Administration of Donald J. Trump, 2026

Remarks Prior to a Meeting With President Emmanuel Macron of France and an Exchange With Reporters in Évian-les-Bains, France

June 15, 2026

President Trump. Hello, everybody.

President Macron. Hello, how are you?

Q. Hello.

President Macron. Bienvenue à tous.

Q. Maybe a handshake, Mr. President?

President Macron. Yes.

[At this point, President Trump and President Macron shook hands and posed for photographs.]

Merci beaucoup.

President Trump. So I want to congratulate the President. Last night, Ciryl Gane won the fight against a great fighter. Supposed to be unbeatable. And that was—Ciryl is from France. Did you watch the fight?

President Macron. Yes.

President Trump. That was——

President Macron. Not in direct, but I saw it this morning.

President Trump. That was a great fight. It was a great evening at the White House.

President Macron. We're very proud of Ciryl.

President Trump. Okay.

President Macron. Please.

[President Trump and President Macron took their seats.]

President Macron. Bienvenue au Président. I will say a few words in French——

President Trump. Yes. Sure.

President Macron. ——and she will——

[President Macron spoke in French; the simultaneous translation provided to President Trump was not audible. President Macron then continued in English as follows.]

I want to say—I mean, to commend President Trump for celebration yesterday and to welcome President Trump and Ministers and his team for being here in Évian for the G–7.

I think yesterday was signed a very important agreement: a peace deal with Iran. And it's a very important one because, first, it will fix the nuclear issue, and it's a very important matter for peace for the whole world.

And it will reopen Hormuz. It will provide peace in Lebanon. And so, we are ready to take our fair share of the burden and be part of the commitment of the international community in order to support this deal.

President Trump. Good.

President Macron. And we will discuss about that together and with colleagues later on. But it's a very important step towards peace but, as well, for global economy.

We will have the occasion to discuss about the war in Ukraine in order to reengage together and negotiate a good and solid peace and sustainable peace. And President Zelenskyy will be with us as well tomorrow.

And obviously, we will have the occasion to bring this G–7 to speak about a series of issues—from rare earth, critical minerals, trade, et cetera—where we have to build convergence amongst the G–7 members.

And it will be the occasion for us to celebrate the 250 years of independence for——

President Trump. Yes.

President Macron. ——for the U.S.

And Versailles is a good place because this is where the King and his Minister of Foreign Affairs at the time did support the U.S. during—[inaudible]——

President Trump. That's right.

President Macron. ——but as well prepared what we called the Paris Treaty in 1783, which was on the final point——

President Trump. That's right.

President Macron. ——of this war.

So it's a great honor and a great pleasure to have you, Mr. President, in Évian and Paris.

President Trump. Thank you. Thank you.

So, Emmanuel has been a special friend of mine. We've had a fantastic relationship. We've worked on many deals together.

I'm very happy to say very—well, it's signed. The deal's all signed. And the Strait is already partially opened. As you know, they're doing a little hunting for a couple of mines that they've already found, but it's essentially—ships are starting to go out now. On Friday, it will be completely opened.

We got along very well with Iran. It's a different set of leaders. As you know, the first set is gone; the second set is gone. And we found the third set to be very smart. Strong. Very smart. But we ended up making a deal.

I felt badly that we had to go back on the attack for 2 nights, and I thought a third, but we made it before that happened. But I think a lot of great things are going to happen in the Middle East right now.

And very importantly, the oil is plummeting down, and the stock market is shooting up like a rocket today—like, record kind of numbers. And the oil has taken its biggest plunge. And we're into the low numbers. Not quite back yet, Kevin, to the extent, but we're getting close to the numbers we were before it all started.

And the main thing is that Iran will not have a nuclear weapon. They fully agreed to that, with strong policing powers. And they won't have a nuclear weapon, which is what it was all about, because they probably would have used it if they had it.

So we had two big moments. When they terminated the JCPOA—that was the Obama deal—the Barack Hussein Obama deal. And when I terminated that, it was very important, because it was a road to a nuclear weapon.

It was a horrible deal for the United States. It was a deal where billions of dollars was given to Iran. It was a deal where $1.7 billion in cash was put on a Boeing seven—well, not a seven—757 I guess, right? But it was put on a big, beautiful Boeing 757. They needed a Boeing 747, to be honest with you, because it was a lot of cash. One point seven billion was taken out of the banks and given to Iran. And, on top of that, tens of billions of dollars was paid. So they tried to bribe them to make a deal, and that didn't work. It never works.

And we've done a great job. And hopefully, it's going to be a good relationship and we're going to get along. And if we don't, we go back to where we started, but I don't think that's going to be necessary.

The Iran deal that we made is going to bring a lot of success to the world, because the oil was really clogged up there for a while. He would call me on occasion, say: "Come on, please. Let's go. The oil prices". But the oil is coming way down. So I'm very honored by it. I want to thank you for your help. You've always been a help. And it's an honor to be with you.

We had a very good conversation yesterday with President Zelenskyy and President Putin. And I see, maybe, we can do something there. I really do. I think they're both open to it. So, you know, now that this is finished, we're going to be focusing on that, see if we can get that one done.

Twenty-five thousand people a month are dying, mostly soldiers. And that shouldn't happen.

But I had two very good conversations yesterday. We'll be talking about it.

And we had a really exciting—I think, maybe, one of the most incredible evenings in the history of the White House. We had an evening last night with the fighters. And I was very happy. I called last night—very late last night to congratulate you because, in the heavyweight division, a French fighter won. And I don't know, is that maybe more important than the World Cup? To some people, it might be, right? [Laughter] That's—to some people, it might be.

You have a good team in the World Cup.

President Macron. Yes.

President Trump. Very good team. But you have good fighters too. And you're a great country. And it's an honor to be with you. Thank you very much.

Memorandum of Understanding on the Cessation of Hostilities Between the U.S. and Iran

Q. Hey——

President Macron. Thank you.

Q. Hey, sir. Are you going to try to attend the signing ceremony on Friday?

President Trump. Well, it depends. J.D.'s coming in for it. He was originally going to do it. I'll probably be gone by then. We're having dinner in a day and a half, right? We're going to be staying quite late. So I may be involved. I may not. But J.D. was coming in for that specifically.

Q. Thank you.

Text of the Memorandum of Understanding on the Cessation of Hostilities Between the

U.S. and Iran/Commercial Transit Through the Strait of Hormuz

Q. Mr. President, when will the text of the MOU be released?

President Trump. I think pretty soon. I would say—I mean, I want it to be released, because it's a very powerful document. It's not like the Obama document, which was just a terrible document. This is a very powerful document, and I want it to be released. So, probably pretty soon. I would say after—sometime after Friday.

Because the Strait opens complete—it's open now, but it opens completely. We'll have all the mines knocked out, or for the most part. We have a lot of lanes right now already.

Q. Mr. President——

President Trump. So I think sometime—I think sometime in the very near future, yes.

Iran/U.S. Sanctions

Q. Mr. President, does this—does the deal involve any sanctions relief for Iran? When would that go into effect?

President Trump. No, it doesn't. Well, they have to—it's really a behavioral thing. If they do what they're supposed to do, that starts taking effect.

[A reporter asked a question in French; no translation was provided to the audience, but an interpreter translated the question for President Trump. The reporter continued in English as follows.]

Iran/International Cooperation

Q. Mr. President, what do you expect from France and European countries——

President Trump. Well, I would love them to do that.

Q. ——about——

President Trump. I don't think we're going to need much help, because we have an agreement where it's going to be open. And it's toll-free. We had a little argument on that. It's toll-free.

So I don't think we're going to need much help, but I don't think it's a bad idea to have a ship or two up here from a few countries. You'd be a great country to do it, because you never know what happens. But I think it's going to be open, and I think it's going to be free sailing.

We do want to see if we can straighten out the Lebanon—the Lebanon thing, because it just seems to just never end. And that's a mini version of what we were doing. But—and it should not be tough. It should not be tough.

So Hizballah—we have to have a little talk with them.

[Several reporters began asking questions at once. President Macron then spoke in French; no translation was provided to the audience, but an interpreter translated his remarks for President Trump.]

President Trump. That's good.

[A reporter asked a question in French, and President Macron made remarks; no translation was provided.]

President Macron. Merci beaucoup. [Several reporters spoke at once.]

President Trump. Thank you. Thank you very much.

President Macron. Thank you.

NOTE: The President spoke at 6:03 p.m. at the Hôtel Royal Evian Resort. In his remarks, he referred to mixed martial artist Ciryl Gane, who defeated mixed martial artist Alex Pereira at the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) Freedom 250 event at the White House on June 14; National Economic Council Director Kevin A. Hassett; President Volodymyr Zelenskyy of Ukraine; President Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin of Russia; and Vice President James D. "J.D." Vance.

Categories: Interviews With the News Media : Exchanges with reporters, Évian-les-Bains, France; Meetings With Foreign Leaders and International Officials : France, President Macron.

Locations: Évian-les-Bains, France.

Names: Gane, Ciryl; Hassett, Kevin A.; Macron, Emmanuel; Obama, Barack; Pereira, Alex; Putin, Vladimir Vladimirovich; Vance, James D. "J.D."; Zelenskyy, Volodymyr.

Subjects: Economic Council, National; Federation Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) World Cup; France, President; France, President Trump's visit; Iran, cease-fire agreement with U.S.; Iran, nuclear weapons program; Iran, restriction of commercial transit through Strait of Hormuz; Iran, U.S. military operations; Israel, military operations in Lebanon; Lebanon, Israeli military operations; Oil markets and prices; Russia, conflict in Ukraine; Russia, President; Stock market; Ukraine, President; Ukraine, Russian invasion and airstrikes; Ultimate Fighting Championship; Vice President.

DCPD Number: DCPD202600404.