President Trump vows largest tax cut in the history of this country

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Trump vows largest tax cut in the history of this country

President Trump discusses his plans for tax reform on 'Hannity.'

This is a rush transcript from "Hannity," October 11, 2017. This copy may not be in its final form and may be updated.

SEAN HANNITY, FOX NEWS HOST: welcome to HANNITY. And this is a Fox News alert. And we are broadcasting tonight from the 193rd Special Operations Wing at the Air National Guard Base in Middletown Pennsylvania where earlier today President Trump, he took his message directly to you, the American people, by giving a major speech on his Reaganesque tax cuts and his tax reform plan.

Now right before that speech, the President joined us for an exclusive interview. We discussed his tax proposal, the fake news media. The NFL's National Anthem controversy. The Russia investigation and so much more.
Let's take a look.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

(APPLAUSE)

HANNITY: How are you, Mr. President?

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I'm very good, thank you, Sean.

HANNITY: My second interview since you've been president. Do you guys want to start with good news?

(APPLAUSE)

HANNITY: You don't get a lot of good news in the media.

TRUMP: You don't get so much.

HANNITY: The market is up 25 percent since you won.

(CHEERS AND APPLAUSE)

HANNITY: You tweeted this out that nobody in the media brings it up so I said, you know, what, I am going to bring it up tonight. $5.2 trillion in wealth created. We have the lowest unemployment rate in 16 years. We have the best labor participation rate in seven years and the best -- the lowest number of people on food stamps in seven years.

TRUMP: That's right. So, really well, I am loving it. I'm doing the job for the people. And people are seeing that. And I'm so proud of the $5.2 trillion of increase in the stock market. Now if you look at the stock market, that's one element but then we have many other elements. The country, we took it over at 20 trillion. As you know, the last eight years they borrowed more than it did in the whole history of our country.

So they borrowed more than $10 trillion. Right? And yet, we picked up $5.2 trillion just in the stock market. Possibly picked up the whole thing in terms of the first nine months. In terms of value. So, you could say in one sense, we are really increasing values and may be in the sense, we are reducing debt. But we are very honored by it and we are very, very happy by what's happening on Wall Street.

HANNITY: You came back to Pennsylvania. I know you've been in Wisconsin and Michigan and Ohio and North Carolina. Because a lot of people still need opportunity and jobs.

TRUMP: You are really here.

HANNITY: We are going to be talking at length about your economic plan.

TRUMP: That's right.

HANNITY: Let's talk about it.

TRUMP: Thanks.

HANNITY: Well, first of all, it's a massive tax cut. And, you know, it's reform but it's a massive tax cuts.

(CHEERS AND APPLAUSE)

TRUMP: And you know, when we first introduced it, and for years they talked about tax reform. I said, the problem with the word reform, nobody understands what it means. Because reform could mean you are going to raise taxes. This is the largest tax cut in the history of our country.
It is incredible. It is going to put people to work. So right now, Sean, we are the highest taxed nation in the world.

And we are going to be now down in the lower rung in terms of taxes. A family can get and a business can get, especially a subject, you know, you are doing different kinds of things with your businesses, some people run it individually. But you can get as much as a 40 percent tax reduction. Again, it's the largest tax reduction in the history of the country.

HANNITY: Let's go through it. So, this is important. I mean, there's no two accounts that can give you the same liability to the government, as we're giving the same information. That's how complicated the tax code is. You want to drop seven brackets to three.

TRUMP: We're going to drop actually if you look at it, because we have a zero bracket. Because a lot of people pay zero. So, we really have four and they had eight. So, it's really eight down to four. We are cutting it in half. And a lot are taxed below the $12,000 mark and $24,000 mark for families. They taxed at zero. After that it goes to 12 percent from 15 percent. And you know, the Democrats told a very terrible fib.

They said that they read the brackets so that the brackets were inverted. And if you read it that way, that's not the way it goes. And we've been praised for the amount of money, the middle class, this is really what I'm looking for, for the middle class. I call it the working people. And the working people are going to get a massive tax break and corporations and companies, small companies are going to get large scale tax relief. And they will be able to compete with anybody in the world. Which is what we need.

HANNITY: You said the corporate rate, which is so important --

(CHEERS AND APPLAUSE)

HANNITY: -- you said 20 percent is your max.

TRUMP: So right now, we are at 35 percent than many corporations are paying, 40s and 42 because they have estate taxes and city taxes. And their taxes, so many different directions. Do you know what they do? They leave the country and they fire everybody and they're gone. And they never come back. Now we have companies moving back into the country. We have, you saw last week.

Auto companies are announcing that they are going to build plans back in the United States. That hasn't happened for years. And they are moving back like -- and not just because of the taxes. Tax is so important but they are seeing enthusiasm. We have the highest enthusiasm level in 28 years.

HANNITY: Consumer confidence.

TRUMP: For manufacturing for all of the different things that we've talked about. Like for business basically, it's enthusiast. Everybody is enthused about our country. So, we are very honored by it. And I am really honored by the folks in this room. And by the way, the truckers? We love the truckers.

(CHEERS AND APPLAUSE)

HANNITY: The top 10 percent pay 70 percent of the tax bill. The bottom 50 percent paid two --

TRUMP: Yes.

HANNITY: -- of the total income tax rate. Why is there multinational corporations that have trillions of dollars in countries that offer them better tax relief?

TRUMP: Yes.

HANNITY: You are trying to incentivize those trillions to come back here with a low repatriation rate. How low will that be and how much do you think you can bring back into the United States and what does it mean?

TRUMP: Okay. So right now, you have probably, and nobody knows the exact number because I actually think it's much higher than people understand. But it will probably be over $3 trillion, outside of our country. And our companies, they just can't get it back. They are trying but they can't get it back. Number one is a bureaucratic mess. Number two, the tax rate is so high. It doesn't make sense. So what they do is they invest it in Europe and other places where the money is.

And I'll tell you what they do also. They leave the country because the money becomes so much and so valuable to them that they leave the country, our country, to go and get their money. So, they leave the country and they fire everybody. Now what we are doing is we're lowering the rates so they can bring it back in. We are giving them a shot to bring all of that money, it's all going to come back in.

It is going to come back in immediately. It is going to be more than $3 trillion. Probably we're looking at a 10 percent rate. It may be around that number. Maybe a little higher. Maybe a little lower but it is going to be right around that number probably 10 percent. And right now, what it is, is 35 percent plus. Now, who is going to bring money back when you have to pay by the time you're finished almost half of your money in tax?

HANNITY: They are never going to bring it back.

TRUMP: So, we're going to have that money come back in. It is going to put people to work so fast. And the money itself is going to go to work very fast. And you know, the thing about Democrats and Republicans, for years and years, everybody has wanted to do this. You have trillions of dollars outside of our country, offshore. And the Democrats wanted it back. The Republicans wanted it back. Everybody wanted it back and they couldn't do it. They couldn't get a deal. We are going to do a deal. And we are putting it down as part of our tax cuts.

HANNITY: One of the things that people have brought up --

(CHEERS AND APPLAUSE)

Every time I tune into everybody else in the media except Fox, they are the tax cuts for the wealthy.

TRUMP: Yes.

HANNITY: Now, the rate for some people goes down but if you live in a state like New York or Illinois and New Jersey or California, you won't be able to deduct your local or state income tax. In other words, if you elect politicians that want to raise taxes, you will going to pay the penalty. So, that is not really true that this is a tax cut for the wealthy as you are portraying it. What is your answer to that?

TRUMP: Well, you know, you have some really well run states that have very little borrowing. Some have no borrowing but has very little borrowing. And it's unfair that a state that is well-run is really subsidizing states that have been horribly mismanaged. I won't use names but we understand the names. But there are some states that have hundreds of millions and billions of dollars in borrowing.

And it's unfair that those states really are being subsidized by states like Indiana and Iowa. And I mean, I could name many states. I could probably name three quarters of them. They are so well run and they are being penalized. They're being penalized. And it's not fair. And so what we are doing is, we're showing that. Now, with all of that, the tax cuts are so steep that the people in every state benefit. But it's finally time to say, hey, make sure that your politicians do a good job of running your state. Otherwise, you are not going to benefit. You know, if you look at a place like Florida, it's really well run by Rick Scott.

HANNITY: Rick Scott.

TRUMP: And you know, by Governor Scott, he has done a great job. And so many people have done a great job. And those are the people that frankly should -- the people that had the intelligence to elect them should really benefit. And that's what we are doing. We are creating an incentive. And the bottom-line though, look, the tax cut is massive. We are bringing it down to 20 percent. We're bringing it down to 12 percent. For individuals.

We are bringing it down to zero in some cases. If it's a family it's below $24,000, anything below 24,000 is zero. And look, as I just said, it is the biggest tax cut in the history of our country. And it's going to spur growth and it's going to keep our companies here. Our companies are leaving because the taxes are so high.

HANNITY: But you're also, a big part of it, you've already done. And that is, you've ended a lot of the Obama era regulations. Especially in industries like energy and coal.

TRUMP: Right.

HANNITY: There seems to be, you have a very strong commitment, you just recently went forward with Anwar, you put in place opportunities for the coal mining industry.

TRUMP: Right.

HANNITY: Fracking. We do have an opportunity to be energy independent. And there seems to be millions of high paying career jobs for people available if that decision is made. How big a part is that for the economic recovery?

TRUMP: Well, I have done so much and Scott Pruitt, who is the EPA has done incredibly. You saw yesterday at a news conference on coal. And his whole concept was 'Coal is Back.' It's back. And the miners are working again.

(CHEERS AND APPLAUSE)

HANNITY: Fracking in Pennsylvania?

TRUMP: This is not a bad area either --

(CHEERS AND APPLAUSE)

TRUMP: Well, as an example, mines are opening in the state of Pennsylvania. And I love the state because I happen to go to college in this state. I know it very well.

(CHEERS AND APPLAUSE)

HANNITY: You also won Pennsylvania. Right? Is he going to win Pennsylvania in 2020, too?

(CHEERS AND APPLAUSE)

TRUMP: By the way, incredible people. Incredible state. And I did win Pennsylvania. I worked hard in Pennsylvania. And frankly, I understand what Pennsylvania -- Pennsylvania is about work. These are working, these are people that want to work.

(CHEERS)

TRUMP: But we are opening mines. We are opening mines in the state of Pennsylvania. We're opening mines in other places. You know, coal is a very, and I call it lean coal. They have technology today that is so incredible, what they can do with the piece of coal is so incredible. I call it lean coal. But one of our great resources. One thing that I am very proud of, the state of West Virginia.

Last month, it was one of the highest percentage increases in GDP, the state of Texas beat it. And people are saying, wait a minute, West Virginia just came in second. Do you know what that is about? That is about cutting regulations and letting the people go and mine. And I was so proud of that because West Virginia has had very tough times. And you know, they were overwhelmingly for me.

HANNITY: Yes.

TRUMP: Hillary Clinton said she wanted to close up industries, and she wants to close up the coal industry. And I am the opposite. So, I'm very proud of that. And Pennsylvania, likewise.

(CHEERS AND APPLAUSE)

HANNITY: The biggest obstacle before you arrived here, I had an opportunity to interview a lot of people in this great crowd. And I asked them basically three different questions. What they thought of you.
Overwhelmingly, there is a lot of support for you here. Congress --

(CHEERS AND APPLAUSE)

HANNITY: -- when I asked them about, what was your answer on Congress?

(CROWD BOOING)

HANNITY: What was your answer on the media?

(CROWD BOOING)

HANNITY: We saw what happened with health care in John McCain. This economic plan sounds a lot to me like what Reagan did and that created 20 million new jobs and revenues doubled. This is important for your agenda.

TRUMP: Yes.

HANNITY: How do you get this through the Senate, which does not have a good record in the last 10 months?

TRUMP: Well, first of all, this will be an even bigger tax cut than the great Reagan cuts. This will be even more dramatic and I think it will create even more incentive. But let's talk. Media is bad. They are really dishonest people. These are very, very dishonest people in many cases, in many cases. And not all. Look, I know some reporters, I know some journalists that are phenomenal people, very straight, very honest.

But there's such dishonesty. I mean, you know, it's interesting. If I was just watching television, you don't know whether or not because, you know, you're just watching a report. But when you're the one being written about, you know if it's good or bad and it's always, they try and make it negative. So, the media -- I call it fake media. It is fake. It is so much fake news. And we have to understand --

HANNITY: Do you agree with that? Fake news?

(CHEERS AND APPLAUSE)

TRUMP: You know, and I only say it, so when people read things, they can understand that so much of it is indeed fake. But with Congress. I've got to know a lot of them. There are a lot of good people. Don't forget, for health care, we had 48 votes. Forty nine votes. We had a lot of great Republicans. We need more Republican senators to be honest with you. But we had a lot of great --

(CROWD BOOING)

TRUMP: By the way, Lou Barletta, Lou Barletta, great guy, he's running, he was incredible for Congress Congress. And I think you are going to have a tremendous surge for Lou Barletta. I think he's going to do a fantastic job.

(CHEERS AND APPLAUSE)

And we do need more Republican senators because we have a tiny, small, we have 52 to 48. Out of a couple people, want to grandstand or whatever they want to do, all of a sudden. Because when you have to get almost every single vote, you need 51. You have to get at least 50 because the Vice President Mike Pence. Great guy, right? Great.

(CHEERS AND APPLAUSE)

He comes out -- so we need 50. So, that means out of all of these people, two people decide they want to do something for whatever reason. In some cases it is, it's grandstanding. Now, all of a sudden, you don't have health care. But we are going to get it anyway. We have it. We have the numbers now. We're going to get that. And tomorrow, I am signing something that's going to be incredible but I can do it myself.

HANNITY: In 1974, there was, go ahead.

TRUMP: This has to do with -- we are going to have great health care across state lines. People can -- it will cost the government nothing. You will go out. Private insurers are going to give you incredible health care. And I tell you what, this will take and I can sign it myself, I don't need anybody. I would have done it earlier except I was hoping that they were going to put this through and I would have it in the bill.

HANNITY: Right.

TRUMP: But we are signing tomorrow a health care package that will cover -- I don't know -- some people say 30 percent, people say, 25 percent and some people say, it could be 50 percent. It is going to cover a large percentage of the people that we're talking about.

HANNITY: Truckers would benefit if they unite.

TRUMP: Truckers are perfect for this.

HANNITY: Right.

TRUMP: They unite.

HANNITY: Right.

TRUMP: Truckers will benefit. But this will be fantastic. Now, I would have done this immediately but we were hoping for the health care. So, I think health care is going to pass. I can't imagine the largest tax cut for people in our history not passing. But I have to say this, I met some great, great people that are Republicans. And I've met some great people frankly -- I've met some good people, not necessarily great people but are Democrats.

(LAUGHTER)

TRUMP: And I actually think we will have Democratic support from a few people.

HANNITY: You do?

TRUMP: I do. I do believe that we will have some Democrats, we will get a few votes may be. You know, it's interesting. One thing with the Democrats, they stay together like glue. They are lousy politicians and their policies are terrible but they do stick together. We have great policies. But the Republicans tend not to be as unified.

HANNITY: With some people, you saw and heard Bob Corker.

TRUMP: Yes.

HANNITY: John McCain wasn't there. Even though I can --

(CROWD BOOING)

HANNITY: I can run 100 ads show in John McCain, I'm going to repeal and replace ObamaCare. He wouldn't even vote, just repeal it.

TRUMP: Yes. I know.

HANNITY: So, that's got to be frustrating and disappointing.

TRUMP: Well, we thought we had it. The first time, we thought it was done. And we thought John was with us. And all of a sudden out of nowhere, he voted against. So, he ends up losing by one vote. But here's the thing, we are going to get it. And, you know, I always say never give up, never, ever quit. We don't quit. We are there. We're one vote short.

(CHEERS AND APPLAUSE)

I actually think right now, we have the vote. But we have to wait. We have to wait for a little while. We are going to do the taxes first. Hopefully we get that. We need 51 votes.

HANNITY: Can you get it done by the end of the year?

TRUMP: I hope so. I mean, who is going to vote against this? Our country is losing business. Losing jobs. We have a one percent GDP. Now I have to tell you. For the last quarter, you had three percent.

HANNITY: Three-two.

TRUMP: And actually three-two. They just ended up with. What a nice sound that is? Are they playing that for you or for me? They are playing that in honor of his ratings. Did you see how good his ratings are?

(CHEERS)

TRUMP: He's beating everybody.

HANNITY: I think they will be higher tonight. I'm just guessing.

TRUMP: So, the fact is that, we are really rocking. We have 3.2. Now, this next quarter coming up, I believe would have even be better, you know we haven't hit threes in a long time. So, I guess, it was ultimately determined it was 3.2 because they were just upward but we got hit with a few hurricanes as you probably have. That will have I assume an impact.

HANNITY: Right. Barack Obama was the first president in history that never hit three percent GDP growth in a single year of his presidency which I think speaks volumes.

TRUMP: Well, you know, when I took over, we were in the ones. And if we hit, think of this, if we hit just one point, if we go up from two to three, we pick up $2.5 trillion.

HANNITY: For the treasury.

TRUMP: 2.5 trillion and we pick up millions of jobs.

HANNITY: Yes.

(CHEERS AND APPLAUSE)

TRUMP: So, it pays for the whole thing.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HANNITY: And coming up, more of my exclusive interview with President Trump. Now, he will weigh in on the NFL kneeling controversy. He will explain what he thinks the league should have done with Colin Kaepernick. And that and more is straight ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HANNITY: And welcome back to HANNITY. Now, earlier today, I interviewed President Trump at the 193rd Special Operations Wing at the Air National Guard Base in Middletown, Pennsylvania. Now, here's part two of that exclusive interview. Take a look.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HANNITY: A lot of people, I was surprised watching all last year with Colin Kaepernick. The guy praised a murdering thug dictator. He had socks that depicted cops as pigs. And other issues, he actually donated to a charity that actually supported a cop killer. And then we saw the NFL. And you took it on it appears based on the letter that Roger Goodell put out yesterday that Donald Trump initiated a debate over standing for the flag and our anthem and those that people fought, bled, died. And it looks like you won.

(CHEERS AND APPLAUSE)

TRUMP: So, I watched Colin Kaepernick. And I thought it was terrible. And then I got bigger and bigger and started mushrooming and frankly, the NFL should have suspended him for one game. And he would have never done it again. They could have suspended him for two games.

(CHEERS AND APPLAUSE)

And they could have suspended them if he did it a third time for the season. And you would never have had a problem. But I will tell you, you cannot disrespect our country, our flag, our anthem. You cannot do that.

(CHEERS AND APPLAUSE)

HANNITY: Obviously the people of the country are with you. Hundreds of thousands of people fought, bled, hundreds of thousands died fighting under that flag.

TRUMP: Right.

HANNITY: When you look at the Obama years, Chicago, one city, his adopted home town, 3,900 people were murdered.

TRUMP: Yes.

HANNITY: In the last six years of Obama's presidency, 18,000 shootings. I don't think he mentioned it about three or four times.

TRUMP: Yes. It's hard to believe.

HANNITY: And his economic policies hurt black Americans and Hispanic Americans more. How will your policies help minorities that are still struggling?

TRUMP: Well, first of all, minorities want police protection more than anybody. They need it more than anybody. What's going on is crazy. And you look at some of these inner cities where it's just out of control. And remember, I was saying things like, we will, you know, what you have to lose? We will fix it. We're going to fix it. But one of the things we're doing very strongly now is the inner cities. Now, Chicago is out of control.

I don't know what they are doing in Chicago to have this many shootings and this many killings and all of the different things that are going on. This is not like it's the United States of America. And pure and simple, that's bad management. That s bad politics. It's incredible. And then you talk to them, why are you doing stuff? They don't even want to talk to you about it.

It's really insulting to our nation. And whether you take on the NFL or you take on Chicago, and some of our other cities, there should be murders like this. And you know, we have incredible police in this country. They could stop it. If they were allowed to do their jobs. They could stop it.

(CHEERS AND APPLAUSE)

HANNITY: Thank you. Sean, in many cases, the police are not allowed to do their jobs. They have to be politically correct. We're talking about lives and wonderful people. And they have to be allowed to do their job. And you will see it stopped. I will never forget, I was in Chicago. And a police officer said there was a motorcycle deal to the plane, I was talking to the police, I was taking a picture. I said, how do you stop this? We could stop it immediately, sir. I said, what do you mean we could stop it? If they would let us do our job, we could stop it immediately. Now, at some point you will have to let them do their job. And they want to do their job. That's the incredible thing. We did it on the border. The border was like a sieve. Now it's down 78 percent.

(CHEERS AND APPLAUSE)

And that's without the wall. Wait until you see what happens when we build the wall.

(CHEERS AND APPLAUSE)

TRUMP: But General Kelly has done an incredible job. These are people they know how to do it but they have to be allowed to do it. Look at the difference.

HANNITY: Rudy Giuliani in New York.

TRUMP: Rudy did a fantastic job in New York. And that's an example. And Rudy was on our campaign and when Rudy endorsed me, to me, that was a very important endorsement because he did a great job especially with respect, well, you could also say economic development. But especially with respect to crime in New York City.

HANNITY: We watched a lot of high-profile incidents during the Obama years. Ferguson, Trayvon Martin down in Florida. Freddie Gray. He said the Cambridge police acted stupidly. It seems every two or four years, and I've been now 30 years in radio. I just started my 23rd year at Fox. That every two or four years -- thank you.

(CHEERS AND APPLAUSE)

TRUMP: Good job.

HANNITY: Every two or four years, the Democrats will play the race card. And I resent it as a conservative. Because they will say, oh, the policies, they are racist, sexist, homophobic, xenophobic, Islamophobic. And meanwhile, their policies have not helped the minority communities in America. Is there a way from the federal government's perspective that you can bring economic opportunity and safety?

TRUMP: Totally. I mean, look, and that's what we've said. You look at what is happening in our inner cities. It's horrible what is going on in terms of the death, in terms of shooting. A woman gets up and she wants to go on a walk with her beautiful daughter. Get a loaf of bread and she ends up getting shot or the daughter gets shot. And we can stop it. Don't forget, the Democrats have ruled the inner cities for 100 years.

This is their rule. Very rarely do have a Republican. But this is their rule. That can be turned around. We can do so many things. But the Democrats have truly ruled. And when I was running, I would always say what you have to lose? I remember, this came up out of nowhere. I am reading the statistics of a certain inner city which were terrible. Education is terrible. Crime rate is terrible.

Every single element, economic development. Jobs, everybody was unemployed. And I said, I'm reading it. And I'm saying, and I look at the audience and say, what the hell do you have to lose? The place went crazy. And then I'd actually use it, again and again and we went up. And we are doing a good job. Ben Carson is doing a great job at HUD. He's got a great heart.

(CHEERS AND APPLAUSE)

But the Democrats ruled the inner cities. And when I say, what do you have to lose, it's so bad that really the Republicans should be starting to do very well. But we are doing a good job and we are stopping a lot of the crime.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HANNITY: And coming up, more of our exclusive interview with President Trump. We will ask them about North Korea and their aggression. And what he plans to do with the Iranian nuclear deal. And much more, straight ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HANNITY: Welcome back to 'Hannity.' Here's more of my exclusive interview with President Trump. I asked him about the North Korean threat and Iranian nuclear deal and it so much more. Take a look.

(BEGIN VIDEO)

HANNITY: There is a lot of coverage or your praise, they would reported in the media. The calm before the storm. It seemed related to rocket man. His term. Kim Jong-un. In terms of him having ICBM capability, nuclear capability, firing missiles over Japan, our ally. Threatening Guam and potentially may be being able to reach the United States, with a nuclear weapon. At some point, this is going to come to a head.

TRUMP: We can't let this to go on. You can say what you want. That should have been handled 25 years ago. It should had been handle 20 years ago and ten years ago. Five years ago. It should have been handled by numerous, not just Obama but certainly President Obama should have taken care of that. Now it's at a point where it's very, very far advanced. Something has to be done. We can't allow this to happen. China has been very helpful, I think. Who knows? They seem to be very helpful. They cut off banking to North Korea. That is something they've never done before. They cut away down on the full fuel. We are going to see what happens.
This should have been taking care of long ago. Clinton gave them billions of dollars. Lots of other things. Before the ink was dry on the contract, they were already starting again with the missiles and we are in a position. I am building up the military like nobody has ever seen. We are close to $800 billion in spending.

(APPLAUSE)

(CHEERS)

Our military was really depleted. You look around and you see what's going on. Take a look at what we are buying right now with jetfighters, all of the equipment we are buying. You know kit is two things really, it is jobs that is far less important, but we build the greatest military equipment in the world. We have missiles that can knock out a missile in the air. 97 percent of the time. If you send two of them, they are going to get knocked down.

HANNITY: Is it fair to say if he keeps firing missiles, that is going to end?

TRUMP: I don't want to say anything. I don't want to talk about it.

(APPLAUSE)

(CHEERS)

I'm just telling you -- I remember in Mosul, I use this all the time. We are going to be attacking Mosul in four months, and three months. I say why did they keep saying it? Attacked, do it or don't do it. They kept talking about it. It turned out to be hell on wheels. It was a hard, because they were so totally prepared. I'm not saying I'm doing anything in them not saying I'm not. We should be talking about it.

HANNITY: Calm before the storm.

TRUMP: I'm not talking about it.

(APPLAUSE)

HANNITY: Iran, it was interesting. Bill Clinton, when he made the deal with Kim Jong Un's father, Kim Jong-il, he said this is a good deal for the American people. It was not. It seems the same mistake was made with President Obama and the Iranian deal. There are reports you will decertify this. You can also pull out of it. John Bolton suggested you pull out completely. Why de certify and not just scrap it?

TRUMP: You can do both. I know exactly what I'm going to do but I cannot give it away tonight. I'm going to be announcing it very shortly.

(LAUGHTER)

HANNITY: Why not, right?

TRUMP: I will. It's no secret, I think it was one of the most incompetently drawn deals we've ever seen. $150 billion given, we got nothing. They got past the nuclear weapons very quickly. Think of this,
$1.7 billion in cash. This is cash out of your pocket. You know how many airplane loads that must be? This is $1.7 billion. Who would be authorized to do it and who are the people are delivering it? You may never see them again. Right? This is the worst deal. We got nothing.

I'm not giving anything away but I've been saying this for a long time, you have people dancing and screaming in the streets of Iran. I have to tell you, those people are possibly safe because I happen to believe the people of Iran are great people and they want freedom and they want to be friendly with us. I really believe that. They are dancing in the streets. They are singing 'Death to America ' and Kerry is out there negotiating a deal and giving up every single point. You go in like this, you're not having it. Done, done, done. Worst deal I've ever seen. We will see what happens pretty soon. A lot of people are guessing. Maybe there's not so much guessing.

It was an incompetently drawn deal. It is a very bad deal. I'm not saying anything different tonight that I haven't been saying for two years. It's a horrible, horrible embarrassment to our country. We did it out of weakness when actually, we have great strength.

HANNITY: Let me ask you about immigration. You came up on a 70-point plan. There was fear after you had met with Pelosi and Schumer. Talking about DACA. We always get the tax increase but never the spending cuts. You always get the consideration on immigration, you never get the wall built. Part of it is – you said there will be no deal. On DACA. We are going to end chain migration. Building a wall that is going to be see through now so the --

TRUMP: maybe we are looking, right now we've built five prototypes. They are going up. Some are already finished. I will say, they are really looking good. They are really looking good and our country needs it. Not only for people but for the drugs that are pouring into our country. We have drugs that are pouring into our country.

(APPLAUSE)

(CHEERS)

So we don't have a choice. You can say what you want, I was with Bibi Netanyahu of Israel. And he was saying Donald, the wall works. They had an open border that was like a sieve. People just poured in. 99.9 percent of the people now, it stopped. Nobody gets in.

HANNITY: It has to be built.

TRUMP: It has to be built. A properly built and constructed designed wall. High, not a little fence. They had of walls that were so low, trucks would drive over them. It was easier to drive over it than to take it down. Can you believe it?

HANNITY: No amnesty. No chain migration.

TRUMP: No amnesty. Chain migration is one of the disasters. You allow one person and in that one person brings in ten or 12 people.

HANNITY: No DACA, until you fund the wall.

TRUMP: DACA, we have 800,000 people. They are not necessarily young. A lot of people think they are children. They average from 16-39 or so. A lot of these people are in the military. They have jobs. I fully understand it, but if we are going to do something, we have to get something in return. What I want is tremendous border regulation, I want the wall and we are going to get other things. We are going to see if we can work something out. Whether or not we do, I don't know. It would be wonderful to solve the DACA problem. By the way even my most conservative, hard-liner friends in the Republican Party would really like to be able to solve 800,000 people. Honestly, these people went through a lot. Most of them went through our system. Many of them don't speak the language of their country because they've never been to their country. We are going to try and solve that. In order to solve that, we want a wall and we want great border security.

(END VIDEO)

HANNITY: What does the president think about WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, saying that he has proof that Russia did not give him the DNC emails? Find out the answer to that question, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HANNITY: Welcome back to 'Hannity.' We are broadcasting from the 193rd special operations wing at the air national guard base in Middletown Pennsylvania. WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange is saying he has proved that the Russians did not give him the DNC emails. Well I asked President Trump if his willing to listen to what evidence Assange has. Let's take a look.

(BEGIN VIDEO)

HANNITY: I have identified -- I've even talked -- I've never seen anyone person face as much in terms of attacks as you have. You have media and Democrats that are hostile. Republicans that are hostile. A deep state leaking on you. One of the things that has come up almost throughout your whole presidency is this Russia, Russia, Russia obsession. Here is my question, I interviewed Julian Assange five times. He said it's not Russia. There was no collusion. The DNC emails did not come from them. Dana Rohrabacher met with him and he said he had proof positive evidence that would show the Trump campaign never colluded with Russia. Is it in the best interest of the country that if he has that information, he should give it? It seems he wants and returned to be left alone. Should the country -- does the country deserve to know the truth?

TRUMP: We can't let anybody play around with our voters in the voter system I have to tell you this -- Russia was an excuse used by the Democrats when they lost the election. They lost the election. And they sat in a room and they said wow, we look bad. The morning after. It's been written about in various books or e-books. They said why did you lose the election? And they said oh, it was Russia. It wasn't Russia. It was a bad candidate who didn't go to Wisconsin or Michigan like they should have.

(APPLAUSE)

(CHEERS)

It was a candidate that spent tremendously more money than I did, as you know. More than double. It did not do well in Pennsylvania, this great state. Didn't do well in North Carolina or South Carolina. I mean, lost Wisconsin for the first time in decades. Lost Michigan. Now, with all of that being said, they said Russia. And then they say oh, it was Trump that colluded with Russia. I'm saying 'I did?' Here is the story, this was an excuse by the Democrats and people got carried away. This was a terrible and it's very bad for our country -- during this campaign, forget it. Forget it. This was an excuse that was used by the Democrats. An excuse for losing an election that frankly they should have won, because winning the Electoral College is so easy for Democrats.

They start off with three major states. To win the electoral college for a Democrat, it's almost like a given. That is why people said you cannot get to 270. We got to 306.

(APPLAUSE)

(CHEERS)

But I thought it was very sad when I saw this. Because they are using these excuses. The Electoral College, I never appreciated. I'd rather have a popular vote. For me, it's easier. The popular vote is easier. The one thing about the Electoral College, it takes you around to states that you would not go too otherwise. It's been a great thing. I say this -- we had an unbelievable, unprecedented election. I'm so proud of my people. I'm so, so proud of you. I did this show with a lot of people said -- I did it a lot. I guess people are watching.

HANNITY: I'm glad to have you.

TRUMP: Maybe we won't do it anymore.

HANNITY: Hey, come on. Help me out, here.

(APPLAUSE)

(CHEERS)

TRUMP: I will say this you have been so great. I'm very proud of you. I am a ratings person. Has anyone seen his ratings? What you are doing to your competition is incredible. Number one and I am very proud of you. An honor to be on your show.

HANNITY: Mr. President, I remember one time we had an early conversation and I will end the interview on this. This is how I've always felt. He said well, I have all these things. Maybe you want to play golf on my course one day. Well before you ever ran for office. And then when you ran, I said I only want one thing. Help our country. Let's help the forgotten men and women. Let's keep the country safe. I think that is our prayer for you and the country.

TRUMP: Thank you so much.

HANNITY: The President of the United States.

(END VIDEO)

HANNITY: Also tonight before President Trump speech, I had a chance to speak to the crowd and ask them what they think about the Trump administration, congress, the liberal media, and so much more. Watch this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HANNITY: Have you met the President?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I have met the president at a rally, sure.

HANNITY: How do you feel about the job he is doing, the congress, and the media?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The media, we are not of been going to talk about because they don't report fairly. Congress needs to get on board and realize Donald Trump, love him or hate him, he is what America picked. If congress wants to be reelected for 2018, they should think about what the people voted for in November of 2016.

HANNITY: How is the president doing?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Great.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Excellent.

HANNITY: How is the Congress doing?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Terrible.

HANNITY: How is the president doing?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A fantastic job so far.

HANNITY: Congress?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Not so fantastic. I think we could turn it around.

HANNITY: What about the news media?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You guys are fabulous, but CNN is fake news.

HANNITY: What you think of CNN?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Boo's.

HANNITY: ABC?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No!

HANNITY: NBC?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No!

HANNITY: CBS?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No!

HANNITY: MSNBC?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No!

HANNITY: What you think of Congress?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think Congress, I feel like they are playing the politics of everything. Each and every congressman, we've got to do what's right for the country.

HANNITY: Come together.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, I really think of Congress can come together and say we are working towards the better of everybody, all Americans, I think it will be phenomenal.

HANNITY: How do you feel about the news media?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A lot of it is fake except 'Hannity.' We love 'Hannity.'

HANNITY: That is a promo. How's the president doing?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Wonderful, I feel better every day.

HANNITY: What about Congress?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What about them? Drain the swamp.

HANNITY: Hi sweetheart, what is your name? Show everybody your beautiful dress. You've got a Donald Trump dress. Do you like it?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I love it.

HANNITY: How old are you?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I am ten.

HANNITY: Do you like the president

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I love him.

HANNITY: Why?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Because he does good things for our country.

HANNITY: How is the president doing?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Fantastic. Good.

HANNITY: How is the Congress doing?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Not good.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I am president of the Motor Truck Association. Business is very good. We are here to support the President and his tax plan and reduce individual tax rates, help our industry.

HANNITY: It worked for Reagan and Kennedy, why wouldn't it work now? Congress is going to get this done.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I hope so.

HANNITY: I am cautiously…

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Optimistic.

HANNITY: How do you think the media treats the president?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Fake news. Horrible.

HANNITY: Are you tired of it? And all of them, pretty much? Except me.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Except Sean Hannity!

(END VIDEO CLIP)

We will have more 'Hannity' right after this break as we continue from the 193rd at special operations wing at the air national guard base in Middletown, Pennsylvania. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HANNITY: Welcome back to 'Hannity.' Unfortunately that is all the time we have left this evening. As always, we thank you for being with us. This show, we are not the liberal establishment mainstream destroy-Trump-media. We will be your fair and balanced show. We will be back in New York tomorrow night. Brian Kilmeade is coming up next. Thank you for being with us.

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