00:00Well, thank you, Mr. President. First of all, this is a very talented team, as you've seen, and as you know, because you picked every single one that's on. You deserve tremendous credit for doing that. It's an honor to be in this role. It's also an honor to be involved in and be a witness to what I believe is the most transformational year in American foreign policy since the end of the Second World War, at least. And it's transformational because for the first time in a long time, we have a president who basically puts America at the forefront of every decision we make and are in relations with the world.
00:28And that may sound weird to people, like, of course you always do. No, that hasn't always been the case until about a year ago. And I think we've all witnessed in our own respective spaces how in every interaction the president has with the world, the goal he has in mind is very simple. Does what you want us to do, or is it going to make us stronger? Is it going to make us richer? Is it going to make us safer? If it is, he's for it. If it's not, he's against it.
00:52If something's going to make America weaker or poorer or less safe, the president's going to be against it. And every single thing he has done in our foreign policy has been driven by the American people in mind.
01:03And I can go down the list. Why has he focused on mass migration? It's very simple, because no country is safe if you can just walk in, without us knowing who you are, into your country.
01:12We've seen the destruction that that's wreaking, not just in our own country, but the impact that it's having in Europe and in many other parts of the world.
01:19You talk about trade deals and the trade situation he's been involved in. People, you know, all this reporting on it. It's very simple.
01:25The president views the last 40 years as an era of which American and American workers and American farmers have been ripped off.
01:32They've been ripped off. And what he's saying is we want to have trade with the world,
01:35but it has to be a trade in which American businesses and American workers and the products they make and what American farmers grow and produce
01:42has a fair shot to be sold around the world. On issue after issue, that's been the case.
01:48You talk about foreign aid reforms. This is not our money. This is taxpayer money.
01:52When the president has said, we're going to do foreign aid, but we're going to do foreign aid for countries that are aligned with the United States
01:57and in a way that doesn't waste the taxpayers' money.
02:00Mr. President, you deserve tremendous credit for that.
02:02Many of us, the vice president, by the way, I want to acknowledge, has played an extraordinary role in our foreign policy
02:07and he too has been a witness to all of this as it's been occurring and he's been a big part of it as well.
02:12You talk about NATO. The president's not against NATO. He went to NATO and basically said,
02:15look, you guys, we're paying all the money and he got them to do the 5% commitment,
02:20which everybody said was never going to happen and it was impossible.
02:22Everything this president does is driven by the American people, whether you, you don't have to agree with the actual move,
02:28but understand the motivation. The motivation is always you, the American people, and what's good for you,
02:34for your family, for the country, and for our economy.
02:37But the president is also committed to peace in a way that all of us have seen.
02:41He achieved in Gaza, and he does it, by the way, not just because he hates war and he thinks wars are a waste of money and lives,
02:47but because he's the only leader in the world that can.
02:50No other leader in the world could have pulled off what happened in Gaza.
02:53And I can tell you, I can't get into the details. The vice president knows what I'm talking about.
02:57That deal doesn't happen without the president's direct interaction with the leaders that were involved in this decision-making.
03:03And everyone said that deal couldn't hold.
03:05And then the president shepherded through the United Nations of all places to get a global coalition of countries
03:10to line up behind the peace deal, behind the board of peace.
03:13And it's still, every day is a challenge, but it's been driven personally by the president.
03:17It's the reason why we're involved in this whole Ukraine-Russia conflict.
03:20But that's not our war. It's not the president's war.
03:22This war started, it never would have happened if you'd been president.
03:26But this war is going on, and the president is trying to end it, not because, listen,
03:30we've got a million things to focus on in the world as a country,
03:32but he's the only leader in the world that can help end it.
03:35And that's why even as we speak to you now, Steve Woodcoff is in Moscow trying to find a way to end this war
03:42to save lives of 8,000, 9,000 people, Mr. President, as you want to, are dying every week.
03:46More people are dying a week in that war than have died in the entirety of the U.S.'s involvement in Afghanistan or Iraq.
03:52Just think about that, how bloody and destructive it is.
03:55The president's taken on this issue of Sudan personally, not send out deputies to do it.
04:00Again, far away from the United States because he's the only leader in the world that can bring it about to an end,
04:05not to mention all the other peace deals, very dangerous ones like India and Pakistan or Cambodia and Thailand.
04:11And so on all these things, Mr. President, I think you deserve tremendous credit for the transformational aspect of our foreign policy.
04:18For the first time in probably four decades, the American foreign policy is driven by what is good for America and Americans,
04:25whether it makes us safer and stronger and more prosperous.
04:28If it is, he's for it. If it doesn't, he's against it.
04:30And that sort of clarity is transformational.
04:33I close with this, and I know I'm last, so I wanted to be fast, but there was a lot to cover.
04:37I do want to say this is the most wonderful and magical time of the year.
04:40By that, of course, I'm referring to the college football playoffs.
04:44And I just want to say, as a point of personal privilege, and I'm a Florida Gator,
04:49but if the University of Miami gets screwed out of the college football playoffs after going 10-2 and beating Notre Dame,
04:55the whole thing should be scrapped, and you're going to have to take over it next year.
05:00Thank you all very much.
05:03I hope it wasn't too long, but it was very concise, and we've done a lot.
05:10This group has done a lot. Amazing.
05:12Everyone, everybody at this table has done a fantastic azuzi.
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