President Trump used his commencement speech at the University of Alabama on Thursday to take a victory lap over his administration’s first 100 days into his second term.
“This week, we're celebrating the most successful first 100 days of any presidential administration in the history of our country, and we've been given a lot of credit for that,” Trump told a crowd of college graduates in Tuscaloosa, Ala., describing the current moment as the “Golden Age.”
“But 100 days does not a full term make, but we're going to do even better as we move along,” Trump added.
Sounding at times more akin to a presidential campaign rally than a commencement address, Trump boasted that his administration had made headway in many of the areas he campaigned on in the last election, like immigration and grocery prices.
Trump reiterated a statistic that only three undocumented migrants crossed the U.S. southern border in April and that the government had slashed border crossings “99.999 percent,” though the U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has not released migrant encounters for April. Data released from CBP showed roughly 11,000 migrant crossings in March, a fraction of the migrant crossings recorded last March, at over 189,000.
Trump also touted a drop in egg prices and gas. The president boasted that egg prices had decreased 87 percent since the beginning of his term, though experts have pointed out there’s a difference between retail and wholesale egg prices, with retail prices rising to a record average of $6.22 while wholesale egg prices have declined.
The president also used the opportunity to tout his electoral wins during the November election, boasting that he won all seven battleground states against former Vice President Harris and the 312 Electoral College votes he collected. He repeated the baseless assertion that the 2020 election was “rigged” while describing former President Biden's term as an “aberration.”
His remarks saying transgender women will not be playing in sports that align with their gender identity received loud applause at one point, in addition to another moment where he lauded the “leaders of this state who chose liberty over” lockdowns during the COVID-19 pandemic.
In between his speech, Trump sprinkled tidbits of praise and guidance to the Alabama graduates, lauding in particular the school’s athletics and Nick Saban, the university’s former football coach who introduced Trump before his commencement speech.
Trump’s glowing depiction of the country — saying, “We're in the midst of another kind of revolution — a revolution of winning and a revolution of common sense” — offered a split-screen to the events earlier in the day when Trump announced he would be moving Michael Waltz, his national security advisor, from his position to be the next ambassador to the U.N.
The transition came after Waltz accidentally added a journalist to an unclassified Signal chat that included other Trump administration officials that detailed strike plans against the Houthis.
There has also been growing attention turned toward the Pentagon amid the departure of several top-level Pentagon officials as the department investigates leaks.
Trump, however, did at one point use his commencement speech to air some frustration over the courts and their handling of immigration matters.
Courts have ordered the Trump administration to facilitate the return of two individuals who have been sent to prison in El Salvador, and earlier on Thursday a federal judge also ruled that his administration could not use the Alien Enemies Act to deport alleged members of a Venezuelan gang.
“Judges are interfering, supposedly based on due process, but how can you give due process to people who came into our country illegally? They want to give them due process,” Trump said.
He also wasted no time in needling some former foes-turned-admirers in his speech, too, saying at one point, “They all hated me in my first term, and now they're kissing my a–.”
“It’s amazing,” Trump added. “It’s nicer this way.”
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