Administration of Donald J. Trump, 2025
October 5, 2025
The President. This is a big day. We're going to have a big day. One of the biggest. We're celebrating our Navy and our military. We have the greatest military anywhere in the world—not even close, as you probably noticed. And we rebuilt it largely during my first term, and now I get to see it in action. So we're going to have a very big day today. It's going to be very exciting.
[At this point, several reporters began asking questions at once.]
Nuclear Disarmament Efforts
Q. Mr. President, President Putin offered to extend the New START for 1 more year. Would you like to do that?
The President. Said what?
Q. President Putin offered to keep limits on nuclear arms for 1 more year to then hopefully negotiate a new treaty.
The President. Sounds like——
Q. Are you willing to do that?
The President. Sounds like a good idea to me.
U.S. Cease-Fire Proposal Between Hamas and Israel/Hostages Held in Gaza, Palestinian Territories
Q. Mr. President, according to your plan, the Palestinian Authority may control Gaza the day after Hamas. Now, can you please explain to me, what is the purpose by doing this, if, according to Israel, they are paying to terrorists—they are paying salaries to terrorists?
The President. Who are you with? Who are with?
Q. Channel 14, Israel. My name is Libby [Libby Alon, Channel 14].
The President. Well, it's a great deal——
Q. They are paying salaries.
The President. ——for Israel, and it's a great deal for everybody. And you want to get your hostages back, right? You want them back——
Q. Of course.
The President. ——or do you not want them back?
Q. Of course.
The President. And it's a great deal for Israel. It's a great deal for the entire Arab world, Muslim world, and world. So we're very happy about it.
Go ahead.
Hostages Held in Gaza, Palestinian Territories
Q. Mr. President, when do you think the hostages will start being freed?
The President. I think very soon. We're—they're in negotiation right now, as we speak. They've started the negotiation. It will last a couple of days. We'll see how it turns out, but I'm hearing it's going very well.
Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act
Q. Mr. President, are you open to extending the Affordable Care Act subsidies?
The President. We want to fix it so it works. It's not working. Obamacare has been a disaster for the people, so we want to have it fixed so it works.
[At this point, several reporters began asking questions at once.]
Deployment of National Guard Troops to Portland, Oregon
Q. Mr. President, will you follow the judge's order in Portland?
The President. We're going to look at that. It was amazing. Portland is burning to the ground.
It's a—insurrectionists all over the place. It's antifa, and yet the politicians, who are petrified—look, the politicians are afraid for their lives. That's the only reason that they say like, "There's nothing happening." And you've seen it. The place is burning down, and they pretend like there's nothing happening. So we'll take a look at the order. We haven't seen the order yet.
Q. Mr. President, Governor Pritzker says your——
U.S. Drug Interdiction Efforts in the Caribbean Sea
Q. Mr. President, you are going to celebrate the Navy today.
The President. Yes.
Q. The Navy is deployed in the Caribbean against the cartels. What is the next step of this war against drug trafficking in South America?
The President. Well, we're going to stop drug trafficking, and we've done a lot. There's nobody—there's nobody coming in on the water. That I can tell you. The water is like—there's nobody. There's no drugs coming in on the water.
And we'll take a look at what phase two is, but it made a big difference. [Several reporters spoke at once.]
Q. Mr. President, are you hoping—are you hoping for flexibility on the Hamas plan?
The President. We have very little—we don't need flexibility, because everybody has pretty much agreed to it. But there will always be some changes.
But the Hamas plan, I tell you, it's amazing. You're going to have peace. If you think about it, peace in the Middle East for the first time in, they say, really, 3,000 years. So I'm very honored to be a big part of that.
Look, they've been fighting for a plan for years. We get the hostages back almost immediately. Negotiations are going on right now, will probably take a couple of days, and people are very happy about it.
U.S. Cease-Fire Proposal Between Hamas and Israel
Q. Sir, on Government shutdown——
The President. Go ahead. Go ahead.
Q. ——would you support the Affordable Care Act subsidies——
Court Decision on the President's Deployment of National Guard Troops to Portland, Oregon/Federal Law Enforcement Support in U.S. Cities
Q. Mr. President, a Federal judge that you appointed blocked your——
The President. Say it.
Q. A Federal judge you appointed blocked your decision to send troops to Portland. What's your reaction?
The President. Well, I disagree with that judge. I wasn't served well—if they put judges like that on, I wasn't served well by the people that pick judges, I can tell you. Things like that are just too bad. I appointed the judge, and he goes like that. So I wasn't served well.
Obviously, I don't know the judge, but if he made that kind of a decision—Portland is burning to the ground. You have agitators, insurrectionists. All you have to do is look at the—look at the television, turn on your television, read your newspapers. It's burning to the ground.
The Governor, the mayor, the politicians are petrified for their lives, and you have a judge like that. He ought to be—that judge ought to be ashamed of himself.
Immigration Enforcement Actions/Crime in Chicago, Illinois
Q. A Governor—you say you're targeting the worst of the worst, but Governor Pritzker said that most of the people ICE have taken in his State have no criminal history, no criminal convictions.
The President. Yes.
Q. So which is it?
The President. He's wrong. Number one, he's wrong.
Number two, I really believe he's afraid for his life somehow. When you can have 40 or 50 people killed over the last couple of months, hundreds of people wounded—there's no place like that in the world. Hundreds of people wounded; 50, 55, people shot and killed; and Pritzker gets up and says what a wonderful place it is. They need help.
Washington, DC, is now a safe place. You're not going to get mugged or hit. You're not going to get raped. You're not going to get anything. Washington, DC, went from a hellhole to a safe place.
I love the way you nod. Is it true though?
I mean, people—a lot of the people right here were——[Several reporters spoke at once.]
Wait.
A lot of the people right here were mugged—reporters. And you know what? You're safe now. Nothing—we've had no crime. It took 12 days to solve the problem.
[Several reporters spoke at once.]
Twelve days. And we're going to do that in Chicago. We're going to do that in Portland.
Now, Portland is different. That's a bunch of paid insurrectionists, but you have a lot of paid people in Chicago too. I believe the politicians are under threat, because there's no way somebody can say that things are wonderful in Chicago. Almost 55—I think it was 55 people, over a short period of time, have been murdered in Chicago, have been shot. Two hundred and twenty-two
people, over a short period, have been hit, have been wounded—not died—but 55 people died over a short period of time. You're telling me—there's no city in the world like that. We're going to straighten it out.
And I think that Pritzker—he's not a stupid person. I think that Pritzker is afraid for his life. [Several reporters spoke at once.]
Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act
Q. Do you support extending Obamacare subsidies?
The President. We want to make it better.
Q. How?
Lapse in Federal Government Appropriations
Q. What about the layoffs? Do you intend—[inaudible]——
The President. Well, they're—I call them Democrat layoffs. They're Democrat layoffs.
They're causing it. We're ready to go back.
You know, we have a record-setting economy. We have a record-setting country. Prices are way down. We're doing better than the country has ever done, and the Democrats hate seeing that. It's up to them. Anybody laid off, that's because of the Democrats.
Thank you.
Okay, let's go. Thank you.
NOTE: The President spoke at 11 a.m. on the South Lawn at the White House prior to boarding Marine One. In his remarks, he referred to Karin J. Immergut, judge, U.S. District court for the District of Oregon; Gov. Tina Kotek of Oregon; Mayor Keith Wilson of Portland, OR; and Gov. Jay R. "J.B." Pritzker of Illinois. The transcript was released by the Office of Communications on October 6.
Categories: Interviews With the News Media : Exchanges with reporters, White House. Locations: Washington, DC.
Names: Immergut, Karin J.; Kotek, Tina; Pritzker, Jay R. "J.B."; Wilson, Kevin.
Subjects: District of Columbia, law enforcement improvement efforts; Gaza, conflict with Israel; Gaza, hostages held by Hamas; Hamas political-paramilitary organization; Health insurance exchanges; Illinois, crime in Chicago; Illinois, Governor; Israel, military operations in Gaza; National Guard; News media, Presidential interviews; Nuclear disarmament, international efforts; Oregon, Governor; Oregon, political demonstrations in Portland; Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act; Suspected drug-trafficking vessels, U.S. airstrikes in Caribbean Sea and Eastern Pacific; U.S. military readiness, improvement efforts.
DCPD Number: DCPD202500979.