Administration of Donald J. Trump, 2026
February 27, 2026
The President. These ships are from Venezuela. We're proud to tell you they're from Venezuela, these big ships.
[At this point, the Sinead O'Connor song "Nothing Compares 2 U" could be heard playing over the loud speakers.]
How do you like the music, everybody?
So do you know where that ship comes from? Venezuela. Venezuela got lucky because they're doing really well now. Getting along very well with Venezuela.
The President's Visit to Texas
Q. What do you hope to accomplish today with this visit to Texas?
The President. Just stopping by with my friends. We have great friends, and we've been together for a long time—really, a long time.
And it's amazing what's happened to Corpus Christi. I—the new bridge, which we were—which we helped you a lot with.
Governor Gregory W. Abbott of Texas. Exactly.
The President. The new bridge just opened. It's beautiful. That's a great bridge, huh?
Gov. Abbott. White——
The President. It's all white. Very unusual. White. It's red at night, but only if a Republican's here. [Laughter]
Texas Senatorial Campaign
Q. Have you decided who to endorse in the primary, Mr. President?
The President. Pretty much, yes.
Q. Will you tell us who?
The President. No, not yet. [Laughter]
The President's Chosen Endorsement for the Texas Senatorial Campaign
Q. Was he on the plane with you today?
The President. I don't want to discuss that.
Oil Industry/Venezuela
Q. Do you have a message——
The President. Is everybody having a good time? Do you know how big this is? Millions and millions of barrels of oil are pouring right in here. It's a great thing. No, the relationship with Venezuela has been amazing.
Iran/U.S. Diplomatic Efforts
Q. Do you have a message for Iran's Supreme Leader?
The President. Well, they should make a deal, but they don't want to quite go far enough, and it's too bad.
Look, we've been playing with them for 47 years, and that's a long time. They've been blowing the legs off our people, blowing the face off our people, the arms. They've been knocking out ships one by one. And every month, there's something else.
So you can't put up with it too long. We're not happy with the negotiation. They just don't want to—they don't want to—say the key words: "We're not going to have a nuclear weapon." They have to say, "We're not going to have a nuclear weapon," and they just can't quite get there.
They want to enrich a little bit. You don't have to enrich when you have that much oil. So I'm not happy with the negotiation.
Iran/Nuclear Weapons Development
Q. Mr. President, just to follow up on that. No enrichment at all? What level of enrichment are you willing to tolerate?
The President. I say no enrichment—not 20 percent, 30 percent. They always want 20 percent, 30 percent. They want it for civilian—you know, for civil. Civil. I think it's uncivil.
So I'm not happy with it, no.
Q. [Inaudible]
Iran/Potential U.S. Military Involvement
Q. Sir, how close are you to making a decision on strikes? How close are you to making a decision on strikes?
The President. I'd rather not tell you. You would have had the greatest scoop in history.
Right? [Laughter] You know?
Iran/U.S. Diplomatic Efforts
Q. How much longer can the negotiation phase go on?
The President. Well, they're going. I mean we're negotiating right now, but they're not getting to the right answer.
Q. How much longer? Is the 10——
The President. And we're not going to see people—we're not going to see what's happened for 47 years keep going.
Forty-seven years we've been doing this with them. The Obama deal was the worst deal. Nobody ever saw a deal so stupid. Right now, if you did the Obama deal, if that held, if I didn't terminate it, Iran would have a nuclear weapon, and it would be a whole different ballgame.
Iran/Nuclear Weapons Development
Q. Are you concerned that striking Iran might——
The President. That Obama deal was one of the worst—one of the dumbest deals I've ever seen.
Gov. Abbott. Absolutely, yes.
The President. First of all, it was very short term. It would long be over, you know that.
Would have been—not—I terminated it. But if I didn't, it would be over by now anyway.
But the Obama deal, what he did was one of the dumber deals. I've seen a lot of dumb deals.
That would be one of the dumber deals.
Iran/Oil Market and Prices
Q. Are you concerned that striking Iran might raise oil prices, which could affect your economic agenda?
The President. I'm not concerned. No. No, I'm concerned about people's lives. I'm concerned about long-term health for this country. That's what I'm concerned about.
U.S. Diplomatic Efforts/Oil Industry
Q. Did the Vice President brief you on his meeting the Omani Foreign Minister?
The President. Yes, he did.
Q. What did he say?
The President. I can't tell you that.
Q. Is there any progress——
The President. I can't tell you that. I—that I can't tell you.
But I do like—come here. Come here. Do you want to see something nice? Come here. [At this point, the President pointed to a crude oil vessel.]
Look at that. Right out of Venezuela. Goodbye, everybody. Thank you, everybody.
NOTE: The President spoke at 3:27 p.m. at the Port of Corpus Christi. In his remarks, he referred to former President Barack Obama. Reporters referred to Texas Republican senatorial candidates Sen. John Cornyn III, Texas State Attorney General W. Kenneth Paxton, Jr., and Rep. Wesley Hunt; Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei of Iran; and Minister of Foreign Affairs Badr bin Hamad bin Hamud al-Busaidi of Oman. The transcript was released by the Office of Communications on February 28.
Categories: Interviews With the News Media : Exchanges with reporters, Corpus Christi, TX. Locations: Corpus Christi, TX.
Names: Abbott, Gregory W.; Obama, Barack; Vance, James D. "J.D.".
Subjects: 2026 midterm elections; Iran, diplomatic engagement with U.S.; Iran, nuclear weapons development; News media, Presidential interviews; Texas, Governor; Venezuela, oil supply and refining; Venezuela, relations with U.S.; Vice President.
DCPD Number: DCPD202600138.