Press Gaggle: Donald Trump Speaks to Reporters Before Air Force One Departure - August 21, 2026

So we're going to South Carolina. Darline Graham is doing very well. We'll see how it all works out. We have a big crowd. I hear we have a very big crowd. And I think it's, uh, gonna be great. She's a terrific woman. And so I thought we'd do a little bit of a rally for her. And, uh, it'll be very interesting.

Sir, can we get your reaction to ballroom --

Mr. President, uh, Darline Graham, uh, faced some criticism for her response on a debate earlier this week where she said national security is not her thing. Is that acceptable?

Well, no, all she was is being honest. She's, uh, very smart and she was being honest. I mean, she's into the price of groceries, the price of food, the price of beef. And it's not, it hasn't been her thing, but she's surrounded by very good people. And she said that, uh, she's totally for the military. I mean, she's gonna do what the military wants, and really what the president wants.

She understands that national security is my thing. And she is, uh, a terrific woman who answered that. I, I watched that. I thought it was a very honest answer, actually.

Mr. President, can we get your reaction to the secretary pressing --

Mr. President, sir.

Hello.

[Inaudible] ballroom, sir?

Yeah.

Do you guarantee that no tax money will be used in the construction of the ballroom?

Yeah, w- -- nobody, we're spending hundreds of millions of dollars on the ballroom and it's all from people like me and great companies that are putting it up. It's gonna be close to 400 million dollars, and it's all paid for by, uh, patriots and patriotic companies, big companies. Uh, I'll name the companies probably, uh, over the next couple of weeks, but I wanna ask if they mind.

But, and really, most of them have said, "You could use my name gladly." So that's all money. No, no taxpayer money for the ballroom at all.

Mr. President --

Did you, uh, did you direct Secretary Bessent to intervene in the bond market? Was that your idea to talk to him?

No. Not at all. No, he's a very capable man. He wanted to do it. He's very good at it. He has a good touch, very good natural touch for the bonds and interests, and, uh, he did that, yeah.

The yields have come back up since then. Have you talked to him about another type of intervention? Is that something he will be doing?

We have many types of intervention. That's one. The ultimate intervention is our military. And, uh, if we have to use that, we will. Yeah.

Mr. President.

Your move on beef imports is upsetting some ranchers as well as some Republicans are asking you to delay that move on imports.

Well, we wanna get the beef prices down, so we'll get them down a little bit, and, uh, that's what people want, that's what the voters want, and that's what I want. The ranchers are great. They're my people. I love the ranchers. They've done a fantastic job, but they admit that we need a little help and, in order to get the prices down.

So that's what we're doing.

Which countries did you arrange the --

We hearing that, sorry, Adriana. We're hearing that MAGA Inc. is gonna start spending your war chest. What races are you putting money into, sir?

Well, I've raised a lot, and nobody knows what it is, but I will tell you, it's about $850 million. And I'll be spending a lot of that money for, and my own money. Uh, but I'll be spending a lot of that money for candidates that I think are good, Republican candidates that I think are good. So when you add the 850 million to all of the other money that we've raised, uh, we're in very good shape.

And so, and --

Mr. President, there are several Republicans who are running for midterms this year who are starting to come out against AI data centers. Why do you think they're taking a different approach than you are?

Well, who are they? You know?

Uh, the Senate race in Ohio is one example where it's become a very hot topic.

Well, the data center subject to me is a pretty simple one. Uh, if you pick the right location, and it's gotta be, not every location's perfect for it, but you pick the right location, what it means for a community is jobs and lots of money and lower taxes. And the data centers now are mandated by me that they build their own electricity, so they're not taking it for the grid.

Do you worry that --

It's gonna lower the electric cost because they're building electricity, and the extra, as an example, we talked about this one, I'm very proud of it. It was my idea. They're gonna build their own electric-producing facility, and that electricity that they have left over is going to the grid. It's gonna lower the cost of electricity.

So if I were a community, I would want the data center. It means jobs, it means income, and it means lower taxes.

Do you want Republican candidates to take the same AI, d- -- take the same message on data centers that you are?

No, I want them to do what they want. Some people feel differently. I really want them, h, if a Republican's against the data center, that's okay with me. I will, I'm only saying that if I ran a community, now, there are different types of communities, but generally speaking, if I ran a community, if I was a mayor or if I was a governor in a state, uh, I would wanna have the data centers because they bring tremendous income.

They're clean, they produce their own energy. The new ones are producing their own energy. I would wanna have data centers.

Mr. President --

The national debt, as you know --

Yeah.

-- it surpassed 40 trillion. Have you been discussing what to do about that --

Well, I have, and it's been a problem for 35 years. And what we have now that we've never had before, we had a pretty good piece of it in my first term, as you know, is we have tremendous growth. And the way you take care of debt is with growth, and we have tremendous growth. We've never had growth like we have right now.

The growth will take care of that very easily. Question, by the way.

On the beef deal, which countries did you make that deal with? What are the sources of the --

On which deal?

The beef deal.

I don't wanna say which countries, but there are a few countries, but they're going to be sending in the highest-quality beef, and it's something that we need. What else?

Sir --

S- -- sir, sir, with economic pressure --

By the way, are we gonna miss Karoline? I'm gonna miss her. Let me have that, let me have that.

Yes, sir.

So here is some headlines, and Karoline, I gotta stand next door. I feel so good with her. These are incredible headlines that just came out over the last 24 hours. It's probably easier if I show 'em to you than reading 'em. But basically, the biggest refunds ever given on taxes, that's big. Trump bump. Tax refunds, yup, 17%. American tax refunds increased by $43 billion.

That's money that the government is giving back to the people, $43 billion. FBI had the biggest violent crime drop in 90 years. That's, these are today's headlines. Trump administration marks 15 straight months with zero border releases as appre- -- apprehensions plunge. So they've never had anything like that.

So you had 15 months with zero people going through our border. I don't even know how that's possible, but they're doing a good job. Maybe you? Maybe you?

But that's Scott Jennings, sir.

Scott Jennings is good. That one right there, my friend from Iowa. But I don't know, maybe she doesn't want it.

Sir --

Mr. President --

I don't know, maybe Margot. What do you think of Margot? Maybe Margot.

What do you think of Margot?

Let's see.

We love Mar --

Who do we have in this group? I, I will tell you this, and Karoline will tell you this, I have no, I have never had so many job applications in my life.

That's right. Yes, sir.

They all want that job. They love that job.

You have a lot of options.

Mr. President --

Sir, turning to Iran --

She's made that job very glamorous.

Sir, turning to Iran, the shifting economic warfare towards Iran, does that indicate that the military options in the region for the US are limited?

No, not at all. It's, uh, just means that we're seeing what happens. They have no money. They have no Navy, they have no Air Force. They are not paying their soldiers, they're not paying their police. They have 350% inflation. Uh, so we're just gonna sort of see what happens. And we have total control, as you know, of the border.

We have total control. If you look at the blockade, we have total control of that entire region having to do with the Strait of Hormuz, and that means well into it, the land areas. So they would love to make a deal, but they're not ready to make the right deal, in my opinion. Yeah?

On Canada, have you come to a deal there? Are you gonna extend --

You know, I, I think so. We'll see. I dealt with the Prime Minister. I've got a good relationship. And yeah, we, uh, have to take care of our farmers. The farmers are very important to me. And the deal with Canada is moving along and we should be able to have a deal with Canada. We're also starting on a new deal with Mexico.

[Inaudible]

A much better deal for the United States.

Sir --

I only make good deals. Much better deal for the United States, both with Canada and Mexico. Thank you very much.

[Inaudible]

Mr. President, Mr. President, sir, are [Inaudible] more time, time?

Sir, sir.