Trump, amid combative start, pledges to rise to moment
ASSOCIATED PRESS
President Donald Trump, left, congratulates White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer, second from right, and other White House senior staff during a swearing in ceremony in the East Room of the White House, Sunday, Jan. 22, 2017, in Washington.
WASHINGTON >> After a combative start to his presidency, Donald Trump delivered a more unifying message Sunday and sought to reassure Americans he was up to the daunting task ahead, as he turned to the business of government.
Speaking in the White House East Room during a swearing-in ceremony for top aides, the president warned his staff of future challenges but declared he believed they were ready.
“But with the faith in each other and the faith in God, we will get the job done,” the president said. “We will prove worthy of this moment in history. And I think it may very well be a great moment in history.”
Trump’s reassurance came after a day marked by global protests against his presidency and his own complaints about media coverage of his inauguration. He said his staff was in the White House not to “help ourselves” but to “devote ourselves to the national good.”
Trump held up the letter left to him by his predecessor, Barack Obama — a White House tradition. “It was really very nice of him to do that,” Trump said. “We will cherish that.” He said the contents will remain private.
Earlier Sunday, Trump offered a scattershot response to the sweeping post-inauguration protests a day earlier, sarcastically denigrating the public opposition and then defending demonstrators’ rights a short time later.
“Watched protests yesterday but was under the impression that we just had an election! Why didn’t these people vote? Celebs hurt cause badly,” Trump tweeted early Sunday morning. Ninety-five minutes later, he struck a more conciliatory tone.
“Peaceful protests are a hallmark of our democracy. Even if I don’t always agree, I recognize the rights of people to express their views,” the president tweeted, still using his personal account.
The dueling tweets marked his administration’s first response to the more than 1 million people who rallied at women’s marches in Washington and cities across the world. Hundreds of protesters lined the street as Trump’s motorcade drove past on Saturday afternoon, with many screaming and chanting.
The Washington rally appeared to attract more people than attended Trump’s inauguration on Friday, but there were no completely comparable numbers. Regional transportation officials tweeted on Sunday that 1,001,616 trips were taken on the rail system on Saturday. Metro spokesman Dan Stessel had said that on Friday, the day of Donald Trump’s inauguration, just over 570,000 trips were taken on the rail system.
Even suggestions of weak enthusiasm for his inauguration clearly irked the new president, and appeared to knock the White House off its footing as it took its earliest steps.
On Sunday, Trump’s spoke with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who told his Cabinet that the call would cover the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, Syria, Iran and other issues. Trump said the call was “very nice” but provided no details.
Trump also announced that he’s set up meetings with the prime minister of Canada, Justin Trudeau, and Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto.
“We’re going to start some negotiations having to do with NAFTA,” he said of his meeting with Mexico, along with immigration and security at the border. Trump has promised to build a wall along the length of the southern border and insisted that Mexico will pay for it.
Trump had no plans to sign any executive orders on Sunday. But his chief of staff, Reince Priebus, said on “Fox News Sunday” the president would spend his first full week in office undoing some of his predecessor’s agenda and planned to sign executive orders on immigration and trade.
Trump has pledged to scuttle trade deals such as a pending Asia-Pacific agreement and overturn Obama’s executive order deferring deportations for 700,000 people who were brought into the country illegally as minors.
Trump plans to meet Monday with a bipartisan group congressional leaders to discuss his agenda.
Later in the week, he’ll address congressional Republicans at their retreat in Philadelphia and meet with British Prime Minister Theresa May.
In talk show interviews Sunday, Trump’s advisers defended his criticism of journalists for correctly reporting that his inauguration drew a smaller crowd President Barack Obama did eight years ago, saying the Trump administration was supplying “alternative facts.”
“There’s no way to really quantify crowds. We all know that. You can laugh at me all you want,” Kellyanne Conway told NBC’s “Meet The Press.” She added: “I think it’s actually symbolic of the way we’re treated by the press.”
Aides also made clear that Trump will not release his tax returns now that he’s taken office, breaking with a decades-long tradition of transparency. Every president since 1976 has released the information, but Trump has said he doesn’t believe Americans care whether he follows suit.
Throughout the campaign, Trump refused to make his filings public, saying they’re under audit by the Internal Revenue Service and he’d release them only once that review is complete. Tax experts and IRS Commissioner John Koskinen said such audits don’t bar taxpayers from releasing returns.
“He’s not going to release his tax returns. We litigated this all through the election. People didn’t care,” Conway said on ABC’s “This Week.”
Trump, whose 12th wedding anniversary was Sunday, also attended a reception for law enforcement officers and first responders who helped with his inauguration. He singled out the work of FBI Director James Comey, whom he offered a handshake and hug.
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Associated Press writer Jill Colvin contributed to this report.
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Reach Lerer on Twitter at http://twitter.com/llerer and Lemire at http://twitter.com/JonLemire
53 responses to “Trump, amid combative start, pledges to rise to moment”
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To all the whining losers as the great General Patton said “Lead, follow or get out of the way”.
We will do anything but get out of the way. We will fight his retrun to an America of a hundred or so years ago. We are in the 21st century, not the first.
Boots: Well if you are not getting out of the way then you only have one other choice follow or you become one of the problems of the nation (because Trump was chosen to lead).
Slow down a little, breathe, write down the joke and see if it’s funny, then post it on here…#MAGA
A_reader: Why? Because lespark said so? I think not.
Because lespark says so? Seriously? lespark?
@ A_Reader
Vladimir Putin, a fine leader, chose Trump to….do something. Wait—whom are we supposed to follow?
Who’s in control here???
IRT Peter (aka Boots), open your eyes and ears for you are already following. Don’t keep on looking back or you will truly be left behind.
kuroiwaj – Trump’s lies weren’t focused on before he was the President. It’s all backfiring on him now. He’s been a liar his entire adult life with no real consequence, but he didn’t understand what the world reaction would be from the invention of “alternative facts” by the President of the United States.
He’s a national disgrace. His honeymoon, obviously, is over. There were three times the number in DC protesting him, compared to the crowd for his inauguration. He’s already acting threatened and defensive – lashing out at people who question his wonderful greatness.
He’s a laughingstock. It’s hard for a laughingstock to be credible. Even harder for one to lead.
Every single person who voted for him should be embarrassed about what they’ve done.
Hey asstri, you scabs are the “laughingstock”.
meat – Yes … your usual well considered comment. Are you in eighth grade?
Gee let’s all play kuroiwaj (aka: keonigohan).
meat, you’re a toughie. You’re no Trump Steak.
In fact, his trademark got cancelled several years ago. The steaks he rolled out to celebrate the primary win were just steaks purchased at the local supermarket. So even Trump Steak is no Trump Steak.
#MAMA! (Make America Meat Again!)
Wow and I trusted him that he was going to release his tax papers, bummer. But we trust him on all the other things he said.
The next Presidential candidate should follow suit, say whatever the people want to hear and promise them the world then back out after getting elected what a concept. Elementary school strategy but it’s working so far.
It’s worked for generations…
Alternative facts aka LIES……
http://www.democraticunderground.com/10028510315
BS kellyane, I do care & I wanna see tax returns
Me too show taxes!
Maybe it will take him as long as it took Obama to provide a fake birth certificate. Fake tax returns should do the trick. Trump 2020
If your goal is to make people feel sorry for you, it’s working.
Son-in-law Jared Kushner said Trump never actually believed the birther theory. In other words, it was merely a political ploy, like the Hillary accusations, used to manipulate the undereducated and racists.
sarge22, I helped debunk all the fake news you thought were good enough to share with all our friends here. (I never got a thank you card, but that’s okay, no prob.) But do I have to tell you what to do again?
Now that you realize Trumpy hasn’t been honest with you, it’s time to demand a little more truth from him. Ask that he show his tax returns. Insist that he explain his plan to build the wall—or admit he has none. Join the next march, shout out for the rights of those who’ve been treated unfairly.
That is how you #MAGA!
Grow up the majority of American people wants to see his taxes.
Earth to trump: americans want to see your tax returns. Clearly, though, he never intended to release them, because it would reveal too much he doesn’t want us to know.
Welcome liar in chief. Thanks for verifying that you would never release your tax returns. Liar liar pants on fire. I will give him 2 years before he either dies in office, is impeached, or pulls a Sara Palin and resigns. Conflicts of interests are against the constitution even for the president.
I’m with you on that 2 year Trump dying thing…70 years old and now he wants the stress of leading the country…He can’t handle NOT having total control…Lets see if we can BREAK him in under 2 years…Can he file bankruptcy on America and just walk away??? #MAGA
Trump also can’t handle not being idolized and revered. He will constantly on the defensive because he cannot help responding to the inevitable criticism. His narcissism will eventually do him in.
I voted for Darrell Castle, the Constitution Party candidate. My conscious is clear.
No you got him elected by wasting your vote wake up.
Foolish move “retire”. You knew your candidate could never get elected yet your “protest’ vote put The Donald in office. I wouldn’t brag about this if I were you. Hope the next time around you think before you vote.
I did think about my vote, I thought about all the times in my life I have been lied to by politicians, republican and democrat, and what a mess they have made of my country and the world through their inability to work to together on behalf of the people that put them in office. I promised myself when I retired that I would never vote for another democrat or republican as long as I lived, and I intend to keep that promise, unlike all politicians who have violated every promise they ever made to the american people. As for you gentlemen, you need to work on your Socratic discourse, address the issue in your criticisms, not person.
Thank you retire. Your vote helped keep the lying crooked HiLIARy out of office. Well done. If my memory serves me right Mr Trump was the only candidate that wasn’t a politician.The thinking people got Donald Trump elected.
Sarge, are you in Leningrad or Moscow?
Let the Presidential lying begin. Trump and Spicer have already been spewing lies that are easy to debunk. If Trump is willing to lie when photos and videos will quickly prove him wrong, can you trust him when you have no easy way to prove the depths of his mendacity? No, of course not. Kellyanne Conway has invented a new term for Trump’s lies — “alternative facts.” Welcome to the world of “1984.”
Seriously, Getting caught seems to open the floodgates of creativity. I say Conway deserves credit for the mind-bending chutzpah it took to make such a pronouncement to the world. On top of that she not only said it with a straight face but righteous indignation. An awe-inspiring performance.
Trump is not going to rise to the moment, which should be obvious to everyone by now. He’s mentally ill, as evidenced by his wildly out of control Twitter rants; likening CIA officers to Nazis; sending Sean Spicer out to lie to the press; sending the poor Ms. Conway out to try to sell Trump’s “alternative facts” and reversing himself every half hour. He’s sick.
Patriots are going to have to fight him and his administration every minute of every day.
If you are an attorney, please become a Volunteer Attorney for the ACLU. Thousands of us are now onboard to muck up the works of his administration. We want to assemble enough attorneys to enable same week filing of lawsuits to prevent anything illegal or unconstitutional from gaining any traction. If you are not an attorney, then join the ACLU.
People are going to be marching on Trump Tower every day, and hundreds of thousand of people are going to be calling their House and Senate representatives daily or weekly, to erode support for Trump. The way to cut off his mean spirit is to have Congress turn away from him for fear of their jobs.
Like Winston Churchill said … fight, fight, fight. Trump can’t govern without Congress. Attack him there.
Planning to muck up Foxconn bringing 30-50,000 jobs to the US…?
You should have a literate friend read my comment to you. I said illegal or unconstitutional action.
I know you have trouble with long words. I’m sure someone can help you.
the American Communist Liberal Union is for losers like you and all those other losers that join that mental disorder group. shame on you and your group that hate America. better off all of you leave this country, that you and all the ACLU followers dislike, all of you would not be missed.
and take the American Communist Liberal Union with all of you.
The work done by the aclu is important to all americans. While the causes they take up are not always popular, their commitment to principles should be lauded and not mocked.
Give me a break. They are a pimple on the ahole of progress. Just check out klastri. Cricket name caller who can’t accept defeat.
You somehow get more sad and ignorant every day. Sooner or later, you’ll reach rock bottom.
funny that Trump was elected with a boost provided by the real commies
Is it a president yet?
Well we do have a new addition to the urban dictionary…”alternative facts”….Good one!
In much the same way, kellyanne conway said people should look at what’s in trump’s heart and not listen to what he says!!!
Wouldn’t it be cool if the IRS leaked those tax returns
If you can make that happen, you might even get my vote!
Payback is a B….
…itch.
I got an itch. Anyone got a backscratcher?
Speaking of payback, I wonder what tricks Vladimir will pull out if/when Trumpy disobeys him. Of course the tax returns will be released. And about 30,000 emails revealing all the dirty cheating traitorous things Trump and his people have been doing for years. But no one wants to see a fat pompous man with weird hair getting peed on by hot Russian hookers, do they? Yeah, please don’t release that video, Vlad. No video, PLEASE!
Make your $ speak. Let the advertisers on the hysterical media O zombie channels know you are displeased with their destruction of our country.
Washington Post Fact Checker: “Spicer makes easily disproved claims about the size of the inauguration crowd. It was an appalling performance by the new press secretary. Sean Spicer earns four Pinocchios, but, seriously, we wish we could give five.”