As Donald Trump's race to the White House nears finish line, he has vowed to be tough on crime and illegal immigrants and terrorists.
In a 75-minute speech on Thursday, July 21, at the Republican National Convention on July 21, 2016, he accepted the Republican nomination for President, urging the crowd to join him in defeating Hillary Clinton in November.
The United States Presidential election holds on November 8, 2016.
Read the full speech below:
---------------
Friends, delegates and fellow Americans: I humbly and gratefully accept your nomination for the presidency of the United States.
Who
would have believed that when we started this journey on June 16, last
year, we — I say we because we are a team — would have received almost
14 million votes, the most in the history of the Republican party?
And
that the Republican Party would get 60 percent more votes than it
received eight years ago. Who would have believed it? The Democrats on
the other hand, received 20 percent fewer votes than they got four years
ago, not so good.
Together, we will lead our
party back to the White House, and we will lead our country back to
safety, prosperity, and peace. We will be a country of generosity and
warmth. But we will also be a country of law and order.
Our
convention occurs at a moment of crisis for our nation. The attacks on
our police, and the terrorism in our cities, threaten our very way of
life. Any politician who does not grasp this danger is not fit to lead
our country.
Americans watching this address
tonight have seen the recent images of violence in our streets and the
chaos in our communities. Many have witnessed this violence personally.
Some have even been its victims.
I have a message
for all of you: The crime and violence that today afflicts our nation
will soon — and I mean very soon come to an end. Beginning on January
20th 2017, safety will be restored.
The most basic
duty of government is to defend the lives of its citizens. Any
government that fails to do so is a government unworthy to lead.
It
is finally time for a straightforward assessment of the state of our
nation. I will present the facts plainly and honestly. We cannot afford
to be so politically correct anymore.
So if you
want to hear the corporate spin, the carefully-crafted lies, and the
media myths — the Democrats are holding their convention next week. Go
there.
But here, at our convention, there will be no lies. We will honor the American people with the truth, and nothing else.
These are the facts:
Decades
of progress made in bringing down crime are now being reversed by this
administration's rollback of criminal enforcement.
Homicides last year increased by 17% in America's fifty largest cities. That's the largest increase in 25 years.
In our nation's capital, killings have risen by 50 percent. They are up nearly 60 percent in nearby Baltimore.
In
the president's hometown of Chicago, more than 2,000 have been the
victims of shootings this year alone. And almost 4,000 have been killed
in the Chicago area since he took office.
The number of police officers killed in the line of duty has risen by almost 50 percent compared to this point last year.
Nearly
180,000 illegal immigrants with criminal records, ordered deported from
our country, are tonight roaming free to threaten peaceful citizens.
The
number of new illegal immigrant families who have crossed the border so
far this year already exceeds the entire total of 2015.
They
are being released by the tens of thousands into our communities with
no regard for the impact on public safety or resources.
One
such border-crosser was released and made his way to Nebraska. There,
he ended the life of an innocent young girl named Sarah Root. She was 21
years old and was killed the day after graduating from college with a
4.0 grade point average. Her killer was then released a second time, and
he is now a fugitive from the law. I've met Sarah's beautiful family.
But to this administration, their amazing daughter was just one more
American life that wasn't worth protecting. One more child to sacrifice
on the altar of open borders.
What about our
economy? Again, I will tell you the plain facts that have been edited
out of your nightly news and your morning newspaper:
Nearly four in 10 African-American children are living in poverty, while 58% of African-American youth are now not employed.
2 million more Latinos are in poverty today than when the president took his oath of office eight years ago.
Another 14 million people have left the workforce entirely.
Household incomes are down more than $4,000 since the year 2000. That is 16 years ago.
Our
trade deficit in goods reached — think of this — our trade deficit is
$800 hundred billion dollars. Think of that. $800 billion last year
alone. We will fix that.
The budget is no better. President Obama has almost doubled our national debt to more than $19 trillion, and growing.
Yet,
what do we have to show for it? Our roads and bridges are falling
apart, our airports are in third world condition, and 43 million
Americans are on food stamps.
Now let us consider
the state of affairs abroad. Not only have our citizens endured domestic
disaster, but they have lived through one international humiliation
after another. One after another.
We all remember
the images of our sailors being forced to their knees by their Iranian
captors at gunpoint. This was just prior to the signing of the Iran
deal, which gave back to Iran $150 billion and gave us absolutely
nothing. It will go down in history as one of the worst deals ever
negotiated.
Another humiliation came when President Obama drew a red line in Syria and the whole world knew it meant absolutely nothing.
In Libya, our consulate, the symbol of American prestige around the globe was brought down in flames.
America
is far less safe and the world is far less stable than when Obama made
the decision to put Hillary Clinton in charge of America's foreign
policy. I am certain it is a decision he truly regrets.
Her
bad instincts and her bad judgment, something pointed out by Bernie
Sanders are what caused the disasters unfolding today. Let's review the
record.
In 2009, pre-Hillary, ISIS was not even on
the map. Libya was stable. Egypt was peaceful. Iraq had seen a big
reduction in violence. Iran was being choked by sanctions. Syria was
somewhat under control.
After four years of
Hillary Clinton, what do we have? ISIS has spread across the region and
the entire world. Libya is in ruins, and our ambassador and his staff
were left helpless to die at the hands of savage killers. Egypt was
turned over to the radical Muslim Brotherhood, forcing the military to
retake control. Iraq is in chaos. Iran is on the path to nuclear
weapons. Syria is engulfed in a civil war and a refugee crisis that now
threatens the West. After 15 years of wars in the Middle East, after
trillions of dollars spent and thousands of lives lost, the situation is
worse than it has ever been before.
This is the legacy of Hillary Clinton: Death, destruction and terrorism and weakness.
But
Hillary Clinton's legacy does not have to be America's legacy. The
problems we face now — poverty and violence at home, war and destruction
abroad — will last only as long as we continue relying on the same
politicians who created them. A change in leadership is required to
produce a change in outcomes.
Tonight, I will
share with you for action for America. The most important difference
between our plan and that of our opponents, is that our plan will put
America first.Americanism, not globalism, will be our credo.
As
long as we are led by politicians who will not put America first, then
we can be assured that other nations will not treat America with
respect. The respect that we deserve. The American people will come
first once again.
First, my plan will begin with
safety at home which means safe neighborhoods, secure borders, and
protection from terrorism. There can be no prosperity without law and
order.
On the economy, I will outline reforms to
add millions of new jobs and trillions in new wealth that can be used to
rebuild America.
A number of these reforms that I
will outline tonight will be opposed by some of our nation's most
powerful special interests. That is because these interests have rigged
our political and economic system for their exclusive benefit. Believe
me. It is for their benefit. For their benefit.
Big
business, elite media and major donors are lining up behind the
campaign of my opponent because they know she will keep our rigged
system in place. They are throwing money at her because they have total
control over every single thing she does. She is their puppet, and they
pull the strings. That is why Hillary Clinton's message is that things
will never change. Never ever.
My message is that
things have to change and they have to change right now. Every day I
wake up determined to deliver a better life for the people all across
this nation that had been ignored, neglected and abandoned.
I
have visited the laid-off factory workers, and the communities crushed
by our horrible and unfair trade deals. These are the forgotten men and
women of our country, and they are forgotten, but they will not be
forgotten long. These are people who work hard but no longer have a
voice. I am your voice.
I have embraced crying
mothers who have lost their children because our politicians put their
personal agendas before the national good.
I have
no patience for injustice. No tolerance for government incompetence.
When innocent people suffer, because our political system lacks the
will, or the courage, or the basic decency to enforce our laws, or worse
still, has sold out to some corporate lobbyist for cash I am not able
to look the other way. And I won't look the other way.
And
when a Secretary of State illegally stores her emails on a private
server, deletes 33,000 of them so the authorities can't see her crime,
puts our country at risk, lies about it in every different form and
faces no no consequence — I know that corruption has reached a level
like never ever before in our country.
When the
FBI director says that the Secretary of State was "extremely careless"
and "negligent" in handling our classified secrets, I also know that
these terms are minor compared to what she actually did. They were just
used to save her from facing justice for her terrible, terrible crimes.
In
fact, her single greatest accomplishment may be committing such an
egregious crime and getting away with it, especially when others who
have been far less have paid so dearly.
When that
same Secretary of State rakes in millions of dollars trading access and
favors to special interests and foreign powers, I know the time for
action has come.
I have joined the political arena so that the powerful can no longer beat up on people that cannot defend themselves.
Nobody
knows the system better than me, which is why I alone can fix it. I
have seen firsthand how the system is rigged against our citizens, just
like it was rigged against Bernie Sanders. He never had a chance.
But
his supporters will join our movement, because we will fix his biggest
issue: Trade deals that strip our country of jobs and the distribution
of wealth in the country.
Millions of Democrats
will join our movement, because we are going to fix the system so it
works fairly and justly for each and every American.
In
this cause, I am proud to have at my side the next Vice President of
the United States: Governor Mike Pence of Indiana. And a great guy. We
will bring the same economic success to America that Mike brought
Indiana, which is amazing. He is a man of character and accomplishment.
He is the right man for the job.
The first task
for our new administration will be to liberate our citizens from the
crime and terrorism and lawlessness that threatens their — our
communities.
America was shocked to its core when
our police officers in Dallas were so brutally executed. Immediately
after Dallas, we have seen continued threats and violence against our
law enforcement officials. Law officers have been shot or killed in
recent days in Georgia, Missouri, Wisconsin, Kansas, Michigan and
Tennessee.
On Sunday, more police were gunned down
in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Three were killed, and three were very badly
injured. An attack on law enforcement is an attack on all Americans.
I
have a message to every last person threatening the peace on our
streets and the safety of our police: When I take the oath of office
next year, I will restore law and order to our country.
I
will work with, and appoint, the best prosecutors and law enforcement
officials in the country to get the job properly done. In this race for
the White House, I am the law and order candidate.
The
irresponsible rhetoric of our president, who has used the pulpit of the
presidency to divide us by race and color, has made America a more
dangerous environment than frankly, I have ever seen and anybody in this
room has ever watched or seeing.
This
administration has failed America's inner cities. Remember, it has
failed America's inner cities. It's failed them on education. It's
failed them on jobs. It's failed them on crime. It's failed them in
every way and on every single level.
When I am
president, I will work to ensure that all of our kids are treated
equally, and protected equally. Every action I take, I will ask myself:
Does this make life better for young Americans in Baltimore, Chicago,
Detroit, and Ferguson who have really come in every way, have the same
right to live out their dreams as any other child in America?
To
make life safe in America, we must also address the growing threats
from outside the country. We are going to defeat the barbarians of ISIS.
And we are going to defeat them bad.
Once again,
France is the victim of brutal Islamic terrorism. Men, women and
children viciously mowed down. Lives ruined. Families ripped apart. A
nation in mourning. The damage and devastation that can be inflicted by
Islamic radicals has been proven over and over. At the World Trade
Center, at an office party in San Bernardino, at the Boston Marathon,
and a military recruiting center in Chattanooga, Tennessee. And many
other locations.
Only weeks ago, in Orlando,
Florida, 49 wonderful Americans were savagely murdered by an Islamic
terrorist. This time, the terrorist targeted LGBTQ community.
No
good. And we're going to stop it. As your president, I will do
everything in my power to protect our LGBTQ citizens from the violence
and oppression of a hateful foreign ideology. Believe me. And I have to
say as a Republican, it is so nice to hear you cheering for what I just
said. Thank you.
To protect us from terrorism, we need to focus on three things.
We must have the best, absolutely the best, gathering of intelligence anywhere in the world. The best.
We
must abandon the failed policy of nation- building and regime change
that Hillary Clinton pushed in Iraq, Libya, in Egypt, and Syria.
Instead,
we must work with all of our allies who share our goal of destroying
ISIS and stamping out Islamic terrorism and doing it now, doing it
quickly. We're going to win. We're going to win fast. This includes
working with our greatest ally in the region, the state of Israel.
Recently
I have said that NATO was obsolete. Because it did not properly cover
terror. And also that many of the member countries were not paying their
fair share. As usual, the United States has been picking up the cost.
Shortly thereafter, it was announced that NATO will be setting up a new
program in order to combat terrorism. A true step in the right
direction.
Lastly, and very importantly, we must
immediately suspend immigration from any nation that has been
compromised by terrorism until such time as proven vetting mechanisms
have been put in place. We don't want them in our country.
My
opponent has called for a radical 550 percent increase — think of this,
this is not believable, but this is what is happening — a 550 percent
increase in Syrian refugees on top of existing massive refugee flows
coming into our country already under the leadership of president Obama.
She
proposes this despite the fact that there's no way to screen these
refugees in order to find out who they are or where they come from. I
only want to admit individuals into our country who will support our
values and love our people. Anyone who endorses violence, hatred or
oppression is not welcome in our country and never ever will be.
Decades
of record immigration have produced lower wages and higher unemployment
for our citizens, especially for African-American and Latino workers.
We are going to have an immigration system that works, but one that
works for the American people.
On Monday, we heard
from three parents whose children were killed by illegal immigrants
Mary Ann Mendoza, Sabine Durden, and my friend Jamiel Shaw. They are
just three brave representatives of many thousands who have suffered so
greatly.
Of all my travels in this country,
nothing has affected me more, nothing even close than the time I have
spent with the mothers and fathers who have lost their children to
violence spilling across our borders, which we can solve. We have to
solve it. These families have no special interests to represent them.
There are no demonstrators to protect them and none too protest on their
behalf.
My opponent will never meet with them, or
share in their pain. Believe me. Instead, my opponent wants sanctuary
cities. But where was sanctuary for Kate Steinle? Where was sanctuary
for the children of Mary Ann, Sabine and Jamiel? Is so sad to even be
talking about this. We can solve it so quickly. Where was sanctuary for
all the other Americans who have been so brutally murdered, and who have
suffered so horribly? These wounded American families have been alone.
But they are not alone any longer.
Tonight, this
candidate and this whole nation stand in their corner to support them,
to send them our love, and to pledge in their honor that we will save
countless more families from suffering the same awful fate.
We
are going to build a great border wall to stop illegal immigration, to
stop the gangs and the violence, and to stop the drugs from pouring into
our communities.
I have been honored to receive
the endorsement of America's Border Patrol agents, and will work
directly with them to protect the integrity of our lawful, lawful,
immigration system.
By ending catch-and-release on
the border, we will stop the cycle of human smuggling and violence.
Illegal border crossings will go down. We will stop it. It will not be
happening very much anymore. Believe me.
Peace
will be restored by enforcing the rules for the millions who overstay
their visas, our laws will finally receive the respect they deserve.
Tonight,
I want every American whose demands for immigration security have been
denied and every politician who has denied them to listen very closely
to the words I am about to say: On on January 20 of 2017, the day I take
the oath of office, Americans will finally wake up in a country where
the laws of the United States are enforced.
We are
going to be considerate and compassionate to everyone. But my greatest
compassion will be for our own struggling citizens.
My
plan is the exact opposite of the radical and dangerous immigration
policy of Hillary Clinton. Americans want relief from uncontrolled
immigration. Which is what we have now. Communities want relief. Yet
Hillary Clinton is proposing mass amnesty, mass immigration, and mass
lawlessness.
Her plan will overwhelm your schools
and hospitals, further reduce your jobs and wages, and make it harder
for recent immigrants to escape from the tremendous cycle of poverty
they are going through right now and make it almost impossible for them
to join the middle class.
I have a different
vision for our workers. It begins with a new, fair trade policy that
protects our jobs and stands up to countries that cheat — of which there
are many.
It's been a signature message of my
campaign from day one, and it will be a signature feature of my
presidency from the moment I take the oath of office. I have made
billions of dollars in business making deals. Now I'm going to make our
country rich again. Using the greatest businesspeople of the world, I'm
going to turn our bad trade agreements into great trade agreements.
America
has lost nearly-one third of its manufacturing jobs since 1997,
following the enactment of disastrous trade deals supported by bill and
Hillary Clinton. Remember, it was Bill Clinton who signed NAFTA, one of
the worst economic deals ever made by our country. Or frankly, any other
country. Never ever again.
I am going to bring
our jobs back our jobs to Ohio and Pennsylvania and New York and
Michigan and all of America and I am not going to let companies move to
other countries, firing their employees along the way, without
consequences. Not going to happen anymore.
My
opponent, on the other hand, has supported virtually every trade
agreement that has been destroying our middle class. She supported
NAFTA, and she supported China's entrance into the world trade
organization. Another one of her husband's colossal mistakes and
disasters. She supported the job killing trade deal with South Korea.
She she supported the Trans-Pacific Partnership which will not only
destroy our manufacturing but it will make America subject to the
rulings of foreign governments. And it is not going to happen.
I
pledge to never sign any trade agreement that hurts our workers, or
that diminishes our freedom and Independence. We will never ever sign
bad trade deals. America first again. American first.
Instead,
I will make individual deals with individual countries. No longer will
we enter into these massive transactions with many countries that are
thousands of pages long and which no one from our country even reads or
understands. We are going to enforce all trade violations against any
country that cheats. This includes stopping China's outrageous theft of
intellectual property, along with their illegal product dumping, and
their devastating currency manipulation. They are the greatest that ever
came about, they are the greatest currently manipulators ever.
Our
horrible trade agreements with China, and many others, will be totally
renegotiated. That includes renegotiating NAFTA to get a much better
deal for America and will walk away if we don't get that kind of a deal.
Our country is going to start building and making things again.
Next
comes the reform of our tax laws, regulations and energy rules. While
Hillary Clinton plans a massive, and I mean massive, tax increase, I
have proposed the largest tax reduction of any candidate who has run for
president this year, Democrat or Republican. Middle-income Americans
will experience profound relief, and taxes will be greatly simplified
for everyone. I mean everyone.
America is one of
the highest-taxed nations in the world. Reducing taxes will cause new
companies and new jobs to come roaring back into our country. Believe
me. It will happen and it will happen fast.
Then
we are going to deal with the issue of regulation, one of the greatest
job killers of them all. Excessive regulation is costing our country as
much as $2 trillion a year, and we will end and it very quickly.
We
are going to lift the restrictions on the production of American
energy. This will produce more than $20 trillion in job-creating
economic activity over the next four decades.
My
opponent, on the other hand, wants to put the great miners and
steelworkers of our country out of work and out of business. That will
never happen with Donald J trump as president. Our steelworkers and are
miners are going back to work again.
With these
new economic policies, trillions of dollars will start flowing into our
country. This new wealth will improve the quality of life for all
Americans. We will build the roads, highways, bridges, tunnels,
airports, and the railways of our tomorrow. This, in turn, will create
millions of more jobs.
We will rescue kids from
failing schools by helping their parents send them to a safe school of
their choice. My opponent would rather protect education bureaucrats
than serve American children. That is what she is doing and that is what
she has done.
We will repeal and replace disastrous Obamacare. You will be able to choose your own doctor again.
And we will fix TSA at the airports, which is a total disaster. Thank you.
We
are going to work with all of our students who are drowning in debt to
take the pressure off these young people just starting out in their
adult lives. Tremendous problems.
We will
completely rebuild our depleted military. And the countries that we
protecting at a massive cost to us will be asked to pay their fair
share.
We will take care of our great veterans
like they have never been taken care of before. My just-released 10
point plan has received tremendous better support. We will guarantee
those who serve this country will be able to visit the doctor or
hospital of their choice without waiting five days in a line and dying.
My opponent dismissed the VA scandal, one more sign of how out of touch she really is.
We
are going to ask every department head and government to provide a list
of wasteful spending projects that we can eliminate in my first 100
days. The politicians have talked about this for years, but I'm going to
do it.
We are also going to appoint justices to
the United States Supreme Court who will uphold our laws and our
constitution. The replacement of our beloved Justice Scalia will be a
person of similar views, principles and judicial philosophies. Very
important. This will be one of the most important issues decided by this
election.
My opponent wants to essentially
abolish the 2nd Amendment. I, on the other hand, received the early and
strong endorsement of the National Rifle Association. And will protect
the right of all Americans to keep their families safe.
At
this moment, I would like to thank the evangelical community because, I
will tell you what, the support they have given me — and I'm not sure I
totally deserve it — has been so amazing. And has been such a big
reason I'm here tonight. They have much to contribute to our policies.
Yet
our laws prevent you from speaking your mind from your own pulpits. An
amendment, pushed by Lyndon Johnson, many years ago, threatens religious
institutions with a loss of their tax-exempt status if they openly
advocate their political views. Their voice has been taken away. I will
work hard to repeal that language and to protect free speech for all
Americans.
We can accomplish these great things
and so much more. All we need to do is start believing in ourselves a in
our country again. Start believing. It is time to show the whole world
that America is back, bigger and better and stronger than ever before.
In
this journey, I'm so lucky to have at my side my wife Melania and my
wonderful children Don, Ivanka, Eric, Tiffany, and Barron: You will
always be my greatest source of pride and joy. And by the way, Melania
and Ivanka, did they do a job?
My dad, Fred Trump,
was the smartest and hardest working man I ever knew. I wonder
sometimes what he'd say if he were here to see this tonight. It's
because of him that I learned, from my youngest age, to respect the
dignity of work and the dignity of working people.
He
was a guy most comfortable in the company of bricklayers, carpenters,
and electricians and I have a lot of that in me also. I love those
people.
Then there's my mother, Mary. She was
strong, but also warm and fair-minded. She was a truly great mother. She
was also one of the most honest and charitable people I have ever
known, and a great, great judge of character. She could pick them out
from anywhere.
To my sisters, Mary Anne and
Elizabeth, my brother Robert and my late brother Fred, I will always
give you my love. You are most special to me. I have loved my life in
business.
But now, my sole and exclusive mission
is to go to work for our country, to go to work for you. It is time to
deliver a victory for the American people. We don't win anymore, but we
are going to start winning again. But to do that, we must break free
from the petty politics of the past.
America is a
nation of believers, dreamers, and strivers that is being led by a group
of censors, critics, and cynics. Remember: All of the people telling
you you can't have the country you want, are the same people, that would
not stand, I mean they said Trump does not have a chance of being here
tonight, not a chance, the same people. We love defeating those people,
don't we? Love it.
No longer can we rely on those
same people. In the media and politics who, will say anything to keep a
rigged system in place. Instead, we must choose to believe in America.
History
is watching us now. It's we don't have much time. We don't have much
time. It's waiting to see if we will rise to the occasion, and if we
will show the whole world that America is still free and independent and
strong.
I am asking for your support tonight so that I can be year champion in the White House. And I will be a champion.Your champion.
My opponent asks her supporters to recite a three-word loyalty pledge. It reads: "I'm with her."
I choose to recite a different pledge. My pledge reads: "I'm with you the American people."
I
am your voice. So to every parent who dreams for their child, and every
child who dreams for their future, I say these words to you tonight:
I'm with you, and I will fight for you, and I will win for you.
To all Americans tonight, in all our cities and towns, I make this promise:
We will make America strong again.
We will make America proud again.
We will make America safe again.
And we will make America great again!
God bless you and goodnight! I love you!
No comments :
Post a Comment