Return to Transcripts main page
Connect the World
Israel Accuses Hamas of "Engineering" Food Shortages; Thailand- Cambodia Border Clashes Rage for Second Day; Deported Venezuelan Shares Experience in Salvadorian Prison; Trump Backs Off Threat to Fire Fed Chair Jerome Powell; Trump: Hamas didn't want to Make a Deal; Trump Leaving for Five-Day Visit to Scotland. Aired 9-10a ET
Aired July 25, 2025 - 09:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[09:00:00]
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BECKY ANDERSON, CNN HOST, CONNECT THE WORLD: These are live pictures from Khan Yunis inside Gaza. Starvation there is spreading as the international
community amps up pressure on Israel. It is 04:00 p.m. in Gaza. It is 05:00 p.m. in Abu Dhabi from our Middle East Programming Headquarters. I'm Becky
Anderson. This is "Connect the World".
This Friday, also coming up, the death toll in Thailand rises from intensifying clashes along its disputed border with Cambodia. And an
emotional reunion in Venezuela after a man deported from the U.S. returns home from El Salvador. He describes to CNN being welcomed to hell at an
infamous Salvadorian prison.
Back end of the week, the stock market has one more session. It opens in New York about 30 minutes from now, and the picture at the end of what has
been a very busy week is mixed on the futures market, indicating a mixed open we'll be back there at 09:30 local time.
Well, international pressure is mounting for Israel to end the war in Gaza. British Prime Minister Keir Starmer says the humanitarian crisis there has
reached new depths, calling the suffering and starvation unspeakable and indefensible. He scheduled an emergency call with France and Germany today
to discuss what their countries can do to stop the killing and get food to starving people in the Enclave.
On Thursday, ceasefire talks in Qatar ended with the U.S. and Israel withdrawing their teams. On X U.S. Special Envoy Steve Witkoff posted that
Hamas clearly shows a lack of desire to reach a truce. Hamas calling Witkoff's remarks malicious, biased and dishonest.
Well, CNN's Nic Robertson joining us now from Jerusalem. Nic, there is growing pressure from within Israel, as well as outside of Israel to end
this reported starvation in Gaza. What are we hearing from Israeli officials on that and on where these talks might go going forward?
NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: I think on the talks, the sense behind the scenes that's being created here, at least, is that
while Israel has pulled back its team for consultations, and there's much criticism of the decisions Hamas has taken, it's being framed as it's not
all over, that this is still a process that can work.
But we've heard this before, where the international and domestic pressure mounts on Israel for the malnutrition and starvation in Gaza and hearing
today new figures over the past 24 hours, nine people died of malnutrition, two of them children. That brings a total of 122 people dead from
malnutrition, 83 of them children.
And according to UNICEF, over the past two weeks, or the first two weeks of this month, rather 5,500 children have been treated for malnutrition. The
numbers continue to grow, and with it that international pressure, but I think we're also beginning to see some domestic pressure.
And we'll look to protests that are expected this evening, where the issue of the Gazan suffering will be expected to be one of the -- one of the
issues to bring an end to the war in Gaza in a way that perhaps the pain and suffering and the bombings and the deaths in Gaza haven't been until
now.
And in part because Israelis are being exposed to that newspapers and TV talking about that malnutrition inside of Gaza in a way that they haven't
covered the bombings and the deaths in Gaza before. The Israeli government pushes back vociferously and says that the suffering, the humanitarian
suffering, indeed, some government officials, a government spokesman and various members of Prime Minister Netanyahu cabinet, actually say there is
no salvation and malnutrition in Gaza.
And qualify that by saying, well, what there is created by Hamas, and blaming it on Hamas. So, the international pressure is there and taking
effect. And I think the one way we can read that today, we heard in the last hour or so from security officials here is that Israel will begin to
allow air drops of aid again into Gaza.
[09:05:00]
It wasn't successful before. It's costly. People were killed during those aid drops, but we'd heard from the U.S. Envoy to the talk, Steve Witkoff,
saying that the United States would be looking for other ways to bring about a ceasefire and get more humanitarian aid into Gaza.
So, is this what we're learning about now? And of course, previously, that was done by countries like Jordan dropping pallets of aid to starving
Gazans below. Of course, the need now so much more pressing, Becky.
ANDERSON: Just in the past 24 hours, France has said it will recognize a Palestinian state in September. There has been an enormous amount of
response to that, including the Saudis, who said this, and I quote, an historic decision which affirms the international community's agreement on
the Palestinian people's right to self-determination and having their own independent state along the borders agreed upon in 67 with East Jerusalem
as a capital.
There has also been an enormous amount of criticism, particularly about the timing of this decision by the French, given that it is around a very, very
fraught period of these ceasefire and hostage talks. What do you make of the French decision and the response to it?
ROBERTSON: Yeah. Prime Minister Netanyahu has said that this rewards terrorism. U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio criticized it, saying that
this is rewarding Hamas and isn't constructive at this moment, this very sensitive moment in the talks, and there's a sense in Israel that Hamas is
using the outcry, if you will, over the humanitarian suffering.
The starvation in Gaza that Israel blames on them, that the U.N. blames on Israel as a way to try to use that as leverage to get more at the
negotiating table out of Israel. And what we've heard from the Israeli Prime Minister on that, I think, kind of gives that perspective.
He is very adept politically, and turns this situation back on them, saying if Hamas thinks because Israel wants a deal, that alone, setting out his
position that Israel wants a deal. But if they think they can take advantage of Israel wanting to get a deal by trying to sort of use pressure
to get more at the negotiating table, then that's a mistake, a grave mistake.
I mean, that's what the prime minister is saying. But in terms of where the -- where the negotiations may go, where the negotiations may go now that I
think is that the potential is there for them to continue, but it's absolutely going to be overshadowed by the humanitarian situation inside of
Gaza right now.
ANDERSON: It's good to have you there, Nic. Thank you. Well, as Nic reported, catastrophic scenes of starvation, of illness and death are
everywhere in Gaza. And after months of warnings from aid agencies about famine, the worst-case scenario does appear to be unfolding. CNN's Jeremy
Diamond takes a closer look at what is going on for us. But first, I have to warn you that his report does contain disturbing and graphic images.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN JERUSALEM CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): There are no bullet holes or shrapnel wounds marking this man's body. His bears the
signs of a far more silent killer. Starvation at 41 years old Mohammed Al Hasanat is one of at least 45 Palestinians who have died of malnutrition in
just the last week, according to the Palestinian health ministry.
An entirely manmade humanitarian crisis in Gaza now reaching unprecedented levels. The question now is not whether starvation will claim more lives,
but who will be its next victim. Most food stocks have run dry. Malnutrition cases are skyrocketing, and there is only so much Gaza's under
resourced hospitals can do.
At one of the few soup kitchens still serving meals. The growing desperation of Gaza's population of more than 2 million is clear as day. 28
Western nations, more than 100 humanitarian aid organizations and top U.N. officials have all said Israeli policies are to blame for the starvation
crisis now unfolding.
That's because Israel imposed a total siege of Gaza between March and May, and since then, Israeli restrictions on the entry and distribution of aid
have snowballed into an utterly avoidable disaster.
DR. TEDROS ADHANOM GHEBREYESUS, DIRECTOR-GENERAL, WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION: I don't know what you would call it, other than mass
starvation, and its man made, and that's very clear. And this is because of blockade.
[09:10:00]
DIAMOND (voice-over): Israel denies it is using starvation as a weapon, pointing to hundreds of aid trucks inside Gaza awaiting U.N. pickup. The
U.N. says Israeli authorities have repeatedly failed to authorize safe routes to pick up those stockpiles.
But the reality of starvation is impossible to deny, including for Israeli news channels which rarely broadcast such images. Fadia Abu Namus (ph) has
been in line since 06:00 a.m. hoping to fill a pot of lentil soup to feed the nine members of her family. We've had enough of starvation and
oppression, enough of staying in the streets like dogs, where no one looks at us, where we can't find anything for our children to eat or drink.
Signs of hunger are everywhere in Gaza, this man collapsed while sifting through the wreckage of the latest Israeli offensive. He says he hasn't
eaten anything lately, but scraps of bread. Moments later, his body gives out on him again. He's simply too weak to go on.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ANDERSON: -- reporting Jeremy Diamond, reporting. Well, Iranian and European delegates have met in Istanbul in an effort to restart
negotiations on Iran's nuclear program. Iran called the discussion serious front and detailed push back on suggestions of extending a U.N. resolution
on the 2015, nuclear deal, which is set to expire in October.
This is Tehran's first face to face meeting with Western delegates since bombing by Israel and the U.S. last month. Fred Pleitgen is across this. He
joins us from Berlin, Fred.
FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Hi, there, Becky. And there's really two things that the two sides are trying to feel
each other out about. One is whether or not the negotiation process around Iran's nuclear program can, in general, be restarted.
As you said, this is the first face to face meeting between Western delegations and the Iranians since that 12-day war, which of course, saw
those attacks by the Israelis on Iranian facilities, on Iranian cities. But then also, of course, the Iranians answering with their own ballistic
missiles as well.
And then, in general, whether or not so-called snapback sanctions could be put in place by the Europeans if these negotiations don't lead to any sort
of way forward. That's something that the Europeans, before all of this started, had been threatening Iran with. They say that they want the
Iranians to convince them that they are serious about the process, and also serious, of course, about having their nuclear program be monitored, for
instance, by the International Atomic Energy Agency.
Now, the Iranians have fired back at the European nation, saying that so far, the European stance in all of this has been one that the Iranians have
called disappointing. The Iranians saying that the Europeans have to show that they are serious about moving forward with some sort of path that
would allow Iran to have sanctions against it lifted, if indeed it allows monitoring of its nuclear program.
Above all of this, either, of course, hovers the big disagreement between Western nations, first and foremost, the United States and Iran, about
nuclear enrichment in Iran. The Iranians have once again vowed, and this was the foreign minister of Iran that they will continue their nuclear
enrichment, that they say that this is something that is a right that they have and that they're not willing to give up.
Of course, that was one of the reasons why President Trump said that he bombed those Iranian nuclear facilities, which the Iranians have
acknowledged are badly damaged. So, on that front so far, that was not something that was up for discussion today, but one of the things that I
think both sides found very important in all of this is that they are once again talking.
And I think both sides also hope that this could lead to wider talks also between the United States and Iran to try and find some way forward out of
this impasse, even after the violence between the United States, Israel and Iran on the other side that we've seen over the past month, Becky.
ANDERSON: Good to have you, Fred. Thank you. Well, it's been a second day of deadly clashes along the disputed border between Thailand and Cambodia.
The death toll rising from the fighting, with the Thai Health Ministry now saying 16 people have been killed and 46 wounded during the clashes.
Officials in Cambodia have so far reported one death and five injuries. The conflicts also seen tens of thousands of civilians evacuate their homes
near the frontier. CNN's Kristie Lu Stout with more.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
KRISTIE LU STOUT, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Thai artillery fire pounds Cambodian positions on the second day of deadly conflict between two
Southeast Asian neighbors. Their 500-mile shared border now a conflict zone. The flare up has already claimed several lives, displacing over
100,000 people in Thailand, according to its Ministry of Interior, and thousands more in Cambodia, AP reported, citing an official where families
are sheltering on the grounds of temples.
[09:15:00]
VENG CHIN, 74-YEAR-OLD COMBODIAN RESIDENT: I was so scared, shaking so much, I didn't bring anything with me, and then my son tried to pull my
child's hand up onto the tractor.
STOUT (voice-over): The roots of the conflict go back to the colonial era when many of Asia's borders were drawn by European powers, including the
areas of religious and archeological significance.
THITINAN PONGSUDHIRAK, CHULALONGORN UNIVERSITY: Both sides, Cambodians and Thais feel resentful of history. Thais think that the French took some land
from Thailand, gave to Cambodia. Cambodians think that this is their civilization from a long, long time ago.
STOUT (voice-over): In Thailand's Surren Province, evacuees shelter in a university a hospital in the area abandoned after being bombed.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I don't want this war to happen. I don't want fighting.
STOUT (voice-over): But the violence continues. Cambodia accuses Thailand of using banned cluster munitions. CNN has contacted the Thai military for
comment. On Friday, the Thai Army released this footage showing its drones destroying Cambodian ammunition stocks. CNN cannot verify the video, which
purports to show jungle positions destroyed, Washington has called for restraint.
TOMMY PIGOTT, PRINCIPAL DEPUTY PRESS SECRETARY, U.S. STATE DEPARTMENT: The United States urges an immediate cessation of hostilities, protection of
civilians, and a peaceful resolution of the conflict.
STOUT (voice-over): But Beijing is watching too as the border battles threaten to develop into something bigger.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And as far as China is concerned, we are going. We are mediating between the two sides, and we do hope that the situation can
stabilize as soon as possible.
STOUT (voice-over): The U.N. Security Council will meet Friday to try to mediate an end to an ugly chapter in a combative relationship. Kristie Lu
Stout, CNN.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ANDERSON: Well, still to come, Trump's immigration crackdown continues with just, just how much do the mass deportations cost? An exclusive look at
some new analysis on that.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ANDERSON: Six months into the Trump Presidency and his administration's immigration crackdown is in full force. But what does it do to the economy
when you deport tens of thousands of people who came to the U.S. to work?
Well, Trump promised to unleash an economic boom, of course, but new analysis shared exclusively with CNN shows that Americans could be in for
the exact opposite, warning that over the next decade, mass deportations could cost the U.S. almost a trillion dollars. Let's get you more on this.
I want to bring in CNN's Matt Egan, who has got this reporting just walk us through what you have here.
MATT EGAN, CNN REPORTER: Well, Becky, as you mentioned, President Trump. He has promised this economic boom that will be marked by turbo charge growth
and bigger and bigger paychecks.
[09:20:00]
But economists worry that one of the big obstacles standing in the way is the president's own immigration crackdown. So, this new analysis from Penn
Wharton finds that if there was an immigration crackdown over four years where every year, 10 percent of the unauthorized immigrants in the United
States are deported, you would have smaller GDP by 1 percent.
Federal deficits would go up by more than $300 billion and on average, worker wages would fall. The impact would be even bigger if this
immigration crackdown spanned 10 years where essentially all unauthorized immigrants in the United States were deported, you'd see a drop of 3
percent for GDP, as you mentioned, almost $1 trillion increase in the federal deficit and wages would fall.
Now that's not to say that Penn Wharton found that all workers would be hurt. They did find that authorized lower skilled workers, they would
benefit because there'd be less competition, so their paychecks could go up. But what's notable is that high skilled workers, this analysis finds
that, because of mass deportations, their wages would go down by almost $3,000 per year.
And that's because researchers note that high skilled workers, white collar workers, many of them working in offices, they actually are benefiting.
They're complimented from some of the blue collar lower skilled workers in the United States.
And you think about it, the typical office worker, they might not think about it, but they are benefiting from the blue-collar workers that are in
cafeterias, that are in security, that are hoping to clean office buildings. Take a listen to how Wharton's Kent Smetters explained this
issue to me.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KENT SMETTERS, PROFESSOR, UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA WHARTON SCHOOL: There's no question that the U.S. economy will get smaller as you deport a
lot of the workforce if you are essentially middle class to higher income, you're going to be hurt by deportation. And the reason is, is that you
really do rely on a lot of lower skill workers to make your job easier, to make your life much more comfortable.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
EGAN: Now, unauthorized workers in the United States. They play a key role in many industries. You think about construction, restaurants and
agriculture, take a look at U.S. crop farm workers by illegal status between 2020, and 2022 a plurality, 42 percent of the farm workers in the
United States were unauthorized immigrants, surpassing those who are U.S. citizens, also outnumbering those who are authorized immigrants.
Now the White House is pushing back, saying that this analysis, it misses the forest for the trees, because it doesn't take into account a lot of the
different costs associated with illegal immigration, including potentially higher crime and a greater burden on the health care system.
But Becky, I would just note that a lot of the economists that I talked to, they share these concerns about what this immigration crackdown is going to
do, especially because the United States, like a lot of other major economies, has an aging population. They fear that these deportations are
going to make it harder and harder for businesses to find the workers they need. Back to you.
ANDERSON: Good to have you sir. As we've just heard, the Penn Wharton analysis says spending on mass deportations is going to contribute to
higher deficits down the road. Let's get a better picture of what this money is being used for. I want to take you to Venezuela CNN's Stefano
Pozzebon, spoke with a man who was deported from the U.S. to a notorious mega prison in El Salvador. Here is his story.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
STEFANO POZZEBON, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): A homecoming fit for a star Jerce Reyes left Venezuela last year alone, and this is how he
returned. Welcome back after being deported from the United States and spending four months in El Salvador's notorious prison.
He was returned last week with 251 other Venezuelan migrants in exchange for 10 U.S. Nationals and permanent residents, plus dozens of political
prisoners held in Venezuela. Reyes told CNN that his stay in the prison was agony.
JERCE REYES, VENEZUELAN NATIONAL, DEPORTED FROM U.S. TO EL SALVADOR: After they shaved our heads, we had to walk about 100 feet, crouching like this.
They beat us when we got to the cells, people were screaming. There was blood on the floor, vomit. Then the director spoke and said, welcome to the
center for the confinement of terrorism. Welcome to hell on Earth.
POZZEBON (voice-over): On one occasion, he claims he was sent to solitary confinement for hours as a punishment because he tried to shower outside
the allocated time. At times, he says he contemplated suicide.
[09:25:00]
The Salvadoran government denies these allegations, saying it respects the human rights of those in custody. Quote, without distinction of
nationality. A former professional soccer player Reyes crossed the U.S. southern border last September for an appointment with migration
authorities.
He was accused of being a gang member and immediately detained by immigration and customs enforcement. In December, he applied for asylum
site in Venezuela's economic crisis, but in March, U.S. Homeland Security accused him of belonging to the infamous gang Tran De Aragua, an assessment
DHS confirmed to CNN in a statement then and reiterated Thursday. Reyes says this is a misunderstanding.
POZZEBON: This is the incriminating tattoo he's saying that it represents his favorite soccer club, the Real Madrid, from Madrid in Spain. A crown
and a soccer ball, and he's saying that that's why he spent four months in a maximum-security prison.
POZZEBON (voice-over): His tattoo artist told us he in team in 2018 when Tren de Aragua was barely known inside Venezuela, let alone abroad. CNN
verified, Reyes has no criminal record in his own country.
POZZEBON: What is your message for President Trump?
REYES: As the Bible says, do not judge by appearances, but by justice.
POZZEBON (voice-over): This week, Venezuela opened an investigation into several Salvadoran officials, including President Nayib Bukele for the
alleged abuses at the prison. Reyes says that he won't be leaving this place anytime soon, simply glad to be back on the field. Stefano Pozzebon,
CNN.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ANDERSON: Still to come, Donald Trump is fed up with the Chair of the U.S. Federal Reserve. The feud spilling out in front of cameras, but the
president stopped short of saying that he would fire Jerome Powell.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[09:30:00]
ANDERSON: All right, it's Friday, end of the week. One more session on Wall Street and accelerant today, members of staff from accelerant ringing in
the last day of the trading week in New York, the picture there on the futures market, at least indicating a very mixed open.
We've got the DOW Jones up about an eighth of 1 percent heading for about a -- there you go 20 percent rise, and it's ticking a little bit higher. But
the indication, certainly from the futures markets, was that, investors perhaps just taking a pause at this point back end of this week to consider
a slew of news on tariff trade, tech earnings, AI news out of the U.S., of course, data this week.
And of course, what was a difficult moment Thursday for the Fed Chairman Jerome Powell. He has a difficult relationship, of course, with the U.S.
President. That is no secret. It's no secret that Mr. Trump and the Fed Chairman Jerome Powell don't see eye to eye.
Well, yesterday, they inspected the ongoing renovations at the Central Bank building. Mr. Trump claimed the budget for the work had gone up to $3.1
billion hundreds of millions more than the Fed had said that it would originally cost. Well, listen to what was an awkward exchange, Thursday.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: It just came out.
JEROME POWELL, FEDERAL RESERVE CHAIRMAN: I haven't heard that from anybody.
TRUMP: Just came from us.
POWELL: Yes, I don't know who does that.
TRUMP: 3.1?
POWELL: 31. Or 3.2 -- from us?
TRUMP: Yes. I don't know who does that.
POWELL: You're including the Martin renovation. You just had --
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: -- our entire capital.
POWELL: You just that you just added in the third building.
TRUMP: It's a building that's being built.
POWELL: It was built five years ago. We finished Martin five years ago.
TRUMP: Was part of the overall work.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON: President's tone at the very end of the visit was actually quite different, backing away from threats to fire Powell, at least for now, and
insisting there was no tension between the two of them.
Well, I'm joined now by a good friend of the show, Mohamed El-Erian, who is the Chief Economic Advisor at Allianz and President of Queen's College at
Cambridge University, or certainly has been. It's good to have you, sir. Thank you for joining us.
It has been a big week for traders, investors in U.S. assets, and they have, of course, been keeping a keen eye on the sort of developments of
this relationship between the U.S. President and the Fed Chair.
And I have to say, I have read a lot of comments from people who found that moment, the first moment that we showed there, that very awkward moment
between the two. Quite remarkable. This is the U.S. President and the Chairman of the Federal Reserve, clearly at odds with each other in a very
public setting. What did you make of that?
MOHAMED EL-ERIAN, CHIEF ECONOMIC ADVISOR, ALLIANZ: It's difficult to interpret Becky, because there are two possible interpretations, and you
would need to get into the head of the president to figure out which is the correct one.
One is that this was an escalation. The chair contradicted the president on TV, and that the president is engaged in what Steve Bannon calls flood the
zone approach, where he's looking for different parts to criticize, not just Chair Powell, but the Fed.
The other interpretation is a truce, because, as you said at the end of the meeting, the president said that there is no tension, that he won't fire
Chair Powell, and that he thinks that Chair Powell will do the right thing, which is, of course, cut interest rates. So, it is a very difficult thing
to interpret. I am more in the camp of there is inherent tensions, and we will see widening attacks on the Fed.
ANDERSON: You said earlier this week that Powell must quit to save the Fed. Why did you say that?
EL-ERIAN: Should step down. And let me explain why. The most important thing for a lot of us is maintaining the independence of the Federal
Reserve. That is critical to good economic outcomes. In a perfect world, the Fed would not be under political attacks, but we're not in a perfect
world.
[09:35:00]
We deep in a world of second best, where every day we're seeing not just attack widen, but more people get involved in attacking the Fed. We had --
we had the Speaker of the House, Johnson attacking Chair Powell this week. So, if we continue on this road, then we could create permanent damage to
the independence of the Central Bank.
The alternative is to try to de-escalate all this by Chair Powell stepping down just a few months before he becomes a lame duck. We're talking about
two to three months. It's not May when he steps down officially, it's when the new chair is announced, when he becomes a lame duck in terms of forward
policy guidance. Is it a good thing?
No, of course not. It's going to be interpreted as him being pushed out. But the cost of that is much less to the institution then something that
fundamentally erodes the credibility, the reputation and the independence of a critical Central Bank.
ANDERSON: And I wanted to give you the opportunity to really, sort of, you know, put your argument out there, because I think -- you know it's very --
be very quick to just say, you said X, and I'm glad that we've given you an opportunity to frame that, because this is an independent central bank, of
course.
President Trump, you know, urging putting a lot of pressure on Powell to lower interest rates. I mean, he genuinely seems to believe that that is
the right thing to do for the U.S. economy, but this Chairman of an independent Central Bank has said that inflation may creep higher because
of Trump's trade policy.
And the Fed believes that it is prudent at least, to keep rates steady for the time being. And as you rightly point out, there are -- it's some months
before Powell should step down, and there are, you know, a significant number of rate decisions to be made in that period. So, I do understand
your argument.
I also think you know there are those who would provide a counter argument about the independence of the Central Bank, which is also a very important
one. President Trump on his way to the United Kingdom right now, he's set to meet the Prime Minister Keir Starmer there on Monday. This isn't a state
trip.
This is actually a trip for Donald Trump, as I understand it, to see some of his golf courses. Where does the UK and U.S. trade deal stand at
present? I'm really interested, given that we have these ongoing talks between the U.S. and the EU at present, which are yet sort of undefined or
lacking in detail.
EL-ERIAN: So, the expectation is that the deal with the EU, when it materializes, will be at a higher tariff level than what the UK has
negotiated. The UK so far has done very well relative to other countries with a relatively low tariff rate.
The problem for the UK, and I think that's why the prime minister is keen to talk to the president, is that this week, the president has specified a
band of 20 percent to 50 percent for tariffs, suggesting that 20 percent is the minimum. Now, the UK has a lower rate than 20 percent. So, I suspect
the prime minister is very keen on getting an agreement that the UK will stay below that 20 percent lower band.
ANDERSON: Mohamed, I think I've got about sort of 90 seconds left. We're halfway through the year. We face another Trump imposed deadline on
countries around the world to kind of -- you know -- you know, get in line, as far as he is concerned, on trade, or they face significant tariffs.
Again, that's August the 1st. What's your -- what's your outlook for the second part of the year?
EL-ERIAN: So, I think the markets will continue to make a huge difference between the sovereign side, which is really complicated, as we discussed,
and the corporate side, particularly tech, which is full of innovation, full of funding, full of strong balance sheet, and we will see that
differentiation continue.
Of course, it cannot continue forever, but the corporate side looks so strong right now that most investors are willing to ignore the very
difficult sovereign side.
ANDERSON: You always behave as far as timing is concerned for me, sir. We are just waiting on some comments from Donald Trump as he as get set to
leave for Scotland, and I very much appreciate your time today and keeping to time today.
[09:40:00]
Because here is Donald Trump. He's just spoken to reporters. Stand by. Thank you. Mohamed.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (Inaudible).
TRUMP: Those young people. They just had too much winning, too much winning, sir, they know it, and it is a lot of winning. We had the best six
months ever. We're now heading to Scotland. I'm meeting with the Prime Minister of UK. Some of you are going, I guess, and a lot of you aren't.
Are you going? Well, you got to get moving.
That's a good one. That's going to be a good one. So, we have great numbers. We just announced, I don't have to go over it, because you've seen
them, but we have great economic numbers. The deal with Japan is amazing. You give us 550 billion, and we have totally open access into Japan.
Those numbers are great. I mean, the kids actually just said very, very cute. Actually, I walked up, they said, sir, there's too much winning. They
picked up on a little routine. You know, go ahead.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (Inaudible).
TRUMP: Yeah. That's DOJ going against New York, but we're going against a lot of other places too. We want to bring safety to our cities, but that's
a pretty -- that's going to be a pretty routine filing with other cities too. As you know, we've started numerous lawsuits with other cities. We
want to bring safety. We've got to get the criminals out, and we're doing it in record numbers.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (Inaudible).
TRUMP: Gaza, they pulled out of Gaza. They pulled out in terms of negotiating. It was too bad Hamas. Hamas didn't really want to make a deal.
I think they want to die. And it's very, very bad. And it got -- it got to be to a point where you're going to have to finish the job. They really,
they asked for things.
Don't forget, we got a lot of hostages out. So now we're down to the final hostages, and they know what happens after you get the final hostages. And
basically, because of that, they really didn't want to make a deal. I saw that, so they pulled out, and they're going to have to fight, and they're
going to have to clean it up.
(CROSSTALK)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (Inaudible).
TRUMP: Well, I don't know about the meeting. I know it's taking place, and he's a fantastic man. He's a great attorney. And people should really focus
on how well the country is doing, or they should focus on the fact that Barack Hussein Obama led a coup, or they should focus on the fact that
Larry Summers from Harvard, that Bill Clinton, who you know very well, and lots of other friends, really close friends, of Jeffrey Summers, should be
spoken about because, you know, Jeffrey Epstein should be spoken about and they should speak about them, because they don't talk about them. They talk
about me. I have nothing to do with the guy.
(CROSSTALK)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (Inaudible).
TRUMP: Yeah, I'm going to meet with the Prime Minister right now. We're going to be over there and about six hours; we're meeting with the Prime
Minister tonight. We're going to be talking about the trade deal that we made, and maybe even approve it.
(CROSSTALK)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (Inaudible).
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Right outside the gates of the White House. Are you concerned about?
TRUMP: I think it's terrible. And we'll have them removed immediately. We do remove it. We've got to get the mayor to run this city properly, this
city has to be run. You know, I have the right to take it over, and I think it's there. But where are they? Where did you see them?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Right outside on Pennsylvania --
TRUMP: Near the Treasury?
(CROSSTALK)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (Inaudible).
TRUMP: Well, I don't want to talk about that. What I do want to say is that Todd is a great Attorney, but you ought to be speaking about Larry Summers.
You ought to be speaking about some of his friends that are hedge fund guys. They're all over the place. You ought to be speaking about Bill
Clinton, who went to the island 28 times. I never went to the island.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (Inaudible).
TRUMP: I don't even know what they're talking about. Now, somebody could have written a letter and used my name, but that's happened a lot. All you
have to do is take a look at the dossier, the fake dossier. Everything's fake with that administration. Everything's fake with the Democrats. Take a
look at what they just found about the dossier. Everything is fake. They're a bunch of sick people. Where did you see the people laying outside?
[09:45:00]
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (Inaudible).
TRUMP: We'll take care.
(CROSSTALK)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (Inaudible).
TRUMP: Well, we got a lot of them out. And it's always, I've always said those last 10 or 20 are going to be the toughest, because Hamas knows what
happens when they don't have any bargaining chips and they really broke a deal. They broke a deal, and you're going to have to do what you have to do
right now. It's a terrible thing, and I always do that. I said, when you get down to the last one, they're not going to be able to make a deal.
(CROSSTALK)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Would you consider a pardon or a commutation for Ghislane Maxwell?
TRUMP: It's something I haven't thought about.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Are you recommended to --
TRUMP: I'm allowed to do it, but it's something I have not thought about.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (Inaudible).
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Why has the dollar, why has the dollar fallen so much? And are you concerned about that?
TRUMP: Well, you know, I'm the person that likes a strong dollar, but a weak dollar makes you a hell of a lot more money. Hate to tell you, I don't
know if you study it, but I study it. And if you look in the Yen --
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (Inaudible).
TRUMP: You understand.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Absolutely.
TRUMP: Oh, you did go to that.
(CROSSTALK)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (Inaudible).
TRUMP: That means you're a smarter guy than I even thought. And I know you're smart. So, when we have a strong dollar, one thing happens, it
sounds good. But you don't do any tourism. You can't sell tractors, you can't sell trucks, you can't sell anything. It is good for inflation,
that's about it.
And we have no inflation. We wiped out inflation. But it's an interesting question. So, I will never say I like a low currency. But you remember the
battles I had with the one with China and with Japan, Japan being the Yen, they always wanted a weak currency. They're trying to get a weak currency
now.
Now it doesn't sound good, but you make a hell of a lot more money with a weaker dollar, not a weak dollar, but a weaker dollar, than you do with a
strong dollar. And the first thing people that are going to notice it are the manufacturers of trucks and various other things.
Like, look at Caterpillar, how well they're doing now? When you have a strong dollar, you can't sell anything. It's only good for inflation, and
it's good psychologically. It makes you feel good. But with that being said, I love strong dollars, but you make your money with a currency.
And I had so many different fights with President Xi with, I mean, with between Japan and China, all they want to do is have a weak currency.
They're always fighting for a weak currency, and that's how they really dominated over the years. So, when I see it down there, I don't lose sleep
over it. Let's put it that way. In fact, sometimes they go to sleep very happy. Do you understand? Do you agree with me?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I agree with a lot of what you said, Mr. President. You think it makes it any easier to impose your tariffs with that lower dollar?
Because the --
TRUMP: I think it makes it easier even for tariffs, yes. And it makes the tariffs worth much more. And it's easier to pay off debt. And it's easier
to get a low interest rate. There are a lot of good things. It's hard to explain to people the headline, we, oh, Trump wants a weak dollar, not a
weak dollar.
We -- you take a look at the history of China over the last 20 years. All they do is fight for a weak currency. Look at Japan when they were really
doing well, they had a very weak currency. So, to me, I just say thank you very much. It is --
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Mr. President what's your comments on --
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (Inaudible).
TRUMP: Well, the Gaza situation, and I said this was going to happen when you get down to your last 10 or 20. We got a lot of hostages out. We took
them out in numbers that nobody believed a lot of them. And I said, when you get down to 10 or 20, I don't think Hamas is going to make a deal,
because that means they have no protection. And basically, that's what happened. Hamas didn't want to make a deal.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (Inaudible).
TRUMP: I think -- I think what's going to happen is they're going to be hunted down.
(CROSSTALK)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: -- secondary sanctions sooner on, Russia, are you closer today to secondary sanction?
TRUMP: We're looking at that whole situation, it could be that we'll have to put secondary sanctions.
(CROSSTALK)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: -- said me --
TRUMP: May be yeah.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (Inaudible)
(CROSSTALK)
TRUMP: Who you are with? Who you are with?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (Inaudible). For France to say that they would recognize the Palestinian state, Macron said that.
TRUMP: Look, he's a different kind of a guy. He's OK. He's a team player, pretty much. But here's the good news. What he says doesn't matter.
(CROSSTALK)
TRUMP: Exactly you're saying it.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (Inaudible).
TRUMP: Well, he made a statement France Macron.
[09:50:00]
His statement doesn't carry any weight. He's a very good guy. I like him, but that statement doesn't carry weight.
(CROSSTALK)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Trade deal with the EU?
TRUMP: I would say that we have a 50-50 chance, maybe less than that. But a 50-50 chance of making a deal with the EU. And it will be a deal where they
have to buy down their tariffs, because they're right now at 30 percent and they'll have to buy them down maybe, or they could lead them the way they
are.
But they want to make a deal very badly. I would have said, we have a 25 percent chance with Japan. And they kept coming back, and we made a deal.
And the deal is, don't forget, Japan is putting up $550 billion it's a lot of money.
And also paying tariffs, the biggest part of the Japan deal. And maybe we get this with EU, maybe we don't -- is that we have the right to go in and
trade. We have the right. They've totally opened Japan to the just to the U.S. That's, to me, the biggest part of the deal.
(CROSSTALK)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Will --
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You said repeatedly you would like to see further nuclear arms reductions between the United States and Russia.
TRUMP: I like to do that.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: -- treaty is expiring in about six months, and it cannot illegally stand.
TRUMP: That's a problem. That's a problem for the world. It's a problem for the world. You know, we have restrictions, and they have restrictions, as
you know, on nuclear that's not an agreement you want expiring. We're starting to work on that. But that is a that is a big problem for the
world. When you take off nuclear restrictions, that's a big problem.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (Inaudible).
TRUMP: I think that Jerome Powell -- I think we had a very good meeting, forgetting about the building. That's out of control, but I think we had a
very good meeting on interest rates. And he said to me, now I don't know if he's going to say this on Thursday or Wednesday.
But he said to me very strongly, the country is doing well. He said, congratulations. The country is doing really well. And I got that to mean
that I think he's going to start recommending lower rates.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Because of that conversation --
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (Inaudible).
TRUMP: The country is really doing well.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Mr. President, how do you think that --
TRUMP: Record this.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Did you speak to Netanyahu?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Thank you, Mr. President. How do you think that the Supreme Court ruling that benefited you on presidential immunity would
apply to Former President Barack Obama and what you're accusing him of doing.
TRUMP: It probably helps him a lot. Probably helps him a lot the immunity ruling. But it doesn't help the people around him at all. But it probably
helps him a lot. He's done criminal acts, there's no question about it, but he has immunity, and it probably helped him a lot.
(CROSSTALK)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (Inaudible).
TRUMP: Obama owes me big.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What are the details in the UK trade agreement you're hoping to find soon with the Prime Minister?
TRUMP: We want to talk about certain aspects which is going to be good for both countries. More fine tuning, and also, we're going to do a little
celebrating together, because -- you know we got along very well. UK has been trying to make a deal with us for like, 12 years, and haven't been
able to do it.
We got it done. He's doing a very good job. Good Prime Minister, good guy. We really get along very well. So, we're going to see -- we're going to
meet at Turnberry and we're going to meet at Aberdeen. So, two beautiful places.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (Inaudible) -- digital purposes, tax. Is there any wiggle room on steel and aluminum in exchange for any budget?
TRUMP: Not a lot. Because if I do it for one, I have to do it for all. So, on that steel and aluminum, not a lot.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: -- Netanyahu that --
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You go ahead.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Mr. President, you speak to Netanyahu about allowing aid drops in Gaza from Arab countries.
TRUMP: I speak to him, but I can't tell you what I spoke to him about. But it was sort of disappointing, although I told you, I mean, I told you -- I
told you, when you get down to those last 20 hostages. You get down to that last 10 or 20, it's going to be very hard for Hamas to make a deal, because
they lose their shield, they lose their cover.
We got a lot of them out, a lot of them. We took a lot of bodies out too. You know, so many of the parents said, please get my son's body back. And
we're able to do that. We got a lot of people out live, and people that are not alive, but it was very important to the parents to get their son back,
even though they knew their son was dead.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (Inaudible).
TRUMP: I think they will do that. Turnberry is great, it has the number one course in the world. I think they'll do that.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: President, are you going to talk to anybody?
TRUMP: No, I'm not going to -- it's not about that. I'm going to see it for the first time in years. You were there the last time we went. That's
pretty good, right?
[09:55:00]
No, it's the best resort in the world, I think, at Turnberry, and it's one of the greatest courses in the world. We're going to see it. We're going to
have, I believe, dinner at Turnberry with the Prime Minister. Then we're going to go to the oil capital of Europe, which is Aberdeen, and we're
going to have lunches there. We're going to have a good time. I think the prime minister and I get along very well.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You're going to see the Scottish leader too, right?
TRUMP: I am. I am.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What's that about?
TRUMP: Well, we have a lot of things in Scotland. I have a lot of love. My brother was born in Scotland, and he's a good man. The Scottish Leader is a
good man, so I look forward to meeting him. That's all set up, right?
(CROSSTALK)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (Inaudible) -- exactly one week from today, August 1st. What do you expect between now and next Friday as it relates to your
deadline?
TRUMP: When you say, you say tariff, not Paris. I think it's tariffs day. Well, most of the deals are finished right now. They're finished because
we're just going to charge a certain tariff, a lower tariff that I could get. I don't want to hurt countries, but we're going to send a letter out
sometime during the week.
And it's basically going to say, you're going to pay 10 percent you're going to pay 15 percent you're going to pay maybe less, I don't know, but
Australia was great. They opened up peaks yesterday for the first time ever, and they did it. We didn't know about we asked them to do it, and all
of a sudden, we got a word that they wanted.
So obviously they're looking to do something. But Australia. So August 1st is going to come, and we will have most of our deals finished, if not all.
We haven't really had a lot of luck with Canada. I think Canada could be one where they'll just say tariffs, not really a negotiation.
We're working very diligently with Europe, the EU, which covers a lot of terms, you know, a lot of terrorists, a lot of countries, and that's the
big one right now. We have the confines of a deal with China. We haven't -- we haven't really. We don't have a deal with Canada. We haven't been
focused on it.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: When you send out those letters, do you believe that will bring some certainty to the financial markets?
TRUMP: No, no those letters -- when those letters go out, they're a page and a half. That means they have a deal. It's done. They pay that tariff,
and that is a contract, essentially. And they can come into the country. They're going to pay a tariff. I'm going to keep it minimal. I'm going to
keep it you know, I'm not looking to hurt countries.
I could -- I could do that too, but I'm not looking to do that. But when that letter goes out, that's a deal. And we'll be sending maybe close to
200 of those letters out. Don't forget, we have a lot of countries, so we're going to be sending out almost 200 of those letters.
But once those letters go out there, we have a deal. Now, we sent some to - - we sent one to Japan, we sent one to EU, and they came back and negotiated a deal. I think EU has got a pretty good chance to make it a
deal.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: With all of that revenue coming in, Mr. President --
TRUMP: A lot of money.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A lot of money.
TRUMP: Our country was a dead country. Was a dead country one year ago. Now we have the hottest country anywhere in the world. And don't you feel it?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Mr. President, with all of those revenue tens of billions of dollars. Do you think there is the possibility of a rebate to
the American public in terms of all of that money?
TRUMP: We're thinking about that actually. We have so much money coming in. We're thinking about a little rebate, but the big thing we want to do is
pay down debt. But we're thinking about a rebate that is a very good.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (Inaudible).
TRUMP: You made a lot of news. We're thinking about a rebate, because we have so much money coming in from tariffs, tariffs, that a little rebate
for people of a certain income level might be very nice.
(CROSSTALK)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (Inaudible).
TRUMP: You may a lot of people, people don't know this, and we didn't certainly get any acknowledgement or thank you, but we contributed $60
million to food and supplies and everything else. We hope the money gets there, because, you know that money gets taken, the food gets taken. We're
going to do more, but we gave a lot of money. We gave a majority of the money. And the sad part is that no other country other than us gives
anything.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (Inaudible) about running for that North Carolina.
TRUMP: I have. I think he will.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Teacher shortages --
TRUMP: Are you from North Carolina?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: My father lives there.
TRUMP: He'll be a good candidate.
END
