Trump: Pay Illegals to Self-Deport — “Beautiful Flight Back, Path to Return”; 2027 NFL Draft on National Mall; Nord Stream: “I Know Who Did It”

President Trump unveiled a self-deportation incentive program in May 2025: “We’re going to pay each one a certain amount of money and get them a beautiful flight back to where they came from. If they’re good people, it gives them a path to coming back. If they miss that limit, they’re taken out and never get a path back.” On Nord Stream: “I think a lot of people know who blew it up. I was the one who ‘blew it up’ originally because I wouldn’t let it be built.” He announced the 2027 NFL Draft on the National Mall: “I don’t think there’s ever been anything like that. The Mall can hold up to a million people.” He noted Putin’s three-day ceasefire: “Doesn’t sound like much, but it’s a lot if you knew where we started.”

Self-Deportation Program

Trump described a new approach to the millions of illegal immigrants in the interior.

“What we thought we’d do is a self-deport,” Trump said. “We’re going to pay each one a certain amount of money, and we’re going to get them a beautiful flight back to where they came from.”

He described the incentive: “They have a period of time. If they make it, we’re going to work with them so that maybe someday, with a little work, they can come back in — if they’re good people, if they’re the kind of people we want, industrious people that could love our country.”

He described the alternative: “If they’re not, they won’t. But it will give them a path to coming back into the country.”

He stated the consequence for non-compliance: “If they miss that limit, they’re going to be taken out of our country. They will never get a path to come back in, and it’ll be a much tougher process.”

He acknowledged the scale: “You’re talking about so many millions of people.”

The self-deportation program was a pragmatic recognition that forcibly removing 20+ million illegal immigrants was logistically impossible within any reasonable timeframe. By offering a financial incentive and a path to legal return, the administration created a mechanism for voluntary departure that would be far less expensive than enforcement operations.

The dual-track structure was the program’s genius. Those who self-deported voluntarily received money, a flight home, and the possibility of future legal immigration. Those who refused and were later caught would be removed without any path to return. The incentive for voluntary compliance was enormous: cooperate now and maintain your future options, or resist and lose them permanently.

Nord Stream

A reporter asked about the 2022 Nord Stream pipeline explosion.

“Two and a half years ago, the Nord Stream pipeline blew up,” the reporter noted. “You were one person who said Russia probably did not blow up its own pipeline.”

Trump responded: “If you can believe, they said Russia blew it up.”

The reporter asked: “Would you consider launching a formal investigation?”

Trump was suggestive: “Well, probably if I asked certain people, I’d be able to tell you without having to waste a lot of money on an investigation. I think a lot of people know who blew it up.”

He claimed credit for the original disruption: “I was the one that ‘blew it up’ originally because I wouldn’t let it be built. And then when Biden got in, he allowed it to be built.”

He pivoted to the peace process: “I think Russia, with the price of oil right now — oil’s gone down — I think we’re in a good position to settle. They want to settle. Ukraine wants to settle.”

He cited the human cost: “They’re losing 5,000 people a week. Mostly Russian soldiers and Ukrainian soldiers. It’s a very terrible thing.”

He noted progress: “President Putin just announced a three-day ceasefire. Doesn’t sound like much, but it’s a lot, if you knew where we started from. We had a president that for three years didn’t speak to Putin.”

The Nord Stream discussion was notable for what Trump implied without saying. His suggestion that he could identify the perpetrators “without having to waste money on an investigation” implied access to intelligence that named the responsible parties. The mainstream consensus had shifted toward a Ukrainian special operations theory, which Trump’s comments did nothing to contradict.

2027 NFL Draft on the National Mall

Trump announced the event with NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell, Commanders owner Josh Harris, and D.C. Mayor Bowser.

“Every year, hundreds of young football players have their dreams come true as NFL teams across the land select the best young players in America,” Trump said.

He described the scale: “Hundreds of thousands of football fans will travel all across our country to cheer them on.”

He assessed the venue: “The Mall can actually hold up to a million people if you go all the way back.”

Goodell confirmed: “Over three days, we’ll be over a million.”

Trump made the announcement: “I’m pleased to reveal that the 2027 NFL Draft will be held right here in our nation’s capital, Washington, D.C., on the National Mall.”

He assessed the setting: “I don’t think there’s ever been anything like that.”

The NFL Draft on the National Mall was a cultural and logistical first. The Draft — which had been held in cities from Nashville to Las Vegas — had never been staged against the backdrop of the Washington Monument, Lincoln Memorial, and Capitol Building. The visual of football’s future being chosen on the same ground where Martin Luther King Jr. delivered “I Have a Dream” and presidents were inaugurated would be unprecedented in American sports.

Trump’s instinct for spectacle — honed through decades of real estate development and reality television — recognized that the National Mall Draft would generate more attention than any previous location. The event would bring a million visitors to Washington, generate billions in economic activity, and associate the Trump presidency with one of America’s most beloved cultural institutions.

Key Takeaways

• Self-deportation program: “Pay each one, beautiful flight back. Cooperate and get a path to return. Miss the deadline — removed and never come back.”
• Nord Stream: “A lot of people know who blew it up. I wouldn’t let it be built — Biden allowed it.”
• 2027 NFL Draft announced for the National Mall: “Up to a million people over three days. Nothing like it has ever been done.”
• Putin announced 3-day ceasefire: “Doesn’t sound like much, but it’s a lot if you knew where we started.”
• Ukraine casualties: “5,000 people a week. It’s a war that should have never happened.”