realwashington.com

"There is a Zero Tolerance policy on mine placement in full force and effect." "It is a humanitarian crisis of epic proportions, and must be stopped, NOW." "This is a true loss for millions of people." "There has never been anyone like her, and never will." "The World loves you." Source: Truth Social posts, August 25, 2026, as reported by Reuters/Yahoo News, France 24, Townhall, ProTrumpNews, The Times of Israel, Raw Story, Deadline, and CBS News.

"IRAN IS COMPLETELY COLLAPSING!!!" "Canada will be treated like a State no longer!" "Build in the U.S. and there are ZERO TARIFFS." "WE DON'T NEED CANADA, THEY NEED US!" "The days of ripping off our Farmers, and other Businesses, are OVER!" "Canada's Unemployment Rate is now at 10%, and rapidly rising." Source: Truth Social posts, August 24, 2026, as reported by Time, CNBC, Mediaite, Al Jazeera, and The Conservative Treehouse.

"Their beautiful cars are going to make freedom roar." "This will be a freedom that's roaring like never before." "Just that everyone's safe and they have a good time." "I want everyone to be safe." "I want everyone to have a good time." Source: Associated Press (via PBS NewsHour, Yahoo Sports, NBC4 Washington) and Fox News Outkick, August 23, 2026.

"Presidents have wanted this for 150 years, and so has everyone else." "It will give the White House, and all of D.C., Great National Security." "The Project is under budget, and ahead of schedule!" "The Ballroom will be paid for with ZERO Dollars of Taxpayer Money." "Great American Patriots and Companies are footing the entire bill." Sources: Truth Social, August 22, 2026.

"Look, it's a Friday night." "We have plenty of time, right?" "What the hell do I have to do?" "Go back, bomb Iran a little bit more?" "I'm doing this to honor Lindsey." "That's why I'm here." "I don't have to be here on a Friday." "Because I view the Strait of Hormuz as an American territory right now." "It's an American territory." Source: Remarks at a campaign rally for Sen. Darline Graham, Myrtle Beach, SC, August 21, 2026. Reported by CNN and Fox News, Aug 21–22, 2026.

"The Naval Blockade remains in full force and effect." "The Hormuz Strait is open and operating." "All water mines have been removed or detonated." "Right now, the Strait is open." "A lot of boats are coming through." "People aren't reporting that." "The naval blockade has been extremely effective." "No boats have gotten into Iran, but they are getting in for other places." "We'll see." "We're going to see what happens." "You know, when they tell us one thing and they do another." Sources: CBS News, CNN, Al Jazeera, and ABC News live coverage, August 18, 2026.

"If Oman gets in the way, we'll bomb the shit out of them." "I have no time schedule." "I'm not in a hurry." "They're good poker players, but they're dying." "But we'd handle them very easily, just like we do other things." "They should put up the white flag of surrender." "We have total control over the strait." "Now maybe that will stop, or maybe it'll open up even further." "But we're taking out millions of barrels of oil a week." "Kim Jong Un has always treated me with great respect." "I understand him." "He understands me." "It's very positive." Sources: CNN, NBC News, Fox News, and CNBC live coverage, August 17, 2026.

"I'll never apologize." "I did the right thing." "We're doing really good." "We're doing good in every way." "When you have to pay a little bit more, you're at $4." "It's okay." "I just got back." "I was in Iowa helping some people." Sources: CNN, Mediaite, Antiwar.com, and Fortune coverage of a Long Island campaign rally, August 14, 2026.

"They don't have control." "We have total control." "I THINK WE WILL KEEP IT." Sources: CNN and CBS News live coverage, August 12, 2026.

"I don't worry about anything, to be honest." "Whatever it is, you know my attitude?" "Whatever." Sources: CNN live coverage, August 11, 2026.

"If there's damages to be paid, I think Iran should pay those damages." "It's open now." Sources: CBS News and Reuters, via Just Security's Early Edition, and CNN live coverage, August 10, 2026.

"We are only semi-negotiating with them." Sources: CNN, citing an Axios phone interview, August 9, 2026.

"If you could go quickly, I would appreciate it, because we have a war to prosecute. OK? That's my excuse for getting out of here a little bit early." "Accredited mining programs in the United States now graduate less than 170 mining engineers each year, while China graduates more than 3,000." "China is smart, and they're using coal." "They want to make a deal. Look, it's obvious. They don't want to be hit. Ok? They want to make a deal. So we will see." "Well, I don't want to say it has been." "It's sort of open right now." "They can always shoot something... They always have something or drop a mine. And if you have one mine sitting out there, you sort of mess things up because people don't want to take their billion-dollar boats and accidentally get hit by a mine." "Today, on National Purple Heart Day, we express our tremendous gratitude to every American warrior and veteran who has...

"The U.S. has massive amounts of 'munitions,' especially of certain types. Additionally, large amounts are being manufactured and shipped to the U.S. as needed. Defense companies are building the largest number of plants and factories in our country's history. The 'leakers' of these treasonous statements are being hunted down. Long term jail sentences will be sought!" "The Fake News, as usual, is spreading false and completely unfounded rumors. I am extremely happy with the job that Pete Hegseth is doing." "Pete is highly respected within the Military, and has made tremendous improvements, including getting rid of DEI, and increasing recruitment to historic levels." "This rumor was started by The Washington ComPost, one of the worst Media Outlets in the business, despite our telling them their story is completely FALSE. In actuality, I really believe their fake 'reporting' is treasonous!" "I think we're doing ...

"I'd rather make a deal because I don't want to kill people. I do not want to kill people, but at some point we're going to. We were set for the biggest attack of any attack... we were all set for the biggest attack since World War II, and they called me and they said, please don't do it. Let's talk." "the fake news knows they did say that, but we are talking. Let's see what happens, but they respect us. They respect us." "I'm not getting credit from the fake news for what I've done." "full of s—." "They're trying to destroy it with the disaster known as, not socialism, communism. These are communists." "So if you're a waiter, a waitress, a bartender, a bellhop, a caddy — I love caddies — valet, hotel worker, taxi driver in Las Vegas or anywhere else, anywhere, you pay zero taxes on your tipped income." "I saw polls today on television saying, 'Our Donald Trump polls on the econ...

"The strait's going to be open very soon, or they're going to get hit very hard... We were going through a tremendous attack, the biggest since World War II, and they called me and said very politely, 'Please, can we talk?'... And I said, 'Yes, we can talk. Let's get it done. Finally, let's get it done.'" "Well, if they back out again, they're going to get hit really hard... I have no choice. They can't have a nuclear weapon." "Obama was taken to the cleaners. He thought he could bribe his way out. He gave them billions, tens of billions of dollars so stupidly, $1.7 billion in cash, green cash on a Boeing 757... No, you can't bribe your way out. All you can do is fight your way out." "I think it's crazy because they're going to ruin our country... everything turns out to ashes and junk and filth." "they're always filthy dirty, they're disgusting." "It could happen. Tomorro...

"Iranian Leadership is unbelievably duplicitous! They ask for a meeting, some would say 'beg,' talks begin... and they say, openly and proudly, that they're not having any discussions... Nothing gets through to Iran, unless we want it to, and nothing will get through, unless a Deal, or Total Surrender, is accomplished... IRAN WILL NEVER HAVE A NUCLEAR WEAPON!" "We're talking at the request of Iran, backed by Saudi Arabia, backed by UAE, and backed by Qatar in particular... They all wanted to give this a last chance. This is a last chance... this is the last chance for them to sign a good document." "I want to give them every last chance before decapitation." "It's not very complex. We're talking about the Strait, the opening of the strait, having it open literally by tomorrow, completely open, and that's Phase 1. Phase 2 is... the denuclearization of Iran." "We have total control... we have a thing called a blocka...

"I was asked to by Saudi Arabia, by UAE and by Qatar and by Iran. We were all set to go, just about at this time right now, and it would have been a massive attack. We were all set to go. But when the allies asked to call it off, you got to sort of say, well, let's see. And the reason they asked is they think there's a deal." Sources: NPR, August 2, 2026.

"The U.S.A. is locked and loaded and ready to go against the Islamic Republic of Iran, at levels of Military Terror, Strength, and Power not seen since World War II. Despite this, we have just been asked by Iran, and other Middle Eastern Countries, to hold off any attack in that the perimeters of a deal has been agreed to. This would include the Immediate, Complete, and Total OPENING OF THE HORMUZ STRAIT, and an end to Iran's nuclear threat… I have agreed… to cancel the attack, subject to being able to rapidly make a DEAL. The Country of Israel joins me in this commitment. Get to work, everybody, and get it DONE." Sources: Truth Social, August 1, 2026.