President Trump Gaggles with Press Before Departing the White House, Mar. 11, 2026

Mr. President, I have questions. Mr. President!

Day 11 and as you know we're doing something that nobody ever thought was possible to do. Our military is the best, it's the most powerful in the world and they're hitting them very hard. This is 47 years of abuse and killing lots of people, killing and maiming lots of people. What is this, Peter?

Mr. President, what more do you need to do militarily for this operation to end?

More of the same and we'll see how that all comes out. Right now, they are, they've lost their navy, they've lost their air force, they have no anti-aircraft apparatus at all. They have no radar. Their leaders are gone and we can do a lot worse. We're leaving certain things that if we take them out we could take them out by this afternoon, in fact within an hour. They literally would never be able to build that country back.

Mr. President, a new report shows, a new report says that the military investigation has found that the United States struck a school in Iran. As commander in chief, do you take responsibility for that?

That is what, Peter? As commander in chief, do you take responsibility for the strike on the school in Iran? A military, a new report says the military investigation has found it was the United States that struck the school. I don't know about that.

Mr. President, how do you respond? Have you talked to the CEOs of various oil companies encouraging them to use the Strait of Hormuz right now?

I think they should. I think they should use it. And look, we took out just about all of their mine ships in one night. We're up to boat number 60. I didn't realize they had that big a navy. I would say it was big and ineffective, but every one of their ships, just about all of their navy is gone at the bottom of the sea. I hope you're impressed.

Have they laid any mines in the Strait of Hormuz? Mr. President, is Senator Thune listening to you when you say you want to pass the Save America Act? He says there aren't the votes to do it right now. What's your response?

He's got to be a leader, you know. If he's a leader, he's got to get them. It's the most popular bill I've ever seen put before Congress. And it's voter ID, and it's voter... you have to be a citizen to vote. It's called citizenship. And we're also adding in no men playing in women's sports, no transgender mutilation of our children, and no mail-in ballots, fake mail-in ballots. We have none of that except in the case of the military, etc. I will say it is, it is the Save America Act, the most popular bill I think I've ever put before Congress.

What's your message to Democrats? Can you declare victory in this war if the Supreme Leader remains, the Ayatollah's son?

I don't want to comment on that. I don't want to comment, but I will tell you, I just spoke with various countries, the leaders of various countries, you'll have a list, and they said they've never seen anything like it. We have, and I built it during my first term and I used it, I didn't realize I was going to use it this fast, but we have the greatest military in the world by far, nobody close.

Was it a domestic terror attack backed by Iran here, sir? What about from the FBI? President, why the Summit of the Americas? Mexico, Brazil, and Colombia were not invited to the Summit of the Americas. Why was that? And will they come in the future to the event?

They were invited, maybe they didn't come, I think they were. I get along very well with all of them.

Mr. President, in Iraqi parliament, two days, members slogan 'Death to America, Death to Israel'. What is your response to them? What is your message for Iraqi government?

What did he say? In Iraqi parliament, slogan 'Death of America, Death of Israel', member of the parliament. Death to America, death to Israel. What's your response to that? That's not a nice question.

Mr. President, Spain. You've been up there, you told them that you would cut commerce ties with them. Are they cooperating with the United States in Spain? Spain.

No, they're not. I think they're not cooperating at all. Spain? I think they've been very bad, very bad, not good at all. We may cut off trade with Spain. I don't know what Spain's doing. They've been very bad to NATO. They get protected, they don't want to pay their fair share and they've been that way for many years actually. Let me give you the good news. The people of Spain are fantastic. The leadership, like you. The leadership, not so good.

What about Hezbollah in Lebanon? Lebanon is under attack and Hezbollah is making dangers for the Lebanese and especially the Lebanese Christians. What is your message for Lebanon?

We're working on it very hard. We love Lebanon, we love the people of Lebanon and we're working very hard. We've got to get rid of the Hezbollah. Hezbollah's been a disaster for many years.

Mr. President, the new oil refinery going up in Brownsville, Texas. What do you want Americans to know about that? About the new oil refinery going up in Brownsville, Texas.

Great. It's going to be the greatest anywhere in the world. There's never been anything like it. It's great that it's going up in Texas. You know, it's very hard to get refineries done. This will be like nothing else ever built. It's a great thing. Thank you for that.

Mr. President, in Arizona, what do you make of it? When will you say mission accomplished?

Well, look, we've knocked out their navy, we've knocked out their air force, we've knocked out all of their anti-defense. We've taken out 60 mine boats, 59 mine boats, which nobody has ever seen anything like it. We have the greatest military in the world by far, not even close. But you know what? They've inflicted 47 years worth of damage to the world and now they're paying a big price.

Mr. President, would you, are you willing to withdraw the US from Iran even if they have not turned over and allowed the US to seize their remaining...

I'm not going to comment on that. Yeah. But we have hit them harder than virtually any country in history has been hit and we're not finished yet.

Mr. President, you just imposed the sanctions on Rwanda. What makes you so confident that they will stop the war in Congo?

Well, we get along very well with Rwanda and with Congo and we hope they're going to, they're going to get along.

In Arizona, why did the FBI seize election records in that state?

They probably thought the election was rigged, right? It wasn't rigged though. Really? How do you know? Your own Attorney General in 2020 said that there was not measurable voter fraud to change the results. Oh really? You don't think it was rigged? I think it was rigged. And if you say it wasn't rigged, you're a rotten reporter.

What's the evidence of that? Tucker Carlson who called you more evil and disgusting? Mr. President, what is the US doing to reopen the Strait of Hormuz?

Oh, it's working out very well. And I think you're going to see that. Working out very well.

Thank you, Mr. President. Thanks for coming to the Gipsy. Now that tankers are being attacked in the Strait of Hormuz, how are you going to ensure the safety of oil flowing through there?

I think you're going to see great safety and it's going to be very, very quickly. We have decimated that country. They're paying a big price now for 47 years of killing. They killed, they killed your relatives, we all have relatives, what they've done and now they're paying a price.

Mr. President, America First Refining opened up its first oil refinery in 50 years, Brownsville, Texas. Why is this such a big deal and would it have happened under a different president?

It would not have happened under a different president. None of this would have happened under a different president. Just so you know, ready? A year ago, we were a dead country. Now we're the hottest country in the world. Thank you, thank you.