NPR LIVE TRANSCRIPT
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Mr. Speaker, the President of the United States.

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DONALD TRUMP
Thank you very much.

PAUL RYAN
Members of Congress, I have the high privilege and the distinct honor of presenting to you the President of the United States.

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DONALD TRUMP
Thank you very much. Mr. Speaker, Mr. Vice President, members of Congress, the first lady of the United States.

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DONALD TRUMP
And citizens of America, tonight, as we mark the conclusion of our celebration of black history month, we are reminded of our nation’s path toward civil rights and the work that still remains to be done. Recent threats —

President Trump began his speech with a nod to the civil rights movement and Black History Month, using markedly different rhetoric from his campaign. In the months leading up to the election, Trump began asking the rhetorical question to black voters — in front of overwhelmingly white audiences — “What the hell do you have to lose?” He painted a picture of black neighborhoods as wracked with poverty, crime and schools that are “no good,” as he put it. Trump’s words were roundly criticized by many African-American leaders as insensitive and an unfair portrayal of their communities. Despite that criticism, Trump outperformed 2012 GOP nominee Mitt Romney among black voters. In his speech to Congress, the president struck a gentler, more conciliatory tone.


Sarah McCammon
NPR Politics Reporter/Covers Trump
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DONALD TRUMP
Recent threats targeting Jewish community centers and vandalism of Jewish cemeteries, as well as last week’s shooting in Kansas City, remind us that while we may be a nation divided on policies, we are a country that stands united in condemning hate and evil in all of its very ugly forms.

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This week, the Anti-Defamation League issued a nationwide security advisory after it tallied around 90 bomb threats to Jewish institutions since the start of the year. The shooting President Trump mentions occurred in Olathe, Kan.


Carrie Johnson
NPR Justice Correspondent
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DONALD TRUMP
Each American generation passes the torch of truth, liberty, and justice in an unbroken chain all the way down to the president. That torch is now in our hands, and we will use it to light up the world. I am here tonight to deliver a message of unity and strength, and it is a message deeply delivered from my heart. A new chapter —

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DONALD TRUMP
— of American greatness is now beginning. A new national pride is sweeping across our nation, and a new surge of optimism is placing impossible dreams firmly within our grasp. What we are witnessing today is the renewal of the American spirit. Our allies will find once that America is once again ready to lead.

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The inner cities of Chicago, Baltimore, Detroit, and so many other places throughout our land. We’ve defended the borders of other nations while leaving our own borders wide open for anyone to cross and for drugs to pour in at a now unprecedented rate.

And we’ve spent trillions and trillions of dollars overseas while our infrastructure at home has so badly crumbled. Then in 2016, the Earth shifted beneath our feet. The rebellion started as a quiet protest, spoken by families of all colors and creeds, families who just wanted a fair shot for their children and a fair hearing for their concerns. But then, the quiet voices became a loud chorus, as thousands of citizens now spoke out together from cities small and large all across our country. Finally, the chorus became an earthquake, and the people turned out, by the tens of millions, and they were all united by one very simple but crucial demand – that America must put its own citizens first. Because only then, can we truly make America great again.

The American Society of Civil Engineers’ latest report card (in 2013) on the overall condition of the nation’s infrastructure gave the country a D+. America’s airports, roads, transit, schools, dams and drinking water and wastewater systems all got grades of D; levees, a D-. Among the few bright spots were railroads and bridges at C+. And federal investment in upgrading and repairing infrastructure has remained flat in recent years, while the highway trust fund is losing money when adjusted for inflationary costs. The group’s next report card on the state of our infrastructure is due out March 9.

David Schaper
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Trump’s comment about “trillions of dollars” alludes to estimates that the total costs of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, which included significant spending on reconstruction as well as the direct costs involved with troops and combat, could add up to $4 trillion or more. Such estimates also factor in the costs involved with taking care of veterans after their deployments, which continue for decades after major combat, and the costs associated with servicing the debt used to finance the wars.

Phil Ewing
NPR National Security Editor
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This is a reference to his election. He may not be saying here that he got 306 electoral votes, as he has recently, but it was intended as a reminder to Democrats that he won. Trump got just shy of 63 million votes, but everyone who turned out to the polls certainly wasn’t “united.” Trump finished almost 3 million votes short of his Democratic rival, Hillary Clinton. He has blamed that on immigrants in the country illegally voting illegally — as many as 3 million to 5 million, Trump claims. There is zero evidence of that. The Ohio secretary of state, a Republican, found that 82 noncitizens voted in at least one Ohio election and that 385 were registered to vote in 2015.


Domenico Montanaro
NPR Political Editor
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Dying industries will come roaring back to life, heroic veterans will get the care they so desperately need. Our military will be given the resources its brave warriors so richly deserve. Crumbling infrastructure will be replaced with new roads, bridges, tunnels, airports and railways, gleaming across our very very beautiful land. Our terrible drug epidemic will slow down and ultimately stop, and our neglected inner cities will see a rebirth of hope, safety, and opportunity. Above all else, we will keep our promises to the American people.

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DONALD TRUMP
Thank you. It’s been a little over a month since my inauguration, and I want to take this moment to update the nation on the progress I have made in keeping those promises. Since my election, Ford, Fiat, Chrysler, General Motors, Sprint, Softbank, Lockheed, Wal Mart, and many others have announced they will invest billions and billions of dollars in the United States and will create tens of thousands of new American jobs.

The president has publicly urged many CEOs to keep production and jobs in the United States. However, most of the companies who have announced plans to create jobs and add to factories had planned to do so before Trump was elected. One notable exception was the announcement by Ford that it is canceling plans to build a factory in Mexico and will instead spend $700 million to add on to a plant in Michigan.


John Ydstie
NPR Correspondent, Business Desk
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DONALD TRUMP
The stock market has gained almost $3 trillion in value since the election on November 8, a record. We’ve saved taxpayers hundreds of millions of dollars by bringing down the price of fantastic — and it is a fantastic – new, F-35 jet fighter, and we will be saving billions more on contracts all across our government. We have placed a hiring freeze on non-military and non-essential federal workers. We have begun to drain the swamp of government corruption by imposing a five-year ban on lobbying by executive branch officials, and a lifetime ban —

Trump’s new endorsement of the F-35 will very likely come as a huge relief to the Pentagon, jet builder Lockheed Martin and the vast array of constituents around the globe of the world’s costliest weapons program. He scolded Lockheed for what he called the unreasonable cost to buy the advanced new warplanes, estimated at around $400 billion, and threatened to buy more copies of an older-model jet built by Boeing instead. Defense analysts, however, have pointed out that the price per copy for the F-35 was already falling before he took office.

Phil Ewing
NPR National Security Editor
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DONALD TRUMP
Thank you. — and a lifetime ban on becoming lobbyists for a foreign government. We have undertaken a historic effort to massively reduce job crushing regulations, creating a deregulation task force inside of every government agency.

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DONALD TRUMP
And we are imposing a new rule which mandates that for every one new regulation, two old regulations must be eliminated.

We’ve yet to see any regulations rolled back through this initiative. But Congress has overturned two regulations through use of the Congressional Review Act, and earlier Tuesday, Trump signed an executive order calling for a review of another, The Waters Of The United States Act, which has been put on hold by a federal appeals court.


Brian Naylor
NPR Washington Desk Correspondent
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DONALD TRUMP
We are going to stop the regulations that threaten the future and livelihood of our great coal miners.

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We have cleared the way for the construction of the Keystone and Dakota Access pipelines.

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DONALD TRUMP
Thereby creating tens of thousands of jobs, and I’ve issued a new directive that new American pipelines be made with American steel.

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We have withdrawn the United States from the job killing Trans-Pacific Partnership.

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DONALD TRUMP
And with the help of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, we have formed a counsel with our neighbors in Canada to help ensure that women entrepreneurs have access to the networks, markets and capital they need to start a business and live out their financial dreams.

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DONALD TRUMP
To protect our citizens, I have directed the Department of Justice to form a task force on reducing violent crime. I have further ordered the Departments of Homeland Security and Justice, along with the Department of State and the Director of National Intelligence, to coordinate an aggressive strategy to dismantle the criminal cartels that have spread all across our nation.

Attorney General Jeff Sessions announced a “crime reduction and public safety task force” that includes the FBI, Drug Enforcement Administration, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and the U.S. Marshals earlier Tuesday to confront what he called a “crisis.” While murders are up across several major cities, violent crime remains near record lows, according to most criminologists.


Carrie Johnson
NPR Justice Correspondent
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During the campaign, Trump promised to stop the flow of heroin from Mexico and help families struggling with the epidemic. At the same time, he also vowed to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act. That could set up a potential tension between competing goals, given that many people addicted to opioids rely on the Medicaid expansion under Obamacare to receive treatment and overall health care. What’s more, many of the states hardest hit by the epidemic, like West Virginia, voted for Trump, and many residents are looking to the administration to improve their economic circumstances.


Sarah McCammon
NPR Politics Reporter/Covers Trump
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DONALD TRUMP
At the same time, my administration has answered the pleas of the American people for immigration enforcement and border security.

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DONALD TRUMP
By finally enforcing our immigration laws, we will raise wages, help the unemployed, save billions and billions of dollars, and make our communities safer for everyone.

President Trump has signed several executive orders on immigration and border security. But they were framed as matters of national security, not helping the unemployed. Many economists believe immigration is an overall plus for the economy, although it may hold down wages for workers without high school diplomas.

Joel Rose
NPR Correspondent/Covers Immigration
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DONALD TRUMP
We want all Americans to succeed, but that can’t happen in an environment of lawless chaos. We must restore integrity and the rule of law at our borders.

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DONALD TRUMP
For that reason, we will soon begin the construction of a great, great wall along our southern border.

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DONALD TRUMP
As we speak tonight, we are removing gang members, drug dealers, and criminals that threaten our communities and prey on our very innocent citizens. Bad ones are going out, as I speak, and as I promised throughout the campaign. To any in Congress who do not believe we should enforce our laws, I would ask you this one question: What would you say to the American family that loses their jobs, their income, or their loved one because America refused to uphold its laws and defend its borders?

Trump’s executive orders, and the implementation memos released a few weeks later by the Department of Homeland Security, greatly expand which immigrants are a priority for deportation. Critics say the new policies make anyone in the country illegally a possible target, not just those who have committed a serious crime as the White House contends.

Joel Rose
NPR Correspondent/Covers Immigration
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DONALD TRUMP
Our obligation is to serve, protect, and defend the citizens of the United States. We are also taking strong measures to protect our nation from radical Islamic terrorism.

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DONALD TRUMP
According to data provided by the Department of Justice, the vast majority of individuals convicted of terrorism and terrorism-related offense since 9/11 came here from outside of our country. We have seen the attacks at home, from Boston to San Bernardino, to the Pentagon, and yes, even the World Trade Center. We have seen the attacks in France, in Belgium, in Germany, and all over the world. It is not compassion but reckless to allow uncontrolled entry from places where proper vetting cannot occur.

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DONALD TRUMP
That is why my administration has been working on improved vetting procedures, and we will shortly take new steps to keep our nation safe and to keep those out who will do us harm.

Federal judges have put on hold President Trump’s executive order temporarily banning travelers from seven majority-Muslim countries, citing concerns it may violate due process rights of visitors and green card holders and could discriminate on the basis of religion. The White House is expected to unveil a new executive order, tailored to respond to the court rulings, as early as Wednesday. The ACLU and other civil rights groups say it’s not clear whether a new order will fix all of the constitutional problems they see with the plan.


Carrie Johnson
NPR Justice Correspondent
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DONALD TRUMP
As promised, I directed the Department of Defense to develop a plan to demolish and destroy ISIS, a network of lawless savages that have slaughtered Muslims and Christians and men and women and children of all faiths and all beliefs. We will work with our allies, including our friends and allies in the Muslim world, to extinguish this vile enemy from our planet.

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DONALD TRUMP
I have also imposed new sanctions on entities and individuals who support Iran’s ballistic missile program, and reaffirmed our unbreakable alliance with the state of Israel.

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DONALD TRUMP
I am greatly honored to have Maureen Scalia with us in the gallery tonight.

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Carrie Johnson
NPR Justice Correspondent
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DONALD TRUMP
Tonight, as I outlined the next steps we must take as a country, we must honestly acknowledge the circumstances we inherited. 94 million Americans are out of the labor force. Over 43 million people are now living in poverty, and over 43 million Americans are on food stamps.

More than one in five people in their prime working years are not working. We have the worst financial recovery and 65 years. In the last eight years, the past administration has put on more new debt than nearly all of the other presidents combined.

We have lost more than one fourth of our manufacturing jobs since NAFTA was approved, and we have lost 60,000 factories since China joined the World Trade Organization in 2001.

Our trade deficit in the goods with the world last year was nearly $800 billion, and overseas, we have inherited a serious tragic foreign policy disasters. Solving these and so many other pressing problems require us to work asked the differences of party. It will require us to tap into the American spirit that has overcome every challenge throughout our long and storied history. But to accomplish our goals at home and abroad, we must restart the engine of the American economy, making it easy to do business in the United States, and much much harder for companies to leave our country.

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DONALD TRUMP
Right now, American companies are taxed at one of the highest rates anywhere in the world. My economic team is developing historic tax reform that will reduce the tax rate on our companies so they can compete and thrive anywhere and with anyone.

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DONALD TRUMP
It will be a big, big cut. At the same time we will provide massive tax relief for the middle class. We must create a level playing field for American companies and our workers. Have to do it.

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DONALD TRUMP
Currently when we ship products out of America, many other countries make us pay very high tariffs and taxes. But when foreign companies ship their products into America, we charge them nothing or almost nothing. I just met with officials and workers from a great American company, Harley Davidson. In fact, they proudly displayed five of their magnificent motorcycles, made in the U.S.A., on the front lawn of the White House.

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DONALD TRUMP
And they wanted me to ride one, and I said, no thank you.

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DONALD TRUMP
At our meeting, I asked them, how are you doing, how is business? They said it is good. I asked them further, how they are doing with other countries, mainly with international sales. They told me, without complaining, because they have been so mistreated for so long that they have become used to it, that it is very hard to do business with other countries because they tax our goods at such a high rate. They said that in the case of another country, they tax their motorcycles at 100%. They weren’t even asking for a change but I am. I believe —

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DONALD TRUMP
I believe strongly in free trade, but it also has to be fair trade. It has been a long time since we had fair trade. The first Republican president, Abraham Lincoln, warned that the “abandonment of the protective policy by the American government will produce want and ruin among our people." Lincoln was right, and it is time we heeded his advice and his words.

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DONALD TRUMP
I am not going to let America and its great companies and workers be taken advantage of anymore. They have taken advantage of our country. No longer.

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DONALD TRUMP
I am going to bring back millions of jobs. Protecting our workers also means reforming our system of legal immigration.

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DONALD TRUMP
The current, outdated system depresses wages for our poorest workers and puts great pressure on taxpayers. Nations around the world, like Canada, Australia, and many others have a merit-based, immigration system.

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DONALD TRUMP
It is a basic principle that those seeking to enter a country ought to be able to support themselves financially. Yet, in America, we do not enforce this rule, straining the very public resources that our poorest citizens rely upon.

According to the National Academy of Sciences, our current immigration system costs American taxpayers many billions of dollars a year. Switching away from this current system of lower-skilled immigration, and instead adopting a merit-based system, we will have so many more benefits. It will save countless dollars, raise workers’ wages, and help struggling families, including immigrant families, enter the middle class. And they will do it quickly and they will be very, very happy indeed.

Trump appears to be referring to this study published last year by the National Academy of Sciences. It found that “the impact of immigration on the wages of native-born workers overall is very small.” The study also found that first-generation immigrants are more costly to state and local governments. But the children of immigrants, on the other hand, are among the “strongest economic and fiscal contributors in the U.S. population, contributing more in taxes than either their parents or the rest of the native-born population.”

Joel Rose
NPR Correspondent/Covers Immigration
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DONALD TRUMP
I believe that real and positive immigration reform is possible, as long as we focus on the following goals: To improve jobs and wages for Americans, to strengthen our nation’s security, and to restore respect for our laws. If we are guided by the well-being of American citizens, then I believe Republicans and Democrats can work together to achieve an outcome that has eluded our country for decades.

This is a sharp turn from Trump’s rhetoric on immigration in the first weeks of his presidency.

He has floated the idea of reform before. But as president, he has focused on tougher enforcement of existing immigration laws, cracking down on sanctuary cities, and building a wall on the border with Mexico. Trump even invited several family members of people who were killed by immigrants in the country illegally to attend Tuesday’s speech.

Joel Rose
NPR Correspondent/Covers Immigration
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DONALD TRUMP
Another Republican president, Dwight D. Eisenhower, initiated the last truly great national infrastructure program, the building of the interstate highway system. The time has come for a new program of national rebuilding.

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DONALD TRUMP
America has spent approximately $6 trillion in the Middle East. All the while our infrastructure at home has crumbled. With this $6 trillion, we could have rebuilt our country twice, and maybe even three times, if we had people who had the ability to negotiate.

The American Society of Civil Engineers estimated in 2013 that the nation would need to spend $3.6 trillion by 2020 to put our airports, roads, bridges, dams, levees, wastewater, drinking water and other infrastructure into a state of good repair. That cost estimate has almost certainly increased since then.

David Schaper
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DONALD TRUMP
To launch our national rebuilding, I will be asking the Congress to approve legislation that produces a $1 trillion investment in infrastructure of the United States financed through both, public and private capital, creating millions of new jobs.

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DONALD TRUMP
This effort will be guided by two core principles: Buy American and hire American.

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DONALD TRUMP
Tonight I am also calling on this Congress to repeal and replace Obamacare —

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DONALD TRUMP
— with reforms that expand choice, increase access, lower costs, and at the same time, provide better healthcare.

Republicans in Congress took the first steps to repeal Obamacare in January. However, they’ve had trouble coming up with a replacement plan they can agree on. House Speaker Paul Ryan released an outline of the working Republican plan last week, but almost immediately some House Republicans said they would oppose the plan. And an analysis of the plan by McKinsey and Avalere Health and presented to the National Governors Association last week showed that it could lead to millions of people losing their health care coverage.


Alison Kodjak
NPR Health Policy Correspondent
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DONALD TRUMP
Mandating every American to buy government-approved health insurance was never the right solution for our country.

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DONALD TRUMP
The way to make health insurance available to everyone is to lower the cost of health insurance, and that is what we are going to do.

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DONALD TRUMP
Obamacare premiums nationwide have increased by double and triple digits. As an example, Arizona went up 116% last year alone. Governor Matt Bevin of Kentucky just said Obamacare is failing in his state. The state of Kentucky, and it is unsustainable and collapsing.

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One third of counties have only one insurer, and they are losing them fast. They are losing them so fast, they are leaving, and many Americans have no choice at all. There is no choice left. Remember, when you were told that you could keep your doctor and keep your plan? We now know that all of those promises have been totally broken. Obamacare is collapsing, and we must act decisively to protect all Americans.

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DONALD TRUMP
Action is not a choice. It is a necessity. So I am calling on all Democrats and Republicans in Congress to work with us to save Americans from this imploding Obamacare disaster.

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DONALD TRUMP
Here are the principles that should guide Congress as we move to create a better healthcare system for all Americans. First, we should ensure that Americans with pre-existing conditions have access to coverage, and that we have a stable transition for Americans currently enrolled in the health care exchanges.

The Affordable Care Act requires insurance companies to offer insurance to people with existing medical conditions at the same price as to others in the same area and the same age. President Trump and congressional Republicans have said they want to ensure those same protections are in their replacement plan. House Speaker Paul Ryan’s plan as of now would bar insurers from discriminating against people with pre-existing conditions as long as they kept their insurance without interruption. However, if they let their insurance lapse, then they could be charged a penalty to re-enroll could be charged more.


Alison Kodjak
NPR Health Policy Correspondent
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DONALD TRUMP
Secondly, we should help Americans purchase their own coverage, through the use of tax credits and expanded health savings accounts, but it must be the plan they want, not the plan forced on them by our government.

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DONALD TRUMP
Thirdly, we should give our state governors the resources and flexibility they need with Medicaid to make sure no one is left out.

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DONALD TRUMP
Fourth, we should implement legal reforms that protect patients and doctors from unnecessary costs that drive up the price of insurance and work to bring down the artificially high price of drugs and bring them down immediately.

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DONALD TRUMP
And finally, the time has come to give Americans the freedom to purchase health insurance across state lines.

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DONALD TRUMP
Which will create a truly competitive national marketplace that will bring cost way down and provide far better care. So important. Everything that is broken in our country can be fixed. Every problem can be solved. And every hurting family can find healing and hope. Our citizens deserve this and so much more. So why not join forces and finally get the job done and get it done right?

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DONALD TRUMP
On this and so many other things, Democrats and Republicans should get together and unite for the good of our country and for the good of the American people.

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DONALD TRUMP
My administration wants to work with members of both parties to make childcare accessible and affordable, to help ensure new parents – that they have paid family leave.

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DONALD TRUMP
To invest in women’s health, and to promote clean air and clean water, and to rebuild our military and our infrastructure.

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DONALD TRUMP
True love for our people requires us to find common ground, to advance the common good and to cooperate on behalf of every American child who deserves a much brighter future. An incredible young woman is with us this evening, who should serve as an inspiration to us all. Today is Rare Disease Day, and

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Author: Sarah McCammon (sm)

Slug: promising-a-better-america-26

Published: No

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[This is evocative of Trump’s lofty campaign promises – not only to “Make America Great Again,” but also to make dreams come true. Just  over  a month before the election, Trump told voters the stakes were high, saying, You have 40 days to make every dream you ever dreamed for your country come true."]