WH Travel Pool Report #25 Paris Orly gaggle part two

--Trump was asked to elaborate on his statement on not minding Iran having ballistic missiles.

"I'm saying that if other countries have them, it's a little bit unfair for them not to have some. A ballistic missile is not the same thing we're talking about when we talk nuclear."

Trump noted Saudi Arabia and Qatar have "some." "I would say in relative proportion I think it's okay."

Question: How important is it in the MOU, which just came out, that Iran commits not only to not pursue nuclear weapons, but also resolve the nuclear dust as you call it?"

"Much less important, because it's very hard to get at that," Trump said, before describing his B2 bomber strikes last year.

Trump was asked about the hot mic moment when Carney was talking to Trump about the Chinese car cap. He was asked about the cap and what he thinks about it.

Trump said he wasn't sure he told Carney he liked it, but he understands it. "Would I rather see a cap than no cap? I would. On Canada."

Trump was asked how long the USMCA negotiations or review would go on...

"To me, I think it's better without it. To be honest with you, I'm not a big fan of it. I liked it because it got us out of NAFTA."

Trump said he would rather leave it "unsigned." "I'd rather have it terminated," Trump said.

Trump was asked to clarify.

"I would rather not have the agreement, but I may sign it," Trump said. "We do better as a country if we don't have an agreement."

Trump said he doesn't think he can reach a deal on the USMCA.

"I would rather not have the USMCA. The primary reason I wanted it was because there was no way out of NAFTA, which was the worst trade agreement ever made, like ever, and they had no termination, and it was very hard to get USMCA for that reason."

Trump said he would prefer if it "possibly expired immediately."

Q: does Ukraine have the advantage on the battle field

A: “Well, theyre doing pretty well. Russia’s a big country, a big, you know, a much bigger military. They’re doing pretty well, they’re holding their own. They have great equipment, our equipment, they’re doing pretty well.”

Q send them anymore munitions?

“Well they pay for it. I send it to Europe, Europe pays for it, NATO pays for it.”

Q on russia sanctions

“I may put it back on. I wanted to make sure that oil stayed as low as possible. Now that the oil price is way down — wait’ll you see those numbers, it’s way down — I may put it back on.”

Your pooler asked if the 60 day period is a hard deadline for the final agreement. Trump first said that your pooler should "go back and tell the New York Times you ought to change your whole way of life."

Pooler asked the question again and POTUS said "no."

Trump was then asked again if that means he's prepared to extend the negotiations. "I don't think of it as hard," Trump said.

"Just as long as they're behaving I don't care," Trump said.

Zolan Kanno-Youngs

The New York Times

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@KannoYoungs