← Videos · Elections & Governance

Trump Gaggles with Press at a Halloween Party at Mar-a-Lago, Oct. 31, 2026

October 31, 2026 · The White House · 0:11:23

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

What happened

President Donald Trump took questions from reporters at a Halloween party at Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach, Florida on October 31, 2026, according to the White House. He opened by joking that he “came as Donald Trump,” saying he had ten minutes to get ready while his guests spent hours, as he put it.

Asked how he felt about Tuesday’s elections, the President said he felt good, that he had done many tele-town halls that day, and that he leaves early tomorrow for Iowa, then Kansas, with more events Monday “to see if we can get it over,” all as he stated it. He said the country “has never done better,” citing $25 trillion in wealth created over the last 19 months and $22.2 trillion being invested in the country, as he stated them.

On Iran, the President said Iran “will never have a nuclear weapon” and wants to make a deal; asked how negotiations were going, he said they were going fine but called the Iranians “not very reliable,” saying they make a deal and then back out, as he stated it. Asked about a timeframe for the Qatari-mediated negotiations, he said the United States was “not in that much of a hurry,” saying its military had knocked out Iran’s navy, air force, anti-aircraft defenses, almost every piece of military equipment, much of its manufacturing capability, and its nuclear program, with “one or two sites” left that could be taken care of “in 10 minutes,” all as he stated it. Asked directly whether he expected to go back to war with Iran as soon as this week, he declined to answer, saying he could not tell the reporter anything either way.

On the Alaska Senate ballot, the President repeated his charge that the listing of a second, similarly named candidate was “voter fraud at the highest level” and “a fraud on the people,” said the other candidate could no longer be found, and said Senator Schumer and lawyer Marc Elias “should be held criminally responsible for it,” all as he stated it. On the Michigan Democratic contest, he described a fissure between Abdul El-Sayed and Haley Stevens in harsh terms, calling El-Sayed, in his words, a “jihadist” who should not be in the Senate and saying a win by him would be “a devastating blow for our country,” as he stated it; he credited Stevens with having tried to work with El-Sayed and nearly winning.

Asked about a reported FBI matter involving North Korea and finance, the President said “we’re learning about it,” that he was not concerned, and that if it was North Korea “we’ll talk to North Korea about it,” as he stated it. Asked whether the United States had warned Russia about a potential terrorist attack, he said he would get the report on that the next morning.

On the lawsuit by Washington, DC and Virginia seeking to stop his planned arch, the President said they sue him on everything and have lost every lawsuit, called the arch “very important militarily for Washington DC and our country” and said it would be “the most beautiful arch ever built,” slightly larger than the Arc de Triomphe in Paris, which he called the most beautiful of the 59 cities’ arches he cited; he said a vote on it would be taken the following week and that earlier plans for an arch at the site had been interrupted by the Civil War and the Great Depression, all as he stated it.

The President also said he thought a reported payment involving Alina Habba was “terrible,” “totally obnoxious and outrageous,” and “not acceptable at all,” and that he did not want her paid, as he stated it. Asked about El Salvador’s president and Haiti, he said he had spoken with President Bukele, who “has a big problem with Haiti,” and that Bukele did not need U.S. help. Asked about reported concerns involving Nvidia’s Jensen Huang and Chinese intelligence operations, he said he had “a lot of respect for Jensen,” hoped he would be okay, and that “we’re going to check it out very closely,” adding that Huang would remain among his science and technology advisers unless something to the contrary was found, all as he stated it. Asked about Ukraine’s strikes on Russian refineries, he said he would talk to President Zelensky and that he thinks the Russia-Ukraine war “is going to come to an end in the not too distant future,” and he said he would invite President Putin to the G20. Asked about Flavio Bolsonaro, he said he had no plans to meet but that Bolsonaro “got treated very shabbily,” called Brazil’s election “a disgrace” in his opinion, and said Bolsonaro could stay in the United States as long as he wants.

Why it matters

Three days before the November 3 midterms, the Mar-a-Lago gaggle puts the President’s closing case — his economic figures, his Alaska fraud charge, and his rally schedule through Iowa and Kansas — on the record in his own words, alongside his Iran negotiating posture and his defense of the Washington arch project. This chronicle files it on the Elections & Governance hub with every claim attributed to the President.

Scoreboard watch

Scoreboard watch: the President’s dated claims as stated in this gaggle — $25 trillion in wealth created and $22.2 trillion being invested over 19 months, an arch vote the following week, Iran left with one or two nuclear-related sites, and a prediction that the Russia-Ukraine war ends “in the not too distant future” — 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 at a Halloween Party at Mar-a-Lago, Oct. 31, 2026,” Palm Beach, FL, October 31, 2026 (official upload, embedded above; published October 31, 2026). Transcript via Supadata (private research store, paraphrased and attributed, not republished). All figures and characterizations as stated by the President in the gaggle.