Photo of Donald Trump

Remarks at a "Make America Great Again" Rally in Council Bluffs, Iowa

October 09, 2018

THE PRESIDENT: Hello, Iowa. It is great to be back in beautiful Council Bluffs with thousands of hard-working, great, great American patriots. Thank you. [applause]

This is truly a historic week for America. [applause]

And you know what I'm talking about. Of course, yesterday at the White House, we proudly swore in the newest member of the United States Supreme Court, Justice Brett Kavanaugh. [applause]

And today, Justice Kavanaugh took his seat alongside of Justice Gorsuch to defend your rights, your Constitution, and your God-given freedom. [applause]

And I want to thank our incredible Republican senators for refusing to back down in the face of the Democrats' shameful campaign of political and personal destruction. [booing]

I especially want to thank an Iowa legend, whose backbone and leadership made this great victory possible, Chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, a very tough cookie, Chuck Grassley. Thank you, Chuck. [applause]

Thank you. Great man. Great person. From the very first minute Brett Kavanaugh was nominated, radical Democrats were on a mission to resist, obstruct, delay, demolish, and destroy--they wanted to destroy that man, because they want to destroy me, too, but that's OK. [booing]

Me, we understand. Him, how can you do that? They want to destroy everything. That's all they're good at, resisting. Their whole campaign is to resist. Ours is to create. [applause]

What the Democrats did to Brett and his beautiful family is a national embarrassment, a national disgrace. You see what's happening and you see where they're coming from. You see. Including the phony protestors that got paid . . . [booing] . . . and now they want to protest because they didn't get paid yet, and they want their money. [laughter]

So now they're going to really protest. [applause]

You see, that's a real protest. But in just four weeks, you will have the chance to render your verdict on the Democrats' outrageous conduct. On November 6th--and you can do early voting in Iowa. Go. Just vote. Get it over with. [applause]

Vote. Go vote. Early voting started today. Right? Today. Early vote. Go do it immediately. Then you don't have to listen to me any more tonight. [laughter]

In fact, if you did early voting already, go home. Have a good time. Thank you. [laughter]

We'll let some additional people from outside in, right? Nah, that's not going to happen. Got a lot of people outside. Look at this place. You believe it? [applause]

It never changes. Could I ask the cameras to just take a swoop of this room, please? Do you mind? Come on. [applause]

They don't like to do that. They don't like to--they like to keep that camera dead set on me and about six people in the background. [laughter]

All wearing hats saying "Make Farmers Great Again." [applause]

And we're doing it. I shouldn't--we're a little bit early. I shouldn't say it now, but we're going with E15 year round, OK? [applause]

I made that promise to you during the campaign. I made that promise to you during the primaries. Remember? I made that promise. Promises made, promises kept. [applause]

Right? On November 6th, you have the chance to stop the radical Democrats by electing a Republican House and a Republican Senate. So, we need the votes. [applause]

We have a majority that if one person has a cold, we have to hold the vote. I mean, can you--we don't have--it's like we hardly have a majority. We need votes.

Early voting is now underway. And you know that. You got to get out. Early voting, go out now and vote. Leave here now immediately. Is it still open? Yes, get the hell out of here. Early voting.

And in their lust for power, the Democrats have become totally unhinged. They've gone--they've gone crazy. [booing]

No, they've gone crazy. Now the Democrats--or as some people would says, the Dems--the Dems--who says that? Lou Dobbs, the great Lou Dobbs. He says that, right? Sean Hannity says that. The Dems. Sean Hannity. [applause]

Judge Jeanine says that, doesn't she? [applause]

Laura--Laura, how good has Laura been, right? [applause]

We got a lot of good people. Do we like--do we like Tucker? I like Tucker. [applause]

He says that a lot. How about Steve Doocy? How about Ainsley, Brian? We got a lot of great friends.

The Democrats are even talking about doing really bad things now to Justice Kavanaugh. You know what they're talking about? And packing the courts with radical judges to overrule the will of the American people. It's not going to happen, folks. Not going to happen.

Last week, they're saying we'll impeach him. Impeach him for what? For what? [booing]

Besides that, I have to go first, right? Don't I have to go . . . [laughter]

Even though we've done nothing wrong, other than create one of the greatest economies in the history of our country . . . [applause]

That will be interesting. You get impeached for having created the greatest economy in the history of our country. The best job numbers in the history of our country, just about, right? The greatest trade deals, which we've just finished, in the history of our country. [applause]

The biggest regulatory cuts by far already in less than two years, bigger than any other president during their entire term or terms . . . [applause]

The biggest tax cuts and reforms--you got a lot of money back--in the history of our country. [applause]

But the Democrats have become too extreme. And they've become, frankly, too dangerous to govern. They've gone wacko. [laughter]

They've gone so far left that they consider Pocahontas to be a rational person. No, it's crazy. Elizabeth Warren. [laughter]

Oh, I hope she runs. I hope she runs. Then we can finally get down to the fact as to whether or not she has Indian blood. [laughter]

So far, she's not doing too well. Her mother says she has high cheekbones. That's why. [laughter]

And she's gotten a lot of advantages by falsely claiming what she's claiming. So I hope she's one of the finalists. But I don't want to knock too many of them, because maybe by doing I'll knock them all out early and I'll actually end up somebody that's--like, that's got some talent. That wouldn't be good. So we have to be nice and quiet.

I should be really quiet, really, really, quite on the bad ones. On the bad ones. [booing]

Like, we won't talk about Cory Booker, who ran Newark into the ground. [booing]

We won't talk about Da Nang Dick . . . [booing] . . . who tried to convince people for 15 years that he was a great war hero. They were going down left. They were going down right. [booing]

Right, you know who that is? Blumenthal. He said they were going on my left, they were going down--he was in Da Nang Province. Except the one problem. It's hard to be there, because he was never in Vietnam, but these are minor details.

And then he gets up. He goes, I demand total honesty and transparency. I'm saying, what's--he wants honesty. Great war hero. He's a great hero.

Yeah. Right, how about--how about Senator Feinstein? That's another beauty. [booing]

That's a beauty. "Did you leak the documents?" Well, what, what? "No, I didn't do it. Did we leak? Did we leak?" [applause]

No. No. No, we didn't--did you ever see--no, she goes no. He just said, no, we didn't leak.

AUDIENCE: 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: And I think they're talking about Feinstein. Can you believe that? Now, was that the worst body language, honestly? In other words, did she leak it? A hundred percent. [applause]

No, no, I don't want to get sued. Ninety-nine percent. See, now I can't get sued. Now I can't get sued.

You don't hand matches to an arsonist, and you don't give power to an angry left-wing mob. And that's what the Democrats are becoming. [applause]

They would turn our country so fast into Venezuela--and Venezuela is not doing too well, folks. If you want to drain the swamp, you must defeat the Democrats, so you're going to have one hell of a swamp. [applause]

Under Republican leadership, America is booming, America is thriving. And America is winning again like never before, because we are finally putting America first. [applause]

The national unemployment rate has fallen to 3.7 percent. You believe that one? [applause]

3.7 percent, the lowest in 50 years, five-oh, 50. And it's going better. It's going better. Iowa's unemployment rate is 2.5 percent, among the lowest in its history that we can find. [applause]

And by the way, we need people helping you. We need people coming in. We need people to run the farms. We're going to have people coming in. But they're going to come in legally, and they're going to come in through merit, through merit. It's called the merit system. [applause]

AUDIENCE: Build the wall! Build the wall! Build the wall! Build the wall! Build the wall! Build the wall! Build the wall! Build the wall! Build the wall!

THE PRESIDENT: And we've built the wall--we're building the wall. We've started. A lot of it's getting done right now. We got $1.6 billion. Another $1.6 billion. And another $1.6 billion. I want 'em to give us the money so I can build it--we can build it in a year. But we've done a lot of it. It's going up right now. [applause]

But, you know, the Democrats feel that that's one thing we really want, we got our money for the military, $700 billion. [applause]

We got our money to help us out with the opioid crisis, $6 billion. [applause]

But when it comes to the wall, they feel we want it so badly, but we keep getting big chunks and we keep building that wall. And it's under construction. And we're going to get it finished sooner than anyone would believe. And if you could get me some Republicans, we'll get it done quickly. Quickly. [applause]

I mean, when I have to ask Nancy Pelosi and Maxine Waters . . . [booing] . . . Maxine Waters, can we build a wall, Maxine? No, I don't want that wall built. She doesn't want a wall built. Can we build it? How about--how about Pelosi? We want to build a wall. No, I don't want that wall built.

Look, Iowa manufacturing jobs are growing at the fastest rate in more than 20 years. And if you remember . . . [applause] . . . the last administration, without mentioning names, the last administration said manufacturing jobs, they're dead. They're gone. We have 600,000 have come back since the election. [applause]

Six hundred thousand. More Americans are now working than ever before. Think of that. At this point today, this day, we have more Americans by far working--right now working than have ever worked in our country before. Isn't that great? That's a big number. That's a big number. [applause]

Today I kept another major promise, as I said, to the people of Iowa and Nebraska and other countries. [applause]

Wait. Hey, wait a minute. I got to do that again. I got to do that again. I love Nebraska. You know we won Iowa, we won Nebraska . . . [applause]

But they said, sir, you're speaking in Iowa, but we'll have some people from Nebraska there. What the . . . [applause]

Like I said, Nebraska . . . [applause]

OK, so--and we have both. By the way, we have both great governors here. [applause]

And I did that just in case. So, ready? I'm going to go Iowa first, then I'm going to go Nebraska. I just want to see who the hell I'm speaking to. [laughter]

OK? Because that was a little shocking what I just heard. So I'm going to go--I'm just curious, OK? Iowa. [applause]

Nebraska. [applause]

Unbelievable. So they said, sir, you're speaking in Iowa, there may be a few people coming in from Nebraska. I don't think that's right. Great going, fellas. Great going. I'll tell my staff, great going, fellas.

Doesn't matter. We love both. Who cares, right? Who cares? We love 'em. [applause]

All I know is you've got a lot of farmers involved, right? [applause]

And my administration is protecting ethanol, all right? That's what you want to hear. [applause]

Today, we are unleashing the power of E15 to fuel our country all year long. Not eight months. All year long. [applause]

The Dems will end ethanol. You know that. They're not going to approve ethanol. They will take it away as--we'll try and make it, like, so they can't do it to--but they will find a way to take it away if you give them rights. You better get out there and vote for Republicans. [applause]

We've also achieved another historic victory for Iowa farmers and ranchers, by replacing the job-killing NAFTA with an incredible brand-new U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement, the USMCA. [applause]

But if Democrats take control, they will try to reverse our amazing progress and plunge our country into gridlock, frankly, into poverty, ultimately into chaos. That's what's going to happen. [booing]

And we've never had it like it's been now. We've never had it like it is now. Look at all the money you people are making. What are you going to do with it? [applause]

Democrats want to raise your taxes, impose socialism, dismantle law enforcement . . . [booing] . . . eliminate ICE . . . [booing] . . . and get rid of American borders. You want to get rid of the borders, right? You won't have a country. [booing]

And I've been saying this, and I mean it. Democrats are the party of crime. [applause]

They are. Republicans are the party of safety. We are also the party of jobs, jobs, jobs. [applause]

Now, we're thrilled to be joined tonight by a number of terrific Republican leaders. Iowa Congressman Steve King . . . [applause]

Where's Steve? Where is he? Where is Steve? Where is he? I wish he could get a little bit more conservative. Can you believe this guy? He may be--we're all--he may be the world's most conservative human being. [applause]

Thank you, Steve. [applause]

And I supported him long before I became a politician. Do I have to use that term? Am I a politician? [booing]

Thank you, Steve. And another great, great gentleman, so much help to me, Congressman Jeff Fortenberry. Thanks, Jeff. Great job. Thank you. They're always with us. They are--those two, always with us.

Another friend of mine, got to know him during the primaries, got to know him during the election. We took this state by storm. He helped. But I did even better than him. You know, you still need a--you still need a product, right?

But we did great. And we love the people of Iowa. We took Nebraska equally. [applause]

By a lot. By a lot. That wasn't close. Iowa GOP Chair--friend of mine--Jeff Kaufmann. Thank you, Jeff. [applause]

Thank you. Thank you, Jeff. Great job, Jeff. Get ready, Jeff. We're coming back soon, Jeff. And from Nebraska . . . [applause] . . . where's Tom Osborne, huh? Where is he? Where's Tom Osborne? [applause]

And I don't know Tom Osborne. All I know--it's "Tom Osborne," right? All I know is for years all he knew how to do is win, win, just win. [applause]

I mean, how good a coach was that guy? You know, there's a guy--again, I don't know him, never met him. But it's called no talk, all action. Isn't that nice? [applause]

Now, what you did every year, you won. Better get going, Nebraska. [applause]

But we have a governor who's done a fantastic job. He's so into so many different things, including cutting your taxes, and we have him with us, Governor Pete Ricketts. Pete? [applause]

Great guy. Great. I think they like you, Pete. Vote for Ricketts. That's November. Right? Vote for Ricketts. He's got an opponent that doesn't have what you need, but still you never know. You got to get out there and vote, right, Pete? You have a vote. Great job, Pete.

And Congressman Don Bacon . . . [applause]

Incredible guy. Great job, Don. He's always there. He's always there, Don Bacon. He's always there. Thank you, Don. Great job. Appreciate it. Every time we needed him, he's there. Thank you.

And Nebraska GOP Chair Dan Welch. Thank you, Dan. Thanks, Dan. What a great group. And I am especially thrilled to introduce a person just to come up for a second to say a couple of words, because she has become a real star in the Republican Party and in politics. Kim Reynolds, she fights every day for the people of Iowa. And she always delivers and--wow, does she have my endorsement. She's incredible. Kim, please come up. Kim Reynolds. [applause]

Kim Reynolds.

KIM REYNOLDS: Thank you so much. Oh, my gosh! This is amazing! Thank you all for being here! This is incredible! [applause]

Welcome back, Mr. President, to the great state of Iowa. And on behalf of all Iowans, I want to say thank you, thank you for cutting taxes for hard-working Iowans, for eliminating senseless regulations that stifled innovation and jobs, for standing strong with Justice Kavanaugh and appointing conservative judges to the court! [applause]

Thank you. Thank you for USMCA and for KORUS. And, Mr. President, thank you for year-round E15! [applause]

Our farmers thank you. Iowans thank you. And we are grateful. Promises made, promises kept. The Midwest has a partner in the White House with President Donald Trump. [applause]

Woo! [applause]

It is an incredible honor to serve as the 43rd governor of this great state. And my story is the Iowa story. It's a reflection of the opportunities that exist here, where a small-town girl, daughter of a factory worker and farmer, who waited tables, checked groceries, never gave up on her dream of getting a college degree, is standing before you today as the first female governor of the state of Iowa. [applause]

I understand the challenges that everyday Iowans have faced because I've faced them myself. And that's why I'm proud that we focused on cutting taxes, expanding and growing jobs and wages and opportunities, addressing Iowa's health care needs and creating strong and safe communities. Iowa is working. The Midwest is working. And we're getting things done.

We're recognized as the number-one state in the country, second lowest unemployment, third best managed, wages are going up, taxes are going down. Our budget is balanced. And we're going to keep Iowa moving. [applause]

We need your help. We need--Republicans need your help. We need your support. And to do that, we have to show up. We have to go vote. And if you do that, I promise you, Republicans up and down this ticket are going to be a partner for our great president, to keep the Midwest and moving forward and to keep the United States of America number one! God bless you! God bless the great state of Iowa and the United States of America! [applause]

THE PRESIDENT: Wow. Good energy. That's what you need, good energy. Thank you, Kim. Great. By the way, Kim's opponent this November is a radical Dem named Fred Hubbell. [booing]

He's got some problems. [laughter]

He's weak on crime, weak on borders, doesn't want any. Only wants to massively raise your taxes. He wants to take away your ethanol. [booing]

What I'm giving you, he will take, very quickly. Wants to devastate your farms and businesses with an avalanche of job-killing regulations that we just got rid of. Everybody get out and vote for Governor Reynolds on Election Day. [applause]

Finally, I want to introduce another great Iowa Republican, Congressman David Young. [applause]

When you said, David--he's a great guy--he's another one, fellas, he's with us, he's with us all the way--when you said, David, to Congress you voted to cut your taxes, cut your regulations, tax care of our veterans--our veterans, we love 'em. [applause]

Veterans' Choice. We got Veterans' Choice. After 44 years, we got Veterans' Choice. He voted--thank you very much. He voted to secure our borders, stop the visa lottery horror show. Can you imagine it? This is legislation. They put names in a bin. We picked names. Do you think we're--they're putting their finest? We get these people--a lottery, can you believe? We want a merit system. We don't want a lottery system. [applause]

We want a merit system. And we're going to get it. And we're on our way to getting it. Need a few more votes. We got to get some Republicans.

And he voted--and he--believe this is somebody--he's not into the American military, but we are. We are really into the American rebuilt military. [applause]

But David is a true champion of the military. He loves our military. He loves our vets. David, get on up here, David. Come up. Come here. Remember this. A vote for David is a vote for me and our agenda to make America great again. David, come up. [applause]

DAVID YOUNG: Thank you, Mr. President. Wow. This is incredible. Thank you for showing up tonight. Thank you, Mr. President. It's such a pleasure to have you in Iowa. For years, presidents have made promises about E15 year round. We've got a president who delivered, and he did it. Thank you for keeping your promise, Mr. President. Yeah! [applause]

Look at the economy, 4.2 percent growth, 3.7 percent unemployment rate across the country, 2.5 percent unemployment rate here. Incredible things are happening, folks. Allowing hard-working Iowans to keep their hard-earned dollars. Opportunity, the American dream. Thank you, Mr. President. [applause]

Rebuilding our military and signing into law the largest pay increase for our military in almost 10 years. Thank you, Mr. President. [applause]

Securing our border, Mr. President. Thank you. And thank you for getting us out of that bogus Iran deal. Thank you, Mr. President. [applause]

And thank you, Mr. President, for finally moving our embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem in Israel. [applause]

And, Mr. President, you are looking out for veterans. Thank you for that. Hey, folks. Elections are about choices, right? We can keep moving forward, or we can allow Nancy Pelosi and her hand . . . [applause] . . . and her hand-picked candidates to take us backwards. We cannot go backwards to higher taxes, more government, a weaker military, and the failed policies of the past. I need your support. We need your support. Talk to your friends. November 6th. Vote. Go to davidyoungforiowa.com to volunteer. Thank you, Mr. President. God bless you. God bless this great country. God bless Iowa. God bless you. [applause]

THE PRESIDENT: Thank you, David. A vote for David's far-left opponent, Cindy "Tax Me" . . . [laughter]

Remember that name, Cindy "Tax Me". It's a very good name, actually, for her. I guess it's actually Axne. But we call her "Tax Ne". [laughter]

That was so easy. [laughter]

I didn't hear that one, but I don't know if anyone's thought of it, but that's like a natural. Is a vote for the radical agenda of Pelosi and Schumer and, of course, Maxine Waters. [booing]

"Tax Me" opposed our massive tax cuts. That's why her name. She was born with the right name. And she wants a socialist takeover of health care, which is going to destroy our entire city. [booing]

Cindy Axne is totally controlled by Pelosi and the extreme Washington liberals who are bankrolling her campaign, totally bankrolling her campaign. If you want to stop Nancy Pelosi from becoming--can you believe this--the Speaker of the House? [booing]

Then you need to vote for David Young, who is a terrific, terrific guy. [applause]

Terrific guy. And you also need to vote for a great friend of mine, who really through just force of will got us to put up millions of dollars to build a dam to stop your flooding in a very important part of Iowa, Congressman Rod Blum. Great guy. [applause]

And I have to say, Rod is fighting to reform welfare, reduce crime, and continuously cut your taxes. Rod's opponent, Abby Finkenauer--who the hell is that? [laughter]

Who is that? Is an extreme liberal who supports mass amnesty. Anybody like amnesty? [booing]

For illegal aliens, wants to raise your taxes through the roof, and wants to take away your health care. So you got to vote for Rod Blum. Got to vote for David Young. You've got to vote for these two characters over here who have been there. [applause]

We don't even bring them up, because they're leading by so much, I said, I'm not going to waste your time. [applause]

But get out and vote anyway, just in case, right? Just in--you never know. You never know.

A majority of House Democrats have already signed up for a socialist health care plan that would obliterate Medicare and eliminate Medicare Advantage for 20 million seniors. Republicans want to protect Medicare. We're protecting it for our great seniors who have earned it and paid for it all of their lives. [applause]

Right? And we will always protect Americans with pre-existing conditions. We are going to protect Americans with pre-existing conditions. [applause]

The Democrat agenda is radical socialism and open borders. The new platform of the Democrat Party is to abolish ICE. What a great idea. [booing]

You know why? Because the people that work for ICE, they love our country. But they're very tough people. Guess what? That's what we need to take care of MS-13, all the gangs. [applause]

You don't want to do it. You don't want to do it. Even you don't want to do it. I don't want to do it, either. They're fantastic people. They love our country. And to them, it's a day in the office. For other people, they want no part of it. They want to turn America, these Democrats--and that's what they want--into a giant sanctuary for criminal aliens and the MS-13 killers . . . [booing] . . . that we're getting out of the country, by the way, by the thousands. [applause] Thousands.

They've taken over towns in Long Island. I mean, literally. It could happen to your community. They've taken over towns in Long Island. And we go in, and we, like, liberate the towns. Can you believe--towns that I grew up right next to. I know every one of them. And they go in and they go in and they have no fear and they take care of the situation, they get them the hell out of there or they put them in jail. They either send them back where they came from or they put them in jail.

And they liberate--literally, can you imagine we're saying this about places in our country? They liberate towns and small cities in different places of Long Island and others. They liberate them, like we're taking over a war and we get liberated. How sad. How pathetic. And if we didn't have ICE, it wouldn't happen. It wouldn't happen.

So we have to cherish our law enforcement. We have to protect our law enforcement. [applause]

The Democrat immigration policies aren't just wrong, they're lethal. Republicans believe our country should be a sanctuary for law-abiding Americans, not for criminal aliens that sneak into our country. [applause]

And Republicans stand proudly with the brave men and women of ICE and Border Patrol and our great law enforcement, including your great local law enforcement. [applause]

If you want to have safe communities, if you want to have a border, then you must organize. Remember this. You don't have a border, you don't have a country, folks, OK, let's face it. Let's face it. You know, we're doing things that are incredible outside, but things are happening you won't even--you'll see. You'll see what happens. You take a look at what's going on with North Korea. They were ready to go to war with North Korea. Now we're getting along very nicely. It's working out very well. [applause]

Look at Iran. Before I got there, Iran was going to take over the Middle East in like 12 minutes, right? Now they're trying to survive. You got riots in every city. [applause]

So if you want to really just keep up what we're doing and keep this country--we have tremendous potential. You know, we're doing well. But we have tremendous potential to grow incredibly. When we get rid of these horrible, disgusting trade deals, with China, over the last five, six years, we've been losing $300 billion to $500 billion a year, billion. Nobody even knows what the hell it is, it's so much. It's ending. It's ending. It's ending. [applause]

And it's not just China. It's not just China. And what we do is we protect wealthy countries for nothing. For nothing. Would you say Saudi Arabia is wealthy? Yeah. Right? And I said to the king, you've got to pay. I'm sorry. You've got to pay. We're going to protect, you've got to pay. Get the money. You've got to pay. You've got to pay!

I have friends in the audience, they're good businessmen. They're looking like, absolutely. They--but you're not a politician. A politician doesn't--you got to pay.

Japan is an immensely wealthy country. Great people. Prime Minister Abe just had a big election, won by a landslide. He's a friend of mine. But I said, look, we're protecting Japan. They're making a fortune. They're sending us millions of cars. We're not allowed to send them--they have barriers. We can't send them cars. But they send millions of cars into here. They pay essentially no tax. And we subsidize their military.

When I say subsidize, I'm not talking about like for 2 percent. We pay for 70 percent of their military. [booing]

Nobody knows this! And I said to the prime minister, who's a great guy, I said, how come? And he honestly says, nobody ever asked. [laughter]

When we straighten out this, we have so much potential. And there are many countries like that. I'm not looking at just those two. There are many, many countries like that.

And you know what? We should protect people that can't protect themselves and they're getting slaughtered. It's OK. [applause]

It's OK. That's OK. And we're now building by far the strongest military that we've ever had. And the reason is . . . [applause]

And the reason is that when you have the strongest military ever in the history of this world, nobody's going to mess with you. These big guys know it over here. These people know it. I don't want to use our military. But this is a very dangerous world. This is a sick world, in many ways, OK? It's a very, very--I mean, I see things as president that you don't want to know about. The things that I see, you don't want to know about.

We have to be on guard for some really treacherous people that are running some places--and we are so prepared you have no idea. We are so prepared. We are so prepared. [applause]

Because this election is about security. And it's also about prosperity. Since the election . . .

AUDIENCE MEMBER: SEAL Team Six.

THE PRESIDENT: SEAL Team is right. Who's SEAL team? [applause]

The good-looking guy over there, that's good. SEAL Team, they're great.

But since the election, we've created--nobody believes this. If I would have said this when I came to Iowa many times, or when I came to Nebraska many times . . . [applause]

With your governor, with your governor, if I would have said that we would create 4.2 million new jobs, the fake news media--look at this, it's like the Academy Awards back there . . . [booing]

Look. The fake news would have said, oh, what he's saying, oh, it's--oh--well, guess what? We created 4.2 million jobs just since the election. And . . . [applause]

We lifted over 4 million people off of food stamps. How good is that? [applause]

We've added nearly half a million manufacturing jobs. African-American unemployment has reached its lowest rate ever recorded in the history of our country. [applause]

And African-American poverty has reached its lowest rate ever recorded. [applause]

And Kanye West, who gets it . . . [applause]

And Big Jim Brown, how do you think he'd do in the NFL today? Boom! the greatest. But they're coming over to the White House very shortly. We're going to have a little lunch and talk about it. But they get it! [applause]

How do you--how do you win when you hear those numbers? Because the Democrats for 100 years have been promising African-Americans, Hispanic-Americans, Asians. They've been promising everything, nothing happens. Here we are, less than two years, the best employment numbers, the best numbers they've ever had in virtually every category. Every category. [applause]

Hispanic-American and Asian-American unemployment rates have also reached all-time lows. How do you--how do you beat us in 2020? Governor, do you have any idea? What would you say? What would you say? We're going to do a great job.

But, yeah, but we have the best numbers ever recorded. Those debates I look forward to. See, I said we were going to do that. Remember? What the hell do you have to lose? Remember that? [applause]

Right? I said we were going to do it. But now we've done it. So how's somebody going to do better? But we're going to do much better than even that. Women's unemployment rate just fell to 3.6 percent. [applause]

Which is the lowest in more than 65 years. The only reason to vote Democrat is if you are tired of winning. [applause]

We have finalized a new fair trade deal for South Korea. They don't even talk about--that's a big deal. We just did a deal, manufacturers, farmers. The deal was so bad. That was a Hillary Clinton deal. [booing]

She said--no, no. She was Secretary of State.

AUDIENCE: Lock her up! Lock her up! Lock her up! Lock her up!

THE PRESIDENT: She made a statement today, they're doing a tour, her and her husband or something. [booing]

And she made a statement, some ridiculous--I said, well, that's why she lost the election. She just doesn't get it. She's never gotten it. But she never got it--so she said, we will create 250,000 jobs. And everybody was excited. Unfortunately, she was right, but it was created in South Korea, not in our country. [laughter]

Just another deal, check it off. Just another horrible deal. We will create 250,000 for--you know if she said for South Korea, at least it would have been honest, right? But we've totally renegotiated that.

Under the guise of massive tariffs--I said, if you're not going to do it, we're just going to put tariffs in, that's it. And they said, let's do it. Come on. Let's do it. Let's make a decent deal. And we've opened it up for your farmers, for your manufacturers. We've taken a horrible deal and made it a good deal.

Made it a good deal. And now we're opening up or we're going to do something where we do even better, but we're going to open up Japan for trade and the European Union, which is brutal. They are brutal. Sounds so nice. So nice. The European Union. Sounds so nice, right? They are brutal.

But that's because they've had their way. They formed in order to take advantage of us on trade. Now, we protect most of those countries. European Union, NATO. We protect most. So Germany is paying 1 percent. We are paying 4.3 percent to protect Europe. Explain that one to me, OK, please? [booing]

The numbers are horrific. But I've gotten $44 billion last year, more paid into NATO by other countries. [applause]

And this year will be more than that. That's why I say, our country has such incredible potential. There's so many--I mean, I could go through deal--I could go through so many things, just the same thing.

They were going to build the embassy in Israel. As you know, we got approved, right? [applause]

On my desk was a document to get ready to spend over $1 billion to build a building. I said, how do you spend $1 billion to build a building? I didn't look, but probably like one story, it's an embassy, right, two stories, a billion dollars. And I said, maybe we can get a building and renovate it and fix it up real fast, and who knows? And our great--our great Ambassador to Israel, David Friedman, called. He said, you know, we have the best site in Jerusalem. And there's a beautiful building on it. And we can take just a big corner of that building, fix it up, and instead of waiting 20 or 25 years, by the time this thing got worked out, we could have it in about four months, sir. [applause]

I said, what do you mean the site's the best? He said, well, we were there early. We've had the site for many years. The building is good, but, you know, we have to renovate. So we're going to spend a billion and probably never get it open, right? And, by the way, had we spent a billion, it would end up costing $3 billion or $4 billion for--you know, people would look at it, probably one-third the size of this room. They'll spend $2 billion.

So I said, David, how much is it going to cost to do that? And how good is the site? Site's great. And, sir, the building is set way back, which is good for purposes of security. They like that. They don't want it right on the sidewalk. I can't imagine why. [laughter]

Set way back. He said, sir, it's beautiful. And it's a big site. We can do other things later. I said, how much is it going to cost? He said, sir, it's going to cost about $180,000. I told him, we'll think about it. [applause]

True, $180,000. First time in my life I've ever done this. First time. Don't get angry at me. I said, David, it's too cheap. It doesn't sound good. [applause]

I never did that before. I never did it before. Like, I like to say, like Air Force One, we gave out the contract. They were going to give it out for $1.6 billion more than I gave it out for. They'll tell you. I said to Boeing, I'm not going to pay that price. And I said, I'm not paying it. Cancel the contract. [applause]

I'm not paying it. And I held a line. I said, you got to take off $1.8 billion. They called back a day later. Supposing we took off $1.6 billion? I said you have a deal, OK. I actually did that. I actually said cut it in half, OK? But we don't have to go through the whole deal.

But with the--with the--with the embassy, I said, David, David, $180,000, it's too cheap. We've got to spend more than that. It doesn't sound good. But, sir, I can do a really--I said, I know you can, but it's not going to play well. You mean we took it from $1 billion to $180,000? [laughter]

I said, David, I said, you know what, David, make it $400,000. And use Jerusalem stone. Did anybody ever see it? It's the most beautiful stone. And you're in Jerusalem, right? I mean, what's--probably inexpensive. Most expensive stone when you bring it here. But you're in Jerusalem. They should have plenty of it, right? [laughter]

I said, David, use beautiful Jerusalem stone and let's do it. We opened it up four months later for $400,000. Can you believe it? [applause]

Open. It's open. I could tell you many of these stories. I could tell you many. I could tell you so many of these stories. There's that story, and I got 30 more we could take about. The way we spend--he says I want to hear more. [laughter]

Should I give you one more of those stories? [applause]

All right. All right, one story. So we like South Korea. We've got 32,000 soldiers over there. Thank you very much, United States. They don't pay. [applause]

They don't pay us, but that's OK. They're very successful. And the Obama administration gave this incredible--it's all right. [booing]

Don't worry. It's being mostly dismantled. [applause]

Mostly dismantled. So my first week in office, I get there, and I notice there's this incredible THAAD system, THAAD system to knock down rockets. Shoots down rockets, shoots down missiles, most incredible thing you've ever seen. I think they got like a 97 percent shot at it. And the company likes to say, but if you send up two missiles, you get it 100 percent. But that's expensive. I said, do it with one, right?

So I get there, and brand new, they put in. I said, just out of curiosity, who pays for it? I said to a certain general, good guy, but, you know, he's not into business. He's into winning wars, but they're not into business. They don't care. OK. He's into winning, but not into business. He's got a little business, too.

So I said, so, let me ask you something. How much does that system cost? Sir, I don't know. [laughter]

As a businessman, you, by the way, a good businessman, you know what I'm talking about. How much does that cost? Sir, I don't know. Who pays for it? Sir, I don't know. [laughter]

Now, you got to understand, the purpose of this--it's on the border. This is in the time when we were having a little problem, you know, at the beginning. A lot of people thought we were going to war, but we're doing nicely now. But I said, so let me get this--we have a system that's very expensive. And we shoot down rockets that are shot from North Korea to South Korea to shoot down--OK, so we're protecting South Korea, right? Why aren't they paying? Well, I don't know. I don't--I said, General, immediately go and find out who's paying for it and how much.

So he goes, next morning, he comes into my office. Sir, we are an ally of South Korea. And therefore, we are paying for the system, sir. I said, I thought so. [laughter]

Then I said, all right, give me the bad news. Raytheon. Give me the bad news. How much is it going to cost? Sir, $1 billion. I said, whoa, whoa! So we're putting in a system that we pay for, and it's going to cost $1 billion in order to protect an immensely wealthy country that makes all of your television sets, right? [laughter]

Samsung, LG, I order a lot of them, South Korea. And I'm trying to figure that out, Steve King, as a true conservative, but I'm trying to figure it out. So we do this, and I said, do me a favor. Go back to the country. Renegotiate that deal. That's not a good deal.

But, sir, the Obama administration has already agreed to it. I said I don't care if they agreed to it. I couldn't care less if they agreed to it. [applause]

I don't care. So that's the second or third story. I could go on all night, but I want to get the hell out of here, OK? Because I thought I was coming to Iowa, and there's more people from Nebraska. [applause]

Right, Pete Ricketts? Pete Ricketts. Governor Ricketts. We love you both. We love you both.

After years of rebuilding other nations, I could give you 30 stories. I--I could give you 100 stories like that--we're finally rebuilding our nation. That's what we're doing. [applause]

America is not being taken advantage of anymore. America is being respected again. [applause]

With Republicans in Congress, we passed the biggest package of tax cuts and reforms in American history. Big numbers. [applause]

So important for the farmers and small business. To save your family farms and ranches, we've virtually eliminated the estate tax, also known as the death tax. [applause]

So now if you like your children or love your children, you can leave your beautiful farm to your children and they won't have to pay any taxes. They won't have to go to your local banker, borrow money, and end up losing the farm, which was happening. Now you won't have any--you guys know that, that's a big deal--that's a big deal, Jeff and Steve and everybody. That's a big deal, because people were leaving their farms, they go out, they mortgage their farms, then they end up--the kids end up going through hell and losing their farms.

So now you won't have to go to the bank, borrow money, put a mortgage on. But here's the thing. If you don't like your kids, or if you don't love your kids, it doesn't have any impact on you. Sell the farm. Enjoy yourselves and relax. [applause]

Don't give them anything. Don't give them anything if you don't like them. Don't give them anything! [applause]

We're reducing the price of prescription drugs to help critically-ill patients access life-saving treatment we passed. And right to try. Right to Try. We all know what it is. We have Right to Try now. For years, people wanted to access some of these cures that worked, but they can't get approved, because it's a long process which we've cut way down.

Right to Try. They were terminally ill and they couldn't get treatment of something that may work. We just signed Right to Try. And these guys helped a lot, right? Steve, Jeff, everybody. [applause]

They helped a lot. David was great, David Young. So now you get the Right to Try. People used to travel all over the world if they had money. If they didn't have money, they'd go home. They had no hope. Now they can get treatment. They sign a document, they can get treatment. They tried for 40 years to get that passed. We got it passed. Right to Try. I love it. [applause]

We also passed Veterans' Choice, giving our veterans the right to see a private doctor. [applause]

Big thing. Forty-four years. Forty-four years, they've tried to get it passed. People are waiting on line for 12 days, for 20 days, for 28 days. People aren't that sick. By the time they see the doctor, seriously, they're terminally ill. They couldn't see a doctor.

Now we have the right to let them go see a private doctor. We pay for the bills. It's great for them. It actually is saving for us. [applause]

Forty-four years. Forty-four years. Forty-four years. I thought it was my idea, but then I came back and I said--what a great idea. They said, we've been trying to get it passed for 44 years. I mean, how simple? Right? Forty-four years. But because of guys like this, right, Steve, Jeff, everybody, Governor, you were incredible, Pete Ricketts. [applause]

You helped so much. All of you guys. And the landmark VA Accountability Law. You couldn't fire anybody. There were--literally, there were sadists working for the VA. There were bad people. There were thieves. Horrible people. You couldn't fire them.

We passed--I think it's 46, 47 years. Look, I hate to say it. Union problems. All sorts of problems. Civil service problems. Pretty strong lobby, right? We got it passed, 44, 46 years. [applause]

And now when we catch people that aren't taking care of our veterans, we look at them, we say, Jim, you're fired. Get out of here! It's true. [applause]

It's true.

AUDIENCE: Trump! Trump! Trump! Trump! Trump! Trump! Trump! Trump! Trump! Trump! Trump!

THE PRESIDENT: Now, you know, they don't spin the cameras. Tell this--I said in the beginning to spin. Nobody does it. Because they don't want to show how big these crowds are. [booing]

They--no, I'm telling you. They don't want to show it. [booing]

They don't want to show it. Look, they're not spinning. Do you see one camera turning? No, they don't want to show all these people. They don't want to show it. [booing]

I don't see--look, I don't see one camera turning. They don't want to show them. Our great First Lady--I come home, I said, did they show the crowd? No, but it sounded massive. Right? It sounded--sounded--looks like an Iowa--Iowa state or Nebraska football game. That's what it sounds like. That's what it sounds like. [applause]

Right? That's what it sounds like. So my wife would say, they didn't show the crowd, but it sure as hell sounded big. You know, when you have crowds like this, you can't cheat on the sound. I mean, it's a lot of people.

But they cheat, because they--they never show the crowd. We secured . . . [booing] . . . $716 billion to fully rebuild our great American military. And 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. [applause]

We got to get that done, Congressman. Everybody wants that. So important.

For years, you watched as your leaders apologized for America. They apologized. [booing]

Now you have a president who is standing up for America. [applause]

We are standing up for your values. We are standing up for Iowa and Nebraska. [applause]

And we are proudly standing up for our great national anthem. [applause]

AUDIENCE: USA! USA! USA! USA! USA! USA! USA! USA! USA! USA! USA!

THE PRESIDENT: And, by the way, speaking of the NFL . . . [booing]

No, it's OK. But you know, for years, the NFL had a big problem with Canada and the Super Bowl and rights. It's a complicated thing, but it doesn't matter. And I heard about the problem. And we were dealing with them on a much, much, much bigger issue. And the NFL is a great American company. And I told my people, give the damn NFL problem solved. It took them about two minutes.

And I got a call from the commissioner. I thought he was calling about the flag. I thought he was calling to say we have fully agreed that we are all going to stand at attention with our hand on our heart, helmet on the ground, and salute--he didn't. [applause]

But a good guy. He called me to thank me. You know why I did that? I did that--nobody told me to do it. I did that because I knew they had a problem. And it's a great American company. Whether we like it, don't like it, doesn't matter. It's a great American company.

And so I got it done. I got it done. Took us like two minutes. And you know what? Now the players will be paid more money and they'll still hate me. Isn't that terrible? They'll still hate Trump. And they get more money. But that's OK. That's why--that's why guys like Jim Brown and Kanye and so many others like me.

But to continue our incredible momentum, you have to get your friends, get your family, get your neighbors, get your coworkers, and get out and vote or early voting. Get out and vote or early voting. [applause]

Vote for Governor Kim Reynolds. [applause]

Vote--I thought you were coming here as my guest. Pete, I thought you were coming here--just today--come on over, Pete. Vote for Pete Ricketts. [applause]

I didn't know you were bringing half of Nebraska, Pete. [laughter]

Vote for Congressman Rod Blum and Congressman David Young. [applause]

Don't bother with these two guys. They're going to win by--vote for them, too, please. Vote for them, too. That's right, Steve. They're going to vote for you guys. Thank you. And thank you.

Vote for Republicans. You're doing the right thing, because a vote for us is a vote for lower taxes, less regulation, and more products that are made right here in the USA. That's what we're doing. [applause]

It's a vote to respect our borders, respect our Constitution, and respect the heroes of law enforcement. [applause]

And a vote for Republicans is a vote to reject the Democrat politics of anger, division, and destruction. And you know what else? You know what else? And weakness, because it's weakness. And to reclaim our magnificent destiny as Americans.

To everyone in this great room tonight, to every citizen watching across our land--and there are a lot of them--this is your time to choose. So important. Got to get out. You've got to vote. It will all be taken away if they get control, including--they'll start appointing Supreme Court judges that you will not want. We'll have justices that you will say, how did this happen? You got to get out and vote.

It's time to choose whether we turn backward to the failure and frustrations of the past, or whether we continue forward into a future of American greatness. [applause]

Never forget that in 2016 we had the greatest movement in the history of our country. And they won't challenge that. They even admit that. They're not happy about it. They're not happy. But that was the greatest movement in the history of our country.

It is not up to the media, or the fake news, or the pundits to decide your fate. It is up to you. You have the power. With your vote, you can do so much, but you can defend your family, defend your community, defend your country, defend your rights, your faith, and your dignity. [applause]

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

These states were settled by tough pioneer men and strong pioneer women. The women actually were stronger than men, but I don't want to get into that. [applause]

I don't want to get into that! The women are stronger than the men. I've said it for a long time. Sorry, men. Sorry, you guys. You know what I'm talking about, right? They're all nodding. You're right.

Who have braved the wilderness and defied the dangers to build a life and a home right here. They didn't have a lot of money. They didn't have a lot of luxury. But they all had one thing in common. They loved their families. They loved their country. And they loved their God. [applause]

These courageous patriots did not shed their blood, sweat, and tears so that we could sit at home while others tried to erase their legacy and destroy our proud American heritage. For the sake of our 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. [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 always fight on to victory. [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, and we will make America great again.

Thank you, Iowa. Thank you, Nebraska. Thank you. Get out and vote. [applause]

NOTE: The President spoke at the Mid-America Center, Council Bluffs, Iowa.  Also speaking were Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds, Candidate for re-election and ember of the US House of Representatives, David Young, candidate for re-election.

This transcript was prepared for the American Presidency Project by Carla Cernat.

Donald J. Trump, Remarks at a "Make America Great Again" Rally in Council Bluffs, Iowa Online by Gerhard Peters and John T. Woolley, The American Presidency Project https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/node/332466

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