Administration of Donald J. Trump, 2026
Remarks Prior to a Meeting With Prime Minister Narendra Modi of India and an Exchange With Reporters in Évian-les-Bains, France
June 17, 2026
President Trump. Well, thank you very much. We had some great meetings in France with a group of people that used to be the G–8. Now it's the G–7. I don't know if that was a good deal or not, but it's a G–7.
And we have a G–2 coming up, and then we have a G–20 coming up. You know what the G–2 is, I think—most of you. But we had, in particular, some very good conversations with Prime Minister Modi, India. And we're doing trade deals. We're doing a lot of things. Lot of things are happening between the United States and India.
The United States is doing the best we've ever done. We have over $19.2 trillion coming in, and we're building factories. We're building everything. And Prime Minister's building a lot in the United States. He's spending a lot of money in the United States. So we appreciate that. Jobs.
But I just want to say he's been my friend for a long time now, and we've always had a great relationship. And it's great to be with you.
Thank you very much. Great to be with you.
Prime Minister Modi. Thank you.
Mr. President, it's a pleasure to meet you here in Évian. We had an extremely productive meeting in Washington last year——
President Trump. Right.
Prime Minister Modi. ——and since then, we have given new speed and new energy to our relations, and we are working together on a number of areas.
President Trump. Good.
Prime Minister Modi. And we're also happy that our teams have also been working in close coordination and engagement, and they have been working towards achievement of the targets that we had set for ourselves last year.
Mr. President, I commend you for your leadership on the progress that has been made in the efforts to restore peace in West Asia.
Thanks to your efforts, Mr. President, a new hope for peace and stability in the region has been rekindled, and I'm confident that this will lead to a longstanding peace in the region.
Mr. President, you and I agree that keeping the Strait of Hormuz open is vital for the global economy. India has consistently emphasized the importance of ensuring freedom of navigation, and we should work together and place a particular emphasis on that.
Mr. President, you are aware, across the world, Indian seafarers in hundreds of thousands are working, and they're performing their duties across global maritime trade routes, including the Strait of Hormuz, and their safety is of utmost importance to us.
Mr. President, you made tremendous efforts towards reaching this understanding and this agreement, and I'm confident that the issue of seafarers will receive the highest priority during the implementation of this agreement.
Mr. President, once again, I deeply appreciate and I deeply commend your efforts in ensuring the restoration of peace and making efforts towards restoration of peace and stability in West Asia.
President Trump. Thank you——Prime Minister Modi. Thank you. President Trump. ——very much.
Prime Minister Modi. Thank you. Thank you. President Trump. We're good friends, thank you. Any questions?
[At this point, several reporters began asking questions at once.]
Iran/U.S. Diplomatic Engagement
Q. Thank you, Mr. President. We've just heard the Prime Minister praise your efforts—you know, the peace efforts in the Middle East.
President Trump. Thank you.
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy of Ukraine/President Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin of Russia
Q. Do you think you can carry the momentum from the Iran deal over to securing an end to the war in Ukraine? And can you tell us about your conversations with President Zelenskyy here at the G–7?
President Trump. Well, I had very good talks with President Zelenskyy and with President Putin. And we'd like to see that one end. I ended eight wars and, to be honest with you, I thought this would have been one of the easier ones, but they're not liking each other too much, and that makes it much more difficult. But we're working. I had two good conversations with President Zelenskyy and with President Putin.
U.S. Missile Technology
Q. Will you let them build U.S. missiles in Europe? [several reporters spoke at once.]
Will you let Ukraine or Europe manufacture missiles—American missiles in Europe?
President Trump. They would like to be able to do that. We'll take a look at it. They have asked about it.
[Several reporters spoke at once.]
Steve [Steve A. Holland, Reuters]. Steve.
India-U.S. Trade
Q. How close are you to a U.S.-India trade deal?
President Trump. Very close. We've been there for a little while. And he's a very tough negotiator. He's one of the toughest, actually.
So you look at this man. I'll give you a lesson. He's the most beautiful-looking man. He looks so nice. [Laughter] He's like an angel. But actually, he's as tough as—he's a killer. I don't
want to—he's a killer. He's as tough as they come. But he looks so good. So he gets you by surprise. [Laughter]
And there's few people like this. People say, "He's such a nice man." I said, "No, he's very—he's very tough." He's tough trader. And he loves the Indian people, but he also loves the U.S.A. And we had "Howdy, Modi" in Houston. Remember?
Prime Minister Modi. Yes. And "Namaste"——
President Trump. The stadium was full. Prime Minister Modi. "Namaste, Trump." President Trump. Right? Remember that?
Interpreter. He did "Namaste, Trump" in India.
President Trump. That was great. And we'll be going to India sometime in the future. [Several reporters spoke at once.]
India-U.S. Relations
Q. When will you go to India? President Trump, when will you go to India? And how do you see Quad as well? This is a grouping that was started under your first term, and this is a grouping that all the four countries are looking forward to.
President Trump. Well, we had a great visit last time in India. We opened up that new stadium, and I think there were 3-, 400,000 people. It seated, like, about 150,000. And there were 250,000 outside. And there were 100,000 on the grass. That was—I don't know if that record's ever been broken, but we had a great—I had a great time in India.
[Several reporters spoke at once.]
Indi/Regional Role
Q. President Trump, are you expecting India to play—play any role in West Asia? I'm—[inaudible].
President Trump. Say it.
Q. Do you expect India to play any role in West Asia?
President Trump. Yes, I do. I do. I think India plays a big role in everything. As long as he's the leader, India is going to play a big role.
[Several reporters spoke at once.]
India-U.S. Relations
Q. President Trump, you said many times that India has a great friend in United States——
President Trump. Yes.
Q. ——in Washington, DC——
President Trump. They do.
Q. ——in White House, until the time you are President. But some of your decisions recently caused trouble, concern in India. How would you like to assure people of India, the leader of India?
President Trump. Well, I'll tell you, as long as I'm President, we have a great—they have a great friend in the White House. And I don't know where there might have been trouble, but I don't think so.
I can tell you: Everyone here, they love India. They have tremendous respect for this man.
Tremendous respect.
[Several reporters spoke at once.] Go ahead. Wait.
[Several reporters spoke at once.] Go ahead, ma'am.
Russi/U.S. Sanctions
Q. Are there going to be sanctions that are going to be reimposed on Russia now that the focus is once again being shifted——
President Trump. Yes.
Q. ——to the Ukraine-Russia war?
President Trump. We are looking at that. We're seeing how far the price of oil comes down.
It's really tumbling. It's, I guess, $74, $75 right now. So it's down. It's soon going to be at the number that it was 4 months ago. It's pretty amazing.
And, on top of that, we will have an Iran without a nuclear weapon, which I can tell you the Prime Minister feels very strongly about that too.
[Several reporters spoke at once.]
Iran/International Cooperation
Q. What did you hear from European or G–7 leaders on Iran.
President Trump. They were, to a leader—and we had G–7, plus many others came, as you know. To a leader, they were thrilled. They could not have been happier.
Well, this gentleman came. And it's—that's a big—that's a big get. He came. And they are—they could not even believe that it happened. It happened quickly, but it really didn't happen quickly. It happened—it's been happening for a long time. It's been happening from my first term, when a very evil man named Soleimani was killed. That's when it started.
And nobody else did this but Trump. You know, you look at our present. Forty-seven years, Iran took advantage of the world—the Middle East, but the world. Nobody did anything.
The Obama deal was one of the dumbest deals I've ever seen. It was a road to a nuclear weapon. My deal is a wall to a nuclear—you're not going to have it. It's a wall to a nuclear weapon.
Strait of Hormuz
Q. On minesweepers, do you want the Europeans to send minesweeper boats? Did you talk about that?
President Trump. We don't need them, but if they want to send them, I think it's good.
Q. Has anyone committed to helping out with demining?
President Trump. Yes. All of them. All of them.
Q. Which nations?
President Trump. The ones that have that kind of equipment have. But every one of them have committed to being involved in some form.
Russia/Ukraine
Q. And at this point, do you feel that Vladimir Putin is more responsible for the ongoing conflict in Ukraine?
President Trump. Well, I don't want to comment on that, because I'm trying to get it settled.
And that doesn't make it easy.
Iran/U.S. Diplomatic Engagement
Q. Mr. President, you're on the cusp of making history with the possible peace in the Iran conflict.
President Trump. I like this guy. [Laughter] Who is he? Do you know who that is? I like
him.
Q. I'm—[inaudible]—sir.
President Trump. Your reporters are much nicer than my reporters. Go ahead.
India-U.S. Relations
Q. I'm Shubhendu—[inaudible]. But there is also tragic loss of lives of Indian sailors recently, sir, in American strikes. Any words of condolences for the grieving families?
President Trump. Yes, I do. I heard about that. It's a rough profession. There's no question about it. And we worked together on it. This has been happening throughout time, but we worked together on it. Yes, certainly. We love all of those people, and they're great people.
[Several reporters spoke at once.] Yes, please.
Acting Director of National Intelligence William J. Pulte
Q. How long—how long do you expect Bill Pulte to be acting DNI? What—what's——
President Trump. Well, as long as it takes to get everybody else approved. I mean, they were doing a rush act, and we didn't get anything for it.
Look, he's a very legitimate guy. He's very smart. He's a brilliant guy. Look at the job he did at Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac. I mean, it's worth probably a trillion dollars right now until we put him there.
But, all of a sudden, it was like a rush act by the Democrats. And they said they were going to approve FISA, and I said: "But we want FISA approved, but we want the SAVE America Act approved"—voter ID, proof of citizenship, no mail-in ballots—with exceptions, like for the military, sick—you're sick, you're traveling, disabled. Very, you know, open and generous.
We also want no men playing in women's sports, and we want no transgender mutilization of our children. None. Those are 5 things that are 99 percent to—I mean, that's all we want. It's not a lot. The SAVE America Act. And that can be passed any way they want to pass it, but I'm not going to sign FISA unless it's done. And this was, like, a rush act. And it was a rush act by the Democrats.
All of a sudden, they want to get—and why are they afraid of this guy? I mean, they're so afraid of him, they'll do anything not to have Pulte go in there. He's a very capable guy, and they're worried about that.
[Several reporters spoke at once.] Yes, ma'am. Please.
Iran/Memorandum of Understanding on the Cessation of Hostilities Between the U.S. and Iran
Q. You said—you said the deal—the Iran deal, the text is still being finalized. How confident are you that this Friday signing will happen?
President Trump. You're talking about this one? On the deal?
Q. Iran, yes.
President Trump. You know, deals are amazing. I've done them all my life. I've gone into deals that were a hundred percent, and they don't happen. I've gone into deals that there is no chance of getting them done, and it happens, and they happen easily. So you never know with deals, do you?
But you're going to find out pretty soon. I think it will be done. They want to sign. They want to get back to a normal life. You know, we hit them very hard.
Don't forget, you know, people talk about when this started. This didn't start 3, 4 months ago. This started years ago, when I took out Soleimani. That was a big event. There are those that say it was the biggest event in the Middle East in 50 years. So we took him out, and they became a much different country.
And then we terminated—I terminated the JCPOA—that's Barack Hussein Obama's horrible deal that gave them a nuclear weapon. And I terminated it, and I stopped it. And then I stopped it a second time with the B–2 bombers. And these are all major events in the history of the world, in my opinion, because it prevented them from having a nuclear weapon. And now we're going to do it again, and we're going to see how it works out.
So this is a memorandum of understanding, but it's a very strong one. This isn't just like a two-paragraph—this is a long, you know, pretty detailed memorandum that goes into a regular contract. I would think they would do it. If they don't, then that's—you know, that's okay. We'll have to start the process again.
And we don't lose. We have the greatest military in the world. We had the greatest blockade. The naval blockade was 100-percent effective. And, again, they have no navy. They have no air force. All bombed out.
I don't want to say the leaders, but first level of leader, gone; second level of leaders, gone; some of the third level of leaders, gone. And they want to make a deal. [Inaudible]
They are——
[Several reporters spoke at once.] They are so ready to make a deal. Yes.
[Several reporters spoke at once.] But you know what?
India-U.S. Security Cooperation/U.S. Military Readiness
Q. President Trump—President Trump, President Trump, the defense relationship between India and the United States. Sorry, I'm screaming. I won't——
President Trump. That's okay.
Q. Can you speak to the defense relationship between India and the United States?
President Trump. I think it's a great relationship. I can tell you this: Without having a contract—we don't have a contract; you'd have to write contract—but if they were attacked, we would be there to help them.
[Several reporters spoke at once.]
How is that? Is that a good statement? Okay? Come here, man. [Prime Minister Modi and President Trump joined hands.]
If anybody attacks that man, we're going to be there. Now, if there's a new leader, I'm not sure about it. Okay? [Laughter] If there's a new leader, I don't know about that. But if they're attacked and he's the leader, we're going to be there to help.
And we have——
[Several reporters spoke at once.]
And I will—I will say this, and everybody says it—I had a great meeting 3 weeks ago with President Xi of China. We have the strongest military in the world by far. And I built it in my first term, and we're using it in my second term. And they gave some of it away stupidly in Afghanistan, as you know, and they spent a lot on Ukraine—$350 billion. But we have the most powerful military in the world.
You saw that with Venezuela, which was 48—think of it, 48 minutes. And now our relationship with Venezuela is great. We paid for the cost of the war 40 times, taking millions of barrels out. Venezuela is benefiting. We're benefiting. Venezuela's benefiting.
And then we go to Iran, and really, in the first week, militarily, we defeated Iran. Nobody thought that could be done.
Yes, please.
Israel
Q. Mr. President, do you want Israel to halt its military campaign——
President Trump. No, I——
Q.——in Lebanon?
President Trump. ——want Israel to be able to protect themselves, but I do want them to use good judgment.
[Several reporters spoke at once.]
U.S. Visa Policy
Q. President Trump, can we expect highly skilled Indian professionals to be getting more opportunities in the United States under your Presidency?
President Trump. What does that mean? What?
Q. Well——
Interpreter. Highly skilled professionals to get more opportunities here in the U.S.
President Trump. Oh, yes. Sure. I mean, always.
Q. Yes?
President Trump. We've always had tremendous relationships in terms of employment with India. Very talented people.
Iran/International Cooperation
Q. We've seen Europe—we've seen European leaders interact very warmly with you at the summit. Do you think that they're coming around to your worldview?
President Trump. Well, I think they think I was right. I'm sort of always right. You know, when you get right to it, I think they think I was right. They feel good.
Now, all of a sudden, they're—they all want to be involved. They—there's no reason to have them, because it's pretty much over, but they all want to be involved. He'd be involved if I wanted, but we don't want to waste his time or his people.
No, the European leaders—the meeting we had today was, you know, just the leaders. I don't even say "the European"—the leaders that we had—met with, in addition to the seven—we had quite a few come in. They all were willing to get involved.
Thank you. Thank you very much. [Several reporters spoke at once.]
Artificial Intelligence
Q. On AI—on AI——
Q. AI——
President Trump. Oh, we had a—we had a great meeting on AI. We had all the top people here, and it was a great meeting. And as you know, we're building tremendous numbers of plants, but AI—we're building the biggest—the biggest in the world. We're number one in AI by a lot, and it was a very productive meeting.
Q. How's it going with Anthropic? The negotiations with Anthropic—how are they going?
President Trump. He was here. Going fine. I think it's going fine. Howard, right? I think it's—I think it's——
India-U.S. Energy Cooperation
Q. Energy cooperation. Energy cooperation. [Several reporters spoke at once.]
Energy cooperation. How do you see energy cooperation? India is diversifying, buying more energy from across the world, including the United States—[inaudible]. How do you see India buying energy from you?
President Trump. India can do anything they want with us. We have the best relationship.
We cannot be closer than we are.
Would you say that's right? I don't think we can be any closer. [Laughter] [President Trump and Prime Minister Modi joined hands.]
President Trump. Both him and I and our nations, but it really starts with the two of us. We cannot be closer.
Thank you very much, everybody. Thank you. Thank you.
Q. President Trump—Mr. President, how do you got any more thoughts——
Q. President Trump, are you very happy about the—[inaudible]?
President Trump. [Inaudible] Very happy. Very happy.
NOTE: The President spoke at 4:05 p.m. at the Hôtel Royal Evian Resort. In his remarks, he referred to Dario Amodei, chief executive officer, Anthropic; and Secretary of Commerce Howard W. Lutnick. He also referred to S. 1383. Prime Minister Modi spoke in Hindi, and his remarks were translated by an interpreter.
Categories: Interviews With the News Media : Exchanges with reporters, Évian-les-Bains, France; Meetings With Foreign Leaders and International Officials : India, Prime Minister Modi.
Locations: Évian-les-Bains, France.
Names: Amodei, Dario; Lutnick, Howard W.; Modi, Narendra; Obama, Barack; Pulte, William J.; Putin, Vladimir Vladimirovich; Xi Jinping; Zelenskyy, Volodymyr.
Subjects: Anthropic; Artificial intelligence and other emerging technologies; China, President; Economic improvement; Election security and integrity, strengthening efforts; France, President Trump's visit; Group of Seven (G–7) nations; India, Prime Minister; India, relations with U.S.; India, security cooperation with U.S.; India, trade with U.S.; Iran, cease-fire agreement with U.S.; Iran, commercial transit through Strait of Hormuz; Iran, nuclear weapons development; Iran, U.S. airstrikes on nuclear facilities; Israel, security cooperation with U.S.; Job creation and growth; Office of National Intelligence; Oil markets and prices; Russia, conflict in Ukraine; Russia, President; Russia, U.S. sanctions; Safeguard American Voter Eligibility Act; Secretary of Commerce; Ukraine, President; Ukraine, Russian invasion and airstrikes; Venezuela, oil supply and refining; Venezuela, U.S. military capture and exfiltration of President Maduro; Visa policy, U.S.
DCPD Number: DCPD202600409.