Press Gaggle: Donald Trump Speaks to Reporters Before Air Force One Departure - September 10, 2026

That was a tremendous success. Two absolutely sold-out, big arenas. I mean, they were big, was the Mavericks arena. It was a fantastic night tonight, and yesterday was likewise a fantastic night. I think people are surprised, but it was. I would imagine people are gonna be doing it now for midterms. Never been done before, Republican or Democrat.

But it was phenomenal. The singer at the end, Christopher, was great. Very amazing. And it was a, it was just a fantastic two days.

How do you, how do you rate, how do you rate JD for 2028 after that performance?

I think he did very well tonight. And, uh, very talented guy. He's great, been a great vice president. And I think he did a very good job.

How are you going to pay for the $5,000 check that you want to send to all the adult - --

Uh, out of growth, tremendous growth. We have growth like no country has ever seen before. We have trillions of dollars coming in, and that will end up being, uh, not a very big problem at all. And I think our people deserve it.

What about the deficit?

Don't forget, they're investing, they'll be reinvesting it in our country.

Are you worried about the fact that it'll impact the deficit?

No, I'm not at all.

Would the US --

We have, we have tremendous stuff. Yeah?

But the US --

What do you think happened over the last couple of days --

About what?

-- in terms of the momentum for the --

I think from what I hear, the momentum is so great, it was like a flawless two days. Uh, the crowds were -- I didn't know what to expect. Nobody knew what to expect. And the arenas were packed, packed. There were thousands of people outside, they couldn't get in. So nobody knew what to expect. You know, it was a midterm convention.

Nobody knew what to expect. Never been done before, but it was, it was amazing.

Mr. President, on the check, uh, the US is still $40 trillion in debt. If your economic policies are working, why do you need an incentive for people to turn out to vote?

I think what you're going to do. I didn't do it for turning out to vote. I did it as a reward for people having to put up with five years and four years of horrible, a horrible situation caused by Biden. I mean, they had to put up with the four years and that carried on for at least a half an additional year with horrible, uh, just a horrible thing that Biden did to our country.

And it's not only just from an economic standpoint. You look at the border, you look at the crime, and now we've got it under control. But what, what a period of time. It's almost a reward for the people having to put up with Biden's policy. Yeah?

But you, al- -- but you al- --

Go ahead. Not you.

But you also offered checks --

Not you. Hey.

-- during, tariff refund checks --

Not you.

-- and that didn't happen, Mr. President.

Just on Iran --

Your, your network and you, you're the worst. Go ahead.

On Iran, oil prices have shot back up over the last 24 hours.

Well, the prices will drop ra- -- very rapidly as soon as we win the, uh, military conflict or war, you could call it whatever you want. Uh, the prices will go back to where they were. Uh, it's a, it's always -- Look, uh, they're still cost cutter like me, but Iran cannot have a nuclear weapon. When, uh, that ends, and I think it'll end very shortly after the election, could end before the election, but I think it'll end very shortly after the election, the prices will go down to less than two dollars a barrel, uh, two dollars a gallon for oil.

How can you be sure of that, sir?

Uh, for gasoline, I'm pretty sure. I'm pretty good at it. I've been pre- -- if you look at where it was before I started, I had a start. And if I had to do it again, I'd do it exactly the same. And they'll never have a nuclear weapon. We can never allow them to have a nuclear weapon. So before I started, literally the day before, I was in Iowa, and I saw it at 185 and 195 for gasoline a gallon.

And I think it's gonna match those numbers, maybe even be, at some points, below those numbers.

Mr. President.

But the big thing, bigger than that, more important than that, they won't have a nuclear weapon.

Mr. President, on the one year anniversary of Charlie Kirk's assassination, what in your view is his legacy, and can you speak to the impact he had on millions of young Americans?

Well, what Charlie did was incredible with young Americans more than anybody else. I mean, I know him so well and he was always such a great supporter. And it's so sad. I mean, to think about it, it's just a sad cloud over the country, what happened to Charlie. It's not even believable. He was very close to me and my family.

Uh, but, uh, he was great. I think he's got, there's great memories of Charlie. But more than anything else, what he was able to do with young people. He did, the young people loved him. They still do.

Will the working -- Is it possible that, uh, is it possible that the Iran war will last till the end of your term, Mr. --

No. No.

There was a report in The Journal about three years ago.

The Journal, The Wall Street Journal?

Yes, sir.

One of the most inaccurate papers I've ever read. It's, uh, it's only going on its past laurels. No, there's not even a chance.

Do you have any concerns about AI leading to human extinction?

No. I, I mean, I have, uh, concerns that if we don't win AI, we're gonna be put in a very bad position. Uh, we are leading China right now by a pretty good period. I would say a year, which is, you know, considered a lot. President Xi's coming over very shortly. He's gonna be, we're having a steak dinner.

It's gonna be, I think it's gonna be great. No, we're leading China. We're leading the world right now in everything. We have the greatest economy in history, and people are gonna start to see it. We have more jobs right now than at any time in the history of our country. Thank you all very much. Thank you.

Thank you so much.

Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. President.

Thank you, Mr. President.