Eager to move past the public relations fiasco caused by his shifting positions on the Jamal Khashoggi murder, President Trump called for the sale of Hawaii and New Mexico to Saudi Arabia during an impromptu press conference outside Marine One Friday morning. According to the president, the sale would raise billions of dollars to replenish America’s “depleted” military.
“Hillary Clinton is a disaster”
Addressing a cadre of reporters while waiting to board Marine One for a Mar-a-Lago golfing weekend, Trump launched into a tirade over how degraded the military became after Hillary Clinton stepped onto the national political stage in 1993. “Before she showed up, we used to win wars,” he said. He ticked them off on his fingers: “The Civil War, 2 World War, Vietnam, you name it. We won everything, bigly. Nowadays, we don’t win anything anymore, thanks to her.”
Asked why he felt she was the reason recent U.S. military conflicts have been less successful, Trump responded, “People are saying she’s to blame, lots of people feel that way. When you look at what’s going on, the 30,000 deleted emails and all the other stuff, it’s a disgrace. Hillary Clinton is a disaster.”
A bold, new proposal
The president indicated that House Republicans were set to introduce HR-4848 during the lame duck session, a measure that would provide additional funding for the military by authorizing the sale of Hawaii and New Mexico to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. “It’ll happen by the end of the year, before the socialist Democrats get in and mess things up,” vowed Trump. “We’ve got the Caravan invading our country and all sorts of other things going on, really bad things, and we’re not going to let that happen, believe me.”
Noting the astonished looks on the faces of the onlookers, Trump said, “The Democrats are weak on the military and want open borders so that criminals and drugs can flood into our country. We’re going to sell some things we don’t need anymore to increase our depleted military and for border security.”
Hawaii and New Mexico
Asked why his administration believed Hawaii and New Mexico were expendable, Trump replied, “Look, Hawaii is this little island way out in the middle of the ocean, and people have told me Obama wasn’t even born there. Lots of people are saying that he wasn’t born there.”
An 'extremely credible source' has called my office and told me that @BarackObama's birth certificate is a fraud.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 6, 2012
Geography and money seemed to be his primary justifications. “You need to take a plane to get there,” said Trump. “Well, you can take a boat but that takes a long, long time. Have you ever tried to get there? It’s a disaster. As for Saudi Arabia, they’re in the middle of the desert and need water and Hawaii has water all around it. There’s enough water there for many, many years, and we’re getting billions and billions of dollars from them.” He summed it up by declaring the transaction a “very, very big deal for the American people. The biggest deal ever, that I can tell you.”
With respect to New Mexico, Trump explained, “they have a foreign country in the middle of their name. Right in the middle of their name.” Interrupting a flurry of follow-up questions, he looked around and said, “Excuse me, excuse me. Have you ever been there? It’s crawling with foreigners! It shouldn’t be named ‘New Mexico’; I call it ‘Little Mexico’.
The president estimated that the sale of the two states would raise hundreds of billions of dollars, to be directed to the military and border security. “We’re going to have enough money to make the wall hundreds of feet high, maybe thousands,” Trump said. “We’re going to put a wall around ‘Little Mexico’ and Hawaii while we’re at it.”
Working with Democrats
Asked if the administration was willing to collaborate with House Democrats on crafting HR 4848, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo declined comment, calling his November 15th tweet the State Department’s “official statement” on the matter:
Excited to lead the U.S. Delegation to the Global Entrepreneurship Summit @theGESsummit next summer. Looking forward to working with @MinPres and our #Netherlands co-hosts to empower the next generation of entrepreneurs and innovators worldwide at #GES2019. See you in June! pic.twitter.com/zkYXqHGyfn
— Secretary Pompeo (@SecPompeo) November 16, 2018
At the end of the day, pool reporters spotted Pompeo, apparently being escorted by a security team, leaving the White House carrying what appeared to be a box of pictures and other personal items.
