But you gave me an idea, just looking at this warrior group. I think I'll say, "I don't want the wall." And then they're going to give it to me. (Laughter.) I've figured out the solution, First Lady. (Laughter.) Tell Nancy Pelosi, "I don't want the wall." "Oh, we want the wall." And then we get the wall. (Laughter and applause.) That's another way of doing it. (Applause.) That's another way of doing it.
No, we have to have it. And, you know, not only human trafficking; drugs; illegals; a lot of criminals - bad records. We've seen murderers come in through the - you saw what happened with the caravan, as we call it. A caravan of thousands of people.
And, by the way, our Border Patrol did an incredible job, and our military did an incredible job. And local law enforcement on the various parts of the border did an incredible job. And those caravans are slowly breaking up, and they're going back where they came from, and they have to come into our country legally. Legally.
And that's what you're fighting for. You know, when you think about it, you're fighting for borders in other countries, and they don't want to fight - the Democrats - for the border of our country. It doesn't make a lot of sense.
At this sacred time of the year, our thoughts turn to the American heroes who gave their last breath in defense of our country, including the seven brave souls who perished last March on the Jolly 51 rescue helicopter. You know exactly who we're talking about. Some of you were great friends of theirs.
Through their incredible sacrifice, our fallen heroes have achieved immortality. That's what it is; it's immortality. Immortality. They will live forever in the hearts of their countrymen, in your hearts, and in the history of the United States of America. They will live forever.
The dignity and glory of the American warrior is recorded on the fields of battle and in acts of valor that will live for all of time. You're going to be remembered for all of time. And under my administration, we're winning now. We're not playing to lose slowly, like they've been doing for 19 years. We're fighting in areas where we shouldn't be fighting, and spending hundreds of billions of dollars doing it.
No. You have the right thought process now going, for the first time in a long time. (Laughter and applause.) Thank you. We want to fight where it's meaningful, which is basically what you're just saying. And you understand that better than anybody. The people in this room understand that better. Your general understands it. I just met with them. Your general understands it. We want to fight for the meaningful things.
No force in history has done more for the cause of justice and peace. I want each and every one of you to know that we will always protect those who protect us. You protect us. We are always going to protect you. And you just saw that because you just got one of the biggest pay raises you've ever received - unless you don't want it. (Applause.) Does anybody here - is anybody here willing to give up the big pay raise you just got? Raise your hands, please. Ah, I don't see too many hands. Okay, don't give it up.
It's great. You know what? Nobody deserves it more. You haven't gotten one in more than 10 years - more than 10 years. And we got you a big one. I got you a big one. I got you a big one. (Applause.)
They had plenty of people that came up. They said, "You know, we could make it smaller. We could make it 3 percent. We could make it 2 percent. We could make it 4 percent." I said, "No. Make it 10 percent. Make it more than 10 percent." Because it's been a long time. It's been more than 10 years. It's been more than 10 years. That's a long time. And, you know, you really put yourselves out there, and you put your lives out there. So congratulations.
We're fighting every day to ensure you have also the tools, the equipment, the training, and resources that you need to fight and to win. We don't play "prevent defense" anymore. We're not doing that. That's why, when you see me doing things, I always have things in mind. I always have lots of things in mind - things that you have in mind, too, but a lot of other people don't. A lot of the media doesn't want to report it correctly, but we have a lot of things in mind.
But do you ever see at - like, in football, where a team is holding the other team scoreless - they can't throw; they can't pass; they can't do anything. Now it's three and a half quarters; they got to just hold them. And they say, "Let's change to prevent defense." And that's what happens.
And you know what it does? It prevents them from winning. How many times have you seen that? We don't like prevent defense. We want real offense and we want real defense. And that's what we're doing.
We have secured a record increase to our military budget, and we are purchasing all of this great equipment - $700 billion last year; $716 billion - with a "b," with a "b." We were fought very hard by the Democrats and others. But I said, "We have to take care of our military."
I mean, I want to see costs come down, too. But not when it comes to our military. You have to have the finest equipment anywhere in the world, and you have that - $716 billion. And this year, again, we're going to be - don't tell anybody because nobody else knows - even a little bit higher.
But we have no choice. We can't play cheap with our warriors or military. We can't play cheap with victory. And we're not going to.
We understand the best way to preserve the peace is to be prepared for combat, and the surest way to prevent conflict is to be totally unyielding and totally ready for conflict if that should happen.
America is a peace-loving nation. But rest assured, if we are forced to fight, we will engage the enemy with overwhelming force like never before - like nobody has ever seen before. (Applause.)
There is no military more capable and, now, more lethal, more fearless, and more skilled than the United States Armed Forces. Nobody is even close. Our faith and confidence in you is absolute and total. You are the sentinels who watch over our nation. You are the warriors who defend our freedom. You are the patriots who ensure the flame of liberty burns forever bright. That's who you are. That's who you are.
To everyone at Al Asad Air Base, and every American serving overseas, may God bless you, may God protect you, and may God always keep you safe. We love you. We support you. We salute you. We cherish you. And together, we pray for justice, goodness, and peace on Earth.
We are putting America first, for the first time in a long time - longer than anyone can remember. At the same time, we're here to help others. And for all of you that have those red caps - and I saw them before; I signed a lot of them - it says, "Make America Great Again." And you know what? That's exactly what we're doing.
So we flew all night on Christmas evening - the First Lady, myself, John Bolton, and a lot of other great people on that plane. Thank you, John. And it was worth every minute of it. And I just want to thank you. You are outstanding, outstanding people. And we will never let you down. Just remember that.
God bless America. Thank you very much.
