White House: President Trump Gaggles with Press at Joint Base Andrews En Route Groton, CT, May 20, 2026

Hello, everybody. Good morning. We're in a nice trip today. We're doing very well. The numbers department, the economic numbers are phenomenal.

We're in final stages of Iran. We'll see what happens. We'll either have a deal or we're going to do some things that are a little bit nasty, but hopefully that won't happen. Country's doing well. You see, the numbers came out today.

They're fantastic. Economic numbers are fantastic. Do you have any questions? Yes, sir. How are you feeling after scoffy defeat last night?

What does it mean for the Republican Party? Well, we had a great number of victories. Not just Massey, Massey's alumni. We had a great number of victories. We have the governors, you know, governorships.

We won senatorships. We won everything. We won all races last night, every one of them. We have a great candidate. I believe in Texas, and I believe the Texas candidate was Ken Paxton.

I think he'll win. I think probably he'll win very substantially. And I think he'll go on to defeat a very defective candidate. A candidate that believes in six genders. He takes hits at Jesus Christ and he's wearing a mask six months ago.

Was anybody wearing a mask six months ago? Doesn't get it. And he's a vegan. He's a vegan in Texas, and you can't get elected as a vegan in Texas. Did you talk to Senate leadership on the Republican side about endorsing against an incumbent?

I did. I did. They'll be all right with it. They want to win. I know how to win.

Are you worried about, sir? Some of them don't know how to win. I know how to win, sir. I think I've proven that, haven't I? Are you worried about the ballroom funding, Mr. President, respect.

No, I'm building. The ballroom's being built. I'm building the ballroom. You saw it yesterday, right? Yep.

We're building a great ballroom. It's been needed. It's a very military complex. The roof is actually a drone port. The roof of the ballroom is a drone port and it gives great safety to everything below.

We're building a really great ballroom, but it's so also a military. Strong military position for our people.

I think they both did great. What do you want me to say? I think they both did good. Do you like that? That's pretty good, though, right?

I think they both did good. I watch both of them. Both very good men, really are.

But her husband votes against me all. I don't know. What's with you? Better ask her. What's with him?

Her husband. She's mad to start. He likes voting against Trump. You know what happens with that? Doesn't work out well.

I don't know why he does. Sir, on Taiwan, do you have any plans to call President Lai before you make your decision on the arms deal? Do you have any plans to call President Lai of Taiwan before you make a decision on the weapons package? I'll speak to him. I speak to everybody.

We have that situation. Very well. Hand. We had a great meeting with President Xi. It was amazing, actually.

It was amazing. Many of you were there. We'll work on that. That's Taiwan problem. What did you said to Prime Minister Netanyahu about Iran and how long.

He's fine. He'll do whatever I want him to do. He's a very good man. He'll do whatever I want him to do. And he's a great guy.

To me, he's a great guy. Don't forget he was a wartime prime minister. And he's not treated in Israel. In my opinion. I'm right now at 99% in Israel.

I could run for prime minister. So maybe after I do this, I'll go to Israel, run for prime minister. I had a poll this morning. I'm 99%, so that's. But no, he's a wartime prime minister.

I just don't think they treat him well. Mr. President, what do you think of Spencer? I think they have a president over there that treats him very poorly. You're on the same page with the guy. Mr. President, anyone about replacing?

If somebody comes along, I'd look. It's a little late in the race, but if somebody comes along, I'd look. Mr. President, what do you think of Spencer Pratt? Do you see yourself in him at all? A former reality TV star?

No, I'd like to see him do well. He's a character. I don't know. I don't know. I assume he probably supports me.

Does he support me? I think so. Yeah, I heard he does. I heard he's a Big Mac head person. He's doing well.

I don't know. You have a rigged vote out there. That's the problem. The boats are rigged. You have a really rigged vote in California.

You have all the nail in ballots. Everything else very hard to win because the elections are very dishonest. We had Jesus Christ come down and count the votes. I would have won California because I do great with Hispanics. But it's a rigged vote.

They said that. 38 Million votes. Nobody knows where they're going. Of course, the Democrats disproportionately. Democrats get many more votes.

Some get eight votes. They get eight cards. And Republicans have to call in. Where's my. It's a rig system.

One of the most, not the worst. I'll give you a list. Maybe I'll do my list. But it's. California is one of the most dishonest states for life.

What's your message for cadets today? Just enjoy your life. Great guys. It's my second time at the Ghost Guard Academy. They're great guys.

We like them. You know, you don't really realize how important Coast Guard is until you have a hurricane. I remember the big hurricane in Texas, man. These kids go on boats and they go into waves that are 20 times higher than the boat. And I say, can they really make it?

I'm watching this. And they say they find a way. But they were going into waves, these massive waves to save people that were inside. And you don't realize it, but boy, they are good. They are good seamen.

They are unbelievable. I wouldn't want to do it, Mr. President. I'm a very brave person. I wouldn't want to do it. XI meeting.

Well, he told me he was going to. I think it's good. I get along with both of them, but I think it's good. I don't know if the ceremony is quite as brilliant as mine. I watched.

I think we topped them. I think we topped them. Good team, but no, I like. I get along with Putin. I get along with.

I get along with everybody but your husband and a few others. How many times?

What does that mean? It's a limited deal. Just for a long distance. We'd have to open the street. That would open immediately.

So we're going to get. Give this one shot. I'm in no hurry. You're not going to think, oh, the good terms. I'm in a hurry.

I'm in no hurry. I just. Ideally, I'd like to see few people killed as opposed to a lot. We could do it either way, but. But I'd like to see few people killed.

I just wonder whether or not they have the good of the people because some of the things they're doing to me means they don't have the good of the people and they have to have the good of the people.

There's a lot of anger now in Iran because people are living so badly. There's a lot of foment that we seen before. So much. And we'll see what happens, Mr. President, over the weekend. But let's put it this way.

You were in Vietnam 19 years, right? You were in, you were in Afghanistan, these other places. 10 Years. You were in Iraq. How long were you in Iraq?

12. 12 Years. You were in Korea for seven years. World War II is different. That was four years.

I'm in for three months. And much of it's been ceasefire, so. And you know what? You hundreds of thousands of soldiers in these various wars. In two wars, Venezuela, where we lost nobody, and here we lost 13 people.

Now, 13 people is 13 too much. But we lost 13 people. In other wars, you lost hundreds of thousands of people. So people don't like it when you say, oh, do you know you've lost 13. We lost in two major wars.

We took over Venezuela, we essentially took over Iran. And we've lost so far 13 people. Some other somebody else would have lost 100,000 people.

But I get a kick when I look at somebody on television. He's lost 13 people. I lost 13 people. They lost 13 people leaving an airport. Obama, 13 very good people that I got to know their families.

So what we've done is amazing. And we have them decimated. Iran is decimated. And I mean, you're going to see things that are amazing. You're going to see a lot of amazing things over the next three years for our country.

And I'd like to talk more about the economics, because we have $18 trillion being spent and no country has ever had anything like that. We have car plants pouring in from Mexico, Canada. They don't want to be there. There's no reason to be there because they want to sell our market. We have car companies and plants coming in from Germany, from South Korea, from Japan, coming in by the billions.

And they're being buil going to see things that nobody thought was possible. Mr. President, you're going to end up. Saying, he's the greatest president that ever lived. Goodbye, everybody. James told me over the weekend, Mr. President, he suggested that there's still people in your DOJ and FBI that are waiting you out.

They're waiting until your, your administration is over to get back to work. These things. Those people are still in the DOJ and FBI? I hope not. Well, if they would seek them out or seek them out when they're ready.

You have, in every agency you have scum, and certainly they did in the FBI. But Todd Blanche is doing a fantastic job. Cash is doing a very good job. So we'll. We will prevail.

I've been standing here a long time with you many years right and they've been saying, I think it's it. I think you struggled. Here I am, man. It's a very constant situation. But I think you're going to find that we have great people in the FBI and we have great people in the fk.

Todd Blanch has really been doing great and a lot of things to come. We have a lot of things that great. Our country is doing well. Thank you very much. Thank you, Mr. President.