--- title: Transcript: Donald Trump's Oval Office Address on the Border Wall description: President Donald Trump gave his first address from the Oval Office to pitch his border wall to the American public. Read the transcript of his speech. canonical: https://time.com/5497569/donald-trump-oval-office-address-transcript/ author: Gina Martinez article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2019-01-09T02:41:33.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-23T22:27:00.530Z article:section: Politics og:title: Read the Transcript of Trump's Oval Office Address on the Border Wall og:description: President Donald Trump gave his first address from the Oval Office to pitch his border wall to the American public. Read the transcript of his speech. og:url: https://time.com/5497569/donald-trump-oval-office-address-transcript/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltf62622d438fb13b5/698942eb16d884860dc34606/gettyimages-1079457882.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: President Trump Addresses The Nation On Border Security From The Oval Office og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Read the Transcript of Trump's Oval Office Address on the Border Wall twitter:description: President Donald Trump gave his first address from the Oval Office to pitch his border wall to the American public. Read the transcript of his speech. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltf62622d438fb13b5/698942eb16d884860dc34606/gettyimages-1079457882.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Read the Full Transcript of President Trump's Oval Office Address on the Border Wall by [Gina Martinez](https://time.com/author/gina-martinez/) ## Gina Martinez Jan 9, 2019 2:41 AM UTC  President Donald Trump speaks to the nation in his first-prime address from the Oval Office of the White House on Jan. 8, 2019 in Washington, DC. President Donald Trump speaks to the nation in his first-prime address from the Oval Office of the White House on Jan. 8, 2019 in Washington, DC.Carlos Barria-Pool—Getty Images by [Gina Martinez](https://time.com/author/gina-martinez/) ## Gina Martinez Jan 9, 2019 2:41 AM UTC President Donald Trump gave his first [primetime address from the Oval Office](http://time.com/5496908/donald-trump-wall-shutdown-address/) on Tuesday night to pitch his border wall to the American public. The address came amid a[ partial government shutdown](http://time.com/5487323/government-shutdown-president-donald-trump/) in its third week – with no clear end in sight. During his address, Trump called the flow of migrants across the U.S.-Mexico border a crisis and said $5.7 billion was needed to build the wall and fund additional security measures. He called on Democrats to support to wall and end the shutdown. Democrats, led by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, have[ refused to support funding the wall](http://time.com/5494825/white-house-budge-shutdown-talks/). They reiterated their opposition to the border in a speech following Trump’s address. TIME has a [fact-check of many of Trump’s assertions](http://time.com/5497260/donald-trump-border-wall-fact-check/) about immigration. Read the full transcript of Trump’s Oval Office address below: --- > “” --- ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5497569/donald-trump-oval-office-address-transcript/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5497569/donald-trump-oval-office-address-transcript/"},"headline":"Read the Full Transcript of President Trump's Oval Office Address on the Border Wall","datePublished":"2019-01-09T02:41:33.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-23T22:27:00.530Z","description":"President Donald Trump gave his first address from the Oval Office to pitch his border wall to the American public. 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