President-elect Trump estimated the exact moment his administration will be “fully operational” on Jan. 20 in his first rally-style speech since his decisive victory over Vice President Kamala Harris last month.
“You only have a few days to wait. We will be fully operational, I would say, around 2:00 on the 20th,” Trump said from the AmericaFest stage.
Trump took the stage from the Phoenix Convention Center Sunday as part of Turning Point’s annual AmericaFest, a four-day event billed as part of the “largest conservative movement in the country,” where the president took a victory lap for his election victory last month, and also to see a progress of his administration in the last days of the transition period.
“What brings people together is victory. It’s winning. And we had that for much of my first year. We had the greatest economy in history, in our first term. Now we can call it a first term. We had the greatest economy in the history of our country, maybe in the history of any country, frankly, and we did things that no one could have done and now we’re going to do them even better, as we say, ‘drill, Baby, drill.’ We are going to drill, childish exercises, but we are going to do much more than drill,” he said of his victory and his next administration.
TRUMP SET TO DELIVER FIRST RALLY-STYLE SPEECH SINCE DECISIVE ELECTION WIN: ‘GREATEST CONSERVATIVE MOVEMENT’
President-elect Trump at AmericaFest in Arizona. (Rick Scuteri/AP Photo)
On Saturday night, Trump issued a message on Truth Social, calling on the United States to regain control of the Panama Canal. He explained during his speech on Sunday that “we will demand that the Panama Canal be returned to the United States of America in its entirety, quickly and without a doubt.”
“A secure Panama Canal is crucial to American commerce and the rapid deployment of the Navy from the Atlantic to the Pacific. It’s an incredible thing. And it dramatically reduces shipping times to American ports by days and even weeks. The United States is the number one user of the Panama Canal, with more than 72% of all transits to or from US ports, think about that, we are the ones giving it away,” he said. .
The canal was under American control since its construction was completed and began operating in 1914. It was handed over to Panama during the administration of President Jimmy Carter in 1977.
Trump also previewed his upcoming administration, saying that in addition to carrying out the “largest deportation operation in American history,” his administration will also launch an advertising campaign that will highlight the evils of drug use, highlighting the fentanyl flowing across the border.
President-elect Trump on stage at AmericaFest in Arizona. (Cheney Orr/Reuters)
“We’re going to do very big advertising campaigns, like a campaign to run for president. We spend a lot of money, but it will be a relatively small amount of money. We’re going to advertise how bad drugs are for you, how bad they are. They ruin your life.” face. They ruin your skin. If you want to have horrible teeth, take a lot of fentanyl. “If you want to have skin that looks this terrible, take fentanyl,” he said.
Efforts to bolster border security and deport illegal immigrants in the nation, Trump said, will also include efforts to secure the northern border.
“Canada allows people and drugs to come through our northern border. You know, we have a northern border that is not doing very well either. Likewise, people are coming from Mexico in numbers that have never been seen before.” We had seen each other. In the last four years, 21 million people have arrived,” he said.
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Border Patrol picks up a group of asylum seekers from a relief camp on the U.S.-Mexico border near Sasabe, Arizona, on March 13, 2024. (Justin Hamel/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
Trump’s speech on Sunday came after Congress averted a prolonged government shutdown early Saturday. House members returned to the negotiating table last week after Trump and allies like Elon Musk criticized a more than 1,500-page bill as “outrageous” and riddled with overspending.
Trump called on Republicans to suspend the debt limit as part of his talks to avoid a government shutdown. The final bill, however, did not include a suspension of the debt ceiling.
Trump has not spoken publicly since the bill’s passage, not even on Sunday, although sources told Fox News that the incoming president is not so happy with the bill.
The Capitol in Washington is framed by clouds in the early morning hours of March 19, 2024. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, File)
In his speech, Trump again reaffirmed his support for former Fox News host Pete Hegseth as defense secretary in his second administration, as Hegseth battles allegations of sexual misconduct and excessive alcohol consumption while building support for his confirmation among senators. Hegseth denied the allegations and vowed that he will not drink “a drop of alcohol” if he confirms it to Trump’s cabinet.
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House Speaker Mike Johnson, Director of National Intelligence nominee Tulsi Gabbard, President-elect Trump, Vice President-elect JD Vance, and Secretary of Defense nominee Pete Hegseth attend the 125th game of football between the Army and Navy on December 14, 2024, in Landover, Maryland. (Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)
“To wake up our military and restore the unquestionable strength and fighting spirit of the American military, I have appointed Pete Hegseth as our next Secretary of Defense. He’s going to be great. You know, I interviewed with him a lot.” on Fox and the only thing I ever wanted to talk about was the military,” he said.
Trump also held his other Cabinet picks, including Pam Bondi as attorney general and Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services.
“When you look at autism 25 years ago and you look at it now, something is happening. And I nominated Robert F. Kennedy Jr. Think about it. Think about this: 25 years ago, autism, 1 in 10,000 children. Today it’s 1 in 36 kids. I think so, and Robert and I are going to figure it out,” he said.
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President-elect Trump promised to unleash the energy industry and eliminate “woke” policies from schools and the military, at AmericaFest in Arizona. (Rick Scuteri/AP Photo)
The former president and next president continued his typical campaign themes in his speech, promising to make good on his promises to free up the energy industry and eliminate “woke” politics from schools and the military.
“I will sign first day orders to end all Biden restrictions on energy production. End his crazy electric vehicle mandate. Cancel his natural gas export ban, reopen ANWR in Alaska, potentially the largest site anywhere part of the world, and declare a national energy emergency,” he said.
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Adding at another point: “With a stroke of my pen on day one, we will stop the transgender madness. And I will sign executive orders to end child sexual mutilation, get transgender people out of the military and out of our elementary schools. and middle and high schools, and we will keep men out of women’s sports.”
Trump also quoted his mother at one point in his speech, citing her use of the word “bewildered” to describe Democrats after the election.
President-elect Trump dances at AmericaFest. (Rick Scuteri/AP Photo)
“If you watch TV now, everyone is bewildered. They don’t know what the hell happened. They’re bewildered. To use a rather nice word my mother used to use years ago, talking about someone who’s a mess. But they did it. They’ve lost confidence. and hopefully they’ll lose it for a long time and then they’ll come over to us because we want to have them,” he said.
AmericaFest began Dec. 19 in Phoenix and will conclude Sunday after Trump’s speech. The annual event is billed as one that revitalizes conservative students and voters.”all while celebrating the greatest country in the world.” The venue has a capacity for approximately 14,000 people, while Turning Point reported that around 21,000 tickets were sold for the convention.
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“We are incredibly honored to have President Trump deliver his first rally-style speech since the election at AmFest 2024 in Phoenix,” Turning Point USA and Turning Point Action chief Charlie Kirk said in a press release ahead of the event. . “This was already the movement’s largest multi-day event, and this year will be by far the largest we have ever hosted.”
