Dover Air Force Base
Dover, Delaware
2:38 P.M. EDT
Q Mr. President, will you deploy more U.S. troops to the Middle East?
THE PRESIDENT: No.
Q Mr. President, has Netanyahu gone too far?
Q Any comment on the strikes in Yemen, Mr. President?
THE PRESIDENT: Spoke with both sides at the outset of the strike. We support the collective bargaining effort. I think they'll settle the strike.
Q Are you going to talk to Netanyahu? Are you going to talk to Prime Minister Netanyahu? Do you have any- — anything to say to him?
THE PRESIDENT: Yes. I will be talking to him, and I'll tell you what I say to him when I talk to him.
Q Yes, sir.
Q Do you have any words for the victims of the hurricane?
THE PRESIDENT: Yes, it's tragic. As a matter of fact, they're trying to get the exact number. My FEMA adviser is on the ground in Florida right now. There's a distinction between the numbers that FEMA has used and the ones used by — by the locals.
So, it's — it really is amazing. You saw the photographs. It's stunning.
Q So many —
THE PRESIDENT: But — but it really is.
Q So many — so — such a wide area.
THE PRESIDENT: And we — we gave — are giving them all the — all — everything we have. Were on the ground ahead of time. So, we're working hard.
Q Are there any more resources the federal government could be giving them?
THE PRESIDENT: No. We've given them — we have preplanned a significant amount of it, even though they didn't ask for it yet — had — hadn't asked for it yet.
Q Mr. President, will you intervene in the dockworkers strike if they go on strike on Tuesday?
THE PRESIDENT: No.
Q Why not?
THE PRESIDENT: Because there's collective bargaining, and I don't believe in Taft-Hartley.
Q Can all-out — can an all-out war in the Middle East be avoided?
THE PRESIDENT: It has to be. We — we really have to avoid it.
We've already taken precautions relative to our embassies and personnel who want to leave, and — but we're not there yet, but we're working like hell with the French and many others to (inaudible).
Thank you.
Q Thank you, sir.
2:41 P.M. EDT
