Trump National Security Speech

 

I finally got around to watching Trump’s speech last night on the deck of the USS Iowa, and I thought he knocked it out of the park. It was billed as a speech on national security issues, so I was expecting something with depth and gravitas about the myriad issues facing our country, and a few essential details about how we can bring things around in the Middle East, Ukraine, China, and other national security issues. I was not disappointed. I took down pretty much every point Trump made, and I was impressed. The man is in command of the issues.

Here are the points that he made in his first important national security speech:

  • I’m with the veterans 100 percent. We’ll create a whole new veterans’ health system, and send the veterans to private hospitals.
  • Iowa’s a great place for a lot of reasons.
  • We will make our military so big, strong, great, and powerful that we will never have to use it.
  • Our president will be respected.
  • Iran’s leader says they won’t do business with the US from here on out, now that we have made this deal. The deal is one of the worst ever. The 24-day provision is especially bad.
  • We won’t sign deals when we have prisoners over there.
  • Hillary was the worst secretary of state ever, but Kerry might be worse.
  • I took a big hit when I brought up illegal immigration. I’m glad I brought it up. There is tremendous crime. Drugs pour in and the money pours out.
  • We have no leadership.
  • We are going to build a wall and Mexico is going to pay for it.
  • We have a trade deficit with China of $400 billion per year. That equates to “losing $400 billion.”
  • Japan sells us cars and we sell them beef. It’s not going to happen that way any more.
  • Our problem is that their leaders (China, Japan, Mexico) are smart people. We have stupid leaders.
  • I have Carl Icahn lined up. I have the smartest people, who will make the best deals.
  • 31,000 people showed up in Mobile. 20,000 in Dallas. There were no hecklers.
  • The silent majority is back. But they’re not silent. They are disgusted with our incompetent politicians. By anchor babies.
  • We will make our country great again. (Tossed hats into the crowd.) This hat is the hottest thing out there.

Very insightful speech, and it didn’t take that long, either. Maybe 15 minutes or so.

Published in Foreign Policy, General
Like this post? Want to comment? Join Ricochet’s community of conservatives and be part of the conversation. Join Ricochet for Free.

There are 51 comments.

Become a member to join the conversation. Or sign in if you're already a member.
  1. Brian Watt Inactive
    Brian Watt
    @BrianWatt

    Well, I’m convinced. The man’s a veritable genius when it comes to national security. I don’t know how I could have been so reluctant to support him before now. And he was in a military academy once and said he knows more about the military than a lot of people in the military. I’m surprised he didn’t mention that. That should count for quite a bit. I’m sure there are hundreds of generals and admirals he’s much smarter than about military or naval strategy and tactics – the losers.

    • #1
  2. Klaatu Inactive
    Klaatu
    @Klaatu

    I was especially convinced by his comments regarding the Kurds, or was that Quds?

    And that part about ISIS… Wow!

    • #2
  3. RyanFalcone Member
    RyanFalcone
    @RyanFalcone

    Whenever I see a transcript of a Trump speech and begin reading it, It always seems to take on a Bugs Bunny voice.

    • #3
  4. Miffed White Male Member
    Miffed White Male
    @MiffedWhiteMale

    Did he say anything about “hiring the best generals”?

    • #4
  5. Guruforhire Inactive
    Guruforhire
    @Guruforhire

    Which one isn’t true?

    • #5
  6. Johnny Dubya Inactive
    Johnny Dubya
    @JohnnyDubya

    You are doing a great public service, Axe; keep it up.

    I look forward to your summary of Trump’s responses in tonight’s debate.

    • #6
  7. Klaatu Inactive
    Klaatu
    @Klaatu

    Guruforhire:Which one isn’t true?

    Number 4 at a minimum.

    • #7
  8. Johnny Dubya Inactive
    Johnny Dubya
    @JohnnyDubya

    Guruforhire: “Which one isn’t true?”

    The assertion that President Trump will be respected.

    Seriously, though, the point is that Trump talks about things that are (a) inconsequential or (b) consequential and deserve to be discussed with a degree of seriousness and detail he seems unwilling or unable to provide.

    His assertion that his hair is his own is also, presumably, true, but I wouldn’t care to hear him expound on the topic for 15 minutes or 15 seconds.

    • #8
  9. Tuck Inactive
    Tuck
    @Tuck

    Two words: Smoot-Hawley.  Yet another brilliant Republican idea… We’re doomed.

    • #9
  10. Spicy Food Hiccups Inactive
    Spicy Food Hiccups
    @SpicyFoodHiccups

    Miffed White Male: Did he say anything about “hiring the best generals”?

    If he can pick generals the way he picks doctors, we’ll be just fine.

    • #10
  11. Claire Berlinski, Ed. Member
    Claire Berlinski, Ed.
    @Claire

    This précis was extremely useful. Helped me to make sense of the complexity of his thought. I’m busy studying early episodes of The Apprentice for further clues.

    • #11
  12. Manny Coolidge
    Manny
    @Manny

    It’s about as deep as a reality TV show.  Or wait, that’s the same thing. ;)

    • #12
  13. Dan Hanson Thatcher
    Dan Hanson
    @DanHanson

    I’ll give him this:  He’s better on foreign policy than Obama.

    Of course,  that bar is so low it’s more like a speed bump.

    • #13
  14. Dan Hanson Thatcher
    Dan Hanson
    @DanHanson

    Japan!  You’re fired!  No more beef for you!

    • #14
  15. Tommy De Seno Member
    Tommy De Seno
    @TommyDeSeno

    1, 6, 10 and 12 are policies.  The rest are observations.

    • #15
  16. jetstream Inactive
    jetstream
    @jetstream

    Brian Watt:Well, I’m convinced. The man’s a veritable genius when it comes to national security. I don’t know how I could have been so reluctant to support him before now. And he was in a military academy once and said he knows more about the military than a lot of people in the military. I’m surprised he didn’t mention that. That should count for quite a bit. I’m sure there are hundreds of generals and admirals he’s much smarter than about military or naval strategy and tactics – the losers.

    Maybe, that could easily have been true in 1965.

    Edit: Prior to the Vietnam war, senior air force officers were confused and dangerously wrong about the strategic and tactical requirements of future warfare. Their incompetence was epic.

    • #16
  17. Quinn the Eskimo Member
    Quinn the Eskimo
    @

    This is what people want.

    Lucky us.

    • #17
  18. EThompson Member
    EThompson
    @

    I have Carl Icahn lined up. 

    Full disclosure: This struck a chord because there are few people I respect more in the financial world.

    • #18
  19. billy Inactive
    billy
    @billy

    A desperate nation turns to Herbert Camacho for leadership in her hour of need.

    • #19
  20. Mike LaRoche Inactive
    Mike LaRoche
    @MikeLaRoche

    Yet for all of Trump’s alleged stupidity, he still beats the GOP establishment like the proverbial rented mule.

    • #20
  21. Illiniguy Member
    Illiniguy
    @Illiniguy

    If somebody on that stage tonight really wants to get under Trump’s skin, he/she should just answer questions the same way Trump does. Self-aggrandizement in the form of wall-to-wall sneering bombast. It wouldn’t help the campaign, but it’d make great TV.

    • #21
  22. Man With the Axe Inactive
    Man With the Axe
    @ManWiththeAxe

    Illiniguy:If somebody on that stage tonight really wants to get under Trump’s skin, he/she should just answer questions the same way Trump does. Self-aggrandizement in the form of wall-to-wall sneering bombast. It wouldn’t help the campaign, but it’d make great TV.

    They should all come out in fake Trump hairpieces and do their best Trump impressions. How funny would that be? It would never be forgotten.

    • #22
  23. Chris Bogdan Member
    Chris Bogdan
    @ChrisBogdan

    billy:A desperate nation turns to Herbert Camacho for leadership in her hour of need.

    Two months ago, I would have found this assessment to be hilarious; now all I can do is nod in sober agreement…

    • #23
  24. Western Chauvinist Member
    Western Chauvinist
    @WesternChauvinist

    I heard outtakes from that speech on the radio today. Yeah, the guy is totally unserious. I will be more disturbed, though, if the serious candidates can’t stand next to him on the debate stage tonight and draw meaningful distinctions which show up in the polling. In that case, either a) the serious candidates are not very good at politics, or 2) the primary voters have lost their ever-lovin’ minds. We shall see.

    • #24
  25. Franco Member
    Franco
    @Franco

    Chris Bogdan:

    billy:A desperate nation turns to Herbert Camacho for leadership in her hour of need.

    Two months ago, I would have found this assessment to be hilarious; now all I can do is nod in sober agreement…

    I’m seeing it differently.

    Obamna is Camacho, Republicans are telling us Brawndo is what plants crave and Trump is the most average fellow – no scientist he – but he’s suggesting feeding plants with water.

    Rick Wilson laughs, “Water? Like, from the toilet?”

    • #25
  26. Vance Richards Inactive
    Vance Richards
    @VanceRichards

    Mike LaRoche:Yet for all of Trump’s alleged stupidity, he still beats the GOP establishment like the proverbial rented mule.

    Yeah, I thought Trump would be sideshow in this election. Unfortunately, the GOP doesn’t seem to have a Main Event ready to go yet.

    • #26
  27. Xennady Member
    Xennady
    @

    I just love watching the relentless insane panic caused by you-know.

    People react positively when they hear a guy running for president actually address their concerns.

    Shrug. Who coulda known??

    • #27
  28. Claire Berlinski, Ed. Member
    Claire Berlinski, Ed.
    @Claire

    Xennady: People react positively when they hear a guy running for president actually address their concerns.

    He’s not responding to my concerns. But I’m concerned about our national security.

    • #28
  29. Could be Anyone Inactive
    Could be Anyone
    @CouldBeAnyone

    Doth the mere man with an axe accuse our beloved leader of foolishness? Thou will suffer greatly at your ordeal for the crimes of heresy and blasphemy for there is but one lord of the peoples and it is Trump!

    Seriously though, it’s very depressing to see such blatant defense of the man from alleged fellow conservatives. He categorically and demonstrably is antithetical to our values. He is literally a man that would have held parties in honor of progressives like FDR and gotten special deals that gave him control of markets.

    Some defend him by saying he can’t be bought by big bad special interests. I got news for people, he’s the big bad special interest that buys out politicians but has gotten so ambitious that it wants to incorporate the state to it. He’s the Palpatine of our race, he gins up rage and promises peace and prosperity with no details of what he means by those words or the means to which achieve them. He throws only mud and no solutions. All we know is that his promises are predicated on him only.

    He constantly complains of the state being incompetent and that he would make it competent. The issue is not so much competency but responsiveness and limits. The state has limited resources and cannot be simply spread to every corner of the earth but Trump thinks he can force it to do so. Trump is for the big state just as much as Sanders, he complains of CEOs earning too much and that we need higher taxes but that is fundamentally leftwing, not conservative.

    I hope and pray those that allege to be conservative see that they have been decieved and support a conservative candidate and not some statist that plays on nativist fears.

    • #29
  30. Xennady Member
    Xennady
    @

    Claire Berlinski, Ed.:

    Xennady: People react positively when they hear a guy running for president actually address their concerns.

    He’s not responding to my concerns. But I’m concerned about our national security.

    He’s responding to mine- illegal immigration especially. Plus, I even liked the comment about getting the best generals, because the ones we have now don’t seem like the sharpest tools in the drawer.

    For example, they are apparently mystified to discover that male-only combat units outperform mixed formations.

    That isn’t a sign of competence, in my opinion.

    • #30
Become a member to join the conversation. Or sign in if you're already a member.