What exact words did Trump use when discussing minors and decision-making on November 17, 2025?

1. What the supplied coverage actually records: calls to prosecute teens as adults

Multiple pieces in the dataset recount Trump urging that D.C. change laws so young teens can be tried as adults, including the phrasing, “The Law in D.C. must be changed to prosecute these ‘minors’ as adults, and lock them up for a long time, starting at age 14,” which appears in reporting summarizing his social‑post remarks ^{[1] [2]}. Local outlets reiterate that the push was aimed at making 14 the threshold for adult prosecution in Washington, D.C., and that Trump framed the move as a response to violent incidents ^{[3] [1]}.

2. What the sources say about minors and administrative policy beyond prosecution

Separate documents in the provided set address the Trump administration’s broader approach to children and immigration: reporting on policies offering incentives for unaccompanied minors to self‑deport and on actions like withdrawing legal aid and increasing scrutiny of sponsors show the administration has pursued multiple measures affecting minors’ decision‑making and outcomes, though those items are not tied to a presidential quote on November 17, 2025 ^{[4] [5] [6]}. The Guardian piece describes a DHS statement framing a “voluntary option” for unaccompanied children to make “an informed decision about their future,” but that reporting is dated October 2025 and not a Trump quote on the requested date ^[4].

3. Limits of the record on November 17, 2025 — no verbatim quote in the supplied set

The materials you provided include examples of Trump posts and administration policies across 2025 and late 2025 but none that explicitly record “exact words” spoken or posted by Trump on November 17, 2025 about minors and decision‑making. Therefore, the precise wording you asked for is not present in the supplied sources; available sources do not mention a November 17, 2025 quotation matching your query (not found in current reporting).

4. Competing frames in the articles: law‑and‑order rhetoric vs. child‑welfare concerns

When the sources report Trump’s calls to prosecute teens as adults, outlets emphasize two contrasting framings: supporters and some conservative commentators frame stricter prosecution as necessary public‑safety action, while local officials, criminal‑justice experts and child‑advocacy voices warn that this approach criminalizes youth and usurps local discretion over “our kids” ^{[2] [3] [1]}. Similarly, reporting on immigration measures shows administration officials characterizing options as “voluntary” and empowering for minors, while legal and human‑rights advocates question whether children can give informed consent to complex immigration decisions ^[4].

5. What to check next if you need the exact November 17 wording

To obtain the precise words from November 17, 2025 you should consult primary records for that date: Trump’s Truth Social/X posts, official White House transcripts or press‑release archives for November 17, 2025, or wire service coverage dated that day. The Federal Register/White House executive orders pages or the White House fact sheet corpus list broader policy actions but do not supply a November 17 quote in the provided snippets ^{[7] [8]}. The supplied dataset does not include those dated primary materials (available sources do not mention a November 17 transcript).

6. Why this matters: precision, context and potential for misattribution

Verbatim wording matters because single phrases can be framed as calls to criminalize, to protect, or to defer to local control; the sources show media repeatedly contextualizes Trump’s remarks about prosecuting teens as adults and administration policies affecting minors, but they also demonstrate disagreement among officials, experts and advocates about intent and effects ^{[1] [2] [4]}. Given the absence of a November 17, 2025 quote in these sources, any attempt to quote him for that date without checking primary records risks misattribution (not found in current reporting).