MAY 4, 2016

INAUGURATION REMARKS OF DONALD J. TRUMP

 FRIDAY, JANUARY 20, 2017

WASHINGTON, D.C.

TRANSCRIPT

Thank you all. Chief Justice Roberts, thank you. President Carter, the two President Bushes President Bush Senior, President Bush, President Obama, distinguished guests, my fellow Americans, thank you.

I am truly humbled to be standing here before all of you today, I really am. I want to start today by thanking President Barack Obama for his service to America. He’s done a great job, hasn’t he? A really great job.

When we began this campaign no one believed this was possible. I heard thousands and thousands of people say, from sea to shining sea, that, “Oh, Donald Trump, he can’t get elected. They won’t take him seriously, his campaign is a joke.” Yet they forgot what makes America great. They forgot what the Founding Fathers knew. America has faced challenges over and over again. And each time, America — the greatest and most powerful nation in the world — met those challenges. It’s a beautiful thing.

The mainstream media called me a demagogue, and all these other horrible things. They said, “He hates so and so” or “He wants to shred the Constitution.” Those are foolish people. One website said you’d rather have Satan than Donald Trump as president. Ivanka said the website was Weekend Collective. I said, “Weekend Collective?” I’ve never heard of these things.

America met the challenges of the Nazis. We beat the Communists. The world was a mess, a complete and total disaster. And we saved it. Now if we could do those things…[pause for emphasis]…how could we not meet these other challenges? But I worked very hard and did it.

America has a lot of challenges, we all know this. Terrorists who want to kill us. Too many jobs going to China and Mexico. Bad trade deals, the worst I’ve seen. Too many middle class families can’t make ends meet. Our debt is in crisis a disaster. Hundreds of thousands of veterans waiting for care at hospitals. We’ve got corporate patrons who run the parties. And these politicians care only about begging for money from special interests so they can get reelected. Unbelievable challenges.

But if we work together, we can make America great again, I guarantee it.

The question is how? How do we make America great again? A lot of people have wondered that throughout American history, a lot of people. And a lot of people joined my campaign because I promised a lot of things, ridiculous things. Making Mexico pay for a wall? All my people said, “That’s crazy, that’s crazy.” Well, I said, “It’ll get the votes. Republican voters will love it, believe me.”

I said, “Let’s ban all the Muslims from entering the United States until we figure things out,” and my wife asked me, she said, “You don’t even believe that. You wouldn’t actually do it.” And I said, “You have to tell the people what they want to hear.” And that’s the way it is the truth, isn’t it? That’s what politicians do to get elected. Who says Donald J. Trump is the first one to do this? Who’s the first one to do this?

And the most remarkable thing happened. I saw all my rivals trying to one-up me, The Donald Donald Trump. You can’t one-up Donald Trump. Ben Carson is saying all these things, “Oh, the Muslim shouldn’t be president.” Ted Cruz is saying, “Let’s patrol Muslim neighborhoods” and all these ridiculous things. Why did they do it? They were trying to [pause and make fist] snatch away some votes.

Look, I’m really, really rich. I have successful businesses, many successful businesses. And successful businesses make a product people want to buy. I’ve had thousands and thousands of products, but I never imagined I’d be making myself one. I’m the product so many conservatives wanted. These other products, the Cruzes and the Carsons and the Jebs — the weakest product, believe me — are knockoffs. They’re inferior products, believe me.

I’m standing at this podium today because I told Republican voters what they wanted to hear. The people who hate Muslims, I told them we’d have to monitor all the mosques and keep out the Muslims and take out terrorist families. To the people who fear blacks, I tweeted a graphic about how blacks are killing white people in droves. To the Americans who think immigrants are stealing our jobs and bringing crime, I said, “OK, we’ll build a beautiful wall to keep out the rapists.”

“And why is it taking you two days to denounce David Duke?” my advisors were asking. I said, “A lot of my supporters also like David Duke.” They called me “ultimate savior” and “glorious leader” and put “heil” before my name. Can you believe that?

Nobody gets on national television and mocks a disabled guy and does all these things without good reason, believe me. Would Donald Trump of a few years ago have done that? Nobody says an American soldier isn’t a war hero if he gets captured. And you know, you can’t just tell OPEC, “You’re not going to raise that f*cking price.” Nobody promises to pay the legal fees of people who attack other people. I’m a human being, I hate seeing people get hurt, I really do. But I had to encourage it — it’s what violent voters wanted to hear. They loved it, and hit the button by my name when it was time.

How do we make America great again? Well, Ted Cruz called me a “progressive Democrat.” I wouldn’t go that far, that’s too far. But the things I’ve said in the past I still believe. The economy does better under Democrats. Healthcare should be a right for everybody. Assault weapons should be illegal. There’s not going to be a big gorgeous wall, we’re not censoring the Internet or banning all the Muslims. These things are ridiculous. I don’t know how anyone took them seriously.

I’m like any product Americans buy, believe me. I’m like palm readers Sketchers toning shoes. Remember those? You bought these shoes you’re really excited about, think they’ll pump up your ass, but eventually you realize they’re not all that different than your other shoes. It was just made to look great through false advertising. I don’t think I’ll be all that different than past presidents, believe me.

Some people will say, “What you did was wrong.” Well, Donald Trump isn’t perfect, nobody’s perfect. You know, sometimes I say silly things about women or the blacks. But there was nothing illegal about what I did. You can sue Sketchers, like a lot of people did, and a lot of people got money from it, but you can’t sue me for being who conservatives wanted. You can’t sue a politician for flip-flopping. And at the end of the day, what’s more wrong? The millions and millions of people who wanted someone strong, someone crude, actually wanted a bigot, wanted an authoritarian…[super long pause for emphasis]…or the one guy who gave them what they wanted?

Now enough of that. Let’s get to work. Lots of smart ways to make America great again. God bless you, and God bless America.

END

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