Trump gives tour of White House ballroom site, takes questions on midterms

Many had graffiti in them for 50 years. For the most part I would say, Doug, maybe none of them worked in all of Washington. And we beautified it. We've got rid of the homeless encampments where they took over all your parks, and we're in the process of redoing all of the grass, brand new grass very though So it sinks in a little bit, though, not good, right? When you have limestone, when you have granite, it's a lot easier. But so this is a special structure. It's going to be not only one of the biggest, but it'll be the most beautiful ballroom, I think, anywhere in the world. And they've been trying to get it for 150 years. And for the media, these are the people that built it. This is about 525 people. And they really worked hard. Steelworkers, the steel is just almost being finished. As I understand it, this will be the last piece of steel. Everybody in the room signed it, all of the workers, not just the steelworkers, the plumbers, the electricians, the painters, everybody signed it, and I'm going to be the last to sign it. And I'm going to have Doug sign it. Jared, did you sign it? Yeah? And I want to thank you. You've done a fantastic job. Well, let's get it finished first, okay? But right now, we're ahead of schedule, under budget, and it's moving very nicely. Everything should happen like that. You know, the Federal Reserve Building, as an example, is out of control. I didn't do it, but it's a shame what's going on, you know, with the waste and the fraud and the stupidity. But they're over $3 billion for a small building. $3 billion. And, but this doesn't have those problems. It has none of it. What happens at the Federal Reserve is a disgrace. And then they tell you about interest rates, right? They can't build a simple building. They renovate, they can't renovate a building, but they tell you about interest rates. And, and they tell you wrong, unfortunately. But I want to thank everybody, your special people. I grew up with you, you know, every one of you, I grew up with you, maybe in a different form, maybe. Genetically, maybe it was your fathers or your mothers, but I grew up in construction sites and a lot of your families are doing this for a long time and you're the best in the business. I heard in doing the beams, you know, these beams are among the heaviest beams ever set. And Bo was telling me, we were talking about it, if you look at that roof, that roof could actually hold helicopters on it as big as the yard. Whereas normally, as you know, I say this for the media, a helicopter, if it touched that roof, would come right through the ceiling. You could put as many helicopters as you want on the roof. It's a very powerful ceiling. It's drone-proof, it's missile-proof, it's bullet-proof. The sidewalls, the glass is bulletproof and drone-proof. There's no drone can pierce it. There's no bullet can pierce it, no matter how big. The glass, when you see it, you'll see it coming. It's starting to come now. It's this thick, and yet it's perfect vision. It's hard to believe you can do that. So it's heavy bulletproof glass. It's also drone-proof and small missile, if you can believe it, small missile. And what happens is you can take a look at it, put it in front of your face and you can see through it just like I'm seeing you right now. It's pretty amazing. Amazing stuff, the technology they have today. So you have the ceilings are drone proof, missile proof, bullet proof. The floor is very thick and all from underneath is... Totally designed in such a way. It's the safest. This is the safest place in Washington. When we're having a dinner, this will be the safest place. So you can have world leaders. You can have your president sitting here. They've been wanting a much bigger space, a much better space than they've had for 150 years. Presidents, you've heard me say it. What they never intended was getting something like this. This is going to be very safe. You can just sit here. Let people do whatever they want. Nothing's going to happen. This is the most powerful building, structurally the most powerful building, they say, ever built. And it was designed that way so the president can have safety. He's having the president of China or Russia or anyplace else when they're having dinner, when they have 2,000 guests, 2,500 guests, they're totally safe. It's impervious. So I just want to tell you that what you've done is amazing. What you're building, we're going to be finished pretty soon, but the hard part is done. And the one thing that I'm most fascinated with is what they've done underneath, because this goes down five stories. It's five stories underneath. And the military came to me and they said, Sir, we've never had this opportunity at the White House because it's fragile. And going underneath the building, would it be possible? We did. We did everything they wanted and it's something, they said that's been their dream for 50 years. It's been the dream of presidents to have a ballroom for 150 years. So we have everything. And on top, and you'll start to see it, we're building a, it's a drone port. It holds as many drones as you want, can hold over 100 drones. At the maximum size to weight weight is no problem And you see that when you see the power of the structure when you look at steel normally That would just be light steel you see it a lot when they build a plant where it's very light steel You can barely walk on it. It's dangerous. It's just it's called a rain roof. This is a roof That's a structural roof and rarely done because the span is so long that it's very hard to do structurally We ordered the marble for the floor the marble is A really magnificent marble, it's a cut, it's a vein that people have been after for 50 years and the owner of the quarry didn't want to sell it but he liked me and he also was so honored to be doing it for the country, for the White House and the marble floor you'll see it is the most beautiful marble you'll ever see, it's a special vein. This is a vein that everybody wanted for a long time, and I got it, and I got it for The floor of the ballroom at the White House, and it's going to be beautiful. The walls are going to be very, you'll see a lot of glass. A lot of you'll be looking at the Treasury Building, which is right there. You'll be looking at the front of the White House. And you see, if you look back there, you're looking at the other side of the White House. You have north and south. And the kitchen is underneath because I put the kitchen on top. We have large staircases coming from the kitchen. If I put the kitchen on top, you would lose three walls because the kitchen takes about 30% of the space. So the kitchen is all the space that you have right underneath, and it's going to be top of the line. So there has never been anything built like this, and it's for the country, and it's free. We got it free of charge. Thank you very much. And some great patriots have devoted a lot of money, given a lot of money to get it built. And so we didn't use taxpayers' money to build this ballroom. And it's going to be, when it's completed, it'll be the best anywhere in the world. You know, when I was in China, we went to the Great Hall. It's called the Great Hall of China. And it's, you know, it's incredible. But this is actually larger. This is larger. And it will be, it'll be the most magnificent when you see what we're doing between the marbles and the bronzes and all the different things that we're doing, top of the line, great architects. Our top architects and we have another man that's worked with me for a long time together and we were the ones that not only cleaned up Washington in terms of graffiti and and opened up you know the statues and the fountains and fixed everything up made it beautiful and everybody's talking about it but a man that helped us a lot with crime. Because crime is almost non-existent now in Washington. We went from one of the most unsafe cities in the country to one of the safest cities in the country. And people all day long in the White House, I walk in and people that work there, thank you, sir, thank you, thank you. We have a White House where people can walk to work. When I first came in two years ago, my first term was, it was different. It wasn't, you didn't have the kind of crime. It developed during the Biden administration. It may have had to do with COVID. Nobody knows exactly, but it was a killing field, Washington, D.C. And we worked together with experts and we brought in the National Guard, which were fantastic. And we worked with Washington police. And we have now one of the safest cities anywhere. Anywhere in the world, but anywhere certainly in the country, and again, this was a place where a young man would leave Iowa, come to see the Lincoln Memorial, the Washington Monument, Jefferson, come to see whatever, come to see the White House, and they'd call up the parents, I'm sorry, but your son has been killed, and they'd send the son home in a casket, or the daughter in a casket. Three a week, we're losing three people a week, three murders a week by savages, and we moved them out. We moved over 5,000 people out of Washington, D.C. They came in through the open borders, and they came in viciously and violently. We had a lot of problems with Democrats because they wanted to protect killers. I mean, I don't understand it, but who does? Who does? It makes no sense. But we got them out of here. We moved them back. Some were so violent. Some killed many people that we didn't want to send them even back to their country. We hate to take the cost of having them in jail for the next 50 years. But we didn't want to take a chance that they'd be able to come back. And, you know, speaking about being able to come back for the last. 17 months, zero illegal migrants have been allowed into our country. Zero, which is something that nobody thought was possible. So we're very happy about that. We're very happy about Washington, D.C. People are coming to Washington. Thank you, Mr. Harrington. All the restaurants were closing because of crime. And now all the restaurants, you can't, if you're a restaurateur, you can't get a space. You can't get a space. And people are dining and they're having a good time. They have a safe. It's a capital. It's the capital of our country. We have to make it beautiful and we have to make it safe. And this will be down. This building, when it's completed, will be one of the great one of the great buildings in Washington, D.C. And they'll understand that most people understand that just this whole magnificent space will be. A very important space in the future life of our country. So with that, I'd like to have the Secretary of the Interior, a great man, a great success, a fantastic governor for eight years in North Dakota, a very successful businessman, and he's done a really great job running the Interior. And thank you very much. Doug Burgum, everybody. Thank you very much. Thank you, Mr. President. Thank you, Mr. President. Today, of course, is a day of celebration, and it's a day of gratitude. It's a day of celebration because our builder-in-chief, the greatest builder that has ever been president of the United States, knows, like you said, he grew up on construction sites. When you get to this spot, the tradition is the workers have all signed the beam. The president's going to sign the beam. This is the last beam that's going into place. It's going to be raised up, and that's what we're here to celebrate. But none of that would have happened without the great American worker. America was built... By people that innovate, built by people that build great things and build great things well and build them quickly. There's 512 of them here wearing their jackets out there. Let's hear it for all the great American workers that are here today. Thank you. Thank you so much. Think of it, just over a year ago, this project was just getting started, and here we are today at a beam signing, and of course, that wouldn't have happened without President Trump. The vision that he had for this city, for safe and beautiful, also extends right here to this site, the White House. The National Park Service, which is part of the Department of Interior, is responsible for the restoration at the White House. President Trump done more to restore the beautiful, historic White House than any president. So when the teams are over there and some of you have worked over there, you're restoring history. When you're working here, you're making history. This is going to be a gift for the next 100, 200, 250 years. This building will stand the test of time. Historic events will happen here. And they will look back to this day knowing that all of you were a part of it. And it wouldn't have happened without President Donald J. Trump. Thank you, Bill. Thank you. And Jared, can you just come up and say a couple of words? They've done such a... Fantastic job of building. They've been our primary contractor. Please. Thank you, sir. It's a real honor to be able to work on this campus every day, to be able to work under the leadership of the president. I just want to thank everybody that's been involved in the project. It's really spectacular effort over the last year to get us to this point. I want to celebrate by raising the final beam. Thank you, sir. Great job. And before you do that, you know, we sort of mentioned a little bit during the campaign that Why does Trump spend time on the White House? Well, first of all, it's very little time. Second of all, I like it. It's good. For me, it's relaxing. For somebody else, it's the opposite. But for me, it's relaxing. I love construction. But that beautiful white facade was half falling off. And you know that because some of you helped us with it. It was in terrible shape. The moldings were down in many cases. Probably 20% of the moldings were off the building. You'd have windows with a beautiful window and a molding on one side, and the molding was missing for many years on another. And it bothered me very much because that's what I do. I like beautiful things, and especially when it comes to the White House. And we had a group of very talented people work with me for the last... Yeah. And we've totally redone the facade of the White House and the finest exterior plaster. The place was falling apart. It was cracked. It was broken. The windows were broken and cracked. We replaced numerous windows that were cracked. In some cases, they were outright broken. And you'd look at it as a guest. And when President Xi was here two weeks ago, I said, wow, the condition is so beautiful. He said, I remember it wasn't that way a long time ago. But I will tell you that right now it's flawless and it's beautiful. And, you know, when I get criticized, like, why are you working on the White House? I'm doing it because the White House is the ultimate symbol of America. And it's got to be pristine. It's got to be perfect. And if you take a look at it, that's what it is right now. You have no idea how much work we had to do. We'd take fiberglass molds of the other side of the molding that was broken, because they're very intricate, and then take it back to shops, and then remake moldings, and then put it up the way it used to be. I mean, you'd have windows with one-third of a molding left. And it looked like hell to anybody that knows. I think to people that don't know, it wouldn't have looked good. So we did that. I'm just looking here, and I'm looking at that beautiful facade, how it's gleaming. And then we re-caulked it, re-painted it. And it's good for another 200 years now. You know, it opened in 1792, and it was in... it was in terrible embarrassing shape including the entrances you'd walk in there were broken stones there were stones with big holes in them it was terrible so that's why i did it because that's the ultimate symbol symbol of our country and this is now a part of that symbol this will be something very special and so we're Putting up the last piece of steel. I thought it would be appropriate to have the media here. You're going to see something really great. Thank you all. I want to thank you all. Great job you've done. And we'll see you again at the official opening, which won't be in too long a period of time. You're all invited. Thank you very much, everybody. This and then we'll do it. Yep. I got you back. You ready to go back? The look could not be. You got that? Ideally, it won't fall on you. If it does. We'll call your family. We have to go down this way, this is a safety reason, we have to go down the aisle. Thank you. I'm going to get more devices. On top of that roof. But it'll be all drones. That's right, thank you. Why don't we ask, if you want, a couple of questions while they're rigging it. How about having that in the background, though? Thank you very much. Yeah, we'll do this. You let me know when they're ready. Okay, go ahead. Mr. President, we're fighting for the poor minority. We'll stay out of it. I mean, they're going to be, you know, Jim, Jim was, I think he was really, all of them, everybody, everybody that we're dealing with. But the speaker was fantastic. The people under him were fantastic. All good people. I guess right now you have two candidates, right? No, no, no. Vice President Vance says the reason Republicans lost last night was the war in Iran. Well, I think it's largely true because it drove the gasoline up a little bit short term. And probably that's, probably it's true. But at the same time, if I had it to do again, I'd have to do it again. Because long term, it's the only answer. You can't let Iran have a nuclear weapon. Do you feel like it was more good? I do, yeah. I mean, well, you have no choice. I mean, I thought the oil would go up a lot more, and I did it on that basis. You have no choice. You have to do it. You can't let Iran have a nuclear weapon. Or everything that you see here someday might not exist. And maybe this, but this building might be the only one that does. So, yeah, I think that, look, I mean, I'll get along probably with the Democrats unless they want to be destructive. But they have the power of the veto. So if we don't like what they're doing or they'll, they've already called. They want to talk about things. And that's fine. But, yeah, people, the Iran thing we had to do and we continue to do it. We have tremendous oil flowing out of the Hormuz Strait right now. At the beginning, there was none. And probably that's the primary reason. The price, not the war, the price. The Press The Press No, look, I mean, if I were on the ballot, we would have won. You saw the people that were packed, thousands and thousands of people at every rally. And if I was on the ballot, we would have won. But they just, you couldn't transfer that love. There was such love at those rallies. It was incredible. We weren't able to transfer the love to candidates. Did any of your aides try to talk you out of delivering that speech on Monday? Which one are we talking about? One of the reflecting people. Did any of your aides advise you to do something? I heard it was a very good speech. Got great reviews. That was only a speech on the reflecting people. That had nothing to do with anything else. That was a speech very much like this is today. This incredible place that we're building at the White House, it's going to be here for many, many years and serving our country well. That was only a sort of a ribbon cutting because the reflecting pool hasn't worked since 1922. It's, you know, over 100 years, it's never worked. It's always leaked, and it was always a mess. And we fixed it. We made it great. That was not a speech. That was just talking about the reflecting pool and then a couple of other comments. I mean, our speeches were really the speeches made at the 30 rallies, and those speeches were, that was tremendous love. It was pretty amazing. I can't tell you that. They may tell you, but I can't tell you that. The Press Is there going to be an impeachment at all? Some of the House members? The President: No, no, no. The Press Are you concerned about it? The President: Not even a little bit. I think it would destroy the Democrat Party if they did that. Because impeachment for no reason. What, for having a successful country? Our country is more successful now than at any time in its history. Watch the beam go up. The Press: You've got to slide back, fellas. I'm sorry. The Press: Come back, please. The President: Back, back, back, back, back. All the way back. All right. It's bigger than you thought, right? All right, and then some new chandeliers. Okay. Okay, I'll stay here. Sure. Now envision chandeliers all over your ceiling. Envision marble floor. Oh, it's going to be beautiful. This will be the most beautiful ballroom. Yeah, probably July, right around there. It's gonna be great. Middle to end of next year, but depending on surfaces. Watch this. Okay, you know. It's not steel that's used on a roof to hold back rain. You know, it's to hold helicopters. Did you guys see the helipad from Uptown? How beautiful that is? It's incredible. It's awesome, Washington. It's incredible. This is gonna be more incredible. So I thought the press should be here. This was a non-press event. I said, this is the greatest. Right? Do you see the helipad from all of them? Yes, I do. Well, let's take a look. Good work. Very talented people that do that. Very talented. I'm starting to want to have it. They put all the steel up in three weeks, can you believe it? The whole thing was done in two and a half weeks. Pretty amazing. How are you, sir? Good. Good job. And that'll fit perfectly. Within a hundredth of an inch, can you believe it? They rarely have to do any chopping. Watch. Pretty amazing, right? The entire building, every single hole was perfect, which is rare, but we had great people. The Federal Reserve, not quite. Okay. And the others. What a shame. Those guys are standing under. I know. Personally, I'd pass on that. Because if one bolt, ooh, if one bolt fell down, that's it. Your history, it's pretty amazing. Would you like to move over there, Dan? Right under that, look, it's right under there. We'll send Margo, let's send Margo home. This is a national treasure. No, if anything fell off there, but they'd do it. Except the Secret Service guy's not very well protected. I don't think he has any idea what's going on above. See the way that fits? Just like a glove. See the sprue that they put right through it? Now they bolted in and that's the end of that. Pretty good, right? That's pretty good. Go ahead. Did you have any other questions? I knew the war was going to impact it, but whether it impacted or not, Iran can't have a nuclear weapon. No, but the Vice President wrote a very lengthy post about how the war impacted the results last night. Well, that's it. Did you know he was going to do that? I knew he was, I know how he feels about it. I think it was, I think it was fine, yeah. I thought it was good. We knew that. I know that, I knew that when I went in and we stopped them from having a nuclear weapon and they will never have a nuclear weapon. Have you spoken to Vice President Vance? Yeah. Yeah. About the AIM? What is it? I speak to him about a lot of things. But, uh... I mean, we'll see what happens. Everybody, you don't know who's talking about running. You can have people running. You can have a lot of people. Maybe you're a lot of people running. Maybe nobody's going to run. Maybe he won't run. I don't know who's going to run. But I can tell you that as far as that war is concerned, I would have done nothing different. We've totally broken their military. Their Navy's gone. Their Air Force is gone. Their anti-aircraft is gone. Good job. You did a dangerous job. Do what? Well, it's just there, it's a thing that they do, and here's the interesting thing. Somebody will walk after we're gone, they'll walk right across that, pick up the tree and walk. There aren't too many people who can do that. You need very good balance. You know that? They'll leave that tree. Well, we're gone, a guy will walk right on that tree and take it. Oh, boy. Well, what did end? No, I didn't say that. I said their nuclear weapons will be destroyed. And that happened with Midnight Hammer. Pretty dangerous job. And you know what? They fall sometimes. And when they fall, it's terrible. Whenever I wanted to. But it's got to be done right. And we're never going to let them have a nuclear weapon. It's got to be done right. But of course I knew that. I knew fuel would go up. I thought it would go up two or three times higher than it is. And now today it's coming down. And yesterday it dropped, or the day before it dropped 10 points. No, we've done a great job. The Hormuz Strait is open. It's producing Wall Street Journal, cover of the Wall Street Journal a couple of days ago. It's producing more oil right now than at any time prior to the war. Are you considering replacing the secretary? No, I think he's doing a very good job. You don't want him to feel more of a lack of tenancy. Well, I think he's doing a very good job, and I actually think he'd be very popular if he did that, but I haven't heard that at all. I'm going to give you advice on how to do it. No, no, look, when I said fast, we stopped them from having a nuclear weapon very early on when we did the raid.