Remarks #2 transcript, Aug 19, 2026 (Donald Trump)

Okay. This is a serious group of people here. If you're into the world of finance, like I am—I love finance—this is a who's who with us today. It's amazing that you don't know some of these people, but anybody in finance knows every one of them, and I want to thank them for being here today.

We're delighted to welcome some of our Nation's brightest minds in finance, crypto, and technology ahead of the first-ever meeting of the CFTC's Innovation Advisory Committee in Washington, DC. This is a group of very smart people that are on a committee to recommend what we do.

Right, Paul? They're going to be telling us a little bit.

Absolutely.

But I think Paul knows maybe more than anybody. He's doing a great job.

Thank you.

We're all happy with Paul, I think. Right? He's been absolutely fantastic. He—crypto markets and the prediction markets and conventional finance to decentralize finance—the people in this room are ensuring that the future of commercial markets is pioneered and perfected right here in the U.S.A.

We're fighting a lot of other countries to control these markets and to have these markets and to profit and all the jobs and everything else created. And we're doing well. We're leading in every aspect, including AI. And we're leading by a lot, and we want to keep it that way.

I want to thank the Chairman of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, Mike Selig, for his tremendous leadership. And—come here.

How are you?

Thank you, Mike. I didn't recognize you from so close. [ Laughter ]

And thanks as well to a very special man—a man that everybody respected for a long time, and he's a man I wanted to do this job—head of the SEC, Chairman Paul Atkins, who's also doing an outstanding job in everything else he touches. He's doing a lot of things for the—country. So I want to thank you very much. Great job.

Thank you.

Thank you. Thank you very much, Paul.

We're also pleased to be joined by Executive Director of the President's Council with Advisers—with the Digital Asset—all of the digital assets are all put into one—Patrick Witt; and many other top industry leaders, including Coinbase—where's Brian?—Brian Armstrong, CEO. He's one of the greats.

Where is he? Where are you? Oh, you look well. You look—you got much younger. [ Laughter ] You look good.

CEO of International—and Intercontinental Exchange, Jeff Sprecher. One of the things—a little thing called the New York Stock Exchange. He owns a thing called the New York Stock Exchange. Quite—quite a nice asset, right?

Yes, it is.

CEO of Nasdaq, Adena Friedman. Thank you very much, Adena. Great job you're doing.

Thank you.

CEO of Robinhood, Vlad Tenev. Thank you, Vlad. Nice to see you.

Thank you for having me.

And CEO of Kraken, Arjun Sethi. And thank you very much, wherever you are.

Thank you, Mr. President.

Thank you very much. Great group of people.

We also have some others here that were—we wanted them. It's—where—where's Mike? Cofounder of—CEO of—CTO and president of BitGo, which is a big deal in the world of that thing—[ laughter ]—that little thing that's happening out there.

And Brad Garlinghouse, CEO of Ripple. Brad?

Thank you, sir.

Thank you very much, Brad.

Sergey Nazarov, cofounder of Chainlink Labs.

Thank you for having me, Mr. President.

Thank you very much. Good, Sergey. Good job.

Arjun. You're here, Arjun?

I'm still here. [ Laughter ]

You're here. You haven't left.

Not yet.

Peter Smith is here, and Tyler and Cameron Winklevoss, who have—tremendous people, tremendous investors, brilliant people. Chris Dixon is here.

And I think I've sort of got—anybody I didn't mention, by the way? Pretty much got the whole group? Good. They gave me four sets of lists, and that's always a little complex. You never want to say one more than three times.

Under the crooked Joe Biden administration, the spirit of innovation that built America was under serious attack like never before, and nowhere was that more true than crypto and other new financial technologies, where we were going to be taken to the cleaners by China and other countries.

The radical left tried to crush these developments with crippling regulations, brutal restrictions, weaponization—they use weaponization—political weaponization, and constant targeting that drove innovation overseas. And they wanted to drive it out.

And at the end of the—toward the end of the campaign, if you remember, they decided they liked it very much because there were over 100 million people that were liking Trump a lot more because I was in favor of it. They were against it, and they became very much in favor of it. But by that time, it was too late.

And besides, those days are all over. That was a terrible period of time for a lot of very good, very honorable financial people.

On day one, we fired Joe Biden's rogue SEC Chair, Gary Gensler. I think we like Paul better. Do we agree? We like Paul better?

Thank you very much.

Number one, he's smarter. Right? He's also smarter, by the way. [ Laughter ]

But we fired him. We got him the hell out of here.

We terminated the so-called Operation Choke Point 2.0, which is what the name of their operation was—weaponization. And we ended the war on crypto once and for all, and it's been booming. It's been doing big, and nobody's been able to break in. China would like to break in. They're still trying, but they haven't been able to.

I signed a historic Executive order banning any attempt to create a central bank digital currency. We launched Project Crypto to modernize rules so that our financial markets can move into blockchain technology. I established the United States Strategic Bitcoin Reserve, making Bitcoin a permanent asset of the United States Treasury, which has turned out incredibly well.

I also created the United States Digital Asset Stockpile to hold custody of all other digital assets, and that's exactly what it's done. It's been amazing.

One year ago this summer, I signed landmark legislation known as the GENIUS Act—I named it after myself. I didn't want anyone to—[ laughter ]—I didn't want to use my name, so I just call it the GENIUS Act—paving the way for widespread adoption of dollar-backed stablecoins, and that's worked out very well. Every single American benefits enormously from our country's status as the financial center of the world, and we want to keep it that way. We're leading by leaps and bounds. We've gained so much in the last 16 months—like nobody can believe, actually. Not only that, but we have more money being invested in the United States than any country at any time in history. Money is coming in by the trillions.

Our Nation's economic dominance drives trillions of dollars' investments, creates millions of jobs, and expands access, credit, and capital so that every citizen has a chance to achieve what we now hear a lot about: the American dream. Young people are looking for the American dream. They weren't thinking about that 2 years ago.

New financial technologies are extending this American dominance into the 21st century, and that's why we're focused on creating a clear regulatory framework for pioneers and builders like the people that are with me here so that they can do business with confidence on American soil. They don't have to go to other countries to do their business.

We're ensuring that America remains the undisputed leader not only in Bitcoin and crypto, but also technologies like prediction markets, artificial intelligence, and much more. And we're leading in every single one.

And I will tell you, the AI—the artificial intelligence—we're way ahead of number two. Number two is China. And I never want to underestimate China, but right now, we're way ahead. President Xi's coming on September 24. We look forward to it. We'll probably be talking about AI and a lot of other things.

But we're doing tremendously well, largely because of people—and some other friends of ours—that are on the Board. And they'll be here in 2 weeks, I understand.

In May, Chairman Selig authorized the first ever true Bitcoin perpetual futures contract on a CFTC-registered exchange—first time. I understand that Mike is also working to bring Hyperliquid into the United States in a fully compliant and legal fashion. He's working very hard on that.

We would really like to see interest rates come down. You know, in the old days, with interest rates—many of you are too young to know this—but when we announced good numbers, interest rates would go down, and the theory was because the asset value became so good, it became so prime. But now, when we announce good numbers, which we're doing all the time, they keep driving the interest rates up because they're so afraid of inflation, and they shouldn't be. They should allow interest rates to go down.

When you announce good numbers, you shouldn't drive them up—they keep thinking that we'll drive them up to stop inflation—because success in growth does not cause inflation. Other things cause inflation.

We inherited the number-one inflation ever in the history of our country from Biden, and it lifted prices and everything else. And we're getting them all down.

But interest rates should be allowed to fall with the success of our country, not rise because of the success.

But we're also on the very beginning of a revolution in fictional and financial—you— take a look at some of the things that are being done on a financial basis and the financial technology that's the potential to create more jobs, opportunity, and wealth for all Americans. And that's what it's doing: It's creating jobs and great wealth. And I think that can't be better seen by the stock market.

So we've had 80—in a short period of time, a year and a half, we've had 80 days where the stock market hit alltime highs. I haven't looked today. I don't know, maybe I shouldn't look. I don't want to look. But I think it's—I hear it's good.

But we've had 80 days, Jeff, where the stock market has hit an alltime high, and nobody's ever seen anything like that.

And I think, bringing it down to another level—and maybe a higher level, from the standpoint of importance—401(k)s have hit record highs on almost 40 percent of the time that I've been President of the United States, and that affects tens of millions of people. The 401(k)s are at record numbers.

So 2 years ago, our country was dead, and now our country is the hottest country anywhere in the world. There's nobody close. No other country is close, and every country will admit it.

So now we need Congress to take the next step by passing the Clarity Act, a fair version of the Clarity Act. And this landmark structure legislation, it is—it's a very, very powerful structured legislation which will keep us ahead of China, keep us ahead of everyone else. It will open the door to the next wave of innovations and innovators.

So I'd like to ask Chairman Selig to say a few words and a little bit of the details about what we're doing, and then we'll follow it up with Chairman Atkins and Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong, Intercontinental Exchange CEO Jeff Sprecher, Robinhood CEO Vlad Tenev, and Kraken CEO Arjun.

So we have that all set, and let's get going.

And you know what? If you want to speak for a very short period of time, that's okay too. [ Laughter ]

Thank you.

Okay.

Thank you, Mr. President. It's an honor to be here with you and this exceptional group of business leaders.

Thanks to your leadership, the era of political lawfare, debanking, and regulation by enforcement is over. Innovators like the people in this room are welcome to the White House, not railroaded to the big house, and the new frontier of finance is being built right here in the United States of America.

From day one, this President has been clear: America will not fall behind and allow other countries to take its place as the greatest country on Earth to build a new technology, operate a business, and invest for the future. The world will run on the backbone of American technology.

Mr. President, thank you again for your leadership and for making American innovation great again. The work we're doing now to shape the future of our great nation will do measures for decades to come.

Now, I'm honored to introduce the most pro-innovation, pro-free market SEC Chairman in America's history, and it's not Gary Gensler, of course. It's Paul Atkins.

So, Mr. Chairman, please.

Well, thank you, Mike, and thank you, Mr. President, for having us here today.

From day one, you've made our Nation's financial dominance and innovation job one.

We at the SEC are delivering on your agenda. We're making IPOs great again, to continue on your theme, by cutting red tape that discourages companies from going public.

Under your leadership, Mr. President, the IPO market is booming. Since Inauguration day, 583 companies have gone public, and that's up 75 percent——

Wow.

——compared to the final year and a half of the Biden administration. And those companies have raised an impressive $208 billion, and that's nearly four times the amount raised during the final year and a half of the previous administration. So that's just not incremental progress; that is a turnaround.

You've committed to making the United States the crypto capital of the world. And yesterday, the SEC, I'm proud to say, took another significant step to deliver on that. Our proposal—the crypto assets rule—would provide crypto entrepreneurs, like those here in this room, and job creators the certainty to raise capital in the United States using digital assets. This action is consonant with our belief that the most important priority is for Congress to send the Clarity Act to your desk for your signature. And the SEC is doing everything we can to support that work.

So thank you again, Mr. President, for leading this Nation to ensure that we continue to have the strongest markets in the world, to reshore innovation, and to welcome, yes, a whole new generation of investors through the Trump Accounts.

So under your leadership, we will make sure that the greatest advances of the technological frontier are right here in America.

Thank you.

So thank you very much.

Great job.

Well, this morning, I was thinking back to the 2024 campaign, where the President, I think, very astutely recognized there was millions of voters in the United States who felt disenfranchised by the prior administration. And he made a commitment at that time to make America the crypto capital of the world, and, within weeks of taking office, delivered on that promise.

And it started first with this Executive order, which came out ordering the agencies in his administration to take steps in this direction. He there—shortly thereafter appointed two of the most competent and pro-innovation regulators anywhere in the world, Chair Selig and Chair Atkins, and of course fired Gary Gensler. There was that big applause line at the Bitcoin Conference——

That's true.

——which was—was powerful.

And, of course, the GENIUS Act was another milestone just in the past year, along with the Strategic Bitcoin Reserve, et cetera.

And just this week, I have to commend Chair Atkins for publishing this new rule that allows crypto projects to raise capital in the U.S. For the first time, there's clarity on that. And, Chair Selig, we're excited to attend the advisory committee meeting tomorrow to make progress there.

So an incredible amount of progress has been made, and I think what's most important next, of course, is this September 15 vote that we have with the Clarity Act. This would make all of the progress that this administration has made durable into the future so it could survive for decades and decades to come.

And you know, make no mistake, there are folks out there who would—they want to see this legislation not happen. Right? Maybe some of the big banks don't want the competition from crypto companies. Other banks are leaning in and have endorsed it, which I think is—really powerful. And so, if we all come together, I think we can get this bill over the finish line and hopefully get more than 60 votes come September 15.

Thank you.

And it's very bipartisan, I would say.

Very.

So you could say that. Very much.

That is true.

A lot of Democrat support.

There's hundreds of pages of changes that have come in from the Democrat side as well. It's a true bipartisan compromise, and yes, it's a great piece of—it's a great work product.

Great.

So up next I think is Jeff Sprecher.

That's right.

Thank you. Mr. President, I just wanted to tell you that—your trade policies of fair trade, to bring back jobs and businesses from overseas; your energy dominance policies to fuel the next generation of technology in the United States; your Big Beautiful Bill that created incentives for investments has led to the records that you're hearing about in our stock markets, the record number of IPOs. And, as you know, from working with my wife, who works on private businesses, there's a record number of business formations in this country right now.

That's great.

So we're here to talk about how to evolve regulation so that we don't impede that progress. But one of the things I can tell you about the New York Stock Exchange is that it was formed at the time of our country, and so it, for 250 years, has been subject to every single financial services regulation that has ever passed in the United States, bar none.

And so one of the things that I'm so thankful that you've done is put two really strong Chairs in these seats and asked them to go through past legislation, regulation and figure out what we can get rid of that no longer serves the interests of this country. And for that, I really appreciate to—that on behalf of the New York Stock Exchange.

Thank you very much.

Thank you, Mr. President.

Thank you, Jeff. Thank you.

Mr. President, thank you for bringing us together and for your work to ensure the next generation of Americans has a stake in the country's economic success through the Trump Accounts and many other things.

Thank you also to Chair Selig, Chair Atkins, your administration for the work underway to strengthen American capital markets and expand opportunity for all Americans.

American companies are building this technology. American markets are powering it. American assets are also at the center of it. American investors should not be the last to benefit.

We look forward to continue to work together to expand ownership, build the next generation of capital markets, and ensure America leads the way.

Thank you.

Great job. Great.

Arjun.

Great job.

Arjun.

Thank you.

Hello, everyone. I was thinking about what I was going to say today, and most of the time I don't speak too much, but the first time I met the President, he said, "What does your company do?" And I said, "We're a startup. We move at warp speed." And the first thing he said is, "Why not at Trump speed?" [ Laughter ] So we started acting in that way.

Look, our mission at Kraken isn't about Kraken.

Brian created Armstrong—Brian created Coinbase. Vlad here. You know, you have NYSE, Nasdaq. They created the world markets, and all we're trying to do is make sure that everyone in America has the ability to be able to succeed in the same way that we did, and that's essentially how we think about it.

So our motto at Kraken has been: "Fix money, and we fix the world."

Thank you, Mr. President.

Thank you very much. Great.

And if you have any questions, or if anybody else of this very distinguished—would somebody like to say something? The—my male models, who happen to be genius. [ Laughter ] They're brilliant, and they look good, right?

But anybody—would you like to say something? Go ahead, please.

Just want to thank you, Mr. President, for all of your leadership. America should lead in crypto and win in markets, like prediction markets. And with your leadership and your administration, you're helping America lead here and become the crypto capital of the world.

So thank you very much.

I just want to thank you, Mr. President, as well as Chairman Atkins and Chairman Selig, for the great work that they're doing.

Thanks.

Please, go ahead.

Thank you.

Yes, I just want to say that what Chairman Selig and Chairman Atkins are doing, and the President has enabled with his leadership, is actually working.

So if you look at stablecoin usage and adoption, it's increasing the usage and distribution of the U.S. dollar at higher and higher levels than our industry has ever seen, specifically because of the GENIUS Act and the movement of more and more treasuries into stablecoins and, therefore, into more and more hands across the world.

And now the tokenization of equities, thanks to Chairman Selig's and Chairman Atkins's great work and collaboration and actual, you know, work together rather than working against each other as before, is going to distribute U.S. equities globally and increase the distribution of those.

So you know, we power a lot of these applications and companies, so we know what the numbers actually are, and they're massively increasing because we have regulators and leadership that enables the success and distribution of these U.S.-based assets.

So there's actually a very real and tangible outcome that's really now benefiting the U.S. and adoption of U.S.-issued assets and the U.S. dollar.

So I just want to mention that it really is working and hitting all-time highs. So thank you very much.

It's true. Thank you——

Thank you.

——very much.

Okay. So, if you have any questions. We have a meeting next week with the AI people. The top people are coming in so we can talk about that. But we're leading by a lot with AI. We want to keep it that way.

We want to regulate, but we want to have it—regulation where they can continue to lead, not regulation that's going to stifle a very important industry. I think maybe bigger than the Internet, bigger than anything anyone has seen. And we're helping in that regard, especially with regard to allowing them to produce their own electricity, which everyone thought was crazy, that it would never be approved. We're getting them fast, 2- and t3-week approvals.

They're building some of the greatest electric plants anywhere in the world because our grid is old and tired and weak, and they're actually giving the excess electricity into the grid. But they're building power plants that nobody has ever seen anything like it. We're not using the power from the grid. We're using brandnew power, so it's a great thing.