Remarks: Donald Trump Congratulates the 2026 NCAA Football Champion Indiana Hoosiers - May 11, 2026

Well, thank you very much, everybody. This is an honor. I watched that game. I watch these guys. They can play. They can play. And they were a little underestimated, but I just said, but not anymore. They're not underestimated anymore. They were incredible talents. So today, it's my great honor to welcome the 2025 college football national champions, the Indiana University Hoosiers.

And I want to say that, uh, JD is right over here. He likes Indiana. We won Indiana by a lot. It always helps when you win it by a lot. I think we won them all by a lot, you want to know the truth, but they just forgot to put that down. But we won by a lot. We just had a big victory we beat seven out of eight candidates that were running against Trump.

That was good. And the only reason we lost the other one is they had two people running. They split up that vote. I can't believe I let that happen. But we're joined today by Vice President JD Vance. He's fantastic. JD, stand up for a second, will you? And his sons, Ewan and Vivek, as well as Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum.

Doug? Great secretary. We're doing now, the reflective pond, and we saved about $600 million or something. It's going to be beautiful. It'll open about two weeks and it's going to be incredible. They've been trying to get it open for years. They had no idea what they were doing but we know how to do it, Doug.

And it took us two weeks versus the projected four years. People would not understand it, but you've done a fantastic job. Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins. Brooke, thank you. Get those prices down. They're coming down. I see prices -- we inherited the worst inflation in history. She's getting the prices down big.

Thanks, Brooke. Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick, doing a wonderful job. Thank you, Howard. Acting Secretary of Labor Keith Sonderling. Thank you, Keith. Good job. Secretary of Energy Chris Wright. Supposed to be the best in the business. Well, you know what? It's -- it was -- I figured it would triple when we did -- we had to make an excursion to the beautiful country of Iran.

We didn't want to let them have a nuclear weapon. And we made the right decision. And we've got it pretty good. And those prices are going to come crashing down as soon as that's over. We'll get -- we're taking care of -- we're going to take care of business. Great job. You're doing a great job. Thank you, Chris.

HUD Secretary Scott Turner, former NFL player, by the way, a great guy. US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer, one of the most important men anywhere in the world. We need more tariffs, Jamieson. We need more tariffs. And SBA administrator, who's fantastic, Kelly Loeffler. Thank you, Kelly. And I see Kevin over there.

I don't know if they have your name down. Can you stand up? You were so good on television over the weekend. Thank you. Kevin Hassett. Thank you, Kevin. Thanks also to Senators Todd Young -- where's Todd? Thank you. Thank you, Todd. We have a great group of people. What a group. This is a big day for Todd.

And Jim Banks. Jim, stand up. Where are you? Senator Banks, my friend for a long time. And Representatives Marlin Stutzman, Jim Baird, Rudy Yakym, Erin Houchin, and Nick Begich. Thank -- thank you all, warriors. We also have Mark Messmer, Jefferson Sharif and Victoria Spartz. Where -- hi, Victoria. Victoria Spartz.

She's been very good. On occasion, she gets a little bit bad, a little nasty, but she is good and she's smart and she's always with us, right? Thank you, Victoria, appreciate it. Also with us is speaker of the Indiana House, Todd Hudson. Thank you, Todd. Thank you, Todd. You guys have been great. Indiana Senate Majority floor leader, Chris Garton.

These are all people that were with me, right, Chris? We don't have any of those insurgents do we?

No, sir.

We had our big day. They don't know what I'm talking about behind me because they're into football, but we had a little insurgency in Indiana. That didn't last very long. We had -- what -- what a great group of people we have. Uh, we have many of the Republican patriots from the great state of Indiana, including Trevor De Vries, Brian Schmutzler, Blake Fichter, Tracy Powell, Jeff Ellington, Michelle Davis, who last week had a big primary election.

They've all -- [Inaudible] by the people. I love you people. What a -- that was carried all over the world. They ran against people that were there for 20, 25 years and they were -- let's say, yeah, I'd say young, certainly young, but they were not expected to win. They were down by 25 or 30 points. We endorsed them and they won in a landslide.

Thank you very much. Congratulations. You'll be there a long time. Thank you very much. That was the story heard round the political world, wasn't it? Huh? Wow. That's so nice that you're here. Actually, they're my favorite people right now in the audience. I don't care about that Jim Banks. They're my favorite people, right?

We're also joined by the great Sage Steele, who's a fantastic person and a supporter and a friend of mine. Thank you. Thank you. And former NFL quarterback Trent Green, great quarterback. Where's Trent? Hi, Trent, great job. That's a good quarterback. This was the year that will live forever in the hearts of Indiana football fans.

It was an exciting year for football, but maybe you're the biggest story -- I think, coach, you're the biggest story. There's no story like this. The Hoosiers delivered the program's first ever undefeated untied season and capped it off with their first ever national title. That's amazing. Good job, fellas, a lot of muscle out there.

The national signing day -- think of this, the press conference in 2023, shortly after joining Indiana, Curt -- who's Curt? Curt. Where is Curt Cignetti?

Right here.

Huh. Oh. Come here. Come here. Curt Cignetti has turned out to be, I believe -- I think he's the coach of the last decade, because he took a team. Nobody knew him, nobody knew the team and he ended up taking this team all the way. People were betting against you all the way, Curt. He took over in 2023 following a really bleak three and nine season, and immediately set a tone that few people have seen, I think, in the history of college football.

At the National Signing Day press conference in 2023, shortly after joining Indiana, Curt was asked how he communicates his vision to recruits. And he said, it's pretty simple, I win. I just know how to win. That's a very cocky guy. I don't like people like that.

Nah, nah.

Huh? I like this guy. Just two years later, he brought home the national championship. So, you know, when you do that stuff, you have to be able to produce when you act that way. Muhammad Ali used to get up there -- and, you know, over the years, I've seen people that did it better than Muhammad Ali. The problem is they couldn't fight properly.

They lost. You can't do that and lose, right? But, uh, very special coach, I'll tell you that. I just got to know him a little bit backstage and he's a winner. Every player in this team shared their coach's winning mindset and they executed with unbelievable skill. They're skilled people.

This season was also historic because starting quarterback Fernando Mendoza. Now, the reason he's not here -- he was so nice, he called, because he has actually -- JD, is a big fan of ours. You wouldn't believe it because he didn't show up. [Laughter] I'm not happy, but that's OK. The reason he didn't because he's at spring training, right?

Correct.

And I actually said, you know, you really let him -- he's got to win and I think he's going to win pretty early coach right? You think pretty good?

Time will tell.

He's going to be a good one. [Laughter] A lot of people said they're going to win, but I think he will. No, he's been great and he's at spring training like his first day or something. I said, you better go there. But he became Indiana's first -- otherwise, if I didn't do that, I -- believe me, I wouldn't have even talked about him.

I would have not --if -- if he was not here for other reasons, like he didn't like Trump or he didn't want to come, I wouldn't even mention him. I'd go through the whole -- I'd talk about how great. I wouldn't even mention the quarterback's name. [Laughter] But he's a great guy, actually, and he is actually a big fan of what we're doing for our country.

But he became Indiana's first ever Heisman Trophy winner right, Coach? And Fernando completed 226 of 316 passes. That's good. Throwing for 2,980 yards. Let's round it off for 3,000, OK? [Laughter] I'm going to round that off a little bit coach. Three thousand yards and a nation leading 33 touchdowns. Fernando couldn't be here today because as I said he's now a member of the Las Vegas Raiders and let's see how good a team they have and I think he's going to do great.

He's a winner. With Fernando's help and a stacked lineup, Indiana utterly dominated in the regular season, winning ten out of 12 games by double-digit margins in the first three games, Indiana outscored their opponents -- wow, 156 to 23. I think they have a good coach. And they closed the the regular season by crushing their in-state rival, Purdue, always a good team, 56 to 3. That's pretty good.

Nice memories, huh? But things weren't as straightforward in the Big Ten championship against Ohio State, that was a tough one. Indiana entered the game known for its rock solid defense and actually known for college basketball, to be honest with you. And now I think they're going to be known for football but they entered the game against Ohio State and -- and people really, I think they thought of Ohio State as being almost unbeatable and brought back one of the most explosive offenses in the nation, Ohio State did.

But in the end, the Hoosiers prevailed over the Buckeyes junior linebacker, Isaiah Jones. Where's Isaiah? How good is it?

He can play.

I said, how good is he, Coach. He said he can play. Let me see. He's a good looking guy. I don't like good looking people. [Laughter] I don't like good looking men at all, believe me. [Laughter] But he recorded two of Indiana's first five sacks. Think of that. So he had five sacks, wow. Helping the team secure a hard fought 13 to 10 victory really against a great football power.

That's a big honor. Next up was the Rose Bowl, where Indiana delivered a commanding 38 to 3 victory over Alabama. Coach --

-- Roll tide.

-- You got to be -- you got to be kidding me? That's right over Alabama. That's a big one. After a scoreless first quarter, the Hoosiers broke through and never looked back defeating the Crimson Tide is no small feat, and it wouldn't have been possible without starting center Pat Coogan. Where's Pat? Oh, he's at training camp.

Forget this. Forget training camp. [Laughter] But he's a good fan, Coach, right?

Absolutely. [Laughter]

OK, good I'm glad I mentioned -- glad I mentioned his name. That's good. Say hello to him. That's a big deal. In recognition of his dominant performance, Pat became the first offensive lineman since 1944 to be named the Rose Bowl's Most Valuable Player. Pat is busy today in training camp. That's -- that's great.

Is he that good?

Oh, yeah.

Is Pat Coogan that good?

Oh, yes. Yes, sir.

Seriously good.

We got 15 of them in training camp.

Wow. Is that right?

Yeah.

Wow. Fifteen in training camp. Wow. How many potentials do you have back there? A lot, right?

Quite a few.

Quite a few potentials. In the Peach Bowl, Indiana shattered Oregon's confidence -- that was another one. Oregon was supposed to be a hot team. I watched it. I said, what's going on here? But they shattered Oregon's confidence right out of the gate when, during the first play of the game, Cornerback D'Angelo Ponds -- what a good name, intercepted the ball.

Where's D'Angelo?

Training camp. [Laughter]

Oh, I can't believe it. No wonder you won.

He was a junior.

Wow. How good? Really good?

Really good.

Intercepted the ball and ran it back for the game's first touchdown. After securing a commanding 56 to 22 victory, this team was off to the championship. In the championship game against Miami, Indiana held a narrow ten nothing lead at halftime, controlling the pace but unable to pull away. The score remained low for most of the game, but everything changed in the fourth quarter -- that's true.

With under ten minutes remaining, Indiana faced a critical fourth and five, no coach in America would have done what this guy did. Said this guy is making such a mistake and he won. That was a hell of a play. You know, that's the kind of play if they don't do that play, if it doesn't work, that's like career threatening, right?

You got to play to win.

He got to play. It was great. And Miami's 13-yard line, Fernando took the snap and powered through the defense past the first down marker before launching himself into the end zone, extending Indiana's lead 24-14. But Miami wasn't done yet. The hurricanes took possession and scored, cutting Indiana's lead 24 to 21. Indiana got the ball once more and put three more points on the board, pushing the score to 27-21. I mean, you have to see this game.

I was saying that coach I know he's got a good reputation, this guy is calling the wrong place but he kept winning, he kept -- they kept scoring, they kept doing all this stuff. The things that weren't supposed to happen, you're just lucky you won that game because if you didn't, they would have said, this coach is crazy. [Laughter] With just 51 -- that's why he's a great coach.

With just 51 seconds left to tie the game and deep within Indiana's territory, Miami's quarterback fired off a 30-yard pass, only to be intercepted by Junior Jamari Sharpe. Where's Jamari?

Jamari.

Come on up. Come on. Look at this. You want to say something. Go ahead. Tell him how good the coach.

Coach Cigs is a very good coach, you know. Once he first came to Indiana, I didn't know if I was going to stay, but I stayed and I'm glad I stayed because we won a national championship.

He doesn't want to leave the stage. Good looking guy, huh? Thank you.

Thank you.

He didn't want to leave the stage. He's a natural. [Laughter] So the hurricanes are great. The team is so great. Jamari, I want to thank you for getting up and making such a rousing speech. [Laughter] By the way, a lot of people don't do that. You know, a lot of times they'll do that and say, I don't want to talk but he's got a future in a lot of things, probably football, first of all.

From there, the outcome was sealed and the Hoosiers became national champions. Think of that, right? I was there. You went through a lot of great teams when you think -- and real football powerhouses over the years, it's pretty intimidating.

Six top ten teams.

Yeah, yeah, amazing. Top tens. This team lifted the Indiana football program from a historic low. It really didn't have a good reputation over there, but tells you what coaching means too. But your grit and discipline and your belief and your strength of character, the coach is -- I think he's just an incredible -- I think it's an incredible story.

When I heard they were coming today, I said, I got to meet that coach because he came out of a -- like high school, a great high school program but you made it good but what you -- what you did is something that I don't think anybody's ever really done in college football -- college football history. How is your -- how is your team going to be this year, Coach?

What do you think?

Well, we got a chance if we commit and if we have discipline and a great work ethic, and if we can handle success and we can handle failure and we're consistent day in, day out, we might have a chance.

How about this guy? Is he central casting or what? He's -- I'm going to watch you. I'm going to watch you. You're amazing. You have made the fans really proud and inspired millions, all of you, the coach and the players and reminded everyone that with determination and lots of hard work, anything's possible.

And I said to the coach, you know, we have a very special area. Well, that's very special we're building a beautiful ballroom. You can see it's not too small, Coach. We need it. For 150 years, they've wanted a ballroom. We're going to give them the greatest ballroom anywhere in the country. I'm very good at ballrooms.

I'm very good at building things. But I said to the coach is a special place here, and it's called the Oval Office.

Everything sort of begins, ends and re-begins again and I said, if you like -- like Coach shall take your entire team back and we're going to go to the Oval Office, show them the Oval Office, and we're going to give them a very, very special medal. And, uh, I said, so what do you want to do, Coach? He said, we want to go -- hold it. You guys want to go to the Oval Office?

Yes. Yes, sir.

I had a feeling you would say that. I had a feeling. So, Coach, say a few words. You know um, I'm really honored to be with this guy because he took something from it's not like he inherited a great program. He inherited something that was less than great, and he made it into something that probably has never been done at this level, never been done before.

Congratulations, Coach.

Thank you, thank you, thank you. Got a lot of Hoosiers in the stands here and behind me. We gotta give him one 1-2-3, Hoo-hoo-hoo-hoo-Hoosiers, right? 1-2-3, Hoo-hoo-hoo-hoo-Hoosiers! You got that? OK, thank you. That's a lot of nice accolades there appreciate all that it. It all starts with Pam Whitten, our president; Scott Dolson, our athletic director.

You got to have a commitment at the top. Without a commitment at the top nothing's possible. OK. 2025 Indiana Hoosiers, all right. You know, 24 was a fluke, right? College football playoffs start out 10 and 0, you know. They won't be very good. All right, 16 and 0, that's the best record in college football since 1894. That's 132 years, that's before the NCAA.

So safe to say that's the greatest record in college football history. Beat six top ten teams, all right? And how did we get that done, all right? We had great people on the staff that thought -- that thought alike, in the locker room that thought alike, great leadership, good talent, great character, coachable, 11 guys doing their job, play in, play out, all right?

The sum becomes greater than -- the whole, becomes greater than the sum of its parts and the most consistent day in, day out, meeting in meeting out, practice in, practice out group I've ever seen in my life. And when to me, it's a simple message, all right? Prepare the right way every single day to a high standard and anything is possible in life.

The only limitations are those between your ears and you can't have any of those either. So go IU. Now, it's my pleasure to introduce junior wide receiver, Charlie Becker, from Nashville, Tennessee. Or as Gus Johnson would say, Charlie B. from Nashville, Tennessee.

How's it going, everybody? Um, first of all, I just would like to thank Mr. President. Thank you so much for having us.

Thank you.

This is an honor. I know I speak on behalf of my team by saying, we're going to remember this for the rest of our lives. And secondly, I would just like to thank all the Hoosier fans out there. You know, from the start of the season to the end of the season, y'all were there through the highs and the lows and none of this is possible without y'all.

So thank you guys and go IU.

All right. In our appreciation for this great visit today for President Trump, we have some Hoosier gear, which a couple of years ago they were given away. Now you got to pay a lot of money for this stuff. [Laughter] So, really appreciate this great opportunity and this great day. Thank you very much.

Thank you very much.

There you go. 47 on the back. I think we got one picture. Yeah, that's right.

I like this guy. [Laughter] That's great, Coach. Thank you. What else do you have over there? How about a helmet? [Laughter]

All right, here we go. We got a signed football. 16 and 0, fast, physical, relentless, go IU.

Wow.

Curt Cignetti and players.

That's great, Curt. That's beautiful. OK, we're coming down.

We just got an IU helmet also, sir.

Thank you.

We'll let you keep the trophy for an NIL contribution. [Laughter]

I'll do that for NIL. Boy, oh, boy, did the court screw us up, huh? [Laughter] That's all right it's whatever happened, it seems to be working for you -- [Laughter] -- and you're going to -- you're going to make it very successful you're going to create something very, very successful, I have no doubt. So we're going to take the players now to the Oval Office and they're going to get a little glimpse at some -- I think it's the most important piece of real estate anywhere in the world in terms of, uh, in terms of victory and in terms of winning and in terms of things that are happening, things are happening right now in our country.

You know, a little bit like your team, our country a year and a half ago was laughed at. We were mocked, and now we're the hottest country anywhere in the world. There's nobody close. We have the greatest military in the world. We're unparalleled and we're doing a job. We've made America great again, and this team has got a tremendous future.

Don't lose the coach. She said we can't lose the coach. It's a piece of work, right? We're not going to lose him but I just want to thank everybody. It's a great turnout, it's a great turnout but you know, we do this a lot and there's always spirit for a winning team we have all the teams come here, but this was one I really look forward to because the story of Indiana University is really a legendary story.

It's a very unusual story. We have a lot of teams where they win and they keep winning and they keep winning. They don't know what it is, and you have some that lose and get a little bit lucky this is a team that came out from really a program that was a basketball program, largely and now it's a great, great football program and you're going to have a tremendous year.

It's a fantastic group, and I look forward to watching it's going to be a very interesting but you're going to have a great year. And I know people like this there are very few of them never bet against a guy like this I'm telling you. Never bet against a guy like Curt. So thank you, Curt, and coach, very much, OK? Thank you very much.

Thank you everybody. We're going to take them to the Oval Office. Thank you. Let's go. Come on, follow us.