President Trump and the First Lady Participate in the Military Family Picnic, July 04, 2025

Ladies and gentlemen, the President of the United States and First Lady Melania Trump. Ladies and gentlemen, Master Gunnery Sergeant Kevin Benier, accompanied by the President's own United States Marine Band, will now honor America with the singing of our national anthem, followed by a flyover consisting of a B2 Spirit bomber from Whiteman Air Force Base escorted by two F35 fighters in honor of all our military personnel who participated in Operation Midnight Hammer and who are currently serving both home and abroad, protecting our nation's freedom.

We hail at the twilight last evening Whose broad stripes and bright stars through the perilous fight O the ramparts we watch Were so gallantly streaming and the rockets regular the bombs bursting in air Gave proof through the night that our flag was still there O say does that star spangled banner wave O the land of the free and the home of the brave.

Right.

Ladies and gentlemen, the President of the United States and First Lady Melania Trump.

Well, thank you very much. And that is some sight, especially after what happened just a week ago. When you look at that big, beautiful plane and the other ones were something. It was an incredible mission. And I think I can say very proudly, and I don't have to quote the polls, that our country is more proud right now than it's been in many, many years. We have pride, we have dignity. We have something that's happened miraculously so fast. You know that our military now is the most sought after job there's ever been being serving in our military. One year ago, people didn't want to join our military. They didn't want to join our police or firefighters. They didn't want to join anything having to do with our country. And now, as you probably know, the enlistment is at an all time record. We're packed, we're full. And I just think that's so important because that was so sad. 1 year ago When I heard those statistics, we had a different president but nobody wanted to join. And now we're at a record. And I will say that I just left NATO where we had a tremendous experience. They've agreed to put up over a trillion dollars a year. They went from less than 2% to 5%. And nobody thought that was possible. And they told me very strongly, the leaders of a big part of the world, very respected people all they told me that, you know, one year ago your country was dead and now you have the hottest country anywhere in the world. So that's the way it is and that's the way we like it. And it's only going to get hotter I promise you that. After that spectacular display of American power, let me just say that. God bless the United States military and God bless the usa. God bless the usa. And to all Americans, I want to wish you a very happy Independence Day. Happy Fourth of July. This is going to be something special. There's spirit in this country. We haven't seen anything like it in many, many years, in decades. Let me also express our gratitude to our magnificent First Ladies. You worked very hard to make this all work. We have a fireworks display about 9 o' clock tonight. I hope you're all going to be around and watch it. I know our congressmen and our senators who are standing right here. So many of them, they did such a great job. They're going to be here, I guarantee you. They're not leaving. They're not leaving. Thanks as well to the National Park Service, the USO and countless friends and distinguished guests. We have so many people in the audience that have so much to do with the success of our country. We've, I think, had probably the most successful almost six months as the President and the presidency. I think they're saying it was the best six months. And I know for a fact they're saying the last two weeks there has never been anything like it as far as winning, winning, winning. So, as you know, two weeks ago, our incredible Air Force pilots conducted one of the most successful military strikes in all of history, Operation Midnight Hammer. And that's exactly what it was. It was a hammer. This evening we're honored to be joined by 150 airmen and their families from Whiteman Air Force Base in Missouri, home of the B2 bomber. And we've kept them a little bit on guard. We kept them a little bit. Let's be a little bit quiet about it. But if you want to raise your hand very quickly, raise your hand because you people are just incredible. They don't want to be in disguise. You know, they say we don't have to do that. They're looking at us like we're a bunch of babies. We don't have to be in disguise. We saw all those hands go up. Thank you very much. We owe you everything. Great job. Incredible. Just flawless. One of the most flawless military campaigns in the history of our country. If you remember years ago, they had helicopters crashing into each other. It was a disaster. The hostages in Iran. And we had just the opposite. We didn't have any crashes. We didn't lose any planes. We didn't lose anybody. Those beautiful planes that you saw were totally stealthy. They flew Right over the center of a very hostile country. And they never even saw it coming. And then they said, skedaddle. They dropped the bombs. They said, skedaddle. And that big sucker turned over like this on its side and it got out of there. Well, I'll tell you what, how they do that, but they can do it. I asked our great General Kaine, how do they do that? Do they really love doing that? Look at them. They're all laughing. And they said, do they really like doing it, sir? They can't wait. Better you than me. That's all I can say. It's a flawless mission. Every single bomb hit and it was total obliteration. Total obliteration. Now even the fake news is admitting that. They hated to admit it, but they had no choice. That was an incredible thing. And these heroic pilots showed our enemies what it means to fly, fight and win. To every service member who supported that mission, and we have many of them here, we've made you very really, we've made you proud by supporting. But you've made us even prouder by having the courage to get in those gorgeous machines and fly through the roughest airspace anywhere in the world. And we salute you and we honor you. Thank you very much for being here. Thank you. And we're also honored and delighted to be joined by hundreds of service members and military families. Those families are the best we have from all across the US Armed Forces. Army, Navy, Air Force, Space Force. I love the Space Force. You know why? Because we're the ones that did it. It turned out to be a very invaluable force, actually. The Coast Guard and the Marines are incredible people. On behalf of our entire nation, this fourth of July, we thank you for keeping America safe, strong, sovereign and free. Thank you very much for being here. Great honor and stick around for the fireworks. And our country has had so much to celebrate this Independence Day. As we enter our 249th year. America is winning, winning, winning like never before. We're not. I'll tell you, we're in a category now. That's where we've wanted to be for a long time. We suffered with four horrible years of embarrassment. Afghanistan. Maybe the most embarrassing moment in the history of our country. We're never going to let a thing like that happen again. Trillions of dollars are pouring into the United States for investment purposes. Almost $15 trillion. There's never been anything like it. There's never been anything even close. The stock market is at an all time high. Jobs are at an all time high. Everything is at an all time high, and we're going to keep it that way. We have the greatest country in the world and we're back. We're back like nobody thought possible this quickly. I thought it would take maybe a year, maybe two years, maybe even three, and we did it in less than six months. We are back and strong. We've restored American strength and deterrence on the world stage. We're respected again. The world is respecting us again. When we did NATO, those leaders came up to me and they said, you know what? We're going to go to a new level of spending because you're requesting it, sir. They didn't talk to you last president like that. I can tell you. They didn't spend any money. They didn't spend anything. In a few moments, we're going to make official the greatest victory yet. When I signed the one big beautiful bill, and before I start, I want to tell you that I've never seen people so happy in our country because of that. Because so many different groups of people are being taken care of. The military and civilians of all types, jobs of all types. We're adding things like the biggest tax cut in the history of our country, a child tax credits. So many things are being added that you. We wouldn't even have time to discuss them when we were doing it. John Thune and Mike Johnson right there. I see Mike. What a job they've done. What a job they've done. But, you know, it was supposed to be in three, four, five, six or seven different bills. And I was on one of the fake news shows and I said, let's do it in one beautiful, big. One beautiful. We want one big beautiful bill. I said that to this newscaster and I think a lot of the congressmen and senators were watching and they said, let's name the bill that. The one big beautiful bill. And that's what we did. And what we've done is put everything into one bill. It's never happened before. It's the biggest bill of its type in history. We've never had anything like that before. Nothing like that they thought would be possible to get passed. And actually I liked it because we had so much in there that no matter who you are, there was something in that bill that would make your congressman or your senator or your congresswoman, much more importantly, raise their hand and support. Right, Lisa? So it was something, and it was really something special. So the American people gave us a historic mandate in November. We won everything. We won the swing states, all seven swing states. We won Every one. That rarely happens. We won the popular vote. We won the districts, 2,750 to 505. That's why when you look at a map, it's all red. A little blue on each end, but it's all red. And by the way, red means Republican, just in case. But we made promises, and it's really promises made, promises kept, and we've kept them. This is a triumph of democracy on the birthday of democracy. And I have to say that the people are happy. They're happy. And I listened to a broadcast and I read a couple of articles. They have the Democrats, they should have voted for it. They didn't vote for tax cuts. They didn't vote for taking care of people. They didn't vote. Not one vote. And we knew that because their hatred of either the country or me or both is so great. They didn't vote at all. And it's terrible. But I just have to say they have a routine. It's terrible. They say, terrible, terrible. You saw that guy standing up for hours yesterday. He didn't know what he was even doing there. I say, when is he sitting down? He had a towel. He's wiping his face. That's not too elegant. But what is he. I said, what is he doing for so long? And he couldn't criticize the bill. He was criticizing everyone else and everything else. So they've developed, and this is according to the news media, they've developed a standard line, and we can't let them get away with it. Oh, it's dangerous. Oh, everybody's going to die. It's actually just the opposite. Everybody's going to live. This is just the opposite. And I just want you to know, if you see anything negative put out by Democrats, it's all a con job. And they said. And they compared it to just like the con job of Russia, Russia, Russia, and all of the other things they did. The 51 intelligence agents said, and the laptop from hell, it was. It came from Russia. They said, no, it didn't come. A lot of things come from Russia that didn't come from Russia. And it was all proven out to be a fake job. And that's what they're doing with this. So we just have to look forward, fellas. Look forward and just say what it is. Because it's the most popular bill ever signed in the history of our country, whether you're military or anybody else. This is the single most popular bill ever signed, and it includes the largest tax cut in American history, the largest spending cut $1.7 trillion, and yet you won't even notice. It just wastes fraud and abuse in American history. So you have the biggest tax cut, the biggest spending cut, the largest border security investment in American history. We want to have strong borders. And the only thing is we want to have great elections, too. You need strong borders and elections. And my people have promised me that we're going to go into elections and we're going to make sure they're not rigged, that they're not sullied. We're going to make sure that the elections are going to be fair. You need two things. You need strong borders and you need fair elections. And we're going to make sure on the elections also. And our armed forces are one of the most vital military modernizations of all time. It will take place. So we rebuilt our military on our first term, and now we're going to modernize and remodernize our military, including building a great golden dome all over our land, so that if they get nasty with us, it's going to be knocked down. It's going to make any of the golden domes. They call them the iron domes. We're calling ours the golden dome because we did the iron domes. And we do sort of everything, if you want to know the truth. But this blows it away. We're going to keep you safe. I want to thank every member of the House and Senate who worked to get this bill on my desk, and many of them are here, and I'm not going to mention all their names because we'll be standing here, but I have to mention a few. And especially I want to thank Vice President J.D. vance, who's been fantastic. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who's been incredible. We have somebody that is. He just. It was a passion. I think he actually loved it. It wasn't easy, but he loved it. Speaker of the House, Mike Johnson, who's right here. Speaker, thank you very much. What a job. And he worked so closely with the Senate Majority Leader, John Thune, who's a fantastic guy. And those two are a team that is not going to be beat. When you look at them and you look at their counterparts on the other side, it's not even close. I want to thank both of you people for doing an incredible job. Thank you very much, John and Mike. House Majority Leader Steve Scalise. A brave man. Steve, you know, he suffered a tragedy a number of years ago. I was at his hospital bedside that night with Melania, with our first lady, and he had no chance. The doctor said he has very little chance. And you look better today than you did then. You didn't look particularly good that night, I will say. But I learned one thing. His beautiful wife loved him. She was a disaster. Right? I told him. I said, steve, I can only tell you one thing. I was with your family, and I was with your wife. And your wife was devastated. She loves you. I've seen a lot of wives that, you know, they don't seem to be so concerned in those situations. That's the kind of wife you don't want. But you have a great, beautiful wife who was really there, and you really have done. You're a very brave guy. And Mike and John and everybody that's standing with you knows it. Thank you very much. I really appreciate it. House Majority Whip. This is a guy who is great. When I have a problem, I call him up and he gets it done. He's a tough cookie. I don't know why he's not the governor of Minnesota. He comes from Minnesota. He's like, look. He goes, no, no, I don't want to run for governor. You know. You know, come to think of it, I think that's a good idea. You would win so easily. The guy is terrible. You would win. You just have to take a look at that handsome face of yours, and you'd win. Tom Emmer, everybody. He did a great job. I think you should consider that. Although we don't want to lose him, do we? We don't want to lose. Say where you are, I think. Say we are. What a job you did. And Senate Majority Whip John Barrasso, who's incredible. Senate Finance Chairman Mike Crapo. Thank you, Mike. What a job. What a job. He knows that tax stuff. Him and Jason, they really know their stuff. Senate Budget Committee Chairman Lindsey Graham. What a good man he is. I see a poll. He's running, you know, I see a poll. He's 24 points up. That's not bad, Lindsey. That's not bad. 24 points up. In the great state of South Carolina, House Ways and Means Chairman Jason Smith. What a job. Thank you, Jason. Thank you. These people are great. These are great patriots. I have to call them out. House Budget Committee Chairman Jody Arrington. Jody, thank you very much. Jody has been good right from the beginning and so many others. And they're all here, and they fully understand. I'll probably. They'll never speak to me again, but that's okay. It is what it is. But I just want to thank everybody. A lot of senators here, a lot of congressmen. And women here. Lisa, thank you very much. By the way, I have to thank you. Thank you very much. You've been fantastic. So this bill will fuel massive economic growth and lift up the hardworking citizens who make this country run the factory workers, farmers, mechanics, waiters, waitresses, police officers, firefighters, coal miners. Coal is back. Beautiful. I said you can't use the word coal unless you precede it by saying clean, beautiful coal. You know, China is right now building 68 coal generating plants and we're putting up wind. Wind. It doesn't work. I will tell you. Aside from ruining our fields and our valleys and killing all the birds and having very. Being very weak and very expensive, all made in China. You know, I noticed something that with all of the windmills that China sends us, where we waste our money because it's the most expensive energy. I see that. You know, they make about 95% of them, the wind turbines. I have never seen a wind farm in China. Why is that? Somebody check that out. Tom Emmer, would you please check that out? But all the coal miners we love and the truck drivers. In this act, we have officially made the Trump tax cuts permanent. That's the largest tax cut in the history of our country added to substantial other cuts, which is going to. You're going to see like a rocket ship. You know, we're setting all sorts of economic records right now. And that's before this kicks in. After this kicks in, our country is going to be a rocket ship economically. And we've delivered no tax on tips, no tax on overtime, and no tax on Social Security for our great seniors. And that's why when you hear things like that, this is the most pop. It's the biggest bill of its kind ever done by far. But it's. We are going to have a situation. We are going to have something where people are going to realize the level of success and popularity of this bill and sort of to close it out. It makes the child tax credit permanent for 40 million American families. And to increase the car affordability, it makes interest on a new car payment. So this had never happened before. You buy a car, you borrow money, you're allowed to deduct for income tax purposes, your payment of interest, you're allowed to deduct it. It's never happened before. So run out and buy a car. But I have to tell you, it's only good, Mike, if it's made in America. If it's made in another country, you don't get it. And to protect 2 million family farms and other small Businesses, we're eliminating the estate tax or the death tax. So if you want to leave. If you want to leave your farm or your small business. But farms are really. They have been devastated to your children. If you love your children, by the way, if you don't love your children, don't even listen to what I'm saying. It doesn't matter. But if you love, would you live? Yes. I think you love your child. This one loves Barron. So I don't know if we're a small business. I think we're not. I'm not sure if. I'm not sure that we qualify. I'm sorry, darling, but, you know, it was devastating. Farmers, they had to go out and borrow money. And by the way, is that Pam Bondi? Pam Bondi, raise your hand. Thank you, Pam, for being here, Attorney General. She's done an incredible job. So there won't be any. Think of this. There won't be any death tax. You're not going to have to go borrow money. Your parents pass away and the farm goes into the bank's hands and gets foreclosed. That's not going to happen. And with 100% expensing for new investments, we're cutting taxes for every manufacturer who builds, expands. And we have expansion at the highest level that we've ever had. We have hundreds of factories, including car plants and AI. It's coming into our country at levels that we've never seen. And to conclude, not only will we have the strongest economy on earth, we're also going to have the strongest borders on Earth. And last month, did you see the number zero people crossed our border? Zero illegal people. And that's after Joe Biden led 21 million people, many of them people from gangs and prisons and drug lords and people that were mentally unbalanced. They let them into our country. We're getting them out at record numbers, and we have an obligation to. And we're doing it. So as we approach the 250th anniversary of America's founding, exactly one year from now, we are creating an economy that delivers wealth for the middle class, a border that is sovereign and secure, and a military that is unmatched, unequaled anywhere in the world. And you saw that, and what a beautiful sight that was, especially after watching what they did just a short while ago. The golden age of America is upon us. We are in the golden age. It's going to be a period of time the likes of which I don't think this country has ever experienced before. We're going to make America great again. And it's happening very fast. We love you. We thank you for being here. Enjoy the fireworks tonight. And First Lady, I want to thank you. You have been unbelievable. It's very. You think it's easy being First Lady? It's not. Thank you all very much. Happy fourth of July. God bless you all. Thank you very much, everybody. We're going to sign the bill now.

Ram.

That's a good one. Thank you. That was a good one.

Wow.

Thank you all very much. Thank you.

Mr. President.

Mr. President, this is the gavel we use to enact the big beautiful bill. And I want you to have that for your family. Are we ready? Are you ready?

Are ready.

Have a good time, everybody. Thank you very much. And we have some give you tomorrow. Scott, Congratulations, honey. You get to go. You're very trusting. Give that guy a raise. Thank you very much, everybody. And I want to thank the people up here. They are unbelievable people. Mary. Hi, Mary. Thank you. How's Scott doing? Doing good job, Scott. How's the economy? Wonderful. Can we get better from South Carolina? It's amazing. Thank you very much, everybody. Have a good time. Happy fourth of July. Happy fourth. I'm not so sure that's a good idea.