*Administration of Donald J. Trump, 2018 *

**Remarks at the Congressional Ball **

*December 15, 2018 *

*The President.* What a crowd. What power. What beautiful people. I see you all week, and now I have to see you once again to wish you a very, very merry Christmas, happy Hanukkah, happy New Year.

It's been an incredible 2 years. It's been very, very special. We have so many Members of Congress, and we have our Cabinet, almost the entire Cabinet; members of the Supreme Court of the United States. And it has been something very special.

We've done things that nobody would have thought possible. And I say it often—and I don't get rebuked for saying it—but no administration has done more in the first 2 years than the Trump administration, which is many of the folks in the room.

When you think about the tax cuts and the regulation cuts and all of the things that have happened, including two great, new Supreme Court Justices. And what people don't know is that we've almost reached the 100-mark of Federal judges. That's a big, big mark.

And I see Mike Pence over here and Peter—thank you, Peter. Peter, did you get your grandson in? Good. Okay, I thought that would be—[*laughter*]. He said, "I've got to get my grandson in." You got it. Peter King.

And Mike and Karen, thank you very much for being over—get up here, Mike. Will you come up, please? Come on up. Come on up.

But it has been a very, very special, special time. And we're doing so much. And I think next week we have a chance to get criminal justice reform. They've been trying to do it for many, many years. They've been trying—they've been working on it. And let's see what happens. But it looks like it has a chance. And next week, it looks like the farm bill is in very, very good shape. So we'll get the farm bill. Got to take care of the farmers. But it's just been something very, very exciting.

This is a house that's very exciting. This is a house that we love being in. We love living in it. Look at it tonight in between all of the great food. You know, we have the A team of chefs. We have A teams, B teams, and C teams. The C teams give you a lot. But it's not very good. [*Laughter*] The A team gives you a lot, and it is very good. So tonight you have a lot of great food, so enjoy it.

But look around at the house, because it's an incredible place. It's sort of where it all begins. It starts, it sort of moves along, and then it starts all over again if you don't get it right. And it's been very exciting living in the White House. To me, it's a happy place. You know, a lot of Presidents have said it's not a happy place. I find it to be a happy place.

I want to thank Melania, our great First Lady, for doing the decorations. As you know, she worked so hard on all of the beautiful decorations. I don't know if you've gotten to see all of them, but upstairs, downstairs, all over, and she's—people love what she did. And I love what she has done. And I'll tell you what, she does it from the heart. She has done a terrific job. People love our First Lady. So thank you very much, honey. Very nice. Really great. And I want to thank Mike for all the help that he's given me. Karen and Mike have been incredible. Two incredible people. And we have so much more to do. And again, this is going to be an exciting week. But I think it's going to be a really exciting year and exciting 2 years.

I believe we're going to get really good health care. Exciting things happened over the last 24 hours. And if everybody is smart—because we have a lot of Democrats here tonight, and I'm very happy about that. People don't realize it, I have a lot of friends who are Democrats. And we have Democrats here. And if the Republicans and the Democrats get together, we are going to end up with incredible health care, which is the way it should have been from day one. And it's going to happen. It now has a chance to happen.

And the other thing they're going to start working on very shortly is an infrastructure bill, because that's something I think everybody wants to see. So we'll start working on that.

So look, enjoy yourself, travel around, look at every molding of this house. It's just an incredible place to be. And again, thank you all. Merry Christmas, happy Hanukkah, have a great New Year. We're going to have an incredible new year for our country, most importantly. And to our First Lady, thank you very much on a job well done. Thank you. Honey?

*The First Lady.* Welcome to the White House. Enjoy the evening. Merry Christmas, and happy and healthy New Year.

*The President.* Thanks. Thank you very much, everybody. Have a great time. Thank you. Enjoy it. See you out there.

NOTE: The President spoke at 7:08 p.m. in the Grand Foyer at the White House. In his remarks, he referred to Supreme Court Associate Justices Neil M. Gorsuch and Brett M. Kavanaugh; and Rep. Peter T. King. The transcript was released by the Office of the Press Secretary on December 16.

*Categories:* Addresses and Remarks : Congressional Ball*.*

*Locations: *Washington, DC.

*Names:* Gorsuch, Neil M.; Kavanaugh, Brett M.; King, Peter T.; Pence, Karen; Pence, Michael R.; Trump, Melania*.*

*Subjects:* Agriculture : Farm bill; Congress : Bipartisanship; Congressional Ball; Health and medical care : Health insurance reforms; Holidays and special observances : Christmas; Holidays and special observances : Hanukkah; Holidays and special observances : New Year; Infrastructure : National improvement efforts; Judiciary : Supreme Court :: Associate Justice; Law enforcement and crime : Criminal justice system, reform efforts; White House Office : Vice President.

*DCPD Number:* DCPD201800850.