Trump gives nearly two-hour White House briefing, tosses staff list
President Trump spent roughly one hour 45 minutes at the James S. Brady Press Briefing Room on Tuesday to mark the anniversary of his return to office, discarding a 31-page staff list and delivering an extended set of remarks about the first year of his second term. His meandering remarks mixed accomplishments, grievances and threats.
Near the end he said, "I think God is very proud of the job I ve done," and he jumped among topics from a Little League story to foreign policy comments about Greenland, which he tied to resentment over not winning the Nobel Peace Prize and to a remark he said he made to Norway's prime minister: "I no longer feel an obligation to think purely of peace." The Times noted that the Nobel award is given by the independent Norwegian Nobel Institute.
When asked how far he would go on Greenland, Mr. Trump replied, "You ll find out," and said he had "a lot of meetings scheduled on Greenland" at the World Economic Forum in Davos, which he was scheduled to attend on Wednesday. He also said the idea of taking the Panama Canal was "sort of" still on the table.
The briefing room was described as packed and frigid; Mr. Trump said he was pleased by the crowd and criticized the media, saying newspapers had buried positive stories and that he might need new public relations staff. Mr. Trump attacked perceived opponents, including Joseph R. Biden Jr.
Key Topics
Politics, Donald Trump, White House, Greenland, World Economic Forum, Norwegian Nobel Institute