Trump Archive
Video11 min read

Press Gaggle: Donald Trump Speaks to Reporters After Air Force One Arrival - July 1, 2025

12:00 AM
Question 00:00:00-00:00:01 (2 sec)

Mr. President?

Donald Trump 00:00:01-00:00:16 (15 sec)

Hello, everybody. The trip was nice and the job they've done is fantastic and this is what you need. And Ron worked beautifully with Kristi and all of the people at Homeland Security and got it done in how many days?

Ron DeSantis 00:00:16-00:00:21 (4 sec)

Eight days, a new facility was up and running.

Question 00:00:21-00:00:23 (2 sec)

And is this the model going forward, Mr. President?

Donald Trump 00:00:23-00:00:42 (19 sec)

It can be. You don't always have land so beautiful and so secure. We have a lot of bodyguards and a lot of cops that are in the form of alligators. You don't have to pay them so much. But I wouldn't want to run through the Everglades for long. They'll keep people where they're supposed to be. This is a very important thing.

Donald Trump 00:00:42-00:00:52 (9 sec)

We're setting records at the border. We had no people come through last month, zero, no people, but we're going to keep it that way. So Ron did great and [Inaudible]

Ron DeSantis 00:00:52-00:01:23 (31 sec)

Look, we -- thank you, Mr. President. Thanks for your leadership. The border, you did that quicker than -- we knew you'd do it, but you did it so quick. This is great. But Biden let in how many millions and you got to take care of them. And so this is one example of state operating this, the feds are approving it, supporting it. We're also going to have 2,000 more at Camp Landing, which is our National Guard site and we're the only state in the country that mandates our state and local law enforcement to cooperate with ICE.

Ron DeSantis 00:01:23-00:01:24 (2 sec)

It's made a huge difference.

Ron DeSantis 00:01:24-00:01:45 (21 sec)

On any given day, Florida constitutes about 20 percent of all immigration arrests nationwide and that's just because of the partnership that we have. So I think it's great that the president is here. What I would just say is, don't let Florida be the only state. We've got very red states that should be doing this just as much as Florida is doing.

Ron DeSantis 00:01:45-00:01:59 (13 sec)

That will increase their numbers. And then what happens is you'll have a lot of people that will deport on their own because they don't want to end up in an Alligator Alcatraz or some of those other places. So I think this is a model, but we need other states to step up.

Question 00:01:59-00:02:04 (5 sec)

I was going to ask you, [Inaudible] be enticing for other states to come up with their own model?

Donald Trump 00:02:04-00:02:22 (18 sec)

They are doing it. We have Louisiana doing it. Alabama is doing it. We have a lot of states. And they seem to be red states. There are not too many blue states for whatever reason. But the red states, Republican run states are doing it. The blue states don't do very well at security and policing. What would you say, Kristi?

Kristi Noem 00:02:22-00:02:44 (22 sec)

I would say that's exactly right. The governor here has been fantastic in forming a partnership with the Department of Homeland Security. We were looking at different contracts with different vendors and thought why not go straight to our governors and ask them to help us solve this problem. Florida was unique in what they presented to us and I would ask every other governor to do the exact same thing.

Kristi Noem 00:02:44-00:03:01 (17 sec)

This is unique because we can hold individuals here, they can have their hearings, get due process and then immediately be flown back home to their home countries and their home country are welcoming them there setting up. They're setting up loans for houses. They've got food assistance. They're helping to facilitate welcoming them.

Kristi Noem 00:03:01-00:03:10 (9 sec)

I just got home from Panama, Costa Rica, Guatemala, Honduras and they're all excited about getting their individuals back home from the United States.

Donald Trump 00:03:10-00:03:12 (2 sec)

And there is a lot of self-deporting.

Kristi Noem 00:03:12-00:03:15 (3 sec)

There is.

Donald Trump 00:03:15-00:03:32 (17 sec)

[Inaudible] when you have something like this, [Inaudible] so I'd ask Ron one question. I flew over the Everglades, you did it in a circle. I said, that's a big piece land, just [Inaudible] is there potential for enlargement for additional facilities [Inaudible]?

Ron DeSantis 00:03:32-00:03:50 (18 sec)

There may be. I mean, I think what we're doing is because this is an important part of Florida, we're using the existing footprint of this airport. When you guys go over there, you'll see all the beds, the medical, the galley, everything is on the concrete. We're not using any of the other stuff. Now as you'll see, there's a lot of concrete.

Ron DeSantis 00:03:50-00:04:17 (26 sec)

So there very well may be. I know Secretary Noem and her team have said as soon as the President departs, we'll be open to start receiving folks. And so we'll see what the tempo is. We do have the 2,000 in Northeast Florida that will open very soon. So it is possible to do. One of the things I think that is exciting about this is we're offering up our National Guard and other folks in Florida to be deputized to be immigration judges.

Ron DeSantis 00:04:17-00:04:34 (18 sec)

We're working with the Department of Justice for the approvals. I'm sure Pam will approve. But then you have -- I'll have a National Guard judge advocate here. Someone has a notice to appear. Biden would tell him to come back in three years and appear, now you'll be able to appear in like a day or two. So they're not going to be detained hopefully for all that long.

Ron DeSantis 00:04:34-00:04:55 (21 sec)

We'll have people here in this facility that can make -- it's a bureaucracy. The president's got to deal with the bureaucracy. Now, that Supreme Court ruling was good because that's going to allow him to be able to exercise Article 2 the way founders intended. But you still have bureaucracy, so we want to cut through that so that we have an efficient operation between Florida and DHS to get the removal of these illegals done.

Question 00:04:55-00:05:01 (6 sec)

[Inaudible] prioritizing going after the worst of the worst or are you now arresting anyone who Ð

Donald Trump 00:05:01-00:05:23 (22 sec)

We're doing the worst of the worst, always the first and I think it's great government is what we've done. And nobody can ever forget that this group of people, Biden or whoever it was [Inaudible] Biden, whoever it was, what this what this group of people, a small group that circled the Resolute Desk, what they did to this country.

Donald Trump 00:05:23-00:05:42 (19 sec)

Think of it, what you're [Inaudible] all the time, you have to race through this. It's an unforced error. We have nothing, we have no problem with this. It was never anything [Inaudible] we had great -- it was bad when I came in. Within three months, I fixed up -- this is in 2016. Now I come in, the difference is this was 20 times worse.

Donald Trump 00:05:42-00:05:53 (12 sec)

Their open border policy did so much damage and we're fixing it, but the effort and the money and all the things that it takes to do [Inaudible] Yes.

Question 00:05:53-00:06:03 (10 sec)

Mr. President, [Inaudible] Alligators in the Rio Grande [Inaudible] crossing in Texas, it is a dream come true for you, sir?

Donald Trump 00:06:03-00:06:23 (20 sec)

I was thinking about that. As I said, it was meant as a joke, but the more I thought about [Inaudible] and they were seriously -- they were actually crocodiles. They were crocodiles from Africa. They are a step beyond. But no, that was really meant as a joke, but a lot of people liked it, a lot of people think we should do it.

Question 00:06:23-00:06:28 (5 sec)

The Senate appears about to vote on --

Donald Trump 00:06:28-00:06:33 (5 sec)

I hear we're doing well, Ron, I hear we're doing well.

Question 00:06:33-00:06:37 (4 sec)

Are you confident this can get done by the 4th of July?

Donald Trump 00:06:37-00:06:54 (17 sec)

I don't know [Inaudible] like that [Inaudible] one vote [Inaudible] vote. I think so. I think it's going to be the greatest bill ever passed. Even for you [Inaudible] it's going to keep the borders secure. Because we have them secure now, but we need to build more walls. I built almost 600 miles of wall.

Donald Trump 00:06:54-00:07:04 (9 sec)

We need more wall and all of that's covered in this bill. This bill is amazing for everybody. It's an amazing build for Florida too. It's really great.

Question 00:07:04-00:07:08 (5 sec)

You've heard the concerns about the Medicaid, though, cuts. Mr. President --

Donald Trump 00:07:08-00:07:26 (18 sec)

No, no, we're not going to be playing with Medicaid, only waste, fraud and abuse. Yeah, the Democrats have it wrong. Yeah, waste fraud and abuse. In fact, if you look at what's gone on, we've gone way back. We take care of Medicaid and take care of Medicare. They will blow Medicare and Medicaid because they have no idea what they're doing.

Donald Trump 00:07:26-00:07:33 (7 sec)

Just like they don't have any idea what they did on the border, they have no idea. Medicaid is in big trouble with the Democrats.

Question 00:07:33-00:07:39 (6 sec)

But you can promise anyone who will lose their health care coverage, that is because of waste, fraud and abuse?

Donald Trump 00:07:39-00:07:49 (10 sec)

Waste, fraud -- only, waste, fraud and abuse, which is what everybody wants.

Question 00:07:49-00:07:53 (4 sec)

Mr. President [Inaudible]

Donald Trump 00:07:53-00:07:56 (3 sec)

We'll see what happens. I'm watching it very closely.

Question 00:07:56-00:07:59 (3 sec)

Mr. President? [Inaudible] Prime Minister Netanyahu's visit [Inaudible]

Donald Trump 00:07:59-00:08:21 (23 sec)

Well, it's going to be a very quick celebration. We had a great hit. It was an obliteration, but they now turns out, it was [Inaudible] you know, they demean, CNN mostly, and the New York Times, say New York Times, they demean these great soldiers. They went over there 17 hours flying and they hit bullseye after bullseye after bullseye.

Donald Trump 00:08:21-00:08:49 (27 sec)

It all blew up. Everybody's gone. Then they get back and CNN said, well, they did OK, but maybe it wasn't -- it was beyond obliteration. Nobody can even get down there. The tunnels are busted, everything fell into the well. It was a total and complete obliteration and we should celebrate these heroes. But what I'm doing is I'm bringing him on, we're bringing him to Florida, or to the White House.

Donald Trump 00:08:49-00:08:50 (1 sec)

I gave him [Inaudible]

Question 00:08:50-00:08:55 (6 sec)

Mr. President, there's going to be a new bill called Make American Elections Great Again --

Donald Trump 00:08:55-00:08:56 (1 sec)

Love it.

Question 00:08:56-00:09:09 (13 sec)

-- forcing US Census Bureau to redo the census to actually get an account of how many Americans with proof of citizenship are in our area, in our country, [Inaudible] your thoughts on that?

Donald Trump 00:09:09-00:09:35 (26 sec)

Well, I speak for both of us. [Inaudible] you're going to like this. I know all about it. I want to bring our elections back. The election in 2020 was rigged, millions and millions of votes. It had to do with COVID and a lot of things, but it really had to do with [Inaudible] but the Democrats are very good at cheating elections and that's why I said [Inaudible] they tried this one too, but after about 902, they gave up [Inaudible] too big to rig.

Donald Trump 00:09:35-00:09:46 (11 sec)

Ron would love it. I would love it. Kristi would love it. That's what they have to do. They have to bring it back and we have to look Ð Ron, they include anybody that happens to be in your state.

Ron DeSantis 00:09:46-00:10:06 (20 sec)

In California -- California would lose like five seats if they did a fair census. And even beyond that, with Biden's census, it gipped Florida of at least one seat. We only got one seat in the last census. Are you trying to tell me that Florida only had one seat on that? We should have had at least two. Texas should have had another one.

Ron DeSantis 00:10:06-00:10:27 (22 sec)

That could be the difference in the House of Representatives and the majority. So I would love for them to redo the census for '26. My legislature won't redistrict those lines. We'll get it to where it's fair. But as it is right now, this country is not fairly a fortune. I've got so many more millions of people in Florida that have representation because of that flawed census.

Donald Trump 00:10:27-00:10:39 (11 sec)

I think it's going to do very well, a lot of people, I don't know if you've heard that, but [Inaudible] it's captivated [Inaudible] everybody wants it. It's going to get in, it's going to pass and we're going to be very happy.

Question 00:10:39-00:10:45 (6 sec)

Elon Musk is ripping into this bill again. Are you concerned that Republicans are going to be swayed by Musk and his money?

Donald Trump 00:10:45-00:10:55 (10 sec)

No, I don't think so. I think what's going to happen is DOGE is going to look at Musk. And if DOGE looks at Musk, we're going to save a fortune. Thank you very much, everybody. I don't think he should be playing that game [Inaudible]

Question 00:10:55-00:10:57 (3 sec)

Thank you, Mr. President.

Donald Trump 00:10:57-00:11:02 (5 sec)

Thank you very much, everybody.