Donald Trump said this yesterday during a… Mar-a-Lago press conference that he would ask a few questions.
By the time he finished speaking, he had already been speaking for an hour.
Trump made news on a dozen topics, a reminder of the freewheeling approach where even among journalists who can’t stand him, the incoming president is a news machine that provides the news 24 hours a day and sets the terms of the debate – in a sharp contrast with the reclusive Joe Biden.
Trump also rejected a number of questions he absolutely should not have answered, such as strategy on Ukraine and whether he would retaliate against Iran.
TRUMP LEAVES CHINA and guesses what his next move is with the inauguration invite
However, I was a little surprised that he launched an attack on the press, as this contradicted his recent comments about reaching out to even hostile news media, as long as they treat him fairly.
This took place two days after ABC and George Stephanopoulos apologized to Trump to settle a defamation lawsuit and agreed to donate $15 million to a presidential library or foundation, plus another million to cover his legal costs. This avoided what could have been an embarrassing and debilitating deposition by its star anchor.
The network’s problem is that Stephanopoulos had repeatedly said that Trump had been found liable for “rape,” repeating the word about a dozen times in the civil suit against E. Jean Carroll, when the jury found him liable for “sexual abuse.” .
Although the judge said this would usually be considered rape, the legal situation in New York is different. You don’t agree to $15 million unless you don’t think you really have a case.
The New York Post editorial board wrote that President-elect Trump did not press ABC host George Stephanopoulos as hard as he could have done in a recent defamation case. (Getty Images)
While left-wing pundits accuse ABC of it ‘giving in’ to Trumpthe network made a different assessment.
Trump labeled the media “highly corrupt” and ticked off more lawsuits he has filed or plans to file.
The president-elect said he planned to sue the Des Moines Register for conducting a poll before the election that turned out to be wrong. He praised pollster Ann Selzer for always getting him right until the Iowa caucuses, when she said he would lose by 4 points and win the state by 13 points.
RFK JR FACES ABORTION AND VACCINE RESEARCH IN SITDOWNS WITH SENATORS ON CAPITOL HILL
Trump said he was taking legal action against “60 Minutes” for giving a different, sharper answer to a different question than was asked — a practice that most journalists, including myself, said was a major blunder by the CBS show.
“We have to get the press on the right track,” he said. “The press is very corrupt. Almost as corrupt as our elections.”
He added: “I’m not doing this because I want to. I’m doing this because I feel obligated to do so,” Trump said. “In my opinion it was fraud and election interference.”
Trump also said he would file a lawsuit against Bob Woodward for making public the audio tapes of a book project. Woodward has said he never agreed not to do this.
Side by side of former President Donald Trump and investigative journalist Bob Woodward. (Getty Images)
And Trump plans to continue his action against the Pulitzer Prize administration for awarding awards to the Washington Post and the New York Times for what he calls the “Russia Russia Russia hoax.” While it was certainly an exaggeration, the administration says Trump failed to point out any inaccuracies in the submitted articles.
And then there was Trump commenting on, well, just about everything else.
He said he would consider a pardon for indicted New York Mayor Eric Adams because he had been treated ‘very unfairly’.
He said he couldn’t understand how people could sympathize with the suspect in the fatal shooting of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson: “It was cold-blooded. Just a cold-blooded, horrible murder, and how people can like this guy is – that’s basically a disease.”
DANIEL Penny’s jury praised for acquitting him in Chokehold trial: ‘I got it right’
He praised Lara Trump but said the decision whether to appoint her to a vacant Senate seat in Florida was up to DeSantis. However, the Wall Street Journal reports that he lobbied the governor to pick her.
New York Mayor Eric Adams holds a press conference at New York City City Hall in June. (Adam Gray/Getty Images)
He defended DOD nominee Pete Hegseth, saying he just wants to improve the military. He also provided visual support by bringing Hegseth to the Army-Navy Game, along with JD Vance, Elon Musk (of course), Ron DeSantis, Tulsi Gabbard and Speaker Mike Johnson.
Trump said he would keep the polio vaccine but hold talks with RFK Jr. about other vaccines, including his completely debunked theory that vaccines cause autism. Trump did claim that there is an increase in autism among boys. “I think he will be much less radical than you would think,” he told reporters.
CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP
Trump demanded that Biden officials explain what is happening with the mysterious drones since they clearly know.
That’s a lot of news. Maybe we’ve forgotten how Donald J. Trump loves to discuss everything under the sun. We’re about to take a four-year refresher course.
