. what were the communication discussion did you have with president trump for the $1 trillion of investment from japan to investment? what was his reaction? what about your communication on tariff front? this is the first time that i met with president trump in person. so this was the first time meeting face to face. but for many, many years i have watched him on television. so it was quite exciting. i was so excited to see such a celebrity on television, to see in person, on television. he is a

frightening and he has a very strong personality. but when i met with him, actually, he was very sincere and very powerful and with strong will for the united states. as for the whole world, i was able to feel that this is not the sort of polishing or trying to suck up to him for the world peace and for the regional stability that both of our countries need to play our role and make our endeavors and responsibility. as for the increase of our defense expenditures, it is not that we are told by the united states to do so. japan, on our own, on our own decision and on our own

responsibility. we need to increase our defense expenditures. but of course, we need to communicate and consult with the united states. but the responsibility is with japan, and the decision is with japan now on the tariffs that if it is mutually beneficial, tariffs need to be set. and as for japan, as mr. president has introduced to us, an unprecedented investment will be made from japan to the united states. and so many jobs will be created. so $1 trillion is the target. and this will be to the benefit of the united states, but also to the benefit of japan as well. investment is mutually beneficial. so be it. with u.s. steel as mr. president says, it

is not acquisition, it is investment. so the japanese. technology will be provided and the better quality products will be manufactured in the united states and the u.s. steel will make products which will contribute not only to the united states and japan, but also to the whole world. it is not one sided. it will be reciprocal. it will be mutually beneficial. and i believe we were able to share on this. and that is the biggest result that i have seen today. >> mr. president. >> thank you very much. go ahead please. >> yeah. >> edward lawrence from fox business. i wanted to ask you about that u.s. steel deal. so you're saying that is this a is this a restructuring of the deal that's happening? and then will you approve? >> they're doing it as an investment. no longer a

purchase. >> okay? >> i didn't want it purchased, but investment i love. and they're going to do a big investment subject to getting the deal done. and they'll be doing a big i'm okay with that. sure. >> and for the prime minister, what was your argument to the president related to u.s. steel? and one more on tariffs. mr. president, if i could, um, you said on tariffs that you'd like them to be reciprocal back and forth. what was the reception from the japanese prime minister when you said that or when you talked? >> well, we didn't discuss tariffs too much. we really discussed many other things, including the pipeline in alaska, which i think is going to be maybe the most exciting thing with doug and chris. we discussed that at length, the pipeline. i mean, it seemed to be of great interest to them. it's we have potentially more oil and gas than in saudi arabia. just in alaska, we have the most of any country in the world. it's a big asset for the united states, but we haven't used it. we go to venezuela, we go to other places to take oil

and gas, and we have more than anybody. it's an amazing phenomena that took place over the last four years. nobody understands it, including the people that were in charge of it. they had no clue what they were doing. so it was a it was a big problem. they were surprised, actually, too. they were saying, why? why didn't they they they wouldn't sell them lng, they wouldn't sell. japan wanted to buy lng and biden wouldn't sell it. and i'm trying to figure that one out. maybe it was the environment, you might have to answer that question. he's curious about that himself. i think thank you. thank you very much. if you want to answer that, you may about lng that the united states wouldn't sell you lng. >> do you want to? >> that was a really unfortunate thing. but the current administration i'm sorry, the

previous administration was not allowing the lng to be exported to us. i believe that president trump, on the day of his inauguration, allowed us to resume this importing. i think this is something that is really wonderful for us. and as the country of japan, we are interested in importing not just lng, but also bioethanol, ammonia and other reasonable other resources at a stable price. a reasonable price from the united states. and we also want to improve the trade deficit that the u.s. has towards japan. so if we are able to buy those at a stable and reasonable price, i think it would be a wonderful situation. and for that, i am very appreciative to president trump. and we also look forward to lng

and hope that it's a success. >> i want to just say that on the ethanol, iowa is going to be very happy. all of the nebraska, all of our farm states are going to be very happy. they want ethanol, and we'll be able to provide it. so our farmers, who i like and they like me, i think they're going to be very, very happy. we've opened the sale of lng immediately. actually, we did it a few days ago and china right now, not only china, everybody wants to buy it. we have more than anybody and they're all buying it. but japan in particular. we're very happy that they're going to start immediately and we can supply it to the world, but we're supplying it to japan and they're going to always be right up in the front of the line. yeah, go ahead, please go ahead. >> thank you. >> so much. mr. prime minister. i have a question for you as well. but, mr. president, i'll start with you quickly to follow up on what peter was asking. have you directed elon musk to review pentagon spending, given it's the biggest discretionary spending in the federal budget?

>> education, just about everything. we're going to go through everything just as it was so bad with what we just went through with this horrible situation we just went through. and i guess it's 97% of the people have been dismissed. it was very, very unfortunate. you're not going to find anything like that, but you're going to find a lot. and i've instructed him to go check out education to check out the pentagon, which is the military. and, you know, sadly, you'll find some things that are pretty bad. but i don't think proportionately you're going to see anything like we just saw. >> and your fbi has turned over a list to the justice department of the fbi agents who worked on the january 6th rioters cases. are you planning to fire the fbi agents who worked on those investigations? >> no, but i'll fire some of them because some of them were corrupt. i have no doubt about that. i got to know a lot about that business, that world. i got to know a lot about that world. and we had some corrupt agents, and those people are gone, or they will be gone, and it'll be done quickly and very surgically.

>> are those the ones who worked on the january 6th. >> investigation for the prime minister? >> just to clarify, are those the ones who worked on the january 6th investigations? are those the ones who worked on the january 6th investigation? >> no, i don't know. i know we have some that are very corrupt and we don't like it. we're going to bring back the reputation of the fbi. kash patel is going to do a great job, and we're going to bring back the reputation of the fbi, which has been hurt very badly. it's been devastated over the last four years. >> and mr. prime minister, you have just been meeting for the first time with president trump, the last administration famously did not have hardly any, if at all, contact with north korea. president trump certainly did the last time he was in office. would you like to see him resume that that contact and also that in-person meeting that he had with the north korean leader, kim jong un? >> steve vladeck that. >> through all gadi eisenkot. >> that is something that the united states needs to determine on its own. and it's not

something that we should request. having said that, but. for example, in vietnam or singapore, the president of the united states. president trump, was able to meet with kim jong un. i think that's a very positive development. so now that president trump is in power again, if we are able to move towards resolving issues with the north korea, i think it would be great. and of course, for us that's that includes not only denuclearization but also resolving the abductee issue. and so the not only the victims of the abductees, but also their families too, are aging. and so

our time is limited. so if the president of the united states, if president trump is able to resolve this issue, we do understand that it's a japan issue. first and foremost. having said that, we would love to continue to cooperate with them. >> it's actually a good question, and we will have relations with north korea and with kim jong un. i got along with him very well. as you know, i think i stopped the war. i think if i wouldn't have won that particular election, you would have ended up in a very bad a very bad situation. but i did, and we had a good relationship. and i think it's a very big asset for everybody that i do get along with him. i like i mean, i get along with him, he gets along with me and that's a good thing, not a bad thing. and i can tell you that japan likes the idea because their relationship is not very good with him. and if i can have a relationship with not only him but other people throughout the world where there seem to be

difficulties, i think that's a tremendous asset for the world, not just the united states. go ahead, eric. >> thank you. i have a question for you and for the prime minister as well. um, mr. president, i. >> wonder what you make of the criticism from democrats that these staff reductions, the cuts that elon musk and doge are doing. >> are an unlawful. >> power grab. is there. >> anything you've told elon musk he cannot. touch? >> well, we haven't discussed that much. i'll tell him to go here. go there. he does it. he's got a very capable group of people. very, very, very, very capable. they know what they're doing. they'll ask questions and they'll see immediately as somebody gets tongue tied that they're either crooked or don't know what they're doing. we have very smart people going in. so i've instructed him, go into education, go into military, go into other things as we go along, and they're finding massive amounts of fraud, abuse, waste, all of these things. so but i will pick out a target and i say go in. there could be areas that we won't, but i

think everything's fertile. you know, we're a government. we have to be open. and as an open government, i don't know, i guess you could say maybe some high intelligence or something, and i'll do that myself if i have to. but generally speaking, i'll just say go. but he will be looking at education pretty quickly, and he will be looking at military to. >> as you know, the bulk. >> of federal spending is social security, medicare programs like that. would you like to see him look at those programs as well? >> well, they don't really have to be looked at by him. they can be looked at by us. social security will not be touched. it will only be strengthened. we have illegal immigrants on social security, and we're going to find out who they are and take them out. we have, uh, illegal immigrants in other medicare. we have, uh, we found a lot of bad people, a lot of people that shouldn't be on that were put on through california. they come a lot of them come out of california. we're not going to stand for that. so we're going to strengthen our social security. et cetera. we're not going to

touch it other than to make it stronger. but we have people that shouldn't be on. and those people we have to weed out. most of them, or many of them so far have been illegal immigrants. they shouldn't even be in the country. do you have a question for the prime minister? >> thank you, mr. prime minister. the president's affinity for tariffs is well known. if the u.s. places tariffs on japanese imports, would japan retaliate? >> in august 20th. >> i am unable to respond to a theoretical question. that's the official answer that we have. >> that's a very good answer. very good answer. wow, that's very good. he knows what he's doing. thank you very much, everybody. thank you. >> thank you. thank you everybody. >> we've been listening to president trump giving a press

conference alongside japanese prime minister shigeru ishiba. a lot of headlines to break down, perhaps most notably this big announcement from president trump on u.s. steel. there was this big debate about whether this effort by nippon steel of japan to buy the u.s. steel company would go through here, the president saying that that would be psychologically not a good concept to have japan own it. instead, he says that japan will invest heavily into the company. the japanese prime minister there saying that the japanese would provide new technology that would help enhance the product. that would be good not only for japan and the united states, but for the world. the president also making a number of headlines. he was asked specifically about access to sensitive treasury department systems and other government agencies. we should note that host some of the most sensitive information about millions of americans. we're talking about social security numbers, financial information. it was reported in recent days that

these two doge employees gained access to it. very unclear exactly the extent of their access. it was decided in court that at least when it came to the treasury, they would have read only access. the president there was asked about it, but he didn't actually answer the question directly. he kind of flipped it to talk about aid and u.s. investment in agencies. right? >> that's right. it was sort of a non-sequitur, almost like he was answering a different question. he was asked. and he said, why does doge need access to that information? he says they don't, but they get it easily. they don't have good security in our country, which was sort of hard to follow. and then he jumped off of that. to your point, to say that they're going to the department of education, trillions of dollars perhaps being illegally wasted. he seemed to really lean on that, that they found tremendous corruption. we have not seen anything to back that up at this point. and then he was also asked, as this has been developed or has been developing