our national security interests in preventing terrorist attacks against our citizens and asian -- nation. and to the american people, many of you have grown weary of this conflict. as you are well aware, i do not support the idea of endless war. i have repeatedly argued against marching into open-ended military conflicts that do not serve our security interests. inen what's at stake afghanistan and the opportunity for a stable and committed ally back and partner with us in preventing the emergence of future threats, and the fact that we have an international coalition, i am firmly committed to making this extra effort. in the afghan government, we have a serious partner who want our help. and the majority of the afghan people share our goals.

we have a bilateral security agreement to guide our cooperation. at every single day, afghan forces are out there fighting and dying to protect their country. they are not looking for us to do it for them. i am speaking of the afghan army cadet who grew up seeing bombing and attacks on innocent because ofho said this, i took the decision to join the army to try and save as a people's lives. o'er the police officer trained to defuse explosions -- explosives. who says he is always dreamed of wearing the uniform of afghanistan. or the afghan commando, a irdened veteran who said if start telling you the stories of my life, i might start crying. he said the faster we bring peace, the faster we can bring education. the stronger our unity will

grow. only after these things happen will afghanistan stand up for itself. after so many years of war, afghanistan will not be a perfect place. it is a poor country that will have to work hard on its development. there will continue to be could exit areas -- contestant areas. they are sending up for the country. if they were to fail, they would endanger the security of us all. we have made enormous investments in a stable afghanistan. afghans are making difficult genuine progress. this modest but meaningful extension of our presence while sticking to our current era missions can -- current narrow missions can make a difference.

it is the right thing to do. may god bless our troops and all who keep us safe and may god continue to bless the united states of america. this decision is not disappointing. continually, i goal has been to make sure that we give every opportunity for afghanistan to succeed while we are making sure we meet our core missions. as i have continually said, my approach is to assess the situation on the ground, the out what is working, and what is not. make adjustments when necessary. this is the first time does adjustments have been made and probably won't be the last. is theencouraged by government that is serious about trying to deliver security and

the prospect of that of life for the afghan people. we have a clear majority of the afghans who want to partner with us and the international community to achieve those goals. we have a bilateral security ourngement that ensures troops can operate in ways that protect that while achieving their mission. we have always known we had to maintain a counterterrorism operation in that region. in order to attempt down the emergence of active al qaeda networks or other networks that might do us harm. the is consistent with overall vision we have had and we anticipated, as we were drawing down troops there were places we might need to slow things down or fill gaps in afghan capacity. this is a reflection of that. it's a dangerous area so part of

what we are trying to balance afghans- is making sure are out there doing what they need to do. we are giving them a chance to succeed and that we are making sure they can conduct those missions we need to conduct, we can do so relatively safely. there are still risks involved. the ability of our embassies to operate effectively, those things all factor in. we have to review those approaches. what i want to emphasize is the nature of the mission has not changed. the cessation of our combat role has not changed. military and civilian separate -- that would be five military operatives that were

killed, they are 25 to many. and i particularly think about the families. i understand relative to what is involved when we were in an , it was abat role different scenario. you have a situation where we have clarity about our mission and a partner that wants to work with us. we are going to make adjustments to ensure we give the best possibilities for success. i suspect we will continue to evaluate this going forward as well the next president. as conditions improve, we will be in a position to make other adjustments. i'm confident this is the right thing to do. i am not disappointed because my view has always been how do we achieve our goals while minimizing the strain and exposure on our men and women in

uniform and make sure we are constantly encouraging and sending a message to the afghan people that this is their country and they have to defend it. thank you everybody. president obama flanked by the vice president, defense secretary ashton carter, and chairman of the joint chiefs announcing what he called a modest but meaningful adjustment to u.s. policy and troop embers -- numbers in afghanistan saying they will leave nearly 10,000 troops through the end of 2016. we will open up our phone lines to get your thoughts on the policy. 48-8922.rs, 202-7 we will let you know to, ashton

carter will hold a press briefing at the pentagon. 1:45 eastern to layout more details on troop numbers. that will be live on c-span.org. a couple of comments from reporters, jennifer covers for washington post, saying obama is keeping 9800 u.s. troops through most of next year, down to 5500 troops in 2016. the white house's reporter, peter baker. obama emphasizes his reliance on president ghani who u.s. officials feel better about than karzai. molly writes at the same time, afghan forces are still not a strong as any to be quoting the president. she says america's longest war just got longer. --s is combat veteran of

vietnam. for getting back home but if you do something that will hurt the united states, we will declare war and bomb. i don't want to see people come home and have to fight. back our veterans, give them tax breaks. --rewarding those people. we will go to robert in west columbia. hi.er:

my name is robert and i am calling to say it seems to me he is suggesting a pinprick when we need a hammer. i don't understand it, we should just go in and get rid of it and be done with it and come home. all he is talking about is extending a war that will never end because we don't have enough troops there. we need to go in with a hammer and get rid of the people and come home. host: what do you think the hammer is? a massive influx of troops? caller: more troops. suddenly, quickly, or troops. and get the job done because we can do it. we have the troops and equipment. we just need the will to do it. right now we have a president that doesn't have the will. host: certainly calling for the

maintenance is vietnam veteran and chairman of the senate armed services committee john mccain who made an announcement saying he is pleased that president obama has decided to keep u.s. troops in afghanistan however, i am concerned the number will not be sufficient to perform the critical task set for them. let's go to john in massachusetts. think the limited amount of troops can only do minor help. engage and give the amount of troops that are needed to fully overcome the enemy, we will not -- we will continue to be engaged forever. i believe this president needs to fully engage the enemy or not a gauge -- engage at all.

host: here is earl from arkansas on our democrats line. yes, i would like to make a comment, i think the president is doing a pretty good job but i don't think we should be sending troops over. they are not making it back home. that is my biggest concern. other than that i think the i am -- part of what at the same time, i is not a afghanistan big threat to us. more so some of the local countries.

host: president obama laying out the news that he will keep really 10,000 troops in afghanistan through the end of 2016. some 5500 after that. the president saying their mission would be training and going after al qaeda. a lot of attention focused on kn unduz. taking your reaction on twitter @cspan. here's house majority leader kevin mccarthy who just tweeted the presidents announcement signal he didn't want to repeat his mistakes any rock by withdrawing prematurely. juliano in florida, go ahead. like you just said, all of our tanks and everything in those countries, isis has taken

our stuff. i've been wondering, these other people are overthrowing the government. i don't understand that, how is that ok in the american people's eyes. if someone were to come here and get our people guns and overthrew our government, they'll be chaos. the american government, i don't understand how everyone is ok with this. we are supposed to have the best military in the world. it takes russia one or two weeks to take these people out. take the day can leader of isis out. and we have been doing it for months. i think this is calculated and i don't think he has very much interest in helping those people. i feel like he has all teary or motives.- ulterior

host: we appreciate you weighing and. let's go to california to frank. make sure your mute your television or radio. that we need to send more troops in afghanistan because we definitely don't need the guys over there running around and bringing it here. fight overkeep that there on their land. let's take it to them. and let's send more troops. if we have 10,000 troops over there now, let's even send in some contractors as well. but let's bolster up those troops. thank you very much. host: we hear from foreign policy reporter for "bloomberg," saying obama on afghanistan mission, quote, this isn't the

first time adjustment had to be made, this probably won't be the last. we should do the comments also of thornberry, who chairs the armed services committee in the house. his statement saying, in part, given the troubling conditions on the ground in afghanistan and the other security problems in the region, keeping 9800 troops there through at least 2016 is necessary to our security interests. we will go with a couple more minutes of your phone calls. north carolina. caller: hello. host: hi, there. go ahead. caller: i have been following the politics most of my life, and i'm 81 years old. time, i have in had six members of my time -- my immediate family involved in the wars. my husband is now deceased, but i think our country needs to withdraw from the middle east

because the governments there are not stable. they are networking with hundred percent with our country. they are like backstabbing is because they have no control over there -- back stabbers because they have the control over their masses of people. we need to draw the borderlines. please, bring all of our troops out of these countries to force good government to take charge of the old countries. i believe we need to do a complete withdrawal out of the middle east. host: ok. here is st. petersburg, florida. tom on the democrats line. town in st. petersburg, go ahead. ok, guess we lost tom. we will go to mike, florida, republican line. caller: hello? host: you are on the air, mike. go ahead. caller: i am calling first of

all to say that in iraq, we should never have gone in. [indiscernible] iraqiwould allow the government to try them in civilian court for any wrongdoing. [indiscernible] iraqis. president for it didn't represent the entire iraqi population. and secondly, in afghanistan, it was a bad were in the beginning. we put in 140,000 troops of our own. other nations put in another 60,000. we had 200,000 troops over there at one time. and we stopped the government the best we could. has every on earth been successful in afghanistan. and it is a losing war. no matter how many troops we have their, the government is

going to go back to the way it was before. a terrorist country. and that is what i want to say. host: here is james in illinois. democrat. caller: i would just like to thank the troops and their families for all their servers, sacrifices that they have done and will do for this country. i would also like to have a question -- about -- [indiscernible] stabilizeping to women's rights to the area. and seeing if that would be a viable option to help get our troops home by saying men come in and place trade routes. host: a couple comments on twitter. @cspan is how you treat us. i really don't think a sustained presence there makes us safer in the long run. the voice of reason tweeting,

potus comes to a new stance for national defense and foreign affairs while claiming his position has wavered, quote, absolutely. not. go ahead, james. caller: good morning, sir. how are you doing? host: doing fine, thank you. caller: i would just like to say that mr. president has done the best he can. we have limitations financially and morally on how much we can also -- altar another nation's influence in the world. do endless peacekeeping missions in other countries and force our beliefs on them, which honestly would harbor more terrorism and more resentment towards the united states, i think he has done the best he can. i think he is influencing foreign policy the best he can. i appreciate the work he has done. host: james, thanks for calling.

thank you for all your calls and your comments. , theook.com/c-span conversation continues on my. this afternoon, we will be covering the news conference with defense secretary ashton carter. he will be speaking at 20:45 eastern, and we will have that live on c-span -- at 145 -- at 1:45 eastern, and we will have that live on c-span. donald trump yesterday was in richmond, virginia for a campaign rally. >> [indistinct chatter] >> [cheering]

>> [cheering] >> ♪ >> [cheering] ♪ [cheering] ♪

mr. trump: i love virginia. i have a lot of people that work very hard. i probably pay them too much. and i have the vineyards in charlottesville, you know that. >> [cheering] mr. trump: i have trump national, which is a tremendous success, right along the potomac river. probably no piece of land like it. it is phenomenal. we have a lot of people that work for me. we have a lot of people -- frankly, i work for them, the way i look at it. they are so good that i actually need them then they -- more than they need me. does that make sense? where is kerry? getup. . , appeared -- get up here. come on.

she runs the vineyards. trump vineyards. one of the drivers was telling me they go back-and-forth all the time bringing people, but she runs it. and she has done such an incredible job. we took it over about four years ago. to put it mildly, it was in serious trouble. it is close to 2000 acres and it is one of the most beautiful. actually the largest vineyards on the east coast of this country. the largest. >> [cheering] mr. trump: and it has become an incredible, incredible tourist attraction. and she has literally from day one -- she has taken it with love and with pride -- and i am proud because you know one of the things -- and i have to say this -- if anke said i have to say this -- and i think you will confirm it -- but i have more women in high executive positions -- in fact --

>> [cheering] mr. trump: true. true. in fact, the men in my company are all complaining. is that ok? to hell with them. just a word. do you like trump? go ahead. >> if you want someone who inspires greatness and demands excellent, this is your man. >> [cheering] mr. trump: thank you. thank you. she has done such an incredible job. thank you. you know, when i have a place -- usually i have a lot of them -- but when i go to certain areas and i have something i am very proud of, i like to bring the employees. we have some of our employees here today. but i like to bring the employees up because it is so important, especially when you are looking at what is going on in our country where our jobs are being taken away. they are going to other places, as you know. you can name the countries.

we don't make good deals anymore. we just don't. so when i'm around when my places, i love to bring my people up. i love it. we had some big news today because i just have to talk about it. in the old days we would call it misinformation. do we agree? we are going to talk about the debate. anybody watch it last night? [laughter] and i tweeted, i tweeted. can you believe? and i made a commitment. i said i tweet so i couldn't turn it off. and somebody said on one of the networks the winner was trump because we picked up 160,000 followers. >> [cheering] second-place was a hot mess. i tell you that. so today, cnn came out with a

poll. and the poll was in the state of nevada. they came out with another poll in south carolina, which is an incredible place. both incredible places. i said i have to read some of these because this is wild. so, we are in first place everywhere. i mean -- >> [cheering] [cheering] [applause] [cheering] mr. trump: he said, everywhere. i said, yeah, you are right. texas, new hampshire, iowa. we are first place everywhere. [cheering] but the polls just came out. and as you know, a couple of weeks ago, we had florida. and we are just killing in florida. so you have a governor and you have a sitting senator, and it is not even close. 28, 29.at 28 quite a --

they are in the low teens. i'm not even happy when i hit 29 now, i am saying we should do better. at 38.nevada, we are think of it. >> [cheering] mr. trump: second-place is 22. i won't even bother telling you. when you have 38, you are almost doubling it up. again, done by cnn. , we are at 36 to 18. can you believe that? >> [cheering] mr. trump: connecticut just came out, 34 to 15. >> [cheering] mr. trump: but here is what i really like. which candidate can best handle the economy? ok? >> [cheering]

[cheering] mr. trump: thank you. well, that was big. 67% said trump. can you believe it? now you have to remember -- you know -- if we had two people running and you had 67%, that would be a landslide, right? with 67%, the press -- look at the cameras going back there. so many. so many. i look at all the red lights. show the crowd, everybody. show the crowd. show the crowd. >> [cheering] mr. trump: and a lot of people outside that the fire marshal will not let in, so it is one of those things, that i will tell 67% in awhen you have two-person race, that is called landslide. that is called massive victory. i don't think there has ever been a victory -- and here we

have a thing called the economy. would you say that is important to echo i would think so -- important? i would think so, right? we won the state by a lot. leading in the polls by a lot. now, a couple of these categories -- -- i have to read them -- -- illegal immigration. important. we are going to build the wall, believe me. we are going to build the wall. >> [cheering] [applause] [cheering] we. trump: and -- you know -- are going to build it -- it will be paid for. who is going to pay for the wall? who is going to pay for the wall? category -- the

next category, which is so important, -- that is ok. that is ok. don't worry. that is all right. >> [cheering] that's all right. >> [cheering] why we havehat's freedom of speech, folks. you know. >> [applause] [cheering] mr. trump: and i will tell you -- i will tell you how dishonest the press is. we have thousands of people in this room -- 6000, 7000 -- we have about 10 people over there. they will get the headline, you won't. that is pretty disgusting. >> [cheering] mr. trump: pretty disgusting. but that is the way it goes.

so illegal immigration -- 55% want trump. 13% to second place. that tells you something right there. 13%. 13%. >> [cheering] mr. trump: on social issues, trump is first. foreign policy, -- >> [cheering] [cheering] [cheering] [chanting] we want trump. we want trump. we want trump. we want trump.

we want trump. we want trump. we want trump. we want trump. we want trump. we want trump. mr. trump: thank you very much. that is great. thank you very much. but it is true, i see a couple of cameras. they are going wild, the cameras. it is so disgusting. but that is all right. on foreign policy, trump number one. 34%. on isis, who is going to handle isis? trump, 46. we are not going to play games. we are not playing games. we are not playing games. >> [cheering] mr. trump: on the change and how we do in washington -- on the change -- how are we going to change washington? who is going to do the most effective job? trap, 60%. 60. 60%. >> [cheering] mr. trump: here is an important

one. best chance of winning in november. trump, number one. 47%. >> [cheering] mr. trump: amazing. >> [cheering] mr. trump: so we are number one at 42, and then you get to 16 and 10, a big difference. we have all come a long ways together. and we have a lot of bad people out there. they want to stop progress. and you see it all the time. i use the statement, the senate majority. the silent majority is back, folks. the silent majority is back. >> [cheering] [video clip] the silent -- mr. trump: the silent majority is back. period ofhe last time, we have had a very interesting thing happened. we've seen our country where we don't win anymore, and we are going to start winning so much.

we are going to win left, we are going to win right, we are going to win everything. we have unbelievable people in this country. and nothing is going to stop us from starting to win again. >> [cheering] [applause] [cheering] mr. trump: you look at what is happening with foreign countries, you look at how they are taking our jobs, how they are taking our face, how they are taking everything we have, including our money. you look at what is going on with the foreign, no matter what country you are talking about. they beat the united states. it is not going to happen anymore. it is not. >> [cheering] [applause] mr. trump: our trade deficit with china is almost $400

billion. $400 billion. a year! a year. and then i see our president entertaining the heads of china and talking about our great trading partners. yeah, they are a great trading partner for china, not for us. our deficit with japan is $70 billion a year. pour in, pouring, -- we sell them relatively nothing practically speaking. what we sell them is beneath. -- beef. you go to los angeles and you see the bigger ships you have ever seen had and the cars are pouring off.

they have no respect for us. and our trade deficit with japan -- is almost 70 million think of this, think of this. $70 billion. which is absolutely crazy. now, we go to mexico. i love the people of mexico. i love mexico. they are great people. i have thousands and thousands of hispanics working for me. thousands. thousands of hispanics. in fact, a nevada, the same poll, i went with the hispanics, which everyone is surprised. i win with the hispanics. >> [cheering] 2 so are trading deficit -- mr. trump: so are trading deficit with mexico is $45 billion a year. i'm going to build a wall that is going to be really a wall. nobody is coming in, other than if you come in legally.

everybody said, you can't build a wall. and i say, mexico is going to pay for it. they say, you can't do that. you can't do that. how can they do that? if the wall costs $6 billion to build, and we are talking about 1000 miles. it is 2000. the great wall of china, think of it, is 13,000 miles. it was built 2000 years ago. we have a wall that has to be built. we have problems coming in like a nobody has ever seen before. it has to be built. has to be built. >> [cheering] [applause] mr. trump: what ever anybody says, just remember this: almost everybody wanted this wall built 10 years ago, 12 years ago, 15 years ago. the liberals, the conservatives, everybody wanted it.

one of the reasons it wasn't built was because they couldn't n environmental impact statement approved. can you believe this? are going to build the wall. mexico is going to pay for it. now, the people -- the stupid people say mexico will pay for it. we give mexico billions of dollars. we have that trading deficit of almost $50 billion. five toalking about a 67, if you go rolls-royce, we are talking $5 billion to $7 billion. they are going to pay us so gladly. speakwill say this: i with our politicians, and i speak to them all the time, but i speak to them loud and clear, and i know who i am dealing with . and a lot of them are nice people. they say, donald, you will never

be able to get them to pay. i realize they are not the right people to do the job because with the right messenger, they will pay so happily, so gladly. they are taking advantage of us at the border. they are taking advantage of us with trade. they are very good people, but their leaders are smarter than our leaders. our leaders don't have a clue. they don't have a clue. >> [applause] [cheering] we have a: we have -- situation where a mother is pregnant. she goes to the border. she walks across the border right in front of our border patrol, who are great people, but they are not allowed to do their jobs. she lies down, she has the baby that they call anchor babies. she has the baby. now we are responsible for that baby for 85 years. ok? i don't think so. i don't think so. we can't do it. we all 19 trillion dollars --

owe $19 trillion, a number that is almost inconceivable when you think about it. owe $19$19 trillion -- trillion. we can't be in a position where we are doing anymore. we have to rebuild our country. we have to rebuild our infrastructure. >> [cheering] [applause] mr. trump: we have to repeal and replace obamacare. have to do it. have to do it. have to do it. >> [cheering] obamacare is going to cost us more money than anybody would have ever dreamt, and it is no good. it doesn't work. ,our premiums are going up 55% 45%, 60%. your deductibles are through the roof. you could be dead and never get any of the money deductibles are so high.

so we are going to repeal obama care. we are going to replace it with something that is going to be terrific. and -- >> [cheering] mr. trump: it is going to be terrific. it is going to cost a country very little, and people are going to be able to have their doctor, have their plan, pay less money. if they are sick, they are not going to have to worry about a deductible being so high that nothing works unless you get hit by a tractor. so we are going to do that. we are going to do so many different things. we are going to make our country great again. we are going to make it so great -- >> [cheering] [applause] we justmp: our taxes -- put in a plan the other day -- we are going to reduce taxes tremendously because we have the highest tax rate anywhere in the world, and are middle-class is being absolutely destroyed. being destroyed.

you know, we used to have the middle class that everybody was proud of. we don't have that anymore. they are being so badly treated. our veterans are being treated worse than anybody. our veterans. >> [cheering] watch -- last night with bernie sanders and hillary and the other three guys that nobody -- yeah, yeah. the other three guys that nobody even knows who the hell they are. who are they? night asched last hillary and bernie sanders -- they just couldn't get things away fast enough. and they are getting them to illegal immigrants. they want health care for illegal immigrants, they want to have's licenses for illegal immigrants. they are suggesting -- listen to this -- social security for illegal immigrants. [boos] mr. trump: we are going to

straighten things out. we are going to bring immigration under control. we are not going to have a situation like eight, beautiful kate and san francisco. this guy comes in five different times. they could've been much more than that. after the fifth time, she gets shot in the back. we are not going to have it anymore. we are going to have a situation that is going to be rational, reasonable. we are going to keep in the country -- when somebody goes through a long process with college, they go to harvard, they go to jail, they go to a great college -- the university of regina, rate college, right? and it is right next to our property. we love them. but they go to the university of they do fantastic. and they do just great. and they are so proud. and as from another country, but they want to stay here. and we tell them get out. you state here, you have to go home.

and the case in india where a man opened the company and wanted to stay here. employees, one of the hottest companies in the world. and he would have been here. he would have been here. and that is what we want. we want to keep people here. we want people to come in legally. and i say -- >> [cheering] i say -- and so importantly -- we want to have a big door. we want to have a big, beautiful door right in the middle of that law. and we want those people to comment. they've got to do it through a legal process. if we don't have a border -- if we don't have a border and we have people all over this country -- we have no idea where they are coming from. we don't have a country. we no longer have a country. it is very simple. >> [applause] mr. trump: and we are going to do it with heart and we are

going to get along with people and everything is going to be great, but we are going to take back our country and we are going to start doing things properly. >> [applause] [cheering] mr. trump: when we have countries, like the ones i named -- and many others -- and we have people that take advantage of our leaders because they are not smart, they are incompetent, they are stupid, or they don't care -- that is going to and. i have the greatest minds on wall street. i have them already lined up. they are calling me. these are the greatest negotiators in the world. they are calling me -- carl icon, great. i have the best in the world. they don't want money. they do want salaries. they are rich. they made it because they are great negotiators. they want to come and they want to see a country be great again. they are proud of our country.

some are nice people, some aren't, i don't care. i want the greatest. and i know the best, the smartest, the sharpest. i know people that are overrated. i know people that are better than all of them. >> [applause] mr. trump: and we are going to bring them in and we are going to bring them in and they are going to be in charge of, one, china. let me tell you about china. first of all, i love china. the people are great. they by my apartment for $50 million all the time, how could i just like them, writes? i have the largest bank in all of the world and one of my buildings. it is from china. it makes city -- citibank look this big. i wish it were turnaround. i wish our representatives took advantage of them. i think that would be great. i think that would be great. but it is a one-way street.

it is a one-way street to poverty for us. poverty. we can't do it. we are in a bubble right now, believe me. we have a phony statistic on jobs, we have 100 million people in the workforce that want to work. we have 100 million people. we have tremendous levels of poverty. we have welfare all over the place. .nd these are people in many cases, they want to go out and have a great job and be proud and take-home a lot of money, but we can't because we are losing all our jobs. we are losing them to other nations. we are losing them to stupid policies. this trade pack -- transpacific partnership. it is -- believe me, believe me, if it was good i wouldn't care, proposed it. i wish obama were a great president. i wouldn't care.

then i wouldn't have to run. i loved what i was doing. it's true. i love it. i love it. >> [applause] mr. trump: i would love if you were a great president. i would be his greatest fan. i don't care because what i want is good for the country. i don't want to be doing this. i am asked having fun because i'm so energized. -- actually having fun because i'm so energized. i went to dallas, we had 20,000 people or the mavericks play. we go to oklahoma two weeks ago, we had 20,000 people in a park. no matter where we go -- week went to mobile, alabama. we had 35,000 people. we go up to new hampshire, we had the biggest crowd. iowa, the biggest crowd. south carolina, we had something to weeks ago that was unbelievable. it was unbelievable. a friend of mine said, how do you do that?

and you don't have teleprompters. i don't want a teleprompter. right? >> [cheering] [applause] mr. trump: i don't. it would be so much easier. think of it, you have your teleprompter, right? [indiscernible] hello, ladies and gentlemen. it is wonderful to be in virginia. where you have also to great people. and you do. by the way, you really have the hall of fame. you know -- it is true. no, you have the hall of fame. i tell my guys, i say, look, i'm here, i have a lot of property, it is great, but just a couple of things, this is a real hall of fame. patrick henry, give me liberty or give me death. >> [cheering] mr. trump: right? how good is that?

>> [applause] mr. trump: i want to come up with a slogan as good as that. how about, make america great again? i don't know. it is great. but i so might give me liberty or give me death. see, i want to get the word off that eventually. he just said he will, i will. it is not going to be that hard. it takes common sense. it takes business ability. and we are going to treat people well. i say i am a conservative with heart because we are going to have that great health care program, but we are going to take care of everyone. we are going to take care of people. and people are going to pay much less. what i like to say -- conservative with heart because a lot of people think if you are a republican, you don't have heart. you are mean, horrible people. it doesn't work that way. somebody said, oh, well that is not conservative. called club for

growth. club for growth. i never even heard of it. this guy comes up to my office, right? and he sits down. nice guy. i think he was an x congressman, so he knows how to talk. that is all they know how to do is talk. except for the politicians in this room, of which we have plenty. where is dave? he is great. >> [cheering] mr. trump: i was just with his family and his children and his wife, i tell you, he has done a great job. there is a guy who shows you he can do things. that has never happened before what he did. so i just gave him -- just a lot of credit. ok, so patrick henry, great, right? then you have thomas jefferson. that is pretty good, right? thomas jefferson, man. >> [applause] mr. trump: then you have james madison. principal author of the constitution. that is pretty good.

and then you have george washington. that is pretty good, right? >> [cheering] mr. trump: pretty amazing. when you think of virginia, just pretty amazing. so, i tell the stories and i love the stories because it shows how important it is. i am self funding my campaign, ok? i am the only one. >> [cheering] [applause] mr. trump: and i see all the guys that are competing with me, and some of them are nice -- although, some of them have hit me really hard. they're asking me for contributions, and then as soon as i run -- like he, he is a nice guy. did it work out too well for him. what he really hits me. id then lindsey graham, thought he was a nice guy, but he hit me. because they want to get their numbers up. not working. in every case, they have gone down. man, can you imagine if i am president? playsbody who pays --

tough with us is going down, right? right? >> [cheering] mr. trump: but i look at what is going on and i see so much and i see the way the politicians are controlling. don't forget, i was -- i was the perfect person. castingike, central because before iran, i was on the a list. i contributed a tremendous amount. along welll -- got with democrats, liberals, conservatives. and somebody said, but you give money to democrats. of course i did. i get along with everybody. you have to get along. i was told by hillary in a speech recently -- i was told same day by jeb that we don't like his tone. his tone. his tone veered -- his tone. i built this incredible company

and you will see because of vote -- book comes out -- it actually comes out -- it comes out on election day. it is going to be great. namepled america," a tough , but it tells you how we are going to fix it. but i am self funding and i was in iowa a few weeks ago and i said to the people, i feel so foolish. these people want to give me millions and millions of dollars. it is sort of like anti-me. why wouldn't i take it echo that is what i do -- take it? that is what i do, i take money. so i said to the group in iowa -- we had 5000 people in an auditorium like this -- i said, look, here is the story. i feel a little bit stupid when i don't take all of this money. supposing i take it -- just supposing -- and i promise i won't do anything for them, and they all stood up and said, no,

no. i thought i talked them into it. but the truth is i love what i'm doing. i love that i'm self funding because i'm not controlled by anybody. >> [cheering] mr. trump: controlled by you. >> [applause] mr. trump: really, i'm controlled by you. and you have heard me talking about the ford plant. i love it. ford, you want it again? should i do it again? i just think it is good. so for closes a lot of plants. they are building a 2.5 billion-dollar plant in mexico. all right. except when we get out of it? they are going to make cars and trucks and parts and they are going to send them into the united states and other places. how does that help us? you all went to good schools. if you didn't go to good schools, if you never graduated from high school, you know it is not good for us. and a 2.5 billion-dollar pla and -- plant in mexico, that is

a big plant. they are going to suck our jobs away. and i said to myself, what would if marco rubio or hillary or bush were president? they would know it is no good. and there was a, no, no, no, we can't let that happen. and the following our, they would be -- hour, they would be called by a special lobbyist to give them $1 million, they would be called by one of their owners -- donors who give them $1 million, and they would say, mr. president, you can't do that. they were very helpful in your campaign to become president. you can't do that. and you know what is going to happen? they will say, or she will say, i have to do it. and they will say, no, no, you can't read. and they will say, ok, i want. and the plant will be built.

let's do the other alternative. chomp as president. they having give me anything. >> [cheering] mr. trump: so i call the head afford. -- of ford. honestly, it is too easy. ford. the head of i say you are building a plant, but you are not implying people in the united states. you are employing other people. and i think that is fine, but to me how we benefit. he will be unable to explain it. believe me. i will say, listen, i want you to build a plant in michigan. or i want you to build a plant here. i don't care. i want it in the united states. i am tired of the jobs with nafta and all these crazy deals we make. i am tired of these jobs -- the new when we are just trying to improve -- i'm tired of these jobs like a vacuum cleaner. they suck the jobs out of our

country, they suck our money out of the country. we have nothing. we are like a third world country. our airports, our roads, our bridges are falling down. 61% of a bridges are in trouble. we drive over a bridge, it is in trouble. so i would take to them the following: i want to see his name because he happens to be a very good guy, but i would say, let me just tell you something, i want you to build it in the united states. i don't want you leaving. and if you do leave and if you insist on leaving, you are not bringing those cars over free. you are not. you are not doing it. >> [applause] [cheering] mr. trump: remember the trade deficit. remember here we are talking $45 billion to $50 billion a year. you are not bringing those cars over free. we are going to charge a 35% tax on every car, truck, and part that you bring over. >> [cheering]

mr. trump: now, i believe in free trade. but i also want smart trade. and i want to fair trade. it has got to be fair trade. free is good, but it has to be fair so we can compete. so what happens is the following. he will call up and say, no, no, no, we won't do that, mr. president. in fact, i have given most of them -- the lobbyists, i know all these people -- but now they will call and i will say no, no, no, we have to do the right thing. then i will be called by everybody else, but i haven't taken their money. i owe them nothing. i only owe you people, right? >> [cheering] [applause] mr. trump: and i will say the following: i am saying, no, we want you to build that plant in the united states. it is going to be built in the

united states. they will say, no. i guarantee you within 24 hours, probably by 5:00 that afternoon, assuming it is 12:00, you know, they like to call around lunchtime -- assuming the call is made, probably by 5:00, they will say, yes, mr. prez did, we president, we mr. have agreed, we are going to build it in the united states. >> [applause] only thing that will change it they may take an extra day. that is the on the thing. they can't do anything. we have the cards. see, what people don't realize -- obama thinks that they have the card. we have the cards. china has created one of the greatest thefts in the history of the world. it is true. they have sucked our economy

dry. and if you want to do business in china, and i have many friends that are manufacturers and i love these guys -- and they are great manufacturers -- and they call me all the time, they cannot get their product into china. they can't do it. and when they do, there is a big tax. and we are like the dummies, oh, bring it in. and then they do their currency manipulation, which is one of the reasons that the trade pack doesn't work. hillary clinton was listening to my speech. she was in favor of it 44 times, and the in yesterday -- and then yesterday, she came out against it. you know why? she knows she is going to get killed on that. killed. >> [cheering] [applause] it trump: and i have to hand to hillary clinton, i have to hand it to her. i have to hand it to her. it took great courage for her to

go against president obama on the trade pack. do you know why? indicted!ybe she gets >> [cheering] mr. trump: because she is being totally protected by the democrats because what she did is illegal. and you look at general betray us. he did 5% of -- what she did, and they destroyed his life. ,ther people have done far less and a life is destroyed. so the democrats aren't just protecting her. there is no reason for this. i wanted to go a fair investigation, let everything be fair, but what has happened is absolutely crazy. so, let's see if she -- she

might have done ok last night. she did. but nobody attacked her. nobody attacked her. there was no attack. in my debates, i hate to say this -- but in my debates they said, mr. trump, what do you think of this that the man next to said? and then they go to him and they say donald trump called to a horrible human being. it was like a reality television show. as last night, they would ask a question, they would get an answer. with me, everything was an attack. it is crazy. and yet every poll said i won that debate. every poll. >> [cheering] mr. trump: every poll. but it was a whole different story. so we have to do something about that. let me give you one other quick story. nabisco, right?

.reos they are closing their big plant in chicago. .hey are moving to mexico i am never eating another oreo ever again, ever! so, i'm going to talk to them. i don't want the cookies made and sold -- i just want it. it is unfair to us. chicago is losing this large plant. it is going to another country. we have a thing called corporate inversion. companies have trillions and trillions of dollars outside of the united states, ok? trillions. they think minimum $2.5 trillion. i think it is much more than that. it is covered in my tax plan. we have people and we have companies -- in the old days, they moved from new york to florida, whatever. now they move from the united states to foreign countries.

they take all those jobs. and one of the reasons they are moving is because they can't get the money that they made outside of the united states back into this country. and you know that every single politician practically in washington agrees -- democrats, republicans -- they all agree that we should allow it to come back. it is good. and you know why they can't agree? because we don't have a leader in the white house. that is really why. we don't have a leader. >> [cheering] mr. trump: this is a situation where every single politician practically wants it to come. and they can't agree. so we are doing something wrong. but to really, what it is, it is leadership. it is leadership. you get them into a room and get something done. >> [cheering] [applause] things are so --

thatning in this country people haven't seen happen in 50 years. i got a call the other day from a tremendous reporter, one of the few honest ones, and he said how does it feel? what you have done. because think of this -- you know what? they will tell you. i spent so little money and i am waiting every poll, every state, everything. every poll,ing every state, everything. i like budget. we all have budget. i thought i had spent about $20 million up until this point. you know what i spent? like, nothing. because i was going to spend a tremendous amount on advertising. thewe have gone so far and polls and everything are so good and the crowds are so great, i don't like to waste money.

and i get so much on television -- >> [cheering] [applause] mr. trump: it is true. tonight, i am doing a rally. much -- t i spent so interview is better than a commercial, don't we agree? right? better. a commercial, you turn it off, you go home. some of these guys have spent tens of millions of dollars and have 1%. it goodt the myself, is to talk about how little we spend? in one way, they say, oh, he should've spent more. but in one way, i am very proud of it. i am very proud of it. very proud. now, i will spend as we need to. but it is great. think of it. i have spent the least of everybody and i'm first place. is that good echo right? -- good right -- good?

right? any baseball fans in the audience? ok. did anybody ever hear of charles o finley? he had the lowest payroll in baseball -- the lowest payroll -- and he won the world series three times. he had reggie jackson, sold him to the yankees. he had george's -- george steinbrenner, with my great friends, he said this guy is brutal. donald, he doesn't spend any money and he is going to kill us. george is great. george was great. but here is a guy, the lowest payroll -- now, think of it -- by far, by far in baseball, and get he had the best team. and he won three world series, i think, in a row, right? there is something beautiful about that to me. to me there is something beautiful about that.

so we will spend whatever we have to spend. one of the things that happened that is so incredible, i did "meet the press," nice. he had his highest ratings in 4.5 years. he called our office and said thank you. i saved his job. i saved his job. >> [applause] [cheering] mr. trump: and i did the same -- i did "this week" with george stephanopoulos. this is two weeks ago. but they asked me a question. just to show you it is terrible. are said, mr. trump, you leading all the polls, getting the biggest crowds, everybody is going crazy. they said, mr. trump, is there anyway that you would get out of the race? and i said to myself -- no, think of it. who would be asked that question? if you are in first place, would anybody else but me be asked that question?

so they said, is there any way you get out of the race? i don't get a -- give a very honest answer. one, but if number we weren't, and if everything went down, the polls come the crowds, if you don't call anywhere because you don't want interviews because it is over -- like some of the guys we are running against -- i mean, honestly -- honestly, if i were some of those guys, what is the purpose echo do they gain -- purpose? do they gain something by having zero? guys like george pataki, he's got zero. guys like rand paul -- i hate to say it -- he attacks me. he was much higher when he attacked, right? but he went -- i refuse to embarrass anybody. ok. so i said to him, so, if for some reason everything just tanked and i went down, i would

certainly consider it. next day headlines, trump considering leaving. it is so dishonest. and it took a couple of unbelievable polls to stop it. it took a couple of unbelievable polls, which i get all the time. i said, wait a minute, i didn't say that. but they put out something and it is so false and it is so disgusting to remember this: much of the press i have met have been wonderful people. like, 30%, ok? >> [laughter] mr. trump: but you have would say 10% to 20% who are truly bad people. they are dishonest, they are horrible human beings. they know -- it is not a question of being lazy or anything, they actually go out of their way to write false stories. and somebody asked me today -- i did an interview today -- and

they said, what has been your biggest surprise? i said i didn't know my biggest surprise, but my most lesson surprise is how brilliant the public is. they get it. the public get it. they really get it. >> [cheering] [applause] mr. trump: but it has been tremendous. i was going to tell you before -- a friend of mine said, how do you do that to echo -- how do you do that? by the way, no disrespect, but every place i go, you would love these people. whether it is alabama, alice, oklahoma -- dallas, oklahoma, it is all the same. you are incredible people. it is true. it is true. >> [applause] mr. trump: they want to see our country be great again. they know it can be. they want to see it happen. they want to see victories.

we don't win with anything. we don't one with isis. we don't win with libya. we don't win with yemen. with intel you see that. and they are going into saudi arabia, folks. and, by the way, we will defend saudi arabia. and we will defend them for nothing did even though they make $1 billion a day. i ordered 4000 television sets recently. they come from south korea. south korea makes a fortune as a country. we have 28,000 soldiers on the line. and we have this maniac on the other side. we have our soldiers right between. they pass like nothing. we defend germany. a lot of people don't even know. we defend germany. they are a behemoth economically. we defend them. we defend japan. they give us nothing, relatively. they give is, like, nothing. we defend them. and you say to yourself, why?

i love japan. it is great. help us out, give us something, we could get rid of all these deficits. we could make -- we could make -- >> [applause] [cheering] mr. trump: it is true. and then you had the stupid people say, oh, you can't ask for that, you are a sovereign nation. they have to help us out. but here's the deal we have with japan. we'll go -- we will defend them without lives, our money. if they get attacked, we will fight. we got a guy, like with sergeant six young great people were killed looking for him. get fivergdahl, they

of the terrorists they have wanted for years. these are the deals we make because we have leadership that doesn't know what the hell it's doing. [applause] in the old days, when bergdahl, it was treason. you would shoot him. you get shot. you have been reading the news. they think he won't even get jail time. you know he had psychological difficulty. they don't know what happened. he wasn't feeling good. we are going in the wrong direction. you look around at all the people here tonight. you remember because it is happening, it is a movement. it is absolutely a movement. i get calls. i was going to tell you from a

highly respected guy, he asked if i could ask you one question. how does it feel? i said how does what feel. he said what you've done has never been done before in politics. you are an outsider, you came in, they call it the summer of trump. --y said it has never been the top guy. he said it's never been done. how does it feel? i said i will be honest, to me it doesn't feel like anything because unless we win i have wasted my time. he said no you haven't. what you've done is incredible. mel is a while ago, i think he's afraid to write story. i said i understand what you're saying but i'm telling you unless i win, unless we went in the primaries, and we can't have these politicians any longer, we

can't do it. all talk, no action. no ability. they have one ability. in to get reelected, that is it. that's what they have to do, they have to get reelected. i said, i told him if i don't win, i consider it to be a massive failure. that means win the election because otherwise we have all had a lot of fun but nothing is going to happen. i watched hillary last night. the poor woman, she has to give everything away because of this maniac that was standing on her right giving everything away and she is following. [applause] this socialist/communist. nobody once to say it. wants to say it.

in all fairness to her, she is listening to this guy. he will take everything. nobody has heard the term communist but i call him a socialist/communist because that's what he is. , nowyou see her stand up it is her turn and she goes oh i'm going to do that too. she is not doing too well and in had to head polls, i beat her by five or six points. i love it. we have to be careful. here is the story. you look around, you will remember this night. as a very him working person told me -- important person told me, there's a movement. when you are leading by 20 and

25 points, leading in south carolina by 20. in all of these places like nevada and leading with hispanics. [applause] because they know how to create jobs. andthey are here legally want people taking their houses. they want what they have. and they wanted to get better. they want jobs./ when we are leading by 20 or 25 points, one poll had me 40% above everybody else. those are massive numbers. as this person said, this is a movement. this is no longer a game. they all said he will never run and had a wonderful life. i do. they said he is never going to run. he will never file form a.

then they said he will never put in the financials because he is probably not as wealthy as people thought. i have almost 100 pages of financials. they said he'll the men but he'll put them in my late. smoke these guys i am running against, they put them in late and it's one page. they needed an extension. they say he will never put it in his finances. i did a good job. [applause] so i put in my financials and all of these guys, i call them the talking heads. devastated because they said he wasn't running. he will never file. i put in my financials and it turns out my company is a good,

better, stronger. it is fantastic. we have the biggest winery on the east coast. the great land on the potomac river. you know it because you're from virginia. another where i go i have property coming out of my ears. i have little debt, great cash flow. because that'st the kind of thinking we need in the country. [applause] that is the kind of thinking. thank you.

if you think some of the countries we have talked about. you think instead of losing in terms of china, let's say instead 352 400 billion dollars , and trade deficits, let's say we broke even. does anybody have any idea what that means? ,nstead of losing with japan $75 billion per year. let's say we broke even. let's say they agreed to take one of our products so we can equalize. not that it's a one-way street. we have the cards because we can say we don't want your cars anymore. they wouldn't know what to do. so. we are going to do a job. i give you my word.

i don't care about my company, it is peanuts. i have wonderful children. my kids are wonderful, i wife is wonderful. but my three older kids will run it with my executives. it doesn't mean anything, it is peanuts. i want to make you people so proud of this country again. [applause] around. at all the people here, look around at the people next to you because this is a special night. we are going to make america great again. thank you [applause] ♪

>> all caps in long, c-span

takes you on the road to the white house with unfiltered access to the candidates, meetings, news conferences. we are taking your comments on twitter, facebook, and by phone. every campaign event is on our website at c-span.org. at the white house late this money, president obama announcing that if the 500 u.s. troops will remain in afghanistan beyond 2016. the current force of 9800 troops will remain there for most of 2016 before drawing down to 5500 the following year. hill.com.at the we will hear more about the plan for troops in afghanistan with the defense secretary ashton carter. he will hold a briefing at 1:45 eastern at the pentagon. back to our road to the white house coverage, yesterday

candidate and former governor jeb push held a meeting in concorde new hampshire. [applause] >> i know a lot of you here because i see a lot of concorde folks. i am the republican national committee man and i am chairman of the debate committee. i get to see a lot of our candidates. it is an honor for me to be here today. i am neutral but i have the privilege of having some friends running in this race and i have no better friend than our guest tonight. it is an honor for me to spend some time. everyone in new hampshire loves it but i think the people in concorde do it better than everyone because we suffer in winter and summer, and ask these candidates here and ask them questions.

my that she is a terrific friend and someone who has done great things for the state of new whoshire, chuck morris, brought us such an incredibly well thought out budget this year. thank you chuck. [applause] morris: it is an honor to in newsenate president hampshire and like every citizen in the state, i take this very seriously. when i am looking at candidates, i take it very seriously when there are so many of them that have strong values that would be great presidents in the united states. i can tell you i sat down with many of them and they have great ideas for what our country could be. one here today because stands head and shoulders above the rest. that is jeb bush. [applause]

i am proud to say that i am cochair of the jeb bush campaign for president and we will make it work in new hampshire because what we need in washington is change. we need a washington that runs like what we believe here in new hampshire as republicans and what jeb bush did done in florida. he made a huge difference to reduce taxes every year when he was governor. he grew the economy. he grew jobs. that's what we want as republicans in this country. to betterants themselves and i am proud to be here to introduce the next president, jeb bush. [applause]

>> could you all remain standing for the pledge of allegiance. flagdge allegiance to the of the united states of america. and to the republic for which it stands, one nation, under god, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. thank you so much for that great introduction and your endorsement is very meaningful, thank you for coming out. i am from florida and it's great to be in a place that honors the space program. [applause] it is really good to be here. if you think about it, america always has been aspirational. we have always done things that of the rest ofn the world.

putting a man on the moon which was the aspirational goal in the soviets,0's when the sorry come up with asking like a soviet i get them confused these days. when they launched the rocket into space it lit a fire under america and we sent a man to the moon. it defied the imagination of everyone. we do that regularly. we need to keep doing it whether it is to explore the stars or -- explore the world. of medicinesvery to be able to take care of alzheimer's. or in the state of florida we have a out your program for kids. there has been a surge of children that have autism and in our case, we can send those

parents if they are not satisfied with her public school can spend their money to send the kid to a private school. there are all sorts of challenges. the mental health challenges we see playing out in our communities across the country. imagine if we were aspirational again. i think we have lost some of that spirit. we would have aspirational goals to discover the diseases that are neurological. we are on the verge of the greatest time to be alive, is what i believe. we have to start acting like we have done in the past, to fix a few big conflicts things in -- complex things in order to rise up again. this is not the time to have people feed your anger or angst. there is a legitimate reason why people are angry. look at washington, d.c.. i made a mistake, i was asked on a sports talk show. i was asked my views on the washington redskins. i said, there are a lot of big pressing problems here, i don't

think we need to be so politically correct, to try to, through government take the name off. if that is what they want, leave them alone. let's worry about the complicated nature of taxes. they left went crazy, as you might expect because they are more politically correct these days. someone sent me an e-mail and said jeb, the term redskins is not the pejorative, it is washington. if they are going to change their name -- [applause] i don't know what you would call it, northern virginia redskins. washington is broken. it is ridiculous, we have three day work weeks. how many people here decide they're just going to take a week off or not show up at a committee hearing. or not vote. you would have a deduction in pay. washington should have that as well. elected officials should service -- serve us with a servant's

heart. they should be doing their work. rather than whatever else they do. elected officials should not finish their job and go out the back door and lobby the people they were serving with. there should be a six-year on lobbyist. just like there is on many lobby -- places. there are 29 states that have advocated a balanced budget amendment. i hope we get to the point where we have one. it will not happen in washington, but the state that people can demand this. government needs to live within our means, rather than their means. if we focused on bringing people together to force consensus on how we get to a balanced budget with that constitutional requirement, i guarantee if i was president, we could do it. we need a line item veto power for the next president. they call me veto corleone when i was the governor. that was supposed to be a pejorative like being called the

washington redskins. the speaker of the house called me that i embraced it. , 2500 separate line items in the budget, not to be punitive. not to say you are not on my team and i'm sending you a signal. want to play the games of politics but simply based on the principle that if spending does not go through the proper process, it should not exist. a limiting the pork, what we -- eliminating the pork, what we call turkeys in florida, was a way that we proved that government income needed to grow slower than personal income. i turned the whole state and system, tallahassee upside down when i was governor. the result was, over eight years we cut taxes every year, totaling $19 billion. we reduced the state governments workforce by 11%. 13,000 fewer government workers. we challenge the system of employment. there is no more lifetime contracts of employment in state government. you can fire someone for incompetence, or for causing

-- for cause in florida. [applause] this was not being punitive, this was based on government should be the servant, not master. in washington dc, they have lost sight of this. think about the veterans administration, jim. think about is going on there. you have a system of bonuses for executives iide the ba -- va. they were going to be given a bonus for the wait list, they forgot to provide care for the veterans. they reduced the waiting list by taking them off of the list, some veterans died. do you think people get fired? three people got fired. do know how many people work there -- 330,000. the sheer incompetence because

of the scale and scope of government right now is imperiling our ability to fix problems. people are angry for a good reason. the question is, are we going to stay angry, or fix it? i know how to do this. i did exactly the things that people want to see washington do in tallahassee. the results, we were one of two states to go to aaa bond rating. that doesn't some of the big deal but the united states government has had a downgrade to aa. it is not the reflection of the greatness of our country when you see structural deficits under president obama's watch there will be more debt accumulated than all of the 43 presidents prior. half -- we have to restore america's greatness -- which we are on the verge of doing, we have to bring back veto corleone from florida to washington dc. , we need to bring back the

phenomenal fact that government is the servant, not master. we are the host, they are the parasite. if we get sick, the parasite dies as well. you cannot create economic activity through government. if you listen to last night to the debate, you might have thought that all power resides in washington. all forms of regulation create prosperity. taxes make it better. more spending through washington make things better. here is the deal, workforce to -- participation rates are lower than they were in 1977. because of obama principally, 6.5 million people more are working part-time. the majority of which want to work full-time. we have unemployment -- they talk about 6%, the fact is it is double-digit. income today is lower for the first time in a recovery -- $2000 lower in disposable income for families. 6 million more people are living

in poverty. who is fooling who? the progressive liberal agenda has failed us. now we have to offer an alternative of reforming taxes, simplifying the code, shifting power back to people. promoting the bigger businesses that make it harder for the next generation of job creators to exist. for the first time in american history, more businesses are being closed then be informed. -- being formed. it is because we have advocated all power to washington dc. the job of the next president is lift spirits by fixing how we tax. making government work as a servant. fixing our entitlement problems that will overwhelm the next generation of people, and the generation after that. this is not sustainable, but if

we fix and grow at 4% rather than 2%, people will have a chance to pursue their dreams again. guess what -- the interaction of people, all of us together in a dynamic country, free of government mandates and rules and taxes, the way we have it today will create more things that will move our heart and drive us forward. we will find cures for diseases. we will lead the world in so many different ways. i trust 300 30 million people in a crazy fashion, interacting amongst ourselves in trial and error, than any government program ever created. i hope you do as well. if we grow at 4%, which i believe we do, embracing the energy revolution. fixing our entitlement problems. being frugal with government spending. challenging how government works, we can get there. we are never going to grow at 4% unless we recognize we are living in a perilous word -- world. each day another story comes out

to prove it is perilous. it is perilous because we have abdicated are responsible it is s a world leader. this president does not believe that american leadership is a force for good in the world. with all respect to him, he is dead wrong. this country leads. when we leave we create a better chance for peace and security. if i am elected president, here is the deal -- we will rebuild the military, treat our troops with respect. we will arm them. [applause] the objective here is not to to do the strawman hang that barack obama says, if you're not for his nuanced sophisticated view, you are a warmonger, that is not true. leadership means -- we are not the world policeman, but we have to lead. people have to know that we have their back. imagine being the prime minister of israel right now, under attack by organized effort by palestinians to try to destabilize jerusalem. sewing its oats

again in the gaza strip. without an ally -- the i have your back kind of relationship we should have for israel, we are casting them aside in their minds. they will take action, as any country will. we should have their back. there should be no gap between the united states and israel. [applause] all of their friends need to know that we have their back. our enemies need to fear us. in the last few days i've heard people say, what we -- won't we create a problem if we push back on putin's actions in syria? they are now actively promoting and supporting the brutality of the assad regime. this afternoon i read an article about a cuban general now is playing a part.

they are re-creating this access -- axis of opponents to the united states to the point where we have serious problems. we are worried about offending putin? he is a bully. he should be worried about offending us, not the other way. we need to stand strong and tall. that means we will create more security. today in syria, millions are leaving the country. 200,000 have been killed. there are refugees forced back there that will either be raped, held as slaves, or killed. the united states needs to lead. if we stand for anything, it is the value of human life. today people wonder where the united states is. the void is being filled in a way that will create problems for the next generation. we have to be engaged in the world. our friends need to know that we have their back. our enemies and need to know

that they need to adjust to the reality that america will be there for a long while. we need to restore intelligence capabilities. we need to provide support for military troops. we need to do it in a loud and clear way. if you want to get to peace through strength, you have to restore america's leadership in the world. that gets us back on track to creating high sustained economic growth where people are lifted up. [applause] the final thing i want to say to you is, look, this is not about the loud, big personalities on the stage. it really is not. it is not about anyone running for president, all 75 of us. [laughter] it really isn't. it is about people like you single moms i meet all over this country that have a child in a failing school. they want to go to a high-performing charter school.

they want a voucher to go to a private school to afford the same things that people of affluence have. it should be a right for every mom and dad to pick the school that best meets the need of their child. [applause] it should be. it is about the small businessman, husband and wife team that i met in denver, they have a company of four people that told me they were about to go out of business because of the complexity of obamacare. the confusion this brings for their own business. it is about the military family loved onewhether the is going to come back home. or their state will have to be extended because we got at the military force. we shrunk it at the time we need to rebuild it. it is about a lot of people that are one or two paychecks away from utter disaster. it is about a friend of mine i