President Trump Gaggles with Press on Air Force One En Route Palm Beach, FL, Jan. 31, 2026

How are you doing, Mr. President? Very good. We had a good time at the Alpha Alpha dinner. I think we did well. I hope we did well. But it was very good, tremendous people. So what's up?

Sir, could you give us an update on what your thinking is right now with Iran, if you have made a final decision on what you want to do?

I certainly can't tell you that. But we do have very big, powerful ships heading in that direction, as you know. I can't tell you anything, but I hope they negotiate something that's acceptable.

Saudi Arabia's defense minister reportedly said that if the US backs off a strike, that will only embolden Tehran. What's your reaction to that, sir?

Well, some people think that, and some people don't. If you could make a negotiated deal that would be satisfactory with no nuclear weapons, etc., they should do that. But I don't know that they will. But they are talking to us, seriously talking to us.

Did you speak with President Bush at the Alpha Alpha dinner? Did you speak with President Bush?

I did. Yeah. Can you share what you talked about? Well, I mean Jeb Bush. Jeb. I think you mean Jeb. No, I introduced him. Nice, he's a good fellow. And he's been very nice to me the last six months. I don't know what happened, but he was very nice. We had a good time.

Mr. President, on your Fed nominee, Mr. Kevin Warsh, why are you willing to wait for Senator Tom Tillis to leave the Senate essentially until, if you have to, if Senator Tillis won't back down?

I didn't say I would, but I mean he's leaving the Senate for a reason, because what he asked for didn't get done. So it's one of those things. I think he may get Democrat votes too. I think he's so good that he'll probably get Democrat votes. He should. He's very good. My choice, my Fed choice, should get Democrat votes.

Do you have a sense of what he's going to do as far as interest rates are concerned?

Oh, he's going to lower them. I mean if you watch him on television, you know, because I watch interviews and statements, I hope he's going to lower them. But you know, he's going to have to do what he wants to do.

Did he tell you, did he make any commitments?

No, no commitments. I don't want to do that. I couldn't do that, I guess, if I wanted, but I didn't do it. I based it on quality. I mean, he was a very high-quality person. He should have no trouble getting through.

Mr. President, did you make a comment at the dinner about saying that you would sue Warsh? About suing Warsh if he does not lower interest rates?

It's a roast. It's a roast. It's a comedy thing. So it was a joke? You didn't mean it seriously? It was all comedy.

And then on a more serious note, you're suing the IRS. Can you talk a little bit about what it's like to be on both sides of a lawsuit?

Well, that's very interesting. I'm in another one where I've virtually won the Mar-a-Lago break-in suit. And you know, I have to work out some kind of a settlement. I'm supposed to work out a settlement with myself, because you know, when the FBI broke in, we sued. When I was before I was President. I sued. And obviously it was a very good suit, and I've that one and I have to work out a settlement.

Will you involve Pam Bondi on how to handle that at all?

I think what we'll do is do something for charity. We're thinking about doing something for charity where I'll give money to charity. We can make it a substantial amount, nobody would care because it's going to go to numerous very good charities.

Sir, what about that tweet, the Truth today about Minneapolis and how you might not see federal authorities intervene? You asked Secretary Noem not to send in DHS.

Well, I let them ask us. If they want help, you know, they're always complaining. If you go in, they complain. They complain no matter what. You know, we brought crime to the lowest point in the history of our country, 125 years, 1900. Think of it. Year, think of that. 1900. Can you imagine? We have the lowest crime in the history of our country despite the fact that our country was riddled with a lot of bad people from the Biden open border. But we've taken a lot of them out. We're at the lowest point in history, the least number of murders in the recorded history of our country. That's incredible.

Can this be seen as a de-escalation?

No, I want the, I mean honestly, the crime-ridden cities are all Democrat-run cities. And if they want help, they have to ask for it. Because if we go in, all they do is complain. But if they want help, they can ask for it, and they're going to need help. Los Angeles as an example, we went in, we solved it. The chief law enforcement officer of Los Angeles said they couldn't have done it without the federal government. A week later he said they didn't need the federal government. You know, so we don't want that. If they want help, they'll ask, but they have to say please.

On DHS funding, sir, the Democrats have made three demands. They say they want no roving patrols, they want established rules for use of force, and they want masks off and body cams on.

Well, we'll talk about it. It's not appropriate yet. We have to let a little time go by, but we'll talk about it. But you know, we want, I got elected for law enforcement, for the border, for the economy, things I've done a great job with. I mean when you have the lowest crime rate in the history of our country, recorded in 125 years to be exact. So I've fulfilled so much. We'll have to talk about that over the next three or four days.

Mr. President, what did you think of the latest release of Epstein files? And do you think your critics will be satisfied with this release?

Well, it looks like this guy Wolff, who's a writer, was conspiring with Epstein to do harm to me. And I didn't see it myself, but I was told by some very important people that not only does it absolve me, it's the opposite of what people were hoping, you know, the radical left, that Wolff, who's a third-rate writer, was conspiring with Jeffrey Epstein to hurt me politically or otherwise. And that came through loud and clear. So we'll probably sue Wolff on that.

Mr. President, did you speak with, or did you have any knowledge of maybe the Epstein estate, I guess?

I don't know, but we're going to certainly sue Wolff. You want to sue the Epstein estate? Maybe. I guess so. Because he was conspiring with Wolff to do harm to me politically. That's not a friend.

On your plan for Venezuela oil, sir, how much...

Are you there? You okay? Doing all right. He ran atop of them.

You said that the profits will be split with the US and Venezuela both benefiting. What's Venezuela's share of the oil profits going to be?

Well, we haven't discussed that, but we're getting along very well with the leadership of Venezuela. They're doing a really good job. We're going to be selling a lot of oil and we'll take some and they'll take a lot. And they're going to do very well. They're going to make more money than they've ever made. And it's going to be beneficial to us too. We're going to really, I think Venezuela is really going to turn around. You know, I opened up the airspace over Venezuela so that now people from Venezuela, came from Venezuela here, they're going to be able to go back for the first time. Go back to Venezuela and stay perhaps, or go back and see their relatives, go for a short period of time.

Sir, is, do you think China's going to get their money back from all the money they lent to Venezuela for oil?

I don't know. I don't know anything about that, but I'll tell you, China is welcome to come in and we'd make a great deal on oil. You know, we welcome China. We've already made a deal, India's coming in and they're going to be buying Venezuelan oil as opposed to buying it from Iran. So we've already made that deal, the concept of the deal. But China's welcome to come in and buy oil.

On President Venezuela, do you think that Machado should be able to return to Venezuela?

Well, we're going to be doing something with it and maybe putting the sides together, doing something. I think she's a very fine person. And but I think I have to say at the same time, the current leadership is doing a very good job.

Did you happen, did you have any knowledge of the arrest of Don Lemon before it happened? Did you have any conversations with Attorney...

I don't know anything about the Don Lemon thing, but he's a sleazebag. Everyone's known that. He's a washed-up, probably from his standpoint, the best thing that could happen to him. He's getting, you know, he had no viewers, he was a failure, he was a failed host. And now he's in the news. I didn't know anything about it, no.

Sir, what's your response to Claudia Sheinbaum's warning that the embargo, or the restriction on Cuban oil, oil to Cuba, could cause a humanitarian crisis there?

Well, it doesn't have to be a humanitarian crisis. I think they probably would come to us and want to make a deal. So Cuba would be free again. They'll come to us, they'll make a deal. But Cuba really, they've got a problem, you know, they have a problem. I know so many people from Cuba, but we have a lot of people in the United States right now that would love to go back to Cuba. And we'd like to work that out.

What do you want to see from Cuba? I mean, what do you need to see to make that kind of a deal?

Well, I think we're going to work a deal with Cuba. I think, you know, we'll be kind. We have a situation that's very bad for Cuba. They have no money, they have no oil. The Venezuela, they lived off Venezuelan money and oil. And none of that's coming now. And then the President of Mexico, President Sheinbaum was very good. And I said look, we don't want you sending oil there. And she's not sending oil there.

On the plans for Washington DC, sir, the Washington Post reported that you're considering an arch that's 250 feet high. Um, can you talk a little bit about that and address critics who say it might be a little bit too large for the space?

We're considering an arch that's like the Arc de Triomphe in Paris. So for 200 years they've wanted to build an arch. They have 57 cities throughout the world that have them. We're the only major city, Washington DC, that doesn't. The circle prior to the bridge, you know, the Arlington Bridge, has been waiting for hundreds of years to have this done. In fact, they have four eagles that got built. But it was interrupted by a thing called the Civil War. And so it never got built. Then they almost built something in 1902 but it never happened. So we're, we have an unbelievable arch and that I think will be the most beautiful in the world being built there, going to be built there.

250 feet, the height...

I don't know what the height is. It's just appropriate for the site. Now we're setting up a committee and the committee's going to be going over it. But it'll be substantial. I'd like it to be the biggest one of all. We're the biggest, most powerful nation. I'd like it to be the biggest one of all.

What about the charity...

It's a very exciting job, actually. They've been waiting for many years. Just like the ballroom. For 150 years they've wanted a ballroom. Now we're going to put up the most beautiful ballroom anywhere in the world as far as I'm concerned. And a real, and I could have built a much bigger one. I didn't want to do that. I wanted it to be in keeping with, I didn't want it to be taller than the White House, etc. So I wanted it to be in keeping, but it's a really beautiful building done by some of the best architects in the world, the ballroom. Likewise the arch. I think it's going to be great. We're just setting up a committee now for the arch.

Would the money for the lawsuit that you may settle with yourself go towards paying for that arch or for the ballroom?