Trump press conference: President questions Christine Ford and says hearings have been ‘unfair’ for Brett Kavanaugh in USMCA trade announcement
President gives speech about new trade deal called the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement, or USMCA
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Donald Trump celebrated a new trilateral trade agreement Canada and the US reached to resurrect a deal with Mexico during a press conference at the White House Rose Garden.
The president claimed the new deal was replacing NAFTA, a promise he repeatedly made along the campaign trail, despite numerous analysts indicating it’s an modernised version of the former agreement. The new deal has been dubbed the United States-Mexico-Canada agreement, otherwise known as USMCA.
"The agreement will govern nearly $1.2 trillion in trade, which makes it the biggest trade deal in United States history," He said Monday. "It puts us in a position we've never been in before … This is a terrific deal for all of us." He also discussed his embattled Supreme Court nominee, Brett Kavanaugh, providing a full-throated defence for his pick amid an FBI investigation into sexual assault accusations against him.
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Donald Trump said he’s worried new leadership won’t step forward and run for office or seats since Brett Kavanaugh has been “treated horribly.”
"I'm concerned [about] getting great, great people on the Supreme Court," he said.
Donald Trump addressed the Las Vegas shooting, saying “we are knocking out bump stocks” and was looking at other ways to eliminate loopholes allowing for mass shootings and gun violence to continue in America.
Donald Trump criticised China and other nations for “dumping dead steeel,” claiming “billions of dollars are now flowing into our treasury” as there are hundreds of new plants supposedly expected to open in the US.
Donald Trump says he has a “very open mind” regarding Brett Kavanaugh’s Supreme Court nomination, adding that he doesn’t want to talk about “Plan B” if the nomination does not work out in his favour.
The president added that he would “take it into consideration” if the FBI investigation he ordered into Mr Kavanaugh’s sexual assault accusation yield concerning findings.
Donald Trump has ended his press conference announcing the new trilateral trade deal, dubbed the United States-Mexico-Canada agreement, or USMCA.
We're learning about new details behind the USMCA agreement the United States and Canada agreed to with Mexico last night. Among other components include an expansion of access to Canadian and Mexican markets for US farmers and autoworkers, as well as other smaller details that are now being posted across social media.
Despite Donald Trump claiming USMCA is "much different than NAFTA," it appears the agreement contains many of the same aspects and components of the former trade deal.
In fact, analysts have noted the agreement is even referred to as "NAFTA 2018" in several portions of the deal.
Several elements of Donald Trump's unwieldy press conference have since gone viral, including his answer to what the president's biggest concession was in the USMCA agreement: signing off on the new deal.
Experts are saying the new USMCA deal is simply a modernised version of NAFTA, despite the president’s ardent claims saying otherwise.
According to Jim Pethokoukis, the trilateral agreement is simply “"A tremendous expenditure of national political capital for cosmetic changes to what Trump called the worst trade deal in US history."
Vice President Mike Pence has tweeted his support for USMCA and Donald Trump after the president’s Rose Garden press conference, writing, “we have reached a historic trade deal with Canada and Mexico – a huge win for American workers and farmers.”
“This agreement will strengthen trade and grow the economy of all three nations,” he added. “Promises made and promises kept!”
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