Every year at its annual President’s Club meeting, The Heritage Foundation gathers its most dedicated members to participate in pressing policy discussions with leaders in the conservative movement.
This year, Heritage had the honor of hosting President Donald Trump as the event's keynote speaker. More than 1,000 members attended this year’s President’s Club meeting at the Marriott Marquis in Washington, D.C., on Oct., 17.
“It’s an incredible honor to be here tonight to celebrate this really wonderful foundation,” Trump said in his remarks. “For nearly a half a century, you have been titans in the fight to defend, promote, and preserve our great American heritage.”
Trump spoke on the economy, immigration and trade, and hit hard on his tax-reform agenda. It was his first speech at an event held by Heritage, which previously has hosted Presidents Ronald Reagan, George H.W. Bush, and George W. Bush.
The Fox News Channel, the Fox Business Network, and CNN telecast Trump’s speech live, while CBS and PBS streamed it live online. Almost 400,000 watched the event on Heritage's Facebook page.
The event garnered attention from dozens of newspapers, such as USA Today, The Washington Post and The Los Angeles Times.
The president himself tweeted about the event twice from his personal account. In messages to his 40.7 million Twitter followers, Trump thanked Heritage by name and then shared a White House video highlighting Heritage’s mission.
The most important truth our FOUNDERS understood was: FREEDOM is NOT a gift from Govt. FREEDOM is a GIFT from GOD. ?https://t.co/rmAzGt8SuG pic.twitter.com/SrPavwrt2R
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 18, 2017
In addition to Trump’s speech, U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley and Mick Mulvaney, the director of the Office of Management and Budget, also made remarks to the crowd.
Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Scott Pruitt discussed his leadership of the EPA, the agency’s top priorities, and what he considers true environmentalism with Rob Bluey, vice president of communications at Heritage and editor in chief of The Daily Signal.
Brian Kilmeade, co-host of the Fox News Channel’s “Fox & Friends” and host of “The Brian Kilmeade Show” on Fox News Radio, discussed his newbook, "Andrew Jackson and the Miracle of New Orleans: The Battle That Shaped America's Destiny."
Heritage also hosted numerous panel discussions with policy experts, authors, and commentators.
The Heritage President’s Club was created in 1979 to recognize Heritage contributors who want to be more involved in the foundation’s work and become leaders in the conservative movement, and to establish an exclusive, core group who are the driving force behind Heritage initiatives.
In case you missed this year's event, you can watch many of the panels and speeches on YouTube.
