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Trump Gaggles with Press Upon Arrival at Charlotte, NC, Sep. 16, 2026

September 16, 2026 · The White House · 0:06:15

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

What happened

President Donald Trump took questions from reporters on arriving at Charlotte, North Carolina, on September 16, 2026, in a gaggle carried on the White House channel. He was in the state for Michael Whatley, whom he called “a great candidate” who is “strong on crime,” and he attacked former Governor Roy Cooper as “a disaster on crime” and for his handling of the hurricane he recalled as Helene.

Most of the gaggle, though, was about the Federal Reserve. Asked whether he still had confidence in Chair Kevin Warsh after the Fed’s action that day ran “the opposite of what you have been asking them to do,” the President said he did, but that Warsh faces “a very hostile” board: “interest rates are too high. They’re not appropriate.” He said he had told Warsh, “You might as well vote with the board cuz it’s not going to matter,” and argued the increases were political: “They’re raising the rates to make Trump do as bad as they can possibly do.” He repeated his standing claim that the United States “should be paying the lowest interest rates anywhere in the world because we have the strongest credit,” and cited “over $21 trillion dollars being invested in this country.”

He also said of the war with Iran, “hopefully we’re toward the end of the war. They want to make a deal,” called Canada “a terrible trade partner” while warning that a hostile European move on trade would draw “very serious tariffs,” and defended his takeover of the Kennedy Center, which he said had been losing “hundreds of millions of dollars” and would close without the administration’s intervention.

Why it matters

The Charlotte stop is the midterm campaign and the Fed fight in one appearance: the President stumping for his North Carolina candidate while keeping public pressure on Chair Warsh and the Fed board — the central tension this chronicle’s scoreboard tracks between the President and his own Fed chair.

Scoreboard watch

This gaggle carries candidate claims for the scoreboard: the “$21 trillion” investment figure and the President’s prediction that Iran wants a deal to end the war.

Sources: The White House, “President Trump Gaggles with Press Upon Arrival at Charlotte, NC, Sep. 16, 2026” (official upload, embedded above; the upload’s description places the gaggle at Charlotte, NC). All figures and characterizations as stated by the President at the gaggle.