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Trump Gaggles with Press on Air Force One, Apr. 25, 2025

April 25, 2025 · The White House · 0:14:33

Embedded from the source channel — never re-uploaded. Watch on YouTube

What happened

President Donald Trump took questions from the press aboard Air Force One on Apr. 25, 2025, carried on the White House channel, during the flight to Rome for the funeral of Pope Francis. On China, pressed on Secretary Bessent’s statement that tariffs would not be dropped unilaterally, the President said: “I’m not going to drop them unless they give us something substantial, otherwise I’m not going to drop them.”

The President learned of a car bomb in Moscow that killed a Russian general from the reporters themselves - “you’re just telling me that for the first time” - and said he would look at it. On the funeral trip, he said the schedule left little time for one-on-one meetings but that he would try to see a couple of people important to what his administration is doing. He also addressed the India-Pakistan tensions after the Kashmir attack - “they’ll get it figured out one way or the other. I’m sure” - and called sanctuary cities, in his words, a sanctuary for criminals that should be closed down.

Why it matters

The gaggle is the President’s own statement of the China-tariff condition - no unilateral drop without something substantial in return - made on the way to a funeral that doubled as a gathering of the world leaders his trade policy was aimed at.

Scoreboard watch

Scoreboard watch: the President’s Apr. 25, 2025 condition for dropping China tariffs (something substantial from Beijing, as stated) - flagged for the scoreboard editors; the entry itself remains review-gated.

Sources: The White House, “President Trump Gaggles on Air Force One, Apr 25, 2025” (YouTube, Apr. 25, 2025) - official description and broadcast transcript as aired.