OAN Staff Abril Elfi and Sophia Flores
9:03 PM – Thursday, July 3, 2025
President Donald Trump made his first speech since the House passed the “One Big Beautiful Bill,” in Iowa, during a countdown to the United States’ 250th birthday.
On Thursday, President Trump took the stage at the Iowa State Fairgrounds, making his grand entrance as country artist Lee Greenwood performed “God Bless the USA.”
“Eighteen months ago, the people of Iowa braved subzero temperatures,” Trump said. “Do you remember that night? Oh, that was cold. It was cold but we were warm inside because we won by a landslide to turn out the first in the nation caucuses.”
“And you delivered 98 out of 99 counties,” he added. “What the hell county didn’t — what’s the name of that county? Let’s get them out of here. 98 out of 99 that’s not bad.”
Trump went on to congratulate the country for the passing of the one “Big, Beautiful Bill.”
“There can be no better birthday present for America than the phenomenal victory we achieved just hours ago when Congress passed the One Big Beautiful Bill to make America great again,” Trump said.
He went on to explain that the bill will expedite the removal of non-citizens residing in the country while eliminating hundreds of billions of dollars in government waste and fraud.
“With this bill, every major promise I made to the people of Iowa in 2024 became a promise kept,” he added.
The package makes permanent a set of 2017 tax cuts approved by Trump during his first term, as well as allowing no taxes to be taken from tips or overtime pay — while increasing border security funding.
According to estimates from the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office, the measure would reduce Medicaid funding by $1 trillion over a decade, leaving 11.8 million people uninsured. It would also reduce Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program spending by $300 billion.
The president went on to add that 165 days into his administration, the U.S. is now on a “winning streak like frankly nobody’s seen before in the history of the presidency.”
“They said, ‘You know, sir, you’re going to go down as one of the greatest presidents ever. I said, ‘really?’ Trump told the crowd. “I said, ‘Better than Washington?’ They said, ‘Yes, sir.’ I said, ‘Better than honest Abe Lincoln?’ They said, ‘Yes, sir.’ I said, ‘I like this guy that said that.’”
Trump also mentioned how with the passing of the bill, his Golden Dome Missile Shield would protect the nation from retaliatory strikes from Iran or any other enemy nation.
“We’re gonna have the best shield,” the president said. “And you saw that just the other day where the missiles are being shot down one after another.”
The president continued, asserting that Iranian officials had called him to tell him “they have to take a shot at us.”
“That was Iran,” he said. “Respectful. That means they respect us.”
He also thanked the pilots who dropped the bombs on Iran’s nuclear facilities, as well as the mechanics that kept the planes flying successfully, informing the crowd that they would be celebrated at the White House on Friday.
“You know, China, Russia, they were all watching, everybody was watching,” the president said. “We have the greatest equipment anywhere in the world. We have the greatest people anywhere in the world and we have the strongest military anywhere in the world.”
Trump also stated that he’s going to “put the farmers in charge” when it comes to deporting agricultural workers who are in the country illegally. Trump emphasized that he and Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem are “going to sort of put the farmers in charge.”
“If a farmer’s willing to vouch for these people, in some way, Kristi, I think we’re going to have to just say that’s going to be good, right?” he said. “You know, we’re going to be good with it. Because we don’t want to do it where we take all of the workers off the farms. We want the farms to do great like they’re doing right now.”
The president reaffirmed his plans to host a “Great American State Fair,” an idea he first floated in 2023 during his 2024 campaign.
“We will be orchestrating what we’re calling the great American state fair and it will start right here in Iowa, right,” he said. “So we’re starting it off in Iowa. Now we’re starting it off at your great fairgrounds, and we’re going to have a big crowd just like we do tonight.”
He reminded Iowans that he had promised years ago the Hawkeye State would serve as ground zero for America’s 250th birthday celebration.
“Two years ago, I came to Iowa and promised that the festivities would begin right here at the Iowa State Fairgrounds,” he said. “And tonight, here I am, OK? Promises kept, promises kept.”
Later in a surprising announcement, Trump revealed that a UFC fight will be held on the White House grounds as part of the America’s 250th birthday celebration.
“Every one of our national parks, battlefields and historic sites are going to have special events in honor of ‘America250’ and I even think we’re going to have a UFC fight,” he stated to a full crowd.
“Does anybody watch UFC? The great Dana White? We’re going to have a UFC fight. We’re going to have a UFC fight — think of this — on the grounds of the White House. We have a lot of land there.”
“We’re going to build a little — we’re not, Dana is going to do it. Dana is great, one of a kind — going to be UFC fight, championship fight, full fight, like 20,000 to 25,000 people, and we’re going to do that as part of ‘250’ also.”
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