President trump thank you very much, secretary bernhardt. We also have with us very special people congressman jim jordan, congressman mark meadows, and representative john ratcliffe. Its an honor to be with everyone tonight. And all across our land, melania and i would like to wish you a very, very Merry Christmas. And now, the first lady will do the honors of lighting the National Christmas tree. So well count from five down to that very special number. Five, four, three, two, one [applause] pres. Trump thats great. Pres. Trump thats beautiful. Thank you very much. And let us show our appreciation to the incredible workers at the department of the interior and the National Park service, please. Did such an incredible job. [applause] pres. Trump thank you very much. And thank you, as well, to the u. S. Marine corps band and the tucson arizona boys choir. You know that. The chorus is fantastic. And thank you very much, tucson, arizona. Thank you very much. I also want to thank a special group of young, wonderful people, west tennessee youth chorus. Theyre here and theyre doing beautifully. [applause] in 1923, president Calvin Coolidge lit the first National Christmas tree. Later that night, African AmericanCommunity Centers held an Outdoor Worship Service on these grounds. And during that service, the Washington Monument was illuminated with a beautiful cross, a powerful reminder of the meaning of christmas. More than 2000 years ago, a Brilliant Star shone in the east. Wise men traveled far, far afield. I mean, they were a Long Distance away. And they came and they stood with us under the star, where they found the holy family in bethlehem. As the bible tells us, when the wise men had come into the house, they saw the young child with mary, his mother, and fell down and worshipped him. Christians give thanks that the son of god came into the world to save humanity. Jesus christ inspires us to love one another with hearts full of generosity and grace. Joining us today are david and Sharron Hudson of the Salvation Army. Each year, through their angel tree program, the Salvation Army brings new gifts to more than 600,000 children. David and sharron are an inspiration to us all. And, david and sharron, thank you very much for being with us. Thank you. [applause] also with us is sarah verardo, the wife of a wounded hero and the ceo of independence fund, which serves wounded warriors. During the holidays, sarah gives hightech wheelchairs to veterans and hosts christmas celebrations for those in recovery. Does a fantastic job. And, sarah, thank you very much. Youre uplifting our nation. Thank you very much. Thank you, sarah. [applause] pres. Trump thank you. Were forever in debt to the brave veterans and service members. We applaud their noble service. There is nobody like them. They are an inspiration to us all. We also salute our Incredible Police and sheriffs, federal law enforcement, secret service, as well as our firefighters, paramedics, and first responders. And thank you all for being here. We have a lot of you here. And again, very, very incredible, special people. Thank you very much for being here. [applause] pres. Trump and here tonight is pastor Obed Jauregui of Bethany Church in nazarene, in miami. His congregation serves thanksgiving meals to families in need, and now they are preparing their annual toy drive. Pastor obed, thank you very much. And we really do appreciate you being with us. Youre a special man who has done an incredible job. People are talking about you all over our country. What a great job youve done. Thank you very much, pastor. [applause] pres. Trump and at christmas, we remember this eternal truth, every person is a beloved child of god. As one grateful nation, we praise the joy of family, the blessings of freedom, and the miracle of christmas. On behalf of melania and our entire family, Merry Christmas and god bless you all. Thank you very much. Merry christmas, everybody. Thank you. [applause] [applause] announcer cspans washington journal, live every day with policy issues that impact you. On thursday morning, as part of authors week, a former senator will join us, talking about challenges facing native americans from his new book. And a White House Correspondent will be on to talk about impeachment in campaign 2020. Be sure to watch washington journal live at 7 00 a. M. On thursday morning. Join the discussion. Watch authors week all this week starting at 8 00 a. M. Cspan,r tonight on john miller on the history of journalism and fake news, hosted by the Liberty Forum of silicon valley. Came reminded of all the president s men, a terrific itie, great movie um, also had a bad effect on journalism, because it encouraged a lot of young people to go into journalism who thought the purpose of journalism was to bring down a government. There has always been an adversarial side of journalism, you need to be willing to ask hard questions, that is true, but it brought in a crusader element to journalism. Young people in that area swept away by woodward and bernstein portrayed on film by Robert Redford and dustin hoffman. It is a fun movie to watch, but they got swept away in thinking that this is the job of journalism, to bring down a government, that is what you need to do. Announcer you can hear more from john miller as he talks about the history of journalism tonight at 8 00 p. M. Eastern on cspan. Peter teal is a Technology Entrepreneur and venture capitalist. He talks about the u. S. Rivalry with china, globalization and the end of the computer age at a Manhattan Institute dinner in new york city. This is 40 minutes. Good evg,