What is the full transcript of Donald Trump's January 6 2021 speech?
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Executive summary
The complete, published transcripts of Donald Trump’s Jan. 6, 2021, “Save America” speech are available from multiple mainstream outlets and archival projects; for example, The Washington Post’s transcription is reproduced in the National Security Archive summary and contemporaneous full-text transcripts were published by AP and Roll Call [1] [2] [3]. Reporting and official reviews emphasize two key lines that became focal points: Trump’s claim that the crowd would “peacefully and patriotically” march to the Capitol and his closing instruction that “we are going to walk down Pennsylvania Avenue … and we are going to the Capitol,” both of which appear in published transcripts [1] [3].
1. Where to find the full transcript and contemporary transcripts
Multiple reliable outlets and archival projects published full or near-full text transcripts of Trump’s Ellipse remarks on Jan. 6. The National Security Archive reproduces a Washington Post transcription and highlights the central passages of the speech [1]. The AP published a full transcript soon after the event, providing the text used by journalists and investigators [2]. Roll Call’s Factba.se also hosts a detailed transcript of the rally remarks [3]. Those sources together supply the full spoken text as reported at the time [1] [2] [3].
2. Which lines became legally and politically consequential
Two portions of the speech are repeatedly cited by investigators, journalists and later commentators. First, Trump said “I know that everyone here will soon be marching to the Capitol building to peacefully and patriotically make your voices heard,” language his defenders later leaned on [1] [4]. Second, toward the end he said, “So we are going to walk down Pennsylvania Avenue … and we are going to the Capitol,” a phrase to which critics pointed as encouraging the crowd’s movement toward the Capitol [1] [3].
3. How different sources handled the same lines — disputes over editing and context
Journalists and broadcasters have disagreed over how to present the speech’s chronology and tone. The BBC was accused by Trump of deceptively editing Jan. 6 footage in a Panorama episode that spliced parts of the speech an hour apart, producing an impression that he gave different directions at a different moment; the dispute led to a defamation suit and raised questions about editorial choices when condensing lengthy remarks [5] [6]. The Guardian and BBC coverage documented side-by-side comparisons to show how selective editing can change perceived meaning [5] [6].
4. Official and investigative context around the words
Investigations and official reports used the published transcripts as starting points but treated the words alongside other evidence — social-media posts, calls, timelines and testimony. The Jan. 6 Select Committee and subsequent reporting examined not only the Ellipse remarks but also Trump’s tweets, video messages and communications that day; contemporaneous transcripts were incorporated into that broader evidentiary record [7] [8]. Legal analyses later debated whether specific phrases amounted to criminal incitement or were protected political speech; commentators note that Trump repeatedly emphasized “peacefully and patriotically,” a line his legal team cited in defense [4].
5. Limits of the public transcript record and what’s not in these sources
Available sources provide full textual transcripts as reported by major outlets, but they do not, in the materials provided here, settle interpretive or legal questions about causation between the speech and the violence that followed. The items above document the speech text and show disputes over editing and context [1] [2] [3] [5]. Sources provided do not present a single “official” government-issued line‑by‑line annotated transcript that adjudicates ambiguous phrases; they instead offer contemporaneous transcriptions and later reproductions used by investigators and newsrooms [1] [2] [3].
6. Practical next steps if you want the verbatim text
If you want the verbatim, line-by-line text as published contemporaneously, consult the AP transcript and the Roll Call (Factba.se) transcript for downloadable copies; the National Security Archive reproduces The Washington Post transcription and highlights key excerpts for context [2] [3] [1]. Be aware that later media editing and legal arguments have focused on how clips were framed or spliced, so consult full transcripts, full video, and side-by-side comparisons [6] to judge how excerpts were presented.
Limitations: this report relies solely on the set of sources you provided and cites them directly; it does not reproduce the full speech text inline here but points to the specific, cited repositories where full transcripts are published [1] [2] [3].