The President today welcomed Prime Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen of Denmark to the White House for bilateral consultations and took a break for a few questions and photos and videos by the press.

Denmark is one of the closest allies of the United States, and the Prime Minister’s visit is a testament to the deep and enduring ties between the two countries. The meeting was an opportunity to mark the 100th anniversary of Denmark formally ceding the United States Virgin Islands to the United States on March 31, 1917. Although the United States and Denmark did not establish diplomatic relations until 1801, American revolutionaries used neutral Danish ports in the Virgin Islands to procure munitions during their struggle for independence.

In today’s meeting, the President and Prime Minister discussed their desire to see NATO strengthened to confront 21st century threats. The President urged the Prime Minister to work towards NATO’s benchmark of committing 2 percent of GDP to defense, and the Prime Minister underscored his intention to push for a substantial increase in defense spending in the coming years.

The President and Prime Minister agreed to continue leveraging our bilateral ties and relationships with Allies and partners to maintain security and stability in the Baltic Sea region and the Arctic. They also underscored the need to maintain momentum in the fight against ISIS. Denmark was one of the first countries to join the counter-ISIS coalition, offering F-16 fighter jets, military trainers, special operations forces, and humanitarian assistance to the effort. The leaders also discussed Afghanistan, where American and Danish soldiers have lost their lives fighting alongside one another since 2001.

The two leaders further addressed bilateral cooperation to create sustainable growth and jobs for American and Danish citizens. Both agreed that free and fair trade based on reciprocal opportunity should be the foundation for stronger transatlantic economic ties.

In the years ahead the United States and Denmark will continue to forge ahead side-by-side in pursuit of shared interests and linked by common values.

Remarks by President Trump in National Economic Council Listening Session with CEOs of Small and Community Banks.

Here is the transcript:
THE PRESIDENT: Thank you, everybody, very much. Good morning and I greatly appreciate you being here. We have some real experts with us and we have some great bankers with us.

Today’s discussion is crucial to my jobs agenda and to the American people. Community banks play a vital role in helping create jobs by providing approximately half of all loans to small businesses, and that’s been dwindling because the community banks have been in big trouble.

Nearly half of all private-sector workers are employed by small businesses. We must ensure access to capital. Small businesses — small businesses to grow. Community banks are the backbone of small business in America. We are going to preserve our community banks.

You probably know this — I signed an executive order on regulation on February 3rd, I believe it was. And that’s a big executive order, a very powerful executive order. It’s taking a lot of the regulation away. You’ll be able to loan. You’ll be able to be safe. But you’ll be able to provide the jobs that we want and also create great businesses.

So it’s an honor to have you with us today, and perhaps we could go around the room. And we’ll start with Dorothy, and say who you are and who you represent.

Go ahead, Dorothy.

MS. SAVARESE: Thank you, Mr. President. I’m Dorothy Savarese. I’m from Cape Cod Five Mutual Company on Cape Cod, Massachusetts.

MS. ANDERSEN: And I’m Leslie Andersen, and I’m with the Bank of Bennington in Bennington, Nebraska.

MR. ZIMMERMAN: Tim Zimmerman, Standard Bank in the suburbs of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

THE PRESIDENT: Great.

MS. ROMERO RAINEY: Rebeca Romero Rainey from Centinel Bank in beautiful Taos, New Mexico.

THE PRESIDENT: Very good.

MS. CUNDIFF: I’m Luanne Cundiff with First State Bank of St. Charles.

MR. Heitkamp: I’m Scott Heitkamp, ValueBank Texas in Corpus Christi, Texas.

THE PRESIDENT: Good. Thanks, Scott.

MS. STEWART: Laura Steward from the other Washington — Seattle. (Laughter.)

MR. SZYPERSKI: Jeff Szyperski from Chesapeake Bank from Kilmarnock, Virginia.

THE PRESIDENT: Good, thank you.

MR. BURGESS: And I’m Ken Burgess with FirstCapital Bank of Texas in Midland, Texas.

THE PRESIDENT: Good. Thank you.

Okay, thank you very much. Thank you.

Listen in to remarks made by President Trump in a Healthcare Discussion with Key House Committee Chairmen.