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Trump Gaggles with the Press on Air Force One, June 17, 2025

June 17, 2025 · The White House · 0:12:40

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

What happened

President Donald Trump took questions from the press on Air Force One on June 17, 2025, carried on the White House channel, on his early departure from the G7 summit in Canada as the Israel-Iran conflict escalated. Correcting the premise of a question about a ceasefire, he said: “We’re not looking for a ceasefire. I didn’t say I was looking for a ceasefire. We’re looking at better than a ceasefire,” and repeated the core demand: “Remember, Iran cannot have a nuclear weapon. It’s very simple. We don’t have to go too deep into it. They just can’t have a nuclear weapon.”

Asked what “better” meant, the President said: “A real end, not a ceasefire, an end,” adding of a complete Iranian giving-up of the program: “That’s possible, yeah.” On his call for Tehran’s evacuation, he said: “I want people to be safe,” and warned that if Iran did anything to U.S. troops, “we’ll come down so hard. Then the gloves are off,” as he stated the warning. He said he had not yet decided whether to send the Vice President and Steve Witkoff to meet the Iranians: “Not sure yet. I may. Depends on what happens when I get back.”

Why it matters

This gaggle is the flight-home framing that preceded the June 21 strikes: the objective defined as a permanent end rather than a pause, the evacuation call explained as a safety measure, and the Witkoff/Vance channel left open — all in the President’s own words, four days before the Address to the Nation.

Scoreboard watch

This gaggle is a scoreboard reference point: the President’s June 17, 2025 definition of the objective — “a real end, not a ceasefire” — as stated by the President, to be checked against the ceasefire and strike record that followed.

Sources: The White House, “President Trump Gaggles with the Press on Air Force One, June 17, 2025” (official upload, embedded above; the upload’s description places the gaggle on Air Force One). All characterizations as stated by the President.