Administration of Donald J. Trump, 2026
July 1, 2026
The President. Okay. So this will be the first flight of what I think is maybe the greatest commercial plane ever built. I said to Boeing, "What's the best one?" They said, "This is the best plane ever built." And you're going to have the privilege of flying it, and I have a privilege also of flying it. But this is the first flight.
We're going to the Teddy Roosevelt Presidential Library opening, and that will be very good. That will be a lot of fun.
But I think, you know, to be honest with you, I'm excited about the first flight. It's something nobody's ever seen anything like it. Even you people with all your experience and all of your talent, you will never see anything like this.
So they just completed it. They made it appropriate for a President. That means the security and all of the different bells and whistles they put on. Very complex stuff. But it's really quite something, and this is a plane that the United States of America should have.
Our Air Force One was 35, 36 years old, and it would be parked next to the new ones like this, and it really didn't look appropriate for our country. So we're very proud of this. The country is very proud of it.
And you can do two things: You can low-key it or you can show it, and I think the country should be very proud of it. And it's beautiful, and you'll see that in a little while when you board.
As far as things are going, the denuclearization of Iran is moving along well. They've had very good meetings, and we'll see. We hit them very hard for 3 nights, as you know, but we're getting along very well. So, I call it the denuclearization, and it's all taking place. It's all going well.
The stock market is setting records virtually every day. The oil price is way down. We're down at $68. I see it hit $68 today. That's lower than when I started the—I guess you could call it an attack on Iran so that they never have a nuclear weapon. So the oil price is now lower. The retail prices, the gasoline is coming down rapidly.
And if you have any questions, let's go.
Newly Refurbished Presidential Aircraft
Q. Mr. President, what's your favorite upgrade to the new plane? And how much did it cost American taxpayers to upgrade the plane for security?
The President. Well, it cost very little relative to what it would cost if we did it a different
way.
So this was a gift from a country that's treated us very well, and they're an ally of us over in
the Middle East: Qatar. And I went to Boeing; I said, "Who has the best one?" They said, "Qatar." There's no—there's never been a plane like it. Frankly, we couldn't build a plane like this because we wouldn't be willing to spend the kind of money necessary. They spent top dollar.
So the head of Boeing said this is considered the best 747 they've ever built. And I went to Qatar. I said, "I'd like to use it for a period of time," because the other ones, as you know, are under construction. They'll be here in 2 years. And—because, you know, the plane is 35 years old.
So I said "I'd like to use it." And the Amir—Tamim, who's a great gentleman—he said: "No, no. I'd like to make a contribution to the country."
So it was very nice. And we were able to do it in about 5 months—you know, bring it up to the Presidential standard, meaning security-wise.
And you're going to get—you're going to get a kick out of—there's just nothing like it.
The President's Business Income/Stock Market
Q. And, Mr. President, your financial disclosure shows that you had a very lucrative year last year. What message does this send to average Americans, especially those——
The President. Well, I——
Q. ——who may be struggling right now financially?
The President. You know, I don't get involved in my personal. We have funds that run my money. And—
Q. But you are benefiting. I mean——
The President. Well, I've made a lot of money——
Q. ——we're talking hundreds of millions of dollars.
The President. ——before I became President.
And they invest my money. And I don't talk to them. I never—I don't even speak to them. So I have many people. I don't know what they call it—"closed accounts" or something. You put your money in, and that's it. I don't talk to them. They're big institutions, and they run it.
But yes, I've had a great career. In business, I've had a great career.
Q. Concerns about conflict of interest.
The President. I don't know if I've——
Q. What do you say to critics?
The President. ——had a better career in politics or business, but I had a great career in business.
And you know, you saw the cash, and you report the different things. And what they do is—so, we gave it—I think it's called a "blind account."
But they—basically, they take it. And I—purposely, I never speak to any of the people that run the money. But they're at big institutions, and they invest in whatever they invest in. I don't know.
Q. But the critics say you're profiting off the Presidency, Mr. President.
The President. Well, you know why I'm profiting? Because the stock market's going up.
Everybody's profiting. If you have a—you have a 401(k)? How's your 401(k) done? It's about—up 85 percent. "Thank you, President Trump."
So we're all profiting. I'm profiting because I have a lot of money and a lot of cash. And we—I give it to institutions. I don't know if they know what they're doing or not, but they buy a vast array of things.
U.S. Military Operations in Iran/National Economy/Semiconductor Manufacturing
Q. President Trump, you've been meeting with Secretary Hegseth and General Caine about potentially returning to an all-out war with Iran. Does this mean you've been unhappy with Iran's adherence to the MOU?
The President. Well, I think they've come a long way. We hit them very hard last week. I think they're fine. I think we're going to—you know, it's the denuclearization of Iran. It's very simple. And Iran cannot have a nuclear weapon. Otherwise, all of this stuff that we look at, all of these things that we do—the country's never had activity like it's got right now. So, we're building more factories and car plants and other things. We went for years without ever building one car plant. Now, we're building many car plants. We're building AI. We're building—we're building all over the country.
Nineteen-point-one trillion dollars being invested. The record was, like, 2, and we've got 19.1, and it's going to continue.
And when those buildings open, you're going to see something like the country's never seen before. That's why the stock market's going up every day. That's why your 401(k)—because everybody benefits. When the stock market goes up, everybody benefits. More jobs. More everything.
And we're creating more jobs. We have more people working today than have ever worked in the history of our country. It's great, and that's before these places open. They'll be opening up over the next year.
And we have them coming into Taiwan. We have—from Taiwan, we have more chipmakers and the biggest—the biggest company in the world, actually—the chipmaker. But they're coming in, they're building in Arizona, and they just announced they're going to double the size. We could have 50 percent of the chip market by the time I leave office.
You know what we had now? Nothing. And then I got as a gift—another gift—I said to Intel, "Give the United States of"—they needed something. They needed some help—the chipmaker. I said: "Give the United States of America—I'll do it for you, but give the United States of America 10 percent of your company." He said, "You have a deal." He said it so fast—I said, "I should have asked for more." But he said, "You have a deal," and that stake is now worth
$80 billion. I made $80 billion for the country in 8 months. Does anybody talk about it? No.
Have a good time. Have a good flight. Enjoy the plane.
Declassification/Office of National Intelligence
Q. Mr. President, real quick. Quick question. Got DNI Pulte over there as the new director.
The President. Yes.
Q. We also know you have the task force set up on declassification, maybe looking—talking about international——
The President. Yes.
Q. ——maybe looking at some declassification.
The President. We are.
Q. Are you able to give us an update on that?
The President. We're—declassify almost everything.
Q. What about—international interference?
The President. And, you know, by the way, we have Jay Clayton is going in. You know, Bill Pulte is a very talented guy, but he's just there temporarily until Jay Clayton.
Q. Right.
The President. And Jay Clayton is going through the process, and Jay Clayton—highly respected, and so is Bill Pulte. But Bill is there just for a fairly short period of time.
But while he's there, I said, "You can declassify whatever you want."
Q. Do you think we're going to get something soon on maybe 2020—[inaudible]
The President. I told him he could do it as fast—you got to ask him.
Q. All right.
The President. But I think—he's a friend of yours. I think that——
Q. [Inaudible]
The President. I think that Bill will declassify. Yes. I told him, "You can declassify whatever you want."
So Bill's there just, you know, for maybe a month or 2 months or something, and Jay is going through the process. He's got a hearing in 2 weeks. Highly respected man, Jay Clayton.
Okay?
Q. Thank you.
The President. Thank you.
Did you get any more Pulitzer Prizes?
Q. Not yet.
The President. You know what a Pulitzer Prize? A picture of the plane. Margo, are you taking care of everybody?
White House Communications Adviser Margo Martin. Of course.
The President. How's—Margo? Okay?
Q. She's amazing.
The President. Thank you, everybody.
NOTE: The President spoke at 8:30 a.m. on the tarmac prior to boarding Air Force One en route to Bismarck, ND. In his remarks, he referred to Kelly Ortberg, president and chief executive officer, the Boeing Co.; Lip-Bu Tan, chief executive officer, Intel Corp.; Walter J. "Jay" Clayton III, U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York, and the President's nominee to be Director of National Intelligence; and Federal Housing Finance Agency Director William J. Pulte, in his capacity as Acting Director of National Intelligence.
Categories: Interviews With the News Media : Exchanges with reporters, Joint Base Andrews, MD.
Locations: Joint Base Andrews, MD.
Names: Clayton, Walter J. "Jay," III; Martin, Margo; Ortberg, Kelly; Pulte, William J.; Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, Amir; Tan, Lip-Bu.
Subjects: Artificial intelligence and other emerging technologies; Automobile industry, strengthening efforts; Economic improvement; Iran, nuclear weapons development; Iran, U.S. military operations; Job creation and growth; Maryland, Joint Base Andrews; Maryland, President's visit; News media, Presidential interviews; North Dakota, Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Library in Medora; Nuclear disarmament, international efforts; Office of National Intelligence; Oil markets and prices; President's business income, conflict-of-interest concerns; Qatar, Amir; Qatar, gift of Boeing 747 to President Trump; Qatar, relations with U.S.; Semiconductor manufacturing; Stock market; U.S. Armed Forces, funding and equipment, improvement efforts; White House Communications Adviser.
DCPD Number: DCPD202600437.