The Dispatch
The President of the United States delivered remarks at the White House Easter Lunch on April 1, 2026, prior to the event’s formal spiritual programme. The remarks were unscripted and covered multiple subjects. The full transcript runs to approximately 10,000 words. This correspondent has filed a summary of the principal items of note.
On Iran: the President stated that the military operation is winding up, with a few more hits required. He said the United States has blown up most of Iran’s thousands of ballistic missiles and that Iranian fire at American and allied targets has been decreasing weekly. He said the United States is now controlling 59 percent of the world’s oil supply, which he described as a combined result of the Iran operation and a prior military action in Venezuela, which he said was won in 45 minutes and is now operating as a joint venture. He said he would prefer to simply take Iran’s oil but acknowledged that the American public lacks the patience for an extended occupation. On the question of regime change, the President clarified that it was never the stated objective. “We got it by accident,” he said. He described the current Iranian government as the third regime to have emerged during the operation, following the elimination of the first regime’s leadership and the subsequent targeting of the 88-member council convened to select a replacement while they were in the process of voting. He said the third regime is much less radical. He said he would be addressing the nation on the subject at 9:00 that evening to tell everybody how great he is and what a great job he has done. He also stated that without him, Israel would not exist, and that the Middle East would not exist, and that there would have been a nuclear weapon.
On NATO: the President stated that the alliance is a paper tiger. He said he had asked member states to contribute forces to the Iran operation to test their response, not because he needed them. He described France’s President Macron, whose wife treats him extremely badly, as having declined to send ships until after the war was won, which the President noted was not useful. He said the United Kingdom’s Prime Minister said he needed to ask his team and would meet the following week, by which point the President said the war would be over. He said he is considering withdrawing the United States from the alliance. He noted that King Charles is visiting in two weeks and is a nice guy but was not among the most helpful allies. He said NATO will not be there if we ever have the big one, adding that his relationships with the big one are better than with NATO. He did not elaborate on the big one.
On domestic matters: the President reported that Somali immigrants in Minnesota had stolen 19 billion dollars through fraudulent daycare centres, that autism payments in that state had risen from under one million dollars to over 400 million dollars in four years, that the Department of Education has been largely returned to the states, that a judge had blocked construction of a $300 to $400 million White House ballroom depending on the marble selected, that transgender athletes had broken weightlifting records by 111 pounds and won marathons by five hours and 14 minutes, and that Bible sales are at their highest level in many decades. He said he is inviting all Americans to the National Mall on May 17th for a day of prayer, praise, and thanksgiving.
The President noted that he refrains from profanity when Franklin Graham is in the room. Graham was in the room. The President did not use profanity during the remarks. The ballroom remains under construction.
Source Block
- Primary: Roll Call / Factbase — Full transcript, Easter Lunch White House, April 1, 2026: https://rollcall.com/factbase/trump/transcript/donald-trump-remarks-easter-lunch-white-house-april-1-2026/
- Archive: https://web.archive.org/web/*/https://rollcall.com/factbase/trump/transcript/donald-trump-remarks-easter-lunch-white-house-april-1-2026/
- Screenshots: screenshots/1775136142949_image.png, screenshots/1775136173417_image.png, screenshots/1775136193237_image.png
- Internal cross-references:
- Easter prayer programme:
2026-04-01-white-house-easter-franklin-graham-paula-white-esther-trump.md - Easter Israel clarification:
2026-04-01-trump-easter-lunch-israel.md - Operation Epic Fury address:
2026-04-02-trump-address-nation-operation-epic-fury-nearing-completion.md
- Easter prayer programme:
