President Trump speaks to U.S. troops stationed at Al Udeid Air Base in Doha, Qatar.
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00:00Thank you very much, everybody. This is an honor.
00:04What a beautiful group of people you are.
00:07You are good and I wish I looked like you.
00:09I would have been president 20 years ago if I looked like you.
00:13But I want to give a special hello to Al Udeid Air Base,
00:19sometimes referred to as the Deed.
00:22It's a sinister term, the Deed, today.
00:25We can all relax and be at ease and we're going to have a little fun.
00:29I have nothing else to do, so let's have a little fun, right?
00:38I'm thrilled to be here with the men and women who embody American strength
00:42and pride the warriors of the United States Armed Forces.
00:46It's an amazing group of people.
00:49You are, without a doubt, the greatest fighting force in the history of the world.
00:53That's the way it is. I said it last night. I said it strong.
00:56We have the strongest military in the world, not even a contest.
01:00We have the best equipment. Nobody has equipment like us.
01:03Nobody has the planes or the missiles or anything else.
01:07And as your commander-in-chief, I'm here to say that America's military
01:12will soon be bigger, better, stronger and more powerful than ever before.
01:16We just did a budget. The budget was the highest by far, over a trillion dollars.
01:22It's a lot. It's a lot of stuff.
01:25And hopefully it's peaceful strength. Hopefully we don't have to use it
01:28because if we use it, I feel sorry for the other guy, but we don't want to have to use it.
01:35I want to recognize a true warrior, and that's our Secretary of Defense.
01:39They put him through hell, the radical left did, and he's incredible.
01:46You know, he went to the best schools. He did the best stuff.
01:50He's a smart guy, and he's a great guy.
01:52Just listen to his words standing backstage when he was speaking,
01:56and he really has it right on the back.
01:59He's going to be great. You're going to love this guy.
02:02You're going to love him.
02:03And I also want to influence you to try for a man who's a great influencer.
02:20In fact, my son, Barry, said, Dad, you've got to do an interview
02:24with somebody I hadn't heard of.
02:27But my son knew very well. He knows everyone.
02:30He said, Dad, this is before the election.
02:33You know, we won on a landslide. I guess you hadn't known.
02:36But he said, Dad, you've got to do an interview with a guy named Theo Vaughn.
02:41I said, who the hell is Theo Vaughn?
02:43He said, Dad, he's such a big guy, you've got to do an interview.
02:47So he knew all the names. I didn't know the names.
02:50Where is Theo? He's around here someplace, I think.
02:53Thank you, Dad.
03:02That's Barron. You know Barron. He said, you've got to do it.
03:05We had a good time, right? We had a good time.
03:07We had like 270 million people that listened.
03:10So you know what? I think Barron was right.
03:13Thank you for being here, Theo. Appreciate it.
03:16Also, Lee Greenwood, right from the beginning, that song went on.
03:19You know, that song is a successful song.
03:21We made it the most, number one.
03:23We made that song, it's the top of the list of that type of song.
03:28It's a pretty big, I don't want to go into the list because you'll get upset with me if I do.
03:33Like the national anthem and things.
03:37And it became unbelievable.
03:40And I was saying you could get Elvis or anybody else to do a song.
03:44There's nothing, that was my intro song right from the beginning.
03:48Because as you know, we won three elections.
03:51And some people want us to do a fourth.
03:54I don't know. We'll have to think about that.
03:57You saw the new hat. The hottest hat is it says, Trump 2028.
04:03We're driving the left crazy.
04:05We didn't need that hat.
04:08But it's been an amazing period of time.
04:13And when Lee Greenwood did that song, it went from the first day.
04:17I came out and played it.
04:19It was a great song. We made it out.
04:21I did it a second time, a third time.
04:23And that was 968 rallies ago.
04:27Can you believe that?
04:28We did 968 rallies.
04:30Another hat says 968.
04:32I said, what the hell does that mean?
04:34That's the number of rallies.
04:35I said, you have to be kidding.
04:37But from the very beginning, when we played Lee's song, it was the walk on.
04:42And then for the last inauguration,
04:45all the big singers, they wanted to do a song for me.
04:48And they wanted to have me walk on to their song.
04:51And when I heard about it, we were all set.
04:56We had a lot of them.
04:57And I heard about it, and I said, I'm not switching.
05:00Are you kidding me?
05:01I'm not switching.
05:03So we stick with Lee.
05:04But there's nobody could have done better than Lee.
05:06And he's been so loyal and so great.
05:08And it's been really about nine years.
05:12And, you know, we had really, honestly, three unbelievable campaigns.
05:17And it's been an honor.
05:19And there's nobody been stronger than the military in terms of backing us.
05:23Nobody.
05:24So I just want to thank you all very much.
05:26Great honor.
05:27Thank you very much.
05:36And also with us today is really a great talent.
05:40And somebody who's one of the most popular television hosts in history.
05:46Still looks young to me, but he's been doing it a long time.
05:49But he's an incredible man.
05:51He always seems to take my side, and therefore I like him even more.
05:56But he has common sense.
05:58We talk about common sense all the time.
06:00But he's one of the biggest in the history of television,
06:04the great Sean Hannity.
06:06He's here someplace.
06:07Sean, stand up wherever you are.
06:10Thank you, Sean.
06:14Thank you, Sean.
06:18Thank you, Sean.
06:19He was a little shy for a change, I think.
06:21I've never seen that before.
06:23We're also grateful to have a very excellent ambassador, Timmy Davis.
06:28Everybody love you.
06:29Timmy Davis.
06:36Along with you, great military leaders, real.
06:39These are real leaders.
06:40These are real tough cookies.
06:43Lieutenant General Derek Trapper France.
06:47Major General David Shoemaker.
06:50Brigadier General Richard Deuce Dickens.
06:54Chief Master Sergeants Chris Murphy and Joshua Weiner.
06:59And Colonel Brian Ellis.
07:01We want to thank you.
07:02Amazing people.
07:03They're real leaders.
07:04And this is one of the great bases anywhere in the world.
07:07And we're lucky to have them.
07:09Thank you very much, fellas.
07:10And a very special thanks as well to our partners from the Guitar Army Armed Forces.
07:28Let's give them a really special hand.
07:31They are a special family.
07:33Very special.
07:41And in particular, we want to give a little special applause to somebody that's been so good.
07:48Deputy Prime Minister and Defense Minister.
07:50Saúl, where are you, Saúl?
07:53Thank you very much.
08:02Yesterday, we signed an agreement for Guitar to purchase $42 billion worth of the finest American military hardware,
08:10including add-missile batteries, Pegasus refueling aircraft, desert fighters, light armored vehicles, amphibious combat vehicles,
08:19the MQ-9B, and the Sky Guardian drones.
08:25That's all the best stuff, isn't it?
08:27If it isn't, please stand up and tell me and we'll get something else.
08:30But I believe it's the best.
08:33Guitar will also be investing $10 billion to support this massive base in the coming years.
08:40And this is no place like it, they say.
08:43And a man, a leader, Amir, he's been a special friend of mine for a long time.
08:51Long before I did the political thing, when he was a novice, he was a young guy, and we got to know each other,
08:57we liked each other, and we got along long before I ever thought of running for president.
09:03And it's nice when you have that kind of a relationship.
09:05We got along right from the beginning.
09:07He's a special guy.
09:08He's a great leader, a great leader of your country.
09:12So I want to just congratulate you on that.
09:15All the Guitar people, a spectacular group, and it's an honor.
09:20And I don't think our friendship has ever been stronger than it is right now.
09:24You had the last administration.
09:26I don't know if they knew too much about what was happening, but this administration does.
09:31And you will never see anything like the relationship that we have.
09:34We just left Saudi Arabia, as you know, and we have a fantastic crown prince.
09:40He is a fantastic guy likewise.
09:43And we're going from here, we're going to UAE and United Arab Emirates,
09:51and we're going to see another leader.
09:54It's an amazing part of the world, and our relationship has never been stronger.
09:59And you're going to see that as time goes by, but with us it's not words.
10:03As you know, I'm in the midst of a very historic trip, visiting the key partners in the Gulf.
10:09We had just some incredible stopovers.
10:14A wonderful day.
10:15Yesterday we had the dinner, however, with His Highness the Emir,
10:22and he's going to see him in a little while.
10:25I'm going to be saying goodbye to him, but we'll be saying hello again very, very soon.
10:31No visit to the Gulf would be complete without stopping to salute the people
10:35who keep America safe, strong, and free, and the patriots of the United States Army, Navy, Space Force.
10:41I love Space Force.
10:43I have to say, that's why the Navy, you know, I started that, and they said,
10:49that will never work.
10:50Oh, it worked.
10:52You know, we were way behind Russia and China, and now we're way, way ahead of everybody.
10:58So Space Force, I'm very happy.
11:00That was my, you know, not since the Air Force has that happened.
11:03So we created a force, and it's a big force, and it's a brilliant force.
11:09So Space Force, thank you for doing such a great job.
11:11The Marines and, of course, the United States Air Force.
11:15I, indeed, is the home of the legendary 379th Air Expeditionary Wing,
11:22known as the Grand Slam Wing.
11:25We also have the First Expeditionary Theater Support Group.
11:29We've got them all, and let's not forget the top-notch Army soldiers
11:33from the 11th Air Expeditionary Wing.
11:37The Imperial Brigade, thank you.
11:39That's great.
11:40We also have the 8th Expeditionary Air Mobility Squadron, known as Mighty Ochos.
11:47We're the Ochos.
11:49We don't want to play with them.
11:51All of you are the tip of the spear.
11:53You're the finest we have anywhere in the world.
11:55You're the finest we have.
11:56You're the finest anyone has in the fight against the enemies of civilization.
12:02You're the people that are defeating kings, combating terror, defending our interests,
12:08supporting our allies, securing our homeland, and making America incredibly proud.
12:13And you know what?
12:14Making America great again.
12:15That's what's happened.
12:16It's happened very quickly.
12:26As President, my priority is to end conflicts, not start them,
12:30but I will never hesitate to wield American power if it's necessary
12:35to defend the United States of America or our partners.
12:39And this is one of our great partners right here.
12:42When we're threatened, America's military will answer our enemies
12:45without even thinking about it.
12:48An overwhelming strength and devastating force.
12:51We have people that didn't like to talk about that.
12:54They didn't want to talk about the level of quality that we have.
12:58They didn't want to talk about anything.
13:00We're going to have a big parade this year, Washington, D.C., a real parade.
13:05And I'll tell you just a little story.
13:07A week ago, I called up a certain country, and they said,
13:11oh, we're celebrating the victory of World War II today, sir.
13:17Oh, really?
13:19I speak to one of the presidents or prime ministers or whatever,
13:23and they were so busy, oh, yes, we're celebrating the victory of World War II.
13:28And I speak to another one, and they were celebrating.
13:32And the fact is Russia was celebrating.
13:34France was celebrating.
13:35Everybody was celebrating with us.
13:38And we're the ones that won the war.
13:41We won the war.
13:49Without us, they don't win the war.
13:51We're all speaking German.
13:54Without us, they're speaking German.
13:56Maybe a little Japanese, too.
13:59We won the war.
14:01And we're the only ones that didn't celebrate.
14:03So what I did is I got my crack staff over there, and we did it every time.
14:09We have May 8th, and we also have the date in November,
14:12the sacred date in November for World War I, because we won that war, too.
14:17But think of it.
14:18I'm calling.
14:19We love France, right?
14:21But I think we did a little more to win the war than France did.
14:24Don't we agree?
14:26I don't want to be a wild guy.
14:31But when Hitler made his speech at the Eiffel Tower,
14:34I would say that wasn't exactly ideal.
14:38And I called up the President Macron.
14:41Good guy, by the way.
14:43No, no, we are celebrating our victory over the Germans.
14:47Oh, that's wonderful.
14:49We don't take credit for what we do.
14:51And I said, what the hell?
14:54The last week is celebrating the war with us.
14:56Isn't that terrible?
14:57So we're going to be doing holidays.
15:01But I said it has to be a working holiday because, you know,
15:04you can only do so many of them.
15:06We have a lot of holidays.
15:07I'm not so sure we should have them, and you don't have to go to work.
15:10Our country has to go to work.
15:12So we're going to have a working holiday for each one of those two days,
15:16and we're going to be celebrating, too,
15:18because we should celebrate more than anybody else.
15:20Others did help a lot, but nobody helped like us.
15:23We wouldn't have won.
15:24I mean, the fact is, not winnable without us.
15:27And now we're stronger than ever before.
15:29You know, I rebuilt the military in my first term.
15:32We had a great first term everywhere.
15:34We had the greatest economy ever, stock market up 88%,
15:38the biggest rise ever, all of that stuff.
15:41But the second term is going to be even better.
15:43We have over $10 trillion going to be invested in our country.
15:49And this little tour didn't hurt, I will tell you,
15:52between the three great places.
15:54I recently announced that I'll approve an unprecedented $1 trillion,
15:58as I told you, that's going to end up going higher investment
16:01in the U.S. Armed Forces, and that's a record as part of that effort.
16:06I signed an order to build the gold in gold missile defense shield
16:11to protect our country from missile attack.
16:14Is everybody okay with that?
16:24It was called the Iron Dome, but I changed it to the Golden Dome.
16:27I thought it was a little more beautiful,
16:29maybe a little more modern or something.
16:32But we're going to have it, and it's amazing actually what they do.
16:37It's going to cost many billions of dollars, all made in the USA.
16:42I want it all made in the USA.
16:43We're in the days of making our parts all over the world
16:46because we have wonderful partners now.
16:48It's America first now, America first.
16:51We're going to make it all in the USA.
16:54By the way, it's America first, but we're going to take care of other countries
16:58and have plenty left over because we're doing things now.
17:03Six months ago, our country was laughed at.
17:07Now our country is respected again at a level that it hasn't seen
17:11in a long, long time, and we're going to keep it that way.
17:15And our Air Force will soon have the world's first
17:18and only sixth generation fighter jet, the F-47.
17:23Why did they name it 47?
17:25Does anybody know?
17:28It was a nice thing, but it's quite the plane.
17:32They say there's never been anything done,
17:35but we're also looking at an increased version of the F-35.
17:40We're going to call it the F-55, which will be a double-engine plane.
17:44I like two engines on a plane.
17:46I'm sorry if I say that, but does that make sense to anybody?
17:50Does anybody agree, Joe? Do you agree with that?
17:52I like it.
17:54Sir, this engine is infallible.
17:56No engine is infallible.
17:59I like two engines on a plane.
18:01It should have been made with two engines.
18:03If I were here, you would have had two engines
18:05and you would have had a lot of other victories, by the way.
18:09When you think of it, Russia and Ukraine would have never started.
18:13October 7th, Israel would have never happened
18:19because Iran, as you know, is broke.
18:22They were unable to fund Hamas or anything else.
18:26It wouldn't have happened.
18:28We wouldn't have had the disaster of Afghanistan and the leaving.
18:31We were getting out, but we're getting out with dignity and strength.
18:34We're going to keep Bagram airbase.
18:37It's one hour away from China.
18:39One hour. You know who occupies it now? China.
18:42The damage that that administration did to this country is legendary.
18:47Allowing 21 million people through an open border
18:50where anybody can walk into the United States of America
18:54is something that will never be forgiven.
18:57Grossly incompetent and evil.
18:59Bad people, too. Bad people.
19:02The real strength of our military doesn't come from its fighter jets.
19:06It really comes from our people.
19:09That's you. It comes from our people.
19:11You're unbelievable people.
19:13The aptitude and all of the things you have to do to do what you do.
19:17You know, I look at some of those engines
19:20and I'm a pretty smart cookie, I will tell you.
19:23I'm very smart.
19:25And I look at you and you take those engines apart
19:27and put them back together, blindfold them and fix them up.
19:30It's amazing what you're able to do.
19:32And then to fly them.
19:34Just incredible. You're incredible.
19:36You're a very special group of people.
19:38And that's why my 2026 budget
19:42includes across the border.
19:45Maybe you don't want it.
19:46Look, for the good of the country, you don't have to take it.
19:48Pay raises for each and every one of you.
19:50Substantial pay raises.
20:01You don't have to.
20:04You can go to your commanding officer and say,
20:07Sir, I'd rather not take that pay.
20:09I love my country, sir.
20:11I don't want it. I refuse to take it.
20:13Anybody here, raise your hand, please, if you refuse to take it.
20:16That's amazing.
20:18At least we have smart people.
20:21So you do your duty for us.
20:24And as commander-in-chief, I will always do
20:28and fulfill my duty to you.
20:30That's what I'm doing.
20:31Under the Trump administration,
20:33we're liberating everything in our armed forces
20:37from really radical social experiments
20:40carried out under the previous administration
20:43and beyond that, actually beyond that,
20:46and restoring the strong and fierce spirit
20:49of the American warrior, the American fighter.
20:52On day one, I signed an executive order
20:55stopping our service members from being forced
20:58to endure endless training sessions
21:01on political correctness.
21:03We don't care if you're politically correct.
21:05And I directed the reinstatement of all patriots
21:08expelled from our military by the COVID vaccine mandate,
21:12which should have never happened.
21:14They're being returned at their former rank
21:17with full back pay.
21:19Very important.
21:21After years of not making our enrollment targets,
21:24to me, this is the biggest thing.
21:26Our military suddenly has the best recruiting numbers
21:29that perhaps they've ever had,
21:31but certainly in 30 years.
21:33Think of that.
21:34You go back six months ago,
21:36we couldn't get people to join the military.
21:38Nobody wanted your job.
21:40Now everybody wants your job.
21:42So we went from having the worst numbers
21:45we've ever had in terms of recruitment.
21:48That included police officers also,
21:50firefighters, but police officers.
21:53But in the military, think of that.
21:55You couldn't get people to join the military.
21:57And now we're brimming over.
22:00We have the highest numbers we probably,
22:03minimum 30 years, but probably have ever had
22:07because there's such an incredible spirit
22:09now in our country.
22:10We have a whole new spirit.
22:12And it began on a date, November 5th.
22:15That was election day.
22:17Under the Trump administration,
22:19America is back, and America's military is back,
22:22bigger, better, and stronger than ever before.
22:26Since my inauguration, service members stationed
22:29throughout this region have terminated
22:3283 major terrorists operating across Iraq, Syria, and Somalia,
22:38including the number two, just recently,
22:40global leader of ISIS.
22:42And I knocked out ISIS, as you know, in my term.
22:46They said it was going to take four years.
22:49I said, why four years?
22:51It's a long time.
22:52And then I met a general, Raising James,
22:55and I met him in the Joint Chiefs of Staff, right?
22:58And he was great.
22:59He said, we could do it in three weeks, sir.
23:03I said, well, I was told four years, general,
23:06by your television generals in Washington, D.C.
23:11And he didn't want to be disrespectful to them.
23:14He said, sir, I'm telling you, you want,
23:16we can do it in three weeks.
23:17And that's what he did.
23:19He knocked out 100% of the ISIS caliphate in three weeks.
23:25Can I tell you a little long, boring story about that?
23:37Yes, sir.
23:38OK, some of you have heard it, because it's sort
23:40of a cool story.
23:41But I was wondering why we couldn't defeat ISIS,
23:45with this great military, all these great jets that we have,
23:48new, all over the place, the best of the world,
23:51the fastest of the best.
23:53And I went out, and I said to a certain general
23:56in Washington, D.C., a television general, not much.
23:59There's a real general on television.
24:01You have the television guys, and you have the real generals.
24:04And I said, general, how long will it take us?
24:07Because it doesn't make sense.
24:08We're spending a lot of money on defeating ISIS,
24:11and they don't have great equipment.
24:13They, in many cases, don't even have equipment.
24:15They're vicious, and they are good fighters.
24:17We always have to respect that.
24:19Sir, it'll take at least five years, sir.
24:24I said, five years?
24:25That's a long time.
24:27I mean, we have jet-stamped knives that it's
24:29going to take five years.
24:30Yes, sir.
24:32I said, I don't really believe that's so.
24:36I did something I've never done before.
24:39I said, I want to go to Iraq, and I
24:41want to meet with the people in Iraq
24:44because maybe they're different.
24:46But I couldn't understand how a large and powerful terror
24:50group could last so long.
24:53And so I scheduled a flight meeting.
24:58I left at 3 o'clock in the morning.
25:00It was pitch black.
25:02We left very, very undergone.
25:05We traveled from Washington, DC.
25:09There was nobody around.
25:10We got to the hangar at about 3.15.
25:13The Air Force, what was waiting for us,
25:15pilots, best looking human beings I've ever seen,
25:18even better looking than Tom Cruise,
25:20and he's a friend of mine.
25:22These guys were Central Casting, and they could also fly.
25:26And we headed out about 3.30 in the morning, pitch black.
25:30We headed for Iraq, and nobody knew I was going.
25:34Nobody.
25:35And we're flying, and we're starting to get close.
25:39And they come to see me, and they say,
25:41sir, we have a problem.
25:43What?
25:44We're flying over enemy territory very soon, sir.
25:47Could we please turn off your lights?
25:49I said, my lights?
25:50We're flying in Air Force One.
25:52We just spent trillions of dollars on fighting it again.
25:56You can't fly in with lights on?
25:58No, sir.
25:59It's very, very dangerous out there.
26:02So I said, obviously, turn them off.
26:04Then he comes in, in addition to the lights,
26:06we want to turn down the shades.
26:07So I said, you mean not even shades?
26:09OK, we'll turn down the shades.
26:11He said, I want to go upstairs.
26:12This is 747, two levels, beautiful plane.
26:16Just ordered new ones, by the way, beautiful new ones.
26:19And Boeing just, by the way, did the biggest order
26:21in the history of Boeing.
26:23Just did, with your beautiful territory right here,
26:28they ordered, I think, 160 planes.
26:30I think it's the largest order ever for aircraft.
26:33So I salute the people from Boeing, Kelly, and everybody,
26:36and General Electric.
26:38The engines are General Electric Super Prime,
26:41and I really think it's great.
26:44Congratulations.
26:45But I go up to see the pilots, because I
26:48love sitting with the pilots.
26:51I love it.
26:56I love sitting with the pilots.
26:59I love sitting with the pilots, by the way.
27:01But it seems to be, I have no complaints.
27:03We land, it's like always landing eyeglass.
27:05I've had pilots where, when you land,
27:07you're like, oh, I'm going to die.
27:09I'm going to die.
27:10I'm going to die.
27:11I'm going to die.
27:12I'm going to die.
27:13I'm going to die.
27:14I'm going to die.
27:15I'm going to die.
27:16I'm going to die.
27:17I'm going to die.
27:18I'm going to die.
27:20But these pilots land, and it's 747,
27:24it's a hard one to land.
27:26So I go up.
27:27I see the pilots.
27:28I say, hi, Captain.
27:29You guys are handsome.
27:30You've got a blonde flat top.
27:33I'd like to have a flat top like that.
27:36I don't know if the hair's good enough for that.
27:38I don't think so.
27:39I don't think I'm going to try it either.
27:41But perfect person, and I look at the right,
27:45he's perfect.
27:46Everybody was perfect.
27:47They're like perfect human beings.
27:49I said, how are we doing, Captain?
27:51We're doing fine, sir.
27:52We'll be there in a half hour, sir.
27:55I said, do you want the lights turned off, Captain?
27:57They said, yes, sir.
27:58They're doing the right thing.
27:59Oh, that's great, Captain.
28:01That's great.
28:02So now we're 15 more minutes, and all of a sudden,
28:05most of you know the sound, because that's what you do.
28:08But you have the computer voice, a beautiful voice,
28:10where it says 1,900.
28:13They're talking about feet.
28:14So when you're in the big planes and sophisticated planes,
28:17the voice comes on, and I'm sitting back there
28:19watching them fly beautifully.
28:21And I'm still not 100% happy with the statement
28:24that he agrees that the lights should be turned off.
28:27I would have preferred that he said, no, there's no problem.
28:30But that's not what he said.
28:31So we're going to 1,900, 800, 700.
28:44Talking about feet.
28:45Now, 700 is getting pretty close to the ground.
28:47I don't see a thing.
28:48There's no lights.
28:49There's no runway.
28:50And I've done this a lot.
28:51And I always see the runway in the distance.
28:53I have fairly good eyes.
28:55I'd say for my age, extremely good eyes.
28:58And I don't see a runway.
29:01600, 500.
29:04Captain, are we OK?
29:06Yes, sir.
29:07We'll be landing in just a few minutes, sir.
29:10400.
29:11Captain, are we OK?
29:12I don't see a runway up there, Captain.
29:15We're fine, sir.
29:16No problem, sir.
29:18300, 200.
29:22I'm saying, Captain, you sure we're OK here?
29:26And he said, we're fine, sir.
29:28And then, boom.
29:30Here it just lands, I think, so beautifully.
29:32And I see.
29:34They had no light.
29:35They had no nothing.
29:36I don't know.
29:37How the hell did they do it?
29:38OK, all I know is we landed like at the Hemmings routine.
29:42And I'm trying to pretend I'm cool as a cucumber.
29:44You know?
29:45I mean, it has to be cool as a cucumber.
29:48And I'm like, you know?
29:50I'm like, I'm not happy.
29:54But after we land, I actually went to my people
29:56and I said, I want to ask you a question.
29:58I did a very brave thing just there.
30:00Is the president allowed to designate himself
30:03for the Congressional Medal of Honor?
30:06And they said, sir, honestly, that wouldn't be good.
30:11I said, OK.
30:12So anyway, we get my kid.
30:14You know, I have to say kid because the fake news is back there.
30:16And they'll have some notes.
30:18And they'll say that the president wanted to give himself
30:21the Congressional Medal of Honor.
30:23And he was talked out of it by his staff.
30:26So anyway, so I get the door opens.
30:29We have a platform.
30:30I have a seat down.
30:32I look down and I see, oh, these are all specimens.
30:35Just like you guys are all perfect people.
30:37And I'm seeing a couple of generals, a couple of staff
30:42sergeants, drill sergeants.
30:44And everybody's like from a movie.
30:46And I walk out of the plane and meet the first gentleman.
30:52And I said, what's your name?
30:54He said, Cade, sir.
30:55My name is Cade.
30:57And I said, hello, Cade.
30:58What's your first name?
30:59Well, they call me Raisin.
31:01I said, wait a minute.
31:02Raisin.
31:03You mean like Raisin Cade?
31:05Yes, sir.
31:06That's what they call me.
31:07General, I love you.
31:08You're the guy I'm looking for, General.
31:11You're the guy I'm looking for.
31:13So it's Raisin Cade.
31:14It's Daniel Cade.
31:15But Raisin Cade, they call him.
31:17Then I meet another gentleman, a colonel.
31:21He said, sir, would you like to rest?
31:23He said, what do you mean rest?
31:25I've been resting on the plane.
31:26I don't want to rest.
31:27I don't have to rest for him.
31:28He was thinking about Biden to come, OK?
31:31Biden.
31:32Biden would have rested the entire trip.
31:34First of all, he wouldn't have made the trip.
31:36But if he landed, he would have been rested for about five
31:39days before he had the first meeting.
31:41And I said, no, let's go have the meeting because I want to
31:43find out what's going on over here.
31:44We're spending a lot of money.
31:46And people are being killed.
31:48I want to find out why it's taking so long.
31:50So let's go right away.
31:51So we went to the, almost like a, it's just a very secure room
31:55that was in the form of a boardroom.
31:57Very professional, however.
31:59It was very highly sophisticated with the equipment.
32:02Best you can buy.
32:03We have the best you can buy all the time.
32:06But I went into the room and I said, General, so they tell me
32:10in Washington it would take four to five years to defeat ISIS.
32:16And I want to know from you, is that true?
32:18Is that?
32:19No, sir.
32:21But it's not my place to say, sir, because they are the ones
32:25that are called the shots.
32:26I said, well, if you disagree, you do.
32:29It's not the military way, sir.
32:30You have to listen to them.
32:32That's the chain of command.
32:33I said, oh, that's great.
32:34I'm not sure I like that system.
32:36But how long do you think it would take?
32:38You know, if I gave you total authority, did it go and knock
32:41the hell out of them?
32:43Sir, it would take approximately three weeks.
32:46I said, say it again, General.
32:49I was told five years.
32:51Sir, it would take three weeks if you have time left over.
32:55I said, you've got to be kidding me.
32:58Where the hell have you been?
33:01And then I sort of was really in disbelief because I said, you
33:04know, I've been here for so long.
33:06We've been fighting it.
33:07How long were we fighting it, 18 years or something?
33:10And here's a guy telling me three weeks.
33:12So I said, General, how do you do it in three weeks?
33:14He says, well, sir, I don't like saying this because I do have
33:17people who are here.
33:18But I'm going to say it.
33:19We have portable stations.
33:21We have portable runways.
33:22We have runways all over the place.
33:24We have other bases.
33:25And we're being forced to fight them from a very far away distant
33:28base, which is right here.
33:30And by the time we get there, we have to come back because there's
33:33no fuel.
33:34We're way too far away, sir.
33:36And they're over here.
33:37And it shows me a map.
33:39And we're over here.
33:40And we're all the way here, sir.
33:42And I said, why did they use the other bases?
33:44Well, they didn't want to disturb the country where those bases
33:48were located.
33:49I said, we give those countries billions of dollars.
33:52We can disturb them a little bit.
33:53They wouldn't know what we're doing anyway.
33:55Are they going to know where the planes are going?
33:57Not really, sir.
33:58I said, so what would you do different?
34:00He said, well, sir, I'd start from here.
34:02Again, they went through a whole thing.
34:05And I'd hit them from the left.
34:06I'd hit them from the right.
34:08I'd hit them from underneath.
34:10I'd hit them from the top.
34:12I'd hit them from every angle, sir, and hit them so hard and so fast
34:16they wouldn't know what the hell is happening.
34:19He said, and you think you can do that in three weeks?
34:22Yes, sir.
34:23We're going to have time left over.
34:25And I said, let me think about it, General.
34:28I went back to Washington.
34:30And I spoke to a couple of people.
34:32And they said, I don't think so, sir.
34:34I think you're talking about years of firing.
34:37And then I called the General.
34:40I said, so, General, you still think you can do it in three weeks?
34:43A lot of people think you can't even come close to that, sir.
34:47We'll have time left over.
34:49They said, go do it, General.
34:51Go do it.
34:53Thank you, sir.
34:55And he hit the hell out of them.
34:57He hit the hell out of them.
35:00And he calls me up.
35:02Sir, we have a lot of these people.
35:08And if you want, I can finish them off right now, sir.
35:12I said, well, I don't know.
35:14That's a lot.
35:15That's a lot of people.
35:16Well, these people are not good people, sir.
35:19These are not good people.
35:21You'll feel better about it.
35:22Well, they're not good people.
35:24But they're people, aren't they?
35:25And he goes, I said, you know what?
35:27Why don't you buzz them for a little while?
35:29Maybe after a day or two of buzzing them, they'll surrender.
35:31They don't know about surrendering, sir.
35:33Well, maybe they'll raise the white flag.
35:35They don't have a white flag, sir.
35:38I said, well, give it a shot anyway.
35:40He said, all we're going to do is take a couple of bullet holes and I'll make it.
35:43You guys know about that, right?
35:45And I said, well, let's give it a shot.
35:48And he calls up and says, let me do the job, sir.
35:51I said, all right.
35:52Do the job.
35:54We defeated 100% of the ISIS caliphate in just a very short little period of time.
36:00Totally different from what I was told in Washington, D.C. by a bunch of frickin' losers.
36:07Losers.
36:09And that's the beginning.
36:12I took that general and made him head of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, as I told you.
36:16And he's going to be great and he's highly respected by everybody.
36:19Just a different kind of respect.
36:21It's a real respect.
36:23We can do our job better than anybody in the world, but you have to have the leadership at the top, at the top.
36:29And we're doing that.
36:30We're finding, you know, we let a lot of four stars go.
36:34We had more four stars.
36:36We had, I think, 425 four stars in World War II, which, by the way, we won.
36:42In World War II, we had 187 generals.
36:48And we had, like, 425 generals now without really a war.
36:55And so we made a lot of changes, and we have the best.
36:58We have the best.
36:59We worked hard to figure the best, the real ones.
37:02We want the real generals, not the fake generals and not the political generals, too.
37:08So we have something that's special, but it can show you really what happened.
37:13We also just apprehended, as an example, the ISIS terrorist, the Al-Baghrad,
37:21the one that caused all of the problems in Afghanistan, caused unbelievable destruction.
37:30We lost 13 great soldiers.
37:32I got to know the parents and the families of those soldiers.
37:35But you know what they don't say is the ones who were so horribly wounded, which were many.
37:40And hundreds of people were killed from the other side.
37:43I always include that.
37:44That should have never happened.
37:45That whole mess should have never happened.
37:47I think it was the most embarrassing day in the history of our country.
37:50And we're not going to have things like that happen anymore.
37:53Again, we should have kept the air base.
37:57Should have kept it.
37:59We left it.
38:00No.
38:01Then we left, and it was a very embarrassing moment in the history of our country.
38:05That will never happen again.
38:06There are a lot of people that said that Russia went into Ukraine.
38:11When they saw that, they said, wow, we didn't think that was possible.
38:15But it's not possible any longer, I can tell you.
38:17That's another one.
38:18Would have never happened if I were president.
38:20Russia would have never gone into Ukraine.
38:22All of those things, it would have never happened.
38:25But the Afghanistan withdrawal, not the fact that they withdrew,
38:28but the fact that the way they did it was so horrible and so embarrassing.
38:34So we brought this horrible person to justice, to American justice.
38:41We caught the person that set off that bomb.
38:45And all of this is possible because of the work that you do with partnerships that you forge.
38:51In this case, it was Pakistan.
38:53And by the way, I don't want to say I did, but I sure as hell helped settle the problem
39:00between Pakistan and India last week, which is getting more and more hostile.
39:06And all of a sudden you start seeing missiles of a different type.
39:10And we got it settled.
39:13I hope I don't walk out of here and two days later find out that it's not settled.
39:17But I think it is settled.
39:19And we talked to them about trade.
39:20Let's do trade instead of do war.
39:23And Pakistan was very happy with that.
39:26India was very happy with that.
39:28And I think they're on the way.
39:30You know, they have been fighting for about 1,000 years of all trade.
39:34I said, you know, I can settle that up.
39:36I can settle anything.
39:38Let me settle it up.
39:40Let's get them all together.
39:41How long have you been fighting?
39:42About 1,000 years.
39:44Oh, this is a lot.
39:45I'm not sure about that.
39:46I'm not sure about settling.
39:47That's a tough one.
39:49They've been fighting for a long time.
39:51But we got that settled.
39:53Nobody, well, everybody was very happy, I'll tell you.
39:57It was really going to be escalating out of control.
39:59With us today is the first sergeant of the 379th Wing, Master Sergeant Patrick Elders.
40:09Patrick, wherever you may be, where are you, Patrick?
40:12I'm looking at him from here, and it says after having served 22 years.
40:27He's a lot.
40:29That's amazing.
40:35It looks like he's, like, 25 years old.
40:37I'm kidding.
40:3822 years.
40:39He said, we must have this mixed up.
40:41I guess when you love what you do, you stay young, right?
40:44And he loves what he does, no doubt about it.
40:47But having served over 22 years in the Air Force, he's one of his, right now this is his sixth deployment.
40:54But this time it's a little different because his stepson, Airman First Class Ashton Inman,
41:00is on his own first ever deployment nearby in Kuwait, right now in Kuwait,
41:08which is really incredible.
41:10Master Sergeant Elders is proud that two generations of his family are now serving the same mission
41:15and the same theater, protecting the same great American flag.
41:19So say hello to him.
41:21A lot of stories like that.
41:33And I want to thank Airman First Class Inman also very much.
41:37That's a great story.
41:40That's a great story, and we have many of them.
41:42I guarantee in this room right now there are many such stories.
41:45There are several married couples serving side by side in uniform at this base,
41:49including Staff Sergeants Tyler and Paige Duck.
41:53Where is Tyler?
42:04For years they grew their relationship while Paige was deployed in the U.K.
42:09and Tyler was halfway around the world at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson in Alaska,
42:15conquering a 14-hour time difference.
42:17That's a lot of time difference.
42:19And now they're together at Al-Hadid, and it's really great.
42:24So Staff Sergeants, congratulations.
42:26It's fantastic.
42:27The American people never forget that our service members and their families
42:31make incredible sacrifices each and every day so that all Americans can be safe and be free.
42:38And we love our amazing military families.
42:40Our military families are as good as you can get.
42:44The men and women here today are part of a noble tradition of service
42:47that has been passed down from one generation of Americans to the next,
42:52and your spirit and courage and sacrifice has always been there when we needed you the most.
42:58You're always there when we need you the most.
43:01With us today is Master Sergeant Michael Schloe,
43:04who happens to be from a small town in a place called Butler, Pennsylvania.
43:09Has anybody heard of Butler, Pennsylvania?
43:15Michael's a member of the Air Force Reserve as well as Butler County Corrections Officer.
43:21And last July 13th, he attended the rally where an assassin tried to take my life.
43:26He gave it a shot, and I could go some day.
43:30As soon as the shots were fired, Michael raced to direct law enforcement
43:34toward the Cypress Perch, then worked to evacuate the rest of the crowd in a very safe manner.
43:40But Master Sergeant Schloe would be the first to tell you who the real hero was that day.
43:45He personally knew and really liked veteran firefighters,
43:51also a veteran of the military, a great veteran of the military,
43:54who laid down his life for his country, really laid down his life for his country.
44:01His whole life was about his country.
44:04For him, comparator, and he's become somewhat of a legend, I will tell you.
44:10He took a hard shot. He took a hard shot guarding his family.
44:15Master Sergeant Schloe, your commitment represents the very best in America.
44:21Thank you for your incredible service that day and forever, because that day was a horrible day.
44:28You acted with incredible bravery. We've got reports about what you did.
44:33It was really amazing, and I personally appreciate it.
44:36It was a rough day. We don't want to have days like that.
44:40But Cory was an incredible guy who lost his life, guarding his wife and children.
44:46Every American warrior today inherits the legacy of exceptional patriots
44:50who have defended our freedom for nearly 250 years.
44:54You carry on the glorious tradition of the heroes of Lexington and Concord,
44:59Gettysburg and Belleau Wood, Normandy and Midway.
45:03You embody the spirit of the soldiers who hoisted the flag over Fort McHenry
45:09and the Marines who planted the stars and stripes on the summit to Iwo Jima.
45:15That was a rough attack.
45:17You carry forward the mission of generations of Americans before you
45:21who marched through halls and gunfire, trekked over rugged mountains,
45:26snorkeled across scorching deserts, sailed through hostile waters,
45:30conquered unknown dangers and poured out their blood and guts
45:34in battlefields all over the world.
45:37The military is incredible.
45:41We won our independence, preserved our union, protected our way of life,
45:46defeated fascism, crushed terrorism,
45:49liberated millions and millions of people from bondage
45:53and brought communism to its knees.
45:57That's what we did.
45:59And now we're going to defend America from all enemies,
46:02overcome all obstacles and dangers,
46:05and as one nation we're going to build a future of peace and prosperity
46:09for generations to come.
46:12Together we will stand strong, we will stand proud, we will live free,
46:18and we will fight, fight, fight and win, win, win.
46:22So my trip is four and a half days, but this is the one I'm so looking forward to
46:40because I'm with the people that I really love and respect.
46:43We love and respect you.
46:45This is what you're doing, the service you do for your country, you keep us safe.
46:49There is no more important profession,
46:52and I was so proud to see those reports coming in just a few days ago
46:57saying that the enrollment is at the highest level ever,
47:00especially when I had to suffer running against a group of people
47:03that were very inappropriate where they allowed that reputation
47:09of what you stood for and what you stand for to deteriorate
47:13to a point where we weren't able to recruit.
47:16So just remember this, you have a job now that everybody wants.
47:21Everybody wants to be doing what you're doing.
47:24It's a special job, and I'm so proud.
47:27When I saw those numbers come across the board that we set the record
47:30for enrollment in the military, and we took that from the exact opposite
47:35just six months before.
47:38I was very, very proud of that.
47:40We have a great country, we have a proud country,
47:42we have a country that's respected all over the world.
47:46And as I said before, a year ago we were laughed at,
47:49but nobody's laughing in our country anymore.
47:52We're the most respected country anywhere in the world.
47:56And thank you very much, and enjoy your lives, and God bless America.
48:00Thank you very much.