{"id":4362,"date":"2020-05-06T12:01:16","date_gmt":"2020-05-06T16:01:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.indianz.com\/covid19\/?p=4362"},"modified":"2020-05-06T12:01:16","modified_gmt":"2020-05-06T16:01:16","slug":"white-house-roundtable-discussion-on-supporting-native-americans","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/indianz.com\/covid19\/2020\/05\/06\/white-house-roundtable-discussion-on-supporting-native-americans\/","title":{"rendered":"White House: Roundtable Discussion on Supporting Native Americans"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"embed-responsive  embed-responsive-16by9\"><div class=\"iframe-container\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" class=\"embed-responsive-item\"   title=\"President Trump Participates in a Roundtable Discussion on Supporting Native Americans\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/HAJoTeBntz4?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/div><\/div>\n<h1 class=\"page-header__title\">Remarks by President Trump in Roundtable Discussion on Supporting Native Americans | Phoenix, AZ<\/h1>\n<p><em>Note: Transcript provided by White House<\/em><\/p>\n<p>Honeywell International Inc.<br \/>\nPhoenix, Arizona<\/p>\n<p>2:27 P.M. MST<\/p>\n<p>PRESIDENT TRUMP: Well, thank you very much. We very much appreciate this time, and I\u2019m with some very good friends. We\u2019ve been friends for a long time. And we\u2019re working together very closely.<\/p>\n<p>I\u2019m honored to be with you today to discuss the unprecedented actions my administration has taken to support our treasured Native American communities. Together, we\u2019re fighting for everybody, but we\u2019re fighting this horrible coronavirus. It\u2019s a tough opponent, but we\u2019re winning and we\u2019re starting to see our country come back. It\u2019s been a very exciting few days. We\u2019re starting to see it all come back.<\/p>\n<p>We\u2019re improving the lives of Native American families and tribes more than any administration has done by far.<\/p>\n<p>We\u2019re grateful to be joined by Governor Doug Ducey. And thank you very much, Doug, for being with us.<\/p>\n<p>GOVERNOR DUCEY: Thank you, Mr. President.<\/p>\n<p>PRESIDENT TRUMP: Secretary Eugene Scalia. Thank you, Eugene.<\/p>\n<p>SECRETARY SCALIA: My pleasure.<\/p>\n<p>PRESIDENT TRUMP: Senator Martha McSally, who\u2019s doing very well. I hear things are very good. You\u2019re doing great. Thank you, Martha.<\/p>\n<p>Vice President of Naho- \u2014 Navajo Nation, Myron Liz- \u2014 Lizer. And \u2014 and, by the way, we appreciate it very much. And you know there is two ways of saying that name. They told me outside, but I always think of it as \u201cLezer.\u201d So how do you like it? How do you like it?<\/p>\n<p>VICE PRESIDENT LIZER: Lizer.<\/p>\n<p>PRESIDENT TRUMP: That\u2019s what I thought. Okay. Thanks, Myron, very much. And Second Lady, thank you very much for being here. We really, really appreciate it.<\/p>\n<p>The Navajo Nation has been very special to a lot of people. And it\u2019s certainly been very special to the state. And the relationship, Doug, I think is extraordinary, isn\u2019t it \u2014<\/p>\n<p>GOVERNOR DUCEY: (Inaudible.)<\/p>\n<p>PRESIDENT TRUMP: \u2014 when you get right down to it. So thank you very much and we very much appreciate it.<\/p>\n<p>Native Americans have been hit hard by the terrible pandemic. Over 2,000 members of the Navajo Nation have tested positive for the coronavirus. And tragically, more than 70 have lost their lives.<\/p>\n<p>How is it looking right now? How is it doing?<\/p>\n<p>VICE PRESIDENT LIZER: Well, the numbers are still rising. We\u2019re hoping it flattens. Our health professionals have said that the peak will be in mid-May. And it\u2019s kind of uncanny and it\u2019s fallen that \u2014 that way. So 2,400 infected; it was 73 that have succumbed. And that\u2019s too many.<\/p>\n<p>PRESIDENT TRUMP: That\u2019s a lot. Mitigation-wise, you\u2019re doing what?<\/p>\n<p>VICE PRESIDENT LIZER: We have shut down the \u2014 enacted a 57-hour curfew over the weekend. Our people love to travel out to the border towns off the reservation.<\/p>\n<p>Recently, the National Guard came in and shut down Gal- \u2014 under a new mayor leadership in Gallup, New Mexico. So they\u2019ve been on lockdown for five, six days now. And so that\u2019s helped. But our people are readily going to other border towns, like<br \/>\nFlagstaff and Farmington, New Mexico. So I think the super majority are obeying and staying home.<\/p>\n<p>PRESIDENT TRUMP: But what we\u2019re doing, you know, we\u2019re bringing these two \u2014 these are very hard to come by, because they\u2019re very popular. This is done by Abbott Laboratories. And we\u2019re bringing them for you. And these are the quick tests, and they\u2019re very accurate and very fast.<\/p>\n<p>VICE PRESIDENT LIZER: Yes.<\/p>\n<p>PRESIDENT TRUMP: So we\u2019re doing that. I think we have a thousand cartridges, too. A thousand for a thousand tests. So hopefully that\u2019ll be \u2014 that\u2019ll be helpful to you. Okay?<\/p>\n<p>VICE PRESIDENT LIZER: Yes. Every little bit helps.<\/p>\n<p>PRESIDENT TRUMP: We appreciate it because you\u2019ve done a fantastic job. You\u2019ve been great friends.<\/p>\n<p>Native Americans have been hit hard by this terrible pandemic. Over 2,000 members of the Navajo Nation have really \u2014 I mean, it\u2019s been incredible what\u2019s taken place, and there\u2019s nothing we can say. But the coronavirus is tragically \u2014 as you just said, 70 people lost their lives.<\/p>\n<p>The administration is deploying the full resources of the federal government to support and protect our Native American communities in this very grave time of need. And I know that \u2014 I think I can speak very strongly for Martha and for the governor: We\u2019re full hands on deck. And you\u2019re working very hard. I know that, Doug. Very, very hard. And even Department of Labor, it\u2019s \u2014 it\u2019s been \u2014 it\u2019s been working very hard with everybody that\u2019s in this room and everybody that\u2019s \u2014 that needs to be. Right?<\/p>\n<p>Anything you\u2019d have to say, by the way, Gene, while you\u2019re here? Please.<\/p>\n<p>SECRETARY SCALIA: It\u2019s a pleasure to be here. It\u2019s wonderful being on the road again, as you know, Mr. President. And then great being in Arizona, which is such a spectacular state. And the Native American communities here are such a great part of the state and really our nation and our nation\u2019s heritage. So, it\u2019s so good to be here.<\/p>\n<p>I know, Mr. President, you have an important announcement to make today about the additional things we\u2019re doing to help these tribal governments. And we\u2019re certainly doing all we can at the Labor Department to implement the legislation that you signed, that you got enacted so incredibly quickly. People forget: three weeks in March, three major pieces of legislation \u2014 with paid leave, with unemployment benefits, and with the Paycheck Protection Program \u2014 to put us in position to get going again. And now, Governor Ducey and I were just talking about it, we\u2019re reopening. And it\u2019s \u2014 it\u2019s a wonderful thing to see.<\/p>\n<p>I think we\u2019re well positioned. And I think, Mr. President, with your leadership, we\u2019re going to get back to where we were. Just a few weeks ago, things were going so well. And we\u2019ll get there.<\/p>\n<p>We had a nice conversation \u2014 the governor, the Vice President, the Second Lady, and I \u2014 a little while ago, talking about some of the things we\u2019re doing at the Department. I mentioned these dislocated worker grants that are made available also to tribal governments. So I urge you to look into that and see if we can help you with those, too.<\/p>\n<p>PRESIDENT TRUMP: And I\u2019d like to introduce also, the governor, Stephen Lewis, who\u2019s been terrific and working with us very hard. Thank you very much, Stephen. That\u2019s fantastic. We appreciate it very much.<\/p>\n<p>How is it going?<\/p>\n<p>GOVERNOR LEWIS: Well, it\u2019s, you know, going to a point where we\u2019re trying to keep up above \u2014 beyond the curve as well. We\u2019re located just not far from here \u2014 our traditional lands and our reservation land base.<\/p>\n<p>PRESIDENT TRUMP: That\u2019s Gila. Gila River.<\/p>\n<p>GOVERNOR LEWIS: Gila River. Gila River, home to one of the flag raisers of \u2014 on Mount Suribachi. Ira Hayes.<\/p>\n<p>PRESIDENT TRUMP: Right.<\/p>\n<p>GOVERNOR LEWIS: And \u2014<\/p>\n<p>PRESIDENT TRUMP: That\u2019s beautiful territory, isn\u2019t it?<\/p>\n<p>GOVERNOR LEWIS: It is. It is. Thank you. Thank you, President.<\/p>\n<p>PRESIDENT TRUMP: But it\u2019s \u2014 how are you \u2014 how are you doing, in terms of the amount? What are your numbers now? As of today, what are your numbers?<\/p>\n<p>GOVERNOR LEWIS: Our numbers: We\u2019re \u2014 we\u2019ve tested over 1,000. We\u2019ve had about \u2014 just over 1,100 tests. We\u2019ve had one fatality. We have 44 positive tests. Our tribal community is around 23,000 members. So, we are keeping ahead of the curve. But, I know testing is a big issue. And also thank you for working with your administration on getting one of the Abbott analyzers as well.<\/p>\n<p>PRESIDENT TRUMP: Right.<\/p>\n<p>GOVERNOR LEWIS: We were one of the first tribes to get one as well. And then also, working with Governor Ducey, getting five ventilators as well.<\/p>\n<p>PRESIDENT TRUMP: That\u2019s right.<\/p>\n<p>GOVERNOR LEWIS: We run our own healthcare, independent of the Indian Health Service \u2014 Gila River Health Care.<\/p>\n<p>PRESIDENT TRUMP: That\u2019s great.<\/p>\n<p>GOVERNOR LEWIS: And so we have hired our own doctors. We put our own community\u2019s members to work and from other tribes as well. And so we\u2019re taking care of our own tribal members on this. We have \u2014 really, we have an incident command that we\u2019ve started as well. All of our departments are collaborating for one purpose, and that\u2019s to keep our community members safe, Mr. President.<\/p>\n<p>PRESIDENT TRUMP: That\u2019s fantastic. Good. And you\u2019ll have the ventilators very soon I know, right?<\/p>\n<p>GOVERNOR LEWIS: Yes, sir.<\/p>\n<p>PRESIDENT TRUMP: Knowing Doug. They\u2019re good ventilators too, aren\u2019t they?<\/p>\n<p>GOVERNOR DUCEY: Yes.<\/p>\n<p>PRESIDENT TRUMP: Right? They\u2019re really good.<\/p>\n<p>Weeks ago, I signed the CARES Act, which includes $8 billion to help tribal governments. And I want to thank Senator McSally for fighting hard to get those funds and get them here and get them to a lot of different people all over the country, including to the folks in this room. So I want to thank you, Martha. You\u2019ve done a fantastic job.<\/p>\n<p>SENATOR MCSALLY: Thank you.<\/p>\n<p>PRESIDENT TRUMP: You really have.<\/p>\n<p>This is the single largest investment in Indian country in our history. So the amount of money that\u2019s being sent to \u201cIndian country,\u201d as we call it, is the largest amount in the history of the U.S. And you deserve it. And you\u2019ve been through a lot. The Navajo Nation will soon receive over $600 million. That\u2019s a lot. Should I renegotiate that? Can we renegotiate that? (Laughter.) I don\u2019t think so.<\/p>\n<p>VICE PRESIDENT LIZER: Only if we go up.<\/p>\n<p>PRESIDENT TRUMP: (Laughs.) He said, \u201cOnly if you go up.\u201d I understand. I\u2019ve heard that before.<\/p>\n<p>The Gila River will receive, and \u2014 and I think you probably know all about this, but we\u2019re giving you some information: $40 million. And you\u2019re going to use that very well. I know that because I know you. You\u2019re going to be given $40 million in initial funds to help protect their citizens from the scourge, from the plague, from what we\u2019re all fighting in this country. Should have never happened. Should have been contained from where it came.<\/p>\n<p>Since I took office, my administration has also worked to repatriate precious Native American artifacts, to protect children in the care of the Indian Health and Indian Health Service, and to make eagle remains more easily accessible for cultural and religious purposes, and to highlight the contributions of Native American veterans throughout the history of our nation.<\/p>\n<p>So you know all those elements. And the eagle remains is a very important thing to you, right?<\/p>\n<p>VICE PRESIDENT LIZER: Yes, sir.<\/p>\n<p>PRESIDENT TRUMP: Very important. Yeah. That\u2019s great. That\u2019s great.<\/p>\n<p>Last year, I signed the first presidential proclamation recognizing the tragedy of missing and murdered American Indians and Alaska Natives. We also launched Operation Lady Justice and provided $273 million to improve public safety in Native American tribal communities.<\/p>\n<p>At the end of this event, I will once again sign a proclamation recognizing Missing and Murdered American Indians and Alaska Native Awareness Day. It\u2019s been a tremendous problem: missing and murdered American Indians. It\u2019s been a tre- \u2014 could you discuss that for a second, please?<\/p>\n<p>VICE PRESIDENT LIZER: I don\u2019t want to steal our Second Lady\u2019s thunder here. She\u2019s been \u2014<\/p>\n<p>PRESIDENT TRUMP: Good. I\u2019d like to have the Second Lady \u2014 go ahead, please.<\/p>\n<p>SECOND LADY LIZER: Yeah, well, we\u2019re \u2014 Navajo Nation has been really hit hard by missing and murdered indigenous women.<\/p>\n<p>PRESIDENT TRUMP: Right.<\/p>\n<p>SECOND LADY LIZER: You know, it seems to be a growing \u2014 a growing issue that\u2019s been happening with Navajo. And so we \u2014 you know, with the Ashlynne Mike case that came up in 2016, where she was kidnapped and raped and murdered in Shiprock, New Mexico \u2014 May 2, 2016. So that\u2019s kind of what opened the door for Navajo to start saying, \u201cOkay, we need to do something,\u201d because that became the forefront.<\/p>\n<p>And so, since then, the amber alert on Navajo Nation has gotten better but still needs help with funding, still needs help with getting the data together. Our First Lady, Phefelia Nez, is also part of the New Mexico task force that\u2019s getting together data.<\/p>\n<p>And so we\u2019re just really needing help in that \u2014 in that sense. And so we don\u2019t want to lose any more of our \u2014 our native sisters, our native mothers. And so the cry is \u2014 is, you know, to get the awareness out, because a lot of people don\u2019t know of the missing and murdered indigenous women and girls. And now it\u2019s hitting the LGBTQ community. And so we just want to make that aware and known that, hey, you know, we\u2019re \u2014 we\u2019re waving our arms here.<\/p>\n<p>You know, I think there is a movie that came out with native women that have been \u2014<\/p>\n<p>PRESIDENT TRUMP: Yeah, that\u2019s right.<\/p>\n<p>SECOND LADY LIZER: \u2014 murdered and missing. And so it hit \u2014 it hits close to home because we have a close family member, Patricia Platero, that went missing in 2015. They found her two months later, murdered in Albuquerque, New Mexico. And so her case still remains unsolved.<\/p>\n<p>We got to Tamicka Platero who is from Little \u2014 Little Water, New Mexico, who went missing November 25, 2019, and is still missing.<\/p>\n<p>And \u2014 and so we have these girls out there that are missing and we don\u2019t know. And, you know, there\u2019s that jurisdiction \u2014<\/p>\n<p>PRESIDENT TRUMP: So this has been far disproportionate to other people in other areas of the country, what you \u2014 what you\u2019ve gone through. I mean, I\u2019ve been hearing about this for a long time.<\/p>\n<p>SECOND LADY LIZER: Yes.<\/p>\n<p>PRESIDENT TRUMP: For years and years. This has been for many years, for many decades, right?<\/p>\n<p>SECOND LADY LIZER: Yes. Yes.<\/p>\n<p>PRESIDENT TRUMP: Disproportionate.<\/p>\n<p>VICE PRESIDENT LIZER: Disproportionate, yes.<\/p>\n<p>PRESIDENT TRUMP: Well, $273 million \u2014 a lot of that\u2019s going to go toward trying to solve that problem. It\u2019s a problem that can be solved.<\/p>\n<p>VICE PRESIDENT LIZER: Thank you, Mr. President.<\/p>\n<p>SECOND LADY LIZER: Thank you, Mr. President.<\/p>\n<p>PRESIDENT TRUMP: But I know you\u2019re going to use it well.<\/p>\n<p>SECOND LADY LIZER: Yes.<\/p>\n<p>PRESIDENT TRUMP: And you\u2019ll figure it out, right?<\/p>\n<p>SECOND LADY LIZER: Yes.<\/p>\n<p>PRESIDENT TRUMP: It\u2019s a horrible \u2014 it\u2019s a horrible thing. So New Mexico versus Arizona. What \u2014 tell me, because we\u2019re here. Where \u2014 where are you going to be \u2014 where \u2014 where\u2019s the problem worse: New Mexico or Arizona?<\/p>\n<p>SECOND LADY LIZER: Well, Navajo Nation spans Utah, New Mexico, and Arizona. And so, you know, I think all of us working collaboratively, that\u2019s going to really help, you know. Because sometimes we get misclassified; we may get misclassified as Hispanic. And so \u2014 I think there was a Hopi girl that had been murdered here in Phoenix, and they classified her as Hispanic.<\/p>\n<p>And so \u2014 so a lot of times, you know, the people don\u2019t know. So I think with the more talks out there, that people will, you know, start to understand \u2014<\/p>\n<p>PRESIDENT TRUMP: Is there a certain area, though \u2014 you have the four states \u2014 is there a certain area where the problem is exacerbated or worse? Or is it evenly spread?<\/p>\n<p>SECOND LADY LIZER: Well, it\u2019s \u2014 I think it\u2019s just all Indian country. You know \u2014<\/p>\n<p>PRESIDENT TRUMP: It\u2019s Indian country.<\/p>\n<p>SECOND LADY LIZER: \u2014 Indian country, whether it\u2019s Alaskan Native or Navajo or Hopi or Gila River. You know, it\u2019s \u2014 it\u2019s \u2014<\/p>\n<p>PRESIDENT TRUMP: Yeah.<\/p>\n<p>SECOND LADY LIZER: \u2014 all over.<\/p>\n<p>PRESIDENT TRUMP: It\u2019s a very big problem in Alaska.<\/p>\n<p>VICE PRESIDENT LIZER: Mr. President, if I could add to that. Just recently, in Farmington, New Mexico, there was an Anglo woman who was abducted. And I\u2019m most certain she came across the Navajo Nation and was found murdered in Flags- \u2014 near Flagstaff, Arizona. And so I think it just speaks largely to the lack of public safety officers in such a vast land the size of West Virginia.<\/p>\n<p>PRESIDENT TRUMP: It is a vast \u2014 yeah, it\u2019s a vast land.<\/p>\n<p>VICE PRESIDENT LIZER: So not only Navajo and others, but there\u2019s just an area that, I guess, because there\u2019s not as many public safety, that you get those kinds of \u2014<\/p>\n<p>PRESIDENT TRUMP: Well, I\u2019m going to be signing something in a couple of moments, and I hope it helps a lot. Not just a little bit, a lot.<\/p>\n<p>SECOND LADY LIZER: Yes. Yes.<\/p>\n<p>PRESIDENT TRUMP: And I think you\u2019ll do a fantastic job. I know you\u2019re going to be watching it personally.<\/p>\n<p>VICE PRESIDENT LIZER: Yes.<\/p>\n<p>PRESIDENT TRUMP: And between the three of you and everyone else that I know so well, I think you\u2019re going to do a great job. And so, go get them.<\/p>\n<p>SECOND LADY LIZER: Thank you, Mr. President.<\/p>\n<p>PRESIDENT TRUMP: Go do the job. I\u2019d like to maybe finish off with the governor. A great governor. You\u2019re doing a phenomenal job. What do you have to say, Doug?<\/p>\n<p>GOVERNOR DUCEY: Well, my \u2014 my mic, thankfully, is working. First, I want to say thank you, Mr. President. We\u2019re \u2014 we\u2019re thrilled that you\u2019re back in Arizona, especially to talk these specific tribal issues.<\/p>\n<p>I want to say to Second Lady Lizer, to Vice President Lizer, to \u2014 to Governor Lewis: This focus that we\u2019ve had on our tribal nations, first and foremost around the coronavirus \u2014 with a special shoutout to Senator McSally, who advocated for these ventilators that were so needed on Navajo Nation. Please extend my \u2014 my best to \u2014 to President Nez.<\/p>\n<p>And I\u2019m \u2014 I\u2019m so grateful, Mr. President that you took a personal interest in getting these ventilators to Navajo Nation. And I\u2019m \u2014 I\u2019m proud, Mr. Secretary, in Arizona, our \u2014 our legislature, both Democrat and Republican, last year signed HB 2570.<\/p>\n<p>And, Second Lady Lizer, I want to give a \u2014 a personal thank you to you. This was the bill to address missing and murdered indigenous people. And what we hope to do in Arizona is to reduce and eliminate this scourge that we have on our native nations. And in Arizona, we have 22 tribal nations and 75 percent of the Navajo people reside in the state of Arizona. So that was a positive thing that we could get done last year.<\/p>\n<p>And, Governor Lewis, I want to say to you: Another positive thing in addition to the HB 2570 that we passed that was also unanimous was the Drought Contingency Plan to address Arizona\u2019s water future. You were a real leader on that, and for that I\u2019m grateful.<\/p>\n<p>Thank you for being here to celebrate these accomplishments, Mr. President.<\/p>\n<p>PRESIDENT TRUMP: Well, thank you very much. And, you know, one of the other accomplishments we have is \u2014 in Arizona and a lot of other states \u2014 we\u2019re building a wall. And you\u2019re finally getting what you need.<\/p>\n<p>And interestingly, California is calling because, in a \u2014 bordering towns, as you know, in Mexico, they have a very big outbreak of the coronavirus. And California is calling saying, \u201cYou got to help us.\u201d Those are not calls that the media knows about, but that\u2019s the facts.<\/p>\n<p>And in Tijuana, right along the border, they have a tremendous outbreak. And we have just completed 172 miles of wall. And it\u2019s real wall, not the kind you were having built over the years that were sort of scoffed at, right?<\/p>\n<p>And we\u2019ve done a lot in Arizona, and the people are letting us know. They\u2019re so happy. They\u2019re so thrilled about it. It\u2019s made a tremendous difference.<\/p>\n<p>And we\u2019ve had one of the best months ever, in the history of our country, for not having people come in that we don\u2019t want \u2014 that we don\u2019t want in our country. We want to have the people that come in the right way.<\/p>\n<p>So you see the numbers. The numbers are about the best we\u2019ve ever had in the history of the country. So \u2014 so it\u2019s good, but we\u2019re getting that done. I guess you see \u2014 do you see where they\u2019re doing it?<\/p>\n<p>GOVERNOR DUCEY: Yes.<\/p>\n<p>PRESIDENT TRUMP: Yeah, it\u2019s been a big \u2014 it\u2019s a big thing. A hundred and \u2014 we\u2019re up to 172 miles. We\u2019ll have it completed early next year. So it\u2019s been \u2014 it\u2019s been something.<\/p>\n<p>Okay, I\u2019m going to sign this. I want to just congratulate you, Myron.<\/p>\n<p>VICE PRESIDENT LIZER: Yes, sir. Thank you.<\/p>\n<p>PRESIDENT TRUMP: I want to congratulate you, Second Lady. That\u2019s so fantastic.<\/p>\n<p>SECOND LADY LIZER: Thank you.<\/p>\n<p>PRESIDENT TRUMP: And I want to congratulate you for \u2014 also, because I\u2019ve \u2014 I\u2019ve been in that vicinity. And it\u2019s one of the most beautiful places you can imagine. So congratulations very much.<\/p>\n<p>(The proclamation is signed.)<\/p>\n<p>Thank you, Stephen. (Applause.)<\/p>\n<p>Okay.<\/p>\n<p>Q Mr. President, what are your thoughts on winding down the \u2014<\/p>\n<p>PRESIDENT TRUMP: Wait one second, please.<\/p>\n<p>Q \u2014 Coronavirus Task Force?<\/p>\n<p>PRESIDENT TRUMP: One second, Jim.<\/p>\n<p>Q Yes, sir. Oh, sorry.<\/p>\n<p>PRESIDENT TRUMP: Okay? I want to make sure they \u2014 everybody looks good, except me. (Laughter.) I\u2019m going to hand this to \u2014 I\u2019m going to hand this to the Second Lady. Okay? If you don\u2019t mind.<\/p>\n<p>SECOND LADY LIZER: Thank you, sir, Mr. President.<\/p>\n<p>GOVERNOR LEWIS: Mr. President, I want to thank you.<\/p>\n<p>PRESIDENT TRUMP: Yeah, go ahead. Please.<\/p>\n<p>GOVERNOR LEWIS: I want to thank you again. I\u2019m wearing \u2014<\/p>\n<p>PRESIDENT TRUMP: Yeah, Stephen, go ahead.<\/p>\n<p>GOVERNOR LEWIS: I\u2019m wearing my red ribbon in remembrance of this significant moment for missing and murdered Native Americans.<\/p>\n<p>And again, I want to thank you for making such an announcement today, and for signing an important document to commemorate the National Day of Awareness.<\/p>\n<p>And I know that your administration also made another very important announcement today regarding the Coronavirus Relief Fund. And thank you for that, and to take a few moments to comment about that as well.<\/p>\n<p>I want to thank, of course, Governor Ducey and Senator McSally for advocating and for making sure that this is getting out to \u2014 to the \u2014 to Indian country \u2014 these much-needed resources as well. And, you know, so today your administration made a significant impact across Indian country. And I want to thank you for getting some of the money out today.<\/p>\n<p>I want to thank you also, because we need help now. Indian tribes can\u2019t wait for that litigation to end before additional payments are made to us from the fund. And if you can, please direct Treasury to make these payments as soon as possible.<\/p>\n<p>And three, you know, we need to spread the limited resources currently available as far as we can, and to avoid allocating to a very few tribes and under-allocating to most others. And this means that you should include a limit or cap on the total funding any one tribe receives.<\/p>\n<p>And we need to have flexible guidance to allow us to use the funds we do to receive \u2014 that we receive to keep our governments running, Mr. President. And the current fund of $8 billion is going to be woefully inadequate to meet our \u2014 our overall needs. And we really need to work \u2014 we will work with Senator McSally and your administration to take this to the next level.<\/p>\n<p>And I look forward to working with Senator McSally, with the \u2014 your Chief of Staff Meadows, Congress, and your administration on the next relief bill, Mr. President \u2014 thank you \u2014 to make sure that your investments in Indian country are going where they are needed the most. And in a way, that shows that our governments and our economic entities can be part of that recovery that we are talking about here that will be critical as we come out of this crisis and rebuild our tribal state and national economy together with Indian country included, Mr. President.<\/p>\n<p>I always end my \u2014 my video messages to my community members: We\u2019re all in this together \u2014<\/p>\n<p>PRESIDENT TRUMP: That\u2019s right.<\/p>\n<p>GOVERNOR LEWIS: \u2014 and to continue to be Gila River strong. And I think that is how that we can continue to be Gila River strong and to strengthen all tribal nations moving forward, Mr. President.<\/p>\n<p>PRESIDENT TRUMP: That\u2019s great.<\/p>\n<p>GOVERNOR LEWIS: Thank you.<\/p>\n<p>PRESIDENT TRUMP: Thank you very much, Stephen. I appreciate it. And I have to say, Myron Lizer and I have dealt, and we\u2019ve \u2014 our people have dealt together very closely, and the Second Lady. And a lot of progress has been made, and we\u2019ll continue to make a lot of progress. I think you\u2019ll see that. And I think you\u2019re going to see it not only here, but in the future.<\/p>\n<p>Thank you very much, and I appreciate it very much. Thank you. Thank you, Governor. Thank you.<\/p>\n<p>GOVERNOR LEWIS: Thank you, Mr. President.<\/p>\n<p>PRESIDENT TRUMP: And I don\u2019t have to thank you. You\u2019re with the administration. (Laughter.) He has good genes, though. You know, he\u2019s got good genes, right? The Scalia genes. (Laughter.) You don\u2019t get better than that, do you?<\/p>\n<p>SECRETARY SCALIA: They\u2019re good. They\u2019re good.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Transcript of the Native American roundtable with President Donald Trump on May 5, 2020.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[12,37,474,475,476,166,199,8,28],"class_list":["post-4362","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-institutions","tag-arizona","tag-donald-trump","tag-dottie-lizer","tag-doug-ducey","tag-eugene-scalia","tag-gila-river","tag-myron-lizer","tag-navajo","tag-white-house"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/indianz.com\/covid19\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4362","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/indianz.com\/covid19\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/indianz.com\/covid19\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/indianz.com\/covid19\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/indianz.com\/covid19\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4362"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/indianz.com\/covid19\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4362\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4364,"href":"https:\/\/indianz.com\/covid19\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4362\/revisions\/4364"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/indianz.com\/covid19\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4362"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/indianz.com\/covid19\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4362"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/indianz.com\/covid19\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4362"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}