Remarks transcript, Jun 4, 2026 (Donald Trump)

And of course, President Trump has talked to President Macron from France. More people visit the Arc de Triomphe than even visit the Eiffel Tower. I mean, this would be a highlight for Americans to come.

The views back at the city, from the top of the arch, would be amazing. The views from this side, from West Potomac, where the National Garden of Heroes was, looking across at the arch, would be amazing. And, of course, the promenade on the backside of the Lincoln is, as President Trump described—right now, there's no pedestrian access. You're on the Mall. People come from around the world. They don't know that a hundred yards away is the beautiful Potomac River, which was part of the original plan. And now they'd be able to walk around the Lincoln Memorial, walk on a pedestrian bridge over the first highway, walk over the next one, and right down to the water. It would complete the original—the vision. And these projects would complete the original vision, the McMillan Plan.

And how fortunate are we to have the builder in chief, someone who both has the vision and the understanding of how to get projects done, that would, again, make our city safe and beautiful, just like the Executive order President Trump put out last year has accomplished.

And while we are ready for the celebration of our 250th anniversary, the city has never been safer, it's never been more beautiful, but President Trump is not stopping there.

The vision that he has for these projects would extend for generations forward.

So thank you, President Trump.

Thank you very much.

Awesome.

Great job, Doug.

And, Secretary Chris Wright, please.

Yes. Look, no coal, no modern world. Stated another way: Without clean, beautiful coal, the modern world is impossible.

And we saw—17 years ago, President Obama's election—an all-out attack on the American coal industry, the industry that built our Nation. We wouldn't have the buildings, the factories, the industry, the electricity grid we have today without the critical contribution of coal. It's been the largest source of global electricity for 125 years in a row and will be for decades to come.

In the United States, it remains a critical source of our electricity, also critical source for our industry. Can't produce steel and cement and other materials without coal.

And beyond the impacts of coal in our electricity sector, just think of the direct impact on human lives. If President Trump had not been elected and inaugurated in January of 2025, and through his authority at the DOE, we were able to force keeping open six coal plants. As of today, there'll be a seventh one and more than twice as many that voluntarily said, "Hey, if we're not going to have to close, we need to stay open." Seventeen coal plants were not closed in 2025 because of President Trump sitting at this desk and in this position right here. That saved 17 gigawatts of electric-generating capacity.

And then Winter Storm Fern that hit our country in the last week of January this year, hundreds—conservatively, hundreds of Americans would have lost their lives if those 17 coal plants had closed. We pushed the East Coast electricity grid in the United States absolutely to the limit.

A storm, Uri, hit 5 years ago in Texas, smaller in geographic extent, not the same magnitude. Over 300 people died. But because we had those coal plants operating and running—and not only did they run, wind power disappeared when the storm hit. Solar is irrelevant in the winter, so the things we talk about didn't even matter to our electricity grid, except for cost burdens. Coal stepped up and produced 25 percent more electricity during this storm than its normal reliable chugging out of electricity.

Without those plants, without that increase in electricity production, we lost a lot of Americans, untold economic damage. President Trump is the President with the courage and the boldness to defend an industry that has been maligned for far too long and to recognize its importance.

Americans are upset about high electricity prices. Blame closing existing, reliable, secure plants and replacing them with subsidized, unreliable plants, a guaranteed way to drive electricity prices up.

But this administration is committed to reversing all of that.

That money we've talked about from the Defense Production Act, thankfully, because of the "One Big Beautiful Bill" and these fantastic Congressmen sitting around me and Governors—without that legislation, we wouldn't have the money, and the Defense Production Act authority to keep open so many plants. It is hard to overstate the magnitude of this.

If you look at our efforts across the whole Government so far, 45 coal plants are open today that would not be open. Where would we be to reindustrialize America, where would electricity prices be if we had let all of those plants close?

But we're not doing it. The—all of those plants, that's $700 million of Government funding, but it's matched with $1.7 billion of private investment from the owners and operators of those plants. All the people in those States that say, "Phew, we don't have to kick our industry out and raise electricity prices again."

Common sense is returning to Washington, DC, and for that, I'm incredibly thankful to be here in the United States Government; to work for President Trump, who will stand up for what's right, bring common sense back, and reinvigorate an industry without which we would not have the America we have today.

And we are going to reindustrialize America, win in the next generation of technologies, and we're going to do it, in critical part, because of a growing and thriving coal industry.

Thank you, President Trump.

Thank you very much. Thank you, Chris.

Thank you.

Good job.

Thank you, Secretary Burgum. Thank you, Lee Zeldin.

Good.

And, Lee Zeldin, how about saying a few words?

For so many Americans, clean, beautiful coal is their source of heat, of energy, of warmth, of a job, an economy, a community, a family. And for too long, you saw Democrats who were telling these coal miners that they should just learn to code. And what we saw during the Biden administration at the EPA, for example, was regulation after regulation after regulation trying to strangulate out of existence coal, to destroy it.

Enter President Trump. Declares a national energy emergency. Creates a National Energy Dominance Council. And he told us at the EPA, "at Trump speed," to be getting rid of these regulations as quickly as possible on behalf of those Americans who want to just stay warm, who want to live the American dream, who want to have affordable access to energy.

The Democrats were running for power to sit at this desk and to leverage that power to destroy these communities. Enter President Trump. He has saved clean, beautiful coal, and it's been an honor to be part of it.

Thank you, Lee. Great job too.

Wyoming Governor, Mark Gordon. Thank you. Mark.

Mr. President, it's an honor to be here. Thank you to the Secretaries, who have breathed life into an economy in Wyoming that has been there for a long time.

Wyoming produces the cleanest, most beautiful coal—low-sulfur coal.

Can—you don't mind if I push him on that? [ Laughter ]

And it's fun because we have a chance to educate our kids. And let me just talk a little bit about the other side of this.

When a kid grows up in Wyoming, their education is paid for in large part by the coal severance taxes, by the royalties that come from mining that coal. That was shut down by the Democrats.

When they have a chance to get a job, they can go look to the coal mine. And it's not just digging coal the way we used to; it's high-tech jobs. You know, at this point, we don't mine coal the way we used to at all. It is very, very technologically proficient. And what's more important, it's environmentally sound.

I would invite you to come and look at the reclamation that's happened in the Powder River Basin, and we can demonstrate that it's environmentally sound; that, actually, wildlife populations thrive and do better.

Today, Mr. President, I really want to talk to you a little bit about our recent trip to Japan and to Taiwan, both countries that were going to forswear coal, and now they realize that they need that reliable, dispatchable, secure source of energy, but they can't get it as clean as they can from the Powder River Basin.

So, to be able to open that Oak—the Oakland port is absolutely essential for the lifeblood of our State and for our coal mines.

It is something that we tried to do in your first administration, and we almost got there. We actually were prepared to go through that, I guess, belt that we have on the West Coast with California, Oregon, and Washington, and finally enforce the commerce clause to allow States like New Mexico, Wyoming, Utah to have access to that Asian market.

And let me just tell you one last thing about that. It's not just about clean, beautiful coal. We have companies like Peabody that are now saying, "We believe we can get rare earth minerals and critical minerals from what we're doing." So we are advancing technology, advancing the opportunities and the security of the State, all because of your vision, sir.

Thank you.

Thank you very much. Thank you, Mark, very much.

Would you like to say something on behalf of West Virginia?

I would. I would like to say——

I love that place.

——Mr. President, all West Virginians are so deeply grateful to you for your focus on protecting their energy jobs.

The coal miners know the incredible importance of why we're here today, and to talk about the potential for new coal-fired power plants, that excites them. And I think West Virginians are really inspired because we're America's energy State.

When you think about what's happening on the global scene, where that fight, that international fight with China for information technology supremacy, we believe that your policies are going to allow America to compete and win, and West Virginia is going to supply the coal, the gas, the nuclear to help make that happen.

So I'm very excited by everything you're doing. Even some of the relatively small things, when you come in and you sign agreements with your administration, putting hundreds of people back to work, it's all making a big difference for West Virginia.

So thank you, Mr. President.

As an example, the Gulf of Mexico into the Gulf of America. It bothered me for many years. We have 92 percent of the frontage, and we made that little change, and Mexico was thrilled. They were thrilled about it. But that was a good one, right? You were telling me before that was a good one.

And it's about the United States now for a little while, if it's okay.

Would you have any questions, please?

Yes. President Trump, this was just crossing as we were heading in here. President Zelenskyy wrote a letter to President Putin. He wants the two of them to meet to hash out the end of the war in Ukraine because he thinks you are too busy with the war in Iran. Is he right?

Well, I don't know. I'm glad that they're maybe talking about meeting. I think we had a lot to do with it. I know exactly what you're doing.

But I think it would be great if they met. They should and get it done.

And this—there's been a lot of talk lately about the Treasury putting your face on a $250 bill. Have you seen a mockup of the Trump $250 bill? And if that winds up being currency, would you ever be able to tip anyone anything but that?

Well, I think I probably, even if—[ inaudible ]. [ Laughter ]

I have actually seen something just about 2 days ago. I know it's been pushed by a lot of our supporters, and I'm honored that they're doing it, but we'll see how that all works out. But I have heard about it, and there is a group of people—they really like the job we're doing. You know, so that's a great honor.

Yes, please.

Mr. President, you announced just a few days ago that you're naming Bill Pulte as the acting director of National Intelligence. There's been a little bit of a pushback from some Senate Republicans. Why do you think, Mr. President, he's the best person for the job?

Well, he's very smart. He's a person who's got high integrity. He's done a phenomenal job at Fannie Mae/Freddie Mac. You know, you probably have a trillion dollars in value there. When he took over, it was much less.

And I guess I'm responsible for that too, because everybody wanted me to sell it in my first term for 10 percent of what it's worth right now. If I would have sold it, we would have lost $900 billion. We would have lost—I mean, think of it: It's probably worth a trillion dollars.

And I was offered every—people wanted me to sell it at $100 billion, a very small percentage of what it's worth now. So—and he built it up a lot, did a great job. And it's an acting position. It's not a permanent—he's not going to be permanent, because, you know, I don't think he'd want to be permanent.

But he's a very smart guy, and he may find out some things about the rigged elections, et cetera, et cetera. I think he'd like to do it. I'd like to—I think he wants to do it very much. Got a lot of energy. But he'll be very good.

Again, it's not a permanent position.

Right.

We're looking at—we're interviewing people right now. But it's somebody just to take it over for a little while.

Does he have the necessary—in your view, Mr. President, the necessary national security experience to take on that position?

Well, I do, and I think he does, actually, because he's smart, because a lot of national security—I—look, I wasn't greatly experienced in national security, and I think I've done a really great job with it. A lot of people would say that.

I've ended eight wars and soon to be a ninth. I hope that works out too. You know, frankly, it's—but probably—and there's another one also that could be 10.

No President—I don't think a President has ended one war having to do with outside of this country. So, you know, we've done a good job.

I would say that Bill is a guy that will be able to figure it out very quickly.

Again, it's short term, but he may be very effective for a short period of time.

Mr. President. Mr. President.

Yes, please.

So what—will there be a proportional share increase of electricity production as a percentage of our nation's electricity output? And my follow-up is: I took that historic trip with Secretary Wright of the small modular nuclear reactor——

Yes.

——on the West Coast earlier this year. Are we making more progress? Because I know how critical gas and coal is for the secure grid.

Well, the answer is, we are. But, Chris, do you want to answer that?

Yes. The—I mean, our electricity grid essentially runs on gas, coal, and nuclear. Those are the three key sources. They're the backbone of the American electricity grid. We're in favor of seeing all three of them grow. You will see all three of them grow during this administration.

And, in fact, later today, before the Sun goes down, you'll see a big announcement in the nuclear space related to the trip you came on.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Mr. President, President Putin said today that he was willing to make compromises that you requested to end the war with Ukraine if Ukraine was willing to make similar compromises.

Yes.

What were the compromises that you asked Putin to make?

Well, I'd rather not say, because Peter asked me, and I think it was meant as a little wise-guy question, but I'm not sure. But I'm very responsible when that happens. It's going to happen.

They're going to make—both make compromises. I suggested those compromises. And you know, we've had a lot to do with it. We'd love to see—they're two very good people. They're two very, I mean, incredible countries, beautiful countries. They've got to stop.

Last month, they had 25,000 people killed—soldiers—mostly soldiers—some people, but mostly soldiers. And it's been averaging probably almost 25,000 people every month of soldiers killed. And I've been very strong on the fact that they've got to get that over with.

So—but they—they do. I want them each to make certain compromises. I think they're going to do that.

Yes, Daniel.

Mr. President, thank you. You, through your actions, have saved and supported more than 100 coal plants in your second term.

Yes.

When you hear something like that and you try to create an environment where they're not just surviving, they're thriving, what does that do to the reliability of our energy grid, but to the economies as well of States like Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Wyoming? How does it bolster those economies?

Well, we were destroying our grid because we're relying on wind and other things that don't have the power, they don't have the strength, they're very expensive. Wind is the most expensive form of energy. It sounds good. Wind, beautiful wind. But you know, it's very intermittent. But those windmills cost a fortune. They break. They kill the birds. They're bad for the environment. Nobody wants to be near them. The houses—I don't know how they got popular. They got—they're not popular with the people. They're popular with investors because they get subsidy.

But we pretty much cut that subsidy out, I think, Doug, right?

Absolutely.

Good.

In the Working Families Tax Cut bill, it all expires, and since the subsidies have gone away, there's virtually no one—particularly offshore, no one is trying to build one of those projects in America. Turns out they weren't trying to generate electricity. They were just trying to generate tax credits.

You're supposed to be making money with—you know, with that, with energy. And here, wind, it needs subsidy.

Energy shouldn't need subsidy. We have so much—so many different forms of energy. But you know, I've talked about it for years. Wind is the most expensive. It's the worst. It causes tremendous problems. And it does: It kills millions and millions of birds a year. Nobody mentions that.

You'd think if that were the—anything else, they'd be—everybody would be sued.

You know, if you kill a bald eagle, they put you in jail for, like, 4 years or something. And yet windmills knock them out of the air all the time. Nothing happens. It's a—disgraceful.

So we're into energy that really works and works powerfully.

Yes, go ahead.

And we were waiting outside to come into the Oval Office. Everyone is looking at the UFC structure——

Yes.

——the claw. Are you happy with how that's coming along? And what are your——

It's incredible.

——expectations for the fight next weekend?

We put it up in 5 days. It's incredible. And I told yesterday the story of the Eiffel Tower. It was 1889, it was put up. It was going to be brought down right after the World's Fair ended. It was up for a short while, and they said, "Well, let's leave it a little bit longer." Then they said, "Let's leave it a little longer." It never came down. That was 18—I think 1889, the World's Fair in Paris. So I jokingly said, "You know, let me tell you a story about the Eiffel Tower."

No, no, it will come down after the fight. [ Laughter ] There were actually some people who said, "He wants to leave it up."

Yes, please.

Mr. President, about the Columbus statue.

Yes.

Columbus fountain at Union Station. It looks amazing.

Thank you.

Amazing.

And what does that mean for the relations between Italy and the United States?

Well, it means Italian people love Trump. [ Laughter ]

They do.

Because, you know, that was controversial. People wanted to rip it down. You see how beautiful it is. And we don't—didn't only not rip it down, but Doug and his group, and all of us together, we—beautified it. It's—I didn't know the marble was going to be so beautiful. When we—once we cleaned it up, you wouldn't believe it. When you saw that thing was loaded for 50 years with filth and graffiti and everything else. It's amazing. It's amazing how good—they did a really great job.

On the Strait of Hormuz, Mr. President. Do you still want European allies' help? We're discussing energy today, and——

Well, we don't need their help.

——what kind of help do you——

Yes.

What kind of help would you want? Do you have a definite ask?

We're the most powerful military in the world. We gave them a chance to help, but they chose not to—NATO. We went to the NATO countries; we went to others too, in all fairness to NATO. And I wouldn't say I gave them a hard sell, but I said, "Hey, if you'd like to help, it'd be wonderful." And they all turned us down, and, you know, it's going to be an expensive proposition for them because they shouldn't have done that. They should have helped.

You know, we don't need it. We have our own—we have much more than we need in terms of oil and energy, generally. But—European countries and other countries, they need it tremendously—some of the European countries need it really big. And they should have said, "We'd love to help." But they didn't.

But if you could choose—but, Mr. President, if you could choose, what—what would you ask them to do, sir? If you wanted——

Well, I would have asked them—I mean, there's not much—look, we want—they have—there's no navy. There's no air force. We've wiped them out. We've wiped out their leadership and—almost all of it. We've wiped out all their military leaders. They're down on the third.

Now, maybe they're very good. I don't know; I can't tell you that. But certainly the first ones didn't do very good because they weren't—they were literally—after 3 days, almost the entire military was wiped out. They had to get new generals. And then, after that, they had to get more new generals.

And we knocked out their anti-aircraft, their air force, just about everything you can knock out. So—and then you read in the fake news that they're doing really well in the war. I mean, it's unbelievable. We knocked out everything there is to knock out, and you'd pick up the fake news, and they say how well they've done. They're doing brilliantly. They have no air force.

You know they had exactly—we knew that—159 ships. Andy, out of 159 ships, all 159 lie beautifully at the bottom of the ocean. We actually took pictures of them down there. And then you read the fake news. They say, "Well, their navy is really great."

You know what they have now? [ Laughter ] Little runabouts with a machinegun on the front. It's a—the ships don't even really deal with them, but it's just—they're like a gnat. You know, like, "Get off." That's all they have. It's crazy.

You know, this country needs a fair press, and one thing I think that's done is expose how corrupt our media is. And I really do—while we're here, I hope the media looks at this election that's taking place in California, where they think it'll take seven or eight days to count the votes. Can you believe this?

No, sir.

I mean, we're supposed—they spend all that money on the machines, the big voting machines. They think it's going to be 7 or 8 days before we know who won the election.

But the numbers are looking strange, because without any vote counting, the numbers dropped very precipitously for two Republicans that are doing well—that had been doing well.

And I hope you're all watching it because I'm watching it very closely.

Mr. President, are you worried that China is funding an anti–data center movement here in the U.S.?

No, no, we're in a better—we had a great meeting with China. And, you know, they do things to us, and we do things to them. I say it all the time. They say, "Oh, it's—are you worried about China tapping your phones?" I said, "Well, you know, they're worried about the same thing."