TRUMP: ‘I inherited a mess’
President lashes out at the media
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump on Thursday aired his grievances against the news media, the intelligence community and his detractors generally in a sprawling, stream-of-consciousness news conference that alternated between claims that he had “inherited a mess” and the assertion that his fledgling administration “is running like a fine-tuned machine.”
“To be honest, I inherited a mess,” Trump said, in a news conference that lasted more than an hour and was at times rambling, combative and pointed. “It’s a mess. At home and abroad, a mess. Jobs are pouring out of the country.”
Yet moments later, the president seemed to acknowledge the widespread reports of turbulence and upheaval emanating out of his West Wing, only to claim that his White House was operating seamlessly.
“I turn on the TV, open the newspapers and I see stories of chaos — chaos,” he said. “Yet it is the exact opposite. This administration is running like a fine-tuned machine, despite the fact that I can’t get my Cabinet approved.”
“The media is trying to attack our administration because they know we are following through on pledges we made, and they’re not happy about it for whatever reason,” he said.
Asked about recent reports that Mike Flynn, his former national security adviser who resigned Monday evening, had improperly discussed Russian sanctions with the Russian ambassador to the United States before Trump was sworn in, the president defended Flynn as a “fine person,” saying he had done nothing wrong in engaging the Russian envoy.
But Trump said Flynn had erred by misleading government officials, including Vice President Mike Pence, about his conversations, which is why the president ultimately demanded his resignation.
“He didn’t tell the vice president of the United States the facts,” Trump said. “And then he didn’t remember. And that just wasn’t acceptable to me.”
Trump made clear he had no problem with Flynn discussing the sanctions imposed on Moscow by the Obama administration with the Russian ambassador even if he was not directly told to do so by Trump.
“No, I didn’t direct him, but I would have directed him if he didn’t do it,” he said.
Trump was asked several times about whether his campaign had contact with Russia and grew testy as reporters pushed him.
He said he certainly hadn’t and that he was not aware of such contacts during the campaign.
“I can tell you, speaking for myself, I own nothing in Russia,” Trump said. “I have no loans in Russia. I don’t have any deals in Russia.”
Though the president began on a subdued, almost melancholy note, looking down repeatedly to read from prepared remarks on his lectern, he became more fiery and animated — joyful, even — when he began to banter and joust with the assembled reporters. At times, he seemed to reprise some of his favorite themes from the campaign trail, complaining about Clinton and criticizing President Barack Obama’s policies, from his Affordable Care Act to his failed reset with Russia.
Trump repeatedly lambasted the “fake news” media, which at one point he upgraded (or downgraded) to the “very fake news” media, while promoting some dubious claims and fake news of his own.
Pressed on his incorrect assertion that he had the largest margin of victory in the Electoral College since President Ronald Reagan, Trump blamed faulty facts.
“I was given that information,” he said.
On a substantive note, Trump said his administration would submit a replacement plan for the Affordable Care Act in early to mid-March.