Remarks transcript, Jun 3, 2026 (Donald Trump)

And that stuff is buried underneath a mountain that virtually collapsed. It's very, very hard to get it. What one of the—but nevertheless, I want to get it. We're the only ones—us and probably China are the only two countries that have the equipment where you can do that. So, yes, I want to get it.

We have, at different times, had different—I mean, they've changed their mind a couple of times. But, as it stands now, we will go in at some time in the not-too-distant future. It's very safe down there.

You know, we have—with Space Force, we have cameras. Every angle of that—those three sites are being watched at all times. If anybody went there, we'll see exactly what's happening, and we'll—we'll blow it up a little bit further.

But, as far as getting it, it's very—the B–2 bombers did a job like nobody has ever seen. In the night, with no Moon, dead darkness at 1 o'clock in the morning or so, they dropped those bombs, the biggest—just about as big a bomb as you can ever find. And it hit—it went down air chutes. It went—hard to believe that they can do—the technology. It followed a beam right into the air chutes, right—exploded.

Very hard to get that material, but I still, nevertheless, want it. And I don't want to do it if we're in conflict. I don't want to put men in that kind of danger. I remember Jimmy Carter had some bad problems in Iran with the hostages. I don't want to ever put our people in that kind of danger.

But when it's over, it—as of this moment, it's agreed that we will go in with them. We will get it, and we will destroy it. It will be destroyed.

I have a quick follow-up, Mr. President. My second question: Is it possible to get to a deal with Iran, whether to go in and do that or to open up the Strait of Hormuz, without seeing an Israeli cessation of their hostilities in Lebanon, given what Iran has told——

I think it would. We're trying to separate it. I mean, you—look, it—it's a very different kind of a thing. We actually spoke with Hizballah for the first time ever. We didn't know they spoke. And they agreed, yesterday, they're not going to shoot. Israel is not going to shoot. We're just going to see.

But I'd like to separate it. I'd like to have it a separate thing, because it is—it is separate. But Israel—hey, look, they've been a great partner. Bibi Netanyahu has been, for me, a great partner. For other people, not so good; for me, he's been very good.

We were very effective, what we've done. And they needed us. They couldn't have done it without us, couldn't have even come close. But—and they needed us, and they got us to help them with a real problem, because Iran was a real problem, a big problem, a worldwide problem, because they wouldn't have stopped with Israel. They would have blown up the Middle East.

And you saw that by the rockets. All those rockets that went to the five, mostly—for the most part, the five countries, outside of Israel, those rockets were aimed there before we hit them with the B–2 bombers. They were going to blow up the Middle East. They were going to blow up Israel, but they were going to blow up the Middle East. And I stopped it, and I'm very proud I stopped it.

I—and we also stopped it when I get—when I terminated—in the first term, when I terminated the Iran nuclear deal penned by Barack Hussein Obama. It was one of the dumbest deals I've ever seen.

And this has no relation—you know, I like these morons, these "Dumocrats"—d-u-m, "Dumocrats"—that go on television and say: "Oh, well, this is just like the Obama deal." This is the exact opposite. This is no path to a nuclear weapon. That was a absolute path to a nuclear weapon that you couldn't have done anything about. This is the exact opposite.

They gave billions and billions of dollars to Iran, including $1.7 billion put into a Boeing 757 with the seats taken out, because there wasn't enough room if you left the seats, with $1.7 billion in cash taken from the banks in DC, Maryland, and Virginia and flown to Iran—1.7 in green cash, and then tens of billions of dollars given to Iran by our Government. Frankly, they picked the wrong country, but maybe we're going to be getting along with Iran. We're going to find out.

You know, there is a good possibility, I think, because without the bombing, that wouldn't have worked; without the blockade. The blockade is the most powerful thing. I think the blockade maybe has more impact than the bombing has. But the blockade that we have—the naval blockade is incredible. Not one ship has gotten through, unless we wanted it to. And people respect it a lot.

And we'll see. But you know, there's a chance, if this really worked out, they could rebuild. You know, it used to be a very, very good nation. You go back—I have friends that used to—old-timers, they used to go there, and they used to do well. They used to build in Iran. They built apartment houses, and they built offices in Iran. Hard to believe, right?

But there's a chance that maybe that comes back. But whether it comes back or not, I think we have a very powerful deal that we're negotiating. The exact opposite as the Obama deal. The Obama deal was a disgrace. It gave them a nuclear weapon. We do the exact thing. We—under our deal, they will never, ever have a nuclear weapon.

One of the other things that happens, and this is important—but there's nothing more important than taking away the capability of a nuclear weapon from Iran.

Wait. Wait.

But one of the other things that's important and very important is that immediately upon signing the memorandum of understanding, the Hormuz Strait will open, and it will open up quickly. And we've already had our minesweepers there. You know, we're sweeping, as you probably have heard. And these are underwater minesweepers. They're great. Amazing technology. They're underwater, because usually when you're looking for mines, that usually means you have some dangerous characters out there. That's why. So we're underwater.

But we've swept mines. And we've gotten most of them, we think. So—but the Hormuz Strait will open immediately upon signing. Now, that's subject to a couple of areas being cleaned out, also, of mines, which we don't think there are any. So it will happen very quickly, and we'll take the southern route anyway. But immediately upon signing, we open up the Hormuz Strait.

Mr. President, just to clarify what you said.

On communism——

Excuse me, Mr. President. Just to clarify on what you were asked earlier: Is the $1.8 billion DOJ fund dead, or is it on hold?

It's—I'd have to ask the lawyers. I don't know. I know one thing: the weaponization——

But what's your decision on it?

Are you talking about the weaponization fund?

Yes. What's your decision?

The weaponization fund, as far as I'm concerned, was a beautiful thing. It was something I was—I didn't make it, but I was—I heard that, I thought that was the greatest thing, because people like you have abused our people so badly. The fake news, like CNN, like the New York Times, and like others have abused our people.

Well, Republicans were critical of it, Mr. President——

Wait a minute. Be quiet.

——on Capitol Hill.

Have abused our people so badly, and you should be ashamed of yourself. You used to be a conservative. She was a conservative from Alabama. Can you believe it?

I'm still from Alabama, sir.

But CNN—in particular, CNN does such false reporting. But now they have new ownership, so maybe it'll straighten it out. I doubt it, but—it's hard to straighten garbage out. But CNN has abused, and others have abused so badly people. These are people that are great people that were destroyed. Their families have been destroyed. Many suicides. They committed suicide. People that went there to—with love—they went there with love.

You know, when I made that speech early in the day—tremendous crowd. I hate to say, because they'll say, "Oh, I was wrong on the number," but I believe it's the largest crowd I've ever spoken to by twice. The biggest crowd, I think. Bigger than the Inaugurations. Bigger than anything.

And there was so much love and friendship. It was the most amazing thing. People were crying. They were like——

But Republicans on the Hill were——

Wait a minute. Let me finish.

——upset that——

Let me finish.

——that the people who beat up cops——

Let me finish.

——could be eligible.

And those people have been abused by you and by others and by the politicians—by the "Dumocrats." They're dumb people. They want to have open borders. They want to have transgender mutilization of your children. They want to have men playing in women's sports. They want to have high taxes.

They turned down—you know, they fought us on the tax bill. And they fought us because they want people to pay high taxes, because they're crazy. There's something wrong with them. There's something wrong with you. It's a shame.

Yes. Go ahead, please.

The President's Post on Truth Social/Mayor Zohran K. Mamdani of New York City/Federal Law Enforcement Support in U.S. Cities

Mr. President, thank you so much. On communism, today you had some stern words on communism on Truth Social.

I just wrote that. Did you like it? Did you think it was well written?

Well, certainly very meaningful to a lot of Americans who voted for you.

Well, I believe it. Do you want to read it? Do you have it? You could read it. It's on Truth.

Sure. Yes, for sure. I can pull it up.

I just wrote it. I just felt—I've seen what's going on with communism, and I see this—read it. I'd love to have you. Thank you.

Sure. You wrote that, quote: "Communists always do well with the voters or, as they would say, the people, in the early years. But, in the end, the country, State, or city, goes to hell. Great violence proceeds at levels never seen before, and the entity dissolves into poverty, squalor, and crime. Remember, breathtaking 'popularity' first, and then, guaranteed death and destruction."

Well, you see it happening with New York. You see it happening with Los Angeles and parts of California. And it's so easy, you know? I'd be the greatest in the world. Nobody would be as good as me. I'd give away every—I could be the greatest. I would sell them: "You're going to get free rent, you're going to get free houses, you're going to get free food, you're going to get free everything," but eventually, that ends, and it leads to death, destruction, and squalor a hundred percent of the time.

When I watch New York—and, you know, I liked him very much. He stood right here, and he's been in the office a couple of times, the mayor of New York. He—I think he's a very nice person. But—and I don't know—he's a smart guy. I don't understand why he thinks it's okay for all these companies that pay hundreds of millions of dollars in taxes a year to leave, because you're not going to have any tax base, and you're going to end up in hunger and squalor and death and destruction.

I would be better than him, if I wanted to go that route. "Ladies and gentlemen, you'll no longer pay rent. You'll no longer have to pay interest on your mortgage. In fact, I'll end your mortgage. I'm going to cut everything. You're no longer going to have to pay for food. I'm going to give you a grocery store, and I'm going to give you free food. You're no longer going to have—you're going to have the greatest life ever. Follow me. You're going to have the greatest life." And you know what? For a couple of years, that's such a powerful—I would be the best ever at giving it. Nobody would ever be.

I had to sell free enterprise. Free enterprise is tougher to sell, but that's what's made our country great, and that's why it's great again now. If I didn't get elected, we wouldn't have a country. We really wouldn't have a country. This country would be finished.

But I see what's happening in Los Angeles. I see what's happening in New York, where I—look at Chicago. You have a stupid Governor, a dumb—a dumb Governor, a really dumb guy. I know him well. He's a failure in his family. Pritzker. I know the family. I was partners in a deal with them. I made a lot of money; they made money. We made a good partnership. But he was like an outcast in the family. He was a slob. And the mayor is a low-IQ person. I mean, he's a stupid person. Chicago.

Chicago has a case—you know, a real chance to become great again. There's a case: great again. If we were allowed to do what we did in Washington or Memphis. You know, I was with the Governor of Tennessee yesterday, and he said, "I want to come in"—he came in to thank me. I said, "For what?" He said, "What you did for Memphis." Memphis, the crime is down about 72 percent, and it's going. He said, "It's like a different city." Washington is even more so. We started a little bit earlier. Washington, you walk down the streets and people feel safe here again. It's a safe city.

If I were—oh, by the way, in Louisiana, what I've done there is unbelievable. Because the Governor, Jeff Landry, called. He said: "You've got to help me with New Orleans. We have a tremendous crime problem." And I sent in our really talented people, including National Guardsmen, and they did an unbelievable—they had the safest—they said they had the safe—it just ended about 3 weeks ago. They had the safest Mardi Gras they've ever had.

I could do that in Chicago, but you have to have the support of a Governor. You can't have a slob that says, you know, "We don't want it." People get murdered, and he says it's fine. They lost five or six people last week, and they said, "That's fine." We're not going to lose five or six people. And I would make Chicago so good and so safe. It's got potential. The longer it goes, the harder it is to fix.

And San Francisco, we could do such a good job. My friend said, "Please let the mayor"—he's a liberal guy. Nice guy. I talked to him. He wants to make San Francisco good, and he's trying very hard. I said: "Look, I can do it much faster than you." "Please let me have a time." I mean, I spoke to the mayor, and some very important people asked me to give him a chance because they'd like to see if he could do it. And he's doing okay, but he—I could do it much faster and much better.

And we can remove—don't forget: 2 percent of your people create 90 percent of your crime. That's a great number, because 2 percent of the people, you can take care of. If it was 90 percent of the people, that's no good. But 2 percent—in Washington, right here in DC, we removed close to 5,000 hardline criminals. Many came in through the Biden open border. We removed them from Washington, DC, and it's one of the reasons that we're so safe now.

We have a great, beautiful place. Again, the fountains are almost all open. You're going to have the Reflecting Pool opened within hours—I mean, literally within hours. The water starts pouring in tonight. It's going to be beautiful. You haven't seen that since 1922. Think of that: 1922. It hasn't worked. Never worked. From the day they built it, it never worked, but you're going to see that.

And people are all thanking me because Washington is beautiful again. The parks are open. We changed the grass. You know, grass has a life also. Like people, grass has a life, and that grass hasn't been changed in 70, 80 years. It died many times over. We have beautiful grass, beautiful parks, beautiful everything. We don't have people living on it.

And Washington, DC, in a matter of 14 months, Washington, DC, is like a different place. People are coming here. You know, you—the restaurants were all going out of business, as you know, because you use the restaurants, and now the restaurants are hot as a—in fact, if anything, we don't have enough restaurant space. They're all reopening. It's become vibrant.

It's a beautiful thing to watch, and I am honored that I've been able to do it to our Nation's Capital.

Thank you very much, everybody. Thank you. Thank you.

Thank you very much. Thank you.