[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"transcript-f75b9fb4-2c02-4743-9c9d-2fab493d8ba7":3,"transcript-neighbors-f75b9fb4-2c02-4743-9c9d-2fab493d8ba7":16},{"id":4,"youtube_url":5,"transcript":6,"created_at":7,"folder_id":8,"name":9,"upload_date":10,"is_public":11,"is_premium":12,"speakers":8,"persona":13},"f75b9fb4-2c02-4743-9c9d-2fab493d8ba7","https:\u002F\u002Fwww.youtube.com\u002Fwatch?v=7W5RHSSYrd0","[00:00] President Donald Trump:\nWell this is very exciting. This is one of the greatest moments in the history of US sports, I would say. Maybe for other countries they weren't so thrilled, but for US sports and... and we have a very exciting team of champions standing behind me. Uh, Mr. Attorney, can you read what we're doing right now and let's get it done?\n\n[00:19] Attorney:\nYes, sir. This is HR 452, the Miracle on Ice Bill. The United States Congress has authorized three medals to be struck commemorating the historic victory of the United States men's hockey team in 1980 at the Lake Placid Olympics, where they obviously defeated the Russians and the Soviet Union, excuse me, in the famous Miracle on Ice hockey game. Uh, this will serve as a fitting commemoration of that incredible achievement and will hopefully uh, be a lasting memorial of that achievement going forwards.\n\n[00:48] President Donald Trump:\nThis was an amazing event. Pretty big, uh, I mean I don't know, there were some other upsets in the world. I haven't noticed them getting any of these, this is the only one. That's great. And we don't use auto-pens here. This is a great achievement. Okay, wait a minute. There you go, Pete. Take that.\n[01:14] Thank you, sir. So great. Most of these people are too young to remember, but all sports fans know it. Thank you very much, it's a great honor to have the media too. We're delighted to be joined today by two legends of American sports history and heroes for the entire nation, the 1980 US Olympic ice hockey team. Uh, this was one of the biggest moments that I've ever seen in sports, and I like sports. These are the men who gave us one of the most storied athletic wins of all time. It's called the Miracle on Ice, and I guess that's what it was. We're with us today by players like Jim Craig, Steve Janaszak, Bill Baker, Dave Christian, Ken Morrow, Jack O'Callahan, Mike Ramsey, Neal Broten, Mike Eruzione, Rob McClanahan, Buzz Schneider, Dave Silk, Phil Verchota, and numerous others. And what I'd love you to do, you know, when you have all of these media people, it's a nice slow afternoon, nothing's too slow around here. I think we just did a... very good job with Thailand and Cambodia. We had them stopped and I've been saying I've stopped eight wars, but they started shooting at each other two days ago, it wasn't good. And we got it, I think, straightened out today. So Thailand and Cambodia is in good shape. So we get a lot done. Eight wars, nobody's ever stopped eight wars. We have one more to go. Uh, the easiest one I thought would be a country that you're somewhat familiar with, Russia and uh, Ukraine. But uh, we're a lot of progress is being made even there. Could I ask you to just say your name and if you have anything to say, you could say that also, and then we'll get on with reading some of the stats.\n\n[03:18] Ryan Suter:\nYeah, my name's Ryan Suter, I'm here representing my dad, Bob, who passed away. Um, it's a true honor for me to be a part of this and thank these guys for allowing me to be a part of their team and thank you for having this and hosting us.\n\n[03:34] President Donald Trump:\nYour father was some player. Incredible player. Do you uh, did you ever play ice hockey?\n\n[03:41] Ryan Suter:\nI did, yeah.\n\n[03:42] President Donald Trump:\nWell let me ask you, tell them how good was he compared to his father? Don't ask, don't answer.\n\n[03:49] Staff Member:\nMr. President, Ryan just played 21 years in the NHL. He played 1500 games in the NHL.\n\n[03:54] President Donald Trump:\nSo, uh, pretty comfortable, the rest? Better? You think better? You can say.\n\n[04:00] Ryan Suter:\nHis dad was tougher.\n\n[04:02] President Donald Trump:\nI heard he might be. Dad was tougher, you're right. Dad was tougher, definitely tougher. But you got good genetics. That's good. You had a great career. How long did you play?\n\n[04:10] Ryan Suter:\nI played 21 years.\n\n[04:12] President Donald Trump:\nWow. Well you look pretty good for a guy who played 21 years in that business. Congratulations. And great father. Great father.\n\n[04:19] Taria Lewis:\nUm, I'm Taria Lewis, and I'm here representing my dad, Mark Pavelich. Um, he, I'm so honored to be here. Um, I just, I'm at a loss for words, to be honest, like I can't believe this is real. And I want to say to you, President Trump, I know so many people from Duluth, Minnesota, that love you. And I just, yes, yes, thank you for having us here. So, yeah.\n\n[04:44] President Donald Trump:\nThank you. And you had a great father. A great, great player. So amazing. Thank you very much, really very good, sir. Thank you very much. Thank you for being here. Please, go ahead.\n\n[04:59] Ken Morrow:\nI'm Ken Morrow. Uh, it's an honor to meet you, Mr. President. What a great win for our country and... if people don't remember, that's where the USA, USA chants started in Lake Placid.\n\n[05:12] President Donald Trump:\nThat's right. Yeah. I tried to take credit for that. You had to bring that up! That's the end of that. That's alright, thank you very much.\n\n[05:22] Jim Craig:\nHi, I'm Jim Craig and uh, it's an honor to be here. I'm so proud of all my teammates and what we were able to accomplish for our country. And when you get a chance to represent your country, whether it's in the military or in sports, and you can do something really special like our team did and then be recognized many years later. So, Mr. President, I want to thank you for your courage that you show the country every single day and for uh, making our country safe again.\n\n[05:50] President Donald Trump:\nThank you. Yeah, we... we're doing that. I appreciate that very much. I didn't know you were on that team! Wait, was he on the team? I was the trainer! He was a trainer! Greatest player, thank you for being here. He's doing a great job.\n\n[06:05] Buzz Schneider:\nBuzz Schneider. Uh, Mr. President, thanks for having us here. Thanks Congressman Stauber for writing the legislation, along with Elise Stefanik and Tom Emmer. Uh, it's a privilege to be here and you've accomplished a wonderful thing and I will say that uh, I got 19 beautiful people I did it with, it was awesome. All good, solid people. Thank you. Thanks again.\n\n[06:23] President Donald Trump:\nThey are. They have to be solid to play that. Please.\n\n[06:27] Neal Broten:\nHi, I'm Neal Broten from Minnesota. Thank you, Mr. Trump, it's an honor. Um, you're celebrating us and uh, I can't believe I'm even here. It's... unbelievable.\n\n[06:40] President Donald Trump:\nIt's an amazing office. It's... unbelievable. Everybody that comes here they can... the biggest people in the world, they come into this place and they go 'Wow, the Oval Office.' The most... it's the most important office anywhere in the world, not even close. Thank you very much.\n\n[06:53] Mike Eruzione:\nMr. President, Mike Eruzione. Um, on behalf of the team, we have a replica hat that we wore the opening ceremonies uh, in Lake Placid. We'd like you to have that. And more importantly, uh, I don't think words can explain how proud we are of what you've done for our team. Thank you very much. Let's see what do I do with that strap?\n\n[07:26] President Donald Trump:\nRemember a certain governor in Massachusetts when they put that helmet on, that was not good. Mike Dukakis. They put that helmet on, that was the end of his political career. Okay. That's... but the honor that you've bestowed upon our team is something that's incredible. Thank you very much, I feel it. Thank you.\n\n[07:49] Jack O'Callahan:\nMr. President, I'm Jack O'Callahan from Charlestown, Mass. And uh, grew up on the battlefield of uh, where the Battle of Bunker Hill was fought and that's where it all started. And uh, thank you so much for having us here. We're a bunch of proud Americans and uh, we're thrilled to be in your presence, sir.\n\n[08:04] President Donald Trump:\nThank you very much. I'm thrilled to be with you guys. Winners, champions.\n\n[08:09] Dave Silk:\nMr. President, my name is Dave Silk and like Jack said, I'm a proud American. Thank you for having us here and thank you to all that put this on for us. Well, I'm honored to be here.\n\n[08:19] President Donald Trump:\nThank you, that's really nice. Thank you.\n\n[08:22] Bill Baker:\nMr. President, Bill Baker, I'm from Minnesota. I know that right now that doesn't ring very well with all of you, but hopefully we can get that turned around.\n\n[08:31] President Donald Trump:\nDo we have Somalis on the team? I don't think so. Any Somalis on the team? I don't think so. Ilhan Omar. The pride we felt in uh, 1980 was incredible, and we are starting to feel that again thanks to your leadership. Thank you very much.\n[08:44] Well you know Minnesota's a great place and this is a great leader right here from Minnesota. He loves it. Not happy with what's going up there, and I... I think he'll take care of that situation. We're all with you. With your help we can. You have my help. What's happening up there is a disgrace. It's a disgrace. Billions of dollars have been stolen. Billions, sent back to Somalia. And uh, Tom can solve that problem better than anybody. And you have the go-ahead, right?\n\n[09:10] Tom Emmer:\nYes, sir. Thank you very much.\n\n[09:12] President Donald Trump:\nAnd what do you think of this team?\n\n[09:13] Tom Emmer:\nLike, this is the team that set the whole tone for this country back in 1980. It was the beginning of the great comeback which, by the way, Donald J. Trump was the next beginning of the great comeback. So it's perfect that it's both you and this uh, great team from 1980.\n\n[09:31] President Donald Trump:\nThank you, Tom. You're doing a fantastic job. Really a great leader, we appreciate it, friend. And Jackie is uh... have a great spouse, remember, that's a key. That's true, that's what I heard. Yeah, yeah. And Elise, everybody knows Elise, she's doing phenomenally well, a really tremendous congresswoman and she's running for a little position called Governor of New York and uh, she's got a hell of a shot at it. That's all I can see. I see polls that look very good. And we uh... we could use you in New York. She's got a little competition with a very good Republican, but uh, she's a great Republican. So, we'll see what happens. But Elise is respected by everybody, we appreciate it. Thanks, Elise.\n\n[10:13] Elise Stefanik:\nThank you so much, Mr. President. And as the representative for Lake Placid, this is so meaningful to my constituents, and we are home of the Miracle on Ice and it's wonderful to be here with these teammates who just stood so proudly for Team USA.\n\n[10:26] President Donald Trump:\nThank you, thank you, Elise. Please.\n\n[10:28] Dan Brooks:\nUh, my name is Dan Brooks, I am the son of coach Herb Brooks. Uh, it's an honor to be here, Mr. President. Uh, my dad, he believed. Uh, he believed in the American hockey player, uh, he believed in his country. He loved this team, he loved his country. I wish he was here, but it's an honor for me to represent him, so thank you for having us.\n\n[10:48] President Donald Trump:\nWell your father was a great guy, I knew him a little bit and uh, he was an amazing coach. What he did was just incredible. He was tough, but fair. He was tough. Was he tough on you? Yeah, about 20 years. But good, I would say, my father was tough too. My father was tough, but good, right? They were good people. It was an honor to be his son. Thank you very much, yep. He'd be very proud of you right now.\n\n[11:13] Rob McClanahan:\nRob McClanahan from Minnesota. Uh, I'm just echoing everybody else's words, it's an honor to be here and it's an honor to be a teammate of this great team. We had... it's all about we, and we're a great team.\n\n[11:26] President Donald Trump:\nYeah, that was a per... really a perfect case of it. Yep. That team was a perfect case. Please.\n\n[11:32] Representative (Mark's brother):\nUm, I'm honored to be here, I'm representing my brother Mark who died in 2024. I know he's looking down with a big smile on his face. Great player. Yeah. And I'm sure, I am honored and I know he would be too. Thank you. Thank you very much.\n\n[11:51] Dave Christian:\nUh, Mr. Trump, Dave Christian from Warroad, Minnesota, Hockeytown USA. Is it still? It is still. Is it? It's still is. Well, it's a privilege and an honor to be here with the greatest teammates anyone could have. Yeah. Thank you very much. Great honor, great job.\n\n[12:11] Mike Ramsey:\nMr. President, Mike Ramsey, I'm also from Minnesota. And uh, Minneapolis, not Hockeytown Minnesota. It's an honor to be here with my teammates and you, uh, this is awesome. Thank you. Great to have you, thank you very much.\n\n[12:25] Steve Janaszak:\nMr. President, Steve Janaszak, also from Minnesota, White Bear Lake, Minnesota. Right. It's not as big as it sounds. Uh, I backed up Jimmy Craig and want to thank all you guys for the job that you did. Uh, pleasure to be a part of this team and the luckiest guy on this team. Yeah. Well, Jimmy Craig was uh, pretty good, right? Incredible goaltending and he did an awesome job. He was pretty good. Yeah, he was great. Thank you very much, great honor.\n\n[12:54] Phil Verchota:\nWhoa, I didn't know we had to talk. What do you think, Phil? We all got one word. Speechless, of course, but uh, I'm Phil Verchota, originally from Duluth, Minnesota and uh, certainly like all the other gentlemen here, uh, are... we're having a wonderful, wonderful day and just seeing the history of Washington DC and you know, the invitation and the and the award is uh, beyond beyond what I could imagine.\n\n[13:25] President Donald Trump:\nWell it's an honor, and so many people from Minnesota, that's something. Great hockey, good hockey blood, huh? Oh yeah. Not so many people, a lot of the team. Congratulations. And Minnesota's going to be back, right? It better be back. Going to be back. You got a little bad governor up there and a couple of little other problems, but it's going to be back. And unbelievable people in Minnesota. 45 years ago, this tremendous group of collegiate players and amateurs faced overwhelming odds against the Soviet Union in Lake Placid winter Olympics. They said it was the greatest team ever put together, the Soviet team. They weren't saying that about you, but you were damn good. They were saying that team was unbeatable. The same month, the USSR's hockey team had crushed our squad. They did a, I guess an exhibition game of some kind, and it was not pretty, 10 to 3. And uh, people were not even looking forward to this game, fellas, I hate to tell you. They liked it that last 10 minutes were not fun. The Soviets had not lost an Olympic game since 1968 and they were coming off a four-straight gold record, four gold medals, in '64 they won the gold, '68, '72, and '76. Other than that they weren't that good, right? They were great. And this was supposed to be the best team that they ever had. So it wasn't uh, looking too sharp for our great champions behind me. As one American sports writer put it at the time, 'the whole world expected the Soviets to win,' quote, 'unless the ice melts.' So that wasn't a very good statement. But then it began, despite the long odds, the Team USA blazed through the group stage, beating other countries, went through them pretty easily, advancing to a long-awaited rematch against the USSR. Three times we went down by a goal. For most of the game they were down by a goal, three times, and then remarkable players put America back on top where we've always wanted to be. Buzz Schneider, he uh, scored the opening goal with a slap shot from 50 feet. That's a big slap shot. How's that? Look at him over there. That's a big... how the hell did that happen? Was the goal... I thought they had a good goal. They did have a good goal with the pass came across the ice I caught it going the other way and it just happened, right? Miracle they called it. Well thank you, so a long one, that's a good one. How often does a 50-foot shot go in? Not too much, huh? That one did. Well you have a little extra power, you're strong. You were a strong guy. That goal was... that's something. That puck was hit. We have a puck here. Does this mean anything or is this just something they just gave me? SC hockey pucks for the team. Oh that's good. I'll put it here on top of piece of gold. In the second period, Jim Craig withstood a barrage of shots on goal and kept the dream alive, that's the guy, right? And then after a goal from team captain Mike Eruzione, who's a fantastic guy, I know him from outside of hockey we play golf, we were on a golf team together and we happened to win, right? We did, sir. Yes we did. I liked my partner very much. But he put us up 4 to 3 midway through the third. These fighters held on to the longest 10 minutes of their lives. They call it the longest, most horrendous, scariest 10 minutes. Is that true? Absolutely the longest. Because you couldn't believe that you were there and they're leading by one and they got 10 minutes of just please. Did anybody pray? Were you praying? Doing everything. Didn't have time to pray. I don't think you had a lot of time. Just had to go out and play. They're religious guys, but they didn't have a lot of time to pray, they were out on the ice. Uh, but to win one of the greatest comebacks in sports history really was amazing. The observers uh, in the arena noted it was the first time in his life that he heard the chant USA, USA, USA, which I don't like hearing because I tell people that that had to do with Trump in 2016. Slightly different, slightly after your big win, but no longer that's the end of that, right? I can't use that one anymore. But I do remember them doing that exactly, for a long time they were doing that. This team united us and they inspired us, the United States was like brought to a level that of sports that they've never seen, and they brought this Olympic glory that we celebrate to this day. Nobody thought it was possible. It really shows that, you know, anything's possible. Nobody thought that one was possible. But I want to congratulate you all. And now I'd like to invite Mike to say a few words, and then Congressman Stauber, who introduced, and then we're going to speak uh, from a couple of other people and I have to tell you our leader, I have to say that uh, Emmer is a very special leader and I want you to maybe wrap it up and uh, say something on behalf of your great state in particular, the country, but your great state in particular, okay? So let's go, Mike.\n\n[18:37] Mike Eruzione:\nJust again, Mr. President, to reiterate what we've all talked about, this is uh, an absolutely incredible honor. I've said this before, but when you put a USA jersey on, uh, you're playing for your country, you're not playing for your state, your town or your city. And what an honor it was for us to put that jersey on and accomplish what we accomplished. Uh, I've always said the gold medal is something that's incredible, but this is the frosting on the cake. Uh, to receive an award like this and an honor like this, uh, maybe that's the... this is it, guys. I don't think... I don't think there's anything else we can get. There's nothing else. No, this is it and and thank you for for making this happen.\n\n[19:14] President Donald Trump:\nGreat, thank you, Mike. Thanks. Pete.\n\n[19:19] Pete Stauber:\nMr. President, um, thank you for uh, signing this piece of legislation. Uh, I first want to say uh, on behalf of uh, of Congress I want to thank uh, Elise Stefanik and Tom Emmer for being co-sponsors uh, of this piece of legislation. Uh, I also want to thank my staff, uh, Allie Esau in my office did a tremendous job getting this uh, uh, you know, to be able to pass the House and the Senate. I want to thank my staff. And Mr. President, uh, it was 45 years ago Friday February 22nd, 1980 that the game of hockey changed. Uh, it was a 5 p.m. game, it was tape-delayed. Those of us that were hockey players back then, this was a game-changer. We couldn't find that USA jersey anywhere. Uh, we it was sold out wherever it was. And so I'm I'm I'm very proud to have led this, and I would be remiss if I didn't uh, introduce uh, my younger brother Rob, who was uh, the gold medal coach for the 2018 women's Olympic gold medal team in Pyeongchang. And Robby's right over there.\n\n[20:25] President Donald Trump:\nGood to see you. So Mr. President, I will just say that uh, I'm in awe of these uh, hockey heroes and uh, as we as we move forward they changed the game of hockey. Uh, it was a powerful dominant uh, performance that this country needed. They beat the powerhouse Soviets and as you know, you're continuing to do that today. And uh, this was a great start of it. And for me, I'm very just privileged and proud to stand with these Olympic heroes that literally changed a nation and gave us the strength that we needed uh, at the time our nation needed it. And to know these men here, they're they're humble, their their humility is is through the roof. And I just want to thank you for signing this. This means a lot to me personally, but it means more to the team when I talked to them this afternoon. This was uh, as Mike just said, it's the cherry on top of what they did for this country. And thank you for signing it and I appreciate it.\n[21:26] Well we love it, and uh, he's he was a really great hockey player too. So let me ask you a question. Was your brother uh, in this category of hockey player or slightly less?\n\n[21:36] Pete Stauber:\nWant to answer that? He was smart. He was better than I. Robby was a goaltender in the National Hockey League as well.\n\n[21:44] President Donald Trump:\nWow, that's pretty good. Well that's much better than him! That's a lot of good genetics in this whole thing. But you were a hell of a player too. Thank you, Mr. President. Thank you, Pete. So, we're going to... Mr. President, we would like to do one more thing. Sure. Uh, take a photo with our hats on. Yes, okay, let's go.\n[22:04] Mike. Mike's from Minnesota, he's used to wearing hats. Okay. Straighten it out, guys. Take a good one. You have Dan? Let's go Dan, get with... get with it, Dan. Mine's good. Oh, there we go. Good photographer. You got us a little off-guard. Could you move the mics uh, a little bit please? Thank you. Give us all in on this side. A little bit more. All right, big hockey fan. Okay, here we go. One, two, and three. And one more. Okay, here we go. One, two, and three.\n[22:43] Okay. So we're going to finish up with Tom Emmer and he's been uh, just a fantastic uh, a fantastic Congressman leader, person from Minnesota. Loves that state, boy do you love that state and they love you equally as much. Please.\n\n[22:57] Tom Emmer:\nThank you, Mr. President. First, I got to thank Pete Stauber. As he's talking about humility, Pete Stauber actually uh, was in the the White House uh, as a national championship captain of a national championship hockey team back in the 1980s. Not bad. This is uh, this runs in the blood in Minnesota. This runs in our blood in Minnesota, but it's not about Minnesota even though I will point out most of the guys are from Minnesota, but that's not the point. It doesn't matter if it's Massachusetts, Minnesota, Michigan, Wisconsin, wherever players came from back then, they were all Americans. That's what mattered, and they were an inspiration. And you know what it means to my state? It shows us that no matter how bad it gets, uh, there's always a way to succeed. I think Mike Eruzione said it earlier, if you think you're going to lose, you're probably not going to win. If you think you're going to compete and you're going to give it everything you've got, these men who are standing here and their colleagues who are not here, God bless them, those who couldn't be here and those who uh, have departed, they reached the ultimate peak. And when they did it, as Pete pointed out, they lifted an entire country out of the ditch and set us off to an amazing uh, several decades that followed. And it's not much unlike uh, the 47th President of the United States. So I think it's entirely appropriate that uh, you're doing this for these men, uh, you're really doing it for the country. And uh, God bless you because Minnesota I think is going to experience a comeback because of you.\n\n[24:30] President Donald Trump:\nYeah, Minnesota's going to come back. Now I'm just so I'm so impressed that so many of these champions come from Minnesota, it's amazing. It's uh, it's a great place. Thank you very much. We engineered them. One of the best places. I think you're strong. I think it starts again. Well, thank you very much. Any questions for the... let's go to the players first, if we could.\n\n[24:51] Reporter 1:\nThank you, Mr. President. First of all, it's a great honor to be in the room with all of you. I remember this game and it made a big had a huge impact on me, you're heroes of mine and it's really an honor to be in this room. Uh, Mike Eruzione, I have to ask you a question. I realize it was the semi-final game, but what did it mean to you at the time to beat the Soviets, to beat the Soviet Union?\n\n[25:15] Mike Eruzione:\nWell, at the time it gave us an opportunity to play for a gold medal. Um, you know, people always talk about the Soviet game and the Soviet game and I know how important the Soviet game was from a political standpoint, we didn't know it at the time, we knew it after. But if we don't beat Finland, we're not having this conversation today. We're not here. As great as the Soviet victory was, and it was an incredible victory, but if we lose to Finland, it would have been 'God if you only could have beat Finland.' What was the score? Uh, 4 to 2. We were losing 2 to 1 going into the third period. That would have been a downer. So you know, we're not having this conversation. You are not inviting us to the White House. We are not receiving this honor if we don't beat Finland. So, I think it speaks volumes of the team and the team that I played on to come back after such a great victory, we were ready to play Finland on Sunday. And and I think again that a tribute to the team and the type of players that we had. So, years later 45 years later, we realize how important that victory was against the Soviets, but I think a lot of us take great pride in knowing that we closed the deal by beating Finland.\n\n[26:15] President Donald Trump:\nBut if you didn't win that final game, nobody would... we wouldn't be here. Nobody would... we wouldn't be here. You wouldn't be here, we wouldn't have invited you. That would be... gold medalists. Be kidding me. Yeah, what happened to Finland? Mike'd be driving an Uber.\n\n[26:35] Reporter 2:\nMr. President, but you did... but you did win. What's the lesson for Ukraine from this win from 45 years ago when you defeated uh, Russian team against all odds?\n\n[26:46] President Donald Trump:\nWell, it's a similar situation, isn't it? Let's see what happens. Well we're working on seeing if we can make a deal right now, we're going to we're going to see, we'll soon know I guess. We're going to we're going to see a lot of death. Last month, fellas, 45,000 soldiers were killed in Ukraine and Russia. 45,000. Can you imagine that? It's ridiculous. Maybe we should send our team.\n\n[27:08] Reporter 3:\nMr. President, Mike Eruzione, if I could. Um, you guys were a team of amateurs. What do you think about the NIL, the deals that are being made with with players and and they're hopping around schools? What do you think about that? I'll get your thoughts like.\n\n[27:21] Mike Eruzione:\nMy thoughts are I don't like it. Um, I don't like the NIL, I don't like the uh the portal, but that's the state of college sports today, uh, and we have no control over that. I don't like it and a lot of people that I've spoken to don't like it either. But we we have no say.\n\n[27:37] President Donald Trump:\nWell, I think we maybe do have a say. I think that it's a disaster for college sports. I think it's a disaster for the Olympics, because you know we're losing a lot of teams, the colleges are cutting a lot of their... they would call them uh, sort of the lesser sports and they're losing them like at numbers nobody can believe. And they were really training grounds, beautiful training grounds, hard-working wonderful young people. They were training grounds for the Olympics. And a lot of these sports that were training so well would win gold medals because of it. Uh, those sports don't exist because they're putting all their money into football and, by the way, they're putting too much money into football because colleges don't make even the most successful universities don't make that much money. And you can't pay a quarterback 14 million dollars to come out of uh high school. They don't even know if he's going to be a very good player, I mean they've tried a couple of times. 14 and 12 million dollars and a couple of deals like that and the most successful colleges are losing money. And I think the NIL is a disaster for sports. It's horrible for the Olympics, and it's I think it's actually horrible for the players. And you're losing all of these great sports. They're not college football. Well even basketball is being affected. Basketball second, but even basketball's being affected. They're putting all of their money in and I know some about it. They will not be able to stop. You're going to have a college president, I'm telling you sir, if we give a guard 7 million dollars we're going to win the national championship and they'll give him 7 and they won't win it. And even if they do win it, colleges cannot afford to be paying the kind of salaries that you're hearing about. And frankly, if you didn't have a very strong salary cap in in sports and even then in professional sports it would they'd all be out of business, every one. You're going to have these colleges wipe themselves out. And something ought to be done and I'm willing to put the federal government behind it, but if it's not done fast, you're going to wipe out colleges. They're going to get wiped out, including ones that do well in football. They can't pay 12 million, 14 million, 10 million, 6 million for players. They won't be able to stop. There'll always be that one player, they only have that player they're going to win the national championship and they'll have 100 colleges thinking the same thing. Uh, colleges cannot afford to play this game, and it's a very bad thing that's happening right now.\n\n[30:05] Reporter 4:\nMr. President, you talked about the Soviet Union and I also want to ask you about another country that you're targeting, which of course is Venezuela. Do you intend on seizing more oil assets from Venezuela?\n\n[30:15] President Donald Trump:\nWell I wouldn't tell you that, I mean we it wouldn't be very smart for me to tell you that, you know? We're supposed to be a little bit secretive, you're a you're a very big time reporter, and I don't think I want to tell a big time reporter or a small time reporter that, but uh, we are uh knocking out drugs at levels that nobody's ever seen before. We knocked out 96% of the drugs coming in by water. And uh, nobody can figure out who the 4%... I wouldn't want to be the 4% either, but 96% of the drugs coming in by water. Every one of those boats you see get shot down, you just saved 25,000 American lives. But we knocked out 96% of the drugs coming in by water and now we're starting by land, and by land is a lot easier. And that's going to start happening, and we're not going to have people destroying our youth, destroying our families. Forget about youth, everybody. You ever see a family with the fentanyl or or cocaine? Colombia has has at least three cocaine factories. That's a different country. We're not happy about it, but we're stopping it and we've stopped it now on water. You don't even find boats on water. You don't even see fishing boats on water. You want to go fishing in that area? You don't want to go... does anybody want to go fishing in that area? I don't think so. So I just want to say this, uh, we have now a strong border. A year and a half ago we had millions of people pouring through, now we have nobody coming in through our border and we have a strong country, we have a country that's respected again. We're going to keep it that way and we're not going to let people kill 300,000 people a year with drugs.\n\n[31:53] Reporter 5:\nMr. President, Mr. President, follow-up question. Mr. President, earlier the fraud that you've been pointing out talking about in Minnesota specifically, there have been some reports resurfacing and circulating even by your own administration alleging Ilhan Omar's marriage to her brother and this would be a fraudulent situation if there in fact is found to be fraud in a situation like that, would you like to see her denaturalized or others who have similarly committed fraud?\n\n[32:14] President Donald Trump:\nWell, I think she's very bad for our country. All she does is complain, complain, complain. She comes out of a country where they have no government, they have no military, they have no police, they got no nothing. They don't have a country. And uh, they run around killing each other and then she comes over here she tells the United States of America how it should be run. We don't want to hear from her. I don't want to hear from her. I don't want to speak for Emmer, but I don't think Emmer particularly wants to hear but don't say it because I don't want to get you in trouble, okay? Just be nice and easy, all right? I'll do it for you, but that part I'll do. But I just want to say that there's nothing worse than a person that comes in and does nothing but bitch and comes from a place where she shouldn't be telling us what to do, she shouldn't be telling us and everybody agrees with me. And what's happening in Minnesota with Somalia where billions of dollars is being stolen right like like candy from a baby, we're not going to let that go on. And it's too great a state to have that happening and guys like Tom Emmer and others, Pete Stauber, guys like them, they're going to stop it and they're going to be given the authority to stop it, because this country's not going to put up with it.\n\n[33:31] Reporter 6:\nMr. President, Mr. President, you talked about land strikes happening soon. Is there anything at this point that can prevent that and is the objective if you make that decision to overthrow the regime?\n\n[33:39] President Donald Trump:\nWell I don't want to say that, but it's not only land strikes on Venezuela, it's land strikes on horrible people that are bringing in drugs and killing our people. You know, if we were in a war and we lost 300,000 people in a year, because that's what the real number is, it's not 100, you know you keep hearing 100 and it's a lot worse than that because the families are devastated when they lose their child. If we were in a war and we lost two or three hundred thousand, but I think it's more than 300,000, that's a war that's like a war that would be unparalleled, there's nobody's ever seen anything like that, and that's what's happening. So, uh, it doesn't necessarily have to be in Venezuela, it's people that are bringing in drugs to our country are targets.\n\n[34:26] Reporter 7:\nMr. President, at the end of this year those extended Obamacare subsidies expire. What's your message to those 24 million Americans who will see their insurance premiums go up?\n\n[34:40] President Donald Trump:\nWell don't make it sound so bad because you know obviously you're a you know sycophant for Democrats, you're obviously a provider of bad news for Republicans. Let me just say something. The Republicans, I think I can speak for Tom and most other people, I think what most Republicans want to see is what I want to see and I leave it to them and hopefully they're going to put great legislation on this desk right here. We want to see all of the money that's been squandered and given to insurance companies because Obamacare is horrible health insurance, it's far too expensive and it always has been. But what it really is is a way of making insurance companies rich. We want the money not to be paid at all to insurance companies. You know insurance companies have gone up 1700% over a short... meaning the stock. 1700% over a short period of time and they've taken in hundreds of billions and even trillions of dollars. And we want the money to go to the people. They'll go in the form of a uh insurance account, healthcare account, or any other form that we can create we have a lot of different forms. We want to give the money to the people and let the people buy their own great healthcare and they'll save a lot of money and it'll be great. Now the problem we have is that the Republicans are not at all uh controlled by the insurance companies, but you know as the Democrats. The Democrats have received hundreds of millions of dollars, they're totally controlled by the insurance companies so we might not get too many of their votes, but I actually think we get some Democrat votes. So I don't know how you feel about it, Tom, but uh everybody wants to see this happen, everybody. You know I put it out and all of a sudden we've taken over in a positive way. The Republicans have taken over healthcare in a positive way. I want to see the billions of dollars go to the people, not to the insurance companies. And I want to see the people go out and buy themselves great healthcare. Much better healthcare at very little cost. That's what I want and it's so simple.\n\n[36:52] Reporter 8:\nMr. President, follow-up upon that. Many congressional Republicans have said they won't vote for an Obamacare extension deal if it includes funding for abortion. Would you assure those Republicans that you will not propose...\n\n[37:04] President Donald Trump:\nWell we're going to look into it, we're going to look into a lot of things. That's one of many factors. But what we do want to see is we want to see the money go to the people, not to the insurance companies.\n\n[37:13] Reporter 9:\nMr. President, Mr. President, wait, wait, wait you have to be nice and easy, nice and easy. She's very aggressive.\n\n[37:19] Reporter 10:\nOkay, please. Thanks, President. Can you tell us how this free economic zone would work in the Donbas and land that the Russians took by force?\n\n[37:26] President Donald Trump:\nWell I don't want to do that now, it's very complex situation, but it it would work and a lot of people want to see it work and we're going to all I want to do is I want to stop the death of 25,000 people a month. Go ahead.\n\n[37:38] Reporter 11:\nThank you, Mr. President. There there were new Epstein photos released today showing you and also Bill Clinton, Steve Bannon... What was your reaction to those new photos that were released? Well I haven't seen it, but I mean everybody knew this Bannon was all over Palm Beach, his photos were with everybody. I mean almost uh there are hundreds and hundreds of people that have photos with him, so that's no big deal. I know nothing about it. What kind of a role do you want to personally play in the decision by the Fed on interest rates?\n\n[38:07] President Donald Trump:\nWell, you know, I've made a lot of money. I've been very successful and I think my role should be at least that of recommending. They don't have to follow what I say, but we're going to be choosing a new Fed person in the pretty near future. Uh, but uh they went out you know they went out with 71 different people, all economists, and Trump. I was 71. And of the 71 people I got it right and one other person I think from the Wharton School of Finance, my alma mater, got it right. There were two people that got it right out of 71 but I was one of them. So I think I certainly should have a role in talking to whoever the head of the Fed is or the Fed. I don't think the you know in the old days that used to happen, nowadays it's sort of they think it shouldn't happen, but I've done great, I've made a lot of money, I've been very successful. I think my voice should be heard. But uh, I'm I'm not going to make the decision based on that. I'll be making a decision over the next few weeks. Thank you all very much.","2026-09-04T15:11:33.752344+00:00",null,"President Trump Participates in a Bill Signing Ceremony, Dec. 12, 2025","20251212",true,false,{"name":14,"slug":15,"image_url":8},"Donald Trump","donald-trump",{"prev":17,"next":20},{"id":18,"name":19},"cdd9a9aa-9e98-4d8f-aad3-313ac635694c","President Trump Participates in a Hanukkah Reception",{"id":21,"name":22},"6b07be70-db3e-492b-9155-5a8f2cff835a","President Trump Delivers Remarks at the Congressional Ball"]