Remarks to the Michigan National Guard in Harrison Township, Michigan

Thank you very much. Thank you, everybody.

Well, I guess they think we're going to save this place. And you know what? They're right. A hundred percent right. We're going to save it and make it better, actually.

So, at ease, everybody. At ease. Enjoy yourself. Sit down, if you can, if those are chairs. Yes, they are, in a sense.

Thank you very much. It's an honor to be back in the great State of Michigan. And as you know, we had big victory in Michigan, and I won't forget it, and I'm not forgetting it.

And I'm honored to be here at Selfridge Air National Guard Base with the men and women of the 127th Wing of the Michigan Air National Guard. Thank you very much for being here. This is great. It's a great honor and a great honor for me. We've had such success in Michigan.

I want to thank Secretary of Defense, Pete Hegseth, who's doing a really great job. The Houthis will tell you that. [Laughter] He's doing a very good job.

Major General Paul Rogers and Brigadier General Daniel Kramer of the Michigan National Guard. Commander of the 127th Wing Brigadier General Matthew Brancato, thank you very much. Deputy Commander Colonel David Spehar—wherever you may be, David. Where is David, huh? Hello. Hello, David. Where the hell are you, David? [Laughter] There—oh, hello, David. Thank you very much. [Laughter] He's like a—the quiet type, right? But a killer, I hear. Command Chief Master Sergeant Bruce Hedrick. Bruce. Hello, Bruce. Thank you very much, Bruce. Thank you, Bruce. Great job.

For decades, they've been trying to save this facility. I didn't realize that. I thought it was just recently, because I heard about it recently from some people, including your Governor, who has done a very good job. She came to see me. That's the reason she came to see me, by the way—to save Selfridge. And she was very effective, along with some of the other politicians and some of the military people. They love this place. They love the—what it stands for, all the victories they've had here over the years.

So I want to thank Governor Gretchen Whitmer for bringing it also to our attention very strongly. And you know, I'm not supposed to do that. She's a Democrat. They say: "Don't do that. Don't have her here." I said, "No, she's going to be here." She's done a very good job, frankly, and she's a—she was very much involved with—with the Republicans. They worked together on saving it, and it was not easy. So I want to thank you very much, Gretchen. Good job. Thank you.

Michigan House Speaker Matt Hall worked with Gretchen and everybody else. Thank you, Matt. Great job you're doing too.

John James, as you know, is right now working on the great, big, beautiful deal. I said: "Do me a favor, John. Just stay back there and let's get your vote. Let's not worry about this today." But John was fantastic, as were all of the other Representatives that you have that are right now in Congress, working very, very, very hard, actually.

And Michigan Senate Republican Leader Aric Nesbitt. Thank you very much, Aric. Thank you very much. Great job. Done a great job.

But I want to thank all of the people that I just mentioned, but, in particular, the—you know, when I look at the House Members, they have been calling me all the time. "We've got to get it done." And they worked along with Gretchen and some others. And you're going to be very happy with what I have to say right now.

I also want to thank Michigan's tremendous Republican delegation—the whole delegation, the whole State, because they're back in Washington, and they're helping our Congressmen and they're helping us get the votes that we need, because I think, if we get it, we have the biggest tax cut in history. And if we don't get it, you have the biggest tax increase. And for that, I will blame the Democrats, because we probably won't get any votes from Democrats. Only—not for any reason other than, we're Republicans, and the Democrats tend not to vote anytime we vote. It's— the whole thing is so crazy.

But it will be the biggest tax increase in history if we don't get it, and that's why the Republicans can do it, but they have to stick together. And I think they are, from what I understand, really sticking together.

I want to thank also Speaker of the House Mike Johnson and John Thune—Leader John Thune. They have been working together and with the Senators and the Congress men and women, and I think they've got something that's really—it's big league, and it's very important. Biggest—the biggest bill ever, if we get it done, and I think we will.

For decades, Selfridge Air National Guard Base has stood as a crucial pillar of North American air defense. Just 20 miles north of Detroit—where you're going to have a lot of car factories opening very soon, by the way, I might add—with access to the largest military airspace complex east of the Mississippi, Selfridge is tightly integrated with the National All-Domain Warfighting Center.

This airfield saw its first military takeoff all the way back in 1917. Can you believe that? Wow. Wouldn't that have been a shame to close this great history for something else that wouldn't be as good.

The Tuskegee Airmen trained here during World War II, and generations of Michigan patriots have served here with great distinction. Unfortunately, that proud legacy was put at risk by the retirement of the key aircraft based here—in particular, the A–10 Thunderbolt II, "Warthog," who—which I hear is an incredible plane. I hear it's an incredible plane. That's too bad. It's—long time it's been up there.

I said, "Why don't we save it?" I actually said that last time, and we did save it. I said that in my last term, and we did save it, but now it's coming—it's coming to an end. But I hear the Warthog is incredible. And we have support aircraft and also the KC–135 Stratotankers.

In recent years, many in Michigan have feared for the future of the base—they've been calling everybody, but the only one that mattered was Trump; they called Trump, and we got it done—which represents $850 million in economic impact across the State of Michigan—and probably, it could be much more than that as we expand it out—and creates thousands of good and important jobs, both in the military and civilian jobs.

So, Gretchen, that's a big economic—you're not going to have too many economic development jobs like that. It's great.

But today I've come in person to lay to rest any doubts about Selfridge's future and the vital role it will play in our national defense. As Commander in Chief, I am proud to announce that very soon, we will replace the retiring A–10 Warthogs with 21 brandnew F–15EX Eagle II fighter jets, the best in the world. Fresh off the line. [Applause] Brandnew.

And they have an expression. You know what that means: "fresh off the line." That means they are brand-new. They've never been anywhere. This is where they're going to be for a long time.

And I saw one of them. It flew over my head, and I said, "What the hell is that?" [Laughter] That plane has serious power. So this is the best there is anywhere in the world, the F–15EX Eagle II.

This will keep Selfridge at the cutting edge of Northern American airpower. My administration will also continue with plans to replace the outgoing KC–135s and KC–46 Pegasus aircraft to continue that important refueling mission, and they'll be restocked with brandnew, top-of-the-line refuelers.

For generations, the men and women of Selfridge have always been here, and they've always been for us. Whether you're Republican or you're Democrat, they've always been for us. They've been for America. And under the Trump administration, we're going to be there for you.

The previous administration was willing to surrender Air National Guard fighter units across the country by retiring aircraft that were not being replaced. We are replacing.

But under the Trump administration, we're correcting that injustice, and that starts right here in Michigan, where we have a big commitment to Michigan and to the State, even beyond this.

This is an exciting time for the United States military. Since November, enlistment numbers for every branch of the Armed Forces have surged. Recruitment is now the highest it's been in 39 years.

No, if you remember the—you better hold on to those jobs or else somebody will take them. Somebody will take those jobs so fast. Hold on to those jobs. Don't leave that job. Who would have thought?

Because prior to November 5, which was election day, I was hearing that recruitment was so bad. It was so impossible. It was hard to get people. And this goes not only for the Armed Forces—for the police, for firemen. People are proud of our country again. Big difference.

But we had the worst numbers that we've ever had, virtually. We couldn't get anybody. And now we're overstocked. We have waiting lists of people wanting to sign up and be with the military. They're proud of our country again.

And I'll be supporting a record-setting $1 trillion investment in our national defense. We're going to go $1 trillion—the largest in the world—largest ever in our country, but no other country has invested that much. We have a $1 trillion budget for military this year, and we have tremendous plans, including increasing the scope of Selfridge.

And I recently signed an order to begin construction of the Golden Dome missile defense shield to protect our homeland from missile attack. We're going to call it the Golden Dome. We had the Iron Dome, but somehow, Gretchen, "Golden Dome" sounds better to me. I don't know. Maybe it's not.

What do you like better, folks, Golden Dome or Iron Dome? What do you like better? Golden. Let's have a vote. Golden Dome?

Oh, no, I think we're in trouble. Oh. [Laughter]

How about the Iron Dome? Good. Keep it—that's good. [Laughter] Because we made all the changes already. It will be a little bit—[laughter]. Even the renderings look very golden, but— beautiful.

No, it's going to be incredible. The latest and the greatest. A lot of it's going to be made in Michigan. A lot of it is going to be made—the Golden Dome.

You know, other countries have it. In particular, Israel has it. And we have a much more advanced—and theirs is very good. We helped do it. We did it. But we have an advanced version now that really is incredible, what it dos [does; White House correction].

It—we had a case study of 169 out of 169. Every one of them just shut down. And I think we're entitled to it, don't you? I think we're entitled to it as a country.

America's military will soon be stronger and more powerful than ever before, and Selfridge Air National Guard Base will remain at the center of the action.

And I just want to say we're building some of the greatest submarines and various other ships but submarines, in particular. We have a monopoly on great submarines. We're building the greatest in the world. Most powerful machine ever built. And we're doing some things that are just incredible.

In one way, you hate to do it, but in another way, you really have no choice.

And we're fighting very hard on the China front and the Russia front with Ukraine and what's happening in the Middle East. And a lot of good things—you're going to be hearing a lot of good things.

It's a shame. When I left office not so long ago, we had no wars. We defeated ISIS in 3 weeks. It was supposed to take 5 years. They told me, "Sir, it's going to take about five years." We did it in 3 weeks. "Razin" Caine, he's now your top. You know, he's your top—your top person. He's the head of the Joint Chiefs.

And I did that because he was the one. He said, "Sir, we can do it in 3 weeks." I said, "Three weeks? They told me 5 years." "No, sir. We can do it in three weeks, sir." And I said, "Let's see if you can do it," and he did it. He had a little time left over, actually. And ISIS was gone, totally defeated.

And he's the man we wanted. That's the man—I said, "If I do this again, I'm going to put that guy in charge," because he did things that nobody else was able to do, and nobody else even thought it or even suggested. So I'm very proud to have him head up the whole military operation, along with Pete and some other great people.

So I just want to say that, Michigan, it's been my great honor to be here. I've had tremendous success in Michigan. Not all Republicans have, but I have. And not just this time, either. We had tremendous—we did tremendously well in 2020, and we did incredibly well in 2016. In 2016, they said it couldn't be won. You know, it couldn't be won, but we won, and we won by a lot.

So it's a special place, and I don't forget. I don't forget my friends, and Michigan has been my friend. And I want to just thank everybody here.

I want to congratulate you, actually, because a lot of people wanted this to happen to their neck of the woods, but it's happening for you. So congratulations.

And God bless you all, God bless our military, and God bless America.

Thank you very much. Congratulations, everybody. Congratulations. Thank you.

[The event continued with remarks from Secretary of Defense Peter B. Hegseth, Gov. Gretchen E. Whitmer of Michigan, Speaker of the Michigan House of Representatives Matt Hall, and Michigan Senate Republican Leader Aric Nesbitt; no transcript was provided.]