>>23226735
Remarks by President Trump at the 2019 Conservative Political Action Conference
Issued on: March 3, 2019
Gaylord National Resort & Convention Center
National Harbor, Maryland
March 2, 2019
12:17 P.M. EST
But I met some incredible people. I met some incredible people — generals. One of them came from Syria — the operation in Syria. And I was upset with my generals because they weren’t getting it finished. I want the job done. I want to bring our people back home. (Applause.) It’s not fair. And this is why I flew.
So I met generals I didn’t know. General one, general two, general three. I mean, these generals — there’s no person in Hollywood that could play the role. These guys are like perfect people.I said, “What’s your name? “Sir, my name is Raisin.” What the hell kind of a name? (Laughter.) I said, “Raisin, like the fruit?” He goes, “Yes, sir, Raisin.” “What’s your last name?” “Caine. Raisin Caine.” (Laughter.) I said, “You got to be kidding me.” (Applause.) It’s true. Raisin Caine.
I just made him a big star. (Laughter.) Just like I did with Mattis when I said, “We’re going to give you a new nickname, because ‘Chaos’ is not a good nickname.” So we changed his name. Called him “Mad Dog.” But it wasn’t working too well. Mad Dog wasn’t working too well.
So what happened is I flew to Iraq. I wanted to meet the people on the site, because I learn more sometimes from soldiers, what’s going on, than I do from generals. I do. I hate to say it. And I tell that to the generals all the time. (Applause.)
But I didn’t have to go there. I didn’t have to go there. Because I meet — and I land in this airport, the most incredible thing. We must have spent $3 billion building it. It’s one of the reasons I don’t want to leave Iraq so fast. I said, “Well, how do we leave this thing?”
So I have Raisin Caine and three other generals, colonels, sergeants. And I said, “Bring the cameras. I’m going to make a movie. This is the most incredible thing.” (Laughter.) And I said to the generals, “Listen, we got to get out. I want to know why is it going to take two years to knock off 2 or 3 or 4 percent, which is what we had left.” “It won’t, sir.” And I said, “Tell me why it won’t.” “It won’t, sir. If we attack them in a different manner, we can do it much faster.” “Okay, General Raisin Caine, how fast can” — “Sir, we can have it totally finished in one week.” I said, “One week? I was told two years.” (Laughter.) One week? “That’s right, sir. We’re only hitting them from a temporary base in Syria. But if you gave us permission, we could hit them from the back, from the side, from all over — from the base that you’re right on, right now, sir. They won’t know what the hell hit them.” (Applause.) “They won’t know what the hell hit them, sir.”
And I said, “Why didn’t my other generals tell me that? Why didn’t they tell me that?” I said, “Did you tell them that?” “Not our place to say it, sir. They come in from Washington, sir. We have to take orders. You’re the first one to ask us our opinion.” (Applause.) It’s true. It’s true. True. True.
So I went back and I said, “I’m going to get back to you soon, Raisin. I think you’re great.” (Laughter.) “I like you, Raisin Caine.” But I did say — I said, “Well, hey, listen, we’re in Iraq. Isn’t that very far away from…” “I was here in a very short time, sir. I flew right in.” Of course, he’s taking a plane that goes 2,000 miles an hour, you know.
But incredible. What you learn from being on the site — my father was a builder. He always used to say, “Nobody ever got rich by sitting behind their desk.” (Applause.) It’s true. It’s true. He’d say, “You got to be on this site. You got to be with the contractors. You got to see if they’re ripping you off. You’ve got to collect every nail that’s dropped, every piece of wood. You can sell it. You got to be on the site. You got to see while they’re building, while they’re under construction, is that wall straight or if it’s crooked. And you have to fix it before they build it, not after they build it, when you rip everything down.” (Applause.) True.
You don’t get rich by sitting behind a desk. So I didn’t want to do that.
And I’m in the White House and I was lonely. I said, “Let’s go to Iraq.” (Laughter.) And I had a hell of a meeting in Iraq.
And I’ll tell you, those generals — not just Raisin Caine, General Caine. Those generals were great. They were great. They knew their stuff. They were gung-ho.
https://trumpwhitehouse.archives.gov/briefings-statements/remarks-president-trump-2019-conservative-political-action-conference/