President Donald Trump made an appearance in Tuscaloosa Thursday night to speak at an event kicking off the University of Alabama’s 2025 spring commencement.

Speaking for over an hour, Trump touched on topics like his often repeated false claim of a “rigged” 2020 election, as well tariffs, and his first 100 days, which he said were “the most successful of any president ever,” despite conflicting claims from multiple recent polls.

But after “getting a little political,” Trump closed with some advice for the graduates in attendance.

“If you think you are too young to do something great, you’re wrong,” he said, citing the Hyatt Grand Central New York, which he developed in his late 20s.

Despite plans that are slated for the hotel to be torn down soon, according to previous comments from Hyatt, Trump said the hotel had “turned out incredibly well.”

“If you want to change the world you have to be okay with being on the outside,” he said, referencing the controversy that has surrounded him during both of his presidencies.

He went on to add the following:

• “You have to love what you do.”
• “Think big.”
• “Work hard.”
• “You’re one of a kind so don’t try to be someone else, just be yourself.”
• “Never give up.”

“The next chapter will not be written by The Harvard Crimson, it will be written by you — the Crimson Tide,” Trump said.

“This is Alabama and in Alabama you fight, fight, fight and you win, win, win,” he continued.

“That’s what you know how to do.”