Trump talks up election victory as he receives patriot of the year award
‘It was a tremendous day, a tremendous night,’ he said of his election victory.
President-elect Donald Trump said on Thursday night in accepting the patriot of the year award at Fox Nation’s Patriot Awards that he has already accomplished more since his election victory than President Joe Biden has in his entire term.
Mr Trump, who has been largely ensconced at Mar-a-Lago in recent weeks as he has been announcing job picks for his administration, travelled to New York’s Long Island for the annual awards ceremony from the Fox News streaming platform.
“I think you have seen more happen in the last two weeks than you have in the last four years,” Mr Trump told the crowd at the Tilles Centre for the Performing Arts.
“It was a tremendous day, a tremendous night,” he said of his election victory in a 10-minute acceptance speech that sounded like a highlight reel of his campaign rally speeches, complete with a live performance of God Bless the USA by the singer Lee Greenwood, calls to “get the criminals out of our country” and an embrace of all-paper election ballots and mandatory voter ID.
Mr Trump also noted the conversations he has had with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum since he threatened two of the country’s top trading partners with a 25% tariff on all imported goods unless they do more to tackle illegal border crossings and drug flows.
“Justin came flying right in,” Mr Trump said in reference to Mr Trudeau’s trip to Mar-a-Lago. That prompted some in the audience to chant “51!” — a reference to Mr Trump apparently joking at his dinner with Mr Trudeau that Canada could become the 51st US state.
The annual awards “honor and recognize America’s finest patriots, including military veterans, first responders and other inspirational everyday heroes”, according to Fox.
The event was hosted by Fox host Sean Hannity, a friend of Mr Trump’s who stepped in after the president-elect nominated Pete Hegseth, the original host, as defence secretary.
Among those recognised Ton hursday night were conservative actor and evangelist Kirk Cameron; General Dick Cody, who used his own helicopter to deliver supplies to people after Hurricane Helene; and Jonathan Diller, the New York Police Department officer who was killed during a traffic stop in Queens.
His widow, Stephanie, received a standing ovation and thanked Mr Trump for his support. Others invoked Mr Trump as well.
The ceremony also honoured Paws of War, an organisation that provides service dogs to veterans and helps those serving overseas bring animals they meet in war zones to the US.
One such reunion took place onstage, as a service member was reunited with a dog he had cared for while deployed.
The heartfelt moments were juxtaposed against the boisterous and incendiary political fare that loyal watchers of Fox hosts like Mr Hannity expect.
The anchor used his introduction to take an election victory lap, boasting that Democrats “got their ass kicked”.
He played YMCA — the song Mr Trump has long used to close out his rallies — and invited audience members to dance like the president-elect.
And he offered a series of impressions, mimicking former vice presidential candidate Tim Walz’s enthusiasm and Mr Biden appearing lost, complete with a backdrop of the rainforest where he spoke during a recent trip to the Amazon.
Later, he donned an orange safety vest — a nod to the one Mr Trump wore when he delivered a press conference from a garbage truck during the campaign after Mr Biden suggested Mr Trump’s supporters were garbage.
The show was originally set to be hosted by Mr Hegseth, who left his position at Fox when Mr Trump tapped him to run the Pentagon — a nomination that is currently in jeopardy over allegations of sexual assault and excessive drinking, which Mr Hegseth denies.
Members of the audience cheered when Mr Hegseth appeared in a video that was played to showcase the stories of Department of Veterans Affairs whistleblowers.
Fox personalities Rachel Campos-Duffy and Will Cain said after the appearance that Mr Hegseth would “make one hell of” a secretary of defence.
Mr Trump has begun to emerge more in public since spending most of his transition so far behind closed doors at his club in Palm Beach, Florida.
This week, he made an unannounced appearance at a memorial service for three Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office deputies who were killed in a car crash last month.
This weekend, he will travel to Paris to join other world leaders and dignitaries for a ceremony to celebrate the reopening of Notre Dame Cathedral, which was devastated by a fire five years ago.
