Trump jokes about advice he'd give to 25-year-old self: "Don't run for president"
In a wide-ranging discussion on issues ranging from the economy to the opioid epidemic, President Trump offered a light-hearted take on a piece of advice he would offer to his younger self: "Don't run for president." He made the remark during the Generation Next Summit, a White House forum geared toward millennials.
Mr. Trump looked back on his 2016 presidential run, saying "I was getting such great publicity until I ran for office." He also appeared to take credit for "exposing" the phenomenon of "fake news."
"There's a lot of fake news out there, nobody had any idea. I'm actually proud of the fact that we exposed it to a large extent, we exposed it, it's an achievement," he said.
Pivoting to policy issues, he said it was "an honor" to sign a memorandum directing the U.S. Trade Representative to impose an estimated $50 billion in tariffs on China and later teased a "phase two" to the Republican-crafted tax overhaul plan.
"We're going to get a 'phase two' tax cut because it worked so well. Nobody thought it would be like this. It worked so well," said Mr. Trump. He warned "the word 'crumbs' is gonna be like the word 'deplorable'" after the next tax cut phase.
He also reiterated his proposal to impose the death penalty on some drug dealers as part of the administration's efforts to curb the nation's opioid epidemic.
"These people kill thousands of people over the course of their lives through drugs. So we're going to have to get much, much, tougher in terms of penalty," said Mr. Trump. "You look at certain countries where they have, as example, the death penalty, and say 'how's your drug problem?' and they will tell you 'we don't have much of a drug problem.'"