WEBVTT

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Minister Abrego . Admiral Halsey

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ministers , chiefs of defense , fellow

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troops of the United States , uh , good

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morning to everybody . Uh , it's great

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to see all of you again . Got a chance

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to spend time with many of you , uh ,

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last night . It's a privilege . As you

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know , the security of the hemisphere

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that we share is a top priority for

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President Trump . And for the United

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States Department of Defense . The

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security threats that we face right now

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are real and they are present . But

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together we are making progress to stop

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mass illegal migration from around the

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world . We're making progress to stop

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violent cartels and criminal

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enterprises that are threatening our

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people and brutalizing our communities .

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And the era of capitulating to

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coercion by the communist Chinese is

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over . Their growing and adversarial

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control of strategic land and critical

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infrastructure in this hemisphere

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cannot and will not stand . To

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accomplish this , our countries cannot

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face these shared threats alone . We

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have to face them together . America

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will confront , will deter , and

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if necessary , defeat these threats

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alongside all of you . Our close and

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valued partners . Our mission is simple .

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Achieve peace through strength through

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an America first approach . We're doing

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this by restoring the warrior ethos ,

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rebuilding our military , and

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re-establishing deterrence . And we're

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doing all of this right here in Central

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and South America . But as we state

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time and time again , America first

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does not mean America alone rather

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putting America first means making our

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alliances and our partnerships make

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sense for the American people . And for

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our friends . As President Trump often

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says , it's common sense . To put

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America first , we will put the

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Americas first . We will do this by

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confronting shared threats across this

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hemisphere . Serious threats that

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require a serious response . First ,

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The United States will do whatever is

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necessary to achieve 100% operational

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control of our borders . Simply put ,

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Border security is national security ,

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something President Trump has and

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continues to deliver on . Border

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security in every country in this

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region is a shared challenge and must

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be a shared priority for all of us ,

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and I had a chance to spend time , as I

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mentioned with multiple ministers last

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night who are just as committed to

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their own sovereignty in defense of

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their borders and assisting us in

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defense of ours . Second , the Trump

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administration understands that

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transnational cartels and gangs enable

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and profit from chaos . They terrorize

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our people and our communities , so

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President Trump has designated these

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groups as terrorist organizations . And

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we are unflinchingly treating them as

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such . We also know that these same

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terrorist gangs and cartels . They

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profit from terrorizing your people and

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your communities , cartels that ravage

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your lands they control large swaths of

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territory in some of our countries .

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And their existence threatens yours and

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our sovereignty . Together ,

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each for our own country . We will

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target and we will destroy those

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networks . And thank you again to every

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leader in this region cooperating with

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the United States to stop mass illegal

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migration and to accept returning

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migrants to your countries . And third ,

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as we look beyond our hemisphere , we

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have to recognize the threat that China

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poses to our countries , to our people ,

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and to peace in this region .

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China-based companies are capturing

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land , critical infrastructure and

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strategic sectors such as energy and

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telecommunications . China's military

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has too large of a presence in the

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Western Hemisphere . They operate

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military facilities and ground stations

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that extend their reach into space .

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They exploit natural resources and land

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to fuel China's global military

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ambitions . China's factory fishing

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fleets are stealing food from our

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nations and from our people .

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Make no mistake , Beijing is investing

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and operating in this region for

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military advantage . And unfair

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economic gain . We do not

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seek war with China . And war with

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China is certainly not inevitable . We

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do not seek it in any form .

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But together we must prevent war by

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robustly and vigorously deterring

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China's threats in this hemisphere .

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President Trump has made it clear .

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That the Panama Canal and the canal

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areas cannot and will not be controlled

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by China . We are working closely

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with our partners in Panama . To secure

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the canal and advance our mutual .

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Directing the United States naval ship

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Comfort , it's a hospital ship to

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deploy to Panama and to several

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countries in the region later this year .

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We're also expanding training ,

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military training , increased military

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education and exchanges . And

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conducting more , more robust

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joint exercises . We're going to

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increase cooperation . To deter threats .

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To seize opportunities to bolster our

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shared defense . That's what

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Sentec Panama 2025

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is all about . Friends standing

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shoulder to shoulder with friends .

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That's the reason I'm proud to be the

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first Secretary of Defense to attend .

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Uh , the first to be in Panama in over

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two decades , President Trump has made

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our hemisphere , our friends , our

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borders . A high priority in his

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administration . And it will continue

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to be so . Like all of you , the United

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States wants a hemisphere . Of secure ,

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prosperous , and sovereign nations .

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This is not globalism or

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interventionism . Instead , this is a

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golden age of shared national interests .

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We want this to be a golden age for our

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countries and for this hemisphere . We

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want in short . To

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also make the Americas great again .

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Together we will secure a prosperous

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and peaceful region for our people .

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And a promising future . For our kids

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and for our grandkids . Thank you and

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God bless all the countries assembled

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here . Thank you .