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Trump Gaggles with Press Upon Arrival at Joint Base Andrews, Oct. 28, 2026

October 28, 2026 · The White House · 0:08:51

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What happened

President Donald Trump took questions from reporters on arrival at Joint Base Andrews, Maryland on October 28, 2026, returning from Texas. He said the day brought “two big rallies” that were “packed,” with people watching outside on big screens, and said: “I think we’ve made a big impact. We’ll see what happens on Tuesday,” adding that he would be going to Ohio and South Carolina and that candidates there were doing well, all as he stated it.

Asked about a Brazilian figure coming to the United States, the President said he would approve of it, calling Brazil’s election “very strange” and saying the way the result was reached was “terrible,” while saying he did not take sides and did not endorse in Brazil — contrasting that with Colombia and Argentina, where he said his endorsements won — as he stated it. Asked about Israel, he said he had heard the opposite of reports that the governing coalition was losing ground, saying exit polls suggested its leader “did very well” and might be winning or tied, as he stated it.

On France, the President praised Ambassador Kushner’s renovation of the embassy in Paris and said the two talked about France, which he called “an immigration problem,” saying he has told President Macron for a long time that France would lose its country if it did not act, as he stated it.

Asked what he discussed with Steve Witkoff on the plane, the President said they talked about Iran and Russia, saying “we’re making a lot of progress with Russia Ukraine,” that a meeting would be set up “very soon” with President Putin and President Zelensky, and that on Iran “we’re in a very good position,” adding: “It’s simply a question of when do I want to end it.” He said Iran’s military and finances had been decimated and put its inflation at “301% as of a couple of days ago,” all as he stated it, and declined to say whether strikes against Iran would come after the election.

Asked whether he would endorse Vice President Vance if he runs for president, the President said Vance “hasn’t even talked to me about that and it’s too early to think about it,” adding: “I like him a lot. He’s a very capable guy.” He also noted the reception Marco Rubio received that night and called his cabinet “maybe the best ever,” as he stated it.

On a future meeting involving President Xi, the President said nuclear disarmament would be a topic, saying the United States has the most nuclear weapons, Russia is second and “pretty close behind,” and China is “much further behind, but they’ll catch us within 5 years,” putting the global total at “17,800 of these unbelievably deadly missiles,” all as he stated it.

Why it matters

The arrival gaggle puts the President’s closing midterm claim — that the Texas rallies made a big impact ahead of Tuesday — on the record alongside dated foreign-policy markers: a Russia-Ukraine meeting he said would be set up very soon, his framing that ending the Iran confrontation is a question of timing, and a scheduled nuclear-disarmament discussion with President Xi. This chronicle files it on the Foreign Policy & Defense hub with every claim attributed to the President.

Scoreboard watch

Scoreboard watch: the President’s dated claims as stated in this gaggle — that a Putin-Zelensky meeting will be set up very soon, that Iran’s inflation stood at 301%, and that China will catch the United States on nuclear weapons within five years — are checkable markers as stated. Noted for the scoreboard editor; no entry is published from this page.

Sources: The White House, “President Trump Gaggles with Press Upon Arrival at Joint Base Andrews, Oct. 28, 2026,” Joint Base Andrews, MD, October 28, 2026 (official upload, embedded above; published October 28, 2026). Transcript via Supadata (private research store, paraphrased and attributed, not republished). All figures and characterizations as stated by the President in the gaggle.