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Transcript of Trump Swears in David Perdue as Ambassador to China

Read the full transcript of President Trump remarks at the swearing-in ceremony for David Perdue, Ambassador to the People’s Republic of China, and then takes reporters’ questions in the Oval Office.

Listen to the audio version here:

Trump Announces World War II Victory Day Proclamation

PRESIDENT TRUMP: Thank you very much. Before we begin, I’m pleased to announce that I’ve just signed a proclamation officially designating tomorrow, May 8th, as the victory day for World War II, commemorating the 80th anniversary of America’s victory in the Second World War. All over the globe, our World War II allies are celebrating this week, but the United States has never joined in with the proper celebration of our own. And the victory was mostly accomplished because of us, whether you like it or not.

We came into that war and we won that war and we had a lot of help from a lot of great people, a lot of great allies. But I think there would be nobody that would say that we were not the dominant force in that war and we don’t celebrate it. And I think that’s a great disservice to the people that lost their lives and people that fought so hard in winning World War II and also a separate victory day for World War I. And we’re going to be doing that too.

It was American tanks and ships and trucks and airplanes and service members that vanquished the enemy 80 years ago this week. Without America, the liberation would never have happened. And so we have to pay tribute and homage to those people that gave us victory. And we did something else that people don’t talk about. We rebuilt the world. All of these countries that were destroyed, we helped them rebuild. And that’s something that, for the most part, others did not do.

So with this proclamation, we are hereby honoring the incredible sacrifice and heroism of millions of Americans who served in World War II, along with the unprecedented mobilization, home front that helped deliver this great triumph. All Americans should take pride in what these incredible patriots have achieved. So I just want to say happy Victory Day to all.

So we are celebrating every year now. I can guarantee for four years, but I think after that, we’re going to have two victory days, World War I and World War II. This is World War II Victory Day. In the future, we’re going to have a major celebration of each day. We’re not going to have days off because we don’t have enough days in the year. We have too many celebrations already. But we’re going to have Victory Day and for World War I, World War II.

And without us, those wars would not have been won. I think we can say that would not have been won. And I think it’s time that the United States start taking credit for their achievements. And I really believe it’s a shame. You know, I was watching for the last week and I noticed France. I noted other countries all getting ready for Victory Day. And I said, that’s sort of strange because David just added something. He said, we also rebuilt the world. And I didn’t have that. And I should have that. That was a big factor.

But I noticed all of the countries, Russia, having a big day tomorrow. And by the way, they lost millions of people and they were absolutely a major factor. But there was no major factor like us. We won the war and we won it with the help of others. But everybody was celebrating but the United States of America. And I said, you know, I think it’s time that we start celebrating victory. And that’s what we’re doing.

Swearing-In of David Perdue as Ambassador to China

So now for the reason that we’re here, but I asked David, would it be appropriate if I did that? He said, absolutely. That’s a big thing that we’re doing on your swearing in. Very big thing.

But now for the real reason and a reason that I’m very proud of because he’s been my friend for a long time. We’re swearing in our next ambassador to the People’s Republic of China. What timing, David? What timing? Only you could have picked this timing. I picked him a long time ago, but it just happened to come to a pretty important date.

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But our friend, David Perdue, Senator David Perdue, joining David this afternoon are his incredible wife, Bonnie, has been at his side for a long time. Their sons, David and Blake, their daughter in law, Danielle, and daughter in law, Charlotte, and their grandsons, David, Hudson and Jack. That’s a beautiful family. Congratulations. I didn’t think you had it in you, David. That’s pretty amazing. Look at that.

Our new ambassador brings to this position a lifetime of experience at the highest levels of business and politics, and he is at the highest level. Over four decades in business, he rose to lead several major American corporations, including as the president and CEO of the footwear giant, Reebok, where he did very well and did a great job. The latest CEO of Dollar General. Likewise, he did a great job.

David also lived and worked in Singapore and Hong Kong for several years, developing a wealth of experience negotiating and doing tremendous business deals for lots of different leaders that he worked with.

Following his tremendous business success as an executive, David stepped forward to serve American government. And as we all know, in 2014, he was elected United States Senate in Georgia, and he was very popular, very respected. From day one, he served on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and was a tremendous partner to our administration. During my first term, I dealt with him a lot, and he solved a lot of problems.

Now I’m entrusting David to help manage one of America’s most complex and consequential foreign relationships, and I know he’ll do a fantastic job. As our lead diplomat in Beijing, David will work to promote American interest and stability in the Indo-Pacific, help stop the flood of Chinese fentanyl across our borders, which we have to do.