Trump Touts Accomplishments and Grudges in Rambling Speech to White House Press

President Donald Trump delivered a meandering and grievance-filled speech to a packed White House Press Briefing room on Tuesday, speaking for more than an hour to mark the one-year anniversary of his return to office before taking questions from reporters.

The speech started with Trump defending the thousands of federal officers he’s sent to Minnesota to conduct sweeping immigration searches. The President slowly held up photo after photo of immigrants he said were arrested in the state after committing heinous crimes.

He soon touched on dozens of other topics, insisting again he deserved the Nobel Peace Prize, praising the impact of his tariffs and his Administration's gutting of investments in low-carbon emissions technologies, joked that the Gulf of Mexico should be called the Gulf of Trump, and blamed many of the country’s problems on Joe Biden and Kamala Harris. He also said he “felt terribly” about the killing of Renee Nicole Good by an ICE officer in Minnesota.

Trump repeatedly veered far from topics of policy or politics. At one point, he told a story from his childhood of playing at a park next to a mental institution and his mother telling him he could have been a professional baseball player.

He also denigrated many of his perceived enemies, calling former Justice Department prosecutor Jack Smith, who brought charges against him for his actions trying to overturn the results of the 2020 elections, “a sick son of a bitch,” and saying of Rep. Ilhan Omar, “I can’t stand her.”

Hanging over Trump’s appearance were his sagging approval numbers and his growing frustration that the American public hasn’t supported how he has implemented his policies. In particular, he claimed that the success of his harsh immigration policies isn’t breaking through with Americans. "Maybe I have bad public relations people, but we're not getting it across," Trump said.

Before Trump came into the briefing room, White House press aides handed out a press release titled "365 WINS IN 365 DAYS: President Trump’s Return Marks New Era of Success, Prosperity." Trump had a printed copy in his hands when he stepped up to the microphone.

Read more: How Trump’s Foreign Policy Gambits Are Reshaping the World

After speaking for an hour and 20 minutes, Trump started taking reporter’s questions. With a flick of the wrist, Trump pointed to reporters, taking questions from long-standing media organizations like ABC News and the Associated Press, as well as reporters from right-wing organizations, some of whom were quick to compliment him. He predicted “things are going to work out very well” in his effort to annex Greenland over the objections of Denmark and U.S. allies in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. Asked whether the U.S. would withdraw from NATO over his quest to own Greenland, he said: “Whether you like it or not, NATO is only as good as we are.” One reporter asked Trump if God would be proud of his first year in office. In response, Trump said: “God is proud of the job I’ve done.”

Trump seemed particularly focused on reversing the nagging perception among Americans that his policies haven’t helped them economically. “I think we’ve done a much better job than we’re able to promote.” That’s “one of the reasons I’m doing this news conference—I think it’s important—we have taken a mess and made it better,” Trump said.

Polling shows that economic confidence has declined in recent months. Gallup surveys in November and December found 36% of Americans approved of the job Trump was doing, down from 45% after his first month back in office. mong modern presidents, only Richard Nixon—who had 30% approval in December 1973 amid the Watergate investigation and an energy crisis—polled worse than Trump at this point in their second term.

Trump addressed the press just before was set to leave for Davos, Switzerland, where he was scheduled to make a high-profile speech at the World Economic Forum's annual gathering.