--- title: Trump Slams Cuomo for America 'Was Never That Great' Comment description: New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo's statement that America "was never that great" has drawn a rebuke from President Donald Trump. canonical: https://time.com/5368985/trump-andrew-cuomo-america-great/ author: Mahita Gajanan article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2018-08-16T13:06:44.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-10-13T07:45:52.435Z article:section: Politics og:title: Trump Slams New York Governor for Saying America 'Was Never That Great' og:description: Trump said Gov. Andrew Cuomo is "having a total meltdown" og:url: https://time.com/5368985/trump-andrew-cuomo-america-great/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltebf042a2aaf827a1/698937db0a4a22418a9d3718/andrew-cuomo-america-great.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 5025 og:image:height: 2827 og:image:alt: Andrew Cuomo og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Trump Slams New York Governor for Saying America 'Was Never That Great' twitter:description: Trump said Gov. Andrew Cuomo is "having a total meltdown" twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltebf042a2aaf827a1/698937db0a4a22418a9d3718/andrew-cuomo-america-great.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # President Trump Seizes on New York Governor's Statement That America 'Was Never That Great' > Sponsored content. Supplied in partnership with TIME. 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It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, twice a week. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3/newsletters?i=c0a73f36-46a1-4247-a8c7-5b25e173ebe1&cr=time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3-v1) ## Video: Andrew Cuomo: "We Will Reach Greatness When Every American is Fully Engaged" [Watch (HLS stream): Andrew Cuomo: "We Will Reach Greatness When Every American is Fully Engaged"](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/gRKKUZ3L.m3u8) (0:24)  _Published 2018-08-16. Andrew Cuomo: "We Will Reach Greatness When Every American is Fully Engaged"_ by [Mahita Gajanan](https://time.com/author/mahita-gajanan/) ## Mahita Gajanan Gajanan is an editor at TIME. Aug 16, 2018 1:06 PM UTC Andrew Cuomo: "We Will Reach Greatness When Every American is Fully Engaged" by [Mahita Gajanan](https://time.com/author/mahita-gajanan/) ## Mahita Gajanan Gajanan is an editor at TIME. Aug 16, 2018 1:06 PM UTC New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s statement that America “was never that great” has drawn a rebuke from President Donald Trump. In a speech Wednesday, [Cuomo blasted Trump](http://time.com/5368520/andrew-cuomo-america-great/) and his campaign slogan, “Make America Great Again.” “We’re not going to make America great — it was never that great,” said Cuomo, who is running for reelection. “We have not reached greatness. We will reach greatness when every American is fully engaged.” The comment invoked audible reaction from the audience and swift criticism from Republicans. Late Wednesday, Trump joined the fray. “Can you believe this is the Governor of the Highest Taxed State in the U.S., Andrew Cuomo, having a total meltdown!” Trump tweeted. > [](https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1029911186949767168) Cuomo’s press secretary later said said the governor does believe that America “is great” but that “America has not yet reached its maximum potential” in a statement to [CNN](https://www.cnn.com/2018/08/15/politics/andrew-cuomo-america-was-never-that-great/index.html). “The governor believes America is great and that her full greatness will be fully realized when every man, woman, and child has full equality,” said Cuomo spokesperson Dani Lever. “When the president speaks about making America great again — going back in time — he ignores the pain so many endured and that we suffered from slavery, discrimination, segregation, sexism and marginalized women’s contributions.” ## Transcript And look, the simple point is, all this comes down to this. We're not gonna make America great again. It was never that great. [ LAUGH ] We have not reached greatness. We will reach greatness. When every American is fully engaged. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5368985/trump-andrew-cuomo-america-great/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5368985/trump-andrew-cuomo-america-great/"},"headline":"President Trump Seizes on New York Governor's Statement That America 'Was Never That Great'","datePublished":"2018-08-16T13:06:44.000Z","dateModified":"2026-10-13T07:45:52.435Z","description":"Trump said Gov. 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