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Trump Gaggles with Press Before Departing the White House, Sep. 30, 2025

September 30, 2025 · The White House · 0:05:08

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

What happened

President Trump spoke with reporters before departing for Quantico. On the funding standoff, he said Democrats wanted to extend health care benefits to people who entered the country illegally and that “no system can handle that,” while saying a shutdown could run “about three or four days.”

On Gaza, the President said all Arab and Muslim countries and Israel had signed on to his plan and that the administration was “just waiting for Hamas,” wanting the hostages back immediately; if Hamas refused, he said, it would be “a very sad end.” On Venezuela, he said U.S. strikes had stopped boats carrying drugs by water and that the administration would “look very seriously at cartels coming by land.” He closed by describing the Quantico gathering of generals and admirals that Secretary Hegseth was addressing as he spoke.

Why it matters

The gaggle puts three live threads on the record in the President’s own words hours before his Quantico address: the Gaza plan awaiting only Hamas, the expansion of the maritime drug campaign toward land cartels, and the administration’s framing of the shutdown fight.

Sources: The White House, “Trump Gaggles with Press Before Departing the White House, Sep. 30, 2025” (official upload, embedded above). All characterizations and figures as stated by the participants in the broadcast.