TRANSCRIPT: Remarks: Donald Trump Meets with Family Members of Fallen Servicemembers, 8.25.25

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President Trump: Thank you very much. This is a very special group of people. I've been with them from the beginning. Abbey Gate. You know, Abbey Gate, one of the dumbest days in the history of our country by a previous administration, uh, getting out of a place that we shouldn't have been. At a minimum, they should have been at Bagram, the big field where ---- you know, we have hundreds of acres around it, nobody's gonna get near it. They left from a small airfield and the consequences were horrible. And these people have been my friends, have been with me, and I've been with them a hundred percent. And we meet more than once a year, actually. I think our all-time meeting was in Bedminster, right?

Unidentified: Yeah.

Unidentified: Right, sir.

Trump: Late into the night. They thought I'd be there maybe for five minutes, maybe not at all, and I showed up in like four hours. We're listening to music all night long, and they were all crying because they lost their loved ones. But, uh, it's a lot of -- It's four years. It's a four-year anniversary. So we're signing a proclamation, uh, honoring them, and honoring you and honoring your loved one. And, uh, so sad and so unnecessary. And, you know, what people don't know, there were a lot of other people killed from the other side. I call that, you know, it's people killed. And the people that we also contact are, we have like 32, maybe more, but approximately 32 who lost their arms and their legs. And now it's, uh -- Your kids didn't make it. They made it, but boy, they gotta go through hell. And, uh, we have 32, at a minimum, 32. And then you had hundreds of people killed overall. You had hundreds of people killed that day. That was a rough day. We had 13 of our great ones, right?

Unidentified: Yes, sir.

Trump: And somehow, this, this group is just, uh, we get together every once in a while. So I just want to, uh, thank you. We're four years now into this nightmare. What? Just a nightmare. I think that, that date also helped to start the war with Putin and Ukraine, because he saw how incompetent our military was under Biden and under Milley and all these dopes, these dopey people. And that's not our military, you see what our military is now, we knock the hell outta people if we have to or we settle, 'cause they don't wanna play games with us. But I just wanna say, I'm, I'm really honored to be with you again and we'll be with, with each other for a long time. And, uh, your loved ones are looking down and they're very proud. This is the new and improved Oval Office. We had a, an Oval Office, which was still the Oval Office, so I don't want to disrespect it, but now it's, uh, it's very special. You see what's happened and everyone loves it. It's all the real, the real deal. 24-carat gold. And people, uh, come from all over and, uh, I do believe they're serious. They're not rolling their eyes, you know. The roller of the eyes, but we don't have any of them. And we brought the pictures up. They were in the vaults. So as the pictures of some of our great presidents, a lot of 'em. And they were in the vaults for over a hundred years in many cases. And they were just there. Beautiful pictures. Works of art. Lincoln, it's Lincoln, Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Andrew Jackson. That's Monroe of the Monroe document. Uh, all mostly great presidents. We have a couple of none. You know, Benjamin Franklin, not a president, but we figured he'd make the cut. You know. [Laughter] I would say, he discovered electricity, a couple of other things. But, uh, we have, uh, a lot of great presidents. But think of it, they've been down there. There's George Washington, the big one. They've been down there for, in some cases, much more than a hundred years. And we brought 'em out. I went through the vaults myself. I spent hours down there looking. That's in between Russia, Ukraine, China, all the other stuff. We do it. Uh, I want to thank Doug Collins for being here, the secretary, who's done an unbelievable job. Thank you very much. And JD, thank you very much, you've been fantastic. And all of the others, Pete, good. We did a little thing with Pete about Secretary of War today, and it seemed to be well received. [Laughter] We'll do it a couple of more times. And if everyone likes it, we'll make that change, Pete. You'll, you'll decide. But, uh, I just want to thank everybody for being here. Very special to me. A very special day. Four years is a very special time. And now, it's lightening up, but it'll never be really light. But, uh, there are some great souls that are looking down on you right now, and they're very proud of their parents and brothers and sisters and, uh, but moms and dads especially. And that's what I seem to have dealt with mostly. It's a tough -- There's nothing tougher. So thank you very much. In the media, I want to thank you 'cause you've been very respectful of this group of people. Uh, and they deserve it. They went through hell for no reason. It should have never happened. And I'm gonna sign the proclamation now, and we will have our -- We will have a very special proclamation done and completed. Okay? Oh, that's a good one. [Laughter] That's our good one. We read them. [Laughter] I don't put 'em under the autopen, I don't say. I have the -- [Laughter] -- have the autopen sign it, right? We don't do that. I don't know how –

Unidentified: Yeah.

Trump: -- anybody is allowed to do that. They actually weren't.

Unidentified: Mm-hmm. Thank you, sir.

Unidentified: Thank you.

Trump: Good one, right?

Unidentified: Yes.

Trump: You ask a couple of good questions today. It's been very fair actually. Okay? Do you have any questions on this subject, please?

Question: Mr. President?

Trump: Yes.

Question: The defense secretary has ordered a review of Afghanistan withdrawal, that is ongoing. I'm curious if you have any update on that review? And then for the families, um, I know that there was frustration with previous investigations on Capitol Hill. Are you satisfied with the speed of this investigation thus far?

Trump: Uh, Pete, do you want to answer that?

Pete Hegseth: Yes, sir. Uh, on behalf of this beautiful group, on behalf of these families, on behalf of your loved ones who fought for our nation, uh, America deserves answers as far as what happened in Afghanistan. The military needs to answer for what happened in Afghanistan. So, uh, upon the President's direction, immediately we initiated an investigation which showed that there needed an even deeper dive. So Sean Parnell, our Pentagon spokesman, who himself is an Afghanistan veteran, is leading this effort. It's a top priority for us. Uh, we're getting access to all documents necessary, why decisions were made, why they weren't made, why certain force protection measures were ignored. Uh, again, there's never been accountability for this. Uh, it's something that Joe Biden allowed to happen that never should have happened. Anybody who, any objective observer knows, that's not how you leave a country. And certainly these families know better than anyone else. Uh, these families deserve answers. We're gonna be honest about it. We're gonna get to the bottom of it. Sean Parnell, an Afghanistan vet is leading it, and we're doing it on behalf of the American people. So I would, I would anticipate, uh, middle of 2026. That's how thorough of the review we're doing. Hopefully a little bit sooner, but we're going into everything to get an understanding of what happened.

Trump: So we remember these great 13 souls, but we also remember the people that were so badly injured, our soldiers, 32 of them approximately. And, uh, we're in contact with them always also. But they lost arms and legs and their faces were blown to pieces and they're incredible. And they, uh, they suffer with it. And so we understand that. It should have never happened, should have never been allowed to have happened. And, uh, they were in the wrong, the wrong place. Bagram was the place to be big, massive airfield with hundreds of acres surrounding it. Nobody could get near it. And who would not have done that? But we had a bunch of incompetent people running our country. Uh, so we are going to, uh, talk for a little while. We'll talk about people that I've gotten to know, the sons and daughters and others that died. And, and there were hundreds of people that died that day, hundreds from, many from the other side, needlessly also. They did nothing to hurt anybody. But, uh, that was a, that was a terrible day. And then I think it was the worst day and in many ways, the most embarrassing day in the history of our country. And yet at the same time, we learned so much that, uh, it's, you know, we call it a big lesson. It won't happen again. A thing like that can never be allowed to happen again. Doug, would you like to say something? Please. You've been so fantastic at the DA. I appreciate it.

Doug Collins: Well, thank you, Mr. President, for these families here. I think you expressed the, the nation's grief of what happened. And we saw just a tragic mistake that was there. Someone has been in the military, I was in Iraq and others, but Afghanistan, when you saw that withdrawal. But what you've suffered and went through. And for those that you've mentioned, Mr. President, who are injured, who took –

Trump: Right

Collins: -- uh, the VA, the Department of Defense, we're taking care of those folks. We're gonna continue to do so, uh, at your direction. But with the families, it's just one of those things, it is a place that never goes away. But I know from this president is he's made a commitment that that memory will not be forgotten. And the cabinet understands that. And our American people understand that because of what she does.

Trump: Well, this is actually our biggest gathering today. So you must have heard Oval Office and you said, "I want to get there and be with Trump in the Oval Office. But it is, and it is a special place. But this is our biggest gathering in terms of, uh, the numbers everybody here 'cause there was always be, you know, somebody couldn't be. Everybody's here. And that's, that's a great honor. I think it's a great honor. JD, do you wanna say a couple of words, please?

JD Vance: Oh, sir, I just echo what you said. We're so honored to have all of you here. I know that, uh, days like today can't make the hurt go away, but hopefully four years on we can start to, uh, remember with fondness and with a little bit of joy, the people that were taken from us. We're so proud of you. We're so proud of your loved ones for giving their life for our country. And I think importantly today, this is a rectification of a wrong. The fact that the President of the United States lost your loved ones through incompetence, but never acknowledged it. And your government never actually put pen to paper to say, "We're grateful for your sacrifice." We correct that wrong today, and we're gonna keep on fighting to understand, as Pete said, what happened so it never happens to another family again. But God love you all. God bless you. We're so thrilled to have you here in the people's Oval Office. [Audience responds "Thank you"]

Trump: And I don't think, I don't think they ever heard from, uh, Biden or anybody, did they?

Vance: No, no they did not.

Trump: You never speak to, nobody ever even called you. It's a terrible thing we suffered through for four years so needlessly. Yes, ma'am?

Question: I wanted to ask about veterans. And I wanted to say, I'm so sorry for all of your loss, and I know we've covered it in the media, but I can't imagine what you all been through. And thank you for being here. I wanted to ask just on behalf of those veterans who served in Afghanistan and Iraq, and I know we talked about this in the Oval previously, about making sure care for those, for example, exposed to burn pits while serving.

Trump: Yeah

Question: Um, making sure that they have the care. Are you considering maybe a streamlined service like the World Trade Center Healthcare Program? And maybe the Veterans Secretary can comment too. But are you considering something like that to make sure?

Trump: We're considering a lot of things.

Question: 'Cause it seems like they're struggling to get care.

Trump: We take care of our vets. Nobody loves our vets more than me. And we take good care of our vets, great care of our vets. Uh, do you want to just say a couple of words about what we're doing, Doug, please?

Collins: Yeah, sure, Mr. President. And through the PACT Act and through others with the burn pit, which is something I've been under as well, we're, uh, streamlining following the Congress direction, but we're also adding more, uh, services. We've included a lot who have been, uh, who have applied. We're also streaming on our backlog. Under President Trump's direction also, we took that backlog that was under President, uh, Biden was up at over 260,000. We're down now, Mr. President, I get to tell you, that under 150,000, uh, in just a over six months. So we're making sure that that what was bogged up in a bureaucratic system, we're streamlining it so they get that care quicker, and we're making sure that it, uh, is what they need. And then we're also doing that in our hospitals as well, so they get that care, uh, quicker. And not only in our hospitals --

Question: Yeah.

Collins: -- but in our community as well. That's been the biggest difference. We're about the veteran at VA, not about the bureaucracy, so we are making progress there.

Question: Okay. Can I j- --

Trump: And the VA has a 93% approval rating. It was down in the low 40s, uh, when we did. So, I had pretty close to that, uh, in the first term. We had a great first term and it was pretty close to that. Uh, and then they took over and it went down into the 30s and 20s and 40s, but it went down at one point to 28 or 29%, which is terrible. They gave away, uh, choice and accountability. Choice meaning you have the way to, as a veteran, you can go and you can choose who your doctor is, et cetera, et cetera. They gave that up. And accountability is getting rid of the people that were sadists and really bad people that abused our veterans ,and really badly abused them. And they got rid of both of them, and we put them back. I couldn't believe when they did it. And anyway, but we're now, you've blown everybody away, Doug, at 93%.

Question: Mm-hmm.

Trump: So, that's good.

Question: Yes, sir. It's only b- --

Question: And on Department of War, how do you plan to do that? It requires an Act of Congress to rename the Defense Department to the Department of War. Are you --

Trump: We're just gonna do it. I'm sure Congress will go along if we need that. I don't think we even need that. But, uh, if we need that, uh, I'm sure Congress will go along. You know, we, that was the name when we were, we won World War I, we won World War II, we won everything. And, uh, just to me seems like, uh, just a much more appropriate. The other is defense is too defensive and, uh, we wanna be defensive, but we wanna be offensive too, if we have to be. So, it just sounded to me better, really like a better name. Yeah, Steven?

Trump: Mr. President, following your meeting with President Lee of South Korea, did you end up talking about trade, and did you reach any conclusion?

Question: Yeah, I think we have a deal done. They, uh, had some problems with it, but we, we stuck to our guns. We, we are going to, they're gonna make the deal that they agreed to make. And he's a very good guy, very good representative for South Korea. Uh, it's a very big trade deal, you know. It's the biggest deal they've ever made by far, but it's one of the biggest deals ever made. The biggest deal ever made is the one with the European nations as you know. Uh, the, uh, the Europe deal is the biggest deal ever made. I think it's the biggest deal ever made, period. And, uh, they pay us $950 billion coming into this country and lots of other things. They're gonna buy $750 billion worth of our oil, and gas, and all of the other things. So, it's, it's amazing. Our country is doing so well, so strong now. And you saw where the tariffs came in at, uh, $4 trillion, $4 trillion. And they just, the CBO, they just announced it. Uh, I told them that was gonna happen, but they refused to give us credit for it. Now, they're giving us credit 'cause the money is flowing in. They just found $31 billion that nobody knew where it came from. And they, I said, "Check the tariff shelf." And they said, "How did you know that's where it came from?" Well, we're taking in a, a lot. Look, we were abused by tariffs for many years. Nobody at this country got it. Nobody, no president got it till I came along. Nobody got it. We were abused by other countries. Where China, I mean, take a look. That's what they, what they did is essentially, uh, what I'm doing, but we're doing it at a better scale, and we're making up for lost time. And we're also making sure a lot of c- -- these countries respect us for doing it. They couldn't believe what they got away with. I mean, I was told, I told a couple of people, "What do you think?" He said, one of them, a Prime Minister said to me, "I can't believe we got away with it so long. Just couldn't believe it." I'll tell you what, Prime Minister Abe, who was great at Japan, who was fortunately assassinated, he used to say, "I can't believe we got away with this for so long." You know, they send millions of cars in and we weren't allowed to send one car. They wouldn't accept one car in Japan, and yet they would send millions and millions of cars into our country. No tax, no nothing. So, no, we're just doing the right thing. And it's, uh, it's making our country rich and beautiful and, uh, it's very important. Uh, I felt so foolish for years watching this take place. You know, we did it in my first term with China. We took in hundreds of billions of dollars of tariffs. But when COVID came back, we focused on that. We did a really good job, but the w- -- the whole world suffered with that one. That was a terrible thing, so we couldn't be tariffing countries. And if you look at what happened to France, and Spain, and Italy, and all, not gonna go say, "By the way, uh, we want tariffs." So, but now we do say that, and it's, it's tremendous. And we're respected, we're the most respected we've ever been. Thank you very much, everybody. I appreciate it.

Aide: Thank you, press. Thank you, press. Thank you. Thank you, press. Thank you, press. Thank you.

Trump: Thank you very much.

Aide: Thank you, press. Thank you, thank you. Yes, thank you.

Trump: Thank you. [Inaudible] That's gonna be the walk of fame, you know that.

Question: Ooh, I'll try.

Trump: Hi, Steve.

Question: Hi, sir.

Trump: He's been with us for a long week. 90% Good questions. Every once in a while you hit me with that. And he's such a good man, you're not prepared for it when he asks you that. He gets you by surprise.

Question: You're very pa- --

Transcript courtesy of CQ Factbase