The following story ran first on The Politician, the political newspaper of The Rider Online. Check The Politician often for updates on President-elect Donald Trump’s inauguration as well as other political news.
President-elect Donald Trump held his first post-election press conference on Wed. Jan. 11 at Trump Tower. Purposed to address the how he will handle his myriad of conflicts of interests caused by his business empire while President, the conference deviated to various topics including Mexico and the infamous wall. However, the hour-long press conference focused heavily on “the fake news” and his relations with the Russians due to their supposed involvement in the election. Throughout all of this, check out the list below for The Politician’s favorite highlights from the president-elect’s conference.
Bullying the Media
Thanking all the news organizations that treated him well, President-elect Trump expressed his appreciation for their “professional” work that was stronger than the “fake news” about him. He then calls Buzzfeed “a failing piece of garbage” that will suffer the consequences of making up allegations about him. The president-elect also silenced CNN reporter Jim Acosta who was vying to ask him a question from his “fake news” organization. The tension between Mr. Trump, Buzzfeed and CNN came after the two news sources ran stories about Russia allegedly compromising information about him.
Conflicts of Interest
President-elect Trump assured the media that he would not have any conflicts of interests as he would hand over his business relations to sons Eric and Donald Jr. along with Trump Organization CFO Allen Weisselberg. To emphasize his complete disbandment from the company, a pile of manila folders on the adjacent table were some of the many documents he had signed to give complete control of the company to his sons. He also emphasized that his son-in-law Jared Kushner, who would be serving as senior adviser to Mr. Trump, would have no relations or ties to the company.
Build that wall
President-elect Trump revealed his legislative priorities once inaugurated included repealing Obamacare, nominating a new Supreme Court justice and building a wall between the U.S. and Mexico’s border. Mr. Trump clarified that several “fake news” outlets misreported his wall as a fence. He expressed his impatience with making a deal with Mexico paying for the wall and his desire to get started “immediately.” The president-elect plans to make Mexico pay for it through a reimbursement in the form of a tax or payment.
The Russians
The media interrogated Mr. Trump throughout the conference about his dealings with Russia including his financial links. He tweeted that he did not have any financial ties with the country, and admitted that Russia was responsible for hacking ahead of the election. Mr. Trump believes that he will be tougher on Russian President Vladimir Putin, and that “Russia will have much greater respect for our country when [he’s] leading it than when other people have led it. You will see that.”
“You’re fired”
The president-elect ended the press conference with his infamous quote from his coveted role as host of The Apprentice. If his sons don’t live up to his business expectations at the end of his term, he will fire them as he would with anyone doing a subpar job.
Best quotes of the conference:
– “It’s all fake news. It’s phony stuff. It didn’t happen. And it was gotten by opponents of ours, as you know, because you reported it and so did many of the other people. It was a group of opponents that got together — sick people — and they put that crap together.”
– “That was something that was extraordinary. That was probably China.”
– “President Putin and Russia put out a statement today that this fake news was indeed fake news. They said it totally never happened.”
– “So I tweeted out that I have no dealings with Russia.”
– “Your organization is terrible.”
– “As far as Buzzfeed, which is a failing pile of garbage, writing it, I think they’re going to suffer the consequences. They already are.”
– “I respect the people of Mexico. I love the people of Mexico. I have many people from Mexico working for me. They’re phenomenal people. The government of Mexico is terrific.”
– “So, in order to get the wall started, Mexico will pay for the wall, but it will be reimbursed. OK?”
– “On the fence — it’s not a fence. It’s a wall. You just misreported it. We’re going to build a wall.”
– “Obamacare is a complete and total disaster.”
–“Don’t be rude. Don’t be rude. Don’t. Be. Rude. I’m not going to give you a question. You are fake news.”
– “Otherwise, if they do a bad job, I’ll say, ‘You’re fired.’ Good-bye, everybody. Good-bye.”
