00:00:13.000And another part of the issue here that people may not realize is that people who go to court with these cases, they don't have the same rights that we would expect.
00:00:55.000It's something that people want to include in negotiations underway right now over DHS.
00:01:00.000But talking to some experts, especially some experts from Cato, a man named Mike Fox, he told me he thinks that what Democrats are asking for actually may have less impact than changing this.
00:01:12.000If I tell you you can't wear masks, but nothing happens when you do, what does that do?
00:01:17.000That's why it's so fundamentally important that Congress add a component that allows you to sue for constitutional violations and then precludes the actors, the government agents, from benefiting from immunity.
00:01:30.000Advocates are pushing for this to be part of the talks, but my reporting is there's no evidence that it is.
00:01:35.000All right, Lisa Desjardins, thank you so much.
00:02:34.000But the big picture here is that the Supreme Court has had a pretty consistent line on federal power.
00:02:42.000They've given Trump a lot of broad latitude to run the executive branch, but they have not given him broad latitude to run the legislative branch.
00:02:49.000They've said this is a clear legislative thing.
00:02:51.000It's in the Constitution, taxing and spending, tariffs, it's right there.
00:02:55.000And they are trying to draw a line around the presidency.
00:02:59.000Back in like 1973, 74, a historian named Arthur Schlesinger wrote a book called The Imperial Presidency about Richard Nixon.
00:03:06.000That wasn't even close to where we are today.
00:03:09.000This is the most imperial presidency in American history.
00:03:12.000And the worst part is it's accompanied not only by a president who wants to grab every power, but a Congress whose power is imploding voluntarily.
00:03:20.000And so part of the problem here is the unwillingness of Congress to do their job.
00:03:25.000And that leaves a vacuum that Trump can fill.
00:03:28.000President Trump has for years now pushed the boundaries of executive authority in his first term and in the first year of his second term.
00:03:36.000How significant is it after years of the Supreme Court really reinforcing his expansive view of executive power, two of the justices he appointed effectively broke with him today?
00:03:47.000It's a good sign that the Supreme Court isn't as in lockstep with the president as a lot of people feared.
00:03:55.000The other thing, excuse me, it says to me, never swallow just before your own salaya, just before you go, my apologies.
00:04:02.000But the other thing about the ruling is, to David's point, the justices basically said in the ruling, you know, Mr. President, there is a way to do what you want to do, and it's by doing it with the legislative branch.
00:04:16.000So as much as it was a smackdown of the president and his overreach, it was a reminder to Congress that basically, yo, you guys have a job to do.
00:04:32.000Whether this Congress, with this Republican majority, and particularly with this Republican speaker, whether they will take the Supreme Court up on its opportunity to do its job remains to be seen.
00:04:45.000Well, after the ruling, the President took to the White House briefing room.
00:04:48.000He spoke for 45 minutes and he escalated his attacks against the court and the justices themselves.
00:04:55.000The Supreme Court's ruling on tariffs is deeply disappointing.
00:05:02.000And I'm ashamed of certain members of the court, absolutely ashamed, for not having the courage to do what's right for our country.
00:05:11.000They're very unpatriotic and disloyal to our Constitution.
00:05:35.000It is the nature of somebody with a narcissistic personality disorder to think I am the center and everything that's an assault on me cannot be anything but a shameful attack on all that is right and good.
00:06:45.000Just as they are in a trap and a quandary and a bind, let's not forget that there's still a partial government shutdown.
00:06:52.000And we haven't heard, at least I haven't heard, anything about any kind of negotiations to reopen the Department of Homeland Security.
00:07:00.000And on the president's remarks, going after the Supreme Court, the same Supreme Court that gave him immunity for official acts, and he was all happy about them then.
00:07:11.000But of all the shameful remarks he gave in that press conference when he said not only that he thought that those justices should be ashamed, but that their families would be ashamed of them.
00:07:23.000And that to me, just when I thought he couldn't get any lower, he gets lower.
00:07:29.000And I don't know why I keep thinking he won't go any lower, but he does.
00:07:33.000But that, I thought, was really shameful on the part of the president.
00:07:37.000Let's shift our focus to the president convening this past week, the first meeting of what he's calling his board of peace.
00:07:43.000Dozens of international leaders, you see them there discussing ongoing conflicts, including Gaza, the rising tensions with Iran.
00:07:51.000David, we've spoken on this program about U.S. retrenchment.
00:07:56.000Is this a reassertion of American leadership, or do you see this as executive overreach in the foreign policy sphere?
00:09:25.000And two, into which bank is it, offshore bank is it going to?
00:09:31.000A bank that you, as the leader of this board, gets to decide where this money goes and you decide how that money is spent.
00:09:40.000Why shouldn't the American people think that the money that you are using, taxpayers' money, isn't going to end up in your own pocket or the pocket of your family and not make it to Gaza?
00:09:52.000That is the question that I would love to ask.
00:09:58.000As President Trump prepares to deliver the first State of the Union address of his second term, six in ten Americans say the country is in a worse place than a year ago.
00:10:08.000That's according to a new PBS News NPR Marist poll.
00:10:12.000The president will have a chance to try to turn the page tomorrow night, laying out his list of priorities for the year to come.
00:10:19.000Ahead of that speech, White House correspondent Liz Landers checks in with voters about how they see the direction of the country.
00:10:27.000The state of our union is stronger than ever before.
00:10:42.000The state of our union will remain strong.
00:10:46.000Presidents walk into the House chamber to project optimism and strength to the American people.
00:10:51.000Heading into this speech tomorrow night, just 43% of Americans say the current state of the union is strong in this latest PBS News NPR Marist poll.
00:11:01.000That's a four-point drop from last year.
00:11:03.000Of course, how you define strength is in the eye of the beholder.
00:11:07.000So we talked to some of the participants in this poll.
00:11:10.000Strong compared to other countries, very much so.
00:11:13.000Strong compared to what we are or could be, but certainly not nearly as strong as we could be.
00:11:19.000Others would choose another word entirely.
00:11:22.000If I used one word to describe it, I'd probably say terrible.
00:11:48.000Since Mr. Trump re-entered the Oval Office last January, he's pushed policies at a frenetic pace, sending immigration agents in the National Guard to American cities, launching bombs in Iran and missiles on boats in the Caribbean, threatening to take over Greenland, slashing the federal workforce, calling for investigations into his perceived political enemies, all of it testing the limits of presidential power.
00:12:14.000A majority of Americans in this latest poll say President Trump's actions so far are changing the country for the worse, and it's affecting them personally.
00:12:22.000A majority say the policies of his second term are having a negative impact on their lives.
00:12:27.000Less than a third say it's made life better for them.
00:12:31.000We're year in, and if anything, people's perceptions of what's been going on have deteriorated.
00:12:37.000Lee Maringoff is the director of the Marist Institute for Public Opinion.
00:12:41.000He says views of President Trump's policies are directly tied to people's perceptions of him.
00:12:46.000Donald Trump is defining the landscape.
00:13:38.000Like the immigration crackdown across the country.
00:13:42.000ICE agents coming into Minnesota communities and terrorizing people here.
00:13:47.000I have people I know who have been afraid to leave their houses.
00:13:51.000I have had family members detained, family members tear gassed.
00:13:56.000So tomorrow night, Mr. Trump will likely try for a reset, pushing his policy prescriptions for the weeks and months ahead, like lowering electricity costs and requiring ID to vote in elections while still continuing his aggressive anti-immigration agenda.
00:14:10.000The speech is a high-stakes moment for the president.
00:14:14.000Donald Trump needs to, in a sense, redefine what his second term is about.
00:14:19.000He started off with numbers that were much better than they are right now.
00:14:24.000So the past year, in consultant terms, he's got an off-message.
00:14:29.000It's also likely to be his biggest audience of the year, with millions of Americans watching from home.
00:14:35.000And inside the House chamber, his cabinet tasked with carrying out his agenda, his Republican allies in Congress, Democrats trying to block him, and representatives from the nation's highest court, where many of his executive orders have already been tested and in many cases, upheld.
00:14:52.000But just last week, in one of the most significant blows to his economic agenda so far, the justices struck down tariffs the president had unilaterally imposed on foreign countries.
00:15:03.000I'm ashamed of certain members of the court.
00:15:07.000After the decision, Trump lashed out, suggesting he doesn't care if they show up tomorrow night.
00:15:13.000When every co-equal branch of government will be in the same room at a time when Americans' faith in the delicate system of checks and balances is at an all-time low.
00:15:23.000In the new poll conducted before the latest Supreme Court decision, two-thirds of respondents say the system is not working well.
00:15:30.000That lack of trust in a core tenant of American democracy has jumped 12 points since Trump's speech to Congress last March, and it has doubled since the month before his inauguration.
00:15:41.000I think it's hard to over-exaggerate, frankly, or exaggerate the extent to which the last year has degraded, if not demolished, the basic pillars of constitutional democracy.
00:15:57.000Kimberly Whaley is a professor at the University of Baltimore School of Law and author of several books, including How to Read the Constitution and Why.
00:16:05.000She sees how the branches of government are working together as a deeply troubling moment.
00:16:11.000It's not the actual speed limit that slows people down.
00:16:14.000It's the threat of enforcement or consequence for speeding.
00:16:18.000It's that ticket that motivates compliance with the speed limit.
00:16:22.000If the speed limit is the Constitution, where do the tickets come from?
00:16:38.000He's a law professor at the University of California at Berkeley and a former Justice Department official in the George W. Bush administration.
00:16:45.000He says it's no surprise a Republican Congress is going along with the policies of a Republican president.
00:16:51.000What he's trying to achieve in terms of reform of the relations of the executive branch with the other branches and presidential power generally is to restore the presidency to the way it was originally understood by the founders.
00:17:07.000But Yu says that voters will hold the ultimate power during November's midterm elections.
00:17:12.000Those critics should go and win the elections at the midterms and then place political pressure using Congress's constitutional powers to try to restrain them.
00:17:22.000A potential shift that wouldn't be on full display until next year's State of the Union address.
00:17:28.000For the PBS News Hour, I'm Liz Landers.
00:17:31.000For more on the latest PBS news poll and what to watch for during President Trump's State of the Union tomorrow night, we turn now to our Politics Monday duo.
00:17:39.000That's Tam Rakith of NPR and Jasmine Wright, White House correspondent, for notice.
00:18:23.000If you look under the hood of these numbers, it really is Democrats are going this way, Republicans are going this way.
00:18:29.000However, independents are more in the direction of Democrats right now.
00:18:34.000And Jasmine, another thing that stands out in this poll, 53% of respondents say President Trump's policies have had a negative impact on them personally.
00:18:42.000That is different than abstract disapproval.
00:18:46.000This is people speaking about their direct experience.
00:18:50.000And I think that is reflected in a lot of people's discomfort with the tariffs.
00:18:54.000Obviously, we know that those were just struck down, the way that he was using them by the Supreme Court, but we've heard people be really frustrated about the tariffs, frustrated about high prices, frustrated about the economy not being as good as they've heard the president say, and also frustrated with the president's immigration agenda.
00:19:09.000I think if you look at some of the more recent polls, you've seen people being broadly accepting of the idea that more people should be deported, but not happy with the tactics.
00:19:19.000And so the president is facing strong headwinds kind of across the board when it comes to how people are responding to his individual policies, which is not just about his personality.
00:19:29.000Let's talk more about the tariffs, because just today the president said, as president, I do not have to go back to Congress to get approval of tariffs.
00:19:36.000It's already been gotten, he says, in many forms a long time ago.
00:19:41.000He is really just brushing past the Supreme Court here, Tam.
00:19:54.000He is claiming to continue to have massive powers.
00:19:58.000The reality is that there are a whole bunch of three-digit number options that the president can use, and none of them are as powerful as IEPA.
00:20:07.000None of them are that Swiss Army knife that he was using IEPA as, but obviously the Supreme Court found that he was using it in a way that wasn't legal.
00:20:18.000For a lot of voters, the tariffs, as Jasmine said, are a problem.
00:20:24.000They see things getting more expensive.
00:20:25.000Now you see major corporations and companies people have heard of are asking for refunds for the tariffs, which is another indication that it wasn't foreign companies that were paying it.
00:20:36.000But President Trump, this is a core belief for him.
00:20:40.000This is something that he has been talking about at least since the 1980s and probably before then.
00:20:47.000It is his favorite word, he likes to say.
00:20:49.000It is his favorite policy prescription for everything from foreign policy to the economy to trying to get world peace.
00:20:58.000And so he is not giving this up easily, and he's not creating any separation for Republicans in Congress who are going to have to explain this in the coming months.
00:21:11.000Jasmine, say more about that, because to Tam's point, FedEx today, the international shipping company, filed suit in the international trade court seeking a refund.
00:21:21.000This is a story that is really breaking through.
00:21:23.000Based on your reporting, how are Republicans thinking about this in terms of the messaging and the policy?
00:21:28.000Yeah, and you're going to have more of these companies and perhaps individual small businesses coming out and saying that based on the ruling, we want a refund.
00:21:36.000Now, the White House has been clear that that is going to be settled later on in litigation, but still that is going to be a thing.
00:21:41.000I think that this is fundamentally important because so far, Congress has not necessarily been receptive to the President's tariffs, particularly Republicans.
00:21:49.000And in votes that they've taken against tariffs, particularly that Canadian tariffs vote to revoke those, six Republicans joined Democrats to remove those tariffs from Canada.
00:21:59.000That was a symbolic vote because even if it did pass in it, which it likely is not, it would still need to be veto-proof for the president.
00:22:06.000Now, if he does, in fact, decide to go to Congress, which he says he won't, but if he wants to continue those Section 122 tariffs, he will have to go to Congress.
00:22:14.000If he does, that vote becomes not symbolic but serious.
00:22:18.000And it means that Republicans are going to have to be on the record in support or against these tariffs.
00:22:25.000And that, of course, puts them potentially in hot water with their constituents who may not like tariffs.
00:22:29.000But then on the other side, if they don't vote for tariffs, it puts them in hot water with the president, who has shown that he will primarily just about anybody that goes against him.
00:22:37.000And there's a risk here for President Trump being cast as out of touch when you have the American people by and large saying that they don't support these tariffs.
00:22:44.000I remember back in the early 90s, I think it was 1992, then President George H.W. Bush was cast as being out of touch because he went to a grocer's convention and there was one of those barcode scanners.
00:22:55.000And he said something like, oh, that's cool.
00:22:57.000I've never seen anything like that before.
00:22:58.000And people were like, how could you not know what a barcode scanner is in the supermarket?
00:23:01.000That was what passed for scandal and controversy back then.
00:23:04.000And here you have pluralities, majorities of the American public saying that they don't want these tariffs.
00:23:09.000And the president is saying, okay, fine, 15% tariffs.
00:23:12.000Well, the president has also said that he has won affordability, that he's done.
00:23:18.000I think a big question that I have about this coming State of the Union address is, does he pivot to talk about affordability in a way that is relatable to the American people?
00:23:27.000Or does he once again say, don't believe what you're feeling, believe the numbers, believe me, believe anything but what you're feeling.
00:23:35.000I think that this is a real problem for him, but he is not, unless something dramatic happens, going to be on the ballot again.
00:23:44.000Now, he wants, he and his team want the midterms to be about him because they think that's the only way that they can juice turnout.
00:23:52.000But he personally is not on the ballot again.
00:23:56.000Democrats tomorrow night are boycotting.
00:24:00.000Yeah, there are a handful of Democrats growing kind of in numbers that are just that are saying that they are not going to be in the chamber as the speech is going on.
00:24:07.000Some are going to be having their own speech outside.
00:24:11.000But I think you are seeing this kind of clash between Democratic leadership that says if you are going, you need to be respectful.
00:24:17.000We don't want to see some of the antics like holding up the sign that felt a bit unserious, if we're going to be honest, last year, versus people saying I'm going to opt out anyway.
00:24:27.000Now, when we go back to those traditional Democrats, they are bringing people with them, as we've seen happen in the past, that are directly kind of in opposition to the president's agenda.
00:24:38.000I know that Democrats are bringing some Epstein survivors, people related to Epstein survivors.
00:24:44.000They're bringing folks who have been attacked or harmed, they say, by the president's immigration policies, including people who have been legitimately ripped out of their car on video.
00:24:55.000And so I think you're seeing a traditional way of Democrats responding to the State of the Union in this non-traditional way, which is basically they're opting out.
00:25:03.000What are you watching for tomorrow night?
00:25:04.000Well, the president says it's going to be long because he has a lot to say.
00:25:08.000You know, he has now delivered a number of these addresses.
00:25:10.000He does tend to stay on the teleprompter.
00:26:51.000I am incredibly thankful for your initiative and wanting to push and bringing to light the hardships behind IVF and the access that families need.
00:31:23.000Within the last few minutes, we've started to get some excerpts from the President's speech.
00:31:27.000And largely, what we're seeing right now are more of those messages about the economy, focused on cost of living in particular, and what President Trump at this administration has tried to do so far to bring down costs on things like prescription drugs.
00:31:41.000He's going to talk about the inflated prescription drug prices that he has worked on through this most favored nation's policy to bring down some of those drug prices on everything from GLP1s to in vitro fertilization medications.
00:31:56.000He's also going to talk about some of the Wall Street buy-ups that he has tried to ban on single-family homes.
00:32:03.000He's also going to call on Democrats directly to fund the Department of Homeland Security.
00:32:09.000Our viewers may remember that we're in a partial shutdown right now with the Department of Homeland Security's funding on pause as Democrats try to get some negotiating on some of the ICE tactics that we've seen used across the country.
00:32:24.000The president is going to call directly on Democrats shortly here in the chamber to fund border security and the department.
00:32:31.000And he is going to end on a note talking and hearkening back to the fact that this is America's 250th anniversary, saying that the revolution that began in 1776 has not ended and it still continues.
00:32:55.000We saw the White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles make her way in.
00:32:58.000We should point out to our viewers that you have a choice spot there in the gallery just atop the rostrum from where the president will be speaking tonight.
00:33:13.000Before me, I see Republicans, many women wearing red, eager, enthusiastic for their president.
00:33:19.000On the other side, Democrats, more somber and solemn, and many empty seats, as many we can see, dozens of Democrats are boycotting.
00:33:28.000Also, the U.S. Supreme Court, just four of the nine members are here tonight.
00:33:33.000Not the entire court, not even the majority of the court, is here.
00:33:37.000To my left, in the first lady's box, I can see that the entire Trump family, the Trump five children, are in the front row sitting next to Melania Trump.
00:33:45.000She received a big round of applause when she came in.
00:33:47.000But many other guests in the galleries here are going to be notable.
00:33:51.000Also, to my left, several Epstein survivors wearing butterfly pins, wondering if the president will address them and the need that they see for more release of the Epstein files.
00:34:03.000What I don't see yet, guys, is the U.S. hockey team, the gold-winning hockey team, not in the chamber yet.
00:34:08.000My understanding is they will enter during the speech and leave during the speech.
00:34:17.000Well, with us at the table here all evening, and it could be a long evening, even longer than last year, perhaps, are Amy Walter of the Cook Political Report, Republican strategist Kevin Madden, Democratic strategist Faz Shakir, and Tiffany Smiley, former Republican Senate candidate in Washington State.
00:34:38.000He's got the Supreme Court setback on tariffs.
00:34:40.000He's got his slumping approval numbers.
00:34:42.000You've got warning signs for Republicans in the midterms.
00:34:45.000How does he use this speech as a moment to reset?
00:34:49.000Yeah, I mean, this is Trump dominating once again, and he will make it a very strong speech, a speech that certainly paints a picture for hope and vision into the future as of what he will deliver on.
00:35:00.000This summer he passed the historic No Tax on TIPS Act.
00:35:04.000No tax on tips, no tax on overtime, increased child credit tax, amongst other things that are in there.
00:35:11.000And the American people will start to feel that in the coming months as they file their taxes and they start to see more money coming back into their pockets.
00:35:21.000Just today, consumer indexes bumped up a little bit.
00:35:24.000Those are good trends going in and sort of the wind in Trump sales heading into this speech.
00:35:29.000I think it will be a powerful speech, a strong speech, and a speech about not just today, but perhaps a better future for our children's children.
00:35:38.000Let's take a listen in on the House Chamber floor because it looks like the Sergeant-in-Arms.
00:35:42.000Mr. Speaker, the President of the United States.
00:35:58.000We see the President there entering the chamber now, going to make his way down that aisle.
00:36:04.000We're sure he's going to greet people along the aisle in those choice aisle seats as he makes his way up to the front, followed, of course, by Republican congressional leadership behind him.
00:36:16.000Continuing to watch the president as he makes his way to deliver this State of the Union address.
00:36:22.000And Walter, as we continue to watch this unfold here, this is, of course, his first State of the Union since returning to the White House over a year ago.
00:36:30.000Jeff sort of told us a little bit about the public he's speaking to, where the American people are at this moment, how they're viewing his first year in office.
00:36:40.000Tell us a little bit about the message he should try to send tonight.
00:36:43.000Well, when I look at some of these excerpts, this is the kind of message that I think Republicans, especially Republicans who are on the ballot next year, would like to see him talk about over and over again things that the administration has been doing on these cost of living issues.
00:37:00.000To me, the ultimate challenge for the president and for Republicans in this upcoming election isn't what he says tonight, but it's whether he will continue to say this tomorrow, a week from now, two months from now, right?
00:42:05.000Members of Congress and my fellow Americans, our nation is back, bigger, better, richer, and stronger than ever before.
00:42:29.000Less than five months from now, our country will celebrate an epic milestone in American history, the 250th anniversary of our glorious American independence.
00:42:41.000This July 4th, we will mark two and a half centuries of liberty and triumph, progress, and freedom in the most incredible and exceptional nation ever to exist on the face of the earth.
00:43:14.000When I last spoke in this chamber 12 months ago, I had just inherited a nation in crisis with a stagnant economy, inflation at record levels.
00:43:26.000a wide open border, horrendous recruitment for military and police, rampant crime at home, and wars and chaos all over the world.
00:43:37.000But tonight, after just one year, I can say with dignity and pride that we have achieved a transformation like no one has ever seen before and a turnaround for the ages.
00:43:49.000It is indeed a turnaround for the ages.
00:44:17.000And we will never go back to where we were just a very short time ago.
00:44:57.000And America is respected again, perhaps like never before.
00:45:16.000After four years in which millions and millions of illegal aliens poured across our borders totally unvetted and unchecked, we now have the strongest and most secure border in American history by far.
00:45:42.000In the past nine months, zero illegal aliens have been admitted to the United States.
00:46:01.000But we will always allow people to come in legally, people that will love our country and will work hard to maintain our country.
00:46:21.000The flow of deadly fentanyl across our border is downed by a record 56 percent in one year.
00:46:40.000And last year, the murder rate saw its single largest decline in recorded history.
00:46:46.000This is the biggest decline, think of it in recorded history, the lowest number in over 125 years, year 1900.
00:46:56.000In fact, substantially before my wonderful father, I had a wonderful father, Fred, before he was born, substantially before he was born.
00:47:08.000He wouldn't like me to say that, but that's a long time ago.
00:47:12.000The Biden administration and its allies in Congress gave us the worst inflation in the history of our country.
00:47:20.000But in 12 months, my administration has driven core inflation down to the lowest level in more than five years.
00:47:27.000And in the last three months of 2025, it was down to 1.7%.
00:47:48.000Gasoline, which reached a peak of over $6 a gallon in some states, under my predecessor, it was quite honestly a disaster, is now below $2.30 a gallon in most states.
00:48:41.000And low interest rates will solve the Biden-created housing problem while at the same time protecting the values of those people who already own a house that really feel rich for the first time in their lives.
00:50:25.000As thousands of new businesses are forming in factories, plants, and laboratories are being built, we have added 70,000 new construction jobs in just a very short period of time.
00:50:36.000It's getting bigger and bigger and stronger.
00:50:39.000Nobody can believe what they're watching.
00:50:41.000American oil production is up by more than 600,000 barrels a day, and we just received from our new friend and partner, Venezuela, more than 80 million barrels of oil.
00:51:05.000American natural gas production is at an all-time high because I kept my promise to drill, baby, drill.
00:51:25.000More Americans are working today than at any time in the history of our country.
00:55:19.000That's the first time I've ever seen them get up.
00:55:24.000And actually, not all of them did get up.
00:55:28.000But they beat a fantastic Canadian team in overtime, as everybody saw, as did the American women who will soon be coming to the White House.
00:56:12.000And I just want to say a second very big congratulations to Team USA.
00:56:17.000But I have to say that, and I told them this, and we took a vote of the team.
00:56:22.000I said, anybody votes no, I'm not doing it.
00:56:25.000So they stood there, and they weren't about to say no, because I'd never seen a goaltender play as well as goalie Conor Halibut.
00:57:04.000Think of it, 46 shots on goal, and I asked him, the one shot, the one where you put your stick in the back, and it hit the neck of your stick and bounced off.
00:57:14.000Do you practice that or was that a little lucky?
00:57:21.000But I just want to tell you that the members of this great hockey squad will be very happy to hear based on their vote and my vote, and in this case my vote was more important, that I will soon be presenting Connor with our highest civilian honor, which we will be given and which has been given to many athletes over the years.
00:57:43.000But when I say many, not too many, like 12.
00:57:47.000It's called the highest civilian honor in our country, the Presidential Medal of Freedom.
00:58:20.000Great athletes have gotten that, very great, the best, and I thought he deserved it.
00:58:25.000And I did take a vote, every single one of them.
00:58:28.000I said, I'm not giving it if anybody goes no.
00:58:30.000And every single one of them rapidly put up their hand.
01:00:37.000At age 17, Buddy volunteered to defend America in World War II, serving in the Pacific under the great General Douglas MacArthur.
01:00:47.000He fought bravely in the famous Battle of Manila, worked so hard.
01:00:52.000He was badly wounded and almost killed by enemy machine guns in Luzon.
01:00:58.000And 81 years ago, this month, he liberated the largest internment camp in the Philippines, one of the largest anywhere in the world.
01:01:07.000But he earned many honors, including a Purple Heart and a Bronze Star, came home, started a family, and tonight he is in the gallery looking forward to July 4th, 2026, his 100th birthday.
01:01:55.000So, buddy, you're a brave man, and we salute you.
01:01:59.000Even in times of challenge, setback, and immense heartache, the spirit of 1776 has always shone through very brightly.
01:02:10.000It was July 4th of last year when floodwaters tore through a girls' summer camp in central Texas, one of the worst things I've ever seen.
01:02:18.000I was there, rising 26 feet in the matter of minutes, tragically claiming many, many lives.
01:03:49.000Tonight, Scott and Millie Kate are here together, reunited for the very first time.
01:03:55.000Thank you, Scott, Millie Cate, and Petty Officer Ruskin.
01:04:23.000I'm pleased to inform you that I am now awarding you the Legion of Merit for Extraordinary Heroism, which is what it was, Extraordinary Heroism.
01:04:48.000And I'd like to have the military aide to please come down and take care of the service.
01:05:21.000Together, we're building a nation where every child has the chance to reach higher and go further, where government answers to the people, not the powerful, and where the interests of hardworking American citizens are always our first and ultimate concern.
01:05:37.000That is the debt we owe to the heroes who came before us, and that is the promise we must keep to America for our 250th year.
01:05:48.000Last year, I urged this Congress to begin the mission by passing the largest tax cuts in American history, and our Republican majorities delivered so beautifully.
01:06:01.000All Democrats, every single one of them, voted against these really important and very necessary massive tax cuts.
01:06:32.000They wanted large-scale tax increases to hurt the people instead.
01:06:40.000But we held strong, and with the great, big, beautiful bill, we gave you no tax on tips, no tax on overtime, and no tax on Social Security for our great city.
01:07:07.000And we also made interest on auto loans tax deductible the first time, but only if the car is made in America.
01:07:27.000Recently in Pennsylvania, I met Megan Hemhauser, a devoted mom who homeschools her children, beautiful, two children, during the day while waiting tables at night as her husband works overtime operating very heavy equipment.
01:07:45.000Megan is here this evening and she's happy to tell you that she is so, so much richer because with no tax on tips, no tax on overtime, and her expanded child tax credit done again by Republicans, Megan and her husband will take home more than $5,000 extra just for the year, cutting her tax bill in more than half.
01:08:58.000Tax-free investment accounts for every American child.
01:09:02.000This is something that's so special, has taken off and gone through the roof.
01:09:06.000Millions will be pre-funded courtesy of the U.S. Treasury and private individuals like Michael and Susan Dell, who have donated $6,250,000,000 to fund the Trump accounts for 25 million American children.
01:11:00.000One of the primary reasons for our country's stunning economic turnaround, the biggest in history where the Dow Jones broke 50,000 four years ahead of schedule and the S ⁇ P hit 7,000 where it wasn't supposed to do it for many years were tariffs.
01:11:20.000I used these tariffs, took in hundreds of billions of dollars to make great deals for our country, both economically and on a national security basis.
01:12:34.000Knowing that the legal power that I, as president, have to make a new deal could be far worse for them, and therefore they will continue to work along the same successful path that we had negotiated before the Supreme Court's unfortunate involvement.
01:12:52.000So, despite the disappointing ruling, these powerful countries saving, it's saving our country the kind of money we're taking in.
01:13:02.000Peace protecting many of the wars I settled was because of the threat of tariffs.
01:13:07.000I wouldn't have been able to settle them without, will remain in place under fully approved and tested alternative legal statutes.
01:13:15.000And they have been tested for a long time.
01:13:18.000They're a little more complex, but they're actually probably better, leading to a solution that will be even stronger than before.
01:13:27.000Congressional action will not be necessary.
01:13:30.000It's already time-tested and approved.
01:13:32.000And as time goes by, I believe the tariffs paid for by foreign countries will, like in the past, substantially replace the modern-day system of income tax, taking a great financial burden off the people that I love.
01:14:01.000Moving forward, factories, jobs, investment, and trillions and trillions of dollars will continue pouring into the United States of America because we finally have a president who puts America first.
01:14:27.000For decades before I came along, we had the exact opposite.
01:14:33.000From trade to health care, from energy to immigration, everything was stolen and rigged in order to drain the wealth out of the productive, hardworking people who make our country great, who make our country run.
01:14:46.000Under Biden and his corrupt partners in Congress and beyond, it reached a breaking point with the Green News scam, open borders for everyone.
01:14:57.000They poured in by the millions and millions from prisons, from mental institutions.
01:15:02.000They were murderers, 11,888 murderers.
01:16:46.000And soon you will see numbers that few people would think were possible to achieve just a short time ago.
01:16:55.000Nobody can believe when they see the kind of numbers, and especially energy, when they see energy going down to numbers like that, they cannot believe it.
01:17:06.000I'm also confronting one of the biggest rip-offs of our times, the crushing costs of health care caused by you.
01:17:15.000Since the passage of the Unaffordable Care Act, sometimes referred to as Obamacare, big insurance companies have gotten rich.
01:17:24.000It was meant for the insurance companies, not for the people.
01:17:27.000With our government giving them hundreds and hundreds of billions of dollars a year as their stock prices soared 1, 1,200, 1,400, and even 1,700 percent, like nothing else.
01:17:42.000That's why I introduced the great health care plan.
01:17:45.000I want to stop all payments to big insurance companies and instead give that money directly to the people so they can buy their own health care, which will be better health care at a much lower cost.
01:18:12.000In addition, my plan requires maximum price transparency.
01:18:24.000And I did that in my first term, and the Democrats immediately terminated it with full knowledge that they were doing a very bad thing for the people.
01:18:33.000Costs were going to go way up, and that's what happened, and now I'm bringing them way down on health care and everything else.
01:18:38.000I'm also ending the wildly inflated cost of prescription drugs like has never happened before.
01:18:54.000Other presidents tried to do it, but they never could.
01:19:11.000Under my just enacted most favored nation agreements, Americans, who have for decades paid by far the highest prices of any nation anywhere in the world for prescription drugs, will now pay the lowest price anywhere in the world for drugs.
01:20:30.000For five years, she and her husband have struggled with infertility, and they turned to IVF.
01:20:37.000One drug has been costing Catherine $4,000 to purchase.
01:20:43.000But a few weeks ago, she logged onto the TrumpRX website and got that same drug that cost $4,000, got it for under $500, a reduction of much more, actually, than $3,500.
01:20:58.000Catherine, we are all praying for you, and you're going to be a great mom.
01:21:22.000So now I'm calling on Congress to codify my most favored nation program into law.
01:21:28.000Now, the one thing I'm not sure it matters because it's going to be very hard for somebody that comes along after me to say, let's raise drug prices by 700 or 800 percent.
01:21:40.000But John and Mike, if you don't mind, codify it anyway.
01:22:27.000It could never handle the kind of numbers, the amount of electricity that's needed.
01:22:32.000So I'm telling them they can build their own plant.
01:22:34.000They're going to produce their own electricity.
01:22:37.000It will ensure the company's ability to get electricity while at the same time lowering prices of electricity for you and could be very substantial for all of you cities and towns.
01:22:48.000You're going to see some good things happen over the next number of years.
01:22:51.000Another pillar of the American dream that has been under attack is homeownership.
01:22:57.000With us tonight is Race O'Wiggins, a mom of two from Houston.
01:23:02.000She placed bids on 20 homes and lost all of those bids to gigantic investment firms that bypassed inspection, paid all cash, and turned those houses into rentals, stealing away her American dream.
01:23:16.000Stories like this are why last month I signed executive order to ban large Wall Street investment firms from buying up in the thousands single-family homes.
01:23:39.000And now I'm asking Congress to make that ban permanent because homes for people, really, that's what we want.
01:23:47.000We want homes for people, not for corporations.
01:24:46.000Yet half of all of working Americans still do not have access to a retirement plan with matching contributions from an employer.
01:24:54.000To remedy this gross disparity, I'm announcing that next year my administration will give these often-forgotten American workers, great people, the people that built our country, access to the same type of retirement plan offered to every federal worker.
01:25:09.000We will match your contribution with up to $1,000 each year.
01:25:14.000As we ensure that all Americans can profit from a rising stock market, let's also ensure that members of Congress cannot corruptly profit from using insider information.
01:26:26.000But when it comes to the corruption that is plundering, really, it's plundering America.
01:26:33.000There's been no more stunning example than Minnesota, where members of the Somali community have pillaged an estimated $19 billion from the American taxpayer.
01:27:49.000The Somali pirates who ransacked Minnesota remind us that there are large parts of the work where corruption and lawlessness are the norm, not the exception.
01:28:01.000Importing these cultures through unrestricted immigration and open borders brings those problems right here to the USA.
01:28:09.000And it is the American people who pay the price in higher medical bills, car insurance rates, rent, taxes, and perhaps most importantly, crime.
01:28:24.000Delilah, Delilah Coleman was only five years old in June 2024 when a 18 wheel tractor trailer plowed into her stopped car traveling at 60 miles an hour or more.
01:28:54.000The driver was an illegal alien, led in by Joe Biden and given a commercial driver's license by open borders politicians in California.
01:29:05.000Doctors said Delilah would never be able to walk or talk, have a good life.
01:29:11.000She wouldn't even be able to eat again.
01:29:13.000But against all odds, she is now in the first grade learning to walk.
01:29:18.000And she's here this evening with her dad, Marcus, a fantastic man.
01:29:22.000Delilah, please, you are a great inspiration.
01:29:58.000Many, if not most, illegal aliens do not speak English and cannot read even the most basic road signs as to direction, speed, danger, or location.
01:30:08.000That's why tonight I'm calling on Congress to pass what we will call the Delilah law barring any state from granting commercial driver's licenses to illegal aliens.
01:30:33.000And yesterday, as you probably saw at the White House, I hosted a ceremony with Americans who lost their treasured loved ones to the scourge of illegal immigration.
01:30:46.000People came into our country, how we allowed this to happen with our open borders.
01:30:51.000These are the angel moms and families that for decades our government betrayed and our media totally ignored.
01:31:02.000In 2023, a 16-year-old high school cheerleader named Lisbeth Medina was supposed to perform in her town's Christmas parade, but she never arrived.
01:31:13.000Her mother, Jacqueline, went home to look for her, and she found her lying dead in a bathtub, bleeding profusely after being stabbed 25 times.
01:31:24.000Lizbeth's killer was a previously arrested illegal alien who had broken in and just brutally extinguished the brightest light in her family's life violently and viciously.
01:31:41.000Her heartbroken mother is in the gallery to remind everyone in this chamber exactly why we are deporting illegal alien criminals to our country at record numbers, and we're getting them the hell out of here fast.
01:31:54.000We don't want Thank you very much, Jacqueline.
01:32:21.000We can never forget that many in this room not only allowed the border invasion to happen before I got involved, but indeed they would do it all over again if they ever had the chance.
01:32:36.000If they ever got elected, they would open up those borders to some of the worst criminals anywhere in the world.
01:32:43.000The only thing standing between Americans and a wide open border right now is President Donald J. Trump and our great Republican patriots in Congress.
01:33:15.000They have instituted another Democrat shutdown, the first one costing us two points on GDP.
01:33:22.000Two points we lost on GDP, which probably made them quite happy, actually.
01:33:28.000Now they have closed the agency responsible for protecting Americans from terrorists and murderers.
01:33:34.000Tonight I'm demanding the full and immediate restoration of all funding for the border security, homeland security of the United States and also for helping people clean up their snow.
01:33:48.000We have no money because of the Democrats and it would be nice.
01:33:52.000You'd love to give your hand at cleaning it up, but you gave no money.
01:34:00.000We have, in case you didn't know, pretty large snowstorm out there.
01:34:04.000One of the great things about the state of the union is how it gives Americans the chance to see clearly what their representatives really believe.
01:34:14.000So tonight I'm inviting every legislature to join with my administration in reaffirming a fundamental principle.
01:34:21.000If you agree with this statement, then stand up and show your support.
01:34:27.000The first duty of the American government is to protect American citizens, not illegal aliens.
01:36:32.000That is why I'm also asking you to end deadly sanctuary cities that protect the criminals and enact serious penalties for public officials who block the removal of criminal aliens, in many cases, drug lords, murderers all over our country.
01:36:49.000They're blocking the removal of these people out of our country.
01:36:54.000And you should be ashamed of yourself.
01:37:23.000And perhaps most importantly, I'm asking you to approve the Save America Act to stop illegal aliens and others who are unpermitted persons from voting in our sacred American elections.
01:37:48.000That cheating is rampant in our elections.
01:39:27.000Both Republicans and Democrats overwhelmingly agree on the policy that we just enunciated.
01:39:35.000And Congress should unite and enact this common sense, country-saving legislation right now, and it should be before anything else happens.
01:40:06.000And the reason they don't want to do it, why would anybody not want voter ID?
01:40:10.000One reason, because they want to cheat.
01:40:44.000And here is one more opportunity to show common sense in government.
01:40:50.000In the gallery tonight are Sage Blair and her mother, Michelle.
01:40:55.000In 2021, Sage was 14 when school officials in Virginia sought to socially transition her to a new gender, treating her as a boy and hiding it from her parents.
01:41:11.000Before long, a confused Sage ran away from home after she was found in a horrific situation in Maryland.
01:41:20.000A left-wing judge refused to return Sage to her parents because they did not immediately state that their daughter was their son.
01:41:31.000Sage was thrown into an all-boys state home and suffered terribly for a long time.
01:41:37.000But today, all of that is behind them because Sage is a proud and wonderful young woman with a full ride scholarship to Liberty University.
01:42:14.000And who can believe that we're even speaking about things like this?
01:42:18.00015 years ago, if somebody was up here and said that, they'd say, what's wrong with him?
01:42:24.000But now we have to say it because it's going on all over numerous states without even telling the parents.
01:42:31.000But surely we can all agree no state can be allowed to rip children from their parents' arms and transition them to a new gender against the parents' will.
01:42:41.000Who would believe that we're even talking about?
01:42:43.000We must ban it, and we must ban it immediately.
01:43:50.000Over the past year, she has had an incredible impact, championing AI legislation, advancing a landmark executive order on foster care, and helping secure $30 million to launch the Melania Trump Foster Youth to Independence Initiative.
01:44:07.000It's a tremendous, really a tremendous thing that happened and had a lot of bipartisan support.
01:44:13.000She gets much better bipartisan support than I do.
01:44:19.000Someday you're going to have to tell me how you did that.
01:44:23.000And students and educators in every state have joined the First Lady's efforts in the presidential AI challenge, keeping America's next generation positioned to succeed and strongly succeed in the future.
01:44:38.000Tonight we welcome two young people whose lives reflect the First Lady's impact: Sierra Burns and Everest Nevermont.
01:44:47.000Thank you both, and Melania, thank you.
01:45:16.000I'm very proud to say that during my time in office, both the first four years and in particular this last year, there has been a tremendous renewal in religion, faith, Christianity and belief in God.
01:45:45.000This is especially true among young people, and a big part of that had to do with my great friend, Charlie Kirk, a great guy, a great man.
01:46:05.000So last year Charlie was violently murdered by an assassin and martyred, really, martyred for his beliefs.
01:46:14.000His wonderful wife, Erica, is with us tonight.
01:46:43.000In Charlie's memory, we must all come together to reaffirm that America is one nation under God, and we must totally reject political violence of any kind.
01:47:06.000We love religion, and we love bringing it back.
01:47:10.000And it's coming back at levels that nobody actually thought possible.
01:47:17.000Above all, unleashing America's promise requires keeping our communities safe.
01:47:22.000We have made incredible strides, yet dangerous repeat offenders continue to be released by pro-crime Democrat politicians again and again.
01:47:32.000We are honored to be joined tonight by a woman who's been through hell, Anya Zaretzka.
01:47:39.000In 2022, she and her beautiful daughter, so beautiful, what a beautiful young woman, Irina fled war-turn, war-torn Ukraine to live with relatives near Charlotte, North Carolina.
01:47:54.000And by the way, what's going on with Charlotte?
01:47:57.000Last summer, 23-year-old Irina was riding home on the train when a deranged monster who had been arrested over a dozen times and was released through no cash bail stood up and viciously slashed a knife through her neck and body.
01:48:15.000No one will ever forget, there were people on that train.
01:48:20.000No one will ever forget the expression of terror on Irina's face as she looked up at her attacker in the last seconds of her life.
01:49:13.000I'm asking this Congress to pass tough legislation to ensure that violent and dangerous repeat offenders are put behind bars, and importantly, that they stay there.
01:49:37.000Starting last summer, I deployed our National Guard and federal law enforcement to restore law and order to our most dangerous cities, including Memphis, Tennessee.
01:49:55.000and our nation's capital itself, Washington, D.C., where we have almost no crime anymore in Washington, D.C. did that happen?
01:50:14.000In fact, crime in Washington is now at the lowest level ever recorded and murders in D.C. this January were down close to 100 percent from a year ago.
01:50:41.000One of the sick people, one of the brave service members who helped achieve this stunning turnaround was 20-year-old West Virginia Army National Guard specialist Sarah Beckstrom.
01:50:55.000After a four-month deployment, she voluntarily extended her service and her rank was going to be lifted.
01:51:06.000But the very next day, she was on patrol near the White House when she was ambushed and shot in the head by a terrorist monster from Afghanistan.
01:54:27.000I said, Where does this woman come from?
01:54:29.000She's the most positive person I've ever met.
01:54:32.000With God's help, Andrew has battled back from the edge of death, and we're talking about the edge of death, on his way to a miraculous recovery.
01:54:44.000He's got a little work to do, but he's doing great.
01:55:12.000So, Andrew, while you're up, now I'm going to ask a highly respected General James Seward to present Staff Sergeant Andrew Wolfe and the great family of Sarah Beckstrom with the award created by our late, great President George Washington himself.
01:56:52.00035 million people said the Prime Minister of Pakistan would have died if it were not for my involvement.
01:56:59.000Kosovo and Serbia, Israel and Iran, Egypt and Ethiopia, Armenia and Azerbaijan, the Congo and Rwanda, and of course the war in Gaza, which proceeds at a very low level.
02:00:48.000And we're working very hard to end the Ninth War, the killing and slaughter between Russia and Ukraine, where 25,000 soldiers are dying each and every month.
02:00:59.000Think of that, 25,000 soldiers are dying a month.
02:01:05.000A war which would have never happened if I were president.
02:01:10.000As president, I will make peace wherever I can, but I will never hesitate to confront threats to America wherever we must.
02:01:19.000That's why in a breakthrough operation last June, the United States military obliterated Iran's nuclear weapons program with an attack on Iranian soil known as Operation Midnight Hammer.
02:01:46.000For decades, it had been the policy of the United States never to allow Iran to obtain a nuclear weapon.
02:01:55.000Since they seized control of that proud nation 47 years ago, the regime and its murderous proxies have spread nothing but terrorism and death and hate.
02:02:06.000They've killed and maimed thousands of American service members and hundreds of thousands and even millions of people with what's called roadside bombs.
02:02:17.000They were the kings of the roadside bomb.
02:03:05.000They've already developed missiles that can threaten Europe and our bases overseas, and they're working to build missiles that will soon reach the United States of America.
02:03:16.000After Midnight Hammer, they were warned to make no future attempts to rebuild their weapons program, in particular, nuclear weapons.
02:03:26.000Yet they continue to starting it all over.
02:03:30.000We wiped it out, and they want to start all over again, and are at this moment, again, pursuing their sinister ambitions.
02:04:48.000We have to be strong because hopefully we will seldom have to use this great power that we built together.
02:04:57.000It's really called peace through strength, and it's been very, very effective.
02:05:14.000So thanks to Republicans in Congress who are investing that record number of dollars, have no choice, in the United States Armed Forces.
02:05:25.000Also creating a lot of jobs, but we're not even doing it for that reason.
02:05:30.000Because as I said, we have more jobs, more people working today than ever before in the history of our country.
02:05:35.000And NATO countries, our friends and allies, they are.
02:05:38.000They're our friends and they're our allies, have just agreed, at my very strong request, to pay 5% of GDP for military defense rather than the 2% which they weren't paying.
02:05:51.000We were paying for almost all of NATO.
02:05:54.000Now they're paying five as opposed to not paying two.
02:06:05.000And getting that 5% was something which everyone said would never be done, could not happen.
02:07:45.000And I'll tell you what, our military, that was four months ago, our military, I never see a person in the military that doesn't thank me for it, so we're honored to do it.
02:08:06.000We're also restoring American security and dominance in the Western Hemisphere, acting to secure our national interests and defend our country from violence, drugs, terrorism, and foreign interference.
02:08:35.000For years, large swaths of territory in our region, including large parts of Mexico, really large parts of Mexico, have been controlled by murderous drug cartels.
02:08:48.000That's why I designated these cartels as foreign terrorist organizations, and I declared illicit fentanyl as a weapon of mass destruction.
02:09:09.000And with our new military campaign, we have stopped record amounts of drugs coming into our country and virtually stopped it completely coming in by water or sea.
02:09:37.000In January, in January, elite American warriors carried out one of the most complex, spectacular feats of military competence and power in world history.
02:10:48.000And America's armed forces overwhelmed all defenses and utterly defeated enemy, good fighters, to end the reign of outlawed dictator Nicolas Maduro and bring him to face American justice.
02:11:13.000And this was an absolutely colossal victory for the security of the United States, and it also opens up a bright new beginning for the people of Venezuela.
02:11:23.000We're working closely with the new president of Venezuela, Del C. Rodriguez, to unleash extraordinary economic gains for both of our countries and to bring new hope to those who have suffered so terribly.
02:11:38.000With us tonight is Alejandro Gonzalez.
02:11:41.000She grew up in a tight-knit Venezuelan family and was especially close to her beloved uncle Enrique.
02:11:49.000But after Enrique ran for office and opposed Maduro, he was kidnapped by Maduro security forces and thrown into the regime's really infamous prison in Caracas.
02:12:01.000Alejandro feared she would never see her uncle again.
02:12:08.000But since the raid, we have worked with the new leadership and they have ordered the closure of that vile prison and released hundreds of political prisoners already, with more to come.
02:12:20.000Alejandro, I'm pleased to inform you that not only has your uncle been released, but he is here tonight.
02:12:28.000We brought him over to celebrate his freedom with you in person.
02:13:32.000But the deeds of one warrior that night will live forever in the eternal chronicles of military valor.
02:13:40.000Chief Warrant Officer 5, Eric Slover, planned the mission and was the flight lead in the cockpit of the first helicopter, a big, beautiful, powerful helicopter.
02:13:56.000It was a massive Chinook carrying, as you can imagine, many, many American warfighters.
02:14:05.000Wearing the dog tags his wife Amy had blessed with holy water before he left.
02:14:11.000She knew it was going to be a rough one.
02:14:13.000Eric steered the Chinook under the cover of night and descended swiftly upon Maduro's heavily protected military fortress.
02:14:21.000This was a major military installation, protected by thousands of soldiers and guarded by Russian and Chinese military technology.
02:14:36.000While preparing to land, enemy machine guns fired from every angle, and Eric was hit very badly in the leg and hip, one bullet after another.
02:14:47.000He absorbed four agonizing shots, shredding his leg into numerous pieces.
02:14:53.000And yet, despite the fact that the use of his legs was vital to successful helicopter flight, legs are the most important part of flying a helicopter, to deliver the many commandos who would capture and detain Maduro was the only thing Eric was thinking about.
02:15:13.000Then even as he was gushing blood, which was flowing back down the aisle, helicopter lands at a steep angle, the machine gun stood right in front of him, right in front of him, two machine gunners who escaped the wrath of the previous planes.
02:15:29.000Eric maneuvered his helicopter with all of those lives and souls to face the enemy and let his gunners eliminate the threat, turned the helicopter around so the gunners could take care of business, saving the lives of his fellow warriors from what could have been a catastrophic crash deep in enemy territory.
02:15:51.000Only after safely landing the helicopter with all the warriors aboard in the exact right spot which was vital to the mission, we probably would have had to maybe cancel the mission if that didn't happen.
02:16:05.000Eric told his co-pilot, also wounded, but not as gravely, to take over.
02:16:35.000Everybody in the back of the helicopter knew because they saw the blood pouring down the aisle.
02:16:41.000Chief Warrant Officer Slover is still recovering from his serious wounds, but I'm thrilled to say that he is here tonight with his wife Amy, Eric.
02:17:45.000So we have a surprise, Farrakh and Amy.
02:17:49.000In recognition of Eric's actions above and beyond the call of duty, I would now like to ask General Jonathan Braga to present Chief Warrant Officer Slover with our nation's highest military award, Congressional Medal of Honor.
02:19:22.000Well thank you very much Eric and Amy.
02:19:47.000And ten of Eric's fellow warriors from that incredible night of victory will also be receiving medals at a private ceremony that will soon be held at the White House.
02:20:27.000Tonight we've celebrated many truly extraordinary American patriots, but there is one last living legend to honor before we go.
02:20:36.000He is one more heroic American aviator, Navy fighter pilot.
02:20:42.000Royce Williams served in World War II, Korea, Vietnam, flying more than 220 missions.
02:20:50.000In disguise over Korea in 1952, Royce was in the dogfight of a lifetime, legendary dogfight, flying through blizzard conditions.
02:21:02.000His squadron was ambushed by seven Soviet fighter planes.
02:21:06.000It was his first aerial combat of the war, and despite being massively outnumbered and outgunned, Royce led the takedown of four enemy jets and almost destroyed the others, vanquishing his adversaries while taking 263 bullets to his own plane and being seriously hurt.
02:21:26.000His story was secret for over 50 years.
02:21:28.000He didn't even want to tell his wife, but the legend grew and grew.
02:21:33.000But tonight, at 100 years old, this brave Navy captain is finally getting the recognition he deserves.
02:21:42.000He was a legend long before this evening.
02:21:46.000Royce, please stand up, and I will ask the First Lady of the United States to present Captain Royce Williams with his Congressional Medal of Honor.
02:24:05.000Thank you, Royce, and thank you, Eric.
02:24:08.000I've always wanted the Congressional Medal of Honor, but I was informed I'm not allowed to give it to myself, and I wouldn't know why I'd be taking it, but if they ever open up that law, I will be there with you someday.
02:24:21.000But you know, that's our highest honor, Congressional Medal of Honor, and that's a big thing.
02:24:25.000And it's an honor to be in the same room with you.
02:24:50.000250 years is a long time in the life of a nation, but in another sense, it's really a mere moment in the eye of history.
02:25:00.000Two of the gentlemen we met in the gallery this evening took their first breaths one century ago, 100 years before that on July 4th, 1826, the author of the Declaration of Independence, brilliant, Thomas Jefferson drew his last breath.
02:25:20.000Just a single long human lifespan separates the giants who declared and won our independence from the heroes who stand among us tonight.
02:25:30.000Everything our nation has done, everything we have achieved, has been the work of those few great lifetimes.
02:25:38.000In those brief chapters, Americans built this nation from 13 humble colonies into the pinnacle of human civilization and human freedom, the strongest, wealthiest, most powerful, most successful nation in all of history.
02:25:54.000Americans ventured out across the daunting and dangerous continent.
02:25:59.000We carved paths through an unforgiving wilderness, settled a boundless frontier, and tamed the beautiful but very, very dangerous wild west.
02:26:11.000From empty marshes and wide open plains, we raised up the world's greatest cities.
02:26:18.000Together, we mastered the world's mightiest industries and shattered history's monstrous tyrannies.
02:26:25.000And we liberated millions from the chains of fascism, communism, oppression, and terror.
02:26:32.000Americans lifted humanity into the skies on the wings of aluminum and steel.
02:26:37.000And then we launched mankind into the stars on rockets powered by sheer American will and unyielding American pride.
02:26:46.000We wired the globe with our ingenuity.
02:26:50.000We captivated the planet with American culture.
02:26:54.000And now we are pioneering the next great American breakthroughs that will change the entire world.
02:27:02.000All of this and so much more is the enduring legacy, unmatched glory of the hardworking patriots who built and defended this country and who still carry the hopes and freedoms on all of humanity's backs.
02:27:18.000For years they were forgotten, betrayed, and cast aside, but that great betrayal is over and they will never be forgotten again because when the world needs courage, daring, vision, and inspiration, it is still turning to America.
02:27:35.000And when God needs a nation to work his miracles, he knows exactly who to ask.
02:27:43.000There is no challenge Americans cannot overcome, no frontier too vast for us to conquer, no dream too bold for us to chase, no horizon too distant for us to claim.
02:27:57.000For our destiny is written by the hand of Providence, and these first 250 years were just the beginning.
02:28:06.000From the rugged border towns of Texas to the heartland villages of Michigan, from the sun-kissed shores of Florida to the endless fields of the Dakotas, and from the historic streets of Philadelphia to right here in our nation's capital, Washington, D.C., the golden age of America is upon us.
02:28:28.000The revolution that began in 1776 has not ended.
02:28:33.000It still continues because the flame of liberty and independence still burns in the heart of every American patriot, and our future will be bigger, better, brighter, bolder, and more glorious than ever before.