- 2 days ago
President Trump Gaggles with Press on Air Force One En Route Joint Base Andrews, MD, Feb. 16, 2026
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00:00Hello, Steve.
00:02Hello, everybody.
00:05So, great financial numbers you saw.
00:08Low inflation, very low inflation.
00:10Prices are down, way down.
00:14Gasoline is less than $2 in many places, a gallon,
00:18which nobody expected to see.
00:19But I did, because we're going by the initial expression
00:24of drill, baby drill, and prices are coming down very strongly.
00:28And as goes gasoline and oil and gas,
00:31so goes the rest of other products that were high because of Biden.
00:36So, we inherited a mess,
00:38and we've brought our country back very, very powerfully.
00:43Crime numbers are way down,
00:44despite the fact that they let in 25 million people,
00:48many of whom should not have been allowed into our country
00:50with their open-water policy.
00:52But it's — the country is doing very well.
00:54Any questions?
00:55What are you expecting from these Iran talks in Geneva tomorrow?
00:59So, I'll be involved in those talks indirectly,
01:03and they'll be very important.
01:05We'll see what can happen.
01:06But typically, Iran's a very tough negotiator.
01:09They're good negotiators, or bad negotiators.
01:11I would say they're bad negotiators,
01:13because we could have had a deal instead of sending the B-2s in
01:16to knock out their nuclear potential.
01:19If we had to send the B-2s, I hope — I hope they're going to be more reasonable.
01:23They want to make a deal.
01:25Have you been told that a deal is next to impossible?
01:29No.
01:30No, I think they want to make a deal.
01:32I don't think they want the consequences of not making a deal.
01:36They want to make a deal.
01:37Are you going to sit down with Democrats this week on DHS funding, sir?
01:40I will, but, you know, we have to protect our law enforcement.
01:43They've done a great job.
01:44I just got finished saying that we have the best crime numbers we've had in many years,
01:48on murders, 125 years.
01:51And that's despite a lot of people that shouldn't have been led into our country,
01:55coming into our country.
01:56Criminals.
01:57Many, many criminals.
01:58But we've taken out tens of thousands of people,
02:02brought them back to their countries.
02:04Many of the criminals that were brought in,
02:06allowed to come in, have been removed.
02:08So, you know, we're — okay.
02:10But to have the best crime numbers, which aren't made by me.
02:13These are made by people that do that.
02:15Many left-leaning.
02:17We have the best murder numbers.
02:20Horrible thing to say.
02:21But we have the best murder numbers since 1900.
02:26That's before my father was born.
02:28125 years.
02:29Think of it.
02:30The best crime number since 1900, having to do with murder.
02:34And really good crime numbers.
02:36The best in years.
02:37Are there any demands that Democrats are making that you're okay with?
02:41Well, I don't like some of the things they're asking for.
02:44We're going to protect law enforcement.
02:45We're going to protect ICE.
02:46You know, they're part of the whole system that is working.
02:50In Washington, D.C. now, it's considered a very safe city.
02:53When I took over, it was a city that we were losing two, three people a week.
02:59Over a hundred people a year were being murdered in Washington.
03:03Now it's considered a very safe city.
03:05And we did that.
03:06But I did it over a fairly short period of time, too.
03:09On DHS, recent news reports have discussed the widespread belief that Kristi Noem and Corey Lewandowski are in a personal
03:16relationship.
03:18Is that a bad look?
03:19Recent news reports have discussed the possibility that Kristi Noem and Corey Lewandowski are in a close personal relationship.
03:27Is that a bad look?
03:27And do you think she'll be in the job much longer?
03:29I don't know about that.
03:30I mean, I haven't heard that.
03:33I'll find out about it.
03:34But I have not heard of it.
03:36Do you see any of your State of the Union speech if we're still in a shutdown next week?
03:42Well, I think I would.
03:44It wouldn't bother me.
03:45I would give it here.
03:46How are the negotiations going?
03:48With which one?
03:49We have a lot of negotiations.
03:50No, with the government shutdown.
03:53This is a Democrat shutdown.
03:55This has nothing to do with Republicans.
03:57This is a Democrat shutdown.
03:58They're upset that the crime numbers are so good.
04:00They're very unhappy that the crime numbers are so good.
04:03They're very unhappy that there's a movement for getting voter ID.
04:08They want voter ID.
04:10They want voter ID.
04:11The population, 98 percent, want voter ID.
04:14They don't want voter ID because they want to cheat in elections.
04:17They also want other things.
04:19They don't want mail-in ballots.
04:21They want to end mail-in ballots, which is corrupt.
04:23And one other thing that they're insisting on is proof of citizenship.
04:27And the Democrats don't want to give proof of citizenship.
04:30They don't want to give voter ID.
04:32Think of it.
04:33Who wouldn't want proof of citizenship?
04:35I ask you, Stephen.
04:37Who wouldn't want voter ID?
04:39And why would you want mail-in ballots if you know it's corrupt?
04:43It's a corrupt system.
04:45We're the only country in the world that has this system of mail-in ballots.
04:50Think of it.
04:51The only country in the world that has this system of mail-in ballots.
04:55Because they cheat.
04:56And the fact is, they could never get elected if they ever change.
04:59They don't.
05:00If you had voter ID, if you had proof of citizenship, they could never win an election.
05:04And they know that.
05:06And they're fighting to the hilt.
05:08And I put this down with men playing in women's sports.
05:12I put it down with transgender for everybody.
05:15I put it down with their horrible open border policy as being ridiculous.
05:21They don't want voter ID.
05:23No voter ID.
05:25And I put that down to the same category with men playing in women's sports.
05:29I'm going to add a fourth category.
05:32They don't want voter ID.
05:33Go ahead.
05:34So Hillary Clinton said in an interview today that she and her husband are getting pulled
05:39into the Epstein matter to divert attention from you and that your administration has
05:44something to hide.
05:45What's your response to that?
05:46I have nothing to hide.
05:47I've been exonerated.
05:48I have nothing to do with Jeffrey Epstein.
05:50They went in hoping that they'd find it and found just the opposite.
05:53I've been totally exonerated.
05:55In fact, Jeffrey Epstein was fighting that I don't get elected with some author.
06:01A sleazebag, by the way.
06:02And I've been totally exonerated.
06:04No, no.
06:05They're getting pulled in.
06:06And that's their problem.
06:08I don't know.
06:08They're going to have to see what happens.
06:09But I watched her in Munich and she seriously has Trump derangement syndrome.
06:13Do you think that she should publicly testify?
06:15I've been totally exonerated on Epstein.
06:17And it's really interesting because they've been pulled in.
06:21Think of it.
06:22They've been pulled in.
06:23Clinton and many other Democrats have been pulled in.
06:26The USS Gerald Ford, which is sprinting from the Caribbean to the Middle East,
06:30is about to hit its eight-month deployment mark.
06:32Usually they're deployed for about six months or so.
06:34Is there any concern that U.S. carriers are being stretched too thin?
06:39I'll answer the question later.
06:41Mr. President, you're warning Cuba to make a deal.
06:44What does that deal look like?
06:45What do you want them to do?
06:46They should make a deal.
06:46Cuba is right now a failed nation.
06:48And they don't even have jet fuel to get for airplanes to take off.
06:52They're clogging up their runway.
06:54We're talking to Cuba right now.
06:57We have Marco Rubio talking to Cuba right now.
07:00And they should absolutely make a deal because it's really a humanitarian threat.
07:06And we have a lot of great Cuban Americans and they're going to be very happy when they're
07:10going to be able to go back and say hello to their relatives and do things that they should
07:14have been allowed to do for a long time.
07:16I'm very interested in the people that are here that were treated so badly by Castro and
07:22the Cuban authorities.
07:23They have been treated horribly.
07:25So we'll see how it all turns out.
07:27But Cuba and us, we are talking.
07:29In the meantime, there's an embargo.
07:33There's no oil.
07:34There's no money.
07:34There's no anything.
07:35If a deal isn't made, would you consider an operation like the one in Venezuela?
07:39I don't want to answer that.
07:41Why would I answer that if I was?
07:43It wouldn't be a very tough operation, as you can figure.
07:48But I don't think that'll be necessary.
07:50Mr. President, Marco Rubio received really positive reviews in Munich.
07:54He said very good reviews.
07:55Is there a scenario in which you would support him at the top of the ticket in 28?
07:59It's something I don't have to worry about now.
08:01I've got three years to go.
08:03So it's something I don't have to worry.
08:04J.D.'s fantastic and Marco is, they're both fantastic.
08:07I think really, and I think Marco did a great job in Munich.
08:10President Xi, in your talk with him recently, warned about sending more weapons to Taiwan.
08:17What was your response to him?
08:18Are you going to send more weapons to Taiwan?
08:20I have a response.
08:21I'm talking to him about it.
08:22We had a good conversation, and we'll make a determination pretty soon.
08:27Tell us about your trip to-
08:28We have a very good relationship with President Xi.
08:31Tell us about-
08:31In fact, I'll be going, I guess, in April.
08:33I'm sorry.
08:33Tell us about your trip to Rome, Georgia on Thursday, your trip to Marjorie Taylor Greene's
08:37old district.
08:39Well, we have a lot of people that want to take Marjorie Taylor Greene's place.
08:44And many, many candidates, and I have to choose one.
08:47And they say whoever I endorse is going to win.
08:50But we have a lot of good candidates who want to take our place.
08:53So your Florida case meets for the first time this week.
08:55You said it could be the most consequential international organization ever.
08:59That's a high bar.
09:00What do you want for this first meeting?
09:02Well, I think it can be.
09:03We're going to have all world leaders.
09:04They're putting up tremendous amounts of money.
09:06And I think it's going to go far beyond Gaza.
09:08I think it'll be peace all over the world.
09:10And we're working in conjunction with the United Nations.
09:13Look, the United Nations is there.
09:15They haven't lived up to potential.
09:18The United Nations has great potential.
09:20They haven't lived up to the potential.
09:22But I think they might aid us a little bit.
09:25But we have the greatest leaders in the world joining the Board of Peace.
09:29And we'll be doing it in conjunction with, in some cases, the United Nations.
09:34And see if we can get the United Nations to get on the ball.
09:38You've been a kingmaker in a lot of Republican primaries.
09:41A lot of people...
09:42Including foreign nations.
09:44I was very honored to see that a very wonderful Prime Minister in Japan won by a landslide.
09:51I think she was going to win, but she won by just about the biggest vote ever in Japan.
09:56And she attributed my endorsement for that.
09:59And that's very good because we have a great relationship with her and Japan.
10:03A lot of Republicans in D.C. are asking you to endorse John Cornyn.
10:06But you haven't yet.
10:08Is there a chance you wouldn't endorse Paxton?
10:10And why haven't you endorsed Cornyn?
10:11I just haven't made a decision in that race yet.
10:14It's got a ways to go.
10:15And I haven't.
10:15He's a good man.
10:16John is a good...
10:17I like all three of them, actually.
10:19I like all three.
10:20Those are the toughest races.
10:22They've all supported me.
10:24They're all good.
10:25And you're supposed to pick one.
10:27So we'll see what happens.
10:28But I support all three.
10:29Are you involved in the rift between UAE and Saudi Arabia?
10:32No, I'm not.
10:34I wouldn't be.
10:34And what do you think of that?
10:35I wouldn't be.
10:36Well, I can settle it very easily.
10:37But they have a...
10:39They do indeed have a rift.
10:41And we can get it settled very easily.
10:43I settle wars.
10:43I settle a lot of rifts between countries.
10:46You've been noticing, right?
10:48That's an easy one to settle.
10:50On Venezuela, Desi Rodriguez last week said that Nicolás Maduro is still a legitimate president
10:57and is innocent.
10:58I know you said the relationship is a 10.
11:00But I'm curious what's your thoughts on that.
11:01I think we have a great relationship.
11:02I think she probably has to say that.
11:04I think politically maybe she has to say that.
11:07But the relationship with Venezuela, she's doing a very good job.
11:11And I fully understand that statement.
11:14You're going to have Ukraine talks tomorrow as well.
11:17And Geneva with a quick call from Jericho.
11:20What are you expecting there?
11:22Is there a...
11:22Well, in big talks, it's going to be very easy.
11:25I mean, it's...
11:25Look, so far, Ukraine better come to the table fast.
11:30That's all I'm telling you.
11:32We are in a position.
11:34We want them to come.
11:35And by the way, I watched AOC answering questions in Munich.
11:40This was not a good look for the United States.
11:42I watched Gavin Newsom answering questions in Munich.
11:48And this was a bad look for our country.
11:50This was a bad...
11:51These two people are incompetent.
11:53And at least Hillary's competent.
11:55She's just Trump deranged.
11:57She was so deranged.
11:59She is an angry woman.
12:01But I watched the other two speaking and answering basic questions.
12:06Look, Gavin has destroyed California.
12:10And AOC, I never really got her to...
12:12I never heard her speak very much.
12:13And they started answering questions.
12:16She had no idea what was happening.
12:17She had no idea how to answer, you know, very important questions concerning the world.
12:23But she can't answer questions concerning New York City, either.
12:27Because New York City has got some problems.
12:30Now that Gaza's entering phase, too, should Israel lift its ban on foreign journalists being allowed into Gaza?
12:36Well, we'll be lifting a lot of bans pretty soon.
12:38I think you're going to see everything opening up.
12:41Gaza...
12:41Look, we have peace in the Middle East.
12:43Now, you have some flames here and there.
12:47But we essentially have peace in the Middle East.
12:49And that happened primarily when we did the B2 attack on the nuclear potential nuclear power.
12:55They would have had a nuclear weapon within one month.
12:58If that happened, it would have been a whole different deal.
13:00Okay.
13:01Thank you very much, everybody.
13:02The other thing, so the $5 billion that you announced yesterday for the Board of Peace, is that a down
13:07payment?
13:08Or are you expecting...
13:09No, we want to help people.
13:10That's peanuts compared to the kind of money that has been spent in the Middle East by Bush, by Obama,
13:17by all of these people, by Biden.
13:19I mean, the money he spent.
13:21But the money he spent, you know, that's such a small amount of money by comparison.
13:26But we want to make it successful.
13:28I think it has the chance to be the most consequential board ever assembled of any kind.
13:34What was wrong for Ron DeSantis?
13:36Great.
13:37We had a great time.
13:38And Ron and a couple of other people, two great coaches, as you know.
13:42The two greatest coaches, I would say, certainly in college football.
13:46And we had a good time playing golf.
13:48Thank you very much.
13:49I didn't get to play today because I'm working on other things.
13:52Very important things.
13:53Much more important than golf.
13:55Thank you very much.
13:56Melania for Valentine's, Mr. President?
13:57She's on the plane.
14:00Melania's on the plane.
14:01We have a movie star on the plane.
14:02Did you have any Valentine's Day plans with her?
14:05Did I what?
14:06Did you do anything for Valentine's with her?
14:09Did you give her flowers?
14:11I better not tell you that.
14:12Goodbye, everybody.
14:13That's the toughest question.
14:15No, she's very, I'm proud of the fact, you know, her movies are successful.
14:19It's a tremendous hit.
14:22And she does a good job.
14:24She does some very consequential work.
14:26I think you're going to see in the end that she's going to go down as one of the truly
14:30great first ladies.
14:31When you see what she's doing with Russia, Ukraine, and so many of the other things she's doing, she's done
14:36a good job.
14:36She works very hard.
14:38Is Westmore invited to the White House this week, Mr. President?
14:41Mr. President, the governors were all other than two.
14:46One was Colorado, where he's got a 73-year-old woman who's probably got serious cancer, confined.
14:54And for some time in solitary confinement, because she pointed out the voter theft that was taking place.
15:01In other words, she pointed it out.
15:02They arrested her and they gave her a nine-year sentence.
15:06And he better let her go, because it's a disgrace.
15:10And the other guy is just a bad governor.
15:12He's not doing a good job.
15:13Wes Moore, he's doing a terrible job.
15:14And you can see that.
15:16Well, I didn't invite those two.
15:18If the rest of them don't want to show up, that's okay.
15:20I hear they're coming, a lot of them.
15:22The White House is a great place to be.
15:24But no, I don't like the job that Wes Moore is doing.
15:27I don't like the job he's doing on the bridge.
15:29I don't like the fact that he did that horrible, you know, with the pipes in the Potomac.
15:34And he's not doing the job.
15:36They've got to do it.
15:37And I'm going to have to get the federal government involved in getting it fixed,
15:40because he can't fix anything.
15:42Thank you very much.
15:43Thank you, Mr. President.
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