President Trump signs new Executive Orders and takes questions from reporters.
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00:00It's exciting with the NFL, right?
00:22Well, thank you very much.
00:23We have some important signings today
00:25and some important statements to make
00:27about what we're doing in the world of medicine,
00:31with Bobby and the group.
00:32And maybe we'll do something which will be very enlightening,
00:38and I think people are going to like it.
00:40But it was a little gift that's being presented.
00:42So, Will, do you want to take over?
00:43Yes, sir.
00:44So earlier today, the House of Representatives
00:46transmitted this over for you.
00:49This is a record of the Electoral College votes
00:52in the 2024 election.
00:53It shows your total of 312 votes.
00:57And the letter opener at the bottom of this frame display
01:01is actually one of the letter openers
01:03that was used to open the electoral votes
01:05during the counting.
01:06That's great.
01:07How many votes did the other side get?
01:10Less than you, sir.
01:11Significant.
01:11By how much?
01:13I don't want to get this wrong.
01:14It was 226.
01:16Oh.
01:18But the news said it was going to be the other way around.
01:21The news said it was going to be a lot closer.
01:22No, they said it was going to be a lot closer than that.
01:24It wasn't close.
01:25So 312 to 226.
01:29That's pretty good.
01:31Okay.
01:32I thank them for a minute.
01:33It's very nice.
01:34Yes, sir.
01:34We'll tell the speaker.
01:35We have a number of executive orders
01:37for your attention today, sir.
01:38The first relates to gain-of-function research.
01:41Gain-of-function research is a type of biomedical research
01:44where pathogens are, adulterated viruses are adulterated
01:49to make them more potent or to change the way that they function.
01:53Many people believe that gain-of-function research
01:56was one of the key causes of the COVID pandemic
01:59that struck us in the last decade.
02:02What this executive order does,
02:04first of all, it provides powerful new tools
02:07to enforce the ban on federal funding
02:09for gain-of-function research abroad.
02:11It also strengthens other oversight mechanisms
02:15related to that issue
02:17and creates an overarching strategy
02:19to ensure that biomedical research in general
02:22is being conducted safely
02:24and in a way that ultimately protects human health more.
02:28It's a big deal.
02:30It could have been that we wouldn't have had the problem we had.
02:32A lot of people say that, sir.
02:34If we had this done earlier.
02:40Okay, go ahead.
02:41Many actions that you've taken so far in this administration, sir,
02:44are related to on-shoring manufacturing
02:47and on-shoring supply chains.
02:49One of the most important supply chain issues
02:51we currently face as a country
02:53is our pharmaceutical supply chain.
02:55This is an executive order
02:57intended to promote domestic manufacturing of pharmaceuticals.
03:00It streamlines the permitting processes
03:03that go into building
03:05domestic pharmaceutical manufacturing sites.
03:08It centers a lot of the environmental permitting process,
03:11which is quite significant, within the EPA,
03:13and it takes other actions designed to ensure
03:16that we're bringing pharmaceutical jobs
03:18and pharmaceutical manufacturing
03:19back to the United States of America.
03:21Okay, good.
03:22That's what it's all about, right?
03:25Very important.
03:27We're going to have a big announcement
03:29next week on some of this kind of thing,
03:32but more related to costs,
03:34the costs of medicines and drugs,
03:36because we're being ripped off,
03:39as you know, very badly,
03:41being ripped off compared to the rest of the world.
03:43Go ahead.
03:44Next, we have a series of proclamations
03:46for your attention, sir.
03:47This is a proclamation declaring
03:48National Mental Health Awareness Month.
03:51Mental health and that basket of issues
03:54has been a major priority for Secretary Kennedy
03:56since he got into office.
03:58It's been a major priority for your administration.
04:01This is just a proclamation declaring this month
04:03to be National Mental Health Awareness Month.
04:06Dan?
04:06See?
04:17No auto pen.
04:18Isn't it nice to have a president
04:20that doesn't need an auto pen
04:22so that somebody that you have no idea
04:24who the person is,
04:25who's actually the president of our country,
04:28they ought to look into that auto pen stuff.
04:30That's not right,
04:31what took place for four years.
04:33Very important.
04:36Go ahead.
04:38Thank you, sir.
04:41Next, this is another proclamation
04:43declaring this week
04:45to be National Small Business Week.
04:47As you've said many times before,
04:49small business is actually big business.
04:51Small businesses are key drivers
04:53of the American economy.
04:55Your administration has taken quite dramatic steps
04:57to improve small business,
05:00to help small businesses.
05:01This is just a proclamation
05:02that recognizes those efforts
05:04and announces the National Small Business Week.
05:08Good.
05:08And before I go any further,
05:10I'd like to just,
05:11as you see behind me,
05:13Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
05:14is doing a fantastic job.
05:16Director Jay Bhattacharya,
05:18National Institute of Health,
05:20and a very special person.
05:23I interviewed him personally.
05:25I liked him immediately.
05:26I interviewed a lot of people,
05:29but I liked him.
05:31Dr. Martin McCary, likewise,
05:33FDA Commissioner,
05:34who's really in there,
05:36plugging hard, right?
05:37But we have some big things coming up,
05:39and Will, everybody knows.
05:40So I just wanted to thank all of you.
05:42Vince Haley's around here someplace.
05:44Where's Vince?
05:45Vince is great.
05:46Come on up here, Vince.
05:47He should be up here.
05:48He's been with me for a long time.
05:50He's an expert on policy
05:52and speech writing, too,
05:54along with Ross, right?
05:56Yes, sir.
05:57So great.
05:57It's great to have you all.
05:59Bobby, do you have anything to say?
06:01We signed some very important documents
06:03having to do with health.
06:05Oh, yeah, I understand.
06:05Mr. President,
06:07a gain-of-function,
06:08this is an historic day,
06:10the end of gain-of-function research,
06:13funding by the federal government,
06:14and also controls by private corporations
06:18on gain-of-function studies.
06:20This was the kind of study
06:22that was engaged in
06:23by the United States military
06:25and intelligence agencies
06:27beginning in 1947.
06:30By 1969,
06:32the CIA said that they had reached
06:34nuclear equivalency,
06:36that they could kill
06:37the entire U.S. population
06:38for 29 cents a person.
06:42That year, President Nixon
06:44went to Fort Detrick
06:45and announced a unilateral
06:47end to this kind of research,
06:49what they called
06:50dual-use research,
06:52research that was for vaccination
06:53and also for military purposes.
06:57He then persuaded
06:58over 180 countries
07:00to sign the Bioweapons Charter
07:01in 1973.
07:04That basically ended
07:07gain-of-function research
07:08around the globe
07:09until 2002.
07:12Or 2001,
07:13after the anthrax attacks,
07:16we passed the Patriot Act,
07:18and the Patriot Act
07:19had a provision,
07:19a little-known provision in it
07:21that said that
07:22although the Bioweapons Charter
07:24is still in effect,
07:27and the Geneva Convention
07:28is still in effect,
07:30U.S. federal officials
07:31who violate it
07:32cannot be prosecuted.
07:33And that relaunched
07:36bioweapons arms race,
07:39and that was driven
07:40by gain-of-function research.
07:42In 2014,
07:44three of those bugs
07:45escaped from U.S. labs,
07:48and President Obama
07:49declared a moratorium
07:50on future use,
07:52and instead,
07:52a lot of that research
07:54was moved offshore
07:56to the Wuhan lab.
07:58We have,
07:59and it launched
08:00bioweapons arms race
08:02all around the country,
08:03all around the world,
08:04so that China's engaged
08:06in it developing
08:07all kinds of weapons
08:08using AI and CRISPR technologies
08:10that are really devastating.
08:13Russia is deeply engaged
08:14in it,
08:15Iran and many other countries.
08:17It's a kind of weapon
08:19that always has blowback.
08:21There's always bad news.
08:23And the justification
08:24for this kind of weaponry
08:26was,
08:27and these kind of research,
08:28was always that
08:29we have to do this
08:30to develop vaccines
08:32to counter
08:34a future pandemic.
08:36In all of the history
08:38of gain-of-function research,
08:41we can't point
08:42to a single good thing
08:43that's come from it.
08:45And today,
08:46I commend President Trump
08:48for his courage
08:49and his vision
08:50in ending
08:52U.S. bioweapons research.
08:54And Jay,
08:54I'd love you
08:55to talk a little bit about it.
08:57Yeah.
08:58Jay, yes.
08:59This is a historic day.
09:01The conduct
09:03of this dangerous
09:04gain-of-function research,
09:05which aims at taking pathogens
09:07and making them more virulent,
09:09more transmissible on humans,
09:11many scientists believe
09:12is responsible
09:13for the COVID pandemic.
09:15The conduct of this research
09:18does not protect us
09:19against pandemics,
09:20as some people might say.
09:22It doesn't protect us
09:23against other nations.
09:24What it does is
09:26there's always a danger
09:27that in doing this research,
09:29it might leak out
09:30just by accident even
09:32and cause a pandemic.
09:34Any nation
09:35that engages
09:36in this research
09:36endangers
09:37their own population
09:38as well as the world,
09:40as we saw
09:40during the COVID pandemic.
09:42This proclamation
09:43makes it so that
09:44most science
09:46actually poses
09:48no threat
09:48to human populations.
09:50The vast majority
09:51of science
09:51will go on
09:52under this as normal.
09:53but the fraction
09:54of this research
09:55that has the risk
09:56of causing a pandemic
09:57harming every single person
09:59on the face of the earth,
10:00we're going to put
10:01this proclamation,
10:02this executive order
10:04puts in place
10:05a framework
10:05to make sure
10:06that the public
10:07has a say
10:08that if such a risk
10:10is being taken,
10:11that only scientists alone
10:13won't be able
10:13to decide that.
10:14That in fact,
10:15the public can say
10:15no,
10:16don't take this risk.
10:17And I'm really,
10:17really proud
10:18to be here
10:18with President Trump
10:19who's signed this order
10:20ending this research
10:21for the first time
10:23putting in place
10:23a real regulatory framework
10:24to make it go away forever.
10:26So it can leak out
10:28like from Wuhan
10:30and a lot of people
10:31think that.
10:32I think I said that
10:32right from day one.
10:33It leaked out
10:34whether it was
10:35to the girlfriend
10:35or somebody else.
10:36But scientists
10:38walked outside
10:39to have lunch
10:39with the girlfriend
10:40or was together
10:43with a lot of people.
10:44But that's how
10:44it leaked out
10:45in my opinion
10:46and I've never
10:46changed that opinion.
10:47So it can leak out
10:49innocently,
10:49stupidly,
10:50incompetently,
10:51but innocently
10:52and half destroy
10:55the world, right?
10:56That's right.
10:56That's right,
10:57Mr. President.
10:57It's...
10:58Mr. President,
10:58there are,
10:59I think,
11:00three leaks.
11:02BSL-3
11:02and BSL-4 labs.
11:04Our highest rated
11:05laboratory
11:05is almost every week.
11:08There's no laboratory
11:09that does this right.
11:10There's no laboratory
11:11that's immune from leaks
11:13and this is going
11:14to prevent
11:14those kind of
11:15inadvertent leaks
11:16from happening
11:17in the future
11:18and endangering humanity.
11:21The COVID outbreak
11:22cost 20 million lives
11:24and cost the world
11:26at least 25 trillion dollars.
11:29And this executive order
11:33is precaution
11:34against us being involved
11:35in that kind of research
11:37in the future.
11:38That's great.
11:40Very honored to do this.
11:41Marty,
11:42what do you have to say?
11:43It's unbelievable
11:44to think the entire nightmare
11:45of COVID
11:46was likely preventable.
11:49And you had good instincts
11:50early on,
11:50Mr. President,
11:51in suggesting it came
11:52from the Wuhan lab.
11:54That is now the leading theory
11:55among scientists.
11:56It was five miles
11:57from the hospital
11:58where it first broke out.
11:59So it's crazy to think
12:01that this entire nightmare
12:03was probably the result
12:04of some scientists
12:06messing with Mother Nature
12:07in a laboratory
12:08with technology
12:10exported from
12:11the United States.
12:12that is inserting
12:13a furin cleavage site.
12:14So I hope this does
12:15some good in the world,
12:16Mr. President.
12:17Thank you for doing it.
12:18Anybody have any questions
12:19on that?
12:20Yes.
12:20On your proclamation
12:21designating this
12:22Mental Health Awareness Month,
12:23can you speak to concerns
12:24people are having
12:25regarding your administration
12:27cutting a billion dollars
12:28in mental health programs
12:29from schools?
12:30We're looking very closely
12:31at waste, fraud,
12:32and abuse,
12:33of which there's
12:34tremendous amount
12:35people on
12:36that shouldn't be on,
12:39illegal immigrants,
12:40so on,
12:41people that came
12:41into the country illegally.
12:43We have many of them
12:45and we're looking for that,
12:46but for the population
12:48that's supposed to be there,
12:50it's perfecto.
12:52And they want us
12:52to do that.
12:53They don't want to have
12:54the waste,
12:55the fraud,
12:55and the fraud is big,
12:56by the way,
12:57or the abuse.
13:00Question?
13:00Yeah, please.
13:01Thank you, Mr. President.
13:02I actually have a question
13:03for Secretary Kennedy,
13:04if you don't mind.
13:04Go ahead.
13:05You mentioned the
13:06anthrax attacks of 2001.
13:08At Zero Hedge,
13:09we're working on a piece
13:10revisiting that,
13:11and I've heard you speak
13:12at length about how
13:13that was likely a conspiracy
13:14from the inside
13:15of the Bush administration.
13:17So with your new
13:18current position,
13:19would you consider
13:19re-looking into that
13:20given the questions
13:21that I've heard you
13:22raise in the past?
13:23Well, we're not
13:25at this moment going back.
13:26I mean, you know,
13:28the FBI has already
13:29done an extensive
13:30investigation.
13:31They said that the
13:32anthrax was,
13:33Ames anthrax,
13:35came from a U.S. lab.
13:37Their accusation
13:39was that it was
13:40released by a scientist
13:42called Bruce Ivins,
13:44who subsequently
13:45committed suicide.
13:47There are many people
13:48who believe that
13:48Bruce Ivins was
13:49falsely accused
13:51and that it was
13:51somebody else in the lab.
13:53It's not something
13:54that we're currently
13:55investigating,
13:56but it's something
13:56that the FBI,
13:58the fact that it came
13:59from a U.S. lab
14:01has,
14:02is something the FBI,
14:03FBI determined.
14:06Yeah, please.
14:07There have been
14:08several Maha-aligned bills
14:11being proposed
14:11throughout the country,
14:13and I wanted to know
14:14what your thought
14:15was on that
14:16and the progress
14:17that Secretary Kennedy
14:18is making first.
14:20And second,
14:22when you,
14:24no, I'm sorry.
14:26Let's answer the question.
14:27You want me to go ahead?
14:28I mean, we've had
14:29a wave,
14:31I think we have
14:32Maha legislation
14:33now in 36 states.
14:36In the past
14:37two or three weeks,
14:38I've been to Arizona,
14:39to Utah,
14:40to West Virginia,
14:41to Indiana,
14:43to sign SNAP waivers
14:44to get candy
14:45and the soda off of SNAP,
14:47to change the school
14:48lunch program
14:49so that we're feeding
14:51our kids food
14:52instead of food-like
14:53substances
14:53that are made
14:55in laboratories,
14:57and to do
14:59a number of other
15:01initiatives
15:02that are being passed by,
15:04that are being driven
15:05by local Maha movement,
15:07inspired by the president,
15:09and that are being signed
15:10into law
15:11by various governors,
15:12and we're very,
15:13very,
15:13grateful for that.
15:17We've invited
15:18Brooke Rollins
15:18and myself
15:19have invited
15:20the governors
15:21of all the states
15:22to apply for SNAP waivers
15:23so we make sure
15:24that the
15:25Supplemental Nutrition
15:28Assistance Program
15:29is actually
15:30paying for nutrition
15:31and not sodas.
15:3310% is now
15:34going to soda.
15:35There's no nutrition
15:36in a soda.
15:37And at the same time,
15:38you have like 19
15:39attorneys general
15:41suing you
15:42and the Trump administration,
15:44like what do you make
15:44of that?
15:45Who are they?
15:46Are they Democrats?
15:48Yeah, they are Democrats.
15:49Like crooked Democrats?
15:52Like really crooked Democrats?
15:54Is that who's suing?
15:56They know what,
15:57they know what they're doing.
15:58They're just,
15:59they're just hurting our country.
16:01These are very dishonest people.
16:04They've lost their way.
16:06They've lost their confidence.
16:07They have no confidence.
16:08They have no idea
16:09what they're doing.
16:11They don't even know
16:12what they're suing for.
16:14So it's just one of those things.
16:16Yeah, please.
16:17Mr. President,
16:17on the pharmaceutical side,
16:19have you made
16:20any determination
16:21on kind of what
16:22those tariff rates
16:22may look like
16:23and the timing
16:24of those tariffs?
16:25I'll announce it
16:26over the next two weeks.
16:28Okay.
16:29Will, please.
16:30Oh, sorry.
16:32Do you have anything
16:32to say about this morning
16:33or what we just discussed?
16:35We have had
16:37this crazy system
16:38in the United States
16:38where American pharma
16:40manufacturers
16:41in the United States
16:41are put through
16:42the ringer
16:43with inspections.
16:44And the foreign sites
16:46get off easy
16:47with scheduled visits
16:49while we have
16:50surprise visits
16:51in the United States.
16:51Well, a scheduled visit
16:52is no inspection.
16:53So we are at the FDA
16:56delivering on this promise
16:58in the President's
16:58executive order
16:59and switching from
17:01announced to surprise
17:02inspections overseas.
17:04We're also not going
17:05to have our inspectors
17:06hanging out
17:06for three or four weeks.
17:08They're going to get
17:08in and out
17:09and we're going to do
17:10more inspections
17:10with the same resources
17:12as a result.
17:13Good.
17:14Jay?
17:15I mean, I think
17:15it's very, very important
17:16that Americans
17:17have a drug supply,
17:20a pharmaceutical supply
17:21that they can count on.
17:22It's, we saw
17:24during the COVID pandemic
17:25that the reliance
17:27on overseas
17:28production of pharmaceuticals
17:30led to the shortages
17:31of essential medicines
17:32and that's happened
17:33over and over again.
17:35Making the American,
17:37making America
17:38produce the drugs
17:39that it's long
17:40been able to produce
17:41is a huge priority
17:43and this executive order
17:44that the President
17:44just signed
17:45is going to make
17:45that possible.
17:47Vince,
17:47you're a big policy person.
17:49You've been so great
17:50for me for so long.
17:51What do you think?
17:51Sir, you've always said
17:53it's vitally important
17:54that we have
17:55national self-sufficiency
17:57when it comes
17:57to critical pharmaceuticals.
18:00We learned that in 2020.
18:02It was a key campaign promise.
18:04We've seen shortages
18:05in the past
18:06of critical cancer drugs,
18:08people on chemotherapy.
18:09We have to produce those
18:10here at home
18:11and this is an important
18:12contribution to doing that.
18:14Good.
18:15Any questions of them?
18:17Okay.
18:18Just two more, sir.
18:20We have a slate
18:21of 39 Senate-confirmed
18:24senior officials
18:26of your administration.
18:27This slate includes
18:28a significant number
18:29of new U.S. attorneys.
18:31Those will be
18:31the top prosecutors
18:32in judicial districts
18:33around the country
18:34who will prosecute crime
18:36and help advance
18:38your agenda.
18:38Okay, it's a lot of people
18:51and they're very good people.
18:52I hope.
18:54Who knows?
18:55I hope so.
18:59Okay.
19:00And then lastly, sir,
19:02we have another proclamation.
19:04This week is
19:05National Hurricane
19:06Preparedness Week.
19:07This is an issue
19:08that's particularly important
19:09obviously to your home
19:10state of Florida.
19:11This is just a proclamation
19:12recognizing National Hurricane
19:14Preparedness Week 2025.
19:33Okay.
19:33Thank you very much.
19:35I want to thank you.
19:36so we're going to be having
19:37some conferences
19:38next week.
19:40I'll also be going
19:41to Saudi Arabia
19:42and other places.
19:45We'll be going to UAE
19:48and Qatar.
19:50And some of you
19:52will be going with us
19:53and have an interesting time.
19:54But I think we're going
19:55to have another conference
19:57next week
19:58which will be very important
19:59having to do
19:59with the world
20:00of the medical.
20:03And I think
20:04we'll be very productive.
20:04These are really very important
20:06that we signed today.
20:07And thank you very much
20:08for being here.
20:09Thank you very much.
20:09Thank you, everybody.
20:20You okay?
20:23Yes, sir.
20:24She's stuck.
20:26Thank you very much.
20:28I'm going to take these pens.