REMARKS

Remarks by President Trump Before Marine One Departure
Issued on: May 1, 2020

South Lawn

5:24 P.M. EDT

THE PRESIDENT: So I’ll be going to Camp David for a working weekend. We’re going to be spending a lot of time with meetings and phone calls and some foreign leaders. So we look forward to that, and we’ll be back very soon. I guess we’re doing something pretty big on Sunday night at the Lincoln Memorial. That’ll be very nice. But we’ll be back soon and I think some of you will be traveling out around the area where I’m going. But we’ll be at Camp David for a working weekend.

Q The North Korean leader just surfaced at a fertilizer plant in North Korea. Do you know about this? Anything you can tell us about him?

THE PRESIDENT: Yeah, I rather not comment on it yet — Kim Jong Un. We’ll have something to say about it at the appropriate time.

Q Can you at least confirm that he’s alive?

Q As a friend to the Brazilian President, would you advise him to support social distancing?

THE PRESIDENT: I think he’s doing a very good job. He’s a great friend of mine. And the President is doing really well in Brazil. We’re very proud of him.

Q How about the situation with the coronavirus in Brazil? Are you worried?

THE PRESIDENT: Well, they have — they’ve been hit hard. Brazil has been hit very hard. But you have a President that’s doing a very good job.

Q Mr. President? Mr. —

Q Mr. President, do you know that Kim is alive? Can you at least say that?

THE PRESIDENT: I don’t want to talk about it.

Q Mr. President —

Q Are you going to be talking to him this weekend?

THE PRESIDENT: I may.

Q You — you talked about potential tariffs on China yesterday. Is that something that’s under serious consideration?

THE PRESIDENT: So we’re going to see what happens. A lot of things are happening with respect to China. We’re not happy, obviously, with what happened. This is a bad situation. All over the world — 182 countries. But we’ll be having a lot to say about that. We — it’s certainly an option. It’s certainly an option, John.

Q You said that you have a good relationship?

THE PRESIDENT: It’s certainly an option.

Q Mr. President, are you going to be social distanc- –are you going to be social distancing during your work weekend?

THE PRESIDENT: Yeah, I will.

Q May I ask you a quick question about reopening, Mr. President? A week — a week ago, you said you were not happy with Governor Kemp about opening up in Georgia. While there have been —

THE PRESIDENT: I didn’t say that, John. I said I didn’t like the particular place — a spa, a tattoo parlor.

No, no, I think it’s wonderful. I want to see us open safely, but I didn’t like spas and tattoo parlors, and I wasn’t thrilled about that. But I did — I said nothing about Georgia, other than that.

I like the states opening. They will be opening. They’re going to open safely and quickly, I hope, because we have to get our country back.

Thank you. Thank you.

END

5:28 P.M. EDT