*Administration of Donald J. Trump, 2017 *

**Remarks at a "Make America Great Again" Rally in Phoenix, Arizona **

*August 22, 2017 *

*The President.* Wow. What a crowd. What a crowd.

*Audience members.* Trump! Trump! Trump!

*The President.* And just so you know, from the Secret Service, there aren't too many people outside protesting, okay? That I can tell you. A lot of people in here. A lot of people pouring in right now, if they can get them in. Whatever you can do, fire marshal, we'll appreciate it.

And I want to thank our great Vice President, Mike Pence, for the introduction, as well as my friend, Dr. Ben Carson. And thank you to a very, very special man, Franklin Graham—Reverend Franklin Graham—for leading us in prayer. And thank you to Alveda King, the niece of the great Dr. Martin Luther King. It really shows you that America is indeed a nation of faith. We know that.

Well, I'm thrilled to be back in Phoenix, in the great State of Arizona, with so many thousands of hard-working American patriots. You know, I'd love if the cameras could show this crowd, because it is rather incredible. It is incredible. It is incredible.

As everybody here remembers, this was the scene of my first rally speech, right? The crowds were so big—almost as big as tonight—that the people said, right at the beginning, you know, there's something special happening here. And we went to center stage, almost from day one, in the debates. We loved those debates. But we went to center stage, and we never left, right? It's all of us. We did it together. You were there at the start. You've been there every single day since. And I will never forget. Believe me, Arizona, I will never forget.

And I'm here tonight to send a message: We are fully and totally committed to fighting for our agenda, and we will not stop until the job is done. This evening, joined together with friends, we reaffirm our shared customs, traditions, and values. We love our country. We celebrate our troops. We embrace our freedom. We respect our flag. We are proud of our history. We cherish our Constitution, including, by the way, the Second Amendment.

*Audience members.* U.S.A.! U.S.A.! U.S.A.!

*The President.* We fully protect religious liberty. We believe in law and order, and we support the incredible men and women of law enforcement. And we pledge our allegiance to one Nation under God.

You always understood what Washington, DC, did not. Our movement is a movement built on love. It's love for fellow citizens; it's love for struggling Americans who have been left behind and love for every American child who deserves a chance to have all of their dreams come true. From the inner cities to the rural outposts, from the Sun Belt to the Rust Belt, from East to West and North to South, our movement is built on the conviction that every American, from every background, is entitled to a government that puts their needs first.

It is finally time to rebuild our country, to take care of our people, and to fight for the jobs our great American workers deserve, and that's what we're doing.

*Audience members.* U.S.A.! U.S.A.! U.S.A.! *The President.* After our amazing election victory, the forgotten men and women—remember we used to talk about the forgotten men and women before the election? Guess what? They're not forgotten—anyone, right? Anymore. No, they're not forgotten anymore, folks. In fact, they're trying to figure you out. [*Laughter*] They're saying, the obstructionists, "How do we get them to vote for us?" I don't think that's going to happen anytime soon.

*Audience members. *No!

*The President. *We believe that every American has the right to live with dignity. Respect for America demands respect for all of its people. Loyalty to our Nation requires loyalty to each other. We all share the same home, the same dreams, and the same hopes for a better future. A wound inflicted upon one member of our community is a wound inflicted upon us all. You saw last night. You saw last night.

Did anybody watch last night?

*Audience members. *Yes!* *

*The President. *Yes. When one part of America hurts, we all hurt. And when one American suffers an injustice, all of America suffers together. We're all together.

It's time for us to follow the example of our brave American soldiers—and I was with a lot of them last night. Fort Myers. No matter where they come from, no matter what faith they practice, they form a single unbreakable team. That's what we are: We're a team. As a nation, we're a team.

They're all united by their devotion to our country and to their mission. It's time for all of us to remember that we are all on the same team. We are all Americans, and we all believe, right now, in America first. And it's happening, and it's happening fast. I see all those red hats and white hats. [*Laughter*] It's all happening very fast. It's called "Make America Great Again." You see what's going on. It's coming back very fast.

We want every child to succeed, every community to prosper, and every struggling American to have a chance for a better life. What happened in Charlottesville strikes at the core of America. And tonight this entire arena stands united in forceful condemnation of the thugs who perpetrate hatred and violence.

But the very dishonest media, those people right up there with all the cameras——

*Audience members.* Boo!

*Audience members.* Trump! Trump! Trump!

*Audience members.* CNN sucks! CNN sucks! CNN sucks!

*The President.* So the—and I mean truly dishonest people in the media and the fake media—they make up stories, they have no sources, in many cases. They say "a source says"—there is no such thing. But they don't report the facts, just like they don't want to report that I spoke out forcefully against hatred, bigotry, and violence, and strongly condemned the neo-Nazis, the White supremacists, and the KKK.

I openly called for unity, healing, and love. And they know it because they were all there. So what I did——

[*At this point, the President removed a sheet of paper from his breast pocket.*] *The President. *So what I did is—I thought I'd take just a second. And I'm really doing this, more than anything else—because you know where my heart is, okay? I'm really doing this to show you how damn dishonest these people are. So here is my first statement, when I heard about Charlottesville. And I have a home in Charlottesville; a lot of people don't know. Here's the first—I can't believe they haven't figured that one out yet. Now they know. [*Laughter*] Now they finally know.

But I just—I don't want to bore you with this, but I—it shows you how dishonest they are. And most of you know this anyway. So here's what I said, really fast—here's what I said on Saturday.

[*The President read from the sheet of paper.*]

"We're closely following the terrible events unfolding in Charlottesville, Virginia." This is me speaking. "We condemn in the strongest possible terms this egregious display of hatred, bigotry, and violence." That's me speaking on Saturday. Right after the event.

So I'm condemning—the strongest possible terms—egregious display, hatred, bigotry, and violence. Okay, I think you can't do much better, right? [*Laughter*] Okay. But they didn't want to put this on. They had it on initially, but then when they talk: "He didn't say it fast enough. [L*aughter*] He didn't do it on time. Why did it take a day? He must be a racist. It took a day."

*Audience members.* Boo!

*The President.* Dishonest people. So here is me—I hope they're showing how many people are in this room, but they won't. They don't even do that. The only time they show the crowds is when there's a disrupter or an anarchist in the room. I call them anarchists. Because believe me, we have plenty of anarchists. They don't want to talk about the anarchists.

So this is me.

[*The President continued reading from the sheet of paper.*]

"It has no place in America." I'm talking about hatred, bigotry, and violence. "It has no place in America. What is vital now is a swift restoration of law and order and the protection of innocent lives. No citizen should ever fear for their safety, security in our society, and no child should ever be afraid to go outside and play or be with their parents and have a good time." This is me speaking.

Here's further. This is on Saturday, the first one. I did this three times. [*Laughter*] "We have to come together as Americans with love for the Nation and true affection. Really—and I say this so strongly—true affection for each other." I didn't say true affection for you and you. I said for each other, all of us. All of us. All of us. But they don't report it. They don't—they just let it go. "Above all else, we must remember this truth, no matter our color, creed, religion, or political party: We are all Americans first, we love our country, we love our God, and we love our flag."

*Audience members.* U.S.A.! U.S.A.! U.S.A.!

*The President.* Then, I went on. This is my first statement, and they said—remember, they said, "Well, he wasn't specific enough." [*Laughter*] "Why wasn't he more specific?" So in my second statement, I got really specific. And they said, "Why didn't he do it faster?" [*Laughter*] The—I'm telling you, folks—look, look, I know these people probably better than anybody. And a lot of people have a problem with it. Because look, what happens with them—if they're doing a story about me, I know if it's honest or false. If you're reading a story about somebody, you don't know—you assume it's honest—because it's, like, the failing New York Times, which is, like, so bad. [*Laughter*] It's so bad. Or the Washington Post, which I call a lobbying tool for Amazon, okay? That's a lobbying tool for Amazon. Or CNN, which is so bad and so pathetic, and their ratings are going down.

*Audience members.* Boo!

*Audience members.* CNN sucks! CNN sucks! CNN sucks!

*The President.* Right?

*Audience members.* CNN sucks! CNN sucks! CNN sucks!

*The President.* But all the networks. I mean, CNN is really bad, but ABC this morning—I don't watch it much, but I'm watching in the morning, and they have little George Stephanopoulos talking to Nikki Haley, right? [*Laughter*] Little George. And he talks about the speech I made last night, which, believe it or not, got great reviews, right? They had a hard time. They were having a hard time, because it was with soldiers. We were somber; we were truthful. We were doing—we were saying things. And it really did. So he talked about it for, like, that much. And then, he goes, let's get back to Charlottesville. Charlottesville. And Nikki was great. She's doing a great job, by the way.

So now I say, we have to heal our wounds and the wounds of our country. I love the people of our country: the people, all of the people. It says, I love all of the people of our country. I didn't say I love you because you're Black, or I love you because you're White, or I love you because you're from Japan, or you're from China, or you're from Kenya, or you're from Scotland or Sweden. I love all the people of our country.

So I said, here's my—this is, by the way, folks, this is my exact words: I love all the people of our country. We're going to make America great again, but we're going to make it great for all of the people of the United States of America. And then, they say: "Is he a racist? Is he a racist?" Then, I did a second one.

[*There was a disruption in the audience.*]

So then, I did second one. Don't bother, it's only a single voice and not a very powerful voice.

*Audience members.* U.S.A.! U.S.A.! U.S.A.!

*The President.* How did he get in here? He's supposed to be with the few people outside. How about all week they're talking about the massive crowds that are going to be outside? Where are they? Well, it's hot out. [*Laughter*] It is hot. I think it's too warm. You know, they show up in the helmets and the black masks, and they've got clubs, and they've got everything. Antifa!

*Audience members. *Boo!

*The President.* So on August the 14th—so that was it. And I said "all people"—I love all people, everything, right? Now I figure, I'm going to do it again; I'll be even more specific.

[*The President continued reading from the sheet of paper.*]

So I said: "Based on the events that took place over the last weekend in Charlottesville, I'd like to provide the Nation with an update." Because that was right after the event, the first one, right? "An update on ongoing Federal response to the horrific attack and violence that was witnessed by everybody. To anyone who acted criminally in this weekend's racist violence, you will be held fully accountable. Justice will be delivered." That's what I said. Listen to that. I said that. But they don't show that. They don't show it. They talk—they'll take one thing—like, seriously, "He was late" was the best thing. "He was late."

So I said, "To anyone who acted criminally in this weekend's racist violence." Okay, then, I go, "We must love each other, show affection for each other, and unite together in condemnation of hatred, bigotry, and violence. We must rediscover the bonds of love and loyalty that bring us together as Americans," right? Then I said, "racism is evil." Did they report that I said that racism is evil?

*Audience members.* No!

*The President.* You know why? Because they are very dishonest people.

So I said, "racism is evil." Now, they only choose, like, a half a sentence here or there, and then they just go on to this long rampage, or they put on these real lightweights all around the table that nobody ever heard of, and they all say what a bad guy I am. [*Laughter*]

But, I mean, did you ever see anything—and then you wonder why CNN is doing relatively poorly in the ratings. Because they're putting, like, seven people, all negative on Trump, and they fired Jeffrey Lord. Poor Jeffrey.

*Audience members.* Boo!

*The President.* Jeffrey Lord. I guess he was getting a little bit fed up, and he was probably fighting back a little too hard. They said, we'd better get out of here. We'll get him out.

[*The President continued reading from the sheet of paper.*]

"And those who caused violence in its name are criminals and thugs, including the KKK, neo-Nazis, White supremacists, and other hate groups that are repugnant to everything we hold true as Americans." Now, let me ask you, can it be any better than that? In all fairness.

*Audience members. *No!

*The President. *And you know, I mention that, but to the best of my knowledge, when there was a big problem, Barack Obama never said it took place because of radical Islamic terrorists. He never said that, right? He doesn't have to say.

*Audience members.* Boo!

*The President.* You know why? Because they have a double standard. Because the media is totally dishonest, and they have a double standard. You've never heard them say that. And in fact, if you use the term, you get criticized. But with me, they wanted me to say it. I said it, and I said it very clearly, but they refused to put it on.

[*The President continued reading from the sheet of paper.*]

"Those who spread violence in the name of bigotry strike the very core of America." These are my words. This was on Monday, August the 14th. So you had Saturday; you had Monday. I mean I was going to do one of these every week, but you would never get it right. [*Laughter*]

"In times such as these, America has always shown its true character, responding to hate with love, division with unity, and violence with an unwavering resolve for justice." Then, I finished, I said, "We will defend and protect the sacred rights of all Americans." "All" is capitalized, times five. Not just you. "And we will work together so that every citizen—every citizen—in this blessed land is free to follow their dreams and their hearts and to express the love and joy in their souls."

Okay, now—I mean—[*applause*]—so, so they were having a hard time with that one, because I said everything. I hit them with neo-Nazi. I hit them with everything. I got the White supremacists, the neo-Nazi. I got them all in there. Let's see, yes, KKK—we have KKK. I got them all. So they're having a hard time.

So what did they say, right? "It should have been sooner. He's a racist." It should have been sooner. Okay. So it should have been—so then, the last one, on Tuesday. Tuesday, I did another one.

[*The President continued reading from the sheet of paper.*]

"We condemn in the strongest possible terms this egregious display of hatred, bigotry, and violence. It has no place in America." But they also said that he must be a racist because he never mentioned the driver of the car, who is a terrible person, drove the car, and he killed Heather, and it's a terrible thing. But they said I didn't mention—so these are my words: "The driver of the car is a murderer, and what he did was a horrible, inexcusable thing." They said I didn't mention.

And then, they asked me—just to finish it—they asked me, what about race relations in the United States? Now, I have to say they were pretty bad under Barack Obama. That I can tell you. But they asked me the question, and I said, "Well, I think jobs can have a very big and positive impact. I think if we continue to create jobs, like I've done—over 1 million since I've been in office"—way over one—"I think if we continue to create jobs at the levels that I'm creating jobs, I think that's going to have a tremendously positive impact on race relations." I do. I do.

And the other thing—very important—I believe wages will start going up, because we now have the lowest unemployment rate we've had in 17 years. So you're going to see wages go up, right? They haven't gone up for a long time. I believe wages now, because the economy is doing so well with respect to employment and unemployment, I believe wages will start to go up, and I think that will have a tremendously positive impact on race relations. You want it? Yes. Give that.

[*The President gave the sheet of paper to an audience member.*]

So that was my words. Now, you know, I was a good student. I always hear about the elite. You know, the elite—they're elite? I went to better schools than they did. I was a better student than they were. I live in a bigger, more beautiful apartment. And I live in the White House too, which is really great. I think—you know what? I think we're the elites; they're not the elites.

So the point is—and I didn't want to bore you, because you understand where I'm coming from. You people understand. But the point is that those were three different—there were two statements and one news conference. The words were perfect. They only take out anything they can think of. And for the most part, all they do is complain. But they don't put on those words, and they don't put on me saying those words. The media can attack me. But where I draw the line is when they attack you—which is what they do—when they attack the decency of our supporters.

You are honest, hard-working, tax-paying—and by the way, you're overtaxed, but we're going to get your taxes down. You're tax-paying Americans who love our Nation, obey our laws, and care for our people. It's time to expose the crooked media deceptions and to challenge the media for their role in fomenting divisions. And yes, by the way, they are trying to take away our history and our heritage. You see that.

*Audience members.* Boo!

*The President.* And I say it, and you know, we're all pros. We're all, like—we have a certain sense. We're smart people. These are truly dishonest people. And not all of them. Not all of them. You have some very good reporters. You have some very fair journalists. But for the most part, honestly, these are really, really dishonest people. And they're bad people. And I really think they don't like our country. I really believe that. And I don't believe they're going to change, and that's why I do this. If they would change, I would never say it.

The only people giving a platform to these hate groups is the media itself and the fake news. Oh, that's so funny—look back there, the live red lights, they're turning those suckers off fast, I'll tell you. [*Laughter*] They're turning those lights off fast.

*Audience members.* Boo!

*The President.* Like, CNN does not want its falling viewership to watch what I'm saying tonight, I can tell you. I mean, the advantage I have is that we do have a big voice. And you know, they're always saying, like, Twitter or social media—if I didn't have social media, I wouldn't be able to get the word out. I probably wouldn't be standing here, right? I probably wouldn't be standing here right now. If I don't have social media, I probably would not be standing. And do you ever notice when I go on and I'll put, like, out a tweet or a couple of tweets: "He's in a Twitter storm again." I don't do Twitter storms. You know, you'll put on a little tweet, "I'm going to be with the veterans today." They'll say, "Donald Trump is in a Twitter storm." These are sick people. [*Laughter*]

You know the thing I don't understand? You would think they'd want to make our country great again, and I honestly believe they don't. I honestly believe it. If you want to discover the source of the division in our country, look no further than the fake news and the crooked media, which would rather get ratings and clicks than tell the truth.

I mean, the New York Times has written some stories. How about this: The New York Times essentially apologized after I won the election, because their coverage was so bad, and it was so wrong, and they were losing so many subscribers that they practically apologized. I would say they did. They say, well, it wasn't really that much of an apology, because they were losing so many people, because they were misled. And I figured, this is great. And for about 2 weeks, I got good coverage. Then, they reverted back, and they're worse than ever before. You know, it's, like, one of those things. The Washington Post is terrible. But these are dishonest.

But let me tell you, you have some great honest papers. You have some great networks. I must tell you, Fox has treated me fairly. [*Applause*] Fox treated me fairly. They've treated me fairly. Hey, I'll let you know—you know what, someday they might not treat me fairly, and I'll tell you about it, okay? But they've treated me fairly. And I don't mean all good. I get plenty of bad on Fox too. But at least it's within reason. And Hannity, how good is Hannity? He's saying. How good is Hannity? And he's a great guy, and he's an honest guy. And "Fox & Friends" in the morning is the best show, and it's the absolute most honest show. And it's the show I watch.

Not only does—oh, boy, those cameras are going off. Oh, wow. [*Laughter*] Why don't you just fold them up and take them home? [*Laughter*] Oh, those cameras are going off. Wow. That's the one thing: They're very nervous to have me on live television, because this can't happen. No, you know what? I'm a person that wants to tell the truth. I'm an honest person, and what I'm saying you know is exactly right.

Not only does the media give a platform to hate groups, but the media turns a blind eye to the gang violence on our streets, the failures of our public school, the destruction of our wealth at the hands of the terrible, terrible trade deals made by politicians that should have never been allowed to be politicians, and the unaccountable hostility against our incredible police, who work so hard at such a dangerous job.

My administration is committed to the idea that all Americans have the right to live in safety, security, and peace. We believe in the rule of law, because we know that freedom cannot exist if our people are not safe. And how safe are you at a Trump rally?

Remember at the beginning? Remember when this already started? When this started at the beginning, they used to send in thugs. They'd swing—our people are tougher than them, so it wasn't always very good for them. But they'd send in thugs, and our people would protect themselves, and then you'd go home, and you'd watch—there's violence. Let me tell you: You see this room? You've got people outside, but not very many. But see this room? You're safe in this room. You're very safe in this room. A big room.

The most sacred duty of government is to protect the lives of its citizens, and that includes securing our borders and enforcing our immigration laws.

*Audience members.* Build the wall! Build the wall! Build the wall!

*The President.* By the way, I'm just curious: Do the people in this room like Sheriff Joe? [*Applause*] So was Sheriff Joe convicted for doing his job? That's what——

*Audience members*. Yes!

*The President*. He should have had a jury. But you know what? I'll make a prediction: I think he's going to be just fine, okay? But, but I won't do it tonight, because I don't want to cause any controversy. Is that okay? All right? But Sheriff Joe can feel good.

The people of Arizona know the deadly and heartbreaking consequences of illegal immigration: the lost lives, the drugs, the gangs, the cartels, the crisis of smuggling and trafficking. MS–13—we're throwing them out so fast, they never got thrown out of anything like this. We are liberating towns out on Long Island. We're liberating. Can you imagine, in this day and age—in this day and age, in this country—we are liberating towns? This is like from a different age. We are taking these people. They don't shoot people, because it's too fast and not painful. They cut them up into little pieces. These are animals. We are getting them out of here. We're throwing them in jails, and we're throwing them out of the country. We're liberating our towns. You've seen it. You've lived it. And you elected me to put a stop to it. And we are doing a phenomenal job of putting a stop to it. That I can tell you.

After years of defending other countries' borders—can you believe we fight for other countries? We want to defend their borders—we're finally defending our own borders, and we're showing compassion for the struggling American workers who are now starting to see the light, because plants are coming pouring back into our country. And by the way, we're doing a lot of good work on that. But a lot of people are coming back in. We have Foxconn; they make the iPhones, as you know, for Apple. And so many companies are building now in our country, including the auto companies who are coming back. Years of uncontrolled immigration have placed enormous pressure on the jobs and wages of working families, and they've put great burdens on local schools and hospitals. While this may be good for a handful of special interests, it's unfair to working people of all backgrounds, all throughout our country. We want every American community to succeed, including our immigrant communities, but they can't do that if we don't control our borders.

Earlier today I visited with the incredible men and women of ICE and the Border Patrol during a visit to Yuma Sector. I was over at the Yuma Sector. It was hot. [*Laughter*] It's, like, 115 degrees, I'm out signing autographs for an hour. I was there. That was a hot—you learn if you're in shape if you can do that, believe me. And they actually told me, "Actually, sir, it's relatively cool today." Can you believe that? [*Laughter*] But it was great.

And I met with the Border Patrol, and I met with ICE, and these are incredible people, the job they do. In fact, General Kelly, who was in charge of Homeland Security—where people coming in down 78 and almost 80 percent. He did so good, I made him my Chief of Staff. Right? That made sense. John—where's John? Where is he? Where is General Kelly? Get him out here. He's great. He's doing a great job.

But we did a lot. Before anything happened, we did a lot. We respect and cherish our ICE officers and our Border Patrol agents, and we respect and cherish our police officers and our firemen and all of our uniformed services.

But during that visit, I heard firsthand from the frontline agents about the security threats they confront each and every day, and I pledge my continued resolve to them—and all of you—to keep our country safe. All around the Nation, I have spent time with the wonderful Americans whose children were killed for the simple reason that our Government failed to enforce our immigration laws, already existing laws. And I promised these families, the deaths of their loved ones will not have been in vain. I promised them. I know so many of them.

One by one, we are finding the gang members, the drug dealers, and the criminals who prey on our people. We are throwing them out of the country, or we're putting them the hell, fast, in jail. We are cracking down on these sanctuary cities that shield criminal aliens, finally. And we are building a wall on the southern border, which is absolutely necessary.

*Audience members.* Build that wall! Build that wall! Build that wall!

*The President.* Build that wall. Now, the obstructionist Democrats would like us not to do it. But believe me, if we have to close down our Government, we're building that wall. Let me be very clear to Democrats in Congress who oppose a border wall and stand in the way of border security: You are putting all of America's safety at risk. You're doing that. You're doing that.

Again, the Border Patrol today—I said, "How important is the wall?" to some of the folks. I met with a lot of them. And they looked at me, they said, it's vital. It's vital. It's so vital. And you know, we have walls. I don't know if you know, we're already starting to fix a lot of the walls we already have, because we don't have to rebuild them. And we want walls that you can see through, in a sense. You want to see what's on the other side. But we're starting to fix a lot of the walls. We've done a lot of work. But I said to them, how are we doing and how important are the walls? And they said, Mr. President, you have no idea: It is desperately needed. We're going to have our wall. We're going to get our wall.

And that wall is also going to help us, very importantly, with the drug problem and the massive amounts of drugs that are pouring across the southern border. My administration will never back down in demanding immigration control. The American people voted for immigration control. That's one of the reasons I'm here. And that is what the American people deserve, and they're going to get it. So you put pressure. But believe me, one way or the other, we're going to get that wall.

Immigration security is also a matter—remember this—of national security. That's why we're implementing tough new vetting and screening protocols to keep radical Islamic terrorists out of our country. You look at what just happened in Spain and so many other places. Nope. We're really vetting. We're tough. Does anybody want me to be soft on the vetting, or would you like me——

*Audience members.* No!

*The President.* Extreme vetting. I came up with that term. That's what it has to be.

So I have a message for Congress tonight: Your job is to represent American families, American people, American workers. It's your job. You need to represent them on the border, on taxes, on health care—one vote—and on every other issue that affects their lives. And for our friends in the Senate—oh, boy—the Senate, remember this. Look, the Senate, we have to get rid of what's called the filibuster rule. We have to. And if we don't, the Republicans will never get anything passed. You're wasting your time. We have to get rid of the filibuster rule. Right now we need 60 votes, and we have 52 Republicans. That means that eight Democrats are controlling all of this legislation. We have over 200 bills.

*Audience members.* Boo!

*The President.* And we have to speak to Mitch, and we have to speak to everybody. And I want to tell you, we have some great, great Republican Senators. We really do. And they fought like hell to get that thing approved. They fought. They really did. They really fought.

Now, even on health care, because of reconciliation—which you don't know, it doesn't matter; it's a trick—we needed 51 votes. But when you need 51 and you have 52, and we include the Vice President, who always votes with us; he's the greatest. [*Laughter*] But you have no margin. But some of the best things in health care require 60 votes. So even when you say, we're voting on health care, like, across State lines—purchase across State lines. One of the most important things; I've been talking about it for 2 years during debates. It gives competition. Insurance companies come in; your prices go way down. Arizona is a disaster in terms of the price increase of your insurance, 116 percent increase.

You've got to get rid of the filibuster rule, you've got to go to a majority, you've got to go to 51 votes. And if they don't do that, they're playing—they're just wasting time.

All of the Democrats in Congress, that's the only thing they do well; they do one thing well. You know what it's called? They have no ideas; they have no policies. They obstruct. That's all they do. Their word is, we "resist." They don't resist. They obstruct. It's all they're good at it. It's all they're good at. That's all they do. On health care, they have 48 Democrats; we got no votes. We got no votes. And it would have been great health care. And by the way—would have been great health care for Arizona. Would have been great. So the Democrats have no ideas, no policy, no vision for the country, other than total socialism and maybe, frankly, a step beyond socialism from what I'm seeing.

*Audience members.* Boo! *The President.* Under their plan for America, your taxes will double or triple, your services will diminish, and your borders will be left wide open for everybody to come in and enjoy our country.

*Audience members.* Boo!

*The President.* Obamacare is a disaster. And think—think—we were just one vote away from victory after 7 years of everybody proclaiming repeal and replace. One vote away. One—one vote. One vote away. We were one vote away. Think of it—7 years. The Republicans—and again, you have some great Senators. But we had—one vote away from repeal and replace.

*Audience members.* Drain the swamp! Drain the swamp! Drain the swamp!

*The President.* But you know, they all said, Mr. President, your speech was so good last night, please, please, Mr. President, don't mention any names. [*Laughter*] So I won't. I won't. No, I won't vote—one vote away. I will not mention any names. [*Laughter*] Very Presidential, isn't it? Very Presidential. And nobody wants me to talk about your other Senator, who's weak on borders, weak on crime. So I won't talk about him.

*Audience members.* Boo!

*The President.* Nobody wants me to talk about him. Nobody knows who the hell he is.

And now—see, I haven't mentioned any names—so now everybody is happy. But we are going to get rid of Obamacare. I will never stop. One vote. I will never stop. We're going to get rid of Obamacare.

Every day, we're keeping our promises, and that includes our promises to our great, great veterans. Who's a veteran here? [*Applause*] It's getting better. Getting really good. Nobody has fixed it. Nobody has been able to do. And remember, I'm only here for less than 8 months. You know, when they talk about Obamacare, it was years. When they talk about—Hillary Clinton spent 8 years trying to get——

*Audience members.* Boo!

*The President.* Eight years trying to get health care.

*Audience members.* Lock her up! Lock her up! Lock her up!

*The President. *Well, it's obvious that we won the State of Arizona. Do you agree with that? It's pretty obvious. And we won it by a lot. And I hear we're winning it by even more right now.

But if you think about it—Clinton—they spent 8 years, and they weren't able to get health care. Other administrations spent all of their time, they weren't able to get it. Obama, what he did to get it, what he did to get it—including the guy—Gruber. Did you see Gruber got fired yesterday? He got fired, because he defrauded somebody or something. Something very bad happened. Check it out. Something happened. Gruber, who lied about Obamacare; who called everybody fools for believing it. Obamacare is gone. It's a disaster. It's gone. Premiums in other States are going up at numbers that are even higher than the State of Arizona. Insurance companies are fleeing, and it's gone.

So we're going to—I really believe that the Republicans, and maybe we'll get a couple of Senators that think they're going to lose their race on the Democratic side. Maybe. But we'll get it fixed. One vote. Speak to your Senator, please. Speak to your Senator.

We're reforming the VA to ensure our veterans have the care they so richly deserve, including choice, choice, choice. In other words, if you've got to wait for 7 days, and you're not feeling well, you go see a doctor, and we pay for your doctor. Isn't that good? And we got legislation approved that everybody said was impossible. It's called VA accountability. If somebody treats our veterans badly, we can fire them. We say, "You're fired, get out of here."

Everybody said you couldn't get that. They've been trying to get that passed for 40 years. We got great legislation. You ever hear these liars back there, where they say, "But Trump hasn't gotten legislation." [*Laughter*] I think we've gotten more in a short period of time, in this 7 months—I think we've gotten more than anybody, including Harry Truman, who was number one. But they will tell you we got none.

So we got VA accountability so that you can fire people that are treating our veterans badly or aren't doing their job. Isn't that great?

We've also obtained historic increase in defense spending to prevent and deter conflict. We believe in peace through strength. We're building up our military like never before. Thousands and thousands of brave Americans have paid the ultimate price for our freedom. Now it's up to us to preserve and protect their legacy.

Last night, as you know, I laid out my vision for an honorable and enduring outcome in a very tough place, a place where our country has failed: Afghanistan. This is a place where terrorists are trained, where you have people that are not exactly United States fans. Can I say that? And I will tell you that what we're going to do with our incredible military, they're going to make unbelievable sacrifices, and they've already made, in some cases, the ultimate sacrifice. But we're fighting for them. Our warfighters deserve the tools they need and the trust they've earned to fight and to win. Fight and to win.

And you see what's going on in North Korea. All of a sudden—I don't know, who knows. But I can tell you, what I said, that's not strong enough. Some people said it was too strong. It's not strong enough. But Kim Jong Un, I respect the fact that I believe he is starting to respect us. I respect that fact very much. Respect that fact. And maybe—probably not—but maybe something positive can come about. They won't tell you that, but maybe something positive can come about.

Every American deserves a Government that protects them, honors them, defends them, and fights for them. And by the way, speaking of that, you have three Congressmen in the audience—and your Governor, who met me at the plane, and he's now inside, but he said, I want to spend my time outside on security. I said, I think that's a great idea, Governor. But not that many people showed up, so I don't think it should be much of a problem. But you have a hell of a Governor—Governor Ducey. You have a great Governor.

And we have three Congressmen—a friend of mine who has been so great to me, Trent Franks. Where's Congressman Franks? Where is he? Get over here. Paul Gosar, Congressman. Congressman Andy Biggs. Get up here, fellas.

[*The President greeted Reps. H. Trent Franks and Andrew S. Biggs.*]

Thank you, fellas. Thank you, Congressmen. Never let them go, folks. Never let them go. Don't ever lose them. Thank you, fellas.

So, in Washington, we're taking power out of the hands of donors and special interests and putting that power back into the hands of the people that voted for us, okay? For us. The same failed voices in Washington who oppose our movement are the same people who gave us one terrible trade deal after another; who gave us one foreign policy disaster after another; who sacrificed our sovereignty, our wealth, and our jobs. We don't need advice from the Washington, DC, swamp.

We need right now to drain the swamp. That's what's happening too, believe me. Washington is full of people who are only looking out for themselves. But I don't come to Washington for me. You know, I've had a great life. I've had great success. I've enjoyed my life. Most people think I'm crazy to have done this. And I think they're right. But I enjoy it, because we've made so much—I don't believe that any President—I don't believe that any President has accomplished as much as this President in the first 6 or 7 months. I really don't believe it, including—including—a great Supreme Court Justice, Justice Gorsuch. Big thing.

I came to Washington for you. Your dreams are my dreams. Your hopes are my hopes. And your future is what I'm fighting for each and every day. It's so important. Our agenda is the proworker agenda. We've accomplished historic amounts in a short period of time. We've signed more than 50 pieces of legislation. They said we've signed none. None. We've signed 50. Appointed Justice Gorsuch, nominated 31 new Federal judges, with many more on the way. So importantly, we have aggressively cancelled job-killing regulations, and we're unleashing job-creating American energy like we've never unleashed before.

We've ended the war on beautiful, clean coal. And it's just been announced that a second brandnew coal mine, where they're going to take out clean coal—meaning they're taking out coal, they're going to clean it—is opening in the State of Pennsylvania. The second one. And the State of West Virginia, which was way behind and lagging, was now, in terms of GDP increase, second last quarter to the State of Texas. How about that? West Virginia. And they have a great Governor in West Virginia, Governor Jim Justice, who just quit the Democrats and joined the Republican Party.

In the proud tradition of America's great leaders, from George Washington—please don't take his statue down, please. Please. Does anybody want George Washington's statue?

*Audience members.* No!

*The President.* No. Is that sad? Is that whole sad? To Lincoln, to Teddy Roosevelt—I see they want to take Teddy Roosevelt's down too. They're trying to figure out why. They don't know. They're trying to take away our culture. They're trying to take away our history. And our weak leaders, they do it overnight. These things have been there for 150 years, for 100 years. You go back to a university, and it's gone. Weak, weak people.

We are going to protect American industry. We are going to protect the American worker. No longer will we allow other countries to close our factories, steal our jobs, and drain our wealth. We are building our future with American hands, American labor, American iron, aluminum, and steel. We will buy American, and we will hire American.

I immediately withdrew the United States from the disastrous Trans-Pacific Partnership, would have been a disaster. And you know that one of the worst deals that anybody in history has ever entered into, we have begun formal renegotiation with Mexico and Canada on NAFTA. And I must be honest—and I've been talking about NAFTA for a long time—and I'm sorry it's taken 6 months—but we have to give notice. You have to see this. We have to give notice. And after the notice is given, you have to wait a long time. Then, you have to give another, no—then you have to wait a long time. Anyway, we started 2 days ago—Bob Lighthizer. Personally, I don't think we can make a deal, because we have been so badly taken advantage of. They have made such great deals—both of the countries, but in particular Mexico—that I don't think we can make a deal. So I think we'll end up probably terminating NAFTA at some point. Okay? Probably. But, but, I told you from the first day, we will renegotiate NAFTA, or we will terminate NAFTA. I personally don't think you can make a deal without a termination, but we're going to see what happens, okay? You're in good hands, I can tell you.

We are unleashing American energy. And I withdrew the United States from the job-killing Paris climate accord. People have no idea how bad that was for this country. Great for other countries. We were like the lapdog. Great for other countries. Our country was so behind.

Since I took the oath of office, we've added far more than 1 million jobs in the private sector. Unemployment is right now at almost a 17-year low. Wages are rising. The stock market is at its alltime high in history. And economic growth has surged to 2.6 percent. Remember everybody said, you won't bring it up to 1 percent? You bring it up to 1.2 percent. And we've just started. Those regulations that we've gotten rid of, which—and we're going to have some regulation, but it's going to be sensible regulation. Those regulations are unleashing our economy.

So we have a GDP—it was shocking—about 2 weeks ago, it was announced for the quarter—2.6 percent. Remember I said we're going to try and hit 3 percent? We're already at 2.6. Maybe I'll have to increase my offer.

And so many of those people—you know, the economic council, when it got a little heat with the lies from the media, they sort of said, oh, we'll take a pass. Well, not all of them, but some of them did. But I remember the ones that did. But they'll say, we take—oh, we'll take. But people are now calling me, people that have been, like, we'll take a pass. "Don, can we get together for lunch? Let's do it privately instead of through a council." These people just don't get it. [*Laughter*] They are calling, and they're saying, how about getting together privately? They like it better—why should they be on a council? You know, that's the way it is, folks. That's the way it is.

To bring more jobs and industry to our shores, we are committed to passing the first major tax reform in over 30 years. Now, we need the help of Congress, please. Okay? We need the help of Congress. And we really could use some Democrat help. We're giving you the biggest tax cut in the history of our country. The Democrats are going to find a way to obstruct. If they do, remember they are stopping you from getting a massive tax cut. Just remember that, okay?

*Audience members. *Boo!

*The President. *America's crushing business tax is a massive self-inflicted economic wound. We have one of the highest business tax rates anywhere in the world, pushing jobs and wealth out of our country. That is why we are going to lower the tax on American business to bring back those companies, bring them back to America. We want more products stamped with the letters "Made in the U.S.A."

We also want everyday Americans to be able to keep more of their own money. So for the Democratic Senators, especially the ones where I won their States by 20 and 30 points, I really hope you're going to come over to our side. Because again, when you have 52 Republicans, if you lose like 2, that's the end. You know what, as good as something is, it's hard to get 51 out of 52. So I hope some of the Democrats that are going to lose their election will come over and give everybody a big, beautiful tax cut, which is going to be great for the economy. It's time to pass a tax cut for the middle class families. We will make America the best place in the world to hire, grow, and start a business again. We want to lift our people from welfare to work, from dependence to independence, and from poverty to prosperity.

We're going to do an infrastructure bill. We will build gleaming new roads, bridges, highways, railways, waterways all across our beautiful land. Our greatest creations, our most incredible buildings, our most beautiful works of art are just waiting to be brought to life.

American hands will build this future. American energy will power this future. We have become an energy exporter for the first time ever just recently. And American workers will bring this future to life. We are the nation that dug out the Panama Canal, won two world wars, put a man on the Moon, and defeated communism. We can do anything, we can build anything, and we can dream anything. It's time to remember what our brave soldiers never forgot: Americans share one flag, one home, and one glorious destiny. We live according to the same law, raise our children by the same values, and we are all made by the same almighty God.

As long as we remember these truths, as long as we have enough strength and courage in our souls, then there is no challenge too great, no task too large, no dream beyond our reach. We are Americans, and the future belongs to us. The future belongs to all of you. This is our moment. This is our chance. This is our opportunity to recapture our dynasty like never before, to rebuild our future, to deliver justice for every forgotten man and woman and child in America. Freedom will prevail. Our values will endure. Our citizens will prosper. Arizona will thrive. And our beloved Nation will succeed like never, ever before.

So to Americans young and old, near and far, in cities small and large, we say these words again tonight: We will make America strong again. We will make America wealthy again. We will make America proud again. We will make America safe again. And we will make America great again.

Thank you, Arizona! God bless you. Thank you. Thank you.

NOTE: The President spoke at 7:09 p.m. at the Phoenix Convention Center. In his remarks, he referred to Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Benjamin S. Carson, Sr.; W. Franklin Graham III, president and chief executive officer, Billy Graham Evangelistic Association; George R. Stephanopoulos, anchor, ABC's "This Week" program, in his capacity as coanchor of ABC's "Good Morning America" program; U.S. Permanent Representative to the United Nations Nikki R. Haley; Jeffrey Lord, former political contributor, CNN; former President Barack Obama; James Alex Fields, Jr., who was charged with second-degree murder in the vehicular attack in Charlottesville, VA, on August 12; Heather D. Heyer, who was killed in the attack; Sean Hannity, anchor, Fox News' "Hannity" program; Joseph M. Arpaio, former sheriff, Maricopa County, AZ, who was convicted of criminal contempt of court on July 31, 2017; Senate Majority Leader A. Mitchell McConnell; Sens. John S. McCain III and Jeffrey L. Flake; former Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton; Jonathan H. Gruber, professor of economics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, in his capacity as a former health care reform consultant to Vermont; Chairman of the Korean Worker's Party Kim Jong Un of North Korea; and U.S. Trade Representative Robert E. Lighthizer.

*Categories:* Addresses and Remarks : "Make America Great Again" rally in Phoenix, AZ*.*

*Locations: *Phoenix, AZ*. **Names:* Arpaio, Joseph M.; Biggs, Andrew S.; Carson, Benjamin S., Sr.; Clinton, Hillary Rodham; Ducey, Douglas A.; Fields, James Alex, Jr.; Flake, Jeffrey L.; Franks, H. Trent; Gorsuch, Neil M.; Gosar, Paul A.; Graham, Franklin W., III; Gruber, Jonathan H.; Haley, Nikki R.; Hannity, Sean; Heyer, Heather D.; Justice, James C., II; Kelly, John F.; Kim Jong Un; King, Alveda C.; Lighthizer, Robert E.; Lord, Jeffrey; McCain, John S., III; McConnell, A. Mitchell; Obama, Barack; Pence, Michael R.; Stephanopoulos, George R.

*Subjects:* Afghanistan : U.S. foreign policy and military strategy, review; Afghanistan : U.S. military forces :: Deployment; Arizona : Governor; Arizona : President's visit; Armed Forces, U.S : Servicemembers :: Service and dedication; Armed Forces, U.S. : Funding; Business and industry : Domestic investment, promotion efforts; Civil rights : Racial equality; Commerce, international : North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA); Communications : News media :: Accuracy and fairness; Confederate statues and monuments, status of public display; Congress : Bipartisanship; Congress : Senate :: Majority leader; Defense and national security : Border security; Drug abuse and trafficking : Foreign narcotics traffickers; Economy, national : Household income and wages; Economy, national : Improvement; Elections : 2016 Presidential and congressional elections; Employment and unemployment : Job creation and growth; Energy : Coal and clean coal technologies; Energy : Domestic production, promotion efforts; Environment : Paris Agreement; Fox News : “Fox & Friends” program; Fox News : “Hannity” program; Government organization and employees : Accountability and transparency, strengthening efforts; Government organization and employees : Federal regulations, review; Health and medical care : Affordability and costs; Health and medical care : Health insurance reforms; Homeland Security, Department of : Customs and Border Protection, U.S.; Homeland Security, Department of : Immigration and Customs Enforcement, U.S.; Housing and Urban Development, Department of : Secretary; Immigration and naturalization : Foreign nationals and refugees, U.S. admission policy; Immigration and naturalization : Illegal immigration; Judiciary : Supreme Court :: Associate Justice; Law enforcement and crime : Illegal immigration, deportation of criminals; Law enforcement and crime : Law enforcement officers, service and dedication; Mexico : Border with U.S., infrastructure and security; North Korea : Korean Worker’s Party Chairman; North Korea : Nuclear weapons development; Taxation : Corporate tax rates; Taxation : Tax Code, reform; Terrorism : Counterterrorism efforts; Trade Representative, Office of the U.S.; Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP); Transportation : Infrastructure, national, improvement efforts; Twitter; United Nations : U.S. Permanent Representative; Veterans : Health and medical care; Virginia : Charlottesville :: Civil unrest and violence; Virginia : Charlottesville :: Vehicular attack; West Virginia : Governor; White House Office : Assistants to the President :: Chief of Staff; White House Office : Vice President.

*DCPD Number:* DCPD201700581.