Watch: Trump awards Camp Mystic rescue swimmer with a military award

President Donald Trump praised the efforts of Scott Ruskan, a U.S. Coast Guard rescue swimmer who helped rescue 165 people after last summer’s deadly floods at Camp Mystic, during his State of the Union address on Tuesday.

Watch the full clip in our video player above.

“It was the Fourth of July of last year when floodwaters swept through a girls’ summer camp in central Texas, one of the worst things I’ve ever seen,” the president said.

Trump said an 11-year-old boy rescued by Ruskan was attending Tuesday’s speech and was reunited with the officer for the first time.

The Chief then announced that Officer Roskan would be awarded the Legion of Merit for his extraordinary heroism for those rescues.

Trump’s speech comes after 13 months of deregulation, a record number of executive actions, mass layoffs, aggressive immigration tactics, and more.

Before the speech, Trump was expected to outline his administration’s accomplishments, make his case for keeping his party in power next November, and celebrate the 250th anniversary of America’s independence.

At the same time, a number of pain points threatened to overshadow Trump’s positive messages during his prime-time speech.

On Friday, the Supreme Court dealt a major setback to Trump’s agenda when it struck down his sweeping tariffs. The partial government shutdown of the Department of Homeland Security, imposed by Democratic opposition to Trump’s aggressive immigration enforcement, appears to have no end in sight. Questions about the Jeffrey Epstein investigation continue to haunt his administration.

According to the latest PBS News/NPR/Marist poll, 60% of Americans say the country is worse off than last year, while 40% believe the country is better off.

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