PALM BEACH, Florida: In his first news conference since his election victory six weeks ago, President-elect Donald Trump covered the Ukraine war, mysterious drones flying over New Jersey, the future of TikTok and lawsuits aimed at the media he often loves to hate.
Trump displayed the loquaciousness and bravado of his 2017-2021 White House years as he held court in an ornate room at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida on Monday (Dec 16), making an economic announcement and fielding questions for more than an hour.
He bantered with reporters, a departure from the dark rhetoric and anger he often flashed on the campaign trail. He answered questions about Ukraine and Israel, but declined to say whether he had spoken to Russian President Vladimir Putin or whether he would support military strikes on Iran.
He seemed wiser to the ways of Washington and pleased, if a little bit puzzled, about his own new place in it, marvelling at the steady procession of foreign leaders wanting to congratulate him and corporate CEOs rushing to meet with him.
“The first term, everybody was fighting me,” he said. “In this term, everybody wants to be my friend. I don’t know – my personality changed or something.”
Trump’s return to the White House on Jan 20 comes at a time of deep polarisation in the country and is likely to test democratic institutions at home and relations abroad.
Advisers say he has been focused on choosing members of his Cabinet and his broader team who are expected to carry out his plans to dramatically overhaul government and US policy.
Since his Nov 5 victory, Trump has not held one of his signature rallies or spoken at length to reporters, communicating instead through social media posts and the occasional speech.
On Monday, however, he had good economic news to announce. With SoftBank Group CEO Masayoshi Son at his side, Trump said the Japanese technology company would invest US$100 billion in the US over the next four years.
But that was just the warm-up act for the main event.
Standing in front of the Trump coat of arms, the president-elect outlined some of his priorities for his second term, criticised President Joe Biden’s outgoing administration and defended some of his own controversial cabinet picks.
The lengthy back and forth marked a contrast with Biden, who rarely holds news conferences.
