‘I’m not ranting and raving,’ Trump rants in wild presser
President unleashes 90-minute barrage of attacks on media and Clinton in chaotic news conference
WASHINGTON— Donald Trump on Thursday defended his performance in his first four weeks in office in a wild news conference that showcased his unconventional and unconstrained presidency.
At a hastily organized White House event ostensibly intended to announce a new labour secretary, Trump engaged in an extended attack on news media, complained he had inherited a mess — “at home and abroad, a mess” — while also boasting that his new administration was a “fine-tuned machine,” not the chaotic operation perceived by many around the world.
“Tomorrow they will say, ‘ Donald Trump rants and raves at the press,’ ” Trump told reporters at one point. “I’m not ranting and raving. You’re just dishonest people.”
Over the course of about 90 minutes, the president revealed he had asked the Justice Department to investigate leaks, said he would sign a new executive order next week restricting travel to the United States, and promised to produce a plan in March to repeal and replace his predecessor’s health-care system, followed by another plan to overhaul the tax system.
But the session was marked by an extraordinarily raw and angry defence the likes of which has never been seen in a modern White House. At times abrupt, often rambling, characteristically boastful yet seemingly pained at portrayals of him, Trump seemed intent on reproducing the energy and excitement of his campaign after a month of grinding governance.
He returned repeatedly to his contest with Hillary Clinton and at one point plaintively pleaded for understanding.
“The tone is such hatred,” he said, referring to the commentary about him on cable television. “I’m really not a bad person.” Trump disputed any contention that the White House was out of control or not fully functional.
“There has never been a presidency that has done so much in such a short period of time,” he said.
“And we haven’t even started the big work that starts early next week.”
“Jobs are pouring out of the country,” he said. “See what’s going on with all of the companies leaving the country, going to Mexico and other places.” Overseas, he said, he found “disaster.”
“We’re going to take care of it all,” he said. “I just want you to know I inherited a mess.”
Amid reports of widespread leaks within his administration, Trump also warned that he would clamp down on the dissemination of sensitive information, saying he had asked the Justice Department to look into the leaks.
“Those are criminal leaks,” adding, “The leaks are real. The news is fake.”
Trump offered his first extended description of his decision to fire Mi- chael Flynn, his national security adviser, for misleading Vice-President Mike Pence and others in the White House about the contents of a conversation with Russia’s ambassador in December.
The Washington Post on Thursday reported that Flynn denied talking about sanctions in the conversation during a Jan. 24 interview with FBI agents, something now known to be false.
That interview potentially puts Flynn in legal jeopardy, as lying to the FBI is a felony.
Trump said he was not bothered that Flynn had talked with the ambassador before even arriving at the White House.
“When I looked at the information, I said, I don’t think he did anything wrong,” Trump said. “In fact, I think he did something right.”
The problem, he said, was that Flynn had told Pence that sanctions did not come up during the conversation, an assertion belied by a transcript of the call, which had been monitored by U.S. intelligence agencies.
“The thing is he didn’t tell our vicepresident properly and then he said he didn’t remember,” Trump said. “So either way, it wasn’t very satisfactory to me.”
But reports about contacts be- tween his campaign aides, other associates and Russia were “fake news put out by the media,” he said. In response to questions, he said he had no contact with Russia during the campaign but did not directly respond to questions about whether some of his advisers had. The New York Times reported this week that phone records and intercepted calls showed that some of his associates had repeated contacts with Russian intelligence officials in the year before the election.
Trump said he would sign a new executive order next week or perhaps later that would “comprehensively protect our country” while still defending his original travel ban in court. Last week, he said he would take action as early as Monday of this week.
His expansive review of his accomplishments, though, included some false claims.
He asserted that his victory in the Electoral College was the largest since Ronald Reagan. But he won fewer Electoral College votes than three of the four presidents since Reagan: Barack Obama, Bill Clinton and George Bush.
When a reporter pointed that out, Trump brushed it off.
“I was given that information,” he said.