Remarks on the 2027 National Football League Draft and an Exchange With Reporters

The President. Hello, everybody. It's great to have you.

It's a very important announcement. Very, very amazing, I think, for DC, but even for the country because it's, to me, a very big deal.

I'd like to thank NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell; Washington Commanders owner Josh Harris; and Washington, DC, Mayor Muriel Bowser; Secretary Scott Turner; Secretary Doug Burgum; and I see Howard Lutnick is here too—Commerce—and some others that, if I could see past the press, I'd name you, but I can't.

I'm pleased to reveal that the 2027 NFL Draft—that's a big thing—will be held right here in our Nation's Capital, Washington, DC, on the National Mall. And you get a little glimpse of it—I don't think—I was just saying to Roger, I don't think there's ever been anything like that. That's a good idea. In fact, maybe we could use it for other things also. [Laughter] I have an idea. It's—going to be beautiful. It's going to be something that—nobody else will ever be able to duplicate that, I don't suspect. It's very exciting.

Every year, hundreds of young football players have their dreams come true as the NFL teams across the land—and you just saw that last week—select the best young players in America to join their ranks.

Hundreds of thousands of football fans will travel all across our country to cheer them on in person. We expect, would you say, more than 100,000, I think. How—what is the capacity, would you think, it can hold? Because the Mall can actually hold up to a million people, if you go all the way back. What do you think?

National Football League Commissioner Roger S. Goodell. Over 3 days, we'll be over a million, Mr. President.

The President. Oh, yes. You're going to be—you're going to have a tremendous amount of people. Boosting local businesses and bringing jobs and tourism to the heart of our Capital.

The draft is a celebration of one of our country's most cherished cultural institutions and the annual highlight for football fans everywhere. Everyone in the world is going to be watching. We look forward to welcoming people from across the nation, from all over the world.

Last month, the Washington Commanders and the DC government also announced a major deal to build a brandnew 65,000-seat football arena at the site of the RFK Stadium in eastern Capitol Hill, and I don't think there's a better site anywhere in the world than that site.

Washington Commanders Owner Joshua J. Harris. Incredibly exciting.

The President. You know, he's a friend of mine. He's a very successful guy. There's a reason for it.

It's amazing. It sat there for years, and people were talking about stadiums in 25 different sites. I said, "They're not talking about the best site." That's the best site there is.

Mr. Harris. Thank you.

The President. Bringing professional football back into the District from Maryland.

And not only are these announcements great for the NFL, but they also advance the mission of making Washington, DC, safe and clean and beautiful. And we're working very closely with the Mayor, as you know. And we've made a lot of improvements in the last few months, and it's—it's getting to look really strong. Crime is way down, and a lot of—there's a good relationship we have going with Muriel, so I want to thank you very much.

Mayor Muriel E. Bowser of Washington, DC. Thank you.

The President. And would you like to say a few words?

Mayor Bowser. Thank you, Mr. President.

The President. The Mayor, please.

Mayor Bowser. Thank you. Thank you.

Thank you. Well—[applause]. Sorry.

Well, greetings. I'm Muriel Bowser. I'm the Mayor of the best city in the world and also the sports capital. And we are delighted to be here, to be here with the Washington Commanders, the NFL, and the President to talk about this very exciting announcement for Washington, DC.

We believe in investing in sports because they have helped us transform neighborhoods. And the NFL bringing this event to the Nation's Capital will help us fill hotel rooms, our restaurants, and Americans from all 50 States will come to their Nation's Capital and enjoy our beautiful city and museums.

So we're just delighted to be here, and we want to thank everybody for all the hard work to get here.

The President. Thanks, Muriel.

Mayor Bowser. Thank you.

The President. Roger, please.

Mr. Goodell. Thank you.

Well, Mr. President, thank you. We're honored to be here in the Oval Office, and to have you announce the 2027 NFL draft is a special treat. So thank you for your support.

The President. Thank you very much.

Mr. Goodell. Also, thank you for your support in the Commanders' new stadium.

The President. Right.

Mr. Goodell. That's—we agree it's going to be a great site. We think it's going to be great for our fans here. And it's great to come back home. And so we're very excited about that.

Josh is leading the way on our behalf and the Mayor, so we thank both of them for that.

We also—I want to thank you because, in the first term, you helped us get a Canadian trade deal, which we——

The President. I did.

Mr. Goodell. ——we want to make sure we note again and make sure you know——

The President. Canada does not like me too much. [Laughter] They gave a great American company a lot of money that you deserved, frankly. So——

Mr. Goodell. Well, thank you.

The draft has really become one of the great entertainment and sports events. Just a week ago, in Green Bay, we had over 600,000 people attend. The year before, in Detroit, we had close to 800,000.

As the President remarked, we believe we'll be well over a million when we come here to DC in 2027. So we not only believe it's a great site, we believe it's consistent with what the President said, which is investing in our communities, investing specifically here in the Nation's Capital, one that—I grew up here in Washington, DC—and is particularly important.

We think we can have a tremendous impact on this community. And it will not just be an event. It will be something that will show the world how far the Nation's Capital has come and where it's going.

So we're very excited about that. And we thank everybody here. We thank you for your support. We know it's going to be a great event. And, Mr. President, we thank you again.

The President. Thank you very much.

Mr. Goodell. You're welcome.

The President. Congratulations. Good luck with that. Thank you very much.

Mr. Goodell. Yes. Thank you. Thank you.

Mr. Harris. Mr. President, thank you very much. We wouldn't be here without you. Thank you for your—thank you for your leadership in terms of the stadium. But—and now, what a great day for Washington. I mean, to host the NFL Draft in 2027 on the Mall, I believe we'll get over a million people, and it's going to be an amazing day. And it will showcase what Washington is all about, but it will also showcase what our country is all about. Washington is the gateway city to our country.

And you know, it'll be an amazing day, and we can't wait to get started. And I couldn't have done it without my partners, Roger Goodell—thank you——

Mr. Goodell. Thank you, Josh.

Mr. Harris. ——and Mayor Muriel Bowser. And we're ready to get to work.

And I can't imagine RFK coming back—I grew up here. DC used to stop and——

The President. That's right.

Mr. Harris. ——on Sundays, and everyone would be inside watching football, or everyone would be glued at the stadium. And so, we want to bring that back.

And football really is existential to the culture of America. We all love it, we all watch it, and it brings people together. And so what a great way to celebrate the United States of America, the NFL, and the Washington Commanders.

And, President Trump, we leave on your desk——

The President. Thank you.

Mr. Harris. ——a Trump jersey. You are the ultimate commander, so it is a Commanders jersey. [Laughter] There's no—there's no bird on it, but——

The President. That's right. That's right.

Mr. Harris. You know, we do—we appreciate you and thank you for everything you've done and look forward to the future.

The President. Thank you very much, Josh.

Mr. Harris. Thank you.

The President. And I have to say that Josh had a very good draft a short while ago. [Laughter] You have a very good quarterback.

Mr. Harris. We do.

The President. A great quarterback, I think. Yes.

Mr. Harris. Very exciting.

The President. Great.

Mr. Harris. Very excited about Jayden.

The President. Any questions, please, about the stadium or any of it?

Yes, please. Yes.

Q. Yes. Thank you, President Trump.

The President. Thank you very much.

2026 FIFA World Cup/2026 Olympic Games in Los Angeles, California

Q. Yes. Thank you so much. About the draft—and I would like to—[inaudible]—an event that it was already mentioned here: the World Cup. Although United States, the passion here is football, for the World Cup next year, how do you envision, Mr. President, this event here in the United States?

The President. Well, it will be fantastic. I worked very hard to get the World's Cup. It was—in fact, I think I have the trophy right here, right behind you. Don't have a picture taken with Roger and that trophy, by the way. [Laughter]

But no, they brought it in. Gianni, who's a good guy, but——

Mr. Harris. Gianni, yes.

The President. He brought that in. That's the actual trophy. It's interesting that you asked that. And it's made at Tiffany's, and they're leaving it here until just before the actual World Cup. Then it goes to the champion. But that's very exciting. We have the Olympics, so we have both of them.

I worked very hard in getting both. And I said, "You know, I'm not going to be able to be there as President." And then a strange thing happened, and it turned out I became President—not for the term that I was supposed to be. I was—I became President while we have the Olympics and the World Cup.

And we have something that maybe surpasses everything: the 250th anniversary of our country. So that's going to be great. That's going to be a very big event, a yearlong event.

So thank you for question. Very nice question.

Yes, please.

U.S. Land Territory

Q. Yes. So you've often said you want U.S. to be bigger, better, and stronger. Currently, Russia is the biggest country in the world by landmass, followed by Canada and then China. So, when you say that you want to annex Canada, is it so that it would be the biggest country in the world?

The President. No, I never even thought of it that way, although I am a real estate developer at heart. [Laughter] I've never heard that question.

Q. Mr. President——

Security Arrangements for the 2027 NFL Draft/Proposed New Washington Commanders Stadium

The President. Yes, please go ahead.

Q. Mr. President, will you have to hire more security and police in order to accommodate the million people coming in for the NFL draft?

The President. I think that there'll be something. And I know Roger will work it out. And Josh and all of us will work it out. It's such an honor to have that. I think it will be great for everybody. Great for our country. It will be something very special.

There's no scene like it. There's no site like it. I do—my whole life was based on sites, locations. And as soon as I looked at that rendering, it's going to be beautiful. It's going to really be beautiful.

You know, interestingly, I didn't know exactly where it sat relative to the Capitol, but the stadium, if you go back, is right behind the Capitol—miles behind, but nevertheless, visually, right behind it. So it's—going to be an architect's dream, whoever the architect has chosen—and the owner. It's going to be something special.

I think it's going to be great for the area. Going to be—it will be top of the line. I know these people very well, and they only know about top of the line.

And I would say that more will be put in—into this stadium than would be put into a identical stadium of a similar size. I think they're going to do a special—because of the importance of the location, I have no doubt they'll do a special job.

Yes, please.

Proposed Tariff on U.S.-Distribution Movies Produced Overseas

Q. Can you explain a little bit about how you would implement tariffs on the film industry—kind of how that would work?

The President. Well, that's a different story, but our film industry has been decimated by other countries taking them out and also by incompetence. Like in Los Angeles, the Governor is a grossly incompetent man. He's just allowed it to be taken away from, you know, Hollywood. Hollywood doesn't do very much of that business. They have the nice sign, and everything's good, but they don't do very much. A lot of it's been taken to other countries, and a big proportion.

And I'm actually going to meet with some, because, you know, there are some advantages, I guess. And I'm not looking to hurt the industry. I want to help the industry. But they're given financing by other countries. They've given a lot of things, and the industry was decimated.

If you look at how little is done in this country now, you know, you think we were the ones—we used to do a hundred—not long ago, a hundred percent. Now we do almost—like, very little. It's shocking.

[Laughter] Are you in that business too?

Mr. Harris. No.

The President. Because he's in so many businesses. You could explain it. But it's—it's not a good situation.

So we're going to meet with the industry. I want to make sure they're happy with it, because we're all about jobs. That's all what I'm you know, it's very important.

It's a big industry, but it's an industry now that's—it's really left—it's abandoned the U.S.A., where it started.

Q. Mr. President——

The President. And we'll get it back.

Yes, please.

Russia/Nord Stream 2 Pipeline Explosion/Ukraine

Q. Thanks, Mr. President. First, I just want to thank you for letting us in here. I'm with ZeroHedge, and the last administration——

The President. Oh, yes.

Q. ——banned us on social media, so we're really grateful to be in the White House.

And this is not exactly sports-related, but I've been dying to ask you this question for a long time, which is that 2½ years ago, the Nord Stream pipeline blew up.

The President. Yes.

Q. And despite what people like John Brennan and all the hawks said, you were one person who said Russia probably did not blow up its own pipeline.

The President. Yes, if you can believe it, they said Russia blew it up. Yes.

Q. And so I'm wondering, now that you're President, if you would consider launching a formal investigation into what happened there and who actually did blow it up?

The President. Well, probably if I asked certain people, I'd be able to tell you without having to waste a lot of money on an investigation. [Laughter] But I think a lot of people know who blew it up.

But I was the one that blew it up originally, because I wouldn't let it be built. And then when Biden got in, he allowed it to be built. And it's very interesting.

But I think Russia, with the price of oil right now—oil has gone down—I think we're in a good position to settle. They want to settle. Ukraine wants to settle. If I weren't President, nobody would be settling.

They're losing 5,000 people a day. Think of it. Here, we talk about football. They're losing 5,000 people on average a week, mostly Russian soldiers and Ukrainian soldiers. Five thousand a week, not including people that are, you know, killed as missiles go into areas that they shouldn't be.

It's a very terrible thing. And I think we're—we've come a long way, and it could be something will happen. But hopefully, it will.

As you know, President Putin just announced a 3-day cease-fire, which doesn't sound like much, but it's a lot if you knew where we started from, because they were not—we had a President that, for 3 years, didn't speak to Putin. And it all shouldn't have happened.

This is a war that should have never happened, and you're going to be very disappointed when you find out the real number of people that were killed. It's far greater—many times greater, I believe, but far greater than the numbers that you're putting out. It's a very, very deadly, horrible war. Okay?

Yes, ma'am.

Internet-Circulated Image of the President Dressed in a Papal Outfit and Accessories

Q. Thank you, Mr. President. Some Catholics were not so happy about the image of you looking like the Pope.

The President. Oh, I see. You mean they can't take a joke. You don't mean the Catholics. You mean the fake news media, not——

Q. Cardinal Dolan said——

The President. The Catholics loved it.

Q. Cardinal Dolan had said——

The President. I had nothing to do with it. Somebody made up a picture of me dressed like the Pope, and they put it out on the internet. That's not me that did it. I have no idea where it came from. Maybe it was AI. But I know nothing about it. I just saw it last evening. Actually, my wife thought it was cute. [Laughter]

Q. Well——

The President. She said, "Isn't that nice?"

Q. ——my question about it——

The President. Actually, I would not be able to be married though. [Laughter] That would be a lot. I'd have—to the best of my knowledge, Popes aren't big on getting married. Are they?

Mr. Goodell. I don't think so, sir.

The President. Not that we know of. No. No. I think it's the fake news media that—you know, they're fakers.

Q. My question, though, sir, was about the fact that it was put out on the White House account. Even though it was AI-generated, it was a joke, it was a meme, does it at all diminish the substance of the official White House account to have it go out on that particular channel?

The President. Oh, give me a break. [Laughter] You're just—it was just—somebody did it in fun. It's fine. Have to have a little fun, don't you?

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

Yes, please. Go ahead.

Illegal Immigration/Incentive Offered to Undocumented Immigrants To Self-Deport/Border Security

Q. Mr. President, can you tell me about the program that's just been introduced to give undocumented immigrants living in the United States a thousand——

The President. About me?

Q. ——a thousand dollars to self-deport? Can you just tell us a little bit more?

The President. Oh, the new program? Yes.

Q. The new program.

The President. We have millions of people that have come into this country illegally through an administration that didn't know what they were doing. They didn't have a clue. And now we find out officially they didn't, because the President was incompetent. But I could have told you that before. And they've allowed millions and millions of people to pour in—murderers, drug dealers—the biggest drug dealers in the world, actually—terrorists come in, emptied prisons from many countries—not just South America. All over the world, they emptied their prisons into our beautiful U.S.A.

And to get that many people out—21 million people, we think the real number is, but let's say 3 million of them are serious criminals—11,888 murderers, many of whom murdered more than one person. It's hard to believe we have to even talk about this when we're talking about something so beautiful. But it's something we have to talk about having to do with the country, because it's very important.

So they came in by the millions, illegally, into our country. They just flowed in through an open border policy that was insane. And what we've done is, we've offered—you know the numbers—but we've—because we're taking them out by the thousands, we—we're being obstructed. It's very unfair what's happening, because the court system is being—it's very unfair. We have to get them out fast.

These are bad people. These are people that are killing, and they've already killed many people in this country. Illegal immigrants that came in illegally through an open border policy, which is insane. We talk about common sense. That's not common sense.

And they came in from the Congo, all over Africa, all over Asia, all over South America, parts of Europe. They flowed in and just walked right into our country. We had no idea who they were. Twenty-one million, at least. That's probably a low number. You know, you hear lower numbers than that. It's not. That's a low number.

But many are really serious criminals and terrorists and people from jails. They emptied out jails. You know, Venezuela, their crime is down 72 percent because they took all the criminals off the streets and the gangs, and they dumped them into our country.

So we're getting them out. It's a very difficult thing with the courts, because the courts have, all of a sudden—out of nowhere, they said, "Maybe you have to have trials." Trials. We're going to have 5 million trials? Doesn't work. Doesn't work. It doesn't—well, you wouldn't have a country left.

But hopefully, the Supreme Court will save it. But what they've done is a very, very serious thing.

You know, past Presidents took out hundreds of thousands of people when needed. You look at Eisenhower, you look at many of them, and they took people out, and they didn't go through any of this.

But what we thought we'd do is a self-deport, where we're going to pay each one a certain amount of money, and we're going to get them a beautiful flight back to where they came from. And they have a period of time. And if they make it, we're going to work with them so that maybe someday, with a little work, they can come back in if they're good people, if they're the kind of people that we want in our company—industrious people that could love our country. And if they're not, they won't. But it will give them a path to becoming—you know, to coming back into the country.

If they miss that limit, they're going to be taken out of our country. And they never have—they have never—they will never get a path to come back in, and it'll be a much tougher process. And it's called self-deportation. And by doing that—you know, you're talking about so many millions of people. By doing that, we have—by the way, we've taken out thousands of terrorists, drug lords. What we've done is amazing.

And as your—Tom Homan and Kristi Noem have done an incredible job. They really have done an incredible job, but it's a hard job.

So we're going to have a self-deportation, where they deport themselves out of our country. And we'll work with them, and we're going to try, and if they—if we think they're good, if they have—you know, if they're people we want in our country, they're going to come back into our country. We'll give them a little easier route. But if they don't work and if we take them out after the date, then they're never coming back, and that's the least of the problems that they're going to have.

Yes, please.

Prime Minister Mark Carney of Canada/China

Q. What's your expectation for your meeting with the Canadian Prime Minister tomorrow?

The President. I don't know. He's coming to see me. I'm not sure what he wants to see me about, but I guess he wants to make a deal. Everybody does. They all want to make a deal because we have something that they all want.

We have something that they all want. China wants to make a deal very badly. You see what's happening to China. China is being decimated, and I don't want that to happen, but they have to make a fair deal. We were losing hundreds of billions of dollars a year. We were losing five—think of it—on our trade policies with Biden, we were losing $5 billion a day.

I think Josh, who is a great businessman, would not let that happen too long, right? How many groups could lose $5 billion a day?

Mr. Harris. Hard to do that.

The President. If you lose $5 billion one day, that's the end of that company, right?

Mr. Harris. You're fired. [Laughter]

The President. You're fired. He says: "You're fired. Get out of here."

So we essentially did that, and we have it down to a very low number. We're doing really well—really well.

Yes.

Proposed Reopening of the Detention Facility on Alcatraz Island in San Francisco Bay

Q. How did you decide to reopen Alcatraz? Can you walk us through that decision?

The President. Did I say—what?

Q. To reopen Alcatraz. How will you use it? How did you come up with the idea?

The President. Well, I guess I was supposed to be a moviemaker. We're talking—we started with the moviemaking, and we'll end. I mean, it represents something very strong, very powerful, in terms of law and order. Our country needs law and order.

Alcatraz is, I would say, the ultimate, right? Alcatraz—Sing Sing and Alcatraz—the movies. [Laughter]

Mr. Harris. Tough place.

The President. But it's right now a museum, believe it or not. A lot of people go there. It housed the most violent criminals in the world, and nobody ever escaped. One person almost got there, but they—as you know the story, they found his clothing rather badly ripped up, and it was a lot of shark bites, a lot of problems. Nobody has ever escaped from Alcatraz.

And it just represented something strong having to do with law and order. We need law and order in this country.

And so we're going to look at it. Some of the people up here are going to be working very hard on that, and we had a little conversation. I think it's going to be very interesting. We'll see if we can bring it back, in large form—add a lot. But I think it represents something.

Right now it's a big hulk that's sitting there rusting and rotting. Very—if you look at it, it's sort of an—you saw that picture that was put out. It's sort of amazing.

But it sort of represents something that's both horrible and beautiful and strong and miserable, weak. It's got a lot of qualities that are interesting. And I think they make a point.

Okay. Are you guys okay?

I want to just say that it's such an honor to be up here with my friends, because this is a group of people that have done an amazing job. And all we can do, Muriel and I, is give them the greatest site there is—I think that I've ever seen for something like this.

And I did very well in the real estate business. I think this is the greatest site there is anywhere in the world for exactly what you guys are doing. And we'll work with you. We've got a lot of work to do to get it going, but we'll work with you, and we'll try and make the dream come true.

And I want to thank you all very much for being here. Thank you. Thank you very much. Thank you.

[Several reporters spoke at once.]

Gaza, Palestinian Territories

Q. Mr. President, on—Mr. President, on Israel. On Israel, do you support Israel's decision to expand the war in Gaza?

The President. We're going to help—we're going to help the people of Gaza get some food. People are starving, and we're going to help them get some food. A lot of people are making it very, very bad. What you—if you look, Hamas is making it impossible, because they're taking everything that's brought in. But we're going to help the people of Gaza, because they're being treated very badly by Hamas.

Thank you very much, everybody.