Administration of Donald J. Trump, 2026
April 29, 2026
The President. Hello, everybody.
Well, thank you very much. We have some people that have captivated the attention of the whole world, not just our country, the whole world.
And they're very brave. And that was a lot of rocket under them. [Laughter] I never saw anything like that. We were talking about it. It's—I don't know how they do it. I wouldn't want to do it.
But it takes people like this to make our country great, and, again, I've never seen anything—everybody I knew, they wanted to see the launch, and they especially wanted to see a successful landing.
And, Jared, I want to congratulate you—what you've done at NASA. That was—I made a great choice. [Applause] I made a great choice.
And do you have any questions for any of us? Feel free to ask.
But we're very proud of these people. They have unbelievable courage. Unbelievable. Lot of other things too, by the way. To get in there, you have to be very smart, you have to do a lot of things physically good.
So I would have had no trouble making it. I'm physically very, very good. Maybe a little bit of a problem. I don't know. I'm sure I—we'll have to try it sometime.
Is the President allowed to go up in one of these missions?
Administrator of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration Jared Isaacman. We can get working on that, Mr. President.
The President. We'd have no problem, right? [Laughter]
Administrator Isaacman. We're going to launch more rockets. There'll be the opportunity.
The President. We'll have to try it. [Laughter] Congratulations, very much.
Canadian Space Agency Colonel Jeremy Hansen. Thank you, sir.
The President. And by the way, their families are over here. Beautiful families. And they're in the Oval Office, and they walked in. They said, "Wow, the Oval Office." Everybody likes the Oval Office.
So, any questions, please?
Moon Exploration
Q. Mr. President. Thank you, Mr. President. First of all, it's a great honor to meet all of you. Congratulations, and welcome to the White House.
I have had the privilege of interviewing Gene Cernan, the last man to walk on the Moon.
The President. Oh. Good, good.
Q. Is that what you would like to do? And, Mr. President, do you think that will happen during your second term?
The President. Well, we have a shot at it. I mean, we don't like to say "definitely" because then you'll say: "Oh, we failed. We failed." Because we're—I think we could say we're ahead of schedule.
So we have a—we have a good shot. We've authorized it. And I think with this team and, you know, with—Jared's done such an amazing job at NASA. I think we have a good shot. Right? We'll see.
Administrator Isaacman. Yes, Mr. President, we have an achievable plan now back to the Moon. And we're back in the business of launching moon rockets with frequency.
So we just sent Artemis II around the Moon. We're going to launch Artemis III in 2027.
We'll protect for up to two opportunities in 2028 to return astronauts to the surface of the Moon.
The President. I like space. You know, I started Space Force, as you very well know, and it's been very, very important. And they tried to kill it. And actually, the military would not let the Biden administration kill it. They wanted to kill it.
And it's turned out—it's going to turn out to be one of our most important things. I think it will turn out to be one of the most important things I did. But we got involved with NASA, bringing it back.
And I was saying when I first looked at some of your facilities, they had grass growing on the runways——
Administrator Isaacman. Yes, sir.
The President. ——right?—in between the cracks of the asphalt. And—but not anymore. It's really strong.
And, you know, what they do—one of the things they do that's so important is for our military offense and defense. And a lot of people say, "Well, is it worth it?" It's really worth it, because what's happened militarily—you see what we're doing militarily—a lot of that comes from space. So it's been pretty great.
Good question.
Yes.
Release of Government Files Related to Alien and Extraterrestrial Life, Unidentified Aerial Phenomena (UAP), and Unidentified Flying Objects (UFOs)
Q. Thank you, Mr. President. I have two questions for you. First, on the topic of space. Do you have an update on the UFO files and what might be—when we're going to be seeing those?
The President. Well, I think we're going to be releasing as much as we can in the near future. For some reason—and I guess it's just a reason—it's been in the minds of people for a long time. And that is such—they want to find out about the UFOs and anything having to do with UFO or related material. And we're going to be releasing a lot of things from—that we have. And I think some of it's going to be very interesting to people.
I've interviewed people—my first term, primarily—but I interviewed some pilots, very solid people, and they said they saw things that you wouldn't believe. So you're going to be reading about it.
Yes.
President Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin of Russia/Ukraine Conflict
Q. Sir, you spoke to Vladimir Putin not too long ago. Did you talk to him about——
The President. I did today.
Q. Did you talk to him about the progress in the space area——
The President. Yes.
Q. ——and what else did you talk to him about?
The President. I didn't talk about space, no. I talked about Ukraine, and I talked a little bit about Iran. I talked about a few different subjects, mostly about Ukraine. And we had a very good conversation. I think we're going to come up with a solution relatively quickly, I hope.
Q. What does he want you to——
The President. I think he'd like to see a solution, I can tell you. And that's good.
Iran/U.S. Military Operations/Nuclear Weapons Development/Russia/Ukraine
Q. What involvement does he want to have in the Iran situation?
The President. He told me he'd like to be involved with the enrichment if we—if he can help us get it.
I said, "I'd much rather have you be involved with ending the war with Ukraine." To me, that would be more important, because we've going to have that.
Look, we—we're not going to let Iran have a nuclear weapon.
And we've knocked out their navy. We've knocked out their air force. We've knocked out their antiaircraft—everything apparatus—everything they have, their radar. They have very little left. And they have some missiles, a small percentage. They have a small percentage of missile-making facilities. We knocked out about 80 percent of them. The rest could come very quickly if we don't make a deal.
They're not going to have a nuclear weapon. They know it, and just about everybody else does. And so we talked about that a little bit. He doesn't want to see them have a nuclear weapon either.
But I had a long talk with President Putin. I suggested a little bit of a cease-fire. And I think he might do that. He might announce something having to do with it.
Did he announce it yet?
Q. No, but I was wondering—I was just going to ask you if that came up.
The President. Yes, no, I asked him about——
Even if it's a little ceasefire, there's so many people being killed. It's so ridiculous. Yes.
U.S. Supreme Court Ruling on Voting Rights Act Provisions/White House Ballroom Construction Project
Q. Thank you, Mr. President. In light of today's Supreme Court ruling on the Voting Rights Act, do you want Republican States in the South to look at drawing congressional districts before the midterms?
The President. I don't know. You'll have to tell me. When did the ruling come out?
Q. It was today.
The President. I've been with the astronauts. I've been with contractors, because we're trying to get the ballroom built——
Q. Yes.
The President. ——ahead of schedule. It's right on schedule. It's ahead of schedule now. I want to keep it that way.
Q. So the ruling came out today, and the thinking——
The President. And I was also with—commissioning some people, but one of—you know, David Warrington's son. I don't—you know David? Everybody knows David. He's got this incredible son. So he was just sworn in. So we had other things.
Tell me about the—what happened?
Q. Well, some think that the ruling could create more Republican-held congressional seats in the South.
The President. That's good.
Q. Yes. Would you want them to——
The President. That's the kind of ruling I like.
Q. Would you want them to pursue that?
The President. When did that happen?
White House Chief of Staff Susan Wiles. This morning.
Q. Well, the Supreme Court ruled on it this morning.
The President. Really? Is that right? Tell me about the ruling.
Q. Well, I have a question, Mr. President.
The President. This is CNN fake news.
Russia/Ukraine/U.S. Military Operations in Iran
Q. On your call with President Putin today. Do you think the war in Iran ends first or the war in Ukraine?
The President. Well, we talked about—more about the war in Ukraine, but he would like to be of help. I said, "Before you help me, I want to end your war." So we had a good talk. I've known him a long time. I think he was ready to make a deal a while ago. I think some people made it difficult for him to make a deal. But we talked more about Ukraine.
Q. But which war do you think ends first?
The President. That's an interesting question. You know, coming from you, that's very interesting.
Which war would end first? I don't know. Maybe they're on a similar timetable. I think Ukraine—militarily, they're defeated. Okay? —you wouldn't know that by reading the fake news. But militarily—look, their navy—so they had 159 ships. Every ship is, right now, underwater.
Typically, that's pretty good.
What do you think, Jared? I mean——
Administrator Isaacman. I would agree.
The President. It's going to be hard for them to make a naval comeback.
Okay. Now they have an air force—every one of their planes has been shot down or has been decimated. They have missiles—about 82 percent are gone. And they have drones, and most of them are gone. Most of the factories are mostly gone.
And we have tremendous anti-drone equipment now, between lasers and that new very special machinegun that knocks them out of the air like flies. And we use bullets instead of million-dollar—[laughter]—you know, missiles to knock out a $30,000 drone.
So I would say Jared would tell me that, with everything you just heard, typically, we're in pretty good shape.
And, in addition, their economy is crashing. Their—as you know, their money, their—they call it their money. They don't have a name for it. Their money is valueless. They've got inflation that nobody's ever seen before.
Other than that, I think they're doing quite well.
If you read the New York Times, you would say—you'd say they're doing wonderfully, because it's fake news. Or if you watch CNN—I mean, you cover it all the time. You think they're doing well?
Do you think they're doing well, where they have no navy, no air force, no anti-aircraft apparatus? Other than what they may have put there. They may have brought in some light stuff during the cease-fire, and we know exactly where it is. So it 'will be knocked out within the first 15 minutes.
[At this point, several reporters began asking questions at once.] Yes. Go ahead, please.
Yes.
U.S. Supreme Court Ruling on Voting Rights Act Provisions/State Congressional Redistricting Efforts
Q. Mr. President. Thank you very much, Mr. President. I want to go back to the Supreme Court ruling on the Voting Rights Act. I know you said you haven't seen it in detail.
The President. When did it come out? Just now?
Q. No, it came out this morning. But basically, very much narrows the Voting Rights Act and——
The President. Was it considered a win for who?
Q. A win for Republicans, absolutely.
The President. I love it.
Q. But my question——
The President. This is a very good—we can end this news conference right now. I want to read it. Wow.
Q. My question for you, Mr. President, is that some Republican Governors have not responded in terms of what they're going to do. I guess, early voting, for example, in Louisiana starts——
The President. Republican Governors? What——
Q. Republican Governors.
The President. What about it?
Q. Early voting begins Saturday there, for instance. Should they redraw the map in the next couple of days?
The President. I would. I mean, it depends. I mean, some States don't need to redraw and some do. I mean, I know what—the concept of the ruling. I just haven't seen the result.
Yes, I would say—generally, I would think that they would want to do it. Some are greatly helped, and some, you know, it didn't make much difference.
Yes, I would say they would do that if they have time to do it. Yes, please.
Farm Bill Legislation/Democratic Party/Department of Homeland Security Appropriations/Illegal Immigration
Q. Thank you, Mr. President. I wanted to ask you: There's a lot of drama on the House floor today. Several bills were stalled, and a rule took 2 hours to pass today, and there's still some tension over the farm bill. Do you think that you need to get more involved legislatively on Capitol Hill?
The President. Well, we want the farm bill. The Democrats don't.
We want—security. Okay? We need security. We want security. The Democrats don't think we need security.
They actually do, but they have—they suffer greatly from Trump derangement syndrome, like at levels that nobody's ever seen. They're sick people. There's something wrong with them.
They don't want pay anybody for security—they don't like ICE. They don't like Border Patrol people. They don't like the people that keep us safe.
You know, when they ran this, they let 25 million people into our country, and many of those people were from prisons. They were from mental institutions, drug dealers, murderers. Eleven thousand eight hundred and eighty-eight murderers, half of whom committed more than one—they—more than one murder. They think that was fine.
I happen to like law enforcement. They essentially want to defund law enforcement. And I don't think the public's going to let them get away with it.
You know, we got it all approved in the "Great Big Beautiful Bill," and they want to renegotiate. We don't like that.
Yes.
North Atlantic Treaty Organization/Ukraine/Iran/King Charles III of the United Kingdom
Q. Mr. President—yesterday, Mr. President, the King's speech that he made to Congress—he spoke strongly, forcefully about the necessity for the—a strong NATO alliance. He also spoke about the necessity to continue to support Ukraine. Did his speech in any way change your thinking on either of those issues?
The President. Well, you have to understand, my thinking is, I think, exactly correct. But I was very disappointed with the fact that when we called on them to give us a little hand—we
didn't need it. I actually did it just to see whether or not they'd be there. When we called on NATO to give us a hand with Ukraine and, in particular, the most recent—you know, we asked them to do certain things on Ukraine, and we also wanted them to do things with Iran.
And on Ukraine, they're very much involved, but they didn't do things the way we would like to see it. You know, it's been going on for a long time.
And on Iran, they weren't there, as you know. You know it better than anybody. They weren't there.
The King is fantastic. We spent a lot of time together. We had a lot of talk. We talked about this also. And he loves his country, and he's a great King, and he's a great friend of mine. And I think if he were doing that—if that were up to him, he would have probably helped us with Iran. He would have done—he would have followed the suggestions we made with respect to Ukraine, because, you know, we have some disagreements on Ukraine and not having to do with NATO so much as European countries.
But no, he—you know, he's coming back tomorrow. We had an incredible evening last night, and he's leaving tomorrow. He's going to come back and see us before he leaves, and, you know—
But no, he—I think he's a phenomenal representative for his country. I think the people in the United Kingdom should be proud.
I loved his speech yesterday. I watched it. And I loved his speech last night.
I don't know about my speech. I thought my speech was okay too, but I thought he was—I think he's an unbelievable King. And by the way, an unbelievable Queen. They are a great couple.
[Several reporters spoke at once.]
Indictment of Former Federal Bureau of Investigation Director James B. Comey
Q. Mr. President, as of this morning—I don't—you—we were talking about how busy you were this morning. James Comey was in court. He self-surrendered. He's now been charged a second time, this time over a social media post with seashells that said "86 47." Do you really think that he was endangering your life or threatening your life with that post?
The President. Well, if anybody knows anything about crime, they know eighty-six—you know what eighty—that's a mob term for "kill him." You know? You ever see the movies? "Eighty-six him." The mobster says to one of his wonderful associates, "Eighty-six him." That means kill him. It's—I think of it as a mob term. I don't know. People think of it as something having to do with disappearing, but the mob uses that term to say—when they want to kill somebody, they say, "Eighty-six the son of a gun."
I'm trying to keep the language nice and clear. They don't use that term, "son of a gun." They use another term. But that's a mob term for "kill him."
Yes.
Q. Mr. President——
Q. But do you really think your life was in danger, because that's the argument?
The President. Probably. I don't know. You know, based on what I'm seeing out there, yes.
Q. I mean, it was seashells.
The President. They—the—people like Comey have created tremendous danger, I think, for politicians and others.
He—you know, Comey is a dirty cop. He's a very dirty cop. He cheated on the elections. He tried to help Hillary Clinton, as you know. He dismissed a lot of things that he should have proceeded with—and I wasn't involved, but he should have proceeded with. No, he's a dirty cop. He's a crooked man.
Yes.
United Kingdom/Relations With U.S.
Q. Mr. President, you just described there's been disagreement between the U.S. and Keir Starmer on support for Iran. Did your visit with the King smooth that over or create any more resolution on that?
The President. My visit with the King really was just—it was extraordinary. I mean, he's an extraordinary man. He's an extraordinary person. And yes, it helps it from the standpoint that—you know, when you like the King of a country so much, it probably helps your relationship with the Prime Minister.
But, you know, in that case, the Prime Minister—I said, "Do you want to send a little help?" He said, "No, we'll send it after you win the war." I said: "That's not good. That's not good."
What do you think of that, Jared, sending help after we win the war? I don't know. Some-—something that bothers me.
Administrator Isaacman. A little late, sir.
The President. We—[laughter]—I don't want to get you guys involved, but I can imagine what you're thinking.
[Several reporters spoke at once.] Yes, please.
Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC)/United Arab Emirates
Q. Mr. President, the United Arab Emirates, the U.A.E., they pulled out of OPEC.
The President. Yes. I——
Q. What do you think about that?
The President. I think it's great. I mean, I think it's great. Look, I know him very well—Mohamed—and very smart. And he probably—maybe he wants to go his own way. That's a good thing, I think, for—ultimately, it's a good thing for getting the price of gas down, getting oil down, getting everything down. They have it all. He's a great leader, actually. So, no, I'm okay.
They're having some problems in OPEC. [Several reporters spoke at once.]
Federal Reserve System/Interest Rates/Artificial Intelligence/Domestic Manufacturing Investment
Q. Mr. President, Kevin Warsh—Kevin Warsh passed a hurdle today: The Senate Banking Committee confirmed his nomination.
The President. Right. That's good.
Q. It will go to the Senate floor.
The President. That's good. We need somebody.
Q. He'll be on the Fed in mid-May. Is it your expectation that he can persuade the other Fed governors to lower interest rates? Because they——
The President. Well, we'll see. I mean, they should——
Q. ——haven't done so recently.
The President. ——because it's a good time to lower them. We're the most prime country anywhere in the world. We're, right now, having investments made in our country at a level that nobody's ever seen. No other country has ever seen it. Tens of billions of dollars are being invested. Factories, auto plants, AI, and—I mean, not just AI, because AI is new—we're leading China by a lot in AI, as you know. I'm letting them build their own electric plants. They're building them. Otherwise, you could never do it. It was a concept that I came up with. I'm very proud of it. And by the way, they're building electric plants that people in the utility industry have never seen before. They're saying, "Man, that's incredible."
So they're building these massive buildings that cost billions of dollars, and they're building their own electric plants, so they're not taking from a source or the old grid—you know, an old grid that wouldn't be able to do it.
No, we're leading with everything. But in the history of our beautiful world, there's never been a country that has so much money being invested in it as us.
And tremendous number of auto plants, by the way. The auto plants are coming out of Canada, Mexico, Japan, South Korea, Germany. They're all coming to the United States.
Q. How——
The President. And the reason is, I have a very smart tariff policy.
Q. Mr. President——
The President. You know, we got—we were taken advantage of for years. We were being ripped off by other countries for years, and those days are over.
Yes, please.
U.S. Naval Blockade of Sanctioned Commercial Transit Through the Strait of Hormuz/Iran
Q. Mr. President, regarding Iran, how long are you prepared to maintain the blockade? Could that go several more months?
The President. Well, the blockade is genius. Okay? The blockade has been 100 percent foolproof. It shows how good our Navy is, I can tell you that. Nobody is going to play games.
We have the greatest military in the world, and I built much of it during my first term, and we've been building it since. And the greatest anywhere in the world. Nobody even close. And—and you see that every-—whether it's Venezuela, which to-—and they have a good military in Venezuela, but it was over in 1 day. It was actually over in about 48 minutes.
Iran—the same thing. I mean, militarily, we've wiped them out. They have no military left. They're—it's all—the navy's at the bottom of the sea. The air force is never going to fly again. We've got an amazing military.
Now we—now they have to cry uncle. That's all they have to do: just say: "We give up. We give up." But their economy is really in trouble. So it's a dead economy.
[Several reporters spoke at once.]
U.S. Military Operations in Iran
Q. So, will Operation Epic Fury and the blockade get Iran to nuclear talks fast enough, or do you think another wave of strikes will be necessary?
The President. I don't know. It depends. We have talks—we're having talks with them now.
And we're not flying anymore with 18-hour flights every time we want to see a piece of paper. We're doing it telephonically, and it's very nice. I make a call, or I have my people make a call. And you know the answer in—I always like face to face. I—you know, I consider it better. But when you have to fly 18 hours every time you want to have a meeting, you—and you know what the meeting's all about, and you know they're going to give you a piece of paper that you don't like before you even leave, it's ridiculous.
They've come a long way. The question is whether or not they're going to go far enough. So, at this moment, there will never be a deal unless they agree that there will be no nuclear weapons.
[Several reporters spoke at once.] Yes. Go ahead, please.
National Aeronautics and Space Administration Headquarters/District of Columbia Public Safety/National Economy
Q. Mr. President, are you considering relocating NASA's headquarters out of DC? States like Florida, Texas, and Ohio have expressed interest.
The President. You're going to have to say it differently.
Q. Sorry. Are you considering relocating NASA's headquarters out of DC once the lease is up? States like Texas, Ohio, and Florida have expressed interest.
The President. Well, the best man to tell you that is the man standing right over here. You heard that question with those beautiful ears of yours?
Administrator Isaacman. Yes. [Laughter]
The President. He's got great hearing, you know? Super—he's got super hearing.
Administrator Isaacman. Trick of the trade, sir. [Laughter]
The President. What——
Administrator Isaacman. And I——
The President. What's the answer to that?
Administrator Isaacman. ——think the answer to that is, we're—we have—we have 10 amazing centers around the country that all kind of bubble up to contribute to the mission we're able to undertake, like Artemis II. I think in terms of the headquarters, we have a lot of people very interested in our mission, so being here in DC gives us the opportunity to kind of interact from all our stakeholders, make sure we make the right decisions for the nation.
The President. Yes, DC is an advantage, I guess, for you. He's got to go around. He's got to see some Senators, make sure they keep going. Right?
Administrator Isaacman. Yes, Mr. President.
The President. Yes, probably staying around is not so bad.
And importantly, Washington, DC, is now one of the safest cities in the country. When I came here a little more than a year ago, it was a very unsafe city. And now, maybe even more
importantly than that, we have the hottest country anywhere in the world, and you helped make it hot. You know, you—you helped make it hot.
When, a year and a half ago—and I say it a lot—the King of Saudi Arabia, but others also—the King of Saudi Arabia said, "Mr. President, a year and a half ago, a year ago, we thought you had a dead country. We thought the United States was a dead country, and now you have the hottest country anywhere in the world." And we do.
And believe it or not, I mean, when everyone in the world was watching that incredible performance by NASA—these incredible people behind me—where they get the bravery, I have no idea. But you're a big part of it. You really are.
We have the hottest country in the world. Thank you very much, everybody.
NOTE: The President spoke at 2:11 p.m. in the Oval Office at the White House. In his remarks, he referred to National Aeronautics and Space Administration Artemis II commander Reid Weisman, pilot Victor J. Glover, and mission specialist Christina H. Koch; White House Counsel David A. Warrington; Camilla of the United Kingdom; former Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, in her capacity as the 2016 Democratic Presidential nominee; Prime Minister Keir Starmer of the United Kingdom; President Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan of the United Arab Emirates; King Salman bin Abd al-Aziz Al Saud of Saudi Arabia; and National Aeronautics and Space Administration Artemis II crewmembers Reid Wiseman, commander, Victor J. Glover, pilot, and Christina H. Koch, mission specialist, and Canadian Space Agency astronaut Jeremy Hansen, mission specialist. A reporter referred to Kevin M. Warsh, the President's nominee to be Federal Reserve Chairman.
Categories: Addresses and Remarks : Artemis II astronauts, greeting with President; Interviews With the News Media : Exchanges with reporters, White House.
Locations: Washington, DC.
Names: Camilla, Queen; Charles III, King; Clinton, Hillary Rodham; Comey, James B.; Glover, Victor J.; Hansen, Jeremy; Isaacman, Jared; Koch, Christina H.; Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan; Putin, Vladimir Vladimirovich; Salman bin Abd al-Aziz Al Saud, King; Starmer, Keir; Warrington, David A.; Wiseman, Reid.
Subjects: Alien and extraterrestrial life, unidentified aerial phenomena (UAP), and unidentified flying objects (UFOs), release of Government files; Artemis II astronauts, greeting with President; Artificial intelligence and other emerging technologies; Department of Homeland Security, appropriations legislation; District of Columbia, law enforcement improvement efforts; Electricity capacity, expansion efforts; Farm bill legislation; Federal Reserve System; Illegal immigration; Interest rates; Iran, commercial transit through Strait of Hormuz; Iran, diplomatic engagement with U.S.; Iran, nuclear weapons development; Iran, U.S. military operations; Manufacturing industry, domestic investment; Moon exploration; National Aeronautics and Space Administration; News media, fairness and accuracy; North Atlantic Treaty Organization; Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC); Russia, conflict in Ukraine; Russia, President; Saudi Arabia, King; Senate confirmation process; State congressional redistricting efforts; U.S. military readiness, improvement efforts; U.S. Space Force; U.S. Supreme Court ruling on Voting Rights Act provisions; Ukraine, internation military aid; Ukraine, Russian invasion and airstrikes; United Arab Emirates, President; United Kingdom, defense relationship with U.S.; United Kingdom, King; United Kingdom, Prime Minister; United Kingdom, Queen; White House Counsel.
DCPD Number: DCPD202600290.