Guam's governor releases Facebook video of call with Trump
President Trump expressed his support for Guam and told Guam Gov. Eddie Calvo tourism would surge amid concerns that North Korea could strike that U.S. territory, according to a recording of the Friday call the governor posted to Facebook.
Mr. Trump assured Calvo the U.S. is "with you a thousand percent." Calvo, in response, said he has "never felt more safe or more confident" than with Mr. Trump at the helm. The call marked the first time the two spoke since North Korea threatened the island.
Earlier in the week, North Korea threatened to strike within miles of the U.S. territory, as tensions between the U.S. and North Korea flare over the country's nuclear weapons program. A recent U.S. intelligence analysis found North Korea has reached a significant milestone in its aspiration to be capable of having an intercontinental ballistic missile that can reach the U.S. mainland.
Mr. Trump joked that Calvo -- and his small island east of the Philippines -- are now "extremely famous."
"Eddie, I have to tell you you've become extremely famous," Mr. Trump told the Guam governor. "All over the world they're talking about Guam and they're talking about you and I think tourism -- I can say this, your tourism, you're going to go up like ten fold with the expenditure of no money. So I congratulate you."
Calvo said laughingly that his island is already at 95 percent occupancy, and when everything calms down it will be at 110 percent occupancy.
Mr. Trump, according to the call Calvo released, told Calvo to visit Washington, after Calvo invited him to visit Guam.
The full call Calvo released was much more detailed than the White House readout of the call. White House readouts of calls with foreign leaders are notoriously lacking in detail.
"President Donald J. Trump spoke yesterday with Guam Governor Eddie Calvo," a call readout from the White House said. "President Trump reassured Governor Calvo and our fellow Americans on Guam that United States forces stand ready to ensure the safety and security of the people of Guam, along with the rest of America. White House Chief of Staff John Kelly spoke separately to Calvo earlier in the day."