"We're working on CAFE (Corporate Average Fuel Economy) standards, environmental controls. We're working on how to build more cars in the United States. We have a great capacity for building. We're importing a lot of cars and we want a lot of those cars to be made in the United States. I think what we'll do just very quickly because we're represented by so much media will just run around the room real quickly and you can introduce yourself and the company will talk for a couple of minutes and we'll talk privately."
2. Guests of White House and EPA administrator Scott Pruitt introduce themselves
3. SOUNDBITE: (English) President Donald Trump:
(Reporter: ++OFF-CAMERA++ "Mr. President do you still have confidence in Administrator Pruitt?")
Yes I do, thank you.
(Reporter: ++OFF-CAMERA++ "So, he's going to stay in his job?")
Executives from 10 auto companies met with President Donald Trump and cabinet officials on Friday to discuss the administration's plan to reduce gas mileage and pollution requirements enacted during the Obama administration.
The auto industry wants to relax the standards, but not so much that they provoke a legal fight with California, which has power to impose its own stricter tailpipe pollution limits.
Such a fight could bring two mileage standards in the U.S., forcing automakers to engineer and produce two versions of each of their vehicle models, driving up costs.
Scott Pruitt, administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA,) was also at the meeting. He has being investigated by Congressional committees for pricey taxpayer-funded travel.
After months of news reports and announcements of investigations on alleged ethical lapses, White House sources have signaled that President Donald Trump's support for his environmental chief appears to be wavering.
On Friday, however, when questioned by a reporter if he still has confidence in Pruitt, Trump replied, "Yes, I do."
He didn't respond to a follow-up question on whether Pruitt would remain in his job.
