Trump Speaks at the California GOP Convention
Donald J. Trump addresses a large crowd at the California GOP convention in Anaheim, California
ANAHEIM—Donald J. Trump spoke to over a thousand attendees during lunch on September 29, 2023 as part of the California Republican Party convention at the Anaheim Marriott Hotel. Some attendees lined up for the noon lunch as early as 6:00 a.m., and hundreds of people were already waiting in the line by 9:00 a.m., erupting in pro-Trump chants and cheers throughout the morning.
Hundreds stand in line to see Trump at the California GOP convention in Anaheim
The amount of press filled the entire back of the room with cameras and reporters. Attendees passed through metal detectors and many were seated at least an hour and a half before the event started. The hallway was bustling with a booth selling Trump swag.
Lunch setup for Trump event at the Fall 2023 California Republican Party Convention
Attendees paid $500 for general seating or $600 for preferred seating. Preceding the event, the attendees seemed calm and relaxed.
Attendees seated and ready to hear from Mr. Trump
Once the event started (over an hour later than planned), the crowd cheered. “The energy in this room is electric!” exclaimed Jessica Millan Patterson, California GOP chairwoman. As Jessica introduced Mr. Trump, the crowd cheered loudly. Mr. Trump then entered the hall to a recording of Lee Greenwood’s “God Bless the U.S.A.”
First, Mr. Trump spoke about voting systems. “We would win California in a General Election if they didn’t have a rigged voting system. They sent out 22 million ballots…people getting five ballots, six ballots… who the hell counts them? Nobody knows.”
“We have open borders. We have rigged elections. It’s not a bad thing for the enemy to watch,” he said, later adding, “There’s only one reason they don’t want voter ID, and it’s because they want to cheat.”
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He then spoke to his strong position in the polls. “We’re leading by a lot,” he said, adding, “Don’t forget, we’re going over polls. We only talk about polls when I’m doing well, remember that.” His words exuded optimism: “Help is on its way. Can’t go on like this. We can’t go on like this. We won’t have a country left. The mission to help you liberate California from communist rule begins on inauguration day 2025.”
Mr. Trump spoke to issues he felt Californians care most about and one of those topics was water. “Together we will end the decline of America,” adding that he would like to reverse the decline of California as well. He spoke about the water restrictions in California, mentioning “35 million dollar house and you can’t take a shower.” Related to the topic of water was the amount of wildfires being faced by Californians in recent years, Trump concluded “[California has] very poor land management.” He saw that the federal government was sending large amounts of money to California yet all the wildfires. “They don’t have forest fires in properly-run locations.”
Jessica Millan Patterson announces Trump at the podium as he walks in to the room.
Mr. Trump next moved to the topic of gas prices, noting that gas today costs “six dollars” per gallon. People in the audience shouted, “it’s higher!” “Don’t forget,” Mr. Trump added, “they kept it artificially low by taking the oil and gas out of the strategic oil reserves. That’s meant for wars, not meant to keep their gasoline down to win an election.”
He didn’t shy away from the topic of being indicted. “When they indicted me, and then again and again, now I’m setting records. Al Capone wasn’t indicted so much.”
Mr. Trump spoke about the auto industry, saying “Newsom is also killing our car industry and crushing our great automakers.” He added that forcing the trucking industry to go electric to his list of concerns: “Big beautiful trucks, they cost a fortune, they have a tank of diesel that goes up to 2,000 miles. An electric truck doesn't have the right torque or pull […] but it goes 300 miles. So they have to stop approximately six times.”
He joked that Democrat leaders are focused on environmentalism to a fault, saying as if he were them, “We will blast everybody, but at least we will go in with environmentally nice equipment … We’re dropping bombs all over the place, but at least we’re not leaving any environmental footprint.” Mr. Trump replied to his parody, “Who cares if it’s environmentally friendly? You’re dropping bombs all over the place!”
Next, he addressed Republicans’ concerns about protecting children: “Child sexual mutilation will be banned” and “I will protect parents and their rights,” followed by a round of applause. He also spoke about returning trafficked children to their families.
“Under the Trump administration, we will bring back law and order to California.” He spoke about a completely overhauled DOJ to investigate “Marxist monsters unleashing mayhem” on California cities. “I will use every single power at my disposal […] to restore safety and peace […] If you rob a store, you can fully expect that you will be shot as you are leaving that store.”
He also addressed the war in Ukraine and other international issues. “I will prevent World War III. We are much closer than anyone else […] This is a level of power that no one has ever seen before… I will have it stopped.”
Toward the end of his speech, Mr. Trump said, “They will never take away my freedom, because I will never let them take away your freedom.” He added, “2024 is our great battle. We have to win.”
“I make this promise to you, the great people of California, we will save your state. And under our leadership, the forgotten men and women will be forgotten no longer. We will put America first and we will make America great again.” Thank you, California, God bless you all.”
Donald J. Trump speaks at the California GOP convention on September 29, 2023.