[music Lee Greenwood: "God Bless the USA"]
CROWD: USA! USA! USA!
THE PRESIDENT: Our country is respected again, remember that. [applause]
We're respected again. Hello, Missouri. I'm thrilled to be back in the American heartland. I love you people. [applause]
With thousands of proud, hardworking patriots. This is an incredible time for our nation. We have the best economy in our history today; today. [applause]
In fact, the stock market--which, to me, is jobs--the stock market hit an all-time high again. Think of it. [applause]
And that would mean that 101 days we hit an all-time high in the stock market; we. And I don't say me, I say we because it's about we; amazing people.
We're bringing back our factories, reopening our mines. You know those mines? They're reopening. They're reopening. We love our miners. We love our workers. And we're restoring our industrial might like nobody can believe. [applause]
Nobody believes what's happening. After years of rebuilding other nations--we're getting a little tired of that, right? [applause]
We are finally rebuilding our nation and we are doing it with American grit, and skill and pride. [applause]
Right? [applause]
Our military--do we love our military? [applause]
Do we love our law enforcement? [applause]
Do we love ICE? [applause]
They're tough people. We need tough people to protect. They're dealing with tough people. That's the only thing that--if you look at it, that's what they respect. They respect strength. They respect strength.
Our military will soon be more powerful than ever before. And just today, I signed a new bill fully funding Veterans Choice for our great veterans. [applause]
America is winning again, winning like never before, and America is being respected again because we are finally putting America first. [applause]
And it's all going to start with Josh Hawley. We love Josh. We love Josh. He's a star. And he just said it--I didn't say it--he just said it. He said this place broke every record they've ever had--look at this place. [applause]
The fake news will never say that. They'll never report that. [booing]
They'll never report that. They will never report it. But that's OK, because we all know it. And by the way, obviously look at what happened in 2016. [applause]
Obviously. Remember all the phony polls, the states that we were supposed to lose? And then 8 o'clock, the state closes. Donald Trump has won the state of Texas. Donald Trump has won. [applause]
Remember? Remember? Remember for months, Texas was too close to--you know, to call, remember? By the way, I have to tell you, Missouri was never too close to call, so that's good. That's good. [applause]
But remember Georgia was too close to call. Remember Utah was too close to call. OK, so now it's 8 o'clock, they closed in Texas. The polls have just closed in Texas, Donald Trump has won the state of Texas. Donald Trump has won the state of Utah. [applause]
Donald Trump has won the state of Georgia. I said, wait a minute, I thought it was so close? It should go all night, no?
We won, like, in two seconds. [laughter]
You know why? Because they're phony polls. They have phony polls. [booing]
They're called suppression polls. What they do is, you know, you're with your wife and you say, "Alice, I love Trump, but he can't win because the polls have him--he just can't win." Suppression. "So let's go to a movie and then sadly we'll go home and watch what turned out to be the most exciting night in the history of politics, right?" [applause]
That was some night. And all those guys, they may not like us, but you know what? About six months before the election, not this one coming up--please go out and vote. Please go out. [applause]
But in 2020, about six months before the election, every single one of those haters is going to endorse is because without us, they have nobody watching television. They have nobody. [booing]
They have nobody reading their phony papers. Nobody. So they're going to--we expect endorsements from everybody. We'll get the New York Times, we expect to get the Washington Post, we'll get ABC, CBS, we'll get NBC--that's a hard one to get. [booing]
CROWD: CNN sucks! CNN sucks! CNN sucks!
THE PRESIDENT: You're right--you're right.
Tonight we're proudly joined by terrific Republican leaders from the great state of Missouri, including Lieutenant Governor Mike Kehoe. Mike, thank you very much wherever you are. [applause]
A real friend of mine, and a great friend of my wife, Mr. and Mrs.--a great friend of Melania, whose sends her regards by the way. [applause]
She's home now. She said I like those people--I like those people too, but he really is--he's a great man, he's a great senator, he's respected by everybody--everybody, Senator Roy Blunt. Thank you. [applause]
Great guy.
And another great guy--he's big, he's strong, you heard him the other night when he did that whole deal going, and I said, What was that all about? Billy Long, what was that all about? [applause]
He is, he's a great guy.
And another great guy that has helped us right from the beginning, Congressman Jason Smith. Thank you, Jason. [applause]
Terrific people.
Finally, please welcome--they said he's only going to be a minute--we're going to have such fun. He's going to give us a lot of fun also--please welcome the person we are all here tonight to support, a special man, a special talent, a man who loves this state, and he loves this country--the next United States Senator from Missouri, Josh Hawley. Come on, Josh. [applause]
JOSH HAWLEY: Thank you. [applause]
Thank you so much. [applause]
Thank you so much. Let me just ask you a question: How about the leadership of President Donald J. Trump? [applause]
You know, I've gotta share something with the president because actually, I have to confess, I let him down a little bit. President Trump said, "I need you to get me the biggest stadium and we'll fill it full", and Mr. President, I have to say, do you know we had to turn away about 20,000 people or something who could not get into the stadium to be here tonight to see this man. [applause]
It's unbelievable--it's unbelievable. [applause]
Have you noticed--have you noticed something about our president? When he makes a promise, he keeps it. [applause]
When he makes a commitment, he delivers. [applause]
And I tell you what--I tell you what, he's delivering big for the state of Missouri and the United States of America, isn't he? [applause]
I mean big. [applause]
He said--he said he was going to stand up for American workers, and he is--bringing back jobs, bringing back jobs from overseas, paychecks on the rise. He cut your taxes. How about that? [applause]
He said--the president said--the president said--the president said he was going to put pro-Constitution judges on the bench, and he has. He has. [applause]
Judges--that's right. That's right. Wow.
CROWD: Kavanaugh! Kavanaugh!
It's pretty good. Judges who love--judges who love the Constitution, judges who love our country, judges like Brett Kavanaugh. [applause]
And he said--and he said--and the president said he was going to secure our border, and he is. [applause]
CROWD: Build the wall! Build the wall! Build the wall!
HAWLEY: That's right--build it.
CROWD: Build the wall! Build the wall! Build the wall!
HAWLEY: Build it.
But you know, I have to say--I have to say. There's somebody in the state of Missouri who hasn't heard what you've been telling her. [booing]
There's somebody--yes, it's true. There's somebody--there's somebody who hasn't been willing to work with the president of the United States. That somebody is Claire McCaskill. [booing]
She hasn't listened to you. Do you know Senator McCaskill said that the border wall is embarrassing? That's her word, embarrassing--embarrassing. She said she has mocked the president. She's mocked the president for wanting to build it. And now she is sponsoring the most radical open-borders bill ever introduced in the United States Congress. [booing]
It's a--it's a terrible--it's terrible. She wants to raise your taxes. She says she's going to vote no on Judge Kavanaugh. [booing]
I don't know who she's with, but she's not with the state of Missouri. So here's what I have to say--here's what I have to say--here's what I have to say. In 2016, this man and you made history. You made history in 2016. [applause]
And now everything--everything you've fought for, everything that he's fighting for, everything that you voted for is on the line. So how about this. This November, in this state, right here in Missouri, let's make history again. Let's make America great again. Thank you so much. God bless you. [applause]
THE PRESIDENT: Josh is a star. There aren't many of them. He's tough on crime, loves our military, loves our vets, and he's 100 percent pro-2nd Amendment. Not bad. [applause]
And we need Josh in the Senate to fight for Missouri and really to fight for our whole country. We love our country.
And we'll never ever get a vote from Claire McCaskill, and she's been saying very nice things. She's been saying very nice things. But you know what? She'll never ever vote for us.
She just, as an example, Brett Kavanaugh--a fantastic man, fantastic--she just announced she won't vote for him. Can you believe it? And he was born--you talk about central casting--he was born--they were saying it 10 years ago about him--he was born for the U.S. Supreme Court. He was born for it. And it's going to happen.
But she just announced she's not voting--and, she'll vote against everything we want to do, including tax cuts. Figure that one out. So Claire McCaskill will never ever vote our way because she loves the swamp. She's part of the swamp and we have a true swamp in Washington.
Just look at what is now being exposed in our Department of Justice and the FBI. Look at what's going on. Look at what's going on. And I want to tell you, we have great people in the Department of Justice. We have great people.
These are people, I really believe--you take a poll, I've got to be at 95 percent--but you've had some real bad ones. You've seen what's happened at the FBI. They're all gone. They're all gone. They're all gone. [applause]
But there's a lingering stench and we're going to get rid of that too. [applause]
Claire McCaskill--when I read about this sitting a beautiful, beautiful house called the White House. Did anybody ever hear of the White House? [applause]
She revealed her true colors when she pretended to tour the state in an R.V., while she was actually flying around the state in her luxurious private airplane. [booing]
And honestly, this is before I ever thought about running--by the way, we decided to run, how did we do? How did we do? [applause]
A senator, a good guy, said to me the other day--it was very interesting because we were talking about, frankly, Judge Kavanaugh--and I said we have to fight for him, not worry about the other side. And by the way, women are for that more than anybody would understand. [applause]
And a really good guy, I mean, we usually agree. He said, sir, I've been in politics for 25 years. I've been a senator for many years. I really know what I'm doing.
I said, sir, I've been in politics for two and a half years and I'm the President of the United States, so. [applause]
True. True. And he's still my friend; it's fine. McCaskill doesn't represent the people of Missouri; that I can tell you. She represents the radical Democrats in Washington that are trying to take over.
And what they're going to do with you, you know, if you look from the day of election, I just see the announcement today. Stock market's up 55 percent. Your 401(k)s--your 401(k)s are up 50, 60, 70 percent in some cases. [applause]
They get in and that wealth is going to disappear very quickly. It'll evaporate. It will.
Claire McCaskill voted no on tax cuts, and that's tax cuts for the middle-class families. And she voted for the disaster that we're holding together, we had it defeated. Unfortunately, we lost a certain vote. But we lost all of the Democrat votes, when you think. We lost every Democrat.
We would have saved a trillion dollars and we would have given you great health care, but we still will. We need some more Republicans. We need Josh, but we need more Republicans. [applause]
McCaskill voted no on Kate's Law. How about Kate's Law? You see what's coming in? She voted no on Kate's Law. How do you vote no on Kate's Law? You know why she voted no? Because Schumer and Pelosi told her to vote no. [booing]
And she voted no on enhanced vetting for refugees. A refugee comes in you don't know where they're coming from. I want to do--we call it, a term I came up with, I'm very--enhanced vetting. [applause]
She voted no. But we're coming out with things over the next four weeks; you'll like it better than enhanced vetting.
She wants to let everybody pour into our country. She wants to then give them health care. Next will be, let's also give them free education. Let's also--let's also hurt the State of Missouri and every other state.
You see what's going on in California. He wants to have open borders and everybody worldwide can pour into California, just pour in. And he's going to give you health care and education. You know what? That will be--I think California will end up being larger than the United States. The whole world is going to come. It's really bad stuff.
And they're going to kill your Medicare. And they're going to kill you Medicaid. They're going to kill everything that you cherish and that you want.
McCaskill voted no on our new Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorsuch, how good is he? [applause]
And as Josh said, she's not going back on a no vote on somebody who's truly spectacular, Brett. Yet, McCaskill voted for the liberal Obama judges who want to destroy your Second Amendment. [booing]
They want to destroy your health care. They want to destroy your wealth.
That's what they're going to do. They want to take it away. They want to take it away. You can work hard, won't mean anything. And you know what they want to do? They all as a group, they want to raise the hell out of your taxes; figure that one. [booing]
Another thing, military, they don't want to take care of the military. We're always--I can only tell you, I have to fight so hard to take care of our military--$700 billion and we had to give up things that I hated to give up. But we had to build our military because it was depleted. It was in trouble. They fought so hard, not to take care of our vets and not to take care of our military. It's no good, doesn't work that way. Doesn't work that way.
A vote for Claire McCaskill is a vote for Nancy Pelosi . . . Chuck Schumer, and your new de facto leader of the Democrat Party, the legendary Maxine Waters. [booing]
The new platform of the Democrat Party is radical socialism and open borders. A vote for any Democrat this November--you've got to get out and vote, I know you're complacent. We had this great victory.
I know that the odds are sort of against it, but I don't know why. We have the greatest economy in history. We have the greatest--and so--but they say--hey, out of 100 years, like three times, whoever's in the White House loses the midterm. You lose the midterm, we're going to go through nothing but fights, we're going to be fighting to keep what you have, they're going to want to take it away. You've got to get out. Can't be complacent.
It's fragile. You've got to get out. [applause]
You know, a poll came out, they said everybody's going out in 2020, because they want to vote for you, they want to vote for the president. But they're not maybe coming out in 2018. Get out in 2018, because you're voting for me in 2018. You're voting for me. [applause]
You're voting for me. A vote for any Democrat this November is a vote for massive regulation, massive taxes, and I hate to say it, massive crime, because crime comes with it. [booing]
The Democrat Party is held hostage by far-left activists, by angry mobs, Antifa, by deep state radicals . . . and their establishment cronies. [booing]
You ever see what happens when they take the masks of Antifa? You have guys--you have guys that look like they live with mom and dad in the basement. [booing]
They live in the basement of mom and dad's home. You know what that is? That's the size of their biceps, but they wear--they wear the tough black outfits. No, I would never suggest this, but I will tell you, I--they're so lucky that we're peaceful. [applause]
Law enforcement, military, construction workers, Bikers for Trump--how about Bikers for Trump? [applause]
They travel all over the country. They got Trump all over the place, and they're great. They've been great. But these are tough people. These are great people. But they're peaceful people, and Antifa and all--they'd better hope they stay that way. I hope they stay that way. I hope that stay that way.
And they will, the Democrats, say and do anything to try and undermine the result of the greatest election in our country's history. That's what it is. [applause]
They want to try and reclaim their corrupt power. Remember, remember, they were expected to win. And there was no way that Donald Trump can get to 270. You know, the Electoral College was set up so we can't win, except we had one problem: we won a lot of states that haven't been won for many years by Republicans. A lot of states. A lot of states. [applause]
I remember watching the fake news, and one man--I like him, not as a person, but I like watching him, especially when he's upset. And he said, you know, I think--I think Trump is going to win Wisconsin--that hasn't been won in many--I think Trump is going to win Michigan! Oh no, no, no, no, no. Remember with the hand, that it starts to shake.
He's very confident at the beginning, Senator [?], OK, this could be a quick game day. And then they say wait a minute, wait a minute, oh my god, woah, woah. Trump just won the state of Florida. Woah, woah, woah. [applause]
No. No. What happened? They don't say she spent about five times more money. You know, in the old days, if you spent less money and win, that's a good thing. Nobody ever says that. Do they ever say I spent like 25 percent of the money that she spent?
So here's the thing--then they said, wait a minute. Oh no. Remember the firewall? The firewall, the guarantee, she spent a fortune, was going to be the great state of North Carolina, and we love them and they're going through a lot tonight. We love them. We say prayers for them. [applause]
And South Carolina. North Carolina, South Carolina. South Carolina's going to be hit really hard tomorrow at about 3 o'clock. That water is pouring down, it's on its way, it's going to be horrible, but they're--they're ready. I was just there. So while we talk about them, I have to say God is with you, we are with you. [applause]
And--and we have the best first responders, military, law enforcement, and FEMA, the best in the world, and they're ready. They're all equipped, so we'll be there. We're all ready. [applause]
They'll be--they'll be OK. But you remember all of that. So then we won the firewall, North Carolina. We won South Carolina easily, but that was expected. But then we won the firewall. Donald Trump has won the state of North Carolina. Now the hand is quivering as it goes to--you know the board? And that board is becoming redder and redder and redder and they say, woah. [applause]
And then a state I love, Pennsylvania, hasn't been won in a long time. Hasn't been won in a long time. Republicans always think they're going to win Pennsylvania, they just never do. And we were way up in Pennsylvania with only 2 percent of the vote left and then 1 percent of the vote left and if I left every single vote--I won it by a lot. They refused to call it.
I said wait a minute. If I lose every vote, I win it. Why aren't they--it took them, like, until 2 o'clock in the morning, they refused, but that's when Wisconsin and Michigan kicked in surprisingly except not surprisingly to us because we'd go and we'd have crowds like this and I kept saying, well let's see, she had 400 people, I had 32,000, explain. What are we going to lose this state? Why do we lose this state? [applause]
And we didn't. And we didn't. That was a great evening. One of the greatest nights in the history of our country, but one, far less importantly, one of the greatest nights in the history of television.
They did very well. They're doing very well on our backs. The so-called "resistance" doesn't accept the will of the American people. They don't believe you have the right to run your own country, control your own lives or defend the nation's borders, traditions, and heritage. But the American people will never ever be silenced. You will never be silenced. [applause]
We'll never be intimidated. And this November, you will make your voice heard, just like you did two Novembers ago, in the most exciting evening for a longtime, maybe ever. Also at stake in this election is Medicare. Republicans want to protect Medicare. Democrats want to raid Medicare to pay their socialism. We'll end up being another Venezuela. That's not going to happen to us. [booing]
And Josh--Josh will help--Josh will help a lot. That vote means so much. Democrats want to destroy Medicare with so-called "Medicare for all"--robbing our seniors of the benefits they paid into for their entire lives.
Republicans want to protect Medicare for our great seniors who have earned it and paid for it. For many, many years, they've been paying for it. Democrats even want to give welfare and free health care to illegal aliens. [booing]
All paid for by you, the great American taxpayer. Republicans want to protect the safety for truly needy Americans, not for illegal aliens. We don't want that--can't afford it. It'd be nice. You can't afford it. When it comes to health care, republicans will protect patients with preexisting conditions. They're going to protect preexisting conditions. [applause]
I will always protect preexisting conditions, and Josh Hawley will always protect preexisting conditions. [applause]
Very important. The policies of the Democrat Party--and you know, everybody always says the Democratic Party. It's not the name. It sounds better. I like saying it better. It's sweeter, right? The Democratic Party is better than the Democrat Party, but it's really the Democrat Party. And why should I make it sound sweet, right?
No, it's--it is. It's the--it's not called the Democratic Party. That's actually a nice name. They probably should change their name. I don't want to give them any ideas. But to me, it's the Democrat Party, and they aren't just extreme. They are, frankly, dangerous, and they are crazy. They're crazy. [applause]
Democrats want to abolish us. In other words, they want to abolish immigration enforcement entirely, let violent sadistic gangs, like MS-13--the worst gang in the world--run wild in our communities.
I've seen our guys from ICE. I've seen it, I've watched it. MS-13, they're tough, but they're not tough like our guys. They're not tough our ICE people. Our guys and girls, they go in there--man, I'll tell you, it's unbelievable. And that's what we need. You know, you can't have, like, Oh, isn't he a wonderful person. He's nice. He's--we need tough people.
These are tough people. These are sadistic, mean, sick criminals. ICE is incredible, and we're going to protect them, and we're going to cherish them, and we're going to thank them very much for keeping our communities safe. [applause]
Democrats want to open borders, which equals massive crime. Republicans want strong border, and we want no crime. We don't want crime. Democrat support sanctuary cities, cities of crime. [applause]
They'll flood our streets with criminal aliens and violent gangs. Republicans believe that our country should be a sanctuary for law-abiding Americans, not criminal aliens. [applause]
Democrats want to dismantle law enforcement and attack the heroes who keep us safe. Republicans stand proudly with the brave men and women of ICE, border patrol, and law enforcement. [applause]
Every day, our heroic ICE officers are tracking down gang members, predators, thieves and killers. And we are either throwing them the hell in jail or throwing them the hell out of our country. [applause]
CROWD: USA! USA! USA!
THE PRESIDENT: So never made a lot of sense to me, somebody who wants to open borders--crime, and somebody wants higher taxes. Think of it. So you got open borders, you have crime. Here's their platform, crime and high taxes. I don't like that. I don't think I could win. That's not a good platform.
Crime--think of it, crime and high taxes. Now there's only things we won't even get in, but how do you get past those first two things? Crime--that's the democrats, crime and high taxes. And we're doing things about it, folks.
And by the way, we had a record this month, on the border. We took in and arrested more illegal's coming across--many of these were not good people--than we've ever done before--ever done before. And if they'd let us build that wall faster, if Congress could give us those funds--the thing I do best is build--I could build the whole thing in a year.
We're building 1 billion 6, another 1 billion 6, now it's another billion, but a lot of people have promised us, right after the election, they're going to approve the rest of the wall. Let’s see if they keep their promise--let’s see. [applause]
Let's see. [applause]
But, it's getting built--it's getting built anyways. It's not easy--yep we're building it, not easy. People think it's easy. You know Schumer and Pelosi. [booing]
They have bigger things--they have bigger things, but the thing they want to obstruct and resist the most, even though they were in favor of a wall in 2006--they were in favor of it. Ask Israel whether or not a wall works. It works. [applause]
It works. [applause]
And by the way, speaking of Israel, the embassy is now open and happily living in Jerusalem. [applause]
It would've been 25 years before it was built. You know the story, right? Our great ambassador, David Friedman, one of the most successful lawyers in New York--he loves Israel, he wanted to be the ambassador to Israel. I put him there. And people were pressing for Israel, and they were pressing for Jerusalem to be the capital, move the embassy.
And what happened is every president, for many, many presidents, said we're going to do what they campaigned, and then they lied. They didn't have the guts to do it. And I know why. Because when it was obvious for people that I wanted to do it, I was called by virtually every leader in the world.
People were calling me and they say, please don't do it. Please don't do it. Please don't do it, and I got a little bit tired of trying to be nice, so the last week I just didn't take their calls and I said, and I said, I’ll call them back in a week. [applause]
Kings, queens, presidents, prime ministers, dictators, they're all calling; they all worry. They didn't want to me--that's why the other presidents didn't do it. I mean, I've never had such pressure put on--everybody was going, don't do it, so I just said I'll call them back after I do it, that's much easier. [applause]
Then I say, hi, you know what--you ever do this? Get me so and so, Prime Minister so and so, it was just approved. So a day later, "Hi, how're you doing? What's up?" [applause]
And they go, oh, well we called for a certain reason, but that's OK.
But the great story is I had a bill essentially, on my desk for the embassy cost in Israel. I said, "How much is that? I'm sorry, what's this?" "Sir, that's the embassy in Israel." I said, "What is it?" "Sir, it's going to cost approximately $1.1 billion." I said, whoa, we know how to build--two friends of mine are builders right here. They hear--they haven't spent that much in their whole life, and they built a hell of a lot of stuff.
I mean, you know, like it's a one story building right--"$1.1 billion, sir." And I actually had it half signed. I had Donald on it--Donald--I said, "What?" So I call David Friedman, I said, "David, let me ask you question. They want to spend $1.1 million on the embassy". It's crazy--I mean it's crazy.
He said, "Could I call you back? Because I have an idea." I said, "Call me back". Now he knows Israel really well. So we own a piece of land in Jerusalem. He said it's the best location. We have a lot of great locations because we're there early, you know, like post offices are great locations because you're there early; we're the first ones. Anytime you get a post--real estate 101--anytime you get a post office, it's a good location. They're there there--you know, it's early.
So, David, said you know "There's a piece of land that we have that's fantastic. It's got a building on it; I'd like to look at it." And I said, look at it. He calls me back, he says, "It's fantastic, it's very big--we can have setbacks, we can do everything we're supposed to do, and there's a building on it. And, sir, you don't have to spend $1.1 billion." I said, "What do you think it'll cost to renovate the building?" He said about $190,000. I said . . . I said, "What?" [applause]
He said, yes. It's the best site you can have. We have the best site, very big. You know, you want it set back for the obvious reasons. I said, "$190,000?" I said, "David, that almost--does this make sense? I hate to say this--it sounds too cheap." [applause]
He said, "No, we're going to use the finest Jerusalem stone." It's a beautiful stone. People use it, spend a lot of money. There, they have a lot of Jerusalem stone, you're in Jerusalem. But . . . I said, David, "Will you do me a favor? Let's do it, but make it $400,000, OK? Make it beautiful, David. Make it beautiful." He said OK.
So here's the story, $1.1 billion and it will never get built. It wouldn't be built for 25 years. As opposed to $400,000 and we just opened the most beautiful embassy--it's been open for seven months. [applause]
Seven months. So we saved essentially, over $1 billion--actually, we really saved $1.1 billion, you want to know the truth. But we saved $1.1 billion.
We opened it up in four months. It took four months. We had the big ceremony. And it was--it's just incredible and the people love it. And you know who loves it? Evangelical Christians love it. They love it. [applause]
They love it. They love it. And we can do that in 100 different ways. I could tell you story after story about costs where we're defending wealthy countries and not being reimbursed. We're defending wealthy, wealthy countries and we're not being reimbursed, OK?
So we're doing it step-by-step. Go to the wealthiest countries in the world, you know, we've been defending you for like 30, 40 years. It's time you sort of help out a little bit here, folks. And they're going to do it. They're going to do it. [applause]
A lot of them. They're going to do it.
So this election is about security and it's about prosperity, the trade deals. These trade deals are incredible. We didn't even negotiate them. They were ripping us off. We were being ripped off by allies and enemy--we were being ripped off by anybody.
So here is just of our great achievements: economic growth for last quarter hit 4.2 percent, unthinkable. [applause]
Unthinkable. Jobless claims just fell to a nearly 50-year low; jobless claims. Isn't that nice? Think of it, jobless claims. So number one, the people are happy. Number two, the country's saving a fortune, think of it. Jobless claims fell to a 50-year low. We've created over 4 million new jobs since our election. [applause]
We've lifted almost 4 million Americans off food stamps, saving a fortune and they're happy. [applause]
We've added nearly 400,000 new manufacturing jobs, remember? You'll never have another manufacturing job, right? He's the guy. You'll never have another manufacturing job, remember the magic wand? What are you going to get, a magic wand? Yes, I got a magic wand. [applause]
And very soon, it's going to be 600,000. And you saw Apple, Tim Cook, great guy. They're bringing in $350 billion and they're going to be building facilities all over, including an incredible campus. And $230 billion is coming from offshore because of our new tax bill. It's coming from offshore. [applause]
And they're spending it in our country; our country. Household incomes among Hispanic Americans have just set a new record, think of that. Income for Hispanic Americans has set a new record. Hispanic American unemployment recently reached the lowest rate in recorded American history. [applause]
African American unemployment recently achieved the lowest rate ever recorded in our country's history. [applause]
Remember? I used to say what do you have to lose, right? What do you have to lose? People would say oh, no, you shouldn't say that. That's not nice.
I said of course I have to say that. For years, African Americans voted for Democrats, for 100 years. And for 100 years they were lied to. They were cheated. And I said what do you have to lose, and now we have the best unemployment numbers in the history of our country for African Americans. [applause]
And we have just started. We've just started. We haven't even been here for two years. Asian American unemployment has also achieved all time historic lows. The poverty rates for African Americans and Hispanic Americans have reached their lowest levels in history. Poverty rates the lowest in history. [applause]
Youth unemployment has just reached its lowest rate in nearly a half a century, 50 years. [applause]
Unemployment for Americans is very important. Without a high school diploma, recently reached the lowest rate ever recorded. That's somebody that never got through high school but they're great people. They're great people. [applause]
But for the women, I failed. I failed. Women unemployment rate recently reached its lowest rate in 65 years. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. [applause]
Sixty-five years. I failed for the women but within a short period of time--it's the best numbers for women in 65 years. Within a short period of time, it will be in history just like all the others. [applause]
I thought it was going to happen actually this week. I would have like to have said that.
We are fixing one-sided trade deals that have stolen American jobs and drained American wealth, just taken away our wealth. It's like candy from a baby, they took our money, they took our jobs, they took everything. They took our dignity. They took our dignity.
We've reached a deal to replace NAFTA with a beautiful brand-new U.S.-Mexico trade deal. [applause]
And we're working on a separate deal with Canada as we speak, we'll see what happens. Canada is charging a lot of money. Canada--you know, they don't say this--Canada charges 300 percent tax . . . tax for dairy products going across--300 percent. I say, you can't do that. So, look, we love the Canadians, but they've done very well with us over the last 35 years. So we're working on a deal with Canada. Probably it'll happen. If it doesn't happen, we'll be very well off.
We're also cracking down on the unfair trade practices from China. [applause]
China last year took out $500 billion from our country--500 billion, Five hundred--not million--500 billion. We have rebuilt China. We have given them such wealth. And were changing it. So we charged 25 percent on $50 billion worth of merchandise with those tariffs coming in. [applause]
And then they said, well, we're going to do the same thing. I said, that's OK, we have far more bullets. We're going to go $200 billion at 25 percent, Chinese-made goods, and we will come back more if they retaliate. We have a lot more to come back with it. And they want to make a deal, and let's see if we can make a deal
The problem is, whether it's China or Canada, or really anybody, they've lived so well off us for so long, it takes a little while, folks; it takes a little bit of while--you know, when they're taking our $400 billion or $500 billion a year, and then you say, one guy comes in--other presidents should have done this. They should have--there's no way I should have been put in this position. There's no way I should have been put in the position where North Korea and the United States were ready to go to war. I took that over and we're doing very well there too, doing very well there too. [applause]
Doing very well. Have a very good relationship. You know they've been working on that relationship for like 72 years. I got back, what, three months ago, and the fake news, said--look, we got back our hostages. We got back our beautiful heroes. We got back our remains, right. [applause]
You see they're coming back. And more is coming back, and more. [applause]
They're not testing rockets and missiles. They're not testing nuclear. It's all--and we have a nice relationship--so when did I get back? Like, what, three months ago. So here's their new one--he's not moving fast enough. For 72 years they haven't done--I've been back here for, like, three months. The relationship is very good. Chairman Kim, Kim Jong-un, sent me a beautiful letter two days ago. They're dying to see what was in the letter. One day I'll show them. [applause]
But it was a great letter. It was a great letter, and we have very good relations. And let's see what happens. Let's see. Let's see. I'm in no rush. I'm in no rush. [applause]
The sanctions remain. We haven't done anything. The sanctions are there. Unlike that crummy Iran deal that I eradicated; I took it away. [applause]
And look at what happened to Iran since we did that. Look at what happened. Riots in every city. You know when I took over and before I took over, everybody said, Iran will take over the entire Middle East. Now Iran wants to survive, OK. They're no longer looking at the Mediterranean, OK.
And hopefully we'll be able to do something with Iran, but you know what, if it happens, good; if it doesn't happen that's OK. You know, that's OK. So let's see.
But they're not doing so well, folks. They're pulling in people from all over, but you know what? I hope we get along with them great, but it's not easy for them, and frankly it's not easy for others until we get treated with the respect that we deserve. [applause]
To give our workers and businesses a level playing field, Republicans passed the biggest package of tax cuts and reforms in American history. This year alone, families in Missouri will see a tax cut of more than $4 billion. Thank you. [applause]
Four billion. That's in Missouri. We're making healthcare more affordable and accessible. We're keeping down the costs of the--you know, I call it the remnants--the remnants, because getting rid of the individual mandate is--was a great thing. I mean, how many people are helped by that? That was the most unpopular--most unpopular thing in Obamacare, where you had the privilege of paying a fortune for not having to pay a fortune to have healthcare.
And you know what? That doesn't work. So you're paying a lot of money for not having to pay for bad healthcare. That doesn't really work. We got rid of it. You know how many businesses--how many businesses were helped by that? No more individual mandate. The worst thing in Obamacare.
And we're giving critically ill patients access to life-saving medicine and new techniques and new anything in Right to Try. [applause]
They've been trying to pass that for 38 years, they say. We got it passed. So now if somebody's sick, really sick--you know, if they had money, they'd travel all over the world, they wanted hope, they were trying to find something. If they didn't have money, they--they just didn't have any chance.
And now we have some of the greatest medicines in the world. They're under review. And if somebody's terminally ill, I want to give them the right to try. I want to give them the right to try. [applause]
And now we give them the right to try. And many lives will be saved because we have incredible--incredible things, but some of them won't be passed and approved for another 3 or 4 years, and we brought that number--it was taking 15 years to have something approved; we're bringing it down to 2 or 3 or 4. [applause]
FDA. Scott. Good job, Scott.
We passed the largest veterans reform in half a century, including the landmark V.A. Accountability Act. You know all about that. If a bad government worker abuses one of our great veterans, we turn to them and we say: you're fired.
CROWD: You're fired. [applause]
THE PRESIDENT: That was a big deal. They've been trying to do that for 45 years. Hard to do. You know why? I mean, I hate to say, a lot of respect for unions, a lot of respect for civil servants, but that's a tough thing to get by the unions and the civil servants, right?
We're rebuilding our military. It will soon be more powerful than it has ever been before and everything is being made in the U.S.A., jobs, right? [applause]
Jobs, jobs, jobs. After years of depleting our military and letting our bases and equipment fall into total disrepair, we are now purchasing the finest planes and ships and tanks and missiles and artillery and submarines anywhere on earth; nobody makes it like us, nobody's even close. [applause]
And we secured a record $700 billion for our military this year and $716 billion next year. That will do things . . . No country is even close. And again, very unimportantly by comparison, jobs to me are the most important, but there's nothing more important than our military. There's nothing more important than protection, especially in the world in which we live. [applause]
But--but jobs are very important, and I love to say it's built right here in our country. Because we understand that there is no substitute in this world for American power and American strength. And at my direction, the Pentagon is working hard to create a sixth branch of the United States Armed Forces called Space Force. [applause]
That would have been a dream 5 years ago. You have Air Force and you now have Space Force soon, soon. [applause]
So, that's basically it, folks. I could go on all night. All of the things. All of the things. [applause]
I could go on all night. I took out--last night in Las Vegas we had a packed house there too. I took out all of the things--all--every line is another thing. Some of these are big things, but I'm not boring you with it, I'm just telling you, we did a lot.
One of these very fine gentlemen in the back said, you know, it's very strange, but he actually did more than he promised. I actually did much more than I promised. [applause]
For years you watched as your leaders apologized for America. [booing]
Now you have a president who will never apologize for America but only will stand up for America. [applause]
We are standing up for your values. We are standing up for Missouri. [applause]
And we are standing up for our National Anthem. [applause]
To continue this momentum, to protect your family, your jobs, and your country, you need to get your friends, get your family, get your coworkers, and get out and vote Republican and vote for Josh Hawley--Josh Hawley. [applause]
Loyal citizens like you helped build this country, and together, we are taking back our country and returning power to where it belongs, the American people. [applause]
It was right here in Missouri. They're great explorers, maybe the greatest explorers--I know you've never heard of them--Lewis and Clark--began their epic journey across the American West. They brave the wilderness, face the unknown, and never turn back until they achieved their incredible American destiny. That's what it was, a great destiny - - brave, brilliant, incredible people.
Today, we stand on the shoulders of the giants of American history, the greatest, toughest, most courageous men and women ever to walk the face of the earth, ever. Our ancestors crossed the ocean, settled a continent, won a revolution and fought, to victory, in two world wars. [applause]
American patriots, like you, defeated fascism, triumphed over communism, and delivered millions into freedom. That's us--freedom. [applause]
These courageous patriots did not shed their blood, sweat and tears so that we could sit at home while others tear down their legacy, erase their history and sacrifice our proud American heritage.
Our country and our movement--it's a movement. This was maybe the greatest movement in the history of our country. This was a movement. This wasn't about me. This is a movement. [applause]
Outside, you have thousands and thousands of people. And I'm telling you. If somebody else had won, or take anybody else in the history of our country and tell them we're coming to Missouri to make a speech--some president--if 300 people show up--seriously, use a little conference room someplace, a little conference room, a little--you have to see what's outside.
You think you're a lot of people? How about doubling or tripling it outside? And Josh said that--Josh said that. [applause]
And we put big screens outside because this is happening all over the country. We put big beautiful screens--so to all of the people outside, you're not as good in real estate as the people inside, but we'll get you next time. We love you anyway. [applause]
We have only just begun. Like the pioneers and patriots of the past, we are going to work, we are going to fight, and we are going to win, win, win. [applause]
We are going to win for our families, we are going to win for our freedom, and we are going to win for our great American flag. [applause]
We will not bend, we will not break, we will never give in, we will never give up, we will never back down, and we will always fight on to victory. We will always be victorious. [applause]
Because we are American, and our hearts truly bleed red, white and blue. [applause]
Now and forever, we are one people, one family, and one glorious nation under God. [applause]
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, Missouri. Thank you. Go vote for Josh. [applause]
[music: The Rolling Stones, "You Can't Always Get What You Want."]
NOTE: The President spoke at JQH Arena at Missouri State University, Springfield, MO. Also speaking was Missouri Attorney General Josh Hawley, Republican Candidate for the U.S. Senate.
This transcript was prepared for the APP by Matthew Danaher.
Donald J. Trump (1st Term), Remarks at a "Make America Great Again" Rally in Springfield, Missouri Online by Gerhard Peters and John T. Woolley, The American Presidency Project https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/node/332444