- 7/1/2025
President Trump holds a roundtable at Florida's "Alligator Alcatraz" alongside Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL) and DHS Sec. Kristi Noem.
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NewsTranscript
00:00:00Well, I'd like to just thank everybody for the incredible job they've done.
00:00:23I love the state.
00:00:24As you know, Ron and I have had a really great relationship for a long time.
00:00:30We had a little off period for a couple of days, but it didn't last long.
00:00:34It didn't last long.
00:00:35And a lot of respect for each other.
00:00:38And it's a great honor to be deep in Florida, the Florida Everglades, to open America's newest
00:00:45migrant detention center.
00:00:46It's incredibly built, and you're seeing that yourself.
00:00:49That's why I said, let the press join us on our walk so they can see what's happening.
00:00:54It's known as Alligator Alcatraz, which is very appropriate because I looked outside and
00:01:00it's not a place I want to go hiking anytime soon.
00:01:04But very soon, this facility will house some of the most menacing migrants, some of the
00:01:08most vicious people on the planet.
00:01:11We're surrounded by miles of treacherous swampland, and the only way out is really deportation.
00:01:18And a lot of these people are self-deporting back to their country, where they came from.
00:01:22Quite a few.
00:01:24We're amazed at, actually, the number.
00:01:25We took the FEMA money that Joe Biden allocated to pay for the free luxury hotel rooms, where
00:01:31he's paying hundreds of millions of dollars in New York City.
00:01:35And we used it to build this project.
00:01:37And, your honor, it was just a little fraction of that money.
00:01:39The money they spent on that project.
00:01:41I happen to know the real estate developer.
00:01:44He never really made that much, but he became very wealthy.
00:01:49With luxury, he didn't do well.
00:01:51With people that are not exactly luxury, he's made a fortune.
00:01:57I want to thank Florida Governor Ron DeSantis and Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem
00:02:02and Florida Attorney General James Uthmeyer.
00:02:06Where is James?
00:02:07Where is he?
00:02:08You do a very good job.
00:02:09I hear good things.
00:02:10I hear good things about you from Ron, too.
00:02:13No, you really do.
00:02:14He's even a good-looking guy.
00:02:16That guy's got a future, huh?
00:02:17Good job, James.
00:02:18I hear you did really, really fantastic, worked hard.
00:02:22You're, like, in the construction business for a few days, right?
00:02:25Huh?
00:02:26Congratulations.
00:02:27For all the hard work and to make this facility possible.
00:02:31It's amazing.
00:02:32Thanks, as well, to Florida Agriculture Commissioner Wilton Simpson.
00:02:37Where is Wilton?
00:02:39Where are you, Wilton?
00:02:40Hi, Wilton.
00:02:41It's been a long time.
00:02:43Congressman Byron Donalds.
00:02:45Where's Byron?
00:02:46Hi, Byron.
00:02:47How are you?
00:02:48Good.
00:02:49Florida Speaker of the House, Daniel Perez.
00:02:54Daniel?
00:02:55Daniel?
00:02:56Thank you, Daniel.
00:02:57Boy, you didn't want to sit up here with us, Daniel.
00:03:00Executive Director of the Florida Division of Emergency Management, Kevin Guthrie.
00:03:06Hi, Kevin.
00:03:09Good job.
00:03:10Acting Director of ICE, Todd Lyons.
00:03:14Todd.
00:03:15Great job.
00:03:16And Senator Joe Gruters.
00:03:19He is a great guy.
00:03:20Where is Joe?
00:03:21We love Joe.
00:03:22Thank you, Mr. President.
00:03:23We love you.
00:03:24Thank you very much.
00:03:25Welcome home.
00:03:27Thank you, Joe.
00:03:28Joe is great.
00:03:29With the help of those incredible border patrol agents, we now have the lowest level of daily
00:03:32border crossings ever recorded.
00:03:34As you know, last month, the month of May, just got released two days ago.
00:03:39The number of illegal aliens into the United States was zero.
00:03:45Zero.
00:03:46Even I find that hard to believe that.
00:03:48Somebody must have gotten in, I think.
00:03:50I don't know.
00:03:51But they say zero.
00:03:52And the people that count them are radical left Democrats.
00:03:57So when a radical left Democrat tells me it's zero, I believe him.
00:04:01But there's still much work to do.
00:04:03And the four years before I took office, Joe Biden allowed 21 million people.
00:04:07That's a minimum.
00:04:08I think it was much higher than that.
00:04:10Illegal aliens to invade our country.
00:04:12He invaded our country just like a military would invade.
00:04:16It's tougher because they don't wear uniforms.
00:04:18You don't know who they are.
00:04:20More than the populations of New York City, Los Angeles, Chicago, Houston, Phoenix, and Philadelphia
00:04:26combined.
00:04:27That's what came into our country from prisons, from mental institutions, from street gangs,
00:04:34drug dealers.
00:04:35Disgusting.
00:04:36This enormous country destroying invasion has swamped communities nationwide with massive crime,
00:04:43crippling costs, and burdens far beyond what any nation could withstand.
00:04:49No nation could withstand what we did.
00:04:51And we're in the process of doing it.
00:04:53But we have some great people doing it now.
00:04:55And you see them up here with me.
00:04:57But it's, I'd call it like an unforced error.
00:05:01It's sort of like men and women's sports.
00:05:04It's sort of like transgender for everybody.
00:05:06How could they have done this to our country?
00:05:09And we're never going to forget it.
00:05:11Last year, 15% of all the hotel rooms in New York City were used to house illegal aliens
00:05:17at costs that they never got for luxury.
00:05:20They never got this much for luxury people coming in from the wealthiest places on earth.
00:05:28They made more money with the illegal immigrants.
00:05:31With many rooms costing more than $300 a night, six times the rent of a typical American family.
00:05:37In Denver, Colorado, the city was forced to cut $10 million from its police and fire department budget
00:05:43as part of a $90 million plan to house illegal aliens.
00:05:46And it's a population that's growing and growing and destroying Denver and growing.
00:05:53And again, it's destroying Denver.
00:05:56And it's destroying many other cities too.
00:05:58Likewise, one of the city's largest hospital system is drowning in unpaid medical bills, unpaid in the billions.
00:06:05After their emergency rooms were flooded with tens of thousands of illegals leading to the closure of critical services.
00:06:14And these are really critical services.
00:06:18They can't even keep them open for American patients.
00:06:21The American patients were treated worse than any illegal immigrant.
00:06:24In Los Angeles, one in every four students in the public school system is from a household headed by an illegal,
00:06:31and most of them don't speak English.
00:06:33So they're in a school system and they don't have interpreters.
00:06:36They don't have anything.
00:06:37They don't speak English.
00:06:38What a mess.
00:06:39What a mess.
00:06:40Unforced error.
00:06:41All these people allowed to come in.
00:06:43The United States is now spending $78 billion a year on translation.
00:06:49And smaller numbers on special education programs for non-English speakers in our public schools.
00:06:59So $78 billion.
00:07:02I think that's not a mistake.
00:07:04I would say million dollars maybe.
00:07:06Hundreds of thousands of dollars.
00:07:08$78 billion, Joe, on translators and non-English speaking work.
00:07:14Federal government, the Justice Department.
00:07:17It's more than twice the cost of maintaining the United States Justice Department.
00:07:22What we're spending on translation and other things to help.
00:07:27In total, the average illegal alien cost American taxpayers an estimated $70,000.
00:07:34That's each.
00:07:35$70,000.
00:07:36I think that number is even lower.
00:07:38If you care about balancing the budget, the single most impactful step we can take is to fully reverse the Biden migration invasion.
00:07:46One of the worst invasions we've ever had.
00:07:50We've never had an invasion like this.
00:07:52We've had invasions, but we've taken care of them.
00:07:54We've never had an invasion like this.
00:07:56And it's with us.
00:07:57And we have some very bad people out there looking to do big harm.
00:08:01That's why the one big, beautiful bill includes funding for 3,000 new border patrol officers and 10,000 new ICE agents.
00:08:10And I've gotten to know the border patrol and ICE very well.
00:08:13Unlike Kamala, she was the border czar, but she never saw the border.
00:08:17She never made one phone call.
00:08:18She was some border czar.
00:08:19She would have been some president.
00:08:21Probably would have been slightly better than Biden, though.
00:08:24I had to run against both of them.
00:08:27You know, the one guy, it's like a fighter.
00:08:29You knock out the one guy is doing badly.
00:08:31Then they put somebody else in.
00:08:32But fortunately, she was a stiff also.
00:08:35Otherwise, I would have been very angry.
00:08:37I would have been extremely angry.
00:08:39The heroes of ICE will also help round up and remove members of the savage drug cartels, which are coming back into our country.
00:08:46And we are, we got them out.
00:08:49Now, some of them came back in.
00:08:50We just got them out again.
00:08:51And that's going to be a vicious cycle.
00:08:53But these are foreign gangs here, horrendous people, killers that have infiltrated our territory, including eight, which we have designated as foreign terrorist organizations, which gives us a lot more power for speed and getting them out much easier.
00:09:09And we had a great court victory, as you know, on Friday that allows us to do what we have to do from the Supreme Court of the United States.
00:09:17In five months, my administration has already arrested over 2,700 members of the murderous Venezuelan gang known as Tren de Aragua, including a pack of these sadistic animals arrested last month with over 280 guns.
00:09:35And these are guns of the latest caliber.
00:09:38These are guns that were made over the last period of less than a year, getting brand new guns, the latest and the greatest.
00:09:45Every day, our brave law enforcement officers are hunting down and deporting migrant criminals who have committed heinous crimes, including more than 13,000 murderers, 11,888 to be exact.
00:09:58But I'd probably say the 13,000 is right also.
00:10:03Think of it, 11,888 and more than half of them, they committed more than one murder.
00:10:10So, Ron, many of them are out of here already, but it's still a hell of a number to be confronted with.
00:10:17Just this year, ICE agents in Miami have apprehended illegals with arrests for murder, kidnapping, rape, child sexual abuse, and arson.
00:10:27People of the worst order.
00:10:29We're getting these monsters out of the United States, out of Florida, out of all the places that they're in.
00:10:35And on January 20th, I signed an executive order empowering governors and state police to be deputized to enforce federal immigration laws.
00:10:44And Ron's already taken advantage of it.
00:10:47It really, it's a tremendous advantage for the states.
00:10:50Most of them are doing it.
00:10:52Actually, the blue states tend not to do it.
00:10:55Even a couple of them have, though.
00:10:57And I want to express my tremendous thanks to the state of Florida for embracing this opportunity and being a true partner.
00:11:05They've worked so well with the federal government.
00:11:07It's been just a beautiful, beautiful partnership.
00:11:11So, Ron, I'd like to thank you personally.
00:11:14You are my friend and you'll always be my friend.
00:11:16And we may have some skirmishes even in the future.
00:11:19I doubt it.
00:11:20But we'll always come back because we just seem to, we have blood that seems to match pretty well.
00:11:28We have a relationship that's been a very strong one for a long period of time.
00:11:32And I appreciate it, very much appreciate it.
00:11:35And also, Secretary Noem, I'd like to say, have you say a few words.
00:11:40You have been unbelievable, the job you've done.
00:11:42You and our favorite person, Tom, Tom Holman, have done, and your whole staff,
00:11:49because it's a lot of people.
00:11:50And Tom acknowledges it all the time.
00:11:52He respects you so much.
00:11:53He respects the staff that you both built.
00:11:56And you're really doing one of the great jobs.
00:11:58And it was great that you could work with Ron in Florida so well.
00:12:01Built such a great facility.
00:12:03So, please say a few words.
00:12:04Thank you very much.
00:12:06I don't know if this will work.
00:12:09Well, thank you, Mr. President.
00:12:11First of all, I want to thank you for putting the safety and the security of the American people first.
00:12:16And the way that you never lose focus on making sure that America stays our priority
00:12:21and that the families that live here get the chance to grow up and to raise their children in communities that are safe
00:12:27and that give them an opportunity to pursue the American dream.
00:12:30This facility here is a fantastic representation of what can happen when all of government works together.
00:12:37And when it's accountable to the taxpayers and to the citizens that live here.
00:12:41The President signed an executive order that allowed us to build partnerships with states
00:12:46and with local law enforcement officers, which is exactly how things should function in this country.
00:12:52More power, more authority given to people locally so that they can take control of their own destiny.
00:12:58And so we have already been working under the 287 program to deputize law enforcement officers,
00:13:04whether they be State Highway Patrol, local sheriff's departments in all of our states,
00:13:09and allow them to go out with our ICE officers, our Border Patrol officers,
00:13:13and make sure that we're getting the worst of the worst off of the streets.
00:13:16We also recognize that as we've been doing that and returning people back to their home countries,
00:13:20that we need detention facilities.
00:13:22We need beds to put them in place so that they can have their due process before they return home.
00:13:27And this facility is exactly what I want every single governor in this country to consider doing with us.
00:13:34What happened to start this conversation was that a young man named Jimmy Percival in my office,
00:13:40my general counsel who came from Florida and used to work here,
00:13:44called up the Attorney General and the governor and said,
00:13:46Hey, what do you think about partnering with us on a detention facility that we could put in place
00:13:51that would allow us to bring individuals there?
00:13:54There's an airstrip close by.
00:13:56You guys volunteered the assets that you have and the connections that you have
00:14:00and worked with Kevin extensively so that we could come here, have their due process given,
00:14:05and return them home to their countries.
00:14:07And in eight days, this facility has been stood up.
00:14:10And I want everybody to recognize that detention facilities that ICE adheres to
00:14:15is a higher standard than is required at state levels,
00:14:19at local Department of Corrections facilities, sheriff's offices.
00:14:23This is a state-of-the-art facility, air-conditioned, isolated though for security purposes,
00:14:29which is very helpful.
00:14:30And I appreciate so many people being willing to work together to make a project like this happen.
00:14:35Right here on this location, we'll have about 3,000 beds.
00:14:38Other locations will have another 2,000 beds that will allow us to bring individuals across the country
00:14:44that we are bringing in and incarcerating for violating our laws
00:14:49and immediately get them out of the country as soon as we possibly can.
00:14:52It's exactly what we need to be perpetuating in other states.
00:14:56And what I would say is I want all of you to notice these flyers that we've got.
00:15:00Is that everybody who sees these flyers or anybody who sees these news clips should know,
00:15:06you can still go home on your own.
00:15:08You can self-deport.
00:15:09If you go on the CBP Home app and go home now,
00:15:12you will get the chance to come back to the United States legally.
00:15:15You will get the chance to come back and do it the right way.
00:15:19If you don't, you may end up here.
00:15:21And you may end up here and being processed, deported out of this country,
00:15:25and never get the chance to come back.
00:15:27That is the consequences of breaking the law in the United States of America.
00:15:30Listen, our job is to uphold the law.
00:15:32This is a country of laws.
00:15:34We have a border now, and because we have a president that cares and recognizes
00:15:39that we need to be a nation of borders and a nation that upholds the law.
00:15:44If you break the law, there's consequences.
00:15:46We will deport you, and you will never get to be a United States citizen.
00:15:49You'll never even get to come back here and work and to pursue the American dream.
00:15:53But if you decide you want to go home now, go home,
00:15:55and we'll help facilitate it.
00:15:57We'll buy your plane ticket.
00:15:58We'll get you there.
00:15:59In fact, I just got back from Panama, Costa Rica, Guatemala, Honduras.
00:16:03Those countries are excited to get their citizens home.
00:16:06They're setting up programs to loan them money to buy houses when they get there,
00:16:10help them with food assistance, get their children educated, scholarships.
00:16:14They want their citizens that are living here in the United States illegally to come home
00:16:19and to be a part of their economy and help their countries grow.
00:16:23So this is a win-win for everyone.
00:16:25And I just want to end, Mr. President, by thanking our law enforcement officers,
00:16:29by thanking our ICE officers and our Border Patrol officers for what they do every day.
00:16:34They are out on the streets, and violence against them has increased over 500% since Trump has gone back into the White House
00:16:44because he's upholding the law and because a bunch of liberals, socialists, and Marxists are out there lying about what President Trump is doing.
00:16:52President Trump is upholding freedom by what he is doing.
00:16:56The freedom to live safely in this country and to do things legally and to have justice.
00:17:01And because those liberals—and I'm calling out you, CNN—I'm calling you out because you lie every single day about what these operations are.
00:17:09We are going after murderers and rapists and traffickers and drug dealers and getting them off the streets
00:17:16and getting them out of this country because Joe Biden let the worst of the worst come in here.
00:17:20The other day I was talking to some marshals that have been partnering with ICE.
00:17:23They said that they had detained a cannibal and put him on a plane to take him home.
00:17:28And while they had him in his seat, he started to eat himself.
00:17:31And they had to get him off and get him medical attention.
00:17:33These are the kind of deranged individuals that are on our streets in America that we're trying to target and get out of our country
00:17:41because they are so deranged they don't belong here.
00:17:44And they shouldn't be walking the streets with our children.
00:17:48And they shouldn't be living in the communities with our families who just want to grow up, go to job,
00:17:53raise their children to grow up and get a job and to live the American dream.
00:17:57So thank you to all of our law enforcement officers, those in our military that have been helping, our National Guard.
00:18:03Thank you to Governor DeSantis for stepping up and being an example to other governors.
00:18:07I hope my phone rings off the hook from governors calling and saying, how can we do what Florida just did?
00:18:13How can we do exactly what they did?
00:18:16Because we need this big, beautiful bill.
00:18:18We absolutely have to have this big, beautiful bill that has the funding so that we can continue this operation
00:18:25and we can get those bad criminals off of our streets and have the officers to do it so that when they go out on an operation,
00:18:33somebody's got their back.
00:18:34Somebody's got their back.
00:18:35They can do it safely and they can go home to their families at night, too.
00:18:38So this bill needs to pass through Congress so we have the resources at the Department of Homeland Security
00:18:44to make sure that our homeland truly is secure.
00:18:46And, Mr. President, thank you for Stephen Miller.
00:18:49I just want to thank you for him.
00:18:50This guy calls me night and day and tells me all of his wise advice and wisdom.
00:18:56But he's a rock star because he loves this country and he's passionate about making sure that nobody is prioritized over an American citizen.
00:19:05We love everybody. We do. We love everybody.
00:19:09Not everybody.
00:19:10Well.
00:19:11A lot of people.
00:19:12Not everybody.
00:19:13But we shouldn't be putting people illegally above citizens.
00:19:17We should be making sure that we do things right.
00:19:20And that's what America has always stood for and we're an example to the rest of the world because we do it right.
00:19:24So, Mr. President, you surround yourself with great people.
00:19:27And I think that's because everybody wants to work for the greatest president that the United States has ever had.
00:19:33And that's President Donald J. Trump.
00:19:35So thank you, sir.
00:19:36Thank you very much, Chrissy.
00:19:38Thank you very much.
00:19:43And I have to say that, you know, when Chrissy's name was put before me by Tom Homan, by the way, because I wanted him for the border.
00:19:50And somehow I thought that was going to be good in that sort.
00:19:53But he didn't want the upper job.
00:19:55And I said, who do you recommend?
00:19:56Christy Noem.
00:19:57I said, oh, are you kidding?
00:19:58She's great.
00:19:59But she's such a fine, elegant person.
00:20:02He said, sir, she's tough as hell.
00:20:05I said, are you sure?
00:20:06You are tough as hell.
00:20:08I tell you.
00:20:09And you do it in a very nice way.
00:20:11But you are.
00:20:12If you ever saw her ride a horse, she rides a horse like she should be in the rodeo.
00:20:17She's like an unbelievable horse person.
00:20:20And you have done a fantastic job.
00:20:23And Steve Miller would even agree to that.
00:20:24And he likes nobody, by the way.
00:20:26I don't think he likes anybody.
00:20:28And another one we like is Ron.
00:20:30And Ron, would you say a few words, please?
00:20:32Sure.
00:20:33Well, thank you, Mr. President.
00:20:34Welcome back to Florida.
00:20:36And I think this is the first time you've been back since the events of a couple weeks.
00:20:40So just let me say, as somebody that was serving on active duty in Iraq back in the day, we
00:20:46witnessed the number of our troops that were killed or wounded by the Iranians.
00:20:50We know that they're a militant Islamic regime that was hell-bent on getting nuclear weapons.
00:20:56And under Joe Biden, they were about to get nuclear weapons.
00:20:59And because of your strong actions, those dreams and those ambitions have been reduced to rubble.
00:21:05And I thank you.
00:21:06I know a lot of veterans thank you.
00:21:07And people in Florida really thank you for stepping up and really making a strong, tough, but strong decision.
00:21:13I think we're much safer as a result of that.
00:21:16Now, on the immigration, I think President Trump's election represented the chance for us to finally solve this illegal immigration and border problem once and for all.
00:21:28I knew he was going to do the border, although he did it very quickly and very thoroughly.
00:21:33I think that no one can say that that's been anything but a spectacular success.
00:21:37But then we have the issue of Biden let in how many millions of people?
00:21:41And you had millions that had been in over decades previous to that.
00:21:45You can't have a country if you don't have respect for the rule of law.
00:21:49You can't have a country if foreigners get to decide who comes in.
00:21:53No, we, the American people, make that decision, who's allowed or not allowed to come into our country.
00:21:58We've seen Europe be overrun by open borders.
00:22:02So we're not going to let that happen here.
00:22:03So when President got elected, I knew that the states had an important role to play in facilitating this really, really historic mission.
00:22:12We're the only state in America, Florida, that requires full cooperation with ICE from all state and local law enforcement entities.
00:22:24And what is the net result of that?
00:22:26We have these agreements for these 287 G task force with sheriff's departments, police departments, state agencies, and it's really instrumental in rounding up a lot of really bad people who shouldn't be here.
00:22:39If you look at the number of those full blown 287 G agreements that have been executed around the country, the state of Florida accounts for 60% of those.
00:22:50If you look at the number of immigration arrests of illegal aliens on any given day, the arrests happening in Florida constitute between 15 and 20% nationwide.
00:23:01So we're all in on this because we understand how important it is to our citizens.
00:23:06It crowds schools, it crowds medical, it crowds housing.
00:23:09Yes, you have illegal alien crime as well, and people want the problem solved.
00:23:14And the only way we're going to solve it is if states like Florida step up and help the president, help Secretary Noem get the job done.
00:23:21Now, this facility here was really in response to us working with DHS and ICE from the time the president got sworn in.
00:23:28And the number one thing they kept coming back to was, you know, Biden decimated the agency.
00:23:33I mean, let's just be clear, you could have illegals in Florida, Biden would just release them.
00:23:37Even when they had notices or they had orders to be removed, Biden wouldn't send them back.
00:23:42So there were interior enforcement collapsed under Biden.
00:23:45So they're building it back up.
00:23:46But they're like, we need detention space in order to be able to bring about more deportations.
00:23:51And so what we have here is can hold 3000.
00:23:55Now we have 2000 facility up at Camp Blanding that we're going to be open, which is our National Guard site.
00:24:01But think about what you have here.
00:24:03They come here, say they already have been ordered to be deported.
00:24:07You drive them 2000 feet to the runway and then they're gone.
00:24:11It's a one stop shop.
00:24:13And this airport that's been here for a long time is the perfectly secure location.
00:24:17It's going to make a big difference.
00:24:19And let me just thank everyone who was involved.
00:24:21We got the call from DHS a little bit more than a week ago.
00:24:25And here we are eight days later with this facility open.
00:24:29And as soon as Air Force One departs, it'll be swept and it'll be open for business to be able to do.
00:24:35But our goal here is to process them and be able to effectuate their return to their home country.
00:24:41This is the opposite of what they were doing in New York by just putting them up in a hotel and then just letting them stay there indefinitely.
00:24:48No, we want to be able to send back.
00:24:52And when you walk into the processing, the president and I, Secretary Noam, Kevin Guthrie, walk through that initial intake.
00:24:58The first thing you see is information on how to go home on your own.
00:25:02Why would you want to come through Alligator Alcatraz if you can just go home on your own?
00:25:07I think a lot of people are going to make that decision.
00:25:09So you're going to have a lot of deportations that are going to be done by the administration.
00:25:14But I think you're going to have a lot of voluntary as well.
00:25:17So this is a force multiplier for the president's efforts.
00:25:21I would just say and echo what Secretary Noam says.
00:25:24There is no reason why other states can't be doing it.
00:25:28And I know Louisiana, Texas, a couple of them.
00:25:30But we've got – I mean, if only the red states did this, they would be able to expand their capacity by tens of thousands, maybe 50, 100,000 on a given day.
00:25:41That's how you really start to make a difference.
00:25:43And so we're proud to be able to partner with the Trump administration on that.
00:25:47Mr. President, thanks for coming down.
00:25:49I think you highlighting this is going to move the needle in a big way throughout the country.
00:25:54And I think it's going to help all of us achieve the really big results that I think our voters want to see.
00:25:59Thank you. Great job.
00:26:03Thank you, Mr. President, for the opportunity.
00:26:05My name is Kevin Guthrie. I'm the executive director of the Florida Division of Emergency Management.
00:26:09And I'd also like to thank President Trump and Department of Homeland Security Secretary Noam for joining us here today and for their continued support.
00:26:17I want to thank by – first by thanking the man to my right, and that's Governor Ron DeSantis, whose bold leadership and swift action made this project possible.
00:26:25With no – make no mistake, this facility would not be standing here without the President, the Secretary, and the Governor's vision and determination to uphold the rule of law.
00:26:36Florida is and will always be a law and order state.
00:26:40Even before the President took office, the Governor made it clear that illegal immigration would not be tolerated in the state of Florida.
00:26:48When the President and the Secretary asked Florida to help, the Governor empowered our state and private partners to work collaboratively and deliver real results on a rapid timeline.
00:26:58The Florida Division of Emergency Management is best known for leading the nation in hurricane response and other natural disasters.
00:27:07We understand how to act fast, without bureaucracy, in the face of any emergency.
00:27:13Our teams built roads in eight hours, bridges in three days, base camps in 72 hours, and full causeways in two weeks.
00:27:23Getting things done quickly, efficiently, and correctly is at the core of our mission.
00:27:28We simply just want to be the best at what we do in the nation.
00:27:32When the Governor called me, we answered.
00:27:35And we were proud to bring our logistical expertise to the table.
00:27:38We know how to set up base camps for guardsmen, first responders, linemen, volunteers, and other aid sources, and distribute that in a matter of days before a storm.
00:27:51We were able to translate this knowledge to what we did here at Alligator Aquatraz.
00:27:57Florida has put the best teams together who checked their individual logos and egos at the door to get this done.
00:28:04Not just for you, Governor, but Mr. President, for you as well.
00:28:08There are over 13 different vendors that came together to get this solved in eight days.
00:28:13Truly a whole of private sector partnership to get that done.
00:28:17Behind you on these boards, in only eight days, we have built a fully compliant detention facility with a detainee capacity of up to 3,000 people.
00:28:26With room for additional capacity if you asked us to do so.
00:28:30The detention facility includes over 158,000 square feet of housing and is a fully aluminum frame structure rated for winds of 110 miles an hour or a high-end category 2 for those people that don't think that we're taking that into consideration.
00:28:44This is Florida, by the way.
00:28:46Power supply is fully redundant with backup generators in place.
00:28:50We've put a staff village here on site with a capacity of 1,000.
00:28:54Our services are hot milled three times a day, 24-7 medical facility, pharmacy, air conditioning, access to indoor and outdoor rec yards, legal and clergy support services, laundry.
00:29:03Our security element is over 200 security cameras throughout the facility, more than 28,000 feet of barbed wire, 400-plus security personnel to include 200 men and women, soldiers and airmen underneath Major General John Haas' command as the Adjutant General of Florida.
00:29:20And it's all surrounded, as you pointed out, Mr. President, by 10 miles of beautiful Florida Everglades.
00:29:26Contingencies, as with all state correctional facilities, we have a hurricane plan.
00:29:31We will not wait for a CAT 2.
00:29:33We will follow our normal evacuation procedures as we do for any other facility statewide in our great state of Florida.
00:29:41We have on-site fire and EMS resources so that we do not burden the locals with any type of response.
00:29:50All in all, sir, this has been a perfect state logistics exercise for this hurricane season.
00:29:56Everything we did here in the last eight days, God forbid, if we have a hurricane, we're going to do it again.
00:30:01This was a dress rehearsal for us, and we are ready, willing, and able to support you, sir, the governor, secretary, and everything that you need us to do.
00:30:10Just a week ago, it was a taxiway and a runway, and now it's a fully functioning facility.
00:30:15We are happy to support you, Mr. President, governor, secretary.
00:30:28There we go.
00:30:42First of all, Mr. President, we all have to thank you for your leadership and for the mandate that the American people
00:30:48that the American people gave you to finally secure our borders and to deport criminal illegal aliens
00:30:54and longstanding illegal aliens out of the United States.
00:30:57That is a mandate given to you by the American people.
00:30:59I know Secretary Noem, Stephen Miller, Governor DeSantis, myself,
00:31:03on behalf of the other members of Congress in the Senate, and of course here in Florida,
00:31:08we are behind you 100% in that mission.
00:31:11To the governor, I really appreciate you and commend you for your leadership on this,
00:31:14taking swift, decisive action to building this facility.
00:31:18One of the things that has occurred because of the work you did earlier this year with the legislature
00:31:24is that our sheriffs are out there every single day.
00:31:26They are arresting these criminal aliens in our streets, and they're seeing some backlog in their jails.
00:31:33So this facility primarily goes to address some of that backlog
00:31:36and then to help us fulfill the mission that the president has led us to.
00:31:41So, Governor, thank you for your leadership and thank you for your decisive action on this.
00:31:45It really does mean a lot to all the people of Florida.
00:31:47It's, of course, the people of the 19th Congressional District.
00:31:50Secretary Noem, I mean, what can I say?
00:31:52The president's right.
00:31:53You're double tough.
00:31:54So we appreciate all your leadership.
00:31:56You and Tom Holman have been doing a great job.
00:31:59And I'm actually going back to D.C. after this because we have to vote on one big, beautiful bill in the House.
00:32:04We have to get that to the president's desk so we can get you the resources that you need
00:32:08to fulfill the mission that the American people have asked us to do.
00:32:13I totally agree with what Mr. Guthrie has said.
00:32:17This is a logistical marvel when something like this occurs.
00:32:20We've seen Florida Department of Emergency Management answer the bell time and time again.
00:32:25The governor has said we need to accomplish this, and D.E.M. gets that job done.
00:32:31And we had a side conversation about I know there were some concerns.
00:32:34People were like, well, what happens if a hurricane comes?
00:32:36What happens if this happens?
00:32:37And I looked at Kevin Guthrie and I said, you already have a plan, don't you?
00:32:41And he goes, of course we have a plan.
00:32:43You know that we do.
00:32:44This is what Florida does, Mr. President.
00:32:46And so I want to commend you for your leadership and your vision on this.
00:32:49Governor, thank you for all that you've done with your vision and determination.
00:32:52Secretary Noem, we're going to get the bill done so you get the resources you need.
00:32:56See you, sir.
00:32:57Thank you very much.
00:33:00Oh, thank you.
00:33:02Wow.
00:33:08You know, I'm waiting, listening to these wonderful words, and they are music to my ears,
00:33:13but I was also wondering how we're doing because I know this is prime time.
00:33:16It shows that I care about you because I'm here and I probably should be there.
00:33:20But we do care.
00:33:22Thank you very much.
00:33:24James, please.
00:33:26We're all happy now, James.
00:33:28Yeah.
00:33:29Well, I can speak on behalf of all of our sheriffs, state law enforcement, our police chiefs.
00:33:34We are going to continue to make arrests, our pedals to the metal, as many as we can.
00:33:39We want to fill this place up.
00:33:41The governor and Kevin have shown they can build bridges in three days,
00:33:44so why not some detention facilities?
00:33:46Hopefully there's more to come.
00:33:48And you really kind of were the inspiration for this.
00:33:51We like the idea of reopening the original Alcatraz.
00:33:53I don't know if that can happen or not, but we thought, hey,
00:33:56we've got our own natural Alcatraz in the middle of the Everglades, great runway, great perimeter.
00:34:02So let's make it happen.
00:34:04In Florida, we walk the walk, and we will deliver for all of you.
00:34:08Well, I heard you were responsible for the locational pick,
00:34:11and you cannot have picked a better location.
00:34:13I said, whoever the hell made this choice, I know you take it a little heat from some environmental groups,
00:34:18but I take it all the time, and that's an honor.
00:34:21But I heard you were very responsible for that choice, and that was a big choice.
00:34:24Thank you very much.
00:34:25Great job, James.
00:34:27You want to finish over here, and then we'll go over here.
00:34:29We'll go back and celebrate the big, beautiful bill that just got passed.
00:34:34You sure that's right?
00:34:36Right, Brian?
00:34:37Yeah, right.
00:34:39Wow.
00:34:40He's doing a good job.
00:34:42Wow.
00:34:43Mr. President, first of all, I just want to say how grateful we are that you're back here in your home state of Florida.
00:34:49You've been doing an amazing job, not only at our border, but around the world,
00:34:53keeping this country safe and Americans.
00:34:55We are grateful for your leadership.
00:34:58God had a plan for us, and it was Donald Trump.
00:35:01So thank you for that.
00:35:02As a member of the Immigration Board and as the Commissioner of Agriculture of this state,
00:35:07I've been happy to help lead with the governor and the rest of the cabinet on this issue.
00:35:13We're very proud, Secretary Noem's here today and others,
00:35:15to represent not only the United States in our efforts to make this commitment to keep our citizens safe,
00:35:24but we're going to continue in Florida to remove the barriers,
00:35:27to have your vision come true of a safe United States.
00:35:31We're going to get these illegal criminals out of this state,
00:35:35and we really appreciate you and your leadership in this effort.
00:35:38So thank you for being here.
00:35:38Thank you very much.
00:35:40You're doing a great job, too.
00:35:42Thank you, Mr. President.
00:35:43Joe Gruters, State Senator.
00:35:45I'm a member of your Homeland Security Advisory Council, your Vice Chairman.
00:35:48Thank you for that appointment, and thank you for coming back to Florida in everything that you do.
00:35:53Every single day, you were delivering on the promises that you promised to us at all of the events you've done throughout the years,
00:36:01but specifically this last campaign.
00:36:03You deserve all the credit for everything, and you were surrounding yourself with incredible people,
00:36:08like Secretary Noem, Stephen Miller, and just like your big, beautiful bill here in Florida,
00:36:13there was a lot of commotion about our immigration bill, and we had three Bs in that, beds, badges, and bad guys.
00:36:21And this goes right along with our beds and the resources.
00:36:24And I give the governor, Ron DeSantis, a lot of credit for stepping up and making sure that we all work together,
00:36:30because at the end of the day, even if sometimes there are skirmishes, as a result of the back and forth,
00:36:37we ended up with a better bill, and we all win.
00:36:40And what we're doing here in Florida hopefully will happen all across the country.
00:36:45You've done it.
00:36:45Your leadership is amazing.
00:36:47Keep up the great work, and just know that Florida loves President Donald J. Trump.
00:36:52Thank you very much, Joe.
00:36:54Appreciate it.
00:36:55For a long time.
00:36:56Appreciate it.
00:36:56By the way, Okeechobee is something that we did together also, and that was a lot of money spent.
00:37:03I hope it was well spent.
00:37:04I know we did a Rolls-Royce job, but it's a lot of money that we spent out there together.
00:37:09How is it going?
00:37:11You can delegate that to us, because we move faster than the Army Corps.
00:37:16So we will finish that reservoir.
00:37:19If you delegate it to us, I'll get it done and much quicker.
00:37:21Oh, I would do that.
00:37:23I'll tell you, let me ask myself permission.
00:37:26Permission granted.
00:37:27Go ahead, get the thing.
00:37:28Get it complete.
00:37:29You want to do that?
00:37:29All right, we're going to go talk to the Army Corps, then after this.
00:37:33You can move faster, actually.
00:37:36Please.
00:37:39I think it's, oh.
00:37:41Sir, just first, on behalf of the men and women of ICE, we just want to thank you for allowing us to do our job again.
00:37:46You know, your vision, and under Secretary Noem's leadership, this is what the American people want.
00:37:52And I hope that you see great results of what we're doing out there every day, getting the worst of the worst out of our communities.
00:37:58Because of you and Secretary Noem, I have the privilege to lead one of the most premier and the finest law enforcement agencies that we do have in the United States.
00:38:06And the men and women of HSI and ERO Miami do incredible work, like you highlighted.
00:38:12And with the governor and the state of Florida, the partnership in Florida has been amazing.
00:38:16The 287G program is only going to help us to identify all those known gotaways and get the worst of the worst out of the neighborhoods.
00:38:23And through our Homeland Security Task Force, we are going to make America safe again.
00:38:26So thank you very much to both you and the Secretary.
00:38:29Thank you, Todd.
00:38:29Great job.
00:38:30Really great job you're doing.
00:38:32Please.
00:38:32Please.
00:38:32Good morning, Mr. President.
00:38:38Thank you so much for coming.
00:38:40Again, as Garrett Rippa, I'm the field office director for ICRO here for the Miami field office.
00:38:45Incredible collaborative work we've been doing together, working with the state, working with our local partners.
00:38:50And again, just the 287G is going to open up that aperture and allow us to get those bad hombres off the street and get them into this facility.
00:38:58And we're looking forward to it.
00:38:59And again, just appreciate all your support.
00:39:02Always thank you.
00:39:03You've always been so great.
00:39:04Thank you very much.
00:39:05Please.
00:39:08Good afternoon, Mr. President.
00:39:09On behalf of Air Marine Operations, my name is Andres Blanco.
00:39:12I'm the executive director for Southeast Region.
00:39:15AMO continues to execute and support your executive orders.
00:39:19Air Marine Operations brings a unique capability, both the air and maritime domains.
00:39:24And in partnership with our Border Patrol OFO officers and ERO, we continue to conduct effective operations, both interior, along the border, and along the maritime approaches.
00:39:35Thank you very much.
00:39:36Good job.
00:39:37Good afternoon, Mr. President, Jose Figueroa.
00:39:43I am the acting special agent in charge for Homeland Security Investigations here in South Florida, and our office covers from Key West to Fort Pierce.
00:39:50Tremendous collaboration here with the state and our federal partners.
00:39:54HSI is conducting criminal investigations into TDA MS-13s that are involved in human smuggling and sex trafficking of minors, and we will continue that effort with your support.
00:40:06Governor DeSantis, thank you very much for this facility.
00:40:09Looking forward to continue the great work.
00:40:11Thank you very much.
00:40:12Steve, would you like to say something?
00:40:14Our star.
00:40:17Thank you, Mr. President.
00:40:18I just want to say on a personal note, getting to watch what you've done over the last five months to deliver on a 50-year hope and dream of the American people to secure the border,
00:40:30when President Trump came into office on January 20th, the United States had endured the largest wave of illegal immigration in human history.
00:40:39Not just American history, human history.
00:40:42And within just a few days, President Trump, through his strength, leadership, diplomacy, and vision, achieved the most secure border anyone in the world has ever seen.
00:40:53When we recently went overseas to the NATO summit, I had senior staff in foreign governments come up to me and ask me how he achieved the Trump miracle on his border,
00:41:04and could that be replicated in their countries.
00:41:05For individuals who don't work in this space, to have zero successful illegal entries in an entire month should be an impossible achievement.
00:41:17There's a 2,000-mile border with one of the poorest countries in the world,
00:41:21and you have open travel from 150 countries into Central America and South America.
00:41:28There are 2 billion people in the world that would economically benefit from illegally coming to the United States.
00:41:34And through the deployment of the military, through the deployment of novel legal and diplomatic tools,
00:41:40through the building of physical infrastructure, through the empowering of ICE and Border Patrol,
00:41:45and the entire federal law enforcement apparatus, President Trump achieved absolute border security.
00:41:50And now, once this legislation is passed, he will be able to make that with those resources permanent.
00:41:57Watching what you've done, sir, has been one of the honors of a lifetime.
00:42:00I'm proud to be able to play any role in it.
00:42:02And what President Trump is going to achieve next, with the resources in this bill,
00:42:07will make America safer, stronger, freer, more sovereign, and more prosperous than it has ever been before.
00:42:13Thank you, sir.
00:42:14Thank you, Steve.
00:42:14And the bill, the bill is going to be great for Iran.
00:42:22It's going to be great for Florida, too.
00:42:23A lot of set-asides for Florida, some of the things that you wanted, you wanted to do.
00:42:28And so, it's great news to hear that it was approved.
00:42:30Do you want to take a few questions, Ron?
00:42:32We'll take a few questions from these?
00:42:34Yeah, please, go ahead.
00:42:36Yeah.
00:42:36Thank you, Mr. President, given the likelihood of the one big, beautiful bill passing.
00:42:41And we look forward to the success of this facility here.
00:42:46How many more facilities like this do you feel that the country needs in order to enact your agenda of mass deportations?
00:42:55Well, I think we'd like to see them in many states, really, many states.
00:42:59This one, I know Ron's doing a second one, at least a second one, and probably a couple of more.
00:43:05And, you know, at some point, they might morph into a system where you're going to keep it for a long time.
00:43:10You know, it's not that far away from jails that take years to build and money is spent and wasted.
00:43:17And, you know, like the railway that they have in California that cost, like, 40 times more than it was supposed to cost.
00:43:24The same thing happens with prisons.
00:43:26You look at this.
00:43:26In a short period of time, Ron, James, and some of the people that really worked on it, along with our people, they did this in less than a week.
00:43:35And you look at it, it's incredible.
00:43:36Look, the incredible thing is picking the site, because the site was one of the most natural sites.
00:43:42It might be as good as the real Alcatraz site.
00:43:45Well, that's a spooky one, too, isn't it?
00:43:47That's a tough site.
00:43:49But so I really, I think it could last as long as they want to have it.
00:43:54I mean, you may morph this into, you know, your prison system, frankly, which I know you always need, unfortunately.
00:44:00I'd like to say, you know, a little controversial, but I couldn't care less.
00:44:04We have a lot of bad criminals that came into the, into the, this country, and they came in stupidly.
00:44:10It was an unforced error.
00:44:11It was an incompetent president that allowed it to happen.
00:44:15It was an auto pen maybe that allowed it to happen.
00:44:17And it did happen.
00:44:18But we also have a lot of bad people that have been here for a long time.
00:44:22People that whack people over the head with a baseball bat from behind when they're not looking and kill them.
00:44:26People that knife you when you're walking down the street.
00:44:29They're not, they're not new to our country.
00:44:32They're old to our country.
00:44:33Many of them were born in our country.
00:44:34I think we ought to get them the hell out of here, too.
00:44:36You want to know the truth.
00:44:37So maybe that'll be the next job that we'll work on together.
00:44:40But I think getting them out, you know, we forget about them.
00:44:43We have some very bad, we had some bad accidents in New York.
00:44:46And they're not accidents.
00:44:47They were done very much in purpose.
00:44:48There's people being pushed into a subway just before it arrives, going 40 miles an hour.
00:44:53And they're 10 feet away from where the thing is to get pushed right into the face of the subway train, get whacked and killed.
00:45:00These are sick people.
00:45:01I'd like to get them out of here, too.
00:45:06Yeah, please, go ahead.
00:45:08White shirt, glasses.
00:45:11Julio Rosas, Blaze Media, sir.
00:45:12A couple months ago, I ran into former DHS Secretary Mayorkas.
00:45:16And I asked him a couple of questions about his disastrous handling of the border.
00:45:22He didn't like my questions.
00:45:24But the number one question that I heard from people in responding to my video was,
00:45:28why hasn't he been arrested yet?
00:45:32Obviously, you guys are cleaning up the mess that was made deliberately for the past four years.
00:45:37And so people want accountability.
00:45:40It's great to see that the border is secured.
00:45:42And it's great to see the state-level cooperation.
00:45:44But I guess I would ask you, why hasn't he been held accountable, or anybody?
00:45:49Well, you know, pardons were given out to many people, and they shouldn't have been given out.
00:45:53Like the Unselect Committee of Political Thugs was given a pardon because they destroyed all of the information from two years of hearings.
00:46:01And they should be arrested, but they were given pardons.
00:46:03Was he given a pardon, Mayorkas?
00:46:05Was he not?
00:46:06I don't believe so, sir.
00:46:06Well, I take a look at that one because what he did is beyond incompetence.
00:46:11Something had to be done.
00:46:11Now, with that being said, he took orders from other people.
00:46:14And he was really doing the orders.
00:46:16And you could say he was very loyal to them because it must have been very hard for him to stand up and sit up and, you know, talk about what he allowed to happen to this country and be serious about it.
00:46:27So he was given orders.
00:46:29If he wasn't given a pardon, I could see looking at that.
00:46:32In fact, why don't you take a look at it, Christy?
00:46:34He was impeached, but, yeah, it was just a fake impeachment.
00:46:39It was a fake impeachment.
00:46:40Why don't you take a look at it?
00:46:41I think he was so bad.
00:46:43They were all so bad.
00:46:44But, look, it was the worst president in the history of our country.
00:46:46We've had some bad ones.
00:46:48But he was the worst president.
00:46:49But somebody told Mayorkas to do that.
00:46:52And he followed orders.
00:46:54But that doesn't necessarily hold him harmless.
00:46:57So take a look at it.
00:46:58It's a very good question, actually.
00:47:01Yeah, please.
00:47:03Go ahead.
00:47:07Mr. President, you and the Secretary have both said that many people have self-deported since you came back into office.
00:47:13How many is many?
00:47:15And has the rate gone up?
00:47:16How do you see the tempo of that moving forward going on?
00:47:23We have had several hundred thousand, but also we have many that have self-deported not even using the CBP Home app.
00:47:31When I have gone to these other countries to negotiate security agreements and information sharing on criminals who's coming and going into their countries, they report that hundreds of thousands have come home that weren't on our radar.
00:47:44That they are coming home on their own and self-deporting because they want the chance to be able to go back to America someday.
00:47:51So we believe it's over a million, possibly more than that.
00:47:54I'm asking all of those countries for their information on what they have of individuals that may have returned home that they have taking advantage of their programs to help them become a part of their civilization again, too.
00:48:05So we know it's over a million, but we have to I'm getting more information and that number will grow.
00:48:12If they don't leave, they never get the chance to come back.
00:48:14If we have to take them out and we will, they'll go out, but they never get a chance to come back.
00:48:20The other way, we actually make it a little bit easier for them to come back.
00:48:24OK, thank you. Good question. Thank you.
00:48:29The bill is now passed in the Senate, but we are already hearing from some Republicans in the House who say they cannot get on board with the changes that were made to the bill in the Senate.
00:48:37What is your message to those holdouts?
00:48:39Well, I just heard that about the Senate and the bill just passed.
00:48:43And it tells you there's something for everyone.
00:48:46I mean, we have it's a great bill.
00:48:47There is something for everyone.
00:48:50And I think it's going to go very nicely in the House.
00:48:53Actually, I think it will be easier in the House than it was in the Senate.
00:48:56And just to be clear on the Medicaid cuts, you've promised not to cut Medicaid, said this is all just targeting waste, fraud and abuse.
00:49:03Are you saying that the estimated 11.8 million people who could lose their health coverage, that is all waste, fraud and abuse?
00:49:09No, I'm not saying that.
00:49:10I'm saying it's going to be a very much smaller number than that.
00:49:13And that number will be waste, fraud and abuse.
00:49:15And if you look, they took a much more liberal stance on the Medicaid situation than they could have.
00:49:21They had a tough stance and a weak stance.
00:49:24They took not a very strong stance on that to start off.
00:49:28And it's waste, fraud and abuse.
00:49:30And everybody wants that covered.
00:49:31What number is that?
00:49:32What analysis are you seeing?
00:49:34I'm not seeing a number, but I know it's much less than the number you gave.
00:49:38And we really were very, very cognizant of three things.
00:49:41Social Security, we're going to take care of it beautifully.
00:49:44Medicare and Medicaid.
00:49:46And we are going to save it, whereas the Democrats are going to.
00:49:50You won't have it.
00:49:51They will destroy Medicare and Medicaid.
00:49:53And they have to because their numbers don't work.
00:49:56So it's not going to happen.
00:49:57They're the ones that have destroyed.
00:49:58They have made it so bad already.
00:50:00They're going to make it a lot worse.
00:50:01But now we'll be in charge.
00:50:03So we're going to have no problem with Medicaid or Medicare or Social Security.
00:50:09Yeah.
00:50:13Claire Gall with Wink News and Fort Myers.
00:50:15What is your direction to ICE when it comes to arresting farm workers here illegally,
00:50:19other workers in industries that are pretty critical to Florida's economy?
00:50:23Well, we're very much cognizant of that.
00:50:25And as you know, I won the farmers by 92 percent.
00:50:28And I'm not going to be abandoning my farmers.
00:50:31We were strong on the borders, but we're also strong for the farmers and for others in the hotel industry, et cetera.
00:50:37You know, we have similar situations.
00:50:39And Christy and I, and we'll be working with Ron in a lot of the states.
00:50:43We're going to work something where the farmers can be responsible for some of the people that have been.
00:50:48They have people, Ron, for 10, 15 years that they know very well.
00:50:51We're going to put them responsible.
00:50:53And have, we're going to issue a form of a card or document.
00:50:58And the farmers are going to be responsible for these people.
00:51:00They're not, they're not going to have citizenship, but they'll be working.
00:51:03They'll be paying taxes.
00:51:04We need to get our farmers the people they need.
00:51:06Otherwise, our farmers aren't going to be able to do their land.
00:51:09You know, it was tried once before, many, many years ago, where there was a very strong guy.
00:51:13And he got everybody out and every farm almost in the country.
00:51:18But every farm in California, every farm in Iowa, almost all the farms went bankrupt.
00:51:22They had nobody to work.
00:51:24And we don't want to have that situation.
00:51:25So we're going to work it.
00:51:26We're going to put our farmers and others in charge of the people that they have under them.
00:51:31They know the people.
00:51:32And I think it's going to work out really well.
00:51:34We're going to take care of our farmer, but we're going to get the criminals out.
00:51:37Okay?
00:51:37Mr. President, how do you respond to critics who fear that a 3,000-bed detention center
00:51:47and the waste that that could produce will pollute the surrounding federal protected land,
00:51:51including land that both administrations have invested billions of dollars in restoring?
00:51:57Well, I was one of those that invested billions of dollars and hundreds of millions of dollars
00:52:02right here in the Meadowlands, but in the Everettlands, and the Meadowlands, too, in New York.
00:52:06If you look at what we did up there, speaking of the Meadowlands, a lot of places like this,
00:52:11but this is a very unique one.
00:52:13One thing I'll say about this land, we'll be gone a million years, and this land is still going to be here.
00:52:18It's not going to be much different.
00:52:19You'll have the water moccasins.
00:52:22You'll have the alligators.
00:52:23You may not have people, but you're going to have all those animals.
00:52:26They're going to be around, and you've got plenty of them out here.
00:52:29I think it was a brilliant choice, and I think almost anybody in his or her right mind
00:52:36would say this was a brilliant choice.
00:52:37I give the governor a lot of credit for using this piece of land.
00:52:40And in addition to that, it's on top of something that was already developed.
00:52:45It's an airport.
00:52:45You know, you have the runways.
00:52:46You have the—it's already been developed.
00:52:48So it's not like you're dropping dirt right into the—there was zero movement of that.
00:52:54That was done many years ago because the airport's very old,
00:52:57but it was an abandoned railroad—an abandoned airport.
00:53:02And frankly, it's like perfect.
00:53:05And you can do expansion on this site substantially without doing anything.
00:53:08So the people, I heard them complaining about the Everglades.
00:53:13There's no—I don't think you've done anything to the Everglades.
00:53:17I think you're just enhancing it.
00:53:19This was already here.
00:53:20How long has the airport been here?
00:53:22Decades.
00:53:23Many decades, yeah.
00:53:24And they have—Kevin, all these guys, you know, have a waste plan.
00:53:30Like, the wastewater gets trucked out.
00:53:32Potable water gets—literally, they have—even our DOT has put things up in case there's any seepage, which we don't.
00:53:38So you are literally doing this on concrete that's already here.
00:53:42So I don't think those are valid and even good faith criticisms because it's not going to impact the Everglades at all.
00:53:49The president's been a champion.
00:53:51We've been a champion.
00:53:51Really changed the game in Florida on it.
00:53:53I think it's just people don't want to see illegal immigrants deported, and that's their ideology, and they have a right to that.
00:54:01But illegal immigration is unpopular, so they know that they're going to have less effect.
00:54:06So they're going to try—oh, well, no, it's just about the Everglades.
00:54:08But really, I think a lot of those people, they just don't want to see illegals deported.
00:54:13Because if you actually hear everyone's here, you obviously know there's zero land that's being disturbed.
00:54:19Well, you know, when we talk about popularity, though, I will say I ran on the issue of illegals, and we have to get them out.
00:54:27And I won 82 percent on that issue.
00:54:30So I think that they may not like certain aspects of it, but ultimately they do not want them in their country.
00:54:36And this is a part of a use.
00:54:38But I think from an environmental standpoint, it's incredible.
00:54:41In fact, when we landed that very big, heavy plane today, they came out and checked it fairly—you know, I think they want the president to be able to land on a piece of concrete that's not going to go six feet underground.
00:54:53And they checked it.
00:54:54They came back, and they said, this thing is really solid.
00:54:57So it's been there a long time.
00:54:59It's going to be here a long time.
00:55:00And it was a great choice of a site.
00:55:03Yes, please.
00:55:04Brian, go ahead.
00:55:05The people of Syria were recently seen on the streets waving American flags, chanting Trump, Trump, Trump.
00:55:12They're so appreciative of the economic sanctions that were lifted on that country, giving them a little bit of hope for prosperity.
00:55:19You want to comment on that?
00:55:21Well, they're great people.
00:55:22And the man that is leading them has a reputation, you know, who's the head of some pretty tough organizations.
00:55:28And a lot of people criticized me for that.
00:55:30I said, well, what are we going to do, take them out of a day school, a country day school?
00:55:34You know, it's going to be, by nature, I would think, Ron, they'll be pretty tough.
00:55:39And he is pretty tough.
00:55:41But I think I met him, spent a lot of time with him, good guy.
00:55:44I took off the sanctions because if I didn't do that, they wouldn't have had a chance.
00:55:48And Syria has a chance.
00:55:49You know, the people are great.
00:55:50They work hard.
00:55:51They're very smart.
00:55:52It used to be a place of professionals, accountants and lawyers and doctors and high academic credentials in that part of the world.
00:56:00And I think it's going to work out great.
00:56:02I took off the sanctions and they were very appreciative.
00:56:04They were shocked, but they were very appreciative.
00:56:07We're giving them a chance at survival.
00:56:08With the sanctions, it couldn't have worked.
00:56:11Mr. President, your beloved New York City may well be led by a communist soon, Zorhan Mandami,
00:56:21who in his nomination speech said he will defy ICE and will not allow ICE to arrest criminal aliens in New York City.
00:56:29Your message to communist Zorhan Mandami.
00:56:32Well, then we'll have to arrest him.
00:56:34Look, we don't need a communist in this country.
00:56:37But if we have one, I'm going to be watching over him very carefully on behalf of the nation.
00:56:41And we send him money.
00:56:43We send him all the things that he needs to run a government.
00:56:46And by the way, they get already, they get about three times what you get, Ron.
00:56:51If you look at the per capita, Florida gets one third of what New York gets in terms of the numbers.
00:56:58Why don't you give us those numbers?
00:56:59Because that's what we should send him.
00:57:01Yeah, sometimes people say Florida gets more because they count Social Security recipients.
00:57:06But that's not money to the state.
00:57:08Those are seniors that live here.
00:57:09If they moved to North Carolina, you could count it there.
00:57:11So it has no interaction with the state government.
00:57:13They get more in the city and state governments than we get.
00:57:17Right, substantially.
00:57:18We're going to be watching that very carefully.
00:57:20And a lot of people are saying he's here illegally.
00:57:23You know, we're going to look at everything.
00:57:26And ideally, he's going to turn out to be much less than a communist.
00:57:30But right now, he's a communist.
00:57:31That's not a socialist.
00:57:33You know, I've always said, we will not have socialism in this country in the speeches.
00:57:36I said, well, what?
00:57:38They skipped socialism.
00:57:39And you get a lot of them like that.
00:57:41And you see AOC.
00:57:42She's out there with her, you know, bad IQ.
00:57:45She's out there ranting and raving about how wonderful he is.
00:57:48And look, so far, he's winning.
00:57:50He still has a race to win.
00:57:51But so far, he's winning.
00:57:52And he has an advantage as a Democrat in New York City.
00:57:55I was there a long time ago.
00:57:57And it was a long time since the Republican won the city.
00:58:00But you would think that a Republican would be able to win.
00:58:03Or you have a good independent running, Mayor Adams, who's a very good person.
00:58:08I helped him out a little bit.
00:58:09He had a problem.
00:58:10And he was unfairly hurt over this question.
00:58:13He made a statement to the effect that this is terrible.
00:58:16New York City can't have all these immigrants come in.
00:58:19And, like, he was indicted the following day.
00:58:22And I said, that was a phony indictment.
00:58:24And it was a phony indictment.
00:58:25That was a Biden indictment.
00:58:27I said, don't feel bad.
00:58:28I got indicted five times every time you opened your mouth.
00:58:32That was a bad group.
00:58:32That was a very dangerous group, I will tell you.
00:58:34This was, these were not nice people.
00:58:37That was the only thing they could do.
00:58:38They had no policy.
00:58:39They had no skill.
00:58:40They had no anything.
00:58:42But they were very good at that.
00:58:43They were vicious, vicious, horrible people.
00:58:45Thank you very much.
00:58:47Yeah, please, go ahead.
00:58:49Anna Gertelli with Washington Examiner.
00:58:51Governor DeSantis has proposed using National Guard,
00:58:55deputizing them as immigration judges
00:58:57to get through this massive backlog of people in the immigration court.
00:59:01Would you be open to that?
00:59:03Yes, he has my approval.
00:59:06That wasn't too hard to get, was it?
00:59:08He didn't even have to ask me, James.
00:59:10You didn't even need James to ask me.
00:59:13He has my approval, okay?
00:59:15I also like what he's doing in Okeechobee.
00:59:17He has my approval for that.
00:59:19I don't know how we work that out, but we'll work it out.
00:59:21We'll follow up.
00:59:22Go ahead.
00:59:23Please.
00:59:26President Trump, Jake Stovian with Action News Jacks
00:59:29from up in Jacksonville.
00:59:30There's some talk about a facility similar to this
00:59:34up in Camp Blanding.
00:59:35Has that been approved by DHS?
00:59:37If not, what's the timeline?
00:59:38When could we see ground break on that?
00:59:41Well, I'll ask Ron or James to talk about it.
00:59:43Do you want to mention it, James?
00:59:46The overarching plan, I think the secretary has said she supports the whole plan.
00:59:51So, you know, you guys are going to keep going.
00:59:53Mr. President, just specifically the response for proposals is out for that today.
00:59:59It closes, I can't even remember what day of the week it is,
01:00:02but it closes on Wednesday at 5 o'clock.
01:00:04Then we will do notice to proceed.
01:00:06So I would say right after our wonderful Independence Day,
01:00:10we will be starting construction there at that facility.
01:00:12You have another big runway there, too.
01:00:14That's great.
01:00:15Wow.
01:00:15Well, I love these runways.
01:00:17It's very convenient, I must say.
01:00:19Having a runway is a nice thing.
01:00:21Today you don't get runways approved, I will tell you.
01:00:23It's tough to get a runway.
01:00:24Anyway, although in the age of Trump, you get them approved fast, you know.
01:00:28We're approving massive electrical bins, what do you call them, bins,
01:00:33but big electrical facilities for all of the factories and the AI that's coming in.
01:00:38They're going to build their own electric.
01:00:39They're going to be really, they're going to be made into electrical providers.
01:00:43They're going to have a lot left over.
01:00:44They'll put it into the grid.
01:00:46I think, well, you know, they're going to end up doing so much,
01:00:48they'll put it into the grid.
01:00:49It won't even cost anything from their standpoint.
01:00:52But so we have a lot of that happening.
01:00:53We get approvals fast, so.
01:00:55But I was just saying, runways are hard to get, but we'll get them now.
01:00:58But in the past, I would say over the past 30, 40 years,
01:01:01when you can get a runway that was considered gold.
01:01:04Okay, please, go ahead.
01:01:07Go ahead.
01:01:08Sure.
01:01:14Okay, go ahead.
01:01:18Yes.
01:01:18President Trump, Laverne McGee, News 6, Orlando.
01:01:22You have fulfilled several campaign promises, along with the help of Governor Ron DeSantis.
01:01:28What is the next campaign promise that you plan to fulfill to the American people?
01:01:34Well, so we have turned this country around in less than six months.
01:01:41And when I was away and I was telling Ron, I was telling some others.
01:01:45I've said it a little publicly, I guess.
01:01:47But I met a lot of very important people.
01:01:49The King of Saudi Arabia, I was there two weeks ago.
01:01:52And Qatar, the leader of Qatar, who's great, and the leader of UAE, who's great.
01:01:59These are very substantial people, very smart people, and good people.
01:02:03And all three of them said essentially the same thing, along with many other people.
01:02:07Because I just left NATO.
01:02:08NATO's going to, we took it up to 5%.
01:02:10Nobody can believe that one run.
01:02:12That would be a hard one.
01:02:13Nobody believes that what happened to NATO, over a trillion dollars a year from, like, nothing.
01:02:19It was an honor.
01:02:20But every leader said that a year ago, this country was dead.
01:02:25They had no confidence in the United States.
01:02:27They really felt it was a dead country.
01:02:28And it was going to, some bad things were going to happen.
01:02:32But they used the term, it was a dead country.
01:02:34And now they said you have the hottest country anywhere in the world.
01:02:37We're the hottest country in the world right now.
01:02:39And we turned it around fast.
01:02:41I thought it would take longer than this.
01:02:42We turned it around fast.
01:02:43Some of it was psychology.
01:02:45And we had to know how good we were.
01:02:47But others was getting rid of rules, regulations, and all of the things that I got rid of already.
01:02:53I signed more executive orders than anybody in history times, like three or four.
01:02:58And I got rid of, just one, I got rid of the other night.
01:03:01You buy a house, they have a faucet in the house, Joe.
01:03:04And the faucet, the water doesn't come out.
01:03:06They have a restrictor.
01:03:07In areas where you have so much water, they don't know what to do with it.
01:03:11You have a shower head, the shower doesn't, the shower doesn't, you think it's not working.
01:03:16It is working.
01:03:17The water is dripping out.
01:03:19And that's no good for me.
01:03:20I like his hair lace and, I like that hair, nice and wet.
01:03:25It takes you, you have to stand in the shower for 20 minutes before you get the soap out of your hair.
01:03:30And I put a thing in, and it sounds funny, but it's really not.
01:03:33It's horrible.
01:03:34And when you wash your hands, you turn on the faucet, no water comes out.
01:03:39You wash it, and the water barely comes out.
01:03:41This was done by crazy people.
01:03:44And I wrote it all off and got it approved in Congress so that they can't just change it.
01:03:49Because I did it in my first term, everyone was so happy.
01:03:51And then one of the first things that Biden did when he came back is he put the restriction on showers, toilets, and sinks.
01:03:58And washing machines.
01:04:01Washing machines, they give you like a quarter of this bottle to do your clothing.
01:04:06And people needed 10 of these bottles.
01:04:08And the people came to me from Whirlpool.
01:04:10They said, we can't make a machine that's competitive.
01:04:12We can't make a machine that doesn't work.
01:04:14Why?
01:04:15They don't let us use water.
01:04:16Do you have any problems with water?
01:04:17No, we have so much we don't know what to do with it.
01:04:19You know, it comes down from heaven, right?
01:04:21And I approved all of that, the washing machines, the whole thing.
01:04:26The dishwashers, that was the other one.
01:04:28They give you like this much water right up to there to do your dishes.
01:04:31So people, you know what they do?
01:04:33They keep pressing the button.
01:04:34So they end up doing the dishes 10 times.
01:04:36They end up using more water than you would have used if you did it right in the first place.
01:04:39So all of that stuff has been written off.
01:04:41It sounds crazy.
01:04:42It's little things.
01:04:44The straw.
01:04:46I let you go back to plastic straw.
01:04:48The other, I was tired of having straws melt in my mouth, you know?
01:04:52It wasn't working.
01:04:53The paper wasn't working too well.
01:04:55So these are little things that I did.
01:04:57Then we have the big things.
01:04:58We have the biggest things.
01:04:59And that has to do with some of the subjects we're talking now.
01:05:02I think the things we're talking about now are the biggest.
01:05:04Because if you don't have borders in this country, borders and good elections,
01:05:08and we're working on that next, there's some bills coming in that's going to make sure
01:05:12that you're a citizen, that people aren't counted in the voting when, you know,
01:05:17they were here and they're here as illegals and they're criminals in many cases.
01:05:21And they give them a count and you end up with extra congressmen.
01:05:24We're going to work on that.
01:05:25We're going to straighten that out next.
01:05:26That's going to be easy compared to what we were doing.
01:05:28But we did the big things too.
01:05:30But little things like that, a straw, little things like a washing machine with no water.
01:05:34People go out, they spend all their money on a washing machine.
01:05:37The damn thing doesn't work.
01:05:39You can't use the water.
01:05:40Then you go to your sink and that doesn't work either.
01:05:42You're stuck.
01:05:42You know what you do?
01:05:43You have dirty plates the next day.
01:05:45That's it.
01:05:46And we solved so many common sense problems.
01:05:50And they weren't easy.
01:05:51You know, there are people that really believe in this stuff.
01:05:53But, you know, most states have so much water, they don't know what to do with it.
01:05:57And look at North Carolina.
01:05:59I mean, they had a lot of water.
01:06:01And they have to get restrictors on their, you know, on their kitchen faucets.
01:06:05So we're very proud of the things we did.
01:06:08And we're going to do a lot more of them.
01:06:10Yeah, please.
01:06:11Go ahead.
01:06:11You guys are in good shape.
01:06:15It's Eric Bolling.
01:06:16How are you doing, sir?
01:06:16Something we've talked about for, I'd say, the better part of 20 years.
01:06:20I think it's something near and dear to your heart.
01:06:22Energy.
01:06:23Our energy security.
01:06:24Under Joe Biden, average price of oil for the four years was about $79 a barrel.
01:06:30He drained the SPR halfway down.
01:06:32Promised to replenish it.
01:06:33Never did.
01:06:34Right.
01:06:35Under you, first term, $53 average price for four years.
01:06:39Biden was $78 for eight years.
01:06:42It was never refilled.
01:06:43The question is now it's $64 or so.
01:06:46Yeah.
01:06:47Coming down rapidly.
01:06:49Coming down.
01:06:50And what a great opportunity to do, fix another one of Joe Biden's problems.
01:06:54One of the things he broke in America, giving us the energy security of an emergency SPR, fill it to, maybe even go beyond and fill it to a billion barrels this time at a much cheaper price.
01:07:05Thoughts on the energy sector?
01:07:07So it holds 77 million barrels, and we had it up to the top, if you remember.
01:07:13And I was proud of that, and I made a deal to buy it at the lowest price of oil.
01:07:17It was a good deal, good instinct.
01:07:19And we filled it up, and when he came in, he started using it to keep oil prices down because he blew our energy policy out.
01:07:26Energy is what caused—energy and his bad spending is what caused inflation.
01:07:30So now we have no inflation.
01:07:33Gasoline just hit $199 today in five states.
01:07:36$199.
01:07:37Isn't that a nice sound?
01:07:38It was up to $4.
01:07:40And going up to $5, $6, and $7.
01:07:42In California, it was $7.70.
01:07:45But we just hit in five states $199, $198.
01:07:50And it's coming down to that level, so that'll be a big thing.
01:07:53And one of the reasons the prices and costs are going down when you go to the supermarket, because I said I was going to get costs down.
01:07:59We're getting the costs down.
01:08:00Food is coming down.
01:08:01And when I came out, my first week, if you remember, I had a lunatic reporter screaming at me saying, eggs are going through the roof.
01:08:09What are you going to do about eggs?
01:08:10I said, I just got here.
01:08:11I didn't know anything about eggs.
01:08:13I had to call you.
01:08:15I said, look, I just got here.
01:08:17Tell me the problem.
01:08:18Well, they're doubled in prices.
01:08:19They're going to be five or six times higher.
01:08:21They were right, actually.
01:08:22I said, let me work on it.
01:08:24And now we have eggs down to the same numbers it was when I first came in.
01:08:27And, you know, we lowered the cost of groceries, a simple word like that groceries.
01:08:31It was like an almost a strange word.
01:08:33I hadn't heard the word in so long.
01:08:35But what could be more beautiful than the word grocery?
01:08:37And we have the prices way down.
01:08:40We have the energy way down.
01:08:41Energy brought the groceries down, if you want to know the truth.
01:08:44And, you know, so we think we're going to get it lower and we're going to fill up the
01:08:48national strategy.
01:08:49It's called the Strategic National Reserves.
01:08:51I had it topped out.
01:08:52And this guy would use them every time before the election.
01:08:55He'd use them whenever they had an election.
01:08:57It was artificial.
01:08:59But believe it or not, as big as that are tens of hundreds of millions of barrels of oil,
01:09:04all filled up at low prices.
01:09:06But it was really meant for wars.
01:09:10And it wasn't meant for keeping your prices down during a holiday so that somebody could
01:09:14get elected.
01:09:15But they used it.
01:09:16And they didn't bring it.
01:09:17The only mistake you made, they didn't bring it a little down.
01:09:19They brought it right down to the bottom.
01:09:21The thing is practically empty.
01:09:23They never filled it up.
01:09:24They never spent 10 cents in filling it up.
01:09:26And we'll do that.
01:09:27When the market is right, we'll fill it up.
01:09:29I want to fill it up when the market's right.
01:09:31How about one more question?
01:09:33Okay, please, in the back.
01:09:34Dana-Marie McNichol, Fox News Channel.
01:09:38Mr. President, is there an expected time frame that detainees will spend here days, weeks,
01:09:44months?
01:09:44And does that have anything to do with the immigration judges you just spoke about being
01:09:48trained and staffed here?
01:09:50When you say, what was the first part of your question?
01:09:53Is there a specific time frame you expect the detainees to spend here days, weeks, months?
01:09:59In Florida?
01:10:00Yes, here at Alligator Alcatraz.
01:10:01I'm going to spend a lot.
01:10:02Look, this is my home state.
01:10:03I love it.
01:10:05I love your government.
01:10:06I love all the people around.
01:10:07These are all friends of mine.
01:10:08They know them very well.
01:10:09I mean, I'm not surprised that they do so well.
01:10:11They're great people.
01:10:14Ron has been a friend of mine for a long time.
01:10:16I feel very comfortable in the state.
01:10:17I'll spend a lot of time here.
01:10:19I want to, you know, for four years, I've got to be in Washington, and I'm okay with it because
01:10:24I love the White House.
01:10:25I even fix up the little Oval Office.
01:10:28I make it, it's like a diamond.
01:10:30It's beautiful.
01:10:30It's so beautiful.
01:10:31It wasn't maintained properly, I will tell you that.
01:10:33But even when it wasn't, it was still the Oval Office, so it meant a lot.
01:10:37But I'll spend as much time as I can here.
01:10:39You know, my vacation is generally here because it's convenient.
01:10:43I live in Palm Beach.
01:10:44It's my home.
01:10:45And I have a very nice little place, nice little cottage to stay at, right?
01:10:50But we have a lot of fun, and I'm a big contributor to Florida, you know, pay a lot of tax, and
01:10:55a lot of people move from New York, and I don't know what New York is going to do.
01:10:59A lot of people moved to Florida from New York, and it was for a lot of reasons, but one of
01:11:03them was taxes.
01:11:04The taxes are so high in New York, they're leaving.
01:11:06I don't know what New York's going to do about that because some of the biggest, wealthiest
01:11:10people and some of the people that pay the most taxes, and people anywhere in the world,
01:11:15for that matter, they're moving to Florida and other places.
01:11:17So we're going to have to help some of these states out, I think.
01:11:21But thank you very much.
01:11:22I'll be here as much as I can.
01:11:24Very nice question.
01:11:25With that, I'd like to just end by saying I want to thank Ron and James and all of the
01:11:30people that have done such a great job, all of your staff.
01:11:34Really fantastic work.
01:11:36And it really started with site selection.
01:11:38You can do a great job, but if you have the wrong site in real estate, you have the wrong
01:11:42site, you're dead.
01:11:43And this was a great site selection, despite what you may read in the environmental press.
01:11:48Good job.
01:11:49And this was an honor for Christy and myself and Steve and all of our people to be here.
01:11:54And I also appreciate the media.
01:11:56They've treated us very fairly.
01:11:58Over the last few weeks, I've been treated very nicely.
01:12:01And it's so unusual.
01:12:02I'm not used to it.
01:12:03But we've gotten great accolades.
01:12:05Brian, I want to thank you for calling out because I was waiting here because I knew the
01:12:09vote was taking place and I'm answering questions, right?
01:12:11So I want to thank you very much and say hello to our friend.
01:12:15And I will see a lot of you.
01:12:17Thank you very much.
01:12:18We're going to make America great again.
01:12:19Thank you very much.
01:12:21Thank you, brother.
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