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Remarks by President Trump at the American Farm Bureau Federation Annual Convention and Trade Show
Press Release:
Austin Convention Center • Austin, Texas • January 19 • 5:31 P.M. CST
THE PRESIDENT: Well, I want to thank you very much. And thank you to our great Secretary of Agriculture, Sonny Perdue. Thank you, Sonny, very much. You've done a fantastic job. (Applause.) Sit down, everybody. Let's stay for a while. Come on.
We did it. We did it. Remember? (Applause.)
They were all saying, "You'll never get NAFTA changed." We were stuck with one of the worst trade deals in history. "We'll never do it. We'll never get a deal done with China." I've told everybody, "You got to buy a lot of land, and you've got to get much bigger tractors right now." Because we did a great deal with China - great for our country. And hopefully, it's great for China, too, because we're going to sell them the greatest product you've ever seen, right? The greatest product you've ever seen. (Applause.)
But I am thrilled to be back in this incredible state of Texas. We've had a tremendous victory. And from what I understand, those polls are all saying we're way higher than we were in '16. Is that correct? That's right, Dan. Thank you, Lieutenant Governor. My Dan. Great. Thank you very much. We're doing good.
But this is where the people are known for being tough, and strong, and hardworking, loyal, fiercely patriotic - just like America's incredible farmers.
My administration is fighting for the American farmer, and has been fighting for the farmer and the rancher every single day. And together, we've achieved something truly stunning. And, really, it was a historic number of victories - not one; we had numerous victories. A lot of them just - it sort of all came together. What good timing. I said, "Let's see if we can get it done for this event." Most Presidents don't come. And when they do, they come once. This is my third time in a row, and I promise I'll be here next year, too. (Applause.) We'll be here next year.
In fact, a poll just came out - Wall Street Journal. It just came out. Look at this: "Farmer Approval of Trump Hits Record, Poll Shows... 83 percent of the farmers and ranchers approve of the President's job performance." 83 percent! (Applause.)
But, I want to know, really: Who are the 17 percent? Who are they? (Laughter.) Who the hell are the 17 percent? (Laughter.) Anybody in here from the 17 percent? Don't raise your hand; it may be dangerous. (Laughter.) That's pretty good, right?
But, on Wednesday, after two years of hard-fought negotiations, where the farmers and ranchers stood with me all the way - they knew we had to do it. It wasn't done by other administrations. They didn't want to do it because it was nasty. We signed a groundbreaking trade agreement with China. (Applause.)
Under this landmark agreement, China will now be purchasing $40- to $50 billion of American agricultural products every single year, tripling our agricultural exports to China.
You know, we had a deal: It was done at $20 [billion] - $20 billion - the most they ever purchased, according to Sonny Perdue. I said, "Sonny, we have to help the farmer because they were targeted." And I'm not saying I blame China. You know, they want to win; we want to win. We all want to win, right? We like to win.
How is your team doing today, by the way? I don't know. How is it going? (Applause.) Are they doing okay? We'll soon find out. I said, "This is wonderful thing. I come to..." Look at this place; it's packed. It's sold out. Look at the crowd. It's sold out. (Applause.) And you have a - you have a game with the team, known as "Texas." But we'll see how it does. Let's - this is right now. This is the thing we have to focus on.
But, on Thursday of this week, we made a really historic - once again, the Senate passed - because this is in addition to China - the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement to replace the catastrophe, the disaster known as "NAFTA." I've been complaining about it for many years. Our jobs left. Our factories closed. Our companies left, opened up. They made product. They sold it into the United States - no tax, no nothing.
We have just the opposite right now. It's very painful if they want to do that. It's very hard for them to do that, economically. The "USMCA," as we call it, will massively boost exports for farmers, ranchers, growers, and agricultural producers from North to South, and from sea to shining sea. It also has tremendous impacts on manufacturers and all of the other things - good for everybody. But we won't bother; we only care about the farmers today, and the ranchers. Right? So we don't have to talk about the manufacturers. (Applause.)
But it's fantastic for manufacturing and lots of other things. And our manufacturing numbers are fantastic. You see that. Remember? Manufacturing. Phil, you remember? "There's no more manufacturing." And then we have almost 600,000 jobs. They said, the last administration, "You'd need a magic wand to bring back manufacturing." So I guess we found the magic wand. (Applause.) We found the magic wand.
Joining us today are a few of your strongest allies in Washington who helped make these achievements possible. Senators Pat Roberts and Cindy Hyde-Smith - where are they? (Applause.) Please. Please. Pat and Cindy Hyde. I'll tell you: These are two people that love the farmer.
And Pat - I mean, every time I get a call - Pat. That meant like, "Come on. Come on, President. Let's go, President." But what a great career you've had. What an unbelievable number of election victories you've had. We'd love to keep you for a long time, but I don't think we can talk about him out of it at this point. But, Pat, thank you very much. And Cindy Hyde-Smith, you have a done a fantastic job representing everybody, but representing the farmers and ranchers. Thank you very much. And, Pat, thank you very much. Great job. (Applause.)
And Representatives Randy Weber, Roger Williams, and John Carter. Please stand up. Warriors - they're warriors. (Applause.)
And also, three friends of mine - Texas leaders at the highest level - Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick, Attorney General Ken Paxton, and Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller. Please stand up. Please stand up. (Applause.) That's great. Hi, Sid.
I remember 2016 - the election. And the fake news - these people back here - (laughter) - they were going - they were saying, "Trump - going to have a hard time winning Texas." And we came. We made speeches, Sid. Remember? We'd have 25-, 30,000 people standing on line. Can't get in. And I said, "Why am I going to have a hard time with Texas?"
And I remember, Sid Miller - I didn't know Sid. But he was big, and he had the big, beautiful cowboy hat on. I love that hat. I wish we could wear them in Washington or New York because I would be the biggest buyer of that hat. (Laughter.) I just don't know if it would play there, but I'll wear them in Texas, I'll tell you.
But Sid was sitting there with that hat on, and he looked great. And he said, "I don't know about you, and I don't know where you're getting this information about a close race in Texas, but there's going to be nothing close about this race in Texas. Trump is going to win this race by so much, you're not going to believe it." That's exactly what happened.
So, thank you very much. I didn't know Sid. He just said, "Trump is going to win by a lot." And ever since then, I've liked Sid a lot, and you turned out to be right. Right, Sid? Thank you very much. Great job. (Applause.) Great job.
I also want to take a moment to send our love and support to the President of the American Farm Bureau - a great guy - Zippy Duvall. Sadly, Zippy's wonderful wife - a tremendous woman, married for 40 years - Bonnie - passed away last night. And we want Zippy and his entire family to know we are keeping them in our thoughts and prayers. And he was a very - it was a very special relationship, and I just want to wish the family well. And, Zippy, we're with you 100 percent - 100 percent. Thank you very much. (Applause.)
So, I'm truly honored to be addressing the Farm Bureau's annual convention for my third straight year. My administration understands that if we want to stand up for America, we must stand up for American farmers. So important. Incredible people. (Applause.) If we want America to thrive and grow, then we must ensure that America's farms flourish and prosper. And that's what we're doing. You feed our people, you fuel our nation, you sustain our land, you uphold our values, and you preserve our cherished American way of life. We want our products made, grown, and raised right here in the USA - and that's what's happening. (Applause.)
...
Read the full transcript HERE.
You can visit a collection of all White House posts by clicking here.
Go Back
THE PRESIDENT: Well, I want to thank you very much. And thank you to our great Secretary of Agriculture, Sonny Perdue. Thank you, Sonny, very much. You've done a fantastic job. (Applause.) Sit down, everybody. Let's stay for a while. Come on.
We did it. We did it. Remember? (Applause.)
They were all saying, "You'll never get NAFTA changed." We were stuck with one of the worst trade deals in history. "We'll never do it. We'll never get a deal done with China." I've told everybody, "You got to buy a lot of land, and you've got to get much bigger tractors right now." Because we did a great deal with China - great for our country. And hopefully, it's great for China, too, because we're going to sell them the greatest product you've ever seen, right? The greatest product you've ever seen. (Applause.)
But I am thrilled to be back in this incredible state of Texas. We've had a tremendous victory. And from what I understand, those polls are all saying we're way higher than we were in '16. Is that correct? That's right, Dan. Thank you, Lieutenant Governor. My Dan. Great. Thank you very much. We're doing good.
But this is where the people are known for being tough, and strong, and hardworking, loyal, fiercely patriotic - just like America's incredible farmers.
My administration is fighting for the American farmer, and has been fighting for the farmer and the rancher every single day. And together, we've achieved something truly stunning. And, really, it was a historic number of victories - not one; we had numerous victories. A lot of them just - it sort of all came together. What good timing. I said, "Let's see if we can get it done for this event." Most Presidents don't come. And when they do, they come once. This is my third time in a row, and I promise I'll be here next year, too. (Applause.) We'll be here next year.
In fact, a poll just came out - Wall Street Journal. It just came out. Look at this: "Farmer Approval of Trump Hits Record, Poll Shows... 83 percent of the farmers and ranchers approve of the President's job performance." 83 percent! (Applause.)
But, I want to know, really: Who are the 17 percent? Who are they? (Laughter.) Who the hell are the 17 percent? (Laughter.) Anybody in here from the 17 percent? Don't raise your hand; it may be dangerous. (Laughter.) That's pretty good, right?
But, on Wednesday, after two years of hard-fought negotiations, where the farmers and ranchers stood with me all the way - they knew we had to do it. It wasn't done by other administrations. They didn't want to do it because it was nasty. We signed a groundbreaking trade agreement with China. (Applause.)
Under this landmark agreement, China will now be purchasing $40- to $50 billion of American agricultural products every single year, tripling our agricultural exports to China.
You know, we had a deal: It was done at $20 [billion] - $20 billion - the most they ever purchased, according to Sonny Perdue. I said, "Sonny, we have to help the farmer because they were targeted." And I'm not saying I blame China. You know, they want to win; we want to win. We all want to win, right? We like to win.
How is your team doing today, by the way? I don't know. How is it going? (Applause.) Are they doing okay? We'll soon find out. I said, "This is wonderful thing. I come to..." Look at this place; it's packed. It's sold out. Look at the crowd. It's sold out. (Applause.) And you have a - you have a game with the team, known as "Texas." But we'll see how it does. Let's - this is right now. This is the thing we have to focus on.
But, on Thursday of this week, we made a really historic - once again, the Senate passed - because this is in addition to China - the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement to replace the catastrophe, the disaster known as "NAFTA." I've been complaining about it for many years. Our jobs left. Our factories closed. Our companies left, opened up. They made product. They sold it into the United States - no tax, no nothing.
We have just the opposite right now. It's very painful if they want to do that. It's very hard for them to do that, economically. The "USMCA," as we call it, will massively boost exports for farmers, ranchers, growers, and agricultural producers from North to South, and from sea to shining sea. It also has tremendous impacts on manufacturers and all of the other things - good for everybody. But we won't bother; we only care about the farmers today, and the ranchers. Right? So we don't have to talk about the manufacturers. (Applause.)
But it's fantastic for manufacturing and lots of other things. And our manufacturing numbers are fantastic. You see that. Remember? Manufacturing. Phil, you remember? "There's no more manufacturing." And then we have almost 600,000 jobs. They said, the last administration, "You'd need a magic wand to bring back manufacturing." So I guess we found the magic wand. (Applause.) We found the magic wand.
Joining us today are a few of your strongest allies in Washington who helped make these achievements possible. Senators Pat Roberts and Cindy Hyde-Smith - where are they? (Applause.) Please. Please. Pat and Cindy Hyde. I'll tell you: These are two people that love the farmer.
And Pat - I mean, every time I get a call - Pat. That meant like, "Come on. Come on, President. Let's go, President." But what a great career you've had. What an unbelievable number of election victories you've had. We'd love to keep you for a long time, but I don't think we can talk about him out of it at this point. But, Pat, thank you very much. And Cindy Hyde-Smith, you have a done a fantastic job representing everybody, but representing the farmers and ranchers. Thank you very much. And, Pat, thank you very much. Great job. (Applause.)
And Representatives Randy Weber, Roger Williams, and John Carter. Please stand up. Warriors - they're warriors. (Applause.)
And also, three friends of mine - Texas leaders at the highest level - Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick, Attorney General Ken Paxton, and Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller. Please stand up. Please stand up. (Applause.) That's great. Hi, Sid.
I remember 2016 - the election. And the fake news - these people back here - (laughter) - they were going - they were saying, "Trump - going to have a hard time winning Texas." And we came. We made speeches, Sid. Remember? We'd have 25-, 30,000 people standing on line. Can't get in. And I said, "Why am I going to have a hard time with Texas?"
And I remember, Sid Miller - I didn't know Sid. But he was big, and he had the big, beautiful cowboy hat on. I love that hat. I wish we could wear them in Washington or New York because I would be the biggest buyer of that hat. (Laughter.) I just don't know if it would play there, but I'll wear them in Texas, I'll tell you.
But Sid was sitting there with that hat on, and he looked great. And he said, "I don't know about you, and I don't know where you're getting this information about a close race in Texas, but there's going to be nothing close about this race in Texas. Trump is going to win this race by so much, you're not going to believe it." That's exactly what happened.
So, thank you very much. I didn't know Sid. He just said, "Trump is going to win by a lot." And ever since then, I've liked Sid a lot, and you turned out to be right. Right, Sid? Thank you very much. Great job. (Applause.) Great job.
I also want to take a moment to send our love and support to the President of the American Farm Bureau - a great guy - Zippy Duvall. Sadly, Zippy's wonderful wife - a tremendous woman, married for 40 years - Bonnie - passed away last night. And we want Zippy and his entire family to know we are keeping them in our thoughts and prayers. And he was a very - it was a very special relationship, and I just want to wish the family well. And, Zippy, we're with you 100 percent - 100 percent. Thank you very much. (Applause.)
So, I'm truly honored to be addressing the Farm Bureau's annual convention for my third straight year. My administration understands that if we want to stand up for America, we must stand up for American farmers. So important. Incredible people. (Applause.) If we want America to thrive and grow, then we must ensure that America's farms flourish and prosper. And that's what we're doing. You feed our people, you fuel our nation, you sustain our land, you uphold our values, and you preserve our cherished American way of life. We want our products made, grown, and raised right here in the USA - and that's what's happening. (Applause.)
...
Read the full transcript HERE.
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