Washington, Jan 21 (AP) US President Donald Trump is appearing at Tuesday’s White House press briefing to mark the first anniversary of the start of his second term.
The rare appearance comes as the president
faces extraordinary pushback from America’s European allies over his planned tariffs over Greenland, tensions he’ll confront in person this week at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen described Trump’s planned new tariffs over Greenland as “a mistake especially between long-standing allies” and called into question Trump’s trustworthiness, saying that he had agreed last year not to impose more tariffs on members of the bloc.
Trump announced that starting February, a 10 per cent import tax will be imposed on goods from eight European nations that have rallied around Denmark in the wake of his stepped up calls for the United States to take over the semi-autonomous Danish territory of Greenland.
Trump blasts UN as he touts his Board of Peace ————————————————— “I wish we didn’t need a Board of Peace,” Trump said. “You know, with all the wars I settled, the United Nations never helped me on one war.” Trump’s Board of Peace was originally envisioned as a small group of world leaders overseeing the Gaza ceasefire plan. But the Trump administration’s ambitions have ballooned into a more sprawling concept, with Trump extending invitations to dozens of nations and hinting it will soon broker global conflicts, like a pseudo-UN Security Council.
Trump relates childhood story of conversation with his mother —————————————————————— Trump often tells the same stories many times over, but on Tuesday he added a new one, as he talked about signing an executive order to bring back mental institutions and insane asylums.
Amid listing off what he sees are his top accomplishments over the past year, Trump waxed nostalgic as he told a story of walking to Little League practice with his mother, reminding reporters he was “quite the baseball player.” Querying his mother on bars over windows on a psychiatric hospital in Queens, which he said “loomed over the block,” Trump says she told him that “very sick” people lived there.
Creedmor Psychiatric Center is still operational but the property has fulfilled various roles through the decades.
A migrant shelter was operational there until last year, and in November, New York officials approved a development plan to include residences.
Trump grumbles anew about Norway and not winning Nobel Prize ———————————————————————- “It’s a joke,” Trump fumed about the prize to reporters. “They’ve lost such prestige.” Trump in a message to European officials made public this week linked his aggressive stance on Greenland to last year’s decision not to award him the Nobel Peace Prize, telling Norway’s prime minister that he no longer felt “an obligation to think purely of Peace.” Trump also waved aside comments from Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Store, who issued a statement on Monday noting that the Norwegian government holds no sway over who is receives the Peace Prize.
“And don’t let anyone tell you that Norway doesn’t control the shots. OK?” Trump said. “It’s in Norway.” An hour in, Trump still zigzagging through accomplishments ————————————————————— Trump has spent a full hour at the briefing room podium with no signs of stopping.
First, he brandished photographs of people allegedly arrested in Minnesota. Later, he began rattling off his administration’s “wins” from a prepared packet. Throughout, it’s been a speech full of variety and plenty of tangents.
The president shared a laundry list of accomplishments, including executive orders he’s signed and his administration’s move to increase law enforcement in the nation’s capital.
He’s been especially focused on immigration and deporting alleged criminals. Foreign policy talk has been scarce so far, even as tensions with Europe have escalated over his aggression toward Greenland.
Trump says Hells Angels motorcycle gang voted for him ————————————————————— The president claimed that the immigrants his administration has removed from the U.S. make the Hells Angels “look like the sweetest people on Earth,” only to then pause for an aside during Tuesday’s news briefing and compliment the infamous motorcycle gang.
“I like the Hells Angels,” Trump said. “They voted for me. They protected me, actually.” A former leader of the Hells Angels, Chuck Zito, did join with Trump at a Manhattan courthouse last year. The president likes to discuss his general love of bikers. But it was unclear whether the outlaw motorcycle gang has ever been contracted to provide security for Trump.
The Hells Angels infamously provided security at a 1969 concert at the Altamont Speedway in California, an event that broke out in violence and led to multiple deaths. (AP) ARI ARI
