Administration of Donald J. Trump, 2026
March 12, 2026
The First Lady. Good afternoon. Please, sit down.
It is wonderful to see here in the White House so many incredible women this afternoon.
The strength of America is closely tied to the role women play in shaping their children's character, education, and morals. The values cultivated within our communities shape the voice and vision of our next generation.
A woman's influence strengthens our democracy, capital markets, and time-tested business institutions. Across the country today, women are finding unique ways to balance career ambition and family. We all know these incredible women. They dominate America's workforce now more than ever before.
As a visionary, I know success is not born overnight, but rather takes shape after a long and sometimes challenging process. Often alone at the top, I follow my passion, listen to my instinct, and always maintain a laser focus. In solitude, my creative mind dances, filling my imagination with originality.
Attention to detail, demanding schedules, and multitasking are everyday realities when building towards success. The principle resonates across all my roles: as a mother, humanitarian, philanthropist, and entrepreneur. As well as with my new film, where I shaped its creative direction, served as producer, managed postproduction, and activated the marketing campaign.
Curiosity is a core value that keeps me ahead of the curve. Curiosity begets knowledge, opening doors to ideas and industry that I have otherwise overlooked. This unrestricted mindset has led me to build across very different sectors: fashion, digital assets, publishing, accessories, skincare, commercial television, and of course, filmmaking.
The lessons I learned when launching my earliest ventures, such as how to build a brand, create superior product design, and activate an advertising campaign, remains just as relevant today. Markets evolve, technologies change, but the fundamentals of thoughtful leadership and continuous learning are everlasting.
To all of the young women, entrepreneurs, and future leaders: Make time for yourself, educate yourself daily, and spread your passion. Be courageous and take risks. Advance your profession through inspiration. Be a bold chief executive while keeping your family, if you choose so, at the center of your nation's future.
And now it is my privilege to introduce our Commander in Chief, who throughout his career has demonstrated a strong commitment to promoting women in leadership roles.
Please welcome the President, Donald J. Trump.
The President. Well, thank you very much. Movie star. Can you believe this? [Laughter] Can you believe it? That wasn't supposed to happen. We were supposed to have a nice, normal life.
But she's terrific and a big success. And I think it was number one last night streaming. It went on streaming last night. It was number one. So, I don't know, maybe she's getting a little too big for the White House. We'll have to think about that. [Laughter]
Anyway, thank you, honey. She really is something.
And I want to really congratulate you, and I want to thank everyone for being here today. You know, very exciting. It's always exciting to be with you. We love women. Women are the whole deal. Okay?
And today is very special because we celebrate Women's History Month. That's what it's about every year.
Vehicular Attack at the Temple Israel Synagogue in West Bloomfield, Michigan
And before we begin, I want to send our love to the Michigan Jewish community and all of the people in Detroit—the Detroit area following the attack on the Jewish synagogue early today. And I've been briefed—fully briefed, and it's a terrible thing, but it goes on. We're going to be right down to the bottom of it. It's absolutely incredible that things like this happen.
U.S. Military Operations in Iran
On another front, an entirely different front, the situation with Iran is moving along very rapidly. It's doing very well. Our military is unsurpassed. There's never been anything like it. Nobody's ever seen anything like it. And we're doing what has to be done. Should have been done during a 47-year period. Could have been done by a lot of different people. They chose not to do it.
But they really are a nation of terror and hate, and they're paying a big price right now.
Women's History Month
We're honored to be joined by many extraordinary ladies, working moms, and amazing women who are making history themselves. You really are.
I want to thank Second Lady Usha Vance, who's a fantastic person. Where is Usha? Usha. And really, you have been such an inspiration to a lot of women, Usha. Thank you very much. Appreciate it. And your husband's doing a good job. [Laughter]
The youngest and perhaps the best White House Press Secretary in history, Karoline. Where is Karoline? Doing a fantastic job, Karoline. She keeps me straight. She keeps me: "No, sir. You can't do that. You can't do this." [Laughter] I can't do anything. Life would be so much more exciting, wouldn't it? [Laughter] Thank you, Karoline. Great.
Attorney General Pam Bondi, my friend. Good, hon. Good. Got some big things in store.
She's doing a great job. Thank you, Pam.
Labor Secretary, Lori Chavez-DeRemer. Thank you, Lori. Thank you very much. Senator Cindy Hyde-Smith, who just had—what'd you get, 84, 85 percent of the vote?
What's going on?
You know, now I can tell this story. I wouldn't—but Cindy Hyde called me up years ago when she first ran. It was a tough race. It was one of their top people in the White House. I won't mention the President, because we don't want to mention anybody. Get yourself in lot of trouble.
But it was their top person and it looked very tough for any Republican candidate. And Cindy Hyde was the one, and she was not—I don't know, not like—the people that knew her loved her, but not a lot of people knew her.
And she said: "Sir, could you do me a favor? Could you give me a rally?" I said, "A rally's a big deal." [Laughter] And I got there, and she said, "Would you stay and do another rally in another part of the state?" Nobody's ever—and we ended up with three of them.
And she won in a landslide, right?
And now she's at 85 percent. And now she wins. She doesn't need rallies. I say, "Do you want me to do a rally?" "I don't need any rallies, sir." [Laughter] She got 85 percent. Good. I was so happy to—not surprised, but I was so happy. And that's because you've done a great job. Great job. Thank you very much.
Representatives Virginia Foxx—my friend for a long time. Virginia, thank you. Kat Cammack. Kat, thank you very much. Thank you, Kat. Diana Harshbarger. Where is Diana? Diana, thank you. A friend of mine, a very talented person too. Very smart. Victoria Spartz. We argue, but we always come to the same place. Doing a good job.
And of course, Kellyanne Conway. Has anyone ever heard of her? She's fantastic. She's in there fighting. She's a—Kellyanne. A man—a friend of mine said: "You know that Kellyanne? I admire the way she goes in and she screams at those people. She's got us"—meaning the media. [Laughter] Because this is a man that doesn't do very well with the media. It's one of those things. But thank you, Kellyanne.
And also, I want to thank the New York Stock Exchange and the person who is so instrumental in its great success: Lynn Martin. Thank you very much, Lynn. Great job. Great job. Say hello to Jeff, right? Thank you very much.
Going all the way back to our Nation's founding in 1776, America has been strengthened beyond measure by the courage, by the spirit, love, devotion, and the incredible women—I mean, all of these incredible women who have served our Nation, uplifted our communities, pioneered new industries, and been the heart and soul of the American family. And they are the heart and soul.
From Martha Washington to Betsy Ross, from Clara Barton to Amelia Earhart, and Rosa Parks to Aretha Franklin, American women have propelled us to even greater heights.
And now the Trump administration is working every single day to make America better, safer, and more prosperous for women—and men. But—[laughter]—but much more importantly for women. And they are really the inspiration. They are so, so powerful and so important and so beautiful.
I'm not allowed to use the word "beautiful," but I'm using it anyway. [Laughter] Usually, it's the end of your political career if you say a woman's a beautiful woman. They say, "That's a termination of his career." But somehow it hasn't hurt too much. [Laughter] You are. You're incredible women, and you're beautiful women.
While we're here to celebrate Women's History Month today, we also are celebrating National Working Moms Day. A very special day. And since I took office, we've created more than 300—listen to this number: 300,000 jobs now filled by proud, hard-working American women. It's a record.
The number of women-owned business increased by 1.2 million last year alone. That's also a record. These are all records. Got a lot of records. Think of that: 1.2 million, last year alone, businesses opened by women. Very ambitious people. Very, very ambitious. Very, very amazing.
To support working moms like many in this room, last year we passed the largest tax cuts in American history. So our opponents, as you know, want to raise taxes. We decided to lower tax-
—all my life, I've watched politicians—I've only started this about 10 years ago, but I watched politicians and I watched them so diligently. I loved it. I loved watching. They'd always say: "We will cut your taxes. We're going to cut your taxes. We'll cut your taxes." Even if they didn't mean it, they said it. [Laughter]
The Democrats say, "We will raise your taxes." I've never heard anything, but maybe that's why we won in a landslide. Maybe. But we did cut your taxes, and that includes no tax on tips, no tax on overtime, and no tax on Social Security for our great seniors. That's a big deal.
And with us today is Heather Kell, joined by her 14-year-old beautiful son Finley. Heather is a single mom and waitress in Hendersonville, North Carolina. A great place. And thanks to the "One Big Beautiful Bill," she got a big, beautiful tax refund of $4,000 this year, which she didn't expect.
And, Heather, please come up and tell us how excited you are to receive that. Come on up, Heather. Thank you. Thank you, darling. Great.
Hendersonville, NC, resident Heather Kell. Thank you.
The President. Let me put that down a little bit.
[At this point, the President lowered the podium microphone.] Ms. Kell. Thank you. I'm honored to be here today.
I have been a waitress for over 20 years, and a lot of the people I've seen come and go in the industry are single moms, and they work hard. They're the hardest working people I know. And then, at the end of the year, they're always super stressed out because they don't know where they're going to come up with the extra couple thousand dollars that they owe on the taxes.
And this year, I had to do a double take. [Laughter] I had to do my taxes twice to make sure this was real. I couldn't believe it. Thank you. Thank you so much.
The President. Thank you, Heather. Great. Thank you.
Ms. Kell. I appreciate you.
The President. I love that ending. [Laughter] Wasn't that beautiful? That's from the heart.
That's from the heart.
Thanks, Heather. Spend it wisely, right? [Laughter] Thank you.
Also with us is Nora Pruitt, a proud mom of seven and a sheetmetal worker from Baltimore, Maryland. She's seeing how our manufacturing renaissance is bringing opportunity back to America.
And if you would, please come up, Nora. Thank you. Thank you very much. Thank you.
Baltimore, MD, resident Nora Pruitt. Hi. I'm Nora Pruitt. I'm blessed with a wonderful husband Jason Pruitt and my seven adorable children. [Laughter]
I'm a working mom. I used to be a housekeeper for 9 years. A year ago, I got a job—a career job at Marlin Steel Wire Productions in Baltimore, Maryland. I was matched with great pay, a 401(k) with great match. I got a huge promotion to set up a wire forming machine. We only use
U.S.A. steel, and we only make in the U.S.A.
With the "Big Beautiful Bill," we were able to buy one of the most expensive tools our factory has ever bought.
Within that, it totally changed our lives. We were able to buy a five-bedroom home on an acre of land.
The President. Wow.
Ms. Pruitt. I just want to tell you, thank you so much.
The President. Thank you.
Ms. Pruitt. Thank you.
The President. That's pretty good.
Ms. Pruitt. Thank you.
The President. That's pretty good. Thank you. Wow. That's pretty good, huh? [Laughter]
So we have another person that I'm going to introduce.
You know, they said, "You mind bringing up five people?" I said, "Not really, but it's a lot." Then I looked at them. I said: "How about some more like that? We want more."
But thank you. That's great. Great job you did.
Another working mom benefiting from our policies is Lexie Chambers, and she's a second-generation farmer from Virginia who's got two wonderful daughters, June and Tillie. They're benefiting from our "One Big Beautiful Bill." I always say "Great Big Beautiful Bill" because I like it better, Pam. [Laughter] They say, "Sir, that's not the exact." I said, "Don't worry about it. It'll be just fine." Great Big Beautiful Bill, because that's what it is—and the $12 billion in farm relief we issued using tariff revenue. We get $12 billion. We took in tremendous amounts of money. We're taking in money because of the tariffs and, really, jobs are coming in through the roof, and we have factories being built all over the country.
As an example, in the last administration, less than $1 trillion in 4 years. We've taken in $18 trillion plus in 11 months. We haven't included the 12th month yet. So we're at more than $18 trillion, and it's a record in the history of our country. We've never done anything——
And that was for a lot of good things. It was because of November 5, but it was also because of tariffs.
So, Lexie, please come up and say a few words. Lexie. Come on up, Lexie.
Audience members. Aww!
The President. Oh, that's so beautiful. How are you? Nice to see you. Come on up.
Brooke Farms employee Lexie Chambers. Hi. My daughter June had to join me. She was not wanting to stay. [Laughter]
The President. Oh, that's great.
Ms. Chambers. As a second-generation—the wife of a second-generation Virginia farmer, one of my biggest goals, second to teaching my children to love Jesus above all else, is to ensure that my daughters have the opportunity to farm one day.
President Trump, your support of American agriculture through your changes and updates of the estate tax relief for family farms has allowed families like mine the opportunity to ensure that my daughters can farm one day.
Thank you for your work on——
The President. Thank you so much.
Ms. Chambers. ——OBBB and your support of the American family farm.
The President. Thank you very much. That's so nice. Thank you. That's beautiful.
You know, one of the things that we were just thinking about and talking about and something so important is exactly that. You mentioned—I never mention it, but so big—when you want to pass on your farm to your beautiful daughter someday. A lot of people, until we came along—I came along, we all came along together—you had a tremendous estate tax. They call it a death tax.
You want the farm to go—well, they had tremendous estate tax. In some cases, they're sort of semi land rich, but cash poor. But that's the way it is sometimes.
And farms were being lost all over the country. They were being taken away from the banks.
And we ended the death tax. We ended it for the farmers, for manufacturers, and small businesses. So you're not going to be losing your farms anymore. Okay? It's going to be a long time from now, many, many years—70, 80 years, but she's going to have no tax to pay. Okay? [Laughter] Going to be in a long time.
Thank you very much. That was great.
One of the most important ways we can support women is by bringing law and order and public safety back to our country. And for the past 10 months in a row—think of that: 10 months in a row—zero illegal aliens have been admitted to the United States, which is an amazing number.
In 1 year, we've seen the largest decline in murder—in the murder rate in 125 years. It's back to the year 1900.
That's before my father was born. He never liked talking about age. He probably would hate me saying that, but—[laughter]—it was. It was before—way before my father was born.
And 125 years, the lowest number of murders. And part of that is what we've done with your department, Pam, and what we've done with some other departments. And Homeland has been amazing. So many people have worked so hard.
You know, Washington, DC, did not have a great reputation for security and safety, and now, as you know, it's the single—well, let's just say it's real safe—[laughter]—because somebody is going to find—I have to be very careful with the fake news media. They will find—they will say: "Well, wait a minute. There was a place in Tennessee that was slightly"—it's gone from a very dangerous place, where a lot of bad things happened, to one of the safest cities in the country. You can come here now, and we've had an amazing record. It's been incredible. It's a—it's a real turnaround.
Likewise, Memphis, Tennessee, a lot of problems. The mayor called, the Governor called, and we went out and did a job. And in 3 months, crime is down 74 percent, and we'll get it down even beyond that, much beyond that. It was very quick.
But I also deployed the National Guard to bring back safety to Memphis and New Orleans and all these other places. And they have done some job. What great people they are.
Our Capital is now considered—in fact, here's a stat—the safest Capital anywhere in the world. How about that? We went from probably the most unsafe—I think we went from the most unsafe to certainly one of the safest.
And here today is an outstanding female law enforcement officer keeping her community safe, Sheriff Michelle Cook from Clay County, Florida. Great place, Florida. Come on up.
Michelle grew up in a military family, started as an officer almost 35 years ago, and has now been sheriff for nearly 6 years, and she's done a great job. And maybe more importantly, she's a great mom. They say, "I think you're a great mom."
So thank you very much, Michelle. Please.
Sheriff Michelle Cook of Clay County, FL. Thank you.
The President. Thank you.
Sheriff Cook. Mr. President, the only place safer than Washington is going to be Clay County, Florida. [Laughter]
The President. Okay. [Laughter]
Sheriff Cook. Okay. All right.
Good afternoon. My name is Michelle Cook, and I am a 35-year law enforcement veteran, and I currently serve as the sheriff—elected sheriff in Clay County, Florida.
And I'd like to thank the President and Mrs. Trump for having all these beautiful women in here today. Thank you so much.
My husband Don and I are raising a big, beautiful blended family that includes six kids, and there's two topics that I know very, very well: that's raising kids and serving my community.
Raising a family is an honor, and with President Trump's no tax on overtime law, families can now recognize additional dollars from their hard work: $12,000—up to $12,500 per individual, and up to $25,000 back in the pockets of hard-working Americans who work overtime to make their families happy and to provide the necessities that they need. And I want to say thank you for that, because it is making a difference in Clay County, Florida.
I'd also like to talk about law enforcement. As I mentioned, I've done 35 years in this field, and one thing that I will tell you is that crime will rise to the level that a community allows it to rise. And when you have a President of the United States standing up from the whitest house—and the White House and the Washington, DC, saying that we will have law and order in our Nation, that sets the tone and that sets the expectation.
And I can tell you, it is an honor to serve my community with you at the very top, sir. Thank you so much.
The President. Thank you.
Sheriff Cook. Thank you.
In closing, I would like to say God bless our first responders, God bless our military, God bless our President, and God bless the United States of America. Thank you.
The President. Thank you. Great job. And she looks like no games. I'm watching her. I'm saying—[laughter]—she looks like a tough one. Thank you. And I hear you do an incredible job. I got the word from Florida. Great honor.
As we make our community safe again, my administration is also fighting for school choice and also bringing education back to the States so that you run them—right, Virginia?—so that you run them from your local community, not from Washington, DC. We've done that. And Linda McMahon has done an incredible job, by the way.
And that's done so that American moms can send their children to a school that shares their values and everything else.
The Trump administration listens to women and moms, which is why we are doing more to help women struggling with infertility than any administration in history. This all started when I got a call from Katie Britt, a great Senator from Alabama. I don't know if she's here, but I never said, "Be here."
But she did call me and she said, "Listen, we have a problem." And she explained the problem. I wasn't that familiar with it, I must tell you. But after about 2 minutes, I understood it very well. And we really took that issue—infertility. We took the whole situation with what was happening. So many bad things were happening throughout the country, and we solved it with my most favored nation agreements that we just had approved by other countries. Just about all the countries all over the world, which had—nobody was—they always said, Kellyanne, you couldn't get them to do it. I got them all to do it.
And the calls lasted not even that long a period. I said, "You got to do it," because we were paying the highest price anywhere in the world for drugs and prescription drugs, and now we're paying the lowest price anywhere in the world. They had to agree to it. They did. They had to agree. They said it would be impossible to get.
The drug companies, I had to get them, but they didn't care because they said, "You'll never get the countries." But I got the countries quickly. I said, "Listen, Emmanuel"—like France, just as an example—"you have to double the price of your drugs. You'll still be low, but you have to double them." "No, no, no. I will not do that, Donald. I will not do that. [Laughter] Are you crazy? I'm not going to double the price." But this has gone on for 35 years.
And I said: "No, you're going to do it. You're going to." "No, no, I will not do it." "Yes, you are. And I'll tell you why: Because if you don't do it, I'm going to put a big tariff on everything coming in from France," or whatever country, because I made numerous of these calls.
And it took me—the first answer was always, "No, no, no, Donald, I will not do it." The second answer was like, "Well, I agree to do it." [Laughter] And every single country agreed. And because of that, we are cutting your drug prices by 60, 70, 80, and even 90 percent. Can you believe that? That's the biggest thing to happen in medicine in so long.
And when you think about it, you know, it used to be—I had a time—we had a very successful first term. Best economy ever. We did a lot of great things. We rebuilt our military.
That's one of the reasons we're doing so well now with our military. I never thought I'd have to be using it so much. But when you look at what they did in Venezuela and now what they're doing in Iran, it's been amazing.
But when you look at all of this, everybody was saying that this could never be done with the drugs. It could never be done. And in my first term, I was so proud of myself because I was able to cut the drugs one-quarter of a percent. Now, this doesn't sound so good, but I was proud.
Twenty-eight years, drug costs went up, and it never stopped. Went up, up, up. And I had—in my third year, I cut drugs one-quarter of 1 percent, and it was like a big deal because that never happened before. And I had a news conference. I announced that I cut drugs one-quarter. It's the first time in 28 years.
But now I cut drug prices by 80 percent, 75 percent. A low one, a bad one would be 50 percent. Think of it: One-quarter of a percent, I was happy. But you know, with experience, you learn.
And these are the biggest drug price cuts this country has ever had by 25 times. And I think it's going to make a very big difference, all you great Congresspeople back there that helped me. It's going to make a great difference. There's never been anything like it. It's called most favored nation agreements. I got them with all the countries. And so now, instead of paying the highest price in the whole world, we're paying the lowest price in the whole world. So it's pretty good.
And I'm very, very happy, very proud of that, actually. It should be the biggest story. I don't get any—nobody wants to write about it. That's why I talk about it. They don't want to write about it.
There was a little story like this——
[The President made motions with his fingers indicating a small size.]
——in the New York Times. Should have been headlines. I picked up the New York Times. I said to my wife: "Oh, this is a big one. This is going to be front page." She said, "I couldn't find the story." [Laughter] I said, "Oh, they must have been a little bit late." You know, they are a lot late.
So I figured it was the next day. I looked the next day. There was nothing. It's unbelievable.
How would you like to cut drug prices, Kellyanne? How would you like to cut drug prices by 80 percent and not have a story about it? Huh? Something a little cuckoo there, isn't there? [Laughter]
But the people got it. That's why we won. The people got it, Sheriff. Right?
But I'm also doing something else with—I think was, you know, not much to me. I say, "Can this really be possible?" We're keeping men out of women's sports. Is that okay with 90 percent of the people?
And we're putting that in the SAVE America Act as one of our five. That's voter ID. We want voter ID. We want proof of citizenship.
We want no transgender mutilization of your children. We don't want transgender—that's number three.
We want no men in women's sports. That's number four.
And we don't want to have mail-in voting, where the votes go—where the hell do they come from? So we're going to—we do that.
It's five things. They're all 99 percent. They say, oh, that's an 80 percent issue, like voter ID. No, I think it's a 99—I think the Democrats have it at 87 percent. The leadership doesn't want it.
Why don't you want voter ID? There's only one reason. Ready? Because you want to cheat.
Audience members. That's right.
The President. Okay? They blame it on all sorts of things. They came up—they said it's racist. They came up with things that you have to say, "Their imagination is great."
No, we're not going to let them cheat like they did in a certain election that we won't talk about. But that election was—and they cheat now. Look, we're not going to let it happen.
So we're going to go get the SAVE America Act, not the SAVE Act. Nobody knew what the SAVE Act meant. The SAVE Act. What—save what? SAVE America Act. And it's—we're going to do everything we can.
It's hard to believe we're having a hard time. I think anybody that votes against it shouldn't be allowed to run for office, if you want to know the truth. But we're working very hard on it. It shouldn't be—it should—every one of those five points—every one of them is, I think, close to a 95 percent. They say, "Voter ID, that's an 80 percent issue." It's not 80 percent. It's 99 percent, I believe. And so are most of the others.
So there's five points. I call them "best of." They're best of Trump. You know, like "best of" for an athlete. The best plays, best of. These are best of Trump. So, hopefully we're going to get them.
But I'm also keeping the men out of the women's sports, and I signed an Executive order declaring that there are only two genders: male and female. Complicated, isn't it? Male and
female. I don't think the First Lady is going to have a problem. Am I okay with that one? I'm not—because she will say to me sometimes, "I don't like that particular stance."
[A baby cried.]
I don't know. That's okay. We like that baby crying. [Laughter]
Melania will say, "I don't like that particular stance." But I think we're okay on that one. Two genders, okay? Male and female. She—[laughter]—I think so. We'll be okay.
And we have put the world on notice that America will not allow men to compete against women in the 2028 Olympics, where we have—we have the Olympics.
And we have the Olympics. We have the World Cup coming up. And we have twenty—you know, the—really, the biggest of—is 250. And I did all three of them.
I did—the Olympics, I got the Olympics. Then I got the World Cup. Then I got 250, but I've never been given credit for that. The men—they won't give me credit for 250 years, but I'm here for 250. [Laughter] I tried to take credit for that, but I haven't been able to get it.
But a person that I recognized immediately when I came into the room—I looked down, I said—because I didn't read it. I can't—if I prepare my speeches, I won't have time to get things done, you know? Do you ever hear that? [Laughter] Yes, I cannot prepare.
So I didn't know who the hell I was speaking to. [Laughter] But I walked in and I saw this beautiful woman with the blonde hair. I watched that bobsled. I don't know how the hell you do it, Kaillie.
But Kaillie was the star—a big star—of the Olympics and other Olympics also. And she's a six-time Olympic medalist—think of that—and she's won more gold medals than any other female bobsledder in history. She's a total champion. I watched the whole deal with you. You were getting ready and they said, "Maybe, I don't know."
She was prime, prime 8 years ago. They said that that was terrible. And then you ended up winning again, you know. [Laughter] She—you're going to be prime for a long time, I'll tell you that. What a tremendous athlete, and it's an honor.
But I literally—I walked in, and I said—because I don't know most of you, unfortunately, but I knew her because I watched that whole thing. [Laughter]
And she recently got back from Cortina, Italy, where she won two bronze medals as America cheered her on. And she's won the golds, and she's won more than anybody else. And it's amazing to have you here, and it's a great honor.
Come on up, Kaillie.
You're much braver than me. Please.
Team U.S.A. bobsledder Kaillie Humphries. Appreciate it.
I don't know about braver, but—it's a real honor to be here today.
Yes, I'm a six-time Olympic medalist, three of them gold, but the title—sorry—I'm most proud of is "Mom."
Audience member. Yes!
Ms. Humphries. Thank you. Yes.
My journey to motherhood was a 2½ year process through IVF. And I was constantly told that as soon as I became a mom, my career in athletics was going to be over; I was never going to
reach the Olympic podium again. Mentally, physically, I could never get my body and my mind back.
And I think the ultimate way to tell somebody that, you know, they'll never do it: Say, "Don't do it," and I'm going to go out and do it. That's just how it goes.
The ultimate dream I had was to become a mom and then be able to stand on the Olympic podium, and this year I got to do that with my one-and-a-half-year-old son. Thank you. Yes.
So, being able to earn these two bronze medals, they feel like gold. They really do. He is my gold medal and will always be for the rest of my entire life.
As a legal immigrant competing for the United States of America, a country that has adopted me, it's one of the greatest honors I've had in my entire life. Having my 1-year-old son chase me around the Olympic podium—another huge honor and a dream come true.
I want to encourage every single mother out there to follow your dreams and don't let anybody put limits on what you believe you can do.
The only Olympic medalist—we're actually allowed to award what's called the Order of Ikkos. So every Olympic medalist in the United States gets an Order of Ikkos that they get to hand to somebody in honor and recognition of somebody who's made a meaningful contribution to their journey to the podium, because Olympic medals are never achieved alone.
So I am here today and I am so honored to present this, my Order of Ikkos medal, to you, Donald Trump.
The President. Wow. [Inaudible.] Thank you. [The President was presented with a medal.] Ms. Humphries. Thank you.
The President. I knew I liked her. Wow. Thank you, darling.
Ms. Humphries. So we only get one, but I want to recognize the support and the impact you've had on women's sports throughout the Olympic movement, specifically standing up to keep biological women in women's sports to keep the field of play safe and allow for fair competition.
Furthermore, because your policies are creating greater access to IVF so families like mine can continue to grow as I look to become and expand my family again, I believe this actually makes you the first President in history to ever be awarded an Order of Ikkos as well. So thank you.
The President. Thank you so much. Thank you, Darling. Let's stand for a picture.
Ms. Humphries. [Inaudible] Oh here. Look at that—[inaudible]—these.
[The President and Ms. Humphries held up the Order of Ikkos and two Olympic bronze medals and posed for a picture.]
Ms. Humphries. Isn't he just the best? He's the best. So, thank you.
The President. Thank you very much. Thank you.
Wow. I knew I liked her. I liked her right from the first second. [Laughter] Now I know why. That's good. That's really nice. Beautiful. Thank you both very much. Appreciate it.
So I'm going to now do a little signing. And the signing is going to be very impactful, very important. And it's something that Melania feels very strongly about and so do I. And perhaps the
people that I called before, come on up, and if you want, bring your families up. Bring your families, and we'll sign all together. Is that okay? Come on.
Look at all these young people. Wow.
The First Lady. How are you? Come on here.
The President. So, you ready?
Okay. No autopen, right, Pam? Am I allowed?
Attorney General Pamela J. Bondi. No autopen.
The President. No autopen. Okay. Ready? Watch what I do.
[The President signed a proclamation titled, "Women's History Month, 2026."] It's so quiet. [Laughter]
Okay. We did it. You want that? Here, hands these out.
The First Lady. Ok, you can have some pens. Perfect. Here you can take it. Perfect.
The President. Here you go, you champion. [Laughter] Won so much gold, she doesn't know what to do with it. [Laughter] It's gotten very valuable lately—gold.
Ms. Humphries. It has, I know.
The President. Here you go, guys. Take a pen.
I want to thank you all very much. That's really nice. Here, take another one. [Laughter.] Here you go.
Thank you all very much. Fantastic. Thank you. Thank you.
[The President left the dais and greeted attendees. As he and the First Lady exited the East Room, he answered a reporter's question as follows.]
Shooting at Old Dominion University in Norfolk, Virginia/Vehicular Attack at the Temple Israel Synagogue in West Bloomfield, Michigan
Q. Mr. President, what's your message to the Jewish community? What's your message?
Q. Is there anything you can share about the Old Dominion shooting and the Michigan synagogue being investigated as an act of terror?
The President. Just tragic. Tragic.
Q. Mr. President, do you think the Michigan shooting has any connection with the war in Iran?
NOTE: The President spoke at approximately 4:20 p.m. in the East Room at the White House. In his remarks, he referred to Usha Chilukuri Vance, wife of Vice President James D. "J.D." Vance; former Secretary of Agriculture Mike Espy, in his capacity as the 2018 Democratic Mississippi Senate nominee; former Counselor to the President Kellyanne E. Conway; Lynn Martin, president, New York Stock Exchange, and Jeffrey C. Sprecher, founder, chair, and chief executive officer Intercontinental Exchange, Inc., parent company of the New York Stock Exchange; Mayor Paul Young of Memphis, TN; Gov. William B. Lee of Tennessee; and President Emmanuel Macron of France. He also referred to S. 1383. Ms. Chambers referred to her husband Garret.
Categories: Addresses and Remarks : Women's History Month; Interviews With the News Media
: Exchanges with reporters, White House. Locations: Washington, DC.
Names: Bondi, Pamela J.; Britt, Katie Boyd; Cammack, Kathryn; Chambers, June; Chambers, Lexie; Chambers, Tillie; Chavez-DeRemer, Lori M.; Conway, Kellyanne E.; Cook, Michelle; Espy, Mike; Foxx, Virginia A.; Harshbarger, Diana L.; Humphries, Kaillie; Hyde-Smith, Cindy; Kell, Finley; Kell, Heather; Leavitt, Karoline; Lee, William B.; Macron, Emmanuel; Martin, Lynn; McMahon, Linda E.; Pruitt, Nora; Spartz, Victoria; Sprecher, Jeffrey C.; Trump, Melania; Vance, James D. J.D.; Vance, Usha Chilukuri; Young, Paul.
Subjects: America's 250th birthday celebration; Attorney General; California, 2028 Olympic Games in Los Angeles; Crime rates; District of Columbia, law enforcement improvement efforts; Economic improvement; Election security and integrity, strengthening efforts; Federation Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) World Cup; France, President; Iran, U.S. military operations; Italy, 2026 Olympic Games in Milan; Michigan, vehicular Attack at Temple Israel Synagogue in West Bloomfield; National Guard; Prescription drug costs, reduction efforts; Safeguard American Voter Eligibility Act; School choice and voucher programs; Secretary of Education; Secretary of Labor; Sports, efforts to restrict transgender participation; Tariffs; Tax Code reform; Tennessee, Governor; Tennessee, law enforcement improvement efforts in Memphis; U.S. military readiness, improvement efforts; Venezuela, U.S. military capture and exfiltration of President Maduro; Vice President; Virginia, shooting at Old Dominion University in Norfolk; White House Press Secretary; Women's History Month.
DCPD Number: DCPD202600167.