TRANSCRIPT: Press Gaggle: Donald Trump Speaks to Reporters On Board Air Force One - July 1, 2025
[Video]
President Trump: Okay. We had a big day today. Had the bill passed, and I think it's gonna do very well in the House. We'll see how that works out. But, uh, it looks like it's ahead of schedule, see what happens. Happy about it. This was great today, going down to Florida and seeing what, uh, Homeland and Ron and everybody else have been able to do in a very short period of time.
Question: Mr. President?
Trump: So happy about it, I hope you enjoyed it. Go ahead. Any questions? 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?
Question: [Inaudible] Thomas Massie?
DeSantis: Eight days, a new facility was up and running.
Trump: What about him?
Question: And is this the model going forward, Mr. President?
Question: Just give us a little idea of, not only who you want to replace him --
Trump: 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. Oh, I think he does a good job for the country. He's always a no. Uh, I call him Rand Paul Jr. He's always a no. Nothing constructive at all, at all. I mean, been just terrible. Thomas Massie from Kentucky and, uh, nothing constructive. I don't think he's a very smart guy. Good education, but that's about it. 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]
Question: And that's what I should have asked this. To what degree are you trying to make an example out of him so that no one else, like --
DeSantis: 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.
Trump: I don't think about it. I mean, you know, when I oppose somebody, I oppose somebody. And if for some reason the voters -- a -- almost always, they seem to go along with me 'cause they know I'm working hard. I have a nice high IQ. They like that, you know, we like high IQ people. But, uh, they know I, I make good decisions.
DeSantis: It's made a huge difference.
Trump: That's why we have that hat, Trump was right about everything, right? But, you know, I don't like guys like, they just keep saying, no, "I vote no. I vote no." There's no, nothing. Let him do something, let him get what he wants to vote, yes. But if you look at his voting record, it's always against --
DeSantis: 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.
Question: Who do you like?
DeSantis: 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.
Trump: Oh, he's gonna have an opponent. He's got -- He's, he's gonna have a big opponent. A good opponent who's gonna win -- A, a poll just came out, and it showed anybody I endorse against Massie, Massie loses by 25 points. So he's, he's gonna be history, I think.
Question: I was going to ask you, [Inaudible] be enticing for other states to come up with their own model?
Question: How arm -- Uh, sir, how much arm-twisting do you think you'll have to do with, uh, to get it past the House now? What's your game plan for that?
Trump: 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? I felt the Senate was gonna be tougher than the House. We got there, we got pretty much what we wanted. It was, uh, it's an amazing package. It's the biggest bill ever passed, if we get this done. You know, most of the people wanted seven or eight different bills. And I thought that was tougher because it'd be, you know, a 100%, but there'd be nothing [Inaudible] -- this bill has something for everybody by doing it this way.
Kristi Noem: 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.
Trump: So we're happy about it. We're happy with the results.
Noem: 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 countries are welcoming them there, setting up loans for houses. They've got food assistance. They're helping to facilitate welcoming them.
Question: So are you concerned that they're gonna be, wanna make further changes in the House?
Noem: 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.
Trump: Well, they're gonna ask for certain changes, probably. I don't know, I mean, I guess what would happen, if that happens, you then have to run it fast past the Senate. So, you know, it never ends. Uh, I don't know if that's gonna happen. And there is a lot of self-deporting.
Question: Do you think it's still possible to get this done by Friday?
Noem: There is.
Trump: [Inaudible] on occasion that will happen, where they'll make a change and get it passed. So we go pretty quickly. But, uh, I think th- -- the Senate was a very big movement, they worked very hard. I didn't get along with Tillis, and he resigned, [Inaudible] that's a good thing. [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 of land, just [Inaudible] is there potential for enlargement for additional facilities [Inaudible]?
Question: He wants -- who you want to run for that seat, sir, Thom Tillis' seat.
DeSantis: 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.
Trump: Well, somebody that would really be great is Lara, she grew up there. But, uh, they live in Florida. They have a very good life and they, you know, they're great people. She did fantastically running the RNC, she's even got a show that's, it's like the number one show. And Mark Levin is likewise, I mean, they have the number one, number two show over the weekend.
DeSantis: 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.
Trump: So she's, she's done what? She's a great person, Lara Trump. I mean, that would always be my first choice, but she doesn't live there now. But she's there all the time, her parents are there. You know, she really knows North Carolina well, and I won it three times. I, I don't know who the candidates are gonna be. I think you're gonna have one of the congressmen step up, but she'd do very well.
DeSantis: 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.
Question: So she -- did she talk to you about it at all about?
Trump: Oh, no, no, no. She did so soon.
Question: [Inaudible] prioritizing going after the worst of the worst or are you now arresting anyone who --
Trump: Yeah. 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. Uh, I had it out with this guy two nights ago and he resigned, you know, which I was happy about. He did us all a favor. 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 it up. This is in 2016. Now I come in, and the difference is this was 20 times worse.
Question: Sir, you spent a lot of time with Secretary Noem today. Did you discuss with her this report about an $80,000 dark money payment she received in 2023 that appears to have been kept off her federal disclosure forms?
Trump: No, I haven’t. I didn’t. You’re telling me this for the first time. I think she’s done an amazing job.
Question: All, on Secretary Noem—you talked about how—
Trump: Who are you with?
Question: The Washington Examiner, sir. Christian Datoc.
Trump: Good paper. Excellent.
Question: Thank you. Are you concerned right now, again, with the speed of the deportations? Obviously Tom Homan and Stephen Miller have talked about how this isn’t enough. What exactly is enough?
Trump: It’s gonna be a long period of time. We’re gonna have a lot of angst because it’s a tough thing. But no, I think they’re doing an amazing job. And you know, we’re doing a lot of home deportations. We’re doing a lot of deportations or self-deportations, where they come and they deport themselves, and then they want to come back into the country, and they can only come back into the country under no circumstances unless they go out the proper way. Otherwise, they’re never coming back in. Now, I think it’s going very well. Look, Biden did us a tremendous disservice when he allowed this to happen to our country. And I always said it’s the toughest thing. You know, I had inflation and I got rid of it. We don’t have inflation. I had a bad economy, and we set a new stock market high today. We’re doing unbelievable.
Question: What do you think is going on there?
Trump: The country’s doing unbelievable. I always said the most difficult thing is what happened at the border—allowing 21 or 25 million people to come into our country. It’s the most difficult thing.
Question: Are you thinking of extending the pause on tariffs beyond July 9th?
Trump: No. No, I’m not. I’m not thinking about the pause. I’ll be writing letters to a lot of countries. And I think you’re just starting to understand the process. We’ve dealt with Japan. I’m not sure if we’re gonna make a deal—I doubt it—but Japan, they’re very tough. You have to understand, they’re very spoiled. I love Japan. I really like the new prime minister too. Abe was one of my closest friends, as you know. The new prime minister is great. He is a very strong guy. But they and others are so spoiled from having ripped us off for 30, 40 years that it’s really hard for them to make a deal. You know, it’s very hard. As an example with Japan—they won’t take rice, and yet they desperately need rice. You know that. But they won’t take rice. They won’t take other products that we have. But think of it—they need rice so badly, but they won’t take rice. I think that was an easy one. Or the cars—as you know, they send out millions. We didn’t give them one car in ten years. They won’t take any cars, but they’ll sell millions. So we tell them, “Sorry, you can’t do that.” And we have a great relationship, great reliance, and really a great sort of partnership in a way. But on trade, they’ve been very unfair. And those days are gone. So what I’m gonna do is I’ll write them a letter and say, “We thank you very much and we know you can’t do the kind of things that we need. And therefore you’ll pay a 30%, 35%, or whatever the number is that we determine because we also have a very big trade deficit with Japan, as you know. And it’s very unfair to the American people. So they maybe will be happy, they maybe won’t be happy. But some countries we won’t even allow to trade. But for the most part, we’re gonna determine a number and just very simply write them a nice letter—probably one page or a page and a half at the most. And it’s gonna be, essentially, congratulations. It’s gonna be an honor to allow you to go and do business in the United States of America, because it really is an honor to be able to do that. But we never viewed it that way in this country. And you saw we took in $129 billion in tariffs already. We haven’t even started. No inflation. Our country’s strong.
Question: Speaking of Jay Powell, do you have a top choice of someone to succeed him?
Trump: I do. I have two or three top choices.
Question: Can you tell us those?
Trump: No. [Laughs] You almost got me there.
Question: Are there other trade deals that are close to being done that you think you will announce over the next week?
Trump: I hope we’re gonna have a deal with India, possibly. And that’s gonna be a different kind of deal. It’s gonna be a deal where we’re able to go in and compete. Right now, India doesn’t accept anybody in. I think India’s gonna do that, and if they do, we’re gonna have a deal for much less tariffs.
Question: Elon Musk is ripping into this bill again. Are you concerned that Republicans are going to be swayed by Musk and his money?
Trump: No, I don’t think so. I think what’s going to happen is DOJ is going to look at Musk. And if DOJ 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.
Question: You mentioned Alejandro Mayorkas. He was impeached in the House, cleared in the Senate. Are you investigating him—could we investigate the auto pen? What’s the further investigation on that?
Trump: The auto pen is under investigation. The auto pen’s a serious thing. I think it’s one of the most serious things I’ve heard. Mayorkas was a terrible, terrible secretary. But he was given orders to do things, and the people that gave those orders probably have pardons. You know, Biden pardoned a lot of people. The only one he didn’t pardon was himself. But I don’t know if I’d do to him what he did to me. Problem is, he wouldn’t understand what happened. So maybe it wouldn’t be so bad.
Question: There’s a video of Speaker Johnson telling him about how he stopped the LNG gas and he thought it was something else. How many more examples do you think there are that President Biden just didn’t in fact know what he was doing?
Trump: President Obama was a terrible president. President Biden was the worst president in the history of our country. President Bush should not have gone into the Middle East and blown the place up, so I don’t give him high marks either. Thank you very much, everybody. I give Trump very high marks. Goodbye, everyone.