President Trump Gaggles with Press on Air Force One En Route Joint Base Andrews, Aug. 2, 2026

Hi everybody. So go ahead.

What prompted you to call off the strikes last night?

I was asked to by Saudi Arabia, by UAE, and by Qatar, and by Iran. We were all set to go. It's about at this time right now, and it would have been a massive attack. We were all set to go, but when the allies asked to call it off, you have to say, well, let's see. And the reason they asked is I think there's a deal. There's a deal on Hormuz and then there will be a deal on the nuclear or you might call it the denuclearization of Iran. I call it the denuclearization of Iran.

So what should we expect?

We're holding it. We'll just see. We can do it anytime we want, but we were asked by the three primary groups. We were also asked by Iran, very strongly actually. They said we'd like to make a deal. Now, you know, I don't know what they'll say because a lot of times they'll say that to me and then they'll go out and say, "we don't know what he's talking about." Obviously they don't want to be attacked, and they knew the extent of the attack because they saw it forming.

What happens now?

Well now what we're doing is we're talking to them in the form of a negotiation. It begins tomorrow afternoon and we'll see if it works out. I'd love to do that. Save a lot of lives, save a lot of... a lot of unnecessary power to be honest with you. Take many, many years to ever build it back if it could, I don't think it could be even built back. So we had a... we had an attack that would be the biggest attack since World War II, and it would have been disastrous for them. And they didn't want us to do it. And frankly, Saudi Arabia didn't want it either. They thought that a deal is imminent.

Is there a deadline, sir?

If the deal is imminent having to do with the Hormuz strait and also the ultimately the denuclearization of Iran. So when I hear that, I say, well, do we want to go and be this severe? Now there's a group of people that would like me to just do it, and there's another group of people that does not want me to do it.

Does Iran have a deadline to come to an agreement?

We'll just see. We'll just see how it is. We're ready to go anytime we want. Would I rather make a deal? I'm not looking to kill people because people die. A lot of people die and we don't want that. So they asked us, Iran specifically, but the other three said we really... I asked them, I asked Saudi Arabia, the King. I said, the Crown Prince, I said, "What would you rather do? Would you rather have us do this or not?" They said, "we would much prefer a deal as opposed to an attack because you don't know where these attacks lead." I mean, will they be flooded with people pouring into their country and disaster? A lot of... a lot of bad things can happen.

Sir, there's a report that you're moving US troops out of Bahrain and Kuwait. Are troops being moved out of the Middle East? [03:12] Mr. President, why is the US intervening to support the Japanese Yen at this time? To support the Japanese currency?

Because we have a good relationship with Japan. We're very strong, very, very strong financially. They are... they have a weakening Yen and they wanted a little bit of help and we're always there for Japan. Japan's been very good to us with the exception of course of Pearl Harbor.

Mr. President, what is the US getting out of that arrangement?

Financial benefit. Financial benefit. And it's also... it's also good for the world economy. But we... we make... like when we did with Argentina, I got criticized, we made $25 billion on that deal. On Venezuela we make hundreds of billions of dollars. I make good deals. Intel. I made $75 billion for the country. I didn't make for me, I made for the country. Intel. I backed Intel. It's the hottest stock right now on the New York Stock... on the various stock exchanges. So we made about $75 to $80 billion. And Japan wanted to... it was really more than anything else, it was a signal of friendship.

You said the anti-weaponization... I'm with ABC News.

ABC? Oh, ABC. NBC's better than ABC. Go ahead.

The anti-weaponization fund is back on the table. What are your plans?

Well if they don't improve... Look, we have a man named Todd Blanche. He's outstanding in every way. Most of you know who he is. You're not going to find a better person. And everybody... and it's because I backed Moore's opponent, and his opponent won in a landslide. This is the only reason this is happening. But I will say, there are a lot of people that like... people were hurt so badly. Twenty-two suicides and they were destroyed, their families were destroyed for doing things that honestly, there's never been an attack on any group of people in this country, in my opinion. Maybe one, there's one group that was attacked violently and viciously like these people were attacked. And this would be a reimbursement for the pain that they suffered. A lot of people like it. If they don't... if they don't approve Todd, I'll put it back on the table. A lot of people like it. A lot of big supporters of Trump like it.

Mr. President, there's been some domestic abuse allegations against Congressman Max Miller. Do you think he should resign?

Well I'm going to look at it. I mean so far it's accusations. I'll be looking at it.

Will the US do anything to address OpenAI and Anthropic's models hacking other systems?

Well we're very much involved in that. We have a big stake in that, so does the world. So we're looking at it.

Sir, on Canada, have you decided on a punishment yet for the wildfire smoke?

[Laughs]

Moving back on Iran, were you prepared to hit energy targets?

I don't want to say that. I can't say that. There was going to be a massive attack. It was going to be an attack that would have been by far the biggest attack since World War II, but they've asked us not to do it. They said please don't do it. And other... their neighbors said that too. And so we're just going to see whether or not we can make a deal for the denuclearization.

Regarding some negotiations that you say...

He's just been doing a great job. He's outstanding, as you know, he's an outstanding man. You look at his education, he was the head of... then he was immediately very early at a young age, went to the head of Sullivan & Cromwell, one of the most prestigious, maybe the most prestigious law firm in the world. He headed up... well let's see. I mean, look at the companies, look at what he did. Oh, by the way, and he was a great... for four years he was a great SEC Chairman.

Do you want him to continue the initiatives that you had Bill Barr doing?

I want him to do what he wants to do. He's an outstanding person. Everybody wanted him. And he really, I mean he's truly outstanding.

Nancy Guthrie? The investigation into her disappearance now six months long, stalled out.

Is it time for the FBI to get involved? Well they are involved to an extent, but as you know the local community really runs those things. And some people haven't liked the way the local community's run it. They haven't liked the way the sheriff's run it. But we would like to give them the benefit, but we're there anytime they need us. It's a terrible thing. Thank you very much, everybody.