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Trump Gaggles with Press at Joint Base Andrews, Sep. 7, 2025

September 7, 2025 · The White House · 0:13:15

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

What happened

President Donald Trump took questions at Joint Base Andrews on September 7, 2025, returning from the U.S. Open, in a gaggle carried on the White House channel. He opened with the Middle East: “We’re working on a solution that maybe could be very good… We’re trying to get it ended, get the hostages back.” Of the remaining hostages he said: “We got them all back, but 20. And as you know, we have 20, plus there are a lot of unfortunately dead bodies involved and they want them back. The parents want them back. So we had some very good discussions. Good things could happen.”

On the immigration raid at the Hyundai battery plant in Georgia, the President said ICE “was doing right because they were here illegally,” but that the country needs foreign experts to train American workers for complex industries: “When they’re building batteries, if you don’t have people in this country right now that know about batteries, maybe we should help them along and let some people come in and train our people to do complex things, whether it’s battery manufacturing or computer manufacturing or building ships… We have a lot of industries that we don’t have any more. And we’re going to have to train people.” He said the episode did not strain the South Korea relationship: “We have a great relationship with South Korea. It’s a really good relationship. You know, we just made a trade deal.”

On Russia’s weekend attack on Ukraine, he said: “I’m not happy. I’m not happy about the whole situation… They’re losing — now, I used to tell you 5,000. They’re losing 7,000 — between Ukraine and Russia, 7,000 soldiers every single week. It’s such a horrible waste of humanity… I believe we’re going to get it settled.” He also praised the U.S. Open finalists and the fans in Queens, where he grew up.

Why it matters

The Hyundai passage is the administration’s first balancing statement on worksite enforcement against allied investment — enforcement defended, expert-entry training proposed in the same answer — and the 7,000-a-week figure updates the President’s stated toll for the Russia-Ukraine war on this site’s record.

Scoreboard watch

This gaggle is a scoreboard reference point: the President’s September 7, 2025 statements that a Hamas solution and hostage return were being worked and that Russia and Ukraine were losing 7,000 soldiers a week combined, each as stated by the President.

Sources: The White House, “President Trump Gaggles with Press at Joint Base Andrews, Sep. 7, 2025” (official upload, embedded above; the upload’s description places the event at Joint Base Andrews, MD). All figures and characterizations as stated by the President in the gaggle.