intersection of politics and the economy. here are the top stories, president trump is said to hold a press conference with alexis tsipras. remember you those are my as soon as they begin live. health care reform and the congressional agenda. major developments in the fourth round of nafta talks. what we're learning about canada and mexico's responses from the latest proposal what it means for this critical trade deal. we had the details, ahead. ♪ we begin with nafta as canada and mexico rejected what they saw as hard line objectives from the u.s. for more details, let's bring our roundtable.

we have our white house reporter from our washington bureau and we also have our national political reporter. what has been going on at the pentagon city? how acrimonious where these discussions and how unexpected was a we heard from canada and mexico today? >> from my colleagues following this, they said it was not sad unexpected and that this is a line that his countries have been throwing for a while's point. of course, we had heard all of that blustery rhetorrom th president in the early days about pulling out of nafta and that did not happen. they were supposed to use these talks to renegotiate it, but how far the administration is willing to go don't know yet, whether they will pull out or how much longer they will keep talking. sherry: what are we expecting next.

with this go to congress? >> that includes dots and obamacare cost-sharing -- that includes daca and obamacare cautionary. they want to do a lot of things between now and the end of the year. they want to rewrite the tax code by the end of 2017. where this goes with nafta is unclear. there is not the same type of appetite among democrats and toublicans on capitol hill drastically change nafta, but this is a campaign promise he made. like a number of other things, he does not mind throwing a grenade in things if it shows he is being a disruptor. david: what was the effect of what the president and senate majority leader had to say yesterday? there was an impromptu rose garden conference and there is another today, but the two of them came out and called

themselves friends, saying they had that same agenda. how is that was a meeting on capitol hill today? sahir: the hope is they can stop fighting long enough to get the tax deal done, what senate republicans and house republicans are most focused on. aat whole thing was in part response to the former chief strategist, going after a series of senate republicans and primaries next year, not the republicans who derailed past trump efforts like repealing and replacing obamacare like deb who had voted with the president, so there is a disconnect but they want to show republicans are on the same page at the white house and he said a lot about how he and mcconnell are close and things are great. contradictory to what we have seen between them. sherry: being on the same page, shannon, president trump and senator mitch mcconnell seems to suggest they could delay the

deadline for the tax plan to come through. are you hearing anything on the ground about the timeline and thatinor adjustments president trump alluded to? shannon: since last month, i think the odds of getting a tax plan passed slipped. expectations it will get done are low because as sahil mentioned, the calendar is so packed. it is october 17 today. there is going to be a thanksgiving and christmas holiday, so we are running out of time to address that. you have a budget and other issues that this artificial deadline the president set on daca, so i think expectations of getting a settlement are shrinking. we seem to see the president acknowledged that some extent and start to test the waters for the idea of this going a bit longer into 2018, and there is no reason half to happen this

year. you could do something in april and make it retroactive for people and the beginning of 2018, so it is an artificial deadline the administration gave itself. david: we see the president withed with who -- reckon you may be at the head of the fed chair next year. what are we learning about his thoughts on monetary policy until you would one in the chair in 2018 -- and who he would want in the chair and 2018? shannon: my colleague just reported that before this trip to asia, we should have a new decision about a fed chair. resolvingat will be itself fairly quickly. i think if there is anybody's guess as to who it will be. i will not try to make guesses, but we have certainly reported some names out there. there are interviews continuing with the president, so that is

an ongoing process but one that has a timeline now. pettypiece, thank you, bloomberg white house reporter and sahil kapur, thank you to both of you. the get a check in the markets. -- let's check the markets. julie hyman has the latest. julie: gamewere already modest, so a tight range here. tightness for the s&p 500 and we have action in the dow when it reached 23,000 for the first time between 11:00 and 11:30. .1.st gains, only up we looked at its journey from the years and it has hit a milestone, rising about five times over the past year. here the stocks into beating the most in the latest move, boeing, caterpillar, home depot, 3m and goldman sachs, although goldman

is pulling back, so they are limiting the dow's gains in today's sessions. these are the ones that have been the ones to watch on the latest leg up. on the move is united health, leading a rally in the health insurance industry, some smaller ones having bigger gains since molina. health saying their ratio came in lower than estimated, essentially medical spending by customers fell in the third quarter so that is giving it and others a boost. health care is the best performing group today and we are watching johnson & johnson go higher after its earnings and drug saying that performing well. -- drug segment performing well. so shares are up 3.5%. as you have been talking about nafta, you have to look at the currency market reaction to that. there was a report earlier today

that canada and mexico were rejecting stimulus proposals. we saw that dollar take a leg up but now it is lower versus the peso. as for the canadian dollar, it has been similar, although the dollar, while paring gains, is still higher by about .25%. david: thank you. coming up, leonard lance of new jersey will be here. why he thinks it would be best to go through a normal appropriations process. sorry. sherry: [laughter] also, president trump and alexis tsipras are set to address reporters in a joint trust conference from the white house rose garden. we would forgive those remarks as soon as they begin comes to do not go anywhere. this is bloomberg. ♪

♪ sherry: welcome back. this is bloomberg markets. i am shery ahn. david: i am david gura. mark crumpton has first word news. mark: president trump will announce his chair reserve nominee before leaving to asia, according to a white house official with knowledge of the plans. he is working with a list of five names to lead the central bank, including current chair janet yellen, whose term ends in february. it requires confirmation by the u.s. senate, a process that could take months. to aenators are opposed plan that would resume federal subsidies to help insurers. tennessee republican in washington state democrats have a "basic outline of a bipartisan deal that would continue payments for two years." president trump blocked the obama era decision that paid

insurers for reducing the out-of-pocket expenses for low income customers. officials say european union funded projects that provide cash assistance to the most vulnerable refugees in turkey has reached one million beneficiaries, when you're after its launch. the program provides that the cars to the most is the managed families, allowing them to buy food and meet other basic needs. embattled south african president jacob zuma has reshuffled his candidate see. homemed new energies of and energy affairs. he has been marked by scandal and missteps. global news 24 hours a day, powered by more than 2600 journalists and analysts in more than 120 countries. i am mark crumpton. this is bloomberg. sherry: thank you. as mark reported, republican

senator alexander says president donald trump has given him the comes up on a bipartisan health care bill to figure same insurance subsidies. week, leonard lance of new jersey said he wants to fund cost reduction payments to the normal appropriations process and joins us now in our new york studio. thank you. what is your logic behind your arguments? is the leonard: my logic constitution that says the congress appropriates funds under article one, not the responsibility of the presidents. i think president trump made the decision that was right last week suggesting this ought to be done through the appropriations process or the compromise i think is being struck. david: how do you react from what we have seen from the president, a lot of moving things from the white house to the legislative branch? to deal withe that

these policies that have been dealt over the last years? senator leonard: i do, david. i used to practice constitutional law and as i read it, we, and we alone in the congress, appropriate funds under article one. i got the obama administration did not follow the constitution and that was a ruling of a federal district court. if it were to reach the supreme court's, i think they would agree. now i think that it compromise -- that a compromise is being struck and we had suggested this several weeks ago and now i think that senator alexander and senator murray are moving in that direction. sherry: president trump has called that a short-term fix. we know you voted against the gop health care bill earlier, so what do you need to see her full repeal of obamacare? lance: i favor moving forward in a bipartisan --

representative lance: i favor moving forward in a bipartisan way. i thought the obama administration enacted the law without republican support and did it poorly and i do not think republicans should try to change it without the democratic support. about how worried are you the president doing away with subsidies for the time being? while you do the work you are on appropriation decided things, there is a time of uncertainty with their constituents. how do you react to that? could this have been handled in the more procedural way? representative: i think we should move as quickly as possible and white it was suggested a wild -- and why it was suggested a while ago. i hope the house works on it as soon as the senate completes its work. house is on recess,

but the schedule and timeline for everything congress has to do is tight. what is next when you go back? representative lance: i hope this is on it and we have other amportant issues, like dac and we just got tax reform. i think we are working hard and listening to the people in our district's. david: how do you react to it gary cohn said before the american bankers association about the schedule of how there are a few days when they are in session at the same time and there's a lot to be done? to pursue working more in the next months and how large is the deadline loomed? representative lance: i want to work to conclusion and i'm willing to work up to christmas day if necessary. i think it is important we do the business of the american people. sherry: you mention tax reform as a huge issue on the table. i know that you do not want to see the reduction and local tax deductions but the representative came out with one compromise that could be

limiting the deductions for people with income less than $400,000. would you be able to be on board with that? representative lance: i am not sure i would. i would prefer it off the table completely. time we had major tax reform it was on the table taken off. i do not like to see double taxation. i do not think you should pay taxes on income where you have already paid them. david: senator mcconnell was talking about the second year of president obama's term, do you see that as a sign that the deadlines will start moving some? in other words, how important is it to get tax form passed by the end of this calendar year? does it matter to you? representative lance: i think it is more important to get it right and it took two years last time and it was bipartisan with president reagan and u.s. senator bill bradley of new jersey taking the lead, so i

think it is more important to get it right. we should be working on it, david. sherry: how are the divisions within the gop establishment republicans against populist back steve bannon, how do divisions their affect the work you are doing? representative lance: i think we all have to work together, those in congress, populace, those who want to make sure it works in the future and the republican party needs to be a party of growth and we should not limit anyone's participation. sherry: you are serving a congressional district that hillary clinton won. how do all the divisions in the party impact you? senator lance: -- representative lance: president obama had won and romney in 2012, so it is a centrist district. i think i represent the views of the overwhelming majority in the district. david: after you have been

watching nafta negotiations. canada and mexico walked away from meetings today saying they are not optimistic about what the u.s. put forward during them. what is the role of congress here amid the bluster and talk of the u.s. pulling out of nafta? does the president had the ability to do that and use e-commerce taking a bigger role? representative glance: i would imagine congress would get involved. i wouldsentative lance: imagine congress and get involved. geography is everything in a state like new jersey. i want it to be fair but i would imagine congress has a say. the white house rejected bipartisan request for information on the private use of emails and charter jets, are you part of the ethics committee in the house? how do you respond to that? representative lance: i do not comment on any matter before the ethics committee. i want to assure the public it

is bipartisan, five democrats and republicans, the only completely bipartisan committee in the house of representatives. wessure your viewers that are always bipartisan in ethical matters before the committee. david: last question, about that, it is a crowded agenda when you look at policy items, but looming over them are investigations into russia's involvement in the election, how much is that distracted from work you would like to be doing? for you interested in trade, tax reform or health care reform, how much space does it occupy for you and colleagues? representative lance: i am doing my work as we discussed and i leave that to mr. mueller. i think he's doing an excellent job and i await the conclusion of the investigation. sherry: thank you for your time. leonard lance of new jersey. david: still ahead, china's most

important political event kicks off tomorrow. we will get the gathering in beijing for the 19th party congress. we await president trump and alexis tsipras to address the press, scheduled for 1:30 wall street time. this is bloomberg. ♪

♪ david: china's communist party is about to assemble for its first national meeting in years. they will set future priorities and replace top party leaders. bloomberg tv's tom mackenzie explains. tom: therefore steps to china's

leadership pyramid. it is made up of 217,000 delegates, state leaders, military generals and top executives. from there, it is surprisingly small for a country representing almost 1/5 of the population globally. the central committee has roughly 200 members. only 5% are women. the central committee officially has the power to elect a general secretary and members of other top committees. to advance beyond the central committee, you must meet certain criteria. age is a factor. a president was set -- a precedent was set requiring member 68 and older to retire, so they need to reach each level that they have been a page to make sure they climb to the top. resident xi joy -- president xi joined before his 45th birthday and can stay on until 2022.

beyond age, leaders hoping to advance beyond the central committee must have experience in high-profile ministries, military or provinces. the hometown of the former president has been the most reliable springboard to state power over the past century. is a, the next level bureau with 25 members comprised of party chiefs of top regions and the top two military officers on the central military commission. this committee is the decision-making committee, assuring the execution of party policies. at the top of it is the standing committee, and elite body that is comprised of members from top states, president premier and chairman of the standing committee. the remaining seats are occupied by leaders of central party

agencies and commissions. and that is china's narrow path to political power. ♪ sherry: bloombergs tom mackenzie there. we will have live coverage of chinese president xi jingping's beijing at 9:00 p.m. eastern tonight. david: next, back to the rose garden out at the white house after an unscripted performance yesterday along mitch mcconnell. the president will be back in aont of the press today for bilateral press conference with greek prime minister alexis tsipras. we will begin those comments as soon as they begin right here on bloomberg television. this is bloomberg. ♪

. .

shery: welcome back. shery:this is "bloomberg markets: balance of power." i'm shery ahn.

david: i'm david gura. shery: we are looking at the rose garden, where the president will speak with greek prime minister. david: the ceo of the canadian as it message -- asset management company is calling for his resignation. since on the board as a director. to acomes in response newsletter where you made comments concerning race in america. on why people populated america and not the blacks and he continued otherwise, the u.s. look like zimbabwe. has been a frequent guest on bloomberg television and bloomberg radio, and in response to the story, he told bloomberg news is stating some historical facts makes me a racist, i suppose i am. we look to you on the story when we have more.

mark: senate republicans drafted a homeland security spending bill that improve the full $1.6 billion that president trump wants for a wall of the mexican border. the author of the bill, senator john bozeman of arkansas told congress that the border wall would be resolved in a $1 trillion bill. as well as dealing with the dreamers. president trump's choice for the new drug are has withdrawn his name from consideration. there are reports that congressman tom marino of pennsylvania had pushed legislation making it harder for the drug enforcement agency to fight the opioid crisis. you day, an average of 91 americans die from opioid overdoses. in iraq, fighting between government troops and kurdish forces is impeding output in the

oil-rich province. state run media says the iraqi army and its allies have taken oil fields and a refinery. bloomberg spoke with the head of the international energy agency. >> it is too early to say what will be the result of this development. how they are going to evolve and what the implications are on the markets. for the time being, we don't see, we don't imagine a major impact on the oil market. mark: iraq is opec's second-largest producer. hadrmal federal prosecutor a response to the nationalist rallies since he not been given access to records he requested. to help review to help charlottesville received from the national guard, state department of emergency management.

as a last week, he had not received the information he has requested. global news, 24 hours a day, powered by more than 2700 journalists and analysts in more than 120 countries. i'm mark crumpton. this is bloomberg. shery: mark, thank you. the treatment for mitch mcconnell was not enough to quell public and infighting. to maket trump trying peas with the senate majority leader, insisting they are on the same page, legislatively. president trump: we are probably now, despite what you read, we are probably now closer than ever before. the relationship is very good. we are fighting for the same thing. shery: this plic peace fering was not enough for steve bannon, nisource says will continue his insurgency on congressional republican incumbents and support a wide , one of primary opponents

is a threat to usurp mitch mcconnell. by kevin cirilli. ahead of that press conference between the president and great prime minister alexis tsipras. josh, breitbart news having the sideline, why is into backing down gekko -- why isn't he backing down? josh: he doesn't believe it's in the best interest of trump to -- man and feel they to insufficiently committed trump's agenda, to replace them in scare republicans in congress to do remain so for the next time a big bill comes up the company's past -- that trump sed, he will have them. david: these two leaders are

closer than ever before. i wondered as i listen to them yesterday in the talked about your goals and winning elections being high up on the list, what does that say to you about the priorities in the senate and the white house right now? kevin: there's no question that president trump means mitch mcconnell to passes budget in order to take out one step closer to tax reform. i spoke with a senior source close to senator rand paul, who's been skeptical of this budget and he says the senator will be on board with the budget, provided there are $43 million cuts in overseas border funding. and you get that done if they hope to get any sort of meaningful tax reform done. that controversial press conference yesterday, i spoke with a senior source close to steve bannon, who said they were paying attention to what the president said on his way into that meeting with the majority leader, and they feel the president still doesn't

understand that he needs that type of relationship with abandon coalition as they're calling it, a head of 2018 midterm elections. they feel that potentially put that political pressure on republican leadership, should they not be able to get a legislative win by the end of the year. shery: talking about tax reform, it seems president trump and mitch mcconnell are suggesting that faculty to get done this year. -- that is not going to get done this year. kevin: publicly they are saying they are very much ambitious to get some type of meaningful tax cut by the end of the year. comprehensives tax reform, we want to wait and see. we are also anticipating that the president will announce who is going to replace janet yellen ahead of his trip to overseas in asia. david: a veritable who's who of the cabinet behind him.

rex tillerson how jordan fisher as well. let me ask you about your from john kelly a couple days ago. he spoke of the daily white house press briefing and vouched for the good relationship he had with the president. would you make of members of this a administration doing that -- what do you make of members of this administration doing that? josh: they are reading and seeing stories saying there is unhappiness in the white house and we can see probably the struggles and the feuding between mitch mcconnell and donald trump. just before, the historian vanity fair saying that trump has become very upset, that he made everybody in the white house and the john kelly's days may soon be numbered. i think the white house the quickest way to knock that story down was to march kelly out and have him tonight directly to reporters. we are seeing president trump doing whatever it takes, even reaching out to democrats in order to get something done. we knew he was inviting democratic senators today to have talks. will this make a difference in

how you for traces message point forward? josh: probably not. democrats are going to want specific policy concessions of president trump and republicans have shown no sign there willing to grant. while it makes for a good headline, i think it shows trump reaching out try to talk to democrats. unless he's landed back that up with substance, i don't begin amounts to much. -- i don't think it amounts to much. david: he was in chicago meeting with business leaders. what is the purpose of his trip here to the u.s.? kevin: you see a bit between the u.s. and the greek counterparts discussing nationalsecurity as well economic ties in particular, the relationship for whether or not we can see anything with nato and how they work together. greece's economic troubles have been well-documented, but this administration also is facing the fallout from north korea, suggesting that we are on the brink of nuclear war in the moment.

think every administration is try to pressure north korea, not just from the united states perspective, but also by using economic sanctions with russia and china is counterparts, how they are looking to slow down the brazenness of kim jong-un begins -- remains to be seen. we can anticipate new comments on that from president trump as well. we have seenry: alexis tsipras criticize president trump when he was running for president. " i hope this bad thing doesn't befall us. give us a little bit of background into the relationship between greece and the u.s. kevin: publicly the greek prime minister is on record having criticized president trump. it's interesting to see what is asked about that as well. i think that in terms of where this is all headed, you are

looking at a situation where ofece does need the support the united states economy, as well as our national security. -- the president is able to how these two world leaders are able to address that will be interesting, no question. kevin mentioning north korea a few moments ago. it's early days yet and we don't have a trump doctrine when it comes to foreign policy. are we getting closer to it in light of what we've heard from secretary of state rex tillerson and nikki haley our getting close understanding what a trump doctrine is? not really, other than a desire to undo any alliances that president obama made during his tenure. i think more broadly, trump does have an instinctive attraction to the steve bannon idea of nationalism, that rather than allowing the united states to become embroiled in multinational organizations, that it shouldn't subordinate u.s. power to other countries, and therefore, trump is doing a

lot, at least publicly in his tweets and pronouncements to undermine those deals in hopes of setting up more one-on-one relationships with our allies. david: in a recent gallup -- shery: in a recent gallup poll, his approval rating plunged 36%. how will this affect what he's able to achieve, both in terms of what's happening in congress, and all the other issues that remain on the calendar? josh: it makes it even harder. his approval rating has been remarkably steady in the low 40's, high 30's. it has dipped a bit, and that's troubling to the extent that if you are trying to pass major legislation like tax reform that informs a lot of competing interests, it helps to have a popular president who can bring members of his party along. we saw trump failed to do that on health care, and i think having a low approval rating is going to make it more difficult to succeed on tax reform. coon -- inow carrie

is sitting next year. there's a big speech for the heritage foundation, the subject of which is taxes. the president has promised tweaks or changes to the framework in the white house laid out with other members of the big six. what can we expect from that speech tonight in washington? kevin: the president taking the push for tax reform on all fronts and you think we notice that a couple of weeks ago, the president speaking with the national association of manufacturers, he will be speaking a quorum hosted by the conservative heritage foundation and meanwhile, his top deputies and top folks working on tax reform are really going all in as well as vice president mike pence, really making the case to host conservative media outlets throughout the country, trying to motivate grassroots to put pressure on republicans and people like senator rand paul, who are still holding out on that political hurdle of passing

the budget this week. i think, when you also dig a little leverage here, the need further public and party to get something meaningful done by the new the year, the stakes continuing to raise increasingly on the president just the other day saying he is likely going to make some changes, some slight changes to the tax work that they had put out. edmund their strategy all along, to try to have those open negotiations with folks on capitol hill. the president is maybe meeting with some democrats tomorrow and they are still trying to pick one or two democratic senators for support on this. i can tell you sources in the house from caucus and told me they're not hopeful they're going to get any meaningful support from democrats, but even if they just get that handful, that would be enough. and give them that political little room, so to speak, should they lose some republicans on that front. shery: we just had republican

congressman leonard glenn young the program just a few minutes ago, and he told us he doesn't want to see any changes to the state and local tax reductions going forward. when president trump talks about minor adjustments to the tax framework, where could those come from? president trump is very adamant he wants to see the corporate tax rate reduced and that's nonnegotiable. which ones are the parts that are negotiable? kevin: he's drawn a political redline on the corporate tax rate. originally wanted it as low as 15% of sources i'm talking with saying he is not willing to budge on the rate that has been since put forward. in terms of where you could potentially see some negotiation , is on the number of tax brackets. my white house, according to reporting, is somewhat open to potentially perhaps adding a tax record two. -- tax bracket or two. at the end of the day, they want

to get them in meaningful done and i think they are all in in terms of making it happen by the end of the year. josh green, who is driving the conversation about tax reform? hatch is putting pen to paper and running a draft of this legislation. what role of a playing with the white house and who should be in the lead and he was in the vanguard right now is all this is taking place? josh: the white house that they are deferring to congress to do this. as the message we heard from mitch mcconnell yesterday. the difficulty is that trump isn't leaving the loan to write the legislation because he is weighing in and saying i want the rate to be 20%. that poses for republicans in congress is that you need to find a way to pay for it. is of border adjustment tax was knocked idea over the summer -- knocked down over the summer. now the state and local tax reduction is getting pushed back from a blue state or high tax, may not be able to

swallow that. unless you can find it big pay for comments when be difficult to get the number down to 20%. if president trump isn't willing to yield an middle of that rise higher, it is an immediately clear how republicans are going to be able to close that gap. shery: we have a lot of noise coming out of the white house, coming through the white house, just all around. we just heard today that the white house is presenting more detailed information. i'm going to stop right there, we are seeing president trump and the greek prime minister headed to the podium. let's listen in to the conference. trump: i just want to make the initial, that the stock market just hit an all-time record high, it broke for the first time ever 23,000, so we're happy about that. i hope that greece is going to be doing the same thing very soon. i think they will. welcome prime minister severus -- prime

minister alexis tsipras. man, we areial grateful to the prime minister at his entire delegation for visiting us today at the white house. greece is a cradle of western civilization, so true, of democracy, literature, philosophy, science, and so much else. america looks on that glorious heritage with wonder and with awe. you do indeed have a tremendous heritage, mr. prime minister. reason,for this america's friendship with the greek people has been long and enduring. thomas jefferson wrote at the dawn of the modern greek state that no people sympathize more with great patriots and none offer more sincere and ardent prayers to heaven for the success than the american people. jeffers's words are true to this day, mr. prime minister, i'm prd to work that this past

march, we celebrated greek independence day right here at the white house. that was great. america and greece drawn this common history and heritage, and our people's abiding commitment to freedom and sovereignty, and working together on great challenges and opportunities, now, before us, there are tremendous opportunities in so many different ways. the prime minister and i have just concluded a very productive discussion on the cooperation between our two countries, including on matters of defense, energy, commerce, and trade. i want to thank the prime minister and the greek people for serving as gracious host to our u.s. .orces i commend greece for wanting -- for being one of the few nato countries currently spending at on defense.gdp my administration has also

informed congress the potential sale to greece, to upgrade its f-16 aircraft, this agreement to strengthen the hellenic air force is worth up to $2.4 billion and would generate thousands of american jobs. we also are making great strides in our economic cooperation. the american people stand with the greek people, as they recover from the economic crisis that recently afflicted the nation. i'm encouraged the prime minister to continue implementation of reform, and reform programs. i have totally reaffirmed our support for a responsible debt relief plan. greeceg and flourishing provides immense opportunity for american trade, investment, and job creation. i think the prime minister, his predecessors, and the greek people in their efforts to return stability and prosperity to greece.

on energy, we appreciate greek contributions to european energy security through its support of the trans-adriatic pipeline. the greece bulgaria inner connector and liquefied natural gas facilities that are capable of transporting diverse sources of energy to europe, including potential liquefied natural gas exports from the united states, of which that particular route and businesses getting bigger and bigger, as you know. these initiatives make both our people safer and create good jobs for hard-working citizens. finally, i'm also very proud of the united states will be the honored country at next years international fair in greece. this historic business and trade exhibition will showcase american technology, enterprise integration -- enterprise and innovation. we look forward to sending a high-level delegation to attend this wonderful event.

minister, thank you again for being here today and for your partnership in addressing critical issues facing our countries. i look forward to having many productive discussions with you, and to having a very close and warm cooperation on a wide range of shared objectives. we will build upon our foundation of shared history and shared values to pursue a future of security, prosperity, and peace for both your nation and hours. mr. prime minister, thank you very much. prime minister tsipras: [speaking through translator] and for his very reductive discussions we had today. the friendship between our two is very strong and

it's based on a common democratic priiples. on the vals that we jointly share as peoples. foundersrect that the of the united states were inspired by ancient greece, and the greek revolution was inspired by the american revolution. the same time, our relationship is based -- is also based on a aspera -- dicee .or -- diaspora the u.s. greek relationships may be at their best compared to the worldsince the second war, when her people's work together and fought together, shoulder to shoulder against fascism. i do believe there are many reasons for this.

today, our strategy is based on mutual respect, and it has fed by the significant support divided by the u.s. to greece, and to the greek people during the hard times of economic crisis. greece for the exit of from crisis. at this point, i would like to focus. greece today phil three basic objectives was to not only relate to greece. i would say that are of special significance and international level. first, it is dynamic coming out of a crisis. noting wonderful growth rates and it is beginning to attract investment and increase its fromts, as we see as well the greek u.s. balance of trade.

leaving behind not only crisis, but leaving behind the economic model that led to the crisis. today is the most significant power of security and cooperation in one of the most important, but the same time, unstable, sensitive areas of the planet. dynamic,with a multidimensional foreign policy, it a country which is a reliable partner and ally of the united states, which fulfills its nato obligations and in close cooperation with the united states. which maintains dialogue with turkey despite the difficulties that we face. knowingchallenges, but the very important european course of turkey, it's a country

also that promotes cooperation in the balkans, which security of the area. being already pretty strong and maritime is gradually becoming a significant crossroads for transportation and energy. i would like to mention the completion of the top pipeline in the easement pipeline agreements. station ining lng and prospectece, that alexander's will be an area where we can receive exports and imports from the united states fracking. theuld like to mention

ports and the promotion of strong and fast real connections . in this context, it's very clear that our strategic cooperation with united states is becoming more important than ever. forward,all, we look because we look forward, this is a significant message of my visit here and my meeting with economic representatives. we look forward to attracting u.s. investment. the more substantial support of the u.s. in our efforts to exit this horrible crisis. the fact that the united states will be the honored country in 2018 and the international fair will play a significant role to this end. second, because greece can creatingynamically ability of similar insecurity, only if it is freed from the concerns innational

the areas of security and defense. has aited states significant role to play in this matter. not only the diplomatic, but also the fence section. we look forward to a fair and viable solution based on the decisions of the un security council, a solution for the benefit of all without guarantors were occupying that will bring new perspective to the area. at the same time, we're underlying that the dangerous presence of type turkey in the aegean must end. it undermines on a daily basis the relationship between two broader -- in a

greece is a country that always open to that, but it will always protect, decisively, its sovereignt cms andcit disputes. i would like to warmly thank president trump for the wonderful discussions we had, which i believe will give a very substantial push to the existing dynamic cooperations and i believe that i said that we between therkgroup ministers of economy, and secretaries economy so we can monitor the ability to have a substantial cooperation in investment, economy, and in all sectors. thank you very much. president trump: we will take a few questions.

>> thank you, mr. president. good to see you. i've a question for the prime said obamacare is your plans forin gran cassidy have not been able to get off the ground in the senate. we've been kicking around the edges with executive orders, some of which critics say are helping to destroy obamacare. and wondering if this point, what is your health care plan? president trump: if you look at insurance companies and music go strong look at the numbers, you will seeince t formation of obamacare, they are a 400%, forward 50%, 250%, 300%. they made a fortune, insurance companies. when i knocked out the hundreds of millions of dollars a month being paid back to the insurance

companies by politicians, i must want me toey continue to pay this, i said i'm not going to do it. this is money to go to the insurance companies. we had an incredible run. i'm concerned it really is dead, i predict a that a long time ago. it's a concept that doesn't work. we are very close. we feel we have the votes and we really feel we have the votes to get block grants into the states where the states can much better manage this money, and much better take care of the people, rather than the federal government, the state block grants, we will do massive block grant into various states so the states can run the program. we feel we have the votes and we're going to be doing that after the taxes. in the meantime, we are involved with the budget