WH out of town pool report #4/ POTUS on Iran, Canada/ Europe and the Kennedy Center

More from POTUS's gaggle with the pool at Charlotte airport:

On the Fed: "They're raising the rates to make Trump do as bad as he can possibly do. The problem they have is that we have the greatest economy in history. We have over 21 trillion dollars being invested in this country, which is five times more than we've ever had before."

On Iran: "Hopefully we're towards the end of the war. They want to make a deal, and we'll see how that works out. They're very much wanting to make — Iran is very much wanting to make a deal."

On Canada potentially becoming an associate member of the European Union: "Canada's been a terrible trade partner. No, I don't see that. If they do that, if I think it's at all a hostile act, I will put very serious tariffs or stop trading with Europe on many things. So, if they do that, if Europe does that, with a bad intention - if it's a good intention, that's fine - if it's bad intention we'll put very heavy tariffs on Europe, which is a possibility."

On the Kennedy Center: "It's a mess. The Kennedy Center for many years has lost tens of millions of dollars, even hundreds of millions of dollars... For me to go and fix it - I'm quite capable of fixing it - and then have to subsidize it for years to come, because you will lose with the Kennedy Center - they were losing hundreds of millions of dollars and sometimes hundreds of billions - this is before I got involved.

"So, for the Trump administration, for me, to get involved and to take that on long term and to carry it or to raise money to carry it, I think that the Trump Administration should certainly have recognition because, frankly, if we don't do that, it's going to close. It'll end up being ripped down. It's in very, very bad shape, very dangerous shape. You see steel falling down. You see plaster falling off ceilings. You see a lot of dangers. It's been very badly maintained for 25 years.

"I'd like to be able to save it, but it's going to take a lot of subsidy into the future. And for us as an administration to want to do that, I think the Trump administration should be recognized."

ENDS

David Smith

Washington bureau chief

Guardian News & Media