you San Diego for that warm, warm welcome and thanks to Ellen for those moving words,

her introduction, and for reminding us it’s not only our men and women in uniform that

serve our country, it’s their families, their spouses, their children, and we are

grateful to each and every one of them. I want to recognize and thank Congressman Scott

Peters for being here, thank you very much. [Applause]

And all of the other electeds and service members, active duty and retired National

Guard and Reservists, veterans, military spouses, family members, all who are with us today.

On Monday, we observed Memorial Day – a day that means a great deal to San Diego,

home of so many active-duty and former military and their families. We honor the sacrifice

of those who died for our country in many ways – by living our values, by making this

a stronger and fairer nation, and by carrying out a smart and principled foreign policy.

That’s what I want to speak about today – the challenges we face in protecting our

country, and the choice at stake in this election. It’s a choice between a fearful America

that’s less secure and less engaged with the world, and a strong, confident America

that leads to keep our country safe and our economy growing.

[Applause] As Secretary of State, Senator and First Lady,

I had the honor of representing America abroad and helping shape our foreign policy at home.

As a candidate for President, there’s nothing I take more seriously than our national security.

I’ve offered clear strategies for how to defeat ISIS, strengthen our alliances, and

make sure Iran never gets a nuclear weapon. And I’m going to keep America’s security

at the heart of my campaign. [Applause]

Because as you know so well, Americans aren’t just electing a President in November. We’re

choosing our next commander-in-chief – the person we count on to decide questions of

war and peace, life and death. And like many across our country and around

the world, I believe the person the Republicans have nominated for President cannot do the

job. [Applause]

Donald Trump’s ideas aren’t just different – they are dangerously incoherent. They’re

not even really ideas – just a series of bizarre rants, personal feuds, and outright

lies. [Applause]

He is not just unprepared – he is temperamentally unfit to hold an office that requires knowledge,

stability and immense responsibility. [Applause]

This is not someone who should ever have the nuclear codes – because it’s not hard

to imagine Donald Trump leading us into a war just because somebody got under his very

thin skin. [Applause]

We cannot put the security of our children and grandchildren in Donald Trump’s hands.

We cannot let him roll the dice with America. This is a man who said that more countries

should have nuclear weapons, including Saudi Arabia.

This is someone who has threatened to abandon our allies in NATO – the countries that

work with us to root out terrorists abroad before they strike us at home.

He believes we can treat the U.S. economy like one of his casinos and default on our

debts to the rest of the world, which would cause an economic catastrophe far worse than

anything we experienced in 2008. [Applause]

He has said that he would order our military to carry out torture and the murder of civilians

who are related to suspected terrorists – even though those are war crimes.

He says he doesn’t have to listen to our generals or our admirals, our ambassadors

and other high officials, because he has – quote – “a very good brain.”

[Laughter] He also said, “I know more about ISIS than

the generals do, believe me.” You know what? I don’t believe him.

[Applause] He says climate change is a hoax invented

by the Chinese, and he has the gall to say that prisoners of war like John McCain aren’t

heroes. Exactly.

He praises dictators like Vladimir Putin and picks fights with our friends – including

the British prime minister, the mayor of London, the German chancellor, the president of Mexico

and the Pope. [Applause]

He says he has foreign policy experience because he ran the Miss Universe pageant in Russia.

And to top it off, he believes America is weak. An embarrassment. He called our military

a disaster. He said we are – and I quote – a “third-world country.” And he’s

been saying things like that for decades. Those are the words my friends of someone

who doesn’t understand America or the world. And they’re the words of someone who would

lead us in the wrong direction. Because if you really believe America is weak – with

our military, our values, our capabilities that no other country comes close to matching

– then you don’t know America. [Applause]

And you certainly don’t deserve to lead it.

That’s why – even if I weren’t in this race – I’d be doing everything I could

to make sure Donald Trump never becomes President – because I believe he will take our country

down a truly dangerous path. Unlike him, I have some experience with the

tough calls and the hard work of statecraft. I wrestled with the Chinese over a climate

deal in Copenhagen, brokered a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, negotiated the reduction

of nuclear weapons with Russia, twisted arms to bring the world together in global sanctions

against Iran, and stood up for the rights of women, religious minorities and LGBT people

around the world. [Applause]

And I have, I have sat in the Situation Room and advised the President on some of the toughest

choices he faced. So I’m not new to this work. And I’m proud

to run on my record, because I think the choice before the American people in this election

is clear. I believe in strong alliances; clarity in

dealing with our rivals; and a rock-solid commitment to the values that have always

made America great. And I believe with all my heart that America is an exceptional country

– that we’re still, in Lincoln’s words, the last, best hope of earth. We are not a

country that cowers behind walls. We lead with purpose, and we prevail.

And if America doesn’t lead, we leave a vacuum – and that will either cause chaos,

or other countries will rush in to fill the void. Then they’ll be the ones making the

decisions about your lives and jobs and safety – and trust me, the choices they make will

not be to our benefit. That is not an outcome we can live with.

As I see it, there are some important things our next President must do to secure American

leadership and keep us safe and our economy growing in the years ahead. These are all

areas in which Donald Trump and I profoundly disagree. And they are all critical to our

future. First, we need to be strong at home.

That means investing in our infrastructure, education and innovation – the fundamentals

of a strong economy. We need to reduce income inequality, because our country can’t lead

effectively when so many are struggling to provide the basics for their families. And

we need to break down the barriers that hold Americans back, including barriers of bigotry

and discrimination. [Applause]

Compare that with what Trump wants to do. His economic plans would add more than $30

trillion – that’s trillion with a “t” – $30 trillion to our national debt over

the next 20 years. He has no ideas on education. No ideas on innovation. He has a lot of ideas

about who to blame, but no clue about what to do.

None of what Donald Trump is offering will make America stronger at home. And that would

make us weaker in the world. Second, we need to stick with our allies.

America’s network of allies is part of what makes us exceptional. And our allies deliver

for us every day. [Applause]

Our armed forces fight terrorists together; our diplomats work side by side. Allies provide

staging areas for our military, so we can respond quickly to events on the other side

of the world. And they share intelligence that helps us identify and defuse potential

threats. Take the threat posed by North Korea – perhaps

the most repressive regime on the planet, run by a sadistic dictator who wants to develop

long-range missiles that could carry a nuclear weapon to the United States.

When I was Secretary of State, we worked closely with our allies Japan and South Korea to respond

to this threat, including by creating a missile defense system that stands ready to shoot

down a North Korean warhead, should its leaders ever be reckless enough to launch one at us.

The technology is ours. Key parts of it are located on Japanese ships. All three countries

contributed to it. And this month, all three of our militaries will run a joint drill to

test it. That’s the power of allies.

[Applause] And it’s the legacy of American troops who

fought and died to secure those bonds, because they knew we were safer with friends and partners.

Now Moscow and Beijing are deeply envious of our alliances around the world, because

they have nothing to match them. They’d love for us to elect a President who would

jeopardize that source of strength. If Donald gets his way, they’ll be celebrating in

the Kremlin. We cannot let that happen. [Applause]

That’s why it is no small thing when he talks about leaving NATO, or says he’ll

stay neutral on Israel’s security. It’s no small thing when he calls Mexican

immigrants rapists and murderers. We’re lucky to have two friendly neighbors on our

land borders. Why would he want to make one of them an enemy?

[Applause] And it’s no small thing when he suggests

that America should withdraw our military support for Japan, encourage them to get nuclear

weapons, and said this about a war between Japan and North Korea – and I quote – “If

they do, they do. Good luck, enjoy yourself, folks.”

I wonder if he even realizes he’s talking about nuclear war.

Yes, our friends need to contribute their fair share. I made that point long before

Donald Trump came onto the scene – and a number of them have increased their defense

spending. The real debate here is whether we keep these alliances strong or cut them

off. What he says would weaken our country. Third, we need to embrace all the tools of

American power, especially diplomacy and development, to be on the frontlines solving problems before

they threaten us at home. Diplomacy is often the only way to avoid a

conflict that could end up exacting a much greater cost. It takes patience, persistence

and an eye on the long game – but it’s worth it.

Take the nuclear agreement with Iran. When President Obama took office, Iran was racing

toward a nuclear bomb. Some called for military action. But that could have ignited a broader

war that could have mired our troops in another Middle Eastern conflict.

President Obama chose a different path. And I got to work leading the effort to impose

crippling global sanctions. We brought Iran to the table. We began talks. And eventually,

we reached an agreement that should block every path for Iran to get a nuclear weapon.

Now we must enforce that deal vigorously. And as I’ve said many times before, our

approach must be “distrust and verify.” The world must understand that the United

States will act decisively if necessary, including with military action, to stop Iran from getting

a nuclear weapon. In particular, Israel’s security is non-negotiable. They’re our

closest ally in the region, and we have a moral obligation to defend them.

[Applause] But there is no question that the world and

the United States, we are safer now than we were before this agreement. And we accomplished

it without firing a single shot, dropping a single bomb or putting a single American

soldier in harm’s way. [Applause]

Donald Trump says we shouldn’t have done the deal. We should have walked away. But

that would have meant no more global sanctions, and Iran resuming their nuclear program and

the world blaming us. So then what? War? Telling the world, good luck, you deal with Iran?

Of course Trump doesn’t have answers to those questions. Donald Trump doesn’t know

the first thing about Iran or its nuclear program. Ask him. It’ll become very clear,

very quickly. There’s no risk of people losing their lives

if you blow up a golf-course deal. [Laughter]

But it doesn’t work like that in world affairs. Just like being interviewed on the same episode

of “60 Minutes” as Putin was, is not the same thing as actually dealing with Putin.