Administration of Donald J. Trump, 2025
December 14, 2025
The President. Hello, everybody. Hello. Hello, Doctor. How are you? Hello, everybody.
This is so great.
Shootings at Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island, and Bondi Beach in Sydney, Australia/Death of U.S. Servicemembers in Palmyra, Syria
And before we begin, however, I want to just pay my respects to the people—unfortunately, two are no longer with us. Brown University, nine injured, and two are looking down on us right now from Heaven.
And likewise, in Australia, as you know, that was a terrible attack: 11 dead, 29 badly wounded. And that was an anti-Semitic attack, obviously.
And it—I just want to pay my respects to everybody.
I must say, in Syria, also, we had an attack in Syria, and we had three great patriots terminated by bad people, and not the Syrian Government. It was ISIS. The Syrian Government fought by our side. The new President fought by our side.
But I just want to pay my respects to the families. We also had three injured, but two of them are already out of the hospital, and one is going to be okay. But we lost three. So it was a rough—it was a rough day.
But to Australia and the—Prime Minister, to everybody that we know so well, we get along with so well, we have a great relationship—that's a terrible situation going on over there. Think of that.
And Brown University—great school. Great—really, one of the greatest schools anywhere in the world. Things can happen. So, to the nine injured, get well fast. And to the families of those two that are no longer with us, I pay my deepest regards and respects from the United States of America.
Thank you very much. It's a very important thing to say, and we mean it.
I can tell you, in Syria, there will be a lot of damage done to the people that did it. They got the person, the individual person, but there'll be big damage done. And the other—supposedly, they call them a person of interest, so I'll keep it along those lines so we don't get ourselves in any trouble. But they have a person of interest at Brown.
And, in Australia, you probably read, they've—it's been—there's been—a very, very brave person, actually, who went and attacked frontally one of the shooters and saved a lot of lives. So a very brave person who's right now in the hospital, pretty seriously wounded. So I—great respect to that man that did that.
Christmas/Hanukkah
But we're here for a different reason. We're here to celebrate Christmas and to celebrate—and I think today we can very say, loudly, we celebrate Hanukkah, because that was such a horrible attack, that was a purely anti-Semitic attack—and to really celebrate the New Year.
We have an amazing couple of achievements. We've taken in more investment money than any country has ever taken in by four times. There's never been anything like it. And I like to say
that was because of the November 5 election, but—and it was, to an extent, because without the November 5 election, you would have had a President that didn't have the courage to use tariffs the way they should be used. And because of the tariffs, we've taken in more than 18—think of this—$18 trillion. There's never been anything like it.
As an example, the previous administration, Sleepy Joe Biden, took in less than $1 trillion in 4 years. We took in more than $18 trillion in 10 months. I'd say that's pretty good, right? I'd say that's very good.
And if you go back into history, there's never been a country that's taken in more than $3 trillion. And we have over 18. That's—again, because they don't want to pay tariffs, so in order not to pay tariffs, they come in and they build their plant in the United States. It's pretty simple. And it's been pretty amazing, actually.
We have some very special people here. And because I believe in families so strongly, I think I should introduce—we have Don. We have his children. We have Vanessa, her children: Kai, Tristan, Spencer, Chloe. Where's—you know, Kai is a great golfer.
Has anyone ever—oh, there she is. Hi, Kai. Put your hand up, Kai. Can you beat your grandpa in golf?
Kai M. Trump. [Inaudible]
The President. Can Kai beat her grandpa in golf? [Laughter] I don't know.
But she's great. Chloe is going to be amazing. And all of them, they're great athletes. They're really great. So I just want to welcome Don, and I want to welcome Vanessa. I want to welcome the kids. And Bettina, who's with Don, is so—such a fantastic person. Where is Bettina? She's a great athlete too. She's a—where are you? You—I hear a really good athlete. So that's very nice.
But—so I just had to do that. But then I'm going to tell you about some other people that are here, because it's amazing.
We have a man who just won the U.S. Open in golf. He hits a long ball slightly longer than me. [Laughter] I used to think I hit a long ball until I played with him. But everybody feels that way, even the touring pros. He's the longest hitter in golf. He's the longest hitter. Much more importantly, he putts great, he chips great, he hits the ball dead straight. It's tough. When you're the longest, straightest hitter that putts the best and chips the best, typically you're going to do quite well, and he does quite well. He just signed a contract for, like, $200 million—for playing golf, you're paid, like, hundreds of millions of dollars.
And he's a fantastic person. You know what he's got, though, better than all of his game?
The head. He's got—the head is better than anything. He knows how to win.
Where's Bryson DeChambeau? Is he here? Bryson. Come—up here, Bryson. Come on.
Come on, Bryson.
I want to ask: Why is he longer? Look at him. Now, if you rip off the jacket, you'll see the muscles are serious. [Laughter] But we don't have to rip off jackets. Come on up here. Say hello. Hi, Bryson.
Professional golfer Bryson DeChambeau. Great to see you, Mr. President.
The President. The current U.S. Open champion. Please.
Mr. DeChambeau. My goodness. Well, I—[laughter]—I did not know I was going to be coming up here tonight—today, but I've got to say thank you. And what the President [has; White House correction] done in this term has been incredible, right? It's greatest economy that we've
ever had. And just—to be serving on the President's Council of Sports, Fitness, and Nutrition has been such an honor.
And the First Lady—you look so beautiful, by the way.
And I'll say cheers to the greatest economy that we've had in a long, long time.
And merry Christmas to everybody. You kids look awesome down there. I think that when I was a kid, I never imagined that I'd even be up here. How is this even possible?
So it's been a beautiful moment. I'm going to cry actually, because I don't even know why I'm up here speaking. [Laughter]
The President. He hasn't cried in a long time. [Laughter] Mr. DeChambeau. No. No. Not since the—not since——The President. He's not a big crier.
Mr. DeChambeau. Not since the U.S. Open. But——
The President. He makes other people cry. [Laughter]
Mr. DeChambeau. I've got to tell you—[laughter]—what——
The President. That's right. [Laughter]
Mr. DeChambeau. ——what everybody is doing here is incredible for the country, and I got to thank the President of the United States. He is such an amazing human being, more importantly. As I've gotten to know him over the past decade now, almost, what he's done not just for our country, but just for every single person that he goes and interacts with is absolutely incredible.
I can't tell you how many times I've been around him and him just look up to—or look over to a kid and be, like, "How are you doing? You—you're doing so great. I love you. Keep going forward. Keep growing in life." It's unbelievable what he does for families and for kids. And for that, I say thank you. And merry Christmas to you guys. It's so amazing.
The President. How is my—how is my golf game? [Laughter]
Mr. DeChambeau. His golf game—look, his iron play is actually probably better than mine right now. I'll tell you that right now. [Laughter] I can hit a little farther, but——
The President. He's slightly longer.
Mr. DeChambeau. Just a little bit. But his putting has gotten really good lately. He played with Gary Player and Masa Son——
The President. Yes.
Mr. DeChambeau. ——of which made so many putts——
The President. That's right. That's right.
Mr. DeChambeau. ——when we played together—together for Gary's 90th.
But anyway, he's a great golfer, better human being, and you definitely—we're all so lucky to have him as the President of the United States.
So thank you, guys.
The President. Thank you very much.
Mr. DeChambeau. Thank you.
The President. Thank you.
So Bryson, coming up the 18th fairway, needed a par to win the U.S. Open. He pulled his drive, which is a little bit unlike him, and he had a horrible lie. He was in a bush. This is not good, because it looked like it was going to be a routine, but it's hard to finish. You know, winning is not easy and especially with golf.
So he pulled his drive a little bit, hit it about 360, but he pulled it. And he was in a bush. He chopped it out. It was actually an amazing shot. Many of the golfers—who of—who saw this whole thing? Did—yes, right? I see all my friends are saying, "I saw it."
He chopped it out of the bush, moved it forward 100 yards into a sand trap. So now he's 60 yards away. If you know anything about golf, that's the worst shot you can have. In fact, the pros don't even practice it because there's no way to figure it out. So he has 60 yards. What was it?
Fifty-four yards, to be exact, I think. Fifty-four or, like, about that. Fifty-four yards. That's the worst thing that can happen.
Behind the green is the clubhouse. If you go there, you have a two-stroke penalty. You lose the U.S. Open. In front of the green is the worst bushes you've ever seen. So, he has to either put it on the green or he's dead.
So his caddie, who is a great caddie, wanted him to play way left and take two long putts and get into a playoff. Bryson said, "No, we've got to go for the win." He takes, like, an open-face 9-iron or wedge, which normally you wouldn't use—it's a very hard shot—and he hits it 4 feet from the hole.
Now, for a golfer, they would say, "That's not so good because they have to sink a 4-footer," because they can't sink 4-footers. That guy can sink 4-footers.
So he still had a 4-foot putt that broke a few inches to the right, which is considered harder—than breaking to the left. He stood over the ball, hit it, went into the hole: He wins the U.S. Open. So that's called a champion's heart.
So it's great to have you. You're a great champion. Won a lot of—you won a lot of golf—
U.S. Amateur—a lot of tournaments.
And you know, you're just—the beginning of your great—you know, your age is where they really become great. Thirty-one, thirty-two years old, that's when—if you look statistically, they do the best from 31, 32 to 40. Except for Vijay. Vijay won all of his tournaments from 40 to 50. [Laughter] Vijay is the one unique player, right?
Audience member. Yes.
The President. He became great at 40. But you're at the exact perfect age. So, great. You're a great champion. Thank you. That's great that you're here. Maybe I'll take a chipping lesson from him. He's a good—[laughter].
So I also want to thank—Casey, I want to thank you for being here.
James Blair, I want to thank you. Where's James? What a job he's done. You have your beautiful family, James?
White House Deputy Chief of Staff for Legislative, Political, and Public Affairs James Blair.
Yes, sir.
The President. This guy is so good. You know, I wasn't sure. He was very quiet. And I kept hearing, "He's very quiet." But I'd hear from other people he's a total political genius, but I didn't see it because he was always—I don't know what it was. Maybe he was intimidated by the office of the President.
But I heard he was, like, this brilliant guy. "I'm telling you, sir"—and then they gave him a very high position. I'd say, "He's so quiet." They said: "He's not quiet, sir. Maybe he's quiet around you. He's not quiet." And that was 2 years ago. And you know what? He's not quiet. [Laughter] He's—incredible, the job you've done. Thank you, James.
Great—is the other James there? Because you have two Jameses. They're both great. So I used to call them "Big James" and "Little James." [Laughter] But the problem is, he's not little at all. And I don't think people like being called "Little James," but I meant it very affectionately.
But "Big James" is, like, 6'7" and he weighs like 320. So he's big compared to almost anybody. So then I said: "Okay, I'll change it. I'll call him 'Big James,' and I'll call him 'Brilliant James.'" But that's a real slight on "Big James" now. [Laughter] So I just keep calling them James—[laughter]—whoever comes.
But you've done a great job, and I appreciate it. I know you're working on that situation for appointments, and that's—that will be great. Pull that off.
Naomi, thank you very much—from Bedminster. Naomi is here. She does a fantastic job, and I want to thank you.
I want to thank Erin Elmore. Is Erin here?
Art in Embassies Director Erin M. Elmore. Yes.
The President. Erin. Come here, Erin. She's marrying the most powerful man in the administration. She's getting married to the great Dan Scavino. Is Dan here, or is he working?
Director Elmore. He's working.
The President. He's too—come on up here, Erin. You think Dan has bad taste? You won't believe this.
Mickie Gallagher, another great golfer, is here. He's the head pro at Bedminster, and he's—
—
Come on up here, Erin.
Director Elmore. I've got to put my stuff down.
The President. You know the first lady?
The First Lady. How are you? Nice to see you. How are you?
Director Elmore. [Inaudible]
The First Lady. Congratulations.
The President. Want to say a couple of words?
Director Elmore. Sure.
The President. She's a great hostess. She does—she hosts, professionally, everything. And
she's the best. But now she's probably going to—let's see——
Director Elmore. Uh-oh.
The President. Is she going to choke? [Laughter]
Director Elmore. No.
The President. Is she going to be the opposite of Bryson? Go ahead, say a couple—great.
You look great.
Director Elmore. Thank you, Mr. President, First Lady. And to everyone, merry Christmas.
Thank you so much for having me. It's an absolute honor.
I got to fly here today with Vanessa and all of the kids. And you just have such a wonderful family. Everyone is amazing and polite and smart and athletic and talented. So you guys have done a truly amazing job, and it's a testament to your family.
And I think this party is really special, because my son is here, my sister is here, and the holidays and Christmas are truly about family. And thank God that we have a President and a First Lady who puts our families first, who puts America first. And that's why we get to have this special, amazing, beautiful Christmas season the way that it is. And I thank God every day that President Trump won November 5 of last year, and I think we keep making America great again for all of these people here today, our children, our families.
So thank you so much for having me. And thank you, President, First Lady. [Inaudible]
The President. Thank you, dear. Thank you. Great. Now you know what——
Director Elmore. I didn't choke.
The President. ——I'm talking about. You did a good job.
I don't know. Scavino is great. But without that big power, do you think that she would have been interested in him? [Laughter] James, I don't know. I think the power is the thing that did it right?
Director Elmore. And his charming personality.
The President. He's a great guy. You've got a great guy. The best.
Director Elmore. He looks great these days.
The President. He's a handsome guy, right? Look at her. She's—now she's defending him. [Laughter]
Thank you. Erin, thank you very much.
Director Elmore. Thank you.
The President. Thank you, darling. Great job. I appreciate it.
So Mickie Gallagher. Where is Mickie? Mickie from—one of the—now, he's a great player too. Probably Mickie would agree that he's not quite as good as Bryson. [Laughter] He's the head pro at Bedminster. One of the most respected professionals, the most—like, in New Jersey, forget it. He's like a king. And he's a really good golfer. But we've given up on the tour stuff. Right, Mickie?
Trump National Golf Club Bedminster Director of Golf Mickie Gallagher III. We've given that up.
The President. [Laughter] We gave up.
Mr. Gallagher. [Inaudible]
The President. When you see somebody's a hundred yards longer, you say, "Let's go. Let's go back to hiring golf pros all over the place," right? Thank you, Mickie, for being here. And he is a great golfer.
Really terrific lawyer. He's been with me for a long time. I think he's got his family with him, and his family is great. Alan Garten. Where's Alan? Alan. Nice to see you, Alan. Boy, are
we winning cases or losing? I think we're winning. I guess we're winning because here we are, right? That's good. Well, you've done a great job. And look at that beautiful baby, huh? That—boy, he's not a baby anymore, right? Good. Good. Thank you, Alan.
Is your wife here? Who he happened to meet on the job. He met on the job. You know, we're not supposed to do that stuff—[laughter]—but they got along very well. I said, "To hell with it." We have very flexible rules in the Trump Organization. I said, "You know, those two seem to be two"—she's a great lawyer. I don't know, she may be a better lawyer than you, Alan, I hate to tell you.
But I noticed: They came into my office and they were extraordinarily friendly. You know?
Like, they'd walk in—two separate lawyers and—when—it's strange when they walk into my office and they're holding hands. [Laughter] You know, it's like—I said, "What the hell is going on over here?" Right?
So, Alan, I just want to thank you for doing a great job—both of you for doing a great job.
And congratulations on the family and everything.
A man who's really fantastic. He started off as a speechwriter, and my problem is, I didn't stick to his speech that much. [Laughter] But whenever I stuck to his speech, I would never get myself into trouble. But he's one of the greatest speechwriters in the world. And together with his partner, Ross, they form a team that—you know, they've been with me right from the beginning.
Vince, are you here? Vince? Oh, there you are, Vince. That's—it's amazing the way you blended in. He wants to blend in. And now he's doing something I think that's going to be the most exciting job of all.
And Ross is doing really well.
They split up, probably the first time. You know, they've always been a team. They wrote—they love each other. They got along so well for so many years. And I said, "You know, we have a couple of jobs."
Vince is unbelievable on policy, and we have a policy thing that's going to be unbelievable happening. Should I announce it, or should I keep it quiet?
Domestic Policy Council Director Vincent Haley. [Inaudible]
The President. I put Vince in charge of the triumphal arc. We're building an arch like the Arc de Triomphe. And we're building it by the Arlington bridge—the Arlington Cemetery, opposite the Lincoln Memorial. You could say Jefferson, Washington—everything—because they're all right there. And it's something that is so special. It will be like the one in Paris. But, to be honest with you, it blows it away. Blows it away in every way.
And Vince came in one day, and his eyes were teeming. I mean, he couldn't believe how beautiful it was—he saw it, and he wanted to do that. That's your primary thing. There is nothing that can compete with that. It's the only city in the world that's of great importance that doesn't have a triumphal arc. You know what that is. And this one is going to blow them all away.
The one that people know mostly is the Arc de Triomphe in Paris, France. And we're going to top it by, I think, a lot. The only thing they have is history. You know, 1860 is something—I always say, the one thing you can't compete with. But eventually, we'll have that history too, but we're going to have something that the—the likes of which has—has never been done before.
And it's been waiting for 200 years, literally. I think the Civil War got in the way of it.
You know the opening—they actually have the four—they have four columns, four small columns, with the eagles on top. And they have the circle, you know, before—on the other side
from the Lincoln. And it's so unbelievable. It's so unbelievable. It's been waiting for hundreds of years, and they were going to build on it a couple of times. It never happened. But it's a circle that's been waiting to have the arc built on it.
And I think we're very far along. I think you might want to show it to the National Trust, if you'd like. You might want to show it to a couple of people—take a look at it—because I've always gotten really along well with the National Trust. So, take a look and show it to them, and start—maybe they give you some good ideas too. Okay? But I'm proud of you, and I'm really especially proud of the job you've done.
From day one, he and his partner, Ross, have been writing really great speeches, and I just wish I stuck with them a little bit more often. [Laughter] But we go on and off those speeches, right? And I think, ultimately, that's the best combination, right? So one of the greatest in the world—the two of those guys, the greatest.
Then we have a man who—to me, this is the most interesting story.
Boy, do you look like Ivanka? Has anyone ever told you that? I'm looking—I'm saying, "Is that Ivanka"—could you just turn around for the camera? [Laughter] Does she look like Ivanka? It's the most unbelievable thing.
So I wouldn't—I didn't want to take a chance. I say, "Is that Ivanka?" You look just like Ivanka, which is a great compliment, actually.
So we have a doctor in the White House named Dr. James Jones. Can I tell this story?
White House Medical Unit Director Colonel James Jones, USA. Please, sir.
The President. And he's a great doctor, highly respected by so many people. He's helped so many people. I've had people come to the White House and they were so sick. I've had people come to the White House—along with your partner, you've got a—well, you have a lot of partners. You have Walter Reed Medical Center, which I think is the best in the world. They've seen things that nobody wants to see, right?
Col. Jones. Yes, sir.
The President. They have—doctors have told me, "If you can get out of here, you've seen it all." And that's why they produce some of the best doctors in the world.
Well, Dr. James Jones is a great doctor. He was the White House doctor during the Obama administration and during the Trump administration, and I guess during a little bit of maybe—no? Those two?
Col. Jones. Just those two.
The President. Because we had—we had somebody else named Doc Ronny, who actually got a glimpse of Obama in there too. Is that Doc Ronny back there? No? Doc Ronny did all three, and he said Trump is in the best health of all. He had Bush, he had Obama, he had Trump. He didn't have Biden. He didn't have Biden.
But Dr. James went on a trip to Peru with the two Obama girls. They wanted to go hiking in Peru. Was it Peru?
Col. Jones. Yes, sir.
The President. In Peru. And it's known for being a rather rough place in terms of physical creatures crawling around. Twenty-eight thousand people die a year from a snake bite—a certain snake. It's a viper, right? It's said to be the most poisonous snake in the world. And he made a comment, and somebody else told him, "That's very dangerous in that area to go hiking." And the
guide said: "Oh, don't worry, we never see that snake. It's over-exaggerated." Even though 27-, 28,000 people a year die. That's not overexaggerated—[laughter]—because when they lift the rice and the this and the that out of the water, they get hit. And if you get hit, it's automatic death.
So he goes out, and he's—in your last day, right? You're getting ready to come back. For 2 weeks, they're traipsing around in Peru, and he's got to follow them because he's the White House doctor. And he's with the two young ladies, who I'll bet are nice. You actually said they were very nice young ladies too. I'll bet they are.
And final day, final 2 hours, he gets hit by a viper, right? This is a terrible Christmas story, but it's a hell of a story, because I'll tell you what happened.
He gets hit with a viper, and he was—the viper missed him. It hit his jacket—a very thick jacket and spread all of the venom all over the place. It went all over. But that wasn't good enough for the viper. The viper hit him a second time, and this time it got him on the arm. And so, I think probably the only reason you made it, even though making it took him 2 years to make it.
But they read him the last rites. He was gone on three different occasions. They thought he was dead. And you know, it takes only a minute.
And because of Doc Ronny Jackson, he knew—they called in, and he was at the White House, and he knew from the description and the location, what kind of a snake it was, and they had the venom just in case. But the venom rarely works. It's so powerful. The snake is—it's said to be the most poisonous—that, the black mamba, the brown mamba, and the viper from Peru. You do not want to play games, okay?
And I'm telling this story because my son Don—this is a hell of a—you heard—did you hear this story, Don?
And so he's being read his rites and his—this is—they thought he was dead three times—three different times. They carried him out, feeding him the antivenom. And over a period of months, he was unconscious for a long time, many weeks, and he made it. I asked him, "How are you doing today?" I said, "Is it perfect?"
Look how quiet everybody is. You know—[laughter]—you know, it's funny when you talk about snakes and things like that, that people find it interesting. Would anybody like to go and go to Peru and walk around the forest with—he says: "No. No, thank you. No, thank you." I'll say, "No, thank you."
But this was a real—did they ever find the snake, by the way?
Col. Jones. They did, sir.
The President. They did find it? What did they do?
Col. Jones. They took care of it, sir. [Laughter]
The President. You know, normally—normally, the environmentalists and the animal rights people would say, "Oh, leave it alone. It's such a wonderful"—okay. Usually they say: "Leave it alone. Such a wonderful—leave the sharks alone. Don't touch the sharks. They're wonderful. I love the sharks." Right? I don't feel that way, but that's okay. Just lost about one vote, that's all.
But—so, he got better. And here's the story—the purpose of this story is that he wrote a book 9 years ago—would you say?—this was 9 years ago?
Col. Jones. Three years ago.
The President. Three years. The book is 3 years old. And it was okay, it sold about two copies. [Laughter] But it had a hell of a cover. And it has a cover of the White House, and this vicious snake. And it is vicious—teeth are like this, this—those fangs. These are not fangs you want, you know, sucking on your arm, right? As you had.
By the way, what did you do? When that snake was on your arm? You tried to get it off your arm, I guess, naturally. What was happening?
Col. Jones. I rolled off, sir, so—I don't remember.
The President. You mean, it hit you that hard that it knocked you out immediately.
Col. Jones. Yes, sir.
The President. I—it's unbelievable. So he wrote a book 3 years ago, and the book was fine. You know, it's like every other book. It didn't sell too much, but it was interesting. But I heard the story, and I'm fascinated by stories of wildlife because I have a theory: Wildlife always wins.
That's what my theory is. We can play games.
You know, I'm saying this for my son, by the way, because I have a son who would rather be in the jungle than any place on Earth. When I kick the bucket someday, he'll be—I figure, Bettina, I think he'll be here for about 2 days. He'll go and pay his respects, and we'll say, "Where's Don?" He'd rather be in some jungle or some—and he's a really good hunter. But remember this: Wildlife always wins, unfortunately, as in this case.
So what happened: Dr. Jones wrote a book, and the book was amazing. I said, "I want to get that book." And I got it, and the cover is unbelievable. You'll see it on Truth Social. It's on Truth Social. I put out a statement that this book is great. The story is incredible. Took him, like, 2 years to recover. And I think he's—he said he's lost something, but not up here.
[At this point, the President pointed to his head.]
I don't care if you've lost something physically, but as long as the head is good. Did you lose anything from the brain?
Col. Jones. No, sir.
The President. Good. Okay, then that's all I care about. I don't give damn about the use of your arm.
Col. Jones. My wife might tell a different story.
The President. Your wife is—did your wife—just—where is she? Oh, look at that. Wow.
Col. Jones. She's around here somewhere. She went to the—[inaudible].
The President. Where is the wife of Dr. Jones? I just want to know: Did he lose anything mentally? Because if he did, I want—I don't—I no longer want him as my doctor. [Laughter] Then—no, he's an unbelievable doctor.
No, here's the bottom line. So you had this book, he gets a call 2 days ago. I put out a Truth Social yesterday. I've sold a lot of bestsellers when I like people. I put it out. Great book. Bap, bap, bap. Picture of this viper coming like "boom" from the White House. And his publisher calls him. Said: "Doctor, what happened? What's going on?" He said, "We're beginning to"—did they sell a hundred thousand? What's the number?
Col. Jones. One-hundred thousand, sir.
The President. They sold 100,000 books. It's the number one bestseller. Can you believe it?
You know? It's the number-one best selling book. Can you believe that?
Col. Jones. No, sir. [Laughter]
The President. So, now you're a best-selling author. Now he can quit the White House and—[laughter]—but anyway, he's a great doctor with a terrible—that was a terrible experience. I mean, you went through hell for years, right?
And the power is incredible, of animals. You know, power is incredible. You got hit. And we—a lot of respect. The chances of living from that snake are substantially less than 1 percent, and that's only if you have the venom. Even if you have the venom, you don't live. And this guy's living.
But I have a feeling that first blow missing, that was—I assume there was a lot less going in, right? So—but it just——
Col. Jones. [Inaudible]—the good Lord had me.
The President. He said the good Lord saved him.
I can maybe say that too. [Laughter] Every once in a while, I get that throbbing feeling. I say, "Thank you very much." You know? So we're in, maybe, a similar position.
But you're a great doctor, and I appreciate it. I just think it's an incredible story. Go buy his book, but it's an incredible story. A hundred thousand books sold in a day and a half. That's incredible, right? It's amazing story.
I want to just explain a couple of things, and then I'm going to just leave by saying, "have a great Christmas."
But our country is doing really well. We inherited a mess from Biden and the Biden administration. We had the worst inflation in the history of our country. The worst inflation in the history of our country. Prices were the highest they ever were, and what we're doing is bringing them down.
We now have—inflation is totally neutralized. We may get it a little bit lower. You don't want to get it too—you don't want deflation. Deflation is, in many ways, worse than inflation.
But we have a record-setting—we have more people on Friday—we had more people working on Friday than at any time in the history of our country. Think of that. Wages have gone up by more than inflation—first time that's happened in many years. We are doing great, and prices are coming down.
And the Democrats use this word called "affordability." They look at the camera and they say, "What are you going to do for the affordability?" They keep saying, "Affordability." Well, they're the ones that caused the problem. Okay? They're the ones that caused the problem.
That's all they're—they're good at cheating in elections, very good at cheating. They're professionals at cheating, because we won in 2016 by a lot. The election was rigged in 2020. We have all the ammunition, all the stuff, and you'll see it come out. It's coming out in truckloads.
But then, we won again in 2024 with an election that we call "too big to rig." And we were leading big in the polls, but I said: "Go out and vote. You've got to go out and vote. Make it too big to rig," and that's exactly—they tried to rig it, but they couldn't do it. It was too big to rig, too many votes. And we won every single swing State. We won by millions of votes. We won the popular vote. We won the college—Electoral College. We won something else by a lot. We won something else that was amazing, and that's called "districts."
So the country is divided up into thousands of districts. We won 2,750 to 525. That's why, when you look at a map of the election, the entire map is red, other than two little blue stripes
along the outer edge, where one is California, one is New York. And California's election—New York also, but California more than any other place—is so rigged. It's such a rigged election.
You know, we won the Hispanic vote. So a lot of people say a Republican wouldn't win California, but I won the Hispanic vote. I won in Miami. The—think of that. In Miami, I won the Hispanic vote.
Along the Texas border, I won every single city or town touching the Texas border, and they're 85- to 90-percent Hispanic. We won the Hispanic vote.
If the vote in California was legitimate—which it's not—they have 38 million ballots.
Everything is mail-in voting. They mail out 38 million ballots, and they come in. Where the hell do they go and where do they come from? It's a rigged election in California, because we would win California by a lot.
And, again, they feel they have the advantage with Hispanic. They don't, because I won Hispanic vote.
So we are—we did something that was amazing. We made a comeback, and we got the most Republican votes in the history of elections. We won Texas by more votes than anybody's ever gotten to this—well, I did number one, number two, and three—all three, I did, in Texas and Alabama and many other States. We won—in many States, we have the all-time record for votes. And it was just a great election. This was a great election.
And you had long since recovered from the viper bite. So you acknowledge that this was a great—because I said, "I want that guy as my doctor," and it's true, and your partner is so great. He's such a great guy.
So I just want to say, this was an amazing period of time. Our country has been turned around much faster than I thought. If you would have told me that 10 months in, we would have over $18 trillion—with a "t"—not billion, but $18 trillion coming in—and they're coming in. It's all—they're building car plants. They're building AI plants. They're building everything at a level that we've never seen—that no country has ever seen before.
Now, I assume that's going to start—it's already showing up, but I assume that it's going to start showing up.
I'll be picking a new head of the Fed soon. Our Fed person is absolutely—despite him, we have numbers that really nobody has ever seen, Vince. Right? Despite him, we have numbers that nobody has ever seen before. We're fighting through him, and we'll soon have a good head of the Fed who's going to want to see interest rates go down. But we're fighting through higher interest rates.
But the interest rates are coming down despite him. He's an—incompetent. He's an incompetent person who suffers from Trump derangement syndrome. Okay? It's one of those little problems.
We have many of them, but we're fighting through that stuff, and we have a country that potentially is geared to have the most incredible golden years ever. We're going to have—it's the golden age. I say it's the golden age of America.
When these factories and plants open up by the thousands—Toyota just announced they're going to spend $10 billion building plants to make Toyotas. So they're coming from Germany. They're coming from Japan. They're coming from Canada. Many factories are coming in because there's—they don't have—they don't want to pay tariffs. Very simple. They're coming in and they're spending a tremendous—they're spending hundreds of billions of dollars.
Our car industry lost 58 percent of their capacity over the years. They went to Europe. They went to Mexico, Japan. They went all over. They went to South Korea. And now, it's just the opposite. They're all coming back.
We're going to—we have an age that's coming up the likes of which I don't think this country has—this country has never seen. And I just look so forward to the results. You're going to see results in 6 months to a year. I think you'll see results. We've never had anything like it.
Again, there's never been any country—China, wonderful. I have a great relationship with President Xi. China has never seen it. Nobody has ever seen it.
And by the way, we're leading in AI by a lot. AI is a big deal, and we're leading in AI by a lot. And the big problem was electricity. But I allow our plants—in other words, all of these geniuses that are building a $60 billion—billion—$60 billion plant, I allow them to build their own electric capacity as part of the plant, and that solved the problem with the old grid. So they're able to do things that nobody thought they'd be able to do. We're getting them very fast approvals, and many of those plants are right now being built.
So we have things happening like nobody's ever seen before. We have a great country. It's a great time to have Christmas.
And I just want to introduce a person who's very outstanding. She is a great person, a highly respected woman. Every time I make a speech, I see signs, "We love our First Lady. We love our First Lady." They love our First Lady. What can I do? I don't like it, because I think they like her more than they like me, and I am not happy about it. [Laughter] I am not happy. We're going to have to have a discussion about this. But they love our First Lady.
And you know, Melania did all of these decorations, and she's gotten great reviews.
The first year she did the trees, they were—that's right. The first year, year one, she did the trees. They were white, and they were so—you know, snow—beautiful. And the fake news hit her hard.
The next year, they were red—gorgeous red. They hit her hard. The next year, they were another color. They hit her.
I said: "Baby, do me a favor. Do me a favor. Make the trees green. Let them just be green.
They're so beautiful. Let them be green."
Anyway, she has gotten the greatest reviews I've ever seen, and nobody has ever gotten reviews like this for the White House. I actually liked the white ones better, but what am I going to—[laughter].
She has done a great job, and maybe I'll ask her to say a few words. She loves you all. Thank you very much.
The First Lady. Good afternoon. Welcome to the White House. It's nice to see familiar faces.
First of all, my thoughts and prayers go to the families of people who lost their loved ones around the world in this difficult time. We are celebrating here Christmas, and I'm thinking about them, what they're going through. So my heart is with them.
I would like that you enjoy today, the White House. It's a special place, and we have Santa visiting today. I hope you saw him, and, if not, go to visit him in the Green Room—the family's room, game room. He's waiting for you. You could take pictures and maybe whisper to him what you would like to have as a present for Christmas. So enjoy the time.
Wishing you a merry Christmas and a very happy new year, and all the best to your families.
Thank you.
The President. Thank you, honey.
And I just want to say, go—you're here for a reason: It's to celebrate Christmas and all of the holidays and the success of America. But we have the best chefs here. You are going to love that food. So go and get the food.
Everybody wants to come to the Christmas party. I have made so many enemies because you can only have so many. And I've made so many enemies because I'm saying: "I'm sorry. We're just not able to accommodate you." I don't necessarily say it myself, but our people do. [Laughter]
And I think it's 10-to-1, Vince—10-to-1. The 1 gets in and the 10 don't. This is not a good—politically, this is not a good thing, but you're here. The food is phenomenal. Go eat.
Merry Christmas, happy Hanukkah, and really have a fantastic year. We're going to have a great year. Thank you very much, everybody. Thank you.
NOTE: The President spoke at 1 p.m. on the State Floor at the White House. In his remarks, he referred to Ella Cook and Mukhammad Aziz Umurzokov, students, Brown University, who were killed in the shooting on December 13; Iowa National Guard members Sgt. Edgar B. Torres-Tova, USA, and Sgt. W. Nathaniel Howard, USA, and civilian interpreter Ayad Mansoor Sakat, were killed when their convoy of joint U.S. and Syrian forces was attacked in Palmyra, Syria, on December 13; President Ahmad Husayn al-Shara' of Syria; Prime Minister Anthony Albanese of Australia; Ahmed al Ahmed, a local shopkeeper who wrestled suspected gunman Sajid Akram to the ground and disarmed him before being shot by the second suspected gunman Naveed Akram in Sydney, Australia, on December 14; Vanessa Trump, ex-wife, and Bettina Anderson, fiancée, of the President's son Donald J. Trump, Jr.; Gregory Bodine, caddie for Mr. DeChambeau; professional golfer Vijay Singh; Casey Means, the President's nominee to be U.S. Surgeon General; White House Director of Legislative Affairs James C. Braid, Deputy Chief of Staff Daniel J. Scavino, Jr., and Director of Speechwriting Ross Worthington; Alan G. Garten, executive vice president and chief legal officer, Trump Organization, and his wife Alexis L. Robinson; Rep. Ronny L. Jackson, in his former capacity as Physician to the President; Natasha "Sasha" and Malia Obama, daughters of former President Barack Obama; Jennifer Jones, wife of Col. Jones; and Chairman of the Federal Reserve System Board of Governors Jerome H. Powell. He also referred to the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) terrorist organization. Mr.
DeChambeau referred to retired professional golfer Gary J. Player; and Masayoshi Son, chief executive officer, SoftBank Group. Director Elmore referred to her son Royce and sister Ashley Elmore-Bosonac. The transcript was released by the Office of Communications on December 15.
Categories: Addresses and Remarks : Christmas reception. Locations: Washington, DC.
Names: Ahmed, Ahmed al; Albanese, Anthony; Anderson, Bettina; Biden, Joseph R., Jr.; Blair, James; Bodine, Gregory; Braid, James C.; Bush, George W.; Cook, Ella; DeChambeau, Bryson; Elmore, Erin M.; Gallagher, Mickie, III; Garten, Alan G.; Haley, Vincent; Howard, W. Nathaniel; Jackson, Ronny L.; Jones, James; Jones, Jennifer; Means, Casey; Obama, Barack; Obama, Malia; Obama, Natasha "Sasha"; Powell, Jerome H.; Robinson, Alexis L.; Sakat, Ayad Mansoor; Scavino, Daniel J.; Shara', Ahmad Husayn al-; Singh, Vijay; Torres-Tova, Edgar B.; Trump, Chloe; Trump, Donald J., Jr.; Trump, Ivanka M.; Trump, Kai; Trump, Melania; Trump, Spencer; Trump, Tristan; Trump, Vanessa; Umurzokov, Mukhammad Aziz; Worthington, Ross; Xi Jinping.
Subjects: 2024 Presidential election; Anti-Semitism; Artificial intelligence and other emerging technologies; Australia, Prime Minister; Australia, shooting at Bondi Beach in Sydney; Automobile industry, strengthening efforts; China, President; Christmas; Domestic Policy Council; Federal Reserve System; Golf; Hanukkah; Inflation; Interest rates; Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) terrorist organization; Manufacturing industry, domestic investment; Rhode Island, shooting at Brown University in Providence; Syria, death of U.S. servicemembers in Palmyra; Syria, President; Tariffs; Voter participation; White House Deputy Chief of Staff; White House Deputy Chief of Staff for Legislative, Political, and Public Affairs; White House Director of Legislative Affairs; White House Director of Speechwriting; White House Medical Unit.
DCPD Number: DCPD202501193.