TUSCALOOSA, Alabama—President Donald Trump has ten pieces of advice for 2025 college graduates, who he said “have a chance to be the greatest generation in the history of our country.”
Trump’s speech at the University of Alabama was his first graduation address of his second term.
He addressed a stadium of about 100,000 people. Many donned “MAGA hats” and cheered uproariously throughout the speech, at one point chanting “USA.”
1. You’re not too young to succeed
“First, if you’re here today and think that you’re too young to do something great, let me tell you that you are wrong,” Trump said. “You’re not too young to have great success.”
Trump mentioned making his first big deal developing a hotel at only 28.
“Young people can do anything,” he said.
2. Love what you do
The president encouraged young people to find something they love to dedicate their lives to.
“You have to find something that you love, and you have to follow your own instincts and listen to your parents, they’re very wise, but you have to follow your instincts and your heart, your soul,” Trump said, “and you want to be the very, very best you can be.”
Trump rarely sees somebody that’s successful that doesn’t love what he or she does, he said.
“Treat every day like a home game against Auburn,” he said to cheers, referring to a rival university. “Fight like hell.”
Trump said love for his career is what made him so successful.
“I had a lot of different careers, but I loved real estate so much, and I was very successful in real estate because I loved it.”
3. Think big
Trump told graduates to think big about their futures.
“America doesn’t aim small,” Trump said. “Alabama doesn’t aim small, and neither do you, so think, when possible, think big,” he said.
Trump warned graduates against thinking small.
“You have to do something that you love,” he added. “You will have all the same headaches and challenges, all the same delays and setbacks. You might as well do something that’s just amazing.”
4. Work hard
Hard work is key to success, Trump said, adding that because he loves what he does, it’s not so hard.
“You really have to work hard and you’re going to be successful because you have the talent to get into the school,” he told students. “It’s not easy to get into. It is even more difficult to get through.”
5. Don’t lose your momentum
“You have to know if you are losing, and you have to know when you’re losing,” the president said.
“And so maybe you stop, and maybe it’s time to stop, listen to the feedback, think through your plan very carefully, and keep moving fast.”
6. Be an outsider
Successful people can’t be afraid to take risks and be an outsider, Trump said.
“If you wanted to change the world, you have to have the courage to be an outsider,” he said. “In other words, you have to take certain risks, to do things a little bit differently. Otherwise, if that weren’t the case, everybody would be successful. Doesn’t work that way.”
“Progress never comes from those satisfied with the failures of a broken system,” he said. “It comes from those who want to fix the broken system.”
Those who make it to the top have to break the system, he said.
7. Trust your instincts
Trump told Alabama graduation attendees to “trust their instincts” and use “common sense.”
“You can go very far in life with common sense, and I apply that to politics, because some of these things, like they had open borders that everybody in the whole world will flow into our country,” Trump said. “That’s not common sense. They had transgender for everybody. We ended that.”
Trump said allowing biological males to play women’s sports is not common sense.
“As long as I am president, we will always protect women’s sports. Men will not play in women’s sports,” Trump said to loud cheers from the University of Alabama graduation crowd.
8. Believe in the American dream
“It’s real, and it’s right there before you,” the president said of the American dream.
A banner on the stage read “The American dream is back” with the Alabama logo.
The president then spoke to the power of positive thinking, quoting his former pastor, Norman Vincent Peale.
9. Think of yourself as a winner
Trump warned against the victim mentality plaguing young people.
“Don’t consider yourself a victim,” he said “Consider yourself a winner. In recent years, too many of our young people have really been taught to think of themselves as victims and blame people and be angry. But in America, we reject that idea that anyone is a victim.”
“Our heroes are the ones who take charge of their own destiny, make their own luck and determine their own fate, despite the odds,” the president said.
10. Never give up
Trump said “never give up” is his most important advice, adding that “Victory is right around the corner.”
“Perseverance is everything, so matter where you are in life, be optimistic,” he said.
