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Trump Gaggles with Press on Air Force One En Route Joint Base Andrews, Jul. 8, 2026

July 8, 2026 · The White House · 0:14:17

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

What happened

President Donald Trump spoke with reporters aboard Air Force One on July 8, 2026, on the flight back to Joint Base Andrews from the NATO summit in Turkey. “We had a very good day, very good two days and a lot of things were determined,” he said, adding that “we made a lot of good trade deals with Turkey” and that President Erdogan “has been great.”

Asked about the change of aircraft on the trip, the President said there was no security concern: one plane had been sent ahead on the same route so personnel at the base could see it, and the press cabin’s closed window shades were, he suggested, a precaution on “a dangerous leg.” On Iran, he said the United States had answered Iranian attacks at a ratio of “20 to 1”: “Every time they hit us we’re going to hit them 20. And we did it last night.” Asked whether the exchange meant a return to full-scale conflict, he said Iran had “very little left” militarily, that “they want to make a deal so badly,” and that his reservation was whether Tehran would honor a deal: “I just don’t know if they’re worthy of making a deal. I don’t know that they’re going to honor the deal. That’s the problem.”

Why it matters

Air Force One gaggles are where a returning president puts his first full account of a summit trip on the record. This one frames the Turkey trip as trade deals made and an alliance satisfied, and states the administration’s Iran position — overwhelming retaliation, a deal available but doubted — in the President’s own words on the day of the strikes.

Sources: The White House, “President Trump Gaggles with Press on Air Force One En Route Joint Base Andrews, Jul. 8, 2026,” July 8, 2026 (official upload, embedded above). All characterizations as stated by the President in the gaggle.