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The President and First Lady Participate in a Governors Dinner
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00:11Ladies and gentlemen, the President of the United States, Donald J. Trump, and First Lady Melania Trump.
00:57The President of the United States.
01:00Well, thank you very much. This is a great honor. It's a great place. There's no place like it. Please
01:06sit down. Thank you.
01:10You know, I told my—now I can say my movie star wife. Do you believe this? I have to live
01:17with now another title.
01:22She said, well, tell me about the group tonight. It's all governors and just about—we have a couple of cabinet
01:28secretaries, so we can probably include them.
01:30And every time they look in the mirror, every time they wake up or go to sleep, they look at
01:34that mirror and they say, I should be president, not him.
01:38So I said, despite that, it's a very friendly group. And it really is, too. Many, many friends and very
01:45competent people.
01:46Over the past year, we've already achieved a historic turnaround for our country.
01:51With unprecedented speed, we solved intractable problems.
01:55We really have done something. It's been an incredible first year for all of us.
02:00We've transformed stagnation into growth, weakness into strength, and chaos into order, liberty, and justice. We have done that.
02:09Today, our border is secure. Murders are at a 125-year low.
02:14Think of the world.
02:20Core inflation is the lowest in five years and going down. Prices are going down really rapidly. We inherited a
02:27mess, and we brought them down a lot, and we're going to go still further.
02:31And our military is more powerful than ever before, and we're just respected all over the world.
02:36Like, I would say, we have maybe never been, but certainly not for many decades.
02:42Working with your states wherever we can, we can achieve so much more.
02:46We're your governors, you're great people, you're great leaders.
02:49You're just about all very popular. I know every one of you.
02:52You've all had a very easy time to become a governor.
02:55That's because you've done really good work.
02:58From Thomas Jefferson to today, America's governors have been among the smartest, most creative, most talented Americans our country has
03:06ever produced.
03:07So many people, they leave other positions. I will not say the Senate, but we can say that.
03:12And they want to be governor. Would you explain that to me, Mr. Governor?
03:15And we're going to save the Great Salt Lake. You know that, right?
03:19He's got a problem. He came in to see me today.
03:23These are the kind of things, he said, sir, we have to save the Great Salt Lake.
03:28I said, explain this to me, please.
03:30And in that city called Salt Lake City, somebody said, where is it located?
03:35I said, it's located in Salt Lake City, right?
03:38So he said, we're losing water rapidly, rapidly.
03:43And it's getting smaller, smaller, drier, drier.
03:47And you tell those people, we're going to work on it really hard.
03:50We're going to save it. We're not going to let that go.
03:51That is what I call an environment, a real environmental problem.
03:55Not using hairspray, and I'm going to ruin the ozone, okay?
03:59I'm in my apartment in Trump Tower.
04:01The building is totally sealed off.
04:03And if I use hairspray, they say, sir, you're creating an environmental hazard.
04:07That's not the kind of thing we want to talk about.
04:09But saving the Great Salt Lake, that's what we're going to be doing, okay?
04:18So this was a good trip for you, Governor.
04:20I'll tell you what, because I heard you're the most popular guy there.
04:22Now, we put out a statement, and you're in pretty good shape.
04:26But there's no coincidence that 17 governors have gone on to become the President of the United States.
04:32I'm not surprised by that at all.
04:34Whether it's reforming education, defending public safety, bringing back manufacturing from overseas,
04:40or responding to natural disasters, like I think they could call that a natural disaster.
04:46I view each of you as essential partners in our mission to make America great again,
04:52and just in time for America 250.
04:55This is a big, big deal.
04:58I invite everyone in this room to bring forward ideas and opportunities to better serve our people,
05:03and in turn, never hesitate to let us know if there's anything we can do for you.
05:08This administration is open and available.
05:11I met with Governor Abbott today, and you had a couple of requests, unfortunately.
05:15He always says it's very expensive.
05:16You know, it's Texas.
05:19And he did tell me I got the greatest vote in the history of Texas by far.
05:23That's an honor.
05:23But it's Texas.
05:24It's always big dollars, but I always approve them for Texas, right?
05:27So we've taken care of business.
05:30I hope everyone here tonight will be back in Washington this summer
05:34as we celebrate the glory of the unique heritage of your individual states
05:38with a great American state fair.
05:40And you know all about it.
05:41Our national mall is going to be transformed into something that's actually unbelievable.
05:46But first, we have to clean up some mess that Maryland and Virginia left us.
05:52We're going to be cleaning it up.
05:53It's unbelievable what they can do with incompetence.
05:57Together, we're going to make our 250th year the greatest in the history of our country.
06:02And we have a couple of other events coming up also very shortly thereafter.
06:07We have the World Cup, and we have the Summer Olympics,
06:10and the World Cup has gone out with their tickets.
06:12And more than double, they've sold more than double what they've ever sold before way early.
06:17And it's unbelievable.
06:19The numbers they've done, Susie, are unbelievable.
06:21They just came back, and it's really, really special.
06:25It's going to be something that I think that there will be nothing like this period of time.
06:31You know, when the election was rigged, and I missed my, what, normal second term,
06:37I said, this is terrible.
06:38But I was the one that got the Olympics, and I was the one that got the World Cup.
06:41The problem was, I was going to be president for another four years,
06:45and this was going to take place, Mr. Governor, doing a good job in Louisiana.
06:50We did a good job in that very special city of yours, too, with crime, didn't we?
06:54He said, you cleaned it out.
06:56New Orleans, we cleaned it out.
06:58You never had, and your Mardi Gras was a big success, right?
07:01But we have so many different things that we can be so proud of,
07:07and what's going to happen and what has happened
07:10when this horrible event took place with the election, 2020.
07:15And I said, this is terrible.
07:17And then I said, you know what, I've got to do it again,
07:19because we did so well in that second election.
07:22I said, I've got to do it again.
07:24And I did it again, and then all of a sudden they're saying,
07:26sir, the Olympics are coming up.
07:28Sir, the World Cup's coming up.
07:30Sir, 250 years is coming up.
07:33Now, I took credit for the Olympics.
07:34I took credit for the World Cup.
07:37And I'm trying to take credit for the 250 years,
07:39but I'm not getting away with it.
07:41I'm getting hammered.
07:43I'm getting hammered.
07:44I tried to take credit for three,
07:45but I'll take credit for two of the three.
07:47But we're going to have an incredible few years.
07:51I mean, we're going to have something special.
07:52And, you know, factories are being built all over the country at numbers.
07:56I don't know if you saw, but they did job reports just came out.
07:59And the numbers of construction jobs is at a record.
08:02Well, those jobs are at a record
08:04because they're building plants and factories all over the country.
08:07We hit the Dow hit 50,000.
08:09When I got elected, they said it would be great
08:13if he could hit 50,000 by his fourth year,
08:16by the end of his fourth year.
08:17And I hit it by the end of my first year.
08:20And then we hit 7,000 on the S&P.
08:23And 7,000 was even more difficult.
08:25They said it's probably impossible in four years.
08:28But five or six years out, well, we did it in one year.
08:31And you're all the beneficiaries of it.
08:34So I just want to thank you.
08:35I want to congratulate you for all of the incredible work you've done.
08:38Now, we're with some very special reporters tonight.
08:42I often say the fake news.
08:44But I will not say that tonight, even though I'm on live television.
08:47I will not call you fake news, okay?
08:49As the cameras are roaring and I say that guy always can't.
08:52But we have tonight incredible entertainment.
08:59As good as you'll ever see anywhere in the world.
09:01We have the greatest violinist in the world.
09:04And we had an event here about two months ago.
09:08And she played with Andrea Bocelli right in this room.
09:11And she blew the roof off, as they say.
09:14She was unbelievable.
09:16And when I thought of the governor's dinner, I said,
09:18we have to invite her back.
09:19So we invited her back.
09:21She's here tonight.
09:22And, of course, we have these genius military musicians
09:25who are as good as any musicians in the world.
09:29So I said to myself,
09:32the press has been relatively fair to me over the last year.
09:37Meaning they've been bad but not horrible.
09:41And I said, if you'd like, should we, by vote,
09:46allow the press to watch the great finale
09:49that we have planned tonight with the musicians.
09:52If you'd like to do it, you can do it.
09:53And look at them, they're all dressed up and all looking beautiful.
09:56So if you'd like, should we vote governors?
09:59Who's in favor of letting the media watch the great finale tonight
10:05of the greatest musicians in the world?
10:07I'm in favor.
10:07Anybody in favor?
10:09Okay.
10:10Well, you win by a slight, but it's not exactly unanimous,
10:14but that's all right.
10:15We understand the governor.
10:16They are politicians, after all.
10:19So if you'd like to come back a little bit later,
10:21we'd love to have you.
10:22You'll see some unbelievable entertainment.
10:24So governors and spouses and everybody that's here
10:28and my cabinet members, my great cabinet members,
10:31so many are here.
10:32I just want to thank you for doing a fantastic job.
10:35Our country is back on track.
10:36We had a horrible, horrible, dead country.
10:39One and a half years ago, we were dead.
10:41Now we have the hottest country anywhere in the world,
10:43as said by many leaders of the world.
10:45And speaking of leaders, we have a great leader,
10:48a great military leader named Pete Hegseth.
10:51And he is going to say, Grace,
10:52he's a man who turned out to be absolutely fantastic
10:58at what he does.
10:59And you know what he does.
11:00And he is, he's turned out to be an incredible inspiration
11:05to the men and women in our military.
11:09Again, a year and a half ago, two years ago,
11:11we couldn't get anybody to go into the military.
11:14We couldn't get them for the police, for the military,
11:16for anything, for firefighters,
11:18anything with a uniform on, Governor, right?
11:20And now we're setting records in every,
11:22even police departments, police departments,
11:24fire departments,
11:25but the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines,
11:29Space Force, Coast Guard,
11:31we have waiting lists to get in.
11:33In fact, if you'd like to make those great services larger,
11:37this is an awfully good time to do it.
11:39Let's make them larger if you want.
11:41But we've never had anything like it.
11:43We went from a year and a half ago,
11:46nobody wanted to join.
11:47We could not even come close to our recruitment numbers.
11:50And now we're setting records.
11:52We have never had anything like it.
11:54And all it is is spirit and love for our country.
11:57It's very simple.
11:58So you have done a fantastic job.
12:00And, Pete, you are doing incredible.
12:02And please say grace.
12:10If you would, bow your head.
12:13Dear Heavenly Father, King Jesus,
12:16we come humbly before your throne,
12:19praising you for all the providence
12:21you've bestowed upon this nation.
12:24For over 250 years,
12:26from George Washington to President Trump,
12:28we have dedicated this nation to one nation under God.
12:32And certainly in God we trust.
12:34And as we think 250 years ago
12:36to George Washington on bended knee in Valley Forge,
12:40appealing to heaven on behalf of his troops
12:42in this young nation,
12:43we've appealed to you from the beginning.
12:44And may we continue to appeal to you.
12:47And tonight, we pray for our president,
12:49President Trump.
12:51Give him safety.
12:52Give him wisdom.
12:53Lord, we pray for our vice president,
12:55our first lady,
12:57our second lady,
12:58the cabinet members here,
12:59all the governors assembled here as well,
13:02our civil magistrates,
13:03Lord God.
13:04I ask that you give them
13:06the wisdom to see what is right
13:08and the courage to do it.
13:11Wisdom defined as
13:12the fear of the Lord.
13:14The fear of the Lord being
13:15the source of all knowledge and wisdom.
13:18Lord God,
13:19your eternal truths,
13:20may they rule.
13:21So this evening,
13:23also,
13:23I would be remiss if I did not pray
13:25for our great troops,
13:26our men and women all around the globe,
13:29defending our great nation
13:30as they have for 250 years.
13:32Lord God,
13:33watch over them
13:34and protect them.
13:36It is in your holy name,
13:38the Lord Jesus Christ,
13:39the King of kings
13:40and Lord of lords,
13:41that we pray
13:41and we bless this food too.
13:43Amen.
13:44Thank you, Mr. President.
13:45Great job.
13:45Thank you very much.
13:47I'd like to just ask J.D. Vance,
13:49he's doing a fantastic job.
13:51J.D.,
13:51could you come up
13:51and say a few words, please?
13:54Thank you, J.D.
14:02Well, I didn't expect that, sir,
14:03so I don't have anything prepared,
14:04but I will say that,
14:06like Marco Rubio
14:07and a few others,
14:08I served in the United States Senate.
14:10And, Mr. President,
14:11what I admire so much
14:12about you and the governors
14:14is that you guys
14:16actually have to make decisions,
14:18you have to live by those decisions,
14:20and you have to suffer the consequences
14:22or enjoy the rewards
14:24of those decisions.
14:25The good thing about being
14:26a United States senator,
14:28like the good thing
14:28about being vice president,
14:30is that nobody blames you
14:32when anything goes wrong.
14:33So, to the governors here,
14:36we admire your courage,
14:37we admire your leadership,
14:38and to the President of the United States,
14:40we admire you for all the great things
14:41you do for our country.
14:42Thank you, sir.
14:48So, and just in closing,
14:50I wanted to,
14:50you've read a lot,
14:51we're building a ballroom
14:52for 150 years.
14:54They've wanted a great ballroom
14:56at, even a ballroom,
14:57not a great one.
14:58Just give me a room,
14:59because this is a very small room,
15:01can hold very small numbers of people,
15:04and they've wanted a great ballroom,
15:06and we're building,
15:07we're going to build
15:07the greatest ballroom
15:08anywhere in the world.
15:09There'll be nothing like it.
15:11And you're looking right here
15:12at the entrance.
15:12This is a knockout panel,
15:14exactly where the gold curtains are.
15:15And when that gets opened,
15:17there's a magnificent walkway
15:20that goes into what will be
15:22the most beautiful ballroom
15:23anywhere in the world.
15:24So we did this,
15:25no charge to the taxpayer whatsoever.
15:28This was all donations made
15:30by friends of mine
15:32and people that love our country.
15:35They love the White House,
15:37Preservation Society,
15:38the whole group,
15:39but not one penny of,
15:41and it's a very expensive building,
15:44very expensive ballroom,
15:45but beautiful,
15:46beautiful in keeping
15:46with the White House,
15:48an enhancement to the White House.
15:50But they needed it for years
15:51when they had a big event
15:52when the president of China comes in,
15:55when somebody comes in of magnitude,
15:58they put a tent out on the lawn.
16:00If it rained,
16:01you were in deep trouble,
16:01because the only part of the lawn
16:03that they can do it
16:04is a very low section.
16:05So it would be,
16:07you know,
16:08a little embarrassing
16:08when you're sitting down
16:10with the king of Saudi Arabia
16:11and he's sitting in a puddle
16:13with four inches of water over his shoes.
16:16It was not exactly good,
16:18but it's under construction.
16:20But right through,
16:20that's going to be
16:21a very famous portal
16:23for hopefully hundreds of years
16:25because what we're building
16:26is really special.
16:27But it's so important to say
16:28because nobody ever reports it,
16:30it will be totally,
16:31totally tax-free.
16:32Not one penny of tax
16:33will be donated to this.
16:36And it's going to be something
16:37that I think the country
16:39will be very proud of
16:40when it opens,
16:40but for hundreds,
16:42hopefully hundreds,
16:43and hundreds of years.
16:44So thank you all very much.
16:46And this is a great honor.
16:47And we'll talk later.
16:47And media,
16:48we'll see you in a little while.
16:49Okay?
16:50Thank you very much.
16:51Thank you, everybody.
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