Administration of Donald J. Trump, 2025
November 30, 2025
The President. Okay. It's a little rocky out here.
Q. A little bit.
The President. We're in a very nice airplane, but it's rocky.
Any questions? We had some great economic numbers come out, as you know. We're doing very well economically. A lot of factories are being built all over the country and all of that, but very strong numbers came out.
Go ahead.
Ukraine/Russia
Q. Can you give us an update on what took place in South Florida today, those talks between the U.S. and the Ukrainians?
The President. Well, they're going along, and they're going along well. We want to stop people from being killed. Doesn't have much to do with us, but I'd like to see if we can save a lot of souls. A lot of people are being killed. Last month, we had 27,000 people killed in that ridiculous war that should have never happened. It would have never happened if I were president.
Q. Have you spoken with Rubio and Witkoff since that meeting?
The President. I have. Yes. I've spoken to them, and they're doing well. Ukraine has got some difficult little problems. They have some difficult problems. But I think Russia would like to see it end, and I think Ukraine—I know Ukraine would like to see it end.
Ukraine/Corruption Issues
Q. You just said that Ukraine has a little bit of problems. What are those problems?
The President. Well, we have a corruption situation going on, which is not helpful.
Q. And is that impeding the peace talks?
The President. Well, I said it was going on for 3 years, right? Didn't I say it? For 3 years, I said it. So I was way ahead of schedule. But I think that there's a good chance we can make a deal.
Venezuela/Illegal Immigration
Q. Mr. President, on Venezuela, can you tell us more about why the airspace above Venezuela should be considered closed?
The President. Yes, because we consider Venezuela to be not a very friendly country. They sent millions of people, really, in. Probably, a number in excess of that. And a lot of those people shouldn't be in our country—from jails, from gangs, from drug dealers. From all of the people that came into our country, shouldn't have been in our country. Causing a lot of problems and drugs.
Q. Does your warning mean that an air strike is imminent? Or should we not read it that way?
The President. Don't read anything into it.
President Nicolas Maduro Moros of Venezuela
Q. The New York Times reported that you had a phone call with Maduro. Did you?
The President. I don't want to comment on it. The answer is yes.
Q. And can you tell us a little bit about it?
The President. No, I can't do that.
Q. Mr. President, you——
Q. Would you say it went well?
The President. No, I wouldn't say it went well or badly. It was a phone call. Yes.
Q. You've been so——
U.S. Airstrikes on Suspected Drug-Trafficking Vessels in the Caribbean Sea and Eastern Pacific
Q. Can you talk a little bit about the strikes and the controversy around Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth—[inaudible]——
The President. I don't know anything about it.
Q. ——Washington Post report ?
The President. He said he did not say that, and I believe him a hundred percent.
Q. So you don't know if there was a second——
The President. You're talking about the two men?
Q. ——second strike to kill the two men after—[inaudible]—the first strike?
The President. No, I—he said he didn't do it. He said he never said that.
Q. Would you be okay with that if he did?
The President. He said he didn't do it, so I don't have to make that decision.
Former President Juan Orlando Hernández Alvarado of Honduras
Q. Mr.—you've made so clear how you want to keep drugs out of the U.S.
The President. Right.
Q. Can you explain more about why you would pardon a notorious drug trafficker?
The President. Well, I don't know who you're talking about. Which one?
Q. Juan Orlando Hernandez.
The President. Well, I was told—I was asked by Honduras, many of the people of Honduras. They said it was a Biden setup. I don't mean Biden. Look, Biden didn't know he was alive, but it was the people that surround the Resolute Desk—surround Biden when he was there, which was about very little time.
And the people of Honduras really thought he was set up, and it was a terrible thing. He was the president of the country, and they basically said he was a drug dealer because he was the
President of the country. And they said it was a Biden administration setup. And I looked at the facts, and I agreed with them.
Q. And what evidence can you share that he was set up and that he wasn't——
The President. Well, you take a look. I mean, they could say that you take any country you want—if somebody sells drugs in that country, that doesn't mean you arrest the President and put him in jail for the rest of his life.
Q. So can I just clarify——
The President. And that includes this country, okay, to be honest. I mean, if somebody does something wrong, do you put the president of the country in jail?
They said it was a Biden setup. It was a Biden administration setup. And you have a big race going on this week—you know, next week. I think it's going to be a very important race. It'll be interesting to see Honduras. That's what you're talking about, right?
Q. Correct. Yes.
The President. Yes, ma'am.
Russia/Ukraine
Q. When exactly is Steve Witkoff going to Moscow? And do you want to extend Putin some sort of deadline for agreeing to a plan?
The President. What is the second part of your question?
Q. Do you want, like, to put—to tell Putin, "Here is my deadline for you to agree to a peace plan"?
The President. No, I don't have a deadline. I have a deadline when the war is over, and hopefully, the war is going to be over. Twenty-seven thousand people killed last week. Twenty-seven thousand, over the last 3 or 4 weeks. Twenty-seven thousand people killed. That war should end.
Q. Following up on that. What day——
U.S. Airstrikes on Suspected Drug-Trafficking Vessels in the Caribbean Sea and Eastern Pacific
Q. On the Venezuela boat strike, if there were a second strike that killed wounded people—wounded in the first strike—are you thinking that would be legal? You think that's legal?
The President. Number one, I don't know that that happened. And Pete said he did not want them—he didn't even know what people were talking about. So we'll look at—we'll look into it. But no, I wouldn't have wanted that, not a second strike. The first strike was very lethal; it was fine. And if there were two people around—but Pete said that didn't happen.
Q. Does that make you——
The President. I have great confidence in him.
Q. You say there was no second strike?
The President. I don't know. I'm going to find out about it. But Pete said he did not order the death of those two men.
U.S. Airstrikes on Suspected Drug-Trafficking Vessels in the Caribbean Sea and Eastern Pacific
Q. Do you have any concerns about how those boat strikes have been carried out at all?
The President. Very little, because you can see the boats. You can see the drugs in the boats. And each boat is responsible for killing 25,000 Americans. So I—and they're doing an amazing job. And, you know, we're getting—you just look at the numbers. The amount of drugs coming into our country by sea is infinitesimal compared to what it was just a few months ago.
Q. On immigration. Your——
The President. And each—think of this. Each boat, on average, is responsible for the death of 25,000 Americans.
Immigration Policy/U.S. Refugee Admissions
Q. On immigration. Your administration made a lot of moves throughout the last few days after we know that Afghan national is the suspected shooter of these National Guardsmen.
The President. Yes. Yes. People that shouldn't be in our country. That's right.
Q. So you announced that asylum——
The President. And that includes Somalians and includes plenty of others.
Q. How long does your administration plan to pause asylum into the U.S.?
The President. I think a long time.
Q. Can you give any kind of time? What's that amount of time?
The President. We don't want them. We don't want those people. We have enough problems.
We don't want those people.
Q. Is that a year? Two years?
The President. No time limit, but it could be a long time.
Q. You said that——
The President. We don't want those people. Do you understand that?
Q. I understand.
The President. You understand that?
Q. I understand what you're saying.
The President. Who are you with?
Q. I'm with NewsNation. My name is Libbey [Libbey Dean, NewsNation].
The President. Okay. NewsNation. NewsNation. Great. Great.
Let me just tell you something. We don't want those people. Does that make sense? You know why we don't want them? Because many have been no good, and they shouldn't be in our country.
U.S. Refugee Admissions Policy/Representative Ilhan A. Omar
Q. What do you mean by "those people"? Can you clarify?
The President. The people from different countries that are not friendly to us and countries that are out of control themselves—countries like Somalia that have virtually no government, no military, no police. All they do is go around killing each other. Then they come into our country and tell us how to run our country. We don't want them.
Q. Do you know how many countries, roughly, would you put on that list?
The President. You got to talk up.
Q. She said how many countries.
Q. Is there a list of——
The President. Well, I guess we gave you 19, right? And there's probably more than that.
Q. Is that what you mean when you mean third-world countries—those 19?
The President. No, I—that—I don't think they're all third world, but, in many cases, they are third world. They are not good countries. They are very crime-ridden countries. They are countries that don't do a good job. They are countries that don't register, from the standpoint of success. And we, frankly, don't need their people coming into our country telling us what to do.
Q. When you talk about——
The President. And I'm talking about, like, Somalia, where you have a Congressman goes around telling everybody about our Constitution, and yet she supposedly came into our country by marrying her brother. Well, if that's true, she shouldn't be a Congressman, and we should throw her the hell out of our country.
Governor Timothy J. Walz of Minnesota/Somali Immigrants
Q. Off of that, in that same post, you mentioned Tim Walz, and you called him what many Americans do find an offensive word: "retarded." Do you stand by that claim of calling Tim Walz retarded?
The President. Yes, I think there's something wrong with him. Absolutely. Sure.
Q. You don't think that——
The President. You have a problem with it?
You know what? I think there's something wrong with him. Anybody that would do what he did, anybody that would allow those people into his State and pay billions of dollars out to Somalia—we give billions of dollars to Somalia. It's not even a country because it doesn't function like a country. It's got a name, but it doesn't function like a country.
Q. When you talk about——
The President. Yes, there's something wrong with Walz.
Immigration Reform/Naturalized U.S. Citizens
Q. Mr. President, you said that you might denaturalize some American citizens. Can you talk about——
The President. You mean people that are in here that shouldn't be here?
Q. Well, that became Americans. Are you trying to revoke their citizenship?
The President. Well, we'll see. I mean, yes, if we have criminals that came into our country and they were naturalized, maybe through Biden or somebody that didn't know what they were doing. If I have the power to do it—I'm not sure that I do, but if I do, I would denaturalize.
Absolutely.
Do you have a question? Yes.
Immigration Reform/Former President Joseph R. Biden, Jr.
Q. What do you mean by reverse migration?
The President. It means get people out that are in our country. Get them out of here. I want to get them out. We got a lot of people in our country that shouldn't be here, and they came in through Biden.
And he was the worst president in the history of our country, but the single biggest thing he did was allow millions—the worst—allow millions of people into our country that shouldn't be here—drug dealers. Prisons were opened up and allowed to come into our country. You take a look at the people that were allowed to come into our country.
We're paying a big price for it, and we will for years to come, including the recent killer of two wonderful National Guardspeople. And I'll tell you what: That animal should not have been allowed to come into our country.
Thank you very much, everybody. Thank you.
Shooting of West Virginia National Guard Members in the District of Columbia
Q. On Andrew Wolfe. Have you spoken with Andrew Wolfe's family? And can you give us an update on his condition?
The President. I have spoken to both families. Well, I mean, I can give you an update.
They're devastated. Does that make sense to you?
Q. Of course.
The President. They're devastated.
Q. Can you give us an update on Andrew Wolfe's condition?
The President. Well, as you know, the one is no longer with us, and Andrew is fighting for his life. And his parents are unbelievably great people, highly religious people. And they're praying, and they want everybody to pray for Andrew. And he has a chance to make it, but he is—I mean, his mother and father, they were so unbelievable. They were so positive. From West Virginia. Great state.
I spoke with Sarah's parents too, and the only thing I can say: They were devastated.
Q. Do you plan to——
The President. They can't even believe it could happen.
Q. It's absolutely devastating, of course, to lose your children. Do you plan to bring the Beckstroms to the White House?
The President. Yes, I do.
Q. Do you plan to——
The President. I do. I've already suggested it. I said, "When you're ready"—because that's a tough thing—"come to the White House. We're going to honor Sarah." And likewise, with Andrew, recover or not, we're going to honor.
Russia/Ukraine/U.S. Diplomatic Efforts
Q. I do have one more question about Witkoff, because you mentioned, and this was asked previously—do you—can you tell us what day Witkoff is going to meet with Putin?
And then, on that, is that meeting——
The President. Sometime next week.
Q. Okay, you don't have a——
The President. No.
Q. Is it early next week? Late next week?
The President. Sometime next week.
Health Insurance Reforms/Prescription Drug Costs
Q. And, Mr. President, on health care, because it's so important to so many Americans. Do you want to——
The President. Yes. You know, one of the reasons that health care can work is because of what I just did with favored nations. You're going to have drug prices coming down 500, 600, 700 percent because of me.
Q. And you wanted to——
The President. In other words, we're going to have the lowest drug prices—tied for the lowest drug prices anywhere in the world. It's called favored nations. And you don't talk about it. It's probably the biggest thing to happen in medicine in the last hundred years, and it can have a huge impact, positive impact on pricing for health care.
Q. What about——
Federal Reserve System Leadership
Q. Are you any closer to making a decision on picking a new Fed Chair? Are you any closer on that right now?
The President. I know who I'm going to pick, yes.
Q. Oh, tell us.
Q. Is it Kevin Hassett? [Laughter]
The President. I'm not telling you. We'll be announcing it. Thank you very much, everybody. And—this is a rocky flight.
Q. It's a rocky one.
The President. We're going to get out of here before something happens. They asked about my MRI. MRIs are very—you know.
The President's Health
Q. Governor Walz asked to release the MRI records.
Q. Will you tell us what it was for?
The President. Governor Walz? You mean the incompetent Governor Walz? So, if they want to release it, it's okay with me to release it. It's perfect.
[At this point, several reporters began asking questions at once.]
It's like my phone call where I got impeached. It's absolutely perfect. So, if you want to hear about it or if you want to release it—do you want to have it released, NewsNation?
Q. Yes, please.
The President. Failing NewsNation.
Q. No, sir, we're not failing.
The President. NewsNation is doing lousy, by the way. But if you want to have it released, I'll release it. Absolutely.
Q. Yes, please. Can you tell us what they were looking at?
The President. For what? Releasing?
Q. No, no, no. What part of your body was the MRI looking at?
The President. I have no idea. It was just an MRI. What part of the body? It wasn't the brain, because I took a cognitive test, and I aced it. I got a perfect mark, which you would be incapable of doing.
Goodbye, everybody. You too.
Q. Thank you, Mr. President.
NOTE: The President spoke at 4:37 p.m. in the press cabin. In his remarks, he referred to Secretary of State Marco A. Rubio; U.S. Special Envoy for Peace Missions Steven C. Witkoff; Spc. Sarah Beckstrom, USA, and Staff Sgt. Andrew Wolfe, USAF, members of the West Virginia National Guard, who were shot in an ambush-style attack during a patrol near the White House in Washington, DC, on November 26; and Rahmanullah Lakanwal, suspected gunman in the shooting; Melody and Jason Wolfe, parents, of Staff Sgt. Wolfe; and Evalea and Gary Beckstrom, parents of Spc. Beckstrom. The transcript was released by the Office of Communications on December 1. Reporters referred to President Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin of Russia; and National Economic Council Director Kevin A. Hassett.
Categories: Interviews With the News Media : Exchanges with reporters, Air Force One. Locations: Air Force One.
Names: Beckstrom, Evalea; Beckstrom, Gary; Beckstrom, Sarah; Biden, Joseph R., Jr.; Hegseth, Peter B.; Hernández Alvarado, Juan Orlando; Lakanwal, Rahmanullah; Maduro Moros, Nicolas; Omar, Ilhan A.; Rubio, Marco A.; Walz, Timothy J.; Witkoff, Steven C.; Wolfe, Andrew; Wolfe, Jason; Wolfe, Melody.
Subjects: Citizenship; District of Columbia, shooting of National Guard servicemembers near White House; Economic improvement; Federal Reserve System; Honduras, drug trafficking; Illegal drugs, interdiction efforts; Illegal immigration; Immigration reform; Minnesota, Governor; Minnesota, Somali refugees; News media, Presidential interviews; Prescription drug costs, reduction efforts; Refugees and migrants, U.S. admission policy; Russia, conflict in Ukraine; Secretary of State; Secretary of War; Suspected drug-trafficking vessels, U.S. airstrikes in Caribbean Sea and Eastern Pacific; U.S. Special Envoy for Peace Missions; Ukraine, corruption issues; Ukraine, Russian invasion and airstrikes; Venezuela, President; Venezuela, relations with U.S.
DCPD Number: DCPD202501151.