Thank you, all. Thank you. It's great to be with you. It's good to see you.
It is great to see you too. I mean, you've been like on a whirlwind, here.
Yeah, yeah.
Are you a little jet lagged or no?
You know, yes, I am a little jet lagged. So we did a trip where we went to France and then to Germany, and then we went to San Diego for a family wedding and then back in DC. And we did all that in like seven days. A little jet lag, that's OK. Well, I brought -- I -- I'm in a good place right now, Mercedes, I got some sleep last night.
OK, good then we're ready, we're ready, but it's a real special day, today. You know what today is guys? It's February 20th. That means our 30, first 30 days, the happy one month anniversary of the Trump-Vance Administration. I mean how exciting is that?
It's, uh, it's very exciting. It's hard to believe we've only been in office for a month because I think we've done more in a month than Biden did in about four years. And thank God for that. But you know, the president keeps us on a pretty breakneck pace. He always asks, what have we done today? What are we going to do tomorrow?
What are we going to do next week? Because I think he realizes this is a special moment in time. And by the way, thank you, thanks to all of you for making it possible for us to do all the great work we've been doing in the administration. I know we wouldn't have been here without you, but I think the president is acutely aware that the American people gave us a window to save the country.
And that's exactly what we're going to do and thank God for that because it's been a hell of a lot of fun, the past month.
OK, so I don't even think we can keep track of all the things you all are doing. In fact, I don't even think the press can keep track of all they're doing. I mean, they -- talk about the shock and awe strategy, seriously. So when you're looking at this list after list after list, what stands out to you?
Well, speaking of the press, I do think that we've had maybe more executive orders than CNN has viewers, each night. [Laughter] So hello to our friends at CNN. I think I actually think that their plan was they were going to go all in on anti-Trump and hope that he could save CNN in the same way that he did, frankly, in 2017 because nobody really watched the network until -- until he became president in 2017. But that's maybe the one thing I think the president has been unable to do -- unable to save CNN's ratings over the last -- over the last few -- few months.
But look, I think that what the president has tried to do is recognize that we have a historical mandate on a few issues. We have to secure the southern border and thanks to his actions, border crossings are down, well over 90 percent, and we're just getting started. He recognizes that we have to really unlock the engine of American growth.
We've got to get back to having a growing economy that creates good jobs and high wages for the American people, and a lot of that goes back to, drill baby drill. We've done more on energy under President Trump's leadership than I think any administration in history. And that's -- that's not an exaggeration.
And of course, we're going to do more. And I think the third thing that he's tried to do, of course, with the help of Elon and all the great folks at DOGE is ask, what are we doing with all of the American taxpayers money, and why are we wasting so much of it on garbage that the American people either aren't aware that we're spending it on or don't want to be spending it on in the first place.
Like for example, the stuff that we've figured out, Mercedes, is unbelievable. Why are we spending money on progressive, modern art projects centered around toilets in Afghanistan? That's actually something that your tax dollars were funding, until very recently. And I think all of us are sitting around and asking, what the hell are we doing with the American people's money for the last four years.
Let's turn off the spigot and spend the American people's tax money on the American people's priority and that's, of course, been a big focus of the administration, too.
Let's dig deeper into the immigration issue.
Sure.
We've seen and you've met many of the victims. People who have family members who have died, have been tragically, tragically murdered. Those angel families are in the hands of these criminal, illegal aliens.
Sure.
What's your message to these families? What is -- and then what is your message to these horrific drug cartels and human traffickers who have preyed on the most vulnerable in the world?
Well, our message to the drug traffickers is get the hell out of our country, your free ride is over because President Trump is back in the Oval Office. That is you're not welcome, you are never welcome, according to the American people, but unfortunately, you had President Joe Biden who allowed you to run free over the United States of America.
And Donald Trump has said, your terrorist organizations, we're going to go after you, we're going to wage war on you and, certainly, we want you out of the United States of America, and that's an important message, of course. But our -- our message, and you know this, Mercedes, our message to the families is President Trump cares about you.
He thinks that it's disgraceful what your own government let happen to your children, to your grandchildren, and it's got to stop. And of course, we -- we mourn with people, we pray for people, but we're also asking, as their government, why did this happen to your child in the first place? And the answer is that under Joe Biden, your government didn't do its job; under Donald Trump, it is. Thank God for that.
On the economy, and I'm getting this question all the time. You know, it's this question of affordability, right? There's a lot of stress on our families, something that I think Joe Biden could not manage in terms of -- of really helping lower that cost of living and making things just simply more affordable.
Sure.
We talked about energy independence being a critical component of this, of ensuring that we unleash this economic prosperity. What more needs to be done?
Yeah. So, one of the first interviews I did it was, I think, six or seven days after the inauguration. And somebody asked me well, it's been six days, what have you done to fix the inflation crisis created by Joe Biden? I'm like -- well, first of all, it's been six days. We've done a lot in six days, but it's going to take some time to fix what Joe Biden broke over four years.
And we know it is -- it is easy, unfortunately, to burn the house down. It takes a little bit of time to build it back up. And here's -- here's what we -- we have to do because look, the fundamental goal of our immigration policy, of our border policy of DOGE saving taxpayer money, the fundamental goal is we want your children and grandchildren to be able to raise a family in security and comfort in the country that we all love.
That is the whole goal of President Trump's agenda. Like safety and prosperity, right? It's pretty common sense stuff, and we know that to do that, we have to first of all unleash American energy. Now why is that so important? Because look, if, you know, we all know grocery prices got too high under Joe Biden's leadership.
Well, one of the main drivers of groceries is energy. Because the farmers are paying more for energy, then we're all paying more for what the farmers grow. And if the truck drivers who are delivering the groceries are paying more for fuel, then we're all paying more for what the truck drivers are delivering to the grocery store.
If we unleash American energy, that will do more than anything to drive down the cost for the American people. The second thing, Mercedes, is we have got to stop spending the American people's money on garbage. Every dollar, every dollar that we take in and spend, you have to pay for, either through taxes or through inflation.
And if we spend the American people's money more wisely, if we stop taxing and spending the American people to death, that's also going to bring relief to all of the pricing pressures that are out there. We're going to make it affordable to live in this country, again, that's our mandate, that's our goal.
And you're right, there's a lot more that we can do, but I think we've got a pretty good start after 30 days.
We've got a pretty good start, but we've got this big, beautiful one bill budget reconciliation scenario. How is that working? What are the dynamics that are happening right now in Congress and what the administration is doing to ensure that a lot of what the president is wanting to do in terms of really pushing forward with economic prosperity and his tax relief initiatives gets done in these bills?
Yeah, it's really important. So the Senate obviously has its own approach, and the president has been very clear that his preference is to put everything in one bill. And part of that is just simple legislative strategy. I think the president has learned a lot about how DC works. And I actually talked to the president about this, yesterday, and he said to me, look, it's very rare that you can get two reconciliation bills done in one Congress, which is why he thinks we've got to do a lot with that one big, beautiful bill, that first reconciliation package that we're going to get through the House and the Senate.
It's going well, it's early, right? This stuff takes time to put together. I think, you know, if you had a record pace reconciliation, bill, we would get this thing done in May or in June. I think we're on track to do that. But we've got to do some basic things, Mercedes. One, like I said, we've got to continue to unleash American energy.
That's part of the reconciliation bill. We've got to make sure that other countries stop taking advantage of us. That's a big part of President Trump's tariff policy is we've got to stop being taken advantage of. Um, you know, of course we want to make the President Trump tax cuts permanent and extend them into the future.
We want no taxes on tips. We got to do some of the things we talked about during the campaign. That's got to be part of it. And then finally, and this is really important, everything the president has done on the border, we have got to empower him to do it, not just for a month, but for the next four years.
And we've got to -- we've got to hire more Border Patrol agents. We've got to give Tom Homan and Stephen Miller and Kristi Noem the resources they need to secure the border. And just not -- not to return to the border, but I think so many of our issues come back to the border because if you take 30, 40 million illegal aliens, you take Medicare fraud, Social Security fraud.
Why are we taking the people's Social Security payments and giving it to illegal aliens? We know that's happening in the United States of America, today. We've got to stop it. If you get control of the border, Mercedes, you do more to control the fiscal problem that the financial problems that we have in this country than almost anything yet.
Get illegal aliens out of our country, make sure American tax dollars go to American people. That is how you solve the fiscal crisis in the United States of America.
Shifting to your incredible speech at the Munich conference, did you all watch that?
Thank you.
I don't know. I think they really liked it.
I'm glad you guys liked it, not everybody liked it, you guys liked it, not everybody liked it. So there you are, good to see you. Thank you.
OK. Oh, OK.
I'll -- I'll -- I'll take a standing ovation for a speech I already gave, that's good for the price of one.
Yeah, I was going to say, um, here's your speech, say it again. All right, uh, but it was -- it was fascinating -- fascinating because there was, obviously, some of these European leaders that, you know, they were a little uptight about it, it stressed them out just a little bit.
A little bit.
But you talked about the greatest threats in Europe.
Yeah, so look, the greatest threat in Europe, and I'd say it was the greatest threat in the United States until about 30 days ago, is that you've had the leaders of the West decide that they should send millions and millions of unvetted foreign migrants into their countries. That is the biggest threat to Europe and, frankly, it remains, by the way, the biggest threat to the United States because yes, we've got four years of President Trump's leadership but I guarantee you, if the Democrats ever get power again, they're going to try to do it, again.
We cannot rebuild Western civilization, we cannot rebuild the United States of America or Europe by letting millions and millions of unvetted illegal migrants come into our country. It has to stop. Thank God, it stopped here, but it's got to stop there. And -- and a related issue, Mercedes, is you can't just stop it, you have to allow European peoples and of course the American people, too, to raise issues about it. You have to allow free speech to debate this stuff.
You have to stop doing things to the populations of the world. You've got to give the populations of the world the opportunity to speak up and say, no more of this BS, we want borders, we want sovereignty. We want to be able to speak our own mind in our own country. And I guarantee you, if we don't allow free speech -- and of course, the Biden Administration, I made this point, Mercedes, the Biden Administration did more to destroy free speech, not just in the United States but also in Europe, than any administration in American history.
I'm not even blaming the Europeans. I'm actually saying, you followed the lead of Joe Biden into censorship and mass migration. Follow the lead of Donald J. Trump and that's free speech borders and sovereignty. That is the future for our shared civilization.
And I will tell you something that is really truly remarkable that's happening at CPAC is -- and we had our second CPAC international summit, yesterday. And we have many of these European conservative, European leaders with us, today, where we stand in solidarity because they have an opportunity to basically make Europe great again, make Asia great again, make Latin America great again.
And so in essence, I think your message was very well received by many of those conservative leaders, across the globe. But what does this mean with the US now that, you know, in giving that speech, what does this mean with the US's relationship with Europe?
Well, look, obviously, we're going to continue to have important alliances with Europe, but I really do think the strength of those alliances is going to depend on whether we take our societies in the right direction. Think about this. Germany's entire defense is subsidized by the American taxpayer. There are thousands upon thousands of American troops in Germany, today.
Do you think that the American taxpayer is going to stand for that if you get thrown in jail in Germany for posting a mean tweet? of course, they're not right? So -- so -- so the point that I try to make to our European friends, and I think that they're our friends, I believe that I know President Trump does, is that friendship is based on shared values.
You do not have shared values if you're jailing people for saying we should close down our border. You don't have shared values if you cancel elections because you don't like the result, and that happened in Romania. You don't have -- you do not have shared values if you're so afraid of your own people that you silence them and shut them up. So let's have shared values.
Let's defend democracy, let's have free expression, not just in the United States, but all over the Western world. That is the path to strong alliances in Europe.
We had Ambassador Rick Grenell with us yesterday. He'll be on the CPAC stage, during these conferences. He has like three jobs, or four or five. But, um, let me ask you this, where are we on our, basically, the status of the Russia, Ukraine, uh, moving forward in terms of these negotiations in bringing peace to this endless war.
You know it's -- it's -- It's early, and I think what President Trump, what makes him such an effective negotiator, I've seen this in private, is that he doesn't take anything off the table. When he walks into negotiation, he says, everything is on the table. And of course, that makes the heads explode in the American media because they say, why are you talking to Russia?
Well, how are you going to end the war, unless you're talking to Russia, You've got to talk to everybody involved in the fighting if you actually want to bring the conflict to a close, and I know the president does. But I'll tell you the goals that animate President Trump's policy; it's really simple. He wants the killing to stop.
He wants to bring lasting peace to Europe. He doesn't just want to stop it now and have the war restart a month from now. He wants to bring lasting peace to Europe because the president believes this and he's absolutely right peace is in the interest of Russia, it's in the interest of Ukraine, it's in the interest of Europe but most importantly, peace is in the interest of the American people, and he's going to fight for it for the remainder of his administration.
Wherever war breaks out, he's going to be the president of peace. Now, he of course, is a -- a very good negotiator, a very good businessman. He recognizes that a lot of these issues are tough. It's going to take a smart statesman to figure this stuff out, but we've got that in the White House. And I really believe that we're on the cusp of peace in Europe for the first time in three years because we have leadership from the Oval Office, and we haven't had it in four years in this country.
Matt and I mentioned this, right when we started the conference. We're honored by the presence of two hostages that were freed after the Hamas atrocity, the tragedy that we've seen happen. And we have several of the family members,, as well who are still -- there -- there -- there -- there -- where they -- their loved ones are still being detained by Hamas.
What is your message to these hostage families or these survivors?
Our message is that President Trump loves you. He hasn't forgotten your loved ones and he's going to fight every single day to bring them home. That is exactly what he's been doing and that's what he'll keep on doing. I -- I was actually talking with one of my best friends about this a couple of days ago.
-- Can I be your best friend, too?
Yes.
I think we all want to be your best friend, right? OK. OK.
But I was talking with him and he was asking me, he was like, well, I don't understand why was Biden unable to do this and then like the minute that Donald Trump won, we started to make progress in bringing the hostages home. And I said, man, it's just a question of leadership. You actually need a president who is willing to pick up the phone and say, you got to bring these people home.
No, no, no, no, we don't -- we're not focused on that crap right now. We're focused on bringing hostages home. And then when the negotiations hit a wall, because they always do, you need a president who picks up the phone and says, cut this crap out, we've got to make progress, and you've got to keep that pace going.
It's leadership. It really is, and I saw it behind the scenes. And what the -- and what the president did is he empowered, in particular, because this -- remember, this was before we were inaugurated. This is before we had our great Secretary of State, Marco Rubio or any of the great people around us. You know, the president sent his -- his dear friend and he's become my dear friend, Steve Witkoff, as an emissary of the President of the United States.
And he said, Steve, you speak for me, get it done and if there are problems, pick up the phone and call me. Steve Witkoff, with the president's leadership, got it done and it's amazing. And of course, we still got work to do. We've got to finish the process, but I really believe the president is as committed to this as any American leader in my lifetime.
We're going to keep on fighting for it.
One of the issues that's central to the CPAC community is the issue of pro-life.
Of course.
And what is the administration going to do to defend the unborn, to provide support for those mothers, those fathers that choose life?
Sure. Well, you know, one of the things, of course, that the president got done during the first term, and I think that it's why he is accurately called the most pro-life president in American history, is he finally made it possible for the will of the people to speak on the life issue, and that was that the Dobbs decision.
What that did is it gave the abortion question back to the people. It took it out of the hands of unelected bureaucrats and unelected judges and gave it back to the people. And I think the most important thing that we can do, and I'm -- as you know, Mercedes, I'm very pro-life, I'm a devout Christian, is that we have got to persuade our fellow Americans because now we've got the power, we've got the power of persuasion.
We've got to persuade our fellow citizens that unborn life is worthy of protecting ,it is sacred in the eyes of God, and it should be sacred in the eyes of man, too. And we have to pick up the torch and fight for that, every single day. And I know you guys are up for the task, I am, too. And I -- and I think on the administration side, what the president has said and it's been consistent, it's going to be consistent in the rhetoric and in the policy, is we believe in the Trump Administration, that babies are good, that families are good, and we want to make it easier for young moms and dads to choose life, to start families and to bring new life into the world.
That's the whole point of our policy. Now -- now, some of that, of course, is supporting our great crisis pregnancy centers at the moment of these important health care decisions, encouraging young women to choose life at that important moment of choice. Some of that is bringing costs down so that, you know, young moms and dads don't look to the future in a new baby and say, how can I afford this?
And if they're able to actually afford to raise a family, maybe they'll start thinking of babies as the blessings that we all know that they are.
Yeah.
And I think -- but -- but I think, fundamentally, this is going to take a lot of leadership. From the president on down but from every single person in this room, we have got to persuade our fellow citizens to stop thinking about babies as inconveniences to be discarded. We've got to start thinking of them as blessings to cherish.
And that's exactly what I promised to do.
So, now we're going to get personal.
OK.
So fun, um, your faith.
Yep.
Why is it so important to you? What does it mean to you? Tell us why, when you go every single day to work, how faith is a part of who you are?
Well, I mean, first is I believe like the fundamental tenet of the Christian faith, it's not just a set of good moral principles, though it is that. I think the fundamental tenet of our faith is that the Son of God became man. He died and he raised himself from the dead. That is the fundamental tenet of the Christian faith.
And I think so, so much flows from that. And I think one -- one -- one lesson that flows from that is that we shouldn't fear death. Of course, death is a very bad thing, but there are much more -- there are much more terrible things than just losing one's life. And importantly, you could lose one's soul.
And I think whether it's fighting for the unborn or fighting for peace and security for our citizens, I want us to be the kind of society where my kids can grow up to be virtuous, young people can be good, young Christians, of course, because that's what I'm trying to raise them to be. And that's what our public policy is trying to do, creating the space where moms and dads can raise their children in their faith to become good young people, who believe the things that I do, that is what I'm trying to create is the space for you, of course, to raise your children as you see fit, but the space for me to raise my kids to be the kind of young people that I think they ought to be. And the other thing that I take from it, Mercedes, is if you look at the long history of the Christian faith, we've been around for about 2,000 years now, give or take a few years.
And there have been really dark times in the history of the Christian faith. There have been really good times in the history of the Christian faith. And I just try to remind myself that we put our faith in God above. We put our faith in the grace of God, and we try the best to do his will. And we don't worry so much about whether we're going to have earthly rewards, we worry about whether we're doing right by God Almighty above.
That's what I try to do, and that's how I try to run my life in public.
You mentioned raising these children into good people and also into good citizens that can contribute to society and to the world. We had so many young people come out and support Donald Trump and JD Vance --
-- Yes, we did, and thank you.
-- this past election. So what is your message? And I really -- what is your message to the young men?
You know, I guess my message to young people, generally, is we're trying to make your life better and that is the -- that is the simple thrust of President Trump's policy, is we want you to be able to buy a home. We want you to be able to work a good job. We want you to be able to raise your kids, like I said, according to the values that you believe in. And we want you to be able to build a nice life in this country that all of us love.
That is what we're trying to do. And you know, you guys, more than -- more than anybody, more than me, I'm talking about people under the age of 30, in particular, you guys are going to have to deal with the consequences of good policy or bad policy for much longer than the rest of us. And I just -- I want you guys to think about the future and ask yourself, do you want safe communities?
Do you want a prosperous life? Do you want to be able to work a good job? Or do you want that job shipped off to China or somewhere else? We're fighting for you, every single day. We want you to help fight for us because we've got to win, not just -- not just the policy battles of the next couple of months, we've got to win the mid-term elections in a couple of years.
We need you, we recognize that we need you and we're fighting for you, every single day. And I think, you know, you asked me, you know my -- my message to young men is I think that our culture sends a message to young men that you should suppress every masculine urge, you should -- you should try to cast aside your family.
You should try to suppress what makes you a man in the first place. And I think that my message to young men is, don't allow this broken culture to send you a message that you're a bad person because you're a man, because you like to tell a joke, because you like to have a beer with your friends or because you're competitive.
Like, our message, the cultural message, and I think the president's and mine is the exact opposite, but our cultural message is, I think that it wants to turn everybody into, whether male or female, into androgynous idiots who think the same, talk the same and act the same. We actually think God made male and female for a purpose.
And we want you guys to thrive, as young men and as young women, and we're going to help with our public policy to make it possible to do that. And by the way, I actually think, Mercedes, this is the thing that President Trump, this is why the media went after him so hard is because, you know, what I think about, like what is the essence of masculinity.
You could answer this in so many different ways. But when I think about me and my guy friends, we really like to tell jokes to one another, like we like to laugh. If you think of all the movies that were really popular --
-- Are you saying you're pretty funny?
I try to be.
OK, President Trump, who's funnier? Who's funnier?
President Trump.
All right, there you go.
Let's be honest, he's got the best, he's got the best sense of humor of any American political figure. But -- but I think this is why young men, in particular, are so, you know, they're so inspired by President Trump is because he doesn't allow the media to tell him he can't make a joke or he can't have an original thought.
President Trump just says what's on his mind. That's a damn good thing, and it's a good example to set for young men in American culture.
You know, I always tell my five daughters, I don't have any sons, but we -- Matt and I, we have five beautiful daughters and I always say, you know, the most important decision you'll ever make is who you marry.
That's right.
Always who you marry, and you made a very important decision in marrying Usha?
I did -- I did, I married up, I married up.
She is a beautiful Second Lady and I want to know, what is the best advice Usha has given you?
Well --
-- This is -- is so fun, OK.
This is going to be very personal. One piece -- one piece of advice she gave me like a week ago was you should be nicer on social media. I really don't think so. I'll take that. Some advice is good, some advice is, you know, can be good, but you don't have to always take it. I --
-- You sound like my husband.
The -- the best advice Usha ever gave me -- when it comes, I mean, she gave me so many good life advices, um, or pieces of advice, but the best advice she gave me when it came to politics is, don't let them filter you. And in politics, you know, you've got consultants and you've got media professionals, you've got pollsters, you've got a lot of people who try to tell you what to say or how to behave or you know, what to do. And Usha just said, just be yourself, be authentic.
Go out there and say what's actually on your mind, maybe a little nicer from time to time. But I think that's the best advice that she gave me, and that's why we take our kids everywhere. And that's why I'm not afraid to make a joke on social media, even if it's sometimes a dad joke, I forgive -- forgive me, all of you who don't like -- don't like dad jokes.
But you just got to be yourself. And I think that's President Trump's superpower in American politics, and that's probably the best advice Usha ever gave me, at least on politics.
OK, last question. What inspires you, every day?
Well, I mean, one is, is my family, right? I mean, I am blessed to have a seven year old, a five year old and a three year old. And I can't help but see the country through their eyes. And when we were on the campaign, in particular, and we would take our kids with us, all of my kids, when we were about to land in some new place, you know, they'd all rush to the window of the plane and they'd look out and they'd say, oh, dad, this looks so cool.
Like you know, the beauty of the Arizona cactuses and Arizona deserts or, you know, we'd be in Texas for a fundraiser and they'd be like, oh my God, like look at just all of that open space, right? Or we'd be in North Carolina and say, oh, look, how beautiful the green mountains right? This idea of these beautiful green mountains of Appalachian, North Carolina, we love North Carolina.
And I guess -- I guess what inspires me is you can't help but be hopeful and energetic and optimistic about this country when you see it through the eyes of a child. So I hope I never lose that perspective because it does inspire me, every day.
Well, Mr. Vice president, you inspire us, every day. We are praying for you. We are praying for your family. We are praying for this incredible administration for, of course, President Donald Trump ,and we are honored that you are here with our CPAC family.
And I'm honored to be here. Thank you.
Thank you so much.
Thank you all. I love you guys. Thank you.