President Trump Gaggles with Press Before Departing the White House, Mar. 20, 2026

[0:00] But I bring our great Secretary of State out, [0:09] and he is doing a fantastic job. [0:11] So we have Marco. [0:12] Go ahead, please. [0:13] The Press I wanted to ask you, Iran executed [0:16] three people this week. [0:17] The President President Trump Terrible. [0:18] The Press You have vowed strong action in the past. [0:20] What message would you send? [0:22] The President President Trump Well, we've been [0:22] hitting them awfully hard. [0:23] I mean, I don't know if you can possibly get hit [0:26] harder, but these are thugs and animals and [0:29] horrible people. [0:31] But you can't hit anybody harder than we've hit them. [0:33] The Press Thank you. [0:34] The President President Trump But I'm not surprised. [0:35] They executed three young people for protesting. [0:38] The Press And do you plan to escort those ships [0:40] through the Strait of Hormuz with or without allies? [0:42] The President President Trump We're doing very [0:42] well there. [0:43] We're doing very well overall. [0:45] You know, we don't use the Strait. [0:48] We don't. [0:48] The United States. [0:49] We don't need it. [0:50] Europe needs it. [0:52] Korea, Japan, China, a lot of other people. [0:54] So they'll have to get involved a little bit on [0:56] that one. [0:57] The Press Do you still want to tell Korea about [1:01] the United States? [1:03] The President President Trump Yeah, what about it? [1:04] The Press Do you still want to tell Korea about the [1:05] South? [1:06] Do you still want to have a chocolate betweenicos [1:07] and Korea partners? [1:09] The President I love South Korea. [1:10] We have a great relationship with South [1:11] Korea. [1:11] We're helping South Korea a lot. [1:13] The Press Do you think Israel will be ready to [1:15] end the war when you're ready to end the war? [1:18] The President Let me let you think that. [1:19] The Press Mr. President. [1:21] The President I think so. [1:22] The Press Mr. President. [1:24] The President We want, more or less, [1:26] similar things. [1:27] You know what we want? [1:28] We want victory, both of us. [1:30] And that's what we've got. [1:32] The Press Mr. President, what's your plan for [1:33] Clark Island? [1:35] The President I'm willing. [1:35] a plan or I may not, but how would I ever say that to a reporter? If I said that to [1:39] a reporter, Marco would say, please, sir, let's bring you over to the helicopter immediately. [1:44] Right? [1:45] No, I can't. I can't tell you that. [1:47] Mr. President, Mr. President. [1:48] The economic pain in that room. [1:49] It's certainly a place that people are talking about, but I can't say, yeah. [1:53] Are you ruling out ground troops there, though? [1:54] How will the operation at Bakurin affect talks with Russia on Ukraine? [1:58] What about it? [1:59] Are the talks on Bakurin right now because of the — [2:01] No, no. [2:02] We're talking — we're talking about it. I think it'll get done. [2:05] Mr. Quintero said the next round of talks will take place. [2:08] They take place almost every day. [2:11] We're making a lot of progress. [2:12] Mr. President, you said that the war was militarily won in Iran. [2:16] What did you mean by that? [2:17] He said the war was militarily won in Iran. [2:19] What did you mean? [2:20] Oh, I think we won. [2:21] We've knocked out their Navy, their Air Force. [2:23] We've knocked out their anti-aircraft. [2:25] We've knocked out everything. [2:26] We're roaming free. [2:28] From a military standpoint, all they're doing is clogging up the strait. [2:31] But from a military standpoint, they're finished. [2:34] So how do you — [2:35] How much longer should the American people — [2:38] You said opening the Strait of Hormuz is a simple military maneuver. [2:44] Very simple. [2:45] Yeah, but what did you mean by that? [2:47] It's a simple military maneuver. [2:49] It's relatively safe. [2:51] But you need a lot of help in the sense of you need ships. [2:55] You need volume. [2:57] And NATO could help us, but they so far haven't had the courage to do so. [3:02] And others could help us. [3:04] You know, we don't use it. [3:05] You know, at a certain point, it'll open itself, at a certain point. [3:09] But we've defeated the enemy, and they are an enemy. [3:13] They're a sick group of people. [3:16] Their leadership is gone. [3:18] The Navy is gone. [3:19] The Air Force is gone. [3:20] The anti-aircraft equipment that they have, the radar they have, is all gone. [3:25] Everything is gone. [3:27] The strait itself, the actual strait — [3:30] How are you? [3:31] Hi. [3:32] The strait itself is — [3:33] We're doing a good job. [3:34] We're doing a good job. [3:35] But it would be nice if the countries, including China — if the countries that use it — China [3:40] uses it 90 percent of their energy. [3:43] Japan is 95 percent of the energy. [3:45] It would be nice if those countries would get involved. [3:48] What are you going to say to her? [3:50] What are you going to say to her? [3:51] What are you going to say to her? [3:52] What are you going to say to her? [3:54] What do you have to say to her? [3:55] President Trump, you have to say to her that he's talking about — [3:59] What? [4:02] I thought she did a good job yesterday. [4:06] President Trump. [4:08] The Press Well, it deserves. [4:21] He's right about asking that. [4:22] And I think NATO has gone down a long way because [4:25] they haven't — I mean, they should be helping [4:27] with the Strait. [4:28] They get much of their energy from the Strait of [4:31] Hormuz. [4:31] And if Lindsey Graham said that — and don't forget, [4:34] he was the big NATO guy for a while, and now he's not. [4:38] And a lot of senators and congressmen, they were [4:40] big — they're very upset with the fact that NATO has [4:43] done nothing. [4:43] The Press Sir, Pope Leo is calling for a ceasefire [4:45] — Pope Leo is calling for a ceasefire in the Middle [4:49] East and to reopen dialogue. [4:51] What do you say to the Pope, sir? [4:52] The President Look, we can have dialogue, but we [4:54] don't — I don't want to do a ceasefire. [4:56] You know, you don't do a ceasefire when you're [4:58] literally obliterating the other side. [5:00] They don't have a Navy. [5:01] They don't have an Air Force. [5:03] They don't have any equipment to — they don't [5:05] have any spotters. [5:06] They don't have anti-aircraft. [5:08] They don't have radar. [5:09] And their leaders have all been killed at every level. [5:13] We're not looking to do that. [5:14] The Press Thank you. [5:16] Thank you. [5:16] The Press Sir, Chuck Norris — [5:24] The President I thought he was a great guy. [5:26] Wow. [5:27] The Press Yeah, he died in a hospital. [5:28] I didn't know why. [5:29] I thought he was a coroner there. [5:30] The President Yeah, he was a coroner. [5:32] Chuck Norris died. [5:33] I didn't know that. [5:34] He was a great guy. [5:35] He was a really good, tough cookie. [5:38] You didn't want to fight him, I can tell you. [5:41] He was a tough, great guy with — and he was a [5:43] great supporter. [5:44] The President Wow, that's too bad. [5:47] Tell his family, highest respect, okay? [5:51] Great man. [5:52] The Press Do you want to make a deal with him? [6:05] Do you want to make a deal with his own followers? [6:07] The President Well, I get along with him very well. [6:09] The Press President, are you deploying the [6:11] Adductor Corps to optimize your operational capability? [6:17] The President Well, I would say this, that if I [6:19] told you the answer to that question, my military [6:21] people would be very happy. [6:23] So we have a lot of troops. [6:25] We have unlimited ammunition. [6:27] We have the greatest equipment in the world. [6:29] And we are decimating Iran. [6:31] It's about time. [6:33] And frankly, it should have been done long before [6:35] me. [6:35] It should have been done before other people. [6:37] The Press [6:39] The Press [6:43] The Press [6:45] The Press [6:47] The Press [6:49] The Press [6:51] The Press [6:53] The Press [6:55] The Press [6:57] The Press [6:59] The Press [7:01] The Press [7:03] The Press [7:05] The Press [7:07] The Press [7:09] The Press [7:11] The Press [7:13] The Press [7:15] The Press [7:17] The Press [7:19] The Press [7:21] The Press [7:23] The Press [7:25] The Press [7:27] South Korea this week. [7:28] The President Yeah, I was very surprised. [7:29] The Press Very surprised about Australia and what? [7:31] What would you like them to do? [7:32] The President Well, they should get involved. [7:33] And I was a little bit surprised that they said no, [7:36] because we always say yes to that. [7:38] The Press What did Australia say no to? [7:40] What did Australia say no to, Mr. President? [7:42] The Press How did the UK have guys that they'll [7:44] allow the U.S. to use air bases to defend [7:47] the Strait of Hormuz? [7:48] What's your response to that? [7:49] We've got a lot. [7:50] The President Well, it's been a very late response [7:51] in the UK. [7:53] Surprised, because the relationship is so good. [7:55] But this has never happened before. [7:58] They were really pretty much our first ally, all [8:01] over the world. [8:01] First ally. [8:02] And they didn't want us to use the island, the [8:05] so-called island, which, for some reason, they gave [8:07] up rights to it. [8:08] And I was a little surprised at the UK, to be [8:12] honest with you. [8:12] They should have acted a lot faster. [8:15] The Press Have you spoken with the Prime Minister? [8:18] The President I have. [8:18] I have. [8:19] The Press Mr. President, have you done? [8:20] The President They should have acted a lot faster. [8:21] The Press Mr. President, did you see the [8:25] former press secretary, Sarah Sanders, was asked to [8:29] leave a restaurant by staff who felt threatened by [8:31] her politics? [8:32] The President Well, her politics are right down [8:34] the center. [8:35] She's a good person. [8:36] And that shouldn't have happened. [8:37] Where did that take place? [8:39] Here or in Arkansas? [8:40] The President In Arkansas. [8:41] The Press Wow. [8:42] In Arkansas. [8:43] That's very surprising. [8:44] I love Arkansas. [8:45] I won that state by so much. [8:46] I think that Sarah's going to be just fine. [8:49] But it's too bad. [8:50] She's a good woman, Sarah. [8:52] The Press Mr. President, the price of oil is [8:55] way up. [8:56] The stock market is down. [8:57] Did you miscalculate the cost of going into Iran? [9:00] The President No, no. [9:01] We're not giving a nuclear weapon to terrorist [9:04] thugs, and we're knocking the hell out of them. [9:08] Their Navy is gone. [9:09] Their Air Force is gone. [9:11] Their leaders are gone. [9:13] Their anti-aircraft is gone. [9:14] Everything is gone. [9:15] The Press But did you expect the economic [9:17] effect? [9:17] The President No, I expected worse, actually. [9:19] The Press Mr. President, do you still support [9:20] The President I really thought that oil prices [9:22] would go much higher when I did this. [9:24] The Press Do you still support the [9:25] U.S. [9:26] The President I said every record, every record in [9:28] the book, with Dow, with the S&P, Dow at 50,000, [9:32] S&P at 8,000, 7,000, at levels, at speed like [9:38] nobody has ever seen before. [9:40] But I said I have to go off on that path, and I [9:42] have to take a little journey. [9:43] We have to get the — and he would agree, but he's [9:46] not going to say it. [9:48] And this is not St. Patrick's Day, by the way. [9:50] What are you doing with that time? [9:52] But we had to go off on a circuitous path and take [9:56] care of business. [9:57] And we have — we are in the process of doing it. [9:59] And I'll tell you, I think we're weeks ahead of [10:02] schedule. [10:03] My Secretary of State is very happy. [10:05] Do you have a question for Marco? [10:07] The Press Yes, how soon — President Trump said [10:10] this week that he can take Cuba. [10:12] How soon can that happen? [10:14] The President Well, I mean, Cuba's a disaster. [10:17] And it's because of their communist government. [10:19] It doesn't work. [10:19] So I don't have any news for you on that today, [10:22] other than that's been going on for 67 years. [10:24] They're a disaster. [10:24] It's the worst it's ever been. [10:26] The Press And what do you guys believe? [10:27] Hearing from your Senate colleagues about the [10:30] chances of the Save America Act passing? [10:32] The President Well, it seems to be doing okay. [10:34] It's voter ID. [10:36] It's — you have to have citizenship to vote. [10:39] And I'm hearing very good things. [10:41] I mean, I was hearing negative things because [10:42] the Democrats are all against voter ID. [10:46] They're all against citizenship to vote. [10:48] They're against transgender. [10:50] You know, they have — they like the transgender [10:52] thing with mutilization of your children. [10:54] All of the things that we talk about, you know, we [10:57] added two — you know, we added two little elements. [11:00] No men in women's sports, right? [11:03] You know that. [11:03] We added that. [11:04] And when you add them all up, whether you take [11:07] four or five, I think they're all 95 to 99 [11:11] percent issues. [11:12] I hear it's going — look, it should be an easy [11:16] pass, but we need Democrat votes. [11:19] They don't want to approve voter ID because [11:21] they cheat. [11:22] They don't want to approve citizenship. [11:24] In other words, we want to have citizenship in order [11:27] to vote. [11:28] You have to prove your citizenship. [11:29] The Democrats don't want to do that. [11:31] You know why, Peter? [11:32] You know why? [11:33] Because they want to cheat, Peter. [11:35] Now, speaking of something that's more pleasant, see [11:38] that? [11:39] It's going to be the greatest ballroom anywhere [11:41] in the world. [11:42] Nothing like it. [11:43] And they just started today one of the biggest [11:46] pours of concrete that's ever been seen in [11:48] Washington, D.C. [11:50] The President. [11:50] The Press. [11:51] The President. [11:52] The Press. [11:52] The President. [11:53] The President. [11:54] The President. [11:55] The President. [11:56] The President. [11:56] The President. [11:57] The President. [11:58] The President. [11:58] The President. [11:59] The President. [11:59] The President. [12:00] The President. [12:01] The President. [12:01] The President. [12:02] The President. 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