Trump rehashes the 2016 presidential election during 2017 Boy Scout Jamboree


For anyone at the 2017 Boy Scout Jamboree who managed to miss the 2016 presidential election, they heard all about it on Monday, when President Trump shared his version of events to the crowd of more than 35,000 tweens, teens, and their parents.
He psyched them out, sarcastically starting off his speech by asking, "Who the hell wants to talk about politics when I'm in front of the Boy Scouts?" He answered his own question by immediately bringing up "that famous night on television," the Electoral College votes he won, his decision to visit Maine as a candidate, what the mood was in Wisconsin, and so on and so forth. He did briefly stray at one point, declaring that "under the Trump administration, you'll be saying 'Merry Christmas' again when you go shopping."
Trump, who was never a Boy Scout, managed to get the crowd to boo former President Barack Obama, who was a Boy Scout, by saying Obama never visited the Jamboree when he was president (The Hill reports he recorded a video for the event in 2010), and appeared to — jokingly? — threaten Health and Human Service Secretary Tom Price's job, telling him onstage that if he couldn't get enough votes to pass the Senate's bill to repeal ObamaCare, he would fire him, Time reports.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.
-
Air strikes in the Caribbean: Trump’s murky narco-war
Talking Point Drug cartels ‘don’t follow Marquess of Queensberry Rules’, but US military air strikes on speedboats rely on strained interpretation of ‘invasion’
-
A tour of Sri Lanka’s beautiful north
The Week Recommends ‘Less frenetic’ than the south, this region is full of beautiful wildlife, historical sites and resorts
-
Crossword: September 14, 2025
The Week's daily crossword puzzle
-
House posts lewd Epstein note attributed to Trump
Speed Read The estate of Jeffrey Epstein turned over the infamous 2003 birthday note from President Donald Trump
-
Supreme Court allows 'roving' race-tied ICE raids
Speed Read The court paused a federal judge's order barring agents from detaining suspected undocumented immigrants in LA based on race
-
South Korea to fetch workers detained in Georgia raid
Speed Read More than 300 South Korean workers detained in an immigration raid at a Hyundai plant will be released
-
DC sues Trump to end Guard 'occupation'
Speed Read D.C. Attorney General Brian Schwalb argues that the unsolicited military presence violates the law
-
RFK Jr. faces bipartisan heat in Senate hearing
Speed Read The health secretary defended his leadership amid CDC turmoil and deflected questions about the restricted availability of vaccines
-
White House defends boat strike as legal doubts mount
Speed Read Experts say there was no legal justification for killing 11 alleged drug-traffickers
-
Epstein accusers urge full file release, hint at own list
speed read A rally was organized by Reps. Ro Khanna and Thomas Massie, who are hoping to force a vote on their Epstein Files Transparency Act
-
Court hands Harvard a win in Trump funding battle
Speed Read The Trump administration was ordered to restore Harvard's $2 billion in research grants