Administration of Donald J. Trump, 2025
December 1, 2025
Speaker of the House of Representatives J. Michael Johnson. Mr. President, I got a bunch of friends here for you in Nashville, Tennessee. Let's give a big round of applause!
[At this point, the President joined Speaker Johnson's remarks in Franklin, TN, by telephone from the White House.]
The President. I'll tell you what: We've done so well in Nashville, in Tennessee, in the whole area. We won it in a landslide. We had the record vote of all time—or presidentially. And unfortunately, the second time, they rigged the election. But the third time, it was too big to rig, so we did very well.
But I just want to thank everybody for being—I hear the crowd is incredible. And in fact, I said, "I want to go," and then Secret Service said, "It takes a little more time than that, sir." I said last night, "I want to go." [Laughter] I did want to go. Still do.
I just want to thank everybody for the incredible job you've done in Tennessee. And we have a man named Van Epps who's fantastic. He's one of the best. And if you vote for him, it's going to be something—I think it's going to be very, very special. It's going to be very special. He's for everything that we represent.
And he's against somebody that you know and you've been watching, and she's getting a lot of publicity because she's got a little something weird, and the televisions are doing whatever they can. [Laughter]
But she actually said she's against Christianity. She's against country music. She's totally for transgender for everybody. She's totally for open borders and that mess.
And so I just want to tell you, Van Epps is great. They'll never—you'll never have a candidate that's better. As you know, I endorsed him early and strong. It wasn't like I went—numerous people fought for the nomination. But I was there at the beginning, and he won handily. He won handily.
And he's an outstanding man. He's going to be a great Congressman. So I just hope everybody can get out and vote.
You have tremendous people that were here today, I'll tell you what. You have our Congressmen, you have our Governor, you have Joe Gruters, the head of the party itself. And you're just amazing people.
And I'll tell you what: Our Speaker is incredible. He's managing—remember, he's got a majority of three. A majority of three. And there aren't many people can do that. But we have to win this seat.
We've gotten you the largest tax cuts in history. And the new bill, the "Great Big Beautiful Bill" kicks in, as you know, on January 1. Hasn't even kicked in yet. And then you have no tax on tips, no tax on Social Security, no tax on overtime. If you borrow money to buy a car, you get a deduction. That's never happened before.
All these things kick in on January 1. A lot of people don't know. They said, "Oh, they already kicked in." I said, "No, it doesn't start until January 1." So that was the first date.
I just want to thank everybody. I love Tennessee, one of my alltime favorite places. And Tennessee—Tennessee—[inaudible]—because we won by the biggest margins anybody has ever won by. So that's cool.
But if you can go—Matt Van Epps, he's the winner. He's going to be great.
Don't let this stuff fool you. The Democrats are spending a fortune, and we don't want people that want to raise your taxes. She wants to raise your taxes, on top of everything else. But she said two things, above all else, that bothered me: Number one, she hates Christianity. Number two, she hates country music. How the hell can you elect a person like that? [Laughter]
But I just want to give my total support—and he's had it right from the beginning—to Matt Van Epps. He's going to be a fantastic Congressman. He's going to represent you so well, and we'll keep our agenda going.
And I'm going to make a call tonight, about 7 or 8 o'clock. I'm doing a telerally for him tonight. So, if anybody wants to listen, basically, I'll be saying the same things I just said. He's fantastic.
And go get him, and get out—tomorrow morning, get out and vote. And let's make it a sweeping victory. The whole world is watching Tennessee right now, and they're watching your district. The whole world. This is a big vote. It's going to show something, and it's going to show that the Republican Party is stronger than it's ever been. We have a bigger, stronger party than we've ever had. We have more members of the Republican Party than we've ever had.
And we love Tennessee. So get out there and vote and show the world something. The world is watching.
Speaker Johnson. Thank you, Mr. President.
The President. Thank you, everybody.
Speaker Johnson. You've got it. Thank you so much, sir.
The President. Thank you.
NOTE: The President spoke at approximately 9:35 a.m. by teleconference from the White House. In his remarks, he referred to Tennessee Democratic congressional candidate State Rep. Aftyn A. Behn; Reps. Timothy F. Burchett, Andrew Ogles, and John W. Rose; Gov. William B. Lee of Tennessee; and Republican National Party Chairman Joseph R. Gruters. The transcript was released by the Office of Communications on January 2, 2026.
Categories: Addresses and Remarks : Tennessee Republican congressional candidate Matt Van Epps, telephone remarks.
Locations: Washington, DC.
Names: Behn, Aftyn A.; Burchett, Timothy F.; Gruters, Joseph R.; Johnson, J. Michael; Lee, William B.; Ogles, Andrew; Rose, John W.; Van Epps, Matt.
Subjects: 2024 Presidential election; Republican National Committee; Speaker of the House of Representatives; Tax Code reform; Tennessee, Governor; Tennessee, special congressional election.
DCPD Number: DCPD202501153.