TRANSCRIPT: President Trump Presents the Commander-in-Chief's Trophy to the USNA, 3.20.26
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President Trump: Thank you very much. Please. Thank you. I want to begin by just saying, we're doing extremely well in Iran. Uh, the difference between them and us is they had a Navy two weeks ago; they have no Navy anymore. It's all at the bottom of the sea. 58 ships knocked down in two days. And we have the greatest navy anywhere in the world.
It's not even close. So -- but we are doing really well. We're not going to let them have nuclear weapons. Because if they had them, they'd use them and we're not going to let that happen. It should have been done a long time ago by other presidents. So it's an honor to be here. This is fun and these are great athletes standing behind me, great coaches, general managers, great people and a great superintendent.
Hello, superintendent. We only put our finest as the superintendents for these great schools, because we don't want to have somebody that they don't look up to. We take our best and, uh, and they're really amazing. For the second year in a row, it's my great honor to officially present the Commander in Chief's Trophy to the one and only Navy midshipmen football team with 11 wins and two losses, playing the best teams in football.
It used to -- I used to always think of the military service as they played like a little step below. It's not true. They played the big teams and they beat them. These players achieved one of the most impressive seasons in Navy football history and any football history, frankly. And I just want to congratulate the midshipmen.
I met them backstage and they're great. Thank you. Congratulations. You know, when I when I mentioned the Navy that we just destroyed, I said, are they good ships? Yeah, they're great ships. Then I said, why didn't we save them? We could have used them ourselves. They said, the difference was they didn't -- they didn't know how to use them.
Right, general? They didn't know how to use them. They had no idea. But I want to recognize, uh, Navy athletic director, Michael Kelly, who is, uh, just done an incredible job. Thank you very much. Looks like -- he looks like a Kelly. He's definitely a Kelly. Along with head coach Brian Newberry, fantastic coach.
Brian. Who's off to the second best start for any football coach in school history. What, second? Who's first? It's pretty good. That must have been a Roger Staubach here maybe or something, huh, because -- because I tell you what, I got to watch Roger Staubach and he was -- he was something. He was like -- I have to say, I've said it and some people were insulted by it, but it was like a man playing with children.
He would he would single-handedly win those games. It was incredible. Thanks as well to your superintendent, Lieutenant General Michael Borg Schulte, who is an accomplished Navy linebacker, a very good one back in the day. We're also pleased to be joined by Secretary of War Pete Hegseth. Now, I don't know if he's here because I actually told him -- he had an option, be the Sit Room.
You know, the famous Situation -- or be up here. And if it's OK, I told him -- but I think he has two very beautiful sons up here, to the best -- Boone and Jackson. Are you two guys -- well, I told your father, just be in the Situation Room. We're OK with that, right? I think so, right, coach? Coach, I think you're OK. So Boone and Jackson, someday you'll be on this team, maybe, right?
Would you be on Navy, Army, Air Force? Which one? Take Navy. Just say Navy, OK? I don't I don't want to get them in trouble. And your father's doing a fantastic job. And also, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Dan Caine. So Dan, uh, is unbelievable. And I picked him for a reason, because I was told it would take five years to beat ISIS by our television generals.
You know, there's a big difference between generals, just like there is between coaches and everything else. They said, sir, five years. And I went to Iraq because I didn't understand why five years. And I met this general and his name was Dan Caine. I said, what's your name? He said, Razin, sir. I said, really, Razin?
What is that, Razin? Oh, it's just my nickname, sir. What's your last name? Caine. I said, your name is Razin Caine? I love you. You're the guy I'm looking for, and it turned out to be right. So they told me it was going to take four to five years to knock out ISIS. And now I'm in Iraq. I come down, I meet him, some other generals.
He was the boss. And I said, how long would it take for you to knock out ISIS? He said, four weeks, sir. I said, four weeks? They tell me four years, maybe five. He said, well, whatever they want, sir. They're the boss, I'm just here, but you can do it in four weeks, sir, and you'll have time left over. I said, you got to be kidding.
And he explained, and we went through a whole big thing, I won't -- well, nobody in this room would be bored by it, actually. You'd like to hear every word. I tell you every word of it. But -- but bottom line, I said, let me go back. But as I'm leaving, uh, it actually was very interesting. I'm walking down the stairs, long flight.
I had to turn off the lights -- after spending trillions of dollars, you had to turn the lights off in the plane because you didn't want to be spotted by the enemy. This was something. So we landed. And he said, sir, would you like to rest for a while before we have a meeting? I said, I don't have to rest.
My name is not Biden. I don't want to -- I'm not resting. And we had great meetings. And then I got back on the plane. I said to him, so general, you say four weeks. You mean that, right? Four weeks, sir, and you'll have time left over. I said, I'll call you on Monday, when I get back. And I called him, I said, do you still feel that way, general?
He said, yes, sir. And I let him do it. He did it in less than four weeks. He defeated ISIS. It was amazing. What a difference. You know, I always say, what a difference a president makes. The border, they said, it can't be done without Congress, it will take years. We did it in about three weeks. We have a border that's now -- nine months in a row, nobody's come into our country illegally.
I'm not even sure if that can be right, but the Democrats keep the stats. So they say. I mean, they have zero people came in through our border. You see it, right? And, uh, I said, the president makes a big difference. Well, the generals make a big difference too. But I told him, I said, Dan, if you don't mind, stay in the Situation Room and you watch all those attacks that we're hitting those guys with and they don't know what's happening.
Their Navy's gone. Their Air Force is gone. Their anti-aircraft is all gone. It's all gone. Their radar is all gone. Their leaders are all gone. The next set of leaders are all gone, and the next set of leaders are mostly gone. And now, nobody wants to be a leader over there anymore. We're having a hard time.
We want to talk to them and there's nobody to talk to. We have nobody to talk to. And you know what, we like it that way. And we have many other distinguished members of the United States military but I want to tell you, Hegseth is doing a great job, and Razin Caine is doing a great job, as good as anybody's ever seen.
Don't forget, we had Venezuela. That was the beginning, where people started to see the talent. I built -- I rebuilt the military and built it, frankly, including Space Force. But I rebuilt the military in my first term. I didn't think I'd be using it this much, but I'm glad I rebuilt it because we can't let these lunatics have nuclear weapons, because they were going to use them.
They'd use them fast. One of the ways you know that is when this whole thing started, they started shooting missiles all over the Middle East, at countries that were basically not involved, because they wanted to take over the Middle East. And if they had a nuclear weapon, they would have used it. The only question would have been, the first hour or the first day.
That's the only question. They would have used it and if they can use a nuclear weapon, the world would have been in big trouble. We had to stop it. It should have been done long ago. I also want to thank FCC Chairman Brendan Carr, perhaps the most powerful man in this room. You are doing some job. He's trying to keep the fake news -- he's trying to make the fake news real and respected again.
Which is not an easy job, but you're doing a really amazing job. First time that's happened in 25 years, so I congratulate you. And everybody in the room -- everybody in this whole country is watching what you're doing and we appreciate it. When a man can get elected in a landslide, winning every -- think of it, seven swing states, win them all.
We win the popular vote. We win the Electoral College by tremendous amount. We win the counties by 82 or 84 percent. And I got no good press. Think of it. Only one thing, that only means one thing, these people are not respected. They're just not respected and we have to have a press that's respected. When you -- when you -- um, when you can win an election where they say that I got 94 percent bad press, think of it, the other side got 94 percent good press.
When they can get 94 percent and you win in a landslide, that means the press is not respected. People have no confidence in it. So you're doing a fantastic job. Uh, Senators Todd Young and Dan Sullivan, great senators, wherever you may be. You're here someplace. Where are you? Hello, fellas. Good senators, great guys.
And Representatives Ronny Jackson, White House doctor. He was -- he served three presidents. He said -- he had Barack Hussein Obama. Have you heard of Barack Hussein Obama? You had Obama. I don't even want to talk about Biden but he said -- and you had Bush. You had young Bush, I call him, young. Young Bush.
I was not a fan, but that's all right. But they asked -- the press asked him, who was the healthiest of the three. Dr. Ronny -- stand up Dr. Ronny, there's a big deal, took a lot of heat for this. They said -- most guys would say, well, we don't want to talk about that. They said, who's the healthiest of the three?
He said, President Donald J. Trump, by far. If he didn't eat junk food, he'd live to 200 years old, he said. And I love this guy and he then left and he ran. He was an admiral and he then left and he -- he was the White House doctor, a very respected one. He saved a lot of lives. He was a great doctor. People don't realize that.
And he then left and he said, sir, I'd like to run for Congress. I said, you've never done it before, you won't be able to pull it off. In a very, very all Trump district, there were 28 people running. Man was retiring he's been there for years. And I said, Ron, I don't know, it's going to be tough, but we'll try it, right?
And we got -- we got him in and he blew him away. There was one man that was favored. He was a rhino. He was favored to win easily and we wiped him out, right, Ron? And he's been a Congressman. He's one of the most popular people in Congress. But I don't care about that. I just care that he was my doctor and he said I'm the healthiest human being he's ever -- Ronny, am I healthier than these guys back here?
Ronny Jackson: Yes, sir.
Trump: OK. All right. See, this is why I like him. Also with Ronnie is Derrick Van Orden, a fantastic guy. And members of the Naval Academy's Board of Visitors, Sean Spicer, who's gone on to great things. And Walt Nauta. Walt. Where's Walt? Walt's become a very famous guy. He works with me, and he does a great job.
Great, loyal, incredible person. And Sean Spicer. Where is Sean? Where is Sean? Great job. And he's got a very successful television career going. What the hell do I get out of it? Well, you know what I get, nice statements. That's what I get out of it, right?
Sean Spicer: 100 percent.
Trump: It's, uh, it's great. You've done great thank you very much. Congratulations. Those are really the people that were -- are very much in charge of making everything work at the academy, and the other academies, separately, separate group, so they're very important position. For the Navy midshipmen, 2025 was truly a season for the ages.
You didn't just win the Commander in Chief's Trophy, you made history as one of the greatest teams to ever wear the proud uniform of Navy football, some uniform. The, uh, the teams have gotten so good, and the schools that I was able to get and we're pushing it very hard to make it permanent, a military academy deferment policy, so -- because you have some people here -- you know, when I went on the field and I threw up a coin, I'm standing next to these guys.
They were monsters. I said, look at the size of these guys. I thought they were supposed to be smaller. I thought you had -- I thought you had sort of restrictions on size. You know? We got rid of that, because some of these guys were extremely large. And I -- you know, and I -- we -- we have the NFL teams here also, when -- whoever wins the Super Bowl, they come.
The baseball teams. We had the Dodgers. We have -- we have them all. But I saw the size of these guys, so I got used to it. And I said, these guys are as big as the NFL. And at one of the visits a while ago, first term, they asked me, they said, sir, we have a hard time recruiting. Because a player, if he's really good, he can't do the four or five years in the military service. Could you ask -- we'd like to do a military academy deferment policy. I immediately knew what he meant, and we got it done.
And it allows you to defer your service until after your career. So if you go into the NFL for 10 years -- so now everyone wants to join. So do I get credit for the successful team then? Huh? The superintendent is going to say yes. I don't know about, uh, coach. I don't know about Kelly. But, uh, but the coach I think has, uh, made your life a little bit easier.
It was tough -- it was tough for the teams when they used to have to play guys that were twice their size, right? So they did good. They had better heart. They have they have the best heart in the business but size does matter. And so what we did is we got that so you have a deferment, so a lot of people are able to join now and they do their service later.
They're great patriots, but that would be a lot to ask. And I think it's helped your teams really compete at the highest, highest level. The team was led by your incredible senior class, and that includes the co-captain and star quarterback, Blake Horvath, who is fantastic. Where are you, Blake? You were -- you were a player.
Blake Horvath: Thank you.
Trump: I was at the game. I was at that game. He's a player. You have a good everything. You can run it, you can throw it. What do you think, NFL material? You have no choice. You have to -- thank you. Stay up here if you want. Look at this guy. He walks up. Most of them just stay there and just -- you know, they don't want to -- very good.
That's -- look at him. I can't get rid of him. I can't -- stay -- stay there if you want. Come on, stay there. He's a quarterback. What the hell. But he ends his college career as one of the most accurate Navy quarterbacks of all time, with an astounding almost 60 percent completion rate, second only to the man we just spoke about, Roger Staubach, who was unbelievable.
He was unbelievable. He served five years, and then he came in and he was -- came in at like 27 or something and he was phenomenal as an NFL player. Likewise, senior wide receiver Eli Heidenreich, scorched opposing defenses all year long. They've been writing about him, a lot of stories, setting a school record for receiving touchdowns.
And you do need a quarterback for that. Where is Eli? Where is Eli? Come here, Eli. Get over here. Look at the size of this guy. Huh? [Inaudible] they're all saying, he's got NFL. Pretty good. I see by the size of those hands, you have no trouble catching that ball. Come here. Great. Beautiful.
Eli Heidenreich: Thank you.
Trump: And we're going to bring them down to the Oval Office. Nobody else. We don't have room for -- none -- none of all these big shots that we have here, none of the senators, none of all these people. We're going to bring them down. We're giving them a special medal, a beautiful medal, a very expensive medal that if I see it on eBay tonight, I'll be extremely upset. All right? So we're going to all march down there later. Congratulations. Thank you very much.
Heidenreich: Thank you, sir.
Trump: That's great. It's very nice that you say that. The whole team is pointing at you. Are you looking to go NFL if you can?
Heidenreich: Yes, sir, I'm hoping to.
Trump: OK. Good, good. That's great. I'll bet you make it. Uh, so we have Eli and setting all the school records for receiving touchdowns, earning a spot at the NFL combine and cementing himself as, without a doubt, the greatest wide receiver in Navy history. That is not bad. Did you do the combine?
Heidenreich: Yes, sir.
Trump: How did -- how did you find it? Were you impressed by the athletes?
Heidenreich: I was. Yes, sir.
Trump: Were you as good as them?
Heidenreich: I like to think so.
Trump: Were you better? They're all saying -- they like you. They're all saying he's better. Good. I can see it. We're going to watch. OK? We're watching all you guys. And let's not forget one of the strongest athletes the Navy has ever seen. Oh, this is the guy I want to meet, who is named a first team All-American. You can't do better than that. On five different organizations, so five groups named him first team All-American. Senior lineman and co-captain Landon Robertson. Where is Landon? Where is --
Landon Robinson: Right here, sir.
Trump: His arms are like steel. I just hurt my hand. I hit a muscle. It's like steel. [Inaudible] we're not -- do you think I could take him in a fight? It's like Ronny. Thank you. Congratulations. Fantastic. So listen to this about Landon. With a 665-pound squat and a 465-pound bench press, what about women playing in men's sports?
Think we could have a woman take your position? Is there a woman out there? I don't think so. You know, we're trying to end that. No men -- think of it, no men in women's sports. Maybe I'll put Landon in women's sports for a little while. How ridiculous. I mean, you know, they say that's an 80/20 issue. No, no, that's a 99 percent issue.
It's amazing. Thank goodness the Democrats keep pushing these things, open borders, transgender for everybody and they want to have men playing women's sports. So Landon has some really big records and he's so strong that the team had to special order a longer barbell. I see, because the barbell would break.
That's crazy. Is he the strongest one on the team, though? Does everyone -- huh? No doubt, with all you big, strong guys. Look at this guy at the end. What do you think, Landon? Look at that. He's a big guy. Huh? So thank you very much. We have a lot of fun with these things. I hope you -- I love sports and I love athletics and I love competition.
I love competition, and these guys are champions. But perhaps no single player better represents the heart and soul of this team than your 5'9", 174 -- I love those guys. Those guys that are a little smaller than you're supposed to be, but they have a bigger heart than everybody on the team, right? And the other team, too.
174-pound playmaker who delivered key knockouts and blocks on opponents almost twice his size. Senior Brandon Chatman. Brandon plays selfless, relentless football. I got this from his coach. As he likes to say, quote -- here's a quote. The way I look at it, the fight is not over until I win. That's a great -- that's it, right?
Just keep going. And that's really the spirit of the Navy and our great sailors. Where are you, Brandon? And they love him. Boy, I tell you, you don't have you don't have players like that, you don't -- you don't win. You just can't win. You need people like Brandon. And they all have that big heart.
It's very tough. When you get into that elite group, when you beat those schools that are big, big and powerful, it's a pretty amazing thing. This group of winners opposed and opened the 2025 season with seven straight victories, including a thrilling win over one of your top rivals. It's always tough, too, Air Force.
Coach, Air Force is always tough. What is that? I mean, they're always tough. You beat them, but they, uh, they always seem to have a good they have a good record, and they always seem to do well. Right? But no problem with this team, right?
Brian Newberry: Yes, sir.
Trump: What was the score you won by, Coach? Was it a close game or not that close?
Newberry: Close. I think we won by three.
Trump: Won by three. You won a couple of close ones, but you won. Doesn't really matter. As long as you win, right? So that's great, Coach. But as every Navy football player knows, you don't make it to the White House unless you also triumph over Army on that second Saturday of December, which is the whole deal.
I was at that game. It was amazing. It was an amazing game the spirit -- and I have to say, they introduced Trump, the place went crazy. There were no, like, let's give a little boo. There wasn't a boo in the house. Even the fake news couldn't say -- I've gone to games where I've gotten -- I would say I got 97 percent, but there might be one person, boo, boo.
They cover that person, they interview that person. That person becomes a star. But they couldn't find any person at that game. That was some game. It was some scene in the historic 126 Army Navy football game. And again, something I really enjoyed. I love being there. I'll be there. Coach, I'll be there.
You got to be back. Coach, we can't ever lose you. You'll be back, right? You better be back. Do whatever you -- do whatever you do, Kelly. Get him signed, right? Speaking of that, and you get him signed, all right? But you battle back from a two score deficit to draw within six points in the fourth quarter.
I was there. It was looking not great. It was not looking -- fellas, you know, I can't say I was rooting for you, but I did want to see that commander in chief deal is a big deal, right? And it only happens if you win, and it wasn't looking great. With time slipping away, Navy mounted one final drive, and you marched downfield, nearing the goal line after running back Alex Teska broke loose into the secondary, which was amazing, for a huge 24 yard gain. OK. Where's Alex? Where is Alex? I saw Alex before. [Inaudible] oh, thank goodness. Thank goodness that was fantastic.
Alex Teska: Thank you, sir.
Trump: I watched that because it was not looking good until you did that. After you did that, the momentum shifted right, Coach?
Newberry: Yes, sir.
Trump: The coach was saying, I think -- I don't know, I got a problem. And then he did that. We all felt good. That's great. Congratulations. That's beautiful. That's amazing. So Alex did his job and he did a fantastic job. But every football player knows, every single one of them, that you don't have heart, you don't have that -- you can have all the strength -- like Brandon, you can have all the strength you want but if you don't have heart -- that's exactly what Alex showed and he's another one that's known for that.
Then three times, the formidable Army defense held the line and they really held it, making it fourth and goal, Midshipmen. So it's time to do or die, right, coach? And with six minutes and 37 seconds left on the clock, other teams might have kicked an easy field goal, but that's not this coach. Coach, did you have a call?
Did you call up the superintendent and talk to him, like, what do I do? Or did you just say, let's go for it? I think you said, go. I think you just go for it, right, Coach? But not this team. With this coach, with the Commander in Chief's Trophy on the line, which is a big deal, Blake dropped back in the pocket, surveyed the field, delivered a strike across the middle to Eli for a touchdown and secured victory over Army in one of the most iconic moments in Navy football history.
Um, I wouldn't say in Army football history. I guess it was iconic also, but not quite in the same manner. But I watched that. That was incredible the annual Army-Navy game is truly one of the most special occasions in all of sports, but in recent years, the College Football Playoff expansion has encroached on this sacred four-hour time slot traditionally reserved for Army-Navy.
So what did I do? I went out -- I don't know if I could have pulled it off. I have much more power in my second term, don't you think? What do you think? Would you say, Brandon, much more power. First term, I don't know if I could have gotten away with this, but what did I do? I went out and said, uh, I will -- I'm going to sign an executive order to ensure that the second Saturday in December is preserved exclusively.
Nobody's playing football, not Ohio State against Notre Dame, not LSU against Alabama. Nobody's going to play football for four hours during that very special time of the year in December. It's preserved forever for the Army-Navy game. Now, if you don't want to watch football, you don't have to but if you want to watch football, you're only watching one game.
You're not watching 19 different games. All of them, in many ways, big. So coach, it puts a little pressure because the whole world's going to be watching. So nobody else is going to be allowed -- of course, we'll probably get sued at some point, because we always get sued, but we win those suits and we'll win this one.
The only game that's going to be played, so we preserve that time no matter who it is. You're playing the Army-Navy game. It keeps it -- keeps it special. We like it, right? Are you OK with that? Huh? And just simply, we don't want other college football games over -- over, you know, playing over us. And frankly, I'd always watch the Army-Navy game anyway.
But you don't know. You get some of these games, they're pretty tough and pretty good and they're pretty tough. And they'll be able to play, but they'll play after 7:00. I think we brought it all the way up to 7:00, so that should give you plenty of time, even if you have a little overtime stuff. So, uh, it's great.
It's just an honor to do because it's such an important tradition of our country. It's beyond football, actually. It's a tradition of our country. In two short months, the 28 seniors on this team will be commissioned as officers in the greatest military in the world has ever seen. We have the greatest military in the world, the strongest, the greatest.
And we're proving that, when you can take Venezuela in a matter of minutes, put somebody on a helicopter that was well guarded with thousands of people, with iron doors. Those doors were like plastic. The United States Navy, the Marines, the whole military is -- we have the greatest in the world. I was so proud of what I did, and I always love Space Force because that was my baby.
That has never happened. That hasn't happened in 81 years, a new force, and it hadn't happened. And I think we all agree that Space Force has become, you think, right, very important, very important to the success that we're having even now. Over the past few weeks, the world has seen the true strength and might of our sailors and aviators, as they fought in one of the most complex and successful military operations of all time against the Iranian regime.
And, uh, it's amazing. It's not -- I don't want to get too crazy here. It's not a contest. It's not even a contest. They do whatever they want. They can't -- they are -- they had a lot of great equipment, Russian equipment, Chinese equipment, a lot of -- they had plenty of money. That equipment was useless against us, useless.
No force on earth can beat the American sailors or the American military. We're the strongest in the world by far. To those standing behind me who will soon be joining these missions, I say, sail fast, stay strong and go Navy. And I just want to congratulate, again, this incredible team on this -- the win of this trophy.
It's not often that this trophy gets presented. You have to have a very special year to get it. And I'm going to sign the executive order right now and then invite Coach Newberry up to say a few words and talk about what a great team and what great individuals they are. So, coach, I'll sign and then you take over.
OK? Thank you very much. This is not an auto pen. Can you imagine taking it, say, would you please have this signed by -- somehow, I don't know how they got by that, but it didn't work. Let's go. It's a good one. We rate them. That's close to a 10, maybe a 10. See, fellas. You can see it first. That's pretty good, right?
Unidentified: Yes, sir. Yes, sir.
Trump: And what I'll do is I'll give these out also. [Inaudible] thank you very much.
Newberry: Thank you very much. Good morning. Thank you, Mr. President. Thank you for signing that executive order, protecting the sanctity of the Army-Navy game. It's a game with a soul and it deserves to be protected. Thank you very much. Uh, thank you to you and your staff, your gracious hospitality, and for making today's ceremony possible.
And thank you to the distinguished guests and everyone in attendance for being here to recognize this team and this exceptional group of young men. On behalf of our players, our staff and their families, our superintendent, General Michael Borgschulte, and our athletic director, Michael Kelly, it is truly an honor to be here.
We're grateful and humbled to be back again. As I shared last year, it's been our goal to return to this stage many times during your tenure, Mr. President. There is no higher honor in our program than standing here representing the Naval Academy, the entire Brigade of Midshipmen, the brotherhood, and all the men and women who serve and have served in our Navy and Marine Corps.
These young men understand that wearing the Navy uniform comes with a responsibility greater than football. Each day they strive to live up to the core values of honor, courage and commitment, and the standards of those who came before them, leaders of character who have gone on to serve our country with distinction.
What they accomplished this season is a direct result of that ethos and mindset. The players here on stage and to my left in the audience, are some of the very best our country has to offer. And just a little over two months, these 28 seniors standing behind me will graduate and commission as officers in our Navy and Marine Corps under your command, Mr. President.
They will do so with character, discipline and the values that define this institution. I also want to recognize our fellow service academies, the United States Army and the United States Air Force. The rivalry we share is among the greatest traditions in college football, but it is grounded in deep and enduring respect, because we know that one day, many of these young men may stand shoulder to shoulder in defense of our nation.
The Commander in Chief's Trophy represents the commitment, discipline, teamwork that define the future leaders and warfighters of our armed forces. Every day, our players balance the demands of division one athletics with the responsibility of preparing to serve as officers. That challenge forges the character this trophy represents.
In our view, it is the most meaningful and honorable trophy in all of college sports. To our families, alumni, and the countless people who support the Naval Academy, thank you. Your belief in these young men and what this institution stands for makes moments like this possible and special. Mr. President, thank you for hosting us today and for your continued support of the men and women who serve our great country.
At this time, I'd like to bring our two captains, Landen Robinson and Blake Horvath up to present you with a couple of gifts. Thank you.
Trump: Great. Thank you.
Robinson: That's for you, sir.
Trump: Would you like to say a few words?
Horvath: Sure, for sure. Well, first, Mr. President, it's just an honor to be here.
Trump: This football -- this is very heavy.
Horvath: I know.
Trump: You need a strong neck for this.
Horvath: Like you said, you're the healthiest guy here, so you got the neck to do it. Yes, sir. So, uh, just want to say thank you so much for having us here, um, absolute honor. And last year, I was hesitant to say it's a once in a lifetime experience, right, because I knew we'd be back this year. So I'm glad I can now say it's a twice in a lifetime experience.
Um, and just couldn't have done it without our whole team here, right, our support staff from the strength and the trainers to all these guys and all the guys who are -- are still at school right now in class, uh, thanks to all of them and just for everybody for supporting us and, uh, you know, uh, go Navy, beat everybody.
Robinson: Absolutely. You know, first off, thank you, Mr. President, for the opportunity to be here. Blake said it, said most of it, but I'm just so thankful to all my teammates, all my coaches, for all the hard work they've put in. It's very hard to go 11 and 2 in a season, but I couldn't be more proud to play for Navy football, and I couldn't be more proud to represent the United States Naval Academy. So go Navy, beat Army forever.
Trump: We're going to see you at the Oval Office. Now, anybody does not want to go to the Oval, please raise your hand. OK. I'll see you in the oval. I had a feeling you were going to do that. Thank you. See you in a couple of minutes. OK? We have something for you. Thank you, everybody, very much.