Trump’s 12th Cabinet Meeting: Iran Negotiations, Fraud Crackdown, Drug Prices, Energy Dominance, and a Reflecting Pool Renovation
President Donald Trump convened his 12th Cabinet meeting on May 27, 2026, using the open-press session to deliver a sweeping assessment of his second-term record while pressing on the most urgent live issues facing the country. Trump declared that Iran “will never” obtain a nuclear weapon — either through diplomacy or further military action — and revealed that U.S. forces have maintained a naval blockade cutting off Iranian ports since Operation Epic Fury. On the domestic front, Vice President JD Vance and Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche detailed an accelerating government-wide fraud prosecution campaign they say has already exposed tens of billions in stolen taxpayer funds, with over 400 law enforcement actions in just 51 days. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent reported the economy growing at 2.7 percent over the past four quarters, with the Atlanta Fed projecting 4.3 percent growth in the current quarter, and announced that a new “Trump Accounts” savings app for children would launch the following morning ahead of a July 4th rollout. Trump also fielded pointed press questions on gas prices, the Strait of Hormuz, a recent assassination attempt, Biden interview tapes, and New Jersey’s resistance to ICE detention operations. Several of Trump’s numerical claims — including his characterization of tax refund amounts, oil production comparisons, and drug price reductions — require significant context or correction, as detailed in the fact-checks below. Assistance from Claude AI.
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President Trump’s 12th Cabinet meeting covered the full arc of his second term: a naval blockade on Iran, tens of billions in fraud recovered, record drug price cuts, and an economy the Treasury Secretary says is defined by “resilience and prosperity.” Several key claims, including drug price figures and oil production comparisons, require important context. Full breakdown and fact-checks at the link. 🔗
Participants
| Name | Title |
|---|---|
| Donald Trump | President of the United States |
| JD Vance | Vice President of the United States |
| Todd Blanche | Acting Attorney General, Department of Justice |
| Marco Rubio | Secretary of State |
| Pete Hegseth | Secretary of Defense |
| Doug Burgum | Secretary of the Interior |
| Lee Zeldin | EPA Administrator |
| Kelly Loeffler | Administrator, Small Business Administration |
| Scott Bessent | Secretary of the Treasury |
| Markwayne Mullin | Secretary of Labor |
| Steve Witkoff | Special Presidential Envoy (Iran/Middle East) |
| Tulsi Gabbard | Outgoing Director of National Intelligence (honored in absentia) |
Also referenced as present or involved: HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. (“Bobby”), CMS Administrator Dr. Mehmet Oz, Energy Secretary Chris Wright, FBI Director Kash Patel, Senior Advisor Jared Kushner.
What is the Cabinet? The Cabinet is the group of the president’s most senior advisors — the heads of executive departments like State, Defense, and Treasury, plus key officials like the Vice President and EPA Administrator. Cabinet meetings are typically private; Trump has made a practice of inviting press to attend as what he describes as a transparency measure.
Topic-by-Topic Breakdown
1. Opening Remarks: Claims of Record-Setting Success
Trump opened the 12th Cabinet meeting by framing this as “a tremendous period of time for our country” and presenting a rapid-fire list of what he called the administration’s historic achievements. He offered several specific numerical claims during these opening remarks that warrant close scrutiny.
Border security: Trump claimed that for the past 12 months, zero people had entered the country illegally — a figure he described as coming from “politically unfriendly” sources. He also said fentanyl crossing the border is down 61 percent, and down 97 percent via ocean routes.
⚠️ FACT-CHECK | Misleading — Trump’s “zero illegal aliens admitted” is a conflation of two different metrics. What federal data actually shows is that U.S. Border Patrol has released zero apprehended migrants into the U.S. interior — a policy often called “catch-and-release” — for at least 10 consecutive months through February 2026, a milestone DHS has confirmed (U.S. Department of Homeland Security, 2026). That is a genuine and significant shift. However, apprehensions have continued — averaging roughly 10,000 per month since January 2025 (U.S. Customs and Border Protection, 2026). People are still being encountered and processed; they are simply not being released. Trump’s claim that “zero people came in illegally” describes a policy of zero releases, not zero crossings. The two numbers are very different.
Crime: Trump claimed the administration achieved “the largest drop in the murder rate ever recorded” in 2025, bringing it to “the lowest level in 125 years — that’s the year 1900.”
⚑ FACT-CHECK | Partially Accurate — The core claim is supported by serious research, but the “125 years” framing overstates the certainty of the data. The Council on Criminal Justice’s 2025 Crime Trends report projected that the 2025 homicide rate would become the lowest ever recorded in law enforcement data going back to 1900, and that the roughly 20 percent single-year decline would be the largest on record (Council on Criminal Justice, 2026). Independent crime researcher Jeff Asher reached similar conclusions. However, experts note that pre-1960 FBI data used different methodology and cannot be directly compared to modern figures; the FBI only began publishing consistent crime statistics in 1960 (Poynter, 2026). Comparing to “1900” requires cross-referencing data collected under fundamentally different counting systems. The more defensible claim — and still a notable achievement — is that this is likely the lowest murder rate since at least the 1960s, and the largest single-year percentage drop since consistent records began.
Tax refunds: Trump said “the typical family got tax refunds of nearly — almost close to $5,000” this year.
❌ FACT-CHECK | False — IRS filing data does not support a figure anywhere near $5,000. As of mid-April 2026, the average refund was approximately $3,397 to $3,571, depending on the reporting period — an increase of about 11 percent from the prior year (IRS via CNBC, 2026; Fox Business, 2026). Notably, Trump’s own Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent cited a figure of “nearly $3,300” in the same Cabinet meeting — directly contradicting Trump’s $5,000 claim from less than an hour earlier. The Trump administration had previously promised refunds up to $4,000, a target that also was not met, with the Center for American Progress projecting the final average at approximately $3,274 (Center for American Progress, 2026). The 11 percent year-over-year increase is real; the $5,000 figure is not.
Election results: Trump noted that a round of elections the previous night had gone strongly in his direction, describing the results as “a prelude to the midterms.” He did not name specific races or provide specific vote totals.
2. Drug Prices and the “Most Favored Nation” Policy
One of Trump’s lengthiest prepared remarks concerned prescription drug pricing — a topic he said the press “refuses to write about” despite what he called “the biggest thing to happen in the drug industry ever, maybe ever.”
Trump described his Most Favored Nation executive order, signed May 12, 2025, which requires that Americans pay no more for prescription drugs than the lowest price those drugs are sold for in any comparable developed nation. He gave a concrete example: a pill sold in Germany or the U.K. for $10 was selling in the U.S. for $130. Under the new policy, he said, both would move toward approximately $20, meaning American prices would fall from $130 to $20. He said drug prices are “down 400, 500, and even 600 percent,” or alternatively “70, 80, 90 percent” depending on how the question is framed.
He also promoted trumprx.gov, a government portal listing nearly 1,000 low-cost generic drugs at discounted prices, which he said was developed with HHS Secretary RFK Jr. and CMS Administrator Dr. Oz.
⚠️ FACT-CHECK | Misleading — The Most Favored Nation program is real and has produced some confirmed price reductions, but Trump’s “400–600 percent” framing is mathematically backwards and creates a misleading impression of the scale of savings. A drug dropping from $130 to $20 represents an 85 percent reduction in price — not a 400 percent reduction. The “400 percent” figure describes how much more Americans were paying compared to other nations, not the percentage by which the price falls. These are different calculations, and the distinction matters for understanding the real-world impact. The White House has documented voluntary agreements with pharmaceutical companies including Eli Lilly, Novo Nordisk, and nine others, with specific price reductions confirmed for drugs like Ozempic (from $1,000 to $350/month) and Praluent (from $537 to $225) through TrumpRx (White House, 2025, 2026). TrumpRx.gov launched on February 5, 2026. However, a key legal and structural caveat: the program is built primarily on voluntary agreements negotiated under tariff pressure — not a universal regulatory mandate — meaning coverage and enforcement vary by drug and manufacturer (Congressional Research Service, 2026; KFF, 2025). The price reductions that exist are real and meaningful; the “600 percent” framing significantly overstates how they should be described.
3. Military Investment
Trump said the administration made “the largest ever investment in US military, $1 trillion” and is requesting $1.5 trillion for the coming year. Secretary Hegseth later detailed that the proposed $1.5 trillion budget would support one million American manufacturing jobs, the Golden Dome missile defense system, the F-47 fighter jet, the B-21 bomber, and a $50 billion drone program.
ℹ️ FACT-CHECK | Unverifiable (Policy Claim) — The FY2026 defense budget and FY2027 request figures are administration claims that cannot be independently verified from official enacted legislation at the time of this meeting. Defense spending of approximately $1 trillion in FY2026 is consistent with publicly reported Congressional action. The $1.5 trillion FY2027 request figure is an administration budget proposal and has not yet been enacted into law.
4. Venezuela Conflict and Iran Operations
Trump described U.S. military operations against both Venezuela and Iran in broad terms, saying Venezuela “no longer has a Navy, no longer has an Air Force” and noting Iran’s military was similarly degraded. He said the U.S. lost 13 service members across both conflicts combined. Secretary Hegseth provided a more detailed military accounting of the Iran campaign.
ℹ️ FACT-CHECK | Partially Unverifiable (Military Operations) — The U.S. casualty figure of 13 killed across the Venezuela and Iran operations is a statement from the Commander-in-Chief and has not been independently confirmed through publicly released Defense Department casualty reports. Military operational details — the destruction of Iran’s navy, air defenses, and defense industrial base — are consistent with what Secretary Hegseth and other officials have described, and were not publicly contradicted by independent reporting available at the time of this meeting. Full independent verification of operational military claims is not possible from open sources.
5. Government Fraud Task Force — Vice President Vance
JD Vance gave the most detailed public accounting yet of the White House Task Force to Eliminate Fraud, framing it as a whole-of-government operation requiring Cabinet-level coordination that agencies couldn’t achieve on their own. He called out specific departments:
Student loan fraud at the Department of Education, where non-citizens or entirely fictitious identities were found receiving hundreds of millions in loans. Housing fraud at HUD, where benefits were collected by people not entitled to them or by fabricated identities. Food stamp (SNAP) fraud, where Vance revealed that the federal government has historically sent hundreds of billions of dollars to states with no mechanism to verify whether recipients actually exist. Medicaid and Medicare fraud, with tens of billions found through work with HHS Secretary RFK Jr., Dr. Oz, and HHS Secretary Kim. SBA Covid loan fraud, where SBA Administrator Kelly Loeffler had identified tens of billions in fraudulent loans from the Biden era.
Vance made a philosophical point about the dual victims of fraud: “Fraud is fundamentally a crime with two victims. The most obvious victim are the American taxpayer… But there are also victims, people who benefit from these programs that don’t exist if we’re not actually taking care of the fraud issue.”
He closed with a specific case: a man in Minnesota who collected hundreds of thousands of dollars from the government to care for an elderly person — but neglected that person to the point of death.
6. DOJ Fraud Enforcement — Acting AG Todd Blanche
Todd Blanche described the prosecution side of the fraud effort. In just 51 days, DOJ had conducted over 400 law enforcement actions — including search warrants, arrests, convictions, and indictments — across the FBI, DHS, and inspector general offices at every agency.
Specific cases included a $1 billion fraud conviction at trial in Florida involving a criminal organization that ran Philippine call centers to bill Medicare for medical equipment never delivered to senior citizens, and 15 arrests in Minnesota, including the elderly care fraud case Vance had described. Blanche also said DOJ had stood up a new division dedicated entirely to government benefit fraud, with every U.S. Attorney’s office directed to prioritize it.
7. EPA Spending Clawbacks — Lee Zeldin
EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin confirmed Trump’s claim that the administration had canceled over $29 billion in EPA grants, including a case Trump raised involving a newly opened account with only $103 that received $2 billion shortly before Biden left office. Zeldin confirmed EPA officials were caught on video rushing to obligate funding before Trump’s inauguration.
8. Tribute to Outgoing DNI Tulsi Gabbard
Trump offered an extended tribute to Tulsi Gabbard, outgoing Director of National Intelligence, citing a 40 percent staff reduction at her office, intelligence leads that assisted the FBI, exposure of what Trump called the “Russia hoax,” revocation of security clearances, declassification of JFK and RFK assassination documents, and release of declassified materials related to extraterrestrial phenomena, which Trump said became the number-one trending topic online.
9. Iran, Operation Epic Fury, and Nuclear Negotiations
Iran was the session’s dominant foreign policy topic, addressed by Trump, Secretary Rubio, and Secretary Hegseth in sequence, then revisited extensively during the Q&A.
The military situation: Trump and Hegseth described what Hegseth called a comprehensive campaign to destroy Iran’s military capacity under Operation Epic Fury and the earlier Operation Midnight Hammer. Hegseth said the U.S. destroyed Iran’s navy, air force, air defenses, and defense industrial base, and has maintained a complete naval blockade of Iranian ports: “They haven’t been able to bring anything in or anything out from Iranian ports.”
The diplomatic track: Secretary Rubio stated plainly that “Iran will never have a nuclear weapon” and that negotiations are ongoing through Special Envoy Steve Witkoff, Jared Kushner, and Vice President Vance. “There’s been some progress and some interest,” Rubio said.
Trump acknowledged talks are advancing but set a clear binary: “Either that or we’ll have to just finish the job.”
Iran’s nuclear status — Trump’s “two weeks” claim: During the Q&A, Trump said that at the time of the B-2 bomber strikes, Iran was “within two weeks” of having a functional nuclear weapon.
⚠️ FACT-CHECK | Misleading — Trump’s “two weeks” claim conflates two different technical milestones and overstates Iran’s weapons readiness. What independent analysts and arms control experts have confirmed is that Iran, prior to the 2025–2026 strikes, could have enriched enough uranium to weapons-grade (90% U-235) for multiple devices in roughly one to two weeks, given its centrifuge capacity and 441 kg stockpile of 60%-enriched uranium documented by the IAEA as of June 2025 (Arms Control Association, 2025). However, enriching fissile material is only one step in a multi-stage weapons development process. A working nuclear device also requires weaponization engineering — designing and assembling an implosion mechanism, producing a uranium metal core, and integrating a delivery system — a process experts assess would take an additional 12 to 18 months even for a state with Iran’s capabilities (TheBoard.world, 2026; Scientific American, 2026). The IAEA and U.S. intelligence community’s 2025 threat assessment concluded Iran was not actively pursuing nuclear weapons at that time, and IAEA chief Rafael Grossi said there was “no evidence that Iran was close to a nuclear weapon” in the completed sense (Scientific American, 2026). The Congressional Research Service noted that the extent to which strikes actually set back Iran’s weapons capability “is unclear” because Iran terminated all IAEA access on February 28, 2026 (CRS, 2026). Trump’s “two weeks” framing describes fissile material production only, not a complete weapon.
Iran deal terms: Trump said any agreement must be comprehensive and cannot involve sanctions relief or the return of frozen Iranian assets. He also said he is pushing Gulf states — Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Qatar, and Kuwait — to join the Abraham Accords as part of any broader settlement, though he declined to formally declare it a condition.
U.S. casualties: Trump said the U.S. lost 13 service members across the Venezuela and Iran conflicts combined.
What is Operation Epic Fury? This is the name the Trump administration has given to its military campaign against Iran. The transcript references a prior 12-day conflict (“Operation Midnight Hammer”) as well as the current broader operation, including a naval blockade of Iranian ports. The stated goal is to prevent Iran from acquiring a nuclear weapon.
What is the Strait of Hormuz? It’s a narrow waterway between Iran and Oman through which roughly 20 percent of the world’s oil supply normally passes. Iran has sought to control or close it during the conflict. The EIA’s May 2026 Short-Term Energy Outlook assumed the Strait would “remain effectively closed until late May, with shipping traffic beginning to pick up in June” (U.S. Energy Information Administration, 2026).
10. Venezuela: Oil, Stability, and Hemispheric Strategy
Rubio said that since January 3, 2026, more than 10 million barrels of Venezuelan oil have been delivered to the United States under a new governance arrangement in which revenue goes into a U.S.-controlled, KPMG-audited account directed toward the Venezuelan people. Hegseth noted the SOUTHCOM commander recently landed at the U.S. Embassy in Caracas peacefully. Trump described an ongoing “Americas Counter Cartel Coalition” in which Venezuela is now a participant.
Trump separately stated that the United States produces “more oil, by double, than Russia and Saudi Arabia combined.”
❌ FACT-CHECK | False — According to EIA data and independent fact-checkers, the U.S. does not produce double the combined output of Russia and Saudi Arabia. The U.S. produces approximately 24 million barrels per day of total petroleum liquids (including natural gas liquids and other products), compared to roughly 21.4 million for Russia (10.5M) and Saudi Arabia (10.9M) combined — meaning the U.S. leads by about 12 percent, not 100 percent as “double” implies (WION News, 2026; WRAL Fact Check, 2026). For crude oil specifically — the most meaningful comparison — the U.S. produced approximately 13.6 million barrels per day in 2025, while Russia and Saudi Arabia combined produced roughly 19.4 million, meaning the U.S. actually trails on crude oil alone (WRAL Fact Check, 2026). The U.S. surpasses the two nations only when natural gas liquids, condensate, and other petroleum products are included. The U.S. is unambiguously the world’s largest total petroleum producer — a real achievement — but Trump’s “double” claim significantly overstates the margin.
11. Energy Dominance — Secretary Burgum
Interior Secretary Doug Burgum reported that lease sales on public lands have generated more than $4 billion in Treasury revenue since January 2026 — which he described as 13 times more than the Biden administration generated from lease sales over its entire four years. A backlog of 5,600 unprocessed drilling applications in a single New Mexico district has been reduced by 91 percent. Alaska’s North Slope is adding 80,000 barrels per day from a new field near the Willow Project.
Trump added that the administration is working to revive California’s oil sector, once a top-three drilling state, which he said has been “violently closed down” by state leadership.
12. National Monuments / DC Beautification — Reflecting Pool
Trump spent considerable time describing the ongoing renovation of the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool — a 2,400-foot basin built in 1922 that he said has never functioned reliably. Previous administrations, he said, spent over $100 million attempting repairs, including an attempt using Potomac River water that failed immediately. His approach: the basin was cleaned out (over 10 dumpsters of debris removed), steam cleaned, sandblasted, pebble blasted, and is now being lined with a thick industrial-grade waterproof coating in “American Flag blue.” He said the renovation is about 70 percent complete, will open well before July 4th, and will cost approximately $10–12 million — compared to estimates of $200–400 million for prior proposed approaches.
He also described cleaning up Lafayette Park (the plaza directly in front of the White House), and said 28 or 29 DC-area fountains have been or are being restored.
13. Small Business and Economic Overview
SBA Administrator Kelly Loeffler reported that the private sector added over 300,000 jobs in the prior two months, that business formation is running at more than half a million new businesses per month, and that manufacturing activity has expanded for four consecutive months. On fraud, she said the SBA found $200 billion in fraudulent PPP loans from the Biden era, has turned the first $22 billion over to Treasury and DOJ, and has barred 140,000 people from ever receiving SBA loans again.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent provided the most detailed economic summary:
Real GDP grew 2.0 percent in Q1 2026 (confirmed by the Bureau of Economic Analysis advance estimate released April 30, 2026) and 2.7 percent over the past four quarters. The Atlanta Fed’s current model projects 4.3 percent growth for Q2. Business investment rose at a 10.4 percent annual rate in Q1; capital expenditure on equipment rose more than 17 percent. Private sector employment added 313,000 jobs in the past two months, including 13,000 manufacturing jobs.
✅ FACT-CHECK | Accurate — The BEA confirmed real GDP grew at an annualized rate of exactly 2.0 percent in Q1 2026, consistent with Bessent’s figure. The Q4 2025 growth rate was revised to 0.5 percent (Bureau of Economic Analysis, 2026). Business investment in equipment rose 10.4 percent, matching Bessent’s figure, driven in part by AI infrastructure buildout (Trading Economics, 2026).
The average tax refund this filing season was $3,300, an 11 percent increase year-over-year. 62 million returns benefited from at least one of Trump’s four signature tax policies: no tax on tips, no tax on overtime, no Social Security tax for 85 percent of seniors, and deductibility of auto loans for American-made vehicles.
✅ FACT-CHECK | Substantially Accurate — IRS filing data through mid-April 2026 showed average refunds of approximately $3,397 to $3,462, with year-over-year increases of 11 to 11.3 percent (CNBC, 2026; IRS via Fox Business, 2026). Bessent’s figures are consistent with official IRS data. Note that Trump, earlier in the same meeting, claimed refunds were “almost close to $5,000” — a figure that conflicts with IRS data and with Bessent’s own numbers.
Trump Accounts: Bessent announced that a new government savings account app for children — described as “the most important government benefit for young people since the GI Bill” — would be available on all major platforms the following morning (May 28). Nearly 6 million children had already been enrolled. The accounts launch officially on July 4th, timed to the nation’s 250th anniversary.
14. Armenia, Ebola, and Third-Country Deportation Agreements
Secretary Rubio highlighted three additional developments: Third-country deportation agreements with 20 countries that will accept deportees who refuse to return home. Ebola containment, with the State Department, CDC, and HHS working to keep an outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo from reaching the U.S. And Armenia peace deal implementation, with Rubio having initialed the “Trump Route for Prosperity in Armenia” and a critical minerals MOU the previous evening — building on a peace agreement Trump helped broker between Armenia and Azerbaijan.
15. China Trade
Trump briefly addressed China trade, describing a positive meeting with President Xi the previous week: “We’re doing a lot of business with China now, but it’s not where they were ripping us off. For years and years, they ripped us off like nobody ever got ripped off. Now it’s very profitable business that we do with China.”
16. Military Recruitment and Defense Programs
Hegseth reported record military recruitment for the second consecutive year. He described $50 billion in private-sector investment in the defense industrial base, and said the proposed $1.5 trillion defense budget would support the Golden Dome missile defense system, the F-47 fighter, the B-21 bomber, and a $50 billion drone program — all, he said, on budget and ahead of schedule.
17. Nigeria / ISIS Operations
In a less-publicized disclosure, Hegseth revealed that U.S. forces recently killed ISIS’s second-in-command in Nigeria, described as the person most responsible for killing Christians and targeting the U.S. homeland. Following that strike, intelligence gathered led to the killing of “hundreds of ISIS members” targeting Nigerian Christians. Trump had reportedly directed the operation approximately a year ago.
Press Q&A
Q: DC Safety Ahead of the 250th Anniversary
A reporter asked about maintaining public safety for upcoming 250th anniversary celebrations.
Trump described DC as transformed — from dangerous to safe in just over a year — crediting National Guard deployment, the FBI under Director Kash Patel, and Acting AG Blanche. He said 5,000 “hard core criminals” had been removed from DC and that restaurants and public spaces are now thriving. Hegseth added that the National Guard presence would be surged this summer for the celebrations.
Q: Joe Biden Interview Tapes
A reporter asked about Biden’s effort to block release of audio from his interview with Special Counsel Robert Hur.
Trump said he would like the recordings released. “I’d like to see what he has to say, because we can never allow what happened to this country to happen. The man was grossly incompetent.” He made no specific legal commitment.
Q: Strait of Hormuz Control
A reporter asked whether Trump would accept a deal giving Iran and Oman joint control over the strait.
Trump was emphatic: “No. The Strait is going to be open to everybody. It’s international waters. Nobody’s going to control it. We’re going to watch over it.” He added a direct warning: “Oman will behave just like everybody else, or we’ll have to blow them up. They understand that.”
Q: Gas Prices and Economic Pressure to Resolve the Conflict
A reporter pressed Trump on whether high gas prices were creating urgency.
Trump acknowledged prices were elevated but said they would return to pre-conflict levels and potentially go lower. He recalled Iowa gas stations at $1.85–$1.90 per gallon before the conflict. He said his “primary urgency” is not gas prices but the nuclear weapon question: “They would use it instantly. They wouldn’t think about it.”
He also repeated his claim that B-2 bombers struck Iran because “Iran would have had a nuclear weapon within two weeks from that date.”
⚠️ FACT-CHECK | See analysis in Section 9 above — This “two weeks” claim describes the timeline for producing weapons-grade fissile material, not the completion of a functional nuclear weapon. Experts at the Arms Control Association and the James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies distinguish between HEU production (weeks) and weaponization (months to over a year). Iran had not been assessed as having a complete deliverable weapon.
Q: Sanctions Relief for Iran
A reporter asked whether the U.S. was considering easing sanctions to allow Iran to sell oil.
Trump was categorical: “No, we’re not talking about any easing of sanctions or giving money. No sanctions, no money, no nothing.”
Q: Russia or China Taking Iran’s Enriched Uranium
A reporter asked whether Trump would accept Russia or China taking custody of Iran’s highly enriched uranium stockpile.
Trump responded simply: “No, I wouldn’t be comfortable. That would not make me comfortable.”
Q: Iran Deal Timeframe
A reporter asked what yard line the negotiations were on and whether there was a timeline.
Trump said “we’re doing very well” and that Iran is “starting to give us the things they have to give us.” He declined to set a deadline, noting critics complained after “a few months” while Vietnam lasted 19 years. He said the military pause was granted “at the request of somebody that we greatly respect from Pakistan, the field marshal and the prime minister.” He said: “We could close that out very quickly. If we can do it in a different way, that’d be good.”
Q: Iran Deal Terms — Abraham Accords
A reporter asked whether Trump would accept only a memorandum of understanding and whether Gulf state Abraham Accords participation is a condition.
Trump said a memorandum could handle certain elements quickly, including immediate opening of the Strait, but insisted: “It’s got to be perfect. I’m not going to do this — I didn’t do this to get a crummy agreement.” On the Accords: “I’m not sure we should make the deal if they don’t sign, do you want to know the truth?” — though he declined to formally confirm it as a condition. Special Envoy Steve Witkoff confirmed: “We’re definitely pushing it, Mr. President.”
Q: Assassination Attempt
A reporter asked how Trump functions under the ongoing threat, noting a recent shooting barely a month after what was described as a third assassination attempt at the White House Correspondents Dinner.
Trump: “I can’t think about it, because if I thought about it a lot, you know, I wouldn’t be a very good president… It’s a sad part of life. It’s a dangerous business… When you are a consequential president, your life is in grave danger. I knew that.”
Q: World Cup
A reporter asked whether the economic benefit of hosting the FIFA World Cup outweighs the costs.
Trump called it a major success: “It’s the most successful they’ve ever had ticket-wise. They’ve never had anything that sold so quickly.” He attributed the demand to the United States as a host nation.
Q: ICE Operations at Delaney Hall, New Jersey
A reporter asked about New Jersey political leaders pushing back against ICE operations at the Delaney Hall detention facility.
Trump dismissed the protests as “all paid for” and called the professionally printed signs evidence of outside funding. He said New Jersey police privately support the administration but are ordered not to act.
Secretary Markwayne Mullin responded directly: “It shows that the radical left Democrat priorities, when they decide to go out and protest a detention center where we’re housing rapists, child predators, murderers, drug dealers — and they choose Memorial Day of all the days.” He described protesters barricading the facility and at least one U.S. Senator getting hit with a pepper ball while in the crowd. “I’m sorry, you probably shouldn’t have been there,” Mullin said.
Q: Federal Gas Tax Holiday
A reporter asked whether Trump expects Congress to pass a federal gas tax holiday.
Trump: “It’s something we might talk about. Let’s see what happens over the next week or two weeks.” He declined to commit further.
Q: New York Knicks
A brief exchange concluded the formal Q&A, with Trump expressing enthusiasm for the Knicks’ current performance and noting that MSG owner Jim Dolan had invited him to a game. “The Knicks have really — they’ve really suffered for years. And they’re doing right now very well,” he said.
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Citation
“Remarks: Donald Trump Holds a Cabinet Meeting at the White House – May 27, 2026.” Factbase, FiscalNote / Roll Call, 27 May 2026, factba.se. Transcript. Accessed 27 May 2026.