Donald Trump thanked Arizona for giving him a “big win” on his way back to the White House. He returned to the battleground state for the first time as president-elect to deliver a victory lap speech on Sunday morning.
“You were fantastic. And I just want to thank you for that big win,” Trump said. “Not an easy win.”
The incoming president floated sparing the Chinese social media platform TikTok from a looming ban in the U.S., said the United States may reclaim the Panama Canal and made an early endorsement in Arizona’s 2026 gubernatorial race Sunday morning during a wide-ranging speech at the Phoenix Convention Center.
Trump spoke on the final day of AmericaFest, an annual convention put on by Turning Point USA and Turning Point Action. The Arizona-based conservative groups worked to turn out Trump voters during the 2024 election and recruit young people to the GOP.
Trump praised Turning Point President Charlie Kirk and pointed to his gains with young voters in the most recent election. Then, he said he may consider trying to save the popular social media platform TikTok from being banned in the United States.
Congress passed a law requiring TikTok to be sold or face a ban in the U.S. The company’s challenge to the new rule will be heard by the Supreme Court in early January.
“I’m gonna have to start thinking about TikTok,” Trump said. “Maybe we gotta keep this sucker around.”
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The president-elect also raised concerns about Chinese influence on the Panama Canal, the waterway that connects the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. The U.S. took over building the canal in the early 1900s and controlled it for several decades until it was given to Panama during former President Jimmy Carter’s term.
“We’re being ripped off at the Panama Canal,” Trump said. “If the principles, both moral and legal, of this magnanimous gesture of giving are not followed, then we will demand that the Panama Canal be returned to the United States of America in full, quickly and without question.”
From there, Trump pledged to restore the name of the highest peak in North America from “Denali” to “Mount McKinley.” The Alaskan mountain was renamed during the Obama administration. The debate over the name dates back more than 100 years.
Trump has pledged heavy tariffs in his second term and noted that McKinley was also a “strong believer in tariffs.” He pointed out that McKinley was assassinated. Trump survived two assassination attempts this year.
“McKinley was a very good, maybe a great president. They took his name off Mount McKinley, right? That’s what they do to people,” Trump said. “President McKinley was the president that was responsible for creating a vast sum of money for the United States that Teddy Roosevelt then spent. So let’s say they were both excellent presidents, but McKinley did that, and that’s one of the reasons that we’re going to bring back the name of Mount McKinley, because I think he deserves it.”
Denali was renamed in 2015 to the mountain’s traditional name among Alaska Native peoples.
Some attendees on Sunday weren’t aware that the name of the mountain had changed. William Dunston, a 56-year-old Realtor from Monterey California, said he doesn’t agree with changing the names of landmarks.
“We are a country with a history. We need to remember, good or bad,” Dunston said.
Trump backs Robson in anticipated gubernatorial bid
Though the 2024 election just ended, Trump appeared eager to jump into the political battles of 2026. He encouraged Republican Karrin Taylor Robson to enter the 2026 race for Arizona governor, telling her “You’re going to have my support” from the stage. The president-elect also endorsed Arizona Republican Party Chair Gina Swoboda for reelection.
“Karrin, are you running for governor? I think so, Karrin,” Trump said. “Because if you do, you’re going to have my support.”
Robson lost the Republican primary for Arizona governor to Trump-backed Kari Lake in 2022. Lake went on to lose to Democratic Gov. Katie Hobbs. She lost again to Democratic Senator-elect Ruben Gallego this fall, despite Trump’s endorsement. The president-elect recently tapped Lake to lead Voice of America during his second term.
“I am beyond honored to have his support,” Robson said in a social media post. “Thank you Mr. President for everything you do for our country and for the great State of Arizona.”
The Sunday morning speech marked Trump’s first trip back to Arizona since he won the presidential election last month. Trump won Arizona by more than 5 percentage points in the 2024 presidential election, a remarkable comeback after his narrow loss to President Joe Biden here four years ago.
“We carried the great state of Arizona, something not easy for a Republican to do, but it was easy for us to do,” Trump said.
Arizona has voted for Republicans in almost every presidential election since the 1940s, except for when the state went for former President Bill Clinton in 1996 and President Joe Biden in 2020.
Trump contested the 2020 election results for years, and one of Turning Point’s top staff was indicted for his alleged role in Arizona’s fake elector case. Trump repeated false claims that he won the 2020 election during his AmericaFest speech on Sunday, saying he “won by a lot” that year although he lost by just over 10,000 votes.
Trump and his border czar double down on deportations
Throughout his speech, Trump promised to follow through on his campaign promises during the nearly 90-minute speech, saying he’ll start with a sweeping immigration crackdown when he is inaugurated on Jan. 20.
“On my first day back in the Oval Office, I will sign a historic slate of executive orders to close our border to illegal aliens and stop the invasion of our country,” Trump said. “On that same day, we will begin the largest deportation operation in American history, larger even than that of President Dwight D. Eisenhower.”
The four-day conservative gathering featured GOP stars such as his son, Donald Trump Jr., former Fox News host Tucker Carlson, Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, and incoming “border czar” Tom Homan, among others.
“I love this president because he wants to secure the border,” Homan said during his Sunday morning remarks, laying out his plan to increase deportations. “We’re coming. Put up all the roadblocks you want because we’ll knock them down.”
Rachel McGill, a 38-year-old resident of Surprise, said it was “amazing” to hear Trump speak live.
“He said so many things. One of the things that resonated with me the most and what I loved the most about it was the border and making sure that it is shut down. Making sure it is secure and locked. With all the policies that’s going on in America, if our borders are just open there’s nothing that’s really going to be passed that is for our benefit, right? And Trump is stopping that,” McGill said.
McGill was a longtime Democrat but left the party after the President Barack Obama era.
“I was a Democrat, for a very long time and then after Obama, I was like no. It’s all this brainwashing. All these lies, things they said they would do that they didn’t do. So when Trump came in the first I was like ‘yes! Let’s go!’ And now he’s back.”
More registered Democrats in Arizona dropped their party affiliation than Republicans over the past four years, which contributed to Trump’s victory in the state this fall.
The Turning Point appearance comes as Trump wages the first policy battles of his second term, such as his upcoming Cabinet confirmation fights.
Turning Point plastered banners around the convention hall that read “GIVE TRUMP HIS CABINET.” Trump praised nominees such as Tulsi Gabbard, his choice for director of national intelligence, Health and Human Services nominee Robert F. Kennedy Jr., FBI Director nominee Kash Patel and Pete Hegseth, who Trump selected to head the Department of Defense.
“We’re getting fantastic reviews on the people we chose. It’s we chose because I wouldn’t choose them if I didn’t think you liked them,” Trump told the crowd. “You like every one of them.”
That was the case for Jennifer Meyers, a 29-year-old business owner from Scottsdale who attended all four days of the AmericaFest event to network, market her Earth Sugar energy bar company, and learn. Meyers voted for Democrats for eight years before switching to the GOP. Kennedy’s decision to endorse Trump was one of the top reasons she decided to vote for him.
“I think RFK Jr. will hold Big Pharma more accountable,” Meyers said.
Republic reporter Caitlin McGlade contributed to this report.
(This story was updated to add new information.)
This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Trump speaks in Phoenix Sunday: What to know
