Remarks in an Exchange With Reporters Prior to Departure for Ochopee, Florida

The President. Good morning. We're going out to "Alligator Alcatraz." It's an East Coast version. And it should be very exciting, very good. Worked very hard on it with Ron and everybody, and I think it's going to be great.

And then I'll be back here fighting for the bill, and I hear it's going okay. We're moving along.

But we'll be back here pretty early.

[At this point, several reporters began asking questions at once.]

The President's Legislative Agenda

Q. On the bill. You've been warning some Republicans not to go too crazy with the cuts. Are there parts of the bill or amendments that you think cut too much?

The President. We're going to have to see the final version. No, I don't want to go too crazy with cuts. I don't like cuts. There are certain things that have been cut, which is good. I think we're doing well. We're going to have to see. It's very complicated stuff. Great enthusiasm, as you know. And I think in the end, we're going to have it. What do you think, Karoline?

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt. Yes, sir.

The President. Yes, I think we'll have it.

New York City Mayoral Candidate Zohran K. Mamdani

Q. What do you think about Zohran Mamdani having such a hard time condemning the phrase "globalize the intifada"?

The President. I think he's terrible. He's a Communist. The last thing we need is a Communist. I said, "There will never be socialism in the United States." Now we have a Communist.

So I think he's bad news, and I think I'm going to have a lot of fun with him, watching him, because he has to come right through this building to get his money. And don't worry, he's not going to run away with anything.

I think he's—frankly, I've heard he's a total nut job. I think the people of New York are crazy. If they go this route, I think they're crazy. We will have a Communist in the—for the first time, really, a pure, true Communist. He wants to operate the grocery stores, the department stores. What about the people that are there? It's—I think it's crazy.

Former White House Senior Adviser Elon R. Musk

Q. What happened to Elon Musk?

The President. Who?

Q. What happened to Elon Musk?

The President. Nothing. No, he's upset he's—that he's losing his EV mandate, and he's upset—he's very upset about things. But you know, he could lose a lot more than that. I can tell you right now. [Laughter] Hey, Elon—Elon can lose a lot more than that.

[Several reporters spoke at once.]

Cease-Fire and Hostage-Release Deal Between Israel and Hamas

Q. Mr. President, do you expect a cease-fire in Gaza to be agreed to before Prime Minister Netanyahu comes next week?

The President. We hope it's going to happen, and we're looking for it to happen sometime next week.

Q. Would that have to include the release of all of the hostages?

The President. We want to get our hostages back. We want to get the hostages back.

The President's Legislative Agenda

Q. What if the "Big Beautiful Bill" doesn't pass? Do you have to go through item by item by item and pass this stuff one at a time? Or are you just going to try again?

The President. Think we're going to get there. It's tough. We're trying to bring it down, break it down so it's really good for the country. Trying to get a lot for everybody. And it's a big bill. And smaller bills would have been easy, but they wouldn't have been as good. I think it's going to do okay.

"Alligator Alcatraz" Migrant Detention Facility in Ochopee, Florida

Q. And with the "Alligator Alcatraz"——

The President. Yes.

Q. ——is the idea that if some illegal immigrant escapes, they just get eaten by an alligator or a snake or something?

The President. I guess that's the concept. This is not a nice business. I guess that's the concept. If you—you know, snakes are fast, but alligators are much—we're going to teach them how to run away from an alligator—okay?—if they escape prison. How to run away: Don't run in a straight line. Run like this.

[The President made a zig-zag gesture.]

And you know what? Your chances go up about 1 percent. Okay? [Laughter] Not a good thing.

[Several reporters spoke at once.]

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel/U.S. Airstrikes on Iranian Nuclear Facilities/Gaza, Palestinian Territories

Q. What are you going to talk to Netanyahu about next Monday?

The President. Well, he's coming here. We're going to talk about a lot of things. We're going to talk about the great success we had.

I mean, we had an incredible success in Iran, we had an incredible success like, really, nobody's had in many, many years. That was a precision war strike. And the word "obliteration" can now be used because the Atomic Energy Commission said you can't even get into the place. It was—it was demolished. It was really demolished. It was a great, brilliant strike.

And how to get—go forward—we're also going to talk about Gaza. We want to get the—the rest. We got a lot of hostages back. But we're going to talk about that.

Former White House Senior Adviser Elon R. Musk/Electric Vehicle Incentives

Q. Are you going to deport Elon Musk? Are you going to deport Elon Musk?

The President. I don't know. I mean, we'll have to take a look. We might have to put DOGE on Elon. You know? You know what DOGE is? DOGE is the monster that has—that might have to go back and eat Elon. Wouldn't that be terrible? He gets a lot of subsidies, Peter [Peter Doocy, Fox News].

But Elon is very upset that the EV mandate is going to be terminated. And you know what? When you look at it, even—who wants—not everybody wants an electric car. I don't want an electric car. I want to have maybe gasoline, maybe electric, maybe a hybrid, maybe someday a hydrogen.

If you have a hydrogen car, it has one problem: It blows up, you know. So I'm going to give that one to Peter. Going to let Peter test it out.

Q. The car that blows up?

[Several reporters spoke at once.]

The President. The hydrogen cars—and when they blow up, it's serious. They find you five blocks away. It's not good.

[Several reporters spoke at once.]

Trade Negotiations/The President's Legislative Agenda

Q. Mr. President, how are the trade talks going? Are there any countries we can expect to see before the July 9 deadline?

The President. Everything is going well. Honestly, everything. This is very complicated, because it's very big, a lot of different areas.

Look, the Republicans have their heart in it. The Democrats want to destroy—they just want to destroy our country. A Democrat wants to destroy the country. They won't vote on it. They don't vote on anything.

This is the biggest tax cut in history. The biggest—it's we—everything—everything is the biggest in history. It's the best bill we've ever had. We can't get one Democrat vote.

[Several reporters spoke at once.]

Q. When do you think you'll get final—when do you think you'll get final passage——

The President. He's a nice guy, Peter. What do you think?

Q. Very nice guy.

Progress on the President's Legislative Agenda

Q. When do you think you'll get final passage of the bill?

The President. Hopefully, soon. Hopefully, today, if we can. Final passage. So, when I say "final," final is—let's take Senate at a time. Okay? But I think Senate should be today, and we go over to the House.

Q. And what about Senator Murkowski? Is there any way to placate her?

The President. Who knows. You tell me. You tell me. Is there?

Alaska has done so well with me. There's never been a President better to Alaska than me, but it doesn't mean people appreciate it.

Have a good time.

The President's Support From Roman Catholics

Q. Catholic bishops support your bill from the point of view that it keeps tax dollars from funding abortion. They really support that, but Catholic bishops are worried that it will hurt immigrant families and children who have strong ties to American communities. What do you tell the Catholic bishops, sir?

The President. I think we're going to have a good relationship with the Catholic bishops. As you know, I won the Catholic vote by a lot—not by a little, by a lot. And we have very good relationships, and we'll see what happens.

We deal with them, and we deal with them well. But I won the Catholic population by a lot.

[Several reporters spoke at once.]

Yes.

The President's Legislative Agenda

Q. Good to see you, Mr. President. What's your message to Republicans that are not yet on board?

The President. I think it would be very wise for them to get on board. I really do. I think it's a great bill. Nothing is easy because we made it great, big—we added everything in there for everybody.

And it's also a beautiful economic development bill: great for the border, great for low taxes. And I would say that they have to do it, really. I would—I would say that—and it—if they don't do it, look, they'll suffer the consequences.

Q. And on the timeline. Are you open to moving back the timeline, Mr. President?

The President. Sure.

Q. Do you want to keep it to the July 4? You're open on that?

The President. I'd love to do July 4, but I think it's very hard to do July 4. If it was 2 months ago, I would think maybe July 4, but somewhere around there.

[Several reporters spoke at once.]

Former White House Senior Adviser Elon R. Musk

Q. [Inaudible] What did you make of that, that Republicans that vote for this bill should "hang their head in shame." What do you make of that?

The President. Look, Elon is not getting his mandate, as you know. He wanted an electric mandate, and he should have known I wouldn't do that. I couldn't do that. I campaigned on this thing for two years. I never understand why he did what he did. But he's not going to get his mandate, and he better be careful, because he might not get anything else too.

[Several reporters spoke at once.]

You know what that means, right?