--- title: Read Donald Trump's Speech at U.S. Coast Guard Graduation description: "I got elected to serve the forgotten men and women of our country, and that's what I'm doing," Trump said in his commencement speech canonical: https://time.com/4782382/donald-trump-coast-guard-commencement-graduation-speech/ author: TIME Staff article:opinion: true article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2017-05-17T18:17:37.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-10-08T09:03:00.426Z article:section: Ideas og:title: Read President Trump's Speech at U.S. Coast Guard Academy Commencement og:description: "I will never stop fighting for you" og:url: https://time.com/4782382/donald-trump-coast-guard-commencement-graduation-speech/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb4df49379bba382f/6988cdb1fb4eaca649892085/donald-trump-coast-guard-speech.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 4311 og:image:height: 2425 og:image:alt: US-POLITICS-TRUMP-COMMENCEMENT og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Read President Trump's Speech at U.S. Coast Guard Academy Commencement twitter:description: "I will never stop fighting for you" twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb4df49379bba382f/6988cdb1fb4eaca649892085/donald-trump-coast-guard-speech.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 video:duration: 01:30 video:published: 2017-05-17 section: politics topics: adversity, perseverance, media criticism, political treatment, critics, determination, motivation genre: speech, motivational, political commentary tones: defiant, combative, inspirational, self-referential emotions: determination (high), defiance (high), grievance (medium), pride (medium) sentiment: neutral audience: supporters, political followers, motivation seekers, voters people: Donald Trump content_suitability: politics [00:28-01:30]; profanity [00:09-00:23] transcript_source: publisher captions transcript_reviewed: not applicable ---  # President Trump at U.S. Coast Guard Commencement: 'Adversity Makes You Stronger' > Sponsored content. 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It explains how TIME's journalism is made, from the first pitch through the editorial decisions behind a finished story or cover. #### How can I read about how TIME chooses its covers? Inside TIME is the newsletter where TIME's Editor-in-Chief explains cover selection and the editorial reasoning behind major stories. It is free at time.com/newsletters. #### Who is the editor of TIME? Sam Jacobs is TIME's Editor-in-Chief. He writes Inside TIME, a twice-weekly newsletter about the newsroom's reporting and editorial decisions. #### Is Inside TIME free? Yes. Inside TIME is a free newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. A paid TIME subscription is separate and available at time.com/subscribe-agent. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-inside-2026q3/newsletters?i=1845d35d-6958-4b52-ade9-35a07734b9d2&cr=time-nl-inside-2026q3-v1) ## Video: President Trump Said 'No Politician in History' Has Ever Been Treated as Unfairly as Him [Watch (HLS stream): President Trump Said 'No Politician in History' Has Ever Been Treated as Unfairly as Him](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/bdidgM1v.m3u8) (1:30)  _Published 2017-05-17. In his first public remarks since a bombshell report that he asked the FBI Director to shut down an investigation into his former national security adviser, President Trump said that "no politician in history" has ever been treated more unfairly._ Description, summary, key points, chapters, key quotes, questions and transcript, where present, were produced automatically from the video or its captions and were not reviewed. ## Summary Trump addresses an audience with a speech about adversity and perseverance, telling listeners that things are not always fair and that they must keep fighting and never give up. He says that no politician in history has been treated worse or more unfairly, particularly by the media. He urges people not to let critics and naysayers stop them from pursuing their dreams, and says adversity makes people stronger. ## Key points - Trump says that in life, things are not always fair and people will face things they do not deserve. (00:01) - Trump advises people to put their heads down and fight, and never, ever give up. (00:09) - Trump says he has been treated unfairly lately, especially by the media. (00:28) - Trump claims that no politician in history has been treated worse or more unfairly than he has. (00:34) - Trump tells listeners not to let critics and naysayers get in the way of their dreams. (00:48) - The audience applauds as Trump thanks them and says that is why they won. (00:55) - Trump says adversity makes you stronger and that people should not give in or back down. (01:08) - Trump states that the more righteously you fight, the more opposition you will face. (01:22) ## Chapters - [00:00 to 00:28] Advice on unfairness and perseverance. Trump tells listeners that life is unfair and that they must keep fighting and never give up. - [00:28 to 00:55] Claims of unfair treatment by media. Trump says he has been treated unfairly, especially by the media, and urges people not to let critics stop them. - [00:55 to 01:30] Adversity and righteous fighting. Trump says adversity builds strength and that righteous fights bring more opposition. ## Key quotes - [00:09] President Trump: "But you have to put your head down and fight, fight, fight. Never, ever, ever give up." - [00:34] President Trump: "No politician in history" - [00:48] President Trump: "you can let the critics and the nay sayers get in the way of your dream." - [01:08] President Trump: "Adversity makes you stronger." - [01:17] President Trump: "Nothing worth doing, ever, ever, ever came easy." ## Questions this video answers - Does Trump believe life is fair? [00:01] - What advice does Trump give for dealing with setbacks? [00:09] - How does Trump say he has been treated? [00:28] - Does Trump claim he has been treated worse than other politicians? [00:34] - How should people respond to critics according to Trump? [00:48] - What does Trump say adversity does to people? [01:08] ## Content suitability - politics [00:28-01:30]: Political speech with claims of unfair treatment by the media and political opponents. - profanity [00:09-00:23]: Repeated emphatic language but no explicit profanity in transcript. by [TIME Staff](https://time.com/author/time-staff/) ## TIME Staff May 17, 2017 6:17 PM UTC In his first public remarks since a bombshell report that he asked the FBI Director to shut down an investigation into his former national security adviser, President Trump said that "no politician in history" has ever been treated more unfairly. by [TIME Staff](https://time.com/author/time-staff/) ## TIME Staff May 17, 2017 6:17 PM UTC _President Trump delivered the commencement remarks at the United States Coast Guard Academy on Wednesday._ --- > “” --- ## Transcript [00:01] Over the course of your life, you will find that things are not [00:05] always fair. You will find that things happen to you that [00:09] you do not deserve and are not always worth it. [00:14] But you have to put your head down and fight, [00:19] fight, fight. Never, ever, [00:23] ever give up. Things will work out just fine. [00:28] Look at the way I have been treated lately, especially [00:34] by the media. No politician in history, [00:40] and I say this with Rape, sheerity has [00:44] been treated worse or more unfairly, you can't [00:48] let them get you down, you can let the critics [00:52] and the nay sayers get in the way of your dream. [00:55] [ APPLAUSE ] I [01:05] guess that's why I want to thank you. I guess that's why we [01:08] won. Adversity makes you stronger. Don't [01:13] give in, don't back down and never stop doing [01:17] what you know is right. Nothing worth doing, ever, [01:22] ever, ever came easy. And the more righteous you fight, [01:27] the more opposition that you will face ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"OpinionNewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4782382/donald-trump-coast-guard-commencement-graduation-speech/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4782382/donald-trump-coast-guard-commencement-graduation-speech/"},"headline":"President Trump at U.S. Coast Guard Commencement: 'Adversity Makes You Stronger'","datePublished":"2017-05-17T18:17:37.000Z","dateModified":"2026-10-08T09:03:00.426Z","description":"\"I will never stop fighting for you\"","url":"https://time.com/4782382/donald-trump-coast-guard-commencement-graduation-speech/","keywords":["Education","Donald Trump","onetime"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb4df49379bba382f/6988cdb1fb4eaca649892085/donald-trump-coast-guard-speech.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"TIME Staff","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/time-staff/"}],"articleSection":"Ideas","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb4df49379bba382f/6988cdb1fb4eaca649892085/donald-trump-coast-guard-speech.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"US-POLITICS-TRUMP-COMMENCEMENT","caption":"US-POLITICS-TRUMP-COMMENCEMENT","creditText":"Saul Loeb—AFP/Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/section/ideas/","name":"Ideas"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/tag/education/","name":"Education"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4782382/donald-trump-coast-guard-commencement-graduation-speech/","name":"President Trump at U.S. Coast Guard Commencement: 'Adversity Makes You Stronger'"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"President Trump Said 'No Politician in History' Has Ever Been Treated as Unfairly as Him","description":"In his first public remarks since a bombshell report that he asked the FBI Director to shut down an investigation into his former national security adviser, President Trump said that \"no politician in history\" has ever been treated more unfairly.","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/bdidgM1v/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2017-05-17T17:04:08.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/bdidgM1v.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/4782382/donald-trump-coast-guard-commencement-graduation-speech/","duration":"PT1M30S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/4782382/donald-trump-coast-guard-commencement-graduation-speech/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```