SECRETARY OF WAR PETE HEGSETH: Mr. Chairman, the
joint chiefs, generals, admirals, commanders, officers, senior enlisted,
NCOs, enlisted and every member of our American military, good morning.
UNKNOWN: Morning.
SECRETARY OF WAR PETE HEGSETH: Good morning and welcome to the War
Department because the era of the Department of Defense is over. You
see, the motto of my first platoon was those who long for peace must
prepare for war. This is, of course, not a new idea. This crowd knows
that.
The origin dates to fourth century Rome and has been repeated ever
since, including by our first commander in chief, George Washington, the
first leader of the War Department. It captures a simple yet profound
truth. To ensure peace, we must prepare for war.
From this moment forward, the only mission of the newly restored
Department of War is this: warfighting, preparing for war and preparing
to win, unrelenting and uncompromising in that pursuit not because we
want war, no one here wants war, but it's because we love peace. We love
peace for our fellow citizens. They deserve peace, and they rightfully
expect us to deliver.
Our number one job, of course, is to be strong so that we can prevent
war in the first place. The president talks about it all the time. It's
called peace through strength. And as history teaches us, the only
people who actually deserve peace are those who are willing to wage war
to defend it.
That's why pacifism is so naive and dangerous. It ignores human
nature and it ignores human history. Either you protect your people and
your sovereignty or you will be subservient to something or someone.
It's a truth as old as time.
And since waging war is so costly in blood and treasure, we owe our
republic a military that will win any war we choose or any war that is
thrust upon us. Should our enemies choose foolishly to challenge us,
they will be crushed by the violence, precision and ferocity of the War
Department. In other words, to our enemies, FAFO.
UNKNOWN: Fantastic.
SECRETARY OF WAR PETE HEGSETH: If necessary, our troops can translate that for you.
Another way to put it is peace through strength brought to you by the
warrior ethos, and we are restoring both. As President Trump has said,
and he's right, we have the strongest, most powerful, most lethal and
most prepared military on the planet. That is true, full stop. Nobody
can touch us. It's not even close.
This is true largely because of the historic investments that he made
in his first term, and we will continue in this term. But it's also
true because of the leaders in this room and the incredible troops that
you all lead. But the world, and as the chairman mentioned, our enemies
get a vote. You feel it. I feel it.
This is a moment of urgency, mounting urgency. Enemies gather.
Threats grow. There is no time for games. We must be prepared. If we're
going to prevent and avoid war, we must prepare now. We are the strength
part of peace through strength, and either we're ready to win or we are
not.
You see, this urgent moment of course requires more troops, more
munitions, more drones, more Patriots, more submarines, more B-21
bombers. It requires more innovation, more AI in everything and ahead of
the curve, more cyber effects, more counter UAS, more space, more
speed.
America is the strongest, but we need to get stronger and quickly.
The time is now and the cause is urgent. The moment requires restoring
and refocusing our defense industrial base, our shipbuilding industry
and onshoring all critical components. It requires, as President Trump
has done, getting our allies and partners to step up and share the
burden.
America cannot do everything. The free world requires allies with
real hard power, real military leadership and real military
capabilities. The War Department is tackling and prioritizing all of
these things, and I'll be giving a speech next month that'll showcase
the speed, innovation and generational acquisition reforms we are
undertaking urgently. Likewise, the nature of the threats we face in our
hemisphere and in deterring China is another speech for another day
coming soon.
This speech today -- as I drink my coffee, this speech today is about
people and it's about culture. The topic today is about the nature of
ourselves, because no plan, no program, no reform, no formation will
ultimately succeed unless we have the right people and the right culture
at the War Department.
If I've learned one core lesson in my eight months in this job, it's
that personnel is policy. Personnel is policy. The best way to take care
of troops is to give them good leaders committed to the warfighting
culture of the department, not perfect leaders, good leaders, competent,
qualified, professional, agile, aggressive, innovative, risk-taking,
apolitical, faithful to their oath and to the Constitution.
Eugene Sledge in his World War II memoir wrote, "War is brutish,
inglorious, and a terrible waste. Combat leaves an indelible mark on
those who are forced to endure it. The only redeeming factors are my
comrades' incredible bravery and their devotion to each other."
In combat, there are thousands of variables, as I learned in Iraq and
Afghanistan, and as so many of you did in so many more places. Leaders
can only control about three of them. You control how well you're
trained, mostly how well you're equipped, and the last variable is how
well you lead. After that, you're on your own.
Our warfighters are entitled to be led by the best and most capable
leaders. That is who we need you all to be. Even then, in combat, even
if you do everything right, you may still lose people because the enemy
always gets a vote. We have a sacred duty to ensure that our warriors
are led by the most capable and qualified combat leaders. This is one
thing you and I can control, and we owe it to the force to deliver.
For too long, we have simply not done that. The military has been
forced by foolish and reckless politicians to focus on the wrong things.
In many ways, this speech is about fixing decades of decay, some of it
obvious, some of it hidden, or as the chairman has put it, we are
clearing out the debris, removing the distractions, clearing the way for
leaders to be leaders. You might say we're ending the war on warriors. I
heard someone wrote a book about that.
For too long, we've promoted too many uniformed leaders for the wrong
reasons, based on their race, based on gender quotas, based on historic
so-called firsts. We've pretended that combat arms and non-combat arms
are the same thing. We've weeded out so-called toxic leaders under the
guise of double blind psychology assessments, promoting risk averse go
along to get along conformists instead. You name it, the department did
it.
Foolish and reckless political leaders set the wrong compass heading
and we lost our way. We became the woke department. But not anymore.
Right now, I'm looking out at a sea of Americans who made a choice when
they were young men and young women to do something most Americans will
not, to serve something greater than yourself, to fight for God and
country, for freedom and the Constitution.
You made a choice to serve when others did not, and I commend you.
You are truly the best of America. But this does not mean, and this goes
for all of us, that our path to this auditorium on this day was a
straight line, or that the conditions of the formations we lead are
where we want them to be. You love your country and we love this
uniform, which is why we must do better.
We just have to be honest. We have to say with our mouths what we see
with our eyes, to just tell it like it is in plain English, to point
out the obvious things right in front of us. That's what leaders must
do. We cannot go another day without directly addressing the plank in
our own eye, without addressing the problems in our own commands and in
our own formations.
This administration has done a great deal from day one to remove the
social justice, politically correct, and toxic ideological garbage that
had infected our department, to rip out the politics. No more identity
months, DEI offices, dudes in dresses. No more climate change worship.
No more division, distraction or gender delusions. No more debris.
As I've said before and will say again, we are done with that shit.
I've made it my mission to uproot the obvious distractions that made us
less capable and less lethal. That said, the War Department requires the
next step.
Underneath the woke garbage is a deeper problem and a more important
problem that we are fixing and fixing fast. Common sense is back at the
White House, so making the necessary changes is actually pretty
straightforward. President Trump expects it. And the litmus test for
these changes is pretty simple.
Would I want my eldest son, who is 15 years old, eventually joining
the types of formations that we are currently wielding? If in any way
the answer to that is no, or even yes but, then we're doing something
wrong, because my son is no more important than any other American
citizen who dons the cloth of our nation. He is no more important than
your son, all precious souls made in the image and likeness of God.
Every parent deserves to know that their son or their daughter that
joins our ranks is entering exactly the kind of unit that the secretary
of war would want his son to join. Think of it as the Golden Rule test.
Jesus said do unto others that which you would have done unto yourself.
It's the ultimate simplifying test of truth.
The new War Department golden rule is this: do unto your unit as you
would have done unto your own child's unit. Would you want him serving
with fat or unfit or under trained troops or alongside people who can't
meet basic standards, or in a unit where standards were lowered so
certain types of troops could make it in, in a unit where leaders were
promoted for reasons other than merit, performance and warfighting? The
answer is not just no, it's hell no.
This means at the War Department first and foremost we must restore a
ruthless, dispassionate and common sense application of standards. I
don't want my son serving alongside troops who are out of shape or in
combat unit with females who can't meet the same combat arms physical
standards as men, or troops who are not fully proficient on their
assigned weapons platform or task or under a leader who was the first
but not the best. Standards must be uniform, gender neutral and high. If
not, they're not standards. They're just suggestions, suggestions that
get our sons and daughters killed.
When it comes to combat arms units, and there are many different
stripes across our joint force, the era of politically correct, overly
sensitive, don't hurt anyone's feelings leadership ends right now. At
every level, either you can meet the standard, either you can do the
job, either you are disciplined, fit and trained, or you are out.
And that's why today at my direction -- and this is the first of ten
Department of War directives that are arriving at your commands as we
speak and in your inbox. Today, at my direction, each service will
ensure that every requirement for every combat MOS, for every designated
combat arms position returns to the highest male standard only. Because
this job is life or death. Standards must be met. And not just met. At
every level, we should seek to exceed the standard, to push the
envelope, to compete. It's common sense and core to who we are and what
we do. It should be in our DNA.
Today, at my direction, we are also adding a combat field test for
combat arms units that must be executable in any environment at any time
and with combat equipment. These tests, they'll look familiar. They'll
resemble the Army Expert Physical Fitness Assessment or the Marine Corps
Combat Fitness Test. I'm also directing that warfighters in combat jobs
execute their service fitness test at a gender-neutral age normed male
standard scored above 70 percent.
It all starts with physical fitness and appearance. If the secretary
of war can do regular hard PT, so can every member of our joint force.
Frankly, it's tiring to look out at combat formations, or really any
formation, and see fat troops. Likewise, it's completely unacceptable to
see fat generals and admirals in the halls of the Pentagon and leading
commands around the country and the world. It's a bad look. It is bad,
and it's not who we are.
So, whether you're an airborne Ranger or a chairborne Ranger, a brand
new private or a four star general, you need to meet the height and
weight standards and pass your PT test. And as the chairman said, yes,
there is no PT test. But today, at my direction, every member of the
joint force at every rank is required to take a PT test twice a year, as
well as meet height and weight requirements twice a year every year of
service.
Also today, at my direction, every warrior across our joint force is
required to do PT every duty day. It should be common sense, and most
units do that already, but we're codifying it. And we're not talking,
like, hot yoga and stretching, real hard PT and as -- either as a unit
or as an individual.
At every level, from the Joint Chiefs to everyone in this room to the
youngest private, leaders set the standard. And so many of you do this
already, active, guard and reserve. This also means grooming standards.
No more beards, long hair, superficial individual expression. We're
going to cut our hair, shave our beards, and adhere to standards.
Because it's like the broken windows theory in policing. It's like
you let the small stuff go, the big stuff eventually goes, so you have
to address the small stuff. This is on duty, in the field and in the
rear. If you want a beard, you can join Special Forces. If not, then
shave.
We don't have a military full of Nordic pagans. But unfortunately, we
have had leaders who either refuse to call BS and enforce standards, or
leaders who felt like they were not allowed to enforce standards. Both
are unacceptable. And that's why today, at my direction, the era of
unprofessional appearance is over.
No more beardos. The era of rampant and ridiculous shaving profiles
is done. Simply put, if you do not meet the male level physical
standards for combat positions, cannot pass a PT test or don't want to
shave and look professional, it's time for a new position or a new
profession.
I sincerely appreciate the proactive efforts the secretaries have
already taken in some of those areas -- service secretaries. And these
directives are intended to simply accelerate those efforts. On the topic
of standards, allow me a few words to talk about toxic leaders.
Upholding and demanding high standards is not toxic. Enforcing high
standards, not toxic leadership. Leading warfighters toward the goals of
high, gender-neutral and uncompromising standards in order to forge a
cohesive, formidable and lethal Department of War is not toxic. It is
our duty consistent with our constitutional oath.
Real toxic leadership is endangering subordinates with low standards.
Real toxic leadership is promoting people based on immutable
characteristics or quotas instead of based on merit. Real toxic
leadership is promoting destructive ideologies that are an anathema to
the Constitution and the laws of nature and nature's God, as Thomas
Jefferson wrote in the Declaration of Independence.
The definition of toxic has been turned upside down, and we're
correcting that. That's why today, at my direction we're undertaking a
full review of the department's definitions of so-called toxic
leadership, bullying and hazing, to empower leaders to enforce standards
without fear of retribution or second guessing.
Of course, you can't do, like, nasty bullying and hazing. We're
talking about words like bullying and hazing and toxic. They've been
weaponized and bastardized inside our formations, undercutting
commanders and NCOs. No more. Setting, achieving and maintaining high
standards is what you all do. And if that makes me toxic, then so be it.
Second, today, at our direction, we're ensuring that every service,
every unit, every schoolhouse and every form of professional military
education conduct an immediate review of their standards. Now, we've
done this in many places already, but today it goes across the entire
Department of War.
Any place where tried and true physical standards were altered,
especially since 2015 when combat arms standards were changed to ensure
females could qualify, must be returned to their original standard.
Other standards have been manipulated to hit racial quotas as well,
which is just as unacceptable. This too must end; merit only. The
President talks about it all the time, merit-based.
Here are two basic frameworks I urge you to pursue in this process,
standards I call -- my staff's heard all about them, the 1990 test and
the E-6 test. The 1990 test is simple. What were the military standards
in 1990? And if they have changed, tell me why. Was it a necessary
change based on the evolving landscape of combat, or was the change due
to a softening, weakening or gender-based pursuit of other priorities?
1990 seems to be as good a place to start as any.
And the E-6 test. Ask yourself does what you're doing make the
leadership, accountability and lethality efforts of an E-6 or, frankly,
an O-3, does it make it easier or more complicated? Does the change
empower staff sergeants, petty officers and tech sergeants to get back
to basics? The answer should be a resounding yes. The E-6 test or O-3
test clarifies a lot, and it clarifies quickly.
Because war does not care if you're a man or a woman. Neither does
the enemy, nor does the weight of your rucksack, the size of an
artillery round or the body weight of a casualty on the battlefield who
must be carried. This -- and I want to be very clear about this. This is
not about preventing women from serving. We very much value the impact
of female troops. Our female officers and NCOs are the absolute best in
the world.
But when it comes to any job that requires physical power to perform
in combat, those physical standards must be high and gender-neutral. If
women can make it, excellent. If not, it is what it is. If that means no
women qualify for some combat jobs, so be it. That is not the intent,
but it could be the result. So be it. It will also mean that weak men
won't qualify because we're not playing games. This is combat. This is
life or death.
As we all know, this is you versus an enemy hell bent on killing you.
To be an effective lethal fighting force, you must trust that the
warrior alongside you in battle is capable, truly physically capable of
doing what is necessary under fire. You know this is the only standard
you would want for your kids and for your grandkids. Apply the War
Department Golden Rule, the 1990 test and the E-6 test, and it's really
hard to go wrong.
Third, we are attacking and ending the walking on eggshells and zero
defect command culture. A risk averse culture means officers execute not
to lose instead of to win. A risk averse culture means NCOs are not
empowered to enforce standards. Commanders and NCOs don't take necessary
risks or make tough adjustments for fear of rocking the boat or making
mistakes.
A blemish free record is what peacetime leaders covet the most, which
is the worst of all incentives. You, we as senior leaders, need to end
the poisonous culture of risk aversion and empower our NCOs at all
levels to enforce standards. Truth be told, for the most part we don't
need new standards. We just need to reestablish a culture where
enforcing standards is possible.
And that's why today, at my direction, I'm issuing new policies that
will overhaul the IG, EO and MEO processes. I call it the no more
walking on eggshells policy. We are liberating commanders and NCOs. We
are liberating you. We are overhauling an inspector general process, the
IG, that has been weaponized, putting complainers, ideologues and poor
performers in the driver's seat.
We're doing the same with the equal opportunity and military equal
opportunity policies, the EO and MEO, at our department. No more
frivolous complaints. No more anonymous complaints. No more repeat
complainants. No more smearing reputations. No more endless waiting. No
more legal limbo. No more sidetracking careers. No more walking on
eggshells.
Of course, being a racist has been illegal in our formation since
1948. The same goes for sexual harassment. Both are wrong and illegal.
Those kinds of infractions will be ruthlessly enforced. But telling
someone to shave or get a haircut or to get in shape or to fix their
uniform or to show up on time, to work hard, that's exactly the kind of
discrimination we want.
We are not civilians. You are not civilians. You are set apart for a
distinct purpose. So, we as a department need to stop acting and
thinking like civilians and get back to basics and put the power back in
the hands of commanders and NCOs, commanders and NCOs who make life and
death decisions, commanders and NCOs who enforce standards and ensure
readiness, commanders and NCOs who in this War Department have to look
in the mirror and have to pass the Golden Rule test, my kids, your kids,
America's sons and daughters.
So, I urge you all here today and those watching, take this guidance
and run with it. The core of this speech is the ten directives we're
announcing today. They were written for you, for Army leadership, for
Navy leadership, for Marine Corps leadership, for Air Force leadership,
Space Force leadership.
These directives are designed to take the monkey off your back and
put you, the leadership, back in the driver's seat. Move out with
urgency because we have your back. I have your back, and the commander
in chief has your back.
And when we give you this guidance, we know mistakes will be made.
It's the nature of leadership. But you should not pay for earnest
mistakes for your entire career. And that's why today, at my direction,
we're making changes to the retention of adverse information on
personnel records that will allow leaders with forgivable earnest or
minor infractions to not be encumbered by those infractions in
perpetuity.
People make honest mistakes, and our mistakes should not define an
entire career. Otherwise, we only try not to make mistakes, and that's
not the business we're in. We need risk takers and aggressive leaders
and a culture that supports you.
Fourth, at the War Department, promotions across the joint force will
be based on one thing: merit; colorblind, gender-neutral, merit based.
The entire promotion process, including evaluations of warfighting
capabilities, is being thoroughly reexamined. We've already done a lot
in this area, but more changes are coming soon.
We'll promote top performing officers and NCOs faster and get rid of
poor performers more quickly. Evaluations, education and field exercises
will become real evaluations, not box checks, for every one of us at
every level. These same reforms happened before World War II as well.
General George Marshall and Secretary of War Henry Stimson did the same
thing, and we won a world war because of it.
As it happens, when he started the job, Chairman Caine gave me a
frame and a photo to hang in my office. A matching frame and photo hangs
in his. It's a photo of Marshall and Stimson preparing for World War
II. Those two leaders famously kept the door open between their offices
for the entirety of the war.
They worked together, civilian and uniform, every single day.
Chairman Caine and I do the same. There is no daylight between us. Our
doors are always open. Our job together is to ensure our military is led
by the very best ready to answer the nation's call.
Fifth, as you have seen and the media has obsessed over, I have fired
a number of senior officers since taking over, the previous chairman,
other members of the Joint Chiefs, combatant commanders and other
commanders. The rationale, for me, has been straightforward. It's nearly
impossible to change a culture with the same people who helped create
or even benefited from that culture, even if that culture was created by
a previous president and previous secretary.
My approach has been simple. When in doubt, assess the situation,
follow your gut and, if it's the best for the military, make a change.
We all serve at the pleasure of the President every single day. But in
many ways, it's not their fault. It's not your fault. As foolish and
reckless as the woke department was, those officers were following
elected political leadership.
An entire generation of generals and admirals were told that they
must parrot the insane fallacy that "our diversity is our strength." Of
course, we know our unity is our strength. They had to put out dizzying
DEI and LGBTQI+ statements. They were told females and males are the
same thing, or that males who think they're females is totally normal.
They were told that we need a green fleet and electric tanks. They
were told to kick out Americans who refused an emergency vaccine. They
followed civilian policies set by foolish and reckless political
leaders. Our job, my job, has been to determine which leaders simply did
what they must to answer the prerogatives of civilian leadership and
which leaders are truly invested in the woke department and therefore
incapable of embracing the War Department and executing new lawful
orders.
That's it. It's that simple. So, for the past eight months, we've
gotten a good look under the hood of our officer corps. We've done our
best to thoroughly assess the human terrain. We've had to make
trade-offs and some difficult decisions. It's more of an art than
science. We have been and will continue to be judicious but also
expeditious.
The new compass heading is clear. Out with the Chiarellis, the
McKenzies and the Milleys, and in with the Stockdales, the Schwarzkopfs
and the Pattons. More leadership changes will be made, of that I'm
certain, not because we want to but because we must. Once again, this is
life and death. The sooner we have the right people, the sooner we can
advance the right policies. Personnel is policy.
But I look out at this group and I see great Americans, leaders who
have given decades to our great republic at great sacrifice to
yourselves and to your families. But if the words I'm speaking today are
making your heart sink, then you should do the honorable thing and
resign. We would thank you for your service.
But I suspect, I know, the overwhelming majority of you feel the
opposite. These words make your hearts full. You love the War Department
because you love what you do, the profession of arms. You are hereby
liberated to be an apolitical, hard charging, no nonsense constitutional
leader that you joined the military to be.
We need you locked in on the M, not the D, the E or the I, not the
DEI or the DIE of DIME. By that I mean the M, military, of the
instruments of national power. We have entire departments across the
government dedicated to diplomatic, informational and economic lines of
effort. We do the M. Nobody else does. And our GOFOs need to master it
in every domain, in every scenario, no more distractions, no more
political ideologies, no more debris.
Now, of course, we're going to disagree at times. We would not be
Americans if we didn't. Being a leader in a large organization like ours
means having frank conversations and differences of opinion. You will
win some arguments and you will lose some arguments. But when civilian
leaders issue lawful orders, we execute. We are professionals in the
profession of arms. Our entire constitutional system is predicated upon
this understanding.
Now, it seems like a small thing, but it's not. This includes as well
the behavior of our troops online. To that end, I want to thank and
recognize the services for their new proactive social media policies.
Use them. Anonymous online or keyboard complaining is not worthy of a
warrior. It's cowardice masquerading as conscience. Anonymous unit level
social media pages that trash commanders, demoralize troops and
undermine unit cohesion must not be tolerated. Again, 0-3s, E-6s.
Sixth, we must train and we must maintain. Any moment that we are not
training on our mission or maintaining our equipment is a moment we are
less prepared for preventing or winning the next war. That is why
today, at my direction, we are drastically reducing the ridiculous
amount of mandatory training that individuals and units must execute.
We've already ended the most egregious. Now we're giving you back
real time; less PowerPoint briefings and fewer online courses, more time
in the motor pool and more time on the range. Our job is to make sure
you have the money, equipment, weapons and parts to train and maintain,
and then you take it from there.
You all know this because it's common sense. The tougher and the
higher the standards in our units, the higher the retention rates in
those units. Warriors want to be challenged. Troops want to be tested.
When you don't train and you don't maintain, you demoralize. And that's
when our best people decide to take their talents to the civilian world.
The leaders who created the woke department have already driven out
too many hard chargers. We reverse that trend right now. There is no
world in which high intensity war exists without pain, agony and human
tragedy. We are in a dangerous line of work. You are in a dangerous line
of work. We may lose good people, but let no warrior cry out from the
grave "if only I had been properly trained."
We will not lose warfighters because we failed to train or equip them
or resource them. Shame on us if we do. Train like your warriors lives
depend on it, because they do. To that point, basic training is being
restored to what it should be, scary, tough and disciplined. We're
empowering drill sergeants to instill healthy fear in new recruits,
ensuring that future warfighters are forged.
Yes, they can shark attack, they can toss bunks, they can swear, and
yes, they can put their hands on recruits. This does not mean they can
be reckless or violate the law, but they can use tried and true methods
to motivate new recruits, to make them the warriors they need to be.
Back to basics at basic as well.
Of course, and you know this, basic training is not where mission
readiness should end. The nature of the evolving threat environment
demands that everyone in every job must be ready to join the fight if
needed. A core credo of the Marine Corps is every Marine a rifleman.
It means that everyone, regardless of MOS, is proficient enough to
engage an enemy threat at sea, in the air or in a so-called rear area.
We need to ensure that every member of our uniformed military maintains
baseline proficiency in basic combat skills, especially because the next
war, like the last, will likely not have a rear area.
Finally, as President Trump rightly pointed out when he changed the
department name, the United States has not won a major theater war since
the name was changed to the Department of Defense in 1947. One conflict
stands out in stark contrast, the Gulf War. Why? Well, there's a number
of reasons, but it was a limited mission with overwhelming force and a
clear end state.
But why did we execute and win the Gulf War the way we did in 1991?
There's two overwhelming reasons. One was President Ronald Reagan's
military buildup gave an overwhelming advantage, and two, military and
Pentagon leadership had previous formative battlefield experiences. The
men who led this department during the Gulf War were mostly combat
veterans of the Vietnam War. They said never again to mission creep or
nebulous end states.
The same holds true today. Our civilian and military leadership is
chock full of veterans from Iraq and Afghanistan who say never again to
nation building and nebulous end states. This clear eyed view all the
way to the White House, combined with President Trump's military
buildup, postures us for future victories if, and we will, and when we
embrace the War Department.
And we must. We are preparing every day. We have to be prepared for
war, not for defense. We're training warriors, not defenders. We fight
wars to win, not to defend. Defense is something you do all the time.
It's inherently reactionary and can lead to overuse, overreach and
mission creep. War is something you do sparingly on our own terms and
with clear aims. We fight to win. We unleash overwhelming and punishing
violence on the enemy.
We also don't fight with stupid rules of engagement. We untie the
hands of our warfighters to intimidate, demoralize, hunt and kill the
enemies of our country. No more politically correct and overbearing
rules of engagement, just common sense, maximum lethality and authority
for warfighters.
That's all I ever wanted as a platoon leader. And it's all my E-6
squad leaders ever wanted, back to that E-6 rule. We let our leaders
fight their formations and then we have their back. It's very simple yet
incredibly powerful.
A few months ago, I was at the White House when President Trump
announced his liberation day for America's trade policy. It was a
landmark day. Well, today is another liberation day, the liberation of
America's warriors, in name, in deed and in authorities. You kill people
and break things for a living. You are not politically correct and
don't necessarily belong always in polite society.
We are not an army of one. We are a joint force of millions of
selfless Americans. We are warriors. We are purpose built not for fair
weather, blue skies or calm seas. We were built to load up in the back
of helicopters, five tons, or Zodiacs in the dead of night, in fair
weather or foul to go to dangerous places to find those who would do our
nation harm and deliver justice on behalf of the American people in
close and brutal combat if necessary.
You are different. We fight not because we hate what's in front of
us. We fight because we love what's behind us. You see, the Ivy League
faculty lounges will never understand us. And that's okay, because they
could never do what you do. The media will mischaracterize us. And
that's okay, because deep down they know the reason they can do what
they do is you. In this profession, you feel comfortable inside the
violence so that our citizens can live peacefully. Lethality is our
calling card and victory our only acceptable end state.
In closing, a few weeks ago at our monthly Pentagon Christian prayer
service I recited a commander's prayer. It's a simple yet meaningful
prayer for wisdom for commanders and leaders. I encourage you to look it
up if you've never seen it. But the prayer, it ends like this. And most
of all, Lord, please keep my soldiers safe, lead them, guide them,
protect them, watch over them. And as you gave all of yourself for me,
help me give all of myself for them. And amen.
I've prayed this prayer many times since I've had the privilege of
being your Secretary, and I will continue to pray this prayer for each
of you as you command and lead our nation's finest. Go forth and do good
things, hard things. President Trump has your back and so do I, and
you'll hear from him shortly. Move out and draw fire, because we are the
War Department. Godspeed.
Donald Trump
00:00:00-00:00:21 (21 sec)
Thank
you very much, Pete. And great job you're doing too, fantastic job.
I've never walked into a room so silent before. This is very -- oh,
don't laugh, don't laugh. You're not allowed to do that. You know what,
just have a good time. And if you want to applaud, you applaud. And if
you want to do anything you want -- you can do anything you want.
Donald Trump
00:00:21-00:00:42 (21 sec)
And
if you don't like what I'm saying, you can leave the room. Of course,
there goes your rank, there goes your future, but you just feel nice and
loose, OK, because we're all on the same team. And I was told that,
sir, you won't hear -- you won't hear a murmur in the room. I said, we
got to loosen these guys up a little bit.
Donald Trump
00:00:42-00:01:04 (23 sec)
So
you just have a good time, but I want to thank Secretary Hegseth and
General Caine, General Razin Caine, for a reason they call him that.
When I heard his name, I said, you're the guy I'm looking for. The Joint
Chiefs of Staff and so many others in this room, who together represent
the greatest and most elite fighting force in the history of the world,
the United States military.
Donald Trump
00:01:04-00:01:27 (23 sec)
We're
very proud of our military. I rebuilt the military during my first
term. It's one of the greatest achievements. We had the greatest economy
in history and I built the military. Those are the two things I say
more than anything else. And I also kept us safe at the borders. We had
very good borders. We didn't have people coming in from jails and
prisons and everything like took place over the last four years.
Donald Trump
00:01:27-00:01:55 (27 sec)
They'll
never forget what happened to this country over the last four years
with the incompetence. There could be no higher honor than to serve as
your commander in chief. It is a great honor. I look at you, you just
incredible people, central casting, I might add. To each and every one
of you, I thank you for your unwavering devotion to the armed forces and
to the country that we've all sworn a sacred oath to defend.
Donald Trump
00:01:55-00:02:15 (21 sec)
We
all have that oath, every one of us. I'm thrilled to be here this
morning to address the senior leadership of what is once again known
around the world as the Department of War. I know Pete spoke about it.
He gave a great speech, I thought, great speech. I don't want him to get
so good -- I hate that, you know?
Donald Trump
00:02:15-00:02:36 (20 sec)
No,
I hate it. I almost fired him. I said, you can't -- I don't want to go
on after that. No, he gave -- he gave a great speech, but he talked
about Department of War. We were sitting there, I said, didn't it used
to be called the Department of War? And he goes, yes, sir, they changed
it like in the early 50s. So we won the First World War.
Donald Trump
00:02:36-00:02:54 (19 sec)
We
won the Second World War. We won everything in between and everything
before that. We only won. And then we went, in a way, woke. That was
probably the first sign of woke-ness and we changed it to defense
instead of war. And I said, what do you think -- how do you think if we
change it back? Would that be a nice idea?
Donald Trump
00:02:54-00:03:15 (20 sec)
And
Pete loved it immediately. Some people thought about it. You know, they
gave it a little thought. But in the end, we did it. And I have to be
honest, it's so popular. It's -- I thought it would be met with fury on
the left, but they're sort of giving up, I must be honest with you.
They've had it. They've had it with Trump.
Donald Trump
00:03:15-00:03:32 (18 sec)
They've
been after me for so many years now. Here we are. Here we are. Come to
the White House anytime you'd like. No, they've given up, bad -- a lot
of bad people. But all over that's been so popular. It's been a very
popular. I really thought that we were going to have to sort of fight it
through. There's been no fight.
Donald Trump
00:03:32-00:03:53 (20 sec)
There's
been no fight. Like when I called the Gulf of America, the Gulf of
America, because to me, it was always the Gulf of America. I could never
understand. We have 92 percent of the frontage. And for years, actually
350 years, they were there before us, it was called the Gulf of Mexico.
I just had this idea.
Donald Trump
00:03:53-00:04:24 (31 sec)
I'm
looking at a map. I'm saying, we have most of the frontage, why is it
Gulf of Mexico? Why isn't it the Gulf of America? And I made the change
and it went smoothly. I mean, we had a couple of fake news outlets that
refused to make the change and then one of them, AP took us to court and
we won. And the judge, who was a somewhat liberal judge said, the name
is the Gulf of America, because AP refused to call it the Gulf of
America.
Donald Trump
00:04:24-00:04:41 (17 sec)
They
wrote -- they're not a good outfit by the way. They call it the Gulf of
Mexico. I said, no, the Gulf of America is the name. And the judge
actually said that, in fact, you can't even go into the room because
what you're doing is not appropriate. The name is the Gulf of America.
Google Maps changed the name.
Donald Trump
00:04:41-00:05:04 (23 sec)
Everybody
did, but AP wouldn't. And then we won in court. How about that? Isn't
that so cool. As Secretary Hegseth beautifully described, the name
change reflects far more than the shift in branding. It's really a
historic reassertion of our purpose and our identity and our pride.
That's when we go with the word war.
Donald Trump
00:05:04-00:05:29 (24 sec)
And
you know, we want war because we want to have no wars, but you have to
be there. And you know, sometimes you have to do it. I have settled so
many wars since we're here. We're here almost nine months and I've
settled seven and yesterday we might have settled the biggest of them
all. Although, I don't know, Pakistan, India was very big, both nuclear
powers, I settled that.
Donald Trump
00:05:29-00:05:53 (24 sec)
But
yesterday could be the settlement in the Middle East. That hasn't
happened for 3,000 years. I said, how long have you been fighting? 3,000
years, sir. That's a long time. But we got it, I think, settled. We'll
see. Hamas has to agree. And if they don't, it's going to be very tough
on them, but it is what it is. But all of the Arab nations, Muslim
nations have agreed.
Donald Trump
00:05:53-00:06:13 (20 sec)
Israel
has agreed. It's an amazing thing. It just came together. War is very
strange. You know, you never know what's going to happen with war. The
easiest one of them all is Putin. I said, number one, it's a war that
would have never happened if I were president, if the election were
rigged. And if I were president, that war would have never happened, not
even a little chance.
Donald Trump
00:06:13-00:06:33 (21 sec)
And
it didn't happen for four years. But I knew Putin very well and I
thought that would be easy because I know him so well. Well, that one's
turned out to be the hardest of them all. We had some that were not
sellable and they all got settled. So if this works out, that we did
yesterday with the Middle East, then that's more than a war.
Donald Trump
00:06:33-00:06:51 (18 sec)
That's
lots of wars that's all combined. That's a lot of wars. Many of you
were over there in many different capacities, in many different
countries. That was a -- that's a big -- that's a big part of the earth.
But if that works out, it would be eight plus I'm going to give myself
two or three for that one.
Donald Trump
00:06:51-00:07:21 (29 sec)
And
then we just have the one to settle; we have to settle it up with
President Putin and Zelenskyy, going to get them together and get it
done. But the only way we can do that is through strength. I mean, if we
were weak, they wouldn't even take my phone call. But we have extreme
strength. We had the horror show in Afghanistan, which is really the
reason I think that Putin went in. He saw that horror show by Biden and
his team of incompetent people.
Donald Trump
00:07:21-00:07:41 (20 sec)
And
that showed -- I think it gave him a path in. I wasn't there any
longer. I watched that and it was so, so horrible. I think it was the
most embarrassing day in the history of our country. And now we're back
and that's it. We're not going to have any of that crap happen, I can
tell you. That was terrible, so terrible.
Donald Trump
00:07:41-00:08:07 (26 sec)
Together
we're reawakening the warrior spirit and this is a spirit that won and
built this nation. From the cavalry that tamed the Great Plains to the
ferocious, unyielding power of Patton, Bradley and the great General
Douglas MacArthur -- these were all great men. In this effort we're a
team. And so, my message to you is very simple.
Donald Trump
00:08:07-00:08:33 (26 sec)
I
am with you, I support you and as president I have your backs 100
percent. You'll never see me waver a little bit, that's the way it is.
And that includes our great police officers and firemen and all of these
people that are doing so well. Together over the next few years, we're
going to make our military stronger, tougher, faster fiercer and more
powerful than it has ever been before.
Donald Trump
00:08:33-00:08:59 (26 sec)
I
rebuilt our nuclear, as you probably know, but we'll upgrade that also
and just hope we never have to use it. We have to hope we never have to
use it because the power of that is so incredible. I see things -- I
don't think they'd show it to you. I really wouldn't want them to show
it to you. But when you see the result of what's left, you never want to
use that.
Donald Trump
00:08:59-00:09:28 (29 sec)
Never,
never ever. We were a little bit threatened by Russia recently. And I
sent a submarine -- nuclear submarine, the most lethal weapon ever made.
Number one, you can't detect it, there's no way. We're 25 years ahead
of Russia and China in submarines. Russia is actually second in
submarines, China's third.
Donald Trump
00:09:28-00:09:57 (30 sec)
But
you know, they're coming up, they're coming up. They're way lower in
nuclear too, but in five years they'll be equal. They're coming up. And
you don't have to be that good with nuclear. You could have 1/20th what
you have now and still do the damage that would be, you know -- that'd
be so horrendous. But I announced that based on his mention of nuclear,
and it was really a stupid person that works for him, mentioned the word
nuclear.
Donald Trump
00:09:57-00:10:32 (35 sec)
I
moved a submarine or two, I won't say about the two, over to the coast
of Russia, just to be careful because we can't let people throw around
that word. I call it the "n" word, there are two n words and you can't
use either of them. You can't use either of them. And frankly, if it
does get to use, we have more than anybody else.
Donald Trump
00:10:32-00:10:55 (22 sec)
We
have better, we have newer, but it's something we don't ever want to
even have to think about. But when somebody mentions it, that submarine
started immediately thereafter and it's just lurking. But I'm sure we're
not going to have to use it. But it's an amazing -- it's undetectable
totally. Ours is -- theirs isn't. Theirs are totally detectable.
Donald Trump
00:10:55-00:11:23 (28 sec)
We
can detect them easily. We go right to the spot. But we have a genius
apparatus that doesn't allow detection. It doesn't allow detection at
all by anybody above water or below water. It's incredible, we're way
ahead of everybody in that and other things. As a result of the exciting
renewal of the spirit of our armed forces, and that's what it is, it's
really reaching that spirit, unprecedented heights.
Donald Trump
00:11:23-00:11:44 (21 sec)
Over
the past eight months, new enlistments -- I'm so proud of this -- have
surged to record highs, the highest we've ever had. And we used to have
recruiting shortages. If you remember about a year and a half ago, I was
at the beginning stage of a campaign and things came out that you
couldn't get people to join the armed forces.
Donald Trump
00:11:44-00:12:07 (23 sec)
And
by the way, the police also, fire department. I always put the fire
department in because they're great. They're great, and I got 95 percent
of their vote too, that helps. When you get 95 percent of the vote, you
always have to mention them, but they're great. And they're brave in
our inner cities, which we're going to be talking about because it's a
big part of war now, it's a big part of war.
Donald Trump
00:12:07-00:12:30 (23 sec)
But
the firemen go up on ladders and you have people shooting at them while
they're up on ladders. I don't even know if anybody heard that. And
actually don't talk about it much, but I think you have to. Our firemen
are incredible. They're up on one of these ladders that goes way up to
the sky rescuing people, and you have animals shooting at them --
shooting bullets at firemen that are way up in death territory.
Donald Trump
00:12:30-00:12:50 (20 sec)
You
fall off that ladder, it's over, it's over. They don't even have to
inspect you when you hit the ground. And you have people shooting
bullets at them in some of these inner cities. We're not going to let
that happen. So, I always mention the firemen because that's actually a
big problem we have. They are unbelievable.
Donald Trump
00:12:50-00:13:16 (26 sec)
Like
you, they're unbelievable people. For the first time on record in 2025,
the Navy, Air Force and Space Force all met or surpassed their
recruiting goals three months early. That never happened before, and the
Army did even better. Congratulations, Army. They met everything, and
these were the highest standards because we're making it larger.
Donald Trump
00:13:16-00:13:40 (24 sec)
So,
these were much higher standards than you had four years ago, three
years ago during the Sleepy Joe Biden era. And the Army did it four
months early. And you remember, a year and a half ago, they said the big
stories that we're way behind with the Army, Air Force, the Navy, the
Marines, we're way behind, Coast Guard and even Space Force.
Donald Trump
00:13:40-00:13:58 (18 sec)
I
love Space Force because that was my creation. You know, when you
create something, I love it and the people we put in there were good. I
got that right. We put in great people initially and we really dominated
-- we really dominate in that sphere now we. We were way behind China
and Russia and now we dominate.
Donald Trump
00:13:58-00:14:14 (16 sec)
Space
force turned out to be a very important thing. I said from the
beginning, you know when Biden came into office, he wanted to terminate
it, he said and this thing called Space Force, so we can get rid of
that. And he got hammered by the people in this room for even suggesting
it because it's very important.
Donald Trump
00:14:14-00:14:39 (24 sec)
One
of the most important. And as time goes by, it'll get more and more
important, but we're now at 106 percent of our recruiting targets for
the year, and that's the best in far more than a generation. And for the
Marines, morale is so strong that the Marine Corps will meet its 2026
retention targets before the end of October, which never happens.
Donald Trump
00:14:39-00:15:16 (37 sec)
And
that's the earliest it's ever happened in the history of our country,
and it makes you feel good, you know. I felt guilty. I'd go make a
speech in front of -- never people like you, you are the -- you are the
leaders, but people, soldiers. And I felt embarrassed because there
would be stories about, you know, you couldn't -- we couldn't fill up
our Army, Navy, Air Force, we couldn't fill them up. And it was
headlines, is headlines, it was during Biden's four years -- the
autopen, I call him the Autopen.
Donald Trump
00:15:16-00:15:34 (18 sec)
How
would you like to have your thing signed by an Autopen? You know, when I
have a general and I have to sign for a general because we have
beautiful paper, the gorgeous paper, I said throw a little more gold on
it, they deserve it. Give me, I want the A paper, not the D paper. We
used to sign a piece of garbage, I said this man's going to be a
general, right?
Donald Trump
00:15:34-00:15:59 (26 sec)
Yeah.
I don't want to use this. I want to use the big, beautiful firm paper. I
want to use the real gold writing when you talk about the position. And
they're beautiful and -- but how would you like to have that where you
-- some kid sitting in the back office is having it signed with an
autopen? I thought about it and I thought about you people first,
admirals, generals.
Donald Trump
00:15:59-00:16:22 (23 sec)
I
said somebody works his whole life, he gets into maybe the academies or
wherever. But however you got there and you go through years of work
and now you become an admiral or a general or whatever. And when you do
the president of the United States signs your commission, as you know,
and that commission is beautifully displayed.
Donald Trump
00:16:22-00:16:46 (24 sec)
And
I sign it -- actually, I love my signature, I really do. Everyone loves
my signature. But I signed it very proudly. And I always think to
myself, how can you have an autopen sign this? It's just so
disrespectful. To me it's just totally disrespectful. And it turned out
that almost everything he did was signed by autopen, except for when he
gave his son, Hunter, a pardon, he signed that one.
Donald Trump
00:16:46-00:17:07 (21 sec)
And
that's actually the worst signature I've ever seen. That was a bad --
the autopen looks much better. But as leaders, our commitment to every
patriot who put on the uniform is to ensure that American military
remains the most lethal and dominant on the planet, not merely for a few
years, but for decades and generations to come, for centuries.
Donald Trump
00:17:07-00:17:30 (23 sec)
We
must be so strong that no nation will dare challenge us, so powerful
that no enemy will dare threaten us and so capable that no adversary can
even think about beating us. And we've had it recently. I had -- India
and Pakistan were going at it and I called them both. And in this case, I
used trade, I'm not going to trade with you.
Donald Trump
00:17:30-00:17:50 (20 sec)
You
saw, two nuclear nations, big nuclear. And no, no, no, you cannot do
that. I said, yes, I can. You go into this freaking war that I'm hearing
about -- you know, actually they just shot down seven planes, seven
planes. It was starting. It was a lot of bad blood. And I said, you do
this, there's not going to be any trade.
Donald Trump
00:17:50-00:18:29 (39 sec)
And
I stopped the war. It was going -- it was raging for four days, but
that was just the beginning, and we stopped it. It was a great thing.
And the prime minister of Pakistan was here, along with the field
marshal, who's a very important guy in Pakistan. And he was here three
days ago. And I didn't even realize it as beautiful as he said it, but
he said that to a group of people that were with us, two generals, but a
group, he said, this man saved millions of lives because he saved the
war from going on and that war was going to get very bad, very, very
bad.
Donald Trump
00:18:29-00:18:57 (28 sec)
President
Trump saved millions and millions of lives. That was a bad war. And I
was very honored. I loved the way he said it. Susie Wiles was there. She
said, that was the most beautiful thing. But we saved a lot of them,
saved a lot of them. Even in Africa, we saved the Congo with Rwanda.
They'd been fighting for 31 years, 10 million people dead.
Donald Trump
00:18:57-00:19:22 (24 sec)
I
got that one done and I'm very proud of it. So if this works out, we'll
have eight, eight in eight months. That's pretty good. Nobody's ever
done that. Will you get the Nobel Prize? Absolutely not. They'll give it
-- they'll give it to some guy that didn't do a damn thing. They'll
give it to a guy that wrote a book about the mind of Donald Trump and
what it took to solve the wars.
Donald Trump
00:19:22-00:19:38 (16 sec)
And
he'll get -- the Nobel Prize will go to a writer. No, but we'll see
what happens. But it'll be a big insult to our country, I will tell you
that. I don't want it. I want the country to get it. It should get it
because there's never been anything like it. Think of it. So if this
happens, I think it will.
Donald Trump
00:19:38-00:20:01 (23 sec)
I
don't say that lightly because I know more about deals than anybody.
That's what my whole life was based on. And they can change and this can
certainly change. But we have just about everybody. We have one
signature that we need and that signature will pay in hell if they don't
sign. I hope they sign for their own good and we create something
really great.
Donald Trump
00:20:01-00:20:27 (26 sec)
But
to have done eight of them is just such an honor. And then we have
Putin and Zelenskyy, the easiest one of them all. I said, that one I'll
get done. I thought that was going to be first. The others were much
harder, some of them. Azerbaijan was -- this was going on for 36 years.
They said, it's not solvable, sir.
Donald Trump
00:20:27-00:20:45 (18 sec)
You
can't -- don't do it. I said, I will do it. I will do it. And I got on
the phone with the two countries. They were great. They were great. I
knew immediately. I knew as soon as I started talking to them, we were
going to solve that war. We did. Now they're so happy. Mow they're
friends. One said he's been president for 32 years, 22 years.
Donald Trump
00:20:45-00:21:09 (24 sec)
He
said, you know, for 22 years I did nothing but kill his people. They
were in the room together at the Oval Office. And they started off
spread like this. I have the beautiful resolute desk, and one was here
and one was here. You couldn't get further away. That's the furthest
I've ever seen two people in front of me. And as the hour went by, they
got closer, closer, closer.
Donald Trump
00:21:09-00:21:31 (22 sec)
And
at the end of the hour, we had it done and they hugged and hugged and
hugged. And I said, that's so nice and you're going to remain friends.
And I spoke to them, one of them the other day. He said, no, he's now my
friend. But for 22 years, he's been the head of Azerbaijan for 22 years
and the other guy, great guy too, seven.
Donald Trump
00:21:31-00:21:51 (20 sec)
And
you know, that war, that was a war that was not solvable. He said, for
seven years, the other one said, for 22 years, all I did was kill his
people. That's all I've done. I said, well, we're going to put a stop to
that. So we solved that. So it's a great thing. It's a great feeling.
You know, you're saving Kosovo and Serbia.
Donald Trump
00:21:51-00:22:16 (25 sec)
You're
saving so many lives doing this, if you can do it. But our people
deserve nothing less than the very best and we'll never going to let
them down. And if we can solve wars instead of you having to fight wars,
wouldn't that be wonderful, right? Wouldn't that be wonderful? That's
why one of the first executive orders I signed upon taking office was to
restore the principle of merit.
Donald Trump
00:22:16-00:22:45 (29 sec)
That's
the most important word, other than the word tariff. I love tariffs,
most beautiful word, but I'm not allowed to say that anymore. I said,
tariff is my favorite word. I love the word tariff. You know, we're
becoming rich as hell. We have a big case in front of the Supreme Court,
but I can't imagine -- because this is what other nations have done to
us and we have, you know, great legal grounds, but you still have a case
of being very bad if something happened.
Donald Trump
00:22:45-00:23:07 (22 sec)
But
I said, my favorite word in the English dictionary is the word tariff
and people thought that was strange. And the fake news came over and
they really hit me hard on it. They said, what about love? What about
religion? What about God? What about wife, family? I got killed when I
said tariff is my favorite word, so I changed.
Donald Trump
00:23:07-00:23:31 (24 sec)
It's
now my fifth favorite word and I'm OK with that. I'm OK with that, but
they hit me hard. But it is. I mean, when you look at -- we've taken in
trillions of dollars. We're rich -- rich again and they'll never be --
when we finish this out, they'll never be any wealth like what we have.
Other countries were taking advantage of us for years and years.
Donald Trump
00:23:31-00:23:54 (23 sec)
You
know that better than anybody. And now we're treating them fairly, but
the money coming in is -- we've never seen anything like it. The other
day, they had $31 billion that they found, $31 billion. Sir, we found
$31 billion and we're not sure from where it came. A gentleman came in, a
financial guy. I said, well, what does that mean?
Donald Trump
00:23:54-00:24:18 (23 sec)
He
said, we don't know where it came. I said, check the tariff shelf. No,
sir, the tariffs haven't started in that sector yet. I said, yes, they
have, they started seven weeks ago, check it. Comes back 20 minutes
later, sir, you're right, it came from tariffs. $31 billion, that's
enough to buy a lot of battleships, Admiral, to use an old term.
Donald Trump
00:24:18-00:24:38 (20 sec)
I
think we should maybe start thinking about battleships, by the way. You
know, we have -- Secretary of the Navy came to me -- because I look at
the Iowa out in California and I look at different ships in the old
pictures. I used to watch Victory at Sea. I love Victory at Sea. Look at
these admirals. It's got to be your all time -- in black and white.
Donald Trump
00:24:38-00:24:56 (18 sec)
And
I look at those ships, they came with the destroyers alongside of them
and man, nothing was going to stop. There were 20 deep and they were in a
straight line and there was nothing going to stop them. And we actually
talk about, you know, those ships. Some people would say, no, that's
old technology. I don't know.
Donald Trump
00:24:56-00:25:17 (21 sec)
I
don't think it's old technology when you look at those guns, but it's
something we're actually considering, the concept of battleship, nice
six-inch size, solid steel, not aluminum, aluminum that melts if it
looks at a missile coming at it. It starts melting as the missile is
about two miles away. Now those ships, they don't make them that way
anymore.
Donald Trump
00:25:17-00:25:36 (20 sec)
But
you look at it, and -- your secretary likes it and I'm sort of open to
it. And bullets are a lot less expensive than missiles, a lot of -- a
lot of reasons. I should take a vote, but I'm afraid to take that vote
because I may get voted out on that one. But I tell you, it's something
we're seriously considering.
Donald Trump
00:25:36-00:26:09 (33 sec)
They
were powers. They were big powers. They were just about as mean and
scary as you could be, and so we're looking at that. One of the biggest
cases that we won was the decision of the United States Supreme Court to
allow us to proceed on the word merit, merit. So those two words are
right up there. So this is, I would say, the opposite if you ask for a
definition, the opposite of political correctness.
Donald Trump
00:26:09-00:26:28 (19 sec)
We
went through political correct, where you had to have people that were
totally unfit to be doing what they were doing for many reasons. I won't
get into them. But for many reasons, they were unfit. Now, it's all
based on merit. That was such an unbelievable decision. I didn't expect
we were going to win that one.
Donald Trump
00:26:28-00:26:51 (24 sec)
We
went in, we said we need it. We went in for colleges, you know, where
kids with a C average are getting into the best colleges and the kids
with A averages won't get in. And kids with the highest boards and the
highest marks and the best marks couldn't get into the best schools. And
people that had not good boards and not very good marks, I mean, OK,
but nothing special.
Donald Trump
00:26:51-00:27:19 (27 sec)
They
were getting into our best colleges. I said this is just crazy. We
can't run -- you can't run a country like this. And it was lingering for
years and it got to the Supreme Court and we won that decision, merit.
Everything's based on merit. You're all based on merit. We're not going
to have somebody taking your place for political reasons because they
are politically correct and you're not.
Donald Trump
00:27:19-00:27:38 (20 sec)
We
take the people that are going to do the best job. That's all; it's
very simple. And that's the way our country was built. We were built on
merit. We got away from it for a long time and everyone understands it.
And it was done, it was approved. I give great credit to the Supreme
Court because I thought they had tremendous courage.
Donald Trump
00:27:38-00:28:02 (24 sec)
I
didn't think they'd do that. That was tremendous. I give them maybe for
that decision almost more than anything because it's a hard decision to
make. It's really hard. The apparatus of our country was not set up for
merit; it was set up for political correctness. And you can never be
great if you're going to do that and we're going to be greater than we
ever were before.
Donald Trump
00:28:02-00:28:28 (26 sec)
We're
bringing back a focus on fitness, ability, character and strength. And
that's because the purposes of American military is not to protect
anyone's feelings, it's to protect our republic and it's the republic
that we dearly love. It's to protect our country. We will not be
politically correct when it comes to defending American freedom and we
will be a fighting and winning machine.
Donald Trump
00:28:28-00:28:46 (18 sec)
We
want to fight, we want to win, and we want to fight as little as
possible. You have to count on people like me to keep you out of wars
because we don't want to go into wars. Many of the wars that I just told
you about, we could have entered those wars and settled them in a
different way, lose a lot of our troops.
Donald Trump
00:28:46-00:29:18 (32 sec)
And
we're going to settle them I guess differently, maybe not actually.
Actually, you might not have been able to settle them, but we just would
have been in the middle of a lot of firepower. But when we do need it,
you're going to be so ready, and you know it. But very importantly, with
that goal in mind, I've committed to spending over $1 trillion on our
military in 2026 and that's the most in the history of our country. $1
trillion, that's a lot of money.
Donald Trump
00:29:18-00:29:46 (28 sec)
I
hope you like that, ma'ams and sirs, I hope you like it. That's a hell
of a lot of money. We have the best of everything. Every branch is
seeing major investments. And as I announced in the Oval Office in
March, we are rapidly moving forward with the first ever sixth
generation fighter jet. I didn't name it; I did not name it. Boeing came
in and they said, sir, this is our submittal.
Donald Trump
00:29:46-00:30:22 (37 sec)
It's
the greatest fighting jet ever done and, you know, they're testing all
these planes. All the companies are testing and this one tested like
through the roof. And they said we'd like to name it the F-47. I said
let me think about it. Then after thinking for about two seconds, I said
OK. You know that means 47, I'm 47. So, I'm 45, 46 and 47, you know, if
you think about it, I just don't want the credit for 46. I don't want
to have their open borders and people coming in from all over the world
including jails and mental institutions.
Donald Trump
00:30:22-00:30:43 (21 sec)
I
don't want that on my record, but I like -- I like having it. We're
investing tens of billions of dollars in modernizing our nuclear
deterrence capabilities like never before. And we've begun construction
on what we call the Golden Dome missile defense shield. It will be the
most sophisticated in the world.
Donald Trump
00:30:43-00:31:16 (33 sec)
You
watched it do well until they had some problems at the end with a
little bit of a lack of ammunition, defensive ammunition, but they've
got that taken care of. But I tell you it's -- what we're doing is so
good and we deserve it. You know, we help other countries with it, we
don't have it ourselves. And Canada called me a couple of weeks ago,
they want to be part of it, to which I said, well, why don't you just
join our country, you'd become 51, become the 51st state and you'd get
it for free.
Donald Trump
00:31:16-00:31:38 (22 sec)
So,
I don't know if that made a big impact, but it does make a lot of
sense. It actually makes -- because they're having a hard time up there
in Canada now because, as you know, with tariffs, everyone's coming into
our country. We have more investment than we've ever had before, $17
trillion coming in. As an example, in four years Biden didn't have $1
trillion.
Donald Trump
00:31:38-00:32:02 (24 sec)
We
have $17 trillion more than that in eight months coming in. And they're
coming in from Canada, Mexico, from Europe, from all over -- AI, auto
plants -- everybody's coming back to the United States. Under my budget,
we will be expanding the US Navy by at least 19 ships next year
including submarines, destroyers, assault ships and more.
Donald Trump
00:32:02-00:32:24 (22 sec)
And
it's going to be much more than that as we go along because we
basically don't build ships anymore. We do build submarines, but we
don't build ships. Do you know in the Second World War, they were
freighters and different types, but we were doing a ship a day and now
we don't do ships. And I'm not a fan of some of the ships you do. I'm a
very esthetic person.
Donald Trump
00:32:24-00:32:52 (28 sec)
I
don't like some of the ships you're doing esthetically. They say, oh,
it's stealth. I say that's not stealth. An ugly ship is not necessary in
order to say you're stealth. By the way, the B-2 Bombers were
incredible. That is stealth. They went into that -- I was with General
Caine and every -- and Pete were in the -- we call it the war room, but
we're watching them go in and they were totally untouched.
Donald Trump
00:32:52-00:33:10 (18 sec)
They
were not seen. They were literally not seen. They dropped their bombs.
They hit -- every single one of them hit its target. It was total
obliteration. CNN, when we came back -- fake news CNN. Oh, their camera
just went off. You know, their camera, every time I mention them, they
turn the camera off because it's never good.
Donald Trump
00:33:10-00:33:31 (20 sec)
They
say this is a problem, but I don't blame them. You're better off
keeping it off. But they have some scammer, reporter who started saying,
without any knowledge, that he may not have hit the targets as well as
they thought. It may not have been obliteration. He did hit the targets
-- you've got to give us a little credit, right?
Donald Trump
00:33:31-00:33:52 (21 sec)
It
was obliteration it turned out. The Atomic Energy Commission said it
was obliterated. They had -- not only did they hit the target, they had
these chutes -- and think of this here, way up in the sky, there was no
moon. It was dead dark; you couldn't see a thing -- you couldn't see
them. But they had, I guess, a beam going right into these chutes.
Donald Trump
00:33:52-00:34:10 (19 sec)
Every
single one of those bombs went right down those chutes into a granite
mountain. I think it's the last time they're going to build air chutes
-- they had these air chutes that were nice, beautiful, they were meant
for us. But it was total obliteration and now they give us credit for
that. But these people were phenomenal.
Donald Trump
00:34:10-00:34:42 (32 sec)
I
tell you, for the Air Force people here, you can be very proud. That
B-2, we just ordered a lot of new ones, new ones and updated ones. But
I'd take the other ones. Let me tell you, they couldn't have worked any
better. So, they flew for uh 37 hours total back and forth, no stops, no
nothing. We had 52 tankers loading them up and that's a job I wouldn't
necessarily want too much flying, a tanker loaded up with hundreds of
thousands of gallons of fuel.
Donald Trump
00:34:42-00:35:09 (27 sec)
I
don't know if I'd do that job, General. I asked the question, what
happens if it gets hit? Sir, you don't want to know about that, right? I
don't want to know about that. But those guys, they're just heroes.
They're incredible. I had them all to the Oval Office. We had the B-2
pilots and a lot of the people -- even the people that took care of
them, the maintenance people, just as important, we had them all to the
White House, gave them a big party on the lawn, brought some of them
into the Oval Office.
Donald Trump
00:35:09-00:35:36 (27 sec)
But
on top of all this, we'll deliver a hard earned pay raise of 3.8
percent to every soldier, sailor, airman, Coast Guardsman, Space
Guardsmen and Marines, something you weren't getting from the past
administration. They did not treat you with respect. They're Democrats,
they never do. Not only are we rebuilding our great strength, but for
the first time in years, my administration is actually using that
strength to defend the core and vital interests of America.
Donald Trump
00:35:36-00:36:04 (28 sec)
And
very simply, we are putting America first. And I have since I've been
elected, I've always put America first. It's sort of simple, you know,
when you think. It's -- my campaign was run on common sense and we did
great. We had the highest numbers every received in terms of, uh
districts. You know, they have it broken up: 2,500 versus 525. We won
every swing state.
Donald Trump
00:36:04-00:36:24 (20 sec)
We
won the popular vote. We won everything. We won everything. You have to
take a look at the map. It's almost entirely red, except there's a
little blue line on each coast, and I think that's going to disappear,
too. We did really great, and part of it is because of our success with
the military, the rebuilding of the military, the vote that I got from
the military.
Donald Trump
00:36:24-00:36:41 (16 sec)
And
they were -- they're vicious people, you know, that we have to fight,
just like you have to fight vicious people. Mine are different, a
different kind of vicious. But they spread all these horrible -- you
know, they made up statements, and said what I said about everything,
but even about the military.
Donald Trump
00:36:41-00:37:01 (21 sec)
But
fortunately, the military didn't believe it. It's hard. You know, they
make up a statement and they say you say it. We had 25 people that said
he never said that. 25. We had 25 affidavits. And they said, well, we're
going with it anyway. You know, these sleazebags. And that's why the
press is really losing all power, because people aren't believing it. We
need an honest press.
Donald Trump
00:37:01-00:37:21 (20 sec)
We
need borders. We need borders, we need an honest press, we need fair
elections. I mean those three things. And we don't have an honest press.
We have a really corrupt press, but we fight through the corrupt press,
and the people understand. You have to do this stuff a lot. You have to
go on television a lot because you can't get a fair shake if you're
going to rely on somebody else.
Donald Trump
00:37:21-00:37:44 (23 sec)
It's
-- they're just -- they don't understand. They've destroyed the -- the
image of media now is at the lowest point it's ever been. It's lower
than Congress. Can you believe that? It's something. But together, with
many of you in the room, we've brought back the fundamental principle
that defending the homeland is the military's first and most important
priority.
Donald Trump
00:37:44-00:38:07 (23 sec)
That's
what it is. Only in recent decades did politicians somehow come to
believe that our job is to police the far reaches of Kenya and Somalia,
while America is under invasion from within. We're under invasion from
within, no different than a foreign enemy, but more difficult in many
ways because they don't wear uniforms.
Donald Trump
00:38:07-00:38:28 (21 sec)
At
least when they're wearing a uniform, you can take them out. These
people don't have uniforms. But we are under invasion from within. We're
stopping it very quickly. After spending trillions of dollars defending
the borders of foreign countries, with your help, we're defending the
borders of our country from now on. We're not going to let this happen.
Donald Trump
00:38:28-00:39:04 (36 sec)
Biden
let people come in from prisons, mental institutions, drug dealers,
murderers. You know, we had 11,488 murderers allowed into our country by
this guy who had no clue. He had no clue. He shouldn't have been there
in the first place, but he had no clue. The people that ran the office,
the White House, were, people that surrounded him, radical left lunatics
that are brilliant people, but dumb as hell when it came to policy and
common sense.
Donald Trump
00:39:04-00:39:25 (21 sec)
And
they allowed people from all over the world, from the Congo. They
opened up prisons in the Congo. They came into our country totally
unmatched, unvetted, unchecked. And from all over South America, not
just South America. You know, you think South America, no, but from all
over. A lot came in from Venezuela.
Donald Trump
00:39:25-00:39:53 (28 sec)
Venezuela
emptied its prison population into our country. That's why they have
Tren de Aragua, one of the worst gangs ever, but we took care of them.
We took good, strong care of them and I just want to thank the National
Guard in Washington D.C. It was -- it's embarrassing to say this. Now I
can say it because we solved it, but Washington D.C. was the most
unsafe, most dangerous city in the United States of America.
Donald Trump
00:39:53-00:40:15 (22 sec)
And
to a large extent, beyond and beyond that. Go to some -- you go to
Afghanistan, they didn't have anything like that. You go to countries
that you would think there's problems, they didn't have that. And now,
Washington D.C. after 12 days of serious, serious intensity, we took out
1,700 career criminals.
Donald Trump
00:40:15-00:40:33 (18 sec)
If
you have five career criminals, they can make your numbers look very
bad because they'll commit many crimes a day. But we took out 1,700, and
they took them out. There was no doubt who the boss was. They did an
unbelievable job. Then they started even cleaning. I said, I don't want
them doing that. Sir, they wanted.
Donald Trump
00:40:33-00:40:51 (18 sec)
They
were cleaning it up. I drove through it two days ago, it was beautiful.
People were walking down the street, holding hands. Man and wife coming
from Iowa, they're not worried about being shot. Washington D.C. is now
a safe city. In fact, I went out to dinner with my crew. I haven't done
that. In theory.
Donald Trump
00:40:51-00:41:16 (25 sec)
I
wouldn't do it. And I felt totally safe. And nobody's been attacked.
Nobody's been hurt. Washington D.C. went from our most unsafe city to
just about our safest city in a period of a month. We had it under
control in 12 days, but give us another 15 or 16 days, it was -- it's
perfect. And people other than politicians that look bad, they think.
Donald Trump
00:41:16-00:41:39 (23 sec)
You
know, the Democrats run most of the cities that are in bad shape. We
have many cities in great shape too, by the way. I want you to know
that. But it seems that the ones that are run by the radical left
Democrats, what they've done to San Francisco, Chicago, New York, Los
Angeles, they're very unsafe places and we're going to straighten them
out one by one.
Donald Trump
00:41:39-00:41:58 (18 sec)
And
this is going to be a major part for some of the people in this room.
That's a war too. It's a war from within. Controlling the physical
territory of our border is essential to national security. We can't let
these people live. You know, we had no people enter in the last four
months, zero. Even I can't believe that.
Donald Trump
00:41:58-00:42:17 (19 sec)
You
know, we had millions coming in, pouring in. 25 million all told and of
those 25 million, many of them should never be in our country. They
would take their worst people and their people from prisons and jail and
they put them in a caravan and they'd walk up. CNN was interviewing one
person. Oh, why are you coming?
Donald Trump
00:42:17-00:42:39 (22 sec)
I
want freedom. Good. Were you in jail? Yes. For what? Murder. I said,
you're in for -- you had to see this anchor, a young woman. She's like I
couldn't believe. She'll probably lose her job, but -- because the left
doesn't want to hear that. But we're running it based on common sense
and based on love of our country.
Donald Trump
00:42:39-00:43:01 (22 sec)
But
I want to salute every service member who has helped us carry out this
critical mission. It's really a very important mission. And I told Pete,
we should use some of these dangerous cities as training grounds for
our military National Guard, but military, because we're going into
Chicago very soon. That's a big city, with an incompetent governor,
stupid governor, stupid.
Donald Trump
00:43:01-00:43:25 (24 sec)
They
threw him out of his family business. He was so stupid. I know the
family. He becomes governor. He's got money, not money that he made. But
he ran for governor, he won and now he criticizes us all the time. And
last week they had 11 people murdered, 44 people shot. The week before
that, they had five people murdered, 28 people shot.
Donald Trump
00:43:25-00:43:43 (19 sec)
Every
weekend they lose five, six. If they lose five, they're considering it a
great week. They shouldn't lose any. You shouldn't lose any. This is
civilization. And he's always up there saying, we're in very good shape,
we don't need the military. No, they need the military desperately. How
about Portland?
Donald Trump
00:43:43-00:44:06 (23 sec)
Portland,
Oregon, where it looks like a war zone. And I get a call from the
liberal governor, sir, please don't come in, we don't need you. I said,
well, unless they're playing false tapes, this looked like World War II.
Your place is burning down. I mean, you must be kidding. Sir, we have
it under control.
Donald Trump
00:44:06-00:44:29 (23 sec)
I
said, you don't have it under control, governor, but I'll check it and
I'll call you back. I called him back, I said, you -- this place is a
nightmare. It's probably -- it's certainly not the biggest, but it's one
of the worst. It's brutal. They go after our ICE people, who are great
patriots and -- tough job too, but they love it. They love it because
they're cleaning up our country.
Donald Trump
00:44:29-00:45:06 (37 sec)
And
so you look at some of the things where they took over parts of
Seattle. They actually took over a big percentage of Seattle. Think of
that. You remember that. That was a while ago. And I sent in the troops
and they were gone as soon as I sent them in. Oh, when we send in the
troops, if you have a real leader that says you're going to do what you
have to do. I put that out the other day, you got to do what you got to
do, because we don't want our people hurt as they stand by. I was
watching -- during Biden, they had troops standing up like this, brave,
standing up at attention, the way I should stand all the time, and --
like this.
Donald Trump
00:45:06-00:45:34 (28 sec)
And
people are standing there. Their mouth is this far away from their
mouth and they're spitting at them and they're screaming at them. And
that soldier standing there, he wants to knock the hell out of the
person, but he's not allowed to do anything. So they just stand there
and they get abused. And a woman was this far away from his face and she
starts spitting in his face and he's not allowed to do anything.
Donald Trump
00:45:34-00:46:00 (26 sec)
If
it's OK with you generals and admirals, I've taken that off. I say,
they spit, we hit. Is that OK? I think so. They spit -- it's a new
thing. They spit, we hit. How about the cars, where the cars are coming
at -- they get brand new cars, border patrol, ICE, beautiful, nice, new
cars. And they're driving along and they have to go through a gauntlet
of rocks being thrown at the car.
Donald Trump
00:46:00-00:46:32 (31 sec)
So
here's this beautiful, brand-new car. By the time it goes 100 yards,
it's destroyed. These guys have pretty good arms, some of them, and
they're throwing bricks at full force into the window and into the car.
It looks like it's a war zone. And I said, never let that happen again.
From now on if that ever happens, and I say it here, you get out of that
car and you can do whatever the hell you want to do, because those
people are -- you know, you can die from that.
Donald Trump
00:46:32-00:46:47 (15 sec)
Those
bricks go through the windows, you can die. They'd like it to. They'd
like it to go through the window. But this was a couple of months ago,
they just kept driving and bricks are hitting the car. And I said, why
aren't they stopping? Because they were under orders from the past
administration, never stop.
Donald Trump
00:46:47-00:47:08 (21 sec)
But
that's different with this. We stop. And since I gave that order, we
haven't had that problem. It's very interesting. It's amazing. It's just
like in Venezuela you've seen the boats going. We can't find any more
boats. They're carrying drugs, massive -- every boat kills about 25,000
people. That's what they have.
Donald Trump
00:47:08-00:47:34 (26 sec)
They
had fentanyl mostly and a lot of other drugs. And we take them out and
we've taken out four, so. And it's on air. Everybody gets to see it, not
that we like to do that. But every boat kills 25,000 on average, 20 --
some people say more. You know, you see these boats, they're stacked up
with bags of white powder, that's mostly fentanyl and other drugs too.
Donald Trump
00:47:34-00:47:57 (22 sec)
And
now we have a problem. General Caine says, sir, there are no boats out
there, not even fishing boats. They don't want to go fishing. I don't
blame them. There'll be no fishing today, you know. But it's amazing
what strength will do because all we want to do is stop drugs from
flowing into our country, it's destroying -- we lost -- 300,000 people
died last year.
Donald Trump
00:47:57-00:48:22 (25 sec)
Everybody
knows friends, many friends probably, that you lost a child or adults
too, but you lost a son or daughter because of what's coming into our
border. And we're making it very hard -- oh, and we haven't even started
yet. Last month, I signed an executive order to provide training for a
quick reaction force that can help quell civil disturbances.
Donald Trump
00:48:22-00:48:44 (22 sec)
This
is going to be a big thing for the people in this room because it's the
enemy from within and we have to handle it before it gets out of
control. It won't get out of control, once you're involved, at all. They
all joke, they say, oh, this is not good. You saw it in Washington. We
had gangs of Tren de Aragua, say 10, 12, 15 kids.
Donald Trump
00:48:44-00:49:07 (23 sec)
And
these military guys walk up to them, and they treat them with
disrespect, and they just got pounded. They just got pounded, the gang
just pounded, then thrown into paddy wagons and taken back to their
country. Some are so dangerous we don't even do that because -- we don't
want to -- some of them, stone-cold murderers.
Donald Trump
00:49:07-00:49:30 (23 sec)
We
don't have the confidence, even though they're not coming back very
easily, we don't have the confidence. We put them in jails. But these
service members are following in a great and storied military tradition
from protecting frontier communities to chasing outlaws and bandits in
the Wild West. And our history is filled with military heroes who took
on all enemies, foreign and domestic.
Donald Trump
00:49:30-00:49:55 (25 sec)
You
know that phrase very well, that's what the oath says, foreign and
domestic. Well, we also have domestic. George Washington, Abraham
Lincoln, Grover Cleveland, George Bush and others all used the armed
forces to keep domestic order and peace. Many of our leaders used the
military to keep peace. Now they like to say, oh, you're not allowed to
use the military.
Donald Trump
00:49:55-00:50:17 (22 sec)
And
you know what the people say, the people in those cities where they're
being raped and shot and beat up, you know, they say we love the
military. You ever see where they're interviewing the people on the
street? I've never seen somebody say they don't unless they're radical
and paid off because a lot of these insurrectionists are paid by --
whether it's Soros or other people, but they're paid by the radical
left.
Donald Trump
00:50:17-00:50:39 (22 sec)
So,
today, I want to thank every service member from general to private who
has bravely helped us secure the nation's capital and make America safe
for the American people. It's amazing. The whole world is watching.
Everybody in the White House, they come up to me, young women, sir,
thank you. I know immediately what they're thinking, they don't have to
say it. They walk to work now to the White House.
Donald Trump
00:50:39-00:51:08 (29 sec)
We
haven't had a crime in Washington in so long because we got the careers
-- we call them the careers. We got these lunatics out and they'll
never be any good. You know, I hate to tell this to the liberal media.
You could spend time with them. You could do whatever you want. You
could send them to the finest schools, which they couldn't get into
anyway, mentally they couldn't get in. But no matter what you do,
they'll never be good.
Donald Trump
00:51:08-00:51:38 (31 sec)
They're
bad. They're career criminals. They're -- I don't know, maybe they were
born that way. Some people don't like me to say that, but maybe they
were. Certainly, some were. Together with the leaders here today, we're
also restoring a needed focus on defeating threats in the Western
Hemisphere. Throughout this region, cartel terrorists have been allowed
to wage a relentless campaign of death and destruction on our country,
all because we had weak leadership on top.
Donald Trump
00:51:38-00:52:01 (22 sec)
And
we did a great job with it first term, but this is something else what
we're doing now. We're taking it to the next level -- probably next
level times three. But we had COVID come up and we had to take care of
that. We did a great job with COVID. We had the therapeutics -- it was
just Regeneron. So many things we did for COVID, but we had to focus on
that.
Donald Trump
00:52:01-00:52:29 (28 sec)
And
every other country in the world was being decimated by COVID. So, we
had to change gear a little bit to take care of that. But under our
leadership, the military is now the knife's edge in combating this
sinister enemy. We have to put the traffickers and cartels on notice,
and we've done that, and we've put them -- a lot of them, we've called
them a terrorist organization, which is actually a big thing to do.
Nobody's done it, but I've done it with a lot of them.
Donald Trump
00:52:29-00:53:01 (32 sec)
It
gives you a tremendous advantage. If you try to poison our people, we
will blow you out of existence because that's the only language they
really understand. That's why you don't see any more boats on the ocean.
You don't see any boats around Venezuela there's nothing. As president,
I will never hesitate to defend our people from threats of violence
from the horrible plague that's taking place from within.
Donald Trump
00:53:01-00:53:31 (30 sec)
The
Iran nuclear power, the Iran -- all of the great power that we thought
existed. We blew it out to Kingdom. We took advantage of it and we just
really took advantage of it and it was a beautiful thing to see and
that's what military power can achieve. That's why I chose Razin Caine.
He's fantastic by the way.
Donald Trump
00:53:31-00:53:52 (21 sec)
I
hope you all agree. If anybody disagrees, could I please have your
hand? Who disappears that Razin Caine is no good? Just raise your hand. I
don't see any hands raised, all right. That means you're OK. That means
that he's OK now, but I saw his results. He took out ISIS. I was told
he was going to take four years; it took four weeks.
Donald Trump
00:53:52-00:54:14 (22 sec)
I
went to see him, and he took him out in four weeks, knocked them out,
knocked them to hell. And I was told by military people; it was going to
take four to five years to do it. And I don't even know if we'll have
it then, sir. These were the Washington generals; I call them the
television generals. But Razin Caine did it in four weeks, took out 100
percent of the ISIS caliphate.
Donald Trump
00:54:14-00:54:33 (19 sec)
As
a result of these actions and many others since my inauguration, we are
witnessing the triumphant return of peace through strength. We have
great peace through strength. America is respected again as a country.
We were not respected with Biden. They looked at him falling down stairs
every day. Every day, the guy's falling down stairs.
Donald Trump
00:54:33-00:54:58 (25 sec)
I
said it's not our president. We can't have it. I'm very careful. You
know, when I walk downstairs for -- like I'm on stairs like these
stairs, I'm very -- I walk very slowly. Nobody has to set a record, just
try not to fall because it doesn't work out well. A few of our
presidents have fallen and it became a part of their legacy.
Donald Trump
00:54:58-00:55:27 (29 sec)
We
don't want that, need to walk nice and easy. You don't have to set any
record, be cool. Be cool when you walk down but don't -- don't bop down
the stairs. So, one think with Obama, I had zero respect for him as the
president, but he would bop down those stairs -- I've never seen, da da
da da da da, bop, bop, bop, he'd go down the stairs, wouldn't hold on. I
said, great, I don't want to do it. I guess I could do it, but
eventually bad things are going to happen and it only takes once.
Donald Trump
00:55:27-00:55:55 (28 sec)
But
he did a lousy job as president. A year ago, we were a dead country. We
were dead; this country was going to hell. We were dead in every way,
from immigration to miliary. We didn't have the weapons, we had given
everything to Ukraine, we had nothing. And by the way, I have to tell
you, now, as you know, I went over and I met with NATO.
Donald Trump
00:55:55-00:56:24 (29 sec)
And
NATO raised from 2 to 5, which everyone said 5 percent of GDP. Millions
and now trillions of dollars are pouring in. They didn't pay the 2
percent because we were there to pay it. And now they've paid the 5
percent. That's trillions of dollars and we're not spending any money on
that one, not $0.10. We sell our equipment to NATO; NATO pays us for
the equipment, and they give it to Ukraine -- or whoever they give it
to, but they can keep it. But we're not involved; we have no money going
out.
Donald Trump
00:56:24-00:56:50 (26 sec)
Biden
gave $350 billion -- not sustainable -- $350 billion, and we have a war
that should have never started. But we're not doing that anymore, so I
just want you to know, we're selling equipment, our people are buying
equipment -- they are buying the equipment at full price, a fair price.
So, I don't want to say we're making money because our -- I don't want
to say -- I don't want to be making money on a war.
Donald Trump
00:56:50-00:57:11 (21 sec)
It's
too many people dying. They're losing 7,000 soldiers a week. A lot of
them are Russian soldiers, but between the two countries. Mostly
soldiers, by the way. Sometimes, you know, in Kyiv they'll lob a missile
in or some drones in, kill some people. But mostly, it's soldiers.
Russia and Ukraine are losing 7,000 souls.
Donald Trump
00:57:11-00:57:32 (21 sec)
And
you know, they're not -- they're not American. They're not us. They're
not you, where I have a special obligation. But they're soldiers,
they're young people. They leave their parents, they wave goodbye. And
then two days later, they're blown up so unnecessarily. And so that's
the primary reason I want to get it done.
Donald Trump
00:57:32-00:57:53 (21 sec)
We
got to get it done. It's crazy what's going on. That's the worst war
there's been since World War II. The number of soldiers that are being
killed. There is just crazy. From 5,000 to 7,000 soldiers die a week,
think of that. So I think we'll get that done, but that's turned out to
be the toughest one. I'm so disappointed in President Putin.
Donald Trump
00:57:53-00:58:18 (25 sec)
I
thought he would get this thing over with. He should have had that war
done in a week. And I said to him, you know, you don't look good. You're
four years fighting a war that should have taken a week. Are you a
paper tiger? And it's a shame, but I think eventually we'll get that one
done just like we -- in theory, I want to knock on wood because you
never know.
Donald Trump
00:58:18-00:58:39 (21 sec)
It's
like we're going to have the Middle East done, which is actually a much
harder thing to do. I mean, thousands of years, but we have to get that
war done. So now we're -- just think of it, we were a dead country. I
was with the king of Saudi Arabia, a great guy. I was with the Emir of
Qatar. I was with the great leadership of UAE.
Donald Trump
00:58:39-00:59:08 (28 sec)
I
was over there. We brought back $2 trillion and more. They ordered 200
planes, Boeing's. They ordered so much and they were great, but they all
said essentially the same thing. They said, one year ago, you were a
dead country and now you're the hottest country anywhere in the world.
We are. We're the hottest country in the world right now, the absolute
hottest country in the world.
Donald Trump
00:59:08-00:59:30 (22 sec)
We
have -- there's nobody even close. Putin said that to me. We met in
Alaska. We had a good meeting. Then he went back and started sending
drones into Kyiv. I said, I thought we had a good meeting, but it's one
of those things. But we were a dead country a year ago and now we're the
hottest country anywhere in the world.
Donald Trump
00:59:30-00:59:51 (22 sec)
Think
of that. You could be proud of that. And you must have felt like hell,
when you have a wife or a husband at home and you used to read the
numbers that we can't get people to join the Army, Navy, Air Force,
Marines, Coast Guard. You must have felt like, you know, I have a job
that nobody wants. That doesn't feel good.
Donald Trump
00:59:51-01:00:11 (19 sec)
Well,
now you have a job that is brimming over with people wanting it. They
want it. And you're able to get a much higher quality because now you
have your choice. You know, you want so many and we're going to have
many, many people that aren't going to be able to join because of the
fact that we don't -- you know, we don't need them at this moment.
Donald Trump
01:00:11-01:00:30 (20 sec)
But
think of it, what a difference that is from -- I could just imagine two
years ago, you're reading front page articles in the New York Times, of
course, and Wall Street Journal. They always give us unfair stories,
but they played it so big. They were playing it so big, nobody wants to
join the Army, the Marines, the Air Force.
Donald Trump
01:00:30-01:00:55 (24 sec)
They
want -- they don't want to join. They don't want to join the Coast
Guard at all. Nobody wants to join. Nobody wants to join our police
forces, our police forces also. It almost went hand-in-hand. And I used
to say, boy, you know, I'm speaking in front of the military today and
it's embarrassing because I'm speaking in front of people who have a job
that other people don't want.
Donald Trump
01:00:55-01:01:17 (22 sec)
But
now you have a job that everybody wants. So I think that has to make
you feel good. It's one of the reasons I love being here today because I
wanted to say that. I have to say that. Everybody wants to be in the
Army, the Navy, the Air Force, the Marines. If you think -- the Coast
Guard and Space Force, our beautiful Space Force, it's a whole different
world.
Donald Trump
01:01:17-01:01:38 (22 sec)
And
now they're signing up, by the way, seriously big numbers for the
police. Dangerous job, isn't it, huh, fire department. But that's the
paving the way for progress once thought almost impossible. I mean, a
year ago, you wouldn't have thought that was possible. A year ago they
were talking about making the military smaller because they can't get
the people to join.
Donald Trump
01:01:38-01:01:59 (21 sec)
We're
thinking about making it larger because we have so many people. And
it's nice to be able to cut people because of merit that aren't really
qualified for any reason, a physical reason, a mental reason. You don't
have to take them anymore because you have -- you have the pick of the
litter and they all want to be with you.
Donald Trump
01:01:59-01:02:23 (23 sec)
They
all want your job. They want to be with you. They want to work with
you. They'll even take your job, you know? You got to be a little bit
sharp. You got to watch it. But everybody wants to be doing what you're
doing now. What a difference when I speak to you and I can say that as
opposed to a couple of years ago when I was talking to rooms, where they
were desperate to get people and they couldn't get them.
Donald Trump
01:02:23-01:02:46 (24 sec)
What
a difference a presidential election can make. That's all it is. It's
just a presidential election. Yesterday at the White House, we put
forward a plan for peace in Gaza. We announced it and we're going to
create something that was my idea. But unfortunately, I got drafted.
It's going to be called the Board of Peace and it's going to reign over
that territory.
Donald Trump
01:02:46-01:03:09 (22 sec)
And
we're going to get that done and they asked if I'd be the chairman of
the Board of Peace, I wasn't counting on that. I had the idea for the
Board of Peace, but I said yes. And I guess because of that, every
leader, every -- everybody wants to be on the Board of Peace. And we're
going to watch over that very volatile part of the world and keep it
nonvolatile, so you don't have to get involved.
Donald Trump
01:03:09-01:03:25 (16 sec)
We
want to save you for other things or save you for nothing from that
standpoint. We don't want you fighting wars, but if you have to, you're
going to be -- you're the most lethal fighting force in the world. And I
would say that even two or three years ago, but now I say it with great
enthusiasm. It's so true.
Donald Trump
01:03:25-01:03:44 (20 sec)
And
we're striving tirelessly to end the terrible war in Ukraine. And as
you know, we're also working hard to get the allies to share more of the
burden of our defense. Much of that has really already taken place, but
all NATO members have committed to the increase that I talked about.
Think of that. That was unthinkable.
Donald Trump
01:03:44-01:04:09 (24 sec)
It
used to be one percent, then we got it up to two in my last term and
they did not like it. And now I got it to five and I get along great
with all of them. In fact, they call me the President of NATO. I said, I
don't think so. But they're great. They're great people and they're
spending a lot of -- they're spending a lot of money and a lot of money
that they should have been spending in the past.
Donald Trump
01:04:09-01:04:35 (26 sec)
But
I think Putin -- was a wake-up call for them, really. We're now selling
large quantities of American made weapons to NATO and we're getting
really fair pricing. We're making a lot of money. It's my hope that from
Europe to Asia, to the Middle East, our allies will make similar
commitments to increase their military capabilities and this will
greatly strengthen our alliances.
Donald Trump
01:04:35-01:04:58 (23 sec)
And
also, it will make war far less likely. You know, if you have a strong
-- if you're a strong presence like we are, we are such a strong
presence now. And I go around bragging about that. I said, we have the
strongest military anywhere in the world. I say it. You never heard
Biden say that. You never heard him say anything, but you never heard
him say -- did you ever hear him say we have the strongest military?
Donald Trump
01:04:58-01:05:20 (22 sec)
He
doesn't say that. I say it. We have the strongest military anywhere in
the world and we have great leadership. And I'll tell you, Pete and
General Caine and all of the people that I've met that have been lifted
up in rank. And we got many of them out of here. To be honest with you, I
didn't like doing it, but we got many of you out of here because we
weren't satisfied.
Donald Trump
01:05:20-01:05:42 (22 sec)
We
have -- we know everything about everybody. It'll also help the United
States rapidly rebuild our defense industrial base. Each of you can play
an important part in getting allies to do their part. So to that end,
Secretary Hegseth will soon be announcing major reforms to streamline
military acquisitions and expedite foreign military sales.
Donald Trump
01:05:42-01:06:03 (21 sec)
We
have tremendous numbers of countries that want to buy our equipment.
And you know, in many cases, it takes too long. They're backlogged.
We're backlogged on all the equipment, which is something that's new to
us a little bit. And I told those companies, you better get your ass
going, because we're buying -- we're selling you a lot of equipment.
Donald Trump
01:06:03-01:06:22 (18 sec)
We're
getting countries to buy your equipment. You got to produce the
equipment. Some of the countries -- I'm not going to mention, but some
of the countries are buying a lot. And that's a good thing. They're on
our side, 95 percent. I'll never say 100 percent because they can always
turn, right? You know about that.
Donald Trump
01:06:22-01:06:41 (19 sec)
But
they're on our side. The problem is, we have to get the companies that
make this equipment -- and we make the best equipment in the world, but
they got to make it faster. We have orders for the F-35. We have orders
for everything, the new F-47. We have orders for everything. They got to
make it faster, a lot faster.
Donald Trump
01:06:41-01:07:09 (28 sec)
Ammunition,
they have to make faster. In the coming months, we'll be making even
more historic announcements to fully embrace the identity of the
Department of War, I love the name, I think it's so great. I think it
stops wars. The Department of War is going to stop wars. If we are as
ruthless and relentless as our enemies, the United States Armed Forces
will be totally unmatched in the future.
Donald Trump
01:07:09-01:07:36 (27 sec)
We
have a group of enemies that are very ruthless and very smart, but they
can't match us. They can't match us. They don't even come close to
matching us. Again, you know, it's very important for me to say we have
the greatest military in the world, but we make the best equipment in
the world. I watched our anti-missile missiles; I watched our patriots
just knock things out like a needle hitting another needle on this
stage.
Donald Trump
01:07:36-01:08:08 (32 sec)
There's
a needle up there and you send another needle up and it hits it every
time. During the war, we went 14 for 14. We had 14 -- this is with Iran.
We had 14 missiles coming at us. All 14 were knocked out of the sky,
every one of them. We make the best equipment. From Sparta to Rome to
the British Empire to the United States of America, history has shown
that military supremacy has never been simply a matter of money or
manpower.
Donald Trump
01:08:08-01:08:32 (24 sec)
At
the end of the day, it is the culture, the spirit of our military that
truly sets us apart from any other nation. Our ultimate strength will
always come from the fierce people and those brilliant -- people with
such pride and the unbending will and the traditions of excellence that
have made us the most unstoppable force ever to walk the face of the
earth.
Donald Trump
01:08:32-01:08:53 (21 sec)
And
that's what we are. Remember, we never want to use it, but we have the
most powerful nuclear capability, and I call it nuclear deterrent of any
other country, nobody close. The men and women in this room inherit the
legacy built and won by Washington and Jackson, Grant and Pershing,
Eisenhower and Patton, Nimitz and LeMay.
Donald Trump
01:08:53-01:09:40 (46 sec)
We
carry forward the majestic military heritage passed down from father to
son, soldier to soldier and one generation of warriors to the next. You
are warriors, you know that, right? You're great warriors or you
wouldn't be in this room. You're the best of the best. From Concord
Bridge to Fort McHenry, from Gettysburg to Manila Bay, from Normandy to
Sicily, and from the jungles of Vietnam to the dusty streets of Baghdad,
America's military has charged into hellfire, climbed up jagged
mountains, crossed roaring oceans, and thundered across open deserts to
defend our flag, our freedom and our homeland.
Donald Trump
01:09:40-01:10:12 (32 sec)
Nobody
does it like you. Now we are discovering American muscle, reasserting
American might and beginning the next story/chapter in American military
legends and lore, that's l-o-r-e. It is lore. When it comes to
defending our way of life, nothing will slow us, no enemy will stop us.
They cannot stop us. And no adversary will stand in our way.
Donald Trump
01:10:12-01:10:38 (26 sec)
They
won't stand in our way. We don't want them to stand in our way. We
don't want to even put them in that position, but they're not going to
stand in our way ever again. You'll never see four years like we had
with Biden and that group of incompetent people that ran this country
that should have never been there, because we had the United States
military the best, the boldest, the bravest that the world has ever
seen, that the world has ever known.
Donald Trump
01:10:38-01:10:55 (18 sec)
With
leaders like we have right here in this beautiful room today, we will
vanquish every danger and crush every threat to our freedom in every
generation to come, because we will fight, fight, fight and we will win,
win, win.
Donald Trump
01:10:55-01:11:06 (10 sec)
I
want to just thank you once again and God bless the United States
military and God bless America; God bless you all. Thank you very much.
Thank you.
No comments:
Post a Comment