Video transcript
- April 2nd, 2025 will forever be remembered as the day American industry was reborn, the day America's destiny was reclaimed, and the day that we began to make America wealthy again. (audience applauding) When I'm making it wealthy, it couldn't work. - Trudeau has promised on a campaign trail and to address a growing national emergency over America's chronic and massive trade deficits. President Trump has imposed terror of some countries around the world. Trump-nomics goal is not only to reduce America's trade deficit, it is to defend American workers and factories against unfair trade practices, while encouraging trillions of dollars of investment in new American plan and equipment. The policy is working for America, and no one should be surprised by this. This is because before the word tariff became synonymous with President Donald Trump, generations of American statesmen built the foundation for today's America First agenda. Their ideas were rooted in three core principles, sovereignty, security, and the protection of American workers. Economic nationalism, also known as economic populism, isn't new. It's a return to the proven economic model that built the greatest industrial power in world history. It started with Alexander Hamilton, the original architect of American economic nationalism. In his report on manufacturers, Hamilton laid it out clearly. The United States needed tariffs to defend its young industries from British domination and to secure true independence, not just politically, but economically. Hamilton knew that if America relied on foreign powers for manufactured goods, it would always be vulnerable. Decades later, Henry Clay carried Hamilton's vision forward. His American system prioritized three things, a strong national bank, major infrastructure investment, and above all, protective tariffs. Clay said it best in 1824. The tariff is to tax the produce of foreign industry with the view of promoting American industry. That's the same logic President Trump used nearly 200 years later when he invoked Section 232 to impose tariffs on steel and aluminum to stop foreign overproduction and dumping from crushing American jobs. Like Trump, Clay faced fierce opposition, the Southern-led nullification crisis sparked by the tariffs of 1828 and 1832 nearly tore the country apart. But the principle helped protect American industry or risk dependence on foreign powers. Then came Abraham Lincoln, the first Republican president. Lincoln proudly called himself in old line Henry Clay Wigg and understood the value of tariffs. During the Civil War, tariff revenues helped finance the Union Army. And after the war, they fueled a rapid industrial expansion. Lincoln knew that protecting American industry meant protecting American workers and protecting the American nation itself. Fast forward to the late 19th century, William McKinley, son of an ironworker and cycle of clay, took up the mantle. In 1890, he passed one of the highest protective tariffs in US history, with duties exceeding 50%. In his 1896 campaign, McKinley declared, "I'm a tariff man standing on a tariff platform." McKinley won, and under his leadership, the United States became the world leader in agriculture, mining, and manufacturing. He credited that success directly to the protective trade system. - This is one of the most important days, in my opinion, in American history. It's a declaration of economic independence. For years, hardworking American citizens were forced to sit on the sidelines as other nations got rich and powerful. Much of it at our expense. But now it's our turn to prosper, and in so doing, use trillions and trillions of dollars to reduce our taxes and pay down our national debt, and it'll all happen very quickly. With today's action, we are finally going to be able to make America great again, greater than ever before. - The fake news wants us to believe these are fringe ideas, but history teaches us this is the American tradition. President Trump's trade agenda, especially his bold use of tariffs, draws along this long line of economic nationalism. From Hamilton to Clay, from Lincoln to McKinley, and now President Donald John Trump, the core idea has remained the same. Put American workers first. Build American industry. Protect American sovereignty. This is the heart of the America first agenda. It's not new, it's certainly not radical. It's the most American economic policy in history. Five leaders, one philosophy. Make tariffs great again. Make America great again. Trump promises made, Trump promises always kept.
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