Here is the full transcript of President Donald Trump’s Mother’s Day address delivered from the historic Rose Garden, May 8, 2026.
Editor’s Notes: In this Mother’s Day address delivered from the historic Rose Garden, President Donald J. Trump honors the resilience and sacrifice of America’s mothers, with a special focus on “Angel Moms” and “Gold Star Moms.” He reflects on the beauty of the newly restored grounds and the “Presidential Walk of Fame” before detailing his administration’s commitment to securing the nation’s borders and ending the fentanyl epidemic. The speech highlights several key initiatives aimed at supporting families, including expanded child tax credits, school choice, and a new $1,000 investment for every American newborn. Ultimately, the President offers a message of deep gratitude and resolve, celebrating the women who raise and defend the future of the United States.
TRANSCRIPT:
PRESIDENT DONALD J. TRUMP: Well, thank you very much. We love that song. We could have listened to the whole song. We’ve had that right from the beginning. It’s Lee Greenwood, and it’s been a great tribute to all of us. Why don’t we sit down? We’ve got plenty of time, right? Special people. Very special people. And I hope you like what we’re doing.
The Presidential Walk of Fame and the Rose Garden
Did everybody get to see the Presidential Walk of Fame? Right? And you have some of your favorite Presidents there, some of your least favorite Presidents. Some were good. Some were great. Some were terrible. But that’s the way life goes, right?
And you notice the roses. This is a rose garden. And we added a lot of roses, I will tell you. This was a rose garden that didn’t have too many roses. And if you look now, we cornered the market on roses. And you deserve them. So thank you for being with us in this beautiful spring, this gorgeous spring day.
The very famous rose garden. It’s been famous for a long time. They let it get a little bit out of control. But now it’s brought back to the highest level.
And, you know, where you’re standing or sitting right now is white stone. And that was grass. And the problem with it is you couldn’t walk on it because this was built on a wetland and the grass was always soaking wet. It didn’t matter. It was always soaking wet. Absolutely.
And so when Brooke Rollins would get up and start making a magnificent speech and she’d be standing in mud and she’d say, “I ruined my shoes,” her speeches would never be as good as they could have been because she was always concerned about ruining her shoes. But people would come here. Women would come with the high heels. And it wasn’t a pretty picture.
So after about 150 years, we gave up on the grass. So we said, “Let’s build it so we can use it.” And now we have lunches here. We have dinners here. And it’s nice and it’s cool. The white reflects the sun. So you don’t — although it does go in my eye right now, I notice. I didn’t anticipate that. But it’s a great place. It’s a great place. And we do news conferences. We do everything.
And right up here, you probably noticed the new black granite. And it’s been so well received, people can’t even believe it because the stones were all broken and really in bad disrepair. And it’s really become great. And we added the pictures of the presidents, from George Washington to a guy named Trump. And people really — they’ve loved it.
We call it the Presidential Wall of Fame or Walk of Fame. We say you can call it either — do you like walk or wall? Ready? Walk. Presidential Walk of Fame. Presidential Wall of Fame. Same. That’s the same. I would call that a tie.
Mother’s Day Tribute and Angel Moms
But I want to thank you all for being here. It’s amazing. Every weekend, we celebrate Mother’s Day, honoring the women who raised us and all of the wonderful mothers in our lives, so millions of American families. Sunday will be filled with love and gratitude and joy. I had a great mother, by the way.
And today, we’re honored to be joined by many strong and truly heroic moms who have stood up for their children, both in life and in a very profound loss. Very, very terrible and many — just terrible loss. Many cases. And we have a lot of the greatest people on Earth. Angel moms. They’re with us today. They’re great people. They’ve been through so much.
A Message to the Angel Moms
PRESIDENT TRUMP: And I got to know so many of you during my first – during my first days of running. I got to know you and I got to love you. But we want to thank you for being here on Mother’s Day. It’s one of the great days. I always think so fondly of my mother. I had a wonderful mother.
Among those with us this afternoon are a number of the angel moms who saw their precious children stolen from them by the open-border policies of the radical left. Open borders – I call them stupid borders, not open. I call them stupid borders. By stupid people, they put them there. And the migrant criminals that let – they let them pour into our country, and bad things happened. Bad things happened. Twenty-five million people came into our country. Many of them were criminals. Many of them were murderers. They allowed them in with their open-border policy of stupidity.
These incredibly brave and resilient women have turned terrible tragedy into unyielding resolve, becoming advocates so that their mothers do not have to endure the same heartache that they’ve felt all their lives. They’ve felt for so long. They’ve raised the most beautiful child that was taken, and they’ve spent so many years.
In many cases, I see some of you for – I’ve known you for years, and others are unfortunately new members of that club. And I say unfortunately. It’s a sad thing. Should have never happened. Should have never happened.
The Strongest Border in American History
In their honor, we’ve rapidly turned the worst and most dangerous border in the history of our country into the strongest border in American history. We have no people come in during the last 11 months. We have zero. Zero. Nobody even tries to come up.
You used to read about the thousands of people that would pour in, and they’d just come up in caravans. I think it was my name I came up with. It looked like a caravan. Twenty-five, 30,000 people pouring up. They walk through Mexico. They come from all different locations. Come from all over the world, actually. But they came in through our southern border, and they’d come up and just let them walk in. Nobody had any idea who they were.
They were murderers. 11,888 murderers, they were allowed to come into our country. We’ve gotten a lot of them out. Many of them murdered more than one person. What a shame. What a disgusting shame. That people can even think that this is okay is pretty incredible.
For the past 12 months, we’ve had that’s been our number. And these numbers are done by people that the numbers, when I say zero, I actually mean zero. It’s hard to believe, actually. But they’re done by people that are, they tend to be somewhat on the left. So they’re not going to give us a fair shake. And they say that, you know, people don’t come anymore because they know they’re not going to get through. So when they know they’re not going to get through, they just don’t come.
And just on that, we save a lot of lives because some of that journey up from Honduras and El Salvador and lots of other countries or from the Congo where they drop them there and they walk up and they come through our country. They emptied the prisons of the Congo into the area of the southern border and then told them to just walk in because stupid Americans are going to accept you beautifully. And these were hard, mean, vicious criminals they allowed into our country. How anybody can vote for these people is hard to believe, okay? It’s hard to believe.
A Tribute to Marianne Mendoza
But to a friend of mine, Marianne Mendoza. Marianne, where is Marianne? Where are you, Marianne? I got to know you right from the beginning, right? And I won’t ask her that, but I would often ask, is it easier with time? Because time has gone by. Marianne, no, it’s not. Sadly, it’s not. You know, you’re always here with time and time. But a lot of people say it’s not easier.
Angel Moms: A Promise of Respect and Love
PRESIDENT TRUMP: But you’re a special woman. I’ve gotten to be a friend of yours. You’re a special woman. What you have to go through is disgraceful.
Tammy Nobles. Tammy, are you here? Tammy Nobles, right. Does time help, Tammy? No. It used to be, you know, time heals all wounds, right? But it doesn’t. When you love somebody that much, it doesn’t help like it should.
Jacqueline Medina, a great person. Where is Jacqueline? Jacqueline, where are you? Thank you, darling. Thank you.
And so many others that I want to thank you for coming. And I don’t think you’ve been treated properly. It’s hard to believe, but the Angel Moms have not been treated properly. But this president treats you properly. I can’t speak for others, but this one treats you properly. And we love you all. And all I can say is our hearts are out to you on Mother’s Day. And you have a good Mother’s Day. Go and have a good Mother’s Day.
Border Security: Dramatic Decline in Drug Trafficking
In securing our border, we’ve also made tremendous strides in stopping the flow of illegal drugs into our country. The flood of deadly fentanyl across our border is down by 59%, and the drugs coming in by sea are down by 97%. 97%. And we’re trying to figure out who the 3% are because they are the bravest people on Earth.
You see how we stop them by sea. You know, for years, they’d go and catch the boat, bring them to court. They’d go in, they’d go out. By the time of the evening, they’d be back in another boat bringing drugs in. So we gave them warning, and we don’t do that anymore. We do it much more efficiently.
But think of that, down by sea. A lot of them came in, about 50%. It’s down 97%. Now we’ve started a very strong… The sea was more difficult, and now we’ve started land, and you’ll see it coming down. It’s come down a lot, but you’ll see it coming down. They come through Mexico, for the most part.
We have a problem because the cartels rule Mexico and nobody else. The cartels, they just rule it. And, you know, we lose 200,000 people a year through this poison that pours into our country. So we have the sea done, meaning the ocean, there’s waterways. It’s pretty much done, 97%. And we’re going to have the land done very soon.
Honoring Mothers Fighting the Drug Epidemic
I want to thank the brave moms fighting the epidemic of drug addiction here. Addiction. And this afternoon, including Anna Funder. Anna, you here someplace? Anna Funder does a great job. Wow, good. That’s a great job you do, Ann.
Stephanie Rowe. Stephanie, thank you. Thank you, Stephanie. Thank you. Behind the cameras there, Stephanie. Thank you very much.
And a friend of mine, Jackie Siegel, who’s a great, great mom, great mother. Thank you, Jackie. I’ve known her for a long time. She looks better now than she did 20 years ago, right? Thank you very much, Jackie.
Last summer, it was my great honor to sign the HALT Fentanyl Act into law, and we’ll never give up on that mission for ending the drug epidemic in America. We’ve come a long way. We’ve stopped massive amounts of drugs from coming in.
Gold Star Moms: Honoring the Ultimate Sacrifice
This afternoon, we’re also joined by some of the most extraordinary mothers our nation has ever produced, our cherished Gold Star moms. These are Gold Star moms. These mothers raised up children so selfless and so devoted that they volunteered to wear the uniform of our nation and laid down their lives for all of us.
One of those mothers is Janice Chance. Janice? Where is Janice? Thank you. Thank you, Janice. Hi, you look great. That’s a beautiful hat. Thank you, Janice. Who lost her son, Marine Captain Jesse Melton. And I heard he was an outstanding… They give me lists, and they tell me about people. You know, they said that Jesse was outstanding, Janice. They have the word outstanding. Thank you for being here.
Honoring the Fallen: Jesse’s Sacrifice
PRESIDENT TRUMP: Just before he went to Afghanistan in 2008, Jesse told his mother, “Mom, I want to go change the world and make it an even better place. I want to make it a better place, Mom.” Just before his 30th birthday, even though he had the day off, Jesse volunteered to take the place of a fellow Marine, so that his brother-in-arms could be present for the birth of a daughter. That day, Jesse gave his life for our country. Jesse was struck down that day by helping somebody else.
And, Janice, I want to say America is a strong and free nation today because of people like your great son, and we want to thank you for being here. Thank you very much.
Abbey Gate Families: A Night in Bedminster
I also want to express my love for the moms with us whose extraordinary heroes gave their lives in the terrorist attack at Abbey Gate in Afghanistan. I got to know you very well, very well. And these are phenomenal people. We went to a club I own in Bedminster, New Jersey, which is beautiful. They played music. They said, “Do you actually think he’s coming out?” He said, “Yes.” And I was going to do just a stop by and say hello. And we ended up listening to music for four hours on that beautiful, that beautiful night, looking at the sky, thinking about those wonderful people.
Abbey Gate, very well known. Should have never happened. That should have never happened. That was incompetence by the Biden administration.
So to Alicia Lopez and Paula Knauss, Coral Persinho, and to all of the Abbey Gate moms, we’re thinking of you this Mother’s Day. And again, we had you to the White House. I was over at a very beautiful cemetery, as beautiful as they can be, but, you know, sad occasion. We went over and we paid our respects, but we lost great people that day. We shouldn’t have lost any people that day. Gross incompetence.
Supporting Mothers Across America
This Mother’s Day, we’re thinking of all of those incredible moms, and we’re doing everything in our power to support them and millions of other mothers all across America. And we’re blessed to have many wonderful mothers serving in this administration, including Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins, who’s doing a phenomenal job. Thank you very much. And the first woman ever to serve as a White House Chief of Staff — she’s become a legend — Susie Wiles. She’s amazing.
Tax Cuts, School Choice, and the Trump Accounts
To help American families and mothers, we passed a great big, beautiful bill, the largest tax cuts in American history. We expanded the child tax credit to $2,200 from a much lower number per child and delivered the largest expansion of school choice in American history. We have school choice all over now. We had virtually none before. Everybody loves school choice with accounts.
We have a very special thing, the Trump accounts, where we’re helping families to set aside tax-advantaged savings for their children’s future. And we are giving every American newborn child $1,000 automatically to invest and to grow over the course of their lives.
And I want to thank the Dell family. It’s a great family. He is amazing. She is amazing. They’ve done such a job, such a job, and they put up a lot of money — $6,250,000. That’s somebody. And he started making computers on his bed in college and selling them because they were better than other computers. And I said, “How did you do that?” He said, “Well, I did it and I just never stopped. It just kept going.” So go out and buy a Dell. They’re great.
Lowering Costs for Families: IVF, Regulations, and Drug Prices
We’re also working to make it easier than ever before to start a family by lowering the price of IVF, cutting regulatory battles and barriers, and fighting to bring down the cost of living so that more Americans can pursue the dream of — and it’s a dream of living just a good life, maybe a great life. We cut drug prices now with the most favored nations.
Prescription Drug Prices: Favored Nations Policy
PRESIDENT TRUMP: We cut them by 70, 80, 90 percent. You could say 500 percent, 600, depending on the way you phrase the statement. But we now play. So when I was here, this was a big ambition right at the beginning. I was able to cut him a little bit, but I didn’t cut him. I got him more than anybody else, which was a little bit because for 28 years, drug prices and prescription drugs only went in one direction.
And when I came back, we now did something that everybody said was impossible. Favored nations. We had the highest drug prices in the world by far. Now we have the lowest drug prices in the world. Can you imagine? So we cut him by 50, 60, 70 percent and go out and you’ll see exactly — it’s one of the biggest things that we’ve done.
Drugs that were costing in London $10 for a pill would cost $130 for a pill in the United States. I don’t know if it’s $10 or if it’s $20. That’s what we pay. We pay the lowest price anywhere in the world. So it’s great. And the fake news doesn’t want to write about it. But that’s why I talk about it, because we have no choice. We have to.
A Message of Gratitude to America’s Mothers
So I just want to again, I want to thank everybody for being here. It’s so important. We do things like we keep men out of women’s sports, a very popular issue. We stopped transgender mutilization of your children for everyone. We don’t have that.
But I want to thank every single mother here this afternoon and all across our nation for your work. Every single day, America’s moms are really raising the future of our country. The most important — we don’t call it a job because when you love it, it’s not a job. But let’s for this purpose — you have the most important job there is in America or anyplace else. And you’re doing an incredible job.
I just want to wish you all a very happy Mother’s Day. We’re going to have a great Mother’s Day. And for those mothers that lost their child, many of whom are with us today — the angel moms and others, Gold Star moms — we love you especially. We love you maybe even the most. Thank you very much. Thank you, everybody. Appreciate it. Thank you. Thank you.
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