Well, this is very exciting. This was one of the greatest moments in the history of US sports, I wouldn't say maybe for other countries who weren't so thrilled. But for US sports and we have a very exciting team of champions standing behind me, Mr. Attorney, could you read what we're doing right now and get it done?
Yes, sir. This is HR 452, the Miracle on Ice bill, the United States Congress has authorized three medals to be struck commemorating the historic victory of the United States' men's hockey team in 1980 at the Lake Placid Olympics where they obviously defeated the Russians in the -- the Soviet Union, excuse me, in the famous Miracle on Ice hockey game.
This will serve as a fitting commemoration of that incredible achievement and will hopefully be a lasting memorial of that achievement going forward, sir.
This was an amazing event, pretty big. I mean, I don't know -- there were some other upsets in the world. I haven't noticed them getting any of these, right? [Laughter] That's great. I mean, we don't use auto pens here. [Laughter] It's a great achievement. OK, wait a minute there. There you go, Mike.
Thank you, sir.
So great, right? Most of these people are too young to remember, but sports fans know it. Thank you very much. It's a great honor to have the media too. We're delighted to be joined today by two legends of American sports history and heroes for the entire nation, the 1980 US Olympic ice hockey team. This was one of the biggest moments that I've ever seen in sports and I like sports.
These are the men who gave us one of the most storied athletic wins of all time. It's called the Miracle on Ice, and I guess that's what it was. Where -- with us today by players like Jim Craig, Steve Janaszak, Bill Baker, Dave Christian, Ken Morrow, Jack O'Callahan, Mike Ramsey, Neil Bratten, Mike Eruzione, Rob McClanahan, Buzz Schneider, Dave Silk, Phil Verchota and numerous others.
And what I'd love for you to do, you know, when you have all of these media people, it's a nice slow afternoon. Nothing's too slow around here. I think we just did a very good job with Thailand and Cambodia. We had them stop. I've been saying I stopped eight wars, but they started shooting at each other two days ago.
Wasn't good and we got it I think straightened out today. So Thailand and Cambodia is in good shape. So we get a lot done. Eight wars, nobody's ever stopped, eight wars, we have one more to go. The easiest one I thought would be a country that you're somewhat familiar with, Russia and Ukraine.
But we're -- a lot of progress is being made even there. Could I ask you to just say your name and if you have anything to say, you could say that also? And then we'll get on with reading some of the stats.
Yeah, my name is Ryan Suter. I'm here representing my dad, Bob, who passed away. Um, it's a true honor for me to be a part of this and thank these guys for allowing me to be a part of their team and thank you for having this and hosting us.
Your father was some player incredible player. Do you, uh, did you ever play ice hockey?
I did, yeah. [Laughter]
So let me ask you how good was he compared to his father?
Don't answer. [Laughter]
Mr. President, Ryan just played 21 years in the NHL. He played 1,500 games in the NHL.
Pretty comparable, though, right? Better, you think Better?
Yes. Yes. [Laughter] His dad was tough. [Laughter]
Heard he might be.
My dad was tougher but you're right. [Laughter]
Dad was tougher, but you got good genetics. You had a great career. How long did you play?
I played 21 years.
Wow, yeah. Well, you look pretty good for a guy who played 21 years. Congratulations and great father.
Thank you.
Great father. Please.
Um, I'm Tarja Lewis and I'm here representing my dad, Mark Pavelich. Um, he, I'm so honored to be here. Um, I just -- I -- I'm at a loss for words to be honest, like I can't believe this is real and I want to say to you, President Trump. I know so many people from Duluth, Minnesota that love you and I just --
-- Ah, thank you.
Yes, yeah, you're -- thank you for having us here.
Thank you.
So yeah.
And you had a great father.
Thank you so much.
A great, great player. So thank you very much.
Very good, very, very serious.
Thank you very much. Thank you for being here. Please go ahead.
I'm Ken Morrow. Um, an honor to meet you, Mr. President. What a great win for our country and, uh, if people don't remember that's where the USA, USA chant started in Lake Placid.
That's right. Yeah. Yeah. I tried to take credit for that. [Laughter] Yeah, you had to bring that up, didn't you? That's the end of that. That's all right. Thank you very much.
Hi, I'm Jim Craig and, uh, it's an honor to be here. I'm so proud of all my teammates and what we're able to accomplish for our country and when you get a chance to represent your country, whether it's in the military or a sport and you do something really special like my team did and then be recognized many years later.
So Mr. President, I want to thank you for your courage that you show the country every single day.
Thank you.
And for making our country safe again.
Thank you. Yeah, we're doing that. I appreciate that very much. I didn't know you were on that team. Kash Patel.
Yeah. [Laughter]
You were on the team?
I was the trainer.
He was the trainer, sir. [Laughter]
That was great. Thank you for being here. He's doing a great job. Thank you, Kash, very much.
Buzz Schneider, uh, Mr. President, thanks for having us here. Thanks, Congressman Stauber, for writing legislation with Elise Stefanik and Tom Emmer. It's a privilege to be here and be accomplished a wonderful thing and I will say that, uh, I got 19 beautiful people I did it with. It was awesome. All good, solid people.
Thank you.
Thank you. Thanks again. So you have to be solid. Thank you. Please?
Hi, I'm Neal Broten from Minnesota. Thank you. Mr. Trump. It's an honor, um, you celebrating us and, uh, I can't believe I'm even here. This is incredible. [Laughter]
It's an amazing office.
It's -- it's unbelievable.
Everybody that comes here, they can the biggest people in the world that come into this place and they go, wow, it's the Oval Office, most most important office anywhere in the world, not even close. Thank you very much.
Mr. President, Mike Eruzione. On behalf of the team, we have a replica --
-- Wow!
-- hat that we wore, the opening ceremonies in Lake Placid.
Thank you.
We'd like you to have that. And more importantly, uh, I don't think words can explain how proud we are for what you've done for our team.
Thank you.
Thank you very much.
Let's see, what do I do with that strap?
Yeah, there you go. Now we can take the picture. Yes.
We got to take the picture. [Laughter] Do you remember a certain governor in Massachusetts when they put that helmet on? That was not good.
Michael Dukakis.
Michael Dukakis. They put that helmet on. That was the end of his political career. [Laughter] OK.
But the honor that you bestowed upon our team, something that's incredible.
Thank you very much. I feel it.
Thank you. Thank you.
Mr. President, hello, I'm Jack O'Callahan from Charlestown, Massachusetts and I grew up on the battlefield of the -- where the Battle of Bunker Hill was fought and that's where it all started. And, uh, thank you so much for having us here when we're a bunch of proud Americans and, uh, we're thrilled to be in your presence, sir.
Thank you very much. I'm thrilled to be with you guys. Winners, champions.
Mr. President. My name is Dave Silk and like Jack said, I'm a proud American. Thank you for having us here and thank you to all that put this on for us. I'm honored to be here.
Thank you. It's really nice. Thank you.
Mr. President, Bill Baker. I'm from Minnesota. I know that right now that doesn't ring very well with all things considered. [Laughter] Hopefully, we can get that turned around.
Do we have Somalians in the -- any Somalians on the team?
I don't think so.
Ilhan Omar.
The pride we felt in 1980 --
-- Yeah.
-- was incredible and we are starting to feel that again thanks to your leadership. Thank you very much.
Well, you know, Minnesota is a great place and this is a great leader right here from Minnesota. He loves it, not happy with what's going on up there. And I think he'll take care of that situation. We're all with you.
With your help. Thank you.
No, no, you have my help. What's happening up there is a disgrace, it's a disgrace. Billions of dollars have been stolen, billions sent back to Somalia. And Tom can solve that problem better than anybody and you have the go ahead, right?
Yes, sir.
Thank you very much. Thank you. What do you think of this team?
This is the team that set the whole tone for this country back in 1980. It was the beginning of the great comeback, which by the way Donald J. Trump was the next beginning of the great comeback. So it's perfect that it's both you and this great team from 1980.
Thank you, Tom. You're doing a fantastic job. Really a great leader. We appreciate it, friend, and Jackie is uh a great spouse.
Remember, that's her favorite. [Laughter]
That's right, that's true. That's what I heard, yeah. And, Elise, everybody knows. Elise is doing phenomenally well, really tremendous congresswoman and she's running for a little position called governor of New York and she's got a hell of a shot at it. That's all I can see. I see polls that look very good and we -- uh, we could use you in New York.
She's got a little competition and with a very good Republican. But, uh, she's a great Republican. So we'll see what happens. But Elise is respected by everybody. We appreciate it. Thank you.
Thank you so much, Mr. President. And as the representative for Lake Placid, this is so meaningful to my constituents and we are home of the Miracle on Ice and it's wonderful to be here with these teammates who just stood so proudly for team USA.
Thank you. Thank you, Elise. Thank you. Please.
Uh, my name is Dan Brooks. Uh, I'm the son of Coach Herb Brooks. It's an honor to be here. Mr. President. Uh, my dad, uh, he believed uh he believed in the American hockey player, uh, he believed in his country. He loved this team. He loved his country. I wish he was here, but it's an honor for me to represent him.
So thank you for having me.
Well, your father was a great guy. I knew him a little bit and he was an amazing coach. What he did was just incredible.
He was tough, but fair.
He was tough. Was tough on you, yeah? [Laughter]
I lived with him for 20 years. [Laughter]
But good, I would say my father was tough too. My father was tough, but good. Yeah, they were good people. Thank you.
It was an honor to be his son.
Thank you very much. Thank you. He'd be very proud of you right now.
Rob McClanahan from Minnesota. I'm just echoing everybody else's words. It's an honor to be here and it's an honor to be a teammate of this great team. We had -- it's all about we and we're great teammates.
Yeah. That was really a perfect case of it. That team was a perfect case. Please.
I'm honored to be here. I'm representing my brother, Mark, who died in 2024. I know he's looking down with a big smile on his face.
He is. Great player.
Yeah, and I'm sure I am honored and I know he would be too. Thank you.
Thank you very much.
Thank you.
Uh, Mr. Trump, Dave Christian from Warroad, Minnesota, Hockeytown USA. [Laughter]
Convinced it's still? [Laughter] Is it?
It still is, but it's a privilege and an honor to be here with the greatest teammates anyone could have.
Thank you. Great honor. Great job.
Mr. President, Mike Ramsey. I'm also from Minnesota and Minneapolis is not Hockeytown, Minnesota. [Laughter] It's an honor to be here with my teammates and you. This is awesome.
That's great.
Thank you.
Great to have you. Thank you very much.
Mr. President, Steve Janaszak also from Minnesota. White Bear, Lake Minnesota. Not as big as it sounds. Uh, I backed up Jimmy Craig and I want to thank all you guys for the job that you did, uh, pleasure to be a part of this team and luckiest guy in this team.
Yeah, well.
Without --
-- Jimmy --
Greg was pretty good, right?
He had no goals tending and he did an awesome job.
Yeah, it's pretty good. That's great. Thank you very much. Great honor. Thank you.
Well, I didn't know we had to talk. [Laughter]
What do you think, Phil?
I'm speechless of course. But I'm originally from Duluth, Minnesota. And certainly, like all the other gentlemen here, we're having a wonderful, wonderful day. And just seeing the history of Washington DC and the invitation and the award is beyond what I could imagine.
Well, it's an honor. And so many people from Minnesota, it's something. There's a hockey -- good hockey blood, huh? So many people, a lot of the team. Congratulations. And Minnesota's going to be back. Right? It's going to be back. It's going to be back, got a little bad governor up there, a couple little problems, but it's going to be back.
And unbelievable people in Minnesota. 45 years ago, this tremendous group of collegiate players and amateurs faced overwhelming odds against the Soviet Union in Lake Placid Winter Olympics. They say it was the greatest team ever put together -- the Soviet team. They weren't saying that about you, but you were damn good.
They were saying that team was unbeatable. The same month the USSR's hockey team had crushed our squad. They did a -- I guess an exhibition game of some kind, and it was not pretty -- 10 to 3. And people were not even looking forward to this game. Fellas, I hate to tell you. They like that that last 10 minutes were not fun.
The Soviets had not lost an Olympic game since 1968 and they were coming off a four straight gold record, gold medals. In '64 they won the gold, '68, '72 and '76. Other than that, they weren't that good, right? And this was supposed to be the best team they ever had. So, it wasn't looking too sharp for our great champions behind me. As one American sportswriter put it at the time, the whole world expected the Soviets to win, quote, unless the ice melts.
So, that wasn't a very good statement. But then it began. Despite the long odds, the Team USA blazed through the group stage, beating other countries, went through them pretty easily, advancing to a long-awaited rematch against the USSR. Three times we went down by a goal, for most of the game they were down by a goal, three times.
And then remarkable players put America back on top where we always wanted to be. Buzz Schneider -- he scored the opening goal, a slap shot from 50 feet. That's a big slap shot. [Laughter] That's a hell of a thing. How the hell did that happen? Was there a goal? I thought they had a good goal.
They did have a good goal. The pass came across the ice. I caught it going the other way.
It just happened, right? Miracle, they call it. Thank you. It's a long one. How often does a 50 foot shot go in? Not too much. That one.
When you have a little extra power, you're strong.
You were a strong guy. That's something, that puck was hit. We have a puck here. Does this mean anything or is this something they just gave me?
I gave the SEI hockey pucks to the team.
I'll put it here on top of a piece of gold. In the second period, Jim Craig withstood a barrage of shots on goal and kept the dream alive. That's the guy, right? And then after a goal from team captain, Mike Eruzione, who's a fantastic guy. I know him from outside of hockey, we play golf. We were on a golf team together and we happened to win, right?
Yes, we did, sir.
We won.
Yes, we did.
I like my partner very much. But he put us up 4 to 3 midway through the third. These fighters held on to the longest 10 minutes of their lives. They call it the longest, most horrendous, scariest 10 minutes. Is that true?
Absolutely.
Because you couldn't believe that you were there. And they're leading by 1 and they got 10 minutes and just, please. Did anybody pray?
[Crosstalk]
Did you have time to pray?
You just had to go out and play.
They're religious guys, but they didn't have a lot of time to pray, they were out on the ice to win one of the greatest comebacks in sports history. Really it was amazing. The observers in the arena noted it was the first time in his life that he heard the chant USA, USA, USA, which I don't like hearing, because I tell people that that had to do with Trump in 2016. Slightly after your big win, but no longer.
That's the end of that, right? I can't use that one anymore. But I do remember them doing that exactly -- for a long time they were doing that. This team united us and they inspired us. The United States was like brought to a level of sports that they've never seen, and they brought us Olympic glory that we celebrate to this day.
Nobody thought it was possible. It really shows that anything's possible. Nobody thought that one was possible, but I want to congratulate you all. And now I'd like to invite Mike to say a few words and then Congressman Stauber, who introduced -- and then we're going to speak from a couple of other people.
I have to tell you our leader, I have to say that -- Emmer is a very special leader, and I want you to maybe wrap it up and say something on behalf of your great state, in particular -- the country, but your great state in particular, OK? So, let's go, Mike.
Yes, again, Mr. President, to reiterate what we've all talked about, this is an absolute incredible honor. I've said this before. When you put a USA jersey on, you're playing for your country, you're not playing for your state, your town or your city. And what an honor it was for us to put that jersey on and accomplish what we accomplished.
I've always said the gold medal is something that's incredible, but this is the frosting on the cake, to receive an award like this, an honor like this. Maybe that's the -- this is it, guys. I don't think there's anything else we can get.
There's nothing else.
This is just incredible.
There's nothing else.
This is it and thank you for making this happen.
Great. Thank you, Mike. Thank you. Pete?
Mr. President, thank you for signing this piece of legislation. I first want to say on behalf of Congress, I want to thank Elise Stefanik and Tom Emmer for being co-sponsors of this piece of legislation. I also want to thank my staff, Ellie Esau in my office did a tremendous job getting this -- to be able to pass the House and the Senate.
I want to thank my staff. And Mr. President, it was 45 years ago, Friday, February 22, 1980, that the game of hockey changed. There was a 5 p.m. game, it was tape delayed. Those of us that were hockey players back then, this was a game changer. We couldn't find that USA jersey anywhere. It was sold out wherever it was.
And so, I'm very proud to have led this, and I would be remiss if I didn't introduce my younger brother, Rob, who was the -- he was a gold medal coach for the 2018 women's Olympic gold medal team in Pyeongchang and Robbie's right over there.
Hi, Rob. Nice seeing you.
So, Mr. President, I will just say that I'm in awe of these hockey heroes. And as we move forward, they changed the game of hockey. It was a powerful, dominant performance that this country needed. They beat the powerhouse Soviets. And as you know, you're continuing to do that today. And this was a great start of it. And for me, I'm very -- just privileged and proud to stand with these Olympic heroes that literally changed the nation and gave us the strength that we needed at the time our nation needed it. And to know these men here, they're humble, their humility is through the roof.
And I just want to thank you for signing this. This means a lot to me personally, but it means more to the team. When I talked to them this afternoon, this was -- as Mike just said, it's the cherry on top of what they did for this country. And thank you for signing it and I appreciate it.
Well, we love it and he's a -- he was a really great hockey player, too. So, let me ask you a question, was your brother in this category of hockey player or slightly less?
You want to answer that? He was smart. He was better than me. He was better than me. Robbie was a goaltender in the National Hockey League as well.
Wow, that's pretty good.
That's much better than me.
That's a lot of good genetics in this whole thing, but you were a hell of a player too.
Thank you, Mr. President.
Thank you, Pete. So, we're going to --
Mr. President, we would like to do one more thing, take a photo with our hats off.
OK, let's go.
Folks from Minnesota are used to wearing hats.
OK, straighten it out, guys, take a good one. You have Dan? Let's go, Dan. Get with it, Dan. Oh, here we go. Good photographers, you got a little off guard.
Can we move up a little bit, please? Can we all -- just a little bit tight?
It's a good photo. Good idea.
A little bit more. OK, one, two and three and one more.
So we're going to finish up with Tom Emmer and he's been just a fantastic, uh, a fantastic congressman, leader, person from Minnesota. Loves that state. Boy, do you love that state and they love you equally as much. Please.
Thank you, Mr. President. First, I got to thank Pete Stauber as he's talking about humility. Uh, Pete Stauber, actually was in the -- the White House as a national championship captain of a national championship hockey team back in the 1980s.
That's not bad. Not bad. [Laughter]
And this is uh, this runs in the blood in Minnesota. Uh, this runs in our blood in Minnesota, but it's not about Minnesota, even though I will point out most of the guys are from Minnesota. But that's not the point. It doesn't matter if it's Massachusetts, Minnesota, Michigan, Wisconsin. Wherever players came from back then they were all Americans.
That's what mattered and they were an inspiration and you know what it means to my state? It shows us that no matter how bad it gets, there's always a way to succeed if you're willing to try. I think Mike Eruzione said it earlier, if you think you're going to lose, you're probably not going to win.
Right.
If you think you're going to compete and you're going to give it everything you've got, these men who are standing here and their colleagues who are not here, God bless them, those who couldn't be here and those who have departed, they reached the ultimate peak. And when they did it, as Pete pointed out, they lifted an entire country out of the ditch and set us off to an amazing, uh, several decades that followed.
And it's not much unlike, uh, the 47th President of the United States. So I think it's entirely appropriate that you're doing this for these men, right? You're really doing it for the country and God bless you because Minnesota, I think, is going to experience a comeback because of you.
They're going to Minnesota's going to come back. And I'm just -- so I'm so impressed that so many of these champions come from Minnesota. It's amazing. It's, uh, it's a great place. Thank you very much.
We engineered it. [Laughter]
Well, the best players are from Minnesota. [Laughter]
It starts again.
Well, thank you very much. Any questions for the -- let's go to the players first, if you could?
Thank you, Mr. President. First of all, it's a great honor to be in the room with all of you. I remember this game and it had a huge impact on me, you're heroes of mine. And it's really an honor to be in this room. Uh, Mike Eruzione. I have to ask you a question. What did it mean? I realize it was the semifinal game, but what did it mean to you at the time to beat the Soviets -- to beat the Soviet Union?
Well, at the time it gave us an opportunity to play for a gold medal. Um, you know, people always talk about the Soviet game and the Soviet game and I know how important the Soviet game was from a political standpoint. We didn't know it at the time, we knew it after. But if we don't beat Finland, we're not having this conversation today.
We're not here. As great as the Soviet victory was and it was an incredible victory, but if we lose to Finland, it would have been, God, if we only could have beat Finland.
What was the score?
Four to two. hWe were losing two to one going into the third period.
That would have been a downer.
So can you imagine we're not having this conversation. You are not inviting us to the White House. We are not receiving this honor if we don't beat Finland. So I think it speaks volumes of the team and the team that I played on to come back after such a great victory. We were ready to play Finland on Sunday and I think again a tribute to the team and the type of players that we have.
So years later, 45 years later, we realize how important that victory was against the Soviets. But I think a lot of us take great pride in knowing that we closed the deal by beating Finland.
If you didn't win that final game --
-- We're not here.
Nobody would --
We wouldn't have played golf.
You wouldn't be here. I would not have invited you, yeah. [Laughter] I would've said you're kidding me. [Laughter]
Yeah, happened to Finland?
Mike would be driving Uber. [Laughter]
Yeah, that's very funny. There's truth to that. [Laughter]
Mr. President!
But you did, but you did win.
What's the lesson for Ukraine, from this win from 45 years ago, when you defeated a Russian team against all odds?
Well, it's a similar situation, isn't it? Let's see what happens. We're working on seeing if we can make a deal right now, we're going to -- we're going to see. We'll soon know, I guess. We're going to -- we're going to see a lot of death -- last month, fellas, 25,000 soldiers were killed in Ukraine and Russia, 25,000. Can you imagine that?
Maybe we should send our team over.
[Crosstalk]
Mr. President. Mr. President, if I could. Um, you guys were a team of amateurs. What do you think about the NIL, the deals that are being made with -- with players and -- and they're hopping around schools? How do you think about that? Can I get about your thoughts on that?
My thoughts are, I don't like it. Um, I don't like the NIL. I don't like the -- the portal, but that's the state of college sports today. Um, and we have no control over that. I don't like it. And a lot of people that I spoke to don't like it either, but we -- we have no say.
Well, I think we maybe do have a say, I think that it's a disaster for college sports. I think it's a disaster for the Olympics because, you know, we're losing a lot of teams. The colleges are cutting a lot of their -- they would call them sort of the lesser sports and they're losing them like at numbers, nobody can believe.
And they were really training grounds, beautiful training, grounds hard working, wonderful young people. They were training grounds for the Olympics and a lot of these sports that were training so well would win gold medals because of it. Uh, those sports don't exist because they're putting all their money into football.
And by the way, they're putting too much money into football because colleges don't make, even the most successful universities, don't make that much money. And you can't pay a quarterback $14 million to come out of high school. They don't even know he's going to be a very good player. They've tried a couple of times, $14 and $12 million and a couple of deals like that and the most successful colleges are losing money.
And I think the NIL is a disaster for sports. It's horrible for the Olympics and it's -- I think it's actually horrible for the players and you're losing all of these great sports. They're not college football or even basketball is being affected, basketball second. But even basketball is being affected.
They're putting all of their money in and I know something about it. They will not be able to stop. You're going to have a college president. I'm telling you, sir. We give a guard $7 million. We're going to win the national championship and they'll give them seven and they won't win it and even if they do win it, colleges cannot afford to be paying the kind of salaries that you're hearing about.
And frankly, if you didn't have a very strong salary cap in -- in sports and even then in professional sports, it would -- they'd all be out of business, everyone. You're going to have these colleges wiped themselves out and something ought to be done. And I'm willing to put the federal government behind it, but if it's not done fast, you're going to wipe out colleges, they're going to get wiped out, including ones that do well in football.
They can't pay $12 million, $14 million, $10 million, $6 million for players. They won't be able to stop. They'll always be that one player. If they only have that player, they're going to win the national championship and they'll have 100 colleges thinking the same thing. Uh, colleges cannot afford to play this game and it's a very bad thing that's happening.
Mr. President, you talked about the Soviet Union. I also want to ask about another country that you're targeting, which of course is Venezuela. Do you intend on seizing more oil assets from Venezuela?
I'm not going to tell you that. I mean, would -- it wouldn't be very smart for me to tell you that, you know, we're supposed to be a little bit secretive. You're a -- you're a very big time reporter and I don't think I want to tell a big time reporter or a small time reporter that, but we are knocking out drugs at levels that nobody's ever seen before.
We knocked out 96 percent of the drugs coming in by water and nobody can figure out who the 4 percent, I wouldn't want to be the 4 percent either, but 96 percent of the drugs coming in by water. Every one of those boats you see get shot down, you just saved 25,000 American lives, but we knocked out 96 percent of the drugs coming in by water.
And now we're starting by land and by land is a lot easier and that's going to start happening and we're not going to have people destroying our youth destroying our families. Forget about youth, everybody. You ever see a family with fentanyl or cocaine. Colombia has at least three cocaine factories. That's a different country.
We're not happy about it, but we're stopping it and we've stopped it now on water. You don't even find boats on water. You don't even see fishing boats on water. [Laughter] You want to go fishing? Does anybody want to go fishing in that area? I don't think so. I just want to say this, uh, we have now a strong border, a year and a half ago we had millions of people pouring through.
Now we have nobody coming in through our border and we have a strong country. We have a country that's respected and we're going to keep it that way and we're not going to let people kill 300,000 people a year with drugs.
Mr. President! Mr. President, one more follow up question.
Yes, please.
The fraud that you've been pointing out and talking about in Minnesota specifically. There have been some reports resurfacing and circulating even by your own administration alleging Ilhan Omar's marriage to her brother and this would be a fraudulent situation if there, in fact, is found to be fraud in a situation like that.
Would you like to see her denaturalized or others who have similarly committed?
Well, I think she's very bad for our country. All she does is complain, complain, complain. She comes out of a country where they have no government, they have no military, they have no police, they got no, nothing. They don't have a country and they run around killing each other and then she comes over here.
She tells the United States of America how it should be run. We don't want to hear from her. I don't want to hear from her. I don't want to speak for Emmer, but I don't think Emmer particularly was here, but don't say it because I don't want to get you in trouble, OK? Just be nice and easy, all right? I'll do it for you.
That part I'll do, but I just want to say that there's nothing worse than a person that comes in and does nothing but bitch and comes from a place where she shouldn't be telling us what to do. She shouldn't be telling us, and everybody agrees with me. And what's happening in Minnesota with Somalia where billions of dollars is being stolen, right, like candy from a baby, we're not going to let that go on. And it's too great a state to have that happening.
And guys like Tom Emmer and others, Pete Stauber -- guys like them, they're going to stop it and they're going to be given the authority to stop it because this country is not going to put up with it anymore.
[Crosstalk]
You talked about land strikes happening soon. Is there anything at this point that can prevent that? And is the objective, if you make that decision --
I don't want to say that, but it's not only land strikes on Venezuela, it's land strikes on horrible people that are bringing in drugs and killing our people. You know, if we were in a war and we lost 300,000 people in a year -- because that's what the real number is, it's not 100. You know, you keep hearing 100. And it's a lot worse than that because the families are devastated when they lose their child.
If we were in a war, we lost 200,000 or 300,000, but I think it's more than 300,000. And that's a war -- that's like a war that would be unparalleled. Nobody's ever seen anything like that and that's what's happening. So, it doesn't necessarily have to be in Venezuela, it's people that are bringing in drugs to our country are targets.
At the end of this year, those extended Obamacare subsidies expire. What's your message to those 24 million Americans who will see their insurance premiums go up?
Don't make it sound so bad because, obviously, you're a sycophant for Democrats. You're obviously a provider of bad news for Republicans. Let me just say something. The Republicans -- I think I can speak for Tom and most of the people. I think what most Republicans want to see is what I want to see. And I leave it to them and hopefully they're going to put great legislation on this desk right here.
We want to see all of the money that's been squandered and given to insurance companies, because Obamacare is horrible health insurance, it's far too expensive, and it always has been. But what it really is, is a way of making insurance companies rich. We want the money not to be paid at all to insurance companies.
You know, insurance companies have gone up 1,700 percent over a short -- meaning the stock -- 1,700 percent over a short period of time. And they've taken in hundreds of billions and trillions of dollars. And we want the money to go to the people, they'll go in the form of an insurance account, health care account, or any other form that we can create.
We have a lot of different forms. We want to give the money to the people and let the people buy their own great health care and they'll save a lot of money and it'll be great. Now the problem we have is that the Republicans are not at all controlled by the insurance companies, but you know who is? The Democrats.
The Democrats have received hundreds of millions of dollars. They're totally controlled by the insurance companies, so we might not get too many of their votes. But I actually think we'd get some Democrat votes. So, I don't know how you feel about it, Tom. But everybody wants to see this happen -- everybody.
You know, I put it out and all of a sudden, we've taken over in a positive way. The Republicans have taken over health care in a positive way. I want to see the billions of dollars go to the people, not to the insurance companies. And I want to see the people go out and buy themselves great health care, much better health care at very little cost.
That's what I want and it's so simple.
[Crosstalk]
Thank you. A follow up on that. Many Congressional Republicans have said they won't vote for an Obamacare extension deal if it includes funding for abortion. Would you assure those Republicans that you will not propose --
Well, we're going to look into it. We're going to look into a lot of things. That's one of many factors. But what we do want to see is we want to see the money go to the people not to the insurance --
[Crosstalk]
Wait, wait, wait, you have to be nice and easy. She's very aggressive. OK, please.
Thanks, Mr. President. Can you tell us how this free economic zone would work in the Donbas in land that the Russians took by force?
Well, I don't want to do that now. It's a very complex situation, but it would work and a lot of people want to see it work. And we're going to -- all I want to do is I want to stop the death of 25,000 people a month. Go ahead.
Thank you, Mr. President. There were new Epstein photos released today showing you and also Bill Clinton, Steve Bannon. What was your reaction to those new photos that were released?
Well, I haven't seen them, but I mean everybody knew this man, he was all over Palm Beach, he has photos with everybody. I mean almost -- there are hundreds and hundreds of people that have photos with him. So, that's no big deal. I know nothing about it.
How big a role do you want to personally play in the decision by the fed on interest rates?
Well, I've made a lot of money, I've been very successful, and I think my role should be at least that of a recommending. They don't have to follow what I say, but we're going to be choosing a new fed person in the pretty near future. But they went out -- you know, they went out with 71 different people, all economists and Trump, I was 71. And of the 71 people, I got it right and one other person I think from the Wharton School of Finance, my alma mater, got it right.
There were two people that got it right out of 71, but I was one of them. So, I think I certainly should have a role in talking to whoever the head of the fed is or the fed. I don't think -- you know in the old days it used to happen. Nowadays it's sort of they think it shouldn't happen. But I've done great.
I've made a lot of money. I've been very successful. I think my voice should be heard. But I'm not going to make the decision based on that. I'll be making a decision over the next few weeks. Thank you all very much.