SURPRISE NOD TO NEW US CITIZENS
Don leads ceremony at White House
President Trump promised surprises during the Republican National Convention, and delivered on the event’s second night Tuesday, joining five new Americans in a naturalization ceremony at the White House.
“You followed the rules, you obeyed the laws, you learned your history, embraced our values, and proved yourselves to be men and women of the highest integrity,” Trump told the group, which included immigrants from Bolivia, Lebanon, India, Sudan and Ghana. “You went through a lot. And we appreciate you being here with us today.”
Acting Secretary of Homeland Security Chad Wolf administered the Oath of Allegiance to the group before Trump took the lectern to welcome them “into our great American family.”
The ceremony was one of many moments underscoring the evening’s theme of America as the “Land of Opportunity.”
First Lady Melania Trump, herself a naturalized US citizen from Slovenia, delivered the evening’s closing remarks live from the White House Rose Garden, newly overhauled at her request.
“Growing up as a young child in Slovenia, which was under Communist rule at the time, I always heard about an amazing place called America, a land that stood for freedom and opportunity,” she said. “As an immigrant and a very independent woman, I understand what a privilege it is to live here and to enjoy the freedoms and opportunities that we have.”
Two of the president’s children also addressed the nation.
“I urge you to make your judgment based on results and not rhetoric,” said Tiffany Trump, 26.
“We believe in equality of opportunity. We believe in freedom of thought and expression,” she continued. “We believe in school choice, because a child’s ZIP code in America should not determine their future. We believe in freedom of religion for all faiths. And we believe in the American spirit.
“If you are hearing these things and thinking to yourself, ‘That is the kind of country that I want to live in,’ well, whether you realize it or not, you are a Trump supporter.”
While Tiffany mostly talked up her father, half-brother Eric — in fiery remarks more in line with Donald Trump Jr.’s on Monday — swung at Democratic challenger Joe Biden.
“He is a career politician who has never signed the front of a check and does not know the slightest thing about the American worker or the American business,” he said of the former vice president, also characterizing him as a “total pushover” who would “be a giant relief for terrorists.”