President Trump called for unity and remarked on the American spirit during his “Salute to America” celebration for the nation’s 243rd birthday.
Watch his full speech below:
“That same American spirit that emboldened our founders has kept us strong throughout our history. To this day, that spirit runs through the veins of every American patriot. It lives on and each and every one of you here today,” Trump said. “It is the spirit, daring and defiance excellence said adventure, courage and confidence, loyalty and love that built this country into the most exceptional nation in the history of the world.”
“And our nation is stronger today than it ever was before. It is its strongest now,” Trump continued.
“That same righteous American spirit forged the glorious constitution, that rugged American character led the legendary explorers Lewis and Clark on their perilous expedition across an untamed continent. It drove others to journey West and stake out their claim on the wild frontier, devotion to our founding ideals, lead American patriots to abolish the evil of slavery, secure civil rights and expand the blessings of liberty to all Americans,” he said.
“For Americans, nothing is impossible,” Trump said, describing the first ever moon mission, the Apollo 11, which launched 50 years ago this month. Trump said he promised the Apollo 11 NASA Flight Director Gene Krantz that America would be returning to the moon “very soon.”
Trump also paid tribute to several individuals with exceptional accomplishments, and described the great feats of Americans in civil rights, military conflicts, and more.
“They guard our birthright with vigilance and fierce devotion to the flag and to our great country,” Trump said. “Now, we must go forward as a nation with that same unity of purpose. As long as we stay true to our cause, as long as we remember our great history, as long as we never ever stopped fighting for a better future, then there will be nothing that America cannot do.”
“We will always be the people who defeated a tyrant, crossed a continent, took to the skies and soared into the heavens, because we will never forget that we are Americans, and the future belongs to us,” he continued.
“The future belongs to the brave, the strong, the proud and the free. We are one people chasing one dream and one magnificent destiny,” he said.
“We all share the same heroes, the same home, the same heart, and we are all made by the same Almighty God,” Trump said. “From the banks of the Chesapeake, to the cliffs of California, from the humming shores of the Great Lakes, to the sand dunes of the Carolinas, from the fields of the heartland, to the Everglades of Florida.”
“The spirit of American independence will never fade, never fail, but will reign forever and ever and ever,” Trump concluded.
