REMARKS
Remarks by President Trump and the First Lady in Memorial Day Address to Troops Aboard the USS Wasp
NATIONAL SECURITY & DEFENSE
Issued on: May 28, 2019
Yokosuka Naval Base
Yokosuka, Japan
11:26 A.M. JST
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I would like to know all of the folks that know exactly what Im talking about, the catapult system steam or electric?
Ready? Steam. (Applause.) Electric.
AUDIENCE MEMBERS: Yeah! (Laughter.)
PRESIDENT TRUMP: He works for the enemy. (Laughter.) Hes all right. Well ooh, you might be in danger. I better be careful. (Laughter.)
No, we want to go with steam. You know, theyre always coming up with new ideas. Theyre making planes so complex you cant fly them. (Laughter.) You know that. No, its I really mean it. They want to show next, next, next. And we all want innovation, but its too much.
But theres never been anything like the steam catapults. And I went to the Gerald Ford, which is under construction now for a long time. Theyre having a problem with their electric catapult. And I was talking to the catapult people, and they said steam. In the meantime, were spending all that money on electric, and nobody knows what its going to be like in bad conditions. You understand.
So I think Im going to put an order. When we build a new aircraft carrier, were going to use steam. Im going to just put out an order: Were going to use steam. We dont need we dont need that extra speed. You know, they were saying one of the folks said, No, the electric works faster. But, sir, we can only get the plane there every couple of minutes. So, really, what they did was wrong.
And we make mistakes, but, generally speaking, we get it right. But when we make them, we have to correct it. So were going to put out an order: We want to use steam.
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