Administration of Donald J. Trump, 2026
September 28, 2026
The President. Well, thank you very much. It's great to be with you. We've had some big things happen over the last couple of days, and we'll talk about them.
But before I do that, I want to talk about something extremely, extremely important. I'm delighted to welcome to the White House the founder and chairman of the Essar Group, Ravi Ruia, as well as the chairman of—Ray Ruia, and President/CEO Joe Broking to share some of the really exciting news. We have some unbelievable news.
And this is a company known as Mesabi, which is one of the biggest in the world. It's a great company, and they're going to make a big investment in a place called Iowa. Right? I love Iowa. I win Iowa every time.
Today we're thrilled to announce that Mesabi Metallics will be building the largest steel plant in American history in the great state of Iowa. It's the largest plant—one of the largest plants in the world, but it's the largest plant in America by far.
We're also pleased to be joined by Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick; Secretary of Energy Chris Wright; Senator Joni Ernst, who's done a wonderful job——
Senator Joni K. Ernst. Thank you.
The President. And I'm going to miss you, Joni. I can't believe you're leaving.
Sen. Ernst. Thank you so much, Mr. President.
The President. But you are, right? Are you?
Sen. Ernst. I am.
The President. Are you sure? You're not changing your mind? Okay. [Laughter]
Sen. Ernst. Thank you, Mr. President. [Laughter]
The President. ——Governor Kim Reynolds; Representatives Mariannette Miller-Meeks and Ashley Hinson—and I saw some good polls just recently that you're doing well, Ashley.
Representative Ashley E. Hinson. Yes, sir. We're going to win.
The President. I saw that. Looks like you're doing well. You should do well—Iowa Attorney General Brenna Bird, who's been with me right from the beginning; and Export-Import Bank Chairman John Jovanovic, who is a fantastic young man, actually.
Once completed, Mesabi Metallics' new steel plant will produce 10 million tons of steel per year, using iron ore from the company's Minnesota mine. And Minnesota has—I will tell you, they maybe have a lousy Governor, but they have great iron ore. [Laughter] They have one of the worst governors in history—a real stupid guy—but they do have good iron ore, which is more important, I guess.
But it's the first new iron ore mine in the United States in more than 50 years with the highest quality ore.
In other words, this steel will be mined, melted, and made right here in the U.S.A., which is something very unusual.
The project is expected to create up to 6,000 new construction jobs, nearly 2,000 manufacturing and mining jobs, and add another $95 billion to the U.S. economy, which is the number-one economy in the world by far. We have the best economy we've ever had. We're building 21 trillion dollars' worth of plants and other—now I think we can add this to it. I'm not even including this.
But this is a tremendous investment, and it's going to be over the next 10 years. Using advanced steelmaking technology, the plant will produce some of the highest quality, most affordable steel anywhere in the world. You're going to be making it here and using it here and also shipping it outside and do very well.
This announcement is only possible because of the pro-American policies of the Trump administration.
Under Sleepy Joe Biden—have you heard of him?—steel production declined significantly, and nearly 200,000 manufacturing jobs were lost in the year before I took office. And they were leaving—they were losing these jobs at record numbers.
But soon after my Inauguration, I imposed powerful 50-percent tariffs on all foreign steel. And now our steel industry is roaring back to life. Everyone is building their plant here because they don't want to pay tariffs.
It's really not that complicated. A lot of people say they don't understand it, but they do.
They just don't like to give us credit.
Because of tariffs, we are taking in hundreds of billions of dollars of profits. It's one of the reasons I can offer—if Republicans win the House and the Senate—$5,000 to every adult. And we can do it and the Democrats can't, because the Democrats don't have any income and they're going to drive us in a depression. They won't have any money. But we have the exact opposite.
We've reduced imports of foreign steel by millions of tons. And for the first time in 26 years, the United States has surpassed Japan in steel production. Think of it. We have surpassed Japan. They're very good at what they do too.
We currently have $47 billion in projects announced or underway in the steel sector alone. More than 4 million tons of new crude steelmaking capacity is expected to become operational in less than 2 years, substantially. We've created nearly 60,000 new manufacturing jobs this year alone, many of them in the steel industry. And today we are adding even more, the largest American steel plant of all time.
So, 2 years ago, our country was dead. And now we have the hottest country anywhere in the world, and it's not even close.
Ravi, Ray, and Joe, I want to thank you very much for this tremendous investment. I'd now like to now invite the Chairman, Jovanovic, to say a few words, followed by
Secretary Lutnick, Secretary Wright, the team from Mesabi—I want to really hear from them. Perhaps I want to hear from them first, if that's all right. We'll let them go first. He's my friend—Governor Reynolds, Senator Ernst, and then Representatives Mariannette Miller-Meeks and Ashley Hinson.
And we'll go a little bit quickly, because that's a lot of people. [Laughter] That's a lot of people.
So, Mr. Chairman, if you would, please.
Export-Import Bank of the U.S. President and Chairman John Jovanovic. Yes, sir. Thank you, Mr. President.
So what we're really talking about today is America's economic security. And it's—Mr.
President, it's your plan in action. But it all starts mining more in America.
The mine you mentioned is the first mine opened in America in 50-plus years focused on iron ore. EXIM financed it, but most importantly, it's found on the Iron Range in America, which for 145 years has been the most prolific iron ore deposit in the world. It helped build America. It helped win two world wars. You're helping resurrect it, Mr. President, with the first iron ore mine. That is why this plant is possible: because we are creating one American supply chain.
And what you see again here today, Mr. President, is private capital flowing in to rebuild America and to build America's future so we can assure that the warfighter of tomorrow in America is always well-equipped and that everyday Americans have what they need when they need it most. And this is what it's going to take to continue to deliver the American dream, Mr. President, for another 250 years.
So thank you.
The President. And how is the Governor treating you? Because I freed up the iron ore, and it—I said I absolutely won the election, but they wouldn't—they cheat like hell.
But how is the Governor treating you? Because I freed it up and then they closed it, and the people were devastated, because it's—it is the finest iron ore in the world, they say.
So how is the Governor and these other people that don't really—don't—I mean, it's one of the worst run places I've ever seen. How are they doing?
Chairman Jovanovic. Yes, Mr. President, we were there only 10 days ago, actually, to initiate the mine. We set off 1.3 million pounds of explosives that put it into operation, and that will be the iron ore that feeds this plant and that makes steel in America, and——
The President. And we can supersede the State, right?
Secretary of Commerce Howard W. Lutnick. Yes.
Chairman Jovanovic. We're rock and rolling.
The President. If we can supersede the State, it's great. Otherwise, the state will never be good. They're very—they're really troubled people.
Thank you very much. Great job you're doing too, by the way.
Chairman Jovanovic. Thank you, Mr. President.
The President. Secretary Lutnick, please.
Secretary Lutnick. Okay. So these are your 232 tariffs—the steel tariffs—at work. Without those tariffs, this mine doesn't get built and this steel plant does not get built.
Two-and-a-half billion-dollar iron ore mine that does iron ore pellets, right? And where do we get those pellets from now? We get them primarily from Brazil. So we are beholden to Brazil to build our steel in America because the input is coming from outside of the country.
So now we are unleashing the Iron Range in Minnesota, which is the greatest—as the Chairman said, the greatest set of iron in the world is right here in America. We're going to—these gentlemen to my right from Essar, they're doing a fantastic job. Two and a half billion dollars for the mine.
And then you go right down the Mississippi to Iowa, right?
Rep. Hinson. That's right.
Secretary Lutnick. ——where they're going to build a $15 billion integrated steel plant, which will create steel at the same price they make it and import it from China. This is competitive.
If you do it all here and you don't ship it from around the world and you don't buy it from other people—this is exactly your plan. This is exactly why you're doing it, because you're driving steel to America. The gentlemen to our right from Essar are fantastic. This is great for Iowa. It's great for Minnesota.
This is your plan: living it out in America, building a $17½ billion investment, bringing steel, which protects our national security home to America. Well done.
The President. Thank you very much. And we're also doing a tremendous aluminum plant in Oklahoma, one of my favorite places in the whole world. And that's going to be unbelievable. It'll be the biggest—I think the biggest in the world, and that's going to be very exciting.
Secretary Wright, please.
Secretary of Energy Christopher A. Wright. So this is the Trump reindustrialization of America hitting the ground at serious scale.
At the end of World War II, the United States produced 60 percent of global steel. We were the dominant economic power and military power in the world, and that means you're a massive steel producer.
We've gone decades in the wrong direction. Shortsighted political leadership, overblown environmental concerns that just said, "Make it somewhere else. Don't make it in America." President Trump got elected to reindustrialize our country, bring that jobs opportunity and national security back to our country.
You've heard about the mine in Minnesota. That's fantastic. Even bigger is: Where is that iron ore going to be turned into American steel? In Iowa. In southeastern Iowa.
Why? Because Iowa has tremendous, hard-working people; great leaders that believe in their State and believe in high-paying jobs for everyone in the State of Iowa. And then they meet up together with some of the best entrepreneurs in the world, on planet Earth—just to my right, right here, from Essar—who have many businesses around the world, and that leads to a giant investment to reindustrialize America, a win for American national security, and a massive economic win and vote of confidence in the fabulous state of Iowa.
The President. You are doing a great job. Thank you very much. And how are you doing in Venezuela, by the way?
Secretary Wright. Progress. Every day, progress.
The President. There's never been anything like it. That's a tremendous thing that's happening.
Mesabi Metallics, the leaders are here. The owner is here.
Mesabi Metallics Executive Board Chairman Rewant "Ray" Ruia. Thank you, Mr. President.
The President. One of the richest men in the world, I'll say. [Laughter] He won't say it, but—but I will tell you, he's unbelievable, and his son.
And, please.
Rewant Ruia. Thank you, Mr. President, for bringing back the importance of building things in America. While I was born in India, I went to high school in New York, college in Boston, and
did my MBA in California. I have spent half my life here, so announcing this investment today is a great honor and a true homecoming for me.
My family and I spend a lot of time in Minnesota, where we are investing $3 billion to build the first new mine in America in 50 years. We will be producing the Patriot Pellet very soon, which will be amongst the highest quality iron ore pellets in the world.
With the new steel complex in Iowa, we will complete the fully integrated American supply chain from mine to melt. American ore, carried on American railroads to an American steel plant powered by American energy, built and operated by an incredibly hard-working and talented American workforce.
Mr. President, this plant will use the latest technology and will compete head-to-head with any steel plant in the world on size, quality, and on cost. This project writes the next chapter for our company and our family, and it is your policy and your leaderships, Mr. President, that have made this possible.
Thank you, sir.
The President. So how did your handsome son do? Don't try and compete with him. [Laughter] You're not going to be successful if you want to—[laughter].
Go ahead.
What a great family. What a good job you did.
Rewant Ruia. Thank you, sir.
The President. Thank you very much. Yes, please.
Essar Group Cofounder and Vice Chairman Ravi Ruia. Mr. President, Governor Reynolds, the entire Iowa delegation, Secretary Lutnick, Secretary Wright, and Chairman Jovanovic, my brother Shashi and I founded Essar many decades ago. We are a family business, and, above all, we are builders.
We have built world-class steel plants, oil refineries, ports, power plants, and various other assets in India and overseas.
Mr. President, we have now chosen to build our next major chapter here in America. We have the expertise of building projects like the proposed steel plant in Iowa, and we look forward to complement all the excellent knowledge that already exists within the American steel industry with our own expertise.
I would like to acknowledge the support of your administration, which has been highly engaged and proactive.
I would like to thank Governor Reynolds as well as the Iowa delegation for making us feel welcome in Iowa and for the care, for the benefit of all Iowans as they support this mega investment.
Thank you, Mr. President, for your leadership and your confidence in Essar and the Ruia family. Thank you again, sir, for standing behind American investment and American industry, and for making this possible.
Thank you, sir.
The President. Thank you. Great job.
And what do you think the total cost will be—of your investment will be?
Ravi Ruia. About $18 billion.
The President. Eighteen billion?
Ravi Ruia. Eighteen billion dollars.
The President. I heard 20. That means you're—[laughter]—he's pulling it back. [Laughter] No, you got a good price.
So it's $18 billion at this point?
Ravi Ruia. [Inaudible]
The President. That's fantastic—who could—who could think of such a thing. It's so fantastic. And these are the highest-quality people you'll ever meet. It's great.
Kim Reynolds, please.
Governor Kimberly K. Reynolds of Iowa. Well, first of all, Mr. President, I want to say thank you to you. Your commitment to bringing manufacturing back to the States and really restoring American industrial dominance is the reason that this is happening. This would not be happening without your leadership. So a heartfelt thank-you——
The President. Thank you.
Gov. Reynolds. ——for what you're doing for this country.
And I think it underscores—you know, COVID underscores how important this is. We saw what happened during COVID and the opportunities that exist—that exist because of the—the leadership that you put in place. So, thank you so much for that. We really appreciate it.
I also want to just say a heartfelt thank you to Ravi, Ray, and Joe. It has been incredible synergy in the State of Iowa working on this project. Both tough negotiations took place, but the mindset was always to get to where we are at today, and we could not be prouder than being the future home of the largest steel investment in this country.
The President. That's right.
Gov. Reynolds. And the impact that will have is just undeniable.
This is a transformational opportunity not only for our country but for Iowa and, really, for American families. It reduces our dependence on our foreign supply chain, strengthens our national security, and, most importantly, as the Governor for Iowa, these are tremendous high-paying jobs with incredible benefits, increased salaries, and opportunities for local businesses and community development.
And also, we're standing up Source Iowa at the end of this week, so we want to make sure that Iowa businesses that are located in the state have the opportunity to partner with Mesabi Metallics.
So I can't even express the gratitude and the excitement of Iowans. And really, what this does is it changes the economic trajectory for this reason—region. It's one of the most depressed regions of Iowa—but not only for Iowa, but for the whole Midwest. The over-the-fence supply chain that will come to this area because of this investment is second to none.
So thank you for your leadership, again, and for helping make this possible. We're very grateful.
The President. And you'll never have higher quality people than these people. These people are, I mean, really amazing.
And I don't know. Let me ask you: So can they use a little ethanol to fuel them? [Laughter]
State Attorney General Brenna Bird of Iowa. Good idea.
Gov. Reynolds. Well, I was waiting—[laughter]—I was waiting for an opportunity to talk about E15 year-round.
But you know what? The infrastructure updates are also huge. This is an area that's missed out on a lot of——
The President. Yes.
Gov. Reynolds. ——projects over the last 5 years, because——
The President. Great people, though.
Gov. Reynolds. —–we didn't have the capacity of natural gas. And this actually brings additional capacity for natural gas power, rail, and roads to a State that's ready to lean in and help you bring back industrial dominance, sir. Yes.
The President. But you do—you have great ethanol. And——
Gov. Reynolds. Yeah.
The President. ——that's probably going to play a——
Gov. Reynolds. Yes.
The President. ——very big role.
Gov. Reynolds. Thank you.
The President. Joni, please.
Sen. Ernst. Thank you, Mr. President.
Okay, folks, this is one of the greatest American muscle flexes—[laughter]—that you are going to see in a long time. I am so excited about this project.
It would not be possible, Mr. President, if you had not set the stage with your policies and economic development and using resources right here in our homeland.
So I want to thank the entire Trump administration team. I want to thank Essar. Thank you all so much for choosing Iowa to produce your steel. We're excited about it.
We are looking for ways for America to refine, to mine, to grow, and to manufacture, and all of that is happening right there in Southeast Iowa. We are so proud to be home to your new plant.
And it's all because of you, Mr. President. Thank you.
The President. Well, thank you very much. And you have been my friend for a long time.
Sen. Ernst. Thank you.
The President. And I appreciate it.
And a young lady is going to be, hopefully, elected to the Senate. And she's outstanding.
One of the top anywhere in the country. They talk about her all the time. They all respect Ashley Hinson.
Rep. Hinson. Thank you.
The President. And they respect her like, really, maybe nobody else. And I think—I hear you're doing well. I hope you're doing well. You're doing——
Rep. Hinson. Yes, sir. Well, thank you so much.
The President. You're doing a fantastic job.
Rep. Hinson. We're working hard and appreciate your agenda.
And as Joni and Kim just said, you know, we appreciate this investment in American manufacturing because Iowa does a lot of things really, really well. We feed and fuel the world, and now we're going to continue to be a part of the American manufacturing story.
And with 1,700 jobs, I just think about the countless opportunities for Iowa families and what this means for them. It is a game changer for our State and, frankly, for the country.
And if you look at the jobs numbers that you've been posting every single month, they're not government growth jobs, they're private sector jobs. And that is what is so critical for our economy to move our economy forward.
The "Working Families Tax Cuts"—the certainty that we provided families—I think we should make those all permanent because people love them and we need to make sure that they can rely on those going forward, Mr. President.
So thank you for what you and the entire team did to solidify this investment in American greatness and American manufacturing.
The President. Well—and I'm going to come to Iowa. I got more votes than anybody in history during the last election. All three. I went up, up, up. And I think I'm more popular now than I was then, which is a year and a half ago.
I will say that we're going to do a great rally, and we'll all be there together. We have to get you all elected. So we're going to do a great job.
Rep. Hinson. We'll save you a good Iowa porkchop, sir. [Laughter]
The President. Yes? That's part of the reason I want to go.
Rep. Hinson. Yes.
The President. So, Mariannette, please say a few words.
Representative Mariannette Miller-Meeks. Mr. President, thank you so much. Want to thank your leadership and your policies. This announcement would not happen today without that leadership and those policies being in place.
Southeast Iowa, my district, has long had jobs leave, go overseas. It's heartbreaking when you're in those communities day after day. So, to see the largest steel mill in America being built in Iowa and in Southeast Iowa; 1,700 permanent jobs, 6,000 construction jobs; average salary of
$49—these are families that can make over $100,000. And so, it's just transformational in this area.
And, also, the natural gas pipeline that's going to come——
The President. Yeah.
Rep. Miller-Meeks. We've lost business opportunities there because we couldn't deliver the energy that we needed. So we're going to mine it in America, we're going to mill it in America, and we're going to make it in America.
Thank you, Mr. President.
The President. Thank you, Mariannette. Appreciate it.
Gov. Reynolds. I'm ready to start——
The President. Attorney General, please.
Gov. Reynolds. ——the cheer here. [Laughter]
Secretary Wright. Go Iowa.
Attorney General Bird. Well, I would just say that—Mr. President, thank you for your leadership bringing American steel drops back to America and to the heart of the heartland in Iowa. These are good-paying, family-supporting steelworker jobs.
And so proud as an Iowan that you chose our State to invest in, and, Mr. President, without your leadership, this would not have happened.
We are so thankful for American steel to be made in America. And as an Iowan, I'm so proud that we're making it in Iowa.
Thank you.
The President. Well, you have the best people, and you have incredible people. [At this point, the President addressed Ravi Ruia.]
And you're going to find that. You're going to have some of the greatest employees.
Rep. Miller-Meeks. One hundred percent.
The President. They're all over the world. You don't get bigger. But you'll find that Iowa—the people in Iowa are going to be the best people you've ever had to work with. They're unbelievable.
Ravi Ruia. I'm sure about that. Thank you.
Rewant Ruia. Thank you, sir. The President. It's a great honor. Rewant Ruia. Thank you, sir.
The President. Any questions, please?
2026 Midterm Elections/Border Security/National Economy
Q. Mr. President, over here. Thank you so much. Well, you have a lot of upcoming Republican rallies. You're heading to Oklahoma. You're heading to Alabama, Ohio. What is your message to voters heading into the midterms?
The President. We have great people, and we're running against Communists, lunatics, Socialists. We're running against people that are going to open up the border. We have—we have a border just came out—17 months in a row, we have no people coming in—zero—which is hard to believe even. But that's what it is. I don't put out the numbers.
And we have a strong border. We have the best economy, the biggest investment in the history of our country. Think of that. Twenty-one trillion dollars is being invested. With China, it's $3 trillion. With Biden from the last—it was a half a trillion for 4 years. It would have been negative. We're at $21 trillion, the biggest amount in history. And that money is building plants, like today, as an example.
I don't even think—this number is a big number. Eighteen billion dollars. I don't even think we're including that number.
But we have $21 trillion being invested in our country. We have the highest number of jobs in the history of the United States of America.
We have the best crime numbers in the history of our country, despite the fact that they allowed 25 million people, many of whom were criminals, into our country. We have the best murder—it's not a nice thing to say, but the murders are lower than at any time since 1900.
So we have the best crime numbers. We have the best economic numbers. We have—Iran will never have a nuclear weapon. We're going to win that war very soon. That'll be over, and the gasses—gas prices will come tumbling down.
So nobody else could have done that. Nobody else.
If the Democrats took in, the border will be opened immediately, and you have millions of people pouring through, just like it was before. That's the most horrible thing I've ever seen.
Yeah, please. Daniel [Daniel Baldwin, One America News Network].
Domestic Steel Production/China/Domestic Manufacturing Investment
Q. Mr. President, two questions on the steel, if that's okay. Why is it so important for you to establish fully integrated American supply chain for raw materials, like steer—steel and iron—iron specifically from a national security perspective?
The President. Right.
Q. Why was it so important for you to do that?
The President. Well, because we have a military that's very powerful, and there are certain products you have to make: Steel is one of them. You need it for your planes, your army tanks, you need it.
You know, we have a lot of problems—we have a lot of things we don't have to make ourselves. But when it comes to national security, I would say steel is number one on your list. Steel, aluminum—big aluminum plant coming, I told you. Big one, beautiful. Great people also.
But if we don't make it ourselves, we don't really—we can't defend ourselves. We can't call up another nation and say: "We want to build 2,000 army tanks and we have no steel. Could we get some?" We'll call China. "Do you mind giving us some steel to build army tanks?" [Laughter] I don't think—doesn't work out.
By the way, we had a great meeting with President Xi. I would say—I would rate it as a—on the scale of zero to 10, I would rate it a 12. Very respectful, very good—a great meeting.
So, you know, steel in particular, but other things too. We want to make them—Medicine coming back. They're all coming back.
Hundreds of billions of dollars of plants are being built. Eli Lilly is spending billions. Merck, Pfizer—they're all coming back. And we learned that during COVID. We didn't make anything. Now we're making it all. They're all coming back at record numbers.
So thank you for the question, Daniel.
[Several reporters began asking questions at once.]
Planned Steel Manufacturing Facility in Iowa
Q. Mr. President, is—two questions on the steel project. Are—is there any Federal money going to it? And is it a done deal or is it contingent on certain——
The President. Yes, we——
Q. ——tax breaks within Iowa?
The President. Yes, it's a deal where we're doing very little. We're just—it's a great site. It's very important. It's a phenomenal site, and it's phenomenal people they're going to have, and that's the biggest thing.
Howard, do you want to answer that question? Or either one of you guys.
Secretary Lutnick. Sure. So my partner, the Chairman of EXIM Bank, they helped finance the mine—right?—to produce that. But then these gentlemen from Essar, they are going to build the plant. So it's private money is going to build the steel plant. But EXIM Bank drove and assisted in the mine portion of it that helped launch that project.
Q. Is it contingent on tax breaks within Iowa?
Secretary Lutnick. No, I think this deal is done. This deal is done. They've already worked it out. That's why we're all together with the President. The President doesn't bring people together unless it's a done deal. You guys know that already.
The President. They've already started building, and you're talking about a tremendous—you know, think of it: If you build a $10 million building, it's big. Fifty million is quite big. Five hundred million is really big. Eighteen billion dollars they're spending from outside money, and all from the highest sources, the most respected people anywhere in the world. It's pretty amazing.
[Several reporters spoke at once.]
2026 Midterm Elections/Iran
Q. Mr. President, two questions: one on Iran, and then one on Iowa.
The President. Okay.
Q. I'll start with Iowa, though.
Sir, you won Iowa by 13 points. Some of the polling, though, for some of the races right now in the Senate and also some of the House races, a little closer. Much closer, in fact. Why are Republicans, do you think, having to work so hard to hold on to these seats?
The President. I don't know. I love Iowa. I've always been very strong with Iowa. There's been some things that the Democrats have done that are very bad for our country. You know, they had high prices. I've reduced the prices. But they like to say "affordability," but they're the ones that caused the affordability problem. They're the ones that caused all of these problems.
And they were unwilling to stop Iran from having a nuclear weapon. They said, "Let somebody"—so, of course, I could say that about many people. We have stopped them from having a nuclear—they'll never have a nuclear weapon. And they understand that, and they're willing to say that.
But I'm surprised. I—first of all, the polls are fake. But when you see somebody like Ashley, one of the greatest politicians—you'll see it. One of the greatest. She'll be one of the greatest politicians in America. Going to be highly respected, and she is highly respected. She's going to be representing Iowa in the Senate. She's going to bring back a lot of money for Iowa.
You know, Iowa is a State that likes money coming back into it. If you put these people in there, you're not going to bring back any money. These people, all—every one of them, they bring a lot of money back to Iowa that helps with ethanol and other things—many other things.
And I know Ashley well, and she will be a tremendous success as a Senator. She's going to bring a lot of goodies back to Iowa, which Iowa needs.
I think the polls aren't accurate, because I won it by so much, and it doesn't make sense that they wouldn't be right up there with me.
Security Incident at Royal Air Force Base in Fairford, United Kingdom
Q. And really quickly, sir, on the arrests in the U.K. Those five suspects that were arrested—
—
The President. Yes.
Q. They were just released on bail. What's your reaction to that? And is this connected to
Iran?
The President. Might be.
But I will tell you, I would have said, "Don't let them have bail—cashless bail." Is it cashless bail, I guess? That was one of the problems that we had, which started the whole mess of crime. And we're ending cashless bail.
But, over there, I'm surprised that they released them. I wouldn't have done that. Look, they've been very good. They worked with us very closely. We know everything about them. We would not have released them.
Q. So you said "might be"—Iran "might be." Can you elaborate on that at all?
The President. Well, I don't know. I'd rather not. I mean, I know the answer. I can be very specific, but I'd rather not say it.
But I would not have released them.
Iran/U.S. Diplomatic Engagement
Q. Has your team spoken to Iran today?
The President. Yes, they have.
Q. They have through mediators?
The President. Yes, they have.
Q. Anything else you can share? What—any movement on the Iran talks?
The President. No. No. We're going to win. It's—as far as I'm concerned, it's going to be one way or the other. It's going to be—it's going to go pretty quickly.
[Several reporters spoke at once.]
Domestic Steel Production
Q. Mr. President. Two questions for you, Mr. President. One on this announcement, and one on the state visit that you had last week.
On this announcement. Last year, you also announced that there will be a steel plant that will be set up in Southern Louisiana. Here you have this steel plant that's being set up in Iowa. Is there any concern that these deals may go away if there's a change in the House or the Senate or a change in——
The President. No.
Q. ——the person who occupies the White House?
The President. Because we've given them documents that will, you know, really—it won't matter who's in office. You have to do that.
They're putting up $18 billion. You know, if I'm not here and somebody less friendly is going to be here, that person that's less friendly will have no choice but to allow them to build. They will—you know, they're very—they're great businessmen, among the best in the world. They're not going to be putting up with that.
So they have guarantees that what they bargained for—to put up all of that money, all of that tremendous wealth—it will be a hundred percent.
China/Taiwan
Q. And then on the state visit. Yesterday, on Fox News Sunday, Ambassador to China Perdue said that you suggested to President Xi that the U.S. would sell U.S. military equipment to China. Is that accurate? Did you make such a suggestion to China?
The President. To China?
Q. To China. Yes.
The President. You mean to Taiwan?
Q. No, to China. That's what he said.
The President. I never heard of that one. I'm going to have to ask him. You mean we're going to sell? Now, they probably would like to buy it because we do make better equipment than them, so maybe it's a good idea. But we didn't discuss that.
[Several reporters began asking questions at once.]
He may have been talking about Taiwan. I think he probably was talking about Taiwan.
Q. Mr. President, two questions.
The President. Yes.
Domestic Steel Production
Q. One for the investors. I would like to know if, in this project—as you know, Africa is a very rich continent that can pretty much supply things for this project—are you considering to import some of the materials for this project from——
The President. From Africa?
Q. ——any African country? Like Congo and Angola can also pretty much supply——
Rewant Ruia. Absolutely. Most of the critical materials that are required for this project will be sourced from America itself, within the U.S. There are some materials, like manganese, that may need to be imported for making and refining the highest quality steel, so that is something that is not necessarily available in the U.S. And so we would be looking at global sourcing for those——
Q. Africa——
Rewant Ruia. ——materials until they're there.
Q. So Africa is one of them?
Rewant Ruia. It is absolutely a possibility.
Q. And, Mr. President, on——
The President. She loves Africa. [Laughter] She always asks about Africa. She never talks about any other places. [Laughter] That's good. That's the way it should be, right?
Q. Yes.
The President. Good job. Go ahead.
Democratic Republic of the Congo/Rwanda/Ebola
Q. Mr. President, another question on D.R.C.-Rwanda. You, among many other administrations—so, for the last four administrations—you're the only one who start doing something to end the war.
The President. Yes.
Q. Thirty years war in D.R.C.—Congo.
The President. That's right.
Q. So you did already your part. You bring both President—President Kagame and President Tshisekedi, to the White House. They signed the peace agreement.
The President. Right.
Q. But Rwanda still violating. Are you planning to take serious actions?
The President. Yes, we're going to stop it if there is a violation. We know about it.
Q. Rwanda——
The President. We ended the war with Congo and Rwanda, and they both signed and they both agreed. So we'll look. I just heard about it a little while ago. We're going to—if there's a problem, we'll stop it.
Q. Yes, I just came—Mr. President, I just came from D.R.C. I was there a——
The President. Right.
Q. ——a month ago, and I witnessed again Rwanda still killing a lot of Congolese, Mr. President. If you can do something——
The President. And you witnessed it?
Q. Yes, Mr. President, and I have evidence that I can share.
The President. How is Ebola? How is Ebola going?
Q. Oh, Ebola is under control. I spoke with the world—Director of the World Health Organization——
The President. Right.
Q. ——here in the U.N., and he says it's under control. But still, the country needs some help to fight Ebola.
The President. Yes, it does.
Q. But the biggest problem is the war, because it's——
The President. I'll make sure it works. That's what I do. I make sure things work out. Okay? Good job you're doing.
Yes, please.
[Several reporters spoke at once.]
Mesabi Metallics Planned Steel Manufacturing Facility in Iowa/Canada-U.S. Trade
Q. Mr. President, I want to ask you about this project as well as Canadian trade, if I could.
The President. Yes.
Q. On this project, the production is 2030. When could we see significant jobs for this production?
The President. I think immediately because they're going to start construction right away.
Rep. Miller-Meeks. Six thousand construction jobs.
The President. So you're going to have a lot of construction jobs.
Participants. Six thousand.
The President. This is a massive plant, and 6,000 jobs in that area—it's a great area of Iowa, but it's been sort of left behind——
Rep. Miller-Meeks. Yes, sir.
The President. ——for a lot of wrong reasons, right?
Gov. Reynolds. Right.
Rep. Miller-Meeks. One hundred percent.
The President. So I think they're going to have at least 6,000 construction jobs——
Q. And on Canadian——
The President. ——almost immediately.
Q. On Canadian trade. Tomorrow you're going to have a ban of certain items——
The President. Yes.
Q. ——from Canada to the United States. Can you still have a trade deal or an agreement with Canada, or could more items be added to that list?
The President. Well, they want to have a deal with us. They call us all the time.
The problem is that they've treated the United States very unfairly. They have been one of the worst countries in the entire world. You know, we get along with China, we get along with people, and we make good deals. But Canada has been really very difficult to deal with, actually. They've charged our farmers 400-percent tariffs and more. And they take advantage of us. They feel entitled.
And you know, they get 95 percent—95 percent of the business they do, they do with the United States. With us, it's a tiny fraction of that number. It's not a big number at all. And yet, you know, we give them our military. We give them the icebreakers. They want icebreakers. We work with them. We buy icebreakers.
We're—we have a lot of—we have 11 of them right now under construction. They want to know if they can use our icebreakers. So many things.
And they feel entitled. And you know, they're not a State. There's nothing they have that we need.
We have more energy than they have. We have all the lumber you could possibly use. We have everything we have. We don't need. And they have to treat our country with respect.
Q. So how do you fix that?
The President. They've been very, very bad to our farmers in particular.
Q. So how do you get them to cool——
The President. Would you say that's true, Peter?
White House Senior Counselor for Trade and Manufacturing Peter K. Navarro. That's absolutely right.
The President. Do you want to say something about that?
Senior Counselor Navarro. Aluminum, farming, dairy is crazy—triple digits on the dairy tariffs. And the problem we've had, sir, is——
The President. And those tariffs are——
Senior Counselor Navarro. ——is the arrogance.
The President. ——those tariffs are as high as, like, 400 percent sometimes. Peter, go ahead. Sorry.
Senior Counselor Navarro. Yes, it's just I—I'd go back to the first term, sir. Dealing with the Canadians, they were the most difficult and arrogant of the traders. It's like the Canadian people are wonderful, but they cheat us on just about everything they can: lumber, aluminum, steel, dairy, down the list.
And then they—the worst part now is, they're getting in bed with China, trying to play China against us, and they're giving away their country.
And they like to beat up on Donald Trump. They think, politically, that works, and the only people who get hurt by that is the people of Canada.
The President. And many, many people are going into Canada right now from other parts of the world, and it's not a good situation. They're coming in totally unchecked, totally unvetted. I don't know what Canada's doing.
Q. So, Mr. President, how does this end?
The President. So bad.
Q. Mr.—how does this end, Mr. President?
The President. I think what's going to happen is over the next 3 or 4 weeks, they're going to come to us and they're going to say, "We're going to get rid of all the tariffs."
We're going to win everything. We even have Lake Ontario is now Lake America. And that's been done, by the way. They—that actually just got done. They told me it was just completed.
But they're going to come in, and they're going to say, "Sir, we are sorry."
They've treated the United States very, very badly. I think a deal will be made, but it's got to be a fair deal.
[Several reporters spoke at once.]
Oil Markets and Prices/Iran/Consumer Prices/U.S. Munitions Supply/News Media/Stock Market
Q. Mr. President, the midterm elections are less than 4 weeks away.
The President. Yes.
Q. Should motorists, should truckers expect elevated gas and diesel prices——
The President. Well, I don't know.
Q. ——between now and then?
The President. When the war ends, two things are going to happen. Number—the one thing already is—has happened. It's Iran will never have a nuclear weapon. That's a very big thing, because if you want to see turmoil and a travesty, let them take out a city with a nuclear weapon. I'm not only talking about Israel and big parts of the Middle East, but let them hit us with a nuclear weapon.
For all those stupid people that think it's okay—I deal with them, and they are crazy. There's no question about it. They are very crazy people. I tell them that all the time. I said, "You're crazy, man."
But they cannot have a nuclear weapon, and they don't. So that's very, very important.
We have a situation that—this is something that should have been done for many years by many Presidents or other countries. It doesn't have to be us, but we're the most powerful country in the world by far. We have the best military equipment in the world.
And by the way, we're building more equipment now than at any time in the history of our country. We have no choice but to do that.
The great defense companies are opening up. I mean, Lockheed is building five. Raytheon is building many. They're all building a lot. We have more equipment coming now than at any time in the history of our country, and it will soon really start to come because these plants are going to start to open.
But we're doing well. Look, as a country, we're doing really well.
The press is not. Nobody hears that we have more people working today than at any time in our country's history. Nobody hears we have the best poverty numbers in history. We have the best poverty—meaning the lowest—we have the best poverty numbers.
Nobody hears that individuals are making more money per capita, per individual than at any time. Nobody hears about your 401(k).
So we've had 82 record stock call—stock days on all the exchanges—82—in a little more than a year and a half. Right? And people don't hear that. Nobody hears that your 401(k)s—you mostly have 401(k)s. Right? Check your 401(k)s. You're up double in 1 year, and nobody talks about that.
Nobody talks about the border. I can't even talk about it. My people are—"Sir, nobody cares about the border"—I got elected because of the border, and now, because it's so good, my—one of my people, who is fantastic, said that, "Sir, the people don't care about the border anymore."
When I got elected, I got elected very much on the border. Even—a lot of other reasons too. Inflation. They had the worst inflation in history. We—the inflation is coming way down.
And when you see what happens—as soon as that war ends, inflation's going to be eradicated totally. But nobody talks about that.
Gas is going to go way down, and it's already—you know, if you look—I think, Peter, this is a hundred-percent correct. So we wiped out Iran's military. We wiped out just about everything they had, and nobody talks about the fact that Iran will never have a nuclear weapon.
Nobody talks about the fact that we had the worst inflation in history.
Nobody talks about the fact that Biden played—paid—you were paying much more for gasoline. Let's not talk about all these—you know, everything.
Under Biden, you paid much more for gasoline than they're paying now. And what I did is, I went to war to stop the—one of—it could be one of the worst things that could ever happen to the world—to us, but to the world. Israel would be wiped out right now. There would be no Israel.
There'd be no Middle East, and then the rockets and the bombs would start coming our way and Europe's way. And I stopped it.
And this gentleman is spending $18 billion in Iowa. He would say: "I'm going to take a pass on the United States. I'm not going to spend 18"—because we would have had a lunatic and a lunatic country running around with nuclear weapons because the power is so great.
But nobody talks about it. Nobody talks about all of the incredible things.
Again, you have—many of you have—I don't want to ask because you'll say: "Oh, we're not supposed to report that. We're the fake news media. We're not allowed to report it." You all have 401(k)s. I don't have to know anything about you. Your 401(k) has doubled in a short period of time. It's doubled. You're twice as wealthy as you were a short time ago, every one of you, and that's because of me.
Have a good time, everybody. Thank you.
NOTE: The President spoke at 2:24 p.m. in the Oval Office at the White House. In his remarks, he referred to Gov. Timothy J. Walz of Minnesota. A reporter referred to President Paul Kagame of Rwanda; President Felix-Antoine Tshisekedi Tshilombohe of the Democratic Republic of the Congo; and Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director-General, World Health Organization.
Categories: Addresses and Remarks : Mesabi Metallics, siting announcement for steel manufacturing facility in Southeastern Iowa; Interviews With the News Media : Exchanges with reporters, White House.
Locations: Washington, DC.
Names: Biden, Joseph R., Jr.; Bird, Brenna; Broking, Joe; Ernst, Joni K.; Hinson, Ashley E.; Jovanovic, John; Lutnick, Howard W.; Miller-Meeks, Mariannette; Navarro, Peter K.; Perdue, David A., Jr.; Reynolds, Kimberly K.; Ruia, Ravi; Ruia, Rewant "Ray"; Walz, Timothy J.; Wright, Christopher A.; Xi Jinping.
Subjects: 2024 Presidential election; 2026 midterm elections; Border security; Canda, trade with U.S.; China, President; China, trade with U.S.; China, U.S. Ambassador; Congo, Democratic Republic of the, relations with Rwanda; Consumer prices; COVID–19 pandemic; Defense contractors, delivery improvement efforts; Ebola; Ethanol and biofuels; Export-Import Bank, U.S.; Gasoline costs; Iowa, Governor; Iowa, siting announcement for Mesabi Metallics steel manufacturing facility; Iran, diplomatic engagement with U.S.; Iran, nuclear weapons development; Job creation and growth; Manufacturing industry, domestic investment; Minnesota, Governor; Pharmaceutical supply chains, improvement efforts; Poverty reduction efforts; Rwanda, relations with Democratic Republic of the Congo; Secretary of Commerce; Secretary of Energy; Steel and aluminum, U.S. tariffs on foreign imports; Steel production, domestic expansion efforts; Stock market; Taiwan, trade with U.S.; Tariffs; United Kingdom, security incident at RAF Fairford; White House Senior Counselor for Trade and Manufacturing.
DCPD Number: DCPD202600650.