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Quest Means Business
Stocks Slip As Investors Weigh Week Data, Hopes For Rate Cut; 475 Arrested In Raid At Georgia Hyundai Metaplant; Gold Hits Record Highs As Economic Uncertainty Creeps In; Donald Trump Hosts Big Tech Leaders At White House; Donald Trump Signs Order Reviving "Department Of War"; Donald Trump Will Move To Nullify Google's E.U. Antitrust Fine. Aired 4-5p ET
Aired September 05, 2025 - 16:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[16:00:17]
PAULA NEWTON, CNN INTERNATIONAL HOST: Well, the Dow did give up early gains after that Jobs Report as investors continue to weigh economic concerns
even though they continue to hope for more than a quarter point rate cut from the Fed. Those are the markets, and these are the main events.
A summer slump for the U.S. labor market is hiring stalls to its slowest pace in years.
South Korea's government voices concern after hundreds of its citizens are arrested during a U.S. immigration raid at a Hyundai plant.
And Tesla is proposing a CEO pay package that could make Elon Musk the world's first trillionaire.
Live from New York, it is Friday, September 5th. I'm Paula Newton, in for Richard Quest and this is QUEST MEANS BUSINESS.
Good evening, everyone.
Tonight a disappointing Jobs Report shows hiring stalled in August. The economy added just 22,000 jobs last month and revisions show the labor
market lost 13,000 jobs in June and that is significant. It is the first month to show a net loss since December of 2020, and it brings to an end
one of the longest periods of expansion in the United States on record.
Now, markets are lower on the data. Everyone should keep in mind, though they're close to record highs. Investors continue to weigh a slowing
economy with hopes, though as I was saying about those rate cuts.
Vanessa Yurkevich is with me and she has been parsing the numbers.
I mean, Vanessa. Look, no one expected this to be a stellar report, but these numbers, and then when you look at June being revised downwards,
that's really what caught the market's attention, I think.
VANESSA YURKEVICH, CNN BUSINESS AND POLITICS CORRESPONDENT: Yes, and it really just solidifies what economists had been predicting for a while,
which was we were going to see a slowdown in the labor market and that is exactly what we are seeing.
Take a look at those numbers, 22,000 jobs added in the month of August. Paula, the estimate was closer to 77,000 jobs added. The unemployment rate
ticking up to 4.3 percent, that was expected. There are more people in the labor market looking for a job right now, but if you look at those
revisions, which we get in every single Jobs Report, it did show that in the month of July, 6,000 jobs were added, more than what was originally
reported. And in June, though, as you said, a decline of 13,000 jobs.
The reason why we are so focused on this is because that is the first decline since December of 2020, since the pandemic, and it really breaks
that streak of really historic job growth that we've seen over about the last five years or so.
So where were the jobs added, even though there were a few? Health care, a big sector that has been adding jobs continuously, adding 31,000 jobs;
social assistance, 16,000 jobs; federal government here losing in the month of August, 15,000 jobs. Paula, those are those DOGE cuts continuing to show
up more in the labor market.
And then wholesale and trade and manufacturing, each losing 12,000 jobs in the month of August. That is important because these are the sectors that
the Trump administration wants to see adding jobs. These are the manufacturing jobs that the President is hoping comes back to the United
States, really the cornerstone around this trade policy.
Now, if you're a job seeker right now, it is tougher out there. There are fewer jobs available to the number of people that are unemployed looking
for jobs. So you're talking about less than one job per job seeker, Paula. That's a turnaround from what we've seen in the past couple of years, when
very much job seekers had the upper hand. There were more jobs available than job seekers. Now, that has flipped.
And as you mentioned, what does that mean for the odds of a Federal Reserve rate cut later this month? Well, not a single investor believes that the
Federal Reserve is going to hold rates steady later this month. About 88 percent of investors, though, believe that the Federal Reserve will choose
to cut rates by a quarter of a point. But there is a rising number of investors, 12 percent now, and these numbers are moving throughout the day,
but at last check, 12 percent believe that there could actually be a half a point rate cut coming in the next couple of weeks.
Remember, this is one piece of data. This jobs report is one piece of data. The Federal Reserve looks at a lot of data before making a decision, but
clearly investors on Wall Street, very much starting to price in this interest rate cut. And of course, Paula, this is what President Trump has
been calling for, for months now, but the Federal Reserve is likely going to lower rates, not because inflation is coming down, but because the
unemployment rate is starting to rise and the labor market, Paula, is starting to soften.
[16:05:20]
NEWTON: Yes, very clear there, and it is interesting that because the Fed continues to say it is data dependent, watching that all important
inflation number to see whether or not we get 25 or 50, we will get more information on that next week.
Vanessa Yurkevich for us, thank you so much. We appreciate you breaking it down.
Now members of the Trump administration are blaming others for the weak job numbers. Even before the report came out Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick
cast doubt on the Bureau of Labor Statistics, and Labor Secretary Lori Chavez-Deremer said afterwards that tariffs are helping workers, she
faulted Fed Chair Jerome Powell. Listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LORI CHAVEZ-DEREMER, U.S. LABOR SECRETARY: Jerome Powell should be embarrassed by this report because he has not done his job. You know, the
President was right in 2016 and the President is right now. Everybody has done their job. The President in his tariff talks, the trade deals, the
trade deficit, making sure that that is for the American people, that he has balanced that. Congress did their part in passing The One Big,
Beautiful Bill, the working tax cuts for Americans, but Jerome Powell has not done his job.
HOWARD LUTNICK, U.S. COMMERCE SECRETARY: The holdovers from the Biden administration are just -- they are just bent against the President's
success. They're rooting against America and against Donald Trump and that's got to end.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
NEWTON: Heidi Shierholz is the President of the Economic Policy Institute and the former chief economist of the U.S. Department of Labor, and she
joins me now.
And I think we have to address that, right, in what was your former position as opposed to going through this Jobs Report, which I do want to
do. Howard Lutnick continue to double down on the veracity of the numbers, how damaging is that? Not just for anyone who looks at these numbers, who
is in the business of looking at these numbers, but from Americans generally, if the government itself is really questioning the credibility
of government numbers.
HEIDI SHIERHOLZ, PRESIDENT OF THE ECONOMIC POLICY INSTITUTE AND FORMER CHIEF ECONOMIST OF THE U.S. DEPARTMENT OF LABOR: It is a real problem. It
is -- I mean, Trump firing the Commissioner of the Bureau of Labor Statistics a month ago when the July numbers came out and showed the
economy that was really slowing. Instead of saying, whoa, what am I doing that's generating this slowing economy? He fired the Commissioner of Labor
Statistics.
That's a real like page out of an autocratic playbook. But it is also very, very bad for the economy because our economy runs on good data. Businesses
look at the data to know whether they are going to hire or expand. The Federal Reserve depends on those data to know what they're going to do with
interest rates, which what they do with interest rates has effects on wages, prices, jobs throughout the economy.
State and local governments use the data to plan their budgets on and on and on. The economy really runs on solid data. If that data gets
politicized -- right now, it is not. Right now, the numbers are good. Right now, we still have the hundreds of BLS staff, professional career staff who
are devoted to solid data still putting that out. But if Trump's nominee for Commissioner of Labor Statistics, E.J. Antoni gets installed in the
Bureau of Labor Statistics and is able to undermine, the quality of the data is able to politicize the data, that will mean that it will just -- it
will undermine our ability to make reasonable economic decision making. It is like driving a car blindfolded. It will be a real problem for our
economy.
NEWTON: Now, the Trump administration, for its part, says it wants to reform the way these numbers are collected. I will leave that debate there
for now, although I know this will continue to go on. I do want to go to the numbers themselves, right?
Do you see something structural happening here? I mean, the labor market in the United States has been so resilient through so much. There is a lot
going on even when it comes to immigration. Do you see this as a blip, is it just uncertainty? Once things calm down with the tariffs, perhaps
companies will begin to hire more? What are you seeing?
SHIERHOLZ: It is a good question and I always, you know, particularly when there is one strange month, you say, look, one month does not create a
trend. Let's hold on, see what is going on.
We added just 22,000 jobs in August. That is extremely weak. But the more concerning thing to your point is, this is becoming a trend. If you look
over the last four months, we added just 27,000 jobs on average per month over the last four months and four months does begin to make a trend. It
really is looking like a substantial slowdown.
[16:10:12]
You compare that 27,000 jobs per month over the last four months, just for a benchmark. In 2024, the economy, added 168,000 jobs per month on average.
It is a serious slowdown at this point, and I just think the chaos with the tariffs, mass deportations, just general economic policy uncertainty, it is
all -- all of those policies of the Trump administration are really starting to weigh on the economy. We are really seeing it now.
NEWTON: And that does bring us to the Fed though and I understand that the Fed Chair always says that they are data dependent, and yet you do wonder
when you look at this, if they should have been cutting sooner. I mean, what do you think? And do you think they should consider cutting by half a
percentage point?
SHIERHOLZ: I think at this point, once the data came out that are showing that we really are seeing this slowing economy, that they have signaled
that they are going to be -- that they are going to be reducing rates and I think that's absolutely the appropriate thing to do at this point.
They are always trying to balance the fact that we are seeing -- we aren't seeing inflation come down as much as we would like to and we know that
Trump's sort of broad, kind of broad, chaotic tariff plans are -- tariff policies are going to be increasing inflation, so they are balancing that
against needing to reduce interest rates to spur the economy that is clearly weakening.
But I think at this point, the data are clear and they have already signaled this that interest rates -- interest rate cuts should be coming
soon.
NEWTON: Yes, and we will see if its once, twice or if, you know, as a very small segment of the market says it might be 50 percent by the end of the
month.
Heidi Shierholz, we will leave it there. Grateful to you.
Now, U.S. federal and state authorities have carried out a sweeping raid at a sprawling Hyundai plant in the state of Georgia. U.S. Homeland Security
official says 475 people were apprehended, most of them South Korean nationals. He said they are in the United States illegally.
Thursday's raid halted construction of an E.V. battery plant, which Georgia's governor has touted as a major economic driver. Immigration
authorities also apprehended dozens of workers at a nutrition bar plant in New York State on Thursday, drawing swift condemnation from Governor Kathy
Hochul.
Gustavo Valdes is in Ellabell, Georgia, where the Hyundai plant raid took place. Grateful to have you there, and can you really clear up some of the
confusion here because it seems to me that the employer here and we've seen this happen with other raids is saying, look, these employees are legal.
They've checked out.
And then an ICE raid happens, or any kind of a DHS raid happens and it said that no, they are undocumented. What exactly went on here from what we
know?
GUSTAVO VALDES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: So what the -- hello, Paula -- what the authorities say is that this was a month's long investigation. It wasn't
something improvised. They said they were working on information about foreign workers at this plant, that they were in the country illegally,
even there might be accusations that they might not be treating these workers the right way.
We know that 475 people were detained, most of them are Koreans. The government of South Korea has made a statement saying that they are in
communication with the U.S. government to make sure that their citizens are treated the right way according to the law, and also that this is the
largest enforcement by the investigation unit of the immigration agencies in the United States.
This is a large operative that many witnesses say they first noticed when they heard helicopters flying over the plant, and then these large number
of agents just came in running and many of the workers tried to escape, according to the authorities, at least one of them was found in waters in a
sewer pond that is next to the construction site.
But the authorities want to make clear that this was an enforcement as a result of an investigation.
NEWTON: So we will leave it there for now. We will point out that no criminal charges, at least not so far, so we will wait to see what more we
learn in the coming days. Grateful to have you on the ground.
Now, U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent is calling for a thorough review of the Federal Reserve as he interviews people to run the Central Bank. The
first candidates to replace Fed Chair Jerome Powell were set to speak with Bessent on Friday. They will likely have read his guest column on "The Wall
Street Journal," which says the Fed must earn back the confidence of the American people.
[16:15:04]
Bessent says the entire institution should be reviewed, including its approach towards monetary policy, research and bank regulation.
Now, Goldman Sachs says if Trump damages the Fed's independence, this is linked here, gold could hit $5,000.00 an ounce. You already see it there.
Gold has already rallied 37 percent this year. It is now near a record $3,600.00 an ounce.
Goldman Sachs says that if Trump keeps attacking the Fed, people might run from the dollar and seek safe haven in things like gold.
The Barrick Mining Corporation says its uniquely positioned to take advantage of rising gold prices. Its CEO, Mark Bristow, joins me now.
Grateful to have you on board here and to see you to discuss this.
As gold is in the spotlight, I am going to ask you a strange question. In terms of price, does it always hold the higher the better?
MARK BRISTOW, PRESIDENT AND CEO, BARRICK MINING CORPORATION: No, it doesn't, Paula. Good day to you. Nice to be on your show. No, it doesn't
always hold.
NEWTON: And can you explain that? Because I know in your business you are a miner of gold, not just a holder of gold, that there is volatility in the
market there that sometimes poses some market dangers, right?
BRISTOW: Yes. You know, when I started out in the gold industry, it was $400.00 And in 1999, it touched $250.00. In 2011, it went to $1,800.00, and
as you've just introduced, it is now pushing towards $3,600.00. So it does go up and it does go down.
Right now, however, gold is very well positioned. And we've seen for the first time, it overtake the euro as a global asset second to the U.S.
dollar and also compete against the dollar for Central Bank reserve assets. So there is definitely a change.
The last time that happened was in 1996, and before that in the 1970s when again, like we are experiencing today, lots of instability across the
global economy. Inflation and geopolitical shifts in the form of deglobalization, so a lot of uncertainty and uncertainty has always driven
the gold price.
NEWTON: Yes, and as you said, people are looking for that safe haven and it has been gold traditionally. The historical points you bookmarked are not
things that we want to repeat at this point in time.
So what is the gold market telling you right now? And how is your company preparing to go forward? Because obviously, you do not want to get caught
up in price volatility understanding how much investment you have to put in in order to be mining gold.
BRISTOW: So we allocate our long term capital at $1,400.00 an ounce and so we can -- and it is designed to benefit from the peaks and makes sure that
we operate and deliver value in the troughs and that is our approach to the way we operate.
The most important thing is we've got very high quality assets so we can adjust how we exploit them as the gold price goes up and down and we've got
long life assets as well and that's the key. I think we are seeing this real demand on the gold price market and the supply side is quite tight as
well.
And just in a normal supply demand equation, that is also promoting, you know, an upward pressure on the gold price.
NEWTON: I have a question to ask you because it has happened with copper already, given the capriciousness, I would say, the unpredictability of the
Trump administration. I mean, how much can you mitigate for what that administration is going to do in the coming hours, even? I mean, we are
waiting on the President right now. You never know what he will come up with.
BRISTOW: So, Paula, the critical thing here is as you say, the asset that we mine is in the ground and what we focus on is the quality of it and the
ability for that margin to survive the troughs.
And as you know, $1,400.00 is a lot lower than the current spot, and that is the way we allocate capital. If you've got world class assets, you can
adjust the way you exploit them as the commodity price goes up and down.
And copper too, just like gold, is also in a supply squeeze. So both -- you know, I always say gold is the precious of precious -- the most precious of
precious metals and copper is the most strategic, and both are critical and both are in short supply as far as mining reserves go.
So, it is -- you know, and just to point out, Barrick has both copper and gold production. So right now we are extremely well-positioned to be able
to benefit from the pressure on both gold and copper.
[16:20:13]
Which is why I asked the question, so I ask you again, when we talk about pressure, right, there is normal market pressure, but we have been seeing
something completely different in the way this administration carries out its economic goals. I mean, is there more of a defensive posture here? Does
there have to be?
BRISTOW: No, I don't think so. I think, you know, the driver from the current administration in the U.S. it to attract investment back into the
U.S. I think that has been in short supply for a long time and the U.S. has very significant endowment of most metals, including gold and copper and,
by the way Barrick is the biggest gold producer in the United States and operates one of the biggest gold mining complexes in the world in Northern
Nevada.
And so you know, I think you're going to see a lot more people exploring for gold and copper in the United States.
NEWTON: Okay, and we will leave it there. Grateful to you, Mark Bristow. We will see you again. Appreciate it.
BRISTOW: Thank you, Paula.
NEWTON: And as we were saying, President Donald Trump is in The White House. Let's listen in.
DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: -- because he did things that everybody said he couldn't do, so they said it was going to
be five years and he knocked them out in about four weeks. Total, 100 percent. We took over and ISIS was gone -- and, pretty amazing.
But we never fought to win, and now, we -- if we have to fight it at all, you know, we solved seven wars. We have the one that I thought was going to
be probably one of the easier ones and that's with President Putin and Ukraine and that turned out to be one that's a little bit more difficult,
but the seven are done. They were supposed to be much more difficult to solve. I solved every one of them -- and we are going to get the other one
done too, but it turned out to be a little bit more difficult than I thought. And it will get done or there will be hell to pay.
Because they're losing six to seven -- it used to be five, I used to tell you five, now, it is almost seven -- I guess, 7,000 people. Last week,
7,813 people, young soldiers died. Russian and Ukrainian, not American soldiers, but it is a shame. It is just, you know, they are human lives and
I want to see it stopped.
But, General Caine has done a fantastic job, and again, defeated ISIS which they said would take a long time and it didn't take a long time at all, and
did other things that people said really couldn't happen.
We have the greatest equipment in the world. We have the greatest soldiers in the world. Dan, say a few words, please.
GEN. DAN CAINE, U.S. CHAIRMAN OF THE JOINT CHIEFS OF STAFF: Yes, sir. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. President. It's a -- it is a true honor for me today to
represent the incredible men and women of America's Joint Force.
Today, and every day, the 2.8 million servicemen and women stand ready to fulfill our sacred duty to protect America at home and abroad.
As the President said, America's military is the single most powerful fighting force in the world. The mission you and the Secretary have given
us is clear and unambiguous to deliver peace through overwhelming strength, and I remind everyone that the U.S. military can reach any adversary at the
time and place of our choosing.
Service to this nation is an incredible gift, and were grateful and honored every day to do so.
Thank you, Mr. President.
TRUMP: Thank you, and it is an honor to sign this, and we will do that right now.
I think that's a big one, I will be honest.
(APPLAUSE)
TRUMP: That's a big one. That's a big one. Do you have any questions on this subject? We are going to be discussing the G20 in a couple of minutes.
But yes, please. Right there.
REPORTER: -- the idea for this rebrand, and a question for you and, the newly minted Secretary of War, what message does this send to our enemies,
to our allies, to the American people? And again, what gave you the idea for this rebrand at this moment in history?
TRUMP: I think it sends a message of victory. I think it sends a message -- really a message of strength. We are very strong. We are much stronger than
anyone would really understand. And again, you know, having the great equipment -- we have just so much better.
You look at all of the -- just any of it, submarines as an example, we are 20 years ahead of anyone else. Nobody even compares. And I let a lot of
this happen in my first term. You know, we totally rebuilt our military.
[16:25:09]
Then, of course, you had that catastrophe in Afghanistan where they gave up a lot of the equipment, but a relatively small amount, but a lot. There was
a lot in Afghanistan.
I think it was the most -- General, I'd say it was the most embarrassing day in the history of our country that way that happened, the way they went
to the wrong airport, they should have gone to Bagram, not the local airport with no security, with tight quarters, et cetera. You know what
happened. I think it was the most embarrassing moment in the history of our country, frankly, that was under the Biden administration. It was terrible.
And we were going to be leaving, but we were leaving with strength and dignity. We were going to keep Bagram because Bagram is one hour away from
where China makes its nuclear weapons. We were going to have that all to ourselves, a big, beautiful place built many years ago for money that today
would be the equivalent of, you know, many, many billions of dollars. You couldn't build it, the longest runways, the most powerful runways in terms
of load capacity -- and we just walked away from it. It is so stupid, and they were fools. The people were fools.
No, we are -- we have the strongest military, and I think that indicates we have the strongest military. And, you know, we had it, and we won World War
One. We won World War Two. We won everything before.
And as I said, we won everything in between, and we were very strong, but we never fought to win. We just didn't fight to win. We didn't lose
anything, but we didn't fight to win. We could have won every one of those wars quickly. But they went a route that I think was probably politically
correct, but not correct for our nation.
So I think the Department of War sends a signal.
Yes, please.
ED O'KEEFE, CBS NEWS: Mr. President, you alluded to this a little while ago. You said that this rename is a "good reflection of where the world is
at right now." How do you square naming it the Department of War when you've been pursuing peace in so many different parts of the world?
TRUMP: Well, I think I've gotten peace because of the fact that we are strong. If we weren't strong, those seven deals I told you about, the seven
wars, a majority of them wouldn't have happened. They happened for two reasons, trade and our strength. Those are the two reasons and probably
strength may be more important than trade.
So if we I was very proud of all those words. Those were wars that could not be settled, and I settled all of them and we get the other one settled
also. It will get settled, but without the strength, we wouldn't have settled any of them.
Yes, please.
REPORTER: Mr. President, is it your expectation that Congress will codify this name change into law?
TRUMP: I don't know, but we are going to find out. But I am not sure they have to. We are signing an Executive Order today, but we are going to find
out. We are going to see. If they do, we are going with it, and we are going with it very strongly. There is a question as to whether or not they
have to, but we will put it before Congress.
REPORTER: Do you know how much this rebrand will actually cost, and are there any concerns about, you know, The Pentagon's mission of actually
cutting back on spending.
TRUMP: Yes, but not a lot. You know, we know how to rebrand without having to go crazy. We don't have to re-carve a mountain or anything. We are going
to be doing it, not in the most expensive. We are going to start changing the stationery as it comes due and lots of things like that. We are not
going to be doing things like have been done in the past when they change the name of forts that shouldn't have been changed. Those names have -- the
forts -- should not have been changed, at least for the most part.
And as you know, many of them have been changed back already at the request of the communities. Every one of those communities said, we want our name
back, like Fort Bragg, as an example. The people in that community wanted that name back. They refused to call it anything else but Fort Bragg. So we
are not going to be spending very much money on that.
REPORTER: Yes, sir. When you spoke with the Europeans and Zelenskyy earlier this week, did you preview this for them, and did you. Say what security
guarantees they might be involved in?
TRUMP: No. This has nothing to do with anybody but the United States of America, the people of America. This is who I talked to about changing the
name. This is a very important change because it is an attitude and we know how to win. We've been winning, and we are going to win like you've never
seen. Wait until these factories start to open up that are being built all over the country. You're going to see things happen in this country that
nobody expects.
We have over $17 trillion in investment coming into the country. We never did anything even remotely close to that. We've never -- no other country
has either, by the way.
So you're going to see things that are pretty amazing. But, it is really about winning.
REPORTER: And what about the security guarantees aspect of that with Ukraine, sir?
TRUMP: Well, we will work that out. Well, we will help them. Look, we want to save a lot of lives, so we will do something with that. I think people
expect that. we will help them. Europe will be first in, by far, and they want to be first. And they want -- they want to see it end. Europe wants to
see it end and it will end. It will end. All of a sudden, it is going to come together. You watch.
Yes, did you want something, right? Yes, behind you, please. Yes.
[16:30:13]
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, sir (INAUDIBLE) bold, decisive offensive action to protect American values. Strikes in Iran, the strikes this past Tuesday on
the positively I.D.ed Tren de Aragua with narco terrorists. Is that going to be a critical function of the Department of War?
TRUMP: It depends on the individual instance. You know, we don't want drugs coming in from Venezuela or anybody else or anyplace else, and we'll be
tough on that. We don't want human trafficking. We don't want to see people coming in where they open their prisons from all over the world and they
dump their prisoners into our country, which is what they did in the Biden administration, where they took insane asylums in places of that held
people that were seriously mentally ill, mentally incompetent, mentally dangerous, and they dumped those people into our country, and we're trying
to get them out now.
What they've done, what the Democrats and Biden have done to this country will go down in infamy, what they have done to our country.
And especially that, you know, they created the worst inflation we've ever had. That's nothing compared to what they did with the people in our
country right now, and we're getting them out.
And it's not easy when you have the liberal judges destroying our country. But we've won them all. We've won it all. Ultimately, won it all. Hard
process. It should be easier. We know it is -- we know exactly who we're looking for.
We had 11,000 murderers dropped into our country. We've gotten a lot of them out, or in some cases, they're so dangerous we're afraid to get them
out, because they'd come back in.
But for the last 120 days, zero people came in. Can you imagine? This is me speaking, but these are figures developed by they say a pretty liberal
group of people. They admit that zero people came into our country. Think of that.
A year ago, it was millions of people were coming in. Millions that were coming in. You could look at them, and you could say, big trouble, and
that's what we have in our country.
But we're getting them out, and despite that, we're doing really well. Yes. Please.
Yes, well, the recruitment Sean, most exciting thing. So, when I was campaigning for the office, numbers were coming out that the recruitment
numbers.
General, you could speak to it better than anybody, the recruitment into the military, all branches of the military and police and firemen and
everything else, anything having to do with like a public service. The numbers were horrible. Record setting bad, and now they're record setting
good. We're setting every record every month for recruitment, we're packed in the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines, Coast Guard, my beautiful air -- I
love Space Command. I love space -- I see Space Command, but Space Force has been -- we've got a waiting list of people wanting to go in.
A year ago, especially a year and a half ago. You know, when I took the lead in the polls, which was very early, it really helped with the
recruiting. And when I won, from November 5th on, it's been amazing.
And over the last four or five months it's been -- we're just packed. It was very hard to get police officers. Now the departments are loaded up.
Everyone wants to be a policeman or woman, so it's been a great thing.
General, do you want to talk about that?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Sure, as you said, serving our nation is an incredible gift that we give, and the reward on that gift pays back exponentially year
over year. And I think the young people of America are seeing the importance of service, and whether it's in any of our armed services or in
local police, fire, rescue. Service is an important thing that I personally encourage, and I know everyone else in government service sees that same
reward.
TRUMP: And Pete, our recruitment.
PETE HEGSETH, U.S. SECRETARY OF DEFENSE: I was down at Fort Benning, the newly properly renamed Fort Benning, yesterday, watch watching army basic
training, and they're so full they can't barely handle the throughput. It is truly historic across all the services.
As you said, it's been a surge in into the -- I was going to say the Defense Department, but I will say the War Department.
And that you might almost call it a vibe shift, an attitude shift, a feeling that the country is back, that service is back.
And there were military families last year, Mr. President, that said, I don't know if I can recommend, I mean, I wrote a book on this. I don't know
if I can recommend service to my son or daughter, given what's been done to our military. You heard it over and over and over again, and I hear from
those same military families right now, sir, and they're saying, I recommend to my kids that they go into this department, this Pentagon,
under this commander in chief, who they know you'll have their back and they want to serve.
So, it is historic, and it's the biggest reflection of how motivated Americans are by your leadership, sir.
[16:35:09]
TRUMP: You know, really, it's nothing more than spirit, love for the country. I guess the spirit of corps, as they say, you have more of that
than we've had, maybe ever, frankly.
But to see it turn over a period of less than a year, I would say, but to see it turn, nobody wanted to go into the military. Now, everybody wants to
go into the military. And Jennifer, you want in?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes, there's some new reporting on North Korea and this Navy seal incident in 2019. Can you say if the administration has
engaged with North Korea on that incident since it happened recently? And then can you share some?
TRUMP: I don't know anything about it, no. I'd have to -- I could look but I know nothing about it.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Can you confirm that it happened?
TRUMP: I don't know anything about it. I'm hearing it now for the first time.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: OK, great. And then on the Hyundai incident in Georgia, with the arrests of some workers, construction workers at the
plant. Have you heard any feedback from Hyundai?
TRUMP: I just heard about that a little while before the news conference, and I would say that they were illegal aliens, and ICE was just doing its
job. But I know nothing about the instance that happened a little while ago. OK?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: There has been some pushback on that, though, from South Korea already. And of course, you know, they pledged to invest 150
billion in the U.S., and they were just here, you know, last week.
TRUMP: Well, and they have the right to sell cars and things in our country. You know, it's not like a one sided deal.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Are you concerned at all about, you know, your immigration agenda potentially clashing with these economic goals?
TRUMP: Well, we want to get along with other countries, and we want to have a great, stable workforce, and we had, as I understand it, a lot of illegal
aliens, some, not the best of people, but we had a lot of illegal aliens working there.
So, you know, look, they're doing their job. That's what they have to do. These are people that came through with Biden. They came through illegally.
They came into our country. So, we have to do our job.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Now that Department of War has been involved in the crime cleanup in D.C. You've tasked Congress with proposing and passing a
crime bill, what are some things that you would really like to see codified in that crime bill?
TRUMP: Well, I think one of the things is the cashless bail is killing it. When that came out -- originally, when that came out the first time, that's
when you saw the real big crime start to happen. Cashless bail, what a disaster that is. You murder somebody. You don't have to put up bail, and
you go out in the street, you murder somebody else. That's what's happened. It happened so often, and that's one of the things. And other the things
you're reading about, you know, is this standard, but just a certain toughness.
I have to say, one of the elements of fascination for people over the last period of time has been what's happened to D.C. So, we've gone from a one
of the most dangerous cities in our country to a what they call a safe city. It's a totally safe city.
In fact, I set up dinner in Washington, D.C. next week. I wouldn't have done that, to be honest. I would have had an obligation not to do it before
I came into office, or even at the very beginning when things were so corrupt and so dangerous out on the streets.
So, Washington D.C. has had virtually no crime. We even have a mayor that's admitting to it, and she says, no, a liberal Democrat. In all fairness,
she's a person that hasn't gotten exactly along with Republicans over the years, and she said she's never seen anything like it.
So, Washington, D.C. is a totally safe city. We have virtually no crime. One of it's gone from the most unsafe city in the United States almost just
about to one of the safest cities, maybe the safest city in the United States. That's a tremendous compliment to our military, what we did. The
National Guard has had a fantastic job.
Yes, please.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (INAUDIBLE) Florida House Speaker Daniel Perez was at the White House yesterday as a part of a leadership summit.
TRUMP: Yes.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (INAUDIBLE) separately, Mr. President, what did you talk about and also, did you explore him running for Florida?
TRUMP: I didn't. We didn't talk about that, but he's done a fantastic job. He's respected all over the country, really, he's a leader, and he's done a
just a fantastic job. We didn't discuss anything having to do with his future. I'm sure he'd be very good at that.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: My second question, Alligator Alcatraz sticking with Florida. A major ruling appeals court blocked the federal judge order to
close it and it can remain open for now. Your reaction?
TRUMP: I think they've done a fantastic job in building it, the governor and everybody else that's been involved. It's an incredible facility. It's
housing people for usually a very short period of time before they get brought back to their countries.
As you know, we focus on criminals before we focus on anybody else, and we're taking thousands and thousands of criminals out every month, out of
our country, some of them murderers.
[16:40:04]
And I think Florida has done a great job by building it and whether it's Alligator Alcatraz or anything else you want to call it, I was there, I
visited with the governor, with other people. I guess Nikki (PH) was there, Tom Homan has been there a lot. A lot of people have been there from --
it's an amazing facility for what it is. It's not a hotel. It's not supposed to be a hotel, but they've done a great job with it. I'm very
happy with the judge's decision.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You also mentioned Venezuela. I want to ask one more follow up question on that, on the U.S. strike no tie to a Venezuelan drug
cartel. The Maduro regime is pushing back today. In fact, they say the U.S. sees regime change through military threat. Your reaction to those words
and also, would you like to see regime change in Venezuela?
TRUMP: Well, we're not talking about that, but we are talking about the fact that you had an election, which was a very strange election, to put it
mild, I'm being very nice when I say that.
I can only say that billions of dollars of drugs are pouring into our country from Venezuela. The prisons of Venezuela have been opened up to our
country. They have taken their prisoners, the worst prisoners, murderers, Tren de Aragua, the worst prisoners that you can ever imagine are now
happily living in the United States of America.
Now, many of them, we've gotten out. It's not easy to get them out because of the liberal system that we're working with, in many cases, not in all
cases, but millions and millions of dollars and billions of dollars of drugs are pouring out of Venezuela and other countries.
Look, China, what they're doing with fentanyl is a terrible thing. It comes through Canada, and it comes through Mexico, but a lot of it's coming
through Venezuela. Venezuela has been a very bad actor, and we understand that.
And when you look at that boat, you look at the -- you see the bags of whatever it is that those bags were, you know, those bags represent
hundreds of thousands of dead people in the United States. That's what they represent. Yes, please.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Mr. President, your reaction to the jobs report this morning?
TRUMP: Well, I'm going to talk about that in a minute. We have our great people here, so I'll talk that in a minute. Let's talk about this. We'll
give a couple of the -- because these two people want to get to work on the Department of War, so let's keep them first.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The DOJ is reportedly considering a ban on transgender people owning guns after the Minneapolis shooting. Do you think --
TRUMP: Are we talking in the military?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No.
TRUMP: OK, I thought you were talking about in the military. I'll refer to that then differently, because it's not a military question. I'll be able
to pass on that very nicely, unless you'd like to talk about it. Pete doesn't want any part of that question. Yes, please.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Mr. President, who do you blame for losing India to China in your post earlier today in the morning, you did put that out?
TRUMP: I don't think we have, you know, I've been very disappointed that India would be buying so much oil, as you know, from Russia. And I let them
know that we put a very big tariff on India, 50 percent tariff, very high tariff. I get along very well with Modi, as you know, he's great. He was
here a couple of months ago.
Fact, we went to the Rose Garden, and it was -- the grass was so soaking wet, it was so such a terrible place to have a news conference. I said,
well, let's use a beautiful white stone, emblematic of the White House, OK? And it's been very well received.
But we had a news conference in the -- in the -- on the grass. That was my last news conference I had on the grass, because everybody sunk in. You
probably sunk in. Every reporter out there, they ruined their shoes. We made that change. It's been a really well received change. Yes, please.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You've said F-35 is not in Puerto Rico. You've said naval vessels in the Caribbean. You're concerned about drug -- drugs being
illegally sent in. How do you describe this build up, this situation?
TRUMP: Well, I just think it's strong. We're strong on drugs. We don't want drugs killing our people. I believe we lost 300,000. You know, they always
say 95, 100,000 I believe they've been saying that for 20 years.
I believe we lost 300,000 people last year. I know families that lost their son, those families will never be the same. I know a family lost a
daughter, a beautiful daughter.
In fact, it was like she took something that she thought was like a minor deal, and it turned out to be riddled out with fentanyl, the size of the
head of a pin, and you're dead and no, we're stopping the drugs. We're going to save a lot of people.
Look, whether it's 100,000 but it's not. It's 300,000-350,000 people died last year from drugs, and we're not going to let that happen to this
country. Think of that. Think if you're in a war and you lose 300,000, we'll lose 600,000 in the pretty much between Gettysburg and all of that.
[16:45:01]
In the Civil War, we lost, what, 600,000 so, we're losing half of that every year to drugs. We're not going to do it. We're not going to allow it
to happen.
You think of the wars, if we lost 600,000 people in a war, but we lost -- we lose that every two years, more than that. So, it's 300,000-350,000
people. And when I see boats coming in, like loaded up the other day with all sorts of drugs, probably fentanyl, mostly, but all sorts of drugs, and
we're going to take them out. And if people want to have fun going on the high seas or the low seas, they're going to be in trouble.
I will tell you, boat traffic is substantially down in the area that happened, and they called it the runway. It's a runway to -- it's a runway
to the United States, and boat traffic is very substantially down on the runway. You can imagine why. I think anybody that saw that is going to say,
I'll take a pass.
I don't even know about fishermen. They may say, I'm not getting on the boat. I'm not going to take a chance.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What happens if Venezuela flies jets over U.S. naval vessels again?
TRUMP: Well, I would say they're going to be in trouble. We'll let them know about that. We heard that happen, but it wasn't really over, not like
they described.
But I would say, General, if they do that, you have a choice of doing anything you want. OK? If they fly in a dangerous position, I would say
that you can -- you or your captains can make the decision as to what they want to do, all right?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We have one more.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: How close did they get, Mr. President? You said they didn't go over.
TRUMP: Say it?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: How close did they get, you said the planes didn't go over.
TRUMP: Well, I don't want to talk about that, but if they do put us in a dangerous position, they'll be shut down.
Thank you very much, everybody. So, we're going to now cover the G20 and I'm going to let these people go back to the Department of War and figure
out how to maintain peace. OK. Thank you very much.
Congratulations, General, thank you, sir. Great job.
NEWTON: You have been listening to the President of the United States. He's there in the Oval Office signing an executive order for changing the name
of the Defense Department to the Department of War, a change that dates back to 1949, this was definitely a war posture that the United States was
in at that time.
Donald Trump saying that right now, in his words, it is a matter of attitude, and that it sends a message of strength to the world in changing
that name.
A lot of other things happened in that press conference. I want to bring on Ron Brownstein, who's our senior political analyst, and he joins me now.
I do want to get first to this name change or the rebranding. I ask you, what do you think most Americans would think of this name change, and
obviously military families first and foremost?
RON BROWNSTEIN, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: Yes, you know, look, I mean, anybody who's walked past a building that you know the Trump Organization
is involved with knows that Donald Trump likes to put his stamp on things, often two stories high.
But I do think there is a larger message, as you were saying, and it is something like militant unilateralism, militant isolationism, his view
that, you know, we are not going to be as involved in allies, but we are going to often unilaterally use force in ways that he thinks advances the
national interest.
And it does convey the kind of belligerence that he applies to pretty much, you know all other nations around the world, whether traditional allies or
adversaries.
So, you know, it is a revealing of his mindset. You know, whether families will, you know, consider it appropriate. It's kind of -- you know, he's
even said it's meant to convey an offensive vision of military force, as opposed to a defensive vision of protecting the homeland. And it may be
that protecting the homeland construct that I think is more comfortable for families in the military.
NEWTON: It also goes to World War II veterans, certainly that I've had the privilege to interview over the years, I can't remember any that that would
-- that understand that there's an appropriateness, a time and a place that the country is at war, but have always defended their bravery on the basis
that they were, as you said, protecting the homeland and trying to prevent war.
In terms of actual material things that relate to the Defense Department. He really dodged questions on two issues. I do want to get first, though,
to the issue of that boat in international waters, the Venezuelan boat that, you know, many legal scholars have said that this is imparted upon
uncharted waters from the United States, because it is extrajudicial killing, right? There is no due process. No one knows. No one is -- or at
least hasn't been disclosed, what was on that boat, who was on it, and that it sets a dangerous precedent. You heard the President there doubling down,
saying they will do it again.
BROWNSTEIN: Yes, that's what I was kind of saying in the first answer, which is that this actually is reflective of his view of the world, which
is not necessarily one that involves working with allies in traditional ways, but does involve a view that the traditional constraints on the
unilateral use of American power, whether it's bombing Iran or bombing this boat, or potentially even taking action in Mexico over the objection of the
Mexican government against cartels, that all of those are outdated.
[16:50:27]
I mean, there is a worldview here. It is -- it is the U.S. as a lone actor, moving in ways, not accepting traditional constraints of international law
or international alliance when we decide it is in our interest to project power.
And, you know, and in that way, the Department of War is probably, as I said, an accurate reflection of the way he views our interaction with the
rest of the world.
NEWTON: Yes, and we will see exactly how many changes they are. Again, even in changing the name, Congress is supposed to have a role. It has not had a
role in too much in terms of what the executive branch decides to do on any given day.
Ron Brownstein, we will leave it there. Grateful to you, and we'll be right back with more news in a moment.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
NEWTON: Donald Trump had dinner last night with some of the country's top tech leaders. The guest list featured Apple CEO Tim Cook, Meta CEO Mark
Zuckerberg, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, Bill Gates and Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai. ai, of course, on the menu for discussion. Pichai gave Trump credit
for promoting A.I. development.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SUNDAR PICHAI, CEO, ALPHABET: The A.I. moment is one of the most transformative moments any of us have ever seen or will see in our
lifetimes, so making sure the U.S. is at the forefront. And I think your administration is investing a lot already, the A.I. action plan under your
leadership, I think, is a great start, and we look forward to working together, and thanks for your leadership.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
[16:55:03]
NEWTON: Alphabet is not getting such a warm reception in Europe. The E.U. is hitting Google with a $3.5 billion antitrust fine for its ad tech
business. The European Commission says Google has abused its market power since 2014, it ordered the company to stop favoring itself and take
measures to prevent it from happening again.
Now, in response, President Trump threatened the E.U. on Truth Social, he accused Europe of being very unfair to U.S. companies, and said he'd move
to nullify the fine.
CNN Business Tech Editor Lisa Eadicicco is with me now. Lisa, what does this mean in terms of what Trump will actually do, we've seen him vent
before on social media. Will he find a way to actually punish these countries?
LISA EADICICCO, CNN BUSINESS TECH EDITOR: I think it's really hard to say at this moment, as you mentioned, this is not the first time Trump has made
remarks like this. He has regularly kind of framed this regulatory action as an attack against U.S. tech companies.
Just last month, he also posted on Truth Social that countries that impose these kinds of regulations and fines against U.S. companies might face
tariffs, or maybe perhaps exports, on export regulations on chips coming from the U.S. and things like that.
So, I do think for Trump, you know, this is kind of a twofold approach here. For one, it seems like he's trying to use these regulations as
leverage in trade negotiations, but also, he's clearly trying to cement the U.S. as a leader in A.I. that's been a big cornerstone of his presidency so
far.
So, it's difficult to say exactly what he's going to do, but these are threats that he's certainly made before, and he is certainly kind of
framing this as the E.U. over regulating American tech companies.
And the E.U. for its part has said that it has the right to regulate economic activity that happens in the -- in Europe, and it also has said
that it's not unfairly targeting U.S. companies.
NEWTON: Yes, and this is a ruling. I only got about 30 seconds left, but you know, Trump has said a lot, for instance, about the digital services
tax in the E.U., but he hasn't actually done anything in terms of retaliation to try and take it away so far.
EADICICCO: Exactly. So, it's unclear, and it's difficult to know exactly where things will go, but we do know that his tariff policies have
certainly shifted a lot over the past couple of months, sometimes even from week to week, so I think we'll just have to kind of keep an eye on that and
see where things go.
But it is clear that the tech companies are certainly kind of aligning with Trump here and kind of all trying to band together on this push.
NEWTON: Yes. And as we see video of dinner there again, the president told them point blank that he would have their back.
Lisa, grateful to you for sticking around for us for the weekend to explain that to us, appreciate it.
And that is QUEST MEANS BUSINESS. I'm Paula Newton. "THE LEAD" with Jake Tapper is next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
END
