*Administration of Donald J. Trump, 2017 *

**Remarks at a Listening Session With Leaders of the Fraternal Order of Police **

*March 28, 2017 *

*The President. *Sit down, everyone, please. The press must like you people. Look at all the press. Well, you're the greatest people. You keep us safe, right?* *

*Fraternal Order of Police National President Kenneth C. "Chuck" Canterbury. *Yes, sir.* *

*The President.* You keep us safe. It's a tremendous honor to welcome the Fraternal Order of Police to the White House. So many of you I know for so long, and you've been friends of mine, and you do a great job. Nobody braver.

I want to thank your entire leadership team, including your national president, Chuck Canterbury. I also want to thank you for your support during the election. I guess you probably know, the numbers were extremely lopsided, right? I'm just trying to figure out who were the few people that voted the other way. Who are they? [*Laughter*] Can you find out who they are, please, and let us know?

As I traveled the country during my campaign, I had the great privilege to spend time with our amazing police officers, who risk their lives every day to keep us safe. And I made a crucial pledge: We will always support—and you people know that better than anybody, you know me—the incredible men and women of law enforcement. I will always have your back, 100 percent, like you've always had mine, and you showed that on November 8.

I'm also pleased to have with us our great Attorney General, Jeff Sessions. Thank you, Jeff, for being here. That was a big day you had yesterday too, on sanctuary cities.

*Attorney General Jefferson B. Sessions III.* Thank you.

*The President.* That was a very, very important thing you did and, frankly, a very popular thing. So congratulations.

And Jeff is with us—a strong supporter of law enforcement—you know that. He was in Alabama. He was the attorney general. He was a U.S. attorney, and a lot of people don't know that. They know him as the Senator, but the law enforcement people knew him more even as the other. So going to do a great job. Good, Jeff. Great to have you with us.

Sadly, our police are often prevented from doing their jobs. When policing is reduced, the main victims are the most vulnerable citizens of our society, and you see that all over. In too many of our communities, violent crime is on the rise, and in too many places, our citizens have not been safe for a very, very long time.

These are the painful realities many in Washington do not want to talk about. They just don't want to hear about it. And we have seen that; we've seen it all over.

By the way, who is from the standpoint of New York? Where are my New York guys here? Huh?

*Participant.* No New York.

*The President.* That's terrible. [*Laughter*] I have one sitting in my office. He's the greatest. He's coming right in. Last year, in Chicago, 4,368 people were shot. Nearly 700 more have already been shot since January of this year alone. I ask, what's going on in Chicago, right? What is going on there? There's no excuse for it. There's no excuse for it. I'm sure you're asking the same question: What's going on in Chicago?

I also want to thank our Vice President for being with us. Mike Pence has been amazing——

*Vice President Michael R. Pence*. Thank you, sir.

*The President*. ——an amazing Vice President and very much a believer in law enforcement and the job you people do.

All of our citizens have the right to live in safety and peace. We will work every day to remove the gang members, drug dealers, and violent criminals from your communities, and we already are. They're being moved very quickly. In fact, General Kelly, as you know, has done a fantastic job on the border. Down 61 percent since Inauguration. People coming in down 61 percent, which is a tremendous number.

My highest duty as President is the security of our people, the security of our Nation. That is why I've already taken numerous actions to enhance domestic security, including the creation of Task Force on Reducing Violent Crime, an interagency Task Force to dismantle criminal cartels, along with historic actions to secure our borders and remove criminals from our country. We're removing MS–13. We're removing criminals all over the country. They're getting out. We're taking them out. And for that, I thank you folks. I know you're in strict coordination with General Kelly and the Border Patrol and ICE, and you've been doing a fantastic job.

As President, I will work night and day to make America safe again. And we've already done a big part of it. You'll see the numbers come out very soon. I just want to thank all of you for your leadership. I want to thank all of you for your expertise, the job you've done. And it's a great honor to be with you today.

And we'll now go around and just introduce yourselves. You'll introduce yourself in front of all this live television. It's always live for me. You know, unfortunately, the other guys, they make a speech and nobody cares; with me, everything is live. One mistake, and it's no good. But we just can't make mistakes, right? So we don't make mistakes.

Go ahead, Ken.

*Mr. Canterbury.* I'm Chuck Canterbury, the National President of Fraternal Order of Police, from South Carolina.

*Fraternal Order of Police National Vice President Jay McDonald.* I'm Jay McDonald. I'm the Vice President of the National Fraternal Order of Police, and I'm from Ohio.

*Fraternal Order of Police National Treasurer Thomas F. Penoza.* I'm Tom Penoza. I'm the treasurer of the National Fraternal Order of Police, and I'm from Delaware.

*Fraternal Order of Police National Secretary Patrick Yoes.* I'm Patrick Yoes. I'm the national secretary, and I'm from Louisiana.

*Fraternal Order of Police National Sergeant at Arms Roger Mayberry.* Roger Mayberry, national sergeant at arms, from California. *Philadelphia Fraternal Order of Police President John J. McNesby.* John McNesby, president in Philadelphia.

*Fraternal Order of Police National Trustees Chairman Joe Perkins.* Joe Perkins. I'm the chairman of the national trustees, and I'm from Oklahoma.

*Chicago Fraternal Order of Police President Dean C. Angelo, Sr.* I'm Dean Angelo. I'm the President of Chicago Lodge 7.

*Fraternal Order of Police Executive Director James O. Pasco, Jr.* Jim Pasco—I'm the executive director of the National FOP, and I reside in Maryland.

*The President.* Good. Okay, thank you very much, fellas.

NOTE: The President spoke at 11:09 a.m. in the Roosevelt Room at the White House. In his remarks, he referred to Director of Oval Office Operations Keith Schiller, in his capacity as former chief of security for the Trump Organization; and Secretary of Homeland Security John F. Kelly.

*Categories:* Addresses and Remarks : Fraternal Order of Police leaders, listening session*.*

*Locations: *Washington, DC.

*Names:* Angelo, Dean C., Sr.; Canterbury, K. Charles; Kelly, John F.; Mayberry, Roger; McDonald, Jay; McNesby, John J.; Pasco, James O., Jr.; Pence, Michael R.; Penoza, Thomas F.; Perkins, Joe; Schiller, Keith; Sessions, Jefferson B., III; Yoes, Patrick*.*

*Subjects:* Defense and national security : Border security; Drug abuse and trafficking : Foreign narcotics traffickers; Elections : 2016 Presidential and congressional elections; Homeland Security, Department of : Customs and Border Protection, U.S.; Homeland Security, Department of : Immigration and Customs Enforcement, U.S.; Homeland Security, Department of : Secretary; Immigration and naturalization : Illegal immigration; Justice, Department of : Attorney General; Justice, Department of : Crime Reduction and Public Safety, Task Force on; Law enforcement and crime : Fraternal Order of Police; Law enforcement and crime : Gun violence, prevention efforts; Law enforcement and crime : Illegal immigration, deportation of criminals; Law enforcement and crime : Law enforcement officers, service and dedication; Law enforcement and crime : State and community law enforcement agencies, Federal support; White House Office : Oval Office Operations, Director; White House Office : Vice President.

*DCPD Number:* DCPD201700202.