President Donald Trump appeared exhausted and at times was incoherent as he appeared at the White House press briefing on Tuesday to mark one year since his return to office.
Trump, 79, was armed with a series of props as he rattled off claims and jumped from topic to topic.
He rambled for 1 hour and 20 minutes about his “accomplishments” and aired grievances before taking any questions.
The president was low-energy and at times paused to look down and shuffle his papers. At other moments, he trailed off mid-sentence or moved on to other topics.
Right after walking into the room, the president held up a book that he claimed was full of his accomplishments. He said there were too many to read, but minutes later he opened the book and began reading random lines.
“We have a book that I’m not going to read to you, but these are the accomplishments of what we’ve produced, all, page after page after page, individual things,” Trump said. “I could stand here and read it for a week, and we wouldn’t be finished.”
Several times, the president bemoaned the coverage he has received and blamed his predecessor for the challenges he has faced. He referred to Joe Biden as “crooked” and the worst president.
Early in his comments, Trump defended ICE and its activities in Minnesota as he held up a series of images of alleged criminals the White House claimed were being removed.
As he went, he became engrossed in the images and the copy next to them, as if he were seeing the material for the first time.
“In many cases, they’re murderers, they’re drug lords, drug dealers, they’re mentally insane, some of them, who are brutal killers, they’re mentally insane. They’re killers, but they’re insane,’ Trump rambled.
He specifically attacked Somalis and claimed they “never had a country because there’s basically no country. Somalia is not even a country. They don’t have anything that resembles a country.”
The president repeatedly attacked Rep. Ilhan Omar. Later in his rant, he said the only thing “Somalians” are good at is “pirating” ships.
The president suddenly switched topics often. At several points, he brought up Venezuela and said he was “loving” the country now.
“They’ve been working with us so well. It’s been so nice, and an unbelievably nice woman also did a very incredible thing, as you know, a few days ago,” Trump said of María Corina Machado, who handed over her Nobel Peace Prize during her meeting with Trump last week.
“Maybe we can get her involved in some way. I’d love to be able to do that, Maria,” Trump said.
Trump claimed oil companies were about to make big investments. He circled back to Venezuela later in his remarks, repeating himself.
“Now we have a great relationship with Venezuela,” Trump said.
Later, he also whined directly about not being awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. He said he should have gotten it for each war he ended.
“Don’t let anyone tell you that Norway doesn’t control the shots,” Trump declared. “It’s in Norway. Norway controls the shots. They’ll say ‘we have nothing to do with it.’”
He complained that it is a “joke” and has lost so much prestige, before praising Machado for handing her the award over to him.
The president also brought up his crime crackdown and touted sending the National Guard into Washington, DC, in a bizarre moment where he talked about lovers.
“You can walk from here to a restaurant and right through the center of town. You can be with your child, with your loved one, with your lover,” Trump said. “Your lover’s not going to be killed anymore, so he can act like a real lover.”
At another moment, he reminisced about talking to his mom about Creedmoor Psychiatric Center in Queens as he said the U.S. would bring back “insane asylums.”
“I said ‘mom, why are those bars on the building?’ I used to play little league baseball there, a place called Cunningham Park. I was quite the baseball player, you wouldn’t believe,” Trump said.
“But I said to my mother, ‘mom’ she would be there, always there for me. She said, ‘Son, you could be a professional baseball player.’ I said ‘Thanks mom.’ I said, ‘Why are those bars on the windows?’ Big building, big powerful building. It loomed over the park, actually. She said, Well, people who are very sick are in that building.”
At another point, Trump spoke about the killing of 37-year-old mother Renee Good by ICE. He called it a tragedy before going on to claim that Good’s dad was a fan of him.
“When I learned her parents and her father, in particular, were like, I hope he still is, but I don’t know, were tremendous Trump fans. He was all for Trump. Loved Trump, and you know, it’s terrible,” Trump said. “I was told that by a lot of people. They said ‘Oh he loves you.’ He was, I hope, I hope he still feels that way. I don’t know. It’s a hard, hard situation, but her father was a tremendous, and parents, were tremendous Trump fans. It’s so sad. It just happens.”
During his comments, he defended ICE and argued they’re dealing with “rough people,” but he also admitted “they’re gonna make a mistake sometimes. It can happen.”
The president ranted about the prosecutors who brought cases against him. He called former special counsel Jack Smith “deranged” and a “sick son of a b---h” from the White House press briefing podium.
He also called New York Attorney General Letitia James, New York District Attorney Alvin Bragg, and Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis “sick.”
“Then if I suggest that somebody may be guilty of a terrible crime, ‘Oh, he’s weaponizing government. Trump is weaponizing government.’” Trump complained.
At another point, the president touted renaming the Gulf of Mexico the Gulf of America. He suggested it should be the Gulf of Trump before insisting he was joking on that front.
Trump said he thinks God would be proud of his achievements in his first year.
