Administration of Donald J. Trump, 2017

March 28, 2017

Vice President Michael R. Pence. Thanks so very much. You may be seated. Well, on behalf of the First Family, it is a great, great privilege for Karen and I to welcome you to the White House for what I know will be a very special evening tonight. And as the President of the Senate, it's particularly meaningful for me to welcome Republican and Democrat Members of the Senate to this very special evening.

I want to give special appreciation to Leader McConnell and Leader Schumer. Thank you so much for both being here tonight. Thank you for your service to the Nation. And also, the President pro tem of the Senate, Orrin HatchâI think the longest serving member of the United States Senateâis with us. And lastly, a rousing round of applause for the spouses that are with us tonight that make the sacrifices so that the Members who are here can serve. I know the First Family is particularly moved that so many family members could be here this evening. So I thank you all for making time to be with us.

And this will be an inspiring night, and hopefully, it will be an encouraging night. I know the President and the First Lady and Karen and I are well familiar with the sacrifices of public life.

And tonight is just, from the First Family to each one of you, a small token of their appreciation for your service to your State and your service to the people of the United States of America.

So, with that said, it is my high honor and distinct privilege to introduce our host and hostess for this eveningâthe President of the United States of America and Mrs. Melania Trump.

The President. Thank you, Mike. Thank you very much. Thank you very much. Nobody ever told me that politics was going to be so much fun. [Laughter] But we're doing well. It's doing very well.

We just had a callâlong callâfrom General Mattis. And, John, I know, is very happy to hear that, but he knows better than anybody, we're doing very well in Iraq. Our soldiers are fighting and fighting like never before, and the results are very, very good. So I just wanted to let everyone know.

I have some very special friends ofâin this room, especiallyâI must tell you, we have the Republicans, but I even have a couple of Democrats. I saidâwe had a dinner here about 3 weeks ago, and it was so beautiful. We have these incredible musicians from the Marine Corps and from the Armyâincredible, actually. And I said, you know, I'd like to do something special: I'd like to ask the United States Senate, with spouses, to come and hear how good it was. It was just a beautiful evening.

And so here we are. And shockingly, it's semi-bipartisan. A lot of people showed up that people weren't expecting, which is a very good thing. [*Applause*] Which is a very, very good thing.

And I know that we're all going to make a deal on health care; that's such an easy one. [*Laughter*] So I have no doubt that that's going to happen very quickly. I think it will, actually. I think it's going to happen, because we've all been promisingâDemocrat, Republicanâwe've all been promising that to the American people. So I think a lot of good things are going to happen there.

We're going to talk about infrastructure. We're going to talk about fixing up our military, which we really need. There has been a depletion, and we're going to make it so good and so strong. And there's, I think, never been a time where we needed it so much.

And we're going to be doing a great job. And hopefully it will start being bipartisan, because everybody really wants the same thing. We want greatness for this country that we love. So I think we're going to have some very good relationships.

Right, Chuck? I see Chuck. Hello, Chuck. [*Laughter*] And I really think that will happen.

So again, enjoy these incredible musicians. They are really something special. And I hope we're going to do this many, many times together as a unit. Thank you all for being here.

Melania, thank you very much. Our Vice Presidentâdid we make the right decision with Pence? Right? Huh? And, Karen, thank you very much. So nice. Thank you.

Thank you, everybody. Have a good time.

NOTE: The President spoke at approximately 7:30 p.m. in the East Room at the White House. In his remarks, he referred to Secretary of Defense James N. Mattis; and Sen. John S. McCain III, in his capacity as chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee.

Categories: Addresses and Remarks : Senators and their spouses, reception. Locations: Washington, DC.

Names: Mattis, James N.; McCain, John S., III; Pence, Karen; Pence, Michael R.; Schumer, Charles E.; Trump, Melania.

Subjects: Armed Forces, U.S. : Funding; Congress : Bipartisanship; Congress : Members, meeting with President; Congress : Senate :: Minority leader; Defense, Department of : Secretary; Health and medical care : Health insurance reforms; Terrorism : Counterterrorism efforts; Transportation : Infrastructure, national, improvement efforts; White House Office : Vice President.

DCPD Number: DCPD201700205.