Click here to see his speech.
Below are the remarks, as prepared for delivery, in accepting the GOP nomination for president at the
Republican National Convention in Cleveland, Ohio.
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 16th of last year we – and 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 four years ago?
The Democrats, on the other hand, received almost 20
percent fewer votes than they got four years ago.
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 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 own 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. 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 percent 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
people 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 from 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 American 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 percent of African-American youth are not employed.
Two million more Latinos are in poverty today than when
President Obama took his oath of office less than eight years ago.
Another 14 million people have left the workforce
entirely.
Household incomes are down more than $4,000 since the
year 2000 – 16 years ago.
Our trade deficit in goods reached nearly $800 billion
last year alone.
The budget is no better. President Obama has almost
doubled our national debt to more than 19 trillion dollars, 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
forty-three 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.
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
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 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 judgement –something
pointed out by Bernie Sanders – are what caused so many of 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 was seeing a reduction in violence. Iran
was being choked by sanctions. Syria was under control.
After four years of Hillary Clinton, what do we have?
ISIS has spread across the region, and the 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 fifteen 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, 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 my plan of 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.
This will all change when I take office. The American
People will come first once again.
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.
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 everything she does. She is their puppet, and they pull the
strings.
That is why Hillary Clinton’s message is that things will
never change. 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 have 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. 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, no sympathy for leaders who fail their citizens. 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 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 consequence – I know that corruption has reached a level like never
before.
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 crimes.
In fact, her single greatest accomplishment may be
committing such an egregious crime and getting away with it – especially when
others, who have done 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 who 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 its jobs and
wealth. 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.
We will bring the same economic success to America that
Mike brought to Indiana. 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 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 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 and brightest
prosecutors and law enforcement officials to get the job 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 for everyone.
This Administration 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 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, Ferguson who
have the same right to live out their dreams as any other child in America? To
make life safe for all our citizens, we must also address the growing threats
we face from outside the country: we are going to defeat the barbarians of
ISIS.
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, at a military
recruiting center in Chattanooga, and many more.
Only weeks ago, in Orlando, Florida, 49 wonderful
Americans were savagely murdered by an Islamic terrorist. This time, the
terrorist targeted our LGBTQ community.
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.
To protect us from terrorism, we need to focus on three
things. We must have the best intelligence-gathering operation in the world.
We must abandon the failed policy of nation-building and
regime change that Hillary Clinton pushed in Iraq, Libya, Egypt and Syria.
Instead, we must work with all of our allies who share
our goal of destroying ISIS and stamping out Islamic terror. 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, 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.
My opponent has called for a radical 550 percent increase
in Syrian refugees on top of existing massive refugee flows coming into our
country under 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 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 Jamiel
Shaw.
They are just three brave representatives of many
thousands who have suffered so gravely. Of all my travels in this country,
nothing has affected me more deeply than the time I have spent with the mothers
and fathers who have lost their children to violence spilling across our
border.
These families have no special interests to represent
them. There are no demonstrators to protest on their behalf. My opponent will
never meet with them, or share in their pain. Instead, my opponent wants
Sanctuary Cities.
But where was the sanctuary for Kate Steinle? Where was
the sanctuary for the children of Mary Ann, Sabine and Jamiel?
Where was the 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 alone no longer.
Tonight, this candidate and the 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 drugs from pouring into our communities, and to stop
the gangs and the violence that have stolen too many innocent lives.
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 immigration system.
By ending catch-and-release on the border, we will end
the cycle of human smuggling and violence. Illegal border crossings will go
down. 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 am about to say.
On January 20th 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. 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 poverty.
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.
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. I am 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.
Never again.
I am going to bring back our jobs to Ohio, and
Pennsylvania, and New York, and Michigan and to all of America – and I am not
going to let companies move to other countries, firing their employees along
the way, without consequence.
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. She supported the job-killing trade deal with South Korea.
She has supported the Trans-Pacific Partnership – which
will not only destroy our manufacturing, but it will make America subject to
the rulings of foreign governments.
I pledge to never sign any trade agreement that hurts our
workers, or that diminishes our freedom and independence. 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.
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 we’ll walk away if we don’t get the deal
that we want.
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 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 and
businesses will experience profound relief, and taxes will be greatly
simplified for 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.
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 it.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 steel workers of our country out of work – that will never happen
when I am President.
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 tomorrow. This, in turn, will create millions
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 bureaucrats than serve American children.
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!
We're going to work with all of our students who are
drowning in debt to take the pressure off these young people just starting out
their adult lives.
We will completely rebuild our depleted military, and the
countries that we are 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 Ten Point Plan has received
tremendous veteran support.
We will guarantee those who serve this country will be
able to visit the doctor or hospital of their choice.
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 in government
to provide a list of wasteful spending projects that we can eliminate in my
first 100 days. The politicians have talked about it, 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 philosophy. 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 and
religious community in general who have been so good to me and so supportive.
You have much to contribute to our politics, yet our laws
prevent you from speaking your minds 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.
I am going to work very hard to repeal that language and
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 and in our country again.
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.
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.
Then there’s my mother, Mary. She was strong, but also
warm and fairminded. She was a truly great mother. She was also one of the most
honest and charitable people have ever known, and a great judge of character.
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 had a truly great 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’s time to deliver a victory for the American people.
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 that you can’t
have the country you want, are the same people telling you that I wouldn’t be
standing here tonight.
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 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'm asking for your support tonight so that I can be your
champion in the White House.
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, I will fight for you, and I will win for you.
To all Americans tonight, in all of our cities and in all
of our 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 Good Night.
