The only backline, the only line of demarcation, the only line that we have is the veto of the president of the United States. So this is now, what we are doing, a far more important election than it was two days ago. I want to thank the more than 140 members of the House. Studying, talking, actually going all the way back, studying the roots of the Constitution, because they know we have the right to send a bad vote that was illegally gotten. They gave these people bad things to vote for and they voted because what did they know? And then when they found out a few weeks later, again, it took them four years to devise this screen. And the only unhappy person in the United States, single most unhappy, is Hillary Clinton. Why did not you do this for me four years ago? Why did not you do this for me four years ago? You could have changed the whole thing. You know, you do not see her anymore. But I want to thank all of those congressmen and women. I also want to thank our 13, most courageous members of the U.S. Senate. And Kelly Loeffler, I will tell you, she has been, she is been so great. So let us give her and David a little special hand because it was rigged against them. Let us give her and David. They fought a good race. They never had a shot. That equipment should never have been allowed to be used, and I was telling these people do not let him use this stuff. We want to thank them. Senators that stepped up, we want to thank them. I actually think though, it takes, again, more courage not to step up, and I think a lot of those people are going to find that out and you better start looking at your leadership, because your leadership has led you down the tubes. You know, we do not want to give $2,000 to people. We want to give them $600. And this has nothing to do with politics, but how does it play politically? China destroyed these people. China destroy them, totally destroyed them. We want to give them $600 and they just would not change. I said give them $2,000, we will pay it back. We will pay it back fast. You already owe 26 trillion, give them a couple of bucks.


And some of the people here disagree with me on that, but I just say, Look, you have got to let people live. I think it is the primary reason, one of the primary reasons, the other was just pure cheating. But you cannot do that, you got to use your head. As you know, the media has constantly asserted the outrageous lie that there was no evidence of widespread fraud. Have you ever seen these people? Well, I am going to read you pages. I hope you do not get bored listening to it. All they, all these people, do not get bored, do not get angry at me because you are going to get bored because it is so much. The American people do not believe the corrupt, fake news anymore. They have ruined their reputation. But you know, it used to be that they'd argue with me. You'd believe me, you'd believe them. You know, they had their point of view, I had my point of view, but you'd have an argument. Now what they do is they go silent. It is called suppression and that is what happens in a communist country. That is what they do, they suppress. You do not fight with them anymore. They have a little bad story about me, they make it 10 times worse and it is a major headline. But Hunter Biden, they do not talk about him. What happened to Hunter? They do not talk about him. Well, they cannot do that because they get good ratings. And how come Joe is allowed to give a billion dollars of money to get rid of the prosecutor in Ukraine? I'd ask you that question. Can you imagine if I said that? If I said that it would be a whole different ballgame. And how come Hunter gets three and a half million dollars from the mayor of Moscow's wife, and gets hundreds of thousands of dollars to sit on an energy board, even though he admits he has no knowledge of energy? And how come they go into China and they leave with billions of dollars to manage. Have you managed money before? No, they do not talk about that. No, we have a corrupt media. I now realize how good it was if you go back 10 years, I realized how good, even though I did not necessarily love them, I realized how good. It was like a cleansing motion, right? But we do not have that anymore. We do not have a fair media anymore.

Read Trump's Jan. 6 Speech, A Key Part Of Impeachment Trial


And you have to be very careful with that and they have lost all credibility in this country. We will not be intimidated into accepting the hoaxes and the lies that we have been forced to believe. Over the past several weeks, we have amassed overwhelming evidence about a fake election. Last night was a little bit better because of the fact that we had a lot of eyes watching one specific state, but they cheated like hell anyway. You have one of the dumbest governors in the United States. And you know when I endorsed him, and I did not know this guy, at the request of David Perdue, he said, Friend of mine's running for governor. And you know the rest. He was in fourth place, fifth place. I endorse him, he went like a rocket ship and he won. And then I had to beat Stacey Abrams with this guy, Brian Kemp. I had to beat Stacey Abrams. And I had to beat Oprah, used to be a friend of mine. You know, I was on her last show, her last week, she picked the five outstanding people. I do not think she thinks that any more. Once I ran for president, I did not notice there were too many calls coming in from Oprah. Believe it or not, she used to like me. But I was one of the five outstanding people. And I had a campaign against Michelle Obama and Barack Hussein Obama, against Stacey. And I had Brian Kemp, who weighs 130 pounds. He said he played offensive line in football. I am trying to figure that out. I am still trying to figure that out. But I look at that and I look at what is happened and he turned out to be a disaster. You know, look, I am not happy with the Supreme Court. They love to rule against me. I picked three people. I fought like hell for them. They all said, Sir, cut him loose. He is killing the senators. You know, very loyal senators, they are very loyal people, Sir, cut him loose, he is killing us, sir, cut him loose. I must have gotten half of the senators. No, I cannot do that, it is unfair to him and it is unfair to the family. He did not do anything wrong. They made up stories, they are all made-up stories. He did not do anything wrong. I said, No, I will not do that. We got him through.


And you know what, they could not give a damn. They could not give a damn. But it almost seems that they are all going out of their way to hurt all of us and to hurt our country. You know, I read a story in one of the newspapers recently how I control the three Supreme Court justices. I control them. I read it about Bill Barr, that he is my personal attorney. That he will do anything for me. Because what they do is that, and it makes it really impossible for them to ever give you a victory, because all of a sudden Bill Barr changed. I like Bill Barr, but he changed, because he did not want to be considered my personal attorney. And the Supreme Court, they rule against me so much. Because the story is - I have not spoken to any of them, any of them, since virtually they got in - but the story is that they are my puppets. And now the only way they can get out of that because they hate that it is not good in the social circuit. And the only way they get out is to rule against Trump. So let us rule against Trump. And they do that. So I want to congratulate them. But it shows you the media's genius. In fact, probably if I was the media, I'd do it the same way. I hate to say it. Today, for the sake of our democracy, for the sake of our Constitution, and for the sake of our children, we lay out the case for the entire world to hear. You want to hear it? In every single swing state, local officials, state officials, almost all Democrats, made illegal and unconstitutional changes to election procedures without the mandated approvals by the state legislatures. That these changes paved a way for fraud on a scale never seen before. I think we go a long way outside of our country when I say that. So, just in a nutshell, you cannot make a change or voting for a federal election unless the state legislature approves it. No judge can do it. Nobody can do it. So as an example, in Pennsylvania, or whatever, you have a Republican legislature, you have a Democrat mayor, and you have a lot of Democrats all over the place. They go to the legislature. The legislature laughs at them, says we are not going to do that. They say, thank you very much and they go and make the changes themselves, they do it anyway. You cannot do that.


In Pennsylvania, the Democrat secretary of state and the Democrat state Supreme Court justices illegally abolished the signature verification requirements just 11 days prior to the election. So think of what they did. We want voter ID by the way. Eleven days before the election they say we do not want it. Who would even think of that? We do not want to verify a signature? Think of this, you had 205,000 more ballots than you had voters. That means you had two. Where did they come from? You know where they came from? Somebody's imagination, whatever they needed. So in Pennsylvania, you had 205,000 more votes than you had voters. And the number is actually much greater than that now. Over 8,000 ballots in Pennsylvania were cast by people whose names and dates of birth match individuals who died in 2020 and prior to the election. And some dead people actually requested an application. That bothers me even more. Not only are they voting, they want an application to vote. One of them was 29 years ago, died. Over 14,000 ballots were cast by out-of-state voters, so these are voters that do not live in this state. And by the way, these numbers are what they call outcome-determinative, meaning these numbers far surpass. I lost by a very little bit. More than 10,000 votes in Pennsylvania were illegally counted, even though they were received after Election Day. In other words, they were received after Election Day. Let us count them anyway. And what they did in many cases is, they did fraud. They took the date and they moved it back so that it no longer is after Election Day. And more than 60,000 ballots in Pennsylvania were reported received back. In other words, you got the ballot back before you mailed it, which is also logically and logistically impossible, right? You got the ballot back. Let us send the ballots. But we got the ballot back before they were sent. Twenty-five thousand ballots in Pennsylvania were requested by nursing home residents, all in a single giant batch, not legal, indicating an enormous, illegal ballot harvesting operation. You are not allowed to do it, it is against the law. The day before the election, the state of Pennsylvania reported the number of absentee ballots that had been sent out. Yet this number was suddenly and drastically increased by 400,000 people.


It was increased, nobody knows where it came from, by 400,000 ballots, one day after the election. They said, Well, ah, we cannot figure that. Now, that is many, many times what it would take to overthrow the state. Four hundred thousand ballots appeared from nowhere right after the election. By the way, Pennsylvania has now seen all of this. They had a vote. But now they see all this stuff, it is all come to light. And they want to recertify their votes. But the only way that can happen is if Mike Pence agrees to send it back. Mike Pence has to agree to send it back. And many people in Congress want it sent back. And think of what you are doing. Let us say you do not do it. Somebody says, Well, we have to obey the Constitution. And you are, because you are protecting our country and you are protecting the Constitution. Let us say they are stiffs and they are stupid people, and they say, well, we really have no choice. Even though Pennsylvania and other states want to redo their votes. They want to see the numbers. They already have the numbers. And they want to redo their legislature because many of these votes were taken, as I said, because it was not approved by their legislature. You know, that, in itself, is legal. And then you have the scam, and that is all of the things that we are talking about. If you do not do that, that means you will have a president of the United States for four years, with his wonderful son. You will have a president who lost all of these states. Or you will have a president, to put it another way, who was voted on by a bunch of stupid people who lost all of these states. You will have an illegitimate president. That is what you will have. These are the facts that you will not hear from the fake news media. It is all part of the suppression effort. They do not want to talk about it. They do not want to talk about it. In fact, when I started talking about that, I guarantee you, a lot of the television sets and a lot of those cameras went off. And that is a lot of cameras back there. But a lot of them went off. You do not hear what you just heard. I am going to go over a few more states.


But you do not hear it by the people who want to deceive you and demoralize you and control you. Just like the suppression polls that said we are going lose Wisconsin by 17 points. Well, we won Wisconsin. They do not have it that way because they lost just by a little sliver. But they had me down the day before, Washington Post/ABC poll, down 17 points. I called up a real pollster. I think you are going to win Wisconsin, sir. But when you are down 17, they say, Hey, I am not going to waste my time. I love the president, but there is no way. Despite that, despite that, we won Wisconsin. But that is called suppression because a lot of people when they see that. When you go down 17, they say, 'Let us save. Let us go and have dinner and let us watch the presidential defeat tonight on television, darling.' And just like the radical left tries to blacklist you on social media. Every time I put out a tweet, that is , even if it is totally correct, totally correct, I get a flag. I get a flag. You know, on Twitter, it is very hard to come onto my account. It is very hard to get out a message. But I have had many people say, I cannot get on your Twitter. I do not care about Twitter. But you know what, if you want to, if you want to get out a message and if you want to go through Big tech, social media, they are really, if you are a conservative, if you are a Republican, if you have a big voice, I guess they call it shadow banned, right? They shadow ban you, and it should be illegal. I have been telling these Republicans, get rid of Section 230. And for some reason, Mitch and the group, they do not want to put it in there and they do not realize that that is going to be the end of the Republican Party as we know it, but it is never going to be the end of us. This is a time for strength. They also want to indoctrinate your children in school by teaching them things that are not so. They want to indoctrinate your children. It is all part of the comprehensive assault on our democracy, and the American people are finally standing up and saying no. This crowd is, again, a testament to it.


I did no advertising, I did nothing. You do have some groups that are big supporters. I want to thank that, Amy, and everybody. We have some incredible supporters, incredible. But we did not do anything. Two months ago, we had a massive crowd come down to Washington. I said, What are they there for? Sir, they are there for you. We have nothing to do with it. These groups are for, they are forming all over the United States. And we got to remember, in a year from now, you are going to start working on Congress and we got to get rid of the weak Congress, people, the ones that are not any good, the Liz Cheneys of the world. We got to get rid of them. You know, she never wants a soldier brought home - I brought a lot of our soldiers home. I do not know, somewhat like it. They are in countries that nobody even knows the name, nobody knows where they are. They are losing their arms, their legs, their face. I brought them back home, largely back home. Do not go in Iraq. But if you go in, keep the oil. We did not keep the oil. And Iraq has billions and billions of dollars now in the bank. And what did we do? We got nothing. But we do actually, we kept the oil here or we get, we did good. We got rid of the ISIS caliphate. We got rid of plenty of different things that everybody knows and the rebuilding of our military in three years. And it was all made in the USA, all made in the USA, best equipment in the world. In Wisconsin, corrupt Democrat-run cities deployed more than 500 illegal, unmanned, unsecured drop boxes, which collected a minimum of 91,000 unlawful votes. They have these lockboxes. And, you know, they'd pick them up and they disappear for two days. In addition, over 170,000 absentee votes were counted in Wisconsin without a valid absentee ballot application. So they had a vote, but they had no application, and that is illegal in Wisconsin. Meaning those votes were blatantly done in opposition to state law and they came 100% from Democrat areas such as Milwaukee and Madison, 100%. In Madison, 17,000 votes were deposited in so-called human drop boxes.


Where operatives stuff thousands of unsecured ballots into duffle bags on park benches across the city, in complete defiance of cease-and-desist letters from state legislature. Your state legislatures said do not do it. They are the only ones that can approve it. They gave tens of thousands of votes. They came in in duffle bags. Where the hell did they come from? According to eyewitness testimony, Postal Service workers in Wisconsin were also instructed to illegally backdate approximately 100,000 ballots. The margin of difference in Wisconsin was less than 20,000 votes. Each one of these things alone wins us the state. We love the state. We won the state. In Georgia, your secretary of state who, I cannot believe this guy's a Republican. He loves recording telephone conversations. So did a lot of other. People love that conversation because it says what is going on. They are 100%, in my opinion, one of the most corrupt, between your governor and your secretary of state. And now you have it again last night. Just take a look at what happened. And the Democrat Party operatives entered into an illegal and unconstitution - unconstitutional settlement agreement that drastically weakened signature verification and other election security procedures. She took them to lunch. And I beat her two years ago with a bad candidate, Brian Kemp. But they took, the Democrats took the Republicans to lunch because the secretary of state had no clue what the hell was happening. Unless he did have a clue. Maybe he was with the other side. But we have been trying to get verifications of signatures in Fulton County, they will not let us do it. The only reason they will not is because we will find things in the hundreds of thousands. Why would not they let us verify signatures in Fulton County, which is known for being very corrupt. They will not do it. They go to some other county where you would live. The problem is Fulton County, home of Stacey Abrams. She did a good job, I congratulate her. But it was done in such a way that we cannot let this stuff happen. We will not have a country if it happens. As a result, Georgia's absentee ballot rejection rate was more than 10 times lower than previous levels because the criteria was so off. Forty-eight counties in Georgia, with thousands and thousands of votes, rejected zero ballots.


In other words, in a year in which more mail-in ballots were sent than ever before, and more people were voting by mail for the first time, the rejection rate was drastically lower than it had ever been before. The only way this can be explained is if tens of thousands of illegitimate votes were added to the tally. That is the only way you could explain it. By the way, you are talking about tens of thousands. If Georgia had merely rejected the same number of unlawful ballots as in other years, they should have been approximately 45,000 ballots rejected. Far more than what we needed to win, just over 11,000. They should find those votes. They should absolutely find that. They defrauded us out of a win in Georgia, and we are not going to forget it. There is only one reason the Democrats could possibly want to eliminate signature matching, opposed voter ID, and stop citizenship confirmation. You are not allowed to ask that question, because they want to steal the election. The radical left knows exactly what they are doing. They are ruthless and it is time that somebody did something about it. And Mike Pence, I hope you are going to stand up for the good of our Constitution and for the good of our country. And if you are not, I am going to be very disappointed in you. I will tell you right now. I am not hearing good stories. In Fulton County, Republican poll watchers were ejected, in some cases, physically from the room under the false pretense of a pipe burst. Then election officials pull boxes, Democrats, and suitcases of ballots out from under a table. You all saw it on television, totally fraudulent. This act coincided with a mysterious vote dump of up to 100,000 votes for Joe Biden, almost none for Trump. 34 a.m. The Georgia secretary of state and pathetic governor of Georgia, have reached, although he says I am a great president. I disagree with president, but he is been a great president. Because of him and others, you have Brian Kemp. You know, his approval rating now, I think it just reached a record low. They have rejected five separate appeals for an independent and comprehensive audit of signatures in Fulton County. Even without an audit, the number of fraudulent ballots that we have identified across the state is staggering. Over 10,300 ballots in Georgia were cast by individuals whose names and dates of birth match Georgia residents who died in 2020 and prior to the election.


More than 2,500 ballots were cast by individuals whose names and dates of birth match incarcerated felons in Georgia prison. More than 4,500 illegal ballots were cast by individuals who do not appear on the state's own voter rolls. Over 18,000 illegal ballots were cast by individuals who registered to vote using an address listed as vacant, according to the Postal Service. At least 88,000 ballots in Georgia were cast by people whose registrations were illegally backdated. Sixty-six thousand votes, each one of these is far more than we need. Sixty-six thousand votes in Georgia were cast by individuals under the legal voting age. And at least 15,000 ballots were cast by individuals who moved out of the state prior to November 3 election. They missed Georgia that much. I love Georgia, but it is a corrupt system. Despite all of this, the margin in Georgia is only 11,779 votes. Each and every one of these issues is enough to give us a victory in Georgia, a big beautiful victory. Make no mistake, this election was stolen from you, from me and from the country. And not a single swing state has conducted a comprehensive audit to remove the illegal ballots. This should absolutely occur in every single contested state before the election is certified. In the state of Arizona, over 36,000 ballots were illegally cast by non-citizens. Two thousand ballots were returned with no address. They returned, but we have not mailed them yet. You see that? So you have more votes again than you have voters. One hundred and fifty thousand people registered in Maricopa County after the registration deadline. One hundred and three thousand ballots in the county were sent for electronic adjudication with no Republican observers. In Clark County, Nevada, the accuracy settings on signature verification machines were purposely lowered before they were used to count over 130,000 ballots. If you signed your name as Santa Claus, it would go through. Over 150,000 people were hurt so badly by what took place. And 1,500 ballots were cast by individuals whose names and dates of birth match Nevada residents who died in 2020 prior to November 3 election. More than 8,000 votes were cast by individuals who had no address and probably did not live there. The margin in Nevada is down at a very low number, any of these things would have taken care of the situation. We would have won Nevada, also. Every one of these we are going over, we win.


In Michigan, quickly, the secretary of state, a real great one, flooded the state with unsolicited mail-in ballot applications sent to every person on the rolls in direct violation of state law. More than 17,000 Michigan ballots were cast by individuals whose names and dates of birth match people who were deceased. In Wayne County, that is a great one. One hundred and seventy-four thousand ballots were counted without being tied to an actual registered voter. Nobody knows where they came from. Also, in Wayne County, poll watchers observed canvassers rescanning batches of ballots over and over again, up to three or four or five times. In Detroit, turnout was 139% of registered voters. So you had 139% of the people in Detroit voting. This is in Michigan. A career employee of the Detroit, City of Detroit, testified under penalty of perjury that she witnessed city workers coaching voters to vote straight Democrat while accompanying them to watch who they voted for. When a Republican came in, they would not talk to him. The same worker was instructed not to ask for any voter ID and not to attempt to validate any signatures if they were Democrats. She also told to illegally, and was told, backdate ballots received after the deadline and reports that thousands and thousands of ballots were improperly backdated. Four witnesses have testified under penalty of perjury that after officials in Detroit announced the last votes had been counted, tens of thousands of additional ballots arrived without required envelopes. Every single one was for a Democrat. I got no votes. 31 a.m. in the early morning hours after voting had ended, Michigan suddenly reported 147,000 votes. An astounding 94% went to Joe Biden, who campaigned brilliantly from his basement. Only a couple of percentage points went to Trump. Such gigantic and one-sided vote dumps were only observed in a few swing states and they were observed in the states where it was necessary. President Obama beat Biden in every state other than the swing states where Biden killed them, but the swing states were the ones that mattered. They are always just enough to push Joe Biden barely into the lead. We were ahead by a lot and within a number of hours we were losing by a little. In one Michigan county alone, 6,000 votes were switched from Trump to Biden and the same systems are used in the majority of states in our country.


Senator Ligon, highly respected, on elections has written a letter describing his concerns with Dominion in Georgia. He wrote, and I quote, The Dominion Voting Machines employed in Fulton County had an astronomical and astounding 93.67% error rate. It is only wrong 93% of the time in the scanning of ballots requiring a review panel to adjudicate or determine the voter's interest in over 106,000 ballots out of a total of 113,000. You go in and you vote and then they tell people who you supposed to be voting for. They make up whatever they want. They adjudicate your vote. They say, Well, we do not think Trump wants to vote for Trump. We think he wants to vote for Biden. The national average for such an error rate is far less than 1% and yet you are at 93%. The source of this astronomical error rate must be identified to determine if these machines were set up or destroyed to allow for a third party to disregard the actual ballot cast by the registered voter. There is clear evidence that tens of thousands of votes were switched from President Trump to former Vice President Biden in several counties in Georgia. 11 p.m. Eastern time, while simultaneously Vice President Joe Biden was reported to have 17,213. Minutes later, just minutes, at the next update, these vote numbers switched with President Trump going way down to 17,000 and Biden going way up to 29,391. And that was very quick, a 12,000 vote switch all in Mr. Biden's favor. So, I mean, I could go on and on about this fraud that took place in every state, and all of these legislatures want this back. I do not want to do it to you because I love you and it is freezing out here. I can tell you this. So when you hear, when you hear, while there is no evidence to prove any wrongdoing, this is the most fraudulent thing anybody has, this is a criminal enterprise. And the press will say, and I am sure they will not put any of that on there, because that is no good. And you ever see, while there is no evidence to back President Trump's assertion. I could go on for another hour reading this stuff to you and telling you about it. Detroit had more votes than it had voters. Pennsylvania had 205,000 more votes than it had more.


Between that, I think that is almost better than dead people if you think, right? More votes than they had voters. It is a disgrace that the United States of America, tens of millions of people, are allowed to go vote without so much as even showing identification. You are not going to have a Republican Party if you do not get tougher. They want to play so, sir, yes, the United States. The Constitution does not allow me to send them back to the States. Well, I say, yes it does, because the Constitution says you have to protect our country and you have to protect our Constitution, and you cannot vote on fraud. And fraud breaks up everything, does not it? When you catch somebody in a fraud, you are allowed to go by very different rules. So I hope Mike has the courage to do what he has to do. And I hope he does not listen to the RINOs and the stupid people that he is listening to. It is also widely understood that the voter rolls are crammed full of non-citizens, felons and people who have moved out of state and individuals who are otherwise ineligible to vote. Yet Democrats oppose every effort to clean up their voter rolls. They do not want to clean them up. And how many people here know other people, that when there are hundreds of thousands and then millions of ballots got sent out, got three, four, five, six, and I heard one, who got seven ballots. And then they say you did not quite make it, sir. We won in a landslide. They said it is not American to challenge the election. This the most corrupt election in the history, maybe of the world. You know, you could go third-world countries, but I do not think they had hundreds of thousands of votes and they do not have voters for them. I mean no matter where you go, nobody would think this. In fact, it is so egregious, it is so bad that a lot of people do not even believe it. It is so crazy that people do not even believe it. So they do not believe it. This is not just a matter of domestic politics - this is a matter of national security. So today, in addition to challenging the certification of the election, I am calling on Congress and the state legislatures to quickly pass sweeping election reforms, and you better do it before we have no country left.


With your help over the last four years, we built the greatest political movement in the history of our country and nobody even challenges that. I say that over and over, and I never get challenged by the fakeness, and they challenge almost everything we say. But our fight against the big donors, big media, big tech, and others is just getting started. This is the greatest in history. You look back there all the way to the Washington Monument. We must stop the steal and then we must ensure that such outrageous election fraud never happens again, can never be allowed to happen again. We will take care of going forward. We have got to take care of going back. I have had a lot of people. Sir, you are at 96% for four years. With your help, we will finally pass powerful requirements for voter ID. You need an ID to cash a check. You need an ID to go to a bank, to buy alcohol, to drive a car. Every person should need to show an ID in order to cast your most important thing, a vote. We will also require proof of American citizenship in order to vote in American elections. We just had a good victory in court on that one, actually. We will ban ballot harvesting and prohibit the use of unsecured drop boxes to commit rampant fraud. Therefore, they get disapp - they disappear, and then all of a sudden they show up. We will stop the practice of universal unsolicited mail-in balloting. We will clean up the voter rolls that ensure that every single person who casts a vote is a citizen of our country, a resident of the state in which they vote and their vote is cast in a lawful and honest manner. We will restore the vital civic tradition of in-person voting on Election Day so that voters can be fully informed when they make their choice. And if these people had courage and guts, they would get rid of Section 230, something that no other company, no other person in America, in the world has. All of these tech monopolies are going to abuse their power and interfere in our elections, and it has to be stopped. They should be regulated, investigated, and brought to justice under the fullest extent of the law. They are totally breaking the law. Together, we will drain the Washington swamp and we will clean up the corruption in our nation's capital. We have done a big job on it, but you think it is easy.


You have a lot of bad people out there. Despite everything we have been through, looking out all over this country and seeing fantastic crowds. I think you have 250,000 people. Looking out at all the amazing patriots here today, I have never been more confident in our nation's future. That is a nice statement, but we have to be a little careful with that statement. If we allow this group of people to illegally take over our country because it is illegal when the votes are illegal when the way they got there is illegal when the states that vote are given false and fraudulent information. We are the greatest country on Earth and we are headed and were headed in the right direction. We are doing record numbers at the wall. Now, they want to take down the wall. We did a great job in the wall. One of the largest infrastructure projects we have ever had in this country, and it is had a tremendous impact, that we got rid of catch and release. We got rid of all of this stuff that we had to live with. They want to come in again and rip off our country. As this enormous crowd shows, we have truth and justice on our side. We have a deep and enduring love for America in our hearts. We love our country. We have overwhelming pride in this great country and we have it deep in our souls. Together, we are determined to defend and preserve government of the people, by the people and for the people. Our brightest days are before us. I think one of our great achievements will be election security. Because nobody until I came along had any idea how corrupt our elections were. And again, most people would stand there at 9 o'clock in the evening and say I want to thank you very much, and they go off to some other life. We fight like hell. And if you do not fight like hell, you are not going to have a country anymore. And I say this despite all that is happened. So we are going to, we are going to walk down Pennsylvania Avenue. I love Pennsylvania Avenue. And we are going to the Capitol, and we are going to try and give. The Democrats are hopeless - they never vote for anything. But we are going to try and give our Republicans, the weak ones because the strong ones do not need any of our help. We are going to try and give them the kind of pride and boldness that they need to take back our country. So let us walk down Pennsylvania Avenue.


In our short time in your country, Melania and I have been awed by its ancient and modern wonders, and we are deeply moved by the warmth of your welcome. Last night, President and Mrs. Moon showed us incredible hospitality in a beautiful reception at the Blue House. We had productive discussions on increasing military cooperation and improving the trade relationship between our nations on the principle of fairness and reciprocity. Through this entire visit, it has been both our pleasure and our honor to create and celebrate a long friendship between the United States and the Republic of Korea. This alliance between our nations was forged in the crucible of war, and strengthened by the trials of history. From the Inchon landings to Pork Chop Hill, American and South Korean soldiers have fought together, sacrificed together, and triumphed together. Almost 67 years ago, in the spring of 1951, they recaptured what remained of this city where we are gathered so proudly today. It was the second time in a year that our combined forces took on steep casualties to retake this capital from the communists. Over the next weeks and months, the men soldiered through steep mountains and bloody, bloody battles. Driven back at times, they willed their way north to form the line that today divides the oppressed and the free. And there, American and South Korean troops have remained together holding that line for nearly seven decades. By the time the armistice was signed in 1953, more than 36,000 Americans had died in the Korean War, with more than 100,000 others very badly wounded. They are heroes, and we honor them. We also honor and remember the terrible price the people of your country paid for their freedom. You lost hundreds of thousands of brave soldiers and countless innocent civilians in that gruesome war. Much of this great city of Seoul was reduced to rubble. Large portions of the country were scarred - severely, severely hurt - by this horrible war. The economy of this nation was demolished. But as the entire world knows, over the next two generations something miraculous happened on the southern half of this peninsula. Family by family, city by city, the people of South Korea built this country into what is today one of the great nations of the world. And I congratulate you. In less than one lifetime, South Korea climbed from total devastation to among the wealthiest nations on Earth. Today, your economy is more than 350 times larger than what it was in 1960. Life expectancy has risen from just 53 years to more than 82 years today.

Remarks by President Trump to the National Assembly of the Republic of Korea | Seoul, Republic of Korea


Like Korea, and since my election exactly one year ago today, I celebrate with you. The United States is going through something of a miracle itself. Our stock market is at an all-time high. Unemployment is at a 17-year low. We are defeating ISIS. We are strengthening our judiciary, including a brilliant Supreme Court justice, and on, and on, and on. Currently stationed in the vicinity of this peninsula are the three largest aircraft carriers in the world loaded to the maximum with magnificent F-35 and F-18 fighter jets. In addition, we have nuclear submarines appropriately positioned. The United States, under my administration, is completely rebuilding its military and is spending hundreds of billions of dollars to the newest and finest military equipment anywhere in the world being built, right now. I want peace through strength. We are helping the Republic of Korea far beyond what any other country has ever done. And, in the end, we will work things out far better than anybody understands or can even appreciate. I know that the Republic of Korea, which has become a tremendously successful nation, will be a faithful ally of the United States very long into the future. What you have built is truly an inspiration. Your economic transformation was linked to a political one. The proud, sovereign, and independent people of your nation demanded the right to govern themselves. You secured free parliamentary elections in 1988, the same year you hosted your first Olympics. after, you elected your first civilian president in more than three decades. And when the Republic you won faced financial crisis, you lined up by the millions to give your most prized possessions - your wedding rings, heirlooms, and gold luck keys - to restore the promise of a better future for your children. Your wealth is measured in more than money - it is measured in achievements of the mind and achievements of spirit. Over the last several decades, your scientists of engineers - have engineered so many magnificent things. You have pushed the boundaries of technology, pioneered miraculous medical treatments, and emerged as leaders in unlocking the mysteries of our universe. Korean authors penned roughly 40,000 books this year. Korean musicians fill concert halls all around the world. Young Korean students graduate from college at the highest rates of any country. And Korean golfers are some of the best on Earth.


Fact - and you know what I am going to say - the Women's U.S. Open was held this year at ENTITY National Golf Club in Bedminster, New Jersey, and it just happened to be won by a great Korean golfer, Sung-hyun Park. An eighth of the top 10 players were from Korea. And the top four golfers - one, two, three, four - the top four were from Korea. Here in Seoul, architectural wonders like the Sixty-Three Building and the Lotte World Tower - very beautiful - grace the sky and house the workers of many growing industries. Citizens now help to feed the hungry, fight terrorism, and solve problems all over the world. And in a few months, you will host the world and you will do a magnificent job at the 23rd Olympic Winter Games. The Korean miracle extends exactly as far as the armies of free nations advanced in 1953 - 24 miles to the north. There, it stops; it all comes to an end. The flourishing ends, and the prison state of North Korea sadly begins. Workers in North Korea labor grueling hours in unbearable conditions for almost no pay. Recently, the entire working population was ordered to work for 70 days straight, or else pay for a day of rest. Families live in homes without plumbing, and fewer than half have electricity. Parents bribe teachers in hopes of saving their sons and daughters from forced labor. More than a million North Koreans died of famine in the 1990s, and more continue to die of hunger today. Among children under the age of five, nearly 30 percent of afflicted - and are afflicted by stunted growth due to malnutrition. And yet, in 2012 and 2013, the regime spent an estimated $200 million - or almost half the money that it allocated to improve living standards for its people - to instead build even more monuments, towers, and statues to glorify its dictators. What remains of the meager harvest of the North Korean economy is distributed according to perceived loyalty to a twisted regime. Far from valuing its people as equal citizens, this cruel dictatorship measures them, scores them, and ranks them based on the most arbitrary indications of their allegiance to the state. Those who score the highest in loyalty may live in the capital city. Those who score the lowest starve.


A small infraction by one citizen, such as accidently staining a picture of the tyrant printed in a discarded newspaper, can wreck the social credit rank of his entire family for many decades. An estimated 100,000 North Koreans suffer in gulags, toiling in forced labor, and enduring torture, starvation, rape, and murder on a constant basis. In one known instance, a 9-year-old boy was imprisoned for 10 years because his grandfather was accused of treason. In another, a student was beaten in school for forgetting a single detail about the life of Kim Jong-un. Soldiers have kidnapped foreigners and forced them to work as language tutors for North Korean spies. In the part of Korea that was a stronghold for Christianity before the war, Christians and other people of faith who are found praying or holding a religious book of any kind are now detained, tortured, and in many cases, even executed. North Korean women are forced to abort babies that are considered ethnically inferior. One woman's baby born to a Chinese father was taken away in a bucket. So why would China feel an obligation to help North Korea? The horror of life in North Korea is so complete that citizens pay bribes to government officials to have themselves exported aboard as slaves. They would rather be slaves than live in North Korea. One person who escaped remarked, When I think about it now, I was not a human being. I was more like an animal. Only after leaving North Korea did I realize what life was supposed to be. And so, on this peninsula, we have watched the results of a tragic experiment in a laboratory of history. It is a tale of one people, but two Koreas. One Korea in which the people took control of their lives and their country, and chose a future of freedom and justice, of civilization, and incredible achievement. And another Korea in which leaders imprison their people under the banner of tyranny, fascism, and oppression. The result of this experiment are in, and they are totally conclusive. When the Korean War began in 1950, the two Koreas were approximately equal in GDP per capita. But by the 1990s, South Korea's wealth had surpassed North Korea's by more than 10 times. You started the same a short while ago, and now you are 40 times larger. You are doing something right.


Considering the misery wrought by the North Korean dictatorship, it is no surprise that it has been forced to take increasingly desperate measures to prevent its people from understanding this brutal contrast. Because the regime fears the truth above all else, it forbids virtually all contact with the outside world. Not just my speech today, but even the most commonplace facts of South Korean life are forbidden knowledge to the North Korean people. Possession of foreign media is a crime punishable by death. Citizens spy on fellow citizens, their homes are subject to search at any time, and their every action is subject to surveillance. In place of a vibrant society, the people of North Korea are bombarded by state propaganda practically every waking hour of the day. North Korea is a country ruled as a cult. At the center of this military cult is a deranged belief in the leader's destiny to rule as parent protector over a conquered Korean Peninsula and an enslaved Korean people. The more successful South Korea becomes, the more decisively you discredit the dark fantasy at the heart of the Kim regime. In this way, the very existence of a thriving South Korean republic threatens the very survival of the North Korean dictatorship. This city and this assembly are living proof that a free and independent Korea not only can, but does stand strong, sovereign, and proud among the nations of the world. Here, the strength of the nation does not come from the false glory of a tyrant. It comes from the true and powerful glory of a strong and great people - the people of the Republic of Korea - a Korean people who are free to live, to flourish, to worship, to love, to build, and to grow their own destiny. In this Republic, the people have done what no dictator ever could - you took, with the help of the United States, responsibility for yourselves and ownership of your future. You had a dream - a Korean dream - and you built that dream into a great reality. In so doing, you performed the miracle on the Hahn that we see all around us, from the stunning skyline of Seoul to the plains and peaks of this beautiful landscape. You have done it freely, you have done it happily, and you have done it in your own very beautiful way. This reality - this wonderful place - your success is the greatest cause of anxiety, alarm, and even panic to the North Korean regime. That is why the Kim regime seeks conflict abroad - to distract from total failure that they suffer at home.


These attacks have included the capture and torture of the brave American soldiers of the USS Pueblo, repeated assaults on American helicopters, and the 1969 drowning of a U.S. surveillance plane that killed 31 American servicemen. The regime has made numerous lethal incursions in South Korea, attempted to assassinate senior leaders, attacked South Korean ships, and tortured Otto Warmbier, ultimately leading to that fine young man's death. All the while, the regime has pursued nuclear weapons with the deluded hope that it could blackmail its way to the ultimate objective. And that objective we are not going to let it have. All of Korea is under that spell, divided in half. South Korea will never allow what is going on in North Korea to continue to happen. The North Korean regime has pursued its nuclear and ballistic missile programs in defiance of every assurance, agreement, and commitment it has made to the United States and its allies. It is broken all of those commitments. After promising to freeze its plutonium program in 1994, it repeated the benefits of the deal and then - and then immediately continued its illicit nuclear activities. In 2005, after years of diplomacy, the dictatorship agreed to ultimately abandon its nuclear programs and return to the Treaty on Non-Proliferation. And worse, it tested the very weapons it said it was going to give up. In 2009, the United States gave negotiations yet another chance, and offered North Korea the open hand of engagement. The regime responded by sinking a South Korean Navy ship, killing 46 Korean sailors. To this day, it continues to launch missiles over the sovereign territory of Japan and all other neighbors, test nuclear devices, and develop ICBMs to threaten the United States itself. The regime has interpreted America's past restraint as weakness. This is a very different administration than the United States has had in the past. Do not underestimate us, and do not try us. We will defend our common security, our shared prosperity, and our sacred liberty. We did not choose to draw here, on this peninsula -- this magnificent peninsula - the thin line of civilization that runs around the world and down through time. But here it was drawn, and here it remains to this day. It is the line between peace and war, between decency and depravity, between law and tyranny, between hope and total despair. It is a line that has been drawn many times, in many places, throughout history. To hold that line is a choice free nations have always had to make.


We have learned together the high cost of weakness and the high stakes of its defense. America's men and women in uniform have given their lives in the fight against Nazism, imperialism, Communism and terrorism. America does not seek conflict or confrontation, but we will never run from it. History is filled with discarded regimes that have foolishly tested America's resolve. Anyone who doubts the strength or determination of the United States should look to our past, and you will doubt it no longer. We will not permit America or our allies to be blackmailed or attacked. We will not allow American cities to be threatened with destruction. And we will not let the worst atrocities in history be repeated here, on this ground, we fought and died so hard to secure. The time for excuses is over. Now is the time for strength. If you want peace, you must stand strong at all times. The world cannot tolerate the menace of a rogue regime that threatens with nuclear devastation. All responsible nations must join forces to isolate the brutal regime of North Korea - to deny it and any form - any form of it. We call on every nation, including China and Russia, to fully implement U.N. Security Council resolutions, downgrade diplomatic relations with the regime, and sever all ties of trade and technology. It is our responsibility and our duty to confront this danger together - because the longer we wait, the greater the danger grows, and the fewer the options become. And to those nations that choose to ignore this threat, or, worse still, to enable it, the weight of this crisis is on your conscience. The weapons you are acquiring are not making you safer. They are putting your regime in grave danger. Every step you take down this dark path increases the peril you face. It is a hell that no person deserves. Yet, despite every crime you have committed against God and man, you are ready to offer, and we will do that - we will offer a path to a much better future. It begins with an end to the aggression of your regime, a stop to your development of ballistic missiles, and complete, verifiable, and total denuclearization. A sky-top view of this peninsula shows a nation of dazzling light in the South and a mass of impenetrable darkness in the North. We seek a future of light, prosperity, and peace. But we are only prepared to discuss this brighter path for North Korea if its leaders cease their threats and dismantle their nuclear program.


To our distinguished guests here and to all the members of this important mission team, I just wanted to come by tonight to wish you well as you leave on this important mission. I view it, really, as a mission of tremendous importance, a historymaking journey to a country that is making history every day. You lead a delegation of tremendous experience and talent. Together, it is a cross-section of the private sector institutions that constitute democracy's great strength and gives practical meaning to the principles of free government. Helping Poland rejoin the community of free nations is a task that simply cannot be accomplished by government alone. It depends on building the countless exchanges that take place every day among businesses and organized labor and the academic community and their counterparts in other free countries. The trip you are making is really the first step in that process. As you know, I am taking a trip of my own this weekend. And in my meetings with Mr. Gorbachev and afterwards with our NATO allies, I can assure you that the historic developments that have taken place in Poland and of course, elsewhere in Central and Eastern Europe will be high on our agenda. I will be anxious to hear your report on the ways that we can help Poland achieve its democratic destiny and become a model of transition for these other states a model of transition to a free economy. And your work can be of great help to other countries in Eastern Europe as they move towards economic reform. I am very pleased that the initiatives that I have proposed last summer for aid to Poland and Hungary have become a reality. In just a few moments, I will sign into law a package authorizing $938 million in American aid over the next 3 years, and that will enable the United States to do its part to encourage these two nations on the road to reform. We have got to recognize, though, the fact that dollars alone will not make the difference. The secret to that success was not the price tag on the aid that we sent. Our aid came with our advice, our example, and the full engagement of our private sector in shaping the free-market system that has generated unprecedented prosperity all across Western Europe. And that lesson holds true for Poland today. Our aid must be seed money for free market reform and for the involvement of our private sector. Lane Kirkland I see Lane back there, but I do not see Bob Georgine. Normally, they are in the front row something's gone awry here.

Remarks to Members of the Presidential Economic Delegation to Poland


Laura and I are delighted to be back in Mexico. We are grateful for the warm hospitality of President Calderon and Mrs. Zavala. We appreciate the chance to dine in this beautiful setting, which calls to mind Mexico's rich history and its bright future. For Laura and me, the connection to Mexico stretches back for decades. We have come to admire your country, the people, and your culture. As ENTITY, I worked closely with my counterparts on this side of the border and made a lot of friends in Mexico. As ENTITY, Mexico was the first country I visited and the first country whose leader I welcomed for a state dinner at the White House. Over the past 6 years, I have traveled all across your nation, from here in Merida to Monterrey to Los Cabos on the Pacific Coast. And this evening the relationship between Mexico and the United States is as strong and is as vibrant as it has ever been, and President Calderon and I intend to keep it that way. The ties between our countries are deep and lasting. We are united by the bonds of family. We are united by the growing commerce that crosses our border each day. And we are united in our faith in an Almighty God. The accident of geography made our two countries neighbors, but common values have made us friends. The most important value we share is our belief in democracy, and last year, the world saw Mexican democracy in action. Across the country, large numbers of voters turned out for an election that was open, honest, and really close; come to think of it, it sounds familiar to me. Your fidelity to the democratic process was the mark of a nation growing in confidence and freedom. And in the end, the Mexican people chose a good man to be their President. Shortly before his inauguration, President Calderon came to see me in the Oval Office. I was impressed by his character, his leadership, and his devotion to the Mexican people. He is an innovative thinker with a vision of justice and prosperity for all in this nation. And during his first 100 days as President, he is shown his commitment to delivering results for all the people he has served. In my conversations today, he shared his willingness to work with members of all political parties and with people from all sectors of the civil society. Today we discussed the President's top priorities. I share those priorities. His top priority is to provide security throughout the country.

Remarks at a Dinner Hosted by President Felipe de Jesus Calderon Hinojosa of Mexico in Merida


He is taking bold steps to enforce the rule of law and to crack down on organized crime and drugs, and reform the judicial system. The United States is a strong partner in these efforts. We have got work to do on our side of the border. People provide drugs because there is a demand for drugs, and the United States must do a better job of reducing the demand for drugs. And at the same time, I look forward to close cooperation. We will work with the President and other Presidents in our region to interdict the supply of drugs. President Calderon also knows the importance of creating new opportunities for Mexico's economy. He is laid out innovative policies to combat poverty and to create jobs. rewarding Mexican companies that hire first-time workers. And I appreciate his strong commitment to housing and infrastructure in southern Mexico. He is called for economic reforms that encourage competition and fight corruption. He understands the importance of free and fair trade. The United States welcomes a strong Mexican economy, and we fully understand that we must work together to facilitate a smooth transition to full trade, especially on sensitive issues such as corn and beans. President Calderon holds deep convictions on the matter of migration, and so do I. Our nations share a 2,000-mile border, and that should be a source of unity, not division. So we are working together to keep both sides of the border open to tourism and trade and closed to criminals and drug dealers and smugglers and terrorists and gun runners. I appreciate the President's commitment to secure Mexican borders on both the north and the south. And I told the President today-and I am going to keep repeating it while I am here in Mexico-that I know our country must have comprehensive immigration reform. We are a rule of law. But it is important for the American citizens to understand that family values do not stop at the Rio Grande River, and that it is in our Nation's interests to have a comprehensive immigration law so we can uphold the great values of America, values based on human dignity and the worth of each individual. We spent a lot of time talking about important issues in a very constructive and friendly way. I appreciate your candor. And I, too, would like to offer a toast to good people of Mexico and its leaders.


I want to thank Chairman Dempsey for bringing us here together to review coalition operations to degrade and to ultimately destroy ISIL. I want to thank General Austin of Central Command and General Votel, down at the end, of Special Operations Command for their outstanding leadership as well. At this stage, some 60 nations are contributing to this coalition, including more than 20 coalition members who are represented here today, among them, Iraq, Arab nations, Turkey, NATO allies, and partners from around the world. So this is an operation that involves the world against ISIL. stopping ISIL's advance on Erbil, saving many civilians from a massacre on Mount Sinjar, retaking the Mosul Dam, destroying ISIL targets and fighters across Iraq and Syria. Obviously, at this point, we are also focused on the fighting that is taking place in Iraq's Anbar Province, and we are deeply concerned about the situation in and around the Syrian town of Kobani, which underscores the threat that ISIL poses in both Iraq and Syria. And coalition airstrikes will continue in both these areas. One of the things that has emerged from the discussions, both before I came and during my visit here, is that this is going to be a long-term campaign. We are still at the early stages. But our coalition is united behind this long-term effort. Our nations agree that ISIL poses a significant threat to the people of Iraq and Syria. It poses a threat to surrounding countries. And because of the numbers of foreign fighters that are being attracted and the chaos that ISIL was creating in the region, ultimately, it will pose a threat beyond the Middle East, including to the United States, Europe, and far-flung countries like Australia that have already seen terrorist networks trying to infiltrate and impact population centers on the other side of the world. So we are united in our goal to degrade and ultimately destroy ISIL so that it is no longer a threat to Iraq, to the region, or the international community. But one of the things that is also been emphasized here today is, this is not simply a military campaign. This is not a classic army in which we defeat them on the battlefield and then they ultimately surrender. What we are also fighting is an ideological strain of extremism that has taken root in too many parts of the region. We are dealing with sectarianism and political divisions that for too long have been a primary political, organizational rallying point in the region.

Remarks Following a Meeting With Foreign Chiefs of Defense at Joint Base Andrews, Maryland


We are dealing with economic deprivation and lack of opportunity among too many young people in the region. And so one of the interesting things to hear from our military leadership is the recognition that this cannot simply be a military campaign. This has to be a campaign that includes all the dimensions of our power. We have to do a better job communicating an alternative vision for those who are currently attracted to the fighting inside Iraq and Syria. It is going to be absolutely critical to make sure that the political inclusion that Prime Minister Abadi of Iraq is committed to is actually translated into real progress. It is going to require us developing and strengthening a moderate opposition inside of Syria that is in a position then to bring about the kind of legitimacy and sound governance for all people inside of Syria. And so, in addition to denying ISIL safe haven in Iraq and Syria, in addition to stopping foreign fighters, in addition to the intelligence gathering and airstrikes and ground campaigns that may be developed by the Iraqi security forces, we are also going to have to pay attention to communications. We are going to have to pay attention to how all the countries in the region begin to cooperate in rooting out this cancer. And we are going to have to continue to deliver on the humanitarian assistance of all the populations that have been affected. And we have three countries here Jordan, Lebanon, and Turkey who obviously are bearing an extraordinary burden from the displaced persons, not just recently over the last few months, but for several years now as a consequence of the civil war in Syria. That all plays a part in this campaign. But I want to thank all the nations who are represented here in what is a growing coalition. I am encouraged by the unanimity of viewpoints and the commitment of the countries involved to make sure that we are making steady progress. Before I close, I do want to say something about another topic that is obviously attracted a lot of attention, and that is the situation with Ebola. We have made enormous strides in just a few short weeks in standing up a U.S. military operation in western Africa that can start building the kind of transport lines and supply lines to get workers, supplies, medicine, equipment into Liberia, Sierra Leone, and Guinea. And a number of the countries who are represented here are really stepping up and doing what is necessary in order for us to contain this epidemic. But as I have said before and I am going to keep on repeating until we start seeing more progress, the world as a whole is not doing enough.


There are a number of countries that have capacity that have not yet stepped up. Those that have stepped up, all of us are going to have to do more, because unless we contain this at the source, this is going to continue to pose a threat to individual countries at a time when there is no place that is more than a couple of air flights away. And the transmission of this disease obviously directly threatens all our populations. In addition, we have not only a humanitarian crisis in West Africa that threatens hundreds of thousands of lives, but we also have the secondary effects of destabilization, economically and politically, that could lead to more severe problems down the road. So everybody is going to have to do more than they are doing right now. And I am reaching out directly to heads of state and government who, I believe, have the capacities to do more. I spoke yesterday with Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, who agrees that everybody has to do more. And I can assure everybody that the United States will continue to do its part. With respect to Ebola here in the United States, we are surging resources into Dallas to examine what exactly has happened that ended up infecting the nurse there. Obviously, our thoughts and prayers are with her and all the courageous health care workers around the country who put themselves in challenging situations in treating this disease. We are going to make sure that all the lessons learned from Dallas are then applied to hospitals and health centers around the country. As I have said before, we have a public health infrastructure and systems and support that make an epidemic here highly unlikely. But obviously, one case is too many, and we have got to keep on doing everything we can, particularly to protect our health care workers, because they are on the front lines in battling this disease. And we have also now instituted some additional screening measures, starting at JFK Airport, that will then apply to a number of other airports where we know the bulk of travelers that may have come in contact with Ebola would be coming through. We are confident that we are going to be able to put those in place in the days ahead. But in the meantime, our thoughts and prayers are with the nurse, who, like so many nurses and health care workers around the country, day in, day out, do what they need to do, sometimes at some risk to themselves, in order to provide the kind of care that we all depend on.


She is become very, very popular, I will tell you that. I am very proud of her. I am honored to join you on this really, really historic occasion, the 70th anniversary of the United States Air Force, the greatest air force on the face of this Earth by far. Before we begin, I want to say that our hearts and prayers go out the people of London who suffered a vicious terrorist attack today. I spoke with a wonderful woman, British Prime Minister Theresa May, this morning and relayed America's deepest sympathy, as well as our absolute commitment to eradicating the terrorists from our planet. Radical Islamic terrorism, it will be eradicated, believe me. We will defend our people, our nations, and our civilization from all who dare to threaten our way of life. This includes the regime of North Korea, which has once again shown its utter contempt for its neighbors and for the entire world community. After seeing your capabilities and commitment here today, I am more confident than ever that our options in addressing this threat are both effective and overwhelming. Our thoughts also remain with those recovering in the wake of Hurricanes Irma and Harvey. I visited Florida yesterday, where the American people have once again shown the world how resilient, strong, and truly united we are. We are going to help our fellow Americans put their lives, their homes, and their communities back together because when Americans are in need, Americans pull together. And we know we can always count on the courageous members of our Nation's military to be there every step of the way, just like more than 400 Air Force medical personnel who have deployed to Florida to help care for the sick and the injured. To the men and women who proudly wear the Air Force uniform, who keep our country safe, and who fill our hearts with pride, thank you for your service and devotion to America. I am truly thrilled to join you today at this really incredible milestone, 70 years since the founding of the United States Air Force. We are celebrating 70 years of history, 70 years of heroes, and 70 years of victory. I also want to thank all of the amazing family members and loved ones whose sacrifices make your service possible. We love you; we appreciate you and everything you do. For seven decades the United States Air Force has pushed the boundaries of science and technology, helped restore peace and stability to troubled lands, and kept Americans safe from those who threaten our very way of life.

Remarks on the 70th Anniversary of the United States Air Force at Joint Base Andrews, Maryland


Nothing inspires more confidence in our friends or strikes more fear in the hearts of our enemies than the sight of American warplanes on the horizon. You patrol the sky, protect the homeland, and deliver American justice to anyone who dares to threaten our people. From the earliest wooden biplanes, to the high-tech UAVs, to the awesome power and stunning beauty of the F-35, B-2, F-22,-and I saw a lot of them today-the F-15, the F-16, the F-18, I do not know which one I like the most. But our aviators have given America total dominance of the air and space, no matter where we fly. Now when our enemies hear the F-35 engines, when they are roaring overhead, their souls will tremble, and they will know the day of reckoning has arrived. That is the way it is been since 1947, when the Air Force was born during a time of monumental change and uncertainty in the world. Unconditional victory in World War II had come at a terrible price. Millions of lives had been lost, empires had collapsed, and much of Europe laid in ruin. The threat of global communism emerged from the void left by defeated foes. And the free nations of the world once again looked to the United States to secure the peace. It was at this crucial moment that America established the Air Force as a separate military service and a truly great military service. And from that moment, America has dominated both air and space like no other nation in history. Our air superiority is unquestioned, not merely because we have the best equipment, but because we have the best people by far. From the Berlin Airlift, through the gauntlet of MiG Ally, to the skies of above the jungles of Southeast Asia and the deserts of the Middle East, American airmen have proven that they have no equal in courage, capability, or commitment. You are the ones who own the sky. You are our greatest weapon of all. In the last 64 years, American ground forces have not lost a single life to an enemy airstrike-pretty amazing-and that is truly a testament to the strategy and skill of American airmen and the essential role you play in our national defense. As Commander in Chief, I am committed to keeping the United States military the best trained, best equipped, and most technologically advanced fighting force on the planet.


One of my first acts was to direct the rebuilding of our Armed Forces and rebuilding we are. Congress took an important step this year by heeding my call for a $20 billion increase in defense spending, and we are going to be doing even much more than that. But the service men and women who defend our Nation with their lives deserve the predictable and consistent funding that will help them win quickly and win decisively. And I will tell you that the new equipment that we are ordering by the billions-by the absolute billions and billions-it is equipment like you have never even thought of before. There is nobody in the world that will have anything even close to us and what we are doing, and that is my great honor, believe me. There is nobody even close. Our Armed Forces have endured continuous combat for the past 26 years, yet despite this, the number of airmen on Active Duty has dropped by one-third since the 1990s, and we have cut more than half of our fighter squadrons. That is why I am calling on Congress to end the defense sequester once and for all and to give our military the tools, training, equipment, and resources that our brave men and women in uniform so richly deserve. Each of you is fulfilling your duty to America, and now Government must fulfill its duty to you. We will stop delaying needed investments in our readiness, and we will renew our commitment to the patriots who keep America safe. In so doing, we will continue the proud legacy of service that each of you has inherited, a legacy built over the generations by legends like Yeager, Wagner, Rickenbacker, Boyd, Grissom, and Schriever-the heroes who broke barrier after barrier to push America farther. They broke so many different barriers; they went farther, faster, and they always went on to victory . Like them, each of you is a living, breathing symbol of our great country, the United States of America. The characteristics that define the Air Force aviator-boldness and bravery, action and instinct, power and grace-are woven deep into the American spirit and have defined our people since our Nation was founded. Fighter pilot is an attitude. It is self-cockiness-and you know that. It is a streak of rebelliousness. And I just met a lot of these folks. They are better looking than Tom Cruise, and we know they can fight better, and we know they can fly better.


That desire to do good, to soar past every challenger, to overcome every obstacle, and to win for your fellow citizens and the land that we love is the same desire that beats in the heart of every red-blooded American patriot. We are, and forever will be, a nation of pioneers and patriots, risk takers and renegades, aviators and astronauts. We crave adventure and achievement, exploration and enlightenment. We carved out a home in the New World, gave birth to the modern world, and we will shape tomorrow's world with the strength and skill of American hands. Because for America, the sky is never the limit. That is why the United States Air Force will remain the most awe-inspiring flying force ever known to man. Like every part of our military, the Air Force is born from the will of our people to search, to explore, to reach new heights. It is the people's will that you reflect and their power that you project to every single corner of the globe. Earlier this year, I had the honor of speaking with a great ENTITY Air Corps and Air Force legend, Lieutenant Colonel Dick Cole, the last surviving Doolittle Raider and a true American hero. Like those who serve today, Dick Cole was a common American who answered to the call of duty with uncommon devotion. His place in the pages of history might have seemed unlikely prior to that fateful mission. He had never seen the ocean before boarding a ship that would take him halfway around the world. Neither he, nor anyone else, had ever flown a B-2 ; into combat from the deck of an aircraft carrier. Nor had we ever seen anybody to use a parachute before bailing out thousands of feet above the Chinese mainland. But he knew what his country needed, and what his duty required. And there was no barrier that could stop Colonel Cole and his fellow Raiders from accomplishing their mission. It is that spirit of daring, devotion, and duty, and love of our country that has defined the Air Force for the past 70 years and will lift each of you to new heights every day from this day forward. There is no distance too far, no speed too fast, no challenge too great, and no height too high that will keep the United States Air Force-or the American people-from total victory. We will stand with you always. I am always on your wing. We are so proud of you.


It is good to be with you here tonight. If it was not black tie, I would have worn my tan suit. I want to acknowledge the members of the Congressional Black Caucus and Chairwoman Marcia Fudge for their outstanding work. Thank you, Shuanise Washington, and the CBC Foundation for doing so much to help our young people aim high and reach their potential. Eric Holder. Throughout his long career in public service, Eric has built a powerful legacy of making sure that equal justice under the law actually means something, that it applies to everybody, regardless of race or gender or religion or color, creed, disability, sexual orientation. He has been a great friend of mine. He has been a faithful servant of the American people. We will miss him badly. This year, we have been marking the 50th anniversary of the Civil Rights Act. We honor giants like John Lewis, unsung heroines like Evelyn Lowery. We honor the countless Americans, some who are in this room-Black, White, students, scholars, preachers, housekeepers-patriots all, who, with their bare hands, reached into the well of our Nation's founding ideals and helped to nurture a more perfect Union. We have reminded ourselves that progress is not just absorbing what has been done, it is advancing what is left undone. where no child will go unfed, and no youngster will go unschooled. Where no man who wants work will fail to find it. Where no citizen will be barred from any door because of his birthplace or his color or his church. Where peace and security is common among neighbors and possible among nations. This is the world that waits for you, he said. America has made stunning progress since that time, over the past 50 years, even over the past 5 years. But it is the unfinished work that drives us forward. Some of our unfinished work lies beyond our borders. America is leading the effort to rally the world against Russian aggression in Ukraine. America is leading the fight to contain and combat Ebola in Africa. America is building and leading the coalition that will degrade and ultimately destroy the terrorist group known as ISIL. As Americans, we are leading, and we do not shy away from these responsibilities, we welcome them. That is what America does. And we are grateful to the men and women in uniform who put themselves in harm's way in service of the country that we all love.

Remarks at the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation Phoenix Awards Dinner


So we have got unfinished work overseas, but we have got some unfinished work right here at home. After the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression, our businesses have now created 10 million new jobs over the last 54 months. This is the longest uninterrupted stretch of job growth in our history. But we understand our work is not done until we get the kind of job creation that means everybody who wants work can a find job. We have done some work on health care too. Thanks to the Affordable Care Act, we have seen a 26 percent decline in the uninsured rate in America. African Americans have seen a 30 percent decline. And by the way, the cost of health care is not going up as fast anymore either. We have saved $800 billion in Medicare because of the work that we have done, slowing the cost, improving quality and improving access. Despite unyielding opposition, this change has happened just in the last couple of years. But we know our work is not yet done until we get into more communities, help more uninsured folks get covered, especially in those States where the Governors are not being quite as cooperative as we'd like them to be. It always puzzles me where you decide to take a stand to make sure poor folks in your State cannot get health insurance even though it does not cost you a dime. That does not make much sense to me, but I will not go on on that topic. We have got more work to do. It is easy to take a stand when you have got health insurance. I am going off script now, but--that is what happens at the CBC. Our high school graduation rate is at a record high, the dropout rate is falling, more young people are earning college degrees than ever before. Last year, the number of children living in poverty fell by 1.4 million, the largest decline since 1966. Since I took office, the overall crime rate and the overall incarceration rate has gone down by about 10 percent. That is the first time they have declined at the same time in more than 40 years. But our work is not done when too many children live in crumbling neighborhoods, cycling through substandard schools, traumatized by daily violence.


Our work is not done when working Americans of all races have seen their wages and incomes stagnate, even as corporate profits soar; when African American unemployment is still twice as high as White unemployment; when income inequality, on the rise for decades, continues to hold back hard-working communities, especially communities of color. We have got unfinished work. And we know what to do. That is the worst part, we know what to do. We know we have got to invest in infrastructure and manufacturing and research and development that creates new jobs. We have got to keep rebuilding a middle class economy with ladders of opportunity so that hard work pays off and you see higher wages and higher incomes and fair pay for women doing the same work as men and workplace flexibility for parents in case a child gets sick or a parent needs some help. We have got to build more Promise Zones partnerships to support local revitalization of hard-hit communities. We have got to keep investing in early childhood education. We want to bring preschool to every 4-year-old in this country. And we want every child to have an excellent teacher. And we want to invest in our community colleges and expand Pell grants for more students. And I am going to keep working with you to make college more affordable. Because every child in America, no matter who she is, no matter where she is born, no matter how much money her parents have, ought to be able to fulfill her God-given potential. That is what we believe. So I just want everybody to understand, we have made enormous progress. There is almost no economic measure by which we are not better off than when I took office. But-and I just list these things just so if you have a discussion with one of your friends--and they are confused. Hey, in fact, the folks who are doing the best, they are the ones who complain the most. So you can just point these things out. But we still have to close these opportunity gaps. how justice is applied, but also how it is perceived, how it is experienced. Eric Holder understands this. That is what we saw in Ferguson this summer, when Michael Brown was killed and a community was divided. And Eric spent some time with the residents and police of Ferguson, and the Department of Justice has indicated that its civil rights investigation is ongoing. Now, I will not comment on the investigation. I know that nothing any of us can say can ease the grief of losing a child so soon.


But the anger and the emotion that followed his death awakened our Nation once again to the reality that people in this room have long understood, which is, in too many communities around the country, a gulf of mistrust exists between local residents and law enforcement. Too many young men of color feel targeted by law enforcement, guilty of walking while Black or driving while Black, judged by stereotypes that fuel fear and resentment and hopelessness. We know that, statistically, in everything from enforcing drug policy to applying the death penalty, to pulling people over, there are significant racial disparities. One recent poll showed that the majority of Americans think the criminal justice system does not treat people of all races equally. And that has a corrosive effect, not just on the Black community; it has a corrosive effect on America. It harms the communities that need law enforcement the most. It makes folks who are victimized by crime and need strong policing reluctant to go to the police because they may not trust them. And the worst part of it is, it scars the hearts of our children. It scars the hearts of White children who grow unnecessarily fearful of somebody who does not look like them. It stains the heart of Black children who feel as if no matter what he does, he will always be under suspicion. It is not the society that our children deserve. Whether you are Black or White, you do not want that for America. It was interesting, Ferguson was used by some of America's enemies and critics to deflect attention from their own shortcomings overseas, to undermine our efforts to promote justice around the world. They said, well, look at what is happened to you back home. But as I said this week at the United Nations, America is special not because we are perfect; America is special because we work to address our problems, to make our Union more perfect. We fight for more justice. We fight to cure what ails us. We fight for our ideals, and we are willing to criticize ourselves when we fall short. And we address our differences in the open space of democracy, with respect for the rule of law, with a place for people of every race and religion, and with an unyielding belief that people who love their country can change it. That is what makes us special, not because we do not have problems, but because we work to fix them. And we will continue to work to fix this.


And to that end, we need to help communities and law enforcement build trust, build understanding, so that our neighborhoods stay safe and our young people stay on track. And under the leadership of Attorney General Eric Holder, the Justice Department has launched a national effort to do just that. He is also been working to make the criminal justice system smarter and more effective by addressing unfair sentencing disparities, changing Department policies on charging mandatory minimums, promoting stronger reentry programs for those who have paid their debt to society. And we need to address the unique challenges that make it hard for some of our young people to thrive. For all the success stories that exist in a room like this one, we all know relatives, classmates, neighbors who were just as smart as we were, just as capable as we were, born with the same light behind their eyes, the same joy, the same curiosity about the world, but somehow, they did not get the support they needed or the encouragement they needed, or they made a mistake, or they missed an opportunity; they were not able to overcome the obstacles that they faced. And so, in February, we launched My Brother's Keeper. And I was the first one to acknowledge, government cannot play the only, or even the primary, role in the lives of our children. But what we can do is bring folks together, and that is what we are doing-philanthropies, business leaders, entrepreneurs, faith leaders, mayors, educators, athletes, and the youth themselves-to examine how can we ensure that our young men have the tools they need to achieve their full potential. And next week, I am launching My Brother's Keeper Community Challenge, asking every community in the country-big cities and small towns, rural counties, tribal nations-publicly commit to implementing strategies that will ensure all young people can succeed, starting from cradle, all the way to college and a career. It is a challenge to local leaders to follow the evidence and use the resources on what works for our kids. And we are going to keep on signing them up in the coming weeks and months. We need all of us to come together to help all of our young people address the variety of challenges they face. And we are not forgetting about the girls, by the way. I have got two daughters, I do not know if you noticed. African American girls are more likely than their White peers also to be suspended, incarcerated, physically harassed.


Black women struggle every day with biases that perpetuate oppressive standards for how they are supposed to look and how they are supposed to act. Too often, they are either left under the hard light of scrutiny or cloaked in a kind of invisibility. So in addition to the new efforts on My Brother's Keeper, the White House Council for Women and Girls has for years been working on issues affecting women and girls of color, from violence against women to pay equity, to access to health care. And you know Michelle has been working on that, because she does not think our daughters should be treated differently than anybody else's sons. I have got a vested interest in making sure that our daughters have the same opportunities as boys do. So that is the world we have got to reach for-the world where every single one of our children has the opportunity to pursue their measure of happiness. And we are going to have to fight for it. We have got to stand up for it. And we have to vote for it. We have to vote for it. Oh, Barack, we are praying for you. We are praying for you. Which I appreciate. But I tell them, after President Johnson signed the Civil Rights Act, he immediately moved on to what he called the meat in the coconut, a voting rights act bill. And some of his administration argued that is too much, it is too soon. Movement know-but the movement knew that if we rested after the Civil Rights Act, then all we could do was pray that somebody would enforce those rights. So whenever I hear somebody say they are praying for me, I say thank you. I believe in the power of prayer. But we need more than prayer. It will not relieve me of my gray hair, but it will help me pass some bills. Because people refused to give in when it was hard, we get to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Voting Rights Act next year. Until then, we have got to protect it. We cannot just celebrate it, we have got to protect it. Because there are people still trying to pass voter ID laws to make it harder for folks to vote. And we have got to get back to our schools and our offices and our churches, our beauty shops, barber shops, and make sure folks know there is an election coming up, they need to know how to register, and they need to know how and when to vote.


I am very proud to have been introduced by your Congressman, but I hope soon to be, if you do what is right, your Senator, Phil Gramm. Well, it is great to be back in Texas and Thank you and back in Corpus Christi visiting you again. I have campaigned here on more than one occasion, and I always notice how proudly the flag waves in the south Texas wind. It sort of says to visitors that the people here take patriotism seriously. Well, together we are going to make certain that our country always stands for freedom and our flag continues to wave proudly. There is a new spirit in America, and I am pleased to call it the new patriotism. All over the country, Americans are casting away the pessimism and self-doubt of the last decade. We are coming together, people of every race, religion, and ethnic background, rejoicing in the freedom and the opportunity of this great land. Four years ago when I was last here, I asked you for your support. I promised that if you so honored me, I would do my very best to help all of you to make America strong again, to rebuild her economy, strengthen her defenses, and to restore her confidence in the future. Well, it is been tough, but together we have, all of us and all of you, made a new beginning. We still have more to do, but I think we are headed in the right direction. And I think this election offers the clearest choice in 50 years a choice of whether we go forward together to build on our own progress, or whether we go back to the defeatism and despair of the unhappy past. Let me ask you. Does anyone want to go back to the days of high inflation? Anyone want to go back to the days of economic stagnation and a heavier and heavier tax burden? They want to keep moving forward to jobs and opportunity, forward to stable prices and economic expansion, forward to a safer and a stronger America. I think the American people are proud of the recovery they built and confident about making tomorrow even better. And I want you to know you did do this. I just told some people over in Brownsville a little while ago, as to this recovery, all we did was get the Government out of your way. You know, those who are running down this comeback story, who are trying to make us fear our future, are running down the talent and the courage of the American people.

Remarks at a Reagan-Bush Rally in Corpus Christi, Texas


And I just have a hunch that come election day, they are going to be sorry they did. Unhappily, there are those who still believe they can divide us against ourselves by appealing to envy, promising something for nothing, and the American people are not buying that anymore. And something else no one's buying is any scheme for raising Federal taxes based on promises from fast-talking politicians that somebody else will pay the bill. My opponent has made an enormous tax increase his first option, the centerpiece of his campaign. Does not he know you do not want greater taxes, you want a greater Texas? Raising taxes will not encourage people in Texas to work harder and be more productive; raising taxes will not stimulate investment; raising taxes will not give business the incentive to innovate and to make their companies more competitive. America does not need higher taxes. America does not need my opponent to rescue us from prosperity. America needs more growth. Those who still need help will get help, and every American who wants a job will find a job as we keep on growing. The politicians and the economic gurus who gave us stagflation stagflation, that took some doing, you know, to produce both economic decline and inflation all at the same time. And incidentally, when you meet somebody that maybe wonders why you are supporting Phil Gramm, you might remind him that one of the two names on the legislation that brought about the tax cuts and the economic progress and the reduction in government spending the names were Del Latta and Phil Gramm. Those same people warned us that cutting tax rates would lead to super inflation. Well, now that our economy is strong and growing, they are a little stuck, so they tell us now, it will not last. Well, I think it is about time we quit listening to politicians and so-called economic experts who keep selling America short. Of course, when one is so tied to the politics of the past and focusing on the negative, it is hard to have a vision of a better future. But I do not know, I see America as a soaring eagle strong, proud, and free. Now, I think there are those still around who secretly maybe agree with Ben Franklin's suggestion for our national bird. Well, 4 years ago we were not only suffering terrible economic difficulties, our country was being counted out as a world leader. Our friends and adversaries alike looked at us as a nation in decline.


Advocates of weakness people who blamed the United States for all the troubles of the world they claimed a weaker America would be a safer America because no one would have anything to fear from us. Well, no one has anything to fear from us if they mind their own business. You know, those dedicated individuals in our Armed Forces, they were being treated as if they were at fault for world tensions. Well, we have turned that situation around, too. Today we are safer and more secure because America is rebuilding its defensive strength. It is strength, not weakness, that will ensure a peaceful future. You know, President Eisenhower knew this when he wrote, To be strong nationally is not a sin, it is a necessity. And a lot of our strength is based on the new pride in those who are serving in the Armed Forces. Morale's at a high point, and I am told by their commanders that we have got the finest group of young people in the history of our country serving today. And as long as I am President, they will never doubt that to the depth of our national soul, we appreciate the job they are doing, and we are proud of each and every one of them. As long as I am President, we are not going to quibble about supplying the weapons and the equipment that they need to do the job they are doing. We will continue our strenuous efforts to cut waste and fraud and to get the very best deal we can, but we are not going to play politics with the lives of those who are defending our country. As I said before, we do not want anyone to fear us, but I thought he was campaigning in the South today. But as I said, we do not Thank you. Well, as I said before, we do not want anyone to fear us. But I said this in 1980, what our goal would be, and I think maybe we have reached it. And that is, we do not care if they even do not love us. We just expect them to respect us. You know, contrary to what the liberals would like us to believe, by restoring America's military strength, which the previous administration had permitted to erode, we are now in a better position to negotiate with any potential adversary. And just last week, I initiated a new effort to convince the Soviet Union to return to serious arms reduction negotiations.