{"id":53915,"date":"2018-02-24T00:43:19","date_gmt":"2018-02-24T08:43:19","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/69.46.6.243\/?p=53915"},"modified":"2018-02-24T00:43:19","modified_gmt":"2018-02-24T08:43:19","slug":"president-trump-at-the-conservative-political-action-conference","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/?p=53915","title":{"rendered":"President Trump at the Conservative Political Action Conference"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Oxon Hill, MD&#8230;Thank you very much.  Thank you everybody.  (Applause.)  Thank you.  Thank you very much.  Thank you, Matt, for that great introduction.  And thank you for this big crowd.  This is incredible.  Really incredible.  (Applause.)  We\u2019ve all come a long way together.  We\u2019ve come a long way together.  I\u2019m thrilled to be back at CPAC, with so many of my wonderful friends and amazing supporters, and proud conservatives.  (Applause.)  Remember when I first started running?  Because I wasn\u2019t a politician, fortunately.  But do you remember I started running and people would say, \u201cAre you sure he\u2019s a conservative?\u201d  I think now we\u2019ve proved that I\u2019m a conservative, right?  (Applause.)<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/ixS9QoPs35M\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"autoplay; encrypted-media\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>For more than four decades, this event has served as a forum for our nation\u2019s top leaders, activists, writers, thinkers.  Year after year, leaders have stood on this stage to discuss what we can do together to protect our heritage, to promote our culture, and to defend our freedom.<\/p>\n<p>CPAC has always been about big ideas and it\u2019s also been about putting those ideas into action.  And CPAC really has put a lot of ideas into action.  We\u2019ll talk about some of them this morning.<\/p>\n<p>For the last year, with your help, we have put more great conservative ideas into use than perhaps ever before in American history.  (Applause.)  Right?<\/p>\n<p>By the way, what a nice picture that is.  Look at that.  I\u2019d love to watch that guy speak.  (Laughter.)  Oh, boy.  That\u2019s a \u2014 I try like hell to hide that bald spot, folks.  I work hard at it.  (Applause.)  It doesn\u2019t look bad.  Hey, we\u2019re hanging in.  We\u2019re hanging in.  We\u2019re hanging in there, right?  Together, we\u2019re hanging in.<\/p>\n<p>We\u2019ve confirmed a record number \u2014 so important \u2014 of circuit court judges, and we are going to be putting in a lot more.  (Applause.)  And they will interpret the law as written.  And we\u2019ve confirmed an incredible new Supreme Court justice, a great man, Neil Gorsuch.  (Applause.)  Right?<\/p>\n<p>We\u2019ve passed massive \u2014 biggest in history \u2014 tax cuts and reforms.  (Applause.)  You know, I don\u2019t use the word \u201creform.\u201d  There was a lot of reform, too.  Very positive reform.  I don\u2019t use it.  And when we were first doing it, I told everybody \u2014 everybody gathered \u2014 I said, \u201cJust talk about tax cuts.  People don\u2019t know what reform means.  They think reform might mean it\u2019s going up.\u201d  And I said, \u201cDo tax cuts.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>AUDIENCE MEMBER:  (Inaudible.)<\/p>\n<p>AUDIENCE: Booo \u2014<\/p>\n<p>AUDIENCE MEMBER: (Inaudible.)<\/p>\n<p>AUDIENCE:  USA!  USA!  USA!<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  Thank you.  How did he get in here, Matt?  Boy.  Okay.  Just for the media, the fake news back there, they took very good care of him.  They were very gentle.  (Laughter.)  He was very obnoxious.  It was only one person.<\/p>\n<p>So we have thousands of people here.  (Applause.)  So listen \u2014 tomorrow, the headline will be, \u201cProtestors disturbed the Trump\u2026\u201d \u2014 one person, folks.  Doesn\u2019t deserve a mention.  Doesn\u2019t deserve a headline.  The headline tomorrow: \u201cDisrupters of CPAC.\u201d  One person.  And he was very nice \u2014 we looked at him, and he immediately left.  Okay.  (Laughter and applause.)<\/p>\n<p>No, I\u2019ve had it too often.  You\u2019ll have one person, and you can hardly even hear him.  In fact, the biggest, really, disturbance are you people.  You know why?  He\u2019ll say something; nobody hears him.  Because it\u2019s all \u2014 and then the crowd will start screaming at him.  And then all of a sudden we stop for \u2014 and that\u2019s okay.  You have to show your spirit, right?  You have to show your spirit.  It\u2019s true.  (Applause.)<\/p>\n<p>So we passed the biggest tax cuts in the history of our country.  And it was called \u201ctax cut and reform.\u201d  And I said to our people, don\u2019t use the word \u201creform.\u201d  Because we were going to call it the \u201cTax Reform Act.\u201d  I said, \u201cNo wonder for 45 years nothing has been passed.\u201d  Because people want tax cuts, and they don\u2019t know what reform means.  Reform can mean you\u2019re going to pay more tax.  So I convinced politicians who have done this all their lives \u2014 and they do a great job, in many cases \u2014 but this was one \u2014 they were going, the \u201cTax Reform Act\u201d of whatever year we want to put.  Okay?<\/p>\n<p>So they have the Tax Reform Act, and that was it.  And now it was called the Tax Act \u2014 Tax Cut Act and Jobs.  We had to add \u201cjobs\u201d into it because we\u2019re picking up a tremendous number of jobs \u2014 2.7 million jobs since the election.  2.7.  (Applause.)<\/p>\n<p>So now people hear tax cuts, and it has been popular.  Remember, it started off a little slow.  Then it got passed, and we had some great help.  I will say, we had some great help in the Senate, in the House.  We have guys here today \u2014 we have a lot of congressmen, we have a lot of senators.  We had a lot of help.  And we got it passed.<\/p>\n<p>Just \u2014 it was not easy.  We didn\u2019t have one Democrat vote, and I think that\u2019s going to cost them in the midterms.  I know that whoever wins the presidency has a disadvantage, for whatever reason, in the midterms.  You know what happens?  I\u2019m trying to figure it out.  Because historically, if you win the presidency, you don\u2019t do well two years later.  And you know what?  We can\u2019t let that happen.  (Applause.)  And I know what happens.  I finally figured it out.  Nobody has been able to explain it.  It just happens, statistically, almost all of the time for many years.<\/p>\n<p>What happens is, you fight so hard to win the presidency.  You fight, fight, fight.  And now only two years \u2014 that\u2019s a very short period.  And by the time you start campaigning, it\u2019s a year.  And now you got to go and fight again.  But you just won.  So nobody has that same drive that they had.  So you end up not doing that well because the other side is going \u2014 they\u2019re crazed.  And, by the way, they\u2019re crazed anyway, these people.  They are really crazed.  (Laughter and applause.)  Right?<\/p>\n<p>So \u2014 because I kept trying to say, \u201cWhy is this?\u201d  But it\u2019s just there.  So the great enthusiasm \u2014 you know, you\u2019re sitting back, you\u2019re watching television.  \u201cMaybe I don\u2019t have to vote today; we just won the presidency.\u201d  And then we get clobbered, and we can\u2019t let that happen.  We get clobbered in \u201918, and we can\u2019t let that happen \u2014 only because we are so happy, we passed so many things.  Honestly, and I\u2019ll say \u2014 I\u2019ll use the word \u201cmy administration\u201d as opposed to me \u2014 my administration, I think, has had the most successful first year in the history of the presidency.  I really believe that.  I really believe it.  I really believe it.  (Applause.)  So, I mean, judges, regulations, everything.<\/p>\n<p>And the beautiful thing about the tax cuts is nobody thought we could do it.  Because again, we had to get 100 percent of our vote.  And nobody thought we could do it.  And, frankly \u2014 I mean, to me we got it and it\u2019s turned out to be one of the most popular things.  And, by the way, for the Republicans in this room, of which I assume \u2014 would you say, is it 99 percent, Matt, or 100 percent?  Huh?  I would hope it\u2019s close to \u2014 you know what, hey, we probably have some Democrats that want to come over.  We have a great governor from West Virginia that left the Democratic Party \u2014 Big Jim \u2014 and he came over to the Republican Party.  (Applause.)<\/p>\n<p>So people are sitting there, and they\u2019re saying, \u201cOh, we just had that great victory.  Eh, let\u2019s not vote.  Let\u2019s go to a movie.  We\u2019re the Republican Party, we\u2019re going to do great.\u201d  And then they end up losing.<\/p>\n<p>So you got to keep up the enthusiasm.  Now what happens, by the way, they lose.  And then you have the presidential election coming up again, and you clobber them because everybody gets off their ass and they get out and they work.  Right?  And they work.  And they work and work and work.  And you end up winning the Presidency again.  And we should do that \u2014 hopefully we\u2019re going to do that very easily.<\/p>\n<p>But never \u2014 we have to worry \u2014 right now, we have a big race coming up in \u201918.  You have to get out.  You have to just get that enthusiasm.  Keep it going.  (Applause.)<\/p>\n<p>See, the word, really, is \u201ccomplacent.\u201d  People get complacent.  It\u2019s a natural instinct.  You just won, and now you\u2019re happy and you\u2019re complacent.  Don\u2019t be complacent.  Okay?  Don\u2019t be complacent.  Because if they get in, they will repeal your tax cuts, they will put judges in that you wouldn\u2019t believe, they\u2019ll take away your Second Amendment, which we will never allow to happen.  (Applause.)  They\u2019ll take away your Second Amendment.  (Applause).<\/p>\n<p>AUDIENCE:  Donald Trump!  Donald Trump!<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  Remember that.  They will take away \u2014 thank you.  They will take away those massive tax cuts and they will take away your Second Amendment.  By the way, if you only had a choice of one, what would you rather have?  The Second Amendment or the tax cuts?  Go ahead, Second Amendment, tax cuts.  Second Amendment.  (Applause.)  I\u2019m going to leave it at the Second Amendment.  I don\u2019t want to get into that battle, all right?<\/p>\n<p>We\u2019re going to say you want \u2014 Matt, we\u2019re going to say you want the Second Amendment the most.  But we\u2019re going to get them all.  And remember this \u2014 (applause) \u2014 remember this: We\u2019ve gotten \u2014 you know, somebody got on television recently and they said, actually, this is the first time I can remember \u2014 Trump made campaign promises.  He may be the only person that actually fulfilled more promises than he made.  I think that\u2019s true.  (Applause.)  I fulfilled more promises.<\/p>\n<p>But we have a very crooked media.  We had a crooked candidate, too, by the way.  But we have a very, very crooked media.<\/p>\n<p>AUDIENCE:  Lock her up!  Lock her up!  Lock her up!<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  I will say this, folks: Everything that\u2019s turning out, now it\u2019s amazing that\u2019s come full circle.  Boy, have they committed a lot of atrocities when you look.  (Applause.)  Right?  When you look.  Have they done things that are wrong.<\/p>\n<p>But remember this: Not only did we get the tax cuts, which everybody said we wouldn\u2019t get \u2014 and, by the way, repealed, in that tax cut, the individual mandate, which is a tremendous thing.  (Applause.)<\/p>\n<p>This is where you\u2019re forced to pay in order not to have healthcare.  Okay?  Is that great?  You pay for the privilege of not having healthcare.  So you\u2019re subsidizing lots of other people.  That\u2019s gone.  I know people came up to me with tears in their eyes; they\u2019re saying, I\u2019m forced to pay not to have healthcare.  Very unfair.<\/p>\n<p>And, by the way, we\u2019re having tremendous plans coming out now \u2014 healthcare plans \u2014 at a fraction of the cost that are much better than Obamacare.  (Applause.)  And except for one Senator, who came into a room at 3 o\u2019clock in the morning and went like that \u2014 we would have had healthcare, too.<\/p>\n<p>AUDIENCE:  Booo \u2014<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  We would have had healthcare, too.  Think of that.  But I think we may be better off the way we\u2019re doing it.  It\u2019s piece by piece by piece.  Obamacare is just being wiped out.  The individual mandate, essentially, wipes it out.  (Applause.)  So I think we may be better off.  And people are getting great healthcare plans and we\u2019re not finished yet.<\/p>\n<p>But, remember, one person walked into a room when he was supposed to go this way, and he said he was going this way, and he walked in, and he went this way, and everyone said, \u201cWhat happened?  What was that all about?\u201d  Boy, oh, boy.  Who was that?  I don\u2019t know.  I don\u2019t know.  I don\u2019t know.  I don\u2019t want to be controversial, so I won\u2019t use his name.  Okay?  (Laughter.)  What a mess.  But it\u2019s all happening anyway.  It\u2019s all happening anyway.<\/p>\n<p>And we\u2019ve, at the same time, eliminated a record number of job-killing regulations, and people are going back to work.  (Applause.)  Right?  People are going back to work.  So \u2014 and you know, the fake news always \u2014 if I say something that\u2019s like, a little off, next day headline, \u201cHe misrepresents\u2026\u201d \u2014 I have to be careful.<\/p>\n<p>But in the history of Presidents, no President \u2014 and I\u2019m saying no President.  Now, maybe they\u2019ll find I was off by two but we\u2019re here one year.  (Laughter.)  No President \u2014 well, I read it in lots of good papers, actually.  (Laughter.)  But they\u2019ll change the story when I say it.  No President has ever cut so many regulations in their entire term, okay \u2014 (applause) \u2014 as we\u2019ve cut in less than a year.  (Applause.)<\/p>\n<p>And it\u2019s my opinion that the regulations had as big an impact as these massive tax cuts that we\u2019ve given.  So I really believe it.  (Applause.)<\/p>\n<p>We\u2019ve ended the war on American energy.  We were in war.  And we\u2019ve ended the war on beautiful, clean coal.  (Applause.)  One of our great natural resources.  And very important for our defense \u2014 coal \u2014 very important for our defense.  Because we have it.  We don\u2019t have to send it through pipes.  We don\u2019t have to get it from foreign countries.  We have more than anybody.  And they wanted to end it.  And our miners have been mistreated and they\u2019re not being mistreated anymore.  We\u2019re doing tremendous business.  (Applause.)<\/p>\n<p>I was in Vietnam, and the Prime Minister and the President of Vietnam were there.  And we have a massive deficit with them, like we do with everybody else because these Presidents have just let it go to hell.  We have the worst trade deals you\u2019ve ever seen.  So we\u2019re changing it.<\/p>\n<p>So I said, we have too big of a deficit with Vietnam; I\u2019m not happy.  He said, \u201cWell, but we\u2019re going to\u2026\u201d \u2014 I said, \u201cBuy coal.  Buy coal.\u201d  They use a lot of coal.  Buy coal.  And he said, \u201cYou know, we have bought coal from West Virginia and other places, and it\u2019s the finest coal we have ever used.\u201d  It\u2019s interesting.  And West Virginia now is doing great.  You look at what\u2019s happening in West Virginia.  You look at what\u2019s happening in Pennsylvania.  You look at what\u2019s happening in Ohio.  (Applause.)  And you look at what\u2019s happening in Wyoming.  You look at what\u2019s happening all over.  It\u2019s like a \u2014 it\u2019s like a different world.<\/p>\n<p>And remember this: Virtually, as soon as I got into office, we approved the Keystone XL pipeline and the Dakota Access pipeline, which would never have been approved.  (Applause.)  And we announced our withdrawal from the totally disastrous, job-killing, wealth-knocking-out \u2014 you know, it knocked out our wealth, or it would have.  They basically wanted to take our wealth away.  They didn\u2019t want us to use our wealth power.  We knocked out the Paris Climate Accord.  Would have been a disaster.  (Applause.)  Would have been a disaster for our country.<\/p>\n<p>AUDIENCE:  USA!  USA!  USA!<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  You know, basically, it said, you have a lot of oil and gas that we found \u2014 you know, technology has been amazing \u2014 and we found things that we never knew.  But we have massive \u2014 just about the top in the world \u2014 we have massive energy reserves.  We have coal.  We have so much.  And basically, they were saying, don\u2019t use it, you can\u2019t use it.<\/p>\n<p>So what it does is it makes us uncompetitive with other countries.  It\u2019s not going to happen.  I told them, it\u2019s not going to happen.  And, you know, China, their agreement didn\u2019t kick in until 2030.  Right?  Our agreement kicks in immediately.  Russia, they\u2019re allowed to go back into the 1990s, which was not a clean environmental time.<\/p>\n<p>Other countries, big countries \u2014 India and others \u2014 we had to pay, because they considered them a growing country.  They were a growing country.  I said, \u201cWhat are we?\u201d  Are we allowed to grow too?  Okay?  (Laughter.)  Now, are we allowed to grow?  (Applause.)  They called India a \u201cdeveloping nation.\u201d  They called China a \u201cdeveloping nation.\u201d  But the United States, we\u2019re developed \u2014 we can pay.<\/p>\n<p>So, folks, if you don\u2019t mind \u2014 I\u2019ll tell you what \u2014 it\u2019s amazing how many people understood the Paris Accord, because it sounds so good.  It\u2019s like some of the environmental regulations that I cut \u2014 they have the most beautiful titles.  And sometimes I\u2019d say, \u201cLook, I\u2019m just going to close my eyes and sign this because, you know what, I\u2019m going to get killed on this one.\u201d  And I get so much thanks.  The country knows what I\u2019m doing.  We couldn\u2019t build.  We couldn\u2019t farm.  If you had a puddle on your land, they called it a lake for the purposes of environmentals.  (Applause.)  I mean, it\u2019s crazy.  It\u2019s crazy.<\/p>\n<p>And I\u2019d sign certain bills and I\u2019d have farmers behind me and I\u2019d have house builders, home builders behind me.  And these are tough people, strong people.  They fought hard.  They\u2019ve worked all their lives, hard.  And they\u2019d be \u2014 half of them would be crying because we gave them their property back.  We gave them the right to earn a living.  They couldn\u2019t do it.  They couldn\u2019t do what they had to do.  We gave them their property back.  We gave them their dignity back.  (Applause.)<\/p>\n<p>By the way, you don\u2019t mind if I go off script a little bit because, you know, it\u2019s sort of boring.  It\u2019s a little boring.  (Applause.)  Got this beautiful speech, everything is wonderful but a little boring.  We have to, you know \u2014<\/p>\n<p>But we gave them their dignity back.  And that\u2019s why our country is doing record business.  We\u2019re doing record business.  We\u2019re doing business \u2014 and you have to look at the fundamentals.  Companies are pouring back into this country.  They\u2019re pouring back.  Not like \u2014 I mean, when did you hear about car companies coming back into Michigan and coming to Ohio and expanding?  (Applause.)  When did you hear \u2014 you never heard that.  You hear they\u2019re leaving.  I\u2019ve been talking about it for 20 years.<\/p>\n<p>I was a private sector guy.  But for whatever reason, I always had \u2014 these guys always covered me much more than anybody else.  I always got a lot of these characters.  They used to treat me so good too, until I ran for office.  I used to get the greatest publicity.  A friend of mine said, \u201cYou know, you used to be the king of getting great publicity.  What happened?\u201d  I said, \u201cWell, I have some views that they\u2019re opposed to for a lot of bad reasons.\u201d  (Laughter.)  A lot of really bad reasons.<\/p>\n<p>But when you look at what\u2019s happening to our country, it\u2019s incredible.  And the fundamentals are so strong.  The stock market \u2014 I just see with all of the ups and downs \u2014 since Election Day, is up 37 percent from Election \u2014 37 percent.  (Applause.)  Now, it did a little bit of a correction.  In fact, I started to say \u2014 you know, I was in it for like 13, 14 months from election.  I say, \u201cIs this sucker ever going down a little bit?  This is a little embarrassing.\u201d  It was up 100, up 200, up 1,000, up 150, up 90, up 63.  I said, \u201cGood, that\u2019s better.\u201d  (Laughter.)  You know, hey, we\u2019ve got seven years to go, folks.  You know, we got a long time to go.  (Applause.)  So thank you, everybody.  You\u2019ve been amazing.  You\u2019ve been amazing.<\/p>\n<p>You know what Matt didn\u2019t say \u2014 when I was here in 2011, I made a speech, and I was received with such warmth.  And they give \u2014 they used to give \u2014 I don\u2019t know if Matt does that because he might not want to be controversial, but they used to give \u201cthe best speech of CPAC.\u201d  Do they do that still, Matt?  Because you better pick me or I\u2019m not coming back again.  (Laughter.)<\/p>\n<p>But \u2014 and I got these \u2014 everybody, they loved that speech.  And that was, I think, Matt \u2014 I would say, that might have been the first real political speech that I made.  It was a love fest \u2014 2011, I believe the time was \u2014 and a lot of people remembered, and they said, \u201cWe want Trump.  We want Trump.\u201d  And after a few years, they go by, and I say, \u201cHere we are.  Let\u2019s see what we can do.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>And then everybody said, \u201cHe cannot get elected.  He cannot do it.\u201d  You need 270 votes.  You need Electoral College \u2014 which, by the way, is much tougher than the popular vote.  The popular vote, actually, would be so much easier.  You go three or four states, and you just go and you just do great job.  Hillary forgets that.  You know, she went to these states.  I said, \u201cWhat\u2019s she doing?  Why does she keep going back to California?\u201d  (Laughter.)  Crazy.<\/p>\n<p>Next time, they\u2019re going to remember Iowa.  They\u2019re going to remember Ohio.  (Applause.)  Remember?  They spent a lot of time in Pennsylvania to no avail.  (Applause.)  They spent a lot of money.  They spent a lot of money in North Carolina, the great state of North Carolina.  (Applause.)  We did very well there.  We have a great person in the room, Mark Meadows, from North Carolina.  (Applause.)  He\u2019s around here.  Where\u2019s Mark?  Where\u2019s Mark?  And Deb.  And we have Jim Jordan.  Warriors.  Warriors all.  (Applause.)  We have a lot of great \u2014 we have a lot of great people here.  But, you know, we just \u2014 we hit a chord.<\/p>\n<p>And if you remember, 2011, probably that was the beginning of what we\u2019ve done.  And hopefully, at the end of a period of time, people are going to say thank you, because it is not easy.  We\u2019re fighting a lot of forces.  They\u2019re forces that are doing the wrong thing.  They\u2019re just doing the wrong thing.  I don\u2019t want to talk about what they have in mind.  But they do the wrong thing.  But we\u2019re doing what\u2019s good for our country for the long-term viability and survival.  Like, for instance, $700 billion got approved for our military.  Our military was going to hell.  (Applause.)<\/p>\n<p>We declined to certify the terrible one-sided Iran nuclear deal.  That was a horrible deal.  (Applause.)  Whoever heard you give $150 billion to a nation that has no respect for you whatsoever?  They\u2019re saying \u201cDeath to America\u201d while they\u2019re signing the agreement.  If somebody said \u201cDeath to America\u201d while I\u2019m signing an agreement, and I\u2019m President, I immediately say, \u201cWhat\u2019s going on here, folks?  I\u2019m not signing.\u201d  (Laughter.)  What\u2019s going on?<\/p>\n<p>They just kept going.  Kerry \u2014 Kerry may be the worst negotiator I\u2019ve ever seen.  (Laughter.)  How about this guy \u2014 how about \u2014 and Obama, of course \u2014 he\u2019s the one.  But how about $1.8 billion in cash?  Did you ever see what, like, a million dollars in hundred-dollar bills?  A lot of people do it as a promotion.  It\u2019s a lot.  It\u2019s big.  It\u2019s like big.  (Laughter.)  Now, take that, go to $1.8 billion in cash.  $1.8 billion.  For what?  For what?  Why did we do this?  Why did we do it?<\/p>\n<p>Anyway, we didn\u2019t certify, and lots of interesting things are happening with that whole mess.  But we have to treat \u2014 people that treat us well, we treat them well.  People that treat us badly, we treat them much worse than they can ever imagine.  That\u2019s the way it has to be.  (Applause.)  That\u2019s the way it has to be.<\/p>\n<p>We officially recognized Jerusalem as the capital of Israel.  (Applause.)  You know, every President campaigned on, \u201cWe\u2019re going to recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel.\u201d  Everybody \u2014 for many Presidents \u2014 you\u2019ve been reading it.  And then they never pulled it off.  And I now know why.<\/p>\n<p>Because I put the word out that I may do it.  Right?  I said, I\u2019d do it in my campaign, so that usually means \u2014 unless I find something \u2014 I\u2019m going to do it.  I was hit by more countries and more pressure and more people calling, begging me, \u201cDon\u2019t do it.  Don\u2019t do it.  Don\u2019t do it.\u201d  I said, \u201cWe have to do it.  It\u2019s the right thing to do.  It\u2019s the right thing to do.  We have to do it.\u201d  (Applause.)  And I did it.<\/p>\n<p>But every other President really lied, because they campaigned on it.  That was always a big part of the campaign.  And then they got into office; they never did it.  So I understand why they didn\u2019t do it.  Because there was tremendous \u2014 the campaign against it was so incredible.  But you know what?  The campaign for it was also incredible, and we did the right thing.  (Applause.)<\/p>\n<p>So we\u2019ve kept our promise, as I said, to rebuild our military, eliminating the defense sequester, which is a disaster.  And I don\u2019t know if you saw the number, $700 billion.  You know, ultimately, that comes before everything else.  We can talk about lots of things.  But if we don\u2019t have a strong military, you might not be allowed into this room someday.  Okay?  You may not have your houses, your homes, your beautiful communities.  We better take care of our military.  These are the greatest people, and we\u2019re going to take care of our veterans.  (Applause.)  We\u2019re going to take care of the vets.  We\u2019ve been doing a good job on the vets.<\/p>\n<p>And after years of rebuilding other nations \u2014 we rebuild other nations \u2014 we rebuild other nations that have a lot of money, and we don\u2019t ever say, \u201cHey, you got to help.\u201d  We\u2019re finally rebuilding our nation.  We\u2019re rebuilding our nation.  (Applause.)  And we\u2019re restoring our confidence and our pride.<\/p>\n<p>All of us here today are united by the same timeless values.  We defend our Constitution, and we believe in the wisdom of our Founders.  Our Constitution is great.  (Applause.)  We support the incredible men and women of law enforcement.  (Applause.)  True.  We know that a strong nation must have strong borders.  We celebrate our history and our heroes, and we believe young Americans should be taught to love their country and to respect its traditions.<\/p>\n<p>Don\u2019t worry, you\u2019re getting the wall.  Don\u2019t worry, okay?  I heard some \u2014 (applause) \u2014 we\u2019re getting the wall.<\/p>\n<p>AUDIENCE:  Build that wall!  Build that wall!  Build that wall!<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  I had a couple of these characters in the back say, \u201cOh, he really doesn\u2019t want the wall.  He just used that for campaigning.\u201d  I said, are you \u2014 can you believe it?  (Laughter.)  You know, I say, every time I hear that, the wall gets 10 feet higher.  You know that, right?  (Applause.)  Every time.  Every single time.  Okay?<\/p>\n<p>No, we\u2019re going to have the wall or they\u2019re not going to have what they want.  You know, we have a problem:  We need more Republicans.  We have a group of people that vote against us in a bloc.  They\u2019re good at two things: resisting, obstruction.  Resisting, obstruction.  And they stick together.  They do.  They always vote in a bloc.  You know, it\u2019s very rare that you get a couple of them to come your way.  Even on the tax cuts.  I mean, we\u2019re going to be fighting these people in the \u201918 election.  We\u2019re going to be fighting people that voted against the tax cuts, because the tax cuts are phenomenal and popular, and helping people and helping our country.<\/p>\n<p>You saw Apple just brought $350 billion in; Exxon brought $50 billion in.  (Applause.)  So we\u2019re going to be fighting.<\/p>\n<p>The fact is, we need more Republicans to vote.  (Applause.)  We want to get our agenda.  Because, now, what we have to do is in order to get a vote to fix our military, we have to give them $100 billion in stuff that nobody in this room, including me, wants, in many cases.  It\u2019s terrible.  We need more Republicans.  That\u2019s why you have to get out and you have to fight for \u201918.  You have to do it.  (Applause.)<\/p>\n<p>We salute our great American flag, we put our hands on our hearts for the Pledge of Allegiance.  (Applause.)  And we all proudly stand for the national anthem.  (Applause.)<\/p>\n<p>AUDIENCE:  USA!  USA!  USA!<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  Above all else, we know that faith and family, not government and bureaucracy, are at the center of American life.  We know that.  (Applause.)  Because in America, we don\u2019t worship government, we worship God.  (Applause.)<\/p>\n<p>Our nation\u2019s motto is, \u201cIn God We Trust.\u201d  (Applause.)  And this week, our nation lost an incredible leader who devoted his life to helping us understand what those words really mean.  Leader.  He was a leader.  He was a great man.<\/p>\n<p>We will never forget the historic crowds, that voice, the energy, and the profound faith of a preacher named Billy Graham.  (Applause.)  Great man and great family.  Franklin Graham.  Great family.  And they were for us \u2014 I\u2019ll tell you, they were for us.  Right from the beginning they were for us.<\/p>\n<p>As a young man, Billy decided to devote his life to God.  That choice not only changed his life, it changed our country.  And indeed, it even changed the world.<\/p>\n<p>Reverend Graham\u2019s belief in the power of God\u2019s word gave hope to millions and millions who listened to him with his very beautiful, but very simple message: God loves you.  (Applause.)  And a very special tribute \u2014 because it\u2019s almost never done \u2014 on Wednesday, we will celebrate Billy Graham\u2019s life as he lies in honor in the Rotunda of our Capitol.  (Applause.)  Very rarely.<\/p>\n<p>One day \u2014 Wednesday until Thursday, about 11 o\u2019clock on Wednesday.  I bet those lines are going to be long and beautiful, because he deserves it.  Not everybody deserves it.  But very few people \u2014 you look back, Ronald Reagan was so honored.  Very few people are so honored.  That\u2019s a big thing.  And he really, almost more than anybody you can think of, he deserves to be in the Rotunda.  So that\u2019s going to be very special.  Wednesday at 11 o\u2019clock.  (Applause.)  And Paul, and Mitch, and the whole group, they worked very hard to make it all happen.  So we want to thank them too.<\/p>\n<p>Everywhere you go, all over the country, in cities small and large, Americans of all faiths reach out to our Creator for strength, for inspiration, and for healing.  Great time for healing.  In times of grief and hardship, we turn to prayer for solace and for comfort.<\/p>\n<p>In recent days, our entire nation has been filled with terrible pain and sorrow over the evil massacre in a great community \u2014 Parkland, Florida.  This senseless act of mass murder has shocked our nation and broken our hearts.<\/p>\n<p>This week, I had the honor of meeting with students from Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, with families who have lost their children in prior shootings \u2014 great families, great people \u2014 and with members of the local community right here in Washington, D.C.  Our whole nation was moved by their strength and by their courage.<\/p>\n<p>We listened to their heart-wrenching stories, asked them for ideas, and pledged to them \u2014 and I can speak for all of the senators and congressmen and congresswomen, all of the people in this room that are involved in this decision \u2014 that we will act.  We will do something.  We will act.<\/p>\n<p>With us on Wednesday was one of the families whose daughter didn\u2019t come home last week \u2014 a beautiful young woman named Meadow Pollack.  Incredible family.  I had them in the Oval Office.  Incredible people.  You\u2019ve probably seen her picture. She had a beautiful, beautiful smile, and a beautiful life.  So full of promise.<\/p>\n<p>We wish there was something \u2014 anything \u2014 we could do to bring Meadow and all of the others back.  There are not enough tears in the world to express our sadness and anguish for her family, and for every family that has lost a precious loved one.  No family should ever save \u2014 and ever have to go in and suffer the way these families have suffered.  They\u2019ve suffered beyond anything that I\u2019ve ever witnessed.<\/p>\n<p>A father drops his daughter off at school, kisses her goodbye, waves to her \u2014 she\u2019s walking up the path \u2014 and never sees her alive again.  Gets a call.  Can\u2019t believe it.  Thinks it\u2019s a nightmare.  Wants to wake up from the nightmare.<\/p>\n<p>So we want to hear ideas from Americans of all backgrounds and beliefs about how we can improve security at our schools, tackle the issue of mental health.  Because this was a sick person \u2014 very sick \u2014 and we had a lot of warning about him being sick.  This wasn\u2019t a surprise.  To the people that knew him, this wasn\u2019t even a little bit; in fact, some said, were surprised it took so long.  So what are we doing?  What are we doing?  We want to ensure that when there are warning signs, we can act and act very quickly.<\/p>\n<p>Why do we protect our airports, and our banks, our government buildings, but not our schools?  (Applause.)  It\u2019s time to make our schools a much harder target for attackers.  We don\u2019t want them in our schools.  (Applause.)  We don\u2019t want them.<\/p>\n<p>When we declare our schools to be gun-free zones, it just puts our students in far more danger.  (Applause.)  Far more danger.  Well-trained, gun-adept teachers and coaches and people that work in those buildings; people that were in the Marines for 20 years and retired; people in the Army, the Navy, the Air Force, the Coast Guard; people that are adept \u2014 adept with weaponry and with guns \u2014 they teach.  I mean, I don\u2019t want to have 100 guards standing with rifles all over the school.  You do a concealed carry permit.  (Applause.)<\/p>\n<p>And this would be a major deterrent because these people are inherently cowards.  If they thought \u2014 like, if this guy thought that other people would be shooting bullets back at him, he wouldn\u2019t have gone to that school.  He wouldn\u2019t have gone there.  It\u2019s a gun-free zone.  It says, this is a gun-free zone; please check your guns way far away.  And what happens is they feel safe.  There\u2019s nobody going to come at them.<\/p>\n<p>This way, you may have \u2014 and remember, if you use this school as an example \u2014 this is a very big school with tremendous floor area and a lot of acreage.  It\u2019s a big, big school.  Good school.  A big, big school.  You\u2019d have to have 150 real guards.  Look, you had one guard.  He didn\u2019t turn out to be too good, I will tell you that.  He turned out to be not good.  He was not a credit to law enforcement, that I can tell you.  That I can tell you.  (Applause.)<\/p>\n<p>But as I\u2019ve been talking about this idea \u2014 and I feel it\u2019s a great idea, but some people that are good people are opposed to it; they don\u2019t like the idea of teachers doing it.  But I\u2019m not talking about teachers.  You know, CNN went on, they said, \u201cDonald Trump wants all teachers.\u201d  Okay?  Fake news, folks.  Fake news.  Fake news.<\/p>\n<p>I don\u2019t want a person that\u2019s never handled a gun that wouldn\u2019t know what a gun looks like to be armed.  But out of your teaching population \u2014 out of your teaching population, you have 10 percent, 20 percent of very gun-adept people.  Military people, law enforcement people, they teach.  They teach.  (Applause.)<\/p>\n<p>And something I thought of this morning.  You know what else?  And I thought of it since I found and watched Peterson, the deputy who didn\u2019t go into the school because he didn\u2019t want to go into the school.  Okay?  He was tested under fire, and that wasn\u2019t a good result.<\/p>\n<p>But you know what I thought of as soon as I saw that?  These teachers \u2014 and I\u2019ve seen them at a lot of schools where they had problems \u2014 these teachers love their students.  And the students love their teachers, in many cases.  These teachers love their students.  And these teachers are talented with weaponry and with guns.  And they feel safe.  And I\u2019d rather have somebody that loves their students and wants to protect their students than somebody standing outside that doesn\u2019t know anybody and doesn\u2019t know the students, and, frankly, for whatever reason, decided not to go in even though he heard lots of shots being fired inside.<\/p>\n<p>The teachers and the coaches and other people in the building \u2014 the dean, the assistant dean, the principal \u2014 they can \u2014 they love their people.  They want to protect these kids.  And I think we\u2019re better with that.  And this may be 10 percent or 20 percent of the population of teachers, et cetera.  It\u2019s not all of them.  But you would have a lot, and you would tell people that they\u2019re inside.  And the beauty is, it\u2019s concealed.  Nobody would ever see it unless they needed it.  It\u2019s concealed.<\/p>\n<p>So this crazy man who walked in wouldn\u2019t even know who it is that has it.  That\u2019s good.  That\u2019s not bad; that\u2019s good.  And a teacher would have shot the hell out of him before he knew what happened.  (Applause.)  They love their students.  They love those students, folks.  Remember that.  They love their students.<\/p>\n<p>And I\u2019m telling you that would work.  Because we need offensive capability.  We can\u2019t just say, oh, it\u2019s a gun-free school.  We\u2019re going to do it a little bit better.  Because then you say, \u201cWhat happens outside?\u201d  The students now leave school, and you got a thousand students \u2014 you got 3,500 at the school we\u2019re talking about \u2014 but you have a thousand students standing outside.  The teachers are out there also.  If a madman comes along, we have the same problem, but it\u2019s outside of the school.  Or they drive cars.  There are a lot of things that can happen.<\/p>\n<p>I want to stop it.  And I know it\u2019s a little controversial to say \u2014 but I have to say, since I started this two days ago, a lot of people that were totally opposed to it are now agreeing.  They love their students.  They don\u2019t want their students to be killed or to be hurt.  (Applause.)<\/p>\n<p>So we have to do something that works.  And one of the big measures that we will do, and everybody in this room I think has to agree \u2014 and there\u2019s nobody that loves the Second Amendment more than I do.  And there\u2019s nobody that respects the NRA \u2014 they\u2019re friends of mine.  They backed us all.  They\u2019re great people.  They\u2019re patriots.  (Applause.)  But they\u2019re great people.  But we really do have to strengthen up, really strengthen up background checks.  We have to do that.  (Applause.)<\/p>\n<p>And we have to do \u2014 for the mentally ill, we have to do very, very \u2014 we don\u2019t want to people that are mentally ill to be having any form of weaponry.  We have to be very strong on that.  (Applause.)<\/p>\n<p>So we\u2019re going to do that.  And I really believe that Congress is going to get it through this time.  And they have a different leader.  They have somebody that wants to get it through; not somebody that\u2019s just all talk, no action, like so many of these folks.  This is somebody that wants to get it through.<\/p>\n<p>But I also want to protect \u2014 we need a hardened site.  It has to be hardened.  It can\u2019t be soft.  Because they\u2019ll sneak in through a window, they\u2019ll sneak in some way.  And, again, you\u2019re standing there totally unprotected.<\/p>\n<p>You know the five great soldiers from four years ago, three of them were world-class marksmen.  They were on a military base in a gun-free zone.  They were asked to check their guns quite far away.  And a maniac walked in, guns blazing, killed all of five of them.  He wouldn\u2019t of had a chance if these world-class marksmen had \u2014 on a military base \u2014 access to their guns.  And I\u2019m going to look at that whole policy on military bases.  If we can\u2019t have \u2014 (applause) \u2014 all five were killed.  All five.  The guy wouldn\u2019t have had a chance.<\/p>\n<p>But we\u2019re going to look at that whole military base, gun-free zone.  If we can\u2019t have our military holding guns, it\u2019s pretty bad.  We had a number of instances on military bases.  You know that.  So we want to protect our military.  We want to make our military stronger and better than it\u2019s ever been before.  (Applause.)<\/p>\n<p>We also need to create a culture in our country that cherishes life and human dignity.  That\u2019s part of what we\u2019re talking about.  (Applause.)  A culture that condemns violence and never glorifies violence.  We need to foster real human connections and turn classmates and colleagues into friends and neighbors that want to fight for us.<\/p>\n<p>We\u2019re not just having a conversation about school safety.  You\u2019ve had conversations \u2014 in all fairness, I\u2019m pretty new on this job.  We\u2019re here a little more than a year.  I\u2019ve been watching this stuff go on for 20 years.  The President gets up, everybody is enthusiastic for the first couple of days, then it fades, fades, fades.  Nothing ever gets done.  We want to see if we can get it done.  Let\u2019s get it done right.  (Applause.)  We really owe it to our country.  And I\u2019ve been watching for a long time.  Seen a lot of words, and I\u2019ve seen very little action.<\/p>\n<p>And, you know, if you think about, most of its just common sense.  It\u2019s not \u201cdo you love guns, do hate guns.\u201d  It\u2019s common sense.  It\u2019s all common sense.  And some of the strongest advocates about what I\u2019m saying are the strongest advocates \u2014 I know them very well \u2014 political people \u2014 the strongest advocates for the Second Amendment.  But this is common sense.<\/p>\n<p>In addition to securing our schools, we\u2019re also implementing a strategy to secure our streets.  We want our kids to be safe everywhere they go, whether they\u2019re in a classroom walking home from school or just outside playing with their friends.  (Applause.)  Every child deserves to grow up in a safe community surrounded by a loving family and to have a future filled with opportunity and with hope.  (Applause.)  Thank you.  Thank you.  Just not fair.<\/p>\n<p>Reducing violent crime in America is a top priority for my administration, and we will do whatever it takes to get it done.  No talk.  We\u2019re going to do what it takes to get it done.  (Applause.)<\/p>\n<p>As you\u2019ve seen, pretty well reported, that we\u2019re significantly increasing gun prosecutions by tremendous percentages, and we\u2019re working to get violent offenders off our streets and behind bars, and get them behind bars quickly, for a long time, or get them the hell out of our country.  (Applause.)<\/p>\n<p>In 2017, we brought cases against more violent offenders than any administration in a quarter of a century \u2014 more than any administration.  And we\u2019re just gearing up.  We have tough people.  I\u2019ll tell you what \u2014 when you deal with MS-13, the only thing they understand is toughness.  They don\u2019t want anything.  All they understand is toughness.  If that ICE agent or Border Patrol agent is tougher than them, they respect him.  We got the toughest guys you\u2019ve ever seen.  We got tough.  (Applause.)  They don\u2019t respect anything else.  And they shouldn\u2019t be in our country.  They were let in for years.  They shouldn\u2019t be, and we\u2019re getting them out.<\/p>\n<p>Our administration prosecuted more people for federal firearm charges than has been done in more than a decade.  And again, we\u2019re just gearing up.  We\u2019ve convicted 1,200 gang members and nearly 500 human traffickers.  (Applause.)  You know what human trafficking \u2014 who would think that we have this in this age?  And with our foreign partners, we\u2019ve helped charge or arrest more than 4,000 members of the savage gang that we talked about \u2014 MS-13.<\/p>\n<p>Now, they don\u2019t like guns.  You know why?  They\u2019re not painful enough.  These are animals.  They cut people.  They cut them.  They cut them up in little pieces and they want them to suffer.  And we take them into our country because our immigration laws are so bad.  And when we catch them \u2014 it\u2019s called catch-and-release \u2014 we have to, by law, catch them and then release them.  Catch-and-release.  And I can\u2019t get the Democrats \u2014 and nobody has been able to for years \u2014 to approve common-sense measures that, when we catch these animal-killers, we can lock them up and throw away the keys.  (Applause.)<\/p>\n<p>In 2017, our brave ICE officers arrested more than 100,000 criminal aliens who have committed tens of thousands of crimes. And believe me, these are great people.  They cannot \u2014 the laws are just against us.  They\u2019re against \u2014 they\u2019re against safety.  They don\u2019t make sense.  And you meet with Democrats and they\u2019re always fighting for the criminal.  They\u2019re not fighting for law-abiding citizens.  They\u2019re always fighting for the criminal.  (Applause.)  Doesn\u2019t make sense.<\/p>\n<p>Here are just some of the criminal charges and convictions for the aliens arrested by ICE: 11,000 charges or convictions for sex crimes; 48,000 for assault; 13,000 for burglary; and 1,800 for killing people.<\/p>\n<p>We\u2019re cracking down on sanctuary cities.  Can you believe this?  (Applause.)  Where they protect \u2014 that\u2019s another one.  Because we want our cities to be sanctuaries for law-abiding Americans, not for criminals.  (Applause.)<\/p>\n<p>And, by the way, the Senate Democrats and the House Democrats have totally abandoned DACA.  They\u2019ve total \u2014 they don\u2019t even talk to me about it.  They have totally abandoned.  You know, we get the reputation \u2014 like DACA, it\u2019s not Republican.  We\u2019ll let me tell you, it is Republican, because we want to do something about DACA, get it solved after all these years.<\/p>\n<p>The Democrats are being totally unresponsive.  They don\u2019t want to do anything about DACA, I\u2019m telling you.  And it\u2019s very possible that DACA won\u2019t happen, and it\u2019s not because of the Republicans, it\u2019s going to be because of the Democrats.  And frankly, you better elect more Republicans, folks, or it will never happen.  (Applause.)<\/p>\n<p>The Democrats voted in favor of sanctuary cities.  In other words, they voted to protect criminal aliens instead of voting to protect the American citizens.<\/p>\n<p>To secure our country, we are calling on Congress to build a great border wall to stop dangerous drugs and criminals from pouring into our country.  (Applause.)  And now they\u2019re willing to give us the wall, but they don\u2019t want to give us any of the laws to keep these people out.<\/p>\n<p>So we\u2019re going to get the wall, but they don\u2019t want to give us all of the other \u2014 chain migration, lottery.  Think of a lottery.  You have a country.  They put names in.  You think they\u2019re giving us their good people?  Not too many of you people are going to be in a lottery.  So we pick out people.  Then they turn out to be horrendous, and we don\u2019t understand why.<\/p>\n<p>They\u2019re not giving us their best people, folks.  They\u2019re not giving us \u2014 I mean, use your heads.  They\u2019re giving us \u2014 it\u2019s a lottery.  I don\u2019t want people coming into this country with a lottery.  I want people coming into this country based on merit.  Based on merit.  (Applause.)<\/p>\n<p>I want people, and we all want to be admitting people, who have skills, who can support themselves financially, who can contribute to our economy, who will love our people, and who will share our values, who will love our country.  (Applause.)<\/p>\n<p>I don\u2019t want people who drive a car at 100 miles an hour down the West Side Highway and kill 8 innocent victims, and destroy the lives of 14 more.  Nobody talks about that.  Nobody ever talks about the people that have been so horribly injured, who lose legs and arms, in Manhattan, where I used to spend my time.<\/p>\n<p>I know it very well, the stretch along the West Side Highway.  People run in order to stay in shape.  They want to be healthy, they want to look good.  They\u2019re running all the time; I see it.  They run.  We work in different ways.  (Laughter.)  But they run.  No, but think of this \u2014 they run.  And they\u2019re so \u2014 they want to be fit.  They\u2019re proud people.  They want to be fit, and they\u2019re running up and down West Side Highway.  It\u2019s beautiful.  It\u2019s a beautiful thing.<\/p>\n<p>And this maniac takes a car going down the highway, and just turns to a right, and he kills eight.  But he really badly wounded 12 to 14 other people.<\/p>\n<p>So somebody think of it: Runs to stay in shape, leaves the house, is jogging along, working hard, ends up going home two months later with no leg or with no arm, or with two legs missing.  Nobody ever talks about that.  They talk about the people, rightfully, that were killed.  But they don\u2019t talk about the people whose lives have been just changed \u2014 just changed.  They don\u2019t talk about that.<\/p>\n<p>This guy came in through chain migration and a part of the lottery system.<\/p>\n<p>AUDIENCE:  Booo \u2014<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  They say 22 people came in with him.  In other words, an aunt, an uncle, a grandfather, a mother, a father, whoever came in.  But a lot of people came in.  That\u2019s chain migration.  Let\u2019s see how those people are doing, by the way.<\/p>\n<p>We\u2019ve got to change our way.  Merit system.  I want merit system.  Because you know what\u2019s happening?  All of these companies are coming into our country.  They\u2019re all coming into our country.  And when they come in, we need people that are going to work.  I\u2019m telling you, we need workers now.  We need workers.  (Applause.)<\/p>\n<p>But when I walked in today, did anyone ever hear me do the snake during the campaign?  Because I had five people outside say, \u201cCould you do \u2018The Snake\u2019?\u201d  And I said, well, people have heard it.  Who hasn\u2019t heard \u201cThe Snake\u201d?  You should read it anyways.  (Laughs.)  Let\u2019s do it anyway.  I\u2019ll do it.  All right?  Should we do it?  (Applause.)<\/p>\n<p>Now, this was a rock-and-roll song \u2014 little amendments \u2014 a rock-and-roll song.  But every time I do it, people \u2014 and you have to think of this in terms of immigration.  We have to have great people come into our \u2014 I want people to come into our country.  And I want people that are going to help us.  And I don\u2019t want people that are going to come in and be accepting all of the gifts of our country for the next 50 years and contribute nothing.  I don\u2019t want that, and you don\u2019t want that.<\/p>\n<p>I want people that are going to help and people that are going to work for Chrysler, who is now moving from Mexico into Michigan, and so many other \u2014 and Apple, by the way.  (Applause.)  And Foxconn up in Wisconsin.  They\u2019re going to need 25,000 workers.  I want people that can come in, and get to work and work hard.  Even if it means a learning period \u2014 that\u2019s fine.<\/p>\n<p>But I want people that are going to come in and work.  And I want people that love us and look at security.  And they want you to be safe, and they want to be safe.  I want great people coming into this country.  I don\u2019t want people coming in the way they do now, because I want people that contribute.<\/p>\n<p>So this is called \u201cThe Snake.\u201d  And think of it in terms of immigration.  And you may love it, or you may say, isn\u2019t that terrible.  Okay?  And if you say, isn\u2019t that terrible, who cares?  Because the way they treat me \u2014 that\u2019s peanuts compared to the way they treat me.  Okay?  (Laughter.)  Immigration.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOn her way to work one morning, down the path along the lake, a tenderhearted woman saw a poor, half-hearted, frozen snake.  His pretty colored skin had been all frosted with the dew. \u2018Poor thing,\u2019 she cried, \u2018I\u2019ll take you in, and I\u2019ll take care of you.\u2019<\/p>\n<p>\u2018Take me in, oh, tender woman.  Take me in, for Heaven\u2019s sake.  Take me in, oh, tender woman,\u2019 sighed the vicious snake.<\/p>\n<p>She wrapped him up all cozy in a comforter of silk, and laid him by her fireside with some honey and some milk.  She hurried home from work that night, and soon as she arrived, she found that pretty snake she\u2019d taken in had been revived.<\/p>\n<p>\u2018Take me in, oh, tender woman.  Take me in for Heaven\u2019s sake.  Take me in, oh, tender woman,\u2019 sighed the vicious snake.<\/p>\n<p>She clutched him to her bosom, \u2018You\u2019re so beautiful,\u2019 she cried.  But if I hadn\u2019t brought you in by now, surely you would have died.\u2019<\/p>\n<p>She stroked his pretty skin again, and kissed and held him tight.  But instead of saying thank you, that snake gave her a vicious bite.<\/p>\n<p>\u2018Take me in, oh, tender woman.  Take me in for Heaven\u2019s sake.  Take me in, oh, tender woman,\u2019 sighed the vicious snake.<\/p>\n<p>\u2018I saved you,\u2019 cried the woman.  \u2018And you\u2019ve bitten me. Heaven\u2019s why?  You know your bite is poisonous, and now I\u2019m going to die.\u2019<\/p>\n<p>\u2018Oh, shut up, silly woman,\u2019 said the reptile with a grin.  \u2018You knew damn well I was a snake before you took me in.&#8217;\u201d  (Applause.)<\/p>\n<p>And that\u2019s what we\u2019re doing with our country, folks.  We\u2019re letting people in, and it\u2019s going to be a lot of trouble.  It\u2019s only getting worse.  But we\u2019re giving you protection like never before.  Our law enforcement is doing a better job than we\u2019ve ever done before.  And we love our country.  And we\u2019re going to take care of our country.  Okay?  We\u2019re going to take care of our country.  (Applause.)<\/p>\n<p>So just in finishing, our country is starting to do very well.  Our economy is blazing.  Jobs are at a record level.  Jobs are so good.  2.7 million jobs created since the election.  (Applause.)  Unemployment claims have reached a 45-year low.  (Applause.)<\/p>\n<p>African American unemployment has reached the lowest level in our history.  (Applause.)  Hispanic unemployment has reached the lowest level in our history.  (Applause.)  Women \u2014 women unemployment is at the lowest level in 18 years.  (Applause.)  Wages are rising for the first time in many, many years.  (Applause.)<\/p>\n<p>Small business confidence is at a record high.  And thanks to our massive tax cuts, millions of Americans are getting to keep a great percentage of their money instead of paying it to a government that throws it out the window.  (Applause.)<\/p>\n<p>So I just leave you with this:  We have to fight Nancy Pelosi.  They want to give your money away.  They want to give your money away.  They want to end your tax cuts.  They want to do things that you wouldn\u2019t even believe, including taking your Second Amendment rights away.  They will do that.<\/p>\n<p>AUDIENCE:  Booo \u2014<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  So we have to get out there and we have to fight in \u201918 like never before \u2014 just the way you fought with us.  Just the way you fought with us.  You fought so hard, and you were so tough, and you were so smart.  You were so smart. And you know what?  I know for a fact you did the right thing, because we\u2019re looking at the numbers.  And the numbers \u2014 even they have to give credit for the kind of numbers that we\u2019re producing.  Nobody has ever seen anything like it.  (Applause.)<\/p>\n<p>Under my administration, the era of economic surrender is over.  We\u2019re renegotiating trade deals that are so bad, whether it\u2019s NAFTA or whether it\u2019s World Trade Organization, which created China \u2014 that created \u2014 if you look at China, it was going along like this, then we opened, stupidly, this deal.  And China has been like a rocket ship ever since.<\/p>\n<p>And now, last year, we had almost a $500 billion trade deficit with China.  We can\u2019t have that.  We can\u2019t have that.  I have great respect for President Xi, but we can\u2019t have that.  We have to go, and we have to do what we have to do.  We just can\u2019t let countries \u2014 as an example, Mexico.  We have a $100 billion trade deficit with Mexico.  What does that tell you?  You know what it tells you?  NAFTA is no good.  It never was any good.  But for some reason, nobody ever changed it.  They emptied our factories \u2014 you got to see the car plants and the auto plants in Mexico.  Like \u2014 you\u2019ve never seen anything like it before.<\/p>\n<p>I want those companies \u2014 and they\u2019re starting \u2014 I want them back here.  I want them back here.  They\u2019re going to come back here, too.  (Applause.)  And we want to make our neighbors happy.  But we can\u2019t continuously have other nations taking advantage of the United States like never before.  And this has gone on for a long time.  This has gone on for longer \u2014 the last administration was a disaster, but this has gone on for much longer than the last administration.  And we got to change it.  We\u2019re going to change it.<\/p>\n<p>So we\u2019re renegotiating deals.  And you know what?  Hate to say it, but if we can\u2019t make a fair deal for the United States, we will terminate the deal and we\u2019ll start all over again.  (Applause.)  We have to do it.  (Applause.)<\/p>\n<p>So, under my administration, and with your help \u2014 don\u2019t forget \u2014 you, many of you, were the forgotten people.  You were the people that, when the polls came out, they didn\u2019t know that you existed.  The Democrats are trying to figure out who you are, because they want to get you back.  But you are people \u2014 we\u2019ve had people that never voted, but they\u2019re great patriots \u2014 but they never saw anybody they wanted to vote for.  Then they go to the election, they\u2019ve got Trump-Pence, Trump-Pence.  They got hats, they got all sorts of things.  Trump over here \u2014 \u201cMake America Great Again\u201d hats.  Right?  (Applause.)<\/p>\n<p>So our country is starting to do well.  We are going to make it great, better, safer than it ever was before.  The reason is you.  This has been a great movement.  They try like hell, they cannot stand what we\u2019ve done.  But we\u2019re doing the right thing.  We\u2019re even doing the right thing for them.  They just don\u2019t know it yet.  (Applause.)  They just don\u2019t know it yet.<\/p>\n<p>Even the media \u2014 the media will absolutely support me sometime prior to the election.  All those horrible people back there, they\u2019re going to support me.  You know why?  Because if somebody else won, their ratings would go down, they\u2019d all be out of business.  (Applause.)  Nobody would watch.  They\u2019d all be out of business.<\/p>\n<p>So I just want to tell you that we are going to win.  I\u2019d love you to get out there, work really hard for \u201918.  We need more Republicans to keep the tax cuts and keep all of this going.<\/p>\n<p>And I love you.  I respect you.  I appreciate everything you\u2019ve done for the country.  (Applause.)<\/p>\n<p>AUDIENCE:  USA!  USA!  USA!<\/p>\n<p>THE PRESIDENT:  I appreciate everything you\u2019ve done.<\/p>\n<p>I do want to say, because people have asked \u2014 North Korea \u2014 we imposed today the heaviest sanctions ever imposed on a country before.  (Applause.)<\/p>\n<p>And frankly, hopefully something positive can happen.  We will see.  But hopefully something positive can happen.  But that just was announced, and I wanted to let you know.  We have imposed the heaviest sanctions ever imposed.<\/p>\n<p>So, ladies and gentlemen, thank you for everything.  You have been incredible partners.  (Applause.)  Incredible partners.  And I will let you know in the absolute strongest of terms, we\u2019re going to make America great again, and I will never, ever, ever let you down.  Thank you very much.  (Applause.)  Thank you.  (Applause.)<\/p>\n<p>END<\/p>\n<p>11:30 A.M. EST<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Oxon Hill, MD&#8230;Thank you very much. Thank you everybody. (Applause.) Thank you. Thank you very much. Thank you, Matt, for that great introduction. And thank you for this big crowd. This is incredible. Really incredible. (Applause.) We\u2019ve all come a long way together. We\u2019ve come a long way together. I\u2019m thrilled to be back at [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":53916,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_cbd_carousel_blocks":"[]","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[20,5,1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-53915","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-featured","category-government","category-news","last_archivepost"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/02\/Fullscreen-capture-2242018-123930-AM.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/53915","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=53915"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/53915\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/53916"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=53915"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=53915"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=53915"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}