TRANSCRIPT: President Trump Speaks to Reporters After Air Force One Arrival , 6.20.25

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President Trump: Hello everybody. You know, we just learned that Rwanda, you know, all about Rwanda, and the Congo will be doing a peace settlement probably coming in, uh, on Monday or Tuesday. We're go -- signing it up and we've stopped the very vicious corps. So that was an honor for me to be involved. I wanna thank J.D Vance and -- for great job. And also, uh, our Secretary of State, Marco Rubio has done a fantastic job. Still Rwanda, long-term war with the Congo, a very bloody war. They're all bloody, but this was a really bloody one, going be making peace with Congo and uh, they could get on to making trade deals with the United States and other places, and have a much more normal form of life. We're very honored by that. Uh, as you know, we did a very great job with India at Pakistan, and we had India in it looks like we're gonna be making a great deal with India. And we had Pakistan in, it looks like we're gonna be making a great deal with Pakistan. And it's a beautiful thing to watch. And Serbia, Kosovo, likewise, they've been fighting for years and as you know, we brought that one to a conclu -- we did. And now we have, uh, a couple of big ones. We have Russia, Ukraine, which is making a little bit of progress. And we have Israel, and nobody really knows what that one is all about. We're gonna find out pretty soon, I guess.

Question: The Iranian [Inaudible] the Iranian foreign minister this afternoon said if the U.S. is serious about negotiations, that you would call up Israel and request that they stop their airstrikes. Will you make that request?

Trump: Well, I think it's very hard to make that request right now. If somebody's winning, it's a little bit harder to do than if somebody's losing. Uh, but we're ready, willing, and able, and we've been speaking to Iran, and we'll see what happens.

Question: Mr. President – what was the thought process behind two weeks time table?

Trump: Uh, just time to see whether or not people come to their senses. That's all it is.

Question: Mr. President, did the Europeans help at all in talking with [Inaudible]?

Trump: No. No, no, no, no. No.

Question: [Inaudible]

Trump: Iran doesn't wanna speak to Europe. They want, they wanted to speak to us. Europe is not gonna be able to help in this one.

Question: What -- 20 years ago you were skeptical of the Republican administration that attacked the Middle East country on the idea of questionable intelligence, of weapons of mass destruction. How is this moment different with Iran?

Trump: Well, there were no weapons of mass destruction. I never thought there were. And that was, uh, somewhat pre-nuclear. You know, it was, there was a nuclear age, but nothing like it's today. And it looked like I'm right about, uh, the material that they've gathered already. It's a tremendous amount of material. And I think within -- in a matter of weeks or certainly within a matter of months, they were gonna be able to have a nuclear weapon. We can't let that happen. Uh, I was very much opposed to Iraq. I was, I said it loud and clear, but I was a civilian, but I guess I got a lot of publicity. But I was very much opposed to the Iraq war. And I actually did say "Don't go in, don't go in, don't go in." But I said, "If you're going to go in, keep the oil." But they didn't do that.

Question: What intelligence do you have that Iran is building a nuclear weapon? Your intelligence community has said they have no evidence that they are at this point.

Trump: Well then my intelligence community is wrong. Who in the intelligence community said that?

Question: The director of National Intelligence, Tulsi Gabbard.

Trump: Uh, she's wrong.

Question: Mr. President, are the -- [Inaudible] -- Chinese in any way helping Iran's [Inaudible]? We're hearing reports of serious planes landing in Iran and China.

Trump: I don't know, they say that they are there to take people out. But, uh, I can't tell you about that. I get along very well with China, get along very well with President Xi. I like him. He likes me. We have a very good relationship. [Inaudible] Uh, we'll see what happens. I can't imagine us getting involved.

Question: [Inaudible] you need to make on Iran whether to strike militarily. Is this the biggest decision you'll have to make as president?

Trump: Well, I can't tell you that. I have to see what happens. I can't, you know, really say that. Uh, it depends what the decision is. But I wouldn't really be able to tell you that now. I'll tell you in about a year from now. Maybe five years, or 10 years from now.

Question: [Inaudible]

Trump: You never know about decisions. You never really know.

Question: [Inaudible] former presidents -- Sir, would you support a ceasefire while the negotiations happen, or not?

Trump: I might, depending on the circumstance.

Question: Would -- would you, uh, former Congressman Matt Gaetz --

Trump: It's very hard to stop. I will say this. It's very hard to stop when you look at it. Uh, if you're doing well in terms of war, and I think you would ha -- say that Iran is doing less well. It's a little bit hard to get somebody to stop.

Question: Sir, [Inaudible] was [Inaudible] uh, former Congressman Matt Gaetz threw out an interesting idea suggesting that if -- if -- you were to broker a deal where nuclear inspectors go into both Israel and Iran, that you could win a Nobel Peace Prize, and they might even rename it the Trump Peace Prize. Did you hear those? What do you think of that?

Trump: Well, they should give me the Nobel Prize for Rwanda, and, uh, if you look, the Congo, or you could say Serbia, Kosovo. You could say a lot of them. You could say, uh, I mean, the big one is India and Pakistan. You could -- I should have gotten it four or five times. I should get it for the, uh, I would think the Abraham Accords would be a good one too.

Question: But what do think of that idea?

Trump: They won't give me a Nobel Peace Prize, 'cause they only give it to liberals.

Question: Would you support Iran being able to have nuclear -- or, would you support Iran being able to have civilian nuclear energy capabilities up to 3.76%?

Trump: You know, they're sitting on the top of, uh, one of the largest piles of oil in the world. I just don't know why they need that for civilian work. You know, it's one thing for certain countries to say, "Hey, I want to have a certain amount where I could go nuclear a little bit, because we need it for electricity. We need it for air conditioners, et cetera." Uh, but, uh, when you're sitting on one of the largest oil piles anywhere in the world, it's a little bit hard to see why you'd need that.

Question: [Inaudible]

Trump: We're always concerned about that, and we have to take them out and be very strong. You're even in danger talking to me right now. Do you know that? You are in danger talking to me right now, so I should probably get out of here. But you guys are actually in danger. Can you believe it?

Question: One more question on Russia. Is it still your expectation that NATO countries that [Inaudible]?

Trump: Well, I think they should do that. I don't think we should, but I think they should. We've been spending, we've been supporting NATO so long. Uh, in many cases, I believe, paying almost 100% the cost. So, I don't think we should, but I think that the NATO countries should, absolutely.

Question: And if a country like Spain decides not to?

Trump: Well, NATO's gonna have to deal with Spain. Spain's been a very low payer. They were always a very low payer. Uh, they were either good negotiators, or they weren't doing the right thing. I mean, I think Spain has to pay what everybody else has to pay. Spain has been notorious for low pay. You know who else was a low payer? Just about the lowest? A Place called Canada. Because Canada said, "Why should we pay when the United States will protect us free?" And they've been right about that.

Question: On Russia and Ukraine, you, you've been making progress toward a peace deal, but I don't know if you know this. But Lindsey Graham and Mike Pompeo were there on the ground in Ukraine, seemingly doing the opposite, trying to provoke the Ukrainians to keep fighting. What do you think of that?

Trump: Well, we're gonna see, and, uh, people have to be very careful with what they say. They gotta be very careful with their mouth, because their mouth could get them into a lot of trouble.

Question: One more. ICE, ICE has said they're arrest up 3,000 individuals a day. There are some communities that are saying they're fearful of being wrongfully detained or separating some families, even if they're undocumented. Is the fear in some of these communities worth the deportations of these undocumented individuals?

Trump: Always a tough subject. Because, look, we have farmers. I love farmers. I won 80%, 85% of the farmers, and I love them. And I'm never gonna do anything to hurt our farmers. And you can also say the leisure business, et cetera. There are some businesses where you have a disproportionate amount of people that are the people that you're talking about. At the same time, we have to get the criminals out of our country, and we're looking at doing something where, uh, in the case of good, reputable farmers, they could take responsibility for the people that they hire and let them have responsibility. 'Cause we can't put the farms outta business. And at the same time, we don't want to hurt people that aren't criminals. Most of the people that came in over the last three years under Biden -- I would say probably three and a half to four years, uh, those people, you have a lot of criminals. You have a lot of -- I mean, we're looking at that very closely. You've got people that have worked your farm for 20 years. It's very hard to go in there and say, you know, "You, you're coming out." But we're gonna let the farmers take responsibility. And they're great people. They'll do it. They know the good and the bad. So, the hard part about this -- This is not like a normal war where people wear uniforms. They don't uniforms. But we have murderers that came out of the last four years. We have murderers. We have, uh, drug lords. We have people that we don't wanna -- We have prisoners. They emptied out Venezuela and many countries. They emptied out their prisons into the United States. We have to get those people out. But we have stone-cold murders, 11,888 murderers. We've already gotten a lot of them out of here, but we don't want 'em. So we have to be careful, but I never want to hurt our farmers. Our farmers are great people. They keep us happy, and healthy, and fat.

Question: Are there other things that you're gonna try to replicate what you've done in Los Angeles?

Trump: Well, I mean, we got a big victory last night, uh, in the court, Court of Appeal, with respect to Los Angeles, but really the country, where Gavin News -- Newsom, who is really an incompetent governor. Uh, he, he suggested doing a terrible with his fire, when all the houses burning down and forest fires, and now with Los Angeles.  If we didn't go to Los Angeles, and the sheriff admitted it, he had no control. He would've lost control. We saved Los Angeles by having some military go in. And the second night was much better. The third night was nothing much. And the fourth night, nobody bothered even coming. We put out that fire, and we did a great job of it. He sued us for going in and for helping him. We went and helped him. Right now, you'd have Los Angeles burning to the ground. Largely, it would've already been destroyed.

Question: Sir, do you think people pay attention -- Do you still want your legacy, Mr. President, to be that of a peacemaker? Do you worry that striking Iran would change that?

Trump: Always a peacemaker, yeah.

Question: Can you –

Trump: Always a peacemaker. That doesn't mean, sometimes you need some toughness to make peace. But always a peacemaker.

Question: Can you win in Iran without ground forces?

Trump: Say it?

Question: Is an aerial campaign in Iran enough, or do you need ground forces?

Trump: Well, I'm not gonna talk about ground forces. It's the last thing you want to do is ground force.

Question: Does Iran have two weeks, or could you strike before that? Are you essentially giving them a two week timeline?

Trump: Well, I'm giving 'em a period of tie. We're gonna see what that period of time is. But I'm giving 'em a period of time. And, uh, I would say two week would be the maximum.

Question: Mister President, do you think deportation should focus on criminals or all people who are here illegally?

Trump: It should start focusing on criminals, and that's what we've been focused on. Very bad criminals, dangerous crim –

Question: But Stephen Miller said to go out and arrest every person who is here illegally. He's told ICE to arrest everyone who is here illegally. Do you agree with that?

Trump: No, we, we, Stephen and I have a very good understanding. He is a terrific person. We have a great understanding. Go ahead.

Question: Mister President, if there are, if there is an attack on US assets, will you promise to, to conduct a full investigation and make it transparent with the American people before blaming Iran for such an attack?

Trump: Well, if there's an attack, we'll know almost immediately with modern equipment who made the attack. And those people will be very, very unhappy.

Question: Prime Minister –

Trump: I want to get you people out of danger! You're in danger standing with me.

Question: One more. Prime Minister Netanyahu said that they had the capacity to take out all of Iran's nuclear facilities. So what role would the US be able to play, and why would they if, if Israel says that they have all of the abilities –

Trump: Well, I'm not sure he said that. But, uh, they really have a very limited capacity. They can break through a little section, but they can't go down very deep. They don't have that capacity. And, we'll have to see what happens. Maybe it won't be necessary. Maybe it won't be nec –

Question: Mister President, would you like to see Congress pass a bill that bans child transgender surgeries?

Trump: Well, I know they're talking about it, aren't they? And we're gonna have to see how it comes to me, in what form. Certainly, it's been something I've been talking about also. Okay? [Inaudible] Thank you, be careful. We're done. We're done. Thank you, everybody!

Question: Thank you! Thank you, Mr. President.

Transcript courtesy of CQ Factbase.