TRANSCRIPT: Donald Trump Speaks to Reporters on Board Air Force One, 9.21.25
[Video]
President Trump: Hello, everybody.
Question: Mr. President, Hi, Mr. President.
Trump: I think we had a great, uh, a great tribute to a great man, a great, wonderful guy. So I hope you liked it. You know, Doug, from, if you have any energy questions, we're ready.
Question: At the end of ceremony, Mr. President, you and, uh, Erika shared a moment. If you don't mind me asking, did you have -- What words did you have for her?
Trump: I, I've gotten to know her over the years. She's, she's great. You know, Charlie always used to say she's very smart. You would always say that. You don't necessarily say that about a lot of people, but he always felt she was, and she's got a good heart, and uh, you know, she's got a shot at making it even more special, if you think about it. She's gonna do good.
Trump: I think she's gonna do a good job. That's a hard thing to do. You know, it's one thing to make a speech, but with that, for her to make that speech, 'cause I had a really good relationship.
Question: Mr. President, I'm with Turning Point USA. We just wanna say thank you for being there. Thank you for speaking and we all for our deepest condolences because I know Charlie was a friend of yours.
Trump: Well, that gentleman right there was pointing at you, and I like his [Inaudible]. So that means he thought you would [Inaudible], or make a statement just like you. [Laughs] Are you married?
Question: Yes. So is she.
Trump: Consolations. When did the ceremony take place? [Laughs]
Question: It's at [Inaudible] No, uh, I was just wondering.
Trump: He's –
Question: He's, he's the best. Uh, I was just wondering because there are a number of spots in and around the White House that are named after specific people. I was wondering if you would be considering naming something after Charlie to honor his life?
Trump: Yeah, there are there different little areas. Yeah, I like that idea, but we're giving up, I think, even more importantly, the Presidential Medal of Freedom, which is the highest civilian. It's, I guess, they say, you know, if you think Congressional Medal of Honor is for military and this is for the civilian. So that's a great tribute to him. Great guy.
Question: Can you tell about that upcoming event that you could share with us? Any, any further details about that event?
Trump: I think the event was just a flawless event. It was beautiful. I thought the last song was incredible, the way it was, as we were leaving, in fact, I think I'm going to -- I said, "Who is singing that song?" And I think what I'll do is I'll grab it and I'll use it at rallies. We have rallies to get people elected, and I'll use it at, uh, some of the rallies. Wasn't that beautiful? That was the best rendition I've ever heard.
Question: So I just want to say it was great. What can you and your staff do to make sure that, over the next three years, that you carry forth the vision and the faith of Charlie in a way that honors him? What can you guys do over the next three years?
Trump: It's gonna be automatic, actually, and I think Turning Point is gonna be a very big factor. When you see the people, now, the press reported 200,000 'cause they, you know, different areas, different stadiums and everything. There's a lot of people. That's a big -- That's an NFL stadium. Uh, I think it's gonna be automatic. I really do. I think it's automatic. They're great people. He had a good staff, and they're great people.
Question: Mr. President, everyone --
Trump: Yeah. Yeah, we're doing that question. I thought quite that.
Question: Exciting.
Trump: [Inaudible]
Question: Uh, Mr. President, everyone's saying that Charlie brought you and Elon back together. Is that true?
Trump: Well, Elon came over and said, hello. No, it, it's nothing to do with that. It's, uh, I thought it was nice. You know, he came over, had a little conversation. We had a very good relationship. But it was nice that he came over. Dana White was there, the great Dana White. You know, the big question is the, uh, having the UFC fight as the -- I know you won't accept tickets because you would then fake news. You're not allowed to accept that 'cause but we're gonna have a UFC fight great at the White House, and we're gonna end up probably 6,000 people in front of the White House, and then on the ellipse, we're gonna have 80 or 90,000. It's gonna be an unbelievable event, but a lot of people are talking about it.
Question: Mr. President, I have a question for you, an energy question. Uh, you've been calling --
Trump: Yeah, the right man. Go ahead.
Question: I got the experts. Uh, you've been calling on Europe to stop buying Russian oil. The US has imported $755 million worth of Russian uranium and plutonium so far just this year. That's up from the Biden administration last year, about a hundred million dollars. Uh, can you ask Europe to cut off purchasing those kinds of products?
Trump: Doug, do you know anything about that?
Doug Burgum: Well, yeah, absolutely. But, uh, just this goes back, not only drill, baby drill got a bind, baby bind. Maybe we allowed ourselves to fall into under dependence of both china had Russia for a critical minerals. Uh, Us, America buying uranium from Russia is not acceptable, and so we're working very hard, Secretary of Energy, Chris Wright, uh, myself, to make sure that we've got 'em planned so that the United States can get back into domestic and rich uranium production as quickly as possible.
Question: Plus Venezuela, you said that, uh -- Let me quote your, your tweet here.
Trump: No boats in the water anymore.
Question: Well, you said --
Trump: [Inaudible] boats. You don't even find a fishing boat. You don't even find cruise liners anymore. There's nothing in the water near Venezuela. It's actually strange. You know what that means? That means there are no drugs coming in.
Question: You said the price they'll pay will be incalculable if they don't take people back.
Trump: I did say that.
Question: What does that mean?
Trump: You're gonna have to figure that out. That one you have [Inaudible].
Question: On your autism announcement tomorrow, multiple news outlets are recording that you plan to tie Tylenol to increase risk of autism. Can you confirm that --
Trump: Well, yeah, we're gonna see tomorrow. We're gonna do it tomorrow. But I think it's a very big factor. I think, uh -- You'll see what it is tomorrow. We have various things, but you'll see what it is. I think it's gonna be a very important news conference. And we want things to take effect immediately, you know. If there's a question -- Even if there's a question, you just do it, right? But, uh, great research has been done. You know, when you think -- If you think that, let's say, 15 years ago, they had 1 in 10,000 had -- were born with autism. And now it's, think of it, 1 in 12, 1 in 10. Boys, 1 in 10 or 12, two different studies.
Uh, girls, it's 1 in 20. Can you imagine, 1 in 20? And, uh, let's see, 22 years ago, it was, uh, 1 in 20,000. But it got down to 1 in 10,000, that's 17 years ago. But now it's 1 in, 1 in 12. Actually, boys at 1 in 12 and 1 in 10. I mean, can you imagine 1 in 10? And it was 1 in 20,000. So, there's obviously something artificial that's really wrong, and we think we know what that is.
Question: Do they need to announce any link between vaccines and autism?
Trump: We'll see tomorrow. Uh, vaccines are very interesting. They can be great, but when you put the wrong stuff in them, they don't -- And, you know, children get these massive vaccines, like you'd give to a horse. Like you'd give to a horse. And I've said for a long time, I mean, this is no secret: Spread 'em out over five years, get five shots, small ones. You have to see what they give. They give -- I mean, for a little baby to be injected with that much glue? Even beyond the actual ingredients, they have sometimes 80 different vaccines in -- It's crazy. It, it's -- You know, that's a common sense thing too. It's like you're, it's like you're shooting up a horse.
You have a little body, a little baby, and you, you're pumping this big thing. It's a horrible thing. So, I've always smelled that. But we'll be having a big discussion tomorrow about autism.
Question: Your son had a very welcoming message today, welcoming people to the Republican party: love of country, love of family, love of God. So, I ask you, what did the Democrats stand for at this point?
Trump: Uh, I think chaos, confusion, anger. They're losers. Uh, they don't even wanna extend the, you know, the opening. We have a very successful country. If we gave them everything they wanted -- They're deranged. If we gave them everything they wanted, they wouldn't extend, in my opinion. You know, they say, oh, they wanna meet with me. It's nonsense. But I'll meet with them. But now they, they're, uh, angry and they took a big loss. And they're doing worse now than they were during the election. So, yeah, they're really -- They're doing very badly. I don't, I don't think -- Actually, I think they stand for chaos. They stand for nothing.
Question: [Inaudible], um, I'm with The Daily Wire and we've been doing a lot of investigating up of these transgender shooters. Uh, we reported on Friday that the Kavanaugh attempted assassin actually identifies as transgender. I just wanted to get your reaction to that and see if you had heard.
Trump: Well, it's too bad. It's a very sad thing going on with that and, uh, I'll have to take a look at it. We have to protect our Supreme Court judges and justices. And Justice Kavanaugh is a great guy. I mean, it's horrible. He's, he's been through a lot with this. All of 'em have, in a way. They didn't give the proper protection, and we are giving. You saw what -- You know, numerous spells, but we just passed another one. We have to protect the Supreme Court. We have to.
Question: And on that same note, there's been so many different shooters who either -- Charlie's Killer, lives with a guy who's transgender. The Annunciation shooter was transgender. The Covenant shooter was transgender. Should the FBI be investigating transgender extremists?
Trump: We're looking at that and it seems like, you know, is that just a -- What's the reason for it? Yeah, there seems to be something. But, uh, we're looking at it very strongly. Something -- something seems to be going on, but you can't make that statement yet. We're looking at it very closely.
Question: Mr. President, back in 2020, 2021 you were banned from Twitter, Facebook, basically, every single platform on God's green earth, sir. And now many people on the left want to throw out cries about First Amendment claims after Jimmy Kimmel's show was canceled. Do you find it hypocritical, sir, after what they did to you?
Trump: I did his show before I ran for politics. I did his show many times and he was never one of the top people. Do you remember during the Academy Awards when he read my Truth just before giving out the Best Picture Award? And I said and what he read was that he's the worst host in the history of the Academy Awards.
Trump: Look, Jimmy Kimmel suffers from two things. First of all, he said a terrible thing about Charlie, but he also suffers from the fact that he's got no talent and he's got no ratings, a deadly combination. That's deadly. [Inaudible].
Question: Sir, when's the National Guard going to be arriving in Memphis? You said they'd be here soon.
Trump: Very soon, yeah, very soon. And we're gonna straighten that up just like we straightened out Washington. And we're not letting Washington go, by the way. We're not letting Was- -- if we didn't go there, Washington right now would be leading the nation at crime, I mean D.C., leading the nation in crime. And uh, we have it down. I mean, it is a beautiful thing. And everybody in Was- -- every person I meet is saying, "Thank you sir." They don't care whether it's a National guard. They don't care what it is. They're not being raped, mugged, shot. Washington D.C. is now a very safe sitting. And you know what? I drove through it yesterday. You probably saw. Everything was nice. Grass was -- I thought I'd replace the grass. Much of it doesn't have to be re- -- it looks so beautiful. It was so well-maintained. And that's by us.
Question: [Inaudible] case out to the UN this week where there's gonna be a major push for a two-state solution. Obviously, the U.S. and Israel have not signed on to that. Is there still possibility in your mind that there could be a diplomatic solution to this conflict?
Trump: I'd like to see a diplomatic solution. There's a lot of anger and a lot of hatred, you know that. And there has been for a lot of years. This is not something new. But hopefully, we'll get something done. We're looking [Inaudible] study Gaza and dealing with Gaza very small. That's a real mess.
Question: The investigation is still ongoing into Charlie Kirk's killer and -- and whether he had ties to groups. But do you have a sense now of whether he [Inaudible]?
Trump: Yeah, look. It's -- boy, they've seen a lot for an investigation that's ongoing. I think they've done an incredible job.
Question: Have they found --
Trump: Even the shell. I mean, the shells an- -- so -- there's so many different things. Uh, I mean, what's to say?
Question: Have you found direct links to --
Trump: You mean about other people?
Question: [Inaudible]. Does that affect your decision about how to proceed in terms of pursuing these leads?
Trump: I think, you know, as far as I'm concerned, but they're gonna do a final report. Uh, whether other people involved is what you're asking. It would look to me like that. Now, he did have a friend, but I don't -- the friend seemed to be a little bit surprised.
Question: Mr. President, in regards to Pam Bondi, who should she focus on as far as bringing accountability?
Trump: Everybody, really. It's a big office. She's doing a good job. But focus on everybody. There are a lot of crooked people that were here before me. You had people that almost destroyed our country. If I didn't win this election, our country would be destroyed. We wouldn't -- we wouldn't have a country right now.
Trump: Thank you very much.
Question: What did you make of [Inaudible]?
Trump: Thank very much.
Question: Thank you.