CAMP DAVID, Md. (AP) 鈥� President took Friday’s Cabinet meeting on the road to , using the historic rustic backdrop of the presidential retreat to boast of his administration’s achievements while seizing on a migrant crisis in Spain to make his case for why voters should keep the Republican Party in power.
The Cabinet meeting, the 13th such gathering of Trump’s second term, came just three months before the November midterm elections that could serve as a check on his power if Democrats take control of one or both chambers of Congress. His warnings about Spain echoed language he used ahead of the 2018 midterms, when he headed to the southern U.S. border.
鈥淵ou know, I saw Spain yesterday, and I watched the catastrophe that took place. It looks like an invasion of a country by hundreds of thousands of people,鈥� Trump said. 鈥淎nd that same thing is going to happen to us if the Republicans don鈥檛 get elected. Except worse, much bigger.鈥�
Some 60,000 migrants crossed into Spain鈥檚 over the past 24 hours. Roughly half of them have already made their way back voluntarily, according to the Spanish government, but at least 57 have died on the journey.
Separately, he deflected blame for a series of cyberattacks that targeted 30 water systems in Minnesota on the state鈥檚 鈥済rossly incompetent鈥� Democratic leadership. Officials have not publicly identified who was behind the attacks, though the FBI, the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency and other agencies warned in an advisory last week that Iranian hackers have been targeting water and wastewater systems and the operational controls of other critical infrastructure sectors.
鈥淭hey blame it on Iran,鈥� Trump said, without offering evidence. 鈥淚 don鈥檛 think so. I think I blame it on Minnesota because they鈥檙e grossly incompetent.鈥�
The president regularly convenes his Cabinet throughout his terms as a setting to promote his administration’s policies while fielding questions on the news of the day, but what made Friday’s unusual was that it was at Camp David, the government-owned retreat nestled in Maryland’s Catoctin Mountains where Trump held one Cabinet meeting during his first term.
Trump began the meeting by noting it was 鈥渟omething very unique.鈥� The White House called it the first-ever televised Cabinet meeting from the .
鈥淚t’s Camp David, and this room is a very, very special room,鈥� Trump said.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth were among the Cabinet officials who spoke before Trump took questions from journalists. The public portion of the meeting ended after about an hour.
Trump fields questions on Iran, Hamas deal and Blanche confirmation
In the lengthy question-and-answer session, Trump commented on the latest developments regarding the war in Iran and a that would lead to the disarmament of the Palestinian group Hamas. He also lamented that a $1.8 billion anti-weaponization fund to compensate his allies was 鈥渄ead鈥� and appeared to back off a pledge he made earlier this month to grant Ukraine a license to manufacture Patriot air defense systems.
鈥淚 don鈥檛 think this would ever happen, but, you know, there鈥檚 people that, you give that technology, they can someday turn on you,鈥� Trump added. 鈥淵ou look at war, that鈥檚 happened a couple of times over the years, right? So we have to be very careful.鈥�
On the Hamas agreement, Trump acknowledged that the agreement that would also lead to Israel鈥檚 withdrawal from Gaza will have 鈥渦ps and downs.鈥� Still, he called it a 鈥済reat breakthrough鈥� that has been helped along by the U.S. and Israel鈥檚 war with Iran, which has served as Hamas鈥� prime backer.
Trump also remarked on the anti-weaponization fund that is as his attorney general, saying the pot of money is 鈥渄ead鈥� and that 鈥淚 wish it weren’t, to be honest with you.鈥�
The president continued to defend the people who could potentially benefit from the fund, mainly those who stormed the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, to stop the certification of Democrat Joe Biden’s victory over him.
鈥淭heir families have been ruined,鈥� Trump said. Those people 鈥渨anted to go to a rally or an event and ended up spending the rest of their lives in horror.鈥�
Trump said Blanche has been a 鈥減awn in this whole thing.鈥� Blanche, who was present, did not speak in the public portion of the Cabinet meeting.
Camp David has been a retreat for presidents since FDR
The camp鈥檚 primary purpose is to provide presidents a place to rest, relax and recharge. It was established in 1942 during Franklin Roosevelt’s presidency and has been used by every president since.
Roosevelt had enjoyed relaxing aboard a presidential yacht, but the military and the U.S. Secret Service began to worry about his safety on open water during World War II. As a result, Roosevelt asked the National Park Service to find sites within 100 miles (160 kilometers) of the White House that he could use for rest.
He chose what is now known as Camp David. He gave it the original name of Shangri-La, from James Hilton鈥檚 novel 鈥淟ost Horizon.鈥� President Dwight Eisenhower renamed it Camp David, after his grandson and father.
Trump in his first term but has visited sparingly in his second, most recently in June for Father鈥檚 Day.
In 2019, during his first term, Trump announced on social media that he had canceled at Camp David with Taliban and Afghanistan leaders 鈥� scheduled for just days before the anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks 鈥� after a bombing in the capital of Kabul killed a dozen people, including a U.S. soldier.
Presidents throughout history have turned to Camp David when they needed security and privacy for sensitive diplomatic talks with foreign leaders. took the leaders of Egypt and Israel there in 1978 for talks that produced the Camp David Accords, a peace agreement between the two countries.
The 180-acre (73-hectare) retreat, which is run by the Navy and guarded by Marines, has a cabin named Aspen that鈥檚 reserved for the president, plus about a dozen other cabins for guests. A main lodge has conference rooms, a dining room and an office for the president.
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Superville and Kim reported from Washington. Associated Press writers Collin Binkley, Will Weissert and Aamer Madhani contributed to this report from Washington.
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