TRANSCRIPT: Press Gaggle: Donald Trump Speaks to Reporters on Board Air Force One - June 24, 2025
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Donald Trump: Hello, everybody, how are you? How are you? How are you? We have breaking news. Everything good? Israel, as you know, turned back. They didn't do that raid this morning fortunately. That was a big thing. We appreciate it. They had a lot of planes going and they were going to do something, and they didn't do it, we're happy about that, very happy about that. So, the ceasefire is very much in effect, and I think we're going to keep it there for a long time.
Question: Did you speak to Prime Minister Netanyahu about that?
Trump: I did.
Question: What did you tell him?
Trump: I said you've got to turn back the planes. They were going to go because -- look, they hit him very hard after we made the deal yesterday. They were entitled to, but nobody thought that would have happened, but they had hit him very hard and that shouldn't have happened. And then as you know, Iran hit them very hard last night because of that. I don't think they would have, except for the first hard hit and I guess the missile was launched a couple of minutes afterwards, which went nowhere, hit nothing, and there was going to be a retaliation this morning by Israel. And I said you've got to call back the planes. It's enough. It's enough. And they did, which I respect very greatly. So, nobody was killed. That was the story, but that a lot of planes going in the wrong direction. You know that, right?
Question: Do you want any consequences for Israel or Iran for breaking --
Trump: No, they didn't do anything. They would have if they -- I put out a statement on Truth and they didn't do anything.
Question: Sir, [Inaudible] this might not happen again, say, in a couple of weeks that -- [Inaudible]
Trump: Tired of it. I think they don't want it to happen again. And Iran's not going to have a nuclear weapon, by the way. I think it's the last thing on their mind right now.
Question: Mr. President, did Iran make any commitments yesterday about uranium enrichment?
Trump: No what?
Question: About uranium enrichment?
Trump: They're not going to have enrichment and they're not going to have a nuclear weapon and they know that. They're going to get on to being a great trading nation. You know, they're very good traders and they're going to be a great trading nation. And they have a lot of oil, they're going to do well. They're not going to have a nuclear weapon.
Question: So, did they promise?
Trump: The last thing on Iran's mind right now is nuclear weapons.
Question: Can you clarify what you meant when you mentioned regime change in your Truth Social post the other night?
Trump: Which?
Question: Regime change. Do you want to see regime change in Iran?
Trump: Well, if there was there was, but no, I don't want it. I'd like to see everything calm down as quickly as possible. Regime change takes chaos and, ideally, we don't want to see so much chaos. So, we'll see how it does. You know, the Iranians are very good traders, very good businesspeople and they've got a lot of oil. They should be fine; they should be able to rebuild and do a good job. They're never going to have nuclear. But other than that, they should do a great job, which is exactly what I've been saying for years. You cannot let Iran have a nuclear weapon, but we're going to be with -- where's Marco? I think Marco is here someplace -- you know, our great Secretary of State. But we cannot let them have a nuclear weapon. They won't have a nuclear weapon. And I will tell you, the last thing on their minds is nuclear weapons. They don't even want to think about nuclear -- and our B-2 pilots made this all possible. They had a magnificent hit in the dark of night with no moon, no light, no nothing. They hit the target perfectly, wiped it out. And the press is very disrespectful. I saw CNN fake news going, well, maybe it wasn't a perfect hit. It was perfect. They said maybe it did destroy it; we agree, it did destroy it, but maybe it could have destroyed it more. No, no, it couldn't have destroyed it more. Every one hit and it's very disrespectful to those great geniuses and patriots that flew those planes through tremendous danger. So, CNN and MSDNC are a disgrace -- and so are the others. I mean, they're pretty much all a disgrace. But it's an amazing period of time. Now we're going to NATO, and we'll get a new set of problems. We'll solve a new set of problems.
Question: Do you think you'll meet with Zelenskyy when you're there?
Trump: Yeah, probably I'll see him. Yeah.
Question: What would you say to him?
Trump: Say how are you doing? It's a tough -- he's in a tough situation, should have never been there.
Question: So, you said a couple days ago that you didn't think the US should have to agree to the 5 percent increase in GDP on defense.
Trump: I was the one that said that's what they should be paying, as you know. No, I should do something and they're having a problem with Spain. There's always a problem with Spain. Spain's not agreeing, which is very unfair to the rest of them, frankly.
Question: So, the US won't be increasing our GDP to 5 percent.
Trump: I don't think we should pay what everyone else -- you know, they're in Europe, we're not. You know, a lot of that money goes to rebuilding their bridges, their roads, so it can take heavy equipment. And we don't have any roads in Europe; we don't have any bridges in Europe. So no, it wouldn't be quite the same thing for us, but we're the --
Question: Are you still committed to Article 5 of NATO?
Trump: It depends on your definition. There are numerous definitions of Article 5, you know that, right? But I'm committed to being their friends. You know, I've become friends with many of those leaders, and I'm committed to helping them.
Question: What do you want the role of NATO to be going forward once these other countries are spending more?
Trump: By having a unified system, I think we're going to have stronger peace, better peace and I think we have that. You know, when I went to NATO they were broke, when I first started this whole thing. Seems like a long time ago, nine years, right? But they were broke. I knew it immediately. I said you guys are broke. They weren't paying their dues. Seven of the 28 countries -- at the time it was 28 -- were paying their dues, but they weren't paying very much. NATO was broke. And I said you're going to have to pay, and we did a whole thing and now they're paying a lot. Then I said you're going to have to lift it to 4 percent or 5 percent, and 5 percent is better. They just -- I guess they're voting on that today, but they're going to be lifting it to get to 5 percent. That's good. It gives them much more power.
Question: Mr. President, if there's language in the final summit declaration about aggression by Russia, would you be OK with that kind of language?
Trump: Well, I'll have to take a look at it, but you know, I'd like to see a deal with Russia. As you know, Vladimir called me up, he said, can I help you with Iran? I said no, I don't need help with Iran; I need help with you. And I hope we're going to be getting a deal done with Russia. It's a shame, 6,000 soldiers died last week -- more, 6,500 soldiers died last week, Russia, Ukraine, a war that never would have happened if I was president. So, enjoy your flight.
Question: Can I ask you one more follow-up? In your comments just now about Article 5, that will probably make some people in Europe concerned. Can you clarify what you mean? Are you still committed to mutual defense?
Trump: I'm committed to saving lives. I'm committed to life and safety and I'm going to give you an exact definition when I get there; I just don't want to do it on the back of an airplane. OK?
Question: And one other question on energy. What's your take on the oil price situation right now? And are you concerned --
Trump: Wait, I love it. It dropped almost $10 yesterday. I put out a statement, get it down because a lot of people aren't able to do things when the energy goes down. You're going to have a lot less conflict. So, it came down and our energy department is doing a great job. We're drilling like we've never drilled before. We're keeping it down. We're going to keep it down until all these wars are settled. Thank you very much, everybody. I'll see you.
Question: [Inaudible] Iranian sleeper cells in the United States?
Trump: Biden let a lot of sleeper cells in. Biden was an incompetent president, had no idea what he was doing. He hardly ever signed a document. Other people signed documents for him with the Autopen, it was gross incompetence. And among everything else, he let a lot of supercells in, many from Iran, but hopefully we'll take care of them. What Biden did to this country should never be forgotten.
Question: Do you hope you'll get the Nobel Peace Prize now, sir?