Red lines are kind of political arguments that are used to try to put people in a corner.

China is a major power in the Pacific and I think we are dealing with some common threats in that region: the whole issue of Korea and the stability of Korea, the whole issue of nuclear proliferation, the whole issue of providing free access to our ships that are operating in that area.

We are a nation at war. This is also a time for hard choices. It's about ensuring that we are able to prevail in the conflicts in which we are now engaged. But it's also about being able to be strong and disciplined in applying our nation's limited resources to defending America.

I think a quality that a national security adviser must have is the ability to set up procedures.

Today, I think the attitude is that governing is not necessarily good politics, and the result is that it's much more partisan and much more divided.

In the zero-sum budget game, every dollar spent on this problem [illegal immigration] must be taken from somewhere else....No, we should not tolerate people immigrating illegally. But we need to treat this issue honestly and fairly.

My whole life has been dedicated to public service.