WASHINGTON — President Trump took command of a White House press briefing on Tuesday to tell reporters directly why he believes his first year back in office has been a success — though his showcase at times included false claims and a lack of clarity on his foreign policy agenda.
“I don’t like to do this, to be honest with you, but I do it because we got to get the word out,” Trump told reporters during a nearly two-hour appearance in which he took roughly 20 questions from reporters.
In his remarks, the president repeated claims that the 2020 election was “rigged,” reiterated his annoyance at not being awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for ending “eight wars,” and dismissed concerns about the economy as he claimed the country is “doing so well” as of his tariffs.
Trump called Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado a “good woman” for giving him her 2025 Nobel Peace Prize, calling his political foes “sick people,” and said Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass was “incompetent” for how she handled last year’s wildfire recovery efforts.
The president alleged that under Bass’ leadership,the city’s delay in issuing local building permits will take “years” when it should have taken “two or three days.”
“You had the incompetent mayor of Los Angeles who decided to go to Africa during the fire,” he said. “The place went crazy. Well, they still haven’t gotten their permits.”
At one point, Trump was asked about California Gov. Gavin Newsom, a Democrat who is widely expected to be eyeing a run for president in 2028, and who is in Davos, Switzerland, this week to talk about the California economy at the World Economic Forum.
“I don’t know that he is going to be the nominee,” Trump told reporters. “I just hate how California is being run. We actually have people leaving, it’s never happened before, but I hate the way it’s being run. He and I had a very good relationship, really close to the word exceptional, but now we seem not to.”
Trump kicked off the press briefing by
