Remarks transcript, Jun 11, 2026 (Donald Trump)

I'm just going to be really clear: There's never been a President to do this.

Thank you very much. Great. That's very nice.

I just want to say, Mr. President, that, you know, my father always said, "Always give credit where credit is due," and I'm here representing the working man, the fisherman. I am one myself, as you know. And you know, I spent a couple of months with you on "The Apprentice"——

Yes.

——and I saw your work ethic there. And—[ laughter ]——

That's right.

I've got to tell you, you know, I—understand that—I can't fathom how you can do all this and how you can get the time to do what you do. And representing us and helping the fishermen the way you have done, it's just—it's mind-boggling to me because I know you got your hands full. But putting us on that pedestal and backing up our industry the way you have, it's just phenomenal.

And I've got to say, I've been fishing since I was 12 years old. I've never been fired in my life until I spent a couple of months with this man. And—[ laughter ]—and it was very humbling, to say the least.

He did a great job.

And I tell you what: You know, when I think about it, I was a better captain after that because I was very nice to my crew. I was very humbled when I was fired.

And, anyway, I just want to say, as—for you, this is a crew member's cap.

Thank you. Great.

You can take that.

Yes. Yes.

And you're one of us now. Thank you.

Thank you very much.

Anyone else would like to speak——

Thank you, sir. You've done more—you've done more for this nation in the fishing space. We're farmers of the sea. We produce this great, healthy protein. I'm from North Carolina, but we support you a hundred percent.

Thank you.

You've done more for this nation in the seafood space than any President before you in my lifetime.

Thank you very much.

Thank you, sir.

Yes, I'm—Eric from Hawaii. United States fisheries are the best managed in the world, and this action is really about balancing, you know, the interests in the U.S. Exclusive Economic Zone. You can have both ocean protection under our laws as well as sustainable fishing, and that's what this is about.

And I think, Mr. President, you are the only President that has really stepped up in terms of supporting fishermen like you're doing. No other President we've seen—the administration that's helping us, and there's a lot more work to do, because there's a tremendous seafood deficit in trade. Imports are undercutting us left and right.

But seafood is healthy——

Well, they're taking them right out of your water. I mean, it's——

Yes, and seafood is a healthy—healthy food item.

Think of it. They're taking from your water and selling it into the United States.

That's right.

It's—the whole thing is just crazy.

So, really appreciate it. Thank you.

Thank you very much. I appreciate it.

Yes, please.

First of all, thank you, Mr. President, to you and your family for the sacrifice and the commitment to the country.

Thank you.

I'm in the sea scallop business. I don't know who likes sea scallops, but——

Me. [ Laughter ]

——New Bedford, Massachusetts, is a port that is recognized as the highest-grossing revenue port in the United States.

I don't know who knows where New Bedford is, but sea scallops—there's roughly 300 vessels. So 300 full-time vessels. They range from 85 feet to 100 feet. Sig's wife came from New Bedford.

And you talked earlier about some examples of stupidity or whatever. We have vessels that can cost anywhere between $3- to $5 million, and those vessels only work for 35 days a year. They sit at the rest of the time at the dock. So we need certain things that could help us.

And I know that this—because of your Executive order—and it's a game changer. And that order is a game changer for us.

And one more example. There's an area that, you know—like Frank mentioned on the Pacific side—but there's an area off Georges Bank that's 248 square miles. Two hundred and forty-eight square miles.

Been restricted also?

Restricted.

Is it now——

It's the largest——

Is it now restricted?

It's been closed since 1995. And here we are, x—29 years later, we can't even get it—it's the—best scallop ground in the United States.

So, Peter, take a look at it, please.

Yes, sir.

All right?

I spoke with this gentleman before, and we're going to fix it.

We'll take a look at it. It's all nonsense.

But how—you talked about stupidity. How crazy is that? We haven't been able to get in there for 30 years. And it's been environmental. It's——

Do other people get in?

The—there's lobster guys in there. There's cod——

From other countries?

Yes, they cut it——

Well, mostly the United States. But it's the best scallop ground that we have in the United States, in that area.

How did they get in if it was—if it's restricted?

Well, they can get in. We can't. They won't allow scallop fishing in there.

Oh, I see.

So it's prohibited from us.

Crazy.

But there's—I mean, just think of a boat—a boat that we have that sits—and we've asked—we're working—and I just explained it to Secretary Lutnick, about—we're, right now, pretty close to where we could easily take a permit and put another permit on it. But why should we let these boats sit at the dock for 330 days?

Yes.

It's crazy. So——

We'll look at that.

——thank you so much.

Thank you.

And we appreciate it.

Thank you very much.

So I'm a Federal adviser on the sea scallop plan——

Right.

——President Trump. And I've spent a lot of time helping advise the council how to manage that fishery. It's the best-managed fishery in the world, bar none, of any fishery we have. But it's ludicrous to allow those scallops—they live about 8 to 10 years. And we've already gone through three different cycles of those scallops maturing and dying that we're not harvesting. And there's a way for us to do that. And you're director——

So it's a positive as opposed to a negative?

It—needs to be open.

And they die. They just die.

They die.

And they just die. No——

They've gone through every generation.

They die of—so a scallop will die of old age? [ Laughter ]

Die of old age.

It'll die of old age. But it needs to be——

How do they taste when they're dead and you make them——

Not very good.

Not good?

Not good.

And you talked about the MAHA. I mean, it's one of the—Frank said his fish—scallops are one of the best proteins.

Yes. Yes.

There you go.

They are.

Let's wrestle.

Is that right?

Oh, they can come to UFC.

That's good. I like that.

Thank you.

Anybody else? Are you guys okay?

Thanks, everybody.

Another thing too. The price of crab has tripled for us, so we're not getting that competition from other countries, which is——

Explain that.

Go ahead.

Russian product, for example. So, tariffs.

Not coming into the country. Yes.

And our price just skyrocketed. And it sells. People buy it. It's all U.S. And that's——

Do you want to have product coming in from——

So in other words, I—you know, at the dock, we received triple the amount of what we've seen in the past.

Oh.

So the demand is there, and people buy it.

Yes. Okay.

So yes.

President Trump, we have a fisherwoman that would like to——

Yes, sure.

Hi, Mr. President. My husband Sterling here.

How are you?

I'm doing well.

He's an Alaska Bering Sea crab fisherman. And I'm a farmer's daughter from Iowa.

Good. Good.

And I just want to——

That's a good combination. [ Laughter ]

It is. Harvesters. We're both harvesters.

I just wanted to say thank you for your leadership and representing not only fishing families but the farmers too to help make American agriculture, and not only that, but Alaskan seafood, the best in the world.

That's very good. Thank you very much.

Yes, thank you so much.

Great couple.

Thank you.

It's a good combination. Good. I like that.

Thank you.

Right?

Thank you.

Thank you, sir. This is a question that will directly impact the fishing industry. Fishermen cheered and support you in your fight to stop offshore wind turbines because experts say that they destroy the commercial fishing industry, not to mention their national security threat, as you've highlighted.

Yes. Yes.

Does your administration plan to continue to fight the judge's ruling that's allowing for the continuation of the turbines——

Always. Always.

——right by Jamaica Estates, right—where you live, off of the Atlantic?

Yes, I know exactly——

A hundred fifty-four of them are going to litter the sea. Will you put a stop to that, Mr. President, now that Kathy Hochul broke her deal about the pipeline?

And she did break her deal.

Doug, do you want to answer that question? Because I'm—I am for it. She broke her deal by stopping a pipeline. She wanted to stop a pipeline, which was so good for New England and so good for Connecticut. And she broke her deal.

What do you want to do on that, Doug?

Well, I want to say, first of all, absolutely, positively, the construction of these wind towers have an effect on fisheries. We've had multiple, multiple roundtables between NOAA, which is part of Commerce, and Interior, which manages all of the offshore leasing. So, it—we—plenty of evidence it destroys fisheries.

Number two is marine mammals, which Howard has in NOAA. It's affected—we've had more whales wash up on shore during the construction of these offshore things. So it's not great for marine life, not great for fisheries.

We also have a report from Secretary Pete Hegseth, which, conclusively, this is a national security threat. And we should understand: This was—this was thrown out by the Democrats and said: "No, it's not a—it can't be a national security. They're just making it up." Other countries, including Sweden, have canceled offshore wind projects because of national security issues.

And all you have to do is pay attention to the way the wars are being fought today. It's autonomous on autonomous, a lot of it low altitude. These wind towers that President Trump has worked to try to stop—the towers themselves can be 600 feet. The blades are 250 on top of that. You could launch an attack on the U.S. in the Northeast, in our most populous area, with a bunch of autonomous drones coming through a wind tower field, which cover thousands, if not tens of thousands, of miles. That level of attack would be undetectable until it was—came through because of the radar interference.

And then we know that there's autonomous undersea activity going on now. That's happening in the Gulf, with advances in technology on all sides. The sonar—the vibration of running the wind towers affects the undersea sonar.

So it's a huge national security threat, bad for marine mammals, bad for fish. President Trump is going to keep fighting for what's right for this country.

Could you stop the blades? Right now they're coming over from Asia. Right now they're sending the blades to start installing them. So it's sort of pending.

Yes. Well, and then, on top of that, it's the most expensive electricity, it's weather dependent.

It's terrible.

It's intermittent, and it's foreign sourced, as you say. So——