politics and pros books store in washington, d.c. oday at 6:00 p.m. eastern. on c-span2. >> the supreme court justices return for the new term next week. with the court hearing cases on sexual t based on

orientation. the trump's winding down of and state depunding for religious education. listen to oral arkts on our website, c-span.org and watch on c-span. >> president trump traveled to a retirement community on floor to sign an executive over aimed at improving private med car offense. he talked about his 2020 presidential opponents and the impeachment inquiry started with house democrats. ♪ announcer:, the president of the united states. ♪

really special place. but, where i am disappointed. i said we could have had 25,000 people if we did it outside. they all want your seat. that is the way life goes. you are not giving it up. i know you too well. please sit down. let's enjoy it. let's enjoy ourselves. now you have got tremendous crowds out there. look at that. he has my name tattooed on his leg. that is great. i am thrilled to be here. one of the most famous and thriving communities anywhere in florida and really anywhere in the world as far as i'm concerned, the villages. [applause] in fact i was thinking about , moving to the villages but i could not leave mar-a-lago.

[laughter] i got stuck at mar-a-lago. i don't know. but this has been a great area for us and a great part of our victory. i don't know if we got 100%, but it was pretty close. anybody in there not vote for us? we love it. we met the folks that built the villages and run the villages. they are out here someplace and have done a fantastic job. stand up. what a job you have done. great job. great job. [applause] pres. trump: that started with your grandfather and your father and you folks. what a great job you have done. in my old days i would've been jealous. now i could not care less about them. [laughter] amazing how being president can do that to you. in my campaign for president i made you a sacred pledge i would strengthen, protect and defend medicare for all of our senior citizens.

you see it is under siege but it is not going to happen. today i will sign a very historic executive order order that is exactly that. we are making your medicare even better. we are not letting anyone -- it will never be taken away from you. [applause] pres. trump: you see these people on the other side. these people are crazy, totally crazy. they want to take it away and give you lousy health care. it is pretty incredible. you want to keep your doctors, right? president obama, right? he said you can keep your doctor. that did not work out too well for those people. 28 times. he said he is trying to forget. never forget. never forget. as long as i am president no one will lay a hand on your medicare benefits. that is what we are here to do

today. [applause] this order is the latest step in my administration's drive to ensure the world's best health care for all americans. together we are creating a health care system that protects vulnerable patients, makes health care more affordable, gives you more choice and control and delivers the high-quality care americans deserve. that is what we are doing. we are strengthening our health care system to a level that nobody thought would be possible. our economy is booming. we are doing fantastically well. i think it gets a little hurt by politics. [applause] pres. trump: our country is so strong and our economy is so powerful even politics -- even when you have the do nothing's. the do nothing dems cannot affect it very much. [applause] pres. trump: we have created over 6 million new jobs since

the election. the unemployment rate has reached a 51-year low. think of that. think of that. [applause] pres. trump: soon it will be a historic number, like so many other numbers. 2.5 million people have been lifted out of poverty. that means more americans that now have, that is what it's all about -- they have a great way of life. they have affordable health care options and millions of seniors are enjoying better healthier, and more prosperous retirements. i should be retiring with you. [applause] pres. trump: i should be in this audience clapping. but i did not trust anybody to be standing here because i know what you have. [cheers] [applause]

[chanting] pres. trump: thank you very much. i did not trust anybody. its true. very important. nobody has done more in 2.5 years than what we have done. whether it is right to try, tax cuts, nobody has done more for what we have done. not even close. we are delighted to be joined by a man who is really, really good. he ran one of the largest drug companies and really successfully. and i took him out. look, that is where the money is. that is where the knowledge is. he ran one of the biggest, most successful companies. i said alex azar, come on out. i want to get you to be the top person in charge of this. i said how much bigger is this , than the company? hundreds of times bigger. it is a monster. it is a monster. what a job. you know who he is. where is alex? wherever you are. [applause]

pres. trump: he works with administrators who have been so incredible. seema. you have to stand up. what a job. they know the most intricate little quarter sentences. you would not believe it. i would say what about this? , it's always like a little they tell me unfortunately roadblock that we figure our way , around. somebody else will be lowering drug prices with us in a short distance. we will buy them from a slightly different source. a little bit unconventional. a lot of people say i was unconventional. sometimes you have to be unconventional. [applause] pres. trump: alex, when every going to let governor ron desantis and your incredible first lady -- when are they going to be able to do what we want to do? [applause] pres. trump: when can they do

what we want them to do? alex says soon. they will have a big fat, beautiful surprise for you. that has been an incredible couple and a great governor in the job they are doing is phenomenal. i was honored to be very much involved in that campaign. [applause] pres. trump: if he was doing a lousy job i probably would not have shown up today. but he is doing one of the best jobs in the whole country. ron desantis. [applause] also, helping ron and casey, jeanette nunez, your lieutenant governor. thank you. florida attorney general ashley moody. i saw you down there. thank you. thank you. thank you very much.

a few warriors with us. ron was in congress and he was fighting the russian hoax. that was the russian witchhunt hoax. it was so impressive. he said, i would like to run for governor. i said i would rather keep you where you are because they have come up with another crazy idea. i'm glad i didn't. it worked out well but we have warriors back in washington. you have five of them right here. gus, bill -- gus? where is gus? the legendary neil dunn. thank you. these guys are warriors. ross spano. thanks, ross. michael waltz. michael. great job he does on television. all of them do a great job in defending us. they are not defending me. they are defending us, because i was the greatest election

victory maybe in history and they are defending us. and a man with one of the best names in the history of politics. daniel webster. [applause] pres. trump: what a name. if i had that name, i would have been president 10 years ago. [laughter] pres. trump: thank you. thanks, daniel. thanks, everybody. great job. they are warriors. they go back and they fight corruption, and it is corruption what is going on right now. what you see going on is pure corruption. as we gather this afternoon, medicare is under threat like never before. you know that. you have people running for office. you will not be happy here. almost every major democrat in washington has backed a massive government health care takeover that would totally obliterate medicare. these democrat policy proposals

may go by different names. they have all these wonderful names, like -- i'm sorry. [laughter] names, like -- i'm sorry. [laughter] i'm sorry. the fake news is back there. [booing] pres. trump: they will say it is terrible. it is terrible. they want me to admonish you. who said that? lock her up. who said that, please. i am admonishing you. never, ever say that again. that's ok. sit-down. he's admonished. now they can't do their fake number on us. thank you. kthey may go by different names, whether it is single-payer or the so-called public option, but they are all based on the totally terrible idea.

they want to raid medicare to find a thing called socialism. any socialists in the room? anybody? no. not too many in the villages. you are not big on socialism down here. these geniuses said we are not too good. everyone one of these plans involves rationing care, restricting access, deny coverage, slashing quality and massively raising taxes. they also want to have open borders. so people can just come in and do whatever they want. [booing] pres. trump: and they have no idea who is coming in. now we are getting along great with these countries. mexico cave is 27,000 soldiers guarding our porter.

the numbers are way down. 27,000. i want to thank mexico, the government, the president. congressional democrats' extreme agenda would destroy our booming economy very quickly. one of the most disturbing proposals from left-wing politicians involves draining your health care to finance the open borders we just discussed. that is how they want to finance it. leading democrats have pledged to get free health care to illegal immigrants. they put foreign citizens who break our laws and endanger our country, they put them way ahead of american citizens like you who will obey all laws. i will never allow these politicians to steal your health care and give it away to illegal aliens. [applause] pres. trump: now in new york, they passed a new regulation that if you use the word "illegal immigrant," -- that i hear correctly? they want to charge you $250,000. in other words sell your home because you have to say we don't

like illegal immigrants pouring into the country illegally. we want people to come in through a process and we are all in favor of that. [applause] pres. trump: the fake news will cut that last part of the sentence off. they will just put the first part. man, he is too tough. i can't vote for him. a nation must put its own citizens first. my administration is standing up for american seniors. [applause] we will always protect the medicare benefits you earned and paid for. in the last administration, democrats slashed medicare by $800 billion to pay for obamacare. now one of their new proposals backed by more than 130 democratic members of congress would cost -- listen to this

number -- $32 trillion. that is on the low side with a t. we are beyond the b's. given reduce household income by $17,000 per year. is there anyone in this room that doesn't mind losing $17,000 a year? in order to get lousy health care. they use many labels. all the democrat plans would devastate our health care system. the fake moderates on the left are telling the same lies they did under the last administration, for the last administration frankly was moderate compared to the maniacs you are hearing from today. these are maniacs. elizabeth pocahontas warren. [booing] pres. trump: when i used to hit her i thought she was going. i thought she was going. she came up from the ashes. she emerged. now we will probably have to do it again because i don't see sleepy joe making it.

i thought she was going. under this administration we believe every american family has the right to choose. choice is so important, like what we did with vince for they can go out and get a doctor instead of waiting in line for three weeks, four weeks, two months. choice. you look at the doctor and you look at the plan that is best for you. the truth is there was no longer a moderate wing of the congressional democrats. they have gone crazy. they have been hijacked by the radical left. these people on the left -- these people are -- is that the same guy? [laughter] i sort of like him. i can't admonish him. i think it is the same guy. he's got a powerful voice.

democrat lawmakers are not trying to build up the country. they only want to wreck and destroy all the things we have built up over the last three and a half years, four years, five years. prior to us getting in here. you look at the stock market numbers from the time of the election, from that november 9 -- wasn't november 8? wasn't that one of the great times? go a day later and you look at the numbers in the stock market. up way over 50%. 401(k)s are doing unbelievably well. one of these people gets in and your 401(k) is going to hell. the stock market is going to hell. i think the country will go to hell. they are consumed by rage and radicalism. an insatiable lust for power. how about justice cavanaugh? they talk about a woman.

they talk about a woman, about horrible things he never even thought about. horrible, horrible things. they want to impeach him. then the following day she said i don't remember anything. i don't remember that. they said we don't care. we want to impeach himwhat -- him. what they're trying to do is turn his vote. he's a much tougher guy than that. [applause] pres. trump: i better be. with all that we have to put up with these people, we wouldn't be here. it democrat healthcare proposals put everyone into a single socialist run program that would end private insurance for over 180 million americans. i'm smiling to myself as i go through these numbers.

i know the people in this room. those are the people. i grew up with you. a sort of a weird feeling to be talking to you about you don't want to be a socialist. you're probably saying why is he wasting his time? there is a movement and it's not so easy to be them when they get up and a debate and they say were going to cut your college tuition to nothing. were going to knock off $1.6 trillion, we're going to do all these things and everything's free except for your taxes. your taxes are going to go up at a level no one has seen before and it won't be nearly enough to pay for it. i will not let any of this bad stuff happen. it's important that we win this race. only one last time i said that the most important election in our country's history. we were ready to go over the edge.

[laughter] [applause] pres. trump: now our country is doing great, it's like a plant. like a tree. it has to -- the roots have to grab hold. we still need more time, we have done so much but we need a little more time. the thing has to grow and it has to get in there and nobody's going to be able to take it down no matter what happens later on. [applause] pres. trump: in america, we believe in freedom and liberty not government domination and government control. today, standing in solidarity with our nation's seniors, i declare once again that america will never be a socialist country. [applause] [chanting]

pres. trump: do you want to drive them crazy? don't do four more years, do eight more years. [laughter] pres. trump: one of these crazy maniacs on the show was interviewing somebody radical left and he goes you know he's going to window you? big show. the guy says no, we're to fight him. no know he's going to win. you know he's never getting out don't you? he's not going to get out. i thought he's a comedian i thought he was getting and having fun. he meant it. these guys are sick. if you want to drug them crazy, just say eight more years or 12 more years. 16 would do it good. [laughter] pres. trump: you would really

drive them into the loony bin. [applause] pres. trump: that is why they do the impeachment stuff because they can't beat us fairly. they can't win. if they won it would be a sad day for our country. it will be a sad sad day for our country if they won. among those who would be hit hardest by the socialist takeover are 24 million seniors on medicare advantage. one out of two hispanic seniors, one out of three african-american seniors is enrolled in medicare advantage. this popular medicare program has been around for a long time. it allows private plans to compete to offer senior citizens the absolute best healthcare. they want to destroy it. while many democrat plans would eliminate medicare advantage, my administration is fighting to make it even better and much much stronger.

[applause] pres. trump: thanks to our efforts, there are nearly 1200 more medicare advantage plans today than there were just two years ago. think of that. premiums have permitted by 28%. they have gone down. they are now at the lowest level in over 10 years. with us today is corey spangler. it she lives just up the road. please tell us some of what we have been discussing on medicare advantage and your plan and how important it is to you. please come up wherever you are. [applause] >> my family came to america from mexico when i was five years old. because my father did not like the corruption and we had

socialized medicine there. he came to this country legally and when i turned 65, i had some heart issues. went to the doctor, they scheduled me with a cardiologist. he scheduled me for a stress test on a wednesday. i failed that test. he scheduled me for a heart catheterization the next day. i failed that. they told me i need to have bypass and i was going to have by the bypasses done. the next monday i was in surgery with my five bypasses and i went home the following friday. this would never happen with medicare for all. i love my medicare advantage plan. i can choose the doctor when i need it and if the care i need. and it wouldn't happen with

medicare for all. [applause] thank you mr. president for saving our healthcare. [applause] i see a future politician there. [laughter] she was so calm. no nerves. sometimes people get a little bit nervous but that was very good what a job they have done great doctors. did you choose your own doctor or get lucky with one that was recommended? >> they were wonderful. pres. trump: that's fantastic and you are wonderful. thank you. the democrat plans for socialized medicine will not just put doctors and hospitals out of business, they will also deny your treatment and everything you need.

government run healthcare systems always end up opposing -- you see what happens. it you look at venezuela they don't have food or water. the hospitals are a disaster. no electricity, it is very sad. we are helping the people as much as we can, we are watching that whole situation. we are watching it very carefully and cuba, we are watching them very carefully. [applause] pres. trump: as an example, under the uk single-payer system, patient's weight 116 days to receive a knee replacement. in canada, wait times for orthopedic surgery are over 270 days. currently in the united states, wait times for these surgeries are typically less than two weeks.

is that right? [applause] pres. trump: i have many people coming down from canada and i say what are you doing getting an operation, they say there is nothing like what you have been able to do and we making it even better. with us today is charles, a 71-year-old floridian and a marine veteran of the vietnam war. charles, please come up and tell us your story. [applause]

>> hello. what a great place you have here. i understand approximately 60% of you are veterans. i want to say thank you for your service. [applause] to my vietnam brothers and sisters, welcome home. welcome home. [applause] my name is chuck maclachlan and i am a vietnam combat marine

, i am also a cancer survivor. stage four. i know a lot about medicare and the supplement. i use it for breeding tubes, feeding tubes, stitches, staples , mris, pet scans, cat scans, blood tests, hydration shots, chemotherapy, radiation, six months of hyperbaric chamber , to name a few. anyone that is cured like me loves their doctors. i also want to say my family financially would have been destroyed without medicare.

the facts are now the new day of politicians on the left are pushing medicare for all. i say the result will be no medicare at all. it will collapse under the load of the system. it will overloaded. i probably wouldn't be here. as far as free stuff, it may be free stuff but it's going to come out of somebody else's pocket. there is no such thing as free. [applause] is the medicare system perfect? no. it worked for me. remember, i paid my share. just a few thoughts. president trump's plan of medicare advantage will give me more flexibility for options to the system. i can pick and choose my needs. secondly, a program that helps protect our seniors for a fair shake as our bodies fail us. number three, we must get rid of the waste and fraud.

it seems to be in the newspapers weekly. finally, thank you, president trump. it for all you do. [applause] [applause] finally, may god -- i want to personally thank him for what he does for our veterans. [applause] finally, may god bless you and your family for loving america and giving us a renewed hope for our children and our grandchildren. thank you. [applause]

pres. trump: thank you very much, charles. you have gone through a lot. you don't look it. he is looking handsome to me. that is incredible. thank you. like all of us today we understand the truth. socialism is not about improving the health of american people, it is about wielding power over the american people taking things away from the american people. [applause] in a few moments, i will sign an executive order to strengthen medicare for seniors and very substantially. i will provide medicare advantage plans with new tools and options and it will help medicare beneficiaries gain faster access to the latest and greatest medical devices and therapies. my order also pursues reductions

in the unnecessary regulations that you don't need, you don't want to see that never come into effect and they cost a lot of money. enabling doctors and nurses to spend less time on paperwork and more time with their patients that they love. [applause] pres. trump: to further protect seniors, we are taking action to stop fraud and stop abuse, it's tremendous amounts of money saved with that. we will be able to put that money back into what we want to have it to take care of you. i am directing secretary azor to crack down on those who rob medicare of the funds that you have and the money you paid into the system all of your lives. charles said it. he said, i paid for it. now they want to say give it to everybody else and it's going to be gone in a short number of years. you both paid for it. today's action is the only really great action that we can

take, it's the only choice we have because it's going to be something that is better than any place in the world. it's the latest of many important steps that we are taking to dramatically improve health care for the american people. our vision for the future of health in america has four crucial parts and we will protect vulnerable patients number one. we will protect those patients who are so terribly vulnerable. we will deliver the afford ability that you need. prices coming down. as i said, prescription drug prices for the first time in over 50 years of drug prices have come down. [applause] first time in 50 years, over 50 years. and were going to get them lower and ron will have some fake surprises were going to be announcing that session. for really take reductions. people won't even know what happened.

[applause] going to give you options and control that you want and we will provide the quality that you deserve. first, we are protecting vulnerable americans. we have made a clear promise to america's patients. we will always protect patients with pre-existing conditions. republicans will always protect pre-existing conditions. [applause] pres. trump: to stop families from being blindsided by outrageous medical bills and this is something that is one of the most exciting things to me. i have challenged congress to send a bill to my desk that stops the horrendous practice of surprise medical billing. it so many of you, you go in and you have something and you get a bill and you say how is it possible? we are going to end that practice. that is not a fair practice. [applause]

pres. trump: we are also confronting the opioid and drug addiction epidemic that is plaguing too many american communities. [applause] thanks to our efforts and we have worked so hard on it first lady worked so hard. kelly and conway, where's kelly and? where is she? thank you. last year, drug overdose deaths declined for the first time in nearly three decades. early data shows the drug overdose deaths dropped 10% last year in the state of florida. we would like to do better it's a very tough situation. one of the things we are doing with the pain pills you call them, we're trying to find and we are trying to work hard and funding a lot of research to find pain pills that are addictive.

you go in with a broken arm and you come out and you're a drug addict. i think were getting very close to finding painkillers that aren't addictive. we will have that in the not-too-distant future. [applause] pres. trump: to care for our great veterans, we passed the a accountability. this is where great heroes and tough people, by the way in the super prime nobody touch them. they are more vulnerable and people would take advantage of our veterans. you have sadists, people who would rob them and rob the system. in arizona, they had people that got caught stealing $400,000 and they couldn't fire them. so now we have va accountability. i got it, i'm good at getting

things. [applause] pres. trump: so now when they don't take proper care of our veterans, we say get the hell out, you're fired. [applause] we can fire them. get them out. we don't have to ask questions , we can get them out. if they're bad, they treat our veterans badly we fire them. before me, every night you see these horror stories about the va. i haven't seen one in a long time. i don't want to risk it because the fake news will search the system to find somebody who isn't happy. we found somebody. we found a veteran in florida who isn't quite happy with everything. let's do a major story. member all the bad stories that used to be about the va? are you don't see them.

we have accountability, we can fire that people would fire, a tremendous number of bad people who should have been fired years ago. i don't like firing people but i like firing people who don't treat our vets great. they are doing their job. they are protected to the unions and protected by the civil service. do you think it was easy being unions and civil service? it wasn't easy. i say it's good for all of us it's good for america. va choice where our veterans don't have to wait for endless hours, days or even months. we have had cases where a person is online not bad. could be fixed up easily with whatever treatment it may be. they end up being terminal by the time they see a doctor. that's not happening anymore. now you go out, you find a local doctor, we pay the bill, it's totally less important but would also save a lot of money on that. it's much less expensive for us to do that and it's saving

tremendous numbers of lives. we have great doctors who need the business not so bad. to protect health care for our seniors and all americans, my administration is taking strong actions to ensure that newcomers to our society do not drain our healthcare system or burden of the services that you depend on. ecb's people in california, the governor of california, come in everybody. and you wonder why people are flooding our borders. come and you have free education, free healthcare, everybody gets their rolls-royce. come on in. [laughter] to show you how corrupt cnn is, when i use that expression they say the president wasn't telling the truth, he said they get a rolls-royce and they don't. [laughter] pres. trump: they don't get it do they? he never got it. some idiot at cnn said you can't

win without cnn, i guess we showed them. [applause] pres. trump: their ratings are so low that they are no longer the big difference at all. do you know what's bad for our country? when cnn, i go to a foreign country and i meet readers -- leaders and they said why do you hate your country so much? cnn outside of the united states is much more important than inside the united states, a lot of what you see here is broadcast throughout the world. we used to have radio free europe and a voice of america. we did that to build up our country. that isn't working out too well. cnn is a voice that seems to be the voice out there. it's a terrible thing for our country.

we should start our own network and news out there because they are so bad for our country. they are so bad for our country, i go out there and they say, boy, the media hates your country and it's just a shame. it's a shame. we should put in some talented people and get a voice out there not a voice that's fake. when americans are struck by natural disaster like they were in florida where i was with you, hurricane michael, did i do a good job governor? the governor can to my office once a week, he always needed money and i always gave it. [laughter] pres. trump: i said keep him i don't want to see him anymore. we always gave it and you people work so hard and fema and the military work with you. the coast guard is incredible.

[applause] pres. trump: they have done a good job. the second part of medicare is to promote the affordability of people's needs. the fda approved more low-cost drugs in my two years than ever in the history of our country. think of that. [applause] pres. trump: every time i see the folks at fda as they come on its go faster. don't forget, when somebody was dying and we had a drug that looked like it was good but not approved for four more years, it used to be 12 years but we brought her way down. that was too long but we brought it down. a person is dying and they say we can't give that as it might harm the person.

i said you don't understand. a person is terminally ill. they have four weeks to live and you don't want to give them a drug because you think it's going to harm them, i guarantee i can get them to sign a document, we got that approved. by the way, miracles are happening. hopefully, it never happens to anyone in this room but frankly, people would go to asia, europe, all over the world. if they didn't have money they would go home and die but now they have had to do that. it wasn't easy because the drug companies didn't want it, they didn't want to have terminally ill because it looks bad on the percentage record. the insurance companies didn't want it because there are a lot of reasons you know what the reasons are. our government didn't want it because they didn't want to be sued by a patient who died because they would have died anyway.

i said here's what we do. we sign an agreement and the agreement holds everybody non-libel. we took the drug companies and we created a separate list so they're not all on that list because it's not right it's a problem. we took a separate list so now we have a totally separate list, a confidential list area they don't get hurt by somebody who was so sick that this person may not make it. they get everybody to sign it and we're done. then we got it approved in congress because of these five great congressman back there including ron. [applause] pres. trump: with greg and everybody we got it done and make up a senate to approve it and i signed it and i was really happy. right to try. we also ended the terrible gag clauses that prevented pharmacists from telling you about cheaper options at the pharmacy counter. you believe it? i thought they were kidding me. i've only been doing this for three years. [laughter]

pres. trump: these guys have been doing it a long time. they're not allowed to talk to you about pricing. i said you got to be kidding and they weren't. now they can talk about pricing. you can go out and price different places. they have to be open and transparent. that's a big deal. all these things, they sound so simple faith in tough to get. very powerful lobbyists, drug companies that don't want that. why would they want that? my administration is also working to get drug companies to disclose prices and were almost going to get that. so you will know what you are paying up front. they can't travel hate you essentially, we are holding pharma accountable and that's ok they do just fine.

earlier this year, we announced another groundbreaking action seniors have wanted for decades. we will soon allow the safe and legal importation of scripture -- prescription drugs from other countries including canada where believe it or not they pay much less money for the same drug. [applause] stand up, he wants this so badly. [applause] pres. trump: go to some countries and prices 50% 60% lower. the exact same pill from the exact same factory from the exact same company. i say why is it that in europe, certain places in particular, it's 25% of what we pay here.

i say it must be a different manufacturer. must be a different factory. it know it's the same one. everything is identical but we've -- they pay 25%. we pick up all the research and development like a bunch of schmucks. [applause] not anymore because in a little while, a little while, you your governor is going to be able to go out and negotiate to his heart's content. he's going to go to canada, i know he's going there already and looking at their pricing and he's looking at the european countries and others and he's going to get his drug price down to a level that you can't believe, it's going to be a great thing.

we will see what happens, it's going to be very influencing. i have a feeling when that happens, the drug companies are just going to say we can't have this and they're going to drop their price. they're very smart and if they go the other way don't blame me. but you're going to do i can. fantastic. you better do good or you're making us both look bad. american patients must no longer be forced to subsidize low drug prices in other countries through high prices in america. we are paying a much higher price here. my administration will never stop fighting for low-cost for american patients and american seniors, the third part of our healthcare vision is to provide the choice and control americans want. we eliminated obama care 's horrible horrible very unfair unpopular individual mandate a total disaster. that was a big penalty.

where you paid a lot of money for the privilege of not having to pay a lot of money for the privilege of having no health care. you paid not to have healthcare. it was a penalty. how it ever held up in the supreme court i don't know but it did and we just got rid of it. we did it the old-fashioned way. we vastly expanded options including short-term plans and health reimbursement agents -- arrangements which are incredible. many of these are up to 60% less expensive than obama care. [applause] pres. trump: nobody got that. obama care. i said obama care. [laughter] president obama care, he can have it. we did a great job in running it . we unfortunately had one vote

the middle of the night just one thumbs down that wasn't good after years and years of campaigning. repeal and replace. we have done a great job because we got rid of the individual mandate and we are running it better, still no good because it's too expensive. the premium is way too high and all of the elements of it are just not good. we are coming up with an incredible plan that if the republicans take back the house, keep the senate, keep the presidency, we're going to have a fantastic day. [applause] pres. trump: following following my administration's recommendation, florida is taking on an important step to decrease costs by repealing a misguided certificate of need a lot good used by hospitals to block competition. we encourage other states to follow florida's example. they have done a great job right here. [applause]

i also signed it just recently a revolutionary executive order requiring price and quality transparency. the man who is a leader in the world of this its transparency you can pick your doctor you can get their records and see how well they did you can go and negotiate. a man what really sold me on it the man who is the best in the world at it he is and we give you the max plan. that's a maximum plan, we gave it to you. he said something that i loved. he said sir, this is more certain and will go down as more important than any healthcare you will ever come up with and i said i like the sound of that. from what i am hearing, they have done it in certain limited areas and it is phenomenal. it is really transparency and you will be able to negotiate all over the place and you will be able to everything you want from the hospital to the doctor

and it's going to save you a tremendous amount of money. there are those who say it's more than either -- even healthcare at a higher level . my administration is fighting to ensure the high-quality care that americans deserve. americans have to get the highest quality so we have the highest quality that americans deserve on behalf of 5 million americans living with alzheimer's disease, i signed into law a $1 billion increase in funding for critical alzheimer's research and we have made a life progress. -- we have made a lot of progress. [applause] just one other thing i will tell you because it even surprised me but we have funded it now but within 10 years our country will be free of aids. tremendous progress has been made. [applause]

pres. trump: what we were talking about that i said i don't understand, it's somewhat of a secret but it's incredible the tremendous progress that we have made over the last few years on aids and aids research and we should be essentially aids free, do you agree with that? in my state of the union, i announced a plan to invest $500 million in new treatments and cures and all of the things that we have to go through with our credible children in some cases for childhood cancers a tremendous problem. to bring new hope to the nearly 100,000 americans currently awaiting a kidney operation. i signed an executive order that would definitely increase the supply of kidneys available for transplant. it's such a big deal. it's so big you have no idea. [applause]

pres. trump: we worked hard on that and a lot of people don't know, it's just work that people died fairly quickly because they could go on forever but it's unbelievable amounts of work going in all the time for step-by-step what you have to do. with kidney transplants, we are making tremendous progress and we funded a lot of me toward it think it's going to be a tremendous thing for people who are literally suffering with something they can do very well with. we are doing better more formal healthcare for all americans especially our cherished senior citizens and we will stop at nothing to deliver better health care for you and for your family. i will never let you down. it you have been incredible to me and i will never ever forget you, i will never let you down, i promise that. [applause] pres. trump: thank you very

much. we're lowering the cost of prescription drugs, taking on the pharmaceutical companies and you think that's easy, it's not easy. they come at you from all different sides. i wouldn't be surprised if the hoax didn't come a little bit from some of the people we are taking on. they are very powerful they spend a lot of money more than any other group in the world actually in terms of lobbying and lobbying abilities and i wouldn't be surprised if some of the nonsense we all have to go through but that i go through wouldn't be surprised if it was from some of these industries like pharmaceuticals that we take on because i don't care. i've had a great life. i want to get drug prices down. i don't care about the companies , i want to get drug prices down. i want to give them the incentive to come out with new and better answers but we have to get drug prices down and they have made a fortune over the last 40 years. they have it so much money and

they have the system wired because everything you do the stock goes up. i said what the hell is going on? they said the stock went up. i said it's not going to be wonderful, let their stock go down a little bit but their stock goes up. what we have done is incredible. you have some incredible companies. we want to keep them strong and powerful and wealthy and we want them to continue to do that research but we have to get those prices down, they are far too high especially when you compare them to other countries. we want to ensure access to the doctors of your choice. we are going to defend medicare like medicare has never been defended again and it has never needed the defense, it has always been incredible. it's something that worked and they want to destroy it. in my administration, we know that medicare is personal. great healthcare is about more time with the ones you love.

more days with your grandkids and freedom to enjoy the most rewarding years of your life in what should be the most rewarding years of your life and you worked hard. you worked so hard and you pay for it. you got to enjoy it. it's about getting better when you're sick. improving your well-being and getting the treatment you need right when you need it. that's why in everything we do, we are defending the principles that made america the envy of the world and the american way of life. the greatest in our history and our country has never been greater than it is right now. our military is the strongest it's ever been. we rebuilt our entire military. [applause] even medical research is that a new level is at a level we have never had before.

we stand for freedom, joyce, fairness and accountability. we stand for loyalty to our citizens, love for our country, allegiance to our flag and long and healthy lives for our great seniors. [applause] pres. trump: with your help, we're going to continue building the best, most advanced, most cutting-edge healthcare system anywhere in the world. we are going to expand our growing economy to make retirement easier and better and far more secure. we're going to defend american lives. american values. american families and america's glorious destiny. there is no country like our country. we see and read things but there is no country like our country. [applause] pres. trump: with every ounce of

strength and every bit of soul, we're going to protect medicare for you. for everyone in the villages and every senior across this magnificent land, you are going to be contacted in many ways but you are going to be protected. thank you for being here. thank you for this incredible enthusiasm. god bless you, god bless our senior citizens and god bless america. thank you very much. [applause] [inaudible] should i do it?

[applause] pres. trump: i will do it. [laughter] >> thank you mr. president. [applause] >> god bless you. god bless you. [applause] pres. trump: thank you everybody. here, grab this. [applause] pres. trump: i love that. i love those guys. bikers for 45, these guys. [applause] pres. trump: they've been there from the beginning. pass these around.

attorney general, get over here. lieutenant governor, please both of you come up here. they are doing a good job, should begin them a pen? i think so. [applause] pres. trump: come up here. [applause] pres. trump: really special time and this is very meaningful for me and for you and everybody. thank you all very much. [applause] >> ♪ you can't always get what you want. ♪ you can't always get what you want. you can't always get what you want.

you can't always get what you want. you can't always get what you want. you can't always get what you want. and if you try sometimes, you find you get what you need. ♪ >> ♪ i saw her today at the reception a glass of wine in her hand

i knew she would meet her connection at her feet was her footloose man you can't always get what you want you can't always get what you want you can't always get what you want if you try sometimes, you get what you need ♪ ♪ "washington journal" live every day with news and policy issues that impact you. coming up, public citizen president robert weissman talks

business and ethics conflicts of interest among family members of politicians. journal's"national josh kraushaar it discusses the politics running the impeachment inquiry. join us live at 7:00. eastern, livep.m. coverage of hillary and her daughter, chelsea, talking about ofir new book "the book gutsy women." today at 6:00 p.m. eastern on tv on c-span 2. representativec alexandria ocasio-cortez holding a town hall meeting with constituents in her new york district where she took russians -- questionscare, about health care,