24 posts from Friday, May 16, 2025

it's a pretty grueling schedule a lot of people said how the hell do you do it by the way how the hell do you do it I don't know I think it's genetics it's genetics I had a father was very strong and I had a mother was very strong they lived to ripe old ages and they were great people and it's meeting after meeting and not only that it's speech after speech it's not like big ones like last night if you look he got up made a beautiful speech Muhammad he got up and made a beautiful speech I wasn't thought I even had a speech to make so I didn't make a speech off the cuff do you think Biden could do that actually was pretty good speech I looked at it it was pretty good I didn't know I was doing it so but you know it's meeting after meeting with the highest level people these are great people they love us again they were not feeling love at all they were going to China they're not going to China anymore

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But a lot of the coverage back home was about this donation of the Qatar Boeing jet. And I've heard you talk about it. - You know, until you bring this up now, I haven't heard about it for three days. - I know, but I mean, I'm just-- - I mean, we could talk about it again. You ready? - Not briefly. - You ready? - No, no, no. I heard all the answers. - Well, no, but your audience has to hear the answers. - They're giving it to the Defense Department. - I mean, to be very simple. - Yeah. - They're giving it to the United States Air Force slash Defense Department of the United States. They're not giving it to me. I made a good deal. We need a plane for a couple of years before we get the other ones, 'cause Boeing is very late. - 'Cause Boeing is-- - Boeing is sadly-- - Did you talk to the CEO while you were-- - I did, I said, let's get, you know, in the meantime, I got 'em 160 planes to build. I said, "How about the two that you're supposed to build for our country?" Now, they are different. They're extremely complex, and I'm not gonna go into it, but they're not like a normal plane. You know, it's not like building a 747 normal. - I mean, we could put people on the moon before the Boeing Air Force One is done. - People knew I was angry at Boeing. A lot of people know. These people know, they're very smart down here, and they suggested if we can do anything at all to help, because we have 40-year-old planes right now. You know, our Air Force One is actually two planes. It's two 747s. - So those things people know, they're 40 years. It's four decades old. The current Air Force One-- - They're 40 years old. More than that, I think they're 42 now. I've been saying 40 for two years. They're 42, we shouldn't have a 42-year-old plane. And you know what, there's nothing unsafe about it. In many cases, they're just as safe or more safe. They're heavier, you know? They throw out a lot more for the environmentalists out there to turn them. They throw out a little more than a modern engine would throw out. But they're, you know, they're good, but they're 42 years old. And when we landed, I saw the other day when we landed, I was parked right next, we parked right next to the 747 of guitar. And we parked next to us another 747, two or three of them, which the Arab world has. And when you look at a new 747 and you look at a plane that's 42 years old, not even the same plane, the other ones are bigger and sleeker and sharper. And it doesn't look right. We have a problem with Boeing. Now, again, it's a very complex plane. It's a much different plane than a normal plane would be. Okay. And they're doing a great job. They're coming back in, they're coming back strong. But I'm angry about them for the two planes. They should be able to knock them off in no time. And it's, you know, they're not able to do that. And he said, great gentleman to me, he said, I would like to help if you want. I said, how can you help? Well, we happen to have a plane. And I said, well, what do you want? He said, you have been, and he doesn't mean me, although I have been good. He means our country has defended them, has done great things for them. They might not be there. - With a huge base. - Right next to Iran, and he is right next to, he's not like an hour away. Like I flew an hour to one, I flew an hour to here, but that one, you don't have to fly. All you have to do is walk right across the border if you want to. I mean, it's literally touching, right? Right next to, and he said, your country has been very good to us. I would love to do something to help with this situation you have with Air Force One. I said, that's nice, what do you suggest? And he suggested this. And I said, you know what, that's very nice. That's very nice, I appreciate it. What would be the price? He said, there is no price. I said, hmm, that's nice. Now, this plane's not for me. This goes to the United States Air Force for whoever is president. And at some point, it'll be like Ronald Reagan. It'll be decommissioned. You know, it's 11 years old. - So it stays until it's decommissioned. - Yeah, it'll be decommissioned because they won't wanna, plus they'll have the other two planes by that time. And there'll be brand new planes, et cetera. But I just wanna say, it was a radical left story that a lot of people, including you-- - And I asked the Prime Minister about it specifically. And he said, you know, he didn't understand the reaction back home. And, you know, he made that clear. - I think he was insulted, actually. He made a gift to help somebody that has helped them. It was so nice as a gesture. And you know, the people here, to show you how it's crazy, they'd like me to pay a billion dollars. I'd rather pay a billion and get 10 fighter jets instead of giving a billion when it's not necessary.

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Now when you get to Syria, so I did something with Syria because the future king, and you have a wonderful king right now, he's an older man, he's also a friend of mine, and he's a hundred percent sharp, he's great, and he's got a great son, the crown prince, and he has actually many titles, he's prime minister, he's crown prince, and he's doing a great job running it, but he called me, and he spoke to me, and he said, "Could you do me a favor? Could you, and do the world a favor, could you take the sanctions off Syria, because the only way they're going to have a chance, the sanctions are crippling, really biting." Well, that's what I did with Iran, and they came to a point where they were, they were bust. Could you take the sanctions off? I hadn't thought about it much, and he said it in a way that, you know, he's got a great heart. He said, "They can't make it with those sanctions." I said, "Let's give them a chance." I met the leader, I met the new leader, and handsome guy, by the way, young, handsome, and I said, "You know, you have quite a past, got a tough past, but when you think about it, are you going to put a choir boy in that position?" I don't think so, you know, it's going to be a little bit tough. It's a tough part of the world. So you're willing to give him a shot? You know the word, they say it's a nasty neighborhood, it's a rough neighborhood. And I thought he was really, yeah, I thought he was terrific. He was so thankful about the sanctions, because he knew he was not going to be able to bust through.

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massive amount of business investment coming back to the U.S. and they're still adding it up in each country. Which, by the way, most importantly, that's why I came here. I didn't come here to say, gee, you guys are rich and you have a lot of oil. You know, they have a lot of money, and I want them to spend the money in the United States. And we set records. There's never been a trip like this by any president or anybody ever before. And I'd ask him, how about doubling it up? Okay, oh, I should have asked for more because they said, okay, they're good people and they love our country. And look, they have great danger because of Iran. That's their primary danger. And that makes them vulnerable. But I don't see them as being vulnerable because I think we have the greatest military in the world and we're adding to it now at levels that nobody's ever seen. We're going to build the Iron Dome. We deserve an Iron Dome. You know, see, we call it two names. So I was going to call it the Iron Dome because that's the name everyone has heard of for years. But to me, it was old fashioned. So we changed it recently to the Golden Dome, the beautiful Golden Dome. And Ronald Reagan, you know, Ronald Reagan wanted that many years ago, and he was right, except you didn't have anywhere near the technology.

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- Well, I always considered it to be a very important region. I know all three leaders, as you could see, very well. In all three cases, I knew them long before I ran for politics, which is sort of something. It makes it a little bit more special. They're great people. The three of them, they're great people. And it's a great region, but it was never treated properly. And it was certainly not treated well by Biden, who didn't know he was alive, frankly. So, you know, you can understand that. But he was not, he didn't treat, they didn't treat this group well. And I think they were being, and I guess you know, 'cause you've reported on it, they were being coaxed very strongly by China, 'cause that solves China's fuel problem forever. And it wasn't their preference, but they were on their way, they were going to China, and that was going to be their parent. And that's not happening anymore. - Do you think you've shifted the paradigm on that? - No, I don't think, I know. We are as close, we're closer now to them than ever before. You could see the relationship. You could get a body expert and pay them a lot of money, they could tell you. No, there's just a relationship that I have with all three that's just, you know, very extraordinary. I was even saying, you know, we're like so friendly, not a normal situation where you're okay with a leader or whatever. But this is a very important region. This is the energy capital of the world. They have massive amounts of energy and other things. They've invested wisely, and they're looking to do other things. I guess in Saudi Arabia, they said, in another couple of years, there'll be more than 50% other businesses represent more than 50% of the take. And it's pretty amazing what all of them have done.

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