>> against the citizens. >> of. >> the country. >> we are all watching and waiting to see who is. >> going to. >> hold the line. >> don't miss the weekends. >> saturday and sunday mornings at. >> 8:00 on msnbc.

>> it's good to be back with you on this second hour of chris jansing reports at this hour. foreign relations. any minute now, the president will hold a joint press conference with the prime minister of japan. what we can expect from the east room and privacy deal. the justice department agrees for now, not to release the names of fbi agents who investigated the january 6th attack on the capitol. heading home, a fifth round of hostages will be released by hamas tomorrow after more than a year in captivity and amid the fragile ceasefire deal as israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu watches from the us. also, the search underway right now in alaska for a missing plane with ten people on board. what we know at this hour. our nbc news reporters are following all of the latest

developments. we start with nbc's garrett haake, who is at the white house, where we're waiting for the president and the press conference with japan's prime minister. what are we expecting here? garrett. >> well, chris, i think we're going to get a heavy focus on trade that was indicated by both the president and the prime minister's remarks in their oval office meeting. that was before this, before a lengthy lunch that has now pushed this news conference back by about an hour. the prime minister indicating he wanted to talk about japanese investments in the u.s, things like toyota opening plants here in this country, tariffs always top of mind for foreign leaders meeting with president trump, especially what we saw just last week with the threats against mexico and canada since averted that could come up. so too could global security issues on which japan is a key partner. specifically, both china and north korea. i think those are likely to be conversations for the lunch. we'll see if they come up here. of course, trump did have a very close relationship with the former japanese prime minister. he's meeting for the first time with the new prime minister here today. so how that develops will

be interesting. i think the other issue that i'll be watching for is to see whether there's any discussion about the purchase of u.s. steel. remember, it was a japanese steel company. it was attempting to buy u.s. steel that was originally blocked by the biden administration. donald trump, when he became president, picked up where the biden administration left off. but there's no indication the japanese have backed off their desire to own the sort of primary u.s. steel company. so we'll see if that comes up. and also, what else is on the president's mind? as we've learned as recently as this week, these press conferences can move on to other topics pretty quickly. chris. >> almost always. garrett haake, thank you. we'll be watching along with you. let's go to that agreement now that was reached between the d.o.j. and a group of fbi agents. let me bring in nbc news intelligence and justice correspondent ken dilanian. so what does this do? and what happens if the government pulls out? >> well, chris, under this agreement, the government would have to give the fbi agents two days notice so that they could contest it in court. and i should add, the justice department has said they never had any plans to release this

list of names publicly. but the fbi agents association and fbi agents feel that this was a big victory for them. they got an agreement here that forbids the entire u.s. government from releasing the names that were just turned over of agents and personnel who worked on january 6th cases. take a listen to chris mattei, one of the lawyers for the agents. >> the federal agents across the federal government who do their job every day, who have no political leanings one way or the other in how they perform their job and who do that job honorably can get back to work without fear of being targeted for political retribution. we think that that's not very much to ask. >> and i can tell you, chris, fbi agents i've been speaking to are pretty rattled at the idea that their names could be made public and they could be targeted for political retribution simply because they followed orders and worked on a january 6th investigation. chris. >> ken dilanian, thank you. we're now learning the names of the three men. hamas says it will release tomorrow in the

fifth exchange of hostages and palestinian prisoners. nbc's matt bradley is here with us. what do we know about who will be released? matt. >> that's right. chris. well, those three men, all of them over the age of 30, they're supposed to be released on saturday. hamas also said they expect israel to release some 183 palestinian. prisoners who are being held in israeli jails on saturday as well. and this is part of that weeks long exchange of the israelis. their names are eli sharabi, who's 52 years old, ohad ben-ami, who's 56, and ora levi, who's 34. now, two of them, the first two, sharabi and ben-ami. they were abducted from be'eri, where they lived during those october 7th attacks. most of their family members were killed. the third, levi, he was abducted from that nova music festival, where his wife was also killed in a bomb shelter in october, where both of them had been hiding during that concert. now, these three names are going to add to the 18 hostages who hamas has already released since

the cease fire deal began on january 19th. so this is going to be the fourth such prisoner exchange in as many weekends. they normally happen on saturdays. hamas is expected to release 33 hostages by the time the first stage of the cease fire ends, about three weeks from now, though, hamas has said that eight of those 33 hostages have already died and israel on its side. they're expected to release about 1900 palestinian prisoners. now, so far, all of this appears to be going relatively according to plan. but there have been some major hiccups. now, hamas just today announced that these names, just before they announced these names, only a few hours earlier, they accused israel of not sticking with the terms of the deal by not ramping up their amount of humanitarian aid that they were allowing into the gaza strip. a hamas official told a press conference that only 8500 out of an expected 12,000 aid trucks had actually entered gaza since the cease fire began. and that increase in aid that was

part of the deal. israel denied that. and the united nations has said that actually, about 10,000 trucks have entered gaza since late january. so even though it now looks like the exchange is going ahead, there still haven't been any concrete, real, visible efforts toward moving toward the second phase of that ceasefire deal that would see israeli troops fully withdraw from the gaza strip, and a kind of permanent peace. but it's unclear whether israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu will allow that to happen. if it means the end of his ruling cabinet. chris. >> matt bradley, thank you. let's go to alaska, where the search is on for a missing bering air caravan flight. nbc's dana griffin is following this story for us. what more do we know about this flight, as well as the search? >> yeah, chris. so we know that investigators are trying to find that missing plane and all ten passengers that were on board. so this is a bering air flight 445. it departed yesterday afternoon from unique fleet, all heading to nome. this was

supposed to be about a 40 45 minute flight. 40 minutes into the flight, the plane disappeared from radar. it was just ten minutes from its destination, about 12 miles offshore. now, according to the nome fire department, before the plane vanished, the pilot told air traffic control that he was entering a holding pattern, waiting for a runway to be cleared. it's unclear why he needed to wait, or if there's a little clue there as to why this plane disappeared. but it's obviously very heartbreaking because it's been several hours, and we know that several helicopters have been out there searching. they've done grid searches, but they have not yet found that missing plane. we know that the fbi is now coming into nome. they say they are going to track the passengers through cell phone tracking, so that may help them in the search. we just saw that governor mike dunleavy tweeted. he says that he and his wife, rose, are heartbroken by the disappearance of the bering air flight over norton sound. he says our prayers are with the

passengers, the pilot and their loved ones during this difficult time. he goes on to say that they are monitoring the ongoing search and rescue efforts, and they stand ready to support. so obviously a very heartbreaking situation considering this is the third plane that has either crashed or disappeared within the last eight days. so hopefully investigators figure out what happened with this plane. but as the time ticks on, chris, it's obviously very tough for families that are waiting for answers. >> without a doubt. dana griffin, thank you. in 90s, there are 15 people held at guantanamo. now, the secretary of homeland security is there to see how they're going to house see how they're going to house tens of thousands more. that's with fatigue and light-headedness, i knew something was wrong. then i saw my doctor and found out i have afib, and that means there's about a 5 times greater risk of stroke. symptoms like irregular heartbeat, heart racing, chest pain, shortness of breath, fatigue,

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♪ miebo ♪ ♪ ohh yeah ♪ remove contact lenses before using miebo. wait at least 30 minutes before putting them back in. eye redness and blurred vision may occur. ♪ miebo ♪ ♪ ohh yeah ♪ ask your eye doctor about prescription miebo. book on the governing strategy known as project 2025, and now he has a chance to put it into action. today is his first day on the job at the office of management and budget, after being confirmed as president trump's budget chief last night, it came over vocal opposition from democrats, one of whom called vote the most dangerous of all of donald trump's nominees. nbc's ryan nobles is on capitol hill for us. what's the latest on all of this? ryan? >> well, chris, the biggest concern that democrats have about russell vote's position at the office of management and budget is that he is going to do some very constitutionally

questionable things to try and rein in spending at the federal government level, in other words, that he is going to take money that has already been appropriated, that has been designed by law, to be spent by the executive branch and decide to either not spend it or to completely shut down programs that congress has already authorized. and you see this administration already testing the limits of their constitutional authority with their plans to basically shut down the usaid office. and there's worries that vote may attempt to do similar things with departments across the government. democrats have done everything they can procedurally to stand in the way of his nomination, and part of what they did was hold a 30 hour session of debate where each senator got up and explained some of the reasons why they didn't think vote should have the job. listen to what some of them said. >> we want. >> americans every. >> hour. whether it's 8 p.m. or 3 a.m, to hear how bad russell vote. >> is. he is donald.

>> trump's most dangerous nominee. >> vote has shown complete disregard. for democratic institutions. >> vote has said we live in a quote, post-constitutional time. >> that's what he believes we're in. >> do my colleagues agree with that? >> so the problem for democrats is there isn't much they can do. they talked for 30 hours. they said everything they possibly wanted to say about vote in his nomination. republicans just waited around for them to be done talking and then voted yes to confirm him as the next director of the office of management and budget. and so what democrats are trying to do is draw attention to their concerns about his actions, but they're also attempting legal maneuvers to try and stand in the way of some of the actions that he's taking. they're filing lawsuits. many of the unions that represent some of these federal workers that are impacted by this are filing lawsuits. the question is, will the damage already be done before the courts can take action? now, republicans, on the other hand, say this is what donald trump ran on. he promised

to cut the budget. he promised to do it immediately, and that he's looking under the hood of the federal government to find areas of waste. and it's russell vogt's job to prevent that waste from further continuing. obviously, this is a back and forth that's going to continue for some time. but right now, chris, republicans and the trump administration are in the driver's seat. it may be some time before the rest of the american public sees the full impact of these decisions that they're making. >> chris ryan nobles, thank you. there was some rare bipartisanship in congress. 98 democrats voting in favor, along with 214 of their republican counterparts passing the holt fentanyl act last night. the bill classifies street versions of fentanyl related substances as schedule one drugs. that means they have a high potential for abuse, and it gives law enforcement more power to crack down on drug traffickers. the holt fentanyl act is now headed to the senate, where it is expected to pass. dhs secretary kristi noem is visiting guantanamo bay today, looking

firsthand at the notorious military detention center where the trump administration plans to house tens of thousands of migrants. now, it's not the first time it's been used for that purpose. in the early 1990s, george h.w. bush's administration intercepted boats carrying haitian refugees and sent them to guantanamo bay. our next guest successfully challenged that detention and joins us now to explain why this time is different. harold koh is professor at the yale law school and a former state department legal advisor. it's great to have you on. so help us understand this. why is this plan different than bush's was? >> previously. >> guantanamo was only held. >> to. >> hold people. >> who were trying to. >> come to the united states for the first time. >> and have never. >> entered the country. this unprecedented plan. >> would take. as many as 30,000 people. >> so the president. >> says. >> and move them from the united states. >> where they're already. >> in immigration proceedings to. >> guantanamo.

>> to sites that have. >> not yet. >> been built. >> the migrant. operation center, which is already there, currently. >> holds only about 100 people. >> and they're. talking about scaling that up to 30,000. the reports show that there are maybe 3000 beds being. >> added. >> but we're talking about tenfold. >> increase beyond that. >> yeah. and one of the things that that donald trump has said is that this is where they're going to send violent, dangerous criminals the worst of the migrants who have come into this country. even if we accepted that logistically, how do you gear up to handle that number of people in that space? who, again, in the president's words, are so dangerous? >> well, first of all, chris, that's what they always say. i mean, george h.w. bush said that. george w bush said that. trump said that. they don't actually know yet who these people are because they're in proceedings to determine whether what they've done in the past is

a sufficient reason to deport them. so they're moving them before they know there is no final order of removal with regard to these people, and we're not even sure who they are. it's also not clear that there's any legal basis to hold them in guantanamo, since the immigration authority is limited to the territorial united states, where you have a removal order. the al qaeda people who are being held in guantanamo now are there because they are supposedly law of war detainees. in other words, people who have committed nine over 11 or other things like that. but there's no claim as to who these people are, and nobody is 100% sure who they are except that they are venezuelan of some kind. >> so the white house borders are. tom homan was asked about what comes next, and here's what he said. >> we've had a. >> migrant processing. >> center at gitmo for decades. so we're increasing our footprint there. it makes sense to do that. like we just i just got a question on migrant beds. that's going to be another place

where we have up to 30,000 beds. and, you know, president trump made a commitment that the worst of the worst would go to gitmo. and that's. >> what we're. >> how much. >> is it going. >> to cost? >> let's assume that they're able to get thousands, if not tens of thousands there. what are your concerns once they're in guantanamo? and as you point out, it's not even clear. there will be a clearer record or anybody knows even who they are, who's gotten who's gone there. >> so, chris, i've been there a number of times. what you just said is ludicrous. the footprint they have is for 4 to 38 people. that's what they have and have had in the times i've visited before. most of those people are held for 2 or 3 weeks, and then they're sent to other countries. and guantanamo is a bay. and on the left side of the bay is where they hold them. they're talking about 30,000 people, not 47. and the footprint for that, the last time that many people were attempted to hold on guantanamo, they covered every

part of all of the landing strips, the golf course, and they don't have the facilities to handle that. they have a very mediocre hospital. the water is bad. there are insects and other kinds of diseases that are available to people living in tents. and most important, people in the united states who are in proceedings often have work authorizations so they can work while they're waiting for the proceedings to occur. on guantanamo, they're just in a prison camp, being guarded by people who are not professional prison guards. they're army soldiers. you're showing right now the maximum security prison, which only has enough place for about, i think, 50 to 70 people. i've been there also. so they're talking about what they're not talking about is the footprint. they've had a toe print, and now they're talking about setting up an entire city in that same area. and the real question is,

in guantanamo right now, it holds roughly. it costs roughly $1 million a person a year to hold them in detention. and if they had that kind of resources, then the question is, why aren't they using them at the border rather than. >> $1 million a year? professor? >> well, for the al qaeda camp, the who are currently there, it's the most expensive prison camp in the world. and, chris, i think we really don't want to miss this point. if we set up an off shore prison camp for 30,000 people who we haven't proven have committed crimes, why doesn't putin set a similar one up for his dissidents, like the latest navalny or xi jinping set one up offshore in beijing for the uyghurs or anybody else who is an enemy of the state. >> so, and i might have to interrupt you because we're waiting. professor, i'm going to say thank you. we're going to go to the east room of the white

house, where president trump and the japanese prime minister are about to hold a press conference. he is the second foreign guest of the president. let's listen in. >> 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's the. >> picture. >> i wish i was as handsome as him, but i'm not. >> thank you. >> okay. thank you. >> oh. >> i 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. 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, 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 didn't 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 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 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 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. >> trump. >> mr. president trump, i would like to sincerely 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 lies in 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, were working hand in hand together to realize a free and open indo-pacific. in this context, we also concurred the 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 ai 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. and 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 for. >> any questions, please, peter. >> president trump, i have two of those. >> elon musk said today. >> i love donald trump as much as a straight man and love another man. >> i thought. >> it was the first lady. think about that. >> oh. >> i. think she'll be okay with it somehow. >> so democratic lawmakers are really upset that those engineers have access to these treasury payment systems, the senate intelligence, while they're saying that these systems are used to disburse trillions of dollars each year and contain everyday americans personal information like social security numbers, home addresses, bank accounts, i just don't need all of that.

>> well, it doesn't, but they get it very easily. i mean, we don't have very 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, peter, 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. once again, you saw democratic lawmakers trying to get into the department of education earlier today. >> 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. >> as a 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. 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. >> this is hiramoto. >> from nippon television. my question to let me ask two quick questions. sure. first one, 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, 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 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. 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 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. they charge us, we charge

them. it's the same thing. and i seem to be going in that line as opposed to a flat fee tariff. okay. yes. go. please. please go ahead. why don't you go ahead? >> you're. >> 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 china, north korea and so forth. and with 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 that 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 the us 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 us, 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. >> thank you, mr. president. >> edward lawrence from fox business. i wanted to ask you about that us 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 where 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, 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. 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 phenomenon 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 very much. if you want to answer that, you may about lng that the united states wouldn't sell you lng. >> do you worry about it? >> 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 success. >> i wanted to 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? yes, i have. >> pentagon 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 will be done quickly and very surgically. i did you have a question for the prime minister? >> the university. >> took up? >> are those the ones who worked on the january 6th? >> i don't know, 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 admission. >> 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? >> throughout? >> 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, go ahead. >> i have a question. >> for you and for the prime minister as well. 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.

>> 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 could 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 illegal immigrants in other medicare. we have we've had 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? >> i do. >> mr. prime minister. the president's affinity for tariffs is well known. if the us places tariffs on japanese imports,

would japan retaliate? >> 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. thank you. >> well, the president and the prime minister and some real news that was made there on the on the first front, the president saying that he would indeed fire some of the january 6th. prosecutors at the fbi quickly and surgically suggesting that he has seen that

they are corrupt, but producing no evidence, also producing no evidence of widespread corruption that he seems to see in many of the government agencies where they have been making cuts. particularly, he seemed to be referencing usaid, where he says 97% of the people have been dismissed. let me go to garrett hake, who just asked that great series of last questions. but garrett, the president defending elon musk, defending the cuts and making a lot of accusations about things he says in the federal government that are obscene, dangerous and bad, suggesting some people are taking kickbacks, but again, giving us no evidence of any of that. >> what's your. >> headline out of this? >> well, this has been the criticism of so much of this effort is that there's relatively little transparency. there's relatively little to back up the claims that the president has made about these programs, and about the cuts that elon musk and his team from doge are recommending across the

government. you heard the president outline two agencies that i think are about to come under the microscope. the department of education, which our colleague yamiche alcindor and others reported yesterday, is on the chopping block as an agency to potentially be closed by this president. he wants to see elon musk and his team look quite closely there, and also the department of defense. and that's significant. the department of defense is the biggest chunk of the federal budget. that is what's called discretionary spending. it would be the sort of the deepest well to dig, if you are really serious about cutting federal spending, except in answer to my question, saying elon musk and his company will not be touching social security and medicare. that was a campaign promise of the president not to cut those programs. and what he seems committed to keeping in this context. >> chris garrett hake in the east room of the white house. thank you. that's going to do it for us this hour. our coverage continues with katy tur reports next. >> good to. >> be with you. i'm katy tur. >> on