TRANSCRIPT: President Trump Attends a Dinner with Lee Jae Myung of South Korea, 10.29.25
[Video]
President Lee Jae Myung: [Via interpreter] Thank you very much for your participation at Heads of States. It is a great pleasure to be able to meet you at this table. President Trump has joined us today. We are all allies and friends of the US. The whole world is faced with multiple challenges and in these times, collaboration and cooperation among states is more important than ever before. This is not a -- this is indeed a rare opportunity for us to gather. I hope it will be a great opportunity to listen to your great insights. In particular, President Trump has joined us and I do believe that it is very significant. As the host, I would like to wish each and every one of you prosperity and also world peace. Let me raise a toast for world peace and collaboration between states. I would also -- I would now like to turn the floor to President Trump for his remarks.
President Donald Trump: OK, sure. Hello. So, I'd like to thank everybody. I know you all either reasonably well or very well, and we had a tremendous meeting today with South Korea. I think the meeting was -- it was determined, very much determined. And we made our deal, pretty much finalized a trade deal, and we discussed some other things having to do with national security, etc. And I think we came to a conclusion on a lot of very important items. We had a terrific meeting in Japan also and we concluded a trade deal, a very big one, a very big trade deal. And I always say good for both countries. I think it really is great for both countries, but I just wanted to thank you. You really -- you rolled out a red carpet that was a very good red carpet, a beautiful red carpet.
And giving me the honor of that magnificent piece of art, because it really was a piece of art that you presented to me today. And to be the first president of the United States that got that was really something very special. So, I appreciate it very much, and I won't forget the trip. And we'll be working together, and you have a little bit of a cloud over your country and we're going to get that cloud solved. You have a neighbor that hasn't been as nice as they could be, and I think they will be -- I know Kim Jong Un very well, and I think things will work out very well. Tomorrow, I meet with President XI of China, and I look forward to that, and we've been talking a lot over the last month, and I think we're going to have something that's going to be very, very satisfactory to China and to us. I think we're going to have a -- I think it's going to be a very good meeting.
I look forward to it; tomorrow morning we meet. And then I go back to the United States and then I go around the United States, and the same thing happens. But we're doing very well. Our country is doing phenomenally well, better than I think it's ever done. We hit new highs in the stock markets, all of them, every market's hit new highs and they have, I think, 48 times since I've been -- in nine months, 48 times, we've hit new highs. And many of you are investors in the United States from the standpoint of stocks, you put a lot of money in stocks, so you're doing very well. I'd like to congratulate you. In some cases, you've doubled your money in about a year and I'm very impressed with you, your voters are very impressed with you. But we have -- we've done amazingly well, I don't think there's ever been anything like it. And we're over $17 trillion, probably up to $18 trillion of investment.
In the last four years of the last administration there were less than $1 trillion and we're over $17 trillion. We're close to $18 trillion. I think we're going to be $21 trillion or $22 trillion by the time I finish my first year. And there's never -- in history there's never been anything like that for any country, not even close. And part of that is the national security given to us by the tariffs, properly used tariffs, very properly used. And other countries, as you know, have used them against us. But we never chose to use them very much. And we should have -- we should have, and it's made a big difference. Our country is thriving.
I think we have the hottest country anywhere in the world and a year ago we were a very troubled nation but we're not anymore. So, I just think it's an honor to be with you. You've all done a fantastic job. You're fantastic leaders. We had a great meeting a week ago; you came all the way and now you came here. But this isn't quite as far. This time I traveled far, but you've done a fantastic job. And we're working together on rare earths, but we're working on a lot of things together and it's all working out very well. But I just want to thank you for your hospitality, Mr. President. It's been great and it's an honor and we'll be back, and we'll see you again. And thank you very much.
Lee: [In English] Thank you.
Trump: Thank you very much. [Applause]