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Trump Gaggles with Press Upon Departure from the White House, Sep. 26, 2026

September 26, 2026 · The White House · 0:06:39

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

What happened

President Donald Trump took questions from reporters as he departed the White House on September 26, 2026, opening with Iran: “They made a proposal, but I’ve rejected it.” He said Iran wants a deal that opens the Strait of Hormuz immediately “because they’re losing so badly,” described the U.S. blockade of the strait as “a wall of steel,” and said 29 ships had come out of the strait the previous night under U.S. control. He said he would welcome a deal, but not on those terms.

On his just-completed meetings with President Xi, he said Taiwan “did come up” but was not discussed at length, and described a long conversation about what he calls super intelligence (SI, his preferred term for AI), saying the United States leads China by at least a year and that he is “not looking to open it up” while leading. On Ukraine, he said he had spoken with President Zelenskyy and President Putin and wants both to settle, citing 25,000 dead in the last month — mostly soldiers — after 32,000 the month before. On Cuba, he said “Cuba and US will make a deal” and that he did not think the military would be needed. He also sparred with reporters over press access, saying “I want real news, not fake news,” and praised meetings touching Venezuela and Iraq’s prime minister.

Why it matters

The gaggle is the President’s first on-record rejection of Iran’s proposal and his own readout of the China state visit’s sensitive topics — Taiwan and AI — delivered by the President himself. Those are statements of position for Secretary of State and National Security Advisor Marco Rubio and Secretary of War Pete Hegseth, whose portfolios this site tracks under the Foreign Policy & Defense hub.

Sources: The White House, “President Trump Gaggles with Press Upon Departure from the White House, Sep. 26, 2026” (official upload, embedded above). All characterizations and figures as stated by the President in the gaggle.