WH out of town pool report #8/ Rally continues
- From
- David Smith
- Sent
- Wednesday, September 16, 2026 8:27 PM
Night has fallen. As POTUS speaks, the seated crowd is applauding and cheering on cue while booing mentions of his foes. A few people are using their signs as fans because of the heat.
POTUS said: "The Democrats gave us the dark age of America and we turned it into the golden age."
He predicted the Iran war will end soon. "Just you watch. Trump was right about everything."
POTUS said the US had been "dead" but is now the "hottest" country in the world. "The only problem is interest rates are artificially high."
On trade, POTUS said: "Why should we carry Canada? Why should we carry Mexico?... We're carrying the European nations."
On wars, POTUS said: "I ended eight wars and the one that's toughest is Russia-Ukraine. The two leaders hate each other... That war is driving up diesel prices."
POTUS reflected: "If I was on the ballot, I wouldn't have to be here tonight... Some of you like me better than the party."
POTUS mocked Democrats over "affordability" and recalled being asked about egg prices on his first day in office. Looking at the media, he observed: "That's a lot of fake news."
POTUS said: "Iran will not have a nuclear weapon." The audience cheered, clapped and chanted: "USA! USA! USA!" Referring to gas prices, he added: "It's a very small price to pay for what we have done."
He accused the press of not wanting to talk about his success in Venezuela. He promised that the Iran war will have "a really good conclusion," probably after the election but maybe before. He said Iran "absolutely would have used" a nuclear weapon "and so we did the right thing".
POTUS said: "We're delivering the largest prescription drug price cuts in history." He argued that alone should be enough to win the midterms. He repeated his promise of a "Trump dividend" of $5,000 per US adult after the election. "It's not difficult to do."
Rally is ongoing.
David Smith
Washington bureau chief
Guardian News & Media