President Trump delivers the commencement address at the University of Alabama.
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00:00U.S.A. U.S.A. U.S.A. U.S.A.
00:16Thank you, Coach.
00:17Wow.
00:19What a nice-looking group this is.
00:23What a beautiful group of people.
00:25And especially a very big hello to the University of Alabama.
00:32Congratulations to the class of 2025.
00:37Roll Tide.
00:38Roll Tide.
00:46There are things that happen in life that are very important,
00:50and you always remember where you were when they happened.
00:54As a student at Alabama, you'll always remember where you were
00:59when your head coach, Nick Saban, retired.
01:03Remember that?
01:04Because he's done such a fantastic job.
01:07The last time I was here — and that's true with Nick.
01:11What a great coach.
01:12What a — let's bring him back.
01:13No, you have a good coach right now, though.
01:15You have a good coach right now.
01:17He was great.
01:20But the last time I was here, the Crimson Tide beat the Georgia Bulldogs 41-32.
01:30I was here.
01:31I got to watch it.
01:32That was some game.
01:33Today, it's my pleasure to return to this campus as the first president ever to deliver the keynote commencement address to this truly great American university.
01:43It's a great school.
01:44And there's nowhere I'd rather be than right here in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, Titletown, USA.
01:55That's what it's become.
01:56And I love this place.
02:00Maybe it's because I won Alabama by 45 points.
02:04Could that be the reason?
02:05You know, the way they say, like, the polls have closed in Alabama.
02:11Trump has won Alabama immediately.
02:14It was very quick.
02:15It was very, very quick and nasty.
02:17That's what we like.
02:19They put all seven of your commencement ceremonies — I don't know if you know this — but they put them all together, first time ever.
02:25So I better do well, or I'm in big trouble.
02:28But I want to thank President Bell for his 10 years of distinguished service.
02:33Highly respected gentlemen.
02:34But 10 years of service to this great university overseeing the education of 100,000 proud Alabama graduates.
02:42That's something to have on your record.
02:44I also want to thank Alabama Governor Kay Ivey, who's here with us.
02:48And she's a fantastic — oh, there is she.
02:51She's around here someplace.
02:54She's here.
02:57I just took a picture.
02:58I said, you're doing a great job.
03:00Along with the very wonderful man, a friend of mine, Senator Tommy Tuberville.
03:05Where's Tommy?
03:06Tommy's great.
03:11When he wanted to run for the Senate, you know, I said, well, you beat Alabama six times in a row.
03:18How can you run for the Senate?
03:20He said, well, I just look at him and say, well, I was responsible for them getting Nick Saban.
03:25I said, that's a good reason.
03:27And he won very easily.
03:29He won.
03:30But I'll never forget that.
03:32Thanks also to a wonderful person, Representative Lisa McClain, a great person, great — highly respected — Gary Palmer, Robert Adderholt, Dale Strong, Ronnie Jackson, Ralph Norman, along with Lieutenant Governor Will Ainsworth, Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall, Alabama Secretary of State Wes Allen.
03:57Great people — Alabama Senate President Pro Tem Garland Gudger, Chancellor Sid Trant, and members of the University of Alabama Board of Trustees.
04:10But most importantly — and they would agree with this — let's give a big round of applause to your incredible parents, grandparents, and family members.
04:20Because they made this wonderful day possible.
04:30How are you?
04:31Great.
04:32Without them, it doesn't happen.
04:33Without them, you probably aren't here, and you wouldn't have that big, beautiful smile on your faces.
04:38This year, the graduating Alabama class of 2025 has over 6,600 graduates.
04:46You're the largest class in school history.
04:49Among your ranks are among the 800 first-generation college students and nearly 3,000 students from right here in the great state of Alabama.
05:00Amazing.
05:05And this class also includes many Rhodes Scholars, Goldwater Scholars, 213 Merit Scholars, and over 1,500 students graduating with red caps.
05:18You know what that signifies?
05:204.0 GPA.
05:21That's a lot of students.
05:23That's a lot of students.
05:26That's pretty good.
05:35I know who I'd pick.
05:36I'd look for a red cap.
05:37I'd say, I want you to work for the beautiful Trump administration — this lovely administration.
05:43In addition, the class of 2025 has nearly 130 active duty service members, veterans, and members of the University of Alabama ROTC.
05:53Thank you very much.
06:01Everywhere you look, you can see the fierce spirit of this school.
06:05But nowhere more clearly than in your world-class athletics is nothing like it.
06:11Probably there's no school like it.
06:13That's why I would like to recognize the 11 graduating seniors on the University of Alabama football team.
06:19Where may they be?
06:20Where are they?
06:21You just have to look, and they're about a foot taller than everybody else.
06:26Oh, great.
06:27Thank you very much.
06:28Congratulations.
06:29Great season.
06:32Great season.
06:34Great season.
06:35There is something truly special about the players, coaches, and the fans who packed the stands at Bryant-Denny Stadium and proudly sing Dixieland Delight.
06:49We like that.
06:51Alabama has changed college football forever and inscribed into the history books the names of Bear Bryant, Joe Namath, four Heisman Trophy winners, and, of course, the great Nick Saban.
07:08This place is truly where legends are made.
07:15It really is.
07:16It's a special place.
07:17When your president called, we talked about it.
07:20It took me about two seconds to say, I'll go.
07:23I wasn't looking to do it.
07:25And we are busy.
07:26You know, we're winning a lot of battles right now.
07:28We love winning.
07:29Don't we love winning?
07:30We're winning a lot of battles.
07:31But I wanted to do this.
07:35For the University of Alabama, good isn't good enough, tough isn't tough enough, and great isn't great enough.
07:41The Crimson Tide does not rest, does not quit, and does not stop winning until it's all time.
07:49You know, it's all time.
07:51You're always winning, and you're going to keep winning.
07:53That's why the University of Alabama football team has won more games in the last decade than any college football team in America.
08:01That's not bad.
08:06And it's why last fall you beat Auburn for the fifth year in a row.
08:13That's not bad.
08:18That's not bad.
08:20The University of Alabama has a brand, and that brand is winning.
08:24That brand is winning.
08:26Great school.
08:27Last year, the Crimson Chaos Watch, the Tide Hoops, make it to the Final Four for the first time ever.
08:34And this year, you built on your incredible record and returned to the Elite Eight.
08:39So not only is Alabama a great football school, it's now one of the nation's best basketball schools.
08:45And congratulations.
08:54And I love sports, and I think I should have come here.
08:57I think I should have come here.
08:59Congratulations as well to the women's track and field team for winning two SEC titles this year.
09:05That's something.
09:10And as long as I'm president, we will always protect women's sports.
09:14Men will not play in women's sports.
09:17No way.
09:30They say that's an 80-20 issue.
09:32No, it's a 97-3 issue, I think.
09:35No, men will not be playing in women's sports.
09:39I said that and I classified it with a very powerful executive order.
09:45As you know, it's done.
09:46The class of 2025 was the first to enter the halls of this university in the aftermath of COVID-19.
09:53Following a difficult senior year of high school, many of you came here to Tuscaloosa from around the country.
10:00And for the very first time, you experienced something called freedom.
10:05You had freedom.
10:08So let's give a big round of applause to the leaders of this state who chose liberty over lockdowns.
10:14They did.
10:15They did a good job.
10:20They did a good job.
10:25As you know, there are few campuses in the world more beautiful than this one.
10:30And there are few memories sweeter than the ones you have formed, really, at this capstone and at the capstone.
10:37You'll miss the beautiful sounds of Denny Chimes, the excitement of lining the Walk of Champions, the Saturday tailgates at the Quad.
10:45As you graduate, it's natural to reflect on four years of happy memories.
10:50And you've really had happy memories here.
10:52You've done a lot of winning.
10:53Winning is a good thing to do.
10:56But today, I'm also asking you to look forward to really something very, very bright and more promising.
11:03And it's going to be an even more promising tomorrow.
11:06I promise you that.
11:07You're the first graduating class of the Golden Age of America.
11:12We're in the Golden Age.
11:13You watch.
11:14The Golden Age.
11:19This is the Golden Age.
11:22We've done things that nobody thought possible.
11:24One hundred days yesterday.
11:26One hundred days.
11:28And we've done things that nobody thought even possible.
11:31Like many generations before you, you're graduating at an exciting time for our nation.
11:40It's been a period of both extraordinary change and incredible potential and what will be unbelievable growth.
11:47You're going to see that very soon.
11:48You're going to see it starting very, very soon.
11:51The whole world is talking about it.
11:53Our country has always been defined by its ability to reform and reinvent itself, to meet the challenges of the next era.
12:02The last four years were not good for our country.
12:05But don't let that scare you.
12:07It was an aberration.
12:09We're run by people who truly at that time, four years, we were run by people that didn't have a clue.
12:17They didn't have a clue.
12:19And I'm trying to be nice when I say it that way.
12:22They allowed our beautiful USA to be laughed at, scorned, and taken advantage of by everybody.
12:29We were ripped off on trade by nations all over the world, both friend and foe.
12:34And oftentimes, a friend was far worse on trade than the foe.
12:37But those days are over.
12:39You're at the start of something very, very big.
12:42You're going to see that very soon.
12:43Now, exactly 250 years after the first Patriots stood and fought at Lexington and Concord,
12:50we're in the midst of another kind of revolution, a revolution of winning and a revolution of common sense.
12:57Common sense.
13:07Everywhere you look, broken systems, corrupt institutions, and tired dogmas are being swept away by the tide of history.
13:16Ancient wisdom is being rediscovered.
13:18And the best and strongest traits of America are coming back for all to see bigger, better, and greater than ever.
13:26Coming back, and they're coming back fast.
13:28The spirit of our age is one of boldness, vigor, ambition, and adventure.
13:33And it's exciting to be you and young.
13:36Oh, I'd pay you a lot of money to have your age.
13:40You have a great future.
13:42The people have rejected the voices of a failed establishment.
13:45You saw that in the election.
13:47We've turned the page on endless wars, crippling debt, open borders, ruinous inflation, and the lack of respect for our country and for its leaders.
13:56But we're turning that all around, and we're turning it around very fast.
14:01We will very quickly make America great again.
14:06This week, we're celebrating the most successful first 100 days of any presidential administration in the history of our country.
14:31And we've been given a lot of credit for that.
14:33But 100 days does not a full-term make.
14:36But we're going to do even better as we move along.
14:38In a matter of weeks, we've achieved the lowest number of illegal border crossings ever recorded.
14:51And you've seen it, hundreds of thousands of people pouring into our country from prisons, from mental institutions, from gangs,
15:00and all over the world, not just in South America.
15:03You'd see hundreds of thousands of people pouring across in one day.
15:07You know what we had just recently?
15:09Three.
15:10Three.
15:11Three.
15:12Three.
15:13And we slashed the number of illegal aliens released into the United States by 99.999 percent.
15:25And you know, if that number is wrong, the fake news, which is all over the place today, is going to be correcting me before I get to the next sentence.
15:38Now, 99.999 percent.
15:42How about that?
15:43Nobody thought that was possible.
15:44They said you needed legislation.
15:46No, you just needed a new president.
15:48That's what you needed.
15:49But despite the tremendous success, as you've been reading, the courts are trying to stop me from doing the job that I was elected to do.
16:03We won by millions of votes.
16:05We won all seven swing states.
16:07Seven out of seven.
16:08We won 312 electoral college votes.
16:12They said, oh, 270 would be great.
16:14We won 312 and 2,750 counties versus 525 counties throughout the nation.
16:23That's why when you look at a map, it's all red.
16:26It's all red.
16:27Every inch of it is red.
16:29A little couple of blue dots.
16:31But they have to let us do the job that the voters want us to do.
16:37Judges are interfering, supposedly based on due process.
16:41But how can you give due process to people who came into our country illegally?
16:46They want to give them due process.
16:48I don't know.
16:51We've created 350,000 new jobs and brought core inflation down to its lowest level in many, many years.
16:59Energy is down.
17:00Look at your cost of energy, way down.
17:02Groceries are down.
17:04Even eggs are down.
17:05Remember I came in.
17:06Remember I was here a week and they started screaming at me, the fake news.
17:11Egg prices have doubled.
17:13I said, they just got here.
17:14I've been here for four days.
17:16I said, tell me about egg prices.
17:18They've doubled.
17:20Well, they didn't double under me.
17:22I just got there and we did a great job.
17:25We brought down the cost of eggs.
17:26In fact, they said you won't have eggs for Easter.
17:28They wanted to give.
17:29We have a big Easter egg hunt at the White House.
17:31You saw it just take place.
17:33And they thought we should order thousands of plastic eggs.
17:36Plastic?
17:37I said, no, we'll do it.
17:38And we straightened out the egg situation very quickly.
17:41Our great Secretary of Agriculture did a fantastic job.
17:45And we had so many eggs we didn't know what the hell to do with them.
17:48And prices of eggs have gone down 87% since I took office.
17:54That's something, right?
17:55But the price of food has gone down and mortgage rates are down.
18:03And gasoline prices just hit $1.88 a gallon in three states.
18:10Can you believe it?
18:11It was at 350.
18:12It was at four.
18:13We're drilling.
18:14Oh, we're drilling.
18:15You know, drill baby drill, right?
18:17We drill baby drill.
18:18We do that.
18:19We got it down.
18:20We have it going good.
18:21And, you know, when energy drops that much, you don't have much inflation.
18:25It's hard to have inflation.
18:27It was just announced that in the first quarter, investments in the United States are up 22%
18:33that we're leading the whole world of investment.
18:36Everybody's pouring into our country with big dollars.
18:39And it's all about November 5th, the November 5th election and tariffs and incentives that
18:44we've given that are going to make this country so much richer.
18:48We have $36 trillion in debt.
18:52That's going to start to come off.
18:53It's going to come off rapidly.
18:55But we'll be over $8 trillion in investment with Apple and others investing $500 billion
19:03each.
19:04We've never had a period of time in two months because we're here for three months, a little
19:09bit more.
19:10But give me a break for the first month.
19:11You know, had to get a little acclimated.
19:13Had to see where the enemy lies because they're already looking to impeach Trump.
19:17You know, these crazy people.
19:18Let's impeach him.
19:19For what?
19:20We don't know exactly, but we'll try it.
19:22These people are crazy.
19:24So we had to, you know, get our bearings for the first couple of weeks.
19:27So in two months, we had over $8 trillion — think of it — committed.
19:34Nobody's ever seen anything like it.
19:36There's never been anything like it in any country at any time.
19:39And it's all because they want to avoid the tariffs.
19:41We want to get here fast.
19:43And I said, you know, a number of times, tariff is the most beautiful word in the world.
19:48And I got absolutely decimated by the fake news.
19:51They said, what about love?
19:53What about your wife?
19:55What about your parents?
19:57What about religion and God?
19:59And so I said, all right, it's the fifth nicest word I've ever seen.
20:04And since I've done that, I've been in good shape.
20:06Nobody's bothered me.
20:07They've been very nice.
20:08So it's the fifth most beautiful word I've ever heard.
20:11But it's making us very rich.
20:13And you'll be seeing the results pretty soon — sooner than most people think.
20:17Because that's what other countries have been doing to us, just so you understand.
20:21They were tariffing the hell out of us.
20:23We couldn't sell cars in Europe.
20:25We couldn't sell cars in China.
20:26We couldn't sell cars in Japan or anywhere else.
20:29We couldn't do anything.
20:30And all we're doing is we're doing it to them, but we're doing it much better.
20:34And the U.S. military is suddenly seeing its best recruiting numbers ever.
20:38We've never had numbers like this.
20:41We now have waiting lists because there is such incredible spirit in our country.
20:51There's a great spirit.
20:52And just think, six months ago — and you remembered, it was embarrassing — before the election,
20:58six months ago, we were hearing and reading that numbers of those joining our military were at the worst levels ever.
21:05We've never had anything like it, right?
21:07You remember that?
21:08And now they're at the best levels ever.
21:11We have waiting lists to get into the military.
21:18We couldn't fill the positions.
21:20And that included in our police forces, our fire departments — we love our fire departments also.
21:25We can never forget our fire departments.
21:27But our police forces were begging for help.
21:32And now they're brimming over with people and applicants, and they're getting great ones.
21:37It's amazing what's taken place.
21:38And that's really the spirit.
21:39Each of the graduates in this arena will soon have the chance to help lead this project of national renewal.
21:47And that's what it is.
21:48It's a national renewal.
21:50We suffered so badly for four years.
21:52We had one of the greatest economies — we actually had the greatest economy in the history of our country during the first term of Trump.
22:00And then we got hit hard with inflation during the Biden economy.
22:06It was horrible.
22:07We were hit so hard.
22:08The worst probably ever — they say 48 years.
22:11We'll accept that.
22:12But I would say ever.
22:14You'll embrace this moment, and you'll step forward with strength and grit, faith and patriotism to put America on a new trajectory for your children.
22:23And then you'll take your place among the greatest generations in the history of our country.
22:28I think you have a chance to be the greatest generation in the history of our country because we're turning it around, and you happen to be available.
22:37You're available.
22:39That's a good time to be available.
22:46There are some times when it's not so good to be available.
22:50But this is a great time.
22:51I'm absolutely confident that the Alabama class of 2025 is up to the task.
22:57Are you up to the task?
22:58You learned a lot about winning here in Alabama, and now we need you to help win for America.
23:08For the business majors here today, I challenge you not merely to use your talents for financial speculation, but to apply your great skills that you've learned and had to forging the steel and pouring the concrete of new American factories, plants, shipyards, and even cities, which are going up all over our country.
23:31Don't just build a strong portfolio.
23:34Build a very, very strong America, and you're going to do that.
23:38To the engineers, brilliant you are, technicians, scientists, and math majors, we need your Alabama spirit and competition to keep our country at the forefront of every single domain.
23:58America should have the world's tallest buildings, designed the fastest airplanes, build the greatest cars, do everything the absolute best, better than any other nation in the world, and you can do it.
24:11And we will soon land American astronauts on Mars.
24:14That will happen.
24:15That will happen.
24:16That will happen.
24:17In every field you have studied, there are problems to be solved and breakthroughs to be made.
24:30To the journalism majors, of which I've had a lot of problems with.
24:35I must be honest.
24:37I'm not sure I like them.
24:38No, I do.
24:39I do.
24:40But you're really leading a very thing because we need a great and free press.
24:44We need a brilliant press.
24:45They're like a watchkeeper.
24:47They're very important.
24:48And you can go out and take it down a new track.
24:52Help save the country.
24:54So important.
24:56Your task is so important.
24:58And it's to build a media that Americans can trust and remember.
25:03The people of this country, they know the truth when they hear it.
25:07That's why the ratings, the approval numbers of the media are so low.
25:12We need those ratings to be 100 percent.
25:15We have to be able to trust our media.
25:17They say you have to have that.
25:19You need strong, strong borders.
25:22And you need really free, fair, clean elections.
25:25You need those things.
25:26But the media is a big part of it.
25:28In the world of health and medicine, there is an exciting new movement to get poisons out
25:32of our food supply, keep toxins out of our government, clean out our environment, and make America healthy again.
25:46And I think Bobby is going to do a great job.
25:48Don't you?
25:49I think so.
25:50I think he's the guy we needed.
25:55And in government, it is the task of your generation to replace bureaucracy, graft, and waste with a new system that defends American freedom.
26:05These are big tasks before you, but the reward for your hard work will be the United States of America is stronger, prouder, better, and more unified than ever, ever, ever before.
26:19It's going to be.
26:28As you embark on this great adventure, let me share some of the biggest lessons I've learned from a lifetime spent building dreams and beating the odds.
26:36I beat a lot of odds.
26:38A lot of odds.
26:39A lot of people said, I don't know.
26:41But it worked out okay.
26:43Where are we?
26:44Oh, gee, I'm president.
26:45How did that happen?
26:46Now, you're going to be in the same position.
26:50But some of the things — would you like to hear some of the ideas?
26:53Or should I just skip over that part, huh?
26:55That's going to be more interesting than all the other stuff which was slightly political, right?
27:00I'm going to give it to you, though, just as I see it and as I've learned it, the hard way and the easy way.
27:06First, if you're here today and think that you're too young to do something great, let me tell you that you are wrong.
27:14You're not too young.
27:15You can have great success at a very young age.
27:18You're all very young.
27:19In America, with drive and ambition, young people can do anything.
27:24I was 28 when I took my first big gamble to develop a hotel in midtown Manhattan, the Grand Hyatt.
27:31And it worked out incredibly well.
27:33But I was very young at the time.
27:35I was like a very young person in sort of an old person business.
27:39Steve Jobs was 21 when he founded Apple.
27:42Walt Disney was 21 when he founded Disney.
27:45James Madison, James Monroe, Alexander Hamilton, Thomas Jefferson.
27:50They were no older than 25 when they began the journeys that etched their names into the history books for all time.
27:58So to everyone here today, don't waste your youth.
28:01Go out and fight right from the beginning, from the day you leave this incredible university.
28:06Go out and fight.
28:08Fight tough.
28:09Fight fair.
28:10But go out and fight.
28:11You're going to be very successful because now is the time to work harder than you have ever worked before.
28:16Push yourself further than you have ever pushed yourself before.
28:20Find your limits and then smash through everything.
28:24Go and smash through.
28:26You've watched that football team smash through.
28:28You're going to do the same thing.
28:30You're at the age when you have the time and vitality to do really incredible things.
28:38If you give, just give it your all.
28:42You'll look back and a decade from now, you'll be astounded by what you've achieved.
28:48You'll remember this day.
28:49You'll remember when the guy named Trump was giving the commencement address and he said I could do it.
28:55And guess what? I did.
28:56I think you're going to remember that very fondly.
28:58I hope so.
28:59Second of all, and very importantly, you have to love what you do.
29:09Okay?
29:10You have to.
29:11I rarely see somebody that's successful that doesn't love what he or she does.
29:16That's way really like work isn't work.
29:21It's fun.
29:22I find it fun.
29:23I work all the time and I find it fun.
29:25If I didn't find it fun, I wouldn't be successful, whether it was real estate or in showbiz.
29:30I had a lot of different careers, but I loved real estate so much.
29:34And I was very successful in real estate because I loved it.
29:38I learned a lot from my father because I watched him work.
29:41He worked seven.
29:42He was a workaholic.
29:43He worked.
29:44He loved to work.
29:45He's a good man.
29:46He was a tough guy.
29:47Tough as hell, actually.
29:48Now that I think back, I don't know if you could even get away with that nowadays.
29:51He was tough.
29:52But he was a good man, I'll tell you.
29:54And he worked seven days a week.
29:56He worked Saturdays, Sundays.
29:58It didn't matter.
29:59And I learned by watching him, he loved his life.
30:01He loved what he was doing.
30:03He had a great long-term marriage.
30:05A long, long, many, many, many years.
30:08He beat me on that one.
30:10Now, I've minded very successful, but they haven't lasted quite as long.
30:15It was close to 70 years.
30:17That was a long time.
30:18I said, Pop, you beat me on that one.
30:21But you know what I learned from him?
30:23That he just, he loved life, and all he did was work.
30:26I see people that don't work hard, and they're miserable.
30:29So go out and find.
30:30But he loved what he was doing.
30:32And you have to find something that you love.
30:34And you have to follow your own instincts.
30:36Listen to your parents.
30:37They're very wise, but you have to follow your instincts and your heart, your soul.
30:43And you want to be the very, very best you can be.
30:46Treat every day like a home game against Auburn.
30:49Fight like hell and enjoy doing it.
30:52And your coach can tell you all about that.
30:55Third thing is to think big.
30:57You know, you're going to do something, you might as well think big.
31:00Because it's just as tough.
31:02You can think small.
31:03I know a lot of people, they thought small.
31:05They're very smart.
31:07I know others that weren't nearly as smart, but they had a better picture of the big picture.
31:12Because it's just as hard to solve a small problem as a big problem.
31:15And it's just as much energy and everything else except the result is going to be a smaller one.
31:21So love what you do, but think big if it's possible.
31:24Now, if it's not possible, that's okay, too.
31:27You do something, you have to do something that you love.
31:30You will have all the same headaches and challenges, all the same delays and setbacks.
31:35So you might as well do something that's just amazing.
31:38America doesn't aim small.
31:40Alabama doesn't aim small.
31:42And neither do you.
31:43So think big when possible.
31:45Think big.
31:46Fourth is work hard.
31:49Work hard.
31:51Never, ever stop.
31:52Never, ever stop.
31:53An example is a great athlete, actually, Gary Player, golfer.
31:58Great, great golfer.
32:00He wasn't as big as other men.
32:03He was actually on the small side.
32:05Don't tell him that, a friend of mine.
32:08Don't tell him that because he doesn't understand that.
32:11But he worked very, very hard.
32:13He made up for it.
32:14He never stopped.
32:15He won 168 golf tournaments.
32:17Think of that, 100.
32:18I said, Gary, you're winning like every weekend.
32:21Do you ever choke or anything?
32:22I don't know what choke means.
32:24And he made a statement years ago that I read, and I thought it was sort of an incredible
32:30statement.
32:31He said, it's funny.
32:32The harder I work, the luckier I get.
32:35Right?
32:36Think of that.
32:37The harder I work, the luckier I get.
32:38So you really have to work hard.
32:40And you're going to be successful because you have the talent.
32:43To get into this school is not easy.
32:45To get through it is even more difficult.
32:48You have a lot of talent.
32:50Fifth is don't lose your momentum.
32:54Just, you just want to keep it going.
32:57And you have to know if you are losing it, you have to know when you're losing it.
33:00So maybe you stop and maybe it's time to stop.
33:02Listen to the feedback.
33:04Think through your plan very carefully and keep moving fast.
33:09The word momentum is very important.
33:11I mean, I'll just tell you a little story about a great real estate developer named William
33:16Levitt.
33:17He built Levittown.
33:18Some of you might live in a Levittown.
33:19He was the biggest developer in the whole country in the 1940s and so.
33:24And he built these jobs.
33:25He started with one house, then two houses, then 20 houses, then thousands and thousands
33:31of houses.
33:32And a company, Gulf and Western, came along and they said, we're going to make you an offer
33:38to buy your company.
33:40And they offered him a lot of money.
33:42A lot of money.
33:43More money than he ever thought he could make.
33:45And he retired.
33:46Lost his momentum.
33:48He retired and he led a beautiful life.
33:51He had a wife, I must tell you.
33:53It was his second wife.
33:55It was a trophy wife.
33:56What can I say?
33:57I don't like telling you everything, but we're all friends, right?
34:00Can we talk?
34:01We're all friends.
34:02He had a trophy wife.
34:04And he lived a different life.
34:06He moved to the south of France, but he lived — it was a life of tremendous luxury.
34:11He had so many millions of dollars, he was given a fortune for the company.
34:15And 10 years went by, and then 15 years went by, and he got a call from this big conglomerate,
34:21Gulf and Western, and they said, we're not doing well with the purchase.
34:26Because he used to pick up every nail, every piece of sawdust, every piece of wood, every
34:32chip, everything.
34:33And he'd sell it.
34:34He'd make a couple of bucks.
34:35Everything was perfect.
34:36They can't do that.
34:37You know, these big companies, they don't do that.
34:39You see it a lot when an entrepreneur sells to a big company, and then he ends up buying
34:43the company back for peanuts later on.
34:45Happens a lot.
34:46But he was the best at what he did.
34:49But 15 years went by, and he was so excited, and they sold him back, his company.
34:55And he started — and he was going to tear apart the world because he got bored with a
35:00life of luxury.
35:01And he started building and building and building.
35:07And the markets turned on him.
35:09And he went bad.
35:10He lost everything.
35:11And he went bankrupt.
35:12Absolutely bankrupt.
35:14And it was a sad story to read.
35:16It was such an amazing story because he was so rich.
35:19But he paid them, and he bought it for the right price, bought it low, but he went wild.
35:23But he lost his momentum.
35:25He wasn't good at it anymore.
35:27And he was at a party on Fifth Avenue.
35:30I'll never forget.
35:32And it was a party of a very, very powerful man who was having the party in a magnificent
35:37apartment overlooking the park.
35:40And I walked in, and there were 50 or so people.
35:42I recognized most of them.
35:43All the biggest business people in the world, actually.
35:46Very glamorous.
35:47I was doing well.
35:48I was young, and I was doing well.
35:50And I was invited to parties like that.
35:52And I looked in the corner, and there was Mr. William Levitt sitting all by
35:57himself on a chair, looking very glum.
36:00Nobody was talking to him.
36:02Because you'll find that when you're not successful, you lose a lot of friends.
36:05It's not a good situation.
36:07But there was nobody talking to him.
36:09But I wanted to talk to him because I was in the real estate business, and he was.
36:13And most of these people were in different businesses.
36:15And I went over and talked to him, and I said,
36:18How are you, Mr. Levitt?
36:20He goes, Donald.
36:22He knew who I was.
36:23Not well.
36:24I'm not well.
36:26I said, so can you come back?
36:29He said, no, son.
36:32I lost my momentum.
36:33I shouldn't have done it.
36:35I lost my momentum.
36:36And I never forgot that expression.
36:38He lost his momentum.
36:40If he would have kept going, instead of selling and relaxing and going into a different life,
36:46he probably would have been three times bigger than he was.
36:50But he lost his momentum.
36:52And you have to know when it's your time.
36:54I mean, there'll be a time when you do lose.
36:55You see it with fighters.
36:56You see it with a lot of people.
36:58They have a great record.
36:59And they retire.
37:00And then four years later, they say, I'm going back.
37:03I can beat that guy.
37:04And they get knocked to hell.
37:06And it's not good.
37:08It's not good.
37:09So he lost his momentum.
37:11You have to know when your momentum time is up.
37:14I call it momentum time.
37:16But follow your momentum.
37:19It's a very important word.
37:21You don't hear it from too many.
37:22But I've seen it.
37:23I've seen it a lot.
37:24Number six, if you want to change the world, you have to have the courage to be an outsider.
37:29In other words, you have to take certain risks and do things a little bit differently.
37:33Otherwise, if that weren't the case, everybody would be successful.
37:37It doesn't work that way.
37:39Progress never comes from those satisfied with the failures of a broken system.
37:43It comes from those who want to fix the broken system.
37:46And you'll make the bigger money.
37:48You'll make them more success by acting that way.
37:53The other way may be more secure.
37:56But if you want to go to the top, you're just never going to do it unless you break the system.
38:00Change is never easy.
38:01And the closer you get to success, the more ferociously those with a vested interest in the past will resist you.
38:09They want to resist.
38:11So I just say, trust me on that, because I know you really do.
38:15You have to break the system a little bit and follow your own instincts.
38:20But if your vision is right, nothing will hold you down.
38:23Nothing.
38:24You have to have the right vision.
38:26If you look at some of these Internet people, I know so many of them.
38:30Elon is so terrific.
38:31But I know now all of them, you know, they all hated me in my first term.
38:36And now they're kissing my ass, you know?
38:38Do you know?
38:39It's true.
38:40All of them.
38:41It's true.
38:43It's amazing.
38:49It's nicer this way.
38:52Now, in the first, you know, they didn't know what happened because I won an election.
38:57That, you know, there was never a businessman that won a presidential election.
39:02Out of 100 percent, 8 percent were generals and 92 percent were politicians.
39:10And when I ran, everyone said, well, he can't win.
39:11He's a businessman.
39:12That's not going to work.
39:13And, you know.
39:14But you have a natural instinct for things.
39:15I guess I had a natural instinct.
39:16I said to somebody, was I a better businessman or politician?
39:21And they said, well, there are a lot of guys that made a lot of money.
39:22But there's only one guy that became president that was a businessman.
39:23So I guess you're a better politician.
39:24But I don't think of myself as a politician.
39:26I think of myself as a businessman.
39:27I think of myself as a businessman.
39:48And I'm proud of that.
39:52And I've applied business instinct, and that's why I think you're seeing us doing so well.
40:02So number seven is to trust your instincts, common sense.
40:05You can go very far in life with common sense.
40:08And I applied that to politics because some of these things, like they had open borders.
40:13Let everybody in the whole world flow into our country.
40:16That's not common sense.
40:17They had transgender for everybody.
40:21We ended that, if you noticed, okay?
40:23But they had transgender for everybody.
40:26They said — I said, this is not working.
40:31This is not going to work.
40:33As I said before, you know, so simple.
40:36Men playing in women's sports.
40:39Did you ever see some of the records?
40:40Did you ever see some of these boxing matches?
40:42You know, we have to protect — these women are great athletes, but we have to protect — if you looked at the Olympics,
40:48where they had transitioned people going into the boxing, where the women had boxing.
40:54And they had a great champion, a female boxer.
40:57I mean, after one punch, you walked back to the corner and said, I can't get hit like that.
41:02I've never been hit like that before.
41:04You look at all the volleyball players that have been hurt so badly with balls that are hit at levels that they've never seen before.
41:09But the greatest is like weightlifting.
41:12You ever see the weightlifting?
41:14Where they have a record that wasn't broken in 18 years?
41:18And they have — should I imitate it?
41:20You know, my wife gets very upset when I do this.
41:23She said, darling, it's not presidential.
41:26They said, yeah, but people like it.
41:29Should I do it or not?
41:32All right.
41:33I'm in trouble when I get home.
41:35But that's okay.
41:36What the hell?
41:37I've been in lots of trouble before.
41:40But, no, you look at the weightlifting.
41:42We're 18 years.
41:43It stands.
41:44And they have this young woman.
41:45And her parents are right where you are in the front row.
41:48And they're so proud of her.
41:50And it's like 209 pounds.
41:52And she's going to lift that.
41:54The record stood for 18 — think of it — 18 years.
41:58And they put an eighth of an ounce here.
42:00And an eighth of an ounce here.
42:02A little tiny, little bit.
42:04And she's going to do it.
42:06Mom, I love you.
42:07I'm going to do it for you, Mom.
42:09And she goes — and she looks — and she gets it.
42:13Mom, I'm going to do it, Mom.
42:17Can't do it.
42:21And then a guy comes along.
42:23Or a gal, or whatever.
42:26A transitioned person comes along.
42:32And he was a failed weightlifter as a man.
42:35But he comes along — 206 pounds.
42:39They put the little thing on.
42:41And he goes — boom, boom.
42:45And breaks the record, like, by 119 pounds.
42:49That's not right.
42:51The other one is the swimming.
42:52You've heard me talk about it.
42:53Great swimmers.
42:54And, you know, they rose to the top.
42:57Women swimmers.
42:58And they grew up together.
43:00And they're Olympic-class swimmers.
43:02And they're qualifying for some big tournament.
43:06And now the race is getting ready to start the big race.
43:09And they — one young lady — she was going to set the record.
43:13She fought all her life to set the record.
43:16She has to win it by one — one-ninth of a second.
43:19Think of that — one-ninth.
43:21I don't like those odds — one-ninth of a second.
43:24Right?
43:25But she looks to the left, and she sees all the friends that she grew up with.
43:28Down in California, from all over the country.
43:30They're all the best swimmers.
43:32And she looks to the right, and she sees the same thing.
43:35But there's a person next to her who's a giant.
43:39And she looks, and she's like, who is that?
43:42I have — I don't recognize that person.
43:44That was a person that transitioned.
43:47And he had the wingspan of Wilt the Stilt Chamberlain, if anybody knows him.
43:54And as you know what happened, she was very, very badly injured in that meet.
44:01Because he went by her so fast that she was windburned.
44:05They had to take her out.
44:06She got serious windburned.
44:07He flew back and forth and back and forth.
44:10And she didn't know what, but she got the hell knocked out of her.
44:13Knowing that, I'm only kidding.
44:15She wasn't windburned.
44:17She was just beaten by a lot.
44:19Or the race — did you see the race where they had the best female runners,
44:24and they had a guy who was a decent runner, a long-distance race?
44:27And he won by five hours and 19 seconds.
44:31You know, normally you win by like 12 seconds, two seconds, a quarter of a second.
44:35He won by five hours and 19 seconds!
44:38It's crazy.
44:40And, you know, honestly, it's demeaning for women.
44:42Very demeaning.
44:43These are great athletes.
44:44It's very demeaning.
44:45And we're going to protect women.
44:47We're going to protect women.
44:48We're going to protect everybody.
44:49So now that I'm in trouble with my wife, I'm going to blame the University of Alabama
45:02for asking me to go through with that stuff.
45:05But it's pretty descriptive, isn't it, really?
45:08It helps when you know that borders are not racist.
45:12Speech is not violence.
45:14America is good.
45:15Terrorists are bad.
45:17Men can never become women.
45:19Police are not criminals.
45:20And criminals are not victims.
45:23Now, if I'm afraid of people.
45:24We're
45:33everybody are dying.
45:34Thank you very much.
45:35Everybody should believe in the American dream.
45:37It's real.
45:38It's there and it's right before you.
45:40We're coming back to the American Green.
45:50Ninth, think of yourself as a winner.
45:53The power of positive thinking.
45:56Dr. Norman Vincent Peale from many years ago wrote a book,
45:59The Power of Positive Thinking.
46:01And there is a lot to it.
46:03The power of positive thinking.
46:05Don't consider yourself a victim.
46:07Consider yourself a winner.
46:09In recent years, too many of our young people have really been taught to think of themselves as victims
46:16and blame people and be angry.
46:18Don't be angry.
46:19But in America, we reject that idea that anyone is born a victim.
46:24Our heroes are the ones who take charge of their own destiny, make their own luck,
46:29and determine their own fate despite the odds.
46:33Despite all odds, that's what happens.
46:35They take — really, they're given a little chance in many cases, very little chance of success,
46:40and they become the most successful people in the world.
46:42Whether you were born rich or poor, black or white, male or female in America,
46:48anyone can be a winner.
46:50And our whole country will be cheering you on, and I'll be at the front of the line cheering you on,
46:54especially because you come from this incredible university.
47:05And next is to be an original.
47:07The all-time greats were people who had the confidence to be a little different.
47:12Teddy Roosevelt, Douglas MacArthur, George Patton, Amelia Earhart, Annie Oakley, Muhammad Ali,
47:19and so many others — so many others, far too many to name — lived their lives with pride, personality, and flair.
47:27God only created one of you.
47:29Remember that God created one of you.
47:31You're all different.
47:32Some are close, but nobody is the same.
47:35You're one of a kind.
47:37So don't try to be someone else.
47:39Just be yourself.
47:41And finally, and most importantly, never, ever give up.
47:45Never give up.
47:54Never give up.
47:56And I've learned anything in life.
47:59And it's — it's so true.
48:01One of the most important things you can learn.
48:03If you just went a little bit longer, if you just held out a little bit longer,
48:07you would have been successful.
48:09The stories of that are legend.
48:12But I've learned that perseverance is everything.
48:15So whatever happens, no matter where you are in life,
48:18stay optimistic and just keep pushing forward.
48:21Just don't stop.
48:22Never, ever give up.
48:24Victory is right around the corner.
48:26I've watched Coach Saban win games that really were virtually over.
48:31You've seen it.
48:32You've been in the stands.
48:33He won a couple of games.
48:34I said, Coach, you got lucky as hell.
48:37He said, I didn't get lucky.
48:38I'm a talented guy.
48:41You know, those little touchdowns that come out of nothing.
48:44He's amazing.
48:45But he's a guy that doesn't quit and doesn't know what the word quit even means.
48:50He couldn't define it.
48:52He took victory out of the jaws of defeat.
48:54And you can do that, too, at every stage in my career.
48:57My enemies, of which there were many and probably are right now,
49:01I can think of a couple of people that don't like me too much right now.
49:05But they said that they have to do everything they can to keep me from winning,
49:11to keep me from making it.
49:13And I'm representing you, so I have to make it.
49:15I have big shoulders, but these are big shoulders.
49:18I have to win for you.
49:20I'm not winning for myself.
49:21I'm winning for you.
49:22Do you remember when they said that Donald Trump will never become President of the United States?
49:26Remember Barack Hussein Obama said that?
49:29Barack Hussein Obama.
49:31Donald Trump will never be President.
49:33Like, 50 other politicians said that.
49:36Where are they now?
49:37Oh, let me see.
49:38Oh, there they are.
49:39Where are they now?
49:41But here I am standing before you as the 45th and 47th President.
49:46You heard that a lot.
49:55But against all odds, I did great in 2016.
49:592016, how great was that?
50:01And then I did much better in 2020.
50:05Sorry, the election was rigged.
50:07I probably, but it was a rigged election.
50:09And then in 2024, I made it too big to rig.
50:13I said, we got to do this again.
50:16We got to do this again.
50:18And we made it too big to rig.
50:22We made it.
50:23That was a great expression.
50:25I said, you got to go and vote.
50:26Even though I was leading big in the polls, I said, it doesn't matter.
50:29You got to make it too big to rig.
50:31And they did.
50:32They went out and they voted and voted and voted.
50:34And we won the whole thing.
50:36And it was so good.
50:37And it's such a great mandate for our country.
50:39That's the important thing.
50:40So never let anyone tell you that something is impossible.
50:43Ever, ever, ever.
50:45In America, the impossible is what we all do best.
50:53There is nothing you cannot do if you are willing to fight for it.
50:58You got to fight, fight, fight.
50:59Oh, I've heard that expression.
51:01Funny.
51:08That's not here.
51:10That's not here.
51:11Actually, most of what I've said tonight is not on the teleprompter.
51:15That's all right.
51:16Isn't it nice to have a president that doesn't need a teleprompter and can sort of have a little
51:22fun?
51:23Because I feel that this is home.
51:25You know, it's been such a great state for me.
51:27I feel it's home.
51:28When they said Alabama, I said, that has a good ring to me.
51:32But it's something nice about somebody that doesn't need a teleprompter, isn't it?
51:37But for the past four years, you've lived in a state known for its fighters, its champions,
51:42and its warriors.
51:43And you've lived in the great state of Alabama, one of the greatest of them all, from Huntsville
51:48to Birmingham, from Montgomery to Mobile, and from right here in Tuscaloosa, to the gleaming
52:04shores of the Gulf of America.
52:17That is a nice thing.
52:18Everybody loves it.
52:19I wouldn't say Mexico is thrilled, but you can't have them all.
52:22They're not thrilled.
52:23You continue the legacy of Alabama legends who blazed the trails, won the games, tilled
52:30the fields, forged the seals, built the ships, and gave us the victories that built America
52:36and changed the world.
52:38The entire world was changed by our victories.
52:41This is the state that gave us the might of the Iron City, the power of the Saturn V rocket,
52:48and the roaring engines of Talladega.
52:51Talladega.
52:52We love Talladega.
52:54We love Talladega.
52:56This is the state that gave us nothing but victory, the state of some of the greatest heroes
53:02in history, like Willie Mays, Jesse Owens, Joe Lewis, your coach Nick Saban.
53:10Hank Williams, and many others.
53:15Some of you will leave here today and travel the world, but you will always know that this
53:20state, as this is really sweet home Alabama, right?
53:23It's always going to be your place.
53:27I sort of feel that way myself, because from a political standpoint, it's just been
53:31we connected from day one.
53:33From the first day I set my foot on this beautiful soil, I connected with Alabama.
53:39And here in Alabama, we believe that the men and women who built this country are heroes,
53:44and that America's destiny is to be the single greatest nation on the face of the earth.
53:49And we're bringing it back at a speed that nobody thought was possible.
53:53We believe in freedom and family, God and country.
53:57We cherish our Constitution.
54:00We revere our Bible.
54:02And we salute our great American flag.
54:12We honor our police.
54:14We respect our veterans.
54:16And we always stand for our one and only national anthem.
54:22We love our national anthem.
54:27We believe in strong parents, strong values, strong communities, and very strong borders.
54:36And we believe that the United States military is the greatest force for peace and justice the world has ever known.
54:43We have a great military.
54:44We just had people that didn't know how to lead it.
54:47We believe the South is beautiful.
54:50Alabama is great.
54:51And America is our home.
54:53We believe in the SEC and the USA.
54:56Graduates of the Alabama Class of 2025 standing here before you in this magnificent arena,
55:11it is clear to see the next chapter of the American story will not be written by the Harvard Crimson.
55:20It will be written by you, the Crimson Tide.
55:24That's true.
55:25That's true.
55:26That's true.
55:28That's true.
55:37That's true.
55:40I thought that was rather clever.
55:42If you look at what's going on, you know, they get their $5 billion a year.
55:48That is not going to be so forthcoming.
55:51Now, wasn't that a clever one, though?
55:54Who would think of that?
55:57Because this is Alabama.
55:59And at Alabama, you fight, fight, fight, and you win, win, win.
56:03That's what you know how to do.
56:05Congratulations to you all.
56:07Congratulations to this great class of champions.
56:11God bless you and God bless America.
56:15Thank you all very much.