Donald Trump Becomes First Sitting President To Deliver Commencement Speech At UA

TUSCALOOSA, AL — Former Crimson Tide head football coach Nick Saban was met with the roar of the crowd when he took the stage Thursday night to "Thunderstruck" by AC/DC.

True to form, though, the legendary football coach used another rock and roll reference to introduce the biggest headliner to ever speak at a University of Alabama commencement event — one of the only figures who casts a longer shadow than the greatest coach in college football history.

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"It's a special moment for me but I have to be honest with you, I feel like I'm the warm-up band for the Rolling Stones and the first song they are gonna play is "Start Me Up,'" Saban said before greeting President Donald Trump on stage in Coleman Coliseum.

On the aged digital scoreboard in the venue prior to the event, the left box read "45" and the right "47," to represent Trump's two non-consecutive terms in the Oval Office.

The ticketed event was open to graduates and others in the UA community and marked the second time a sitting president spoke on campus in Tuscaloosa, following Ronald Reagan's famous visit to The Capstone in 1984. It was also Trump's third visit to the Druid City, going back to football games in 2019 and 2024.

Before President Trump entered the arena, Saban garnered bursts of laughter from the audience as he recounted the Crimson Tide's visit to the White House in 2017 after winning the national championship. He portrayed Trump as welcoming and generous with his time.

Saban recalled that it was the first time one of his national title teams was invited into the Oval Office and mentioned how Tide linebacker Rashaan Evans — most recently a member of the practice squad for the Atlanta Falcons — was curious about this "big auspicious box" on the Resolute desk.

"One of the players said "is that what you launch the missiles with? And [Trump] said 'push it and find out,'" Saban said. "[Evans] finally got the guts up, pushed the button and some lady came in with a Coke on a tray. So I really want to express my appreciation to President Trump for choosing the University of Alabama for his commencement address and making time to speak to our graduates."

When the commander-in-chief revealed himself to the crowd, Coleman Coliseum erupted in thunderous support with chants of "U-S-A, U-S-A!"

President Trump's speech, at least the lion's share of it, was a bit of a buttoned-up departure from his usual off-script form as he delivered a mostly encouraging commencement speech read from the teleprompter. There were plenty of instances where he went off-script, which tended to be some of the most well-received remarks of the night.

"You have to break the system a little bit and follow your own instincts," he said. "But if your vision is right, nothing will hold you down — nothing. If you look at some of these 'internet people,' I know so many of them, Elon [Musk] is terrific. But I know, now, all of them hated me in my first term and now they're kissing my ass."

Another unexpected change of tone came when President Trump spoke directly to the graduates in attendance preparing to receive journalism degrees. He jokingly used the term "Fake News" at multiple turns during his speech but took a more serious attitude when talking to the group of UA graduates gathered on the floor of the Coliseum and in the stands behind the podium.

"In every field you've studied, there are problems to be solved and breakthroughs to be made," he said. "To the journalism majors, of which I've had a lot of problems with, we need a great and free press. They're like a watch-keeper. They're very important and you can go out and take it down a new track, help save the country. It's to build a media that Americans can trust. And remember, the people of this country, they know the truth when they hear it. That's why the approval numbers of the media are so low. ... we have to be able to trust our media."

While the president eventually finished the evening's remarks with his greatest hits of taking aim at transgender people in sports, immigration and the economy, his commencement speech that dominated the night saw him make it a point to speak sincerely to the scores of graduates in the audience — resembling little of the bombastic campaign rallies he has built his political brand on.

"I think you have the chance to be the greatest generation in the history of our country and you happen to be available," the president said with a grin. "I'm absolutely confident that the Alabama Class of 2025 is up to the task. You learned a lot about winning here at Alabama and now we need you to help win for America. For the business majors here today, I challenge you not merely to use your talents for financial speculation but to apply your great skills that you've learned and had to forge the steel and pour the concrete of new American factories, plants, shipyards and even cities that are going up all over our country. Don't just build a strong portfolio, build a strong America."

President Trump, who just reached 100 days in office for his second nonconsecutive term on Wednesday, also used the university's longstanding culture of gridiron success to highlight his vision for the country, telling the graduates that they are the first to enter the workforce at the dawn of the "Golden Age of America."

This was also met with applause but was followed by several talking points from the president that have been sharpely disputed by a large cross-section of national, state and local media.

For instance, Trump said: "We slashed the number of illegal aliens released into the U.S. by 99.999%, and you know, if that number is wrong, the 'Fake News,' which is all over the place today, is going to be correcting me before I get to the next sentence. Now 99.99%, how about that? Nobody thought that was possible. They said you needed legislation and no, you just needed a new president."

Indeed, there is some truth to what the president said despite some claiming the figure is exaggerated, with the New York Post — one of President Trump's favorite publications — reported that border czar and Immigration & Customs Enforcement (ICE) director Tom Homan said only nine undocumented immigrants were released into the U.S. during this period. This is compared to 184,000 during the same time period under President Joe Biden.

The Trump administration has cited policy changes as the root of the sharp downturn, due to eliminating temporary parole programs and reinstating full detention and expedited deportations.

But while one side calls foul on the matter, the White House is sticking by what President Trump views as a mandate from the American people.

"They have to let us do the job that the voters want us to do," he said. "Judges are interfering, supposedly based on due process. But how can you give due process to someone who came into our country illegally?"

The president was referring here to the ripple effects after he invoked the 1798 Alien Enemies Act as way to deport immigrants accused of crimes or gang membership. These impacted individuals include Kilmar Abrego Garcia — a Salvadoran native living in Maryland who was mistakenly deported and whose case has become a national rallying point against this administration's immigration policies.

This also comes after the arrest of Milwaukee County Circuit Court Judge Hannah Dugan, who was charged with obstruction and concealing an individual to prevent their discovery and arrest after she allegedly aided an undocumented immigrant in evading arrest, according to ABC News.

During his visit to Tuscaloosa on Thursday, Trump also didn't mention Alireza Doroudi, a University of Alabama mechanical engineering doctoral student from Iran who remains in ICE custody after being detained in Tuscaloosa. Following his arrest, Doroudi was taken to Pickens County and then to a facility in Louisiana, with little information provided as to why he was targeted by immigration officials.

Nevertheless, Trump's speech inevitably turned to the economy as he praised his plans while telling those in attendance that the country is still dealing with the effects of the previous administration.

"We're in the midst of another kind of revolution, a revolution of winning and common sense," Trump said. "Everywhere you look, broken systems, corrupt institutions and entire dogmas are being swept away by the tide of history. Ancient wisdom is being rediscovered and the best and strongest traits of America are coming back for all to see."

Inflation was a major issue on the 2024 campaign trail, namely the price of eggs due to a pervasive strain of bird flu, and President Trump used his commencement speech Thursday to give an update on what his administration has done to take some of the financial burden off consumers.

He used the example of the annual White House Easter egg hunt and said he was appalled at the idea of using plastic eggs when it was pitched.

"The Secretary of Agriculture [Brooke Leslie Rollins] did a fantastic job and we had so many eggs we didn't know what the hell to do with them," the president said, before mentioning that the price of eggs had fallen 87% since he was sworn into office.

"The price of food has gone down and mortgage rates are down and gasoline prices just hit $1.98 a gallon in three states," he added.

The Associated Press reported on the president's 100th day in office that the 87% figure mentioned by Trump possibly stems from a misinterpretation of wholesale price changes or an overstatement of the actual decline in egg prices.

Still, the Trump administration has implemented measures to address the ongoing avian flu epidemic that's driven up egg prices but multiple credible media outlets have concluded that the current market data does not support the notion of an 87% decrease in the cost of eggs since Trump took office.

The same aforementioned analysis by the Associated Press also addressed the president's claims that the average cost of a gallon of fuel had dropped below $2 in three states — $1.98 is the exact figure cited by Trump.

The latest data from AAA — a trusted source on the matter — shows no state has or has had a recent average per gallon gas price of $1.98, with Mississippi coming in at the lowest price among U.S. states at $2.66 per gallon of regular gas as of the publication of this story.

At present, Alabama has the fourth-lowest average cost of a gallon of regular gasoline in the country at $2.763 as of Friday morning.

As many expected, though, talk also eventually made its way to the complex topic of tariffs and macroeconomics, with President Trump claiming that first quarter investments in the United States were up 22% and leading the entire world in investment.

"It's all about the [Nov. 5, 2024] election and tariffs and incentives we've given that are going to make this country so much richer," he said, before accurately mentioning that the country is $36 trillion in debt, according to the latest data.

But tariffs have presented a particular sore spot for many at home and across the aisle, including Republicans like Sen. Rand Paul, who has publicly opposed new tariffs from the White House as doing nothing more than taxing the American people by passing on the costs as an ill-fated way to incentivize a return of manufacturing to the U.S.

"I've said a number of times, 'Tariff is the most beautiful word in the world' and I got absolutely decimated by the 'Fake News,'" Trump said with a slight laugh. "[The media] said: 'What about love?' 'What about your wife? What about your parents? What about religion and God? So I said 'alright it's the fifth-nicest word I've ever said and since I've done that I've been in good shape, nobody has bothered me. They've been very nice.

"But it's making us very rich and you'll be seeing the results pretty soon, sooner than most people think, because that's what other countries have been doing to us," he added. "They were tariffing the hell out of us. We couldn't sell cars in Europe. We couldn't sell cars in China. We couldn't sell cars in Japan or anywhere else. We couldn't do anything and all we're doing is we're doing it to them but much better."

And while massive companies — let's use Amazon as an example — reported strong first-quarter earnings, experts still say the results surely lack context due to ongoing market uncertainties from recently implemented tariffs with not enough time for economies and their stewards to reckon with the potential or real effects.

Trump has been a champion of supporting domestic manufacturing but the impacts of and worries over the tariffs have already had a local impact on BLG Logistics — a major German logistics firm connected to Mercedes-Benz U.S. International in Vance that boasts a sizable presence in Tuscaloosa County and whose CEO spoke out in March after the White House announced a new 25% tariff on all car imports.

This came after Trump signed a proclamation invoking Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act of 1962, which imposed a 25% tariff on imports of automobiles and certain automobile parts, claiming this will address a "critical threat to U.S. national security.

But as Trump discussed manufacturing and tariffs during his commencement speech, he failed to mentioned the major manufacturing news that came out of Vance Thursday morning that had many blue-collar workers celebrating.

As Patch reported earlier in the day, the German automaker says it will begin manufacturing a new core segment vehicle in 2027 at the Vance facility, with the expansion aimed at further cementing the Alabama facility's role in the company’s global production strategy.

"Tremendous news!" U.S. Sen. Katie Britt of Alabama said Thursday on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter. "As President Trump visits the University of Alabama today, Mercedes Benz announced they’re moving a core production line to Tuscaloosa. Huge win for our state."

This major local development on the manufacturing front wasn't discussed during the event on Thursday and the overall longterm impacts on MBUSI in Vance from tariffs remain unclear.

There might have been an abundance of appreciation for President Trump in Coleman Coliseum on Thursday but the visit wasn't without its vocal detractors on the streets and sidewalks of Tuscaloosa.

Indeed, as the event commenced in Coleman Coliseum, demonstrators marched to campus from Government Plaza in downtown Tuscaloosa in one protest, while another much-larger Tide Against Trump Rally was held at Snow Hinton Park featuring notable Democratic speakers like former Texas congressman Beto O'Rourke and former U.S. Sen. Doug Jones of Alabama.

"I didn’t waste my time feeding Trump’s ego trip," West Alabama Young Democrats Vice President of Operations Ke’Undra Cox told Patch following the event. "Instead, I stood with my community at the Tide Against Trump Rally — where I saw the best of what Alabama has to offer: unity, courage, and a commitment to progress."

Cox said Trump's visit wasn't a win for the University of Alabama or the city of Tuscaloosa, before giving his thoughts on how the event came to be.

Patch previously reported on the lack of clarity over how the president became the university's first commencement speaker for as long as anyone can remember, with UA appearing to say in its initial statement that the Capstone was selected by Trump, while the president mentioned Thursday night that “When [UA President Stuart Bell] called, it took me two seconds to say I’d go”

While the jury is still out on the genesis of the visit, Cox insisted that the president invited himself and pointed out that Trump might have won Tuscaloosa County with 59.5% of the vote in the November election but he still lost on the UA campus.

"A respected institution like the University of Alabama should never associate itself with someone who openly defies the very values it claims to uphold," Cox said. "And Donald Trump stands in direct opposition to every single one of them."

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