Administration of Donald J. Trump, 2026
October 6, 2026
Q. Mr. President—Mr. President, what did you mean by your comments yesterday about San Diego and Los Angeles possibly being wiped out by Iran, sir?
Q. Mr. President——
The President's Proposed Midterm Republican Victory Payment
Q. Mr. President, how would you get Congress to authorize the Trump dividend that you've been talking about?
The President. It will work out very easily. It's going to work out very well, just like we got
$1,776 for our military, just like we caught the Obamacare scam. And we're giving people back their money after they got scammed by President Obama. That will work out very easily.
Q. How will you ensure the money's spent here, sir?
The President's Proposed Triumphal Arch Construction/White House Renovation Projects
Q. There's been a lot of protest against the triumphal arch that you're going to build. Is that going to affect it getting done?
The President. A protest?
Q. The triumphal—the arch.
The President. Well, they're all paid protesters. You know, the same people that protested
that.
[At this point, the President pointed to the ballroom construction site.] The same people that protested that.
[The President pointed to the South Lawn helipad.]
Q. Yes.
The President. I'm used to protest. I think I do pretty well.
Q. Is it going to affect the building of the arch?
The President. No, they're just scammers. They just scam. [Several reporters began asking questions at once.]
Pneumonic Plague Concerns in Russia
Q. Mr. President, have you spoken to President—on the plague in Russia. Have you spoken with President Putin?
The President. I have a——
Q. What are the U.S.'s next steps?
The President. I have a call scheduled, yes.
Q. When is that call scheduled for?
The President. Very soon.
Q. Okay. And how—is the call this week?
U.S. Government Monitoring of Plague Concerns in Russia
Q. What are your intelligence agencies saying, President Trump? What are the intelligence agencies saying about the Russian plague worker's death?
The President. So far, we're in very deep discussions. We'll be able to report about it probably tomorrow.
Funding for Administration Advertisements
Q. Mr. President, when did you decide that MAGA Inc. will pay for the ads? When did you decide that MAGA Inc. will pay for the ads?
Q. Mr. President—[inaudible]?
The President. Well, there's no reason for them to, but we have a lot of money in MAGA Inc. We've collected a lot of money. We're using it for other candidates.
Yes.
Texas Republican Senatorial Candidate State Attorney General W. Kenneth Paxton, Jr.
Q. Have you seen the latest comments from Ken Paxton about not having control over his campaign, the message coming from Washington? Just curious, your reaction to that.
The President. No, I haven't. But Ken's doing much better now that I've—everybody is.
Since starting 3, 4 days ago, since starting the rallies, it's brought a whole new awareness to how great the Republicans are doing, how great the economy is doing in terms of $21 trillion being invested, factories being built all over the country, ships being built. Everything is being built.
There's never been anything like it—not only for us; for any country in the world. We are—we have more investment in the United States than any country in the world has, and it's not even close.
[Several reporters spoke at once.]
The President's Proposed Midterm Republican Victory Payment
Q. Mr. President, on the dividends. How would you—how could you ensure that all that money would be spent domestically? How would you track all that money?
The President. Well, we're going to be able—that's not going to be a big problem, but the dividends are happening, and—if we win. If we—if Republicans win, that dividend—and the Democrats can't do it because they don't do tariffs, and therefore the country is going to go bankrupt.
[Several reporters spoke at once.]
Q. [Inaudible]—in L.A. and San Diego yesterday?
Go ahead.2026 Midterm Elections/National Economy
Q. Mr. President, sir. Mr. President, sir, can I just ask you: In relation to the midterms, you talk a lot about Iran, but what do you see as the number-one issue for American voters in the midterms?
The President. Well, I don't know exactly. When you look at American voters, we're doing better. We're taking in trillions of dollars of investment. We have more jobs. You know, more people are working in America today than at any time in history.
The poverty rate is the best it's ever been in terms of individual. That includes African American, Asian American, Hispanic American. Poverty rate is the single best poverty rate—meaning lowest—poverty rate we've ever had. The individual rate on—individual people are making more money than they've ever made.
And if you take a look around, we have more jobs right now in the United States of America than at any time in the history of our country.
[Several reporters spoke at once.] Thank you.
NOTE: The President spoke at approximately 5:05 p.m. on the South Lawn at the White House after exiting Marine One. A reporter referred to Daria Shipilova, a laboratory technician in Irkutsk, Russia, who died on October 2 after contracting severe pneumonia amid unconfirmed reports of a workplace plague exposure. The transcript was released by the Office of Communications on October 7.
Categories: Interviews With the News Media : Exchanges with reporters, White House. Locations: Washington, DC.
Names: Obama, Barack; Paxton, W. Kenneth, Jr.
Subjects: 2026 midterm elections; District of Columbia, planned triumphal arch construction; Foreign nations, investment and business ventures in U.S.; Job creation and growth; News media, Presidential interviews; Poverty reduction efforts; Russia, biological laboratory incident in Irkutsk; Special warrior dividend; White House Ballroom construction project.
DCPD Number: DCPD202600682.