Out of town travel pool report #3: In-flight gaggle

President Trump came back to gaggle with reporters shortly after takeoff. He took questions for just under 11 minutes on the war in Ukraine, his health care ideas, Venezuela and other topics.

Quotes below, please check against transcript/audio, which you can find here: https://www.youtube.com/live/2K8V3xqC9Gc

Latest on Russia-Ukraine talks:

On possible Zelensky visit, POTUS said, "He would like to come, but I think we should get a deal done first."

“We’re having good talks…We won’t know for a little while, but we’re making progress.”

“We’ve settled eight wars. And I thought this would be one of the easier ones because of my relationship with President Putin. But this is probably one of the more difficult ones because there’s a lot of hatred.”

Q: Remaining sticking points?

“Standard things. People are starting to realize it’s a good deal for both parties and they’ve got to stop the war. They’re losing a lot of people.”

He called the 28-point plan “an original proposal. And then from there we went back and forth.”

“They’re talking about going land both ways…you can’t go through the middle of a highway so they’re trying to work out because it’s a complicated process.”

Asked about security guarantees, he said, “We’re working that out with Europe.”

Asked about the original 28-point plan, which drew criticism from some Republicans, the president said it was “just a concept.”

Q: Does Thanksgiving deadline no longer stand?

“We’ll see what happens. They set up a date. The date is going to be sometime in the very near future. I don’t have a deadline. The only deadline for me is when it’s over. And I think everybody is tired of fighting at this point.”

Asked about Bloomberg report on Steve Witkoff’s conversations with a Russian official:

“I haven’t heard it, but it’s a standard thing. Because he’s got to sell this to Ukraine. He’s got to sell Ukraine. That’s what a dealmaker does. You’ve got to say look, they want this, you’ve got to convince them of this. You know, that’s a very standard form of negotiation. I haven’t heard it, but I heard it was standard negotiation. And I would imagine he’s saying the same thing to Ukraine. Because each party has to give and take.”

Q: So you’re not worried that he’s too pro-Russian?

“Look, this war could go on for years, and Russia’s got a lot more people. A lot more soldiers. So I think if Ukraine can make a deal it’s a good thing. I think it’s great for both… Ukraine’s got a much smaller group of people. They’ve lost a lot of people. Russia’s lost a lot of people. But Russia has a much bigger pool of people.”

Are you planning to unveil a health care plan any time soon?

“I like my plan the best. Don’t give any money to the insurance companies, give it to the people directly. Let them buy their own health care plan. And we’re looking at that. If that can work. We’re looking at that. That’s sort of taking off. That’s what I like. Don’t’ give the money to the insurance companies. They go out and buy their own plan. Give the money to the people. That’s what I like."

Q: Are you planning to extend those ACA subsidies?

“I’d rather not. Somebody said I want to extend them for two years. I don’t want to extend them for two years. I’d rather not extend them at all. Some kind of extension may be necessary to get something else done because the unaffordable care act has been a disaster.”

"The premiums are going up, and it’s the Democrats’ fault. But, you know, they are negotiating with me. It’s very interesting.”

Q: Who are you talking to?

A: "I can’t tell you who, but we have a lot of Democrats want this plan to happen. They would love to see the money go to the people and the people go out and get their own health care."

Are you planning to replace Kash Patel?

"No...Kash Patel? He's doing a great job I think."

Still have faith in Lindsey Halligan?

“She’s great. I think she’s great. He got out on a technicality and we’ll see what happens from here on. But you look at the actual charges, I think anybody that looks at it very fairly would say, 'Boy are they guilty.'"

"The court didn’t say you couldn’t bring the case. Rebring the case or appeal the case. So they have a lot of options. They’re going to call the shot, I’m not calling that shot. Lindsey is a very talented lawyer."

Are you planning to talk to Maduro?

"I might talk to him. We'll see. But we're discussing that with the different staffs. We might talk."

Q: You just labeled a group Marudo leads as a foreign terrorist organization, why do you want to talk to him if he's the leader?

"If we can save lives, we can do things the easy way, that's fine. And if we have to do it the hard way that's fine, too... I'm not going to tell you what the goal is. You should probably know what the goal is. But, they've caused a lot of problems. And they've sent millions of people into our country."

Reaction to Bowser not seeking reelection?

“Well, I got along with her very well. I liked her. We worked together. D.C. is now a safe community. You people know it better than I do because you live here. But D.C. is now safe. The restaurants are booming. The place is booming. We have no crime. And we did that all in a period of three or four weeks and then made it better and better and better. And now we’re setting new records.”

“We’re doing really well in Memphis, Tennessee, and we’re doing well in other places. The one that’s really troubling is what’s happening in Chicago. The crime – it’s a potentially great city again, but the governor has totally lost control. That’s why you have the young lady burned. That’s why you had a lot of killings over the last very short period of time. Killings. The governor has totally lost control of the state, and the mayor is grossly incompetent.

Call with the Japanese prime minister:

“I had a great talk. I have a very good relationship with her. I also had a very good talk with President Xi of China. And I think that part of the world is doing fine.”

Contents of the call was “mostly trade,” POTUS said.

“I think we will be pleasantly surprised by the actions of President Xi. I have a great relationship with him. I like him, he likes me…With Japan, likewise. I just came back from Japan, and we have a great relationship, the new prime minister and myself. She’s very smart, she’s very strong, and she’s going to be a great leader."

Brett Samuels

White House reporter

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