international hotels at the old post office pavilion in the nation's capital. we will show you some of as wait for the rally in ohio to get started. >> hello, everyone. it's an honor to stand before you today and officially welcome you to trump international hotel and tower in washington, d.c. this has been an unforgettable year for my family for many reasons. as eric said our business at trump hotels continues to thrive in the last 12 months we have completed the redevelopment of trump national in miami, florida, come the iconic resort in scotland, and and this difficult international golf links in ireland. next month when opening a stunning hotel and residential tower in vancouver, canada. we've also launched our newest brand which will enable us to

expand our quickly growing footprint beyond five star of the luxury markets and locations such as this one. we have celebrated many milestones but the one that gathers us here today, the grand opening of the redeveloped old post office building is incredibly special to each member of my family, both personally and professionally. a renovation is much more complex than a ground up construction project and the redevelopment of the building we're standing and has been perhaps the most challenging and gratifying of them all. when this property was originally built in 1899 its grant you was meant to signal to the rest of the country that pennsylvania avenue was america's mainstream. a full city block and heart of washington, d.c., you didn't have to be a visionary to see the potential despite the fact that in recent years time has taken its toll on its national treasure.

in 2011 the old post office was considered the most sought after redevelopment opportunity in the country, and my father and i fought hard against the largest hotel companies and developers in the world to win the deal. over the course of eight months our team worked nonstop to study the building and strategize the best approach to restore its two with full potential, an and in some. after an exhaustive evaluation process we were ultimately awarded the deal by united states government. we were selected by a panel of judges based on criteria that included our vision for the property, the strength and experience of our development team, our companies financial wherewithal, our track record and a plan to bring vibrancy to pennsylvania avenue. one of the reasons i love real estate, a passion inherited from my father can is because at the end of the years of hard work there exists a tangible validation of your efforts and the efforts of so many people.

.. involved in the design, construction, and now the operation of this project. made it a point of personal pride to be extra precise in their work to be sure it was completed to an extremely high standard. my brothers and i included. a good sign, sign of a good leader, is how hard his or her team works when the boss is not there. my father's team has worked very, very hard on this building, and we're standing here today, it's evident, of that tremendous effort. including the historic clock

tower, which still houses our nation's bells of congress, the old post office is the second tallest building in washington, dc after the monument. behind the facade is the city's largest luxury ballroom and within the building itself the guests will discover the most spacious suites in the district. we have painstakingly preserved original architectural elements like the stone cashings and granite facade, extraordinary mill work on the wood doors and the marble wainscoting. a few weeks ago i met a contractor on site who was wearing a trump shirt. he was very proud to tell me he helped my father build trump tower in new york city 15 years ago. as a daughter, this political

season has been one of the most interesting journeys of my life. publish, but each day if a a heard critics against my father's business but one of the most telling sign's his skis e success is the thousands of people who have worked with him, worked for him, fought with them, and who continue to stand by his side, in their quest to achieve great things. when this property was put out to bid, congressman john micah, chairman of the house oversight committee, held a press conference in the vacant building. it was without heat and in the freezing cold heed a machine issued the crowd about government excess and noted the old post solves was losing the government between $8 million and $6 million a year. at a committee hearing following our soft opening last month. congressman micah said that trump international hotel

washington, dc is now creating hundreds of jobs, and is a stellar example of turning underutilized federal properties around with the help of the private sector. win we againsted construction and at the groundbreaking ceremony i pledged my family's commitment to the project and ensuring its successful congratulations. i told you that we would not disappoint you, and that we would never let you down. today is a celebration, not just of meeting but exceeding those goals. this achievement wouldn't be possible without our extraordinary team at the trump organization. thank you all for the design and preservation,, a, a architects for their tremendous contribution to the process and also like to thank me many elected officials and staff members of the federal and d.c. government who i've had the

opportunity to work with so closely, including the general services administration, national park service, commission of fine arts, national capital planning commission, d.c. mayor's office, fire department, the police deposit, -- department and the historic preservation office. additionally i'd also like to extend a special thank you to congresswoman eleanor holmes- norman. the most -- a great partner over the last five years and someone i have great respect for and have thoroughly, thoroughly enjoyed getting to know. finally, thank you to my father, who took a few hours away from his grueling schedule on the campaign trail to be here today. years ago, when we promised the city of d.c. that trump would be coming to pennsylvania avenue in

2016 we had no idea what we were foreshadowing. this is an important moment for our family and our company, and it wouldn't be possible without the hard work and support of this visionary man. so without further adieu, let me introduce my father, donald j. trump. thank you. [applause] >> thank you, everybody. i appreciate it. thank you, melania, stephanie, laura, thank you very much. we were very proud of our company. we built one of the great real estate companies of the world. but it seems very insignificant compared to what we're doing now, and as soon as we're finished cutting the ribbon, i'm off to north carolina, new hampshire, and back down to florida.

right here we're doing very well. with the notable exception of 1600 pennsylvania avenue, this is the most coveted piece of real estate in washington, dc, the best location. i'm honored to be here today to support my family and especially my daughter, ivanka, for her dedication to this project. she worked so hard. i'm also honored to have a chance to thank the incredible team of people who brought our vision for washington's historic old post office to life, including hundreds of construction workers, electricians, maintenance workers and so many others who helped make this project a reality. they're really the important ones. a project like this demonstrates what is possible when a team works together for a totally common purpose. it also shows how to work with our government and to get things

done. my theme today is five words. underbudget and ahead of schedule. that what we do. underbudget and ahead of schedule. [applause] >> so important. we don't hear those words too often in government but you will. our agreement with the government required completion of the project by 2018. we were dramatically ahead of schedule on this project, and underbudget. we turned a property that has been neglected for decades and which was losing huge sums of money for the federal government, into a major revenue producer and job creator. this is what i want to do for our country, and this is what we're working so hard to do. right now, just about everything our government touches is broken or they break it.

it's always overbudget, behind schedule, and simply nothing works. look at the veterans administration, where new hospitals could 00ths of millions of dollars overbudget. and yet our brave veterans still don't get anywhere near the kind of care they need or deserve. look at our decaying infrastructure. our aging military equipment, our military is so depleted. despite having the greatest people on earth. i mean, they are the greatest people in our military, but it's so depleted. the tax code is broken. the education system is broken. we spend the most for any of any country on education and get bad results, and so many parts of our country are in a state of disrepair, and now it was just announced yesterday that obamacare is in freefall, with

premiums going up massively and places like the great state of arizona, going up over 100% in cost. unaffordable, unusable, and doesn't work even if you can afford it. the american people know what this election is about, and they see it every time they get their healthcare bills in the mail box or ride down a highway that is broken or go to an airport that looks like it's from a third world country. remember hillary said herself, it was called, hillarycare before it was called obamacare. she made that statement not too long ago and now trying to withdraw that statement. wants to withdraw that so badly, newt. by the way, congratulations on last night. an amazing interview. an amazing interview.

we don't play games, newt, right? we don't play games. i love my life and business and loved getting to share my dreams with my family. it's an incredible family and melania, i want to thank you very much. you have been -- [applause] my job is to look at undeveloped spaces and imagine what they could be. these are paces -- spaces that have no hope, no future, but you need imagination and you need the ability to get them done, and to unlock their potential and unlock the potential of the people working on those spaces and on those projects, and we have so many things we can do for our country. where others have only dead-ended i've dreamed of the amazing possibilities that we have. that's why government has turned to me in the past to fix

projects that had gone in where, that were considered total disasters, whether it's turning a landfill, after many, many years, of futile work, into bronx, new york, into a world class golf course that is now open and doing unbelievable business. or revitalizing the facade of the great grand central terminal, or billing and saving the rink in central park, after eight years of futility and spending massive amounts of money and getting it done in four months for a very small amount of money. so many different things. today is a metaphor for what we can accomplish for this country. same thing. this building is a historical landmark, a true american original. it had all of the ingredients of greatness but had been neglected and left to deteriorate for many, many decades. it sat there so beautiful and so

empty, and was falling into a very, very bad state of condition. it had the foundation for success all of the elements were here, our job was too restore its former glory, honor is heritage and also to imagine a brand new and exciting vision for the future. to create a new place for people and families to come together and a magnificent place at that. i've been very lucky and led a great life. now i want to give back to the country which i love so much and has been so good to me. i want to go into the inner cities can the poor rural communities and failing schools and work on a national plan of revitalization. i'm tired of the excuses from our politicians. i'm tired of being told what cannot be done. i'm tired of people asking

americans to defer their dreams to another day but really what they mean is to another decade. enough waiting. the time is now. we can achieve our goals for this country and we can do so more quickly than anyone ever thought possible. there is nothing we cannot accomplish. the united states is great. it's great. its people are great. there is no task or project too great. there's no dream outside of our reach. don't ever let anyone tell you it can't be done. the future lies with the dreamers north the cynics and the critics. everywhere i go in this country all i see is untapped potential waiting to be set free. and the biggest element of all is our incredible people, the people of this country. they're just waiting.

they're waiting and waiting, and i think maybe now their time has come. but we will realize that the potential we can continue to put in our faith and the faith of our country, and we have to say the word "never" will always have to be taken out because we have such tremendous potential. we have to choose the most optimistic path. we have to choose to believe not our politicians, that in many cases truly don't know what they're doing, but to believe in ourselves and in our country. if we do that, anything is possible. i'm asking america to join me in dreaming big and bold and dream for wonderful things in our future. let's close the history books on the failures ins into open a new chapter of success and

prosperity for all of our people. we have a divided nation. a seriously divided nation. all of our people. that is how we will truly make america great again. thank you very much. i greatly appreciate it. [applause] >> so, we're now going to the lobby. i want to thank in particular now the employees, the construction workers and all of the people that work so hard to make trump international a

reality. this will be one of the great hotels anywhere in world. i want in particular to congratulate ivanka because this what her baby, and she worked so closely with the gsa, great, great professionals, the gsa people are amazing professionals and work long and hard for years, and this is the culmination. so, ivanka, congratulations, and melania for putting up with the time and all this effort, and we're going to now be cutting a ribbon, and maybe what we'll do is have some of the folks -- why don't you bring them up. come on stage. they're so beautiful. never seen scissors that look this beautiful before. that's great. that beautiful. and thank you to the employees.

it's all about service, all about loving what you do, so many of them have come up and thanked me. they now have long-term jobs. many, many jobs, and long-term jobs, and we're going to -- we're looking to make this one of the great hotels of the country but it's going to we one the great hotels of the world. we have the finest location, and we have the finest building, building built in 1899. and that was when this was a very, very powerful, rich country, when money was no object. they built the post office with big, big dollars. and the walls are sometimes -- you can take a look and see them -- some of the exterior walls are five feet thick. it's really quite a place and we're honored to have been given the opportunity. so, this is for many, many years of success, many, many years of great jobs, and i just want to

thank everybody for your hard work and for being here today. thank you very much. [applause] [inaudible conversations]

>> all right. ready? many, many years of including happiness and everything else. one, two, three. [applause] >> that's from idea now we take you live to springfield, ohio, donald trump is set to appear at a rally in springfield. we're life -- live at the champion center. one of three places in ohio trump stopped at. also toledo and geneva montgomery here on c-span2.