President Donald Trump took the stage Thursday night as the first U.S. president to deliver a commencement address for the University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa.
Trump spent much of the speech rehashing the 2024 election and his administration’s talking points on immigration, the economy, inflation, tariffs and more, as well as attacking his longtime political foes.
The president also sprinkled in 11 pieces of advice for the class of 2025.
The Context
Trump opened his commencement speech by touting a “revolution of winning,” even as his poll numbers continue to drop amid declines in voter approval of his handling of the presidency overall, the economy and tariffs.
Manuel Balce Ceneta/AP
What To Know
Here’s the advice Trump gave college graduates at his commencement speech:
1. “If you’re here today and think that you’re too young to do something great, let me tell you that you are wrong. You’re not too young. You can have great success at a very young age … In America, with drive and ambition, young people can do anything.”
2. “You have to love what you do. You have to. I rarely see somebody that’s successful that doesn’t love what he or she does … If I didn’t find it fun, I wouldn’t be successful.”
3. “The third thing is to think big. If you’re going to do something, you might as well think big. I know a lot of people, they’ve thought small, they were very smart. I know others that weren’t nearly as smart, but they had a better picture of the big picture, because it’s just as hard to solve a small problem as a big problem and it’s just as much energy and everything else, except the result is going to be a smaller one. So love what you do and think big if it’s possible.”
4. “Work hard. Never, ever stop,” Trump said, before mentioning pro golf legend Gary Player. The president said Player “wasn’t as big as other men, he was on the small side … but he worked very, very hard. He made up for it. He never stopped.”
5. “Don’t lose your momentum. You just want to keep it going. And you have to know, if you are losing it, you have to know when you are losing it, so maybe you stop and maybe it’s time to stop. Listen to the feedback, think through your plan very carefully and keep moving fast.”
6. “If you want to change the world, you have to have the courage to be an outsider. In other words, you have to take certain risks and do things a little bit differently; otherwise, if that were the case, everybody would be successful. Doesn’t work that way. Progress never comes from those satisfied with the failures of a broken system; it comes from those who want to fix the broken system. If you want to go to the top, you’re just never going to do it unless you break the system … You really do, you have to break the system a little bit and follow your own instincts. But if your vision is right, nothing will hold you down. Nothing. You have to have the right vision.”
The president drew laughter when he went on to say that “internet people” who disliked him during his first term are now “kissing my ass.”
“It’s true,” he said as the audience burst into laughter, presumably referring to social media and tech titans after Trump won the 2024 election, many of whom attended the president’s inauguration in January.
7. “Trust your instincts. Common sense. You can go very far in life with common sense and I applied that to politics because some of these things, like, they had open borders. Let everybody in the whole world flow into our country. That’s not common sense.”
8. “Everybody should believe in the American dream. It’s real, it’s there and it’s right before you,” Trump said as the audience applauded.
9. “Think of yourself as a winner. The power of positive thinking. Don’t consider yourself a victim. Consider yourself a winner. In recent years, too many of our young people have really been taught to think of themselves as victims and blame people and be angry. Don’t be angry. In America, we reject that idea that anyone is born a victim. Our heroes are the ones who take charge of their own destiny, make their own luck and determine their own fate, despite the odds.”
10. “Be an original,” Trump said as his penultimate piece of advice for the graduating class. “The all-time greats were people who had the confidence to be a little different … God only created one of you. Remember that. You’re all different, some are close, but nobody is the same. You’re one of a kind so don’t try to be someone else. Just be yourself.”
11. “Never, ever give up. Never give up,” Trump said as the crowd cheered. “Don’t stop. Never, ever give up. Victory is right around the corner.” He went on to reference his presidential victories in 2016 and 2024 and falsely claiming he also won the 2020 election, adding that “against all odds,” he beat politicians who predicted he wouldn’t win.
What People Are Saying
The Trump War Room account on X shared former Alabama football coach Nick Saban’s introduction of the president, writing: “Legendary coach Nick Saban introduces President@realDonaldTrump at the University of Alabama’s commencement, sharing a memorable story from the 2017 championship team’s White House visit.”
What Happens Next
The president is scheduled to return to his Florida residence, Mar-a-Lago, on Thursday night.