FULL EVENT: President Trump Speaks at Rose Garden Lunch for First Responders - 10/15/26

[0:00] So we're having a lot of fun doing it. The crowds are unbelievable. Please sit down. The crowds are unbelievable, actually. And I think we're having a big impact. The Democrats are saying there's something bad happening. And the fake news doesn't want to talk about it. But these are rallies that nobody's ever seen. [0:21] You had to see the crowd in Arizona yesterday and the crowd in Montana. Therefore, primarily for a great congressman who's, you know, it's a little bit of a tight race, and it won't be. He's new, but he's outstanding in taking the place of somebody else who was retiring, who did a great job. But I think we got him elected. We're doing a lot of people. I think we're getting a lot of people elected wherever we go. I think we're getting a lot of people elected. [0:50] And we have some, quite a few stops to make. So it's a lot. I just hope my voice holds out. If my voice holds out, we're going to be in great shape. You know, it is one voice after all. [1:03] You could maybe get one of those beautiful robots that they make nowadays and make them look just like me, and you wouldn't know the difference. They make them pretty good. Send them out on the trail. I could sit home and watch them on television. [1:17] But I love doing it, actually. I have a lot of fun. The crowds are so energizing. You've never seen anything like it. It's tens of thousands of people just going crazy. [1:30] And it's been that way from the beginning. We won in 2016. We also happened to win in 2020. But they cheated. And so I said, you know what? We did so well, we'll do it again. [1:44] And we did this one, too big to rig, a phrase that Kamala has now copied. The other day, she said, we have to make our election too big to rig. I couldn't believe that she copied it. [1:56] She's getting killed. She's even being killed by the Democrats on that one. But I don't think I'll give up the phrase. [2:02] Usually when they copy me, I have to give it up because, you know, I don't want to. I don't want to. It sort of hurts it. It depreciates it. But we're doing a real job. We're going around. [2:13] This is a full-on tour. And there's a theory that a lot of people could never do it. And if they did, nobody would show up. But the crowds we're getting are inspiring. [2:23] And we have great candidates. And we want to keep our country away from this guy, like I call him Mohammed Al-Fayed. And his name is Abdul. But I think I call him Mohammed Abdul Al-Sayed. [2:40] And he's a Muslim Brotherhood guy, 100%. 100%. He's a Muslim Brotherhood guy. How about having him be on the Senate Intelligence Committee? How about that? [2:53] The guy's 100% Muslim Brotherhood. And we've got to make sure that Mike Rogers wins through central casting. Mike Rogers is great. He's a good man. [3:03] And he's a person that loves our country. I don't think this guy likes our country at all. They followed him around. He was saying all bad things from a few years ago. [3:10] I didn't know it was him. He weighed quite a bit more. I give him credit. He took a lot of weight off. But he didn't look like him. [3:18] But he was saying very bad things about a certain place in Michigan that's a very revered place. Just saying horrible things about it. He didn't want to be there. He hates our country. [3:28] So I hope that he is defeated. I can't imagine he won. You know, I won Michigan. We did very well in Michigan. [3:34] Did great with the Teamsters, with the auto workers, with the right to work. We did well with everybody. But we won Michigan. [3:41] And it was an honor doing so. And Michigan typically has not been easy for Republicans, as you know, go back many, many years. But we won it very, very nicely, very easily. [3:54] And I will tell you that I look forward to going up there to expose this fraud that's running. He's a fraud. He's a con man. [4:01] And the guy in Texas is a con man. Total con man. Guy gets lost for 12, 14 days. He says that he's got the flu. I never heard of a flu that lasted that long. [4:13] But maybe he had a different kind of flu that we don't know about. But he's another one. He said bad things. Talked badly about Jesus. Talked badly about many things. [4:24] Now he says, oh, well, I was only kidding or something. And we have a good guy. Look, Ken Paxton's a guy that, whether you like Ken or not, honestly, I mean, I understand some people are controversial, etc. [4:35] I don't happen to be a controversial person. So I'm very happy. But Ken is a little bit controversial. [4:41] The one thing about him, he may have been the best attorney general in this country for many, many years. [4:47] He was amazing as the attorney general. He was you don't get better. He was the top of the list or certainly in a very small group of attorney generals. [4:56] He was probably the best in the history of Texas. The things he did on voter fraud, the things he did on COVID and he did tremendous work. [5:06] And he wasn't afraid to do it either. So you have to give somebody a lot of credit for that. He was the best attorney general in the history of Texas. [5:15] He was certainly right now one of the best attorney generals in our country. You've got to give him a lot of points for that. [5:22] So hopefully he's going to win. I'd say they they pulled a pretty even now. And we had a great rally in Texas. [5:29] I'll go back if it's necessary. I'll go back. We've got to win these races. [5:33] So today we're thrilled to welcome to the White House many incredible first responders, including firefighters, a lot of friends of mine here, like Paul, a lot of great friends. [5:44] Paul's a very good speaker, by the way. That's why I never have him speak when I'm around, because he can take over the mic. [5:50] Maybe I should have you say a couple of words. I will have you. You get ready, Paul. OK, he's a man who talks about Border Patrol and ICE and law enforcement as well as anybody. [6:02] I know because he lives it. But many incredible first responders and firefighters, police officers, paramedics, EMT, Secret Service agents and extraordinary volunteers. [6:13] You're extraordinary people. And you're seeing this for the first time. This used to be grass. So if we did this, you couldn't do it. It was unusable. [6:21] You know, this is built on a wetland. So the grass was always wet. Even if you were in a drought, the grass was soaking wet. [6:27] And especially women with the high heels, they'd be holding their shoes. They go out by beautiful new high heels. [6:33] They go into the White House and they come back and their shoes are destroyed. [6:38] But we did a job with the same stone. It matches the White House zone and hasn't been totally finished. [6:44] We're going with the black over here, too, because the limestone doesn't hold up well. Never, never did, never will. [6:49] But what we've done here is really amazing. We put a brand new coat over the White House, brand new coat. [6:59] We fixed up the walls. They were all broken, chopped, terrible shape. [7:03] A lot of the ornamentation, like around the windows, was broken. [7:08] And many years ago, 30, 40, 50 years ago, probably a lot during Biden three years ago, because he had no idea what the hell he was doing. [7:17] But you'd look at a window and you'd see ornament on the right side. And on the left side, you'd see it had fallen off. [7:24] Some people think that's OK, but I don't think it's OK. So we had moles made of the right side. [7:29] We put it on the left side. It's all perfect now. So we reskinned. Basically, it's a reskinning. [7:34] And that building is good to go for another 100 years, at least, actually. [7:40] But even this, you see the top sections where it was so bad, I didn't even like standing under it. [7:47] The thing was all cracked and broken all over the place. [7:50] We put the sign up, solid brass, half inch thick, as opposed to laminate. [7:57] You ever see these laminate? They don't want to spend the money on the brass. [8:00] So they have a piece of brass laminated. It's about a hundredth of an inch thick. [8:05] And they put it on a piece of wood to save a lot of money. [8:08] And then in about two years, it decomposes and it's laying all over the floor. [8:13] We don't do that. But up there is a rose garden. [8:15] And then we, as you know, that wall has sat for 150 years empty. [8:21] And I said, something has to be on that wall. [8:24] And I just had the notion, I've often thought of it because I've never seen it before, [8:29] a presidential walk of fame. [8:32] So we went from George Washington to Trump and that will be extended on this wall right up here. [8:38] Because somebody said, oh, but you have no room for anybody else. [8:42] I said, no, it extends this way. [8:44] But I'm going to have to leave that because whoever it is, maybe they won't be able to figure that out. [8:50] And if they don't figure it out, I don't know what they're going to do. [8:52] But we have at least 125 years of extension going this way. [8:58] So it's fun. [8:59] But everybody loves the presidential walk of fame. [9:02] Nobody knows if there is any. [9:04] And we have a very generic, very good description of every president from Washington all the way down. [9:11] And then we get a little bit more personal as we get closer to my year. [9:17] Talk a little bit about in more detail about what we've had to put up with. [9:22] So who knows? [9:22] They'll probably change that as soon as they get in. [9:25] But all I do is write the truth. [9:28] I also want to thank Attorney General Todd Blanche, who's a fantastic person and a fantastic man. [9:35] Is Todd here? [9:36] Where's my Todd? [9:38] Oh, what a joke. [9:39] He's going to go down. [9:41] I mean, it's a little early. [9:43] I don't want to jinx him. [9:44] But I'm telling you, he's going to go down as the best Attorney General that this country's ever had. [9:48] We have so many things that are so bad that happened in the last four years. [9:53] And if they're not exposed and if they're not taken care of, if it happens again, we're not going to have a country. [9:58] We're not going to have a country. [9:59] So thank you, Todd. [10:00] And he's working. [10:01] He's like me. [10:03] I got in at 445. [10:05] He was probably, he might have beaten me. [10:08] I don't know. [10:08] But he works all day, all night. [10:10] And I know him from the private sector, from our fights. [10:16] We fought together on, fought a lot of bad people, a lot of sick people, a lot of deranged people. [10:22] And just can't let that stuff happen again. [10:24] So, Todd, thank you for the great job you're doing. [10:26] Everybody appreciates it. [10:27] I also want to thank President of the International Association of Firefighters, Edward Kelly, who does a great job. [10:36] Edward, thank you very much, Edward. [10:37] And the National President of Fraternal Order of Police, Patrick Yeoes. [10:43] You know, Patrick called me up during my first campaign. [10:47] And I heard the police wanted to endorse me. [10:50] And I spoke to him. [10:50] I didn't know who the hell he was. [10:52] I said, who the hell is this guy? [10:53] And they said, he's the head of the presidential, of the Fraternal Order of Police. [11:00] I said, is that a big deal or not really? [11:01] I said, Patrick, so how many people do you represent? [11:04] So we represent 485,000 policemen. [11:08] I said, Patrick, it's great to meet you. [11:09] Thank you. [11:10] It's wonderful. [11:11] 485,000. [11:13] Has that number changed very much, Patrick? [11:15] Not too much. [11:15] It's wavering around the same number. [11:17] It was a lot of police, let me put it that way. [11:19] But I don't think there was any, I'm not sure that there's one policeman in the whole country [11:25] that voted for Sleepy Joe or Kamala. [11:29] Nobody knows her last name, by the way. [11:31] You know, I gave that test last night at one of the rallies. [11:33] I say, Kamala, Kamala. [11:35] Somebody said she's leading in the polls, which is, you know, I consider that to be a miracle. [11:40] But she's leading in the polls. [11:42] I said, is there anybody in this room? [11:44] I had like 25,000 people between the room and outside last night [11:49] that knows Kamala's last name. [11:52] And one little lady screamed, Harris. [11:55] Harris. [11:56] It's amazing. [11:58] But she was the border czar, right, Paul? [12:01] She was border czar. [12:01] She was named border czar by Sleepy Joe Biden. [12:04] And during the course of her four years, as border czar, did, I'm talking to the boss now [12:11] of the border. [12:12] Paul, did you ever get one call from her? [12:15] Zero. [12:16] Did any of your people get one call like, hey, hey, Juan, how are we doing in the border? [12:22] No? [12:22] Okay. [12:23] Did she ever go to the border? [12:26] Never went to the border. [12:28] But she did a good job. [12:30] She loves working remote control. [12:32] You know, a lot of people call that remote control. [12:34] And other people call it gross incompetence. [12:37] In any event, we have the best border now that we've ever had in the history of our country. [12:41] And guys like Paul and Brandon and so many others, they're just incredible. [12:45] I used to call them, in fact, I probably would imagine they said, this guy's calling us again [12:51] because we had to get those numbers down to zero, which is what we have. [12:54] So we just got 17 months, zero people came through our open southern border. [13:01] And as you know, 25 million people came during the four years. [13:04] 25 million people came into our country illegally. [13:07] So thank you very much, Patrick, for being here. [13:10] It's a great honor. [13:12] And I appreciate all of your help and support. [13:14] President of the International Association of Chiefs of Police, David Roush, very respected guy. [13:20] Thank you. [13:21] Thank you, David. [13:21] Respected. [13:22] The president of the National Sheriff's Association, Troy Wellman. [13:29] Troy? [13:30] Thank you. [13:31] Thank you, Troy. [13:32] Great. [13:32] The national president of the Federal Law Enforcement Officers Association, Matthew Silverman. [13:39] Hi, Matthew. [13:40] Thank you very much. [13:42] Thank you, Matthew. [13:43] From day one, my administration has worked tirelessly to give our first responders the resources, [13:48] support, and legal protection you so richly deserve. [13:52] And we have your back 100%. [13:55] We don't play games. [13:56] You know, when I first came in, in 2016, we had billions, billions of dollars worth of [14:04] military equipment that was never used. [14:06] In some cases, it was used lightly, but it was all perfect. [14:10] And it was stored in warehouses all over the country, billions and billions of dollars worth [14:14] of stuff. [14:16] And I said, why wasn't that given out to our police departments in a city that are growing [14:20] dust and depreciating in value? [14:23] All, some of it, most of it was brand new, never used. [14:26] And, you know, our military orders, a lot of stuff. [14:30] And they couldn't give me an answer. [14:32] But they said Barack Hussein Obama didn't want to give it to the police because it looked [14:38] too violent. [14:40] And it was protective equipment. [14:42] And he didn't want them to have unfair protection. [14:46] It was trucks that were pleated up with steel, with hardened steel, so that bullets didn't get [14:54] through. [14:54] He didn't like that. [14:55] He thought it was too aggressive. [14:57] And so it sat there for years during his administration. [15:03] And when I came in, I said one of the first things I knew about, everybody used to talk [15:07] about it. [15:08] And if you remember, Paul, all of you guys on the border and the local police, they were [15:12] all after it because it was better stuff than you could buy. [15:15] You couldn't buy equipment like this. [15:16] And so I came in and in my first week, I released billions of dollars. [15:21] I released all of it. [15:22] I released all of it. [15:23] And I've got people sitting right here that every time I see them, they thank me for that. [15:29] They still use it. [15:30] It's the best stuff you can buy. [15:31] It could last years. [15:32] But it protects your police. [15:34] And because of that, they thought it looked aggressive and they didn't want to release [15:39] it. [15:39] These people, there's something wrong with them. [15:41] So together, in less than two years, we've achieved the largest drop in violent crime [15:45] ever recorded. [15:48] The murder rate plummeted to the lowest level in 125 years since the year 1900. [15:54] Drug overdose deaths have fallen every single month that I've been in office. [15:58] And police officers' deaths in the line of duty have reached an 80-year low. [16:03] That's so good. [16:03] And we're bringing the death penalty back for anybody that kills a police officer, by [16:08] the way, or anybody in law enforcement. [16:13] And I will tell you, the drugs coming in by sea, by ocean, by sea, are down 97%. [16:20] And we don't understand why it's not 100%. [16:23] But, you know, for years, they would take somebody, intradict, they like to say. [16:28] They'd intradict. [16:29] They'd take somebody, bring them to a Miami or Texas court, and they'd be out of court in [16:35] a couple of minutes, go back to Venezuela or wherever they came from, and they'd be on [16:42] the next boat, bringing in millions and millions and even billions of dollars' worth of drugs. [16:48] And we were really in trouble. [16:50] But now those drugs are down 64% coming in, fentanyl. [16:55] Oh, we haven't even started. [16:56] We haven't done the land full blast yet. [16:59] But it's starting. [17:00] We have to work. [17:01] We're working with Mexico. [17:02] But unfortunately, the cartels run Mexico. [17:06] I tell that to the president of Mexico. [17:08] She's not happy. [17:08] She's a great woman, a wonderful woman. [17:10] But the cartels run Mexico. [17:13] But we've hit them hard. [17:15] And it's very, very... [17:17] We wanted to do the sea and the water first, because the water, that's harder to do. [17:21] And people didn't realize that a big percentage of the drugs come in by the sea, by the water. [17:27] So it's 97%. [17:29] That means 3% are still bringing drugs in by boat. [17:32] And we want to find them, because we consider them to be the bravest people anywhere in the world. [17:37] Because anybody that gets on a boat and wants to try and make it, and you see those missiles, [17:43] you ever see? [17:45] They never miss. [17:46] From 600 miles away sometimes. [17:49] They're closer and further. [17:50] But you have them from the sky, they come. [17:53] Space Force. [17:55] And those missiles come and they hit those boats dead center. [17:58] And you feel terribly for the people. [18:00] But, you know, every boat kills thousands of people. [18:03] Think of it that way. [18:04] Then you feel better. [18:05] But every one of those boats kills thousands and thousands of people and ruins families all across our country. [18:11] So we have it down 97%. [18:16] I mean, the only bad thing about it is nobody wants to go boating anymore. [18:19] It's killed the fishing industry. [18:21] Nobody wants to get into a fishing. [18:23] Let's go fishing, darling. [18:24] No, thank you. [18:25] Just in case. [18:26] Just in case somebody, one of you guys has a happy trigger. [18:29] Let's get a boat. [18:30] There's a boat out there. [18:31] They're going fishing. [18:32] They don't want to go fishing anymore. [18:34] I don't blame them, actually. [18:35] But to fight the scourge of fentanyl, I proudly signed the Support Act to get more life-saving Narcan into the hands of our first responders. [18:46] And we have some other Narcan-type products coming out that are even more amazing. [18:50] It's incredible. [18:51] Problem is you revive them and then they go back in and they travel with Narcan themselves. [18:57] It's a sad situation because, you know, it is what it is. [19:00] Not surprising, though. [19:01] So they're addicted and they'll take a drug and then they'll do the Narcan themselves or they'll have one of their friends give it. [19:11] And it's a very vicious cycle. [19:13] The best way to do it is not to take it. [19:15] If you don't take it, if you don't, you know, I'm fortunate. [19:18] I don't smoke and I don't drink and I have no longing to drink. [19:22] I have friends, they drink and they have a real hard time. [19:25] You know, they're addicted. [19:26] They have a real hard time staying away. [19:28] And drugs, probably even more so, probably the same, but as alcohol. [19:33] But if you don't drink or if you don't take drugs or if you don't smoke, there's no problem. [19:38] I have other problems. [19:40] I have some very severe problems. [19:42] But those are not one of them. [19:44] I don't want to add them to the list. [19:46] Do you understand that, Todd? [19:47] I don't want to add them to the list because if I did, I guarantee I wouldn't be here right now. [19:52] So it's three problems I don't have. [19:54] And it's really good. [19:55] Now the press is going to say, what problem does he have? [19:59] Let's figure it out. [20:00] I probably set myself up for that one, Todd. [20:03] Todd's going to have to try and defend me because they're going to say, he said he's [20:06] got some serious problems. [20:08] What are they? [20:09] Which I actually don't know. [20:11] I was just being, I was just having fun to the media. [20:15] They're wonderful people. [20:16] But I've reduced the flow of Fentillo across our southern border by 67%, which is amazing. [20:24] And the land is really just starting. [20:26] It started a few months ago. [20:27] We're hitting them very hard. [20:29] We know all the paths. [20:30] We know where all the bad guys are, the cartels. [20:34] We know where they live. [20:36] And we're hitting them hard. [20:38] But it's going to be harder as we go along. [20:41] They know they have a certain period of time to essentially give up. [20:44] Mexico should be doing it. [20:46] But honestly, they're not capable of doing it. [20:48] And I want to thank the heroes of ICE and Border Patrol. [20:51] When you talk about people that are capable, you guys love to do it. [20:55] Right, Paul? [20:56] And I just want to thank them for the job they do, the bravery they show. [21:01] They have no fear. [21:03] And they deal with the cartels like ho-hum. [21:07] Other people, they wouldn't want to deal. [21:09] They're rough. [21:10] So they've helped us achieve the most secure border in American history. [21:14] So we're actually now the most secure we've ever had in history. [21:17] You know, I did it twice. [21:18] I did it when I won in 2016. [21:20] I campaigned on it. [21:22] And the border was very bad. [21:23] But nothing compared to what it was in 2024. [21:27] It was terrible. [21:29] 25 million people poured in from prisons, from jails all over the world. [21:32] They just dumped everybody into our country. [21:35] And thanks to a lot of you people that are sitting here, friends of mine, [21:39] most of those and many of those, certainly the worst of the worst is what we shoot for. [21:43] We want to get the real bad ones out first and get them out fast [21:47] or put them in jail. [21:48] Some are so bad you don't want to get them out because if they come back, [21:51] they're murderous bad people. [21:54] I also want to thank the heroes of ICE and Border Patrol [21:57] who've helped us achieve the goals that we've far exceeded. [22:02] What we've done is, you know, most politicians say promises made, promises kept. [22:08] They did an article about me the other day. [22:09] They said, you know, this is the only guy that it's promises made, promises kept, [22:14] but he did more things than he promised. [22:16] I think we did. [22:17] We did much more than we promised, including the fact that we have 22, [22:22] now it's $22 trillion, 21, now it's 22, it was 18. [22:27] As we gain a little months, we get more money coming in. [22:30] But the largest investment in the history of the world for any country, [22:34] no country has ever even come close. [22:36] We have 20, almost $22 trillion being invested in factories, plants, equipment, [22:42] all sorts of things being built all over the country. [22:45] There's never been a country, including China. [22:48] China was a fraction of that 10 years ago, $3 trillion. [22:52] That was a record. [22:53] We're 20, almost $22 trillion. [22:56] Nobody's ever seen. [22:57] And these places are all being built when they open up. [23:00] You're going to see an explosion. [23:01] And, you know, like nobody's ever seen before. [23:05] I mean a positive one. [23:06] But you're going to have a president someday that's not me, [23:10] and they're going to be standing right here. [23:12] Ladies and gentlemen, I'd like to report the greatest growth in the history of our country. [23:16] I've done such a good job. [23:18] Remember, I did it. [23:20] They didn't do it. [23:21] So just remember that. [23:24] Please protect me. [23:25] Paul, would you please protect me? [23:27] Get up to the microphone, Paul, and say, [23:29] it was Trump that did it, sir. [23:30] Okay, no, somebody's going to get a lot of credit for what they did. [23:35] That happened on drug prices, too. [23:37] We did things having to do with drugs that were so incredible. [23:42] But because statutorily, they didn't kick in in my first term. [23:48] And they kicked in in Biden's second year. [23:51] He had no idea what happened. [23:53] But all of a sudden, these unbelievable events kicked in. [23:56] Statutorily, it had a way that took an 18-month period [23:59] or even a little bit longer that for it to legally kick in. [24:02] When it kicked in, it was unbelievable. [24:05] And I remember Biden standing up and saying, [24:08] ladies and gentlemen, I want to announce there's some great numbers here and there. [24:12] And I say, I did that. [24:14] But I want to thank all of you for being. [24:16] And I would like to have Paul come up. [24:18] And then I'm going to introduce another gentleman who's fantastic. [24:21] Paul, you could come up and just say a couple of words. [24:23] And the National Border Patrol Council. [24:27] And he's just been a fantastic advocate. [24:29] Thank you very much. [24:31] President Trump, it's always my honor to be in the beautiful White House. [24:39] A White House that you have taken more care of than any of your predecessors. [24:43] And really, really appreciate what you've done. [24:45] But for all the first responders here, I can tell you, I speak for all of us, [24:51] when we say we have never had the support or leadership from any administration that we have from you. [24:59] And it's because of you that America is stronger, America is safer, [25:03] and the border is totally secure because of you and your leadership. [25:07] This is going to be the greatest administration in the history of this country. [25:11] Thank you for everything you do for us, sir. [25:12] You see what I mean? He's a good, I'll tell you, he'll be running for politics maybe some. [25:23] I wouldn't do it. I think you should do. [25:25] What you're doing now is much more powerful. [25:28] But we passed the largest tax cuts in American history, [25:31] giving countless firefighters, police officers, and first responders no tax on overtime. [25:37] You know, I have different groups. [25:38] I have no tax on tips, no tax on overtime, and no tax on Social Security for our great seniors. [25:44] And I can almost tell by looking at the group, I know what you like the best out of that. [25:50] You like, because frankly, you're not allowed to take a tip. [25:52] If you take a tip, then somebody, I can see about six of them, they'll come and grab you, [25:58] they'll throw you in the clinker. [26:00] So tips don't help you. [26:01] We're not supposed to be giving law enforcement tips. [26:04] Here's a tip, sir, 10,000. [26:05] Here's a tip. [26:07] So the tips don't help you. [26:10] The no tax on Social Security will someday help you a lot, [26:14] and it helps your parents, et cetera, et cetera. [26:17] But what you love, oh, do I know about your overtime system? [26:20] You have one of the great overtime systems. [26:22] No tax on overtime. [26:24] How's that? [26:24] Is that helping you guys out a little bit? [26:28] You are an overtime. [26:29] You know, I do polls. [26:31] I say, which one is the best? [26:32] I'll tell you, the one that actually probably gets the biggest applause generally [26:36] is no tax on Social Security for our seniors. [26:40] Amazing. [26:40] I would have said maybe not. [26:42] But that gets, even for the parents, but it gets great. [26:46] But in this case, I don't even have to think about it. [26:49] No tax yet. [26:50] No tax as you take all those extra hours of preventing crime. [26:55] And just last month, we delivered $648 million [26:58] to more than 1,600 fire departments and first responders. [27:02] It's a record nationwide to ensure they always have enough manpower, [27:06] equipment, and support to continue saving lives. [27:10] And I want to tell you, the firemen, I always mention them. [27:12] I mention the police, and I always say in the fire departments [27:15] and firemen and women, they're incredible. [27:20] And I see some rough areas where they're going out and putting up fires, [27:24] and you guys know they don't mention it. [27:26] And hopefully they won't mention it even now, but where they're shot at going up ladders. [27:30] They get shot at in some neighborhoods. [27:32] You're going to blow up the damn place. [27:35] But they go up to put out fire to save lives. [27:37] They're on a ladder, and they get shot at. [27:39] And nobody ever talks about that. [27:41] They're great. [27:42] They're great. [27:43] Would the fire people please stand up? [27:45] You're just, you're amazing people, right? [27:52] And it happens, isn't it, what I'm telling you? [27:55] People hear that. [27:56] They can't believe it, but it happens. [27:58] And you're brave people, you're brave people. [28:01] And we come down very hard on those people that do what I just said. [28:06] I also signed the Honoring Our Fallen Heroes Act, [28:10] finally ensuring that when a firefighter dies from cancer, [28:15] they contract it on the job. [28:17] It is honored as a line of duty death, which is a big deal, [28:23] and their family receives the full federal benefits and support that they deserve. [28:29] And, you know, I didn't have great support from the top couple of people in the unions on fire, [28:39] or even in cars. [28:41] But I had tremendous support from the people that work building cars. [28:46] You know, we have more car plants being built in the United States now than ever before. [28:50] But the rank-and-file voted for me in massive numbers, record numbers. [28:55] And the same thing with the firefighters. [28:58] I don't know who the people are on top, [29:00] because you've been trying to get the Honoring Our Fallen Heroes Act for years and years and years, [29:06] and the Democrats gave you nothing, and they didn't give you respect either. [29:10] So I think you ought to fire your top people that supported Kamala. [29:14] Kamala, can you imagine? [29:16] You have Trump and you have Kamala, and they supported Kamala. [29:19] What were they thinking? [29:21] And it's a joke, actually. [29:22] She did absolutely nothing for you. [29:24] And it's not because she was against you. [29:26] She's incompetent. [29:27] They're all incompetent. [29:29] And I've directed the Department of Justice [29:31] that anyone who murders a police officer, [29:34] and I'm going to include, and nobody ever does this, [29:38] I'm going to include, because of what I told you with going up the ladders, [29:42] a firefighter. [29:43] Can you do that, Todd? [29:45] Anybody that murders a firefighter going up a ladder, [29:48] and they shoot him, and they go away for three months or some reason, [29:54] death penalty, Todd. [29:55] Okay, if we can do that. [29:57] All right? [29:58] That's a big deal. [29:59] You'll see shootings will stop very quickly. [30:01] The shooting will no longer stop. [30:02] They'll call that an ancient crime. [30:04] It never happens. [30:05] So America owes our first responders a debt. [30:08] It can never fully repay, but as president, [30:11] and I will always stand behind those who stand on the front lines of law enforcement, [30:16] fighting fires, all of the things that you people do so courageously. [30:20] And now I want to ask the chairman of the National Volunteer Fire Council, [30:24] Steve Hirsch, who's a great guy, [30:26] to come up and say a few words. [30:28] And I hear he has something very special that he'd like to do. [30:31] And I don't know what that is, but maybe it involves me, [30:35] and maybe it doesn't. [30:35] I hope it does. [30:37] But thank you very much. [30:38] It's an honor to have you at the White House. [30:39] Thank you, everybody. [30:41] Thank you, Steve. [30:41] So, Mr. President, on behalf of three-quarters of a million volunteer firefighters [30:52] across this nation, we want to present you with this helmet. [30:55] And, you know, these are people, these are citizens who respond from their homes at night. [31:00] They respond from their businesses during the day to protect their neighbors [31:03] when their neighbors need help to boast. [31:05] I have my wife with me here today, too, because our families mean a lot to us. [31:10] They are the ones that support us at every step of the way. [31:12] So, while this helmet protects us in a fire or a wreck, we want it to protect you. [31:18] We want God to wrap his protective arm around you and use this helmet. [31:23] Remember that we want you to be protected by our Lord. [31:27] Thank you, sir. [31:28] Thank you. [31:29] Thanks very much. [31:29] Thank you. [31:30] You know, as he's talking, I said, I could have used this in Butler. [31:37] This would have been very helpful. [31:38] Yes, yes. [31:39] I mean, I wish you gave it to me a little bit earlier. [31:42] Anyway, thank you very much, Steve. [31:44] That's beautiful. [31:44] I appreciate it. [31:45] Thank you very much. [31:47] So, ladies and gentlemen, have a good time. [31:53] We're being served food from the combination of the White House and the military people that [31:59] do such a great job. [32:00] You'll love what you're having. [32:01] It's an honor to have you here. [32:03] Maybe we should play a little music. [32:05] You don't have to talk to each other so much. [32:07] Some of you don't like each other. [32:08] Some of you are at very uncomfortable tables. [32:12] And some of you are loving each other. [32:14] But I think there's a lot of love in this group. [32:16] There's all love, I can tell you, there's all love coming from this direction. [32:20] So, I just want to thank you for the great job. [32:22] Every one of you, you're a hero. [32:24] And you do a great job. [32:26] And we have a special coin that we're going to hand out to everybody here. [32:29] Everybody wants that coin more than anything else. [32:32] They have a choice of the coin or meeting Trump. [32:34] They say, we'll take the coin, please. [32:36] Everybody wants it. [32:38] So, if they would, they're going to hand them out to you right now. [32:40] Thank you all for coming. [32:41] A tremendous honor. [32:42] Thank you.