Transcript: President Trump Remarks at White House Faith Luncheon

But — so this is a very important — very important thing.

And hopefully that will come to an end. At the end of 50 days, if we don’t have a deal, then we’re going to have to do — we have no choice but to do secondary tariffs. You call it secondary tariffs, which are pretty tough, which we don’t want to have to do. But let’s see what happens. Remember, we thought we had a deal. Numerous times I’d get home, I’d say, “First Lady, I had the most wonderful talk with Vladimir. I think we’re finished.” And then I’ll turn on the television, or she’ll say to me one time, “wow, that’s strange because they just bombed a nursing home.” They said, “what?” So we don’t like that.

Welcome to Faith and Business Leaders Summit

But I want to thank you all for being here. And welcome to the first-ever White House Summit of Faith and Business Leaders. You’re really some of the greatest business leaders in the country. When I looked at some of the names, I said, “whoa, that’s big stuff we have here today.” In fact, before I was President, I would have been very intimidated. But now I’m President, so I don’t have to be. But today we celebrate the core values that built this country — freedom, hard work, risk-taking, and, above all, trust in Almighty God. You’re very much into God in this room. And it’s very nice. You’re business leaders who believe strongly. We have some business leaders that don’t believe strongly, and somehow you and I don’t like them as much.

But I want to thank Pastor Paula White. She’s been my friend for a long time. And John, for convening this incredible group. You know, her husband is one of the most talented musicians in the world. Stand up, John. Stand up. See? See? I stole a couple of his songs for the rallies, and he never sued me, so I was very happy. But we all come from the same place, right? So it was — it was great, and we appreciate it, John.

Cabinet Members and Administration Officials

Thanks as well to Treasury Secretary Scott Bestin, who’s doing a fantastic job. He goes on television and he calms the market. I go on television, I rile the market, and I say, “we better send him in there, Howard, right?” And the market’s become so calm and nice, so you’re doing a good job, Scott. Thank you very much. Did you make any deals today? We’ve got a lot of them, boy, I tell you, we have. But the best deal is just sending out the paper, you know. They keep saying, “well, he hasn’t made the deal.” Oh, we’ve made a number of deals, but “why isn’t he doing deals?” Because the paper is better than any deal we can make. Do you understand?

Well, this — Kevin, they asked you that question this morning. You were great this morning. But they said, “well, when is he going to start making deals?” The next time, we could say, just — no, every time he sends out a document that you have to pay 35 percent or 25 percent or 50 percent, or in one case, 100 percent — those deals, you can’t beat those deals. But we’re still willing to talk. And they all — every — literally every country wants to make a deal. We’re in a good position. We would call it a position of strength. I don’t talk that way because I’m a politician now, unfortunately. And I don’t want to talk about strength. I just want to say we have to be treated fairly, because we were treated — we were ripped off on trade and the military for — you know, we protected other nations. Nobody paid us. Nobody did anything for us. Nobody helped us. And that’s much different.

You know, NATO is a much different situation now. When I got in, I believe we were paying for 100 percent of NATO. And now they’re paying — they went from 2 percent, but they were paying 1 percent to 5 percent that they’re paying. It’s a big difference. It’s about a trillion — $1 trillion difference. And they’re wealthy — for the most part, wealthy countries. And some of them, very — you know, they’re among the most powerful, among the wealthiest countries in the world. So they’re going to start paying, and they want to pay. And we had a great meeting about one month ago. That set the stage for what happened here. But it’s very important.

So I want to thank Scott for being here. I want to thank Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick. You are doing a good job, man. Am I right when I say I really don’t want deals? I just want the paper to get sent. Right? It’s true. I can’t — I don’t know if this is on television — yeah, it’s always on television. And the SBA Administrator and a great person, Cabinet member, a friend of mine for a long time, Kelly Loeffler. Kelly, you’re doing great. She’s small business, right? She only does small business. But when you add it all up, it’s the biggest bank in the world by a factor of about 10. Right? You’re doing a great job. And Director of the White House Faith Office, Jenny Corn, who’s also amazing.

Faith and American Business Heritage

From the earliest days of our republic, the steady compass of faith has guided the strong hands of American workers, builders, and entrepreneurs like really no other. Our country was founded by pilgrims and believers. And every generation since, Americans of faith have built our communities and forged new industries and enriched our country by millions and millions of people and ways. John D. Rockefeller, J.C. Penney, Charles Goodyear, Truett Cathy. And frankly, we have people I could name right in this room sitting here that their names are every bit as big as that. They were inspired by their love of God, and now the proud tradition continues with all of you.

And this group reminds us, as a nation that prays, as a nation that prospers. And you see that. One of the reasons we went so bad is they really wanted to take God and religion out of your lives. And there was nobody to, you know, look up to. There was just nobody. It was — we were freewheeling, and we can’t freewheel. Now we have to bring religion back into the country, and we’re starting to do that, I think, at a very high level, Paula, a very, very high level. You see churches are starting to fill up again.

America’s Economic Recovery and International Recognition

Under the Trump administration, America is prospering and America is winning like never before. Our country is back. So I was in Qatar, Saudi Arabia, UAE. And then a month ago, we were in Europe with all of the NATO countries, European countries, and plus Canada. And almost — everyone said almost the exact same words. They said, “one year ago, your country was dead.” Terrible term, but that’s what it is. “Your country was dead. We thought it was finished. And now you’ve got the hottest country anywhere in the world.” It’s true. It is the hottest country. Did you see they found $25 billion of essentially profits last night? They said, “where did it come”

PRESIDENT TRUMP: from? Came from management, but it came from tariffs. And it came from, you know, good business skill. And I’ve always made money. And now I’m making it for you people. I’ve had good days and bad days, but in good days and bad days, I always found a way to make money. And we have to do that for our country. But we did $188 billion in Scott just now, $188 billion in tariffs, $188 — and we haven’t even started yet. That’s only for cars and steel. We actually have barely started.

The economy is roaring. Business confidence is soaring. Incomes are up. Prices are down. And inflation is dead. It’s dead. We have a bad Fed chairman, really bad, if he would lower the rates, if he would lower the rates. And I tried being nice to the guy. It doesn’t help. He’s like a knucklehead. No, he’s a knucklehead. A stupid guy. He really is.

You know, each point — think of this — each point costs us $360 billion. Billion. One point, $360 billion. Two points, you got $600, $700 billion. And we’re way high. We’re at 450 or 425, 450. And how do you go borrow money at 1 percent when the Fed has you at 450? And, you know, it’s not that easy. I get angry at them. Why are we paying so much? You know, because he’s got you up at this number.

And we are the — we should always be the lowest. Now that we’re doing great, we have no inflation. Think of it — our stock market hit record highs. Everything is hitting a record high. We’re really running good with no inflation. And we should be at one — we should be at 1 percent. We should be less than 1 percent. I think Switzerland is the lowest at, like, one half of a percent. We should be lower because without us, there’s no world. They’re really — I don’t want to sound overly aggressive, but without us, you have no world. And we’ve put our country on solid footing.

Previous Administration’s Border Failures

We had a man as President who was the worst — the worst administration, worst President in the history of our country. And we’ve had some bad ones. But he’s the worst ever. And what he did at our border can never be forgotten. Twenty-five million people allowed to pour into our country, all unchecked, unvetted — murderers, gang leaders, gangsters, people that you don’t want in our country under any means, terrorists. We have many terrorists in our country, and we’re watching them close.

Tom Holman, by the way, is doing a phenomenal job. Christine Noem is doing a phenomenal job. We had, last week, it was reported — nobody, not one — even I don’t know if I believe that number, but it’s done — the numbers are done by liberals, though. They said — did you know that? They said we had nobody, zero, cross our border. It’s the first time that ever happened. Zero. Did you hear that? That’s crazy.

But we have people from mental institutions and sane asylums, even. That’s a mental institution on steroids, essentially. But we had people coming into our country. We can’t have them, and we have to get them out. But we can never forgive this administration this fast. And I’m okay with administrations. I mean, I can go through a Democrat administration and say, “Hey, look, they worked hard. They tried hard.” But the things that they did to this country, we can never, ever forget it. From the rigged elections to the border, to the transgender from — for everybody, from men playing in women’s sport.

Sports Records and Transgender Athletes

Do you ever take a look at some of these records? There was a long-distance race, a marathon, where they had a great female runner — a number of them, but they had one in particular — and they had just an average male runner who had transitioned. He won the race at the end of the day by five hours and 14 minutes. They waited for five hours. The weightlifting records are better, though. The weightlifting records are better.

You know, the way they took a record that hasn’t been broken for 18 years — 18 years. And, you know, they’d add a quarter of an ounce on each side of the barbell. And they’d just — a little tiny piece of stuff, little — she’d go up and she couldn’t get it up. Then this guy comes along. “Have you lifted before?” “Yes, at a low level.” He was a low-level lifter for — as a man. But transitioned, and he goes up to that thing. Bing, bing, bing, bing, bing. Could have done it all day long. Broke the record by 119 pounds. The whole thing is crazy.

Swimming records are pretty good, too. You got to see that. I told a story. They had this great group of young ladies, and they grew up with each other because, you know, they sort of swam at the top level. And they were swimming, and one girl was seriously injured. She looked left, and she saw the same girl. She grew up with Kelly in California. Same girls, you know, at a young age. They sort of rise to the top. She looked to the right. She saw the same girls. But there was this giant standing right next to her. And he had transitioned. You probably heard this. He had transitioned. And she was — she’d never seen her before.

And when the race was started, he blew by her so fast that she suffered massive windburn. They had to take her — And he got out of the race, and he went — had a little lunch, and then he came back and watched the rest of the young ladies finish up. The whole thing is crazy. And it’s so demeaning to women. It’s so demeaning to women. But it is what it is. But what they did to this country, it’s — and we ended all of that, as you probably know. We ended the woke. The woke stuff is no longer in favor.

Economic Achievements and Energy Prices

But we’re doing fantastically. Wages for blue-collar workers have surged by the most in over 60 years. Gas prices have reached the lowest level in five decades. Actually, it’s going to be — we’re going to see some really good numbers. We’re — you know, drill, baby, drill. Drill, baby, drill. I’ve got to make sure that people can afford to produce the gas. But the gas has gone to the lowest level in decades. And you’re seeing $1.99, $1.98. I saw $1.95 at certain states. Not California, because every time it goes down, they add taxes on to it. You’re at $6, $7. They just add taxes. All they do is they keep adding taxes. Terrible governor. Doesn’t know what he’s doing. He may be a — he may be a candidate. But if you go by success, you can’t have him be a candidate.

And on Friday, it was announced that the United States Treasury ran a budget surplus. Is that true, Scott? In June, for the first time in many, many decades. Wow. I didn’t know that. That’s a good one, too. I’m going to have to put that in my repertoire, Scott.

Legislative Victory and Media Appearance

But the biggest victory of all came 10 days ago when I signed the one big, beautiful bill into law. Right? And just as I promised, we did something just as amazing. You know, we were — everybody was against it. I wanted it. I know Scott and Howard like the idea of it, too. But it was very risky because they’ve never done anything like it in terms of the — it’s the biggest bill ever passed of its kind, ever passed, by far. And they were going to cut it into two, three, or even as many as seven bills. And I said, “The problem is that in the one big bill, everybody gets something. When you cut it into sevens, there are four or five of them, or three of them.” Right, Kevin? That — you get nothing. All they’re going to do is fight it. You’ll never get them passed. And so we went with it.

I was on — I was on a show called Deface the Nation. Have you heard of it? It’s so bad. They’re so bad. These people are just so average. But I was on this show, Deface the Nation. “Ladies and gentlemen, President Donald J. Trump on Deface the Nation.” No, but they’re all so bad. But we were on the show, and she said to me a question. She said, “What would you call this bill? Would you want to have it called One Big Beautiful, or would you rather see —” I

said, “What I want is one great, big, beautiful bill.” And Speaker Mike Johnson, John Thune, they were watching, and they said, “What a great name for the bill.” We actually ended up calling it that. We took the great out. I actually liked it even better. One great, big, beautiful. But they said, “Let’s do a little bit of a low-key.” But we got it passed. But we got it passed because there’s something for everybody. And there are things that people don’t like, but you need them for the country. You know, you have to — you have to do some things that are great for the country, but they wouldn’t necessarily get the votes. And we got the votes.

Think of it — not one Democrat vote. All the goodies that we got, not one Democrat voted in either the Senate or the House. And we’re talking about tax cuts and business. I mean, so many different things that are so good. Right? Not one Democrat vote went with us. Not one. So we had to get almost every — in the House, we got 218 to 2. Think of that. Two hundred and eighteen to two. Nobody could do that. It’s never been done. And that says, you know — and we have Rand Paul, Jr., who is a guy from — we call him Rand Paul, Jr. because he always votes no. A guy named Massey. Always votes no. We had another guy who I helped very, very strongly. Helped him with a very personal situation. Got him through it. And he voted no. I said, “Thank you very much. I appreciate it.”

And then we went to the Senate, and you had, of course, Rand Paul, who always votes no. They call him “Just Say No.” I think they think it’s — No, I think they — you know, I got him elected. I had to go to Kentucky twice to do rallies to get him elected. Twice. But they forget. A lot of politicians forget. Then we had a couple of others. Susan Collins. She’s another one. “Just Say No.” She always — brutal, brutal. And we had some people tell us, I guess, it was a no, right? It was a no. And he — they said, “He was brave. He said no to the President.” But he resigned the following morning. So, anyway, that was terrible, I thought.

But we couldn’t lose more than three and we had three that said no and so we won that 50 to three and the senator came over to me said, “I can’t believe you won the house.” Great guy this guy this senator Eric Schmidt is doing a great job so, “I can’t believe you won the house.” I said actually so remember 218 to 2 we needed three so we could have lost three we actually lost two I said no actually the Senate was tougher than the house of the two that questions asked to me who was tougher I’d say the Senate was tougher actually amazingly shouldn’t have been we had a slightly bigger margin in the Senate proportionately but it was brutal.

The 2:30 AM Phone Calls

It was they said “Sir we have 12 hard-nosed you know hard no is not recoverable” right this was a 2:30 in the morning Mike Johnson called up “It could be 20 but it’s at least 12 so could you call them sir?” and I said “What time is that?” 2:30 in the morning and we have to win right we can never give up the people in this room right you never gave up my supporter right from day one and her husband with a bad damn back right how’s his back is he okay every time I see him he’s got a bad back but he’s got a lot of cash so a lot he’s got a lot of cash but now they’re great people thank you very much I do appreciate you you were there right at the beginning you know always was there.

But we have so we have a situation where we call up these these people at 2:30 in the morning and I called up I got along with them all great I liked them but they’re tough you know they’re congressmen when you’re a congressman for 20 years or you’re a senator for years you’re smart and you’re a survivor because you go through all sorts of hell but I called up congressman I said “Jim hi Jim how are you doing?” I said he said “Fine sir” I said “Family’s good?” “Yeah” he said “Sir you have my vote” I never said what I I said “I do thank you very much but how do you know what I’m calling you about?” I said “Sir I’ve been your friend for two and a half years you’ve never called me during normal hours so I assume that if you’re calling me at 2:30 in the morning you’re not calling me to ask me how’s the family doing” I said “Yeah pretty good.”

So I called up everyone I think everyone with the exception of one I had to speak a little bit but they I call up “Sir you have my vote” “Thank you” “Sir you have my vote” think of that and we got 12 votes in a matter of I called back 20 minutes later I said “You got all the votes” that’s spirit right that’s where they wanted to maybe here they want to have a little love you know the sad part is that some of the best people are the people that don’t get any publicity because they go with something because it’s good so a guy like some of the people I’m talking about but some of the people where you didn’t even have to call they vote yes 100% you don’t have to waste any time with them you don’t have to beg them “Come on you can do it come on let’s have lunch let’s have dinner.”

The Grandstanders

And then you have other guys they want you to suffer I mean some of these people that I just mentioned whose names I just mentioned you got to go through hell and the ones that are really good and they love the country and they’re doing right I mean what’s the alternative you know the alternative here you’re getting the biggest tax cut in history and with the Democrats you can have the biggest tax increase in history now we could go into a hundred other details they’re equally as crazy so I said so what’s the difference so you’re going to say no and you’re going to have the biggest tax cut in history this way and you’re going to have the biggest tax increase the other way and you’ll probably end up in a depression because if you ever did that it would be a shock to the whole world that’s what happened in 1929 I said so you’re going to vote for the other side well sure I’ll do what’s really appropriate you know the losers but you have that really they’re grandstanders you know you have grandstanders and you have in every business.

And the Democrat has far fewer they’re grandstanders but you know the one thing about them they have bad policy they’re evil people in many ways but they stick together you don’t have it where you don’t have I don’t want to use too many names but you don’t have a Mitt Romney in the midst who makes you suffer you don’t have some of the people that I mentioned to make it so hard they make it so hard and the alternative is one of two things you can either get all these things and make the economy strong or you’re going to literally have perhaps a depression where you people so rich so beautiful so nice to look at will be totally busted and let’s see how long your wife stays with you you beautiful she’ll stay with you for about three weeks and says “Hey darling I can’t take it anymore I can’t take it anymore darling I’m leaving you.”

I said to one guy he’s a very very unattractive man but he’s smart and he’s rich and I said “You better hope we get this thing passed because your wife will be gone within about two minutes” he said “You’re right.”

Historic Success

But so we had a tremendous success and it gives you the biggest tax cut in American history the largest spending cut in American history and the largest border security investment of all time and again we’re doing great on the border I almost say why don’t we need it we have such good numbers but you need it ultimately you’re going to need it I built hundreds of miles of border wall without that you could have never had the you know

PRESIDENT TRUMP: the results that we had but to lift up the American family we increased the child tax credit and made school permanent we made it all permanent the school choice and we expanded school choice and for every newborn child we created what’s called the Trump accounts and this was Michael Dell I don’t know Michael Dell’s here but Michael Dell well you tell him I mentioned his name because this he would call me for three four years I didn’t know Michael I just know he’s great success story and a great guy that’s all he talked about was the account where you put $1,000 and as a baby is born $1,000 into an account and you let it be invested by I guess you pick out some good money determinant or fund or index and I guess at a certain age like when they’re 30 goes earlier than that but when they’re 30 they’re supposed to have like $75,000 that would have a huge impact on their lives and it could even be more than that so that passed and you know it’s fun that was one of the easiest things we had to get past can you believe it I thought it’s so many people loved it they actually call it the Trump accounts and I didn’t fight for that name right I didn’t fight for that I said that’s a very great honor but Michael Dell was amazing that’s what he and he’s going to put he said he’s going to invest billions of dollars doing it for children he’s going to put a lot of his money into it but even more importantly than the economic success we’re restoring the spirit of our country.

Restoring America’s Spirit and Faith

PRESIDENT TRUMP: America is once again an optimistic nation we were so down it was depressing we were so down that’s why I ran again I got cheated they rigged the election but I said you know if I didn’t think I won I would have never run because just like a poll right you lose you lose it’s worse than a poll but I saw the lack of spirit in this country for four years it was a dark horrible place and for people of religion who were arresting your pastors they were arresting if you went to church and you you had a service outside and the reason outside because you had to call it and you could go outside that arrest everybody for even having the service it out there religion took a big hit because of the way they treated all of us and we now have a confident nation an optimistic nation and we have one nation under God and we’ll always keep that and we’re bringing back very importantly and not just evangelicals or Protestants or this all religions we’re bringing them back into our country as president I’ve ended the radical left war on faith and we’re once again protecting religious freedom like never before in our country we’re protecting it like never before.

Ending the Johnson Amendment

PRESIDENT TRUMP: we’re getting rid of the Johnson Amendment that didn’t let the pastors and ministers and everybody about politics now you’re able to speak about politics Paula you can speak about you can say “I don’t like that guy” and they don’t take away your tax exempt status you know they take away tax exempt and I’ll tell you remember when that started it was at the meeting room before I ran 2015 a year before the election and I was with 50 faith leaders they were great very well-known people mostly Protestant but you had rabbis you had an imam two imams and we were talking and I said I’d love to have your endorsement and they looked at me like what I’d love to have your endorsement we have such respect for you and you’re you know you control it really very powerful and they looked at me they didn’t say anything you remember that and I said hmm what’s wrong with these people I didn’t know about the Johnson Amendment don’t forget I never did this stuff before you know it wasn’t like I ran I was on the other side I was to the same side as you you write contributions to people that you like but I never ran so I didn’t know about the Johnson Amendment and I called Paula and Jenny aside I said could I ask you you.

PRESIDENT TRUMP: When I said I’d want your, you know, support, your political support and endorsement, they looked at me like, they looked at me very weird. What’s going on? “Well, sir, there’s a thing called the Johnson Amendment. And if they even speak about anything having to do with politics, they will immediately take away their tax exempt status. And if they lose the tax exempt status in your world, that means you might as well close up your church.” I said, you got to be kidding. So I can’t really. And I told them we had another meeting a couple of months later. And I said, you know, you people in theory are the most powerful people. You’re more powerful than man or woman because we have more than 50. Let’s assume men and women are 50 50. But you have 80 percent between all the different religions. I said, you have more power than anybody, but you’re not allowed to use your power. I said, we’re going to get rid of that because people want to hear what you have to say more than anybody else, pretty much. And we did get rid of it. And we launched something that’s great. And now you see people, if they like somebody, they’re able to talk about that somebody for office. Right, Jenny? We’re able to talk about a certain politician that has your values and likes your religion. It’s OK. And we got it. That was Lyndon Johnson, a very powerful guy. And he had a problem with a pastor, I think, in Houston. And the pastor was not a fan of his. And he he put the clamps on the guy. He really did. Amazing, actually. And we opened it up.

PRESIDENT TRUMP: I looked at him and we’re up 68 stories in the air at Trump Tower. And it is beautiful conference room. I look down, I see people walking up and down the street. I said, that means that that person walking up and down the street, any one of them have more power than you do because you’re not allowed to even talk about it. You’re even afraid to talk about it. But they’re not afraid any longer. And I think they appreciate it. As president, I’ve ended the radical left war on faith. And we’re once again protecting religious freedom instead of destroying it. And God is once again welcome back into our public square. Very important. And I stopped the Biden administration’s persecutions of Christians and pro-life activists. They would put people in jail if they even uttered the word. And well, look at me. I mean, look what happened to me. I was under investigation more than the late great Alphonse Capone. Think of Al Capone would kill people for dinner if he left the room and he didn’t like him. He’d have him shot, killed, buried under a building someplace as part of the foundation of a building all over the place. And I said I had more time under investigation than the legendary Alphonse Capone or probably anybody else. I had. But I had a lot of good people with me. And most importantly, I had the base with me at a level that it actually became stronger.

Legal Challenges and Impeachments

PRESIDENT TRUMP: The one thing I did that was very helpful. I was indicted five times. Indicted. That wasn’t a word that was in my father’s looking down. My mother’s looking down that my son’s not supposed to be indicted. I got indicted five times, impeached two times. Oh, bullshit. Right. Oh, terrible stuff. And I got impeached for making a perfect phone call. I congratulate. Good luck. Congratulate. I had a guy come up to me, a secretary, a secretary of energy from before. “Sir, could you call up, of all people, President Zelensky?” And I called him. I actually held up. He must have come 10 times. “Please, sir,” because they want to do business or something. Oil and gas. Who the hell knows what they wanted? You can imagine what they wanted, but they wanted. “Would you call up President Zelensky?” And I did. When I finally got him, I said, “congratulations on your win.” He had just won. This is early in the process. Should have never been. That war should have never taken place. By the way, if if the election weren’t rigged, that war would never be happening right now. Millions of people being killed. That war would never be happening. But would you call up? So

I created a presidential commission on religious liberty and established the Department of Justice Task Force to eradicate anti-Christian bias because you have a very big anti-Christian bias that you don’t think about and you don’t hear about it. I established the White House Faith Office to defend and represent people of all faiths. And it’s located in the White House. You’ve never had an office. You’ve never had that. And Jenny and Paula, they’re all the time. But we have it in the White House so people can call up and complain or they can call up and say, “You’re doing a great job,” whatever. But we have it actually in the White House with no nobody’s ever done that.

We’ve restored the fundamental principle that God created two genders, male and female. That was a tough one. And we’re defending parents’ rights where the parents’ rights have been taken away from them in schools. You look at some of these school boards, it’s like they’re brutal dictatorships. We brought it all back. The parents have the control now. And last Monday, we effectively eliminated the infamous, as I said, Johnson amendments, such a big deal and various other amendments and things that really took away your free speech. That’s what they’ve done. They’ve taken away free speech.

Recognizing the First Lady

I also want to recognize the incredible contribution of our great first lady, Melania. And she says. Melania did the Be Best initiative in supporting children and our foster care system. She visits a lot of children a lot. Yesterday, we went to the game and the soccer game. I don’t know if you saw it in the Meadowlands. It was incredible. And she’s always thinking about the children that have a hard time in helping America’s young people reach their fullest potential.

Divine Protection and Purpose

And it’s remarkable to think that it was only one year ago this week that my time on Earth nearly ended. And if you look at that, God was with me because that’s something in theory I should not. I should not be. Well, I believe that. And I do. I believe that my life was saved by God to really make America great again. I really believe that. I think I have a son. He’s a great shooter, like a championship shooter. Don and Eric was a great shooter, both of them. But they said that at that distance with that gun, she didn’t have a chance. And we turned the head at the right time, didn’t we? And we turned the head at the right time. So some people say it was lucky and some people say something else. I say something else. I think God helped us.

So I always believed in giving back to this nation, a nation that we would love so much. And I know that everyone lives by that same sacred principle. The people in this room do. I can tell you, I really I hate when I see complainers, you know, people that complain and they don’t do anything about it. Like in many cases, the media, not all of the media. We’ve I mean, I must have something because we won in Atlanta. I think of it. We won every swing state. We won by millions of votes. We won the popular vote. We won the there’s a district vote. That’s very interesting. It’s where the whole map is. Looks red, red for Republican, by the way. But the whole map came out and it was two thousand seven hundred and fifty to five hundred and five. Think of that. This broken into little districts, little areas. We had an unbelievable election.

And so I don’t know. You know, you somebody said, how do you win without the press? But we have a hidden press and the real hidden press and the hidden vote is the people and the word of mouth. Word of mouth is more important than the press. They see what we do and they see how we do it.

Recognizing Faith Leaders

I want to thank all of you and your great communities. And, you know, just it’s a blessing to our country that you’re here and a blessing to our country that you become so successful and so great. And people look up to you have no idea. You don’t know. We take things for granted. You don’t know. The people in this room are amazing. I even looking at that list, I really said that’s something that’s something great. And you’re all believers. I think, Paul, you wouldn’t have invited people that were not a lot. Is there an atheist in the room? Any atheists? I don’t think so. I wouldn’t want to raise my hand to be in big trouble. Now you invited all people that are outstanding in faith and and success. And it’s very it’s a very noble group.

But it’s because of the patriotism and goodwill of citizens like you that America remains strong and faithful and free. And together, we’re going to continue the fight for Judeo-Christian values of our founding fathers. We’ll grow our economy, we’ll defend our sovereignty, we’ll protect our children.

Military Operations and Precision

When you look at the job we did, I was just thinking because President Putin said it to me and other leaders said it to me. When they looked at those B-2s go in and think of it, they flew for 37 hours straight. We had 52 tankers, tankers, the gasoline tankers, and they rode along with them at different aspects and they refueled and not a screw was broken, not a net, not a mark was on those planes. Every engine was perfect. When they landed, they were just as good as when they took off. Think of that, 37 hours and about 40 minutes to a very rough territory. And those machines worked incredibly well and literally not a problem.

And when I honored the flyers, we did it last week. I also honored the mechanics, the people that took care of those machines. And I said, it’s equally important. And you compare that same country, you compare that with what happened with Jimmy Carter was a sad situation. The helicopters were coming down and they were crashing and they were the men were all over the place trying to get the hell out of there. And it turned out to be a hostage situation and horrible thing. And probably it was one of the things that cost him the election, certainly. But when you think of that and you see this was in terms of perfection, they say they think it was a perfect military.

We sent the planes to Guam. Everybody thought we were flying to Guam. And they said, “Oh, they’re going to Guam.” Well, Guam’s out of the way. At the same time, we had some others go in a different direction. And we I watched a horrible, horrible CNN. You know, you have to watch sometimes your opposition and they are opposition. And I saw that they had basically the plans of when we’re going in, when we would be entering Iranian oil airspace. And and I said, you know, that’s weird. And I called the general raisin cane. He’s fantastic. I said, “General, I’m Pete Hicks. I said, I’m watching newscast where they’re saying what time you’re taking off tomorrow and what time we’re going to be entering the very dangerous airspace, the most the worst air space anywhere there is anywhere that in the world. I said, what do you think, sir? We’ll be fine. We blow them away. We’ll be fine because, you know, they want those those B-2s with seven. And they were surrounded by a lot of great planes. If F-22 is the most beautiful plane ever built, the fighter jet F-35s had a lot of different planes going with them. I said, but wouldn’t a surprise be better? Yeah, it would be better. I said, well, then let me cancel it and let’s make it at a different time.” So the day before, you

PRESIDENT TRUMP: I canceled it. I canceled it. They said, I’m canceling it. We’ll do it sometime within the next two, maybe three weeks. But I’m canceling it. And then I had a meeting and I said, I have an idea because I got slightly bigger coverage, to put it mildly. So everyone knew it was being canceled. I said, let’s leave at the exact same time we were supposed to leave the following day. And we took off. And that’s when the planes went out to Guam and this and that. And we took off. And that was the only time. And they said it. That was the only time they knew we wouldn’t be coming in. It was the exact same time that I can. I said, let’s do stuff. And they flew in and they were stealth, incredible planes. They were stealth. And they hit every bomb, hit their mark. Every single bomb hit the mark. It was unbelievable how they did it. And then they said skedaddle, skedaddle means get the hell out of there. They had to get out of that airspace. But it was an amazing thing. And I think it was so great for our country in so many different ways.

You know, you see so many incompetent people like the way we left Afghanistan with Milley and all these incompetent, stupid people and Biden. I mean, it was him. Leave everything behind. Leave jets behind. I said to Milley, I said, so you mean to tell me because I was going to leave. We would have left earlier than them, but we’re going to leave with dignity and strength. I said to Milley, you mean you want to leave a jet fighter behind? “Sure, it’s cheaper if we do that.” I said, wait a minute, give me a tank of gas and I’ll fly it to Pakistan or I’ll fly it to some place or I’ll fly it back home. Why is it cheaper? “It’s just cheaper.” That’s when I realized the guy was grossly incompetent.

Just tell me it’s cheaper to leave a plane than it is that that plane cost one hundred and fifty million apiece. “Let’s leave it, sir. It’s just great.” And they did. They left all the you know, I was taking everything, but they left it behind. But when you look at what happened and compare that to what we have now, we have a real great machine. I rebuilt the military in my first term and we left. We left some of it to Afghanistan and the Taliban, and they have their parades. I hate those parades. Every year they have a parade wheeling down our equipment on some very unattractive street. That’s, you know, their Fifth Avenue. They show our equipment going down. Just it’s getting older and older, but I hate to see it.

Working Together for America’s Future

But we’re going to be working together to protect our children. And with the grace of God and blessing of Providence, we will lead our country to heights that it’s never seen before. I think we’re going to be more successful in many ways, but I think we’re going to be more successful than we’ve ever been. And I do think this if we didn’t catch it, if we would have lost this election, our country was finished. I think it was that we were run by incompetent people. We were run by an auto pen and nobody knows who used it. I think it’s one of the biggest scandals in the history of our country. We were run by an auto pen. Nobody has any idea who used it, including Biden. He doesn’t know. So that interview yesterday, he knew nothing. So it’s a very terrible against an evil group of people. And they’re very smart, very smart. He’s not. But they are. They took over the they took over the Oval Office. They actually took over the Oval Office. We can never let a thing like that happen again.

So, Paul, I want to thank you very much. And I want to thank Jenny. And most importantly, I want to thank the people in this room. You really are incredible people, an inspiration to our country. And I know you don’t know that. You don’t think it because you’re too busy working, but you are. You’re a great inspiration to young people that want to be just like you when they grow up. And thank you very much for being here. And it’s a great honor. And, Paul, I think you’re going to say a prayer. I’ll stay with you while you say your prayer, OK? Thank you very much, everybody. Thank you. Thank you very much.

Faith Leader’s Address

UNIDENTIFIED SPEAKER: Thank you so much, Mr. President. You guys may be seated for just a moment. And he is our greatest champion of faith of any president this United States of America has ever had. We are deeply grateful for that. We are very honored that you are all here with us at the White House and where faith is not sidelined, but has a seat at the table. And as we gather today as leaders of industry, of vision, of faith, I believe that today is going to be very enlightened. And I’m so overwhelmed. We’re getting ready to worship and pray and to just think that prayer, worship and doing good work is welcome back into the White House.

President Trump is a historic and a bold move established the White House Faith Office to recognize some simple truths that America is strongest when faith is engaged and not silenced. When believers are activated and they are not isolated. This administration understands that people who are of faith, who are entrusted with wealth and influence as you are, are essential to building a stronger, freer and a more compassionate nation. You’re more than just CEOs and business leaders and entrepreneurs. You’re stewards on divine assignment, builders of legacy and vessels of impact. You’ve been called by God to his kingdom for such a time as this.

And together we are witnessing something absolutely remarkable. More has been accomplished by this administration in the past five months than in the last several decades. And that is due to the leadership of President Trump, his administration and the great team he has assembled. America’s spiritual and moral foundations have been restored and it’s only the beginning. Today’s not just a luncheon. It is a moment of divine alignment, a commissioning. And we believe that God is raising up business leaders who don’t separate faith from enterprise, but who see their platforms and their pulpits as their businesses and instruments for eternal impact.

Prayer and Blessing

Let us pray. Heavenly Father, we come before you with great reverence and expectation. Your word declares in Isaiah chapter 43, verse 19. “Behold, I am doing a new thing. Now it springs forth. Do you not perceive it?” Lord, we do perceive it. We see the stirring of your hands, reviving hearts, reforming systems, raising up leaders at this very hour. We thank you for our great president, President Trump, for his life, his courage, his clarity and unwavering defense of faith and freedom. May your wisdom guide him and your protection always surround him according to your word that does not return void. In Psalm 89 21 that you say “my hand will sustain him and surely my arm will strengthen him.”

We bless every person in this room, those you’ve entrusted this wealth, strategy and vision to. According to 1st Timothy 6, that you tell us “do not put our hope in riches but be rich in good works, generous and ready to share.” So they are your Josephs in Egypt, the wise stewards in famine. They are your Daniels in Babylon, the uncompromising voice and your Lydia and Philippi, the ones who expanded the kingdom. Let this be more than a meeting, let it be a movement where we come together and converge to bless communities, care for others and reach nations, empowered by your purpose and your grace. Unite us with the common cause to use our time and talent. For thy kingdom come, thy will be done in the earth as it is in heaven. In the mighty matchless name of Jesus we pray these things and come in agreement. Bless this food and bless everyone and everybody said amen.

Closing Remarks

And by the way it’s it is Secretary Howard Lutnick’s birthday so I’ll wish him a very happy birthday. We are so grateful for your time president and my husband John’s going to worship at any time that you have to go. We know that you have spent more than enough time and you are running the country exceptionally for us and we are all so grateful. So he will stay as long as possible but will you let president know how much we love and appreciate him.

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