White House: President Trump Gaggles with Press Upon Departure from the White House, Oct. 16, 2026

That's one of the largest cranes anywhere in the world, brand new, and that's lifting the beams up, and the beams are about record-setting in size because it has to be a span with no column.

If you look at the counterweights in the back, you'll not find a bigger, more impressive piece of equipment than that one right there.

It's one of the biggest. They call it a steel lifter. It lifts the biggest steel, and that's as big as it gets. That's something, huh? Pretty good, right?

Okay. President Trump, why did you guys slow down the Starlink or the Star Shield for Ukraine? I didn't do that. No, we didn't do that at all. In fact, I don't know where it is.

I don't even think it was slowed down. But from what I I understand because I just checked this morning. I heard about it through the news, through the media. We didn't slow it down at all. And I think it's probably functioning from what I understand.

And are you shopping around for a new chief of staff? No, that's a false report that was written by Politico. It's fake news. I could not be more happy with Susie. She's done a great job from day one.

She just recovered from a big problem and she's fully recovered. She is cancer-free, as they say. Nice. Two nice words.

Cancer-free. She was very brave in fighting it. She's been fantastic. It's been one of the most successful administrations in the world, and she's a part of it. That story in Politico, I guess it was, is a total fake story.

And we told them before they wrote it, so they put my disclaimer in there. They said, oh, you know, I disagree. But I said, that story is false. Don't write that story. But they put it in anyway because they're fake news.

That is a totally false story. And what did you think when you saw the new Tesla Roadster flying? I said, I'm very happy for Elon because I think he's— we just gave him the science award along with 5 other people and he deserves it. Now, it's great. I don't know from a standpoint whether or not you're going to see me in that car, but it's pretty impressive.

Very impressive. We're doing as a country things that nobody ever thought possible. Mr. President, I'm asking you about— yes, you're doing good. The inflation report was a little bit hotter than expected. What's your message to Americans who are filling up their gas tanks?

Well, oil prices are going to come down very soon. When the war ends with Iran, they won't have a nuclear weapon. Most importantly, frankly, they won't have— and oil prices are going to drop like a rock. There's a lot of oil out there, and it's sitting in little areas that are sitting in boats waiting to be unloaded. We have a lot of oil, and we have a lot of oil in the world.

A lot of Texas oil, Alaska oil, Louisiana oil, Venezuela oil. Venezuela oil. We're doing tremendous with Venezuela, making a lot of money. So when the war ends, which will be very soon, very, very soon, sooner than people think, you're going to have— it's going to drop like a rock. Yeah.

One more, because on the G20 meetings, you had Russian representatives go to those meetings. Is Vladimir Putin coming to the G20? I don't know. No, I don't. They asked to be represented.

I don't know if he's coming. Certainly would love to have him.

Dinner last night with Kid Rock, Stephen A., and Bill Maher. The dinner last night with Kid Rock and Stephen A. and Bill Maher was great. And they, I think they had a good time. What'd you talk about? We talked about everything.

It lasted a long time. And, you know, even though they have to sort of put on a certain little facade for their people, they like Trump and I actually like them. We had a great time. We even took a little tour of the ballroom. We took a, we went inside the ballroom with weaves that are being put up over my head.

But it was a great dinner. It was a very informative dinner. Smart people. Stephen A. is great. Bill Maher, I tell you what, he likes me a lot more than people understand.

And I actually like him. It was a good dinner. It was a good dinner. It was a good dinner. It was a good dinner.

Mr. President, if it wasn't you then who gave the order for Starskill to come down in Ukraine? If it wasn't you who gave that order? Well, I don't know. I know that I think it's the same. I'm not sure that it ever came down, but I'm pretty sure it's the same.

But I just checked at this point. It wasn't us. I checked it this morning. They say it's the same as it always has been. Mr.

President, wait, Mr. President, would you have liked to have known that Katie Zachariah didn't pass the bar? And how would you rate her performance? Well, Katie's been treated very badly by the media. Very, very badly. Very unfairly, I think.

And I just spoke to her about it. I said, Katie, is this for you? Because, you know, she's been treated very rough and she's a nice person. Very nice person. I've watched her for years on television.

But I said, is this for you, Katie? Because honestly, You don't need this. You don't have to be treated. I would say the fake news, but just generally the media has been very rough. She was on Sean Hannity last night, and Sean was a little bit tough.

And she did. I saw Fox and Friends this morning. They were a little tough. She's been treated, I would say, pretty nastily. And I said to Katie just 2 minutes ago, I said, Katie, you know, you don't have to do this if you don't want.

She said, this is a lot tougher. I said, welcome. To the world of Trump. Are you going to keep her? I'm going to let her make that decision.

Okay. She's off to a start that the news has been so nasty to her. I've never seen anything like it. And I said, you want to really live like this? I don't think they'll ever ease up.

And, you know, Caroline did a very good job. I think Katie maybe would do. But Katie is off to a start that the news has been so nasty to her. I've never seen anything like it. And I said, I said to her, honestly, I said, honestly, if I were you, I'd reconsider.

You think about it, but I would reconsider. She got a beautiful husband and family. I met the family yesterday. Beautiful kids. It's like from a picture postcard.

And I said, you should reconsider because you don't want to go through it. What do you want her to do? I just want her to be happy. Look, she has suffered over the last few days. And I'm not saying, you know, I mean, maybe it's not for her.

But I said, you want to be happy in life. You— I'll do whatever she wants. To give her? Do you want her to stick around ultimately? I'll talk to her when I get back.

We're going over to— we have a big, big rally. Lots of cars, lots of people, big crowds. You know that. And I'll talk to her tonight or tomorrow. I just said I think we should reconsider because I think the press is really being very unfair.

How do you get briefed on the school shooting in Oregon? I was wondering. I was. Well, I'll tell you what. There was a great hero and it could have been as bad as it was that we had a great hero that went in and did He did the business.

He took care of business. And thank God we had him. Otherwise, it would have been much worse. It's a terrible thing. But thank goodness for a man that had a gun and knew how to use it.

Do you still think that Pence is going to win, sir? I think he's going to win. Yeah. And Pence is going to win. Pence has gone way up in the polls.

I'm going to Texas again. I went there twice. And since I've been there, you know, these rallies have changed the whole ballgame. The rallies have been very successful. And they've changed the whole ballgame.

I think Ken Paxton now is leading by a little bit. He was losing and he's leading. And a lot of it had to do with the rallies. And a lot of it is by saying that Ken Paxton has been the best attorney general in the state of Texas in the history of the state of Texas. Ken Paxton is one of the best in this country.

And you got to give him credit for that. And the other guy is— he's Calafrico. He's a freak. And Mr. Mr.

Honestly, he would be so bad for Texas. He'd be so bad for the country. And. On the ballroom, on the ballroom, the Washington Post is out with a list of donors, more than $300 million. You said you're going to put some of your own money in there.

Can you say how much money? No, I just said when they run out, I'll be there. Okay. But we're right now right on budget. We're ahead of schedule.

And you see it behind us. It's going to be one. It'll be the greatest ballroom anywhere in the world. And the military complex that we're building, drone port on top, 6 stories, 5 stories below. There'll be nothing like it anywhere in the world.

And on Ukraine, sir, will you receive some lessons? I think they have some lessons. I gave a list to a couple of different outlets. And you called Ukraine a disgrace for attacking Russia. You want Zelensky out.

Have you forgotten that it's President Putin who started the war? Well, you know, I know the details, okay? And at some point I'll release the details, but I don't care anything except for one. I want that war ended.

5,000 Soldiers on average a month are being killed. Last month it was 32,000 soldiers. And I think the two leaders— I deal with both of them— I think they want that war ended too. And I think it's going to end. That's all I care about.

I want that war to end. Mr. President, new documents suggest that Hunter Biden undermined anti-corruption efforts in Ukraine. Were Democrats trying to cover up the real Ukraine scandal while in teaching you? I believe they were. I don't believe they were.

The documents speak for themselves. I appreciate that question. No, the Biden administration was very corrupt. And Hunter Biden and the father and the whole group, they were very corrupt people. The people, especially the people surrounding the desk, like his— well, I'll mention the names later.

I think I'm going to mention them later. But it was a very corrupt, weaponized administration. And yes, they did a lot of bad things having to do with Ukraine. Mr. President, do you think that Saudi Arabia should accept the help that Israel is offering to fight the Houthi rebels? Yeah, I do.

I. Think— Have you talked to MBS about it? I think they will, sure. Israel's been very helpful to Saudi Arabia. And yeah, they certainly would do that.

Yeah. Do you— is an Abraham Accord back on the table with Saudi Arabia? Yeah, I think so. Yeah, I think so. Maybe more than ever.

The Abraham Accords is one of our great achievements. And yeah, I would say maybe more than ever. Saudi Arabia is very happy to have Israel's support and our support. Yeah. Mr. President, was it you or was it Elon Musk who decided to temporarily pause Starlink access for the Ukrainian people?

Well, I don't know if it was anybody because it wasn't me, and I don't think it was Elon. And from what I understand, it's the same as it's always been. And then, can you talk about the story of Suzy Wild? Is it true? Zero chance.

Zero. It was a fake story. Let me just tell you, the Suzy Wild story, It was a fake story. She's been incredible. We've had maybe the most successful first 2 years, and it's not even 2 years, in the history of the presidency.

She's been my chief of staff. She's smart. She's tough. She just went through a lot with the cancer surgery and the whole thing. And she recovered, fully recovered.

She's phenomenal. We told that to Politico. We said, your story is totally wrong. And the only one that matters is me because I'm the one that makes the decision. So they made up fake news.

They released it knowing it was a fake news. Big story. Suzy is here and she's going to be here for a long time. What about Katie Zachariah? What about Katie Zachariah?

I told Katie that in my opinion, she was treated very, very unfairly, very unfairly by the news. Let's call it the fake news or the news or the media. You take any term you want. And I said, Katie, do you need this? I don't think you need this.

And we're talking about doing something. We like Katie a lot. I think she's been really, really treated very unfairly. Are you talking about firing her or replacing her? No, no, we're talking about— I want her to have a good life.

I don't want to have a life like she's led in the last 3 days. She is being brutalized by the media, I think very unfairly, but she's been brutalized by the media. So I said, when I get back, we're going to Georgia right now. We have a tremendous crowd of people, like record setting. You know, these— I don't know if you know it.

These rallies are turning everything around. These rallies are legendary. These are like the rallies I've had. And I didn't think I'd have to do it, but I want to make sure Republicans do as well as they can do. History says that a president, Republican or Democrat, never does well in a midterm.

We had the most successful 2 years, and it's a little short of 2 years yet, but in the history of the presidency, there's never been 2 years like we just had, including Greenland, including Venezuela, including the best business, the best investment, the biggest investment, the best stock market for a big majority of the days. It's been an incredible period of time. But we are— there's never been anything like it. And getting back to Suzy for a second, Suzy was treated very unfairly because we told Politico that story is totally false. And she's going to be with me for a long time.

I just want to go to the United States. But Katie got dry. Are you saying you're going to carry on? You can roll it out. No, I'm not.

What I'm doing is I said when I get back, we're going to talk because I don't think Katie should be made to suffer like she's suffering at the hands of the press. So I will talk to her as soon as I get back. When can I be officially? Hello? When can I be officially?

When Katie— when Katie will continue to be in the administration? Could be, yeah. Yeah? Would she stay in the— yeah, in some form, but maybe a more pleasant form. Well, have anybody else on your list for potential press secretary?

A lot of people want the job. I'll bet you'd want it if I offered it to you. But a lot of people would want that job. But I just think the press has been very tough on Katie. And I said, there's No reason for you to have to go through that.

You've got a beautiful family, fantastic husband and kids. And I told her, I said, you shouldn't have to go through that. So we'll make a determination. Were you upset that she didn't disclose passing the bar or not passing the bar? Well, I wasn't hiring her to be a lawyer.

I was hiring her to be a press secretary. So nobody really went crazy over that. I would say it probably wouldn't have mattered. I know many people, many people, many very smart people, some of them take the bar 4 exams, the bar exam 4 times. But I wasn't hiring as a lawyer.

I hired as a businessman. And she's been very good. You know, she's been loyal to me from day one for a long time. But it's not an easy job. And I think she was really treated very unfairly.

So I'll speak to her about it. I know there's— I think you're better off being happy. And I'm not sure you can ever be happy in this job. There's nothing easy about this job. You're not president.

So how is your relationship with President Murkowski at this moment? I think it's good. Yeah, I think it's good. I want him to do one thing. Kill the war.

Stop 25. I guess it was last month, 32,000. Now it's 25,000, mostly young soldiers. I want them to stop. So I want them to stop.

That means Zelensky and Putin, they have to stop. That's all it is. That's all I care about. They have to stop the war between Russia and Ukraine. Do you think you can get a deal on nuclear arms with Russia and China this year?

I think about— I can get a deal with them. I will get that deal in, uh, Washington D.C. It doesn't have to be this year though. They both aren't very interested— Mr. President!

The Pentagon banned its staff from carrying guns to bend Morgan's food business. What do you think about that? Well, we're going to see if we can have a full report on that. But I'm very thankful for the man that did such a good job in going in and doing the business because he did a fantastic job. As bad as it was, it could've been worse.

Do you think there were things done improperly? No, no, of course not. That's what they owe me before next week. Closed up each birthday ago at Lebanon, raising fears they could be used to assassinate political opponents. What is your reaction?

But you know that James Calabrico— That's. Right. He wants to get rid of oil drilling in Texas. Nobody can take a chance on them now. Now he'll deny it, but he's on tape.

He wants to get rid of oil drilling in Texas. I think that's not a good thing for our country. Thing for him. I can't imagine that he could possibly be elected. And also, you have to look at how well Ken Paxton's doing.

Ken Paxton, since we've done the rallies and at the convention, Ken Paxton's gotten way up. The disagreement is too risky. Giorgia Meloni said that the disagreement with Russia is too risky and legitimizes Moscow. What do you say? It's not a big deal overall, but it's a deal for the world.

It's not a deal deal for us. They'll release some diesel oil out. So it's a nice thing to have. It's a nice thing to have, but it's really not our deal. It's the world deal.

Yeah. Sir. All right, let's go. Sir, California's election. You brought up the election.

California's election. Why is the DOJ interfering already with California's election? They're not interfering. All they want to do is make sure the election is fair. Sir, the White House is interfering.

I am.

What did you say to him? I came from Saudi Arabia. I'm from Al Jazeera. I'm Tunisian from Al Jazeera. Did you contact him?

What did you tell him? I have a great relationship with Saudi Arabia, and Saudi Arabia is going to be very good. Vladimir Putin spoke with Pope Leo today by phone about the war in Ukraine. Do you think Putin will listen to Pope Leo to end the war? And I think he wants to end the war.

I wish him the best. I spoke to his brother. His brother's a great guy, he's a friend of mine. And I said, please extend my best wishes. And we put out a statement.

Mr. President, Mr. President, a new report from the Council of Economic Advisers says that a lot of the socialist policies that the Democrats are running on would cost the country $50 trillion over the next decade. How big of a disaster would these socialist policies be if they get in office? Well, it's socialism. That's what ruins countries. And you're right, it would cost the country more money than A country could make in 50 years.

It's crazy. Everybody knows it's crazy. They know it's crazy. And it'll be tough. And on top of that, it'll be very bad healthcare and all these different things that they talk about.

Very bad. If you look at other countries that have gone this way, they've all gone back. It never worked. It never worked. It never could work.

Mr. President, what about the U.S. economy right now? Sir, why do you— The U.S. economy has never been stronger. We have more investment coming into the U.S. than ever before. It's one of the most— one of the greatest stories ever told having to do with economies. We have $21 trillion with a T being invested in the United States right now.

There's never been anything like it. Thank you very much.

They are in great shape, I love it.