Remarks #4 transcript, Jul 8, 2026 (Donald Trump)

Well, thank you very much. It's a great honor to be with President Zelenskyy. We've talked a little while, and we speak on occasion by phone. We had a great talk the other day, I think. Very positive. And I think we have some very good stories to tell, what's going on.

And he wants to see a settlement, and I think President Putin wants to see a settlement. And usually, that means a settlement, but who knows? This is a tough one.

But I just—you know, we just had our NATO meeting, and it was a great meeting. You probably heard. It was a great meeting. There's a lot of—there was a lot of love in that room, a lot of unity. And I don't think it could have been—Marco, what do you think? It couldn't have gone much better. You have a feeling as to what you just saw?

Very positive. A lot of unity, strength in there.

Yes, really good. Scott, what'd you think?

Yes, sir. All the Europeans—they attributed you to saving NATO, and they're—they all—they want to do what they're supposed to do and do the right thing.

Yes. That was a—it was something very special.

And I will say that what they've done with Turkey—and President Erdoğan has been a friend of mine. He's been a friend of mine for a long time. Strong man. Good man. And he's done a fantastic job. Every road is so—everything's perfect. He's a—from the airport to the destination, everything's been perfect.

So we had a really good meeting. And we thought this would be a good time for President Zelenskyy and I to meet, and we'll see what we can do. But we've actually developed a good relationship. It's hard to believe, right? From the Oval Office to now, we've developed—[ laughter ]—I think we've developed a very good relationship. And——

And this is not the end.

No, this is not. This is going to be the beginning, maybe.

Yes.

Just the beginning.

And you know, the country has a lot of future. It has such great land, such great assets, such great people. And you have a lot of people.

I was with a group in Poland, and they have—you have a lot of people in Poland and—which is a terrific country with a really great President. I happened to endorse him. [ Inaudible ] And he's doing a very good job.

And they were saying they love Poland, but they really want to go back, you know? You're going to get a lot of people back when this is over. They left, some, and they're all—I think they're going to come back. A big percentage are going to come back.

So we're going to have a good talk, and we're going to see how it all goes.

And, Mr. President, would you like to say something?

Thanks so much, Mr. President. Thank you very much for this meeting. And we are very thankful, as always, to your support, American support—bipartisan support.

Thanks for the invitation to this summit. And I think that we really—I agree with you. We have a lot—what to discuss, to speak about.

And of course, we are thankful for the PURL program, and we want to share with you some details what we want to raise during our meeting. Air defense is the priority. The second point—or maybe the first: about negotiations.

Right.

I think, yes, we understand what to do—is our estimation—what to do, how to bring peace. And I hope that we will do. I'm sure that you will do everything to solve this war. Yes.

And I'm very happy that our sides began to work on drone deal, and it's very good beginning. And I hope that today I will have possibility to—also to discuss with you some very important details.

Thank you so much.

Well, we've settled a lot of wars. And this one is the one that I thought maybe would be the easiest, but Putin's a difficult character, and this guy's a difficult character. Doesn't—it's not the easiest—not the easiest thing. And there's a lot of commitment, and there's a lot of love of the countries and everything else. But I think we've made a lot of progress in the last couple of weeks, and we'll see how it all goes.

So do you have any questions?

With the Iran—with the Iran cease-fire possibly over, are you—can we expect the resumption of full-scale hostilities?

Well, I just think they are behaving very badly, as they have for 47 years. And you know, we hit them hard last night after they launched a couple of——

You don't have to know about this. You've got enough on your mind. [ Laughter ]

But they launched a couple of drones and one rocket—one missile and—at ships because they were in the Strait, which they have every right to be. And so we hit them very hard last night. Very, very hard. Probably hit them hard again tonight. I'll give him a little warning. We're going to hit them hard tonight. But we'll see how it all works out.

No, I'm not happy with them. You know, it's like—for instance, we'll have a meeting, and we'll talk about the denuclearization of Iran—because that's what the war is. It's not a war. It's really the denuclearization of Iran.

And we'll have a meeting, and we'll talk about just that. That's—because my whole thing is not about regime change, it's not about—although, I think it's regime change when you knock out the first group, the second group, and now you're at the—I think that's maybe the ultimate regime change, but that's not what it's about.

It's about, we don't want them to have nuclear weapons, and it's denuking or denuclearization. And I think we've made a lot of progress.

And they'll get out of the room, we'll talk about—like we're here. They'll agree on everything, and then they'll go have a news conference and say we never even talked about it. They're cuckoo. There's something wrong with these people.

And for 47 years, they've been the bully of the Middle East. And they're not the bully anymore. They're not the bully anymore. And all we want—I want—it's very simple: They can't have a nuclear weapon. That's what I'm there for.

Because if they did——

——because if they did, they'd use it. And we're not going to let that happen.

President Trump, sir.

Daniel [Daniel Baldwin, One America News Network].

You've made a career making deals in very challenging situations. Speaking to President Zelenskyy, speaking to President Putin, in your view, sir, what is the most pragmatic pathway forward to finding a long-term peace deal in the Russia-Ukraine war?

I just think they're going to make a deal, look, it's been—this deal has been in the works for a long time. It's got the pluses, the minuses. They know what it is. He knows what it is better than anybody.

And I just think it's—sometimes—you know, I used an analogy. And it sounds simple, but it's sort of true: You're—you have two kids in a park, and they don't like each other, and they start fighting. Sometimes, you have to let them fight. Let them see that it's tough. You know, it's tough. Fighting is tough.

And he's done an amazing job. Look, he's been very effective. And he's had the best equipment because he's had our equipment. And he's had great—but somebody has to use that equipment, and you have a lot of brave people that are using that equipment.

Yes.

And Russia, you know, it's a big country, but it's a big force. Russia's always been a big fighting force. So, you know, it's—but I really believe it's ready.

It's very interesting, because you'd almost say it's worse than ever, and maybe it isn't. Sometimes with war—and you study war—and I've studied it so long; for years, long before I did this—sometimes it's when it gets the worst—and I don't know that it's the worst right now. It's consistently bad. They lost—25,000 people were lost—kids, young people last month. And we had a month—35, 2 months ago. And I would say more Russians, and—but it's just—they're people. They're people.

And there's actually very little difference between the people. I mean, you know, it's like the Russians and Ukrainian people. And they can get along.

But it's a—it's a nasty war. Thousands and thousands—mostly soldiers are being killed. The battlefields—I see pictures, and it's horrible. He thinks it's horrible. They all—we all think it's horrible.

And the President wants to get it done, and I believe that President Putin wants to get it done, and that should be a good combination.

Thank you.

Mr. President, what is your assessment on Ukraine's strike on Russian oil refineries and military factories?

Where are you from?

Ukraine.

Phrase the question differently, please.

Ukraine deliver long strikes on Russian military factories and on oil refineries, and they ran out of gas.

Marco, why don't you answer that——

Well——

——because you're right in the middle of it.

Yes. No, I think what you're discussing is the ability of Ukraine to reach deep inside of Russia——

Yes, yes. Sure. Sure.

——and conduct strikes.

I think that's one of the dynamics that's changed in this war over the last few months, and that is that the Russians are finding it more difficult to defend their own airspace. And what we hope that means is that's going to create the space now for—to negotiate the end of this war.

It's an escalation, but it's also an escalation that can help lead to an end. And——

Mr. President, what makes you thinking that Mr. Putin might be seeking for the settlement?

So where are you from?

Radio Free Europe's Ukrainian Service. I'm from Ukraine.

Okay, good. Because I talk to him. I talk to him. I talk to President Zelenskyy. And I think—that's all I've done. My whole life, I've made deals. That's—I guess becoming President was making a deal. Right? It was, like, a lot of little individual things. In the end, it's making a deal. And that's what I do, and I do it well, and I know when people want to make a deal. I think he wants to make a deal.

And I do feel that President Zelenskyy would like to get back to rebuilding his country, as opposed to——

Of course.

——you know, having all of this death and destruction.

Ukraine has tremendous potential. He understands that. We talk about that. He talks about that more than he talks about the war. You know, to me, I think it's—I think you might be—find that more exciting than the war.

This is—it's brutal. The other's the beauty of it, you know? He's—I think he'll build a great country. I think he's going to build it. We have a little stake in that country now, because we have some land in that country. But we have minerals. It's among the wealthiest—it's among the best land anywhere in the world for rare earth, and we have some——

We have some—we have some rare earth. I look forward to taking advantage of it at the right time, I will say.

Are you going to ask Europe to make Patriot missiles in Europe?

Here's—look at this guy. He's one of my favorite soldiers. I see him. He's central casting. You—right? You doing okay?

Yes, sir.

We see him at meetings. He's good. He's done a great job. Great job.

We're trying to do our best, sir.

Yes. Great—great hero, actually.

Go ahead, please.

Mr. President, will you allow Europe to make Patriot interceptors in Europe? Are you comfortable with licensing that technology?

About what? Tell me.

Patriot interceptors—to be made in Europe.

And you're talking with respect to Ukraine.

Well, we're going to talk about that. You know, look, it's a defensive weapon, which I like better than an offensive weapon. It's the best.

So I was saying, we have an aircraft carrier, which is one of the most beautiful in the world. It's one of the biggest—the Abraham Lincoln . And 2 months ago, we had a hundred—I told this story yesterday. We had 111 missiles shot by the Islamic Republic of Japan [Iran; White House correction]. They were shot at the aircraft carrier over a period of about 1 hour. A hundred and eleven missiles going to a very expensive ship, and every one of those missiles was knocked down pretty much—most by Patriots, but by other means also, as you know.

Yes.

Other less expensive means. It's even better when you do that.

But out of the 111 missiles, every one of them was shot down. It didn't hit the ship. And, you know, bad things happen—right?—when that happens. So think of that. Over a period of 1 hour, these missiles are coming at you, and every one of them shot down.

So I think one of the things we're going to be talking about is—as you know, we—the companies—we have great power over the companies—those companies that make the Patriot and make all of the great stuff, the Tomahawks—all of the great stuff. We have the best stuff. Many things. The Patriot's great, but we have many, many great things.

You see that with Venezuela. You see it with Iran. Look, Iran has been wiped out. Iran—their navy's gone. Their air force is gone. Everything is gone.

But one of the things I think we're going to be talking about today—just, a little birdie told me this—about the fact that we'll give them the right to make Patriots. We'll show them how to do it. It's very complex, actually, but it's—you'll figure out the complexity quickly. And we're talking about that.

And we'll—the company that makes them, which is building, now, four plants—you know, all of our companies will be able to do this in 2 to 3 months. Every—if you order a Patriot, now you have to wait a long time for them. Same thing with Tomahawks. We have a lot of certain equipment, but with—they call it the elite equipment, and you don't need elite equipment, necessarily, for a war.

But—so one of the things we're going to be talking about is, you'll—we're going to give a license to you to make Patriots. That's pretty cool, right?

Yes, this is—yes. Very.

This way, he can't complain that we're not giving them enough. I'd say, "Make them yourself."

We haven't informed the company of that yet, but that will work out all right. [ Laughter ] You know, they're—I'm sure they'll be thrilled. But you know, they'll be able to do it. You'll be able to figure that out. Most countries couldn't do that.

Yes.

If I said that to most countries, they wouldn't know what I'm talking about, but this is a very ingenious group.

And what I like about that: It's a defensive situation, as opposed to an offensive. But I think one of the things you might want to be talking about is that. That's what I heard. Little birdie told me that. [ Laughter ]

Go ahead.

Mr. President, on Iran. Can you clarify: Does the end of the cease-fire mean that we are back to a full-scale——

Well, as far as I'm concerned——

military conflict?

Look, they violate the agreement every day. They lie. They cheat. They kill people. They've been killing people for 47 years. They knocked out the SS Cole . We lost—what?—a hundred—200 people. More. That was a long time ago.

For 47 years, no President did anything about them. Well, Obama actually gave them vast amounts of money.

You'd like this.

He gave them a planeload of money: $1.7 billion in green cash. They load up a Boeing—they loaded up a Boeing 757. Remember? The old 757—it was a beautiful plane, loaded up with cash. They took all the seats out, and they took all of the cash from Virginia, Maryland, and DC banks. They had no money. They took every ounce of cash, put it in, flew it to Iran, and gave them the money.

I wonder what these guys thought of when the door opened and cash fell out of this big plane, beautiful plane. And then, on top of that, they gave them billions and billions of dollars.

And by the way, they gave it to the wrong—the wrong country, frankly, you want to know the truth. And it began—that was—that was pretty much the Obama nuclear deal—Obama deal, the—that was one of the worst tragedies that happened. That's what happened in the Middle East. That deal set back that whole situation. They went with—frankly, they picked the wrong country. They picked the wrong country.

JCPOC. What a terrible—what a terrible deal. I call it the "Obama Nuclear Waste Deal," because what he did with that deal is, he caused tremendous hardship in the Middle East. It was a terrible, terrible thing to do.

And we've been just the opposite. Our deal is a wall to a nuclear weapon. His deal was a road to a nuclear weapon. We couldn't—they'll never build a nuclear weapon under our deal.

But I don't know if we're going to have a deal. We may just do it without a deal. Because you know what? It's easier, because these people——

What does that look like, specifically?

——they lie and they cheat. And you have an agreement, and they'll go outside—for instance, they agreed: "Well, we'll never have a nuclear weapon." They agreed. Then they go outside, they have a news conference, or they leak that we never discussed the subject.

Now, who would believe we never discussed the subject? Because for me, that's 99.9 percent of what we're doing. It's denuclearization of Iran. Okay?

So, when you ask—our guys can continue. You know, Steve is great, and Jared and all the guys. They know him very well. Actually, they're working on your stuff too. [ Laughter ]

I wonder which—I picked two beauties. You know what? We settled eight wars. I've got a couple of beauties here. But Steve's great and Jared is great. You know, they're the right guys, and we'll see what happens.

But I will say this: Iran—they've misbehaved for 47 years. They've killed our soldiers, they've killed our people, and they've killed a lot of people all over the Middle East and elsewhere.

And the roadside bomb was their preferred—you know, the preferred weapon was—by Soleimani—the roadside bomb, where it would explode under a truck. We actually built trucks with floors, steel this thick, and then all they did was they made bigger bombs.

And we have young guys around—not walking around, because they have no legs—but their legs were blown off, their arms were blown off, their face was blown off. And they lived. Because of modern medicine, you can do anything. But they're living—they're living, like, in hell. Their whole life changed because of Iran. And that was—96 percent of the people that use that—they were made in Iran. And so we have a score to settle too.

Mr. President, you say that President Putin is ready to finish this war. What if he doesn't? Do you—are you ready to put pressure on Russia? Are you ready to——

Well, we have a lot of pressure.

put more sanctions?

We have a lot of pressure on President Putin. You know, I don't think he likes what's going on. I don't think he likes—I don't think he's thrilled with what's happening. There's a lot of pressure on President Putin to get it done. I think there's pressure on everybody to get that one done. A lot of pressure.

What's your security guarantee for Ukraine?

The guarantee?

Yes, security guarantee for Ukraine.

Well, the security guarantee, you're talking about?

Yes.

I mean, it—not that we want to do it. We'll do it to save lives.

Look, Ukraine's very far away. We have an ocean separating us. What I'm doing is, I'm trying to save lives. A lot of lives are being lost.

I also think that it's a country with great potential. I think if this kind of brainpower can go toward build—rebuilding the country instead of fighting a war, I think it's going to do—I think that country is going to do fantastically well.

And likewise, Russia—you know, look, they're devoting a lot of energy. A lot of energy.

Do you have a question for President Putin, please?

Putin?

President——

President—do you have a question for President Putin?

Yes.

Not Zelenskyy. Putin. [ Laughter ]

Yes, what would you like to ask him? Because I'm going to ask him that question.

I have question. You once—last year, you called Russia "a paper tiger," referring that they're not doing—[ inaudible ]——

Who did I call?

I'm from Telegraf UA, Ukrainian media.

No, no. Give us a question not for Zelenskyy. Give us a question for Putin.

Why is he attacking Ukraine cities if he wants peace?

Because I'm speaking to him today.

Why is he attacking Ukraine cities if he wants peace?

And give me a good, hard question.