President Trump took his message “straight to the people” Thursday in a wide-ranging and at times contentious press conference that covered Russian relations, leaks to the media, immigration policy, the final fate of ObamaCare and a multitude of other subjects.
Trump complained at the White House presser that he “inherited a mess” from President Obama, but nevertheless pledged to fulfill his campaign promises.
“I’m here again to take my message straight to the people,” Trump said. “As you know, our administration inherited many problems across government, and across the economy.
“To be honest, I inherited a mess — at home and abroad — a mess,” said the president, who has served for less than a month, adding that “ISIS has spread like cancer. Another mess I inherited.”
Trump also used his nearly half-hour introductory statement to take a stinging shot at the press corps.
“The press has become so dishonest that if we don’t talk about it, we are doing a tremendous disservice to the American people,” said Trump.
“The press is out of control. The level of dishonesty is out of control,” he added.
The president dismissed reports of chaos within his administration. “It is the exact opposite. This administration is running like a fine-tuned machine,” he claimed.
The president even touted the crowds expected at an upcoming weekend rally in Florida. “I just heard that the crowds are massive,” he said of the event scheduled for Saturday.
Speaking of his campaign promises, Trump pledged to deal with the drug problem ailing America, claiming that “drugs are becoming cheaper than candy bars.”
Trump also said he’d issue a new executive order related to a travel ban next week — and knocked the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals for blocking his last one. “That circuit is in chaos, that circuit is frankly in turmoil,” he said.
“I keep my campaign promises,” Trump said.
“There’s never been a presidency that has done so much in so short a period of time,” he added.
Trump did make news when he began to take questions from the press:
- He warned that bad relations with Russia could result in nuclear war, as a way of explaining his attempt to remake relations with President Vladimir Putin. “Nuclear holocaust would be like no other,” he said.
- He signaled that he was softening on immigration policy, saying that he’d deal with Obama’s executive action unilaterally easing immigration law “with heart.”
- He said he did not “know of” any official on his presidential campaign having contact with Russian officials during the election campaign, though he had to be asked three times before giving an answer.
- He said he’s instructed the Department of Justice to look into the leaks coming out of his administration.
- He conceded that the leaks reported on by the press were correct, despite claiming news organizations continually get things wrong. “The leaks are absolutely real. The news is fake, because so much of the news is fake,” he said.
- He scolded an Orthodox Jewish reporter for asking about rising anti-Semitism in America.
- He asked a black reporter whether members of the Congressional Black Caucus are friends of hers.
- He predicted that the press would claim that he was “ranting” and “raving.” “Tomorrow the headlines are going to be ‘Donald Trump rants’ — I’m not ranting and raving,” he said.