Donald Trump, Mike Pence Speak at VFW National Convention in Charlotte

Tuesday, July 26, 2016: Full replay of Donald Trump and Mike Pence’s remarks at the VFW National Convention in Charlotte, NC.

(Charlotte, NC) July 26, 2016 – Today, Donald J. Trump spoke at the Charlotte Convention Center in Charlotte, NC to thousands of Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW). During his speech, Mr. Trump reiterated his personal commitment to giving every Veteran in America timely access to the top-quality health care they deserve. He also assured Veterans that a Trump administration will take steps to reform the VA so that it meets Veterans’ needs, including the need for better mental health care and improved employment opportunities after their service to our country.

Donald Trump Full Speech — A transcript of the prepared remarks can be viewed below:

Thank you very much everybody, wow, thank you very much.  What a privilege to be here with the incredible and I mean incredible, men and women of the Veterans of Foreign Wars.

And we set today an all time registration record.  That’s pretty good, right ? Congratulations to you.

Spending time with our Veterans has been the greatest honor of this campaign.

I want to thank Commander-in-Chief  Big John Biedrzycki for the warm welcome. He has been fantastic. Many thanks as well to Bob Wallace … Auxiliary President Francisca Guilford … and your incoming leadership, Brian Duffy and Collette Bishop. Two terrific people. Two terrific people.

Before going any further today, I like to bring up on to this stage my good friend Gov. Mike Pence.

And by the way, Mike, is the son of a soldier and father of a Marine. (Mike Pence Speaks).

Thank you Mike. The Veterans of Foreign Wars represent the very best of America.  When I am President I pledge to work closely with your organization and your members to accomplish our shared goals.

Our Veterans are the bravest and finest people on Earth.

The members of your organization have fought for the American Flag on distant battlefields  all across the world.

Your members have shed their blood and poured out their hearts for this nation, like nobody else.

Our debt to you is eternal.

Yet, our politicians have failed you.  Our most basic commitment – to provide health and medical care to those who fought for us so bravely – has been violated completely. The VA scandals that have occurred are widespread and totally inexcusable.

As we know, many have died waiting for care that never came – a permanent stain on our government.

Can you imagine the waste and corruption, and I tell you we’ll find it, when we begin a full investigation, if I become President in January of 2017?

I’ve recently released a detailed 10-step Veterans Reform plan, and we worked on the plan with the Chairman of the Veteran Affairs Committee in the House, Jeff Miller.  He’s a good man.

We are going to take care of our Veterans like they’ve never been taken care of before.

The other candidate in this race, you know her name – Crooked Hillary Clinton – and believe me folks, she is crooked, has a much different view.

Hillary Clinton recently said of the VA scandal that “it’s not been as widespread as it has been made out to be.” It’s like she’s trying to sweep it under the rug. It’s what politicians have done for years and years and years. It’s going to be four more years of the same, if she ever got in.

We know how she takes care of Veterans. Just look at her invasion of Libya and her handling of Benghazi. Or look at her emails, which put America’s entire national security at risk.

And to think she was here yesterday. I think she didn’t do very well. (cheers)

We are going to bring honesty back to government, and that starts with fixing the VA.

Here is my ten-step plan for Veterans Reform:  

One:  I will appoint a Secretary of Veterans Affairs who will make it their personal mission to clean up the VA.  And this person will be outstanding with an outstanding track record. In other words a person that can get it done.

Two:  I am going to use every lawful authority to remove and discipline federal employees or managers who breach the public trust.

Three:  I will ask Congress to pass a bill giving the VA Secretary full authority to remove or discipline any employee who risks the health, safety, or well-being of a veteran.

Four:  I will appoint a commission to investigate all the wrongdoing at the VA, of which there is plenty, and then present those findings to Congress as the basis for reforming the entire system.

Five:  I’m going to make sure that the honest and dedicated people of the VA, of which we have many, have their jobs protected and are put in line for promotion. When they do a good job, we are going to get them promoted like they deserve.

Six:  I will create a private White House Hotline – that is answered by a real person 24 hours a day – to make sure that no valid complaint about the VA ever falls through the cracks.  I will instruct my staff that if a valid complaint is not acted upon, then the issue be brought directly to me, and I will pick up the phone and fix it myself, if need be. That’s a lot of work.  That’s a lot of work. I want to have somebody, a real person, and a real confident person in the White House, with that hotline going.

Seven:  Instead of giving bonuses to employees for wasting money, we are going to create a new incentives program that rewards employees for saving money and improving the quality of care.

Eight:  Our visa programs will be reformed to ensure that veterans are put in the front of the line for jobs in the country they fought to protect.  By the way, Gov. Pence is right at the top of the nation in employment for Vets. He has done an incredible job with respect to employment for veterans .. so Mike,  keep it going.

Nine:  We are going to increase the number of mental health care professionals, and increase mental health outreach to veterans outside of the system. So important. We are going to ensure veterans in America get timely access to top quality care including the best care in the world for our female veterans..

Ten:  The Veterans health system will remain a public system, because it is a public trust.  But never again will we allow any veteran to suffer or die waiting for care. That means Veterans will have the right to go to a VA facility, or the right to see a private doctor or clinic of their choice – whatever is fastest and best for the veteran. …and the care will be amazing… you have my word on that.

***

Come January 20th, if I am elected president, you’re going to notice a change – in the VA, and in the whole entire government system, which is a mess.  A change in attitude and a change in results, will absolutely take place so fast, right in the beginning.

Government is going to start working,  for the people again.  The Special interests opposing our reform agenda for America, and they do oppose it for their own reasons. They are the same people who have led us to one economic and foreign policy disaster after another.

The global corporations and media executives who oppose our plans and they are opposing them strongly, want to keep the rigged system in place.  That’s because they rigged the system for their personal benefit. We want to keep this system in place, except for the section that is rigged.  And that’s a lot of it.  We are getting rigged by a rigged system… so badly rigged… And it’s rigged against the veterans.

That’s why their message is that things CAN’T CHANGE. They can’t change it. With these people things can’t change.

These are the same special interest who have driven the economy into the ground, and who have created one calamity after another overseas. Horrible, horrible, thought process. These Washington interests are telling Americans to stay the course.

They are telling us that we can’t fix our trade deals, or fix the VA, or fix our broken tax system, or fix our immigration system – because they are benefiting from the status quo.

They don’t want to change.

My message is the opposite: things have to change, and they have to change right now.

Here is just some of the change we need:  

We need to change our tax, energy and regulatory policies to produce millions of new jobs – and trillions in new wealth and invest in our country and our infrastructure which is falling apart all over this country. Our roads, our tunnels, our bridges, our airports. Our infrastructure is that of a third world country. Not anymore. And I am very good at building remember that. And  I build under time and under budget, you don’t hear that from government very often..

Those who seek to raise taxes and expand regulation will only weaken our country, hamstring our economy, and throw many millions more out of work.

And as you know, Hillary Clinton wants to institute a massive tax increase, massive tax increase. And we are already, just about the highest tax nation in the world.

Our immigration system must also be fixed so it lifts people out of poverty – instead of throwing them into poverty, which is what it is doing  right now.

Our terrible trade deals must be renegotiated completely to keep jobs and wealth in America and bring new jobs back into America. NAFTA is a disaster. We are sending our jobs away.  We are going to keep our jobs in America and we are going to bring new jobs back.

We need to change our foreign policy to focus on defeating and destroying ISIS.  A word you didn’t hear last night at the Democratic Convention, You didn’t hear a word about it, because they don’t want to talk about it.  because in a very true way they really established ISIS  because of weakness.  The people in this room know better than anybody else or any other audience, what I mean by weakness. Because of weakness ISIS has been established.  It’s also essential that we suspend the refugee flows from Syria or other dangerous countries so  we don’t bring into the United States the same terrorism our American soldiers are fighting overseas.

It’s also essential that we suspend the refugee flows from Syria and other dangerous countries, so we don’t bring into the United States the same terrorism that our American soldiers are fighting overseas.

We have to be smart. (applause) Thank you.

Hillary Clinton wants to bring in, if you can believe this,  550% more than President Obama did.  And Tim Kaine, wrote a letter, very recently, asking for more than even Hillary wants. What are we doing ? What are we doing ?

We have to be the smart country again, or we are in big, big, trouble. Our depleted military must be completely rebuilt.  Then, from a position of strength and respect, America needs to extend our hand in friendship to foreign nations who want to be our friend.  And we can’t be taken advantage of by these countries that we work so closely with. Many of these countries are taking advantage of us, folks, they are taking advantage of us.

We wanto be friends but, they also have to be friends with us, remember that. Something you’ve never heard from a politician.

We want a more peaceful future for our world. But peace will require new approaches – not relying on the same failed voices of the past, these are failed voices, and now they want another 4 years.

And we need to fix the VA.  So we never again break our sacred commitment to our veterans. Never ever again.

We can do all of these things – we simply need to stop relying on the politicians who created these problems in the first place.  They are not going to do anything  I call them – All Talk, No Action.  That’s what they are. They are politicians.

We can’t fix a rigged system by electing the people who rigged it in the first place.

Let’s reject the doubters and the cynics, and choose instead to believe in ourselves and in our country.

It is time to follow the example of our amazing Veterans, who work together across racial lines, across income lines, across all lines – in unity of mission and purpose. Nobody does it better than our veterans. Let them be our guide.

It is time to believe in each other, and it is time to believe again in America.

If we do this, we will truly, absolutely, 100%, make America Great Again. Greater than ever, ever, ever before.

Thank you very much. God bless you. Thank you everybody.

____

It’s a very exciting time for America. Your voices represent a bright new future for our great nation full of more opportunities for everyone, not just a select few.

Together, we have created a movement that continues to gain momentum.

Together, we are making history. Together, we are bringing back the American Dream. The time is now.

Together, we WILL Make America Great Again!

Also see:

WATCH: DONALD TRUMP RALLY IN CEDAR RAPIDS, IA
WATCH: DONALD TRUMP RALLY IN DAVENPORT, IA
WATCH: DONALD TRUMP RALLY IN DENVER, CO LIVE STREAM
WATCH: DONALD TRUMP TOWN HALL IN COLORADO SPRINGS, CO LIVE STREAM