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CNN Live Event/Special
Soon: Trump's First Address To Congress Since Return To Power; Now: Members Of Trump Cabinet Arrive; Moments Away: Trump Speech To Joint Session Of Congress. Aired 9-10p ET
Aired March 04, 2025 - 21:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[21:00:00]
Voice of ERIN BURNETT, CNN ANCHOR: six members of the Supreme Court came. Looks like only four, this time. So, obviously, they don't always all go. But you've got less for this time than--
Voice of DAVID AXELROD, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Mahjong Night over there.
Voice of BURNETT: Right. Alito and Thomas did not go last year, either.
But in these excerpts one thing really stands out to you, which is a claim that the President is going to make about the right direction, wrong direction of the country.
John King was just going through our numbers on that. 45 percent of Americans say that it's going in the wrong direction. 39 percent say the right direction. But that's not what we're going to hear from the President.
Voice of AXELROD: No, no. He's claiming that for the first time in -- I forget it, what the period is that more people think that the country's headed in the right direction, and maybe that he's only talking to his supporters, because a lot -- there's been dramatic gains among Republicans.
But the fact is, people are still struggling with the same problems that they've been struggling with. And you can see in later in the excerpts, that he is pledging himself, once again, to deal with costs, sort of in -- that it's Biden's fault. And--
Voice of BURNETT: Yes.
Voice of AXELROD: --that's what politicians do. It will only last so long.
And one thing I'm wondering about, is he going to address the budget that's coming up, and the big fight--
Voice of BURNETT: Right.
Voice of AXELROD: --where he wants a $4.5 trillion tax cut to be offset by $2 trillion in cuts, including $800 billion or so in Medicaid, something that he said he wouldn't do. That's what--
Voice of BURNETT: How specific will he get.
Voice of AXELROD: --the House blueprint says.
Voice of BURNETT: And obviously, that's not in here yet. Prices are up, I should note, 3 percent since he took office.
Ashley, one thing is, people are looking at this room, and we do expect first lady is going to be coming in and announced, and the Cabinet, then this is going to begin, is, and as this camera pans down, we don't control it, but you'll see a lot of the Democratic women appear to be wearing pink.
Voice of ASHLEY ALLISON, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Yes.
Voice of BURNETT: And color coordination, we've seen that before when they did white in honor of Suffrage, one year. But what does this mean?
Voice of ALLISON: Unity, I guess, amongst the Democratic Party.
Voice of BURNETT: Yes, you're right.
Voice of ALLISON: Look, I mean--
Voice of SCOTT JENNINGS, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Were you not provided a messaging?
Voice of ALLISON: I didn't wear my pink. I'll--
(CROSSTALK)
Voice of AXELROD: They have color chargers (ph).
Voice of ALLISON: I'll--
Voice of BURNETT: Protest and power. It signals protest and power.
Voice of ALLISON: Yes, yes.
Voice of BURNETT: And there will be some blue and yellow scarves. We know what that symbolizes, obviously support for Ukraine.
Voice of ALLISON: I want to be respectful of the members. They were elected by their constituents. And so, I understand why they felt like they needed to be in the room. I think their constituents want more than coordinated colors right now. I think they are desperate for their members to resist if they make cuts to a budget that have cuts to Medicaid, Medicare, Social Security.
They -- Democrats don't have the power. And so, I do not want to pretend that what is happening in this country is because of the governing of Democrats. But Democrats do have an opportunity to make it very clear that if they get governing power, at least in the House in 2026, the changes they will make. This is the time not to focus on what color you're wearing, but decide what is the message, how are you speaking to the American people, and how do you actually get out of Washington, D.C., get in your district, and talk to your constituents.
Voice of BURNETT: So, Manu Raju is there looking down upon all of this.
And Manu, what are you seeing as we await the first lady and the Cabinet?
Voice of MANU RAJU, CNN CHIEF CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, the way -- when Donald Trump enters, it will be very interesting to see how Democrats respond. Remember, oftentimes, members sit along the aisle. They wait for, sometimes, hours near the aisle, in order to greet the president, make their own points as he enters the chamber here.
You see some of Donald Trump's biggest foes sitting on the Democratic side of the aisle, very close to it, including Congressman -- former congressman, Adam Schiff, now the current senator, someone who just led the first impeachment effort.
(CROSSTALK)
Voice of BURNETT: Manu, just, sorry to interrupt you.
Voice of RAJU: Erin, back to you.
Voice of BURNETT: OK. Sorry, Manu, I don't know if you could hear me.
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(APPLAUSE)
Voice of BURNETT: But first lady Melania Trump is coming in now, being escorted into the Executive Gallery where she is going to sit alongside her special guest.
(CHEERING)
(APPLAUSE)
Voice of BURNETT: She's been talking about someone there who had suffered from revenge porn, and issues she's taking on. Also, Elon Musk, going to be in the box with the first lady.
(APPLAUSE)
Voice of BURNETT: And there's the applause for her. After she comes in, shaking now the Vice President JD Vance's wife, Usha's hand, we're going to see the Cabinet announced and come in.
(CHEERING)
(APPLAUSE) Voice of BURNETT: Veterans Affairs Secretary Doug Collins will be the one who is not there because of being the designated survivor.
(CHEERING)
(APPLAUSE)
Voice of BURNETT: So because, Alyssa, you have been through this before, and been there with them.
So there she is, and we just talked about who's going to be in the box with her.
Voice of ALYSSA FARAH GRIFFIN, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: She's with -- Laken Riley, who was tragically killed by an undocumented migrant, she's with their family. There's Angel Moms present.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Mr. Speaker, the President's Cabinet.
(CHEERING)
(APPLAUSE)
Voice of BURNETT: And the Cabinet is announced. We're going to watch them coming out here.
Voice of FARAH GRIFFIN: There's also guests who are supposed to highlight this issue around Title IX and trans women in sports, which has been a big priority for Donald Trump. So a lot of this, I mean, the excerpts we've gotten seem really generic. They sound very similar to his swearing-in. I expect there will be some surprises that they're waiting till he's up there.
Voice of BURNETT: Yes.
Voice of FARAH GRIFFIN: And I'm kind of curious to see if there's any real policy pronouncements. He loves EOs. He's been doing them at a fast pace. He may be kind of holding his cards close.
Voice of BURNETT: And we'll see what they do.
And as Marco Rubio, Secretary of State, who was in that Zelenskyy meeting, sitting on the couch next to JD Vance. He was the first one.
And now you can see the Treasury Secretary right behind him, Scott Bessent, as the Cabinet is coming out, Scott.
[21:05:00]
Voice of JENNINGS: The thing, in the excerpts that we have, that jumps off the page to me is the phrase, Commonsense. He promised a revolution of commonsense, in his inaugural address. And in a lot of ways, Trump has somewhat redefined the ideology of the Republican Party. It's not just a Conservative Party. He wants it to be known as the Party of Commonsense. It's how he defines it, in order to have the most elastic coalition possible. And I honestly think a lot of the issues he tackled in his executive orders, and in some of the legislation, is working for him, on that front. We saw it on display this week, and you're going to hear it in going to hear it in the speech tonight, the idea that boys should be playing in girls' sports, which was filibustered and voted against by every Senate Democrat.
Voice of BURNETT: And--
Voice of ALLISON: Can I just say--
Voice of BURNETT: Just saying, we got Defense Secretary, Pete Hegseth. You saw the Commerce Secretary, Howard Lutnick. All of them coming in here. RFK Jr., HHS Secretary is also there.
Voice of ALLISON: Look at -- look at what's happening. The Democrats are not even acknowledging the Cabinet right now. I just don't remember that being standard -- at least they would get up and shake their hands.
Voice of BURNETT: Just a visual here that they're not shaking hands.
Voice of ALLISON: The visual -- they're not engaging. This is not a pathway forward to bipartisanship. I mean, I think if Donald Trump is trying to expand and have an elastic coalition, the elastic is about to pop. Because you cannot attack every group, women, people of color.
Voice of JENNINGS: He's not.
Voice of ALLISON: LGBTQ folks.
Voice of JENNINGS: He's protecting women.
Voice of ALLISON: I mean, when you fire the Black Joint Chiefs of Staff, when you fire the woman Joint Chiefs of Staff, when you say the reason a plane crash happens is because maybe a person of color or a woman was flying the -- I mean, that's attacking people. When you don't want folks to be able to see their family that -- you're going after pieces of your coalition, the elastic is not sustainable, at this time.
Voice of FARAH GRIFFIN: And Brooke Rollins just walked inside the--
Voice of AXELROD: I--
Voice of BURNETT: Does this stand out to you, David, when you see the lack of interaction with the Cabinet here by Democrats members?
Voice of AXELROD: I think it's a reflection of the mood in Washington. And yes, I do think that when you consider the overheated rhetoric of the President, of Musk and so on, I think that contributes to it. But I -- to me, this is less important.
Scott talks about commonsense. And I hear you. I think that has some appeal on some of -- some of these issues, broad appeal. But I tell you that families out there are more concerned about dollars and cents than what you define as commonsense. And so, they're ultimately going to judge based on their lived experience.
Kids in our classrooms, our colleague -- our new colleague, Rahm Emanuel, has pointed this out. We've had terrible reading scores. People are concerned about what's going on in their classrooms and not, you know--
Voice of JENNINGS: I'm not disputing you. I agree that these are real issues that people care about. But I also think Trump is beginning to make progress on some of them. He has more to do on some of them as well. The guy has been in office for just a little over 40 days.
And the amount of anger with the previous administration was real. It's why Donald Trump won the election. I just think he has more political leash than maybe you're willing to give him there.
Voice of BURNETT: So, Alyssa, I want to go back to Jake.
Voice of AXELROD: No, I--
Voice of BURNETT: Elon--
Voice of AXELROD: I concede that he has some leash.
Voice of BURNETT: Elon is -- so the Cabinet's going in. The person above them, right? There's them, and then there's one above, is literally sitting above, in the first lady's box.
Voice of FARAH GRIFFIN: Right. And usually, a senior adviser would be in the Speaker's Lobby behind, off of the floor, where Stephen Miller and others would be. But I think it just shows he's in this sort of above the Cabinet, different position, with this sweeping influence within the administration.
But listen, I think that Donald Trump is messaging DOGE better than Elon Musk is. If he's talking about efficiency, if he's talking about making the government work better for people, that's a winning message. But the constant errors that we've been seeing, the announcements of what have been cut in the--
(CROSSTALK)
Voice of AXELROD: Well, and the chainsaw.
Voice of FARAH GRIFFIN: It is a lot.
Voice of AXELROD: I mean, let me say--
Voice of BURNETT: Right.
Voice of AXELROD: --if I were Democrats, I would never be opposed to cutting waste, fraud and abuse, making government more efficient, seeing how we can make government more responsive. And I think they make a mistake by being resistant to the notion of making government more efficient.
But what Musk is doing seems much more indiscriminate. And I think that--
Voice of BURNETT: Chainsaw.
Voice of AXELROD: --that's what people--
Voice of JENNINGS: Yes.
Voice of AXELROD: Yes.
Voice of JENNINGS: And guess what? Republicans love it. And I will just say, I think the Democrats--
Voice of AXELROD: Well, guess what? The country is bigger than just Republicans.
Voice of JENNINGS: I know. Well, he's got over a 50 percent approval rating, and your party's got 21 percent. So, he's doing OK.
I think -- I think making -- dying on this hill of defending every single federal worker, that the idea that we can't ever shrink the size of government because this sob story, or that sob story? That is not going to play with the American people.
Democrats gave no care, whatsoever, to the 10,000 people who lost their jobs when the big pipeline was canceled by Joe Biden, or the people who lost their businesses in the COVID shutdowns that went on and on and on, or the firefighters or the military that lost their jobs because they wouldn't get the COVID vaccine. No care for that.
Voice of ALLISON: I just think--
Voice of JENNINGS: But care for government workers?
Voice of AXELROD: Scott -- Scott--
(CROSSTALK)
Voice of JENNINGS: I just don't get it.
Voice of AXELROD: I'm not -- I'm not -- I don't want to have a part -- you can take this on another show. I don't want to have a partisan debate about it. But we should note that there were 16 million jobs created when Biden was president, and jobs were lost when Trump was president. And so--
Voice of JENNINGS: OK. And you know how dishonest that is, because of what happened at the end of COVID and the restoration of jobs and the lack thereof. But go ahead.
(CROSSTALK)
Voice of ALLISON: I--
[21:10:00]
Voice of AXELROD: Even during the period before COVID, there was, you know, there was more robust job creation in the last three years of Obama than the first three years of Trump.
Voice of ALLISON: I just don't think Democrats are actually messaging this DOGE thing right. I think that people don't want waste, fraud and abuse. But I don't actually think that's what they're doing.
I think they're just putting a hatchet to our government without any strategy, integrity or real analysis. They are firing people that play critical roles in our government. People want our government to be more efficient, but that's not the way that DOGE is approaching it.
Voice of BURNETT: All right.
Voice of FARAH GRIFFIN: But the reality is, most Americans can relate to their person, someone in their family, being laid off. Most people do not get this idea that federal workers are so hard to fire. And I think the messaging of bringing them like they're martyrs, when most people have lost jobs, most people have experienced layoffs? I don't know that it resonates with average Americans.
Voice of BURNETT: All right. Well, we're getting ready here. The Cabinet is there. And soon, we'll have the President presented to Senators and Representatives by the Speaker, Jake.
Voice of JAKE TAPPER, CNN ANCHOR AND CHIEF WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT: Right.
Voice of BURNETT: Running a little bit behind here, but we're getting there.
Voice of TAPPER: Indeed.
And John King, President Trump talks a lot about how high his approval rating is. And we know that in his speech tonight, he's going to talk about how great the right track, wrong track numbers are. How many -- how many the percentage of individuals who think the country is on the right track versus wrong track. Those numbers were disastrous for President Biden.
And it is true that President Trump is more popular right now than he ever was during his first term. But I think it misdiagnoses the situation he's in, to act as if his right track, wrong track numbers, and his approval ratings, are where he would want them to be. They're not.
Voice of JOHN KING, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: No.
Voice of TAPPER: And in fact, most voters, according to lots of different polls that I've seen, and I'm sure you and Kasie and Abby have seen, don't think he has addressed inflation sufficiently. It's only been five weeks, but still. Don't think he's focused enough on inflation, which is what he promised he would do, from day one.
The majority of the public is still sympathetic to Ukraine, and the majority of Republicans are still sympathetic to Ukraine, not Russia.
And there are a lot of people out there, majorities in what -- in polls I've seen, concerned that he's overreaching.
Now, that's not to say he shouldn't give a confident State of the Union address and the like. But it is to say that, were I advising him? And look, he's not asking me, nobody -- nobody's asking me.
Voice of KING: Yes.
Voice of TAPPER: But were I advising him, I'd say, This is an opportunity where you could really build your approval rating by, I'm not even saying reaching across the aisle, but talking about, Here are the 10 things I'm going to do to bring down inflation.
Voice of KING: Yes, you make a logical political characterization of what a president, whose numbers aren't horrible but aren't great, would think of this challenge at the moment.
But remember, Donald Trump has never shown an interest in reaching out to those who oppose him. His interest in those who oppose him is usually to tell them they're wrong.
Voice of TAPPER: And to destroy them.
Voice of KING: And to try to destroy the pudding (ph).
So, I look at this two ways today. What is Donald Trump trying to accomplish? And how does those Republicans right there, who have the tiniest majority, how do they process what he's doing?
Because his approval rating -- look, he won reelection by lying about a lot of things. I'm sorry, that's just a fact. He said a lot of things that were just not true. So, when he says his approval rating is off the charts, and he says the right track, wrong track is off the charts? That's just not true. The fact-checkers can deal with that after the speech.
But that's what he says, to pump himself up for his base, and that has been his style for quite some time. And guess what? He won the election. It works for him. It works for him.
The challenge is, does he remember he's the leader of the Republican Party, and the next election is about them? And they have the tiniest majority in the House. And his approval rating will be the North Star of the midterms.
WILLIAM MCFARLAND, HOUSE SERGEANT AT ARMS: Mr. Speaker, President of the United States.
(CHEERING)
(APPLAUSE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Mr. President.
(CHEERING)
(APPLAUSE) UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Mr. President.
[21:15:00]
(CHEERING)
(APPLAUSE)
Voice of TAPPER: There's President Trump joining, greeting Supreme Court justices, two of whom, there, he appointed, Amy Coney Barrett, and Brett Kavanaugh.
Kavanaugh, obviously, a contentious confirmation process, and there were those in the White House who wanted President Trump to drop him, to cut, and put somebody else, and President Trump said, no. Brett Kavanaugh had been very appreciative of that.
(CHEERING)
(APPLAUSE)
Voice of TAPPER: Here, the Joint Chiefs, the new Chairman, that President Trump appointed, someone he met, I believe, in Iraq years before.
(CHEERING)
(APPLAUSE)
Voice of KASIE HUNT, CNN ANCHOR AND CHIEF NATIONAL AFFAIRS ANALYST: A brief note, Jake, on Kavanaugh. The playbook that got him to Congress is one that we've seen them repeat. They did it again with Pete Hegseth, to make sure that he became Secretary of Defense.
(CHEERING)
(APPLAUSE)
(MEMBERS CHANT "USA, USA")
Voice of TAPPER: Yes, they just keep fighting and fighting and pushing and pushing, and then they have the vote, when they have the votes, with a lot of intense pressure on anybody therein (ph).
(CHEERING)
(APPLAUSE)
(MEMBERS CHANT "USA, USA")
Voice of TAPPER: Not a lot of outreach from House Democrats or Senate Democrats there, just in terms of physically approaching the President or his Cabinet.
(CHEERING)
(APPLAUSE)
Voice of TAPPER: He's giving the Vice President and the Speaker copies of the address, the joint address to Congress, not an official State of the Union address, but basically the same thing.
(CHEERING)
(APPLAUSE)
Voice of HUNT: Sort of the same function in our national rights (ph).
Voice of TAPPER: Yes.
(CHEERING)
(APPLAUSE)
Voice of TAPPER: You can tell which ones are Democrats because they're not standing.
(CHEERING)
(APPLAUSE)
Voice of TAPPER: To the President's left are Republicans. To the President's right, behind the Joint Chiefs and the Supreme Court justices, are Democrats. So, keep that in mind, as we see to whom he plays as he delivers his address.
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(APPLAUSE)
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT, UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: Thank you.
(CHEERING)
(APPLAUSE)
Voice of HUNT: And worth -- worth noting that traditionally, the Joint Chiefs and Supreme Court justices, of course, refrain from reaction, basically entirely. It's not always been true, but that's largely remain (ph).
Voice of TAPPER: Indeed. Let's listen in.
[21:19:09]
(CHEERING)
(APPLAUSE)
TRUMP: Thank you very much. Thank you very much. It's great honor. Thank you very much.
Speaker Johnson. Vice President Vance. The first lady of the United States.
(CHEERING)
(APPLAUSE)
TRUMP: Members of the United States Congress, thank you very much.
And to my fellow citizens, America is back--
(CHEERING)
(APPLAUSE)
CROWD: USA, USA, USA.
TRUMP: Six weeks ago, I stood beneath the dome of this Capitol and proclaimed the dawn of the golden age of America. From that moment on, it has been nothing but swift and unrelenting action to usher in the greatest and most successful era in the history of our country. We have accomplished more in 43 days than most administrations accomplished in four years or eight years, and we are just getting started.
(APPLAUSE)
TRUMP: I return to this chamber tonight to report that America's momentum is back, our spirit is back, our pride is back, our confidence is back, and the American dream is surging bigger and better than ever before.
(APPLAUSE)
TRUMP: The American dream is unstoppable, and our country is on the verge of a comeback the likes of which the world has never witnessed and perhaps will never witness again. It's never been anything like it.
(APPLAUSE)
TRUMP: The Presidential Election of November 5th was a mandate like has not been seen in many decades. We won all seven swing states, giving us an Electoral College victory of 312 votes.
(APPLAUSE)
TRUMP: We won the popular vote by big numbers and won counties in our country --
(BOOING)
CROWD: USA, USA, USA.
TRUMP: -- and won counties in our country 2,700 to 525 on a map that reads almost completely red for Republican.
(APPLAUSE) TRUMP: Now, for the first time in modern history, more Americans believe that our country is headed in the right direction than the wrong direction. In fact, it's an astonishing record, 27-point swing, the most ever.
(APPLAUSE)
TRUMP: Likewise, small business optimism saw its single largest one- month gain ever recorded, a 41-point jump.
(BOOING)
REP. MIKE JOHNSON, (R-LA) SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE: Members are directed to uphold and maintain the quorum in the House and to cease any further disruptions. That's your warning.
(BOOING)
JOHNSON: Members are engaging in willful and continuing breach of the quorum, and the chair is prepared to direct the sergeant at arms to restore order to the joint session.
(APPLAUSE)
JOHNSON: Mr. Green, take your seat. Take your seat, sir. Take your seat.
(BOOING)
JOHNSON: Finding that members continue to engage in willful and concerted disruption of proper decorum, the Chair now directs the sergeant at arms to restore order. Remove this gentleman from the chamber.
(APPLAUSE)
(SINGING)
(CROSSTALK)
[21:25:45]
JOHNSON: Members are directed to uphold and maintain decorum in the House.
Mr. President, you continue.
TRUMP: Thank you.
Over the past six weeks, I have signed nearly 100 executive orders and taken more than 400 executive actions, a record to restore common sense, safety, optimism and wealth all across our wonderful land.
The people elected me to do the job, and I'm doing it.
(CHEERING) (APPLAUSE)
TRUMP: In fact, it has been stated by many that the first month of our presidency -- it's our presidency.
(CHEERING)
TRUMP: Is the most successful in the history of our nation.
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TRUMP: By many. And what makes it even more impressive is that, do you know who number two is? George Washington. How about that? How about that? I don't know about that list, but. But we'll take it.
Within hours of taking the oath of office, I declared a national emergency on our southern border. And I deployed the U.S. Military and Border Patrol to repel the invasion of our country.
(CHEERING)
(APPLAUSE)
TRUMP: And what a job they've done. As a result. Illegal border crossings last month were by far the lowest ever recorded. Ever.
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TRUMP: They heard my words and they chose not to come. Much easier that way. In comparison, under Joe Biden, the worst president in American history, there were hundreds of thousands of illegal crossings a month.
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TRUMP: And virtually all of them, including murderers, drug dealers, gang members and people from mental institutions and insane asylums were released into our country. Who would want to do that?
This is my fifth such speech to Congress, and once again, I look at the Democrats in front of me and I realize there is absolutely nothing I can say to make them happy or to make them stand or smile or applaud. Nothing I can do.
I could find a cure to the most devastating disease, a disease that would wipe out entire nations or announce the answers to the greatest economy in history, or the stoppage of crime to the lowest levels ever recorded, and these people sitting right here will not clap, will not stand, and certainly will not cheer for these astronomical achievements. They won't do it no matter what. Five. Five times I've been up here.
It's very sad. And it just shouldn't be this way.
(CHEERING)
(APPLAUSE)
TRUMP: So Democrats sitting before me for just this one night, why not join us in celebrating so many incredible wins for America? For the good of our nation, let's work together and let's truly make America great again.
(CHEERING)
(APPLAUSE)
[21:30:06]
TRUMP: Every day, my administration is fighting to deliver the change America needs to bring a future that America deserves. And we're doing it. This is a time for big dreams and bold action.
Upon taking office, I imposed an immediate freeze on all federal hiring, a freeze on all new federal regulations, and a freeze on all foreign aid.
(CHEERING)
(APPLAUSE)
TRUMP: I terminated the ridiculous green new scam. I withdrew from the unfair Paris climate accord, which was costing us trillions of dollars...
(CHEERING)
(APPLAUSE)
TRUMP: ... that other countries were not paying. I withdrew from the corrupt World Health Organization.
(CHEERING)
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TRUMP: And I also withdrew from the anti-American U.N. Human Rights Council.
(CHEERING)
(APPLAUSE)
TRUMP: We ended all of Biden's environmental restrictions that were making our country far less safe and totally unaffordable. And, importantly, we ended the last administration's insane electric vehicle mandate... (CHEERING)
(APPLAUSE)
TRUMP: ... saving our autoworkers and companies from economic destruction.
(CHEERING)
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TRUMP: To unshackle our economy, I have directed that, for every one new regulation, 10 old regulations must be eliminated...
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TRUMP: ... just like I did in my very successful first term.
(CHEERING)
(APPLAUSE)
TRUMP: And, in that first term, we set records on ending unnecessary rules and regulations, like no other president had done before. We ordered all federal workers to return to the office.
They will either show up for work in person or be removed from their job.
(CHEERING)
TRUMP: And we have ended weaponized government where, as an example, a sitting president is allowed to viciously prosecute his political opponent, like me.
(LAUGHTER)
TRUMP: How did that work out? Not too good.
(APPLAUSE)
(CHEERING)
TRUMP: Not too good.
(CHEERING)
(APPLAUSE)
TRUMP: And I have stopped all government censorship and brought back free speech in America. It's back.
(CHEERING)
(APPLAUSE)
TRUMP: And two days ago, I signed an order making English the official language of the United States of America.
(APPLAUSE)
TRUMP: I renamed the Gulf of Mexico the Gulf of America.
(CHEERING)
(APPLAUSE)
TRUMP: And, likewise, I renamed, for a great president, William McKinley, Mount McKinley again.
(CHEERING)
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TRUMP: Beautiful Alaska. We love Alaska.
We have ended the tyranny of so-called diversity, equity, and inclusion policies all across the entire federal government and indeed the private sector and our military.
(CHEERING)
(APPLAUSE)
TRUMP: And our country will be woke no longer.
(CHEERING)
(APPLAUSE)
TRUMP: We believe that, whether you are a doctor, an accountant, a lawyer, or an air traffic controller, you should be hired and promoted based on skill and competence, not race or gender. Very important.
(APPLAUSE)
[21:35:08]
TRUMP: You should be hired based on merit. And the Supreme Court, in a brave and very powerful decision, has allowed us to do so.
Thank you. Thank you very much.
(APPLAUSE)
TRUMP: We have removed the poison of critical race theory from our public schools. And I signed an order making it the official policy of the United States government that there are only two genders, male and female.
(CHEERING) (APPLAUSE)
TRUMP: I also signed an executive order to ban men from playing in women's sports.
(CHEERING)
(APPLAUSE)
TRUMP: Three years ago, Payton McNabb was an all star high school athlete, one of the best, preparing for a future in college sports.
But when her girls' volleyball match was invaded by a male, he smashed the ball so hard in Payton's face, causing traumatic brain injury, partially paralyzing her right side and ending her athletic career. It was a shot like she's never seen before. She's never seen anything like it.
Payton is here tonight in the gallery.
And, Payton, from now on, schools will kick the men off the girls' team or they will lose all federal funding.
(CHEERING)
(APPLAUSE)
TRUMP: And if you really want to see numbers, just take a look at what happened in the women's boxing, weightlifting, track and field, swimming or cycling where a male recently finished a long distance race five hours and 14 minutes ahead of a woman for a new record by five hours, broke the record by five hours.
It's demeaning for women and it's very bad for our country. We're not going to put up with it any longer.
(APPLAUSE)
TRUMP: What I have just described is only a small fraction of the common sense revolution that is now because of us sweeping the entire world. Common sense has become a common theme, and we will never go back -- never, ever going to let that happen.
(APPLAUSE)
TRUMP: Among my very highest priorities is to rescue our economy and get dramatic and immediate relief to working families. As you know, we inherited from the last administration an economic catastrophe and an inflation nightmare.
AUDIENCE: Yes!
TRUMP: Their policies drove up, energy prices, pushed up grocery costs and drove the necessities of life out of reach for millions and millions of Americans. They've never had anything like it. We suffered the worst inflation in 48 years. But perhaps even in the history of our country, they're not sure.
As president, I'm fighting every day to reverse this damage and make America affordable again.
(CHEERING)
(APPLAUSE)
TRUMP: Joe Biden especially let the price of eggs get out of control.
(BOOING)
TRUMP: The egg price is out of control, and we're working hard to get it back down.
Secretary, do a good job on that. You inherited a total mess from the previous administration. Do a good job.
(APPLAUSE)
TRUMP: A major focus of our fight to defeat inflation is rapidly reducing the cost of energy. The previous administration cut the number of new oil and gas leases by 95 percent, slowed pipeline construction to a halt, and closed more than 100 power plants. We are opening up many of those power plants right now.
(APPLAUSE)
[21:40:26]
TRUMP: And frankly, we have never seen anything like it. That's why on my first day in office, I declared a national energy emergency.
(APPLAUSE)
TRUMP: As you've heard me say many times, we have more liquid gold under our feet than any nation on Earth, and by far, and now, I fully authorize the most talented team ever assembled to go and get it. It's called drill, baby, drill.
(APPLAUSE)
TRUMP: My administration is also working on a gigantic natural gas pipeline in Alaska, among the largest in the world, where Japan, South Korea, and other nations want to be our partner with investments of trillions of dollars each. There's never been anything like that one. It will be truly spectacular. It's all set to go. The permitting is gotten.
And later this week, I will also take historic action to dramatically expand production of critical minerals and rare earths here in the USA.
(APPLAUSE)
TRUMP: To further combat inflation, we will not only be reducing the cost of energy, but we'll be ending the flagrant waste of taxpayer dollars.
(CHEERING)
(APPLAUSE)
TRUMP: And to that end, I am I've created the brand new Department of Government Efficiency, DOGE, perhaps you've heard of it, perhaps.
(CHEERING)
(APPLAUSE)
TRUMP: Which is headed by Elon Musk, who is in the gallery tonight.
(CHEERING)
(APPLAUSE)
TRUMP: Thank you, Elon. He's working very hard. He didn't need this. He didn't need this. Thank you very much. We appreciate it. Everybody here, even this side, appreciates it, I believe.
(CHEERING)
TRUMP: They just don't want to admit that. Just listen to some of the appalling waste we have already identified. $22 billion from HHS to provide free housing and cars for illegal aliens. $45 million for diversity, equity, and inclusion scholarships in Burma. $40 million to improve the social and economic inclusion of sedentary migrants. Nobody knows what that is.
(LAUGHTER)
TRUMP: $8 million to promote LGBTQI Plus in the African nation of Lesotho, which nobody has ever heard of.
(LAUGHTER)
TRUMP: $60 million for indigenous peoples and Afro-Colombian empowerment in Central America. $60 million. $8 million for making mice transgender.
(LAUGHTER)
TRUMP: This is real. $32 million for a left-wing propaganda operation in Moldova. $10 million for male circumcision in Mozambique. $20 million for the Arab Sesame Street in the Middle East. It's a program, $20 million for a program. $1.9 billion to recently created decarbonization of Homes Committee headed up, and we know she's involved, just at the last moment the money was passed over by a woman named Stacey Abrams.
(BOOING)
TRUMP: A $3.5 million consulting contract for lavish fish monitoring. $1.5 million for voter confidence in Liberia. Fourteen million for social cohesion in Mali. Fifty-nine million dollars for illegal alien hotel rooms in New York City.
(BOOING)
[21:45:21]
He's a real estate developer. He's done very well. Two hundred and fifty thousand dollars to increase vegan (ph) local climate action innovation in Zambia. Forty-two million dollars for social and behavior change in Uganda. Fourteen million dollars for improving public procurement in Serbia. Forty-seven million dollars for improving learning outcomes in Asia. Asia is doing very well with learning.
(LAUGHTER)
You know what we're doing, should use it ourselves. And $101 million for DEI contracts at the Department of Education, the most ever paid, nothing even like it. Under the Trump administration, all of these scams, and there are far worse but I didn't think it was appropriate to talk about them. They're so bad. Many more have been found out and exposed and swiftly terminated by a group of very intelligent, mostly young people headed up by Elon, and we appreciate it. We found hundreds of billions of dollars of fraud.
(APPLAUSE)
And we've taken back the money and reduced our debt to fight inflation and other things. Taken back a lot of that money. We got it just in time.
(INAUDIBLE YELLING IN CROWD)
This is just the beginning. The Government Accountability Office, a federal government office, has estimated annual fraud of over $500 billion in our nation. And we are working very hard to stop it. We're going to. We're also identifying shocking levels of incompetence and probable fraud in the Social Security program for our seniors, and that our seniors and people that we love rely on. Believe it or not, government databases list 4.7 million Social Security members from people aged 100 to 109 years old.
(BOOING)
(INAUDIBLE YELLING IN CROWD)
It lists 3.6 million people from ages 110 to 119. I don't know any of them. I know some people that are rather elderly, but not quite that elderly. Three-point-four-seven million people from ages 120 to 129. Three-point-nine million people from ages 130 to 139.
UNIDENTIFIED: Those are lies!
TRUMP: Three-point-five million people from ages 140 to 149, and money is being paid to many of them. And we're searching right now.
In fact, Pam, good luck, good luck. You're going to find it. But a lot of money is paid out to people because it just keeps getting paid and paid and nobody does -- and it really hurts Social Security and hurts our country. One-point-three million people from ages 150 to 159. And over 130,000 people, according to the Social Security databases, are age over 160 years old.
UNIDENTIFIED: Stop lying!
TRUMP: We have a healthier country than I thought, Bobby.
(LAUGHTER)
(APPLAUSE)
Including, to finish, 1,039 people between the ages of 220 and 229. One person between the age of 240 and 249. And one person is listed at 360 years of age. More than 100 years. More than 100 years older than our country.
But we're going to find out where that money is going, and it's not going to be pretty, by slashing all of the fraud, waste, and theft we can find. We will defeat inflation, bring down mortgage rates, lower car payments and grocery prices, protect our seniors, and put more money in the pockets of American families.
(APPLAUSE)
[21:50:24]
TRUMP: And today, interest rates took a beautiful drop, big, beautiful drop. It's about time. And in the near future, I want to do what has not been done in 24 years, balance the federal budget. We're going to balance it.
(APPLAUSE)
TRUMP: With that goal in mind, we have developed in great detail what we are calling the gold card, which goes on sale very, very soon.
For $5 million, we will allow the most successful job creating people from all over the world to buy a path to U.S. citizenship. It's like the green card, but better and more sophisticated. And these people will have to pay tax in our country. They won't have to pay tax from where they came. The money that they've made, you wouldn't want to do that, but they have to pay tax, create jobs. They'll also be taking people out of colleges and paying for them so that we can keep them in our country instead of having them being forced out.
Number one at the top school, as an example, being forced out and not being allowed to stay and create tremendous numbers of jobs and great success for a company out there. So while we take out the criminals, killers, traffickers and child predators who are allowed to enter our country under the open border policy of these people, the Democrats, the Biden administration, the open border insane policies that you've allowed to destroy our country. We will now bring in brilliant, hardworking job creating people. They're going to pay a lot of money and we're going to reduce our debt with that money. (APPLAUSE)
TRUMP: Americans have given us a mandate for bold and profound change for nearly 100 years. The federal bureaucracy has grown until it has crushed our freedoms, ballooned our deficits and held back America's potential in every possible way.
The nation founded by pioneers and risk takers now drowns under millions and millions of pages of regulations and debt. Approvals that should take 10 days to get, instead, take 10 years, 15 years and even 20 years before you reject it. Meanwhile, we have hundreds of thousands of federal workers who have not been showing up to work. My administration will reclaim power from this unaccountable bureaucracy and we will restore true democracy to America again.
(APPLAUSE)
TRUMP: And any federal bureaucrat who resists this change will be removed from office immediately because we are draining the swamp. It's very simple. And the days of rule by unelected bureaucrats are over.
(APPLAUSE)
TRUMP: And the next phase of our plan to deliver the greatest economy in history is for this Congress to pass tax cuts for everybody. They're in there. They're waiting for you to vote. And I'm sure that the people on my right, I don't mean the Republican right, but my right, right here. I'm sure you're going to vote for those tax cuts because otherwise I don't believe the people will ever vote you into office. So I'm doing a big favor by telling you that.
But I know this group is going to be voting for the tax.
(CHEERING)
(APPLAUSE)
TRUMP: Thank you. It's a very, very big part of our plan. We had tremendous success in our first term with it. A very big part of our plan. We're seeking permanent income tax cuts all across the board and to get urgently needed relief to Americans hit especially hard by inflation.
[21:55:17]
I'm calling for no tax on tips, no tax on overtime and no tax on Social Security benefits for our great seniors.
(CHEERING)
(APPLAUSE)
TRUMP: And I also want to make interest payments on car loans tax deductible, but only if the car is made in America.
(CHEERING)
(APPLAUSE)
TRUMP: And by the way, we're going to have growth in the auto industry like nobody has ever seen. Plants are opening up all over the place. Deals are being made, never seen. That's a combination of the election win and tariffs. It's a beautiful word, isn't it? That along with our other policies will allow our auto industry to absolutely boom. It's going to boom. Spoke to the majors today. All three. The top people and they're so excited.
In fact already numerous car companies have announced that they will be building massive automobile plants in America, with Honda just announcing a new plant in Indiana, one of the largest anywhere in the world.
(CHEERING)
(APPLAUSE)
TRUMP: And this has taken place since our great victory on November 5th, a date which will hopefully go down as one of the most important in the history of our country.
(CHEERING)
(APPLAUSE)
TRUMP: In addition, as part of our tax cuts, we want to cut taxes on domestic production and all manufacturing. And just as we did before, we will provide 100 percent expensing. It will be retroactive to January 20th, 2025. And it was one of the main reasons why our tax cuts were so successful in our first term, giving us the most successful economy in the history of our country. First term, we had a great first term.
(APPLAUSE)
TRUMP: If you don't make your product in America, however, under the Trump administration, you will pay a tariff and in some cases a rather large one. Other countries have used tariffs against us for decades, and now it's our turn to start using them against those other countries.
On average, the European Union, China, Brazil, India, Mexico and Canada. Have you heard of them? And countless other nations charge us tremendously higher tariffs than we charge them. It's very unfair. India charges us auto tariffs higher than 100 percent. China's average tariff on our products is twice what we charge them. And South Korea's average tariff is four times higher. Think of that four times higher.
And we give so much help militarily and in so many other ways to South Korea. But that's what happens. This is happening by friend and foe. This system is not fair to the United States and never was. And so on April 2nd -- I wanted to make it April 1st, but I didn't want to be accused of April Fool's Day. (LAUGHTER)
TRUMP: That's what -- that's not -- just one day would cost us a lot of money. But we're going to do it in April. I'm a very superstitious person. April 2nd. Reciprocal tariffs kick in and whatever they tariff us, other countries, we will tariff them. That's reciprocal, back and forth, whatever they tax us, we will tax them.
(APPLAUSE)
TRUMP: If they do non-monetary tariffs, to keep us out of their market, then we will do non-monetary barriers to keep them out of our market. There's a lot of that, too. They don't even allow us in their market. We will take in trillions and trillions of dollars and create jobs like we have never seen before.
I did it with China and I did it with others, and the Biden administration couldn't do anything about it because it was so much money. They couldn't do anything about it. We have been ripped off for decades by nearly every country on earth, and we will not let that happen any longer.
