EDITOR’S NOTE: In a special Oval Office ceremony, President Trump welcomed and honored 16-year-old lifeguard Ryder Williams of Santa Cruz, California, along with the young man he rescued, Nathaniel Ray, and their families. The gathering celebrated Ryder’s heroic actions in saving a life amid dangerous rough surf and strong currents, while also recognizing the vital role of open-water lifeguards as first responders. Officials and supporters joined the discussion on lifeguard training, coastal safety, and efforts to expand recognition and support for these essential professionals. Read the full transcript of the event below:

PRESIDENT TRUMP: Well, thank you very much, and this is a great story. And it’s an honor to be with Ryder Williams, who is a 16-year-old lifeguard, California — the Santa Cruz area. And I understand he was a winner right from the time they first saw him as a lifeguard. A lot of training, a lot of work. And he saved this young gentleman — who, in a long talk with, I said, “Would you have made it without him?”

Not really.

PRESIDENT TRUMP: Right? Not really. It was trouble.

NATHANIEL RAI: Yeah.

PRESIDENT TRUMP: So you’re going to have a long and beautiful life. Thank you. And I just thought — we were all watching. Everybody watched, and got a lot of publicity because of the ferocity of the waves. I’ve never seen waves like that. I mean, that was sort of violent.

We were just discussing — at certain times of the year, mostly, like right around now, the waves get very rough in that area, and they’re swirling. And if you don’t know what you’re doing, it’s going to be tough, or if you’re small, if you’re young. So I just want to congratulate Nathaniel Rai for coming through an ordeal. That means you’re going to have good luck in life. You know? That’s called good luck.

I want to say hello to your father, and came along for — we invited them to the Oval Office and to the White House. After this, if you’d like, we’re going to have them brought up to the Lincoln Bedroom, where you see the room of Abraham Lincoln. That’s pretty good, right?

And also your sisters. It’s really nice. We have some of the people that worked so much on the whole process with Nathaniel, and we’re with Ryder right from the beginning. And I guess you learned from these people — they taught you how to do what you do so well, right?

RYDER WILLIAMS: That’s how they trained me.

PRESIDENT TRUMP: And Nathaniel’s very happy about that, Ryder, I have to tell you.

PRESIDENT TRUMP: Shane Williams, the father of Ryder. Thank you very much, Shane. You did a good job.

SHANE WILLIAMS: Thank you.

PRESIDENT TRUMP: I see you. You’re in one of my favorite uniforms.

SHANE WILLIAMS: Hey. Yes, I’m a big fan of that.

PRESIDENT TRUMP: Thank you. You couldn’t be happier, right?

SHANE WILLIAMS: I couldn’t be more proud.

PRESIDENT TRUMP: When you saw that on television —

SHANE WILLIAMS: Yes.

PRESIDENT TRUMP: It was incredible, actually. Shannon Williams, that’s the mom. So you did a good job.

SHANNON WILLIAMS: Thank you.

PRESIDENT TRUMP: It’s good genetics. When you look at him, you can see — really good.

Sumit Rai, that’s the father. Thanks again, Sumit. We appreciate it.

PRESIDENT TRUMP: Layla Rai, sister of Nathaniel. Thank you, honey.

Aaron Bonin, Santa Cruz lifeguard who assisted Ryder, and you’ve — he became quite famous also. That was a good assist. He helped you a lot, right?

He helped you a lot. Thank you very much. Great job.

AARON BONIN: Thank you, Mr. President.

PRESIDENT TRUMP: Fantastic. Alex Skoutelas, chief of law enforcement and emergency services in Santa Cruz. Thank you. Great job you guys are doing.

ALEX SKOUTELAS: Thank you, Mr. President.

PRESIDENT TRUMP: Justin McHenry, assistant chief of aquatics and lifeguard operations, Santa Cruz. Good job. Thank you. Were you responsible for the training?

JUSTIN MCHENRY: Yes. I help oversee and guide the training for our lifeguard program.

PRESIDENT TRUMP: And for a lot of the lifeguards, right?

JUSTIN MCHENRY: We train about 200 lifeguards a year.

PRESIDENT TRUMP: Great. Yep. At that age too — starting at 16.

JUSTIN MCHENRY: Starting at 16.

PRESIDENT TRUMP: That’s a lot. I read that that’s a lot to do for a 16-year-old. That’s not easy. It’s a huge responsibility, and it requires a lot of — that he did it so well, right?

JUSTIN MCHENRY: It requires a lot of integrity and resilience, and I think this particular rescue that Ryder performed really exemplifies what we’re looking for in a state park lifeguard.

PRESIDENT TRUMP: And you couldn’t let go for an instant. If you let go for one instant, it’d be very hard to find, right?

JUSTIN MCHENRY: Absolutely. In those conditions, losing a victim would be disastrous.

PRESIDENT TRUMP: Yeah. Really amazing. But you have no idea the respect. Joel — where’s Joel? State Park superintendent, lifeguard, Santa Cruz. Joel, thank you very much.

JOEL: It’s — dinner an hour, dinner an hour, right?

PRESIDENT TRUMP: Correct. Good job, Joel.

And Mike McEnaney, State Park Superintendent, Santa Cruz.

MIKE MCENANEY: Yes, sir. Thank you very much.

PRESIDENT TRUMP: Well, we’re honored to have all of you. And again, what you did was incredible, and everybody saw it, and you’d watch it over and over. I know when I first saw it, I said, “Roll that back — I want to see that again. Is that really happening?”

And both of you people have to be very proud. The whole group is proud. And your father is the happiest man in the world. You know that? Because I asked him a question. I said, “So if that didn’t happen, your life would be ruined.” And you said, “It would be a whole different life.” Right?

SUMIT RAI: Absolutely.

REPORTER QUESTION: It’s incredible what Ryder did.