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CNN Live Event/Special
Now: Members Of Trump Cabinet Arrive; Trump Enters House Chamber For Address To Congress; Trump Delivers State Of The Union Address. Aired 9-10p ET
Aired February 24, 2026 - 21:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[21:00:00]
ABBY PHILLIP, CNN ANCHOR: And for him, that actually is probably a great thing, because it speaks to the confidence that the President has in him, it speaks to his competency, and his ability to navigate this complex MAGA ideology with real foreign policy. And that is not easy to do.
PATRICK MCHENRY, (R) FORMER SPEAKER PRO TEMPORE: And there is Kristi Noem entering the House where she served. I served with her in Congress.
But look at the visual here. So Democrats boycott, and what do you have? You have Republicans lining both sides of the aisle, which is not the norm for a State of the Union. You usually have Dems that are there super-early, and Republicans there super-early, camped out.
RAHM EMANUEL, FORMER OBAMA WHITE HOUSE CHIEF OF STAFF: They have their REI tent.
MCHENRY: Oh, yes. And it's like they bring their -- they bring their--
EMANUEL: Right.
MCHENRY: --breakfast, lunch and snacks. It's a ridiculous thing.
EMANUEL: Yes.
MCHENRY: But they're all lined up there. And Republicans on both sides. You're going to see an enthusiastic response from that chamber. That, had the Democrats been there, they could have actually delivered a separate message in this moment. And instead, they're leaving it to be much more of a rallying call -- a rally for Republicans. I think that's an interesting visual that the Democrats gave away.
EMANUEL: And -- right.
PHILLIP: There's Russ Vought, who's a very important--
ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR: Tulsi Gabbard.
MCHENRY: Yes.
PHILLIP: --member of the Cabinet. MCHENRY: And there's Jamieson Greer, the U.S. Trade Representative.
EMANUEL: Yes. I still think, I mean, going back to this, there's an anxiety that's palpable in the country about the economy. There's an anxiety about the fact that the President is distracted from dealing with the economy, that his policies have set people behind. And then you have this thing, given both what happened in Venezuela, what happened in Nigeria, what happened in Iran before, and what's about to happen in Iran, and it's never been explained. And this is in a country with a nervousness and an anxiety that we're not taking care of business for tomorrow (ph).
And I think the President of the United States knows that, given this election, and given that if he doesn't turn the dynamics around, with this speech and other actions, he's going to have a Democratic House and Senate, and that's going to -- and that will change his final two years of his presidency. So, a lot is riding on this for him--
MCHENRY: Commerce Secretary--
EMANUEL: --and I just think that's a dynamic that is almost impossible to succeed at.
PHILLIP: Right. I do think this -- to this point about what Democrats are or aren't doing tonight. The leadership's decision to send a clear message that, If you can't sit down and behave, don't come? That probably might end up being the right call, because creating a scene in that room, I don't know that that works for Democrats. So, for the people who didn't think that they could sit there without reacting, them not being in the room--
MCHENRY: Or I think (ph) some people still show up.
PHILLIP: --I'm not sure it's going to make a difference to the people at home--
MCHENRY: I think the people that are likely to stand up on the Democratic side will be there, in force.
We know this -- my friend and former colleague, Al Green, he showed up. He's going to -- he made a scene last time. Here's -- dating back to my time, sitting in the same row with my--
COOPER: Kristi Noem.
MCHENRY: --my calm, quiet colleague from South Carolina, and Barack Obama's president, and Joe Wilson stands up--
EMANUEL: Joe Wilson called him a liar.
MCHENRY: --and says, You lie.
EMANUEL: Yes.
MCHENRY: So since that moment, there will be some -- there'll be something of a show tonight, of some sort. EMANUEL: I think this--
MCHENRY: Count on it.
EMANUEL: I think this will be a bad precedent for the Democrats that they will rue the day they did this by not showing up. It's JV.
COOPER: There's the White House Chief of Staff right next to Kristi Noem as well.
Jake, let's go back to you.
JAKE TAPPER, CNN ANCHOR AND CHIEF WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT: Thanks so much.
Yes, Kristi Noem, who is, I think it's fair to use the term, controversial, and possibly even embattled. The Secretary of the Department of Health -- I'm sorry -- Department of Homeland Security.
There is the President's family. We have Tiffany, Don Jr., Eric, Ivanka, and Barron who is in college.
There is Energy Secretary, Chris Wright. Is that correct, Kaitlan?
KAITLAN COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR AND CHIEF WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: That is.
TAPPER: OK.
And there's, of course, the first lady--
COLLINS: Yes.
TAPPER: --Melania Trump. First lady, and producer of a documentary about Melania Trump. Melania Trump.
KASIE HUNT, CNN ANCHOR AND CHIEF NATIONAL AFFAIRS ANALYST: Indeed.
TAPPER: Controversially run on Amazon.
And we are playing the Parlor Game, right, of trying to figure out who the designated survivor, right?
COLLINS: I think we've got it.
TAPPER: Kaitlan thinks she knows who it is. Who have you not seen? Who is the Cabinet Secretary -- do we need to explain what this is? Ever since the JFK assassination, one member of the Cabinet does not attend the State of the Union, in case the worst possible catastrophe happens, so, there is somebody to run the country. And we know it is not Kristi Noem, and it's not Lee Zeldin of the Environmental Protection Agency. It is not Sean Duffy of the Transportation Department, or Scott Bessent of the Treasury.
COLLINS: Scott Bessent--
TAPPER: So who -- tell us, Kaitlan, who, through your bingo, who did we get out--
COLLINS: And there's also Small Business there in the back. So the only person we haven't seen yet is Doug Collins, the Secretary for Veterans Affairs. We have not gotten confirmation yet that it is Doug Collins, but that appears to be just based on who we did see walking in the room there, according--
TAPPER: It's like a -- it's like a game of Clue that you're playing over here by yourself.
COLLINS: Yes, but you know -- what I found interesting -- yes, but -- yes, this is what I find entertaining these days.
The Attorney General Pam Bondi was there as she walked by.
Also Commerce Secretary, Howard Lutnick, and he said hello and greeted Chief Justice John Roberts, who, of course, wrote the entire opinion, when we're looking at the President's tariff decision.
HUNT: Right.
[21:05:00]
COLLINS: Howard Lutnick obviously had been instrumental in working with the President on those tariffs, and trying to broker these deals with countries that the President is now threatening those countries, saying they still need to adhere to them, despite what the Supreme Court decided on these tariffs. And so, I thought that was a notable moment there, as we're obviously going to be watching to see how--
TAPPER: Yes.
HUNT: One other--
COLLINS: --that happened. And I will just say real quick. Doug Collins was also the designated survivor, last year.
HUNT: Yes.
TAPPER: He was last year's also.
HUNT: Yes.
TAPPER: And for those wondering, of the four Supreme Court justices who showed up, including Chief Justice Roberts, and Justice Kagan, Justice Kavanaugh, and Justice Amy Coney Barrett. Three out of those four voted against President Trump on his tariffs.
HUNT: Well, and Amy Coney Barrett in particular is--
TAPPER: And Amy Coney Barrett is -- yes.
HUNT: --somebody that he appointed and said to have had particularly be angry at.
And it was noteworthy to me that actually Marco Rubio walked across and went out -- seemed to go out of his way a little bit to shake Amy Coney Barrett's hand, as he was one of the first Cabinet Secretaries down the aisle there.
Another thing that stands out to me too is Lutnick has been under some degree of fire for ties to Jeffrey Epstein. What he said in public--
TAPPER: The lies. The lies, really.
HUNT: --about what he--
TAPPER: Not just ties.
HUNT: --what he claimed in public.
TAPPER: Yes.
HUNT: And then, of course, what the files revealed about him.
And of course, you're seeing the Democrats, some of the Democrats that are there in the audience, of course, bringing survivors of Epstein, Virginia Giuffre's brother there in the crowd. They're also wearing pins that say, Release the files. The Speaker Emerita, Nancy Pelosi--
(GAVEL BANGS)
TAPPER: Let's listen in.
HUNT: --one of those wearing that.
WILLIAM MCFARLAND, SERGEANT AT ARMS OF THE HOUSE: Mr. Speaker, the President of the United States.
(CHEERING)
(APPLAUSE)
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT, UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: Good evening to you (inaudible).
(CHEERING)
(APPLAUSE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Did you like it? Did you like it?
TRUMP: Filled it on both sides (ph).
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (inaudible).
(CHEERING)
(APPLAUSE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Mr. President.
(CHEERING) (APPLAUSE)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'm sorry. I'm trying to keep him on time.
(CHEERING)
(APPLAUSE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm going to try a selfie (inaudible).
(APPLAUSE)
TAPPER: All right. Well, the mystery about whether or not President Trump was going to take a left or a right, and whether or not he's going to greet his Supreme Court. He did. He took the left, and he greeted and he shook hands with all of the members of the Supreme Court in attendance, including the three who voted against his tariff policy.
[21:10:00]
HUNT: We also saw him shake hands there with Pennsylvania senator, John Fetterman, which I -- have been watching for Democrats, whose hands he might have shaken -- an interesting one to be sure.
COLLINS: And also one who shows up on Fox News a lot, the President watches him, as he breaks with his own party.
But shaking the hand of Amy Coney Barrett is the most notable--
TAPPER: Yes.
COLLINS: --because he just said the other day that she was an embarrassment to her family, that they should be ashamed of themselves.
TAPPER: He suggested that--
COLLINS: Lapdogs and RINOs.
TAPPER: He suggested that the people who voted against him on tariffs were in the pockets of foreign -- foreign countries--
COLLINS: Without any evidence.
TAPPER: --and then he was asked for evidence, and said, You'll see (ph).
HUNT: Evidence again--
TAPPER: You can provide any evidence of this, Mr. President?
You'll see.
HUNT: I mean, this president often, I mean, many people will say to you, I mean, I'm sure everyone at this table has experienced the difference between President Trump when he is face-to-face with someone, and President Trump when he's behind a screen, or saying things in private, oftentimes, especially in moments like this. I mean, he knows the television production elements of it, and he is playing exactly to that, and he's going to know exactly what it's going to look like.
COLLINS: He's also a president who demands loyalty, and expects it from people that he puts in key positions, like a lifetime appointment to the Supreme Court, and like someone with Amy Coney Barrett that obviously came in at the last minute, right before he left office, the last time--
TAPPER: Yes, he was after he--
COLLINS: --very (inaudible) timing--
TAPPER: After he pardoned -- before the prosecution even really began, of Democratic congressman Cuellar, he expressed anger that Cuellar didn't change parties.
REP. MIKE JOHNSON (R-LA): Members of Congress, I have the high privilege and distinct honor of presenting to you the president of the United States.
(CHEERING)
CHAMBER: USA! USA! USA!
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Well, thank you very much, everybody. It's really an honor.
Speaker Johnson, Vice President Vance, first lady of the United States.
(CHEERING)
TRUMP: Second lady of the United States.
(APPLAUSE)
TRUMP: Members of Congress.
And our nation is back, bigger, better, richer, and stronger than ever before.
(CHEERING)
TRUMP: Less than five months from now, our country will celebrate an epic milestone in American history, the 250th anniversary of our glorious American independence.
This July 4, we will mark 2.5 centuries of liberty and triumph, progress and freedom in the most incredible and exceptional nation ever to exist on the face of the Earth. And you've seen nothing yet. We're going to do better and better and better. This is the golden age of America. (APPLAUSE)
TRUMP: When I last spoke in this chamber 12 months ago, I had just inherited a nation in crisis with a stagnant economy, inflation at record levels, a wide-open border, horrendous recruitment for military and police, rampant crime at home, and wars and chaos all over the world.
But, tonight, after just one year, I can say with dignity and pride that we have achieved a transformation like no one has ever seen before and a turnaround for the ages.
It is indeed a turnaround for the ages.
[21:15:00]
(APPLAUSE)
(CHEERING)
TRUMP: And we will never go back to where we were just a very short time ago. We're not going back. Today, our border is secure.
CROWD: USA, USA, USA.
(CHANTING)
TRUMP: Thank you. Today, our border is secure. Our spirit is restored. Inflation is plummeting. Incomes are rising fast. The roaring economy is roaring like never before. And our enemies are scared. Our military and police are stacked. And America is respected again, perhaps like never before.
(APPLAUSE)
TRUMP: After four years in which millions and millions of illegal aliens poured across our borders, totally unvetted and unchecked, we now have the strongest and most secure border in American history, by far.
(CHEERING)
(APPLAUSE)
TRUMP: In the past nine months, zero illegal aliens have been admitted to the United States.
(CHEERING)
(APPLAUSE)
TRUMP: But we will always allow people to come in legally, people that will love our country and will work hard to maintain our country.
(APPLAUSE)
TRUMP: The flow of deadly fentanyl across our border is down by a record 56 percent in one year.
(APPLAUSE)
TRUMP: And last year, the murder rate saw its single largest decline in recorded history. This is the biggest decline, think of it, in recorded history. The lowest number in over 125 years. Year 1900. In fact, substantially before my wonderful father -- I had a wonderful father, Fred, before he was born. Substantially before he was born. That's a long time ago. He wouldn't like me to say that, but that's a long time ago.
(LAUGHTER)
TRUMP: The Biden administration and its allies in Congress gave us the worst inflation in the history of our country. But in 12 months, my administration has driven core inflation down to the lowest level in more than five years. And in the last three months of 2025, it was down to 1.7 percent.
(CHEERING)
(APPLAUSE)
TRUMP: Gasoline, which reached a peak of over $6 a gallon in some states under my predecessor it was, quite honestly, a disaster. It's now below $2.30 a gallon in most states, and in some places $1.99 a gallon. And when I visited the great State of Iowa just a few weeks ago, I even saw $1.85 a gallon for gasoline.
(CHEERING)
(APPLAUSE)
TRUMP: Mortgage rates are the lowest in four years and falling fast. And the annual cost of a typical new mortgage is down almost $5,000 just since I took office. One year.
(APPLAUSE)
TRUMP: And low interest rates will solve the Biden-created housing problem well, at the same time protecting the values of those people who already own a house that really feel rich for the first time in their lives. We want to protect those values. We want to keep those values up. We're going to do both.
(APPLAUSE)
TRUMP: And we are going to keep it that way. The stock market has hit 53 all-time record highs since the election.
[21:19:58]
Think of that one year boosting pensions, 401(k)s, and retirement accounts for the millions and millions of Americans. They're all gaining everybody's up way up. In four log years, the last administration got less than $1 trillion in new investment in the United States. And when I say less. Substantially less.
In 12 months, I secured commitments for more than $18 trillion pouring in from all over the globe.
(APPLAUSE)
(CHEERING)
TRUMP: Think of it much less than $1 trillion for four years versus much more than $18 trillion for one year. What a difference a president makes.
(APPLAUSE)
TRUMP: A short time ago we were a dead country. Now we are the hottest country anywhere in the world. The hottest.
(CHEERING)
(APPLAUSE)
TRUMP: As thousands of new businesses are forming in factories, plants and laboratories are being built, we have added 70,000 new construction jobs in just a very short period of time. It's getting bigger and bigger and stronger. Nobody can believe what they're watching
American oil production is up by more than 600,000 barrels a day, and we just received from our new friend and partner Venezuela, more than 80 million barrels of oil.
(APPLAUSE)
TRUMP: American Natural Gas production is at an all-time high because I kept my promise to drill baby drill.
(APPLAUSE)
TRUMP: More Americans are working today than at any time in the history of our country. Think about that. Any time in the history of our country, more working today and 100 percent of all jobs created under my administration have been in the private sector.
(APPLAUSE)
TRUMP: We ended DEI in America.
(APPLAUSE)
TRUMP: We cut a record number of job killing regulations, and in one year we have lifted 2.4 million Americans a record off of food stamps.
(APPLAUSE)
TRUMP: And for all of these reasons, I say tonight, members of Congress, the state of our union is strong. (CHEERING)
(APPLAUSE)
TRUMP: Our country is winning again. In fact, we're winning so much that we really don't know what to do about it. People are asking me, please, please, please, Mr. President, we're winning too much. We can't take it anymore. We're not used to winning in our country until you came along. We're just always losing, but now we're winning too much.
And I say, no, no, no, you're going to win again. You're going to win big. You're going to win bigger than ever. And to prove that point, to prove that point here with us tonight is a group of winners who just made the entire nation proud. The Men's Gold Medal Olympic Hockey team. Come on in.
(CHEERING)
(APPLAUSE)
UNIDENTIFIED SPEAKERS (in unison): USA! USA! USA! USA! USA! USA! USA! USA! USA!
(CHEERING)
(APPLAUSE)
[21:25:00]
UNIDENTIFIED SPEAKERS (in unison): USA! USA! USA!
(CHEERING)
TRUMP: Go ahead. That's the first time I've ever seen them get up.
(LAUGHTER)
TRUMP: And actually, not all of them did get up, but they beat a fantastic Canadian team in overtime, as everybody saw, as did the American women who will soon be coming to the White House.
(CHEERING)
TRUMP: They were in the Oval Office before. And I just want to say a second very big congratulations to Team USA. But I have to say that, and I told them this, and we took a vote of the team. I said, anybody votes no, I'm not doing it. So they stood there, and they weren't about to say no. Because I've never seen a goaltender play as well as goalie Connor Hellebuyck.
(CHEERING)
TRUMP: Think of it, 46 shots on gold. And I asked him, the one shot, the one where you put your stick in the back and it hit the neck of your stick and bounced off, do you practice that or was that a little lucky?
(LAUGHTER)
TRUMP: He refused to answer that question.
(LAUGHTER)
TRUMP: But I just want to tell you that the members of this great hockey squad will be very happy to hear, based on their vote and my vote, and in this case my vote was more important.
(LAUGHTER)
TRUMP: That I will soon be presenting Connor with our highest civilian honor, which we will be given, and which has been given to many athletes over the years. But when I say many, not too many, like 12. It's called the highest civilian honor in our country, the Presidential Medal of Freedom.
(CHEERING)
TRUMP: Great athletes have gotten that. Very great. The best. And I thought he deserved it. And I did take a vote. Every single one of them. I said, I'm not giving it if anybody goes, no. And every single one of them rapidly put up their hand. So, I want to thank you all. What a special job you did, what special champions you are. Thank you very much.
(CHEERING)
TRUMP: I'm also pleased to say that the next time the Olympic torch is lit.
[21:30:00]
It will be here in America for the 2028 Olympics. And it's the summer version right in Los Angeles. We're going to do a good job in Los Angeles.
(APPLAUSE)
TRUMP: And Los Angeles is going to be safe, just like Washington, D.C., is now one of the safest cities in the country.
(CHEERING)
TRUMP: And this year -- and I must say, I got them both. I got them in the first term, and I was disappointed, because I didn't think I'd be the president when this happened. But strange things took place, and now I have got them, because I got the Olympics, I got the 2026 FIFA World Cup, and I wanted to claim the 250th, but I didn't get away with that one.
I couldn't claim that one for myself. But we're getting the World Cup. So we have the World Cup and the Olympics coming, and that is exciting news. (APPLAUSE)
TRUMP: So, this will be a year to celebrate our country and the heroes who have kept it free, men like Buddy Taggart. At age 17, Buddy volunteered to defend America in World War II, serving in the Pacific under the great General Douglas MacArthur.
He fought bravely in the famous Battle of Manila, worked so hard. He was badly wounded and almost killed by enemy machine guns in Luzon. And 81 years ago this month, he liberated the largest internment camp in the Philippines, one of the largest anywhere in the world.
But he earned many honors, including a Purple Heart and a Bronze Star, came home, started a family. And, tonight, he is in the gallery looking forward to July 4, 2026, his 100th birthday.
(CHEERING)
TRUMP: So, Buddy, you're a brave man, and we salute you. Even in times of challenge, setback, and immense heartache, the spirit of 1776 has always shone through very brightly.
It was July 4 of last year when floodwaters tore through a girls summer camp in Central Texas, one of the worst things I have ever seen -- I was there -- rising 26 feet in the matter of minutes, tragically claiming many, many lives. You all remember that one.
As the waters threatened to sweep her away, 11-year-old Milly Cate McClymond closed her eyes and prayed to God. She thought she was going to die. Those prayers were answered when Coast Guard rescue swimmer Scott Ruskan descended from a helicopter above. Nobody knew where he came from.
It was Scott's first ever rescue mission, a young guy, but very brave, very, very top, always top in his class, and he lifted not just Milly Cate, but 164 others to safety.
(CHEERING)
TRUMP: People watched Scott from a distance, and they couldn't believe what they were seeing. The winds were blowing. The rain was pouring. Everything was going. And that rapid water, nobody had ever seen anything like it. They said, wow, that's something.
Tonight, Scott and Milly Cate are here together, reunited for the very first time.
Thank you, Scott, Milly Cate.
(APPLAUSE)
(CHEERING)
[21:35:17]
TRUMP: And, Petty Officer Ruskan, I'm pleased to inform you that I am now awarding you the Legion of Merit for extraordinary heroism, which is what it was. Extraordinary heroism.
Thank you.
(CHEERING)
(APPLAUSE)
TRUMP: And I'd like to have the military aide to please come down and take care of the service -- military aide.
Thank you very much. Take care of that very important service. Thank you very much.
From 1776 to today, every generation of Americans has stepped forward to defend life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. And they're really doing it for the next generation.
But now, it's our turn. Together, we're building a nation where every child has the chance to reach higher and go further, where government answers to the people, not the powerful, and where the interests of hardworking American citizens are always our first and ultimate concern.
That is the debt we owe to the heroes who came before us. And that is the promise we must keep to America for our 250th year.
Last year, I urged this Congress to begin the mission by passing the largest tax cuts in American history, and our Republican majorities delivered so beautifully.
Thank you, Republicans.
(APPLAUSE)
TRUMP: All Democrats, every single one of them voted against these really important and very necessary massive tax cuts.
(CHEERING)
(APPLAUSE)
TRUMP: They wanted large scale tax increases to hurt the people, instead.
But we held strong and with the great Big, Beautiful Bill, we gave you no tax on tips, no tax on overtime, and no tax on Social Security for our great seniors.
(CHEERING)
(APPLAUSE)
TRUMP: And we also made interest on auto loans, tax deductible the first time, but only if the car is made in America.
(APPLAUSE) TRUMP: Recently in Pennsylvania, I met Megan Hemhauser, a devoted mom who homeschools her children -- beautiful two children -- during the day while waiting tables at night as her husband works overtime, operating very heavy equipment.
Megan is here this evening and she's happy to tell you that she is so, so much richer because with no tax on tips, no tax on overtime, and our expanded child tax credit done again by Republicans, Megan and her husband will take home more than $5,000 extra just for the year, cutting her tax bill in more than half.
(APPLAUSE)
TRUMP: Megan, please stand up. We're fighting for you, Megan.
(APPLAUSE)
TRUMP: Thank you. Thank you, Megan. We're fighting for you, Megan.
Under our bill, parents like Megan can also activate their children's brand new Trump Accounts and I didn't name it.
(APPLAUSE)
TRUMP: I didn't name it. I did not name that.
(APPLAUSE)
TRUMP: Nobody believes me, but I did not name it. It was named by a very tall man sitting right there in the third row. Nice man. A good man.
Tax free investment accounts for every American child. This is something that's so special and has taken off and gone through the roof.
[21:40:03]
Millions will be pre-funded courtesy of the U.S. Treasury and private individuals like Michael and Susan Dell who have donated $6.25 billion to fund the Trump accounts for 25 million American children.
(APPLAUSE)
They're great people.
(APPLAUSE)
You know, I asked Michael Dell, how did you make all that money? He said, well, I just sat on my dorm in school and I made computers and I'd sell them to people. And I just kept selling and selling and selling and pretty amazing story. That's called the American dream. He sold a lot of computers, a lot of those laptops. So I congratulate him on that. But I really thank him and Susan, as well as others like Brad Gerstner, very tremendous guy. He was behind it right from the beginning. Brad Gerstner, thank you, Brad. (APPLAUSE)
So with modest additional contributions, these young people's accounts could grow to over $100,000 or more by the time they turn 18. Think of it, how much money is that for somebody that started with nothing? Over 100,000, could be much more than that. To make this investment in our children's future, go to trumpaccounts.gov, trumpaccounts.gov. And a lot of people are doing it. It's setting every record in the book. It's popular. They knew what was going to -- what it was going to take. I'm so proud of them. I'm so proud of the people that got it started. And now it's just taken off.
One of the primary reasons for our country's stunning economic turnaround, the biggest in history, where the Dow Jones broke 50,000 four years ahead of schedule, and the S&P hit 7,000, where it wasn't supposed to do it for many years, were tariffs. I used these tariffs, took in hundreds of billions of dollars to make great deals for our country both economically and on a national security basis. Everything was working well. Countries that were ripping us off for decades are now paying us hundreds of billions of dollars. They were ripping us so badly. You all know that. Everybody knows it. Even the Democrats know it, they just don't want to say it.
And yet these countries are now happy and so are we. We made deals. The deals are all done. And they're happy. They're not making money like they used to but we're making a lot of money. There was no inflation, tremendous growth. And the big story was how Donald Trump called the economy correctly. And 22 Nobel Prize winners in economics didn't. They got it totally wrong. They got it really wrong.
And then just four days ago, an unfortunate ruling from the United States Supreme Court, it just came down. It came down. Very unfortunate ruling.
(APPLAUSE)
But the good news is that almost all countries and corporations want to keep the deal that they already made, right, Scott? Knowing that the legal power that I as president have to make a new deal, could be far worse for them, and therefore they will continue to work along the same successful path that we had negotiated before the Supreme Court's unfortunate involvement.
So despite the disappointing ruling, these powerful, country-saving -- it's saving our country the kind of money we're taking in, peace- protecting, many of the wars I've settled was because of the threat of tariffs, I wouldn't have been able to settle them without, will remain in place under fully approved and tested alternative legal statutes. And they have been tested for a long time. They're a little more complex, but they're actually probably better, leading to a solution that will be even stronger than before.
Congressional action will not be necessary. It's already time-tested and approved. And as time goes by, I believe the tariffs, paid for by foreign countries, will like, in the past, substantially replace the modern day system of income tax, taking a great financial burden off the people that I love.
(APPLAUSE)
Right?
(APPLAUSE)
Moving forward, factories, jobs, investment, and trillions and trillions of dollars will continue pouring into the United States of America because we finally have a president who puts America first.
[21:45:09]
I put America first. I love America.
(APPLAUSE)
TRUMP: For decades, before I came along, we had the exact opposite. From trade to health care, from energy to immigration, everything was stolen and rigged in order to drain the wealth out of the productive, hardworking people who make our country great who make our country run.
Under Biden and his corrupt partners in Congress and beyond, it reached a breaking point with the Green New Scam, open borders for everyone. They poured in by the millions and millions from prisons, from mental institutions. They were murderers, 11,888 murders. They came into our country. You allowed that to happen. And record-setting inflation that cost the typical family $34,000 in just a speck of time.
Now, the same people in this chamber who voted for those disasters suddenly used the word affordability, a word, they just used it. Somebody gave it to them, knowing full well that they caused and created the increased prices that all of our citizens had to endure. You caused that problem. You caused that problem.
(APPLAUSE)
TRUMP: They knew their statements were a lie. They knew it. They knew their statements were a dirty, rotten lie. Their policies created the high prices. Our policies are rapidly ending them. We are doing really well. Those prices are plummeting downward.
(APPLAUSE)
TRUMP: The price of eggs is down 60 percent. Madam Secretary, thank you. The cost of chicken, butter, fruit, hotels, automobiles, rent is lower today than when I took office by a lot. And even beef, which was very high, is starting to come down significantly. Just hold on a little while. We're getting it down. And soon you will see numbers that few people would think were possible to achieve just a short time ago.
Nobody can believe when they see the kind of numbers, and especially energy. When they see energy going down to numbers like that, they cannot believe it. It's like another big tax cut.
I'm also confronting one of the biggest rip-offs of our times, the crushing costs of health care caused by you. Since the passage of the Unaffordable Care Act, sometimes referred to as Obamacare, big insurance companies have gotten rich. It was meant for the insurance companies, not for the people. With our government giving them hundreds and hundreds of billions of dollars a year as their stock prices soared 1,000, 1,200, 1,400, and even 1,700 percent, like nothing else.
That's why I introduced the great health care plan. I want to stop all payments to big insurance companies and instead give that money directly to the people so they can buy their own health care, which will be better health care at a much lower cost.
(APPLAUSE)
TRUMP: In addition, my plan requires maximum price transparency. That's a big deal.
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TRUMP: Sounds so simple. So big.
(APPLAUSE)
TRUMP: And I did that in my first term, and the Democrats immediately terminated it with full knowledge that they were doing a very bad thing for the people. Costs were going to go way up, and that's what happened. And now I'm bringing them way down on health care and everything else.
I'm also ending the wildly inflated cost of prescription drugs like has never happened before.
(APPLAUSE)
[21:50:00]
They tried. They said they tried, they couldn't do it. They didn't even come close. They were all talk and no action, but I got it done under my just enacted most favored nation agreements, Americans who are for decades paid by far the highest prices of any nation anywhere in the world for prescription drugs will now pay the lowest price anywhere in the world for drugs, anywhere the lowest price.
(APPLAUSE)
(CHEERING)
TRUMP: So in my first year of the second term, should be my third term, but strange things happen.
(APPLAUSE)
(OFF-MIC) TRUMP: I took. Prescription drugs, a very big part of healthcare, from the highest price in the entire world to the lowest. That's a big achievement. The result is price differences of 300, 400, 500, 600 percent and more. All available right now at a new website called TrumpRx.gov and I didn't name that one either, by the way.
(APPLAUSE)
TRUMP: And here tonight is the very first customer ever to get that big discount. And it is big, Catherine Rainer (ph). For five years, she and her husband have struggled with infertility and they turned to IVF, one drug has been costing Catherine $4,000 to purchase, but a few weeks ago she logged onto the Trump Rx website and got that same drug that cost $4,000. Got it for under $500, a reduction of much more actually than $3,500.
Catherine (ph), we are all praying for you and you're going to be a great mom.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.
(APPLAUSE)
(CHEERING)
(APPLAUSE)
TRUMP: So now I'm calling on Congress to codify my most favorite nation program into law. Now, the one thing, I'm not sure it matters because it's going to be very hard for somebody that comes along after me to say, let's raise drug prices by 700 or 800 percent. But John and Mike, if you don't mind, codify it anyway. They may do it. Codify it anyway. Thank you.
Many Americans are also concerned that energy demand from AI data centers could unfairly drive up their electric utility bills. Tonight, I'm pleased to announce that I have negotiated the new rate payer protection pledge. You know what that is? We're telling the major tech companies that they have the obligation to provide for their own power needs. They can build their own power plants as part of their factory, so that no one's prices will go up. And in many cases, prices of electricity will go down for the community and very substantially down.
This is a unique strategy never used in this country before. We have an old grid, it could never handle the kind of numbers, the amount of electricity that's needed.
So I'm telling them they can build their own plant, they're going to produce their own electricity. It will ensure the company's ability to get electricity while at the same time lowering prices of electricity for you and could be very substantial for all of your cities and towns. You're going to see some good things happen over the next number of years.
Another pillar of the American dream that has been under attack is home ownership. With us tonight is Rachel Wiggins (ph), a mom of two from Houston. She placed bids on 20 homes and lost all of those bids to gigantic investment firms that bypassed inspection, paid all cash and turn those houses into rentals, stealing away her American dream. She was devastated.
Stories like this are why last month I signed executive order to ban large Wall Street investment firms from buying up into thousands single family homes.
(APPLAUSE)
TRUMP: And now I'm asking Congress to make that ban permanent because home is for people really, that's what we want. We want homes for people, not for corporations. Corporations are doing just fine.
Rachelle (ph), thank you very much. Good luck with your home. You'll get one soon.
(APPLAUSE)
[21:55:01]
TRUMP: We're also working to make it easier for Americans to save for retirement. And under this administration, we will always protect Social Security and Medicare. They are not protecting it for our seniors. We will always protect Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid.
(CHEERING)
TRUMP: Since I took office, the typical 401(k) balance is up by at least $30,000. That's a lot of money. We have millions and millions of people because the stock market has done so well, setting all those records. Your 401(k)s are way up. Yet half of all of working Americans still do not have access to a retirement plan with matching contributions from an employer.
To remedy this gross disparity, I am announcing that next year, my administration will give these often forgotten American workers, great people, the people that built our country, access to the same type of retirement plan offered to every federal worker. We will match your contribution with up to $1,000 each year. As we ensure that all Americans can profit from a rising stock market, let's also ensure that members of Congress cannot corruptly profit from using insider information.
(CHEERING)
TRUMP: They stood up for that. I can't believe.
(LAUGHTER)
TRUMP: I can't believe it. Did Nancy Pelosi stand up, if she's here?
(CHEERING)
TRUMP: Doubt it. Pass the Stop Insider Trading Act without delay. (CHEERING)
TRUMP: I wasn't sure if anybody, even on this side, was going to applaud for that. I was -- I'm very impressed. Thank you. I'm very impressed. But when it comes to the corruption that is plunging, really it's plundering America. There's been no more stunning example than Minnesota, where members of the Somali community have pillaged an estimated $19 billion from the American taxpayer. Oh, we have all the information.
And in actuality, the number is much higher than that. And California, Massachusetts, Maine, and many other states are even worse. This is the kind of corruption that shreds the fabric of a nation. And we are working on it like you wouldn't believe. So tonight, although it started four months ago, I am officially announcing the War on Fraud to be led by our great Vice President, J.D. Vance.
(CHEERING)
TRUMP: We'll get it done. And if we're able to find enough of that fraud, we will actually have a balanced budget overnight. It'll go very quickly. That's the kind of money you're talking about. We'll balance our budget.
(CHEERING)
TRUMP: The Somali pirates who ransacked Minnesota remind us that there are large parts of the world where bribery, corruption, and lawlessness are the norm, not the exception. Importing these cultures through unrestricted immigration and open borders brings those problems right here to the USA. And it is the American people who pay the price in higher medical bills, car insurance rates, rent, taxes, and perhaps most importantly, crime. We will take care of this problem. We're going to take care of this problem. We are not playing games. Delilah.
(CHEERING)
TRUMP: Delilah Coleman was only five years old in June 2024 when a 18- wheel tractor trailer plowed into her stopped car traveling at 60 miles an hour or more. The driver was an illegal alien let in by Joe Biden and given a commercial driver's license by open borders politicians in California. Doctors said Delilah would never be able to walk or talk, have a good life.
