Trump delivers remarks to the Republican Members Issues Conference

[0:00] FI history again. Now look, I love my life back in Michigan. Before coming to Congress, I had a [0:07] business, employed several hundred families in and around the state. I loved building things [0:15] from the ground up. I loved actually being home, right? I loved cooking dinner with my family on [0:22] Sundays. And like many of you, I had a life that was comfortable and fulfilling. But I left it. [0:30] I left it because I believe in America. And I left it because I believe America needed [0:37] change. I believed our country was heading in the wrong direction. And I also believed [0:43] the window to fix that was getting shorter. And I know every single one of you here feels [0:50] that same way. We are all here because we love this country. Because we all believe in the [0:58] American dream. We believe in freedom. We believe that hard work should be rewarded. That parents [1:04] should actually have a say in their children's education and their future. That innovation [1:09] should be celebrated. And our nation should always stand strong against our enemies. And [1:16] right now, America is at a crossroads. If, if we do our jobs, if we stay focused, if we communicate [1:28] clearly and fight for the people who sent us here, we have the opportunity to do something [1:35] absolutely remarkable. We can beat history. And if we do, we will cement a legacy that lasts [1:45] for generations. A legacy where Americans keep more of what they earn. A legacy where manufacturers [1:53] once again rule the world. And a legacy where our borders are secure, our communities are safe, [2:02] and our values are defended. But let me be clear about something. This is not about our legacy. [2:11] This is about the American legacy. Over the next few days, we're going to talk about a lot [2:17] of issues. We'll talk about fraud. We'll talk about immigration. We'll talk about the costs [2:22] of things. We'll talk about reconciliation 2.0. We'll talk about strategy, messaging, and how [2:28] we move the needle on inflation, and how we move the needle in a, in very, you know, a few [2:33] key districts. That messaging is critical, and we have to get out there and tell the story. [2:40] So I would invite everyone to join me in the Bobby Jones Villa throughout the retreat. We've [2:46] set up a studio there. Please use it for any interviews that you may have. We've sent the [2:52] information to your DC comm staff. But if not, just come to the Bobby Jones Villa. My staff [2:58] is there. They are happy to help you with whatever you need to communicate the message. Because [3:04] the message matters. But those are all tools that we need to use. What truly, truly matters [3:12] is the mission. The mission is making sure that the next generation of Americans inherits [3:19] a country that is stronger, freer, and more prosperous than the ones they were given. I believe we can, [3:29] defy history. Because we have the right policies, and we have the right people. I believe we [3:35] can defy history because we have the right team right here in this room. And I believe [3:40] we can defy history because we have a history-defying president that's on our side. And that president [3:46] is Donald Trump. So ladies and gentlemen, friends, colleagues, families, and for the spouses [4:00] who are here, thank you for letting your spouse do what they love to do to help save this country [4:09] for the next generation. And with that, let's get to work. We forgot one very important thing, [4:24] and that was the Pledge of Allegiance. So Mario, you want to lead us? Yes, please stand. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. All right. Thank you. If you could please remain standing for the national anthem of the greatest country on earth. [5:01] Ladies and gentlemen, please take your seats. The program is about to begin. Ladies and gentlemen, please take your seats. The program is about to begin. [19:14] Your voices of day, I'll hear you, my dear, at twilight. Ladies and gentlemen, please take your seats. The program begins now. [21:20] Ladies and gentlemen, please take your seats. The program is about to begin. [21:39] At last, at twilight, the glow of day. We keep our rendezvous in the sweet and same old way. I fall in love again, as I did then. [22:10] Kiss with a light in the spot that fills me with dreams untold. Just to be with you together. [22:28] At last, at twilight, the glow of day. We keep our rendezvous in the sweet and same old way. I fall in love again, as I did then. [23:03] We keep our rendezvous in the sweet and same old way. I fall in love again, as I did then. [23:05] Lighting the spark. Love that fills me with dreams untold. Together, at last, at twilight, the glow of day. Together. [23:24] Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome to the stage, your House Republican leadership team. [27:28] Speaker Mike Johnson, Majority Leader Steve Scalise, Majority Whip Tom Emmer, and Conference Chairwoman Lisa McClain. [27:36] Thank you all so much. Have a seat for just a moment. It is so good to be here again at Doral, President Trump's amazing property. [28:04] How about a round of applause for this incredible venue? [28:10] And the Congressional Institute, we're so grateful for bringing us all together, as they have done for many years now. [28:16] This is the best time to be together. It's the best place to be together. We have so much to celebrate. [28:21] When we were here just last year, we were talking about being on the edge, on the verge of the dawn of a new golden era in America. [28:29] And my friends, that is exactly what we are in the middle of now, the new golden era, new golden age. [28:39] And that's because when voters gave us this mandate in the election of 2024, they wanted us to fix everything. [28:45] As you know, every metric of public policy was an absolute disaster. [28:49] And they gave the President of the United States, this President, 75 million popular votes. [28:54] He won the Electoral College decisively. And along the way, and in large part because of his coattails, [29:00] we had the largest popular vote ever in history for House Republicans, almost 75 million votes. That's right. [29:06] So we came in with a mandate, and we came in with an agenda, and we began to work very hard. [29:15] We've worked hand-in-hand with the President to move that agenda along, the America First Agenda. [29:21] And the record of the first year of the Trump administration in the last couple of months has been promises made, promises kept, [29:27] because we take the responsibility that we have been given by the people seriously. [29:31] It's a restoration of common sense. We are bringing America back again. [29:36] And it's largely because of the leadership of the gentleman that I'll introduce to you in a moment. [29:40] He is the most active President, the most energized President, the most successful President, I believe, in my lifetime. [29:49] And he's proven it over and over and over. And part of it is because he doesn't sleep, thankfully. [29:54] He's got so much to do. And I know that because I get calls from him at 2 a.m. and 7 a.m., sometimes in the same day. [30:00] He doesn't require a lot of sleep, thankfully. And he is the man for the moment. [30:05] His achievements are incalculable. History will record that this President [30:10] came at exactly the right time. On the eve of the 250th anniversary of the greatest nation in the history of the world. [30:18] The most free, most successful, most powerful, most benevolent nation that has ever been. [30:22] And we understand, and he understands, that it's not guaranteed. He understands that we have to fight for it every single day. [30:28] And he does that every single day. Just in the last week, my friends, any time this President sees a problem, [30:34] he jumps right in to fix it. I've been involved in just what I've been involved in the last few days with him. [30:40] Several days back, earlier in the week, he recognized that the growth of AI and the new tech [30:46] and the need for data centers around the country and new energy sources. [30:51] He pulled together all the leaders in the industry. He's the only person that has the gravitas to be able to do that. [30:56] He pulled them all together and they signed the Ratepayer Protection Pledge to make sure that energy prices continue to go down and don't rise, [31:06] even though the demand – that's right. It's a big thing. [31:08] And then a couple of days later, we're working hard in the House and the House leadership team is doing all of our thing, [31:17] and I get summoned back to the White House. What is it now? [31:19] Well, the President needs to save colleges and universities. [31:22] The NIL, the name, image, and likeness madness has really gotten out of control. [31:27] And the President has decided that he's the man to fix it, and he is. [31:30] And so he summoned us all together. And I mean, we had – you probably saw 60 of the biggest names in college sports and athletics [31:36] and college administration, university administration, all summoned to the White House for a productive meeting [31:41] to get the SCORE Act and our solutions done and finished up. [31:47] A few days later, I turn on the TV. You know, I'm trying to rest a little bit. [31:51] The President doesn't. Why? Because now he's back down here in South Florida, and he has brought together [31:57] and created the new hemisphere initiative to take out narco-terrorists and secure the hemisphere. [32:05] This security for the Americas, it's a new initiative that he alone has conceived. [32:11] This President never stops. There's so much to fix. We have the right man for this hour. [32:17] History will record one of the most consequential presidencies in the history of this extraordinary country. [32:23] We are all blessed to be a part of it, to work alongside him in the legislative branch, and to get this done for America. [32:28] We will continue to do that as we head in to the most important midterm election of our lifetimes. We all know that. [32:35] Without further ado, my friends, I want to present to you not just our host and the property owner, but the 45th and the 47th President of the United States, Donald J. Trump. [32:51] We'll be right back. [32:56] We'll be right back. [33:13] Sit down. We have a little time. Just everybody. Thank you very much. And our great speaker, Speaker Johnson. [34:42] And hello to the men and women of one of the most consequential Republican majorities in history. [34:49] It's not a big majority, but it's just about the most consequential. The job you've done is incredible. [34:55] And they are members that are warriors and really people that are for the American people. [35:02] And that's why you're doing well. And I think that's why we're going to continue to do well. [35:06] We're fighting a little tradition. You know, historically, the person that wins Democrat or Republican wins the presidency. [35:13] For whatever reason, it doesn't work out. But we've done a lot. I don't know. We've done. [35:18] I think we've done. I think we had the best first year of any president ever. And that includes you. [35:23] You came along with me. You made it happen. So with your help and hard work, we're making America great again. [35:30] And we're doing it much faster than we thought. And it's better, stronger. And our country is doing really well. [35:38] I mean, at a level that nobody thought. We took a little excursion because we felt we had to do that to get rid of some evil. [35:45] And I think you'll see it's going to be a short term excursion. How good is our military? Right? Amazing. How good? Short term. Short term. Thank you. They're great. [36:07] You know, we all together in my first term, we rebuilt our military. And I didn't know I'd be using it so much in the second term. [36:16] But we have a military like no other as not even close. But I especially want to recognize the rest of our amazing House Republican leadership team and so many of my friends that are congressmen, some senators. [36:29] We have some great people in this room. But including a majority leader, a real brave guy, because I know the real story. [36:37] I was there that night with him in the hospital when he was given a very small chance of living by a doctor who was very good, by a wife who was desperately in love with him. [36:48] She cried so much because I've seen the other two. I've seen guys at the end of the line. The wives aren't exactly shaken up when they don't cry, when they have no tears or any sign of tears. [37:04] This is not a good sign of a great marriage. But he must have a great marker. She was really she was just devastated. She was going to lose her guy. But it worked out that the doctor said more blood was put into him than we've ever that he's ever seen. [37:21] He was he was in big trouble. I looked at him that night. I said goodbye to him. But he he made it. He was brave and look at the way he fought back for so many different things. [37:31] Steve Scalise. And we have another one, Tom Emmer, who I really got to know over the last few years. And I'll tell you, he's a winner. He's a champion with another great wife who get good wives up in here. [37:51] That's a great wife, fine husband. But Tom is just a real champion and a winner. And you have a problem. You go to him. He gets itself. So thank you very much. Great job. You've done a great job. [38:07] And our conference chairwoman is Lisa McClain. And we all know Lisa. Don't get on her wrong side. It can be a very, very bad experience. [38:16] Thank you very much. Great job. Great job. And a very special thanks. You know, you broke a record. This is over 20 million. This is that's the biggest of these type of events that there's ever been by actually by a lot. [38:32] You didn't just break it. You broke it by a lot. So I want to congratulate you. But there's just great spirit. The Republican Party has fantastic spirit. [38:42] The level I don't think has been seen before. I really don't. We have to get a couple of people on board, which at least one case is virtually impossible. I wonder who that might be. Sick person. [38:58] But I want to say a very special thanks to everyone at the Congressional Institute for helping organize this event. This has been amazing. [39:06] And over the past nine days, we've been reminded of how vital our Republican majorities are. And it's, you know, it's America's future. We're really fighting because these people you saw the other night at the State of the Union, you saw these people. [39:25] They wouldn't stand for a mother who just lost their daughter by having her throat slit from behind. They wouldn't stand for the helicopter pilot who just got the Congressional Medal of Honor for landing safely in Venezuela helicopter with a lot of soldiers on that lot of soldiers on that helicopter. [39:46] And he was able to land safely. And he was able to land safely. And he was his leg was practically ripped off. And for those people that know about helicopters, you lend them pretty much with your legs, right, Tom, you lend them with the legs and he was he was in bad shape. [40:00] And he got it. He got that not only landed, he landed in exactly the right spot at exactly as blood was pouring down the aisle, which didn't make all of those soldiers in the back feel too good looking at a pilot is bleeding out. [40:16] But they didn't want to stand for that. They didn't want to stand for a 100 year old soldier who was who had left a legacy of bravery. Everybody talked about it for years and it was time for him to get the Congressional Medal of Honor. [40:30] They didn't want to stand for him. There's something wrong with those people and we can't let them ever be in a position where they can leave this country again or destroy this country again because we almost lost this country. [40:45] This country was close to being lost. The representatives in this room provided the pivotal votes in securing a record $1 trillion for the United States military this year. [40:56] And now the world is witnessing the importance of that investment with one of the most complex and stunning operations ever conducted and that's Operation Epic Fury. That's a great name, isn't it? Epic Fury. [41:09] That's even better than Midnight Hammer, which was pretty good too. That was where we knocked out their nuclear potential. That was a big day because if we didn't do that, they would have had a nuclear weapon within two weeks. [41:26] And I think we'd be in a lot different situation. And then you had, of course, what they did in Venezuela, how that was. That was just so far so good. We've done a real job. We've got all good ones. [41:40] And if you go back and you go back and you look at Afghanistan with Biden, one of the worst, I think the most embarrassing moment in the history of our country. If you look at what happened with Jimmy Carter with also with Iran. [41:53] But if you look at what happened with the helicopters and the hostages, it cost them the election. It was what a mess. The world respects us right now more than they have ever respected us before. [42:08] And because of Republicans, you people in Congress, the United States has by far the strongest and most powerful military on the face of the earth. We're the strongest military anywhere on the earth. And now everybody understands it. [42:27] Together with our Israeli partners, we're crushing the enemy in an overwhelming display of technical skill and military force. [42:35] Iran's drone and missile capability is being utterly demolished. The Navy is gone. It's all lying at the bottom of the ocean. 46 ships. Can you believe it? In fact, I got a little upset with our people. I said, what quality of ship? Excellent, sir. Top of the line. I said, why did we just capture the ship? We're going to use it. Why did we sink him? He said, it's more fun to sink him. He said, that's they like sinking him better. They say it's safer to sink him. I guess it's probably true. [43:05] But think of it. We knocked out 46. It actually took three and a half days. Their terrorist leaders are gone. We're counting down the minutes until they will be gone. Think of it. We had leaders and they're gone. [43:21] We had new leaders and they're gone. And now nobody has any idea who the people are that are going to be the head of the country and will not relent until the enemy is totally and decisively defeated. [43:33] And remember, Iran did so many bad things. They were really, if you look at Soleimani, who was taken out, as you know that, but you know who. But if you look at Soleimani, the father of the roadside, you call it a roadside bomb because most people don't understand the different terms. [43:59] It was where they plant bombs and roads. As you drive by, happily drive by, the bomb goes off. And no matter how strong the armament, it just kills the people. Or you lose your arms, legs and face. [44:11] And those bombs got worse and worse. And he got happier and happier. We took them out. That was a big thing because he was the head. It might have been a much different story. They may have been much more capable than they are. [44:22] Had he lived because he was capable. He was vicious, violent and capable. But we got rid of him first term. And we did so many things. I mean, we've done so many things. [44:34] But as you know, on Saturday, I traveled to Dover Air Force Base to be with the families of six fallen warriors as they returned to American soil. And I know that everyone in this room joins me in sending our prayers and eternal gratitude to the families of those great heroes. Those families are incredible families. Devastating to be. Hardest thing to do. [44:57] You know, I've done it a lot. The hardest thing to do is to go to Dover. Because Dover is where, for the most part, a lot of the fallen, the warriors, the great young people that have died in war, they seem to mostly go to Dover. They come home to Dover. Dover does a great job of handling things. They have men assigned to the family. They have men and women that are incredible assigned to the families. It's a beautiful thing, but it's also a very sad thing. [45:28] But they all said one thing to me. Make sure you win, sir. Make sure you win. They say didn't. They weren't playing games. We want to make sure they said it. Everybody said it. They were separate. And but everybody said the same thing. Make sure you win. We will. We've already won in many ways, but we haven't won enough. We go forward more determined than ever to achieve ultimate victory that will end this long running danger once and for all. 47 years. It should have been done a long time ago. [46:00] The world would have been a different place had some president had the courage to go and do it. They should have done it many, many times. They had many opportunities. The United States of America is the greatest and most exceptional nation in human history and will not be threatened by evil terrorists and lunatics any longer. We just can't do that. [46:19] And you know when I always talk about how great our nation is. I don't know. I don't consider our nation very great for four years under Biden. We were laughing stock all over the world. We were laughing stock. So, you know, I say great, great, great. But I don't know when you look at what happened with so many different things. [46:36] The open border, 25 million people, many of them, very bad people pouring into our country with open borders that just said, come on in, come on in. Makes no difference. They emptied their jails into our country. [46:48] 11,888 murders, 50% of which murdered more than one person. The drug dealers came in. The mentally insane came in. They emptied their mental institutions. They emptied their insane asylum. That's a step above a mental institution. [47:07] A step above a mental institution. They emptied them all right into our country. And we've done a great job of doing what we've done. Think of it. We have the lowest crime rate that we've ever had. We have the lowest murder rate in 125 years. And we're saddled with all of the problems of the criminals that were let in. You know, look, there's smart people. I know. I know the people that run those countries, every one of them. And they're all streetwise. Very smart. And I would do [47:39] exactly the same thing. They emptied their jails into our country. I said that was going to happen when I heard that they were having open borders. I didn't believe that they were going to happen. When I realized that they actually were going to have open borders, I said, we're going to have every person in jail. We're going to have every drug dealer. We're going to have all these countries all over the world. The Congo, they emptied their jails all the way from the Congo to all parts of South America, Asia. They sent in there people in jail, murderers. Some of the worst people on earth got sent in. [48:10] They sent in there people to our country to our country. And I'll tell you what, ICE is unbelievable. What they have to put up with and how tough they have to be. That goes for border patrol. And it goes for law enforcement, our law enforcement people. But sadly, even as our service members are fighting bravely to protect America abroad, the Democrat minority in Congress is deliberately sabotaging our national security at home. [48:42] Very safe right now, especially when we're attacking somebody that's evil, bad intention. But last week, 53 House Democrats voted against a resolution affirming that Iran remains the world's number one state sponsor of terror. [48:57] How the hell would do that? I mean, almost every act, whether it's Hamas or Hezbollah, no matter what, you take a look, it's Iran or Iran sponsored. And even more outrageously, as we speak, Democrats have shut down the Department of Homeland Security. [49:15] They've got it shut down. They've got it shut down. Do you believe it right now? Because they care more about amnesty for illegal alien criminals than about protecting the lives of American civilians. [49:25] I mean, take a look at it. I mean, take a look at it. The American citizen is being scoffed at by Democrats. It doesn't make sense. None of this stuff makes sense to me. You know, when they when they sat and they wouldn't stand up for for incredible people, they just refused to clap, stand up by the end of the speech. [49:46] By the way, they were all standing because somebody was passing. No, you people are getting killed tonight. They were all said they'd stand up for everything I was saying at the end. [49:53] That last half hour, they were standing up for things that they shouldn't have stood up for because they got the word. You're getting killed tonight. Stand up and clap for the woman that just lost her daughter, please to a violent criminal. [50:08] But Democrats must vote immediately to reopen the Department of Homeland Security so that we have the resources to keep America safe. [50:16] And under our pro America, pro worker, pro family agenda, our country is winning again and America is respected again. [50:30] And I think we have a country that's as hot as it's ever been ever before, maybe hotter. [50:35] And I say it all the time. The king of Saudi Arabia said it to me better than anybody could say it. [50:41] He said, you know, I'll get along with him very well. Very smart person. [50:46] He said, you know, a year and a half ago, your country was dead, absolutely dead. [50:52] We never thought it was coming back. And now you have the hottest country anywhere in the world. [50:57] That's true. We're the hottest country anywhere in the world by far. [51:01] And that's before we showed off our military strength with Venezuela and now with Iran. [51:07] You know, Iran was supposed to be this big, powerful country. We wrapped the hell out of them. [51:12] And, you know, I don't know when they cry uncle, but they should have cried it two days ago. [51:18] Right. But they don't have anything left in our country. Inflation is plummeting. [51:25] Incomes are rising. The economy is surging. Our border is the most secure at any time in American history. [51:31] And the murder rate is the lowest in 125 years. That's before my father was born. [51:36] My father was born six years later than that. I don't know if he'd like me to say that. [51:41] Never like to talk about his age. He said, don't talk about that. [51:44] But think about 125 years ago, 1900, the year 1900, the stock market has set 53 all-time record highs since the election. [51:55] And it's going to go a lot higher as soon as we get rid of this stuff that we're doing right now that we really had no choice. [52:01] I mean, I think I asked people, I said, would you rather do this or would you rather go along nice and smoothly, [52:07] but eventually have a catastrophe the likes of which perhaps the world has never seen? [52:12] And just about everybody says, except for lunatics, said you had to get it done. [52:17] Should have been done a long time ago. The average 401k is up almost $35,000. [52:24] Think of that. It's the best they've ever done. [52:27] And I think you're going to see some real numbers when this gets – because this was always a [52:31] dark cloud hanging over not only Israel, which was going to get wiped out. [52:35] You know, if we didn't do that B2 attack, Israel would have been wiped out. [52:39] They would have had a nuclear weapon within two weeks after that. [52:42] And even now, I think they were looking to take over the Middle East because when you look, [52:46] and we have pretty good proof, all of those missiles that were so stupidly aimed at Qatar, [52:52] Saudi Arabia, UAE, they were all aimed – and others – at countries that were sort of like, [52:59] leave us alone. They were all right. They were sort of neutral. But they weren't doing it. [53:05] All of a sudden, they're getting hit with missiles. And they could have gone one of two ways. [53:10] They could have gone toward their side, like we're with you. Or they could have gone with our side. [53:15] And they really went with our side. And they've helped us. And they've been a big force. [53:20] But they got hit. But they were going to be hit with us. Had we not done the B2 raid, [53:25] and have we not done this one, where we said, you know, it's time to go in. We have to go in. [53:29] We have no choice. Number one, if we didn't go in, they would have come in after us. Because I see [53:35] the Democrats trying to justify it. And they're failing because the voters on the street are [53:39] saying, you've got to be kidding. But I see where they're going. They're always saying, [53:44] no, no, there was no reason. Well, I'll give you the best reason of all. Within a week, [53:49] if they were going to attack us, 100 percent. They were ready. They had all these missiles, [53:53] far more than anyone thought. And they were going to attack us. But they were going to attack all of [53:58] the Middle East and Israel. And if they had a nuclear weapon, they would have used it on Israel. [54:03] And this was going to be a major attack on all. They had all of those missile sites and all those [54:08] launchers that we got rid of about 80 percent of them right now, by the way, got rid of most of the, [54:14] you know, see, it's died down to a trickle. They have very few launchers left. What our military has [54:19] done is amazing. They wiped out almost 20 percent, maybe 22, 23 percent. But the rest are going very quickly. [54:28] And the missiles have been largely knocked out. The drones have been knocked down. And we're [54:33] hitting where they make the drones. We know them all. And we're knocking the hell out of that now, [54:37] where they manufactured the drones. A lot of work, a lot of brilliant work. But we're going to have a [54:43] much safer world as soon as it's finished. And it's going to be finished pretty quickly. [54:48] With the help of our House Republican majority, we passed the largest tax cuts in American history. [54:53] And we have to be talking about it. [54:59] And with the great, big, beautiful bill, we delivered no tax on tips, [55:03] no tax on overtime and no tax on Social Security for our great seniors. [55:08] And we did something else which is great that nobody ever talks about, Tom, [55:13] and we have to talk about it. We made interest on auto loans fully deductible. That's never happened. [55:20] We've never had that. You know, rich people always get deductions, but middle-income people, [55:25] people that have to struggle a little bit never did. But now they can deduct the interest paid [55:30] against their taxes. We have one little proviso, and I put this on, it's very important, [55:36] only if the car is made in America. All right? That's going to have a huge impact. That's going [55:43] to have a huge impact. We passed the Trump accounts to give every child in America a head start on the [55:50] American dream. And that's so good. It was, I'll tell you, the Dell family, Dell computer, [55:59] he put up $6,250,000,000. Think of it. He started with very little, nothing, very little. He started [56:08] making computers on his bed. And he said, yeah, people started liking them better than the ones [56:15] from the store. And he never stopped. And he can write a check for $6,250,000,000. It's, [56:23] he said, and his incredible wife, Susan, they said, that's the best, best thing they've ever done. [56:28] He's so proud. He's going to do it again, going to do more. And we have a lot of other people. [56:33] A lot of very rich people are doing it. A lot of people that aren't so rich are doing it. They're [56:37] doing it for their kids, but it's starting out. So a young child turns 18 or 21, and all of a sudden, [56:44] they have $100,000 in the bank. What a difference that is between having that and having nothing. [56:50] And it could be more than that. It could be a lot more, depending on what happens with the world. [56:55] And we passed 100% expensing and bonus depreciation on all new equipment, factory [57:01] construction and investments. And that's what made our first term. We had the greatest economy in the [57:06] history of our country in the first term. And this one's going to blow it away. Again, [57:10] we had a little pause, but it's not a very big pause. With your help, we also passed the largest [57:18] regulation cuts in American history, ending the Green News scam, one of the greatest scams in [57:23] history, and massively increasing production of American oil, natural gas, and clean, beautiful [57:29] coal. We brought coal back. You're not allowed to say coal without clean, beautiful. [57:35] Got to be clean, beautiful. China uses coal. They're building about 65 massive coal plants right now. [57:43] But China, great respect for China, but they make all the windmills, right? [57:47] The only thing they don't do is use the windmills. They make them. [57:51] But try finding wind farms in China. There aren't too many of them. [57:56] In my State of the Union address, I laid out an ambitious agenda that should be our road map this [58:03] year. And it's starting with lowering the cost of living. You know, they gave us a mess. We inherited [58:08] a mess, an absolute mess. And the mess was many things. They were bad with our military. They were bad [58:17] with everything. I mean, I said, name one thing that they did right. They can't name one thing. [58:23] But they also gave us very high prices. And then they said the word affordability. That's the first [58:30] time I ever heard it. They said affordability. My first day in office, they said affordability. [58:35] They're the ones that caused the problem. But we're really bringing down prices big. [58:39] Do you notice you don't hear that word anymore, Mike? They don't say it anymore because we've [58:43] brought down prices so much. So our message is simple. Democrats created the high prices. And [58:50] our policies are totally ending them. And they've ended. And we're doing better. We're even bringing [58:55] them down further. They'll be way down. And we're bringing — you know, if you go back into the last [59:02] — the last period, I would say, I think it's two and a half months, 1.7 percent inflation. Three months, [59:10] 1.45 percent inflation. Think of that. Whereas they had the highest inflation in the history — the [59:17] single highest inflation in the history of our country. Now, you know, I always say this. They [59:22] say 48 years — because I don't want the fake news to get me on this — they say it wasn't history. It was [59:28] 48 years. That the inflation was the highest in 48 years. But I don't know. In some ways, 48 years [59:34] sounds even worse because it's very specific. But they had the highest inflation probably in history. But [59:40] in 48 years, we inherited that. One of the first targets must be the crushing healthcare. We have to [59:48] crush the — and take over the healthcare situation, which we can do. For the first time, we can do it [59:55] since the passage of the Unaffordable Care Act. Big insurance companies have gotten rich. They've made [1:00:01] money like practically no other companies have made, with our government giving them hundreds of [1:00:07] billions of dollars. And their stock prices soaring to up to 1,700 percent — 1,000 percent, 1,200 percent, [1:00:16] 1,600 percent, and even 1,700 percent. The government gave them essentially trillions [1:00:26] of dollars. And I want that money to be paid to the person, not to the insurance company, and let [1:00:33] them go out and buy their own healthcare. And people love it. People love it. You'll get better [1:00:40] healthcare at a much lower cost. And they'll be sort of part of the system. But the money we spend [1:00:46] on is so much. We spend numbers that nobody could even believe. But the healthcare companies — because [1:00:53] the Democrats are owned by the insurance companies, remember that — and so they have a problem. [1:00:59] That's why it's hard to — it's hard to get it fixed, because they are totally owned and controlled [1:01:05] by the healthcare, by the insurance companies. Healthcare insurance, but the insurance companies [1:01:11] themselves. So when you want to do something that's good for the people but bad for the insurance [1:01:16] companies, it's very, very hard for them to go in a different way. Now, Republicans never do that [1:01:22] kind of thing, right? You're owned by nobody, right? Nobody. See? A young girl up here say, [1:01:28] yes. Some of them are a little bit shaky, but they're Republicans. We love them. We love them anyway, [1:01:35] right, Mike? But they are owned by those big, powerful insurance companies that are making a fortune [1:01:43] and it's hard to get them to do the right thing. They know what the right thing is. So we want the [1:01:46] money to be paid directly to the people and let the people go out and buy their own healthcare. And [1:01:53] people love it. They love it. We can own the issue. For the first time ever, Republicans can own that [1:02:00] issue. I'm also asking you to take swift action to codify my most favored nation policy on drug prices. [1:02:09] The biggest, that alone should win the midterms. We have, and I tell this story all the time, [1:02:16] my first term, third year, I actually had a slight, it was one quarter of one percent, [1:02:22] decline in drug press. First time in 28 years. I was so proud. I went home, told our great first [1:02:26] lady who's now a movie star. I got the biggest, can you believe that movie was hot? And it is hot. [1:02:35] She became a movie star. It was a good movie. But I went home and I said, you know, it's amazing. [1:02:44] We, we do so well. We work so hard. This issue is the single biggest issue. We, we, okay. I had a [1:02:54] news conference. I'm embarrassed to say a long time ago, my third term, my first term, third year, [1:03:02] because I went up to a level that nobody's, I did things that nobody's ever done. 28 years, [1:03:08] I brought it down one quarter of 1%. Now I brought it down 80%, 90%, 75%, depending the way on, you know, [1:03:18] it's driving the fake news crazy because I say 400%, 500%, 600, depending on the way you want to talk [1:03:25] about it. If you want to talk about pricing, but using a conservative number, what we've done is we, [1:03:32] we paid the highest price for drugs anywhere in the world. And now we pay the lowest price for drugs [1:03:39] anywhere in the world. We are tied for the lowest price. Whoever has the lowest price, that's what we [1:03:47] pay. And I did that through tariffs. We had a little disappointing decision to put it mildly from [1:03:53] Supreme court, terrible decision for the people. But the good news is I have lots of other ways of doing [1:03:59] the same thing. I just have to work a little harder. They want me to work harder, but we're doing the [1:04:04] same thing with a lot of work. But I use tariffs to get this because I went to other countries. The [1:04:11] drug companies were not easy, but I got them. I said, we're not paying. We were paying for a pill [1:04:17] $130 that in London and Germany and different places, you'd pay $10. So we were paying 13 times more. [1:04:25] They're paying $10. We're paying 130. And the drug companies, I called them in. We had a rough time, [1:04:32] but it wasn't that bad. And they agreed because they knew that I couldn't get the countries. You [1:04:37] had to get the countries to approve it. And I called up and you've heard me say this a couple of times, [1:04:42] not often, but I called the countries up. I called up France. I said, Emmanuel, you have to cut your [1:04:50] your good friends from America, a reasonable deal. What's happening is you are paying a tiny [1:04:57] fraction for drugs as well. No, no, Donald, I cannot do anything about that. I said, you can, [1:05:01] you can. And he said, no, no, I will not do it. I will not do it because he'd have to raise his [1:05:06] pill from $10 to 20 and maybe even 30. Ours would come down from $13, $130 down to $20. Think of that [1:05:16] from $130. That's what you're going to get from $130 to $20. But he has to double his price from $10. [1:05:24] And they were the boss. I said, no, no, you will. No, Donald, Donald, I cannot do that. [1:05:29] And I heard this from all the other countries too, very elegant people. And they were saying, [1:05:33] no, no, no, we cannot do this. We will not do this. I said, yes, you will. 100%. No, no, [1:05:38] we will not. Because they have to double up their prices. And I said, well, here's the story. If you [1:05:44] don't do it, I'm going to put, in the case of Emmanuel, I set a 100% tariff on all wines and [1:05:50] champagnes coming into the United States. No, no, Donald, you cannot do that. I said, [1:05:55] I've already got the legislation. It's right in front of my desk. I'm going to sign it. Emmanuel. [1:06:02] He said, Donald, I will agree to this. So he agreed. Everybody agreed. I got every country to agree. [1:06:10] And now you've done something that no other president could have done. [1:06:14] No, I don't want to brag. But you know, they've said this about a lot of things. No other president [1:06:19] could do some of this shit I'm doing. No other president. The things I'm doing, [1:06:27] nobody else was going to do. I say, they say it all the time. Sir, could you do this? You're the [1:06:32] only one can do it. But we got it done. And we got the countries to all go along. Because I said, [1:06:39] if you don't do it, I'm going to raise your tariffs to 200% to 150%. And that's 10 times more than I'm [1:06:46] asking for. And every single one, if it took me five minutes, that was like a long time. I was [1:06:52] doing badly with that one. So now we have most favored nation pricing into permanent law, [1:06:59] and you should codify it. But I don't care that much about codifying it. Because what politician [1:07:04] is going to agree to increase drug prices by 500%, okay? So, but it's still good to have it codified. [1:07:11] Don't you agree? [1:07:12] Don't you agree? You know, they're saying, sir, we have to codify it. I said, that's okay. But I'm [1:07:15] not. Other things you should codify. That I can tell you. This one, you should codify. Because you [1:07:22] want to take credit for it. You want to take credit for it. So if you can, please codify it, [1:07:27] get out there and codify. You're getting an 80%, 85%, 55%, 70% reduction in drug prices. [1:07:37] codify it. But if you don't, no president's going to raise it, in my opinion. Although they are crazy. [1:07:43] You know, these people are crazy. They could find a way. You better get it codified. And as we work [1:07:49] to bring down interest rates so that more Americans afford a house, I'm also asking you to ban the Wall [1:07:56] Street firms, large Wall Street firms, institutional investors from buying up thousands and thousands of [1:08:04] single family homes, hundreds of thousands of homes. Because homes really are for people, [1:08:11] not for hedge funds. We want to get the market out so they can do it. And we're stopping it. We want [1:08:19] people to be able to buy a house. It's the American dream. Buying a house is a part of the American dream. [1:08:23] And we must also stand up for the safety of our citizens. One of my guests at the State of the [1:08:32] Union was Anya Zuritska, the mother of beautiful 23-year-old Ukrainian girl who was [1:08:39] stabbed to death on a train in North Carolina by a deranged criminal, arrested more than a dozen times. [1:08:46] And I had the mother, as you know, at the State of the Union, and she was devastated. Beautiful woman, [1:08:54] devastated, uncontrollably devastated. And we couldn't get one Democrat to even clap. The [1:09:04] Republicans clapped and went wild and they loved her. Not one Democrat in that whole room even [1:09:12] thought about clapping. They sat there frozen faced. Disgusting. House Republicans should get every [1:09:19] member of Congress on record and pass a tough new crime bill that imposes harsh penalties for dangerous [1:09:25] repeat offenders, which this nut was. Cracks down on rogue judges and prosecutors and ends no cash bail [1:09:32] once and for no cash bail is a big part. I mean, you have a man murder somebody. And by that afternoon, [1:09:40] he's out on bail. No cash bail. It's a huge, a huge problem. We also need to end deadly sanctuary cities. [1:09:48] And you have bills before you now and you're working on things. But hopefully you can do that, [1:09:52] Mike. Because it's terrible. They're sanctuary for criminals. That's all they are. Sanctuary [1:09:58] for criminals. They fight ICE all the time. That was a problem up in Minnesota. They had a lot of [1:10:02] criminals in there. They wouldn't give it to us. And to stop illegal aliens who cannot even speak [1:10:08] English from driving 18-wheel tractor trailers. They have no idea what they're reading. I wouldn't be [1:10:14] able to do it in their countries. There's arrows. There's speed limits. They have no idea what they're [1:10:19] reading. And in many cases, they're on drugs on top of that. We need to ban any state from granting [1:10:26] commercial driver's licenses to illegal aliens. And I want to thank House Republicans for passing [1:10:36] another common sense measure. I would think it's the easiest thing. I just told Mike, you know, [1:10:43] you were at $19 million. I have to say this because I've never contributed. I was a huge contributor [1:10:48] for years and years. Once I became president, I never contributed any money because the greatest [1:10:53] thing about being president is I no longer have to contribute. Nobody ever asked me for money. [1:10:58] They asked me for my endorsement. I've endorsed just about everybody in the room. [1:11:02] But keep winning, right? [1:11:04] Yes. [1:11:05] 124 and 0 this Tuesday. 124 wins, no losses. Is that good? And there were some rebels. We endorsed [1:11:14] a few rebels, right? A few that Mike was saying. I don't know. It's going to be a tough one. [1:11:19] But we're 124 and 0. But as president, nobody ever asked me for money. And as president, [1:11:26] you know, like as president, you sort of don't make campaign contributions, right? [1:11:30] But I heard you were at $19 million today. I said, has that ever been done? No, sure. It's a record, [1:11:36] but 20 would sound better. Right, Mike? Yes. He said, I'm going to give you $1 million. It's [1:11:41] the first time I've done it. I never did it before. I never did it before. I never did it before. [1:11:58] Now I'll be hit up by every political group, every Republican running. Sir, can I have some [1:12:03] give me a little cash? I'll have Emmerich come up to me, say, how about a little cash for my campaign? [1:12:09] I will no longer have the excuse that as president. Anyway, no, but we had to hit the 20, right? We had to [1:12:15] hit the 20. That was a hell of a thing. You beat it by a lot. You beat the record, [1:12:19] the previous record by a lot. But I want to thank House Republicans for passing another common sense [1:12:24] measure. To me, the easiest of all, the Save America Act, to protect our sacred American. [1:12:32] Look at this. Look, it's the easiest thing we have. I can't. It's the easiest thing we have. [1:12:51] Now, the problem is you call it the Save Act, and nobody knew what the hell the Save Act. Have [1:12:56] you been seeing? I've been working overtime for the last month. It's called the, capital the, [1:13:01] the Save America Act. And I saw Schumer yesterday, we will stop Save America. He's getting killed. [1:13:11] They can't do it. And then the things within the Save America are so good. But just the title. So we had [1:13:17] that with MAGA. Greatest name of all time. Make America Great Again. MAGA. It just worked. You know, [1:13:23] I had something keep America great. It was good. But it didn't have that MAGA. You know, [1:13:31] there was nothing you could see. I had CAG. CAG. And CAG, I said, you know, no longer, that's not good. [1:13:40] But MAGA is great. And we'll always respect MAGA. We love MAGA. We're never going to let you down with [1:13:46] MAGA. But this one's even better if you think about it. This says, America, we're going to save [1:13:54] America. The Save America. How can they fight us? The Save America Act. And I've watched them. I [1:14:01] watched Schumer, who's horrible. What a horrible politician. He is now a Palestinian officially. [1:14:07] He is registered as a Palestinian. He's a proud, he's taken the biggest turn of any human being I've [1:14:14] ever seen. He's gone from totally pro-Israel to totally pro-Palestinian. He wants to protect the [1:14:23] Iranian people that are quite nasty. But it's very simple. All voters must show the act. [1:14:31] Voter ID. Ready? This is not complicated. Voter identification. Now, you know, I have a whole list, [1:14:37] but I don't want to put it. I have like hundreds of things on the list. If you go shopping, if you do [1:14:41] this, if you buy a car, if you license a car, if you point to everything you need to have [1:14:46] identification. So all voters have to show identification, ID. All voters must show proof [1:14:54] of citizenship in order to vote. So you have ID and you have citizenship. So far, good. No mail-in [1:15:01] ballots except for illness, disability, military, or travel. Mail-in ballots are a disaster. Jimmy Carter, [1:15:09] the best thing he ever did, he headed a commission after he was president. It was the single best thing, [1:15:15] and he did a thing on mail-in ballots. He said mail-in ballots should not be allowed because they are [1:15:22] inherently dishonest. And we have seen it time and time again, and we just keep going with it. [1:15:28] And I put that down as a top three. Look, no mail-in. Now, you have the exceptions for the military, [1:15:33] and I would even say foreign-based military, but for the military, for disability, for illness. [1:15:40] And if you're traveling, you know, you have an excuse. And I was lenient on that. But those three [1:15:46] things. Then I added two more. These are best of, you know, best of. These are called best of Trump. [1:15:54] We should also add on to this bill. And so what I've asked Mike to do is to draw a new one with these [1:16:00] few things added. And let's go for the gold. Let's not just get one like voter ID, but, you know, [1:16:08] it can be given to you by your daughter. You know, your daughter, she has to be of age, [1:16:13] like above six years old, she's allowed to say. You had to see some of this stuff is so bad. [1:16:19] They're doing everything possible because they know if we get this, they'll probably won't win an [1:16:24] election for 50 years. Okay. And maybe longer. And they're going to fight like hell. But boy, [1:16:32] do they get killed because even the Democrats, you saw the numbers today, Democrats voted 86% [1:16:39] that this stuff should be passed. The Democrats with Republicans, you're at 98%, [1:16:45] but Democrats are at 86, except for the people that run the Democrat Party, because they want to try and [1:16:52] win elections illegally. The only reason you vote against voter ID is because you want to cheat. [1:16:57] There's no other reason. They come up with reasons. They say, it's racist. That's their number one, [1:17:03] racist. Then you have to explain it. And they're just sitting there mumbling. They can't explain it. [1:17:09] And it's actually very insulting when they use the term racist, very insulting to the people that [1:17:15] they're trying to so-called defend, but they're not defending. [1:17:17] And I wanted to add two more to it because they're, I say 95%, maybe 100%. No men in women's sports, [1:17:27] very simple. Add that in. And I wanted to add in one of the, I'm not even adding in no open borders, [1:17:35] because you know, there's some people that like open borders. These people are crazy, but that's okay. [1:17:42] Because I want five things that are like close to 100%. No transgender mutilization surgery for our [1:17:49] children. You can't have transgender for our children. So those five things, five things, [1:17:58] voter ID, citizenship, mail-in ballots, no mail-in ballots, right? We don't want men playing in women's [1:18:09] sports. That's got to be about close to 100%. We don't want men playing in women's sports and no [1:18:16] transgender mutilation of our children. Now, that should be the easiest thing to get past that you've [1:18:25] ever had. Each one, it's best of, best of Trump. Those are best of Trump. I have some that are very [1:18:32] popular, but I wouldn't put them in that category. This is the number one priority. It should be for the [1:18:38] House. And I'd like to ask Tom, Steve, Mike, all of you, if you would, I'd like to have you go back. [1:18:45] And Lisa, hello, darling. She was screaming her affirmation of what I said. The kid went wild. [1:18:57] She was so happy that somebody finally said, let's vote on this. Lisa, you're going to get it done. [1:19:04] Okay, I'm going to count on you. Forget the men up here. I'm going to count. But it's actually a matter [1:19:09] in a serious way of national survival. We can't have these elections going on like this anymore. [1:19:15] You know, you use paper ballots. If right now they have watermark, it's so safe. It's so good. You [1:19:21] put it, it gets under a light. It says, you know, a code. It's very, very hard to cheat. Another thing, [1:19:30] and I don't even bring this up. It costs 7% the cost of those crazy machines. You know, [1:19:36] I love the machines where they get the machines, they spend all this money and they announce during [1:19:40] the election that the tabulation will go along for another three weeks, right? With mail-in voting. [1:19:47] You know, there's not a country in the world that does mail-in ballots anymore. They tried it. France [1:19:56] tried it. It failed. They go to paper ballots. They're all doing paper ballots right now. Most of [1:20:01] them are doing paper ballots except us. And nobody is doing what we're doing. And there's no elections so [1:20:09] corrupt as the elections in the United States of America. And we can solve them with this. [1:20:16] And the reason I put those other two that have not much to do with it is because they are equally [1:20:21] popular. And I think it might help us. And for those people that like Pfizer, I said, maybe you put [1:20:27] them together because a lot of people feel very strongly about Pfizer. Some people don't, but the [1:20:32] people that want it, they really want it. And generally, for whatever reason, they're opposed to what we're [1:20:37] saying about, you know, about the ballots and about citizenship and all of those things. And [1:20:44] so put them together and you might get a vote, but we have to get it done. And then we have to [1:20:48] get the Senate to do it. But if you could send a bill up to the Senate, a real, we're going for the [1:20:53] gold. We don't want what was said. The save act. It was all right. Nobody knew what the hell it was, [1:21:00] including me. I kept saying, what's this? Save America act. Don't ever say save act again. It's a loser. [1:21:07] The save act. Nobody has any idea what we're, what are we trying to save? It's the save America act. [1:21:16] If you could send it up in full form, full form, meaning to straight, we will, I think the Senate [1:21:27] has to approve it. I really do. I think, and they're going to have to go to the filibuster. [1:21:31] And maybe it's going to be the talking filibuster, like the old days to great Jimmy Stewart, right? [1:21:38] Remember the great movie, Jimmy Stewart, but they have to get it done. Because if we don't get this [1:21:43] done, I'm for, if it takes you six months, I'm for not approving anything. I'm for not approving [1:21:49] anything. I don't think we should approve anything until this is approved. And they can't win [1:21:53] politically. Look, you have them in a corner and they're listening to every word I'm saying, [1:21:58] it doesn't matter because they can't win it politically. Because when they say we don't want [1:22:03] voter identification, we don't want proof of citizenship, all these things are just losers [1:22:08] for them. And they can't, they won't be able to withstand it. Just like at the State of the Union, [1:22:15] they started clapping at the end. I said that. And the reason because politically, you have to stand [1:22:22] for these great people that were being, and the word came out from people watching it on television, [1:22:28] you guys are getting killed. And this is an even bigger example. So if you could, if I could ask [1:22:37] the people in this room to go for the gold, we're going for the gold. We're not going for the bronze. [1:22:43] We're not going to sign a watered down version like has been sent up there. Let's go for the gold. [1:22:49] And let's just not accept anything else. I'll tell you what, I'm willing to just sort of say, [1:22:54] I'm not going to sign anything until this is approved. I really am. That's how bad it is. [1:23:01] And we're going to have to push the Senate because you have four or five senators that [1:23:05] are, I don't know, four or five Republican senators, you have to explain them to me, [1:23:11] but we're not going to get into that. But we're going to push them to get it done. Because I don't [1:23:15] think you can politically exist if you're not going to do voter ID in these things. I don't think the [1:23:20] people in this country will stand for it. So I'm making my biggest plea tonight. It'll make you, [1:23:25] and I'm not doing it for this reason at all. It'll guarantee the midterms. It'll guarantee the [1:23:32] midterms. If you don't get it, big trouble, my opinion. If you get this, your midterms, [1:23:39] and they know it for two reasons. Number one, they won't be able to cheat. And number two, [1:23:45] the people are demanding it. Every time I go out, Save America, sir, Save America Act. We want the [1:23:52] Save America Act, sir. That's all they talk about. They don't talk about housing. They don't talk about [1:23:57] anything. That's what they talk about. And if you send it up, you're going to win the midterms at [1:24:03] levels that you can't even believe. And you're going to win every election for a long time until [1:24:08] somebody really screws things up, and hopefully that won't happen. But I've never been more confident [1:24:14] that if we keep these promises and deliver this popular agenda, the American people will stand with [1:24:19] us in overwhelming numbers, just as they did in 2024. I heard Mike say it's actually 78 million votes, [1:24:27] but it was actually 86. You know, they cheated like hell on the list, but it was too big to Rick. [1:24:32] Remember? We did. I won three times. First time was great. Second time they cheated like hell. It was [1:24:38] COVID. And their cheating was at an inspirational level. We can't let that ever happen again. And then [1:24:46] they cheated again in the last election. But I went up. The term I use most was too big to rig. [1:24:54] You got to go out. Don't believe because we had polls having us way up. I said, don't believe the [1:24:59] polls go out and vote, make it too big to rig. And that's what happened. So a couple of races, they [1:25:05] cheated on. They got away with it. A couple of Senate races, my opinion. But we have to make it too big [1:25:11] to rig. And that's what we did. But we shouldn't have to win an election that way. You can have a hard [1:25:15] time winning elections that way. So you got to get that passed. And if we fight, fight, fight, [1:25:21] we will win, win, win. And we will make our country safer and stronger and richer and greater than it [1:25:27] ever has been before. And I want to say very importantly, because they would like you not [1:25:32] to say this, because this is a terrible thing in their opinion to say, God bless you and God bless [1:25:38] America. Thank you very much, everybody. Thank you very much. [1:26:28] Mike, check. One, two. You guys got it. One, two. Check. One, two. Mike, check. Got it. Everyone good? [1:32:00] Here's a question, Mike. Question, Mike. Question, Mike. Check, check, check. Question, Mike. Check. [1:32:04] Hello, everyone. Thank you very much. It's been a very big two days, I have to say. And we'll be [1:37:00] heading back to Washington, D.C. right after this. And I'd like to wish everyone a very good evening. [1:37:08] And over the weekend, the United States military and the Israeli Defense Forces continued Operation [1:37:15] Epic Fury very successfully. Over the past nine days, we've carried out some of the most powerful and [1:37:21] complex military strikes and maneuvers the world has ever seen. Now, you add that up to all of the [1:37:28] other things, Midnight Hammer, getting rid of the nuclear threat from Iran, which is a big moment in [1:37:36] history, in my opinion, and the great success we've had in Venezuela and all other places. Every place [1:37:44] we've gone, we've had tremendous success. But while we're doing all of these things, we're achieving [1:37:51] major strides toward completing our military objective. And some people could say they're [1:37:57] pretty well complete. We've wiped every single force in Iran out very completely. Most of Iran's naval [1:38:07] power has been sunk. It's on the bottom of the sea. It's almost 50 ships. I was just notified it's 51 [1:38:16] ships. I didn't know they had that many. Didn't last very long. And these are fighting vessels. [1:38:22] They're meant to fight, but they're not meant to fight against us. We continue to target Iran's drone [1:38:29] and missile capabilities. Their drones are way down. Their drone manufacturing has been hit starting [1:38:36] today. We know all of the places they manufacture the drones and they're being hit one after another. [1:38:43] Their missile capability is down to about 10 percent, maybe less. We're also hitting where they make [1:38:50] missiles and where they deliver missiles. We've struck over 5,000 targets to date, [1:38:57] some of them very major targets. And we've left some of the most important targets for later in [1:39:02] case we need to do it. If we hit them, it's going to take many years for them to be rebuilt, [1:39:08] having to do with electricity production and many other things. So we're not looking to do that if we [1:39:15] don't have to. But they're the kind of things that are very easy to hit, but very devastating if they [1:39:20] are hit. We are waiting to see what happens before we hit them. We could take them all out in one day, [1:39:29] but it's all resulting in a 90 percent decline in various things. But in particular, Iranian missile [1:39:37] launchers and 83 percent drop in drone launchers, as you know, the drone launchers are pretty well shot. [1:39:46] But we're at over 90 percent decline in the Iranian missile launchers, which is very hard to reproduce [1:39:53] and very hard to get. And usually what we were able to do through great equipment, a lot of smart people, [1:40:03] as soon as they sent a missile up from a launcher, we were able to knock out that launcher within [1:40:09] a period of five minutes or less accurately right on the noggin. So now we have low-cost interceptors [1:40:16] effectively combating Iranian drones. And our B-2 bombers recently dropped dozens of 2,000-pound bombs [1:40:24] to destroy missile launchers all over Iran and very deep under Iranian soil in many cases. The soil was no [1:40:33] match. And we're also annihilating the manufacturing base that the regime uses to build drones [1:40:40] and missiles at a rate that nobody thought was possible. We're knocking them out. We know where [1:40:45] they all are. We're knocking them out very quickly. We're ahead of our initial timeline by a lot. I would [1:40:52] say that we probably would not have thought after a month we'd be here, in addition to the fact that [1:40:58] we've taken out the leadership twice and maybe three times. And we, as you know, we want to be involved. [1:41:08] We don't want another president that maybe wouldn't be willing to do what I'm willing to do for the good [1:41:12] of the world, for the good of our nation, to be stuck with the situation in five years or ten years from [1:41:18] now. So we think they should put a president in or the head of the country in that's going to be able [1:41:24] to do something peacefully for a change. They've been doing this for 47 years, killing people for 47 years. [1:41:31] Whether it's the barracks or even the SS coal where they were involved, very strongly they always denied it. [1:41:38] But where they were very strongly involved. And all of the people that died through the roadside bombs, [1:41:44] died and are right now walking around with no legs, no arms, a face that's been so badly damaged. [1:41:52] The Iranian regime has been attacking Americans and spreading terror for 47 years. And despite these [1:41:58] countless opportunities to renounce their nuclear ambitions, which they had just a short while ago, [1:42:05] they told Mr. Witkoff, who is standing right over here, they said, they actually said we want to [1:42:13] keep building essentially in a real nutshell, we want to continue to build nuclear weapons. [1:42:20] If we didn't knock out Midnight Hammer, if we didn't knock out their Iranian potential, [1:42:25] if we didn't do that with Midnight Hammer, they would have had a nuclear weapon, [1:42:29] they would have used it long before now. And at a minimum, Israel would have been annihilated. [1:42:35] I was very lucky that we had the courage to do that, that we had the talented pilots and the great [1:42:41] equipment. The B-2 bombers are unbelievable. We ordered 25 more, by the way, the newer, better version. [1:42:52] We have the greatest military in the world. We have the greatest equipment in the world by far. [1:42:56] You see that no matter where we go. You still need the people, though, to operate it and to use it. [1:43:03] And those are the people that we cherish. Even after we obliterated their key nuclear sites [1:43:09] in operation Midnight Hammer, they never negotiated in good faith. They still continued to say we want [1:43:15] to build nuclear. We want enrichment at levels that were unacceptable. And they even turned down an offer [1:43:22] for unlimited free nuclear fuel forever for civilian purposes. We had people offering them free nuclear [1:43:31] fuel. They weren't interested in that because they wanted to build a nuclear weapon. So instead, [1:43:36] the regime was trying to reconstitute its weapons program at a different site. They couldn't go back [1:43:43] to where they were, the three sites that we obliterated. But they were starting work at another site, [1:43:49] a different site, different kind of a site. And that was protected by granite. They wanted it protected. [1:43:56] Granite's pretty good, but they wanted it protected by a lot deeper. They wanted to go a lot deeper. [1:44:03] And they started the process while rapidly building conventional ballistic missiles. They were going [1:44:09] to do it all at the same time that threatened our overseas bases and soon could have reached even our [1:44:15] homeland. The regime's intention was to use this exponentially growing ballistic missile threat to [1:44:22] make it virtually impossible to prevent them from obtaining a nuclear weapon. So as you probably saw, [1:44:28] they had a tremendous number of missiles, most of which are now being used or destroyed and very [1:44:36] unsuccessfully used because we have been able for the most part to shoot them all down. What incredible [1:44:43] technology. The Patriots have been unbelievable and other things. And the laser technology that we have [1:44:50] now is incredible. It's coming out pretty soon. We're literally lasers. We'll do the work of, at a lot less cost, [1:44:57] do the work of what the Patriots are doing or what other things are doing. The situation was very [1:45:04] quickly approaching. The point of no return and the United States found it intolerable. In my opinion, [1:45:11] based on what Steve and Jared and Pete and others were telling me, Marco, so involved that I thought [1:45:19] that they were going to attack us. I thought they would, if we didn't do this at the time we did it, [1:45:24] I think they had in mind to attack us. And if you notice, they did something which was very foolish, [1:45:28] very stupid, I would say. They attacked their neighbors and their neighbors were largely neutral [1:45:37] or at least weren't going to be involved. And they got attacked and it had the reverse effect. The [1:45:43] neighbors came onto our side and started attacking them and actually quite successfully. If you look at [1:45:51] Saudi Arabia, you look at UAE, Qatar and others, but they were strong and they were smart, but they [1:46:00] got attacked. Nobody, when I first heard it, I said, no, somebody made a mistake. There was no mistake. [1:46:06] UAE had over a thousand missiles shot at it, knocked them almost all down. On the very first day I came down [1:46:14] the escalator in 2015, I said, quote, I will stop Iran from getting nuclear weapons. And all I'm doing is [1:46:22] keeping my promise. Think of that. That was in 2015, I said it. It was a threat then and a much bigger [1:46:29] threat now, but no longer a threat, not for a long time anyway. We want to keep it that way. As we [1:46:36] continue Operation Epic Fury, we're also focused on keeping energy and oil flowing to the world. And I [1:46:44] will not allow a terrorist regime to hold the world hostage and attempt to stop the globe's oil supply. [1:46:50] And if Iran does anything to do that, they'll get hit at a much, much harder level. I will take out [1:46:56] those targets that were easy and that I mentioned just before. We'll take them out so quickly. [1:47:01] They'll never be able to recover ever. If they want to play that game, they better not play that game. [1:47:07] In the long run, oil supplies will be dramatically more secure without the threat of Iranian ships, drones, [1:47:14] missiles, nuclear menace, or anything. So the Strait of Hormuz is going to remain safe. We have a lot of [1:47:24] Navy ships there. We have the best equipment in the world inspecting for mines. Again, most of their [1:47:32] ships are down at the bottom of the sea. But we will hit them so hard that it will not be possible for [1:47:39] them or anybody else helping them to ever recover that section of the world if they do anything. [1:47:45] In recent years, the regime and its terror proxies have launched attacks on hundreds of commercial [1:47:52] vessels. We're putting an end to all of this threat once and for all. And the result will be lower oil [1:47:58] prices, oil and gas prices for American families. We've done that. We've done it. We brought it very low. [1:48:05] This was just an excursion into something that had to be done. We're getting very close to finishing [1:48:11] that, too. In the meantime, during this brief disruption, the United States is offering political [1:48:16] risk insurance to any tankers operating in the Gulf. So we're putting up risk insurance. We'll [1:48:23] perhaps go alongside of them for protection. We don't think it'll be necessary, as it is. And if they do [1:48:31] anything, the price will be incalculable. It will be so great that they will have wished they never did [1:48:39] it because you have to keep the straits flowing. With all of that, it affects other countries much [1:48:46] more than it does the United States. It doesn't really affect us. We have so much oil. We have tremendous [1:48:51] oil and gas, much more than we need. We have Venezuela now as our new partner, great partner. It worked out [1:48:59] so wonderful. We're working with the administration, the president, and it's a massive source of oil, [1:49:07] gas, everything. But we're in a very good position, but very unfair to other parts of the world, [1:49:16] like China as an example. I mean, we're doing this for the other parts of the world, including countries [1:49:21] like China. They get a lot of their oil through the straits. So we're doing this. We have a very good [1:49:28] relationship with President Xi in China. I'm going there in a short period of time. And we're [1:49:33] protecting the world from what these lunatics are trying to do. And very successfully, I might add. [1:49:42] We're also waiving certain oil-related sanctions to reduce prices. So we have sanctions on some [1:49:49] countries. We're going to take those sanctions off until this straightens out. Then who knows, [1:49:54] maybe we won't have to put them on. There'll be so much peace. But when the time comes, the U.S. Navy and [1:49:59] his partners will escort tankers through the straight, if needed. I hope it's not going to [1:50:03] be needed. But if it's needed, we'll escort them right through. And we have the greatest [1:50:08] mind-sweeping ability. We have the greatest ships and all of them. We know exactly where [1:50:14] their place will get them out of there very fast. But we hope we don't have any of that. And again, [1:50:18] if they do that, if they play that game, we're going to hit them at a level that they have not seen [1:50:23] before. So we're winning very decisively. We're way ahead of schedule. It's [1:50:32] our military is the greatest in the world, with the greatest equipment and the greatest [1:50:35] people in the world. Nobody's ever seen anything like it. Iran is a very powerful country. They [1:50:41] were going to take over the Middle East. If we did not hit them, they were going to take over the [1:50:46] Middle East. They had thousands and thousands. Since their last hit, they had thousands and [1:50:52] thousands of missiles and everything else. Most are now destroyed. But they were going to take over the [1:50:58] Middle East. Those weapons were aimed at Middle Eastern countries that had nothing to do with [1:51:04] this. They were going to take over the Middle East, and they were going to try and destroy Israel. [1:51:09] So we stopped it with good timing. And we're very proud to be involved in this. And it's going to be [1:51:16] ended soon. And if it starts up again, they'll be hit even harder. Thank you very much for being here. [1:51:25] Go ahead. Any questions? Thank you so much. Do you approve of Iran's new supreme leader? And secondly, [1:51:34] can you tell us more about your call with Russian President Vladimir Putin today? What did you discuss? [1:51:39] Yes, I had a very good call with President Putin. We had a lot of people on the line from our side, [1:51:45] from his side. We were talking about Ukraine, which is just a never ending fight. And when [1:51:52] look, there's tremendous hatred between President Putin and President Zelenskyy. They can't seem to [1:51:59] get it together. But I think it was a positive call on that subject. And we obviously talked then [1:52:05] about the Middle East. And he wants to be helpful. I said that you could be more helpful by getting the [1:52:14] Ukraine-Russia war over with. That would be more helpful. But we had a very good talk. And he wants to [1:52:19] be very constructive. Yeah, please. Yeah, please. Thank you, Mr. President. On Iran, [1:52:26] you called it an excursion. You said it would be over soon. Are you thinking this week it will be [1:52:31] over? No, but soon. Are you talking about days? No, but soon. I think soon. Okay. And with respect to- [1:52:34] Very soon. Look, everything they have is gone, including their leadership. In fact, [1:52:40] there are two levels of leadership. And even actually, as it turns out, more than that. But two levels [1:52:45] of leadership are gone. Most people have never even heard about the leaders that they're talking about. So [1:52:50] it's obviously been very, very powerful, very effective. [1:52:55] Mr. Cuba, you said that Cuba wants to make a deal. [1:52:59] Yes. What would the United States get in return [1:53:02] for that? And why should Americans trust Marco Rubio to negotiate it? [1:53:06] Well, Marco Rubio is doing a great job. I think he's going to go down as the greatest [1:53:10] Secretary of State in history. Look at what we've done as a presidency. Look at what we've done as an [1:53:17] administration. They trust Marco. And so do the American people trust. He's been successful no [1:53:26] matter where he's been. He also speaks the language, which is always nice and always helpful. But he's [1:53:32] dealing. And it may be a friendly takeover. It may not be a friendly takeover. It wouldn't matter, [1:53:37] because they're really in, they're down to, as they say, fumes. They have no energy. They have no [1:53:47] money. They're in deep trouble on a humanitarian basis. And we don't want to see that. But they were [1:53:56] very, very bad to a lot of people, as you know. And a lot of people living our, the Cuban American vote, [1:54:01] which I got at record levels, very important. Those people are very important to me. I know, [1:54:07] I know what they went through. They went through hell. Some of them have gone on to be some of the [1:54:12] most successful people in the country. Cuban American business people, some of them are like [1:54:17] the most successful in the country. And a lot of them are friends of mine, because I've been fighting [1:54:23] this battle with them for a long time. The Castro regime was brutal. But they lived off Venezuela, [1:54:28] and now they don't live off Venezuela. It sends them no energy, no fuel, no oil, no money, no nothing. [1:54:35] They lived without Venezuela. They couldn't have made it. And we cut them off from everything else. [1:54:40] So, yeah, we're, they're going to make either a deal or we'll do it just as easy anyway. Yeah, please. Go ahead. [1:54:50] The Tomahawk missile likely destroyed that Iranian girl's school. So will the Americans, [1:55:01] will the U.S. accept any responsibility for that strike? [1:55:03] Well, I haven't seen it. And I will say that the Tomahawk, which is one of the most [1:55:08] powerful weapons around, is used by, you know, is sold and used by other countries, [1:55:13] you know that. And whether it's Iran, who also has some tomahawks, they wish they had more. [1:55:19] But whether it's Iran or somebody else, the fact that a tomahawk, a tomahawk is very generic, [1:55:24] it's sold to other countries. But that's being investigated right now. Yeah, please. [1:55:32] Thank you. Mr. President, you've said the war is, quote, very complete, but your defense secretary [1:55:38] says this is just the beginning. So which is it? And how long should Americans be here for this [1:55:43] more than last four? Well, I think you could say both. The beginning, [1:55:45] it's the beginning of building a new country. But they certainly, they have no Navy. They have no [1:55:50] Air Force. They have no anti-aircraft equipment. It's all been blown up. They have no radar. [1:55:57] They have no telecommunications. And they have no leadership. It's all gone. So, you know, [1:56:04] you could look at that statement. We could, we could call it a tremendous success right now as we [1:56:10] leave here, I could call it, or we could go further. And we're going to go further. But [1:56:17] the big risk on that war has been over for three days. We wiped them out the first, [1:56:24] in the first two days. When you think about it, it's incredible. We wiped out a big Navy, [1:56:30] very powerful Navy. You know, these were ships. These were serious ships. These were ships that you buy [1:56:36] when you want to win battles. They're all, they're all on the bottom floor. The sailors are all running off [1:56:41] their ships. They refuse to get on the ships. The Air Force is gone. Everything's gone. The missiles [1:56:47] are down to a trickle. The drones are down to probably 25 percent. And they'll be soon be down to [1:56:54] nothing. We'll have the, where they manufactured, the drones are under fire. As we speak, they're being [1:57:00] hit. So, the rest is going to be determination as to my attitude, along with the people in the Trump [1:57:08] administration, what we want to do. Thank you. Yeah, please. Can I ask you, you mentioned you're [1:57:16] going to waive certain additional oil waivers or sanctions. Can you talk a little bit more about [1:57:20] that and address in particular? Well, we're looking to keep the oil prices down. We went artificially [1:57:25] up because of this excursion into a very positive thing. I mean, this was an excursion that a lot of [1:57:31] people wouldn't have done. I knew oil prices would go up if I did this. And they've gone up probably less [1:57:38] than I thought they'd go up. But I don't think anybody thought we were going to be this quickly [1:57:42] successful. This was a military success, the likes of which people haven't seen. We have the best [1:57:50] military. We have the best equipment. We have, I believe, the best generals. We have the best. [1:57:57] And this went very quickly. We talked about that with President Putin. He was very impressed with what [1:58:05] he saw because nobody's ever seen anything quite like it. You know, Iran was a very powerful [1:58:11] military country with all of the missiles. Now, you had the double attack. You had the original [1:58:16] attack with us and Israel, and that knocked them for a loop. Then you had the B-2 bombers, [1:58:21] which took out their nuclear capability. And they would have had a nuclear weapon within two weeks to [1:58:26] four weeks. And they would have used it long before this press conference. And we might have had a much [1:58:32] different press conference, if we had a press conference at all. But it's been amazing. [1:58:38] The military success that we've had is truly unprecedented. [1:58:43] You said, you've told your congressional colleagues that you will not sign any piece [1:58:50] of legislation until the Save America Act is passed. Does that include the confirmation of Senator [1:58:55] Mullen as your next DHS Secretary? Does that mean a DHS funding bill? And Senator Thune said today, [1:59:01] it's not a matter of whether or not your Republican colleagues agree with the policy. [1:59:05] It's about changing the process. In other words, getting rid of the filibuster to get there. [1:59:08] So in order to get it, you're going to need Democrat votes. And what we're saying is [1:59:12] the Save America. Not the Save Act, which nobody knew what it was. The Save America Act. [1:59:18] The Save America Act. And that's voter ID. We want voter ID. We want a voter. We want to be able to see a [1:59:26] picture of the voter. We want to be able to see that the voter is legitimate. We want, very importantly, [1:59:32] confirmation that this voter is a citizen of the United States of America. And we want no mail-in ballot [1:59:42] scams. So we have exceptions for the military, for sick, for disabled, and for people that are away, [1:59:51] business trips or whatever. Even vacations will be very liberal in that. We've added two things to it. [1:59:57] No men and women's sports and no transgender mutilization of our children. We don't want our [2:00:05] It's mutilization of our children. And we don't want that. So we added those two things. That's the five [2:00:11] points. We have five very good points. It polls at 86 percent with Democrats. Think of that. The overall vote [2:00:21] is 86 percent. With Republicans, it's 98 percent. And the only one opposed to it is a Democrat leadership, [2:00:29] because they cheat. They want to cheat. So we added those two points. We're going for the gold. [2:00:35] And we're going to have to fight like hell. Now, certain things will happen. Certain things will [2:00:40] take place. I'm here to do a great job for the country. But we don't have a country if we're going [2:00:45] to have elections that are so corrupt and so dishonest, like we've witnessed over the last period of [2:00:53] time. You know, as an example, few, I mean, virtually, nobody has like we, nobody has a system [2:01:04] of mail-in ballots like we have. No other country in the world. France went away from it. [2:01:08] They all went, you know why? Because it's corrupt. And Jimmy Carter, when he had a commission, [2:01:13] frankly, I think it's probably the best thing Jimmy Carter did. He said, you can't have mail-in voting [2:01:18] because it's inherently dishonest. And it's turned out to be totally dishonest. So we're going to fight [2:01:23] for it. Yeah. Activated any sleeper cells inside the U.S. There's reports that they have [2:01:34] pressed that trigger button to activate those cells, at least abroad. Well, we've been [2:01:38] trying for a long time. We've been very much on top of it. One of the things we have to do is get the [2:01:43] Democrats to stop the Democrat shutdown. Because as you know, the apparatus that looks into that, [2:01:49] Schumer and the Democrats have shut it down, which tells you they probably hate our country a lot. [2:01:55] But the Democrats have to open that up. But we've got very, very good intelligence into that. We know [2:02:02] a lot of different things that have happened that have been very bad. A lot of them came in during the [2:02:07] Biden open border period. But we have them under, we've got them, we're watching every single one of [2:02:16] them. Yeah, we know a lot about them. The biggest problem we have is the Democrat shutdown. We know [2:02:22] a lot about them. But the shutdown doesn't allow us to do what we have to do. [2:02:27] We have to take him out. Does he have a target on his back? [2:02:32] You mean the new supreme leader? You mean the sun? [2:02:35] How can there be an Iran? Well, I don't want to, I don't want to say that. But, [2:02:38] you know, I was disappointed because we think it's going to lead to just more of the same problem for [2:02:44] the country. So I was disappointed to see their choice. Thank you. You've said you have someone [2:02:52] in mind to be the new Iranian leadership, if not the Ayatollah's son. What are you looking for in [2:02:57] that person? Are you looking at someone internal, given that you just said that their leadership has [2:03:01] been decided and wiped out? I like the idea of, you know, [2:03:03] internal and eternal, come to think of it. But I like the idea of internal because it works well. I mean, [2:03:12] I think we've proven that so far in Venezuela. And we have a woman, Delcy, who has been, you know, [2:03:19] president of the country, very respected, very, she's doing a great job. And it's, you know, no [2:03:25] disruption. We had, as you remember, Iraq. Everybody got fired. The military got fired. The police got [2:03:32] fired. The politicians got fired. There was nobody. And you know what they turned into ISIS. And we don't [2:03:40] want that. We don't want that. So I would like to see people that are inside go now. They talk about the [2:03:48] son of the Shah. They talk about other people. But you know, hasn't been there in many, many years. [2:03:55] We have a formula that's been very good so far. And I think it'll continue to be good. The relationship [2:04:01] is extraordinary with Venezuela, smart country. And we've taken out a hundred million barrels of oil. [2:04:09] It's right now in Houston being, uh, being taken care of and made so beautiful. And you have to see [2:04:17] this at work. They have, uh, it's, it's brought to the refineries. It's being refined in Houston, [2:04:24] which is made exactly for that product. And so far, but it's a hundred million barrels of oil. And now [2:04:31] they have another hundred million barrels coming. And it's like a partnership. We're getting along so [2:04:37] well with them. It's great for Venezuela and it's great for the United States. Yeah. Please go ahead. [2:04:46] Mr. President, you just suggested that Iran somehow got its hands on a tomahawk and bombed [2:04:51] its own elementary school on the first day of the war. But you're the only person in your [2:04:54] government saying this. Even your defense secretary wouldn't say that when he was asked, [2:04:58] standing over your shoulder on your plane on Saturday. Why are you the only person saying this? [2:05:02] Because I just don't know enough about it. I think it's [2:05:05] something that I was told is under investigation. But tomahawks are are used by others, as you know. [2:05:13] Numerous other nations have tomahawks. They buy them from us. [2:05:16] But I will certainly, whatever the report shows, I'm willing to live with that report. [2:05:22] Yeah, please. You said earlier that we've already won in many ways, [2:05:27] but we haven't won enough. What do you consider enough? What's your baseline? [2:05:31] Where they're not going to be starting the following day to develop a nuclear weapon. [2:05:38] Where they'll look at that man and some other people from the administration and say, [2:05:42] all right, we're not going to do it. They were not willing to say that. [2:05:46] And when Steve called up and he said that to me, I said, well, here we go. [2:05:51] Let's do it the hard way. But the hard way, I think, is probably the easy way. [2:05:56] When basically I can see that they will no longer have any capacity whatsoever for a very long period of [2:06:03] time of developing weaponry that could be used against the United States, Israel, or any of our allies. [2:06:12] We have great allies in the Middle East, great countries that are allies. [2:06:16] And they were staying out of it until they got hit. [2:06:19] Someday they'll have to do a story. Why did he do that? Why did they do that? [2:06:23] But they were going to hit them. If I didn't hit them first, they were going to hit our allies first. [2:06:27] I believe upon information and belief, but I believe that he was going to, [2:06:36] they were going to take over the Middle East. They were looking to take over the Middle East. [2:06:41] Now, had Operation Midnight Hammer not taken place, that was definite. [2:06:48] Because they would have had a nuclear weapon within a matter of weeks. [2:06:52] But that took place. That was a setback. [2:06:54] But look at the number of missiles they were able to buy and make over the last six months. [2:07:00] And those missiles were aimed at various countries. [2:07:03] And when you look at 1,000, over 1,000 missiles shot at, like, UAE, [2:07:09] they were looking to take over the Middle East. We got there first. [2:07:12] Lucky. I'll tell you what, the Middle East and those countries, very rich countries, [2:07:16] are very lucky that I was President instead of somebody else. [2:07:19] I don't think so, no. No, we get along very well on this. [2:07:31] He was, I would say, philosophically a little bit different than me. [2:07:37] I think he was maybe less enthusiastic about going, but he was quite enthusiastic. [2:07:46] But I felt it was something we had to do. I didn't feel we had a choice. [2:07:50] If we didn't do it, they would have done it to us. [2:07:52] I felt, based on the negotiations that were being had by Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner and Marco and Pete, [2:08:01] and everybody was involved. I felt that they were going to, that they were looking to tap us along [2:08:06] before they hit. And I thought they were going to hit. And if they hit us first, [2:08:09] that would have been a very bad thing. In the back, please, in the back? [2:08:13] About the straight, you mean? Yeah, well, I want to keep it open. I want to keep it good. [2:08:26] You know, it doesn't pertain to us so much as it does to China. [2:08:29] I mean, we're really helping China here and other countries because they get a lot of their energy [2:08:36] from the Straits. But hey, look, we have a good relationship with China. It's my honor to do it. Yeah. [2:08:43] You have called him an unacceptable choice. So does he have a target on his back? And how can you say that? [2:08:51] I don't want to say whether or not he does, because that would be inappropriate. But hey, look, [2:08:55] I had a target on my back because as you people wrote pretty well, they caught the assassin that [2:09:02] was after me. So we just got them first, but they caught the assassin. They have him now in custody. [2:09:08] That was after me. So, you know, but people don't like to mention that, but they, they did catch him. [2:09:14] And I'd like to congratulate our military secret service FBI, all of the people that worked on that, [2:09:20] but they did. Yeah, please. No, go ahead. Please. [2:09:25] Thank you, Mr. President. You promised the Iranian people you would help them. But it sounds like [2:09:29] you're willing to end this fight after military objectives have wrapped up. Is that isn't that [2:09:33] a betrayal? Will I help them? I'd like to if they can behave. But they've been very menacing. [2:09:40] You know, they're great people. They have an amazing population. It's amazing, smart, brilliant, energetic. [2:09:49] They have a great point. I'd love to help them, but they have to be in a system that allows them to be helped. [2:09:54] And right now they're in a system that only allows failure. And I don't want that. And I want a system [2:10:01] that's not going to be attacking us. We want a system that can lead to many years of peace. [2:10:07] And if we can't have that, we might as well get it over with right now. Yeah, please. [2:10:11] President, as of today, there have been eight U.S. military fatalities associated with the war in Iran. [2:10:17] How many American deaths are you willing to have in this war? [2:10:20] Well, as I said before, when you have conflicts like this, you always have death. [2:10:28] And I was at Dover yesterday. I met the parents and they were unbelievable people. [2:10:32] They were unbelievable people, but they all had one thing in common. They said to me one thing, [2:10:37] every single one, finish the job, sir. Please finish the job. And I'll leave you at that. [2:10:46] Thank you very much, everybody. Thank you.