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Trump Gaggles with Press Upon Arrival at Reading, PA, Jun. 23, 2026

June 23, 2026 · The White House · 0:06:55

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

What happened

President Donald Trump took questions from reporters on arrival at Reading, Pennsylvania on June 23, 2026, ahead of his remarks at Mack Trucks in Macungie (paged separately in this collection). He opened on steel: “We’re in Pennsylvania. We’re celebrating the great steel numbers. We are back in the steel business in a big way. One of the biggest in the world again.”

Most of the gaggle was Iran. Asked whether Senate Majority Leader John Thune could pass the Save America Act, and about allied criticism of the Iran agreement, the President held to the deal’s core claim: “Iran will not have a nuclear weapon.” On inspections, he rejected Tehran’s public position outright: “They’re wrong. They’re wrong. They know they’re wrong. They told us inside and we have it down 100% inspections… they’ll be on the ground at the appropriate time. There’s no rush.” He cited the oil flow as he stated it — “we had 19 million barrels of oil come off… that’s the biggest in the history of the Strait” of Hormuz — oil touching $70 a barrel, and Iran’s position: “Their military has been totally wiped out. Their leadership has been wiped out… money that will be taken out of Iran is going to go to our farmers to give corn, soybeans, wheat to Iran because they have a hunger problem… Their inflation now just hit 300%.”

On the Save America Act — voter ID and proof of citizenship — he said of Thune: “John’s a leader. That’s what being a leader is about… hopefully he can get the votes.” He also noted arrests over the Reflecting Pool vandalism (“I understand five or six people are arrested… it’s all being fixed”) and dismissed the idea that truckers face AI job losses: “Right now, we have the highest job numbers we’ve ever had in the country, in the history of the country.”

Why it matters

An arrival gaggle on the way into a factory speech is the administration’s argument in miniature: the Iran agreement defended on inspections, the election bill pressed on the Senate, and the industrial numbers celebrated in steel country. Foreign policy is the portfolio of Secretary of State and National Security Advisor Marco Rubio, and the inspections question is the verification half of the agreement this chronicle tracks.

Scoreboard watch

The gaggle restates dated, checkable claims: 100 percent inspections agreed “inside,” as the President put it; 19 million barrels through the Strait; oil at $70; and the Save America Act push to the Senate. All are recorded here as stated by the President.

Sources: The White House, “President Trump Gaggles with Press Upon Arrival at Reading, PA, Jun. 23, 2026,” Reading, PA (official upload, embedded above). All figures and characterizations as stated by the President in the gaggle.