*Administration of Donald J. Trump, 2018 *

**Remarks at the Ohio Republican Party State Dinner in Columbus, Ohio **

*August 24, 2018 *

*The President.* Thank you very much, everybody. It's great to be back here. Remember, you cannot win unless you get the State of Ohio. Remember that? I heard that so many times. "You need the State of Ohio; therefore Trump can't win." I think we won by 9 points. What did we win by? Nine? We're winning. We're going to keep winning.

I love this State. I worked here. During a summer, I worked here, and I loved it. Cincinnati. We like Cincinnati. Right? [*Applause*] We like Cincinnati.

And this November, we're going to win really big. It's going to be one big Ohio family, as we've had. Special place. Helping us to achieve that victory will be our incredible Ohio GOP Chairwoman—a really incredible person and friend of mine—Jane Timken. Thank you, Jane. Great to be with you, Jane. Great job. This is your record—alltime. This is the all—that's not bad. You know, it is Ohio. All-time record. I'd say that's pretty good.

We're also joined tonight by RNC Cochairman Bob Paduchik, who also ran my campaign in Ohio. And I want to tell you, he did an awfully good job. He did a great job. Thank you, Bob. Fantastic.

I also want to express my gratitude to all of the county GOP chairs, grassroots activists, volunteers, and Republican women who work so hard to achieve victory for your party, your State, and for your country. Republican women, we have a lot of them. We have a lot of them.

I especially want to thank—oh, this is such a beautiful place—Columbiana—okay, that's the way you really pronounce it—County Chairman Dave Johnson. Dave, thank you. That's actually the way they pronounce it. Dave's family business has a unique distinction: They supply the tiles that have adorned the roof of the White House for more than 60 years. Thank you very much, Dave. Although, considering it was built in 1799, I'm not sure 60 years is that great. But it's not bad, Dave. [*Laughter*] They're still there. They're still doing good.

Over the last 19 months, we achieved more than anyone thought possible. Our economy is absolutely booming, jobs are surging, factories are returning, steel is doing better than any industry just about anywhere in this country, anywhere in this world. We had no choice. We put those heavy tariffs on, and you know what? The steel industry is booming, and wait until you see what happens when we have hundreds of new steel plants all over the country and they're competing against each other. We won't even take it from outside. They're going to be competing. And that's happening with a lot of businesses.

We're unlocking Ohio's rich reserves of beautiful, abundant shale. That's happening. You have a lot of it. And we're taking care of our veterans. We're crushing the terrorists. We're rebuilding our military like never before: $700 billion. America is winning again. America is being respected again because we are now finally putting America first.

So we must work every day until November to elect more Ohio Republicans so we can continue to make America great again. Has anyone ever heard that slogan? Good slogan. That worked well. Right, Rob? That was a good—that was a good slogan. I want to recognize our truly incredible slate of Ohio GOP congressional candidates here this evening. Very special people, and they're doing really well. I don't think I see that blue wave.

You know, it's interesting—we have the strongest economy in the history of our Nation, and I hear about a blue wave. I say, "Why is there a blue wave?" We are doing better now with jobs. Today, there are more people working than at any time ever in the history of our country. So I don't think there's going to be a blue wave. I hope there's a red wave.

They keep saying that, whoever is President, they don't win the midterms. I just don't get it. But no President has ever had this economy. I want to thank Bill Johnson. Where's Bill? Bill. Thank you, Bill. Thank you. Thank you. Warren Davidson. Warren. Thank you. Bob Gibbs.

The great Jim Jordan. How good is Jim? Where is Jim? Where is Jim? I love—come here, Jim. Don't ever wrestle him. Even if you're bigger than him, don't wrestle. You know, people don't know this about Jim: He was one of the best wrestlers ever in college wrestling. And when you see the way he fights—every time I watch, I say to my wife—I said: "Look at that guy. That is tough." He lost one match in 3 years of college. What happened in the fourth year, by the way? I know you win—[*laughter*]—right? Don't tell me. [*Laughter*]

Anyway, thank you very much, Jim. Great guy. Thank you. That's true. One match he lost. And you had to see what happened to the guy that beat him. He was not in good shape that night. [*Laughter*] We love Jim.

Bob Latta. Bob. Bob. Thank you, Bob.

NRCC Chairman Steve Stivers. Where is Steve? Where is Steve? Steve, thank you. And I called you, Steve, the other night. You weren't there. And you called me back, and I said: "Forget about it. I don't"—[*laughter*]. Thanks, Steve. Great job. You're doing a great job. And they're doing great in Ohio, you know.

And Anthony Gonzalez. A very big—thank you, Anthony. Thank you.

And a very big congratulations to Troy Balderson on his win. Whoa. Troy. Where's Troy? Where is Troy? Thank you, Troy. Boy, you would have made me look bad if you didn't pull that out, Troy. [*Laughter*] They had that group—I'll tell you, I was there with Jim. And I said, "Jim, if they don't win this thing, I'm in trouble." Because they were—and, you know, as soon as you won, they just started packing up and leaving. They didn't want to talk about it. But now I understand you're in great shape in November, Troy. That was really a great race. They spent a lot of money against Troy.

I want to thank a man who really is a fantastic person, with an incredible wife—even greater than him, but these are minor details. Talking about you two. [*Laughter*] But Senator Rob Portman, who really is a very special—very special person. I've gotten to know him. At first, I didn't know him. I came to Ohio; I didn't know too much. I knew of him—I respected him—by name only. But we got to be friendly, and he has been a tremendous help in the Senate. And I want to thank—and I want to thank you both. Special people. Okay? Thank you. Thank you. Thank you, Rob. Special.

Also a woman who—she was really tough and smart and did a great job. And she's become a friend of mine, Lieutenant Governor Mary Taylor. Thank you, Mary. Where's Mary? Thank you, Mary. Thank you. Great job. Those two guys aren't easy, you have to say. Right? They're not easy. But you did a fantastic job. Thank you. We're thrilled to be joined by Ohio's fantastic attorney general, and your next Governor, Mike DeWine. Mike. Where's Mike? Good. Thank you, Mike. What a smart—what a tough team this is. Along with your future Lieutenant Governor, Ohio State—Secretary of State Jon Husted. Jon, thank you. Thank you, Jon.

I'll tell you what, they're a great combination. They're tough. They're smart. They love this State. I've known them a long time. They are really something very special, and you're lucky to have them. And I will tell you, I also know your opponent because we had to get him the hell out of the credit union. [*Laughter*] He was destroying a lot of people's lives. He was destroying people's lives—great people; people that had businesses for many years. He was destroying their lives. He was terrible. He was terrible. All you have to do is pick up some of the editorials about him.

I'll tell you, fellas: If you don't win that race, I will be so disappointed. I will say you should never run again. [*Laughter*] Get them to get the information on the building. Okay? The building that he bought, where they spent $250 million buying a building that was worth a fraction of that. But call my office; I have so much information. [*Laughter*] That was a bad guy. Oh, were we happy when we got rid of him. Mick Mulvaney did a great job.

I also want to recognize one of the most dedicated campaign volunteers in the State—everybody knows her cookbook—Mike's amazing wife Fran. Thank you, Fran. Fran Dewine. Thank you very much. Great job. Good book. I hear, good book.

So Mike is running against the far-left candidate, and you know, he was groomed by Pocahontas. [*Laughter*] The legendary Pocahontas. No, actually, not that one. If it was that one, we'd have a problem, but it wasn't that one. He was groomed by Elizabeth Warren. His name is Cordray, and he's trouble. He's a guy that is real trouble. That's why I have—you have these incredible two people running. It's a very important thing.

He'll destroy your State. Cordray will destroy your State. He spent the last 6 years in Washington trying to regulate community banks. You all know about it.

Small businesses all over the place, they were going into oblivion. They were coming up—I didn't know anything about them. I started running for President, everybody said, "Oh, you're running for President"—remember many of the people back—I call them the fakers—they were saying, "No, he's just doing this for fun." You think this is fun? It's not fun. [*Laughter*] I had a fun life, but I actually like this better.

But I have to say that people were coming up to me—strong people, tough people with businesses that were a hundred years old. People that were pillars of their community, and they had tears in their eyes—what Cordray was doing; he was putting them out of business. He was actually putting them out of business. What he did to those people was just terrible.

So as you know, we're here for Jim, but we're also here for these two guys. And I think it's very important for your State that they win this election. So you're going to be sent some information on the $250 million of Federal money. I'm sending it to you. And it's a very important thing that you study it.

And I also want—maybe I'll have Jim call, because Jim calls all the time. Jim just doesn't stop. But I'll have Jim call my office. I'm going to have you—some information sent to you. You won't believe what you're going to read.

Everybody needs to get out, vote for the two guys. And we're honored to be joined tonight by another very special guest, the next U.S. Senator from Ohio: Jim Renacci. Jim is running to replace a very liberal Democrat. You know, I don't see—I mean, maybe I'm wrong. I don't see Ohio as liberal. Are you liberal? Anybody, like, liberal?

*Audience members.* Boo!

*The President.* I don't get it. Huh? I don't get it. He's running against Sherrod Brown. And Sherrod voted no on our tax cuts. He voted no on repealing Obamacare. He voted no on Neil Gorsuch. How do you do that? First in his class at Harvard, first in his class at Oxford. "I'll take a no vote." I don't think so. [*Laughter*] And he's probably going to vote no. Somebody said he already announced he's voting no on Judge Kavanaugh, who is phenomenal.

Sherrod Brown voted for the liberal Obama judges who want to take away your Second Amendment. And just today he did actually come out—today or yesterday—and he came out against Judge Kavanaugh. That's terrible. Sherrod Brown voted for the deadly and terrible sanctuary cities.

*Audience members.* Boo!

*The President.* The truth is, a vote for any Democrat at this point in November is a vote for Chuck Schumer, Nancy Pelosi, and who? The legendary Maxine Waters. The de facto head of the Democrat Party.

*Audience members.* Boo!

*The President.* She's the de facto head now. Congratulations. Maxine didn't know it. I'm just telling her. [*Laughter*]

Today's Democrat Party is being taken over by the so-called "resistance." It's true. They obstruct. I was just talking to Rob Portman. We have 400—almost—people that aren't being approved. It's the most in the history of our Government. They just won't approve them. They're slow walking every single—even if they vote for them, ultimately, they're taking the maximum period of time. And we're probably double—as bad a record as you've had in the best, as there has been—we're probably almost double what it is. We have 400 people. These people left their businesses. They set up homes in Washington. They thought it was going to go quickly. I'm talking about Ambassadors, judges, people that are going to be fantastic for the administration.

Here we are—we're going to be, soon, 2 years into the administration. We have a lot of people that haven't even been approved yet. And you can't get them through, because the Democrats are lousy on policy. They're not great politicians. But the one thing: They stick together. They always stick together. And they slow walk everybody. And that's what it is: It's obstruction, and it's resistance.

Their whole campaign is "resist." You know, they still haven't figured out, they lost the election, but they're going to figure it out soon. [*Laughter*] They're going to figure it out soon.

There was a poll today, they put it up, that all of the candidates put together can't beat Trump in the election of 2020. I think they felt good about that. Do you think they liked that poll? I think—I actually put it up on my Twitter, because I thought they'd love to see it. We'll send it to a lot of people. [*Laughter*]

But you have left-wing haters and radicals trying to tear down our institutions, disrespect our great American flag, demean our law enforcement—think of that: our flag, our law enforcement, ICE—denigrate your history, and disparage our great country. And they're going so far left, and they're being dragged left. I knew Schumer when he was, like, somebody you could talk to. But he's been brought so far left he can't—he's not even rational anymore.

But we're not going to let it happen, because we need our law enforcement. We need respect for our national anthem and for our flag. We're going to elect proud, patriotic, Ohio Republicans who will defend our country and defend our way of life.

Today's Democrats are not just extreme, they're really not in a position to govern. They're just not in a position to govern, when you look at what they are and what they're doing: open borders and crime. It's open borders and crime.

We have in New York, a Governor, Governor Cuomo. Sues everybody. You know, you go into that State, you get sued. That's why people don't want to move in. For that and the fact that it's the highest taxes. But if you go to New York, you get sued. And people are afraid to go to New York. They don't want go.

He recently stated that the new slogan was: "America was never great." That was at—now he was so angry at me—you know, he hates me—truly hates me. He used to like me, but then I decided to run for office, and he doesn't like me too much. [*Laughter*] Hey, Schumer used to love me. Hard to believe isn't it? [*Laughter*]

But Cuomo came out with that by mistake. He was so angered, because "Make America Great Again." And he just said, "America is never going to be great again!" And that was it; he walks off. That's, like—everyone said, "What?" And he was talking to socialists, and they were going, "Whoa, whoa!" Did you hear that? Did anybody hear the end of that, where the crowd was going, "Whoa"? He was—that's not a good one. I said, that's job threatening.

Now, he's going to beat the person that's running—you know, that actress who, you know. She can get a lot of votes, but he's going to win. But you know, you go outside—I don't think—somehow, with that quote playing, instead of "Make America Great Again," it will say, "America"—how will that look on a hat? "America Was Never Great!" [*Laughter*] Exclamation. It doesn't work. Even Portman couldn't get elected with that. I don't think so, right? And he's good.

Cuomo's comments are really an insult to generations of American heroes whose blood and sweat and tears built the greatest country the world has ever known. And we are better now than ever before.

We have the hottest economy we've ever had. The Democrat Party—do you notice I never say "Democratic" Party? Because it's not really their name. It sounds better, flows better. In a speech, it sounds better. I always hate to say the "Democrat Party," because it doesn't sound good. That's why I say it. [*Laughter*] But it's true. The Democrat Party's relentless assault on American institutions, traditions, and values can be seen in their shameful attacks on law enforcement.

The mayor of Portland, Oregon, ordered local police to stand down, leaving brave ICE officers to face an angry mob of left-wing anarchists. Somehow, I wasn't too worried about the ICE officers. Were you, Jim Jordan? I don't know. Jim wasn't too worried about them. They were just fine. But they didn't think they'd have to defend themselves. The new platform of Democrat Party is to abolish ICE. They want to abolish the agency that is removing violent predators, drug dealers, murderers, MS–3 [MS–13; White House correction.] monster gang members, and even, just recently, a Nazi criminal, who nobody could get out for 40 years.

*Audience member.* [*Inaudible*]

*The President.* Yes. A lot of people like—got them out.

We had a Republican, Dov Hikind of New York, he's a very strong Democrat, probably never uttered the word "Republican" in his life. And he was on television saying, "What the President of the United States did was incredible." He's a leader in the Jewish community in New York. The leader. And he said, "We've been trying to remove this man." He walked the streets of Flushing for—where I grew up; that's where I grew up, that area—for many years, decades. And he was just walking the streets, and yet he was a man who killed many Jewish people, many, many thousands of Jewish people. And they'd been trying to get him out of this country for decades. And we got him out.

And I'll tell you, he got on television, and he said great things. I actually think he would vote for me. And I'll tell you, he would never vote for a Republican; it was never in his—but what he said was great. What he said was great. And it was my honor, it was our honor. And ICE is the one that got him out.

But ICE does even tougher jobs than that, because they are rough, and they are tough, and they're great people. But they go into gangs and nests of people that are so bad and so evil. When I called them "animals," Nancy Pelosi got very angry, and she said, "You shouldn't talk about human beings like that." I said, "They're not human beings." These are people that don't shoot. They like using knives because it's more painful.

These are tough people, but they're good people. You know, they go out to Long Island and they get rid of MS–13. It's like you're liberating towns. This is like a war. It's like a country took over another country, and they're being liberated. And they grab them—if they fight them, they fight them. They'd rather fight them. But they grab them, and they throw them into the paddy wagon. And the towns are clapping and cheering. It's an incredible thing. And the Democrats want to get rid of these people. These are incredible people. They're brave, and they're tough.

And, in this case, the only thing the other side understands is tough. They don't understand kindness. They don't understand niceness. They don't understand high test scores at the—you know, you could have the highest SATs ever recorded, and that would not impress MS–13.

But these guys have the highest scores in what they do. There's nobody better. And we've got to protect ICE, and we have to protect our law enforcement. And I have to tell you, the Republican Party stands strongly behind ICE and stands really, really strongly behind all of our uniformed services, our great people. These are great people.

Just this week, we learned that Iowa authorities have changed an illegal alien in the murder of—they charged an illegal alien in the murder of a college student, Mollie Tibbetts. And you know, the amazing thing is that everybody was talking about Mollie—beautiful, wonderful, incredible person. Everybody loved her. Everybody in—everybody that met her, loved her. And the father was saying: "She's coming back. She's coming back." And I was watching, and I was saying, "Maybe he's right." And this went on for a long time.

When they found out that it was this horrible, illegal immigrant that viciously killed her, all of the sudden that story went down. They didn't want to cover it the way it should have been covered. But what happened to Mollie was a disgrace, and our hearts go out—we mourn for Mollie's family.

In recent weeks, an elderly homeless woman in New York was allegedly beaten to death by a twice-deported illegal alien that was not supposed to be in this country. In the sanctuary city of Philadelphia—I went to school in Philadelphia—local officials released a previously deported illegal alien back onto the streets. After his release, the illegal alien raped a very young child. I won't even tell you how old this child was.

Democrat immigration policies are destroying innocent lives and spilling very innocent blood. We believe that any party that puts criminal aliens before American citizens should be voted out of office, not into office. Nobody says it. Nobody says it.

And you know, that's not a very complicated formula. And you know, a lot of people, they say, "Oh, I'm not going to vote for Trump"—except when they get into the voting booth. That's what happened. Remember? They went into the booth; they said, "You know, is anybody watching?" [*Laughter*] "Trump." It's true. True. Common sense.

Even the exit polls—you know, about 5 o'clock, they were—people were coming out. "Who'd you vote for?" "Well, I voted for Crooked Hillary." "Oh." But they didn't. We were a little worried with those exit polls. Then, we started winning every State. I said, "Something is wrong." [*Laughter*] That's okay. Whatever it takes, right? Whatever it takes.

To secure our borders and to protect Ohio families, we have to elect more Republicans. You know, we don't have much of a margin. In the House, we have very few. In the Senate, we essentially were even. You know, they always say we have a majority. We don't have a—we have to win by 10. Of course, I'd like to see that be 1, instead of 10. I would love to see that be 1. What a shame. But you have to win by 10.

And I think, in the Senate, we're going to do really well. I think we're going to do—really surprise people, Rob Portman. We're going to win a lot of seats. We were talking on the car in—on the way in. And we're mentioning name after name who are doing great against pretty well known Senators. And some were sort of unbeatable, and now they're even in the polls against some very talented Republicans. I think the Senate is going to be a big surprise.

The House is probably tougher. We have so many people running. We have a lot of chairmen that left, because they're chairmen for 6 years, and then they don't want to stay because they can't be chairmen. The Democrats, you can be a chairman for 40 years. So you know.

So, we have a lot of people, really, that—I don't know, Jim. I'm still not sure if that's a great policy because we have a lot of chairmen that are leaving. And they're leaving, because, when you're the chairman of a big committee, you don't want to go back and just sit there and not be a chairman anymore.

So I don't know if that's a good policy. I guess it gets other people up there. But in the meantime, we have a lot chairmen that have no choice but to leave. They just—you know, they just can't do it the other way. I understand it. I can fully understand it. So I don't know if that's a good policy or not. What do you think? Is that a good policy? I don't know. I don't know. I like a little more experience. I think we could certainly go longer than 6 years. But many, many people—but I think we have some good candidates taking their place.

The platform of the Democrat Party is to raise your taxes, increase your regulations, shut down American energy, release violent criminals, and destroy American jobs. It really is. You know, I guess I could put it a little bit softer than that, but that's really their policy. Open borders equals crime, tremendous crime, the hardest kind of crime.

By contrast, under Republican leadership, America's economy is booming like it's never boomed before—never, ever before. Since the election, we have created nearly 4 million new jobs, an unthinkable number. And something I like equally as much: We've taken nearly 4 million Americans off of food stamps. How about that? Right?

In a very short time, we will have added over 500,000 new manufacturing jobs. You remember, during the debates, I would talk about steel. The steel is the hottest industry. But I'd talk about steel. I'd talk about other industries coming back—manufacturing. I talked about car companies. You know how many car companies are now coming back to Ohio and Michigan and Pennsylvania? And they're coming back. Companies that left, they're coming back.

And we're negotiating now with Mexico. And we're trying to make a fair deal. Not a deal like—you know, I don't know. People forget, NAFTA was a disaster. Wasn't it? I mean, does anybody remember? They emptied out entire States. Now, it's like, "Oh, NAFTA is so wonderful." NAFTA is not wonderful. It was a terrible deal for us. Terrible, terrible deal.

Still, you go up to New England; you go up to parts of Ohio and other places, and you'll see factories that left many years ago because of NAFTA. It's a terrible deal. We're going to either make it good, or we're not going to have it.

And we're getting very close to getting something, I think, that's going to be very fair so—[*applause*]*.* And I said, "If we don't, it's okay." If we don't, we're going to tariff cars coming into the United States, and we'll make more money than we're ever going to make with NAFTA. I mean, that's it. It's it.

And I tell that to everybody. I say, "Look, I don't want to be threatening." I'm not threatening at all. I'm not a threatening person. But I say, "We're going to tax the hell out of your cars." No, no, don't say it that way because—[*laughter*].

No, but I do say it. I say, "Look, if we can't have a fair deal"—we don't need a great deal; we need a fair deal because NAFTA has just—I mean, they just ripped the heart out of our manufacturing—and not great for our farmers. And we're going to take care of our farmers.

Our farmers are great American patriots. I'll tell you. They are incredible. You know, our farmers—did you see where soybeans now is slightly higher than when I started? You know, everybody said, "Oh, that's the end." Soybeans, now, are going up. Even I said, "How did that happen?" That's like a great—how good is that?

Bur our farmers—if you look at soybean prices, go 5 years before our great election in '16. Go 5 years before. Go 5 years back. Soybeans went down by 50 percent on election night. They were down by 50 percent from what they were 5 years before. Farmers were down—from 15 years, they've been heading—just a downward spiral. And China was very threatening to our farmers. They want to, you know, not buy farm products. We're not going to—because they want to hurt us in the election.

But what we're doing with the European Union, where they have the strongest barriers—probably stronger barriers than China—and China and other countries, Canada—I hate to say it—we love Canada; I love Canada—but they have tariffs.

And Canada, for dairy products, these tariffs are almost 300 percent. And if I say, "Good, we're going to put a 25-percent tariff on Canada," I'll be inundated by politicians saying, "We want free trade." I say, "What's free when they charge us 300 percent?" I don't understand. Where are these people coming from? But we're all learning.

You know, we're learning from the steel industry, because as I said before, it's one of the hottest industries anywhere. I interviewed with a couple of—I had a couple of great people inside with Jim, and they were thanking me for all we've done. They were in the steel business. They said: "We were dying. We were getting close—we're getting ready to close, and now our business is more vibrant than it's ever been."

This took place over a period of 6 months. And it's going to get better and better, and we're going to get the iron ore from Minnesota and other places. We don't need anybody from outside.

The youth unemployment rate has reached the lowest level in over 51 years. That's a biggie. And here is one that I love, and I've always loved. The unemployment rate for Americans without high school diplomas reached the lowest level ever recorded. How good is that? African Americans—you've heard me say this—the unemployment recently achieved the lowest level in recorded history, along with Hispanic and Asian. Lowest levels in recorded history.

Women didn't do quite as well. With women, I'm sorry to tell you, women—I'm sorry, Mrs. Portman. [*Laughter*] I hate to say this. Women's unemployment has just reached a level which is the lowest in only 65 years. So we're not doing as well. I could have a problem with the women's vote.

You know, they kept saying I had a problem with the women's vote. I got 52 percent in the election. I did okay. I did okay. And I see all those signs. I love the women.

You know, the women want strength. They want border protection. They want a strong military. They want their families protected. They want law enforcement. Women are smart. So we reached the lowest level in 65 years. And in a very short period of time that will be a historic level too, like the others.

You know, with African American folks, I used to be at big rallies, and I'd read all of the problems. Highest crime, toughest areas, worst schools—all of these horrible, lowest—the worst homeownership of any group by far. And I was reading them just one after another. There were like 10 pieces, and every one was a horror show, but especially anything having to do with crime and education.

And there're always been voting for Democrats—you know, almost always. And I said: "You know, look at these numbers. Look at how bad they are. They're horrible." And my people were very upset, because I said: "Vote for me. What the hell do you have to lose? What do you have to lose?" And I'll never forget, I came off the stage that night and my people said, "Oh, that was a terrible thing." I said, "What's terrible?" And all of a sudden, those numbers started going up, up, up, and we did great.

But now we're doing great, and Kanye West liked me, and that really lifted my—[*applause*]—Kanye West has some real power. And he's got a good wife too in Kim. I'll tell you. She really is. She did a great thing. She did a great thing. A person was in jail on a very strange thing. She was there for 22 years—and it was based largely on a phone call that they were listening to—and she had another 24 years. She was about 62 or 63, and I gave her a pardon.

And she came out of that jail after all of those years, and the way she hugged and kissed her family, and the way they loved her so much—and it was like she had some grandchildren, some sons—some grandchildren that were so beautiful. They were grabbing her, and it was just a beautiful thing to see. And she was in there for 22 years. And that was through Kim Kardashian. So I think that was—I think it was terrific. I don't know if you saw that. Did you see that? The scene of her coming out of that jail. That was pretty, pretty good.

I want to thank our pro-American trade policies. I want to talk about American steel, which is making that great comeback, especially—especially in Ohio. Nucor has just announced an $85 million upgrade in Marion.

By the way, I hate to say this, they're doing $750 million in Florida. But we won't mention that tonight. They'll be doing it here soon too, because they love this State.

Charter Steel announced a new $150 million steel mill in Cuyahoga Heights. That's a great one. JSW Steel is restarting the furnace and investing $500 million in Mingo Junction. A lot of jobs. And Cleveland-Cliffs announced a brandnew, beautiful $700 million plant in Toledo. And that's just a few of them. That's just a few of them.

One of the things that we've done, in addition to the biggest tax cuts, is we've eliminated the largest number of job-killing regulations of any President, even if they're there for 4 years, 8 years, almost 16 years. We set the record already. We have a lot to go. I mean, we're going to have a lot to go.

We're talking to some of the folks today. We're going to have—by the way, crystal-clean water, beautiful air to breathe—we're just as clean, maybe cleaner, now than ever before. Our regulations are going to be tough, but they're going to be fair. You're not going to have to go to 12 different locations to get one approval when you can get it at one location.

To build a highway in this country would take 17, 18, 20, and even 21 years to get approved. And then, the highway was no good, and it would end up costing like 25 times more than they originally thought. We've got it down to about 2 years, and what I want to do is get it down to 1 year. And, you know, you may get rejected, but at least you'll be rejected quickly. Quickly.

One of the things I'm very proud of—and all of the Congressmen here know this very well—and then ultimately, we got approval from Rob in the Senate—is to give critically-ill patients access to life-saving treatments. We passed "right to try." Right to try. I love that name: right to try.

That's where people were going all over the world, if they had the money; most of them didn't have the money, so they stayed home, and they had no hope. We could have a drug that we think is good, but it was going to take another 4 years, 5 years, 2 years. And they wouldn't give it to somebody who was terminally ill because they didn't want to hurt the patient, the person. And I said: "What are they doing? What are they doing?"

And you know, people have been trying to get this passed for 30 years. The beauty of now is, we really do have unbelievable experimental drugs that can really help.

So now people can sign a quick document, and they can go, and they can get themselves—very possibly make themselves better. They don't have to travel all over the world, or they don't have to sit home with no hope whatsoever. So "right to try"—I love the name.

We secured $6 billion, just a little while ago, in new funding to fight the opioid epidemic, which is really an epidemic. And it's a tremendous—right, Mary?—it's a tremendous epidemic in Ohio. Tremendous in Ohio. And we've got—that was very important to Rob Portman. And we're working on a lot of other ideas, but this is a really big problem in Ohio.

And my administration has taken bold action to make prescription drugs more affordable. I mean, I did something the other day that they've never seen. Pfizer lifted their prices up, and Novartis, and some others. And I wasn't happy. And I—all the sudden, I got calls. I let them know I wasn't happy. I got calls. "Sir, they are rescinding their price increases." And nobody has ever seen that before.

And I give them credit. I have to tell you—Novartis, Pfizer, and some others. And they brought them back down to where they were. Nobody has ever seen that before.

But we're going to get drug prices down. We're working very hard. Secretary Azar is with me. He's actually with my wife over at the hospital, a hospital that's so beautiful. We went through; we did the tour. Some of these children, it's incredible what they're doing.

But Secretary Azar and I are working very hard on eliminating the middleman. And we're going to bring prescription drugs. They were already—it's already happening. Otherwise, frankly, Pfizer and all could not have done what they did 4 weeks ago. And we're bringing drug prices down—prescription drug prices. We reformed—it's such an important thing.

We reformed the Medicare drug discount program to stop hospitals from overcharging low-income seniors, saving seniors hundreds of millions of dollars this year alone. I had to actually ask, "Why didn't they do this before?" We'll always protect our seniors. We're going to take care of our seniors, better than they've ever been taken care of.

We also appointed and confirmed a record number—highest number—of judges who will interpret our Constitution as written. As written. That's opposed to judges that just make it up as they go along.

We passed a landmark VA Accountability law, where we can actually fire people if they're bad to our great veterans. And as I said, we also passed Veterans Choice, something that they've been trying to get for 45 years. Veterans Choice. And I'm so proud of that one. And the Senate came through, and the House came through, and it wasn't easy. But we now have a plan.

You know, the veterans, these are the greatest people. And they go to a doctor—they're not feeling well, something is wrong. They'd wait on line for 14 days. And literally—not call in and say, "Come back in 2 weeks"; you'd be waiting 14 days, 21 days, 32 days. And they'd be waiting on line. And some of them had a small ailment, and it would be terminal by the time they got to see a doctor, it was so bad. It was horrible. And I used to say—I said—you know, I thought it was really—oh, I had something so smart. I said, "Listen, I have an idea." If they have to wait that long, why don't we send them to a doctor around the corner? And everyone said, "Sir, we've been trying to get that approved for 40 years." But I'm good at getting things approved. We're pretty good at that, right? And we got it approved.

So we now have Veterans Choice. They can go out and see a doctor if they have to wait. We'll pay the bill. And we'll save a lot of money, we're going to save a lot of lives, and we're going to make the quality of life a lot better. A lot better.

And we're giving our brave warfighters the tools, resources, and equipment they need to defeat any enemy that dares to threaten our people.

As you know very well, for 8 years, Democrats apologized for America. Republicans are now standing up for America. There's a big difference. We're standing up for the heroes who protect America.

We are standing proudly for our great, beautiful, wonderful national anthem, which CBS, I just heard—they just joined the crew—and ESPN have decided not to broadcast so they don't have any controversy. Can you imagine that? They're not going to broadcast the national—CBS and ESPN. How do we like that? Is that good?

*Audience members.* Boo!

*The President.* What the hell is the NFL doing? What are they doing? Do they not have a clue? It's hurt them badly too. And it's continuing. They think they're doing something smart by not broadcasting the national anthem? So that's CBS and ESPN, folks. Enjoy your television. [*Laughter*]

While Democrats delay, obstruct, and resist, Republicans actually deliver. We're creating jobs for African Americans—[*applause*]—it's true—Hispanic Americans, Asian Americans, young Americans, and all Americans.

And I'll tell you, if we don't get Jim, that's going to be a terrible thing. We've got to get Jim. Where is Jim sitting, by the way? Jim, will you stand up, please? I told a group of wonderful donors—we have a group that loves this guy. And one of them was saying: "Sir, I worked with Jim Renacci for 20 years. He's an incredible businessman. I started off with three employees." They said he had 11,000. Where is that guy with 11,000 employees? Where the—stand up. He went from 3 employees to 11,000. And he said—and it was Jim Renacci that—you were like his student, right? That's—did he get a piece of the deal, I hope? [*Laughter*]

*Audience member.* [*Inaudible*]

*The President.* No, but that's a great statement. I thought that was good. That's a lot better than what they gave me to talk about with you. Because that means it—that's so incredible. Jim was great businessman. He has a great sense. He has a great common sense. But that's a beautiful story, and I really appreciate it, man.

So while Democrats run down our country—they really do; they run it down. It's always negative. Nasty. The way they come after me. Get used to it. We won the election, we're going to win again in 2020, and I—hopefully, we're going to keep winning. [*Applause*] Thank you. Man, these are nasty people. They are nasty and dishonest.

Do you notice the way nobody looks at them? Is that deep state or what? Explain it. Nobody looks them. All those things. McCabe. You have the beautiful Lisa Page—[*laughter*]—and her wonderful FBI agent. How about him? Did anybody ever hear Strzok—did anybody ever hear him testify? Did you hear this guy? Can you believe it? "No, I have no bias against the President. I have no bias." Did you read what he said? [*Laughter*]

Oh, what a group. Comey—lies and leaks.

*Audience members.* Boo!

*The President.* He's a liar, and he's a leaker. No, it's true, I mean, why—is this guy being looked at? It's the most incredible thing people have ever seen—what's going on. But we're going to straighten it out. It's going to get straightened out. And that guy is helping a lot. We're going to straighten it out. It's happening. A lot of good things are happening.

Republicans are rebuilding our country. We believe in the dignity of work, the power of freedom, and we believe in the truth of our national motto—which a lot of people don't like using. Did you see some court ruled against it the other day?—"In God We Trust." Nobody is going to rule against it.

Remember when I first started? I—you know, I hate to bring it up now in this heat. But I used to say, "We're going to start saying 'Christmas' again." You know, they're saying "Christmas" again now, right? Remember at the beginning of my campaign? It was December, and I'd go see these stores, and it never said "Merry Christmas." They're all saying "Merry Christmas" now. They're proud of it.

Our victories are America's victories, because the Republican Party is the party of the American worker, the American family, the American Dream—and you know what else? The party of the American warrior. You're warriors. You're great people. You're great people.

I talk about it all the time, when they go and say, "the elite." Right? You hear this. It's, like, insulting. "The elite." I'm much more elite than any of them. So are you. [*Laughter*] We're much more elite. We're smarter. We're richer. We're better educated, in most cases.

You know, they talk about "the elite." Then, you see—where are they? Where's—and you see this slob sitting there, and he's supposed to be elite. I said, "He's elite?" [*Laughter*] You know? We beat them at every category. So let's let them be elite, and we're superelite. Right? You've heard that. We're the superelite.

But to achieve that victory—from Columbus to Cleveland to Cincinnati—we have to work every day from now to November. I need you to get out and vote for the sake of our country, our future, and our children. Generations of Americans have fought and bled and died to preserve our laws, protect our Constitution, and pass down the blessings of liberty. We're bringing it all back. It's all happening, folks. It's happening, faster than people understand. There's been a lot of craziness.

That sacred inheritance, that glorious heritage is now in our hands. And it is our hands because of what happened almost 2 years ago. That was an incredible—that was one of the great—was that the greatest, coolest evening? Was that the greatest?

And you know, that was your victory. That wasn't my victory. That was your—that was bringing our country back. That was all about bringing our country back. You had States where people that were great people—worked hard, paid taxes—they hadn't voted in a long time. They never saw anybody they wanted to vote for. And they came down from the hills and the valleys and the rivers, and people would say, "Where the hell are all these people?" You know, the Democrats are still trying to figure out where did these people come from? [*Laughter*] And they're never going Democrat, I can tell you that. [*Laughter*]

But it's now up to us to defend it, to protect it, and to pass it down to our children so they can grow up safe, and strong, and proud, and free. Right? With your help, Ohio will carry the hopes and dreams of the American people all the way to victory this November. We will never give in, we will never give up, and we will never stop fighting to make America great again.

I want to thank Jane and the Ohio Republican Party. What a job you've done. Boy, what a job. Records every year, right? Thank you, Tim. Very much.

And I want to really—number one, I want to wish our gubernatorial candidates—are going to do great. And I want to—[*applause*]—thank you, fellas. Do a great job. You've got to get this guy. He's a bad guy. I don't say that about most—you know, I'll say, "Hey, good luck." You're—Troy, you're running against a bad guy.

And I'll tell you what: Jim Renacci, you're going to win. I'm looking at polls that are looking good. People don't want to tell about the polls. The people of Ohio have known you a long time. You're a champion. I've known you a long time. You're a winner. You've always been a winner. And work hard; it's not a lot of time left. Work every single day.

I don't even have to tell him. Normally, I'd have to say, "Work 7 days a week." With this guy, I don't have to tell him. But you're an incredible guy, and a great inspiration, Jim. And I really believe you're going to be victorious. You're going to win. And congratulations on really—so far, doing a really fantastic job. Jim Renacci, next Senator.

And to the people of Ohio, you're very special. I just want to say God bless you, and goodnight. Thank you very much. Thank you. Thank you very much.

NOTE: The President spoke at 5:56 p.m. at the Greater Columbus Convention Center. In his remarks, he referred to David W. Johnson, chairman, Columbiana County, OH, Republican Party; Ohio Republican congressional candidates Anthony Gonzalez and Troy Balderson; Jane Portman, wife of Sen. Robert J. Portman; Ohio Democratic gubernatorial candidate Richard A. Cordray, in his former capacity as Director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB); Director of the Office of Management and Budget John M. "Mick" Mulvaney, in his capacity as Acting Director of the CFPB; Sen. Elizabeth Warren, in her former capacity as Assistant to the President and Special Adviser to the Secretary of the Treasury on the CFPB; Supreme Court Associate Justice–designate Brett M. Kavanaugh; New York Democratic gubernatorial candidate Cynthia Nixon; Mayor Edward T. Wheeler of Portland, OR; New York City resident Jakiw Palij, whose U.S. citizenship was revoked in 2003 due to suspected war crimes committed as a guard at the Trawniki concentration camp in Nazi-occupied Poland and who was deported from the U.S. to Germany on August 21; State Rep. Dov Hikind of the New York Assembly; Cristhian Bahena Rivera, suspect in the murder of University of Iowa student Mollie Tibbetts in Brooklyn, IA, on July 18; Brooklyn, IA, resident Rob Tibbetts; Jose Olmos-Torres, suspect in the murder of Nurten Seljuk in New Rochelle, NY, on July 27, 2018; Juan Ramon Vasquez, who was convicted for the rape of a child and unlawful sexual contact with a minor and is currently serving a sentence of 8 to 20 years at a State prison in Pennsylvania; 2016 Democratic Presidential nominee Hillary Rodham Clinton; musician Kanye O. West and his wife, reality television personality Kim Kardashian West; Mempis, TN, resident Alice Marie Johnson, whose lifetime prison sentence was commuted by the President on June 6; Andrew G. McCabe, former Deputy Director, and James B. Comey, Jr., former Director, Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI); Lisa Page, former legal counsel to former Deputy Director McCabe; former FBI agent Peter P. Strzok, in his former capacity as lead investigator of former Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton's use of private e-mail server and the investigation into Russia's interference in the 2016 Presidential election; and Ohio Democratic congressional candidate Danny O'Connor

*Categories:* Addresses and Remarks : Ohio Republican Party State dinner in Columbus, OH*.*

*Locations: *Columbus, OH*.* Columbus, OH*. *

*Names:* Azar, Alex M., II; Balderson, Troy; Brown, Sherrod C.; Clinton, Hillary Rodham; Comey, James B., Jr.; Cordray, Richard A.; Cuomo, Andrew M.; Davidson, Warren E.; DeWine, Fran; DeWine, Mike; Gibbs, Robert B.; Gonzalez, Anthony E.; Gorsuch, Neil M.; Hikind, Dov; Husted, Jon A.; Johnson, Alice Marie; Johnson, David W.; Johnson, William L.; Jordan, James D.; Kavanaugh, Brett M.; Latta, Robert E.; McCabe, Andrew G.; Mulvaney, John M. "Mick"; Nixon, Cynthia; O'Connor, Danny; Olmos-Torres, Jose; Paduchik, Robert A.; Page, Lisa; Paljj, Jakiw; Pelosi, Nancy; Portman, Jane; Portman, Robert J.; Renacci, James B.; Rivera, Cristhian; Rivera, Cristhian Bahena; Schumer, Charles E.; Seljuk, Nurten; Stivers, Steven E.; Strzok, Peter P., II; Taylor, Mary; Tibbets, Rob; Timken, Jane; Timken, Jane M.; Trump, Melania; Vasquez, Juan Ramon; Warren, Elizabeth A.; Waters, Maxine M.; West, Kanye O.; West, Kim Kardashian; Wheeler, Edward T.

*Subjects:* Agriculture : Domestic production, promotion efforts; Armed Forces, U.S. : Funding; Business and industry : Automobile industry :: Improvement; Business and industry : Domestic steel and aluminum production, promotion efforts; Business and industry : Entrepreneurship :: Promotion efforts; Business and industry : Manufacturing industry :: Improvement; Business and industry : Small businesses, promotion efforts; Canada : Trade with U.S.; China : Trade with U.S.; Commerce, international : Aluminum and steel imports, U.S. tariffs; Commerce, international : Free and fair trade; Commerce, international : North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA); Congress : House of Representatives :: Minority leader; Congress : Senate :: Minority leader; Congress : Senate :: Presidential nominations, confirmation process; Consumer Financial Protection Bureau; Defense and national security : Border security; Drug abuse and trafficking : Opioid epidemic, efforts to combat; Economy, national : Improvement; Elections : 2018 congressional elections; Elections : Voter participation; Employment and unemployment : Job creation and growth; Employment and unemployment : Unemployment rate; Energy : Domestic production, promotion efforts; Europe : European Union :: Trade with U.S.; Government organization and employees : Accountability and transparency, strengthening efforts; Government organization and employees : Federal infrastructure review and permitting, modernization efforts; Government organization and employees : Federal regulations, review; Governor : Lieutenant Governor; Health and Human Services, Department of : Secretary; Health and medical care : Experimental drugs and therapies; Health and medical care : Medicare and Medicaid; Health and medical care : Prescription drugs, affordability and costs; Homeland Security, Department of : Immigration and Customs Enforcement, U.S.; Immigration and naturalization : Reform; Judiciary : Federal court nominations and confirmations; Judiciary : Supreme Court :: Associate Justice–designate; Law enforcement and crime : Law enforcement officers, service and dedication; Law enforcement and crime : Pardons and commutations; Law enforcement and crime : Transnational criminal organizations; Mexico : Trade with U.S.; National Football League, national anthem controversy; New York : Governor; Ohio : 2018 gubernatorial election; Ohio : Lieutenant Governor; Ohio : President's visit; Ohio : Republican Party event; Republican Party : Republican Congressional Committee, National; Republican Party : Republican National Committee; Taxation : Tax relief; Terrorism : Counterterrorism efforts; Veterans : Health and medical care; Veterans Affairs, Department of : Personnel management, reform efforts.

*DCPD Number:* DCPD201800547.