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Conversation 346-014

TapeTape 346StartWednesday, June 28, 1972 at 3:15 PMEndWednesday, June 28, 1972 at 3:30 PMTape start time03:17:25Tape end time03:31:07ParticipantsNixon, Richard M. (President);  Kissinger, Henry A.;  Acker, Marjorie P.;  White House operator;  Haig, Alexander M., Jr.;  [Unknown person(s)]Recording deviceOld Executive Office Building
AudioNARA Description

On June 28, 1972, President Richard M. Nixon, Henry A. Kissinger, Marjorie P. Acker, White House operator, Alexander M. Haig, Jr., and unknown person(s) met in the President's office in the Old Executive Office Building from 3:15 pm to 3:30 pm. The Old Executive Office Building taping system captured this recording, which is known as Conversation 346-014 of the White House Tapes.

Nixon Library Finding Aid
Conversation No. 346-14

Date: June 28, 1972
Time: 3:15-3:30 pm
Location: Executive Office Building

                                          (rev. Jan-02)

The President met with Henry A. Kissinger.

     President's forthcoming press conference
          -Anticipated questions and proposed answers
                 -Defense Department budget
                       -Melvin R. Laird
                 -Vietnam negotiations
                       -Briefing book
                       -Location of memorandum

Marjorie P. Acker entered at 3:15 pm.

     Alexander P. Butterfield
          -Meeting

Kissinger talked with the White House operator.

[Conversation No 346-14A]

     Requested for a call to Gen. Alexander M. Haig, Jr.

Kissinger talked with Haig at an unknown time between 3:15 and 3:30 pm.

     The President’s forthcoming press conferene
          -Vietnam briefing book
               -Questions and responses

[End of telephone conversation]

          -Butterfield

     President's forthcoming press conference
          -Anticipated questions and proposed answers
                 -Vietnam
                       -Bombing of dikes

The President talked with an unknown person.

[Conversation No. 346-14B]

     Unknown item

[End of telephone conversation]

     President's forthcoming press conference
          -Anticipated questions and proposed answers
                 -Vietnam
                       -Cloud seeding
                             -The President’s possible responses
                             -Laos
                       -Laos
                             -Mercenary commando raids
                                  -Meo tribesmen
                       -Peace negotiations
                             -Withdrawal of US forces
                                  -Laos, Cambodia
                                  -Thailand
                             -Coalition Government
                                  -Nguyen Van Thieu
                 -North Vietnamese forces in South Vietnam
                       -Number of troops
                       -Central Intelligence Agency [CIA] and Department of State
                       -Possible attack on Hue
                 -Leonid I. Brezhnev's statement
                       -Fidel Castro
          -Strategic Arms and Limitation Treaty [SALT]
                 -Relative military strength of US and Soviet Union
                       -Multiple Independently-targeted Reentry Vehicle [MIRV]
                             -The President’s possible comments

     Washington Post story
         -Time's coverage

     Vietnam peace negotiations
          -Questions at forthcoming press conference
               -SALT
               -Defense budget

     Kissinger's schedule

           -President's schedule
           -Meeting with People’s Republic of China [PRC] officials in New York

Kissinger left at 3:30 pm.
Transcript (AI-Generated)

This transcript was generated automatically by AI and has not been reviewed for accuracy. Do not cite this transcript as authoritative. Consult the Finding Aid above for verified information.

Right on.
Yes, sir.
Off their ass.
Okay.
Okay, John.
That's all right.
Don't worry.
Hi, Henry.
I need to go over a few little items of your convenience.
How are you accepting them?
I have to go out.
I'll call you back.
When are you leaving?
345.
Yeah, I'll just, I just need to go over about four or five of these questions.
It's time.
It's time over now, so just leave it like it is.
Thank you for watching!
I've had a few of these times, I think, for a little bit of a circle.
With regard to their budget, the answer can only be, despite what you've got to request, I don't think it has to be on demand, but I understand why you've asked for it.
It's lost really well, and I think it's a good thing.
It hasn't actually been fully requested yet, so I don't think we've got a question.
The question about the game collection there has said that we need $5,000,000 to get out.
Right, right, right.
That was some reason.
If they do, I think we should...
I can't say.
Well, that's a projection.
Spending at the present level is $1,000,000 a year.
That's $1,000,000 a year.
Right.
I was going to ask you too with regard to the
I don't think it's in the book.
I have put it into a separate...
Wait, not a second.
I don't even know.
It should have come to you.
I took it out of the book because I didn't want it to go through the kitchen.
But it has been ready for you since yesterday, and it's undoubtedly come somewhere...
Thank you.
All right.
Let me talk to Hank, please.
I've been to the classified questions that we were supposed to send over here.
They were ready yesterday, you know.
What did he mean, is it?
He said he thought we went to planet Earth.
I have some quick ones.
First, on the dikes, water.
And of course we'd say we have not bombed.
Second, we want to say we will not.
I would say, all right, fine.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Fine.
Okay, thank you.
Seating in the clouds of no coming.
I'd rather say
I don't like the no comments.
I think that's like saying yes.
I would say it's a damn harm.
Why don't I just say yes?
No, no, no.
That would be a disaster.
Because then they blame us for everything.
I would just say yes.
Because I have no information.
I have no information.
I have no information.
I have no information.
I say, but I want to make it clear.
We do not have a policy to produce natural catastrophes, they say.
Goddamn hell, you're racist.
Hell, this is going to help to end the war, isn't it?
Well, but the reason that we use it, Mr. President, is to get produced quack miners on the roads.
In clouds.
That's what we need to do this for.
I understand no comment, Mr. President.
I wouldn't say no comment.
That's what I'm trying to say.
I will say that we don't have that policy.
I don't have any information on that.
Fine.
U.S. losing mercenaries for commando raids.
There's no comment on that.
If I say that, that means yes or no.
But what mercenaries are we talking about?
Well, we have occasions to use neo-trust.
I cannot imagine that that's true.
If it does, I'll just say no.
Why the hell are there not mercenaries?
They're fighting for women and people.
Huh?
It says that regarding negotiation, it says that we'll remove our forces, but as far as other forces in China are concerned,
That is not for negotiation with Hanoi.
Some will be withdrawn.
Well, now that's a... We want to invent that we have horses in Laos and in Cambodia.
No, no, no.
How are they referring to?
No, Thailand.
Well, Thailand is not in China.
No, that's a bad answer.
It's Southeast Asia.
Yeah, that's why it's not the horses in Southeast Asia.
No, I'll throw up.
Okay, I understand, but I wonder... Because if China said it, I thought, what the hell, I'm not going to invent that we've got horses.
Absolutely.
Because our ceasefire proposal is for all Americans in Indochina.
Okay.
Incidentally, we're getting a lot of information about it.
It may be true that they are moving towards keeping you in the government.
That they are going to ask for a coalition government which includes you.
If that were the case, we'd be over the hump.
We can't quite accept that either, but...
But at least that would be the biggest hurdle after that, if they ever get to that point.
Because then they would say, settle it with you, we've got nothing against it.
We'll get it out.
The thing I was going to ask you in that respect, I know there's a news summary this morning.
So, sort of a battle is going on.
We'll have to expect a search and call, and see where this stuff goes.
I'll just take a second, just to be sure.
You know damn well where it's coming from.
All the cow stuff that... Well, he says... Oh, that they're going to fight till November?
I believe 120,000 North Vietnamese bullies with cable-made sustained attacks are in and near South Vietnam.
Yeah, I read it.
Now, where in the hell is he putting that up?
That comes from the state of CIA.
I don't know.
Do they believe it?
They have 120,000 people, Mr. President, and I don't think they're going to do it.
Ready to attack Kuwait?
Oh, not to attack Kuwait.
It all serves me.
But what is the name of Christ's state CIA?
I think they're going to launch one big attack on Kuwait.
Or at least it's possible.
It's supposed to have been launched by now.
But if they do that, well, today we launched a big attack.
Or the party can go out again.
Yes, we cracked a little bit.
Well, he did that at a welcoming banquet for Castro.
Yeah.
And you figure that it's not particularly significant.
I'm asking about it.
We expect it to support our allies.
We expect it to support our allies.
We don't consider it significant.
We expect it to support our allies.
No, and if you read it carefully, he said the United States must withdraw, which he knows we won't do, and there must be a just political settlement.
He didn't say... Just be a settlement.
He didn't say we support the seven points and the two points.
Another last point.
On the whole SALT thing, you know, who's ahead and all that sort of thing, that's sort of a quite minor issue we can get into.
What I would say, Mr. President, is look, you have to look at...
But you see, the way they're putting it is, now suppose they purge, let's not put them in there.
Well, the argument against that is, there's nothing you could have done to prevent that.
We wouldn't be better off this...
I agree.
Secondly, over the period of decrees on any foreseeable movement, you could still stay ahead in warheads, because they have need to test with their movement.
And, uh, decrees, fine, that's fine.
Uh...
But I would do it and say, I would say that if you can't look at this thing properly, you have to look at the overall situation, and in the overall situation, the overall situation is advantageous to us.
You think, well, this is a hell of a house you have to live on, full of issues.
And the goddamn Washington Post managed to put it on the second page, and it pissed them.
I believe on this, I will get the...
I think Mr. President, the North Vietnamese have asked us to come in tomorrow morning.
Almost certainly it means that you're settling in the 90s.
So you'll be in great shape announcing it tomorrow evening.
You should do it in reply to a question so they can't say you screwed them.
But I think this will sort of set the tone of the news conference, because almost certainly, just judging from the questions I get, the early questions will either have to do with the solved defense budget thing, but very early you'll be asked, have you anything to say?
Prospects for negotiations.
Sure, that's what you're getting at.
That's a good indication.
And if you do, if it is any, if you try to set up the right framework, do you think we've now reached a certain point, and then stay essentially pretty close to what I just said?
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