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Trump Gaggles with Press Before Departing the White House, May 12, 2026

May 12, 2026 · The White House · 0:17:48

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

What happened

President Donald Trump took questions from the press before departing the White House on May 12, 2026, at the start of his state visit to China. On Iran, he set the terms as he stated them: “We’re only making a good deal… I believe that one way or the other it’s going to be very good for the American people.” Asked about Pakistan’s role, he praised the mediators — “The Pakistanis have been great. The field marshal and the prime minister of Pakistan have been absolutely great” — and said he and President Xi would have “a long talk” about Iran, but that no outside help was needed: “We’ll win it one way or the other. We’ll win it peacefully or otherwise.”

He described the blockade as “100% effective,” noted oil had been at $99 the day before — far below what he said he would have expected — and repeated the floor: “Iran cannot have a nuclear weapon. They will not have a nuclear weapon.” On domestic politics, asked about redistricting, he called the process “wonderful” and said Republicans expected to “pick up a lot of seats,” adding: “We want fair voting. We want fair elections.”

Why it matters

The gaggle is the President’s on-record frame for the China trip at its departure gate — Iran first, with the blockade and the nuclear floor stated hours before the Beijing meetings recorded in this collection — and it fixes his redistricting posture in the same window. Both threads are tracked on the Foreign Policy & Defense hub.

Scoreboard watch

The claims as stated by the President — a 100%-effective blockade and the oil-price framing — are recorded here as the baseline for the June Iran agreement and the energy record that followed.

Sources: The White House, “President Trump Gaggles with Press Before Departing the White House, May 12, 2026,” The White House, May 12, 2026 (official upload, embedded above). All figures and characterizations as stated by President Trump at the gaggle.