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Trump: Zelensky "Should be More Appreciative"; Trump Says 25 Percent Tariffs On Canadian & Mexican Goods Will Start Tomorrow; Will Update Status Of Ukraine Minerals Deal Tomorrow; U.S. Set To Begin Imposing Tariffs Against Canada, Mexico Tuesday. Aired 3-3:30p ET

Aired March 03, 2025 - 15:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Well, we're going to make deals with everybody to get this war, including Europe and European nations. And they've acted very well. You know, they're good people. I know most of them are friends of mine, the heads of state, the heads of the various countries, prime ministers from the different - I got four prime ministers and five presidents called me over the last two days, and they want to work it out. They want to get it worked out. And I think they're also - you know, they're talking money, but the money is less important than the deaths.

We're talking thousands of young people a week. And people would say, why do I care about Ukraine? Young people, why do I care about - and not all young, but they're pretty young. You know, Ukraine is running a little bit low, and they're getting older. They're recruiting older people. It's a very, very sad thing that's happening over there and we want to get it finished. We want to stop the death.

(CROSSTALK)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: On the tariffs, is there any room left for Canada and Mexico to make a deal before midnight and should we expect those Chinese tariffs, the extra 10 percent, to take effect tomorrow?

TRUMP: No room left for Mexico or for Canada. No, the tariffs, you know, they're all set. They go into effect tomorrow.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Mr. President, just to follow up on my colleagues' questions here ...

TRUMP: And so you understand, vast amounts of fentanyl have poured into our country from Mexico. And as you know, also from China, where it goes to Mexico and goes to Canada. And China also had an additional 10. So, it's 10 plus 10. And it comes in from Canada, and it comes in from Mexico and that's a very important thing to say. Yes, please, go ahead.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Mr. President (INAUDIBLE) decided if you're going to suspend military aid to Ukraine, have you made that decision?

TRUMP: Well, I haven't even talked about that right now. I mean, right now, we'll see what happens. A lot of things are happening right now. As we speak - I mean, literally, as we speak, I could give you an answer and go back to my office, the beautiful Oval Office. I could go back into the Oval Office and find out that the answer is obsolete.

It's like his business it's obsolete. You come up with a new chip and it's obsolete about two minutes later, right? But that's what's good about his business. That's why he's the only one that's successful in it. But ...

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Mr. President, just to follow up on my colleague's question, from Russia, saying that your foreign policy is largely in line with their vision. Should that be concerning to Americans?

TRUMP: Said what?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Should that be concerning to Americans?

TRUMP: Read the statement.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: That Russia says that your administration's foreign policy is, quote, "largely in line" with their vision.

TRUMP: Well, I'll tell you what, I think it takes two to tango. And you're going to have to make a deal with Russia, and you're going to have to make a deal with Ukraine. You're going to have to have the assent, and you're going to have to have the consent from the European nations, because I think that's important, and from us. I think everybody has to get into a room, so to speak, and we have to make a deal. And the deal can be made very fast. It should not be that hard a deal to make. It could be made very fast.

Now, maybe somebody doesn't want to make a deal. And if somebody doesn't want to make a deal, I think that person won't be around very long. That person will not be listened to very long. Because I believe that Russia wants to make a deal. I believe, certainly, the people of Ukraine want to make a deal. They've suffered more than anybody else. We talk about suffering. They've suffered.

But if you think about it, under President Bush they got Georgia, right? Russia got Georgia. Under President Obama, they got a nice big submarine base, a nice big chunk of land where they have their submarines. You know that, right? Crimea. Under President Trump, they got nothing. And under President Biden, they tried to get the whole thing. They tried to get the whole big Ukraine. The whole thing. If I didn't get in here, they would have gotten the whole thing.

So, I can only say, you can go back to Bush, you can go back to Obama, and you can go back to Biden, they took a lot. The only one they didn't get - you know what I gave them? I gave them anti-tank missiles. That's what I gave them. I gave them sanctions on Russia - on Russia. I gave them javelins. You know the javelins? You know when they took out all those tanks? You know, the tanks were heading to Kyiv by the hundreds, and they were unstoppable. And I gave them javelins.

So, you know, I really - Putin is the one that will tell you this has not been so good for them. The fact is that I just want fairness. I want fairness. But think of it. I gave Russia nothing except grief. I gave them nothing. I gave them sanctions and javelins. That's what I gave them. Obama gave them sheets. And you heard that statement before. It's a very famous - Trump gave them javelins, and Obama gave them sheets. And then they say, how close I am to Russia.

[15:05:02]

And let me tell you, we have to make a deal because there are a lot of people being killed that shouldn't be killed. But remember, Trump gave them nothing, and the other presidents gave them a lot. They gave them everything.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Mr. President, on trade, you met with Argentine President Javier Milei at CPAC. He wants to sign a free-trade agreement with the United States.

TRUMP: Right.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Is that something that you would consider, even with Argentina or any other country?

TRUMP: I would consider anything. And Argentina - I think he's great, by the way. I think he's a great leader. He's doing a great job. He's doing a fantastic job. Brought it back from oblivion. Yes, we'll look at things. We're looking at the U.K. with things. It doesn't have to be tariffs.

But tariffs are easy. They're fast. They're efficient and they bring fairness. For instance, when people kill their dollar, their equivalent of the dollar, whether it's the yuan or the yen in Japan or the yuan in China, when they drop them down, that gives us - that puts us at a very unfair disadvantage.

So all I have to do is say, Howard, we're going to have to raise the tariffs a little bit because I've called President Xi, I've called the leaders of Japan to say, you can't continue to reduce and break down your currency. You can't do it because it's unfair to us. It's very hard for us to make tractors, caterpillar here when Japan, China and other places are killing their currency, meaning driving it down.

So, all of these things add up and the way you solve it very easily is with tariffs. Because when they do that, instead of having to make phone calls every day like I used to do with certain leaders - President Xi, a little bit, a lot of phone calls - talking about the fact that they're lowering their yuan, they're lowering it down and that makes it very, very hard for us. So this way, I just say, look, let them do that and we make up for it with the tariffs, but ...

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Have you been speaking with Mexican president, Claudia Sheinbaum, about tariffs?

TRUMP: Yes, sure, I will. I have a lot of respect for her. I have a lot of respect for her.

(CROSSTALK)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (INAUDIBLE) ... TRUMP: Yes.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: ... the facts, its' be 20 percent on China now. How high are you willing to go against China?

TRUMP: Well, I can't say. It depends on what they do with their currency. It depends on what they do in terms of a retaliation with some kind of an economic retaliation, which I don't think they're going to retaliate too much.

Hey, look, the United States has been taken advantage of for 40 years. The United States has been a laughingstock for years and years. That's why this gentleman has built in Taiwan instead of building here. It would have been better if he built here. If we had a President that knew what they were doing - and we had a lot of them very bad on trade.

Look, I'm a huge fan of Ronald Reagan, but he was bad on trade, very bad on trade. He allowed a lot of people, a lot of businesses to be taken. So, I say that with due respect because I - he was so great on other things, but he was bad on trade.

We are setting records right now, records like nobody has ever seen before. When you have companies like this coming in and almost 40 percent of their company in one signature is going to be devoted to what he does, which is one of the most important businesses in the world. That's an unbelievable thing.

When Apple now is going to start building all of their plants here, all because of what we've done in terms of - it's not because he likes me or they like me. They don't probably like me at all. I don't know. I think he likes me a little bit at least.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh, I like you.

TRUMP: But you know what? It's the incentive we've created or the negative incentive. I mean, it's going to be very costly for people to take advantage of this country. They can't come in and steal our money, and steal our jobs, and take our factories, and take our businesses and expect not to be punished. And they're being punished by tariffs. It's a very powerful weapon that politicians haven't used because they were either dishonest, stupid or paid off in some other form and now we're using them.

(CROSSTALK)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Have you spoken to President Xi?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: On Social Security ...

TRUMP: Say it.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Have you spoken with President Xi about this, this term ...

TRUMP I don't want to tell you that. Thank you very much, everybody. Thank you. Thank you very much.

(CROSSTALK)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (INAUDIBLE) Andrew Cuomo running for New York City mayor ...

BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN HOST: We've been listening to President Donald Trump in the Roosevelt Room at the White House. Notably, his comments vowing tariffs set to be levied against Canada and Mexico at midnight of 25 percent coming as the Dow is just dropping. And since Trump started speaking, roughly at about 2:55 PM markets have gone down, the Dow, roughly by about 140, 150 points. It's now down nearly 700 points on the day.

The President's saying there is no room left for Mexico or Canada regarding negotiations that might allow those countries to evade these tariffs. The President's saying that a lot of fentanyl is still coming across the border, even though the amount of fentanyl apprehended across the border with Canada coming into the United States accounts for roughly 1 percent of all that's stopped coming into the United States.

He also spoke a lot about Ukraine. Most notably, he said that, speaking about President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, if someone doesn't want to make a deal on Ukraine, that person won't be around for very long.

[15:10:10]

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN HOST: That's right. He said he doesn't think the minerals deal is dead and he said he's going to get back USAID sent to Ukraine and a lot more.

Let's go to Nick Paton Walsh, who is in Kyiv. He also made, we should note, Nick, misstatements about the age of Ukrainian troops. He was repeating something that J.D. Vance said that was incorrect in that Oval Office meeting. He was saying they're running low, recruiting older now. Certainly, they're actually under pressure for not recruiting younger troops and sparing some of the younger folks there in Ukraine. But just take us through what you heard and the impact, obviously, this continues to have there in Ukraine.

NICK PATON WALSH, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Yes, just to go into that issue on recruitment. Yes, like, it's fair to say that Ukraine has deliberately not recruited between the ages of 18 and 25 to essentially allow there to not have that part of their (INAUDIBLE) by the war. And they've come under some pressure from the Biden administration to push into that part of the age range.

So, some of the troops you meet on the field, they are in their 30s and 40s. Some are indeed older. And it's true to say Ukraine is experiencing manpower issues, too, as indeed is Russia in possibly a more acute fashion given the attrition rate and horrific casualties they tolerate there too. But I think this is an interesting talking point, but it is essentially repeating a Kremlin narrative to some degree that Ukraine is forcing sort of the elderly out onto the front lines. I think that's fair to describe as an accurate part of the picture here too.

But it was interesting to hear Donald Trump not necessarily suggest that he's thinking about cancelling aid to Ukraine. That's a thought that's sort of been knocked around some circles over the past day or so. Also suggesting that Zelenskyy, you know, possibly needs to be more appreciative.

It was interesting also too, to try and hear him cast himself as tough on Russia and talk about how, as it's true to say, that the Trump administration did give lethal aid to Ukraine during the first Trump term. He incorrectly suggested that during George W. Bush's term that somehow Russia got Georgia. Yes, there was a war in 2008 and that did involve a Russian incursion deeper into Georgia, but they pulled back and continued to retain an area which they had some control of before anyway.

But he's casting himself there to some degree as tough on Russia. Somehow unclear how he's found the notion that if it wasn't for him, somehow Russia would have taken all of Ukraine. I think that's what he was intimating in that statement. He's been around for six weeks and certainly the key plank of Ukrainian support from the United States has been in question as well.

So, I think it was interesting to see the tone he tried to take on that. Perhaps sensitive to suggestions that maybe when the Kremlin says that you share their global vision, comments that were recorded earlier by the Kremlin but been put out more recently, that maybe there's something there he needs to try and counteract. But I think also too, really pressing questions about how this peace deal moves forward. He was complimentary about the Europeans, that he was friends with them, but essentially said, if you don't get on board with the peace deal, you may not be around for long.

I think that's another pressure point that will be troubling for many in Kyiv about the influence the White House clearly wants to have on who they think they can leave to be and make president here in Ukraine.

SANCHEZ: Yes, significant point. He said when asked what he wants to see from President Zelenskyy, gratitude. He said he should be more appreciative. The president also saying he expects an update on the minerals deal coming tomorrow during his joint address to Congress.

Quickly, I just want to point out for our viewers, the Dow Jones now tumbling another 100 points since we started speaking. So, it's down nearly 800 points on the day.

I want to go to Matthew Chance in Moscow, because Matthew, it's clear that Trump wants concessions from Ukraine in order to secure this peace deal. He hasn't specifically mentioned what concessions he wants from the Kremlin though.

MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN CHIEF GLOBAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: Yes, it's pretty striking, isn't it? That, you know, he's consistently talking about how Zelenskyy - President Zelenskyy of Ukraine needs to make painful concessions to make sure there's peace and to stop the people dying that President Trump consistently talks about. But he doesn't mention at all what he wants to see Russia do, what concessions for the sake of peace he'd like to see Moscow take.

And I think that's probably because he's not really talking to them about the possibility of making concessions. Behind closed doors though, we know that there are talks underway between Moscow and Washington about a whole range of other issues, business economic deals that are being tabled behind closed doors. Things like energy deals, according to the chief Kremlin envoy or one of the main Kremlin envoys to the US-Russia talks. Things like, you know, issues of investment, there have been calls for AI research to be done to be done jointly, even a Mars mission to be done jointly as well.

[15:15:01]

But, you know, what seems to have happened in this reset of relations between Washington and Moscow, which is currently underway, is that the issue of the Ukraine war has been relegated to just one issue, possibly even a sideline issue, where while the leaders and their officials talk about a whole range of other areas in which the relationship can be reset.

Well, the Kremlin for its part has been playing down the extent of the dialogue that's been taking place between the two governments. In fact, within the past few minutes, I got a message from the Kremlin spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, saying that Russia is still, quote, "Waiting for a substantial dialogue before it makes any sort of - you know, kind of characterizations of how progress is going in the talks and in the reset of relations to coin a phrase between Washington and Moscow.

So, publicly, the Kremlin remaining tight lipped, but privately, of course, they must be sitting back and sort of enjoying watching the Western alliance unravel.

KEILAR: Indeed, Matthew Chance in Moscow for us.

Let's head now over to the White House where Jeff Zeleny is keeping his eye on things.

You know, we're watching moment to moment how this relationship weathers this storm and it is continuing to be rocky, but he does say that he thinks the deal, the mineral deal is not dead, as we also watch the markets tumble ahead of these tariffs expected.

JEFF ZELENY, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: Brianna, it is quite the split screen moment, really just illustrating the challenges on a variety of fronts facing this new administration, but first on the Dow, I mean, the President famously judged his first presidency by the performance in the stock market when it is going up, when it is not, he of course says he does not follow it all that carefully. But there is no doubt as the market is certainly reacting to the words he said, once again, pledging and vowing to put those tariffs in place on Canada and Mexico.

Of course, we stood here a month ago and said it was on the verge of doing so, and then he backed away, so we shall see when the ink dries on the actual paper. But as of now, he was not backing away from that threat at all. He said the fentanyl flow has not stopped at all. Of course, that's essentially not coming from Canada, more from Mexico, but he is threatening the tariffs.

And on the other front of Ukraine, he clearly has not dialed down the rhetoric or the anger, saying once again that Zelenskyy is not appreciative enough, never mind Zelenskyy throughout the weekend as he was meeting with European leaders, repeatedly thanked the United States.

So, it's certainly - both of these fronts will be front and center in the President's speech tomorrow evening, his first speech to a joint session of Congress, basically like the State of the Union, but since he's a new president, he's not actually reporting on the State of the Union, he's delivering a joint address or an address to a joint session of Congress, but certainly these are two of the biggest challenges, of course, so many others with high prices, inflation, et cetera, but there's no doubt the White House is keeping an eye on the markets and we see which way they're going, at least at this moment, on the threat of tariffs.

KEILAR: All right. Jeff Zeleny, thank you so much for that report.

And ahead on CNN NEWS CENTRAL, when President Trump speaks, Wall Street is listening and responding and investors not thrilled clearly with the president's insistence, tariffs are going to take effect as planned at midnight. We'll discuss the impact here of those tariffs after a quick break.

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[15:23:07]

SANCHEZ: President Trump is just hours away from making good on his tariff threat against Mexico and Canada, and the markets don't love it. Since the president started speaking and reaffirmed his intention to install 25 percent tariffs on Mexico and Canada, markets are down several hundred points, now 750 on the day. At 12:01 AM, that 25 percent tariffs on imported goods from Mexico and Canada will go into effect. China will also see its current tariff double to 20 percent.

Let's discuss with Roben Farzad. He's a business journalist and the host of Full Disclosure. Robin, thank you so much for joining us. Obviously, we're already seeing the impact of this threat on Wall Street. How soon could consumers start feeling the effects of these additional tariffs?

ROBEN FARZAD, BUSINESS JOURNALIS: Well, I think for starters, it's a whole new school of management and negotiation. I mean, you come in with equal parts, bluster, brinksmanship, smack talk, charm. I mean, the president of Mexico is great. She's not great. She's not doing enough. And so everybody in - you know, the only real indicator, the only real check and real-time indicator you have on that is markets. You see bond markets, you see Mexico's currency, you see the Canadian dollar, which has been very weak, and obviously the Dow doing what it did today, so markets interpret that in real time. When we start feeling it in terms of car parts and avocados at Chipotle and whatnot, I mean, that is up to manufacturers.

SANCHEZ: Now, all three countries have promised to respond when these tariffs are imposed. What industries do you think they'll target?

FARZAD: I mean, where does an American car stop and a Mexican car start? I mean, you could take a Dodge, RAM, right? These are made by Stellantis, it's like an old Chrysler. There are essential parts that are made in Mexico. You look at Volkswagen, which is a German car manufacturer. There's BMWs and Toyotas that are made in the United States that need parts and equipment that come from Canada and Mexico.

[15:25:04]

So, right now, those companies and these economies and their central bankers are saying, what do you want from us exactly. I think they're trying to interpolate what would Trump be able to pitch as a win. I mean, you see the last grain of fentanyl coming across the border. Does it require that? Do you just give him the chance to qualitatively say, all right, the borders are safe. We're not going to slap you with 25 percent tariff.

So, they're looking for actionability and they see it as a doom loop if they have to call the bluff and come out and slap us back with 25 percent. I mean, certainly Mexico in terms of textiles, agriculture, so much that is manufactured that is offshore there. If you go to a Wal-Mart and Target, just look at the things that are made abroad that have given you that chance for, you know, the dividend discount in the United States. I mean, that is all jeopardized immediately in a time when inflation is really front and center in the U.S.

SANCHEZ: Yes, those beloved avocados.

I do want to ask you about what Trump laid out as a potential pathway to doing business in the style that you described, Trump's style. And he talked about TSMC, this Taiwanese chip maker that's visiting the White House today. The event that we watched earlier was part of this announcement, a hundred-billion-dollar deal of investment by these chip makers ...

FARZAD: Yeah.

SANCHEZ: ... but - this chip maker in the United States. The President talks about these companies building here. Is it more likely that we'll see that kind of foreign investment in the United States as a result of these tariffs?

FARZAD: I mean, doesn't it sound great? He says it's simple enough that if you just build here and co-locate here. It's amazing that Taiwan semi can do this in the Southwest because Trump mentioned North Carolina whose furniture industry has been ravaged. It's not like you could just show up in High Point, North Carolina and build a semiconductor factory. The supply chain is brutally difficult. It's like the old song, like why can't we build the iPhone here? Well, Taiwan has essential parts. Even with U.S. made cars, you have chips that go into the brakes, which we saw during the pandemic. There was a supply chain shortage. It's much easier said than done and certainly can't do it overnight. These things need years and years of planning and he's trying to threaten tariffs right now, kind of at, you know, 12:01 AM.

SANCHEZ: And what about his vow for reciprocal tariffs coming on April 2nd? How likely are they? What shape do you think that takes?

FARZAD: I'd be curious to see how markets react over the next 30 days because you have certainly political capital in the first hundred days, in the first six months of your presidency and his numbers are still solid, but that diminishes as consumer sentiment, which we saw last week is not looking great as inflation remains nagging as people are really in a raw mood about egg prices. This shoots car prices up even more, when they're already at all-time highs and the market comes out and says, no, thank you. And he's forced to maybe kick it down the road again. Does he have as much clout as he did, I think, in the first 30 days of his presidency, I would doubt it.

SANCHEZ: Roben Farzad, appreciate the analysis. Thanks for joining us.

FARZAD: Thank you.

JON WERTHEIM (voiceover): Still to come, DOGE making cuts to the National Weather Service. As severe weather moves into the South, why a fired NOAA climate specialist is calling it an attack on science. Stay with us.

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