President Trump Participates in a Visit of the 2025 Stanley Cup Champions The Florida Panthers

[00:00:12] Ladies and gentlemen, the president of [00:00:14] the United States, Donald J. Trump, [00:00:16] accompanied by Vincent Viola, owner of [00:00:18] the Florida Panthers, and Matthew [00:00:20] Kachchuck. [00:00:49] Great job. [00:00:51] What a team. What a great job. What a [00:00:54] great job. Please sit down. We'll have [00:00:56] to spend a little time doing this [00:00:58] because I watched some of those games [00:01:00] and these guys know how to win just like [00:01:03] we knew how to win last week. We had a [00:01:05] little victory. It was surgical just [00:01:07] like their victory. Right, Duffy? [00:01:10] It's an honor to welcome to the White [00:01:13] House the two-time defending Stanley Cup [00:01:16] champions, the Florida Panthers. [00:01:18] Unbelievable team, unbelievable [00:01:20] athletes, players. These men are [00:01:22] responsible for the greatest feats in [00:01:24] Panthers franchise history. And beyond [00:01:27] that, I mean, beyond that, I mean, you [00:01:29] compare them to some of the greatest [00:01:30] hockey teams ever, including your first [00:01:33] ever President's Trophy, three straight [00:01:36] final appearances and the one that you [00:01:39] didn't make. What the hell happened to [00:01:41] you? You should have won that game. [00:01:44] It was good to do the little comeback, [00:01:46] right? Comebacks are wonderful, [00:01:48] actually. But the three [00:01:52] pretty good, right, Gary? [00:01:55] And an incredible uh two straight [00:01:57] Stanley Cup victories. And I just want [00:02:00] to congratulate their unbelievable [00:02:03] players. They have something different [00:02:05] because I watched some of the games that [00:02:07] it looked like it was going to be tough [00:02:09] and you pulled them out. You pulled them [00:02:11] out for years. Well, Vinnie's a winner, [00:02:13] so you learn from the owner, I guess. [00:02:16] And it's an honor to have Vinnie with [00:02:18] us. Thank you very much. going to speak [00:02:20] in a couple of minutes. I always like to [00:02:22] hear him speak because you never know [00:02:23] what the hell's going to come out of his [00:02:25] mouth. Where is he? You never know with [00:02:28] Vinnie, but boy, you've done a job here, [00:02:30] huh? You and your people, your reps have [00:02:33] been amazing. So, we're grateful to be [00:02:36] joined this afternoon by team owner [00:02:38] Vinnie Viola. And as you know, our [00:02:42] general manager, Bill ZTO, is fantastic. [00:02:45] One of the greatest NHL head coaches of [00:02:48] all time, Coach Paul Maurice. Where's [00:02:52] Paul? Where's Paul? Boy, I'll tell you, [00:02:55] I I hope they're taking good care of [00:02:56] you. [00:02:59] That's a hell of a coach. Great coach. [00:03:02] We're also pleased to be joined by NHL [00:03:05] Commissioner Gary Bman. Great job. I [00:03:07] remember a long time ago when you got [00:03:09] that job and I said, "They picked the [00:03:11] right guy." You know that. and you've [00:03:14] really shown it. As well as Attorney [00:03:16] General Pam Bondi, wherever Pam is. Pam, [00:03:19] hi Pam. [00:03:22] She's doing great. She's a special [00:03:24] person. And Secretaries Doug Bergam, [00:03:27] Sean Duffy, and Chris Wright, who uh I [00:03:30] hear has a birthday today. Is your [00:03:32] birthday? What are you about? 32. You [00:03:34] look so young. And you're doing great. [00:03:37] You know, Doug Bergam said he's the [00:03:39] greatest oil man in the world. I wanted [00:03:41] Doug for the job. He said, 'N no, [00:03:43] there's one man better. He would only [00:03:45] say one man. That's not, you know, [00:03:47] because he's uh he's a very unusual guy, [00:03:50] but he said, Chris, right, and we are [00:03:52] now drilling more oil than anytime any [00:03:54] country ever in history, right? And oil [00:03:56] prices in many states are down to $1.99 [00:04:00] a gallon. That's like a major tax cut, [00:04:03] right, Katherine? That's like a major [00:04:05] tax cut. [00:04:07] So what we did is we gave Doug the which [00:04:10] he probably liked better because he [00:04:12] likes real estate. He's the biggest real [00:04:14] estate person in history. He has the [00:04:16] Department of the Interior. So he drills [00:04:19] and he owns the land and the [00:04:21] combination's been lethal. Right. And [00:04:24] they've been great and I appreciate it [00:04:25] too. We're also here with FBI Director [00:04:29] Cash Patel who's a person that loves [00:04:31] sports. Right. Cash, you love the sports [00:04:33] and we love you. [00:04:36] And representatives Randy Fine. Randy, [00:04:38] you did a great job the other day. Did a [00:04:40] great job the other day. You know what [00:04:41] I'm talking about. You got up there. Let [00:04:44] him have it. Jimmy Petronis. Jimmy, [00:04:47] thank you, Jimmy. [00:04:49] Good job. John Rutherford. John, thank [00:04:53] you. Thank you, John. And Michael [00:04:58] Heridopoulos. Thank you, Michael. Thank [00:05:00] you very much. [00:05:04] So, after a shortened off season and a [00:05:06] regular season plagued by injuries, the [00:05:08] Florida Panthers entered the 2025 [00:05:11] playoffs with extraordinary pressure to [00:05:13] defend the title. But they also had an [00:05:16] amazing aura about them. It was called [00:05:19] the aura of winning. There's something [00:05:21] nice about it. And uh that's what they [00:05:24] did. But not only did you live up to the [00:05:27] sky-high expectations, you gave us [00:05:29] perhaps the most dominant playoff run in [00:05:32] NHL history. The Panthers scored 94 [00:05:35] goals in the playoffs, more than any [00:05:37] team in a generation. You won a record [00:05:40] 10 times on the road. It was uh nobody's [00:05:44] ever done that one before. You led the [00:05:46] finals for over 255 minutes, the most of [00:05:50] any team in NHL history. And you denied [00:05:54] Canada the Stanley Cup for the 32nd [00:05:56] straight year by [00:06:04] I don't know what what do you think [00:06:06] about that? What do you think about [00:06:08] that, Matthew? We have a little [00:06:09] competition with Canada. No, they're [00:06:12] great people though. They're great [00:06:14] people. We're doing much better than [00:06:16] Canada, but that's okay, right? We want [00:06:18] them to do well and they're going to do [00:06:19] well. but 32nd straight year by [00:06:23] defeating the Edmonton Oilers for the [00:06:26] second year in a row and they have a [00:06:28] couple of really great players in that [00:06:29] team and they have a s of a of superstar [00:06:33] still a superstar right how's he feeling [00:06:36] about his game you can't lose you got to [00:06:38] win right you going to explain it huh [00:06:40] but boy I'll tell you that was some game [00:06:43] on offense no one was better than the [00:06:45] man the Edmonton Journal named public [00:06:48] enemy number one star forward. Sam [00:06:51] Bennett. Where's Sam Bennett? [00:07:02] He's got a very powerful hand. [00:07:06] Said he's a strong guy. Sam scored 15 [00:07:10] playoff goals and earned the coveted [00:07:12] Khan Smi trophy, making him the first [00:07:15] skater in Panthers history to be named [00:07:17] tournament MVP. That's fantastic on Sam. [00:07:21] And perhaps the greatest single game [00:07:23] performance goes to Sam Reinhardt. [00:07:26] Where's Sam? [00:07:35] >> Who became the first player in 103 years [00:07:38] to score four goals at a Stanley Cup [00:07:41] clenching win. And that's uh four goals. [00:07:44] So they say hattick, but what do they [00:07:46] call four goals? Don't do it because [00:07:47] nobody ever does it, right? How many [00:07:49] people I've never heard of four goals in [00:07:51] one game? I hear of a hat-tick, but So, [00:07:54] did they have a nickname for that one? I [00:07:56] don't know. Just you know what it's [00:07:57] called? Four goals. That's all you don't [00:07:59] need a nickname [00:08:02] on the defensive side. Legendary goalie. [00:08:05] He's great. Sergey Babrovski, also known [00:08:09] as Bob. That's a nice con. That's a good [00:08:12] concept. That was a good idea. [00:08:15] notched three shutouts in each of the [00:08:17] first three series, including a key [00:08:19] game. Number four, shut out against [00:08:21] Toronto in the second round. Played [00:08:24] phenomenal, phenomenal hockey. Longtime [00:08:27] Panther blue liner Aaron Ecklot led the [00:08:32] fellow, his fellow defenseman with a [00:08:34] career-high 13 point scores, 19 playoff [00:08:37] games, and that's uh close to another [00:08:40] record. And team captain Alexander [00:08:42] Barkov, known as Barky, was named the [00:08:45] best defensive forward in the league for [00:08:47] the third time in the second straight [00:08:50] year. Much credit. Where's Baky? Where [00:08:52] are those two guys? [00:09:05] Good-looking people. Young, beautiful [00:09:07] people. I hate them. [00:09:09] You hate standing here with all this uh [00:09:11] this power behind you, but I got power, [00:09:14] too. It's called the United States [00:09:16] military. I don't care. [00:09:23] At 37 years old, Brad Marshott [00:09:28] recorded 10 assists and 10 goals in the [00:09:30] playoffs, including the clutch double [00:09:33] overtime winner in game two of the [00:09:34] finals. And no skater had more ice time [00:09:37] in the playoffs than Seth Jones, who was [00:09:40] the Warhoffs on both sides of the puck. [00:09:43] As we know, Seth will be representing [00:09:46] America in the Milan Winter Olympics [00:09:48] next month alongside fellow Florida [00:09:50] Panther Matthew Kachuk, who is [00:09:53] fantastic. I remember his father was [00:09:55] very good. I don't know. I said, "Did [00:09:58] you top his father?" He said, "Well, my [00:10:00] father had 500 and some odd goals." How [00:10:02] many did you say? How many? a lot of [00:10:04] goals. [00:10:06] >> I said, "Well, he says he ain't like, [00:10:07] but you will be." And your father would [00:10:10] want you to be because I know your [00:10:11] father. He would want you to be. It's [00:10:13] fantastic. You don't see that too often. [00:10:15] We have a father who's great and a son [00:10:18] who's great. You don't see it very [00:10:19] often, but this is a case where you do. [00:10:21] And say hello to your father for me, [00:10:23] Matthew. Okay. But, uh, he throws a big [00:10:27] punch. I can see that. Is he a pretty [00:10:30] tough cookie? Is he tough? They say he [00:10:33] throws a big punch. How many people can [00:10:34] take him in a fight [00:10:37] there? Only a couple of headsets. He [00:10:39] says most of them. I don't know about [00:10:40] that. Also joining them on the on Team [00:10:43] USA staff will be Bill Zito and Panthers [00:10:46] equipment manager Teddy Richards. That's [00:10:49] great. That's great. Congratulations. [00:10:53] Congratulations. [00:10:55] And we're counting on you to bring home [00:10:57] the gold. You know, I got the Olympics [00:10:59] and we got it uh brought to a very [00:11:02] special place. We have the big Olympics [00:11:04] coming up very soon and we have the [00:11:07] World Cup coming and we have the 250th [00:11:10] year coming. So, you know, when I got [00:11:12] rigged when we had a rigged election, I [00:11:14] was really angry about it. Then I [00:11:16] realized if I win the next time, I pick [00:11:17] up the Olympics, the World Cup, and the [00:11:19] 250 and I said, "You know what, Pam?" I [00:11:21] said, "This is a good thing. It's better [00:11:24] than it would have been actually." So, [00:11:25] it's pretty good. Amazing the way things [00:11:27] can work out, right? But I just want to [00:11:30] say a very special congratulations. And [00:11:32] I'm going to bring them down to the Oval [00:11:34] Office. We did last time. And sometimes [00:11:36] if I really like a team, I bring them to [00:11:38] the Oval Office and we do some fun. We [00:11:40] give them a little special uh we give [00:11:42] them a coin, a very special coin, the [00:11:44] best coin there is. And we have a little [00:11:46] fun. But we're going to we're going to [00:11:48] march on down. We're going to pass the [00:11:50] presidential [00:11:52] wall of fame. So I had a choice. walk of [00:11:54] fame or wall of fame. And you know what [00:11:57] I decided, right? I said walk because I [00:12:00] think of the walk of shame. And I said, [00:12:02] "This was an interesting this was an [00:12:05] interesting situation." So I said, that [00:12:07] was the one reason I didn't want to do [00:12:09] that because I said, "People are going [00:12:10] to think about that." But I said, "I'll [00:12:11] do it anyway." But we have the [00:12:13] presidential walk of fame and you'll get [00:12:16] to see it. It's been quite an attraction [00:12:18] for the White House. But I just want to [00:12:21] congratulate everybody. These are [00:12:22] special people. very very hard to win [00:12:25] especially in at the top level of sports [00:12:27] and this is the top top level and it's [00:12:30] an honor to have these guys with us you [00:12:32] know it's uh I I want my people to win [00:12:35] such incredible people so many here [00:12:38] congressman senators and cabinet members [00:12:41] and they've really produced they're [00:12:42] producing like we're having a year the [00:12:44] likes of which uh really so far by by no [00:12:48] there's no comparison to any other first [00:12:50] year for an administration we have the [00:12:54] uh tremendous crime numbers just came [00:12:56] out. Did you see the lowest crime ever [00:12:58] recorded? Uh now, you wouldn't see that [00:13:01] when you see what's going on, but when [00:13:02] you see what's going on in Minnesota, [00:13:05] we're taking out the worst some of the [00:13:07] worst criminals in the world are being [00:13:10] taken out of our country. Murderers, [00:13:12] drug dealers, some of the worst in the [00:13:14] world. We have the lowest crime with [00:13:16] best crime numbers we've ever had. And [00:13:18] we have uh something else that's very [00:13:21] special. We have 18 trillion. This is [00:13:23] Vinnie for Vinnie had understand this [00:13:25] better than maybe anybody in the room. [00:13:26] $18 trillion worth of investment in the [00:13:30] United States which is bigger than any [00:13:32] number [00:13:34] bigger than any number. And we have [00:13:36] again we have today for the 49th time of [00:13:39] in 11 months here a little more than 11 [00:13:42] months for the 48th day we have the [00:13:44] highest stock market in history. So [00:13:46] that's pretty good. That makes you feel [00:13:47] good because I know you have a couple of [00:13:49] stocks. makes everybody feel good [00:13:51] because 401ks are the highest point [00:13:53] they've ever been. Everybody, [00:13:54] everybody's happy and we're doing a job [00:13:56] and they're doing a job. So, I'd like to [00:13:59] ask Vinnie to say a few words and then [00:14:01] Matthew to say a few words and then [00:14:03] we'll figure it out. I heard they have a [00:14:05] little surprise. Oh, that looks nice. I [00:14:07] hope it's the stick and not just the [00:14:08] shirt. That stick looks beautiful. That [00:14:11] looks beautiful. Maybe I get both. Who [00:14:13] the hell knows? I'm president. I'll just [00:14:15] take them. [00:14:17] But then we do have that little surprise [00:14:19] and I want to thank you all very much [00:14:20] for being here. Very special. Vinnie, [00:14:22] please go ahead. [00:14:30] Mr. President, it it really humbles me [00:14:34] to uh be in your presence and the [00:14:37] kindness you've showed me, my [00:14:40] organization from from a very long time [00:14:44] ago, it's not lost on us. But the [00:14:46] privilege to be at the White House with [00:14:48] you while you're present is extra [00:14:50] special. I'm gonna make it pretty clear [00:14:55] that we are honored to be here and we're [00:14:58] honored to be here with you as the [00:15:00] president. [00:15:07] You you talked about the Olympians. I [00:15:09] think we're right up there having the [00:15:11] most Olympia Olympia Olympic players as [00:15:15] as much as any other team in the NHL or [00:15:17] 10 Olympians behind me from I think four [00:15:20] or five countries. Uh it's a great [00:15:24] testimony to a wonderful sport that [00:15:26] really is a global sport. [00:15:29] I speak on behalf of every Florida [00:15:31] Panther fan all over the world. [00:15:35] We're not going to stop. [00:15:38] We're not going to stop. [00:15:41] Thank you, Mr. President. Matthew would [00:15:43] like to say a few words. And the players [00:15:45] are super excited about the gifts that [00:15:48] they've selected for you. I get I think [00:15:50] I'm more excited actually. So, thank you [00:15:53] very much and God bless you. [00:16:01] >> Well, I mean, the two cups was pretty [00:16:03] good, but that walk with you might have [00:16:04] drummed it all there. That was pretty [00:16:06] amazing. Um, no, I just want to say on [00:16:09] behalf of the whole organization and [00:16:11] mainly the players, we're so honored to [00:16:13] be here being an American. I know I said [00:16:15] it last year, but I mean, nothing beats [00:16:17] this. I'm so proud to be an American and [00:16:19] so proud to be here with with you and [00:16:20] and everybody else. So, um, but like I [00:16:23] said last year, winning it takes a toll. [00:16:27] You pay a price for it. And each one of [00:16:29] these members behind me, like it really [00:16:31] does take a village to make it happen. [00:16:33] and each person played a very very [00:16:35] important part in it. And coming down to [00:16:37] Florida thanks to Vinnie Viola and and [00:16:40] Bill Zto has has really changed my life. [00:16:42] And I cannot believe that three years [00:16:44] later we have two Stanley Cups. And like [00:16:46] Vinnie said, we are not stopping now. We [00:16:47] hope to be here next year. So um that's [00:16:50] the plan. And um you know, representing [00:16:53] you and the millions back here um next [00:16:55] month in the Olympics will be one of [00:16:57] highlights of my life as well. So thank [00:16:58] you. [00:17:07] We uh we do have a few gifts to give [00:17:09] you. So uh I'd like to call down Captain [00:17:12] Sasha Barkov and then Seth Jones. And I [00:17:16] think I think you're going to like the [00:17:17] one that Seth gets you the most. [00:17:58] Did you hear him? Good for slashing. [00:18:20] That's [00:18:44] heat.