A Constitutional Republic, where the First Amendment is Essential to OUR Survival
Remarks by President Trump at the American Farm Bureau Federation's 100th Annual Convention| New Orleans, Louisiana
When I was at the wall the other day, Border Patrol said they have 150 people they caught that day who weren't from Mexico. I said, "That's a strange statement." They said, "No, these are the people that weren't from Mexico." And I was surprised. Three were from Pakistan. Four were from another Mid-East - two Mid-East countries. And many of them were from other countries, including China - countries all over the world. A hundred and fifty of the people, as he said, were not from Mexico. Now, they caught many, many more, but that's a 150 people coming from companies that - you know, really, countries that you wouldn't believe.
They will not approve the measures we need to keep America safe - the Democrats. We can't do that. We can't do that because this is of paramount importance to our country. And again, I could take it nice and easy. I could enjoy myself. I could relax. I've been in the White House because I think it's very important to be there. And other people went on a nice, wonderful vacation over the weekend. They had a great time. I would have loved to have been with them. I didn't like the look of it. I would have loved to have been with them. But we have a very big problem.
This should have been done by other Presidents. Just like the moving of the embassy to Jerusalem should have been done - it was promised by many other Presidents. (Applause.)
Just like we're doing the job on North Korea, just like we're doing the job with China - we're getting it done. We're getting it done. We're getting it all done. But it would have been nice if other administrations were able to do it. But we have to do the border.
In the meantime, the USDA is doing everything in its power to help farmers deal with the ongoing shutdown. We thank you for your support and patriotism. And we fight to defend our nation. We are fighting very hard to defend our nation.
And many people that aren't getting a payment, that aren't being paid, have let us know in the strongest of terms - a big amount - they said, "Sir, what you're doing is of paramount importance. Do the job right, and we are with you, 100 percent." You'd be surprised at how many people have said that. And it's not easy for them, but it's a lot of people. (Applause.)
So I'm asking all of our citizens to call your Democrat lawmakers and ask them to pass a bill that secures our border, protects our country, and now reopens our government. Because as soon as they do that, we reopen our government. You would think that would be a very simple task.
On every front, we are fighting for our great farmers, our ranchers, our growers. We are fixing broken trade deals that are horrible. I saw what was going on in Canada - the way you were treated. Horrible. And they treated their farmers great. Great. We changed it with the new trade deal we made with Mexico and Canada.
And opening up new markets to export - many, many new markets are being opened up. We've eliminated a record number of job-killing regulations. And the farmers got hit probably as hard as anybody.
We're reversing harmful federal intrusion. And to keep family farms in the family, we have virtually eliminated the estate tax, also known as the "death tax." (Applause.) Thank you. Thank you.
Small business owners and corporations and others - small business - it was a terrible thing that was happening, where your parents - you love your parents - they're farmers - they love their farms. Everybody loves their farm. The kids - they want to grow up on the farm. They want to someday run the farm, own the farm. And they couldn't because they had very large estate taxes to pay. So they go out and borrow money, and then it turned a little bit bad. And all of the sudden, they'd end up losing the farm because they had to pay the estate tax. We got rid of it, folks.
So if you love your children, you'll like me. If you don't love your children, and you weren't going to leave the farm to them, it probably doesn't matter too much, okay? (Laughter.) Does anybody here not love their children? Wow, that's a lot of people - not one? Okay, you don't want to say. That's all right. (Laughter.)
That's like a lot of the people that went to the polls; they voted for Trump. (Laughter.) They said, "We don't want to talk about it." Then we won. We won two years ago. In November, we won. (Applause.) And everybody is trying - they're still trying to figure out what happened. We don't have to talk about it. We know what we're doing.
We're ensuring that ethanol remains a vital part of America's energy future, with E-15. And we're making it available year round - all 12 months. That was a big, big difference for the farmers. (Applause.)
Chuck Grassley, Joni Ernst - your senators - a lot of great people were very strong on that. And it also creates additional, because, if you noticed, I think we saw $1.75 for gasoline today, coming in. I like to do that; I'm one of these guys. (Applause.) I'm riding in this incredible car, and I'm driving, and I'm looking at gas stations to see how much is the gas. How many other Presidents - you think Hillary Clinton would have done that? I don't think so. I don't think so. (Laughter and applause.)
I'm in the Beast - the world's most expensive car. It's like being in an army tank that goes 50 miles an hour, right? I'm in the Beast and I'm looking at gas stations. I say, "Fellas, slow up. I can't see." (Laughter.) They say, "$1.75." That didn't happen by accident, folks. That didn't happen by accident. People think it does; it doesn't. Nothing happens - very few, very little happens by accident.
Nobody else would have done what we did for the farmers, with the estate taxes and so many other things.
In the two years before my election, agricultural exports dropped by nearly $23 billion. Remember that: Before I got here, it was heading south. A lot of people say, "Oh, gee, how are we doing?" It was going bad. If you go back 15 years, soybeans were more expensive 15 years ago than when I got into office. They were less. Now they're up nearly $14 billion.
In December, just a few days before Christmas, I was proud to sign the Farm Bill. We got it done. That wasn't easy either. (Applause.) That was not easy. Senators, Congressmen, thank you. That group did it. (Applause.) That was not an easy one, John and Bill, was it, huh? That wasn't easy.
But we got it done. The first to be passed, on time, in over 30 years. Got it done. And I've authorized Secretary Perdue to be strong on work rules for the Food Stamp program, through regulations allowed by the bill. So I know you have a great Secretary. He'll do what's right.
The Farm Bill delivers for our farmers on a wide range of key priorities. On critical farm programs, such as crop insurance, you will have the support you need to plan for the future. It increases the amount farmers can borrow so you can expand and improve your businesses.
It also secures the $600 million commitment we made to build a modern, effective, rural broadband across America's heartland. You're not well serviced. (Applause.) That's something the great, great middle part of our country has been complaining about for a long time. You're not properly serviced. You will be now. You will be now. That bill is a great bill for the farmer.
Last year, when I spoke to you, we had just passed our historic tax cuts. Here with us today is Kalena Bruce from Stockton, Missouri. Kalena is a rancher, and also an accountant for local farmers. Under our new tax plan, which lowers rates for small businesses and doubles the tax child credit - so important, that child tax credit. You know who fought for that? A young woman named Ivanka Trump. That's all she wanted. "Dad? Dad? We have to get that passed, Dad." (Applause.) I said, "Okay, Ivanka. Okay. Okay." (Laughter.) It turned out to be so popular.
Kalena has seen that many families will save upwards of $4,000 in taxes this year alone. Kalena, I want to thank you and all of those incredible people that you represent. And just keep up the great work. Where is Kalena? Where is Kalena? She's around here someplace. Hi, Kalena. Thank you very much. Great job. Thank you very much. (Applause.)
We're also leading the most sweeping regulatory reform at any time in our history. The U.S. Department of Agriculture rolled back almost $400 million in regulatory costs last year alone. And this year, they're projected to more than double those savings.
We're saving farmers and ranchers from one of the most ridiculous regulations ever imposed on anybody in our nation: the Waters of the United States rule. (Applause.) Disaster - other than the title. Such a beautiful title. It was a total kill on farmers, on builders, on everybody. It was a total kill. Sounds so nice.
In fact, I looked at John Kennedy, when I signed that. I said, "John, I'm going to get killed for this one." Because what we did was take something - the "Water of the United States." How beautiful is that? And yet, everything inside was a total kill on you - and other businesses, by the way. (Applause.)
And we didn't get killed, did we, John, huh? We didn't. They love it. So many people have come - and, you know, the time when I signed that bill, I had ranchers, farmers, and some homebuilders behind me. And these are tough people. They were strong, tough men and women. And half of them were crying because we basically - our government stole their property. They couldn't do anything. They couldn't build. They couldn't do anything.
They were crying. I said, "What are you crying about?" The one guy - I don't think he cried in his whole life. I don't think he cried when we was a baby. He was crying. (Laughter.) He said, "Sir, you gave me back my life. You gave me back my property. They took it away - environmentally, took it away. And you're going to do the right thing."
In the audience today is Val Wagner from Monango, North Dakota. Val - (applause). (Laughs.) It's a good place. (Laughter.) You have a great new senator, by the way. (Applause.) A great new senator. Really great. Val and her husband would love to expand their farm for their four boys, but under the Waters of the United States rule, they would have to pay tens and of thousands of dollars in fines because of the "prairie potholes" on their land. Do you all know what "prairie potholes" are? Yes, you do. I don't, but it sounds bad. (Laughter.)
To Val and to every farmer, we are going to keep federal regulators out of your - out of your tanks - your stock tanks, your drainage ditches, your puddles, and your ponds. And you know exactly what I'm talking about. You could have a pond - a little pond - and they consider it a lake. (Applause.) And you're regulated as though it were a lake.
We're going to get government off your backs so you can earn a living and support your families doing what you love. And I know what you love. Farmers love what they're doing. (Applause.)
We also passed legislation to rebuild our water infrastructure, including our nation's inland waterways, which carry more than 60 percent of our agricultural products.
We are replacing one-sided, unfair trade deals. We have so many nations - it's a one-sided deal. With China, every year, for many years, we're losing $375 billion - not million, billion dollars. We're working on that very strongly. You see what's going on. We're doing very well.
We have the European Union - they don't treat us right. They treat our farmers terribly. You can hardly sell into the - they have barriers and they have tariffs that are massive. But with the farmers, they don't want your product. We're working with them; they have to treat us fairly. We're losing $151 billion a year with the European Union.
It sounds so nice, right? "The European Union." And then the press gets angry. They say, "Donald Trump is not treating the European Union fairly." Well, that's because they're not treating us fairly, folks.
I want to be nice. In fact, they said my poll numbers are very bad in Europe. I said, "They should be." (Laughter.) No, seriously. They said, "When he started off, he had 87 percent." That means you could be the king of any country. Now, they (inaudible) because I'm representing our country; I'm not representing those country - you know, one of those (inaudible). (Applause.) True.
It's true. They said, "His poll numbers have tanked." And I said, "Oh, damn it. What's going on? Damn it." And then I said, "Oh, it's in Europe. That's okay." (Laughter.)
No, we get along well with them. And they're a lot of great people and great leaders. But, look, I'm not blaming them. I don't blame China. I mean, China - $375 billion a year, we lose. It's really more than that, but that's like the conservative number. I think it's $504 [billion]. But I'm giving you conservative because I don't want to be criticized for using wrong numbers, right? (Laughter.)
But I don't blame China. I was in China making a speech, and President Xi - who's a friend of - great guy. But he represent them; I represent us. And he's sitting over here. And I'm talking to this massive crowd of people. And I'm talking about how China is bad, bad, bad. And I'm saying, "Boy, this is - this could be dangerous." (Laughter.) I'm in China. I'm in Beijing doing this. And I'm saying, "I don't like this."
Go Back
They will not approve the measures we need to keep America safe - the Democrats. We can't do that. We can't do that because this is of paramount importance to our country. And again, I could take it nice and easy. I could enjoy myself. I could relax. I've been in the White House because I think it's very important to be there. And other people went on a nice, wonderful vacation over the weekend. They had a great time. I would have loved to have been with them. I didn't like the look of it. I would have loved to have been with them. But we have a very big problem.
This should have been done by other Presidents. Just like the moving of the embassy to Jerusalem should have been done - it was promised by many other Presidents. (Applause.)
Just like we're doing the job on North Korea, just like we're doing the job with China - we're getting it done. We're getting it done. We're getting it all done. But it would have been nice if other administrations were able to do it. But we have to do the border.
In the meantime, the USDA is doing everything in its power to help farmers deal with the ongoing shutdown. We thank you for your support and patriotism. And we fight to defend our nation. We are fighting very hard to defend our nation.
And many people that aren't getting a payment, that aren't being paid, have let us know in the strongest of terms - a big amount - they said, "Sir, what you're doing is of paramount importance. Do the job right, and we are with you, 100 percent." You'd be surprised at how many people have said that. And it's not easy for them, but it's a lot of people. (Applause.)
So I'm asking all of our citizens to call your Democrat lawmakers and ask them to pass a bill that secures our border, protects our country, and now reopens our government. Because as soon as they do that, we reopen our government. You would think that would be a very simple task.
On every front, we are fighting for our great farmers, our ranchers, our growers. We are fixing broken trade deals that are horrible. I saw what was going on in Canada - the way you were treated. Horrible. And they treated their farmers great. Great. We changed it with the new trade deal we made with Mexico and Canada.
And opening up new markets to export - many, many new markets are being opened up. We've eliminated a record number of job-killing regulations. And the farmers got hit probably as hard as anybody.
We're reversing harmful federal intrusion. And to keep family farms in the family, we have virtually eliminated the estate tax, also known as the "death tax." (Applause.) Thank you. Thank you.
Small business owners and corporations and others - small business - it was a terrible thing that was happening, where your parents - you love your parents - they're farmers - they love their farms. Everybody loves their farm. The kids - they want to grow up on the farm. They want to someday run the farm, own the farm. And they couldn't because they had very large estate taxes to pay. So they go out and borrow money, and then it turned a little bit bad. And all of the sudden, they'd end up losing the farm because they had to pay the estate tax. We got rid of it, folks.
So if you love your children, you'll like me. If you don't love your children, and you weren't going to leave the farm to them, it probably doesn't matter too much, okay? (Laughter.) Does anybody here not love their children? Wow, that's a lot of people - not one? Okay, you don't want to say. That's all right. (Laughter.)
That's like a lot of the people that went to the polls; they voted for Trump. (Laughter.) They said, "We don't want to talk about it." Then we won. We won two years ago. In November, we won. (Applause.) And everybody is trying - they're still trying to figure out what happened. We don't have to talk about it. We know what we're doing.
We're ensuring that ethanol remains a vital part of America's energy future, with E-15. And we're making it available year round - all 12 months. That was a big, big difference for the farmers. (Applause.)
Chuck Grassley, Joni Ernst - your senators - a lot of great people were very strong on that. And it also creates additional, because, if you noticed, I think we saw $1.75 for gasoline today, coming in. I like to do that; I'm one of these guys. (Applause.) I'm riding in this incredible car, and I'm driving, and I'm looking at gas stations to see how much is the gas. How many other Presidents - you think Hillary Clinton would have done that? I don't think so. I don't think so. (Laughter and applause.)
I'm in the Beast - the world's most expensive car. It's like being in an army tank that goes 50 miles an hour, right? I'm in the Beast and I'm looking at gas stations. I say, "Fellas, slow up. I can't see." (Laughter.) They say, "$1.75." That didn't happen by accident, folks. That didn't happen by accident. People think it does; it doesn't. Nothing happens - very few, very little happens by accident.
Nobody else would have done what we did for the farmers, with the estate taxes and so many other things.
In the two years before my election, agricultural exports dropped by nearly $23 billion. Remember that: Before I got here, it was heading south. A lot of people say, "Oh, gee, how are we doing?" It was going bad. If you go back 15 years, soybeans were more expensive 15 years ago than when I got into office. They were less. Now they're up nearly $14 billion.
In December, just a few days before Christmas, I was proud to sign the Farm Bill. We got it done. That wasn't easy either. (Applause.) That was not easy. Senators, Congressmen, thank you. That group did it. (Applause.) That was not an easy one, John and Bill, was it, huh? That wasn't easy.
But we got it done. The first to be passed, on time, in over 30 years. Got it done. And I've authorized Secretary Perdue to be strong on work rules for the Food Stamp program, through regulations allowed by the bill. So I know you have a great Secretary. He'll do what's right.
The Farm Bill delivers for our farmers on a wide range of key priorities. On critical farm programs, such as crop insurance, you will have the support you need to plan for the future. It increases the amount farmers can borrow so you can expand and improve your businesses.
It also secures the $600 million commitment we made to build a modern, effective, rural broadband across America's heartland. You're not well serviced. (Applause.) That's something the great, great middle part of our country has been complaining about for a long time. You're not properly serviced. You will be now. You will be now. That bill is a great bill for the farmer.
Last year, when I spoke to you, we had just passed our historic tax cuts. Here with us today is Kalena Bruce from Stockton, Missouri. Kalena is a rancher, and also an accountant for local farmers. Under our new tax plan, which lowers rates for small businesses and doubles the tax child credit - so important, that child tax credit. You know who fought for that? A young woman named Ivanka Trump. That's all she wanted. "Dad? Dad? We have to get that passed, Dad." (Applause.) I said, "Okay, Ivanka. Okay. Okay." (Laughter.) It turned out to be so popular.
Kalena has seen that many families will save upwards of $4,000 in taxes this year alone. Kalena, I want to thank you and all of those incredible people that you represent. And just keep up the great work. Where is Kalena? Where is Kalena? She's around here someplace. Hi, Kalena. Thank you very much. Great job. Thank you very much. (Applause.)
We're also leading the most sweeping regulatory reform at any time in our history. The U.S. Department of Agriculture rolled back almost $400 million in regulatory costs last year alone. And this year, they're projected to more than double those savings.
We're saving farmers and ranchers from one of the most ridiculous regulations ever imposed on anybody in our nation: the Waters of the United States rule. (Applause.) Disaster - other than the title. Such a beautiful title. It was a total kill on farmers, on builders, on everybody. It was a total kill. Sounds so nice.
In fact, I looked at John Kennedy, when I signed that. I said, "John, I'm going to get killed for this one." Because what we did was take something - the "Water of the United States." How beautiful is that? And yet, everything inside was a total kill on you - and other businesses, by the way. (Applause.)
And we didn't get killed, did we, John, huh? We didn't. They love it. So many people have come - and, you know, the time when I signed that bill, I had ranchers, farmers, and some homebuilders behind me. And these are tough people. They were strong, tough men and women. And half of them were crying because we basically - our government stole their property. They couldn't do anything. They couldn't build. They couldn't do anything.
They were crying. I said, "What are you crying about?" The one guy - I don't think he cried in his whole life. I don't think he cried when we was a baby. He was crying. (Laughter.) He said, "Sir, you gave me back my life. You gave me back my property. They took it away - environmentally, took it away. And you're going to do the right thing."
In the audience today is Val Wagner from Monango, North Dakota. Val - (applause). (Laughs.) It's a good place. (Laughter.) You have a great new senator, by the way. (Applause.) A great new senator. Really great. Val and her husband would love to expand their farm for their four boys, but under the Waters of the United States rule, they would have to pay tens and of thousands of dollars in fines because of the "prairie potholes" on their land. Do you all know what "prairie potholes" are? Yes, you do. I don't, but it sounds bad. (Laughter.)
To Val and to every farmer, we are going to keep federal regulators out of your - out of your tanks - your stock tanks, your drainage ditches, your puddles, and your ponds. And you know exactly what I'm talking about. You could have a pond - a little pond - and they consider it a lake. (Applause.) And you're regulated as though it were a lake.
We're going to get government off your backs so you can earn a living and support your families doing what you love. And I know what you love. Farmers love what they're doing. (Applause.)
We also passed legislation to rebuild our water infrastructure, including our nation's inland waterways, which carry more than 60 percent of our agricultural products.
We are replacing one-sided, unfair trade deals. We have so many nations - it's a one-sided deal. With China, every year, for many years, we're losing $375 billion - not million, billion dollars. We're working on that very strongly. You see what's going on. We're doing very well.
We have the European Union - they don't treat us right. They treat our farmers terribly. You can hardly sell into the - they have barriers and they have tariffs that are massive. But with the farmers, they don't want your product. We're working with them; they have to treat us fairly. We're losing $151 billion a year with the European Union.
It sounds so nice, right? "The European Union." And then the press gets angry. They say, "Donald Trump is not treating the European Union fairly." Well, that's because they're not treating us fairly, folks.
I want to be nice. In fact, they said my poll numbers are very bad in Europe. I said, "They should be." (Laughter.) No, seriously. They said, "When he started off, he had 87 percent." That means you could be the king of any country. Now, they (inaudible) because I'm representing our country; I'm not representing those country - you know, one of those (inaudible). (Applause.) True.
It's true. They said, "His poll numbers have tanked." And I said, "Oh, damn it. What's going on? Damn it." And then I said, "Oh, it's in Europe. That's okay." (Laughter.)
No, we get along well with them. And they're a lot of great people and great leaders. But, look, I'm not blaming them. I don't blame China. I mean, China - $375 billion a year, we lose. It's really more than that, but that's like the conservative number. I think it's $504 [billion]. But I'm giving you conservative because I don't want to be criticized for using wrong numbers, right? (Laughter.)
But I don't blame China. I was in China making a speech, and President Xi - who's a friend of - great guy. But he represent them; I represent us. And he's sitting over here. And I'm talking to this massive crowd of people. And I'm talking about how China is bad, bad, bad. And I'm saying, "Boy, this is - this could be dangerous." (Laughter.) I'm in China. I'm in Beijing doing this. And I'm saying, "I don't like this."
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