Return to Transcripts main page
CNN News Central
Trump Says, We Want Iran War to End, Strait of Hormuz to Reopen; Trump Heading Back to U.S. After Beijing Summit With Xi Jinping; Trump, Xi Wrap Summit Without Announcing Any Major Agreements. Aired 7-7:30a ET
Aired May 15, 2026 - 07:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[07:00:00]
SARA SIDNER, CNN ANCHOR: All right. Breaking news, while you were sleeping, President Trump's historic summit in China came to an end. The big hope was that Trump could push China to help end the Iran war. President Trump, just this last few seconds, is speaking out about what happened during the meeting, asked a lot of questions. We will bring that to you in just a bit here.
JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: All right. A plane crashes into a home and bursts into flames, killing two people. Inside the house, two young children were napping upstairs. The father's frantic effort to save their lives.
KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: And goodbye swiping, hello A.I. Dating app Bumble bringing artificial intelligence into the dating world in a whole new way.
I'm Kate Bolduan with John Berman and Sara Sidner, this is CNN News Central.
SIDNER: Well, the president has begun speaking about his trip as he is on this flight. He's being asked a lot of questions by reporters. We're going to bring that to you as soon as we can turn it around for you. But there is a big question sort of swirling around all this. Did President Trump's whirlwind trip to Beijing pay off?
Right now, he is on his way back to the United States after his final day of meetings with Chinese President Xi Jinping. After a bruising tariff war last year, both leaders left the summit projecting signs of a stabilized relationship. The president announced what he called fantastic trade deals between the two countries, though China has not confirmed specifics on that.
He also signaled some unity on Iran despite China's close ties to Tehran.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP, U.S. PRESIDENT: We did discuss Iran. We feel very similar on Iran. We want that to end, and we don't want them to have a nuclear weapon. We want the straits open. We're closing it now. They closed it, then we closed it on top of them. But we want the straits open, and we want them to get it ended.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SIDNER: Yet there's been no clear sign that China, Iran's top oil consumer, will press Tehran to meet U.S. demands. Iran state media says that some 30 vessels, including Chinese ships, have passed through the Strait of Hormuz since Wednesday with, quote, Iran's permission.
There was also the warning, or some might say threat, Xi made saying the wrong move on Taiwan could trigger clashes and even conflicts between the two superpowers.
CNN's Julia Benbrook is live this morning at the White House with the very latest this morning as the president is now heading home. What can you tell us?
JULIA BENBROOK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right. President Donald Trump is back on his way to Washington following this high-stakes summit with Chinese leader Xi Jinping. And as Trump arrived and departed from Beijing, there was a lot of fanfare, a lot of celebration, something that we know he appreciates. And the summit did seem to end on a high note with both leaders emphasizing a steadier relationship, and Trump praising China in his final remarks before he headed home.
Trump also said that the two had solved a lot of different issues during this summit, but that's where some of the specifics are lacking. On these major issues, he did not provide concrete details. But one topic that loomed over this summit, which you spoke about as well, is this conflict in Iran. There was a lot taking place right before Trump left, and no doubt a lot to deal with as he returns.
Now, a reminder, before he took off for this trip, the United States, they had sent a proposal to Iran to bring the conflict to an end. Iran responded, and Trump made it clear he was not happy with that response. In fact, he called it, totally unacceptable, and said that the ceasefire agreement that is in place right now was on major life support.
So, this topic did come up in discussions during the summit, and Trump suggested that China, who has strong ties with Iran, was in alignment with the United States on bringing the conflict to an end. And he used examples of preventing Iran from having a nuclear weapon, as well as reopening the Strait of Hormuz as areas where they were aligned.
In an interview with Fox News, Trump said that Xi had offered help in resolving the conflict and had also pledged to not provide Iran with military equipment.
[07:10:07]
In a separate interview with NBC News, Secretary of State Marco Rubio emphasized that the United States had not asked for specific help on this conflict. Now, we do know that Xi is expected to come visit here at the White House in the fall. Trump extended that formal invitation for September 24th. Obviously, a lot could change. A lot could remain the same in the coming months. So, we'll see how similar or different that meeting will be. Sara?
SIDNER: All right. We know that President Trump is being asked some pointed questions about that, whether you want to call it a threat by Xi about Taiwan and about the Strait of Hormuz. We will try to get some answers for you in just a bit.
Thank you so much for your reporting there from the White House for us this morning. John?
BERMAN: All right. In terms of the reaction to the president's trip, oil prices jumping this morning, Brent Crude up more than 1 percent, West Texas up more than 2 percent. This comes after an announcement that China will buy U.S. oil, at least that's the president's claim. This, of course, after China has not been getting a lot of oil through the Strait of Hormuz, but as you will hear in a second, this may increase concerns that the strait won't open any time soon.
As the president heads home, stock futures, they are falling this morning also -- Actually, the president's speaking on Air Force One. Let's listen to what he's saying.
REPORTER: Sir, I know there'll be a lot of questions around the China trip, but just first on Iran. Have you rejected the latest proposal from Iran, or where does that stand?
TRUMP: Well, I looked at it, and if I don't like the first sentence, I just throw it away.
REPORTER: What was the first sentence?
TRUMP: An unacceptable sentence because they have fully agreed no nuclear, and if they have any nuclear of any form, I don't read the rest of the letter.
REPORTER: So, twenty years is not enough for you. It's got to be a permanent --
TRUMP: No, 20 years is enough, but the level of guarantee from them is -- in other words, it's got to be a real 20 years, not a fake 20 years.
REPORTER: It means you got to get all the fuel out and no more production?
TRUMP: We have to get everything. But we're not even talking, if I call it the nuclear dust. I came up with the term. We'll see what's going on.
REPORTER: But I'm talking about because they would not remove the --
TRUMP: They said that they can't remove it because they don't have the technology to remove it.
REPORTER: Well, you can remove it for them.
TRUMP: They don't have the type of tractors. They say the only one -- they told me directly. They said the only one that can remove it is China or the U.S. We're the only ones with the equipment. They said, you were right. It is a complete obliteration.
With that being said, I want to get it. And they agreed to it, but then they took it back, but they'll agree to it eventually.
REPORTER: So, can I just ask you about Taiwan? What did President Xi say to you about Taiwan? What did President Xi say to you about Taiwan, and are you still going to approve the arms sale?
TRUMP: So, President Xi and I talked a lot about Taiwan. He thinks they cannot have anything to do with what they're doing. I mean, he's, you know, against very much what they're doing.
We talked about Taiwan. We talked about Iran a lot. And I think we have a very good understanding on both. On Taiwan, he does not want to see a fight for independence because that would be a very strong confrontation, and I heard him out.
REPORTER: Are you going to --
TRUMP: No, I didn't make a comment on it. I heard him out. I have a lot of respect for him.
On Iran, it's very interesting. He feels strongly they can't have a nuclear weapon. He said that very strongly, they cannot have a nuclear weapon. And he wants them to open up the strait. But as he said, they closed it, and then you close them, with a smile. And it's true. We control the strait, and they've done no business. Literally, they've done no business in the last two and a half weeks, which is approximately $500 million a day. So, we have -- we're doing very well on all fronts.
REPORTER: On Taiwan, Mr. President. President Xi said that there was a risk of conflict with the U.S. over Taiwan. What's your response to that?
TRUMP: I don't think there's a conflict other than we don't need their strait. We don't need the armor on that --
REPORTER: So, on Taiwan, President Xi said there was a risk of conflict with the U.S. over Taiwan.
TRUMP: No, I don't think so. I don't think so. I think we're going to be -- I think we'll be fine. He doesn't want to see -- he doesn't want to see a war. And you have two things. You have the Iranian situation, and that I think we agree almost entirely other than he's a buyer, and we're not. We don't need it.
And on Taiwan, he doesn't want to see a movement for independence. He says, look, you know, we've had it for thousands of years, and then at a certain period in time it left, then we were going to get it back.
[07:10:03]
They had the Korean War. A lot of things happened after all this. But, no. On Taiwan, he feels very strongly. I made no commitment, by the way. We'll see what happens.
REPORTER: What about the arms sales to Taiwan?
TRUMP: I'll make a determination over the next fairly short period.
REPORTER: But you're not necessarily going to go ahead with this. You're proposing --
TRUMP: I'm going to make a determination. I'm going to see -- I have to speak to the person that right now is, you know, you know who he is, that's running Taiwan.
REPORTER: Mr. President, did President Xi make any firm commitment to put pressure on the Iranians to reopen the Strait of Hormuz?
TRUMP: I'm not asking for any favors, because when you ask for favors, you have to do favors in return. We don't need favors. We wiped out their armed forces, essentially. We may have to do a little cleanup work because we had a little month-long ceasefire, I guess you'd call it, but we have a blockade that's so effective. That's why we did the ceasefire. We really did the ceasefire at the request of other nations. I wouldn't have really been in favor of it, but we did it as a favor to Pakistan, who are terrific people, the field marshall and the prime minister.
But, no, I mean, President Xi and I agree on many things, and we agree very much on trade. We're going to be doing a lot of trading. Our farmers are going to be taking in -- I mean, our farmers are going to be very happy with the deal we made.
REPORTER: Do you think that he will put pressure, that he will try and get them to --
TRUMP: We're not asking him to put pressure because I don't need favors. I think he will. I think automatically he'd like to see it opened up. He gets about 40 percent of his energy or his oil from that -- you know, from the strait. We get none. We get none. We don't need it.
REPORTER: Mr. President, on Truth Social, you said that President Xi had made a reference to the decline of the U.S. We didn't hear him say that. Maybe it was something he said in private to you. So, what was it, first of all, that he said that prompted you to (INAUDIBLE)?
TRUMP: He made a statement. It might not have been from him. It was somebody. But they talked about the decline. But he said today, and he said it very publicly, he said the U.S. was declining for the last four years. And he said, what President Trump has done in the last 15, 16 months has been virtually a miracle. He said, we have the hottest -- he said, we have the hottest country anywhere in the world. But he said that it was a declining country.
Under Joe Biden, he said we had a declining, a seriously declining country, which we did, with people pouring in from all over the world, from prisons and everything else. He said, what President Trump has done has been a virtual miracle. It's the hottest country anywhere in the world, and it is true.
REPORTER: On a different subject, on Cuba, there's reporting that Raul Castro could be indicted by the DOJ, I believe. What does that mean?
TRUMP: Well, I don't want to comment on that. I'll let DOJ comment on it. But they need help, as you know. And you talk about a declining country. They are really a nation or a country in decline. So, we're going to see. We have a lot to talk about on Cuba, but not maybe for today.
REPORTER: On tariffs, Mr. President, did you agree with President Xi to extend that year-long truce on tariffs?
TRUMP: No, we didn't discuss tariffs, okay? They're paying tariffs. They're paying substantial tariffs, but we didn't discuss it. You know, before I came along, it was the opposite. We didn't discuss tariffs.
REPORTER: How come?
TRUMP: It wasn't brought up.
REPORTER: Mr. President, you said in January to us that you were going to bring up the expansion of their nuclear program. Obviously, they've got 600 weapons now, by the Pentagon's estimate, going to 1,500. Did that come up? Did you succeed in getting them into any form of arms control or the -- remember we discussed New START?
TRUMP: You're talking about China?
REPORTER: China.
TRUMP: Yes, we brought it up, the denuclearization. I talk about it all the time with Russia and with China, and it did come up. We did discuss it.
REPORTER: And what did you conclude?
TRUMP: I got a very positive response since the beginning. So, you know, we're going to be together four times potentially this year. We have the G20, which he wants to come to, which I'd like him to come to. It's going to be in Miami. It's going to be in Doral, and it's going to be, I think, very good. Much more important if he's there. And so you have the G20, we have one that he has, as you know, in November in China. He's asked me to be there. I'm going to try and be there. And then we have another one on September, I guess, 26th or 24th, where he's coming into the White House.
REPORTER: I'm trying to understand what it is he committed to, if he committed anything.
TRUMP: Well, I don't want to say anybody committed, but we have a very good understanding.
REPORTER: So, are you going to move --
TRUMP: You know, the concept of denuclearization.
[07:15:02]
REPORTER: Denuclearization or just a New -- an extension of New START?
TRUMP: Well, no, a denuclearization.
REPORTER: In other words, building down?
TRUMP: And you bring Russia into it also. But the concept of that is something that would be very good.
REPORTER: Sir, can I ask about the political prisoners in China? Did you bring up with President Xi any of the political prisoners in China? Are any going to be released? Any progress?
TRUMP: I think he's giving very serious consideration to the pastors, the pastors. He said he's giving very serious consideration to that. I discussed it with him.
REPORTER: What about Jimmy Lai, Mr. President?
TRUMP: It's a tougher one. That's a -- I did bring it up. It's a tougher one. For him, it's a tough one.
REPORTER: What did he say about it?
TRUMP: I understand that. He said, for him, it's a very -- he told me, I don't want to mislead anybody, he said Jimmy Lai is a tough one for him to do, you know, went through a lot, and right or wrong, he went through a lot.
So, he told me that would be a tough one. He said he's going to strongly consider the pastors.
REPORTER: Sir, can I ask you two on technology?
TRUMP: Yes.
REPORTER: First, computer chips, advanced computer chips like the H200s that Jensen has.
TRUMP: Yes.
REPORTER: Did that come up at all with Xi?
TRUMP: It didn't come up, but as you know, Jensen was there. He's an amazing guy, NVIDIA. And he would be inclined. You know, they have much higher level than the H200. But the H200 is good. China needs them. And so, yes, it came up. They haven't bought any so far, as you know, because they chose not to. They want to try and develop their own. But it did come up, and I think something could happen on that. Okay.
REPORTER: And then on artificial intelligence --
TRUMP: They have quite a bit higher level. But the H200 is a good -- it's a great chip
REPORTER: And then on artificial intelligence, what is it that you want to get done? Did you bring up the folks and all the --
TRUMP: We did. We talked. You know, we're leading by a lot, but they're second and they're very strong. And we talked about possibly working together for guardrails.
REPORTER: And what kind of guardrails?
TRUMP: And he's very --
REPORTER: What kind of guardrails are you talking about?
TRUMP: The standard guardrails that we talk about all the time. A.I. is fantastic. So many things can happen in terms of health, medicine and operations, everything, military. So many things can happen. But it's also got some drawbacks, and we're talking about -- we probably will. We're going to work together. We had a very good conversation about a lot of stuff.
REPORTER: So, biological, nuclear, cyber?
TRUMP: Yes.
REPORTER: And did you specifically discuss those risks?
TRUMP: We discussed, I would say, almost everything you could discuss except for a reduction of tariffs.
REPORTER: Okay. On Iran, Mr. President, just to be clear, I mean, what's next? Are you -- is the threat of the bombing starting again? How realistic is that?
TRUMP: Oh, I don't want to say that. I mean, I'd like to tell you. I'd like to say on a certain hour, a certain day, the bombing is going to start. I don't want to say that. I can only say that Iran -- I can say this with very, very strong conviction, Iran will never have a nuclear weapon, not going to happen. They have no chance.
REPORTER: Weren't they used to be of repeating the bombing? You did it for 38 days.
TRUMP: Well, no, we did --
REPORTER: And you did not get the political changes in Iran that you -- TRUMP: Oh, I got -- I had a total military victory. But the fake news guys like you write incorrectly. You're a fake guy, Ed. Guys like you write about it incorrectly. We had a total military victory. We knocked out their entire navy. We knocked out their entire air force. We knocked out all of their anti-aircraft weaponry. We knocked out all of their radar. We knocked out all of their leaders, number one, and then we knocked out all of their leaders in the second division, and we knocked out numerous of their leaders in the third division, and they're very confused. We've had a total victory except by people like you that don't write the truth. You know, you should write -- I actually think it's sort of treasonous what you write, but you and The New York Times and CNN, I would say, are the worst.
REPORTER: So, on another war --
TRUMP: And you should know better. You're a professional. You know better. Your editors tell you what to write and you write it. You should be ashamed of yourself.
REPORTER: Mr. President, another war, is there any move --
TRUMP: I actually think it's treason. When you write like they're doing well militarily and they have no navy, no air force, no anti anything -- by the way, we knocked out 85 percent of their manufacturing for the missiles. We knocked out everything. We haven't knocked out other than one bridge that we did because they misbehaved, but we have bridges we could knock out. We could knock out their bridges and their electrical capacity within two days. We could knock out the whole thing.
And then I read The New York Times and they act like they're doing well. Everybody knows that. That's why your subscribers are way down. You know, The Times subscribers are way down because it's fake news. Subscribers are way down.
REPORTER: Did you discuss Ukraine at all with President Xi, and is there any movement on that?
[07:20:00]
TRUMP: I did.
REPORTER: What did he say?
TRUMP: We had -- we discussed. Well, it's one that we'd like to see settlement. Until last night, it was looking good, but they took a big hit last night. So it's going to happen, but it's a shame. 25,000 people died last month.
REPORTER: Admiral Cooper of CENTCOM was asked yesterday about the strike on the girls' school on the first day of the war.
TRUMP: Oh, that's under investigation. You're talking about the Iran --
REPORTER: Yes. That seems to be the only case of investigation at the moment into civilian casualties.
TRUMP: No, I think we have a couple of things under investigation. But that is under investigation actually.
REPORTER: Are you able to confirm yet that it was a U.S. missile?
TRUMP: Who are you with?
REPORTER: BBC, for the Radio 4 --
TRUMP: Fake BBC. You mean the ones that put A.I. in my mouth? The ones that gave me, that made -- had me saying a statement that they now admit was not true, that the ones that put terrible words in my mouth and then had to admit that it was fake, the ones that are being sued now for $5 billion and don't know what to do? You're with BBC? They're another fake outfit. Yes?
REPORTER: I know you love the deals in China. Did you get a deal on soybeans? You know the farmers are --
TRUMP: I did. The farmers are going to be very happy. They're going to be buying billions of dollars of soybeans, yes.
REPORTER: Well, we were talking about Britain, but Keir Starmer, the prime minister there, is in a lot of trouble. I know you were asked about this the other day --
TRUMP: He's in a lot of trouble. Well, he's in trouble for two reasons, energy and immigration. He's very bad on energy. He should open up the North Sea. He's got a gold mine, and he should open up oil in the North Sea, and he doesn't. They have a tremendous value, it's unbelievable.
You know, they buy their oil, a lot of it, from Norway. Norway gets it from the North Sea, not as good an area as Scotland and the U.K. has. So, they're paying Norway a fortune for oil that they take out of the North Sea.
REPORTER: Do you think Starmer's going to survive as prime minister?
TRUMP: It's a tough thing. Unless he can straighten out immigration, where he's weak, and if he doesn't start drilling and stop with the windmills all over the place that are causing havoc. They're causing havoc, the most expensive form of energy. They kill the birds. They're unsightly. They're ruining the landscape. If he doesn't stop with the windmills, he's got to do energy. He's got to open up the North Sea. You know, he's got one of the greatest oil finds anywhere in the world, and he's not using it. And I tell him that. He's not using it.
REPORTER: Should he quit?
TRUMP: The oil companies call me every day, please, please, we want to go to the North Sea. He doesn't allow it to happen.
REPORTER: Should he quit? TRUMP: I don't say that. He's a -- I think he's a nice man, actually. But, I mean, I didn't like when he said, we're going to send ships as soon as you're finished with the war, as soon as you -- well, we're sort of finished militarily pretty much.
But, you know, David, we are. We finished probably 70, 75 percent. We didn't finish every one of the things. We'll go back and finish them off. And, by the way, and more than that --
REPORTER: You saw the reporting on the missile capability, missile launchers that have remained.
TRUMP: Yes.
REPORTER: Is that accurate, sir?
TRUMP: No, it's New York Times fake news. The missile launches are probably 80 percent gone. The New York Times said it's like we have -- we were hitting them like pinatas. The missile launches are largely gone. The manufacturing of missiles is about 80 percent, 80 to 85 percent gone, and we know where the rest of it is. So, if we go in, we'll take that out very early.
REPORTER: The intelligence reports seem to indicate, though, there were --
TRUMP: There were no intelligence reports. Not from the -- they weren't intelligence reports. They were New York Times fake news.
REPORTER: Sir, would you consider lifting the sanctions on Chinese oil companies that buy Iranian oil?
TRUMP: Well, we talked about that, and I'm going to make a decision over the next few days. We did talk about that.
REPORTER: Do you think Xi feels -- felt stronger in his dealings with you than he did the last time that you went to China?
TRUMP: We had a great relationship last summer until COVID came along. You know, I blamed them for that. I said it was Wuhan, and it was. I was right. And, you know, look, that was a strain on everybody, COVID. And so, you know, it affected our relationship at the time, but we always had a great relationship before that and after that, and now it's as strong as ever. I mean, I went over to where he lives, which is something that rarely happens. Were you there? I don't know if --
REPORTER: Yes, it was beautiful.
TRUMP: It was amazing. I mean, people have never seen it before. It's amazing, actually. We had lunch. We have a great understanding.
REPORTER: Do you think he feels he has to get --
TRUMP: I mean, it's a very positive thing to have these two nations getting along. REPORTER: Mr. President, on Taiwan again, you said you were going to check with the president of Taiwan. But the 1982 assurances that President Reagan gave said you would not -- said the United States would not consult with China on arms sales to Taiwan. Are you -- so it sounds to me like you have consulted with China.
TRUMP: Well, the 1980s is a long way.
REPORTER: It was.
TRUMP: That's a big, far distance away.
REPORTER: Did you discuss this with them?
TRUMP: No, I didn't say anything about it. But, certainly, you know, he brought that up.
[07:25:01]
He talked about that to me, obviously. So, what am I going to do, say I don't want to talk to you about it, because I have an agreement that was signed in 1982? No, we discussed arms sales too.
REPORTER: And what's his request?
TRUMP: We discussed Taiwan, you know, the whole thing with the arm sales and this -- in great detail actually, and I'll be making decisions.
But, you know, I think the last thing we need right now is a war that's 9,500 miles away. I think that's the last thing we need. We're doing very well.
REPORTER: Would the U.S. defend Taiwan if it came to it?
TRUMP: I don't want to say. I'm not going to say that. There's only one person that knows that. You know who it is? Me. I'm the only person. That question was asked to me today by President Xi. I said, I don't talk about that.
REPORTER: He asked you today? Did he ask you if you would send troops, if you would be --
TRUMP: He asked me if I'd defend them. I said, I don't talk about that.
REPORTER: You told him that?
TRUMP: I don't talk about that.
REPORTER: Did you talk to him about the cyber attacks that he's done in the United States or the MSS has done?
TRUMP: I did, and he talked about attacks that we did in China. You know, what they do, we do too. It's like the spying. They're talking about, oh, the spying. I said, well, we do it too. REPORTER: The spying or the infrastructure?
TRUMP: Look, no, I'm talking about spying. But the question was asked to me yesterday, I guess, what about the fact that China's spying in the United States? I said, well, it's one of those things because we spy like hell on them too. So, it's one of those things.
REPORTER: What about the fact that China is putting in the U.S. infrastructure code that they could use if we -- if you ever decided to come to the U.S.?
TRUMP: Well, you don't know that. I mean, I'd like to see it, but it's very possible that they do. And we're doing things to them. I told him, we do a lot of stuff to you that you don't know about, and you're doing things to us that we probably do know about. But we do plenty. It's a double-edged sword.
REPORTER: Again, on President Xi in, a couple of years ago when President Biden met him in San Francisco, he was asked if he thought President Xi was a dictator. Do you think President Xi is a dictator?
TRUMP: No. But I think that President Biden was an incompetent president. He gave us the Iran nuclear deal, which allowed Iran to have a nuclear weapon within a matter of years from the time they said. I terminated it. If I didn't terminate that, Iran would have a nuclear weapon, and they would have used it within probably two years ago, three years ago. If I didn't go in with the B-2 bombers nine months ago, Iran would have a nuclear weapon, and nobody would be able to talk to them. By the way, they would have used it already.
REPORTER: But do you think President Xi is a dictator or not?
TRUMP: I don't think about it. He's the ruler. He's the president of China. I don't think about it. You deal with what you have. I respect him. He's very smart. He loves his country. I respect him. Whether he's a dictator, that's for you to figure out.
REPORTER: Mr. President, you said you didn't talk about tariffs, but did you talk about fentanyl at all?
TRUMP: I did. I talked about fentanyl. As you know, I put a tariff on because of fentanyl. And they discussed that. But I put a penalty. It's a penalty. A very -- a lot of money we take in because of that. I'd prefer not taking it in. I'd prefer that we don't have -- but we did talk about fentanyl.
REPORTER: What kind of agreement did you come to?
TRUMP: Well, you know, the fentanyl is down, way down from where it was. And it could be because of the tariff penalty.
REPORTER: Sir, just domestic issue, if I could. Where are you on the Texas Senate race?
TRUMP: Well, I'll maybe make a decision. I know them both very well. I like them both a lot. And, you know, my record of endorsements is extraordinary. You look at what happened with Indiana. And out of all those races, the one was -- there were three Trump people in the race. If they had one, he would have won in a landslide. But I took out all of these candidates that had -- you know, longtime candidates with big leads against people that never ran before, and the people that never ran before won virtually all the races.
And, as you know, two nights ago, I won every single endorsement. A week ago before that, I won every single endorsement. There's never been a record of endorsements like this, which is a great honor as far as I'm concerned. No, MAGA is a movement the likes of which our country has never seen before. It's never --
REPORTER: Who would you might not endorse, sir, in Texas?
TRUMP: I don't want to say that. I mean, I'm looking at it very strongly. I like them both. I mean, I'll tell you what I do think. I think the Democrats have a weird candidate, six genders, a real hit on Jesus. I mean, this guy is bad news with his mask from relatively recently, and he's a vegan, all of a sudden he's not a vegan. He was a vegan. Now, all of a sudden, he's not. Texas doesn't like vegans.
I do believe either one of them will easily win the race. I think that the candidate the Democrats have in Texas is a very flawed, very weak, very -- I think he's a pathetic candidate, especially for Texas, okay?
[07:30:03]
REPORTER: Did you see Secretary Rubio in the briefing room the other day, and what did you think?
