RUSH: No, we’re not gonna JIP that. We’ll roll tape on it and if anything comes out of it, we’ll have it later. There’s a joint press conference between Trump and King Abdullah of Jordan. They’re doing a joint presser. Trump’s getting really interested here in the Middle East as a broker of peace there. He wants to revive health care and get that going. He just keeps taking bigger, bigger bites here of things. He just keeps marching on down his agenda, and the left is beside itself. They have not deterred Trump at all on this. Something they are entirely unaccustomed to, by the way. They are accustomed to intimidating, frightening, scaring, silencing opposition. Trump is acting like he doesn’t even hear them.
They’re going crazy.
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RUSH: Okay. So I just caught a little bit of the joint press conference between King Abdullah of Jordan and President Obama. And when I happened to touch the button that turned on the audio for the press conference, Trump was berating somebody in the media. (paraphrased) “I’m not gonna tell you when we’re gonna make a move! You know, I couldn’t believe the previous administration. So we’re gonna go to Mosul. So we tell ’em four months in advance we’re gonna go into Mosul, and then a month goes by and we say, ‘We’re gonna go into Mosul in three months.’
“Why would you do that? Why would you telegraph what you’re going to do?” And the king of Jordan is looking over at him, not saying a word. Trump says, “And then you got down to one week before the four months are up and you say, ‘We’re gonna go into Mosul!’ Why would you do that? Look, I know what I’m gonna do. I can’t stand the fact that they’ve gassed these babies and these families and this is a line in the sand. But I’m not gonna tell you what we’re gonna do,” and then he turns to the king, and the king says, in short, “I endorse everything the president said.
“The president is confident, the president is on our side, and I speak for all of the leaders in the region. We all appreciate what the president is doing!” Trump then says, “And let me tell you something else. I inherited a mess! I inherited the biggest mess, a bigger mess than anybody knows. And I’m gonna fix it, but I’m not gonna tell you when I’m gonna do what.” Go back to the king: “Speaking of timelines, the president is exactly right on the timelines. We’ve been making very, very, very much progress on Mosul and Iraq and we have the terrorists on the run.
“They’re on the run but they’re gonna keep running and we’re gonna keep going after them. We’re gonna find them. We’re gonna root ’em out.” Trump’s standing there and nodding his head. (laughing) I just love this. Now, look, the king of Jordan, like his father, is highly instrumental in what happens in the Middle East, and the king of Jordan is a very big United States ally. Jordan is also a very small country, and it’s not a surprise that the king of Jordan would acquiesce, particularly in a public press conference.
The left loves the king of Jordan because he’s short and speaks with a British accent. (intellectual stammer) “So he’s erudite, he’s sophisticated, he’s educated. He’s quintessential European (except he’s from Jordan),” and he’s short, so he’s a victim. So he covers all the bases. They love the little guy, and they just would… The media was desperately hoping that the king of Jordan would throw Trump under the bus somehow. You know, like wink and nod and send a signal, “We’re just hoping to survive this guy! Don’t give up on us. We’re trying to keep this guy reined in.”
They were desperate, I could tell, for any kind of such message. But the king of Jordan gave a full-throated, full-fledged endorsement of Trump and his leadership, and also said that other leaders in the region feel the same way he does. Now, the thing is over. So maybe our crack production team can find the segment I just described. Of course, my take on it was probably better than it was. I have that flair, folks. I just… It’s a born talent and ability to be able to make things that are great even better, in my version of telling them.
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RUSH: The crack production team got me the Trump and King Abdullah sound bites that I told you about. So if you were here, you heard me recount in my inimitable fashion this interchange or this portion of the press conference. We’ve actually got the sound bites now. And we’re gonna start. This is in the Rose Garden at the White House today. President Trump, a question from the PBS White House correspondent: “Last year, you seemed to be reluctant to intervene in Syria directly. Is that one thing that’s changed after yesterday’s attack?”
THE PRESIDENT: I watched Mosul where the past administration were saying, “We will be attacking in four months.” And I said, “Why are they doing that?” Then a month goes by, and they say, “We will be attacking in three months,” and then, “Two months,” and then, “We will be attacking next week!” And I’m saying, “Why are they doing that?” And as you know, Mosul turned out to be a much harder fight than anyone thought, and a lot of people have been lost in that fight. I’m not saying I’m doing anything one way or the other, but I’m certainly not gonna be telling you, as much as I respect you, John.
RUSH: Yeah. That’s John Yang. Trump says, “I’m not gonna tell you. Why would I tell you what we’re gonna do? Even though I respect you.” Next, King Abdullah in 38 seconds here to say that he supports President Trump.
ABDULLAH: All of us have a responsibility to help the president push us toward the finish line. And so his team has been in the region. They’ve been talking to all the partners, and it is our job to facilitate the atmospherics between Israelis and Palestinians to move together and give support to the president to be able to smooth the edges over between Israelis and Palestinians to achieve this. And the president understands that if we don’t solve this problem, how are we going to win the global fight against terrorism, which is his number one priority. So this is a core issue that he understands, and I think he has the commitment. And he has my full support for this, as he does from many, many countries in our region.
RUSH: And like I said, the Drive-Bys are very upset by this. They love King Abdullah. You can hear there he’s very sophisticated. He’s got that perfect British accent. He looks great in a European-cut suit. Plus, he’s real short. So that makes him a victim. So he’s got it all covered, as far as the left is concerned. And he comes out and totally supports Trump. And that just infuriated them. Now, Trump… We don’t have it here but Trump nodded and he thanked King Abdullah that way. But then he took right over again and he said, “Let me just tell you something.
“I inherited a mess here. I inherited the biggest mess. It was such a big mess. The king knows it. The king knows what a big mess it was. Big mess! Not just Mosul, a big mess everywhere. I’m gonna fix it. I’m gonna fix it. It’s on me now, I’m gonna tell you. But it’s a bigger mess than anybody ever knew.” And the king came back and basically in the same kind of language, “Of course, we spoke of this. The president had a big mess. It’s always been a big mess. It’s always gonna be a big mess. It’s never gonna not gonna be a big mess.”
Then the next bite is another question from a Drive-Byer. That’d be Julie Pace of the left-wing radicals at the Associated Press. She said, “You’ve condemned the chemical attacks in Syria, but you also appeared in your statement yesterday to pin some of the blame on” our beloved Obama. “You’re the president now,” you pig! “Do you feel like you bear responsibility for responding to the chemical attack?” Why are you laying it all off on the guy we love, Obama? You’re a pig!
THE PRESIDENT: The Obama administration had a great opportunity to solve this crisis a long time ago when he said “the red line in the sand.” And when he didn’t cross that line after making the threat, I think that set us back a long ways, not only in Syria, but in many other parts of the world, because it was a blank threat. I think it was something that was not one of our better days as a country. So I do feel that, Julie, I feel it very strongly.
RUSH: And there’s another bite, it was the next page, I didn’t see it ’til now. Again, Julie Pace of the left-wing radical AP, “Can I just quickly ask you, the chemical attack, does it cross a red line for you?” Because I heard you say Obama, he drew the red line and he didn’t do anything, but you’re the pig. We love Obama. And you’re criticizing Obama. You’re the ingrate. So now, does this chemical attack cross a red line for you and what are you gonna do about it, pig?
THE PRESIDENT: It crossed a lot of lines for me. When you kill innocent children, innocent babies, babies, little babies with a chemical gas that is so lethal, people were shocked to hear what gas it was, that crosses many, many lines, beyond a red line, many, many lines.
RUSH: So there you have it. That’s just a little bit of presser this afternoon between President Trump and the king of Jordan, that would be King Abdullah.