5 takeaways from Trump’s Mar-a-Lago press conference
President-elect Trump gave his first formal press conference since winning last month’s election, announcing a major SoftBank investment in the U.S. and fielding a bevy of questions from reporters at Mar-a-Lago.
Trump spoke alongside SoftBank Group CEO Masayoshi Son and Howard Lutnick, his pick for Commerce secretary and also the co-lead of his transition team.
The president-elect took questions from reporters at his Florida estate including ones on his plans for the Russia-Ukraine war, his daughter-in-law potentially being appointed to the Senate, vaccines and tariffs.
Here are five takeaways from his press conference.
Trump stokes talk of vaccine reviews
Trump was asked if he believes Robert F. Kennedy Jr., his pick for Health and Human Services secretary, would revoke any vaccines, to which Trump said “no” but added: “I want him to come back with a report as to what he thinks. We’re going to find out a lot.”
Trump appeared to simultaneously downplay the prospect of getting rid of the polio vaccine while stoking dubious links between vaccinations and autism.
“We spend billions and billions of dollars on pesticides, and something’s bad happening,” Trump said.
“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,” he said of Kennedy. “You’re not going to lose the polio vaccine. That’s not going to happen.”
Trump said he’s a “big believer” in the polio vaccine and that the country would not “lose” it. When asked if schools should mandate vaccines, Trump responded that he doesn’t like mandates.
Experts have said there is no evidence of a link between vaccinations and autism, and they have noted that increased screenings and awareness have contributed to higher rates of autism diagnoses.
Kennedy is set to begin meeting with Republican senators this week in an effort to solidify his support ahead of a potentially difficult confirmation battle. In addition to his views on vaccinations, Kennedy’s past comments on abortion and chemicals in food are likely to come up.
Trump downplays Lara Trump joining Senate
Trump stopped short of publicly advocating for his daughter-in-law to be appointed to a Senate seat in Florida when given the chance Monday.
He was asked if he expected Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) to appoint Lara Trump to Sen. Marco Rubio’s (R) Senate seat once Rubio departs to serve as secretary of State.
“No, I don’t. I probably don’t, but I don’t know. Ron’s doing a good job,” the president-elect said. “It’s his choice. Got nothing to do with me. Lara’s unbelievable.”
“He’ll make the right decision. I also know Lara’s got so many other things. Her predominant thought is our country and her family,” Trump added.
Some Trump allies have pushed for DeSantis to choose Lara Trump as Rubio’s replacement, further cementing the Trump family’s grip on Washington, D.C., and giving the president-elect a family member to serve as his eyes and ears in the Senate.
Lara Trump has said she has not spoken about the prospect of serving in the Senate with DeSantis, who may instead choose a state official such as attorney general Ashley Moody for the seat.
Trump vows to make the US rich with tariffs
Trump maintained that tariffs could make the United States rich, arguing there was no inflation during his first term in office and highlighting that he had imposed a tariff on steel at the time.
“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.”
“Our country right now loses to everybody. Almost nobody do we have a surplus with; there are a couple of countries, and they’re embarrassed by it,” he added while Lutnick laughed from the podium beside him.
Trump also said the U.S. was “proportionality the richest” in the 1980s and 1990s and attributed tariffs to that wealth, without providing specifics.
Trump made imposing tariffs a top issue in his 2024 campaign and last month vowed to enact 25 percent tariffs on goods from Mexico, as well as Canada, through executive order on the first day of his new term next year.
A variety of postpandemic economic factors contributed to sky-high inflation under the Biden administration that the Federal Reserve has tried to control in part through interest rate hikes.
Biden criticized over NJ drone response
Trump told reporters he did not believe the mystery drones reported over New Jersey and other parts of the Northeast were the work of a foreign adversary, but he was still critical of the Biden administration’s response to them.
“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 in his most extensive comments to date on the topic.
“And for some reason, they don’t want to comment. I think they’d be better off saying what it is,” he continued. “Our military knows, and our president knows, and for some reason they want to keep people in suspense.”
Trump declined to say whether he’d received an intelligence briefing on the drone sightings. But he downplayed the prospect it was a foreign adversary, citing the U.S. response.
“If it was the enemy, they’d blast it out. Even if they were late, they’d blast it. Something strange is going on. For some reason, they don’t want to tell the people,” he said.
Biden administration officials have said there is no evidence of foreign involvement with the drones that civilians and lawmakers have reported seeing in parts of the Northeast in recent days, but officials have said they are closely monitoring the situation.
Trump covers foreign policy ground
Trump praised Chinese President Xi Jinping as a friend and “amazing guy,” suggesting the U.S. and China should work together to solve global problems.
“China and the United States can, together, solve all of the problems in the world, if you think about it. So, it’s very important. He was a friend of mine,” Trump said. “We spent hours and hours talking, and he is an amazing guy. The press hates when I say that, but he’s an amazing person.”
Trump added that he doesn’t know if Xi will attend his inauguration next month but that he would “love to have him.”
The president-elect also said his team is trying to help get back the hostages held by Hamas, giving a stark warning to Hamas to release them, and noted that he recently spoke with Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to discuss the war in Gaza.
“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 suggested ending the war in the Middle East would have fewer hang-ups than the Russia-Ukraine war.
Trump reiterated he wanted to end that war, too — but was not clear about how much, if any, Ukrainian territory he would be willing to cede to do so. He concluded his press conference by saying Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, as well as Russian President Vladimir Putin, must be prepared to make a deal to end the war.
“He should be prepared to make a deal. That’s all,” Trump said. “There’s gotta be a deal. Too many people being killed. Gotta make a deal. And Putin has to make a deal, too.”
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