At an Angel Families Remembrance Ceremony attended by relatives of victims tragically taken by criminal illegal aliens, President Donald Trump sharply criticized Democratic leaders and revisited long‑standing Republican criticisms of immigration policy, asserting that political opponents would never give him credit for his accomplishments. Trump claimed even if he “came up with a cure for cancer,” critics “would say he should have done it years ago,” and that “there is not a thing I can do where these people are going to give me credit.” He added that despite partisan opposition, “the people understand” and that his 2024 election victory was a “landslide.”
Trump:
— Clash Report (@clashreport) February 23, 2026
If I came up with a cure for cancer, they would say, "He should have done it years ago." pic.twitter.com/KSSZ0sOguY
At the remembrance event, Trump spoke repeatedly about border security, describing the nation’s southwestern border under his first term as “very strong,” “good,” and “sane,” and contrasting it with the situation he attributes to policies under President Joe Biden’s administration. He acknowledged the difficult emotions tied to discussing border enforcement alongside the loss of loved ones, saying he wished the painful events recognized at the ceremony had not occurred because “every one of your loved ones would be alive today.”
A major focus of his speech was on immigration, where he claimed that “he allowed 25 million people” to enter the United States without adequate vetting, including “many of these murderers, drug lords, criminals, people from mental institutions.” The phrase reflects Trump’s longstanding narrative about border policy rather than a precise tally of individuals who were processed into the country. Federal border statistics use a variety of measures to count migrant interactions and entries, and they do not equate to a simple count of people entering without vetting.
A widely cited metric from U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) tracks border “encounters,” which include situations where migrants are stopped or documented by border agents. According to CBP data, more than 7.2 million encounters were recorded at the U.S.–Mexico Southwest border between January 2021 and January 2024, a period encompassing much of the Biden administration’s time in office.
Throughout his comments, Trump framed political opposition as unrelenting, arguing that Democrats would not acknowledge any of his achievements. His statement about not receiving credit “because we won in a landslide” spoke to his view that electoral support validated his actions even if political opponents disagreed.
Trump’s presidency has continued to make immigration and border security central themes of his political messaging and policy agenda, reflecting longstanding debates over how the United States manages its borders, legal immigration channels, and enforcement priorities.
By invoking both personal loss at the remembrance event and broader national policy disagreements, Trump tied an emotionally charged setting to his ongoing critique of opponents and his argument for continued immigration enforcement reforms as a defining issue of his presidency.
