TRUMP: border to be closed very strongly, great meeting, great unity reducing taxes & creating jobs

On January 8, 2025, President-elect Donald Trump spoke to reporters at the U.S. Capitol following a meeting with Republican senators and a visit to pay respects to former President Jimmy Carter, who was lying in state. Trump delivered a forceful statement on border security, reported strong unity among Republican senators on the legislative agenda, and shared personal reflections on meeting the Carter family at Blair House. The remarks, made just twelve days before inauguration, provided a clear preview of the incoming administration’s immediate priorities.

Trump on Border Security: “Closed Very Strongly”

Trump opened his remarks with an unequivocal statement on immigration enforcement, the signature issue of his 2024 campaign.

“Number one, we’re closing the border. It’s going to be closed very strongly, and it’s going to be closed,” Trump declared. “And we’re going to have to take people out that are criminals. We have people from jails, from all over the world, and from mental institutions. And as you know, they’re going to have to be removed.”

Trump directly connected his election victory to public concern over immigration: “It’s one of the reasons I won the election in a landslide. The people of this country don’t want murderers walking down their farms or their streets or their cities.”

He cited specific statistics to underscore the urgency: “As you know, we had thousands of people that murdered other people that were in jail that were released into our country. Many of those people murdered more than one person. Many of them, about 42 percent, supposedly.”

Trump framed border enforcement as part of a broader governing philosophy: “We want them out of our country, and we’re going to get a country back again. And we’re going to be really governed by common sense. These are the principles of common sense. We’re not going to be governed by stupid people. We’re going to common sense.”

He concluded the border portion of his remarks with a statement about America’s standing in the world: “We’re going to be respected all over the world again. Very soon."

"Great Unity” Among Republican Senators

Trump then shifted to his legislative strategy, reporting enthusiastically on the meeting with Republican senators that had just concluded.

“We had a great meeting. There was great unity,” Trump said. “Whether it’s one bill or two bills, it’s going to get done one way or the other. I think there’s a lot of talk about two, and there’s a lot of talk about one, but it doesn’t matter. The end result is the same.”

He outlined the core objectives: “We’re going to get something done that’s going to be reducing taxes and creating a lot of jobs, and all of the other things that you know about.”

Trump expressed gratitude to Senate leadership and emphasized the strength of the gathering: “This was a really unified meeting, and I want to thank John and everybody for it. It was a great turnout.”

The president-elect reiterated his flexibility on process while maintaining his focus on outcomes: “One bill, two bills, doesn’t matter to me. They’re going to work that out, but the end result is going to be the same.”

The repeated emphasis on unity was significant given the narrow Republican majority in the Senate. With just a few seats to spare, any significant internal dissent could derail the reconciliation process. Trump’s message was clearly designed to project confidence and cohesion ahead of the inauguration.

Meeting the Carter Family at Blair House

In a personal moment, Trump described his visit to Blair House, the president’s guest house across from the White House, where the Carter family was staying during the week of funeral events.

“I went over to Blair House. I went over with the First Lady,” Trump said. “I met the Carter family. They were lovely. They were really very sad, but also they were celebrating because he was a very fine man.”

Trump offered a personal reflection on Carter: “I knew him a little bit, but I knew him only as a fine man.”

The comments were notable for their warmth and restraint. Despite the significant political differences between Trump and Carter, and despite the ongoing criticism of Carter’s Panama Canal decision that Trump had raised just days earlier, the president-elect maintained a tone of genuine respect in discussing the late president and his family.

The visit to Blair House came on the same day as the Carter funeral events at the Capitol and Washington National Cathedral, making it part of a packed schedule that combined solemn observance with intense political activity.

Looking Ahead to Inauguration

Trump closed his remarks with forward-looking optimism about the coming days and weeks.

“We have a big couple of days coming up, and then in a week and a half, we have, I think, some really tremendous things happening,” Trump said. “It’s going to set this country apart from all others. It’s going to do some great work.”

The statement served as both a tease of the executive actions planned for Inauguration Day and a broader expression of confidence in the incoming administration’s ability to move quickly on its agenda.

The Legislative Agenda: Taxes, Jobs, and Border Security

The meeting with Republican senators was focused on the reconciliation package that would serve as the primary legislative vehicle for Trump’s agenda. The key components under discussion included tax reductions, job creation incentives, border security funding, and the potential inclusion of a debt ceiling increase.

The debate over whether to pursue one comprehensive bill or two separate measures had been ongoing for weeks. Some senators, particularly those focused on border security, favored a two-bill approach that would deliver immigration enforcement measures faster. Others, including Trump himself, had expressed a preference for a single bill that would package the entire agenda together.

By repeatedly stating that the format did not matter so long as the result was the same, Trump was giving Senate leadership the flexibility to determine the best procedural path while maintaining pressure to deliver results quickly.

Additional Context

The January 8 Capitol visit represented one of the final major public events of the transition period. In the days that followed, the incoming administration continued to prepare executive orders and staffing decisions for the inauguration. The combination of border security, tax cuts, and job creation that Trump outlined in his Capitol remarks would form the core of the administration’s first hundred days agenda.

Trump’s description of the meeting as showing “great unity” was an important signal to both the public and to the incoming administration’s legislative team. The narrow margins in Congress meant that maintaining Republican cohesion was essential to the success of the reconciliation strategy, and Trump’s endorsement of unity served to reinforce party discipline at a critical moment.

Key Takeaways

• Trump declared the border would be “closed very strongly” and that criminals released into the country from jails and mental institutions worldwide would be removed.
• Trump cited his election victory as a mandate, stating that people “don’t want murderers walking down their farms or their streets or their cities.”
• Following the Senate meeting, Trump reported “great unity” among Republicans on the legislative agenda, saying “one bill, two bills, doesn’t matter to me” as long as the result includes tax reductions and job creation.
• Trump described meeting the Carter family at Blair House, calling them “lovely” and Carter “a very fine man,” maintaining a respectful tone despite political differences.
• Trump previewed “really tremendous things happening” in the week and a half before inauguration, promising to “set this country apart from all others.”