TRANSCRIPT: President Trump Makes an Unscheduled Stop at Graceland in Memphis, 3.23.26
[Video]
President Trump: We love Elvis. Who doesn't love Elvis? Everybody loves Elvis, right? Hello. Hi. How are you?
Joel Weinshanker: Welcome to the second most visited home in America.
Trump: Wow, that's really good.
Weinshanker: Your house is number one.
Trump: It's pretty good, too, right?
Jack Soden: Yes.
Trump: It's [Inaudible] been a few years ago. [Inaudible] Oh very good. That's right. [Inaudible] the highest award, the Congressional Medal of Honor. Great. Nice to see you, both.
Angie Marchese: Hi, I'm Angie, and I'm going to be your tour guide today.
Trump: Very good.
Marchese: Yes, nice to meet you. Welcome to Graceland.
Trump: Looks great. Hello, everybody. We were here, and we're touting how well it's done with the crime stats and over a period of five months, it's way, way down, and we're proud of it. We're going to come back in two or three months, and we'll have a very, very -- one of the safest cities. So, Memphis went through a terrible thing.
And like in DC, we're doing great and every place we go, we're doing great, to be honest with you. So, Frank, I'd love to go to Chicago; I'd love to be invited to Chicago. We would get rid of crime in Chicago very easily but the Democrats don't want to do that. I'd love to go to San Francisco and make it something -- would bring it back to where it was.
And the mayor's working hard -- he's a Democrat, he's working hard there, but we could do things that they just can't do. But every place we go and Memphis, I guess you probably heard the crime numbers are way down. Most of them are down by 75 percent and more, and within two or three months, we'll have it down to over 90 percent. So, you have to be happy. Elvis would be very happy about that, right?
Marchese: Everyone loves Elvis.
Trump: I love Elvis. Elvis -- you know, they all say, did you know Elvis? So, I knew Frank Sinatra; I knew most of them. Unfortunately, I never met Elvis, and that would be one I would have liked a lot. But I do like his music, I will say. So, thank you for inviting me, I appreciate it.
Marchese: Thank you for coming and visiting us.
Trump: OK, let's take a look.
Marchese: All right. So, welcome to the living room.
Trump: Go ahead.
Soden: I want you to meet Joel Weinshanker.
Trump: OK, sounds good. Nice looking.
Marchese: Yeah. So, obviously, this is the Medal of Freedom that Jack accepted on Elvis's behalf at your office in 2018.
Trump: That's great. And do you have it here, do you keep it here?
Marchese: We have it on --
Soden: It came straight from your house.
Marchese: Yes.
Trump: So, somebody's going to grab it? Memphis is not that safe yet.
Weinshanker: We have over a million items across the street that we have in archives and they're very well protected, almost as well protected as you are.
Trump: Do you ever get tired of that music?
Weinshanker: Never.
Trump: I don't think so.
Weinshanker: Great, great -- genius is genius.
Trump: I don't get tired of that music; I hear it a lot.
Marchese: As a matter of fact, this is actually the last Grammy Elvis won and it was for the live recording of How Great Thou Art, which is what we were just listening to, which I know that song was something that you played at the White House when he presented Elvis the Medal of Freedom.
Trump: That was a big day.
Marchese: Yeah.
Trump: It was a great day. It was a great honor, actually. We have some wonderful people outside. We have some of the biggest politicians in America outside and, when they heard about Elvis, they said, we'll do that. How's the house doing, good?
Weinshanker: It's wonderful, it really is. Elvis wanted to live there forever. He's really the American dream. He was really an American -- he made every American feel that they could have the things that he had. They gave him reason and he actually made America great, he really did. He made -- he gave people reason to feel that they deserve something, regardless of where they came from, regardless of who their parents were, regardless of anything, he gave them the belief that they could be anything they wanted to be.
Trump: And does his music sell better today than it did during his prime?
Weinshanker: He actually -- the estate makes more money today than ever made while Elvis was alive even when accounting for inflation. Our new epic, which you really need to see and hopefully you can in the White House, the new Baz Luhrmann epic biography is just incredible -- broke all records for any -- beat The Beatles, beat LED Zeppelin, any other music biography. So, he's really as relevant or more relevant today than he's ever been.
Soden: You need to see it.
Trump: You see, all these people, these are the biggest people in the country. There's our attorney general, in case you get in trouble. Would you help out Elvis? Elvis, maybe, I don't know, get's a little bit of a pass, not much. We're not allowed to give much of a pass, but, he was great. You're a big fan of Elvis, Pam.
Pam Bondi: My mother was especially.
Weinshanker: Elvis loved law enforcement. He actually donated a lot of money to law enforcement. He actually -- he wanted a badge so badly that he threatened the Shelby County sheriff that if he didn't get a badge, he'd run against them to get the badge. So, he has a collection of --
Trump: He would have been tough to beat.
Marchese: Yes, we have a collection of over 200 badges in our collection.
Trump: Is Elvis beatable? What do you think? CNN would say -- no.
Question: Have you been here before, Mr. President? Or is this your first time?
Trump: I've never been here, no, I just -- I'm a big fan of Elvis, who isn't? Right? But I think he's great. I think his music is incredible. I understood his life. His life was complicated, right? It was complicated, but he was terrific, and he was born with a voice that he never lost, right?
Marchese: Yes, exactly.
Trump: He had other difficulties, but he never lost the voice.
Weinshanker: To the last day.
Marchese: And Graceland really is the fulfillment of a childhood promise one day that Elvis made to his parents to buy them a big house so that he could take care of them and that's what Graceland represents.
Trump: Well, he loved his mom, yes, so much, and the father, but he really loved his mom. I think when his mom went, it was very hard for him, right?
Weinshanker: Very, very hard. And really, Graceland is probably the most positive thing that, when foreigners come from all over the world, tens of millions of foreigners come to Graceland, it's what they really represent the best of America because Elvis really represented the best of America.
Trump: Well, you're getting a lot of publicity today with all of this. You have all the fake news media here, look at this. I mean, do you ever see so much? Do you get treated -- tell me, does Elvis get treated better than me? With me, it's fake news. With Elvis, it was a little fake news too.
Weinshanker: I think in the UK we're about the same as you. So, you have some from both. It's people want to -- you know, he was so revolutionary and so important that I think that people -- brilliance that people are afraid of. And I think people who are afraid of brilliance have to lash out.
Trump: Well, it was special. Please.
Marchese: We have a few more things over here I wanted to show you. So, if you'll just come this way. So, this is a portrait of Elvis that was done when he was in basic training in Fort Hood, Texas. And it shows you Elvis's natural hair color of blond.
Trump: Really?
Marchese: He had blond hair, blue eyes. He dyed his hair black because he thought it brought his facial features better out on film. And so, he started doing that after his first movie, Love Me Tender. This is actually the oldest guitar in our collection. It's a 1956 Gibson J-200. Elvis used it in the movies Loving You, Jailhouse Rock and King Creole, and then used it in Vegas in '69 and '70. And then at the top of the stairs, we have the outfit that Elvis wears at the end of the '68 comeback special when he sang the song if I Can Dream, which was especially written for the show.
After the assassination of Martin Luther King and Robert Kennedy, Elvis felt like he needed to make a statement of how America could be. And so, that's what If I Can Dream represents. And he ended the show wearing that outfit right there.
Trump: So, he loved this place, right?
Marchese: He did and he loved his country and, yeah, everything you see in the house is original, all the furnishings, all the drapes, everything that you're seeing is original. The chandelier above the stairs was actually taken apart here in the hallway to be reassembled because it was too large to fit through any of the doors.
Trump: Oh.
Marchese: And then we're going to come this way. This would have been the master bedroom, the primary room of the house. You can come on in? So, there was always someone in here ready to make whatever Elvis wanted or what any of his entourage wanted. It does have the latest and greatest in technology here, including this Tappan oven, which has a hidden four burners underneath this, this pulls out, as well as the microwave in the corner was the first microwave sold in Memphis.
And behind you there's a bread warmer. But yeah, so, Graceland was always full of technology at the time. This is actually Elvis's Army helmet that I wanted to show you, because like every other GI, Elvis had to put his initials in it. So, you can see where he's put EP so that everybody would know that this was his helmet.
So, it's written all inside here. And then this blue hat was worn by Elvis when he came home from the Army, and it also was worn on his first television appearance, which happened to be on the Frank Sinatra special. So, this is the invitation that Frank was hosting Elvis along with Sammy and Joey Bishop and Nancy.
And what they did is they told Elvis what he missed for two years while he was in the Army. And I know you're a huge Frank fan, and Elvis is a huge music fan. So, his music collection, which contains about 5,000 records, is mainly other artists. And one of the records I pulled for you to see today is Elvis's copy of Frank Sinatra's My Way.
Trump: Oh, that's a good one.
Marchese: It is.
Trump: Frank was another one. He was a piece of work.
Marchese: Elvis and Frank were friends.
Trump: Yeah, they were.
Marchese: Yeah. At the end of the special, Elvis and Frank do a duet and Frank sings Love Me Tender and Elvis sings Witchcraft. So, it was kind of fun. Yeah, but we have a security system here that Elvis had added to the property so he could actually see all the comings and goings around the house. And Lisa would say when the cameras would come on and the red light would come on, she'd go run and hide because she knew she was in trouble.
Trump: But he was just comfortable here, right?
Marchese: Yes, very. This was his home, no matter where he lived.
Trump: He always came back here.
Marchese: He always came back to Memphis. And whenever he talked about Memphis, it was always home and that's what this represents.
Trump: Yeah, it's very nice.
Marchese: Yep.
Trump: And now it's safe again.
Marchese: Yep.
Trump: That's great.
Marchese: Yeah. So, next up -- oh, and this is a staircase that Elvis would come down to the kitchen. Yeah. So, when he would come downstairs, he really wouldn't come down the main stairs, that's really formal for him. He would normally come down these stairs here into the kitchen.
Trump: It's really something. He was something, nobody like him.
Marchese: So, now we're going to the basement. Watch your step, please. There's lots of mirrors, it's a mirrored staircase.
Unknown: Watch out, steps.
Marchese: So, when Elvis bought Graceland, this set of stairs would have led to the outside, and this was a patio area.
Trump: So, he expanded it.
Marchese: Yes. So, this room was added to the house in 1964. And it's really -- Elvis just called it his den. But when the press first saw it, they nicknamed it the Jungle Room for obvious reasons. The furniture is all hand-carved white pine wood and it was made by a company called Witco and Elvis loved Hawaii. And his dad had said that he had seen the most awful furniture he'd ever seen, and so Elvis goes shopping that night and buys the entire set, and this is what it was. But Elvis liked it because it did remind him of Hawaii.
Trump: That's great, yeah, he did well with Hawaii.
Marchese: And if you look up, you'll notice there's carpet on the ceiling, a '70s decorating trend, that made this room acoustically sound.
Trump: Yeah, before its time -- he was way before his time.
Marchese: He really was.
Trump: Carpet on the ceiling.
Marchese: And Elvis actually used this room for recording. He recorded two albums from Elvis Presley Boulevard, Memphis, Tennessee, and six songs from his last album in this room. And he would normally stand over there on that platform, that was kind of his stage. And then the band and all the singers and everybody would be here in the room while they were recording.
Trump: That's great.
Marchese: Yeah. One of the songs he recorded here is a song called Hurt, and another one was Unchained Melody. And that's a stereo system and Elvis's karate nickname was Tiger.
Trump: And you can see she loves Elvis, but she couldn't do what she does well, right? She's doing great. How long have you worked with --
Marchese: 36 years.
Trump: What? Whoa.
Weinshanker: We have -- people come from high school. We actually had some of your people who actually wanted to give us applications they wanted to come to Graceland so much. It's an amazing place to be.
Trump: 36 years. And he's been here a long time, I'll tell you. He's been, right?
Weinshanker: I've been -- I've been developing it. When I got here --
Trump: From a young man -- from when he was a young man.
Marchese: Yep.
Trump: So, we all love Elvis. Media loves Elvis. It's a little different for you guys, right? You know, we're very political.
Marchese: Not here. This is all fun.
Trump: And Elvis was not political. Well, I think he was political, but he kept it --
Marchese: He kept it to himself, yeah, he did.
Weinshanker: He believed -- he felt very strongly in the office. He respected the office --
Marchese: Of the president.
Weinshanker: He respected law enforcement and that should be something that should be universal.
Marchese: Yes, no matter who, yep.
Trump: Any questions about Elvis, media? Would you like to have --
Question: What's your favorite song of Elvis?
Trump: Well, she just mentioned one of them, Hurt. Hurt is great right?
Marchese: It is. It is very good.
Trump: He's got so many. There's very few I don't like.
Marchese: How Great Thou Art.
Trump: Yeah, yeah, every one of them is. He did nothing bad.
Weinshanker: Elvis loved his gospel above all; gospel is his favorite music.
Trump: What was his biggest selling song? What was his most successful song?
Marchese: It's Now or Never.
Trump: Oh, really?
Marchese: That one sold the most. Yes.
Trump: That's good. I wouldn't say the best, but that's good.
Marchese: Yeah, that's good.
Trump: Yeah, that's good. They're all good.
Marchese: I also have a few pieces here. So, this -- this is Elvis's social security card that we found in his wallet. So, the gold medal Social Security cards were not officially issued by the government, but they were a novelty item that you could actually buy then, because the paper ones that people would carry around with them would get messed up. And so, this was Elvis's.
Trump: Good idea. Maybe we should do that again.
Marchese: And then --
Weinshanker: Like a gold Visa.
Marchese: And then this is his bedside phone. It actually is gold plated.
Trump: I would like to hear some of those conversations, right?
Marchese: Well, as you can see --
Trump: They would like to hear that.
Marchese: Yeah. It's very well worn and it's been through the ringer. It has its little dings on it. But then this, this is actually the belt that Elvis got for shattering all the city's attendance records in Las Vegas. The belt buckle is sterling silver with diamonds, rubies and sapphires in it. And he most notably wore this not only on and off stage, but he wore it in the Oval Office when he met President Nixon.
Trump: Oh, that's a very famous visit, actually.
Marchese: Yep. And this guitar that you see here, this is actually a replica of a guitar that Elvis used in his 1973 Aloha from Hawaii concert. And I was wanting to know if you would sign up for us for the archives. So, you can sit here to sign.
Trump: Oh, wow, that's a big honor.
Marchese: Yeah, this will be for the archives.
Trump: Sure.
Marchese: There you go, there's a marker.
Trump: OK, where do you want me to send it, here?
Marchese: You can sign it right here if you'd like. There you go.
Trump: That's a great honor. Hold it? Has anyone tested this pen yet?
Marchese: I think you're the first.
Trump: Should we -- just give me a piece of paper just to make sure at what level the ink is, right? It's a lot easier to do that way than ruin the guitar.
Marchese: Exactly.
Trump: OK, not bad. OK, ready, everybody? Let's see here. Oh, that came out good. Look at that.
Marchese: Yeah, that looks nice.
Trump: Oh, you never know, these are hard to sign, but that came out pretty good.
Marchese: Is that the first guitar you've signed?
Trump: Just about. Now Biden couldn't do this. He'd have to send it out to be signed. Look at that, it came out nice. What a beautiful guitar. Is this -- so, did he play this guitar?
Marchese: No, this is a replica one, but this is a replica of the one that he did play, and the one that had the karate patch on it. Elvis had two eighth degree black belts in karate; one was in Kenpo and that's what this patch is for.
Trump: Was he really good or was it just --
Marchese: Actually, he was really good. He started practicing --
Trump: Could I have taken him in a fight?
Marchese: I don't know, you might.
Weinshanker: I think he would have been respectful enough to let you win.
Marchese: Yes, he probably would.
Weinshanker: But he and Bruce Lee really brought karate -- yeah, he would have been. But he and Bruce Lee really brought karate to the West.
Trump: Yeah, I've seen it, it's good. It's very good. Bruce Lee was pretty good, right? You having a good time, media, everybody? Interesting, it's a little bit different, yeah.
Question: People make pilgrimages here from all around the world. Would you imagine someday, in the very distant future, people making a similar pilgrimage to Mar-a-Lago?
Trump: Well, I don't know. It's something I could never say. Wouldn't it be terrible if it's -- oh, yes; oh, yes. Headlines Trump -- no, whatever. You know, whatever. That's a special place, too. As you said in terms of people going to places, these are big, successful places. But this is -- all I know is -- I know that all my life I've heard about Graceland, I've watched Elvis. Surprisingly, because I was around with Elvis sort of in his semiprime at least, right?
Marchese: Yeah.
Trump: For some reason I didn't know him, but I knew just about everybody else, knew all of them. But I don't know why with Elvis, he was a little bit locked into Las Vegas, right?
Marchese: Yeah, he was in Vegas a lot.
Trump: Yeah, but he was a -- he was a very special guy. Everybody said what a good person -- you know, he was just a good person with a complicated life.
Weinshanker: The most famous person on the planet, it's difficult.
Trump: Yeah, he's the most famous person on the planet. Let's see, who else would be more famous than Elvis? Nobody that I can think of. See? Anyway, but this is fun. And I want to thank you all, this is great. We appreciate it and hopefully you're going to get a lot of additional fans coming out here because it's really -- it's interesting to see.
You learn about his personality, about Elvis's personality by seeing the way he lived. And I heard that, he just wanted to be back here. He didn't want to be anywhere. He could have been anywhere, he could have been -- I'll name some nice fancy places like Palm Beach. He could have been anywhere he wanted to be but he wanted to be here.
Marchese: Yes.
Trump: And he was a special guy. Thank you very much.
Marchese: Thank you for visiting us today.
Question: What did you think, President Trump?
Trump: It's great. This is part of history. Elvis was history and I think it's really nice. And it really is, it's just history, it's beyond music history. So, I found it very interesting. Thank you.