Administration of Donald J. Trump, 2026
June 8, 2026
Sen. Graham. Well, thank you, everybody. I have the high honor and pleasure of introducing the 45th and 47th President of the United States—by far the best President to ever play golf in the history of our country; Reagan-plus in terms of policy—my dear friend, President Donald J. Trump. Thank you for doing this for me.
The President. Well, thank you very much, Lindsey, and you're outstanding, and Pam is outstanding. And it's an honor to be doing it for both of you. And you're going to have a very big, big election tomorrow.
But I have to start off by saying thank you to South Carolina. I've won it six times, including the primary, six-and-oh. And that's a big—that's a big accomplishment. It's a great place, and I love the people of South Carolina. And the people of South Carolina, I guess, like me because, well being—winning it in landslides—we won six landslides, so I guess they like me too.
But we—a lot has come your way because of the relationship, and a lot is coming your way because of the relationship. You get treated well, and that's the way it's going to be. But a very important election is happening in your State tomorrow, June 9, and I'm calling on you and urging you to get out and vote for Senator Lindsey Graham. He's outstanding. He's been at my side for a long time.
You know, we fought each other initially a long time ago—[laughter]—over the candidacy stuff. He was running, and I was running. And we fought, and I started realizing he's a—he's a very talented guy. But after that fight was over, we were best of friends, and he's helped me as much as anybody in the Senate.
And also, your next Governor, the current Lieutenant Governor—who is backed by your Governor, your current Governor, Henry McMaster, who's a fantastic man, by the way—and that's Pamela Evette, who has been with me right from the beginning. She was one of the first people in the State to endorse me, and she's been solid as a rock ever since.
But you're going to be—in the Republican primary, you're going to be voting tomorrow. And the polls open at 7 a.m. and close at 7 p.m. So go to vote for these incredible people. We don't want any surprises. We don't want any bad things to happen. In elections, you never know, so we have to be very careful.
They're far superior to any of their opponents. They're far superior to just about anybody anywhere, nationwide. So that's not just in South Carolina. Nationwide. I've known Senator Lindsey Graham for many years, and he's always been a tireless advocate for the people of South Carolina. He loves the people of South Carolina, actually.
He was one of the very first people to endorse my campaign for President in 2024, and he fought for our campaign all the way, and he always has. We've been—ever since we really got together and got to know each other, he's been absolutely fantastic. And I just want to let you know—and I did this a long time ago; one of the first—but he has my complete and total endorsement. I announced that a long time ago.
As the chair of the Senate Budget Committee, Lindsey is fighting to live—deliver for South Carolina. And he voted for the largest tax cuts in American history, the largest regulation cuts in
American history—and we got them passed, by the way—and the largest investment in the border and border security our country has ever seen.
We have the safest border in our history. When we took over a year and a half ago, we had the worst border in the history of our country, and now we have the best border in the history of our country. I built over a thousand miles of wall—and it was very important, and you know that—starting in my first term. And we now have, for the last 11 months, zero people have come in through our borders. Zero. And Lindsey was behind it.
It's hard to believe that it can be, because under the Biden administration, they had 25 million people come in through the border, and they were people that we don't want. Many people that we do not want. They were drug dealers. They were people from prisons. They were people from mental institutions. What they did to this country can never be forgotten.
But Lindsey was with me all the way on the border, from helping to get the wall built to just fighting and all the regulation, all the things we had to do. But think of it: We've had—in 11 months, nobody came into our country. Hard to believe, but the Democrats make up that list.
They lean left, and they are the ones that make up the list. So I mean, I accept it because it's hard to believe.
But we went from 25 million people coming in, to zero coming in. People come into our country, but they have to come in legally. And Lindsey is also an unwavering champion of the military. He wants a strong military for a strong America. And we rebuilt—and with Lindsey's help in my first term, we rebuilt the military. And now we're using it.
You remember Venezuela just a short time ago: a 1-day war. We took it over, and the relationship has been very good. And we've taken billions and billions of dollars' worth of oil. We paid for the cost of that war many times over. And when have you heard that before?
And now we're in—as you know, we're in Iran, and we've decimated their military. We've decimated their—everything there is to decimate, including their leadership. And if you take a look at it, it really is peace through strength. We've hit their navy. Their navy is totally gone.
They had 159 ships. Every ship is underwater right now. Every ship is deep underwater. Their air force is gone, their radar is gone, their anti-aircraft is gone, and frankly, their leadership is gone at the highest level. And then they replaced them, and they're gone, and then about half of their third tier is gone.
And we're negotiating now, and they want to make a very good deal. They're willing to give us everything. They're willing to give us no nuclear weapon. Iran—and the people in South Carolina agree; I saw a poll—Iran cannot have a nuclear weapon, and it's as simple as that. They cannot have. The destruction is so powerful. They cannot have a nuclear weapon.
And Lindsey has been fighting with me all the way—all the way for that. We've been a very tough team, and I think we are winning that battle. But you're really going to win it over the next 2 weeks when we declare total victory. It will be a total victory. It will happen very soon, and oil prices will come tumbling down.
And, by the way, the stock market today just hit another record. So your 401(k)s are higher than they've ever been. The stock market is stronger than it's ever been, despite this military—I call it a military conflict.
But Lindsey is also a big defender of the Second Amendment, and, as you know, it's under siege constantly. And really, he is just a fighter for our Constitution, to put it very simply. When the radical-left mob came for Brett Kavanaugh, as an example, Lindsey Graham stood strong. If you remember that moment, it was a big moment in the history of the Senate. It was a big
moment like they hadn't seen in a long time. He stood strong for Justice Kavanaugh. He's been a great Justice too.
Perhaps most importantly, Lindsey is a sponsor of the SAVE America Act to defend our elections. And we have to just say: Go out and vote for Lindsey. We're going to get the SAVE America Act done. That's voter ID. It's proof of citizenship. It's so many other things. But basically—think of it: The Democrats don't want voter ID. They don't want proof of citizenship.
And just take a look at what's going on in California. They have a mayoral election. They say it's going to be called over the next 2 weeks, and the results already are shocking, that the leader is no longer even going to be in the race, based upon what was just announced. He was leading, and it's a rigged election.
And then the other is the Governor of California. Take a look at what's going on. It's a disgrace. They've—they voted 5 days ago, and nobody has any idea where the votes are, what's going to happen, and we don't want that. We're not going to allow that to happen to our Nation.
But also on the ballot is your State's highly respected Lieutenant Governor, a tremendous person, Pamela Evette, who has been running, and she is going to be a great Governor to take the place of an already great Governor. You had a great Governor. You're going to have one that's going to be—I can't say better. She'll be as good, because you can't get better than Henry. Henry and Peg, what a couple. But—and he was another one, endorsed me right from the beginning.
But Pam is somebody that's going to be—I think you're going to be absolutely in love with her. Most people are. When they know her, they're voting for her. And her competition is not serious and cannot—not compete with her.
But, as you know, she's an "America-first" patriot. She's MAGA all the way. She always has been. She was the first person to endorse me a long time ago. And she's just been outstanding, highly respected by everybody. No matter where you go, they respect her.
And Pam will be not only the terrific Governor for South Carolina; she's a very successful—was a very successful entrepreneur, businesswoman, civic leader, respected by everybody, and a good person—a really, really—you know, there's something to that. It means something to me, when you look at the people that are running for office. She's a really good person.
She'll grow your economy, she'll cut your taxes, she'll slash your regulations, and promote "Made in the U.S.A." That's a big deal for her. And "Made in South Carolina" might be even a bigger deal for her, to be honest with you.
She'll always champion South Carolina's farmers and agricultural producers and, above all, the military. She is so strong on the military. She'll give us what we want to continue to have the best military in the world.
I rebuilt the military in my first term, and we're using it a little bit in my second term. And—but if we—I could say my third term, if you want to know the truth, but I don't want the results of the second term, because that second term, under the Biden administration, was a horror show for our country.
So I just want to let you know: Pam and Lindsey have my complete and total endorsement.
So, once again, go out for Lindsey Graham and for Pam Evette in the Republican primary tomorrow, June 9. The polls open at 7 o'clock in the morning—7 a.m.—and close at 7 p.m. And it's going to be a big night. We're all going to celebrate together. And if you want information, if you need anything, learn anything about it: swampthevoteUSA.com—swampthevoteUSA.com.
So thanks—South Carolina, I have to thank you. You've been so great to me, and I know you're going to be great to Lindsey and Pam. You already have been, but you're going to be one
more time, because you'll never get people like this. So, again, they have my complete, total endorsement and so does South Carolina.
And, Lindsey, I'll hand it to you, and then Pam can take over. And I appreciate it very much.
I appreciate you guys are running. We're going to make America greater than ever before. We have a hot country now. We had a dead country a year and a half ago. Now we have the hottest country anywhere in the world, and we're going to make it even better.
So thank you very much. And, Lindsey, I'll hand it off to you. Thank you.
Sen. Graham. Well, thank you, Mr. President. I'm just honored you would say all those great things about me.
How can I pay you back? Win this election, go back next year, be the chairman of the Judiciary Committee, work with you to get as many conservative judges on the bench we can in your last 2 years. Maybe have a Supreme Court replacement, if that happens. But make sure that working with you and your team, that we have the best 2 years in the history of conservatism to put judges on that court in large numbers. And if I'm chairman of the Judiciary Committee, I'll wake up every morning, go to bed every night working with President Trump to put judges on the court.
You have dug this country out of a hole that Joe Biden created. His withdrawal from Afghanistan, his high taxes, his wokeism virtually destroyed this country. You're saving America, Mr. President. You're making the world a better place.
Through your will, we have got the most secure border in the history of the country. We went from the most broken border to the most secure border in the history of America, folks, because of President Trump convinced Mexico, "You better help us." He's got the bad guys on the run.
Working with him as budget chairman, we have cut your taxes. We're deregulating the country. We just got $70 billion for ICE and the Border Patrol. When it comes to Lindsey Graham and Donald Trump, the best is yet to come. My opponent thinks we need more Thomas Massies. I don't. My opponent is celebrating Marjorie Taylor Greene, a loudmouth critic of the President. What we need is people in the Senate and at the State level that can row the boat with President Trump.
He is my dear friend. I've come to know him. I admire him. And I'm ready to go back to the United States Senate to help him save this country and make the world a better place. Please vote for me tomorrow. I've got to get over 50 percent. I've got five people running. We're going to do great if you get out the vote and bring a friend.
Mr. President, I'm honored you said those things, and I intend to pay you back by being your best ally in the United States Senate in 2027.
The President. Thank you, Lindsey. Thank you very much. Pam, would you like to say a few words, please?
Lt. Gov. Evette. I would love to, Mr. President.
First and foremost, thank you so much for your support. I know you know all the people in this race, and the fact that you have given me your full and total endorsement means the world to me.
You know, it was an honor to stand with you from the beginning. You know, there was no place that my family and I thought we should have been except standing with you when you
announced your reelection bid here in South Carolina. None of my opponents were there, but they do try to take credit for being one of your favorites today.
And so thank you so much for what you've done to this country and what you've done for South Carolina. The Governor and I, we have always considered it such an honor to stand with you to make sure we bring your "America-first" agenda right here to South Carolina.
And I tell you, Mr. President, you have my promise that I will follow in your lead as the next Governor of this great State. I will eliminate State income tax. I will cut through the burdensome regulations that only businesspeople like you and I know makes it hard for businesses to prosper and grow. I will stand with our farmers and our foresters because it is such a big part of our economy. And it's like you've always said: Food security is national security, and energy security is national security.
So, here in South Carolina, we are thankful for you and all that you are doing. And we are following in your lead, creating a new nuclear plant here in South Carolina to help you out every step of the way. I just—thank you to everybody that showed up on this call today to hear from this amazing President who every day wakes up and is unapologetic about his love for America, for the American people, for American business, and American farmers.
I encourage you all to get out tomorrow. I am Pamela Evette. I have the résumé to be the next CEO of this State, working alongside Governor McMaster for the last 8 years. We will not skip a beat of moving South Carolina forward.
So thank you to all of you. I ask you for your vote. I ask you to call 20 people and get them out to vote. We can't let President Trump down. President Trump has never let us down. So thank you to everyone, and I'm asking all the participants to stay on the line. We have a couple of great poll questions ahead, and I want to pass this back to Sherry.
Thank you so much, Mr. President. And thank you, Lindsey.
The President. Thank you, Pam. Thank you very much. Thank you, Lindsey. Good luck tomorrow, both of you. Thank you.
Sen. Graham. Thank you.
Lt. Gov. Evette. Thank you.
NOTE: The President spoke at 5:40 p.m. via teleconference from the White House. In his remarks, he referred to South Carolina Republican U.S. senatorial candidates businessman Mark Lynch, Duncan, SC, town council member Calvin Cowen, author and motivational speaker Thomas Dismukes, businessman Patrick Hermann, and social media influencer Darius L. Mitchell; South Carolina Republican gubernatorial candidates State Attorney General Alan M. Wilson, Reps. Nancy R. Mace and Ralph W. Norman, Jr., and businessman Rom Reddy; Supreme Court Associate Justice Brett M. Kavanaugh; Los Angeles, CA, mayoral candidate Spencer Pratt; and Peggy McMaster, wife of Gov. McMaster of South Carolina. He also referred to S. 1383. Sen. Graham referred to Rep. Thomas H. Massie; and former Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene. Portions of these remarks could not be verified because the audio was incomplete.
Categories: Addresses and Remarks : South Carolina Republican senatorial candidate Sen. Lindsey O. Graham and gubernatorial candidate Lt. Gov. Pamela S. Evette, telerally remarks.
Locations: Washington, DC.
Names: Cowen, Calvin; Dismukes, Thomas; Evette, Pamela S.; Graham, Lindsey O.; Hermann, Patrick; Kavanaugh, Brett M.; Lynch, Mark; Mace, Nacy R.; McMaster, Henry D.; McMaster, Peggy; Mitchell, Darius L.; Norman, Ralph W., Jr.; Pratt, Spencer; Reddy, Rod; Wilson, Alan M.
Subjects: 2024 Presidential election; Border security; California, gubernatorial election; Election security and integrity, strengthening efforts; Iran, diplomatic engagement with U.S.; Iran, nuclear weapons program; Iran, U.S. military operations; South Carolina, Governor; South Carolina, gubernatorial election; South Carolina, Lieutenant Governor; South Carolina, senatorial election; Stock market; Supreme Court Associate Justice; Venezuela, relations with U.S.; Venezuela, U.S. military capture and exfiltration of President Maduro.
DCPD Number: DCPD202600389.