OCALA—President Donald Trump was in top form while delivering a campaign-style speech at the villages in Florida on Friday, where those in attendance paid him a hero’s welcome.
Before entering the packed high school gymnasium in the villages where the event was held, Trump made a surprise visit to a crammed overflow room, where folks were ecstatic to see him.
The crowd, many of whom held up “No Tax on Social Security” signs at points in the event, burst into chants of “USA!” after the president took the stage and Greenwood’s “God Bless the USA” finished playing.
The president remarked that he should be working in a “secure facility” until the end of his term after the third attempt on his life in just two years last Saturday at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner, but said, “What’s more secure than the villages,” emphasizing the large vote share he received there in 2024.
Trump, backdropped by a sign reading “Golden Age for your Golden Years,” touted his tax deductions implemented through the One Big Beautiful Bill, including deductions for tipped and overtime workers and social security deductions for certain seniors.
Trump supporters on hand cheered loudly for the policies, with the social security deductions receiving the most intense response.
“Our Great Big Beautiful Bill was the largest tax cut in American history, and as a result, more than 51 million American seniors now pay a federal tax rate of zero,” Trump emphasized.
Dr. Phil McGraw, of the former hit show Dr. Phil, joined Trump on stage at one point during the event and stressed that Americans were “never supposed to be taxed” on their benefits.
“That was the deal the American government made with the American people, and from 1935 until 1983, that was the deal,” he said. “And then they changed the deal.”
“President Trump is trying to bring the deal back and say you can trust your government to do what they tell you they will do,” he added.
The president also lauded Vice President JD Vance for his work leading the Task Force to Eliminate Fraud.
“To further stop Medicaid and Medicare from being looted by criminals and thugs, we’ve launched a war on fraud. You’ve been watching it in the papers; we’re all over Minnesota, California, all over the place,” he said. “They’re taking down hundreds and hundreds and even thousands of people a week.”
“It’s led by our great Vice President JD Vance. He’s doing a great job,” Trump added.
Trump segued from fraud, which is notably rampant in Minnesota, particularly among the Somali community, to Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN).
“She comes here from Somalia, and she tells us how to run the United States of America,” Trump said. “She says, ‘The Constitution gives me certain rights.’”
“Get the hell out — what a phony! And then she married her brother to come in… But I would imagine they’re looking at her. I have nothing to do with it,” he added, calling her “despicable.”
Trump also ripped Gov. Gavin Newsom (D-CA) on fraud in California, where the task force has focused intensely since its inception in mid-March.
“Wait until you see what we’re coming up with in California. Gavin Newscum is not good,” he said.
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