President-elect Trump addressed a plethora of topics including vaccines, TikTok, the Russia-Ukraine war and drones in his first press conference since winning a second presidential term.
•Trump was joined by Masayoshi Son, the SoftBank Group CEO, and Howard Lutnick, his pick for Commerce secretary and co-lead of his transition team, for the news conference at Mar-a-Lago.
• The president-elect announced that the Japan-based SoftBank Group would invest $100 billion in the United States over the next four years, with a focus on artificial intelligence and other emerging technologies
The Hill’s Alex Gangitano and Brett Samuels have 5 takeaways from Trump’s sprawling presser.
Catch-up on the press conference with The Hill’s live blog.
VACCINES
Trump fielded questions about vaccine access as his pick to lead the Department of Health and Human Services, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., heads to Capitol Hill this week to court lawmakers for his confirmation battle.
Kennedy is a known vaccine skeptic and will face intense scrutiny from all sides of Congress.
Trump pushed back on concerns that vaccine licenses would be revoked, specifically the polio vaccine, saying he is a “big believer” in the polio vaccine.
“You’re not going to lose the polio vaccine, that’s not going to happen,” Trump said.
But he did indicate that he would have Kennedy conduct vaccine reviews and suggested that vaccines are linked to rising autism rates. That theory has been widely debunked.
“Again, you take a look at autism today versus 20, 25 years ago. It’s like, not even believable. So we’re going to have reports. Nothing’s going to happen very quickly. I think you’re going to find that Bobby is… a very rational guy,” Trump said.
Trump said he is opposed to vaccine mandates, especially in schools, saying he’s “not a big mandate person.”
FOREIGN POLICY
When Trump takes office in January, he’ll assume the responsibility of trying to broker Middle East peace in the war between Israel and Hamas, as well as the Russia-Ukraine war in Eastern Europe.
Regarding the Israel-Hamas war, Trump said during the press conference that his team is working with Israel and pushing Hamas to release the hostages.
Trump said he recently spoke with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and issued a stark warning to Hamas.
“We had a very good talk, we discussed what is going to happen. I will be very available on Jan. 20 and we’ll see. As you know, I gave warning that if these hostages aren’t home by that date, all hell is going to break out and very strong,” he said.
Trump said he believes ending the war between Ukraine and Russia would prove more difficult, citing the complexity of the war, as well as the presence of North Korean troops fighting alongside the Russian military.
He also slammed the Biden administration for allowing Ukraine to use long-range missiles against Russia and suggested he’d reverse the long-range strike authorization.
“I don’t think that should have been allowed,” he said, “and certainly not just weeks before I take over. Why would they do that without asking me what I thought? I wouldn’t have had them do that, I think that was a big mistake.”
Trump has previously pledged to end the Russia-Ukraine war by the time he’s inaugurated, claiming he’d end it within 24 hours. But the president-elect has offered few details on how he would broker such a deal.
•Trump also praised China’s President Xi Jinping, calling him a friend and an “amazing guy,” and suggested that the U.S. and China should work together to on global issues.
TARIFFS
Trump also insisted that tariffs would be a good thing for the country, defending a controversial central piece of his second term agenda.
“I didn’t have any inflation, and I had massive tariffs on a lot of things. We put tariffs on steel,” he said. “We made a fortune on it. Tariffs properly used, which we will do, and being reciprocal with other nations, but it will make our country rich.”
The president-elect last month promised to implement 25 percent tariffs on goods from Mexico and Canada through executive order on the first day of his new term, claiming one of the goals is to curb illegal immigration.
DRONES
Trump also claimed the federal government, including President Biden, “knows what is happening” with the numerous drone sightings in the U.S.
“The government knows what is happening. Look, our military knows where they took off from, if it’s a garage they can go right into that garage. They know where it came from and where it went,” Trump told reporters.
He dismissed the idea that the drones are the work of foreign adversaries, saying, “If it was the enemy they’d blast it out. Even if they were late, they’d blast it.”
Biden and his administration have repeatedly said the drone sightings are not a national security threat but that they are continuing to monitor the situation.
Meanwhile, lawmakers at the federal and state levels are pushing for more answers.
OTHER TOPICS
Trump also touched on other subjects during his press conference:
• He said he’d consider pardoning embattled New York City Mayor Eric Adams (D).
• The shooting of UnitedHealthcare CEOBrian Thompson was a “terrible thing,” Trump said. He also chastised those who have exalted the suspected shooter Luigi Mangione.
• The president-elect threatened to sue the Des Moines Register for publishing a pre-election poll that showed him behind in Iowa.
• Trump stopped short of pushing for his daughter-in-law, Lara Trump, to be appointed to a Senate seat in Florida once Sen. Marco Rubio (R) leaves to join the Trump administration as secretary of State.
• TikTok has “a warm spot in my heart,” Trump said when asked about a potential nationwide ban on the social media app.
💡Perspectives:
•Trump 2.0: How many days before he loses momentum? (The Hill)
• Post-election polling suggests a new reason behind Trump’s victory (The Hill)
Read more:
• McConnell urges Trump to reject isolationism
• NYC mayor says he won’t be ‘warring’ with Trump
• Trump girds for battle with Democrats, Supreme Court over birthright citizenship
•Canadian finance minister notes Trump tariff threat in resignation letter
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NEWS THIS AFTERNOON
Trisha Bushey via AP
Lawmakers urge action on drone sightings
Reports of mysterious drones flying over parts of New Jersey started in mid-November. Since then, sightings have spread throughout the Northeast, and lawmakers are ramping up calls for answers.
“New Jerseyans’ patience is getting very thin, including my own,” Rep. Mikie Sherrill (D-N.J.) said Monday as she released a plan to help the federal government track and locate the unidentified drones, The Hill’s Sylvan Lane reported.
“After weeks of unidentified-drone sightings over New Jersey, two things are clear: One, the drones remain unidentified and, two, the people of New Jersey need clearer, more consistent communication as to what our government is learning and doing about the drones,” Sherrill said.
Sherill called for the federal government to deploy a fleet of MQ-9 Reaper drones, currently operated by Customs and Border Protection, that have special tracking capabilities. Additionally, she wants a classified hearing on the matter with House and Senate committees.
New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy (D) was briefed on the sightings Sunday and thanked the president for his support in the investigation, while also asking for more resources.
“While I am sincerely grateful for your administration’s leadership in addressing this concerning issue, it has become apparent that more resources are needed to fully understand what is behind this activity,” he wrote, adding residents “deserve more concrete information.”
The Biden administration has been widely criticized for its response to the drone sightings, especially after Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas said there is “no evidence” to suggest the drones are a public security threat.
Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (R) said in a Sunday appearance on ABC’s “This Week” that DHS needs more authority on the matter, but that to say these drone sightings are “not unusual activity, it’s just wrong.”
Former DHS Secretary Jeh Johnson, who served in the Obama administration, said the government struggling to identify the drones has nothing to do with resources or capability, urging patience.
GOVERNMENT FUNDING TIES
As Congress works on a short-term funding bill, two lawmakers are pushing for a counter-drone measure to be added to the coming legislation.
Reps. Chrissy Houlahan (D-Pa.) and Andrew Garbarino (R-N.Y.) sent a letter to Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) and Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) urging them to add the measure to the stopgap bill.
OTHER RESPONSES
• Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.)called on DHS to “deploy special drone-detection.”
• New York Gov. Kathy Hochul (D) deployed a drone detection system after drone activity shut down runways at Stewart Airport in Orange County, N.Y.
• Connecticut state Sen. Tony Hwang (R)said the situation is “alarming” and the lack of federal response is “unconscionable.”
• Former Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R-Ill.) remarked in a CNN interview “[t]hey’re literally all airplanes.”
💡Perspectives:
•The New Jersey drone scare is a privacy wake-up call (MSNBC)
• Drones and the Cost of Lost Trust (WSJ)
Read more:
•Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Ohio closed for hours due to drone activity
• Two arrested after drone flies ‘dangerously close’ to Boston airport: Police
As it barrels toward the government shutdown deadline on Dec. 20, Congress is making progress on a funding deal.
House Appropriations Chair Tom Cole (R-Okla.) said the “differences are narrowing” across the aisle.
“It’s both between the House and the Senate and Republicans and Democrats. So, they’re both institutional differences, and there are partisan differences,” Cole said, adding “there are a lot fewer of them than there were 24 hours ago.”
Legislation text was expected over the weekend, but lawmakers hit a snag when it came to economic assistance for farmers, with both sides pointing fingers over who was to blame.
The continuing resolution (CR), which is likely the last major bit of legislation before the end of the session and the upcoming Congress, will probably include disaster aid funding for the recent hurricanes that hit North Carolina and Florida, as well as several other add-ons, including one concerning health care, reports The Hill’s Aris Folley and Emily Brooks.
Read more here.
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Heather Ochoa is a news writer at the Failsafe Podcast. She has been writing about politics, health, business, parenting and finance for over a decade. She also loves to go hiking in her free time.
