Floor Statements

Madam President, Trump going to Michigan today to tout his economic record is like an arsonist returning to the scene of the crime and asking for a pat on the back. Trump has said over and over again that ``affordability'' is a made-up word. He has said Americans' skyrocketing costs are nothing but a hoax.

Hey, Donald, ask any Michigander whether they think the higher costs that are crushing them are a hoax.

Michiganders and Americans know that rising costs are all too real, and they know who is to blame--Donald Trump and the GOP. Over and over again, they have done things that have made it more expensive to live in Michigan.

If Trump wants to tout his economic record in Michigan, so be it. Trump can brag about how Michiganders are forking over $4.23 for a gallon of gas on a car economy because of his failed war with Iran. Trump can take credit for the massive tariff tax he is forcing Michiganders to pay because of the whopping 50 percent tariff he just slapped on Canada--the State's northern neighbor. The Michigan and Canadian economies are intertwined. How stupid to impose a tariff when the two economies depend on each other. Or maybe Trump wants to boast to Michigan's factory workers about the 75,000 American manufacturing jobs he has lost in his second term.

Everywhere you look, the Michigan economy is in shambles because of Donald Trump and his actions.

So that is your record, Donald. Go ahead and own it.

Trump thinks he is in for a warm reception in Michigan; he is in for a reckoning.

Corruption

Madam President, on corruption, the only people who think America is getting more affordable are Donald Trump and his cronies as they cash in on unprecedented corruption. We see a new con come out of the Trump administration almost every day, but the scheme is always the same: Americans pay; Trump profits.

Last week, I announced Senate Democrats' new effort to stop Trump from turning his Presidency into his personal ATM. We released a report detailing how the Trump family has defrauded the American people to the tune of more than $4 billion in the past 18 months. We also saw Republicans vote against my legislation to prevent Trump from wasting further taxpayer dollars on upgrades for his $400 million luxury jet.

Our work to expose and stop Trump's grift continues this week. In the coming days, I plan to announce new legislation to clean up the swamp Trump promised to drain a decade ago. We are unmasking the people who are swindling the American people, holding their feet to the fire, and advancing reforms to stop further corruption in the future.

The Presidency isn't a product to sell, a commodity to trade, or a grift to run--no matter how hard Donald Trump tries. Every American who has been forced to pay more this last year and a half is paying for Trump's profit margin. We are done picking up his tab.

SAVE America Act

Madam President, on the SAVE Act, it is a new week in Washington, but one thing remains the same: The SAVE Act is dead on arrival in the Senate. Trump keeps tiring himself out running the same play. Trump knows he can't defend Republicans' abysmal record--his abysmal record-- so he whines to the GOP to pass the SAVE Act to disenfranchise voters who want to hold him accountable in November.

Give it up, Donald. The SAVE Act ain't going to happen.

The courts have rejected the SAVE Act. Congress rejected the SAVE Act. Even members of Trump's own party have rejected the SAVE Act.

Republican problems aren't going to go away until Trump realizes how futile this brazen effort to rig our elections really is. Instead, Trump has said publicly that ``Republicans have to pass SAVE . . . otherwise we are going to have a shutdown in November.'' That is Trump. He keeps threatening a shutdown.

Are Republicans listening? Your President is threatening to shut down the government. It is not Democrats doing that.

Donald, I keep trying to remind you, the last time you bragged about shutting down the government--back when Nancy Pelosi was in charge then--didn't go so well for you, did it? And it definitely won't now.

Republicans either need to drop this frivolous and vicious effort to pass the SAVE Act or watch Democrats stop it dead in its tracks.

I yield the floor.

I suggest the absence of a quorum.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for the quorum call be rescinded.

Mr. President, the hole Donald Trump is digging himself into in Iran has turned into a crater.

Somehow Trump has convinced himself that the American people are cheering him on on this blunder rather than crying out for him to bring our troops home.

Today, Democrats are going to force another vote on our War Powers Resolution to end this war; to get our troops out of harm's way; and to force Trump to face the reality of this catastrophe.

Will our Republican colleagues join us, or are they just going to keep their heads in the sand?

They know how bad this is. They are hearing it from one end of the country to another, but they are so afraid of speaking truth to power-- of telling Donald Trump he is wrong--that they almost time after time-- the vast majority of them--vote to go along with this war that is not achieving any goals and is raising our gas prices now to above $4.

Yesterday, Trump said of the American people ``they're not against the war.''

Trump, wake up. No one wants this war but you and your cronies and the supine Republican Senators and Congressmen who go along.

The American people are against this war. They are against seeing our men and women in uniform get killed and wounded for a war that seems to have no direction or purpose. They are against hearing Trump and Hegseth lie about casualties, and they are definitely against paying over 4 bucks for a gallon of gas. In fact, this morning, oil, once again, hit $100 a barrel as the war continues to spiral.

Just this week, we saw polling that the war in Iran is America's least popular war since polling began. Let me say that again so Donald Trump and my Republican colleagues can hear it. Just this week, we saw polling that the Iran war is America's least popular war since polling began.

So, when Donald Trump says the American people are not against the war, he has got his head deep, deep, deep in the sand. Even Trump's MAGA supporters are starting to sour on the war. No one--no one--wants to watch Donald Trump keep pouring gasoline on a fire he claims to have put out weeks ago.

Donald Trump's war is ramping up, not winding down. If Donald Trump won't listen to the American people and end this war, then Congress must. Bipartisan majorities in both Chambers of Congress have already passed legislation to end Trump's aimless, illegal, ruinous war. We will keep demanding Donald Trump end this war with another vote today. We are going to keep the pressure on our Republican colleagues, and that is what we are supposed to be doing here because it is Congress that has the power to bring war; so it is perfectly appropriate and right and part of our obligation as the opposition party to force our Republican colleagues to vote again and again and again until they see the light.

Senate Republicans need to stop indulging the President's foreign policy of fantasy and support our War Powers Resolution to bring our troops home.

When are Senate Republicans going to stand up? When will they say ``enough''?

The American people are watching. Senate Republicans will lose credibility with the American people with every vote they take against ending Trump's war.

Tariffs

Mr. President, on tariffs, as gas prices spike and families struggle with their grocery bills, Trump is tripling down on his chaotic tariff tax and pushing prices that Americans pay even higher.

Just this week, Trump announced a new round of 50-percent tariffs on Canada--our big enemy, Canada, Trump might say--but that is not all. Trump is about to slap new 10-percent tariffs on 60 countries, including all of our major trading partners. He is also threatening 100-percent tariffs on generic medicines. That is more money coming out of the American people's pockets for something they very much need-- low-cost generic drugs. Trump has bled the American people dry with

these tariffs, and he is coming back for more.

And Canada? Doesn't he know that many of our countries on the Canadian border depend on commerce, whether it is Maine or New York or Michigan or Washington State or every State in between, and that his tariffs are helping to destroy the economies of those States in particular?

So what will American families get in return for shelling out thousands of dollars extra for basic necessities? Nothing good. Trump has bled the American people dry with these tariffs, and now he is coming back for more.

Trump claims a massive new wave of manufacturing, but the truth is we have lost 75,000 manufacturing jobs since Trump started his trade war. I repeat. Trump's tariffs have cost our country 75,000 manufacturing jobs. Once again, Trump lies. He just lies. He doesn't care what the facts are. If it suits his purposes, his big ego, his insatiable desire to pat himself on the back, he lies.

Trump, we have lost manufacturing jobs since your tariffs--75,000 of them.

Meanwhile, tariff rates mysteriously change, and new exemptions are announced every time Trump receives a gold watch, a diamond ring, or a phone call from one of his billionaire buddies. The story is always the same with this administration: Trump and his billionaire friends win; families lose.

Trump corrupts the Presidency to enrich himself. Then he turns around and raises costs on Americans at every turn, and Senate Republicans are more than happy to help Trump every step of the way.

Election Protection Task Force

Now, Mr. President, on the Election Protection Task Force that we Democrats have put together, Trump tries to corrupt everything he touches, and our elections are next. President Trump knows he can't outrun the Republicans' awful record, so he is trying to rig the race in November. Trump and the GOP would rather silence Americans than answer to them.

We are going to make sure Republicans hear the American people loud and clear in November, which is why the Senate Democrats' Election Protection Task Force gathered again yesterday to war-game our response to Trump's all-out assault on our elections.

Our task force is planning for every eventuality and looking at every tool to stop Trump from stealing the mid-term election. It doesn't matter what Trump tries to throw at us. Exercises like the one we held yesterday will ensure we will be ready to respond. We are anticipating the trouble he might create--the evil he might do--and what our response should be in advance.

Trump ignored Americans when they told him to lower his costs. Trump ignored Americans when they told him to end his wars. Now Trump wants to ignore Americans when they tell him they want Republicans gone.

Trump may not want to listen to the American people, but he is going to have to face the music in November whether he likes it or not.

Anniversary of 1998 Capitol Police Shooting

Finally, Mr. President, on a sad note, it is the anniversary of the 1998 Capitol Police shooting.

Tomorrow--tomorrow--will mark 28 years when Detective John Gibson and Officer Jacob Chestnut of the U.S. Capitol Police gave their lives while defending our Capitol. They showed tremendous heroism that day-- one I remember all too well. They faced grave danger with courage and made the ultimate sacrifice to protect our Capitol, the people within, and the democracy this building represents.

For that, they will always have--always have--our gratitude, and so will all of our Capitol Police officers, who work so hard to keep us safe.

I yield the floor.

I suggest the absence of a quorum.

Mr. President, Trump got America into this mess in Iran, and he has made it clear he is both unwilling and unable to get us out.

For the sake of our servicemembers, their families, working people from one end of the country to the other who are getting crushed by higher costs and gas prices, Senate Republicans need to join us and end Trump's war in Iran.

People across the aisle know--most everyone here knows--what a fiasco this war has been. Well, now we need a little courage and strength to end it. And we need to get our Republican colleagues to step up to the plate and do what that they know deep in their hearts is the right thing to do.

How many servicemembers will die before Senate Republicans decide this war needs to end? How many of our troops will be wounded before Senate Republicans find a spine? How many times will Democrats have to force a vote on our War Powers Resolution to bring our troops home before Senate Republicans join us? And they are going to have to vote on it again and again and again until they join us in ending this war.

Every time Republicans oppose our War Powers Resolution and vote against ending this war, they lose the faith of the American people. Senate Republicans keep trying to protect Donald Trump, but it is our men and women in uniform whose lives are in danger they should be protecting.

Senate Republicans know how dearly this war is costing the American people: gas $4 a barrel, crude oil over $100, families shelling out hundreds, if not thousands, of dollars in extra costs on basic goods, but Senate Republicans just want everyone to be calm and carry on.

But the American people are not calm. They don't like this war-- Democrats, Republicans, Independents. So Senate Republicans need to wake up, not next week, not next month--now. Now is the time to wake up, Republicans. Now is not the time to keep bending the knee to Donald Trump, as he dizzies himself running around in circles chasing his own tail.

It is time to stand up for the American people and declare in one voice that this war cannot and must not go on. Every Member of the Senate, whatever your politics, ought to be up in arms over this war, its lack of direction, its lack of conclusion, its lack of consistency. Every single Senator ought to support our resolution to end this war.

We will keep forcing votes until Senate Republicans stop playing dumb and summon up the courage to do what is right.

Vote on Motion to Discharge

Mr. President, I ask for the yeas and nays.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for the quorum call be rescinded.

Mr. President, Donald Trump's cavalier disregard for the lives of our servicemembers is beneath contempt and beyond despicable.

In a Truth Social post, yesterday, Trump seemed to brag that 18 servicemembers had been killed in his disastrous Iran war compared to the tens of thousands who died in Vietnam.

Donald, stop treating our servicemembers' lives like they are points on a scoreboard in your twisted game.

Asked about his handling of the Iran war, yesterday, Trump said:

I think people are very impressed.

Very impressed? What kind of bubble does he live in?

Every survey shows how much the American people are against this war. Americans are not impressed that Trump has botched this war from the start. Americans are not impressed when they see headlines like the one behind me right here--that the price of gasoline is back over $4 a gallon because of Trump's war. And Americans are certainly not impressed that 18 Americans have been killed and hundreds more wounded and that Trump has tried to cover it up.

Donald Trump may believe that, if he conceals the casualties, Americans will forget the war. But our servicemembers are not numbers to bury. They are human beings with families who have lives. They are the sons and daughters, husbands and wives, and mothers and fathers who are sent into harm's way without a strategy for bringing them home--and bring them home we must.

This week, Senate Democrats will force another vote on our War Powers Resolution to end this unauthorized war and get our troops out of harm's way. Every Senator will have to make a choice. You cannot claim to support the troops while leaving them trapped in a war with no mission and no end. You cannot call it a victory while the battlefield keeps expanding. And you cannot hide the wounded and call it peace.

Now, Mr. President, on Air Force One, Donald Trump's corruption truly knows no limits. Apparently, it wasn't enough for Trump to charge the American people for his golden ballroom on the ground. Now he wants the taxpayers to fund his palace in the sky as well. Trump's $400 million foreign jet--the biggest gift a President has received from a foreign government ever--is anything but free. Taxpayers will have to pay hundreds of millions of dollars to outfit Trump's luxury jet with the security upgrades it needs to serve as Air Force One.

I am advancing the Presidential Airlift Security Act for immediate passage to ensure that Americans don't have to foot the bill to ``max out'' Trump's luxury jet when he already has access to a perfectly fine Air Force One. There is no way we are letting Trump charge Americans so he can fly in style while they are struggling to make ends meet.

I introduced this legislation last year, but every single Republican Senator voted against the bill. Senate Republicans cleared the way for Trump's Air Force One spending spree. I urge my colleagues across the aisle not to

repeat the same mistake. Trump always finds a way to saddle the American people with the cost of his corruption. We have an opportunity to stop it. Will our Republican colleagues join us to make that happen?

Democrats will continue to expose how the Trump administration's corruption is driving up Americans' costs every chance we get--the slush fund, an exemption from taxes, what he did on his own social media in charging people for it, and now this Air Force One corruption. Every day--just about every day--there is a new story about how Trump's corruption is rampant and raises the costs of the American people.

Mr. President, on the Election Protection Task Force, Donald Trump knows he can't defend Republicans' disastrous record. So he is attacking the midterm elections that could hold him accountable. Instead of trying to earn Americans' votes, Trump is trying to discount them.

That is not going to happen, Donald.

Today, Senate Democrats' Election Protection Task Force will gather for a second time to war-game responses and to plan how we can counter Trump's effort to subvert our elections. We are going to red-team a number of different instances that Trump might try to subvert our election and what we will do to counter them. We are fighting to protect the right of every eligible American voter to cast a ballot and to have it counted without interference, intimidation, or obstruction.

Our task force is preparing, over and over again, to meet the election threats we know are coming. We are bringing together top experts to identify threats to the election, to test responses, and to strengthen our defenses because we are defending the American people's right to vote and have a free and fair election. We are preparing our responses to what they might do now so that voters can have confidence later.

Trump is doing everything he can to undermine confidence in our elections because he knows just how bad of a bind he is in. The Trump administration has made life harder and more expensive for the American people. Trump knows Americans won't ignore the higher costs, the rampant corruption, and the widespread chaos he has unleashed on our country, which is why he is trying to ignore their votes altogether. But this country and this election belong to the American people, not to Trump. Democrats are going to make sure it stays that way.

Mr. President, Trump's corruption has no ceiling, and it apparently doesn't have an altitude limit either. Trump's $400 million luxury jet is the single biggest bribe an American President has ever accepted from another country in all of American history--the single biggest bribe in all of American history. And make no mistake about it, Trump's so-called palace in the sky is a boondoggle at 40,000 feet.

If you thought this illegal gift was bad before, it is even worse now. We just learned that this new jet wasn't safe enough for Trump to make the return flight from the NATO summit in Turkiye, a country that borders on Iran. It doesn't have the countermeasures for heat-seeking missiles and the other security equipment that it needs to keep the President safe.

The rest of the Air Force One fleet had all these security features, but Trump left them in the hangar back at home.

So I call on Senate Republicans to pass my Presidential Airlift Security Act so Americans don't have to pay to upgrade Trump's luxury jet when he already has access to a fleet of U.S. planes that are far safer and far less expensive to maintain.

The luxury jet may have come wrapped in a bow for Donald Trump, but it came with a massive price tag for the American people. Trump is asking taxpayers to fork over an estimated $1 billion to retrofit and max out his flying palace so it can meet the security standards of the existing Air Force One fleet that, of course, we already paid for.

Americans can't afford gas, can't afford groceries, can't afford the electric bill, but Trump thinks they can afford to fly him in style.

Trump's luxury jet also poses a great risk to our national security. All the experts agree: no matter how many modifications are made or how much is spent or how intensely it is retrofitted, there will never be 100 percent confidence that the plane is secure. This is not a gamble anyone should be willing to take.

I introduced this legislation last year, but every single Republican Senator voted against the bill. Now, with this new information, hopefully they will see the light, what a boondoggle this is.

Why do they back up Trump on every one of his boondoggles that is as plain as can be for Americans to see is a gross waste of taxpayer dollars and gross corruption?

Why don't they ever stop him?

Whether it is the slush fund, the ballroom, the family tax exemption deal, or this Air Force One nonsense, we see a new grift coming out of this administration every day.

Where are the Republicans?

Senate Republicans need to stop letting Trump off the hook for fleecing the American people.

And so, as if in legislative session and notwithstanding rule XXII, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on Armed Services be discharged and the Senate proceed to the immediate consideration of S. 1804; that the bill be considered read a third time and passed, and the motion to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table.

Mr. President, I am beginning a series of Senators who are speaking about Haiti and TPS.

The Haitian community is woven into the fabric of our great American family, but Donald Trump is trying to tear it apart by terminating Haiti's temporary protected status.

As someone who takes great pride in representing the State that is home to the largest Haitian population in the country, I know just how important the Haitian community is to the American economy, to culture, to society.

But, unfortunately, Donald Trump clearly doesn't. Trump has vilified Haitians with his bigoted attacks and stereotypes, over and over again. Now, Trump is trying to force Haitians who are here legally to return to the dangerous conditions they fled in Haiti.

Let's be clear: Revoking Haitians' temporary protected status will not only hurt them; it hurts our entire country.

In New York, you can't go into a hospital, a nursing home, or a clinic without seeing scores of dedicated healthcare professionals who are fiercely proud of their Haitian heritage. That is true in cities and towns throughout the country.

We have heard warnings that if Trump expels our Haitian TPS holders, it will strain our health system and create a gap in our caregiving workforce that will be difficult to fill.

These people are our friends. They are our neighbors. They take care of the elderly and people with disabilities. They are entrepreneurs and small businessowners. They work hard and pay taxes.

Let's not forget Haitian TPS holders add nearly $6 billion to the U.S. economy each year.

Ending TPS doesn't fix our broken system; it only makes things worse. It is cruel. It is counterproductive. Sending 300,000 people to Haiti with little or no support will further destabilize an already severe humanitarian and security crisis on our country's doorstep.

I urge all of my colleagues to support our legislation and preserve Haitians' TPS status. I will keep fighting for Haitian Americans in New York and beyond--any time, any place.

I yield the floor.

I ask unanimous consent that the order for the quorum call be rescinded.

It is an absolute disgrace that Pete Hegseth has withheld casualty numbers in the Iran war from the American public. One of the biggest questions Pete Hegseth has to answer today is why he was out marketing testosterone supplements for our troops last week while withholding casualty numbers from the Iran war to the American people.

We learned yesterday that the Pentagon failed to disclose that our troops have sustained nearly 100 injuries in the past few weeks of the Iran war.

Sending our troops in harm's way is the most serious thing we can do as a nation, but Hegseth, Trump, and Rubio certainly don't treat it that way.

Hegseth is hiding more than he is sharing these days--whether it is the number of wounded, the damage to our bases overseas, or the immense ballooning cost of this Iran war blunder.

We need answers, but Hegseth wants to give some to the GOP alone. Hegseth is reportedly attending a House Republican meeting today to brief their Members on the war without providing Democrats the same access.

There is no room for this administration's partisan pettiness when our servicemembers' lives are at stake. But that seems to be a trademark for both Hegseth and Trump.

I am calling on Pete Hegseth, Marco Rubio, and Donald Trump to tell the entire Congress everything they are telling the Republicans about the Iran war--both Chambers, both parties.

Everything they tell Republicans behind closed doors needs to be shared in public during today's testimony. But I don't need to hear from Hegseth to know just how poorly this war is going.

If we truly care about our servicemembers' well-being, we ought to be focused on getting them out of harm's way, not on their testosterone levels. We will be forcing another vote this week on our War Powers Resolution to bring our troops home and end this war.

Senate Republicans, don't let Trump off the hook. The Iran war isn't a game. It is not some trifle Trump, Hegseth, and Rubio can brush under the rug. Trump's reckless war is an absolute catastrophe. It must end, and Republicans should join us in making sure that happens. So far, crickets from them.

Mr. President, every single day, we see a new example of Trump's rampant corruption. Senate Democrats are putting all of Trump's scams under the magnifying glass in the coming weeks, and Trump's new Truth API stands out as one of his most corrupt grifts yet.

Every day, there is a new example of these kinds of grifts that Trump gets involved in. Instead of draining the swamp like he promised, Trump has filled it to the brim.

Now look at this: Trump is charging admission. For the low price of $100,000 a month, an investor can turn a profit off early access to Trump's market-moving posts.

Trump imposes new tariffs? Subscribers can short their stocks before anyone else. Trump announces a new contract? Subscribers know where to invest. Trump shakes up the Fed? Subscribers get to reposition before the rest of the market blinks. Meanwhile, Trump rakes in hundreds of millions of dollars in subscription fees.

Truth API is the exact definition of ``insider trading.'' It is textbook pay-to-play. And this is what Donald Trump spends his time doing. And remember, traders need only a millisecond headstart to make a fortune. Just 1 millisecond and they can make a lot of money, the way trading works these days.

As always, Trump's corruption benefits the rich at the expense of working families. How many American families do you think can afford $100,000 a month to get a leg up in the market?

Trump is doing what he always does: selling out America, American interests, and the American people to the highest bidder.

Republicans ought to be up in arms about Truth API and the latest news about Trump's foreign jet. Trump's $400 million Qatari jet is the biggest single bribe an American President has ever accepted in our history. Let me repeat that. Trump's $400 million Qatari jet is the single biggest bribe an American President has ever accepted in history. I have been warning about this for months.

And somehow, the American people still get an invoice. It will reportedly cost the taxpayer as much as $1 billion to retrofit Trump's plane for Presidential use. We just learned that his luxury jet is grounded until it can be ``maxed out'' to meet the same standards as the old Air Force One. Give me a break. Commercial airline ticket costs are up 27 percent over last year, and Trump wants the American people to pay to get his airborne palace off the ground?

Trump ought to rename the plane ``Air Farce One.'' It is not Air Force One; it is ``Air Farce One.''

Mr. President, well, we have Trump Steaks, Trump University, Trump Airlines, Trump Coin, and the Trump Presidency--all cons. The product changes; the con stays the same. Donald Trump has turned the Presidency of the United States into the most profitable scheme of his life, and American families are being forced--forced--to pay the price.

Today, I am launching a new effort to expose the corruption, show Americans exactly what it is costing them, and build reforms needed to stop any President from using public office for personal profit. Senate Democrats will be exposing this self-dealing, showing Americans exactly what it is costing them, and developing reforms to make sure no President can abuse the Office this way again.

For the next 3 weeks, Senate Democrats are putting Trump's corruption under a microscope. Throughout the month, we will follow the money, expose the deals, name the people cashing in, and show how Trump's corruption reaches directly into the pockets of working people.

This week, we are releasing a new report that lays out the staggering scale of the grift: how Trump has used the power of the Presidency to enrich himself, reward his family, protect his friends, and sell access to anyone--anyone--willing to pay.

The report shows how Americans are struggling to afford groceries, healthcare, housing, and energy, while Donald Trump and his family have reportedly made more than $4 billion from the Presidency.

We will also be hosting another tabletop exercise with the Democrats' Elections Task Force to prepare to counter Trump's efforts to rig the 2026 midterms.

Next week, we will hold a roundtable on how Trump's corruption is directly driving up everyday costs for the American people, and average folks will testify to what they are going through.

And the following week, we will release major legislation designed to rein in Trump's rampant corruption and to prevent any President from ever doing it again.

You pay; Trump profits. That is the pattern of this administration, and we will highlight it everywhere we see it.

No amount of gold leaf can conceal the rot spreading through this White House. Corruption is not a sideshow in the Trump administration; it is the whole business model.

Trump guts protections for workers and consumers. His wealthy friends cash in.

Trump cuts food assistance and healthcare. Billionaires get another tax break.

Trump hands out pardons to the rich and well-connected, accepts lavish gifts from foreign governments, and arranges sweetheart deals for his family business.

Trump uses the government. Trump gets richer. Americans foot the bill.

His corruption is not victimless. It has a price, and working families are paying it every single day. The average American family is already spending more than $3,100 extra because of this administration's policies.

And yet Trump still expects taxpayers to finance a MAGA slush fund they never approved, a golden ballroom they never asked for, and upgrades to a foreign luxury jet the President does not need.

Donald Trump has turned the Oval Office into his personal ATM, the Federal Government into his family business, and the American taxpayer into the mark.

A few months ago, Trump said:

I don't think about Americans' financial situation.

Of course, he doesn't. He is too busy thinking about his own.

Donald Trump may believe the Presidency is simply another brand to monetize, another product to sell, another scam to run. But he is dead wrong. The Presidency belongs to the American people. It is not a license to steal, it is not a family business, and it is not Donald Trump's personal property.

So throughout this month, Senate Democrats will expose the corruption that Trump wants hidden. We will follow the money and expose the deals.

We will show who profits, who pays, and how Trump has rigged the government for himself and the people closest to him.

And we will make one thing unmistakably clear: The White House is not for sale.

Trump has spent his life betting that the con will always work. This time, the American people will see exactly how the scam works and exactly who has been handed the keys to the kingdom.

iran

Mr. President, on the Iran war, Donald Trump needs to reckon with the terrible cost of the disastrous war he has dared to call ``a skirmish,'' ``a little excursion.'' And once, he called it ``a lovely stay.''

There is nothing ``lovely'' or ``little'' about Trump's blunder in Iran--nothing.

On Thursday, Trump insisted to the Nation that we are ``winning big in Iran, and you will see the fruits of that labor very, very shortly.''

But instead and sadly, we saw three more brave American servicemembers tragically lose their lives over the weekend because of Trump's reckless war in Iran. Dozens of other U.S. troops were wounded in Iranian strikes last week, and one servicemember remains missing.

I am praying for their families in this difficult hour. I speak for the entire Senate when I say how much we appreciate their sacrifice.

This carnage is the bitter fruit of Trump's ``labor'' in Iran. Every second Trump prolongs this war is another second that the lives of our men and women in uniform are in danger. In the coming days, we are going to make Senate Republicans take another vote on our War Powers Resolution to end this war and get our troops out of harm's way. Trump needs to stop this catastrophe and bring our troops home, and Senate Republicans can't let him off the hook until he does.

100th Anniversary of the Long Island Association

Mr. President, now I want to briefly take a moment to recognize some guests from New York who are in the Capitol today. I guess I am a little late, but they were here.

The Long Island Association, a storied regional business development group, is celebrating its 100th anniversary. Some of its members traveled here today to celebrate this occasion.

Their century of work fighting to make Long Island a better place to live, work, and do business has accomplished much for the region. From affordability to energy, to infrastructure, to innovation, they have lit the road forward for Long Island's future.

It has been my pleasure to work with them for several decades, and I know that under the leadership of their acting CEO and president Stacey Sikes--who once worked for me--we will continue our great tradition of delivering for Long Island together.

I yield the floor.

I suggest the absence of a quorum.

I ask unanimous consent that the order for the quorum call be rescinded.

Mr. President, Donald Trump's election speech tonight is not about the election Trump lost 6 years ago; it is a threat against the election he is afraid to lose this November.

Trump may control the microphone tonight, but he will not control the verdict in November. The voters will have the last word, and Senate Democrats will rebut Trump's lies every day. We will fight like hell to make sure Trump can't silence voters.

Trump's prime-time speech tonight isn't simply about relitigating his overwhelming defeat in the 2020 election; it is about undermining the 2026 election before a single vote has been cast. Trump won't expose anything of substance about 2020; he will just echo the same stale, baseless, pathetic lies he has repeated for 6 years.

Donald, you have been trying this shtick for 6 years. Only your little coterie of sycophants still believes these lies--no one else.

You can say it tonight, Trump. You can say it tonight. You can say it tomorrow. You can say it every night until election. No one believes you. The election was not stolen.

Trump keeps chasing his tail, going round and round and round in circles so many times, he has left a rut in the ground. Every time he tells a lie, he digs himself deeper into the hole. Trump's fixation on these conspiracy theories reeks of desperation.

Trump knows he can't defend Republicans' disastrous record--his disastrous record as well--so he is trying to discredit the voters who will judge it in November.

Hey, Donald, the reason your numbers are so low is because you are obsessed with BS like this instead of what Americans actually care about.

The American people are fed up with Donald Trump. Americans are fed up with the chaos in their streets, fed up with the corruption in their government, fed up with sky-high costs in every part of their lives because of this administration's policies. Voters are sick of forking over their tax dollars to line Trump's pockets and to fuel his failed war in Iran.

Trump has given up on winning over hearts and minds. Now he is focused on rigging rules and purging voter rolls. Instead of changing course on their deeply unpopular agenda, Trump and the GOP have launched a coordinated, multifront campaign to subvert the 2026 election.

But don't worry, America, it will fail.

Trump has called for Republicans to ``take over voting in 15 states in the country.'' That is what he said. Trump said:

We want to take over. We should take over the voting. . . .

Republicans ought to nationalize the voting.

It is in his own words.

Trump has issued unlawful Executive orders to try to kill vote-by- mail. The administration is packed to the rafters with election deniers, including key election oversight positions. MAGA loyalists like Todd Blanche and Kash Patel have used the DOJ and FBI to torment election officials and foment lies with politically motivated investigations designed to sow doubt and instill fear. Trump's Republican allies in Congress keep pushing the SAVE Act, the most devious voter-suppression legislation Trump has ever dreamed up.

Donald, when it comes to the SAVE Act, the courts have rejected it, Congress has rejected it, and even members of your own party have rejected it. Give it up. The SAVE Act isn't going anywhere.

There is no way we are letting this administration feed Americans' personal data into an algorithm Donald Trump, Elon Musk, and Russell Vought created and let it pick who gets to vote.

Donald Trump made life harder and more expensive for the American people, and now he wants to make sure the American people can't hold him accountable at the ballot box. That is what Trump's speech is about tonight. But in America, voters choose their leaders; leaders do not choose their voters.

Senate Democrats are going to fight like hell to make sure our elections belong to the voters, not to Donald Trump.

The country does not belong to Donald Trump. The ballot does not belong to Donald Trump. The verdict does not belong to Donald Trump. It belongs to the American people. And this vote in November, they will deliver it.