Press Gaggle: Donald Trump Speaks to Reporters Before Marine One Departure - October 23, 2026

We had a -- a big night last night, as you know. It was a very successful night. I think we carried some people across the finish line. We'll see. But that was great in Iowa. Now I'm going to Florida, Fort Myers, and we'll -- I think have a -- we have a tremendous crowd, I can tell you. They're lined up miles long, but we'll be there soon.

Hi, Steve.

Mr. President -- Mr. President, the ceasefire is really good news. Will the first lady be a part of the trilateral peace talks that you're planning --

No, but it's not the worst idea I've ever heard.

Have you thought about having --

What she wants to do is save children, and that's her focus. And both sides are cooperating with her. She's doing a very good job.

How did that all come about, Mr. President?

Her initiative. And they contacted both sides and both sides wanted to do it.

[Crosstalk]

Is there anything you can let us know now? Mr. President, any news on a new press secretary that you can give us, a new press secretary?

No, nothing much. We're in no rush.

Mr. President, there's a new book out that says Jared Kushner had access to $2 billion from Middle Eastern countries.

It's a false story.

It's a false story? You don't know anything about that?

It's a false story. No, it's a totally false story. It's totally an incorrect story. It was just fake news. It's amazing.

Mr. President, you must know now who ordered the Starlink access in Ukraine to be restricted. Who was it?

Well, I wouldn't tell you if I did know. I have no idea, but I wouldn't tell you if I did. Why would I tell you? Who are you with?

I'm the CNN, sir.

Oh. Why would I tell CNN? Although they did do some nice polls on me, I must say.

Mr. President? What do you say to Ukrainians --

If CNN keeps with those polls, I'll like them more and more.

[Crosstalk]

The Ukrainians [Inaudible] still restricted access. Zelenskyy said they still are receiving slow access.

Well, if there is a problem, I'll get it straightened out.

President Trump, 20,000 noncitizens on the voter rolls in California, 20,000 non-citizens.

Ok. Well, I'm not surprised. It could be hundreds of thousands. That was just a batch, 20,000 absolutely fraudulent in California for voting. And it could be 100,000. It could be 3, 4 or 500,000. California is very corrupt voting. So is Minnesota. So are many other states.

On Iran, sir -- Early voting -- early voting is at record levels in a number of states that are critical for Republicans to hold on to the Senate, Texas, Ohio, North Carolina. Who do you think that early voting is [Inaudible]?

Well, nobody knows. I mean, we'll find out. I -- I think that we're doing very well against Talafreako. I think we're doing very well. We have the best attorney general in the history of Texas running. So, I think we're doing well, but we're going to find out. The numbers are very high all over. The numbers in -- like, I was in Iowa.

I saw the enthusiasm last night. I think there's great Republican enthusiasm. I really think -- you know, I keep hearing about different things. You've been following me. I've been -- we've been packed, every house. Every house there's people that can't get in. Fort Myers is today, that's Florida, and they say they've never seen anything like it. So, I mean, if that if that counts, I think we're doing very well.

Do you have any message -- [Inaudible] Ukraine's Starlink connection?

I have not spoken to him. I might -- I might have to, but I have not. I've -- I've heard -- I've heard it was fixed. But if it's not, I'll fix it.

On Iran -- To minority voters that supported you so much, now that we're in the midterms, any message to minority and black voters?

I think minority voters have been great to me, you know, so I've been great for the minority voter. Look what I've done for -- for -- as an example, with the historically black colleges and universities, I've taken care of them. I've -- I've been very good -- the Hispanic voter has been great to me, but I've been great to them too.

You know, there's a reason. And I've been great to Hispanics. I've been great to blacks. I've been great to pretty much everyone. It's a different Republican Party, but we're also the -- the party of the worker. It's a much bigger party than it used to be. I mean, if you go back ten years ago before I got on the scene, it's a much more powerful place.

This is a much bigger, frankly, more important party.

On Iran, sir, Mr. President -- You've been campaigning nonstop for the past few weeks. You'll campaign nonstop next week. Who do you view right now as the most vulnerable Republican Senate candidates?

Well, I wouldn't want to say that. I wouldn't want to say that. But there are a couple that are a little bit vulnerable. There are a couple where they had a little bad luck over the last couple of weeks, something came out about. But the Democrats have that too. I mean, look, if you look at El-Sayed in Michigan, you take a look at that, I mean, he's had more bad publicity.

But, you know, we'll see what happens. I do think that some of the networks give too much air time to the opponent, if you want to know the truth.

[Crosstalk]

[Inaudible] said on Iran --

What's that?

[Inaudible] said there could be a stalemate for up to a year, and the US is preparing for an extended conflict. But you keep saying it's going to end soon.

Well -- well, it could -- we could end it very quickly. But Iran is a failing nation. We're taking all the oil out that we want. You see that with the Hormuz Straight, our Navy. And we have it blocked up for them, but nobody else. And everybody is taking oil out. In fact, last week we took more oil out than we have ever taken it -- out, even before the war.

So, that -- and that was a big -- that was a big sticking point. So, we have that. And they have inflation. They have no money. They -- you know, the question is, do we want to finish it off or do we let it -- do we just want to let it wither? Because we're getting everything we want to see. We have more oil coming out of the Hormone Strait today than they did a year ago.

Mr. President, on Israel -- Do you think the Vice President -- [Inaudible] and Melania going to vote?

We're going to vote tomorrow, I think. I think we're voting tomorrow in Florida.

How come Ilhan Omar doesn't have a gag order? Like, how come Ilhan Omar doesn't have a gag order like you did?

Oh, I love that question. I love that question. She should have. But, look, what she did is -- her whole life is a scam. As far as I'm concerned, her whole life is a total scam.

Mr. President, [Inaudible] your Vice President, JD Vance, should have endorsed Netanyahu, just like you did?

I don't know that he did or didn't. That's up to him.

He did.

I would -- I would leave that up to him.

Mr. President, if there is -- if there's gridlock for the next two years -- obviously you don't want to see that. But if there is, would that be bad for the US economy?

No, it would be probably good, because we're taking a tremendous -- don't forget, when you say gridlock, you're talking about Iran? That would be --

I'm talking about gridlock in terms of your legislative agenda.

Oh, grid -- that, oh. Let's talk about gridlock with Iran. Iran is not able to do much now. And we could, if we wanted to, just take all of the oil. We could take the whole country. We could take all of the oil. And as you know, the Hormone Strait is totally ours, and that's the way we'll keep it. So, in that way, that would be -- the gridlock's very interesting because they have no money and they have inflation that's 301 percent, the highest in the world right now.

So, we'll see. As far as --

Political gridlock.

You're talking about if the Republicans didn't win?

Right, just political gridlock in Washington.

Well, I think the Republicans are going to win. But if there was, as you call it, gridlock, what happens is I veto everything and then the Democrats come and they want to make a deal. So, we'll work with them.

[Crosstalk]

And if you look historically, when you have a situation where that would happen, if it happens, you veto, veto, veto, and then they come and they say how do we get it done, and you make a deal.

Now that you know the back story about Amy Acton and her stepfather and why she hasn't talked to her mom for so long, her stepfather was indicted for rape, now that you know all that, sir, do you change your mind about the ad?

No. It's a mother speaking badly against Amy Adkins And to me, it's very easy.

But they haven't talked -- they haven't talked for 50 years.

I don't care. Those things are -- if it -- if it were my mother speaking badly about me, you'd be making it the number one story in the news.

But her mother stood by her --

Maybe you wouldn't, but --

But her mother stood by her after her husband had raped or had --

Look, look --

Sexually assaulted her.

Your don't know that. You don't know that. You don't know anything. Her mother stood by, didn't stand by, her mother went on television and said that the daughter who's running for governor of Ohio is a liar and a bad person. And that's all I know.

But the stepfather was charged.

Nobody knows -- nobody knows anything.

But he was charged with --

Can I be honest? You should be -- you're a bad -- the press is embarrassing themselves. You're trying to take a horrible situation for a Democrat and make it look better. The mother said really bad things about a person that wants to be the Democrat governor of Ohio. The mother said terrible things. Anybody seeing that would say no way I'm voting for her.

But Mr. President --

There's nothing to it. It's very simple. The press is trying so hard to nullify. And, you know, they called me up about it. I said wait a minute. The mother said these things. The mother looks like she's totally lucid. She looks very smart, actually. And she felt she had an obligation to Ohio voters to tell them that her daughter is a liar.

President Trump -- Mr. President, President Zelenskyy says that Starlink is still not working for Ukraine.

I haven't heard that, but I'll look at it.

Did you speak with the British prime minister today?

I did.

Can you tell us what you discussed and why that call was --

We discussed the fact that they're opening up the North Sea oil, and that's going to make the UK a very rich country. They're opening up the North Sea oil. We discussed -- I've been after them to do that for two years. The other prime minister, the previous man, is Starmer, who's a very nice man, but he never got it done.

And this one is getting it and he is getting it done. And I guess it's against the Liberal principle, but he knows what's right. It's going to make -- it's going to make UK a very wealthy country.

Did you discuss Iran or Ukraine?

We did very, very lightly. We mostly discussed Aberdeen and the North Sea.

And can you just talk about the trade talks with Mexico? President Sheinbaum hoped there might be a deal before the --

No, we're very close to a deal with Mexico. It'll be a very good deal for, hopefully them, but it's going to be a good deal for us or we won't make it. The same thing with Canada. Canada's working very hard to make a deal with us. And I hate to say this, but we have all the cards in both of them.

You want what's --

We have all the cards. Just like I told Zelenskyy, we have all the cards.

Do you want a deal -- Mr. President, on the Ramaswamy ad, sir, Republicans like Ashley Hinson, who you were with last night in Iowa, are denouncing the ads. But you --

Well, they can, but they don't know the facts. Look, this is a mother that went on the air to say that her daughter, who's running for governor of the great state of Ohio -- that I won in a record all three times. I got the record vote, the highest vote ever. So, I know it well. I love the people. A mother is saying don't put my daughter there because she's a terrible person and she's a liar.

Why shouldn't somebody use that?

But do the sexual abuse allegations mean --

Let me ask you.

Nothing to you, sir?

If my mother said, see --

Do the sexual abuse allegations make no difference?

Wait. Wait, wait, wait. Slow down. Who are you with? Who are you with?

I'm with NBC, sir.

One of the worst networks you have.

But there are very serious --

Listen, listen.

Sexual abuse allegations.

Quiet!

They make no difference to you?

It's not -- isn't she a fresh person? You're a horrible little reporter, aren't you? If my mother said bad things about me, do you think the Democrats would put it up? I think so. But my mother thought I was wonderful. Thank you, Mom. My mother would never -- even if she thought that, she would never say -- this is a person, a mother, a smart woman.

I watched, smart woman. She said her daughter is a disaster. Her daughter is a liar, and she felt that she had an obligation. And she also said her daughter lied about her opponent, which is Vivek Ramaswamy. If I had that ad -- I should be so lucky to have an ad like that. Why wouldn't you listen to a mother that says that?

Why? Why would you -- Ms. NBC, why wouldn't you listen?

She's saying that her stepfather --

Wait a minute. Quiet. You have a -- I don't know anything about a stepfather. All you have --

Sir, raping his stepdaughter in --

This one just keeps talking.

1978, sir.

You just keep talking.

I'm answering you, sir.

You have a -- I don't know anything about a stepfather from many, many years ago. I know that recently a mother got on television and said that her daughter should not be governor of Ohio. And she said I love my daughter, but my daughter lies all the time and lied about her opponent, and I can't watch it. And the mother got up -- this has nothing to do with a stepfather or anything else.

This has to do with the fact that a -- a woman got out -- the mother of a person running for governor of one of the greatest states, where I set records, and said that she's a liar. Her daughter's a liar. She said her daughter lied about the Vivek and the mother couldn't take it anymore. She basically said her daughter should not -- that's what she said, her daughter should not be the governor of Ohio.

To me, that's something that's very much fair game.

Mr. President, could you preview your trip to Michigan on Sunday?

My trip to Michigan is going to be very exciting. Every one of my trips is exciting. I think we did fantastically in Iowa. I think -- I think that you're going to have -- everybody I talked about last night's going to be elected. You're going to have a great governor, a great senator. We're going to have a very big one right now.

They're saying the line is two miles long or four miles or five miles long. We're sold out at every single place I go. And every single place I go, people that are down are now winning. Thank you very much.

[Crosstalk]

How does the US military prevent these attacks that are happening on cargo ships and oil tankers in the Strait of Hormuz?

They're competent. They're really good. The Navy has done a great job. We have more -- you just saw it on the front page of the Wall Street Journal. There's more oil coming out right now through the Strait of Hormones than it was even before the war. We have done a hell of a job. I hope someday we'll recognize it.

[Crosstalk]

Mr. President, do you believe Melania can make peace in Ukraine?

I think she's done a great job. I mean, she's into saving babies and bringing babies back home to their parents. And she's been able to do something that's great. She's been working very hard on it. She wants to see babies come back to their families, and that's between Russia and Ukraine. And they worked a ceasefire that's in a very rough place, by the way, and babies are being exchanged.

She's done a great job.

On politics, Kamala Harris was in Mississippi last night. Mississippi is a state that nobody really thought would be in play. What does that have to tell you about the midterms?

Well, I won it by 32 points. They've asked me to go. I'm going there I think on Monday.

Yes, sir.

And I look forward to it. And Cindy Hyde-Smith -- you know, Cindy Hyde is fantastic. She's the -- and she's very popular. She's up in the polls. She's not losing.

You've been doing so many rallies, I'm just curious. Do you feel like the strategy is working? I know he's not your favorite. Karl Rove had an article the other day in the Journal, and he said that there's a chance of backlash. Do you think the rallies is the best strategy so close to the midterms?

Look, you have Karl Rove, he's a loser. He's a proven -- he's been a loser all his life. Karl Rove doesn't know what he's talking about. Look, every single place I've gone to, every single place, whether people were losing that were expected to win, when I'm leaving -- look at Ohio, how much better he's doing.

Look at -- everyone look at Iowa last night with Ashley. She's -- just came out with numbers right now. Every place I'm going to, every place is full, loaded with people, lined up outside trying to get in. I'm going to Fort Myers right now. They say there's a line of people that's five miles long. Every place I've gone to I've helped.

And every -- every place wants me. The one problem is I'm one person. This is a lot of work.

Mr. President, on Alaska --

Let me tell you, this is a lot of work.

Well, that's why I was asking. So, how -- do you feel like, though, is -- is the juice worth the squeeze? Do you feel like -- you say you feel like you're the only one doing it, do you feel like other Republicans should be more forceful?

Well, I'm the only one that can get 25,000 people to show up. That's -- you know, whether it's Democrat or Republican, that's a proven fact. That's been proven for ten years. I'm the only one that can get the crowds. And I don't know why. You know, you'll have to tell me. Someday you'll write a book about it. But, like in Fort Myers, they have thousands and thousands of people that were there yesterday.

They were lined up yesterday. So, that seems to be a trait or an ability. I can -- and I want to use it for good purpose. And if I don't think somebody is really worthy or a good job, I don't go. But Mississippi, I'm going. Today I'm going for a man who's going to be a great governor. I think he's going to be a great governor.

So, Byron, we're going to see him in a little while. We have -- but we have a tremendous crowd of people. I don't know if you're going, and you're doing --

I'll be in Mississippi.

And you're doing a very good job, by the way.

Mr. President --

[Crosstalk]

On Alaska, sir --

I'm going to be going to Michigan. I don't know if it's Saturday, Sunday.

It's Sunday. But, sir, you're on -- you're going to Port Huron.

I look forward to Michigan. I can talk about a man who's a Muslim Brotherhood person, who's a jihadist and who can't be in our Senate.

Is there any chance --

[Crosstalk]

filed a lawsuit?

Anyway, he's a fake guy. All you have to do is look at his statements from two years ago. I'm -- I'm looking forward to going to -- and by the way, Mike Rogers will be a great senator.

Rogers is --

But I'm looking at a man who is -- I call him Mohammad, but Abdul is -- Abdul, it's actually -- his middle name is actually Mohammad. I don't know if you know that or not. His name is Abdul Mohammad. He's a fake. He's a total fake, and we can't have fakes. And you can -- can you imagine this guy? He was a member, probably still is, of the Muslim Brotherhood.

We can't have him in Congress.

Mr. President, is it --

[Crosstalk]

We can't have him in the United States.

Mike Rogers --

We can't him in the United States. And I look forward to Michigan. I'll tell you what, I look so forward to Michigan, and I think it's going to be wild. But I look so forward because he's a total phony. He's a little phony, and everything about him is fake. And he's a liar. And he talks about all these things, about, like, he's a moderate.

He's not a -- he's a jihadist. He's a vicious, violent jihadist, and he has no place in our government.

On tariffs, sir --

[Crosstalk]

should donate their fee from the overseas trip to your presidential library?

I understand they've done it. I didn't know about that, but I -- somebody told me they did that. That's very nice.

Are you still looking into whether their travel was appropriate or any conflict or not?

No, I'm not. No, no. They took the money and they gave it to essentially a charity. No, that was -- I just heard that. It's -- I think it's a very nice thing to do.

Mr. President, Mike Rogers says -- Meet my son. It's my son, Mr. President.

Oh, you're much better looking than your father. Look at all that hair he's got, huh? That's good. He's good looking. You got a good father. Now he's going to ask me a nice question. Tell him, Dad, ask me a nice question.

I want to ask you about Elon Musk. So, if the Democrats win control of Congress, how concerned are you that they'll go after Elon Musk?

Well, look, Elon's a brilliant guy. And I -- I have an expression. We have to protect our brilliant people because we don't have too many of them. There aren't too many of them in the world. And Elon's done nothing wrong. Elon is a very good guy. He's a very different kind of a guy. But I think people have an obligation to protect our geniuses.

You know, there aren't that many of them. We're leading in everything right now. We're leading in SI. We're leading in everything. It's amazing how we're doing. But we are leading super intelligence. We're leading in every single category. We have more things being built in our country right now than any country has ever had in history.

Is it right for the richest man in the world to have so much power over what goes on in the war between Russia and Ukraine?

Well, I don't think he does. I think he's -- first of all, he's a very good person. He's not going to do anything wrong. He's a very brilliant person or Starlink wouldn't exist and other things, right? But Elon will never do anything wrong. I know him very well. He's a fair person. And, you know, it's an unusual situation where they're talking to private -- a private company.

But he's not going to do anything that's wrong.

Can I ask you about Canada tariffs? You're going to Michigan tomorrow. Mike Rogers has said that Canada's tariff war has to end. Are you worried it'll affect his chances well?

Well, Canada wants very much to make a deal because of tariffs. They want to make a deal. And as you know, they've been making $90 billion a year for many years with us. They're making anywhere from $80 to $100 billion. And I said, nope, I'm not doing that. And Canada now is very much prepared to make a deal.

Mr. President? Mr. President? On Elon Musk --

[Crosstalk]

How did your meeting go with Catholic [Inaudible] the other day?

Really good.

What'd you talk about?

I finally had a nice group of people in my office, the -- Catholic representatives, bishops and others. It was a great meeting. Well, they prayed. They mostly prayed. It was actually a very nice -- they're great. They were great people.

And Mr. President, about the NFL playing in France this weekend?

Well, you worry about it. I -- I think maybe -- it's looking like tomorrow's going to be a bad day in France, so you worry about it. I would have said the NFL could have probably postponed that match, if you want to know, because France is really in trouble. That's what happens when you go left. That's what happens when you allow unlimited numbers of people into your country from very unfriendly countries.

That's what you're going to have.