In his first rally-style speech since winning the 2024 election, President-elect Donald Trump gloated about his election victory for nearly 10 minutes to ensure he would deliver on his administration’s promises, as well as praising his Cabinet picks.
Trump spoke at AmericaFest, a political festival for conservatives organized by Turning Point, the conservative organization led by Charlie Kirk, who helped Trump gain support among younger voters through battleground vote initiatives.
Trump’s speech was essentially many of the proposals he has already released on the social media platform Truth Social, including threats about tariffs and the restoration of the Panama Canal, as well as bragging about the number of people who have contacted him since his victory. .
He said his remarks were “just one small step forward in the revolution of common sense.”
US President-elect Donald Trump speaks at Turning Point USA’s AmericaFest in Phoenix, Arizona on December 22, 2024.
Cheney Page/Reuters
“Because that’s what I call it, soon to America, to a theater near you, a revolution of common sense, right? But it comes to you through your President Donald J. Trump,” he said.
During his 75-minute remarks, Trump made no mention of the recently passed government funding bill, which did not include a last-minute demand to raise or eliminate the debt ceiling. After speaking out against the original bill, Trump has yet to comment on the legislation passed early Saturday.
However, the speakers before Trump had something to say about the issue. Trump’s allies called for Speaker Mike Johnson to lose his job as speaker for working with Democrats, demanded that Republican lawmakers who voted against the package be defaulted, and threatened Republican senators who were on the fence about confirming some of Trump’s Cabinet picks.
“Johnson’s not on duty. He’s got to go, right? He’s got to go. Should Johnson be Speaker of the House?” Steve Bannon, a former Trump adviser who served time in prison for contempt of Congress, asked the crowd, who responded with an emphatic “No.”
“We don’t need partisanship now. We need hyper-partisanship now. The conversation is over. We have nothing else to discuss. It’s just the implementation of President Trump’s plan,” he added.
However, when Trump took the stage, he spent most of his time praising his transition efforts.
“We have accomplished so much in the 47 days since the election. But that is only the beginning of what we will accomplish together as the 47th President of the United States of America,” Trump said.
Trump said his second administration would “turn the page” on what he called four failed years under the Biden administration.
“I campaigned on an agenda of deep change in Washington, and last month, the American people voted for change like they’ve never voted before, and in incredible numbers, numbers that no one saw coming. I think I saw them coming. Everyone saw them coming. ” said Trump.
U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) speaks next to U.S. President-elect Donald Trump at Turning Point USA’s AmericaFest in Phoenix, Arizona on December 22, 2024.
Cheney Page/Reuters
Debunking Elon Musk’s “fraud”.
As tech entrepreneur Elon Musk talks about the future of the country, including tweets criticizing the government’s funding bill, many lawmakers and pundits are beginning to say that Musk is running the country. Trump laughed off the idea on Sunday, calling it a new media “hoax” and saying he likes to have smart people around him.
“And no, he’s not going to run for president. I love having smart people… No, no, that’s happening. But Elon has done an incredible job. Isn’t it nice to have smart people we can trust?” Trump said, celebrating Musk’s role with the newly created Department of Government Efficiency.
Trump praised Musk for his campaign contributions in Pennsylvania, helping North Carolinians with hurricane relief by providing Starlink, and his efforts with SpaceX.
“No, he’s not going to be president, I’ll tell you that,” Trump repeated. “I’m sure. You know why? He wasn’t born in this country. Ha, Ha.”
Trump makes his cabinet picks
Trump spent time praising some of his controversial Cabinet picks, including the selection of Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, saying he thinks he will do “very well” in the role.
“Over the last few weeks, I’ve appointed a cabinet of some of the most determined and brilliant people ever to run for public office, and I have to say we’re getting great reviews, they’re all doing well, but we’re getting great reviews on the people we’ve chosen,” Trump said.
He once again shared misinformation about vaccines being linked to the rise in autism and said Robert F. Kennedy Jr., his pick to head the Department of Health and Human Services, would be in charge of investigating.
“Think about it, 25 years ago, autism, today it’s one in 36 kids out of 10,000. Is there something wrong? I think so,” he said. “And Robert and I and all, we’ll figure it out…”
Tom Homan, dubbed the “border czar” by President-elect Donald Trump, speaks before a visit by Trump at the AmericaFest 2024 conference sponsored by the conservative group Turning Point USA in Phoenix, Dec. 22, 2024.
Cheney Page/Reuters
Trump issued a one-sentence memo to Tulsi Gabbard, his pick for director of national intelligence, mentioning her appointment without any additional comment. He added that Kash Patel, who he selected to lead the FBI, “may be the greatest director of all.”
meeting with Putin
As Trump discussed his Day 1 priorities, he highlighted comments from Russian President Vladimir Putin, where he said he is open to talking to the president-elect.
“President Putin said he wants to meet with me as soon as possible. So we have to wait for this. But we have to end that war. That war is terrible…” Trump said, referring to the public comments. Putin did it on Thursday.
Threats against tariffs, the Panama Canal and transgender people
Trump also reiterated his threat of tariffs against Canada, Mexico and China “if they don’t go ahead and stop illegal aliens and illegal drugs from flowing into our country.”
“They can’t treat us like that. We won’t be treated like that for much longer, I can tell you, because we’re not going to let the United States become a dumping ground.”
Trump also doubled down on his threat to restore the Panama Canal, complaining about fees being charged to the US Navy and American companies: “This whole scam of our country is going to stop immediately. It’s going to stop,” he said.
As Trump spent the last two months of his campaign emphasizing anti-transgender rhetoric, he said he would sign executive orders on Day 1 to end child sex reassignment, get transgender people out of the military and keep “men out of women’s sports.”
“Under the Trump administration, it will be the official policy of the United States government to have only two genders: male and female. Trump later railed against ‘woke,’ calling “woke” “bulls—.
An attendee applauds during Turning Point USA’s AmericaFest at the Phoenix Convention Center on December 22, 2024 in Phoenix.
Rebecca Noble/Getty Images
The tough debate about immigration
While underlining his threat of tariffs, Trump also talked about migrants once again labeling them as violent criminals, and said he would designate Mexican drug cartels as terrorist organizations, something he tried to implement in his first term but stopped after the Mexican president. time asked him not to do it.
“They’re going to kick out all the foreign gang members, and I’m going to immediately designate the cartels as a foreign terrorist organization. We’re going to do it immediately. And we’re going to unleash the full power of federal law.”
Trump also vowed that his immigration policies would include a strong campaign against the flow of fentanyl into America and its devastating effects.
“We will show you what these drugs do to you. No one has done that before, and we will.”
He said one of his Day 1 priorities will be a “historic list of executive orders to close our border to illegal aliens and stop the invasion of our country.”
“And on that very day, we will begin the largest deportation operation in American history, even larger than President Dwight Eisenhower’s,” he said, calling it “Operation Aurora,” after the Colorado city he often referred to on the campaign trail. where he said groups of immigrants have taken over apartment buildings.
Thanks to young conservatives and Tiktok
While declaring his victory, Trump thanked Charlie Kirk, the executive director of Turning Point USA, who led some of Trump’s biggest efforts among young voters.
“I want to express my gratitude to Charlie Kirk. He’s truly an amazing guy, an amazing guy and his entire staff for their tireless efforts to achieve this historic victory. . . . It’s not my victory, it’s your victory. It’s a great honor.”
Trump continued on his victory lap, praising the demographic shift toward Republicans while promising to unite the country. He also touched on the reach he could have through TikTok.
“Tiktok, and we’ve had a great response with billions and millions and millions of views,” he said. “They brought me a board, and it was a record, and it was really cool to look at. And when I looked at it, I said, ‘Maybe we should keep this zurga for a while.'”
