Well, thank you very much, everybody. It's an honor to have you. And we witnessed — I think you witnessed too — the Gardiner brothers. Where the hell are they? They could dance. They moved those legs. I never saw anything like it, but they were terrific today at the Capitol, and I know you just got to witness them. So, but it's really wonderful being with you. We have a lot of things happening. It's my — I spent my whole day with the Irish.
And I should have been spending it with the Iranians, but that's not — that's, you know, in a different sense. We're doing very well. I will say we're knocking them for a loop. They can't have a nuclear weapon, and they now understand that very strongly. But we have a great country, and we have an unbelievable military. We have the most powerful military in the world, and people see that. And I rebuilt it in my first term, and I didn't know I'd have to use it so much in my second term. But these — the men and women of our military, I pay them my highest love and compliments. Thank you very much.
I'm delighted to welcome everyone to the beautiful White House. There's just no place like it, right? No place like it. And we have a beautiful addition that's going to be added on very soon. You probably hear about. In fact, see that beautiful curtain right there? That gold curtain? That's going to be — it's like a knockout panel behind that curtain. And you'd be looking into a deep foundation, very, very deep into the ground right there. And then next time you come back, maybe the next two times, okay? Maybe not four next time, but by the second time, you're going to see one of the most beautiful ballrooms anywhere in the world. You know, they've always — they've always wanted a ballroom at the White House. All the presidents for 150 years, they say, or more, and they never had. This is a beautiful room, but this is very small for, you know, when you think about state dinners and the things that we do. So, they put out a tent on the lawn, and if it rained, it was a problem. It was a — it was a nasty problem, but it's a lot of work going. I hear the pile drivers going, and to me, I love the sound of those pile drivers. My wife doesn't love it too much in the morning. She said, 'Will they ever stop?' I said, 'Yeah, another few months.' But it was — it's really something that's going on right over there. It's going to be a beautiful addition to the White House after 150 years.
But on this special day, we gather here to celebrate an incredible feat of friendship between Ireland and the wonderful place that we call the United States. We call it America. A lot of — lot of good names, but it's a great place, and it's doing really well. We've never done better. We took a little bit of a journey, a little bit of an excursion over the last two weeks because we thought we had to do something about very bad people that want to have nuclear weapons. We can't allow that. They would have had it. If we didn't send the B-2 bombers in, they would have had it seven months ago, a couple of weeks after that. And we can't let that happen. So, we did a little excursion, and it's — we're way ahead of schedule, as you probably noticed. And we've had — there's no — we knocked out their navy, their air force, their anti-aircraft equipment, their radar, and their leaders. It's been — it's been amazing militarily, but it's something that had to be done. Unfortunately, I say we don't do it with glee, but we've had a great country that's 250 — we're celebrating our 250th year — and continuing the custom that began with President Truman. We're delighted to host the Taoiseach, who is a great gentleman of Ireland, along with someone who's much, much more important, his wife Mary. She's just a lovely woman. So, thank you very much. Thank you for being here. It's an honor.
While the Taoiseach is far from the Emerald Isle, he should feel very much at home here in America because so many things have happened that are Irish. But it's often said that we have five times as many Irish in our beautiful country than you have on your wonderful island. I mean, that's — that's a pretty — that's a pretty big statement, but they love — they love you. And I think — I won't say their first love. Hopefully it's a close second, but they do love. And St. Patrick's Day, we're here, and it's very, very special. It's always been a special time. Even for me, it's been a special time. I feel like I have Irish blood. I'm not too far. I have Scottish blood. Is that good or bad? I don't know. I don't know. I'm not sure. But today's celebration, we're also joined by Deputy First Minister of Northern Ireland, Emma Little-Pengelly. And I want to just — Where's Emma? Thank you very much. It's such an honor. It's such an honor. Thank you. We met at the Capitol, and I said, 'The relationship is very good.' That's good. Much better that way, right? In the old days. The old days. But it was really an honor to meet with you. Thank you very much.
And thanks as well to members of my cabinet, including two Irish-American secretaries, Sean Duffy and Linda McMahon. Where are they? Hi, Sean. Where's Linda? But hi, Linda. They've done an incredible job. Transportation and education. And it sort of — they merged because Linda is moving everybody back to the states. So you have to use the — we're moving our education back to the states where they belong. And you have been unbelievable, both of you. Thank you very much. And another unbelievable person is Attorney General Pam Bondi, my friend. Where are you, Pam? Where are you? Thank you. Thank you, Pam. Secretary of Energy. That's a big one nowadays. Chris Wright. Chris, thank you. Thank you, Chris. Thank you. And Secretary of Labor, Lori Chavez-DeRemer. Thank you, Lori. Thank you, Lori. US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer. Jamieson, we have a $40 billion deficit with Ireland. 40 billion. We got to do something about — Where's Jamieson? Okay, please. I'm looking at the little notes, and I'm looking — you know, Bob, I'm hearing all of the accomplishments of your great leader, but then I saw the deficit is $42 billion. So, they're going to have to buy a lot of our energy, I think. Okay. To make up with that. And Administrator Kelly Loeffler, who is great small business — but small business is big business, I'll tell you, when you add it all up.
We're also joined with some incredible friends of mine and very, very powerful but very great people. Speaker Mike Johnson, wherever you may be, Mike. And Senator Markwayne Mullin, who maybe is going to be moving over to a little bit of a different position soon. Markwayne, where are you? Nobody wants to fight. He's a tough cookie. Markwayne, he was a professional fighter. He was a — he's a brutal human being, but — but he's great. No, everyone loves him, and we respect him. Also, Representatives Steve Scalise, Brian Stilwell, Andy Biggs, Pat Fallon, Riley Moore, Ronnie Jackson — White House doctor, former White House doctor. I'll never forget they said, 'Who's the healthiest president?' because he covered Obama. He covered — he covered some others. I don't want to say who — but and Trump. He said by far, Trump. There's nobody even close. He said by far. Took a little heat for that, but that was okay. Where's Ronnie? Where are you, Ronnie? Doc Ronnie. Whenever I have a — Hi, Ronnie. Whenever I have a problem, I call Doc Ronnie, and he works it out. You know, he's a great guy, and he's done a good job, Mr. Speaker, as a congressman. Right. He's been good. And Rich McCormick and John McGuire and Beth Van Duyne, all friends of mine, all warriors. And we have a lot of big things coming up.
The biggest thing coming up is a Save America Act in the Senate. That's voter ID and proof of citizenship and no mail-in ballots. You know, corrupt mail-in ballots. We're the only country in the world that does it that way. Corrupt as hell. And then we added two more. We're going to be — I think they're going to be adding a couple of more. One is no men in women's sports. That seems like an easy one. I believe that's 99%. And no transgender mutilation of our children. None. That's only polling at 98%, Speaker. So hopefully the Senate is going to be able to get that. You can't ask for five better things. I think in terms of — it's — and it's not politics, it's really good for — it's so good for our nation. I mean, who would not have voter ID? Who would not have proof of citizenship? And the only people who would want not to have that are people that want to cheat. It's very, very simple. We can't let that happen.
Some 1,600 years ago, the man who would become the patron saint of Ireland, St. Patrick — have you ever heard of St. Patrick? — voluntarily returned to Ireland after having escaped enslavement there, and then spent 30 years carrying the Christian gospel. The Gaelic tribes — you know, the Gaelic tribes. Everybody here knows about that. I don't, but that's okay. Because of — Is that Kelly in the audience? Do I see Kelly? Oh, hi, Kelly. We had a good time for lunch today. That's the wife of a man who's extremely Italian that I — I thought he was a WASP. Our Speaker of the House is very, very Italian, and I thought — I always thought he was a super WASP, actually. But because of Patrick, Ireland is now known as the land of saints and scholars. For thousands of years, Christians everywhere have honored St. Patrick and the legacy. March 17th. And today we remember his incredible deeds as we celebrate our cherished Irish-American heritage. And it's a great heritage at that.
From the very beginning, America has thrived and prospered and prevailed with the help of incredible people. The achievements are amazing — the amazing Irish-American patriots. And many of you are in the room. You know, these are very successful people in the room. I know a lot of them. They have a lot of cash. They've made a lot of money. They got a lot of natural business instinct. Unfortunately, it's not easy. Dealing with the Irish is never easy. They are really amazing. The Irish came with William Penn to settle in Pennsylvania. They traveled with Daniel Boone — the great Daniel Boone — to tame Kentucky. And in 1776, there was a man from Cork fighting in the Continental Army who became the first person ever known to use the phrase 'the United States.' He came up with the phrase 'the United States of America.' That's a pretty good phrase. And Americans of Irish heritage gave us the steamboat, the modern submarine, the Model T automobile, and many, many other things. They designed the White House — that I didn't know — the Empire State Building — that I didn't know — and the New York City subway system, which is, when it's operated properly, the best in the world. It's actually quite amazing, but people sort of have lost sight of that.
They gave us the works of really great geniuses — F. Scott Fitzgerald, Flannery O'Connor, and the late great William F. Buckley was a great guy — and they gave us heroes like Apollo 11 astronaut Michael Collins. Really fantastic man. I want to thank the Taoiseach for all of the things and all of those Irish friends that he brought to the room with him. A lot of these are your great friends, and accords to increase and coordinate our space and all of the space program. We have so much involvement together. It's — you know, Ireland is sitting in a very good location in terms of the shot. So he has a lot to negotiate with. But the United States will soon return to the moon. We think it's going to be quite soon. And then we'll lead the world to Mars. It's something that I guess a lot of people want. Some people say it's a lot of money, and other people say it's progress, and we should be doing it.
In every part of American life, we find Irish-Americans who embody the best of our country and point us toward excellence and great success. And nobody has had, I would say, as a group more success than people from Ireland. One of them is famed chef Patrick O'Connell, founder of the world-renowned Inn at Little Washington, one of the few American restaurants in history ever to receive three Michelin stars. In 2019, I was honored to award Patrick the National Humanities Medal, and he's here today, and he's the proud son of Dublin and Galway. So, where is — where are you here? Let's see. Good. Come on. Come over here. I want to — I want to see what you look like. I want to see if you've — I want to see if you've changed, Patrick. Come on up here. Come on up here. Oh, look at — he's a good-looking guy. Yeah. You haven't changed much, huh? And you — and you love this place, don't you? Good. Nice to see you. Thank you very much. Oh, I didn't know it was coming up, but that's okay. Come on. Stay with us. Stay with us, Patrick. That was nice. That's usually a politician does that, you know. That was pretty good. Thank you, Patrick. Good job. That's an amazing job.
Also with us is a great Irish-born scholar of American history, Dr. Oz Guinness, who's written more than a dozen books on the American founding, God's blessing of America, and the need to save Western civilization. So, Dr. Oz, where are you? Where are you? This is a different Dr. Oz. We have another Dr. Oz that we know — that we know very well. It's here someplace. Yes. How are you? Ah, how are you? Boy, you look nice in the corner. Picked a nice spot. Thank you very much. Congratulations. That's a great career. And his great-great-grandfather was the famous brewer from Dublin, Arthur Guinness, and creator of Ireland's most famous export. His family helped build Ireland, and now Oz reminds us of the values and principles that built America. So, thank you very much. It's a great honor. Nice to see you. Great.
And from the banks of the Chicago River to the streets of South Bend, Indiana — we know what that is. Good football and good college, good school. From the steeples of Savannah, Georgia, all the way to the Oval Office — that beautiful Oval Office. Has anybody been in the Oval Office? I know the Speaker of the House has. Too much, right, Mike? Too much. That's right. And by the way, a friend of mine who I just see here is your ambassador to Ireland — his name is Wally. We call him Walsh. His name is Walsh, but we — and he's a great golfer. And I would think that that's got to be the greatest ambassadorship in history. You're a golfer. He loves golf. He's really good at it. And he's the ambassador to Ireland. You can't do better than that, right? You can't do better than that. But came all the way from the Washington, D.C. area.
Irish Americans have left an incredible mark on American history, and they're fighters and thinkers and doers and winners for 250 years. And that's what we have now. We have the Olympics coming up. We have the World Cup coming up. And I tried to — I did take credit for those two. I tried to add in 250, but that didn't work out too well, you know, because in my first term I got the Olympics. In my first term, I got the World Cup. And then I said, I wonder if anybody would notice if I said I got the 250 years. And I had calls from like — Mike, you called me, you said I'm not allowed to take that one. Right. But we have an amazing celebration this year coming up. 250 years. America's truly been blessed by the luck of the Irish. So once again, let me say thank you to everybody. Happy St. Patrick's Day. You are really, really fantastic people. And I want to do something having to do with a thing called the Shamrock Bowl. Does anybody know it? I'll ask my very dear friend — and he is a friend — to come up and say a few words. Thank you very much.
