The President: Thank you, everybody.
Thank you very much.
(Applause.)
I am thrilled to be here, thrilled.
(Applause.)
And if you think that was an easy trip,
you're wrong, but I am thrilled --
19th Boy Scout Jamboree --
wow -- and to address such a tremendous group.
Boy, you have a lot of people here.
The press will say it's about 200 people.
(Laughter.)
It looks like about 45,000 people.
You set a record today.
(Applause.)
You set a record.
That's a great honor, believe me.
Tonight, we put aside all of the policy fights
in Washington, D.C. --
you've been hearing about with the fake news
and all of that.
(Applause.)
We're going to put that aside.
And instead we're going to talk about success,
about how all of you amazing young Scouts
can achieve your dreams.
What to think of --
what I've been thinking about --
you want to achieve your dreams.
I said, who the hell
wants to speak about politics
when I'm in front of the Boy Scouts?
Right?
(Applause.)
There are many great honors
that come with the job of being President
of the United States,
but looking out at this incredible
gathering of mostly young patriots --
mostly young --
I'm especially proud to speak to you
as the honorary President
of the Boy Scouts of America.
(Applause.)
Audience: USA! USA! USA!
The President: You are the young people
of character and integrity
who will serve as leaders in our communities,
and uphold the sacred values of our nation.
I want to thank Boy Scouts President
Randall Stephenson,
Chief Scout Executive Michael Surbaugh,
Jamboree Chairman Ralph de la Vega,
and the thousands of volunteers
who have made this a life -changing experience
for all of you,
and when they asked me to be here
I said absolutely, yes.
(Applause.)
Finally, and we can't forget these people,
I especially want to salute the moms
and the dads
and troop leaders who are here tonight.
Thank you for making scouting possible.
Thank you, mom and dad -- troop leaders.
When you volunteer for the Boy Scouts,
you are not only shaping young lives,
you are shaping the future of America.
(Applause.)
The United States has no better citizens
than its Boy Scouts.
(Applause.)
No better. The values, traditions,
and skills you learn here will serve you
throughout your lives,
and just as importantly they will serve
your families, your cities,
and in the future and in the present,
will serve your country.
(Applause.)
The Scouts believe in putting America first.
(Applause.)
You know, I go to Washington
and I see all these politicians,
and I see the swamp.
And it's not a good place.
In fact, today I said we ought to change it
from the word swamp
to the word cesspool or, perhaps,
to the word sewer.
But it's not good.
Not good.
(Applause.)
And I see what's going on,
and believe me I'd much rather be with you.
That I can tell you.
(Applause.)
I'll tell you the reason that I love this
and the reason that I really wanted to be here
is because as President,
I rely on former Boy Scouts
every single day,
and so do the American people.
It's amazing how many Boy Scouts
we have at the highest level
of our great government.
Many of my top advisors
in the White House were Scouts.
Ten members of my cabinet were Scouts.
Can you believe that? Ten.
(Applause.)
Secretary of State Rex Tillerson
is not only a Boy Scout,
he's your former national president.
(Applause.)
The Vice President of the United States,
Mike Pence --
good guy -- was a Scout,
and it meant so much to him.
(Applause.)
Some of you here tonight might even have
camped out in this yard
when Mike was the governor of Indiana,
but the scouting was very,
very important. And by the way,
where are our Indiana Scouts tonight?
(Applause.)
I wonder if the television cameras
will follow you.
They don't like doing that
when they see these massive crowds.
They don't like doing that.
Hi, folks.
(Applause.)
A lot of love in this big, beautiful place.
A lot of love, and a lot of love for our country.
There's a lot of love for our country.
Secretary of the Interior
Ryan Zinke is here tonight.
Come here, Ryan.
(Applause.)
Ryan is an Eagle Scout
from Big Sky Country in Montana.
(Applause.)
Pretty good. And by the way,
he is doing a fantastic job.
He makes sure that we leave our national parks
and federal lands better than we found them,
in the best Scouting tradition.
So, thank you very much, Ryan.
(Applause.)
Secretary of Energy Rick Perry, of Texas,
an Eagle Scout from the Great State.
(Applause.)
The first time he came to the national jamboree
was in 1964.
He was very young then.
And Rick told me just a little while ago,
it totally changed his life.
So, Rick, thank you very much for being here.
And we're doing a lot with energy.
(Applause.)
And very soon, Rick,
we will be an energy exporter.
Isn't that nice -- an energy exporter?
(Applause.)
In other words, we'll be selling our energy
instead of buying it
from everybody all over the globe.
So, that's good.
(Applause.)
We will be energy dominant.
And I'll tell you what,
the folks in West Virginia
who were so nice to me, boy,
have we kept our promise.
We are going on and on.
So, we love West Virginia.
We want to thank you.
Where's West Virginia by the way?
(Applause.)
Thank you.
Secretary Tom Price is also here.
Today Dr. Price still lives the Scout Oath,
helping to keep millions of Americans strong
and healthy as our Secretary
of Health and Human Services.
And he's doing a great job.
And hopefully, he's going to get the votes tomorrow
to start our path
toward killing this horrible thing known
as Obamacare that's really hurting us, folks.
(Applause.)
Audience: USA! USA! USA!
The President: By the way,
you going to get the votes?
He better get them. He better get them.
Oh, he better -- otherwise,
I'll say, Tom, you're fired.
I'll get somebody.
(Applause.)
He better get Senator Capito to vote for it.
You got to get the other senators to vote for it.
It's time. After seven years of saying repeal
and replace Obamacare,
we have a chance to now do it.
They better do it. Hopefully they'll do it.
As we can see just by looking
at our government, in America,
Scouts lead the way.
And another thing I've noticed --
and I've noticed it all my life --
there is a tremendous spirit
with being a Scout,
more so than almost anything I can think of.
So, whatever is going on, keep doing it.
It's incredible to watch.
Believe me.
(Applause.)
Each of these leaders will tell you
that their road to American success --
and you have to understand,
their American success,
and they are a great, great story was paved
with the patriotic American values
as traditions they learned
in the Boy Scouts.
And some day, many years from now,
when you look back on all of the adventures
in your lives,
you will be able to say the same:
I got my start as a Scout
just like these incredibly great people
that are doing such a good job for our country.
So that's going to happen.
(Applause.)
Boy Scout values are American values,
and great Boy Scouts become great,
great Americans.
As the Scout Law says:
A Scout is trustworthy, loyal --
we could use some more loyalty,
I will tell you that.
Audience: helpful, friendly,
courteous, kind, obedient, cheerful,
thrifty, brave, clean, and reverent.
(Applause.)
The President: That was very impressive.
(Laughter.)
You've heard that before.
But here you learn the rewards of hard work
and perseverance.
Never ever give up, never quit.
Persevere. Never, ever quit.
You learn the satisfaction of building
a roaring campfire,
reaching a mountain summit,
or earning a merit badge
after mastering a certain skill.
There's no better feeling than an achievement
that you've earned with your own sweat,
tears, resolve, hard work.
There's nothing like it.
Do you agree with that?
Audience: Yes!
The President: I'm waving to people
back there so small I can't even see them.
Man, this is a lot of people.
Turn those cameras back there, please.
That is so incredible.
By the way, what do you think the chances
are that this incredible, massive crowd,
record-setting is going to be shown
on television tonight?
One percent or zero?
(Applause.)
The fake media will say: President Trump --
and you know what this is --
President Trump spoke
before a small crowd of Boy Scouts today.
That's some -- that is some crowd.
(Applause.)
Fake media. Fake news. Thank you.
And I'm honored by that, by the way,
all of you people they can't even see you.
So, thank you.
I hope you can hear.
Through scouting you also learn to believe
in yourselves -- so important --
to have confidence in your ability,
and to take responsibility
for your own life.
When you face down new challenges,
and you will have plenty of them,
develop talents you never thought possible,
and lead your teammates through daring trials,
you discover that you can handle anything.
And you learn it by being a scout.
It's great.
(Applause.)
You can do anything.
You can be anything you want to be.
But in order to succeed,
you must find out what you love to do.
You have to find your passion.
No matter what they tell you --
if you don't -- I love you, too.
I don't know. It's a nice guy.
(Applause.)
Hey, what am I going to do?
He sounds like a nice person.
He, he, he, he.
Thank you. I do. I do love you.
Audience: We love Trump! We love Trump!
The President: By the way, just a question,
did President Obama ever come to a jamboree?
Audience: No!
The President: And we'll be back.
We'll be back.
The answer is no, but we'll be back.
In life, in order to be successful,
and you people are well on the road to success,
you have to find out what makes you excited.
What makes you want to get up each morning
and go to work?
You have to find it.
If you love what you do and dedicate yourself
to your work,
then you will gain momentum, and look --
you have to, you need to. The word momentum --
you will gain that momentum,
and each success will create another success.
The word momentum.
I'll tell you a story
that's very interesting for me when I was young.
There was a man named William Levitt --
Levittowns, you have some here,
you have some in different states.
Anybody ever hear of Levittown?
(Applause.)
And he was a very successful man.
He was a homebuilder --
became an unbelievable success,
and got more and more successful.
And he built homes,
and at night he'd go to these major sites
with teams of people
and he'd scour the sites for nails
and sawdust and small pieces of wood.
And they'd clean the site so
when the workers came in the next morning,
the sites would be spotless and clean,
and he did it properly.
And he did this for 20 years,
and then he was offered a lot of money
for his company.
And he sold his company
for a tremendous amount of money.
At the time, especially --
this was a long time ago --
sold his company
for a tremendous amount of money.
And he went out and bought a big yacht,
and he had a very interesting life.
I won't go any more than that
because you're Boy Scouts,
so I'm not going to tell you what he did.
Audience: Booo --
The President: Should I tell you?
Should I tell you?
Audience: Yes!
The President: Oh, you're Boy Scouts,
but you know life. You know life.
So -- look at you.
Who would think this is the Boy Scouts, right?
So, he had a very, very interesting life,
and the company that bought his company
was a big conglomerate.
And they didn't know
anything about building homes,
and they didn't know anything about picking up
the nails and the sawdust and selling it --
and the scraps of wood.
This was a big conglomerate
based in New York City,
and after about a ten-year period
they were losing a lot with it.
It didn't mean anything to them,
and they couldn't sell it.
So, they called William Levitt up and they said,
would you like to buy back your company,
and he said yes, I would.
He so badly wanted it,
he got bored with this life of yachts
and sailing and all of the things
he did in the south of France
and other places.
You won't get bored, right?
You know, truthfully, you're workers.
You'll get bored too. Believe me.
(Applause.)
Of course, having a good few years
like that isn't so bad.
(Applause.)
But what happened is he bought back his company,
and he bought back a lot of empty land.
And he worked hard in getting it zoning,
and he worked hard on starting to develop.
And in the end, he failed,
and he failed badly. Lost all of his money.
He went personally bankrupt,
and he was now much older.
And I saw him at a cocktail party,
and it was very sad
because the hottest people
in New York were at this party.
It was the party of Steve
Ross who was one of the great people
-- he came up and discovered --
really founded --
Time Warner, and he was a great guy.
He had a lot of successful people
at the party.
And I was doing well so I got invited to the party.
I was very young, and I go in --
but I'm in the real estate business --
and I see 100 people, some of whom I recognize
and they're big in the entertainment business.
And I see, sitting in the corner,
was a little old man
who was all by himself.
Nobody was talking to him.
I immediately recognized
that that man was the once
great William Levitt of Levittown,
and I immediately went over --
I wanted to talk to him more than the Hollywood
show business communications people.
So, I went over and talked to him,
and I said, Mr. Levitt,
I'm Donald Trump. He said I know.
I said, Mr. Levitt, how are you doing?
He goes, not well, not well at all.
And I knew that,
but he said not well at all.
And he explained what was happening
and how bad it has been and how hard it has been.
And I said what exactly happened?
Why did this happen to you?
You're one of the greats ever in our industry.
Why did this happen to you?
And he said, Donald, I lost my momentum.
A word you never hear
when you're talking about success.
When some of these guys
that never made ten cents,
they're on television giving you things
about how you're going to be successful,
and the only thing they ever did was
a book and a tape.
But I'll tell you, it was very sad,
and I never forgot that moment.
And I thought about it, and it's exactly true.
He lost his momentum.
Meaning, he took this period of time
off long -- years --
and then when he got back,
he didn't have that same momentum.
In life, I always tell this to people,
you have to know whether
or not you continue to have the momentum,
and if you don't have it that's okay.
Because you're going to go on
and you're going to learn
and you're going to do things that are great.
But you have to know about the word momentum.
But the big thing: Never quit. Never give up.
Do something you love.
When you do something you love --
as a Scout I see that you love it.
But when you do something
that you love you'll never fail.
What you're going to do is give it a shot again
and again and again.
You're ultimately going to be successful,
and remember this, you're not working.
Because when you're doing something
that you love like I do --
of course I love my business,
but this is a little bit different.
Who thought this was going to happen?
We're having a good time. We're doing a good job.
(Applause.)
Doing a good job.
But when you do something that you love,
remember this, it's not work.
So, you'll work 24/7,
you're going to work all the time,
and at the end of a year
you're not really working.
You don't think of it as work.
When you're not doing something that you like
or when you're forced in to do something
that you really don't like,
that's called work.
And it's hard work and tedious work.
So as much as you can, do something that you love.
Work hard, and never ever give up,
and you're going to be tremendously successful.
Tremendously successful.
(Applause.)
Now with that, I have to tell you
our economy is doing great.
Our stock market has picked up --
since the election November 8th.
Do we remember that date?
Was that a beautiful date?
(Applause.)
What a date.
Do you remember that famous night
on television, November 8th,
where they said --
these dishonest people --
where they said there is no path to victory
for Donald Trump?
They forgot about the forgotten people.
By the way, they're not forgetting
about the forgotten people anymore.
They're going crazy trying to figure it out.
But I told them, far too late.
It's far too late.
But do you remember that incredible night
with the maps
and the Republicans are red
and the Democrats are blue,
and that map was so red, it was unbelievable,
and they didn't know what to say?
(Applause.)
And you know we have a tremendous disadvantage
in the Electoral College --
popular vote is much easier.
Because New York, California, Illinois --
you have to practically run the East Coast.
And we did. We won Florida.
We won South Carolina. We won North Carolina.
We won Pennsylvania.
(Applause.)
We won and won. So, when they said,
there is no way to victory,
there is no way to 270.
I went to Maine four times
because it's one vote, and we won.
But we won -- one vote.
I went there because I kept
hearing we're at 269.
But then Wisconsin came in.
Many, many years -- Michigan came in.
And we worked hard there.
My opponent didn't work hard there
because she was told --
Audience: Booo!
The President: She was told she was going to
win Michigan,
and I said, well, wait a minute,
the car industry is moving to Mexico.
Why is she going to move -- she's there.
Why are they allowing it to move?
And by the way, do you see those car industry --
do you see what's happening,
how they're coming back to Michigan?
They're coming back to Ohio.
They're starting to peel back in.
(Applause.)
And we go to Wisconsin --
now, Wisconsin hadn't been won in many,
many years by a Republican.
But we go to Wisconsin,
and we had tremendous crowds.
And I'd leave these massive crowds.
I'd say, why are we going to lose this state?
The polls -- that's also fake news.
They're fake polls.
But the polls are saying --
but we won Wisconsin.
So, I have to tell you what we did,
in all fairness, is an unbelievable
tribute to you
and all of the other millions
and millions of people
that came out and voted
for Make America Great Again.
(Applause.)
Audience: USA! USA! USA!
The President: And I'll tell you what, we are,
indeed, making America great again.
What's going on is incredible.
(Applause.)
We had the best jobs report in 16 years.
The stock market on a daily basis
is hitting an all-time high.
We're going to be bringing back
very soon trillions of dollars
from companies that can't get their money
back into this country,
and that money is going to be used
to help rebuild America.
We're doing things
that nobody ever thought was possible.
And we've just started. It's just the beginning.
Believe me.
(Applause.)
In the Boy Scouts you learn
right from wrong, correct?
Audience: Yes!
The President: You learn to contribute
to your communities,
to take pride in your nation,
and to seek out opportunities to serve.
You pledge to help other people at all times.
(Applause.)
In the Scout Oath, you pledge on your honor
to do your best
and to do your duty
to God and your country.
(Applause.)
And by the way, under the Trump administration,
you'll be saying, merry Christmas again
when you go shopping.
Believe me.
Merry Christmas.
(Applause.)
They've been downplaying that little,
beautiful phrase.
You're going to be saying,
merry Christmas again, folks.
(Applause.)
But the words duty, country,
and God are beautiful words.
In other words,
basically what you're doing is
you're pledging to be a great American patriot.
(Applause.)
For more than a century that is exactly
what our Boy Scouts have been.
Last year you gave more than 15 million hours
of service
to helping people in your communities.
(Applause.)
Incredible. That's an incredible stat.
All of you here tonight will contribute
more than 100,000 hours
of service by the end of this jamboree --
100,000.
(Applause.)
When natural disaster strikes,
when people face hardship,
when the beauty and glory of our outdoor spaces
must be restored and taken care of,
America turns to the Boy Scouts
because we know that the Boy Scouts never,
ever, ever let us down.
(Applause.)
Just like you know you can count on me,
we know we can count on you
because we know the values
that you live by.
(Applause.)
Your values are the same values
that have always kept America
strong, proud, and free.
And by the way, do you see the billions
and billions and billions of additional money
that we're putting back into our military?
Billions of dollars.
(Applause.)
New planes, new ships, great equipment
for our people that are so great to us.
We love our vets. We love our soldiers.
And we love our police, by the way.
Firemen, police -- we love our police.
(Applause.)
Those are all special people.
Uniformed services.
Two days ago, I traveled to Norfolk, Virginia
to commission an American aircraft carrier
into the fleet
of the United States Navy.
(Applause.)
It's the newest, largest,
and most advanced aircraft carrier
anywhere in the world,
and it's named for an Eagle Scout,
the USS Gerald R. Ford.
(Applause.)
Everywhere it sails, that great Scout's name
will be feared and revered,
because that ship will be a symbol
of American power, prestige,
and strength.
(Applause.)
Our nation honors President Gerald R.
Ford today
because he lived his life the scouting way.
Boy Scouts celebrate American patriots,
especially the brave members
of our armed forces.
Thank you very much.
Thank you.
(Applause.)
American hearts are warmed every year
when we read about Boy Scouts
placing thousands
and thousands of flags
next to veterans' gravesites
all across the country.
By honoring our heroes,
you help to ensure that their memory
never, ever dies.
You should take great pride
in the example you set
for every citizen of our country to follow.
(Applause.)
Generations of American Boy Scouts
have sworn the same oath
and lived according to same law.
You inherit a noble American tradition,
and as you embark on your lives,
never cease to be proud of who you are
and the principles
you hold dear and stand by.
Wear your values as your badge of honor.
What you've done, few have done before you.
What you've done is incredible.
What you've done is admired by all.
So, I want to congratulate you,
Boy Scouts.
(Applause.)
Let your scouting oath guide your path
from this day forward.
Remember your duty.
Honor your history.
Take care of the people God put into your life,
and love and cherish your great country.
(Applause.)
You are very special people.
You're special in the lives of America.
You're special to me.
But if you do what we say,
I promise you that you
will live scouting's adventure
every single day of your life,
and you will win, win,
win and help people in doing so.
(Applause.)
Your lives will have meaning
and purpose and joy.
You will become leaders,
and you will inspire others
to achieve the dreams
they once thought were totally impossible,
things that you said could never,
ever happen are already happening for you.
And if you do these things --
and if you refuse to give in to doubt or to fear --
then you will help to make America great again.
You will be proud of yourself,
be proud of the uniform you wear,
and be proud of the country you love.
(Applause.)
Audience: USA! USA!
USA!
The President: And never, ever forget,
America is proud of you.
(Applause.)
This is a very, very special occasion for me.
I've known so many Scouts over the years.
Winners. I've known so many great people.
They've been taught so well,
and they love their heritage.
But this is very special for me.
And I just want to end by saying very importantly:
God bless you.
God bless the Boy Scouts.
God bless the United States of America.
Go out. Have a great time in life.
Compete and go out and show me
that there is nobody --
nobody -- like a Boy Scout.
Thank you very much, everybody.
Thank you very much. Thank you.
Thank you very much.
(Applause.)