FULL REMARKS: President Trump delivers commencement speech at University of Alabama
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[{'start': '15.248', 'end': '28.027', 'text': "What  a nice  looking group,    this  is. A very  big hello   to  the University  of    Alabama.  Congratulations to    the class of  2025. roll    tide. roll tide.  There are   things  that  happen  in    life. That  are very    important.  And you always    remember  where you were    when  they  happened. as  a   student at  Alabama.  You'll    always  remember. Where you   were, when  you were. head    coach.  Nick  Sabin retired.    remember  that. Because he's    on  such  a fantastic.  job.    The last  time. I was here    and that's  true  with. Nick.   What  a great coach.  What    a, let's bring him  back. No,   you have a  good  coach right   now,  though.   That's right now. It's great.   But the last  time  I was   here, the Crimson Tide  beat    the Georgia.  Bulldogs  41    to 34.  Watch it. That  was   some  game. Today is  my    pleasure  to  return  to    this  campus  as  the first   president.  ever  to  deliver   the keynote Commencement    address to  This  truly   great.  American. University.   It's  a great School. And   there's nowhere.  I'd rather    be. than  right here  in    Tuscaloosa, Alabama.  Title   Town, USA.  That's  what    it's become.  And I love    this  place.  Maybe it's    because I want  Alabama by    45  points. Could that  be    the reason for that?  like,   uh, the polls have  closed    in  Alabama,  Trump is    1, Alabama, mediately Sorry,    quick.  It was  very, very    quick and nasty.  That's    what  we  like. They  put all   7 of  your  commencement    ceremonies. I don't know  if    you know  this  but they  put   them  all together  first   time  ever. So  I better  do    well. Or  I'm in  big   trouble.  but I want to thank   president.  Bell  for his 10    years of  distinguished   service.  highly  respected   gentleman.  But 10 years  of    service to  this, great.    University  overseeing  the   education of  100,000 proud   Alabama Graduates at    something to  have  on  your    record.   to have on your record. I   also  want to thank Alabama,    Governor  K Ivy,  who's here    with  us. And she's a   fantastic.  water.  Is  she   Where is  She's are around    here, someplace.  She's here.   I just  took  a picture.    I said  you're  doing a great   job.  along with  the very    wonderful man,  A friend  of    mine. Senator Tommy   tuberville  Where's Tommy?    um, when  he wanted to  run   for the Senate, you know, I   said  well, you beat    Alabama,  6 times in  a row,    how can you run for the   Senate? He  said, well, I   just  look  at  him and say,    well, I was responsible for   them  getting Nick  Sabin.  I   said, that's  a good  reason.   Anyone very easily. he  won.    But I'll  never forget  that.   Thanks  also  to  a wonderful   person. representative. Lisa    mlan  had a great person,   great,  highly  respected,    Gary  Palmer. Robert.   aderholt, Dale, strong,   Ronnie  Jackson Ralph Norman.   along with  lieutenant    governor. will  Ainsworth.    Alabama Attorney, general,    Steve Marshall  Alabama.    Secretary of  State.  West    Allen,  great people.   Alabama,  Senate, President,    protem  Garland.  goodger.    Chancellor. Sid Trant.  and   members of  the University    of  Alabama Board of    Trustees. but most    importantly,  and they  would   agree with  this. Let's give    a big round of  applause  to    your  incredible  parents   grandparents, and family    members.  Because they  made    this  wonderful day possible.   I am  great without them, it    doesn't happen. without them    You probably  aren't  here    and you wouldn't  have  that    big beautiful smile in  your    face. This  year, the   graduating  Alabama Class of    2025  has over. 6.    graduates.  You're    the largest class   in school history.  among   your ranks are among the    800 first generation. college   students  and nearly  3,000   students. from  right here    in  the great state of    Alabama.  and this  class   also  includes  many. Road    holars. Goldwater,    Scholars. 213.  Merit   Scholars? and over?   1500 students graduating    with  red caps. You know    what  That  signifies.  4.0   GPA,  that's  a lot of    students. A lot of students.    It's  pretty  good. I know    who I'd pick. I'd look  for a   red cap.  I say,  I want  you   to  work  for the beautiful   Trump Administration. This    lovely  Administration. in    addition, the class of  2025    is  nearly  130 active  duty    service members veterans  and   members of  the University    of  Alabama.  ROTC. Thank you   very much.  Thank you.    Everywhere  you look, you can   see the fierce  Spirit  of    this  school. But nowhere,    more  clearly than  in  your    world.  class.  Athletics is    nothing like  it  probably.   there's no  school  like  it.   That's  why I would like  to    recognize.  the 11  graduate    seniors on  the University    of  Alabama.  football  team.   where may they  be? Where are   they? You just  have  to    look  and they're about a   foot  taller  than  everybody   else. Oh  great,  Thank you   very  much. congratulations.    Great season. Thank you.    Thank you.  Great season.   There's something truly   special about.  the players   coaches and the fans  who   pack the stands,  at Bryant   Denny Stadium.  and proudly   sing. Dixie Land Delight. We    like  that. Alabama.  has   changed college football    forever and inscribed into    the history books.  The names   of  Bear  Bryant  Joe namuth.   for Heisman Trophy  winners,    and of course,  the Great   Nick  Sabin.    for made it really  is  is    a special place.  when  you   president,  called, we    talked  about it. it  took    me  about 2 seconds to  say.    I'll  go  I wasn't  looking   to  do  it. and we  are busy,   You know, we're winning a lot   of  battles right now.  we    love  winning,  don't we    love  winning?  We're winning   a lot of  for the University.   Enough. and great is  in    great enough. The Crimson   Tide  does  not rest. Does    not quit, and does  not stop    winning until It's  all.    time, you know, it's  all   time. you're  always  winning   and you're  going to  keep    winning.  That's  why the   University  of  Alabama.    football  team  is  1 more    games.  in the  last  decade.   than  any college football    team  in  America.  That's    not bad.  And it's  why last    4 you beat  Auburn  for the   fifth year  in  a row.    That's  Dr. It's  not bad.    The University  of  Alabama   has a brand and that  brand   is  winning.  that  brand is    winning.  great School. last    year, the Crimson chaos,    watched the tide  Hoops,    make  it  to  the final 4 for   the first time  ever  And   this  year, you built on    your  incredible  record  and   returned to the Elite 8.  so,   not only  is  Alabama,  a   great football  school. it's    now 1 of  the nation's  best    basketball  schools and   congratulations.  And I love.   sports. And I I think I   should  have  come  here. I   think I should  have  come    here. Congratulations.    as well to  the women's track   and field team  for winning.    2 SEC,  titles  this year.    That's  something.  as  long.   and as  long  as  I'm   President,  we  will  always    protect women's sports  Men   will  not play  in  women's   sports. they  say that    it's an 8020  issue.    Know it's a 973 issue.    I think.  now,  men will  not   be  playing in  women's   sports. We're already.  I   said  that  and I classified    it  with  a very  powerful    executive order,  as you    know, it's  done. the class   of  2025  was the first to    enter the halls of  this.   University  and the aftermath   of  Co 19.  follow  a   difficult,  senior  year  of    high  school. Many  of  you   came  here  to  Tuscaloosa    from  around  the country and   for the very  first time, you   experienced something called    freedom,  yet,  freedom,  so,   let's give  a big round of    applause  to  the leaders of    the state who chose Liberty   over  lockdowns.  They  did.    a good job, Good job. As    you know, there are a few   campuses  in the  world more    beautiful than  this  1.  And   there are a few memories    sweeter than  the ones  you   have. formed  really  at    this. Capstone  and at    the Capstone, you'll  miss    the beautiful sounds  of    Denny Chimes  The excitement    of  lining, the Walk  of    Champions,  the Saturday    tailgates at the  quad  as    you graduated,    it's natural to reflect on    4 years of  happy memories    and you've  really  had happy   memories  here. You've  done    a lot of  winning winning is    a good  thing to do.  But   today,  I'm also  asking  you   to  look  forward to  really    something very  very  bright.   and more  promising.  and   it's  going to  be  an  even    more  promising tomorrow. I   promise you that. You're  the   first graduating  class of    the golden. age of  America,    we're in  the Golden  Age,    you watch?  the Golden Age?   This  is  the Golden  Age   We've done  things  that    nobody  thought possible. 100   days  yesterday.  100 days.   And we've done  things  that    nobody  thought even    possible. Like  many    generations before. you,  you   graduating  at  an  exciting    time  for our nation, a   period  of  both.   extraordinary.  change  and   incredible  potential.  And   what  will  be  unbelievable    growth. you're  going to  see   that  very  soon. You're    going to  see it  starting    very, very  soon. the whole   world is  talking about it.   Our country has always  been.   defined by  its ability to    reform  and reinvent  itself    to  meet  the challenges  of    the next  era.  The last  4   years were  not good  for our   country.  but don't let that    scare you.  It  was an    aberration. We're run by    people  who,  Truly at that   time. 4 years.  we  were  run   by  people  that  didn't    have  a clue. They  didn't    have  a clue, I'm trying  and   I'm trying  to  be  nice    when  I say it  that  way.    They  allowed our beautiful   USA to  be  left  at  scorned   and taken advantage of  by    everybody.  We  were  ripped    off on  trade by  Nations all   over  the world.  Both    friend  and Foe and   oftentimes  a friend  was far   worse on  trade than  the   foe.  But those days  are   over. You're  at the  start   of  something very, very    big.  You're  going to  see   that  very  soon  now,    exactly.  250.  years After   the first Patriots, stood   and fought at Lexington,  and   Concord we're in the  midst   of  another kind  of    Revolution  a revolution  of    winning and a revolution  of    Common  Sense.  Common    sense.  Everywhere  you look?   broken  systems corrupt   institutions. and tired   Dogmas  are being Swept Away    by  the tide  of  History.    Ancient wisdom  is  being   rediscovered  and the best.   and strongest traits  of    America are coming  back. For   all.  to  see bigger  better,   and greater.  than  ever    coming  back. and they're   coming  back. Fast  the   spirit  of  our age.  is    1 of  boldness  vigor   ambition  and adventure.  and   it's  exciting  to  be  you.    and Young.  oh  I'd pay you a   lot of  money to  have  your    age.  You have  a great   future, the people  have    rejected  the voices  of  a   failed  establishment,  you   saw that  in  the election.   we've turned  the page  on    endless Wars  crippling debt    open  borders ruinous   inflation.  and the lack  of    respect for our country and   for its leaders.  but we're   turning that  all around.   and we're turning it  around.   very  fast, We  will  very    quickly.  make  America great   again.  This  week. we're   celebrating the most    successful  first.  100 days    of  any presidential    Administration. in  the   history of  our country.  And   we've been  given a lot of    credit  for that, but a 100   days  does  not a full  term    make  but we're going to  do    even  better  as  we  move    along in  a matter  of    weeks,  we've achieved  the   lowest  number  of  illegal.    border  crossings ever.   recorded. And you've  seen    it  hundreds  of  thousands   of  people  pouring into  our   country from  prisons from    uh  mental  institutions    from  gangs and all over  the   world.  not just  in  South   America.  You'd see hundreds    of  thousands of  people.   poor  across  in  1 day.  You   know  what  we  had just    recently  3 3,  3.  and we    slashed the number  of    illegal aliens. released    into  the United  States. by    99.999%.  and,  you know, If    that  number  is  wrong,  the   fake  news, which is  all   over  the place today.  Is    going to  be. correcting  me    before  I get to  the next    sentence. Now.  99.999%,  how   about that? Nobody  thought   that  was possible. They    said  you needed    legislation.  know you just   needed  a new president.    That's  what  you needed.   but,  despite the tremendous,   success as  you've been   reading the courts  are   trying  to  stop  me  from    doing the job that  I was   elected to  do. We  won by    millions  of  votes,  we  won   all 7 swing States  7 out of    7.  We? won.    312 Electoral College votes,    They  said, oh  270 would be    great.  We  went. 312 and 27.   counties  versus  525   counties  throughout. the   nation. That's  why.  When    you look  at  a map,  it's    all red.  it's  all red.    every inch  of  it  is    read a little couple  of    blue dots.  But they have to    let us  do  the job that  the   voters  want  us  to  do    judges. are interfering.    Supposedly  based on  due   process.  But how can you   give  due process to  people    who came  into  our country   illegally?  They want to    give  them  due process.  and   I don't know. We've created.    350,000 new jobs, and brought   core  inflation down  to  its   lowest  level In  many, many    years.  energy  is  down.   Look  at  your  cost  of    energy  way down. groceries   are down. Even  eggs    groceries down. Remember, I   came  in  remember  I was   here  a week  and they    started screaming at me,  the   fake  news. egg prices  have    doubled.  I said  they  just    got here. I've  been  here    for 4 days. I said, tell  me    about egg prices. They    doubled.  Well, they didn't   double  under me. I just  got   there.  and we  did a great   job.  We  brought down  the   cost  of  eggs. In fact,    they  said  you won't have    eggs  for Easter. They    wanted  to  give  we  have  a   big Easter  egg hunt  at  the   White House.  You,  saw it,   just  take  place.  and they    thought we  should  order   thousands of  plastic eggs.   plastic.  They  said, no,   we'll do it and we    straighten out the egg    situation very  quickly.    Our great Secretary of    agriculture.  Did a fantastic   job,  and we  had so  many    eggs  we  didn't  know  what    the hell  to  do  with  them.   And prices  of  eggs  have    gone  down. 87%,  since I   took  office, that's    something like  But the price   of  food  has gone  down  and   mortgage  rates are down. and   gasoline  prices. just  hit.    1 dollar. and 888 cents a   gallon  in  3 states. Can you   believe it  It  was at  350.    It was  at    Fort. We're Drilling. uh,   we're Drilling. you know,   drill, baby drill,  right?    We  drill baby  drill.  We    do  that. We  got it  down.   We  have  it  going good  and   you know  when  energy  drops   that  much  you don't have    much  inflation.  so  it  to    have  inflation.  It  was   just  announced that  in the    first quarter investments   in the  United  States. are   up. 22% that  we're leading   the whole world.  and   investment  Everybody's   pouring into  our country   with  big dollars.  And it's    all about November  5th   and November  5th,  election.   and tariffs.  And incentives    that  we've given,  That  are   going to  make  this  country   so  much. richer. And we    have  36 trillion dollars in    debt. that's  going to  start   to  come  off.  It's going to   come  off rapidly but   we'll be  over. 8.  trillion    dollars in  investment. with    apple and others  investing.    500 billion dollars each    We've never had a period of   time  in  2 months  because   we're here  for 3 months,   a little  bit more. but   give me a break for the first   month,  you know,   we had to get a little    acclimated  had to  see where   the enemy lies  because   they're already looking to    impeach Trump.  You know,   these crazy people. let's   impeach him for what? We    don't know. Exactly,  But   we'll try.  it  for these   people  are crazy.  so, we    had a,  you know, get our   bearings  for the first   couple  of  weeks.  So, in  2   months, we  had Over. 8.    Trillion  dollars,  think of    it. committed.  Nobody's    ever  seen  anything  like    it. There's never been    anything  like  it  in  any   country at  any time  and   it's  all because they    want to avoid the tariffs.    We  want  to  get here  fast.   and,  uh, I said, you know, a   number  of  times.  tariff.   It's  the most  beautiful   word  in the  world and I got   absolutely  decimated by  the   fake  news. They said,  What    About Love  What  about your    wife? What  about your    parents?  What  about   religion  and God so, I said,   all right,  it's  the fifth   nicest  word  I've  ever    seen. And since I've  done    that, I've been in good   shape,  nobody's  bothered    me. They've been  very  nice.   so, it's  the fifth,  most    beautiful word  I've  ever    heard.  but it's  make  it    as  very  rich. And you'll    be  seeing  the results   pretty  soon  sooner  than    most  people  think.  because   that's  what  other countries   have  been  doing to  us.   just  so  you understand    they  were  tariffing the   hell  out of  us. We    couldn't  sell  cars  in    Europe. We  couldn't  sell    cars  in  China.  We    couldn't  sell  cars  in    Japan or  anywhere  else. We    couldn't  do  anything. And   all we're doing is  we're   doing it  to  them, but we're   doing it  much  better. And   the US  military  has   suddenly  seeing  its best    recruiting  numbers ever.   We've never had numbers like    that. We  now have  waiting   lists,  because there is    such  incredible  spirit  in    our country.  There's a great   spirit. and just  think   6 months  ago and you   remembered  it  was   embarrassing. before  the   election  6 months  ago,    we were hearing and reading   that  numbers of  those   joining our military  were    at  the worst levels  ever.   We've never had anything    like  it, right?  You   remember  that? And now there   are the best  levels  ever.   We  have  waiting lists   to get  into  the military.   We  couldn't  fill  the   positions.  and that    included  in our  police    forces. are fire    departments.  We  love  our   fire  departments.  Also  we    can never forget  our fire    departments.  but our police    forces  were  Were  begging   for help. and now,  they're   brimming  over  with  people.   and applicants  and they're   getting great ones. It's    amazing.  What's  taking    place?  and that's  really    the spirit, each  of  the   graduates.  in this Arena   will  soon  have  the chance    to  help  lead  this  project   of  national  renewal.  and   that's  what  it  is. It's  a   national  renewal we    suffered  so  badly for   so badly  We  had 1 of  the   greatest  economies we    actually  had the greatest    economy in  the history of    our country during  the first   term  of  trump.  and then    we  uh, we  got hit hard    with  inflation.  During  the   Biden economy.  It  was   horrible. we  were  hit so    hard  the worst.  probably    ever  they  say,  48  years   will  accept  that. But I   would say ever, you'll    Embrace this  moment  and   you'll  step  forward with    strength  and grit  faith.    and patriotism  to  put   America,  on  a new   trajectory  for your    children. And then  you will    take  your  place among the   greatest  Generations in the    history of  our country.  I   think you have  a chance  to    be  the greatest  Generation    in the  history of  our   country.  because we're   turning it  around  and you   happen to be  available.    That's  a good  time  to  be    available.  There are   sometimes when  it's  not so    good  to  be  available.  But   this  is  a great time. I'm   absolutely  confident that    the Alabama Class of  2025    is  up  to  the task. Are you   up  to  the task? You learned   a lot about winning here  at    Alabama and now we  need  you   to  help. win for America.    For the business. majors    here  today.  I challenge you   not merely  to  use your    talents for financial   speculation.  But to  apply   your  great skills  that    you've  learned,  and had to    forging the steel and pouring   the concrete  of  New   American  factories.  plants    shipyards and even  cities    which are going up  all over    our country.  Don't just    build a strong  portfolio.    Build a very  very  strong.   America and you're  going to    do  that. To  the engineers.    Brilliant.  You are   technician. scientists. and   math  majors. We  need  your    Alabama.  spirit. competition   to  keep  our country at the    Forefront of  every single    domain. America should  have    the world's tallest buildings   designed  the fastest   airplanes,  build the   greatest  cars. Do    everything  the absolute    best. better  than  any other   nation  in the  world and you   can do it.  and we  will    soon  land  American.   astronauts  on  Mars. That    will  happen  That  will    happen. In  every field,  you   have  studied.  there are   problems  to  be  solved  and   breakthroughs to  be  made.   to  the journalism  majors    of  which I've  had a lot of    problems  with  Let's be    honest, I'm not sure  I like    them  No, I do. I do. but,    you really    leading of everything because   we  we need a great and Free    Press,  we need a brilliant   press.  they're like  a   watchkeeper.  They're very    important.  and you can go    out and take  it  down  a new   track.  Oh, save  the   country.  So  important.    your  task  is  so    important.  and it's  to    build a media that  Americans   can trust and remember. The   people  of  this  country.    they  know  the truth.  When    they  hear  it, that's  why.    the uh, Ratings the approval    numbers of  the media are so    low. We need  those ratings   to  be  100%. We  have  to    be  able  to  trust our   media.  I say you have  to    have  that. you need. strong    strong. borders,  and   you need. really  free  Fair.   clean elections.  You need    those things  but the media   is  a big part of it. in  the   world of  health  and   Medicine. There is  an    exciting  New Movement.   to get  poisons out of  our   food  supply. Keep  toxins    out of  our government. Clean   out our environment and make    America healthy again.  And   I think Bobby's going to  do    a great job.  don't you?  I   think so. I think he's  the   guy we  needed. and in    government, It  is  the task    of  your  generation  to    replace bureaucracy,  graft   and waste with  a new system    that  defends American    freedom.  These are Big tasks   before  you,  but the reward    for your  hard  work  will be   the United  States  of    America.  is  stronger. prder   better. and more  unified   than  ever. ever  ever    before. it's  going to  be    As  you embark  on  this    Great adventure.  Let me    share some  of  the biggest   lessons I've  learned from  a   lifetime  spent building    dreams  and beating the odds    I beat  a lot of    I beat a lot of odds. A lot   of  odds, a lot of  people    said, I don't know. But it    worked  out,  okay? where are   we? Oh, dear, I'm president   How did that  happen? now,    you're  going to  be  in    the same  position, but   some of the,  would you   like to hear  some of the   ideas?  or  should  I just    skip  over  that  part, huh?    It's  going to  be  more    interesting than  all the   other stuff,  which was   slightly  political,  right?    I got to give it to you,    though. Just  as  I say it,   and as  I've  learned it, the   hard  way and the easy  way   first,  If  you.  are here    today,  and think that    you're  too young to do   something great,  let me    tell  you that  you are   wrong.  You're not  too   young.  You can have  great   success at  a very  young   age.  You're  all very  young   in  America with  drive and   ambition  Young people  can   do  anything. I was 28 when I   took  my  first big gamble    to  develop a hotel in    Midtown,  Manhattan,  the   Grand Hyatt And it  worked    out incredibly  well. but   I was very  young at the    time  I was like  a very    young person. and sort  of an   old person  business. Steve   Jobs  was 21  when  he    founded Apple Walt  Disney    was 21  when  he  found a   Disney. James Madison.  James   Monroe, Alexander Hamilton,   Thomas  Jefferson they  were    no  older than  25  when    they  began the journeys    that  etched  their names   into  the history books for   all time. so, to  everyone    here  today,  don't waste   your  youth go  out and fight   right from  the beginning,    from  the day you leave.    this  incredible. University.   Go  out and fight fight tough   Fight Fair. But go  out and   fight,  you're  going to  be    very  successful  because now   is  the time  to  work    harder  than  you've  ever    worked  before. push    yourself  further than  you   have  ever. pushed  yourself    before. find  your  limits    and then  smash through   everything. go  and smash   through.  You've  watched   that  football  team smash    through You're  going to  do    the same  thing.  you're    at the  age when  you have    the time. and vitality  to    do  really  incredible    things, if  you give  just    give  it  your all    you'll look back  and a   decade  from  now.  You'll be   astounded by  what  you've    achieved. You'll  remember    this  day.  You remember    when  the guy named Trump?    was giving  the commencement    address and he said,  I could   do  it  and guess what  I   did,  I think you're going to   remember  that  very  fondly,   I hope  so. second  of all,   and very  importantly you   have  to  love  what  you do.   Okay. you have  to  I rarely    see somebody. that's    successful  That  doesn't   love  what  he  or  she does.   That's  way.  you really    like  work  Isn't work. It's    fun.  It's, uh, I find  it    fun.  I work  all the time    and I find  it  fun if  I   didn't  find  it  fun,  I   wouldn't  be  successful    Whether it  was real  estate    or  or  in  shops,  I had   a lot of  different careers,    but I loved real  estate  so    much. And I was very    successful. in  real estate   because I loved it. I learned   a lot from  my  father.   because I watched him work.   He  works 7. He was a   workaholic, He  worked. He    loved to  work. It's a  good    man.  He  was a tough guy,    tough as  hell  actually. Now   that  I think back  I don't   know  if  you could even  get   away  with  that  nowadays,   he  was tough.  but he  was a   good  man.  I'll  tell you    and he  works 7 days  a week.   He  works Saturdays Sundays,    it  didn't  matter. And I   learned by  watching  him,    he  loved his life. He  loved   what  he  was doing.  He  had   a great long-term marriage, a   long  long, many  many, many,   many  years.  He  beat  me    on  that  1.  now,    I have minded very successful   with the  Kevin lasted  quite   as  long. It  was close to    it  was close to  70  years   That  was a long  time. said    Bob you beat  me  on  that    1.  but you know  what  I   learned from  him but that    he  just  he  loved life  and   all he  did was work, I see   people  that  don't work    hard  and they're miserable.    So  go  out and find  but he    loved what  he  was doing.    and you have  to  find    something that  you love  and   you have  to  follow  your    own instincts.  and listen    to  your  parents.  they're   very  wise. But you have to   Follow  your. instincts and   your  heart,  your  soul. And   you want  to  be  the very,   very  best  You can be  treat   every day.  Like  a home    game  against.  Auburn    fight.  Like  hell, and enjoy   doing it. and you coach can   tell you  all about that.   Third thing is  to  think   big,  you know, you're    going to  do  something.  you   might as  well  think big.    because it's just as  tough,    you can think small,  I know,   a lot of  people, they    thought small.  they're very    small.  I know  others  that    weren't nearly  as  smart but   they had  a better. picture   of  the big picture because   it's just as  hard  to  solve   a small problem as  a big   problem.  And it's just as    much  energy, and everything    else. except  the result  is    going to  be  a smaller 1.    So, love what you do  But   think big if  it's  possible.   now,  big it's  not possible,   That's  okay  too.  You do    something you have  to  do    something that  you love, you   will. have  all the same.   headaches and challenges. all   the same  delays. and   setbacks  so  you might   as well do  something.    That's  just  amazing.    America doesn't aim small   Alabama.  doesn't aim small   and neither do  you.  So    think big,  when  possible    think big fourth  is  work    hard. workhard. Never ever    stop. An  example is    a great.  athlete actually    Gary  Player  golfer. great,    great golfer. He  wasn't  as    big as  other men.  He  was   actually. on  the small side.   Don't tell  him that. friend    of  mine, don't tell  him   that  because he  doesn't   understand  that. But he    worked  very  very  hard. He    made  up  for it. He  never   stopped He  won.  168 golf    tournaments think of that.    100.  I said, Gary  you're    winning like  every weekend.    Do  you ever choked or    anything? I don't know  what    joke  means.  and he  made  a   statement years ago,  that  I   read  and I thought it  was   sort of an  incredible    statement.  He  said  it's    funny.  the harder  I work.   The luckier,  I get,  I think   of  the,  the harder  I work.   The luckier,  I get,  So, you   really  have  to  work  hard    and you're  going to  be    successful  because you have    the talent. to get  into  the   school  is  not easy  to  get   through It  is  even  more    difficult.  You have  a lot   of  talent. Fifth is  don't   lose. your  momentum. just    uh, you just  want to keep    it  going and you have  to    know  if  you are losing  it,   you have  to  know  when    you're  losing  it. so  maybe   you stopped and maybe it's    time  to  stop. Listen  to    the feedback. think through   your  plan  very  carefully   and keep, moving. fast. The   word  momentum  is  very    important.  I mean, I'll    just  tell you  a little    story about a great real    estate  developer named   William Levitt. He  built   Levittown,  some  of  you   might live  in  a Levittown.    He was  the big developer   of the  whole country in the    1940s.  And so, and he  built   these jobs. he  started with    1 house then  2 houses  Then    20  houses  then  thousands   and thousands of  houses. and   a company Gulf  in  Western   came  along and they  Said,   we're going to  make  you an    offer to  buy.  your    company.  and they  offered   them a lot of money.  a lot   of  money,  more  money than    he  ever  thought he  could   make. And he, retired.  Lost    his momentum, he  retired and   he  led a beautiful life. He    had a wife  I must  tell    you.  It  was the second    wife who was  a trophy  wife,   what  can I say?  I don't   like  telling you everything,   but we're all friends,    right?  Can we talk?  We're   all friends,  You had a   trophy  wife. And he  lived a   different life. He  moved to    the south of  France  but he    uh, lived,  uh, it  was a   life  of  tremendous  luxury.   he  had so  many  millions    of  dollars.  He  was given a   fortune for the company and   10  years.  went  by  and   then  15 years  went  by. and   he  got a call  from  this    big.  conglomerate  Gulf  in    Western.  And they  said, uh,   We're not doing well  with    the purchase, because he    used  to  pick  up  every   nail. Every piece of    sawdust,  every piece of    wood, every chip  everything.   and he'd  sell  it, and make    a couple  of  bucks.  into    everything  was perfect.    They  can't do  that.   You know, these big   companies,  they don't  do    that. You see it  a lot when    an  entrepreneur  sells to  a   big company and then  he    ends  up  buying  the company   back  from  peanuts later on    happens.  A lot.  But he  was   the best  at  what  he  did.    But 15 years  went  by  and   he  was so  excited and they    sold  him back his  company.    and he  started,  and he  was   going to  tear  apart the   world because he  got bored   with  the life  of  luxury.   and,  he  started building,   and Building. And building.   And the markets turned  on    him.  and he  went  bad.  He    lost  everything  and he    went  bankrupt. Absolutely.   bankrupt. And it was  a sad   story to  read. It  was such    an  amazing story because he    was so  rich, but he  paid    them  and he  bought  it  for   the right price,  Bought  it    low.  But he  went  wild, but   he  lost  his momentum. He    wasn't  good  at  it    anymore.  and he  was,  at  a   party on  Fifth Avenue. I'll    never forget. And it was  a   party of  a very, very    powerful  man was having  the   party in  a magnificent.    apartment,  Overlooking the   park. and I walked  in, and   there were  50 or so  people,   I recognized  most  of  all   the biggest business  people    in the  world actually. A   very  glamorous I was doing   well. I was young and I was   doing well. And I was invited   to  parties like  that, And I   looked  in the  corner  and   there was Mr. William Levitt    sitting all by  himself on  a   chair.  Looking very  dumb.   Nobody  was talking to  him,    because you'll  find  that    when  you're not  successful,   you lose  a lot of  friends.    It's  not a good  situation.    but there was nobody  talking   to  him but I wanted to talk    to  him because I was in the    real  estate  business  and   he  was and most  of  these   people  were  in  different   businesses. And I went  over    and talked  to  him and I   said, How are you?  Mr?   Love it.  He  goes, uh,   Donald. he  knew  who I was.    not Well, I'm not well. I   said, so. Can you come  back?   He  said, no. son.  I lost    my  momentum. I shouldn't   have  done  it. I lost  my    momentum. And I never forgot    that  expression. He lost his   momentum. if  he  would have    kept  going instead of    selling,  and relaxing  and   going into  a different life.   he  probably  would have    been. 3 times bigger  than    he  was,  but he  lost  his   momentum. and you have  to    know  when  it's  your  time.   I mean  there'll  be  a time    when  you do  lose, you see   it  with  Fighters, You see   it  with  a lot of  people    they  have  a great record    and they  retire  and then    4 years later,  they  say I'm   going back, I can beat  that    guy and they  get knocked to    hell. And it's  not good.   It's  not good. So  he  lost    his momentum. You have  to    know  when  your  momentum    time  is  up. I call  a   momentum  time. but,  uh,   Follow  your  momentum. It's    very  important word.   You don't hear  from  too   many  but I've  seen  it.   I've  seen  it  a lot.    Number  6,  if  you want  to    change  the world,  you have    to  have  the courage to be   an  outsider. In    other words,  you have  to    take  certain risks and do    things  a little  bit   differently,  Otherwise,  if    that  weren't the case    everybody would be    successful. Does it work    that  way?  Progress? Never   comes from  those satisfied   with  the failures  of  a   broken  system? it  comes   from  those who want  to fix    the broken  system  and   you'll  make  the bigger    money you'll  make  them    more  success.  by  acting    that  way the other way.    maybe.  more  secure  but   if you  want  to  go  to  the   top,  you're  just  never   going to  do  it  unless  you   break the system. Change is   never easy  and the closer    you get to  success.  the   more  ferociously,  those   with  a vested  interest    in the  past. will  resist    you.  They  want  to  resist.   so, I just  say,  trust me    on  that  because I know, you   really  do. You have  to    break the system  a little    bit?  and uh, follow  your    own instincts.  But if  your    vision  is  right,  nothing   will  hold  you down.   Nothing.  You have  to  have    the right vision. If    you look  at  some of these,    internet  people, I know    so many of  them  Elon  is    so  terrific. but I know. now   all of  them, you know, they    all hate it.  Strong. It's    amazing.  It's  nicer this    way.  Now,  in  the first,    you know, they  didn't  know    what  happened  because I won   an  election  that  you know    there was never a businessman   that  Won a presidential    election. Out of    a 100 percent.  8%. were    Generals. and 92%.  were    politician. not even    Admirals  not even  a just    generals  are at  8 generals    General.  Washington, General   Grant generals, General   Eisenhower  But 8%. were    Generals  and 92% were    politicians.  and when  I ran   everyone  said, well, I can't   win.  He's a businessman.   That's  not going to  work.   And you know, but you have  a   natural instinct  for things    I guess I had a natural I   said  to  somebody  was I   a better businessman  or    politician. and they  said,   well, there are a lot of    guys  that  made  a lot of    money.  but there's only  1   guy that  became  president.    That  was a businessman so    I guess you're  a better    politician  but I don't think   of  myself  as  a politician    I think of  myself  as  a   businessman and I'm proud of    that  and I've  applied   business  Instinct  and   that's  why I think you're    seeing  us  doing so  well.   so, number  7 is  to  trust   your  instincts.  common    sense,  you can go  very  far   in  life  with  common  sense   and I applied that  to    politics  because some  ofer    these things  like  they  had   open  borders let everybody   in the  whole world flow    into  our country.  That's    not common  sense.  they  had   transgender for everybody.    We  ended that  if  you   noticed,  okay? But they  are   transgender for everybody.    They  said. I said, this  is    not working This  is  not   going to  work. Uh, as  I   said  before, you know  so    simple. men Playing.    in women's  sports. Did you   ever  see some  of the    records?  Did you ever  see   some of these boxing    matches?  You know, we  have    to  predict these women are   great athletes  but we  have    to  protect if  you looked    at  the Olympics  where they    had,  transitioned  to    people, going into  the   boxing  where the women had   boxing. And they had    a great.  Champion, a female    boxer.  I mean, after 1   Punch,  you mean, back  to    the corner  said  I can't get   hit like  that. I've  never   been  hit like  that  before.   you look  at  all the   volleyball  players   that have been  hurt  so    badly with  balls that  are   hit at  levels  that  they've   never seen  before. but the   greatest  is  like    weightlifting.  You ever  see   the weightlifting?  where   they  have  a record  that    wasn't  broken  in  18.   years.  and they  have,   should  I imitate,  you know,   my  wife  gets  very  upset   when  I do  this. she said,   it's  so  darling.  It's  not   presidential. Is  he? Yeah,   but people  like it.  Should    I do  it  or not? All right,    I'm in trouble. when  I get   home  but that's  okay. What    the hell? I've been in  lots    of  trouble before  no, you   look  at  the weightlifting   where 18 years  it  stands    And they  have  this  young   woman.  and her parents are   Right Where you are in  the   front row and they're so    proud of  her.  And it's    like  2009  pounds. and she's   going to  lift  that  the   records that  for 18  think   of it,  18  years.  and they    put an  eighth  of  an  ounce   here. and an  eighth  of  an    ounce here. Little tiny   little  bit and she's   going to  do  it, Mom,  I   love you. I'm going to  do    it  for you,  Mom.  and she   goes. Don't you?  listen  And   she gets  it. Mom,  I'm   going to  do  it. Mom.    Can't tell. And then  a guy   comes along.  or  a gal,  or    whatever. A transitions   person  comes along.  and he    was a failed, weightlifter,   as  a man.  But he  comes   along.  206 pounds. They  put   the little  thing on  and he    goes. boom, boom. And breaks    the record, like  by  119   pounds. That's  right.  The   other 1 is  the swimming.   You've  heard me  talk  about   a great swimmers and    you know, they  Rose  to the    top.  Women.  swimmers, and   they  grow up together. and   they're Olympic class   swimmers  and they're   qualifying  for.  Some  big   tournament. and now,  the   race  is  getting ready to    start The Big race  and they    1 young lady  she was   going to  set the record. She   fought  all her life  to  set   the record. just  to  Win It    by  1.  1, ninth  of  a   second. think of  that  1   ninth I don't like  those   odds  1 Night of a  second    threat  but she looks to  the   left  and she sees  all the   friends that  she grew  up    with  down  in  California.   from  all over  the country.    they're all the best    swimmers. Then  she looks to    the right And she sees    the same  thing,  but there's   a person  next  to  her who's   a giant.  And she looks.  at    you,  like  who is  that? I   have  I don't recognize that    person. That  was a person    that  transitioned. and he    had the wingspan  of. Wilt,   the still Chamberlain of    anybody knows.  What? and,    As  you know  what  happened?   In  that  meat. because,  he    went  by  her so  fast  that    she was.  wind  burned, They    had to  take  her out.  She   got serious.  wind  burn  and   he  flew  back  and forth and   back  and forth.  And she   didn't  know  what, but she   got the hell  knocked out of    her knowing that  I'm only    kidding.  She wasn't  wind    burnt.  She was just  beaten    by  a lot.  Or  the race. Did   you see the race  where they    had the best? female  Runners   that  they  had a guy who was   a decent  Runner? a long    distance  race? And he  won   by  5 hours.  and 19    seconds.  you know, normally    you win by  like  12 seconds    2 seconds,  a quarter of a    second  He  won by 5 hours of   The.  192nd.  It's  crazy.    And,  you know, honestly    it's  demeaning for women   very  demeaning.  These are   great athletes. it's  very    demeaning and we're going to    protect women.  we're   going to  protect women.    we're going to  protect   everybody.  so, now that  I'm   in trouble  with  my  wife,   I'm going to  blame the   University  of  Alabama.  for   asking  me  to  go  through   with  that  stuff.  But   it's pretty descriptive,    isn't it  really? it  helps   when, you know  that, borders   are not racist  speeches not    violence. America is  good.   terrorists  are bad.  Men can   never become. women.  Police    are not criminals and   criminals are not victims.    Eighth  everybody should    believe.  Thank you.  Thank   you very much.  Everybody   should  believe in  the   American  dream.  It's  real.   it's  there and it's  right   before  you,  we're coming    back  the American    dream.  Knight.   ninth think of yourself as  a   winner. the power of    positive  thinking, Dr.   Norman  Vincent Peale for   many  years ago wrote a book.   The paraos of thinking  and   there is  a lot to  it, The   power of  positive  thinking    don't consider  yourself  a   victim. consider  yourself  a   winner  in  recent  years,    too many  of  our young   people  have  really  been    taught  to  think of    themselves. as  victims.  and   blame people  and be  angry.    don't be  angry.  but in    America,  we  reject  that    idea. That  anyone  is  born    a victim  or  heroes  are the   ones  who take. charge  of    their own destiny.  Make    their own luck. and determine   their own fate. Despite the   odds  Despite All Odds.   That's  what  happens.  They    take. Really  they  give  in    a little  chance  in  many    cases.  Very  little  chance    of  success.  and they    become  the most  successful    people  in  the world,    whether you were  born, rich,   or  poor  black or  white   male  or  female  in    America.  anyone  can be  a   winner. and our whole country   will  be  cheering  you on    and I'll  be  at  the front   of  the   lines here and you want   a special because you come    from  this  incredible.   University. and next  is  to    be  an  original. the   all-time  greats  were    people  who had the   confidence  to  be  a little    different Teddy Roosevelt   Douglas MacArthur George    Patton  Amelia  Earhart,    Annie Oakley  Muhammad  Ali.    and so many others. So  many    others  far too many  to    name  live  their lives with    pride.  personality and Flair   God only  created 1 of  you.    Remember  that? God created 1   of  you.  You're  all   different some  are   closed. But you know, nobody    is  the same. you're  1 of  a   kind. so  don't try to  be    someone else. Just  be    yourself. and finally,  and   most  importantly,  never   ever  give  up  never give    up. Never give  up. And I've    learned.  anything  in  life,   and it's  uh, it's  so  true.   1 of  the most  important   things  you can learn,  if    you just  went  a little  bit   longer, if  you just  held    out a little  bit longer, you   would have been successful.   or  the stories of  that  are   Legend. but I've  learned   that  perseverance  is    everything. so  whatever    happens,  no  matter  where   you are in  life, stay    optimistic  and just  keep    pushing forward.  just  don't   stop. never ever. give  up.   Victory is  right around  the   corner. I've  watched coach   Saban win games that  really    were  virtually over. You've    seen  that  you've  been  in    the stands. he  won a couple    of  games.  I said, coach You   got?  lucky as  hell, He    said, I didn't  get lucky.    I'm a talented guy. you know,   those little  touchdowns    that  come  out of nothing,   he's  uh, he's  amazing but   he's  a guy.  That  doesn't   quit  and doesn't know  what    the word  quit  even  means   he  couldn't  Define  it. He    took  Victory out of  the   jaws  of  defeat  and you can   do  that  too.  at  every   stage.  in  my  career. my    enemies of  which they  were    many  and probably  are   right now.  It's  I can think   of  a couple  of  people    that  don't like  me  too   much  right now.  but they    said, uh, that  they  have    to  do  everything  they  can   to  keep  me  from  winning   to  keep  me  from  making    it  and I'm representing    you.  So  I have  to  make    it. I have  I have  big   shoulders but these are Big   shoulders.  I have  to  win   for you.  I'm not winning for   myself. I'm winning for you.    Do  you remember  when  they    said  that? Donald  Trump   will  never become  president   of the  United  States?   You remember  Barack  Hussein   Obama said that   Barack Hussein  Obama.    Donald  Trump will  never be    president.  like, 50, other   politicians said  that  Where   are they  now?    Oh, let me see. Oh,   there they are. Where are   they  now?  But here  I am.   standing  before  you as  the   45th. And 47th president.   Against All Odds, I did.    great in  2016.   2016. How great was that?   And then I did. Better. In    2020. Sorry.  in the election   was rigged. I probably  but   it was  a rigged  election.   and then  in  2024, I made    it  too big to  rig.  I said,   we  got to  do  this  again.    We? we  made  it  that  was   a great expression. I said,   you got to go and vote  even    though  I was leading big   in the  polls.  I said  it    doesn't matter. You got   to make it  too big to  rig   and they  did they  went  out   and they  voted and voted and   voted and we  won the whole   thing.  and it was  so  good.   And it's  such  a great   mandate for our country.    That's  the important thing.    So  never let anyone  tell    you that  something is    impossible. ever  ever  ever?   In  America.  The Impossible.   is  what? we  all.  do. Best.   there is  nothing.  you   cannot  do  if  you are   willing to  fight for it. You   got to  fight fight fight.    Oh, I've heard  that    expression. Funny.  That's    not here  That that actually    most  of  what  I've  said    tonight is  not on  the   teleprompter  That's  all   right,  isn't it  nice  to    have  a president that    doesn't doesn't need  a   teleprompter  and can   those sort of   can sort of have a little   fun.  because I feel  that    this  is  home. You know,   it's  been  such  a great   state for me. I feel    its home when they  said    Alabama,  I said  that  has   a good  ring  to  me. but uh    it's  something nice  about   somebody  that  doesn't need    a Teleprompter  isn't it? But   for the past  4 years,    you've  lived in  a state   known for its Fighters.   Its Champions and it's    Warriors  and you've  lived   in  the Great state of    Alabama,  1 of the  greatest    of  them  all from    Huntsville, to  Birmingham    from  Montgomery, to  mobile.   and from  right here, in    Tuscaloosa, to  the gleaming    shores  of  the Gulf  of    America.  That  is  a nice    way.  Everybody loves it. I   wouldn't  say Mexico's    thrilled  but you can't have    them  all.  They're not   thrilled. You can continue    the legacy  of  Alabama.    Legends,  who blazed  the   trails  1, The  Game's  till    the fields  forged  the   steels. Built the ships.  and   gave  us  the victories that    Built America and changed the   world.  the entire  world was   changed by  our victories.    This  is  the state that    gave  us  the might of  the   Iron  City. the power of  the   Saturn  5 rocket  and the   roaring.  engines of    Talladega.  Talladega.  We    love  Talladega.  We  love    Talladega.  this  is  the   state that  gave  us    nothing,  but Victory,  the   state of  some  of the    greatest  heroes  and   history.    like Willie Mays Jesse    Owens.  Joe Lewis.  Your    coach Nick. Sabin.    Hank Williams, and  many    others. Some  of  you will    leave here  today.  and   travel  the world,  but you   will  always  know  that    this  state has. This is    really  Sweet Home  Alabama,    right?  It's  always    going to  be  your  place.  I   sort  of  feel  that  way   myself, cuz from  a political   standpoint. it's  just  been    we  connected from  day 1   from  the first day,  I set   my  foot  on  this  beautiful   soil. I connected with    Alabama.  and here  in    Alabama,  we  believe that    the men and women who built   this  country are heroes  and   that  America's Destiny is    to  be  the single  greatest    nation  on  the face of the   Earth.  And we're bringing    it  back  at. speed,  that    nobody  thought was possible.   We  believe in  Freedom and   family  God and Country.  We    cherish our constitution. we    Revere  our Bible and we    salute, our great.  American    flag. We  respect our   veterans  and we  always    stand for our 1 and only    National  anthem. We  love    our Nat,  we  love  our   national  anthem. We    Believe.  in  strong    parents.  strong. values.   strong  communities,  and   very  strong. borders.  And   we  believe that  the United    States, military  is  the   greatest  Force for peace and   Justice the world.  has ever    known.  We  have  a great   military. We just had people    that  didn't  know  how to    lead  it. We  believe the   south is  beautiful.  Alabama   is  great.  and America is    our home. we  believe in  the   SEC and the USA.  graduates   of  the Alabama.  Class of    2025  standing  here  before    you in this magnificent.    Arena.  It  is  clear to  see   the next  chapter.  of  the   American  story will  not be    written by  the Harvard   Crimson It  will  the written   by  you.  the crimson.  Tide.   That's  true. I thought that    was rather  clever. if    you look  at  what's  going   on, you know, they  get their   5 billion dollars a year.   That  is  not going to  be    so  forthcoming.  now,    can you wasn't  that  a   clever  1, though?  How who   would think of  that? because   this  is  Alabama.  And in    Alabama,  you fight fight   fight and you win win win.    that's  what  you know  how   to  do. Congratulations to    you all.  congratulations.    to  this  great.  class of    Champions.  God bless you and   God bless."}]