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President Donald Trump announced that former Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Secretary Ben Carson will receive the Presidential Medal of Freedom during a White House event marking the 100th anniversary of Black History Month, as attendees at one point broke into chants of “four more years.”
“Ben’s getting the Presidential Medal of Freedom,” Trump said. “It’s the highest award you can have outside of the Congressional Medal of Honor.”
Trump said Carson would receive the nation’s top civilian honor at a future ceremony, telling him, “Ben, I’ll be seeing you back here pretty soon. I think you’re going to get the award.”
The announcement came as Trump mixed tributes and cultural references with policy and political claims including criminal justice reform, crime reduction and border enforcement while hosting what he described as “many exceptional African American leaders and patriots” at the White House.
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Trump opened the event by noting, “we celebrate the 100th anniversary of Black History Month.”
He then addressed the death of the Rev. Jesse Jackson, saying, “I wanted to begin by expressing a sadness that the passing of a person who was. I knew very well Jesse was a piece of work. He was a piece of work. But he was a good man.”
“I just want to pay my highest respects to Reverend Jesse Jackson,” Trump added, calling him “a real hero,” and saying “he really was special, with lots of personality, grit and street smarts.”
Trump introduced HUD Secretary Scott Turner and brought Carson to the front of the room, noting Carson had recommended Turner. Carson praised Turner’s role in opportunity zones, saying “he was really the driving force behind the Opportunity zones,” and described Trump’s approach as “public private partnerships, and had everybody with skin in the game.”
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Moments later, Trump returned to Carson and elaborated on the award.
“It’s better because, you know, a lot of people get the Congressional Medal of Honor, and they’re not around,” Trump said. “But it’s the highest award [for] a civilian.”
After remarks from Leo Terrell whom Trump thanked, saying, “Leo, that was very good,” the crowd assembled broke into a chant of “four more years.”
Later, while listing Black artists and athletes, Trump singled out rapper Nicki Minaj.
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“I love Nicki Minaj. She was here a couple of weeks ago.”
“So beautiful,” he added, before saying, “and she gets it. And more importantly, she gets it.”
Trump connected Wednesday’s celebration to a broader national moment, saying, “Black History Month is really all about American history,” and referencing upcoming America250 programming.
The President outlined a series of policy accomplishments for the black community, saying he “single handedly secured record long term funding for” historically Black colleges and universities and reiterated, “we got criminal justice reform done,” adding, “Nobody thought it can be done.”
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Trump tied those policies to electoral performance, saying, “it’s no wonder that in 2024, we won more African-American votes than any Republican president in history.”
Trump also cited economic indicators, saying, “Earlier this month the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose above 50,000 for the first time ever,” and adding, “The S&P broke 7000.”
“More Americans are working today than at any time in American history,” he said, before stating, “Since I took office, African American employment has increased by 182,000.”
The president also promoted a tax proposal, inviting a small business owner from Arkansas to speak. She told the audience, “no tax on tips has been amazing blessing for me.”
Trump later pivoted to crime and border enforcement, arguing “we need order,” and claiming, “Washington DC is amazing. It was a crime capital. It was a horror show a year ago. It was really dangerous. And now it’s one of the safest cities anywhere in the country.”
“We have the lowest murder numbers in 125 years since 1990,” he said, adding, “just one year ago, we had the absolute worst border that we’ve ever had, and now we have the safest border that we’ve ever had.”
He also said he had “deployed the National Guard to bring back safety to Memphis and to New Orleans and Washington,” calling the Guard “incredible.”
He also gave the floor to Alice Johnson, whom he described as the White House “pardon czar,” recounting her case: “We got her out. We did a commutation… I said, full pardon.”
Johnson credited Trump with the First Step Act, saying, “President Trump did something historic in his first term. He signed the First Step act into law,” and adding, “Over 40,000 individuals have come home to their families early.”
Trump closed by calling the gathering “a very special group of people,” and said, “So happy Black History Month, happy black history year, and happy black history century.”
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