By James Oliphant
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – President-elect Donald Trump made news with a series of assertions and pronouncements during a press conference on Tuesday, less than two weeks before he returns to the White House.
Here are five takeaways from his wide-ranging remarks at his Florida resort:
AMERICA FIRST IS EXPANSIONIST
During the 2024 campaign, Trump spoke often about keeping his focus on domestic issues and avoiding international entanglements.
But on Tuesday, Trump suggested he is serious about expanding the territory of the United States. He said acquiring Greenland and retaking control of the Panama Canal were in America’s national security interests, and he refused to rule out military force or economic pressure to achieve either.
At one point, he referred to the border with Canada as an “artificially drawn line” and suggested the country would be better off if it simply surrendered its sovereignty and became part of the U.S., statements that quickly raised hackles in Ottawa.
It’s not always clear whether Trump is prepared to back some of his more outlandish assertions with actions, but his comments surely alarmed governments around the world who fear the U.S. under Trump could act impulsively in foreign policy matters.
TRUMP NEEDS OPPONENTS
Trump always needs opponents to push against – even if they are allies.
In addition to trolling Canada, the incoming Republican president went after the government of Panama, accusing it of overcharging U.S. cargo ships passing though the Panama Canal.
He called Mexico a “very dangerous place” and said he would change the name of the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America.
As for Denmark, he suggested its claim on Greenland was illegitimate despite the fact that it has been part of the Danish state for more than 200 years. “People really don’t even know if Denmark has any legal right, but if they do, they should give it up, because we need it for national security,” he said.
THINGS ARE BAD, EVEN IF THEY AREN’T
In winning the White House, Trump capitalized on voters’ anxieties over the state of the U.S. economy, particularly inflation.
He continued on Tuesday to paint a grim picture, despite a host of indicators that suggest the economy is in fact strong.
“We are inheriting a difficult situation from the outgoing administration,” Trump said.
Consumers are still grappling with the cost of groceries, insurance, housing and borrowing money. On the flip side, unemployment remains at record lows, wages are rising, the stock market is soaring and domestic energy production is at its peak.
But for Trump to concede the positives would be laying the groundwork for assessing his own performance if the economy begins to lose steam during his tenure, which begins on Jan. 20. Better to tell Americans things are bad now, before he takes office.
DEEP SYMPATHY FOR JAN. 6 RIOTERS
Trump has pledged to issue pardons for many of his supporters implicated in the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol. On Tuesday, he expressed how deep his sympathies for those defendants lie.
Asked if he would consider pardoning violent offenders, Trump incorrectly asserted that only one person, protester Ashli Babbitt, was killed that day even though three others in the crowd lost their lives.
He suggested, without evidence, that the FBI may have planted agents among the protesters. And he echoed an argument that advocates for the defendants have made: That if those who stormed the building had wanted an insurrection, they would have brought guns. Prosecutors, however, did charge some protesters with having guns on Capitol grounds.
At one point, Trump complained that some defendants had been prosecuted who “didn’t even walk into the building.” That could have been an allusion to ex-Proud Boys leader Enrique Tarrio, who is serving a 22-year sentence for directing the Capitol assault from a remote location. Tarrio asked Trump on Monday for a full pardon for his actions.
WET AND WILD
Trump wouldn’t be Trump without tangents. He went on an extended riff about the Biden administration’s push to ban gas water heaters, which he apparently confused with gas space heaters.
Gas, he said, provides “a much better heat. As the expression goes, you don’t itch. Does anybody have a heater where you go and you scratch?” he said.
That led to Trump complaining about low-flow faucets and shower heads, saying that even in regions with plentiful water, the Biden administration irrationally seeks to conserve it.
“It’s called rain, it…comes down from heaven,” Trump said. “No water comes out of the shower. It goes drip, drip, drip. So what happens? You’re in the shower 10 times as long.”
Later, Trump returned to a favorite target: windmills. “Nobody wants them,” Trump said, adding that he believes the coastal turbines are driving whales to kill themselves.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration says there are no known links between large whale deaths and ongoing offshore wind activities.
“The windmills are driving the whales crazy,” the president-elect said.
(Reporting by James Oliphant; Editing by Colleen Jenkins and Howard Goller)
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