A short press-gaggle on Air Force One (June 24, 2025) where President Trump discusses NATO burden-sharing and Article 5 (saying commitment depends on definition but praising increased European defense spending), expresses desire for a deal with Russia and references contact with Vladimir Putin, comments that recent oil prices fell nearly $10 and that increased US drilling will keep prices down, and criticizes President Biden’s handling of national security and extreme weather management.
Chapters
The US won't be increasing our GDP to 5%.
We should pay what everyone else. You know, they're in Europe, we're not. You know, a lot of that money goes to rebuild their bridges, their roads. So it could take heavy equipment. And, you know, we don't have any roads in Europe. We don't have any bridges in Europe. So, no, it wouldn't be quite the same thing for us, but we're with them.
Are you still committed to Article 5 of NATO?
Depends on your definition. There's numerous definitions of Article 5. You know that, right? But I'm committed to being their friends. You know, I've become friends with many of those leaders and I'm committed to helping them. What do you want the role of NATO to be going forward once these other countries are spending more by having a unified system? I think we're going to have stronger peace, better peace, and I think we have that. You know, when I went to NATO, they were broke. When I first started this whole thing, it seems like a long time ago, nine years, right. But they were broke. I knew it immediately. I said, you guys are broke. They weren't paying their dues. Seven of the 28 countries at the time it was 28 were paying their dues, but they weren't paying very much. NATO was broke. And I said, you're going to have to pay. We did a whole thing and now they're paying a lot. Then I said, you're going to have to lift it to 4% or 5% and 5% is better. They just, I guess they're voting on that today, but they're going to be lifting it to 5%. That's good. It gives them much more power.
Mr. President, if there's language in the final summit declaration about aggression by Russia, would you be okay with that kind of language?
Well, I'll have to take a look at it, but, you know, I'd like to see a deal with Russia. As you know, Vladimir called me up. He said, can I help you with Iran? Said, no, I don't need help with Iran. I need help with you. And I hope we're going to be getting a deal done with Russia. It's a shame. 6,000 soldiers died last week. More 6,500 soldiers died last week. Russia, Ukraine. A war that never would have happened if I was president. So enjoy your flight.
Let me ask you one more follow up in your comments just now about Article 5. That will probably make some people in Europe concerned. Can you clarify what you mean? Are you still committed to mutual defense.
I'm committed to saving lives. I'm committed to life and safety. And I'm going to give you an exact definition when I get there. I just don't want to do it on the back of an airplane.
And one other question on energy. What's your take on the oil price situation right now and are you concerned?
I love it. It dropped almost $10 yesterday. I put out a statement. Get it down. Because a lot of people aren't able to do things. When the energy goes down, you have a lot less conflict. So it came down and our energy department's doing a. We're, we're drilling like we've never drilled before. We're keeping it down. We're going to keep it down until all these wars are settled. Thank you very much, everybody.
I'll see you in sleeper cells in the United States.
Biden led a lot of supercell and Biden was an incompetent president, had no idea what he was doing. He hardly ever signed a document. Other people signed documents for him with the auto pen. It was gross incompetence. And among everything else, he let a lot of supercells in. Many. But hopefully we'll take care of them. What Biden did to this country should never be forgotten.
Do you think you'll get the Nobel Peace Prize now, sir?
