Remarks at a "Make America Great Again" Rally in Murphresboro, Illinois

THE PRESIDENT: Well, I want to thank everybody, because this was a rough, rough day for all of us. You know that? And I have to start by saying, hello, Illinois, special place, special people, great people. Hello, Illinois. [applause]

And I'll tell you what, with this crowd, Mike Bost is going to win big. He has to win big. [applause]

He has to win big. But it's great to be back in the heartland with thousands of hard-working American patriots, as we work to re-elect a great man, and actually, to be honest, we have three great congressmen here with us today. And we're going to get every one of them in office. And I want to just thank you. But I do specifically--he's been so great on steel and getting your jobs back, I felt I owed it to a congressman to come up today, Mike Bost. Thank you. [applause]

He's been fighting for you, and very hard. Before going any further, I want to address the horrible shooting that took place earlier today. The hearts of all Americans are filled with grief following the monstrous killing of Jewish Americans at the Tree of Life Synagogue in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. You've all seen it. You've been watching it. It's horrible.

The suspect is in custody. [applause]

The federal authorities are on the scene and leading an aggressive federal investigation. State and local law enforcement has been incredible. This evil, anti-Semitic attack is an assault on all of us. It's an assault on humanity. It will require all of us working together to extract the hateful poison of anti-Semitism from our world.

This was an anti-Semitic attack at its worst. The scourge of anti-Semitism cannot be ignored, cannot be tolerated, and it cannot be allowed to continue. We can't allow it to continue. It must be confronted and condemned everywhere it rears its very ugly head. We must stand with our Jewish brothers and sisters to defeat anti-Semitism and vanquish the forces of hate. That's what it is.

Through the centuries, the Jews have endured terrible persecution, and you know that. We've all read it. We've studied it. They've gone through a lot. And those seeking their destruction, we will seek their destruction. [applause]

And when you have crimes like this, whether it's this one or another one on another group, we have to bring back the death penalty. [applause]

They have to pay the ultimate price. They have to pay the ultimate price. They can't do this. They can't do this to our country. We must draw a line in the sand and say very strongly: Never again. [applause]

Tonight, everyone in this arena and every citizen across the land sends our prayers to the victims and their families. And we all do. We also send our gratitude to the law enforcement officers, who were incredible and who risked their lives and sustained very, very serious injuries during this horrible attack. We salute the heroes of American law enforcement. We always do. [applause]

We always do. We know how much we appreciate them, and yet they're underappreciated. They have done such an incredible job for so long, and it's a tough job. We see it now. We see it now maybe like we've never seen it before.

And this is the time to renew the bonds of love and loyalty that hold us all together as Americans. These bonds have always sustained our nation in its hour of need. You know that. Everybody here knows that. And they are always more powerful than the forces of hatred and division, anger and evil.

In America, we love our families, we love our neighbors, and we protect our community. [applause]

We--we trust in God--[applause]-- we protect the freedom of worship--[applause]-- and we believe in the power of prayer. [applause]

We defend our Constitution, we defend our heritage, and we rally around our great American flag like nobody does. [applause]

All of us here tonight are united by these same American values. And we are all fighting to defend these values in this election. This is a very, very important election. This could be, and I've said it, and I've heard it, and they have spoken it many times, this is our most important midterm election perhaps ever. [applause]

Because we've made so much progress. This is steel country and lots of other country. We have made so much progress, we don't want to give up that progress. We can't allow that to happen.

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

And because we put America first, I had a big decision to make. I just spoke to the Future Farmers of America in Indianapolis. And with what happened early today, that horrible, horrible attack in Pittsburgh, I was saying maybe I should cancel both this and that. And then I said to myself, I remember Dick Grasso, a friend of mine, great guy. He headed up the New York Stock Exchange on September 11th. And the New York Stock Exchange was open the following day. He said--and what they had to do to open it, you wouldn't believe. We won't even talk to you about it, but he got that exchange open.

We can't make these sick, demented, evil people important. And when we--[applause]

And when we start changing around our lives and changing around our schedules and telling thousands and thousands--look at this group of people and outside--[applause]

And I hate to say it, but outside you have a group that's almost as big or just as big trying to get in. So you got the better location, but--[applause]

But they have a better movie screen, OK? And they're great. I see them right there, a lot of people, and great people.

But we can't allow people like this to become important. And when we change all of our lives in order to accommodate them, it's not acceptable. So I thought of it for a little while, and the press said, are you going to cancel these two events?

And frankly, the Future Farmers, I could have done that one. But this is a rally for Mike Bost, and frankly this one maybe I could have, except I don't want to change our life for somebody that's sick and evil. And I don't think we ever should. I don't think we ever should.[applause]

Remember the New York Stock Exchange. Remember the teams, the Yankees, George Steinbrenner. He said we've got to play, even if nobody comes, if nobody shows up, we got to play. And I remember that George was a tough man. He was a friend of mine. But he was a good man. And he said we got to play. And they all played.

Thank you very much. Thank you. [applause]

Thank you. And I love the people up here, also, and I didn't want to have any excuse. I could have had a little bit of an excuse. There was no excuses. We have our lives, we have our schedules, and nobody's going to change it, OK? So we're here. So let's have a good time. [applause]

And if you don't mind, I'm going to tone it down just a little bit. Is that OK?

AUDIENCE: No!

THE PRESIDENT: No? I had a--you're from Illinois. I had a feeling you might say that. I know you well. I had a feeling you might say that.

But I do. I really appreciate it. And you are amazing people. And we wouldn't miss this. We wouldn't miss this. Thank you very much. Thank you very much.

Great people. You're great people. You built America. You built America. The unemployment rate just fell to the lowest level in more than 50 years. [applause]

We produced. More Americans are working today than at any point in the history of our country. Think of that. [applause]

And I don't want to be rude, but your steel industry was dead as a doornail and now it's a hot industry again. A hot industry. [applause]

They can dump if they want, but they're going to pay a big price. And that's what happened.

And US Steel is bringing back many plants. You know that. And they're opening up some new ones. And Nucor, you see what they're doing. They're building brand-new beautiful plants. And I saw plans of one of them. They're so proud of them. You didn't think you'd see that day when they're starting to build the new steel plants.

And the steel workers, I said to a couple of them, big, strong guys. They came up to me. One of them said, thank you, sir, for saving our country. And he was crying. And I'm telling you, he was crying. I don't think this guy cried when he was a baby. [laughter]

This guy never cried. But he said that. And I've had a lot of people said--usually when I'm backstage, people will just say thank you for saving our country. And I really at the beginning--[applause]

Thank you. Thank you.

AUDIENCE: USA! USA! USA! USA! USA! USA! USA! USA! [applause]

THE PRESIDENT: Thank you. And at the beginning, when people would say that to me, I'd sort of, like, you know, I'd say it's surreal, that's a big statement. But I realize now, when I see what's happening and what's going on and the no border theory and--and take everybody into our country, when we can't--[booing]

I realize--I realize that if our opponent--not my opponent, but if our opponent got in, our country would be in really serious trouble, maybe to a point where it never could come back again. We are bringing it back.

We just 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. We're working on it with Kevin Brady.[applause]

We're putting our coal miners back to work. Clean coal. [applause]

Clean coal. That was a gone industry, I'll tell you. We're putting them back to work. Clean coal, beautiful, clean coal. What they do with coal today.

And I know you won't like this much, but we're putting our steel workers back to work, right? [applause]

We are really putting them back to work. We are putting our steel workers back to work. And by the way, that's an industry. You can't do without steel. You know, we were at a point where we were just running on fumes, and we need steel for defense and aluminum, by the way, which is also roaring back. But we need steel and aluminum for defense.

Some industries, you can. You can go buy it from somebody. We can't lose steel. So with those furnaces are starting up all over the place, it's a beautiful thing to see. I'm very proud of it. Very proud of it. Thank you. Thank you, darling.

Over the last two decades, nearly two-thirds of American raw steel companies went out of business. Did you know that? Two-thirds. And the rest were on fumes. More than one-third of the steel jobs--and now it was getting up to about 62 percent--were vanquished, they were gone. You could say vanquished and vanished. It's a combination of both.

More than 70,000 hard-working Americans saw their jobs eliminated and their way of life destroyed. They want to make steel. And I said to them, how about another industry? We'll teach you how to make a computer, little computers. Guys says--his hands are like this. His--He doesn't want to make a computer. He wants to make steel. Does that make sense? [applause]

I said the same thing to the miners in West Virginia. Remember that? I got--I won that by 42 percent. Nobody's ever heard of it. Nobody ever heard of it. Over a Democrat, not like an independent over a Democrat, name, Hillary Clinton. But--[booing]

But--

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! Lock her up!

THE PRESIDENT: But I said to these beautiful guys, these--the West Virginia, big, strong guys, their fathers were in the mines, their grandfathers, their great--that's what they do. I said, fellas, supposing we take you to Silicon Valley--[laughter]

And we'll teach you, like, how to make these beautiful little keyboards, these beautiful computers. They looked at me like, hey--you know the expression. We want to dig coal. That's what they want to do. Nobody does it better in the world. And that's what they want to do. Guess what? That's what they're doing again, OK? [applause]

Clean coal. Not far from here in Illinois, the historic Granite City Works had idled two blast furnaces. You know, two of your blast furnaces were down. The whole place was down. And laid off hundreds and hundreds of American workers. But the era of economic surrender is over for our country. It's over.

And earlier this year, I kept a very crucial promise. To protect our national security, I imposed a 10 percent tariff on foreign aluminum and a 25 percent tariff on foreign steel. And now our steel, aluminum industries are roaring back to life, like nothing you've ever seen. [applause]

Three months ago, Congressman Mike Bost, by my side, and I'll tell you what, he called me, sir, could you come? I said, who is this guy? He doesn't stop. He's a great guy. He called me, and I came to Illinois, and we celebrated the reopening of two blast furnaces at Granite City. And it turned out that that was just the beginning.

Thanks to our tariffs--number one, you don't hear this--hundreds of millions of dollars is being paid into the coffers of the United States Treasury. That's OK, too. You don't hear that. Hundreds of Illinois steelworkers and steelworkers all over the country are now back on the job, pouring 2.7 million tons of raw American steel into the spine of our country.[applause]

After years of rebuilding other countries, we are finally rebuilding our country. [applause]

And we are doing it with American steel and American pride. [applause]

The choice for every American this November is between resistance and results. How about the Democrats? [booing]

No, no. Their whole theme is resist. Oh, that's great. Resist. It's actually the thing that they're good at. Their policies are no good. They're not good as politicians. What they do, do is they stick together and they resist and obstruct.

If you don't want to be saying the words, ladies and gentlemen, Speaker Nancy Pelosi for the next two years--[booing]-- vote Republican. You've got to get out and vote. [applause]

And two great guys who are from a little further away, and they're doing well, but you never know in this business. We're honored to be joined tonight by Congressman Randy Hultgren and Congressman Rodney Davis. Come up, Randy and Rodney. Come up, please. [applause]

These two guys are warriors, along with Mike. Mike Bost is a warrior. Get them in. Come on up, fellas.

REPRESENTATIVE HULTGREN: Thank you, Mr. President. God bless you all. This is amazing. We need your vote. My name is Randy Hultgren. I represent the northern suburbs. We've got a tough battle running against a very liberal who absolutely is dying to support Nancy Pelosi for speaker. We've got to stop that. We've got to hold the House. We've got to continue to fight for this great country. God bless you all. Get out and vote. Vote early. Thank you.[applause]

REPRESENTATIVE DAVIS: Hey, everyone. When I was up here earlier talking about the success of Republican leadership in Washington, working with President Trump, what was that chant we made?

AUDIENCE: Promises made, promises kept! Promises made, promises kept! Promises made, promises kept! Promises made, promises kept! Promises made, promises kept! Promises made, promises kept! Promises made, promises kept! Promises made, promises kept! Promises made, promises kept! [applause]

THE PRESIDENT: Thank you. Thank you. Thank you very much. I have to tell them--be careful of that runway. You know, that runway is so narrow. Can you imagine if I went down on the runway, oh, would there be a--oh. Oh. No, no, could you imagine? It would be--you're right. Well, maybe they'd give me a pass and they'd say let's not show them, no? I'm always very careful.

You know, it's funny. I walk down the planes is very--nobody cares if you walk nice and easy, so--because if I ever tripped or stumbled just a little bit, it'll be headline news.[laughter]

And whoever's doing these runways, whoever the hell it is. Please make them a little bit wider, because that sucker is narrow. That is a narrow runway.

Finally, it's my pleasure to introduce the person we are all here tonight to support, Congressman Mike Bost. Mike fights every day for the hardworking people of Illinois, and I know it probably better than anyone. He calls me. Please, you've got to help my people. Other people, honestly, other people don't care. This guy cares. That's why I'm here. That's why I'm here. [applause]

He voted to cut your taxes, reduce your regulations, protect your Medicare, protect your pre-existing conditions. Mike Bost defends Illinois farmers, Illinois miners, and Illinois steel workers. Mike, come on up. [applause]

REPRESENTATIVE BOST: Thank you, Mr. President. And thank you. Thank you for coming out and showing how much we love our president, Donald Trump. [applause]

Thank you. And the most important--the most important thing to remember, the other two gentlemen that were up here, if you're in their district, get out and vote. If you're in our district, get out and vote. Why? Because if you want our president to continue to succeed, you cannot allow Nancy Pelosi to take that House back. [applause]

It's up to you, Mr. President. Thank you. Thank you for leading in a way that we need America to be led, and thank you for coming to Southern Illinois.[applause]

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

THE PRESIDENT: Good job. Thank you, Mike. And a vote for Mike is really a continuation to make America great again. Very simple. [applause]

Very simple. Now, I did a little tiny bit of research. And Mike's opponent, Brendan Kelly, is a vote for Nancy Pelosi and, of course, Maxine Waters--[booing]-- and their job-killing agenda. Brendan Kelly opposes your tax cuts. He's weak on crime. He's for open borders. Can you believe some--seriously. Forget about--forget about Brendan Kelly. Let's say you're a politician and you're running on this platform, open borders, we're going to take care of illegal aliens' health care. OK? Think of it. We're going to raise your taxes. Think of it. How do you--how do you win a race like that? Seriously. How does anybody win a race like that? I don't know.

Brendan Kelly is beholden to the far-left Democrats funding his campaign. His third-largest contributor is a group of ultra-liberal--you know who they are, whose name tells you everything you need to know. It's called Swing Left. You like--do you like--so I think these people don't want to swing left.

If you want to stand up for American jobs, factories, and workers, you must vote for Mike Bost. [applause]

The Republican agenda is America's agenda. Republicans want to lower your taxes, they want less regulation, they want fair trade deals. Oh, am I making you good, fair trade deals. I'm not making you fair trade deals. I'm making you unfair trade deals in our favor, OK? [applause]

It's about time. You have been ripped off by a lot of countries. And I don't blame the countries. I don't blame them. I blame us. I blame our leadership. They should have never allowed NAFTA. You look at NAFTA. You look at that. You look at what the European Union has done to us. You look at what China has done to us for so many years.

So we're in a little dispute with China. We put $250 billion worth of tariffs on China at 25 percent. And I think we're going to make a deal. You know, look, if we do good and if we don't, that's OK, but we have a tremendous--and we can put another $257 billion--billion dollars' worth of tariffs on China. And I have a feeling that everything's going to work out. They want to make a deal. I said, you're not ready yet. You're not ready yet.

Remember they said, please make a deal with Canada. Please, these politicians stand up, not Mike, not Mike. Not the other two, either. The other two are saying don't do--do whatever you want, because they want a great deal. You know, you can't just run and make it. Canada has had an unbelievable deal.

Canada, we love Canada, we love Canada. And I actually like the prime minister. I do. But--but I have to--good guy. No. But for years and years, they've taken advantage. They had on dairy products a tariff of 275 percent. Nobody knew that until I came along and explained it. This woman goes, what? [laughter]

You're about four months late, but that's OK. [laughter]

And it's always tough. You know, you're negotiating--and I'm telling Mexico and Canada, hey, I don't care if we ever make a deal, and then I'll have congressmen and senators standing up saying he must make a deal with Canada, he must make a deal with Mexico. And I'm telling them, I couldn't care less if I make a deal. It doesn't really work. It doesn't work.

But it did work. And you know what? We made a great deal, and I think they--hopefully they made a great deal for Canada, they made a great deal for Mexico, and we all live happily ever after, but we have now got the USMCA. It's a great deal. And we opened the borders and our companies will not be flowing into other countries, because now, if they do, they pay a tremendous penalty. [applause]

Republicans want strong borders, no crime, and no caravans, right? [applause]

We don't want caravans. We're not having caravans.

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!

THE PRESIDENT: So we started the wall. We spent $1.6 billion. We then spent another $1.6 billion. Now we're spending another $1.6 billion. But I want to do it all at one time, but you know what? Watch, just watch. They're going to go crazy when I say this. You're going to be so happy next week. You're going to see something happen next week. [applause]

You're going to be very happy. You're going to be very happy. And you know, the military is going to the border. You do know that. [applause]

And I want the people of the caravan to come into our country, but they have to come in legally, like all of the millions of people that are waiting on line right now. They can't break into our borders. They're not going to.

We've done an incredible job, ICE, Border Patrol, we've done--you know, I always say, it's my fault. You know why it's my fault? Because the country is doing so well, it's so successful that everybody wants to come here. But it doesn't work that way. So it's my fault. I take the blame. I take the blame. [applause]

If we let the country fail, we'd have no problem. But we don't want to do that. We don't want to do that. So you're going to see--we called in the military. The military, oh, they're ready, they're ready. And I wish I could just tell them--and I say it, caravan, turn around. You're not coming in. You're not coming in. I'm sorry. [applause]

We have taken thousands of MS-13 out of this country, ICE. We've gotten them out. And if you look at that large group, sometimes it gets up to 17,000 people, they say. Today they said it's really gets bigger and bigger. And doesn't make any difference, because they're not coming in. They're not coming in. The military is all ready. [applause]

And we're going to have border protection. You watch. We're going to have a very strong border protection. But they're not coming in. They can't come in. We want them very badly. We actually need people for our companies, because we have many, many companies coming in to the United States. They're coming in, car companies, they're going into Michigan and Ohio and all over. They're coming into Illinois, get your taxes down a little bit. We got to get your taxes down. [applause]

Right? But they're coming in to Illinois. But we have car companies, they're going North, South Carolina. They're coming into Florida. Prime Minister Abe was showing me. We have a list of companies, they're all--and you know why? Because Japan has made so much money for so many years. I say we have to even it up now, folks. We have to even it up now.

The European Union, last year, they made $151 billion. They won't take our product, but we take their Mercedes-Benzes and their BMWs. Not going to happen anymore, unless we straighten it out. They understand that. [applause]

And with China, that's the big one. That's the big one. China has been averaging $500 billion for many years. And I told President Xi, who I like a lot, he's the president of China, strong, smart, I said, I don't blame you. I was giving a speech in China, and I was ranting and raving about how China has been ripping off the country. And then I realized I was in China. This wasn't playing too well. [laughter]

I said, this speech is not--this speech is not playing well. And I looked at President Xi. He was looking up, what the hell is this all about? [laughter]

And I looked at him, I said, but I don't blame you. And he felt better. But he wanted to know why. I said, I don't blame you, because our leaders were missing in action. They should have never let it happen. [applause]

Just like they should have never let the whole situation in North Korea happen, get to that point. But we're doing great there now. No more rockets, right? I say all the time, no more rockets, no more missiles, no more nuclear testing. We got our hostages back. We're getting our remains, the remains of our great heroes, they're coming back. And we have a good relationship with Kim Jong-un. We have a great relationship with Chairman Kim. And we feel good about it.

So there's not much they can say. Look, there's no more testing. They're closing sites. There's no more nuclear. There's no more--the nuclear testing stopped. There's no missiles going over Japan. Think of it. We got our hostages back. We got our hostages back. We didn't--hey, people said we'll never get the remains back. Vice President Mike Pence got the remains. He greeted the remains of these great, great heroes. [applause]

All right? In Hawaii, we're getting the remains back. So the only thing they said is now, when did I leave there, three months ago, would you say, Singapore? Would you say it's three months? No much more. So let's say I left three or four months ago. The only thing they say is, it's not moving fast enough. They've been working on this for 70 years. I've been doing it for four months.

And the rhetoric was very tough. Remember? Very, very tough. They actually said this is horrible, the way he's talking, horrible. This is going to cause war. Well, you would have been in a war the other way. This is going to cause war. Horrible, oh, did they go after me.

So now all they can say is two things. They can say we met. Remember? Because we've got everything. We're working along. We're getting along great. It's going to be great for North Korea. North Korea will become a great economic place, that location so good, between China, Russia, and South Korea. What a location. It's going to be fantastic.

But you know what? So they said, how can we go after President Trump? Ah, he met. I met. In other words, I met. Think of that. What did I give? I met. So that was one thing.

The other thing they say is, it's not going fast enough. What, three and a half months? And nothing's happened. It's so good.

And remember when I first came in or just before I came in, right, just before, everyone really thought we were going to war and that was going to be a potential nuclear catastrophe. Well, I can't--no, I mean, look, who knows in life, right? I'm not going to say--I can only say the relationship is really good and we're really in good shape and they're in really good shape and they're happy and we're happy. And if it takes long, I don't care. I tell my people, I couldn't care how long. As long as there's no testing, as long as there's no nuclear testing, moving mountains over a little bit, that's the kind of testing.

But it's working well. But you remember when they said it's too rough, the rhetoric. You remember the--I don't even want to say it now, because I have such a good relationship. I won't even say it. I won't even say it. But the rhetoric was brutal. But ultimately, it was all very important to get this to a point where now we really have a relationship.

Now--and again, who knows? But I think it's working out really well. And before I got there, you were in trouble. This was going to be a big war, millions of people killed. Seoul is 30 miles away from that border. And you talk about a protected border. That's a serious border. That's a wall like you never saw before. You look at the wall and you say, uh, I'll pass, I'm going back home. [laughter]

That is a--that is a--I looked at it. I saw it. That's a real deal. It's a fence with a lot of electric current going through it. A lot of different things happening on that fence. You know what you say, you take a look at that, you say, I'm passing.

But you know, it's funny. So with that one, they said, he's too tough, it's too strong. The rhetoric is--we're going to end up in war. I had a great meeting with Vladimir Putin. Great meeting. We got--I talked about everything. We will do great. And don't forget, Russia wants our help economically. We're an economic--we have created such wealth. I have done a really good job, $11.7 trillion. Russia wants us to be involved. [applause]

Russia wants us. Everybody wants our help. I brought up the pipeline. I said, why is Germany paying billions of dollars a month for energy in a pipeline that goes to Russia? Why is Germany giving billions of dollars to Russia and then we're supposed to protect Germany and Europe from Russia? So they're paying the person and the country. Think of it. They're giving billions of dollars for the pipeline. Nobody else brought that up. Nobody else. I brought it up.

But they said, he was too nice to Putin. So with one, I was too rough, the other one I'm too nice. And let me tell you, if I walked up to President Putin and started a boxing match, and I would have done just fine. But if I walked up to President Putin and started a boxing match, they would have said, he was too tough, this is terrible. In other words, makes no difference, makes no difference.

But we had a very successful meeting With Russia and President Putin, and we're just doing great in foreign affairs. We are doing so much better than anybody thought possible. [applause]

So much better than we've done in years. And we'll end up getting along well with Russia, well with North Korea well with China after we equalize out. But we're getting along with a lot of people. And part of the reason we're doing that, and very important for us, is we have built and are in the process of building by far the strongest military that we've ever had. We have to have it. We have to have it. [applause]

But even that, it's economics, because people want a part of this dream. You know, every country virtually that comes in to see me, the prime minister, the king, the queen, the president, every country, they start off by saying, Mr. President, congratulations on what you've done. We've never seen numbers like this coming out of the United States. We've never seen anything like it. We've never seen--[applause]

And if we can help other countries--and that includes the big ones and the strong ones, I want to help them. We want to get along with everybody. We want to get along with everybody. But we want to have a level playing field, not what we had before. OK?

Earlier this month, we achieved a historic victory for our Constitution and for the rule of law. We proudly confirmed the newest member of the United States Supreme Court, Justice Brett Kavanaugh.

Right? Boy, oh, did they treat him horribly. Did they treat him badly. A great scholar, a great intellect, a great person, great family. Did they treat him badly or what? That was hard to believe.

This will be the election of the caravans, the Kavanaughs, law and order, tax cuts, and you know what else? It's going to be the election of common sense, because most of it's common sense. A lot of it's common sense.

People say he's a great, great conservative. You know, if somebody else did what I did, two great Supreme Court justices already, Justice Neil Gorsuch, don't forget, one of the greats. He will be--he's doing fantastically. Another great intellect, great scholar, Harvard, Oxford. These are a serious, great people. Justice Kavanaugh, Yale, then Yale Law, top, top talent. I heard with Justice Kavanaugh for years, long before I thought of doing this, 10 years ago, I heard someday there's a man named Brett Kavanaugh, he'll be on the Supreme Court. I said, who is that?

But I really didn't care, because I didn't figure I'd be putting him on the Supreme Court, right? I hadn't given it too much thought at that time. That was a long time ago, 10 years ago.

But we are doing great. But if somebody named Bill Smith was president and he did the things I did, tax cuts, regulation cuts, two Supreme Court justices, right to try, you look at all of the things we've done for the vets, you look at the rebuilding of our military, $700 billion. [applause]

And his name was Bill Smith, President Bill, they would say he is the greatest conservative of all time. But because his name is Donald Trump, you have the haters and they continue to hate--these are foolish and very stupid people. [applause]

Very stupid people. No, I see some of these guys--seriously, and, look, for the most part, I think--I just came out--was it 93 percent? I'd ask the Hollywood--look, this is like the Academy Awards. Look how many cameras they have back there. It's the Academy Awards. We are in the Academy Awards.

But 93 percent of the people in the Republican Party, it's like a record or something like that, 93 percent have a high approval rating of Trump. OK? But I'm not--I'm not talking. [applause]

I'm talking about that tiny, little--you know, the losers that were--the losers that were some guy named Kristol, Bill Kristol. He--listen. He called it wrong from day one. He said he's not going to run. OK, I ran. He is not going to win the primaries. OK, I won the primaries. He will not win the election. I won the election. He will never get a Supreme Court justice approved. I got that. He will never get tax cuts. I got that. He will never cut regulations. I cut more regulations than anybody in the history of the country.[applause]

I mean, these are losers. Why do they put them on television? Seriously? Why are they on--every time I watch--and I want to say, gee, I wish you could almost like debate these people. They're like fools. And just say every single thing that they've wanted in their whole life that they never would have gotten, I've got them. And they still hate Donald Trump. It's incredible.

Fake. No, but there's fake--and honestly there's fake on our side, also, although I don't even know if they are. But I could name the names. I just don't want to get into it. But you know what I'm talking about.

So we have the greatest conservative agenda ever, but I don't view it that way. Somebody started, are you a great conservative? I say honestly--and I think you'll understand this, because you people, you built this country, OK? You built this country. You can understand this. You can understand this. And I just said it.

I am somebody that has tremendous common sense. So whether it's conservative or not conservative, it's the right thing, but it's common sense. OK? It's common sense.

And when I see open borders and come on in, I mean, in California, he wants open borders, the man running for governor, the Democrat, and I think your Republicans are doing a good job out there. But it's a hard place, because the Democrats, who knows.

But in California, he wants open borders. He wants to take care of all welfare, all medical everything. He wants to pay for college education and education. He wants to pay for medical. I mean, California is going to have more people than the United States of America. No, seriously. People are going to come from all over the world. They get free education, free health care. I mean, does anybody really believe--and by the way, they owe about 14 zillion dollars. And they just put a gas tax on that the Republican candidate wants to take off.

He should win, John Cox. He should win. He's so good. [applause]

It's a hard place to win, but he should win. He wants to take off the gas tax. They have a gas tax. But it's really--I think I am the person and I am running--I'm conservative, but I'm running on common sense. It's all common sense.

We can't let people break in and assault our country. We can't let--you saw the caravan. I mean, you look at it. Sometimes it is massive. How the hell can we take everyone in? And some of those people are people that we don't want. I hate to say it. Some of those people are people that we do not want. And some of those people I would love to have, because we need them, but they have to apply.

As we speak, the Democrat--not the Democratic--the Democrat--I hate saying it. You know, it so--that doesn't flow right. I say the Democrat Party, and I always say it, because it's the right thing. Their name is the "Democrat Party." It sounds so much more beautiful, the "Democratic Party," right? And I say to myself, I don't want to tell them they should probably change their name.

But as much as I hate saying it, because it sounds badly, and it doesn't roll off your lips, the Democrat Party is openly encouraging millions of illegal aliens to break our laws, violate our borders, and overwhelm our country. [booing]

And Democrat sanctuary cities released these criminal aliens out of jail and right onto your streets. [booing]

And you have it up here more than you know. You do know that. Illinois. 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 and those great Pittsburgh police officers. You saw the job they did. We stand with them, and we wish them well. God bless them. [applause]

Seriously injured.

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

Because they're working. Do you know how much money our country saves when we do that? And you have happy people. We have created almost half-a-million new manufacturing jobs. [applause]

Think of that. Remember? You'd need a magic wand. Nobody's manufacturing anymore. I kept saying, when I heard the past administration--I'm being nice. I want to be nice! [booing]

When I heard the past administration say that we don't have to make things anymore, I say explain that to the people of Illinois, please, OK? [applause]

And actually the number is going to be 600,000 new manufacture. And these are our best jobs. African American poverty has reached an all-time, historic low, lowest it's ever been. [applause]

That's why Kanye West and Big Jim Brown, and so many others, so many others. African American, Hispanic American, and Asian American unemployment have reached their lowest rates in the history of our country. How do you win that one? [applause]

If I'm in a debate, and you know the Democrats have always laid claim, because it was sort of like an automatic vote, it's not automatic anymore. Take a look at the polls. Smart, they're smart people, and take a look at the polls. Not automatic anymore. And how do you win that statement? How do you win the statement that we have now? Let's say I'm in a debate with one of these Democrats, whoever is chosen. So far. I, like the field very much. [laughter]

Somebody said, who do you like best? I said I like them all. So far.

But how do you lose a debate where you say as an example--no, we can't use Pocahontas anymore. She's got no Indian blood. We can't use the name. [applause]

He says call her Pocahontas. I can't do it. She doesn't have any Indian blood. I have more than she does, and I have none. Right? I have none, but it's more than her. So I can't call her Pocahontas anymore, but I think I will anyway. Do you mind? I think I will anyway.

But how do you lose a debate--you're up in a debate, millions of people are watching, and they're going to say what they're doing for the African Americans and what they're doing for the Asians, what they're doing for the Hispanic Americans. And I say, excuse me, but we just had the best job numbers in the history of our country for all of those groups. How do you win that?

You know what happens? They go, uh, OK, let's get on to the next subject. But that's not all. Almost every category, every number is the best.

Except I failed with women. You know that. Women's unemployment just fell to 3.6 percent, which is only the lowest rate in 65 years. So that's not historic. [applause]

We're going to get there soon. Remember last election? They said he will do badly with--look at all the women signs, right? He will do badly. I love you, too. He will do badly with women. He will not get the women. Did you see the women vote? I think I won the election because of the women, not the men. [applause]

No, we did very well with the men, too. We did well with the men, too. The men get it. They get it.

We're bringing down the price of prescription drugs massively. This week, I took historic action to stop the global free--you know what this is. We actually capitalize it. Global freeloading in which drug companies charge higher prices for Americans to subsidize lower prices for countries throughout the rest of the world. Other than that, it's very fair to us.

We're not doing that anymore. Secretary Azar has done an incredible job. [applause]

Drug prices will be falling radically. Got a lot of people that are middlemen that aren't going to like me too much.

Republicans are also strongly protecting Medicare. A majority of Democrats on the ballot for Congress have already signed up for a government takeover of health care that would obliterate Medicare and terminate Medicare Advantage for half a million Illinois seniors who depend on it. It will obliterate it.

Republicans will defend Medicare for our great seniors who have earned it. And whether you know it or not, they've actually paid for it. [applause]

This week, I proudly--very proudly signed into law the largest bill to fight the opioid epidemic, largest in American history, $6 billion to fight a big problem that you have in Illinois and that we have all over the country.

We passed veterans' choice, giving our veterans the right to see a private doctor, rather than waiting on line for weeks and weeks and weeks. Forty four years they've been trying to pass that. I got it passed, it's signed as of two months ago. It's finished. Here's a veteran. Are you happy? Are you happy? Thank you. He's happy. Thank you, man. Thank you. Thank you. He just said you saved our country. I love you, veteran. Thank you, man. Hold up that American flag. Hold it up. [applause]

Great. Thank you. Thank you. I like him. I like him. At first, I thought he was a protester. We don't seem to have too many protesters anymore. You notice, a lot of love in these rooms. We don't have too many--I shouldn't say that, they'll start sending paid protesters that are--[laughter]

And the landmark V.A. accountability law, don't forget that, to ensure anyone who mistreats our great veterans--and by the way, in primetime they would have never mistreated our veterans. But they were bad. We have a sadist. We have some bad people. They're gone, boom, we fire them. You weren't able to get that for 45 years. We got it signed.

We got that signed, too, veterans' choice and accountability. They're accountable if they steal, if they rob, if they hurt our veterans, if they're not there, if they punch in but they're not there, we can fire them. And you think that was easy to get through unions and civil service? It wasn't. But we got it passed, and I signed it, and they let go of a lot of people that were not treating our veterans properly. [applause]

We secured $716 billion to fully rebuild the United States military, and at my direction the Pentagon is now working to create the sixth branch of the American armed forces, the Space Force. [applause]

Space Force. Very important, very important.

And I withdrew the United States from the horrible, one-sided Iran nuclear deal. It was a catastrophe. And Iran is not the same country anymore. I hate to say it.

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

And altogether, because I don't know whether you know it or not, but I know it, and a lot of you do know it, this is the greatest political movement in the history of our country. This is the greatest in the history of our country.

We have a lot of bad people out there trying to hurt us, but we're not going to let that happen. We've made extraordinary progress, and we're just getting started. Keep winning, he said. You're right. We're going to keep winning. We're going to win so much you people are going to get so disgusted and tired. You're going to be so tired of winning.

You're going to go to Mike Bost, and you're going to say, please, Mike, get them--with the president, we can stand all this winning. The truth is, we are winning. We're starting to win a lot, you have to say. [applause]

Mike, talk to him. Talk to him. Talk to our president. We're not used to this. We've been losing for so many years here in Illinois, and now we're winning. Our steel is coming back. Our taxes are going down. Our regulations are going out. We got health care that's good. We got rid of the individual mandate disaster from Obamacare.

Mike, we don't want to win so much. We're getting tired of winning. it's getting boring. And I'll say, I don't care, Mike, I'm not going to obey that one. We're going to keep--you go back and tell the people of Illinois and the rest of this country we're going to keep on winning. I don't care. I don't care if they like it or not, we're going to keep on winning. I don't care. [applause]

But I know the people of this country, and the people of this country, they want to keep on winning. That I can tell you.

If you vote Republican this November, we will continue to cut your taxes, cut your regulations, and raise your incomes like we've been doing. [applause]

Think of where you are now compared to where you were three or four or five years ago. It's like a different planet. We will protect your right to free speech and religious liberty. [applause]

And we will continue to appoint judges who will uphold and defend the Constitution of the United States. [applause]

We will fully secure our border. We will pass "Kate's Law." We will stop sanctuary cities, stop catch and release, end the visa lottery disaster. We will 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 poverty to prosperity. That's what's going to happen. And they're going to love it.

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

We are standing up for your values, we are standing up for our great steelworkers, we are standing up for the great state of Illinois, and we are proudly standing up for our national anthem.[applause]

To continue our incredible momentum, you need to get your friends, get your family, get your co-workers, and get out and vote early for Mike Bost.

Loyal citizens like you helped build this country. And together we are taking back our country, returning power to you, the American people. That's who we're doing, and that's what we're doing. [applause]

Illinois is the state that gave us two of our greatest Republican presidents. Not bad, by the way. Not bad. I mean, you got to pick two. These aren't the worst. I can think of a little bit lower down the ladder. You gave us Abraham Lincoln and Ronald Reagan. [applause]

Not bad. Wow. That's not a bad job. They'd be high on my list.

And Illinois is the state that gave us generations of proud farmers and steelworkers and miners and soldiers and patriots who made our country into the most powerful nation on Earth. And we are now more powerful. We have a greater military right now and getting better all the time. Our military is bigger and better and stronger. We have never had anything like it.

And you know what? The stronger it gets, the less likely it is that we'll ever have to use it, because that's the way the world works. [applause]

And everything is made in the USA. Everything. The greatest ships and missiles and rockets, the greatest jet fighters and bombers and tankers, the greatest submarines in the world, it's all made right here in the USA.

This state was settled by tough pioneer women. Really, they were tough. Much tougher than the men, by the way, but we won't--tough women. Strong women. Beautiful women, I'm not allowed to say that. They're strong, they're tough, and they're beautiful. [applause]

And the men weren't so bad, either. The men went along for the ride. The men weren't bad, either, OK? Is that enough for you, men? No, they're not too happy about it.

From the foundries to the farm fields of southern Illinois, your ancestors worked, they sacrificed, they built a life and a home with their own two hands. 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 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 proud American heritage. [applause]

For the sake of our freedom and for the sake of our great 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 winning. It will be total victory. You know it and so do I.

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, always. [applause]

We are one people and one family with one glorious American destiny. We all share the same home. We all share the same heart. We all salute the same flag. And we are all made by the same almighty God. [applause]

And all together, with love in our hearts and hope in our souls, 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. [applause]

Thank you, Illinois. Thank you. Thank you.