TRANSCRIPT: President Trump Speaks to Reporters During a Photo Op in Egypt, 10.13.25
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President Donald Trump: Powerful man. Very powerful.
President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi: Thank you.
Trump: No crime. They have no crime.YOu put it out before it starts.
Unidentified: Jared. Jared.
Trump: Do you wanna take a couple questions, because I don't care. Yeah? [Inaudible]? Hey, do you wanna have a couple of questions as we're having an amazing period of time like I think nobody's seen before. And, uh, we had a tremendous stop as you know, in Israel and now we're in a country where a friend of mine is a very powerful leader. And my friend is right here, the president, but also the general, you know. Sometimes I call him -- Usually I call him the general 'cause he's both and he's good at both, and, uh, they've done a fantastic job and they have very little crime, you know. Because they don't play games. That's why. They don't play games like we do in the United States with governors that have no idea what they're doing, but they don't have crime.
I ask about crime and they almost don't even know what I'm talking about. So it's, uh, it's a great tribute to this man. He's done a fantastic job in bringing this country together and the United States is with him all the way.
el-Sisi: Thank you, Mr. President.
Trump: Okay? All the way, and it's an honor to be with you.
el-Sisi: Thank you.
Question: Sir, what will Egypt's role play in the peace process here?
Trump: He played a very important role and they had a very important role with Hamas. In fact, the general was, uh, right here, was very instrumental because Hamas respects this country and they respect the leadership of Egypt. So we had a -- He played a very important role. I appreciate it very much. Thank you.
Question: President Trump, in Israel just now, you were talking about a possible Iran peace deal. You said, "We are ready when you are." Is that the ultimate goal with today's signing to get enough-
Trump: No. Not Iran, but, but I think Iran will come along. Uh, they've been battered and bruised and, you know, they're -- They, they need some help. They're big sanctions, as you know, tremendous sanctions. I'd love to take the sanctions off when they're ready to talk, but they can't really survive with those sanctions. Those sanctions are very tough. But at some point they're gonna say we want the sanctions off. We're gonna end up with peace. I think Iran is gonna be fine. I know so many Iranian people. They're great people. They're smart, great, great people. Engineers, lawyers, I mean their academics. But, uh, they, they took a big hit.
And frankly, if we didn't hit them with the nuclear, I don't think you would've been able to have this incredible, uh, this, this deal that's once-in-a-lifetime deal. Nobody's ever seen anything like what's happening today. And countries have all come together. All different countries, some liked each other, some didn't. Most didn't, and they've all come together. Every country has come together. And by the way, Iran did put out a statement, you know, that they support this deal very wholeheartedly, so that was in itself something. But no, I, I think they want to -- That's all I do in my life. I make deals. And, uh, they want to make a deal.
Question: President Trump, now that the living hostages have been returned, can you please tell us what the next steps are to phase 2?
Trump: Well, they're going and looking for bodies. It's a pretty gruesome task. And they're -- They know where numerous are, as you know, I guess five or six are in yet now. But, uh, they're looking for bodies. They know the areas and the, uh, search party's out and they're doing it in conjunction with Israel. And, uh, they'll -- They're gonna be finding quite a few of them.
Question: President Trump, can you tell us when phase two of the negotiations will begin?
Trump: Well, it started. I mean, it started, as far as we're concerned-
Question: Phase two has started.
Trump: -- phase two started. And, uh, you know, the faces are all a little bit mixed in with each other. They're gonna start cleaning up. Uh, you look at Gaza and it's, uh, needs a lot of cleanup. That's why when I talked in my speech, I talked to him about the debris. I used the word, "debris." That's debris times 10. So, uh, but we're gonna, they're gonna really do a job. They have a lot of power. In another room you have the wealthiest, some of the wealthiest nations in the world. All leaders that, the big leaders are here, the, the emirs and the kings and everybody. And it's, it's a very interesting group. I guess we have, like, 35 countries, and that's only because they were the 35 that we invited.
Everybody that we invited came. So it's, uh, there's a lot of respect. And I think you'll see some tremendous progress, both in the Middle East. Uh, this country is doing very well. It has good leadership. It's about leadership. And it's really nice when you say, "How is your crime situation?" And they, like, don't even know what you're talking about. "What do you mean, 'crime'? We don't have crime." Because if he has crime, he puts it out very quickly. Some people think that's not nice. But I think it's great, because people don't want to be mugged and smashed and, and they don't want to be stupid people. They have a, a place that, uh, is, uh, doing very well. We're very proud of him, 'cause we knew each other from the beginning. The first time I met, it was in a hotel. And I was going to meet him, and then Hillary Clinton was following me. You remember? Hillary Clinton. And he liked me so much, he never even got to see Hillary. He saw it for about two seconds. [Laughter]
But he didn't really want to waste a lot of time. He knew what was gonna happen. But that was the first time we met, and we had a very good chemistry together. And, uh, it continues till today. So I want to thank you all very much. I appreciate the way you covered the, uh, this really momentous, I've never seen anything like it. The level of love, the level of respect for what it is. And it's, you know, it's, it's peace in the Middle East, And everybody said, "It's not possible to do." And it's gonna happen, and it is happening as before your very eyes. And that's why it's become so fascinating. Marco, do you have anything to say?
Marco Rubio: Egypt's been a phenomenal participant. I think both Steve and Jared will tell you the critical role they've played, and they can tell you themselves. They hosted the talks here. And they're gonna play a very important role now in the followup, the implementation of this. Which is really, it's not simply about restoring Gaza, it is about transforming the region. So we have an incredible partner, a long alliance, very capable partner here, and a tremendous collection of leaders. This is clearly in my mind, I think in the mind of everyone in this room, probably one of the most important days for world peace in 50 years. That's not an exaggeration.
Trump: Only 50?
Rubio: Maybe a hundred -- [Laughter] since the end of World War II,
Question: Mr. Witkoff and Mr. Kushner, I'm curious. You've played such an important role in the practical negotiations here. What will your role be going forward as, as a lot more has to be brought to the table here?
Steve Witkoff: Oh, the minute, uh, the minute we had inked the deal, Jared and I were already working on the implementation side of the deal. So, um, we are, we're dug in, we'll be here quite a bit. That's at the direction of the president. That's probably going to be one of the most important phases here. Uh, Jared is remarkable to work with. I talk about it all the time. And, uh, of course we both love working for the president. So it's a, it feels like a very honorable job.
Trump: Mr. President, would you like to say something with the interpreter?
el-Sisi: Yes. [Via Translator] Well, first of all, we would like to say, "I welcome you to Egypt." It's a great pleasure and an honor to have you with us here in the City of Peace, Sharm el-Sheikh. We would also to extend, uh, on behalf of all Egyptians and peace lovers around the world, salute the appreciation and the respect of this unprecedented and momentous accomplishment by us. I've, I've been very confident that Your Excellency is the only one who's capable of bringing this about and bring an end to this war. I even said that very precisely during my communication with Your Excellency, that you are the only one who is able to bring about peace and to achieve peace in this part of the world. I thank you, Mr. President. And what we need to do now is to fixate the ceasefire, make sure that it maintains the, the states that we, uh, can deliver all of the remaining, the bodies of, uh, the deceased-
Trump: Right.
el-Sisi: [Via translator] Uh, to the families. And this is very important to bring in more humanitarian assistance into the, The Strip. And, uh, working very closely on following up the rest of the steps that should be taken to make this successful. [In English] Mr. President, you did very great, sir. Thank you.
Trump: Thank you. That's [Inaudible] He's a good man.
el-Sisi: Thank you.
Trump: He's a good man. We're with him all away.
Question: Will he be on the Board of Peace, sir?
Trump: I'd like to have him on the board. I'd like to. We may need an interpreter, but that's okay.
el-Sisi: [Via translator] As long as the president, His Excellency, decides-
Trump: He can't do better.
el-Sisi: -- uh, to be on the, the Board of Peace, I'll be there.
Trump: We've had many, uh, leaders want to be on the board, actually, the Board of Peace. It's taken on, Steve, I'd say a life, of its own, hasn't it? Do you want to discuss that? What's happened?
Witkoff: I, I think we have a long list of applicants to be on the Board of Peace.
Trump: Yes, everybody wants to be on it. That's very nice. That's better than the other way. Usually, it's the other way. Nobody wants to be on the board, but it's, it's really taken on, this whole thing has taken on a life that's very different. So, it's been, been really a great, a great honor. Uh, and you, and you people have done a fantastic job, I want to tell you. We appreciate it very much. Thank you very much, everybody.
Question: All right, thank you. [Inaudible] Thank you.
Trump: Hold it one second. Yes?
el-Sisi: [Via translator] I just want and look forward to Your Excellency's support and your sponsorship with us in the conference for the reconstruction. [In English] Thank you.
Trump: Hundred percent, thank you. Thank you everybody.
Note: [Crosstalk]