Sunday, May 31, 2020

Joint Statement From the United States of America and the Federative Republic of Brazil Regarding Health Cooperation

Office of the Press Secretary
Joint Statement From the United States of America and the Federative Republic of Brazil Regarding Health Cooperation
 
The American and Brazilian people stand in solidarity in the fight against the coronavirus.  Today, as a demonstration of that solidarity, we are announcing the United States Government has delivered two million doses of hydroxychloroquine (HCQ) to the people of Brazil.  The United States will also soon be sending 1,000 ventilators to Brazil.

HCQ will be used as a prophylactic to help defend Brazil’s nurses, doctors, and healthcare professionals against the virus.  It will also be used as a therapeutic to treat Brazilians who become infected.

Further, in continuation of the two countries’ longstanding collaboration on health issues, we are also announcing a joint United States-Brazilian research effort that will include randomized controlled clinical trials.  These trials will help further evaluate the safety and efficacy of HCQ for both prophylaxis and the early treatment of the coronavirus.

Going forward, the United States and Brazil will remain in close coordination in the shared fight against the coronavirus pandemic and the ongoing regional response to safeguard public health, further limit the spread of the coronavirus, advance the early development of a vaccine, and save lives. With President Donald J. Trump and President Jair Bolsonaro having spoken twice since March, the two countries are well-positioned to continue their work together to address the coronavirus pandemic, in addition to other matters of strategic importance.

May 30, 2020 REMARKS BY PRESIDENT TRUMP BEFORE MARINE ONE DEPARTURE South Lawn

Office of the Press Secretary
REMARKS BY PRESIDENT TRUMP
BEFORE MARINE ONE DEPARTURE

South Lawn

 
12:34 P.M. EDT
    
THE PRESIDENT:  We’ll be going to the Space Center.  We’re going to be hopefully seeing a great launch.  It’s about a 50/50 shot.  But it’s important, I think, as President to be there.  What we’ve done with NASA is amazing.  We’ve brought it back from the dead.  It was not essentially functioning, and now it’s one of the great centers in the world.  This is the greatest center in the world.

So I think I have an obligation to be there, and it’s very exciting, even though it’s about a 50/50 shot.  Otherwise, it will be postponed until Wednesday, I understand.  Not Sunday, but Wednesday.  But we’ll see what happens.

So we look forward to being there.  Some of you are going with us.

Any questions?

Q    Mr. President, are you -- with your tweets today, are you concerned that you might be stoking more racial violence or more racial discord?

THE PRESIDENT:  No, no.  Not at all.  MAGA says “Make America Great Again.”  These are people that love our country.  I have no idea if they’re going to be here.  I was just asking.  But I have no idea if they’re going to be here.  But MAGA is “Make America Great Again.”  By the way, they love African American people.  They love black people.  MAGA loves black people.

I heard that MAGA wanted to be there; a lot of MAGA was going to be there.  I have no idea if that’s true or not.  But they love our country.  Remember that: MAGA is just an expression, but MAGA loves our country.

Okay.

Q    (Inaudible) to hold a counter protest at all?

THE PRESIDENT:  No, I don’t -- I don’t care.  I mean, I don’t care.  I want to just thank, though, the Secret Service.  They were so professional last night.  It was incredible.  They were so professional.  They were really great.  Really great.

Any other questions?  Anybody else going?

By the way, I want to say it again: Secret Service did a job last night that was incredible.  Minneapolis -- I love that city.  As you know, I’ve had very great success there.  Almost won the state for the first time in many, many decades.  I almost won that state, and it’s a great state -- Minnesota.

They’ve got to get tougher.  They’ve got to get tougher.  They’ve got to be strong.  Honor the memory of George Floyd.  Honor his memory.  They have to get tougher.  And by being tougher, they will be honoring his memory.  But they cannot let that happen.

When I saw a policeman, run by a mayor who I think is probably a very good person -- but he’s a radical-left mayor -- when I saw the policeman running out of a police station, for that police station to be abandoned and taken over, I’ve never seen anything so horrible and stupid in my life.  I’ve never seen anything so bad.  And then I see them trying to justify it.

Look, they’ve got to be tough, they’ve got to be smart.  We have our military ready, willing, and able if they ever want to call our military.  But we can have troops to the ground very quickly if they ever want our military.

They’re using their National Guard right now -- the, as you know -- I guess, as you probably know, they have their National Guard out.  We can have our military there very quickly.  They’ve got to be tough.  They’ve got to be strong.  They’ve got to be respected, because these people, the Antifa -- there’s a lot of radical-left, bad people.  And they’ve got to be taught that you can’t do this.

So I’m going now to watch a great launch, and we’ll see how we do.  Thank you.  Thank you very much.

                         END           12:38 P.M. EDT

REMARKS BY PRESIDENT TRUMP AFTER VIEWING SPACEX DEMONSTRATION MISSION 2 LAUNCH Kennedy Space Center Cape Canaveral, Florida

Office of the Press Secretary
REMARKS BY PRESIDENT TRUMP
AFTER VIEWING SPACEX DEMONSTRATION MISSION 2 LAUNCH

Kennedy Space Center
Cape Canaveral, Florida

 
3:25 P.M. EDT
    
Q    Mr. President, what did you think?

THE PRESIDENT:  It’s incredible -- the technology, the power.  I’m so proud of the people at NASA -- all the people that worked together, public and private.

When you see a sight like that, it’s incredible.  The power of that machine and the danger -- no matter how you figure.  When you -- when you hear that sound, and you hear all of that -- the roar -- you can imagine how dangerous it is.  When you feel the shake -- and we’re very far away, but you feel the shake over here -- it’s pretty -- pretty amazing.  A beautiful sight.  A beautiful ship, too.  That’s really a beauty.  Considered a beauty.  I would say it’s a beauty.

So they have a long way to go, but that’s a very dangerous part of it, right there.  That’s a big part of the danger, what you just witnessed.  So we’re very honored to be here.

Q    Have you talked to Elon Musk?

THE PRESIDENT:  Yes, I have.  I spoke to Elon.

Q    Today?

THE PRESIDENT:  Well, I won’t get into it.  But, yeah -- but I speak to him all the time.  Great guy.  He’s one of our great brains.  We like great brains.  And Elon has done a fantastic job.  But that was a beautiful sight to see, and I hope you all enjoyed it.  And we’re going to be saying a few words inside, so I’ll see you inside, okay?  Thank you very much.  A very great honor to have you here.

Q    Did you speak to the astronauts beforehand?

THE PRESIDENT:  I did.  I did.

Q    What did you tell them?

THE PRESIDENT:  Just “God bless you.”  Nothing else you can say.  God bless you.  They have a lot of courage.  More credit, more courage than -- I don't know, even our congressmen, I don’t think they have -- our senators, our congressmen.  I don't know, would you do that?  Leader?  Would you do that?  I don’t think so.  I don't know.  He might.  You know who would do it?  Brian would do it.

REPRESENTATIVE MAST:  Hell yeah!

LEADER MCCARTHY:  I’d be the first one.  If it was legal, Elon, to give us a ride, we’d go.
   
THE PRESIDENT:  You would do it, too.  I know you.

REPRESENTATIVE MAST:  I take up less space.  (Laughter.)

THE PRESIDENT:  An amazing honor.  You know, four years ago, this place as essentially shut down.  The space program was over.  The shuttle program was dead.  One of the Secret Service men said they were here with the past administration -- I won’t tell you who -- and they were here to shut down the facility.  And now we’re the leader in the world again.

And this is just the beginning.  They’re going to Mars.  They’re going to the Moon, but they’re going to the Moon in order to go to Mars.  It’s a platform.  Jim, would you say that’s a correct statement?

ADMINISTRATOR BRIDENSTINE:  Yes, sir.  That’s right.

THE PRESIDENT:  Jim, I want to congratulate you.  I want to congratulate the Vice President.  (Applause.)  We have the governor of Florida, as you know.  Governor, congratulations to you.  Thank you for everything you’ve done, for the program.  (Applause.)  And you know Rick -- Rick Scott.  And Marco is here someplace.  (Applause.)  Rick -- Rick was a great governor, now he’s a great senator.  We appreciate you being here.  Marco is here someplace.  And we appreciate everybody being here.

But this was a tremendous sight to see.  I had no idea when you -- you know, I said, “Would you hear anything?”  Because we’re quite a distance away.  And then, all of a sudden, you hear that roar, and it’s incredible, the power.  You wouldn’t that machine, as big as it is -- it looks small from here -- could have the kind of power, that kind of -- make that kind of sound or that vibration.  But it’s really something special.

So I’m going to be saying a few words to you inside, so we’ll see you in a couple of minutes.  Okay?

Q    Given everything that’s happening in the country right now -- the protests that we’ve been seeing, the deaths from the coronavirus -- why did you feel like it was important for you to come here today?

THE PRESIDENT:  I think because it’s such a great inspiration for our country.  Our country is doing well.  It’s going to do fantastically well.  We think next year is going to be one of the best years we’ve ever had, economically.  We suffered something that was terrible.  It should have never happened.  It should have never come out of China, but it did.  They didn’t stop it.  They were unable, probably, to stop it.  They should have been able to stop it.  We would’ve helped them, and we would have helped them very effectively.  But they didn’t, and it spread to Europe, it spread to the entire world.  It spread to the U.S.  It should have never happened.

Now, that’s one of the reasons I wanted to be here today.  I thought it was so important to be here today.  And I think any one of you would say that was an inspiration to see what we just saw -- the genius, the money, the -- even the economy.  Ron, this -- what this adds to your economy is incredible, right?

GOVERNOR DESANTIS:  Yes, sir.

THE PRESIDENT:  This is incredible.  And real talent, real genius.  Nobody does it like us.

So it’s great to have this whole program back, and it’s just the beginning.  It’s just the beginning.  We have many more things to come.  It’s a lot of jobs.  It’s a lot of technology.

You know, we have Space Force now.  And thank you very much for being here.  We appreciate it very much.  (Applause.)  Number one.

You know, one of the things we’ve done is created the Space Force.  First program in -- if you look, I guess it’s 74 years now.  It was 72, and now it’s 74.  And time flies.  But since the Air Force.

So we have a major branch of the military, Joint Chiefs of Staff, everything.  Full -- full honors.  It’s called the Space Force.  We did that during the Trump administration.  Mike Pence was so helpful.  Everybody here was helpful, frankly.  Needed lots of votes, and we got them.  And, really, it wasn’t that hard, once we started explaining what it’s all about.

But space will be one of the most important things we’ve ever done.  I think so.

ADMINISTRATOR BRIDENSTINE:  Amen.

THE PRESIDENT:  I think space will be one of the most important -- I put it up there with 280 federal judges, 2 Supreme Court judges.  I think space will be one of the most important things we’ve ever done.  (Applause.)

So we’ll see how it all works out.  Thank you very much, everybody.  I’ll see you inside.

                         END                 3:31 P.M. EDT

REMARKS BY PRESIDENT TRUMP BEFORE AIR FORCE ONE DEPARTURE Joint Base Andrews Prince George’s County, Maryland

Office of the Press Secretary
REMARKS BY PRESIDENT TRUMP
BEFORE AIR FORCE ONE DEPARTURE

Joint Base Andrews
Prince George’s County, Maryland

 
12:56 P.M. EDT
    
THE PRESIDENT:  So we’re going to watch the rocket launch.  There’s a 50/50 chance.  We don’t know.  Depends on weather and other things.  It’s very delicate but very amazing.  So we’re going over, and we’ll be back in a little while.  But we want to watch the rocket launch.  We’ve come a long way.  It was dead as doornails, and now it’s the most vibrant place in the world for that.  And so I look forward to it.

I guess you’re traveling with me, so maybe we’ll see you on the plane.  We have a lot of great things happening.

I think that, before I leave, I want to thank Secret Service.  They were incredible last night at the White House.  They handled that group of Antifa, or whoever they were -- radical left.  They handled it very well.  They handled it very, very well.  They handled it incredibly.  And we owe a lot to Secret Service.  They’re incredible men and women.

I’ll see you on the plane.  Thank you.

                         END           12:57 P.M. EDT

Remarks by President Trump at Kennedy Space Center | Cape Canaveral, FL

Office of the Press Secretary
REMARKS BY PRESIDENT TRUMP
AT KENNEDY SPACE CENTER

Kennedy Space Center
Cape Canaveral, Florida


 
5:16 P.M. EDT
 
THE PRESIDENT:  Well, thank you very much.  Please.  Please.  Big day.  This is a big day.  And I want to thank our great Vice President for your fearless and tireless commitment to fulfilling America’s destiny in space.  Thank you very much, Mike.  Great job.  Great job.  (Applause.)

We’re also grateful to Mike’s wonderful wife, Karen, for being here and for all she does for our country.  Thank you.  Thank you, Karen.  (Applause.)

Before going further on this exciting day for all America in space, I want to say a few words about the situation in Minnesota.  The death of George Floyd on the streets of Minneapolis was a grave tragedy.  It should never have happened.  It has filled Americans all over the country with horror, anger, and grief.

Yesterday, I spoke to George's family and expressed the sorrow of our entire nation for their loss.  I stand before you as a friend and ally to every American seeking justice and peace.  And I stand before you in firm opposition to anyone exploiting this tragedy to loot, rob, attack, and menace.  Healing, not hatred; justice, not chaos are the mission at hand.  (Applause.)

The police officers involved in this incident have been fired from their jobs.  One officer has already been arrested and charged with murder.  State and federal authorities are carrying out an investigation to see what further charges may be warranted, including against, sadly, the other three.

In addition, my administration has opened a civil rights investigation, and I have asked the Attorney General and the Justice Department to expedite it.

I understand the pain that people are feeling.  We support the right of peaceful protesters, and we hear their pleas.  But what we are now seeing on the streets of our cities has nothing to do with justice or with peace.

The memory of George Floyd is being dishonored by rioters, looters, and anarchists.  The violence and vandalism is being led by Antifa and other radical left-wing groups who are terrorizing the innocent, destroying jobs, hurting businesses, and burning down buildings.

The main victims of this horrible, horrible situations are the citizens who live in these once lovely communities.  The mobs are devastating the life's work of good people and destroying their dreams.  Right now, America needs creation, not destruction; cooperation, not contempt; security, not anarchy.  And there will be no anarchy.  Civilization must be cherished, defended, and protected.  The voices of law-abiding citizens must be heard, and heard very loudly.

We cannot and must not allow a small group of criminals and vandals to wreck our cities and lay waste to our communities.  We must defend the rights of every citizen to live without violence, prejudice, or fear.

We support the overwhelming majority of police officers who are incredible in every way and devoted public servants.  They keep our cities safe, protect our communities from gangs and drugs, and risk their own lives for us every day.

No one is more upset than fellow law enforcement officers by the small handful who fail to abide by their oath to serve and protect.  My administration will stop mob violence and will stop it cold.

It does not serve the interests of justice or any citizen of any race, color, or creed for the government to give into anarchy, abandon police precincts, or allow communities to be burned to the ground.  It won't happen.

Those making excuses or justifications for violence are not helping the downtrodden, but delivering new anguish and new pain.

From day one of my administration, we have made it a top priority to build up distressed communities and revitalize our crumbling inner cities.

We fought hard with Senator Tim Scott and many others to create Opportunity Zones, helping to draw a surge of new investment to the places in our country that need it most.  We must all work together as a society to expand opportunity and to create a future of greater dignity and promise for all of our people.  We must forge a partnership with community leaders, local law enforcement, and the faith community to restore hope.

Radical-left criminals, thugs, and others all throughout our country and throughout the world will not be allowed to set communities ablaze.  We won't let it happen.  It harms those who have the least.  And we will be protecting those who have the least.

The leadership of the National Guard and the Department of Justice are now in close communication with state and city officials in Minnesota.  And we're coordinating our efforts with local law enforcement all across our nation.

In America, justice is never achieved at the hands of an angry mob.  I will not allow angry mobs to dominate.  It won't happen.  It is essential that we protect the crown jewel of American democracy: the rule of law and our independent system of justice.  Every citizen in every community has the right to be safe in their workplace, safe in their homes, and safe in our city streets.

This is the sacred right of all Americans that I am totally determined to defend and will defend.  My administration will always stand against violence, mayhem, and disorder.

We will stand with the family of George Floyd with the peaceful protesters and with every law-abiding citizen who wants decency, civility, safety, and security.

We are working toward a more just society, but that means building up, not tearing down; joining hands, not hurling fists; standing in solidarity, not surrendering to hostility.

Moments ago, as we witnessed the launch of two great American astronauts into space, we were filled with the sense of pride and unity that brings us together as Americans.  That same spirit which powered our astronauts to the Moon has also helped lift our country to ever greater heights of justice and opportunity throughout our history.

So today, as we mark a renewed commitment to America's future in space, a tremendous commitment it is.  Let us also commit to a brighter future for all of our citizens right here on Earth.

When Americans are united, there is nothing we cannot do.  From day one of my administration, we put America first.  (Applause.)

This afternoon, I'm delighted to be with you at Cape Canaveral, in this storied home of American daring, aspiration, and drive.

This is the first big space message in 50 years.  Think of that.  And it is an honor to be delivering it.

Today, as we gather in this special place to celebrate not only the launch of a new spacecraft but also our nation's bold and triumphant return to the stars, it's a special day.  Moments ago, the world bore witness to the flight of the first new manned U.S. spacecraft in nearly 40 years since the Space Shuttle launched in 1981 -- a long time ago.

I am thrilled to announce that the SpaceX Dragon Capsule has successfully reached low-Earth orbit and that our astronauts are safe and sound.  (Applause.)

With this launch, the decades of lost years and little action are officially over.  A new age of American ambition has now begun.
Past leaders put the United States at the mercy of foreign nations to send our astronauts into orbit.  Not anymore.  Today, we once again proudly launch American astronauts on American rockets, the best in the world, from right here on American soil.  (Applause.)
 
Those of us who saw the spectacular and unforgettable liftoff this afternoon watched more than an act of history; we watched an act of heroism.  Every time our astronauts climb aboard a rocket -- which is many, many stories of only engine and fuel -- and vault across the sky, they display breathtaking valor.
What Colonel Douglas Hurley and Colonel Robert Behnken did this afternoon was pure American genius and courage.  They join the ranks of just seven prior American astronauts who have made the perilous maiden voyage to test a new class of spacecraft.

The names of Hurley and Behnken will stand in the history books alongside those of legends like Alan Shepard, Gus Grissom, John Young.  Now these brave and selfless astronauts will continue their mission to advance the cause of human knowledge as they proceed to the International Space Station before returning to Earth.  We wish them Godspeed on their journey, and as one proud nation, we salute their fearless service.

Thank you.  Thank you.  (Applause.)  Thank you.

I also want to send our nation’s gratitude to the wives of these valiant astronauts, both of whom are astronauts themselves: Karen Nyberg and Megan McArthur.  We join them in praying for our heroes’ safe return.

As you know, this spring, our nation has endured the pain and hardship of a global pandemic.  As we usher in a new era of manned spaceflight, we are reminded that America is always in the process of transcending great challenges.  Our nation is blessed with limitless reserves of talent, tenacity, and resolve.  The same spirit of American determination that sends our people into space will conquer this disease on Earth.  It should’ve never happened.  Nothing -- not even gravity itself -- can hold Americans down or keep America back.

We are grateful to NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine and Director of the Kennedy Space Center Bob Cabana for welcoming us this evening.  Very special.  Thank you very much.  Thank you.  Thank you.  (Applause.)  Thank you.  Great job.  Great job.  Come a long way in three and a half years, Jim, haven’t we?  Huh?  A long way.

To the incredible men and women of NASA, from here at Kennedy Space Center, to the Johnson Space Center in Texas -- we love you too -- to NASA Plum Brook Station in Sandusky, Ohio: Thank you all for working so hard to make this day a reality.  We have many other great days almost ready to happen.

Also with us are many members of my Cabinet, including our great new DNI, John Ratcliffe.  Thank you, John.  Thank you.  (Applause.)  We have a great friend of mine, a special man, ran a great, great campaign: Governor of Florida, Ron DeSantis.  (Applause.)  Thank you, Ron.  Thank you, Ron.

Your Senators Rick Scott and Marco Rubio.  Thank you very much.  Thank you.  (Applause.)  Thank you.  Thank you.  Leader Kevin McCarthy.  Kevin, thank you very much.  (Applause.)  Great job you do, Kevin.

And Representatives Matt Gaetz, John Rutherford, Michael Waltz, Bill Posey, Gus Bilirakis, Daniel Webster, Brian Mast, Elise Stefanik, Bill Flores, Brian Babin, Rodney Davis, Roger Marshall, and Steven Palazzo.  Thank you very much, fellas.  Thank you.  (Applause.)  What a great group of people.  They’re warriors.  They’re really warriors.  They helped so much get this done, and so many other things.

With us also is our Air Force Chief of Staff, General David Goldfein.  General, thank you very much.  (Applause.)  Thank you.  Thank you, General.  Thank you.  And Chief of Space Operations -- the first-ever named -- and now a member of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, because we created the United States Space Force -- General Jay Raymond.  Thank you very much. Jay.  (Applause.)  Thank you, Jay.  And senior members, also, of our great United States military.  It’s never been stronger than it is right now.

Also, Attorney General of Florida, Ashley Moody, and Chief Financial Officer of Florida, Jim Patronis, and many other distinguished guests.

Thank you very much for being here.  (Applause.)  We appreciate it.

I especially want to congratulate someone who truly embodies the American ethos of big thinking and risk-taking.  After achieving success as an Internet entrepreneur, he could have spent his fortune doing anything, including yachting, lots of things.  He could do lots of things.  But in 2002, he began pouring tens of millions of dollars of his own money into research and development for a new rocket.  He’s a little different than a lot of other people.  He likes rockets.  He assembled a crew of some of the greatest minds and talent in American aerospace.

In the years since, SpaceX has become the first private company to develop and successfully launch its own rocket into orbit, the first to launch and recover its own capsule, and of course, moments ago, Space X became the first private company to put humans into orbit around the Earth.

Elon Musk, congratulations.  Congratulations, Elon.  (Applause.)  Thanks, Elon.
For Elon and 8,000 SpaceX employees, today is the fulfillment of a dream almost two decades in the making.  For years on end, they have worked hand-in-hand with NASA, sculpting aluminum, tightening valves, tuning nozzles, testing parachutes, and filling massive tanks with thousands and thousands of pounds of kerosene and liquid oxygen.

Today, the groundbreaking partnership between NASA and SpaceX has given our nation the gift of an unmatched power: a state-of-the art spaceship to put our astronauts into orbit at a fraction of the cost of the Space Shuttle.  And it’s much better.

From now on, the United States will leverage the fast-growing capabilities of our commercial sector and the finest pieces of real estate on Earth -- which you need very badly -- to send U.S. astronauts into space.

Under NASA’s Commercial Crew program, we will use rockets and spacecraft designed, built, owned, and launched by private American companies, at a fixed price for the American taxpayer.

Today’s launch makes clear the commercial space industry is the future.  The modern world was built by risk-takers and renegades, fierce competitors, skilled craftsmen, captains of industry who pursued opportunities no one else saw and envisioned what no one else could ever think of seeing.  The United States will harness the unrivaled creativity and speed of our private sector to stride ever further into the unknown.

This launch also marks an exciting turning point for NASA.  This agency will now focus its unmatched ex- -- expertise, like nobody has ever seen, and power and integrity to do what NASA does better than anyone else -- and it’s not even close: embark on the most difficult, most daring, most audacious missions in the history of humankind.

When I first came into office three and a half years ago, NASA had lost its way, and the excitement, energy, and ambition, as almost everybody in this room knows, was gone.  There was grass growing through the cracks of your concrete runways.  Not a pretty sight.  Not a pretty sight at all.

The last administration presided over the closing of the Space Shuttle and almost all of the giant facility that keeps so many people working, so many brilliant minds going.  People were crying.  They were devastated.  But now it’s the greatest of its kind anywhere in the world and will get greater and greater with years to come.  I promise you that.  (Applause.)

We have created the envy of the world and will soon be landing on Mars, and will soon have the greatest weapons ever imagined in history.  I’ve already seen designs.  And even I can’t believe it.

The United States has regained our place of prestige as the world leader.  As has often been stated, you can’t be number one on Earth if you are number two in space.  (Applause.)  And we are not going to be number two anywhere.  (Applause.)
Nowhere is this more true than with our military, which we have completely rebuilt.  Under my administration, we have invested two and a half trillion dollars in new planes, ships, submarines, tanks, missiles, rockets -- anything you can think of.  And last year, I signed the law creating the sixth branch of that already very famous United States Armed Forces: the Space Force.  (Applause.)
 
For every citizen who has eagerly waited for America to reignite those engines of will, confidence, and imagination that put a man on the Moon, I stand before you to say: You need wait no longer.

Through NASA’s Artemis program, the United States is preparing for a crewed mission to Mars.  Earlier this week, I saw the Orion capsules being worked on in this building.  As part of the Artemis Moon-to-Mars program, those capsules will soon return Americans to lunar orbit for the first time in over 50 years -- half a century.

By 2024, our astronauts will return to the lunar surface to establish a permanent presence and the launching pad to Mars.  (Applause.)  And the first woman on the moon will be an American woman.  And the first nation to land on Mars will be the United States of America.  (Applause.)

Since I signed the order to establish these goals shortly after taking office, we have made rapid gains.  A new 22,000- pound capsule is already built.  The next generation of space suits are already made.  Colossal rockets are now being tested.  And the contracts for three separate lunar landers have been awarded and signed, and they are magnificent.

In the years ahead, America will go bigger, bolder, further, faster, and America will go first.  America will always be first.  (Applause.)

To be certain, we will meet the adversity and hardship along the way.  There may even be tragedy, because that is the danger of space.  There’s nothing we can do about that.  The power that we’re talking about is unrivaled.  There’s nothing we can do about problems.  But we’ll have very few of them.

We will confront all of those challenges, knowing that the quest for understanding is the oldest and deepest hope in our souls.  The innate human desire to explore and innovate is what propels the engines of progress and the march of civilization. We will preserve and persevere, and we will ensure a future of American dominance in space.

To that end, over the last three years, I reestablished the National Space Council.  I issued a directive cutting red tape for innovative space companies such as SpaceX.  We created the world’s first comprehensive space traffic management system.  Last month, I signed an executive order establishing U.S. policy for the recovery and use of space resources and minerals.  Administrator Bridenstine announced the Artemis Accords to govern the future of space exploration and development.

Together, we will assert America’s rightful heritage as the greatest space-faring nation on the planet.  And already, it’s not even close.

In the half a century since the United States stopped sending astronauts to deep into space -- 1972 -- no other country has ever done it.  The reasons are simple: cost, technological complexity, and tremendous danger.

For instance, I was told that the rocket you just witnessed had to be launched within one second, or it would be impossible for it to hit its target.  And I was here two days ago, and I said to Jim: “Jim, it’s okay.  Why don’t you wait 5 or 10 minutes?”  (Laughter.)  And he said, “Sir, we only have a window of one second.”  And I walked out of here shaking my head.  (Laughter.)  Is that true, Jim?  Yes, it true.

Space travel is not a feat of engineering alone.  It’s also a moral endeavor -- a measure of a nation’s vision, its willpower, its place in the world.  Exploration is a test of our values and of our faith.  America is a nation defined by its commitment to discovery -- to solve mysteries, to chart the unknown, to press the limits, to achieve the fullest expression of life’s potential, and to ensure that America is the nation that always leads the way, and especially in space.

This evening, I am more confident than ever before that America stands poised to thrive in this grand undertaking.  It’s incredible.  We are a nation of pioneers.  We are the people who crossed the ocean, carved out a foothold on a vast continent, settled a great wilderness, and then set our eyes upon the stars.  This is our history, and this is our destiny.

Now, like our ancestors before us, we are venturing out to explore a new, magnificent frontier.  It’s called: space.  Our most daring feats, our most epic journeys, our biggest adventures, and our finest days are just beginning.  America’s proudest moments are still ahead.  We are on the verge of our most exciting years, and next year may be the most exciting of all.  You just watch.
So today, as our brave American astronauts shake the Earth and blaze a trail of fire and steel into the heavens, we proclaim for all to hear that we have not yet tested the full strength of the American character, and the world has not yet seen the full glory of the American spirit.  For our country, for our children, and for humanity’s march into the stars, the best is yet to come.  (Applause.)

It was a great honor for me to deliver this speech.  God bless our brave astronauts now soaring through the heavens.  God bless the men and women of NASA.  And God bless America.  Thank you very much.  Thank you.  (Applause.)

                              END            5:49 P.M. EDT