In his first solo press conference at the White House, US President Donald Trump announced his new nominee to head the Department of Labor and berated reporters for “fake news” about his administration.
Meeting with congressional Republicans earlier in the day, Trump complained about the “slowest in history” Cabinet confirmations, and said his new labor nominee would be “really phenomenal.” The original pick for the position, fast-food executive Andrew Puzder, withdrew from consideration on Wednesday.
The new nominee, Alexander Acosta, previously served on the National Labor Relations Board and as assistant attorney general for the Department of Justice’s Civil Rights division, both under President George W. Bush. He is a graduate of the Harvard Law School and dean of the Florida International University College of Law.
16 February 2017
Trump said he would love to meet with the Congressional Black Caucus, but pointed out that Rep. Elijah Cummings (R-Maryland) backed out of meeting with him, saying it would be bad politically.
Many people in inner cities are “living in hell,” afraid to leave their apartments due to violence, Trump said. “We can’t let that happen.”
First Lady Melania Trump will be moving to Washington in a few months, when the couple’s 11-year-old son Barron finishes school, the president said.
Trump was asked about the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, as there has been at least one person arrested by immigration officials who was covered under the program.
“DACA is a very difficult subject for me,” he said. “You have some absolutely incredible kids, but they were brought here in such a way” that they would be treated very harshly. “The existing law is very rough,” he added.
The new executive order on immigration is tailored to address the “bad decision” handed down by the 9th Circuit Court.
When asked by a “friendly reporter” about an uptick in anti-Semitism, Trump responded:
“I hate the charge [of anti-Semitism], I find it repulsive. I am the least anti-Semitic person you’ve ever met.”
Asked if anyone on his campaign had contact with the Russians during the election, Trump became exasperated. “Russia is a ruse, I have nothing to do with Russia.”
“We had a very good roll-out on the travel ban, but we had a very bad court.”
“I am not going to tell you what I intend to do” about the Russian ship, North Korea or Iran, Trump told a reporter, “because they shouldn’t know.”
“The whole Russia thing, that’s a ruse. It would be great if we could get along with Russia.”
“The leaks are real, the news is fake.”
WikiLeaks revelations during the campaign were not classified information, Trump told CNN’s Jim Acosta, who challenged his credibility to talk about leaks.
Trump blasted the media for the tone of “such hatred” towards him.
“I own nothing in Russia. I have no loans in Russia. I don’t have any deals in Russia,” he added.
“This is fake news, put out by the media,” Trump said of stories about his alleged ties with Russia.
On the resignation of Michael Flynn as national security advisor on Monday, “I was not happy with the way” Flynn informed Vice President Mike Pence on his talks with Russian diplomats, Trump said, but the talks themselves were not problematic. Rather, it was the people who leaked to the press that were the issue.
They “should be ashamed of themselves,” Trump said, calling the leaks an “illegal process.”
Flynn spoke with 30 countries, not just Russia. “He was just doing his job.” But he didn’t tell Pence about that properly, Trump explained.
Trump called the New York Times story about his campaign’s alleged Russian ties “a joke.”
Another campaign promise that Trump says he kept was nominating Neil Gorsuch to the US Supreme Court.
“He’ll get there one way or another, but he should get there the old-fashioned way,” he said.
To drain the swamp, Trump administration has imposed a 5-year ban on lobbying for former officials, lifetime ban on lobbying for foreign governments.
Trump blasted the 9th circuit judges who blocked the travel ban order, pointing out their decisions are getting overturned 80 percent of the time.
“That circuit is in chaos – that circuit is, frankly, in turmoil.”
Trump is currently working with his fellow Republicans to repeal and replace Obamacare. The administration is also “deep in the midst of negotiations” to return jobs to the US through “fair trade. Not free, fair,” he said.
“Other countries have been taking advantage of us for decades… and we’re not going to let that happen anymore.”
Other executive actions included building a wall on the southern border, cracking down on sanctuary cities, ending catch-and-release and introducing a nationwide effort to deport criminal aliens. The president promised a new executive order next week that will take more steps to protect American people.
Trump pointed out that, in his first month in office, the US withdrew from the “job-killing disaster” that was the Trans-Pacific Partnership; directed the elimination of regulations that undermine manufacturing and expedited approvals of permits needed for manufacturing and infrastructure projects; imposed hiring freeze on nonessential government workers; put in a moratorium on new regulations, and a rule to eliminate two for every new one introduced.
Trump also established a task force to reduce violent crime in America, including a plan to “destroy criminal cartels” smuggling drugs into the US.
“Drugs are becoming cheaper than candy bars,” he said.
“The media is trying to attack our administration because they know we are following through on our pledges,” Trump said. He rejected media claims of “chaos” in the White House, saying that his administration “is running like a fine-tuned machine, despite the fact that I cannot get my Cabinet approved.”
“We do not go abroad in search of war, but in search of peace – but it is peace through strength,” he said.
Trump went over the past four weeks of his presidency, from orders to formulate a strategy to fight Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS/ISIL) to the modernization of US armed forces “in hopes that we would never have to use this military.”
“I inherited a mess, at home and abroad,” he said, promising to “take care of it.”
“Much of the media in Washington, DC, along with New York and Los Angeles, speaks not for the people but for the special interests, who benefit from the obviously broken system,” Trump said, blasting the media whose "level of dishonesty is out of control."
Trump said he would take his message directly to the American people, if the media refuses to cover him fairly.