Photo of Donald Trump

Remarks at a "Make America Great Again" Rally in Charlotte, North Carolina

October 26, 2018

THE PRESIDENT: Thank you very much. I've never seen rain in North Carolina. It's raining, but we're going to start. There are a lot of people trying to get in. Should we start or should we wait about an hour? [applause]

Thank you. Thank you. And thank you to my friends right here. You've been with me from before I started, right? Thank you very much. Thanks.

Hello, North Carolina. Thank you very much. And I'm really glad to be back in Charlotte, with thousands of proud, hard-working American patriots. And I can't wait to be back here for the 2020 Republican National Convention. [applause]

You had a lot of competition. But in the end, we said let's do that North Carolina thing. Let's do that Charlotte thing. That's where we'll be. So we'll see a lot of you.

In just 11 days, the people of this state are going to elect Mark Harris and Ted Budd to the United States Congress. [applause]

They will be incredible fighters and have been. They've been fighting all their life for great things, and they're fighting for your interests, including lower taxes, strong borders, great health care, protecting pre-existing conditions, and removing job-killing regulations, which we've done more of than any administration ever. [applause]

Early voting is now underway. So if anybody wants to leave, we'll save your place. You can come right back. Go out and vote. Otherwise, definitely on November 6th, right? Did you vote yet? Did you vote? Whoa. Whoa. [applause]

Whoa. Well, we really have-- we've had a tremendous all over the country Republicans, we're hot. We're hot. We're hot.

And I don't think they're going to cool us off, no matter what they want to do. They try. They try so hard. But I don't think that's going to happen.

Before going any further, I want to briefly address the packages and devices that have been mailed to a number of high-profile individuals.[booing]

As you know, the suspect has been captured. Great job. [applause]

And is now in federal custody. These terrorist actions must be prosecuted and punished to the fullest extent of the law. We all know that. [applause]

And I want to applaud the FBI, the Secret Service, and all state, local, federal officials for their incredible work in this investigation. I mean, they did an incredible job. [applause]

This is finding, truly, a needle in a haystack when you think about it. We love our police, and we love our law enforcement. [applause]

Political violence must never, ever be allowed in America, and I will do everything in my power to stop it. [applause]

In recent days, we've had a broader conversation about the tone and civility of our national dialogue. Everyone will benefit if we can end the politics of personal destruction. [applause]

We must unify as a nation in peace, love, and in harmony. The media has a major role to play. [booing]

Whether they want to or not. [booing]

CROWD: CNN sucks! CNN sucks! CNN sucks! CNN sucks! CNN sucks!

THE PRESIDENT: And they do, indeed. They have a major role to play as far as tone and as far as everything. [applause]

And we all say this in all sincerity, but the media's constant unfair coverage, deep hostility-- [booing]-- and negative attacks-- you know that-- only serve to drive people apart and to undermine healthy debate. For example-- [booing]-- we have seen an effort by the media in recent hours to use the sinister actions of one individual to score political points against me and the Republican Party. [booing]

Yet when a Bernie Sanders supporter tried to murder congressional Republicans and severely wounded-- a great man named Steve Scalise and others-- we did not use that heinous attempt at mass murder for political gain, because that would have been wrong. It would have been the wrong thing to do. [applause]

Many other examples could be brought up. Nor do we blame the Democrat Party every time radical leftists seized and destroy public property and unleash violence and mayhem. Yet the media has tried to attack the incredible Americans who support our movement to give power back to the people. [applause]

It's what our movement is. Our supporters are some of the most honest, wonderful, like you-- [applause] -- principled, hard-working, patriotic people on the face of God's Earth. [applause]

They pay their taxes, follow our laws, care for their neighbors, go to church and contribute to charity, and they are loyal to our country. All they want is a government that is loyal to them in return. [applause]

And that's what they are getting from me. And that's what they're getting from my administration. And you know that. [applause]

But despite all of this, just came out, 94 percent of the press I get is negative. Even when I do something wonderful, it's negative. [booing]

Even when we do great things, you look at North Korea, how good are we doing? [applause]

It's been going with them for 70 years, more than 70 years. This is now our fourth month, and they always say, he's not moving fast enough. Fast enough? If I wasn't here, you would have ended up in a world war. You watch! I mean, you would have ended up in a world war. [applause]

Or I heard even on Fox today, Bret Baier, I heard even on Fox we had a great meeting with Vladimir Putin. And every time I see, oh, Donald Trump had a bad meeting-- I had a great meeting. We had great. And they play it up as negative as they can. It was a great meeting.

We have all the cards. We have all the cards, because we're the piggy bank that everybody wants to attack and rob and steal from. We have the cards. [applause]

But they made it look as negative-- that was a great meeting I had. They make it look-- all of them, as negative as possible. Almost all of them. Or if you take a look at what we're doing with NATO, where for many years they're not paying their bills. Now they're paying their bills and nobody talks about it. [applause]

I went in last year, and I said, you got to pay up. We're protecting you. We're protecting you. You got to pay up. They agreed to pay $44 billion more money we don't have to pay ultimately, because it's not fair. Not fair. [applause]

We're protecting them, and they're not paying their bills. And we want to protect them, but they got to pay their bills.

And this year, we had an even better meeting, but you never hear that from these folks. So it's very important that the media cover results properly. [applause]

And I could give you-- I could stand up here, I could give you all night long other examples, but these are just a few quick ones. I just heard the one with Russia. I'll tell you what, the worst thing that ever happened to Russia is when I won the election. That's the worst thing. Unbelievable. Unbelievable. [applause]

And at the same time, getting along with Russia, getting along with China, getting along, frankly, with North Korea and South Korea and Japan and everybody else, that's a good thing, not a bad thing. [applause]

In the meantime, we will keep delivering results, like nobody else has delivered them for many, many decades for this country. [applause]

And it is time for us to replace the politics of anger and destruction with a real debate about the real issues. [applause]

And we want honest coverage from the media. That's all we want. [applause]

This is one of the most important elections of our lifetime. Under Republican leadership, America is booming, America is thriving, and America is winning because we are putting America first. [applause]

CROWD: USA! USA! USA! USA! USA! USA! USA! USA! USA! USA! USA! USA!

THE PRESIDENT: So true. We're putting America first. When have you heard that last? Been a long time, hasn't it?

I said the other day, I'm not a globalist. I'm a nationalist. And they say, oh, that's so terrible. [applause]

They said that's so terrible. Oh. I'm for us. And you know what? We're going to help the globe. But we have to help ourselves, as well. [applause]

I want to help the globe, but we have to take care of ourselves, also. So unfair, what's been happening to our country for 25 years and longer.

The unemployment rate just fell to the lowest level in more than 50 years. [applause]

We have eliminated a record number of job-killing regulations, passed a massive tax cut for working families, and we will soon follow it up with another 10 percent tax cut for the middle class. [applause]

We are taking care of our great veterans, and our military will soon be more powerful than it has ever been before. [applause]

That's true. Our military was in very depleted shape. It was in very shape. They were getting parts for airplanes going to the airplane graveyard. You know that, right? That's where they store old, old planes. Not anymore they're not. We've ordered the finest planes in the world, missiles, rockets, every-- ships. [applause]

Everything we have. We'll be stronger than ever before, and hopefully, you know what, we'll never have to use our military. Wouldn't that be nice? And the best way that'll happen is by doing exactly what I'm doing right now. We want to be in a position that people say, let's leave them alone. [applause]

But if Nancy Pelosi-- [booing]-- and cryin' Chuck Schumer-- [booing] Right? Nancy Pelosi-- [booing]

Can you imagine? Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi. I don't think so. [booing]

But if Pelosi and cryin' Chuck Schumer, remember, right? [booing]

I've known him a long time. He never came close to crying, except one particular night. When the radical Democrats get control, they will try to erase every single thing that we've achieved. [booing]

Democrats want to raise your taxes. [booing]

They want to impose socialism. That's what they're doing. [booing]

They want to take away your Second Amendment. [booing]

Take away your strong health care that we're making stronger and stronger every single day. By the way, nobody talks about, but we got rid of the individual mandate, the most unpopular aspect of Obamacare. [applause]

Where you had the great privilege of paying a fortune in order to pay a fortune to not pay for bad health care. That's not a very good-- right? That's not a very good thing.

Now we got rid of the individual mandate. That's big. And by the way, we've really radically changed that. And we had it beaten. But we didn't get one Democrat. I always say, we didn't get somebody vote, which is true. But we didn't get one Democrat vote, either. Think of it. One Democrat would have repealed and replaced, but we're essentially doing the same thing anyway. It's been decimated by us.

And now, if you notice, your premiums are going up at a much, much lower clip. [applause]

And yesterday-- and yesterday, which got very, very little print, very little ink by these great gentlemen and ladies--[booing]-- by the fake news-- [booing]

So yesterday-- yesterday, it really did, it was a very important-- we signed a bill-- prescription drug prices are going to come tumbling down. [applause]

Tumbling down. [applause]

You know, we have other countries-- we have other countries that, for the same pill for the same company made in the same plant, wherever the hell it's made-- [laughter]

You go and you see that same pill, same box, same everything, selling for 10 percent, 20 percent, 30 percent of what Americans are forced to pay. That's all ending, folks. That's all ending, OK? [applause]

So hopefully you don't need prescription drugs, but if you do, you're going to get them a hell of a lot cheaper, because it's going this way. [applause]

But the middlemen and the drug companies, but the middleman are not thrilled with me right now. They're not thrilled with me. These were very rich people. They are not-- they are not thrilled with Donald Trump right now. [booing]

And the Democrats want to invite caravan after caravan of illegal aliens into our country. [booing]

And they want to sign them up for free health care, free welfare, free education, and for the right to vote. They want to sign 'em for the right to vote. What's that all about? [booing]

CROWD: Build the wall! Build the wall! Build the wall! Build the wall! Build the wall! Build the wall! Build the wall!

THE PRESIDENT: The right to vote. You ever hear that one? Illegal alien has the right to vote. There's a town in California where they actually tried to take over the town council. All illegal aliens running the town council. That sounds like a great idea. [booing]

I wish they became so activist in their own countries. Wouldn't that be good? Wouldn't that be good? [applause]

Let 'em go take over the councils in their country. Look, I want them to come into our country, but they have to come in legally and they have to come in through merit, the merit system. [applause]

We have millions and millions of people right now on line, they've been waiting sometimes 10 years, they did it right, they went through, they did everything, they signed every paper. They're waiting proudly on line. They're going to be admitted soon and all of that. And it's so unfair to them to have people just walk across a border, because our Democrat laws are no good. Because we have laws that are the laughingstock of the world because of the Democrats. They're the laughingstock of the world.

Catch-and-release, we caught 'em, release 'em. We caught 'em, release 'em. [booing]

Think of it. Think of-- visa lottery. Visa lottery. Um, who is this? Who is this? And then when they turn out to be not so good, we say, I wonder why. Well, maybe the country is giving us their worst in those lotteries. Does that make sense? Do you think-- do you think the country is saying, let's get our best people, our greatest people, let's put them in the lottery so that the United States can have them? Or do you think maybe they're going the opposite route? I think maybe the opposite route. Right?

Or chain migration. How about that one? [booing]

How about that one? Chain migration, where we had this bad guy come in from a certain country, and he brought his mother and his father and his uncle and his grandfather and his grandmother and his brother and his sister and his aunt and his uncle and probably a lot of people that no relation to them whatsoever, I think it was 22 people. But perhaps they'll be able to figure it out.

And he's driving down the West Side Highway, this beautiful park along the West Side Highway in Manhattan that I know very, very well. And he decides to kill people. And so he takes the car going 60 or 70 miles an hour, far above the speed limit, and he turns it right into a park where people are jogging, where people are working out, where people want to look so good. They leave their apartment to work out, to run, to run along the Hudson River, so beautiful.

And he goes 70 miles an hour, boom, and he kills eight. And he badly, badly, badly hurts-- nobody ever talks about-- 12 people, missing arms, missing legs, missing everything. Just so sad. And he brought in 22 people. This is what we have. Nobody working. He brought in-- that's called chain migration. It's from the Democrats. And we don't want it anymore. [booing]

Right? A vote for Democrats is a vote for open borders and a vote for tax hikes. I don't know. I don't get that one. I think I would be a failed politician if I had to really promote open borders. Everybody comes in. Everybody comes in. Come on in. We pay for all of the things we just went over.

I couldn't do it as a politician. You know, to be successful in life, you have to believe in what you say. And I can't believe that many of these Democrats that have gone so far left-- I knew them, and when you say the wall-- first of all, we started the wall. But more importantly, many of these Democrats in-- almost all of them, including Schumer, including crooked Hillary, including everybody-- [booing] -- many of these Democrats approved the wall in 2006.

CROWD: Lock her up! Lock her up! Lock her up! Lock her up! Lock her up! Lock her up! Lock her up! Lock her up! Lock her up!

THE PRESIDENT: Oh, boy. They're going to be reporting about you tonight. [laughter] [applause]

They're going to be reporting. [applause]

That's pretty cool. That hat is fantastic. That's a hat. Look at that.

A vote for Republicans is a vote for safety and for jobs. [applause]

Remember that. Earlier this month, we achieved yet another historic victory, a victory that people will appreciate over many, many years and maybe decades. We proudly confirmed the newest member of the United States Supreme Court, Justice Brett Kavanaugh. [applause]

CROWD: Kavanaugh! Kavanaugh! Kavanaugh! Kavanaugh! Kavanaugh!

THE PRESIDENT: Good, remember that. Remember. Remember when you're going in to vote, remember what you say. Because nobody has ever been treated more unfairly than Brett Kavanaugh. What happened to him and his family was an absolute disgrace. And by the way, we have many women here-- remember, I won women-- remember how-- [applause]

We have many women here. [applause]

We have many women here, some of whom have been with me like this whole group. From the beginning, from almost before the beginning. We have many women-- and as I'm saying how unfairly he's been treated, they're all nodding. Look at you. They're all nodding their head.

He was treated very unfairly. But you know what? We won. And he's going to be there for many, many years. [applause]

And we put another great one there, Justice Gorsuch. You know that, Neil Gorsuch. [applause]

Those are two great people. Scholars, brilliant, genius. Number one in their class. Number one at Yale. Number one at Yale Law. One of the greatest records you've ever seen. I used to hear about now Justice Kavanaugh. I used to hear 10 years ago. I said, there's a young man named Kavanaugh. Brett Kavanaugh. He's going to be a Supreme Court judge someday. I say, well, I'll never have anything to do, because I'm having a lot of fun building buildings. I'm not-- why do you mention it to me?

And look what happened, right? Look what happened. [applause]

Look what happened. We had a lot of fun. This has been the greatest movement in the history of our country. Remember that. And in the history of most countries. Don't let them take it away with the-- with the false reporting and everything else. Don't let them take it away. This will be the election of the Kavanaughs and the caravans and law and order and tax cuts. And you know what? This will be an election, frankly, of common sense, right? It's common sense. [applause]

You know, they say, are you a conservative? I say, yeah, I guess. But, you know, really what I am, I think have common sense. Most of this stuff is common sense. We need borders. We need borders. We need a great military. We want low taxes. We want great education.

You know, it's like, really, it's not conservative or liberal. It's common sense, right? [applause]

This election will decide the next speaker of the House. And you know what I just said. We have to have great people there. And, you know, we have a tiny, tiny majority, so small, you just can't-- I won't say it. I've said it so many times. If a senator catches a cold, we delay the vote. That's the kind of majority we have.

We essentially don't have a majority, OK? I think we're doing great in the Senate. And I think we're going to do really good in the House, but getting Mark and Ted in there, North Carolina, so important. [applause]

Vote for Mark and Ted. And before we continue, let me take a moment to send our love and support to our fellow citizens in North Carolina, South Carolina, and throughout the Southeast who are still recovering from your devastating-- that was a rain-soaked hurricane. That was a lot of water. I was here. I was here, and I was in South Carolina, and you got hit. That was less wind, but more water, right? That was a bad one.

But FEMA, first responders, the Coast Guard, the military, your local people have done a fantastic job. Fantastic. [applause]

I spoke to somebody backstage who got hit hard. And I spoke to that person like just when it happened. And tonight, I said, so how's it? OK? He didn't know what I was talking about. He's recovered so-- they-- you worked hard. And government worked hard. And it was really government and the people working together, and the way that North Carolina came back and South Carolina came back.

And now we have Florida and Georgia, different. Michael. That was a different kind. Less water, but those winds were about as big as anybody's ever seen. They just wiped out-- they ripped foundations. They didn't just knock a house down. They ripped the foundations out. That was like a massive tornado. The damage is incredible. I've never seen anything like it. Never.

But I just want to say, congratulations on doing a great job. And it's being finished up. And it's incredible the job. North Carolina, congratulations. [applause]

Congratulations. [applause]

And tonight we also remember a fallen hero. North Carolina Highway Patrol Officer Kevin Conner, who's family's here. [applause]

His great family is here. Officer Conner was shot and killed in the line of duty on Wednesday. He was an 11-year veteran of the force, and he leaves behind a great wife and two young, beautiful children. This evening, all of America holds Officer Conner's family in our hearts and prayers, and we pledge our undying gratitude and support to the men and women of law enforcement. They're incredible. [applause]

They are incredible. Thank you very much. Thank you. [applause]

Thank you. We are honored to be joined tonight by many of your great North Carolina Republican leaders, including Lieutenant Governor Dan Forest. Where's Dan? Where are they? Where-- where are they? Where are they? Where's Dan? There he is. A lot of people in here, Dan. It's hard to find one very good-looking man. There are a lot of people in this-- thank you. Dan, thank you very much. Great job.

And tell your son to get his cold better. Dan said, sir, this is my son. I'm so proud of him. Sir, he has a cold. Don't shake his hand. [laughter]

And what did I say, Dan? I said, Dan, thank you very much, right? [laughter]

Tell him to take care of his cold.

Another man who has been such a help to me in Washington, a really good guy, works hard, loves the people of North Carolina, Senator Thom Tillis. Thom? Where is Thom? [applause]

Where is Thom? I found him. There's a lot of people, Thom. Great job. Thom Tillis, great job. They're toying with me. They're putting all these people in different locations. Usually they have them, like, in one location. Sir, everybody's on the right. Now they have them all over the place. Thank you, Thom. Thank your family, too. Great job.

And Representative-- he's got the greatest name in all of politics-- Patrick McHenry. If you can't win with that name-- [applause]

Where's Patrick? Look at him. He's over in a different location. Patrick, they're toying with us. Patrick McHenry, greatest name in politics, and one of the most talented people in politics, maybe that's more important to me, Patrick. Thank you. You do a fantastic job. [applause]

And also a man who's become so popular-- and I was with him from almost before he announced-- and I'll never forget, a couple of years ago, he was running, and he was favored by so much that nobody went out to vote. Can you believe that can happen? He was favored-- and I called him, I said, wow, that was closer than we thought. Literally, people thought-- they love him, and that'll never happen again.

I mean, he still won by a lot. But a lot of people didn't vote for a man named Ralph Norman, who's fantastic. Ralph, wherever you are, Ralph? Ralph, right, Ralph? Remember I called you? [applause]

I said, Ralph, never be so far in front that they don't want to vote, OK? Never let that happen. You're always one point down the next time, Ralph. Thank you, Ralph. Great job. And, Ralph, I'll tell you, he's done a great job.

We're also thrilled to be joined by a North Carolina native, because I love NASCAR. Do we like NASCAR? I love NASCAR. [applause]

And I really love-- you know what I'm talking about-- the France family and Brian France. And Brian, we love you. Get in there, Brian. Brian's going to be in great shape. Brian is a tough winner. And that whole France family, they have pretty good-- you know, that's like owning the entire NFL. You know that, right? What a great thing. NASCAR. We love NASCAR. I love the drivers.

I don't know if you know it-- and I'm not saying this for political reasons, because it doesn't matter-- but I spend a lot of time in Lake Norman, right? Lake Norman. And a lot of the drivers live in my job, in Lake Norman. And these guys, I'll tell you what, they take me for drives every once in a while, and they get it up to 200, 250. I say get me the hell out of this car. [laughter]

Get me out of here. But we have one of the greatest winners ever in NASCAR, and now his grandson maybe will turn out to be an even bigger winner than him. You know who I'm talking about? Richard Childress. Where is Richard? Where is Richard? Where is Richard? Richard Childress. Is your grandson going to be better than you, Richard? Huh? Yes. See, that's the love.

I have many friends who are bad people. Bad. Very successful. And if their son is very successful, they're jealous of their son. You're supposed to love your son and grandson. And if they're more-- but, OK, so you're happy for your grandson, right? Good. Didn't he just won the big one? That's good. That means he definitely knows how to drive, huh? He's got that little-- got that extra spurt. Thank you very much, Richard. Great job. What a great career. Thanks, Richard. He's been with us from the beginning, Richard Childress. That's a winner for you, Richard. Richard's a winner.

Finally, it's my honor to introduce two outstanding Republican candidates, the people that we're here for, really. With Richard and the governor and the senator, Thom, and all-- we're really here tonight-- Thom, we're really here for these two great congressmen now and soon to be congressman, OK? And they have run fantastic campaigns. They're doing very well. But honestly, get out and vote. Let's not take a chance, OK? Let's not take a chance. Let's not take a chance.

So I want to ask for Ted Budd and Mark Harris to please come forward. [applause]

Please. [applause]

Ted Budd is a champion for the people of this state. He voted to cut your taxes, protect your pre-existing conditions, build a border wall, which we're working on, and wait until you see what we're doing next week. You're not even going to believe it. And protect your Second Amendment rights.

And Mark Harris is another true fighter for North Carolina. He will vote to protect your jobs and cut regulations like never before, because that's what we're doing. He will vote to save your health care, secure our border, and stop illegal immigration. Ted and Mark, say a few words. Come on. [applause]

TED BUDD: Well, good evening, North Carolina. Thank you all for being here. [applause]

So, Mr. President, I want to thank you for your hard work. You're traveling all over this country, trying to get great members of Congress elected and re-elected, too. Now, the status quo in Washington is trying to stop you, Mr. President, at every turn. [booing]

We know that. Yes, we do. But here in North Carolina, Mr. President, we are proud of you. And we want you to know-- [applause]

Mr. President, we have your back here in North Carolina. [applause]

Absolutely. Now, my opponent is not for making America great again. Sorry. [booing]

So she's against the tax cuts. And-- this is important-- she's given big money to Pelosi and all her friends. [booing]

So, Mr. President, I'm going to stand with you on cutting taxes, on building the wall-- [applause] -- and draining the swamp. [applause]

It's all yours.

MARK HARRIS: Well, let me join my voice tonight in welcoming the President of the United States to Charlotte, North Carolina. [applause]

We are so excited about where we find ourselves tonight. You know, I read an article not long ago-- in fact, it was just last week-- where one of the Fox commentators, Marc Thiessen, had actually written an article that said that President Trump-- that you may, indeed, go down as the most truthful president in the history of our country. [applause]

And what really got my attention was when you read through the article, he built the case in an incredible way, because he reminded us that it was Donald J. Trump that promised us that if he got elected president, he was going to move the U.S. embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem and he got it done. [applause]

He promised us that he was going to bring historic tax reform. And guess what? He got it done. [applause]

He told us he was going to roll back regulations and stimulate this economy. And guess what? He's gotten it done. [applause]

And he told us that he was going to appoint to the United States Supreme Court justices who are originalists and understood their job was to interpret the law, not make the law, because that's the job of Congress. [applause]

And the only things that haven't gotten done yet, we're going to do it in 2019 when the Congress convenes, because we're going to hold the Republican majority in the U.S. House and the U.S. Senate.

Mr. President, I want to join you and let's get the job done. God bless you. God bless America. [applause]

CROWD: USA! USA! USA! USA! USA! USA! USA! USA! USA! USA! USA! USA! USA! USA!

THE PRESIDENT: Come on, that's pretty good, huh? That's pretty good. Thank you very much. Mark and Ted, thank you very much. Get them to Washington, please, fast.

I think they're looking pretty good. What do you think? [applause]

But I'm here tonight because we can't take any chances, right? Can't take any chances. Get out and vote.

Ted's opponent, Kathy Manning, is an extreme liberal Democrat--[booing]-- and a donor, as they said, and a donor to the campaign of Nancy Pelosi. [booing]

And she's a big fan of Maxine Waters. [booing]

Maxine Waters. But I'm going to be nice tonight, so I won't say it. I won't say it. I won't say it. I'm going to be nice. I want them to say, he was so nice tonight.

Kathy Manning pretends to be a moderate, but she will always be bidding for Pelosi and the far-left donors who are backing her campaign. She's a lefty, and she's always going to be voting on the left. And I know your state very well. We won it handily. And I will tell you, you don't love the left too much. [booing]

Especially that far left. She wants to raise your taxes, and she is for massive giving of amnesty. [booing]

So that's the end of her.

Mark's opponent, Dan McCready--[booing]-- is another extreme liberal trying to fool voters into believing he's a moderate. [booing]

Dan McCready will be a vote for Nancy Pelosi and Waters and her radical agenda every single time, every time. You know, a lot of them were unpopular, like in this state. They say such nice things about me. It's incredible. They're never going to vote for us. They say nice in West Virginia. I have a situation. I like him. But he's never going to vote for us. That's the problem.

We have so many states where I won, with, by the way, a great vice president, Mike Pence. [applause]

Mike and Karen Pence. Mike and Karen. Doing a great job. But we won by a lot. And some of the ads are like-- they're ads for me, I said, I didn't know they were Republicans. They're Democrats. They're so nice. But a vote for any Democrat anywhere in the country is a vote to put Nancy Pelosi in the speaker's chair and to put far-left Democrats in charge of every committee and investigation in Congress. Our Congress will come to a halt.

A vote for Democrats is also a vote to destroy Medicare. [booing]

A majority of Democrats on the ballot for Congress have already signed up for a government takeover of health care that would eliminate the private insurance of 5.4 million people from North Carolina. You don't want that. [booing]

And you'll have to wait. You'll have to wait like our great soldiers, our great warriors. They had to wait for two weeks and three weeks and seven weeks and-- to see a doctor. Do that plan, you'll be waiting for seven weeks to do that, also.

We have people from other nations, where they have something similar, they come here when they need help, because they don't have good medical care and they have to wait so long. The Democrat plan would-- it would just obliterate Medicare and terminate Medicare Advantage for almost 7-- do you know about this? Has anyone heard this? It will obliterate 700,000 North Carolina seniors who have been paying for this for years will not be taken care of anymore. [booing]

Republicans want to protect Medicare for our great seniors who have earned it. And frankly, if you know about this stuff, they paid for it. They've been paying for it for many years. And Republicans will always protect Americans with pre-existing conditions. [applause]

The Democrats will also destroy health care by giving free health care to illegal immigrants and much more than that. [booing]

As we speak, the Democrat Party is openly encouraging millions of illegal aliens to break our laws, violate our borders, and bankrupt our country. That's what has to happen. Democrats' extreme immigration policies will overwhelm your schools, your hospitals, and communities, and strain public resources to the breaking point. And Democrat sanctuary cities, a term you don't love too much around here, release criminal aliens straight out of jail and right onto your streets. Congratulations.

Republicans believe our country should be a sanctuary for law-abiding Americans, not criminal aliens. [applause]

And the Republican Party will always stand proudly with the heroes of ICE and Border Patrol and law enforcement. [applause]

And we started the wall, and we'll finish the wall, but we have to do it faster. We want the money to finish the wall. And watch next week what's going to happen, just wait. [applause]

It'll be exciting. Going to be exciting, Thom. It's going to be great. If you want to uphold our laws, our borders, and our way of life, you need to vote for Ted Budd and for Mark Harris. Go out and vote for them. [applause]

This election is about borders. This election is about jobs. In less than two years, we have created more than 4.2 million new jobs and lifted more than 4 million Americans off of food stamps. [applause]

We've created almost half a million new manufacturing jobs. African-American poverty has reached an all-time low. [applause]

African American, Hispanic American, Asian American unemployment have all reached their lowest rates in the history of our country. That's not bad. [applause]

That's not bad. That's not bad. That's going to be a good soundbite in the debate. Hispanic American, African American, Asian American, the best unemployment statistics in the history of our country. What is my opponent going to be doing with that one?

And this has all happened recently, folks. And if our opponent and my opponent ever got elected, we'd be heading south. We would be in such problems right now as a country. It was going that way. You know it was going that way.

You know, every time I come to a venue like this or any venue, almost every time somebody comes back and says, big guy-- back stage-- and he goes, sir, thank you very much for saving our country. [applause]

Thank you very much. [applause]

Happened-- happens all the time. This is a big, tough guy. Obviously from North Carolina. This is a guy he's-- he's almost got-- most of them do have, but this one's too proud to cry, but he had tears. And he just said that-- and I have so many people saying that.

And, you know, when it first happened, when we first started doing all of these things with regulations and tax cuts, I used to hear it, and I'd say, what do they mean? They really-- they're right. Because if this country would have gone on the path that it was going on for many years, not just the last eight years, our country could never recover, it could never be the same. We were heading down the wrong path. [applause]

And I didn't save it. We all saved it. Because I said before, the greatest movement in the history-- this is the greatest political movement in the history of our country. [applause]

It is. I'm not even running for office. Look at this crowd. No, look at this crowd. I'm not even running. Think of it. Think of it. You know, the president came to North Carolina, just a nice president, a good president, even a really good president, like Ronald Reagan. If a president came to North Carolina, what would happen? They'd go to a hotel. They'd have a conference room.

That's my kind of guy right there. [applause]

That's my kind of guy. No, nice president, they go to a hotel. They'd have a conference room, 300 people, 350, and that would be considered a success. They'd say, wow, that was a good success. That was worthwhile. We have-- the other night in Houston, the Houston Rockets, the arena, packed, set a new record. Outside, tens of thousands of people, 109,000 people-- 109,000 people wanted to come. And every place. Every place. Every place.

But if they came to North Carolina, nice president, 300, 350 people, and then they go back to the White House. Look at this crowd. It's crazy. [applause]

Go out and vote for Mark and Ted. Now, the thing I failed with-- because it's not historic-- you know that. You know what I'm going to say. I failed with women because women's unemployment only fell to 3.6 percent, which is only the lowest in 65 years. Everyone else is historic. Sorry. [applause]

We're going to get it. I've been saying this. You know what? I've been saying this for two months. And every month, every week, I say, give me the number on the women. Because we're very close to historic. I want to get rid of the 65 years.

The best number in 65 years. But African Americans have done better. Asians have done better. Hispanic Americans, because theirs is-- but we will come through for the women soon. It's this close. I want to get rid of the 65 years. It's not good enough. Anybody else would be very happy. I'm not happy with that one.

Earlier this month, I announced that we are replacing the horrible NAFTA deal. [applause]

One of the worst trade deals ever made. Our jobs, everything left our country. Our jobs, our plants, our factories, they left for Mexico, for Canada, one of the worst trade deals in the history of the world.

There is one worse-- I won't tell you-- but we're working on that one, too. And we replaced it with an incredible, brand-new U.S.-Mexico-Canada trade agreement called the USMCA. Like YMCA. MCA. [applause]

Which is a giant victory for North Carolina farmers, manufacturers, and dairy producers. They're opening up their markets. Nobody thought that would be possible. They're opening-- Thom understands it. Thom, we're all happy with that. We're all happy. Thom Tillis, we're all happy with that. Everybody's happy with that.

Even Chuck Schumer said, yeah, it's a good deal. I said, I want to go back and inspect that deal. There must be something. [laughter]

You got a lot of bipartisan support on that. That has to be good, to get bipartisan support, Thom Tillis. But people like it. People like it. And it's true. Senator Schumer liked it.

We've also taken the toughest ever action to crack down on China's abusive trade practice. We had to do it. Had to do it. [applause]

China's been taking hundreds and hundreds of billions of dollars a year out of our country for many years. We have helped rebuild China. I said, it's time to stop. And we are doing very well. We are doing very well. That's all I can say. They want to make a deal. I say they're not ready yet. They want to make a deal.

First time you've ever seen this, though? First time-- you've never seen this before. China's had free wheel of our country. Give them whatever they want. Not anymore. Every day is promises made, promises kept. [applause]

You hear that, Childress? You hear that, Mr. Childress, with those racing cars? You've got to be crazy to drive those cars.

We're bringing down the price of prescription drugs. Americans are tired of subsidizing the lower prices for other countries. And that's how it happened. By paying the highest prices-- we pay the highest prices anywhere in the world. Congratulations, everybody.

Yesterday, we just did something that was so terrific with Secretary Azar, a great gentleman, and we took the historic action to stop global freeloading and put American patients first. We're putting our people first. [applause]

And I'm very proud because Senator Tillis and others have really helped on this. We have approved after 44 years patients get life-saving treatments that we passed. It's called right to try. You know that, right? [applause]

We have the greatest research in the world, the greatest drug companies in the world, the greatest doctors in the world. We have the greatest. And it would be on line-- it's the pipeline. And it took 12 years, 14, 15, to get something-- we've got it done to a much shorter period, like four years, maybe less. But we have to be careful.

But we have in some cases drugs or treatments or therapies that are fantastic. They're really looking good. And there was no way legally you could do it to help somebody who was terminally ill. Very ill. Terminally ill. We couldn't use it.

People were leaving the country. If they had money, they'd go all over the world. They'd go to Asia. They'd go to Europe. Go to Africa. They'd go all over the world looking for a cure. Because we couldn't do it.

And it sounded like, for me, not even a contest. Now you'll have what's called-- it's the name of the bill-- the right to try. Right to try. And it's had an amazing impact.

I signed it two-and-a-half months ago. And I'm so proud of it. Went through Congress. Went through the Senate. Thom helped. They all helped. And I'll tell you what, it's great. And you know what? We've had some incredible stories. We've had some incredible results.

And one of the things is, you really do know whether or not something works. OK? You really do know. But we've had some incredible stories, right to try. Hopefully nobody in this room needs it. Right? We don't want it. But if you need it, you can have the best in the world without having to go around. It's called hope. Hope. [applause]

We passed veterans' choice, giving our veterans the right to see a private doctor, and the landmark V.A. accountability law to ensure anyone who mistreats our veterans will be fully accountable. That's right. You're fired. Get out. Boom. You're fired! [applause]

We secured $700 billion last year and $716 billion this year to fully rebuild the United States military, all made in the United States. [applause]

Everything built in the United States.

CROWD: USA! USA! USA! USA! USA! USA! USA! USA! USA! USA!

THE PRESIDENT: All built in the United States. At my direction, the Pentagon is now working to create the sixth branch of the American armed forces, the Space Force. Very important. Very important, cutting-edge. It's all heading out to space. I hate to say it. Whether we like it or not, it's all heading out to space, so we have tremendous support. We have tremendous support.

Remember all that support, Thom. We have great support. Everybody loves the space. And this is where it's at. This is where it's at. [applause]

Whoa. Whoa. It's true. People get so excited with the Space Force. But that's where it's at. I'm not doing it as fun and games. That's where it's at.

And I'm just talking about missiles going up or rockets going to Mars or going to-- which is very exciting. I like that. I say let the private guys do it, you know? They're all having fun. Let 'em do it. We'll rent them our great facilities. That's what we're doing. We're renting them our great facilities. Let them spend their money. They want to go to Mars, I love it. They can hop in the ship themselves. I couldn't care less. They want to do it, I'm OK with it. They're rich. I don't know, rich guys seem to like space. And I say they want to use our facilities, we'll charge them a small amount of money, like, you know, how about $25 million a launch? [applause]

They'll say OK. But NASA has been reinvigorated. But we need it from the standpoint of protection, offense, defense. We need it for our military.

I withdrew the United States from the horrible, one-sided Iran nuclear catastrophe. [applause]

And we have recognized the capital of Israel and opened the American embassy in Jerusalem. [applause]

And instead of spending $1.1 billion, I opened it up for $400,000. You know that. You know. Have you all heard that story? OK. They want to hear it again. But we have opened it up for slightly less than budget. Budget was $1.1 billion. I'm saying, how do you spend-- do you have any builders here, like knock up houses and things? How do you spend $1.1 billion for a one-story building? We'll try and figure this out.

But they came to my office. Sir, would you sign this? I said, OK, I'm sighing-- because I sign so many papers. And I have Donald, so what's it for, General? Sir, we are building the U.S. embassy in Israel, sir. How much? $1.1 billion, sir. I said, whoa, whoa, whoa. [laughter]

I said, we'll never get this passed by Thom Tillis, $1.1 billion. We're not going to pass-- I'm not going to-- don't worry, I'm not sending it to you anyway. [laughter]

I said, what do you mean? Sir, it will cost-- we're looking for land right now. So I called up David Friedman, one of the best lawyers in New York, one of the biggest. He loves Israel. And he wanted-- he gave up-- he made a fortune. And he gave up this massive amount of money. I won't even tell you what he made, too much. But he gave it up because he wanted to be the ambassador to Israel.

I called David, very smart guy. I said, David, they want to spend $1.1 billion to build the embassy in Jerusalem. It's crazy. He said, could I work on it? Yeah. Calls me back two days later, he says, sir, we own the best piece of land in Jerusalem. We have a building on the piece of land. It's set back from the standpoint of terrorism. They want to set back. They don't like it on the street. We all understand that, right?

It's set back beautifully. It's on a big site, like I think 18 acres, which is a massive site. We've owned it for a long time. We have a building on it. It's a good building, but it needs some renovation. We can take a big chunk of the building, renovate it. Sir, I can have it done for $180,000, he told me. [applause]

$180,000. $180,000. So I said, wait a minute. Wait a minute. It's the first time I've ever done this in my life. I shouldn't tell you this. I'll get in trouble. They'll get me in trouble. [booing]

I said, wait a minute, David. You won't believe what I'm going to say. I said, that sounds too cheap. It's no good. He said, I can do it for $180,000. I said, David, it's too cheap. Do it for $400,000 or $500,000. Please don't do it for $180,000. $180,000, they're going to think you're kidding. Do it for like $400,000. Is that OK? Absolutely.

And there's a stone called Jerusalem stone. I have a friend. He's a very rich person, the great Ron Baron. He's a great hedge fund guy, great, brilliant guy. And for years, he brags about his office. He said, I use Jerusalem stone. He gets it in Jerusalem. And it's one of the most expensive-- he's so proud of it.

He's more proud of Jerusalem stone than he is of his career, and he's made billions, OK? Really. And he always wants to show me his Jerusalem stone. I've been hearing it for years. So I said, David, didn't you use Jerusalem stone? You're in Jerusalem. He said, absolutely. I get it for peanuts. Can you believe it?

So we have all Jerusalem stone. It's beautiful. And we ended up spending $400,000, and we opened it four months after I agreed to do it in the first place. [applause]

We saved $1.1 billion. We got it opened. Don't forget, the $1.1 billion as a lot of people in this room would say, probably would never have gotten built. And if it did, it would have cost $4.4 billion, so we did it for $400,000, and we're proud of it. And by the way, it's beautiful. It's really beautiful. They had their opening. It's beautiful. [applause]

They have their embassy. They have their capital. And a lot of people are happy.

Together we've made extraordinary progress. But we're just getting started. If you vote Republican this November, we will continue to cut your taxes, cut your regulations, and raise your incomes, because that's what we're doing. We will protect Medicare and Social Security. We will continue to confirm judges who will interpret our Constitution as written. [applause]

We will fully secure the border for you. [applause]

We will pass Kate's law, which has already been passed by the House. We will stop sanctuary cities-- [applause] -- stop catch-and-release, end the visa lottery that we talked about, end chain migration, and we will keep the criminal drug dealers and terrorists the hell out of our country. [applause]

We will lift millions of our citizens from welfare to work, dependence to independence, and from poverty to prosperity. That's what's going to happen. [applause]

For years you watched as your leaders apologized for America. Now you have a president who is standing up for America. Very simply, standing up for America. [applause]

We are standing up for your values. We are standing up for North Carolina. And we are standing proudly up for our great national anthem. [applause]

To continue our incredible momentum, you need to get your friends, get your family, get your coworkers, and get out and vote for Ted Budd and Mark Harris, and vote Republican. We're going to win. [applause]

Loyal citizens like you helped build this country, and together we are taking back our country, returning power to you, the American people. [applause]

We stand on the shoulders of brave Americans who crossed the oceans, tamed the wilderness, secured our independence, won two world wars, and built the greatest country and most powerful military in the history of the world. [applause]

American patriots defeated fascism, vanquished communism, and delivered millions into freedom. Our ancestors put down the mighty railroads, linked up the roaring highways, dug out the Panama Canal, and planted an American flag on the face of the moon. [applause]

These courageous Americans did not shed their blood, sweat, and tears so that we could sit at home while others try to erase their legacy, tear down our history, and destroy our very proud American heritage. [applause]

For the sake of freedom and for the sake of our children, we are going to work, we are going to fight, and we are going to win, win, win. And we are going to keep on winning. [applause]

We will not bend. We will not break. We will never give in. We will never give up. We will never back down. We will never surrender. And we will never, ever lose. We will only fight to victory every single time. [applause]

Because we are Americans. And our hearts bleed red, white, and blue. [applause]

We are one people, one family, and one glorious nation under God. And together, we will make America wealthy again. We will make America strong again. We will make America safe again. We will make America great again.

Thank you, North Carolina. Thank you. Thank you. [applause]

NOTE: The President spoke at the Bojangles Coliseum, Charlotte, NC.  Also speaking were Mark Harris, Republican Candidate for Congress (NC 9th); Ted Budd, Republican Candidate for Congress (NC 13th).

This transcript was prepared for the American Presidency Project by Maryam Eapen.

Donald J. Trump (1st Term), Remarks at a "Make America Great Again" Rally in Charlotte, North Carolina Online by Gerhard Peters and John T. Woolley, The American Presidency Project https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/node/332452

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